THE bays of Anaho and Hatiheu are divided at their roots by the knife-edge of a single hill -the pass so often mentioned;but this isthmus expands to the seaward in a considerable peninsula:very bare and grassy;haunted by sheep and,at night and morning,by the piercing cries of the shepherds;wandered over by a few wild goats;and on its sea-front indented with long,clamorous caves,and faced with cliffs of the colour and ruinous outline of an old peat-stack.
In one of these echoing and sunless gullies we saw,clustered like sea-birds on a splashing ledge,shrill as sea-birds in their salutation to the passing boat,a group of fisherwomen,stripped to their gaudy under-clothes.(The clash of the surf and the thin female voices echo in my memory.)We had that day a native crew and steersman,Kauanui;it was our first experience of Polynesian seamanship,which consists in hugging every point of land.There is no thought in this of saving time,for they will pull a long way in to skirt a point that is embayed.It seems that,as they can never get their houses near enough the surf upon the one side,so they can never get their boats near enough upon the other.The practice in bold water is not so dangerous as it looks -the reflex from the rocks sending the boat off.Near beaches with a heavy run of sea,I continue to think it very hazardous,and find the composure of the natives annoying to behold.We took unmingled pleasure,on the way out,to see so near at hand the beach and the wonderful colours of the surf.On the way back,when the sea had risen and was running strong against us,the fineness of the steersman's aim grew more embarrassing.As we came abreast of the sea-front,where the surf broke highest,Kauanui embraced the occasion to light his pipe,which then made the circuit of the boat -each man taking a whiff or two,and,ere he passed it on,filling his lungs and cheeks with smoke.Their faces were all puffed out like apples as we came abreast of the cliff foot,and the bursting surge fell back into the boat in showers.At the next point 'cocanetti'was the word,and the stroke borrowed my knife,and desisted from his labours to open nuts.These untimely indulgences may be compared to the tot of grog served out before a ship goes into action.
My purpose in this visit led me first to the boys'school,for Hatiheu is the university of the north islands.The hum of the lesson came out to meet us.Close by the door,where the draught blew coolest,sat the lay brother;around him,in a packed half-circle,some sixty high-coloured faces set with staring eyes;and in the background of the barn-like room benches were to be seen,and blackboards with sums on them in chalk.The brother rose to greet us,sensibly humble.Thirty years he had been there,he said,and fingered his white locks as a bashful child pulls out his pinafore.'ET POINT DE RESULTATS,MONSIEUR,PRESQUE PAS DERESULTATS.'He pointed to the scholars:'You see,sir,all the youth of Nuka-hiva and Ua-pu.Between the ages of six and fifteen this is all that remains;and it is but a few years since we had a hundred and twenty from Nuka-hiva alone.OUI,MONSIEUR,CELA SEDEPERIT.'Prayers,and reading and writing,prayers again and arithmetic,and more prayers to conclude:such appeared to be the dreary nature of the course.For arithmetic all island people have a natural taste.In Hawaii they make good progress in mathematics.
In one of the villages on Majuro,and generally in the Marshall group,the whole population sit about the trader when he is weighing copra,and each on his own slate takes down the figures and computes the total.The trader,finding them so apt,introduced fractions,for which they had been taught no rule.At first they were quite gravelled but ultimately,by sheer hard thinking,reasoned out the result,and came one after another to assure the trader he was right.Not many people in Europe could have done the like.The course at Hatiheu is therefore less dispiriting to Polynesians than a stranger might have guessed;and yet how bald it is at best!I asked the brother if he did not tell them stories,and he stared at me;if he did not teach them history,and he said,'O yes,they had a little Scripture history -from the New Testament';and repeated his lamentations over the lack of results.I had not the heart to put more questions;Icould but say it must be very discouraging,and resist the impulse to add that it seemed also very natural.He looked up -'My days are far spent,'he said;'heaven awaits me.'May that heaven forgive me,but I was angry with the old man and his ****** consolation.For think of his opportunity!The youth,from six to fifteen,are taken from their homes by Government,centralised at Hatiheu,where they are supported by a weekly tax of food;and,with the exception of one month in every year,surrendered wholly to the direction of the priests.Since the escapade already mentioned the holiday occurs at a different period for the girls and for the boys;so that a Marquesan brother and sister meet again,after their education is complete,a pair of strangers.It is a harsh law,and highly unpopular;but what a power it places in the hands of the instructors,and how languidly and dully is that power employed by the mission!Too much concern to make the natives pious,a design in which they all confess defeat,is,Isuppose,the explanation of their miserable system.But they might see in the girls'school at Tai-o-hae,under the brisk,housewifely sisters,a different picture of efficiency,and a scene of neatness,airiness,and spirited and mirthful occupation that should shame them into cheerier methods.The sisters themselves lament their failure.They complain the annual holiday undoes the whole year's work;they complain particularly of the heartless indifference of the girls.Out of so many pretty and apparently affectionate pupils whom they have taught and reared,only two have ever returned to pay a visit of remembrance to their teachers.
