Chapter VI: The Belief in Immortality Among the Marquesans (3)

This deep-seated fear of the dead has survived the conversion, real or nominal, of the Marquesans to Christianity. No native would even now venture into a cave where the remains of the dead have been deposited, not though the greatest treasures were to be found there, for such spots are believed to be constantly haunted by the ghosts of the departed. Nobody, it is said, would live in a house in which somebody has died; every such dwelling is immediately burnt down. Hence, when a person is grievously sick, a little primitive hut is erected beside the house, and he is carried out to die in it, and when he is dead, the hut is in like manner destroyed with fire.[146] A woman will sometimes commit suicide in order that her ghost may haunt and torment her unfaithful husband.[147]

[146] Baessler, _op. cit._ p. 234.

[147] Baessler, _op. cit._ pp. 193 _sq._

On the other hand, ghosts in the olden time had also their utility, for they could be summoned up by a priest or priestess to give information on various subjects, such as the issue of an illness. On these occasions the wizard would hold a conversation with the spirit, whose voice could be heard by the listeners, though his or her shape, as usual, was invisible in the darkness. Sceptics thought that such communications were made by means of ventriloquism, and indeed a priestess, who had professed to evoke the soul of a dead chieftainess, solemnly maintained that she could make the voice of anybody, whether dead or alive, to speak from her stomach.[148]

[148] Radiguet, _op. cit._ pp. 227-238.

In such beliefs and customs are contained as in germ the whole theory and practice of the worship of the dead.

NOTE.--We possess no thorough account of the native Marquesan society and religion as these existed before they were transformed by European influence. Some of the writers who have described the islanders and their customs spent only a few days or at most a few weeks among them. Captain Cook was at the Marquesas only five days, from the 6th to the 11th of April 1774.[149] The French explorer Marchand spent eight days in the islands from the 13th to the 21st of June 1791.[150] The Russian explorers Krusenstern and Lisiansky were with their two ships, the _Nadeshda_ and _Neva_, at Nukahiva for ten days, from the 7th to the 17th of May 1804; along with them was the naturalist Langsdorff, who wrote an independent account of the voyage.[151] But though their stay was short, they had the advantage of meeting with two Europeans, an Englishman named E. Roberts, and a Frenchman named Jean (or Joseph) Baptiste Cabri, who had lived long in the islands and spoke the native language. These men acted as interpreters to the Russians and supplied them with most of the information which they give in their books concerning the customs and beliefs of the Marquesans. Roberts told them that he had been seven years in Nukahiva and two years previously in Santa Christina (Tau-ata); that he had been put ashore on the latter island out of an English merchant ship, the crew of which had mutinied against their captain and could not prevail upon him to join their party; and that in Nukahiva he had lately married a relation of the king's, by which he acquired great consideration, so that it would be easy for him to be of assistance to them. At the same time he earnestly warned them against the Frenchman, who had also resided for some years in Nukahiva, but whose character he painted in very dark colours. The two Russian captains, Krusenstern and Lisiansky, accordingly put their trust in Roberts and drew most of their information concerning the natives from him. On the other hand their naturalist, Langsdorff, made most use of the Frenchman. He admitted, indeed, that the Englishman was a man of better character, greater natural intelligence, and much higher education; but on the other hand he tells us that the Frenchman had been longer in the island and possessed a more thorough mastery of the language and a greater intimacy with the natives, among whom he had lived as a savage among savages so long that he had almost forgotten his own native tongue. But Langsdorff took care to question both these men and only accepted as true statements in which they agreed with each other, and to this agreement he naturally attached the greater weight because his two informants were bitterly hostile to each other and therefore were unlikely to unite in deceiving him.[152] On the whole, then, the account which Langsdorff gives of Marquesan society and religion is perhaps more trustworthy as well as fuller than that of his two compatriots and companions, Krusenstern and Lisiansky.

[149] J. Cook, _Voyages_, iii. 274-281; compare G. Forster,
_Voyage round the World_ (London, 1777), ii. 5 _sqq._

[150] C. P. Claret Fleurieu, _Voyage round the World performed
during the years 1790, 1791, and 1792 by Etienne Marchand_
(London, 1801), i. 31, 51. Marchand's brief account is
supplemented from other sources by his editor Fleurieu (_op.
cit._ i. 55 _sqq._).

[151] A. J. von Krusenstern, _Voyage round the World in the
years 1803, 1804, 1805, and 1806_ (London, 1813), i. 108 _sq._,
133 _sqq._; U. Lisiansky, _Voyage round the World_ (London,
1814), pp. 62, 95; G. H. von Langsdorff, _Bemerkungen auf einer
Reise um die Welt in den Jahren 1803 bis 1807_ (Frankfurt am
Main, 1812), i. 75, 161.

[152] Krusenstern, _op. cit._ i. 110-112; Lisiansky, _op. cit._
p. 79; Langsdorff, _op. cit._ i. 77, 83-85. As to the subsequent
history of Roberts and Cabri, see Vincendon-Dumoulin et C.
Desgraz, _Iles Marquises ou Nouka-hiva_ (Paris, 1843), pp.
356-359.

Captain David Porter of the United States Navy was with his ship the _Essex_ at Nukahiva from October 24th till December 9th, 1813.[153] A great part of his time was spent on shore and in close contact with the natives, and though he did not learn the language, he was able to employ as an interpreter an Englishman named Wilson, who had lived for many years in the islands, spoke the language of the natives with the same facility as his own, and had become a Marquesan in every respect except in colour. He proved indispensable to the American as an organ of communication with the people; and much of the information which Porter gives concerning the customs of the Marquesans was derived by him from this man.[154]

[153] Captain David Porter, _Journal of a Cruise made to the
Pacific Ocean in the United States frigate Essex in the years
1812, 1813, and 1814_, Second Edition (New York, 1822), ii. 5,
141.

[154] D. Porter, _op. cit._ ii. 17 _sq._

The American naval chaplain, the Rev. C. S. Stewart, paid about a fortnight's visit to Nukahiva, from July 27th to August 13th, 1829, while his ship, the _Vincennes_, was anchored at the island. But he received much information from the Rev. W. P. Crook, who spent nearly two years (1797 and 1798) in the Marquesas, having been the first missionary landed in the islands by the missionary ship _Duff_. During his residence in the islands Mr. Crook kept a journal, which he allowed Mr. Stewart to consult. The contents of the journal corroborated Mr. Stewart's own observations as to the inhabitants, and the account which he gives of the religion of the islanders is based mainly on the information derived from Mr. Crook[155] and is therefore valuable; for at the time when Mr. Crook landed in the Marquesas the customs and beliefs of the islanders were still practically unaffected by contact with Europeans.

[155] C. S. Stewart, _Visit to the South Seas_ (London, 1832),
i. pp. x _sq._, 193, 331. The writer speaks (p. 331) of his stay
of "a fortnight at the Washington Islands." Mr. Crook first
landed in the island of Santa Christina (Tau-ata) on June 6th,
1797. See James Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern
Pacific Ocean_ (London, 1799), pp. 129 _sqq._ As to his
subsequent history in the islands, see Vincendon-Dumoulin et C.
Desgraz, _Iles Marquises ou Nouka-hiva_, pp. 35-40.

The surgeon F. D. Bennett, on a whaling voyage spent a few days in Santa Christina (Tau-ata), from February 28th to March 4th, 1835; and his descriptions of what he saw are good so far as they go; but naturally he could collect but little accurate information as to the habits and ideas of the people in so short a time.[156]

[156] F. D. Bennett, _Narrative of a Whaling Voyage round the
Globe from the year 1833 to 1836_ (London, 1840), i 296, 346.

One of the early Catholic missionaries to the Marquesas, Father Mathias G----, spent two years in the islands and has given us, in a series of letters, an account of the native customs and beliefs, which, though far from complete or systematic, is based on personal observation and is among the best that we possess.[157]

[157] Le P. Mathias G----, _Lettres sur les Iles Marquises_
(Paris, 1843). The writer is not explicit as to the dates of his
residence in the Marquesas; but he tells us that he spent two
years in habitual intercourse with the natives (p. 49), and from
other allusions which he makes in his narrative (pp. 28 _sq._)
it would seem that the years were 1839 and 1840. The first
Catholic missionaries landed in 1838 (_ib._ p. 22), and others
in 1839 (_ib._ pp. 23 _sq._). Among the latter were Fathers
Garcia and Guilmard (_ib._ p. 24). Father G----may have been one
of them.

Hermann Melville lived among the Taipiis (Typees) in Nukahiva for more than four months,[158] and wrote a lively narrative of his experiences. His personal observations are valuable, but as he did not master the native language, he was not able to throw much light on the inner life of the people, and in particular on their religious ideas.

[158] H. Melville, _Typee_ (London, _Everyman's Library_), p.
254.

On the 1st of May, 1842, the Marquesas Islands were taken possession of for France by the French Admiral, Du Petit-Thouars;[159] and next year, to satisfy the interest of the French public in their new possession, a comprehensive work on the islands and their inhabitants was published by MM. Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz.[160] The authors had visited the islands with the expedition of the French navigator, J. Dumont d'Urville, in his ships the _Astrolabe_ and the _Zelee_. But as the expedition stayed only about a week at Nukahiva, from August 26th to September 3rd, 1838,[161] the writers had little opportunity of making personal observations. Their work is mainly a careful compilation from earlier sources, and as such it is a useful and trustworthy summary of what was known about the archipelago and its inhabitants down to the date of publication.

[159] Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz, _op. cit._ pp. 119
_sqq._

[160] Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz, _Iles Marquises ou
Nouka-hiva_ (Paris, 1843).

[161] J. Dumont d'Urville, _Voyage au Pole Sud et dans
l'Oceanie, Histoire du Voyage_, iv. (Paris, 1842), pp. 5, 49.

Max Radiguet, one of the members of the expedition to the Marquesas under Admiral Du Petit-Thouars, passed a considerable time in the islands and wrote a graphic account of his experiences, which contains some valuable information as to the natives, their customs, religion, and mythology.[162] In the part which concerns the mythology he was assisted by an officer of artillery, M. Rohr, who had lived for several years in Nukahiva and was familiar with the language and customs of the people.[163]

[162] Max Radiguet, _Les Derniers Sauvages_, Nouvelle Edition
(Paris, 1882). The author does not inform us as to the exact
length of his stay in the islands.

[163] M. Radiguet, _op. cit._ p. 221 note.

In 1877 a good general account of the archipelago and its inhabitants was published at Paris. The author was a naval lieutenant, P. E. Eyriaud des Vergnes, who having lived in the islands in the official capacity of Resident for about six years (from 1868 to 1874) had ample time and opportunity for obtaining accurate information on the subject.[164] His work, though somewhat slight, is valuable so far as it goes; but it does not tell us much about the native religion, which in his time had probably lost a good deal of its original character through the influence of the missionaries and of civilisation.[165]

[164] P. E. Eyriaud des Vergnes, _L'Archipel des Iles Marquises_
(Paris, 1877).

[165] Some years previously a naval lieutenant, M. Jouan, who
had been in command of the French military post at Nukahiva,
published in the _Revue Coloniale_ (1857-1858) some notes on the
Marquesas, which are said to contain some useful information on
the archipelago. See M. Radiguet, _op. cit._ p. 310 note. I have
not seen the work of M. Jouan; but according to Radiguet it
shows that in the twelve years and more which had elapsed since
the French occupation of the islands the presence of French
missionaries and of a French garrison had done little to
civilise the natives.

Some years later, in 1881 and 1882, a French naval doctor, Clavel by name, passed six months in the Marquesas. During his stay he made personal observations and collected information on the natives. These he subsequently published in a little work, which contains much of value;[166] but when he wrote almost all the natives had been nominally converted to Christianity and their ancient religion was practically extinct.[167]

[166] _Les Marquisiens_, par M. le Docteur Clavel (Paris, 1885).

[167] Clavel, _op. cit._ pp. 68-71.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century the German traveller Arthur Baessler paid a short visit to the Marquesas. In his book of travel in the South Sea he has given us descriptions of the islands and the people as he saw them, including some account of the scanty remains of their stone monuments and images.[168]

[168] Arthur Baessler, _Neue Suedsee-Bilder_ (Berlin, 1900), pp.
189-242. The writer omits to mention the date of his visit to
the islands, and the length of his stay in them.