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TAHITI
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TAHITI , the largest and most important of the See also:French Society Islands (q.v.) in the Pacific Ocean, in 17° 38' S., 149° 3o' W. Pop. about 10,300. The See also:island, in shape not unlike the figure 8, has a length of 33 m., a See also:coast-See also:line of 120, and an See also:area of 402 sq. m. It is divided into two portions by a See also:short See also:isthmus (Isthmus of Taravao) about a mile in width, apd nowhere more than 50 ft. above See also:sea-level. The See also:southern, the See also:peninsula of Taiarapu, or Tahiti-iti (Little Tahiti) See also:measures 11 m. in length by 6 m. in breadth; while the See also:northern, the circular See also:main island of Porionuu, or Tahiti-uni (See also:Great Tahiti), has a length of 22 M. and a breadth of 20. The whole island is mountainous. A little to the See also:north-See also:west of the centre of Great Tahiti the See also:double-peaked Orohena rises to 7349 ft., and the neighbouring Aorai is only a little See also:lower. Little Tahiti has no such See also:elevation, but its See also:tower-like peaks are very striking. The See also:flat See also:land of the Tahitian coast, extending to a width of several See also:miles—with its See also:chain of villages, its fertile gardens, and its See also:belt of palms, sometimes intersected by stream-fed valleys which open on the seashore—forms a most pleasing foreground to the See also:grand See also:mountain ranges. A See also:good road surrounds the island, the extreme north of which is formed by Point See also:Venus, W. of which See also:lie the See also:Bay of Matavai and See also:Papeete, the See also:European See also:town and seat of See also:government, on its beautiful See also:harbour. See also:Climate.—The seasons are not well defined. See also:Damp is excessive; there is little variation in the See also:weather, which, though hot, is nevertheless not depressing, and the climate for the tropics must be considered remarkably healthy. The rainfall is largest between See also:December and See also:April, but there is so much at other times of the See also:year also that these months hardly deserve the name of the See also:rainy See also:season. During this See also:period north-west winds are frequent, continuing at times for See also:weeks, and there are thunderstorms and hurricanes. These, while not generally destructive, are sometimes so, as notably the See also:storm of the 13th of See also:January 1903. During the eight .drier and cooler months See also:south-See also:east See also:trade winds prevail, but there are southerly winds which bring See also:rain, and even See also:westerly breezes are not infrequent. The mean temperature for the year on the coasts is 770 F. (maximum 84°, minimum 69°); and the See also:average rainfall from December to See also: See also:Insects are poor in species, though some of them are indigenous. Crustaceans and molluscs, on the other See also:hand, are well represented; See also:worms, echinoderms, and See also:corals comparatively poorly. A noteworthy feature of Tahitian conchology is the number of peculiar species belonging to the genus Partula, almost every valley being the See also:habitat of a distinct See also:form.' See also:Flora.—The flora, though luxuriant and greatly enhancing the beauty of the islands, is not very See also:rich. It is, however, less poor in trees, shrubs and hardwood See also:plants, than in the smaller under-growth. See also:Orchids, including some beautiful species, and ferns are abundant; but, here as in See also:Polynesia generally, See also:Rubiaceae is the See also:order best represented. Remarkable are the See also:banana thickets, which grow at an See also:altitude of from 3000 to 5000 ft. Along the See also:shore—in some places almost to the extinction of all native growth —many exotics have established themselves; and a great variety of See also:fruit-bearing and other useful trees have been introduced? Inhabitants.—The Tahitians are a typical Polynesian See also:race, closely connected physically with the Marquesans and Rarotongans, but widely divided from them in many of their customs. The dialects, also, of the three See also:groups are different, the Tahitian being perhaps the softest in all See also:Oceania. The See also:women See also:rank with the most beautiful of the Pacific, though the accounts given of them by See also:early voyagers are much exaggerated; and for See also:general symmetry of form the See also:people are unsurpassed by any race in the See also:world. Even now in its decadence, after generations of See also:drunkenness and European disease and See also:vice, grafted on inborn indolence and licentiousness, many tall and robust people (6 ft. and even upwards in height) are to be found. Men and women of good See also:birth can generally be distinguished by their height and fairness, and often, even in early See also:age, by their enormous See also:corpulence. The skin varies from a very See also:light See also:olive to a full dark See also: Their See also:chief musical See also:instruments were the nose-See also:flute often used as the See also:accompaniment of See also:song—and the See also:drum. See also:Conch-shells were also used. Tahitian See also: 
They steered by the stars, of which they distinguished many constellations. The land was carefully tended and the See also:fields well irrigated. Three great classes were recognized:—(1) The See also:sovereign, who See also:bore a semi-sacred as well as a See also:political See also:character, and the reigning chiefs of districts; (2) the proprietors and cultivators of inherited land, who also built canoes, made arms, &c.; to these two classes also belonged the priests, who were See also:medicine-men as well; (3) the fishers, artisans, &c., and slaves. As See also:wars and See also:infanticide depopulated the island this class gradually acquired land and with it certain privileges. Rank is hereditary and determined by See also:primogeniture, not necessarily in the male line. The firstborn of a sovereign succeeded at once to titular See also:sovereignty; the See also:father, who was the first to pay See also:homage to his See also:child, then abdicated, and became See also:regent. It is easy to see that, while this See also:custom tended to keep honours within a See also:family, it may have encouraged the practice of infanticide, which was See also:common in all grades of society when Tahiti was first visited by Europeans. The age at which the child's authority became real varied according to his own abilities and the will of his subjects. Though arbitrary, the See also:power of the See also: The form of government was thus strictly feudal in character, but it gradually centralized into a See also:monarchy, which, in the See also:person of Pomare II., the See also:English missionaries greatly helped to regulate and strengthen. The sovereign sent his commands by a messenger, whose See also:credentials were a tuft of coco-nut film. This tuft was returned intact as a sign of assent or torn in token of refusal. The temples were square See also:tree-surrounded enclosures, with a single entrance and several small courts, within which were houses for the images and attendant priests. A pyramidal stone structure, on which were the actual altars, stood at the further end of the square. In the temples were buried the chiefs, whose embalmed bodies, after being exposed for a See also:time, were interred in a crouching position. Their skulls, however, were kept in the houses of their nearest relations. In the great See also:temple at Atahura the stone structure was 270 ft. long, 94 ft. wide, and 5o ft. high, and its See also:summit was reached by a See also:flight of steps built of hewn See also:coral and See also:basalt. Sacrificial offerings, including human sacrifices, formed a prominent part of Tahitian See also:worship. An See also:eye of the victim was offered to the king, and placed within his mouth by the officiating See also:priest. Every household possessed its own See also:guardian See also:spirits, but there were several See also:superior divinities, of which, at the beginning of the 19th See also:century, Oro was the most venerated. The images, which are less remarkable than those of See also:Hawaii, were rough representations of the human form carved in See also:wood. The See also:Areoi, a licentious religious association, was a special feature of Tahitian society. The Tahitians are light-hearted, frivolous, courteous and generous, but deceitful and cruel. They were always notorious for their immorality, one of their customs being a systematized See also:exchange of wives. Besides dancing, the singing of songs, and the recitation of See also:historical and mythical See also:ballads, the natives had also a variety of See also:sports and games. See also:Wrestling, See also:boxing, and See also:spear-throwing matches, with See also:foot and See also:canoe races, were held; also sham fights and See also:naval reviews. They had several See also:ball games—one (played chiefly by women), a See also:kind of See also:football; but surf-See also:swimming was perhaps the favourite See also:sport, and See also:cock-fighting was much practised. Products, Trade, See also:Administration.—Papeete, as the See also:emporium for a widely scattered See also:archipelago (including See also:Paumotu, &c.), has an export trade in See also:mother-of-See also:pearl, pearls (mainly from the Paumotu islands), oranges, trepang (for See also:China), See also:copra and See also:vanilla. Many whalers formerly visited Papeete harbour. During the See also:American See also:Civil War, in the See also:middle of the 19th century, Tahitian See also:cotton was put upon the European See also:market, but its cultivation had ceased by 1884, and it has been little grown since. This is also true of See also:coffee and See also:tobacco, among other crops which have been tried. See also:Sugar and See also:rum are also produced. The importation of " labour," chiefly for the plantations, from other Polynesian islands was placed under government See also:control in 1862. The Tahitians themselves prefer handicrafts to agricultural work, and many are employed as artisans by European masters. The See also:total value of exports was £140,325 and of imports £127,600 in 1904. Papeete is the seat of government. The French establishments in the Eastern Pacific are administered by a See also:governor, a privy council, and a council including the maire of Papeete and the presidents of the See also:chambers of See also:commerce and See also:agriculture. See also:History.—The See also:discovery and early exploration of the Society Islands is treated under that heading. In 1788, when See also:Lieutenant See also:Bligh in the " See also:Bounty " visited Tahiti, the leading chief was Pomare, whose family had been pre-eminent in the island for more than a century. Aided by sixteen of the " Bounty " mutineers, and armed with guns procured from Bligh and a See also:Swedish See also:vessel, Pomare greatly strengthened his power and brought to a successful See also:close a long struggle with Eimeo. The See also:attempt at colonization by the Spaniards in 1774 was followed by the See also:settlement of See also:thirty persons brought in 1797 by the missionary See also:ship " See also:Duff." Though befriended by Pomare I. (who lived till 1805), they had many difficulties, especially from the See also:constant wars, and at length they fled with Pomare II. to Eimeo and ultimately to New South See also:Wales, returning in 1812, when Pomare renounced heathenism. In 1815 he regained his power in Tahiti. For a time the missionaries made good progress—a See also:printing See also:press was established (1817), and coffee, cotton and sugar were planted (1819); but soon there came a serious relapse into See also:heathen practices and immorality. Pomare II. died of drink in 1824. His successor, Pomare III., died in 1827, and was succeeded by his See also:half-See also:sister Aimata, the unfortunate " See also:Queen Pomare (IV.)." In 1828 a new fanatical See also:sect, the " Mamaia," arose, which gave much trouble to the See also:missions. The See also:leader proclaimed that he was Jesus See also:Christ, and promised to his followers a sensual See also:paradise. In 1836 the French See also:Catholic missionaries in Mangareva attempted to open a See also:mission in Tahiti. Queen Pomare, advised by the English missionary and See also:consul See also:Pritchard, refused her consent, and removed by force two priests who had landed surreptitiously and to whom many of the opposition party in the See also:state had rallied. In 1835 a French frigate appeared, under the command of See also:Abel Dupetit-See also:Thouars, and extorted from Pomare the right of settlement for Frenchmen of every profession. Pritchard opposed this, and caused Pomare to apply for See also:British See also:protection; but this was a failure, and the native chiefs compelled the queen, against her will, to turn to See also:France. A See also:convention was signed in 1843, placing the islands under French protection, the authority of the queen and chiefs being expressly reserved. Dupetit-Thouars now reappeared, and, alleging that the treaty had not been duly carried out, deposed the queen and took See also:possession of the islands. His high-handed See also:action was not countenanced by the French government; but while, on formal protest being made from See also:England, it professed not to See also:sanction the See also:annexation, it did not retrace the steps taken. Two years were spent in reducing the party in the islands opposed to French See also:rule; an attempt to conquer the western islands failed; and at length, by agreement with England, France promised to return to the See also:plan of a See also:protectorate and leave the western islands to their rightful owners. Pomare died in 1877, and her son Aiiane (Pomare V.) abdicated in 1880, handing over the administration to France, and in the same year Tahiti, including Eimeo, was proclaimed a French See also:colony. In 1903 the whole of the French establishments in the Eastern Pacific were declared one colony, and the then existing elective general council was superseded by the See also:present administration. Besides the narratives of early voyages, and general See also:works covering the Society Islands (for which see PACIFIC), see Vincendon-See also:Dumoulin, See also:Les Iles Tahiti, esquisses historiques et geographiques, Paris, 1844; A. Gonfil, " Tahiti," in La France coloniale, Paris, 1886; H. Le See also:Chartier, Tahiti, Paris, 1887; Monchoisy, La Nouvelle Cythere, Paris, 1888; G. Collingridge, " Who discovered Tahiti? " in Journ. Polynesian See also:Soc., xii., 1903. Among the narrative works of visitors to Tahiti may be mentioned See also:Pierre See also:Loti, Le Mariage de Loti, Paris, 1881; Dora See also:Hort, Tahiti: the See also:Garden of the Pacific, See also:London, 1891. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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