During that time they were treated as slaves, suffering in many ways. One
way was that they were forcibly tattooed all over their bodies (this account
is probably the basis for a similar account in Melville's Typee).
Captain Bernard wrote an account of his experiences, but here is an excerpt from Horace Holden's account. He was one of the unfortunates who stayed
two years on the island.
Holden's story is remarkably observant. He and the others were forced by
necessity to learn the Tobi language (which was unintelligible to the
Palauans). His account is interesting because it is a picture of a people,
utterly isolated from other humans, living under the most primitive
conditions.
Most interesting is that in spite of being near starvation constantly, they
were poor fishermen. When the captives tried to introduce better hook
technology, it was refused for religious reasons.
Here is Chapter Seven, which describes the Tobi people.
CHAPTER VII, The island, to which they were carried, proves to be Lord
North's Island, called by the natives To'bee, An account of the island and
its inhabitants-Their manners and customs.
IT MAY NOW BE PROPER IN THIS PLACE TO GIVE SOME account of the place where
our unhappy lot was cast, and its rude and miserable inhabitants. It will be
impossible to convey a correct idea of their ignorance, poverty, and
degradation; but some conception may be formed, by imagining, what the
condition of beings must necessarily be, when wholly separated from the rest
of their species, stripped of all the refinements of life, and deprived of
all means and opportunities for improvement.
We were now upon the small piece of land called by the natives ToŒbee, but
known to navigators by the name of Lord North's Island, situated between the
third and fourth degrees of north latitude, and in longitude one hundred and
thirty-one degrees twenty minutes east. It is also known by the name of
Nevil's Island and Johnston1s Island; and it has been hitherto considered by
navigators and others as uninhabited. This is not surprising; as we were
told by the natives that no white man had ever visited the place; though it
seemed, from the pieces of iron in their possession, and from other
circumstances, that they had had some communication with the Spaniards and
Portuguese in that quarter of the world.* Like many other islands in those
seas, this is surrounded by a coral reef, which is from an eighth to one
half of a mile wide; but outside of the reef the water is apparently
fathomless, the water being as blue as it is in the middle of the ocean; and
the largest vessels may in many places approach within a quarter of a mile
of the beach. The whole island rises so little above the level of the sea,
that the swell often rolls up to a considerable distance inland. It is about
three quarters of a mile in length, and not far from half a mile in width.
There were upon it three villages situated on the shores, and containing, in
all, between three and four hundred souls, at the time when we were taken
there; but the number was considerably diminished by famine and disease
before we left.
The inhabitants are in a state of entire barbarism and ignorance. The men
wear a sort of girdle or belt made of the bark of a tree. This is girded
round the loins so as to leave one end to hang loose behind, the other is
brought forward and fastened to the belt in front. This is their only
clothing. The females, after arriving at the age of womanhood wear an apron
made of the leaves of a plant, by them called Kurremung, split into fine
strips and plaited. This extends from the loins nearly to the knees. Some
few wear rings upon their wrists made of white shells, and some had this
kind of ornament made of turtle shells. In their ears, which are always
bored, they sometimes wear a leaf; and round their necks a necklace made of
the shell of the cocoa -nut, and a small white shell, called keem shell, The
children go entirely naked. The complexion of these islanders is a light
copper color; much lighter than the Maylays, or the Pelew islanders; which
last, however, hey resemble in the breadth of their faces, high cheek bones,
and broad flattened noses. They do not color their teeth, by chewing any
thing, as many of those islanders do; but their teeth are so strong that
they can husk a cocoa-nut with them instantly.
Their principal food is the cocoa-nut. They occasionally succeed in
procuring fish, though the supply obtained during our residence there was
exceedingly mall, Their fish- hooks are made of turtle-shell, and not well
contrived for the purpose; but we could not induce them to use our hooks,
till they had heated them and altered their fond so that they would not hold
the fish. They did this, because they said that Yarris (God) would be angry
with them, if they used our hooks without preparing them according to their
fashion. Sometimes they are so fortunate as to obtain a sea -turtle; five
only were taken during the two years we were there. The turtle, I may add,
has something of a sacred character with them. They also raise small
quantities of a vegetable somewhat resembling the yam; but while we were
with them they were unsuccessful in cultivating it. These constitute the
slender means of their support; and they are thus barely kept from actual
death by famine, but on the very verge of starvation. When anyone of them
begins to fail, for want of food, so that his death is pretty certain, they
inhumanly turn him off from among them, to starve to death.
Their religion is such as might be expected among a people in their
condition. Their place of worship is a rudely constructed building or hut,
about fifty feet long and thirty wide. In the centre, suspended from the
roof, is a sort of altar, into which they suppose their deity comes to hold
converse with the priest. Rudely carved images are placed in different parts
of the building, and are supposed to personate their divinity. As nearly as
could be ascertained by us, they supposed that the object of their worship
was of like passions with themselves, capricious and revengeful. During the
time we were with them, they attributed to is displeasure their want of
success in taking fish as they had done in former times, and the
unfruitfulness of their bread-fruit and cocoa trees.
Their religious ceremonies are singular. In the commencement the priest
walks round the altar and takes from it a mat, devoted to the purpose, which
is laid upon the ground. He then seats himself upon it, and begins to hoot,
in the mean time throwing himself into a variety of attitudes, for the
purpose of calling down the divinity into the altar. At intervals the
congregation sing, but immediately stop when the priest breaks out in his
devotions, By the side of the altar is always placed a large bowl, and six
cocoa-nuts. After the incantation is gone through, and the divinity is
supposed to be present, the bowl is turned up, and four of the nuts are
broken and put in it. two being reserved for the exclusive use of a priest
by them called also "Yarris." As soon as the nuts are broken, one of the
company begins to shout, and, rushing to the centre, seizes the bowl, and
drink of the milk of the nut, generally spilling a considerable part of it
upon the ground, After this a few pieces are thrown to the images and the
remainder are eaten by the priests, This closes the ceremony; after which
they indulge' in any recreations that chance to please them best,
While we were on the island several earthquakes happened, and some of hem
pretty severe, On those occasions the natives were much terrified; they
would not let their children speak a word; and they said among themselves:
zahbee'too Yarris, To 'bee yettah'men,' that is Yarris (God) is coming and
To 'bee (the name of the island) will sink. They were also very much alarmed
at thunder and lightning; and used to say at such times, Yarris tee'tree,
God is talking. I do not know how they would be affected by an eclipse, as
none happened that I noticed while we remained there.
I will here mention some other things in respect to their customs and
usages, as they now occur to me.
Their implements of war are spears and clubs; they have no bows and arrows.
Their spears are made of the wood of the cocoa-nut trees; the points of hem
are set with rows of sharks' teeth; and, being at the same time very heavy
and from ten to twenty feet long, are formidable weapons,
Their canoes are made of logs which drift to their island from other
places. There being no trees on it large enough for that purpose; they are
hollowed out with great labor, and are of very clumsy workmanship; to
prevent their oversetting, they are fitted up with outriggers, like those of
the Pelew islanders. A ketch of one is given in the accompanying engraving.
They kindle their fires, as they informed me, by rubbing two pieces of wood
I together, as is common in the islands of the Pacific Ocean; and they cook
their turtle or other meat, (when they are so fortunate as to have any,) as
well as their vegetables, by covering them with heated stones. I should
state, however, that during the whole time we stayed among them. fire was
always preserved in some part of the island, so that there was no necessity
for kindling it in the manner here mentioned.
Like other savage people, they reckon time by moons; I could not learn that
they ever reckoned by any other period, except, indeed, with speaking of two
or three days.
They take pride in their hair, and are particularly careful about it,
washing and cleansing it almost every day. They do ~<I hey do not color it,
however. As the natives of some islands are said to do; but they moisten it
with the juice pressed out from the cocoa-nut, which gives it a very glossy
app cocoa-nut, which gives it a very glossy appearance; and it is frequently
so long as to reach down to their waist.
Their mode of salutation is, to clasp each other in their arms and touch
their noses together, as is practised in many other islands.
We found no musical instruments of any kind among them. They sometimes. On
particular occasions, would sing or bawl out something like a rude tune; but
we could not understand it. We frequently tried to teach them to whistle and
their awkward attempts to do it amused us; but they never were able to learn
how it was done.
In their names, I could not find that they had any thing like a family
name. but only a single one, (corresponding to our Christian names,) as is
the case, I believe, throughout the islands of the Pacific. I could not
learn, that the names were significant either of animals or other objects,
as the Indian names of America are, and I never found any two persons of the
same name. The names of the Ilembers of the family with which I lived were
as follows:
Pahrahboo ' ah. the father of the family.
Nah 'kit. the mother.
Buhwur tirnar, the eldest child. a son. ten or twelve years old.
Kobaw'ut, the second, a daughter.
Kobahnoo 'uk. the third, a daughter.
The children do not address their parents by any word corresponding to
father or mother, papa or mamma, but by their names. Their parents treat
them on the footing of equality; they are generally well behaved, and are
never punished, except occasionally when impatient for their food.
Their language appears to be different from those of the other islands in
that quarter; we found that the three natives of the Pelew Islands, that
accompanied us, could not understand any thing they said; though I observed
afterwards, occasionally, a resemblance in two or three words, The reader
will, however, be enabled to judge for himself, by means of a short
vocabulary of common words which will be found at the end of this narrative.
I may add, that the Pelew chiefs had never heard of Lord North's Island; but
they are acquainted with the Caroline Islands.
A detail of all that befell us, would serve only to give pain to the
benevolent, or at most to show how much human beings can endure. I shall
attempt but little more than to describe the sufferings of a day; observing
once for all, that for the term of two long years we experienced the same
privations, and were subjected to he same brutal treatment; life, during all
that time, being no better than the constant succession of the most acute
sufferings.
This island, unlike the Pelews, is one of the most horrible and wretched on
the face of the globe, the only product of its soil worth mentioning is the
cocoa tree; and those are of so dwarfish and miserable a growth as to bear
but very few nuts. These few, however, constitute the food of the
inhabitants, with the exception of a species of fish caught occasionally
near the shore. The only animals or creeping things known on the island are
lizards and mice, and during our stay there scarcely a solitary sea-fowl was
known to have alighted on the island and but few fish were taken by the
natives.
The character of the inhabitants much resembles that of the island itself,
Cowardly and servile, yet most barbarous and cruel, they combine, in their
habits, tempers, and dispositions, the most disgusting and loathsome
features that disgrace humanity, And, what may be regarded as remarkable,
the female portion of the inhabitants outstrip the men in cruelty and savage
depravity; so much so, that we were frequently indebted to the tender
mercies of the men for escapes from death at the hands of the women. The
indolence of the natives, which not even the fear of starvation itself can
rouse to exertion, prevents their undertaking the least toil. Although a
little labor, well applied, might be made to render them infinitely more
comfortable. *
Strange as it may appear, it is nevertheless true, that, notwithstanding
they are in this miserable condition, with no prospect of its ever being
improved, they are of the opinion that they are highly favored. This can be
accounted for in no other way than by the fact, that they are entirely
ignorant of all that lies beyond the narrow limits of their observation.
They know nothing of any other portion of the globe, than the mere speck of
barren land upon which by some accident they were thrown, and where they
remain, to drag out a wretched existence, Their traditions do not extend
further back than to about a hundred years; and, to their simple minds, it
seems like a splendid effort of mind to be able to relate, with tolerable
accuracy, the time-hallowed stories told them by their parents. Whether they
could in any way be improved by instruction, is a question which it would be
difficult to answer. They seem to be doomed to remain, as one of the last
links in the chain that connects our race with the mere animal part of the
creation.
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