Odd People Part 10

"In social diplomacy the Feegeean is very cautious and clever. That he ever paid a visit merely _en pa.s.sant_, is hard to be believed. If no request leaves his lips, he has brought the desire, and only waits for a good chance to present it now, or prepare the way for its favourable reception at some other time. His face and voice are all pleasantness; and he has the rare skill of finding out just the subject on which you most like to talk, or sees at once whether you desire silence. Barely will he fail to read your countenance; and the case must be urgent indeed which obliges him to ask a favour when he sees a frown. The more important he feels his business the more earnestly he protests that he has none at all; and the subject uppermost in his thoughts comes last to his lips, or is not even named; for he will make a second, or even a third visit, rather than risk a failure through precipitancy. He seems to read other men by intuition, especially where selfishness or l.u.s.t are prominent traits. If it serves his purpose, he will study difficult and peculiar characters, reserving the results for future use; if afterwards he wish to please them, he will know how, and if to annoy them, it will be done most exactly.

"His sense of hearing is acute, and by a stroke of his nail he judges the ripeness of fruits, or soundness of various substances."

From what source the Feegeean has sprung is purely a matter of conjecture. He has no history,--not even a tradition of when his ancestors first peopled the Archipelago in which we now find him. Of his race we have not a much clearer knowledge. Speculation places him in the same family as the "Papuan Negro," and he has some points of resemblance to this race, in the colour and frizzled hair; but there is as much difference between the wretched native of West Australia and the finely-developed Feegeean as there is between the stunted Laplander and the stalwart Norwegian; nor is the coa.r.s.e rough skin of the true Papuan to be recognised in the smooth, glossy epidermis of the Feegee Islander.

This, however, may be the result of better living; and certainly among the mountain-tribes of the Feegees, who lead lives of greater privation and hards.h.i.+p, the approach to the Papuan appearance is observable. It is hardly necessary to add that the Feegeean is of a race quite distinct from that known as the Polynesian or South-Sea Islander. This last is different not only in form, complexion, and language, but also in many important mental characteristics. It is to this race the Tongans belong, and its peculiarities will be sketched in treating of that people.

Were we to enter upon a minute description of the manners and customs of the Feegees,--of their mode of house and canoe building,--of their arts and manufactures, for they possess both,--of their implements of agriculture and domestic use,--of their weapons of war,--their ceremonies of religion and court etiquette,--our task would require more s.p.a.ce than is here allotted to us: it would in fact be as much as to describe the complete social economy of a civilised nation; and a whole volume would scarce suffice to contain such a description. In a sketch like the present, the account of these people requires to be given in the most condensed and synoptical form, and only those points can be touched upon that may appear of the greatest interest.

It must be remembered that the civilisation of the Feegees--of course, I allude to their proficiency in the industrial arts--is entirely an indigenous growth. They have borrowed ideas from the Tongans,--as the Tongans have also from them,--but both are native productions of the South Sea, and not derived from any of the so-called great _centres_ of civilisation. Such as have sprung from these sources are of modern date, and make but a small feature in the panorama of Feegeean life.

The houses they build are substantial, and suitable to their necessities. We cannot stay to note the architecture minutely. The private dwellings are usually about twenty-five feet long by fifteen in breadth, the interior forming one room, but with a sort of elevated divan at the end, sometimes screened with beautiful "tapa" curtains, and serving as the dormitory.

The ground-plan of the house is that of an oblong square,--or, to speak more properly, a parallelogram. The walls are constructed of timber,-- being straight posts of cocoa-palm, tree-fern, bamboo, or breadfruit,-- the s.p.a.ces between closely warped or otherwise filled in with reeds of cane or _calamus_. The thatch is of the leaves of the wild or cultivated sugar-cane,--sometimes of a _panda.n.u.s_,--thickly laid on, especially near the eaves, where it is carefully cropped, exposing an edge of from one to two feet in thickness. The roof has four faces,-- that is, it is a "hip roof." It is made with a very steep pitch, and comes down low, projecting fer over the heads of the upright timbers.

This gives a sort of shaded veranda all around the house, and throws the rain quite clear of the walls. The ridge-pole is a peculiar feature; it is fastened to the ridge of the thatch by strong twisted ropes, that give it an ornamental appearance; and its carved ends project at both gables, or rather, over the "hip roofs," to the length of a foot, or more; it is further ornamented by white sh.e.l.ls, those of the _cyprea ovula_ being most used for the purpose. The Feegee house presents altogether a picturesque and not inelegant appearance. The worst feature is the low door. There are usually two of them, neither in each house being over three feet in height. The Feegee a.s.signs no reason why his door is made so low; but as he is frequently in expectation of a visitor, with a murderous bludgeon in his grasp, it is possible this may have something to do with his making the entrance so difficult.

The houses of the chiefs, and the great council-house, or temple,-- called the "Bure,"--are built precisely in the same style; only that both are larger, and the doors, walls, and ridge-poles more elaborately ornamented. The fas.h.i.+onable style of decoration is a plaiting of cocoa-fibre, or "sinnet," which is worked and woven around the posts in regular figures of "relievo."

The house described is not universal throughout all the group. There are many "orders" of architecture, and that prevailing in the Windward Islands is different from the style of the Leeward, and altogether of a better kind. Different districts have different forms. In one you may see a village looking like an a.s.semblage of wicker baskets, while in another you might fancy it a collection of rustic arbours. A third seems a collection oblong hayricks, with holes in their sides; while, in a fourth these ricks are conical.

It will be seen that, with this variety in housebuilding, it would be a tedious task to ill.u.s.trate the complete architecture of Feegeeans. Even Master Kuskin himself would surrender it up in despair.

Equally tedious would it be to describe the various implements or utensils which a Feegee house contains. The furniture is simple enough.

There are neither chairs, tables, nor bedsteads. The bed is a beautiful mat spread on the dais, or divan; and in the houses of the rich the floors are covered with a similar carpet. These mats are of the finest texture, far superior to those made elsewhere. The materials used are the _Hibiscus tiliaceus, Panda.n.u.s odoratissimus_, and a species of rush. They are in great abundance in every house,--even the poorest person having his mat to sit or lie upon; and it is they that serve for the broad-spreading sails of the gigantic canoes. In addition to the mats, plenty of tapa cloth may be seen, and baskets of every shape and size,--the wicker being obtained from the rattan (_flagellaria_), and other sources. One piece of furniture deserves especial mention,--this is the pillow upon which the Feegee lord lays his head when he goes to sleep. It presents but little claim to the appellation of a _downy_ pillow; since it is a mere cylinder of hard polished wood, with short arched pedestals to it, to keep it firmly in its place. Its object is to keep the great frizzled mop from being tossed or disarranged, during the hours of repose; and Feegeean vanity enables the owner of the mop to endure this flinty bolster with the most uncomplaining equanimity. If he were possessed of the slightest spark of conscience, even this would be soft, compared with any pillow upon which he might rest his guilty head.

In addition to the baskets, other vessels meet the eye. These are of pottery, as varied in shape and size as they are in kind. There are pots and pans, bowls, dishes, cups and saucers, jars and bottles,--many of them of rare and curious designs,--some red, some ornamented with a glaze obtained from the gum of the _kauri_ pine,--for this tree is also an indigenous production of the Feegee Islands. Though no potter's wheel is known to the Feegees, the proportions of their vessels are as just and true, and their polish as complete, as if Stafford had produced them. There are cooking-pots to be seen of immense size. These are jars formed with mouths wide enough to admit the largest joint. I dare not mention the kind of joint that is frequently cooked in those great caldrons. Ugh! the horrid pots!

Their implements are equally varied and numerous,--some for manufacturing purposes, and others for agriculture. The latter are of the simplest kind. The Feegee plough is merely a pointed stick inserted deeply into the ground, and kept moving about till a lump of the soil is broken upward. This is crushed into mould, first by a light club, and afterwards pulverised with the fingers. The process is slow, but fast enough for the Feegeean, whose farm is only a garden. He requires no plough, neither bullocks nor horses. With taro-roots and sweet potatoes that weigh ten pounds each, yams and yaqonas over one hundred, and plantains producing bunches of a hundred and fifty fruits to the single head, why need he trouble himself by breaking up more surface? His single acre yields him as much vegetable wealth as fifty would to an English farmer!

It is not to be supposed that he has it all to himself; no, nor half of it either; nor yet the fifth part of it. At least four fifths of his sweat has to be expended in tax or t.i.the; and this brings us to the form of his government. We shall not dwell long upon this subject. Suffice it to say that the great body of the people are in a condition of abject serfdom,--worse than slavery itself. They own nothing that they can call their own,--not their wives,--not their daughters,--not even their lives! All these may be taken from them at any hour. There is no law against despoiling them,--no check upon the will and pleasure of their chiefs or superiors; and, as these const.i.tute a numerous body, the poor _canaille_ have no end of ruffian despoilers. It is an everyday act for a chief to rob, or _club to death_, one of the common people! and no unfrequent occurrence to be himself clubbed to death by his superior, the king! Of these _kings_ there are eight in Feegee,--not one, as the old song has it; but the words of the ballad will apply to each of them with sufficient appropriateness. Any one of them will answer to the character of "Musty-fusty-shang?"

These kings have their residences on various islands, and the different parts of the group are distributed somewhat irregularly under their rule. Some islands, or parts of islands, are only tributary to them; others connected by a sort of deferential alliance; and there are communities quite independent, and living under the arbitrary sway of their own chieftains. The kings are not all of equal power or importance; but in this respect there have been many changes, even during the Feegeean historical period,--which extends back only to the beginning of the present century. Sometimes one is the most influential, sometimes another; and in most cases the pre-eminence is obtained by him who possesses the greatest amount of truculence and treachery. He who is most successful in murdering his rivals, and ridding himself of opposition, by the simple application of the club, usually succeeds in becoming for the time head "king of the Cannibal Islands." I do not mean that he reigns over the whole Archipelago. No king has yet succeeded in uniting all the islands under one government.

He only gets so far as to be feared everywhere, and to have tributary presents, and all manner of debasing compliments offered to him. These kings have all their courts and court etiquette, just as their "royal brothers" elsewhere; and the ceremonials observed are quite as complicated and degrading to the dignity of man.

The punishment for neglecting their observance is rather more severe in Feegee than elsewhere. For a decided or wilful non-compliance, the skull of the delinquent is frequently crushed in by the club of his majesty himself,--even in presence of a full "drawing-room." Lesser or accidental mistakes, or even the exhibition of an ungraceful _gaucherie_, are punished by the loss of a finger: the consequence of which is, that in Feegee there are many fingers missing! Indeed, a complete set is rather the exception than the rule. If a king or great chief should chance to miss his foot and slip down, it is the true _ton_ for all those who are near or around him to fall likewise,--the crowd coming down, literally like a "thousand of bricks!"

I might detail a thousand customs to show how far the dignity of the human form is debased and disgraced upon Feegee soil; but the subject could be well ill.u.s.trated nearer home. Flunkeyism is a fas.h.i.+on unfortunately not confined to the Feegeean archipelago; and though the forms in which it exhibits itself there may be different, the sentiment is still the same. It must ever appear where men are politically unequal,--wherever there is a cla.s.s possessed of hereditary privileges.

I come to the last,--the darkest feature in the Feegeean character,--the horrid crime and custom of cannibalism. I could paint a picture, and fill up the details with the testimony of scores of eyewitnesses,--a picture that would cause your heart to weep. It is too horrid to be given here. My pen declines the office; and, therefore, I must leave the painful story untold.

CHAPTER EIGHT.

THE TONGANS, OR FRIENDLY ISLANDERS.

It is a pleasure to pa.s.s out of the company of the ferocious Feegees into that of another people, which, though near neighbours of the former, are different from them in almost every respect,--I mean the Tongans, or Friendly Islanders. This appellation scarce requires to be explained. Every one knows that it was bestowed upon them by the celebrated navigator Cook,--who although not the actual discoverer of the Tonga group, was the first who thoroughly explored these islands, and gave any reliable account of them to the civilised world. Tasman, who might be termed the "Dutch Captain Cook," is allowed to be their discoverer, so long ago as 1643; though there is reason to believe that some of the Spanish explorers from Peru may have touched at these islands before his time. Tasman, however, has fixed the record of his visit, and is therefore ent.i.tled to the credit of the discovery,--as he is also to that of Australia, New Zealand, Van Diemen's Land, and other now well-known islands of the South-western Pacific. Tasman bestowed upon three of the Tonga group the names--Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Middleburgh; but, fortunately, geographers have acted in this matter with better taste than is their wont; and Tasman's Dutch national t.i.tles have fallen into disuse,--while the true native names of the islands have been restored to the map. This is what should be done with other Pacific islands as well; for it is difficult to conceive anything in worse taste than such t.i.tles as the Caroline and Loyalty Isles, Prince William's Land, King George's Island, and the ten thousand Albert and Victoria Lands which the genius of flattery, or rather flunkeyism, has so liberally distributed over the face of the earth. The t.i.tle of Friendly Isles, bestowed by Cook upon the Tonga archipelago, deserves to live; since it is not only appropriate, but forms the record of a pleasant fact,--the pacific character of our earliest intercourse with these interesting people.

It may be here remarked, that Mr Wylde and other superficial map-makers have taken a most unwarrantable liberty with this t.i.tle. Instead of leaving it as bestowed by the great navigator,--applicable to the Tonga archipelago alone,--they have _stretched_ it to include that of the Samoans, and--would it be believed--that of the _Feegees_? It is hardly necessary to point out the extreme absurdity of such a cla.s.sification: since it would be difficult to find two nationalities much more unlike than those of Tonga and Feegee. That they have many customs in common, is due (unfortunately for the Tongans) to the intercourse which proximity has produced; but in an ethnological sense, white is not a greater contrast to black, nor good to evil, than that which exists between a Tongan and a Feegeean. Cook never visited the Feegee archipelago,--he only saw some of these people while at Tongataboo, and heard of their country as being _a large island_. Had he visited that island,--or rather that group of over two hundred islands,--it is not at all likely he would have seen reason to extend to them the t.i.tle which the map-makers have thought fit to bestow. Instead of "Friendly Islands," he might by way of contrast have called them the "Hostile Isles," or given them that--above all others most appropriate, and which they truly deserve to bear--that old t.i.tle celebrated in song! the "Cannibal Islands." An observer so acute as Cook could scarce have overlooked the appropriateness of the appellation.

The situation of the Tonga, or Friendly Isles, is easily registered in the memory. The parallel of 20 degrees south, and the meridian of 175 degrees west, very nearly intersect each other in Tofoa, which may be regarded as the central island of the group. It will thus be seen that their central point is 5 degrees east and 2 degrees south of the centre of the Feegeean archipelago, and the nearest islands of the two groups are about three hundred miles apart.

It is worthy of observation, however, that the Tonga Isles have the advantage, as regards the wind. The _trades_ are in their favour; and from Tonga to Feegee, if we employ a landsman's phraseology, it is "down hill," while it is all "up hill" in the contrary direction. The consequence is, that many Tongans are constantly making voyages to the Feegee group,--a large number of them having settled there (as stated elsewhere),--while but a limited number of Feegeeans find their way to the Friendly Islands. There is another reason for this unequally-balanced migration: and that is, that the Tongans are much bolder and better sailors than their western neighbours; for although fer excel any other South-Sea islanders in the art of _building_ their canoes (or s.h.i.+ps as they might reasonably be called), yet they are as far behind many others in the art of _sailing_ them.

Their superiority in s.h.i.+p-building may be attributed, partly, to the excellent materials which these islands abundantly afford; though this is not the sole cause. However much we may deny to the Feegeeans the possession of moral qualities, we are at the same time forced to admit their great intellectual capacity,--as exhibited in the advanced state of their arts and manufactures. In intellectual capacity, however, the Friendly Islanders are their equals; and the superiority of the Feegeeans even in "canoe architecture" is no longer acknowledged. It is true the Tongans go to the Feegee group for most of their large double vessels; but that is for the reasons already stated,--the greater abundance and superior quality of the timber and other materials produced there. In the Feegee "dockyards," the Tongans build for themselves; and have even improved upon the borrowed pattern.

This intercourse,--partaking somewhat of the character of an alliance,-- although in some respects advantageous to the Friendly Islanders, may be regarded, upon the whole, as unfortunate for them. If it has improved their knowledge in arts and manufactures, it has far more than counterbalanced this advantage by the damage done to their moral character. It is always much easier to make proselytes to vice than to virtue,--as is proved in this instance: for his intercourse with the ferocious Feegee has done much to deteriorate the character of the Tongan. From that source he has imbibed a fondness for war and other wicked customs; and, in all probability, had this influence been permitted to continue uninterrupted for a few years longer, the horrid habit of cannibalism--though entirely repugnant to the natural disposition of the Tongans--would have become common among them.

Indeed, there can be little doubt that this would have been the ultimate consequence of the alliance; for already its precursors--human sacrifices and the vengeful immolation of enemies--had made their appearance upon the Friendly Islands. Happily for the Tongan, another influence--that of the missionaries--came just in time to avert this dire catastrophe; and, although this missionary interference has not been the best of its kind, it is still preferable to the paganism which it has partially succeeded in subduing.

The Tongan archipelago is much less extensive than that of the Feegees,--the islands being of a limited number, and only five or six of them of any considerable size. Tongataboo, the largest, is about ninety miles in circ.u.mference. From the most southern of the group Eoo, to Yavan at the other extremity, it stretches, northerly or northeasterly, about two hundred miles, in a nearly direct line. The islands are all, with one or two exceptions, low-lying, their surface being diversified by a few hillocks or mounds, of fifty or sixty feet in height, most of which have the appearance of being artificial. Some of the smaller islets, as Kao, are mountains of some six hundred feet elevation, rising directly out of the sea; while Tofoa, near the eastern edge of the archipelago, presents the appearance of an _elevated_ tableland. The larger number of them are clothed with a rich tropical vegetation, both natural and cultivated, and their botany includes most of the species common to the other islands of the South Sea. We find the cocoa, and three other species of palm, the panda.n.u.s, the breadfruit in varieties, as also the useful musacaae,--the plantain, and banana. The ti-tree (_Dracaena terminalis_), the paper-mulberry (_Brousonetia papyrifera_), the sugar-cane, yams of many kinds, the tree yielding the well-known _turmeric_, the beautiful _casuarina_, and a hundred other sorts of plants, shrubs, or trees, valuable for the product of their roots or fruits, their sap and pith, of their trunks and branches, their leaves and the fibrous material of their bark.

As a scenic decoration to the soil, there is no part of the world where more lovely landscapes are produced by the aid of a luxuriant vegetation. They are perhaps not equal in picturesque effect to those of the Feegee group,--where mountains form an adjunct to the scenery,-- but in point of soft, quiet beauty, the landscapes of the Tonga Islands are not surpa.s.sed by any others in the tropical world; and with the climate they enjoy--that of an endless summer--they might well answer to the description of the "abode of the Blessed." And, indeed, when Tasman first looked upon these islands, they perhaps merited the t.i.tle more than any other spot on the habitable globe; for, if any people on this earth might be esteemed happy and blessed, surely it was the inhabitants of these fair isles of the far Southern Sea. Tasman even records the remarkable fact, that he saw no arms among them,--no weapons of war! and perhaps, at that time, neither the detestable trade nor its implements were known to them. Alas! in little more than a century afterwards, this peaceful aspect was no longer presented. When the great English navigator visited these islands, he found the war-club and spear in the hands of the people, both of Feegee pattern, and undoubtedly of the same ill-omened origin.

The personal appearance of the Friendly Islanders differs not a great deal from that of the other South-Sea tribes or nations. Of course we speak only of the true Polynesians of the brown complexion, without reference to the black-skinned islanders--as the Feegees and others of the Papuan stock. The two have neither resemblance nor relations.h.i.+p to one another; and it would not be difficult to show that they are of a totally distinct origin. As for the blacks, it is not even certain that they are themselves of one original stock; for the splendidly-developed cannibal of Feegee presents very few features in common with the wretched kangaroo-eater of West Australia. Whether the black islanders (or Melanesians as they have been designated) originally came from one source, is still a question for ethnologists; but there can be no doubt as to the direction whence they entered upon the colonisation of the Pacific. That was certainly upon its western border, beyond which they have not made much progress: since the Feegeean archipelago is at the present time their most advanced station to the eastward. The brown or Polynesian races, on the contrary, began their migrations from the eastern border of the great ocean--in other words, they came from America; and the so-called Indians of America are, in my opinion, the _progenitors_, not the _descendants_, of these people of the Ocean world. If learned ethnologists will give their attention to this view of the subject, and disembarra.s.s their minds of that fabulous old fancy, about an original stock situated somewhere (they know not exactly where) upon the steppes of Asia, they will perhaps arrive at a more rational hypothesis about the peopling of the so-called new worlds, both the American and Oceanic. They will be able to prove--what might be here done if s.p.a.ce would permit--that the Polynesians are emigrants from tropical America, and that the Sandwich Islanders came originally from California, and not the Californians from the island homes of Hawaii.

It is of slight importance here how this question may be viewed. Enough to know that the natives of the Tonga group bear a strong resemblance to those of the other Polynesian archipelagos--to the Otaheitans and New Zealanders, but most of all to the inhabitants of the Samoan or Navigators' Islands, of whom, indeed, they may be regarded as a branch, with a separate political and geographical existence. Their language also confirms the affinity, as it is merely a dialect of the common tongue spoken by all the Polynesians.

Whatever difference exists between the Tongans and other Polynesians in point of personal appearance, is in favour of the former. The men are generally regarded as the best-looking of all South-Sea Islanders, and the women among the fairest of their s.e.x. Many of them would be accounted beautiful in any part of the world; and as a general rule, they possess personal beauty in a fer higher degree than the much-talked-of Otaheitans.

The Tongans are of tall stature--rather above than under that of European nations. Men of six feet are common enough; though few are seen of what might be termed gigantic proportions. In fact, the true medium size is almost universal, and the excess in either direction forms the exception. The bulk of their bodies is in perfect proportion to their height. Unlike the black Feegeeans--who are often bony and gaunt--the Tongans possess well-rounded arms and limbs; and the hands and feet, especially those of the women, are small and elegantly shaped.

To give a delineation of their features would be a difficult task--since these are so varied in different individuals, that it would be almost impossible to select a good typical face. Indeed the same might be said of nearly every nation on the face of the earth; and the difficulty will be understood by your making an attempt to describe some face that will answer for every set of features in a large town, or even a small village; or still, with greater limitation, for the different individuals of a single family. Just such a variety there will be found among the faces of the Friendly Islanders, as you might note in the inhabitants of an English town or county; and hence the difficulty of making a correct likeness. A few characteristic points, however, may be given, both as to their features and complexion. Their lips are scarcely ever of a thick or negro form; and although the noses are in general rounded at the end, this rule is not universal;--many have genuine Roman noses, and what may be termed a full set of the best Italian features. There is also less difference between the s.e.xes in regard to their features than is usually seen elsewhere--those of the women being only distinguished by their less size.

The forms of the women const.i.tute a more marked distinction; and among the beauties of Tonga are many that might be termed models in respect to shape and proportions. In colour, the Tongans are lighter than most other South-Sea Islanders. Some of the better cla.s.ses of women--those least exposed to the open air--show skins of a light olive tint; and the children of all are nearly white after birth. They become browner less from age than exposure to the sun; for, as soon as they are able to be abroad, they scarce ever afterwards enter under the shadow of a roof, except during the hours of night.

The Tongans have good eyes and teeth; but in this respect they are not superior to many other Oceanic tribes--even the black Feegeeans possessing both eyes and "ivories" scarce surpa.s.sed anywhere. The Tongans, however, have the advantage of their dusky neighbours in the matter of hair--their heads being clothed with a luxuriant growth of true hair. Sometimes it is quite straight, as among the American Indians, but oftener with a slight wave or undulation, or a curl approaching, but never quite arriving at the condition of "crisp."

His hair in its natural colour is jet black; and it is to be regretted that the Tongans have not the good taste to leave it to its natural hue.

On the contrary, their fas.h.i.+on is to stain it of a reddish-brown, a purple or an orange. The brown is obtained by the application of burnt coral, the purple from a vegetable dye applied poultice-fas.h.i.+on to the hair, and the orange is produced by a copious lathering of common turmeric,--with which the women also sometimes anoint their bodies, and those of their children. This fas.h.i.+on of hair-dyeing is also common to the Feegees, and whether they obtained it from the Tongans, or the Tongans from them, is an unsettled point. The more probable hypothesis would be, that among many other ugly customs, it had its origin in Feegee-land,--where, however, the people a.s.sign a reason for practising it very different from the mere motive of ornament. They allege that it also serves a useful purpose, in preventing the too great fructification of a breed of parasitic insects,--that would otherwise find--the immense mop of the frizzly Feegeean a most convenient dwelling-place, and a secure asylum from danger. This may have had something to do with the origin of the custom; but once established for purposes of utility, it is now confirmed, and kept up by the Tongans as a useless ornament.

Their taste in the colour runs exactly counter to that of European fas.h.i.+onables. What a pity it is that the two could not make an exchange of hair! Then both parties, like a pair of advertis.e.m.e.nts in the "Times," would exactly _fit_ each other.

Besides the varied fas.h.i.+on in colours, there is also great variety in the styles in which the Tongans wear their hair. Some cut it short on one side of their head, leaving it at full length on the other; some shave a small patch, or cut off only a single lock; while others--and these certainly display the best taste--leave it to grow out in all its full luxuriance. In this, again, we find the European fas.h.i.+on reversed, for the women are those who wear it shortest. The men, although they are not without beard, usually crop this appendage very close, or shave it off altogether,--a piece of sh.e.l.l, or rather a pair of sh.e.l.ls, serving them for a razor.

The mode is to place the thin edge of one sh.e.l.l underneath the hair,-- just as a hair-cutter does his comb,--and with the edge of the other applied above, the hairs are rasped through and divided. There are regular barbers for this purpose, who by practice have been rendered exceedingly dexterous in its performance; and the victim of the operation alleges that there is little or no pain produced,--at all events, it does not bring the tears to his eyes, as a dull razor often does with us poor thin-skinned Europeans!

The dress of the Tongans is very similar to that of the Otaheitans, so often described and well-known; but we cannot pa.s.s it here without remarking a notable peculiarity on the part of the Polynesian people, as exhibited in the character of their costume. The native tribes of almost all other warm climates content themselves with the most scant covering,--generally with no covering at all, but rarely with anything that may be termed a skirt. In South America most tribes wear the "guayuco,"--a mere strip around the loins, and among the Feegees the "malo" or "masi" of the men, and the scant "liku" of the women are the only excuse for a modest garment. In Africa we find tribes equally dest.i.tute of clothing, and the same remark will apply to the tropical countries all around the globe. Here, however, amongst a people dwelling in the middle of a vast ocean,--isolated from the whole civilised world, we find a natural instinct of modesty that does credit to their character, and is even in keeping with that character, as first observed by voyagers to the South Seas. Whatever acts of indelicacy may be alleged against the Otaheitans, this has been much exaggerated by their intercourse with immoral white men; but none of such criminal conduct can be charged against the natives of the Friendly Isles. On the contrary, the behaviour of these, both among themselves and in presence of European visitors, has been ever characterised by a modesty that would shame either Regent Street or Ratcliffe Highway.

A description of the national costume of the Tongans, though often given, is not unworthy of a place here; and we shall give it as briefly as a proper understanding of it will allow. There is but one "garment"

to be described, and that is the "pareu," which will be better understood, perhaps, by calling it a "petticoat." The material is usually of "tapa" cloth,--a fabric of native manufacture, to be described hereafter,--and the cutting out is one of the simplest of performances, requiring neither a tailor for the men, nor a dressmaker for the other s.e.x, for every one can make their own pareu. It needs only to clip a piece of "tapa" cloth in the form of an "oblong square"-- an ample one, being about two yards either way. This is wrapped round the body,--the middle part against the small of the back,--and then both ends brought round to the front are lapped over each other as far as they will go, producing, of course, a double fold of the cloth. A girdle is next tied around the waist,--usually a cord of ornamental plait; and this divides the piece of tapa into body and skirt. The latter is of such a length as to stretch below the calf of the leg,-- sometimes down to the ankle,--and the upper part or body _would_ reach to the shoulders, if the weather required it, and often does _when the missionaries require it_. But not at any other time: such an ungraceful mode of wearing the pareu was never intended by the simple Tongans, who never dreamt of there being any immodesty in their fas.h.i.+on until told of it by their puritanical preceptors!

Tongan-fas.h.i.+on, the pareu is a sort of tunic, and a most graceful garment to boot; Methodist fas.h.i.+on, it becomes a gown or rather a sleeveless wrapper that resembles a sack. But if the body part is not to be used in this way, how, you will ask, is it to be disposed of? Is it allowed to hang down outside, like the gown of a slattern woman, who has only half got into it? No such thing. The natural arrangement is both simple and peculiar; and produces, moreover, a costume that is not only characteristic but graceful to the eye that once becomes used to it. The upper half of the tapa cloth is neatly folded or turned, until it becomes a thick roll; and this roll, brought round the body, just above the girdle, is secured in that position. The swell thus produced causes the waist to appear smaller by contrast; and the effect of a well-formed bust, rising above the roll of tapa cloth, is undoubtedly striking and elegant. In cold weather, but more especially at night, the roll is taken out, and the shoulders are then covered; for it is to be observed that the pareu, worn by day as a dress, is also kept on at night as a sleeping-gown, more especially by those who possess only a limited wardrobe. It is not always the cold that requires it to be kept on at night. It is more used, at this time, as a protection against the mosquitoes, that abound amidst the luxuriant vegetation of the Tongan Islands.

The "pareu" is not always made of the "tapa" cloth. Fine mats, woven from the fibres of the screw-pine (panda.n.u.s), are equally in vogue; and, upon festive occasions, a full-dress pareu is embellished with red feather-work, adding greatly to the elegance and picturesqueness of its appearance. A coa.r.s.er and scantier pareu is to be seen among the poorer people, the material of which is a rough tapa, fabricated from the bark of the breadfruit, and not unfrequently this is only a mere strip wrapped around the loins; in other words, a "malo," "maro," or "maso,"-- as it is indifferently written in the varied orthography of the voyagers. Having described this only and unique garment, we have finished with the costume of the Tongan Islanders, both men and women,-- for both wear the pareu alike. The head is almost universally uncovered; and no head-dress is ever worn unless a cap of feathers by the great chiefs, and this only upon rare and grand occasions. It is a sort of chaplet encircling the head, and deeper in front than behind.

Over the forehead the plumes stand up to a height of twelve or fifteen inches, gradually lowering on each side as the ray extends backward beyond the ears. The main row is made with the beautiful tail-plumes of the tropic bird _Phaeton aetherus_, while the front or fillet part of the cap is ornamented with the scarlet feathers of a species of parrot.

The head-dress of the women consists simply of fresh flowers: a profusion of which--among others the beautiful blossoms of the orange-- is always easily obtained. An ear-pendant is also worn,--a piece of ivory of about two inches in length, pa.s.sed through two holes, pierced in the lobe of the ear for this purpose. The pendant hangs horizontally, the two holes balancing it, and keeping it in position. A necklace also of pearl-sh.e.l.ls, shaped into beads, is worn. Sometimes a string of the seeds of the panda.n.u.s is added, and an additional ornament is an armlet of mother-o'-pearl, fas.h.i.+oned into the form of a ring.

Only the men tattoo themselves; and the process is confined to that portion of the body from the waist to the thighs, which is always covered with the pareu. The practice of tattooing perhaps first originated in the desire to equalise age with youth, and to hide an ugly physiognomy. But the Tongan Islander has no ugliness to conceal, and both men and women have had the good taste to refrain from disfiguring the fair features which nature has so bountifully bestowed upon them.

The only marks of tattoo to be seen upon the women are a few fine lines upon the palms of their hands; nor do they disfigure their fair skins with the hideous pigments so much in use among other tribes, of what we are in the habit of terming _savages_.

They anoint the body with a fine oil procured from the cocoanut, and which is also perfumed by various kinds of flowers that are allowed to macerate in the oil; but this toilet is somewhat expensive, and is only practised by the better cla.s.ses of the community. All, however, both rich and poor, are addicted to habits of extreme cleanliness, and bathing in fresh water is a frequent performance. They object to bathing in the sea; and when they do so, always finish the bath by pouring fresh water over their bodies,--a practice which they allege prevents the skin from becoming rough, which the sea-water would otherwise make it.