Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 15, NIC-PAR

OTA [ 595 ] OTA
italieite. their superiors, at a first meeting, is hy uncovering them-
.--v——^ selves to the middle. They have a custom of saluting
those who sneeze, by saying evaroeia-eatoua, “ May
the good eatoua awaken you,” or “ May not the evil
eatoua lull you asleep !”
Their propensity to theft is very great, insomuch,
that M. Bougainville says, “ even in Europe itself one
cannot see more expert filchers than the people of this
country 5 and indeed, in all the voyages made by
Captain Cook and others, they had abundant expe¬
rience of this disposition of the natives, which often
produced quarrels, and sometimes even fatal effects. In
their behaviour they are extremely lascivious, almost
beyond credibility. A woman of distinction who vi¬
sited Mr Banks, used the following ceremony on her
first approach to the stranger. After laying down se¬
veral young plantain leaves, a man brought a large
bundle of cloth j which having opened, he spread it
piece by piece on the ground, in the space between
Mr Banks and his visitants. There were in all nine
pieces : having spread three pieces one upon ano¬
ther, the lady came forward, and, stepping upon
them, took up her garments all around her to her
W'aist $ she then turned three times round, after which
she dropped the veil : when other three pieces were
spread, she practised the same ceremony ; and so the
third time, when the last three pieces were laid out *,
after which the cloth was again rolled up, and deliver¬
ed to Mr Banks as a present from the lady, who with
her attending friend came up and saluted him. From
the unbridled licentiousness of these people, the French
gave this island the name of the New Cythera. Nay,
to such a degree do they carry their libidinous excesses,
that a number of the principal people, it is related, have
formed themselves into a society, in which every woman
is common to every man. This society is distinguished
by the name of Arreoy, the members of which have
meetings from which all others are excluded. At these
meetings the passions are excited bv a studied course
of sensuality, and the coarsest and most brutal plea¬
sures are enjoyed by the whole company. If, however,
notwithstanding these excesses, any of the female mem¬
bers of this community should prove with child, unless
she can procure some man to adopt the child as his
own, not all the strong affections of a mother, if such
are not entirely eradicated by a course of life subver¬
sive of the feelings as well as the modesty of nature,
can save the life of the precondemned innocent ; but
the child as soon as born is smothered, and the mo¬
ther is left at liberty to renew her former course of ex¬
ecrable prostitution. Should any man be found to co¬
operate with a woman in saving the life of a child, they
are both excluded for ever from the arreoy, and are
considered as man and wife. The woman from that
time is distinguished by the term whamiow-now, “ the
bearer of children which in this part of the world
only is considered as a term of reproach ; and so de¬
praved are those people, that being a member of such
a society is boasted of as being a privilege, instead of
being stigmatized as the foulest crime. The arreoys
enjoys several privileges, and are greatly respected
throughout the Society islands, as well as at Oca-
heite •, nay, they claim a great share of honour from
the circumstance of being childless. Tupia, one of the
most intelligent natives, when he heard that the king
of England had a numerous offspring, declared that otaheite.
he thought himself much greater, because he belonged v —■
to the arreoys. That this society indulge themselves
in promiscuous embraces, and that every woman is
common to every man, is contradicted by Mr Forster.
He says, that these arreoys choose their wives and
mistresses from among the prostitutes $ and from this
circumstance, as well as their extreme voluptuousness,
they have seldom any reason to dread the intrusion of
children. He had the following circumstances related
to him by Omi or Omiah, one of the natives, who
was brought to England. He said, that the pre-emi¬
nence and advantages which a man enjoyed as arx’eoy
were so valuable as to urge him against his own feel¬
ings to desti'oy his child 5 that the mother was never
willing to consent to the murder 5 but that her husband
and other arreoys persuaded her to yield up the child j
and that where entreaties were not sufficient, force was
sometimes made use of. But, above all, he added, that
this action was always perpetrated in secret j insomuch,
that not even the totows or attendants of the house were
px-esent $ because, if it were seen, the murderers would
be put to death.
Both men and women constantly wash their whole
bodies three times a-day in running water, and are re¬
markably cleanly in their clothes. They are most ex¬
pert swimmers, being accustomed to die water fiom
their infancy. Captain Cook relates the following re¬
markable instance of their expertness. On a part of
the shore where a tremendously high surf broke, inso¬
much that no Eux-opean boat could live in it, and the
best European swimmer, he was persuaded, would have
been drowned, as the shore was covered with pebbles
and large stones, yet here were 10 or 12 Indians swim¬
ming for their amusement. Whenever a surf broke
near them, they dived under it, and rose again on the
other side. The steni of an old canoe added much to
their spoxt. This they took out before them, and
swam with it as far as the outei'most breach 5 when two
or three getting into it, and turning the square end to
the breaking wave, were driven in towards the shore
with incredible x’apidity, sometimes almost to the beach j
but generally the wave bx-oke over them before they
got half way ; in which case they dived, and rose to
the other side with the canoe in their hands, and swim¬
ming out with it again were again driven back. This
amazing expertness drew the Captain’s attention for
more than half an hour; during which time none of
the swimmers attempted to come ashoi’e, but seemed to
enjoy the sport in the highest degree. At another
time, one of the officei's of the quartei'-deck intending
to dx-op a bead into a canoe for a little boy of six years
of age, it accidentally missed the boat, and fell into
the sea ; but the child immediately leaped overboard,
dived after it, and i-ecovered it. I'o reward him for
this feat, some more beads were dropped to him; which
excited a number of men and women to amuse the of¬
ficers with their amazing feats of agility in the watei-,
and not only fetched up several beads scatteied at once,
but likewise large nails, which, from their weight, de¬
scended quickly to a considerable depth. Some of these,
people continued a considerable time under water ; and
the velocity with which they were seen to go down, the
water being extremely clear, was very surprising. Here
a green branch of a tree is used 3s an emblemn of peace.