| Citation |
RNYG.773.061
9 Sep 1773:11 (21)
A concise recital of the most curious particulars which
occur in the South-Sea Voyages, published by Dr.
Hawkesworth, continued.
Otaheite.
Marriage in this island is nothing more than an agreement
between the man and the woman, with which the priest has no
concern. . . [55 lines]
Nor are they destitute of music. They have invented a
kind of instrument resembling a flute, which has only two
stops; but the performer, instead of applying it to his
mouth, blows into it with his nostril. They have also a
hollow instrument resembling a drum, which they beat with
their hands. Some of our people met one day a company of
traveling musicians, whose band consisted of two flutes, and
three drums. The drummers accompanied the music with their
voices; and the English, to their great surprise,
discovered that they were the subject of their extempore
songs. Little did they expect to have found among the
uncivilized inhabitants of this sequestered spot, a
character which has been the subject of such praise and
veneration, where genius and knowledge were most
conspicuous; yet these were the bards or minstrels of
Otaheite.
As they have musicians, so they have dancers. Our people,
in the course of their walks, in a neighbouring island, met
a company of these. The company consisted of two women and
six men, with three drums. The women had upon their heads
much plaited hair twisted round, and adorned with the
flowers of the cape jessamine, which were stuck in with
great taste and made a head dress truly elegant; their
necks, shoulders, breasts, and arms were naked. They first
advanced sideways in a measured step, keeping excellent time
to the drums, which beat briskly and loud; from after they
began to shake their hips with great rapidity; the body was
then thrown into various postures, sometimes standing,
sometimes sitting, and sometimes resting on their knees and
elbows, the figures also moved at the same time, with a
quickness, scarce to be imagined. Much of the dexterity of
the dancers, however, and of the entertainment of the
spectators, consisted in the wantonness of their attitudes
and gestures, which was indeed such as exceeds all
description.
Some days after this, they saw more dances, with
interludes between the several acts, very much resembling
the drama of our stage dancers. In one of these interludes,
the performers (who were all men) were divided into parties,
the one is brown, and the other in white cloaths; the brown
party represented a master and servants, and the white, a
company of thieves. The master gave a basket of meat to the
rest of his party, with a charge to take care of it. The
dancers of the white party concerted several expedients to
steal it. After some time, those who had the charge of the
baskets, placed themselves around it, and leaning upon it
appeared to go to sleep; the others, improving this
opportunity, came slily and carried off the prize. The
sleepers, soon after awakening, fell a-dancing. Thus the
dramatic action of this piece was, according to the severest
laws of criticism, one; and our lovers of simplicity would
here have been gratified with an entertainment perfectly
suited to the chastity of their taste.
The language of Otaheite is smooth and harmonious, it
consisting chiefly of vowels. . . [10 lines]
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