Note 3 — Chapter III · TRANSACTIONS AT OTAHEITE, AND THE SOCIETY ISLANDS; AND PROSECUTION OF THE VOYAGE TO THE COAST OF NORTH AMERICA. (continued 3)

Footnote 3:

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That the Caroline Islands are inhabited by the same tribe or nation, whom Captain Cook found, it such immense distances, spread throughout the South Pacific Ocean, has been satisfactorily established in some preceding notes The situation of the Ladrones, or Marianne Islands, still farther north than the Carolines, but at no great distance from them, is favourable, at first sight, to the conjecture, that the same race also peopled that cluster; and, on looking into Father Le Gobien's history of them, this conjecture appears to be actually confirmed by direct evidence. One of the greatest singularities of the Otaheite manners, is the existence of the society of young men called Erreoes, of whom some account is given in the preceding paragraph. Now we learn from Father Le Gobien, that such a society exists also amongst the inhabitants of the Ladrones. His words are: Les Urritoes sont parmi eux les jeuns gens qui vivent avec des maitresses, sans vouloir s'engager dans les liens du mariage. That there should be young men in the Ladrones, as well as in Otaheite, who live with mistresses, without being inclined to enter into the married state, would not, indeed, furnish the shadow of any peculiar resemblance between them. But that the young men in the Ladrones, and in Otaheite, whose manners are thus licentious, should be considered as a distinct confraternity, called by a particular name; and that this name should be the same in both places: this singular coincidence of custom, confirmed by that of language, seems to furnish an irrefragable proof of the inhabitants of both places being the same nation. We know, that it is the general property of the Otaheite dialect, to soften the pronunciation of its words. And, it is observable, that, by the omission of one single letter (the consonant t), our Arreoys (as spelled in Hawkesworth's collection), or Erreoes (according to Mr Anderson's orthography), and the Urritoes of the Ladrones, are brought to such a similitude of sound (the only rule of comparing two unwritten languages), that we may pronounce them to be the same word, without exposing ourselves to the sneers of supercilious criticism.

One or two more such proofs, drawn from similarity of language, in very significant words, may be assigned. Le Gobien tells us, that the people of the Ladrones worship their dead, whom they call Anitis. Here, again, by dropping the consonant n, we have a word that bears a strong resemblance to that which so often occurs in Captain Cook's voyages, when speaking of the divinities of his islands, whom he calls Eatooas. And it may be matter of curiosity to remark, that what is called an Aniti, at the Ladrones, is, as we learn from Cantova (Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses, tom. xv. p. 309, 310.) at the Caroline Islands, where dead chiefs are also worshipped, called a Tahutup; and that, by softening or sinking the strong sounding letters, at the beginning and at the end of this latter word, the Ahutu of the Carolines, the Aiti of the Ladrones, and the Eatooa of the South Pacific Islands, assume such a similarity in pronunciation (for we can have no other guide), as strongly marks one common original. Once more; we learn from Le Gobien, that the Marianne people call their chiefs Chamorris, or Chamoris. And by softening the aspirate Ch into T, and the harshness of r into l (of which the vocabularies of the different islands give us repeated instances), we have the Tamole of the Caroline Islands, and the Tamolao, or Tamaha, of the Friendly ones.

If these specimens of affinity of language should be thought too scanty, some very remarkable instances of similarity of customs and institutions will go far to remove every doubt. 1. A division into three classes, of nobles, of middle rank, and the common people, or servants, was found, by Captain Cook, to prevail, both at the Friendly and the Society Islands. Father Le Gobien expressly tells us, that the same distinction prevails at the Ladrones: Il y a trois états, parmi les insulaires, la noblesse, le moyen, et le menu. 2. Numberless instances occur in Captain Cook's voyage to prove the great subjection under which the people of his islands are to their chiefs. We learn from Le Gobien, that it is so also at the Ladrones: La noblesse est d'un fierté incroyable, et tien le peuple dans un abaisement qu'on ne pourroit imaginer en Europe, &c. 3. The diversions of the natives at Wateeo, the Friendly, and the Society Islands, have been copiously described by Captain Cook. How similar are those which Le Gobien mentions in the following words, as prevailing at the Ladrones!—Ils se divertissent à danser, courir, sautir, lutter, pour s'exercer, et éprouver leur forces. Ils prennent grand plaisir à raconter les avantures de leurs ancétres, et à reciter des vers de leurs poëtes. 4. The principal share sustained by the women, in the entertainments at Captain Cook's islands, appears sufficiently from a variety of instances in this work; and we cannot read what Le Gobien says of the practice at the Ladrones, without tracing the strongest resemblance—Dans leurs assemblées elles se mettent doux ou trieze femmes en rond, debout, sans se remuer. Dans cette attitude elles chantent les vers fabuleux de leurs poëtes avec un agrément, et une justesse qui plairoit en Europe. L'accord de leur voix est admirable, et ne cede en rien à la musique concertée. Elles ont dans les mains de petits coquilles, dont elles se servent avec beaucoup de precision. Elles soutiennent leur voix, et animent leur chants avec une action si vive, et des gestes si expressives, qu'elles charment ceux qui les voient, et qui les entendent. 5. We read in Captain Cook's first voyage, that at Otaheite garlands of the fruit of the palm-tree and cocoa-leaves, with other things particularly consecrated to funeral solemnities, are deposited about the places where they lay their dead; and that provisions and water are also left at a little distance. How conformable to this is the practice at the Ladrones, as described by Le Gobien!—Ils font quelques repas autour du tombeau; car on en eleve toujours un sur le lieu ou le corps est enterré, ou dans le voisinage; on le charge de fleurs, de branches de palmiers, de coquillages, et de tout ce qu'ils ont de plus precieux. 6. It is the custom at Otaheite not to bury the skulls of the chiefs with the rest of the bones, but to put them into boxes made for that purpose. Here again, we find the same strange custom prevailing at the Ladrones; for Le Gobien expressly tells us, qui'ls gardent les cranes, en leur maisons, that they put these skulls into little baskets (petites corbeilles); and that these dead chiefs are the Anitis, to whom their priests address their invocations. 7. The people at Otaheite, as we learn from Captain Cook, in his account of Tee's embalmed corpse, make use of cocoa-nut oil, and other ingredients, in rubbing the dead bodies. The people of the Ladrones, Father Le Gobien tells us, sometimes do the same—D'autres frottent les morts d'huile odoriferante. 8. The inhabitants of Otaheite believe the immortality of the soul; and that there are two situations after death, somewhat analogous to our heaven and hell; but they do not suppose, that their actions here in the least influence their future state. And in the account given in this Voyage of the religious opinions entertained at the Friendly Islands, we find there exactly the same doctrine. It is very observable, how conformable to this is the belief of the inhabitants of the Ladrones—Ils sont persuadés (says Le Gobien) de l'immortalité de l'áme. Ils reconnoissent même un Paradis et un Enfer, dont ils se forment des idées assez bizarres. Ce n'est point, selon eux, la vertu ni le crime, qui conduit dans ces lieux là; les bonnes ou les mauvaises actions n'y servent de rien. 9. One more very singular instance of agreement shall close this long list. In Captain Cook's account of the New Zealanders, we find that, according to them, the soul of the man who is killed, and whose flesh is devoured, is doomed to a perpetual fire; while the souls of all who die a natural death, ascend to the habitations of the gods. And, from Le Gobien, we learn that this very notion is adopted by his islanders—Si on a le malkeur de mourir de mort violente, on a l'enfer pour leur portage.

Surely such a concurrence of very characteristic conformities cannot be the result of mere accident; and, when combined with the specimens of affinity of language mentioned at the beginning of this note, it should seem that we are fully warranted, from premises thus unexceptionable, to draw a certain conclusion, that the inhabitants of the various islands discovered or visited by Captain Cook in the South Pacific Ocean, and those whom the Spaniards found settled upon the Ladrones or Mariannes, in the northern hemisphere, carried the same language, customs, and opinions from one common centre, from which they had emigrated; and that, therefore, they may be considered as scattered members of the same nation.

See Pere Le Gobien's Histoire des Iles Mariannes, Book ii. or the summary of it in Histoire des Navigations aux Terres Australes, T. ii. p. 492-512, from which the materials for this note have been extracted.—D.