The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-04-15

submission, occasionally striking some
of our number. After pretty thorough
ly convincing US that in this case our
only course. was submission, he began
to strip US Of our clothing. While this
was going on his associates in arms and
mischief kept their canoe close along
side and, standing up, held their spears
in a position to enable them to pierce
us Through in an instant if there had
been any occasion for so doing
We were soon in their miserable har-
Dor, and, it being low water, we were
compelled to leave our boat and wade
to the lakeland through the mud. Our
appearance, as the reader will natural
ly conclude, was not very creditable to
the land which gave us birth but since
our destitute and miserable condition
was not our choice, we could do no less
than be thankful that it was no worse:
and, making the best of it. we suffered
ourselves to be ushered into the pres
ence of the dignitaries of the island in
the way they thought most proper. We
were conducted to platform on a rise
of land at little distance from the
harbor, on which were seated thssxe who
had power 10 dispose of us as they
pleased. This platform was twelve or
fifteen feet square and was situated
between two long buildings called
'pyes.' These, as we afterwards learn
ed, were used by the chiefs as places
of carousal and as sort of harem for
their women. They were constructed
in rude manner. of bamboo sticks,
and covered with leaves. They were
sixty or seventy feet in length and
about twenty-four in width.
That something like a correct concep-
ton of this scene may be formed by
the reader. it may be we'll to give, in
this place, brief account of the APP
pearance, manners and customs of the
natives of this island. This was the
island known to navigators as Baubel-
thouap, the largest of the group of the
Pelew islands. 1t lies not far from the
eighth degree of north latitude, is about
one hundred and twenty miles in length
and contains probably not far from two
thousand inhabitants.
The men were entirely naked. They
always go armed, in the way before de-
scribed, and carry with them a small
basket containing generally the whole
amount of their movable property. The
women wear no other clothing than a
sort OF apron Fastened to the waist
by a curiously wrought girdle) extend
ing nearly to the knees and left open
at the sides. The material of these
garments Gf such they can be called
is the bark of tree called by them
"karamal.' This tree grows from thir-
ty to forty feet high and is two or
three feet in circumference. The hair
of both males and females is worn long;
it is coarse and stiff and of color re-
sembling that of the natives of North
America. They make free use of the
oil extracted from the cocoanut; with
this they anoint their bodies. consider
ing it the extreme of gentility to have
the skin entirely saturated with it.
Their arms, and sometimes the lower
parts of the body and legs, are ingeni-
ously tattooed. Their complexion is a
light copper. Their eyes have very
singular appearance, being of reddish
color. Their noses are somewhat fiat,
but not so fiat as those of the Africans,
nor are their lips so thick. They are
excessively. fond of trinkets. 1t would
cause a fashionable lady of America to
smile to observe the pains taken by
those simple daughters of nature to set
off their persons. In their ears they
wear sort of ornament made of a
peculiar kind of grass, which they work
into a tassel: this is painted and richly
perfumed. In their noses they wear a
stem of the kabooa leaf, which answers
the double purpose of an ornament and
a smelling bottle; and their arms, in
addition to being tattooed in the man.
ner above mentioned, are adorned with
a profusion of shells. Our fair readers
may Judge how much we were amused
on fin&ing that the copper-colored fe-
males of the island cut up our old
shoes into substitutes for jewelry and
seemed highly delighted with wearing
the shreds suspended from their ears.
Our further acquaintance with this
extraordinary people confirmed us in
the opinion that the ceremony of mar
riage is Impractical and unknown
among them. The chiefs appropriate to
themselves as many females as they
please, and in the selection they exer-
else this despotism over the affections
without regard to any other laws than
those of caprice. Reserving more
particular account of their manners
customs and mode of living for another
place, I content myself with observing
at this time that the people of these
islands, generally speaking, are in the
rudest state imaginable. 1t is true that
some sense of propriety and some re-
gard to the decencies of life were OBJ
served; nor did they appear entirely
destitute of those feelings which dc
honor to our nature and which we
should hardly expect to find in people
os rude and barbarous.
Such were the beings among whom
Providence had cast our lot; and tc
think of remaining with them to the
end of life, or for any great length OF
time, was like the contemplation of I'M
prisonment for life in the gloomy cell:
of dungeon.
From the rudely constructed whar
near the spot where we left our boa
we were conducted into the presence
of number of the chiefs. who wer'
seated on the platform above mention
ed. The natives eagerly pressed for
ward to obtain a sight of us. Tha
curiosity peculiar to the better portion
of our race was. on this occasion, man