THE history of the Marquesas is,of late years,much confused by the coming and going of the French.At least twice they have seized the archipelago,at least once deserted it;and in the meanwhile the natives pursued almost without interruption their desultory cannibal wars.Through these events and changing dynasties,a single considerable figure may be seen to move:that of the high chief,a king,Temoana.Odds and ends of his history came to my ears:how he was at first a convert to the Protestant mission;how he was kidnapped or exiled from his native land,served as cook aboard a whaler,and was shown,for small charge,in English seaports;how he returned at last to the Marquesas,fell under the strong and benign influence of the late bishop,extended his influence in the group,was for a while joint ruler with the prelate,and died at last the chief supporter of Catholicism and the French.His widow remains in receipt of two pounds a month from the French Government.Queen she is usually called,but in the official almanac she figures as 'MADAME VAEKEHU,GRANDECHEFESSE.'His son (natural or adoptive,I know not which),Stanislao Moanatini,chief of Akaui,serves in Tai-o-hae as a kind of Minister of Public Works;and the daughter of Stanislao is High Chiefess of the southern island of Tauata.These,then,are the greatest folk of the archipelago;we thought them also the most estimable.This is the rule in Polynesia,with few exceptions;the higher the family,the better the man -better in sense,better in manners,and usually taller and stronger in body.A stranger advances blindfold.He scrapes acquaintance as he can.Save the tattoo in the Marquesas,nothing indicates the difference of rank;and yet almost invariably we found,after we had made them,that our friends were persons of station.I have said 'usually taller and stronger.'I might have been more absolute,-over all Polynesia,and a part of Micronesia,the rule holds good;the great ones of the isle,and even of the village,are greater of bone and muscle,and often heavier of flesh,than any commoner.The usual explanation -that the high-born child is more industriously shampooed,is probably the true one.In New Caledonia,at least,where the difference does not exist,has never been remarked,the practice of shampooing seems to be itself unknown.Doctors would be well employed in a study of the point.
Vaekehu lives at the other end of the town from the Residency,beyond the buildings of the mission.Her house is on the European plan:a table in the midst of the chief room;photographs and religious pictures on the wall.It commands to either hand a charming vista:through the front door,a peep of green lawn,scurrying pigs,the pendent fans of the coco-palm and splendour of the bursting surf:through the back,mounting forest glades and coronals of precipice.Here,in the strong thorough-draught,Her Majesty received us in a simple gown of print,and with no mark of royalty but the exquisite finish of her tattooed mittens,the elaboration of her manners,and the gentle falsetto in which all the highly refined among Marquesan ladies (and Vaekehu above all others)delight to sing their language.An adopted daughter interpreted,while we gave the news,and rehearsed by name our friends of Anaho.As we talked,we could see,through the landward door,another lady of the household at her toilet under the green trees;who presently,when her hair was arranged,and her hat wreathed with flowers,appeared upon the back verandah with gracious salutations.
