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diff --git a/old/28656-tei/28656-tei.tei b/old/28656-tei/28656-tei.tei new file mode 100644 index 0000000..aa6f89e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/28656-tei/28656-tei.tei @@ -0,0 +1,12688 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?> +<!DOCTYPE TEI.2 SYSTEM "http://www.gutenberg.org/tei/marcello/0.4/dtd/pgtei.dtd"> +<TEI.2 lang="en"> + <teiHeader> + <fileDesc> + <titleStmt> + <title>Typee</title> + <author><name reg="Melville, Herman">Herman Melville</name></author> + </titleStmt> + <publicationStmt> + <publisher>Project Gutenberg TEI Edition 1</publisher> + <date value="2009-05-01">May 1, 2009</date> + <idno type='etext-no'>28656</idno> + <availability> + <p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere + 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 online at + www.gutenberg.org/license</p> + </availability> + </publicationStmt> + <sourceDesc> + <bibl>Herman Melville: Typee. New York: Dodd, Mead.</bibl> + </sourceDesc> + </fileDesc> + <encodingDesc> + <editorialDecl><p>See transcriber's note in the back.</p></editorialDecl> + </encodingDesc> + <profileDesc> + <langUsage> + <language id="en" /> + </langUsage> + </profileDesc> + <revisionDesc> + <change> + <date value="2009-05-01">May 1, 2009</date> + <respStmt> + <resp>Produced by Juliet Sutherland and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net</resp> + </respStmt> + <item>Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1</item> + </change> + </revisionDesc> + </teiHeader> + + <pgExtensions> + <pgStyleSheet> + .italic { font-style: italic } + .smallcaps { font-variant: small-caps } + .center { text-align: center } + argument { font-size: small } + figure { text-align: center } + head { text-align: center } + lg { margin-left: 2 } + </pgStyleSheet> + <!-- uncomment this CharMap to directly generate ISO 8859-1; replace "(two hyphens)" in the first char with the characters mentioned --> + <!--<pgCharMap formats="txt"> + <char id="U0x2014"> + <charName>mdash</charName> + <desc>EM DASH</desc> + <mapping>(two hyphens)</mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x2019"> + <charName>rsquo</charName> + <desc>RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK</desc> + <mapping>'</mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x201C"> + <charName>ldquo</charName> + <desc>LEFT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK</desc> + <mapping>"</mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x201D"> + <charName>rdquo</charName> + <desc>RIGHT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK</desc> + <mapping>"</mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x153"> + <charName>oelig</charName> + <desc>LATIN SMALL LIGATURE OE</desc> + <mapping>oe</mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x2032"> + <charName>prime</charName> + <desc>PRIME</desc> + <mapping>'</mapping> + </char> + </pgCharMap>--> + </pgExtensions> + +<text lang="en"> +<front> +<div> + <divGen type="pgheader" /> + </div> + <div> + <divGen type="encodingDesc" /> + </div> + <div> +<pb/><anchor id='Pgii'/> +<anchor id="frontis"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then><p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: FAYAWAY AND I HAD A DELIGHTFUL LITTLE PARTY ON THE LAKE]</p> +</then><else><pgIf output="pdf"><then><p><figure url="images/frontis.jpg" rend="width: 100%"><head><hi rend="font-size: small">FAYAWAY AND I HAD A + DELIGHTFUL LITTLE PARTY ON THE LAKE</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Page 142</hi></head></figure></p></then> +<else><p><figure url="images/frontisth.jpg"><head><xref url="images/frontis.jpg"><hi rend="font-size: small">FAYAWAY AND I HAD A + DELIGHTFUL LITTLE PARTY ON THE LAKE</hi></xref> <ref target="Pg142"><hi rend='italic'>Page 142</hi></ref></head> + <figDesc>Illustration: FAYAWAY AND I HAD A DELIGHTFUL LITTLE PARTY ON THE LAKE</figDesc></figure></p></else></pgIf> +</else></pgIf> +</div> + <div rend="page-break-before: right"> +<pgIf output="txt"> + <else> + <p> + <figure url="images/titlepage.jpg" rend="width: 100%"> + <figDesc>graphical titlepage</figDesc> + </figure> + </p> + </else> +</pgIf> + </div> +<titlePage rend="center"> +<pb/><anchor id='Pgiii'/> + <docTitle> + <titlePart rend="font-size: xx-large">TYPEE</titlePart> + </docTitle> + <lb/> + <byline rend="font-size: x-large"><docAuthor>HERMAN MELVILLE</docAuthor></byline> + <lb/><lb/><lb/> + <titlePart><hi rend="font-size: large">ILLUSTRATIONS BY</hi><lb/> + <hi rend="font-size: x-large">MEAD SCHAEFFER</hi></titlePart> + <lb/><lb/> + <docImprint><hi rend="font-size: large">DODD, MEAD</hi><hi rend="font-size: small"> AND </hi><hi rend="font-size: large">COMPANY</hi><lb/> + PUBLISHERS NEW YORK</docImprint> + <pb/><anchor id='Pgiv'/> +</titlePage> + +<div type="contents" rend="page-break-before: right"> +<pb n='v'/><anchor id='Pgv'/> +<index index="pdf"/> +<head>CONTENTS</head> +<pgIf output="pdf"> + <then> +<divGen type="toc"/> + </then> + <else> +<table rend="tblcolumns: 'r lw(56m) r'; latexcolumns: 'llr"> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><hi rend="font-size: x-small"> CHAPTER</hi></cell> + <cell></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><hi rend="font-size: x-small">PAGE</hi></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">I</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>A Land-sick Ship</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg001">1</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">The sea—Longings for shore—A land-sick ship—Destination of the voyagers</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">II</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>To the Marquesas</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg005">5</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">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 <name type="ship" rend="italic">Dolly</name> boarded by them—State + of affairs that ensue.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">III</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Affairs Aboard</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg014">14</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">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.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">IV</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Last Night Aboard</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg021">21</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">Thoughts previous to attempting an escape—Toby, a fellow-sailor, + agrees to share the adventure—Last night aboard the ship.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">V</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>The Escape</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg026">26</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">A specimen of nautical oratory—Criticisms of the sailors—The starboard + watch are given a holiday—The escape to the mountains.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">VI</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Disappointment</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg034">34</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">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.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">VII</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>A Wild-goose Chase</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg045">45</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">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.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">VIII</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Into the Valley</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg054">54</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">Perilous passage of the ravine—Descent into the valley.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">IX</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Cautious Advance</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg063">63</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">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.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <pb n='vi'/><anchor id='Pgvi'/> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">X</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Morning Visitors</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg075">75</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">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.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">XI</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Adventure in the Dark</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg090">90</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">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.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">XII</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Adventure of Toby</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg101">101</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">Attempt to procure relief from Nukuheva—Perilous adventure of Toby +in the Happar Mountains—Eloquence of Kory-Kory.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">XIII</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>A Great Event</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg109">109</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">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 <hi rend='italic'>à la</hi> Typee.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">XIV</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Kindness of the Islanders</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg120">120</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">Kindness of Marheyo and the rest of the islanders—A full description +of the bread-fruit tree—Different modes of preparing the fruit.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">XV</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Melancholy Condition</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg126">126</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">Melancholy condition—Occurrence at the Ti—Anecdote of Marheyo—Shaving +the head of a warrior.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">XVI</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Improvement</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg132">132</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">Improvement in health and spirits—Felicity of the Typees—A skirmish +in the mountain with the warriors of Happar.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">XVII</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>A Stranger Arrives</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg140">140</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">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 <anchor id="corrvi"/><corr sic="Mysterious">mysterious</corr> +conduct—Native oratory—The interview—Its results—Departure of the +stranger.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">XVIII</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Battle of the Pop-guns</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg155">155</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">Reflection after Marnoo’s departure—Battle of the pop-guns—Strange +conceit of Marheyo—Process of making tappa.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">XIX</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Dances</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg162">162</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">History of a day as usually spent in the Typee valley—Dances of the +Marquesan girls.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <pb n='vii'/><anchor id='Pgvii'/> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">XX</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Monuments</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg167">167</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">The spring of Arva Wai—Remarkable monumental remains—Some ideas + with regard to the history of the pi-pis found in the valley.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">XXI</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>A Festival</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg171">171</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">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.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">XXII</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>The Feast of Calabashes</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg178">178</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">The Feast of Calabashes.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">XXIII</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Religion of the Typees</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg185">185</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">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.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">XXIV</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Beauty of the Typees</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg196">196</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">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.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">XXV</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Marriage Customs</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg204">204</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">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.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">XXVI</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Social Conditions</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg210">210</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">The social condition and general character of the Typees.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">XXVII</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Fishing Parties</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg216">216</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">Fishing parties—Mode of distributing the fish—Midnight banquet—Timekeeping + tapers—Unceremonious style of eating the fish.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">XXVIII</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Natural History</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg220">220</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">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.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">XXIX</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Tattooing</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg228">228</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">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.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <pb n='viii'/><anchor id='Pgviii'/> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">XXX</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Music</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg238">238</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">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.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">XXXI</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Cannibalism</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg244">244</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">Apprehensions of evil—Frightful discovery—Some remarks on cannibalism—Second + battle with the Happars—Savage spectacle—Mysterious + feast—Subsequent disclosures.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">XXXII</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Attempt To Escape</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg254">254</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">The stranger again arrives in the valley—Singular interview with him—Attempt + to escape—Failure—Melancholy situation—Sympathy of Marheyo.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right">XXXIII</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>The Escape</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg260">260</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small">The escape</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Sequel</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg270">270</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell rend="font-size: small"><hi rend='smallcaps'>Note</hi>.—The Author of <q>Typee</q> 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.</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Appendix</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg285">285</ref></cell> + </row> +</table> + </else> +</pgIf> +</div><div type="illustrations" rend="page-break-before: right"> +<pb n='ix'/><anchor id='Pgix'/> +<index index="toc"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>ILLUSTRATIONS</head> +<table rend="tblcolumns: 'lw(1m) lw(54m) r'; latexcolumns: 'lp{6cm}r'"> + <row> + <cell></cell> + <cell>Fayaway and I had a delightful little party on the</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="frontis"><hi rend='italic'>Frontispiece</hi></ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell></cell> + <cell> lake</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><hi rend="font-size: x-small">FACING PAGE</hi></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell></cell> + <cell>I found him ripe for the enterprise, and a very few<lb/> words sufficed for a + mutual understanding between us</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus1">22</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell></cell> + <cell>At last we gained the top of the second elevation</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus2">48</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell></cell> + <cell>We were soon completely encircled by a dense throng</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus3">68</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell></cell> + <cell>The body was carried into the house and laid on a mat</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus4">104</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell></cell> + <cell>Thus arrayed, I would have matched the charming<lb/> Fayaway against + any beauty in the world </cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus5">174</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell></cell> + <cell>Mehevi</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus6">200</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell></cell> + <cell>About midnight I arose and drew the slide</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus7">256</ref></cell> + </row> +</table> +<pb/><anchor id='Pgx'/> + +</div><div rend="page-break-before: right"> +<pb/><anchor id='Pgxi'/> + +<p rend="font-size: large; center"> +TYPEE +</p> + +<pb/><anchor id='Pgxii'/> + +</div></front> +<body rend="page-break-before: right"> + <pb n='1'/><anchor id='Pg001'/> +<head>TYPEE</head> + <div> +<index index="toc" level1="I. A Land-sick Ship"/><index index="pdf"/> + <head>CHAPTER I</head> + +<argument><p> +The sea—Longings for shore—A land-sick ship—Destination of the voyagers. +</p></argument> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='2'/><anchor id='Pg002'/>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 <anchor id="corr002"/><corr sic="attentuated">attenuated</corr> +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. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Why, d’ye see, Captain Vangs,</q> says bold Jack, <q>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.</q> 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? +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='3'/><anchor id='Pg003'/>about her stern-piece; and every time she rises on a sea, she shows +her copper torn away or hanging in jagged strips. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<milestone unit="tb" rend="stars: 10"/> + +<p> +<q>Hurrah, my lads! It’s a settled thing; next week we shape our +course to the <anchor id="corr003"/><corr sic="quote mark missing">Marquesas!</corr></q> 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—<hi rend='italic'>heathenish rites and human sacrifices</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='4'/><anchor id='Pg004'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="2" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='5'/><anchor id='Pg005'/> +<index index="toc" level1="II. To the Marquesas"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER II</head> + +<argument><p> +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 <name type="ship" rend="italic">Dolly</name> boarded by them—State +of affairs that ensue. +</p></argument> + +<p> +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 <name type="ship">Dolly</name> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='6'/><anchor id='Pg006'/>the question; take a book in your hand, and you were asleep in an +instant. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='7'/><anchor id='Pg007'/>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—<q>Land ho!</q> +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>Where-away?</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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° <anchor id="corr007"/><corr sic='38"'>38</corr>′ and 9° <corr sic='32"'>32</corr>′ +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='8'/><anchor id='Pg008'/>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, <q>Tyohee,</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='9'/><anchor id='Pg009'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='10'/><anchor id='Pg010'/>this strange fellow performing his antics in full view of all the French +officers. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='11'/><anchor id='Pg011'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<q>taboo,</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>whinhenies</q> (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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='12'/><anchor id='Pg012'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The <name type="ship">Dolly</name> 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 <name type="ship">Dolly</name>, +as well as her crew, were completely in the hands of the mermaids. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='13'/><anchor id='Pg013'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="3" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='14'/><anchor id='Pg014'/> +<index index="toc" level1="III. Affairs Aboard"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER III</head> + +<argument><p> +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. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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 <name type="ship">Dolly</name>. To use +the concise, point-blank phrase of the sailors, I had made up my mind +to <q>run away.</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +When I entered on board the <name type="ship">Dolly</name>, 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? +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='15'/><anchor id='Pg015'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>Lord of the Plank,</q> and subjected their shipmates +to additional hardships. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='16'/><anchor id='Pg016'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<name type="ship">Perseverance</name>—for that was her name—was spoken somewhere in the +vicinity of the ends of the earth, cruising along as leisurely as ever, +<pb n='17'/><anchor id='Pg017'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +But to return to my narrative. Placed in these circumstances, then, +with no prospect of matters mending if I remained aboard the <name type="ship">Dolly</name>, +I at once made up my mind to leave her: to be sure, it was rather an +<pb n='18'/><anchor id='Pg018'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <anchor id="corr018"/><corr sic="coacoa-nut">cocoa-nut</corr> trees. +</p> + +<p> +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 +pre<pb n='19'/><anchor id='Pg019'/>sented 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +These celebrated warriors appear to inspire the other islanders with +unspeakable terrors. Their very name is a frightful one; for the +word <q>Typee</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='20'/><anchor id='Pg020'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <name type="ship">Katherine</name>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="4" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='21'/><anchor id='Pg021'/> +<index index="toc" level1="IV. Last Night Aboard"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER IV</head> + +<argument><p> +Thoughts previous to attempting an escape—Toby, a fellow-sailor, agrees to +share the adventure—Last night aboard the ship. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='22'/><anchor id='Pg022'/>fail to be immediately apprized, as from my lofty position I should +command a view of the entire harbour. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='23'/><anchor id='Pg023'/>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. +</p> + <anchor id="illus1"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then><p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: I FOUND HIM RIPE FOR THE ENTERPRISE, AND A VERY FEW WORDS SUFFICED FOR A +MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN US]</p> +</then><else><pgIf output="pdf"><then><p><figure url="images/illus1.jpg" rend="width: 100%"><head><hi rend="font-size: small">I FOUND HIM RIPE FOR THE ENTERPRISE, AND A VERY FEW WORDS SUFFICED FOR A +MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN US</hi></head></figure></p></then> + <else><p><figure url="images/illus1th.jpg"><head><xref url="images/illus1.jpg"><hi rend="font-size: small">I FOUND HIM RIPE FOR THE ENTERPRISE, AND A VERY FEW WORDS SUFFICED FOR A +MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN US</hi></xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: I FOUND HIM RIPE FOR THE ENTERPRISE, AND A VERY FEW WORDS SUFFICED FOR A +MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN US</figDesc></figure></p></else></pgIf> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +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 <anchor id="corr023"/><corr sic="home.">home,</corr> +and go rambling over the world as if pursued by some mysterious +fate they cannot possibly elude. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<pb n='24'/><anchor id='Pg024'/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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? +</p> + +<p> +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 <name type="ship">Dolly</name>. +</p> + +<p> +The next day the starboard watch, to which we both belonged, +was to be sent ashore on liberty; and, availing ourselves of this +<pb n='25'/><anchor id='Pg025'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="5" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='26'/><anchor id='Pg026'/> +<index index="toc" level1="V. The Escape"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER V</head> + +<argument><p> +A specimen of nautical oratory—Criticisms of the sailors—The starboard +watch are given a holiday—The escape to the mountains. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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:— +</p> + +<p> +<q>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 <name type="ship">Dido</name>, 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 <anchor id="corr026"/><corr sic="tatooed">tattooed</corr> 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 +<pb n='27'/><anchor id='Pg027'/>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!</q> +</p> + +<p> +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, <q>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.</q> +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='28'/><anchor id='Pg028'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>midshipmen’s +nuts,</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<pb n='29'/><anchor id='Pg029'/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='30'/><anchor id='Pg030'/>by the arm, and pointing along its sloping outline to the lofty heights +at its extremity, said, in a low tone, <q>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.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>All right, brother,</q> said Toby, <q>quick’s our play, only let’s keep +close together, that’s all</q>; 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='31'/><anchor id='Pg031'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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, +<pb n='32'/><anchor id='Pg032'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='33'/><anchor id='Pg033'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="6" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='34'/><anchor id='Pg034'/> +<index index="toc" level1="VI. Disappointment"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER VI</head> + +<argument><p> +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. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +What was to be done? The <name type="ship">Dolly</name> would not sail perhaps for ten +<pb n='35'/><anchor id='Pg035'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='36'/><anchor id='Pg036'/>he feel so inclined, during our flight. These were now reduced to the +equivocal substance which I had just placed on the leaf. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>ditty bag,</q> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<pb n='37'/><anchor id='Pg037'/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +We wandered along, casting eager glances into every bush we passed, +<pb n='38'/><anchor id='Pg038'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +<q>And so,</q> said Toby, peering down into the chasm, <q>every one that +travels this path takes a jump here, eh?</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Not so,</q> said I, <q>for I think they might manage to descend without +it; what say you,—shall we attempt the feat?</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>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.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Oh, no, Toby,</q> I exclaimed, laughing; <q>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.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>I will tell you what, my pleasant fellow,</q> rejoined Toby, quickly, +<q>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.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>That is just the thing I have been driving at,</q> replied I; <q>and I +am thinking that this ravine will exactly answer our purpose, for it is +<pb n='39'/><anchor id='Pg039'/>roomy, secluded, well watered, and may shelter us from the weather.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Ay, and from sleep too, and by the same token will give us sore +throats, and rheumatism into the bargain,</q> cried Toby, with evident +dislike at the idea. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Oh, very well then, my lad,</q> said I, <q>since you will not accompany +me, here I go, alone. You will see me in the morning</q>; 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='40'/><anchor id='Pg040'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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, <q>Then, shipmate, my toplights have gone out, for it +<pb n='41'/><anchor id='Pg041'/>appears darker now with my eyes open than it did when they were shut.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Nonsense!</q> exclaimed I; <q>you are not awake yet.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Awake!</q> roared Toby, in a rage; <q>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.</q> +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>appetite furnishes the best sauce</q>! 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. +</p> + +<p> +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, +<pb n='42'/><anchor id='Pg042'/>as we afterwards conjectured from particular indications, for the purpose +of obtaining a certain root, from which the natives obtained a kind +of ointment. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +roman<pb n='43'/><anchor id='Pg043'/>tic islands during the rainy season, to provide themselves with umbrellas. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='44'/><anchor id='Pg044'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="7" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='45'/><anchor id='Pg045'/> +<index index="toc" level1="VII. A Wild-goose Chase"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER VII</head> + +<argument><p> +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. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='46'/><anchor id='Pg046'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<pb n='47'/><anchor id='Pg047'/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='48'/><anchor id='Pg048'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Do not,</q> he exclaimed, <q>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!</q> +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +insecu<pb n='49'/><anchor id='Pg049'/>rity 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. +</p> + <anchor id="illus2"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then><p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: AT LAST WE GAINED THE TOP OF THE + SECOND ELEVATION]</p> +</then><else><pgIf output="pdf"><then><p><figure url="images/illus2.jpg" rend="width: 100 %"><head><hi rend="font-size: small">AT LAST WE GAINED THE TOP OF THE SECOND +ELEVATION</hi></head></figure></p></then> +<else><p><figure url="images/illus2th.jpg"><head><xref url="images/illus2.jpg"><hi rend="font-size: small">AT LAST WE GAINED THE TOP OF THE SECOND + ELEVATION</hi></xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: AT LAST WE GAINED THE TOP OF THE SECOND ELEVATION</figDesc></figure></p></else></pgIf> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<pb n='50'/><anchor id='Pg050'/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='51'/><anchor id='Pg051'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='52'/><anchor id='Pg052'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +<q>What’s to be done now?</q> inquired I, rather dolefully. +</p> + +<p> +<q><anchor id="corr052"/><corr sic="Decend">Descend</corr> into that same valley we descried yesterday,</q> 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. <q>What else,</q> he continued, <q>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.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>And who is to pilot us thither,</q> I asked, <q>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?</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>’Faith, I didn’t think of that,</q> said Toby; <q>sure enough, both +sides of the valley appeared to be hemmed in by precipices, didn’t +they?</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Yes,</q> answered I; <q>as steep as the sides of a line-of-battle ship, +and about a hundred times as high.</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Yes, yes,</q> he exclaimed; <q>the streams all run in the same direction, +and must necessarily flow into the valley before they reach the +<pb n='53'/><anchor id='Pg053'/>sea; all we have to do is just to follow this stream, and sooner or later, +it will lead us into the vale.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>You are right, Toby,</q> I exclaimed, <q>you are right; it must +conduct us thither, and quickly too; for, see with what a steep inclination +the water descends.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>It does, indeed,</q> burst forth my companion, overjoyed at my verification +of his theory, <q>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!</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>You will have it to be Happar, I see, my dear fellow; pray Heaven, +you may not find yourself deceived,</q> observed I, with a shake of my +head. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Amen to all that, and much more,</q> shouted Toby, rushing forward; +<q>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</q>; 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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="8" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='54'/><anchor id='Pg054'/> +<index index="toc" level1="VIII. Into the Valley"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER VIII</head> + +<argument><p> +Perilous passage of the ravine—Descent into the valley +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<pb n='55'/><anchor id='Pg055'/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +<q>What’s to be done now, Toby?</q> said I. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Why,</q> rejoined he, <q>as we cannot retreat, I suppose we must keep +shoving along.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Very true, my dear Toby; but how do you purpose accomplishing +that desirable object?</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>By jumping from the top of the fall, if there be no other way,</q> +unhesitatingly replied my companion; <q>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.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='56'/><anchor id='Pg056'/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +<q>The result of my observations you wish to know, do you?</q> began +Toby, deliberately, with one of his odd looks: <q>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.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Then it is an impossible thing, is it?</q> inquired I, gloomily. +</p> + +<p> +<q>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.</q> +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Are you ready to venture it?</q> asked Toby, looking at me earnestly, +but without saying a word as to the practicability of the plan. +</p> + +<p> +<q>I am,</q> was my reply; for I saw it was our only resource if we +<pb n='57'/><anchor id='Pg057'/>wished to advance, and as for retreating, all thoughts of that sort had +been long abandoned. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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, <q>Mate, do me the kindness not to +fall until I get out of your way</q>; 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +As one after another the treacherous roots yielded to my grasp, +<pb n='58'/><anchor id='Pg058'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Pretty well done,</q> shouted Toby underneath me; <q>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.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Ay, ay, Toby, all in good time: two or three more such famous roots +as this, and I shall be with you.</q> +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Another precipice for us, Toby.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Very good; we can descend them, you know—come on.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Nothing indeed appeared to depress or intimidate this intrepid +<pb n='59'/><anchor id='Pg059'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Well, my boy,</q> I exclaimed, after the expiration of several minutes, +during which time my companion had not uttered a word: <q>what’s +to be done now?</q> +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Yes, my dear Toby, but tell me <hi rend='italic'>how</hi> we are to get out of it.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Something in this sort of style,</q> he replied; and at the same moment, +to my horror, he slipped sideways off the rock, and, as I then thought, +<pb n='60'/><anchor id='Pg060'/>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, <q>Come +on, my hearty, there is no other alternative!</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Toby’s animating <q>come on!</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='61'/><anchor id='Pg061'/>the ravine, we had partaken of our evening morsel, built our hut as +usual, and crawled under its shelter. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='62'/><anchor id='Pg062'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +I will not recount every <anchor id="corr062"/><corr sic="hairbreath">hairbreadth</corr> 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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="9" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='63'/><anchor id='Pg063'/> +<index index="toc" level1="IX. Cautious Advance"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER IX</head> + +<argument><p> +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. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +How to obtain the fruit which we felt convinced must grow near at +hand was our first thought. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='64'/><anchor id='Pg064'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>annuee,</q> and which bear a most delicious fruit. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +We looked about us uncertain whither to direct our steps, since +<pb n='65'/><anchor id='Pg065'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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, +<pb n='66'/><anchor id='Pg066'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +As we drew near, their alarm evidently <anchor id="corr066"/><corr sic="inceased">increased</corr>. 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Typee or Happar, Toby?</q> asked I, as we walked after them. +</p> + +<pb n='67'/><anchor id='Pg067'/> + +<p> +<q>Of course, Happar,</q> he replied, with a show of confidence which +was intended to disguise his doubts. +</p> + +<p> +<q>We shall soon know,</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +More and more curious to ascertain our fate, I now threw together +in the form of a question the words <q>Happar</q> and <q>Mortarkee,</q> the +latter being equivalent to the word <q>good.</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='68'/><anchor id='Pg068'/>many startled fawns. A few moments after the whole valley resounded +with savage outcries, and the natives came running towards us from +every direction. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='69'/><anchor id='Pg069'/>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. +</p> + <anchor id="illus3"/> + <pgIf output="txt"> + <then><p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: WE WERE SOON COMPLETELY ENCIRCLED BY A DENSE THRONG]</p></then> + <else><pgIf output="pdf"><then><p><figure url="images/illus3.jpg" rend="width: 100%"><head><hi rend="font-size: small">WE WERE SOON COMPLETELY ENCIRCLED BY A DENSE + THRONG</hi></head></figure></p></then> + <else><p><figure url="images/illus3th.jpg"><head><xref url="images/illus3.jpg"><hi rend="font-size: small">WE WERE SOON COMPLETELY ENCIRCLED BY A DENSE + THRONG</hi></xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: WE WERE SOON COMPLETELY ENCIRCLED BY A DENSE THRONG</figDesc></figure></p></else></pgIf> + </else> + </pgIf> +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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, <q>Typee.</q> The piece of dusky statuary nodded +in approval, and then murmured, <q>Mortarkee?</q> <q>Mortarkee,</q> said +I, without further hesitation—<q>Typee mortarkee.</q> +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +some<pb n='70'/><anchor id='Pg070'/>what laconic, consisting in the repetition of that name, united with +the potent adjective, <q>Mortarkee.</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>Mehevi,</q> 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 <q>Tom.</q> But I could not have made a worse +selection; the chief could not master it: <q>Tommo,</q> <q>Tomma,</q> +<q>Tommee,</q> everything but plain <q>Tom.</q> As he persisted in garnishing +the word with an additional syllable, I compromised the matter +with him at the word <q>Tommo</q>; 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +All this occupied about an hour, when the throng having a little +<pb n='71'/><anchor id='Pg071'/>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 <q>poee-poee,</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<pb n='72'/><anchor id='Pg072'/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='73'/><anchor id='Pg073'/>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 <q>tabooed Kannaka,</q><note place="foot"><p>The word <q>kannaka</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +A <q>tabooed kannaka</q> is an islander whose person has been made, to a certain +extent, sacred by the operation of a singular custom hereafter to be +explained.</p></note> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='74'/><anchor id='Pg074'/>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. <q>Nukuheva mortarkee?</q> they asked. Of +course we replied most energetically in the negative. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="10" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='75'/><anchor id='Pg075'/> +<index index="toc" level1="X. Morning Visitors"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER X</head> + +<argument><p> +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. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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? +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<pb n='76'/><anchor id='Pg076'/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='77'/><anchor id='Pg077'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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, +<pb n='78'/><anchor id='Pg078'/>and the lines drawn upon his face may possibly have denoted his exalted +rank. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +But that which more than any other subject engaged his attention, +was the late proceedings of the <q>Franee,</q> 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 +<pb n='79'/><anchor id='Pg079'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +fash<pb n='80'/><anchor id='Pg080'/>ion 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +I could not but be amused at the manner in which the chief +ad<pb n='81'/><anchor id='Pg081'/>dressed 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>pi-pi</q>), +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 <q>pi-pi</q> 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 +<pb n='82'/><anchor id='Pg082'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>pi-pi</q> was composed. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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-<pb n='83'/><anchor id='Pg083'/>nut boughs, where the process of preparing the <q>poee-poee</q> was carried +on, and all culinary operations attended to. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='84'/><anchor id='Pg084'/>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 +<hi rend='italic'>Animated Nature</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='85'/><anchor id='Pg085'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>amar,</q> <q>poee-poee,</q> and <q>kokoo,</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<pb n='86'/><anchor id='Pg086'/> + +<p> +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! +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>arva</q> and tobacco in the +company of congenial spirits, the scapegraces of the valley. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>arta,</q> 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. +<pb n='87'/><anchor id='Pg087'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='88'/><anchor id='Pg088'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +But I have neglected to describe the dress worn by this nymph of the +valley. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='89'/><anchor id='Pg089'/>an English peeress, and composed of + <anchor id="corr089"/><corr sic="interwined">intertwined</corr> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="11" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='90'/><anchor id='Pg090'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XI. Adventure in the Dark"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER XI</head> + +<argument><p> +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. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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, <q>Ki-Ki, muee +muee, ah! moee moee mortarkee,</q> (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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='91'/><anchor id='Pg091'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='92'/><anchor id='Pg092'/>limbs. This over, and resuming my seat, I could not avoid bursting +into admiration of the scene around me. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +hori<pb n='93'/><anchor id='Pg093'/>zontal branches; and now you stepped over huge trunks and boughs that +lay rotting across the track. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +In the midst of the wood was the hallowed <q>hoolah hoolah</q> 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 +<pb n='94'/><anchor id='Pg094'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +This holiest of spots was defended from profanation by the strictest +edicts of the all-pervading <q>taboo,</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +To this building, denominated in the language of the natives, the +<q>Ti,</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +On entering the house, I was surprised to see six muskets ranged +against the bamboo on one side, from the barrels of which depended +<pb n='95'/><anchor id='Pg095'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +In a few moments, a boy entered with a wooden trencher of +poee-<pb n='96'/><anchor id='Pg096'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Regarding this new phenomenon with no small degree of trepidation, +I said to my companion, <q>What can all this mean, Toby?</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Oh, nothing,</q> replied he; <q>getting the fire ready, I suppose.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Fire!</q> exclaimed I, while my heart took to beating like a trip-hammer, +<q>what fire?</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>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?</q> +</p> + +<pb n='97'/><anchor id='Pg097'/> + +<p> +<q>Oh, Toby! have done with your jokes; this is no time for them: +something is about to happen, I feel confident.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Jokes, indeed!</q> exclaimed Toby, indignantly. <q>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.</q> +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +<q>There! I told you so! they are coming for us!</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. <q>Tommo, Toby, ki ki!</q> (eat). He had waited to +address us, until he had assured himself that we were both awake, at +which he seemed somewhat surprised. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Ki ki! is it?</q> said Toby, in his gruff tones; <q>well, cook us first, +will you—but what’s this?</q> he added, as another savage appeared, +bearing before him a large trencher of wood, containing some kind of +<pb n='98'/><anchor id='Pg098'/>steaming meat, as appeared from the odours it diffused, and which +he deposited at the feet of Mehevi. <q>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?</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>By tasting it, to be sure,</q> said I, masticating a morsel that Kory-Kory +had just put in my mouth; <q>and excellently good it is, too, very +much like veal.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>A baked baby, by the soul of Captain Cook!</q> burst forth Toby, +with amazing vehemence. <q>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!</q> +</p> + +<p> +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! <q>Puarkee!</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. <q>Abo, abo</q> (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 +<pb n='99'/><anchor id='Pg099'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='100'/><anchor id='Pg100'/>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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="12" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='101'/><anchor id='Pg101'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XII. Adventure of Toby"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER XII</head> + +<argument><p> +Attempt to procure relief from Nukuheva—Perilous adventure of Toby in +the Happar Mountains—Eloquence of Kory-Kory. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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? +</p> + +<p> +We were fairly puzzled. But, despite the apprehensions I could +not dispel, the horrible character imputed to these Typees appeared to +be wholly undeserved. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Why, they are cannibals!</q> said Toby, on one occasion when I +eulogized the tribe. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Granted,</q> I replied, <q>but a more humane, gentlemanly, and +amiable set of epicures do not probably exist in the Pacific.</q> +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='102'/><anchor id='Pg102'/>easily have been obtained, could I have made my case known to them. +But how could that be effected? +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. <q>And even should they consent,</q> said Toby, +<q>they would only produce a commotion in the valley, in which we +might both be sacrificed by these ferocious islanders.</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='103'/><anchor id='Pg103'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +pre<pb n='104'/><anchor id='Pg104'/>vailed. 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. +</p> + +<p> +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, <q>Awha! awha! Toby muckee moee!</q>—Alas! +alas! Toby is killed! +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +In a few moments Toby revived, and opening his eyes for a second, +closed them again, without speaking. Kory-Kory, who had been +kneel<pb n='105'/><anchor id='Pg105'/>ing 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. +</p> + <anchor id="illus4"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: THE BODY WAS CARRIED INTO THE HOUSE AND LAID ON A MAT]</p> +</then><else><pgIf output="pdf"><then><p><figure url="images/illus4.jpg" rend="width: 100%"><head><hi rend="font-size: small">THE BODY WAS CARRIED INTO THE HOUSE AND LAID ON A +MAT</hi></head></figure></p></then> +<else><p><figure url="images/illus4th.jpg"><head><xref url="images/illus4.jpg"><hi rend="font-size: small">THE BODY WAS CARRIED INTO THE HOUSE AND LAID ON A + MAT</hi></xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: THE BODY WAS CARRIED INTO THE HOUSE AND LAID ON A MAT</figDesc></figure></p></else></pgIf> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +<q>After leaving the house with Marheyo,</q> said Toby, <q rend="post: none">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.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend="post: none">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.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend="post: none">Without the least hesitation I advanced towards them, and had +ap<pb n='106'/><anchor id='Pg106'/>proached 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.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend="post: none">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.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend="post: none">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.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>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 +<pb n='107'/><anchor id='Pg107'/>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.</q> +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Happar keekeeno nuee,</q> he exclaimed; <q>nuee, nuee, ki ki +kan<pb n='108'/><anchor id='Pg108'/>naka!—ah! owle motarkee!</q> which signifies, <q>Terrible fellows those +Happars!—devour an amazing quantity of men!—ah, shocking bad!</q> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Having assured himself that we were fully enlightened on this +point, he proceeded to another branch of the subject. <q>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!</q> +Which, liberally interpreted as before, would imply, <q>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!</q> All this was accompanied +by a running commentary of signs and gestures which it was impossible +not to comprehend. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="13" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='109'/><anchor id='Pg109'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XIII. A Great Event"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER XIII</head> + +<argument><p> +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 <hi rend='italic'>à la</hi> Typee. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>botee! botee!</q> +was vociferated in all directions; and shouts were heard in the distance, +at first feebly and faintly, but growing louder and nearer at +<pb n='110'/><anchor id='Pg110'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<pb n='111'/><anchor id='Pg111'/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Do you not see,</q> said he, <q>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.</q> +</p> + +<p> +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 +re<pb n='112'/><anchor id='Pg112'/>main, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <anchor id="corr112"/><corr sic="preverse">perverse</corr> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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, +<pb n='113'/><anchor id='Pg113'/>Kory-Kory, his aged father, and a few decrepid old people being all +that were left. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Fearful lest some fatal calamity had overtaken him, I sought out +young Fayaway, and endeavoured to learn from her, if possible, the +truth. +</p> + +<p> +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. +<pb n='114'/><anchor id='Pg114'/>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, <q>Awha! awha! Tommo,</q> and seat herself mournfully beside +me. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='115'/><anchor id='Pg115'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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, +<pb n='116'/><anchor id='Pg116'/>who had deserted his friend, and taken himself off to that vile and detestable +place Nukuheva. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<pb n='117'/><anchor id='Pg117'/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>aka.</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +termina<pb n='118'/><anchor id='Pg118'/>tion at the point farthest from him, where all the dusty particles which +the friction creates are accumulated in a little heap. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='119'/><anchor id='Pg119'/>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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="14" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='120'/><anchor id='Pg120'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XIV. Kindness of the Islanders"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER XIV</head> + +<argument><p> +Kindness of Marheyo and the rest of the islanders—A full description of +the bread-fruit tree—Different modes of preparing the fruit. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <anchor id="corr120"/><corr sic="kemp">kelp</corr>. 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='121'/><anchor id='Pg121'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<pb n='122'/><anchor id='Pg122'/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<q>bo-a-sho.</q> I never could endure this compound, and indeed the preparation +is not greatly in vogue among the more polite Typees. +</p> + +<p> +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, +<pb n='123'/><anchor id='Pg123'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +This preparation is called <q>kokoo,</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +<anchor id="corr123"/><corr sic="As">At</corr> 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 +<pb n='124'/><anchor id='Pg124'/>pulpy fruit is soon worked by a stone pestle, vigorously applied, into +a blended mass of a doughy consistency called by the natives <q>Tutao.</q> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The Tutao thus baked is called <q>Amar</q>; 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. +</p> + +<p> +By another and final process the <q>Amar</q> is changed into <q>Poee-Poee.</q> +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 <q>Tutao</q> is generally consumed. +The singular mode of eating it I have already described. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='125'/><anchor id='Pg125'/>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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="15" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='126'/><anchor id='Pg126'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XV. Melancholy Condition"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER XV</head> + +<argument><p> +Melancholy condition—Occurrence at the Ti—Anecdote of Marheyo—Shaving +the head of a warrior. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +An incident which occurred as nearly as I can estimate about three +weeks after the disappearance of Toby, convinced me that the natives, +<pb n='127'/><anchor id='Pg127'/>from some reason or other, would interpose every possible obstacle to +my leaving them. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>Ti,</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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, <q>abo, abo</q> (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 <q>moee</q> (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 +<pb n='128'/><anchor id='Pg128'/>feet, ranged themselves along the open front of the building, while Mehevi +looked at me scowlingly, and reiterated his commands still more +sternly. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='129'/><anchor id='Pg129'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='130'/><anchor id='Pg130'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>maro</q> (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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<pb n='131'/><anchor id='Pg131'/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="16" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='132'/><anchor id='Pg132'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XVI. Improvement"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER XVI</head> + +<argument><p> +Improvement in health and spirits—Felicity of the Typees—A skirmish in the +mountain with the warriors of Happar. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The green and precipitous elevations that stood ranged around the +head of the vale where Marheyo’s habitation was situated, effectually +<pb n='133'/><anchor id='Pg133'/>precluded all hope of escape in that quarter, even if I could have +stolen away from the thousand eyes of the savages. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>Happy Valley,</q> and that beyond those heights there was +nought but a world of care and anxiety. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>root of all evil</q> was not +to be found in the valley. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='134'/><anchor id='Pg134'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +But the continual happiness which, so far as I was able to judge, +<pb n='135'/><anchor id='Pg135'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='136'/><anchor id='Pg136'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>Happar, Happar,</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +When this female commotion had a little subsided I listened +ea<pb n='137'/><anchor id='Pg137'/>gerly 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. +</p> + +<p> +During this interval I had remained standing on the piazza of the +<q>Ti,</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. <q>Mehevi hanna pippee nuee Happar,</q> he exclaimed every +five minutes, giving me to understand that under that distinguished +captain the warriors of his nation were performing prodigies of +valour. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>Ti,</q> almost +breathless with his exertions, and communicated the news of a great +victory having been achieved by his countrymen: <q>Happar poo +arva!—<pb n='138'/><anchor id='Pg138'/>Happar poo arva!</q> (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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='139'/><anchor id='Pg139'/>to believe that these shocking festivals must occur very rarely among +the islanders, if, indeed, they ever take place. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="17" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='140'/><anchor id='Pg140'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XVII. A Stranger Arrives"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER XVII</head> + +<argument><p> +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. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +tem<pb n='141'/><anchor id='Pg141'/>erity. 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>taboo,</q> +extended the prohibition to the waters in which it lay. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q><hi rend='italic'>taboo! +taboo!</hi></q> 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 +<pb n='142'/><anchor id='Pg142'/>too monstrous to be thought of. It not only shocked their established +notions of propriety, but was at variance with all their religious ordinances. +</p> + +<p> +However, although the <q>taboo</q> 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 <q>taboo</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='143'/><anchor id='Pg143'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='144'/><anchor id='Pg144'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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, +<q>Marnoo pemi!</q> 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 +<pb n='145'/><anchor id='Pg145'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Marnoo, Marnoo,</q> cogitated I, <q>I have never heard that name before. +Some distinguished character, I presume, from the prodigious +riot the natives are making</q>; the tumultuous noise drawing nearer and +nearer every moment, while <q>Marnoo!—Marnoo!</q> was shouted by +every tongue. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<pb n='146'/><anchor id='Pg146'/> + +<p> +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 <q>artu</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Had the belle of the season, in the pride of her beauty and power, +<pb n='147'/><anchor id='Pg147'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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, <q>Nukuheva</q> and <q>Franee</q> +(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 +<pb n='148'/><anchor id='Pg148'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +He had a word for everybody; and, turning rapidly from one to +another, gave utterance to some hasty witticism, which was sure to +<pb n='149'/><anchor id='Pg149'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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? +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='150'/><anchor id='Pg150'/>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,—<q>How you do? How long have you been in this bay? +You like this bay?</q> +</p> + +<p> +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,—<q>Ah! me taboo,—me +go Nukuheva,—me go Tior,—me go Typee,—me go everywhere,—nobody +harm me,—taboo.</q> +</p> + +<p> +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 <anchor id="corr150"/><corr sic="enemy">enemy.</corr> In this light are personal friendships regarded +among them, and the individual so protected is said to be <q>taboo</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +Curious to know how he had acquired his knowledge of English, I +<pb n='151'/><anchor id='Pg151'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='152'/><anchor id='Pg152'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +With the most intense interest had I watched the reception his +<pb n='153'/><anchor id='Pg153'/>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 <q>taboo,</q> although so long as +he refrained from any such conduct, it screened him effectually from +the consequences of the enmity they bore his tribe. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='154'/><anchor id='Pg154'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="18" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='155'/><anchor id='Pg155'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XVIII. Battle of the Pop-guns"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER XVIII</head> + +<argument><p> +Reflection after Marnoo’s departure—Battle of the pop-guns—Strange conceit +of Marheyo—Process of making tappa. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +The knowledge I had now obtained as to the intention of the savages +deeply affected me. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='156'/><anchor id='Pg156'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='157'/><anchor id='Pg157'/>but occupy themselves with that childish amusement, fairly screaming, +too, with the delight it afforded them. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='158'/><anchor id='Pg158'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +It was towards the close of the pop-gun war, that I was infinitely +diverted with a strange freak of Marheyo’s. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='159'/><anchor id='Pg159'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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—<q>tappa</q>—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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +ex<pb n='160'/><anchor id='Pg160'/>terior 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<pb n='161'/><anchor id='Pg161'/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="19" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='162'/><anchor id='Pg162'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XIX. Dances"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER XIX</head> + +<argument><p> +History of a day as usually spent in the Typee valley—Dances of the Marquesan +girls. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='163'/><anchor id='Pg163'/>bread-fruit, a small cake of <q>Amar,</q> or a mess of <q>Kokoo,</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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-<pb n='164'/><anchor id='Pg164'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<pb n='165'/><anchor id='Pg165'/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The damsels wear nothing but flowers and their compendious gala +<pb n='166'/><anchor id='Pg166'/>tunics; and when they plume themselves for the dance, one would almost +think that they were about to take wing. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="20" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='167'/><anchor id='Pg167'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XX. Monuments"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER XX</head> + +<argument><p> +The spring of Arva Wai—Remarkable monumental remains—Some ideas +with regard to the history of the pi-pis found in the valley. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The mineral waters of Arva Wai<note place="foot">I presume this might be translated into <q>Strong Waters.</q> Arva is the +name bestowed upon a root, the properties of which are both inebriating and +medicinal. <q>Wai</q> is the Marquesan word for water.</note> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='168'/><anchor id='Pg168'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='169'/><anchor id='Pg169'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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! +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='170'/><anchor id='Pg170'/>composing them, are comparatively small: but there are other and +larger erections of a similar description comprising the <q>morais,</q> 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? +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="21" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='171'/><anchor id='Pg171'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XXI. A Festival"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER XXI</head> + +<argument><p> +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. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='172'/><anchor id='Pg172'/>himself was sure to be found enjoying his <q>otium cum dignitate</q> 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 <q>tammaree!</q> (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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Without letting any blood from the body, it was immediately carried +to a fire which had been kindled near at hand, and four savages +<pb n='173'/><anchor id='Pg173'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +It is a peculiarity among these people, that when engaged in any +employment they always make a prodigious fuss about it. So seldom +<pb n='174'/><anchor id='Pg174'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='175'/><anchor id='Pg175'/>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 <q>Feast of +Calabashes.</q> +</p> + <anchor id="illus5"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: THUS ARRAYED, I WOULD HAVE MATCHED THE CHARMING FAYAWAY AGAINST ANY +BEAUTY IN THE WORLD]</p> +</then><else><pgIf output="pdf"><then><p><figure url="images/illus5.jpg" rend="width: 100%"><head><hi rend="font-size: small">THUS ARRAYED, I WOULD HAVE MATCHED THE CHARMING FAYAWAY AGAINST ANY +BEAUTY IN THE WORLD</hi></head></figure></p></then> +<else><p><figure url="images/illus5th.jpg"><head><xref url="images/illus5.jpg"><hi rend="font-size: small">THUS ARRAYED, I WOULD HAVE MATCHED THE CHARMING FAYAWAY AGAINST ANY +BEAUTY IN THE WORLD</hi></xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: THUS ARRAYED, I WOULD HAVE MATCHED THE CHARMING FAYAWAY AGAINST ANY BEAUTY IN THE WORLD</figDesc></figure></p></else></pgIf> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +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 <q>aka,</q> arranging their long tresses, and performing other +matters connected with the duties of the toilet. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Thus arrayed, I would have matched the charming Fayaway against +any beauty in the world. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='176'/><anchor id='Pg176'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='177'/><anchor id='Pg177'/>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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="22" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='178'/><anchor id='Pg178'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XXII. The Feast of Calabashes"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER XXII</head> + +<argument><p> +The Feast of Calabashes. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +So soon as I mounted to the pi-pi I saw at a glance that the revels +were fairly under way. +</p> + +<p> +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 +numer<pb n='179'/><anchor id='Pg179'/>ous 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +for<pb n='180'/><anchor id='Pg180'/>eigners, 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. +</p> + +<p> +There were many in the Ti for whom the tobacco did not furnish +a sufficient stimulus, and who accordingly had recourse to <q>arva,</q> +as a more powerful agent in producing the desired effect. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Arva</q> 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 <q>arva,</q> 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 <q>arva,</q> 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 <q>arva</q> has medicinal qualities. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='181'/><anchor id='Pg181'/>the <q>arva</q> as a minister to social enjoyment, and a calabash of the +liquid circulates among them as the bottle with us. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>cockoo,</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='182'/><anchor id='Pg182'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='183'/><anchor id='Pg183'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Another most striking feature of the performance was exhibited by +a score of old men, who sat cross-legged in the little pulpits, which +en<pb n='184'/><anchor id='Pg184'/>circled 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="23" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='185'/><anchor id='Pg185'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XXIII. Religion of the Typees"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER XXIII</head> + +<argument><p> +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. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='186'/><anchor id='Pg186'/>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.<note place="foot">White appears to be the sacred colour among the Marquesans.</note> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='187'/><anchor id='Pg187'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. <q>A very pleasant place,</q> Kory-Kory said it was; +<q>but, after all, not much pleasanter, he thought, than Typee.</q> <q>Did +he not, then,</q> I asked him, <q>wish to accompany the warrior?</q> <q>Oh, +no; he was very happy where he was; but supposed that some time +or other he would go in his own canoe.</q> +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='188'/><anchor id='Pg188'/>he had been describing, he answered by saying something equivalent +to our old adage—<q>A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush!</q>—if +he did, Kory-Kory was a discreet and sensible fellow, and I cannot +sufficiently admire his shrewdness. +</p> + +<p> +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, <q>God speed, and +a pleasant voyage.</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +In fact, religious affairs in Typee were at a very low ebb. All such +<pb n='189'/><anchor id='Pg189'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='190'/><anchor id='Pg190'/>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 <q>crack</q> god of the island; +lording it over all the wooden lubbers who looked so grim and +dreadful; its name was Moa Artua.<note place="foot">The word <q>Artua,</q> although having some other significations, is in nearly +all the Polynesian dialects used as the general designation of the gods.</note> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='191'/><anchor id='Pg191'/>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 <q>motarkee</q> 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 <q>Aa, Aa</q> (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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='192'/><anchor id='Pg192'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +The whole of these proceedings were like those of a parcel of children +playing with dolls and baby-houses. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='193'/><anchor id='Pg193'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>Freemasons</q> making +secret signs to each other: I saw everything, but could comprehend +nothing. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>independent +electors</q> 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 <q><hi rend='italic'>pretty straight</hi>,</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +origi<pb n='194'/><anchor id='Pg194'/>nally 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='195'/><anchor id='Pg195'/>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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="24" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='196'/><anchor id='Pg196'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XXIV. Beauty of the Typees"/><index index="pdf"/> + <head>CHAPTER XXIV</head> + +<argument><p> +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. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +<pb n='197'/><anchor id='Pg197'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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, +<pb n='198'/><anchor id='Pg198'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>papa</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +The <q>papa,</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +All the islanders are more or less in the habit of anointing themselves; +the women preferring the <q>aker</q> or <q>papa,</q> and the men using +the oil of the cocoa-nut. Mehevi was remarkably fond of mollifying +<pb n='199'/><anchor id='Pg199'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. <anchor id="corr199"/><corr sic="Figneroa">Figueroa</corr>, +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 <q>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.</q> +The old Don then goes on to say, <q>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.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Some of the natives present at the Feast of Calabashes had displayed +a few articles of European dress, disposed, however, about their +per<pb n='200'/><anchor id='Pg200'/>sons 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='201'/><anchor id='Pg201'/>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. +</p> + <anchor id="illus6"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: MEHEVI]</p> +</then><else><pgIf output="pdf"><then><p><figure url="images/illus6.jpg" rend="width: 100%"><head><hi rend="font-size: small">MEHEVI</hi></head></figure></p></then> +<else><p><figure url="images/illus6th.jpg"><head><xref url="images/illus6.jpg"><hi rend="font-size: small">MEHEVI</hi></xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: MEHEVI</figDesc></figure></p></else></pgIf> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The particular grades of rank existing among the chiefs of Typee, +I could not in all cases determine. Previous to the Feast of +Cala<pb n='202'/><anchor id='Pg202'/>bashes, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +After having made this discovery I could not avoid congratulating +<pb n='203'/><anchor id='Pg203'/>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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="25" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='204'/><anchor id='Pg204'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XXV. Marriage Customs"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER XXV</head> + +<argument><p> +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. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>Bachelor’s Hall</q> 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. +<pb n='205'/><anchor id='Pg205'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +After Kory-Kory’s explanation of the subject, I was for some time +studiously respectful in the presence of all females thus distinguished, +<pb n='206'/><anchor id='Pg206'/>and never ventured to indulge in the slightest approach to flirtation +with any of their number. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>popping the +question,</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='207'/><anchor id='Pg207'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<q>pi-pis,</q> 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, +<pb n='208'/><anchor id='Pg208'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='209'/><anchor id='Pg209'/>seemed to enjoy themselves as pleasantly as they could have done had +it been a wedding. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="26" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='210'/><anchor id='Pg210'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XXVI. Social Conditions"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER XXVI +</head> + +<argument><p> +The social condition and general character of the Typees. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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.<note place="foot">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.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='211'/><anchor id='Pg211'/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +From what I have said, it will be perceived that there is a vast +difference between <q>personal property</q> and <q>real estate</q> 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 +<pb n='212'/><anchor id='Pg212'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +They lived in great harmony with each other. I will give an instance +of their fraternal feeling. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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, +<pb n='213'/><anchor id='Pg213'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='214'/><anchor id='Pg214'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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! +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='215'/><anchor id='Pg215'/>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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="27" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='216'/><anchor id='Pg216'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XXVII. Fishing Parties"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER XXVII</head> + +<argument><p> +Fishing parties—Mode of distributing the fish—Midnight banquet—Timekeeping +tapers—Unceremonious style of eating the fish. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +During their absence, the whole population of the place were in a +ferment, and nothing was talked of but <q>pehee, pehee</q> (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, +<pb n='217'/><anchor id='Pg217'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +intel<pb n='218'/><anchor id='Pg218'/>ligence contained in the words <q>pehee perni</q> (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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>amar</q> was cut up with a sliver of bamboo, and laid +out on an immense banana leaf. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>armor,</q> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='219'/><anchor id='Pg219'/>mouth, the animal disappears with a rapidity that would at first +nearly lead one to imagine it had been launched bodily down the +throat. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="28" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='220'/><anchor id='Pg220'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XXVIII. Natural History"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER XXVIII</head> + +<argument><p> +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. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>taboo.</q> +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Thus constitutionally averse to cats in general, the unexpected apparition +of this one in particular utterly confounded me. When I had +<pb n='221'/><anchor id='Pg221'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +I remember that once, on an uninhabited island of the Gallipagos, a +bird alighted on my outstretched arm, while its mate chirped from +<pb n='222'/><anchor id='Pg222'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +There are no wild animals of any kind on the island, unless it be +de<pb n='223'/><anchor id='Pg223'/>cided 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>fine day,</q> and the promise of a few +genial showers he hails with pleasure. There is never any of that +<q>remarkable weather</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='224'/><anchor id='Pg224'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='225'/><anchor id='Pg225'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +What, thought I, on first witnessing one of these exhibitions, would +<pb n='226'/><anchor id='Pg226'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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— +</p> + +<lg> +<l>There’s a sweet little cherub that sits up aloft,</l> +<l>To look out for the life of poor Jack.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +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! +</p> + +<pb n='227'/><anchor id='Pg227'/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="29" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='228'/><anchor id='Pg228'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XXIX. Tattooing"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER XXIX</head> + +<argument><p> +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. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>armor,</q> 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, +<pb n='229'/><anchor id='Pg229'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Horrified at the bare thought of being rendered hideous for life +<pb n='230'/><anchor id='Pg230'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <hi rend='italic'>face</hi> to return to my countrymen, +even should an opportunity offer. +</p> + +<p> +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. +Sev<pb n='231'/><anchor id='Pg231'/>eral 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! +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>face divine,</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +But not so some other of the savages. Hardly a day passed but I +<pb n='232'/><anchor id='Pg232'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>Taboo,</q> it +always appeared inexplicable to me. +</p> + +<p> +There is a marked similarity, almost an identity, between the religious +institutions of most of the Polynesian islands, and in all exists +the mysterious <q>Taboo,</q> 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 +<pb n='233'/><anchor id='Pg233'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +For several days after entering the valley I had been saluted at +least fifty times in the twenty-four hours with the talismanic word <q>Taboo</q> +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 <q>Taboo!</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='234'/><anchor id='Pg234'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>Taboo!</q> +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>Taboo.</q> 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. +</p> + +<pb n='235'/><anchor id='Pg235'/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. <q>Taboo,</q> +shrieked the affrighted savages. <q>Oh, hang your taboo,</q> says the +nautical sportsman; <q>talk taboo to the marines</q>; 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. +</p> + +<p> +All that afternoon the rocky sides of the valley rang with successive +reports, and the superb plumage of many a beautiful fowl was ruffled +<pb n='236'/><anchor id='Pg236'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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——. +</p> + +<p> +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, +<pb n='237'/><anchor id='Pg237'/>I may cite the law which forbids a female to enter a canoe—a prohibition +which prevails upon all the northern Marquesas Islands. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>taboo.</q> +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>lumee lumee,</q> <q>poee +poee,</q> <q>muee muee,</q> 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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="30" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='238'/><anchor id='Pg238'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XXX. Music"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER XXX</head> + +<argument><p> +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. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>armor</q> nut just served to reveal +their savage lineaments, without dispelling the darkness that hovered +about them. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='239'/><anchor id='Pg239'/>was almost tempted to believe that I gazed upon a set of evil beings +in the act of working a frightful incantation. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<milestone unit="tb" rend="stars: 10"/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>Bavarian +Broom-seller.</q> 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 +<pb n='240'/><anchor id='Pg240'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<milestone unit="tb" rend="stars: 10"/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<milestone unit="tb" rend="stars: 10"/> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='241'/><anchor id='Pg241'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<milestone unit="tb" rend="stars: 10"/> + +<p> +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 +is<pb n='242'/><anchor id='Pg242'/>landers 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 <anchor id="corr242"/><corr sic="as">is</corr> 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! +</p> + +<milestone unit="tb" rend="stars: 10"/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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:— +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='243'/><anchor id='Pg243'/>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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="31" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='244'/><anchor id='Pg244'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XXXI. Cannibalism"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER XXXI</head> + +<argument><p> +Apprehensions of evil—Frightful discovery—Some remarks on cannibalism—Second +battle with the Happars—Savage spectacle—Mysterious feast—Subsequent +disclosures. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='245'/><anchor id='Pg245'/>medical relief I needed, and that, although so near, it was impossible +for me to avail myself of it, the thought was misery. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='246'/><anchor id='Pg246'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='247'/><anchor id='Pg247'/>whatever were my misgivings, I studiously concealed them from the +islanders, as well as the full extent of the discovery I had made. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +But to my story. +</p> + +<p> +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 +nar<pb n='248'/><anchor id='Pg248'/>row 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The excited throng of islanders, who surrounded the person of the +king and the dead bodies of the enemy, approached the spot where I +<pb n='249'/><anchor id='Pg249'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The next morning, shortly after sunrise, the same thundering sounds +<pb n='250'/><anchor id='Pg250'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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, <q>Taboo, taboo!</q> +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>Hoolah Hoolah</q> (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. +</p> + +<p> +Everything, in short, strengthened my suspicions with regard to +<pb n='251'/><anchor id='Pg251'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='252'/><anchor id='Pg252'/>ejaculated, <q>Taboo! taboo!</q> 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! +</p> + +<p> +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, <q>Puarkee! +puarkee!</q> (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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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? +</p> + +<p> +One only hope remained to me. The French could not long defer +<pb n='253'/><anchor id='Pg253'/>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? +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="32" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='254'/><anchor id='Pg254'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XXXII. Attempt To Escape"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER XXXII</head> + +<argument><p> +The stranger again arrives in the valley—Singular interview with him—Attempt +to escape—Failure—Melancholy situation—Sympathy of Marheyo. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +<q>Marnoo, Marnoo pemi!</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. <q>Kannaka no let you +go nowhere,</q> he said, <q>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, +<pb n='255'/><anchor id='Pg255'/>why you come? You no hear about Typee? All white men afraid +Typee, so no white men come.</q> +</p> + +<p> +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, <q>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.</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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, +<q>Now you see you do what I tell you—ah! then you do good;—you +no do so—ah! then you die.</q> 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. +</p> + +<pb n='256'/><anchor id='Pg256'/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='257'/><anchor id='Pg257'/>were again asleep, I would then steal forth, and at once take the route +to Pueearka. +</p> + <anchor id="illus7"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: ABOUT MIDNIGHT I AROSE AND DREW THE SLIDE]</p> +</then><else><pgIf output="pdf"><then><p><figure url="images/illus7.jpg" rend="width: 100%"><head><hi rend="font-size: small">ABOUT MIDNIGHT I AROSE AND DREW THE +SLIDE</hi></head></figure></p></then> +<else><p><figure url="images/illus7th.jpg"><head><xref url="images/illus7.jpg"><hi rend="font-size: small">ABOUT MIDNIGHT I AROSE AND DREW THE + SLIDE</hi></xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: ABOUT MIDNIGHT I AROSE AND DREW THE SLIDE</figDesc></figure></p></else></pgIf> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +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, <q>Arware poo awa, Tommo?</q> (where +are you going, Tommo?) <q>Wai,</q> (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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<pb n='258'/><anchor id='Pg258'/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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, +<pb n='259'/><anchor id='Pg259'/>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. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="33" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='260'/><anchor id='Pg260'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XXXIII. The Escape"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>CHAPTER XXXIII</head> + +<argument><p> +The escape. +</p> +</argument> +<p> +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, <q>Toby pemi ena,</q> (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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +re<pb n='261'/><anchor id='Pg261'/>port that was brought from the shore they betrayed the liveliest emotions. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='262'/><anchor id='Pg262'/>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—<q>Toby +owlee permi.</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='263'/><anchor id='Pg263'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='264'/><anchor id='Pg264'/>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—<q>Home.</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <name type="ship">Dolly</name> while she lay in Nukuheva. He wore +the green shooting-jacket, with gilt buttons, which had been given to +<pb n='265'/><anchor id='Pg265'/>him by an officer of the <name type="ship">Reine Blanche</name>—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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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—<q>Roo-ne! Roo-ne!</q> 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 +<pb n='266'/><anchor id='Pg266'/>the clamours of those around him, who seemed bent upon driving him +into the sea. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='267'/><anchor id='Pg267'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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, <q>Roo-ne! +Roo-ne!</q> 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 +<pb n='268'/><anchor id='Pg268'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<milestone unit="tb" rend="stars: 10"/> + +<p> +The circumstances connected with my most unexpected escape may be +very briefly stated. The captain of an Australian vessel being in +<pb n='269'/><anchor id='Pg269'/>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 <q>off and on</q> awaiting its return. +</p> + +<p> +The events which ensued have already been detailed, and little more +remains to be related. On reaching the <name type="ship">Julia</name>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> +</div> +<div type="chapter" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='270'/><anchor id='Pg270'/> +<index index="toc"/><index index="pdf" level1="SEQUEL"/> +<head>SEQUEL</head> + +<head type="sub">CONTAINING</head> + +<head>THE STORY OF TOBY</head> + +<p rend="display"> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Note.</hi>—The Author of <q>Typee</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +This was a signal of alarm;—for nothing was now heard but +shouts of <q>Happar! Happar!</q>—the warriors tilting with their spears +<pb n='271'/><anchor id='Pg271'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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, +<pb n='272'/><anchor id='Pg272'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +It was all a sham, and Toby, who was quite out of breath with +excitement, was much incensed at being made a fool of. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>Moee,</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<pb n='273'/><anchor id='Pg273'/> + +<p> +No sign of a boat, however, was beheld; nothing but a <anchor id="corr273"/><corr sic="tumultous">tumultuous</corr> +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 <q>Jimmy.</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <name type="ship">Dolly’s</name> 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. +</p> + +<p> +The other prodigy Jimmy told us about, was the younger son of a +<pb n='274'/><anchor id='Pg274'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>taboo.</q> +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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, +<pb n='275'/><anchor id='Pg275'/>and he would be glad to take him over, and see him on board that +very day. +</p> + +<p> +<q>No,</q> said Toby; <q>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.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>But how is he to cross the mountain with us,</q> replied Jimmy, +<q>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.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>That will never do,</q> said Toby; <q>but come along with me now, +and let us get him down here at any rate</q>; 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='276'/><anchor id='Pg276'/>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 <q>taboo,</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Typee Mortarkee?</q> said she. <q>Mortarkee muee,</q> said Toby. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. <q>So,</q> +said he, <q>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.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>No, no,</q> said Toby desperately, <q>I will not leave him that way; +we must escape together.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='277'/><anchor id='Pg277'/> + +<p> +<q>Then there is no hope for you,</q> exclaimed the sailor, <q>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.</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +<q>But how do you know they will bring him down to the beach to-morrow, +when they will not do so to-day?</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +<q>It is getting late,</q> said Jimmy, who was standing behind the rest. +<q>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.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>There is no help for it,</q> said Toby, at last, with a heavy heart, <q>I +will have to trust you</q>; and he came out from the shadow of the little +shrine, and cast a long look up the valley. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Now keep close to my side,</q> said the sailor, <q>and let us be moving +quickly.</q> Tinor and Fayaway here appeared; the kind-hearted old +woman embracing Toby’s knees, and giving way to a flood of tears; +<pb n='278'/><anchor id='Pg278'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +<q>I have told them that you are coming back again,</q> said the old +fellow, laughing, as they began the ascent, <q>but they’ll have to wait a +long time.</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +<q>You see what sort of a taboo man I am,</q> said the sailor, after for +some time silently following the path which led up the mountain. +<q>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.</q> +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='279'/><anchor id='Pg279'/>cascades marking the green head of the Typee valley first caught +Toby’s eye; Marheyo’s house could easily be traced by them. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Now,</q> said Jimmy, as they hurried on, <q>we taboo men have wives +in all the bays, and I am going to show you the two I have here.</q> +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<pb n='280'/><anchor id='Pg280'/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The island-punch—arva—was brought in at the conclusion of the repast, +and passed round in a shallow calabash. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The old rover now began to reveal his true character, though he was +hardly suspected at the time. <q>If I get you off to a ship,</q> said he, +<q>you will surely give a poor fellow something for saving you.</q> 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. +</p> + +<pb n='281'/><anchor id='Pg281'/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>Wee-Wees,</q> as the people of Nukuheva call the Monsieurs. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <anchor id="corr281"/><corr sic="course">course,</corr> 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. +</p> + +<pb n='282'/><anchor id='Pg282'/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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, <q>Where is Tommo?</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='283'/><anchor id='Pg283'/>again. Hardly was the boat out of sight, when the captain came forward +and ordered the anchor weighed; he was going to sea. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +... <q>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.</q> +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<pb n='284'/><anchor id='Pg284'/> + +</div> +</body> + <back rend="page-break-before: right"> +<div type="appendix"> +<pb n='285'/><anchor id='Pg285'/> +<index index="toc"/><index index="pdf"/> +<head>APPENDIX</head> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +At last matters were brought to such an extremity, through the iniquitous +maladministration of affairs, that the endurance of further insults and +<pb n='286'/><anchor id='Pg286'/>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 <name type="ship">Carysfort</name> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <hi rend='italic'>provisional cession</hi> 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 <hi rend='italic'>wide universe</hi> to witness and compassionate their <hi rend='italic'>unparalleled +wrongs</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +Heedless of their idle clamours, Lord George Paulet addressed himself +to the task of reconciling the differences among the foreign residents, +<pb n='287'/><anchor id='Pg287'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='288'/><anchor id='Pg288'/>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. +</p> + +<p> +Some five months after the date of the cession, the <name type="ship">Dublin</name> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='289'/><anchor id='Pg289'/>property—Kekuanoa informing the white men, with a sardonic grin, that +the laws were <q>hannapa</q> (tied up). +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> +<pgIf output="html"><then><p><figure url="images/endpaperth.jpg"><head rend="font-size: small"><xref url="images/endpaper.jpg">[Endpaper]</xref></head><figDesc>Illustration</figDesc></figure></p></then> +<else><pgIf output="pdf"><then><p><figure url="images/endpaper.jpg" rend="width: 100%"></figure></p></then> +<else></else></pgIf></else></pgIf> +</div> + <div> + <pgIf output="pdf"> + <then></then> + <else> + <div id="footnotes" rend="page-break-before: right"> + <head>Footnotes</head> + <divGen type="footnotes" /> + </div> + </else> + </pgIf> + </div> +<div rend="page-break-before: right; x-class: boxed"> + <index index="pdf" level1="Transcriber's Note"/> + <head>Transcriber’s Note</head> + + <p>Obvious typographical errors were corrected:</p> + <list> + <item><ref target="corrvi">page vi</ref>, <q>Mysterious</q> changed to <q>mysterious</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr002">page 2</ref>, <q>attentuated</q> changed to <q>attenuated</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr003">page 3</ref>, quote mark added after first <q>Marquesas!</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr007">page 7</ref>, double primes changed to primes in first coordinate</item> + <item><ref target="corr018">page 18</ref>, <q>coacoa-nut</q> changed to <q>cocoa-nut</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr023">page 23</ref>, period changed to comma after <q>home</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr026">page 26</ref>, <q>tatooed</q> changed to <q>tattooed</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr052">page 52</ref>, <q>Decend</q> changed to <q>Descend</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr062">page 62</ref>, <q>hairbreath</q> changed to <q>hairbreadth</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr066">page 66</ref>, <q>inceased</q> changed to <q>increased</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr089">page 89</ref>, <q>interwined</q> changed to <q>intertwined</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr112">page 112</ref>, <q>preverse</q> changed to <q>perverse</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr120">page 120</ref>, <q>kemp</q> changed to <q>kelp</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr123">page 123</ref>, <q>As</q> changed to <q>At</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr150">page 150</ref>, period added after <q>enemy</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr199">page 199</ref>, <q>Figneroa</q> changed to <q>Figueroa</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr242">page 242</ref>, <q>as</q> changed to <q>is</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr273">page 273</ref>, <q>tumultous</q> changed to <q>tumultuous</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr281">page 281</ref>, comma added after <q>course</q></item> + </list> + <p>Spelling variations were not normalized (e. g. <q>figure head</q>, <q>figure-head</q> and <q>figurehead</q>, + <q>forefinger</q> and <q>fore-finger</q>, <q>clamor</q> and <q>clamour</q>, <q>verd-antique</q> and <q>verde-antique</q>, + <q>incumbrances</q> and <q>encumber</q>).</p> +</div> +<div rend="page-break-before: right"> + <divGen type="pgfooter"/> + </div> + </back> + </text> +</TEI.2>
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