Captain David Porter of the United States Navy was with his ship the Essex at Nukahiva from October 24th till December 9th, 1813.[153] A great part of his time was spent on shore and in close contact with the natives, and though he did not learn the language, he was able to employ as an interpreter an Englishman named Wilson, who had lived for many years in the islands, spoke the language of the natives with the same facility as his own, and had become a Marquesan in every respect except in colour. He proved indispensable to the American as an organ of communication with the people; and much of the information which Porter gives concerning the customs of the Marquesans was derived by him from this man.[154]
The American naval chaplain, the Rev. C. S. Stewart, paid about a fortnight's visit to Nukahiva, from July 27th to August 13th, 1829, while his ship, the Vincennes, was anchored at the island. But he received much information from the Rev. W. P. Crook, who spent nearly two years (1797 and 1798) in the Marquesas, having been the first missionary landed in the islands by the missionary ship Duff. During his residence in the islands Mr. Crook kept a journal, which he allowed Mr. Stewart to consult. The contents of the journal corroborated Mr. Stewart's own observations as to the inhabitants, and the account which he gives of the religion of the islanders is based mainly on the information derived from Mr. Crook[155] and is therefore valuable; for at the time when Mr. Crook landed in the Marquesas the customs and beliefs of the islanders were still practically unaffected by contact with Europeans.
The surgeon F. D. Bennett, on a whaling voyage spent a few days in Santa Christina (Tau-ata), from February 28th to March 4th, 1835; and his descriptions of what he saw are good so far as they go; but naturally he could collect but little accurate information as to the habits and ideas of the people in so short a time.[156]
One of the early Catholic missionaries to the Marquesas, Father Mathias G——, spent two years in the islands and has given us, in a series of letters, an account of the native customs and beliefs, which, though far from complete or systematic, is based on personal observation and is among the best that we possess.[157]
Hermann Melville lived among the Taipiis (Typees) in Nukahiva for more than four months,[158] and wrote a lively narrative of his experiences. His personal observations are valuable, but as he did not master the native language, he was not able to throw much light on the inner life of the people, and in particular on their religious ideas.
On the 1st of May, 1842, the Marquesas Islands were taken possession of for France by the French Admiral, Du Petit-Thouars;[159] and next year, to satisfy the interest of the French public in their new possession, a comprehensive work on the islands and their inhabitants was published by MM. Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz.[160] The authors had visited the islands with the expedition of the French navigator, J. Dumont d'Urville, in his ships the Astrolabe and the Zélée. But as the expedition stayed only about a week at Nukahiva, from August 26th to September 3rd, 1838,[161] the writers had little opportunity of making personal observations. Their work is mainly a careful compilation from earlier sources, and as such it is a useful and trustworthy summary of what was known about the archipelago and its inhabitants down to the date of publication.
Max Radiguet, one of the members of the expedition to the Marquesas under Admiral Du Petit-Thouars, passed a considerable time in the islands and wrote a graphic account of his experiences, which contains some valuable information as to the natives, their customs, religion, and mythology.[162] In the part which concerns the mythology he was assisted by an officer of artillery, M. Rohr, who had lived for several years in Nukahiva and was familiar with the language and customs of the people.[163]
In 1877 a good general account of the archipelago and its inhabitants was published at Paris. The author was a naval lieutenant, P. E. Eyriaud des Vergnes, who having lived in the islands in the official capacity of Resident for about six years (from 1868 to 1874) had ample time and opportunity for obtaining accurate information on the subject.[164] His work, though somewhat slight, is valuable so far as it goes; but it does not tell us much about the native religion, which in his time had probably lost a good deal of its original character through the influence of the missionaries and of civilisation.[165]
Some years later, in 1881 and 1882, a French naval doctor, Clavel by name, passed six months in the Marquesas. During his stay he made personal observations and collected information on the natives. These he subsequently published in a little work, which contains much of value;[166] but when he wrote almost all the natives had been nominally converted to Christianity and their ancient religion was practically extinct.[167]
Towards the end of the nineteenth century the German traveller Arthur Baessler paid a short visit to the Marquesas. In his book of travel in the South Sea he has given us descriptions of the islands and the people as he saw them, including some account of the scanty remains of their stone monuments and images.[168]