Chapter XV
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sing his missionary title of king over the islands, was not so serious, if, at at that price, his ambition could be satiated. If this was Tati’s plan, it had the effect of dividing Papara. Opuhara yielded so far as to allow the Christians, within a few weeks, after July 7, to come back to Pare Arue. Pomare himself returned, with all his following, apparently armed and prepared for war. "To maintain the Christian faith, and enjoy a continuance of their present peace and comfort, they foresaw would be impossible ". The native converts were trained to the use of firearms, and the whole missionary interest became for the moment actively militant. The native chiefs, who had no firearms or English allies, and who knew that Pomare meant to subject them once more, still allowed him to return to Pare Arue with a force which had no meaning except for conquest; and to prepare, at his leisure, for the overthrow of their independence.
Under the appearance of religious services Pomare and the missionaries kept their forces under arms. "We had warned our people before they went to Tahiti of the probability of such a stratagem [as an unexpected attack] being practised, should war take place; in conse-quence of which many of them attended worship under arms." With this army numbering "probably about eight hundred" and a war-canoe, with musketeers, besides a second war-canoe "commanded by an Englishman [or Frenchman] called Joe by the natives", and mounting a swivel in the stern, Pomare on November 11, took position at, or near, the village of Punaauia, thirteen-and-a-half kilometres from Pare, and on the edge of Paea and Papara, with pickets far in advance.
This was a challenge which Opuhara, within sight of Punaauia, could hardly decline. He had the best reason to remember Pomare’s modes of making war, and there was nothing to prevent Pomare from renewing the surprise and massacre of 1807. Hastily collecting his men, Opuhara rushed towards Punaauia to drive the invaders away. The battle called the Fei-pi -- the ripe plantains -- followed, famous in the missionary annals, and described at length in the missionary
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© Derived from the revised Paris edition of 1901 page 158, 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/-marua-158.html