I
have altered and added, but have retained as much as possible of the
original.
have altered and added, but have retained as much as possible of the
original.
Byron
]
[366] The now celebrated bread fruit, to transplant which Captain
Bligh's expedition was undertaken.
[The bread-fruit (_Autocarpus incisa_) was discovered by Dampier, in
1688. "Cook says that its taste is insipid, with a slight sweetness,
somewhat resembling that of the crumb of wheaten bread mixed with a
Jerusalem artichoke. "--_The Eventful History, etc. _, 1831, p. 43. ]
[367] [See _Letters from Mr. Fletcher Christian_ (_pseud_. ),
1796, pp. 48, 49. ]
[ff] _Thus Argo plunged into the Euxine's foam_. --[MS. D, erased. ]
[368] {598} The first three sections are taken from an actual song of
the Tonga Islanders, of which a prose translation is given in "Mariner's
Account of the Tonga Islands. " Toobonai is _not_ however one of them;
but was one of those where Christian and the mutineers took refuge.
I
have altered and added, but have retained as much as possible of the
original.
["Whilst we were talking of _Vavaoo tooa Lico_, the women said to us,
'Let us repair to the back of the island to contemplate the setting sun:
there let us listen to the warbling of the birds, and the cooing of the
wood-pigeon. We will gather flowers from the burying-place at _Matawto_,
and partake of refreshments prepared for us at _Lico O'n? _: we will
then bathe in the sea, and rinse ourselves in the _Vaoo A'ca_; we will
anoint our skins in the sun with sweet-scented oil, and will plait in
wreaths the flowers gathered at _Matawto_. ' And now as we stand
motionless on the eminence over _Anoo Manoo_, the whistling of the wind
among the branches of the lofty _toa_ shall fill us with a pleasing
melancholy; or our minds shall be seized with astonishment as we behold
the roaring surf below, endeavouring but in vain to tear away the firm
rocks. Oh! how much happier shall we be thus employed, than when engaged
in the troublesome and insipid cares of life!
"Now as night comes on, we must return to the _Mooa_. But hark! --hear
you not the sound of the mats? --they are practising a _bo-oola_ ['a kind
of dance performed by torch-light'], to be performed to-night on the
_malai_, at _Tanea_. Let us also go there. How will that scene of
rejoicing call to our minds the many festivals held there, before
_Vavdoo_ was torn to pieces by war! Alas! how destructive is war!
Behold!
[366] The now celebrated bread fruit, to transplant which Captain
Bligh's expedition was undertaken.
[The bread-fruit (_Autocarpus incisa_) was discovered by Dampier, in
1688. "Cook says that its taste is insipid, with a slight sweetness,
somewhat resembling that of the crumb of wheaten bread mixed with a
Jerusalem artichoke. "--_The Eventful History, etc. _, 1831, p. 43. ]
[367] [See _Letters from Mr. Fletcher Christian_ (_pseud_. ),
1796, pp. 48, 49. ]
[ff] _Thus Argo plunged into the Euxine's foam_. --[MS. D, erased. ]
[368] {598} The first three sections are taken from an actual song of
the Tonga Islanders, of which a prose translation is given in "Mariner's
Account of the Tonga Islands. " Toobonai is _not_ however one of them;
but was one of those where Christian and the mutineers took refuge.
I
have altered and added, but have retained as much as possible of the
original.
["Whilst we were talking of _Vavaoo tooa Lico_, the women said to us,
'Let us repair to the back of the island to contemplate the setting sun:
there let us listen to the warbling of the birds, and the cooing of the
wood-pigeon. We will gather flowers from the burying-place at _Matawto_,
and partake of refreshments prepared for us at _Lico O'n? _: we will
then bathe in the sea, and rinse ourselves in the _Vaoo A'ca_; we will
anoint our skins in the sun with sweet-scented oil, and will plait in
wreaths the flowers gathered at _Matawto_. ' And now as we stand
motionless on the eminence over _Anoo Manoo_, the whistling of the wind
among the branches of the lofty _toa_ shall fill us with a pleasing
melancholy; or our minds shall be seized with astonishment as we behold
the roaring surf below, endeavouring but in vain to tear away the firm
rocks. Oh! how much happier shall we be thus employed, than when engaged
in the troublesome and insipid cares of life!
"Now as night comes on, we must return to the _Mooa_. But hark! --hear
you not the sound of the mats? --they are practising a _bo-oola_ ['a kind
of dance performed by torch-light'], to be performed to-night on the
_malai_, at _Tanea_. Let us also go there. How will that scene of
rejoicing call to our minds the many festivals held there, before
_Vavdoo_ was torn to pieces by war! Alas! how destructive is war!
Behold!
