An account of Elau, a Malayan Papuan child, native of the island of Erromanga, one of the New Hebrides group, southern Pacific Ocean / by George Bennett.

  • Bennett, George, 1804-1893.
Date:
[1883?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An account of Elau, a Malayan Papuan child, native of the island of Erromanga, one of the New Hebrides group, southern Pacific Ocean / by George Bennett. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    “ Elau, like many whom I know, was exceedingly fond of gay colours. A necklace was t,o her a source of delight - this was natural, as when Mr. Bennett first saw her she had a native necklace of shells around her neck. She had also no mean idea of her personal charms, and no greater affront could be offered than to tell her she was ugly, or to say she was a black child. She had a very correct recollection of any circumstances connected with her native country, and used to say, ‘Plenty fowls, plenty fish, plenty eggs, Erromanga. No put egg in water, make boil, in Erromanga ; not got pot, no got kettle, but put egg on fire, make burn egg. Plenty rat, plenty pig, Erromanga ; no got dog, no cat, no horse, in Erromanga.” “When assuring any one that she would rise early in the morning, she expressed herself in a peculiar manner,—‘ Me wake my eyes and get up early.' And what makes your skin such a different colour from mine, Elau 1 asked the servant one day when washing her. ‘ My mother one very dirty woman; she no wash me,’ was the reply. As for her colour, it received always from herself the appellation of brown—black was sure to offend, and copper-coloured was equally insulting. When she was asked, ‘ Of what colour are you, Elau 1 ’ ‘I am a brown girl,’ was the invariable answer. Elaa related to the servant, on seeing her engaged in cooking in the kitchen, that ‘ They no cook fish at Erromanga like you—make wrap in leaf, father dig pit, having made fire there, put fish in, and cover over with earth ; when done, take out and make eat.’ Thus desci'ibing the mode of cooking as adopted at Erromanga, and indeed the whole of the Poly- nesian Islands, and it shows that she had more vivid recollections of her native country than it was at first supposed she could retain, having been not more than six years old when she was taken away. Elau was listening attentively one evening to a lady who was singing; when the song was concluded she requested the lady to sing it again, ‘ because ’ she said, ‘ if you will; I will go and fetch up Beater (her favorite deg) and puss to hear you.” The lady smiled and the company tittered ; this, she thought, proceeded from the proposal of having the dog and puss in the drawing-room, where, she well knew, they were never permitted to intrude ; but as they were her favorites, she desired that they, as well as herself, should enjoy the song—so, on the company laughing at the request, she immediately rejoined ‘ but after they have heard the singing of lady, they shall go downstairs again.’ She never x-ecommended anyone to visit Erromanga \ and from the remarks upon the land of her birth, she did not appear to evince any partiality towards it or any desire to revisit her countrymen. When inquiry was made, and a wish expressed by anyone to visit her island, she always informed them that ‘ they very bad black people at Erromanga, make kill and eat you; no such good people there as in this country ; there people make tight and kill; they all very bad black people.” “ When she first landed in England, all strings and ribands w ere termed rope-yarns ; and it was very ludicrous to hear her say ‘ the rope-yarn of my shoe untied ;’ * only see what pretty rope-yarns I got on my bonnet!’ When Mr. Bennett visited Plymouth (where she then resided) in March, 1832, he found her much improved and a favorite