GO TO TEMARAIA—MIRACULOUS HEALINGS—CHILD ASSAILED BY AN EVIL
SPIRIT—STRANGE OCCURRENCE—GIFT OF SEA BISCUITS—PERFORM A
SURGICAL OPERATION—HAMMERING OUT TEETH—THE WRITER AS A SURGEON
AND DENTIST—ROUGHS DISTURB A MEETING—THEY ARE STRICKEN WITH
DEATH—FATAL SICKNESS AMONG THE PEOPLE—LOWER CLASSES OF THE NATIVES
AT A FEAST—THEIR REVERENCE FOR RELIGIOUS SERVICES AND PREACHERS—TWO
PARTIES OF NATIVES IN BATTLE ARRAY—FIGHTING AVERTED BY THE WRITER
ADDRESSING THE CONTENDING FACTIONS IN FAVOR OF PEACE—WARS AMONG
THE NATIVES—SOME OF THEIR PRACTICES—GATHERING AND KEEPING HUMAN
HEADS—CAUSES OF CANNIBALISM—CONVERSATION WITH ONE WHO HAD BEEN A
CANNIBAL—FLAVOR OF NATIVE AND WHITE MEN'S FLESH COMPARED—THE TASTIEST
PART OF THE HUMAN BODY.
ON September 19th, Nihiru, a native brother, came with his canoe and
gave the writer a free passage to a village on the east end of the
island, called Tematahoa. We arrived in the evening and found a great
deal of sickness among the people. Just at dark on the 20th, a brother
named Pasai came from Temaraia with a sick man to have him anointed and
administered to. I attended to that and he was healed.
On the 21st, Sunday, I preached on the signs, gifts of healing, etc.
There were about two hundred and fifty persons in the congregation. In
the evening I baptized and confirmed eighteen persons. Monday morning I
opened school with twenty-eight pupils; next day there were forty-one.
On the following day, September 24th, a man and his wife came to me
with a child three and a half months old. They said that a short
time before their child had been taken sick in the night, and they
had talked to each other of having it anointed. At this, the child
spoke, and stated in plain words, like an adult, that it would not
be anointed. It said many words as plainly as any person could do.
From that time it grew worse to the day it was brought to me to be
administered to. The parents said they did not belong to the Church,
but desired to be baptized, for they believed the Gospel as the Mormon
Elders taught it. Their names were Tauahi and Taui. We baptized them
and one other person, then administered to the child, which lay limp
as if dead. We could not tell whether it was dead or alive. However,
when we took our hands off its head, it opened its eyes and looked as
if nothing was the matter. Then it nursed as any healthy child might.
There were many people gathered there, and all were astonished at what
had taken place. Finally the babe went to sleep as if nothing had been
wrong with it, and the whole company rejoiced at the great change that
had come. They said that truly it was the Almighty who had healed the
child through His servant.
I turned and gave my attention to some writing that was necessary, and
the crowd became unusually quiet. In a few minutes a strong rushing or
movement among the people attracted my attention, and as I turned to
face the people there appeared to be an ashy paleness over the faces
of the whole assembly. All seemed terrified and speechless. At that
moment an aged couple, a man and his wife, entered the door and went
straightway to where the sleeping infant lay. They bowed down over it
and kissed it, and then went through some ancient heathen ceremony that
I could not understand. Then they walked direct to their canoes and
sailed across the lake to where they had come from. From that moment
the relatives of the child began to mourn and say that it would die;
and sure enough, inside of an hour it was a corpse. The parents were
asked why they had lost faith and given up the child. They said the old
people who had kissed the babe had power with evil spirits, and had
afflicted it in the first place; that their power had been broken by
the Priesthood, and they could not reunite it with the babe until they
could come and touch it; and when they had done that, the parents and
all concerned lost faith, and could not resist the influence that came
with the old pair of witches, as we think they would be called by some
civilized people. I must confess it was a strange thing to me. I had
never before witnessed anything so strange.
It was on the 27th of September that the child died. On the same day a
Scotchman came and brought me a few sea biscuits. I was very thankful
to him for the favor, for bread was such a rarity in that part of the
country as to give a man some satisfaction in seeing it, even though
he might not have the pleasure of eating it. Thanks to the benevolent
Scotchman. I regret that I have forgotten his name. The next day I
preached on the resurrection of the dead, and baptized and confirmed
eighteen persons into the Church.
Before leaving my reminiscences of this place, I will narrate two
incidents of some note to me. In one, we were called to see a man
who had been confined to his room the greater part of a year with a
swelling in his hip and thigh. On examination it was found that his
whole hip and thigh were filled with a thick and very noxious pus.
No one in the village dared to lance it, but when I told him his
condition he insisted that I should cut it whether it killed or cured.
I hesitated to comply with his wish until all his immediate relatives
had been consulted, and had given their assent. Otherwise, the
superstition of the people was so great that if in the operation the
patient succumbed the operator would have the gravest responsibility to
meet. But when all concerned had given sanction, and each had assumed
his or her responsibility, I performed the operation most successfully,
the wound discharging at least six pints of the most offensive matter,
and the patient being greatly relieved from his terrible suffering. The
operation was performed with a penknife, for in that country at that
time the only surgical instrument ever used for cutting was a shark's
tooth or a scale from a broken bottle.
In this case the operation seemed to the people very little less than
a miracle. The news thereof spread all over the island, insomuch that
the operator acquired much practice in similar cases, such as swollen
jaws, boils, carbuncles, etc., and though he performed many operations,
he never received one cent as pay. If the people had toothache, he was
called on and performed the operation of extraction, in some instances
using a rusty nail, or any kind of an old iron, in place of a hammer
or mallet, to punch the tooth out. His best dentist tool was his rifle
bullet mold, using both ends for forceps. He never failed to give
satisfaction, for there were neither dentists nor surgeons in that part
of the world.
The other incident, and a very singular one, which occurred at that
place was this: On one occasion seven very rough characters came into
our sacrament meeting. Some of them were said to be from an adjacent
island. They came, took seats at the back of the hall, and behaved
very rudely, making loud remarks and threats about the young ladies of
the choir. When they partook of the sacrament they said that when the
meeting was out they would administer ihe sacrament in a very different
manner to that in which the Mormons did it. Sure enough, at the close
of the meeting they pushed along through the congregation till they
came to the young ladies, and made wicked propositions to them, which
were very quickly spurned. Then they passed on, still making their
boasts of what they would do at nightfall. But they failed in carrying
out their threats, for in a very short time three of them were stricken
down with violent cramps, so terrible that all three were corpses
before the next morning. The other four had strong symptoms of the same
complaint, and inside of a week they were dead also. The people said it
was the power of evil spirits that had been sent to destroy them, that
they might not be permitted to carry out their wicked purposes. The
whole people were so excited that they shot off guns, blew horns, built
large fires, prayed and shouted in wild confusion, to drive away the
evil spirits; and many people were smitten with sickness and some died.
On the 29th of September we sailed for Putuhara. The wind blew a gale,
and we had a fearful passage, but succeeded in reaching our destination
in safety, and in time for evening meeting, when we preached to a large
congregation. October 1st, I baptized and confirmed three persons. On
the same day the roughest people of the island assembled to feast and
dance. It seemed that to quarrel and fight was the principal number
on their program, and they appeared to indulge in everything that
was wicked. They killed pigs, chickens and dogs, roasted all alike,
and ate them with great relish. They also ran through the streets
with torchlights and firebrands, and the confusion was so great and
turbulent that it looked more like an actual battle of savages than a
dance. All ages participated, from the child of tender years up to the
old grayheaded man and woman, all of them two-thirds naked, and some of
the children entirely nude.
I had seen Indians in their warpaint and dances, but this excelled in
confused savage deeds anything I ever beheld before. It seemed that
they never knew what order meant. Yet, strange to say, at the first
tap of the church bell they reminded me of a turkey gobbler which,
when in full strut, seeing a dog run at him, drops his feathers so
suddenly that he does not look like the same bird. So it was with that
savage-looking lot. At the first tap of the bell they became as silent
as if dead, then retreated to their hiding places, and not another yell
was heard from any of them, so great was their reverence for religious
services. At one time, though, it did seem that they could not be
silenced short of bloodshed, for there were two opposing parties mixed
up together.
When the confusion was straightened out and peace apparently restored,
the parties separated, only to come together again later, with more
roast pigs, chickens and dogs. Then they ate of their feast until full,
when some unwise person of one party made an insulting remark about the
other party. Quickly the participants in the feast formed for battle,
armed with clubs and stones. At that moment one man from each party
ran for the ormatua (missionary). I went out and stepped up on to a
large chest, at the same time calling aloud for peace. Strange as it
may seem, although their clubs and stones were raised to strike fatal
blows, and the women and children were shrieking and crying, the moment
the natives recognized me among them they dropped their ugly weapons
and listened, and the spokesman of each party came forward to plead his
particular case. I caught the spirit of the situation and addressed
them briefly on the subject of peace, order and good will to all, and
exhorted them to leave their grievances to two or more of their cooler
and wiser men to settle. This they agreed to do; then they joined
forces and made an attack on the writer, not for blood, but of love and
respect. Men and women seized on to him, embracing him and shaking his
hands until he was nearly smothered and almost borne to the ground.
I would not have it understood that this great reverence and respect
was shown to me for any superiority that I would claim; but it was a
man's calling as a minister of the Gospel which they held sacred before
the Lord. So long as he did not betray their confidence, the minister's
influence was almost unbounded, and with all their faults the natives
had many most estimable qualities.
From this great excitement, and the accounts that he had heard from
time to time, the writer was led to inquire into the manner of warfare,
the traditions and the superstitions, as also into the causes for and
cannibalism of the islanders. Their wars usually had an origin in very
trivial causes, such as family quarrels, thefts, politics and disputes
over land or over fishing waters. At one time the islands had a dense
population, and the strong would go on the warpath for conquest, one
village or island being pitted against another. Their ariis (kings),
as they call them—I think it would be more proper to designate them as
chiefs, as the Indians do—attain power through brave and heroic acts,
and the great havoc they make among their adversaries. Their weapons
consisted chiefly of spears made from fish bone and hard wood, stones
and slings, clubs, and a rudely fashioned glove made by winding bark
and shark's teeth together in such a way as to have the teeth stand out
thickly on the inside of the hand. With this latter weapon they would
grapple with and tear out each other's entrails. They had rude drums
and some kind of whistles for musical instruments.
In war, the two parties approach each other, dancing, boasting and
threatening, until within a few feet of each other, when they leap
at and onto one another in a hand-to-hand conflict, fighting as wild
beasts, to a finish. Their mothers, sisters, daughters and aunts
prepare themselves with strong baskets made from the cocoanut leaf, and
swing these on their backs; then (each with a sharp rock or a seashell
in her hand) they enter the battlefield in rear of their nearest male
relative. When the latter has dispatched his man or disabled him so
that the women can finish him, he engages another adversary, while the
woman beheads his victim, puts the head into her basket, swings it on
her back, and continues to follow her male relative to victory or death.
When a war is over, and the victorious party returns home, each family
has a place for the captured heads, where they are put in rows, being
set some six or eight inches below the surface of the ground, and easy
of access. This was done so that when any question arose as to the
bravest family, or the member of a family to take the first place as
dictator or chief, the mori, or place of skulls may be visited and a
tally made, when the one with the highest number of skulls or heads is
given the coveted position. In these contests they also count the heads
taken by their ancestors, as far back as they can find them, no matter
how many generations they cover. Thus the family with the most skulls
gets the place sought, which is generally that of chief or king.
When a battle is ended, the victors pass over the ground, often
bleeding from their wounds, and starved and well nigh exhausted from
being without food. The islanders have a tradition that whatever gives
them pain they should eat. So if they are wounded by a sharp stone
which by any means has fastened itself into a man's flesh, or by a
sliver, they extract and eat it, saying, "You are my enemy, you never
shall hurt me more." Thus they seem to satisfy the vicious spirit of
revenge. This strange proceeding may have had something to do with the
origin of cannibalism. Still, I am rather inclined to think it had its
beginning in starvation, and to that was added the spirit of revenge.
Thus the appetite was cultivated until, with very slight pretext,
human life became sacrificed to a depraved and vicious appetite. These
practices and others seemed to be justified in their savage minds,
insomuch that they did not scruple in gathering up the slain and
feeding upon them.
His curiosity having been awakened in searching into heathen life, the
writer made inquiries at the most authentic sources of information for
further light on this custom. In one case he found an old lady who was
the last of the fifth generation back. Her intellect seemed bright,
although she could not open her eyes except with her fingers. When
questioned in regard to cannibalism, she lifted her eyelids and said,
"I have followed my fathers, brothers, husband and sons in battle, and
we ate our victims as we would eat pork or fish." When asked if she
had eaten white man's flesh, she replied, "Yes; we captured some white
men on a small schooner and ate them." The next inquiry was whether
there was any difference in the taste of the white man's and of the
native's flesh. "Yes," said she; "the white man's flesh is hard, tough
and salty, while the flesh of the native is sweet and tender." Then
came the question as to what part of the human body was preferable to
eat. She said the heel and the hand of a fourteen year-old girl were
the sweetest morsels of flesh she ever ate. Being asked if she did not
have feelings of remorse when they had committed actions like these,
her answer was: "Not a bit, it was in our days of heathendom; but now,
since the Gospel has come to us, we have no desire for anything of that
kind, though formerly we took pleasure in our practices, for our minds
were very dark."
