[Customs of Tahiti.]
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.
After their meals in the Heat of the day they often Sleep, middle Aged people especially, the better sort of whom seem to spend most of their time in eating and Sleeping. Diversions they have but few, shooting with the Bow and Wrestling are the Chief; the first of which is confin'd almost wholy to the Chiefs; they shoot for distance only, kneeling upon one knee and dropping the Bow the instant of the Arrows parting from it. I have seen one of them shoot an Arrow 274 yards, yet he looked upon it as no Great Shotte.
Musick is little known to them, yet they are very fond of it; they have only 2 Instruments--the flute and the Drum. The former is made of hollow Bamboo about 15 inches long, in which are 3 Holes; into one of them they blow with one Nostril, stopping the other with the thumb of the left hand, the other 2 Holes they stop and unstop with their fingers, and by this means produce 4 Notes, of which they have made one Tune, which serves them upon all Occasions, to which they sing a number of songs generally consisting of 2 lines and generally in rhime. At any time of the day when they are Lazy they amuse themselves by singing these Couplets, but especially after dark when their candles are lighted, which are made of the Kernels of a Nutt abounding much in oil; these are stuck upon a Skewer of Wood one upon another, and give a very Tolerable light, which they often keep burning an hour after dark, and if they have strangers in the House much longer. Their drums are made of a hollow block of wood covered with Shark's Skin, and instead of Drumsticks they use their hands. Of these they make out 5 or 6 tunes and accompany the flutes.
The drums are Chiefly used at their Heivas, which are a set of Musicians, 2 or 3 Drums for instance, as many flutes and singers, which go about from House to House and play, and are always received and rewarded by the Master of the family, who gives them a Piece of Cloth or whatever he can spare, for which they will stay 3 or 4 hours, during which time his house will be crowded full, for the people are extravagantly fond of this diversion. The Young Girls whenever they can collect 8 or 10 Together dance a very indecent Dance, which they call Timorodee, singing most indecent songs and using most indecent actions, in the practice of which they are brought up from their earliest childhood; in doing this they keep time to a great nicety. This exercise is generally left off as soon as they arrive at Years of Maturity, for as soon as they have form'd a connection with man they are expected to leave off dancing Timorodee.
One amusement or custom more I must mention, though I confess I do not expect to be believed, it is founded upon a Custom so inhuman and contrary to the Principles of human nature. It is this: that more than one half of the better sort of the inhabitants have enter'd into a resolution of injoying free liberty in Love, without being Troubled or disturbed by its consequences. These mix and Cohabit together with the utmost freedom, and the Chilldren who are so unfortunate as to be thus begot are smother'd at the Moment of their Birth; many of these People contract intimacies and live together as man and wife for years, in the course of which the Children that are born are destroy'd. They are so far from concealing it that they look upon it as a branch of freedom upon which they Value themselves. They are called Arreoys, and have meetings among themselves, where the men amuse themselves with Wrestling, etc., and the Women in dancing the indecent dance before-mentioned, in the course of which they give full Liberty to their desires, but I believe keep up to the appearance of decency. I never see one of these meetings; Dr. Monkhouse saw part of one, enough to make him give Credit to what we had been told.
Both sexes express the most indecent ideas in conversation without the least emotion, and they delight in such conversation beyond any other. Chastity, indeed, is but little valued, especially among the middle people--if a Wife is found guilty of a breach of it her only punishment is a beating from her husband. The Men will very readily offer the Young Women to Strangers, even their own Daughters, and think it very strange if you refuse them; but this is done merely for the sake of gain.
The Houses or dwellings of these People are admirably calculated for the continual warmth of the Climate; they do not build them in Towns or Villages, but seperate each from the other, and always in the Woods, and are without walls, so that the air, cooled by the shade of the Trees, has free access in whatever direction it hapens to blow. No country can boast of more delightful walks than this; the whole Plains where the Natives reside are covered with groves of Bread Fruit and Cocoa Nut Trees, without underwood, and intersected in all directions by the Paths which go from House to House, so that nothing can be more grateful in a Climate where the sun hath so powerful an influence. They are generally built in form of an Oblong square, the Roofs are supported by 3 Rows of Pillars or posts, and neatly covered with Thatch made of Palm leaves. A middle-siz'd house is about 24 feet by 12, extream heigth about 8 or 9, and heigth of the Eves 3 1/2 or 4. The floors are cover'd some inches deep with Hay, upon which, here and there, lay matts for the conveniency of sitting down; few houses has more than one Stool, which is only used by the Master of the family.
