Apr 27, 1792 Home Providence Log Apr 29, 1792
Revised Aug 26 2021
Pots
Yesterday 1086
Plantains 12
Ratahs 25
Mattees 6
Vees 16
Ettows 1
Fine Weather with Land & Sea Breezes. Thermometer from 81 to 83½ Degrees.
Cleaned & Washed Ship. The remainder of the day the People Employed mending their Cloaths & washing. Received one load of Stone Ballast per Launch about 2½ Tons. Sufficient supplies of Fruit, but no Hogs.
At Sun rise I set out in my Boat with Tynah & Orreepyah for Oparre, where Hammennemanne was waiting our arrival at the Morai at the entrance of the Harbour. He was at Prayers at the Temple, the Etuah laying before him, wrapt up in Red Cloth as I had seen it at Tepippee. To the right of it lay the body of a dead Man wrapt up in the Platted branch of a Cocoa Nutt Tree, and tied to a Pole by which means the Body was carried about. To the right of the Priest were two Drums very different in size, & at the distance of 20 Yards in the same direction was the Eva,tah, or Altar, on which were twenty nine dead Hogs, and a middle sized Turtle. On nine stout Posts was errected an Ephare Tuah, & there were two others on Cannoes. Two other Priests assisted Hammennemanne besides two or three inferior People of that Order. I had scarce been seated a quarter of an hour by the Priests, when the Sun having risen above the Trees, caused such a violent stench from the dead Body, as forced me to quit the place and take a Seat out of the direction of the Wind, where our Friend Tynah had placed himself under a spreading Tree. Otoo was carried about on a Man's Shoulders talking to us & playing his tricks during the whole time of the devotion. After the first Prayer upon our arrival, the Bundle which they called the Etuah was untied & exposed. The Marro,oorah, or feathered Belt, was also taken out of another bundle & spread out, so I had a view of every sacred thing that belonged to them. Hammennemanne now began another Prayer, it was very long, but had many repititions in it, so that it is not so extraordinary, as Strangers imagine, the retentiveness of this Mans Memory. Taking up his prayer in all its various changes and repetitions, the whole amounted to this. We have sacrificed a Man. We have presented his Eye unto thee and a token of thy power, and unto our King, because it is thy will he reigneth over us, and knowing that every thing belongeth unto thee. We display our Feathers, we present our Hogs; and all this we do oh Oro, for we know thou delightest in it — our hope & wish is to do as thou desirest, prosper us therefore in all our undertakings, let us conquer our Ennemies and live in Plenty.
After this prayer, a Hog which had been strangled was scorched his hair taken off, and the entrails taken out and burnt except the liver. After smeering the Hog over with its blood, and broiling the liver, the whole was brought to the Morai (or Temple) the place of Prayer. This appeared to me to be particularly the offering of my Friend Tynah, & Hammennemene pronounced another Prayer, which was in favor of King George, myself and all the People who were with me in the Ships. The Drums were beat at intervals, and the Hog being laid on the Evatah, & the Corps buried by the side of the Morai; the Marro was made up in one bundle, & the Eatuah in the other carefully covered over with a peice of English Red Cloth, (as I have observed before) and the Ceremony ended.
There were not many people present, and among those that were, I saw no grave or serious attention. The Priest himself the moment he had done prayers began to joke & create fun in an obscene manner.
Tynah requested I would not return immediately to the Ship, as he had ordered a Turtle to be killed for us, it was about 20 pound Weight and baked as they do their Hogs. While it was dressing we went to the (a) Morai on the Point of the Harbour, & there I observed that two Bodies had recently been deposited under the Coral rocks, men who had been sacrificed in the beginning of the War. The dead Body we saw, was brought from Moreah four or five Days back. It was a sacrifice made by the people of that Island and sent to Otoo. The Ceremony of presenting the Eye was not performed at this time, it was done when the body was first landed.
(a) called Wow,ooroah
In War time these Sacrifices are common. On being defeated; a Man is Sacrificed to their God to implore assistance and success. On a Victory, is their most sacred way of returning thanks. the Wretch on whom the lot falls is of no estimation, and is always called a bad Man. On my return to Tynah, the People showed me a large Drum in one of their Houses, that Christian had brought from Tooboui. It appears that this Wretch had gone to Tooboui to settle, but on finding the inhabitants inimicable, he was forced from it, and returned to Otaheite, where part of his Gang left him as I have before related.
The Turtle being near ready, our repast was to be taken on the Ground which was covered with fresh leaves for that purpose under the Shade of a fine Tree. When we were all Seated, Tynah desired the Priest to perform a Ceremony called Errow,wow,ah. This Ceremony is a token of Friendship and intercourse with all those who the Erreerahigh shall be pleased to Name. It gives all the Chiefs great pleasure to know of it being performed, and feel themselves highly honored in having their names called over. It is performed thus — The Priest collected a number of Leaves and standing up, he called every name as Tynah directed him or he knew to be his wish, and each set of names he numbered with a leaf. These leaves were then given to Otoo, (who was by on a Mans Shoulders,) and he held them untill all the Friends were called over, among whom were ourselves & the Ships. Part of this Ceremony myself, Mr. Bond & Mr. Harwood the Surgeon who was with me assisted in, by the help of Tynah, who told us alternately what we had to say. The first Word was, Erow,wowah, which signifies the Kings good Wishes to the person whose name follows.
The Morai or Temple where the Ceremony was at, is an oblong pile of Stones about 10 Yards long & four feet high (b), on the top of which was stuck about fourteen rude Ornaments, on some of which was a resemblance of a Man & on others a Bird. The whole range of them they called Tebbootaboo,a,taiah, as they did also similar Ornaments (a) on the Ephare Tuah's that were in the Cannoes. The only interpretation I can give to Tebbootaboo,a,taiah is, that it is there Great Temple or principal place of Worship.
(b) A Pavement was in the front where the Priests Sat & leaned their backs against Stone Posts for that Purpose
(a) $link$ See 26th
The Red Bundle their Etuah (which they called Oro) was nothing more than a number of Yellow and Red feathers, and four rolls about 18 Inches long platted over with Cocoa Nutt fibres, to which they gave the Name of some inferior Deities. Captain Cook calls this lump of superstition the Ark.
The Marro Orah, or feathered Belt, which is put on the Erreerahigh when the Sacrifice is first made and the Eye presented, is about 12 feet long, and about 14 Inches wide, one half is made of Yellow Feathers stitched on Cloth, and the other half is some Red English Buntin without any feathers. The Ends are wrought, with feathers, in divisions, which give a change to the form of it, and are the parts which hang as Ornaments when worn by the King. The Yellow Feathers are diversified by narrow stripes of red feathers, it is however not remarkably ellegant or neatly made.
We took our repast very heartily, and with the most attentive and kind Welcome ever Men had. Our conversation turned various ways. They spoke in a very reprehensive manner of Christian, and said they were very happy that Captain Edwards had carried so many of them away. Coleman the Armourer they said cried when he spoke of me and had told them that he was not concerned in the busyness, and had declared so to me when I was drove away from the Ship, on this account they said they had considered him as a good Man, and were glad to hear I had forgiven him. Churchill & Thompson they said lived at Tairraboo, where being jealous of each other, Churchill induced the Chiefs to Endeavor to Steal Thompsons Musquet and Pistol. The Friends of Thompson informed him of it, he therefore on the first sight of Churchill shot him through the Body. This produced an utter aversion in the Chiefs to Thompson, they laid hold of him in return and beat his Brains out. Thus these two Villains affected their own destruction, and avoided the punishment that awaited them.
I was particular in my questions to know how it was, that the Marro which we had known to be kept at Attahooroo, together with the God Oro and Temple Tebbotaboo,ataiah, should be now at Oparre. The General answer was, that they had been at War with the Attahooroo People, and had seized their God and brought him to Oparre. This I find really to have been the Case, and that the Bounty's People assisted with their Musquetry.
Before the present (a) Otow's time, it appears that Attahooroo was the principall residence of the Erreeahigh. In my last Voyage I have given an account of the Principal People as far back as Otow's Father, which I find perfect, and from this and the information these People give me, the Power of Tootahah, who was a great Chief, and Otow's Uncle, was the Cause of the Marro and Tebbo,taboo,ataiah remaining at Attahooroo; but as he had been a long time dead, and those people having injured them, they went to War and Conquered the whole District.
(a) The Father of Tynah
The Moon was now nine Days old. I asked the Name of the Month and Tootaha told me as he had done in 1788 that it was (Ahoonoonu or) April.
About Noon we all returned to the Ship.
Apr 27, 1792 Home Providence Log Apr 29, 1792