The second dance had only two drums, with forty men for a chorus; and the dancers, or rather actors, consisted of two ranks, the foremost having seventeen, and the other fifteen persons. Feenou was at their head, or in the middle of the front rank, which is the principal place in these cases. They danced and recited sentences, with some very short intervals, for about half an hour, sometimes quickly, sometimes more slowly, but with such a degree of exactness, as if all the motions were made by one man, which did them great credit. Near the close, the back rank divided, came round, and took the place of the front, which again resumed its situation, as in the first dance; and when they finished, the drums and chorus, as before, went off.
Three drums (which at least, took two, and sometimes three men to carry them) were now brought in; and seventy men sat down as a chorus to the third dance. This consisted of two ranks, of sixteen persons each, with young Toobou at their head, who was richly ornamented with a sort of garment covered with red feathers. These danced, sung, and twirled the pagge, as before; but in general, much quicker, and performed so well, that they had the constant applauses of the spectators. A motion that met with particular approbation, was one in which they held the face aside, as if ashamed, and the pagge before it. The back rank closed before the front one, and that again resumed its place, as in the two former dances; but then they began again, formed a triple row, divided, retreated to each end of the area, and left the greatest part of the ground clear. At that instant, two men entered very hastily, and exercised the clubs which they use in battle. They did this, by first twirling them in their hands, and making circular strokes before them with great force and quickness; but so skilfully managed, that, though standing quite close, they never interfered. They shifted their clubs from hand to hand, with great dexterity; and after continuing a little time, kneeled, and made different motions, tossing the clubs up in the air, which they caught as they fell, and then went off as hastily as they entered. Their heads were covered with pieces of white cloth, tied at the crown (almost like a night-cap) with a wreath of foliage round the forehead; but they had only very small pieces of white cloth tied about their waists; probably, that they might be cool, and free from every incumbrance or weight. A person with a spear, dressed like the former, then came in, and in the same hasty manner; looking about eagerly, as if in search of somebody to throw it at. He then ran hastily to one side of the crowd in the front, and put himself in a threatening attitude, as if he meant to strike with his spear at one of them, bending the knee a little, and trembling, as it were with rage. He continued in this manner only a few seconds, when he moved to the other side, and having stood in the same posture there, for the same short time, retreated from the ground, as fast as when he made his appearance. The dancers, who had divided into two parties, kept repeating something slowly all this while; and now advanced, and joined again, ending with universal applause. It should seem, that this dance was considered as one of their capital performances, if we might judge from some of the principal people being engaged in it. For one of the drums was beat by Futtafaihe, the brother of Poulaho, another by Feenou, and the third, which did not belong to the chorus, by Mareewagee himself, at the entrance of his hut.
The last dance had forty men, and two drums, as a chorus. It consisted of sixty men, who had not danced before, disposed in three rows, having twenty-four in front. But, before they began, we were entertained with a pretty long preliminary harangue, in which the whole body made responses to a single person who spoke. They recited sentences (perhaps verses) alternately with the chorus, and made many motions with the pagge, in a very brisk mode, which were all applauded with mareeai! and fyfogge! words expressing two different degrees of praise. They divided into two bodies, with their backs to each other; formed again, shifted their ranks as in the other dances; divided and retreated, making room for two champions, who exercised their clubs as before; and after them two others: the dancers, all the time, reciting slowly in turn with the chorus; after which they advanced, and finished.
These dances, if they can properly be called so, lasted from eleven till near three o’clock; and though they were doubtless intended particularly either in honour of us, or to show a specimen of their dexterity, vast numbers of their own people attended as spectators. Their numbers could not be computed exactly, on account of the inequality of the ground; but, by reckoning the inner circle, and the number in depth, which was between twenty and thirty in many places, we supposed that there must be near four thousand. At the same time, there were round the trading place at the tent, and straggling about, at least as many more; and some of us computed, that, at this time, there were not less than ten or twelve thousand people, in our neighbourhood; that is, within the compass of a quarter of a mile; drawn together, for the most part, by mere curiosity.
It is with regret I mention, that we could not understand what was spoken, while we were able to see what was acted, in these amusements. This, doubtless, would have afforded us much information, as to the genius and customs of these people, It was observable, that, though the spectators always approved of the various motions, when well made, a great share of the pleasure they received seemed to arise from the sentimental part, or what the performers delivered in their speeches. However, the mere acting part, independently of the sentences repeated, was well worth our notice, both with respect to the extensive plan on which it was executed, and to the various motions, as well as the exact unity, with which they were performed. But neither pencil nor pen can describe the numerous actions and motions, the singularity of which was not greater, than was the ease and gracefulness with which they were performed.
At night we were entertained with the bomai, or night dances, on a space before Feenou’s temporary habitation. They lasted about three hours; in which time we had about twelve of them performed, much after the same manner as those at Hapaee. But in two that were performed by women, a number of men came and formed a circle within theirs. And, in another, consisting of twenty-four men, there were a number of motions with the hands, that we had not seen before, and were highly applauded. The music was also once changed, in the course of the night; and in one of the dances, Feenou appeared at the head of fifty men who had performed at Hapaee, and he was well dressed with linen, a large piece of gauze, and some little pictures hung round his neck. But it was evident, after the diversions were closed, that we had put these poor people, or rather that they had put themselves, to much inconvenience. For being drawn together on this uninhabited part of their island, numbers of them were obliged to lie down and sleep under the bushes, by the side of a tree, or of a canoe; nay, many either lay down in the open air, which they are not fond of, or walked about all the night.
The whole of this entertainment was conducted with far better order, than could have been expected in so large an assembly. Amongst such a multitude, there must be a number of ill-disposed people; and we hourly experienced it. All our care and attention did not prevent their plundering us, in every quarter; and that, in the most daring and insolent manner. There was hardly any thing that they did not attempt to steal; and yet, as the crowd was always so great, I would not allow the sentries to fire, lest the innocent should suffer for the guilty. They once, at noon day, ventured to aim at taking an anchor from off the Discovery’s bows; and they would certainly have succeeded, if the flook had not hooked one of the chain-plates in lowering down the ship’s side, from which they could not disengage it by hand; and tackles were things they were unacquainted with. The only act of violence they were guilty of, was the breaking the shoulder-bone of one of our goats, so that she died soon after. This loss fell upon themselves, as she was one of those that I intended to leave upon the island; but of this, the person who did it, was ignorant.
Early in the morning of the 18th, an incident happened, that strongly marked one of their customs. A man got out of a canoe into the quarter gallery of the Resolution, and stole from thence a pewter bason. He was discovered, pursued, and brought along side the ship. On this occasion, three old women, who were in the canoe, made loud lamentations over the prisoner, beating their breasts and faces in a most violent manner, with the inside of their fists; and all this was done without shedding a tear. This mode of expressing grief is what occasions the mark which almost all this people bear on the face, over the cheek bones. The repeated blows which they inflict upon this part, abrade the skin, and make even the blood flow out in a considerable quantity; and when the wounds are recent, they look as if a hollow circle had been burnt in. On many occasions, they actually cut this part of the face with an instrument; in the same manner as the people of Otaheite cut their heads.
This day, I bestowed on Mareewagee some presents, in return for those we had received from him the day before; and as the entertainments which he had then exhibited for our amusement, called upon us to make some exhibition in our way, I ordered the party of marines to go through their exercise, on the spot where his dances had been performed; and, in the evening, played off some fire-works at the same place. Poulaho, with all the principal chiefs, and a great number of people, of all denominations, were present. The platoon firing, which was executed tolerably well, seemed to give them pleasure; but they were lost in astonishment when they beheld our water rockets. They paid but little attention to the fife and drum, or French horns, that played during the intervals. The king sat behind every body, because no one is allowed to sit behind him; and that his view might not be obstructed, nobody sat immediately before him; but a lane, as it were, was made by the people from him, quite down to the space allotted for the fire-works.
In expectation of this evening show, the circle of natives about our tent being pretty large, they engaged, the greatest part of the afternoon, in boxing and wrestling; the first of which exercises they call fangatooa and the second foohoo. When any of them chooses to wrestle, he gets up from one side of the ring, and crosses the ground in a sort of measured pace, clapping smartly on the elbow-joint of one arm, which is bent, and produces a hollow sound; that is reckoned the challenge. If no person comes out from the opposite side to engage him, he returns, in the same manner, and sits down; but sometimes stands clapping in the midst of the ground, to provoke someone to come out. If an opponent appear, they come together with marks of the greatest good-nature, generally smiling, and taking time to adjust the piece of cloth which is fastened round the waist. They then lay hold of each other by this girdle, with a hand on each side; and he who succeeds in drawing his antagonist to him, immediately tries to lift him upon his breast, and throw him upon his back; and if he be able to turn round with him two or three times, in that position, before he throws him, his dexterity never fails of procuring plaudits from the spectators. If they be more equally matched, they close soon, and endeavour to throw each other by entwining their legs, or lifting each other from the ground; in which struggles they show a prodigious exertion of strength, every muscle, as it were, being ready to burst with straining. When one is thrown, he immediately quits the field, but the victor sits down for a few seconds, then gets up, and goes to the side he came from, who proclaim the victory aloud, in a sentence delivered slowly, and in a musical cadence. After sitting a short space, he rises again and challenges; when sometimes several antagonists make their appearance; but he has the privilege of choosing which of them he pleases to wrestle with; and has likewise, the preference of challenging again, if he should throw his adversary, until he himself be vanquished; and then the opposite side sing the song of victory in favour of their champion. It also often happens, that five or six rise from each side, and challenge together; in which case, it is common to see three or four couple engaged on the field at once. But it is astonishing to see what temper they preserve in this exercise; for we observed no instances of their leaving the spot, with the least displeasure in their countenances. When they find, that they are so equally matched as not to be likely to throw each other, they leave off by mutual consent. And if the fall of one is not fair, or if it does not appear very clearly who has had the advantage, both sides sing the victory, and then they engage again. But no person, who has been vanquished, can engage with his conqueror a second time.