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to give then being forced to receive — and when they make a present, it is so freely done and so graceful that Christianity may blush at the action and be ashamed to be surpass’d by those whom we Call Savages — This is the Chief reason that a Taheitean has to Fight for and in Some of their Sea Actions Much blood has been shed as they Frequently lassh Bow to bow & fight it out, when the Strongest party generally get the day and the Weaker are forced to save themselves by Jumping Overboard.
Their Weapons are Spears of 12 or 14 feet long pointed with the Stings of the Sting Ray — Clubs of 7 or 8 feet, both of which are Made of Toa a hard heavy wood, Slings made of the Platted fibers of the Cocoa Nut; they have bows and Javlins for Sport but never use them in War.
Some of their War Canoes are very large, and carry from one to Three Hundred Men; they have often one Hundred paddlers all of which have heaps of Stones and each man a Sling besides Spears & Clubbs, and when the one party becomes too strong for the Others they are forced to Fly and the Conquerors Carry off their prize in Triumph — Such was mostly the Fate of o’Toos Fleet after Captain Cook left him, and since that time his Navy has gone almost to ruin, tho he has still been lucky, and often Conqueror yet he always prefers peace to War.
They always bring off the Dead if they can, by any means, as all that they leave are Carried to the Morai where the body being offered as a Sacrafice, the lower Jaw bone being Cut out and placed in the Morai as a Trophie and the Body is interrd in the Morai. The Man who kilid him now takes his Name. This being the only Method by which they attain to the Charracter of a Warrior they must bring off their dead which is often severely disputed by the living and especially the Friends of the Fallen Warrior who fight more furious to protect the body when dead then they did to assist him while living — If the Conqueror Should prevail and Maintain his conquest he takes the Name of His Adversary as a Title of Honor — after the Peace is made the relations of the Deceased Warriors soon find out the Men who killd them and each Family send a present to the Man by Who their Freind or Relation was kilid & hire a Set of Urre Heiva or a Sort of People somthing similar to our Morris Dancers and a Principal part is acted by the Daughter or Nearest Female relation of the Deceased Warrior in a Dance at the House of the Man who killd him. The Dance being Finished the Cloth, Matting & Dresses are all presented to Him
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Indigenous Histories |  |
© Derived from the 1935 Print Edition edited by Owen Rutter, page 175, 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/-morrison-046.html