A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 13Kerr, Robert
History
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 13
Kerr, Robert
Voyages and travels
I landed in company with Mr Banks, Dr Solander, and the other gentleman,
Tupia being also of the party. He introduced us by repeating the
ceremonies which he had performed at Huaheine, after which I hoisted an
English jack, and took possession of this and the three neighbouring
islands, Huaheine, Otaha, and Bolabola, which were all in sight, in the
name of his Britannic majesty. After this, we took a walk to a great
morai, called _Tapodeboatea_. We found it very different from those of
Otaheite; for it consisted only of four walls, about eight feet high, of
coral stones, some of which were of an immense size, inclosing an area
of about five-and-twenty yards square, which was filled up with smaller
stones: Upon the top of it many planks were set up an end, which were
carved in their whole length: At a little distance we found an altar, or
Ewhatta, upon which lay the last oblation or sacrifice, a hog of about
eighty pounds weight, which had been offered whole, and very nicely
roasted. Here were also four or five Ewharre no-Eatua, or houses of God,
to which carriage-poles were fitted, like that which we had seen at
Huaheine. One of these Mr Banks examined by putting his hand into it,
and found a parcel about five feet long and one thick, wrapped up in
matts: He broke a way through several of these matts with his fingers,
but at length came to one which was made of the fibres of the cocoa-nut,
so firmly plaited together that he found it impossible to tear it, and
therefore was forced to desist; especially as he perceived, that what he
had done already gave great offence to our new friends. From hence we
went to a long house, not far distant, where among rolls of cloth, and
several other things, we saw the model of a canoe, about three feet
long, to which were tied eight human jaw-bones: We had already learnt
that these, like scalps among the Indians of North America, were
trophies of war. Tupia affirmed that they were the jaw-bones of the
natives of this island; if so, they might have been hung up, with the
model of a canoe, as a symbol of invasion, by the warriors of Bolabola,
as a memorial of their conquest.
Night now came on apace, but Mr Banks and Dr Solander continued their
walk along the shore, and at a little distance saw another
Ewharre-no-Eatua, and a tree of the fig kind, the same as that which Mr
Green had seen at Otaheite, in great perfection, the trunk, or rather
congeries of the roots of which, was forty-two paces in circumference.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account