Russia and the South Pacific, 1696-1840, Volume 4: The Tuamotu Islands and Tahiti

325 Pages·1992·21.582 MB·English

by  Glynn Barratt

Volume 4 of Russia and the South Pacific, 1696—1840
THE TUAMOTU ISLANDS AND TAHITI
The final volume in a quartet of books on the naval, scientific, and
social activities of the Imperial Russian Navy in the South Pacific,
this book focuses on the expeditions to Tahiti and the dangerous
atoll chains to its east, known as the Tuamotus. Under the
command of Captains Otto von Kotzebue and F.F. Bellingshausen,
expedition members were the first to chart several of the Tuamotu
islands. Highly educated and perceptive, these Russian scientists
and naval officers made many fascinating and accurate observa-
tions about coral reef and atoll formation, botanical specimens,
and the cultural activities of the inhabitants. Yet, unlike their
counterparts from other European nations, the Russians made no
territorial claims and took pains not to provoke the hostility of the
islanders.
Glynn Barratt has made full use of Russian primary materials in
describing the sites and individuals the visitors encountered.
Contemporary aquarelles and drawings by the expeditionary artists
Ludovik Choris and Pavel N. Mikhailov provide pictorial
evidence. These are complemented by descriptions and photo-
graphs of many of the artifacts gathered by Russian officers and
now accessible to scholars in archives in St. Petersburg and
Estonia.
GLYNN BARRATT is a professor of Russian at Carleton University.
University of British Columbia Press
PACIFIC MARITIME STUDIES SERIES
1 Russia in Pacific Waters, 1715-1825: A Survey of the Origins of
Russia's Naval Presence in the North and South Pacific, by Glynn
Barratt
2 Distant Dominion: Britain and the Northwest Coast of North
America, 1579-1809, by Barry M. Gough
3 Russian Shadows on the British Northwest Coast of North America,
1810-1890, by Glynn Barratt
4 Gunboat Frontier: British Maritime Authority and Northwest Coast
Indians, 1846-1960, by Barry M. Gough
5 The Russians and Australia, Volume 1 of Russia and the South
Pacific, 1696-1840, by Glynn Barratt
6 On the Northwest: Commercial Whaling in the Pacific Northwest,
1790-1967, by Robert Lloyd Webb
7 Southern and Eastern Polynesia, Volume 2 of Russia and the South
Pacific, 1696-1840, by Glynn Barratt
8 Melanesia and the Western Polynesia Fringe, Volume 3 of Russia
and the South Pacific, 1696-1840, by Glynn Barratt
9 The Northwest Coast: British Navigation, Trade, and Discoveries to
1812, by Barry M. Gough
10 The Tuamotu Islands and Tahiti, Volume 4 of Russia and the South
Pacific, 1696-1840, by Glynn Barratt
Volume 4 of
Russia and the South Pacific,
1696-1840
THE
TUAMOTU
ISLANDS
AND
TAHITI
Glynn Barratt
UBC Press / Vancouver
© UBC Press 1992
All rights reserved
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper^
ISBN 0-7748-0409-2
ISSN 0847-0529
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Barratt, Glynn.
The Tuamotu Islands and Tahiti
(University of British Columbia Press Pacific maritime studies series; 10)
(Volume 4 of Russia and the South Pacific, 1696-1840, ISSN 0847-0529)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7748-0409-2
1. Tuamotu Islands—Discovery and exploration—Russian. 2. Tahiti—Discovery
and exploration—Russian. 3. Scientific expeditions—Tuamotu Islands—History.
4. Scientific expeditions—Tahiti—History. 5. Soviet Union—Exploring expeditions.
6. Soviet Union—History, Naval. I. Title. II. Series: University of British Columbia
Press Pacific maritime studies; 10. III. Series: Barratt, Glynn. Russia and the South
Pacific, 1696-1840; v. 4.
DU890.B37 1992 996.3'2 C92-091421-7
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Social Science Federation
of Canada, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
of Canada.
Publication of this book was also made possible by ongoing support from The Canada
Council, the Province of British Columbia Cultural Services Branch, and the Department
of Communications of the Government of Canada.
UBC Press
University of British Columbia
6344 Memorial Rd
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2
[phone]
Fax: [phone]
Contents
Illustrations, Maps, and Tables vii
Preliminary Notes ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introductionn xiii
PART ONE: THE TUAMOTU ARCHIPELAGO
1 A Survey 3
2 The Russian Texts 37
3 Russian Science 76
PART TWO: TAHITI
4 An Overview 109
5 The Russian Texts 135
6 Russian and RussoGerman Science 202
Appendixx 231
Notes 236
Bibliography 272
Indexess 289
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Illustrations, Maps, and Tables
ILLUSTRATIONS
Following page 142:
1 Landing over the reefs at Romanzoff [Tikei] Island, by Riurik1 s
artist, Ludovik Choris
2 Rowed boat of Romanzoff Island, by Ludovik Choris
3 Ludovik Choris (1795-1828), artist aboard Riurik on her Pacific
expedition (1815-18)
4 Sheet R-29070 in the Mikhailov Portfolio of the State Russian
Museum in St. Petersburg, showing the heads of two Tuamotuans
and details of tattooing (nanako) designs
5 Natives of the Coral Island of Count Arakcheev, drawn by
Mikhailov off Angatau atoll in 1820
6 View of the Coral Island of Moller [Amanu] in the Alexander the
First Archipelago, drawn by Mikhailov and showing the Russians'
hostile reception by the people of Amanu atoll in 1820
7 Natives of the Coral Island of Nigera [Nihiru], drawn by Mikhailov
in 1820
8 Portraits of natives of the Palizer [Palliser] Island, by Mikhailov
9 A portrait of Pavel Nikolaevich Mikhailov (1786-1840), by Anton
M. Legashev (circa 1830)
10 Pomari, King of O-Taiti, Mikhailov's celebrated portrait of Pomare
II, begun on 22 July 1820
11 The breakfast of the King of O-Taiti, by Mikhailov
v
Hi Illustrations, Maps, and Tables
12 A view of the island of O-Taiti [Otaheite] from Point Venus, by
Mikhailov
13 Detail of fern-leaf patterns on a tiputa (upper); detail of "dull red
spots" covering the surface of a tapa specimen (lower)
14 Detail of patterning imprinted by a leaf on a tapa (upper); detail of
Tahitian applique in multi-layered bark cloth (lower)
15 Detail of a soft, flexible Tahitian mat presented to Bellingshausen
as a gift for Tsar Alexander I, by Pomare II (upper); an eyeshade
worn by Tahitians (lower)
16 Detail of the grooving on two working faces of a Tahitian tapa
beater (upper); detail of the sennit lashing on the outer walls of a
large Tahitian drum (pahu nui)
17 Detail of sennit lashing and carving at the base of a drum pahu nui
(upper); example of Tahitian stone-tool carving on the base of the
drum (lower)
18 Section of the haft and part of the striking portion of a Tahitian
breadfruit or coconut splitter (upper); magnified view of portion of
this splitter's working end (lower)
MAPS
1 The Tuamotu Archipelago in relation to other Pacific Island
groups/2
2 The route of Riurik's pass through the Tuamotus, 23-26 April
1816/ 13
TABLES
1 Tahitian pieces in the Mikhailov Portfolio / 204
A. 1 Russian-Tuamotuan contact during the Russian naval visits of
1816-24/232
A.2 Russian ships in Matavai Bay, Tahiti, and Opunohu Bay, Mo'orea,
1820-40/235
Preliminary Notes
A few words on the problem of rendering into English Tahitian proper
names that have been transcribed in Cyrillic: Russian lacks certain letters,
notably "h" and "w," and so one must make allowances on encounter-
ing, in Russian texts, such names as Guageine and Mata-Giva (Huaheine
and Matahiva in English form), even while bearing in mind that Russians
in the early nineteenth century were often rendering into Cyrillic
Polynesian place and personal names on the basis of James Cook's or his
people's orthography. Thus, the eighteenth-century British form of
Otahiti becomes O-taiti or Otaiti. By considering Kotzebue's and Belling-
shausen's published sources, which were mostly but not exclusively Brit-
ish, one can easily gloss over such place names as Teporionnuu for Te
Poroinu'u, or Tagara Point for Taharaa Point. In this volume, there is no
standardization of all forms of Tahitian names found in the Russian texts
translated, but Tahiti is substituted for O-taiti, O-taite, etc., after the first
one or two occurrences. All Russian, French, and German texts are trans-
lated on the basis of first editions except for the Kotzebue account of the
Predpriiatie visit to Tahiti in March 1824. It should not be inferred from
this that the London version of Kotzebue's narrative, A New Voyage
Round the World (1830), is an altogether accurate and adequate transla-
tion. In reality, it is so free as to be bordering on paraphrase. The point,
however, is that London Missionary Society apologists, James Mont-
gomery especially, responded to the 1830 London text when they rebutted
Kotzebue's allegations that the mission in Tahiti had not preached true
Christianity and that its version of the Gospel was a libel on the Saviour. I
discuss translations, adaptations, and reprintings of the Kotzebue narra-
tives of 1821 and 1830 in The Russian View of Honolulu, 1809-1826 (Ot-
tawa, 1988), pages 300-2.