The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1922-06-16

Some of the tapus for The guild
anCe Of the women would probably IN
cite = sufIragette to Spectacular wrath.
Without exception on any island, wom-
on might not eat .'long pis"; nor brown
pig, a dellcacy much enjoyed By The
men folks in the absence OF the longer
variety.
Nor daily with bonita or squid, the
two fishes most in favor with tie
Alarquesan palate.
Nor, except on special occasions, eat
fresh breadfruit bananas, or coconut
Nor could they go in canoes. q pro
vision TO keep them from being cap
tured by enemies lurking outside the
bay.
And. a tapu savoring Of solomon in
its wisdom, women could not weep
II would be grave error to con
clude from the taboos mentioned that
the life Of the NIarquesan woman was
hard one.
They Had No Agriculture.
Agriculture in any form was I'M
known. The natives took the bOunti-
full variety of fora the islands provid-
ed, but TO assist nature IN any way
by tilling or replanting never occurred
TO them. Content with their gratiiica-
ton of the desires of the day, the
Marquesans took literally no thought
for the morrow.
The most favored intoxicant in the
Marquesas is namu-ehi, or, as it is
more commonly known, koko Eli is
Marquesan for cOconut, and 1t is from
the coco palm that this most insidious
and delectable of drinks is made. a
tall COCO palm that has been wind
blown so that it's plumy top leans far
out of the perpendicular, is chosen.
The buds. from which eventually fifty
or sixty nuts would be produced, grow
In compact, oblong cluster near the
top of the palm. The native climbs
the tree and. using long strips of
bark or fiber, binds the cluster of
blossoms tightly round and round, until
the result resembles a huge, fat cigar
prOtruding from the fronds. Under
meath the point of this bowl is sus-
pended and the tip end of the wrap
ping sliced off.
After the second day 1t begins TO
drip freely, but the end must be sliced
fresh every twenty-four hours TO slim
ulate the flow. In this manner a tree
Will furnish one or more gallons day
for several weeks.
When fresh from the tree the bev-
Inli cin Oda
with flavor which would make the
fortune Of a soft-drink manufactures
who could reproduce 1t. Fermentation
! takes place speedily. however, and in
few hours your soft drink has hard
ened" into vicious man-killer that
only savage can go against with
| impunity.
Captain Cooks report placed the
| Marquesas literally and figuratively
ION the map" That was 145 years
! ago. and since then the history of the
! islands is the tragic story of losing
/ fight by q race of savages against a
| civilization represented In this instance
by the whaler. the missionary, the
trader, the ''blackbirder." and finally
! their conquest and subjugation by a
foreign power.
In 1912 Admiral Du Petit-Thouars
took possession of the entire group in
the name of France, ostensibly 10 pro-
| tect the missionaries in their labors-fo
: Christianity. Forts were built on sew
eral of the islands and troops installed
/ Go enforce French authority.
The ensuing fifty years is record
OF desultOry warfare between the
French soldiers and the Marquesan
warriors. in which the latter. always
at war with each other and poorly
armed, were constantly defeated; OF
''blackbirders" from North and South
America. who raided the weakened
villages and sold the men and women
into slavery In far-off lands, and Of
the frightful ravages OF smallpox.
tuberculosis, leprosy. and other con.
| tagious.