 | Omoo |  |
PREFACE.
Nowhere, perhaps, are the proverbial characteristics of
sailors shown under wilder aspects, than in the South Seas.
For the most part, the vessels navigating those remote
waters, are engaged in the Sperm Whale Fishery; a business,
which is not only peculiarly fitted to attract the most
reckless seamen of all nations, but in various ways, is calculated
to foster in them a spirit of the utmost license. These
voyages, also, are unusually long and perilous; the only harbors
accessible are among the barbarous or semi-civilized
islands of Polynesia, or along the lawless western coast of
South America. Hence, scenes the most novel, and not
directly connected with the business of whaling, frequently
occur among the crews of ships in the Pacific.
Without pretending to give any account of the whalefishery
(for the scope of the narrative does not embrace the
some idea of the kind of life to which allusion is made, by
means of a circumstantial history of adventures befalling the
author.
Another object proposed, is to give a familiar account of
the present condition of the converted Polynesians, as affected
by their promiscuous intercourse with foreigners, and
the teachings of the missionaries, combined.
As a roving sailor, the author spent about three months
in various parts of the islands of Tahiti and Imeeo, and
under circumstances most favorable for correct observations
on the social condition of the natives.
In every statement connected with missionary operations,
a strict adherence to facts has, of course, been scrupulously
observed; and in some instances, it has even been deemed
advisable to quote previous voyagers, in corroboration of
what is offered as the fruit of the author's own observations.
Nothing but an earnest desire for truth and good has led
him to touch upon this subject at all. And if he refrains
from offering hints as to the best mode of remedying the
evils which are pointed out, it is only because he thinks,
that after being made acquainted with the facts, others are
better qualified to do so.
Should a little jocoseness be shown upon some curious
traits of the Tahitians, it proceeds from no intention to ridicule:
things are merely described as, from their entire
novelty, they first struck an unbiased observer
The present narrative necessarily begins where “Typee”
concludes, but has no further connection with the latter
work. All, therefore, necessary for the reader to understand,
who has not read “Typee,” is given in a brief introduction.
No journal was kept by the author during his wanderings
in the South Seas; so that, in preparing the ensuing chapters
for the press, precision with respect to dates would
have been impossible; and every occurrence has been put
down from simple recollection. The frequency, however,
with which these incidents have been verbally related, has
tended to stamp them upon the memory.
Although it is believed that one or two imperfect Polynesian
vocabularies have been published, none of the Tahitian
dialect has as yet appeared. At any rate, the author
has had access to none whatever. In the use of the native
words, therefore, he has been mostly governed by the bare
recollection of sounds.
Upon several points connected with the history and ancient
customs of Tahiti, collateral information has been obtained
from the oldest books of South Sea voyages, and
also from the “Polynesian Researches” of Ellis.
The title of the work—Omoo—is borrowed from the
dialect of the Marquesas Islands, where, among other uses,
the word signifies a rover, or rather, a person wandering
from one island to another, like some of the natives, known
among their countrymen as “Taboo kannakers.”
In no respect does the author make pretensions to philosophic
research. In a familiar way, he has merely described
what he has seen; and if reflections are occasionally indulged
in, they are spontaneous, and such as would, very probably,
suggest themselves to the most casual observer.
| Omoo | |