This article about Tahiti was published in 1898. As would be expected, the Victorian writer was somewhat hard on the Tahitians in regard to certain aspects of their culture. Of course, canabalism is gastly, even in small quantities. In any case, this article includes much wonderful historical material that would be hard to find anywhere else. —fadedpages.com

Almost directly south of Hawaii, a distance of 2500 miles, lies the Society Group of Islands—seventeen degrees under the equator—eleven in number, of which Tahiti is chief, comprising indeed 6oo of the 650 square miles of total area of the chain. They occupy a central position in the Pacific, being about thirty-four hundred miles from Australia (Sidney) and forty-six hundred miles from Panama. The group was first seen by a Spaniard, de Quiros, in 1607, re-discovered by Wallis, an Englishman, in 1767, and visited by Bougainville in the following year, each in turn claiming the islands as possessions of their respective countries. Cook landed upon the principal island in 1769, 1773, 1774, and 1777; and in 1778, Bligh, of the Bounty, visited the islands, and remained for a period of five months. Afterward, when the mutiny occurred, the Bounty put back to Tahiti, where Bligh afforded such aid to Pomare, ruler of the island, that a famous chief named Eimeo was subjugated, and thereafter Bligh became a power with the island king, where he remained until 1791, when the Pandora carried away fourteen of the Bounty mutineers. The islands have been under French protection since 1838, but they have never been able to control the trade, which remains in the hands of the English and Germans, though Tahiti is the residence of the governor-general of the French dependencies of the Pacific.

Their formation being principally volcanic, the Society Group is distinguished by lofty peaks, but none show signs of having been in eruption for many centuries, the loftiest being Orohena, which has an altitude of 7340 feet. There is sufficient diversity of landscape, of mountain, valley, forest, running stream, and the soil is wondrously fertile, while some of the small islands are surrounded by coral reefs that prevent heavy seas from beating their main shores, and at the same time afford most perfect harborage for vessels of even the largest size.

Along the coast of Tahiti proper may be seen a chain of villages occupying the flat land that extends for nearly four miles inland, and about the houses are beautiful gardens of rich tropical growths, above which the tops of towering palms wave in graceful grandeur. Good roads surround the island and connect its eight political divisions, and recently a small railroad has been built across the island that brings the two principal towns and harbors into rapid communication, although the total population does not exceed i 2,000. The chief exports are cocoanuts, mother-of-pearl, cotton, oranges, and sugar, the latter industry being now in a condition of rapid development. Papeete is the capital, with a population of 3500, of which number less than 1000 are whites, the others being of mixed nationality.

Few people are more interesting than the original Tahitians, who are perhaps the handsomest of the South seas, and in physical development they are not surpassed by even civilized races. It is singular, too, that though they belong to the Polynesian race, in customs, appearance and language they exhibit a wide divergence. The women, especially when young, are remarkably beautiful of face and figure, and the men are Apollos of size and strength. The skin is of a soft olive color among the better classes, and of a rich brown among the common people, but enormous corpulence is common, which fortunately is concealed by the tiputa, which is a gown of bark cloth that covers the person from neck to feet, worn by both men and women of the higher class. A strange custom has existed among the women ever since discovery of the islands of covering the breasts with shields made from feathers of the frigate bird, which, however, may not be worn in the presence of superiors. The chiefs were distinguished by short feather cloaks, and the priests by cylindrical hats a yard high, made of light wickerwork. An equally remarkable custom is that of circumcision, which the Tahitians have practiced from time immemorial, and tattooing of both sexes is almost universal. They are a light-hearted, hospitable and kindly people, extremely fond of amusement, and passionate lovers of music, but they are lacking in ingenuity, and their every article of household use was of the most primitive character, for pottery was unknown. The principal musical instrument was a flute played by the nose, usually accompanied by song, and by beating a drum made of a hollow cylinder covered at one end with shark's skin. Their favorite weapon, before the coming of Europeans, was the sling, which they used with great skill and considerable effect. When Bougainville anchored his warship among them, he was valorously attacked by crowds of native warriors, who advanced in large canoes up to the very side of his vessel and sent against it a hail of stones. Some of these canoes were as much as seventy feet in length and handsomely painted, capable of navigating the seas between the several islands. The sterns, and sometimes the bows also, were carried up to a height of twenty feet and carved with strange figures, to represent their gods.

Bouganville attacked by Thaitian slingers.

The natives, at the time of discovery, lived in low huts, having one side open, and their chief vegetable food was bread-fruit, yams, and arrow-root, while for meat they used the flesh of dogs, of which they were so inordinately fond that these animals, of the voiceless species, like the dingo, were raised with the greatest care, women frequently giving the puppies nurse, to the neglect of their own children. They also ate fish and turtles, the latter being regarded as sacred food. Their favorite beverage was kava, brewed from plantains, and a dish prepared of cocoanut and bananas was also popular, which when allowed to stand a while fermented and became slightly intoxicating.

The Tahitians were no doubt cannibals at one time in their history, relics of which survived until the influence of Christian missionaries began to become pronounced. But the practice was probably never general, and existed only in connection with their religious ceremonies. When first visited, by French, Spanish, and English explorers, the Tahitians were divided into castes as well defined as among the people of India. There were four distinct classes, viz: the huiari, who were the reigning chiefs of the eight districts; these were regarded as being of divine origin, and bore a semi-sacred as well as a political relation toward their subjects; the second class were the raatira, who comprised the landed gentry, so to speak, and who enjoyed the monopoly of building canoes and supplying arms. The third class were the tahora, composed of priests and sorcerers; and the fourth distinction comprehended the fishermen and slaves. This latter class, which included the masses, gradually acquired privileges, and rose out of their original condition of servitude by reason of their useful services in times of war. The practice of infanticide served to reduce the population, while internecine strife, or the warring of chief against chief, called into service every one capable of bearing arms, and the lowest class were therefore rewarded for their valor by liberation from servitude and allotments of land, so that in time, through this process, those that were once under masters became proprietors and were merged into the second class, the fourth thus disappearing entirely.

So highly did the Tahitians regard their rulers that the greatest care was exercised to prevent mixture of royal blood with an impure strain. Like the ancient Egyptians there was not only the intermarriage of royal families, but brother and sister, when prince and princess, might marry. The king was supreme, but the queen ruled in his absence, whose authority was no less absolute, although among the common people women sat apart as inferiors. The king was revered as a divine representative, was carried from place to place upon the shoulders of his subjects, and was fed by the hands of his concubines, of which he was allowed several. When the king died his body was embalmed and then exposed for several days on an altar in the marai, or place of council and worship, during which exposure the people went into mourning and paid the most extravagant honors, by sacrifice and demonstrations, to the body, which was afterward buried in a sitting posture. Honors of like character, of lesser degree, were also paid to the bodies of dead chiefs, which were deposited in a burying ground set apart for the distinguished dead, but in all cases the skulls were preserved by relatives of the deceased.

During the early history of Tahiti there was an immense stone structure called the Great Marai, at Atahura, which was 270 feet long, 100 feet wide and 50 feet high, in the rear end of which was an altar of stone, the summit of which was reached by a flight of coral steps. At certain intervals the most imposing ceremonies, of a fanatical character, were here performed, including human sacrifices. Among the most revolting features of the rites was the removal of an eye of the victim offered up, which was then placed within the mouth of the king by the officiating priest, but for what object not even the missionaries were ever able to ascertain, but it is probable the eye was a symbol of knowledge, and the belief may have prevailed that the king was enabled to look into the future, or view the world of mystery, through the eye of the dead.

The Tahitians had many gods, of which there was a superior deity called Oro, which was never represented by graven image; the household deities, on the other hand, were symbolized by small idols cut in the crude form of human figures and clothed with feathers. There was also a kind of religious body known as the areoi, which numbered among its ranks the chief priests and the upper classes of society, whose observances consisted of the most shocking exhibitions and licentious indulgences, and these celebrants also practiced infanticide to a terrible extent, sparing neither sex. In few respects did the Tahitians exhibit any sense of morality, nor has European influence served to diminish the laxity of their, social life. The women formerly performed a costume dance called the heivas, that was terrible in its bestiality, and while this shameless carnival has been suppressed, other no less licentious customs have taken its place, which have been encouraged by depraved visitors from our so-called civilized lands, and Tahiti morals cannot be said to have improved under European influence. It is lamentable to know that these islands, so highly favored by nature, where nothing is withheld that might contribute to human content and happiness, produces a people as degraded as were the degenerates of Sodom, who, not requiring an ambition to better their natural condition, since nature provides food without labor, have fallen under an engrossment of extreme sensuality.

Warning - This information has been transcribed from a source that is well over 100 years old. It may be incorrect or outdated in some cases. It is also possible that errors were made during the transcription process. This information is being made available for entertainment purposes only.