I had not been long seated, before near a hundred of the natives appeared in sight, and advanced, laden with yams, bread-fruit, plantains, cocoa-nuts, and sugar-canes. They deposited their burdens, in two heaps, or piles, upon our left, being the side they came from. Soon after, arrived a number of others from the right, bearing the same kind of articles, which were collected into two piles upon that side. To these were tied two pigs, and six fowls; and to those upon the left, six pigs, and two turtles. Earoupa seated himself before the several articles upon the left; and another chief before those upon the right; they being, as I judged, the two chiefs who had collected them, by order of Feenou, who seemed to be as implicitly obeyed here, as he had been at Annamooka; and, in consequence of his commanding superiority over the chiefs of Hepaee, had laid this tax upon them for the present occasion.
As soon as this munificent collection of provisions was laid down in order, and disposed to the best advantage, the bearers of it joined the multitude, who formed a large circle round the whole. Presently after, a number of men entered this circle, or area, before us, armed with clubs, made of the green branches of the cocoa-nut tree. These paraded about for a few minutes, and then retired; the one half to one side, and the other half to the other side; seating themselves before the spectators. Soon after, they successively entered the lists, and entertained us with single combats. One champion, rising up and stepping forward from one side, challenged those of the other side, by expressive gestures, more than by words, to send one of their body to oppose him. If the challenge was accepted, which was generally the case, the two combatants put themselves in proper attitudes, and then began the engagement, which continued till one or other owned himself conquered, or till their weapons were broken. As soon as each combat was over, the victor squatted himself down facing the chief, then rose up, and retired. At the same time, some old men, who seemed to sit as judges, gave their plaudit in a few words; and the multitude, especially those on the side to which the victor belonged, celebrated the glory he had acquired in two or three huzzas.
This entertainment was, now and then, suspended for a few minutes. During these intervals there were both wrestling and boxing matches. The first were performed in the same manner as at Otaheite; and the second differed very little from the method practised in England. But what struck us with most surprise, was, to see a couple of lusty wenches step forth, and begin boxing; without the least ceremony, and with as much art as the men. This contest, however, did not last above half a minute, before one of them gave it up. The conquering heroine received the same applause from the spectators which they bestowed upon the successful combatants of the other sex. We expressed some dislike at this part of the entertainment; which, however, did not prevent two other females from entering the lists. They seemed to be girls of spirit, and would certainly have given each other a good drubbing, if two old women had not interposed to part them. All these combats were exhibited in the midst of, at least, three thousand people, and were conducted with the greatest good humour on all sides; though some of the champions, women as well as men, received blows, which, doubtless, they must have felt for some time after.
As soon as these diversions were ended, the chief told me, that the heaps of provisions on our right hand were a present to Omai; and that those on our left hand, being about two-thirds of the whole quantity, were given to me. He added, that I might take them on board whenever it was convenient; but that there would be no occasion to set any of our people as guards over them, as I might be assured, that not a single cocoa-nut would be taken away by the natives. So it proved; for I left every thing behind, and returned to the ship to dinner, carrying the chief with me; and when the provisions were removed on board, in the afternoon, not a single article was missing. There was as much as loaded four boats; and I could not but be struck with the munificence of Feenou; for this present far exceeded any I had ever received from any of the sovereigns of the various islands I had visited in the Pacific Ocean. I lost no time in convincing my friend, that I was not insensible of his liberality; for, before he quitted my ship, I bestowed upon him such of our commodities, as, I guessed, were most valuable in his estimation. And the return I made was so much to his satisfaction, that, as soon as he got on shore, he left me still indebted to him, by sending me a fresh present, consisting of two large hogs, a considerable quantity of cloth, and some yams.
Feenou had expressed a desire to see the marines go through their military exercise. As I was desirous to gratify his curiosity, I ordered them all ashore, from both ships, in the morning of the 20th. After they had performed various evolutions, and fired several vollies, with which the numerous body of spectators seemed well pleased, the chief entertained us, in his turn, with an exhibition, which, as was acknowledged by us all, was performed with a dexterity and exactness, far surpassing the specimen we had given of our military manoeuvres. It was a kind of a dance, so entirely different from any thing I had ever seen, that, I fear, I can give no description that will convey any tolerable idea of it to my readers. It was performed by men; and one hundred and five persons bore their parts in it. Each of them had in his hand an instrument neatly made, shaped somewhat like a paddle, of two feet and a half in length, with a small handle, and a thin blade; so that they were very light. With these instruments they made many and various flourishes, each of which was accompanied with a different attitude of the body, or a different movement. At first, the performers ranged themselves in three lines; and, by various evolutions, each man changed his station in such a manner, that those who had been in the rear came into the front. Nor did they remain long in the same position; but these changes were made by pretty quick transitions. At one time they extended themselves in one line; they, then, formed into a semicircle; and, lastly, into two square columns. While this last movement was executing, one of them advanced, and performed an antic dance before me; with which the whole ended.
The musical instruments consisted of two drums, or rather two hollow logs of wood, from which some varied notes were produced, by beating on them with two sticks. It did not, however, appear to me, that the dancers were much assisted or directed by these sounds, but by a chorus of vocal music, in which all the performers joined at the same time. Their song was not destitute of pleasing melody; and all their corresponding motions were executed with so much skill, that the numerous body of dancers seemed to act, as if they were one great machine. It was the opinion of every one of us, that such a performance would have met with universal applause on a European theatre; and it so far exceeded any attempt we had made to entertain them, that they seemed to pique themselves upon the superiority they had over us. As to our musical instruments, they held none of them in the least esteem, except the drum; and even that they did not think equal to their own. Our French horns, in particular, seemed to be held in great contempt; for neither here, nor at any other of the islands, would they pay the smallest attention to them.
In order to give them a more favourable opinion of English amusements, and to leave their minds fully impressed with the deepest sense of our superior attainments, I directed some fireworks to be got ready; and, after it was dark, played them off in the presence of Feenou, the other chiefs, and a vast concourse of their people. Some of the preparations we found damaged; but others of them were in excellent order, and succeeded so perfectly, as to answer the end I had in view. Our water and sky-rockets, in particular, pleased and astonished them beyond all conception; and the scale was now turned in our favour.
This, however, seemed only to furnish them with an additional motive to proceed to fresh exertions of their very singular dexterity; and our fireworks were no sooner ended, than a succession of dances, which Feenou had got ready for our entertainment, began. As[160] a prelude to them, a band of music, or chorus of eighteen men, seated themselves before us, in the centre of the circle, composed by the numerous spectators, the area of which was to be the scene of the exhibitions. Four or five of this band had pieces of large bamboo, from three to five or six feet long, each managed by one man, who held it nearly in a vertical position, the upper end open, but the other end closed by one of the joints. With this close end, the performers kept constantly striking the ground, though slowly, thus producing different notes, according to the different lengths of the instruments, but all of them of the hollow or base sort; to counteract which, a person kept striking quickly, and with two sticks, a piece of the same substance, split, and laid along the ground, and, by that means, furnishing a tone as acute as those produced by the others were grave. The rest of the band, as well as those who performed upon the bamboos, sung a slow and soft air, which so tempered the harsher notes of the above instruments, that no bye-stander, however accustomed to hear the most perfect and varied modulation of sweet sounds, could avoid confessing the vast power, and pleasing effect, of this simple harmony.
[Footnote 160: Mr Andersen's account of the night dances being much fuller than Captain Cook's, the reader will not be displeased that it has been adopted.--D.]
The concert having continued about a quarter of an hour, twenty women entered the circle. Most of them had, upon their heads, garlands of the crimson flowers of the China rose, or others; and many of them had ornamented their persons with leaves of trees, cut with a deal of nicety about the edges. They made a circle round the chorus, turning their faces toward it, and began by singing a soft air, to which responses were made by the chorus in the same tone; and these were repeated alternately. All this while, the women accompanied their song with several very graceful motions of their hands toward their faces, and in other directions at the same time, making constantly a step forward, and then back again, with one foot, while the other was fixed. They then turned their faces to the assembly, sung some time, and retreated slowly in a body, to that part of the circle which was opposite the hut where the principal spectators sat. After this, one of them advanced from each side, meeting and passing each other in the front, and continuing their progress round, till they came to the rest. On which, two advanced from each side, two of whom also passed each other, and returned as the former; but the other two remained, and to these came one, from each side, by intervals, till the whole number had again formed a circle-about the chorus.