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A few years ago, during the stay of one of Her Majesty’s ships at Huahine in the Society Islands, there came on board, to pay his respects to the commander, an old white trader. He was accompanied by an ancient native, who, he said, was his wife’s grandfather. The old islander, although nearly bent double with age, was very lively in his conversation, and spoke English with ease and correctness. Captain M—, after discussing the state of the island with the trader, inquired of him where the old native had learned to speak such excellent English. “I suppose,” he added, “he was one of the earliest converts to Christianity?”

The trader laughed. “No, indeed, sir. There’s not much of the missionary about Matapuupuu. He did gammon to be converted once, but he soon went back to his old gods again. Why, sir, that old fellow was chief priest here once, and the first man of the Areoi society—and he’s the only one left now.”

Captain M—had heard of that mysterious body whose power in the early days of missionary effort was so great and so far-reaching in its terrifying and degrading influences as to at one time bring the spread of Christianity to a standstill. He therefore looked at the native before him with unusual interest; and, as if aware of what was passing in the officer’s mind, the object of his scrutiny raised his head and laughed. “Yes, sir, I am the last man of the Areoi on Huahine. There are one or two more of us on Taiarapu, in Tahiti.”

“Why have you not become a Christian in your old age, then, now that there are no more Areois left? What good can it do you to remain a heathen?”

Old Matapuupuu shrugged his wrinkled shoulders—“What is the good of Christianity to me now? I am too old to get anything by being a Christian. It is better for me to be an Areoi. I am very old and poor, although I made a lot of money when I was sailing in the whaleships. But, although I am so poor, I get plenty to eat, for the people here are afraid of me. If I became a Christian they would give me nothing to eat, for my power over them would be gone.”

“But I should be ashamed to have it known that you belonged to such a wicked lot of scoundrels, old man,” said Captain M— with assumed severity; “everything that was done by the Areois was bad. Had not their power been broken by the missionaries there would have been no more people left in these islands in another twenty years after they had settled here.”

“Bah,” answered the old ex-priest, derisively, “that is only missionary talk. There have been Areoi since first men were born. And, see, the people liked us; for we gave them songs, and music, and dancing. It is true that we made the women who bore us children kill them; but that was wisely done; for these islands are but little places, and but for us there would have come a time when the people would have eaten each other for hunger. It is better that useless children should die than grown people should starve.”

Half an hour later the trader and the old ex-priest Areoi bade the captain goodbye, and the officer, as he watched them going over the side, turned to the ship’s doctor and said with a laugh, “What an unmitigated old heathen.”

“But there’s a good deal of sound logic in his contentions,” replied the doctor, seriously.

* * * * * * *

The history of the Areois of Polynesia and the Uritois of the Micronesian Islands is an interesting subject, and Mr. Ellis in his “Researches” has given us a full account of the former; while Padre Canova, a Jesuit missionary who was killed in the Caroline Islands before the time of Cook, has left on record an account of the dreaded and mysterious Uritois society of that archipelago. The Areois are now extinct, but the Uritois, whose practices are very similar to those of the Polynesian fraternity are still in existence, though not possessed of anything like the power they wielded in former days.

“The Areois of Polynesia,” says Mr. Ellis, “were a fraternity of strolling players, and privileged liberties, who spent their days in travelling from island to island, and from one district to another, exhibiting their pantomimes, and spreading a moral contagion throughout society.” (Each band or section of the society was called a “mareva,” corresponding with the Samoan “malaga”—a party of travellers; and, indeed, in Australian parlance they might have been designated as larrikin “pushes.”) “Before the company set out great preparation was necessary. Numbers of pigs were killed and presented to the god Oro; large quantities of plantains and bananas, with other fruits, were also offered upon his altars. Several weeks were necessary to complete the preliminary ceremonies. The concluding parts of these consisted in erecting, on board their canoes, two temporary maraes, or temples, for the worship of Orotetefa and his brother, the tutelary deities of the society. This was merely a symbol of the presence of the gods; and consisted principally in a stone for each, from Oro’s marae, and a few red feathers for each, from the inside of his sacred image. Into these symbols the gods were supposed to enter when the priest pronounced a short ‘uba,’ or prayer, immediately before the sailing of the fleet. The numbers connected with this fraternity, and the magnitude of some of their expeditions will appear from the fact of Cook’s witnessing on one occasion, in Huahine, the departure of seventy canoes filled with Areois. On landing at the place of destination they proceeded to the residence of the king or chief, and presented their ‘marotai,’ or present: a similar offering was also sent to the temple and to the gods, as an acknowledgment for the preservation they had experienced at sea. If they remained in the neighbourhood preparations were made for their dances and other performances.

“On public occasions, their appearance was, in some respects, such as it is not proper to describe. Their bodies were painted with charcoal, and their faces, especially, stained with the ‘mati,’ or scarlet dye. Sometimes they wore a girdle of the yellow ti leaves, which, in appearance, resembled the feather girdles of the Peruvians or other South American tribes. At other times they wore a vest of ripe yellow plantain leaves, and ornamented their heads with wreaths of the bright yellow and scarlet leaves of the ‘hutu,’ or ‘Barringtonia’; but, in general, their appearance was far more repulsive than when they wore these partial coverings.”

“Upaupa” was the name of many of their exhibitions. In performing these, they sometimes sat in a circle on the ground, and recited, in concert, a legend or song in honour of the gods, or some distinguished Areoi. The leader of the party stood in the centre, and introduced the recitation with a sort of prologue, when, with a number of fantastic movements and attitudes, those that sat around began their song in a slow and measured tone and voice, which increased as they proceeded, till it became vociferous and unintelligibly rapid. It was also accompanied by movements of the arms and hands, in exact keeping with the tones of the voice, until they were wrought to the highest pitch of excitement. This they continued until, becoming breathless and exhausted, they were obliged to suspend the performance.

Their public entertainments frequently consisted in delivering speeches, accompanied by every variety of gesture and action; and their representations, on these occasions, assumed something of the histrionic character. The priests and others were fearlessly ridiculed in these performances, in which allusion was ludicrously made to public events. In the “tapiti,” or “Oroa,” they sometimes engaged in wrestling, but never in boxing; that would have been considered too degrading for them. Dancing, however, appeared to have been their favourite and most frequent performance. In this they were always led by the manager or chief. Their bodies, blackened with charcoal and stained with “mati,” rendered the exhibition of their persons on these occasions most disgusting. They often maintained their dance through the greater part of the night, accompanied by their voices, and the music of the flute and drum. These amusements frequently continued for a number of days and nights successively at the same place. The “upaupa” was then terminated, and they journeyed on to the next district or principal chieftain’s abode, where the same train of dances, wrestling, and pantomimic exhibitions was repeated.

Several other gods were supposed to preside over the “upaupa” as well as the two brothers who were the guardian deities of the Areois. The gods of these diversions, according to the ideas of the people, were monsters in vice, and, of course, patronised every evil practice perpetrated during such seasons of public festivity.

Substantial, spacious, and sometimes highly ornamental houses were erected in several districts throughout the islands, principally for their accommodation and the exhibition of the Areoi performances. Sometimes they performed in their canoes as they approached the shore; especially if they had the king of the island or any principal chief on board their fleet. When one of these companies thus advanced towards the land, with their streamers floating in the wind, their drums and pipes sounding, and the Areois, attended by their chief, who acted as their prompter, appeared on a stage erected for the purpose, with their wild distortions of persons, antic gestures, painted bodies, and vociferated songs, mingling with the sound of the drum and the flute, the dashing of the sea, and the rolling and breaking of the surf on the adjacent reef, the whole must have presented a ludicrous but yet imposing spectacle, accompanied with a confusion of sight and sound, of which it is not easy to form an adequate idea.

“The above were the principal occupations of the Areois; and in the constant repetition of these often obscene exhibitions they passed their lives, strolling from the habitation of one chief to that of another, or sailing among the different islands of the group. The farmers, i.e., those who owned plantations, did not, in general, much respect them” (but they feared them), “but the chiefs, and those addicted to pleasure, held them in high estimation, furnishing them with liberal entertainments, and sparing no property to gratify them. This often proved the cause of most unjust and cruel oppression to the poor cultivators. When a party of Areois appeared in a district, in order to provide daily sumptuous entertainment for them, the local chief would send his servants to the best plantations in the neighbourhood, and these grounds, without any ceremony, they plundered of whatever was fit for use. Such lawless acts of robbery were repeated every day, so long as the Areois continued in the district; and when they departed the gardens exhibited a scene of desolation and ruin that, but for the influence of the chiefs, would have brought fearful vengeance upon those who had occasioned it.

A number of distinct classes prevailed among the Areois, each of which was distinguished by the kind or situation of the tatooing on their bodies. The first or highest class was called “Avae parai,” painted leg; the leg being completely blackened from the foot to the knee. The second class was called “Otiore,” both arms being marked from the fingers to the shoulders. The third class was “Harotea,” both sides of the body, from the armpits downwards, being tattooed. The fourth class, called “Hua,” had only two or three small figures, impressed with the same material, on each shoulder. The fifth class, called “Atoro,” had one small stripe tattooed on the left side. Every individual in the sixth class, called “Ohemara,” had a small circle marked round each ankle. The seventh class, or “Poo,” which included all who were in the noviciate, was usually denominated the “Poo faarearea,” or pleasure-making class, and by them the most laborious part of the pantomimes, dances, etc., was performed; the principal or higher order of Areois, though plastered over with charcoal, were generally careful not to exhaust themselves by physical effort for the amusement of others.

Like the society of the Uritoi (the Uritoy of the Jesuit Canova), the Areoi classes were attended by a troop of what may be termed camp-followers, who, as Ellis observes, “attached themselves to the dissipated and wandering fraternity, prepared their food and their dresses, and attended them on their journeys for the purpose of witnessing their dances and sharing in their banquets. These people were called Fanaunau (i.e., propagators), because they did not destroy their offspring, which was indispensable with the regular members of the whole seven classes.” Curiously enough, while steeped in every imaginable wickedness, there was with the Areoi a rigid code of morality among themselves. “Each Areoi, although addicted to every kind of licentiousness, brought with him his wife, who was also a member of the society. And so jealous were they in this respect, that improper conduct towards the wife of one of their own number was sometimes punished with death.” At Tahaa, in the Society Islands, a young girl, wife of one of the class called “Harotea,” who had misconducted herself with a lad at Fare, in Huahine, was taken before the assembled band of Areois, and deliberately slain by the leader, who was her uncle. Her husband, who begged for her life, met the same fate, as an unworthy member of the society. “Singular as it may appear, the Areoi institution was held in the greatest repute by the chiefs and higher classes; and, monsters of iniquity as they were, the grandmasters, or members of the first order (the ‘Avae parai’) were regarded as a sort of supernatural beings, and treated with a corresponding degree of veneration by many of the vulgar and ignorant. The fraternity was not confined to any particular rank or grade in society, but was composed of individuals from every class of people. But although thus accessible to all, the admission was attended with a variety of ceremonies; a protracted noviciate followed; and it was only by progressive advancement that any were admitted to the superior distinctions.

“It was imagined that those”—to continue Ellis—“who became Areois were generally prompted or inspired (by their tutelar gods) to adopt this course of life. When, therefore, any individual wished to be admitted to the ranks of the Areois, he repaired to some public exhibition in a state of apparent neneva or derangement. Round his or her waist was a girdle of yellow plantains or ti leaves; his face was stained with mati, or scarlet dye; his brow decorated with a shade of curiously painted yellow coconut leaves; his hair perfumed with powerfully scented coconut oil, and ornamented with a profusion of fragrant flowers. Thus arrayed, disfigured and yet adorned, he rushed through the crowd assembled round the house in which the actors or dancers were performing, and, leaping into the circle, joined with seeming frantic wildness in the dance or pantomime. He continued thus in the midst of the performers until the exhibition closed. This was considered an indication of his desire to join their company; and, if approved, he was appointed to wait, as a servant, on the principal Areois. After a considerable trial of his natural disposition, docility, and devotedness in this occupation, if he persevered in his determination to join himself with them, he was inaugurated with all the attendant rites and observances.

“This ceremony took place at some taupiti, or other great meeting of the body, when the principal Areoi brought forth the candidate arrayed in the ahu haio, a curiously-stained sort of native cloth, the badge of their order, and presented him to the members, who were convened in full assembly. The Areois, as such, had distinct names, and, at his introduction, the candidate received from the chief of the body the name by which in future he would be known among them. He was now directed in the first instance to murder his children—a deed of horrid barbarity—which he was in general only too ready to perpetrate. He was then instructed to bend his left arm, and strike his right hand upon the bend of the left elbow, which at the same time he struck against his side, whilst he repeated the song, or invocation, for the occasion. He was then commanded to seize the waist-cloth worn by the chief woman present, and by this act he completed his initiation, and became a member of the seventh, or lowest class.

“There can be no doubt that the desire of females to become members of this strange association was caused by the many privileges it afforded them. The principal of these was that, by becoming an Areoi, a woman was enabled to eat the same food as the men; for the restrictions of the tabu upon women in this respect were very severe. Females, even of the highest rank, were prohibited, on pain of death, from eating the flesh of animals offered to the gods, which was always reserved for the men; but once admitted to the ranks of the Areois, they were regarded as the equals of men in every respect, and partook of the same food.”

And so these people travelled about from village to village, and from island to island, and sang and danced, and acted for days together; but though these “were the general amusements of the Areois, they were not the only purposes for which they assembled.” They included

“All monstrous, all prodigious things.”

The Jesuit Canova, in the account he gives of the Uritois of the Caroline Islands, says:— “It is absolutely impossible for the average human mind to conceive the frightful cruelty, the hideous debauchery, and unparalleled licentiousness to which these people surrender themselves when practising their soul-terrifying rites.”

Yet their power and influence were extra-ordinary. In their journeyings to and fro among the islands they would sometimes locate themselves among a community who were totally unacquainted with them save by hearsay, and who regarded their advent with feelings of terror; yet, before long, numbers of these same people would desire to, and did enter their ranks. “In their pastimes, in their accompanying crimes, and the often-repeated practices of the most unrelenting, murderous cruelty, these wandering Areois passed their lives, esteemed by the people as a superior order of beings, closely allied to the gods, and deriving from them direct sanction, even for their heartless murders. Free from labour or care, they roved from island to island, supported by the priests and the chiefs; and often feasted on plunder from the gardens of the industrious husbandman, while his own family was not infrequently deprived thereby for a time of the means of existence. Such was their life of luxurious and licentious indolence and crime. And such was the character of their delusive system of superstition that for them too was reserved the Elysium which their fabulous mythology taught them to believe was provided in a future state of existence for those so preeminently favoured by the gods.”

That such a deadly and satanic delusion should be implanted and fostered in the minds of a naturally amiable, hospitable, and intelligent race can only be accounted for by the belief of the sacred source from which it sprang, i.e., the mandate of Oro; and its destruction by the advances of civilisation had a profound effect on the minds of those who had witnessed the terrible deeds perpetrated when the Society Islands lay under the terror of the Areois.