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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of Typee, by Herman Melville
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
+will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
+using this eBook.
+
+Title: Typee
+
+Author: Herman Melville
+
+Release Date: May 1, 2009 [eBook #28656]
+[Most recently updated: December 19, 2022]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TYPEE ***
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: FAYAWAY AND I HAD A DELIGHTFUL LITTLE PARTY ON THE LAKE]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+TYPEE
+
+by HERMAN MELVILLE
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS BY
+MEAD SCHAEFFER
+
+DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
+PUBLISHERS NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER I. A LAND-SICK SHIP
+The sea—Longings for shore—A land-sick ship—Destination of the voyagers
+
+
+CHAPTER II. TO THE MARQUESAS
+Passage from the cruising ground to the Marquesas—Sleepy times aboard
+ship—South Sea scenery—Land ho!—The French squadron discovered at
+anchor in the bay of Nukuheva—Strange pilot—Escort of canoes—A flotilla
+of cocoa-nuts—Swimming visitors—The _Dolly_ boarded by them—State of
+affairs that ensue.
+
+
+CHAPTER III. AFFAIRS ABOARD
+State of affairs aboard the ship—Contents of her larder—Length of South
+Seamen’s voyages—Account of a flying whale-man—Determination to leave
+the vessel—The bay of Nukuheva—The Typees.
+
+
+CHAPTER IV. LAST NIGHT ABOARD
+Thoughts previous to attempting an escape—Toby, a fellow-sailor, agrees
+to share the adventure—Last night aboard the ship.
+
+
+CHAPTER V. THE ESCAPE
+A specimen of nautical oratory—Criticisms of the sailors—The starboard
+watch are given a holiday—The escape to the mountains.
+
+
+CHAPTER VI. DISAPPOINTMENT
+The other side of the mountain—Disappointment—Inventory of articles
+brought from the ship—Division of the stock of bread—Appearance of the
+interior of the island—A discovery—A ravine and waterfalls—A sleepless
+night—Further discoveries—My illness—A Marquesan landscape.
+
+
+CHAPTER VII. A WILD-GOOSE CHASE
+The important question, Typee or Happar?—A wild-goose chase—My
+sufferings—Disheartening situation—A night in the ravine—Morning
+meal—Happy idea of Toby—Journey towards the valley.
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII. INTO THE VALLEY
+Perilous passage of the ravine—Descent into the valley.
+
+
+CHAPTER IX. CAUTIOUS ADVANCE
+The head of the valley—Cautious advance—A path—Fruit—Discovery of two
+of the natives—Their singular conduct—Approach towards the inhabited
+parts of the vale—Sensation produced by our appearance—Reception at the
+house of one of the natives.
+
+
+CHAPTER X. MORNING VISITORS
+Midnight reflections—Morning visitors—A warrior in costume—A savage
+Æsculapius—Practice of the healing art—Body-servant—A dwelling-house of
+the valley described—Portraits of its inmates.
+
+
+CHAPTER XI. ADVENTURE IN THE DARK
+Officiousness of Kory-Kory—His devotion—A bath in the stream—Want of
+refinement of the Typee damsels—Stroll with Mehevi—A Typee highway—The
+Taboo groves—The hoolah hoolah ground—The Ti—Timeworn
+savages—Hospitality of Mehevi—Midnight musings—Adventure in the
+dark—Distinguished honours paid to the visitors—Strange procession, and
+return to the house of Marheyo.
+
+
+CHAPTER XII. ADVENTURE OF TOBY
+Attempt to procure relief from Nukuheva—Perilous adventure of Toby in
+the Happar Mountains—Eloquence of Kory-Kory.
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII. A GREAT EVENT
+A great event happens in the valley—The island telegraph—Something
+befalls Toby—Fayaway displays a tender heart—Melancholy
+reflections—Mysterious conduct of the islanders—Devotion of Kory-Kory—A
+rural couch—A luxury—Kory-Kory strikes a light _à la_ Typee.
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV. KINDNESS OF THE ISLANDERS
+Kindness of Marheyo and the rest of the islanders—A full description of
+the bread-fruit tree—Different modes of preparing the fruit.
+
+
+CHAPTER XV. MELANCHOLY CONDITION
+Melancholy condition—Occurrence at the Ti—Anecdote of Marheyo—Shaving
+the head of a warrior.
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI. IMPROVEMENT
+Improvement in health and spirits—Felicity of the Typees—A skirmish in
+the mountain with the warriors of Happar.
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII. A STRANGER ARRIVES
+Swimming in company with the girls of the valley—A canoe—Effects of the
+taboo—A pleasure excursion on the pond—Beautiful freak of
+Fayaway—Mantua-making—A stranger arrives in the valley—His mysterious
+conduct—Native oratory—The interview—Its results—Departure of the
+stranger.
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII. BATTLE OF THE POP-GUNS
+Reflection after Marnoo’s departure—Battle of the pop-guns—Strange
+conceit of Marheyo—Process of making tappa.
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX. DANCES
+History of a day as usually spent in the Typee valley—Dances of the
+Marquesan girls.
+
+
+CHAPTER XX. MONUMENTS
+The spring of Arva Wai—Remarkable monumental remains—Some ideas with
+regard to the history of the pi-pis found in the valley.
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI. A FESTIVAL
+Preparations for a grand festival in the valley—Strange doings in the
+Taboo Groves—Monument of Calabashes—Gala costume of the Typee
+damsels—Departure for the festival.
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII. THE FEAST OF CALABASHES
+The Feast of Calabashes.
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII. RELIGION OF THE TYPEES
+Ideas suggested by the Feast of Calabashes—Effigy of a dead warrior—A
+singular superstition—The priest Kolory and the god Moa Artua—Amazing
+religious observance—A dilapidated shrine—Kory-Kory and the idol—An
+inference.
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV. BEAUTY OF THE TYPEES
+General information gathered at the festival—Personal beauty of the
+Typees—Their superiority over the inhabitants of the other
+islands—Diversity of complexion—A vegetable cosmetic and
+ointment—Testimony of voyagers to the uncommon beauty of the
+Marquesans—Few evidences of intercourse with civilized
+beings—Dilapidated musket—Primitive simplicity of government—Regal
+dignity of Mehevi.
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV. MARRIAGE CUSTOMS
+King Mehevi—Conduct of Marheyo and Mehevi in certain delicate
+matters—Peculiar system of marriage—Number of
+population—Uniformity—Embalming—Places of sepulture—Funeral obsequies
+at Nukuheva—Number of inhabitants in Typee—Location of the
+dwellings—Happiness enjoyed in the valley.
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI. SOCIAL CONDITIONS
+The social condition and general character of the Typees.
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII. FISHING PARTIES
+Fishing parties—Mode of distributing the fish—Midnight
+banquet—Timekeeping tapers—Unceremonious style of eating the fish.
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII. NATURAL HISTORY
+Natural history of the valley—Golden lizards—Tameness of the
+birds—Mosquitoes—Flies—Dogs—A solitary cat—The climate—The cocoa-nut
+tree—Singular modes of climbing it—An agile young chief—Fearlessness of
+the children—Too-too and the cocoa-nut tree—The birds of the valley.
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX. TATTOOING
+A professor of the fine arts—His persecutions—Something about tattooing
+and tabooing—Two anecdotes in illustration of the latter—A few thoughts
+on the Typee dialect.
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX. MUSIC
+Strange custom of the islanders—Their chanting, and the peculiarity of
+their voice—Rapture of the king at first hearing a song—A new dignity
+conferred on the author—Musical instruments in the valley—Admiration of
+the savages at beholding a pugilistic performance—Swimming
+infant—Beautiful tresses of the girls—Ointment for the hair.
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI. CANNIBALISM
+Apprehensions of evil—Frightful discovery—Some remarks on
+cannibalism—Second battle with the Happars—Savage spectacle—Mysterious
+feast—Subsequent disclosures.
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII. ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE
+The stranger again arrives in the valley—Singular interview with
+him—Attempt to escape—Failure—Melancholy situation—Sympathy of Marheyo.
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII. THE ESCAPE
+The escape
+
+
+SEQUEL
+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.
+
+
+APPENDIX
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+ Fayaway and I had a delightful little party on the lake
+ I found him ripe for the enterprise, and a very few words sufficed for a mutual understanding between us
+ At last we gained the top of the second elevation
+ We were soon completely encircled by a dense throng
+ The body was carried into the house and laid on a mat
+ Thus arrayed, I would have matched the charming Fayaway against any beauty in the world
+ Mehevi
+ About midnight I arose and drew the slide
+
+
+
+
+TYPEE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+The sea—Longings for shore—A land-sick ship—Destination of the
+voyagers.
+
+
+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
+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 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, as 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 rises on a sea, 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 cluster 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
+
+
+Passage from the cruising ground to the Marquesas—Sleepy times aboard
+ship—South Sea scenery—Land ho!—The French squadron discovered at
+anchor in the bay of Nukuheva—Strange pilot—Escort of canoes—A flotilla
+of cocoa-nuts—Swimming visitors—The _Dolly_ boarded by them—State of
+affairs that ensue.
+
+
+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 approach, 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
+it 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 knight-heads, 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° 38′ and 9° 32′ south
+latitude, and 139° 20′ and 140° 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 the 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 hair
+trailing beside them as they swam, I almost fancied they could be
+nothing else than so many mermaids:—and very like mermaids they behaved
+too.
+
+We were still some distance from the beach, and under slow headway,
+when we sailed right into the midst of these swimming nymphs, and they
+boarded us at every quarter; many seizing hold of the chainplates and
+springing into the chains; others, at the peril of being run over by
+the vessel in her course, catching at the bob-stays, and wreathing
+their slender forms about the ropes, hung suspended in the air. All of
+them at length succeeded in getting up the ship’s side, where they
+clung dripping with the brine and glowing from the bath, their
+jet-black tresses streaming over their shoulders, and half enveloping
+their otherwise naked forms. There they hung, sparkling with savage
+vivacity, laughing gaily at one another, and chattering away with
+infinite glee. Nor were they idle the while, for each one performed the
+simple offices of the toilet for the other. Their luxuriant locks,
+wound up and twisted into the smallest possible compass, were freed
+from the briny element; the whole person carefully dried, and from a
+little round shell that passed from hand to hand, anointed with a
+fragrant oil: their adornments were completed by passing a few loose
+folds of white tappa, in a modest cincture, around the waist. Thus
+arrayed they no longer hesitated, but flung themselves lightly over the
+bulwarks, and were quickly frolicking about the decks. Many of them
+went forward, perching upon the head-rails or running out upon the
+bow-sprit, while others seated themselves upon the taffrail, or
+reclined at full length upon the boats.
+
+Their appearance perfectly amazed me; their extreme youth, the light
+clear brown of their complexions, their delicate features, and
+inexpressibly graceful figures, their softly moulded limbs, and free
+unstudied action, seemed as strange as beautiful.
+
+The _Dolly_ was fairly captured; and never I will say was vessel
+carried before by such a dashing and irresistible party of boarders.
+The ship taken, we could not do otherwise than yield ourselves
+prisoners, and for the whole period that she remained in the bay, the
+_Dolly_, as well as her crew, were completely in the hands of the
+mermaids.
+
+In the evening after we had come to an anchor, the deck was illuminated
+with lanterns, and this picturesque band of sylphs, tricked out with
+flowers, and dressed in robes of variegated tappa, got up a ball in
+great style. These females are passionately fond of dancing, and in the
+wild grace and spirit of their style excel everything that I have ever
+seen. The varied dances of the Marquesan girls are beautiful in the
+extreme, but there is an abandoned voluptuousness in their character
+which I dare not attempt to describe.
+
+Our ship was now wholly given up to every species of riot and
+debauchery. The grossest licentiousness and the most shameful inebriety
+prevailed, with occasional and but short-lived interruptions, through
+the whole period of her stay. Alas for the poor savages when exposed to
+the influence of these polluting examples! Unsophisticated and
+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
+
+
+State of affairs aboard the ship—Contents of her larder—Length of South
+Seamen’s voyages—Account of a flying whale-man—Determination to leave
+the vessel—The bay of Nukuheva—The Typees.
+
+
+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 terms 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 middle-aged 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
+vicinity of 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 wickerwork, 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 title 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 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
+connection 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
+
+
+Thoughts previous to attempting an escape—Toby, a fellow-sailor, agrees
+to share the adventure—Last night aboard the ship.
+
+
+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 fail 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 the 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 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.
+
+
+[Illustration: I FOUND HIM RIPE FOR THE ENTERPRISE, AND A VERY FEW
+WORDS SUFFICED FOR A MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN US]
+
+
+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
+
+
+A specimen of nautical oratory—Criticisms of the sailors—The starboard
+watch are given a holiday—The 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 month’s 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 if 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 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 provide 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
+good-will 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 canoe-house, 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
+at 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 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, proved entirely fruitless, unless they followed us into the
+mountains, where we knew they cared not to venture.
+
+However, we thought it was 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 of 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 mountain—Disappointment—Inventory of articles
+brought from the ship—Division of the stock of bread—Appearance of the
+interior of the island—A discovery—A ravine and waterfalls—A sleepless
+night—Further discoveries—My illness—A Marquesan landscape.
+
+
+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 his 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 sea-bread. 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 rheumatism 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 lowered 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 think 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 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 bushes, 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 at 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 tranfixed 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
+semi-circular 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 enchanted 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
+
+
+The important question, Typee or Happar?—A wild-goose chase—My
+sufferings—Disheartening situation—A night in the ravine—Morning
+meal—Happy idea of Toby—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 beside 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
+dealt 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 flow 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.
+
+
+[Illustration: AT LAST WE GAINED THE TOP OF THE SECOND ELEVATION]
+
+
+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 death-like 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 must 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
+
+
+Perilous passage of the ravine—Descent into the valley
+
+
+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 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 observation 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 on 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.
+Typee 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 voluntarily 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 in 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
+I 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
+
+
+The head of the valley—Cautious advance—A path—Fruit—Discovery of two
+of the natives—Their singular conduct—Approach towards the inhabited
+parts of the vale—Sensation produced by our appearance—Reception at the
+house of one of the natives.
+
+
+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 almost be 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 would 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 decrepid 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 to 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, like 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
+gain 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.
+
+
+[Illustration: WE WERE SOON COMPLETELY ENCIRCLED BY A DENSE THRONG]
+
+
+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 those 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 fore-finger 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 was drawn forth perfectly free
+of any adhesive matter. This performance was evidently intended for our
+instruction; so I again essayed the feat on the principles inculcated,
+but with very 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,”[1] 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 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
+
+
+Midnight reflections—Morning visitors—A warrior in costume—A savage
+Æsculapius—Practice of the healing art—Body-servant—A dwelling-house of
+the valley described—Portraits of its inmates.
+
+
+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
+if 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.
+
+As 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 lacework. 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 henceforth 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, which 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
+tranquillity 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 protecting 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
+deemed 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 belong 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 a 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 neglected 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 jewelry, suspending 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 of
+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
+
+
+Officiousness of Kory-Kory—His devotion—A bath in the stream—Want of
+refinement of the Typee damsels—Stroll with Mehevi—A Typee highway—The
+Taboo groves—The hoolah hoolah ground—The Ti—Timeworn
+savages—Hospitality of Mehevi—Midnight musings—Adventure in the
+dark—Distinguished honours paid to the visitors—Strange procession, and
+return to the house of Marheyo.
+
+
+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 clamor 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 toward 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 the 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,” which 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 decrepid 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 for 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 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
+recognized 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 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
+
+
+Attempt to procure relief from Nukuheva—Perilous adventure of Toby in
+the Happar Mountains—Eloquence of Kory-Kory.
+
+
+Amidst these novel scenes a week passed away almost imperceptibly. The
+natives, actuated by some mysterious impulse, day after day redoubled
+their attention 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 alterations 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 a while, 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, if Toby were
+permitted to obtain the supplies I 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 the 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 around 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.
+
+
+[Illustration: THE BODY WAS CARRIED INTO THE HOUSE AND LAID ON A MAT]
+
+
+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, I 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 fail
+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 motarkee!” 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 the 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 the subject. “Ah! Typee me! arkee!—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!” 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
+
+
+A great event happens in the valley—The island telegraph—Something
+befalls Toby—Fayaway displays a tender heart—Melancholy
+reflections—Mysterious conduct of the islanders—Devotion of Kory-Kory—A
+rural couch—A luxury—Kory-Kory strikes a light _à la_ Typee.
+
+
+In the course of a 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 was still a mystery. Cut off
+as I was from all intercourse with the civilized 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 in 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 this 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 again 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 decrepid 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 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 laid 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 body from the annoyance of the insects which
+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, 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 in 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
+
+
+Kindness of Marheyo and the rest of the islanders—A full description of
+the bread-fruit tree—Different modes of preparing the 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 a 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 lucious 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
+
+
+Melancholy condition—Occurrence at the Ti—Anecdote of Marheyo—Shaving
+the head of a warrior.
+
+
+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
+reassumed 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 me 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 first night 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 a 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 have 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
+
+
+Improvement in health and spirits—Felicity of the Typees—A skirmish in
+the mountain with the warriors of Happar.
+
+
+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 tranquillity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+
+Swimming in company with the girls of the valley—A canoe—Effects of the
+taboo—A pleasure excursion on the pond—Beautiful freak of
+Fayaway—Mantua-making—A stranger arrives in the valley—His mysterious
+conduct—Native oratory—The interview—Its results—Departure of the
+stranger.
+
+
+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 foliage, 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
+sword-fish. 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
+lips, 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 boated 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, Fayaway, 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 up-raised 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 manœuvres with admiration, now clapped
+his hands in transport, and shouted like a madman. Many a time
+afterwards was this feat repeated.
+
+If the reader has 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 new-comer the same extravagant
+expression 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
+neighboring 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 visit 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 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,—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 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 Sydney, 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 stranger’s 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
+
+
+Reflection after Marnoo’s departure—Battle of the pop-guns—Strange
+conceit of Marheyo—Process of making tappa.
+
+
+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 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 interests 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 has 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, earrings 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 labourious 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 descernible 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
+
+
+History of a day as usually spent in the Typee valley—Dances of the
+Marquesan girls.
+
+
+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 Mawmee 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 special 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 if they had
+not closed their eyes for a week. Others sallied 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 honor 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 mid-day 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 noon-day, 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
+
+
+The spring of Arva Wai—Remarkable monumental remains—Some ideas with
+regard to the history of the pi-pis found in the valley.
+
+
+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[2] ooze 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.
+
+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
+its 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 overshadow
+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 “morais,” 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 ground, 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 grand festival in the valley—Strange doings in the
+Taboo Groves—Monument of Calabashes—Gala costume of the Typee
+damsels—Departure for the festival.
+
+
+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 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 able-bodied 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
+himself. 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.”
+
+
+[Illustration: THUS ARRAYED, I WOULD HAVE MATCHED THE CHARMING FAYAWAY
+AGAINST ANY BEAUTY IN THE WORLD]
+
+
+The following morning, awakening 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 I 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 tobacco-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 cocoa-nut goblet of water was passed around the
+juvenile company, who rinsing their mouth 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 toward 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 side,
+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
+
+
+Ideas suggested by the Feast of Calabashes—Effigy of a dead warrior—A
+singular superstition—The priest Kolory and the god Moa Artua—Amazing
+religious observance—A dilapidated shrine—Kory-Kory and the idol—An
+inference.
+
+
+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.[3] 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.
+
+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
+figure-head, 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
+tranfixed 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 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.[4] 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.
+
+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 bolt 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 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 of 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 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
+
+
+General information gathered at the festival—Personal beauty of the
+Typees—Their superiority over the inhabitants of the other
+islands—Diversity of complexion—A vegetable cosmetic and
+ointment—Testimony of voyagers to the uncommon beauty of the
+Marquesans—Few evidences of intercourse with civilized
+beings—Dilapidated musket—Primitive simplicity of government—Regal
+dignity of 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 greybeards among them were much better garnished than those
+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, 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,
+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 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.
+
+
+[Illustration: MEHEVI]
+
+
+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 had
+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
+
+
+King Mehevi—Conduct of Marheyo and Mehevi in certain delicate
+matters—Peculiar system of marriage—Number of
+population—Uniformity—Embalming—Places of sepulture—Funeral obsequies
+at Nukuheva—Number of inhabitants in Typee—Location of the
+dwellings—Happiness enjoyed in the valley.
+
+
+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 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 practice 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 footpaths, twisting and turning among the
+thickets without end.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+
+The social condition and general character of the Typees.
+
+
+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, 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 elegantly 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 Kurluna. 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.[5]
+
+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 title-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 prevailed; 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 women
+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 war-clubs; 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 parties—Mode of distributing the fish—Midnight
+banquet—Timekeeping tapers—Unceremonious style of eating the fish.
+
+
+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 resembled 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 the 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 sensation 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—Golden lizards—Tameness of the
+birds—Mosquitoes—Flies—Dogs—A solitary cat—The climate—The cocoa-nut
+tree—Singular modes of climbing it—An agile young chief—Fearlessness of
+the children—Too-too and the cocoa-nut tree—The birds 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 compartment, 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, none 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 natives. 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 schoolboy 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
+aërial 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
+
+
+A professor of the fine arts—His persecutions—Something about tattooing
+and tabooing—Two anecdotes in illustration of the latter—A few thoughts
+on the Typee dialect.
+
+
+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 stone-cutter 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 of 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 figurehead, 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 connection 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 cloth-mallet 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
+master and three of the crew of the K——.
+
+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 sense in which one and the same word is
+employed; its various meanings all have a certain connection, 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
+
+
+Strange custom of the islanders—Their chanting, and the peculiarity of
+their voice—Rapture of the king at first hearing a song—A new dignity
+conferred on the author—Musical instruments in the valley—Admiration of
+the savages at beholding a pugilistic performance—Swimming
+infant—Beautiful tresses of the girls—Ointment for the hair.
+
+
+Sadly discursive as I have 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 afterward 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 a
+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
+
+
+Apprehensions of evil—Frightful discovery—Some remarks on
+cannibalism—Second battle with the Happars—Savage spectacle—Mysterious
+feast—Subsequent disclosures.
+
+
+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 toward me was as kind as ever.
+Faraway 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 mummy-like 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 torn 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 eye-witness to the revolting
+practice. The horrible conclusion has almost always been derived 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 pæans 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 names 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
+
+
+The stranger again arrives in the valley—Singular interview with
+him—Attempt to escape—Failure—Melancholy situation—Sympathy of Marheyo.
+
+
+“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 sunk 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 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 you 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.
+
+
+[Illustration: ABOUT MIDNIGHT I AROSE AND DREW THE SLIDE]
+
+
+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 manœuvre, 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 eye was 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
+forward 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, in the state of mind and body I 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 assurances 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 ecstacy 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 hail 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 sunk 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 farther 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 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 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 until 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
+manœuvre which 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 horror at the act I was about to commit; but it was no
+time for pity or compunction, and with true aim, and exerting all my
+strength, I dashed the boat-hook at him. It 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 main-top-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
+
+
+                                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 behind-hand.
+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 underbush, 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 boy’s 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 on 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, his 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 to do
+so, 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 whether he was going to Nukuheva; he nodded yes; and
+with a plaintive wail, 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.”
+
+“Then 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 if he remained, perhaps they would not let him go back to 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, and 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 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 him 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 farther, 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 promise 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
+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 his vessel at 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, which made Toby’s heart all the
+lighter.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX
+
+
+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 straight-forward 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
+descernible 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 proceedings 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.
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES
+
+
+ [1] The word “kannaka” is at the present day universally used in the
+ South Seas 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.
+
+ [2] 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.
+
+ [3] White appears to be the sacred colour among the Marquesans.
+
+ [4] The word “Artua,” although having some other significations, is in
+ nearly all the Polynesian dialects used as the general designation of
+ the gods.
+
+ [5] 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.
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
+
+
+Obvious typographical errors were corrected:
+
+page vi, “Mysterious” changed to “mysterious”
+page 2, “attentuated” changed to “attenuated”
+page 3, quote mark added after first “Marquesas!”
+page 7, double primes changed to primes in first coordinate
+page 18, “coacoa-nut” changed to “cocoa-nut”
+page 23, period changed to comma after “home”
+page 26, “tatooed” changed to “tattooed”
+page 52, “Decend” changed to “Descend”
+page 62, “hairbreath” changed to “hairbreadth”
+page 66, “inceased” changed to “increased”
+page 89, “interwined” changed to “intertwined”
+page 112, “preverse” changed to “perverse”
+page 120, “kemp” changed to “kelp”
+page 123, “As” changed to “At”
+page 150, period added after “enemy”
+page 199, “Figneroa” changed to “Figueroa”
+page 242, “as” changed to “is”
+page 273, “tumultous” changed to “tumultuous”
+page 281, comma added after “course”
+
+
+Spelling variations were not normalized (e. g. “figure head”,
+“figure-head” and “figurehead”, “forefinger” and “fore-finger”,
+“clamor” and “clamour”, “verd-antique” and “verde-antique”,
+“incumbrances” and “encumber”).
+
+
+
+
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