We met with two instances of persons disordered in their minds; the one a man at Owhyhee, the other a woman at Oneeheow. It appeared, from the particular attention and respect paid to them, that the opinion of their being inspired by the Divinity, which obtains among most of the nations of the east, is also received here.
Though the custom of eating the bodies of their enemies be not known, by positive evidence, to exist in any of the South Sea islands, except New Zealand, yet it is extremely probable, that it was originally prevalent in them all. The sacrificing human victims, which seems evidently to be a relic of this horrid practice, still obtains universally amongst these islanders; and it is easy to conceive, why the New Zealanders should retain the repast, which was probably the last act of these shocking rites, longer than the rest of their, tribe, who were situated in more mild and fruitful climates. As the inhabitants of the Sandwich islands certainly bear a nearer resemblance to those of New Zealand, both in their persons and disposition, than to any other people of this family, so it was strongly suspected by Mr. Anderson, that, like them, they still continue to feast on human flesh. The evidence on which he founds this opinion, has been stated very fully in the tenth section of the third chapter; but, as I always entertained great doubts of the justice of his conclusions, it may not be improper to take this occasion of mentioning the grounds on which I venture to differ from him. With respect to the information derived from the natives themselves, I shall only observe, that great pains were taken, by almost every officer on board, to come at the knowledge of so curious a circumstance; and that except in the two instances mentioned by Mr. Anderson, we found them invariably denying the existence of any such custom amongst them. It must be allowed, that Mr. Anderson's knowledge of their language, which was superior to that of any other person in either ship, ought certainly to give his opinion great weight; at the same time, I must beg leave to remark, that being present when he examined the man who had the small piece of salted flesh wrapped in cloth, it struck me very forcibly, that the signs he made use of meant nothing more, than that it was intended to be eat, and that it was very pleasant or wholesome to the stomach. In this opinion I was confirmed, by a circumstance which came to our knowledge, after the death of my worthy and ingenious friend, viz. that almost every native of these islands carried about with him, either in his calibash, or wrapped up in a piece of cloth, and tied about his waist, a small piece of raw pork, pork, highly salted, which they considered as a great delicacy, and used now and then to taste of. With respect to the confusion the young lad was in, (for he was not more than sixteen or eighteen years of age,) no one could have been surprised at it, who had seen the eager and earnest manner in which Mr. Anderson questioned him.
The argument drawn from the instrument made with sharks' teeth, and which is nearly of the same form with those used at New Zealand for cutting up the bodies of their enemies, is much more difficult to controvert. I believe it to be an undoubted fact, that this knife, if it may be so called, is never used by them in cutting the flesh of other animals. However, as the custom of offering human sacrifices, and of burning the bodies of the slain, is still prevalent here, it is not improbable that the use of this instrument is retained in those ceremonies. Upon the whole, I am strongly inclined to think, and particularly from this last circumstance, that the horrid practice in question, has but lately ceased amongst these and other islands of the South Sea. Omai, when pressed on this subject, confessed that in the rage and fury of revenge, they would sometimes tear the flesh of their enemies that were slain with their teeth; but positively denied that they ever eat it. This was certainly approaching as near the fact as could be; but, on the other hand, the denial is a strong proof that the practice has actually ceased; since in New Zealand, where it still exists, the inhabitants neyer made the smallest scruple of confessing it.[7]
[7] We have elsewhere had occasion to take notice of the fact of human sacrifices and cannibalism, forming an essential particular in the history of all the South Sea islanders. It is unnecessary to occupy a moment's attention in farther enquiry respecting it, as perhaps no question, in the circle of philosophical research, has received more complete solution by the testimony of credible witnesses. He that shall attempt to controvert their evidence, will have need of all the effrontery and invincibility to truth that ever stamped the forehead or hardened the heart of a polemist.--E.
The inhabitants of these islands differ from those of the Friendly Isles, in suffering, almost universally, their beards to grow. There were indeed a few, amongst whom was the old king, that cut it off entirely; and others that wore it only upon the upper lip. The same variety, in the manner of wearing the hair, is also observable here, as among the other islanders of the South Sea; besides which, as far as we know, they have a fashion peculiar to themselves. They cut it close on each side the head, down to the ears, leaving a ridge of about a small hand's breadth, running from the forehead to the neck; which, when the hair is thick and curling, has the form of the crest of the ancient helmet. Others wear large quantities of false hair, flowing down their backs in long ringlets, like the figure of the inhabitants of Horn Island, as seen in Dalrymple's Voyages; and others, again, tie it into a single round bunch on the top of the head, almost as large as the head itself, and some into five or six distinct bunches. They daub their hair with a grey clay, mixed with powdered shells, which they keep in balls, and chew into a kind of soft paste, when they have occasion to make use of it. This keeps the hair smooth, and in time changes it to a pale yellow colour.
Both sexes wear necklaces, made of strings of small variegated shells; and an ornament, in the form of the handle of a cup, about two inches long, and half an inch broad, made of wood, stone, or ivory, finely polished, which is hung about the neck by fine threads of twisted hair, doubled sometimes an hundred fold. Instead of this ornament, some of them wear on their breast a small human figure made of bone, suspended in the same manner.
The fan, or fly-flap, is also an ornament used by both sexes. The most ordinary kind are made of the fibres of the cocoa-nut, tied loose in bunches to the top of a smooth polished handle. The tail-feathers of the cock, and of the tropic-bird, are also used in the same manner; but the most valuable are those which have the handle made of the arm or leg bones of an enemy slain in battle, and which are preserved with great care, and handed down from father to son, as trophies of inestimable value.
The custom of tattowing the body, they have in common with the rest of the natives of the South Sea islands; but it is only at New Zealand and the Sandwich Islands, that they tattow the face. There is also this difference between the two last, that in the former it is done in elegant spiral volutes, and in the latter in straight lines, crossing each, other at right angles. The hands and arms of the women are also very neatly marked, and they have a singular custom amongst them, the meaning of which we could never learn, that of tallowing the tip of the tongues of the females.
From some information we received, relative to the custom of tattowing, we were inclined to think, that it is frequently intended as a sign of mourning on the death of a chief, or any other calamitous event. For we were often, told, that such a particular mark was in memory of such a chief, and so of the rest. It may be here too observed, that the lowest class are often tattowed with a mark, that distinguishes them as the property of the several chiefs to whom they belong.[8]
[8] Here, then, we have two reasons for the practice of tattowing, in addition to those which we enumerated in the account of Cook's first voyage, provided only that Captain King's information can he relied on. The first of these, it may be remarked, is so extremely similar to the practice of wounding or cutting the body for the dead, which has prevailed so extensively, that we can have no difficulty in allowing the full force of the observation. But, with respect to the second, one may incline to demur, on the ground of the improbability that such a state of servitude as it implies, could exist in so apparently primitive a condition of society. This, however, is not difficult of explanation, as the reader will find in the following section, from which one may safely infer, that the government of the Sandwich islands is by no means one which requires for its exhibition, the innocence, the liberty, and equality of the golden age. Some conclusion may hence be drawn as to the probable origin and antiquity of these islanders. But it is obvious that we are far from possessing sufficient data to enable us to enter satisfactorily on the discussion of the topic.--E.