The Sun.
London, England, 1844-02-26 00:00:00

T 2

OCCUPATION OF
'-
The following appears in the Journal des Dibats :
" Roads of Papaiti, Nov. 9, 1843,
" On board of the-titanic.
" On the 4th of this month we arrived in the bay
of Papaiti, the same day as the frigate-Danae; and
three days -before- the frigate Seine Blanche. On the
next day the following order appeared :
" The Vice-Admiral in commanctof the station of
the Pacific Ocean informs the commanding officers
and crews of vessels in the roads of. Pappiti, that the
Queen Pomare refusing obstinately to recognise the
treaty concluded on the 9th of September, 1842, and
ratified by his Majesty Louis Philippe,- he is coin-
Pelled to declare that the Queen Pomare has ceased
to reign over the Society Islands -and their inhabi-
tants, and to take possession of the islands in the
name of the King of France. In consequence the
frigate Uranie will debark to-morrow morning,- at
six, the company of Marine Artillery, and the Jaen
dependent on that service,' &c.
I—will now explain to you -the-circumstances
hich have so much changed the position of the
respectiVe parties to the last treaty.
It appeared that 'nothing trioie was *anted to
the treaty of the, 9th -of Nevember, ,signe4 b y Queen
Pomare, and by the Commander-in-Chiet of the
French Forces, to make it valuable and executable in
all its clanses; but the signature of the King of the
French. Mr. 'Pritchard, missionary, and merchant,
and Consul- of the British Government, did not inter-
fere .with the negotiations, and he even disavowed
the acts of his representative. It `-seems, hosi.-
ever, that the Queen of Tahiti had exceeded
the powers which the - methodist merchant had
left her in his absence. In fact. Mr. Pritchard
was in London when the treaty
,was concluded. But
even his long acquaintance with the .country, and
his observatioris, as a journal of New -Holland skri-
ously said, `of French manoeuvres among file-South
Sea Islands,' inspired him with fears ..for the inde-
pendence of Tahiti, and he communicated theM to
Lord Aberdeen and to his colleagnes.. The -English
Cabinet did not, however, pay much attention to -the
representation of Mr. Pritchard, and it limited itself
to sending,'as a mark of kindness to the Otaheitean
Government'„ a carriage for roma*, and a coat beced
cloth for her. husband. - °
—trlg-r:Pritchard leaves England with his fears and
his presents. He arrived at Sydney, and there
learned what had passed : under the inspiration of the
chiefs which surrounded her, and of her oldest and
wisest counsellors, the Queen of Otaheite had placed
herself under the protection of the French Govern-
ment. On hearing this disastrons intelligence, Mr.
Pritchard did not lose a moment iiiliagtening to re-
gain the power which had escaped him. He ob-
tained from the Governor of New Holland, Sir Geo.
Gibbs, a large sum of money, intended for the pur-
chase of additional presents, and he succeeded in
obtaiuing a promise from Commodore Nicholas, com-
mander of the Vindictive, of recalling the French to
national good faith with irresistible arguments.
" Strong in menaces and in seduction, Mr. Pritchard
embarked on • board the VindictiVe, and arrived at
Tahiti, where it did not take much time, nor many
efforts, to persuade the Queen, like a bold child, to re-
turn to her duty. The sight of a carriage, and of
some rags, not to speak of a formidable battery of
cannon, were enough to turn her head.
" Thus not many days had elapsed after the arrival
of the Consul and the English commodore, when the
flag of the protectorate was taken from the house,
commodious and elegant as it is, called the palace of
the Queen, and Pomare hastened to replace it with*
one which had been given to her by the 'captain of
the Vindictive. Commodore Nicholas did still
more ; he -landed his guns, and placed them in
battery, so as to command the entrance of the roads.
France had then at Tahiti but one corvette of 21
guns.; hut the captain of the Boussola, and sub-
sequently the captain of the Embuscade, addressed
to him such energetic remonstrances, that the English
commander thought fit to abandon his hostile demon-
strations against a friendly flag, and lie withdrew his
guns. Commodore Nicholas, nevertheless, remained
two months in the roads, not losing any occasion of
treating with derision the French protectorate, and of
annoying the provincial government left by Admiral
Dupetit, Thouars. A little later and the captain
of the Vindictive, one of those old sailors who
nourish almost to madness the recollection of national
_quarrels, might have paid for the hatred, absurd, and
extravagant feeling which he avowed against France ;
but no large ship of war with the French flag ap-
peared to oppose his insulting extravagance, until
Admiral Thomas, commander-in-chief on the English
station in the South Sea, ordered the Vindictive
away, and replaced her by the Dublin, which frigate
has remained a peaceful spectator of what was going
on, and never neglecting the courtesy due to our
officers.

" Nevertheless, it became urgent to settle on a de-
finitive basis our relations with the Society Islands,
and to put an end to the obstacles which were raised
against us by the irresolution of the Queen, and the
malevolence of her counsellors. The Uranie frigate
arrived at the Marquesas Islands, bringingout the Go-
vernor of the French possessions in Oceania, and King's
Commissioner to the Queen of Otaheite. She found in
the roadstead of Taio-Hae the Heine Blanche, bearing
the Admiral's flag, and the Danae. M. Dupetit Thouars
and M. Bruit agreed to present themselves before
Papaiti, with the three frigates. To make under
these circumstances a great display of force was
doing an act of generosity. The issue of a oontest
with the inhabitants would not have -been doubtful,
but it would have been a bad commencement on our
work of civilisation to have shed their blood. It was
much more important to fill them with an idea of our
power, as they had been persuaded 'that France had
but one large man-of-war, and that it was always the
same vessel which called there at different times,
painted in a different manner to prevent recognition.
" The departure of the Reine Blanche 'from Taio-
Haehad preceded ours. We anchored three 'days
after in the Bay of Papaiti, and we learned that the
endeavours.of the Admiral during those three days to
persuade the Queen to frankly admit the treaty she had
signed and ratified, and to re-hoist the flag of the
protectorate, had been fruitless. It was necessary to
put an end to this bad faith, which had been
brought about by bad advice. On. Sunday, the sth
November, the order of the Admiral appeared; which
proclaimed the dethronement of the Queen and the
sovereignty of the :King of the French, and which
announced that, on the following morning- -aLf.s_ix
o'clock, the three frigates would land their men, aiia
the tri-coloured flag would be immediately hoisted
on the Queen's palace, and preparations were made
to salute the national colours at daybreak.
"In the night the orders were changed. The Ad-
miral wished to act as long as possible with indul-
gence. He thought that the order_of the day pub.
lished in the day, would have lieemsuffident to have
set aside the suggestions of Mr. Pritchard And his
colleagues, and to point out to the poor Queeli
precipice on which she stood. A delay was
granted. Noon was the time fixed at which
the tri-coloured flag should be hoisted 'by
order -of = the Queen, and France would then
content herself with the execution. of the
other clauses of the treaty. If this was-.not
done the dethronement of . Queen Pomare wai"
to be declared, and her -flag, replaced by
our own. We waited for noon, :and the intervening
hours were those of emotion and lively anxiety. An
Indian Princess, the issue of a family which was
illustrious and powerful in her country, was either
to renounce the inheritance. of her ancestors or return
to good faith and equity—France was either to possess
nominal supremacy in these fine islands, ofpossess them
entirely. Serious interests were thus attached to the
hoisting of a flag. The quartet-decks of all the
vessels in the roadstead, including that of the Eng-

,sh frigate, were crowded with officers th officers ; all their

telescope s were directed towards the Queen's palace,
and men were poked on the tops on the look out.
The hour past ; the flag of Pomare was still waving ;
Pomare—the blind, the obstinate Pomare —refused
to yield to our demands. Two hundred artillery
and marines were landed, with 300 or 400 sailors,
and surrounded the Queen's house, in which every-
thing was silent—the flag of Pomare was removed ;
M. d'Aubigny, the Governor of Tahiti, exclaimed :
' Officers, soldiers, and sailors, and you inhabitants of
these islands, to whom we bring justice and peace, in
the name of the ring, our august master, I take pos-
session of this country. We shall be content to die
for the defence of the glorious tri-coloured flag.
Hoist the flag !' This order was executed amidst the
rolling of the drums and cries of Fire le Rol'
Queen Pomare ' has ceased to reign, and we tread
French land !

"-The-flag of the English Consulate was immediately
lowered.- A rather large number of natives were as-
sembled in front of the residence of M. Pritchard, and
the latter was seen addressing thew with vehemence.
HoWever, his exhortations do not A4eeni to have been
attended with much success. In the evening the town
had- resumed its wonted trancpilllity ; the men
smoked their cigars with as much insouciance, and the
women exhibited their white teeth with a playful
naivete, as if they had not just witnessed a revolution.
" The Governor-General was installed on the Bth,
and had a Council acknowledged, consisting of Cap-
tain d'Aubigny, Lieutenant Clon, and M. Macren-
hout, ex-Consul of France.

" 4 proclamation, addressed to the inhabitants, has
informed them that a full guarantee is granted to their
persons, property, and the free exercise of their reli-
gious worship.
" Papaiti is declared a free port, No anchorage,
customs, or other duties, will be in future paid, ".

cepting pilot duties. ,
" The French flag floats over. -h fine country,
which, in certain respects, still reminds one of Bou-
gainville's poetical description. I sliall tell you haw.
whether La J\TbuyejlerCytlieFe..hqs, any chanc.e..4.
proving iii time ausel'ul and productive colony:
`.6I.IGINE GQSSR."

"LA