“The white and delicate appearance of the hibiscus rods, the fluttering pennants of fine tappa, and the various gaudy hues employed, gave the entire edifice a fantastic and imposing appearance. A low stone wall enclosed the two huts, and within its precincts were several bundles of cocoa-nut leaves placed upright, and intended to represent the tutelary deities of the spot. A striking edifice of the same description had been erected in honor of Eutiti’s son at Anamaihai, the territory of his guardian. It differed from that dedicated to his sister in being placed on an elevated stone platform, as well as in having a long wicker basket placed at the entrance.”
In every village there is a sort of amphitheatre, in which the dancing and similar amusements are conducted. For this purpose the natives choose a sheltered and level spot, surrounded on all sides with rising banks. The middle of the amphitheatre is carefully smoothed and covered with mats, and the rising banks serve as seats for the spectators.
When a dance is to be performed, the mats are laid afresh, and a large amount of food is prepared. The spectators take the food with them, and, seated on the banks, remain there throughout the greater part of the day. The dances are not very graceful, consisting principally of jumping, without moving from the same spot. Various ornaments are used by the dancers, the most curious of which are the finger-rings, which are made of plaited fibre, adorned with the long tail-feathers of the tropic bird. When women dance they are not allowed to wear clothing of any description, and this for a curious reason. None dance except those whose husbands or brothers have been killed in war or taken prisoners, and the absence of clothing is accepted as an expression of sorrow on their part, and of vengeance on the part of the spectators.
They have several other amusements, which are conducted in this theatre, or pahooa, as it is called. The Marquesans are most accomplished stilt-walkers, and go through performances which would excite the envy of any professional acrobat. One of the games in which they most delight is a race on stilts, in which each performer tries, not only to distance his opponents, but to cross their course and upset them. They are such adepts at this pastime that they walk over the rough stones of the house platform with ease and security.
If the reader will refer to the portrait of the [Marquesan chief], he will see that the head is not only decorated with the feather fillet, but is also covered with a veil that falls on either side of the face. This is a mark of war, and is worn when chiefs go into battle. The Marquesans do not use the bow and arrow, but they throw spears, sling stones, and use clubs. The slings are made of plaited grass, and are very powerful, often exceeding five feet in length, and carrying stones of a considerable size. The spears are generally about ten feet long, and the clubs are carved out of hard wood, which is made harder by burying the weapons for a considerable time in the mud.
They are fierce in war, and are never satisfied until they have gained a trophy of victory. When a Marquesan kills an enemy, he cuts off the head of his fallen antagonist, tears open the skull, and eats the brain. He then cleans the skull very carefully, adorns it with tufts of bristles, and slings it by a cord to his girdle. When he goes to battle again he always carries this trophy with him, partly on account of the respect in which it is held by his comrades, and partly in order to strike awe into the enemy by the sight of so redoubtable a warrior.
According to most travellers, the Marquesans are a quarrelsome people among themselves, and much addicted to making raids in each other’s districts. These districts are generally divided from each other by natural boundaries, such as mountain-spurs and ridges, many of which are of enormous height, and so steep and precipitous as to be almost inaccessible. The worst part of their mode of warfare is not the cruelty exercised on the vanquished warriors, but on the destruction to property, and the distress indicted on non-combatants.
When one chief intends to make war upon another, he tries to steal by night into the district of his enemy, and silently damages all the bread-fruit and cocoa-nut trees he can find. The former are stripped of their bark, and, though their vitality is so great that they are not absolutely killed by the injury, they bear no more fruit for five years, and thus the whole population are deprived of an essential article of diet, and for a long time are reduced to great straits for want of food.
The cocoa-nut trees are killed after a different manner. The destroyer walks up the tree after the mode employed by these islanders; namely, by applying the palms of his hands to either side of the trunk, and so ascending the tree in monkey fashion. He then bruises with a stone the central shoot, or “cabbage” of the palm, and descends the tree, knowing that it must soon die. The reason for the fatal nature of the injury is, that the tree is an endogenous one, and consequently the destruction of the central bud involves the death of the tree. Sometimes the tree is killed in another way, a sea-slug (bèche-demer) being laid at the root of the “cabbage,” killing the tree as it decays.
Quarrelsome as they are and cruel to the persons and property of the vanquished, they have yet some slight etiquette in war, one rule of which is so curious that it must be given in the relator’s own words:—