Omoo: Adventures in the South Seas

by Herman Melville

  I resolved on a courteous salute, to show my good-breeding, if nothingmore. But, happening to wear a sort of turban--hereafter to beparticularly alluded to--there was no taking it off and putting it onagain with anything like dignity. At any rate, then, here goes a how.But, another difficulty presented itself; my loose frock was sovoluminous that I doubted whether any spinal curvature would beperceptible.

  "Good evening, ladies," exclaimed I, at last, advancing winningly; "adelightful air from the sea, ladies."

  Hysterics and hartshorn! who would have thought it? The young ladyscreamed, and the old one came near fainting. As for myself, Iretreated in double-quick time; and scarcely drew breath until safelyhoused in the Calabooza.

  CHAPTER XLIV.

  CATHEDRAL OF PAPOAR--THE CHURCH OF THE COCOA-NUTS

  ON Sundays I always attended the principal native church, on theoutskirts of the village of Papeetee, and not far from the CalaboozaBeretanee. It was esteemed the best specimen of architecture inTahiti.

  Of late, they have built their places of worship with more referenceto durability than formerly. At one time, there were no less thanthirty-six on the island--mere barns, tied together with thongs,which went to destruction in a very few years.

  One, built many years ago in this style, was a most remarkablestructure. It was erected by Pomaree II., who, on this occasion,showed all the zeal of a royal proselyte. The building was over sevenhundred feet in length, and of a proportionate width; the vastridge-pole was at intervals supported by a row of thirty-sixcylindrical trunks of the bread-fruit tree; and, all round, thewall-plates rested on shafts of the palm. The roof--steeply incliningto within a man's height of the ground--was thatched with leaves, andthe sides of the edifice were open. Thus spacious was the RoyalMission Chapel of Papoar.

  At its dedication, three distinct sermons were, from differentpulpits, preached to an immense concourse gathered from all parts ofthe island.

  As the chapel was built by the king's command, nearly as great amultitude was employed in its construction as swarmed over thescaffolding of the great temple of the Jews. Much less time, however,was expended. In less than three weeks from planting the first post,the last tier of palmetto-leaves drooped from the eaves, and the workwas done.

  Apportioned to the several chiefs and their dependants, the labour,though immense, was greatly facilitated by everyone's bringing hispost, or his rafter, or his pole strung with thatching, ready forinstant use. The materials thus prepared being afterwards securedtogether by thongs, there was literally "neither hammer, nor axe, norany tool of iron heard in the house while it was building."

  But the most singular circumstance connected with this South Seacathedral remains to be related. As well for the beauty as theadvantages of such a site, the islanders love to dwell near themountain streams; and so, a considerable brook, after descending fromthe hills and watering the valley, was bridged over in three places,and swept clean through the chapel.

  Flowing waters! what an accompaniment to the songs of the sanctuary;mingling with them the praises and thanksgivings of the greensolitudes inland.

  But the chapel of the Polynesian Solomon has long since been deserted.Its thousand rafters of habiscus have decayed, and fallen to theground; and now, the stream murmurs over them in its bed.

  The present metropolitan church of Tahiti is very unlike the one justdescribed. It is of moderate dimensions, boarded over, and paintedwhite. It is furnished also with blinds, but no sashes; indeed, wereit not for the rustic thatch, it would remind one of a plain chapelat home.

  The woodwork was all done by foreign carpenters, of whom there arealways several about Papeetee.

  Within, its aspect is unique, and cannot fail to interest a stranger.The rafters overhead are bound round with fine matting of variegateddyes; and all along the ridge-pole these trappings hang pendent, inalternate bunches of tassels and deep fringes of stained grass. Thefloor is composed of rude planks. Regular aisles run between rangesof native settees, bottomed with crossed braids of the cocoa-nutfibre, and furnished with backs.

  But the pulpit, made of a dark, lustrous wood, and standing at oneend, is by far the most striking object. It is preposterously lofty;indeed, a capital bird's-eye view of the congregation ought to be hadfrom its summit.

  Nor does the church lack a gallery, which runs round on three sides,and is supported by columns of the cocoa-nut tree.

  Its facings are here and there daubed over with a tawdry blue; and inother places (without the slightest regard to uniformity), patches ofthe same colour may be seen. In their ardour to decorate thesanctuary, the converts must have borrowed each a brush full ofpaint, and zealously daubed away at the first surface that offered.

  As hinted, the general impression is extremely curious. Little lightbeing admitted, and everything being of a dark colour, there is anindefinable Indian aspect of duskiness throughout. A strange, woodysmell, also--more or less pervading every considerable edifice inPolynesia--is at once perceptible. It suggests the idea of worm-eatenidols packed away in some old lumber-room at hand.

  For the most part, the congregation attending this church is composedof the better and wealthier orders--the chiefs and their retainers;in short, the rank and fashion of the island. This class isinfinitely superior in personal beauty and general healthfulness tothe "marenhoar," or common people; the latter having been moreexposed to the worst and most debasing evils of foreign intercourse.On Sundays, the former are invariably arrayed in their finery; andthus appear to the best advantage. Nor are they driven to the chapel,as some of their inferiors are to other places of worship; on thecontrary, capable of maintaining a handsome exterior, and possessinggreater intelligence, they go voluntarily.

  In respect of the woodland colonnade supporting its galleries, Icalled this chapel the Church of the Cocoa-nuts.

  It was the first place for Christian worship in Polynesia that I hadseen; and the impression upon entering during service was all thestronger. Majestic-looking chiefs whose fathers had hurled thebattle-club, and old men who had seen sacrifices smoking upon thealtars of Oro, were there. And hark! hanging from the bough of abread-fruit tree without, a bell is being struck with a bar of iron bya native lad. In the same spot, the blast of the war-conch had oftenresounded. But to the proceedings within.

  The place is well filled. Everywhere meets the eye the gay calicodraperies worn on great occasions by the higher classes, and forminga strange contrast of patterns and colours. In some instances, theseare so fashioned as to resemble as much as possible Europeangarments. This is in excessively bad taste. Coats and pantaloons,too, are here and there seen; but they look awkwardly enough, and takeaway from the general effect.

  But it is the array of countenances that most strikes you. Each issuffused with the peculiar animation of the Polynesians, when thuscollected in large numbers. Every robe is rustling, every limb inmotion, and an incessant buzzing going on throughout the assembly.The tumult is so great that the voice of the placid old missionary,who now rises, is almost inaudible. Some degree of silence is atlength obtained through the exertions of half-a-dozen strappingfellows, in white shirts and no pantaloons. Running in among thesettees, they are at great pains to inculcate the impropriety ofmaking a noise by creating a most unnecessary racket themselves. Thispart of the service was quite comical.

  There is a most interesting Sabbath School connected with the church;and the scholars, a vivacious, mischievous set, were in one part ofthe gallery. I was amused by a party in a corner. The teacher sat atone end of the bench, with a meek little fellow by his side. When theothers were disorderly, this young martyr received a rap; intended,probably, as a sample of what the rest might expect, if they didn'tamend.

  Standing in the body of the church, and leaning against a pillar, wasan old man, in appearance very different from others of hiscountrymen. He wore nothing but a coarse, scant mantle of fadedtappa; and from his staring, bewildered manner, I set him down as anaged bumpkin from the interior, unaccustomed to the str
ange sightsand sounds of the metropolis. This old worthy was sharply reprimandedfor standing up, and thus intercepting the view of those behind; butnot comprehending exactly what was said to him, one of thewhite-liveried gentry made no ceremony of grasping him by theshoulders, and fairly crushing him down into a seat.

  During all this, the old missionary in the pulpit--as well as hisassociates beneath, never ventured to interfere--leaving everythingto native management. With South Sea islanders, assembled in anynumbers, there is no other way of getting along.

  CHAPTER XLV.

  MISSIONARY'S SERMON; WITH SOME REFLECTIONS

  SOME degree of order at length restored, the service was continued, bysinging. The choir was composed of twelve or fifteen ladies of themission, occupying a long bench to the left of the pulpit. Almost theentire congregation joined in.

  The first air fairly startled me; it was the brave tune of OldHundred, adapted to a Tahitian psalm. After the graceless scenes Ihad recently passed through, this circumstance, with all itsaccessories, moved me forcibly.

  Many voices around were of great sweetness and compass. The singers,also, seemed to enjoy themselves mightily; some of them pausing, nowand then, and looking round, as if to realize the scene more fully.In truth, they sang right joyously, despite the solemnity of thetune.

  The Tahitians have much natural talent for singing; and, on alloccasions, are exceedingly fond of it. I have often heard a stave ortwo of psalmody, hummed over by rakish young fellows, like a snatchfrom an opera.

  With respect to singing, as in most other matters, the Tahitianswidely differ from the people of the Sandwich Islands; where theparochial flocks may be said rather to Heat than sing.

  The psalm concluded, a prayer followed. Very considerately, the goodold missionary made it short; for the congregation became fidgety andinattentive as soon as it commenced.

  A chapter of the Tahitian Bible was now read; a text selected; and thesermon began. It was listened to with more attention than I hadanticipated.

  Having been informed, from various sources, that the discourses of themissionaries, being calculated to engage the attention of theirsimple auditors, were, naturally enough, of a rather amusingdescription to strangers; in short, that they had much to say aboutsteamboats, lord mayor's coaches, and the way fires are put out inLondon, I had taken care to provide myself with a good interpreter, inthe person of an intelligent Hawaiian sailor, whose acquaintance Ihad made.

  "Now, Jack," said I, before entering, "hear every word, and tell mewhat you can as the missionary goes on."

  Jack's was not, perhaps, a critical version of the discourse; and atthe time, I took no notes of what he said. Nevertheless, I will hereventure to give what I remember of it; and, as far as possible, inJack's phraseology, so as to lose nothing by a double translation.

  "Good friends, I glad to see you; and I very well like to have sometalk with you to-day. Good friends, very bad times in Tahiti; it makeme weep. Pomaree is gone--the island no more yours, but the Wee-wees'(French). Wicked priests here, too; and wicked idols in woman'sclothes, and brass chains.

  "Good friends, no you speak, or look at them--but I know youwon't--they belong to a set of robbers--the wicked Wee-wees. Soon thesebad men be made to go very quick. Beretanee ships of thunder come andaway they go. But no more 'bout this now. I speak more by by.

  "Good friends, many whale-ships here now; and many bad men come in'em. No good sailors living--that you know very well. They come here,'cause so bad they no keep 'em home.

  "My good little girls, no run after sailors--no go where they go; theyharm you. Where they come from, no good people talk to 'em--just likedogs. Here, they talk to Pomaree, and drink arva with great Poofai.

  "Good friends, this very small island, but very wicked, and very poor;these two go together. Why Beretanee so great? Because that islandgood island, and send mickonaree to poor kannaka In Beretanee, everyman rich: plenty things to buy; and plenty things to sell. Housesbigger than Pomaree's, and more grand. Everybody, too, ride about incoaches, bigger than hers; and wear fine tappa every day. (Severalluxurious appliances of civilization were here enumerated, anddescribed.)

  "Good friends, little to eat left at my house. Schooner from Sydney nobring bag of flour: and kannaka no bring pig and fruit enough.Mickonaree do great deal for kannaka; kannaka do little formickonaree. So, good friends, weave plenty of cocoa-nut baskets, fill'em, and bring 'em to-morrow."

  Such was the substance of great part of this discourse; and, whatevermay be thought of it, it was specially adapted to the minds of theislanders: who are susceptible to no impressions, except from thingspalpable, or novel and striking. To them, a dry sermon would be dryindeed.

  The Tahitians can hardly ever be said to reflect: they are allimpulse; and so, instead of expounding dogmas, the missionaries givethem the large type, pleasing cuts, and short and easy lessons of theprimer. Hence, anything like a permanent religious impression isseldom or never produced.

  In fact, there is, perhaps, no race upon earth, less disposed, bynature, to the monitions of Christianity, than the people of theSouth Seas. And this assertion is made with full knowledge of what iscalled the "Great Revival at the Sandwich Islands," about the year1836; when several thousands were, in the course of a few weeks,admitted into the bosom of the Church. But this result was broughtabout by no sober moral convictions; as an almost instantaneousrelapse into every kind of licentiousness soon after testified. Itwas the legitimate effect of a morbid feeling, engendered by thesense of severe physical wants, preying upon minds excessively proneto superstition; and, by fanatical preaching, inflamed into the beliefthat the gods of the missionaries were taking vengeance upon thewickedness of the land.

  It is a noteworthy fact that those very traits in the Tahitians, whichinduced the London Missionary Society to regard them as the mostpromising subjects for conversion, and which led, moreover, to theselection of their island as the very first field for missionarylabour, eventually proved the most serious obstruction. An air ofsoftness in their manners, great apparent ingenuousness and docility,at first misled; but these were the mere accompaniments of anindolence, bodily and mental; a constitutional voluptuousness; and anaversion to the least restraint; which, however fitted for theluxurious state of nature, in the tropics, are the greatest possiblehindrances to the strict moralities of Christianity.

  Added to all this is a quality inherent in Polynesians; and more akinto hypocrisy than anything else. It leads them to assume the mostpassionate interest in matters for which they really feel little ornone whatever; but in which, those whose power they dread, or whosefavour they court, they believe to be at all affected. Thus, in theirheathen state, the Sandwich Islanders actually knocked out theirteeth, tore their hair, and mangled their bodies with shells, totestify their inconsolable grief at the demise of a high chief, ormember of the royal family. And yet, Vancouver relates that, on suchan occasion, upon which he happened to be present, those apparentlythe most abandoned to their feelings, immediately assumed the utmostlight-heartedness on receiving the present of a penny whistle, or aDutch looking-glass. Similar instances, also, have come under my ownobservation.

  The following is an illustration of the trait alluded to, asoccasionally manifested among the converted Polynesians.

  At one of the Society Islands--Baiatair, I believe--the natives, forspecial reasons, desired to commend themselves particularly to thefavour of the missionaries. Accordingly, during divine service, manyof them behaved in a manner, otherwise unaccountable, and preciselysimilar to their behaviour as heathens. They pretended to be wroughtup to madness by the preaching which they heard. They rolled theireyes; foamed at the mouth; fell down in fits; and so were carriedhome. Yet, strange to relate, all this was deemed the evidence of thepower of the Most High; and, as such, was heralded abroad.

  But, to return to the Church of the Cocoa-nuts. The blessingpronounced, the congregation disperse; enlivening the Broom Road withtheir waving mantles. On either hand, they disappea
r down the shadedpathways, which lead off from the main route, conducting to hamletsin the groves, or to the little marine villas upon the beach. Thereis considerable hilarity; and you would suppose them just from anold-fashioned "hevar," or jolly heathen dance. Those who carry Biblesswing them carelessly from their arms by cords of sinnate.

  The Sabbath is no ordinary day with the Tahitians. So far as doing anywork is concerned, it is scrupulously observed. The canoes are hauledup on the beach; the nets are spread to dry. Passing by the hen-coophuts on the roadside, you find their occupants idle, as usual; butless disposed to gossip. After service, repose broods over the wholeisland; the valleys reaching inland look stiller than ever.

  In short, it is Sunday--their "Taboo Day"; the very word formerlyexpressing the sacredness of their pagan observances now proclaimingthe sanctity of the Christian Sabbath.

  CHAPTER XLVI.

  SOMETHING ABOUT THE KANNAKIPPERS

  A WORTHY young man, formerly a friend of mine (I speak of Kooloo withall possible courtesy, since after our intimacy there would be animpropriety in doing otherwise)--this worthy youth, having somegenteel notions of retirement, dwelt in a "maroo boro," orbread-fruit shade, a pretty nook in a wood, midway between theCalabooza Beretanee and the Church of Cocoa-nuts. Hence, at the latterplace, he was one of the most regular worshippers.