COMMODORE PORTER'S FLEET IN NOOKAHEEVA BAY.
"In the Feejee Islands it was tabu for brother and sister and first-cousins to speak together or eat from the same dish. Husband and wife could not eat from the same dish, and a father could not speak to his son if the latter was more than fifteen years old!
"The tabu was a very convenient police system, as any exposed property could be made safe by being tabooed. The chiefs and priests could tabu anything they chose; when a feast was about to come off the chief would previously tabu certain articles of food, and thus insure an abundance on the day of the festival. Violation of certain kinds of tabu was punished with death; other and smaller violations had various penalties affixed, and they generally included sacrifices or presents to the gods, or the payment of fines to the chiefs.
"Well, here in the Marquesas, among other prohibitions, it was tabu for a woman to enter a canoe or boat. Men had a monopoly of all paddling and sailing, and the only sea-voyage a woman could make was by swimming. I have read about women in the South Seas swimming out to ships anchored a long distance from shore, and never understood till now how it was. It is no wonder that sailors used to mistake these Marquesan nymphs for mermaids as they dashed through the waves with their long black hair trailing behind them in the water."
Fred's account of what they saw in the Marquesas pauses abruptly at this point. Perhaps he was interrupted by just such a scene as he describes in the last sentence, but he could hardly fall into the old error of the sailors. The women of the Marquesas are fine swimmers, but no better, perhaps, than those of the Feejee, Samoan, and other tropical or semi-tropical groups.
The Pera remained several days at the Marquesas, and then proceeded to Tahiti, in the Society group. Before they left Nookaheeva one of the officers of the Governor's staff pointed out the hill where Commodore Porter hoisted the American flag when he anchored with his prizes in the bay during the war of 1812. "That was a long time ago," said the officer; "but the incident is vividly preserved in the traditions of the people. And it was that incident that greatly aided the French in getting their foothold here."
"How was that?" Frank inquired.
"At the time of Commodore Porter's visit," replied the officer, "the Nookaheevans were at war with a neighboring tribe. The hostile tribe made an incursion one night and destroyed about two hundred bread-fruit trees close to Porter's camp; the next day they sent a messenger to tell him he was a coward, and they would come soon and attack his camp.