Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-05-03

W island pastor. read
w. in a pamphlet
will not give the authors name-that the
Marquesan especially resembles the Pau
motuan. should take the two races, though
SO near in neighborhood, to be extremes OF
Polynesian diversity; the Marquesan GER
tsinly the most beautiful of human races
and one of the tallest-the Paumotuan aver
aging a good inch shorter and not even
handsome; the Marquesan open-handed, in
ert insensible to religion, childishly self
indulgent-the Paumotuan greedy, hardy,
enterprisipg. religions disputant, and with
trace of the ascetic character.
Yet few years ago. and the people of the
archipelago were crafty savages. Their
isles might be called sirens isles, not mere
ly from tie attraction they exerted on the
passing mariner, but from the perils that
awaited him on shore. Even to this day, in
the outlying islands, danger fingers. and
the civilized Paumotuau breads to land and
hesitates to accost his backward brother.
But to-day the fear is memory; when our
generation were vet in the cradle aud play
room, it was still living fact. Between
1880 and 1S40, Hao, Tor instance, was y
place of the most dangerous approach,
where ships were seized, crews kidnapped.
Fate of a Schooner's Crew.
As late as 1856 the schooner Sarah Ann
sailed from Papeete and was seen no more.
She had women on board and children, the
captains wife, nursemaid, baty and the
two Young sons OF Captain Steven, on the
way to the mainland for schooling. All
were supposed to have perished in a squall
A year later. the captain of the Julia, coast
ing along the island variously called Bligh,
Lagoon and TeRatangi, saw armed natives
follow the course OF his schooner, clad in
manv-coiored stufs.
Suspicion was az once aroused: the mother
of The lost children was profuse of money;
and one expedition having found the place
r. deserted, and returned content with firing q
few Shots she raised and herself accompa-
MED another. None appeared 10 greet or
oppose them; they roamed awhile among
abandoned huts and empty thlckets; but the
voice of the bereaved mother was in their
ears; and they formed two parties and set
forth to beat, from end to end, the pandanus
jungle of the island. One man remained
alone by the landing place-Teina, a chief
of Anaa, leader OF the armed natives who
made the strength of the expedition. Now
that his comrades were departed, this way
and that. on their laborious exploration, the
silence fell profound; and this silence was
the ruin of the islanders.
Horrible Scenes Inside a Cave
A sound of stones rattling caught the
ears Of Teina. He looked, thinking to per-
ceive a crab, and saw instead the brown
hand of a human being issue from 6ssure
in the ground. A shout recalled the search
parties and announced their doom to- the
buried caitffs. In the cave below, sixteen
were found erouching among human bones
=, L.. L. l.
was head of golden hair, supposed to be a
relic of the Captains wife, another was half
of the body of a European child, sun-dried
and stuck upon a stick, doubtless with some
design of wizardry.
1t is on this rude stock that less than a
century of mission work, pearl fishery, and
the copra trade has grated puritanic faults
and virtues. A while ago, and each isle
was held, according Mr.. Wilmot pro in
diviso among all inhabitants To-day, he
says, ''the lessons Of the missionaries, " the
gains of divers varying as they do with the
proficiency of each, and the recent industr,
OF planting cocoa palms, have blotted out
all trace of communism, except in the
ownership of the Iagoons; indlvidualism is
carried even within the household, even be-
twixt the children; trees, pigs and poultry
are set apart as peculiun for each par
tIcular child; and Mr.. Wilmot has seen
on the market price.
Going a Step Too Far.
1 would generally follow Mr. Wilmot
with confidence; but here 1 wonder If he \
does not go too far to either hand. And
first. in his statement of the pristine COM
munlsn. If he be right, the Paumotuan
has learned with singular ease the prin-
ciples of property in land. Even if he
were right, the case would stand alone in
Polynesia. And his exception of the lagoon
sets me thinking. In the atolls OF the Gill
berts the land was parceled from of old in
heritable patches; the lagoon is common, or
sometimes Cease Of Nomuti) held for public
purposes by the council of old men. Might
not this have been the case also in the atolls
of the Dangerous Archipelago?
And again, Mr.. Wilmot tests nv ere.
dulity in his picture of the indlvidualism
of to-day. do not question what he saw
and heard; / only wonder if there were not
more behind. The case of my house rent
smacks of lingering exceptions. But, al
though we eavil at details, we NAV accept
the picture. Without doubt there is eyolu-
tion in the archipelago upon these lines
Without doubt society is rising on the
European pattern, with bourgeois faults
and bourgeois virtues, society of rich and |
poor, of self-help, self-denial, hard work
and sly dishonesty.
Smoking While Under Water.
The Paumotuan is eager to be rich. He
saves, grudges, buries money, fears not
work. For dollar each, two natives passed
the hours of daylight cleaning our ships
copper. 1t was strange to see them so iude-
fatigaDle and SO much at ease in the water
working at times with their pipes lighted, |
the smoker at times submerged, and only |
the glowing bowl above the surface. But |
the Paumotuan not only saves, grudges and |
works, he steals besides; or to be more pre- |
else, he swindles. He viii never deny a |
debt. he only fees his creditor. He is al |
ways keen for an advance; SO soon as he has |
fingered it. he disappears. He knows your /
ship; SO soon as itnears one island, he is off |
to another. You may think you know his
name, he has already changed it. Pursuit |
in that infnity of isles were fruitless
The result can be given in a nutshell. 1t |
has been actually proposed in o Govern
ment report TO secure debts by taking /
photograph of the debtor. and tine other day
in Papeetc credits on the Paumotus to the