1846
TYPEE
by Herman Melville
PREFACE
PREFACE
MORE than three years have elapsed since the occurrence of the
events recorded in this volume. The interval, with the exception of
the last few months, has been chiefly spent by the author tossing
about on the wide ocean. Sailors are the only class of men who
now-a-days see anything like stirring adventure; and many things which
to fire-side people appear strange and romantic, to them seem as
commonplace as a jacket out at elbows. Yet, notwithstanding the
familiarity of sailors with all sorts of curious adventure, the
incidents recorded in the following pages have often served, when
"spun as a yarn," not only to relieve the weariness of many a
night-watch at sea, but to excite the warmest sympathies of the
author's shipmates. He has been, therefore, led to think that his
story could scarcely fail to interest those who are less familiar than
the sailor with a life of adventure.
In his account of the singular and interesting people among whom
he was thrown, it will be observed that he chiefly treats of their
more obvious peculiarities; and, in describing their customs, refrains
in most cases from entering into explanations concerning their
origin and purposes. As writers of travels among barbarous communities
are generally very diffuse on these subjects, he deems it right to
advert to what may be considered a culpable omission. No one can be
more sensible than the author of his deficiencies in this and many
other respects; but when the very peculiar circumstances in which he
was placed are understood, he feels assured that all these omissions
will be excused.
In very many published narratives no little degree of attention is
bestowed upon dates; but as the author lost all knowledge of the
days of the week, during the occurrence of the scenes herein
related, he hopes that the reader will charitably pass over his
shortcomings in this particular.
In the Polynesian words used in this volume- except in those cases
where the spelling has been previously determined by others- that form
of orthography has been employed which might be supposed most easily
to convey their sound to a stranger. In several works descriptive of
the islands in the Pacific, many of the most beautiful combinations of
vocal sounds have been altogether lost to the ear of the reader by
an over-attention to the ordinary rules of spelling.
There are some things related in the narrative which will be
sure to appear strange, or perhaps entirely incomprehensible, to the
reader; but they cannot appear more so to him than they did to the
author at the time. He has stated such matters just as they
occurred, and leaves every one to form his own opinion concerning
them, trusting that his anxious desire to speak the unvarnished
truth will gain for him the confidence of his readers.
1846.
CHAPTER I
A LAND-SICK SHIP
SIX months at sea! Yes, reader, as I live, six months out of sight
of land; cruising after the sperm whale beneath the scorching sun of
the Line, and tossed on the billows of the wide-rolling Pacific- the
sky above, the sea around, and nothing else! Weeks and weeks ago our
fresh provisions were all exhausted. There is not a sweet potato left;
not a sweet potato left; not a single yam. Those glorious bunches of
bananas which once decorated our stern and quarter-deck, have, alas,
disappeared! and the delicious oranges which hung suspended from our
tops and stays- they, too, are gone! Yes, they are all departed, and
there is nothing left us but salt-horse and sea-biscuit.
Oh! for a refreshing glimpse of one blade of grass- for a snuff at
the fragrance of a handful of the loamy earth! Is there nothing
fresh around us? Is there no green thing to be seen? Yes, the inside
of our bulwarks is painted green; but what a vile and sickly hue it
is, as if nothing bearing even the semblance of verdure could flourish
this weary way from land. Even the bark that once clung to the wood we
use for fuel has been gnawed off and devoured by the captain's pig;
and so long ago, too, that the pig himself has in turn been devoured.
There is but one solitary tenant in the chicken-coop, once a gay
and dapper young cock, bearing him so bravely among the coy hens.
But look at him now; there he stands, moping all the day long on
that everlasting one leg of his. He turns with disgust from the mouldy
corn before him, and the brackish water in his little trough. He
mourns no doubt his lost companions, literally snatched from him one
by one, and never seen again. But his days of mourning will be few;
for Mungo, our black cook, told me yesterday that the word had at last
gone forth, and poor Pedro's fate was sealed. His attenuated body will
be laid out upon the captain's table next Sunday, and long before
night will be buried, with all the usual ceremonies, beneath that
worthy individual's vest. Who would believe that there could be any
one so cruel as to long for the decapitation of the luckless Pedro;
yet the sailors pray every minute, selfish fellows, that the miserable
fowl may be brought to his end. They say the captain will never
point the ship for the land so long as he has in anticipation a mess
of fresh meat. This unhappy bird can alone furnish it; and when he
is once devoured, the Peter; captain will come to his senses. I wish
thee no harm, Peter; but as thou art doomed, sooner or later, to
meet the fate of all thy race; and if putting a period to thy
existence is to be the signal for our deliverance, why- truth to
speak- I wish thy throat cut this very moment; for, oh! how I wish
to see the living earth again! The old ship herself longs to look
out upon the land from her hawseholes once more; and Jack Lewis said
right the other day when the captain found fault with his steering.
"Why, d'ye see, Captain Vangs," says bold Jack, "I'm as good a
helmsman as ever put hand to spoke; but none of us can steer the old
lady now. We can't keep her full and bye, sir: watch her ever so
close, she will fall off; and then, sir, when I put the helm down so
gently, and try like to coax her to the work, she won't take it
kindly, but will fall round off again; and it's all because she
knows the land is under the lee, sir, and she won't go any more to
windward." Ay, and why should she, Jack? didn't every one of her stout
timbers grow on shore, and hasn't she sensibilities as well as we?
Poor old ship! Her very looks denote her desires: how deplorable
she appears! The paint on her sides, burnt up by the scorching sun, is
puffed out and cracked. See the weeds she trails along with her, and
what an unsightly bunch of these horrid barnacles has formed about her
stern-piece; and every time she shows her copper torn, away or hanging
in jagged strips.
Poor old ship! I say again: for six months she has been rolling
and pitching about, never for one moment at rest. But courage, old
lass, I hope to see thee soon within a biscuit's toss of the merry
land, riding snugly at anchor in some green cove, and sheltered from
the boisterous winds.
"Hurrah, my lads! It's a settled thing; next week we shape our
course to the Marquesas!" The Marquesas! What strange visions of
outlandish things does the very name spirit up! Lovely houris-
cannibal banquets- groves of cocoa-nuts- coral reefs- tattooed chiefs-
and bamboo temples; sunny valleys planted with bread-fruit trees-
carved canoes dancing on the flashing blue waters- savage woodlands
guarded by horrible idols- heathenish rites and human sacrifices.
Such were the strangely jumbled anticipations that haunted me
during our passage from the cruising ground. I felt an irresistible
curiosity to see those islands which the olden voyagers had so
glowingly described.
The group for which we were now steering (although among the
earliest of European discoveries in the South Seas, having been
first visited in the year 1595) still continues to be tenanted by
beings as strange and barbarous as ever. The missionaries, sent on a
heavenly errand, had sailed by their lovely shores, and had
abandoned them to their idols of wood and stone. How interesting the
circumstances under which they were discovered! In the watery path
of Mendanna, cruising in quest of some region of gold, these isles had
sprung up like a scene of enchantment, and for a moment the Spaniard
believed his bright dream was realized. In honour of the Marquess de
Mendoza, then viceroy of Peru- under whose auspices the navigator
sailed- he bestowed upon them the name which denoted the rank of his
patron, and gave to the world, on his return, a vague and
magnificent account of their beauty. But these islands, undisturbed
for years, relapsed into their previous obscurity; and it is only
recently that anything has been known concerning them. Once in the
course of a half century, to be sure, some adventurous rover would
break in upon their peaceful repose, and, astonished at the unusual
scene, would be almost tempted to claim the merit of a new discovery.
Of this interesting group, but little account has ever been given,
if we except the slight mention made of them in the sketches of
South Sea voyages. Cook, in his repeated circumnavigations of the
globe, barely touched at their shores; and all that we know about them
is from a few general narratives.
Within the last few years, American and English vessels engaged in
the extensive whale fisheries of the Pacific have occasionally, when
short of provisions, put into the commodious harbour which there is in
one of the islands; but a fear of the natives, founded on the
recollection of the dreadful fate which many white men have received
at their hands, has deterred their crews from intermixing with the
population sufficiently to gain any insight into their peculiar
customs and manners. Indeed, there is no duster of islands in the
Pacific that has been any length of time discovered, of which so
little has hitherto been known as the Marquesas, and it is a
pleasing reflection that this narrative of mine will do something
towards withdrawing the veil from regions so romantic and beautiful.
CHAPTER II
THE BAY OF NAKUHEVA
I CAN never forget the eighteen or twenty days during which the
light trade-winds were silently sweeping us towards the islands. In
pursuit of the sperm whale, we had been cruising on the Line some
twenty degrees to the westward of the Gallipagos; and all that we
had to do, when our course was determined on, was to square in the
yards and keep the vessel before the breeze, and then the good ship
and the steady gale did the rest between them. The man at the wheel
never vexed the old lady with any superfluous steering, but
comfortably adjusting his limbs at the tiller, would doze away by
the hour. True to her work, the Dolly headed to her course, and like
one of those characters who always do best when let alone, she
jogged on her way like a veteran old sea-pacer as she was.
What a delightful, lazy, languid time we had whilst we were thus
gliding along! There was nothing to be done; a circumstance that
happily suited our disinclination to do anything. We abandoned the
fore-peak altogether, and spreading an awning over the forecastle,
slept, ate, and lounged under it the live-long day. Every one seemed
to be under the influence of some narcotic. Even the officers aft,
whose duty required them never to be seated while keeping a deck
watch, vainly endeavoured to keep on their pins; and were obliged
invariably to compromise the matter by leaning up against the
bulwarks, and gazing abstractedly over the side. Reading was out of
the question; take a book in your hand, and you were asleep in an
instant.
Although I could not avoid yielding in a great measure to the
general languor, still at times I contrived to shake off the spell,
and to appreciate the beauty of the scene around me. The sky presented
a clear expanse of the most delicate blue, except along the skirts
of the horizon, where you might see a thin drapery of pale clouds
which never varied their form or colour. The long, measured,
dirge-like swell of the Pacific came rolling along, with its surface
broken by little tiny waves, sparkling in the sunshine. Every now
and then a shoal of flying fish, scared from the water under the bows,
would leap into the air, and fall the next moment like a shower of
silver into the sea. Then you would see the superb albicore, with
his glittering sides, sailing aloft, and after describing an arc in
his descent, disappear on the surface of the water. Far off, the lofty
jet of the whale might be seen, and nearer at hand the prowling shark,
that villanous footpad of the seas, would come skulking along, and, at
a wary distance, regard us with an evil eye. At times, some
shapeless monster of the deep, floating on the surface, would, as we
approached, sink slowly into the blue waters, and fade away from the
sight. But the most impressive feature of the scene was the almost
unbroken silence that reigned over sky and water. Scarcely a sound
could be heard but the occasional breathing of the grampus, and the
rippling at the cut-water.
As we drew nearer the land, I hailed with delight the appearance
of innumerable sea-fowl. Screaming and whirling in spiral tracks, they
would accompany the vessel, and at times alight on our yards and
stays. That piratical-looking fellow, appropriately named the
man-of-war's-hawk, with his blood-red bill and raven plumage, would
come sweeping round us in gradually diminishing circles, till you
could distinctly mark the strange flashings of his eye; and then, as
if satisfied with his observation, would sail up into the air and
disappear from the view. Soon, other evidences of our vicinity to
the land were apparent, and it was not long before the glad
announcement of its being in sight was heard from aloft,- given with
that peculiar prolongation of sound that a sailor loves- "Land ho!"
The captain, darting on deck from the cabin, bawled lustily for
his spy-glass; the mate in still louder accents hailed the mast-head
with a tremendous "Where-away?" The black cook thrust his woolly
head from the galley, and Boatswain, the dog, leaped up between the
knightheads, and barked most furiously. Land ho! Ay, there it was. A
hardly perceptible blue irregular outline, indicating the bold contour
of the lofty heights of Nukuheva.
This island, although generally called one of the Marquesas, is by
some navigators considered as forming one of a distinct cluster,
comprising the islands of Roohka, Ropo, and Nukuheva; upon which three
the appellation of the Washington Group has been bestowed. They form a
triangle, and lie within the parallels of 8 deg. 38' and 9 deg. 32'
south latitude, and 139 deg. 20' and 140 deg. 10' west longitude, from
Greenwich. With how little propriety they are to be regarded as
forming a separate group will be at once apparent, when it is
considered that they lie in the immediate vicinity of the other
islands, that is to say, less than a degree to the north-west of them;
that their inhabitants speak the Marquesan dialect, and that their
laws, religion, and general customs are identical. The only reason why
they were ever thus arbitrarily distinguished, may be attributed to
the singular fact, that their existence was altogether unknown to
the world until the year 1791, when they were discovered by Captain
Ingraham, of Boston, Massachusetts, nearly two centuries after the
discovery of the adjacent islands by the agent of the Spanish Viceroy.
Notwithstanding this, I shall follow the example of most voyagers, and
treat of them as forming part and parcel of the Marquesas.
Nukuheva is the most important of these islands, being the only
one at which ships are much in the habit of touching, and is
celebrated as being the place where the adventurous Captain Porter
refitted his ships during the late war between England and the
United States, and whence he sallied out upon the large whaling
fleet then sailing under the enemy's flag in the surrounding seas.
This island is about twenty miles in length, and nearly as many in
breadth. It has three good harbours on its coast, the largest and best
of which is called by the people living in its vicinity, "Tyohee," and
by Captain Porter was denominated Massachusetts Bay. Among the adverse
tribes dwelling about the shores of the other bays, and by all
voyagers, it is generally known by the name bestowed upon the island
itself- Nukuheva. Its inhabitants have become somewhat corrupted,
owing to their recent commerce with Europeans; but so far as regards
their peculiar customs, and general mode of life, they retain their
original primitive character, remaining very nearly in the same
state of nature in which they were first beheld by white men. The
hostile clans, residing in the more remote sections of the island, and
very seldom holding any communication with foreigners, are in every
respect unchanged from their earliest known condition.
In the bay of Nukuheva was the anchorage we desired to reach. We
had perceived the loom of the mountains about sunset; so that, after
running all night with a very light breeze, we found ourselves close
in with the island the next morning; but as the bay we sought lay on
its farther side, we were obliged to sail some distance along the
shore, catching, as we proceeded, short glimpses of blooming
valleys, deep glens, waterfalls, and waving groves, hidden here and
there by projecting and rocky headlands, every moment opening to the
view some new and startling scene of beauty.
Those who for the first time visit the South Seas, generally are
surprised at the appearance of the islands when beheld from the sea.
From the vague accounts we sometimes have of their beauty, many people
are apt to picture to themselves enamelled and softly swelling plains,
shaded over with delicious groves, and watered by purling brooks,
and the entire country but little elevated above the surrounding
ocean. The reality is very different; bold rock-bound coasts, with the
surf beating high against the lofty cliffs, and broken here and
there into deep inlets, which open to the view thickly-wooded valleys,
separated by the spurs of mountains clothed with tufted grass, and
sweeping down towards the sea from an elevated and furrowed
interior, form the principal features of these islands.
Towards noon we drew abreast the entrance to the harbour, and at
last we slowly swept by the intervening promontory, and entered the
bay of Nukuheva. No description can do justice to its beauty; but that
beauty was lost to me then, and I saw nothing but the tri-coloured
flag of France, trailing over the stern of six vessels, whose black
hulls, and bristling broadsides, proclaimed their warlike character.
There they were, floating in that lovely bay, the green eminences of
the shore looking down so tranquilly upon them, as if rebuking the
sternness of their aspect. To my eye, nothing could be more out of
keeping than the presence of these vessels; but we soon learnt what
brought them there. The whole group of islands had just been taken
possession of by Rear-Admiral Du Petit-Thouars, in the name of the
invincible French nation.
This item of information was imparted to us by a most
extraordinary individual, a genuine South Sea vagabond, who came
alongside of us in a whale-boat as soon as we entered the bay, and, by
the aid of some benevolent persons at the gangway, was assisted on
board, for our visitor was in that interesting stage of intoxication
when a man is amiable and helpless. Although he was utterly unable
to stand erect, or to navigate his body across the deck, he still
magnanimously proffered his services to pilot the ship to a good and
secure anchorage. Our captain, however, rather distrusted his
ability in this respect, and refused to recognise his claim to the
character he assumed; but our gentleman was determined to play his
part, for, by dint of much scrambling, he succeeded in getting into
the weather-quarter boat, where he steadied himself by holding on to a
shroud, and then commenced issuing his commands with amazing
volubility and very peculiar gestures. Of course, no one obeyed his
orders; but as it was impossible to quiet him, we swept by the ships
of the squadron with this strange fellow performing his antics in full
view of all the French officers.
We afterwards learned that our eccentric friend had been a
lieutenant in the English navy, but having disgraced his flag by
some criminal conduct in one of the principal ports on the main, he
had deserted his ship, and spent many years wandering among the
islands of the Pacific, until accidentally being at Nukuheva when
the French took possession of the place, he had been appointed pilot
of the harbour by the newly constituted authorities.
As we slowly advanced up the bay, numerous canoes pushed off
from the surrounding shores, and we were soon in the midst of quite
a flotilla of them, their savage occupants struggling to get aboard of
us, and jostling one another in their ineffectual attempts.
Occasionally the projecting out-riggers of their slight shallops,
running foul of one another, would become entangled beneath the water,
threatening to capsize the canoes, when a scene of confusion would
ensue that baffles description. Such strange outcries and passionate
gesticulations I never certainly heard or saw before. You would have
thought the islanders were on the point of flying at one another's
throats, whereas they were only amicably engaged in disentangling
their boats.
Scattered here and there among the canoes might be seen numbers of
cocoa-nuts floating closely together in circular groups, and bobbing
up and down with every wave. By some inexplicable means these
cocoa-nuts were all steadily approaching towards the ship. As I leaned
curiously over die side, endeavouring to solve their mysterious
movements, one mass, far in advance of the rest, attracted my
attention. In its centre was something I could take for nothing else
than a cocoa-nut, but which I certainly considered one of the most
extraordinary specimens of the fruit I had ever seen. It kept twirling
and dancing about among the rest in the most singular manner: and as
it drew nearer, I thought it bore a remarkable resemblance to the
brown shaven skull of one of the savages. Presently it betrayed a pair
of eyes, and soon I became aware that what I had supposed to have been
one of the fruit was nothing else than the head of an islander, who
had adopted this singular method of bringing his produce to market.
The cocoa-nuts were all attached to one another by strips of the husk,
partly torn from the shell, and rudely fastened together. Their
proprietor, inserting his head into the midst of them, impelled his
necklace of cocoa-nuts through the water by striking out beneath the
surface with his feet.
I was somewhat astonished to perceive that among the number of
natives that surrounded us, not a single female was to be seen. At
that time I was ignorant of the fact that by the operation of the
"taboo," the use of canoes in all parts of the island is rigorously
prohibited to the entire sex, for whom it is death even to be seen
entering one when hauled on shore; consequently, whenever a
Marquesan lady voyages by water, she puts in requisition the paddles
of her own fair body.
We had approached within a mile and a half perhaps of the foot
of the bay, when some of the islanders, who by this time had managed
to scramble aboard of us at the risk of swamping their canoes,
directed our attention to a singular commotion in the water ahead of
the vessel. At first I imagined it to be produced by a shoal of fish
sporting on the surface, but our savage friends assured us that it was
caused by a shoal of "whinhenies" (young girls), who in this manner
were coming off from the shore to welcome us. As they drew nearer, and
I watched the rising and sinking of their forms, and beheld the
uplifted right arm bearing above the water the girdle of tappa, and
their long dark confiding, they are easily led into every vice, and
humanity weeps over the ruin thus remorselessly inflicted upon them by
their European civilizers. Thrice happy are they who, inhabiting
some yet undiscovered island in the midst of the ocean, have never
been brought into contaminating contact with the white man.
CHAPTER III
RESOLVE TO ESCAPE
IT was in the summer of 1842, that we arrived at the islands.
Our ship had not been many days in the harbour of Nukuheva before I
came to the determination of leaving her. That my reasons for
resolving to take this step were numerous and weighty, may be inferred
from the fact that I chose rather to risk my fortunes among the
savages of the island than to endure another voyage on board the
Dolly. To use the concise, point-blank phrase of the sailors, I had
made up my mind to "run away." Now, as a meaning is generally attached
to these two words no way flattering to the individual to whom they
are applied, it behoves me, for the sake of my own character, to offer
some explanation of my conduct.
When I entered on board the Dolly, I signed, as a matter of
course, the ship's articles, thereby voluntarily engaging and
legally binding myself to serve in a certain capacity for the period
of the voyage; and, special considerations apart, I was of course
bound to fulfil the agreement. But in all contracts, if one party fail
to perform his share of the compact, is not the other virtually
absolved from his liability? Who is there who will not answer in the
affirmative?
Having settled the principle, then, let me apply it to the
particular case in question. In numberless instances had not only
the implied but the specified conditions of the articles been violated
on the part of the ship in which I served. The usage on board of her
was tyrannical; the sick had been inhumanly neglected; the
provisions had been doled out in scanty allowance; and her cruises
were unreasonably protracted. The captain was the author of these
abuses; it was in vain to think that he would either remedy them, or
alter his conduct, which was arbitrary and violent in the extreme. His
prompt reply to all complaints and remonstrances was the- butt-end
of a hand-spike, so convincingly administered as effectually to
silence the aggrieved party.
To whom could we apply for redress? We had left both law and
equity on the other side of the Cape; and unfortunately, with a very
few exceptions, our crew was composed of a parcel of dastardly and
mean-spirited wretches, divided among themselves, and only united in
enduring without resistance the unmitigated tyranny of the captain. It
would have been mere madness for any two or three of the number,
unassisted by the rest, to attempt making a stand against his ill
usage. They would only have called down upon themselves the particular
vengeance of this "Lord of the Plank," and subjected their shipmates
to additional hardships.
But, after all, these things could have been endured awhile, had
we entertained the hope of being speedily delivered from them by the
due completion of the term of our servitude. But what a dismal
prospect awaited us in this quarter! The longevity of Cape Horn
whaling voyages is proverbial, frequently extending over a period of
four or five years.
Some long-haired, bare-necked youths, who, forced by the united
influences of a roving spirit and hard times, embark at Nantucket
for a pleasure excursion to the Pacific, and whose anxious mothers
provide them with bottled milk for the occasion, oftentimes return
very respectable middleaged gentlemen.
The very preparations made for one of these expeditions are enough
to frighten one. As the vessel carries out no cargo, her hold is
filled with provisions for her own consumption. The owners, who
officiate as caterers for the voyage, supply the larder with an
abundance of dainties. Delicate morsels of beef and pork, cut on
scientific principles from every part of the animal, and of all
conceivable shapes and sizes, are carefully packed in salt, and stored
away in barrels; affording a never-ending variety in their different
degrees of toughness, and in the peculiarities of their saline
properties. Choice old water too, decanted into stout six-barrel
casks, and two pints of which is allowed every day to each soul on
board; together with ample store of sea-bread, previously reduced to a
state of petrifaction, with a view to preserve it either from decay or
consumption in the ordinary mode, are likewise provided for the
nourishment and gastronomic enjoyment of the crew.
But not to speak of the quality of these articles of sailors'
fare, the abundance in which they are put on board a whaling vessel is
almost incredible. Oftentimes, when we had occasion to break out in
the hold, and I beheld the successive tiers of casks and barrels,
whose contents were all destined to be consumed in due course by the
ship's company, my heart has sunk within me.
Although, as a general case, a ship unlucky in falling in with
whales continues to cruise after them until she has barely
sufficient provisions remaining to take her home, turning round then
quietly and making the best of her way to her friends, yet there are
instances when even this natural obstacle to the further prosecution
of the voyage is overcome by headstrong captains, who, bartering the
fruits of their hard-earned toils for a new supply of provisions in
some of the ports of Chili or Peru, begin the voyage afresh with
unabated zeal and perseverance. It is in vain that the owners write
urgent letters to him to sail for home, and for their sake to bring
back the ship, since it appears he can put nothing in her. Not he.
He has registered a vow: he will fill his vessel with good sperm
oil, or failing to do so, never again strike Yankee soundings.
I heard of one whaler, which after many years' absence was given
up for lost. The last that had been heard of her was a shadowy
report of her having touched at some of those unstable islands in
the far Pacific, whose eccentric wanderings are carefully noted in
each new edition of the South Sea charts. After a long interval,
however, the Perseverance- for that was her name- was spoken somewhere
in the ends of the earth, cruising along as leisurely as ever, her
sails all bepatched and bequilted with rope-yarns, her spars fished
with old pipe staves, and her rigging knotted and spliced in every
possible direction. Her crew was composed of some twenty venerable
Greenwich-pensioner-looking old salts, who just managed to hobble
about deck. The ends of all the running ropes, with the exception of
the signal halyards and poop-down-haul, were rove through
snatch-blocks, and led to the capstan or windlass, so that not a
yard was braced or a sail set without the assistance of machinery.
Her hull was encrusted with barnacles, which completely encased
her. Three pet sharks followed in her wake, and every day came
alongside to regale themselves from the contents of the cook's bucket,
which were pitched over to them. A vast shoal of bonetas and albicores
always kept her company.
Such was the account I heard of this vessel, and the remembrance
of it always haunted me; what eventually became of her I never
learned; at any rate she never reached home, and I suppose she is
still regularly tacking twice in the twenty-four hours somewhere off
Buggerry Island, or the Devil's-Tail Peak.
Having said thus much touching the usual length of these
voyages, when I inform the reader that ours had as it were just
commenced, we being only fifteen months out, and even at that time
hailed as a late arrival, and boarded for news, he will readily
perceive that there was little to encourage one in looking forward
to the future, especially as I had always had a presentiment that we
should make an unfortunate voyage, and our experience so far had
justified the expectation.
I may here state, and on my faith as an honest man, that some time
after arriving home from my adventures, I learned that this vessel was
still in the Pacific, and that she had met with very poor success in
the fishery. Very many of her crew, also, left her; and her voyage
lasted about five years.
But to return to my narrative. Placed in these circumstances,
then, with no prospect of matters mending if I remained aboard the
Dolly, I at once made up my mind to leave her; to be sure, it was
rather an inglorious thing to steal away privately from those at whose
hands I had received wrongs and outrages that I could not resent;
but how was such a course to be avoided when it was the only
alternative left me? Having made up my mind, I proceeded to acquire
all the information I could obtain relating to the island and its
inhabitants, with a view of shaping my plans of escape accordingly.
The result of these inquiries I will now state, in order that the
ensuing narrative may be the better understood.
The bay of Nukuheva, in which we were then lying, is an expanse of
water not unlike in figure the space included within the limits of a
horse-shoe. It is, perhaps, nine miles in circumference. You
approach it from the sea by a narrow entrance, flanked on either
side by two small twin islets which soar conically to the height of
some five hundred feet. From these the shore recedes on both hands,
and describes a deep semicircle.
From the verge of the water the land rises uniformly on all sides,
with green and sloping acclivities, until from gently rolling
hillsides and moderate elevations it insensibly swells into lofty
and majestic heights, whose blue outlines, ranged all around, close in
the view. The beautiful aspect of the shore is heightened by deep
and romantic glens, which come down to it at almost equal distances,
all apparently radiating from a common centre, and the upper
extremities of which are lost to the eye beneath the shadow of the
mountains. Down each of these little valleys flows a clear stream,
here and there assuming the form of a slender cascade, then stealing
invisibly along until it bursts upon the sight again in larger and
more noisy waterfalls, and at last demurely wanders along to the sea.
The houses of the natives, constructed of the yellow bamboo,
tastefully twisted together in a kind of wicker-work, and thatched
with the long tapering leaves of the palmetto, are scattered
irregularly along these valleys beneath the shady branches of the
cocoa-nut trees.
Nothing can exceed the imposing scenery of this bay. Viewed from
our ship as she lay at anchor in the middle of the harbour, it
presented the appearance of a vast natural amphitheatre in decay,
and overgrown with vines, the deep glens that furrowed its sides
appearing like enormous fissures caused by the ravages of time. Very
often when lost in admiration at its beauty, I have experienced a pang
of regret that a scene so enchanting should be hidden from the world
in these remote seas, and seldom meet the eyes of devoted lovers of
nature.
Besides this bay the shores of the island are indented by
several other extensive inlets, into which descend broad and verdant
valleys. These are inhabited by as many distinct tribes of savages,
who, although speaking kindred dialects of a common language, and
having the same religion and laws, have from time immemorial waged
hereditary warfare against each other. The intervening mountains,
generally two or three thousand feet above the level of the sea,
geographically define the territories of each of these hostile tribes,
who never cross them, save on some expedition of war or plunder.
Immediately adjacent to Nukuheva, and only separated from it by the
mountains seen from the harbour, lies the lovely valley of Happar,
whose inmates cherish the most friendly relations with the inhabitants
of Nukuheva. On the other side of Happar, and closely adjoining it, is
the magnificent valley of the dreaded Typees, the unappeasable enemies
of both these tribes.
These celebrated warriors appear to inspire the other islanders
with unspeakable terrors. Their very name is a frightful one; for
the word "Typee" in the Marquesan dialect signifies a lover of human
flesh. It is rather singular that the tide should have been bestowed
upon them exclusively, inasmuch as the natives of all this group are
irreclaimable cannibals. The name may, perhaps, have been given to
denote the peculiar ferocity of this clan, and to convey a I it.
special stigma along with it.
These same Typees enjoy a prodigious notoriety all over the
islands. The natives of Nukuheva would frequently recount in pantomime
to our ship's company their terrible feats, and would show the marks
of wounds they had received in desperate encounters with them. When
ashore they would try to frighten us by pointing to one of their own
number, and calling him a Typee, manifesting no little surprise that
we did not take to our heels at so terrible an announcement. It was
quite amusing, too, to see with what earnestness they disclaimed all
cannibal propensities on their own part, while they denounced their
enemies- the Typees- as inveterate gormandizers of human flesh; but
this is a peculiarity to which I shall hereafter have occasion to
allude.
Although I was convinced that the inhabitants of our bay were as
arrant cannibals as any of the other tribes on the island, still I
could not but feel a particular and most unqualified repugnance to the
aforesaid Typees. Even before visiting the Marquesas, I had heard from
men who had touched at the group on former voyages some revolting
stories in connexion with these savages; and fresh in my remembrance
was the adventure of the master of the Katherine, who only a few
months previous, imprudently venturing into this bay in an armed
boat for the purpose of barter, was seized by the natives, carried
back a little distance into their valley, and was only saved from a
cruel death by the intervention of a young girl, who facilitated his
escape by night along the beach to Nukuheva.
I had heard, too, of an English vessel that many years ago,
after a weary cruise, sought to enter the bay of Nukuheva, and
arriving within two or three miles of the land, was met by a large
canoe filled with natives, who offered to lead the way to the place of
their destination. The captain, unacquainted with the localities of
the island, joyfully acceded to the proposition- the canoe paddled
on and the ship followed. She was soon conducted to a beautiful inlet,
and dropped her anchor in its waters beneath the shadows of the
lofty shore. That same night the perfidious Typees, who had thus
inveigled her into their fatal bay, flocked aboard the doomed vessel
by hundreds, and at a given signal murdered every soul on board.
CHAPTER IV
TOBY'S RESOLVE
HAVING fully resolved to leave the vessel clandestinely, and
having acquired all the knowledge concerning the bay that I could
obtain under the circumstances in which I was placed, I now
deliberately turned over in my mind every plan of escape that
suggested itself, being determined to act with all possible prudence
in an attempt where failure would be attended with so many
disagreeable consequences. The idea of being taken and brought back
ignominiously to the ship was so inexpressibly repulsive to me, that I
was determined by no hasty and imprudent measures to render such an
event probable.
I knew that our worthy captain, who felt such a paternal
solicitude for the welfare of his crew, would not willingly consent
that one of his best hands should encounter the perils of a sojourn
among the natives of a barbarous island; and I was certain that in the
event of my disappearance, his fatherly anxiety would prompt him to
offer, by way of a reward, yard upon yard of gaily printed calico
for my apprehension. He might even have appreciated my services at the
value of a musket, in which case I felt perfectly certain that the
whole population of the bay would be immediately upon my track,
incited by the prospect of so magnificent a bounty.
Having ascertained the fact before alluded to, that the islanders,
from motives of precaution, dwelt together in the depths of the
valleys, and avoided wandering about the more elevated portions of the
shore, unless bound on some expedition of war or plunder, I
concluded that if I could effect unperceived a passage to the
mountains, I might easily remain among them, supporting myself by such
fruits as came in my way until the sailing of the ship, an event of
which I could not fall to be immediately apprized, as from my lofty
position I should command a view of the entire harbour.
The idea pleased me greatly. It seemed to combine a great deal
of practicability with no inconsiderable enjoyment in a quiet way; for
how delightful it would be to look down upon the detested old vessel
from the height of some thousand feet, and contrast the verdant
scenery about me with the recollection of her narrow decks and
gloomy forecastle! Why? it was really refreshing even to think of
it; and so I straightway fell to picturing myself seated beneath a
cocoa-nut tree on the brow of the mountain, with a cluster of
plantains within easy reach, criticizing her nautical evolutions as
she was working her way out of the harbour.
To be sure there was one rather unpleasant drawback to these
agreeable anticipations- the possibility of falling in with a foraging
party of these same bloody-minded Typees, whose appetites, edged
perhaps by the air of so elevated a region, might prompt them to
devour one. This, I must confess, was a most disagreeable view of
the matter.
Just to think of a party of these unnatural gourmands taking it
into their heads to make a convivial meal of a poor devil, who would
have no means of escape or defence: however, there was no help for it.
I was willing to encounter some risks in order to accomplish my
object, and counted much upon my ability to elude these prowling
cannibals amongst the many coverts which the mountains afforded.
Besides, the chances were ten to one in my favour that they would none
of them quit their own fastnesses.
I had determined not to communicate my design of withdrawing
from the vessel to any of my shipmates, and least of all to solicit
any one to accompany me in my flight. But it so happened one night,
that being upon deck, revolving I over in my mind various plans of
escape, I perceived one of the ship's company leaning over the
bulwarks, apparently plunged in a profound reverie. He was a young
fellow about my own age, for whom I had all along entertained a
great regard; and Toby, such was the name by which he went among us,
for his real name he would never tell us, was every way worthy of
it. He was active, ready, and obliging, of dauntless courage, and
singularly open and fearless in the expression of his feelings. I
had on more than one occasion got him out of scrapes into which this
had led him; and I know not whether it was from this cause, or a
certain congeniality of sentiment between us, that he had always shown
a partiality for my society. We had battled out many a long watch
together, beguiling the weary hours with chat, song, and story,
mingled with a good many imprecations upon the hard destiny it
seemed our common fortune to encounter.
Toby, like myself, had evidently moved in a different sphere of
life, and his conversation at times betrayed this, although he was
anxious to conceal it. He was one of that class of rovers you
sometimes meet at sea, who never reveal their origin, never allude
to home, and go rambling over the world as if pursued by some
mysterious fate they cannot possibly elude.
There was much even in the appearance of Toby calculated to draw
me towards him, for while the greater part of the crew were as
coarse in person as in mind, Toby was endowed with a remarkably
prepossessing exterior. Arrayed in his blue frock and duck trousers,
he was as smart a looking sailor as ever stepped upon a deck; he was
singularly small and slightly made, with great flexibility of limb.
His naturally dark complexion had been deepened by exposure to the
tropical sun, and a mass of jetty locks clustered about his temples,
and threw a darker shade into his large black eyes. He was a
strange, wayward being, moody, fitful, and melancholy- at times almost
morose. He had a quick and fiery temper too, which, when thoroughly
roused, transported him into a state bordering on delirium.
It is strange the power that a mind of deep passion has over
feebler natures. I have seen a brawny fellow, with no lack of ordinary
courage, fairly quail before this slender stripling, when in one of
his furious fits. But these paroxysms seldom occurred, and in them
my big-hearted shipmate vented the bile which more calm-tempered
individuals get rid of by a continual pettishness at trivial
annoyances.
No one ever saw Toby laugh- I mean in the hearty abandonment of
broad-mouthed mirth. He did smile sometimes, it is true; and there was
a good deal of dry, sarcastic humour about him, which told the more
from the imperturbable gravity of his tone and manner.
Latterly I had observed that Toby's melancholy had greatly
increased, and I had frequently seen him since our arrival at the
island gazing wistfully upon the shore, when the remainder of the crew
would be rioting below. I was aware that he entertained a cordial
detestation of the ship, and believed that should a fair chance of
escape present itself, he would embrace it willingly. But the
attempt was so perilous in the place where we then lay, that I
supposed myself the only individual on board the ship who was
sufficiently reckless to think of it. In this, however, I was
mistaken.
When I perceived Toby leaning, as I have mentioned, against the
bulwarks and buried in thought, it struck me at once that the
subject of his meditations might be the same as my own. And if it be
so, thought I, is he not the very one of all my shipmates whom I would
choose for the partner of my adventure? and why should I not have some
comrade with me to divide its dangers and alleviate its hardships?
Perhaps I might be obliged to lie concealed among the mountains for
weeks. In such an event what a solace would a companion be!
These thoughts passed rapidly through my mind, and I wondered
why I had not before considered the matter in this light. But it was
not too late. A tap upon the shoulder served to rouse Toby from his
reverie; I found him ripe for the enterprise, and a very few words
sufficed for a mutual understanding between us. In an hour's time we
had arranged all the preliminaries, and decided upon our plan of
action. We then ratified our engagement with an affectionate wedding
of palms, and to elude suspicion repaired each to his hammock, to
spend the last night on board the Dolly.
The next day the starboard watch, to which we both belonged, was
to be sent ashore on liberty; and, availing ourselves of this
opportunity, we determined, as soon after landing as possible, to
separate ourselves from the rest of the men without exciting their
suspicions, and strike back at once for the mountains. Seen from the
ship, the summits appeared inaccessible, but here and there sloping
spurs extended from them almost into the sea, buttressing the lofty
elevations with which they were connected, and forming those radiating
valleys I have before described. One of these ridges, which appeared
more practicable than the rest, we determined to climb, convinced that
it would conduct us to the heights beyond. Accordingly, we carefully
observed its bearings and locality from the ship, so that when
ashore we should run no chance of missing it.
In all this the leading object we had in view was to seclude
ourselves from sight until the departure of the vessel; then to take
our chance as to the reception the Nukuheva natives might give us; and
after remaining upon the island as long as we found our stay
agreeable, to leave it the first favourable opportunity that offered.
CHAPTER V
ESCAPE TO THE MOUNTAINS
EARLY the next morning the starboard watch were mustered upon
the quarter-deck, and our worthy captain, standing in the cabin
gangway, harangued us as follows:-
"Now, men, as we are just off a six months' cruise, and have got
through most all our work in port here, I suppose you want to go
ashore. Well, I mean to give your watch liberty to-day, so you may get
ready as soon as you please, and go; but understand this, I am going
to give you liberty because I suppose you would growl like so many old
quarter gunners I didn't; at the same time, if you'll take my
advice, every mother's son of you will stay aboard, and keep out of
the way of the bloody cannibals altogether. Ten to one, men, if you go
ashore, you will get into some infernal row, and that will be the
end of you; for if these tattooed scoundrels get you a little ways
back into their valleys, they'll nab you- that you may be certain
of. Plenty of white men have gone ashore here and never been seen
any more. There was the old Dido, she put in here about two years ago,
and sent one watch off on liberty; they never were heard of again
for a week- the natives swore they didn't know where they were- and
only three of them ever got back to the ship again, and one with his
face damaged for life, for the cursed heathens tattooed a broad
patch clean across his figure-head. But it will be no use talking to
you, for go you will, that I see plainly; so all I have to say is,
that you need not blame me if the islanders make a meal of you. You
may stand some chance of escaping them though, if you keep close about
the French encampment, and are back to the ship again before sunset.
Keep that much in your mind, if you forget all the rest I've been
saying to you. There, go forward: bear a hand and rig yourselves,
and stand by for a call. At two bells the boat will be manned to
take you off, and the Lord have mercy on you!"
Various were the emotions depicted upon the countenances of the
starboard watch whilst listening to this address; but on its
conclusion there was a general move towards the forecastle, and we
soon were all busily engaged in getting ready for the holiday so
auspiciously announced by the skipper. During these preparations,
his harangue was commented upon in no very measured terms; and one
of the party, after denouncing him as a lying old son of a sea-cook
who begrudged a fellow a few hours' liberty, exclaimed with an oath,
"But you don't bounce me out of my liberty, old chap, for all your
yarns; for I would go ashore if every pebble on the beach was a live
coal, and every stick a gridiron, and the cannibals stood ready to
broil me on landing."
The spirit of this sentiment was responded to by all hands, and we
resolved that in spite of the captain's croakings we would make a
glorious day of it.
But Toby and I had our own game to play, and we availed
ourselves of the confusion which always reigns among a ship's
company preparatory to going ashore, to confer together and complete
our arrangements. As our object was to effect as rapid a flight as
possible to the mountains, we determined not to encumber ourselves
with any superfluous apparel; and accordingly, while the rest were
rigging themselves out with some idea of making a display, we were
content to put on new stout duck trousers, serviceable pumps, and
heavy Havre frocks, which, with a Payta hat, completed our equipment.
When our shipmates wondered at this, Toby exclaimed, in his odd
grave way, that the rest might do as they liked, but that he for one
preserved his go-ashore traps for the Spanish main, where the tie of a
sailor's neckerchief might make some difference; but as for a parcel
of unbreeched heathen, he wouldn't go to the bottom of his chest for
any of them, and was half disposed to appear among them in buff
himself. The men laughed at what they thought was one of his strange
conceits, and so we escaped suspicion.
It may appear singular that we should have been thus on our
guard with our own shipmates; but there were some among us who, had
they possessed the least inkling of our project, would, for a paltry
hope of reward, have immediately communicated it to the captain.
As soon as two bells were struck, the word was passed for the
liberty-men to get into the boat. I lingered behind in the
forecastle a moment, to take a parting glance at its familiar
features, and just as I was about to ascend to the deck, my eye
happened to light on the bread-barge and beef-kid, which contained the
remnants of our last hasty meal. Although I had never before thought
of providing anything in the way of food for our expedition, as I
fully relied upon the fruits of the island to sustain us wherever we
might wander, yet I could not resist the inclination I felt to a
luncheon from the relics before me. Accordingly I took a double
handful of those small, broken, flinty bits of biscuit which generally
go by the name of "midshipmen's nuts," and thrust them into the
bosom of my frock; in which same ample receptacle I had previously
stowed away several pounds of tobacco and a few yards of cotton
cloth,- articles with which I intended to purchase the goodwill of the
natives, as soon as we should appear among them after the departure of
our vessel.
This last addition to my stock caused a considerable
protuberance in front, which I abated in a measure by shaking the bits
of bread around my waist, and distributing the plugs of tobacco
among the folds of the garment.
Hardly had I completed these arrangements when my name was sung
out by a dozen voices, and I sprung upon the deck, where I found all
the party in the boat, and impatient to shove off. I dropped over
the side, and seated myself, with the rest of the watch, in the
stern sheets, while the poor larboarders shipped their oars, and
commenced pulling us ashore.
This happened to be the rainy season at the islands, and the
heavens had nearly the whole morning betokened one of those heavy
showers which, during this period, so frequently occur. The large
drops fell bubbling into the water shortly after our leaving the ship,
and by the time we had effected a landing, it poured down in torrents.
We fled for shelter under cover of an immense canoe-house, which stood
hard by the beach, and waited for the first fury of the storm to pass.
It continued, however, without cessation; and the monotonous
beating of the rain overhead began to exert a drowsy influence upon
the men, who, throwing themselves here and there upon the large
war-canoes, after chatting awhile, all fell asleep.
This was the opportunity we desired, and Toby and I availed
ourselves of it at once, by stealing out of the canoehouse, and
plunging into the depths of an extensive grove that was in its rear.
After ten minutes' rapid progress, we gained an open space, from which
we could just descry the ridge we intended to mount looming dimly
through the mists of the tropical shower, and distant from us as we
estimated, something more than a mile. Our direct course towards it
lay through a rather populous part of the bay; but desirous as we were
of evading the natives, and securing an unmolested retreat to the
mountains, we determined, by taking a circuit through some extensive
thickets, to avoid their vicinity altogether.
The heavy rain that still continued to fall without
intermission, favoured our enterprise, as it drove the islanders
into their houses, and prevented any casual meeting with them. Our
heavy frocks soon became completely saturated with water, and by their
weight, and that of the articles we had concealed beneath them, not
a little impeded our progress. But it was no time to pause, when at
any moment we might be surprised by a body of the savages, and
forced at the very outset to relinquish our undertaking.
Since leaving the canoe-house we had scarcely exchanged a single
syllable with one another, but when we entered a second narrow opening
in the wood, and again caught sight of the ridge before us, I took
Toby by the arm, and pointing along its sloping outline to the lofty
heights of its extremity, said, in a low tone, "Now, Toby, not a word,
nor a glance backward, till we stand on the summit of yonder mountain;
so no more lingering, but let us shove ahead while we can, and in a
few hours' time we may laugh aloud. You are the lightest and the
nimblest, so lead on, and I will follow."
"All right, brother," said Toby, "quick's our play, only let's
keep close together, that's all"; and so saying, with a bound like a
young roe, he cleared a brook which ran across our path, and rushed
forward with a quick step.
When we arrived within a short distance of the ridge, we were
stopped by a mass of tall yellow reeds, growing together as thickly as
they could stand, and as tough and stubborn as so many rods of
steel; and we perceived, to our chagrin, that they extended midway
up the elevation we proposed to ascend.
For a moment we gazed about us in quest of a more practicable
route; it was, however, at once apparent that there was no resource
but to pierce this thicket of canes at all hazards. We now reversed
our order of march, I, being the heaviest, taking the lead, with a
view of breaking a path through the obstruction, while Toby fell
into the rear.
Two or three times I endeavoured to insinuate myself between the
canes, and, by dint of coaxing and bending them, to make some
progress; but a bull-frog might as well have tried to work a passage
through the teeth of a comb, and I gave up the attempt in despair.
Half wild with meeting an obstacle we had so little anticipated, I
threw myself desperately against it, crushing to the ground the
canes with which I came in contact, and, rising to my feet again,
repeated the action with like effect. Twenty minutes of this violent
exercise almost exhausted me, but it carried us some way into the
thicket; when Toby, who had been reaping the benefit of my labours
by following close at my heels, proposed to become pioneer in turn,
and accordingly passed ahead with a view of affording me a respite
from my exertions. As, however, with his slight frame he made but
bad work of it, I was soon obliged to resume my old place again.
On we toiled, the perspiration starting from our bodies in floods,
our limbs torn and lacerated with the splintered fragments of the
broken canes, until we had proceeded perhaps as far as the middle of
the brake, when suddenly it ceased raining, and the atmosphere
around us became close and sultry beyond expression. The elasticity of
the reeds quickly recovering from the temporary pressure of our
bodies, caused them to spring back to their original position, so that
they closed in upon us as we advanced, and prevented the circulation
of the little air which might otherwise have reached us.
Besides this, their great height completely shut us out from the
view of surrounding objects, and we were not certain but that we might
have been going all the time in a wrong direction.
Fatigued with my long-continued efforts, and panting for breath, I
felt myself completely incapacitated for any further exertion. I
rolled up the sleeve of my frock, and squeezed the moisture it
contained into my parched mouth. But the few drops I managed to obtain
gave me little relief, and I sank down for a moment with a sort of
dogged apathy, from which I was aroused by Toby, who had devised a
plan to free us from the net in which we had become entangled.
He was laying about him lustily with his sheath-knife, lopping the
canes right and left, like a reaper, and soon made quite a clearing
around us. This sight reanimated me; and seizing my own knife, I
hacked and hewed away without mercy. But, alas! the farther we
advanced the thicker and taller, and apparently the more interminable,
the reeds became.
I began to think we were fairly snared, and had almost made up
my mind that without a pair of wings we should never be able to escape
from the toils, when all at once I discerned a peep of daylight
through the canes on my right, and, communicating the joyful tidings
to Toby, we both fell to with fresh spirit, and speedily opening a
passage towards it, we found ourselves clear of perplexities, and in
the near vicinity of the ridge.
After resting for a few moments we began the ascent, and after a
little vigorous climbing found ourselves close to its summit. Instead,
however, of walking along its ridge, where we should have been in full
view of the natives in the vales beneath, and at a point where they
could easily intercept us, were they so inclined, we cautiously
advanced on one side, crawling on our hands and knees, and screened
from observation by the grass through which we glided, much in the
fashion of a couple of serpents. After an hour employed in this
unpleasant kind of locomotion, we started to our feet again, and
pursued our way boldly along the crest of the ridge.
This salient spur of the lofty elevations that encompassed the
bay, rose with a sharp angle from the valleys at its base, and
presented, with the exception of a few steep acclivities, the
appearance of a vast inclined plane, sweeping down towards the sea
from the heights in the distance. We had ascended it near the place of
its termination, and at its lowest point, and now saw our route to the
mountains distinctly defined along its narrow crest, which was covered
with a soft carpet of verdure, and was in many parts only a few feet
wide.
Elated with the success which had so far attended our
enterprise, and invigorated by the refreshing atmosphere we now
inhaled, Toby and I, in high spirits, were making our way rapidly
along the ridge, when suddenly from the valleys below, which lay on
either side of us, we heard the distant shouts of the natives, who had
just descried us, and to whom our figures, brought in bold relief
against the sky, were plainly revealed.
Glancing our eyes into these valleys, we perceived their savage
inhabitants hurrying to and fro, seemingly under the influence of some
sudden alarm, and appearing to the eye scarcely bigger than so many
pigmies, while their white thatched dwellings, dwarfed by the
distance, looked like baby-houses. As we looked down upon the
islanders from our lofty elevation, we experienced a sense of
security; feeling confident that, should they undertake a pursuit,
it would, from the start we now had, prove entirely fruitless,
unless they followed us into the mountains, where we knew they cared
not to venture.
However, we thought it as well to make the most of our time; and
accordingly, where the ground would admit of it, we ran swiftly
along the summit of the ridge, until we were brought to a stand by a
steep cliff, which at first seemed to interpose an effectual barrier
to our farther advance. By dint of much hard scrambling, however,
and at some risk to our necks, we at last surmounted it, and continued
our flight with unabated celerity.
We had left the beach early in the morning, and after an
uninterrupted, though at times difficult and dangerous ascent,
during which we had never once turned our faces to the sea, we found
ourselves, about three hours before sunset, standing on the top of
what seemed to be the highest land on the island, an immense
overhanging cliff composed of basaltic rocks, hung round with
parasitical plants. We must have been more than three thousand feet
above the level of the sea, and the scenery viewed from this height
was magnificent.
The lonely bay of Nukuheva, dotted here and there with the black
hulls of the vessels composing the French squadron, lay reposing at
the base of a circular range elevations, whose verdant sides,
perforated with deep glens, or diversified with smiling valleys,
formed altogether the loveliest view I ever beheld, and were I to live
a hundred years, I shall never forget the feeling of admiration
which I then experienced.
CHAPTER VI
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAINS
MY curiosity had been not a little raised with regard to the
description of country we should meet on the other side of the
mountains; and I had supposed, with Toby, that immediately on
gaining the heights we should be enabled to view the large bays of
Happar and Typee reposing at our feet on one side, in the same way
that Nukuheva lay spread out below on the other. But here we were
disappointed. Instead of finding the mountain we had ascended sweeping
down in the opposite direction into broad and capacious valleys, the
land appeared to retain its general elevation, only broken into a
series of ridges and inter-vales, which as far as the eye could
reach stretched away from us, with their precipitous sides covered
with the brightest verdure, and waving here and there with the foliage
of clumps of woodland; among which, however, we perceived none of
those trees upon whose fruit we had relied with such certainty.
This was a most unlooked-for discovery, and one that promised to
defeat our plans altogether, for we could not think of descending
the mountain on the Nukuheva side in quest of food. Should we for this
purpose be induced to retrace our steps, we should run no small chance
of encountering the natives, who in that case, if they did nothing
worse to us, would be certain to convey us back to the ship for the
sake of the reward in calico and trinkets, which we had no doubt our
skipper would hold out to them as an inducement to our capture.
What was to be done? The Dolly would not sail perhaps for ten
days, and how were we to sustain life during this period? I bitterly
repented our improvidence in not providing ourselves, as we easily
might have done, with a supply of biscuit. With a rueful visage I
now bethought me of the scanty handful of bread I had stuffed into the
bosom of my frock, and felt somewhat desirous to ascertain what part
of it had weathered the rather rough usage it had experienced in
ascending the mountain. I accordingly proposed to Toby that we
should enter into a joint examination of the various articles we had
brought from the ship. With this intent we seated ourselves upon the
grass; and a little curious to see with what kind of judgment my
companion had filled his frock- which I remarked seemed about as
well lined as my own- I requested him to commence operations by
spreading out its contents.
Thrusting his hand, then, into the bosom of this capacious
receptacle, he first brought to light about a pound of tobacco,
whose component parts still adhered together, the whole outside
being covered with soft particles of seabread. Wet and dripping, it
had the appearance of having been just recovered from the bottom of
the sea. But I paid slight attention to a substance of so little value
to us in our present situation, as soon as I perceived the indications
it gave of Toby's foresight in laying in a supply of food for the
expedition.
I eagerly inquired what quantity he had brought with him, when,
rummaging once more beneath his garment, he produced a small handful
of something so soft, pulpy, and discoloured, that for a few moments
he was as much puzzled as myself to tell by what possible
instrumentality such a villanous compound had become engendered in his
bosom. I can only describe it as a hash of soaked bread and bits of
tobacco, brought to a doughy consistency by the united agency of
perspiration and rain. But repulsive as it might otherwise have
been, I now regarded it as an invaluable treasure, and proceeded
with great care to transfer this paste-like mass to a large leaf which
I had plucked from a bush beside me. Toby informed me that in the
morning he had placed two whole biscuits in his bosom, with a view
of munching them, should he feel so inclined, during our flight. These
were now reduced to the equivocal substance which I had just placed on
the leaf.
Another dive into the frock brought to view some four or five
yards of calico print, whose tasteful pattern was rather disfigured by
the yellow stains of the tobacco with which it had been brought in
contact. In drawing this calico slowly from his bosom inch by inch,
Toby reminded me of a juggler performing the feat of the endless
ribbon. The next cast was a small one, being a sailor's little
"ditty bag," containing needles, thread, and other sewing utensils;
then came a razor-case, followed by two or three separate plugs of
negro-head, which were fished up from the bottom of the now empty
receptacle. These various matters being inspected, I produced a few
things which I had myself brought.
As might have been anticipated from the state of my companion's
edible supplies, I found my own in a deplorable condition, and
diminished to a quantity that would not have formed half a dozen
mouthfuls for a hungry man who was partial enough to tobacco not to
mind swallowing it. A few morsels of bread, with a fathom or two of
white cotton cloth, and several pounds of choice pigtail, composed the
extent of my possessions.
Our joint stock of miscellaneous articles were now made up into
a compact bundle, which it was agreed we should carry alternately. But
the sorry remains of the biscuit were not to be disposed of so
summarily: the precarious circumstances in which we were placed made
us regard them as something on which very probably depended the fate
of our adventure. After a brief discussion, in which we both of us
expressed our resolution of not descending into the bay until the
ship's departure, I suggested to my companion that little of it as
there was, we should divide the bread into six equal portions, each of
which should be a day's allowance for both of us. This proposition
he assented to; so I took the silk kerchief from my neck, and
cutting it with my knife into half a dozen equal pieces, proceeded
to make an exact division.
At first, Toby, with a degree of fastidiousness that seemed to
me ill-timed, was for picking out the minute particles of tobacco with
which the spongy mass was mixed; but against this proceeding I
protested, as by such an operation we must have greatly diminished its
quantity.
When the division was accomplished, we found that a day's
allowance for the two was not a great deal more than what a
table-spoon might hold. Each separate portion we immediately rolled up
in the bit of silk prepared for it, and joining them all together into
a small package, I committed them, with solemn injunctions of
fidelity, to the custody of Toby. For the remainder of that day we
resolved to fast, as we had been fortified by a breakfast in the
morning; and now starting again to our feet, we looked about us for
a shelter during the night, which, from the appearance of the heavens,
promised to be a dark and tempestuous one.
There was no place near us which would in any way answer our
purpose; so turning our backs upon Nukuheva, we commenced exploring
the unknown regions which lay upon the other side of the mountain.
In this direction, as far as our vision extended, not a sign of
life, nor anything that denoted even the transient residence of man
could be seen. The whole landscape seemed one unbroken solitude, the
interior of the island having apparently been untenanted since the
morning of the creation; and as we advanced through this wilderness,
our voices sounded strangely in our ears, as though human accents
had never before disturbed the fearful silence of the place,
interrupted only by the low murmurings of distant waterfalls.
Our disappointment, however, in not finding the various fruits
with which we had intended to regale ourselves during our stay in
these wilds, was a good deal lessened by the consideration that from
this very circumstance we should be much less exposed to a casual
meeting with the savage tribes about us, who we knew always dwelt
beneath the shadows of those trees which supplied them with food.
We wandered along, casting eager glances into every bush we
passed, until just as we had succeeded in mounting one of the many
ridges that intersected the ground, I saw in the grass before me
something like an indistinctly traced footpath, which appeared to lead
along the top of the ridge, and to descend with it into a deep
ravine about half a mile in advance of us.
Robinson Crusoe could not have been more startled at the footprint
in the sand than we were at this unwelcome discovery. My first impulse
was to make as rapid a retreat as possible, and bend our steps in some
other direction; but our curiosity to see whither this path might
lead, prompted us to pursue it. So on we went, the track becoming more
and more visible the farther we proceeded, until it conducted us to
the verge of the ravine, where it abruptly terminated.
"And so," said Toby, peering down into the chasm, "every one
that travels this path takes a jump here, eh?"
"Not so," said I, "for I think they might manage to descend
without it; what say you,- shall we attempt the feat?"
"And what, in the name of caves and coal-holes, do you expect to
find at the bottom of that gulf but a broken neck- why, it looks
blacker than our ship's hold, and the roar of those waterfalls down
there would batter one's brains to pieces."
"Oh, no, Toby," I exclaimed, laughing; "but there's something to
be seen here, that's plain, or there would have been no path, and I am
resolved to find out what it is."
"I will tell you what, my pleasant fellow," rejoined Toby,
quickly, "if you are going to pry into everything you meet with here
that excites your curiosity, you will marvellously soon get knocked on
the head; to a dead certainty you will come bang upon a party of these
savages in the midst of your discovery-makings, and I doubt whether
such an event would particularly delight you. Just take my advice
for once, and let us 'bout ship and steer in some other direction;
besides, it's getting late, and we ought to be mooring ourselves for
the night."
"That is just the thing I have been driving at," replied I; "and I
am thinking that this ravine will exactly answer our purpose, for it
is roomy, secluded, well watered, and may shelter us from the
weather."
"Ay, and from sleep too, and by the same token will give us sore
throats, and rheumatisms into the bargain," cried Toby, with evident
dislike at the idea.
"Oh, very well then, my lad," said I, "since you will not
accompany me, here I go, alone. You will see me in the morning"; and
advancing to the edge of the cliff upon which we had been standing,
I proceeded to lower myself down by the tangled roots which
clustered about all the crevices of the rock. As I had anticipated,
Toby, in spite of his previous remonstrances, followed my example, and
dropping himself with the activity of a squirrel from point to
point, he quickly outstripped me, and effected a landing at the bottom
before I had accomplished two-thirds of the descent.
The sight that now greeted us was one that will ever be vividly
impressed upon my mind. Five foaming streams, rushing through as
many gorges, and swelled and turbid by the recent rains, united
together in one mad plunge of nearly eighty feet, and fell with wild
uproar into a deep black pool scooped out of the gloomy-looking
rocks that lay piled around, and thence in one collected body dashed
down a narrow sloping channel which seemed to penetrate into the
very bowels of the earth. Overhead, vast roots of trees hung down from
the sides of the ravine, dripping with moisture, and trembling with
the concussions produced by the fall. It was now sunset, and the
feeble uncertain light that found its way into these caverns and woody
depths heightened their strange appearance, and reminded us that in
a short time we should find ourselves in utter darkness.
As soon as I had satisfied my curiosity by gazing at this scene, I
fell to wondering how it was that what we had taken for a path
should have conducted us to so singular a place, and began to
suspect that after all I might have been deceived in supposing it to
have been a track formed by the islanders. This was rather an
agreeable reflection than otherwise, for it diminished our dread of
accidentally meeting with any of them, and I came to the conclusion
that perhaps we could not have selected a more secure hiding-place
than this very spot we had so accidentally hit upon. Toby agreed
with me in this view of the matter, and we immediately began gathering
together the limbs of trees which lay scattered about, with the view
of constructing a temporary hut for the night. This we were obliged to
build close to the foot of the cataract, for the current of water
extended very nearly to the sides of the gorge. The few moments of
light that remained we employed in covering our hut with a species
of broad-bladed grass that grew in every fissure of the ravine. Our
hut, if it deserved to be called one, consisted of six or eight of the
straightest branches we could find laid obliquely against the steep
wall of rock, with their lower ends within a foot of the stream.
Into the space thus covered over we managed to crawl, and dispose
our wearied bodies as best we could.
Shall I ever forget that horrid night! As for poor Toby, I could
scarcely get a word out of him. It would have been some consolation to
have heard his voice, but he lay shivering the live-long night like
a man afflicted with the palsy, with his knees drawn up to his head,
while his back was supported against the dripping side of the rock.
During this wretched night there seemed nothing wanting to complete
the perfect misery of our condition. The rain descended in such
torrents that our poor shelter proved a mere mockery. In vain did I
try to elude the incessant streams that poured upon me; by
protecting one part I only exposed another, and the water was
continually finding some new opening through which to drench us.
I have had many a ducking in the course of my life, and in general
cared little about it: but the accumulated horrors of that night,
the death-like coldness of the place, the appalling darkness and the
dismal sense of our forlorn condition, almost unmanned me.
It will not be doubted that the next morning we were early risers,
and as soon as I could catch the faintest glimpse of anything like
daylight I shook my companion by the arm, and told him it was sunrise.
Poor Toby lifted up his head, and after a moment's pause said, in a
husky voice, "Then, shipmate, my toplights have gone out, for it
appears darker now with my eyes open than it did when they were shut."
"Nonsense!" exclaimed I; "you are not awake yet."
"Awake!" roared Toby, in a rage; "awake! You mean to insinuate
I've been asleep, do you? It is an insult to a man to suppose he could
sleep in such a place as this."
By the time I had apologized to my friend for having
misconstrued his silence, it had become somewhat more light, and we
crawled out of our lair. The rain had ceased, but everything around us
was dripping with moisture. We stripped off our saturated garments,
and wrung them as dry as we could. We contrived to make the blood
circulate in our benumbed limbs by rubbing them vigorously with our
hands; and after performing our ablutions in the stream, and putting
on our still wet clothes, we began to t it advisable to break our long
fast, it being now twenty-four hours since we had tasted food.
Accordingly, our day's ration was brought out, and seating
ourselves on a detached fragment of rock, we proceeded to discuss
it. First we divided it into two equal portions, and carefully rolling
one of them up for our evening's repast, divided the remainder again
as equally as possible, and then drew lots for the first choice. I
could have placed the morsel that fell to my share upon the tip of
my finger; but notwithstanding this, I took care that it should be
full ten minutes before I had swallowed the last crumb. What a true
saying it is that "appetite furnishes the best sauce"! There was a
flavour and a relish to this small particle of food that, under
other circumstances, it would have been impossible for the most
delicate viands to have imparted. A copious draught of the pure
water which flowed at our feet served to complete the meal, and
after it we rose sensibly refreshed, and prepared for whatever might
befall us.
We now carefully examined the chasm in which we had passed the
night. We crossed the stream, and gaining the farther side of the pool
I have mentioned, discovered proofs that the spot must have been
visited by some one but a short time previous to our arrival.
Further observation convinced us that it had been regularly
frequented, and, as we afterwards conjectured from particular
indications, for the purpose of obtaining a certain root, from which
the natives obtained a kind of ointment.
These discoveries immediately determined us to abandon a place
which had presented no inducement for us to remain, except the promise
of security; and as we looked about us for the means of ascending
again into the upper regions, we at last found a practicable part of
the rock, and half-an-hour's toil carried us to the summit of the same
cliff from which the preceding evening we had descended.
I now proposed to Toby that instead of rambling about the
island, exposing ourselves to discovery at every turn, we should
select some place as our fixed abode for as long a period as our
food should hold out, build ourselves a comfortable hut, and be as
prudent and circumspect as possible. To all this my companion
assented, and we at once set about carrying the plan into execution.
With this view, after exploring without success a little glen near
us, we crossed several of the ridges of which I have before spoken;
and about noon found ourselves ascending a long and gradually rising
slope, but still without having discovered any place adapted to our
purpose. Low and heavy clouds betokened an approaching storm, and we
hurried on to gain a covert in a clump of thick which appeared to
terminate the long ascent. We threw ourselves under the lee of these
bushes, and pulling up the long grass that grew around, covered
ourselves completely with it, and awaited the shower.
But it did not come as soon as we had expected, and before many
minutes my companion was fast asleep, and I was rapidly falling into
the same state of happy forgetfulness. Just at this juncture, however,
down came the rain with a violence that put all thoughts of slumber to
flight. Although in some measure sheltered, our clothes soon became as
wet as ever; this, after all the trouble we had taken to dry them, was
provoking enough: but there was no help for it; and I recommend all
adventurous youths who abandon vessels in romantic islands during
the rainy season, to provide themselves with umbrellas.
After an hour or so the shower passed away. My companion slept
through it all, or least appeared so to do; and now that it was over I
had not the heart to awaken him. As I lay on my back completely
shrouded with verdure, the leafy branches drooping over me, and my
limbs buried in grass, I could not avoid comparing our situation
with that of the interesting babes in the wood. Poor little
sufferers!- no wonder their constitutions broke down under the
hardships to which they were exposed.
During the hour or two spent under the shelter of these bushes,
I began to feel symptoms which I at once attributed to the exposure of
the preceding night. Cold shiverings and a burning fever succeeded one
another at intervals, while one of my legs was swelled to such a
degree, and pained me so acutely, that I half suspected I had been
bitten by some venomous reptile, the congenial inhabitant of the chasm
from which we had lately emerged. I may here remark by the way- what I
subsequently learned- that all the islands of Polynesia enjoy the
reputation, in common with the Hibernian isle, of being free from
the presence of any vipers; though whether Saint Patrick ever
visited them, is a question I shall not attempt to decide.
As the feverish sensation increased upon me I tossed about,
still unwilling to disturb my slumbering companion, from whose side
I removed two or three yards. I chanced to push aside a branch, and by
so doing suddenly disclosed to my view a scene which even now I can
recall with all the vividness of the first impression. Had a glimpse
of the gardens of Paradise been revealed to me, I could scarcely
have been more ravished with the sight.
From the spot where I lay transfixed with surprise and delight,
I looked straight down into the bosom of a valley, which swept away in
long wavy undulations to the blue waters in the distance. Midway
towards the sea, and peering here and there amidst the foliage,
might be seen the palmetto-thatched houses of its inhabitants,
glistening in the sun that had bleached them to a dazzling
whiteness. The vale was more than three leagues in length, and about a
mile across at its greatest width.
On either side it appeared hemmed in by steep and green
acclivities, which, uniting near the spot where I lay, formed an
abrupt and semicircular termination of grassy cliffs and precipices
hundreds of feet in height, over which flowed numberless small
cascades. But the crowning beauty of the prospect was its universal
verdure; and in this indeed consists, I believe, the peculiar charm of
every Polynesian landscape. Everywhere below me, from the base of
the precipice upon whose very verge I had been unconsciously reposing,
the surface of the vale presented a mass of foliage, spread with
such rich profusion that it was impossible to determine of what
description of trees it consisted.
But perhaps there was nothing about the scenery I beheld more
impressive than those silent cascades, whose slender threads of water,
after leaping down the steep cliffs, were lost amidst the rich herbage
of the valley.
Over all the landscape there reigned the most hushed repose, which
I almost feared to break, lest, like the enchanting gardens in the
fairy tale, a single syllable might dissolve the spell. For a long
time, forgetful alike of my own situation, and the vicinity of my
still slumbering companion, I remained gazing around me, hardly able
to comprehend by what means I had thus suddenly been made a
spectator of such a scene.
CHAPTER VII
JOURNEY TOWARDS THE VALLEY
RECOVERING from my astonishment at the beautiful scene before
me, I quickly awakened Toby, and informed him of the discovery I had
made. Together we now repaired to the border of the precipice, and
my companion's admiration was equal to my own. A little reflection,
however, abated our surprise at coming so unexpectedly upon this
valley, since the large vales of Happar and Typee, lying upon this
side of Nukuheva, and extending a considerable distance from the sea
towards the interior, must necessarily terminate somewhere about
this point.
The question now was as to which of those two places we were
looking down upon. Toby insisted that it was the abode of the Happars,
and I that it was tenanted by their enemies, the ferocious Typees.
To be sure I was not entirely convinced by my own arguments, but
Toby's proposition to descend at once into the valley, and partake
of the hospitality of its inmates, seemed to me to be risking so
much upon the strength of a mere supposition, that I resolved to
oppose it until we had more evidence to proceed upon.
The point was one of vital importance, as the natives of Happar
were not only at peace with Nukuheva, but cultivated with its
inhabitants the most friendly relations, and enjoyed a reputation
for gentleness and humanity which led us to expect from them, if not a
cordial reception, at least a shelter during the short period we
should remain in their territory.
On the other hand, the very name of Typee struck a panic into my
heart which I did not attempt to disguise. The thought of
voluntarily throwing ourselves into the hands of these cruel
savages, seemed to me an act of mere madness; and almost equally so
the idea of venturing into the valley, uncertain by which of these two
tribes it was inhabited. That the vale at our feet was tenanted by one
of them, was a point that appeared to us past all doubt, since we knew
that they resided in this quarter, although our information did not
enlighten us further.
My companion, however, incapable of resisting the tempting
prospect which the place held out of an abundant supply of food and
other means of enjoyment, still clung to his own inconsiderate view of
the subject, nor could all my reasoning shake it. When I reminded
him that it was impossible for either of us to know anything with
certainty, and when I dwelt upon the horrible fate we should encounter
were we rashly to descend into the valley, and discover too late the
error we had committed, he replied by detailing all the evils of our
present condition, and the sufferings we must undergo should we
continue to remain where we then were.
Anxious to draw him away from the subject, if possible- for I
saw that it would be in vain to attempt changing his mind- I
directed his attention to a long bright unwooded tract of land
which, sweeping down from the elevations in the interior, descended
into the valley before us. I then suggested to him that beyond this
ridge might lie a capacious and untenanted valley, abounding with
all manner of delicious fruits; for I had heard that there were
several such upon the island, and proposed that we should endeavour to
reach it, and if we found our expectations realized we should at
once take refuge in it and remain there as long as we pleased.
He acquiesced in the suggestion; and we immediately, therefore,
began surveying the country lying before us, with a view of
determining upon the best route for us to pursue; but it presented
little choice, the whole interval being broken into steep ridges,
divided by dark ravines, extending in parallel lines at right angles
to our direct course. All these we would be obliged to cross before we
could hope to arrive at our destination.
A weary journey! But we decided to undertake it, though, for my
own part, I felt little prepared to encounter its fatigues,
shivering and burning by turns with the ague and fever; for I know not
how else to describe the alternate sensations I experienced, and
suffering not a little from the lameness which afflicted me. Added
to this was the faintness consequent on our meagre diet- a calamity in
which Toby participated to the same extent as myself.
These circumstances, however, only augmented my anxiety to reach a
place which promised us plenty and repose, before I should be
reduced to a state which would render me altogether unable to
perform the journey. Accordingly we now commenced it by descending the
almost perpendicular side of a steep and narrow gorge, bristling
with a thick growth of reeds. Here there was but one mode for us to
adopt. We seated ourselves upon the ground, and guided our descent
by catching at the canes in our path. The velocity with which we
thus slid down the side of the ravine soon brought us to a point where
we could use our feet, and in a short time we arrived at the edge of
the torrent, which rolled impetuously along the bed of the chasm.
After taking a refreshing draught from the water of the stream, we
addressed ourselves to a much more difficult undertaking than the
last. Every foot of our late descent had to be regained in ascending
the opposite side of the gorge- an operation rendered the less
agreeable from the consideration that in these perpendicular
episodes we did not progress a hundred yards on our journey. But,
ungrateful as the task was, we set about it with exemplary patience,
and after a snail-like progress of an hour or more, had scaled perhaps
one half of the distance, when the fever which had left me for
awhile returned with such violence, and accompanied by so raging a
thirst, that it required all the entreaties of Toby to prevent me from
losing all the fruits of my late exertion, by precipitating myself
madly down the cliffs we had just climbed, in quest of the water which
flowed so temptingly at their base. At the moment all my hopes and
fears appeared to be merged in this one desire, careless of the
consequences that might result from its gratification. I am aware of
no feeling, either of pleasure or of pain, that so completely deprives
one of all power to resist its impulses, as this same raging thirst.
Toby earnestly conjured me to continue the ascent, assuring me
that a little more exertion would bring us to the summit, and that
then in less than five minutes we should find ourselves at the brink
of the stream, which must necessarily on the other side of the ridge.
"Do not," he exclaimed, "turn back, now that we have proceeded
thus far; for I tell you that neither of us will have the courage to
repeat the attempt, if once more we find ourselves looking up to where
we now are from the bottom of these rocks!"
I was not yet so perfectly beside myself as to be heedless of
these representations, and therefore toiled on, ineffectually
endeavouring to appease the thirst which consumed me, by thinking that
in a short time I should be able to gratify it to my heart's content.
At last we gained the top of the second elevation, the loftiest of
those I have described as extending in parallel lines between us and
the valley we desired to reach. It commanded a view of the whole
intervening distance; and, discouraged as I was by other
circumstances, this prospect plunged me into the very depths of
despair. Nothing but dark and fearful chasms, separated by sharp
crested and perpendicular ridges as far as the eye could reach.
Could we have stepped from summit to summit of these steep but
narrow elevations we could easily have accomplished the distance;
but we must penetrate to the bottom of every yawning gulf, and scale
in succession every one of the eminences before us. Even Toby,
although not suffering as I did, was not proof against the
disheartening influences of the sight.
But we did not long stand to contemplate it, impatient as I was to
reach the waters of the torrent which flowed beneath us. With an
insensibility to danger which I cannot call to mind without
shuddering, we threw ourselves down the depths of the ravine,
startling its savage solitudes with the echoes produced by the falling
fragments of rock we every moment dislodged from their places,
careless of the insecurity of our footing, and reckless whether the
slight roots and twigs we clutched at sustained us for the while, or
treacherously yielded to our grasp. For my own part, I scarcely knew
whether I was helplessly falling from the heights above, or whether
the fearful rapidity with which I descended was an act of my own
volition.
In a few minutes we reached the foot of the gorge, and kneeling
upon a small ledge of dripping rocks, I bent over to the stream.
What a delicious sensation was I now to experience! I paused for a
second to concentrate all my capabilities of enjoyment, and then
immerged my lips in the clear element before me. Had the apples of
Sodom turned to ashes in my mouth, I could not have felt a more
startling revulsion. A single drop of the cold fluid seemed to
freeze every drop of blood in my body; the fever that had been burning
in my veins gave place on the instant to deathlike chills, which shook
me one after another like so many shocks of electricity, while the
perspiration produced by my late violent exertions congealed in icy
beads upon my forehead. My thirst was gone, and I fairly loathed the
water. Starting to my feet, the sight of those dank rocks, oozing
forth moisture at every crevice, and the dark stream shooting along
its dismal channel, sent fresh chills through my shivering frame,
and I felt as uncontrollable a desire to climb up towards the genial
sunlight as I before had to descend the ravine.
After two hours' perilous exertions we stood upon the summit of
another ridge, and it was with difficulty I could bring myself to
believe that we had ever penetrated the black and yawning chasm
which then gaped at our feet. Again we gazed upon the prospect which
the height commanded, but it was just as depressing as the one which
had before met our eyes. I now felt that in our present situation it
was in vain for us to think of ever overcoming the obstacles in our
way, and I gave up all thoughts of reaching the vale which lay
beyond this series of impediments; while at the same time I could
not devise any scheme to extricate ourselves from the difficulties
in which we were involved.
The remotest idea of returning to Nukuheva unless assured of our
vessel's departure, never once entered my mind, and indeed it was
questionable whether we could have succeeded in reaching it, divided
as we were from the bay by a distance we could not compute, and
perplexed too in our remembrance of localities by our recent
wanderings. Besides, it was unendurable the thought of retracing our
steps and rendering all our painful exertions of no avail.
There is scarcely anything when a man is in difficulties that he
is more disposed to look upon with abhorrence than a right-about
retrograde movement- a systematic going over of the already trodden
ground: and especially if he has a love of adventure, such a course
appears indescribably repulsive, so long as there remains the least
hope to be derived from braving untried difficulties.
It was this feeling that prompted us to descend the opposite
side of the elevation we had just scaled, although with what
definite object in view it would have been impossible for either of us
to tell.
Without exchanging a syllable upon the subject, Toby and myself
simultaneously renounced the design which had lured us thus far-
perceiving in each other's countenances that desponding expression
which speaks more eloquently than words.
Together we stood towards the close of this weary day in the
cavity of the third gorge we had entered, wholly incapacitated for any
further exertion, until restored to some degree of strength by food
and repose.
We seated ourselves upon the least uncomfortable spot we could
select, and Toby produced from the bosom of his frock the sacred
package. In silence we partook of the small morsel of refreshment that
had been left from the morning's repast, and without once proposing to
violate the sanctity of our engagement with respect to the
remainder, we rose to our feet, and proceeded to construct some sort
of shelter under which we might obtain the sleep we so greatly needed.
Fortunately the spot was better adapted to our purpose than the
one in which we had passed the last wretched night. We cleared away
the tall reeds from a small but almost level bit of ground, and
twisted them into a low basket-like hut, which we covered with a
profusion of long thick leaves, gathered from a tree near at hand.
We disposed them thickly all around, reserving only a slight opening
that barely permitted us to crawl under the shelter we had thus
obtained.
These deep recesses, though protected from the winds that assail
the summits of their lofty sides, are damp and chill to a degree
that one would hardly anticipate in such a climate; and being
unprovided with anything but our woollen frocks and thin duck trousers
to resist the cold of the place, we were the more solicitous to render
our habitation for the night as comfortable as we could.
Accordingly, in addition to what we had already done, we plucked
down all the leaves within our reach and threw them in a heap over our
little hut, into which we now crept, raking after us a reserved supply
to form our couch.
That night nothing but the pain I suffered prevented me from
sleeping most refreshingly. As it was, I caught two or three naps,
while Toby slept away at my side as soundly as though he had been
sandwiched between two Holland sheets. Luckily it did not rain, and we
were preserved from the misery which a heavy shower would have
occasioned us.
In the morning I was awakened by the sonorous voice of my
companion ringing in my ears and bidding me rise. I crawled out from
our heap of leaves, and was astonished at the change which a good
night's rest had wrought in his appearance. He was as blithe and
joyous as a young bird, and was staying the keenness of his
morning's appetite by chewing the soft bark of a delicate branch he
held in his hand, and he recommended the like to me, as an admirable
antidote against the gnawings of hunger.
For my own part, though feeling materially better than I had
done the preceding evening, I could not look at the limb that had
pained me so violently at intervals during the last twenty-four hours,
without experiencing a sense of alarm that I strove in vain to shake
off. Unwilling to disturb the flow of my comrade's spirits, I
managed to stifle the complaints to which I might otherwise have given
vent, and calling upon him good-humouredly to speed our banquet, I
prepared myself for it by washing in the stream. This operation
concluded, we swallowed, or rather absorbed, by a peculiar kind of
slow sucking process, our respective morsels of nourishment, and
then entered into a discussion as to the steps it was necessary for us
to pursue.
"What's to be done now?" inquired I, rather dolefully.
"Descend into that same valley we descried yesterday," rejoined
Toby, with a rapidity and loudness of utterance that almost led me
to suspect he had been slyly devouring the broadside of an ox in
some of the adjoining thickets. "What else," he continued, "remains
for us to do but that, to be sure? Why, we shall both starve, to a
certainty, if we remain here; and as to your fears of those Typees-
depend upon it, it is all nonsense. It is impossible that the
inhabitants of such a lovely place as we saw can be anything else
but good fellows; and if you choose rather to perish with hunger in
one of these soppy caverns, I for one prefer to chance a bold
descent into the valley, and risk the consequences."
"And who is to pilot us thither," I asked, "even if we should
decide upon the measure you propose? Are we to go again up and down
those precipices that we crossed yesterday, until we reach the place
we started from, and then take a flying leap from the cliffs to the
valley?"
"'Faith, I didn't think of that," said Toby; "sure enough, both
sides of the valley appeared to be hemmed in by precipices, didn't
they?"
"Yes," answered I; "as steep as the sides of a line-of-battle
ship, and about a hundred times as high." My companion sank his head
upon his breast, and remained for awhile in deep thought. Suddenly
he sprang to his feet, while his eyes lighted up with that gleam of
intelligence that marks the presence of some bright idea.
"Yes, yes," he exclaimed; "the streams all run in the same
direction, and must necessarily flow into the valley before they reach
the sea; all we have to do is just to follow this stream, and sooner
or later, it will lead us into the vale."
"You are right, Toby," I exclaimed, "you are right; it conduct
us thither, and quickly, too; for, see with what a steep inclination
the water descends."
"It does, indeed," burst forth my companion, overjoyed at my
verification of his theory, "it does, indeed; why, it is as plain as a
pike-staff. Let us proceed at once; come, throw away all those
stupid ideas about the Typees, and hurrah for the lovely valley of the
Happars!"
"You will have it to be Happar, I see, my dear fellow; pray
Heaven, you may not find yourself deceived," observed I, with a
shake of my head.
"Amen to all that, and much more," shouted Toby, rushing
forward; "but Happar it is, for nothing else than Happar can it be. So
glorious a valley- such forests of bread-fruit trees- such groves of
cocoa-nut- such wildernesses of guava-bushes! Ah, shipmate! don't
linger behind: in the name of all delightful fruits, I am dying to
be at them. Come on, come on; shove ahead, there's a lively lad; never
mind the rocks; kick them out of the way, as I do; and to-morrow,
old fellow, take my word for it, we shall be in clover. Come on";
and so saying, he dashed along the ravine like a madman, forgetting my
inability to keep up with him. In a few minutes, however, the
exuberance of his spirits abated, and, pausing for awhile, he
permitted me to overtake him.
CHAPTER VIII
FRIGHTFUL DESCENT TO THE RAVINE
THE fearless confidence of Toby was contagious, and I began to
adopt the Happar side of the question. I could not, however,
overcome a certain feeling of trepidation, as we made our way along
these gloomy solitudes. Our progress, at first comparatively easy,
became more and more difficult. The bed of the watercourse was covered
with fragments of broken rocks, which had fallen from above,
offering so many obstructions to the course of the rapid stream, which
vexed and fretted about them,- forming at intervals small
waterfalls, pouring over into deep basins, or splashing wildly upon
heaps of stones.
From the narrowness of the gorge, and the steepness of its
sides, there was no mode of advancing but by wading through the water;
stumbling every moment over the impediments which lay hidden under its
surface, or tripping against the huge roots of trees. But the most
annoying hindrance we encountered was from a multitude of crooked
boughs, which, shooting out almost horizontally from the sides of
the chasm, twisted themselves together in fantastic masses almost to
the surface of the stream, affording us no passage except under the
low arches which they formed. Under these we were obliged to crawl
on our hands and feet, sliding along the oozy surface of the rocks, or
slipping into the deep pools, and with scarce light enough to guide
us. Occasionally we would strike our heads against some projecting
limb of a tree; and while imprudently engaged in rubbing the injured
part, would fall sprawling amongst flinty fragments, cutting and
bruising ourselves, whilst the unpitying waters flowed over our
prostrate bodies. Belzoni, worming himself through the subterranean
passages of the Egyptian catacombs, could not have met with greater
impediments than those we here encountered. But we struggled against
them manfully, well knowing our only hope lay in advancing.
Towards sunset we halted at a spot where we made preparations
for passing the night. Here we constructed a hut, in much the same way
as before, and crawling into it, endeavoured to forget our sufferings.
My companion, I believe, slept pretty soundly; but at daybreak, when
we rolled out of our dwelling, I felt nearly disqualified for any
further efforts. Toby prescribed as a remedy for my illness the
contents of one of our little silk packages, to be taken at once in
a single dose. To this species of medical treatment, however, I
would by no means accede, much as he insisted upon it; and so we
partook of our usual morsel, and silently resumed our journey. It
was now the fourth day since we left Nukuheva, and the gnawings of
hunger became painfully acute. We were fain to pacify them by
chewing the tender bark of roots and twigs, which, if they did not
afford us nourishment, were at least sweet and pleasant to the taste.
Our progress along the steep watercourse was necessarily slow, and
by noon we had not advanced more than a mile. It was somewhere near
this part of the day that the noise of falling waters, which we had
faintly caught in the early morning, became more distinct; and it
was not long before we were arrested by a rocky precipice of nearly
a hundred feet in depth, that extended all across the channel, and
over which the wild stream poured in an unbroken leap. On either
hand the walls of the ravine presented their overhanging sides both
above and below the fall, affording no means whatever of avoiding
the cataract by taking a circuit round it.
"What's to be done now, Toby?" said I.
"Why," rejoined he, "as we cannot retreat, I suppose we must
keep shoving along."
"Very true, my dear Toby; but how do you purpose accomplishing
that desirable object?"
"By jumping from the top of the fall, if there be no other way,"
unhesitatingly replied my companion; "it will be much the quickest way
of descent; but as you are not quite as active as I am, we will try
some other way."
And so saying, he crept cautiously along and peered over into
the abyss, while I remained wondering by what possible means we
could overcome this apparently insuperable obstruction. As soon as
my companion had completed his survey, I eagerly inquired the result.
"The result of my observations you wish to know, do you?" began
Toby, deliberately, with one of his odd looks: "well, my lad, the
result of my observations is very quickly imparted. It is at present
uncertain which of our two necks will have the honour to be broken
first; but about a hundred to one would be a fair bet in favour of the
man who takes the first jump."
"Then it is an impossible thing, is it?" inquired I, gloomily.
"No, shipmate; on the contrary, it is the easiest thing in life:
the only awkward point is the sort of usage which our unhappy limbs
may receive when we arrive at the bottom, and what sort of
travelling trim we shall be in afterwards. But follow me now, and I
will show you the only chance we have."
With this he conducted me to the verge of the cataract, and
pointed along the side of the ravine to a number of curious-looking
roots, some three or four inches in thickness, and several feet
long, which, after twisting among the fissures of the rock, shot
perpendicularly from it, and ran tapering to a point in the air,
hanging over the gulf like so many dark icicles. They covered nearly
the entire surface of one side of the gorge, the lowest of them
reaching even to the water. Many were moss-grown and decayed, with
their extremities snapped short off, and those in the immediate
vicinity of the fall were slippery with moisture.
Toby's scheme, and it was a desperate one, was to entrust
ourselves to these treacherous-looking roots, and by slipping down
from one to another to gain the bottom.
"Are you ready to venture it?" asked Toby, looking at me
earnestly, but without saying a word as to the practicability of the
plan.
"I am," was my reply; for I saw it was our only resource if we
wished to advance, and as for retreating, all thoughts of that sort
had been long abandoned.
After I had signified my assent, Toby, without uttering a single
word, crawled along the dripping ledge until he gained a point from
whence he could just reach one of the largest of the pendant roots; he
shook it- it quivered in his grasp, and when he let it go, it
twanged in the air like a strong wire sharply struck. Satisfied by his
scrutiny, my light-limbed companion swung himself nimbly upon it,
and twisting his legs round it in sailor fashion, slipped down eight
or ten feet, where his weight gave it a motion not unlike that of a
pendulum. He could not venture to descend any farther; so holding on
with one hand, he with the other shook one by one all the slender
roots around him, and at last, finding one which he thought
trustworthy, shifted himself to it and continued his downward
progress.
So far so well; but I could not avoid comparing my heavier frame
and disabled condition with his light figure and remarkable
activity: but there was no help for it, and in less than a minute's
time I was swinging directly over his head. As soon as his upturned
eyes caught a glimpse of me, he exclaimed in his usual dry tone, for
the danger did not seem to daunt him in the least, "Mate, do me the
kindness not to fall until I get out of your way"; and then swinging
himself more on one side, he continued his descent. In the meantime, I
cautiously transferred myself from the limb down which I had been
slipping to a couple of others that were near it, deeming two
strings to my bow better than one, and taking care to test their
strength before I trusted my weight to them.
On arriving towards the end of the second stage in this vertical
journey, and shaking the long roots which were round me, to my
consternation they snapped off one after another like so many pipe
stems, and fell in fragments against the side of the gulf, splashing
at last into the waters beneath.
As one after another the treacherous roots yielded to my grasp,
and fell into the torrent, my heart sunk within me. The branches on
which I was suspended over the yawning chasm swang to and fro in the
air, and I expected them every moment to snap in twain. Appalled at
the dreadful fate that menaced me, I clutched frantically at the
only large root which remained near me; but in vain; I could not reach
it, though my fingers were within a few inches of it. Again and
again I tried to reach it, until at length, maddened with the
thought of my situation, I swayed myself violently by striking my foot
against the side of the rock, and at the instant that I approached the
large root caught desperately at it, and transferred myself to it.
It vibrated violently under the sudden weight, but fortunately did not
give way.
My brain grew dizzy with the idea of the frightful risk I had just
run, and I involuntarily closed my eyes to shut out the view of the
depth beneath me. For the instant I was safe, and I uttered a devout
ejaculation of thanksgiving for my escape.
"Pretty well done," shouted Toby underneath me; "you are nimbler
than I thought you to be- hopping about up there from root to root
like any young squirrel. As soon as you have diverted yourself
sufficiently, I would advise you to proceed."
"Ay, ay, Toby, all in good time: two or three more such famous
roots as this, and I shall be with you."
The residue of my downward progress was comparatively easy; the
roots were in greater abundance, and in one or two places jutting
out points of rock assisted me greatly. In a few moments I was
standing by the side of my companion.
Substituting a stout stick for the one I had thrown aside at the
top of the precipice, we now continued our course along the bed of the
ravine. Soon we were saluted by a sound in advance, that grew by
degrees louder and louder, as the noise of the cataract we were
leaving behind gradually died oh our ears.
"Another precipice for us, Toby."
"Very good; we can descend them, you know- come on."
Nothing indeed appeared to depress or intimidate this intrepid
fellow. Typees or Niagaras, he was as ready to engage one as the
other, and I could not avoid a thousand times congratulating myself
upon having such a companion in an enterprise like the present.
After an hour's painful progress, we reached the verge of
another fall, still loftier than the preceding, and flanked both above
and below with the same steep masses of rock, presenting, however,
here and there narrow irregular ledges, supporting a shallow soil,
on which grew a variety of bushes and trees, whose bright verdure
contrasted beautifully with the foamy waters that flowed between them.
Toby, who invariably acted as pioneer, now proceeded to
reconnoitre. On his return, he reported that the shelves of rock on
our right would enable us to gain with little risk the bottom of the
cataract. Accordingly, leaving the bed of the stream at the very point
where it thundered down, we began crawling along one of these
sloping ledges until it carried us to within a few feet of another
that inclined downward at a still sharper angle, and upon which, by
assisting each other, we managed to alight in safety. We warily
crept along this, steadying ourselves by the naked roots of the shrubs
that clung to every fissure. As we proceeded, the narrow path became
still more contracted, rendering it difficult for us to maintain our
footing, until suddenly, as we reached an angle of the wall of rock
where we had expected it to widen, we perceived to our
consternation, that a yard or two farther on it abruptly terminated at
a place we could not possibly hope to pass.
Toby, as usual, led the van, and in silence I waited to learn from
him how he proposed to extricate us from this new difficulty.
"Well, my boy," I exclaimed, after the expiration of several
minutes, during which time my companion had not uttered a word:
"what's to be done now?"
He replied in a tranquil tone that probably the best thing we
could do in the present strait was to get out of it as soon as
possible.
"Yes, my dear Toby, but tell me how we are to get out of it."
"Something in this sort of style," he replied; and at the same
moment, to my horror, he slipped sideways off the rock, and, as I then
thought, by good fortune merely, alighted among the spreading branches
of a species of palm tree, that shooting its hardy roots along a ledge
below, curved its trunk upwards into the air, and presented a thick
mass of foliage about twenty feet below the spot where we had thus
suddenly been brought to a stand-still. I involuntarily held my
breath, expecting to see the form of my companion, after being
sustained for a moment by the branches of the tree, sink through their
frail support, and fall headlong to the bottom. To my surprise and
joy, however, he recovered himself, and disentangling his limbs from
the fractured branches, he peered out from his leafy bed, and
shouted lustily, "Come on, my hearty, there is no other
alternative!" and with this he ducked beneath the foliage, and
slipping down the trunk, stood in a moment at least fifty feet beneath
me, upon the broad shelf of rock from which sprung the tree he had
descended.
What would I not have given at that moment to have been by his
side? The feat he had just accomplished seemed little less than
miraculous, and I could hardly credit the evidence of my senses when I
saw the wide distance that a single daring act had so suddenly
placed between us.
Toby's animating "come on!" again sounded in my ears, and dreading
to lose all confidence myself if I remained meditating upon the
step, I once more gazed down to assure myself of the relative
bearing of the tree and my own position, and then closing my eyes
and uttering one comprehensive ejaculation of prayer, I inclined
myself over towards the abyss, and after one breathless instant fell
with a crash into the tree, the branches snapping and crackling with
my weight, as I sunk lower and lower among them, until I was stopped
by coming in contact with a sturdy limb.
In a few moments I was standing at the foot of the tree,
manipulating myself all over with a view of ascertaining the extent of
the injuries had received. To my surprise the only effects of my
feat were a few slight contusions too trifling to care about. The rest
of our descent was easily accomplished, and in half an hour after
regaining the ravine, we had partaken of our evening morsel, built our
hut as usual, and crawled under its shelter.
The next morning, in spite of our debility and the agony of hunger
under which we were now suffering, though neither of us confessed to
the fact, we struggled along our dismal and still difficult and
dangerous path, cheered by the hope of soon catching a glimpse of
the valley before us, and towards evening the voice of a cataract
which had for some time sounded like a low deep bass to the music of
the smaller waterfalls, broke upon our ears in still louder tones, and
assured us that we were approaching its vicinity.
That evening we stood on the brink of a precipice, over which
the dark stream bounded in one final leap of full 300 feet. The
sheer descent terminated in the region we so long had sought. On
either side of the fall, two lofty and perpendicular bluffs buttressed
the sides of the enormous cliff, and projected into the sea of verdure
with which the valley waved, and a range of similar projecting
eminences stood disposed in a half circle about the head of the
vale. A thick canopy of trees hung over the very verge of the fall,
leaving an arched aperture for the passage of the waters, which
imparted a strange picturesqueness to the scene.
The valley was now before us; but instead of being conducted
into its smiling bosom by the gradual descent of the deep
watercourse we had thus far pursued, all our labours now appeared to
have been rendered futile by its abrupt termination. But, bitterly
disappointed, we did not entirely despair.
As it was now near sunset we determined to pass the night where we
were, and on the morrow, refreshed by sleep, and by eating at one meal
all our stock of food, to accomplish a descent into the valley, or
perish in the attempt.
We laid ourselves down that night on a spot, the recollection of
which still makes me shudder. A small table of rock which projected
over the precipice on one side of the stream, and was drenched by
the spray of the fall, sustained a huge trunk of a tree which must
have been deposited there by some heavy freshet. It lay obliquely,
with one end resting on the rock and the other supported by the side
of the ravine. Against it we placed in a sloping direction a number of
the half-decayed boughs that were strewn about, and covering the whole
with twigs and leaves, awaited the morning's light beneath such
shelter as it afforded.
During the whole of this night the continual roaring of the
cataract- the dismal moaning of the gale through the trees- the
pattering of the rain, and the profound darkness, affected my
spirits to a degree which nothing had ever before produced. Wet,
half-famished, and chilled to the heart with the dampness of the
place, and nearly wild with the pain I endured, I fairly cowered
down to the earth under this multiplication of hardships, and
abandoned myself to frightful anticipations of evil; and my companion,
whose spirit at last was a good deal broken, scarcely uttered a word
during the whole night.
At length the day dawned upon us, and rising from our miserable
pallet, we stretched our stiffened joints, and after eating all that
remained of our bread, prepared for the last stage of our journey.
I will not recount every hairbreadth escape, and every fearful
difficulty that occurred before we succeeded in reaching the bosom
of the valley. As I have already described similar scenes, it will
be sufficient to say that at length, after great toil and great
dangers, we both stood with no limbs broken at the head of that
magnificent vale which five days before had so suddenly burst upon
my sight, and almost beneath the shadow of those very cliffs from
whose summits we had gazed upon the prospect.
CHAPTER IX
TYPEE OR HAPPAR?
HOW to obtain the fruit which we felt convinced must grow near
at hand was our first thought. Typee or Happar? A frightful death at
the hands of the fiercest of cannibals, or a kindly reception from a
gentler race of savages? Which? But it was too late now to discuss a
question which would so soon be answered.
The part of the valley in which we found ourselves appeared to
be altogether uninhabited. An almost impenetrable thicket extended
from side to side, without presenting a single plant affording the
nourishment we had confidently calculated upon; and with this
object, we followed the course of the stream, casting quick glances as
we proceeded into the thick jungles on either hand.
My companion- to whose solicitations I had yielded in descending
into the valley- now that the step was taken, began to manifest a
degree of caution I had little expected from him. He proposed that
in the event of our finding an adequate supply of fruit, we should
remain in this unfrequented portion of the valley- where we should run
little chance of being surprised by its occupants, whoever they
might be- until sufficiently recruited to resume our journey; when
laying in a store of food equal to our wants, we might easily regain
the bay of Nukuheva, after the lapse of a sufficient interval to
ensure the departure of our vessel.
I objected strongly to this proposition, plausible as it was, as
the difficulties of the route would be almost insurmountable,
unacquainted as we were with the general bearings of the country,
and I reminded my companion of the hardships which we had already
encountered in our uncertain wanderings; in a word, I said that
since we had deemed it advisable to enter the valley, we ought
manfully to face the consequences, whatever they might be; the more
especially as I was convinced there was no alternative left us but
to fall in with the natives at once, and boldly risk the reception
they might give us: and that as to myself, I felt the necessity of
rest and shelter, and that until I had obtained them, I should be
wholly unable to encounter such sufferings as we had lately passed
through. To the justice of these observations Toby somewhat
reluctantly assented.
We were surprised that, after moving as far as we had along the
valley, we should still meet with the same impervious thickets; and
thinking that although the borders of the stream might be lined for
some distance with them, yet beyond there might be more open ground, I
requested Toby to keep a bright look-out upon one side, while I did
the same on the other, in order to discover some opening in the
bushes, and especially to watch for the slightest appearance of a path
or anything else that might indicate the vicinity of the islanders.
What furtive and anxious glances we cast into those dim-looking
shades! With what apprehensions we proceeded, ignorant at what
moment we might be greeted by the javelin of some ambushed savage!
At last my companion paused, and directed my attention to a narrow
opening in the foliage. We struck into it, and it soon brought us by
an indistinctly traced path to a comparatively clear space, at the
farther end of which we descried a number of the trees, the native
name of which is "annuee," and which bear a most delicious fruit.
What a race! I hobbling over the ground like some decrepit wretch,
and Toby leaping forward like a greyhound. He quickly cleared one of
the trees on which there were two or three of the fruit, but to our
chagrin they proved to be much decayed; the rinds partly opened by the
birds, and their hearts half devoured. However, we quickly
despatched them, and no ambrosia could have been more delicious.
We looked about us uncertain whither to direct our steps, since
the path we had so far followed appeared to be lost in the open
space around us. At last we resolved to enter a grove near at hand,
and had advanced a few rods, when, just upon its skirts, I picked up a
slender bread-fruit shoot perfectly green, and with the tender bark
freshly stript from it. It was slippery with moisture, and appeared as
if it had been but that moment thrown aside. I said nothing, but
merely held it up to Toby, who started at this undeniable evidence
of the vicinity of the savages.
The plot was now thickening.- A short distance farther lay a
little faggot of the same shoots bound together with a strip of
bark. Could it have been thrown down by some solitary native, who,
alarmed at seeing us, had hurried forward to carry the tidings of
our approach to his countrymen?- Typee or Happar?- But it was too late
to recede, so we moved on slowly, my companion in advance casting
eager glances under the trees on either side, until all at once I
saw him recoil as if stung by an adder. Sinking on his knee, he
waved me off with one hand, while with the other he held aside some
intervening leaves, and gazed intently at some object.
Disregarding his injunction, I quickly approached him and caught a
glimpse of two figures partly hidden by the dense foliage; they were
standing close together, and were perfectly motionless. They must have
previously perceived us, and withdrawn into the depths of the wood
to elude our observation.
My mind was at once made up. Dropping my staff, and tearing open
the package of things we had brought from the ship, I unrolled the
cotton cloth, and holding it in one hand, plucked with the other a
twig from the bushes beside me, and telling Toby to follow my example,
I broke through the covert and advanced, waving the branch in token of
peace towards the shrinking forms before me.
They were a boy and a girl, slender and graceful, and completely
naked, with the exception of a slight girdle of bark, from which
depended at opposite points two of the russet leaves of the
bread-fruit tree. An arm of the boy, half screened from sight by her
wild tresses, was thrown about the neck of the girl, while with the
other he held one of her hands in his; and thus they stood together,
their heads inclined forward, catching the faint noise we made in
our progress, and with one foot in advance, as if half inclined to fly
from our presence.
As we drew near, their alarm evidently increased. Apprehensive
that they might fly from us altogether, I stopped short and motioned
them to advance and receive the gift I extended towards them, but they
would not; I then uttered a few words of their language with which I
was acquainted, scarcely expecting that they would understand me,
but to show that we had not dropped from the clouds upon them. This
appeared to give them a little confidence, so I approached nearer,
presenting the cloth with one hand, and holding the bough with the
other, while they slowly retreated. At last they suffered us to
approach so near to them that we were enabled to throw the cotton
cloth across their shoulders, giving them to understand that it was
theirs, and by a variety of gestures endeavouring to make them
understand that we entertained the highest possible regard for them.
The frightened pair now stood still, whilst we endeavoured to make
them comprehend the nature of our wants. In doing this Toby went
through with a complete series of pantomimic illustrations- opening
his mouth from ear to ear, and thrusting his fingers down his
throat, gnashing his teeth and rolling his eyes about, till I verily
believe the poor creatures took us for a couple of white cannibals who
were about to make a meal of them. When, however, they understood
us, they showed no inclination to relieve our wants. At this
juncture it began to rain violently, and we motioned them to lead us
to some place of shelter. With this request they appeared willing to
comply, but nothing could evince more strongly the apprehension with
which they regarded us, than the way in which, whilst walking before
us, they kept their eyes constantly turned back to watch every
movement we made, and even our very looks.
"Typee or Happar, Toby?" asked I, as we walked after them.
"Of course, Happar," he replied, with a show of confidence which
was intended to disguise his doubts.
"We shall soon know," I exclaimed; and at the same moment I
stepped forward towards our guides, and pronouncing the two names
interrogatively, and pointing to the lowest part of the valley,
endeavoured to come to the point at once. They repeated the words
after me again and again, but without giving any peculiar emphasis
to either, so that I was completely at a loss to understand them;
for a couple of wilier young things than we afterwards found them to
have been on this particular occasion never probably fell in any
traveller's way.
More and more curious to ascertain our fate, I now threw
together in the form of a question the words "Happar" and "Mortarkee,"
the latter being equivalent to the word "good." The two natives
interchanged glances of peculiar meaning with one another at this, and
manifested no little surprise; but on the repetition of the
question, after some consultation together, to the great joy of
Toby, they answered in the affirmative. Toby was now in ecstasies,
especially as the young savages continued to reiterate their answer
with great energy, as though desirous of impressing us with the idea
that being among the Happars, we ought consider ourselves perfectly
secure.
Although I had some lingering doubts, I feigned great delight with
Toby at this announcement, while my companion broke out into a
pantomimic abhorrence of Typee, and immeasurable love for the
particular valley in which we were; our guides all the while gazing
uneasily at one another, as if at a loss to account for our conduct.
They hurried on, and we followed them; until suddenly they set
up a strange halloo, which was answered from beyond the grove
through which we were passing, and the next moment we entered upon
some open ground, at the extremity of which we descried a long, low
hut, and in front of it were several young girls. As soon as they
perceived us they fled with wild screams into the adjoining
thickets, so many startled fawns. A few moments after the whole valley
resounded with savage outcries, and the natives came running towards
us from every direction.
Had an army of invaders made an irruption into their territory,
they could not have evinced greater excitement. We were soon
completely encircled by a dense throng, and in their eager desire to
behold us, they almost arrested our progress; an equal number
surrounding our youthful guides, who, with amazing volubility,
appeared to be detailing the circumstances which had attended their
meeting with us. Every item of intelligence appeared to redouble the
astonishment of the islanders, and they gazed at us with inquiring
looks.
At last we reached a large and handsome building of bamboos, and
were by signs told to enter it, the natives opening a lane for us
through which to pass; on entering, without ceremony we threw our
exhausted frames upon the mats that covered the floor. In a moment the
slight tenement was completely full of people, whilst those who were
unable to obtain admittance gazed at us through its open cane-work.
It was now evening, and by the dim light we could just discern the
savage countenances around us, gleaming with wild curiosity and
wonder; the naked forms and tattooed limbs of brawny warriors, with
here and there the slighter figures of young girls, all engaged in a
perfect storm of conversation, of which we were of course the one only
theme; whilst our recent guides were fully occupied in answering the
innumerable questions which every one put to them. Nothing can
exceed the fierce gesticulation of these people when animated in
conversation, and on this occasion they gave loose to all their
natural vivacity, shouting and dancing about in a manner that
well-nigh intimidated us.
Close to where we lay, squatting upon their haunches, were some
eight or ten noble-looking chiefs- for such they subsequently proved
to be- who, more reserved than the rest, regarded us with a fixed
and stern attention, which not a little discomposed our equanimity.
One of them in particular, who appeared to be the highest in rank,
placed himself directly facing me, looking at me with a rigidity of
aspect under which I absolutely quailed. He never once opened his
lips, but maintained his severe expression of countenance, without
turning his face aside for a single moment. Never before had I been
subjected to so strange and steady a glance; it revealed nothing of
the mind of the savage, but it appeared to be reading my own.
After undergoing this scrutiny till I grew absolutely nervous,
with a view of diverting it if possible, and conciliating the good
opinion of the warrior, I took some tobacco from the bosom of my
frock, and offered it to him. He quietly rejected the proffered
gift, and, without speaking, motioned me to return it to its place.
In my previous intercourse with the natives of Nukuheva and
Tior, I had found that the present of a small piece of tobacco would
have rendered any of them devoted to my service. Was this act of the
chief a token of his enmity? Typee or Happar? I asked within myself. I
started, for at the same moment this identical question was asked by
the strange being before me. I turned to Toby; the flickering light of
a native taper showed me his countenance pale with trepidation at this
fatal question. I paused for a second, and I know not by what
impulse it was that I answered, "Typee." The piece of dusky statuary
nodded in approval, and then murmured, "Mortarkee?" "Mortarkee,"
said I, without further hesitation- "Typee mortarkee."
What a transition! The dark figures around us leaped to their
feet, clapped their hands in transport, and shouted again and again
the talismanic syllables, the utterance of which appeared to have
settled everything.
When this commotion had a little subsided, the principal chief
squatted once more before me, and throwing himself into a sudden rage,
poured forth a string of philippics, which I was at no loss to
understand, from the frequent recurrence of the word Happar, as
being directed against the natives of the adjoining valley. In all
these denunciations my companion and I acquiesced, while we extolled
the character of the warlike Typees. To be sure our panegyrics were
somewhat laconic, consisting in the repetition of that name, united
with the potent adjective, "Mortarkee." But this was sufficient, and
served to conciliate the good-will of the natives, with whom our
congeniality of sentiment on this point did more towards inspiring a
friendly feeling than anything else that could have happened.
At last the wrath of the chief evaporated, and in a few moments he
was as placid as ever. Laying his hand upon his breast, he gave me
to understand that his name was "Mehevi," and that, in return, he
wished me to communicate my appellation. I hesitated for an instant,
thinking that it might be difficult for him to pronounce my real name,
and then, with the most praiseworthy intentions, intimated that I
was known as "Tom." But I could not have made a worse selection; the
chief could not master it: "Tommo," "Tomma," "Tommee," everything
but plain "Tom." As he persisted in garnishing the word with an
additional syllable, I compromised the matter with him at the word
"Tommo"; and by that name I went during the entire period of my stay
in the valley. The same proceeding was gone through with Toby, whose
mellifluous appellation was more easily caught.
An exchange of names is equivalent to a ratification of
good-will and amity among these simple people; and as we were aware of
this fact, we were delighted that it had taken place on the present
occasion.
Reclining upon our mats, we now held a kind of levee, giving
audience to successive troops of the natives, who introduced
themselves to us by pronouncing their respective names, and retired in
high good humour on receiving ours in return. During the ceremony
the greatest merriment prevailed, nearly every announcement on the
part of the islanders being followed by a fresh sally of gaiety, which
induced me to believe that some of them at least were innocently
diverting the company at our expense, by bestowing upon themselves a
string of absurd titles, of the honour of which we were, of course,
entirely ignorant.
All this occupied about an hour, when the throng having a little
diminished, I turned to Mehevi, and gave him to understand that we
were in need of food and sleep. Immediately the attentive chief
addressed a few words to one of the crowd, who disappeared, and
returned in a few moments with a calabash of "poee-poee," and two or
three young cocoa-nuts stripped of their husks, and with their
shells partly broken. We both of us forthwith placed one of these
natural goblets to our lips, and drained it in a moment of the
refreshing draught it contained. The poee-poee was then placed
before us, and even famished as I was, I paused to consider in what
manner to convey it to my mouth.
This staple article of food among the Marquese islanders is
manufactured from the produce of the bread-fruit tree. It somewhat
resembles in its plastic nature our bookbinders' paste, is of a yellow
colour, and somewhat tart to the taste.
Such was the dish, the merits of which I was now eager to discuss.
I eyed it wistfully for a moment, and then, unable any longer to stand
on ceremony, plunged my hand into the yielding mass, and to the
boisterous mirth of the natives drew it forth laden with the
poee-poee, which adhered in lengthening strings to every finger. So
stubborn was its consistency, that in conveying my heavily-freighted
hand to my mouth, the connecting links almost raised the calabash from
the mats on which it had been placed. This display of awkwardness-
in which, by the bye, Toby kept me company- convulsed the bystanders
with uncontrollable laughter.
As soon as their merriment had somewhat subsided, Mehevi,
motioning us to be attentive, dipped the forefinger of his right
hand in the dish, and giving it a rapid and scientific twirl, drew
it out coated smoothly with the preparation. With a second peculiar
flourish he prevented the poee-poee from dropping to the ground as
he raised it to his mouth, into which the finger was inserted, and
drawn forth perfectly free from any adhesive matter. This
performance was evidently intended for our instruction; so I again
essayed the feat on the principles inculcated, but with ill success.
A starving man, however, little heeds conventional proprieties,
especially on a South Sea island, and accordingly Toby and I partook
of the dish after our own clumsy fashion, beplastering our faces all
over with the glutinous compound, and daubing our hands nearly to
the wrist. This kind of food is by no means disagreeable to the palate
of a European, though at first the mode of eating it may be. For my
own part, after the lapse of a few days I became accustomed to its
singular flavour, and grew remarkably fond of it.
So much for the first course; several other dishes followed it,
some of which were positively delicious. We concluded our banquet by
tossing off the contents of two more young cocoa-nuts, after which
we regaled ourselves with the soothing fumes of tobacco, inhaled
from a quaintly carved pipe which passed round the circle.
During the repast, the natives eyed us with intense curiosity,
observing our minutest motions, and appearing to discover abundant
matter for comment in the most trifling occurrence. Their surprise
mounted the highest, when we began to remove our uncomfortable
garments, which were saturated with rain. They scanned the whiteness
of our limbs, and seemed utterly unable to account for the contrast
they presented to the swarthy hue of our faces, embrowned from a six
months' exposure to the scorching sun of the Line. They felt our skin,
much in the same way that a silk mercer would handle a remarkably fine
piece of satin; and some of them went so far in their investigation as
to apply the olfactory organ.
Their singular behaviour almost led me to imagine that they
never before had beheld a white man; but a few moments' reflection
convinced me that this could not have been the case; and a more
satisfactory reason for their conduct has since suggested itself to my
mind.
Deterred by the frightful stories related of its inhabitants,
ships never enter this bay, while their hostile relations with the
tribes in the adjoining valleys prevent the Typees from visiting
that section of the island where vessels occasionally lie. At long
intervals, however, some intrepid captain will touch on the skirts
of the bay, with two or three armed boats' crews, and accompanied by
an interpreter. The natives who live near the sea descry the strangers
long before they reach their waters, and aware of the purpose for
which they come, proclaim loudly the news of their approach. By a
species of vocal telegraph the intelligence reaches the inmost
recesses of the vale in an inconceivably short space of time,
drawing nearly its whole population down to the beach laden with every
variety of fruit. The interpreter, who is invariably a "tabooed
Kannaka,"* leaps ashore with the goods intended for barter, while the
boats, with their oars shipped, and every man on his thwart, lie
just outside the surf, heading off from the shore, in readiness at the
first untoward event to escape to the open sea. As soon as the traffic
is concluded, one of the boats pulls in under cover of the muskets
of the others, the fruit is quickly thrown into her, and the transient
visitors precipitately retire from what they justly consider so
dangerous a vicinity.
* The word "kannaka" is at the present day universally used in
the South Sea by Europeans to designate the islanders. In the various
dialects of the principal groups it is simply a sexual designation
applied to the males; but it is now used by the natives in their
intercourse with foreigners in the same sense in which the latter
employ it.
A "tabooed kannaka" is an islander whose person has been made, to
a certain extent, sacred by the operation of a singular custom
hereafter to be explained.
The intercourse occurring with Europeans being so restricted, no
wonder that the inhabitants of the valley manifested so much curiosity
with regard to us, appearing as we did among them under such
singular circumstances. I have no doubt that we were the first white
men who ever penetrated thus far back into their territories, or at
least the first who had ever descended from the head of the vale. What
had brought us thither must have appeared a complete mystery to
them, and from our ignorance of the language it was impossible for
us to enlighten them. In answer to inquiries which the eloquence of
their gestures enabled us to comprehend, all that we could reply
was, that we had come from Nukuheva, a place, be it remembered, with
which they were at open war. This intelligence appeared to affect them
with the most lively emotions. "Nukuheva mortarkee?" they asked. Of
course we replied most energetically in the negative.
They then plied us with a thousand questions, of which we could
understand nothing more than that they had reference to the recent
movements of the French, against whom they seemed to cherish the
most fierce hatred. So eager were they to obtain information on this
point, that they still continued to propound their queries long
after we had shown that we were utterly unable to answer them.
Occasionally we caught some indistinct idea of their meaning, when
we would endeavour by every method in our power to communicate the
desired intelligence. At such times their gratification was boundless,
and they would redouble their efforts to make us comprehend them
more perfectly. But all in vain; and in the end they looked at us
despairingly, as if we were the receptacles of invaluable information,
but how to come at it they knew not.
After awhile the group around us gradually dispersed, and we
were left about midnight (as we conjectured) with those who appeared
to be permanent residents of the house. These individuals now provided
us with fresh mats to lie upon, covered us with several folds of
tappa, and then extinguishing the tapers that had been burning,
threw themselves down beside us, and after a little desultory
conversation were soon sound asleep.
CHAPTER X
MORNING VISITORS
VARIOUS and conflicting were the thoughts which oppressed me
during the silent hours that followed the events related in the
preceding chapter. Toby, wearied with the fatigues of the day,
slumbered heavily by my side; but the pain under which I was suffering
effectually prevented my sleeping, and I remained distressingly
alive to all the fearful circumstances of our present situation. Was
it possible that, after all our vicissitudes, we were really in the
terrible valley of Typee, and at the mercy of its inmates, a fierce
and unrelenting tribe of savages?
Typee or Happar? I shuddered when I reflected that there was no
longer any room for doubt; and that, beyond all hope of escape, we
were now placed in those very circumstances from the bare thought of
which I had recoiled with such abhorrence but a few days before.
What might not be our fearful destiny? To be sure, as yet, we had been
treated with no violence; nay, had been even kindly and hospitably
entertained. But what dependence could be placed upon the fickle
passions which sway the bosom of a savage? His inconstancy and
treachery are proverbial. Might it not be that, beneath these fair
appearances, the islanders covered some perfidious design, and that
their friendly reception of us might only precede some horrible
catastrophe? How strongly did these forebodings spring up in my
mind, as I lay restlessly upon a couch of mats, surrounded by the
dimly-revealed forms of those whom I so greatly dreaded.
From the excitement of these fearful thoughts, I sank, towards
morning, into an uneasy slumber; and on awaking, with a start, in
the midst of an appalling dream, looked up into the eager countenances
of a number of the natives, who were bending over me.
It was broad day; and the house was nearly filled with young
females, fancifully decorated with flowers, who gazed upon me as I
rose with faces in which childish delight and curiosity were vividly
portrayed. After waking Toby, they seated themselves round us on the
mats, and gave full play to that prying inquisitiveness which, time
out of mind, has been attributed to the adorable sex.
As these unsophisticated young creatures were attended by no
jealous duennas, their proceedings were altogether informal, and
void of artificial restraint. Long and minute was the investigation
with which they honoured us, and so uproarious their mirth, that I
felt infinitely sheepish; and Toby was immeasurably outraged at
their familiarity.
These lively young ladies were at the same time wonderfully polite
and humane; fanning aside the insects that occasionally lighted on our
brows; presenting us with food; and compassionately regarding me in
the midst of my afflictions. But in spite of all their
blandishments, my feelings of propriety were exceedingly shocked,
for I could not but consider them as having overstepped the due limits
of female decorum.
Having diverted themselves to their hearts' content, our young
visitants now withdrew, and gave place to successive troops of the
other sex, who continued flocking towards the house until near noon;
by which time I have no doubt that the greater part of the inhabitants
of the valley had bathed themselves in the light of our benignant
countenances.
At last, when their numbers began to diminish, a superb-looking
warrior stooped the towering plumes of his head-dress beneath the
low portal, and entered the house. I saw at once that he was some
distinguished personage, the natives regarding him with the utmost
deference, and making room for him as he approached. His aspect was
imposing. The splendid long drooping tail-feathers of the tropical
bird, thickly interspersed with the gaudy plumage of the cock, were
disposed in an immense upright semicircle upon his head, their lower
extremities being fixed in a crescent of guinea-beads which spanned
the forehead. Around his neck were several enormous necklaces of
boar's tusks, polished like ivory, and disposed in such a manner as
that the longest and largest were upon his capacious chest. Thrust
forward through the large apertures in his ears were two small and
finely shaped sperm-whale teeth, presenting their cavities in front,
stuffed with freshly-plucked leaves, and curiously wrought at the
other end into strange little images and devices. These barbaric
trinkets, garnished in this manner at their open extremities, and
tapering and curving round to a point behind the ear, resembled not
a little a pair of cornucopias.
The loins of the warrior were girt about with heavy folds of a
dark-coloured tappa, hanging before and behind in clusters of
braided tassels, while anklets and bracelets of curling human hair
completed his unique costume. In his right hand he grasped a
beautifully-carved paddle-spear, nearly fifteen feet in length, made
of the bright koar-wood, one end sharply pointed, and the other
flattened like an oar-blade. Hanging obliquely from his girdle by a
loop of sinnate, was a richly-decorated pipe; the slender reed forming
its stem was coloured with a red pigment, and round it, as well as the
idol-bowl, fluttered little streamers of the thinnest tappa.
But that which was most remarkable in the appearance of this
splendid islander, was the elaborate tattooing displayed on every
noble limb. All imaginable lines and curves and figures were
delineated over his whole body, and in their grotesque variety and
infinite profusion, I could only compare them to the crowded groupings
of quaint patterns we sometimes see in costly pieces of lace-work. The
most simple and remarkable of all these ornaments was that which
decorated the countenance of the chief. Two broad stripes of
tattooing, diverging from the centre of his shaven crown, obliquely
crossed both eyes- staining the lids- to a little below either ear,
where they united with another stripe, which swept in a straight
line along the lips, and formed the base of the triangle. The warrior,
from the excellence of his physical proportions, might certainly
have been regarded as one of nature's noblemen, and the lines drawn
upon his face may possibly have denoted his exalted rank.
This warlike personage, upon entering the house, seated himself at
some distance from the spot where Toby and myself reposed, while the
rest of the savages looked alternately from us to him, as if in
expectation of something they were disappointed in not perceiving.
Regarding the chief attentively, I thought his lineaments appeared
familiar to me. As soon as his full face was turned upon me, and I
again beheld its extraordinary embellishment, and met the strange gaze
to which I had been subjected the preceding night, I immediately, in
spite of the alteration in his appearance, recognised the noble
Mehevi. On addressing him, he advanced at once in the most cordial
manner, and greeting me warmly, seemed to enjoy not a little the
effect his barbaric costume had produced upon me.
I forthwith determined to secure, if possible, the goodwill of
this individual, as I easily perceived he was a man of great authority
in his tribe, and one who might exert a powerful influence upon our
subsequent fate. In the endeavour I was not repulsed; for nothing
could surpass the friendliness he manifested towards both my companion
and myself. He extended his sturdy limbs by our side, and
endeavoured to make us comprehend the full extent of the kindly
feelings by which he was actuated. The almost insuperable difficulty
in communicating to one another our ideas, affected the chief with
no little mortification. He evinced a great desire to be enlightened
with regard to the customs and peculiarities of the far-off country we
had left behind us, and to which, under the name of Maneeka, he
frequently alluded.
But that which more than any other subject engaged his
attention, was the late proceedings of the "Franee," as he called
the French, in the neighbouring bay of Nukuheva. This seemed a
never-ending theme with him, and one concerning which he was never
weary of interrogating us. All the information we succeeded in
imparting to him on this subject was little more than that we had seen
six men-of-war lying in the hostile bay at the time we had left it.
When he received this intelligence, Mehevi, by the aid of his fingers,
went through a long numerical calculation, as if estimating the number
of Frenchmen the squadron might contain.
It was just after employing his faculties in this way that he
happened to notice the swelling in my limb. He immediately examined it
with the utmost attention, and after doing so, despatched a boy, who
happened to be standing by, with some message.
After the lapse of a few moments the stripling re-entered the
house with an aged islander, who might have been taken for old
Hippocrates himself. His head was as bald as the polished surface of a
cocoa-nut shell, which article it precisely resembled in smoothness
and colour, while a long silvery beard swept almost to his girdle of
bark. Encircling his temples was a bandeau of the twisted leaves of
the Omoo tree, pressed closely over the brows to shield his feeble
vision from the glare of the sun. His tottering steps were supported
by a long slim staff, resembling the wand with which a theatrical
magician appears on the stage, and in one hand he carried a
freshly-plaited fan of the green leaflets of the cocoa-nut tree. A
flowing robe of tappa, knotted over the shoulder, hung loosely round
his stooping form, and heightened the venerableness of his aspect.
Mehevi, saluting this old gentleman, motioned him to a seat
between us, and then uncovering my limb, desired him to examine it.
The leech gazed intently from me to Toby, and then proceeded to
business. After diligently observing the ailing member, he commenced
manipulating it; and on the supposition probably that the complaint
had deprived the leg of all sensation, began to pinch and hammer it in
such a manner that I absolutely roared with the pain. Thinking that
I was as capable of making an application of thumps and pinches to the
part as any one else, I endeavoured to resist this species of
medical treatment. But it was not so easy a matter to get out of the
clutches of the old wizard; he fastened on the unfortunate limb as
if it were something for which he had been long seeking, and muttering
some kind of incantation continued his discipline, pounding it after a
fashion that set me well-nigh crazy; while Mehevi, upon the same
principle which prompts an affectionate mother to hold a struggling
child in a dentist's chair, restrained me in his powerful grasp, and
actually encouraged the wretch in this infliction of torture.
Almost frantic with rage and pain, I yelled like a bedlamite;
while Toby, throwing himself into all the attitudes of a
posture-master, vainly endeavoured to expostulate with the natives
by signs and gestures. To have looked at my companion, as,
sympathizing with my sufferings, he strove to put an end to them,
one would have thought that he was the deaf and dumb alphabet
incarnated. Whether my tormentor yielded to Toby's entreaties, or
paused from sheer exhaustion, I do not know; but all at once he ceased
his operations, and at the same time the chief relinquishing his
hold upon me, I fell back, faint and breathless with the agony I had
endured.
My unfortunate limb was now left much in the same condition as a
rump-steak after undergoing the castigating process which precedes
cooking. My physician, having recovered from the fatigues of his
exertions, as if anxious to make amends for the pain to which he had
subjected me, now took some herbs out of a little wallet that was
suspended from his waist, and moistening them in water, applied them
to the inflamed part, stooping over it at the same time, and either
whispering a spell or having a little confidential chat with some
imaginary demon located in the calf of my leg. My limb was now swathed
in leafy bandages, and grateful to Providence for the cessation of
hostilities, I was suffered to rest.
Mehevi shortly after rose to depart; but before he went he spoke
authoritatively to one of the natives, whom he addressed as Kory-Kory;
and from the little I could understand of what took place, pointed him
out to me as a man whose peculiar business thenceforth would be to
attend upon my person. I am not certain that I comprehended as much as
this at the time, but the subsequent conduct of my trusty body-servant
fully assured me that such must have been the case.
I could not but be amused at the manner in which the chief
addressed me upon this occasion, talking to me for at least fifteen or
twenty minutes as calmly as if I could understand every word that he
said. I remarked this peculiarity very often afterwards in many
other of the islanders.
Mehevi having now departed, and the family physician having
likewise made his exit, we were left about sunset with the ten or
twelve natives, who by this time I had ascertained composed the
household of which Toby and I were members. As the dwelling to which
we had been first introduced was the place of my permanent abode while
I remained in the valley, and as I was necessarily placed upon the
most intimate footing with its occupants, I may as well here enter
into a little description of it and its inhabitants. This
description will apply also to nearly all the other dwelling-places in
the vale, and will furnish some idea of the generality of the natives.
Near one side of the valley, and about midway up the ascent of a
rather abrupt rise of ground waving with the richest verdure, a number
of large stones were laid in successive courses, to the height of
nearly eight feet, and disposed in such a manner that their level
surface corresponded in shape with the habitation which was perched
upon it. A narrow space, however, was reserved in front of the
dwelling, upon the summit of this pile of stones (called by the
natives a "pi-pi"), which, being enclosed by a little picket of canes,
gave it somewhat the appearance of a verandah. The frame of the
house was constructed of large bamboos planted uprightly, and
secured together at intervals by transverse stalks of the light wood
of the Habiscus, lashed with thongs of bark. The rear of the tenement-
built up with successive ranges of cocoa-nut boughs bound one upon
another, with their leaflets cunningly woven together- inclined a
little from the vertical, and extended from the extreme edge of the
"pi-pi" to about twenty feet from its surface; whence the shelving
roof- thatched with the long tapering leaves of the palmetto- sloped
steeply off to within about five feet of the floor; leaving the
eaves drooping with tassel-like appendages over the front of the
habitation. This was constructed of light and elegant canes, in a kind
of open screen-work, tastefully adorned with bindings of variegated
sinnate, which served to hold together its various parts. The sides of
the house were similarly built; thus presenting three-quarters for the
circulation of the air, while the whole was impervious to the rain.
In length this picturesque building was perhaps twelve yards,
while in breadth it could not have exceeded as many feet. So much
for the exterior; which, with its wire-like reed-twisted sides, not
a little reminded me of an immense aviary.
Stooping a little, you passed through a narrow aperture in its
front; and facing you, on entering, lay two long, perfectly
straight, and well-polished trunks of the cocoa-nut tree, extending
the full length of the dwelling; one of them placed closely against
the rear, and the other lying parallel with it some two yards distant,
the interval between them being spread with a multitude of
gaily-worked mats, nearly all of a different pattern. This space
formed the common couch and lounging-place of the natives, answering
the purpose of a divan in Oriental countries. Here would they
slumber through the hours of the night, and recline luxuriously during
the greater part of the day. The remainder of the floor presented only
the cool shining surfaces of the large stones of which the "pi-pi" was
composed.
From the ridge-pole of the house hung suspended a number of
large packages enveloped in coarse tappa; some of which contained
festival dresses, and various other matters of the wardrobe, held in
high estimation. These were easily accessible by means of a line,
which, passing over the ridge-pole, had one end attached to a
bundle, while with the other, led to the side of the dwelling and
was there secured, the package could be lowered or elevated at
pleasure.
Against the farther wall of the house were arranged in tasteful
figures a variety of spears and javelins, and other implements of
savage warfare. Outside of the habitation, and built upon the
piazza-like area in its front, was a little shed used as a sort of
larder or pantry, and in which were stored various articles of
domestic use and convenience. A few yards from the pi-pi was a large
shed built of cocoa-nut boughs, where the process of preparing the
"poee-poee" was carried on, and all culinary operations attended to.
Thus much for the house, and its appurtenances; and it will be
readily acknowledged that a more commodious and appropriate dwelling
for the climate and the people could not possibly be devised. It was
cool, free to admit the air, scrupulously clean, and elevated above
the dampness and impurities of the ground.
But now to sketch the inmates; and here I claim for my tried
servitor and faithful valet Kory-Kory the precedence of a first
description. As his character will be gradually unfolded in the course
of my narrative, I shall for the present content myself with
delineating his personal appearance. Kory-Kory, though the most
devoted and best-natured serving-man in the world, was, alas! a
hideous object to look upon. He was some twenty-five years of age, and
about six feet in height, robust and well made, and of the most
extraordinary aspect. His head was carefully shaven, with the
exception of two circular spots, about the size of a dollar, near
the top of the cranium, where the hair, permitted to grow of an
amazing length, was twisted up in two prominent knots, that gave him
the appearance of being decorated with a pair of horns. His beard,
plucked out by the root from every other part of his face, was
suffered to droop in hairy pendants, two of which garnished his
upper lip, and an equal number hung from the extremity of his chin.
Kory-Kory, with the view of improving the handiwork of nature, and
perhaps prompted by a desire to add to the engaging expression of
his countenance, had seen fit to embellish his face with three broad
longitudinal stripes of tattooing, which, like those country roads
that go straight forward in defiance of all obstacles, crossed his
nasal organ, descended into the hollow of his eyes, and even skirted
the borders of his mouth. Each completely spanned his physiognomy; one
extending in a line with his eyes, another crossing the face in the
vicinity of the nose, and the third sweeping along his lips from ear
to ear. His countenance thus triply hooped, as it were, with
tattooing, always reminded me of those unhappy wretches whom I have
sometimes observed gazing out sentimentally from behind the grated
bars of a prison window; whilst the entire body of my savage valet,
covered all over with representations of birds and fishes, and a
variety of most unaccountable-looking creatures, suggested to me the
idea of a pictorial museum of natural history, or an illustrated
copy of Goldsmith's Animated Nature.
But it seems really heartless in me to write thus of the poor
islander, when I owe perhaps to his unremitting attentions the very
existence I now enjoy. Kory-Kory, I mean thee no harm in what I say in
regard to thy outward adornings; but they were a little curious to
my unaccustomed sight, and therefore I dilate upon them. But to
underrate or forget thy faithful services is something I could never
be guilty of, even in the giddiest moment of my life.
The father of my attached follower was a native of gigantic frame,
and had once possessed prodigious physical powers; but the lofty
form was now yielding to the inroads of time, though the hand of
disease seemed never to have been laid upon the aged warrior. Marheyo-
for such was his name- appeared to have retired from all active
participation in the affairs of the valley, seldom or never
accompanying the natives in their various expeditions; and employing
the greater part of his time in throwing up a little shed just outside
the house, upon which he was engaged to my certain knowledge for
four months, without appearing to make any sensible advance. I suppose
the old gentleman was in his dotage, for he manifested in various ways
the characteristics which mark this particular stage of life.
I remember in particular his having a choice pair of
ear-ornaments, fabricated from the teeth of some sea-monster. These he
would alternately wear and take off at least fifty times in the course
of the day, going and coming from his little hut on each occasion with
all the tranquility imaginable. Sometimes slipping them through the
slits in his ears, he would seize his spear- which in length and
slightness resembled a fishing pole- and go stalking beneath the
shadows of the neighbouring groves, as if about to give a hostile
meeting to some cannibal knight. But he would soon return again, and
hiding his weapon under the projecting eaves of the house, and rolling
his clumsy trinkets carefully in a piece of tappa, would resume his
more pacific operations as quietly as if he had never interrupted
them.
But despite his eccentricities, Marheyo was a most paternal and
warm-hearted old fellow, and in this particular not a little resembled
his son Kory-Kory. The mother of the latter was the mistress of the
family, and a notable housewife, and a most industrious old lady she
was. If she did not understand the art of making jellies, jams,
custards, tea-cakes, and such like trashy affairs, she was
profoundly skilled in the mysteries of preparing "amar,"
"poee-poee," and "kokoo," with other substantial matters. She was a
genuine busy-body; bustling about the house like a country landlady at
an unexpected arrival; for ever giving the young girls tasks to
perform, which the little hussies as often neglected; poking into
every corner, and rummaging over bundles of old tappa, or making a
prodigious clatter among the calabashes. Sometimes she might have been
seen squatting upon her haunches in front of a huge wooden basin,
and kneading poee-poee with terrific vehemence, dashing the stone
pestle about as if she would shiver the vessel into fragments: on
other occasions, galloping about the valley in search of a
particular kind of leaf, used in some of her recondite operations, and
returning home, toiling and sweating, with a bundle, under which
most women would have sunk.
To tell the truth, Kory-Kory's mother was the only industrious
person in all the valley of Typee; and she could not have employed
herself more actively had she been left an exceedingly muscular and
destitute widow, with an inordinate supply of young children, in the
bleakest part of the civilized world. There was not the slightest
necessity for the greater portion of the labour performed by the old
lady: but she seemed to work from some irresistible impulse; her limbs
continually swaying to and fro, as if there were some indefatigable
engine concealed within her body which kept her in perpetual motion.
Never suppose that she was a termagant or a shrew for all this:
she had the kindliest heart in the world, and acted towards me in
particular in a truly maternal manner, occasionally putting some
little morsel of choice food into my hand, some outlandish kind of
savage sweetmeat or pastry, like a doting mother petting a sickly
urchin with tarts and sugar-plums. Warm indeed are my remembrances
of the dear, good, affectionate old Tinor!
Besides the individuals I have mentioned, there belonged to the
household three young men, dissipated, good-for-nothing, roystering
blades of savages, who were either employed in prosecuting love
affairs with the maidens of the tribe, or grew boozy on "arva" and
tobacco in the company of congenial spirits, the scapegraces of the
valley.
Among the permanent inmates of the house were likewise several
lovely damsels, who instead of thrumming pianos and reading novels,
like more enlightened young ladies, substituted for these
employments the manufacture of fine species of tappa; but for the
greater portion of the time were skipping from house to house, gadding
and gossiping with their acquaintances.
From the rest of these, however, I must except the beauteous nymph
Fayaway, who was my peculiar favourite. Her free pliant figure was the
very perfection of female grace and beauty. Her complexion was a
rich and mantling olive, and when watching the glow upon her cheeks
I could almost swear that beneath the transparent medium there
lurked the blushes of a faint vermilion. The face of this girl was a
rounded oval, and each feature as perfectly formed as the heart or
imagination of man could desire. Her full lips, when parted with a
smile, disclosed teeth of a dazzling whiteness; and when her rosy
mouth opened with a burst of merriment, they looked like the
milk-white seeds of the "arta," a fruit of the valley, which, when
cleft in twain, shows them reposing in rows on either side, embedded
in the red and juicy pulp. Her hair of the deepest brown, parted
irregularly in the middle, flowed in natural ringlets over her
shoulders, and whenever she chanced to stoop, fell over and hid from
view her lovely bosom. Gazing into the depths of her strange blue
eyes, when she was in a contemplative mood, they seemed most placid
yet unfathomable; but when illuminated by some lively emotion, they
beamed upon the beholder like stars. The hands of Fayaway were as soft
and delicate as those of any countess; for an entire exemption from
rude labour marks the girlhood and even prime of a Typee woman's life.
Her feet, though wholly exposed, were as diminutive and fairly
shaped as those which peep from beneath the skirts of a Lima lady's
dress. The skin of this young creature, from continual ablutions and
the use of mollifying ointments, was inconceivably smooth and soft.
I may succeed, perhaps, in particularizing some of the
individual features of Fayaway's beauty, but that general loveliness
of appearance which they all contributed to produce I will not attempt
to describe. The easy unstudied graces of a child of nature like this,
breathing from infancy an atmosphere of perpetual summer, and nurtured
by the simple fruits of the earth; enjoying a perfect freedom from
care and anxiety, and removed effectually from all injurious
tendencies, strike the eye in a manner which cannot be portrayed. This
picture is no fancy sketch; it is drawn from the most vivid
recollections of the person delineated.
Were I asked if the beauteous form of Fayaway was altogether
free from the hideous blemish of tattooing, I should be constrained to
answer that it was not. But the practitioners of this barbarous art,
so remorseless in their inflictions upon the brawny limbs of the
warriors of the tribe, seem to be conscious that it needs not the
resources of their profession to augment the charms of the maidens
of the vale.
The females are very little embellished in this way, and
Fayaway, and all the other young girls of her age, were even less so
than those of their sex more advanced in years. The reason of this
peculiarity will be alluded to hereafter. All the tattooing that the
nymph in question exhibited upon her person may be easily described.
Three minute dots, no bigger than pinheads, decorated either lip,
and at a little distance were not at all discernible. Just upon the
fall of the shoulder were drawn two parallel lines half an inch apart,
and perhaps three inches in length, the interval being filled with
delicately executed figures. These narrow bands of tattooing, thus
placed, always reminded me of those stripes of gold lace worn by
officers in undress, and which are in lieu of epaulettes to denote
their rank.
Thus much was Fayaway tattooed. The audacious hand which had
gone so far in its desecrating work stopping short, apparently wanting
the heart to proceed.
But I have omitted to describe the dress worn by this nymph of the
valley.
Fayaway- I must avow the fact- for the most part clung to the
primitive and summer garb of Eden. But how becoming the costume! It
showed her fine figure to the best possible advantage; and nothing
could have been better adapted to her peculiar style of beauty. On
ordinary occasions she was habited precisely as I have described the
two youthful savages whom we had met on first entering the valley.
At other times, when rambling among the groves, or visiting at the
houses of her acquaintances, she wore a tunic of white tappa, reaching
from her waist to a little below the knees; and when exposed for any
length of time to the sun, she invariably protected herself from its
rays by a floating mantle of the same material, loosely gathered about
the person. Her gala dress will be described hereafter.
As the beauties of our own land delight in bedecking themselves
with fanciful articles of jewelery, them from their ears, hanging them
about their necks, and clasping them around their wrists; so Fayaway
and her companions were in the habit of ornamenting themselves with
similar appendages.
Flora was their jeweller. Sometimes they wore necklaces of small
carnation flowers, strung like rubies upon a fibre of tappa, or
displayed in their ears a single white bud, the stem thrust backward
through the aperture, and showing in front the delicate petals
folded together in a beautiful sphere, and looking like a drop of
the purest pearl. Chaplets, too, resembling in their arrangement the
strawberry coronal worn by an English peeress, and composed of
intertwined leaves and blossoms, often crowned their temples; and
bracelets and anklets of the same tasteful pattern were frequently
to be seen. Indeed, the maidens of the island were passionately fond
of flowers, and never wearied of decorating their persons with them; a
lovely trait in their character, and one that ere long will be more
fully alluded to.
Though in my eyes, at least, Fayaway was indisputably the
loveliest female I saw in Typee, yet the description I have given of
her will in some measure apply to nearly all the youthful portion of
her sex in the valley. Judge ye then, reader, what beautiful creatures
they must have been.
CHAPTER XI
TERRORS IN THE TABOO GROVES
WHEN Mehevi had departed from the house, as related in the
preceding chapter, Kory-Kory commenced the functions of the post
assigned him. He brought us various kinds of food; and, as if I were
an infant, insisted upon feeding me with his own hands. To this
procedure I, of course, most earnestly objected, but in vain; and
having laid a calabash of kokoo before me, he washed his fingers in
a vessel of water, and then putting his hand into the dish, and
rolling the food into little balls, put them one after another into my
mouth. All my remonstrances against this measure only provoked so
great a clamour on his part, that I was obliged to acquiesce; and
the operation of feeding being thus facilitated, the meal was
quickly despatched. As for Toby, he was allowed to help himself
after his own fashion.
The repast over, my attendant arranged the mats for repose, and,
bidding me lie down, covered me with a large robe of tappa, at the
same time looking approvingly upon me, and exclaiming "Ki-Ki, muee
muee, ah! moee moee mortarkee," (eat plenty, ah! sleep very good.) The
philosophy of this sentiment I did not pretend to question; for
deprived of sleep for several preceding nights, and the pain in my
limb having much abated, I now felt inclined to avail myself of the
opportunity afforded me.
The next morning, on waking, I found Kory-Kory stretched out on
one side of me, while my companion lay upon the other. I felt sensibly
refreshed after a night of sound repose, and immediately agreed to the
proposition of my valet that I should repair to the water and wash,
although dreading the suffering that the exertion might produce.
From this apprehension, however, I was quickly relieved; for
Kory-Kory, leaping from the pi-pi, and then backing himself up against
it, like a porter in readiness to shoulder a trunk, with loud
vociferations, and a superabundance of gestures, gave me to understand
that I was to mount upon his back, and be thus transported to the
stream, which flowed perhaps two hundred yards from the house.
Our appearance upon the verandah in front of the habitation drew
together quite a crowd, who stood looking on, and conversing with
one another in the most animated manner. They reminded one of a
group of idlers gathered about the door of a village tavern, when
the equipage of some distinguished traveller is brought round previous
to his departure. As soon as I clasped my arms about the neck of the
devoted fellow, and he jogged off with me, the crowd- composed chiefly
of young girls and boys- followed after, shouting and capering with
infinite glee, and accompanied us to the banks of the stream.
On gaining it, Kory-Kory, wading up to his hips in the water,
carried me half-way across, and deposited me on a smooth black
stone, which rose a few inches above the surface. The amphibious
rabble at our heels plunged in after us; and, climbing to the summit
of the grass-grown rocks, with which the bed of the brook was here and
there broken, waited curiously to witness our morning ablutions. I
felt somewhat embarrassed by the presence of the female portion of the
company, but, nevertheless, removed my frock, and washed myself down
to my waist in the stream. As soon as Kory-Kory comprehended from my
motions that this was to be the extent of my performance, he
appeared perfectly aghast with astonishment, and rushing towards me,
poured out a torrent of words in eager deprecation of so limited an
operation, enjoining me by unmistakable signs to immerse my whole
body. To this I was forced to consent; and the honest fellow regarding
me as a froward, inexperienced child, whom it was his duty to serve at
the risk of offending, lifted me from the rock, and tenderly bathed my
limbs. This over, and resuming my seat, I could not avoid bursting
into admiration of the scene around me.
From the verdant surfaces of the large stones that lay scattered
about, the natives were now sliding off into the water, diving and
ducking beneath the surface in all directions; the young girls
springing buoyantly into the air, with their long tresses dancing
about their shoulders, their eyes sparkling like drops of dew in the
sun, and their gay laughter pealing forth at every frolicsome
incident.
On the afternoon of the day that I took my first bath in the
valley, we received another visit from Mehevi. The noble savage seemed
to be in the same pleasant mood, and was quite as cordial in his
manner as before. After remaining about an hour, he rose from the
mats, and motioning to leave the house, invited Toby and myself to
accompany him. I pointed to my leg; but Mehevi in his turn pointed
to Kory-Kory, and removed that objection; so, mounting upon the
faithful fellow's shoulders again- like the old man of the sea astride
of Sinbad- I followed after the chief.
The nature of the route we now pursued struck me more forcibly
than anything I had yet seen, as illustrating the indolent disposition
of the islanders. The path was obviously the most beaten one in the
valley, several others leading from either side into it, and perhaps
for successive generations it had formed the principal avenue of the
place. And yet, until I grew more familiar with its impediments, it
seemed as difficult to travel as the recesses of a wilderness. Part of
it swept around an abrupt rise of ground, the surface of which was
broken by frequent inequalities, and thickly strewn with projecting
masses of rocks, whose summits were often hidden from view by the
drooping foliage of the luxurious vegetation. Sometimes directly over,
sometimes evading these obstacles with a wide circuit, the path
wound along- one moment climbing over a sudden eminence, smooth with
continued wear, then descending on the other side, into a steep
glen, and crossing the flinty channel of a brook. Here it pursued
the depths of a glade, occasionally obliging you to stoop beneath vast
horizontal branches; and now you stepped over huge trunks and boughs
that lay rotting across the track.
Such was the grand thoroughfare of Typee. After proceeding a
little distance along it- Kory-Kory panting and blowing with the
weight of his burden- I dismounted from his back, and grasping the
long spear of Mehevi in my hand, assisted my steps over the numerous
obstacles of the road; preferring this mode of advance to one which,
from the difficulties of the way, was equally painful to myself and my
wearied servitor.
Our journey was soon at an end; for, scaling a sudden height, we
came abruptly upon the place of our destination. I wish that it were
possible to sketch in words this spot as vividly as I recollect it.
Here were situated the Taboo groves of the valley- the scene of
many a prolonged feast, of many a horrid rite. Beneath die dark
shadows of the consecrated bread-fruit trees there reigned a solemn
twilight- a cathedral-like gloom. The frightful genius of pagan
worship seemed to brood in silence over the place, breathing its spell
upon every object around. Here and there, in the depths of these awful
shades, half screened from sight by masses of overhanging foliage,
rose the idolatrous altars of the savages, built of enormous blocks of
black and polished stone, placed one upon another, without cement,
to the height of twelve or fifteen feet, and surmounted by a rustic
open temple, enclosed with a low picket of canes, within which might
be seen, in various stages of decay, offerings of bread-fruit and
cocoa-nuts, and the putrefying relics of some recent sacrifice.
In the midst of the wood was the hallowed "hoolah hoolah"
ground- set apart for the celebration of the fantastical religious
ritual of these people- comprising an extensive oblong pi-pi,
terminating at either end in a lofty terraced altar, guarded by
ranks of hideous wooden idols, and with the two remaining sides
flanked by ranges of bamboo sheds, opening towards the interior of the
quadrangle thus formed. Vast trees, standing in the middle of this
space, and throwing over it an umbrageous shade, had their massive
trunks built round with slight stages, elevated a few feet above the
ground, and railed in with canes, forming so many rustic pulpits, from
which the priests harangued their devotees.
This holiest of spots was defended from profanation by the
strictest edicts of the all-pervading "taboo," condemned to instant
death the sacrilegious female who should enter or touch its sacred
precincts, or even so much as press with her feet the ground made holy
by the shadows that it cast.
Access was had to the enclosure through an embowered entrance on
one side, facing a number of towering cocoa-nut trees, planted at
intervals along a level area of a hundred yards. At the farther
extremity of this space was to be seen a building of considerable
size, reserved for the habitation of the priests and religious
attendants of the grove.
In its vicinity was another remarkable edifice, built as usual
upon the summit of a pi-pi, and at least two hundred feet in length,
though not more than twenty in breadth. The whole front of this latter
structure was completely open, and from one end to the other ran a
narrow verandah, fenced in on the edge of the pi-pi with a picket of
canes. Its interior presented the appearance of an immense
lounging-place, the entire floor being strewn with successive layers
of mats, lying between parallel trunks of cocoa-nut trees, selected
for the purpose from the straightest and most symmetrical the vale
afforded.
To this building, denominated in the language of the natives,
the "Ti," Mehevi now conducted us. Thus far we had been accompanied by
a troop of the natives of both sexes; but as soon as we approached its
vicinity, the females gradually separated themselves from the crowd,
and standing aloof, permitted us to pass on. The merciless
prohibitions of the taboo extended likewise to this edifice, and
were enforced by the same dreadful penalty that secured the hoolah
hoolah ground from the imaginary pollution of a woman's presence.
On entering the house, I was surprised to see six muskets ranged
against the bamboo on one side, from the barrels of which depended
as many small canvas pouches, partly filled with powder. Disposed
about these muskets, like the cutlasses that decorate the bulkhead
of a man-of-war's cabin, were a great variety of rude spears and
paddles, javelins, and war-clubs. This then, said I to Toby, must be
the armoury of the tribe.
As we advanced farther along the building, we were struck with the
aspect of four or five hideous old wretches, on whose decrepit forms
time and tattooing seemed to have obliterated every trace of humanity.
Owing to the continued operation of this latter process, which only
terminates among the warriors of the island after all the figures
stretched upon their limbs in youth have been blended together- an
effect, however, produced only in cases of extreme longevity- the
bodies of these men were of a uniform dull green colour- the hue which
the tattooing gradually assumes as the individual advances in age.
Their skin had a frightful scaly appearance, which, united with its
singular colour, made their limbs not a little resemble dusty
specimens of verde-antique. Their flesh, in parts, hung upon them in
huge folds, like the overlapping plaits on the flank of a
rhinoceros. Their heads were completely bald, whilst their faces
were puckered into a thousand wrinkles, and they presented no
vestige of a beard. But the most remarkable peculiarity about them was
the appearance of their feet; the toes, like the radiating lines of
the mariner's compass, pointed to every quarter of the horizon. This
was doubtless attributable to the fact, that during nearly a hundred
years of existence the said toes never had been subjected to any
artificial confinement, and in their old age, being averse to close
neighbourhood, bid one another keep open order.
These repulsive-looking creatures appeared to have lost the use of
their lower limbs altogether; sitting upon the floor cross-legged,
in a state of torpor. They never heeded us in the least, scarcely
looking conscious of our presence, while Mehevi seated us upon the
mats, and Kory-Kory gave utterance to some unintelligible gibberish.
In a few moments, a boy entered with a wooden trencher of
poee-poee; and in regaling myself with its contents, I was obliged
again to submit to the officious intervention of my indefatigable
servitor. Various other dishes followed, the chief manifesting the
most hospitable importunity in pressing us to partake, and to remove
all bashfulness on our part, set us no despicable example in his own
person.
The repast concluded, a pipe was lighted, which passed from
mouth to mouth, and yielding to its soporific influence, the quiet
of the place, and the deepening shadows of approaching night, my
companion and I sank into a kind of drowsy repose, while the chief and
Kory-Kory seemed to be slumbering beside us.
I awoke from an uneasy nap, about midnight, as I supposed; and,
raising myself partly from the mat, became sensible that we were
enveloped in utter darkness. Toby lay still asleep, but our late
companions had disappeared. The only sound that interrupted the
silence of the place was the asthmatic breathing of the old men I have
mentioned, who reposed at a little distance from us. Besides them,
as well as I could judge, there was no one else in the house.
Apprehensive of some evil, I roused my comrade, and we were
engaged in a whispered conference concerning the unexpected withdrawal
of the natives, when all at once, from the depths of the grove, in
full view of us where we lay, shoots of flame were seen to rise, and
in a few moments illuminated the surrounding trees, casting, by
contrast, into still deeper gloom the darkness around us.
While we continued gazing at this sight, dark figures appeared
moving to and fro before the flames; while others, dancing and
capering about, looked like so many demons.
Regarding this new phenomenon with no small degree of trepidation,
I said to my companion, "What can all this mean, Toby?"
"Oh, nothing," replied he; "getting the fire ready, I suppose."
"Fire!" exclaimed I, while my heart took to beating like a
trip-hammer, "what fire?"
"Why, the fire to cook us, to be sure; what else would the
cannibals be kicking up such a row about, if it were not for that?"
"Oh, Toby! have done with your jokes; this is no time for them:
something is about to happen, I feel confident."
"Jokes, indeed!" exclaimed Toby, indignantly. "Did you ever hear
me joke? Why, for what do you suppose the devils have been feeding
us up in this kind of style during the last three days, unless it were
for something that you are too much frightened at to talk about?
Look at that Kory-Kory there!- has he not been stuffing you with his
confounded mushes, just in the way they treat swine before they kill
them? Depend upon it, we will be eaten this blessed night, and there
is the fire we shall be roasted by."
This view of the matter was not at all calculated to allay my
apprehensions, and I shuddered when I reflected that we were indeed at
the mercy of a tribe of cannibals, and that the dreadful contingency
to which Toby had alluded was by no means removed beyond the bounds of
possibility.
"There! I told you so! they are coming for us!" exclaimed my
companion the next moment, as the forms of four of the islanders
were seen in bold relief against the illuminated background,
mounting the pi-pi, and approaching towards us.
They came on noiselessly, nay, stealthily, and glided along
through the gloom that surrounded us, as if about to spring upon
some object they were fearful of disturbing before they should make
sure of it. Gracious Heaven! the horrible reflections which crowded
upon me that moment! A cold sweat stood upon my brow, and
spell-bound with terror, I awaited my fate.
Suddenly the silence was broken by the well-remembered tones of
Mehevi, and at the kindly accents of his voice, my fears were
immediately dissipated. "Tommo, Toby, ki ki!" (eat). He had waited
to address us, until he had assured himself that we were both awake,
at which he seemed somewhat surprised.
"Ki ki! is it?" said Toby, in his gruff tones; "well, cook us
first, will you- but what's this?" he added, as another savage
appeared, bearing before him a large trencher of wood, containing some
kind of steaming meat, as appeared from the odours it diffused, and
which he deposited at the feet of Mehevi. "A baked baby, I dare say!
but I will have none of it, never mind what it is. A pretty fool I
should make of myself, indeed, waked up here in the middle of the
night, stuffing and guzzling, and all to make a fat meal for a
parcel of bloody-minded cannibals one of these mornings! No; I see
what they are at very plainly, so I am resolved to starve myself
into a bunch of bones and gristle, and then, if they serve me up, they
are welcome! But, I say, Tommo, you are not going to eat any of that
mess there, in the dark, are you? Why, how can you tell what it is?"
"By tasting it, to be sure," said I, masticating a morsel that
Kory-Kory had just put in my mouth; "and excellently good it is,
too, very much like veal."
"A baked baby, by the soul of Captain Cook! " burst forth Toby,
with amazing vehemence. "Veal? why, there never was a calf on the
island till you landed. I tell you, you are bolting down mouthfuls
from a dead Happar's carcass, as sure as you live, and no mistake!"
Emetics and lukewarm water! What a sensation in the abdominal
regions! Sure enough, where could the fiends incarnate have obtained
meat? But I resolved to satisfy myself at all hazards; and turning
to Mehevi, I soon made the ready chief understand that I wished a
light to be brought. When the taper came, I gazed eagerly into the
vessel, and recognised the mutilated remains of a juvenile porker!
"Puarkee!" exclaimed Kory-Kory, looking complacently at the dish;
and from that day to this I have never forgotten that such is the
designation of a pig in the Typee lingo.
The next morning, after being again abundantly feasted by the
hospitable Mehevi, Toby and myself arose to depart. But the chief
requested us to postpone our intention. "Abo, abo" (Wait, wait), he
said, and accordingly we resumed our seats, while, assisted by the
zealous Kory-Kory, he appeared to be engaged in giving directions to a
number of the natives outside, who were busily employed in making
arrangements, the nature of which we could not comprehend. But we were
not left long in our ignorance, for a few moments only had elapsed,
when the chief beckoned us to approach, and we perceived that he had
been marshalling a kind of guard of honour to escort us on our
return to the house of Marheyo.
The procession was led off by two venerable-looking savages,
each provided with a spear, from the end of which streamed a pennon of
milk-white tappa. After them went several youths, bearing aloft
calabashes of poee-poee; and followed in their turn by four stalwart
fellows, sustaining long bamboos, from the tops of which hung
suspended, at least twenty feet from the ground, large baskets of
green bread-fruit. Then came a troop of boys, carrying bunches of ripe
bananas, and baskets made of the woven leaflets of cocoa-nut boughs,
filled with the young fruit of the tree, the naked shells, stripped of
their husks, peeping forth from the verdant wicker-work that
surrounded them. Last of all came a burly islander, holding over his
head a wooden trencher, in which lay disposed the remnants of our
midnight feast, hidden from view, however, by a covering of
bread-fruit leaves.
Astonished as I was at this exhibition, I could not avoid
smiling at its grotesque appearance, and the associations it naturally
called up. Mehevi, it seemed, was bent on replenishing old Marheyo's
larder, fearful, perhaps, that without this precaution his guests
might not fare as well as they could desire.
As soon as I descended from the pi-pi, the procession formed anew,
enclosing us in its centre; where I remained part of the time, carried
by Kory-Kory, and occasionally relieving him from his burden by
limping along with a spear. When we moved off in this order, the
natives struck up a musical recitative, which, with various
alternations, they continued until we arrived at the place of our
destination.
As we proceeded on our way, bands of young girls, darting from the
surrounding groves, hung upon our skirts, and accompanied us with
shouts of merriment and delight, which almost drowned the deep notes
of the recitative. On approaching old Marheyo's domicile, its
inmates rushed out to receive us; and while the gifts of Mehevi were
being disposed of, the superannuated warrior did the honours of his
mansion with all the warmth of hospitality evinced by an English
squire, when he regales his friends at some fine old patrimonial
mansion.
CHAPTER XII
PERILOUS ADVENTURE OF TOBY
AMIDST these novel scenes a week passed away almost imperceptibly.
The natives, actuated by some mysterious impulse, day after day
redoubled their attentions to us. Their manner towards us was
unaccountable. Surely, thought I, they would not act thus if they
meant us any harm. But why this excess of deferential kindness, or
what equivalent can they imagine us capable of rendering them for it?
We were fairly puzzled. But, despite the apprehensions I could not
dispel, the horrible character imputed to these Typees appeared to
be wholly undeserved.
"Why, they are cannibals!" said Toby, on one occasion when I
eulogized the tribe. "Granted," I replied, "but a more humane,
gentlemanly, and amiable set of epicures do not probably exist in
the Pacific."
But, notwithstanding the kind treatment we received, I was too
familiar with the fickle disposition of savages not to feel anxious to
withdraw from the valley, and put myself beyond the reach of that
fearful death which, under all these smiling appearances, might yet
menace us. But here there was an obstacle in the way of doing so. It
was idle for me to think of moving from the place until I should
have recovered from the severe lameness that afflicted me; indeed my
malady began seriously to alarm me; for, despite the herbal remedies
of the natives, it continued to grow worse and worse. Their mild
applications, though they soothed the pain, did not remove the
disorder, and I felt convinced that, without better aid, I might
anticipate long and acute suffering.
But how was this aid to be procured? From the surgeons of the
French fleet, which probably still lay in the bay of Nukuheva, it
might easily have been obtained, could I have made my case known to
them. But how could that be effected?
At last, in the exigency to which I was reduced, I proposed to
Toby that he should endeavour to go round to Nukuheva, and if he could
not succeed in returning to the valley by water in one of the boats of
the squadron, and taking me off, he might at least procure me some
proper medicines, and effect his return overland.
My companion listened to me in silence, and at first did not
appear to relish the idea. The truth was, he felt impatient to
escape from the place, and wished to avail himself of our present high
favour with the natives to make good our retreat, before we should
experience some sudden alteration in their behaviour. As he could
not think of leaving me in my helpless condition, he implored me to be
of good cheer; assured me that I should soon be better, and enabled in
a few days to return with him to Nukuheva.
Added to this, he could not bear the idea of again returning to
this dangerous place; and as for the expectation of persuading the
Frenchmen to detach a boat's crew for the purpose of rescuing me
from the Typees, he looked upon it as idle; and, with arguments that I
could not answer, urged the improbability of their provoking the
hostilities of the clan by any such measure; especially as, for the
purpose of quieting its apprehensions, they had as yet refrained
from making any visit to the bay. "And even should they consent," said
Toby, "they would only produce a commotion in the valley, in which
we might both be sacrificed by these ferocious islanders." This was
unanswerable; but still I clung to the belief that he might succeed in
accomplishing the other part of my plan; and at last I overcame his
scruples, and he agreed to make the attempt.
As soon as we succeeded in making the natives understand our
intention, they broke out into the most vehement opposition to the
measure, and, for awhile, I almost despaired of obtaining their
consent. At the bare thought of one of us leaving them, they
manifested the most lively concern. The grief and consternation of
Kory-Kory, in particular, was unbounded; he threw himself into a
perfect paroxysm of gestures, which were intended to convey to us, not
only his abhorrence of Nukuheva and its uncivilized inhabitants, but
also his astonishment that, after becoming acquainted with the
enlightened Typees, we should evince the least desire to withdraw,
even for a time, from their agreeable society.
However, I overbore his objections by appealing to my lameness;
from which I assured the natives I should speedily recover, Toby
were permitted to obtain the supplies I recover, if Toby were
permitted to obtain the supplies needed.
It was agreed that on the following morning my companion should
depart, accompanied by some one or two of the household, who should
point out to him an easy route, by which the bay might be reached
before sunset.
At early dawn of the next day, our habitation was astir. One of
the young men mounted into an adjoining cocoa-nut tree, and threw
down a number of young fruit, which old Marheyo quickly stripped of
the green husks, and strung together upon a short pole. These were
intended to refresh Toby on his route.
The preparations being completed, with no little emotion I bade my
companion adieu. He promised to return in three days at farthest; and,
bidding me keep up my spirits in the interval, turned round the corner
of the pi-pi, and, under the guidance of the venerable Marheyo, was
soon out of sight. His departure oppressed me with melancholy, and,
re-entering the dwelling, I threw myself almost in despair upon the
matting of the floor.
In two hours' time the old warrior returned, and gave me to
understand, that after accompanying my companion a little distance,
and showing him the route, he had left him journeying on his way.
It was about noon of this same day, a season which these people
are wont to pass in sleep, that I lay in the house, surrounded by
its slumbering inmates, and painfully affected by the strange
silence which prevailed. All at once I thought I heard a faint
shout, as if proceeding from some persons in the depth of the grove
which extended in front of our habitation.
The sounds grew louder and nearer, and gradually the whole
valley rang with wild outcries. The sleepers around me started to
their feet in alarm, and hurried outside to discover the cause of
the commotion. Kory-Kory, who had been the first to spring up, soon
returned almost breathless, and nearly frantic with the excitement
under which he seemed to be labouring. All that I could understand
from him was, that some accident had happened to Toby. Apprehensive of
some dreadful calamity, I rushed out of the house, and caught sight of
a tumultuous crowd, who, with shrieks and lamentations, were just
emerging from the grove, bearing in their arms some object, the
sight of which produced all this transport of sorrow. As they drew
near, the men redoubled their cries, while the girls, tossing their
bare arms in the air, exclaimed plaintively, "Awha! awha! Toby
muckee moee!"- Alas! alas! Toby is killed!
In a moment the crowd opened, and disclosed the apparently
lifeless body of my companion borne between two men, the head
hanging heavily against the breast of the foremost. The whole face,
neck, and bosom were covered with blood, which still trickled slowly
from a wound behind the temple. In the midst of the greatest uproar
and confusion, the body was carried into the house and laid on a
mat. Waving the natives off to give room and air, I bent eagerly
over Toby, and, laying my hand upon the breast, ascertained that the
heart still beat. Overjoyed at this, I seized a calabash of water, and
dashed its contents upon his face, then, wiping away the blood,
anxiously examined the wound. It was about three inches long, and,
on removing the clotted hair from about it, showed the skull laid
completely bare. Immediately with my knife I cut away the heavy locks,
and bathed the part repeatedly in water.
In a few moments Toby revived, and opening his eyes for a
second, closed them again, without speaking. Kory-Kory, who had been
kneeling beside me, now chafed his limbs gently with the palms of
his hands, while a young girl at his head kept fanning him, and I
still continued to moisten his lips and brow. Soon my poor comrade
showed signs of animation, and I succeeded in making him swallow
from a cocoa-nut shell a few mouthfuls of water.
Old Tinor now appeared, holding in her hand some simples she had
gathered, the juice of which she by signs besought me to squeeze
into the wound. Having done so, I thought it best to leave Toby
undisturbed until he should have had time to rally his faculties.
Several times he opened his lips, but, fearful for his safety, I
enjoined silence. In the course of two or three hours, however, he sat
up, and was sufficiently recovered to tell me what had occurred.
"After leaving the house with Marheyo," said Toby, "we struck
across the valley, and ascended the opposite heights. Just beyond
them, my guide informed me, lay the valley of Happar, while along
their summits, and skirting the head of the vale, was my route to
Nukuheva. After mounting a little way up the elevation my guide
paused, and gave me to understand that he could not accompany me any
farther, and by various signs intimated that he was afraid to approach
any nearer the territories of the enemies of his tribe. He, however,
pointed out my path, which now lay clearly before me, and, bidding
me farewell, hastily descended the mountain.
"Quite elated at being so near the Happars, I pushed up the
acclivity, and soon gained its summit. It tapered up to a sharp ridge,
from whence I beheld both the hostile valleys. Here I sat down and
rested for a moment, refreshing myself with my cocoa-nuts. I was
soon again pursuing my way along the height, when suddenly I saw three
of the islanders, who must have just come out of Happar valley,
standing in the path ahead of me. They were each armed with a heavy
spear, and one, from his appearance, be took to be a chief. They
sung out something, I could not understand what, and beckoned me to
come on.
"Without the least hesitation I advanced towards them, and had
approached within about a yard of the foremost, when, pointing angrily
into the Typee valley, and uttering some savage exclamation, he
wheeled round his weapon like lightning, and struck me in a moment
to the ground. The blow inflicted this wound, and took away my senses.
As soon as I came to myself, I perceived the three islanders
standing a little distance off, and apparently engaged in some violent
altercation respecting me.
"My first impulse was to run for it; but, in endeavouring to rise,
I fell back, and rolled down a little grassy precipice. The shock
seemed to rally my faculties; so, starting to my feet, I fled down the
path I had just ascended. I had no need to look behind me, for, from
the yells I heard, I knew that my enemies were in full pursuit.
Urged on by their fearful outcries, and heedless of the injury I had
received- though the blood flowing from the wound trickled over into
my eyes and almost blinded me- I rushed down the mountain side with
the speed of the wind. In a short time I had descended nearly a
third of the distance, and the savages had ceased their cries, when
suddenly a terrific howl burst upon my ear, and at the same moment a
heavy javelin darted past me as I fled, and stuck quivering in a
tree close to me. Another yell followed, and a second spear and a
third shot through the air within a few feet of my body, both of
them piercing the ground obliquely in advance of me. The fellows
gave a roar of rage and disappointment; but they were afraid, I
suppose, of coming down farther into the Typee valley, and so
abandoned the chase. I saw them recover their weapons and turn back;
and I continued my descent as fast as I could.
"What could have caused this ferocious attack on the part of these
Happars I could not imagine, unless it were that they had seen me
ascending the mountain with Marheyo, and that the mere fact of
coming from the Typee valley was sufficient to provoke them.
"As long as I was in danger I scarcely felt the wound I had
received; but when the chase was over I began to suffer from it. I had
lost my hat in the flight, and the sun scorched my bare head. I felt
faint and giddy; but, fearful of falling to the ground beyond the
reach of assistance, I staggered on as well as I could, and at last
gained the level of the valley, and then down I sunk; and I knew
nothing more until I found myself lying upon these mats, and you
stooping over me with the calabash of water."
Such was Toby's account of this sad affair. I afterwards learned
that fortunately he had fallen close to a spot where the natives go
for fuel. A party of them caught sight of him as he fell, and,
sounding the alarm, had lifted him up; and after ineffectually
endeavouring to restore him at the brook, had hurried forward with him
to the house.
This incident threw a dark cloud over our prospects. It reminded
us that we were hemmed in by hostile tribes, whose territories we
could not hope to pass, on our route to Nukuheva, without encountering
the effects of their savage resentment. There appeared to be no avenue
opened to our escape but the sea, which washed the lower extremity
of the vale.
Our Typee friends availed themselves of the recent disaster of
Toby to exhort us to a due appreciation of the blessings we enjoyed
among them; contrasting their own generous reception of us with the
animosity of their neighbours. They likewise dwelt upon the cannibal
propensities of the Happars, a subject which they were perfectly aware
could not fall to alarm us; while at the same time they earnestly
disclaimed all participation in so horrid a custom. Nor did they
omit to call upon us to admire the natural loveliness of their own
abode, and the lavish abundance with which it produced all manner of
luxuriant fruits; exalting it in this particular above any of the
surrounding valleys.
Kory-Kory seemed to experience so heartfelt a desire to infuse
into our minds proper views on these subjects, that, assisted in his
endeavours by the little knowledge of the language we had acquired, he
actually made us comprehend a considerable part of what he said. To
facilitate our correct apprehension of his meaning, he at first
condensed his ideas into the smallest possible compass.
"Happar keekeeno nuee," he exclaimed; "nuee, nuee, ki ki kannaka!-
ah! owle mortarkee!" which signifies, "Terrible fellows those
Happars!- devour an amazing quantity of men!- ah, shocking bad!"
Thus far he explained himself by a variety of gestures, during the
performance of which he would dart out of the house, and point
abhorrently towards the Happar valley; running in to us again with a
rapidity that showed he was fearful we would lose one part of his
meaning before he could complete the other; and continuing his
illustrations by seizing the fleshy part of my arm in his teeth,
intimating, by the operation, that the people who lived over in that
direction would like nothing better than to treat me in that manner.
Having assured himself that we were fully enlightened on this
point, he proceeded to another branch of his subject. "Ah! Typee
mortarkee!- nuee, nuee mioree- nuee, nuee wai- nuee, nuee poee-poee-
nuee, nuee kokoo- ah! nuee, nuee kiki- ah! nuee, nuee, nuee!" Which,
liberally interpreted as before, would imply, "Ah, Typee! isn't it a
fine place though!- no danger of starving here, I tell you!- plenty of
bread-fruit- plenty of water- plenty of pudding- ah! plenty of
everything, ah! heaps, heaps, heaps, heaps!" All this was
accompanied by a running commentary of signs and gestures which it was
impossible not to comprehend.
As he continued his harangue, however, Kory-Kory, in emulation
of our more polished orators, began to launch out rather diffusely
into other branches of his subject, enlarging probably upon the
moral reflections it suggested; and proceeded in such a strain of
unintelligible and stunning gibberish, that he actually gave me the
headache for the rest of the day.
CHAPTER XIII
SOMETHING BEFALLS TOBY
IN the course of the few days Toby had recovered from the
effects of his adventure with the Happar warriors; the wound on his
head rapidly healing under the vegetable treatment of the good
Tinor. Less fortunate than my companion, however, I still continued to
languish under a complaint, the origin and nature of which were
still a mystery. Cut off as I was from all intercourse with the world,
and feeling the inefficacy of anything the natives could do to relieve
me; knowing, too, that so long as I remained in my present condition
it would be impossible for me to leave the valley, whatever
opportunity might present itself; and apprehensive that ere long we
might be exposed to some caprice on the part of the islanders, I now
gave up all hopes of recovery, and became a prey to the most gloomy
thoughts. A deep dejection fell upon me, which neither the friendly
remonstrances of my companion, the devoted attentions of Kory-Kory,
nor all the soothing influences of Fayaway, could remove.
One morning, as I lay on the mats in the house plunged in
melancholy reverie, and regardless of everything around me, Toby,
who had left me about an hour, returned in haste, and with great
glee told me to cheer up and be of good heart, for he believed, from
what was going on among the natives, that there were boats approaching
the bay.
These tidings operated upon me like magic. The hour of our
deliverance was at hand, and, starting up, I was soon convinced that
something unusual was about to occur. The word "botee! botee!" was
vociferated in all directions; and shouts were heard in the
distance, at first feebly and faintly, but growing louder and nearer
at each successive repetition, until they were caught up by a fellow
in a cocoa-nut tree a few yards off, who, sounding them in turn,
they were reiterated from a neighbouring grove, and so died away
gradually from point to point, as the intelligence penetrated into the
farthest recesses of the valley. This was the vocal telegraph of the
islanders; by means of which, condensed items of information could
be carried in a very few minutes from the sea to their remotest
habitation, a distance of at least eight or nine miles. On the present
occasion it was in active operation, one piece of information
following another with inconceivable rapidity.
The greatest commotion now appeared to prevail. At every fresh
item of intelligence the natives betrayed the liveliest interest,
and redoubled the energy with which they employed themselves in
collecting fruit to sell to the expected visitors. Some were tearing
off the husks from cocoa-nuts; some, perched in the trees, were
throwing down bread-fruit to their companions, who gathered them
into heaps as they fell; while others were plying their fingers
rapidly in weaving leafen baskets in which to carry the fruit.
There were other matters, too, going on at the same time. Here you
would see a stout warrior polishing his spear with a bit of old tappa,
or adjusting the folds of the girdle about his waist; and there you
might descry a young damsel decorating herself with flowers, as if
having in her eye some maidenly conquest; while, as in all cases of
hurry and confusion in every part of the world, a number of
individuals kept hurrying to and fro with amazing vigour and
perseverance, doing nothing themselves, and hindering others.
Never before had we seen the islanders in such a state of bustle
and excitement; and the scene furnished abundant evidence of the fact-
that it was only at long intervals any such events occur.
When I thought of the length of time that might intervene before a
similar chance of escape would be presented, I bitterly lamented
that I had not the power of availing myself effectually of the present
opportunity.
From all that we could gather, it appeared that the natives were
fearful of arriving too late upon the beach, unless they made
extraordinary exertions. Sick and lame as I was, I would have
started with Toby at once, had not Kory-Kory not only refused to carry
me, but manifested the most invincible repugnance to our leaving the
neighbourhood of the house. The rest of the savages were equally
opposed to our wishes, and seemed grieved and astonished at the
earnestness of my solicitations. I clearly perceived that, while my
attendant avoided all appearance of constraining my movements, he
was nevertheless determined to thwart my wishes. He seemed to me on
this particular occasion, as well as often afterwards, to be executing
the orders of some other person with regard to me, though at the
same time feeling towards me the most lively affection.
Toby, who had made up his mind to accompany the islanders if
possible as soon as they were in readiness to depart, and who for that
reason had refrained from showing the same anxiety that I had done,
now represented to me that it was idle for me to entertain the hope of
reaching the beach in time to profit by any opportunity that might
then be presented.
"Do you not see," said he, "the savages themselves are fearful
of being too late, and I should hurry forward myself at once, did I
not think that, if I showed too much eagerness, I should destroy all
our hopes of reaping any benefit from this fortunate event. If you
will only endeavour to appear tranquil or unconcerned, you will
quiet their suspicions, and I have no doubt they will then let me go
with them to the beach, supposing that I merely go out of curiosity.
Should I succeed in getting down to the boats, I will make known the
condition in which I have left you, and measures may then be taken
to secure our escape."
In the expediency of this I could not but acquiesce; and as the
natives had now completed their preparations, I watched with the
liveliest interest the reception that Toby's application might meet
with. As soon as they understood from my companion that I intended
to remain, they appeared to make no objection to his proposition,
and even hailed it with pleasure. Their singular conduct on this
occasion not a little puzzled me at the time, and imparted to
subsequent events an additional mystery.
The islanders were now to be seen hurrying along the path which
led to the sea. I shook Toby warmly by the hand, and gave him my Payta
hat to shield his wounded head from the sun, as he had lost his own.
He cordially returned the pressure of my hand, and, solemnly promising
to return as soon as the boats should leave the shore, sprang from
my side, and the next minute disappeared in a turn of the grove.
In spite of the unpleasant reflections that crowded upon my
mind, I could not but be entertained by the novel and animated sight
which now met my view. One after another, the natives crowded along
the narrow path, laden with every variety of fruit. Here, you might
have seen one, who, after ineffectually endeavouring to persuade a
surly porker to be conducted in leading-strings, was obliged at last
to seize the perverse animal in his arms, and carry him struggling
against his naked breast, and squealing without intermission. There
went two, who at a little distance might have been taken for the
Hebrew spies, on their return to Moses with the goodly bunch of
grapes. One trotted before the other at a distance of a couple of
yards, while between them, from a pole resting on their shoulders, was
suspended a huge cluster of bananas, which swayed to and fro with
the rocking gait at which they proceeded. Here ran another, perspiring
with his exertions, and bearing before him a quantity of cocoa-nuts,
who, fearful of being too late, heeded not the fruit that dropped from
his basket, and appeared solely intent upon reaching his
destination, careless how many of his cocoa-nuts kept company with
him.
In a short time the last straggler was seen hurrying on his way,
and the faint shouts of those in advance died insensibly upon the ear.
Our part of the valley now appeared nearly deserted by its
inhabitants, Kory-Kory, his aged father, and a few decrepit old
people, being all that were left.
Towards sunset, the islanders in small parties began to return
from the beach, and among them, as they drew near to the house, I
sought to descry the form of my companion. But one after another
they passed the dwelling, and I caught no glimpse of him. Supposing,
however, that he would soon appear with some of the members of the
household, I quieted my apprehensions, and waited patiently to see him
advancing, in company with the beautiful Fayaway. At last I
perceived Tinor coming forward, followed by the girls and young men
who usually resided in the house of Marheyo; but with them came not my
comrade, and, filled with a thousand alarms, I eagerly sought to
discover the cause of his delay.
My earnest questions appeared to embarrass the natives greatly.
All their accounts were contradictory: one giving me to understand
that Toby would be with me in a very short time; another, that he
did not know where he was; while a third, violently inveighing against
him, assured me .y I that he had stolen away, and would never come
back. It appeared to me, at the time, that in making these various
statements they endeavoured to conceal from me some terrible disaster,
lest the knowledge of it should overpower me.
Fearful lest some fatal calamity had overtaken him, I sought out
young Fayaway, and endeavoured to learn from her, if possible, the
truth.
This gentle being had early attracted my regard, not only from her
extraordinary beauty, but from the attractive cast of her countenance,
singularly expressive of intelligence and humanity. Of all the
natives, she alone seemed to appreciate the effect which the
peculiarity of the circumstances in which we were placed had
produced upon the minds of my companion and myself. In addressing
me- especially when I lay reclining upon the mats suffering from pain-
there was a tenderness in her manner which it was impossible to
misunderstand or resist. Whenever she entered the house, the
expression of her face indicated the liveliest sympathy for me; and
moving towards the place where I lay, with one arm slightly elevated
in a gesture of pity, and her large glistening eyes gazing intently
into mine, she would murmur plaintively, "Awha! awha! Tommo," and seat
herself mournfully beside me.
Her manner convinced me that she deeply compassionated my
situation, as being removed from my country and friends, and placed
beyond the reach of all relief. Indeed, at times I was almost led to
believe that her mind was swayed by gentle impulses hardly to be
anticipated from one in her condition; that she appeared to be
conscious there were ties rudely severed, which had once bound us to
our homes; that there were sisters and brothers anxiously looking
forward to our return, who were perhaps never more to behold us.
In this amiable light did Fayaway appear in my eyes; and, reposing
full confidence in her candour and intelligence, I now had recourse to
her, in the midst of my alarm with regard to my companion.
My questions evidently distressed her. She looked round from one
to another of the bystanders, as if hardly knowing what answer to give
me. At last, yielding to my importunities, she overcame her
scruples, and gave me to understand that Toby had gone away with the
boats which had visited the bay, but had promised to return at the
expiration of three days. At first I accused him of perfidiously
deserting me; but as I grew more composed, I upbraided myself for
imputing so cowardly an action to him, and tranquillized myself with
the belief that he had availed himself of the opportunity to go
round to Nukuheva, in order to make some arrangement by which I
could be removed from the valley. At any rate, thought I, he will
return with the medicines I require, and then, as soon as I recover,
there will be no difficulty in the way of our departure.
Consoling myself with these reflections, I lay down that night
in a happier frame of mind than I had done for some time. The next day
passed without any allusion to Toby on the part of the natives, who
seemed desirous of avoiding all reference to the subject. This
raised some apprehensions in my breast; but, when night came, I
congratulated myself that the second day had now gone by, and that
on the morrow Toby would again be with me. But the morrow came and
went, and my companion did not appear. Ah! thought I, he reckons three
days from the morning of his departure- to-morrow he will arrive.
But that weary day also closed upon me without his return. Even yet
I would not despair. I thought that something detained him- that he
was waiting for the sailing of a boat at Nukuheva, and that in a day
or two, at farthest, I should see him again. But day after day of
renewed disappointment passed by; at last hope deserted me, and I fell
a victim to despair.
Yes, thought I, gloomily, he has secured his own escape, and cares
not what calamity may befall his unfortunate comrade. Fool that I was,
to suppose that any one would willingly encounter the perils of this
valley, after having once got beyond its limits! He has gone, and
has left me to combat alone all the dangers by which I am
surrounded. Thus would I sometimes seek to derive a desperate
consolation from dwelling upon the perfidy of Toby; whilst, at other
times, I sunk under the bitter remorse which I felt at having, by my
own imprudence, brought upon myself the fate which I was sure
awaited me.
At other times I thought that perhaps, after all, these
treacherous savages had made away with him, and thence the confusion
into which they were thrown by my questions, and their contradictory
answers; or he might be a captive in some other part of the valley;
or, more dreadful still, might have met with that fate at which my
very soul shuddered. But all these speculations were vain; no
tidings of Toby ever reached me- he had gone never to return.
The conduct of the islanders appeared inexplicable. All
reference to my lost comrade was carefully evaded, and if at any
time they were forced to make some reply to my frequent inquiries on
the subject, they would uniformly denounce him as an ungrateful
runaway, who had deserted his friend, and taken himself off to that
vile and detestable place Nukuheva.
But whatever might have been his fate, now that he was gone the
natives multiplied their acts of kindness and attention towards
myself, treating me with a degree of deference which could hardly have
been surpassed had I been some celestial visitant. Kory-Kory never for
one moment left my side, unless it were to execute my wishes. The
faithful fellow, twice every day, in the cool of the morning and in
the evening, insisted upon carrying me to the stream, and bathing me
in its refreshing water.
Frequently, in the afternoon, he would carry me to a particular
part of the stream, where the beauty of the scene produced a
soothing influence upon my mind. At this place the waters flowed
between grassy banks, planted with enormous bread-fruit trees, whose
vast branches, interlacing overhead, formed a leafy canopy; near the
stream were several smooth black rocks. One of these, projecting
several feet above the surface of the water, had upon its summit a
shallow cavity, which, filled with freshly-gathered leaves, formed a
delightful couch.
Here I often lay for hours, covered with a gauze-like veil of
tappa, while Fayaway, seated beside me, and holding in her hand a
fan woven from the leaflets of a young cocoa-nut bough, brushed
aside the insects that occasionally lighted on my face, and Kory-Kory,
with a view of chasing away my melancholy, performed a thousand antics
in the water before us.
As my eye wandered along this romantic stream, it would fall
upon the half-immersed figure of a beautiful girl, standing in the
transparent water, and catching in a little net a species of
diminutive shell-fish, of which these people are extravagantly fond.
Sometimes a chattering group would be seated upon the edge of a low
rock in the midst of the brook, busily engaged in thinning and
polishing the shells of cocoa-nuts, by rubbing them briskly with a
small stone in the water, an operation which soon converts them into a
light and elegant drinking-vessel, somewhat resembling goblets made of
tortoise-shell.
But the tranquillizing influences of beautiful scenery, and the
exhibition of human life under so novel and charming an aspect, were
not my only sources of consolation.
Every evening the girls of the house gathered about me on the
mats, and, after chasing away Kory-Kory from my side- who,
nevertheless, retired only to a little distance, and watched their
proceedings with the most jealous attention- would anoint my body with
a fragrant oil, squeezed from a yellow root, previously pounded
between a couple of stones, and which in their language is denominated
"aka." I used to hail with delight the daily recurrence of this
luxurious operation, in which I forgot all my troubles, and buried for
the time every feeling of sorrow.
Sometimes, in the cool of the evening, my devoted servitor would
lead me out upon the pi-pi in front of the house, and, seating me near
its edge, protect my occasionally hovered in the air, by wrapping me
round with a large roll of tappa. He then bustled about, and
employed himself at least twenty minutes in adjusting everything to
secure my personal comfort.
Having perfected his arrangements, he would get my pipe, and,
lighting it, would hand it to me. Often he was obliged to strike a
light for the occasion; and as the mode he adopted was entirely
different from what I had ever seen or heard of before, I will
describe it.
A straight, dry, and partly-decayed stick of the Habiscus, about
six feet in length, and half as many inches in diameter, with a
smaller bit of wood, not more than a foot long, and scarcely an inch
wide, is as invariably to be met with in every house in Typee, as a
box of lucifer matches in the corner of a kitchen-cupboard at home.
The islander, placing the larger stick obliquely against some
object, with one end elevated at an angle of forty-five degrees,
mounts astride of it, like an urchin about to gallop off upon a
cane, and then, grasping the smaller one firmly in both hands, he rubs
its pointed end slowly up and down the extent of a few inches on the
principal stick, until at last he makes a narrow groove in the wood,
with an abrupt termination at the point farthest from him, where all
the dusty particles which the friction creates are accumulated in a
little heap.
At first Kory-Kory goes to work quite leisurely, but gradually
quickens his pace, and, waxing warm in the employment, edge, drives
the stick furiously along the smoking channel, plying his hands to and
fro with amazing rapidity, the perspiration starting from every
pore. As he approaches the climax of his effort, he pants and gasps
for breath, and his eyes almost start from their sockets with the
violence of his exertions. This is the critical stage of the
operation; all his previous labours are vain if he cannot sustain
the rapidity of the movement until the reluctant spark is produced.
Suddenly he stops, becomes perfectly motionless. His hands still
retain their hold of the smaller stick, which is pressed
convulsively against the farther end of the channel, among the fine
powder there accumulated, as if he had just pierced through and
through some little viper that was wriggling and struggling to
escape from his clutches. The next moment a delicate wreath of smoke
curls spirally into the air, the heap of dusty particles glows with
fire, and Kory-Kory, almost breathless, dismounts from his steed.
This operation appeared to me to be the most laborious species
of work performed in Typee; and had I possessed a sufficient
intimacy with the language to have conveyed my ideas upon the subject,
I should certainly have suggested to the most influential of the
natives the expediency of establishing a college of vestals, to be
centrally located in the valley, for the purpose of keeping alive
the indispensable article of fire, so as to supersede the necessity of
such a vast outlay of strength and good temper as were usually
squandered on these occasions. There might, however, be special
difficulties in carrying this plan into execution.
What a striking evidence does this operation furnish of the wide
difference between the extreme of savage and civilized life! A
gentleman of Typee can bring up a numerous family of children, and
give them all a highly respectable cannibal education, with infinitely
less toil and anxiety than he expends in the simple process of
striking a light; whilst a poor European artisan, who through the
instrumentality of a lucifer performs the same operation in one
second, is put to his wit's end to provide for his starving
offspring that food, which the children of a Polynesian father,
without troubling their parents, pluck from the branches of every tree
around them.
CHAPTER XIV
BREAD-FRUIT
ALL the inhabitants of the valley treated me with great
kindness; but as to the household of Marheyo, with whom I was now
permanently domiciled, nothing could surpass their efforts to minister
to my comfort. To the gratification of my palate they paid the most
unwearied attention. They continually invited me to partake of food,
and when after eating heartily I declined the viands they continued to
offer me, they seemed to think that my appetite stood in need of
some piquant stimulant to excite its activity.
In pursuance of this idea, old Marheyo himself would hie him
away to the sea-shore by the break of day, for the purpose of
collecting various species of rare seaweed; some of which, among these
people, are considered a great luxury. After a whole day spent in this
employment, he would return about nightfall with several cocoa-nut
shells filled with different descriptions of kelp. In preparing
these for use, he manifested all the ostentation of a professed
cook, although the chief mystery of the affair appeared to consist
in pouring water in judicious quantities upon the slimy contents of
his cocoa-nut shells.
The first time he submitted one of these saline salads to my
critical attention, I naturally thought that anything collected at
such pains must possess peculiar merits; but one mouthful was a
complete dose; and great was the consternation of the old warrior at
the rapidity with which I ejected his epicurean treat.
How true it is, that the rarity of any particular article enhances
its value amazingly. In some part of the valley- I know not where, but
probably in the neighbourhood of the sea- the girls were sometimes
in the habit of procuring small quantities of salt, a thimble-full
or so being the result of the united labours of a party of five or six
employed for the greater part of the day. This precious commodity they
brought to the house, enveloped in multitudinous folds of leaves;
and as a special mark of the esteem in which they held me, would
spread an immense leaf on the ground, and dropping one by one a few
minute particles of the salt upon it, invite me to taste them.
From the extravagant value placed upon the article, I verily
believe, that with a bushel of common Liverpool salt, all the real
estate in Typee might have been purchased. With a small pinch of it in
one hand, and a quarter section of a bread-fruit in the other, the
greatest chief in the valley would have laughed at all the luxuries of
a Parisian table.
The celebrity of the bread-fruit tree, and the conspicuous place
it occupies in a Typee bill of fare, induces me to give at some length
a general description of the tree, and the various modes in which
the fruit is prepared.
The bread-fruit tree, in its glorious prime, is a grand and
towering object, forming the same feature in a Marquesan landscape
that the patriarchal elm does in New England scenery. The latter
tree it not a little resembles in height, in the wide spread of its
stalwart branches, and in its venerable and imposing aspect.
The leaves of the bread-fruit are of great size, and their edges
are cut and scolloped as fantastically as those of a lady's lace
collar. As they annually tend towards decay, they almost rival, in the
brilliant variety of their gradually changing hues, the fleeting
shades of the expiring dolphin. The autumnal tints of our American
forests, glorious as they are, sink into nothing in comparison with
this tree.
The leaf, in one particular stage, when nearly all the prismatic
colours are blended on its surface, is often converted by the
natives into a superb and striking head-dress. The principal fibre
traversing its length being split open a convenient distance, and
the elastic sides of the aperture pressed apart, the head is
inserted between them, the leaf drooping on one side, with its forward
half turned jauntily up on the brows, and the remaining part spreading
laterally behind the ears.
The fruit somewhat resembles in magnitude and general appearance
one of our citron melons of ordinary size; but, unlike the citron,
it has no sectional lines drawn along the outside. Its surface is
dotted all over with little conical prominences, looking not unlike
the knobs on an antiquated church door. The rind is perhaps an
eighth of an inch in thickness; and denuded of this, at the time
when it is in the greatest perfection, the fruit presents a
beautiful globe of white pulp, the whole of which may be eaten, with
the exception of a slender core, which is easily removed.
The bread-fruit, however, is never used, and is indeed
altogether unfit to be eaten, until submitted in one form or other
to the action of fire.
The most simple manner in which this operation is performed,
and, I think, the best, consists in placing any number of the
freshly-plucked fruit, when in a particular state of greenness,
among the embers of a fire, in the same way that you would roast a
potato. After the lapse of ten or fifteen minutes, the green rind
embrowns and cracks, showing through the fissures in its sides the
milk-white interior. As soon as it cools the rind drops off, and you
then have the soft round pulp in its purest and most delicious
state. Thus eaten, it has a mild and pleasing flavour.
Sometimes after having been roasted in the fire, the natives
snatch it briskly from the embers, and permitting it to slip out of
the yielding rind into a vessel of cold water, stir up the mixture,
which they call "bo-a-sho." I never could endure this compound, and
indeed the preparation is not greatly in vogue among the more polite
Typees.
There is one form, however, in which the fruit is occasionally
served, that renders it a dish fit for a king. As soon as it is
taken from the fire the exterior is removed, the core extracted, and
the remaining part is placed in a sort of shallow stone mortar, and
briskly worked with a pestle of the same substance. While one person
is performing this operation, another takes a ripe cocoa-nut, and
breaking it in half, which they also do very cleverly, proceeds to
grate the juicy meat into fine particles. This is done by means of a
piece of mother-of-pearl shell, lashed firmly to the extreme end of
a heavy stick, with its straight side accurately notched like a saw.
The stick is sometimes a grotesquely-formed limb of a tree, with three
or four branches twisting from its body like so many shapeless legs,
and sustaining it two or three feet from the ground.
The native, first placing a calabash beneath the nose, as it were,
of his curious-looking log-steed, for the purpose of receiving the
grated fragments as they fall, mounts astride of it as if it were a
hobby-horse, and twirling the inside of one of his hemispheres of
cocoa-nut around the sharp teeth of the mother-of-pearl shell, the
pure white meat falls in snowy showers into the receptacle provided.
Having obtained a quantity sufficient for his purpose, he places it in
a bag made of the net-like fibrous substance attached to all cocoa-nut
trees, and compressing it over the bread-fruit, which being now
sufficiently pounded, is put into a wooden bowl- extracts a thick
creamy milk. The delicious liquid soon bubbles round the fruit, and
leaves it at last just peeping above its surface.
This preparation is called "kokoo," and a most luscious
preparation it is. The hobby-horse and the pestle and mortar were in
great requisition during the time I remained in the house of
Marheyo, and Kory-Kory had frequent occasion to show his skill in
their use.
But the great staple articles of food into which the bread-fruit
is converted by these natives are known respectively by the names of
Amar and Poee-Poee.
At a certain season of the year, when the fruit of the hundred
groves of the valley has reached its maturity, and hangs in golden
spheres from every branch, the islanders assemble in harvest groups,
and garner in the abundance which surrounds them. The trees are
stripped of their nodding burdens, which, easily freed from the rind
and core, are gathered together in capacious wooden vessels, where the
pulpy fruit is soon worked by a stone pestle, vigorously applied, into
a blended mass of a doughy consistency, called by the natives "Tutao."
This is then divided into separate parcels, which, after being made up
into stout packages, enveloped in successive folds of leaves, and
bound round with thongs of bark, are stored away in large
receptacles hollowed in the earth, from whence they are drawn as
occasion may require.
In this condition the Tutao sometimes remains for years, and
even is thought to improve by age. Before it is fit to be eaten,
however, it has to undergo an additional process. A primitive oven
is scooped in the ground, and its bottom being loosely covered with
stones, a large fire is kindled within it. As soon as the requisite
degree of heat is attained, the embers are removed, and the surface of
the stones being covered with thick layers of leaves, one of the large
packages of Tutao is deposited upon them, and overspread with
another layer of leaves. The whole is then quickly heaped up with
earth, and forms a sloping mound.
The Tutao thus baked is called "Amar"; the action of the oven
having converted it into an amber-coloured caky substance, a little
tart, but not at all disagreeable to the taste.
By another and final process the "Amar" is changed into
"Poee-Poee." This transition is rapidly effected. The amar is placed
in a vessel, and mixed with water until it gains a proper pudding-like
consistency, when, without further preparation, it is in readiness for
use. This is the form in which the "Tutao" is generally consumed.
The singular mode of eating it I have already described.
Were it not that the bread-fruit is thus capable of being
preserved for a length of time, the natives might be reduced to a
state of starvation; for, owing to some unknown cause, the trees
sometimes fail to bear fruit; and on such occasions the islanders
chiefly depend upon the supplies they have been enabled to store away.
This stately tree, which is rarely met with upon the Sandwich
Islands, and then only of a very inferior quality, and at Tahiti
does not abound to a degree that renders its fruit the principal
article of food, attains its greatest excellence in the genial climate
of the Marquesan group, where it grows to an enormous magnitude, and
flourishes in the utmost abundance.
CHAPTER XV
AT THE TI
IN looking back to this period, and calling to remembrance the
numberless proofs of kindness and respect which I received from the
natives of the valley, I can scarcely understand how it was that, in
the midst of so many consolatory circumstances, my mind should still
have been consumed by the most dismal forebodings, and have remained a
prey to the profoundest melancholy. It is true that the suspicious
circumstances which had attended the disappearance of Toby were enough
of themselves to excite distrust with regard to the savages, in
whose power I felt myself to be entirely placed, especially when it
was combined with the knowledge that these very men, kind and
respectful as they were to me, were, after all, nothing better than
a set of cannibals.
But my chief source of anxiety, and that which poisoned every
temporary enjoyment, was the mysterious disease in my leg, which still
remained unabated. All the herbal applications of Tinor, united with
the severer discipline of the old leech, and the affectionate
nursing of Kory-Kory, had failed to relieve me. I was almost a
cripple, and the pain I endured at intervals was agonizing. The
unaccountable malady showed no signs of amendment; on the contrary,
its violence increased day by day, and threatened the most fatal
results, unless some powerful means were employed to counteract it. It
seemed as if I were destined to sink under this grievous affliction,
or at least that it would hinder me from availing myself of any
opportunity of escaping from the valley.
An incident which occurred as nearly as I can estimate about three
weeks after the disappearance of Toby, convinced me that the
natives, from some reason or other, would interpose every possible
obstacle to my leaving them.
One morning there was no little excitement evinced by the people
near my abode, and which I soon discovered proceeded from a vague
report that boats had been seen at a great distance approaching the
bay. Immediately all was bustle and animation. It so happened that day
that the pain I suffered having somewhat abated, and feeling in much
better spirits than usual, I had complied with Kory-Kory's
invitation to visit the chief Mehevi at the place called the "Ti,"
which I have before described as being situated within the precincts
of the Taboo groves. These sacred recesses were at no great distance
from Marheyo's habitation, and lay between it and the sea; the path
that conducted to the beach passing directly in front of the Ti, and
thence skirting along the border of the groves.
I was reposing upon the mats, within the sacred building, in
company with Mehevi and several other chiefs, when the announcement
was first made. It sent a thrill of joy through my whole frame;-
perhaps Toby was about to return. I rose at once to my feet, and my
instinctive impulse was to hurry down to the beach, equally regardless
of the distance that separated me from it, and of my disabled
condition. As soon as Mehevi noticed the effect the intelligence had
produced upon me, and the impatience I betrayed to reach the sea,
his countenance assumed that inflexible rigidity of expression which
had so awed me on the afternoon of our arrival at the house of
Marheyo. As I was proceeding to leave the Ti, he laid his hand upon my
shoulder, and said gravely, "abo, abo" (wait, wait). Solely intent
upon the one thought that occupied my mind, and heedless of his
request, I was brushing past him, when suddenly he assumed a tone of
authority, and told me to "moee" (sit down). Though struck by the
alteration in his demeanour, the excitement under which I laboured was
too strong to permit me to obey the unexpected command, and I was
still limping towards the edge of the pi-pi with Kory-Kory clinging to
one arm in his efforts to restrain me, when the natives around started
to their feet, ranged themselves along the open front of the building,
while Mehevi looked at me scowlingly, and reiterated his commands
still more sternly.
It was at this moment, when fifty savage countenances were glaring
upon me, that I first truly experienced I was indeed a captive in
the valley. The conviction rushed upon me with staggering force, and I
was overwhelmed by this confirmation of my worst fears. I saw at
once that it was useless for me to resist, and sick at heart, I
reseated myself upon the mats, and for the moment abandoned myself
to despair.
I now perceived the natives one after the other hurrying past
the Ti and pursuing the route that conducted to the sea. These
savages, thought I, will soon be holding communication with some of my
own countrymen perhaps, who with ease could restore me to liberty
did they know of the situation I was in. No language can describe
the wretchedness which I felt; and in the bitterness of my soul I
imprecated a thousand curses on the perfidious Toby, who had thus
abandoned me to destruction. It was in vain that Kory-Kory tempted
me with food, or lighted my pipe, or sought to attract my attention by
performing the uncouth antics that had sometimes diverted me. I was
fairly knocked down by this last misfortune, which, much as I had
feared it, I had never before had the courage calmly to contemplate.
Regardless of everything but my own sorrow, I remained in the Ti
for several hours, until shouts proceeding at intervals from the
groves beyond the house proclaimed the return of the natives from
the beach.
Whether any boats visited the bay that morning or not, I never
could ascertain. The savages assured me that there had not- but I
was inclined to believe that by deceiving me in this particular they
sought to allay the violence of my grief. However that might be,
this incident showed plainly that the Typees intended to hold me a
prisoner. As they still treated me with the same sedulous attention as
before, I was utterly at a loss how to account for their singular
conduct. Had I been in a situation to instruct them in any of the
rudiments of the mechanic arts, or had I manifested a disposition to
render myself in any way useful among them, their conduct might have
been attributed to some adequate motive, but as it was, the matter
seemed to me inexplicable.
During my whole stay on the island there occurred but two or three
instances where the natives applied to me with the view of availing
themselves of my superior information; and these now appear so
ludicrous that I cannot forbear relating them.
The few things we had brought from Nukuheva had been done up
into a small bundle which we had carried with us in our descent to the
valley. This bundle, the of our arrival, I had used as a pillow, but
on the succeeding morning, opening it for the inspection of the
natives, they gazed upon the miscellaneous contents as though I had
just revealed to them a casket of diamonds, and they insisted that
so precious a treasure should be properly secured. A line was
accordingly attached to it, and the other end being passed over the
ridge-pole of the house, it was hoisted up to the apex of the roof,
where it hung suspended directly over the mats where I usually
reclined. When I desired anything from it I merely raised my finger to
bamboo beside me, and taking hold of the string which was there
fastened, lowered the package. This was exceedingly handy, and I
took care to let the natives understand how much I applauded the
invention. Of this package the chief contents were a razor with its
case, a supply of needles and thread, a pound or two of tobacco, and a
few yards of a bright-coloured calico.
I should have mentioned, that shortly after Toby's
disappearance, perceiving the uncertainty of the time I might be
obliged to remain in the valley,- if, indeed, I ever should escape
from it,- and considering that my whole wardrobe consisted of a
shirt and a pair of trousers, I resolved to doff these garments at
once, in order to preserve them in a suitable condition for wear,
should I again appear among civilized beings. I was consequently
obliged to assume the Typee costume, a little altered, however, to
suit my own views of propriety, and in which I have no doubt I
appeared to as much advantage as a senator of Rome enveloped in the
folds of his toga. A few folds of yellow tappa, tucked about my waist,
descended to my feet in the style of a lady's petticoat, only I did
not have recourse to those voluminous paddings in the rear with
which our gentle dames are in the habit of augmenting the sublime
rotundity of their figures. This usually comprised my in-door dress:
whenever I walked out, I superadded to it an ample robe of the same
material, which completely enveloped my person, and screened it from
the rays of the sun.
One morning I made a rent in this mantle; and to show the
islanders with what facility it could be repaired, I lowered my
bundle, and taking from it a needle and thread, proceeded to stitch up
the opening. They regarded this wonderful application of science
with intense admiration; and whilst I was stitching away, old Marheyo,
who was one of the lookers-on, suddenly clapped his hand to his
forehead, and rushing to a corner of the house, drew forth a soiled
and tattered strip of faded calico- which he must procured some time
or other in traffic on the beach- and besought me eagerly to
exercise a little of my art upon it. I willingly complied, though
certainly so stumpy a needle as mine never took such gigantic
strides over calico before. The repairs completed, old Marheyo gave me
a paternal hug; and divesting himself of his "maro" (girdle),
swathed the calico about his loins, and slipping the beloved ornaments
into his ears, grasped his spear and sallied out of the house, like
a valiant Templar arrayed in a new and costly suit of armour.
I never used my razor during my stay in the island, but,
although a very subordinate affair, it had been vastly admired by
the Typees; and Narmonee, a great hero among them, who was exceedingly
precise in the arrangements of his toilet and the general adjustment
of his person, being the most accurately tattooed and laboriously
horrified individual in all the valley, thought it would be a great
advantage to have it applied to the already shaven crown of his head.
The implement they usually employ is a shark's tooth, which is
about as well adapted to the purpose as a one-pronged fork for
pitching hay. No wonder, then, that the acute Narmonee perceived the
advantage my razor possessed over the usual implement. Accordingly,
one day, he requested as a personal favour, that I would just run over
his head with the razor. In reply, I gave him to understand that it
was too dull, and could not be used to any purpose without being
previously sharpened. To assist my meaning, I went through an
imaginary honing process on the palm of my hand. Narmonee took my
meaning in an instant, and running out of the house, returned the next
moment with a huge rough mass of rock as big as a millstone, and
indicated to me that that was exactly the thing I wanted. Of course
there was nothing left for me but to proceed to business, and I
began scraping away at a great rate. He writhed and wriggled under the
infliction, but, fully convinced of my skill, endured the pain like
a martyr.
Though I never saw Narmonee in battle, I will, from what I then
observed, stake my life upon his courage and fortitude. Before
commencing operations, his head had presented a surface of short
bristling hairs, and by the time I had concluded my unskilful
operation it resembled not a little a stubble field after being gone
over with a harrow. However, as the chief expressed the liveliest
satisfaction at the result, I was too wise to dissent from his
opinion.
CHAPTER XVI
SKIRMISH WITH THE HAPPARS
DAY after day wore on, and still there was no perceptible change
in the conduct of the islanders towards me. Gradually I lost all
knowledge of the regular recurrence of the days of the week, and
sunk insensibly into that kind of apathy which ensues after some
violent outbreak of despair. My limb suddenly healed, the swelling
went down, the pain subsided, and I had every reason to suppose I
should soon completely recover from the affliction that had so long
tormented me.
As soon as I was enabled to ramble about the valley in company
with the natives, troops of whom followed me whenever I sallied out of
the house, I began to experience an elasticity of mind which placed me
beyond the reach of those dismal forebodings to which I had so
lately been a prey. Received wherever I went with the most deferential
kindness; regaled perpetually with the most delightful fruits;
ministered to by dark-eyed nymphs; and enjoying besides all the
services of the devoted Kory-Kory, I thought that, for a sojourn among
cannibals, no man could have well made a more agreeable one.
To be sure, there were limits set to my wanderings. Toward the
sea, my progress was barred by an express prohibition of the
savages; and after having made two or three ineffectual attempts to
reach it, as much to gratify my curiosity as anything else, I gave
up the idea. It was in vain to think of reaching it by stealth,
since the natives escorted me in numbers wherever I went, and not
for one single moment that I can recall to mind was I ever permitted
to be alone.
The green and precipitous elevations that stood ranged around the
head of the vale where Marheyo's habitation was situated,
effectually precluded all hope of escape in that quarter, even if I
could have stolen away from the thousand eyes of the savages.
But these reflections now seldom obtruded upon me; I gave myself
up to the passing hour, and if ever disagreeable thoughts arose in
my mind, I drove them away. When I looked around the verdant recess in
which I was buried, and gazed up to the summits of the lofty
eminence that hemmed me in, I was well disposed to think that I was in
the "Happy Valley," and that beyond those heights there was nought but
a world of care and anxiety.
In this frame of mind, every object that presented itself to my
notice struck me in a new light, and the opportunities I now enjoyed
of observing the manners of the natives, tended to strengthen my
favourable impressions. One peculiarity that fixed my admiration was
the perpetual hilarity reigning through the whole extent of the
vale. There seemed to be no cares, griefs, troubles, or vexations in
all Typee. The hours tripped along as gaily as the laughing couples
down a country dance.
There were none of those thousand sources of irritation that the
ingenuity of civilized man has created to mar his own felicity.
There were no foreclosures of mortgages, no protested notes, no
bills payable, no debts of honour, in Typee; no unreasonable tailors
and shoemakers, perversely bent on being paid; no duns of any
description; no assault and battery attorneys, to foment discord,
backing their clients up to a quarrel, and then knocking their heads
together; no poor relations everlastingly occupying the spare
bed-chamber, and diminishing the elbow-room at the family table; no
destitute widows with their children starving on the cold charities of
the world; no beggars; no debtor's prisons; no proud and
hard-hearted nabobs in Typee; or, to sum up all in one word- no Money!
That "root of all evil" was not to be found in the valley.
In this secluded abode of happiness there were no cross old women,
no cruel step-dames, no withered spinsters, no love-sick maidens, no
sour old bachelors, no inattentive husbands, no melancholy young
men, no blubbering youngsters, and no squalling brats. All was
mirth, fun, and high good humour. Blue devils, hypochondria, and
doleful dumps went and hid themselves among the nooks and crannies
of the rocks.
Here you would see a parcel of children frolicking together the
live-long day, and no quarrelling, no contention among them. The
same number in our own land could not have played together for the
space of an hour without biting or scratching one another. There you
might have seen a throng of young females, not filled with envyings of
each other's charms, nor displaying the ridiculous affectations of
gentility, nor yet moving in whalebone corsets, like so many
automatons, but free, inartificially happy, and unconstrained.
There were some spots in that sunny vale where they would
frequently resort to decorate themselves with garlands of flowers.
To have seen them reclining beneath the shadows of one of the
beautiful groves, the ground about them strewn with freshly gathered
buds and blossoms, employed in weaving chaplets and necklaces, one
would have thought that all the train of Flora had gathered together
to keep a festival in honour of their mistress.
With the young men there seemed almost always some matter of
diversion or business on hand, that afforded a constant variety of
enjoyment. But whether fishing, or carving canoes, or polishing
their ornaments, never was there exhibited the least sign of strife or
contention among them.
As for the warriors, they maintained a tranquil dignity of
demeanour, journeying occasionally from house to house, where they
were always sure to be received with the attention bestowed upon
distinguished guests. The old men, of whom there were many in the
vale, seldom stirred from their mats, where they would recline for
hours and hours, smoking and talking to one another with all the
garrulity of age.
But the continual happiness which, so far as I was able to
judge, appeared to prevail in the valley, sprung principally from that
all-pervading sensation which Rousseau has told us he at one time
experienced, the mere buoyant sense of a healthful physical existence.
And, indeed, in this particular the Typees had ample reason to
felicitate themselves, for sickness was almost unknown. During the
whole period of my stay, I saw but one invalid among them; and on
their smooth clear skins you observed no blemish or mark of disease.
The general repose, however, upon which I have just been
descanting, was broken in upon about this time by an event, which
proved that the islanders were not entirely exempt from those
occurrences which disturb the quiet of more civilized communities.
Having now been a considerable time in the valley, I began to feel
surprised that the violent hostility subsisting between its
inhabitants and those of the adjoining bay of Happar, should never
have manifested itself in any warlike encounter. Although the
valiant Typees would often, by gesticulations, declare their undying
hatred against their enemies, and the disgust they felt at their
cannibal propensities; although they dilated upon the manifold
injuries they had received at their hands, yet, with a forbearance
truly commendable, they appeared patiently to sit down under their
grievances, and to refrain from making any reprisals. The Happars,
entrenched behind their mountains, and never even showing themselves
on their summits, did not appear to me to furnish adequate cause for
that excess of animosity evinced towards them by the heroic tenants of
our vale, and I was inclined to believe that the deeds of blood
attributed to them had been greatly exaggerated.
On the other hand, as the clamours of war had not up to this
period disturbed the serenity of the tribe, I began to distrust the
truth of those reports which ascribed so fierce and belligerent a
character to the Typee nation. Surely, thought I, all these terrible
stories I have heard about the inveteracy with which they carried on
the feud, their deadly intensity of hatred, and the diabolical
malice with which they glutted their revenge upon the inanimate
forms of the slain, are nothing more than fables, and I must confess
that I experienced something like a sense of regret at having my
hideous anticipations thus disappointed. I felt in some sort like a
'prentice boy who, going to the play in the expectation of being
delighted with a cut-and-thrust tragedy, is almost moved to tears of
disappointment at the exhibition of a genteel comedy.
I could not avoid thinking that I had fallen in with a greatly
traduced people, and I moralized not a little upon the disadvantage of
having a bad name, which in this instance had given a tribe of
savages, who were as pacific as so many lambkins, the reputation of
a confederacy of giant-killers.
But subsequent events proved that I had been a little too
premature in coming to this conclusion. One day, about noon, happening
to be at the Ti, I had lain down on the mats with several of the
chiefs, and had gradually sunk into a most luxurious siesta, when I
was awakened by a tremendous outcry, and starting up, beheld the
natives seizing their spears and hurrying out, while the most puissant
of the chiefs, grasping the six muskets which were ranged against
the bamboos, followed after, and soon disappeared in the groves. These
movements were accompanied by wild shouts, in which "Happar,
Happar," greatly predominated. The islanders were now to be seen
running past the Ti, and striking across the valley to the Happar
side. Presently I heard the sharp report of a musket from the
adjoining hills, and then a burst of voices in the same direction.
At this the women, who had congregated in the groves, set up the
most violent clamours, as they invariably do here as elsewhere on
every occasion of excitement and alarm, with a view of
tranquillizing their own minds and disturbing other people. On this
particular occasion they made such an outrageous noise, and
continued it with such perseverance, that for awhile, had entire
volleys of musketry been fired off in the neighbouring mountains, I
should not have been able to have heard them.
When this female commotion had a little subsided I listened
eagerly for further information. At last bang went another shot, and
then a second volley of yells from the hills. Again all was quiet, and
continued so for such a length of time that I began to think the
contending armies had agreed upon a suspension of hostilities; when
pop went a third gun, followed as before with a yell. After this,
for nearly two hours nothing occurred worthy of comment, save some
straggling shouts from the hillside, sounding like the halloos of a
parcel of truant boys who had lost themselves in the woods.
During this interval I had remained standing on the piazza of
the "Ti," which directly fronted the Happar mountain, and with no
one near me but Kory-Kory and the old superannuated savages I have
before described. These latter never stirred from their mats, and
seemed altogether unconscious that anything unusual was going on.
As for Kory-Kory, he appeared to think that we were in the midst
of great events, and sought most zealously to impress me with a due
sense of their importance. Every sound that reached us conveyed some
momentous item of intelligence to him. At such times, as if he were
gifted with second sight, he would go through a variety of
pantomimic illustrations, showing me the precise manner in which the
redoubtable Typees were at that very moment chastising the insolence
of the enemy. "Mehevi hanna pippee nuee Happar," he exclaimed every
five minutes, giving me to understand that under that distinguished
captain the warriors of his nation were performing prodigies of
valour.
Having heard only four reports from the muskets, I was led to
believe that they were worked by the islanders in the same manner as
the Sultan Solyman's ponderous artillery at the siege of Byzantium,
one of them taking an hour or two to load and train. At last, no sound
whatever proceeding from the mountains, I concluded that the contest
had been determined one way or the other. Such appeared, indeed, to be
the case, for in a little while a courier arrived at the "Ti,"
almost breathless with his exertions, and communicated the news of a
great victory having been achieved by his countrymen: "Happar poo
arva!- Happar poo arva!" (the cowards had fled). Kory-Kory was in
ecstasies, and commenced a vehement harangue, which, so far as I
understood it, implied that the result exactly agreed with his
expectations, and which, moreover, was intended to convince me that it
would be a perfectly useless undertaking, even for an army of
fire-eaters, to offer battle to the irresistible heroes of our valley.
In all this I of course acquiesced, and looked forward with no
little interest to the return of the conquerors, whose victory I
feared might not have been purchased without cost to themselves.
But here I was again mistaken; for Mehevi, in conducting his
warlike operations, rather inclined to the Fabian than to the
Buonapartean tactics, husbanding his resources and exposing his troops
to no unnecessary hazards. The total loss of the victors in this
obstinately contested affair was,- in killed, wounded, and missing-
one forefinger and part of a thumb-nail (which the late proprietor
brought along with him in his hand), a severely contused arm, and a
considerable effusion of blood flowing from the thigh of a chief who
had received an ugly thrust from a Happar spear. What the enemy had
suffered I could not discover, but I presume they had succeeded in
taking off with them the bodies of their slain.
Such was the issue of the battle, as far as its results came under
my observation; and as it appeared to be considered an event of
prodigious importance, I reasonably concluded that the wars of the
natives were marked by no very sanguinary traits. I afterwards learned
how the skirmish had originated. A number of the Happars had been
discovered prowling for no good purpose on the Typee side of the
mountain; the alarm sounded, and the invaders, after a protracted
resistance, had been chased over the frontier. But why had not the
intrepid Mehevi carried the war into Happar? Why had not he made a
descent into the hostile vale, and brought away some trophy of his
victory- some materials for the cannibal entertainment which I had
heard usually terminated every engagement? After all, I was much
inclined to believe that these shocking festivals must occur very
rarely among the islanders, if, indeed, they ever take place.
For two or three days the late event was the theme of general
comment; after which the excitement gradually wore away, and the
valley resumed its accustomed tranquility.
CHAPTER XVII
MARNOO APPEARS
RETURNING health and peace of mind gave a new interest to
everything around me. I sought to diversify my time by as many
enjoyments as lay within my reach. Bathing in company with troops of
girls, formed one of my chief amusements. We sometimes enjoyed the
recreation in the waters of a miniature lake, into which the central
stream of the valley expanded. This lovely sheet of water was almost
circular in figure, and about three hundred yards across. Its beauty
was indescribable. All around its banks waved luxuriant masses of
tropical folliage, soaring high above which were seen, here and there,
the symmetrical shaft of the cocoa-nut tree, surmounted by its tuft of
graceful branches, drooping in the air like so many waving ostrich
plumes.
The ease and grace with which the maidens of the valley
propelled themselves through the water, and their familiarity with the
element, were truly astonishing. Sometimes they might be seen
gliding along just under the surface, without apparently moving hand
or foot, then throwing themselves on their sides, they darted
through the water, revealing glimpses of their forms, as, in the
course of their rapid progress, they shot for an instant partly into
the air; at one moment they dived deep down into the water, and the
next they rose bounding to the surface.
I remember upon one occasion plunging in among a parcel of these
river-nymphs, and counting vainly on my superior strength, sought to
drag some of them under the water; but I quickly repented my temerity.
The amphibious young creatures swarmed about me like a shoal of
dolphins, and seizing hold of my devoted limbs, tumbled me about and
ducked me under the surface, until from the strange noises which
rang in my ears, and the supernatural visions dancing before my
eyes, I thought I was in the land of spirits. I stood indeed as little
chance among them as a cumbrous whale attacked on all sides by a
legion of swordfish. When at length they relinquished their hold of
me, they swam away in every direction, laughing at my clumsy
endeavours to reach them.
There was no boat on the lake; but at my solicitation, and for
my special use, some of the young men attached to Marheyo's household,
under the direction of the indefatigable Kory-Kory, brought up a light
and tastefully carved canoe from the sea. It was launched upon the
sheet of water, and floated there as gracefully as a swan. But,
melancholy to relate, it produced an effect I had not anticipated. The
sweet nymphs, who had sported with me before in the lake, now all fled
its vicinity. The prohibited craft, guarded by the edicts of the
"taboo," extended the prohibition to the waters in which it lay.
For a few days, Kory-Kory, with one or two other youths,
accompanied me in my excursions to the lake, and while I paddled about
in my light canoe, would swim after me shouting and gambolling in
pursuit. But this was far from contenting me. Indeed, I soon began
to weary of it, and longed more than ever for the pleasant society
of the mermaids, in whose absence the amusement was dull and
insipid. One morning I expressed to my faithful servitor my desire for
the return of the nymphs. The honest fellow looked at me, bewildered
for a moment, and then shook his head solemnly, and murmured "taboo!
taboo!" giving me to understand that unless the canoe was removed, I
could not expect to have the young ladies back again. But to this
procedure I was averse; I not only wanted the canoe to stay where it
was, but I wanted the beauteous Fayaway to get into it, and paddle
with me about the lake. This latter proposition completely horrified
Kory-Kory's notions of propriety. He inveighed against it, as
something too monstrous to be thought of. It not only shocked their
established notions of propriety, but was at variance with all their
religious ordinances.
However, although the "taboo" was a ticklish thing to meddle with,
I determined to test its capabilities of resisting an attack. I
consulted the chief Mehevi, who endeavoured to persuade me from my
object: but I was not to be repulsed; and accordingly increased the
warmth of my solicitations. At last he entered into a long, and I have
no doubt a very learned and eloquent exposition of the history and
nature of the "taboo" as affecting this particular case; employing a
variety of most extraordinary words, which, from their amazing
length and sonorousness, I have every reason to believe were of a
theological nature. But all that he said failed to convince me: partly
perhaps, because I could not comprehend a word that he uttered; but
chiefly, that for the life of me, I could not understand why a woman
should not have as much right to enter a canoe as a man. At last he
became a little more rational, and intimated that, out of the abundant
love he bore me, he would consult with the priests and see what
could be done.
How it was that the priesthood of Typee satisfied the affair
with their consciences, I know not; but so it was, and Fayaway's
dispensation from this portion of the taboo was at length procured.
Such an event, I believe, never before had occurred in the valley; but
it was high time the islanders should be taught a little gallantry,
and I trust that the example I set them may produce beneficial
effects. Ridiculous, indeed, that the lovely creatures should be
obliged to paddle about in the water, like so many ducks, while a
parcel of great strapping fellows skimmed over its surface in their
canoes.
The first day after Fayaway's emancipation, I had a delightful
little party on the lake- the damsel, Kory-Kory, and myself. My
zealous body-servant brought from the house a calabash of poee-poee,
half a dozen young cocoa-nuts- stripped of their husks- three pipes,
as many yams, and me on his back a part of the way. Something of a
load; but Kory-Kory was a very strong man for his size, and by no
means brittle in the spine. We had a very pleasant day; my trusty
valet plied the paddle and swept us gently along the margin of the
water, beneath the shades of the overhanging thickets. Fayaway and I
reclined in the stern of the canoe, the gentle nymph occasionally
placing her pipe to her lip, and exhaling the mild fumes of the
tobacco, to which her rosy breath added a fresh perfume. Strange as it
may seem, there is nothing in which a young and beautiful female
appears to more advantage than in the act of smoking. How
captivating is a Peruvian lady, swinging in her gaily-woven hammock of
grass, extended between two orange-trees, and inhaling the fragrance
of a choice cigarro! But Fayaway, holding in her delicately-formed
olive hand the long yellow reed of her pipe, with its quaintly
carved bowl, and every few moments languishingly giving forth light
wreaths of vapour from her mouth and nostrils, looked still more
engaging.
We floated about thus for several hours, when I looked up to the
warm, glowing, tropical sky, and then down into the transparent depths
below; and when my eye, wandering from the bewitching scenery
around, fell upon the grotesquely-tattooed form of Kory-Kory, and
finally encountered the pensive gaze of Fayaway, I thought I had
been transported to some fairy region, so unreal did everything
appear.
This lovely piece of water was the coolest spot in all the valley,
and I now made it a place of continual resort during the hottest
period of the day. One side of it lay near the termination of a long
gradually expanding gorge, which mounted to the heights that environed
the vale. The strong trade-wind, met in its course by these
elevations, circled and eddied about their summits, and was
sometimes driven down the steep ravine and swept across the valley,
ruffling in its passage the otherwise tranquil surface of the lake.
One day, after we had been paddling about for some time, I
disembarked Kory-Kory, and paddled the canoe to the windward side of
the lake. As I turned the canoe, away, who was with me, seemed all
at once to be struck with some happy idea. With a wild exclamation
of delight, she disengaged from her person the ample robe of tappa
which was knotted over her shoulder (for the purpose of shielding
her from the sun), and spreading it out like a sail, stood erect
with upraised arms in the head of the canoe. We American sailors pride
ourselves upon our straight clean spars, but a prettier little mast
than Fayaway made was never shipped aboard of any craft.
In a moment the tappa was distended by the breeze- the long
brown tresses of Fayaway streamed in the air- and the canoe glided
rapidly through the water, and shot towards the shore. Seated in the
stern, I directed its course with my paddle until it dashed up the
soft sloping bank, and Fayaway, with a light spring, alighted on the
ground; whilst Kory-Kory, who had watched our manoeuvres with
admiration, now clapped his hands in transport, and shouted like a
madman. Many a time afterwards was this feat repeated.
If the reader have not observed ere this that I was the declared
admirer of Miss Fayaway, all I can say is, that he is little
conversant with affairs of the heart, and I certainly shall not
trouble myself to enlighten him any farther. Out of the calico I had
brought from the ship a dress was made for this lovely girl. In it she
looked, I must confess, something like an opera-dancer. The drapery of
the latter damsel generally commences a little above the elbows, but
my island beauty's began at the waist, and terminated sufficiently far
above the ground to reveal the most bewitching ankle in the universe.
The day that Fayaway first wore this robe was rendered memorable
by a new acquaintance being introduced to me. In the afternoon I was
lying in the house, when I heard a great uproar outside; but being
by this time pretty well accustomed to the wild halloos which were
almost continually ringing through the valley, I paid little attention
to it, until old Marheyo, under the influence of some strange
excitement, rushed into my presence and communicated the astounding
tidings, "Marnoo pemi!" which being interpreted, implied that an
individual by the name of Marnoo was approaching. My worthy old friend
evidently expected that this intelligence would produce a great effect
upon me, and for a time he stood earnestly regarding me, as if curious
to see how I should conduct myself, but as I remained perfectly
unmoved, the old gentleman darted out of the house again, in as
great a hurry as he had entered it.
"Marnoo, Marnoo," cogitated I, "I have never heard that name
before. Some distinguished character, I presume, from the prodigious
riot the natives are making"; the tumultuous noise drawing nearer
and nearer every moment, while "Marnoo!-Marnoo!" was shouted by
every tongue.
I made up my mind that some savage warrior of consequence, who had
not yet enjoyed the honour of an audience, was desirous of paying
his respects on the present occasion. So vain had I become by the
lavish attention to which I had been accustomed, that I felt half
inclined, as a punishment for such neglect, to give this Marnoo a cold
reception, when the excited throng came within view, convoying one
of the most striking specimens of humanity that I ever beheld.
The stranger could not have been more than twenty-five years of
age, and was a little above the ordinary height; had he been a
single hair's breadth taller, the matchless symmetry of his form would
have been destroyed. His unclad limbs were beautifully formed;
whilst the elegant outline of his figure, together with his
beardless cheeks, might have entitled him to the distinction of
standing for the statue of the Polynesian Apollo; and indeed the
oval of his countenance and the regularity of every feature reminded
me of an antique bust. But the marble repose of art was supplied by
a warmth and liveliness of expression only to be seen in the South Sea
islander under the most favourable developments of nature. The hair of
Marnoo was a rich curling brown, and twined about his temples and neck
in little close curling ringlets, which danced up and down continually
when he was animated in conversation. His cheek was of a feminine
softness, and his face was free from the least blemish of tattooing,
although the rest of his body was drawn all over with fanciful
figures, which- unlike the unconnected sketching usual among these
natives- appeared to have been executed in conformity with some
general design.
The tattooing on his back in particular attracted my attention.
The artist employed must indeed have excelled in his profession.
Traced along the course of the spine was accurately delineated the
slender, tapering, and diamond-checkered shaft of the beautiful "artu"
tree. Branching from the stem on either side, and disposed
alternately, were the graceful branches drooping with leaves all
correctly drawn, and elaborately finished. Indeed, this piece of
tattooing was the best specimen of the Fine Arts I had yet seen in
Typee. A rear view of the stranger might have suggested the idea of
a spreading vine tacked against a garden wall. Upon his breast,
arms, and legs, were exhibited an infinite variety of figures; every
one of which, however, appeared to have reference to the general
effect sought to be produced. The tattooing I have described was of
the brightest blue, and when contrasted with the light olive-colour of
the skin, produced an unique and even elegant effect. A slight
girdle of white tappa, scarcely two inches in width, but hanging
before and behind in spreading tassels, composed the entire costume of
the stranger.
He advanced surrounded by the islanders, carrying under one arm
a small roll of the native cloth, and grasping in his other hand a
long and richly-decorated spear. His manner was that of a traveller
conscious that he is approaching a comfortable stage in his journey.
Every moment he turned good-humouredly to the throng around him, and
gave some dashing sort of reply to their incessant queries, which
appeared to convulse them with uncontrollable mirth.
Struck by his demeanour, and the peculiarity of his appearance, so
unlike that of the shaven-crowned and face-tattooed natives in
general, I involuntarily rose as he entered the house, and proffered
him a seat on the mats beside me. But without deigning to notice the
civility, or even the more incontrovertible fact of my existence,
the stranger passed on, utterly regardless of me, and flung himself
upon the farther end of the long couch that traversed the sole
apartment of Marheyo's habitation.
Had the belle of the season, in the pride of her beauty and power,
been cut in a place of public resort by some supercilious exquisite,
she could not have felt greater indignation than I did at this
unexpected slight.
I was thrown into utter astonishment. The conduct of the savages
had prepared me to anticipate from every newcomer the same extravagant
expressions of curiosity and regard. The singularity of his conduct,
however, only roused my desire to discover who this remarkable
personage might be, who now engrossed the attention of every one.
Tinor placed before him a calabash of poee-poee, from which the
stranger regaled himself, alternating every mouthful with some rapid
exclamation, which was eagerly caught up and echoed by the crowd
that completely filled the house. When I observed the striking
devotion of the natives to him, and their temporary withdrawal of
all attention from myself, I felt not a little piqued. The glory of
Tommo is departed, thought I, and the sooner he removes from the
valley the better. These were my feelings at the moment, and they were
prompted by that glorious principle inherent in all heroic natures-
the strong-rooted determination to have the biggest share of the
pudding or to go without any of it.
Marnoo, this all-attractive personage, having satisfied his
hunger, and inhaled a few whiffs from a pipe which was handed to
him, launched out into an harangue which completely enchained the
attention of his auditors.
Little as I understood of the language, yet from his animated
gestures and the varying expression of his features- reflected as from
so many mirrors in the countenances around him, I could easily
discover the nature of those passions which he sought to arouse.
From the frequent recurrence of the words, "Nukuheva" and "Franee"
(French), and some others with the meaning of which I was
acquainted, he appeared to be rehearsing to his auditors events
which had recently occurred in the neighbouring bays. But how he had
gained the knowledge of these matters, I could not understand,
unless it were that he had just come from Nukuheva,- a supposition
which his travel-stained appearance not a little supported. But, if
a native of that region, I could not account for his friendly
reception at the hands of the Typees.
Never, certainly, had I beheld so powerful an exhibition of
natural eloquence as Marnoo displayed during the course of his
oration. The grace of the attitudes into which he threw his flexible
figure, the striking gestures of his naked arms, and above all, the
fire which shot from his brilliant eyes, imparted an effect to the
continually-changing accents of his voice, of which the most
accomplished orator might have been proud. At one moment reclining
sideways upon the mat, and leaning calmly upon his bended arm, he
related circumstantially the aggressions of the French- their
hostile visits to the surrounding bays, enumerating each one in
succession- Happar, Puerka, Nukuheva, Tior,- and then starting to
his feet, and precipitating himself forward with clenched hands and
a countenance distorted with passion, he poured out a tide of
invectives. Falling back into an attitude of lofty command, he
exhorted the Typees to resist these encroachments; reminding them,
with a fierce glance of exultation, that as yet the terror of their
name had preserved them from attack; and with a scornful sneer, he
sketched in ironical terms the wondrous intrepidity of the French,
who, with five war-canoes and hundreds of men, had not dared to assail
the naked warriors of their valley.
The effect he produced upon his audience was electric; one and all
they stood regarding him with sparkling eyes and trembling limbs, as
though they were listening to the inspired voice of a prophet.
But it soon appeared that Marnoo's powers were as versatile as
they were extraordinary. As soon as he had finished his vehement
harangue, he threw himself again upon the mats, and, singling out
individuals in the crowd, addressed them by name, in a sort of
bantering style, the humour of which, though nearly hidden from me,
filled the whole assembly with uproarious delight.
He had a word for everybody; and, turning rapidly from one to
another, gave utterance to some hasty witticism, which was sure to
be followed by peals of laughter. To the females, as well as to the
men, he addressed his discourse. Heaven only knows what he said to
them, but he caused smiles and blushes to mantle their ingenuous
faces. I am, indeed, very much inclined to believe that Marnoo, with
his handsome person and captivating manners, was a sad deceiver
among the simple maidens of the island.
During all this time, he had never for one moment deigned to
regard me. He appeared, indeed, to be altogether unconscious of my
presence. I was utterly at a loss how to account for this
extraordinary conduct. I easily perceived that he was a man of no
little consequence among the islanders; that he possessed uncommon
talents; and was gifted with a higher degree of knowledge than the
inmates gi of the valley. For these reasons, I therefore greatly
feared lest, having, from some cause or other, unfriendly feelings
towards me, he might exert his powerful influence to do me mischief.
It seemed evident that he was not a permanent resident of the
vale, and yet, whence could he have come? On all sides the Typees were
girt in by hostile tribes, and how could he possibly, if belonging
to any of these, be received with so much cordiality?
The personal appearance of the enigmatical stranger suggested
additional perplexities. The face, free from tattooing, and the
unshaven crown, were peculiarities I had never before remarked in
any part of the island, and I had always heard that the contrary
were considered the indispensable distinctions of a Marquesan warrior.
Altogether the matter was perfectly incomprehensible to me, and I
awaited its solution with no small degree of anxiety.
At length, from certain indications, I suspected that he was
making me the subject of his remarks, although he appeared
cautiously to avoid either pronouncing my name, or looking in the
direction where I lay. All at once he rose from the mats where he
had been reclining, and, still conversing, moved towards me, his eye
purposely evading mine, and seated himself within less than a yard
of me. I had hardly recovered from my surprise, when he suddenly
turned round, and, with a most benignant countenance, extended his
right hand gracefully towards me. Of course I accepted the courteous
challenge, and, as soon as our palms met, he bent towards me, and
murmured in musical accents,- "How you do?" "How long have you been in
this bay?" "You like this bay?"
Had I been pierced simultaneously by three Happar spears, I
could not have started more than I did at hearing these simple
questions. For a moment I was overwhelmed with astonishment, and
then answered something I know not what; but as soon as I regained
my self-possession, the thought darted through my mind that from
this individual I might obtain that information regarding Toby which I
suspected the natives had purposely withheld from me. Accordingly, I
questioned him concerning the disappearance of my companion, but he
denied all knowledge of the matter. I then inquired from whence he had
come? He replied, from Nukuheva. When I expressed my surprise, he
looked at me for a moment, as if enjoying my perplexity, and then,
with his strange vivacity, exclaimed,- "Ah! me taboo,- me go
Nukuheva,- me go Tior,- me go Typee, me go everywhere,- nobody harm
me,- me taboo."
This explanation would have been altogether unintelligible to
me, had it not recalled to my mind something I had previously heard
concerning a singular custom among these islanders. Though the country
is possessed by various tribes, whose mutual hostilities almost wholly
preclude any tri intercourse between them, yet there are instances
where a person having ratified friendly relations with some individual
belonging to the valley, whose inmates are at war with his own, may,
under particular restrictions, venture with impunity into the
country of his friend, where, under other circumstances, he would have
been treated as an enemy. In this light are personal friendships
regarded among them, and the individual so protected is said to be
"taboo," and his person, to a certain extent, is held as sacred.
Thus the stranger informed me he had access to all the valleys in
the island.
Curious to know how he had acquired his knowledge of English, I
questioned him on the subject. At first, for some reason or other,
he evaded the inquiry, but afterwards told me that, when a boy, he had
been carried to sea by the captain of a trading vessel, with whom he
had stayed three years, living part of the time with him at Sidney, in
Australia, and that, at a subsequent visit to the island, the
captain had, at his own request, permitted him to remain among his
countrymen. The natural quickness of the savage had been wonderfully
improved by his intercourse with the white men, and his partial
knowledge of a foreign language gave him a great ascendancy over his
less accomplished countrymen.
When I asked the now affable Marnoo why it was that he had not
previously spoken to me, he eagerly inquired what I had been led to
think of him from his conduct in that respect. I replied, that I had
supposed him to be some great chief or warrior, who had seen plenty of
white men before, and did not think it worth while to notice a poor
sailor. At this declaration of the exalted opinion I had formed of
him, he appeared vastly gratified, and gave me to understand that he
had purposely behaved in that manner, in order to increase my
astonishment, as soon as he should see proper to address me.
Marnoo now sought to learn my version of the story as to how I
came to be an inmate of the Typee valley. When I related to him the
circumstances under which Toby and I had entered it, he listened
with evident interest; but as soon as I alluded to the absence, yet
unaccounted for, of my comrade, he endeavoured to change the
subject, as if it were something he desired not to agitate. It seemed,
indeed, as if everything connected with Toby was destined to beget
distrust and anxiety in my bosom. Notwithstanding Marnoo's denial of
any knowledge of his fate, I could not avoid suspecting that he was
deceiving me; and this suspicion revived those frightful apprehensions
with regard to my own fate, which, for a short time past, had subsided
in my breast.
Influenced by these feelings, I now felt a strong desire to
avail myself of the protection, and under his safeguard to return to
Nukuheva. But as soon as I hinted at this, he unhesitatingly
pronounced it to be entirely impracticable; assuring me that the
Typees would never consent to my leaving the valley. Although what
he said merely confirmed the impression which I had before
entertained, still it increased my anxiety to escape from a captivity,
which, however endurable, nay, delightful it might be in some
respects, involved in its issues a fate marked by the most frightful
contingencies.
I could not conceal from my mind that Toby had been treated in the
same friendly manner as I had been, and yet all their kindness
terminated with his mysterious disappearance. Might not the same
fate await me?- a fate too dreadful to think of. Stimulated by these
considerations, I urged anew my request to Marnoo; but he only set
forth in stronger colours the impossibility of my escape, and repeated
his previous declaration, that the Typees would never be brought to
consent to my departure.
When I endeavoured to learn from him the motives which prompted
them to hold me a prisoner, Marnoo again assumed that mysterious
tone which had tormented me with apprehensions when I had questioned
him with regard to the fate of my companion.
Thus repulsed, in a manner which only served, by arousing the most
dreadful forebodings, to excite me to renewed attempts, I conjured him
to intercede for me with the natives, and endeavour to procure their
consent to my leaving them. To this he appeared strongly averse;
but, yielding at last to my importunities, he addressed several of the
chiefs, who with the rest had been eyeing us intently during the whole
of our conversation. His petition, however, was at once met with the
most violent disapprobation, manifesting itself in angry glances and
gestures, and a perfect torrent of passionate words, directed to
both him and myself. Marnoo, evidently repenting the step he had
taken, earnestly deprecated the resentment of the crowd, and in a
few moments succeeded in pacifying, to some extent, the clamours which
had broken out as soon as his proposition had been understood.
With the most intense interest had I watched the reception his
intercession might receive; and a bitter pang shot through my heart at
the additional evidence, now furnished, of the unchangeable
determination of the islanders. Marnoo told me, with evident alarm
in his countenance, that although admitted into the bay on a
friendly footing with its inhabitants, he could not presume to
meddle with their concerns, as such a procedure, if persisted in,
would at once absolve the Typees from the restraints of the "taboo,"
although so long as he refrained from any such conduct, it screened
him effectually from the consequences of the enmity they bore his
tribe.
At this moment, Mehevi, who was present, angrily interrupted
him; and the words which he uttered, in a commanding tone, evidently
meant that he must at once cease talking to me, and withdraw to the
other part of the house. Marnoo immediately started up, hurriedly
enjoining me not to address him again, and, as I valued my safety,
to refrain from all further allusion to the subject of my departure;
and then, in compliance with the order of the determined chief, but
not before it had again been angrily repeated, he withdrew to a
distance.
I now perceived, with no small degree of apprehension, the same
savage expression in the countenances of the natives which had
startled me during the scene at the Ti. They glanced their eyes
suspiciously from Marnoo to me, as if distrusting the nature of an
intercourse carried on, as it was, in a language they could not
understand, and they seemed to harbour the belief that already we
had concerted measures calculated to elude their vigilance.
The lively countenances of these people are wonderfully indicative
of the emotions of the soul, and the imperfections of their oral
language are more than compensated for by the nervous eloquence of
their looks and gestures. I could plainly trace, in every varying
expression of their faces, all those passions which had been thus
unexpectedly aroused in their bosoms.
It required no reflection to convince me, from what was going
on, that the injunction of Marnoo was not to be rashly slighted; and
accordingly, great as was the effort to suppress my feelings, I
accosted Mehevi in a good-humoured tone, with a view of dissipating
any ill impression he might have received. But the ireful, angry chief
was not so easily mollified. He rejected my advances with that
peculiarly stern expression I have before described, and took care
by the whole of his behaviour towards me to show the displeasure and
resentment which he felt.
Marnoo, at the other extremity of the house, apparently desirous
of making a diversion in my favour, exerted himself to amuse with
his pleasantries the crowd about him; but his lively attempts were not
so successful as they had previously been, and, foiled in his efforts,
he rose gravely to depart. No one expressed any regret at this
movement, so seizing his roll of tappa, and grasping his spear, he
advanced to the front of the pi-pi, and waving his hand in adieu to
the now silent throng, cast upon me a glance of mingled pity and
reproach, and flung himself into the path which led from the house.
I watched his receding figure until it was lost in the obscurity of
the grove, and then gave myself up to the most desponding reflections.
CHAPTER XVIII
BATTLE OF THE POP-GUNS
THE knowledge I had now obtained as to the intention of the
savages deeply affected me.
Marnoo, I perceived, was a man who, by reason of his superior
acquirements, and the knowledge he possessed of the events which
were taking place in the different bays of the island, was held in
no little estimation by the inhabitants of the valley. He had been
received with the most cordial welcome and respect. The natives had
hung upon the accents of his voice, and had manifested the highest
gratification at being individually noticed by him. And yet, despite
all this, a few words urged in my behalf, with the intent of obtaining
my release from captivity, had sufficed not only to banish all harmony
and good-will, but, if I could believe what he told me, had gone
nigh to endanger his own personal safety.
How strongly rooted, then, must be the determination of the Typees
with regard to me, and how suddenly could they display the strangest
passions! The mere suggestion of my departure had estranged from me,
for the time at least, Mehevi, who was the most influential of all the
chiefs, and who had previously exhibited so many instances of his
friendly sentiments. The rest of the natives had likewise evinced
their strong repugnance to my wishes, and even Kory-Kory himself
seemed to share in the general disapprobation bestowed upon me.
In vain I racked my invention to find out some motive for the
strange desire these people manifested to retain me among them; but
I could discover none.
But however this might be, the scene which had just occurred
admonished me of the danger of trifling with the wayward and
passionate spirits against whom it was vain to struggle, and might
even be fatal to do so. My only hope was to induce the natives to
believe that I was reconciled to my detention in the valley, and by
assuming a tranquil and cheerful demeanour, to allay the suspicions
which I had so unfortunately aroused. Their confidence revived, they
might in a short time remit in some degree their watchfulness over
my movements, and I should then be the better enabled to avail
myself of any opportunity which presented itself for escape. I
determined, therefore, to make the best of a bad bargain, and to
bear up manfully against whatever might betide. In this endeavour I
succeeded beyond my own expectations. At the period of Marnoo's visit,
I had been in the valley, as nearly as I could conjecture, some two
months. Although not completely recovered from my strange illness,
which still lingered about me, I was free from pain and able to take
exercise. In short, I had every reason to anticipate a perfect
recovery. Freed from apprehensions on this point, and resolved to
regard the future without flinching-, I flung myself anew into all the
social pleasures of the valley, and sought to bury all regrets, and
all remembrances of my previous existence, in the wild enjoyments it
afforded.
In my various wanderings through the vale, and as I became
better acquainted with the character of its inhabitants, I was more
and more struck with the light-hearted joyousness that everywhere
prevailed. The minds of these simple savages, unoccupied by matters of
graver moment, were capable of deriving the utmost delight from
circumstances which would have passed unnoticed in more intelligent
communities. All their enjoyment, indeed, seemed to be made up of
the little trifling incidents of the passing hour; but these
diminutive items swelled altogether to an amount of happiness seldom
experienced by more enlightened individuals, whose pleasures are drawn
from more elevated but rarer sources.
What community, for instance, of refined and intellectual
mortals would derive the least satisfaction from shooting pop-guns?
The mere supposition of such a thing being possible would excite their
indignation, and yet the whole population of Typee did little else for
ten days but occupy themselves with that childish amusement, fairly
screaming, too, with the delight it afforded them.
One day I was frolicking with a little spirited urchin, some six
years old, who chased me with a piece of bamboo about three feet long,
with which he occasionally belaboured me. Seizing the stick from
him, the idea happened to suggest itself, that I might make for the
youngster, out of the slender tube, one of those nursery muskets
with which I had sometimes seen children playing. Accordingly, with my
knife, I made two parallel slits in the cane several inches in length,
and cutting loose at one end the elastic strip between them, bent it
back and slipped the point into a little notch made for the purpose.
Any small substance placed against this would be projected with
considerable force through the tube, by merely springing the bent
strip out of the notch.
Had I possessed the remotest idea of the sensation this piece of
ordnance was destined to produce, I should certainly have taken out
a patent for the invention. The boy scampered away with it, half
delirious with ecstasy, and in twenty minutes afterwards I might
have been seen surrounded by a noisy crowd- venerable old
greybeards- responsible fathers of families- valiant warriors-
matrons- young men- girls and children, all holding in their hands
bits of bamboo, and each clamouring to be served first.
For three or four hours I was engaged in manufacturing pop-guns,
but at last made over my good-will and interest in the concern to a
lad of remarkably quick parts, whom I soon initiated into the art
and mystery.
Pop, Pop, Pop, Pop, now resounded all over the valley. Duels,
skirmishes, pitched battles, and general engagements were to be seen
on every side. Here, as you walked along a path which led through a
thicket, you fell into a cunningly-laid ambush, and became a target
for a body of musketeers, whose tattooed limbs you could just see
peeping into view through the foliage. There, you were assailed by the
intrepid garrison of a house, who levelled their bamboo rifles at
you from between the upright canes which composed its sides. Farther
on, you were fired upon by a detachment of sharpshooters, mounted upon
the top of a pi-pi.
Pop, Pop, Pop, Pop! green guavas, seeds, and berries were flying
about in every direction, and during this dangerous state of
affairs, I was half afraid that, like the man and his brazen bull, I
should fall a victim to my own ingenuity. Like everything else,
however, the excitement gradually wore away, though ever after
occasionally pop-guns might be heard at all hours of the day.
It was towards the close of the pop-gun war, that I was infinitely
diverted with a strange freak of Marheyo's.
I had worn, when I quitted the ship, a pair of thick pumps, which,
from the rough usage they had received in scaling precipices and
sliding down gorges, were so dilapidated as to be altogether unfit for
use- so, at least, would have thought the generality of people, and so
they most certainly were, when considered in the light of shoes. But
things unserviceable in one way, may with advantage be applied in
another- that is, if one have genius enough for the purpose. This
genius Marheyo possessed in a superlative degree, as he abundantly
evinced by the use to which he put these sorely bruised and battered
old shoes.
Every article, however trivial, which belonged to me, the
natives appeared to regard as sacred; and I observed that for
several days after becoming an inmate of the house, my pumps were
suffered to remain, untouched, where I had first happened to throw
them. I remembered, however, that after awhile I had missed them
from their accustomed place; but the matter gave me no concern,
supposing that Tinor- like any other tidy housewife, having come
across them in some of her domestic occupations- had pitched the
useless things out of the house. But I was soon undeceived.
One day I observed old Marheyo bustling about me with unusual
activity, and to such a degree as almost to supersede Kory-Kory in the
functions of his office. One moment he volunteered to trot off with me
on his back to the stream; and when I refused, noways daunted by the
repulse, he continued to frisk about me like a superannuated
house-dog. I could not for the life of me conjecture what possessed
the old gentleman, until all at once, availing himself of the
temporary absence of the household, he went through a variety of
uncouth gestures, pointing eagerly down to my feet, and then up to a
little bundle which swung from the ridge-pole overhead. At last I
caught a faint idea of his meaning, and motioned him to lower the
package. He executed the order in the twinkling of an eye, and
unrolling a piece of tappa, displayed to my astonished gaze the
identical pumps which I thought had been destroyed long before.
I immediately comprehended his desire, and very generously gave
him the shoes, which had become quite mouldy, wondering for what
earthly purpose he could want them.
The same afternoon I descried the venerable warrior approaching
the house, with a slow, stately gait, ear-rings in ears, and spear
in hand, with this highly ornamental pair of shoes suspended from
his neck by a strip of bark, and swinging backwards and forwards on
his capacious chest. In the gala costume of the tasteful Marheyo,
these calf-skin pendants ever after formed the most striking feature.
But to turn to something a little more important. Although the
whole existence of the inhabitants of the valley seemed to pass away
exempt from toil, yet there were some light employments which,
although amusing rather than laborious as occupations, contributed
to their comfort and luxury. Among these, the most important was the
manufacture of the native cloth- "tappa"- so well known, under various
modifications, throughout the whole Polynesian Archipelago. As is
generally understood, this useful and sometimes elegant article is
fabricated from the bark of different trees. But, as I believe that no
description of its manufacture has ever been given, I shall state what
I know regarding it.
In the manufacture of the beautiful white tappa generally worn
on the Marquesan Islands, the preliminary operation consists in
gathering a certain quantity of the young branches of the
cloth-tree. The exterior green bark being pulled off as worthless,
there remains a slender fibrous substance, which is carefully stripped
from the stick, to which it closely adheres. When a sufficient
quantity of it has been collected, the various strips are enveloped in
a covering of large leaves, which the natives use precisely as we do
wrapping-paper, and which are secured by a few turns of a line
passed round them. The package is then laid in the bed of some running
stream, with a heavy stone placed over it, to prevent its being
swept away. After it has remained for two or three days in this state,
it is drawn out, and exposed for a short time to the action of the
air, every distinct piece being attentively inspected, with a view
of ascertaining whether it has yet been sufficiently affected by the
operation. This is repeated again and again, until the desired
result is obtained.
When the substance is in a proper state for the next process, it
betrays evidences of incipient decomposition; the fibres are relaxed
and softened, and rendered perfectly malleable. The different strips
are now extended, one by one, in successive layers, upon some smooth
surface- generally the prostrate trunk of a cocoa-nut tree- and the
heap thus formed is subjected, at every new increase, to a moderate
beating, with a sort of wooden mallet, leisurely applied. The mallet
is made of a hard heavy wood resembling ebony, is about twelve
inches in length, and perhaps two in breadth, with a rounded handle at
one end, and in shape is the exact counterpart of one of our
four-sided razor-strops. The flat surfaces of the implement are marked
with shallow parallel indentations, varying in depth on the
different sides, so as to be adapted to the several stages of the
operation. These marks produce the corduroy sort of stripes
discernible in the tappa in its finished state. After being beaten
in the manner I have described, the material soon becomes blended in
one mass, which, moistened occasionally with water, is at intervals
hammered out, by a kind of gold-beating process, to any degree of
thinness required. In this way the cloth is easily made to vary in
strength and thickness, so as to suit the numerous purposes to which
it is applied.
When the operation last described has been concluded, the new-made
tappa is spread out on the grass to bleach and dry, and soon becomes
of a dazzling whiteness. Sometimes, in the first stages of the
manufacture, the substance is impregnated with a vegetable juice,
which gives it a permanent colour. A rich brown and a bright yellow
are occasionally seen, but the simple taste of the Typee people
inclines them to prefer the natural tint.
The notable wife of Kammahammaha, the renowned conqueror and
king of the Sandwich Islands, used to pride herself in the skill she
displayed in dyeing her tappa with contrasting colours disposed in
regular figures; and, in the midst of the innovations of the times,
was regarded, towards the decline of her life, as a lady of the old
school, clinging as she did to the national cloth, in preference to
the frippery of the European calicoes. But the art of printing the
tappa is unknown upon the Marquesan Islands.
In passing along the valley, I was often attracted by the noise of
the mallet, which, when employed in the manufacture of the cloth,
produces at every stroke of its hard, heavy wood, a clear, ringing,
and musical sound, capable of being heard at a great distance. When
several of these implements happen to be in operation at the same
time, and near one another, the effect upon the ear of a person, at
a little distance, is really charming.
CHAPTER XIX
A DAY IN THE VALLEY
NOTHING can be more uniform and undiversified than the life of the
Typees; one tranquil day of ease and happiness follows another in
quiet succession; and with these unsophisticated savages the history
of a day is the history of a life. I will, therefore, as briefly as
I can, describe one of our days in the valley.
To begin with the morning. We were not very early risers- the
sun would be shooting his golden spikes above the Happar mountain, ere
I threw aside my tappa robe, and girding my long tunic about my waist,
sallied out with Fayaway and Kory-Kory, and the rest of the household,
and bent my steps towards the stream. Here we found congregated all
those who dwelt in our section of the valley; and here we bathed
with them. The fresh morning air and the cool flowing waters put
both soul and body in a glow, and after a half-hour employed in this
recreation, we sauntered back to the house- Tinor and Marheyo
gathering dry sticks by the way for firewood; some of the young men
laying the cocoa-nut trees under contribution as they passed beneath
them; while Kory-Kory played his outlandish pranks for my particular
diversion, and Fayaway and I, not arm in arm to be sure, but sometimes
hand in hand, strolled along, with feelings of perfect charity for all
the world, and especial good-will towards each other.
Our morning meal was soon prepared. The islanders are somewhat
abstemious at this repast; reserving the more powerful efforts of
their appetite to a later period of the day. For my own part, with the
assistance of my valet, who, as I have before stated, always
officiated as spoon on these occasions, I ate sparingly from one of
Tinor's trenchers of poee-poee; which was devoted exclusively for my
own use, being mixed with the milky meat of ripe cocoa-nut. A
section of a roasted bread-fruit, a small cake of "Amar," or a mess of
"Kokoo," two or three bananas, or a mammee apple; an annuee, or some
other agreeable and nutritious fruit, served from day to day to
diversify the meal, which was finished by tossing off the liquid
contents of a young cocoa-nut or two.
While partaking of this simple repast, the inmates of Marheyo's
house, after the style of the ancient Romans, reclined in sociable
groups upon the divan of mats, and digestion was promoted by
cheerful conversation.
After the morning meal was concluded, pipes were lighted; and
among them my own especial pipe, a present from the noble Mehevi.
The islanders, who only smoke a whiff or two at a time, and at long
intervals, and who keep their pipes going from hand to hand
continually, regarded my systematic smoking of four or five pipefuls
of tobacco in succession as something quite wonderful. When two or
three pipes had circulated freely, the company gradually broke up.
Marheyo went to the little hut he was for ever building. Tinor began
to inspect her rolls of tappa, or employed her busy fingers in
plaiting grass-mats. The girls anointed themselves with their fragrant
oils, dressed their hair, or looked over their curious finery, and
compared together their ivory trinkets, fashioned out of boar's
tusks or whale's teeth. The young men and warriors produced their
spears, paddles, canoe-gear, battle-clubs, and war-conchs, and
occupied themselves in carving all sorts of figures upon them with
pointed bits of shell or flint, and adorning them, especially the
war-conchs, with tassels of braided bark and tufts of human hair.
Some, immediately after eating, threw themselves once more upon the
inviting mats, and resumed the employment of the previous night,
sleeping as soundly as they had not closed their eyes for a week.
Others sallied as I out into the groves, for the purpose of
gathering fruit or fibres of bark and leaves; the last two being in
constant requisition, and applied to a hundred uses. A few, perhaps,
among the girls, would slip into the woods after flowers, or repair to
the stream with small calabashes and cocoa-nut shells, in order to
polish them by friction with a smooth stone in the water. In truth
these innocent people seemed to be at no loss for something to
occupy their time; and it would be no light task to enumerate all
their employments, or rather pleasures.
My own mornings I spent in a variety of ways. Sometimes I
rambled about from house to house, sure of receiving a cordial welcome
wherever I went; or, from grove to grove, and from one shady place
to another, in company with Kory-Kory and Fayaway, and a rabble rout
of merry young idlers. Sometimes I was too indolent for exercise, and,
accepting one of the many invitations I was continually receiving,
stretched myself out on the mats of some hospitable dwelling, and
occupied myself pleasantly either in watching the proceedings of those
around me, or taking part in them myself. Whenever I chose to do the
latter, the delight of the islanders was boundless; and there was
always a throng of competitors for the honour of instructing me in any
particular craft. I soon became quite an accomplished hand at making
tappa- could braid a grass sling as well as the best of them- and
once, with my knife, carved the handle of a javelin so exquisitely,
that I have no doubt, to this day, Karnoonoo, its owner, preserves
it as a surprising specimen of my skill. As noon approached, all those
who had wandered forth from our habitation began to return; and when
midday was fairly come, scarcely a sound was to be heard in the
valley- a deep sleep fell upon all. The luxurious siesta was hardly
ever omitted, except by old Marheyo, who was so eccentric a character,
that he seemed to be governed by no fixed principles whatever; but
acting just according to the humour of the moment, slept, eat, or
tinkered away at his little hut, without regard to the proprieties
of time or place. Frequently he might have been seen taking a nap in
the sun at noonday, or a bath in the stream at midnight. Once I beheld
him perched eighty feet from the ground, in the tuft of a cocoa-nut
tree, smoking; and often I saw him standing up to the waist in
water, engaged in plucking out the stray hairs of his beard, using a
piece of muscle-shell for tweezers.
The noontide slumber lasted generally an hour and a half, very
often longer; and after the sleepers had arisen from their mats they
again had recourse to their pipes, and then made preparations for
the most important meal of the day. I, however, like those gentlemen
of leisure who breakfast at home and dine at their club, almost
invariably, during my intervals of health, enjoyed the afternoon
repast with the bachelor chiefs of the Ti, who were always rejoiced to
see me, and lavishly spread before me all the good things which
their larder afforded. Mehevi generally produced, among other
dainties, a baked pig, an article which, I have every reason to
suppose, was provided for my sole gratification.
The Ti was a right jovial place. It did my heart, as well as my
body, good to visit it. Secure from female intrusion, there was no
restraint upon the hilarity of the warriors, who, like the gentlemen
of Europe after the cloth is drawn, and the ladies retire, freely
indulged their mirth.
After spending a considerable portion of the afternoon at the
Ti, I usually found myself, as the cool of the evening came on, either
sailing on the little lake with Fayaway, or bathing in the waters of
the stream with a number of the savages, who, at this hour, always
repaired thither. As the shadows of night approached, Marheyo's
household were once more assembled under his roof; tapers were lit,
long and curious chants were raised, interminable stories were told
(for which one present was little the wiser), and all sorts of
social festivities served to while away the time.
The young girls very often danced by moonlight in front of their
dwellings. There are a great variety of these dances, in which,
however, I never saw the men take part. They all consist of active,
romping, mischievous evolutions, in which every limb is brought into
requisition. Indeed, the Marquesan girls dance all over, as it were;
not only do their feet dance, but their arms, hands, fingers, ay,
their very eyes seem to dance in their heads.
The damsels wear nothing but flowers and their compendious gala
tunics; and when they plume themselves for the dance, one would almost
think that they were about to take wing.
Unless some particular festivity was going forward, the inmates of
Marheyo's house retired to their mats rather early in the evening; but
not for the night, since, after slumbering lightly for awhile, they
rose again, relit their tapers, partook of the third and last meal
of the day, at which poee-poee alone was eaten, and then, after
inhaling a narcotic whiff from a pipe of tobacco, disposed
themselves for the great business of the night-sleep. With the
Marquesans it might almost be styled the great business of life, for
they pass a large portion of their time in the arms of Somnus. The
native strength of their constitution is no way shown more
emphatically than in the quantity of sleep they can endure. To many of
them, indeed, life is little else than an often interrupted and
luxurious nap.
CHAPTER XX
MONUMENTAL PI-PIS
ALMOST every country has its medicinal springs famed for their
healing virtues. The Cheltenham of Typee is embosomed in the deepest
solitude, and but seldom receives a visitor. It is situated remote
from any dwelling, a little way up the mountain, near the head of
the valley; and you approach it by a pathway shaded by the most
beautiful foliage, and adorned with a thousand fragrant plants.
The mineral waters of Arva Wai* oozed forth from the crevices of
a rock, and gliding down its mossy side, fall at last, in many
clustering drops, into a natural basin of stone, fringed round with
grass and dewy-looking little violet-coloured flowers, as fresh and
beautiful as the perpetual moisture they enjoy can make them.
* I presume this might be translated into "Strong Waters." Arva
is the name bestowed upon a root, the properties of which are both
inebriating and medicinal. "Wai" is the Marquesan word for water.
The water is held in high estimation by the islanders, some of
whom consider it an agreeable as well as a medicinal beverage; they
bring it from the mountain in their calabashes, and store it away
beneath heaps of leaves in some shady nook near the house. Old Marheyo
had a great love for the waters of the spring. Every now and then he
lugged off to the mountain a great round demijohn of a calabash,
and, panting with his exertions, brought it back filled with his
darling fluid.
The water tasted like a solution of a dozen disagreeable things,
and was sufficiently nauseous to have made the fortune of the
proprietor, had the spa been situated in the midst of any civilized
community.
As I am no chemist, I cannot give a scientific analysis of the
water. All I know about the matter is, that one day Marheyo in my
presence poured out the last drop from his huge calabash, and I
observed at the bottom of the vessel a small quantity of gravelly
sediment very much resembling our common sand. Whether this is
always found in the water, and gives it its peculiar flavour and
virtues, or whether its presence was merely incidental, I was not able
to ascertain.
One day in returning from this spring by a circuitous path, I came
upon a scene which reminded me of Stonehenge and the architectural
labours of the Druid.
At the base of one of the mountains, and surrounded on all sides
by dense groves, a series of vast terraces of stone rises, step by
step, for a considerable distance up the hillside. These terraces
cannot be less than one hundred yards in length and twenty in width.
Their magnitude, however, is less striking than the immense size of
the blocks composing them. Some of the stones, of an oblong shape, are
from ten to fifteen feet in length, and five or six feet thick.
Their sides are quite smooth, but though square, and of pretty regular
formation, they bear no mark of the chisel. They are laid together
without cement, and here and there show gaps between. The topmost
terrace and the lower one are somewhat peculiar in their construction.
They have both a quadrangular depression in the centre, leaving the
rest of the terrace elevated several feet above it. In the intervals
of the stones immense trees have taken root, and their broad boughs
stretching far over, and interlacing together, support a canopy almost
impenetrable to the sun. Overgrowing the greater part of them, and
climbing from one to another, is a wilderness of vines, in whose
sinewy embrace many of the stones lie half-hidden, while in some
places a thick growth of bushes entirely covers them. There is a
wild pathway which obliquely crosses two of these terraces; and so
profound is the shade, so dense the vegetation, that a stranger to the
place might pass along it without being aware of their existence.
These structures bear every indication of a very high antiquity,
and Kory-Kory, who was my authority in all matters of scientific
research, gave me to understand that they were coeval with the
creation of the world; that the great gods themselves were the
builders; and that they would endure until time shall be no more.
Kory-Kory's prompt explanation, and his attributing the work to a
divine origin, at once convinced me that neither he nor the rest of
his countrymen knew anything about them.
As I gazed upon this monument, doubtless the work of an extinct
and forgotten race, thus buried in the green nook of an island at
the end of the earth, the existence of which was yesterday unknown,
a stronger feeling of awe came over me than if I had stood musing at
the mighty base of the Pyramid of Cheops. There are no inscriptions,
no sculpture, no clue, by which to conjecture its history: nothing but
the dumb stones. How many generations of those majestic trees which
overshadowed them have grown and flourished and decayed since first
they were erected!
These remains naturally suggest many interesting reflections. They
establish the great age of the island, an opinion which the builders
of theories concerning the creation of the various groups in the South
Seas are not always inclined to admit. For my own part, I think it
just as probable that human beings were living in the valleys of the
Marquesas three thousand years ago as that they were inhabiting the
land of Egypt. The origin of the island of Nukuheva cannot be
imputed to the coral insect: for indefatigable as that wonderful
creature is, it would be hardly muscular enough to pile rocks one upon
the other more than three thousand feet above the level of the sea.
That the land may have been thrown up by a submarine volcano is as
possible as anything else. No one can make an affidavit to the
contrary, and therefore I will say nothing against the supposition:
indeed, were geologists to assert that the whole continent of
America had in like manner been formed by the simultaneous explosion
of a train of Etnas, laid under the water all the way from the North
Pole to the parallel of Cape Horn, I am the last man in the world to
contradict them.
I have already mentioned that the dwellings of the islanders
were almost invariably built upon massive stone foundations, which
they call pi-pis. The dimensions of these, however, as well as of
the stones composing them, are comparatively small: but there are
other and larger erections of a similar description comprising the
"morals," or burying-grounds, and festival-places, in nearly all the
valleys of the island. Some of these piles are so extensive, and so
great a degree of labour and skill must have been requisite in
constructing them, that I can scarcely believe they were built by
the ancestors of the present inhabitants. If indeed they were, the
race has sadly deteriorated in their knowledge of the mechanic arts.
To say nothing of their habitual indolence, by what contrivance within
the reach of so simple a people could such enormous masses have been
moved or fixed in their places? and how could they with their rude
implements have chiselled and hammered them into shape?
All of these larger pi-pis- like that of the Hoolah Hoolah
ground in the Typee valley- bore incontestable marks of great age; and
I am disposed to believe that their erection may be ascribed to the
same race of men who were the builders of the still more ancient
remains I have just described.
According to Kory-Kory's account, the pi-pi, upon which stands the
Hoolah Hoolah was built a great many moons ago, under the direction of
Monoo, a great chief and warrior, and, as it would appear,
master-mason among the Typees. It was erected for the express
purpose to which it is at present devoted, in the incredibly short
period of one sun; and was dedicated to the immortal wooden idols by a
grand festival, which lasted ten days and nights.
Among the smaller pi-pis, upon which stand the dwelling-houses
of the natives, I never observed any which intimated a recent
erection. There are in every part of the valley a great many of
these massive stone foundations which have no houses upon them. This
is vastly convenient, for whenever an enterprising islander chooses to
emigrate a few hundred yards from the place where he was born, all
he has to do in order to establish himself in some new locality, is to
select one of the many unappropriated pi-pis, and without further
ceremony pitch his bamboo tent upon it.
CHAPTER XXI
PREPARATIONS FOR A FEAST
FROM the time that my lameness had decreased I had made a daily
practice of visiting Mehevi at the Ti, who invariably gave me a most
cordial reception. I was always accompanied in these excursions by
Fayaway and the ever-present Kory-Kory. The former, as soon as we
reached the vicinity of the Ti- which was rigorously tabooed to the
whole female sex- withdrew to a neighbouring hut, as if her feminine
delicacy restrained her from approaching a habitation which might be
regarded as a sort of Bachelor's Hall.
And in good truth it might well have been so considered.
Although it was the permanent residence of several distinguished
chiefs, and of the noble Mehevi in particular, it was still at certain
seasons the favourite haunt of all the jolly, talkative, and elderly
savages of the vale, who resorted thither in the same way that similar
characters frequent a tavern in civilized countries. There they
would remain hour after hour, chatting, smoking, eating poee-poee,
or busily engaged in sleeping for the good of their constitutions.
This building appeared to be the headquarters of the valley, where
all flying rumours concentrated; and to have seen it filled with a
crowd of the natives, all males, conversing in animated clusters,
while multitudes were continually coming and going, one would have
thought it a kind of savage exchange, where the rise and fall of
Polynesian Stock was discussed.
Mehevi acted as supreme lord over the place, spending the
greater portion of his time there: and often when, at particular hours
of the day, it was deserted by nearly every one else except the
verd-antique looking centenarians, who were fixtures in the
building, the chief himself was sure to be found enjoying his "otium
cum dignitate" upon the luxurious mats which covered the floor.
Whenever I made my appearance he invariably rose, and, like a
gentleman doing the honours of his mansion, invited me to repose
myself wherever I pleased, and calling out "tammaree!" (boy), a little
fellow would appear, and then retiring for an instant, return with
some savoury mess, from which the chief would press me to regale
myself. To tell the truth, Mehevi was indebted to the excellence of
his viands for the honour of my repeated visits,- a matter which
cannot appear singular, when it is borne in mind that bachelors, all
the world over, are famous for serving up unexceptional repasts.
One day, on drawing near to the Ti, I observed that extensive
preparations were going forward, plainly betokening some approaching
festival. Some of the symptoms reminded me of the stir produced
among the scullions of a large hotel, where a grand jubilee dinner
is about to be given. The natives were hurrying about hither and
thither, engaged in various duties; some lugging off to the stream
enormous hollow bamboos, for the purpose of filling them with water;
others chasing furious-looking hogs through the bushes, in their
endeavours to capture them; and numbers employed in kneading great
mountains of poee-poee heaped up in huge wooden vessels.
After observing these lively indications for awhile, I was
attracted to a neighbouring grove by a prodigious squeaking which I
heard there. On reaching the spot I found it proceeded from a large
hog which a number of natives were forcibly holding to the earth,
while a muscular fellow, armed with a bludgeon, was ineffectually
aiming murderous blows at the skull of the unfortunate porker. Again
and again he missed his writhing and struggling victim, but though
puffing and panting with his exertions, he still continued them; and
after striking a sufficient number of blows to have demolished an
entire drove of oxen, with one crashing stroke he laid him dead at his
feet.
Without letting any blood from the body, it was immediately
carried to a fire which had been kindled near at hand, and four
savages taking hold of the carcass by its legs, passed it rapidly to
and fro in the flames. In a moment the smell of burning bristles
betrayed the object of this procedure. Having got thus far in the
matter, the body was removed to a little distance; and, being
disembowelled, the entrails were laid aside as choice parts, and the
whole carcass thoroughly washed with water. An ample thick green
cloth, composed of the long thick leaves of a species of palm tree,
ingeniously tacked together with little pins of bamboo, was now was
now spread upon the ground, in which the body being carefully
rolled, it was borne to an oven previously prepared to receive it.
Here it was at once laid upon the heated stones at the bottom, and
covered with thick layers of leaves, the whole being quickly hidden
from sight by a mound of earth raised over it.
Such is the summary style in which the Typees convert
perverse-minded and rebellious hogs into the most docile and amiable
pork; a morsel of which placed on the tongue melts like a soft smile
from the lips of beauty.
I commend their peculiar mode of proceeding to the consideration
of all butchers, cooks, and housewives. The hapless porker whose
fate I have just rehearsed, was not the only one who suffered on
that memorable day. Many a dismal grunt, many an imploring squeak,
proclaimed what was going on throughout the whole extent of the
valley: and I verily believe the first-born of every litter perished
before the setting of that fatal sun.
The scene around the Ti was now most animated. Hogs and
poee-poee were baking in numerous ovens, which, heaped up with fresh
earth into slight elevations, looked like so many ant-hills. Scores of
the savages were vigorously plying their stone pestles in preparing
masses of poee-poee, and numbers were gathering green bread-fruit
and young cocoa-nuts in the surrounding groves; while an exceeding
great multitude, with a view of encouraging the rest in their labours,
stood still, and kept shouting most lustily without intermission.
It is a peculiarity among these people, that when engaged in any
employment they always make a prodigious fuss about it. So seldom do
they ever exert themselves, that when they do work they seem
determined that so meritorious an action shall not escape the
observation of those around. If, for example, they have occasion to
remove a stone to a little distance, which perhaps might be carried by
two ablebodied men, a whole swarm gather about it, and, after a vast
deal of palavering, lift it up among them, every one struggling to get
hold of it, and bear it off yelling and panting as if accomplishing
some mighty achievement. Seeing them on these occasions, one is
reminded of an infinity of black ants clustering about and dragging
away to some hole the leg of a deceased fly.
Having for some time attentively observed these demonstrations
of good cheer, I entered the Ti, where Mehevi sat complacently looking
out upon the busy scene, and occasionally issuing his orders. The
chief appeared to be in an extraordinary flow of spirits, and gave
me to understand that on the morrow there would be grand doings in the
groves generally, and at the Ti in particular; and urged me by no
means to absent myself. In commemoration of what event, however, or in
honour of what distinguished personage, the feast was to be given,
altogether passed my comprehension. Mehevi sought to enlighten my
ignorance, but he failed as signally as when he had endeavoured to
initiate me into the perplexing arcana of the taboo.
On leaving the Ti, Kory-Kory, who had, as a matter of course,
accompanied me, observing that my curiosity remained unabated,
resolved to make everything plain and satisfactory. With this
intent, he escorted me through the Taboo Groves, pointing out to my
notice a variety of objects, and endeavoured to explain them in such
an indescribable jargon of words, that it almost put me in bodily pain
to listen to him. In particular, he led me to a remarkable pyramidical
structure some three yards square at the base, and perhaps ten feet in
height, which had lately been thrown up, and occupied a very
conspicuous position. It was composed principally of large empty
calabashes, with a few polished cocoa-nut shells, and looked not
unlike a cenotaph of skulls. My cicerone perceived the astonishment
with which I gazed at this monument of savage crockery, and
immediately addressed himself to the task of enlightening me: but
all in vain; and to this hour the nature of the monument remains a
complete mystery to me. As, however, it formed so prominent a
feature in the approaching revels, I bestowed upon the latter, in my
own mind, the title of the "Feast of Calabashes."
The following morning, awaking rather late, I perceived the
whole of Marheyo's family busily engaged in preparing for the
festival. The old warrior himself was arranging in round balls the two
grey locks of hair that were suffered to grow from the crown of his
head; his earrings and spear, both well polished, lay beside him,
while the highly decorative pair of shoes hung suspended from a
projecting cane against the side of the house. The young men were
similarly employed; and the fair damsels, including Fayaway, were
anointing themselves with "aka," arranging their long tresses, and
performing other matters connected with the duties of the toilet.
Having completed their preparations, the girls now exhibited
themselves in gala costume; the most conspicuous feature of which
was a necklace of beautiful white flowers, with the stems removed, and
strung closely together upon a single fibre of tappa. Corresponding
ornaments were inserted in their ears, and woven garlands upon their
heads. About their waist they wore a short tunic of spotless white
tappa, and some of them superadded to this a mantle of the same
material, tied in an elaborate bow upon the left shoulder, and falling
about the figure in picturesque folds.
Thus arrayed, I would have matched the charming Fayaway against
any beauty in the world.
People may say what they will about the taste evinced by our
fashionable ladies in dress. Their jewels, their feathers, their
silks, and their furbelows would have sunk into utter insignificance
beside the exquisite simplicity of attire adopted by the nymphs of the
vale on this festive occasion. I should like to have seen a gallery of
coronation beauties, at Westminster Abbey, confronted for a moment
by this band of Island girls; their stiffness, formality, and
affectation contrasted with the artless vivacity and unconcealed
natural graces of these savage maidens. It would be the Venus de'
Medici placed beside a milliner's doll.
It was not long before Kory-Kory and myself were left alone in the
house, the rest of its inmates having departed for the Taboo Groves.
My valet was all impatience to follow them; and was as fidgety about
my dilatory movements as a diner out waiting hat in hand at the bottom
of the stairs for some lagging companion. At last, yielding to his
importunities, I set out for the Ti. As we passed the houses peeping
out from the groves through which our route lay, I noticed that they
were entirely deserted by their inhabitants.
When we reached the rock that abruptly terminated the path, and
concealed from us the festive scene, wild shouts and a confused
blending of voices assured me that the occasion, whatever it might be,
had drawn together a great multitude. Kory-Kory, previous to
mounting the elevation, paused for a moment, like a dandy at a
ball-room door, to put a hasty finish to his toilet. During this short
interval, the thought struck me that I ought myself perhaps to be
taking some little pains with my appearance. But as I had no holiday
raiment, I was not a little puzzled to devise some means of decorating
myself. However, as I felt desirous to create a sensation, I
determined to do all that lay in my power; and knowing that I could
not delight the savages more than by conforming to their style of
dress, I removed from my person the large robe of tappa which I was
accustomed to wear over my shoulders whenever I sallied into the
open air, and remained merely girt about with a short tunic descending
from my waist to my knees.
My quick-witted attendant fully appreciated the compliment I was
paying to the costume of his race, and began more sedulously to
arrange the folds of the one only garment which remained to me. Whilst
he was doing this, I caught sight of a knot of young girls, who were
sitting near us on the grass surrounded by heaps of flowers, which
they were forming into garlands. I motioned to them to bring some of
their handy-work to me; and in an instant a dozen wreaths were at my
disposal. One of them I put round the apology for a hat which I had
been forced to construct for myself out of palmetto-leaves, and some
of the others I converted into a splendid girdle. These operations
finished, with a slow and dignified step of a full-dressed beau
ascended the rock.
CHAPTER XXII
THE FEAST OF CALABASHES
THE whole population of the valley seemed to be gathered within
the precincts of the grove. In the distance could be seen the long
front of the Ti, its immense piazza swarming with men, arrayed in
every variety of fantastic costume, and all vociferating with animated
gestures; while the whole interval between it and the place where I
stood was enlivened by groups of females fancifully decorated,
dancing, capering, and uttering wild exclamations. As soon as they
descried me they set up a shout of welcome; and a band of them came
dancing towards me, chanting as they approached some wild
recitative. The change in my garb seemed to transport them with
delight, and clustering about me on all sides, they accompanied me
towards the Ti. When, however, we drew near it, these joyous nymphs
paused in their career, and parting on either side, permitted me to
pass on to the now densely thronged building.
So soon as I mounted to the pi-pi I saw at a glance that the
revels were fairly under way.
What lavish plenty reigned around!- Warwick feasting his retainers
with beef and ale, was a niggard to the noble Mehevi!- All along the
piazza of the Ti were arranged elaborately-carved canoe-shaped
vessels, some twenty feet in length, filled with newly-made poee-poee,
and sheltered from the sun by the broad leaves of the banana. At
intervals were heaps of green bread-fruit, raised in pyramidical
stacks, resembling the regular piles of heavy shot to be seen in the
yard of an arsenal. Inserted into the interstices of the huge stones
which formed the pi-pi were large boughs of trees; hanging from the
branches of which, and screened from the sun by their foliage, were
innumerable little packages with leafy coverings, containing the
meat of the numerous hogs which had been slain, done up in this manner
to make it more accessible to the crowd. Leaning against the railing
of the piazza were an immense number of long, heavy bamboos, plugged
at the lower end, and with their projecting muzzles stuffed with a wad
of leaves. These were filled with water from the stream, and each of
them might hold from four to five gallons.
The banquet being thus spread, nought remained but for every one
to help himself at his pleasure. Accordingly, not a moment passed
but the transplanted boughs I have mentioned were rifled by the throng
of the fruit they certainly had never borne before. Calabashes of
poee-poee were continually being replenished from the extensive
receptacle in which that article was stored, and multitudes of
little fires were kindled about the Ti for the purpose of roasting the
bread-fruit.
Within the building itself was presented a most extraordinary
scene. The immense lounge of mats lying between the parallel rows of
the trunks of cocoa-nut trees, and extending the entire length of
the house at least two hundred feet, was covered by the reclining
forms of a host of chiefs and warriors, who were eating at a great
rate, or soothing the cares of Polynesian life in the sedative fumes
of tobacco. The smoke was inhaled from large pipes, the bowls of
which, made out of small cocoa-nut shells, were curiously carved in
strange heathenish devices. These were passed from mouth to mouth by
the recumbent smokers, each of whom, taking two or three prodigious
whiffs, handed the pipe to his neighbour; sometimes for that purpose
stretching indolently across the body of some dozing individual
whose exertions at the dinner-table had already induced sleep.
The tobacco used among the Typees was of a very mild and
pleasing flavour, and as I always saw it in leaves, and the natives
appeared pretty well supplied with it, I was led to believe that it
must have been the growth of the valley. Indeed Kory-Kory gave me to
understand that this was the case; but I never saw a single plant
growing on the island. At Nukuheva, and, I believe, in all the other
valleys, the weed is very scarce, being only obtained in small
quantities from foreigners, and smoking is consequently with the
inhabitants of these places a very great luxury. How it was that the
Typees were so well furnished with it I cannot divine. I should
think them too indolent to devote any attention to its culture; and,
indeed, as far as my observation extended, not a single atom of the
soil was under any other cultivation than that of shower and sunshine.
The tabacco and sunshine. The tabacco-plant, however, like the
sugar-cane, may grow wild in some remote part of the vale.
There were many in the Ti for whom the tobacco did not furnish a
sufficient stimulus, and who accordingly had recourse to "arva," as
a more powerful agent in producing the desired effect.
"Arva" is a root very generally dispersed over the South Seas, and
from it is extracted a juice, the effects of which upon the system are
at first stimulating in a moderate degree; but it soon relaxes the
muscles, and, exerting a narcotic influence, produces a luxurious
sleep. In the valley this beverage was universally prepared in the
following way:- Some half-dozen young boys seated themselves in a
circle around an empty wooden vessel, each one of them being
supplied with a certain quantity of the roots of the "arva," broken
into small bits and laid by his side. A coco-nut goblet of water was
passed around the juvenile company, who rinsing their mouths with
its contents, proceeded to the business before them. This merely
consisted in thoroughly masticating the "arva," and throwing it
mouthful after mouthful into the receptacle provided. When a
sufficient quantity had been thus obtained, water was poured upon
the mass, and being stirred about with the forefinger of the right
hand, the preparation was soon in readiness for use. The "arva" has
medicinal qualities.
Upon the Sandwich Islands it has been employed with no small
success in the treatment of scrofulous affections, and in combating
the ravages of a disease which for so many years has been gradually
depopulating those fine and interesting islands. But the tenants of
the Typee valley, as yet exempt from these inflictions, generally
employ the "arva" as a minister to social enjoyment, and a calabash of
the liquid circulates among them as the bottle with us.
Mehevi, who was greatly delighted with the change in my costume,
gave me a cordial welcome. He had reserved for me a most delectable
mess of "cockoo," well knowing my partiality for that dish; and had
likewise selected three or four young cocoa-nuts, several roasted
bread-fruit, and a magnificent bunch of bananas, for my especial
comfort and gratification. These various matters were at once placed
before me; but Kory-Kory deemed the banquet entirely insufficient
for my wants until he had supplied me with one of the leafy packages
of pork, which, notwithstanding the somewhat hasty manner in which
it had been prepared, possessed a most excellent flavour, and was
surprisingly sweet and tender.
Pork is not a staple article of food among the people of the
Marquesas, consequently they pay little attention to the breeding of
the swine. The hogs are permitted to roam at large in the groves,
where they obtain no small portion of their nourishment from the
cocoa-nuts which continually fall from the trees. But it is only after
infinite labour and difficulty, that the hungry animal can pierce
the husk and shell so as to get at the meat. I have frequently been
amused at seeing one of them, after crunching the obstinate nut with
his teeth for a long time unsuccessfully, get into a violent passion
with it. He would then root furiously under the cocoa-nut, and, with a
fling of his snout, toss it before him on the ground. Following it up,
he would crunch at it again savagely for a moment, and the next
knock it on one side, pausing immediately after, as if wondering how
it could so suddenly have disappeared. In this way the persecuted
cocoa-nuts were often chased half across the valley.
The second day of the Feast of Calabashes was ushered in by
still more uproarious noises than the first. The skins of
innumerable sheep seemed to be resounding to the blows of an army of
drummers. Startled from my slumbers by the din, I leaped up, and found
the whole household engaged in making preparations for immediate
departure. Curious to discover of what strange events these novel
sounds might be the precursors, and not a little desirous to catch a
sight of the instruments which produced the terrific noise, I
accompanied the natives as soon as they were in readiness to depart
for the Taboo Groves.
The comparatively open space that extended from the Ti towards the
rock, to which I have before alluded as forming the ascent to the
place, was, with the building itself, now altogether deserted by the
men; the whole distance being filled by bands of females, shouting and
dancing under the influence of some strange excitement.
I was amused at the appearance of four or five old women, who in a
state of utter nudity, with their arms extended flatly down their
sides, and holding themselves perfectly erect, were leaping stiffly
into the air, like so many sticks bobbing to the surface after being
pressed perpendicularly into the water. They preserved the utmost
gravity of countenance, and continued their extraordinary movements
without a single moment's cessation. They did not appear to attract
the observation of the crowd around them, but I must candidly
confess that, for my own part, I stared at them most pertinaciously.
Desirous of being enlightened in regard to the meaning of this
peculiar diversion, I turned inquiringly to Kory-Kory: that learned
Typee immediately proceeded to explain the whole matter thoroughly.
But all that I could comprehend from what he said was, that the
leaping figures before me were bereaved widows, whose partners had
been slain in battle many moons previously; and who, at every
festival, gave public evidence in this manner of their calamities.
It was evident that Kory-Kory considered this an all-sufficient reason
for so indecorous a custom; but I must say that it did not satisfy
me as to its propriety.
Leaving these afflicted females, we passed on to the Hoolah Hoolah
ground. Within the spacious quadrangle, the whole population of the
valley seemed to be assembled, and the sight presented was truly
remarkable. Beneath the sheds of bamboo which opened towards the
interior of the square, reclined the principal chiefs and warriors,
while a miscellaneous throng lay at their ease under the enormous
trees, which spread a majestic canopy overhead. Upon the terraces of
the gigantic altars, at either end, were deposited green bread-fruit
in baskets of cocoa-nut leaves, large rolls of tappa, bunches of white
bananas, clusters of mammee-apples, the golden-hued fruit of the
artu tree, and baked hogs, laid out in large wooden trenchers,
fancifully decorated with freshly-plucked leaves, whilst a variety
of rude implements of war were piled in confused heaps before the
ranks of hideous idols. Fruits of various kinds were likewise
suspended in leafen baskets, from the tops of poles planted uprightly,
and at regular intervals, along the lower terraces of both altars.
At their base were arranged two parallel rows of cumbersome drums,
standing at least fifteen feet in height, and formed from the hollow
trunks of large trees. Their heads were covered with shark skins,
and their barrels were elaborately carved with various quaint
figures and devices. At regular intervals, they were bound round by
a species of sinnate of various colours, and strips of native cloth
flattened upon them here and there. Behind these instruments were
built slight platforms, upon which stood a number of young men, who,
beating violently with the palms of their hands upon the drum-heads,
produced those outrageous sounds which had awakened me in the morning.
Every few minutes these musical performers hopped down from their
elevation into the crowd below, and their places were immediately
supplied by fresh recruits. Thus an incessant din was kept up that
might have startled Pandemonium.
Precisely in the middle of the quadrangle were placed
perpendicularly in the ground a hundred or more slender, fresh-cut
poles, stripped of their bark, and decorated at the end with a
floating pennon of white tappa, the whole being fenced about with a
little picket of canes. For what purpose these singular ornaments were
intended, I in vain endeavoured to discover.
Another most striking feature of the performance was exhibited
by a score of old men who sat cross-legged in the little pulpits,
which encircled the trunks of the immense trees growing in the
middle of the enclosure. These venerable gentlemen, who I presume were
the priests, kept up an uninterrupted monotonous chant, which was
nearly drowned in the roar of drums. In the right hand they held a
finely-woven grass fan, with a heavy black wooden handle, curiously
chased: these fans they kept in continual motion.
But no attention whatever seemed to be paid to the drummers or
to the old priests, the individuals who composed the vast crowd
present being entirely taken up in chatting and laughing with one
another, smoking, drinking arva, and eating. For all the observation
it attracted, or the good it achieved, the whole savage orchestra
might, with great advantage to its own members and the company in
general, have ceased the prodigious uproar they were making.
In vain I questioned Kory-Kory and others of the natives, as to
the meaning of the strange things that were going on; all their
explanations were conveyed in such a mass of outlandish gibberish
and gesticulation that I gave up the attempt in despair. All that
day the drums resounded, the priests chanted, and the multitude
feasted and roared till sunset, when the throng dispersed, and the
Taboo Groves were again abandoned to quiet and repose. The next day
the same scene was repeated until night, when this singular festival
terminated.
CHAPTER XXIII
SINGULAR SUPERSTITIONS
ALTHOUGH I had been baffled in my attempts to learn the origin
of the Feast of Calabashes, yet it seemed very plain to me that it was
principally, if not wholly, of a religious character.
Yet, notwithstanding all I observed on this occasion, I am free to
confess my almost entire inability to gratify any curiosity that may
be felt with regard to the theology of the valley. I doubt whether the
inhabitants themselves could do so. They are either too lazy or too
sensible to worry themselves about abstract points of religious
belief. While I was among them, they never held any synods or councils
to settle the principles of their faith by agitating them. An
unbounded liberty of conscience seemed to prevail. Those who pleased
to do so were allowed to repose implicit faith in an ill-favoured god,
with a large bottle-nose, and fat shapeless arms crossed upon his
breast; whilst others worshipped an image which, having no likeness
either in heaven or on earth, could hardly be called an idol. As the
islanders always maintained a discreet reserve with regard to my own
peculiar views on religion, I thought it would be excessively ill-bred
in me to pry into theirs.
But, although my knowledge of the religious faith of the Typees
was unavoidably limited, one of their superstitious observances with
which I became acquainted interested me greatly.
In one of the most secluded portions of the valley, within a
stone's cast of Fayaway's lake- for so I christened the scene of our
island yachting- and hard by a growth of palms, which stood ranged
in order along both banks of the stream, waving their green arms as if
to do honour to its passage, was the mausoleum of a deceased
warrior-chief. Like all the other edifices of any note, it was
raised upon a small pi-pi of stones, which, being of unusual height,
was a conspicuous object from a distance. A light thatching of
bleached palmetto-leaves hung over it like a self-supported canopy;
for it was not until you came very near that you saw it was
supported by four slender columns of bamboo, rising at each corner
to a little more than the height of a man. A clear area of a few yards
surrounded the pi-pi, and was enclosed by four trunks of cocoa-nut
trees, resting at the angles on massive blocks of stone. The place was
sacred. The sign of the inscrutable Taboo was seen, in the shape of
a mystic roll of white tappa, suspended by a twisted cord of the
same material from the top of a slight pole planted within the
enclosure.* The sanctity of the spot appeared never to have been
violated. The stillness of the grave was there, and the calm
solitude around was beautiful and touching. The soft shadows of
those lofty palm trees- I can see them now- hanging over the little
temple, as if to keep out the intrusive sun.
* White appears to be the sacred colour among the Marquesans.
On all sides, as you approached this silent spot, you caught sight
of the dead chief's effigy, seated in the stern of a canoe, which
was raised on a light frame a few inches above the level of the pi-pi.
The canoe was about seven feet in length; of a rich, dark-coloured
wood, handsomely carved, and adorned in many places with variegated
bindings of stained sinnate, into which were ingeniously wrought a
number of sparkling sea-shells, and a belt of the same shells ran
all round it. The body of the figure- of whatever material it might
have been made- was effectually concealed in a heavy robe of brown
tappa, revealing only the hands and head; the latter skilfully
carved in wood, and surmounted by a superb arch of plumes. These
plumes, in the subdued and gentle gales which found access to this
sequestered spot, were never for one moment at rest, but kept
nodding and waving over the chief's brow. The long leaves of the
palmetto dropped over the eaves, and through them you saw the warrior,
holding his paddle with both hands in the act of rowing, leaning
forward and inclining his head, as if eager to hurry on his voyage.
Glaring at him for ever, and face to face, was a polished human skull,
which crowned the prow of the canoe. The spectral figurehead, reversed
in its position, glancing backwards, seemed to mock the impatient
attitude of the warrior.
When I first visited this singular place with Kory-Kory, he told
me- or, at least, I so understood him- that the chief was paddling his
way to the realms of bliss and bread-fruit- the Polynesian heaven-
where every moment the bread-fruit trees dropped their ripened spheres
to the ground, and where there was no end to the cocoa-nuts and
bananas; there they reposed through the live-long eternity upon mats
much finer than those of Typee; and every day bathed their glowing
limbs in rivers of cocoa-nut oil. In that happy land there were plenty
of plumes and feathers, and boars'-tusks and sperm-whale teeth, far
preferable to all the shining trinkets and gay tappa of the white men;
and, best of all, women, far lovelier than the daughters of earth were
there in abundance. "A very pleasant place," Kory-Kory said it was;
"but, after all, not much pleasanter, he thought, than Typee." "Did he
not, then," I asked him, wish to accompany the warrior?" "Oh, no; he
was very happy where he was; but supposed that some time or other he
would go in his own canoe."
Thus far, I think, I clearly comprehended Kory-Kory. But there was
a singular expression he made use of at the time, enforced by as
singular a gesture, the meaning of which I would have given much to
penetrate. I am inclined to believe it must have been a proverb he
uttered; for I afterwards heard him repeat the same words several
times, and in what appeared to me to be a somewhat similar sense.
Indeed, Kory-Kory had a great variety of short, smart-sounding
sentences, with which he frequently enlivened his discourse; and he
introduced them with an air which plainly intimated, that, in his
opinion, they settled the matter in question, whatever it might be.
Could it have been, then, that when I asked him whether he desired
to go to this heaven of bread-fruit, cocoa-nuts, and young ladies,
which he had been describing, he answered by saying something
equivalent to our old adage "A bird in the hand is worth two in the
bush!"- if he did, Kory-Kory was a discreet and sensible fellow, and I
cannot sufficiently admire his shrewdness.
Whenever, in the course of my rambles through the valley, I
happened to be near the chief's mausoleum, I always turned aside to
visit it. The place had a peculiar charm for me; I hardly know why,
but so it was. As I leaned over the railing and gazed upon the strange
effigy, and watched the play of the feathery head-dress, stirred by
the same breeze which in low tones breathed amidst the lofty palm
trees, I loved to yield myself up to the fanciful superstition of
the islanders, and could almost believe that the grim warrior was
bound heavenward. In this mood, when I turned to depart, I bade him,
"God speed, and a pleasant voyage." Ay, paddle away, brave
chieftain, to the land of spirits! To the material eye thou makest but
little progress; but, with the eye of faith, I see thy canoe
cleaving the bright waves, which die away on those dimly looming
shores of Paradise.
This strange superstition affords another evidence of the fact,
that however ignorant man may be, he still feels within him his
immortal spirit yearning after the unknown future.
Although the religious theories of the islands were a complete
mystery to me, their practical every-day operation could not be
concealed. I frequently passed the little temples reposing in the
shadows of the Taboo Groves, and beheld the offerings- mouldy fruit
spread out upon a rude altar, or hanging in half-decayed baskets
around some uncouth, jolly-looking images. I was present during the
continuance of the festival. I daily beheld the grinning idols
marshalled rank and file in the Hoolah Hoolah ground, and was often in
the habit of meeting those whom I supposed to be the priests. But
the temples seemed to be abandoned to solitude; the festival had
been nothing more than a jovial mingling of the tribe; the idols
were quite as harmless as any other logs of wood; and the priests were
the merriest dogs in the valley.
In fact, religious affairs in Typee were at a very low ebb. All
such matters sat very lightly upon the thoughtless inhabitants; and,
in the celebration of many of their strange rites, they appeared
merely to seek a sort of childish amusement.
A curious evidence of this was given in a remarkable ceremony,
in which I frequently saw Mehevi and several other chiefs and warriors
of note take part; but never a single female.
Among those whom I looked upon as forming the priesthood of the
valley, there was one in particular who often attracted my notice, and
whom I could not help regarding as the head of the order. He was a
noble-looking man, in the prime of his life, and of a most benignant
aspect. The authority this man, whose name was Kolory, seemed to
exercise over the rest, the episcopal part he took in the Feast of
Calabashes, his sleek and complacent appearance, the mystic characters
which were tattooed upon his chest, and, above all, the mitre he
frequently wore, in the shape of a towering head-dress, consisting
of part of a cocoa-nut branch, the stalk planted uprightly on his
brow, and the leaflets gathered together and passed round the
temples and behind the ears, all these pointed him out as Lord Primate
of Typee. Kolory was a sort of Knight Templar- a soldier-priest; for
he often wore the dress of a Marquesan warrior, and always carried a
long spear, which, instead of terminating in a paddle at the lower
end, after the general fashion of these weapons, was curved into a
heathenish-looking little image. This instrument, however, might
perhaps have been emblematic of his double functions. With one end, in
carnal combat he transfixed the enemies of his tribe; and with the
other, as a pastoral crook, he kept in order his spiritual flock.
But this is not all I have to say about Kolory. His martial grace very
often carried about with him what seemed to me the half of a broken
war-club. It was swathed round with ragged bits of white tappa, and
the upper part, which was intended to represent a human head, was
embellished with a strip of scarlet cloth of European manufacture.
It required little observation to discover that this strange object
was revered as a god. By the side of the big and lusty images standing
sentinel over the altars of the Hoolah Hoolah ground, it seemed a mere
pigmy in tatters. But appearances all the world over are deceptive.
Little men are sometimes very potent, and rags sometimes cover very
extensive pretensions. In fact, this funny little image was the
"crack" god of the island; lording it over all the wooden lubbers
who looked so grim and dreadful; its name was Moa Artua.* And it was
in honour of Moa Artua, and for the entertainment of those who believe
in him, that the curious ceremony I am about to describe was observed.
* The word "Artua," although having some other significations, is
in nearly all the Polynesian dialects used as the general designation
of the gods.
Mehevi and the chieftains of the Ti have just risen from their
noontide slumbers. There are no affairs of state to dispose of; and
having eaten two or three breakfasts in the course of the morning, the
magnates of the valley feel no appetite as yet for dinner. How are
their leisure moments to be occupied? They smoke, they chat, and at
last one of their number makes a proposition to the rest, who joyfully
acquiescing, he darts out of the house, leaps from the pi-pi, and
disappears in the grove. Soon you see him returning with Kolory, who
bears the god Moa Artua in his arms, and carries in one hand a small
trough, hollowed out in the likeness of a canoe. The priest comes
along dangling his charge as if it were a lachrymose infant he was
endeavouring to put into a good humour. Presently, entering the Ti, he
seats himself on the mats as composedly as a juggler about to
perform his sleight-of-hand tricks; and, with the chiefs disposed in a
circle around him, commences his ceremony.
In the first place he gives Moa Artua an affectionate hug, then
caressingly lays him to his breast, and, finally, whispers something
in his ear, the rest of the company listening eagerly for a reply. But
the baby-god is deaf or dumb,- perhaps both, for never a word does
he utter. At last Kolory speaks a little louder, and soon growing
angry, comes boldly out with what he has to say, and bawls to him.
He put me in mind of a choleric fellow, who, after trying in vain to
communicate a secret to a deaf man, all at once flies into a passion
and screams it out so that every one may hear. Still Moa Artua remains
as quiet as ever, and Kolory, seemingly losing his temper, fetches him
a box over the head, strips him of his tappa and red cloth, and,
laying him in a state of nudity in a little trough, covers him from
sight. At this proceeding all present loudly applaud, and signify
their approval by uttering the adjective "motarkee" with violent
emphasis. Kolory, however, is so desirous his conduct should meet with
unqualified approbation, that he inquires of each individual
separately whether, under existing circumstances, he has not done
perfectly right in shutting up Moa Artua. The invariable response is
"Aa, Aa" (yes, yes), repeated over again and again in a manner which
ought to quiet the scruples of the most conscientious. After a few
moments Kolory brings forth his doll again, and, while arraying it
very carefully in the tappa and red cloth, alternately fondles and
chides it. The toilet being completed, he once more speaks to it
aloud. The whole company hereupon show the greatest interest; while
the priest, holding Moa Artua to his ear, interprets to them what he
pretends the god is confidentially communicating to him. Some items of
intelligence appear to tickle all present amazingly; for one claps his
hands in a rapture; another shouts with merriment; and a third leaps
to his feet and capers about like a madman.
What under the sun Moa Artua on these occasions had to say to
Kolory I never could find out; but I could not help thinking that
the former showed a sad want of spirit in being disciplined into
making those disclosures, which at first he seemed bent on
withholding. Whether the priest honestly interpreted what he
believed the divinity said to him, or whether he was not all the while
guilty of a vile humbug, I shall not presume to decide. At any rate,
whatever, as coming from the god, was imparted to those present,
seemed to be generally of a complimentary nature- a fact which
illustrates the sagacity of Kolory, or else the time-serving
disposition of this hardly-used deity.
Moa Artua having nothing more to say, his bearer goes to nursing
him again, in which occupation, however, he is soon interrupted by a
question put by one of the warriors to the god. Kolory hereupon
snatches it up to his ear again, and after listening attentively, once
more officiates as the organ of communication. A multitude of
questions and answers having passed between the parties, much to the
satisfaction of those who propose them, the god is put tenderly to bed
in the trough, and the whole company unite in a long chant, led off by
Kolory. This ended, the ceremony is over; the chiefs rise to their
feet in high good humour, and my Lord Archbishop, after chatting
awhile, and regaling himself with a whiff or two from a pipe of
tobacco, tucks the canoe under his arm and marches off with it.
The whole of these proceedings were like those of a parcel of
children playing with dolls and baby-houses.
For a youngster scarcely ten inches high, and with so few early
advantages as he doubtless had had, Moa Artua was certainly a
precocious little fellow, if he really said all that was imputed to
him; but for what reason this poor devil of a deity, thus cuffed
about, cajoled, and shut up in a box, was held in greater estimation
than the full-grown and dignified personages of the Taboo Groves, I
cannot divine. And yet Mehevi, and other chiefs of unquestionable
veracity- to say nothing of the Primate himself- assured me over and
over again that Moa Artua was the tutelary deity of Typee, and was
more to be held in honour than a whole battalion of the clumsy idols
in the Hoolah Hoolah grounds. Kory-Kory- who seemed to have devoted
considerable attention to the study of theology, as he knew the
names of all the graven images in the valley, and often repeated
them over to me- likewise entertained some rather enlarged ideas
with regard to the character and pretensions of Moa Artua. He once
gave me to understand, with a gesture there was no misconceiving, that
if he (Moa Artua) were so minded, he could cause a cocoa-nut tree to
sprout out of his (Kory-Kory's) head; and that it would be the easiest
thing in life for him (Moa Artua) to take the whole island of Nukuheva
in his mouth, and dive down to the bottom of the sea with it.
But, in sober seriousness, I hardly knew what to make of the
religion of the valley. There was nothing that so much perplexed the
illustrious Cook, in his intercourse with the South Sea islanders,
as their sacred rites. Although this prince of navigators was in
many instances assisted by interpreters in the prosecution of his
researches, he still frankly acknowledges that he was at a loss to
obtain anything like a clear insight into the puzzling arcana of their
faith. A similar admission has been made by other eminent voyagers,-
by Carteret, Byron, Kotzebue, and Vancouver.
For my own part, although hardly a day passed while I remained
upon the island that I did not witness some religious ceremony or
other, it was very much like seeing a parcel of "Freemasons" making
secret signs to each other: I saw everything, but could comprehend
nothing.
On the whole, I am inclined to believe that the islanders in the
Pacific have no fixed and definite ideas whatever on the subject of
religion. I am persuaded that Kolory himself would be effectually
posed were he called upon to draw up the articles of his faith, and
pronounce the creed by which he hoped to be saved. In truth, the
Typees, so far as their actions evince, submitted to no laws, human or
divine- always excepting the thrice mysterious Taboo. The "independent
electors" of the valley were not to be browbeaten by chiefs,
priests, idols, or devils. As for the luckless idols, they received
more hard knocks than supplications. I do not wonder that some of them
looked so grim, and stood so bold upright, as if fearful of looking to
the right or the left, lest they should give any one offence. The fact
is, they had to carry themselves "pretty straight," or suffer the
consequences. Their worshippers were such a precious set of
fickle-minded and irreverent heathens, that there was no telling
when they might topple one of them over, break it to pieces, and
making a fire with it on the very altar itself, fall to roasting the
offerings of bread-fruit, and eat them in spite of its teeth.
In how little reverence these unfortunate deities were held by the
natives, was on one occasion most convincingly proved to me. Walking
with Kory-Kory through the deepest recesses of the groves, I perceived
a curious-looking image, about six feet in height, which originally
had been placed upright against a low pi-pi, surmounted by a ruinous
bamboo temple, but having become fatigued and weak in the knees, was
now carelessly leaning against it. The idol was partly concealed by
the foliage of a tree which stood near, and whose leafy boughs drooped
over the pile of stones, as if to protect the rude fane from the decay
to which it was rapidly hastening. The image itself was nothing it was
more than a grotesquely-shaped log, carved in the likeness of a portly
naked man, with the arms clasped over the head, the jaws thrown wide
apart, and its thick shapeless legs bowed into an arch. It was much
decayed. The lower part was overgrown with a bright silky moss. Thin
spears of grass sprouted from the distended mouth, and fringed the
outline of the head and arms. His godship had literally attained a
green old age. All its prominent points were bruised and battered,
or entirely rotted away. The nose had taken its departure, and from
the general appearance of the head, it might have been supposed that
the wooden divinity, in despair at the neglect of its worshippers, had
been trying to beat its own brains out against the surrounding trees.
I drew near, to inspect more closely this strange object of
idolatry, but halted reverently at the distance of two or three paces,
out of regard to the religious prejudices of my valet. As soon,
however, as Kory-Kory perceived that I was in one of my inquiring,
scientific moods, to my astonishment he sprang to the side of the
idol, and pushing it away from the stones against which it rested,
endeavoured to make it stand upon its legs. But the divinity had
lost the use of them altogether; and while Kory-Kory was trying to
prop it up, by placing a stick between it and the pi-pi, the monster
fell clumsily to the ground, and would infallibly have broken its neck
had not Kory-Kory providentially broken its fall, by receiving its
whole weight on his own half-crushed back. I never saw the honest
fellow in such a rage before. He leaped furiously to his feet, and,
seizing the stick, began beating the poor image, every moment or two
pausing and talking to it in the most violent manner, as if upbraiding
it for the accident. When his indignation had subsided a little, he
whirled the idol about most profanely, so as to give me an opportunity
of examining it on all sides. I am quite sure I never should have
presumed to have taken such liberties with the god myself, and I was
not a little shocked at Kory-Kory's impiety.
CHAPTER XXIV
KING MEHEVI
ALTHOUGH I had been unable during the late festival to obtain
information on many interesting subjects which had much excited my
curiosity, still that important event had not passed by without adding
materially to my general knowledge of the islanders.
I was especially struck by the physical strength and beauty
which they displayed, by their great superiority in these respects
over the inhabitants of the neighbouring bay of Nukuheva, and by the
singular contrasts they presented among themselves in their various
shades of complexion.
In beauty of form they surpassed anything I had ever seen. Not a
single instance of natural deformity was observable in all the
throng attending the revels. Occasionally I noticed among the men
the scars of wounds they had received in battle; and sometimes, though
very seldom, the loss of a finger, an eye, or an arm, attributable
to the same cause. With these exceptions, every individual appeared
free from those blemishes which sometimes mar the effect of an
otherwise perfect form. But their physical excellence did not merely
consist in an exemption from these evils; nearly every individual of
their number might have been taken for a sculptor's model.
When I remembered that these islanders derived no advantage from
dress, but appeared in all the naked simplicity of nature, I could not
avoid comparing them with the fine gentlemen and dandies who promenade
such unexceptional figures in our frequented thoroughfares. Stripped
of the cunning artifices of the tailor, and standing forth in the garb
of Eden,- what a sorry set of round-shouldered, spindle-shanked,
crane-necked varlets would civilized men appear! Stuffed calves,
padded breasts, and scientifically cut pantaloons would then avail
them nothing, and the effect would be truly deplorable.
Nothing in the appearance of the islanders struck me more forcibly
than the whiteness of their teeth. The novelist always compares the
masticators of his heroine to ivory; but I boldly pronounce the
teeth of the Typees to be far more beautiful than ivory itself. The
jaws of the oldest grey-beards among them were much better garnished
than those of most of the youths of civilized countries; while the
teeth of the young and middle-aged, in their purity and whiteness,
were actually dazzling to the eye. This marvellous whiteness of the
teeth is to be ascribed to the pure vegetable diet of these people,
and the uninterrupted healthfulness of their natural mode of life.
The men, in almost every instance, are of lofty stature,
scarcely ever less than six feet in height, while the other sex are
uncommonly diminutive. The early period of life at which the human
form arrives at maturity in this generous tropical climate likewise
deserves to be mentioned. A little creature, not more than thirteen
years of age, and who in other particulars might be regarded as a mere
child, is often seen nursing her own baby; whilst lads who, under less
ripening skies, would be still at school, are here responsible fathers
of families.
On first entering the Typee valley, I had been struck with the
marked contrast presented by its inhabitants with those of the bay I
had previously left. In the latter place, I had not been favourably
impressed with the personal appearance of the male portion of the
population; although with the females, excepting in some truly
melancholy instances, I had been wonderfully pleased.
Apart, however, from these considerations, I am inclined to
believe that there exists a radical difference between the two tribes,
if indeed they are not distinct races of men. To those who have merely
touched at Nukuheva Bay, without visiting other portions of the
island, it would hardly appear credible the diversities presented
between the various small clans inhabiting so diminutive a spot. But
the hereditary hostility which has existed between them for ages fully
accounts for this.
Not so easy, however, is it to assign an adequate cause for the
endless variety of complexions to be seen in the Typee valley.
During the festival, I had noticed several young females whose skins
were almost as white as any Saxon damsel's, a slight dash of the
mantling brown being all that marked the difference. This
comparative fairness of complexion, though in a great degree perfectly
natural, is partly the result of an artificial process, and of an
entire exclusion from the sun. The juice of the "papa" root, found
in great abundance at the head of the valley, is held in great
esteem as a cosmetic, with which many of the females daily anoint
their whole person. The habitual use of it whitens and beautifies
the skin. Those of the young girls who resort to this method of
heightening their charms, never expose themselves to the rays of the
sun; an observance, however, that produces little or no inconvenience,
since there are but few of the inhabited portions of the vale which
are not shaded over with a spreading canopy of boughs, so that one may
journey from house to house, scarcely deviating from the direct
course, and yet never once see his shadow cast upon the ground.
The "papa," when used, is suffered to remain upon the skin for
several hours; being of a light green colour, it consequently
imparts for the time a similar hue to the complexion. Nothing,
therefore, can be imagined more singular than the appearance of
these nearly naked damsels immediately after the application of the
cosmetic. To look at one of them you would almost suppose she was some
vegetable in an unripe state; and that, instead of living in the shade
for ever, she ought to be placed out in the sun to ripen.
All the islanders are more or less in the habit of anointing
themselves; the women preferring the "aker" or "papa," and the men
using the oil of the cocoa-nut. Mehevi was remarkably fond of
mollifying his entire cuticle with this ointment. Sometimes he might
be seen with his whole body fairly reeking with the perfumed oil of
the nut, looking as if he had just emerged from a soap-boiler's vat,
or had undergone the process of dipping in a tallow-chandlery. To this
cause, perhaps, united to their frequent bathing, and extreme
cleanliness, is ascribable, in a great measure, the marvellous
purity and smoothness of skin exhibited by the natives in general.
The prevailing tint among the women of the valley was a light
olive, and of this style of complexion Fayaway afforded the most
beautiful example. Others were still darker, while not a few were of a
genuine golden colour, and some of a swarthy hue.
As agreeing with much previously mentioned in this narrative, I
may here observe, that Mendanna, their discoverer, in his account of
the Marquesas, described the natives as wondrously beautiful to
behold, and as nearly resembling the people of Southern Europe. The
first of these islands seen by Mendanna was La Madelena, which is
not far distant from Nukuheva; and its inhabitants in every respect
resemble those dwelling on that and the other islands of the group.
Figueroa, the chronicler of Mendanna's voyage, says, that on the
morning the land was descried, when the Spaniards drew near the shore,
there sallied forth, in rude procession, about seventy canoes, and
at the same time many of the inhabitants (females, I presume) made
towards the ships by swimming. He adds, that "in complexion they
were nearly white, of good stature, and finely formed; and on their
faces and bodies were delineated representations of fishes and other
devices." The old Don then goes on to say, "There came, among
others, two lads paddling their canoe, whose eyes were fixed on the
ship; they had beautiful faces, and the most promising animation of
countenance, and were in all things so becoming, that the pilot-mayor,
Quiros, affirmed, nothing in his life ever caused him so much regret
as the leaving such fine creatures to be lost in that country."
Some of the natives present at the Feast of Calabashes had
displayed a few articles of European dress, disposed, however, about
their persons after their own peculiar fashion. Among these I
perceived the two pieces of cotton cloth which poor Toby and myself
had bestowed upon our youthful guides the afternoon we entered the
valley. They were evidently reserved for gala days; and during those
of the festival they rendered the young islanders who wore them very
distinguished characters. The small number who were similarly adorned,
and the great value they appeared to place upon the most common and
most trivial articles, furnished ample evidence of the very restricted
intercourse they held with vessels touching at the island. A few
cotton handkerchiefs of a gay pattern, tied about the neck, and
suffered to fall over the shoulders, strips of fanciful calico,
swathed about the loins, were nearly all I saw.
Indeed, throughout the valley, there were few things of any kind
to be seen of European origin. All I ever saw, besides the articles
just alluded to, were the six muskets preserved in the Ti, and three
or four similar implements of warfare hung up in other houses, some
small canvas bags, partly filled with bullets and powder, and half a
dozen old hatchet-heads, with the edges blunted and battered to such a
degree as to render them utterly worthless. These last seemed to be
regarded as nearly worthless by the natives; and several times they
held up one of them before me, and throwing it aside with a gesture of
disgust, manifested their contempt for anything that could so soon
become unserviceable.
But the muskets, the powder, and the bullets, were held in most
extravagant esteem. The former, from their great age and the
peculiarities they exhibited, were well worthy a place in any
antiquarian's armoury. I remember, in particular, one that hung in the
Ti, and which Mehevi- supposing as a matter of course that I was
able to repair it- had put into my hands for that purpose. It was
one of those clumsy, old-fashioned English pieces known generally as
Tower Hill muskets, and, for aught I know, might have been left on the
island by Wallace, Carteret, Cook, or Vancouver. The stock was
half-rotten and worm-eaten; the lock was as rusty and about as well
adapted to its ostensible purpose as an old door-hinge; the
threading of the screws about the trigger was completely worn away;
while the barrel shook in the wood. Such was the weapon the chief
desired me to restore to its original condition. As I did not
possess the accomplishments of a gunsmith, and was likewise
destitute of the necessary tools, I was reluctantly obliged to signify
my inability to perform the task. At this unexpected communication
Mehevi regarded me, for a moment, as if he half suspected I was some
inferior sort of moment, as if he half suspected I was some inferior
sort of white man, who after all did not know much more than a
Typee. However, after a most laboured explanation of the matter, I
succeeded in making him understand the extreme difficulty of the task.
Scarcely satisfied with my apologies, however, he marched off with the
superannuated musket in something of a huff, as if he would no
longer expose it to the indignity of being manipulated by such
unskilful fingers.
During the festival, I had not failed to remark the simplicity
of manner, the freedom from all restraint, and, to a certain degree,
the equality of condition manifested by the natives in general. No one
appeared to assume any arrogant pretensions. There was little more
than a slight difference in costume to distinguish the chiefs from the
other natives. All appeared to mix together freely, and without any
reserve; although I noticed that the wishes of a chief, even when
delivered in the mildest tone, received the same immediate obedience
which elsewhere would have been only accorded to a peremptory command.
What may be the extent of the authority of the chiefs over the rest of
the tribe, I will not venture to assert; but from all I saw during
my stay in the valley, I was induced to believe that in matters
concerning the general welfare it was very limited. The required
degree of deference towards them, however, was willingly and
cheerfully yielded; and as all authority is transmitted from father to
son, I have no doubt that one of the effects here, as elsewhere, of
high birth, is to induce respect and obedience.
The particular grades of rank existing among the chiefs of
Typee, I could not in all cases determine. Previous to the Feast of
Calabashes, I had been puzzled what particular station to assign to
Mehevi. But the important part he took upon that occasion convinced me
that he had no superior among the inhabitants of the valley. I had
invariably noticed a certain degree of deference paid to him by all
with whom I had ever seen him brought in contact; but when I
remembered that my wanderings had been confined to a limited portion
of the valley, and that towards the sea a number of distinguished
chiefs resided, some of whom had separately visited me at Marheyo's
house, and whom, until the festival, I had never seen in the company
of Mehevi, I felt disposed to believe that his rank, after all,
might not be particularly elevated.
The revels, however, had brought together all the warriors whom
I seen individually and in groups at different times and places. Among
them Mehevi moved with an easy air of superiority which was not to
be mistaken; and he whom I had only looked at as the hospitable host
of the Ti, and one of the military leaders of the tribe, now assumed
in my eyes the dignity of royal station. His striking costume, no less
than his naturally commanding figure, seemed indeed to give him
pre-eminence over the rest. The towering helmet of feathers that he
wore raised him in height above all who surrounded him; and though
some others were similarly adorned, the length and luxuriance of their
plumes were far inferior to his.
Mehevi was in fact the greatest of the chiefs- the head of his
clan- the sovereign of the valley; and the simplicity of the social
institutions of the people could not have been more completely
proved than by the fact, that after having been several weeks in the
valley, and almost in daily intercourse with Mehevi, I should have
remained until the time of the festival ignorant of his regal
character. But a new light had now broken in upon me. The Ti was the
palace- and Mehevi the king. Both the one and the other of a most
simple and patriarchal nature it must be allowed, and wholly
unattended by the ceremonious pomp which usually surrounds the purple.
After having made this discovery I could not avoid
congratulating myself that Mehevi had from the first taken me as it
were under his royal protection, and that he still continued to
entertain for me the warmest regard, as far at least as I was
enabled to judge from appearances. For the future I determined to
pay most assiduous court to him, hoping that eventually through his
kindness I might obtain my liberty.
CHAPTER XXV
NATIVE CUSTOMS
KING MEHEVI!- A goodly sounding title!- and why should I not
bestow it upon the foremost man in the valley? All hail, therefore,
Mehevi, king over all the Typees! and long life and prosperity to
his tropical majesty! But to be sober again after this loyal burst.
Previously to seeing the Dancing Widows I had little idea that
there were any matrimonial relations subsisting in Typee, and I should
as soon have thought of a Platonic affection being cultivated
between the sexes, as of the solemn connexion of man and wife. To be
sure, there were old Marheyo and Tinor, who seemed to live together
quite sociably; but for all that, I had sometimes observed a
comical-looking old gentleman, dressed in a suit of shabby
tattooing, who appeared to be equally at home. This behaviour, until
subsequent discoveries enlightened me, puzzled me more than anything
else I witnessed in Typee.
As for Mehevi, I had supposed him a confirmed bachelor, as well as
most of the principal chiefs. At any rate, if they had wives and
families, they ought to have been ashamed of themselves; for sure I
am, they never troubled themselves about any domestic affairs. In
truth, Mehevi seemed to be the president of a club of hearty fellows
who kept "Bachelor's Hall" in fine style at the Ti. I had no doubt but
that they regarded children as odious incumbrances; and their ideas of
domestic felicity were sufficiently shown in the fact, that they
allowed no meddlesome housekeepers to turn topsy-turvy those snug
little arrangements they had made in their comfortable dwelling. I
strongly suspected, however, that some of those jolly bachelors were
carrying on love intrigues with the maidens of the tribe, although
they did not appear publicly to acknowledge them. I happened to pop
upon Mehevi three or four times when he was romping- in a most
undignified manner for a warrior king- with one of the prettiest
little witches in the valley. She lived with an old woman and a
young man, in a house near Marheyo's; and although in appearance a
mere child herself, had a noble boy about a year old, who bore a
marvellous resemblance to Mehevi, whom I should certainly have
believed to have been the father, were it not that the little fellow
had no triangle on his face. Mehevi, however, was not the only
person upon whom the damsel Moonoony smiled- the young fellow of
fifteen, who permanently resided in the house with her, was
decidedly in her good graces. This too was a mystery which, with
others of the same kind, was afterwards satisfactorily explained.
During the second day of the Feast of Calabashes, Kory-Kory- being
determined that I should have some understanding on these matters-
had, in the course of his explanations, directed my attention to a
peculiarity I had frequently marked among many of the females,-
principally those of a mature age and rather matronly appearance. This
consisted in having the right hand and the left foot most
elaborately tattooed; while the rest of the body was wholly free
from the operation of the art, with the exception of the minutely
dotted lips and slight marks on the shoulders, to which I have
previously referred as comprising the sole tattooing exhibited by
Fayaway, in common with other young girls of her age. The hand and
foot thus embellished were, according to Kory-Kory, the distinguishing
badge of wedlock, so far as that social and highly commendable
institution is known among these people. It answers, indeed, the
same purpose as the plain gold ring worn by our fairer spouses.
After Kory-Kory's explanation of the subject, I was for some
time studiously respectful in the presence of all females thus
distinguished, and never ventured to indulge in the slightest approach
to flirtation with any of their number.
A further insight, however, into the peculiar domestic customs
of the inmates of the valley did away in a measure with the severity
of my scruples, and convinced me that I was deceived in some at
least of my conclusions. A regular system of polygamy exists among the
islanders, but of a most extraordinary nature,- a plurality of
husbands, instead of wives; and this solitary fact speaks volumes
for the gentle disposition of the male population.
I was not able to learn what particular ceremony was observed in
forming the marriage contract, but am inclined to think that it must
have been of a very simple nature. Perhaps the mere "popping the
question," as it is termed with us, might have been followed by an
immediate nuptial alliance. At any rate, tedious courtships are
unknown in the valley of Typee.
The males considerably outnumber the females. This holds true of
many of the islands of Polynesia, although the reverse of what is
the case in most civilized countries. The girls are first wooed and
won, at a very tender age, by some stripling in the household in which
they reside. This, however, is a mere frolic of the affections, and no
formal engagement is contracted. By the time this first love has a
little subsided, a second suitor presents himself, of graver years,
and carries both boy and girl away to his own habitation. This
disinterested and generous-hearted fellow now weds the young couple-
marrying damsel and lover at the same time- and all three
thenceforth live together as harmoniously as so many turtles. I have
heard of some men who in civilized countries rashly marry large
families with their wives, but had no idea that there was any place
where people married supplementary husbands with them. Infidelity on
either side is very rare. No man has more than one wife, and no wife
of mature years has less than two husbands,- sometimes she has
three, but such instances are not frequent. The marriage tie, whatever
it may be, does not appear to be indissoluble; for separations
occasionally happen. These, however, when they do take place,
produce no unhappiness, and are preceded by no bickerings: for the
simple reason, that an ill-used wife or a hen-pecked husband is not
obliged to file a bill in chancery to obtain a divorce. As nothing
stands in the way of a separation, the matrimonial yoke sits easily
and lightly, and a Typee wife lives on very pleasant and sociable
terms with her husbands. On the whole, wedlock, as known among these
Typees, seems to be of a more distinct and enduring nature than is
usually the case with barbarous people.
But, notwithstanding its existence among them, the scriptural
injunction to increase and multiply seems to be but indifferently
attended to. I never saw any of those large families, in
arithmetical or step-ladder progression, which one often meets with at
home. I never knew of more than two youngsters living together in
the same home, and but seldom even that number. As for the women, it
was very plain that the anxieties of the nursery but seldom
disturbed the serenity of their souls; and they were never seen
going about the valley with half a score of little ones tagging at
their apron-strings, or rather at the bread-fruit leaf they usually
wore in the rear.
I have before had occasion to remark that I never saw any of the
ordinary signs of a place of sepulture in the valley, a circumstance
which I attributed, at the time, to my living in a particular part
of it, and being forbidden to extend my ramble to any considerable
distance towards the sea. I have since thought it probable, however,
that the Typees, either desirous of removing from their sight the
evidences of mortality, or prompted by a taste for rural beauty, may
have some charming cemetery situated in the shadowy recesses along the
base of the mountains. At Nukuheva, two or three large quadrangular
"pi-pis," heavily flagged, enclosed with regular stone walls, and
shaded over and almost hidden from view by the interlacing branches of
enormous trees, were pointed out to me as burial-places. The bodies, I
understood, were deposited in rude vaults beneath the flagging, and
were suffered to remain there without being disinterred. Although
nothing could be more strange and gloomy than the aspect of these
places, where the lofty trees threw their dark shadows over rude
blocks of stone, a stranger looking at them would have discerned
none of the ordinary evidences of a place of sepulture.
During my stay in the valley, as none of its inmates were so
accommodating as to die and be buried in order to gratify my curiosity
with regard to their funeral rites, I was reluctantly obliged to
remain in ignorance of them. As I have reason to believe, however,
that the observances of the Typees in these matters are the same
with those of all the other tribes on the island, I will here relate a
scene I chanced to witness at Nukuheva.
A young man had died, about daybreak, in a house near the beach. I
had been sent ashore that morning, and saw a good deal of the
preparations they were making for his obsequies. The body, neatly
wrapped in new white tappa, was laid out in an open shed of
cocoa-nut boughs, upon a bier constructed of elastic bamboos
ingeniously twisted together. This was supported, about two feet
from the ground, by large canes planted uprightly in the earth. Two
females, of a dejected appearance, watched by its side, plaintively
chanting, and beating the air with large grass fans whitened with
pipe-clay. In the dwelling-house adjoining a numerous company were
assembled, and various articles of food were being prepared for
consumption. Two or three individuals, distinguished by head-dresses
of beautiful tappa, and wearing a great number of ornaments,
appeared to officiate as masters of the ceremonies. By noon the
entertainment had fairly begun, and we were told that it would last
during the whole of the two following days. With the exception of
those who mourned by the corpse, every one seemed disposed to drown
the sense of the late bereavement in convivial indulgence. The
girls, decked out in their savage finery, danced; the old men chanted;
the warriors smoked and chatted; and the young and lusty, of both
sexes, feasted plentifully, and seemed to enjoy themselves as
pleasantly as they could have done had it been a wedding.
The islanders understand the art of embalming, and practise it
with such success, that the bodies of their great chiefs are
frequently preserved for many years in the very houses where they
died. I saw three of these in my visit to the bay of Tior. One was
enveloped in immense folds of tappa, with only the face exposed, and
hung erect against the side of the dwelling. The others were stretched
out upon biers of bamboo, in open, elevated temples, which seemed
consecrated to their memory. The heads of enemies killed in battle are
invariably preserved, and hung up as trophies in the house of the
conqueror. I am not acquainted with the process which is in use, but
believe that fumigation is the principal agency employed. All the
remains which I saw presented the appearance of a ham after being
suspended for some time in a smoky chimney.
But to return from the dead to the living. The late festival had
drawn together, as I had every reason to believe, the whole population
of the vale, and consequently I was enabled to make some estimate with
regard to its numbers. I should imagine that there were about two
thousand inhabitants in Typee; and no number could have been better
adapted to the extent of the valley. The valley is some nine miles
in length, and may average one in breadth, the houses being
distributed at wide intervals throughout its whole extent,
principally, however, towards the head of the vale. There are no
villages. The houses stand here and there in the shadow of the groves,
or are scattered along the banks of the winding stream; their
golden-hued bamboo sides and gleaming white thatch, forming a
beautiful contrast to the perpetual verdure in which they are
embowered. There are no roads of any kind in the valley. Nothing but a
labyrinth of foot-paths, twisting and turning among the thickets
without end.
CHAPTER XXVI
KINDLINESS OF THE CANNIBALS
THERE seemed to be no rogues of any kind in Typee. In the
darkest nights the natives slept securely, with all their worldly
wealth around them, in houses the doors of which were never
fastened. The disquieting ideas of theft or assassination never
disturbed them. Each islander reposed beneath his own
palmetto-thatching, or sat under his own bread-fruit tree, with none
to molest or alarm him. There was not a padlock in the valley, nor
anything that answered the purpose of one: still there was no
community of goods. This long spear, so elegently carved and highly
polished, belongs to Warmoonoo- it is far handsomer than the one which
old Marheyo so greatly prizes- it is the most valuable article
belonging to its owner. And yet I have seen it leaning against a
cocoa-nut tree in the grove, and there it was found when sought for.
Here is a sperm-whale tooth, graven all over with cunning devices-
it is the property of Karluna. It is the most precious of the damsel's
ornaments. In her estimation, its price is far above rubies; and yet
there hangs the dental jewel, by its cord of braided bark, in the
girl's house, which is far back in the valley; the door is left
open, and all the inmates have gone off to bathe in the stream.*
* The strict honesty which the inhabitants of nearly all the
Polynesian Islands manifest towards each other, is in striking
contrast with the thieving propensities some of them evince in their
intercourse with foreigners. It would almost seem that, according to
their peculiar code of morals, the pilfering of a hatchet or a
wrought nail from a European is looked upon as a praiseworthy action.
Or rather, it may be presumed, that bearing in mind the wholesale
forays made upon them by their nautical visitors, they consider the
property of the latter as a fair object of reprisal. This
consideration, while it serves to reconcile an apparent contradiction
in the moral character of the islanders, should in some measure alter
that low opinion of it which the reader of South Sea voyages is too
apt to form.
So much for the respect in which such matters are held in Typee.
As to the land of the valley, whether it was the joint property of its
inhabitants, or whether it was parcelled out among a certain number of
landed proprietors, who allowed everybody to roam over it as much as
they pleased, I never could ascertain. At any rate, musty parchments
and tide-deeds there were none in the island; and I am half inclined
to believe that its inhabitants hold their broad valleys in fee simple
from nature herself.
Yesterday I saw Kory-Kory hie him away, armed with a long pole,
with which, standing on the ground, he knocked down the fruit from the
topmost boughs of the trees, and brought them home in his basket of
cocoa-nut leaves. To-day I see an islander, whom I know to reside in
a distant part of the valley, doing the self-same thing. On the
sloping bank of the stream were a number of banana trees. I have often
seen a score or two of young people making a merry foray on the
great golden clusters, and bearing them off, one after another, to
different parts of the vale, shouting and tramping as they went. No
churlish old curmudgeon could have been the owner of that grove of
bread-fruit trees, or of these gloriously yellow bunches of bananas.
From what I have said, it will be perceived that there is a vast
difference between "personal property" and "real estate" in the valley
of Typee. Some individuals, of course, are more wealthy than others.
For example: the ridge-pole of Marheyo's house bends under the
weight of many a huge packet of tappa; his long couch is laid with
mats placed one upon the other seven deep. Outside, Tinor has ranged
along in her bamboo cupboard- or whatever the place may be called- a
goodly array of calabashes and wooden trenchers. Now, the house just
beyond the grove, and next to Marheyo's, occupied by Ruaruga, is not
quite so well furnished. There are only three moderate-sized
packages swinging overhead; there are only two layers of mats beneath;
and the calabashes and trenchers are not so numerous, nor so
tastefully stained and carved. But then, Ruaruga has a house- not so
pretty a one, to be sure- but just as commodious as Marheyo's; and,
I suppose, if he wished to vie with his neighbour's establishment,
he could do so with very little trouble. These, in short, constitute
the chief differences perceivable in the relative wealth of the people
in Typee.
They lived in great harmony with each other. I will give an
instance of their fraternal feeling.
One day, in returning with Kory-Kory from my accustomed visit to
the Ti, we passed by a little opening in the grove; on one side of
which, my attendant informed me, was that afternoon to be built a
dwelling of bamboo. At least a hundred of the natives were bringing
materials to the ground, some carrying in their hands one or two of
the canes which were to form the sides, others slender rods of the
Habiscus, strung with palmetto leaves, for the roof. Every one
contributed something to the work; and by the united, but easy, and
even indolent, labours of all, the entire work was completed before
sunset. The islanders, while employed in erecting this tenement,
reminded me of a colony of beavers at work. To be sure, they were
hardly as silent and demure as those wonderful creatures, nor were
they by any means as diligent. To tell the truth, they were somewhat
inclined to be lazy, but a perfect tumult of hilarity and they
worked together so unitedly, and seemed actuated by such an instinct
of friendliness, that it was truly beautiful to behold.
Not a single female took part in this employment; and if the
degree of consideration in which the ever-adorable sex is held by
the men be- as the philosophers affirm- a just criterion of the degree
of refinement among a people, then I may truly pronounce the Typees to
be as polished a community as ever the sun shone upon. The religious
restrictions of the taboo alone excepted, the women of the valley were
allowed every possible indulgence. Nowhere are the ladies more
assiduously courted; nowhere are they better appreciated as the
contributors to our highest enjoyments; and nowhere are they more
sensible of their power. Far different from their condition among many
rude nations, where the woman are made to perform all the work,
while their ungallant lords and masters lie buried in sloth, the
gentle sex in the valley of Typee were exempt from toil- if toil it
might be called- that, even in that tropical climate, never
distilled one drop of perspiration. Their light household occupations,
together with the manufacture of tappa, the platting of mats, and
the polishing of drinking-vessels, were the only employments
pertaining to the women. And even these resembled those pleasant
avocations which fill up the elegant morning leisure of our
fashionable ladies at home. But in these occupations, slight and
agreeable though they were, the giddy young girls very seldom engaged.
Indeed, these wilful, care-killing damsels were averse to all useful
employment. Like so many spoiled beauties, they ranged through the
groves- bathed in the stream- danced- flirted- played all manner of
mischievous pranks, and passed their days in one merry round of
thoughtless happiness.
During my whole stay on the island I never witnessed a single
quarrel, nor anything that in the slightest degree approached even
to a dispute. The natives appeared to form one household, whose
members were bound together by the ties of strong affection. The
love of kindred I did not so much perceive, for it seemed blended in
the general love; and where all were treated as brothers and
sisters, it was hard to tell who were actually related to each other
by blood.
Let it not be supposed that I have overdrawn this picture. I
have not done so. Nor let it be urged, that the hostility of this
tribe to foreigners, and the hereditary feuds they carry on against
their fellow-islanders beyond the mountains, are facts which
contradict me. Not so; these apparent discrepancies are easily
reconciled. By many a legendary tale of violence and wrong, as well as
by events which have passed before their eyes, these people have
been taught to look upon white men with abhorrence. The cruel invasion
of their country by Porter has alone furnished them with ample
provocation; and I can sympathize in the spirit which prompts the
Typee warrior to guard all the passes to his valley with the point
of his levelled spear, and, standing upon the beach, with his back
turned upon his green home, to hold at bay the intruding European.
As to the origin of the enmity of this particular clan towards the
neighbouring tribes, I cannot so confidently speak. I will not say
that their foes are the aggressors, nor will I endeavour to palliate
their conduct. But surely, if our evil passions must find vent, it
is far better to expend them on strangers and aliens, than in the
bosom of the community in which we dwell. In many polished countries
civil contentions, as well as domestic enmities, are prevalent, at the
same time that the most atrocious foreign wars are waged. How much
less guilty, then, are our islanders, who of these three sins are only
chargeable with one, and that the least criminal!
The reader will, ere long, have reason to suspect that the
Typees are not free from the guilt of cannibalism; and he will then,
perhaps, charge me with admiring a people against whom so odious a
crime is chargeable. But this only enormity in their character is
not half so horrible as it is usually described. According to the
popular fictions, the crews of vessels, shipwrecked on some
barbarous coast, are eaten alive like so many dainty joints by the
uncivil inhabitants; and unfortunate voyagers are lured into smiling
and treacherous bays; knocked on the head with outlandish warclubs;
and served up without any preliminary dressing. In truth, so
horrific and improbable are these accounts, that many sensible and
well-informed people will not believe that any cannibals exist; and
place every book of voyages which purports to give any account of
them, on the same shelf with Blue Beard and Jack the Giant-killer.
While others, implicitly crediting the most extravagant fictions,
firmly believe that there are people in the world with tastes so
depraved, that they would infinitely prefer a single mouthful of
material humanity to a good dinner of roast beef and plum pudding. But
here, Truth, who loves to be centrally located, is again found between
the two extremes; for cannibalism to a certain moderate extent is
practised among several of the primitive tribes in the Pacific, but it
is upon the bodies of slain enemies alone; and horrible and fearful as
the custom is, immeasurably as it is to be abhorred and condemned,
still I assert that those who indulge in it are in other respects
humane and virtuous.
CHAPTER XXVII
FISHING
THERE was no instance in which the social and kindly
dispositions of the Typees were more forcibly evinced than in the
manner they conducted their great fishing parties. Four times during
my stay in the valley the young men assembled near the full of the
moon, and went together on these excursions. As they were generally
absent about forty-eight hours, I was led to believe that they went
out towards the open sea, some distance from the bay. The
Polynesians seldom use a hook and line, almost always employing large,
well-made nets, most ingeniously fabricated from the twisted fibres of
a certain bark. I examined several of them which had been spread to
dry upon the beach at Nukuheva. They resemble very much our own
seines, and I should think they were very nearly as durable.
All the South Sea islanders are passionately fond of fish; but
none of them can be more so than the inhabitants of Typee. I could not
comprehend, therefore, why they so seldom sought it in their waters;
for it was only at stated times that the fishing parties were
formed, and these occasions were always looked forward to with no
small degree of interest.
During their absence, the whole population of the place were in
a ferment, and nothing was talked of but "pehee, pehee" (fish,
fish). Towards the time when they were expected to return, the vocal
telegraph was put into operation- the inhabitants, who were
scattered throughout the length of the valley, leaped upon rocks and
into trees, shouting with delight at the thoughts of the anticipated
treat. As soon as the approach of the party was announced, there was a
general rush of the men towards the beach; some of them remaining,
however, about the Ti, in order to get matters in readiness for the
reception of the fish, which were brought to the Taboo Groves in
immense packages of leaves, each one of them being suspended from a
pole carried on the shoulders of two men.
I was present at the Ti on one of these occasions, and the sight
was most interesting. After all the packages had arrived, they were
laid in a row under the verandah of the building, and opened. The fish
were all quite small, generally about the size of a herring, and of
every variety of colour. About one-eighth of the whole being
reserved for the use of the Ti itself, the remainder was divided
into numerous smaller packages, which were immediately despatched in
every direction to the remotest part of the valley. Arrived at their
destination, these were in turn portioned out, and equally distributed
among the various houses of each particular district. The fish were
under a strict Taboo, until the distribution was completed, which
seemed to be effected in a most impartial manner. By the operation
of this system every man, woman, and child in the vale, were at one
and the same time partaking of this favourite article of food.
Once, I remember, the party arrived at midnight; but the
unseasonableness of the hour did not repress the impatience of the
islanders. The carriers despatched from the Ti were to be seen
hurrying in all directions through the deep groves; each individual
preceded by a boy bearing a flaming torch of dried cocoa-nut boughs,
which from time to time was replenished from the materials scattered
along the path. The wild glare of these enormous flambeaux, lighting
up with a startling brilliancy the innermost recesses of the vale, and
seen moving rapidly along beneath the canopy of leaves, the savage
shout of the excited messengers sounding the news of their approach,
which was answered on all sides, and the strange appearance of their
naked bodies, seen against the gloomy background, produced
altogether an effect upon my mind that I shall long remember.
It was on this same occasion that Kory-Kory awakened me at the
dead hour of night, and in a sort of transport communicated the
intelligence contained in the words "pehee perni" (fish come). As I
happened to have been in a remarkably sound and refreshing slumber,
I could not imagine why the information had not been deferred until
morning; indeed, I felt very much inclined to fly into a passion and
box my valet's ears; but on second thoughts I got quietly up, and on
going outside the house was not a little interested by the moving
illumination which I beheld.
When old Marheyo received his share of the spoils, immediate
preparations were made for a midnight banquet; calabashes of poee-poee
were filled to the brim; green bread-fruit were roasted; and a huge
cake of "amar" was cut up with a sliver of bamboo, and laid out on
an immense banana leaf.
At this supper we were lighted by several of the native tapers,
held in the hands of young girls. These tapers are most ingeniously
made. There is a nut abounding in the valley, called by the Typees
"armor," closely resembling our common horse-chestnut. The shell is
broken, and the contents extracted whole. Any number of these are
strung at pleasure upon the long elastic fibre that traverses the
branches of the cocoa-nut tree. Some of these tapers are eight or
ten feet in length; but being perfectly flexible, one end is held in a
coil, while the other is lighted. The nut burns with a fitful bluish
flame, and the oil that it contains is exhausted in about ten minutes.
As one burns down, the next becomes ignited, and the ashes of the
former are knocked into a cocoa-nut shell kept for the purpose. This
primitive candle requires continual attention, and must be
constantly held in the hand. The person so employed marks the lapse of
time by the number of nuts consumed, which is easily learned by
counting the bits of tappa distributed at regular intervals along
the string.
I grieve to state so distressing a fact, but the inhabitants of
Typee were in the habit of devouring fish much in the same way that
a civilized being would eat a radish, and without any more previous
preparation. They eat it raw; scales, bones, gills, and all the
inside. The fish is held by the tail, and the head being introduced
into the mouth, the animal disappears with a rapidity that would at
first nearly lead one to imagine it had been launched bodily down
the throat.
Raw fish! Shall I ever forget my sensations when I first saw my
island beauty devour one? Oh, heavens! Fayaway, how could you ever
have contracted so vile a habit? However, after the first shock had
subsided, the custom grew less odious in my eyes, and I soon
accustomed myself to the sight. Let no one imagine, however, that
the lovely Fayaway was in the habit of swallowing great vulgar-looking
fishes: oh, no; with her beautiful small hand, she would clasp a
delicate, little, golden-hued love of a fish, and eat it as
elegantly and as innocently as though it were a Naples biscuit. But,
alas! it was after all a raw fish; and all I can say is, that
Fayaway ate it in a more ladylike manner than any other girl of the
valley.
When at Rome do as the Romans do, I held to be so good a
proverb, that being in Typee, I made a point of doing as the Typees
did. Thus I ate poee-poee as they did; I walked about in a garb
striking for its simplicity; and I reposed on a community of
couches; besides doing many other things in conformity with their
peculiar habits; but the farthest I ever went in the way of
conformity, was on several occasions to regale myself with raw fish.
These being remarkably tender, and quite small, the undertaking was
not so disagreeable in the main, and after a few trials I positively
began to relish them: however, I subjected them to a slight
operation with my knife previously to making my repast.
CHAPTER XXVIII
NATURAL HISTORY OF THE VALLEY
THERE were some curious-looking dogs in the valley. Dogs!- big,
hairless rats rather; all with smooth, shining, speckled hides- fat
sides, and very disagreeable faces. Whence could they have come?
That they were not the indigenous production of the region, I am
firmly convinced. Indeed, they seemed aware of their being
interlopers, looking fairly ashamed, and always trying to hide
themselves in some dark corner. It was plain enough they did not
feel at home in the vale- that they wished themselves well out of
it, and back to the ugly country from which they must have come.
Scurvy curs! they were my abhorrence; I should have liked
nothing better than to have been the death of every one of them. In
fact, on one occasion, I intimated the propriety of a canine crusade
to Mehevi, but the benevolent king would not consent to it. He heard
me very patiently; but when I had finished, shook his head, and told
me in confidence, that they were "taboo."
As for the animal that made the fortune of my lord mayor
Whittington, I shall never forget the day that I was lying in the
house about noon, everybody else being fast asleep; and happening to
raise my eyes, met those of a big black spectral cat, which sat
erect in the doorway, looking at me with its frightful goggling
green orbs, like one of those monstrous imps that tormented some of
the olden saints! I am one of those unfortunate persons, to whom the
sight of these animals is at any time an insufferable annoyance.
Thus constitutionally averse to cats in general, the unexpected
apparition of this one in particular utterly confounded me. When I had
a little recovered from the fascination of its glance, I started up;
the cat fled, and emboldened by this, I rushed out of the house in
pursuit; but it had disappeared. It was the only time I ever saw one
in the valley, and how it got there I cannot imagine. It is just
possible that it might have escaped from one of the ships at Nukuheva.
It was in vain to seek information on the subject from the natives,
since none of them had seen the animal, the appearance of which
remains a mystery to me to this day.
Among the few animals which are to be met with in Typee, there was
none which I looked upon with more interest than a beautiful
golden-hued species of lizard. It measured perhaps five inches from
head to tail, and was most gracefully proportioned. Numbers of those
creatures were to be seen basking in the sunshine upon the thatching
of the houses, and multitudes at all hours of the day showed their
glittering sides as they ran frolicking between the spears of grass,
or raced in troops up and down the tall shafts of the cocoa-nut trees.
But the remarkable beauty of these little animals and their lively
ways were not their only claims upon my admiration. They were
perfectly tame and insensible to fear. Frequently, after seating
myself upon the ground in some shady place during the heat of the day,
I would be completely overrun with them. If I brushed one off my
arm, it would leap perhaps into my hair; when I tried to frighten it
away by gently pinching its leg, it would turn for protection to the
very hand that attacked it.
The birds are also remarkably tame. If you happened to see one
perched upon a branch within reach of your arm, and advanced towards
it, it did not fly away immediately, but waited quietly looking at
you, until you could almost touch it, and then took wing slowly,
less alarmed at your presence, it would seem, than desirous of
removing itself from your path. Had salt been less scarce in the
valley than it was, this was the very place to have gone birding
with it.
I remember that once, on an uninhabited island of the
Gallipagos, a bird alighted on my outstretched arm, while its mate
chirped from an adjoining tree. Its tameness, far from shocking me, as
a similar occurrence did Selkirk, imparted to me the most exquisite
thrill of delight I ever experienced; and with somewhat of the same
pleasure did I afterwards behold the birds and lizards of the valley
show their confidence in the kindliness of man.
Among the numerous afflictions which the Europeans have entailed
upon some of the natives of the South Seas, is the accidental
introduction among them of that enemy of all repose and ruffler of
even tempers- the mosquito. At the Sandwich Islands, and at two or
three of the Society group, there are now thriving colonies of these
insects, who promise ere long to supplant altogether the aboriginal
sand-flies. They sting, buzz, and torment, from one end of the year to
the other, and by incessantly exasperating the natives, materially
obstruct the benevolent labours of the missionaries.
From this grievous visitation, however, the Typees are as yet
wholly exempt; but its place is unfortunately in some degree
supplied by the occasional presence of a minute species of fly, which,
without stinging, is nevertheless productive of no little annoyance.
The tameness of the birds and lizards is as nothing when compared to
the fearless confidence of this insect. He will perch upon one of your
eye-lashes, and go to roost there, if you do not disturb him, or force
his way through your hair, or along the cavity of the nostril, till
you almost fancy he is resolved to explore the very brain itself. On
one occasion I was so inconsiderate as to yawn while a number of
them were hovering around me. I never repeated the act. Some
half-dozen darted into the open apartment, and began walking about its
ceiling; the sensation was dreadful. I involuntarily closed my
mouth, and the poor creatures, being enveloped in inner darkness, must
in their consternation have stumbled over my palate, and been
precipitated into the gulf beneath. At any rate, though I afterwards
charitably held my mouth open for at least five minutes, with a view
of affording egress to the stragglers, of them ever availed themselves
of the opportunity.
There are no wild animals of any kind on the island, unless it
be decided that the natives themselves are such. The mountains and the
interior present to the eye nothing but silent solitudes, unbroken
by the roar of beasts of prey, and enlivened by few tokens even of
minute animated existence. There are no venomous reptiles, and no
snakes of any description to be found in any of the valleys.
In a company of Marquesan natives the weather affords no topic
of conversation. It can hardly be said to have any vicissitudes. The
rainy season, it is true, brings frequent showers, but they are
intermitting and refreshing. When an islander, bound on some
expedition, rises from his couch in the morning, he is never
solicitous to peep out and see how the sky looks, or ascertain from
what quarter the wind blows. He is always sure of a "fine day," and
the promise of a few genial showers he hails with pleasure. There is
never any of that "remarkable weather" on the islands which from
time immemorial has been experienced in America, and still continues
to call forth the wondering conversational exclamations of its elderly
citizens. Nor do there even occur any of those eccentric
meteorological changes which elsewhere surprise us. In the valley of
Typee ice-creams would never be rendered less acceptable by sudden
frosts, nor would picnic parties be deferred on account of
inauspicious snowstorms: for there day follows day in one unvarying
round of summer and sunshine, and the whole year is one long
tropical month of June just melting into July.
It is this genial climate which causes the cocoa-nuts to
flourish as they do. This invaluable fruit, brought to perfection by
the rich soil of the Marquesas, and borne aloft on a stately column
more than a hundred feet from the ground, would seem at first almost
inaccessible to the simple Indeed, the slender, smooth, and soaring
shaft, without a single limb or protuberance of any kind to assist one
in mounting it, presents an obstacle only to be overcome by the
surprising agility and ingenuity of the islanders. It might be
supposed that their indolence would lead them patiently to await the
period when the ripened nuts, slowly parting from their stems, fall
one by one to the ground. This certainly would be the case, were it
not that the young fruit, encased in a soft green husk, with the
incipient meat adhering in a jelly-like pellicle to its sides, and
containing a bumper of the most delicious nectar, is what they chiefly
prize. They have at least twenty different terms to express as many
progressive stages in the growth of the nut. Many of them reject the
fruit altogether except at a particular period of its growth, which,
incredible as it may appear, they seemed to me to be able to ascertain
within an hour or two. Others are still more capricious in their
tastes; and after gathering together a heap of the nuts of all ages,
and ingeniously tapping them, will first sip from one and then from
another, as fastidiously as some delicate wine-bibber experimenting,
glass in hand, among his dusty demijohns of different vintages.
Some of the young men, with more flexible frames than their
comrades, and perhaps with more courageous souls, had a way of walking
up the trunk of the cocoa-nut trees which to me seemed little less
than miraculous; and when looking at them in the act, I experienced
that curious perplexity a child feels when he beholds a fly moving
feet uppermost along a ceiling.
I will endeavour to describe the way in which Narnee, a noble
young chief, sometimes performed this feat for my particular
gratification; but his preliminary performances must also be recorded.
Upon my signifying my desire that he should pluck me the young fruit
of some particular tree, the handsome savage, throwing himself into
a sudden attitude of surprise, feigns astonishment at the apparent
absurdity of the request. Maintaining this position for a moment,
the strange emotions depicted on his countenance soften down into
one of humorous resignation to my will, and then, looking wistfully up
to the tufted top of the tree, he stands on tip-toe, straining his
neck and elevating his arms, as though endeavouring to reach the fruit
from the ground where he stands. As if defeated in this childish
attempt, he now sinks to the earth despondingly, beating his breast in
well-acted despair; and then, starting to his feet all at once, and
throwing back his head, raises both hands, like a school-boy about
to catch a falling ball. After continuing this for a moment or two, as
if in expectation that the fruit was going to be tossed down to him by
some good spirit in the tree-top, he turns wildly round in another fit
of despair, and scampers off to the distance of thirty or forty yards.
Here he remains awhile, eyeing the tree, the very picture of misery;
but the next moment, receiving, as it were, a flash of inspiration, he
rushes again towards it, and clasping both arms about the trunk,
with one elevated a little above the other, he presses the soles of
his feet close together against the tree, extending his legs from it
until they are nearly horizontal, and his body becomes doubled into an
arch; then, hand over hand and foot after foot, he rises from the
earth with steady rapidity, and almost before you are aware of it, has
gained the cradled and embowered nest of nuts, and with boisterous
glee flings the fruit to the ground.
This mode of walking the tree is only practicable where the
trunk declines considerably from the perpendicular. This, however,
is almost always the case; some of the perfectly straight shafts of
the trees leaning at an angle of thirty degrees.
The less active among the men, and many of the children of the
valley, have another method of climbing. They take a broad and stout
piece of bark, and secure either end of it to their ankles: so that
when the feet thus confined are extended apart, a space of little more
than twelve inches is left between them. This contrivance greatly
facilitates the act of climbing. The band pressed against the tree,
and closely embracing it, yields a pretty firm support; while with the
arms clasped about the trunk, and at regular intervals sustaining
the body, the feet are drawn up nearly a yard at a time, and a
corresponding elevation of the hands immediately succeeds. In this way
I have seen little children, scarcely five years of age, fearlessly
climbing the slender pole of a young cocoa-nut tree, and while hanging
perhaps fifty feet from the ground, receiving the plaudits of their
parents beneath, who clapped their hands, and encouraged them to mount
still higher.
What, thought I, on first witnessing one of these exhibitions
would the nervous mothers of America and England say to a similar
display of hardihood in any of their children? The Lacedemonian nation
might have approved of it, but most modern dames would have gone
into hysterics at the sight.
At the top of the cocoa-nut tree the numerous branches,
radiating on all sides from a common centre, form a sort of green
and waving basket, between the leaflets of which you just discern
the nuts thickly clustering together, and on the loftier trees looking
no bigger from the ground than bunches of grapes. I remember one
adventurous little fellow- Too-Too was the rascal's name- who had
built himself a sort of aerial baby-house in the picturesque tuft of a
tree adjoining Marheyo's habitation. He used to spend hours there,-
rustling among the branches, and shouting with delight every time
the strong gusts of wind, rushing down from the mountain side,
swayed to and fro the tall and flexible column on which he was
perched. Whenever I heard Too-Too's musical voice sounding strangely
to the ear from so great a height, and beheld him peeping down upon me
from out his leafy covert, he always recalled to my mind Dibdin's
lines-
There's a sweet little cherub that sits up aloft,
To look out for the life of poor Jack.
Birds- bright and beautiful birds- fly over the valley of Typee.
You see them perched aloft among the immovable boughs of the
majestic bread-fruit trees, or gently swaying on the elastic
branches of the Omoo; skimming over the palmetto-thatching of the
bamboo huts; passing like spirits on the wing through the shadows of
the grove, and sometimes descending into the bosom of the valley in
gleaming flights from the mountains. Their plumage is purple and
azure, crimson and white, black and gold; with bills of every tint;-
bright bloody-red, jet black, and ivory white; and their eyes are
bright and sparkling; they go sailing through the air in starry
throngs; but, alas! the spell of dumbness is upon them all- there is
not a single warbler in the valley!
I know not why it was, but the sight of these birds, generally the
ministers of gladness, always oppressed me with melancholy. As in
their dumb beauty they hovered by me whilst I was walking, or looked
down upon me with steady curious eyes from out the foliage, I was
almost inclined to fancy that they knew they were gazing upon a
stranger, and that they commiserated his fate.
CHAPTER XXIX
TATTOOING AND TABOOING
IN one of my strolls with Kory-Kory, in passing along the border
of a thick growth of bushes, my attention was arrested by a singular
noise. On entering the thicket, I witnessed for the first time the
operation of tattooing as performed by these islanders.
I beheld a man extended flat upon his back on the ground, and,
despite the forced composure of his countenance, it was evident that
he was suffering agony. His tormentor bent over him, working away
for all the world like a stonecutter with mallet and chisel. In one
hand he held a short slender stick, pointed with a shark's tooth, on
the upright end of which he tapped with a small hammer-like piece of
wood, thus puncturing the skin, and charging it with the colouring
matter in which the instrument was dipped. A cocoa-nut shell
containing this fluid was placed upon the ground. It is prepared by
mixing with a vegetable juice the ashes of the "armor," or candle-nut,
always preserved for the purpose. Beside the savage, and spread out
upon a piece of soiled tappa, were a great number of curious
black-looking little implements of bone and wood, used in the
various divisions of his art. A few terminated in a single fine point,
and, like very delicate pencils, were employed in giving the finishing
touches, or in operating upon the more sensitive portions of the body,
as was the case in the present instance. Others presented several
points distributed in a line, somewhat resembling the teeth of a
saw. These were employed in the coarser parts of the work, and
particularly in pricking in straight marks. Some presented their
points disposed in small figures, and being placed upon the body,
were, by a single blow of the hammer, made to leave their indelible
impression. I observed a few, the handles of which were mysteriously
curved, as if intended to be introduced into the orifice of the ear,
with a view perhaps of beating the tattoo upon the tympanum.
Altogether, the sight of these strange instruments recalled to mind
that display of cruel-looking mother-of-pearl-handled things which one
sees in their velvet-lined cases at the elbow of a dentist.
The artist was not at this time engaged on an original sketch, his
subject being a venerable savage, whose tattooing had become
somewhat faded with age and needed a few repairs, and accordingly he
was merely employed in touching up the works of some of the old
masters of the Typee school, as delineated upon the human canvas
before him. The parts operated upon were the eyelids, where a
longitudinal streak, like the one which adorned Kory Kory, crossed the
countenance of the victim.
In spite of all the efforts of the poor old man, sundry twitchings
and screwings of the muscles of the face denoted the exquisite
sensibility of these shutters to the windows of his soul, which he was
now having repainted. But the artist, with a heart as callous as
that of an army surgeon, continued his performance, enlivening his
labours with a wild chant, tapping away the while as merrily as a
woodpecker.
So deeply engaged was he in his work, that he had not observed our
approach, until, after having enjoyed an unmolested view of the
operation, I chose to attract his attention. As soon as he perceived
me, supposing that I sought him in his professional capacity, he
seized hold of me in a paroxysm of delight, and was all eagerness to
begin the work. When, however, I gave him to understand that he had
altogether mistaken my views, nothing could exceed his grief and
disappointment. But recovering from this, he seemed determined not
to credit my assertion, and grasping his implements, he flourished
them about in fearful vicinity to my face, going through an
imaginary performance of his art, and every moment bursting into
some admiring exclamation at the beauty of his designs.
Horrified at the bare thought of being rendered hideous for life
if the wretch were to execute his purpose upon me, I struggled to
get away from him, while Kory-Kory, turning traitor, stood by, and
besought me to comply with the outrageous request. On my reiterated
refusals the excited artist got half beside himself, and was
overwhelmed with sorrow at losing so noble an opportunity of
distinguishing himself in his profession.
The idea of engrafting his tattooing upon my white skin filled him
with all a painter's enthusiasm: again and again he gazed into my
countenance, and every fresh glimpse seemed to add to the vehemence of
his ambition. Not knowing to what extremities he might proceed, and
shuddering at the ruin he might inflict upon my figure-head, I now
endeavoured to draw off his attention from it, and holding out my
arm in a fit of desperation, signed to him to commence operations. But
he rejected the compromise indignantly, and still continued his attack
on my face, as though nothing short of that would satisfy him. When
his forefinger swept across my features, in laying out the borders
of those parallel bands which were to encircle my countenance, the
flesh fairly crawled upon my bones. At last, half wild with terror and
indignation, I succeeded in breaking away from the three savages,
and fled towards old Marheyo's house, pursued by the indomitable
artist, who ran after me, implements in hand. Kory-Kory, however, at
last interfered, and drew him off from the chase.
This incident opened my eyes to a new danger; and I now felt
convinced that in some luckless hour I should be disfigured in such
a manner as never more to have the face to return to my countrymen,
even should an opportunity offer.
These apprehensions were greatly increased by the desire which
King Mehevi and several of the inferior chiefs now manifested that I
should be tattooed. The pleasure of the king was first signified to me
some three days after my casual encounter with Karky the artist.
Heavens! what imprecations I showered upon that Karky. Doubtless he
had plotted a conspiracy against me and my countenance, and would
never rest until his diabolical purpose was accomplished. Several
times I met him in various parts of the valley, and, invariably,
whenever he descried me, he came running after me with his mallet
and chisel, flourishing them about my face as if he longed to begin.
What an object he would have made of me!
When the king first expressed his wish to me, I made known to
him my utter abhorrence of the measure, and worked myself into such
a state of excitement, that he absolutely stared at me in amazement.
It evidently surpassed his majesty's comprehension how any
sober-minded and sensible individual could entertain the least
possible objection to so beautifying an operation.
Soon afterwards he repeated his suggestion, and meeting with a
like repulse, showed some symptoms of displeasure at my obduracy. On
his a third time renewing his request, I plainly perceived that
something must be done, or my visage was ruined for ever; I
therefore screwed up my courage to the sticking point, and declared my
willingness to have both arms tattooed from just above the wrist to
the shoulder. His majesty was greatly pleased at the proposition,
and I was congratulating myself with having thus compromised the
matter, when he intimated that as a thing of course my face was
first to undergo the operation. I was fairly driven to despair;
nothing but the utter ruin of my "face divine," as the poets call
it, would, I perceived, satisfy the inexorable Mehevi and his
chiefs, or rather that infernal Karky, for he was at the bottom of
it all.
The only consolation afforded me was a choice of patterns: I was
at perfect liberty to have my face spanned by three horizontal bars,
after the fashion of my serving-man's; or to have as many oblique
stripes slanting across it: or if, like a true courtier, I chose to
model my style on that of royalty, I might wear a sort of freemason
badge upon my countenance in the shape of a mystic triangle.
However, I would have none of these, though the king most earnestly
impressed upon my mind that my choice was wholly unrestricted. At
last, seeing my unconquerable repugnance, he ceased to importune me.
But not so some other of the savages. Hardly a day passed but I
was subjected to their annoying requests, until at last my existence
became a burden to me; the pleasures I had previously enjoyed no
longer afforded me delight, and all my former desire to escape from
the valley now revived with additional force.
A fact which I soon afterwards learned augmented my
apprehension. The whole system of tattooing was, I found, connected
with their religion; and it was evident, therefore, that they were
resolved to make a convert of me.
In the decoration of the chiefs, it seems to be necessary to
exercise the most elaborate pencilling; while some of the inferior
natives looked as if they had been daubed over indiscriminately with a
house-painter's brush. I remember one fellow who prided himself hugely
upon a great oblong patch, placed high upon his back, and who always
reminded me of a man with a blister of Spanish flies stuck between his
shoulders. Another whom I frequently met had the hollow of his eyes
tattooed in two regular squares, and his visual organs being
remarkably brilliant, they gleamed forth from out this setting like
a couple of diamonds inserted in ebony.
Although convinced that tattooing was a religious observance,
still the nature of the connexion between it and servance, still the
nature of the connexion between it and the superstitious idolatry of
the people was a point upon which I could never obtain any
information. Like the still more important system of the "Taboo," it
always appeared inexplicable to me.
There is a marked similarity, almost an identity, between the
religious institutions of most of the Polynesian islands, and in all
exists the mysterious "Taboo," restricted in its uses to a greater
or less extent. So strange and complex in its arrangements is this
remarkable system, that I have in several cases met with individuals
who, after residing for years among the islands in the Pacific, and
acquiring a considerable knowledge of the language, have
nevertheless been altogether unable to give any satisfactory account
of its operations. Situated as I was in the Typee valley, I
perceived every hour the effects of this all-controlling power,
without in the least comprehending it. Those effects were, indeed,
wide-spread and universal, pervading the most important as well as the
minutest transactions of life. The savage, in short, lives in the
continual observance of its dictates, which guide and control every
action of his being.
For several days after entering the valley I had been saluted at
least fifty times in the twenty-four hours with the talismanic word
"Taboo" shrieked in my ears, at some gross violation of its
provisions, of which I had unconsciously been guilty. The day after
our arrival I happened to hand some tobacco to Toby over the head of a
native who sat between us. He started up, as if stung by an adder;
while the whole company, manifesting an equal degree of horror,
simultaneously screamed out "Taboo!" I never again perpetrated a
similar piece of ill-manners, which, indeed, was forbidden by the
canons of good breeding, as well as by the mandates of the taboo.
But it was not always so easy to perceive wherein you had
contravened the spirit of this institution. I was many times called to
order, if I may use the phrase, when I could not for the life of me
conjecture what particular offence I had committed.
One day I was strolling through a secluded portion of the
valley, and hearing the musical sound of the clothmallet at a little
distance, I turned down a path that conducted me in a few moments to a
house where there were some half-dozen girls employed in making tappa.
This was an operation I had frequently witnessed, and had handled
the bark in all the various stages of its preparation. On the
present occasion the females were intent upon their occupation, and
after looking up and talking gaily to me for a few moments, they
resumed their employment. I regarded them for awhile in silence, and
then, carelessly picking up a handful of the material that lay around,
proceeded unconsciously to pick it apart. While thus engaged, I was
suddenly startled by a scream, like that of a whole boarding-school of
young ladies just on the point of going into hysterics. Leaping up
with the idea of seeing a score of Happar warriors about to perform
anew the Sabine atrocity, I found myself confronted by the company
of girls, who, having dropped their work, stood before me with
starting eyes, swelling bosoms, and fingers pointed in horror
towards me.
Thinking that some venomous reptile must be concealed in the
bark which I held in my hand, I began cautiously to separate and
examine it. Whilst I did so the horrified girls redoubled their
shrieks. Their wild cries and frightened motions actually alarmed
me, and throwing down the tappa, I was about to rush from the house,
when in the same instant their clamours ceased, and one of them,
seizing me by the arm, pointed to the broken fibres that had just
fallen from my grasp, and screamed in my ears the fatal word "Taboo!"
I subsequently found out that the fabric they were engaged in
making was of a peculiar kind, destined to be worn on the heads of the
females, and through every stage of its manufacture was guarded by a
vigorous taboo, which interdicted the whole masculine gender from even
so much as touching it.
Frequently in walking through the groves I observed bread-fruit
and cocoa-nut trees, with a wreath of leaves twined in a peculiar
fashion about their trunks. This was the mark of the taboo. The
trees themselves, their fruit, and even the shadows they cast upon the
ground, were consecrated by its presence. In the same way a pipe,
which the king had bestowed upon me, was rendered sacred in the eyes
of the natives, none of whom could I ever prevail upon to smoke from
it. The bowl was encircled by a woven band of grass, somewhat
resembling those Turks' heads occasionally worked in the handles of
our whip-stalks.
A similar badge was once braided about my wrist by the royal
hand of Mehevi himself, who, as soon as he had concluded the
operation, pronounced me "Taboo." This occurred shortly after Toby's
disappearance; and were it not that from the first moment I had
entered the valley the natives had treated me with uniform kindness, I
should have supposed that their conduct afterwards was to be
ascribed to the fact that I received this sacred investiture.
The capricious operations of the taboo are not its least
remarkable feature: to enumerate them all would be impossible. Black
hogs- infants to a certain age- women in an interesting situation-
young men while the operation of tattooing their faces is going on-
and certain parts of the valley during the continuance of a shower-
are alike fenced about by the operation of the taboo.
I witnessed a striking instance of its effects in the bay of Tior,
my visit to which place occurred a few days before leaving the ship.
On that occasion our worthy captain formed one of the party. He was
a most insatiable sportsman. Outward bound, and off the pitch of
Cape Horn, he used to sit on the taffrail, and keep the steward
loading three or four old fowling-pieces, with which he would bring
down albatrosses, Cape pigeons, jays, petrels, and divers other marine
fowl, who followed chattering in our wake. The sailors were struck
aghast at his impiety, and one and all attributed our forty days'
beating about that horrid headland to his sacrilegious slaughter of
these inoffensive birds.
At Tior, he evinced the same disregard for the religious
prejudices of the islanders as he had previously shown for the
superstitions of the sailors. Having heard that there were a
considerable number of fowls in the valley- the progeny of some
cocks and hens accidentally left there by an English vessel, and
which, being strictly tabooed, flew about almost in a wild state- he
determined to break through all restraints, and be the death of
them. Accordingly, he provided himself with a most
formidable-looking gun, and announced his landing on the beach by
shooting down a noble cock, that was crowing what proved to be his own
funeral dirge on the limb of an adjoining tree. "Taboo," shrieked
the affrighted savages. "Oh, hang your taboo," says the nautical
sportsman; "talk taboo to the marines"; and bang went the piece again,
and down came another victim. At this the natives ran scampering
through the groves, horror-struck at the enormity of the act.
All that afternoon the rocky sides of the valley rang with
successive reports, and the superb plumage of many a beautiful fowl
was ruffled by the fatal bullet. Had it not been that the French
admiral, with a large party, was then in the glen, I have no doubt
that the natives, although their tribe was small and dispirited, would
have inflicted summary vengeance upon the man who thus outraged
their most sacred institutions; as it was, they contrived to annoy him
not a little.
Thirsting with his exertions, the skipper directed his steps to
a stream; but the savages, who had followed at a little distance,
perceiving his object, rushed towards him and forced him away from its
bank- his lips would have polluted it. Wearied at last, he sought to
enter a house that he might rest for awhile on the mats; its inmates
gathered tumultuously about the door and denied him admittance. He
coaxed and blustered by turns, but in vain; the natives were neither
to be intimidated nor appeased, and as a final resort he was obliged
to call together his boat's crew, and pull away from what he termed
the most infernal place he ever stepped upon.
Lucky was it for him and for us that we were not honoured on our
departure by a salute of stones from the hands of the exasperated
Tiors. In this way, on the neighbouring island of Ropo, were killed,
but a few weeks previously, and for a nearly similar offence, the
I cannot determine, with anything approaching to certainty, what
power it is that imposes the taboo. When I consider the slight
disparity of condition among the islanders- the very limited and
inconsiderable prerogatives of the king and chiefs- and the loose
and indefinite functions of the priesthood, most of whom were hardly
to be distinguished from the rest of their countrymen, I am wholly
at a loss where to look for the authority which regulates this
potent institution. It is imposed upon something to-day, and withdrawn
to-morrow; while its operations in other cases are perpetual.
Sometimes its restrictions only affect a single individual-
sometimes a particular family- sometimes a whole tribe; and, in a
few instances, they extend not merely over the various clans on a
single island, but over all the inhabitants of an entire group. In
illustration of this latter peculiarity, I may cite the law which
forbids a female to enter a canoe- a prohibition which prevails upon
all the northern Marquesas Islands.
The word itself (taboo) is used in more than one signification. It
is sometimes used by a parent to his child, when, in the exercise of
parental authority, he forbids it to perform a particular action.
Anything opposed to the ordinary customs of the islanders, although
not expressly prohibited, is said to be "taboo."
The Typee language is one very difficult to be acquired; it
bears a close resemblance to the other Polynesian dialects, all of
which show a common origin. The duplication of words, as "lumee
lumee," "poee poee," "muee muee," is one of their peculiar features.
But another, and a more annoying one, is the different senses in which
one and the same word is employed; its various meanings all have a
certain connexion, which only makes the matter more puzzling. So one
brisk, lively little word is obliged, like a servant in a poor family,
to perform all sorts of duties. For instance- one particular
combination of syllables expresses the ideas of sleep, rest,
reclining, sitting, leaning, and all other things anyways analogous
thereto, the particular meaning being shown chiefly by a variety of
gestures, and the eloquent expression of the countenance.
CHAPTER XXX
CURIOUS ODDS AND ENDS
SADLY discursive as I had already been, I must still further
entreat the reader's patience, as I am about to string together,
without any attempt at order, a few odds and ends of things not
hitherto mentioned, but which are either curious in themselves, or
peculiar to the Typees.
There was one singular custom, observed in old Marheyo's
domestic establishment, which often excited my surprise. Every
night, before retiring, the inmates of the house gathered together
on the mats, and squatting upon their haunches, after the universal
practice of these islanders, would commence a low, dismal, and
monotonous chant, accompanying the voice with the instrumental
melody produced by two small half-rotten sticks tapped slowly
together, a pair of which were held in the hands of each person
present. Thus would they employ themselves for an hour or two,
sometimes longer. Lying in the gloom which wrapped the farther end
of the house, I could not avoid looking at them, although the
spectacle suggested nothing but unpleasant reflections. The flickering
rays of the , "armor" nut just served to reveal their savage
lineaments, without dispelling the darkness that hovered about them.
Sometimes when, after falling into a kind of doze, and awaking
suddenly in the midst of these doleful chantings, my eye would fall
upon the wild-looking group engaged in their strange occupation,
with their naked tattooed limbs, and shaven heads disposed in a
circle, I was almost tempted to believe that I gazed upon a set of
evil beings in the act of working a frightful incantation.
What was the meaning or purpose of this custom, whether it was
practised merely as a diversion, or whether it was a religious
exercise, a sort of family prayers, I never could discover.
The sounds produced by the natives on these occasions were of a
most singular description; and had I not actually been present, I
never would have believed that such curious noises could have been
produced by human beings.
To savages, generally, is imputed a guttural articulation. This,
however, is not always the case, especially among the inhabitants of
the Polynesian Archipelago. The labial melody with which the Typee
girls carry on an ordinary conversation, giving a musical prolongation
to the final syllable of every sentence, and chirping out some of
the words with a liquid, bird-like accent, was singularly pleasing.
The men, however, are not quite so harmonious in their
utterance; and when excited upon any subject, would work themselves up
into a sort of wordy paroxysm, during which all descriptions of
rough-sided sounds were projected from their mouths, with a force
and rapidity which was absolutely astonishing.
Although these savages are remarkably fond of chanting, still they
appear to have no idea whatever of singing, at least as the art is
practised among other nations.
I never shall forget the first time I happened to roar out a stave
in the presence of the noble Mehevi. It was a stanza from the
"Bavarian Broom-seller." His Typean majesty, with all his court, gazed
upon me in amazement, as if I had displayed some preternatural faculty
which Heaven had denied to them. The king was delighted with the
verse; but the chorus fairly transported him. At his solicitation, I
sang it again and again, and nothing could be more ludicrous than
his vain attempts to catch the air and the words. The royal savage
seemed to think that by screwing all the features of his face into the
end of his nose, he might possibly succeed in the undertaking, but
it failed to answer the purpose; and in the end he gave it up, and
consoled himself by listening to my repetition of the sounds fifty
times over.
Previous to Mehevi's making the discovery, I had never been
aware that there was anything of the nightingale about me; but I was
now promoted to the place of court minstrel, in which capacity I was
afterwards perpetually called upon to officiate.
Besides the sticks and the drums, there are no other musical
instruments among the Typees, except one which might appropriately
be denominated a nasal flute. It is somewhat longer than an ordinary
fife, is made of a beautiful scarlet-coloured reed, and has four or
five stops, with a large hole near one end, which latter is held
just beneath the left nostril. The other nostril being closed by a
peculiar movement of the muscles about the nose, the breath is
forced into the tube, and produces a soft dulcet sound, which is
varied by the fingers running at random over the stops. This is a
favourite recreation with the females, and one in which Fayaway
greatly excelled. Awkward as such an instrument may appear, it was, in
Fayaway's delicate little hands, one of the most graceful I have
ever seen. A young lady in the act of tormenting a guitar, strung
about her neck by a couple of yards of blue ribbon, is not half so
engaging.
Singing was not the only means I possessed of diverting the
royal Mehevi and his easy-going subjects. Nothing afforded them more
pleasure than to see me go through the attitudes of a pugilistic
encounter. As not one of the natives had soul enough in him to stand
up like a man, and allow me to hammer away at him, for my own personal
gratification and that of the king, I was necessitated to fight with
an imaginary enemy, whom I invariably made to knock under to my
superior prowess. Sometimes, when this sorely battered shadow
retreated precipitately towards a group of the savages, and, following
him up, I rushed among them, dealing my blows right and left, they
would disperse in all directions, much to the enjoyment of Mehevi, the
chiefs, and themselves.
The noble art of self-defence appeared to be regarded by them as
the peculiar gift of the white man; and I make little doubt but that
they supposed armies of Europeans were drawn up provided with
nothing else but bony fists and stout hearts, with which they set to
in column, and pummelled one another at the word of command.
One day, in company with Kory-Kory, I had repaired to the stream
for the purpose of bathing, when I observed a woman sitting upon a
rock in the midst of the current, and watching with the liveliest
interest the gambols of something, which at first I took to be an
uncommonly large species of frog that was sporting in the water near
her. Attracted by the novelty of the sight, I waded towards the spot
where she sat, and could hardly credit the evidence of my senses
when I beheld a little infant, the period of whose birth could not
have extended back many days, paddling about as if it had just risen
to the surface, after being hatched into existence at the bottom.
Occasionally the delighted parent reached out her hand towards it,
when the little thing, uttering a faint cry, and striking out its tiny
limbs, would sidle for the rock, and the next moment be clasped to its
mother's bosom. This was repeated again and again, the baby
remaining in the stream about a minute at a time. Once or twice it
made wry faces at swallowing a mouthful of water, and choked and
spluttered as if on the point of strangling. At such times, however,
the mother snatched it up, and by a process scarcely to be mentioned
obliged it to eject the fluid. For several weeks afterwards I observed
the woman bringing her child down to the stream regularly every day,
in the cool of the morning and evening, and treating it to a bath.
No wonder that the South Sea islanders are so amphibious a race,
when they are thus launched into the water as soon as they see the
light. I am convinced that it is as natural for a human being to
swim as it is for a duck. And yet, in civilized communities, how
many able-bodied individuals die, like so many drowning kittens,
from the occurrence of the most trivial accidents!
The long, luxuriant, and glossy tresses of the Typee damsels often
attracted my admiration. A fine head of hair is the pride and joy of
every woman's heart! Whether, against the express will of
Providence, it is twisted up on the crown of the head and there coiled
away; whether it be built up in a great tower, with combs and pins, or
is plastered over the head in sleek, shiny folds; or whether it be
permitted to flow over the shoulders in natural ringlets, it is always
the pride of the owner, and the glory of the toilette.
The Typee girls devote much of their time to the dressing of their
hair and redundant locks. After bathing, as they sometimes do five
or six times every day, the hair is carefully dried, and if they
have been in the sea, invariably washed in fresh water, and anointed
with a highly-scented oil extracted from the meat of the cocoa-nut.
This oil is obtained in great abundance, by the following very
simple process:-
A large vessel of wood, with holes perforated in the bottom, is
filled with the pounded meat, and exposed to the rays of the sun. As
the oleaginous matter exudes, it falls in drops through the
apertures into a wide-mouthed calabash placed underneath. After a
sufficient quantity has thus been collected, the oil undergoes a
purifying process, and is then poured into the small spherical
shells of the nuts of the moo-tree, which are hollowed out to
receive it. These nuts are then hermetically sealed with a resinous
gum, and the vegetable fragrance of their green rind soon imparts to
the oil a delightful odour. After the lapse of a few weeks, the
exterior shell of the nuts becomes quite dry and hard, and assumes a
beautiful carnation tint; and when opened they are found to be about
two-thirds full of an ointment of a light yellow colour, and diffusing
the sweetest perfume. This elegant little odorous globe would not be
out of place even upon the toilette of a queen. Its merits as a
preparation for the hair are undeniable,- it imparts to it a superb
gloss and a silky fineness.
CHAPTER XXXI
A FRIGHTFUL DISCOVERY
FROM the time of my casual encounter with Karky the artist, my
life was one of absolute wretchedness. Not a day passed but I was
persecuted by the solicitations of some of the natives to subject
myself to the odious operation of tattooing. Their importunities drove
me half wild, for I felt how easily they might work their will upon me
regarding this, or anything else which they took into their heads.
Still, however, the behaviour of the islanders towards me was as
kind as ever. Fayaway was quite as engaging; Kory-Kory as devoted; and
Mehevi the king just as gracious and condescending as before. But I
had now been three months in their valley, as nearly as I could
estimate; I had grown familiar with the narrow limits to which my
wanderings had been confined; and I began bitterly to feel the state
of captivity in which I was held. There was no one with whom I could
freely converse; no one to whom I could communicate my thoughts; no
one who could sympathize with my sufferings. A thousand times I
thought how much more endurable would have been my lot had Toby
still been with me. But I was left alone, and the thought was terrible
to me. Still, despite my griefs, I did all in my power to appear
composed and cheerful, well knowing that by manifesting any
uneasiness, or any desire to escape, I should only frustrate my
object.
It was during the period I was in this unhappy frame of mind, that
the painful malady under which I had been labouring- after having
almost completely subsided- began again to show itself, and with
symptoms as violent as ever. This added calamity nearly unmanned me;
the recurrence of the complaint proved that, without powerful remedial
applications, all hope of cure was futile; and when I reflected that
just beyond the elevations which bound me in, was the medical relief I
needed, and that, although so near, it was impossible for me to
avail myself of it, the thought was misery.
In this wretched situation every circumstance which evinced the
savage nature of the beings at whose mercy I was, augmented the
fearful apprehensions that consumed me. An occurrence which happened
about this time affected me most powerfully.
I have already mentioned, that from the ridge-pole of Marheyo's
house were suspended a number of packages enveloped in tappa. Many
of these I had often seen in the hands of the natives, and their
contents had been examined in my presence. But there were three
packages hanging very nearly over the place where I lay, which from
their remarkable appearance had often excited my curiosity. Several
times I had asked Kory-Kory to show me their contents; but my
servitor, who in almost every other particular had acceded to my
wishes, always refused to gratify me in this.
One day, returning unexpectedly from the Ti, my arrival seemed
to throw the inmates of the house into the greatest confusion. They
were seated together on the mats, and by the lines which extended from
the roof to the floor I immediately perceived that the mysterious
packages were, for some purpose or other, under inspection. The
evident alarm the savages betrayed filled me with forebodings of evil,
and with an uncontrollable desire to penetrate the secret so jealously
guarded. Despite the efforts of Marheyo and Kory-Kory to restrain
me, I forced my way into the midst of the circle, and just caught a
glimpse of three human heads, which others of the party were hurriedly
enveloping in the coverings from which they had been taken.
One of the three I distinctly saw. It was in a state of perfect
preservation, and from the slight glimpse I had of it, seemed to
have been subjected to some smoking operation which had reduced it
to the dry, hard, and mummylike appearance it presented. The two
long scalp-locks were twisted up into balls upon the crown of the
head, in the same way that the individual had worn them during life.
The sunken cheeks were rendered yet more ghastly by the rows of
glistening teeth which protruded from between the lips, while the
sockets of the eyes- filled with oval bits of mother-of-pearl shell,
with a black spot in the centre- heightened the hideousness of its
aspect.
Two of the three were heads of the islanders; but the third, to my
horror, was that of a white man. Although it had been quickly
removed from my sight, still the glimpse I had of it was enough to
convince me that I could not be mistaken.
Gracious God! what dreadful thoughts entered my mind. In solving
this mystery, perhaps I had solved another, and the fate of my lost
companion might be revealed in the shocking spectacle I had just
witnessed. I longed to have tom off the folds of cloth, and
satisfied the awful doubts under which I laboured. But before I had
recovered from the consternation into which I had been thrown, the
fatal packages were hoisted aloft and once more swung over my head.
The natives now gathered round me tumultuously, and laboured to
convince me that what I had just seen were the heads of three Happar
warriors, who had been slain in battle. This glaring falsehood added
to my alarm, and it was not until I reflected that I had observed
the packages swinging from their elevation before Toby's
disappearance, that I could at all recover my composure.
But although this horrible apprehension had been dispelled, I
had discovered enough to fill me, in my present state of mind, with
the most bitter reflections. It was plain that I had seen the last
relic of some unfortunate wretch, who must have been massacred on
the beach by the savages, in one of those perilous trading
adventures which I have before described.
It was not, however, alone the murder of the stranger that
overcame me with gloom. I shuddered at the idea of the subsequent fate
his inanimate body might have met with. Was the same doom reserved for
me? Was I destined to perish like him- like him, perhaps, to be
devoured, and my head to be preserved as a fearful memento of the
event? My imagination ran riot in these horrid speculations, and I
felt certain that the worst possible evils would befall me. But
whatever were my misgivings, I studiously concealed them from the
islanders, as well as the full extent of the discovery I had made.
Although the assurances which the Typees had often given me,
that they never ate human flesh, had not convinced me that such was
the case, yet, having been so long a time in the valley without
witnessing anything which indicated the existence of the practice, I
began to hope that it was an event of very rare occurrence, and that I
should be spared the horror of witnessing it during my stay among
them: but, alas! these hopes were soon destroyed.
It is a singular fact, that in all our accounts of cannibal tribes
we have seldom received the testimony of an eyewitness to the
revolting practice. The horrible conclusion has almost always been
derived either from the second-hand evidence of Europeans, or else
from the admissions of the savages themselves, after they have in some
degree become civilized. The Polynesians are aware of the
detestation in which Europeans hold this custom, and therefore
invariably deny its existence, and, with the craft peculiar to
savages, endeavour to conceal every trace of it.
But to my story.
About a week after my discovery of the contents of the
mysterious packages, I happened to be at the Ti, when another
war-alarm was sounded, and the natives, rushing to their arms, sallied
out to resist a second incursion of the Happar invaders. The same
scene was again repeated, only that on this occasion I heard at
least fifteen reports of muskets from the mountains during the time
that the skirmish lasted. An hour or two after its termination, loud
paeans chanted through the valley announced the approach of the
victors. I stood with Kory-Kory leaning against the railing of the
pi-pi, awaiting their advance, when a tumultuous crowd of islanders
emerged with wild clamours from the neighbouring groves. In the
midst of them marched four men, one preceding the other at regular
intervals of eight or ten feet, with poles of a corresponding
length, extending from shoulder to shoulder, to which were lashed with
thongs of bark three long narrow bundles, carefully wrapped in ample
coverings of freshly plucked palm-leaves, tacked together with slivers
of bamboo. Here and there upon these green winding-sheets might be
seen the stains of blood, while the warriors who carried the frightful
burdens displayed upon their naked limbs similar sanguinary marks. The
shaven head of the foremost had a deep gash upon it, and the clotted
gore which had flowed from the wound remained in dry patches around
it. The savage seemed to be sinking under the weight he bore. The
bright tattooing upon his body was covered with blood and dust; his
inflamed eyes rolled in their sockets, and his whole appearance
denoted extraordinary suffering and exertion; yet, sustained by some
powerful impulse, he continued to advance, while the throng around him
with wild cheers sought to encourage him. The other three men were
marked about the arms and breasts with several slight wounds, which
they somewhat ostentatiously displayed.
These four individuals, having been the most active in the late
encounter, claimed the honour of bearing the bodies of their slain
enemies to the Ti. Such was the conclusion I drew from my own
observations, and, as far as I could understand, from the
explanation which Kory-Kory gave me.
The royal Mehevi walked by the side of these heroes. He carried in
one hand a musket, from the barrel of which was suspended a small
canvas pouch of powder, and in the other he grasped a short javelin,
which he held before him and regarded with fierce exultation. This
javelin he had wrested from a celebrated champion of the Happars,
who had ignominiously fled, and was pursued by his foes beyond the
summit of the mountain.
When within a short distance of the Ti, the warrior with the
wounded head, who proved to be Narmonee, tottered forward two or three
steps, and fell helplessly to the ground; but not before another had
caught the end of the pole from his shoulder, and placed it upon his
own.
The excited throng of islanders, who surrounded the person of
the king and the dead bodies of the enemy, approached the spot where I
stood, brandishing their rude implements of warfare, many of which
were bruised and broken, and uttering continual shouts of triumph.
When the crowd drew up opposite the Ti, I set myself to watch their
proceedings most attentively; but scarcely had they halted when my
servitor, who had left my side for an instant, touched my arm, and
proposed our returning to Marheyo's house. To this I objected; but, to
my surprise, Kory-Kory reiterated his request, and with an unusual
vehemence of manner. Still, however, I refused to comply, and was
retreating before him, as in his importunity he pressed upon me,
when I felt a heavy hand laid upon my shoulder, and turning round,
encountered the bulky form of Mow-Mow, a one-eyed chief, who had
just detached himself from the crowd below, and had mounted the rear
of the pi-pi upon which we stood. His cheek had been pierced by the
point of a spear, and the wound imparted a still more frightful
expression to his hideously tattooed face, already deformed by the
loss of an eye. The warrior, without uttering a syllable, pointed
fiercely in the direction of Marheyo's house, while Kory-Kory, at
the same time presenting his back, desired me to mount.
I declined this offer, but intimated my willingness to withdraw,
and moved slowly along the piazza, wondering what could be the cause
of this unusual treatment. A few minutes' consideration convinced me
that the savages were about to celebrate some hideous rite in
connexion with their peculiar customs, and at which they were
determined I should not be present. I descended from the pi-pi, and
attended by Kory-Kory, who on this occasion did not show his usual
commiseration for my lameness, but seemed only anxious to hurry me on,
walked away from the place. As I passed through the noisy throng,
which by this time completely environed the Ti, I looked with
fearful curiosity at the three packages, which now were deposited upon
the ground; but although I had no doubt as to their contents, still
their thick coverings prevented my actually detecting the form of a
human body.
The next morning, shortly after sunrise, the same thundering
sounds which had awakened me from sleep on the second day of the Feast
of Calabashes, assured me that the savages were on the eve of
celebrating another, and, as I fully believed, a horrible solemnity.
All the inmates of the house, with the exception of Marheyo, his
son, and Tinor, after assuming their gala dresses, departed in the
direction of the Taboo Groves.
Although I did not anticipate a compliance with my request, still,
with a view of testing the truth of my suspicions, I proposed to
Kory-Kory that, according to our usual custom in the morning, we
should take a stroll to the Ti: he positively refused; and when I
renewed the request, he evinced his determination to prevent my
going there; and, to divert my mind from the subject, he offered to
accompany me to the stream. We accordingly went, and bathed. On our
coming back to the house, I was surprised to find that all its inmates
had returned, and were lounging upon the mats as usual, although the
drums still sounded from the groves.
The rest of the day I spent with Kory-Kory and Fayaway,
wandering about a part of the valley situated in an opposite direction
from the Ti, and whenever I so much as looked towards that building,
although it was hidden from view by intervening trees, and at the
distance of more than a mile, my attendant would exclaim, Taboo,
taboo!
At the various houses where we stopped, I found many of the
inhabitants reclining at their ease, or pursuing some light
occupation, as if nothing unusual were going forward; but amongst them
all I did not perceive a single chief or warrior. When I asked several
of the people why they were not at the "Hoolah Hoolah" (the feast),
they uniformly answered the question in a manner which implied that it
was not intended for them, but for Mehevi, Narmonee, Mow-Mow, Kolor,
Womonoo, Kalow, running over, in their desire to make me comprehend
their meaning, the name of all the principal chiefs.
Everything, in short, strengthened my suspicions with regard to
the nature of the festival they were now celebrating; and which
amounted almost to a certainty. While in Nukuheva I had frequently
been informed that the whole tribe were never present at these
cannibal banquets, but the chiefs and priests only; and everything I
now observed agreed with the account.
The sound of the drums continued without intermission the whole
day, and falling continually upon my ear, caused me a sensation of
horror which I am unable to describe. On the following day, hearing
none of those noisy indications of revelry, I concluded that the
inhuman feast was terminated, and feeling a kind of morbid curiosity
to discover whether the Ti might furnish any evidence of what had
taken place there, I proposed to Kory-Kory to walk there. To this
proposition he replied by pointing with his finger to the
newly-risen sun, and then up to the zenith, intimating that our
visit must be deferred until noon. Shortly after that hour we
accordingly proceeded to the Taboo Groves, and as soon as we entered
their precincts, I looked fearfully round in quest of some memorial of
the scene which had so lately been acted there; but everything
appeared as usual. On reaching the Ti, we found Mehevi and a few
chiefs reclining on the mats, who gave me as friendly a reception as
ever. No allusions of any kind were made by them to the recent events;
and I refrained, for obvious reasons, from referring to them myself.
After staying a short time, I took my leave. In passing along
the piazza, previously to descending from the pi-pi, I observed a
curiously carved vessel of wood, of considerable size, with a cover
placed over it, of the same material, and which resembled in shape a
small canoe. It was surrounded by a low railing of bamboos, the top of
which was scarcely a foot from the ground. As the vessel had been
placed in its present position since my last visit, I at once
concluded that it must have some connexion with the recent festival;
and, prompted by a curiosity I could not repress, in passing it I
raised one end of the cover; at the same moment the chiefs, perceiving
my design, loudly ejaculated, "Taboo! taboo!" But the slight glimpse
sufficed; my eyes fell upon the disordered members of a human
skeleton, the bones still fresh with moisture, and with particles of
flesh clinging to them here and there!
Kory-Kory, who had been a little in advance of me, attracted by
the exclamations of the chiefs, turned round in time to witness the
expression of horror on my countenance. He now hurried towards me,
pointing at the same time to the canoe, and exclaiming, rapidly,
"Puarkee! puarkee!" (Pig, pig). I pretended to yield to the deception,
and repeated the words after him several times, as though
acquiescing in what he said. The other savages, either deceived by
my conduct, or unwilling to manifest their displeasure at what could
not now be remedied, took no further notice of the occurrence, and I
immediately left the Ti.
All that night I lay awake, revolving in my mind the fearful
situation in which I was placed. The last horrid revelation had now
been made, and the full sense of my condition rushed upon my mind with
a force I had never before experienced.
Where, thought I, desponding, is there the slightest prospect of
escape? The only person who seemed to possess the ability to assist me
was the stranger, Marnoo; but would he ever return to the valley?
and if he did, should I be permitted to hold any communication with
him? It seemed as if I were cut off from every source of hope, and
that nothing remained but passively to await whatever fate was in
store for me. A thousand times I endeavoured to account for the
mysterious conduct of the natives. For what conceivable purpose did
they thus retain me a captive? What could be their object in
treating me with such apparent kindness, and did it not cover some
treacherous scheme? Or, if they had no other design than to hold me
a prisoner, how should I be able to pass away my days in this narrow
valley, deprived of all intercourse with civilized beings, and for
ever separated from friends and home?
One only hope remained to me. The French could not long defer a
visit to the bay, and if they should permanently locate any of their
troops in the valley, the savages could not for any length of time
conceal my existence from them. But what reason had I to suppose
that I should be spared until such an event occurred- an event which
might be postponed by a hundred different contingencies?
CHAPTER XXXII
MARNOO RETURNS
"MARNOO, Marnoo pemi!" Such were the welcome sounds which fell
upon my ear some ten days after the event related in the preceding
chapter. Once more the approach of the stranger was heralded, and
the intelligence operated upon me like magic. Again I should be able
to converse with him in my own language; and I resolved, at all
hazards, to concert with him some scheme, however desperate, to rescue
me from a condition that had now become insupportable.
As he drew near, I remembered with many misgivings the
inauspicious termination of our former interview; and when he
entered the house, I watched with intense anxiety the reception he met
with from its inmates. To my joy, his appearance was hailed with the
liveliest pleasure; and accosting me kindly, he seated himself by my
side, and entered into conversation with the natives around him. It
soon appeared, however, that on this occasion he had not any
intelligence of importance to communicate. I inquired of him from
whence he had last come? He replied, from Pueearka, his native valley,
and that he intended to return to it the same day.
At once it struck me that, could I but reach that valley under his
protection, I might easily from thence reach Nukuheva by water; and,
animated by the prospect which this plan held out, I disclosed it in a
few brief words to the stranger, and asked him how it could be best
accomplished. My heart sank within me when, in his broken English,
he answered me that it could never be effected. "Kannaka no let you go
nowhere," he said, "you taboo. Why you no like to stay? Plenty
moee-moee (sleep)- plenty ki-ki (eat)- plenty whihenee (young
girls). Oh, very good place, Typee! Suppose you no like this bay,
why you come? You no hear about Typee? All white men afraid Typee,
so no white men come."
These words distressed me beyond belief; and when I again
related to him the circumstances under which I had descended into
the valley, and sought to enlist his sympathies in my behalf, by
appealing to the bodily misery I endured, he listened to me with
impatience, and cut me short by exclaiming, passionately, "Me no
hear you talk any more; by Kannaka get mad, kill you and me too. No,
you see he no want you to speak to me at all?- you see- ah! by by
you no mind- you get well, he kill you, eat you, hang your head up
there, like Happar Kannaka. Now you listen- but no talk any more. By
by I go; you see way I go. Ah! then some night Kannaka all moee-moee
(sleep)- you run away- you come Pueearka. I speak Pueearka Kannaka- he
no harm you- ah! then I take you my canoe Nukuheva, and you no run
away ship no more." With these words, enforced by a vehemence of
gesture I cannot describe, Marnoo started from my side, and
immediately engaged in conversation with some of the chiefs who had
entered the house.
It would have been idle for me to have attempted resuming the
interview so peremptorily terminated by Marnoo, who was evidently
little disposed to compromise his own safety by any rash endeavours to
ensure mine. But the plan he had suggested struck me as one which
might possibly be accomplished, and I resolved to act upon it as
speedily as possible.
Accordingly, when he arose to depart, I accompanied him, with
the natives, outside of the house, with a view of carefully noting the
path he would take in leaving the valley. Just before leaping from the
pi-pi, he clasped my hand, and, looking significantly at me,
exclaimed, "Now you see- you do what I tell you- ah! then you do
good;- you no do so- ah! then you die." The next moment he waved his
spear in adieu to the islanders, and, following the route that
conducted to a defile in the mountains lying opposite the Happar side,
was soon out of sight.
A mode of escape was now presented to me; but how was I to avail
myself of it? I was continually surrounded by the savages; I could not
stir from one house to another without being attended by some of them;
and even during the hours devoted to slumber, the slightest movement
which I made seemed to attract the notice of those who shared the mats
with me. In spite of these obstacles, however, I determined
forthwith to make the attempt. To do so with any prospect of
success, it was necessary that I should have at least two hours' start
before the islanders should discover my absence; for with such
facility was any alarm spread through the valley, and so familiar,
of course, were the inhabitants with the intricacies of the groves,
that I could not hope, lame and feeble as I was, and ignorant of the
route, to secure my escape unless I had this advantage. It was also by
night alone that I could hope to accomplish my object, and then only
by adopting the utmost precaution.
The entrance to Marheyo's habitation was through a low narrow
opening in its wicker-work front. This passage, for no conceivable
reason that I could devise, was always closed after the household
had retired to rest, by drawing a heavy slide across it, composed of a
dozen or more bits of wood, ingeniously fastened together by
seizings of sinnate. When any of the inmates chose to go outside,
the noise occasioned by the removing of this rude door awakened
everybody else; and on more than one occasion I had remarked that
the islanders were nearly as irritable as more civilized beings
under similar circumstances.
The difficulty thus placed in my way I determined to obviate in
the following manner. I would get up boldly in the course of the
night, and, drawing the slide, issue from the house, and pretend
that my object was merely to procure a drink from the calabash,
which always stood without the dwelling on the corner of the pi-pi. On
re-entering I would purposely omit closing the passage after me, and
trusting that the indolence of the savages would prevent them from
repairing my neglect, would return to my mat, and waiting patiently
until all were again asleep, I would then steal forth, and at once
take the route to Pueearka.
The very night which followed Marnoo's departure, I proceeded to
put this project into execution. About midnight, as I imagined, I
arose and drew the slide. The natives, just as I had expected, started
up, while some of them asked, "Arware poo awa, Tommo?" (where are you
going, Tommo?) "Wai," (water,) I laconically answered, grasping the
calabash. On hearing my reply they sank back again, and in a minute or
two I returned to my mat, anxiously awaiting the result of the
experiment.
One after another the savages, turning restlessly, appeared to
resume their slumbers, and, rejoicing at the stillness which
prevailed, I was about to rise again from my couch, when I heard a
slight rustling- a dark form was intercepted between me and the
doorway- the slide was drawn across it, and the individual, whoever he
was, returned to his mat. This was a sad blow to me; but as it might
have aroused the suspicions of the islanders to have made another
attempt that night, I was reluctantly obliged to defer it until the
next. Several times after I repeated the same manoeuvre, but with as
little success as before. As my pretence for withdrawing from the
house was to allay my thirst, Kory-Kory, either suspecting some design
on my part, or else prompted by a desire to please me, regularly every
evening placed a calabash of water by my side.
Even under these inauspicious circumstances I again and again
renewed the attempt; but when I did so, my valet always rose with
me, as if determined I should not remove myself from his
observation. For the present, therefore, I was obliged to abandon
the attempt; but I endeavoured to console myself with the idea, that
by this mode I might yet effect my escape.
Shortly after Marnoo's visit I was reduced to such a state, that
it was with extreme difficulty I could walk, even with the
assistance of a spear, and Kory-Kory, as formerly, was obliged to
carry me daily to the stream.
For hours and hours, during the warmest part of the day, I lay
upon my mat, and while those around me were nearly all dozing away
in careless ease, I remained awake, gloomily pondering over the fate
which it appeared now idle for me to resist. When I thought of the
loved friends who were thousands and thousands of miles from the
savage island in which I was held a captive- when I reflected that
my dreadful fate would for ever be concealed from them, and that, with
hope deferred, they might continue to await my return long after my
inanimate form had blended with the dust of the valley, I could not
repress a shudder of anguish.
How vividly is impressed upon my mind every minute feature of
the scene which met my view during those long days of suffering and
sorrow. At my request my mats were always spread directly facing the
door, opposite which, and at a little distance, was the hut of
boughs that Marheyo was building.
Whenever my gentle Fayaway and Kory-Kory, laying themselves down
beside me, would leave me awhile to uninterrupted repose, I took a
strange interest in the slightest movements of the eccentric old
warrior. All alone, during the stillness of the tropical mid-day, he
would pursue his quiet work, sitting in the shade and weaving together
the leaflets of his cocoa-nut branches, or rolling upon his knee the
twisted fibres of bark to form the cords with which he tied together
the thatching of his tiny house. Frequently suspending his employment,
and noticing my melancholy eye fixed upon him, he would raise his hand
with a gesture expressive of deep commiseration, and then, moving
towards me slowly, would enter on tip-toes, fearful of disturbing
the slumbering natives, and, taking the fan from my hand, would sit
before me, swaying it gently to and fro, and gazing earnestly into
my face.
Just beyond the pi-pi, and disposed in a triangle before the
entrance of the house, were three magnificent bread-fruit trees. At
this moment I can recall to my mind their slender shafts, and the
graceful inequalities of their bark, on which my eyes were
accustomed to dwell, day after day, in the midst of my solitary
musings. It is strange how inanimate objects will twine themselves
into our affections, especially in the hour of affliction. Even now,
amidst all the bustle and stir of the proud and busy city in which I
am dwelling, the image of those three trees seems to come as vividly
before my eyes as if they were actually present, and I still feel
the soothing quiet pleasure which I then had in watching, hour after
hour, their topmost boughs waving gracefully in the breeze.
CHAPTER XXXIII
THE ESCAPE
NEARLY three weeks had elapsed since the second visit of Marnoo,
and it must have been more than four months since I entered the
valley, when one day, about noon, and whilst everything was in
profound silence, Mow-Mow, the one-eyed chief, suddenly appeared at
the door, and leaning forwards towards me as I lay directly facing
him, said, in a low tone, "Toby pemi ena," (Toby has arrived here.)
Gracious heaven! What a tumult of emotions rushed upon me at this
startling intelligence! Insensible to the pain that had before
distracted me, I leaped to my feet, and called wildly to Kory-Kory,
who was reposing by my side. The startled islanders sprang from
their mats; the news was quickly communicated to them; and the next
moment I was making my way to the Ti on the back of Kory-Kory, and
surrounded by the excited savages.
All that I could comprehend of the particulars which Mow-Mow
rehearsed to his auditors as we proceeded, was that my long-lost
companion had arrived in a boat which had just entered the bay.
These tidings made me most anxious to be carried at once to the sea,
lest some untoward circumstance should prevent our meeting; but to
this they would not consent, and continued their course towards the
royal abode. As we approached it, Mehevi and several chiefs showed
themselves from the piazza, and called upon us loudly to come to them.
As soon as we had approached, I endeavoured to make them
understand that I was going down to the sea to meet Toby. To this
the king objected, and motioned Kory-Kory to bring me into the
house. It was in vain to resist; and in a few moments I found myself
within the Ti, surrounded by a noisy group engaged in discussing the
recent intelligence. Toby's name was frequently repeated, coupled with
violent exclamations of astonishment. It seemed as if they yet
remained in doubt with regard to the fact of his arrival, and at every
fresh report that was brought from the shore they betrayed the
liveliest emotions.
Almost frenzied at being held in this state of suspense, I
passionately besought Mehevi to permit me to proceed. Whether my
companion had arrived or not, I felt a presentiment that my own fate
was about to be decided. Again and again I renewed my petition to
Mehevi. He regarded me with a fixed and serious eye, but at length,
yielding to my importunity, reluctantly granted my request.
Accompanied by some fifty of the natives, I now rapidly
continued my journey, every few moments being transferred from the
back of one to another, and urging my bearer forward all the while
with earnest entreaties. As I thus hurried forward, no doubt as to the
truth of the information I had received ever crossed my mind. I was
alive only to the one overwhelming idea, that a chance of
deliverance was now afforded me, if the jealous opposition of the
savages could be overcome.
Having been prohibited from approaching the sea during the whole
of my stay in the valley, I had always associated with it the idea
of escape. Toby, too- if indeed he had ever voluntarily deserted me-
must have effected his flight by the sea; and now that I was drawing
near to it myself, I indulged in hopes which I had never felt
before. It was evident that a boat had entered the bay, and I saw
little reason to doubt the truth of the report that it had brought
my companion. Every time, therefore, that we gained an elevation, I
looked eagerly around, hoping to behold him.
In the midst of an excited throng, who by their violent gestures
and wild cries appeared to be under the influence of some excitement
as strong as my own, I was now borne along at a rapid trot, frequently
stooping my head to avoid the branches which crossed the path, and
never ceasing to implore those who carried me to accelerate their
already swift pace.
In this manner we had proceeded about four or five miles, when
we were met by a party of some twenty islanders, between whom and
those who accompanied me ensued an animated conference. Impatient of
the delay occasioned by this interruption, I was beseeching the man
who carried me to proceed without his loitering companions, when
Kory-Kory, running to my side, informed me, in three fatal words, that
the news had all proved false- that Toby had not arrived- "Toby
owlee permi." Heaven only knows how, the state of mind and body then
was, I ever sustained the agony which this intelligence caused me; not
that the news was altogether unexpected, but I had trusted that the
fact might not have been made known until we should have arrived
upon the beach. As it was, I at once foresaw the course the savages
would pursue. They had only yielded thus far to my entreaties, that
I might give a joyful welcome to my long-lost comrade; but now that it
was known he had not arrived, they would at once oblige me to turn
back.
My anticipations were but too correct. In spite of the
resistance I made, they carried me into a house which was near the
spot, and left me upon the mats. Shortly afterwards, several of
those who had accompanied me from the Ti, detaching themselves from
the others, proceeded in the direction of the sea. Those who remained-
among whom were Marheyo, Mow-Mow, Kory-Kory, and Tinor- gathered about
the dwelling, and appeared to be awaiting their return.
This convinced me that strangers- perhaps some of my own
countrymen- had for some cause or other entered the bay. Distracted at
the idea of their vicinity, and reckless of the pain which I suffered,
I heeded not the assurance of the islanders that there were no boats
at the beach, but, starting to my feet, endeavoured to gain the
door. Instantly the passage was blocked up by several men, who
commanded me to resume my seat. The fierce looks of the irritated
savages admonished me that I could gain nothing by force, and that
it was by entreaty alone that I could hope to compass my object.
Guided by this consideration, I turned to Mow-Mow, the only
chief present, whom I had been much in the habit of seeing, and,
carefully concealing my real design, tried to make him comprehend that
I still believed Toby to have arrived on the shore, and besought him
to allow me to go forward to welcome him. To all his repeated
assertions that my companion had not been seen, I pretended to turn
a deaf ear: while I urged my solicitations with an eloquence of
gesture which the one-eyed chief appeared unable to resist. He seemed,
indeed, to regard me as a froward child, to whose wishes he had not
the heart to oppose force, and whom he must consequently humour. He
spoke a few words to the natives, who at once retreated from the door,
and I immediately passed out of the house.
Here I looked earnestly round for Kory-Kory; but that hitherto
faithful servitor was nowhere to be seen. Unwilling to linger even for
a single instant when every moment might be so important, I motioned
to a muscular fellow near me to take me upon his back: to my
surprise he angrily refused. I turned to another, but with a like
result. A third attempt was as unsuccessful, and I immediately
perceived what had induced Mow-Mow to grant my request, and why the
other natives conducted themselves in so strange a manner. It was
evident that the chief had only given me liberty to continue my
progress towards the sea, because he supposed that I was deprived of
the means of reaching it.
Convinced by this of their determination to retain me a captive, I
became desperate; and almost insensible to the pain which I
suffered, I seized a spear which was leaning against the projecting
eaves of the house, and, supporting myself with it, resumed the path
that swept by the dwelling. To my surprise, I was suffered to
proceed alone, all the natives remaining in front of the house, and
engaging in earnest conversation, which every moment became more
loud and vehement; and, to my unspeakable delight, I perceived that
some difference of opinion had arisen between them; that two
parties, in short, were formed, and consequently that, in their
divided counsels, there was some chance of my deliverance.
Before I had proceeded a hundred yards I was again surrounded by
the savages, who were still in all the heat of argument, and
appeared every moment as if they would come to blows. In the midst
of this tumult old Marheyo came to my side, and I shall never forget
the benevolent expression of his countenance. He placed his arm upon
my shoulder, and emphatically pronounced one expressive English word I
had taught him- "Home." I at once understood what he meant, and
eagerly expressed my thanks to him. Fayaway and Kory-Kory were by
his side, both weeping violently; and it was not until the old man had
twice repeated the command that his son could bring himself to obey
him, and take me again upon his back. The one-eyed chief opposed his
doing so, but he was overruled, and, as it seemed to me, by some of
his own party.
We proceeded onwards, and never shall I forget the ecstasy I
felt when I first heard the roar of the surf breaking upon the
beach. Before long, I saw the flashing billows themselves through
the opening between the trees. Oh! glorious sight and sound of
ocean! with what rapture did I hall you as familiar friends. By this
time the shouts of the crowd upon the beach were distinctly audible,
and in the blended confusion of sounds I almost fancied I could
distinguish the voices of my own countrymen.
When we reached the open space which lay between the groves and
the sea, the first object that met my view was an English
whale-boat, lying with her bow pointed from the shore, and only a
few fathoms distant from it. It was manned by five islanders,
dressed in short tunics of calico. My first impression was, that
they were in the very act of pulling out from the bay; and that, after
all my exertions, I had come too late. My soul sank within me: but a
second glance convinced me that the boat was only hanging off to
keep out of the surf; and the next moment I heard my own name
shouted out by a voice from the midst of the crowd.
Looking in the direction of the sound, I perceived, to my
indescribable joy, the tall figure of Karakoee, an Oahu Kannaka, who
had often been aboard the Dolly while she lay in Nukuheva. He wore the
green shooting-jacket, with gilt buttons, which had been given to
him by an officer of the Reine Blanche- the French flag-ship- and in
which I had always seen him dressed. I now remembered the Kannaka
had frequently told me that his person was tabooed in all the
valleys of the island, and the sight of him at such a moment as this
filled my heart with a tumult of delight.
Karakoee stood near the edge of the water with a large roll of
cotton-cloth thrown over one arm, and holding two or three canvas bags
of powder, while with the other hand he grasped a musket, which he
appeared to be proffering to several of the chiefs around him. But
they turned with disgust from his offers, and seemed to be impatient
at his presence, with vehement gestures waving him off to his boat,
and commanding him to depart.
The Kannaka, however, still maintained his ground, and I at once
perceived that he was seeking to purchase my freedom. Animated by
the idea, I called upon him loudly to come to me; but he replied, in
broken English, that the islanders had threatened to pierce him with
their spears, if he stirred a foot towards me. At this time I was
still advancing, surrounded by a dense throng of the natives,
several of whom had their hands upon me, and more than one javelin was
threateningly pointed at me. Still I perceived clearly that many of
those least friendly towards me looked irresolute and anxious.
I was still some thirty yards from Karakoee, when my further
progress was prevented by the natives, who compelled me to sit down
upon the ground, while they still retained their hold upon my arms.
The din and tumult now became tenfold, and I perceived that several of
the priests were on the spot, all of whom were evidently urging
Mow-Mow and the other chiefs to prevent my departure; and the
detestable word- "Roo-ne! Roo-ne!" which I had heard repeated a
thousand times during the day, was now shouted out on every side of
me. Still I saw that the Kannaka continued his exertions in my favour-
that he was boldly debating the matter with the savages, and was
striving to entice them by displaying his cloth and powder, and
snapping the lock of his musket. But all he said or did appeared
only to augment the clamours of those around him, who seemed bent upon
driving him into the sea.
When I remembered the extravagant value placed by these people
upon the articles which were offered to them in exchange for me, and
which were so indignantly rejected, I saw a new proof of the same
fixed determination of purpose they had all along manifested with
regard to me, and in despair, and reckless of consequences, I
exerted all my strength, and, shaking myself free from the grasp of
those who held me, I sprang upon my feet and rushed towards Karakoee.
The rash attempt nearly decided my fate! for, fearful that I might
slip from them, several of the islanders now raised a simultaneous
shout, and pressing upon Karakoee, they menaced him with furious
gestures, and actually forced him into the sea. Appalled at their
violence, the poor fellow, standing nearly to the waist in the surf,
endeavoured to pacify them; but at length, fearful that they would
do to pacify him some fatal violence, he beckoned to his comrades to
pull in at once, and take him into the boat.
It was at this agonizing moment, when I thought all hope was
ended, that a new contest arose between the two parties who had
accompanied me to the shore; blows were struck, wounds were given, and
blood flowed. In the interest excited by the fray, every one had
left me except Marheyo, Kory-Kory, and poor dear Fayaway, who clung to
me, sobbing convulsively. I saw that now or never was the moment.
Clasping my hands together, I looked imploringly at Marheyo, and moved
towards the now almost deserted beach. The tears were in the old man's
eyes, but neither he nor Kory-Kory attempted to hold me, and I soon
reached the Kannaka, who had anxiously watched my movements; the
rowers pulled in as near as they dared to the edge of the surf; I gave
one parting embrace to Fayaway, who seemed speechless with sorrow, and
the next instant I found myself safe in the boat, and Karakoee by my
side, who told the rowers at once to give way. Marheyo and
Kory-Kory, and a great many of the women, followed me into the
water, and I was determined, as the only mark of gratitude I could
show, to give them the articles which had been brought as my ransom. I
handed the musket to Kory-Kory, in doing which he would fain have
taken hold of me, threw the roll of cotton to old Marheyo, pointing as
I did so to poor Fayaway, who had retired from the edge of the
water, and was sitting down disconsolate on the beach, and tumbled the
powder-bags out to the nearest young ladies, all of whom were vastly
willing to take them. This distribution did not occupy ten seconds,
and before it was over the boat was under full way, the Kannaka all
the while exclaiming loudly against what he considered a useless
throwing away of valuable property.
Although it was clear that my movements had been noticed by
several of the natives, still they had not suspended the conflict in
which they were engaged, and it was not the boat was above fifty yards
from the shore, that Mow-Mow and some six or seven other warriors
rushed into the sea and hurled their javelins at us. Some of the
weapons passed quite as close to us as was desirable, but no one was
wounded, and the men pulled away gallantly. But although soon out of
the reach of the spears, our progress was extremely slow; it blew
strong upon the shore, and the tide was against us; and I saw
Karakoee, who was steering the boat, give many a look towards a
jutting point of the bay round which we had to pass.
For a minute or two after our departure, the savages, who had
formed into different groups, remained perfectly motionless and
silent. All at once the enraged chief showed by his gestures that he
had resolved what course he would take. Shouting loudly to his
companions, and pointing with his tomahawk towards the headland, he
set off at full speed in that direction, and was followed by about
thirty of the natives, among whom were several of the priests, all
yelling out, "Roo-ne! Roo-ne!" at the very top of their voices.
Their intention was evidently to swim off from the headland and
intercept us in our course. The wind was freshening every minute,
and was right in our teeth, and it was one of those chopping, angry
seas, in which it is so difficult to row. Still the chances seemed
in our favour, but when we came within a hundred yards of the point,
the active savages were already dashing into the water, and we all
feared that within five minutes' time we should have a score of the
infuriated wretches around us. If so our doom was sealed, for these
savages, unlike the feeble swimmers of civilized countries, are, if
anything, more formidable antagonists in the water than when on the
land. It was all a trial of strength; our natives pulled till their
oars bent again, and the crowd of swimmers shot through the water,
despite its roughness, with fearful rapidity.
By the time we had reached the headland, the savages were spread
right across our course. Our rowers got out their knives and held them
ready between their teeth, and I seized the boat-hook. We were all
aware that if they succeeded in intercepting us, they would practise
upon us the manoeuvre which has proved so fatal to many a boat's
crew in these seas. They would grapple the oars, and, seizing hold
of the gunwale, capsize the boat, and then we should be entirely at
their mercy.
After a few breathless moments I discerned Mow-Mow. The athletic
islander, with his tomahawk between his teeth, was dashing the water
before him till it foamed again. He was the nearest to us, and in
another instant he would have seized one of the oars. Even at the
moment I felt the horror at the act I was about to commit; but it
was no time for pity or compunction, and with a true aim, and exerting
all my strength, I dashed the boat-hook at him. I struck him just
below the throat, and forced him downwards. I had no time to repeat
the blow, but I saw him rise to the surface in the wake of the boat,
and never shall I forget the ferocious expression of his countenance.
Only one other of the savages reached the boat. He seized the
gunwale, but the knives of our rowers so mauled his wrists that he was
forced to quit his hold, and the next minute we were past them all,
and in safety. The strong excitement which had thus far kept me up,
now left me, and I fell back fainting into the arms of Karakoee.
The circumstances connected with my most unexpected escape may
be very briefly stated. The captain of an Australian vessel being in
distress for men in these remote seas, had put into Nukuheva in
order to recruit his ship's company, but not a single man was to be
obtained; and the barque was about to get under weigh, when she was
boarded by Karakoee, who informed the disappointed Englishman that
an American sailor was detained by the savages in the neighbouring bay
of Typee; and he offered, if supplied with suitable articles of
traffic, to undertake his release. The Kannaka had gained his
intelligence from Marnoo, to whom, after all, I was indebted for my
escape. The proposition was acceded to; and Karakoee, taking with
him five tabooed natives of Nukuheva, again repaired aboard the
barque, which in a few hours sailed to that part of the island, and
threw her maintop-sail aback right off the entrance to the Typee
bay. The whale-boat, manned by the tabooed crew, pulled towards the
head of the inlet, while the ship lay "off and on" awaiting its
return.
The events which ensued have already been detailed, and little
more remains to be related. On reaching the Julia, I was lifted over
the side, and my strange appearance, and remarkable adventure,
occasioned the liveliest interest. Every attention was bestowed upon
me that humanity could suggest; but to such a state was I reduced,
that three months elapsed before I recovered my health.
The mystery which hung over the fate of my friend and companion,
Toby, has never been cleared up. I still remain ignorant whether he
succeeded in leaving the valley, or perished at the hands of the
islanders.
SEQUEL
SEQUEL
CONTAINING THE STORY OF TOBY
NOTE- The Author of "Typee" was more than two years in the South
Seas, after escaping from the valley, as recounted in the last
chapter. Some time after returning home the foregoing narrative was
published, though it was little thought at the time that this would be
the means of revealing the existence of Toby, who had long been
given up for lost. But so it proved. The story of his escape
supplies a natural sequel to the adventure, and as such it is now
added to the volume. It was related to the Author by Toby himself.
THE MORNING my comrade left me, as related in the narrative, he
was accompanied by a large party of the natives, some of them carrying
fruit and hogs for the purposes of traffic, as the report had spread
that boats had touched at the bay.
As they proceeded through the settled parts of the valley, numbers
joined them from every side, running with animated cries from every
pathway. So excited were the whole party, that, eager as Toby was to
gain the beach, it was almost as much as he could do to keep up with
them. Making the valley ring with their shouts, they hurried along
on a swift trot, those in advance pausing now and then, and
flourishing their weapons to urge the rest forward.
Presently they came to a place where the path crossed a bend of
the main stream of the valley. Here a strange sound came through the
grove beyond, and the islanders halted. It was Mow-Mow, the one-eyed
chief, who had gone on before; he was striking his heavy lance against
the hollow bough of a tree.
This was a signal of alarm;- for nothing was now heard but
shouts of "Happar! Happar!"- the warriors tilting with their spears
and brandishing them in the air, and the women and boys shouting to
each other, and picking up the stones in the bed of the stream. In a
moment or two Mow-Mow and two or three other chiefs ran out from the
grove, and the din increased tenfold.
Now, thought Toby, for a fray; and being unarmed, he besought
one of the young men domiciled with Marheyo for the loan of his spear.
But he was refused; the youth roguishly telling him, that the weapon
was very good for him (the Typee), but that a white man could fight
much better with his fists.
The merry humour of this young wag seemed to be shared by the
rest, for in spite of their warlike cries and gestures, everybody
was capering about and laughing, as if it was one of the funniest
things in the world to be awaiting the flight of a score or two of
Happar javelins from an ambush in the thickets.
While my comrade was in vain trying to make out the meaning of all
this, a good number of the natives separated themselves from the
rest and ran off into the grove on one side, the others now keeping
perfectly still, as if awaiting the result. After a little while,
however, Mow-Mow, who stood in advance, motioned them to come on
stealthily, which they did, scarcely rustling a leaf. Thus they
crept along for ten or fifteen minutes, every now and then pausing
to listen.
Toby by no means relished this sort of skulking; if there was
going to be a fight he wanted it to begin at once. But all in good
time,- for just then, as they went prowling into the thickest of the
wood, terrific howls burst upon them on all sides, and volleys of
darts and stones flew across the path. Not an enemy was to be seen,
and what was still more surprising, not a single man dropped, though
the pebbles fell among the leaves like hail.
There was a moment's pause, when the Typees, with wild shrieks,
flung themselves into the covert, spear in hand; nor was Toby
behindhand. Coming so near getting his skull broken by the stones, and
animated by an old grudge he bore the Happars, he was among the
first to dash at them. As he broke his way through the underbrush,
trying, as he did so, to wrest a spear from a young chief, the
shouts of battle all of a sudden ceased, and the wood was as still
as death. The next moment, the party who had left them so mysteriously
rushed out from behind every bush and tree, and united with the rest
in long and merry peals of laughter.
It was all a sham, and Toby, who was quite out of breath with
excitement, was much incensed at being made a fool of.
It afterwards turned out that the whole affair had been
concerted for his particular benefit, though with what precise view it
would be hard to tell. My comrade was the more enraged at this boys'
play, since it had consumed so much time, every moment of which
might be precious. Perhaps, however, it was partly intended for this
very purpose; and he was led to think so, because, when the natives
started again, he observed that they did not seem to be in so great
a hurry as before. At last, after they had gone some distance, Toby,
thinking all the while that they never would get to the sea, two men
came running towards them, and a regular halt ensued, followed by a
noisy discussion, during which Toby's name was often repeated. All
this made him more and more anxious to learn what was going on at
the beach; but it was in vain that he now tried to push forward; the
natives held him back.
In a few moments the conference ended, and many of them ran down
the path in the direction of the water, the rest surrounding Toby, and
entreating him to "Moee," or sit down and rest himself. As an
additional inducement, several calabashes of food, which had been
brought along, were now placed on the ground, and opened, and pipes
also were lighted. Toby bridled his impatience awhile, but at last
sprang to his feet and dashed forward again. He was soon overtaken
nevertheless, and again surrounded, but without further detention
was then permitted to go down to the sea.
They came out upon a bright green space between the groves and the
water, and close under the shadow of the Happar mountain, where a path
was seen, winding out of sight through a gorge.
No sign of a boat, however, was beheld; nothing but a tumultuous
crowd of men and women, and some one in their midst, earnestly talking
to them. As my comrade advanced, this person came forward, and
proved to be no stranger. He was an old grizzled sailor, whom Toby and
myself had frequently seen in Nukuheva, where he lived an easy,
devil-may-care life, in the household of Mowanna the king, going by
the name of "Jimmy." In fact, he was the royal favourite, and had a
good deal to say in his master's councils. He wore a Manilla hat,
and a sort of tappa morning gown, sufficiently loose and negligent
to show the verse of a song tattooed upon his chest, and a variety
of spirited cuts by native artists in other parts of his body. He
sported a fishing-rod in his hand, and carried a sooty old pipe
slung about his neck.
This old rover having retired from active life, had resided in
Nukuheva some time- he could speak the language, and for that reason
was frequently employed by the French as an interpreter. He was an
arrant old gossip, too; for ever coming off in his canoe to the
ships in the bay, and regaling their crews with choice little
morsels of court scandal- such, for instance, as a shameful intrigue
of his majesty with a Happar damsel, a public dancer at the feasts-
and otherwise relating some incredible tales about the Marquesas
generally. I remember, in particular, his telling the Dolly's crew
what proved to be literally a cock-and-bull story, about two natural
prodigies, which he said were then on the island. One was an old
monster of a hermit, having a marvellous reputation for sanctity,
and reputed a famous sorcerer, who lived away off in a den among the
mountains, where he hid from the world a great pair of horns that grew
out of his temples. Notwithstanding his reputation for piety, this
horrid old fellow was the terror of all the island round, being
reported to come out from his retreat, and go a man-hunting every dark
night. Some anonymous Paul Pry, too, coming down the mountain, once
got a peep at his den, and found it full of bones. In short, he was
a most unheard-of monster.
The other prodigy Jimmy told us about, was the younger son of a
chief, who, although but just turned of ten, had entered upon holy
orders, because his superstitious countrymen thought him especially
intended for the priesthood, from the fact of his having a comb on his
head like a rooster. But this was not all: for, still more wonderful
to relate, the boy prided himself upon this strange crest, being
actually endowed with a cock's voice, and frequently crowing over
his peculiarity.
But to return to Toby. The moment he saw the old rover on the
beach, he ran up to him, the natives following after, and forming a
circle round them.
After welcoming him to the shore, Jimmy went on to tell him how
that he knew all about our having run away from the ship, and being
among the Typees; indeed, he had been urged by Mowanna to come over to
the valley, and, after visiting his friends there, to bring us back
with him, his royal master being exceedingly anxious to share with him
the reward which had been held out for our capture. He, however,
assured Toby that he had indignantly spurned the offer.
All this astonished my comrade not a little, as neither of us
had entertained the least idea that any white man ever visited the
Typees sociably. But Jimmy told him that such was the case,
nevertheless, although he seldom came into the bay, and scarcely
ever went back from the beach. One of the priests of the valley, in
some way or other connected with an old tattooed divine in Nukuheva,
was a friend of his, and through him he was "taboo."
He said, moreover, that he was sometimes employed to come round to
the bay, and engage fruit for ships lying in Nukuheva. In fact, he was
now on that very errand, according to his own account, having just
come across the mountains by the way of Happar. By noon of the next
day, the fruit would be heaped up in stacks on the beach, in readiness
for the boats, which he then intended to bring into the bay.
Jimmy now asked Toby whether he wished to leave the island- if
he did, there was a ship in want of men, lying in the other harbour,
and he would be glad to take him over, and see him on board that
very day.
"No," said Toby; "I cannot leave the island, unless my comrade
goes with me. I left him up the valley because they would not let
him come down. Let us go now and fetch him."
"But how is he to cross the mountain with us," replied Jimmy,
"even if we get him down to the beach? Better let him stay till
to-morrow, and I will bring him round to Nukuheva in the boats."
"That will never do," said Toby; "but come along with me now, and
let us get him down here at any rate"; and yielding to the impulse
of the moment, he started to hurry back into the valley. But hardly
was his back turned, when a dozen hands were laid on him, and he
learned that he could not go a step farther.
It was in vain that he fought with them; they would not hear of
his stirring from the beach. Cut to the heart at this unexpected
repulse, Toby now conjured the sailor to go after me alone. But
Jimmy replied, that in the mood the Typees then were, they would not
permit him so to do, though, at the same time, he was not afraid of
their offering him any harm.
Little did Toby then think, as he afterwards had good reason to
suspect, that this very Jimmy was a heartless villain, who, by his
arts, had just incited the natives to restrain him, as he was in the
act of going after me. Well must the old sailor have known, too,
that the natives would never consent to our leaving together; and he
therefore wanted to get Toby off alone, for a purpose which he
afterwards made plain. Of all this, however, my comrade now knew
nothing.
He was still struggling with the islanders, when Jimmy again
came up to him, and warned him against irritating them, saying that he
was only making matters worse for both of us, and if they became
enraged, there was no telling what might happen. At last he made
Toby sit down on a broken canoe, by a pile of stones, upon which was a
ruinous little shrine, supported by four upright paddles, and in front
partly screened by a net. The fishing parties met there, when they
came in from the sea, for their offerings were laid before an image,
upon a smooth black stone within. This spot, Jimmy said, was
strictly "taboo," and no one would molest or come near him while he
stayed by its shadow. The old sailor then went off, and began speaking
very earnestly to Mow-Mow and some other chiefs, while all the rest
formed a circle round the taboo place, looking intently at Toby, and
talking to each other without ceasing.
Now, notwithstanding what Jimmy had just told him, there presently
came up to my comrade an old woman, who seated herself beside him on
the canoe.
"Typee Mortarkee?" said she. "Mortarkee muee," said Toby.
She then asked him whether he was going to Nukuheva; he nodded
yes; and with a plaintive wail, and her eyes filling with tears, she
rose and left him.
This old woman, the sailor afterwards said, was the wife of an
aged king of a small inland valley, communicating by a deep pass
with the country of the Typees. The inmates of the two valleys were
related to each other by blood, and were known by the same name. The
old woman had gone down into the Typee valley the day before, and
was now, with three chiefs, her sons, on a visit to her kinsmen.
As the old king's wife left him, Jimmy again came up to Toby,
and told him that he had just talked the whole matter over with the
natives, and there was only one course for him to follow. They would
not allow him to go back into the valley, and harm would certainly
come to both him and me, if he remained much longer on the beach.
"So," said he, "you and I had better go to Nukuheva now overland,
and to-morrow I will bring Tommo, as they call him, by water; they
have promised to carry him down to the sea for me early in the
morning, so that there will be no delay."
"No, no," said Toby desperately, "I will not leave him that way;
we must escape together."
"There is no hope for you," exclaimed the sailor, "for if I
leave you here on the beach, as soon as I am gone you will be
carried back into the valley, and then neither of you will ever look
upon the sea again." And with many oaths he swore that if he would
only go to Nukuheva with him that day, he would be sure to have me
there the very next morning.
"But how do you know they will bring him down to the beach
to-morrow, when they will not do so to-day?" said Toby. But the sailor
had many reasons, all of which were so mixed up with the mysterious
customs of the islanders, that he was none the wiser. Indeed, their
conduct, especially in preventing him from returning into the
valley, was absolutely unaccountable to him; and added to everything
else was the bitter reflection, that the old sailor, after all,
might possibly be deceiving him. And then again he had to think of me,
left alone with the natives, and by no means well. If he went with
Jimmy, he might at least hope to procure some relief for me. But might
not the savages who had acted so strangely, hurry me off somewhere
before his return? Then, even he remained, perhaps they would not
let him go back into the valley where I was.
Thus perplexed was my poor comrade; he knew not what to do, and
his courageous spirit was of no use to him now. There he was, all by
himself, seated upon the broken canoe- the natives grouped around
him at a distance, and eyeing him more and more fixedly.
"It is getting late," said Jimmy, who was standing behind the
rest. "Nukuheva is far off, and I cannot cross the Happar country by
night. You see how it is:- if you come along with me, all will be
well; if you do not, depend upon it neither of you will ever escape."
"There is no help for it," said Toby, at last, with a heavy heart,
"I will have to trust you"; and he came out from the shadow of the
little shrine, and cast a long look up the valley.
"Now keep close to my side," said the sailor, "and let us be
moving quickly." Tinor and Fayaway here appeared; the kind-hearted old
woman embracing Toby's knees, giving way to a flood of tears; while
Fayaway, hardly less moved, spoke some few words of English she had
learned, and held up three fingers before him- in so many days he
would return.
At last Jimmy pulled Toby out of the crowd, and after calling to a
young Typee who was standing by with a young pig in his arms, all
three started for the mountains.
"I have told them that you are coming back again," said the old
fellow, laughing, as they began the ascent, "but they'll have to
wait a long time." Toby turned, and saw the natives all in motion- the
girls waving their tappas in adieu, and the men their spears. As the
last figure entered the grove with one arm raised, and the three
fingers spread, his heart smote him.
As the natives had at last consented to his going, it might have
been, that some of them, at least, really counted upon his speedy
return; probably supposing, as indeed he had told them when they
were coming down the valley, that his only object in leaving them
was to procure the medicines I needed. This, Jimmy also must have told
them. And as they had done before, when my comrade, to oblige me,
started on his perilous journey to Nukuheva, they looked upon me, in
his absence, as one of two inseparable friends who was a sure
guarantee for the other's return. This is only my own supposition,
however, for as to all their strange conduct, it is still a mystery.
"You see what sort of a taboo man I am," said the sailor, after
for some time silently following the path which led up the mountain.
"Mow-Mow made me a present of this pig here, and the man who carries
it will go right through Happar, and down into Nukuheva with us. So
long as he stays by me he is safe, and just so it will be with you,
and to-morrow with Tommo. Cheer up, then, and rely upon me, you will
see him in the morning."
The ascent of the mountain was not very difficult, owing to its
being near to the sea, where the island ridges are comparatively
low; the path, too, was a fine one, so that in a short time all
three were standing on the summit with the two valleys at their
feet. The white cascades marking the green head of the Typee valley
first caught Toby's eye; Marheyo's house could easily be traced by
them.
As Jimmy led the way along the ridge, Toby observed that the
valley of the Happars did not extend near so far inland as that of the
Typees. This accounted for our mistake in entering the latter valley
as we had.
A path leading down from the mountain was soon seen, and following
it, the party were in a short time fairly in the Happar valley.
"Now," said Jimmy, as they hurried on, "we taboo men have wives in
all the bays, and I am going to show you the two I have here."
So, when they came to the house where he said they lived- which
was close by the base of the mountain, in a shady nook among the
groves,- he went in, and was quite furious at finding it empty- the
ladies had gone out. However, they soon made their appearance, and, to
tell the truth, welcomed Jimmy quite cordially, as well as Toby, about
whom they were very inquisitive. Nevertheless, as the report of
their arrival spread, and the Happars began to assemble, it became
evident that the appearance of a white stranger among them was not
by any means deemed so wonderful an event as in the neighbouring
valley.
The old sailor now bade his wives prepare something to eat, as
he must be in Nukuheva before dark. A meal of fish, bread-fruit, and
bananas, was accordingly served up, the party regaling themselves on
the mats, in the midst of a numerous company.
The Happars put many questions to Jimmy about Toby; and Toby
himself looked sharply at them, anxious to recognise the fellow who
gave him the wound from which he was still suffering. But this fiery
gentleman, so handy with his spear, had the delicacy, it seemed, to
keep out of view. Certainly the sight of him would not have been any
added inducement to making a stay in the valley,- some of the
afternoon loungers in Happar having politely urged Toby to spend a few
days with them,- there was a feast coming on. He, however, declined.
All this while the young Typee stuck to Jimmy like his shadow, and
though as lively a dog as any of his tribe, he was now as meek as a
lamb, never opening his mouth except to eat. Although some of the
Happars looked queerly at him, others were more civil, and seemed
desirous of taking him abroad and showing him the valley. But the
Typee was not to be cajoled in that way. How many yards he would
have to remove from Jimmy before the taboo would be powerless, it
would be hard to tell, but probably he himself knew to a fraction.
On the promise of a red cotton handkerchief, and something else
which he kept secret, this poor fellow had undertaken a rather
ticklish journey, though, as far as Toby could ascertain, it was
something that had never happened before.
The island-punch- arva- was brought in at the conclusion of the
repast, and passed round in a shallow calabash.
Now my comrade, while seated in the Happar house, began to feel
more troubled than ever at leaving me: indeed, so sad did he feel that
he talked about going back to the valley, and wanted Jimmy to escort
him as far as the mountains. But the sailor would not listen to him,
and, by way of diverting his thoughts, pressed him to drink of the
arva. Knowing its narcotic nature, he refused; but Jimmy said he would
have something mixed with it, which would convert it into an
innocent beverage that would inspirit them for the rest of their
journey. So at last he was induced to drink of it, and its effects
were just as the sailor had predicted; his spirits rose at once, and
all his gloomy thoughts left him.
The old rover now began to reveal his true character, though he
was hardly suspected at the time. "If I get you off to a ship," said
he, "you will surely give a poor fellow something for saving you."
In short, before they left the house, he made Toby promise that he
would give him five Spanish dollars if he succeeded in getting any
part of his wages advanced from the vessel, aboard of which they
were going; Toby, moreover, engaging to reward him still further, as
soon as my deliverance was accomplished.
A little while after this they started again, accompanied by
many of the natives, and going up the valley, took a steep path near
its head, which led to Nukuheva. Here the Happars paused, and
watched them as they ascended the mountain, one group of
bandit-looking fellows shaking their spears and casting threatening
glances at the poor Typee, whose heart as well as heels seemed much
the lighter when he came to look down upon them.
On gaining the heights once more, their way led for a time along
several ridges covered with enormous ferns. At last they entered upon
a wooded tract, and here they overtook a party of Nukuheva natives,
well armed, and carrying bundles of long poles. Jimmy seemed to know
them all very well, and stopped for awhile, and had a talk about the
"Wee-Wees" as the people of Nukuheva call the Monsieurs.
The party with the poles were King Mowanna's men, and by his
orders they had been gathering them in the ravines for his allies, the
French.
Leaving these fellows to trudge on with their loads, Toby and
his companions now pushed forward again, as the sun was already low in
the west. They came upon the valleys of Nukuheva on one side of the
bay, where the highlands slope off into the sea. The men-of-war were
still lying in the harbour, and as Toby looked down upon them, the
strange events which had happened so recently seemed all a dream.
They soon descended towards the beach, and found themselves in
Jimmy's house before it was well dark. Here he received another
welcome from his Nukuheva wives, and after some refreshments in the
shape of cocoa-nut milk and poee-poee, they entered a canoe (the
Typee, of course, going along) and paddled off to a whale-ship which
was anchored near the shore. This was the vessel in want of men. Our
own had sailed some time before. The captain professed great
pleasure at seeing Toby, but thought from his exhausted appearance
that he must be unfit for duty. However, he agreed to ship him, as
well as his comrade as soon as he should arrive.
Toby begged hard for an armed boat, in which to go round to
Typee and rescue me, notwithstanding the promises of Jimmy. But this
the captain would not hear of, and told him to have patience, for
the sailor would be faithful to his word. When, too, he demanded the
five silver dollars for Jimmy, the captain was unwilling to give them.
But Toby insisted upon it, as he now began to think that Jimmy might
be a mere mercenary, who would be sure to prove faithless if not
well paid. Accordingly he not only gave him the money, but took care
to assure him, over and over again, that as soon as he brought me
aboard he would receive a still larger sum.
Before sunrise the next day, Jimmy and the Typee started in two of
the ship's boats, which were manned by tabooed natives. Toby, of
course, was all eagerness to go along, but the sailor told him that if
he did, it would spoil all; so, hard as it was, he was obliged to
remain.
Towards evening he was on the watch, and descried the boats
turning the headland and entering the bay. He strained his eyes, and
thought he saw me; but I was not there. Descending from the mast
almost distracted, he grappled Jimmy as he struck the deck, shouting
in a voice that startled him, "Where is Tommo?" The old fellow
faltered, but soon recovering, did all he could to soothe him,
assuring him that it had proved to be impossible to get me down to the
shore that morning; assigning many plausible reasons, and adding
that early on the morrow he was going to visit the bay again in a
French boat, when, if he did not find me on the beach- as this time he
certainly expected to- he would march right back into the valley,
and carry me away at all hazards. He, however, again refused to
allow Toby to accompany him.
Now, situated as Toby was, his sole dependence for the present was
upon this Jimmy, and therefore he was fain to comfort himself as
well as he could with what the old sailor told him.
The next morning, however, he had the satisfaction of seeing the
French boat start with Jimmy in it. To-night, then, I will see him,
thought Toby; but many a long day passed before he ever saw Tommo
again. Hardly was the boat out of sight, when the captain came forward
and ordered the anchor weighed; he was going to sea.
Vain were all Toby's ravings,- they were disregarded; and when
he came to himself, the sails were set, and the ship fast leaving
the land.
Oh! said he to me at our meeting, what sleepless nights were mine.
Often I started from my hammock, dreaming you were before me, and
upbraiding me for leaving you on the island.
There is little more to be related. Toby left this vessel New
Zealand, and after some further adventures, arrived home in less
than two years after leaving the Marquesas. He always thought of me as
dead- and I had every reason to suppose that he, too, was no more; but
a strange meeting was in store for us, one which made Toby's heart all
the lighter.
EPILOGUE
EPILOGUE
THE author of this volume arrived at Tahiti the very day that
the iniquitous designs of the French were consummated by inducing
the subordinate chiefs, during the absence of their queen, to ratify
an artfully-drawn treaty, by which she was virtually deposed. Both
menaces and caresses were employed on this occasion, and the
32-pounders which peeped out of the port-holes of the frigate were the
principal arguments adduced to quiet the scruples of the more
conscientious islanders.
And yet this piratical seizure of Tahiti, with all the woe and
desolation which resulted from it, created not half so great a
sensation, at least in America, as was caused by the proceedings of
the English at the Sandwich Islands. No transaction has ever been more
grossly misrepresented than the events which occurred upon the arrival
of Lord George Paulet at Oahu. During a residence of four months at
Honolulu, the metropolis of the group, the author was in the
confidence of an Englishman who was much employed by his lordship; and
great was the author's astonishment on his arrival at Boston, in the
autumn of 1844, to read the distorted accounts and fabrications
which had produced in the United States so violent an outbreak of
indignation against the English. He deems it, therefore, a mere act of
justice towards a gallant officer briefly to state the leading
circumstances connected with the event in question.
It is needless to rehearse all the abuse that for some time
previous to the spring of 1843 had been heaped upon the British
residents, especially upon Captain Charlton, Her Britannic Majesty's
consul-general, by the native authorities of the Sandwich Islands.
High in the favour of the imbecile king at this time was one Dr. Judd,
a sanctimonious apothecary-adventurer, who, with other kindred and
influential spirits, were animated by an inveterate dislike to
England. The ascendancy of a junta of ignorant and designing Methodist
elders in the councils of a half civilised king, ruling with
absolute sway over a nation just poised between barbarism and
civilisation, and exposed by the peculiarities of its relations with
foreign states to unusual difficulties, was not precisely calculated
to impart a healthy tone to the policy of the government.
At last matters were brought to such an extremity, through the
iniquitous maladministration of affairs, that the endurance of further
insults and injuries on the part of the British consul was no longer
to be borne. Captain Charlton, insultingly forbidden to leave the
islands, clandestinely withdrew, and arriving at Valparaiso, conferred
with Rear-Admiral Thomas, the English commander-in-chief on the
Pacific station. In consequence of this communication, Lord George
Paulet was despatched by the admiral in the Carysfort frigate, to
inquire into and correct the alleged abuses. On arriving at his
destination, he sent his first lieutenant ashore with a letter to
the king, couched in terms of the utmost courtesy, and soliciting
the honour of an audience. The messenger was denied access to His
Majesty, and Paulet was coolly referred to Dr. Judd, and informed that
the apothecary was invested with plenary powers to treat with him.
Rejecting this insolent proposition, his lordship again addressed
the king by letter, and renewed his previous request; but he
encountered another repulse. Justly indignant at this treatment, he
penned a third epistle, enumerating the grievances to be redressed,
and demanding a compliance with his requisitions, under penalty of
immediate hostilities.
The government was now obliged to act, and an artful stroke of
policy was decided upon by the despicable councillors of the king to
entrap the sympathies and rouse the indignation of Christendom. His
Majesty was made to intimate to the British captain that he could not,
as the conscientious ruler of his beloved people, comply with the
arbitrary demands of his lordship, and in deprecation of the horrors
of war, tendered to his acceptance the provisional cession of the
islands, subject to the result of the negotiations then pending in
London. Paulet, a bluff and straightforward sailor, took the king at
his word, and after some preliminary arrangements, entered upon the
administration of Hawaiian affairs, in the same firm and benignant
spirit which marked the discipline of his frigate, and which had
rendered him the idol of his ship's company. He soon endeared
himself to nearly all orders of the islanders; but the king and the
chiefs, whose feudal sway over the common people was laboriously
sought to be perpetuated by their missionary advisers, regarded all
his proceedings with the most vigilant animosity. Jealous of his
growing popularity, and unable to counteract it, they endeavoured to
assail his reputation abroad by ostentatiously protesting against
his acts, and appealing in Oriental phrase to the wide universe to
witness and compassionate their unparalleled wrongs.
Heedless of their idle clamours, Lord George Paulet addressed
himself to the task of reconciling the differences among the foreign
residents, remedying their grievances, promoting their mercantile
interests, and ameliorating, as far as lay in his power, the condition
of the degraded natives. The iniquities he brought to light and
instantly suppressed are too numerous to be here recorded; but one
instance may be mentioned that will give some idea of the lamentable
misrule to which these poor islanders are subjected.
It is well known that the laws at the Sandwich Islands are subject
to the most capricious alterations, which, by confounding all ideas of
right and wrong in the minds of the natives, produce the most
pernicious effects. In no case is this mischief more plainly
discernible than in the continually shifting regulations concerning
licentiousness. At one time the most innocent freedoms between the
sexes are punished with fine and imprisonment; at another the
revocation of the statute is followed by the most open and undisguised
profligacy.
It so happened that at the period of Paulet's arrival the
Connecticut blue laws had been for at least three weeks steadily
enforced. In consequence of this, the fort at Honolulu was filled with
a great number of young girls, who were confined there doing penance
for their slips from virtue. Paulet, although at first unwilling to
interfere with regulations having reference solely to the natives
themselves, was eventually, by the prevalence of certain reports,
induced to institute a strict inquiry into the internal administration
of General Kekuanoa, governor of the island of Oahu, one of the
pillars of the Hawaiian Church, and captain of the fort. He soon
ascertained that numbers of the young females employed during the
day at work intended for the benefit of the king, were at night
smuggled over the ramparts of the fort- which on one side directly
overhangs the sea- and were conveyed by stealth on board such
vessels as had contracted with the General to be supplied with them.
Before daybreak they returned to their quarters, and their own silence
with regard to these secret excursions was purchased by a small
portion of those wages of iniquity which were placed in the hands of
Kekuanoa.
The vigour with which the laws concerning licentiousness were at
that period enforced, enabled the General to monopolise in a great
measure the detestable trade in which he was engaged, and there
consequently flowed into his coffers- and some say into those of the
government also- considerable sums of money. It is indeed a lamentable
fact that the principal revenue of the Hawaiian government is
derived from the fines levied upon, or rather the licences taken out
by Vice, the prosperity of which is linked with that of the
government. Were the people to become virtuous the authorities would
become poor; but from present indications there is little apprehension
to be entertained on that score.
Some five months after the date of the cession, the Dublin
frigate, carrying the flag of Rear-Admiral Thomas, entered the harbour
of Honolulu. The excitement that her sudden appearance produced on
shore was prodigious. Three days after her arrival an English sailor
hauled down the red cross which had been flying from the heights of
the fort, and the Hawaiian colours were again displayed upon the
same staff. At the same moment the long 42-pounders upon Punchbowl
Hill opened their iron throats in triumphant reply to the thunders
of the five men-of-war in the harbour; and King Kammahammaha III,
surrounded by a splendid group of British and American officers,
unfurled the royal standard to assembled thousands of his subjects,
who, attracted by the imposing military display of the foreigners, had
flocked to witness the formal restoration of the islands to their
ancient rulers.
The admiral, after sanctioning the proceeding of his subaltern,
had brought the authorities to terms; and so removed the necessity
of acting any longer under the provisional cession.
The event was made an occasion of riotous rejoicing by the king
and the principal chiefs, who easily secured a display of enthusiasm
from the inferior orders, by remitting for a time the accustomed
severity of the laws. Royal proclamations in English and Hawaiian were
placarded in the streets of Honolulu, and posted up in the more
populous villages of the group, in which His Majesty announced to
his loving subjects the re-establishment of his throne, and called
upon them to celebrate it by breaking through all moral, legal, and
religious restraint for ten consecutive days, during which time all
the laws of the land were solemnly declared to be suspended.
Who that happened to be at Honolulu during those ten memorable
days will ever forget them! The spectacle of universal broad-day
debauchery, which was then exhibited, beggars description. The natives
of the surrounding islands flocked to Honolulu by hundreds, and the
crews of two frigates, opportunely let loose like so many demons to
swell the heathenish uproar, gave the crowning flourish to the
scene. It was a sort of Polynesian saturnalia. Deeds too atrocious
to be mentioned were done at noon-day in the open street, and some
of the islanders, caught in the very act of stealing from the
foreigners, were, on being taken to the fort by the aggrieved party,
suffered immediately to go at large and to retain the stolen property-
Kekuanoa informing the white men, with a sardonic grin, that the
laws were "hannapa" (tied up).
The history of these ten days reveals in their true colours the
character of the Sandwich islanders, and furnishes an eloquent
commentary on the results which have flowed from the labours of the
missionaries. Freed from the restraint of severe penal laws, the
natives almost to a man had plunged voluntarily into every species
of wickedness and excess, and by their utter disregard of all
decency plainly showed that, although they had been schooled into a
seeming submission to the new order of things, they were in reality as
depraved and vicious as ever.
Such were the events which produced in America so general an
outbreak of indignation against the spirited and high-minded Paulet.
He is not the first man who, in the fearless discharge of his duty,
has awakened the senseless clamours of those whose narrow-minded
suspicions blind them to a proper appreciation of measures which
unusual exigencies may have rendered necessary.
It is almost needless to add that the British cabinet never had
any idea of appropriating the islands; and it furnishes a sufficient
vindication of the acts of Lord George Paulet, that he not only
received the unqualified approbation of his own government, but that
to this hour the great body of the Hawaiian people invoke blessings on
his head, and look back with gratitude to the time when his liberal
and paternal sway diffused peace and happiness among them.
THE END
.