Canoes of Society Isles (Tahiti &c.)

In view of the fact that many of the Polynesian folk who settled in New Zealand in past times came from the Society Group, it will be interesting to note the style of vessels used by the natives of those isles at the time when European voyagers first visited their shores. It is possible that the double canoes of the Maori seen by Tasman resembled those of Tahiti described by Cook and others, though the built-up sides of the Tahitian canoe gave place here to the dugout with one top-strake, owing to the abundance of large-sized trees obtainable in New Zealand forests.

We have, unfortunately, no information in Maori tradition as to the form of canoe used by the Mouriuri folk of the isles. They may or may not have resembled Tahitian forms. The only canoe of an abnormal or non-Maori type known to us is that already described as having been found buried in a lagoon-bed in the South Island.

When Wallis approached Tahiti in June, 1767, his vessel was soon surrounded by "some hundreds of canoes." When the natives delivered an attack on his vessel, there were, he remarks, "not less than three hundred about the ship, having on board at least two thousand men; many thousands of men were also upon the shore, and more canoes coming from every quarter." After the unpleasantness was over, a landing-party destroyed "more than fifty canoes, many of which were sixty feet long and three broad, and lashed together."

Wallis gives the following account of the Tahitian canoes:—

The boats or canoes of these people are of three different sorts. Some are made out of a single tree, and carry from two to six men: these are used chiefly for fishing. Some were constructed of planks, very dexterously se^ed together; these were of different sizes, and would carry from ten to forty men. Two of them were generally lashed together, and two masts page 305set up between them. If they were single they had an outrigger on one side, and only one mast in the middle. With these vessels they sail far beyond the sight of land, probably to other islands. … A third sort seemed to be intended principally for pleasure and show: they are very large, but have no sail, and in shape resemble the gondolas of Venice. The middle is covered with a large awning, and some of the people sit upon it, some under it…. We saw, three or four times a week, a procession of eight or ten of these vessels passing at a distance, with streamers flying, and a great number of small canoes attending them….

The plank of which these vessels were constructed is made by splitting a tree with the grain into as many thin pieces as they can. They first fell the tree with a kind of hatchet, or adze, made of a tough greenish kind of stone, very dexterously fitted into the handle. It is then cut into such lengths as are required for the plank, one end of which is heated till it begins to crack, and then with wedges of hardwood they split it down. Some of these planks are two feet broad and from fifteen to twenty feet long. The sides are smoothed with adzes of the same materials and construction, but of a smaller size. Six or eight men are sometimes at work upon the same plank together, and, as their tools presently lose their edge, every man has by him a coconut shell filled with water, and a flat stone, with which he sharpens his adze almost every minute. These planks are generally brought to the thickness of about an inch, and are afterwards fitted to the boat with the same exactness that would be expected from an expert joiner. To fasten these planks together, holes are bored with a piece of bone that is fixed into a stick for that purpose—a use to which our nails were afterwards applied with great advantage—and through these holes a kind of plaited cordage is passed, so as to hold the planks strongly together. The seams are caulked with dried rushes, and the whole outside of the vessel is payed with a gummy juice which some of the trees produce in great plenty, and which is a very good succedaneum for pitch.

The wood which they use for their large canoes is that of the apple-tree, which grows very tall and straight. Several of them that we measured were near eight feet in girth, and twenty to forty to the branches…. The small canoes are nothing more than the hollowed trunk of the breadfruit-tree.

The above remarks describing how logs were split into planks are interesting. The heat of a fire kept burning near the end of a green log would certainly cause it to shrink and crack, thus affording an entrance for thin entering-wedges, which, on being driven home, would enable thicker bursting-wedges to be used.

Of the canoes of Tahiti, seen in 1769, Cook says:—

Their canoes, or proes [proa], are built all of them very narrow, and some of the largest are sixty or seventy feet long. These consist of several pieces; the bottom is round, and made of large logs hollowed out to the thickness of about three inches, and may consist of three or four pieces; the sides are of plank of nearly the same thickness, and are nearly perpendicular, rounding in a little towards the gunwale. The pieces of which they built are well fittedj and fastened or sewed together with strong plaiting something in the same manner as old china, wooden bowls; &c., are mended. page 306The greatest breadth is at the after part, which is generally about eighteen or twenty inches, and the fore part about one-third narrower; the height from the bottom to the gunwale seldom exceeds two and a half or three feet. They build them with high curved sterns which are generally ornamented with carved work; the head or fore part curves little or nothing. The smaller canoes are built after the same plan, some out of one, two, or more trees, according to their size, or the use they are for. In order to prevent them from oversetting when in the water, all those that go single, both great and small, have what is called outriggers, which are pieces of wood fastened to the gunwale and project out on one side about six, eight, or ten feet, according to the size of the boat. (See fig. 153.) At the end is fastened, in a parallel direction to the canoe, a long log of wood simply; or some have it shaped in the form of a small boat, but this is not common; this lays in the water and balances the boat. Those that are for sailing have outriggers only on the other side abreast of the mast; these serve to fasten the shrouds to, and are of use in trimming the boat when it blows fresh; the sailing-proes have some one and some two masts. The sails are of matting, and are made narrow at the head and square at the foot, something like a shoulder-of-mutton sail. …

I have mentioned above that the single canoes have outriggers, for those that go double—that is, two together—which is very common, have no need of any; and it is done in this manner: Two canoes are page 307placed in a parallel direction to each other, about three or four feet asunder, securing them together by small logs of wood laid across and lashed to each of their gunwales; thus the one boat supports the other, and are not in the least danger of upsetting; and I believe it is in this manner that all their large proes are used, some of which will carry a great number of men, by means of a platform made of bamboo or other light wood and the whole length of the proes and considerably broader; but I never saw but one fitted in this manner upon the whole island. Upon the fore part of all these large double proes was placed an oblong platform about ten or twelve feet in length, and six or eight in breadth, and supported about four feet above the gunwale by stout carved pillars. The use of these platforms, as we were told, are for the club-men to stand and fight upon in time of battle; for the large canoes, from what I learn, are built most, if not wholly, for war, and their method of fighting is to grapple one another, and fight it out with clubs, spears, and stones. I never saw but one of these sort of canoes in the water; the rest were all hauled ashore, and seemed to be going to decay; neither were there very many of them upon the island.

The chiefs and better sort of people generally go from one part of the island to another in small double canoes which carry a little movable house; this not only screens them from the sun by day, but serves them to sleep in at night…. (See fig. 154.)

They have some few other canoes, pahees [pahi] as they call them, which differ from those above described, but of these I saw but six upon the whole island, and was told they were not built here.

The two largest were each seventy-six feet long, and when they had been in use had been fastened together. These are built sharp and narrow at both ends and broad in the middle; the bottom is likewise sharp, inclining to a wedge, yet bulges out very much and rounds in again very quick just below the gunwale. They are built of several pieces of thick plank and put together as the others are, only these have timbers in the inside, which the others have not. They have high curved sterns; the head also curves a little; and both are ornamented with the image of a man carved in wood, very little inferior to work of the like kind done by common ship-carvers in England….

page 308

Their proes [proa], or canoes, large and small, are rowed and steered with paddles, and, notwithstanding the large ones appear to be very unwieldy, they manage them very dexterously, and I believe perform long and distant voyages in them, otherwise they could not have the knowledge of the islands in these seas they seem to have. They wear for show or ornament at the masthead of most of their sailing-canoes pendants made of feathers….

In these proes, or pahees [pahi], as they call them, from all the accounts we can learn, these people sail in those seas from island to island for several hundred leagues, the sun serving them for a compass by day, and the moon and stars by night. When this comes to be proved we shall be no longer at a loss to know how the islands lying in those seas came to be peopled, for if the inhabitants of Ulietea have been at islands lying two hundred or three hundred leagues to the westward of them it cannot be doubted but that the inhabitants of those western islands may have been at others as far to westward of them, and so we may trace them from island to island quite to the East Indies.

The pahi mentioned were deep-sea vessels obtained from the Paumotu natives. The island called "Ulietea" by Cook is Ra'iatea, the "Rangiatea" of Maori tradition.

When at Tahiti in 1774, Cook speaks of seeing upwards of three hundred canoes ranged in order for some distance along the shore, all completely equipped and manned: "The vessels-of-war consisted of an hundred and sixty large double canoes, very well equipped, manned, and armed … the vessels were decorated with flags, streamers, &c. … the vessels were ranged close alongside of each other, with their heads ashore and their stern to the sea, the admiral's vessel being nearly in the centre. Besides the vessels-of-war, there were an hundred and seventy sail of smaller double canoes, all with a little house upon them, and rigged with mast and sail, which the war-canoes had not. These, we judged, were designed for transports, &c., for in the war-canoes was no sort of provisions whatever. In these three hundred and thirty vessels I guessed there were no less than 7,760 men … but I am not sure that they had their full complement of men or rowers—I rather think not."

It was noted by Forster in 1773 that, while the Society Isles were well furnished with timber from their forests, the Friendly Isles were but poorly provided with timber; also, in the former group canoes were very much more numerous. He mentions that he saw one hundred canoes surrounding Cook's vessel at Tahiti. Also he informs us that canoe-sails were composed of several mats "sowed" together, and had streamers of feathers attached to them.

Of the sails of Tahitian canoes Mr. Stokes has written: "The sail of the Society-Islander was in the shape of a half-moon. A sprit or boom was fastened to the mast near the foot, and curved upwards page 309to a height of a third more than that of the mast, which was vertical, the upper end of the sprit being directly over the masthead. The sail thus being enclosed in a case, and practically a fixture when set, was awkward to work, and when a squall came it was necessary to keep the head of the vessel to the wind…. The only means of reefing was to unloose the sprit at foot and roll the sail around it. … Many of these canoes had two sails."

The illustration of a Tahitian double canoe given in Hawkes-worth's Voyages shows two canoes of equal size with horizontally projecting boards at the prow and curved high sterns hollowed as though part of the hull. A narrow platform across the two hulls projects out on both sides. The sail is of singular form, seemingly straight on one side and curved on the other.

Cook speaks of having seen at Tahiti, in 1769, "many large double canoes, built and ornamented uniformly."

In Bank's journal we find these items concerning the canoes of Raiatea, Society Isles: "The inhabitants were at work making and repairing the large canoes called by them pahi, at which business they worked with incredible cleverness, although their tools were as bad as possible. I will give the description and dimensions of one of their boats…. Her extreme length from stem to stern, not reckoning the bending-up of both those parts, 51 ft.; breadth in the clear at the top, forward 14 in., amidships 18, aft 15; in the bilge, forward 32 in. amidships 35, aft 33; depth amidships, 3ft. 4 in.; height above ground, 3 ft. 6 in.; her head raised, without the figure, 11 in.; her stern, 8 ft. 9 in.; the figure, 2 ft. Alongside of her was lashed another like her in all respects, but smaller in proportion, being only 33 ft. in her extreme length … some of them are much larger than the one described above…. With these boats they venture themselves out of sight of land; we saw several of them at Tahiti which had come from Ulietea [Raiatea]; and Tupia [Tupaea] has told us that they undertake voyages of twenty days. They keep the boats very carefully under boat-houses…. We saw a double pahi such as that described, but much longer. She had upon her an awning supported by pillars, which held the floor at least 4 ft. above the deck or upper surface of the boats."

The construction of these vessels, as described by Banks, was peculiar. Instead of being a hull hewn out of a log, and with top boards attached, the above-described canoe consisted of a keel, to which were secured side boards, to which again were secured planks of a bulging form, and on these the top pieces were fastened.

These pahi, Banks tells us, were the vessels used for deep-sea voyaging, whereas the va'a [waka] used for fishing and inshore work was of a square form and flat-bottomed.

page 310

The pahi above described, being so narrow, were fit only to be used as double canoes in deep-water work. They were used merely for fighting and deep-sea voyages. "Those of a middling size are said to be best, and the least liable to accident in stormy weather. In these, if we may credit the reports of the inhabitants, they make very long voyages, often remaining several months from home, visiting in that time many different islands, of which they reported to us the names of nearly a hundred. They cannot, however, remain at sea above a fortnight or twenty days, although they live as sparingly as possible, for want of proper provisions and place to store them in, as well as water, of which they carry a tolerable stock in bamboos."

Banks also noted that all the canoes of the Society Group were so narrow that, to render them safe vehicles, they had to be furnished with an outrigger, or formed into double canoes. He considered the former much less safe than the latter, as he saw outrigger canoes over-turned "very often". These vessels leaked so that one person was employed almost constantly in throwing out the water. This was probably owing to the two seams, which, it appears, were not caulked, but wedged in some manner; whereas in the New Zealand vessel there was but the one horizontal seam on either side.

"When sailing, they have either one or two masts fitted to a frame which is above the canoe: they are made of a single stick; in one that I measured of thirty-two feet in length the mast was twenty-five feet high, which seems to be about the common proportion. To this is fastened a sail about one-third longer, but narrow and of a triangular shape, pointed at the top, and the outside curved; it is bordered all round with a frame of wood, and has no contrivance either for reefing or furling, so that in case of bad weather it must be entirely cut away. The material of which it is made is universally matting. With these sails their canoes go at a very good rate, and lie very near the wind, probably on account of their sail being bordered with wood, which makes them stand better than any bowlines could possibly do. On the top of this sail they carry an ornament which, in taste, resembles much of our pennants. It is made of feathers, down to the very water, so that when blown out by the wind it makes no inconsiderable show. They are fond of ornaments in all parts of their boats; in the good ones they commonly have a figure at the stern, and in the pahi they have a figure at both ends, and the smaller va'a [waka] have usually a small carved pillar upon the stern.

"The pahi are built in a most ingenious manner. Like the others [waka], they are laid upon a long keel, which, however, is not more page 311than four or five inches deep. Upon this they raise two ranges of planks, each of which is about eighteen inches high, and about four or five feet in length; such a number of pieces must necessarily be framed and fitted together before they are sewed; and this they do very dexterously, supporting the keel by ropes made fast to the top of the house under which they work, and each plank by a stanchion; so that the canoe is completely put together before any one part is fastened to the next, and in this manner it is supported till the sewing completed. This, however, soon rots in the salt water; it must be renewed once a year at least; in doing so the canoe is entirely taken to pieces and every plank examined. By this means they are always in good repair; the best of them are, however, very leaky, for as they use no caulking the water must run in at every hole made by the sewing.

"For the convenience of keeping these pahi dry, we saw in the islands where they are used a peculiar sort of house built for their reception and put to no other use. It was built of poles stuck up-right in the ground and tied together at the top, so that they make a kind of Gothic arch; the sides of these are completely covered with thatch down to the ground, but the ends are left open. One of these I measured was fifty paces in length, ten in breadth, and twenty-four feet in height, and this was of an average size."

Of the ordinary type of canoe of Tahiti, the va'a, the above writer says: "These serve for fishing and for short trips at sea, but do not seem at all calculated for long voyages, whereas the pahi are rather too clumsy for fishing. The va'a differ very much in length: I have measured them from ten feet to seventy-two feet, but by no means proportional in breadth, for while that of ten feet was about one foot in breadth, that of seventy-two feet was scarce two feet, nor is their height increased in much greater proportion. They may be subdivided into three sorts, the fighting va'a [waka], the common sailing or fishing va'a, and the travelling va'a. The fighting va'a is by far the longest; the head and stern of these are considerably raised above the body in a semicircular form, seventeen or eighteen feet in height, when the centre is scarcely three feet. These boats never go to sea singly; two are always fastened together side by side at the distance of about two feet by strong poles of wood extending across both, and upon them is built a stage in the fore part about ten or twelve feet long and a little broader than the two boats: this is supported by pillars about six feet high, and upon it stand the people who fight with slings, spears, &c.

"The sailing and fishing va'a vary in size from about forty feet in length to the smallest I have mentioned, but those which are under page 312twenty-five feet in length seldom or never carry sail: their sterns only are raised, and those not above four or five feet: their prows are quite flat, and have a flat board projecting forwards about four feet beyond them.

"Those which I have called travelling va'a differ from these in nothing except that two are constantly joined together in the same manner as the war-boats, and that they have a small neat house five or six feet broad by seven or eight feet long fastened upon the fore part of them, in which the principal people sit while they are carried from place to place…. All va'a agree in the sides built like walls and the bottoms flat. In this they differ from the pahi, of which the sides, bulge out and the bottom is sharp, answering, in some measure, instead of a keel…. Of the va'a the foundation is always the trunks of one or more trees hollowed out: the ends of these are sloped off, and sewed together with the fibres of the husk of the coconut; the sides are then raised with planks sewed together in the same manner….

"In their longer voyages they steer in the day by the sun, and in the night by the stars: of these they know a very large number by name, and the cleverest among them will tell in what part of the heavens they are to be seen in any month when they are above the horizon. They know also the time of their annual appearance and disappearance to a great nicety…. The people excel much in predicting the weather … foretelling the quarter of the heavens from whence the wind will blow by observing the Milky Way."

Forster writes as follows of a fleet of canoes seen at Tahiti in April, 1774, during Cook's second voyage:—

We then walked down along the whole range of vessels, whose prows were turned to the shore. All our former ideas of the power and affluence of this island were so greatly surpassed by this magnificent scene that we were perfectly lost in admiration. We counted no less than one hundred and fifty-nine great double war-canoes, from fifty to ninety feet long betwixt stem and stern. When we consider the imperfect tools which these people are possessed of, we can never sufficiently admire the patience and labour with which they have cut down huge trees, dubbed the plank, made them perfectly smooth and at last brought these unwieldy vessels page 313to the great degree of perfection in which we saw them. A hatchet, or, properly, an adze, of stone, a chisel, and a piece of coral are their tools, to which they only add the rough skin of a ray, when they smooth or polish their timber. All these canoes are double—that is, two joined together, side by side, by fifteen or eighteen strong transverse timbers, which sometimes project a great way beyond both the hulls, being from twelve to twenty-four feet in length, and about three feet and a half asunder. When they are so long they make a platform fifty, sixty, or seventy feet in length. On the outside of each canoe there are, in that case, two or three longitudinal spars, and between the two connected canoes one spar is fixed to the transverse beams. The heads and sterns were raised several feet out of the water, particularly the latter, which stood up like long beaks, sometimes near twenty feet high, and were cut into various shapes. A white piece of cloth was commonly fixed between the two beaks of each double canoe, in lieu of an ensign, and the wind swelled it out like a sail. Some had likewise a striped cloth, with various red chequers, which as we afterwards learned, were the marks of the divisions under the different commanders. At the head there was a tall pillar of carved work, on the top of which stood the figure of a man, or rather of an urchin, whose face was commonly shaded by a board like a bonnet, and sometimes painted red with ochre. These pillars were generally covered with bunches of black feathers, and long streamers of feathers hung from them. The gunwale of the canoes was commonly two or three feet above the water, but not always formed in the same manner; for some had flat bottoms, and sides nearly perpendicular upon them, whilst others were bow-sided, with a sharp keel, like the section drawn in Captain Cook's first voyage (see Hawkesworth, vol. 2, p. 225). A fighting-stage was erected towards the head of the boat, and rested on pillars from four to six feet high, generally ornamented with carving. This stage extended beyond the whole breadth of the double canoe, and was from twenty to twenty-four feet long, and about eight or ten feet wide. The rowers sat in the canoe, or under the fighting-stage on the platform, which consisted of the transverse beams and longitudinal spars; so that wherever these crossed there was room for one man in the compartment. Those which had eighteen beams, and three longitudinal spars on each side, besides one longitudinal spar between the two canoes, had consequently no less than a hundred and forty-four rowers, besides eight men to steer them, four of whom were placed in each stern. This, however, was not the case with the greatest part of the canoes here assembled, which had no projecting platform, and where the rowers or paddlers sat in the hulls of the canoes. The warriors were stationed on the fighting-stage to the number of fifteen or twenty…. Besides the vessels of war… we counted seventy smaller canoes … most of which were double likewise, with a roof on the stern.

This writer speaks of a striking sight he saw when forty-four large war-canoes passed one by one through a reef-opening, then deployed into line abreast, and advanced with remarkable regularity: "On the middlemost canoe there was a man placed behind the fighting-stage, who gave signals with a green branch to the rowers, either to paddle to the right or left. The movement in consequence of his command page 314was in perfect tune, and so very regular that it seemed as if all the paddles were parts of the same machine, which moved some hundred arms at once." He also speaks of the "innumerable canoes" seen at the Island of Raiatea. The fact of paddlers being stationed on the capacious platform reminds one of P. H. Newman's theory as to the method of propulsion adopted in the case of the triremes, quatriremes, &c, of old Roman times.

In speaking of the double canoes of Tahiti, Ellis says:—

In fine weather and with a fair wind they are tolerably safe and comfortable; but when the weather is rough and the wind contrary they are miserable sea-boats, and are tossed about completely at the mercy of the winds…. In long voyages single canoes are considered safer than double ones, as the latter are sometimes broken asunder, and are then unmanageable; but, even though the former should fill or upset at sea, as the wood is specifically lighter than the water, there is no fear of their sinking. When a canoe is upset, or fills, the natives on board jump into the sea, and, all taking hold of one end, which they press down, so as to elevate the other end above the sea, a great part of the water runs out; they then suddenly loose their hold of the canoe, which falls upon the water, emptied in some degree of its contents. Swimming along by the side of it, they bale out the rest, and, climbing into it, pursue their voyage…. The single canoes, though safer at sea, are yet liable to accident, not with-standing the outrigger, which requires to be fixed with care, to prevent them from upsetting…. The natives of the eastern isles frequently come down to the Society Islands in large double canoes, which the Tahitians dignify with the name of pahi, the term for a ship. They are built with much smaller pieces of wood than those employed in the structure of the Tahitian canoes, as the low coralline islands produce but very small kinds of timber; yet they are much superior both for strength, convenience, and sustaining a tempest at sea. They are always double, and one canoe has a permanent covered residence for the crew. The two masts are also stationary, and a kind of ladder, or wooden shroud, extends from the sides to the head of the mast. The sails are large, and made with fine matting…. One canoe, that brought a chief from Rurutu, upwards of three hundred miles, was very large. It was somewhat in the shape of a crescent, the stern and stem high and pointed, and the sides broad; the depth from the upper edge of the middle to the keel was not less than twelve feet. It was built with thick planks of the Barringtonia, some of which were four feet wide; they were sewn together with twisted or braided coconut husk. Their naval reviews often exhibited a spectacle which to them was remarkably imposing. Ninety or a hundred canoes were, on these occasions, ranged in a line along the beach, ready to be launched in a moment. Their elevated and often curiously carved stems; their unwieldly bulk; the raised and guarded platform for the fighting-men; the motley group assembled there, bearing their singularly shaped weapons, their cumbrous dress and broad turbans; the lofty sterns of their vessels, grotesque and rudely carved, together with the broad streamers floating in the breeze, combined to inspire them with the most elevated ideas of their naval prowess. The effect thus produced was heightened by the page 315appearance of the sacred canoes, bearing the images or the emblems of the gods, the flag of the gods, and the officiating or attending priests. Often, while the vessels were thus ranged along the beach, the king stood in a small one, drawn by a number of his men, who walked in the sea. In front of each canoe he paused, and addressed a short harangue to the warriors, and an upu [Maori kupu], or invocation, to the gods. After this was ended, at a signal given, the whole fleet was in a moment launched upon the ocean, and pulled with rapidity and dexterity to a considerable distance from the shore, where the several varieties of their naval tactics were exhibited; after which they returned in regular order, with precision, to the shore…. When Captain Cook was there in 1774 he supposed the fleet to consist of not fewer than one hundred and seventy canoes, each carrying forty men; making altogether six thousand fighting-men."

Ellis tells us that naval fights were not uncommon among the Society-Islanders, and that when such affairs took place in the calm waters of a lagoon the canoes, of each fleet were sometimes lashed together in a line, to prevent any breaking of their line or retreat from the action. He also writes of ninety war-canoes, each about one hundred feet long, being employed in a war between the natives of Huahine and those of Raiatea.

The same writer remarks that the building, fitting, and managing of canoes was, at Tahiti, one of the most general and important of their avocations:—

It also procures no small respect and endowment for the tahu'a tarai va'a [tohunga tarai waka (canoe-hewing experts) in Maori].

The canoes of the Society-Islanders are various, both in size and shape, and are double or single. Those belonging to the principal chiefs, and the public district canoes, were fifty, sixty, or nearly seventy feet long, and each about two feet wide, and three or four feet deep; the sterns remarkably high, sometimes fifteen or eighteen feet above the water, and frequently ornamented with rudely carved hollow cylinders, square pieces, or grotesque figures called ti'i [Maori tiki]…. Next in size to these was the pahi, or war-canoe. I never saw but one of these: the stern was low, and covered so as to afford a shelter from the stones and darts of the assailants. The bottom was round, the upper part of the sides narrower, and perpendicular; a rude imitation of the human head, or some other grotesque figure, was carved on the stern of each canoe. The stem, often elevated and carved like the neck of a swan, terminated in the carved figure of a bird's head, and the whole was more solid and compact than the other vessels. In some of their canoes, and in the pahi among the rest, a rude sort of grating, made of the light but tough wood of the breadfruit-tree, covered the hull of the vessels, the intervening space between them, and projected a foot or eighteen inches over the outer edges. On this the rowers usually sat, and here the mariners who attended to the sails took their stations…. There was also a kind of platform in the front, or generally near the centre, on which the fighting-men were stationed. These canoes were sometimes sixty feet long, between three and four feet deep, and, with their platform in front or in the centre, were capable of holding fifty page 316fighting-men. (Footnote: In Cook's Voyages a description of some one hundred and eight feet long.)

The va'a ti'i [waka tiki], or sacred canoe, was always strong and large, more highly ornamented with carving and feathers than any of the others. Small houses were erected in each, and the image of the god, sometimes in the shape of a large bird, at other times resembling a hollow cylinder, ornamented with various-coloured feathers, was kept in these houses. Here their prayers were preferred and their sacrifices offered.

Their war-canoes were strong, well built, and highly ornamented. They formerly possessed large and magnificent fleets of these, and other large canoes; and at their general public meetings or festivals no small portion of the entertainment was derived from the regattas, or naval reviews, in which the whole fleet, ornamented with carved images, and decorated with flags and streamers of various-coloured cloth, went through their various tactics with great precision…. The va'a ti'i, or sacred canoes, formed part of every fleet, and were generally the most imposing in appearance and attractive in their decorations….

Every large canoe had a distinct name, always arbitrary, but frequently descriptive or some real or imaginary excellence in the canoe, or in memory of some event connected with it. Neither the names of any of their gods or chiefs were ever given to their vessels: such an act … would have been deemed the greatest insult that could have been offered….

The most general and useful kind of canoe is the common double canoe, usually from twenty to thirty feet long, strong and capacious, with a projection from the stem, and a low shield-shaped stern…. One of these in which we voyaged … was between thirty and forty feet in length, strong and well built. The keel was formed with a number of pieces of tough tamanu wood, twelve or sixteen inches broad and two inches thick, hollowed on the inside and rounded without, so as to form a convex angle along the bottom of the canoe; these were fastened together by lacings of tough elastic cord made from the fibres of the coconut husk. On the front end of the keel, a solid piece, cut out of the trunk of a tree, so contrived as to constitute the fore part of the canoe, was fixed with the same lashing, and on the upper part of it a thick board or plank projected horizontally in a line parallel with the surface of the water. This front piece, usually five or six feet long, and twelve or eighteen inches wide, was called the ihu va'a [ihu waka] (nose of the canoe), and, without any joining, comprised the stem, bows, and bowsprit of the vessel.

The sides of the canoe were composed of two lines of short plank, an inch and a half or two inches thick. The lower line was convex on the outside, and nine or twelve inches broad; the upper one straight. The stern was considerably elevated, the keel was inclined upwards, and the lower part of the stern was pointed, while the upper part was flat, and nine or ten feet above the level of the sides. The whole was fastened together with cinet, not continued along the seams, but by two, or at most three holes made in each board, within an inch of each other, and corresponding holes made in the opposite piece, and the lacing passed through from one to the other. A space of nine inches or a foot was left, and then a similar set of holes made. The joints or seams were not grooved together, but the edge of one simply laid on that of the other and fitted with remarkable exactness by the adze of the workman, guided only by page 317his eye: they never used line or rule. The edges of their planks were usually covered with a kind of pitch or gum from the breadfruit-tree, and a thin layer of coconut husk spread between them. The husk of the coconut swelling when in contact with water fills any apertures that may exist…. The two canoes were fastened together by strong curved pieces of wood placed horizontally across the upper edges of the canoes, to which they were fixed by strong lashings of thick coir cordage.

The space between the two bowsprits, or broad planks projecting from the front of our canoe, was covered with boards, and furnished a platform of considerable extent; over this a kind of temporary awning of plaited coconut leaves was spread, and under it the passengers sat during the voyage. The upper part of each of the canoes was not above twelve or fifteen inches wide; little projections were formed on the inner part of the sides, on which small movable thwarts or seats were fixed, whereon the men sat who wrought with the paddle…. The steersman stands or sits in the stern, with a large paddle: the rowers sit in each canoe two or three feet apart…. the steersman gives the signal to start by striking his paddle violently against the side of the canoe….

They have also a remarkably neat double canoe called maihi, or twins, each of which is made out of a single tree, and both are exactly alike….

The single canoes are built in the same manner and with the same materials as the double one. Their usual name is tipai-hoe…. The small puhoe… is generally a trunk of a tree, seldom more than twenty feet in length, rounded on the outside, and hollow within; sometimes sharp at both ends, though generally only at the stem….

The va'a motu [waka motu in Maori], or island canoe, is generally a large, strong, single vessel, built for sailing, and principally used in distant voyages. In addition to the ordinary edge, or gunwale, of the canoe, planks twelve or fifteen inches wide are fastened along their sides, after the manner of washboards in a European boat. The same are also added to double canoes when employed on long voyages. A single canoe is never used without an outrigger, varying in size with the vessel. It is formed with a light spar. This ama [outrigger] is always placed on the left side, and fastened to the canoe by two horizontal poles, from five to eight feet long; the front one is straight and firm, the other curved and elastic. It is so fixed that the canoe, when empty, does not float upright, being inclined rather to the left, but when sunk in the water, on being laden, it is generally erect, while the outrigger, which is firmly and ingeniously fastened to the sides by repeated bands of cinet, floats on the surface. In addition to this, the island canoes have a strong plank, twelve or fourteen feet long, fastened horizontally across the centre in an inclined position, one end attached to the outrigger, and the other extending five or six feet over the opposite side, and perhaps elevated four or five feet above the sea. A small railing of rods is fastened along the sides of this plank, and it is designed to assist the navigators in balancing the keel, as a native takes his station on the one side or the other, to counteract the inclination which the wind or sea might give to the vessel.

In navigating their double canoes the natives frequently use two sails, but in their single vessels only one. The masts are movable, and are only raised when the sails are used. They are slightly fixed upon a step placed across the canoe, and fastened by strong ropes or braces extending to page 318both sides, and to the stem and stern. The sails were made with the leaves of the pandanus split into thin strips, neatly woven into a kind of matting. The shape of the sails of the island canoes [waka motu, or long-voyage canoe] is singular. The side attached to the mast is straight, the outer part resembling the section of an oval, cut in the longest direction.

The other sails are commonly used in the same manner as sprit or lugger sails are used in European boats. The ropes from the corners of the sails are not usually fastened, but held in the hands of the natives…. The paddles of the Tahitians are plain, having a smooth round handle, and an oblong-shaped blade.

Their canoes, having no rudder, are steered by a man in the stern, with a paddle generally longer than the rest. In long voyages they have two or three steering-paddles, including a very large one, which they employ in stormy weather to prevent the vessel from drifting to leeward.

The tataa, or scoop, with which they bale out the leakage, is generally a neat and convenient article, cut out of a solid piece of wood.

Their canoes were formerly ornamented with streamers of various-coloured cloths, and tufts of fringe and tassels of feathers were attached to the masts and sails…. A small kind of house or awning was erected in the centre, or attached to the stern, to screen the passengers from the sun by day and the damp by night…. They do not appear to have ornamented the body or hull of their vessels with carving or painting.

In building their vessels, all the parts were first accurately fitted to each other, the whole was taken to pieces, and the outside of each plank smoothed by rubbing it with a piece of coral and sand moistened with water; it was then dried and polished with fine dry coral…. It is only those who have been regularly trained to the work that can build a large canoe, and in this there is a considerable division of labour—some laying down the keel and building the hull, some making and fixing the sails, and others fastening the outriggers, or adding the ornaments. The principal chiefs usually kept canoe-builders attached to their establishments… The trees that are cut down in the mountains, or the interior of the islands, are often hollowed out there, sometimes by burning, but generally by adze, or cut into shape designed, and then brought down to the shore…. The priest had certain ceremonies to perform, and numerous and costly offerings were made to the gods of the chief, and of the craft or profession, when the keel was laid, when the canoe was finished, and when it was launched. Valuable canoes were often among the national offerings presented to the gods, and afterwards sacred to the service of the idol.

In the above account we note that the side planks of the Tahitian canoes were lashed in the same style that is seen in the Maori canoe, except that the lashings were arranged in groups. The raised rim lashing of the western-islands had not been introduced.

We have to thank Missionary Ellis for the above details concerning Tahitian vessels, and for much other matter descriptive of native customs. It is much to be regretted that more of our New Zealand missionaries did not take an equally intelligent interest in their surroundings; we have no such data concerning Maori vessels. page 319The descriptions of these Tahitian craft are interesting on account of the fact that our Maori folk of New Zealand came from that region, and because we have so scant a knowledge of the double canoe and outrigger canoe formerly used by our natives. They were probably derived from eastern Polynesian forms, and resembled them in their fittings.

Forster is apparently the only writer who mentions having seen a single canoe used without an outrigger at Tahiti, and that may have been an unusual occurrence.

Ellis mentions some curious prophecies said to have been uttered by certain natives of the Society Group prior to the arrival of European ships in those seas. He says: "Among the native prophets of former times there appear to have been several of the name of Maui. One of the most celebrated of this name resided at Raiatea, and on one occasion, when supposed to be under the inspiration of the god, he predicted that in future ages a va'a ama 'ore [Maori, waka ama kore] literally an 'outriggerless canoe' would arrive at the islands from some foreign land. Accustomed to attach that appendage to their single canoes, whatever might be their size or quality, they considered an outrigger essential to their remaining upright on the water.… The absence of this has ever appeared to the South-Sea-Islanders as one of the greatest wonders connected with the visits of the first European vessels…. The chiefs and others to whom Maui delivered his prophecy were also convinced in their own minds that a canoe would not swim without this necessary balance…. He persisted in his predictions, and, in order to remove his scepticism as to its practicability, launched his umete [Maori kumete], or oval wooden dish, upon the surface of a pool of water, and declared that in the same manner would the vessel swim that should arrive."

This oral tradition was preserved until the arrival of Wallis's and Cook's vessels, when the natives declared that the prediction of Maui was accomplished and the outriggerless vessels had arrived. Hence, in Ellis's time, when European ships or boats were seen, they often greeted with the cry, "Te va'a a Maui, e! Te va'a ama 'ore" ("O! the canoe of Maui, the outriggerless canoe!").

Ellis also wrote that another of Maui's predictions was that after the outriggerless vessel arrived there would appear a va'a taura 'ore, a vessel without ropes or cordage. This prophecy the natives could not understand, but Ellis thought it probable that, should a steamer ever reach the islands, it might be accepted by the natives as the "ropeless vessel." This second edition of Ellis's work was published in 1831.

page 320

An illustration of a small outrigger canoe of Tahiti shows the forward boom as straight and connected with the float by means of three short sticks. The after boom is a crooked stick, the end of which is connected directly with the float.

An illustration in Seurat's Tahiti shows a lateen sail with two yards on a canoe of Mangareva.