A Selection of Maritime History Books
° Beqa Island ° Lautoka ° Matangi Island ° Suva
The beautiful 1855 first edition example of J. H. Colton's map of Hawaii and other Polynesian island groups below contains seven separate maps. The top map, occupying the upper half of the sheet, details the Hawaiian Islands or Sandwich Islands, as they were also known. This particular mapping of Hawaii dates to the 1841 U.S. Exploring Expedition to the Pacific.
A second map inset in the lower left corner of the Hawaii map details the Samoan Islands. While Colton most likely grouped these together as a matter of space saving practicality, we find it ironic that both territories would eventually become part of the United States.
(Click on map image for additional views and details.)
Early European contact with Fiji comprised sealers, whalers, missionaries
and traders who all impacted in different ways on the lifestyle of the local
people. The history of Fiji is one in which European contact was primarily
directed towards profit and trade with the impact on the local people being
of lesser concern.
Exploration of Oceania was largely motivated by greed
and any nautical entrepreneur who promised rich pickings could be fairly sure
of receiving financial backing for his journey. It was this way with the Portuguese
and later the Spanish who, when they grew tired of showing the flag, were
replaced by the Dutch. The Dutch, like those who went before them made the
usual overtures of friendship but their ultimate aim was always business.
If the symbol of the Spaniards had been a bloodied Christian cross, then that
of the Dutchman would have been a well-adjusted set of grocer's scales.
The first Europeans to sight the Fiji Islands were Abel Janzsoon
Tasman, who passed the northeast fringe of the group in 1643, and Captain
James Cook, who passed the southeastern islands in 1774. Captain William Bligh
passed through the group in his open longboat after the mutiny on HMS Bounty
in 1789 and returned to explore it in 1792.
Commercial interest in the islands began with the discovery
of sandalwood at the beginning of the 19th century, leading to a rush to Bua
Bay at the southwestern end of Vanua Levu. A few beachcombers, useful as armourers
and interpreters, were adopted by influential chiefs from this time.
Within little more than a decade, the accessible, commercial
stands of sandalwood were depleted, but by the 1820s traders were again visiting
the group to trade for edible varieties of the marine invertebrate called
the sea cucumber, also known as bêche-de-mer or trepang. The Chinese
were fond of "sea slug soup," which was made from the sea cucumber.
Whereas most of the sandalwood had been cut by foreigners, the bêche-de-mer
harvest involved large numbers of Fijians in gathering, cleaning, and
drying and in the provision of food and firewood.
Soon those oriental market forces were bringing trading ships
to Fiji in ever growing numbers. The grey whales that once had been so plentiful
in North American waters were no longer present in any significant number
and soon British and New England whalers were a frequent sight in Oceania.
The advent of seagoing whalemen had a deadly impact on the Polynesians. They
were a mixed bunch, including convicts taken aboard in Port Jackson, along
with men of social standing. Whalers took longer than seal boats to fill their
holds and sometimes they were away from home for up to four or five years
at a time. When a ship arrived in New Zealand's Bay of Islands, it was observed
by the U.S. Consul that her decks were almost instantly lined with native
women. These women had a simple enjoyment of sex and the sight of the welcome
whalemen -- combined with the lure of goods such as highly prized nails made
of iron -- proved to be irresistible. The tragedy was that of the innocence
of the East bartering its favours with the outright lust of the West, and
in the meeting that followed, the Polynesian women were seen as practising
prostitution and their degradation inevitably followed. Not that the seamen
were bothered by any such morals of consideration. Desertion was common in
the South Seas where, because of the sunny climate, the means of subsistence
was readily procured and sensual appetites readily gratified.
The Eliza of Providence, Rhode Island, was in Fiji
for Sandalwood until she was wrecked. Among the wreckage washed up was the
survivor named Charles Savage, who, ensured his survival by trading salvaged
fire arms for his life. Passed from hand to hand by a succession of curious
natives, Savage came to the attention of Naulivou, Ratu Mbau, and as the chief's
military advisor, Savage set himself up in style. He taught the warriors how
to shoot, surrounded himself with nubile women, and turned the Mbauans into
a formidable fighting force. For five years, they were able to wreck havoc
until a raiding party led by Savage was ambushed; the white commander was
killed and served up as "long pig".
Although guns soon became general on the Fijian islands, Mbau
never lost the supremacy given to it by Savage and this supremacy was retained
by Naulivou's nephew, Cakobau.
These opportunities for new wealth and power, symbolized by
the acquisition of muskets, intensified political rivalries and hastened the
rise of the confederation of Bau, led first by Naulivou, then by his nephew
Cakobau. Bau is a tiny island off the southeast coast of Viti Levu, but by
the 1850s it dominated western Fiji. Cakobau's main rival was the Tongan chief,
Ma'afu, who led an army of Christian Tongans and their allies from eastern
Fiji.
Fijians first impressed themselves on European consciousness through the writings of members of the expeditions of Cook who met them in Tonga. They were described as formidable warriors and ferocious cannibals, builders of the finest vessels in the Pacific, but not great sailors.
Lloyds Weekly Newspaper
December 19, 1858, London, United Kingdom
SCRAP-BOOK COLUMN.
FIJIAN FALSEHOOD AND DECEIT .--The Fijian is a great adept in acting as well as telling an untruth. The expectation of an order to set about some difficult job often makes a man wear his arm in a sling; another, while seeming to work with fearful exertion is all the time careful not to strain a single muscle; and the appearance of seeking their neighbour's benefit while intent only on their own is shown continually. It has already been seen that the Fijian can be cruelly deceitful. Here is an instance in which foreigners were concerned. Four seaman left Fortuna for Fiji in a canoe less than thirty feet in length. They sighted land after being one night at sea, and, in a few hours, were in communication with the natives of Thrombin. One of the sailors, having formerly lived in the group, knew a little of the language, and went ashore to ask where they were. A native, who had adjusted his mari in the style of a lolu dress, said "This is Somesomo; we are Christians, and I am teacher in this place. This was pleasant news to the inquirer but looking round, he saw the wreck of a boat on the beach, and one one of the natives a pea-jacket which had belonged to a white man who had miserably perished by the hands of these savages. Though his suspicions were thus aroused, the sailor preserved his self-command, and very composedly replied, "This is good; this is the land I seek; I will return and bring my companions on shore." Directly he reached the canoe he announced their danger to his comrades, and the sail was immediately hoisted. A native who had laid hold on the end of the canoe was frightened off, by having a rusty musket presented at him. Those on shore, seeing their prey likely to escape, gave a loud shout, when many more rushed out from their ambush, and a shower of bullets followed the canoe. Several passed through the sail, but as the savages fired high, the little party escaped uninjured, and one of then afterwards related circumstances to me. — Fiji and the Fijians
By the 1860s Fiji was attracting European settlers intent on establishing plantations to capitalize on a boom in cotton prices caused by the American Civil War. The consequent disputes over land and political power within and between European and Fijian communities, and problems with labour introduced from other Pacific islands, contributed to violent confrontations and exacerbated the implicit instability of Fijian society and ensured that no Fijian chief could impose his rule on the whole group. European attempts at government were doomed by the greed and factionalism of their members and by the interference of European governments and consuls. Imperial intervention thus became inevitable.
On Oct. 10, 1874, after negotiations had led to an offer of unconditional cession, Fiji became a British crown colony. The policies of the first governor, Sir Arthur Gordon, were decisive in shaping the history of Fiji. Gordon saw himself as the protector of the Fijian people and thus initiated policies that limited their involvement in commercial and political developments. Sales of Fijian land were banned; the Fijians were taxed in agricultural produce, not cash; and they were governed through a system of indirect rule based on the traditional political structure. In order to maintain these policies yet encourage the economic development of the new colony, Gordon promoted the introduction of indentured Indian labourers and investment by the Colonial Sugar Refining Company to establish sugar plantations and processing mills. Indian migrants were encouraged to become permanent settlers at the conclusion of their contracts, even though little land was available for sale and the migrants' political rights were circumscribed. After the termination of the indenture system in 1920, Indian agitation over political and economic grievances caused strikes and continual discontent and challenged the commercial and political domination of the small European community in the islands.
June 23, 1888, American Settler
London, United Kingdom
. . . As far as commercial considerations go, the Fiji Islands have proved much more valuable than New Caledonia and the Loyalists together, though their total foreign trade has fallen recently from £800,000 to £500,000. The value of the group as a naval station is well known, and their importance cannot but be enhanced by the opening of the Panama Canal. Unfortunately the natives, now mostly Christians, seem to be fast dying out, and of the 124,000 inhabitants some 10,000 are immigrant coolie and Polynesian labourers. More than half-way from Fiji to New Zealand we come upon the Kermadeo Islands, recently annexed to keep them out of hands of the foreigner; they are really outposts of New Zealand. They cover about 20 square miles of land, and were, when visited last year, inhabited by a Mr. Bell and his family, from Samoa, who grow European vegetables as well as other crops. The islands seem to have no harbour of any value. Another New Zealand outpost is Chatham Island almost directly south of the Kermadecs and useful as a depot for provisions, These and the other small Islands to the south-east and south of New Zealand are all, of course attached to that colony. The only other Islands in the Pacific to which Boston can lay claim are these which it was announced the other day we had just annexed—Caroline, Starbuck, Maiden, Fanning, and Penryn Islands, which have been in the Colonial Office List for years : Fanning was annexed by England in 1861, and is a really useful possession. It is only 30 miles in circumference; fruitful, has good water supplies; while from the ethnological point of view it is of great interest. Fanning Island lies about 5 deg. north of the equator, almost directly south from the Hawaiian Islands. . .
