Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake Volume I Part 19

August 17th.

We are once more comfortably at anchor after many dreary days at sea of thick blowing weather* spent in sailing backwards and forwards, daily tantalised by the sight of land, which was approached only that we might stand off again for the night. Yesterday afternoon the Bramble was seen coming out from under the largest of the Brumer Islands, and on her making the usual signal for good anchorage, we followed her in and brought up after sunset in 35 fathoms, mud, about a mile from the sh.o.r.e.

(*Footnote. In working to the eastward (in June) Bougainville for four days had "the wind constantly blowing very fresh, at East-South-East and South-East" (just as we found it) "with rain; a fog so thick that," says he, "we were obliged to fire guns in order to keep company with the Etoile; and lastly, a very great sea, which hove us towards the sh.o.r.e. We could hardly keep our ground by plying, being obliged to wear, and to carry but little sail." Bougainville's Voyage round the World.

Translation by Forster page 308.)

The island under which we thus anch.o.r.ed, is the westernmost and largest of a group of five, the next in size being about a mile in length, moderately high and wooded, and the remaining three mere rocks. The large Brumer Island is long and narrow, running East-North-East and West-South-West, two miles and two-thirds in greatest width; it is situated in lat.i.tude 10 degrees 45 minutes 30 seconds South and longitude 150 degrees 23 minutes East. The whole island presents a luxuriant appearance, being covered with cocoa-palms and other trees, and on the high ground several large fenced enclosures of cultivated ground--where among other plants we could distinguish the banana and sugar-cane--attested the fertility of the soil. The western, and at present the leeward side of the island, as viewed from our anchorage exhibits the appearance of a broken ridge on its southern half with several eminences topped by immense detached blocks of rock, partially concealed by the trees--to this, in the centre, succeeds a break occupied by a very low irregular cliff behind a bay with a sandy beach--afterwards the land rises suddenly to form a hill, 665 feet in height, with a steep face to the north-west, and a gradual slope backwards--and beyond this another hill, not so high (386 feet) but somewhat similar in form, shut out our further view in that direction. The mainland of New Guinea filled the background with a broken outline of ridges of wooded hills along the coast in front of a more distant and nearly continuous range of high mountains covered with trees up to their very summits.

NATIVES AND CATAMARANS.

Next morning we were visited by a party of natives from the neighbouring island, consisting of six men in a canoe, and one on a catamaran or raft.

They were perfectly unarmed and came boldly alongside with a quant.i.ty of yams and coconuts for barter; when their stock was exhausted, they returned for more, and, accompanied by others, repeated the visit several times during the day. Although there was no obvious difference between these natives and those of the southern portion of the Louisiade, yet the catamaran was quite new to us, and the canoe differed considerably from any which we had seen before.

CATAMARANS AND CANOES.

The first catamaran was only nine feet long--it consisted of three thick planks lashed together, forming a sort of raft, which one man sitting a little behind the middle, with his legs doubled under him, managed very dexterously with his paddle. We afterwards saw others of a larger size, some of them capable of carrying a dozen people with their effects. One of this description is made of three logs--rarely two or four--laid side by side, and firmly secured to each other with strips of rattan at each end, and in two or three other places. The upper surface is smoothed down flat, and the central piece projects a little way at each end which usually shows some rude carving touched up with red and white paint. As the sea washes over a catamaran during rough weather, on such an occasion a small temporary stage is sometimes erected in the centre, and on this the cargo is secured with strips of cane.

The canoe of this part of New Guinea is usually about twenty-five feet in length, and carries seven or eight people. It is made of the trunk of a tree, hollowed out like a long trough, roundly pointed at each end, a foot and a half in extreme width, with the sides bulging out below and falling in at top, leaving only eight inches between the gunwales which are strengthened by a pole running along from end to end. The ends--which are alike--are carved like those of the catamaran in imitation of the head of a turtle or snake, but more elaborately. The outrigger consists of a float as long as the canoe, attached by small sticks or pegs let into the wood to eight or nine notches in both gunwales, and are secured there. A portion, or the whole of this framework, is carefully covered over with planks or long sticks, and occasionally a small stage is formed on the opposite side, over the centre of the canoe, projecting a little outwardly, with room upon it for two people to sit and paddle. The canoes of this description which we saw were not provided with any other sail than a small temporary one, made by interlacing the leaflets of the cocoa-palm, and stuck up on poles when going with the wind free. The paddles used here are similar in shape to those seen in the Louisiade Archipelago, with spear-shaped blades and slender handles, but are larger--measuring six feet in length--and of neater construction, the end of the handle being carved into some fanciful device.

BRUMER ISLANDERS.

About sunset, and when about to leave us, one of the Brumer Islanders, standing on a large catamaran alongside, put himself into a grotesque att.i.tude, and commenced beating with his hand upon a large tin can which someone had given him, at the same time going through some of the motions of a dance. He seemed to be a most amusing vagabond, for, upon our drummer being set to work in the chains, after joining with the other natives in the first exclamations of surprise, he listened attentively for a little, and then struck up on his own extempore drum, keeping very good time and causing roars of laughter by his strange grimaces and antics. The effect of this pantomime was heightened by the style of painting adopted by the actor whose face had been blackened with charcoal, variegated by a white streak along the eyebrows turned down at the ends, and another along the cheeks pa.s.sing round the chin.

NATIVES ON BOARD.

August 18th.

The boisterous state of the weather did not prevent the natives from repeatedly coming off to us with various articles of barter; and we were even visited by a party of seven men from Tissot Island, who paddled up on a catamaran five or six miles to windward against a strong breeze and current. After some little persuasion, several of them were induced to come on board and were shown round the ship, presented with various articles, and dressed out with sc.r.a.ps of clothing of every description.

At first they showed symptoms of uneasiness, and made frequent protestations of friendship, as if the circ.u.mstance of our repeating them gave increased confidence. Their mode of salutation or expression of friendship consists in first touching the nose with the forefinger and thumb of one hand, and then pinching the skin on each side of the navel with the other, calling out at the same time, magasuga! This habit resembles on one hand that of rubbing noses, so general in Polynesia--and on the other, the custom of pinching the navel and repeating the name for that part, practised by the islanders of Torres Strait. At length our visitors withdrew, well pleased with their reception, during which their common exclamation indicative of surprise and delight, an ao long drawn out, was in constant requisition.

August 19th.

A quant.i.ty of cooked yams in baskets and large earthen pots was brought off today by a party of natives, as if in acknowledgment of our civility to those whom we had invited on board yesterday. Nothing was asked for in return--a very unusual circ.u.mstance--and that it was intended as a present was further shown by their leaving a proportionate share on board the Bramble, and immediately pushing off for the Rattlesnake with the remainder, explaining that it was intended for us and could not be sold.

The weather being now favourable for communication with the sh.o.r.e, the two cutters were manned and armed for this purpose, and sent away in charge of Lieutenant Simpson, and, as usual, I was one of the volunteers who joined the party. Two of the natives gladly went in one of the boats--the same two who had previously invited us onsh.o.r.e, as if to return our hospitality and point out the fresh water about which we had made repeated inquiries, our stock of that all-essential article being now much reduced, and the ship's company on an allowance of six pints each per diem.

LAND ON THE LARGE BRUMER ISLAND.

We landed at a little bay near the centre of the western side of the nearest and largest of the Brumer group. Although perfectly sheltered from the wind, a heavy swell broke upon the margin of a fringing coral reef running out fifty or sixty yards from the sandy beach and stretching across the bay. The boats were backed in from their anchors, and, after seven of us had got onsh.o.r.e by watching an opportunity to jump out up to the middle in water, and cross the reef, hauled out again to await our return.

Some women on the beach retired as we were about to land, but a number of boys and a few men received us, and after a preliminary halt to see that our guns were put to rights after the ducking, we all started together by a narrow path winding up a rugged wall of basaltic rock, fifty feet in height. From the summit a steep declivity of a couple of hundred yards brought us to the village of Ta.s.sai, shaded by coconut-trees, and beautifully situated on a level s.p.a.ce close to the beach on the windward side of the island, here not more than a quarter of a mile in width. No canoes were seen here, and a heavy surf broke on the outer margin of a fringing reef.

FRIENDLY RECEPTION.

On the outskirts of the village we met the women and remainder of the people, and were received without any signs of apprehension. One of our friends immediately got hold of a drum*--a hollow cylinder of palm-wood two feet and a half in length, and four inches in diameter, one end covered over with the skin of a large lizard--and commenced beating upon it very vigorously with the palm of the hand, singing and dancing at the same time, as if in honour of our arrival.

(*Footnote. Represented in the uppermost figure.)

VILLAGE OF Ta.s.sAI.

Each of us joined in the merriment as he came up, and in a short time the whole of Ta.s.sai was in an uproar. Among the natives everyone seemed pleased, bustling about, watching our motions, examining our dress, and laughing and shouting immoderately as each new object was presented to his view. Meanwhile I wandered about the village, accompanied by some women and children, picking up at the same time materials for my vocabulary. One old dame brought me a coconut sh.e.l.l full of water which I returned after drinking some, but she pressed me in a very motherly way to put it into my bag, having doubtless imagined from our inquiries after water, that even a little const.i.tuted a valuable present. We had seen neither stream nor well upon the island, and besides, it is probable that the great abundance of coconuts enables them to subsist with very little water. We distributed among them some iron-hoop, knives, fish-hooks, and calico, to which I added a quant.i.ty of useful seeds,* which last were eagerly sought after when their use had been explained and understood.

(*Footnote. Part of a large supply procured at Hobart Town by Captain Stanley from the Government garden there. They were placed under my charge, and were sown wherever circ.u.mstances appeared favourable for their growth, chiefly on uninhabited islands, there seldom having been an opportunity of distributing them among the natives of the sh.o.r.es we visited.)

PATTERNS OF TATOOING.

The women showed an unusual amount of curiosity, and were much pleased at the notice taken of them, for, on examining the curious tattooing of one, others immediately pressed forwards to show me theirs, directing particular attention to the difference of patterns. This practice of tattooing the body--or marking it with colouring matter introduced into the skin by means of punctures or incisions--is rarely exhibited by the men, and in them is usually confined to a few blue lines or stars upon the right breast; in some instances, however, the markings consisted of a double series of large stars and dots stretching from the shoulder toward the pit of the stomach. Among the women the tattooing extends over the face, fore part of the arms, and whole front of body continued backwards a little way over the shoulders, usually, but not always, leaving the back untouched. The pattern for the body consists of series of vertical stripes less than an inch apart, connected by zigzag and other markings--that over the face is more complicated, and on the forearm and wrist it is frequently so elaborate as to a.s.sume the appearance of beautiful lace-work.

DRESS OF THE FEMALES.

Unlike the men--whose only article of dress consists of a small breech-cloth of panda.n.u.s leaf pa.s.sing between the legs, and secured before and behind to a string or other girdle round the waist--the females wear petticoats (noge) of the same leaf, divided into long gra.s.s-like shreds, reaching to the knee. That worn by the girls consists merely of single lengths made fast to a string which ties round the waist; but the women wear a larger and thicker kind of petticoat, composed of three layers of different degrees of fineness and lengths, forming as many flounces, the upper one of more finely divided stuff, neatly plaited above, over a girdle of the same tough bark (barrai) used in making their larger kinds of rope. Two or three of these petticoats are usually worn one over the other, and in cold or wet weather the outer one is untied and fastened round the neck, covering the upper part of the body like a cape or short cloak. The hair of the women is also usually but not invariably twisted up into thrums like those of a mop, a style of dressing it here peculiar to the female s.e.x.

Many pigs were running about the village--small in size, lean and long legged, usually black, with coa.r.s.e bristles--also two or three dogs, similar to those seen at Brierly Island. One young woman was seen carrying about in her arms and fondling a very young pig--an incident which afforded us as much amus.e.m.e.nt as a lady's lap-dog, with one end of a ribbon round its neck and the other attached to a wasp-waisted damsel, would have caused among these utilitarian savages.

NATIVE HUTS.

The village covers a s.p.a.ce of about half an acre; it consisted of twenty-seven huts built at rightangles to each other, but without any other attempt at arrangement. These huts are of various sizes--the largest thirty-five feet long, twelve wide, and twenty-five high. All are constructed on a similar plan, being raised from the ground about four feet on posts, four, five, or six in number, pa.s.sing through the same circular wooden discs seen at the Louisiade Archipelago, intended, I believe, to keep out rats or other vermin. The sides and roof are continuous, and slope sharply upwards, giving to an end view the appearance of an acute triangle, while a side view exhibits a long ridge rising suddenly at each end to a point and descending by a straight line of gable. The roof is neatly and smoothly thatched with gra.s.s, and the sides are covered in with sheets of a bark-like substance, probably the base of the leaf of the coconut-tree flattened out by pressure. The entrance is at one end, overhung by the gable like a curtain, with a small stage to ascend by. I did not examine the interior of the houses, being desirous to avoid any cause of offence by exhibiting too much prying curiosity. From the accounts of others of the party it appears that there is a second partial floor above the princ.i.p.al one; they saw large bundles of spears stowed along the sides of the hut which they looked into, and some human skulls suspended near the entrance.*

(*Footnote. These huts resemble in form some found on the Duke of York and Bowditch Islands, in the western part of the Pacific, 300 miles to the northward of the Samoan group. See Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition volume 5 page 7; also plate.)

RETURN TO THE BOATS.

After a very short stay of a quarter of an hour only we returned by the path formerly taken, accompanied by about fifty men, women, and children, and went on board the boats. During our visit we had met with the most friendly reception; no weapon of any kind was seen in the hands of the natives who at the same time probably thought us perfectly unarmed, as they at first supposed our guns to be instruments for carrying water in, and we had no opportunity of showing the effects of firearms without involving the risk of causing a tumult. The anchor of one of the boats having caught the coral, some delay was caused, during which an old man from the beach swam off to her, as if he perfectly understood what had happened, and, after diving several times, cleared the anchor, for which he was rewarded with an axe. His skill in diving was remarkable--he went down feet foremost, apparently without an effort, and after remaining below about half a minute, came up showing no signs of exhaustion. But all these natives appeared to feel as much confidence afloat as on sh.o.r.e; and we had frequent opportunities of observing their fearlessness of the water, and dexterity in swimming and diving when alongside the ship.

AGAIN VISIT THE ISLAND.

August 20th.

It being considered probable that the natives might be induced to part with some of their pigs, a party was sent onsh.o.r.e, to endeavour to procure some by barter. On landing, which was effected with much less difficulty than yesterday (for it was now high-water, enabling the boats to go over the reef although heavy rollers were coming in) we found that most of the men were absent, and the few remaining, although made to understand what we wanted, did not appear to like our paying a visit to their village, as if suspicious of our intentions towards the women, a circ.u.mstance which Europeans must always be on their guard against in dealing with savage tribes. Our stay therefore was very short--not exceeding five minutes--and on the way back, besides picking up a few sc.r.a.ps for my vocabulary from a number of women and children in company, I procured a fine white Helix from the branch of a bread-fruit tree, and had a brief opportunity of examining the rock of the island. This is of volcanic origin, and consists of a stratified earthy tufa and volcanic conglomerate, hollowed out below by the sea, succeeded by a harder vesicular rock above which one of the forms of lava has been poured out.

On our return to the beach we found that scarcely any bartering had gone on, and that the exhibition of a number of axes and knives, had been attended with the bad effect of exciting the cupidity of the natives.

Soon afterwards a canoe with people from the mainland arrived, and as anything but good feeling appeared to subsist, and we had failed in our object of getting the pigs, we left for the ship--and this was our last communication with the sh.o.r.e during our stay at this anchorage.

LARGE CANOE.

August 22nd.

The most interesting occurrence of the day was the arrival from the main of a very large canoe, with twenty-six people on board.* When close to she shortened sail and attempted to paddle up, but being too unwieldy to stem the current, the end of a rope from the ship was carried out to her and she hauled up under our stern and made fast there. Besides the ordinary paddles we observed at each end two others of large size--probably used for steering with, pulled as oars, with cane grommets on the gunwale. We had not before seen so fine a sample of Papuans; several were elderly men of fine figure and commanding appearance. One man among them who sat alone upon a small raised stage over the platform appeared to exercise a considerable degree of authority over the rest; the only instance yet seen by us, either here or at the Louisiade, of anyone a.s.suming the functions of a chief. He called a small canoe alongside, and getting under the mizen chains attempted to climb up at once, and appeared surprised that the privilege of coming on board denied to the other natives was not immediately extended to him. He was, however, accidentally allowed to come up the side and remain on deck for a short time. He was a tall slender man, of about forty years of age, with sharp Jewish features--his face and chest were painted black, and he wore a crest of ca.s.sowary feathers across his head.

(*Footnote. Represented in the ill.u.s.tration.)

DESCRIPTION OF CANOE.

This large canoe measured about forty feet in length, and was constructed of a hollowed-out tree raised upon with large planks forming a long coffin-like box, closed with high end boards elegantly carved and painted. Two rows of carved fishes ran along the sides, and both ends were peaked, the bow rising higher than the stern, and, like it, but more profusely, decorated with carving painted red and white, streamers of palm-leaf, egg-cowries, and plumes of ca.s.sowary feathers. The outrigger framework was completely covered over, forming a large platform above the centre of which a small stage rested on a strong projecting beam the outer end of which was carved into the figure of a bird, while the inner reached to the centre of the body of the canoe, and served to support the mast. The planks forming the sides were strongly supported by knees where each of the ten or twelve outrigger poles pa.s.ses through one side and rests against the other, and some loose bottom boards form a partial shifting deck. The mast is supported above by two stays fore and aft, and below steps into a ma.s.sive bent timber crossing the centre of the canoe, resting on the bottom, and is secured above to the inner end of the long cross beam by strong lashings, and some large wedges between it and one side. The sail is of great size, being as long as the platform, but both in construction and mode of management is precisely similar to that formerly described with reference to a canoe seen at Coral Haven, supposed to have come from Piron's Island.

A few days ago we saw another canoe closely resembling the above-mentioned, but much smaller and carrying only eleven people. It exhibited, however, one peculiarity in the great breadth of beam amidships--amounting to four feet--which gave it much room for stowage and additional buoyancy.

NUMEROUS VISITORS TO THE SHIP.