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diff --git a/40010.txt b/40010.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 6c51b68..0000000 --- a/40010.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8860 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Summer Cruising in the South Seas, by -Charles Warren Stoddard - -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 included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Summer Cruising in the South Seas - -Author: Charles Warren Stoddard - -Release Date: June 16, 2012 [EBook #40010] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SUMMER CRUISING IN THE SOUTH SEAS *** - - - - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was -produced from scanned images of public domain material -from the Google Print project.) - - - - - - - - -SUMMER CRUISING IN THE SOUTH SEAS - -BY THE SAME AUTHOR - -Post 8vo, cloth, gilt top, 6s. net. - -THE ISLAND OF TRANQUIL DELIGHTS - -"After a lapse of many years the author of 'Summer Cruising in the South -Seas' presents the public with another series of South-Sea idyls. Of the -first collection Emerson said--'I do not think that one who can write so -well will find it easy to leave off.' The prophecy has come true. -'Summer Cruising in the South Seas' has become a classic in American -literature, and the sequel bids fair to attain rank alongside of it. One -might fitly describe it, in Mr. Kipling's words, as 'a very tropic of -colour and fragrance.' There is a haunting quality about these idyls -that must make them live in the hearts of all who read them. They are -full of charming word-pictures and of exquisite touches which tell of -dream life in fairyland--among the lightest, sweetest, wildest, freshest -things that have been written about the life of these 'summer isles of -Eden.'"--_Glasgow Herald_. - -"A pretty book with a pretty title. Glimpses of Paradise he gives in -these tropic pictures, and with something of idyllic grace he presents -them."--_Westminster Gazette_. - -"Delightful sketches and stories."--_Times_. - -"Written in a leisurely style, and possessing a certain elusive -atmospheric style of their own.... There is charm here, and that of a -kind not often to be found in modern fiction.... 'The Island of Tranquil -Delights' should be read."--_Standard._ - -"Altogether charming.... It is a book for quiet half-hours."--_Daily -Mail_. - -"A delightful book--more than fascinating. After having read the book -for the stories, one reads it again for the style."--_Travellers' -Magazine_. - -"A collection of idealistic sketches.... The author conveys the -languorous beauty of the region very vividly, and the book is attractive -for the contrast that it offers to the familiar ways of -civilisation."--_Morning Post_. - -LONDON: CHATTO & WINDUS, 111 ST. MARTIN'S LANE, W. C. - - * * * * * - - - - -SOUTH-SEA IDYLS - -.SUMMER CRUISING IN THE SOUTH SEAS. - -BY CHARLES WARREN STODDARD - -A NEW IMPRESSION - -LONDON CHATTO & WINDUS 1905 - - - - -PREFACE. - - -THE experiences recorded in this volume are the result of four summer -cruises among the islands of the Pacific. - -The simple and natural life of the islander beguiles me; I am at home -with him; all the rites of savagedom find a responsive echo in my heart; -it is as though I recollected something long forgotten; it is like a -dream dimly remembered, and at last realized; it must be that the -untamed spirit of some aboriginal ancestor quickens my blood. - -I have sought to reproduce the atmosphere of a people who are -wonderfully imaginative and emotional; they nourish the first symptoms -of an affinity, and revel in the freshness of an affection as brief and -blissful as a honeymoon. - -With them "love is enough," and it is not necessarily one with the -sexual passion: their life is sensuous and picturesque, and is incapable -of a true interpretation unless viewed from their own standpoint. - -To them our civilization is a cross, the blessed promises of which are -scarcely sufficient to compensate for the pain of bearing it, and they -are inclined to look upon our backslidings with a spirit of profound -forbearance. - -Among them no laws are valid save Nature's own, but they abide -faithfully by these. - -His lordship's threadbare New Zealander sitting upon a crumbling arch of -London Bridge, recently restored, and finding too late that he had -forestalled his mission, would know my feelings as I offer this plea for -his tribe; and any one who instinctively lags in the march of progress, -and marks the decay of nature; any one to whom the highly educated -grasshopper is a burden, must see that my case is critical. - -Yet in imagination I may, at the shortest notice, return to the seagirt -arena of my adventures, and restore my unregenerated soul. - -Limited flagons cannot stay me, neither will small apples comfort me; I -have eaten of the tree of life, my spirit is full-fledged, and when I -take wing I feel the earth sinking beneath me; the mountains crumble, -the clouds crouch under me, the waters rise and flow out to the horizon; -across my breast the sunbeams brush, leaving half their gold behind -them; seas upon seas fill up the hollow of the universe; I soar into -eternity, blue wastes below me, blue wastes above me. The stars only to -mark the upper strata of space. - -Day after day I wing my tireless flight, and the past is forgotten in -the radiance of the dawning future. - -Land at last! A green islet sails within the compass of my vision: land -at last! Crumbs of earth, fragments of paradise, litter the broad sea -like strewn leaves. A myriad reefs and shoals wreathe the blue -hemisphere; the moan of surfs rises like a grand anthem, the fragrance -of tropic bowers ascends like incense; I pause in my giddy flight, and -sink into the bosom of the dusk. - -Sunset transfigures the earth; the woods are rosy with glowing bars of -light; long shadows float upon the waves like weeds; gardens of sea -grass rock for ever between daylight and darkness, tinted with changeful -lights. - -I know the songs of those distant lands; there have I sought and found -unbroken rest; again I return to you, my beloved South, and after many -days of storm and shine, I touch upon your glimmering shores, flushed -with the renewal of my passionate love for you. - -Again I dive beneath your coral caves; again I thread the sunless depths -of your unfading forests; and there, finally, I hope to fold my drooping -wings, where the flowers breathe heavily and fountains tinkle within the -solitude of your moonlit ivory chambers. - -Oh, literary death, where is thy sting, while this happy hunting-ground -awaits me! - -In the singularly expressive tongue of my barbarian brother, - - Aloha oe! Love to you! - - - - -CONTENTS. - - _Page_ - -IN THE CRADLE OF THE DEEP 13 - -CHUMMING WITH A SAVAGE:-- - - I. KANA-ANA 29 - - II. HOW I CONVERTED MY CANNIBAL 45 - - III. BARBARIAN DAYS 56 - -TABOO.--A FETE DAY IN TAHITI 76 - -JOE OF LAHAINA 103 - -THE NIGHT-DANCERS OF WAIPIO 117 - -PEARL-HUNTING IN THE POMOTOUS 133 - -THE LAST OF THE GREAT NAVIGATOR 154 - -A CANOE CRUISE IN THE CORAL SEA 167 - -UNDER A GRASS ROOF 178 - -MY SOUTH-SEA SHOW 182 - -THE HOUSE OF THE SUN 198 - -THE CHAPEL OF THE PALMS 215 - -KAHELE 231 - -LOVE-LIFE IN A LANAI 252 - -IN A TRANSPORT 267 - -A PRODIGAL IN TAHITI 287 - -AN AFTERGLOW 314 - - -THE COCOA-TREE. - - Cast on the water by a careless hand, - Day after day the winds persuaded me: - Onward I drifted till a coral tree - Stayed me among its branches, where the sand - Gathered about me, and I slowly grew, - Fed by the constant sun and the inconstant dew. - - The sea-birds build their nests against my root, - And eye my slender body's horny case, - Widowed within this solitary place; - Into the thankless sea I cast my fruit; - Joyless I thrive, for no man may partake - Of all the store I bear and harvest for his sake. - - No more I heed the kisses of the morn; - The harsh winds rob me of the life they gave; - I watch my tattered shadow in the wave, - And hourly droop and nod my crest forlorn, - While all my fibres stiffen and grow numb - Beck'ning the tardy ships, the ships that never come. - - - - -SUMMER CRUISING IN THE SOUTH SEAS. - - - - -IN THE CRADLE OF THE DEEP. - - -Forty days in the great desert of the sea,--forty nights camped under -cloud canopies, with the salt dust of the waves drifting over us. -Sometimes a Bedouin sail flashed for an hour upon the distant horizon, -and then faded, and we were alone again; sometimes the west, at sunset, -looked like a city with towers, and we bore down upon its glorified -walls, seeking a haven; but a cold grey morning dispelled the illusion, -and our hearts sank back into the illimitable sea, breathing a long -prayer for deliverance. - -Once a green oasis blossomed before us,--a garden in perfect bloom, -girded about with creaming waves; within its coral cincture pendulous -boughs trailed in the glassy waters; from its hidden bowers spiced airs -stole down upon us; above all the triumphant palm-trees clashed their -melodious branches like a chorus with cymbals; yet from the very gates -of this paradise a changeful current swept us onward, and the happy isle -was buried in night and distance. - -In many volumes of adventure I had read of sea perils: I was at last to -learn the full interpretation of their picturesque horrors. Our little -craft, the "Petrel," had buffeted the boisterous waves for five long -weeks. Fortunately, the bulk of her cargo was edible: we feared neither -famine nor thirst. Moreover, in spite of the continuous gale that swept -us out of our reckoning, the "Petrel" was in excellent condition, and, -as far as we could judge, we had no reason to lose confidence in her. It -was the grey weather that tried our patience and found us wanting; it -was the unparalleled pitching of the ninety-ton schooner that -disheartened and almost dismembered us. And then it was wasting time at -sea. Why were we not long before at our journey's end? Why were we not -threading the vales of some savage island, and reaping our rich reward -of ferns and shells and gorgeous butterflies? - -The sea rang its monotonous changes,--fair weather and foul, days like -death itself, followed by days full of the revelations of new life, but -mostly days of deadly dulness, when the sea was as unpoetical as an -eternity of cold suds and blueing. - -I cannot always understand the logical fitness of things, or, rather, I -am at a loss to know why some things in life are so unfit and illogical. -Of course, in our darkest hour, when we were gathered in the confines of -the "Petrel's" diminutive cabin, it was our duty to sing psalms of hope -and cheer, but we didn't. It was a time for mutual encouragement: very -few of us were self-sustaining, and what was to be gained by our -combining in unanimous despair? - -Our weather-beaten skipper,--a thing of clay that seemed utterly -incapable of any expression whatever, save in the slight facial -contortion consequent to the mechanical movement of his lower jaw,--the -skipper sat, with barometer in hand, eyeing the fatal finger that -pointed to our doom; the rest of us were lashed to the legs of the -centre-table, glad of any object to fix our eyes upon, and nervously -awaiting a turn in the state of affairs, that was then by no means -encouraging. - -I happened to remember that there were some sealed letters to be read -from time to time on the passage out, and it occurred to me that one of -the times had come--perhaps the last and only--wherein I might break the -remaining seals, and receive a sort of parting visit from the fortunate -friends on shore. - -I opened one letter and read these prophetic lines: "Dear child,"--she -was twice my age, and privileged to make a pet of me,--"Dear child, I -have a presentiment that we shall never meet again in the flesh." - -The poor girl's knowledge of past times was almost too much for me. I -shuddered where I sat, overcome with remorse. It was enough that I had -turned my back on her and sought consolation in the treacherous bosom of -the ocean; that, having failed to find the spring of immortal life in -human affection, I had packed up and emigrated, content to fly the ills -I had in search of change; but that parting shot, below the water-line -as it were,--that was more than I asked for, and something more than I -could stomach. I returned to watch with the rest of our little company, -who clung about the table with a pitiful sense of momentary security, -and an expression of pathetic condolence on every countenance, as though -each was sitting out the last hours of the others. - -Our particular bane that night was a crusty old sea-dog whose memory of -wrecks and marine disasters of every conceivable nature was as complete -as an encyclopaedia. This "old man of the sea" spun his tempestuous yarn -with fascinating composure, and the whole company was awed into silence -with the haggard realism of his narrative. The cabin must have been -air-tight, it was as close as possible, yet we heard the shrieking of -the wind as it tore through the rigging, and the long hiss of the waves -rushing past us with lightning speed. Sometimes an avalanche of foam -buried us for a moment, and the "Petrel" trembled like a living thing -stricken with sudden fear; we seemed to be hanging on the crust of a -great bubble that was, sooner or later, certain to burst, and let as -drop into its vast black chasm, where, in Cimmerian darkness, we should -be entombed for ever. - -The scenic effect, as I then considered, was unnecessarily vivid; as I -now recall it, it seems to me strictly in keeping and thoroughly -dramatic. At any rate, you might have told us a dreadful story with -almost fatal success. - -I had still one letter left, one bearing this suggestive legend: "To be -read in the saddest hour." Now, if there is a sadder hour in all time -than the hour of hopeless and friendless death, I care not to know of -it. I broke the seal of my letter, feeling that something charitable and -cheering would give me strength. A few dried leaves were stored within -it. The faint fragrance of summer bowers reassured me: somewhere in the -blank world of waters there was land, and there Nature was kind and -fruitful; out over the fearful deluge this leaf was borne to me in the -return of the invisible dove my heart had sent forth in its extremity. A -song was written therein, perhaps a song of triumph. I could now silence -the clamorous tongue of our sea-monster, who was glutting us with tales -of horror, for a jubilee was at hand, and here was the first note of its -trumpets. - -I read:-- - - "Beyond the parting and the meeting, - I shall be soon; - Beyond the farewell and the greeting, - Beyond the pulse's fever-beating, - I shall be soon." - -I paused. A night black with croaking ravens, brooding over a slimy -hulk, through whose warped timbers the sea oozed,--that was the sort of -picture that rose before me. I looked further for a crumb of comfort:-- - - "Beyond the gathering and the strewing, - I shall be soon; - Beyond the ebbing and the flowing, - Beyond the coming and the going, - I shall be soon." - -A tide of ice-water seemed rippling up and down my spinal column; the -marrow congealed within my bones. But I recovered. When a man has supped -full of horror and there is no immediate climax, he can collect himself -and be comparatively brave. A reaction restored my soul. - -Once more the melancholy chronicler of the ill-fated "Petrel" resumed -his lugubrious narrative. I resolved to listen, while the skipper eyed -the barometer, and we all rocked back and forth in search of the centre -of gravity, looking like a troupe of mechanical blockheads nodding in -idiotic unison. All this time the little craft drifted helplessly, "hove -to" in the teeth of the gale. - -The sea-dog's yarn was something like this: He once knew a lonesome man -who floated about in a water-logged hulk for three months; who saw all -his comrades starve and die, one after another, and at last kept watch -alone, craving and beseeching death. It was the staunch French brig -"Mouette," bound south into the equatorial seas. She had seen rough -weather from the first: day after day the winds increased, and finally a -cyclone burst upon her with insupportable fury. The brig was thrown upon -her beam-ends, and began to fill rapidly. With much difficulty her masts -were cut away, she righted, and lay in the trough of the sea rolling -like a log. Gradually the gale subsided, but the hull of the brig was -swept continually by the tremendous swell, and the men were driven into -the foretop cross-trees, where they rigged a tent for shelter, and -gathered what few stores were left them from the wreck. A dozen wretched -souls lay in their stormy nest for three whole days in silence and -despair. By this time their scanty stores were exhausted, and not a drop -of water remained; then their tongues were loosened, and they railed at -the Almighty. Some wept like children, some cursed their fate. One man -alone was speechless--a Spaniard, with a wicked light in his eye, and a -repulsive manner that had made trouble in the forecastle more than -once. - -When hunger had driven them nearly to madness they were fed in an almost -miraculous manner. Several enormous sharks had been swimming about the -brig for some hours, and the hungry sailors were planning various -projects for the capture of them. Tough as a shark is, they would -willingly have risked life for a few raw mouthfuls of the same. Somehow, -though the sea was still and the wind light, the brig gave a sudden -lurch and dipped up one of the monsters, who was quite secure in the -shallow aquarium between the gunwales. He was soon despatched, and -divided equally among the crew. Some ate a little, and reserved the rest -for another day; some ate till they were sick, and had little left for -the next meal. The Spaniard with the evil eye greedily devoured his -portion, and then grew moody again, refusing to speak with the others, -who were striving to be cheerful, though it was sad enough work. - -When the food was all gone save a few mouthfuls that one meagre eater -had hoarded to the last, the Spaniard resolved to secure a morsel at the -risk of his life. It had been a point of honour with the men to observe -sacredly the right of ownership, and any breach of confidence would have -been considered unpardonable. At night, when the watch was sleeping, the -Spaniard cautiously removed the last mouthful of shark hidden in the -pocket of his mate, but was immediately detected and accused of theft. -He at once grew desperate, struck at the poor wretch whom he had robbed, -missed his blow, and fell headlong from the narrow platform in the -foretop, and was lost in the sea. It was the first scene in the -mournful tragedy about to be enacted on that limited stage. - -There was less disturbance after the disappearance of the Spaniard. The -spirits of the doomed sailors seemed broken; in fact, the captain was -the only one whose courage was noteworthy, and it was his indomitable -will that ultimately saved him. - -One by one the minds of the miserable men gave way; they became peevish -or delirious, and then died horribly. Two, who had been mates for many -voyages in the seas north and south, vanished mysteriously in the night; -no one could tell where they went or in what manner, though they seemed -to have gone together. - -Somehow these famishing sailors seemed to feel assured that their -captain would be saved; they were as confident of their own doom, and to -him they entrusted a thousand messages of love. They would lie around -him,--for few of them had strength to assume a sitting posture,--and -reveal to him the story of their lives. It was most pitiful to hear the -confessions of these dying men. One said: "I wronged my friend; I was -unkind to this one or to that one; I deserve the heaviest punishment God -can inflict upon me"; and then he paused, overcome with emotion. But -another took up the refrain: "I could have done much good, but I would -not, and now it is too late." And a third cried out in his despair, "I -have committed unpardonable sins, and there is no hope for me. Lord -Jesus, have mercy!" The youngest of these perishing souls was a mere -lad; he, too, accused himself bitterly. He began his story at the -beginning, and continued it from time to time as the spirit of -revelation moved him; scarcely an incident, however insignificant, -escaped him in his pitiless retrospect. O the keen agony of that boy's -recital! more cruel than hunger or thirst, and in comparison with which -physical torture would have seemed merciful and any death a blessing. - -While the luckless "Mouette" drifted aimlessly about, driven slowly -onward by varying winds under a cheerless sky, sickness visited them. -Some were stricken with scurvy; some had lost the use of their limbs and -lay helpless, moaning and weeping hour after hour; vermin devoured them; -and when their garments were removed, and cleansed in the salt water, -there was scarcely sunshine enough to dry them before night, and they -were put on again, damp, stiffened with salt, and shrunken so as to -cripple the wearers, who were all blistered and covered with boils. The -nights were bitterly cold: sometimes the icy moon looked down upon them; -sometimes the bosom of an electric cloud burst over them, and they were -enveloped for a moment in a sheet of flame. Sharks lingered about them, -waiting to feed upon the unhappy ones who fell into the sea overcome -with physical exhaustion, or who cast themselves from that dizzy -scaffold, unable longer to endure the horrors of lingering death. Flocks -of sea-fowl hovered over them; the hull of the "Mouette" was crusted -with barnacles; long skeins of sea-grass knotted themselves in her -gaping seams; myriads of fish darted in and out among the clinging -weeds, sporting gleefully; schools of porpoises leaped about them, -lashing the sea into foam; sometimes a whale blew his long breath close -under them. Everywhere was the stir of jubilant life,--everywhere but -under the tattered awning stretched in the foretop of the "Mouette." - -Days and weeks dragged on. When the captain would waken from his -sleep,--which was not always at night, however, for the nights were -miserably cold and sleepless,--when he wakened he would call the roll. -Perhaps some one made no answer; then he would reach forth and touch the -speechless body and find it dead. He had not strength now to bury the -corpses in the sea's sepulchre; he had not strength even to partake of -the unholy feast of the inanimate flesh. He lay there in the midst of -pestilence; and at night, under the merciful veil of darkness, the fowls -of the air gathered about him and bore away their trophy of corruption. - -By-and-by there were but two left of all that suffering crew,--the -captain and the boy,--and these two clung together like ghosts, defying -mortality. They strove to be patient and hopeful: if they could not eat, -they could drink, for the nights were dewy, and sometimes a mist covered -them, a mist so dense it seemed almost to drip from the rags that poorly -sheltered them. A cord was attached to the shrouds, the end of it -carefully laid in the mouth of a bottle slung in the rigging. Down the -thin cord slid occasional drops; one by one they stole into the bottle, -and by morning there was a spoonful of water to moisten those parched -lips,--sweet, crystal drops, more blessed than tears, for they are salt; -more precious than pearls. A thousand prayers of gratitude seemed hardly -to quiet the souls of the lingering ones for that great charity of -Heaven. - -There came a day when the hearts of God's angels must have bled for the -suffering ones. The breeze was fresh and fair; the sea tossed gaily its -foam-crested waves; sea-birds soared in wider circles; and the clouds -shook out their fleecy folds, through which the sunlight streamed in -grateful warmth. The two ghosts were talking, as ever, of home, of -earth, of land. Land,--land anywhere, so that it were solid and broad. -O, to pace again a whole league without turning! O, to pause in the -shadow of some living tree! To drink of some stream whose waters flowed -continually; flowed, though you drank of them with the awful thirst of -one who had been denied water for weeks and weeks and weeks, for three -whole months,--an eternity, as it seemed to them. - -Then they pictured life as it might be if God permitted them to return -to earth once more. They would pace K---- Street at noon, and revisit -that capital restaurant where many a time they had feasted, though in -those days they were unknown to one another; they would call for coffee, -and this dish and that dish, and a whole bill of fare, the thought of -which made their feverish palates grow moist again. They would meet -friends whom they had never loved as they now loved them; they would -reconcile old feuds and forgive everybody everything; they held -imaginary conversations, and found life very beautiful and greatly to be -desired; and somehow they would get back to the little cafe and there -begin eating again, and with a relish that brought the savoury tastes -and smells vividly before them, and their lips would move and the -impalpable morsels roll sweetly over their tongues. - -It had become a second nature to scour the horizon with jealous eyes; -never for a moment during their long martyrdom had their covetous eyes -fixed upon a stationary object. But it came at last. Out of a cloud a -sail burst like a flickering flame. What an age it was a-coming! how it -budded and blossomed like a glorious white flower, that was transformed -suddenly into a bark bearing down upon them! Almost within hail it -stayed its course; the canvas fluttered in the wind; the dark hull -slowly rose and fell upon the water; figures moved to and fro,--men, -living and breathing men! Then the ghosts staggered to their feet and -cried to God for mercy. Then they waved their arms, and beat their -breasts, and lifted up their imploring voices, beseeching deliverance -out of that horrible bondage. Tears coursed down their hollow cheeks, -their limbs quaked, their breath failed them; they sank back in despair, -speechless and forsaken. - -Why did they faint in the hour of deliverance when that narrow chasm was -all that separated them from renewed life? Because the bark spread out -her great white wings and soared away, hearing not the faint voices, -seeing not the thin shadows that haunted that drifting wreck. The -forsaken ones looked out from their eyrie, and watched the lessening -sail until sight failed them; and then the lad, with one wild cry, -leaped toward the fleeting bark, and was swallowed up in the sea. - -Alone in a wilderness of waters. Alone, without compass or rudder, borne -on by relentless winds into the lonesome, dreary, shoreless ocean of -despair, within whose blank and forbidding sphere no voyager ventures; -across whose desolate waste dawn sends no signal and night brings no -reprieve; but whose sun is cold, and whose moon is clouded, and whose -stars withdraw into space, and where the insufferable silence of vacancy -shall not be broken for all time. - -O pitiless Nature! thy irrevocable laws argue sore sacrifice in the -waste places of God's universe! - -The "Petrel" gave a tremendous lurch, that sent two or three of us into -the lee corners of the cabin; a sea broke over us, bursting in the -companion-hatch, and half filling our small and insecure retreat. The -swinging lamp was thrown from its socket and extinguished; we were -enveloped in pitch darkness, up to our knees in salt water. There was a -moment of awful silence; we could not tell whether the light of day -would ever visit us again; we thought perhaps it wouldn't. But the -"Petrel" rose once more upon the watery hill-tops, and shook herself -free of the cumbrous deluge; and at that point, when she seemed to be -riding more easily than usual, some one broke the silence: "Well, did -the captain of the 'Mouette' live to tell the tale?" - -Yes, he did. God sent a messenger into the lonesome deep, where the -miserable man was found insensible, with his eyes wide open against the -sunlight, and lips shrunken apart,--a hideous, breathing corpse. When he -was lifted into the arms of the brave fellows who had gone to his -rescue, he said, "Great God! am I saved?" as though he couldn't believe -it when it was true; then he fainted, and was nursed through a long -delirium, and was at last restored to health and home and happiness. - -Our cabin boy managed to fish up the lamp, and after a little we were -illuminated; the agile swab soon sponged out the cabin, and we resumed -our tedious watch for dawn and fair weather. - -Somehow, my mind brooded over the solitary wreck that was drifting about -the sea. I could fancy the rotten timbers of the "Mouette" clinging -together, by a miracle, until the "Ancient Mariner" was taken away from -her, and then, when she was alone again, with nothing whatever in sight -but blank blue sea and blank blue sky, she lay for an hour or so, -bearded with shaggy sea-moss and looking about a thousand years old. -Suddenly it occurred to her that her time had come,--that she had -outlived her usefulness, and might as well go to pieces at once. So she -yawned in all her timbers, and the sea reached up over her, and laid -hold of her masts, and seemed to be slowly drawing her down into its -bosom. There was not an audible sound, and scarcely a ripple upon the -water; but when the waves had climbed into the foretop, there was a -clamour of affrighted birds, and a myriad bubbles shot up to the -surface, where a few waifs floated and whirled about for a moment. It -was all that marked the spot where the "Mouette" went down to her -eternal rest. - -"Ha, ha!" cried our skipper, with something almost like a change of -expression on his mahogany countenance, "the barometer is rising!" and -sure enough it was. In two hours the "Petrel" acted like a different -craft entirely, and by-and-by came daybreak, and after that the sea went -down, down, down into a deep, dead calm, when all the elements seemed to -have gone to sleep after their furious warfare. Like half-drowned flies -we crawled out of the close, ill-smelling cabin to dry ourselves in the -sun: there, on the steaming deck of the schooner, we found new life, and -in the hope that dawned with it we grew lusty and joyful. - -Such a flat, oily sea as it was then! So transparent, that we saw great -fish swimming about, full fathom five under us. A monstrous shark -drifted lazily past, his dorsal fin now and then cutting the surface -like a knife and glistening like polished steel, his brace of pilot-fish -darting hither and thither, striped like little one-legged harlequins. - -Flat-headed gonies sat high on the water, piping their querulous note as -they tugged at something edible, a dozen of them entering into the -domestic difficulty: one after another would desert the cause, run a -little way over the sea to get a good start, leap heavily into the air, -sail about for a few minutes, and then drop back on the sea, -feet-foremost, and skate for a yard or two, making a white mark and a -pleasant sound as it slid over the water. - -The exquisite nautilus floated past us, with its gauzy sail set, looking -like a thin slice out of a soap-bubble; the strange anemone laid its -pale, sensitive petals on the lips of the wave and panted in ecstasy; -the "Petrel" rocked softly, swinging her idle canvas in the sun; we -heard the click of the anchor-chain in the forecastle, the blessedest -sea-sound I wot of; a sailor sang while he hung in the ratlines and -tarred down the salt-stained shrouds. The afternoon waned; the man at -the wheel struck two bells,--it was the delectable dog-watch. Down went -the swarthy sun into his tent of clouds; the waves were of amber; the -fervid sky was flushed; it looked as though something splendid were -about to happen up there, and that it could hardly keep the secret much -longer. Then came the purplest twilight; and then the sky blossomed all -over with the biggest, ripest, goldenest stars,--such stars as hang like -fruits in sun-fed orchards; such stars as lay a track of fire in the -sea; such stars as rise and set over mountains and beyond low green -capes, like young moons, every one of them; and I conjured up my spells -of savage enchantment, my blessed islands, my reefs baptized with silver -spray; I saw the broad fan-leaves of the banana droop in the motionless -air, and through the tropical night the palms aspired heavenward, while -I lay dreaming my sea-dream in the cradle of the deep. - - - - -CHUMMING WITH A SAVAGE. - - - - -PART I. - -KANA-ANA. - - -There was a little brown rain-cloud, that blew over in about three -minutes; and Bolabola's thatched hut was dry as a hay-stack in less than -half that time. Those tropical sprays are not much, anyhow; so I lounged -down into the banana-patch, for I thought I saw something white there, -something white and fluttering, moving about. I knew pretty well what it -was, and didn't go after it on an uncertainty. - -The Doctor looked savage. Whenever he slung those saddle-bags over his -left shoulder, and swung his right arm clean out from his body, like the -regulator of a steam engine, you might know that his steam was pretty -well up. I turned to look back, as he was strapping up his beast of -burden till the poor animal's body was positively waspish; then he -climbed into his saddle, and sullenly plunged down the trail toward the -precipice, and never said, "Good-bye," or "God bless you," or any of -those harmless tags that come in so well when you don't know how to cut -off your last words. - -I positively assert, and this without malice, the Doctor was perfectly -savage. - -Now, do you know what demoralized that Doctor? how we came to a -misunderstanding? or why we parted company? It was simply because here -was a glorious valley, inhabited by a mild, half-civilized people, who -seemed to love me at first sight. I don't believe I disliked them, -either. Well! they asked me to stop with them, and I felt just like it. -I wanted to stop and be natural; but the Doctor thought otherwise of my -intentions; and that was the origin of the row. - -The next thing I knew, the Doctor had got up the great precipice, and I -was quite alone with two hundred dusky fellows, only two of whom could -speak a syllable of English, and I the sole representative of the -superior white within twenty miles. Alone with cannibals,--perhaps they -were cannibals. They had magnificent teeth, at any rate, and could bite -through an inch and a half sugar-cane, and not break a jaw. - -For the first time that summer I began to moralize a little. Was it best -to have kicked against the Doctor's judgment? Perhaps not! But it is -best to be careful how you begin to moralize too early; you deprive -yourself of a great deal of fun in that way. If you want to do anything -particularly, I should advise you to do it, and then be sufficiently -sorry to make it all square. - -I'm not so sure that I was wrong, after all. Fate, or the Doctor, or -something else, brought me first to this loveliest of valleys, so shut -out from everything but itself that there were no temptations which -might not be satisfied. Well! here, as I was looking about at the -singular loveliness of the place,--you know this was my first glimpse of -its abrupt walls, hung with tapestries of fern and clambering -convolvulus; at one end two exquisite waterfalls, rivalling one another -in whiteness and airiness, at the other the sea, the real South Sea, -breaking and foaming over a genuine reef, and even rippling the placid -current of the river that slipped quietly down to its embracing tide -from the deep basins at these waterfalls,--right in the midst of all -this, before I had been ten minutes in the valley, I saw a straw hat, -bound with wreaths of fern and _maile_; under it a snow-white garment, -rather short all around, low in the neck, and with no sleeves whatever. - -There was no sex to that garment; it was the spontaneous offspring of a -scant material and a large necessity. I'd seen plenty of that sort of -thing, but never upon a model like this, so entirely tropical,--almost -Oriental. As this singular phenomenon made directly for me, and, having -come within reach, there stopped and stayed, I asked its name, using one -of my seven stock phrases for the purpose; I found it was called -Kana-ana. Down it went into my note-book; for I knew I was to have an -experience with this young scion of a race of chiefs. Sure enough, I -have had it. He continued to regard me steadily, without embarrassment. -He seated himself before me; I felt myself at the mercy of one whose -calm analysis was questioning every motive of my soul. This sage -inquirer was, perhaps, sixteen years of age. His eye was so earnest and -so honest, I could return his look. I saw a round, full, rather girlish -face; lips ripe and expressive, not quite so sensual as those of most -of his race; not a bad nose, by any means; eyes perfectly -glorious,--regular almonds,--with the mythical lashes "that sweep," -etc., etc. The smile which presently transfigured his face was of the -nature that flatters you into submission against your will. - -Having weighed me in his balance,--and you may be sure his instincts -didn't cheat him; they don't do that sort of thing,--he placed his two -hands on my two knees, and declared, "I was his best friend, as he was -mine; I must come at once to his house, and there live always with him." -What could I do but go? He pointed me to his lodge across the river, -saying, "There was his home and mine." By this time, my native without a -master was quite exhausted. I wonder what would have happened if some -one hadn't come to my rescue, just at that moment of trial, with a fresh -vocabulary? As it was, we settled the matter at once. This was our -little plan,--an entirely private arrangement between Kana-ana and -myself: I was to leave with the Doctor in an hour; but, at the -expiration of a week we should both return hither; then I would stop -with him, and the Doctor could go his way. - -There was an immense amount of secrecy, and many vows, and I was almost -crying, when the Doctor hurried me up that terrible precipice, and we -lost sight of the beautiful valley. Kana-ana swore he would watch -continually for my return, and I vowed I'd hurry back; and so we parted. -Looking down from the heights, I thought I could distinguish his white -garment; at any rate, I knew the little fellow was somewhere about, -feeling as miserably as I felt,--and nobody has any business to feel -worse. How many times I thought of him through the week! I was always -wondering if he still thought of me. I had found those natives to be -impulsive, demonstrative, and, I feared, inconstant. Yet why should he -forget me, having so little to remember in his idle life, while I could -still think of him, and put aside a hundred pleasant memories for his -sake? The whole island was a delight to me. I often wondered if I should -ever again behold such a series of valleys, hills, and highlands in so -small a compass. That land is a world in miniature, the dearest spot of -which, to me, was that secluded valley; for there was a young soul -watching for my return. - -That was rather a slow week for me, but it ended finally; and just at -sunset, on the day appointed, the Doctor and I found ourselves back on -the edge of the valley. I looked all up and down its green expanse, -regarding every living creature, in the hope of discovering Kana-ana in -the attitude of the watcher. I let the Doctor ride ahead of me on the -trail to Bolabola's hut, and it was quite in the twilight when I heard -the approach of a swift horseman. I turned, and at that moment there was -a collision of two constitutions that were just fitted for one another; -and all the doubts and apprehensions of the week just over were -indignantly dismissed, for Kana-ana and I were one and inseparable, -which was perfectly satisfactory to both parties! - -The plot, which had been thickening all the week, culminated then, much -to the disgust of the Doctor, who had kept his watchful eye upon me all -these days--to my advantage, as he supposed. There was no disguising -our project any longer, so I out with it as mildly as possible. "There -was a dear fellow here," I said, "who loved me, and wanted me to live -with him; all his people wanted me to stop, also; his mother and his -grandmother had specially desired it. They didn't care for money; they -had much love for me, and therefore implored me to stay a little. Then -the valley was most beautiful; I was tired; after our hard riding, I -needed rest; his mother and his grandmother assured me that I needed -rest. Now, why not let me rest here awhile?" - -The Doctor looked very grave. I knew that he misunderstood me,--placed a -wrong interpretation upon my motives; the worse for him, I say. He tried -to talk me over to the paths of virtue and propriety; but I wouldn't be -talked over. Then the final blast was blown; war was declared at once. -The Doctor never spoke again, but to abuse me; and off he rode in high -dudgeon, and the sun kept going down on his wrath. Thereupon I renounced -all the follies of this world, actually hating civilization, and feeling -entirely above the formalities of society. I resolved on the spot to be -a barbarian, and, perhaps, dwell for ever and ever in this secluded -spot. And here I am back to the beginning of this story, just after the -shower at Bolabola's hut, as the Doctor rode off alone and in anger. - -That resolution was considerable for me to make. I found, by the time -the Doctor was out of sight and I was quite alone, with the natives -regarding me so curiously, that I was very tired indeed. So Kana-ana -brought up his horse, got me on to it in some way or other, and mounted -behind me to pilot the animal and sustain me in my first bareback act. -Over the sand we went, and through the river to his hut, where I was -taken in, fed, and petted in every possible way, and finally put to bed, -where Kana-ana monopolized me, growling in true savage fashion if any -one came near me. I didn't sleep much, after all. I think I must have -been excited. I thought how strangely I was situated: alone in a -wilderness, among barbarians; my bosom friend, who was hugging me like a -young bear, not able to speak one syllable of English, and I very shaky -on a few bad phrases in his tongue. We two lay upon an enormous -old-fashioned bed with high posts,--very high they seemed to me in the -dim rushlight. The natives always burn a small light after dark; some -superstition or other prompts it. The bed, well stocked with pillows, or -cushions, of various sizes, covered with bright-coloured chintz, was -hung about with numerous shawls, so that I might be dreadfully modest -behind them. It was quite a grand affair, gotten up expressly for my -benefit. The rest of the house--all in one room, as usual--was covered -with mats, on which various recumbent forms and several individual -snores betrayed the proximity of Kana-ana's relatives. How queer the -whole atmosphere of the place was! The heavy beams of the house were of -some rare wood, which, being polished, looked like colossal sticks of -peanut candy. Slender canes were bound across this framework, and the -soft, dried grass of the meadows was braided over it,--all completing -our tenement, and making it as fresh and sweet as new-mown hay. - -The natives have a passion for perfumes. Little bunches of -sweet-smelling herbs hung in the peak of the roof, and wreaths of -fragrant berries were strung in various parts of the house. I found our -bedposts festooned with them in the morning. O that bed! It might have -come from England in the Elizabethan era and been wrecked off the coast; -hence the mystery of its presence. It was big enough for a Mormon. There -was a little opening in the room opposite our bed; you might call it a -window, I suppose. The sun, shining through it, made our tent of shawls -perfectly gorgeous in crimson light, barred and starred with gold. I -lifted our bed-curtain, and watched the rocks through this window,--the -shining rocks, with the sea leaping above them in the sun. There were -cocoa-palms so slender they seemed to cast no shadow, while their -fringed leaves glistened like frost-work as the sun glanced over them. A -bit of cliff, also, remote and misty, running far into the sea, was just -visible from my pyramid of pillows. I wondered what more I could ask for -to delight the eye. Kana-ana was still asleep, but he never let loose -his hold on me, as though he feared his pale-faced friend would fade -away from him. He lay close by me. His sleek figure, supple and graceful -in repose, was the embodiment of free, untrammelled youth. You who are -brought up under cover know nothing of its luxuriousness. How I longed -to take him over the sea with me, and show him something of life as we -find it. Thinking upon it, I dropped off into one of those delicious -morning naps. I awoke again presently; my companion-in-arms was the -occasion this time. He had awakened, stolen softly away, resumed his -single garment,--said garment and all others he considered superfluous -after dark,--and had prepared for me, with his own hands, a breakfast, -which he now declared to me, in violent and suggestive pantomime, was -all ready to be eaten. It was not a bad bill of fare,--fresh fish, taro, -poe, and goat's milk. I ate as well as I could, under the circumstances. -I found that Robinson Crusoe must have had some tedious rehearsals -before he acquired that perfect resignation to Providence which delights -us in book form. There was a veritable and most unexpected table-cloth -for me alone. I do not presume to question the nature of its miraculous -appearance. Dishes there were,--dishes, if you're not particular as to -shape or completeness; forks, with a prong or two,--a bent and -abbreviated prong or two; knives that had survived their handles; and -one solitary spoon. All these were tributes of the too generous people, -who, for the first time in their lives, were at the inconvenience of -entertaining a distinguished stranger. Hence this reckless display of -tableware. I ate as well as I could, but surely not enough to satisfy my -crony; for, when I had finished eating, he sat about two hours in deep -and depressing silence, at the expiration of which time he suddenly -darted off on his bareback steed and was gone till dark, when he -returned with a fat mutton slung over his animal. Now, mutton doesn't -grow wild thereabout, neither were his relatives shepherds; -consequently, in eating, I asked no questions for conscience' sake. - -The series of entertainments offered me were such as the little valley -had not known for years: canoe-rides up and down the winding stream; -bathings in the sea and in the river, and in every possible bit of -water, at all possible hours; expeditions into the recesses of the -mountains, to the waterfalls that plunged into cool basins of fern and -cresses, and to the orange grove through acres and acres of guava -orchards; some climbings up the precipices; goat hunting, once or twice, -as far as a solitary cavern, said to be haunted,--these tramps always by -daylight; then a new course of bathings and sailings, interspersed with -monotonous singing and occasional smokes under the eaves of the hut at -evening. - -If it is a question how long a man may withstand the seductions of -nature, and the consolations and conveniences of the state of nature, I -have solved it in one case; for I was as natural as possible in about -three days. - -I wonder if I was growing to feel more at home, or more hungry, that I -found an appetite at last equal to any table that was offered me! -Chicken was added to my already bountiful rations, nicely cooked by -being swathed in a broad, succulent leaf, and roasted or steeped in hot -ashes. I ate it with my fingers, using the leaf for a platter. - -Almost every day something new was offered at the door for my -edification. Now, a net full of large guavas or mangoes, or a sack of -leaves crammed with most delicious oranges from the mountains, that -seemed to have absorbed the very dew of heaven, they were so fresh and -sweet. Immense lemons perfumed the house, waiting to make me a capital -drink. Those superb citrons, with their rough, golden crusts, refreshed -me. Cocoa-nuts were heaped at the door; and yams, grown miles away, were -sent for, so that I might be satisfied. All these additions to my table -were the result of long and vigorous arguments between the respective -heads of the house. I detected trouble and anxiety in their expressive -faces. I picked out a word, here and there, which betrayed their secret -sorrow. No assertions, no remonstrances on my part, had the slightest -effect upon the poor souls, who believed I was starving. Eat I must, at -all hours and in all places; and eat, moreover, before they would touch -a mouthful. So Nature teaches her children a hospitality which all the -arts of the capital cannot affect. - -I wonder what it was that finally made me restless and eager to see new -faces! Perhaps my unhappy disposition, that urged me thither, and then -lured me back to the pride of life and the glory of the world. Certain I -am that Kana-ana never wearied me with his attentions, though they were -incessant. Day and night he was by me. When he was silent, I knew he was -conceiving some surprise in the shape of a new fruit, or a new view to -beguile me. I was, indeed, beguiled; I was growing to like the little -heathen altogether too well. What should I do when I was at last -compelled to return out of my seclusion, and find no soul so faithful -and loving in all the world beside? Day by day this thought grew upon -me, and with it I realized the necessity of a speedy departure. - -There were those in the world I could still remember with that -exquisitely painful pleasure that is the secret of true love. Those -still voices seemed incessantly calling me, and something in my heart -answered them of its own accord. How strangely idle the days had grown! -We used to lie by the hour--Kana-ana and I--watching a strip of sand on -which a wild poppy was nodding in the wind. This poppy seemed to me -typical of their life in the quiet valley. Living only to occupy so -much space in the universe, it buds, blossoms, goes to seed, dies, and -is forgotten. - -These natives do not even distinguish the memory of their great dead, if -they ever had any. It was the legend of some mythical god that Kana-ana -told me, and of which I could not understand a twentieth part; a god -whose triumphs were achieved in an age beyond the comprehension of the -very people who are delivering its story, by word of mouth, from -generation to generation. Watching the sea was a great source of -amusement with us. I discovered in our long watches that there is a very -complicated and magnificent rhythm in its solemn song. This wave that -breaks upon the shore is the heaviest of a series that preceded it; and -these are greater and less, alternately, every fifteen or twenty -minutes. Over this dual impulse the tides prevail, while through the -year there is a variation in their rise and fall. What an intricate and -wonderful mechanism regulates and repairs all this! - -There was an entertainment in watching a particular cliff, in a peculiar -light, at a certain hour, and finding soon enough that change visited -even that hidden quarter of the globe. The exquisite perfection of this -moment, for instance, is not again repeated on to-morrow, or the day -after, but in its stead appears some new tint or picture, which, -perhaps, does not satisfy like this. That was the most distressing -disappointment that came upon us there. I used to spend half an hour in -idly observing the splendid curtains of our bed swing in the light air -from the sea; and I have speculated for days upon the probable destiny -awaiting one of those superb spiders, with a tremendous stomach and a -striped waistcoat, looking a century old, as he clang tenaciously to the -fringes of our canopy. - -We had fitful spells of conversation upon some trivial theme, after long -intervals of intense silence. We began to develope symptoms of -imbecility. There was laughter at the least occurrence, though quite -barren of humour; also, eating and drinking to pass the time; bathing to -make one's self cool, after the heat and drowsiness of the day. So life -flowed on in an unruffled current, and so the prodigal lived riotously -and wasted his substance. There came a day when we promised ourselves an -actual occurrence in our Crusoe life. Some one had seen a floating -object far out at sea. It might be a boat adrift; and, in truth, it -looked very like a boat. Two or three canoes darted off through the surf -to the rescue, while we gathered on the rocks, watching and ruminating. -It was long before the rescuers returned, and then they came -empty-handed. It was only a log after all, drifted, probably, from -America. We talked it all over, there by the shore, and went home to -renew the subject; it lasted us a week or more, and we kept harping upon -it till that log--drifting slowly, O how slowly! from the far mainland -to our island--seemed almost to overpower me with a sense of the -unutterable loneliness of its voyage. I used to lie and think about it, -and get very solemn indeed; then Kana-ana would think of some fresh -appetizer or other, and try to make me merry with good feeding. Again -and again he would come with a delicious banana to the bed where I was -lying, and insist upon my gorging myself, when I had but barely -recovered from a late orgie of fruit, flesh, or fowl. He would -mesmerize me into a most refreshing sleep with a prolonged and pleasing -manipulation. It was a reminiscence of the baths of Stamboul not to be -withstood. From this sleep I would presently be wakened by Kana-ana's -performance upon a rude sort of harp, that gave out a weird and -eccentric music. The mouth being applied to the instrument, words were -pronounced in a guttural voice, while the fingers twanged the strings in -measure. It was a flow of monotones, shaped into legends and lyrics. I -liked it amazingly; all the better, perhaps, that it was as good as -Greek to me, for I understood it as little as I understood the strange -and persuasive silence of that beloved place, which seemed slowly but -surely weaving a spell of enchantment about me. I resolved to desert -peremptorily, and managed to hire a canoe and a couple of natives, to -cross the channel with me. There were other reasons for this prompt -action. - -Hour by hour I was beginning to realize one of the inevitable results of -Time. My boots were giving out; their best sides were the uppers, and -their soles had about left them. As I walked, I could no longer disguise -this pitiful fact. It was getting hard on me, especially in the gravel. -Yet, regularly each morning, my pieces of boot were carefully oiled, -then rubbed, or petted, or coaxed into some sort of a polish, which was -a labour of love. O Kana-ana! how could you wring my soul with those -touching offices of friendship!--those kindnesses unfailing, -unsurpassed! - -Having resolved to sail early in the morning, before the drowsy citizens -of the valley had fairly shaken the dew out of their forelocks, all that -day--my last with Kana-ana--I breathed about me silent benedictions and -farewells. I could not begin to do enough for Kana-ana, who was, more -than ever, devoted to me. He almost seemed to suspect our sudden -separation, for he clung to me with a sort of subdued desperation. That -was the day he took from his head his hat--a very neat one, plaited by -his mother--insisting that I should wear it (mine was quite in tatters), -while he went bareheaded in the sun. That hat hangs in my room now, the -only tangible relic of my prodigal days. My plan was to steal off at -dawn, while he slept; to awaken my native crew, and escape to sea before -my absence was detected. I dared not trust a parting with him, before -the eyes of the valley. Well, I managed to wake and rouse my sailor -boys. To tell the truth, I didn't sleep a wink that night. We launched -the canoe, entered, put off, and had safely mounted the second big -roller just as it broke under us with terrific power, when I heard a -shrill cry above the roar of the waters. I knew the voice and its -import. There was Kana-ana rushing madly toward us; he had discovered -all, and couldn't even wait for that white garment, but ran after us -like one gone daft, and plunged into the cold sea, calling my name, over -and over, as he fought the breakers. I urged the natives forward. I knew -if he overtook us, I should never be able to escape again. We fairly -flew over the water. I saw him rise and fall with the swell, looking -like a seal; for it was his second nature, this surf-swimming. I believe -in my heart I wished the paddles would break or the canoe split on the -reef, though all the time I was urging the rascals forward; and they, -like stupids, took me at my word. They couldn't break a paddle, or get -on the reef, or have any sort of an accident. Presently we rounded the -headland,--the same hazy point I used to watch from the grass house, -through the little window, of a sunshiny morning. There we lost sight of -the valley and the grass house, and everything that was associated with -the past,--but that was nothing. We lost sight of the little sea-god, -Kana-ana, shaking the spray from his forehead like a porpoise; and this -was all in all. I didn't care for anything else after that, or anybody -else, either. I went straight home and got civilized again, or partly -so, at least. I've never seen the Doctor since, and never want to. He -had no business to take me there, or leave me there. I couldn't make up -my mind to stay; yet I'm always dying to go back again. - -So I grew tired over my husks. I arose and went unto my father. I wanted -to finish up the Prodigal business. I ran and fell upon his neck and -kissed him, and said unto him, "Father, _if_ I have sinned against -Heaven and in thy sight, I'm afraid I don't care much. Don't kill -anything. I don't want any calf. Take back the ring, I don't deserve it; -for I'd give more this minute to see that dear, little, velvet-skinned, -coffee-coloured Kana-ana, than anything else in the wide world,--because -he hates business, and so do I. He's a regular brick, father, moulded of -the purest clay, and baked in God's sunshine. He's about half sunshine -himself; and, above all others, and more than any one else ever can, he -loved your prodigal." - - - - -PART II. - -HOW I CONVERTED MY CANNIBAL. - - -When people began asking me queer questions about my chum Kana-ana, some -of them even hinting that "he might possibly have been a girl all the -time," I resolved to send down for him, and settle the matter at once. I -knew he was not a girl, and I thought I should like to show him some -American hospitality, and perhaps convert him before I sent him back -again. - -I could teach him to dress, you know; to say a very good thing to your -face, and a very bad one at your back; to sleep well in church, and -rejoice duly when the preacher got at last to the "Amen." I might do all -this for his soul's sake; but I wanted more to see how the little fellow -was getting on. I missed him so terribly,--his honest way of showing -likes and dislikes; his confidence in his intuitions and fidelity to his -friends; and those quaint manners of his, so different from anything in -vogue this side of the waters. - -This is what I remarked when I got home again, and found myself growing -as practical and prosy as ever. I awoke no kindred chord in the family -bosom. On the contrary, they all said, "It was no use to think of it: no -good could come out of Nazareth." The idea of a heathen and his -abominable idolatry being countenanced in the sanctity of a Christian -home was too dreadful for anything. But I believed some good might come -out of Nazareth, and I believed that, when it did come, it was the -genuine article worth hunting for, surely. I thought it all over -soberly, finally resolving to do a little missionary work on my own -account. So I wrote to the Colonel of the Royal Guards, who knows -everybody and has immense influence everywhere, begging him to catch -Kana-ana, when his folks weren't looking, and send him to my address, -marked C. O. D., for I was just dying to see him. That was how I trapped -my little heathen, and began to be a missionary, all by myself. - -I assured the Colonel it was a case of real necessity, and he seemed to -realize it, for he managed to get Kana-ana away from his distressed -relatives (their name is legion, and they live all over the island), fit -him out in _real_ clothing,--the poor little wretch had to be dressed, -you know; we all do it in this country,--then he packed him up and -shipped him, care of the captain of the bark S----. When he arrived, I -took him right to my room and began my missionary work. I tried to make -all the people love him, but I'm afraid they found it hard work. He -wasn't half so interesting up here anyhow! I seemed to have been -regarding him through chromatic glasses, which glasses being suddenly -removed, I found a little dark-skinned savage, whose clothes fitted him -horribly, and appeared to have no business there. Boots about twice too -long, the toes being heavily charged with wadding; in fact, he looked -perfectly miserable, and I've no doubt he felt so. How he had been -studying English on the voyage up! He wanted to be a great linguist, and -had begun in good earnest. He said "good mornin'" as boldly as possible -about seven p.m., and invariably spoke of the women of America as "him." -He had an insane desire to spell, and started spelling-matches with -everybody, at the most inappropriate hours and inconvenient places. He -invariably spelled God d-o-g; when duly corrected,--thus, G-o-d,--he -would triumphantly shout, _dog_. He jumped at these irreverent -conclusions about twenty times a day. - -What an experience I had educating my little savage! Walking him in the -street by the hour; answering questions on all possible topics; spelling -up and down the blocks; spelling from the centre of the city to the -suburbs and back again, and around it; spelling one another at -spelling,--two latter-day peripatetics on dress parade, passing to and -fro in high and serene strata of philosophy, alike unconscious of the -rudely gazing and insolent citizens, or the tedious calls of labour. A -spell was over us: we ran into all sorts of people, and trod on many a -corn, loafing about in this way. Some of the victims objected in harsh -and sinful language. I found Kana-ana had so far advanced in the -acquirement of our mellifluous tongue as to be very successful in -returning their salutes. I had the greatest difficulty in convincing him -of the enormity of his error. The little convert thought it was our mode -of greeting strangers, equivalent to their more graceful and poetic -password, _Aloha_, "Love to you." - -My little cannibal wasn't easily accustomed to his new restraints, such -as clothes, manners, and forbidden water privileges. He several times -started on his daily pilgrimage without his hat; once or twice, to save -time, put his coat on next his skin; and though I finally so far -conquered him as to be sure that his shirt would be worn on the inside -instead of the outside of his trousers (this he considered a great waste -of material), I was in constant terror of his suddenly disrobing in the -street and plunging into the first water we came to,--which barbarous -act would have insured his immediate arrest, perhaps confinement; and -that would have been the next thing to death in his case. - -So we perambulated the streets and the suburbs, daily growing into each -other's grace; and I was thinking of the propriety of instituting a -series of more extended excursions, when I began to realize that my -guest was losing interest in our wonderful city and the possible -magnitude of her future. - -He grew silent and melancholy; he quitted spelling entirely, or only -indulged in rare and fitful (I am pained to add, fruitless) attempts at -spelling God in the orthodox fashion. It seemed almost as though I had -missed my calling; certainly, I was hardly successful as a missionary. - -The circus failed to revive him; the beauty of our young women he -regarded without interest. He was less devout than at first, when he -used to insist upon entering every church we came to and sitting a few -moments, though frequently we were the sole occupants of the building. -He would steal away into remote corners of the house, and be gone for -hours. Twice or three times I discovered him in a dark closet, in _puris -naturalibus_, toying with a singular shell strung upon a feather chain. -The feathers of the chain I recognized as those of a strange bird held -as sacred among his people. I began to suspect the occasion of his -malady: he believed himself bewitched or accursed of some one,--a common -superstition with the dark races. This revelation filled me with alarm; -for he would think nothing of lying down to die under the impression -that it was his fate, and no medicine under the heaven could touch him -further. - -I began telling him of my discovery, begging his secret from him. In -vain I besought him. "It was his trouble; he must go back!" I told him -he should go back as soon as possible; that we would look for ourselves, -and see when a vessel was to sail again. I took him among the wharves, -visiting, in turn, nearly all the shipping moored there. How he lingered -about them, letting his eyes wander over the still bay into the mellow -hazes that sometimes visit our brown and dusty hills! - -His nature seemed to find an affinity in the tranquil tides, the -far-sweeping distances, the alluring outlines of the coast, where it was -blended with the sea-line in the ever-mysterious horizon. After these -visitations, he seemed loath to return again among houses and people; -they oppressed and suffocated him. - -One day, as we were wending our way to the city front, we passed a -specimen of grotesque carving, in front of a tobacconist's -establishment. Kana-ana stood eyeing the painted model for a moment, and -then, to the amazement and amusement of the tobacconist and one or two -bystanders, fell upon his knees before it, and was for a few moments -lost in prayer. It seemed to do him a deal of good, as he was more -cheerful after his invocation,--for that day, at least; and we could -never start upon any subsequent excursion without first visiting this -wooden Indian, which he evidently mistook for a god. - -He began presently to bring tributes, in the shape of small -cobble-stones, which he surreptitiously deposited at the feet of his -new-found deity, and passed on, rejoicing. His small altar grew from day -to day, and his spirits were lighter as he beheld it unmolested, thanks -to the indifference of the tobacconist and the street contractors. - -His greatest trials were within the confines of the bath-tub. He who had -been born to the Pacific, and reared among its foam and breakers, now -doomed to a seven-by-three zinc box and ten inches of water! He would -splash about like a trout in a saucer, bemoaning his fate. Pilgrimages -to the beach were his greatest delight; divings into the sea, so far -from town that no one could possibly be shocked, even with the -assistance of an opera-glass. He used to implore a daily repetition of -these cautious and inoffensive recreations, though, once in the chilly -current, he soon came out of it, shivering and miserable. Where were his -warm sea-waves, and the shining beach, with the cocoa-palms quivering in -the intense fires of the tropical day? How he missed them and mourned -for them, crooning a little chant in their praises, much to the -disparagement of our dry hills, cold water, and careful people! - -In one of our singular walks, when he had been unusually silent, and I -had sought in vain to lift away the gloom that darkened his soul, I was -startled by a quick cry of joy from the lips of the young exile,--a cry -that was soon turned into a sharp, prolonged, and pitiful wail of sorrow -and despair. We had unconsciously approached an art-gallery, the deep -windows of which, were beautified with a few choice landscapes in oil. -Kana-ana's restless and searching eye, doubtless attracted by the -brilliant colouring of one of the pictures, seemed in a moment to -comprehend and assume the rich and fervent spirit with which the artist -had so successfully imbued his canvas. - -It was the subject which had at first delighted Kana-ana,--the splendid -charm of its manipulation which so affected him, holding him there -wailing in the bitterness of a natural and incontrollable sorrow. The -painting was illuminated with the mellowness of a tropical sunset. A -transparent light seemed to transfigure the sea and sky. The artist had -wrought a miracle in his inspiration. It was a warm, hazy, silent sunset -for ever. The outline of a high, projecting cliff was barely visible in -the flood of misty glory that spread over the face of it,--a cliff whose -delicate tints of green and crimson pictured in the mind a pyramid of -leaves and flowers. A valley opened its shadowy depths through the -sparkling atmosphere, and in the centre of this veiled chasm the pale -threads of two waterfalls seemed to appear and disappear, so exquisitely -was the distance imitated. Gilded breakers reeled upon a palm-fringed -shore; and the whole was hallowed by the perpetual peace of an unbroken -solitude. - -I at once detected the occasion of Kana-ana's agitation. Here was the -valley of his birth,--the cliff, the waterfall, the sea, copied -faithfully, at that crowning hour when they are indeed supernaturally -lovely. At that moment, the promise to him of a return would have been -mockery. He was there in spirit, pacing the beach, and greeting his -companions with that liberal exchange of love peculiar to them. Again he -sought our old haunt by the river, watching the sun go down. Again he -waited listlessly the coming of night. - -It was a wonder that the police did not march us both off to the -station-house; for the little refugee was howling at the top of his -lungs, while I endeavoured to quiet him by bursting a sort of vocal -tornado about his ears. I then saw my error. I said to myself, "I have -transplanted a flower from the hot sand of the Orient to the hard clay -of our more material world,--a flower too fragile to be handled, if -never so kindly. Day after day it has been fed, watered, and nourished -by Nature. Every element of life has ministered to its development in -the most natural way. Its attributes are God's and Nature's own. I bring -it hither, set it in our tough soil, and endeavour to train its -sensitive tendrils in one direction. There is no room for spreading them -here, where we are overcrowded already. It finds no succulence in its -cramped bed, no warmth in our practical and selfish atmosphere. It -withers from the root upward; its blossoms are falling; it will die!" I -resolved it should not die. Unfortunately, there was no bark announced -to sail for his island home within several weeks. I could only devote my -energies to keeping life in that famishing soul until it had found rest -in the luxurious clime of its nativity. - -At last the bark arrived. We went at once to see her; and I could hardly -persuade the little homesick soul to come back with me at night. He who -was the fire of hospitality and obliging to the uttermost, at home, came -very near to mutiny just then. - -It was this civilization that had wounded him, till the thought of his -easy and pleasurable life among the barbarians stung him to madness. -Should he ever see them again, his lovers? ever climb with the -goat-hunters among the clouds yonder? or bathe, ride, sport, as he used -to, till the day was spent and the night come? - -Those little booths near the wharves, where shells, corals, and -gold-fish are on sale, were Kana-ana's favourite haunts during the last -few days he spent here. I would leave him seated on a box or barrel by -one of those epitomes of Oceanica, and return two hours later, to find -him seated as I had left him, and singing some weird _mele_,--some -legend of his home. These musical diversions were a part of his nature, -and a very grave and sweet part of it, too. A few words, chanted on a -low note, began the song, when the voice would suddenly soar upward with -a single syllable of exceeding sweetness, and there hang trembling in -bird-like melody till it died away with the breath of the singer. - -Poor, longing soul! I would you had never left the life best suited to -you,--that liberty which alone could give expression to your wonderful -capacities. Not many are so rich in instincts to read Nature, to -translate her revelations, to speak of her as an orator endowed with her -surpassing eloquence. - -It will always be a sad effort, thinking of that last night together. -There are hours when the experiences of a lifetime seem compressed and -crowded together. One grows a head taller in his soul at such times, and -perhaps gets suddenly grey, as with a fright, also. - -Kana-ana talked and talked in his pretty, broken English, telling me of -a thousand charming secrets; expressing all the natural graces that at -first attracted me to him, and imploring me over and over to return -with him and dwell in the antipodes. How near I came to resolving, then -and there, that I _would_ go, and take the consequences,--how very near -I came to it! He passed the night in coaxing, promising, entreating; and -was never more interesting or lovable. It took just about all the moral -courage allotted me to keep on this side of barbarism on that eventful -occasion; and in the morning Kana-ana sailed, with a face all over -tears, and agony, and dust. - -I begged him to select something for a remembrancer; and of all that -ingenuity can invent and art achieve he chose a metallic chain for his -neck,--chose it, probably, because it glittered superbly, and was good -to string charms upon. He gave me the greater part of his wardrobe, -though it can never be of any earthly use to me, save as a memorial of a -passing joy in a life where joys seem to have little else to do than be -brief and palatable. - -He said he should "never want them again"; and he said it as one might -say something of the same sort in putting by some instrument of -degradation,--conscious of renewed manhood, but remembering his late -humiliation, and bowing to that remembrance. - -So Kana-ana and the bark, and all that I ever knew of genuine, -spontaneous, and unfettered love, sailed into the west, and went down -with the sun in a glory of air, sea, and sky, trebly glorious that -evening. I shall never meet the sea when it is bluest without thinking -of one who is its child and master. I shall never see mangoes and -bananas without thinking of him who is their brother, born and brought -up with them. I shall never smell cassia, or clove, or jessamine, but a -thought of Kana-ana will be borne upon their breath. A flying skiff, -land in the far distance rising slowly, drifting seagrasses, a clear -voice burdened with melody,--all belong to him, and are a part of him. - -I resign my office. I think that, perhaps, instead of my having -converted the little cannibal, he may have converted me. I am sure, at -least, that if we two should begin a missionary work upon one another, I -should be the first to experience the great change. I sent my convert -home, feeling he wasn't quite so good as when I first got him; and I -truly wish him as he was. - - * * * * * - -I can see you, my beloved,--sleeping, naked, in the twilight of the -west. The winds kiss you with pure and fragrant lips. The sensuous waves -invite you to their embrace. Earth again offers you her varied store. -Partake of her offering, and be satisfied. Return, O troubled soul! to -your first and natural joys: they were given you by the Divine hand that -can do no ill. In the smoke of the sacrifice ascends the prayer of your -race. As the incense fadeth and is scattered upon the winds of heaven, -so shall your people separate, never more to assemble among the nations. -So perish your superstitions, your necromancies, your ancient arts of -war, and the unwritten epics of your kings. - -Alas, Kana-ana! As the foam of the sea you love, as the fragrance of the -flower you worship, shall your precious body be wasted, and your -untrammelled soul pass to the realms of your fathers. - -Our day of communion is over. Behold how Night extends her wings to -cover you from my sight! She may, indeed, hide your presence; she may -withhold from me the mystery of your future: but she cannot take from me -that which I have; she cannot rob me of the rich influences of your -past. - -Dear comrade, pardon and absolve your spiritual adviser, for seeking to -remould so delicate and original a soul as yours; and, though neither -prophet nor priest, I yet give you the kiss of peace at parting, and the -benediction of unceasing love. - - - - -PART III. - -BARBARIAN DAYS. - - -We had been watching intently the faint, shadowy outline along the -horizon, and wondering whether it were really land, or but a cloudy -similitude of it; while we bore down upon it all the afternoon in fine -style, and the breeze freshened as evening came on. It was all clear -sailing, and we were in pretty good spirits,--which is not always the -case with landsmen at sea. - -Sitting there on the after-deck, I had asked myself, more than once, If -life were made up of placid days like this, how long would life be -sweet? I gave it up every time; for one is not inclined to consider so -curiously as to press any problem to a solution in those indolent -latitudes. - -Perhaps it was Captain Kidd who told me he had sailed out of a -twelve-knot breeze on a sudden,--slipping off the edges of it, as it -were,--and found his sails all aback as he slid into a dead calm. There, -rocking in still weather, he saw another bark, almost within hail, blown -into the west and out of sight, like a bird in a March gale. - -I wonder what caused me to think of Kidd's experiences just then. I -can't imagine, unless it was some prescient shadow floating in my -neighbourhood,--the precursor of the little event that followed. Such -things do happen, and when we least expect it; though, fortunately, they -don't worry us as a general thing. I didn't worry at all, but sat there -by myself, while some of my fellow-passengers took a regular -"constitutional" up and down the deck, and over and over it, until the -nervous woman below in the cabin "blessed her stars," and wished herself -ashore. - -I preferred sitting and pondering over the cloud that seemed slowly to -rise from the sea, assuming definite and undeniable appearances of land. - -I knew very well what land it must be: one of a group of islands every -inch of which I had traversed with the zeal of youthful enthusiasm; but -which of them, was a question I almost feared to have answered. Yet, -what difference could it make to me! The land was providentially in our -course, but not on our way-bill. If we were within gunshot of its -loveliest portion, we must needs pass on as frigidly as though it were -Charybdis, or something equally dreadful; and I began to think it might -be something of the sort, because of its besetting temptations. - -Of course there was no doubt as to the certainty of its being land, when -we went down to supper; and at sunset we knew the dark spots were -valleys, and the bright ones hills. I fancied a hundred bronze-hued -faces were turned toward us, as we seemed to twinkle away off in their -sunset sea like a fallen star, or something of that sort. I thought I -could almost hear the sea beating upon the crusts of the reef in the -twilight; but perhaps I didn't, for the land was miles away, and night -hid it presently, while the old solitude of the ocean impressed us all -as though we were again in the midst of its unbroken, circular wastes. -Then they played whist in the cabin,--all but me. I hung over the ship's -side, resolved to watch all night for the lights on shore,--the -flickering watch-fires in the mountain camps; for I knew I should see -them, as we were bound to pass the island before morning. - -The night was intensely dark; clouds muffled the stars, and not a spark -of light was visible in any direction over the waters. A shower could -easily have quenched the beacons I was seeking, and my vigil soon became -tedious; so presently I followed the others and turned in, rather -disconsolate and disgusted. - -Toward midnight the wind fell rapidly, and within half an hour we found -ourselves in a dead calm, when the moan of the breakers was quite -audible on our starboard quarter. The Captain was nervous and watchful; -the currents in the channel were strong, and he saw, by the variation in -the compass, that the vessel was being whirled in a great circle around -a point of the island. - -Fortunately it began to get light before the danger grew imminent. At -three o'clock we were within soundings, and shortly after we plumped the -anchor into the rough coral at the bottom of a pretty little harbour, -where, the Captain informed us, we must ride all day and get out with -the land breeze, that would probably come down at night. I rushed up in -the grey dawn, and bent my gaze upon the shore. I think I must have -turned pale, or trembled a little, or done something sensational and -appropriate, though no one observed it; whereat I was rather glad, on -the whole, for they could not have understood it if I had done my best -to explain,--which I had not the least idea of doing, however, for it -was none of their affair. - -I knew that place the moment I saw it,--the very spot of all I most -desired to see; and I resolved, in my secret soul, to go ashore, there -and then; amicably if I might, forcibly if I must. - -The Captain was not over-genial that morning either; he hated detention, -and was a trifle nervous about being tied up under the lee of the land -for twelve or twenty hours. So he growled if any one approached him all -that day, and positively refused to allow the ship's boat to be touched, -unless we drifted upon the rocks, broadside,--which, he seemed to think, -was not entirely out of the question. I was sure there would be a -canoe--perhaps several--alongside by sunrise; so I said nothing, but -waited in silence, determined to desert when the time came; and the -Captain might whistle me back if he could. - -Presently the time came. We were rocking easily on the swell, directly -to the eastward of a deep valley. The sky was ruddy; the air fresh and -invigorating, but soft as the gales of Paradise. We were in the tropics. -You would have known it with your eyes shut; the whole wonderful -atmosphere confessed it. But, with your eyes open, those white birds, -sailing like snow-flakes through the immaculate blue heavens, with -tail-feathers like our pennant; the floating gardens of the sea, through -which we had been ruthlessly ploughing for a couple of days back; the -gorgeous sunrises and sunsets,--all were proofs positive of our -latitude. - -What a sunrise it was on that morning! Yet I stood with my back to it, -looking west; for there I saw, firstly, the foam on the reef--as crimson -as blood--falling over the wine-stained waves; then it changed as the -sun ascended, like clouds of golden powder, indescribably magnificent, -shaken and scattered upon the silver snow-drifts of the coral reef, -dazzling to behold, and continually changing. - -Beyond it, in the still water, was reflected a long, narrow strip of -beach; above it, green pastures and umbrageous groves, with native huts, -like great birds'-nests, half hidden among them; and the weird, slender, -cocoa-palms were there,--those exclamation-points in the poetry of -tropic landscape. All this lay slumbering securely between high walls of -verdure; while at the upper end, where the valley was like a niche set -in the green and glorious mountains, two waterfalls floated downward -like smoke-columns on a heavy morning. Angels and ministers of grace! do -you, in your airy perambulations, visit haunts more lovely than -this?--as lovely as that undiscovered country from whose bourne the -traveller would rather not look back, premising that the traveller were -as singularly constituted as I am; which is, peradventure, not probable. - -They knew it was morning almost as soon as we did, though they lived a -few furlongs farther west, and had no notion of the immediate proximity -of a strange craft,--by no means rakish in her rig, however; only a -simple merchantman, bound for Auckland from San Francisco, but the -victim of circumstances, and, in consequence, tied to the bottom of the -sea when half-way over. - -They knew it was morning. I saw them swarming out of their grassy nests, -brown, sleek-limbed, and naked. They regarded with amazement our -floating home. The news spread, and the groves were suddenly peopled -with my dear barbarians, who hate civilization almost as much as I do, -and are certainly quite as idolatrous and indolent as I ever aspire to -be. - -I turned my palms outward toward them; I lifted up my voice, and cried, -"Hail, my brothers! We hasten with the morning; we follow after the sun. -Greetings to you, dwellers in the West!" - -Nobody heard me. I looked again. Down they came upon the shore, wading -into the sea. Then such a carnival as they celebrated in the shallow -water was a novelty for some of my cabin friends; but I knew all about -it. I'd done the same thing often enough myself, when I was young, and -free, and innocent, and savage. I knew they were asking themselves a -thousand questions as to our sudden appearance in their seas, and would -rather like to know who we were, and where we were going, but scorned to -ask us. They had once or twice been visited by the same sort of -whitish-looking people, and they had found those colourless faces -uncivil, and the bleached-out skins by no means to be trusted with those -whom they considered their inferiors. They didn't know that it is one of -the Thirty-nine Articles of Civilization to bully one's way through the -world. Then I prayed that they might be moved to send out a canoe, so -that I could debark and go inland for the day. I prayed very earnestly, -and out she came,--one of their tiny, fragile canoes, looking like a -deserted chrysalis, with the invisible wings of the spiritual, tutelary -butterfly wafting it over the waves. In this chrysalis dug-out sat a -tough little body, with a curly head, which I recognized in a minute as -belonging to a once friend and comrade in my delightful exile, when I -was a successful prodigal, and wasted my substance in the most startling -and effectual manner, and enjoyed it a great deal better than if I had -kept it in the bank, as they advised me to do. On he came, beating the -sea with his broad paddle, alternately by either side of the canoe, and -regarding us with a commendable degree of suspicion. I greeted him in -his peculiar dialect. The gift of tongues seemed suddenly to have -descended upon me, for I found little difficulty in saying everything I -wanted to say, in a remarkably brief space of time. - -"Hail, little friend!" said I; "great love to you. How is it on shore -now?" - -He replied that it was decidedly nice on shore now, and that his love -for me was as much as mine for him, and more too, and that consequently -he was prepared to conduct me thither, regardless of expense. - -I went with that lovely boy on shore. The Captain could not resist my -persuasive appeals for a short leave of absence, and so I went. Perhaps -it would not have been advisable for him to have suppressed me; and he -made a courteous virtue of necessity. - -I had leave to stop till evening, unless I heard a signal gun, upon -hearing which I was to return immediately on board, or suffer the -consequences. - -Now, I am free to confess, that the consequences didn't appal me as we -swung off from the vessel, where I had been an uneasy prisoner for many -days; and I fell to chatting with Niga, my dusky friend, in a sort of -desperate joy. - -Niga was a regular trump. He had more than once piled on horseback -behind me, in the sweet days when we used to ride double,--yea, and even -treble, if necessary. There was usually a great deal more boy than horse -on the premises; hence this questionable economy in our cavalry -regulations. Niga told me many things as we drew near the reef: he -talked of nearly everybody and everything; but of all that he told me, -he said nothing of the one I most longed to hear about. Yet, somehow or -other, I could not quite bring myself to ask him, out and out, this -question. You know, sometimes it is hard to shape words just as you want -them shaped, and the question is never asked in consequence. - -The reef was growling tremendously. We were drawing nearer to it every -moment. I thought the chances were against us; but Niga was -self-possessed, and as he had crossed it once that morning, and in the -more dangerous direction of the two,--that is, against the grain of the -waves,--I concluded there was no special need of my making a scene; and -in the next moment we were poised on a terrific cataract of glittering -and rushing breakers, snatched up and held trembling in mid-air, with -the canoe half filled with water, and I perfectly blind with spray. - -It was a memorable moment in a very short voyage; and the general -verdict on board ship, where they were watching us with some interest, -was, that it served me right. - -When my eyes were once more free of the water, I found myself in the -midst of the natives, who had been waiting just inside of the reef to -receive us; and, as they recognized me, they laid a hand on the canoe, -as many as could crowd about it, fairly lifting it out of the water on -our way to the shore, all the while wailing at the top of their voices -their mournful and desolate wail. - -It was impossible for me to decide whether that chant of theirs was an -expression of joy or sorrow; the nature of it is precisely the same, in -either case. - -So we went on shore in our little triumphal procession, and there I was -embraced in a very emphatic manner by savages of every conceivable sex, -age, and colour. Having mutely submitted to their genuine expressions of -love, I was conducted--a willing and bewildered captive--along the -beach, around the little point that separates the river from the sea, -and thence by the river-bank to the house I knew so well. I believe I -looked at every dusky face in that assemblage, two or three times over, -but saw not the one I sought. - -What could it mean? Was he hunting in the mountains, or fishing beyond -the headland, or sick, or in prison, that he came not to greet me? -Surely, something had befallen him,--something serious and unusual,--or -he would have been the first to welcome me home to barbarism! - -A strange dread clouded my mind: it increased and multiplied as we -passed on toward the house that had been home to me. Then, having led me -to the outer door, the people all sat there upon the ground, and began -wailing piteously. - -I hastily crossed the narrow outer room, lifted the plaited curtain, and -entered the inner chamber, where I had spent my strange, wild holiday -long months before. - -I looked earnestly about me, while my eyes gradually became familiar -with the dull light. Nothing seemed changed. I could point at once to -almost every article in the room. It seemed but yesterday that I had -stolen away from them in the grey dawn, and repented my desertion too -late. - -I soon grew accustomed to the sombre light of the room. I saw sitting -about me, in the corners, bowed figures, with their faces hidden in -grief. There was no longer any doubt as to the nature of their emotion. -It was grief that had stricken the household, and the grief that death -alone occasions. I counted every figure in the room; I recognized each, -the same that I had known when I dwelt among them: he alone was absent. - -I don't know what possessed me at that moment. I felt an almost -uncontrollable desire to laugh, as though it were some _masque_ gotten -up for my amusement. Then I wished they would cease their masking, for I -felt too miserable to laugh. Then I was utterly at a loss to know what -to do; so I walked to the old-fashioned bed--our old-fashioned bed--in -the corner, looking just as it used to. I think the same old spider was -there still, clinging to the canopy; the very same old fellow, in his -harlequin tights, that we used to watch, and talk about, and wonder what -he was thinking of, to stop so still, day after day, and week after -week, up there on the canopy. I threw myself upon the edge of the bed, -my feet resting upon the floor; and there I tried to think of everything -but that one dreadful reality that would assert itself, in spite of my -efforts to deny it. - -Where was my friend? Where could he be, that these, his friends, were so -bowed with sorrow? The question involved a revelation, already -anticipated in my mind. That revelation I dreaded as I would dread my -own death-sentence. But it came at last. A woman who had been humbling -herself in the dust moved toward me from the shadow that half concealed -her. She did not rise to her feet; she was half reclining on the mats of -the floor, her features veiled in the long, black hair of her race. One -hand was extended toward me, then the other; the body followed; and so -she moved, slowly and painfully, toward the bedside. - -It was his mother. I knew her intuitively. Close to the bed she came, -and crouched by me, upon the floor. There, with one hand clasped close -over mine, the other flooded with her copious tears, and her forehead -bowed almost to the floor, she poured forth the measure of her woe. The -moment her voice was heard, those out of the house ceased wailing, and -seemed to be listening to the elegy of the bereaved. - -Her voice was husky with grief, broken again and again with sobs. I -seemed to understand perfectly the nature of her story, though my -knowledge of the dialect was very deficient. - -The mother's soul was quickened with her pathetic theme. The frenzy of -the poet inspired her lips. It was an epic she was chanting, -celebrating the career of her boy-hero. She told of his birth, and -wonderful childhood; of his beautiful strength; of his sublime -affection, and the friend it had brought him from over the water. - -She referred frequently to our former associations, and seemed to -delight in dwelling upon them. Then came the story of his death,--the -saddest canto of the melancholy whole. - -How shall I ever forgive myself the selfish pleasure I took in striving -to remodel an immortal soul? What business had I to touch so sensitive -an organism; susceptible of infinite impressions, but incapable, in its -prodigality, of separating and dismissing the evil, and retaining only -the good,--therefore fit only to increase and develop in the suitable -atmosphere with which the Creator had surrounded it? - -Why did I not foresee the climax? - -I might have known that one reared in the nursery of Nature, as free to -speak and act as the very winds of heaven to blow whither they list, -could ill support the manacles of our modern proprieties. Of what use to -him could be a knowledge of the artifices of society? Simply a -temptation and a snare! - -What was the story of his fate? That he came safely home, rejoicing in -his natural freedom; that he could not express his delight at finding -home so pleasant; that his days were spent in telling of the wonderful -things he had seen: more sects than the gods of the South Seas; more -doubters than believers; contradictions, and insults, and suspicions -everywhere. They laughed again, when they thought of us, and pitied us -all the while. - -But his exhilaration wore off, after a time. Then came the reaction. A -restlessness; an undefined, unsatisfied longing. Life became a burden. -The seed of dissension had fallen in fresh and fallow soil: it was a -souvenir of his sojourn among us. He, the child of Nature, must now -follow out the artificial and hollow life of the world, or die -unsatisfied; for he could not return to his original sphere of trust and -contentment. He had learned to doubt all things, as naturally as any of -us. - -For days he moaned in spirit, and was troubled; nothing consoled him; -his soul was broken of its rest; he grew desperate and melancholy. - -I believe he was distracted with the problem of society, and I cannot -wonder at it. One day, when his condition had become no longer -endurable, he stole off to sea in his canoe, thinking, perhaps, that he -could reach this continent, or some other; possibly hoping never again -to meet human faces, for he could not trust them. - -It was his heroic exit from a life that no longer interested him. Great -was the astonishment of the islanders, who looked upon him as one -possessed of the Evil Spirit, and special sacrifices were offered in his -behalf; but the gods were inexorable; and, after several days upon the -solitary sea, a shadow, a mote, drifted toward the valley,--a canoe, -with a famishing and delirious voyager, that was presently tossed and -broken in the surges; then, a dark body glistened for a moment, wet with -spray, and sank for ever, while the shining coral reef was stained with -the blood of the first-born. - -I heard it all in the desolate wail of the mother, yet could not weep; -my eyes burned like fire. - -Little Niga came for me presently, and led me into the great grove of -_kamane_-trees, up the valley. He insisted upon holding me by the hand: -it was all he could do to comfort me, and he did that with his whole -soul. - -In silence we pressed on to one of the largest of the trees. I -recognized it at once. Niga and I, one day, went thither, and I cut a -name upon the soft bark of the tree. - -When we reached it we paused. Niga pointed with his finger; I looked. It -was there yet,--a simple name, carved in the rudest fashion. I read the -letters, which had since become an epitaph. They were these:-- - - "KANA-ANA, _AEt. 16 yrs._" - -Under them were three initials,--my own,--cut by the hand of Kana-ana, -after his return from America. - -We sat down in the gloomy grove. "Tell me," I said, "tell me, Niga, -where has his spirit gone?" - -"He is here, now," said Niga; "he can see us. Perhaps, some day, we -shall see him." - -"You have more faith than our philosophers, for they have reasoned -themselves out of everything. Would you like to be a philosopher, Niga?" -I asked. - -Niga thought, if they were going to die, body and soul, that he wouldn't -like to be anything of the sort, and that he had rather be a first-class -savage than a fourth-rate Christian, any day. - -I interrupted him at this alarming assertion. "The philosophers would -call your faith a superstition, Niga; they do not realize that there is -no true faith unmixed with superstition, since faith implies a belief in -something unseen, and is, therefore, itself a superstition. Blessed is -the man who believes blindly,--call it what you please,--for peace shall -dwell in his soul. But, Niga," I continued, "where is God?" - -"Here, and here, and here," said Niga, pointing me to a grotesque -carving in the sacred grove, to a monument upon the distant precipice, -and to a heap of rocks in the sea; and the smile of recognition with -which the little votary greeted his idols was a solemn proof of his -sincerity. - -"Niga," I said, "we call you and your kind heathens. It is a harmless -anathema, which cannot, in the least, affect you personally. Ask us if -we love God! Of course we do. Do we love Him above all things, animate -or inanimate? Undoubtedly! Undoubtedly is easily said, and let us give -ourselves credit for some honesty. We believe that we do love God above -all; that we have no other gods before Him; yet, who of us will give up -wealth, home, friends, and follow Him? Not one! The God we love is a -very vague, invisible, forbearing essence. He can afford to be lenient -with us while we are debating whether our neighbour is serving Him in -the right fashion, or not. We'd rather not have other gods before Him: -one is as many as we find it convenient to serve. The lover kisses -passionately a miniature. It is not, however, an image of his Creator, -nor any memorial of his Redeemer's passion, but only a portrait of his -mistress. Do you blame us, Niga? It is the strongest instinct of our -nature to worship something. Man is a born idolater, and not one of us -is exempted by reason of any scruples under the sun. You see it daily -and hourly: each one has his idols." - -Little Niga, who sympathized deeply with me, seemed to have gotten some -knowledge of our peculiarly mixed theories concerning God and the future -state, from conversations overheard after the return of Kana-ana. He -tried to console me with the assurance that Kana-ana died a devoted and -unshaken adherent to the faith of his fathers. - -I couldn't but feel that his blood was off my hands when I learned this; -and I believe I gave Niga a regular hug in that moment of joy. - -Then we walked here and there, through the valley, and visited the old -haunts, made memorable by many incidents in that romantic and chivalrous -life of the South. Every one we met had some word to add concerning the -Pride of the Valley, dead in his glorious youth. - -Over and over, they assured me of his fidelity to me, his white brother, -adding that Kana-ana had, more than once, expressed the deepest regret -at not having brought me back with him. - -He even meditated sending for me, in the same manner that I had sent for -him; and, if he had done so, it was his purpose to see that I was at -once made familiar with their Articles of Faith; for he anticipated a -willing convert in me, and it was the desire of his heart that I should -know that perfect trust, peculiar to his people, and which is begotten -of the brief gospel, so often quoted out of place: namely, that "seeing -is believing." - -It was a kind thought of his, and I wish he had carried it into -execution, for then he might have lived. It was his susceptible nature -that had come in contact with the great world, and received its -death-wound. Had I been there to help him, I would have planned -something to divert his mind until he had recovered himself, and was -willing to submit to the monotony of life over yonder. Had he not done -as much for me? Had he not striven, day after day, to charm me with his -barbarism, and come very near to success? I should say he had. Dear -little martyr! was he not the only boy I ever truly loved,--dead now in -his blossoming prime! - -O Kana-ana! Little Niga and I sat talking of you, down by the sea, and -we wept for you at last; for the tears came by-and-by, when I began to -fully realize the greatness of my loss. All your youth, and beauty, and -freshness, in destruction, and your body swallowed up in the graves of -the sea! - -The meridian sun blazed overhead, but it made little difference to us. -Afternoon passed, and evening was coming on almost unheeded; for our -thoughts were buried with him, under the waves, and life was nothing to -us, then. - -I no longer cared to observe the lights and shadows on the cliffs, nor -the poppy nodding in the wind, nor the seaward prospect: that was -spoiled by our vessel,--the seclusion was broken in upon. I cared for -nothing any longer, for I missed everywhere his step, patient and -faithful as a dog's, and his marvellous face, that could look steadily -at the sun without winking, and deluge itself with laughter all the -while, for there was nothing hidden or corrupting in it. - -Presently I returned into the sacred grove, touching the three letters -he had carved there, and calling on his spirit to regard me as -respecting his dumb idols, which were nothing but the representatives of -his jealous gods,--dear to him as the Garden of Gethsemane, the Mount of -Olives, and the shining summits of Calvary to us. Then down I ran to the -bathing-pools, and from place to place I wandered in a hurried and -nervous tour, for it was growing dark. I saw the ship's lights -flickering over the water, while the first cool whispers of the -night-wind came down from the hills, filling me with warnings; in the -midst of which there was a flash of flame and a sudden, thunderous -report,--enough to awaken the dead of the valley,--and I turned to go. I -believe, if dear Kana-ana had been there, as I prayed he might be, I -should have laughed at that signal, and hastened inland to avoid -discovery; for I was sick of the world. I might have had reason to -regret it afterward, because friendship is not elastic, and the best of -friends cannot long submit to being bored by the best of fellows. -Perhaps it was just as it should be: I had no time to consider the -matter there. I hurried to his mother, and she clung to me; others came -about me, and laid hold of me: so that I feared I should be held captive -until it was too late to board the vessel. Her sails were even then -shaking in the wind; and I heard the faint click of the capstan tugging -at the anchor-chains. - -With a quick impulse I broke away from them, and ran to the beach, where -Niga and I entered his canoe, and slid off from the sloping sands. Down -we drifted toward the open sea, while the natives renewed their -wailing, and I was half crazed with sorrow. It is impossible to resist -the persuasive eloquence of their chants. Think, then, with what a -troubled spirit I heard them, as we floated on between the calm stars in -the heavens and the whirling stars in the sea. - -We went out to the ship's side, and little Niga was as noisy as any of -them when I pressed upon him a practical memorial of my visit; and away -he drifted into the night, with his boyish babble pitched high and -shrill: and the Present speedily became the Past, and grew old in a -moment. - -Then I looked for the last time upon that faint and cloudy picture, and -seemed almost to see the spirit of the departed beckoning to me with -waving arms and imploring looks; and I longed for him with the old -longing, that will never release me from my willing bondage. I blessed -him in his new life, and I rejoiced with exceeding great joy that he was -freed at last from the tyranny of life,--released from the unsolvable -riddles of the ages. The night-wind was laden with music, and sweet with -the odours of ginger and cassia; the spume of the reef was pale as the -milk of the cocoanuts, and the blazing embers on shore glowed like old -sacrificial fires. - -Then I head a voice crying out of the shadow,--an ancient and eloquent -voice,--saying: "Behold my fated race! Our days are numbered. Long have -we feasted in the rich presence of a revealed deity. We sat in ashes -under the mute gods of Baal; we fled before the wrath of Moloch, the -destroyer; we were as mighty as the four winds of heaven: but the -profane hand of the Iconoclast has desecrated our temples, and humbled -our majesty in the dust. O impious breakers of idols! why will ye put -your new wines into these old bottles, that were shaped for spring -waters only, and not for wine at all! Lo! ye have broken them, and the -wine is wasted. Be satisfied, and depart!" - -So that spirit of air sang the death-song of his tribe, and the sad -music of his voice rang over the waters like a lullaby. - -Then I heard no more, and I said, "My asylum is the great world; my -refuge is in oblivion;" and I turned my face seaward, never again to -dream fondly of my island home; never again to know it as I have known -it; never again to look upon its serene and melancholy beauty: for the -soul of the beloved is transmitted to the vales of rest, and his ashes -are sown in the watery furrows of the deep sea! - - - - -TABOO.--A FETE-DAY IN TAHITI. - - -It was on one of those vagabond pilgrimages to nowhere in particular, -such as every stranger is bound to make in a strange land, that I first -stumbled upon my royal Jester, better known in Tahiti as Taboo. - -Great Jove! what a night it was! A wild ravine full of banyan and -pandanus trees, and of parasite climbers, and the thousand nameless -leafing and blossoming creatures that intermarry to such an alarming -extent in the free-loving tropics, had tempted me to pasture there for a -little while. I was wandering on among roots and trailing branches, and -under ropes upon ropes of flowers that seemed to swing suddenly across -my path on purpose to keep me from finding too easily the secret heart -of the mountain. I felt it was right that I should be made to realize -how sacred a spot that sanctuary of Nature was, but I fretted somewhat -at the persistency of those speechless sentinels who guarded its outer -door so faithfully. There was a waterfall within that I had prayed to -see,--one of those mysterious waterfalls that descend noiselessly from -the bosom of a cloud, stealing over cushions of moss, like a ray of -light in a dream, or something else equally intangible. - -You never find this sort of waterfall in the common way. No one can -exactly point it out to you; but you must search for it yourself, and -listen for its voice,--and usually listen in vain,--till, suddenly, you -come upon it in a moment, almost as if by accident; and its whole -quivering length glitters and glistens with jewels, where it hangs, like -a necklace, on the bosom of a great cliff. It is the only visible chain -that binds earth to heaven; and no wonder you gaze at it with -questioning eyes! - -Well, while I was looking about me, expecting every moment to feel the -damp breath of the waterfall upon my forehead, night came down. Where -was I? In the midst of a pathless forest; between cliffs whose sleek, -mossy walls were so steep as to forbid even the goat's sharp hoof. Down -the hollow of the ravine, among round, slippery rocks, and between -trellises of giant roots, tumbled a mountain torrent. No human form -visible, probably none to be looked for on that side of the inaccessible -dome of the mountain; yet fearlessly I toiled on, knowing that food and -shelter were on every side, and that no hand, whose clasp was as fervent -as the clasp of the vine itself, would be raised against me; and, thank -Heaven! outsiders were scarce. - -In the midst of the narrowing chasm, with the night thickening, and the -wood growing more and more objectionable, I heard a sound as of -stumbling feet before me. My first thought was of _colour_! I would -scarcely trust a white man in that predicament. What well-disposed White -would be prowling, like a wild animal, alone in a forest at night? It -occurred to me that I was white, or had passed as such; but I know and -have always known that, inwardly, I am purple-blooded, and -stipple-limbed, and invisibly tattooed after the manner of my lost -tribe! I was startled at the sound, and slackened my pace to listen: the -footsteps paused with mine. I plunged forward, accusing the echoes of -playing me false. Again the mysterious one rushed awkwardly on before -me, with footfalls that were not like mine, nor like any that I could -trace: they were neither brute nor human, but fell clumsily among the -roots and stones, out of time with me; therefore, no echo, and beyond my -reckoning entirely. - -At this hour the moon, of a favourable size, looked over the cliff, -flooding the chasm with her soft light. I rejoiced at it, and hoped for -a revelation of the Unknown, whose tottering steps had mocked mine for -half an hour. - -Here we were in a forest of bread-fruit trees. Scarcely a ray of light -penetrated their thick-woven branches; but, against the faint light of -the open distance, I marked the weird outline of one who might once have -been human, but was no longer a tolerable image of his Maker. The figure -was like the opposite halves of two men bodily joined together in an -amateur attempt at human grafting. The trunk was curved the wrong way; a -great shoulder bullied a little shoulder, and kept it decidedly under; a -long leg walked right around a short leg that was perpetually sitting -itself down on invisible seats, or swinging itself for the mere pleasure -of it. One arm clutched a ten-foot bamboo about three inches in -diameter, and wielded it as though it were a bishop's crook, and -something to be proud of; the other arm--it must have belonged to a -child when it stopped growing--was hooked up over one ear, looking as -though it had been badly wired by some medical student, and was worn as -a lasting reproach to him. A shaggy head was set on the down-slope of -the big shoulder, and seemed to be continually looking over the little -shoulder and under the little arm for some one always expected, but who -was very long in coming. - -Upon this startling discovery I turned to flee, but the figure -immediately followed. It was evidently too late to escape an interview, -and, taking heart, I walked toward it, when, to my amazement, it hastily -staggered away from me, looking always over its shoulder, quickening its -pace with mine, slackening its speed with me, and keeping, or seeking to -keep, within a certain distance of me all the while. My curiosity was -excited, and, as I saw it bore me no ill-will, I made a quick plunge -forward, hoping to capture it. With an energetic effort it strove to -escape me; but, with the head turned the wrong way, it stumbled blindly -into a bit of jungle, where it lay whining piteously. I assisted it to -its feet, with what caution and tenderness I could, and, finding it -still wary, walked on slowly, leading the way to the edge of the grove, -where the moonlight was almost as radiant as the dawn. It followed me -like a dog, and was evidently grateful for my company. I walked slowly -that it might not stumble, and, as we emerged from the shadow of the -bread-fruits, I manoeuvered so as to bring its face toward the -moonlight, and I saw--a hideous visage, with all its features sliding to -one corner; and nothing but the two soft, sleepy-looking eyes saved me -from yielding to the disgust that its whole presence awakened. As it -was, I involuntarily started back with a shudder, and a slight -exclamation that attracted its attention. "Taboo! Taboo!" moaned the -poor creature, half in introduction, half in apology and explanation. - -He was well named the "forbidden one": set apart from all his fellows; -incapable of utterance; maimed in body; an outcast among his own people; -homeless, yet at home everywhere; friendless, though welcomed by all for -his entertaining and ludicrous simplicity; feeding, like the birds, from -Nature's lap, and, like the birds, left to the winds and waters for -companionship. - -Somehow I felt that Taboo could lead me at once to the waterfall; and I -tried to seek out the small door to his brain, and impress him with my -anxiety to reach the place. O, what darkness was there, and what doubts -and fears seemed to cloud the hidden portals of his soul! He made an -uncouth noise for me. Perhaps he meant it as music: it was frightful to -hear it up there in the mountain solitudes. He got me fruits and a -little water in the palm of his hand, which he expected me to drink with -a relish. He lay down at my feet in a broken heap of limbs, crooning -complacently. He was playful and thoughtful alternately; at least, he -lost himself in long silences from time to time, while his eyes glowed -with a deep inward light, that almost made me hope to startle his reason -from its dreadful sleep; but a single word broke the spell, and set him -to laughing as though he would go all to pieces; and his joy was more -pitiful than his sorrow. - -In one of his silent moods he suddenly staggered to his feet, and -shambled into a narrow trail to one side of the gorge. I wondered at his -unexpected impulse, and feared that he had grown tired of me already, -preferring the society of his feathered comrades, a few of whom sounded -their challenge-note, that soared like silver arrows in the profound -stillness of the ravine. It seemed not, however: in a few moments he -returned, and signalled me with his expressive grunt, and I followed -him. Through thickets of fern, arching high over our heads, down spongy -dells, and over rims of rock jutting from the base of the mountain, -Taboo and I clambered in the warm moonlight. Anon we came upon a -barricade of bamboos, growing like pickets set one against another. I -know not how broad the thicket might have been,--possibly as broad as -the ravine itself,--but into the thick of it Taboo edged himself; and -close upon his heels I followed. In a few moments we had crushed our way -through the midst of the bamboos, that clashed together after us so that -a bird might not have tracked us, and lo! a crystal pool in the heart of -a wonderful garden; and to it, silently, from heaven itself descended -that mysterious waterfall, whose actual existence I had seriously begun -to question. It lay close against the breast of the mountain, strangely -pale in the full glow of the moon, while, like a vein of fire, it seemed -to throb from end to end; or like a shining thread with great pearls -slipping slowly down its full length, taking the faint hues of the -rainbow as they fell, playing at prisms, until my eyes, weary of -watching, closed of their own accord. I sank down by Taboo, who was -sleeping soundly in the hollow of a great tree; and the one cover for -both of us was the impenetrable shadow that is never lifted from that -silent sanctuary of the Most High. - -The sky was as saffron when we woke from our out-of-door sleep, and the -whole atmosphere was less poetical and impressive than on the night -previous. Stranger than all else, there was no visible trace of the -mysterious waterfall. I even began to question my own senses, and -thought it possible that I had been dreaming. Yet there sat Taboo in his -frightful imperfection, as happy and indifferent as possible. Of course -he could tell me nothing of the magical waters. He had doubtless already -forgotten the episode of the hour previous. He lived for the solitary -moment, and his mind seemed unable to grasp the secrets of ten seconds -on either side of his narrow present. In fact, he was playing with a -splendid lizard when I returned from my brief and fruitless -reconnoissance; and as I came up he wondered at me, as he never ceased -to wonder, with fresh bewilderment, whenever I came back to him, after -never so brief an absence. - -I soon learned to play upon Taboo's one stop; to point a finger at him, -and bore imaginary auger-holes right into him anywhere; for he always -winced and whined, like a very baby, and yielded at once to my -pantomimic suggestion. But what a wreck was here! A delicate instrument, -full of rifts and breakages, with that single key readily answerable to -the slightest touch of my will. I have often wished that it had been a -note more deep, profound, or sympathetic. It was simply merry and -shrill, and incapable of any modulation whatever. Point a finger at him, -make a few coils in the air that grow to a focus as they draw nearer to -him, and he would run over with uncontrollable jollity that was at times -a little painful in its boisterousness. - -I knew well enough that I had sucked the honey from that particular cell -in the mountain, and that I might as well resume my pilgrimage. There -was to be a _Fete Napoleon_ in Papeete. We hadn't heard, up to that -hour, of the wreck of the great Empire, and, being in a loyal French -colony, it behoved us to have the very best time possible. Said I to -myself, "Taboo will find sufficient food for merriment in our mode -_feting_ an Emperor; therefore Taboo shall go with me to town and enjoy -himself." I suggested an immediate adjournment to Papeete with the tip -of my forefinger, whereat Taboo doubled up, as usual, and, in his own -fashion, implored me to stop being so funny. We at once started; -returning through the bamboo-brakes, fording the stream in some awkward -way, and slowly working our passage back to town. - -The Tahitians have but one annual holiday. As this, however, is -seventy-two hours in length, while everything relating to it is broad in -proportion, it is about as much as they can conscientiously ask for. - -Taboo and I entered the town on the eve of the first day, together with -multitudes from the neighbouring districts, flocking thither in their -best clothes. The lovely bay of Papeete was covered with fleets of -canoes, hailing from all the seaside villages on the island, and many of -them from Moorea, and islands even more distant. No sea is too broad to -be compassed by an ambitious Kanack, who scents a festival from afar. - -Along the crescent shores of the bay, the canoes were heaped, tier upon -tier. It was as though a whole South Sea navy had been stranded, for the -town was crowded with canoe-boys and all manner of natives, in gala -dress. The incessant rolling of drums, the piping of bamboo-flutes, and -the choruses of wandering singers began early in the dawn of the 14th -August, and were expected to continue, uninterruptedly, to the evening -of the 16th. Taboo regarded it all with singular indifference. Everybody -seemed to know him, and to take particular delight in greeting him. His -sleepy disregard of them was considered extremely laughable, and they -went their way roaring with merriment, that contrasted strongly with the -grave, listless face of the simple one, who was apparently oblivious of -everything. - -The morning after we appeared in Papeete was Sunday, according to the -calendar. The little cathedral, with banana-leaves rustling in the open -windows, was thronged with worshippers of all colours, doubly devout in -the excessive heat. Various choirs relieved one another during Mass, and -some diminutive fellows, under ten years of age, chanted Latin hymns in -a pleasingly plaintive voice, led by a friar in long clothes and a -choker. Taboo crouched by the open door during service, raking the -gravel-walk with his crooked fingers, and hitching about with -indefatigable industry. After the last gospel, we all went into the -middle of the street--for there were no sidewalks--and got our boots -very dusty. Little knots of friends seemed to sit down in the way -wherever they pleased, and to talk as long as they liked; while -everybody else accommodatingly turned out for them, or paused, and -listened to the conversation, without embarrassment on either side. -Liquor was imbibed on the sly; some eyes were beginning to swim -perceptibly, and some tongues to wag faster and looser than ever. The -Admiral's flag-ship was one pyramid of gorgeous bunting, and his band -delighted a great audience, gathered upon the shore, with a _matinee_ -gratis. At sunset the imperial batteries belched their sulphurous -thunder, that came as near to breaking the Sabbath as possible. In the -evening more music, up at the Governor's garden,--waltzes, polkas, and -quadrilles, so brilliantly executed that the listeners were half mad -with delight; and you couldn't for the life of you tell what day it had -been, nor what night it was, but Sunday was positively set down against -it in the calendar. At ten p.m. a signal-gun says "Good-night" to the -citizens of Papeete, and it behoves all those who are dark-skinned to -retire instantly, on pain of arrest and a straw-heap in the calaboose. - -In the midst of our Sunday festival, while yet the streets were -hilarious, slap-bang went this impudent piece of ordnance, and at once -the crowd began to disperse in the greatest confusion. Taboo, who had -been an inanimate spectator during the day's diversions, seemed to -comprehend the necessity of hasty flight to some quarter or other; and, -with a confusion of ideas peculiar to him, he began careering in great -circles through the swaying multitude, and continued to revolve around -an uncertain centre, until I seized him and sought to pilot him to some -convenient place of shelter. I thought of the great market, that, like -those ancient cities of refuge, was always open to the benighted -wanderer; and thither we hastened. A lofty roof, covering a good part of -a block, kept the rain from a vast enclosure, stored with stalls, -tables, and benches. It was simply shelter of the barest kind, but -sufficient for all needs in that charitable climate. There was a buzzing -of turbulent throngs as we edged our way toward the centre of the -market-place; you would think that all the bees of Tahiti were swarming -in unison, from the noise thereof. The commotion was long in quieting. -It had to subside like the sea at flood-tide. Every little while a brace -of _gendarmes_ strutted past the premises, feeling mighty fine in their -broad white pants, like a ship with studding-sails out, and with those -comical bobtails sprouting out of the small of their backs. I know that -Taboo and I, having laid ourselves on somebody's counter, listened and -nudged each other for two or three hours, and that it began to feel like -morning before there was sleep enough to go entirely around the -establishment. - -The man who is the first to wake in Papeete lights his lamp and goes to -market. As soon as he makes his untimely appearance, the community -begins to stir; a great clatter of drowsy voices and dozens of yawns are -the symptoms of returning day; and in ten minutes the market is declared -open, though it is still deep and tranquil starlight overhead, with not -a trace of dawn as yet visible. - -When the market opens before 3 a.m.--and the hour happens to be the -blackest of the four-and-twenty--it is highly inconvenient for any -foreigner and his royal jester who may be surreptitiously passing the -night upon one of the fruit counters, but there is no help for them: -sleepy heads give way to fresh-gathered bread-fruits and nets of -fragrant oranges; bananas are swung up within tempting reach of -everybody; all sorts of natives come in from the four quarters of the -Papeetean globe, with back-loads of miscellaneous viands, a mat under -one arm, and a flaming torch in hand. Rows upon rows of girls sell -fruits and flowers to the highest bidder; withering old women haggle -over the prices of their perfumed and juicy wares; solitary men offer -their solitary strings of fish for a _real_ each, and refuse to be -beaten down by any wretch of a fellow who dares to insinuate that the -fish are a trifle too scaly; boys sit demure over their meagre array of -temptations in the shape of six tomatoes, three eggs, a dozen or so of -guavas, and one cucumber. These youngsters usually sit with a -passionless countenance that forbids any hope of a bargain at reduced -prices, and they pass an hour or two with scarce a suggestion of custom; -but it is suddenly discovered that they have something desirable, and a -dozen purchasers begin quarrelling for it, during which time some one -else quietly makes his purchase from one corner of the boy's mat; and, -having closed out his stock in less than ten minutes, he quietly pockets -his _reals_, and departs without having uttered a syllable. - -Taboo and I went from one mat to another, eyeing the good things for -breakfast. I offered him the best that the market afforded; and I could -easily do so, for in no land is the article cheaper or better. Taboo, -having made the circuit of the entire establishment, upon mature -deliberation concluded to take nothing. At every point he was greeted -uproariously by the noisy and good-natured people, who were willing to -give him anything he might choose to take. They, probably, felt that it -was worth more than the price of the article to see the sublime scorn on -the poor fellow's face as he declined their limes, _feis_, mangoes, or -whatever delicious morsel it might have been. As for me, I couldn't -resist those seductions. I made my little purchases and withdrew to the -seaside, where I could break my fast by sunrise, and enjoy comparative -quiet. Taboo grinned in the market-place till he was weary of the -applause showered upon him by the ungodly, who made light of his -irreparable misfortune and took pleasure in his misery. He hunted me up, -or, rather, stumbled upon me again, and stayed by me, amusing himself -with pelting the fish that sported, like sunbeams and prisms, in the sea -close at our feet. - -It was _fete_-day in Tahiti. I sat, at sunrise, by the tideless margin -of a South Sea lagoon, bristling with coral and glittering with gem-like -fish. In either hand I held a mango and banana. I raised the mango to my -lips. What a marvel it was! A plump vegetable egg, full of delusion, and -staffed with a horny seed nearly as large as itself. It had a fragrance -as of oils and syrups; it purged sweet-scented and resinous gums. Its -hide was, perhaps, too tough for convenience, but its inner lusciousness -tempted me to persevere in the consumption of it. With much difficulty I -broke the skin. Honey of Hymettus! It seemed as though the very marrow -of the tropics were about to intoxicate my palate. Alas, for the hopes -of youthful inexperience! What was so fair to see proved but a meagre -mouthful of saturated wool; that colossal and horny seed asserted itself -everywhere. The more I strove to handle it with caution, the more -slippery and unmanageable it became. It shot into my beard, it leaped -lightly into my shirt-bosom, and skated over the palms of both hands. -Small rivulets of liquor trickled down my sleeves, making disagreeable -puddles at both elbows. My fingers were webbed together in a glutinous -mass. My whole front was in a shocking state of smear. My teeth grew -weary of combing out the beguiling threads of the fruit. The thing -seemed, to my imagination, a small, flat head, covered with short, blond -hair, profusely saturated with some sweet sort of ointment, that I had -despaired of feasting on; and I was not sorry when the slippery stone -sprang out of my grasp, and peppered itself with sea-sand. - -I knew that there still remained to me a morsel that was of itself fit -food for the gods. I poised aloft, with satisfaction, the rare-ripe -banana, beautiful to the eye as a nugget of purest gold. The pliant -petals were pouting at the top of the fruit. I readily turned them back, -forming a unique and convenient gilded salver for the column of flaky -manna that was, as yet, swathed in lace-like folds. These gauzy ribbons -fell from it almost of their own accord, and hung in fleecy festoons -about it. - -Here was a repast of singularly appropriate mould, being about the size -of a respectable mouth, and containing just enough mouthfuls to -temporarily satisfy the appetite. Not a morsel of it but was full of -mellowness, and sweet flavour, and fragrance. Not an atom of it was -wasted; for, no sooner had I thrown aside the cool, clean, flesh-like -case, than it was made way with by a fowl, that had, no doubt, been -patiently awaiting that abundant feast. - -Mangoes and bananas! Their very names smack of shady gardens, that know -no harsher premonition of death than the indolent and natural decay of -all things. The nostril is excited with the thought of them; the palate -grows moist and yearns for them; and the soul feasts itself, for a -moment, with a memory of mangoes and bananas past, whose perfection was -but another proof of immortality, since it is impossible ever to forget -them individually. Mangoes and bananas! the prime favourites at Nature's -most bountiful board; the realization of a dream of the orchards of the -Hesperides; alike excellent, yet so vastly dissimilar in their -excellences, it seems almost incredible that the same beneficent -Providence can have created the two fruits! - -It was the memorable 15th of August, 1870; but I have reason to believe -that the bananas were no better on that particular occasion than almost -always in their own latitude. The 15th of August,--where was the Emperor -then? I forget; I know that we rejoiced in the blissful confidence that -we were to have a grand time at all hazards. There were guns at sunrise -from ship and shore; a grand national procession of French and Tahitians -to High Mass at 10.30; guns--twenty-one of them--together with the -ringing of bells, and a salute of flags, at the elevation of the Host, -so that you would have known the supreme moment had you been miles away. -Then came a sumptuous public breakfast for the Frenchmen; and, for the -natives, games of several sorts. - -Taboo and I, having properly observed the more solemn ceremonials of the -day, gave ourselves up to the full enjoyment of these latter diversions. -There was a greased pole, with shining cups; and flowing prints, both -useful and ornamental, hung at the top of it. Several naked and superbly -built fellows shinned up it with infinite difficulty, and were so -fatigued when they got there, they were only too willing to clutch the -first article within reach, which was, of course, the least desirable, -and scarcely worth the trouble of getting. O, such magnificent grouping -at the foot of the pole, as the athletes shouldered one another in a -sort of co-operative experiment at getting up sooner; such struggles to -rise a little above the heads of the impatient climbers beneath as made -the aspiring Kanack quite pale--that is, greenish yellow; such losing of -grips, and fainting of hearts, and slidings back to earth in the midst -of taunts and jeers, but all in the best of humours and the hottest of -suns! such novelties as these were a very great delight to Taboo and -myself. He, however, didn't deign to laugh heartily: he merely smiled in -a superior manner that seemed to imply that he knew of something that -was twice as much fun and not half the trouble, but he didn't choose to -disclose it. He nearly always seemed to know as much as any ten of us; -and it was like an assumption of innocence, that queer, vacant -expression of his face. I'm not sure that he was not possessed of some -rare instinct beyond our comprehension, which was to him an abundant -compensation for the fragmentary body he was obliged to trundle about. - -Early in the afternoon, there were fresh arrivals in the bay: two -mammoth double war-canoes, of fifty paddles each, came in from a remote -sea-district; they were the very sort of water-monsters that went out to -greet my illustrious predecessor, Captain Cook, nearly a century ago. -Taboo and I were only too glad to sit meekly among the ten thousand -spectators that blackened the great sweep of the shore, while these -savages matched their prowess. With one vigorous plunge of the paddles -the canoes sprang from the beach into the watery arena. How strange they -looked! Long, low sides, scarce eight inches above water, and stained -like fish-scales; big, yawning jaws in their snakelike heads, and the -tail of a dragon in their wakes; every man of the hundred stripped to -the skin and bareheaded; their brawny bodies glistening in the sun as -though they had been oiled, while, with mechanical accuracy, the crews -beat the water with their paddles, and chanted their guttural chants, -with the sea gashing and foaming under them. The race was a tie; perhaps -it was fortunate that it proved so. I fear if one crew had beaten the -other crew the breadth of a paddle, that other would have lain to and -eaten that one right under our very eyes. They had their songs of -triumph, both sounding the chorus, during which they drummed with their -paddles on the sides of their canoes, till the frail things shivered and -groaned in genuine misery. Then they renewed the race, because they -couldn't possibly be still for a moment; and they looked like a brace of -mastodon centipedes trying to get out of the water, with death hissing -in their throats. - -The evening of the great day was drawing to a close. Taboo and I again -went out into the narrow, green lanes of Papeete, seeking what we might -devour with all our eyes and ears. They were very charming, those long -arbours of densely leaved trees, with little tropical vignettes set in -the farther end of them. It was almost like getting a squint through the -wrong end of a telescope, pointed toward some fairy-land or other. As it -grew dark, a thousand ready hands began illuminating the avenues that -lead to the Governor's house. Up and down its deep verandah swung ropes -of lanterns; and as the guards at the garden-gate presented arms at the -approach of the Admiral, or some distinguished and decorated foreigner, -the strains of Strauss, deliciously played, filled the illuminated grove -with an air of romance that was very Oriental in its mellowness, and -quickened every foot that was so happy as to touch the soil of Tahiti in -so fortunate an hour. On every part of the public lawns the revels were -conducted after the native fashion. Bands of singers and dancers sang -and danced in the streets, and were frequently rewarded with liberal -potations. Taboo looked on as amiably as usual, and for some time as -passively also; but there was something intoxicating in the air, and it -began to have a visible effect upon him. It was not long before he -strove to emulate the singers. St. Cecilia! what a song was his! I could -scarcely endure to hear that royal jester striving to tune his -inharmonious voice to the glib though monotonous Tahitian madrigals. I -walked away by myself, or rather went into another part of the village, -and sought a change of scene; for there was no seclusion to be hoped for -on a _fete_-night. - -From the Governor's halls came the entrancing harmony of flutes and -harps; from every lane and alley the piping of nose-fifes and the -droning of nasal chorals; from the sea rolled in the deep, hoarse -booming of the reef, the rhythmical plash of oars, or the clear, -prolonged cry of some one in the watery distance hailing some one close -at hand. Even so savage and picturesque a spectacle as this grew -wearisome after a time, and I turned my steps toward a place of shelter, -and suggested to myself sleep. - -In one lane was a throng of natives, wilder in their demonstrations of -joy than all the others. My curiosity was excited, and I hastened to -join them. Having with some difficulty wedged my way into the front row -of spectators, I beheld the subject of their riotous applause. In the -centre of a small ring was an ungainly figure, writhing in grotesque -contortions; tom-toms were being beaten with diabolical energy and -wildness; flutes and shrill voices were chiming in rapid and bewildering -chromatics; the audience--the half-crazed and utterly inhuman -audience--gloated over the shocking spectacle with devilish delight. In -one moment I comprehended all: Taboo, overcome by the general and -unusual excitement, had succumbed to its depraving influences; and, -unable longer to control himself, he was broadly burlesquing, in his -helplessness, one of the national dances. Music had at last reached his -impenetrable soul, awakened his long-slumbering sympathies, and found -him her willing slave. A pity that some diviner strain had not first led -him captive, that he might have been spared this disgrace! - -I saw his unhappy body ambling to the shame of all. I saw those pitiful, -unshapen shoulders undulating in vain attempts at passional expression; -the helpless arm waving at every movement of the body, while the -withered hand spun like a whirligig above his ears; his eyes, having -lost their accustomed mild light, stared distractedly about, seeking -rescue and protection, as I thought. In a few moments I attracted his -notice, though he seemed but partly to recognize me. There was his usual -uncertain recognition grown more doubtful,--nay, even hopeless,--as his -face betrayed. Again I caught his eye: I felt that but one course was -left me, and at once I aimed my finger at him. He winced in his -delirious dance. I coiled it round and round, weaving airy circle -within circle; quicker and quicker I wove my spell, and at last shot the -whole hand at him, as though I would run him through. He doubled, like -one struck with a fatal blow, and went to the ground all of a senseless -heap. There was a disturbance in the audience. Some of them thought I -had bewitched Taboo; and it behoved me to go at once, rather than seek -to make explanation of the singular result of my presence there. I went, -and spent a dull night, accusing myself of being the possible spiritual -murderer of Taboo. I had no business to bring him to the metropolis at -that unfortunate season; I had no right to leave him with his traducers: -and that was the whole statement of the case. - -The last day of the _fete_ was, of course, less joyous to me. A score of -nameless nags were to be ridden by light-weights in breech-cloths; and I -sought consolation in the prospect of seeing some bewitching -horsemanship. The track, in use but once every twelvemonth, and yielding -annually a young orchard of guava trees, presented to the astonished -gaze of the foreign sporting gentleman who happened to be on the -ground--if, indeed, there was such an one present--a half-mile course, -with numerous stones and hollows relieving its surface, while the rope -that enclosed it kept giving way every few moments, letting in a mixed -multitude among the half-broken horses. - -The Queen was present at the races,--Pomare, whose life has been one -long, sorrowful romance; the Admiral was also there; and many a petty -officer, with abundant gilt and tinsel. At a signal from the trumpeter -the horses were entered unannounced, and everybody betted wildly. One -little African jockey, mounted upon the cleverest piece of flesh and -blood in the field, called for the larger stakes; and he would certainly -have won, but for an unavoidable accident: the little African was -pressing in on the home-stretch, and everything looked lovely for the -winning mare, when, unluckily, she put her nigh leg in a crab hole, and -snapped her shin-bone square off. The undaunted little African tried his -best to finish the heat on his own responsibility, and went off into the -air in fine style, but missed his calculation, and burrowed about three -lengths from the goal. His neck was driven in nearly up to the ears, and -the mare had to be shot; but the races went mercilessly on until a -tremendous thunder-storm flooded the track and washed the population -back to town. Dance after dance consumed the afternoon hours; and song -upon song, eternally reiterated, finally failed to create any special -enthusiasm. - -I saw no further traces of Taboo. Again and again I followed knots of -the curious into the larger native houses, where the lascivious dances -were given with the utmost _abandon_; thither, I suspected, Taboo would -most likely be impelled, for the music was wilder and the applause more -boisterous and unrestrained. - -The evening of the last day of the _fete_ was darkening; most people -were growing a little weary of the long-drawn festivities; many had -succumbed to their fatigue, and slept by the wayside, or, it may be, -they had known too well the nature of the Tahitian juices, such as no -man may drink and not fall. - -The palace of Pomare--a great, hollow, incomplete shell, whose windows -have never been glazed, and whose doors have never been hung--was the -scene of the concluding ceremonials of the season. The long verandahs -were thickly hung with numberless paper lanterns, swinging continually -in the soft night winds that stole down from the starlit slopes of -Fautahua; the broad lawns in front of the palace were blocked out in -squares, like the map of a liliputian city. Each one of these plats was -set apart for a band of singers, and there were as many bands as -districts in Tahiti and Moorea, together with delegations from islands -more remote. Soon the choruses began to assemble. Choirs of fifty voices -each, male and female, led by tight-headed drums and screaming fifes, -drew towards the palace gardens, and were formally admitted by the -proper authorities, who were very much swollen with the pomp of office, -and, perhaps, a little sprinkle of the exhilarating accompaniments of -the season. One after another the white-robed processions -approached--each fresh arrival looking more like the chorus in "Norma" -than the last, though it then seemed impossible that any Druid could -presume to appear more gracefully ghostlike. Each singer wore a plume of -cocoa leaves, whose feathers were more lovely than the downy wands of -the ostrich. They were made of knots of long, slender ribbons, softer -than satin, veined like clouded silver, as transparent as the clearest -isinglass, and as delicate as the airiest gauze. - -Out of the core of the palm tree, in the midst of its rich, dark mass of -foliage, springs a tuft of leaves as tender as the first sprouts of a -lily bulb. These budding leaves are carefully removed, split edgewise, -and the enamelled sheets laid open to the sun; then, with the -thumb-nail, passed skilfully over the inner surface, a filmy membrane -is separated, and spread in the air to dry. A single tree yields but a -small cluster of these pale, cloud-like leaves, scarcely a handful in -all, yet the tree withers when they pluck the heart of it. It is the -very soul of the southern palm, with every life spiritualized, and -looking vapoury as tangible moonlight. - -The leader of the concert having challenged the choruses from the -verandah of the palace, at once twenty choirs struck into their -particular anthem with the utmost zeal. A discord about six acres in -extent was the result. It seemed as though each choir was seeking whom -it might drown out with superior vocal compass and volume. With much -difficulty the several bands of singers were persuaded to await their -turn for a _solo_ effort that might be listened to with no small degree -of pleasure. From time to time, during the entire evening, some -obstreperous chorus would break loose, spite of every precaution; and it -had always to sing itself out before order could be restored. Taboo -would have thoroughly enjoyed these two thousand singers, each singing -his or her favourite roundelay, independent of all laws of time and -melody. He might have been there, as it was, offering his inharmonious -chant with the mob of contestants. - -By the time the series of prize-songs had been sung, the sky grew -cloudy, and the torches began to flicker in the increasing wind; a few -great drops of rain spat down in the midst of the singers, and the reef -moaned loudly, like the baying of signal guns. It was ominous of coming -storms. At the climax of a choral revolution, in which every man's voice -seemed raised against his neighbour's, a roar as of approaching armies -was heard mingled with the accompanying crash of artillery. A sudden -puff of wind extinguished the major part of the torches, and wrecked -many of the lanterns in the palace porch. It was simply a tropical -shower in all its magnificence; but it was enough! The _fete_ concluded -then and there in the promptest manner. The narrow streets of Papeete -were clogged with retreating hosts, who continually shouted a sort of -general adieu to everybody, as they gathered their skirts about them, -and, with shoes in hand, turned their bare feet homeward. - -Since the end had at last come, and I had no further claims upon the -people, nor the people upon me,--if, indeed, either of us were ever -anything in particular to one another,--I drifted with the majority, and -soon found myself in the suburban wilderness that girdles the small -capital of the queendom. I wandered on till the noise of the revellers -grew more and more indistinct. They were scattering themselves over the -length and breadth of the island, carrying their songs with them. Now -and then a fresh gust of wind bore down to me an echo of a refrain that -had grown familiar during the days of the _fete_, and will not soon be -forgotten; but the past was rapidly fading, and the necessities of the -future began to present themselves with unusual boldness. Instinctively -I turned into the winding trail that once before had led me toward that -mysterious mountain sacristy, over whose font fell the spiritual and -dream-like rivulet whose baptismal virtues Taboo and I had sought -together. I felt certain that I could find it without guidance; for the -broken clouds let slip such floods of moonlight as made day of darkness, -and rendered the smallest landmark easily distinguishable. - -I paused for rest in the bread-fruit grove where first I met with my -weird companion. Presently I resumed my pilgrimage, wending my way -toward the slender path that led through fern, forest, and -bamboo-jungle, to the crystal lake and waterfall. In vain I sought it; -the slightest traces of the trail seemed obliterated. I wandered up and -down the winding way, till I was in despair of finding the slightest -clue to the mystery. I sat down and thought how a slight accident of -forgetfulness was lending a sense of enchantment to the whole valley, -when I heard a stumbling step, too marked to be soon forgotten. I crept -into a shadow, and awaited the approach of the solitary wanderer. How he -tottered as he drew near! He seemed to have lost part of his small skill -since I last saw him. He was laughing quietly to himself while he -journeyed: perhaps some memory of the _fete_ still pleased him. He -passed me, unconscious of my presence. I ran cautiously, and followed -him at a safe distance. We threaded the old path, by stream and cliff -and brake, and, after a little, reached the secluded and silent borders -of the lake. Once or twice he had heard me as I brushed past the bamboos -or a twig snapped under foot, but those forest-sounds scarcely -disconcerted him; he was too well used to them. He paused at the margin -of the lake, stooped awkwardly and drank of it, went a little to one -side where an outlet fed the torrent we had forded some distance down -the valley, and there he bathed. Having started once or twice, as though -with some remembered and definite purpose, he paused a moment or two, -looked about him helplessly, and returned to the foot of the great tree -where we slept the first night of our acquaintance. - -There was a faint suggestion of the fall across the sombre breast of the -cliff opposite, but whether it were real or a delusion, I could scarcely -determine. Taboo was soon asleep among the roots of the banyan; and I, -weary of seeking some revelation of the island mysteries, lay down near -him, and gradually sank into unconsciousness. Once in the night I awoke: -the clouds had blown over, and the moon was more resplendent than I ever -remember to have seen it. Out on the mossy rim of the lake stood Taboo, -gazing wistfully upon the mountains. Instinctively my eyes followed his, -and there I beheld the waterfall in all its glory, leaping, like a ray -of light, from the bosom of the sky. I could scarcely determine whether -or no it really fell into the lake, for the foliage about its shores was -too profuse. It flashed like handfuls of diamond-dust thrown into the -light, and descended as noiselessly and airily as vapour. - -The clouds soon gathered again. I slept, overcome with weariness; and -when I awoke at dawn, Taboo was missing, as well as all traces of the -fall. This, however, scarcely surprised me, for I had grown to look upon -it as some lunar effect that came and went with the increasing or -decreasing splendour of the moon; or it might have been the short-lived -offspring of the showers that sweep over the island at uncertain -intervals. It was probably the only dramatic result to be looked for in -the career of Taboo. You never can depend upon one of those veering -minds, whose north-star has burned out in oblivion. I believe it was his -destiny to disappear with that rainbow, and, perhaps, return with it -when the fall should noiselessly steal down the mountain once more. - -He may have had an object in secreting himself for a season; perhaps he -was renewing his youthful innocence in some more solitary spot. He may -have gone apart to laugh by the hour at the folly of those foreigners -who _fete_ a disgraced emperor; or was he making his queer noises to -hear the queerer echoes that came back to him, and all the while caring -no more for life or death than a parrot or a magpie, or even a poor, -half-shapen soul,--one of those sacred idiots that have found -worshippers before now, and never yet failed to awaken a chord of -sympathy in the heart that is fashioned after the Divine pattern of the -Son of God? - - - - -JOE OF LAHAINA. - - -I. - -I was stormed in at Lahaina. Now, Lahaina is a little slice of -civilization, beached on the shore of barbarism. One can easily stand -that little of it, for brown and brawny heathendom becomes more -wonderful and captivating by contrast. So I was glad of dear, drowsy, -little Lahaina; and was glad, also, that she had but one broad street, -which possibly led to destruction, and yet looked lovely in the -distance. It didn't matter to me that the one broad street had but one -side to it; for the sea lapped over the sloping sands on its lower edge, -and the sun used to set right in the face of every solitary citizen of -Lahaina, just as he went to supper. - -I was waiting to catch a passage in a passing schooner, and that's why I -came there; but the schooner flashed by us in a great gale from the -south, and so I was stormed in indefinitely. - -It was Holy Week, and I concluded to go to housekeeping, because it -would be so nice to have my frugal meals in private, to go to mass and -vespers daily, and then to come back and feel quite at home. My villa -was suburban,--built of dried grasses on the model of a hay-stack, dug -out in the middle, with doors and windows let into the four sides -thereof. It was planted in the midst of a vineyard, with avenues -stretching in all directions, under a network of stems and tendrils. - - "Her breath is sweeter than the sweet winds - That breathe over the grape-blossoms of Lahaina." - -So the song said; and I began to think upon the surpassing sweetness of -that breath, as I inhaled the sweet winds of Lahaina, while the -wilderness of its vineyards blossomed like the rose. I used to sit in my -verandah and turn to Joe (Joe was my private and confidential servant), -and I would say to Joe, while we scented the odour of grape, and saw the -great banana-leaves waving their cambric sails, and heard the sea -moaning in the melancholy distance,--I would say to him, "Joe, -housekeeping is good fun, isn't it?" Whereupon Joe would utter a sort of -unanimous Yes, with his whole body and soul; so that question was -carried triumphantly, and we would relapse into a comfortable silence, -while the voices of the wily singers down on the city front would -whisper to us, and cause us to wonder what they could possibly be doing -at that moment in the broad way that led to destruction. Then we would -take a drink of cocoa-milk, and finish our bananas, and go to bed, -because we had nothing else to do. - -This is the way that we began our co-operative housekeeping: One night, -when there was a riotous sort of a festival off in a retired valley, I -saw, in the excited throng of natives who were going mad over their -national dance, a young face that seemed to embody a whole tropical -romance. On another night, when a lot of us were bathing in the -moonlight, I saw a figure so fresh and joyous that I began to realize -how the old Greeks could worship mere physical beauty and forget its -higher forms. Then I discovered that face on this body,--a rare enough -combination,--and the whole constituted Joe, a young scapegrace who was -schooling at Lahaina, under the eye--not a very sharp one--of his uncle. -When I got stormed in, and resolved on housekeeping for a season, I took -Joe, bribing his uncle to keep the peace, which he promised to do, -provided I gave bonds for Joe's irreproachable conduct while with me. I -willingly gave bonds--verbal ones--for this was just what I wanted of -Joe: namely, to instil into his youthful mind those counsels which, if -rigorously followed, must result in his becoming a true and unterrified -American. This compact settled, Joe took up his bed,--a roll of -mats,--and down we marched to my villa, and began housekeeping in good -earnest. - -We soon got settled, and began to enjoy life, though we were not without -occasional domestic infelicities. For instance, Joe would wake up in the -middle of the night, declaring to me that it _was_ morning, and -thereupon insist upon sweeping out at once, and in the most vigorous -manner. Having filled the air with dust, he would rush off to the -baker's for our hot rolls and a pat of breakfast butter, leaving me, -meantime, to recover as I might. Having settled myself for a comfortable -hour's reading, bolstered up in a luxurious fashion, Joe would enter -with breakfast, and orders to the effect that it be eaten at once and -without delay. It was useless for me to remonstrate with him: he was -tyrannical. - -He involved me in all manner of difficulties. It was Holy Week, and I -had resolved upon going to mass and vespers daily. I went. The soft -night-winds floated in through the latticed windows of the chapel, and -made the candles flicker upon the altar. The little throng of natives -bowed in the impressive silence, and were deeply moved. It was rest for -the soul to be there; yet, in the midst of it, while the Father, with -his pale, sad face, gave his instructions, to which we listened as -attentively as possible,--for there was something in his manner and his -voice that made us better creatures,--while we listened, in the midst of -it I heard a shrill little whistle, a sort of chirp, that I knew -perfectly well. It was Joe, sitting on a cocoa-stump in the garden -adjoining, and beseeching me to come out, right off. When service was -over, I remonstrated with him for his irreverence. "Joe," I said, "if -you have no respect for religion yourself, respect those who are more -fortunate than you." But Joe was dressed in his best, and quite wild at -the entrancing loveliness of the night. "Let's walk a little," said Joe, -covered with fragrant wreaths, and redolent of cocoanut-oil. What could -I do? If I had tried to do anything to the contrary, he might have taken -me and thrown me away somewhere into a well, or a jungle, and then I -could no longer hope to touch the chord of remorse,--which chord I -sought vainly, and which I have since concluded was not in Joe's -physical corporation at all. So we walked a little. In vain I strove to -break Joe of the shocking habit of whistling me out at vespers. He would -persist in doing it. Moreover, during the day he would collect crusts of -bread and banana-skins, station himself in ambush behind the curtain of -the window next the lane, and, as some solitary creature strode solemnly -past, Joe would discharge a volley of ammunition over him, and then -laugh immoderately at his indignation and surprise. Joe was my pet -elephant, and I was obliged to play with him very cautiously. - -One morning he disappeared. I was without the consolations of a -breakfast, even. I made my toilet, went to my portmanteau for my -purse,--for I had decided upon a visit to the baker,--when lo! part of -my slender means had mysteriously disappeared. Joe was gone, and the -money also. All day I thought about it. In the morning, after a very -long and miserable night, I woke up, and when I opened my eyes, there, -in the doorway, stood Joe, in a brand-new suit of clothes, including -boots and hat. He was gorgeous beyond description, and seemed overjoyed -to see me, and as merry as though nothing unusual had happened. I was -quite startled at this apparition. "Joseph!" I said in my severest -tones, and then turned over and looked away from him. Joe evaded the -subject in the most delicate manner, and was never so interesting as at -that moment. He sang his specialities, and played clumsily upon his -bamboo flute,--to soothe me, I suppose,--and wanted me to eat a whole -flat pie which he had brought home as a peace-offering, buttoned tightly -under his jacket. I saw I must strike at once, if I struck at all; so I -said, "Joe, what on earth did you do with that money?" Joe said he had -replenished his wardrobe, and bought the flat pie especially for me. -"Joseph," I said, with great dignity, "do you know that you have been -stealing, and that it is highly sinful to steal, and may result in -something unpleasant in the world to come?" Joe said, "Yes," pleasantly, -though I hardly think he meant it; and then he added, mildly, "that he -couldn't lie,"--which was a glaring falsehood,--"but wanted me to be -sure that he took the money, and so had come back to tell me." - -"Joseph," I said, "you remind me of our noble Washington"; and, to my -amazement, Joe was mortified. He didn't, of course, know who Washington -was, but he suspected that I was ridiculing him. He came to the bed and -haughtily insisted upon my taking the little change he had received from -his customers, but I implored him to keep it, as I had no use at all for -it, and, as I assured him, I much preferred hearing it jingle in his -pocket. - -The next day I sailed out of Lahaina, and Joe came to the beach with his -new trousers tucked into his new boots, while he waved his new hat -violently in a final adieu, much to the envy and admiration of a score -of hatless urchins, who looked upon Joe as the glass of fashion, and but -little lower than the angels. When I entered the boat to set sail, a -tear stood in Joe's bright eye, and I think he was really sorry to part -with me; and I don't wonder at it, because our housekeeping experiences -were new to him,--and, I may add, not unprofitable. - - -II. - -Some months of mellow and beautiful weather found me wandering here and -there among the islands, when the gales came on again, and I was driven -about homeless, and sometimes friendless, until, by-and-by, I heard of -an opportunity to visit Molokai,--an island seldom visited by the -tourist,--where, perhaps, I could get a close view of a singularly sad -and interesting colony of lepers. - -The whole island is green, but lonely. As you ride over its excellent -turnpike, you see the ruins of a nation that is passing, like a shadow, -out of sight. Deserted garden-patches, crumbling walls, and roofs -tumbled into the one state-chamber of the house, while knots of long -grass wave at half-mast in the chinks and crannies. A land of great -traditions, of magic, and witchcraft, and spirits. A fertile and -fragrant solitude. How I enjoyed it; and yet how it was all telling upon -me, in its own way! One cannot help feeling sad there, for he seems to -be living and moving in a long reverie, out of which he dreads to awaken -to a less pathetic life. I rode a day or two among the solemn and -reproachful ruins with inexpressible complacence, and, having finally -climbed a series of verdant and downy hills, and ridden for twenty -minutes in a brisk shower, came suddenly upon the brink of a great -precipice, three thousand feet in the air. My horse instinctively braced -himself, and I nervously jerked the bridle square up to my breast-bone, -as I found we were poised between heaven and earth, upon a trembling -pinnacle of rock. A broad peninsular was stretched below me, covered -with grassy hills; here and there clusters of brown huts were visible, -and to the right, the white dots of houses to which I was hastening, for -that was the leper village. To that spot were the wandering and -afflicted tribes brought home to die. Once descending the narrow stairs -in the cliff under me, never again could they hope to strike their tents -and resume their pilgrimage; for the curse was on them, and necessity -had narrowed down their sphere of action to this compass,--a solitary -slope between sea and land, with the invisible sentinels of Fear and -Fate for ever watching its borders. - -I seemed to be looking into a fiery furnace, wherein walked the living -bodies of those whom Death had already set his seal upon. What a mockery -it seemed to be climbing down that crag,--through wreaths of vine, and -under leafy cataracts breaking into a foam of blossoms a thousand feet -below me; swinging aside the hanging parasites that obstructed the -narrow way,--entering the valley of death, and the very mouth of hell, -by these floral avenues! - -A brisk ride of a couple of miles across the breadth of the peninsula -brought me to the gate of the keeper of the settlement, and there I -dismounted, and hastened into the house, to be rid of the curious crowd -that had gathered to receive me. The little cottage was very -comfortable, my host and hostess friends of precious memory; and with -them I felt at once at home, and began the new life that every one -begins when the earth seems to have been suddenly transformed into some -better or worse world, and he alone survives the transformation. - -Have you never had such an experience? Then go into the midst of a -community of lepers; have ever before your eyes their Gorgon-like faces; -see the horrors, hardly to be recognized as human, that grope about you; -listen in vain for the voices that have been hushed for ever by decay; -breathe the tainted atmosphere; and bear ever in mind that, while they -hover about you,--forbidden to touch you, yet longing to clasp once more -a hand that is perfect and pure,--the insidious seeds of the malady may -be generating in your vitals, and your heart, even then, be drunk with -death! - -I might as well confess that I slept indifferently the first night; that -I was not entirely free from nervousness the next day, as I passed -through the various wards assigned to patients in every stage of -decomposition. But I recovered myself in time to observe the admirable -system adopted by the Hawaiian government for the protection of its -unfortunate people. I used to sit by the window and see the processions -of the less afflicted come for little measures of milk, morning and -evening. Then there was a continuous raid upon the ointment-pot, with -the contents of which they delighted to anoint themselves. Trifling -disturbances sometimes brought the plaintiff and defendant to the front -gate, for final judgment at the hands of their beloved keeper. And it -was a constant entertainment to watch the progress of events in that -singular little world of doomed spirits. They were not unhappy. I used -to hear them singing every evening: their souls were singing while their -bodies were falling rapidly to dust. They continued to play their games, -as well as they could play them with the loss of a finger joint or a -toe, from week to week: it is thus gradually and thus slowly that they -died, feeling their voices growing fainter and their strength less, as -the idle days passed over them and swept them to the tomb. - -Sitting at the window on the second evening, as the patients came up for -milk, I observed one of them watching me intently, and apparently trying -to make me understand something or other, but what that something was I -could not guess. He rushed to the keeper and talked excitedly with him -for a moment, and then withdrew to one side of the gate and waited till -the others were served with their milk, still watching me all the while. -Then the keeper entered and told me how I had a friend out there who -wished to speak with me,--some one who had seen me somewhere, he -supposed, but whom I would hardly remember. It was their way never to -forget a face they had once become familiar with. Out I went. There was -a face I could not have recognized as anything friendly or human. Knots -of flesh stood out upon it; scar upon scar disfigured it. The expression -was like that of a mummy, stony and withered. The outlines of a youthful -figure were preserved, but the hands and feet were pitiful to look at. -What was this ogre that knew me and loved me still? - -He soon told me who he once had been, but was no longer. Our little, -unfortunate "Joe," my Lahaina charge. In his case the disease had spread -with fearful rapidity: the keeper thought he could hardly survive the -year. Many linger year after year, and cannot die; but Joe was more -fortunate. His life had been brief and passionate, and death was now -hastening him to his dissolution. - -Joe was forbidden to come near me, so he crouched down by the fence, and -pressing his hands between the pickets sifted the dust at my feet, while -he wailed in a low voice, and called me, over and over, "dear friend," -"good friend," and "master." I wish I had never seen him so humbled. To -think of my disreputable little _protege_, who was wont to lord it over -me as though he had been a born chief,--to think of Joe as being there -in his extremity, grovelling in the dust at my feet; forbidden to climb -the great wall of flowers that towered between him and his beautiful -world, while the rough sea lashed the coast about him, and his only -companions were such hideous foes as would frighten one out of a dream! - -How I wanted to get close to him! but I dared not; so we sat there with -the slats of the fence between us, while we talked very long in the -twilight; and I was glad when it grew so dark that I could no longer see -his face,--his terrible face, that came to kill the memory of his former -beauty. - -And Joe wondered whether I still remembered how we used to walk in the -night, and go home, at last, to our little house when Lahaina was as -still as death, and you could almost hear the great stars throbbing in -the clear sky! How well I remembered it, and the day when we went a long -way down the beach, and, looking back, saw a wide curve of the land -cutting the sea like a sickle, and turning up a white and shining swath! -Then, in another place, a grove of cocoa-palms and a melancholy, -monastic-looking building, with splendid palm-branches in its broad -windows; for it was just after Palm Sunday, and the building belonged to -a Sisterhood. And I remembered how the clouds fell and the rain drove -as into a sudden shelter, and we ate tamarind-jam, spread thick on thin -slices of bread, and were supremely happy. In this connection, I could -not forget how Joe became very unruly about that time, and I got -mortified, and found great difficulty in getting him home at all; and -yet the memory of it would have been perfect but for this fate. O Joe! -my poor, dear, terrible cobra! to think that I should ever be afraid to -look into your face in my life! - -Joe wanted to call to my mind one other reminiscence,--a night when we -two walked to the old wharf, and went out to the end of it, and sat -there looking inland, watching the inky waves slide up and down the -beach, while the full moon rose over the superb mountains where the -clouds were heaped like wool, and the very air seemed full of utterances -that you could almost hear and understand but for something that made -all a mystery. I tried then, if ever I tried in my life, to make Joe a -little less bad than he was naturally, and he seemed nearly inclined to -be better, and would, I think, have been so, but for the thousand -temptations that gravitated to him when we got on solid earth again. He -forgot my precepts then, and I'm afraid I forgot them myself. Joe -remembered that night vividly. I was touched to hear him confess it; and -I pray earnestly that that one moment may plead for him in the last day, -if, indeed, he needs any special plea other than that Nature has -published for her own. - -"Sing for me, Joe," said I; and Joe, still crouching on the other side -of the lattice, sang some of his old songs. One of them, a popular -melody, was echoed through the little settlement, where faint voices -caught up the chorus, and the night was wildly and weirdly musical. We -walked by the sea the next day, and the day following that, Joe taking -pains to stay on the leeward side of me,--he was so careful to keep the -knowledge of his fate uppermost in his mind: how could I dismiss it from -my own, when it was branded in his countenance? The desolated beauty of -his face pleaded for measureless pity, and I gave it, out of my -prodigality, yet felt that I could not begin to give sufficient. - -Link by link he was casting off his hold on life; he was no longer a -complete being; his soul was prostrated in the miry clay, and waited, in -agony, its long deliverance. - -In leaving the leper village, I had concluded to say nothing to Joe, -other than the usual "_aloha_" at night, when I could ride off, in the -darkness, and, sleeping at the foot of the cliff, ascend it in the first -light of the morning, and get well on my journey before the heat of the -day. We took a last walk by the rocks on the shore; heard the sea -breathing its long breath under the hollow cones of lava, with a noise -like a giant leper in his asthmatic agony. Joe heard it, and laughed a -little, and then grew silent; and finally said he wanted to leave the -place,--he hated it; he loved Lahaina dearly: how was everybody in -Lahaina?--a question he had asked me hourly since my arrival. - -When night came I asked Joe to sing, as usual; so he gathered his mates -about him, and they sang the songs I liked best. The voices rang, -sweeter than ever, up from the group of singers congregated a few rods -off, in the darkness; and while they sang, my horse was saddled, and I -quietly bade adieu to my dear friends, the keepers, and mounting, walked -the horse slowly up the grass-grown road. I shall never see little Joe -again, with his pitiful face, growing gradually as dreadful as a -cobra's, and almost as fascinating in its hideousness. I waited, a -little way off, in the darkness, waited and listened, till the last song -was ended, and I knew he would be looking for me, to say _Good-night_. -But he didn't find me; and he will never again find me in this life, for -I left him sitting in the dark door of his sepulchre,--sitting and -singing in the mouth of his grave,--clothed all in death. - - - - -THE NIGHT-DANCERS OF WAIPIO. - - -The afternoon sun was tinting the snowy crest of Mauna Kea, and folds of -shadow were draping the sea-washed eastern cliffs of Hawaii, as Felix -and I endeavoured to persuade our fagged steeds that they must go and -live, or stay and die in the middle of a lava-trail by no means -inviting. As we rode, we thought of the scandal that had so recently -regaled our too willing ears: here it is, in a mild solution, to be -taken with three parts of disbelief. - -Two venerable and warm-hearted missionaries, whose good works seemed to -have found dissimilar expression, equally effective, I trust, proved -their specialties to be church-building. - -Rev. Mr. A seemed to think the more the merrier, and his pretty little -meeting-houses looked as though they had been baked in the lot, like a -sheet of biscuits; while Rev. Mr. B condensed his efforts into the -consummation of one resplendent edifice. Mr. A was always wondering why -Mr. B should waste his money in a single church, while Mr. B was -nonplussed at seeing Mr. A break out in a rash of diminutive chapels. -Well, Felix and I were riding northward up the coast, over dozens and -dozens of lovely ridges; through scores of deep gullies cushioned with -ferns as high as our pommels, and fording numberless streams, white with -froth and hurry, eagerly seeking the most exquisite valley in the -Pacific, as some call it. We rode till we were tired out twenty times -over; again and again we looked forward to the bit of Mardi-life we were -about to experience in the vale of the Waipio, while now and then we -passed one of Mr. A's pretty little churches. Once we were impatient -enough to make inquiry of a native who was watching our progress with -considerable emotion: there is always some one to watch you when you are -wishing yourself at the North Pole. Our single spectator affected an air -of gravity, and seemed quite interested as he said, "Go six or seven -churches farther on that trail, and you'll come to Waipio." On we went -with renewed spirits, for the churches were frequent, almost within -sight of each other. But we faltered presently and lost our reckoning, -they were so much alike. Again we asked our way of a solitary watcher on -a hill-top, who had had his eye upon us ever since we rose above the rim -of the third ridge back: he revealed to us the glad fact that we were -only two churches from Paradise! How we tore over the rest of that -straight and narrow way with the little the left to us, and came in -finally all of a foam, fairly jumping the last mite of a chapel that -hung upon the brink of the beautiful valley like a swallow's nest! And -down we dropped into fifty fathoms of the sweetest twilight -imaginable,--so sweet it seemed to have been born of a wilderness of the -night-blooming cereus and fed for ever on jasmine buds. - -There were shelter and refreshment for two hungry souls, and we slid out -of our saddles as though we had been boned expressly for a cannibal -feast. - -By this time the rosy flush on Mauna Kea had faded, and its superb brow -was pale with an unearthly pallor. "Come in," said the host; and he led -us under the thatched gable, that was fragrant as new-mown hay. There we -sat, "in," as he called it, though there was never a side to the concern -thicker than a shadow. - -A stream flowed noiselessly at our feet. Canoes drifted by us, with -dusky and nude forms bowed over the paddles. Each occupant greeted us, -being guests in the valley, just lifting their slumberous -eyelids,--masked batteries, that made Felix forget his danger; they -seldom paused, but called back to us from the gathering darkness with -inexpressibly tender, contralto voices. - -In another apartment screened with vines we found our dinner ready. The -faint nicker of the tapers suggested that what breath of air might be -stirring came from the mountain, and it brought with it a message from -the orangery up the valley. "How will you take your oranges?" queried -Felix; "in pulp, liquid, or perfume?"--and such a dense odour swept past -us at the moment, I thought I had taken them in the triple forms. "You -are just in time," said our host. "Why, what's up?" asked I. "The moon -will be up presently, and after moonrise you shall see the _hula-hula_." - -Felix desired to be enlightened as to the nature of the -what-you-call-it, and was assured that it was worth seeing, and would -require no explanatory chorus when its hour came. - -It was at least a mile to the scene of action; a tortuous stream wound -thither, navigable in spots, but from time to time the canoe would have -to take to the banks for a short cut into deeper water. - -"I can never get there," growled Felix; "I'm full of needles and pins;" -to which the host responded by excusing himself for a few moments, -leaving Felix and me alone. It was deathly still in the valley, though a -thousand crickets sang, and the fish smacked their round mouths at the -top of the water. Evening comes slowly in those beloved tropics, but it -comes so satisfactorily that there is nothing left out. - -A moonlight night is a continuous festival. The natives sing and dance -till daybreak, making it all up by sleeping till the next twilight. -Nothing is lost by this ingenious and admirable arrangement. Why should -they sleep, when a night there has the very essence of five nights -anywhere else, extracted and enriched with spices till it is so -inspiring that the soul cries out in triumph, and the eyes couldn't -sleep if they would? - -At this period, enter to us the host, with several young native girls, -who seat themselves at our feet, clasping each a boot-leg encasing the -extremities of Felix and myself. - -Felix kicked violently, and left the room with some embarrassment, and I -appealed to the hospitable gentleman of the house, who was smiling -somewhat audibly at our perplexity. - -He assured me that if I would throw myself upon the mats in the corner, -two of these maids would speedily relieve me of any bodily pain I might -at that moment be suffering with. - -I did so: the two proceeded as set down in the verbal prospectus; and -whatever bodily pain I may have possessed at the beginning of the -process speedily dwindled into insignificance by comparison with the -tortures of my novel cure. Every limb had to be unjointed and set over -again. Places were made for new joints, and I think the new joints were -temporarily set in, for my arms and legs went into angles I had never -before seen them in, nor have I since been able to assume those -startling attitudes. The stomach was then kneaded like dough. The ribs -were crushed down against the spine, and then forced out by -well-directed blows in the back. The spinal column was undoubtedly -abstracted, and some mechanical substitute now does its best to help me -through the world. The arms were tied in bow-knots behind, and the skull -cracked like the shell of a hard-boiled egg, worked into shape again, -and left to heal. - -By this time I was unconscious, and for an hour my sleep promised to be -eternal. I must have lain flat on the matting, without a curve in me, -when Nature, taking pity, gradually let me rise and assume my own -proportions, as though a little leaven had been mixed in my making over. - -The awakening was like coming from a bath of the elements. I breathed to -the tips of my toes. Perfumes penetrated me till I was saturated with -them. I felt a thousand years younger; and as I looked back upon the old -life I seemed to have risen from, I thought of it much as a butterfly -must think of his grub-hood, and was in the act of expanding my wings, -when I saw Felix, just recovering, a few feet from me, apparently as -ecstatic as myself. I never dared to ask him how he was reduced to -submission, for I little imagined he could so far forget himself. There -are some sudden and inexplicable revolutions in the affairs of humanity -that should not be looked into too closely, because a chaotic chasm -yawns between the old man and the new, which no one has ever yet -explored. Felix sprang to his feet like Prometheus unbound, and embraced -me with fervour, as one might after a hair-breadth escape, exclaiming, -"Did you ever see anything like it, Old Boy?" to which the Old Boy, thus -familiarly addressed (O. B. is a pet monogram of mine, designed and -frequently executed by Felix), responded, "There wasn't much to see, but -my feelings were past expression." "What's its name?" asked Felix. "I -think they call it _lomi-lomi_," said I. "Pass _lomi-lomi_!" shouted -Felix; and then we both roared again, which summoned the host, who -congratulated us and invited us to his canoe. - -Felix again endeavoured to fathom the mysteries of the _hula-hula_. Was -it something to eat?--did they keep it tied in the daytime?--what was -its colour? etc., till the amused gentleman who was conducting us to an -exhibition of the great Unknown nearly capsized our absurdly narrow -canoe in the very deepest part of the creek. Bands of fishermen and -women passed us, wading breast-high in the water, beating it into a foam -before them, and singing at the top of their voices as they drove the -fish down stream into a broad net a few rods below. Grass-houses, half -buried in foliage, lined the mossy banks; while the dusky groups of -women and children, clustering about the smouldering flames that -betokened the preparation of the evening meal, added not a little to the -poetry of twilight in the tropics. - -Felix thought he would like to turn Kanaka on the spot; so we beached -the canoe, and approached the fire, built on a hollow stone under a -tamarind-tree, and were at once offered the cleanest mat to sit on, and -a calabash of _poi_ for our refreshment. How to eat paste without a -spoon was the next question. The whole family volunteered to show us; -drew up around the calabash in a hungry circle, and dipped in with a -vengeance. Six right hands spread their first and second fingers like -sign-boards pointing to a focus in the very centre of that _poi_-paste; -six fists dove simultaneously, and were buried in the luscious mass. -There was a spasmodic working in the elbows, an effort to come to the -top, and in a moment the hands were lifted aloft in triumph, and seemed -to be tracing half a dozen capital O's in the transparent air, during -which manoeuvre the mass of _poi_ adhering to the fingers assumed fair -proportions, resembling, to a remarkable degree, large, white swellings; -whereupon they were immediately conveyed to the several mouths, -instinctively getting into the right one, and, having discharged -freight, reappeared as good as ever, if not better than before. - -"Disgusting!" gasped Felix, as he returned to the water-side. I thought -him unreasonable in his harsh judgment, assuring him that our own flour -was fingered as often before it came, at last, to our lips in the form -of bread. "Moreover," I added, "this _poi_ is glutinous: the moment a -finger enters it, a thin coating adheres to the skin, and that finger -may wander about the calabash all day without touching another particle -of the substance. Therefore, six or sixteen fellows fingering in one -dish for dinner are in reality safer than we, who eat steaks that have -been mesmerized under the hands of the butcher and the cook." - -Felix scorned to reply, but breathed a faint prayer for a safe return to -Chicago, as we slid into the middle of the stream, and resumed our -course. - -The boughs of densely-leaved trees reached out to one another across the -water. We proceeded with more caution as the channel grew narrow; and -pressing through a submerged thicket of reeds, we routed a flock of -water-fowls that wheeled overhead on heavy wings, filling the valley -with their clamour. - -Two or three dogs barked sleepily off somewhere in the darkness, and the -voice of some one calling floated to us as clear as a bird's note, -though we knew it must be far away. We strode through a cane-field, its -smoky plumes just tipped with moonlight, and saw the pinnacle of Mauna -Kea, as spacious and splendid as the fairy pavilion that Nourgihan -brought to Pari-Banou, illuminated as for a festival. To the left, a -stream fell from the cliff, a ribbon of gauze fluttering noiselessly in -the wind. - -"O, look!" said Felix, who had yielded again to the influences of -Nature. Looking, I saw the moon resting upon the water for a moment, -while the dew seemed actually to drip from her burnished disc. Again -Felix exclaimed, or was on the point of exclaiming, when he checked -himself in awe. I ran to him, and was silent with him, while we two -stood worshipping one stately palm that rested its glorious head upon -the glowing bosom of the moon, like the Virgin in the radiant auroela. - -"Well," said our host, "supposing we get along!" We got along, by land -and water, into a village in an orange-grove. There was a subdued murmur -of many voices. I think the whole community would have burst out into a -song of some sort at the slightest provocation. On we paced, in Indian -file, through narrow lanes, under the shining leaves. Pale blossoms -rained down upon us, and the air was oppressively sweet. Groups of -natives sat in the lanes, smoking and laughing. Lovers made love in the -face of heaven, utterly unconscious of any human presence. Felix grew -nervous, and proposed withdrawing; but whither, O Felix, in all these -islands, wouldst thou hope to find love unrequited, or lovers shamefaced -withal? Much Chicago hath made thee mad! - -Through a wicket we passed, where a sentinel kept ward. Within the -bamboo paling, a swarm of natives gathered about us, first questioning -the nature of our visit, which having proved entirely satisfactory, we -were welcomed in real earnest, and offered a mat in an inner room of a -large house, rather superior to the average, and a disagreeable -liquor,--brewed of oranges, very intoxicating when not diluted, and -therefore popular. - -We were evidently the lions of the hour, for we sat in the centre of the -first row of spectators who were gathered to witness the _hula-hula_. We -reclined as gracefully as possible upon our mats, supported by plump -pillows, stuffed with dried ferns. Slender rushes--strung with -_kukui_-nuts, about the size of chestnuts, and very oily--were planted -before us like footlights, which, being lighted at the top, burned -slowly downward, till the whole were consumed, giving a good flame for -several hours. - -The great mat upon the floor before us was the stage. On one side of it -a half-dozen muscular fellows were squatted, with large calabashes -headed with tightly-drawn goat skins. These were the drummers and -singers, who could beat nimbly with their fingers, and sing the epics of -their country, to the unceasing joy of all listeners. "It's an opera!" -shouted Felix, in a frenzy of delight at his discovery. A dozen -performers entered, sitting in two lines, face to face,--six women and -six men. Each bore a long joint of bamboo, slit at one end like a broom. -Then began a singularly intricate exercise, called _pi-ulu_. Taking a -bamboo in one hand, they struck it in the palm of the other, on the -shoulder, on the floor in front, to left and right; thrust it out before -them, and were parried by the partners opposite; crossed it over and -back, and turned in a thousand ways to a thousand metres, varied with -chants and pauses. "Then it's a pantomime," added Felix, getting -interested in the unusual skill displayed. For half an hour or more the -thrashing of the bamboos was prolonged, while we were hopelessly -confused in our endeavours to follow the barbarous harmony, which was -never broken nor disturbed by the expert and tireless performers. - -During the first rest, liquor was served in gourds. Part of the company -withdrew to smoke, and the conversation became general and noisy. Felix -was enthusiastic, and drank the health of some of the younger members of -the _troupe_ who had offered him the gourd. - -A rival company then repeated the _pi-ulu_, with some additions; the -gourds were again filled and emptied. "Now for the _hula-hula_," said -the host, who had imbibed with Felix, though he reserved his enthusiasm -for something less childish than _pi-ulu_. It is the national dance, -taught to all children by their parents, but so difficult to excel in -that the few who perfect themselves can afford to travel on this one -specialty. - -There was a murmur of impatience, speedily checked, and followed by a -burst of applause, as a band of beautiful girls, covered with wreaths of -flowers and vines, entered and seated themselves before us. While the -musicians beat an introductory overture upon the tom-toms, the dancers -proceeded to bind shawls and scarfs about their waists, turban-fashion. -They sat in a line, facing us, a foot or two apart. The loose sleeves of -their dresses were caught up at the shoulder, exposing arms of almost -perfect symmetry, while their bare throats were scarcely hidden by the -necklaces of jasmines that coiled about them. - -Then the leader of the band, who sat, grey-headed and wrinkled, at one -end of the room, throwing back his head, uttered a long, wild, and -shrill guttural,--a sort of invocation to the goddess of the -_hula-hula_. There had, no doubt, been some sort of sacrifice offered in -the early part of the evening,--such as a pig or a fowl,--for the dance -has a religious significance, and is attended by its appropriate -ceremonies. When this clarion cry had ended, the dance began, all -joining in with wonderfully accurate rhythm, the body swaying slowly -backward and forward, to left and right; the arms tossing, or rather -waving, in the air above the head, now beckoning some spirit of light, -so tender and seductive were the emotions of the dancers, so graceful -and free the movements of the wrists; now in violence and fear, they -seemed to repulse a host of devils that hovered invisibly about them. - -The spectators watched and listened breathlessly, fascinated by the -terrible wildness of the song and the monotonous thrumming of the -accompaniment. Presently the excitement increased. Swifter and more -wildly the bare arms beat the air, embracing, as it were, the airy forms -that haunted the dancers, who rose to their knees, and, with astonishing -agility, caused the clumsy turbans about their loins to quiver with an -undulatory motion, increasing or decreasing with the sentiment of the -song and the enthusiasm of the spectators. - -Felix wanted to know "how long they could keep that up and live?" - -Till daybreak, as we found! There was a little resting spell--a very -little resting spell, now and then--for the gourd's sake, or three -whiffs at a pipe that would poison a white man in ten minutes; and -before we half expected it, or had a thought of urging the unflagging -dancers to continue their marvellous gyrations, they were at it in -terrible earnest. - -From the floor to their knees, from their knees to their feet, now -facing us, now turning from us, they spun and ambled, till the ear was -deafened with cheers and boisterous, half-drunken, wholly passionate -laughter. - -The room whirled with the reeling dancers, who seemed encircled with -living serpents in the act of swallowing big lumps of something from -their throats clear to the tip of their tails, and the convulsions -continued till the hysterical dancers staggered and fell to the floor -overcome by unutterable fatigue. - -The sympathetic Felix fell with them, his head sinking under one of the -rush candles, that must have burned into his brain had he been suffered -to immolate himself at that inappropriate and unholy time and place. -This was the seductive dance still practised in secret, though the law -forbids it; and to the Hawaiian it is more beautiful, because more -sensuous, than anything else in the world. - -I proposed departing at this stage of the festival, but Felix said it -was not practicable. He felt unwell, and suggested the efficacy of -another attack of _lomi-lomi_. - -A slight variation in the order of the dances followed. A young lover, -seated in the centre of the room, beat a tattoo upon his calabash and -sang a song of love. In a moment he was answered. Out of the darkness -rose the sweet, shrill voice of the loved one. Nearer and nearer it -approached; the voice rang clear and high, melodiously swelling upon the -air. It must have been heard far off in the valley, it was so plaintive -and penetrating. Secreted at first behind shawls hung in the corner of -the room, some dramatic effect was produced by her entrance at the right -moment. She enacted her part with graceful energy. To the regular and -melancholy thrumming of the calabash, she sang her song of love. -Yielding to her emotion, she did not hesitate to betray all, neither was -he of the calabash slow to respond; and scorning the charms of goat-skin -and gourd, he sprang toward her in the madness of his soul, when she, -having reached the climax of desperation, was hurried from the scene of -her conquest amid whirlwinds of applause. - -"It's a dance, that's what it is!" muttered Felix, as the audience -began slowly to disperse. Leading him back to the canoe, we had the -whole night's orgie reported to us in a very mixed and reiterative -manner, as well as several attempts at illustrating the peculiarities of -the performance, which came near resulting in a watery grave for three, -or an upset canoe, at any rate. Our host, to excuse any impropriety, for -which he felt more or less responsible, said "it was so natural for them -to be jolly under all circumstances, that when they have concluded to -die they make their P.P.C.'s with infinite grace, and then die on time." - -Of coarse they are jolly; and to prove it, I told Felix how the lepers, -who had been banished to one little corner of the kingdom, and forbidden -to leave there in the flesh, were as merry as the merriest, and once -upon a time those decaying remnants of humanity actually gave a grand -ball in their hospital. There was a general clearing out of disabled -patients, and a brushing up of old finery, while the ball itself was -_the_ topic of conversation. Two or three young fellows, who had a few -fingers left (they unjoint and drop off as the disease progresses), -began to pick up a tune or two on bamboo flutes. Old, young, and -middle-aged took a sly turn in some dark corner, getting their stiffened -joints limber again. - -Night came at last. The lamps flamed in the death-chamber of the -lazar-house. Many a rejoicing soul had fled from that foul spot, to -flash its white wings in the eternal sunshine. - -At an early hour the strange company assembled. The wheezing of voices -no longer musical, the shuffling of half-paralyzed limbs over the bare -floor, the melancholy droning of those bamboo flutes, and the wild sea -moaning in the wild night were the sweetest sounds that greeted them. -And while the flutes piped dolorously to this unlovely spectacle, there -was a rushing to and fro of unlovely figures; a bleeding, half-blind -leper, seizing another of the accursed beings,--snatching her, as it -were, from the grave, in all her loathsome clay,--dragged her into the -bewildering maelstrom of the waltz. - -Naturally excitable, heated with exertion, drunk with the very odours of -death that pervaded the hall of revels, that mad crowd reeled through -the hours of the _fete_. Satiated, at last, in the very bitterness of -their unnatural gaiety, they called for the _hula-hula_, as a fitting -close. - -In that reeking atmosphere, heavy with the smoke of half-extinguished -lamps, they fed on the voluptuous _abandon_ of the dancers till passion -itself fainted with exhaustion. - -"That was a dance of death, was it not, Felix?" Felix lay on his mat, -sleeping heavily, and evidently unmindful of a single word I had -uttered. - -Our time was up at daybreak, and, with an endless deal of persuasion, -Felix followed me out of the valley to the little chapel on the cliff. -Our horses took a breath there, and so did we, bird's-eyeing the scene -of the last night's orgie. - -Who says it isn't a delicious spot,--that deep, narrow, and secluded -vale, walled by almost perpendicular cliffs, hung with green tapestries -of ferns and vines; that slender stream, like a thread of silver, -embroidering a carpet of Nature's richest pattern; that torrent, -leaping from the cliff into a garden of citrons; the sea sobbing at its -month, while wary mariners, coasting in summer afternoons, catch -glimpses of the tranquil and forbidden paradise, yet are heedless of all -its beauty, and reck not the rustling of the cane-fields, nor the voices -of the charmers, because--because these things are so common in that -latitude that one grows naturally indifferent? - -As for Felix, who talks in his sleep of the _hula-hula_, and insists -that only by the _lomi-lomi_ he shall be saved, he points a moral, -though at present he is scarcely in a condition to adorn any tale -whatever; and the said moral I shall be glad to furnish, on application, -to any sympathetic soul who has witnessed by proxy the unlawful revels -of those night-dancers of Waipio. - - - - -PEARL-HUNTING IN THE POMOTOUS. - - -The "Great Western" ducked in the heavy swell, shipping her regular -deck-load of salt-water every six minutes. Now the "Great Western" was -nothing more nor than a seventeen-ton schooner, two hours out from -Tahiti. She was built like an old shoe, and shovelled in a head-sea as -though it was her business. - -It was something like sea life, wading along her submerged deck from -morning till night, with a piece of raw junk in one hand and a briny -biscuit in the other; we never _could_ keep a fire in _that_ galley; and -as for hard tack, the sooner it got soaked through the sooner it was off -our minds, for we knew to this complexion it must shortly come. - -Two hours out from Tahiti we settled our course, wafting a theatrical -kiss or two toward the gloriously green pyramid we were turning our -backs on, as it slowly vanished in the blue desert of the sea. - -A thousand palm-crowned and foam-girdled reefs spangle the ocean to the -north and east of Tahiti. This train of lovely satellites is known as -the Dangerous Archipelago, or, more commonly in that latitude, the -Pomotou Islands. It's the very hotbed of cocoa-nut-oil, pearls, -half-famished Kanakas, shells, and ship-wrecks. The currents are rapid -and variable; the winds short, sharp, and equally unreliable. If you -would have adventure, the real article and plenty of it, make your will, -bid farewell to home and friends, and embark for the Pomotous. I started -on this principle, and repented knee-deep in the deck-breakers, as we -butted our way through the billows, bound for one of the Pomotous on a -pearl hunt. - -Three days I sat in sackcloth and salt water. Three nights I swashed in -my greasy bunk, like a solitary sardine in a box with the side knocked -out. In my heart of hearts I prayed for deliverance: you see there is no -backing out of a schooner, unless you crave death in fifty fathoms of -phosphorescent liquid and a grave in a shark's maw. Therefore I prayed -for more wind from the right quarter, for a sea like a boundless -mill-pond; in short, for speedy deliverance on the easiest terms -possible. Notwithstanding, we continued to bang away at the great waves -that crooked their backs under us and hissed frightfully as they -enveloped the "Great Western" with spray until the fourth night out, -when the moon gladdened us and promised much while we held our breath in -anxiety. - -We were looking for land. We'd been looking for three hours, scarcely -speaking all that time. It's a serious matter raising a Pomotou by -moonlight. - -"Land!" squeaked a weak voice about six feet above us. A lank fellow, -with his legs corkscrewed around the shrouds, and his long neck -stretched to windward, where it veered like a weather-cock in a -nor'wester, chuckled as he sang out "Land!" and felt himself a little -lower than Christopher Columbus thereafter. "Where away?" bellowed our -chunky little captain, as important as if he were commanding a grown-up -ship. "Two points on the weather-bow!" piped the lookout, with the voice -of one soaring in space, but unhappily choked in the last word by a -sudden lurch of the schooner that brought him speedily to the deck, -where he lost his identity and became a proper noun, second person -singular, for the rest of the cruise. - -Now, "two points" is an indefinite term that embraces any obstacle ahead -of anything; but the "weather-bow" has been the salvation of many a -craft in her distress; so we gave three cheers for the "weather-bow," -and proceeded to sweep the horizon with unwinking gaze. We could -scarcely tell how near the land might lie; fancied we could already hear -the roar of surf-beaten reefs, and every wave that reared before us -seemed the rounded outline of an island. Of course we shortened sail, -not knowing at what moment we might find ourselves close upon some low -sea-garden nestling under the rim of breakers that fenced it in, and -being morally averse to running it down without warning. - -It was scarcely midnight; the moon was radiant; we were silently -watching, wrapped in the deep mystery that hung over the weather-bow. - -The wind suddenly abated; it was as though it sifted through trees and -came to us subdued with a whisper of fluttering leaves and a breath of -spice. We knew what it meant, and our hearts leaped within us as over -the bow loomed the wave-like outline of shadow that sank not again like -the other waves, neither floated off cloud-like, but seemed to be -bearing steadily down upon us,--a great whale hungry for a modern Jonah. - -What a night it was! We heard the howl of waters now; saw the -palm-boughs glisten in the moonlight, and the glitter and the flash of -foam that fringed the edges of the half-drowned islet. - -It looked for all the world like a grove of cocoa-trees that had waded -out of sight of land, and didn't know which way to turn next. This was -the Ultima Thule of the "Great Western's" voyage, and she seemed to know -it, for she behaved splendidly at last, laying off and on till morning -in fine style, evidently as proud as a ship-of-line. - -I went below and dozed in the cabin, with the low roar of the reef quite -audible; a fellow gets used to such dream-music, and sleeps well to its -accompaniment. - -At daybreak we began beating up against wind and tide, hoping to work -into smooth water by sunrise, which we did easily enough, shaking hands -all around over a cup of thick coffee and molasses as three fathoms of -chain whizzed overboard after a tough little anchor that buried itself -in a dim wilderness of corals and sea-grass. - -Then and there I looked about me with delighted eyes. The "Great -Western" rode at anchor in a shallow lake, whose crystal depths seemed -never to have been agitated by any harsher breath than at that moment -kissed without ruffling its surface. Around us swept an amphitheatre of -hills, covered with a dense growth of tropical foliage and cushioned to -the hem of the beach with thick sod of exquisite tint and freshness. The -narrow rim of beach that sloped suddenly to the tideless margin of the -lake was littered with numberless slender canoes drawn out of the water -like so many fish, as though they would navigate themselves in their -natural element, and they were, therefore, not to be trusted alone too -near it. Around the shore, across the hills, and along the higher ridges -waved innumerable cocoa-palms, planted like a legion of lances about the -encampment of some barbaric prince. - -As for the very blue sky and the very white scud that shot across it, -they looked windy enough; moreover we could all hear the incoherent -booming of the sea upon the reef that encircled our nest. But we forgot -the wind and the waves in the inexpressible repose of that armful of -tropical seclusion. It was a drop of water in a tuft of moss, on a very -big scale; that's just what it was. - -In a few moments, as with one impulse, the canoes took to water with a -savage or two in each, all gravitating to the schooner, which was for -the time being the head-centre of their local commerce; and for an hour -or more we did a big business in the exchange of fish-hooks and fresh -fruit. - -The proportion of canoes at Motu Hilo (Crescent Island) to the natives -of said fragment of Eden was as one to several; but the canoeless could -not resist the superior attraction of a foreign invader, therefore the -rest of the inhabitants went head-first into the lake, and struck out -for the middle, where we peacefully swung at anchor. - -The place was sharky, but a heavy dirk full twenty inches tall was held -between the teeth of the swimmers; and if the smoke-coloured dorsal of -any devil of a shark had dared to cut the placid surface of the water -that morning, he would speedily have had more blades in him than a -farrier's knife. A few vigorous strokes of the arms and legs in the -neighbourhood, a fatal lunge or two, a vermilion cloud in a sea churned -to a cream, and a dance over the gaping corpse of some monster who has -sucked human blood more than once, probably, does the business in that -country. - -It was a sensation for unaccustomed eyes, that inland sea -covered--littered, I might say, with woolly heads, as though a cargo of -cocoanuts had been thrown overboard in a stress of weather. They -gathered about as thick as flies at a honey-pot, all talking, laughing, -and spouting mouthfuls of water into the air, like those impossible -creatures that do that sort of thing by the half-dozen in all high-toned -and classical fountains. - -Out of this amphibious mob one gigantic youth, big enough to eat half -our ship's crew, threw up an arm like Jove's, clinched the deck-rail -with lithe fingers, and took a rest, swinging there with the utmost -satisfaction. - -I asked him aboard, but he scorned to forsake his natural element: water -is as natural as air to those natives. Probably he would have suffered -financially had he attempted boarding us, for his thick back hair was -netted with a kind of spacious nest and filled with eggs on sale. It was -quite astonishing to see the ease with which he navigated under his -heavy deck-load. - -This colossal youth having observed that I was an amateur humanitarian, -virtue received its instant reward (which it does not in all climates), -for he at once offered me three of his eggs in a very winning and -patronizing manner. - -I took the eggs because I like eggs, and then I was anxious to get his -head above water if possible; therefore I unhesitatingly took the eggs, -offering him in return a fish-hook, a tenpenny nail, and a dilapidated -key-ring. - -These tempting _curios_ he spurned, at the same moment reaching me -another handful of eggs. His generosity both pleased and alarmed me. I -saw with joy that his chin was quite out of water in consequence of his -charity, even when he dropped back into the sea, floating for a few -moments so as to let the blood circulate in his arm again; but whether -this was his magnanimous gift, or merely a trap to involve me in -hopeless debt, I was quite at a loss to know, and I paused with my hands -full of eggs, saying to myself, There is an end to fish-hooks in the -South Pacific, and dilapidated key-rings are not my staple product! - -In the midst of my alarm he began making vows of eternal friendship. -This was by no means disagreeable to me. He was big enough to whip any -two of his fellows, and one likes to be on the best side of the stronger -party in a strange land. - -I reciprocated! - -I leaned over the stern-rail of the "Great Western" in the attitude of -Juliet in the balcony scene, assuring that egg-boy that my heart was -his if he was willing to take it at second-hand. - -He liked my sentiments, and proposed touching noses at once (a barbarous -greeting still observed in the most civilized countries with even -greater license, since with Christians it is allowable to touch mouths). - -We touched noses, though I was in danger of sliding headlong into the -sea. After this ceremonial he consented to board the "Great Western," -which having accomplished with my help, he deposited his eggs at my -feet, offered me his nose once more, and communicated to me his name, -asking in the same breath for mine. - -He was known as Hua Manu, or Bird's Egg. Every native in the South Sea -gets named by accident. I knew a fellow whose name was "Cock-eye;" he -was a standing advertisement of his physical deformity. A fellow that -knew me rejoiced in the singular cognomen of "Thrown from a horse." -Fortunately he doesn't spell it with so many letters in his tongue. His -christening happened in this wise: A bosom friend of his mother was -thrown from a horse and killed the day of his birth. Therefore the -bereaved mother reared that child, an animated memorial, who in after -years clove to me, and was as jolly as though his earthly mission wasn't -simply to keep green the memory of his mother's bosom friend sailing -through the air with a dislocated neck. - -I turned to my new-found friend. "Hua Manu," said I, "for my sake you -have made a bird's-nest of your back hair. You have freely given me your -young affection and your eggs. Receive the sincere thanks of yours -truly, together with these fish-hooks, these tenpenny nails, this -key-ring." Hua Manu smiled and accepted, burying the fish-hooks in his -matted forelock, and inserting a tenpenny nail and a key-ring in either -ear, thereby making himself the envy of the entire population of Motu -Hilo, and feeling himself as grand as the best chief in the archipelago. - -So we sat together on the deck of the "Great Western," quite dry for a -wonder, exchanging sheep's-eyes and confidences, mutually happy in each -other's society. Meanwhile the captain was arranging his plans for an -immediate purchase of such pearls as he might find in possession of the -natives, and for a fresh search for pearl oysters at the earliest -possible hour. There were no pearls on hand. What are pearls to a man -who has as many wives, children, and cocoanuts as he can dispose of? -Pearls are small and colourless. Give them a handful of gorgeous glass -beads, a stick of sealing-wax, or some spotted beans, and keep your pale -sea-tears, milky and frozen, and apt to grow sickly yellow and die if -they are not cared for. - -Motu Hilo is independent. No man has squatted there to levy tax or toll. -We were each one of us privileged to hunt for pearls and keep our stores -separate. I said to Hua Manu, "Let's invest in a canoe, explore the -lagoon for fresh oyster-beds, and fill innumerable cocoanut shells with -these little white seeds. It will be both pleasant and profitable, -particularly for me." We were scarcely five minutes bargaining for our -outfit, and we embarked at once, having agreed to return in a couple of -days for news concerning the success of the "Great Western" and her -probable date of sailing. - -Seizing a paddle, Hua Manu propelled our canoe with incredible rapidity -out of the noisy fleet in the centre of the lake, toward a green point -that bounded it, one of the horns of the crescent. He knew a spot where -the oyster yawned in profusion, a secret cave for shelter, a forest -garden of fruits, a never-failing spring, etc. Thither we would fly and -domesticate ourselves. The long, curved point of land soon hid the inner -waters from view. We rose and sank on the swell between the great reef -and the outer rim of the island, while the sun glowed fiercely overhead -and the reef howled in our ears. Still on we skimmed, the water hissing -along the smooth sides of the canoe, that trembled at every fierce -stroke of Hua Manu's industrious paddle. No chart, no compass, no -rudder, no exchange of references, no letter of introduction, yet I -trusted that wild Hercules who was hurrying me away, I knew not whither, -with an earnestness that forced the sweat from his naked body in living -streams. - -At last we turned our prow and shot through a low arch in a cliff, so -low that we both ducked our heads instinctively, letting the vines and -parasites trail over our shoulders and down our backs. - -It was a dark passage into an inner cave lit from below,--a cave filled -with an eternal and sunless twilight that was very soothing to our eyes -as we came in from the glare of sea and sky. - -"Look!" said Hua Manu. Overhead rose a compressed dome of earth, a thick -matting of roots, coil within coil. At the side innumerable ledges, -shelves, and seams lined with nests, and never a nest without its egg, -often two or more together. Below us, in two fathoms of crystal, sunlit -and luminous bowers of coral, and many an oyster asleep with its mouth -open, and many a prismatic fish poising itself with palpitating gills, -and gauzy fins fanning the water incessantly. - -"Hua Manu!" I exclaimed in rapture, "permit me to congratulate you. In -you I behold the regular South Sea Monte Christo, and no less -magnificent title can do you justice." Thereat Hua Manu laughed -immoderately, which laugh having run out we both sat in our canoe and -silently sucked eggs for some moments. - -A canoe-length from where we floated a clear rill stole noiselessly from -above, mingling its sweet waters with the sea; on the roof of our cavern -fruits flourished, and we were wholly satisfied. After such a lunch as -ours it behoved us to cease idling and dive for pearls. So Hua Manu -knotted his long hair tightly about his forehead, cautiously transferred -himself from the canoe to the water, floated a moment, inhaling a -wonderfully long breath, and plunged under. How he struggled to get down -to the gaping oysters, literally climbing down head-first! I saw his -dark form wrestling with the elements that strove to force him back to -the surface, crowding him out into the air again. He seized one of the -shells, but it shut immediately, and he tugged and jerked and wrenched -at it like a young demon till it gave way, when he struck out and up for -air. All this seemed an age to me. I took full twenty breaths while he -was down. Reaching the canoe, he dropped the great, ugly-looking thing -into it, and hung over the outrigger gasping for breath like a man half -hanged. He was pale about the mouth, his eyes were suffused with blood, -blood oozed from his ears and nostrils; his limbs, gashed with the sharp -corals, bled also. The veins of his forehead looked ready to burst, and -as he tightened the cords of hair across them it seemed his only -salvation. - -I urged him to desist, seeing his condition, and fearing a repetition of -his first experience; but he would go once more; perhaps there was no -pearl in that shell; he wanted to get me a pearl. He sank again and -renewed his efforts at the bottom of the sea. I scarcely dared to count -the minutes now, nor the bubbles that came up to me like little balloons -with a death-message in each. Suppose he were to send his last breath in -one of those transparent globes, and I look down and see his body snared -in the antlers of coral, stained with his blood? Well, he came up all -right, and I postponed the rest of my emotion for a later experience. - -Some divers remain three minutes under water, but two or three descents -are as many as they can make in a day. The ravages of such a life are -something frightful. - -No more pearl-hunting after the second dive that day; nor the next, -because we went out into the air for a stroll on shore to gather fruit -and stretch our legs. There was a high wind and a heavy sea that looked -threatening enough, and we were glad to return after an hour's tramp. -The next day was darker, and the next after that, when a gale came down -upon us that seemed likely to swamp Motu Hilo. A swell rolled over the -windward reef and made our quarters in the grotto by no means safe or -agreeable. It was advisable for us to think of embarking upon that -tempestuous sea, or get brained against the roof of our retreat. - -Hua Manu looked troubled, and my heart sank. I wished the pearl oysters -at the bottom of the sea, the "Great Western" back at Tahiti, and I -loafing under the green groves of Papeete, never more to be deluded -abroad. - -I observed no visible changes in the weather after I had been wishing -for an hour and a half. The swell rather increased; our frail canoe was -tossed from side to side in imminent danger of upsetting. - -Now and then a heavy roller entirely filled the mouth of our cavern, -quite blinding us with spray; having spent its fury, it subsided with a -concussion that nearly deafened us, and dragged us with fearful velocity -toward the narrow mouth of the cave, where we saved ourselves from being -swept into the sea by grasping the roots overhead and within reach. - -Could I swim? asked Hua Manu. Alas, no! That we must seek new shelter at -any risk was but too evident. "Let us go on the next wave," said Hua, as -he seized a large shell and began clearing the canoe of the water that -had accumulated. Then he bound his long hair in a knot to keep it from -his eyes, and gave me some hasty directions as to my deportment in the -emergency. - -The great wave came. We were again momentarily corked up in an air-tight -compartment. I wonder the roof was not burst open with the intense -pressure that nearly forced the eyes out of my head and made me faint -and giddy. Recovering from the shock, with a cry of warning from Hua, -and a prayer scarcely articulated, we shot like a bomb from a mortar -into the very teeth of a frightful gale. - -Nothing more was said, nothing seen. The air was black with flying -spray, the roar of the elements more awful than anything I had ever -heard before. Sheets of water swept over us with such velocity that they -hummed like circular saws in motion. - -We were crouched as low as possible in the canoe, yet now and then one -of these, the very _blade_ of the wave, struck us on the head or -shoulders, cutting us like knives. I could scarcely distinguish Hua's -outline, the spray was so dense, and as for him, what could he do? -Nothing, indeed, but send up a sort of death-wail, a few notes of which -tinkled in my ear from time to time, assuring me how utterly without -hope we were. - -One of those big rollers must have lifted us clean over the reef, for we -crossed it and were blown into the open sea, where the canoe spun for a -second in the trough of the waves, and was cut into slivers by an -avalanche of water that carried us all down into the depths. - - * * * * * - -I suppose I filled at once, but came up in spite of it (almost every one -has that privilege), when I was clutched by Hua Manu and made fast to -his utilitarian back-hair. I had the usual round of experiences allotted -to all half-drowned people: a panoramic view of my poor life crammed -with sin and sorrow and regret; a complete biography written and read -through inside of ten seconds. I was half strangled, call it two-thirds, -for that comes nearer the truth; heard the water singing in my ears, -which was _not_ sweeter than symphonies, nor beguiling, nor in the least -agreeable. I deny it! In the face of every corpse that ever was drowned -I emphatically deny it! - -Hua had nearly stripped me with one or two tugs at my thin clothing, -because he didn't think that worth towing off to some other island, and -he was willing to float me for a day or two, and run the risk of saving -me. - -When I began to realize anything, I congratulated myself that the gale -was over. The sky was clear, the white caps scarce, but the swell still -sufficient to make me dizzy as we climbed one big, green hill, and slid -off the top of it into a deep and bubbling abyss. - -I found Hua leisurely feeling his way through the water, perfectly -self-possessed and apparently unconscious that he had a deck passenger -nearly as big as himself. My hands were twisted into his hair in such a -way that I could rest my chin upon my arms, and thus easily keep my -mouth above water most of the time. - -My emotions were peculiar. I wasn't accustomed to travelling in that -fashion. I knew it had been done before. Even there I thought with -infinite satisfaction of the Hawaiian woman who swam for forty hours in -such a sea, with an aged and helpless husband upon her back. Reaching -land at last she tenderly drew her burden to shore and found him--dead! -The fact is historical, and but one of several equally marvellous. - -We floated on and on, cheering each other hour after hour; the wind -continuing, the sea falling, and anon night coming like an -ill-omen,--night, that buried us alive in darkness and despair. - -I think I must have dozed, or fainted, or died several times during the -night, for it began to grow light long before I dared to look for it, -and then came sunrise,--a sort of intermittent sunrise that gilded Hua's -shoulder whenever we got to the top of a high wave, and went out again -as soon as we settled into the hollows. - -Hua Manu's eyes were much better than mine; he seemed to see with all -his five senses, and the five told him that _there was land not far -off_! I wouldn't believe him; I think I was excusable for questioning -his infallibility then and there. The minute he cried out "Land!" I gave -up and went to sleep or to death, for I thought he was daft, and it was -discouraging business, and I wished I could die for good. Hua Manu, what -a good egg you were, though it's the bad that usually keep atop of the -water, they tell me! - - * * * * * - -Hua Manu was right! he walked out of the sea an hour later and stood on -a mound of coarse sand in the middle of the ocean, with my miserable, -water-logged body lying in a heap at his feet. - -The place was as smooth and shiny and desolate as anybody's bald head. -That's a nice spot to be merry in, isn't it? Yet he tried to make me -open my eyes and be glad. - -He said he knew the "Great Western" would be coming down that way -shortly; she'd pick us off the shoal, and water and feed us. - -Perhaps she might! Meantime we hungered and thirsted as many a poor -castaway had before us. That was a good hour for Christian fortitude: -beached in the middle of the ocean; shelterless under a sun that -blistered Hua's tough skin; eyes blinded with the glare of sun and sea; -the sand glowing like brass and burning into flesh already irritated -with salt water; a tongue of leather cleaving to the roof of the mouth, -and no food within reach, nor so much as a drop of fresh water for -Christ's sake! - -Down went my face into the burning sand that made the very air _hop_ -above it.... Another night, cool and grateful; a bird or two flapped -wearily overhead, looking like spirits in the moonlight. Hua scanned -earnestly our narrow horizon, noting every inflection in the voices of -the wind and waves,--voices audible to him, but worse than dumb to -me,--mocking monotones reiterated through an agonizing eternity. - -A wise monitor was Hua Manu, shaming me to silence in our cursed -banishment. Toward the morning after our arrival at the shoal, an owl -fluttered out of the sky and fell at our feet quite exhausted. It might -have been blown from Motu Hilo, and seemed ominous of something, I -scarcely knew what. When it had recovered from its fatigue, it sat -regarding us curiously. I wanted to wring its short, thick neck, and eat -it, feathers and all. Hua objected; there was a superstition that gave -that bland bird its life. It might continue to ogle us with one eye as -long as it liked. How the lopsided thing smirked! how that stupid -owl-face, like a rosette with three buttons in it, haunted me! It was -enough to craze any one; and, having duly cursed him and his race, I -went stark mad and hoped I was dying for ever. - - * * * * * - -There are plenty of stars in this narrative. Stars, and plenty of them, -cannot account for the oblivious intervals, suspended animation, or -whatever it was, that came to my relief from time to time. I cannot -account for them myself. Perhaps Hua Manu might; he seemed always awake, -always on the lookout, and ever so patient and painful. A dream came to -me after that owl had stared me into stone,--a dream of an island in a -sea of glass; soft ripples lapping on the silver shores; sweet airs -sighing in a starlit grove; some one gathering me in his arms, hugging -me close with infinite tenderness; I was consumed with thirst, -speechless with hunger; like an infant I lay in the embrace of my -deliverer, who moistened my parched lips and burning throat with -delicious and copious draughts. It was an elixir of life; I drank health -and strength in every drop; sweeter than mother's milk flowed the warm -tide unchecked, till I was satisfied, and sank into a deep and dreamless -sleep. - - * * * * * - -The "Great Western" was plunging in her old style, and I swashed in my -bunk as of yore. The captain sat by me with a bottle in his hand and -anxiety in his countenance. - -"Where are we?" I asked. - -"Two hours out from Tahiti, inward bound." - -"How! What! When!" etc.; and my mind ran up and down the record of the -last fortnight, finding many blots and some blanks. - -As soon as I got into my right mind I could hear all about it; and the -captain shook his bottle, and held on to the side of my bunk to save -himself from total wreck in the lee-corners of the cabin. - -"Why, wasn't I right-minded? I could tell a hawk from a hernshaw; and, -speaking of hawks, where was that cursed owl?" - -The captain concluded I was bettering, and put the physic into the -locker, so as to give his whole attention to keeping right side up. -Well, this is how it happened, as I afterward learned: The "Great -Western" suffered somewhat from the gale at Motu Hilo, though she was -comparatively sheltered in that inner sea. Having repaired, and given me -up as a deserter, she sailed for Tahiti. The first day out, in a light -breeze, they all saw a man apparently wading up to his middle in the -sea. The fellow hailed the "Great Western," but as she could hardly -stand up against the rapid current in so light a wind, the captain let -her drift past the man in the sea, who suddenly disappeared. A -consultation of officers followed. Evidently some one was cast away and -ought to be looked after; resolved to beat up to the rock, big turtle, -or whatever it might be that kept that fellow afloat, provided the wind -freshened sufficiently; wind immediately freshened; "Great Western" put -about and made for the spot where Hua Manu had been seen hailing the -schooner. But when that schooner passed he threw himself upon the sand -beside me, and gave up hoping at last, and was seen no more. - -What did he then? I must have asked for drink. He gave it me from an -artery in his wrist, severed by the finest teeth you ever saw. That's -what saved me. On came the little schooner, beating up against the wind -and tide, while I had my lips sealed to that fountain of life. - -The skipper kept banging away with an old blunderbuss that had been left -over in his bargains with the savages, and one of these explosions -caught the ears of Hua. He tore my lips from his wrist, staggered to his -feet, and found help close at hand. Too late they gathered us up out of -the deep and strove to renew our strength. They transported us to the -little cabin of the schooner, Hua Manu, myself, and that mincing owl, -and swung off into the old course. Probably the "Great Western" never -did better sailing since she came from the stocks than that hour or two -of beating that brought her up to the shoal. She seemed to be emulating -it in the home run, for we went bellowing through the sea in a stiff -breeze and the usual flood-tide on deck. - -I lived to tell the tale. I should think it mighty mean of me not to -live after such a sacrifice. Hua Manu sank rapidly. I must have nearly -drained his veins, but I don't believe he regretted it. The captain said -when he was dying his faithful eyes were fixed on me. Unconsciously I -moved a little; he smiled, and the soul went out of him in that smile, -perfectly satisfied. At that moment the owl fled from the cabin, passed -through the hatchway, and disappeared. - -Hua Manu lay on the deck, stretched under a sail, while I heard this. I -wondered if a whole cargo of pearls could make me indifferent to his -loss. I wondered if there were many truer and braver than he in -Christian lands. They call him a heathen. It _was_ heathenish to offer -up his life vicariously. He might have taken mine so easily, and perhaps -have breasted the waves back to his own people, and been feted and sung -of as the hero he truly was. - -Well, if he is a heathen, out of my heart I would make a parable, its -rubric bright with his sacrificial blood, its theme this glowing text: -"Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for a -friend." - - - - -THE LAST OF THE GREAT NAVIGATOR. - - -Think of a sea and a sky of such even and utter blueness that any -visible horizon is out of the question. In the midst of this pellucid -sphere the smallest of propellers trailing two plumes of sea-foam, like -the tail-feathers of a bird of paradise, and over it all a league of -floating crape,--for so seem the heavy folds of smoke that hang above -us. - -Thus we pass out of our long hours of idleness in that grove of eight -thousand cocoa-palms by the sea-shore,--the artist and I seeking to -renew our _dolce far niente_ in some new forest of palms by any shore -whatever. Enough that it is sea-washed, and hath a voice and an eternal -song. - -Now turn to the stone quarry darkened with the groups of the few -faithful friends and many islanders. They are so ready to kill time in -the simplest manner; why not in staring our awkward little steamer out -of sight? - -One glimpse of the white handkerchiefs, fluttering like a low flight of -doves, and then with all the sublime resignation of the confessed -lounger, we await the approach of twilight and the later hours that -shall presently pass silver-footed over this tropic sea. - -Four p.m., and the roar of the reef lost to us voyagers. The sun an hour -high. The steams of dinner appealing to us through the yawning -hatches,--everything yawning in this latitude, animate and -inanimate,--and the world as hot as Tophet. We lie upon our mattresses, -brought out of the foul cabin into the sweet air, and pass the night -half intoxicated with romance and cigarettes. The natives cover the deck -of our little craft in lazy and laughing flocks. Some of them regard us -tenderly; they are apt to love at sight, though Heaven knows there is -little in our untrimmed exteriors to attract any one under the stars. - -We hear, now and then, the sharp click of flint and steel, and after it -see the flame, and close to the flame a dark face, grotesque it may be, -like an antique water-spout with dust in its jaws. But some are -beautiful, with glorious eyes that shine wonderfully in the excitement -of lighting the pipe anew. - -Voices arise at intervals from among the groups of younger voyagers. We -hear the songs of our own land worded in oddly and rather prettily -broken English. "Annie Laurie," "When the cruel war is over," and other -equally ambitious and proportionately popular ballads ring in good time -and tune from the lips of the young bloods, but the girls seldom join to -any advantage. How strange it all seems, and how we listen! - -With the first and deepest purple of the dawn, the dim outlines of -Molokai arise before us. It is an island of cliffs and canyons, much -haunted of the King, but usually out of the tourist's guide-book. - -It is hinted one may turn back this modern page of island civilization, -and with it the half-christianized and wholly bewildered natures of the -uncomprehending natives, and here find all of the old superstitions in -their original significance, the temples, and the shark-god, and the -_hula-hula_ girls, beside whose weird and maddening undulations your -_can-can_ dancers are mere jumping-jacks. - -Listen for faint music of the wandering minstrels! No, we are too far -out from shore: then it is the wrong end of the day for such festivals. - -A brief siesta under the opening eyelids of the morn, and at sunrise we -dip our colours abreast charming little Lahaina, drowsy and indolent, -with its two or three long, long avenues overhung with a green roof of -leaves, and its odd summer-houses and hammocks pitched close upon the -white edge of the shore. - -We passed to and fro in the shadow paths an hour or two, eat of the -fruits, luscious and plentiful, and drink of its liquors, vile and -fortunately scarce, and get us hats plaited of the coarsest straw and of -unbounded rim, making ourselves still more hideous, if indeed we have -not already reached the acme of the unpicturesque. - -Now for hours and hours we hug the shore, slowly progressing under the -insufficient shadow of the palms, getting now and then glimpses of -valleys folded inland, said to be lovely and mystical. Then there are -mites of villages always half-grown and half-starved looking, and always -close to the sea. These islanders are amphibious. The little bronze -babies float like corks before they can walk half the length of a -bamboo-mat. - -Another night at sea, in the rough channel this time, and less -enjoyable for the rather stiff breeze on our quarter, and some very -sour-looking clouds overhead. All well by six, however, when we hear the -Angelus rung from the lower tower of a long coral church in another -sea-wedded hamlet. Think of the great barn-like churches, once too small -for the throngs that gathered about them, now full of echoes, and whose -doors, if they still hang to their hinges, will soon swing only to the -curious winds! - -In and out by this strange land, marking all its curvatures with the -fidelity of those shadow lines in the atlas, and so lingering on till -the evening of the second day, when, just at sunset, we turn suddenly -into the bay that saw the last of Captain Cook, and here swing at anchor -in eight fathoms of liquid crystal over a floor of shining white coral, -and clouds of waving sea-moss. From the deck behold the amphitheatre -wherein was enacted the tragedy of "The Great Navigator, or the -Vulnerable God." The story is brief and has its moral. - -The approach of Captain Cook was mystical. For generations the islanders -had been looking with calm eyes of faith for the promised return of a -certain god. Where should they look but to the sea, whence came all -mysteries, and whither retreated the being they called divine? - -So the white wings of the "Resolution" swept down upon the lifelong -quietude of Hawaii like a messenger from heaven, and the signal gun sent -the first echoes to the startled mountains of the little kingdom. - -They received this Jupiter, who carried his thunders with him and -kindled fires in his mouth. He was the first smoker they had seen, -though they are now his most devout apostles. Showing him all due -reverence, he failed to regard their customs and traditions, which was -surely ungodlike, and it rather weakened the faith of their sages. - -A plot was devised to test the divinity of the presuming captain. - -While engaged in conversation, one of the chiefs was to rush at Cook -with a weapon; should he cry out or attempt to run, he was no god, for -the gods are fearless; and if he was no god, he deserved death for his -deception. But if a god, no harm could come of it, for the gods are -immortal. - -So they argued, and completed their plans. It came to pass in the -consummation of them that Cook did run, and thereupon received a stab in -the back. Being close by the shore he fell, face downward in the water -and died a half-bloody, half-watery, and wholly inglorious death. His -companions escaped to the ship and peppered the villages by the harbour, -till the inhabitants, half frantic, were driven into the hills. - -Then they put to sea, leaving the body of their commander in the hands -of the enemy, and with flag at half-mast were blown sullenly back to -England, there to inaugurate the season of poems, dirges, and pageants -in honour of the Great Navigator. - -His bones were stripped of flesh, afterwards bound with _kapa_, the -native cloth, and laid in one of the hundred natural cells that -perforate the cliff in front of us, and under whose shadow we now float. -Which of the hundred is the one so honoured is quite uncertain. What -does it matter, so long as the whole mountain is a catacomb of kings? -No commoners are buried there. It was a kind and worthy impulse that -could still venerate so far the mummy of an idol of such palpable clay -as his. - -Many of these singular caverns are almost inaccessible. One must climb -down by ropes from the cliff above. Rude bars of wood are laid across -the mouths of some of them. It is the old _tabu_ never yet broken. But a -few years back it was braving death to attempt to remove them. - -Cook's flesh was most likely burned. It was then a custom. But his heart -was left untouched of the flames of this sacrifice. What a salamander -the heart is that can withstand the fires of a judgment! - -The story of this heart is the one shocking page in this history: some -children discovered it afterwards, and, thinking it the offal of an -animal, devoured it. Whoever affirms that the "Sandwich-Islanders eat -each other," has at least this ground for his affirmation. Natives of -the South Sea Islands have been driven as far north as this in their -frail canoes. They were cannibals, and no doubt were hungry, and may -have eaten in their fashion, but it is said to have been an acquired -taste, and was not at all popular in this region. Dramatic justice -required some tragic sort of revenge, and this was surely equal to the -emergency. - -Our advanced guard, in the shape of a month-earlier tourist, gave us the -notes for doing this historical nook in the Pacific. A turned-down page, -it is perhaps a little too dog-eared to be read over again, but we all -like to compare notes. So we noted the items of the advance-guard, and -they read in this fashion:-- - -OBJECTS OF INTEREST RELATING TO CAPTAIN COOK. - - Item I. The tree where Cook was struck. - " II. The rock where Cook fell. - " III. The altar on the hill-top. - " IV. The riven palms. - " V. The sole survivor,--the boy that ran. - " VI. A specimen sepulchre in the cliff. - -Until dark the native children have been playing about as in the sea, -diving for very smooth "rials," and looking much as frogs must look to -wandering liliputians. The artist cares less for these wild and graceful -creatures than one would suppose, for he confesses them equal in -physical beauty to the Italian models. All sentiment seemed to have been -dragged out of him by much travel. At night we sit together on the -threshold of our grass house, and not twenty feet from the rock--under -water only at high tide--where Cook died. We sit talking far into the -night, with the impressive silence broken only by the plash of the sea -at our very door. - -By-and-by the moon looks down upon us from the sepulchre of the kings. -We are half clad, having adopted the native costume as the twilight -deepened and our modesty permitted. The heat is still excessive. All -this low land was made to God's order some few centuries ago. We wonder -if He ever changes His mind; this came down red-hot from the hills -yonder, and cooled at high-water mark. It holds the heat like an -oven-brick, and we find it almost impossible to walk upon it at -noontime, even our sole-leather barely preserving our feet from its -blistering surface. The natives manage to hop over it now and then; they -are about half leather anyhow, and the other half appetite. - -We come first upon No. II. in the list of historic haunts. - -Let us pass down to the rock, and cool ourselves in the damp moss that -drapes it. It is almost as large as a dinner-table, and as level. You -can wade all around it, count a hundred little crabs running up and down -over the top of it. So much for one object of interest, and the artist -draws his pencil through it. At ten p.m. we are still chatting, and have -added a hissing pot of coffee over some live coals to our housekeeping. -Now down a little pathway at our right comes a native woman, with a -plump and tough sort of a pillow under each arm. These she implores us -to receive and be comfortable. We refuse to be comforted in this -fashion, we despise luxuries, and in true cosmopolitan independence hang -our heads over our new saddle-trees, and sleep heavily in an atmosphere -rank with the odour of fresh leather; but not till we have seen our -human visitor part of the way home. Back by the steep and winding path -we three pass in silence. She pauses a moment in the moonlight at what -seems a hitching-post cased in copper. It is as high as our hip, and has -some rude lettering apparently scratched with a nail upon it. We -decipher with some difficulty this legend:-- - - - + - Near this spot fell - CAPTAIN JAMES COOK, R.N., - the - Renowned Circumnavigator, - who - discovered these islands, - A.D. 1778. - - His Majesty's Ship - Imogene, - Oct. 17, 1837. - -So No. I. of our list is checked off, and no lives lost. - -"_Aloha!_" cries a soft voice in the distance. Our native woman has left -us in our pursuit of knowledge under difficulties, and now there is no -visible trace of her and her pillows,--only that voice out of the -darkness crying, "Love to you!" She lives in memory,--this warm-hearted -_Waihine_; so do her pillows. - -Returning to our lodgings, we discover a square heap of broken lava -rocks. It seems to be the foundation for some building; and such it is, -for here the palace of Kamehameha I. stood,--a palace of grass like this -one we are sleeping in. Nothing but the foundation remains now. Half a -dozen rude stairs invite the ghosts of the departed courtiers to this -desolate ruin. - -They are all Samaritans in this kingdom. By sunrise a boy with fresh -coffee and a pail of muffins rides swiftly to our door. He came from -over the hill. Our arrival had been reported, and we are summoned to a -late breakfast in the manner of the Christians. We are glad of it. Our -fruit diet of yesterday, the horrors of a night in the saddle--a safe -and pretty certain mode of dislocating the neck--makes us yearn for a -good old-fashioned meal. Horses are at our service. We mount after -taking our muffins and coffee in the centre of a large and enthusiastic -gathering of villagers. They came to see us eat, and to fumble the -artist's sketches, and wonder at his amazing skill. - -Up the high hill with the jolliest sun shining full in our eyes, -brushing the heavy and dew-filled foliage on both sides of the trail, -and under the thick webs spun in the upper branches, looking like silver -laces this glorious morning,--on, till we reach the hill-top. - -Here the guide pauses and points his horse's nose toward a rude -_corral_. The horses seem to regard it from habit,--we scarcely with -curiosity. A wall half in ruins in the centre, rising from a heap of -stones tumbled together, a black, weather-stained cross, higher than our -heads as we sit in the saddle. It is the altar of sacrifice. It is here -that the heart of the great navigator survived the flames. - -No. III. scored off. At this rate we shall finish by noon easily. The -sequel of an adventurous life is soon told. - -After breakfast, to horse again, and back to the little village by the -sea. We ride into a cluster of palms, our guide leading the way, and -find two together, each with a smooth and perfectly round hole through -its body about three feet from the roots, made by the shot of Cook's -avengers. A lady could barely thrust her hand through them; they -indicate rather light calibre for defence nowadays, but enough to -terrify these little villages, when Cook's men sent the balls hissing -over the water to bite through the grit and sap of these slender shafts. -They still live to tell the tale in their way. So much for No. IV. - -We pause again in the queer little straggling alleys of the village, -planned, I should think, after some spider's web. They are about as -regular in their irregularity. It is No. V. this time. A bit of withered -humanity doubled up in the sun, as though some one had set him on that -wall to bake. He is drawn all together; his chin sunk in between his -knees, his knees hooped together with his dreadfully slim arms, a round -head, sleek and shining as an oiled gourd; _sans_ teeth; eyes like the -last drops in desert wells; the skeleton sharply quick and protruding; -no motion; apparently no life beyond the incessant blinking of the -eyelids,--the curtains fluttering in the half-shut windows of the soul. -_Is_ it a man and a brother? Yes, verily! When the uncaptured crew of -the "Resolution" poured their iron shot into the tents of the adversary, -this flickering life was young and vigorous, and he ran like a good -fellow. Better to have died in his fiery youth than to have slowly -withered away in this fashion. For here is the philosophy of mammon left -to itself: when you get to be an old native, it is your business to die; -if you don't know your business, you are left to find it out: what are -you good for but to bury? - -Let us slip over the smooth bay, for we must look into one of these -caverns. Cross in this canoe, so narrow that we cannot get into it at -all, but balance ourself on its rim and hold our breath for fear of -upsetting. These odd-looking outriggers are honest enough in theory, but -treacherous in practice; and a shark has his eye on us back yonder. -Sharks are mesmeric in their motions through the water, and -corpse-coloured. - -A new guide helps us to the most easily reached cave, and with the lad -and his smoking torch we climb into the dusky mouth. - -There is dust everywhere, and cobwebs as thick as cloth, hanging in -tatters. An almost interminable series of small cells, just high enough -to straighten one's back in, leads us farther and farther into the -mountain of bones. This cave has been pillaged too often to be very -ghostly now. We find a little parcel of bones here. It might have been a -hand and an arm once, cunning and dexterous. It is nothing now but a -litter. Here is an infant's skull, but broken, thin and delicate as a -sea-shell, and full of dust. Here is a tougher one, whole and solid; the -teeth well set and very white; no signs of decay in any one of these -molars. Perhaps it is because so little of their food is oven warm when -they eat it. This rattles as we lift it. The brain and the crumbs of -earth are inseparably wedded. Come with us, skull. You look scholarly, -and shall lie upon our desk,--a solemn epistle to the living. But the -cave is filled with the vile smoke of our torch, and we are choked with -the heat and dust. Let us out as soon as possible. The Great Navigator's -skeleton cannot be hidden in this tomb. Down we scramble into the sand -and shadow by the water, and talk of departing out of this place of -relics. - -We are to cross the lava southward where it is frescoed with a -wilderness of palm-trees: for when the mountain came down to the sea, -flowing red-hot, but cooling almost instantly, it mowed down the forests -of palms, and the trunks were not consumed, but lay half buried in the -cooling lava, and now you can mark every delicate fibre of the bark in -the lava, as firm as granite. - -Still farther south lies the green slope that was so soon to be shaken -to its foundations. I wonder if we could discover any of the peculiar -loveliness that bewitched us the evening we crossed it in silence. There -was something in the air that said, "Peace, peace"; and we passed over -the fatal spot without speaking. But the sea spoke under the cliffs -below us, and the mountain has since replied. - -This place is named prettily, _Kealekakua_. You see that mountain? -There are paths leading to it. Thither the gods journeyed in the days of -old. So the land is called "the path of the gods." - -It is a cool, green spot up yonder; the rain descends upon it in -continual baptism. The natives love these mountains and the sea. They -are the cardinal points of their compass. Every direction given you is -either toward the mountain or toward the sea. - -There is much truth in the Arabian tale, and it is time to acknowledge -it. Mountains are magnetic. The secret of their magnetism may lie in the -immobility of their countenances. Praise them to their face, and they -are not flattered; forget them for a moment: but turn again, and see -their steadfast gaze! You feel their earnestness. It is imposing, and -you cannot think lightly of it. Who forgets the mountains he has once -seen? It is quite probable the mountain cares little for your -individuality: but it has given part of itself to the modelling of your -character; it has touched you with the wand of its enchantment; you are -under the spell. Somewhere in the recesses of this mountain are locked -the bones of the Great Navigator, but these mountains have kept the -secret. - - - - -A CANOE CRUISE IN THE CORAL SEA. - - -If you can buy a canoe for two calico shirts, what will your annual -expenses in Tahiti amount to? This was a mental problem I concluded to -solve, and, having invested my two shirts, I began the solution in this -wise: My slender little treasure lay with half its length on shore, and -being quite big enough for two, I looked about me, seeking some one to -sit in the bows, for company and ballast. - -Up and down the shady beach of Papeete I wandered, with this -advertisement written all over my anxious face:-- - - "WANTED--A crew about ten years of age; of a mild disposition, and - with no special fondness for human flesh; not particular as to sex! - Apply immediately, at the new canoe, under the bread-fruit tree, - Papeete, South Pacific." - -Some young things were pitching French coppers so earnestly they didn't -read my face; some were not sea-faring at that moment; while most of -them evidently ate more than was good for them, which might result -disastrously in a canoe cruise, and I set my heart against them. The -afternoon was waning, and my ill-luck seemed to urge upon me the -necessity of my constituting a temporary press-gang for the kidnapping -of the required article. - -"Who is anxious to go to sea with me?" I shouted, revisiting the mob of -young gamblers, all intently disinterested in everything but "pitch and -toss." Not far away a group of wandering minstrels--such as make musical -the shores of Tahiti--sat in the middle of the street, chanting. One -youth played with considerable skill upon a joint of bamboo, of the -flute species, but breathed into from the nostrils, instead of the lips. -Three or four minor notes were piped at uncertain intervals, playing an -impromptu variation upon the air of the singers. Drawing near, the music -was suspended, and I proposed shipping one of the melodious vagabonds, -whereupon the entire chorus expressed a willingness to accompany me in -any capacity whatever, remarking, at the same time, that "they were a -body bound, so to speak, by cords of harmony, and any proposal to -disband them would, by it, be regarded as highly absurd." Then I led the -solemn procession of volunteers to my canoe, and we regarded it in -silence; it was something larger than a pea-pod, to be sure, but about -the shape of one. After a moment of deliberation, during which a great -throng of curious spectators had assembled, the orchestra declared -itself in readiness to ship before the paddle for the trifling -consideration of seventeen dollars. I knew the vague notion that money -is money, call it dollar or dime, generally entertained by the innocent -children of nature; and, dazzling the unaccustomed eyes of the flutist -with a new two-franc piece, he immediately embarked. The bereaved -singers sat on the shore and lifted up their voices in resounding -discord, as the canoe slid off into the still waters, and my crew, with -commendable fortitude, laid down the nose-flute, took up the paddle, and -we began our canoe cruise. - -The frail thing glided over the waves as though invisible currents were -sweeping her into the hereafter; the shore seemed to recede, drawing the -low, thatched houses into deeper shadow; other canoes skimmed over the -sea, like great water-bugs, while the sun set beyond the sharp outlines -of beautiful Morea, glorifying it and us. - -There was a small islet not far away,--an islet as fair and fragrant as -a bouquet,--looking, just then, like a mote in a sheet of flame. Thither -I directed the reformed flutist, and then let myself relapse into the -all-embracing quietness that succeeds nearly every vexation that flesh -is heir to. - -There was something soothing in the nature of my crew. He sat with his -back to me,--a brown back, that glistened in the sun, and arched itself, -from time to time, cat-like, as though it was very good to be brown and -bare and shiny. From the waist to the feet fell the resplendent folds of -a _pareu_, worn by all Tahitians, of every possible age and sex, and -consisted, in this case, of a thin breadth of cloth, stamped with a deep -blue firmament, in which supernaturally yellow suns were perpetually -settling in several spots. A round head topped his chubby shoulders, and -was shaven from the neck to the crown, with a matted forelock of the -blackness of darkness falling to the eyes and keeping the sun out of -them. One ear was enlivened with a crescent of beaten gold, which -decoration, having been won at "pitch and toss," will probably never -again, in the course of human events, meet with its proper mate. On the -whole, he looked just a little bit like a fantail pigeon with its wings -plucked. - -At this point, my crew suddenly rose in the bows of the canoe, making -several outlandish flourishes with his broad paddle. I was about to -demand the occasion of his sudden insanity, when we began to grate over -some crumbling substance that materially impeded our progress and -suggested all sorts of disagreeable sensations,--such as knife-grinding -in the next yard, saw-filing round the corner, etc. It was as though we -were careering madly over a multitude of fine-tooth combs. With that -caution which is inseparable from canoe-cruising in every part of the -known world, I leaned over the side of my personal property, and -penetrated the bewildering depths of the coral sea. - -Were we, I asked myself, suspended about two feet above a garden of -variegated cauliflowers? Or were the elements wafting us over a minute -winter-forest, whose fragile boughs were loaded with prismatic crystals? - -The scene was constantly changing: now it seemed a disordered bed of -roses,--pink, and white, and orange; presently we were floating in the -air, looking down upon a thousand-domed mosque, pale in the glamour of -the Oriental moon; and then a wilderness of bowers presented -itself,--bowers whose fixed leaves still seemed to quiver in the slight -ripple of the sea,--blossoming for a moment in showers of buds, purple, -and green, and gold, but fading almost as soon as born. I could scarcely -believe my eyes, when these tiny, though marvellously brilliant fish -shot suddenly out from some lace-like structure, each having the lurid -and flame-like beauty of sulphurous fire, and all turning instantly, in -sudden consternation at finding us so near, and secreting themselves in -the coral pavilion that amply sheltered them. Among the delicate anatomy -of these frozen ferns our light canoe was crashing on its way. I saw the -fragile structures overwhelmed with a single blow from the young savage, -who stood erect, propelling us onward amid the general ruins. With my -thumb and finger I annihilated the laborious monuments of centuries, and -saw havoc and desolation in our wake. - -There, in one of God's reef-walled and cliff-sheltered aquaria, we -drifted, while the sky and sea were glowing with the final triumphant -gush of sunset radiance. Fefe at last broke the silence, with an -interrogation: "Well, how do you feel?" "Fefe," I replied, "I feel as -though I were some good and faithful bee, sinking into a sphere of -amber, for a sleep of a thousand years." Fefe gave a deep-mouthed and -expressive grunt, as he laid his brown profile against the sunset sky, -thereby displaying his solitary earring to the best advantage, and with -evident personal satisfaction. "And how do you feel, Fefe?" I asked. He -was mum for a moment; arched his back like any wholesome animal when the -sun has struck clean through it; ejaculated an ejaculation with his -tongue and teeth that cannot possibly be spelled in English, and -thereupon his nostril quivered spasmodically, and was only comforted by -the immediate application of his nose-flute, through which dulcet organ -he confessed his deep and otherwise unutterable joy. I blessed him for -it, though there were but three notes, all told, and those minors and a -trifle flat. - -Fefe's impassioned soul having subsided, we both looked over to -beautiful Morea, nine miles away. How her peaks shone like steel, and -her valleys looked full of sleep! while here and there one golden ray -lingered for a moment to put the final touch to a fruit it was ripening -or a flower it was painting,--for they each have their perfect work -allotted to them, and they don't leave it half completed. - -It was just the hour that harmonizes everything in nature, and when -there is no possible discord in all the universe. The fishes were -baptizing themselves by immersion in space, and kept leaping into the -air, like momentary inches of chain-lightning. Our islet swam before us, -spiritualized,--suspended, as it were, above the sea,--ready at any -moment to fade away. The waves had ceased beating upon the reef; the -clear, low notes of a bell vibrating from the shore called us to prayer. -Fefe knew it, and was ready,--so was I,--and with bare heads and souls -utterly at peace we gave our hearts to God--for the time being! - -Then came the hum of voices and the rustle of renewed life. On we -pressed towards our islet, under the increasing shadows of the dusk. A -sloping beach received us; the young cocoa-palms embraced one another -with fringed branches. Through green and endless corridors we saw the -broad disc of the full moon hanging above the hill. - -Fefe at once chose a palm, and, having ascended to its summit, cast down -its fruit. Descending, he planted a stake in the earth, and striking a -nut against its sharpened top, soon laid open the fibrous husk, with -which a fire was kindled. - -Taking two peeled nuts in his hands, he struck one against the other and -laid open the skull of it,--a clear sort of scalping that aroused me to -enthusiasm. There is one end of a cocoanut's skull as delicate as a -baby's, and a well-directed tap does the business; possibly the same -result would follow with those of infants of the right age,--twins, for -instance. Fefe agrees with me in this theory now first given to the -public. - -Then followed much talk, on many topics, over our tropical supper,--said -supper consisting of seaweed salad, patent self-stuffing -banana-sausages, and cocoanut hash. We argued somewhat, also, but in -South Pacific fashion,--which would surely spoil if imported; I only -remember, and will record, that Fefe regarded the nose-flute as a -triumph of art, and considered himself no novice in musical science, as -applicable to nose-flutes in a land where there is scarcely a nose -without its particular flute, and many a flute is silent for ever, -because its special nose is laid among the dust. - -Having eaten, I proposed sleeping on the spot, and continuing the cruise -at dawn. "Why should we return to the world and its cares, when the sea -invites us to its isles? Nature will feed us. In that blest land, -clothing has not yet been discovered. Let us away!" I cried. At this -juncture, voices came over the sea to us,--voices chanting like sirens -upon the shore. Instinctively Fefe's nose-flute resumed its _tremolo_, -and I knew the day was lost. "Come!" said the little rascal, as though -he were captain and I the crew, and he dragged me toward the skiff. With -terrific emphasis, I commanded him to desist. "Don't imagine," I said, -"that this is a modern "Bounty," and that it is your duty to rise up in -mutiny for the sake of dramatic justice. Nature never repeats herself, -therefore come back to camp!" - -But he wouldn't come. I knew I should lose my canoe unless I followed, -or should have to paddle back alone,--no easy task for one unaccustomed -to it. So I moodily embarked with him; and having pushed off into deep -water, he sounded a note of triumph that was greeted with shouts on -shore, and I felt that my fate was sealed. - -It had been my life-dream to bid adieu to the human family, with one or -two exceptions; to sever every tie that bound me to anything under the -sun; to live close to Nature, trusting her, and getting trusted by her. - -I explained all this to the young "Kanack," who was in a complete state -of insurrection, but failed to subdue him. Overhead the air was flooded -with hazy moonlight; the sea looked like one immeasurable drop of -quicksilver, and upon the summit of this luminous sphere our shallop was -mysteriously poised. A faint wind was breathing over the ocean; Fefe -erected his paddle in the bows, placed against it a broad mat that -constituted part of my outfit for that new life of which I was -defrauded, and on we sped like a belated sea-bird seeking its mossy -nest. - -Beneath us slept the infinite creations of another world, gleaming from -the dark bosom of the sea with an unearthly pallor, and seeming to -reveal something of the forbidden mysteries that lie beyond the grave. -"La Petite Pologne," whispered Fefe, as he arched his back for the last -time, and stepped on shore at the foot of this singular rendezvous,--a -narrow lane threading the groves of Papeete, bordered by wine-shops, -bakeries, and a convent-wall, lit at night by smoky lanterns hanging -motionless in the dead air of the town, and thronged from 7 p.m. till 10 -p.m. by people from all quarters of the globe. - -Fefe having resumed his profession as soon as his bare foot was on his -native heath again, the minstrels moved in a hollow square through the -centre of La Petite Pologne. They were rendering some Tahitian -madrigal,--a three-part song, the solo, or first part, of which being -got safely through with,--a single stanza,--it was repeated as a duo, -and so re-repeated through simple addition with a gradually increasing -chorus; the nose-flute meantime getting delirious, and sounding its -_finale_ in an ecstasy prolonged to the point of strangulation, when the -whole unceremoniously terminated, and everybody took a rest and a fresh -start. During these performances, the audience was dense and -demonstrative. Fefe was in his element, sitting with his best side to -the public, and flaunting his earring mightily. A dance followed: a -dance always follows in that land of light hearts; and as one after -another was ushered into the arena and gave his or her body to the -interpretation of such songs as would startle Christian ears,--albeit -there be some Christian hearts less tender, and Christian lips less -true,--to my surprise, Fefe abandoned his piping and danced before me, -and then came a flash of intuition,--rather late, it is true, but still -useful as an explanatory supplement to my previous vexations. "Fefe!" I -gasped (Fefe is the Tahitian for _Elephantiasis_), and my Fefe raised -his or her skirts, and danced with a shocking leg. I really can't tell -you what Fefe was. You never can tell by the name. He might have been a -boy, or she might have been a girl, all the time. I don't know that it -makes any particular difference to me what it was, but I cannot -encourage elephantiasis in anything, and therefore I concluded my naval -engagement with Fefe, and solemnly walked toward my chamber, scarcely a -block off. The music followed me to my door with a song of some kind or -other, but the real nature of which I was too sensitive to definitely -ascertain. - -Gazelle-eyed damsels, with star-flowers dangling from their ears, -obstructed the way. The _gendarmes_ regarded me with an eye single to -France and French principles. Mariners arrayed in the blue of their own -sea and the white of their own breakers bore down upon us with more than -belonged to them. Men of all colours went to and fro, like mad -creatures; women followed; children careered hither and thither. Wild -shouts rent the air; there was an intoxicating element that enveloped -all things. The street was by no means straight, though it could -scarcely have been narrower; the waves staggered up the beach, and -reeled back again; the moon leered at us, looking blear-eyed as she -leaned against a cloud; and half-nude bodies lay here and there in dark -corners, steeped to the toes in rum. Out of this human maelstrom, whose -fatal tide was beginning to sweep me on with it, I made a plunge for my -door-knob and caught it. Twenty besetting sins sought to follow me, -covered with wreaths and fragrant with sandalwood oil; twenty besetting -sins rather pleasant to have around one, because by no means as -disagreeable as they should be. Fefe was there also, and I turned to -address him a parting word,--a word calculated to do its work in a soil -particularly mellow. - -"Fefe," I said, "how can I help regarding it as a dispensation of -Providence that your one leg is considerably bigger than your other? How -can I expect you, with your assorted legs, to walk in that straight and -narrow way wherein I have frequently found it inconvenient to walk -myself, to say nothing of the symmetry of my own extremities? Therefore, -adieu, child of the South, with your one earring and your pianoforte -leg; adieu--for ever." - -With that I closed my door upon the scene, and strove to bury myself in -oblivion behind the white window-shade. In vain: the shadow with the -moustache and goatee still pursued the shadow with the flowing locks -that fled too slowly. Voices faint, though audible, indulged in -allusions more or less profane, and with a success which would be -considered highly improper in any latitude. - -Thus sinking into an unquiet sleep, with a dream of canoe-cruising in a -coral sea, whose pellucid waves sang sadly upon the remote shores of an -ideal sphere, across the window loomed the gigantic shadow of some brown -beauty, whose vast proportions suggested nothing more lovely than a new -Sphinx, with a cabbage in either ear. - - - - -UNDER A GRASS ROOF. - -A LEAF TORN AT RANDOM FROM A TROPICAL NOTE-BOOK. - - -At Kahakuloa, under a terrific hill and close upon a frothing tongue of -the sea, I draw rein. The act is simply a formality of mine; probably -the animal would have paused here of his own free will, for he has been -rehearsing his stops a whole hour back, during which time he limped -somewhat and reaped determinedly the few tufts of dry grass that Nature -had provided him by the trail-side. The clouds are falling; the cliffs -are festooned with damp gauze; the air is moist and cool; a grass hut of -uncommon purity stands invitingly by. A moon-faced youth, whose spotless -garments appealed to me as he overtook our caravan a mile back, says, -"Will you eat and sleep?" I am but human, and a hungry and sleepy human -at that; so I tip off from my mule's back with gratitude and alacrity. -In a moment the fine linen of mine host is hung upon its peg, and a good -study of the Nude returns to me for further orders. I am literally -famishing, and the mule is already up to his ears in watercress; but -then I have ridden and he has carried me. How just, O Mother Nature, are -thy judgments! - -With the superb poses of a trained athlete, the Nude swings a fowl by -the neck, and shortly it is plucked and potted, together with certain -vegetables of the proper affinities. Then he swathes a fish in succulent -leaves, and buries it in hot ashes; and then he smokes his peace-pipe. -Pipe no sooner lighted than mouths mysteriously gather: five, ten, a -dozen of them magically assemble at the smell of smoke and take their -turn at the curled shell, with a hollow stalk for a mouthpiece. Dinner -at last. O fish, fruit, and fowl on a mat on a floor in a grass hut at -evening! How excellent are these--amen! Night--supper over--some one -twanging upon a stringed instrument of rude native origin. Gossip -lags,--darkness and silence, and a cigarette. The Nude rises haughtily -and lights a lamp that looks very like a diminutive coffee-pot with a -great flame in the nose of it. He hangs it against a beam already -blackened with smoke to the peak of the roof. Again the peace-pipe -sweeps the home-circle, and is passed out to the mouths of the -neighbourhood. - -Guests drop down upon us and fill the one aperture of the hut with rows -of curious, welcoming faces; assorted dogs press through the door in -turn, receive a slap from each member of the family, and retreat with -invisible tails; sudden impulses set all tongues wagging in unison; -impulses, equally sudden and unaccountable, enjoin protracted intervals -of silence. The sea breathes heavily; there is a noise of rain-drops -sliding down the thatch. Guests disperse with a kind "_aloha_." We are -alone with the night. The spirit of repose descends upon us; one after -another the several members of mine host's household roll themselves -into mummies and lie in a solemn row along the side of the room, -sleeping. I, also, will sleep. A great bark-cloth (_kapa_) that rattles -as though it had received seven starchings, is all mine for covering,--a -royal _kapa_ this, of exceeding stiffness. I lie with my eyes to the -roof, and count the beams that look like an arbour. What is it, as large -as my thumb, cased in brown armour? A roach!--a melancholy procession of -roaches passing from one side of the hut, over the roof, with their -backs downward, and descending on the other side by the beams,--a -hundred of them, perhaps, or a thousand: the cry is, "Still they come!" -There is a noise of tiny feet upon the roof, and it isn't rain; there is -a sound as of falling objects that escape before I can catch them. My -hand rests upon a cool, moist creature that writhes under it,--an -animated spinal column with four legs at one end of it. Away, thou slimy -newt! Something runs over the matting, making a still, small clatter as -it goes,--something looking like a toy train of dirt-cars. Ha! the -venomous and wily centipede! Put out the coffee-pot, for these sights -are horrible! - -Now I will sleep with my face under the _kapa_,--silence, serene -silence, and darkness profound; the sea beating in agony at the foot of -the big hill,--a time for lofty and sublime revery. More rain outside -the hut; gusts of wind, wailing as they rush past us. Thanks for this -shelter. My pillow saturated with cocoanut oil--ah, what savage dreams -may have disturbed these sleepers! No matter. Will get a wink of sleep -before daybreak. Sleep, at last,--how refreshing art thou! - -Hello! the coffee-pot in a blaze again; the Nude smoking his -peace-pipe; children eating and making merry. Daybreak? No; midnight, -perchance,--darkness without, darkness once more (by request) within. -"Come again, bright dream." Horror! the house shaken as by an -earthquake; gnashing of teeth distinctly audible,--the mule undoubtedly -eating up the side of the grass hut! Anon, quiet restored. A suggestion -of moonlight through the open door; the twanging of the stringed affair; -a responsive twang in the distance. Some one steals cautiously forth -into the starlight. All is not well in Kahakuloa. Rain over; mule -vegetating elsewhere; roaches subdued; sea comparatively quiet. Welcome, -kind Nature's sweet restorer!... Humming of voices; rolling of dogs -about the house; ditto of children ditto; broad daylight, and breakfast -waiting. Mule saddled, and, with a mouthful of roses, looking fresh and -happy. Mule-boy eager for the fray. Time up. Adieu, adieu--O beautiful -Kahakuloa! I must away. - -Above the terrible hill hang clouds and shadows; fringes of rain obscure -the trail as it climbs persistently to heaven; but up that trail, into -and through those clouds and shadows, I pursue my solitary pilgrimage. - - - - -MY SOUTH-SEA SHOW. - - -High in her lady's chamber sat Gail, looking with calm eyes through the -budding maples across the hills of spring. Her letter was but half -finished, and the village post was even then ready; so she woke out of -her reverie, and ended the writing as follows:-- - - "SPRING,----. - - "I know not where you may be at this moment,--living with what - South-Sea Island god, drinking the milk of cocoanut, and eating - bread-fruit,--but wherever you are, forget not your promise to come - home again, bringing your sheaves with you." - -Anon she sealed it and mailed it, and it was hurried away, over land and -sea, till, after many days, it found me drinking my cocoa-milk and -refreshing myself with bread-fruits. - -Anon I replied to her, not on the green enamel of a broad leaf, with a -thorn stylet, but upon the blank margins of Gail's letter, with my last -half-inch of pencil. I said to her:-- - - "SUMMER,----. - - "By-and-by I will come to you, when the evenings are very long, and - the valley is still. I will cross the lawn in silence, and stand - knocking at the south entry. Deborah will open the door to me with - fear and trembling, for I shall be sunburnt and brawny, with a baby - cannibal under each arm. Then at a word a tattooed youngster shall - reach her a Tahitian pearl, and I will cry 'Give it to Mistress - Gail'; whereat Deborah will willingly withdraw, leaving me - motionless in the dead leaves by the south entry. You will take the - token, dear Gail, and know it as the symbol of, my return. You will - come and greet us, and lead us to the best chamber, and we will - feast with you as long as you like,--I and my cannibals." - -I was never quite sure of what Gail said to my letter, but I knew her -for a true soul; so I gathered my cannibals under my metaphorical wings, -and journeyed unto the village, and came into it at sunset, while it was -autumn. We passed over the lawn in silence, and stood knocking at the -south entry, in real earnest. Deborah came at last, and the little -striped fellow bore aloft his pearl of Tahitian beauty, while I gave my -message, and Deborah was terrified and thought she was dreaming. But she -took the pearl and went, and we stood in the keen air of autumn, and my -South Sea babies were very cold and moaned pitifully under my arms, and -the little pearl-bearer shivered in all his stripes, and capered in the -dead leaves like an imp of darkness. - -Then Gail came to us and let us in, and we camped by the great fire in -the sitting-room, whither Deborah brought bowls of new milk for the -little ones, and was wonderfully amazed at their quaintness and beauty, -but quite failed to affiliate with my striped pearl-bearer. - -So I said, "Sit you down, Deborah, and hear the true story of my Zebra." -Gail had already captured the bronze babies, and was helping them with -their bowls of milk as they nestled at her feet; and I took my striped -beauty between my knees, and stroked his soft wool, and told how he -saved me from a watery death, and again from the fiery stake, and was -doubly dear to me for evermore:-- - -"We were at the island of Pottobokee, getting water and fruit; had -stacked the last sack of mangoes and limes in the boat, and were off for -the ship, glad to escape with our scalps, when a wave took us amidships -on the reef, and we swamped in the dreadful spume. Some were drowned; -some clung to the boat, though it was stove badly, while relief came -from the vessel as quickly as possible, and the fragments were gathered -out of the waves and taken aboard. - -"They thought themselves lucky to escape with the remnants, for they -knew the natives for cannibals, and the shore was black and noisy within -ten minutes after the accident. It looked stormy in that neighbourhood: -hence the caution and haste of the relief-crew, who left me for drowned, -I suppose, as they never came after me, but spread everything, and went -out of sight before dark that evening. - -"I was no swimmer at all, but I kicked well, and was about diving the -fatal dive,--last of three warnings that seem providentially allotted -the luckless soul in its extremity: I was just upon the third sinking, -when a tough little arm gripped me under the breast, and I hung over it -limp and senseless, knowing nothing further of my deliverance, until I -found myself a captive in Kabala-kum,--a heathenish sort of paradise, a -little way back from the sea-coast. - -"The natives had given up all hope of feasting upon me, for there wasn't -a respectable steak in my whole carcase, nor was my appetite promising; -so they resolved to make a bonfire of me, to get me out of the way. But -that tough little arm that saved me from an early grave in the water was -husband to a tough little heart, that resolved I shouldn't be burnt. I -was his private and personal property; he had fished me out of the sea; -he would cook me in his own style when he got ready, and no one else was -to have a word in the matter. - -"There he showed his royal blood, Deborah, for he was the King's son: -this marvellous tattooing proclaims his rank. Only the noble and brave -are permitted to brand these rainbows into their brown skins. - -"I was almost frightened when I first returned to consciousness, and saw -this little fellow pawing me in his tender and affectionate way. He was -lithe as a panther, and striped all over with brilliant and changeless -stripes; so I called him my boy Zebra, and I suppose he called me his -white mouse, or something of that sort. - -"Well, he saved me at all events; and having heard something of you and -Gail from me, he wanted to see you very much, and we made our escape -together, though he had to sacrifice all his bone-jewelry, and lots of -skulls and scalps: and here he is, and you must like him, Deborah, -because he is a little heathen, and doesn't go to sabbath-school, as a -general thing, and worships idols very badly." - -Deborah did me the compliment to absorb a tear in the broad hem of her -apron, at the conclusion of my episode, whereat my beautiful Zebra -regarded her in utter amazement, then turned his queer face--ringed, -streaked, and striped--up to mine, and laughed his barbaric laugh. He -was wonderful to see, with his breast like a pigeon; his round, supple, -almost voluptuous limbs, peculiar to his amphibious tribe; his head -crowned with a turban of thick wool, so fine and flossy, it looked as -though it had been carded: it stood two inches deep at a tangent from -his oval pate. - -From his woolly crown to the soles of his feet, my Zebra was frescoed in -the most brilliant and artistic fashion. Every colour under the sun -seemed pricked into his skin (there he discounted the zebras, who are -limited in their combinations of light and shade): this, together with -the multiplicity of figures therein wrought, was a never-failing joy to -me. O my Zebra! how did you ever grow so splendid off yonder in the -South Seas? - -We chatted that evening by Gail's fire, till my Zebra's wholly head went -clean to the floor, and he looked like some prostrate idol about to be -immolated on that Christian hearth; and the baby cannibals were as funny -as two little brown rabbits, with their ears clipped, nestling at Gail's -patient feet. - -It was fully nine o'clock by this time, so Deborah got the Bible, -smoothed out her apron, and opened it thereon, while she read a chapter. -We sat by the fire and listened. I heard the earnest voice of the -reader, while the autumn winds rose in gusts, and puffed out the -curtains now and then. I thought of the chilly nights and frosty -mornings we were to endure,--we exiles of the South. I thought of the -snows that were to follow, and of the little idolaters sleeping through -the gospel, with deaf ears, while their hearts panted high in some dream -of savage joy. - -There was a big bed made upon the floor of my room,--the best chamber at -Gail's,--and there I laid out my little pets, tucking them in with -infinite concern; for they looked so like three diminutive dummies, as -they lay there, that I did not know whether they would think it worth -while to wake up again in life; and what should I be worth then, without -my wild boys? I, who was born, by some mischance, out of my tropical -element, and whose birthright is Polynesia! Gail laughed when she saw me -fretting so, and she patted the curly heads of the babies, and stroked -the Zebra's shaggy pate, and said "Good-night" to us, as her step -measured the hall, and a door closed in the distance; whereupon, instead -of freezing in the icy linen of the spare bed at the other end of the -room, I crept softly into the nest of the cannibals, and we slept like -kittens until morning. - -At a seasonable hour the next days, I got my jewels--my little inhuman -jewels--into their thick, winter clothes again, and we trotted down to -breakfast, as hungry as bears. Deborah was good enough to embrace both -the little ones, but she gave the Zebra a wide berth, and was not -entirely satisfied at leaving him loose in the house. - -He was rather odd-looking, I confess. He used to curl up under the table -and go to sleep, at all hours of the day,--I think it was the cold -weather that encouraged him in it,--stretching himself, now and then, -like a spaniel, and showing his sharp saw-teeth in a queer way, when he -laughed in his dreams. Presently Gail came in, and we sat at table, and -came near to eating her out of house and home. Deborah said -grace,--rather a long one, considering we were so hungry,--a grace in -which my babies were not forgotten, and the Zebra was made the subject -of a special prayer. To my horror Zebra was helping himself -surreptitiously to the nearest dish, the while. It was a merry meal. I -rose in the midst of it, and laid before Gail an enormous placard, -printed in as many colours as even the Zebra could boast, and Gail read -it out to Deborah: - - =JENKINS' HALL.= - - IMMENSE ATTRACTION! - - _FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY!_ - - HOKY AND POKY, - -A BRACE OF SOUTH-SEA BABIES, FROM THE ANCIENT RIVERS - - OF KABALA-KUM, - - --AND-- - - THE WONDERFUL BOY - - ZEBRA, - -A CANNIBAL PRINCE FROM THE PALMY PLAINS OF POTTOBOKEE - - IN THEIR GRAND MORAL DIVERSION, - - The first and only opportunity is now afforded the great public - to observe with safety how the heathen, in his blindness, - bows down to wood and stone. - - These are the only original and genuine representatives of the - Kabalakumists and Pottobokees that ever left - their coral strand. - - ADMISSION, ----, CHILDREN, HALF PRICE. - -Deborah was awed into silence, and Gail was apparently thinking over the -possible result of this strange advertisement, for she said nothing, but -took deliberate sips of coffee, and broke the dry toast between her -fingers, while she looked at all four of us savages in a peculiar and -ominous manner. Nothing was said, however, to disparage any farther -announcement of the entertainment; and, having appeased our hunger, we -adjourned to the reading of another chapter, during which the South Sea -babies _would_ play cat's-cradles under Gail's writing-table, and the -Zebra put his foot into the middle of her work-basket, and was very -miserable indeed. - -I was as full of work as could be. As an _impressario_ I had to rush -about all day, mustering the Great Public for the evening. Out I went, -full of it, while the bronze midgets were left in charge of Gail and -Deborah, and the Zebra was locked in an upper room, with plenty to eat, -and no facilities for getting into mischief. I saw the leading men in -town: the preacher, who was deeply interested, proposing to take up a -collection on the next sabbath, for our benefit,--which proposition I -received with graceful acquiescence peculiarly my own; the professor, at -the Seminary, who was less affable, but whose pupils were radiant at the -prospect of getting into the cannibals at reduced rates; and the editor, -who desired to print full biographies of myself and cannibals, with -portraits and facsimile of autographs. He strongly urged the -plausibility of this new method of winning the heart of the Great -Public, and was willing to take my note for thirty days, in -consideration of his personal friendship for me, and his sympathy, as a -public man and a member of the press, with the show business. - -Everything worked so nicely that it really seemed quite providential -that I had come, as I had, like anything in the night,--noiseless and -unheralded. Everything was in good order, and, after our late dinner, I -went out again, to finish for the evening,--portioning off my charges, -as before, and returning, at the last moment, to bring them up to the -hall for their _debut_. But judge of my horror at finding my Zebra -stretched upon the floor of his room, quite insensible; and all this -time Jenkins's Hall was thronged with the Great Public, who had come to -see us bow down to wood and stone. - -I was greatly alarmed. What could this sudden attack mean? He was not -subject to disorders of that nature,--at least, I had never seen him in -a similar condition. The little fellows began to cry in their peculiar -fashion, which is simply raising the voice to the highest and shrillest -pitch, and then shaking to an unlimited degree. Gail was by no means -charmed at these new developments, and Deborah fled from the room. In a -moment the cause of our trouble was disclosed. Gail's cologne bottles -were exhumed from under the bed--but quite empty. Their contents had -been imbibed by the Zebra in an extemporaneous bacchanalian festival, -tendered to himself by himself, in honour of the occasion. - -It was useless to borrow further trouble, so I prepared my apology: "The -sudden indisposition peculiar to young cannibals during the early stages -of a public and Christian career had quite prostrated the representative -from many a palmy plain; and the South Sea babies would endeavour to -fill the vacancy caused by his absence with several new and interesting -features not set down in the bills." - -I was most cordially received by the audiences, and the little midgets -danced their weird and fantastic dances, in the least possible clothing -imaginable, and sang their love-lyrics, and chanted their passionate -war-chants, and gave the funeral wail in a manner that reflected the -highest credit upon their respective South Sea papas and mammas. I -considered it an entire success, and pocketed the proceeds with -considerable satisfaction. - -But to return to my poor little Zebra. His cologne-spree had been quite -too much for him. He was mentally and physically demoralized, and could -be of no use to me, professionally, for a week, at least. I at once saw -this, and as I had two or three engagements during that time, I begged -Gail to allow him to remain with her during his convalescence, while I -went on with the babes and fulfilled my engagements. She consented. -Deborah also promised to be very good to him. I think she took a deeper -interest in him when she found how very human he was--a fact she did not -fully realize until he took to drinking. - -On we went, through three little villages, in three little valleys, with -crowded houses every evening. Delighted and enthusiastic audiences -wanted the midgets passed around, just as we passed the bone fish-hooks -and shark's-teeth combs, for inspection. - -About this time I received a short and decisive epistle from Gail,--an -immediate summons home. The Zebra, in an unwatched moment, had got into -the kerosene, and was considered no longer a welcome guest at Gail's. -Deborah was praying with him daily, which didn't seem to have the -desired effect, for he was growing worse and worse every hour. - -There were at least seven towns anxiously awaiting my South-Sea -Lecture, with the "heathen in his blindness" attachment. Yet it was out -of the question to think of pressing on in my tour, thereby sacrificing -my poor Zebra, and possibly Gail as well. I feared it was already too -late to save him, for I knew the nature of his ailment, and foresaw the -almost inevitable result. When we returned, Gail met us with tears in -her eyes, and furrows of care foreshadowed in her face. I felt how great -a responsibility I had shifted upon her shoulders, and accused myself -roundly for such selfishness. The babes rushed into her arms with the -first impulse of love, and refused to allow her out of their sight again -for some hours. - -Deborah was, even then, wrestling with the angels up in Zebra's room, -and I waited until she came down, with her eyes red and swollen,--a -bottle of physic in one hand and a Bible in the other; then I went in to -my poor, thin, shadowy little Zebra, who was wild-eyed and nervous, and -scarcely knew me at first, but went off into hysterics the moment he -found me out, to make up for it. He had had no opportunity of speaking -to any one, save in his broken English, for several days, and he rushed -into a torrent of ejaculations so violent and confusing that I was -thoroughly alarmed at his condition. Presently he grew quieter, from -sheer exhaustion, and then I learned how he had taken Deborah's -well-intended efforts toward his spiritual conversion. _He believed her -praying him to death!_ Deborah knew nothing of the sensitive organism of -these islanders. When moved by a spirit of revenge, they threaten one -another with prayers. Incantations are performed and sacrifices offered, -under which fearful spells the unhappy victim of revenge cannot think -of surviving. So he lies down and dies, without pain, or any effort on -his part; and all your physic is like so much water, administer it in -what proportions you choose. - -I went into the garden, where I saw Gail under the maples,--the very -maples that were budding in pink and white when she wrote me the letter -bidding me come out of the South, bringing my sheaves with me. The -animated sheaves were even then swinging on the clothes-lines, and -taking life easily. "Gail," I said, "O Gail, the Zebra is a dead boy!" -Gail was shocked, and silent. I told her how useless, how hopeless it -was to think of saving him. All the doctors and all the medicine in the -world were a fallacy where the soul was overshadowed with a malediction. -"Gail," I said, "that Zebra says he wants to be an angel, and he -couldn't possibly have decided upon anything more unreasonable than -this. What shall I do without my Zebra?" And I walked off by myself, and -felt desperately, while Gail was wrapped in thought, and the babes -continued to do inexpressible things on the clothes-lines, to the -intense admiration of three small boys on the other side of the -garden-fence. - -The doctor had already been called, and the physic that Deborah carried -about with her was a legitimate draught prescribed by him. Little did he -know of the death-angel that walks hand-in-hand with a superstition as -antique as Mount Ararat. So day by day the little Zebra grew more and -more slender, till his frail, striped skeleton stretched itself in a -hollow of the bed, and great gleaming eyes watched me as they would -devour me with deathless and passionate love. - -Sometimes his soul seemed to steal out of his withering body and make -mysterious pilgrimages into its native clime. I heard him murmuring and -muttering in a language unfamiliar to me. I remembered that the chiefs -had a dialect of their own,--a vocabulary so sacred and secret that no -commoner ever dared to study out its meaning. This I took to be his -classical and royal tongue, for he was of the best blood of the kingdom, -and a king's heir. - -Deborah, at the delicate suggestion of Gail, discontinued her -visitations to his chamber, as it seemed to excite him so sadly; but her -earnest soul never rested from prayer in his behalf till his last breath -was spent, and his splendid stripes grew livid for a moment, and seemed -to change like the dolphin's before their waning glories were faded out -in the lifeless flesh. - -One twilight I took the midgets into the darkened room. They scarcely -knew the thin, drawn face, with the slender, wiry fingers locked over -it, but they recognized the death-stroke with prophetic instinct, and, -crouching at the foot of the bed, rocked their dusky bodies to and fro, -to and fro, wailing the death-wail for Zebra. - -Then I longed for wings to fly away with my savage brood,--away, over -seas and mountains, till the palms waved again their phantom crests in -the mellow star-light, and the sea moaned upon the reef, and the rivulet -leaped from crag to crag through silence and shadow: where death seemed -but a grateful sleep; for the soul that dawned in that quiet life had -never known the wear and tear of this one, but was patient, and -peaceful, and ready at any hour of summons. - -Dear Gail strove to comfort me in my tribulation; but the Great Public -went its way, and knew nothing of the young soul that was passing in -speedy death. Yet the Great Public was my guide, philosopher, and -friend. I could do nothing without its sanction and co-operation. I -basked in its smiles. I trembled at the thought of its displeasure; and -now death was robbing me of my hard-earned riches, and annihilating my -best attraction. No wonder I fretted myself, and berated my ill-fortune. -Poor Gail had her hands full to keep me within bounds. I rushed to the -Zebra's room, and vowed to him that if he wouldn't die just yet I would -take him home at once to his kingdom, and we'd always live there, and -die there, by-and-by, when we were full of years. - -Alas, it was too late! "I want to be an angel," reiterated my Zebra, his -thin face brightening with an unearthly light; "to be an angel," -whispered that faint and failing voice, while his humid eyes glowed like -twin moons sinking in the far, mystical horizon of the new life he was -about to enter upon. I struggled with him no longer. I bowed down by his -pillow, and pressed the shadowy form of my once beautiful Zebra. "Well, -be an angel, little prince," said I; "be anything you please, now, for I -have done my best to save you, and failed utterly." - -So he passed hence to his destiny; and his nation wept not, neither wore -they ashes upon their foreheads, nor burned seams in their flesh; for -they knew not of his fate. But there was a small grave digged in the -orchard, and at dusk I carried the coffin in my arms thither: how light -it was! he could have borne me upon his brawny shoulders once,--strong -as a lion's. Gail cried, and Deborah cried; and I was quite beside -myself. The mites of cannibals ate earth and ashes, and came nearly -naked to the obsequies, refusing to wear their jackets, though the air -was frosty and the night promised snow. We knelt there, to cover Zebra -for the last time, crying and shivering, and feeling very, _very_ -miserable. - -I took a little rest from business after that; seeing, meantime, a stone -cut in this manner:-- - - Here lies, - In this far land, - A PRINCE OF THE SAVAGE SOUTH, - And the Last of his Tribe. - -But life called me into the arena again. A showman has little time to -waste in mourning over his losses, however serious they may be. - -One frosty evening I got my brace of cannibals into the lumbering -ambulance that constituted my caravan, with our boxes of war-clubs and -carved whale's-teeth lashed on behind us, plenty of buffalo-robes around -us, and a layer of hot bricks underfoot, and so we started for our next -scene of action. The inexorable calls of the profession forbade our -lingering longer under Gail's hospitable roof; and it was not without -pangs of inexpressible sorrow that we turned from her door, and knew not -if we were ever again to enjoy the pure influences of her household. - -My heart warmed toward poor, disconsolate Deborah in that moment, and I -forgave her all, which was the most Christian act I ever yet performed. -As we rode down the lane, I caught a glimpse of the low mound in the -orchard, and I buried my little barbarians under my great-coat, so as to -spare them a fresh sorrow, while I thought how, spring after spring, -that small grave would be covered with drifts of pale apple-blossoms, -and in the long winters it would be hidden under the paler drifts of -snow,--when it should be strewn with sea-shells, and laid away under a -cactus-hedge, in a dense and fragrant shade; and I gathered my little -ones closer to me, and said in my soul: "O, if the August Public could -only know them as I know them, it would doubt us less, and love us more! -The Zebra is gone, indeed, but my babes are here, fresh souls in perfect -bodies, like rare-ripe fruits, untouched as yet, with the nap and the -dew upon them." The stars sparkled and flashed in the cloudless sky, as -we hurried over the crisp ground,--a little, bereaved, benighted company -of South-Sea strollers, who ask your charity, and give their best in -return for it. - - * * * * * - -I have told you of my South-Sea show. You may yet have an opportunity of -judging how you like it, provided my baby heathens don't insist upon -turning into angels before their time, after the manner of the lamented -Zebra. In the meantime, the dread of this not improbable curbing of my -high career is but one of the sorrows of a South-Sea showman. - - - - -THE HOUSE OF THE SUN. - - -My Hawaiian oracle, Kahele, having posed himself in compact and chubby -grace, awaited his golden opportunity, which was not long a-coming. I -sat on the steps of L----'s verandah, and yawned frightfully, because -life was growing tedious, and I did not know exactly what to do next. -L----'s house was set in the nicest kind of climate, at the foot of a -great mountain, just at that altitude where the hot air stopped dancing, -though it was never cool enough to shut a door, or to think of wearing a -hat for any other purpose than to keep the sun out of one's eyes. -L----'s veranda ran out into vacancy as blank as cloudless sky and -shadowless sea could make it; in fact, all that the eye found to rest -upon was the low hill jutting off from one corner of the house beyond a -jasmine in blossom; and under the hill a flat-sailed schooner rocking in -a calm. I think there was nothing else down the slope of the mountain -but tangled yellow grass, that grew brown and scant as it crept into the -torrid zone, a thousand feet below us, and there it had not the courage -to come out of the earth at all; so the picture ended in a blazing -beach, with warm waves sliding up and down it, backed by blue-watery -and blue-airy space for thousands and thousands of miles. - -Why should not a fellow yawn over the situation? especially as L---- was -busy and could not talk much, and L----'s books were as old as the hills -and a good deal drier. - -Having yawned, I turned toward Kahele, and gnashed my teeth. The little -rascal looked knowing; his hour had come. He fired off in broken -English, and the effect was something like this:-- - -"Suppose we sleep in House of the Sun,--we make plenty good sceneries?" - -"And where is that?" quoth I. - -Kahele's little lump of a nose was jerked up toward the great mountain -at the back of L----'s house. "Haleakala!"[A] cried he, triumphantly, -for he saw he had resurrected my interest in life, and he felt that he -had a thing or two worth showing, a glimpse of which might content me -with this world, dull as I found it just then. "Haleakala--the House of -the Sun--up before us," said Kahele. - - [A] Haleakala, an extinct crater in the Sandwich Islands, - supposed to be the largest in the world. - -"And to get into the Sun's House?" - -"Make a good climb up, and go in from the top!" - -Ha! to creep up the roof and drop in at the skylight: this were indeed a -royal adventure. "How long would it take?" - -Kahele waxed eloquent. That night we should sleep a little up on the -slope of the mountain, lodging with the _haolis_ (foreigners) among the -first clouds; in the morning we should surprise the sun in the turrets -of his temple; then down--down--down into the crater, that had been -strewed with ashes for a thousand years. After that, out on the other -side, toward the sea, where the trade-winds blew, and the country was -fresh and fruitful. The youngster sweated with enthusiasm while he -strove to make me comprehend the full extent of the delights pertaining -to this journey; and, as he finished, he made a rapid flank movement -toward the animals, staked a few rods away. - -It was not necessary that I should consent to undertake this expedition. -He was eager to go, and he would see that I enjoyed myself when I went; -but go I must, now that he had made up my mind for me. I confess, I was -as wax in that climate. Yet, why not take this promising and uncommon -tour? The charm of travel is to break new paths. I ceased to yawn any -further over life. Kahele went to the beasts, and began saddling them. -L----'s hospitality culminated in a bottle of cold, black coffee, and a -hamper of delicious sandwiches, such as Mrs. L---- excels in. I had -nothing to do but to go. It did look like a conspiracy; but, as I never -had the moral courage to fight against anything of that sort, I got into -the saddle and went. - -Turning for a moment toward the brute's tail, overcome with conflicting -emotions, I said,-- - -"Adieu, dear L----, thou picture of boisterous industry! Adieu, Mrs. -L----, whose light is hid under the bushel of thy lord; but, as it warms -him, it is all right, I suppose, and thy reward shall come to thee some -day, I trust! By-by, multitudes of little L----s, tumbling recklessly in -the back-yard, crowned with youth and robust health and plenty of flaxen -curls! Away, Kahele! for it is toward evening, and the clouds are -skating along the roof of the House of the Sun. Sit not upon the order -of your going, but strike spurs at once,--and away!" - -It was thus that I revived myself. The prospect of fresh adventure -intoxicated me. I do not believe I could have been bought off after that -enlivening farewell. The air of the islands was charged with -electricity. I bristled all over with new life. I wanted to stand up in -my saddle and fly. - -It seemed the boy had engaged a special guide for the crater,--one -accustomed to feeling his way through the bleak hollow, where any -unpractised feet must have surely gone astray. Kahele offered him a -tempting bonus to head our little caravan at once, though it goes sorely -against the Hawaiian grain to make up a mind inside of three days. -Kahele managed the financial department, whenever he had the -opportunity, with a liberality worthy of a purse ten times as weighty as -mine; but as he afterward assured me, that guide was a fine man, and a -friend of his whom it was a pleasure and a privilege to serve. - -Of course, it was all right, since I couldn't help myself; and we three -pulled up the long slopes of Haleakala, while the clouds multiplied, as -the sun sank, and the evening grew awfully still. Somewhere up among the -low-hanging mist there was a house full of _haolis_, and there we -proposed to spend the night. We were looking for this shelter with all -our six eyes, while we rode slowly onward, having scarcely uttered a -syllable for the last half-hour. You know there are some impressive -sorts of solitude, that seal up a fellow's lips; he can only look about -him in quiet wonderment, tempered with a fearless and refreshing trust -in that Providence who has enjoined silence. Well, this was one of those -times; and right in the midst of it Kahele sighted a smoke-wreath in the -distance. To me it looked very like a cloud, and I ventured to declare -it such; but the youngster frowned me down, and appealed to the special -guide for further testimony. The guide declined to commit himself in the -matter of smoke or mist, as he ever did on all succeeding occasions, -being a wise guide, who knew his own fallibility. It was smoke!--a thin, -blue ribbon of it, uncoiling itself from among the branches of the -overhanging trees, floating up and up and tying itself into double-bow -knots, and then trying to untie itself, but perishing in the attempt. - -In the edge of the grove we saw the little white cottage of the -_haolis_; and, not far away, a camp fire, with bright, red flames -dancing around a kettle, swung under three stakes with their three heads -together. Tall figures were moving about the camp, looking almost like -ghosts, in the uncertain glow of the fire; and towards these lights and -shadows we jogged with satisfaction, scenting supper from afar. - -"Halloo!" said we, with voices that did not sound very loud up in that -thin atmosphere. - -"Halloo!" said they, with the deepest unconcern, as though they had been -through the whole range of human experience, and there was positively -nothing left for them to get excited over. - -Some of their animals whinnied in a fashion that drew a response from -ours. A dog barked savagely until he was spoken to, and then was obliged -to content himself with an occasional whine. Some animal--a sheep, -perhaps--rose up in the trail before us, and plunged into bush, sending -our beasts back on their haunches with fright. A field-cricket lifted up -its voice and sang; and then a hundred joined him; and then ten thousand -times ten thousand swelled the chorus, till the mountains were alive -with singing crickets. - -"Halloo, stranger! Come in and stop a bit, won't you?" This was our -welcome from the chief of the camp, who came a step or two forward, as -soon as we had ridden within range of the camp fire. - -And we went in unto them, and ate of their bread, and drank of their -coffee, and slept in their blankets,--or tried to sleep,--and had a -mighty good time generally. - -The mountaineers proved to be a company of California miners, who had -somehow drifted over the sea, and, once on that side, they naturally -enough went into the mountains to cut wood, break trails, and make -themselves useful in a rough, out-of-door fashion. They had for -companions and assistants a few natives, who, no doubt, did the best -they could, though the Californians expressed considerable contempt for -the "lazy devils, who were fit for nothing but to fiddle on a -jew's-harp." - -We ate of a thin, hot cake, baked in a frying-pan over that camp fire; -gnawed a boiled bone fished out of the kettle swung under the three -sticks; drank big bowls of coffee, sweetened with coarse brown sugar and -guiltless of milk; and sat on the floor all the while, with our legs -crossed, like so many Turks and tailors. We went to our blankets as soon -as the camp fire had smothered itself in ashes, though meanwhile Jack, -chief of the camp, gathered himself to windward of the flames, with his -hips on his heels and his chin on his knees, smoking a stubby pipe, and -talking of flush times in California. He was one of those men who could -and would part with his last quarter, relying upon Nature for his bed -and board. He said to me, "If you can rough it, hang on a while,--what's -to drive you off?" I could rough it: the fire was out, the night chilly; -so we turned in under blue blankets with a fuzz on them like moss, and, -having puffed out the candle,--that lived long enough to avenge its -death in a houseful of villainous smoke,--we turned over two or three -times apiece, and, one after another, fell asleep. At the farther side -of the house lay the natives, as thick as sheep in a pen, one of them a -glossy black fellow, as sleek as a eunuch, born in the West Indies, but -whose sands of life had been scattered on various shores. This sooty -fellow twanged a quaint instrument of native workmanship, and twanged -with uncommon skill. His art was the life of that savage community at -the other end of the house. Again and again, during the night, I awoke -and heard the tinkle of his primitive harp, mingled with the -ejaculations of delight wrung from the hearts of his dusky and sleepless -listeners. - -Once only was that midnight festival interrupted. We all awoke suddenly -and simultaneously, though we scarcely knew why; then the dog began to -mouth horribly. My blanket-fellows--beds we had none--knew there was -mischief brewing, and rushed out with their guns cooked. Presently the -dog came in from the brush, complaining bitterly, and one of the miners -shot at a rag fluttering among the bushes. In the morning we found a -horse gone, and a couple of bullet-holes in a shirt spread out to dry. -As soon as the excitement was over, we returned to the blankets and the -floor. The eunuch tuned his harp anew, and, after a long while, dawn -looked in at the uncurtained window, with a pale, grey face, freckled -with stars. - -Kahele saw it as soon as I did, and was up betimes. I fancy he slept -little or none that night, for he was fond of music, and especially fond -of such music as had made the last few hours more or less hideous. -Everybody rose with the break of day, and there was something to eat -long before sunrise, after which our caravan, with new vigour, headed -for the summit. - -Wonderful clouds swept by us; sometimes we were lost for a moment in -their icy depths. I could scarcely see the tall ears of my mule when we -rode into those opaque billows of vapour that swept noiselessly along -the awful heights we were scaling. It was a momentary but severe -bereavement, the loss of those ears and the head that went with them, -because I cared not to ride saddles that seemed to be floating in the -air. What was Prince Firouz Schah to me, or what was I to the Princess -of Bengal, that I should do this thing! - -There are pleasanter sensations than that of going to heaven on -horseback; and we wondered if we should ever reach the point where we -could begin to descend again to our natural level, and talk to people -infinitely below us just then. Ten thousand perpendicular feet in the -air; our breath short; our animals weak in the knees; the ocean rising -about us like a wall of sapphire, on the top of which the sky rested -like a cover,--we felt as though we were shut in an exhausted receiver, -the victims of some scientific experiment for the delectation of the -angels. We were at the very top of the earth. There was nothing on our -side of it nearer to Saturn than the crown of our heads. It was deuced -solemn, and a trifle embarrassing. It was as though we were personally -responsible for the planet during the second we happened to be uppermost -in the universe. I felt unequal to the occasion in that thin, relaxing -atmosphere. The special guide, I knew, would shirk this august -investiture, as he shirked everything else, save only the watchful care -of my collapsing _porte-monnaie_. Kahele, perhaps, would represent us to -the best of his ability,--which was not much beyond an amazing capacity -for food and sleep, coupled with cheek for at least two of his size. -There is danger in delay, saith the copybook; and while we crept slowly -onward toward the rim of the crater, the sun rose, and we forgot all -else save his glory. We had reached the mouth of the chasm. Below us -yawned a gulf whose farther walls seemed the outlines of some distant -island, within whose depths a sea of cloud was satisfied to ebb and -flow, whose billows broke noiselessly at the base of the sombre walls -among whose battlements we clung like insects. I wonder that we were not -dragged into that awful sea, for strange and sudden gusts of wind swept -past us, coming from various quarters, and rushing like heralds to the -four corners of the heavens. We were far above the currents that girdle -the lower earth, and seemed in a measure cut off from the life that was -past. We lived and breathed in cloud-land. All our pictures were of -vapour; our surroundings changed continually. Forests laced with frost; -silvery, silent seas; shores of agate and of pearl; blue, shadowy -caverns; mountains of light, dissolving and rising again transfigured in -glorious resurrection, the sun tinging them with infinite colour. A -flood of radiance swept over the mysterious picture,--a deluge of -blood-red glory that came and went like a blush; and then the mists -faded and fled away, and gradually we saw the deep bed of the crater, -blackened, scarred, distorted,--a desert of ashes and cinders shut in by -sooty walls; no tinge of green, no suggestion of life, no sound to -relieve the imposing silence of that literal death of Nature. We were -about to enter the guest-chamber of the House of the Sun. If we had been -spirited away to the enchanted cavern of some genii, we could not have -been more bewildered. The cloud-world had come to an untimely end, and -we were left alone among its blackened and charred ruins. That magician, -the sun, hearing the approach of spies, had transformed his fairy palace -into a bare and uninviting wilderness. But we were destined to explore -it notwithstanding; and our next move was to dismount and drive our -unwilling animals over into the abyss. The angle of our descent was too -near the perpendicular to sound like truth, in print. I will not venture -to give it; but I remember that our particular guide and his beast were -under foot, while Kahele and his beast were overhead, and I and my -beast, sandwiched between, managed to survive the double horror of being -buried in the _debris_ that rained upon us from the tail-end of the -caravan, and slaying the unfortunate leaders ahead with the multitude of -rocks we sent thundering down the cliff. A moving avalanche of stones -and dust gradually brought us to the bed of the crater, where we offered -thanks in the midst of an ascending cloud of cinders, every soul of us -panting with exhaustion, and oozing like a saturated sponge. The heat -was terrific; shelter there was none; L----'s coffee was all that saved -as from despair. Before us stretched miles and miles of lava, looking -like scorched pie-crust; two thousand feet above us hung heavy masses of -baked masonry, unrelieved by any tinge of verdure. To the windward there -was a gap in the walls, through which forked tongues of mist ran in, but -curled up and over the ragged cliffs, as though the prospect were too -uninviting to lure them farther. It behoved us to get on apace, for life -in the deserted House of the Sun was, indeed, a burden, and moreover -there was some danger of our being locked in. The wind might veer a -little, in which case an ocean of mist would deluge the crater, shutting -out light and heat, and bewildering the pilgrim so that escape were -impossible. The loadstone bewitched the compass in that fixed sea, and -there were no beacons and no sounding signals to steer by. Across the -smooth, hard lava occasional traces of a trail were visible, like -scratches upon glass. Close to the edges of this perilous path yawned -chasms. Sometimes the narrow way led over a ridge between two sandy -hollows, out of which it was almost impossible to return, if one false -step should plunge you into its yielding vortex. There was a long pull -toward afternoon, and a sweltering camp about three p.m., where we -finished L----'s lunch, and were not half satisfied. Even the consoling -weed barely sustained our faulting spirits, for we knew that the more -tedious portion of the journey was yet to come. - -The windward vestibule wound down toward the sea, a wild gorge through -which the molten lava had poured its destructive flood. There it lay, a -broad, uneven pass of dead, black coal,--clinkers, as ragged and sharp -as broken glass,--threaded by one beaten track a few inches in breadth. -To lose this trail was to tear the hoofs from your suffering beasts in -an hour or two, and to lacerate your own feet in half the time. Having -refreshed ourselves on next to nothing, we pressed forward. Already the -shadows were creeping into the House of the Sun, and as yet we had -scarcely gained the mouth of the pass. As we rode out from the shelter -of a bluff, a cold draught struck us like a wave of the sea. Down the -bleak, winding chasm we saw clouds approaching, pale messengers that -travel with the trade-wind and find lodgment in the House of the Sun. -They were hastening home betimes, and had surprised us in the passage. -It was an unwelcome meeting. Our particular guide ventured to assume an -expression of concern, and cautiously remarked that we were -_palikia_,--that is, in trouble! For once he was equal to an emergency; -he knew of a dry well close at hand; we could drop into it and pass the -night, since it was impossible to feel our way out of the crater through -clouds almost as dense as cotton. Had we matches? No. Had we dry sticks? -Yes, in the well, perhaps. Kahele could make fire without phosphorus, -and we could keep warm till morning, and then escape from the crater as -early as possible. After much groping about, in and out of clouds, we -found the dusty well and dropped into it. Ferns--a few of them--grew -about its sides; a dwarfed tree, rejoicing in four angular branches, as -full of mossy elbows as possible, stood in the centre of our retreat, -and at the roots of this miserable recluse the Kanakas contrived to -grind out a flame by boring into a bit of decayed wood with a dry stick -twirled rapidly between their palms. Dead leaves, dried moss, and a few -twigs made a short-lived and feeble fire for us. Darkness had come upon -the place. We watched the flaming daggers stab the air fitfully, and -finally sheathe themselves for good. We filled our shallow cave with -smoke that drove us into the mouth of it, from time to time, to keep -from strangulation. We saw our wretched beasts shaking with cold; we saw -the swift, belated clouds hurrying onward in ghostly procession; we -could do nothing but shudder and return to our dismal bed. No cheerful -cricket blew his shrill pipe, like a policeman's whistle; the sea sang -not for us with its deep, resounding voice; the Hawaiian harp was -hushed. A stone, loosened by some restless lizard, rattled down the -cliff; a goat, complaining of the cold, bleated once or twice. The wind -soughed; the dry branches of our withering tree sawed across each other: -these were our comforters during that almost endless night. - -Once the heavens were opened to us. Through the rent in the clouds we -saw a great shoulder of the cliff above us, bathed in moonlight. A -thousand grotesque shadows played over the face of it. Pictures came and -went,--a palimpsest of mysteries. Gargoyles leered at us from under the -threatening brows of the bluff; and a white spectre, shining like a -star, stood on the uppermost peak, voiceless and motionless,--some -living creature lost in admiration of the moon. Then the sky fell on us, -and we were routed to our solitary cave. - -There is a solitude of the sea that swallows up hope; the despairing -spirit hangs over a threatening abyss of death; yet above it and below -it there are forms of life rejoicing in their natural element. But there -is a solitude of the earth that is more awful; in it Death taunts you -with his presence, yet delays to strike. At sea, one step, and the -spirit is set at liberty,--the body is entombed for ever. But alas! -within the deserts of the earth no sepulchre awaits the ashes of him who -has suffered, and nought but the winds or the foul-feeding vultures -shall cleanse that bleaching skeleton where it lies. - -We tried to sleep on our stony pillows. Kahele woke and found the guide -and me dozing; later, the guide roused himself to the discovery that -Kahele and I were wrapped in virtuous unconsciousness. Anon I sat up -among the rocks, listened to the two natives breathing heavily, and -heard the wind sighing over the yawning mouth of our cavern. I heard the -beasts stamping among the clinkers, and covered my head again with the -damp blanket, and besieged sleep. Then we all three started from our -unrefreshing dreams, and lo! the clouds were rising and fleeing away, -and a faint, rosy light over the summit-peaks looked like sunrise; so we -rose and saddled the caravan, and searched about us for the lost trail. -Hour after hour we drew nearer to the mouth of the crater. Our progress -was snail-like; each one of us struck out for himself, having lost -confidence in the cunning of the other. From small elevations we took -our reckoning, and he who got the farthest toward the sea lifted up his -voice in triumph, and was speedily joined by the rest of the party. - -At last we came upon the bluffs that overhang the green shores of the -island. We were safely out of the Sun's Tabernacle, but not yet free to -pass into the lowly vales of the earth. Again and again we rode to the -edges of the cliffs, whose precipitous walls forbade our descent. -Sometimes we clung to the bare ribs of the mountain, where a single -misstep might have sent us headlong into the hereafter. Frequently we -rejoiced in a discovery that promised well; but anon a sheltered chasm -unveiled its hideous depths, or an indigo-jungle laid hold of us and cut -us off in that direction. - -Below us lay the verdant slopes of Kaupo. From their dried-grass houses -flocked the natives, looking like ants and their hills. They watched us -for hours with amused interest. Now and then they called to us with -faint and far-off voices,--suggestions that were lost to us, since they -sounded like so many bird-notes floating in the wind. All day we saw the -little village lying under us temptingly peaceful and lazy. Clouds still -hung below us: some of them swept by, pouring copious drops, that drove -our audience within doors for a few moments; but the rain was soon over, -the sun shone brighter than over, the people returned to watch us, and -the day waned. We surprised flock upon flock of goats in their rocky -retreats; but they dispersed in all directions like quicksilver, and we -passed on. About dusk we got into the grassy land, and thanked God for -deliverance. - -Here Kahele's heart rejoiced. Here, close by the little chapel of Kaupo, -he discovered one whom he proclaimed his grandfather; though, judging -from the years of the man, he could scarcely have been anything beyond -an uncle. I was put to rest in a little stone cell, where the priests -sleep when they are on their mission to Kaupo. A narrow bed, with a -crucifix at the foot of it, a small window in the thick wall, with a jug -of water in the corner thereof, and a chair with a game-leg, constituted -the furnishment of the quaint lodging. Kahele rushed about to see old -friends,--who wept over him,--and was very long absent, whereat I waxed -wroth, and berated him roundly; but the poor fellow was so charmingly -repentant that I forgave him all, and more too, for I promised him I -would stay three days, at least, with his uncle-grandfather, and give -him his universal liberty for the time being. - -From the open doorway I saw the long sweep of the mountains, looking -cool and purple in the twilight. The ghostly procession of the mists -stole in at the windward gap; the after-glow of the evening suffused the -front of the chapel with a warm light, and the statue of the Virgin -above the chapel-door,--a little faded with the suns of that endless -summer, a little mildewed with the frequent rains,--the statue looked -down upon us with a smile of welcome. Some youngsters, as naked as -day-old nest-birds, tossed a ball into the air; and when it at last -lodged in the niche of the Virgin, they clapped their hands, half in -merriment and half in awe, and the games of the evening ended. Then the -full moon rose; a cock crew in the peak of the chapel, thinking it -daybreak, and the little fellows slept, with their spines curved like -young kittens. By and by the moon hung, round and mellow, beyond the -chapel-cross, and threw a long shadow in the grass; and then I went to -my cell and folded my hands to rest, with a sense of blessed and -unutterable peace. - - - - -THE CHAPEL OF THE PALMS. - - -Oh, the long suffering of him who threads a narrow trail over the brown -crust of a hill where the short grass lies flat in tropical sunshine! On -one side sleeps the blue, monotonous sea; on the other, crags clothe -themselves in cool mist and look dreamy and solemn. - -The boy Kahele, who has no ambition beyond the bit of his foot-sore -mustang, lags behind, taking all the dust with commendable resignation. - -As for me, I am wet through with the last shower; I steam in the fierce -noonday heat. I spur Hoke the mule into the shadow of a great cloud that -drifts lazily overhead, and am grateful for this unsatisfying shade as -long as it lasts. I watch the sea, swinging my whip by its threadbare -lash like a pendulum,--the sea, where a very black rock is being drowned -over and over by the tremendous swell that covers it for a moment; but -somehow the rock comes to the surface again, and seems to gasp horribly -in a deluge of breakers. That rock has been drowning for centuries, yet -its struggle for life is as real as ever. - -I watch the mountains, cleft with green, fern-cushioned chasms, where an -occasional stream silently distils. Far up on a sun-swept ledge a -white, scattering drift, looking like a rose-garden after a high wind, I -know to be a flock of goats feeding. But the wind-dried and sun-burnt -grass under foot, the intangible dust that pervades the air, the -rain-cloud in the distance, trailing its banners of crape in the sea as -it bears down upon us,--these annoyed me somewhat, and make life a -burden for the time being; so I spur my faithless Hoke up a new ascent -as forbidding as any that we have yet come upon, and slowly and with -many pauses creep to the summit. - -Kahele, "the goer," belies his name, for he loiters everywhere and -always; yet I am not sorry. I have the first glimpse of Wailua all to -myself. I am not obliged to betray my emotion, which is a bore of the -worst sort. - -Wailua lies at my feet,--a valley full of bees, butterflies, and -blossoms, the sea fawning at the mouth of it, the clouds melting over -it; waterfalls gushing from numerous green corners; silver-white -phaetons floating in mid-air, at a loss to choose between earth and -heaven, though evidently a little inclined earthward, for they no sooner -drift out of the bewildering bowers of Wailua than they return again -with noticeable haste. - -Down I plunge into the depths of the valley, with the first drops of a -heavy shower pelting me in the back; and under a great tree, that seems -yearning to shelter somebody, I pause till the rain is over. - -Anon the slow-footed Kahele arrives, leaking all over, and bringing a -peace-offering of ohias, the native apple, as juicy and sweet as the -forbidden fruits of Paradise. As for these apples, they have solitary -seed, like a nutmeg, a pulp as white as wax, a juice flavoured with -roses, and their skin as red as a peony and as glossy as varnish. These -we munch and munch while the forest reels under the impetuous avalanches -of big rain-drops, and our animals tear great tufts of sweet grass from -the upper roadside. - -Is it far to the chapel, I wonder. Kahele thinks not,--perhaps a pari or -two distant. But a pari, a cliff, has many antecedents, and I feel that -some dozen or so of climbs, each more or less fatiguing, still separate -me from the rest I am seeking, and hope not to find until I reach the -abode of Pere Fidelis, at the foot of the cross, as one might say. - -The rain ceases. Hoke once more nerves himself for fresh assaults upon -the everlasting hills. Kahele drops behind as usual, and the afternoon -wanes. - -How fresh seems the memory of this journey, yet its place is with the -archives of the past. I seem to breathe the incense of orange-flowers, -and to hear the whisper of distant waterfalls as I write. - -It must have been toward sunset,--we were threading the eastern coast, -and a great mountain filled the west--but I felt that it was the hour -when day ends and night begins. The heavy clouds looked as though they -were still brimful of sunlight, yet no ray escaped to gladden our side -of the world. - -Finally, on the brow of what seemed to be the last hill in this life, I -saw a cross,--a cross among the palms. Hoke saw it, and quickened his -pace: he was not so great an ass but he knew that there was provender in -the green pastures of Pere Fidelis, and his heart freshened within him. - -A few paces from the grove of palms I heard a bell swing jubilantly. Out -over the solemn sea, up and down that foam-crested shore, rang the sweet -Angelus. One may pray with some fervour when one's journey is at an end. -When the prayer was over, I walked to the gate of the chapel-yard, -leading the willing Hoke, and at that moment a slender figure, clad all -in black, his long robes flowing gracefully about him, his boyish face -heightening the effect of his grave and serene demeanour, his thin, -sensitive hands held forth in hearty welcome,--a welcome that was almost -like a benediction, so spiritual was the love which it expressed,--came -out, and I found myself in the arms of Pere Fidelis, feeling like one -who has at least been permitted to kneel upon the threshold of his -Mecca. - -Why do our hearts sing _jubilate_ when we meet a friend for the first -time? What is it within us that with its life-long yearning comes -suddenly upon the all-sufficient one, and in a moment is crowned and -satisfied? I could not tell whether I was at last waking from a sleep or -just sinking into a dream. I could have sat there at his feet contented; -I could have put off my worldly cares, resigned ambition, forgotten the -past, and, in the blessed tranquillity of that hour, have dwelt joyfully -under the palms with him, seeking only to follow in his patient -footsteps until the end should come. - -Perhaps it was the realization of an ideal that plunged me into a -luxurious reverie, out of which I was summoned by _mon pere_, who hinted -that I must be hungry. Prophetic father! hungry I was indeed. - -_Mon pere_ led me to his little house with three rooms, and installed me -host, himself being my ever-watchful attendant. Then he spoke: "The lads -were at the sea, fishing: would I excuse him for a moment?" - -Alone in the little house, with a glass of claret and a hard biscuit for -refreshment, I looked about me. The central room, in which I sat, was -bare to nakedness: a few devotional books, a small clock high up on the -wall, with a short wagging pendulum, two or three paintings, betraying -more sentiment than merit, a table, a wooden form against the window, -and a crucifix, complete its inventory. A high window was at my back; a -door in front opening upon a verandah shaded with a passion-vine; beyond -it a green, undulating country running down into the sea; on either hand -a little cell containing nothing but a narrow bed, a saint's picture, -and a rosary. Kahele, having distributed the animals in good pasturage, -lay on the verandah at full length, supremely happy as he jingled his -spurs over the edge of the steps, and hummed a native air in subdued -falsetto, like a mosquito. - -Again I sank into a reverie. Enter _mon pere_ with apologies and a plate -of smoking cakes made of eggs and batter, his own handiwork; enter the -lads from the sea with excellent fish, knotted in long wisps of grass; -enter Kahele, lazily sniffing the savoury odours of our repast with -evident relish; and then supper in good earnest. - -How happy we were, having such talks in several sorts of tongues, such -polyglot efforts towards sociability,--French, English, and native in -equal parts, but each broken and spliced to suit our dire necessity! -The candle flamed and flickered in the land-breeze that swept through -the house,--unctuous waxen stalactites decorated it almost past -recognition; the crickets sang lustily at the doorway; the little -natives grew sleepy and curled up on their mats in the corner; Kahele -slept in his spurs like a born muleteer. And now a sudden conviction -seized us that it was bedtime in very truth; so _mon pere_ led me to one -of the cells, saying, "Will you sleep in the room of Pere Amabilis?" -Yea, verily, with all humility; and there I slept after the benediction, -during which the young priest's face looked almost like an angel's in -its youthful holiness, and I was afraid I might wake in the morning and -find him gone, transported to some other and more lovely world. - -But I didn't. Pere Fidelis was up before daybreak. It was his hand that -clashed the joyful Angelus at sunrise that woke me from my happy dream; -it was his hand that prepared the frugal but appetizing meal; he made -the coffee, such rich, black, aromatic coffee as Frenchmen alone have -the faculty of producing. He had an eye to the welfare of the animals -also, and seemed to be commander-in-chief of affairs secular as well as -ecclesiastical; yet he was so young! - -There was a day of brief incursions mountain-ward, with the happiest -results. There were welcomes showered upon me for his sake; he was ever -ministering to my temporal wants, and puzzling me with dissertations in -assorted languages. - -By happy fortune a Sunday followed when the Chapel of the Palms was -thronged with dusky worshippers; not a white face present but the -father's and mine own, yet a common trust in the blessedness of the -life to come struck the key-note of universal harmony, and we sang the -_Magnificat_ with one voice. There was something that fretted me in all -this admirable experience: Pere Fidelis could touch neither bread nor -water until after the last mass. Hour by hour he grew paler and fainter, -spite of the heroic fortitude that sustained his famishing body. - -"_Mon pere_," said I, "you must eat, or go to heaven betimes." He would -not. "You must end with an earlier mass," I persisted. It was -impossible: many parishioners came from miles away; some of these -started at daybreak, as it was, and they would be unable to arrive in -season for an earlier mass. Excellent martyr! thought I, to offer thy -body a living sacrifice for the edification of these savage Christians! -At last he ate, but not until appetite itself had perished. Then troops -of children gathered about him clamouring to kiss the hand of the -priestly youth; old men and women passed him with heads uncovered, -amazed at the devotion of one they could not hope to emulate. - -Whenever I referred to his life, he at once led me to admire his -fellow-apostle, who was continually in his thoughts. Pere Amabilis was -miles away, repairing a chapel that had suffered somewhat in a late -gale; Pere Amabilis would be so glad to see me; I must not fail to visit -him; and for fear of some mischance, Pere Fidelis would himself conduct -me to him. - -The way was hard,--deep chasms to penetrate, swift streams to be forded, -narrow and slippery trails to be threaded through forest, swamp, and -wilderness. These obstacles separated the devoted friends, but not for -long seasons. Pere Fidelis would go to him whom he had not laid eyes on -for a fortnight at least. - -The boy Kahele was glad of companionship; one of the small fishers, an -acolyte of the chapel, would accompany us, and together they could lag -behind, eating ohias and dabbling in every stream. - -A long day's journey followed. We wended our way through jungles of -lauhala, with slim roots in the air and long branches trailing about -them like vines; they were like great cages of roots and branches in a -woven snarl. We saw a rocky point jutting far into the sea. "Pere -Amabilis dwells just beyond that cape," said my companion, fondly; and -it seemed not very far distant; but our pace was slow and wearisome, and -the hours were sure to distance us. We fathomed dark ravines whose -farther walls were but a stone's throw from us, but in whose profound -depths a swift torrent rushed madly to the sea, threatening to carry us -to our destruction,--green, precipitous troughs, where the tide of -mountain-rain was lashed into fury, and with its death-song drowned our -voices and filled our animals with terror. - -Now and then we paused to breathe, man and beast panting with fatigue; -sometimes the rain drove us into the thick wood for shelter; sometimes a -brief deluge, the offspring of a rent cloud at the head of the ravine, -stayed our progress for half an hour, until its volume was somewhat -spent and the stream was again fordable. Here we talked of the daily -miracles in nature. Again and again the young fathers are called forth -into the wilderness to attend on the sick and dying. Little chapels are -hidden away among the mountains and through the valleys; all these must -be visited in turn. Their life is an actual pilgrimage from chapel to -chapel, which nothing but physical inability may interrupt. - -At one spot I saw a tree under which Pere Fidelis once passed a -tempestuous night. On either side yawned a ravine swept by an impassable -flood. There was no house within reach. On the soaked earth, with a -pitiless gale sweeping over the land, from sunset to sunrise he lay -without the consolation of one companion. Food was frequently scarce: a -few limpets, about as palatable as parboiled shoe-leather, a paste of -roast yams and water, a lime perhaps, and nothing besides but lumpy salt -from the sea-shore. - -While we were riding a herald met us bearing a letter for _mon pere_. It -was a greeting from Pere Amabilis, who announced the chapel as rapidly -nearing its complete restoration. Pere Fidelis fairly wept for joy at -this intelligence, and burst into a panegyric upon the unrivalled -ingenuity of his spiritual associate. We were sure to surprise him at -work, and this trifling episode seemed to be an event of some importance -in the isolated life they led. - -At sunset we passed into the open vale of Wailuanui, and saw the chapel -looking fresh and tidy on the slope of the hill toward the sea. Two -waterfalls that fell against the sunset flashed like falling flame, and -a soft haze tinged the slumberous solitudes of wood and pasture with the -dream-like loveliness of a picture. There seemed to be but one sound -audible,--the quick, sharp blows of a hammer. Pere Fidelis listened with -eyes sparkling, and then rode rapidly onward. - -Behold! from the chapel wall, high up on a scaffolding of boughs, his -robes gathered about him, his head uncovered and hammer in hand, Pere -Amabilis leaned forth to welcome us. The hammer fell to the earth. Pere -Amabilis loosened his skirts and clasped his hands in unaffected -rapture. We were three satisfied souls, asking for nothing beyond the -hem of that lonely valley in the Pacific. - -Of course there was the smallest possible house that could be lived in, -for our sole accommodation, because but one priest needed to visit the -district at a time, and a very young priest at that. A tiny bed in one -corner of the room was thought sufficient, together with two plates, two -cups, and a single spoon. Luxuries were unknown and unregretted. - -"Well, father, what have you at this hotel?" said Pere Fidelis, as we -came to the door of the cubby-house. - -"Water," replied our host with a grave tone that had an undercurrent of -truth in it. - -But we were better provided for. Within an hour's time a reception took -place: the native parishioners came forth to welcome Pere Fidelis and -the stranger, each bringing some voluntary tribute,--a fish, a fowl lean -enough to quiet the conscience of Pere Fidelis, an egg or two, or a -bunch of taro. - -Long talks followed; the news of the last month was discussed with much -enthusiasm, and some few who had no opportunity of joining in the debate -gave expression to their sentiments through such speaking eyes as -savages usually are possessed of. - -The welcome supper-hour approached. Willing hands dressed a fowl; swift -feet plied between the spring and the kettle swung over the open -camp-fire, children danced for very joy before the door of the chapel, -under the statue of the Virgin, whose head was adorned with a garland of -living flowers. The shadows deepened; stars seemed to cluster over the -valley and glow with unusual fervour; the crickets sang mightily,--they -are always singing mightily over yonder; supper came to the bare table -with its meagre array of dishes; and, since I was forced to have a whole -plate and a bowl, as well as the solitary spoon, for my whole use, the -two young priests ate together from the same dish and drank from the -same cup, and were as grateful and happy as the birds of the air under -similar circumstances. - -A merry meal, that! For us no weak tea, that satirical consoler, nor tea -whose strength is bitterness, an abomination to the faithful, but _mon -pere's_ own coffee, the very aroma of which was invigorating; then our -friendly pipes out under the starlight, where we sat chatting amicably, -with our three heads turbaned in an aromatic Virginian cloud. - -I learned something of the life of these two friends during that social -evening. Born in the same city in the north of France, reared in the -same schools, graduated at the same university, each fond of life and -acquainted with its follies, each in turn stricken with an illness that -threatened death, together they came out of the dark valley with their -future consecrated to the work that now absorbs them, the friendship of -their childhood increasing with their years and sustaining them in a -remote land, where their vow of poverty seems almost like sarcasm, since -circumstances deprives them of all luxuries. - -"Do you never long for home? do you never regret your vow?" I asked. - -"Never!" they answered; and I believed them. "These old people are as -parents to us; these younger ones are as brothers and sisters; these -children we love as dearly as though they were our own. What more can we -ask?" - -What more indeed! With the rain beating down upon your unsheltered -heads, and the torrents threatening to engulf you; faint with -journeyings; a-hungered often; weak with fastings; pallid with -prayer,--what more _can_ you ask in the same line? say I. - -Pere Fidelis coughed a little, and was somewhat feverish. I could see -that his life was not elastic; his strength was even then failing him. - -"Pere Amabilis is an artisan: he built this house, and it is small -enough; but some day he will build a house for me but six feet long and -_so_ broad," said Pere Fidelis, shrugging his shoulders; whereat Pere -Amabilis, who looked like a German student with his long hair and -spectacles, turned aside to wipe the moisture from the lenses, and said -nothing, but laid his hand significantly upon the shoulder of his -friend, as if imploring silence. Alas for him when those lips are silent -for ever! - -I wondered if they had no recreation. - -"O yes. The poor pictures at the Chapel of the Palms are ours, but we -have not studied art. And then we are sometimes summoned to the farther -side of the island, where we meet new faces. It is a great change." - -For a year before the arrival of Pere Amabilis, who was not sooner able -to follow his friend, Pere Fidelis was accustomed to go once a month to -a confessional many miles away. That his absence might be as brief as -possible, he was obliged to travel night and day. Sometimes he would -reach the house of his confessor at midnight, when all were sleeping: -thereupon would follow this singular colloquy in true native fashion. A -rap at the door at midnight, the confessor waking from his sleep. - -_Confessor_. "Who's there?" - -_Pere Fidelis_. "It is I!" - -_Conf._ "Who is I?" - -_Pere F._ "Fidelis!" - -_Conf._ "Fidelis who?" - -_Pere F._ "Fidelis kahuna pule!" (Fidelis the priest.) - -_Conf._ "Aweh!" (An expression of the greatest surprise.) "_Entre_, -Fidelis kahuna pule." - -Then he would rise, and the communion that followed must have been most -cheering to both, for _mon pere_ even now is merry when he recalls it. - -These pilgrimages are at an end, for the two priests confess to one -another: conceive of the fellowship that hides away no secret, however -mortifying! - -The whole population must have been long asleep before we thought of -retiring that night, and then arose an argument concerning the fittest -occupant of the solitary bed. It fell to me, for both were against me, -and each was my superior. When I protested, they held up their fingers -and said, "Remember, we are your fathers and must be obeyed." Thus I was -driven to the bed, while mine hosts lay on the bare floor with saddles -for pillows. - -It was this self-sacrificing hospitality that hastened my departure. I -felt earth could offer me no nobler fellowship,--that all acts to come, -however gracious, would bear a tinge of selfishness in comparison with -the reception I had met where least expected. - -I am thankful that I had not the heart to sleep well, for I think I -could never have forgiven myself had I done so. When I woke in the early -part of the night, I saw the young priests bowed over their breviaries, -for I had delayed the accustomed offices of devotion, and they were -fulfilling them in peace at last, having me so well bestowed that it was -utterly impossible to do aught else for my entertainment. - -Once more the morning came. I woke to find Pere Amabilis at work, hammer -in hand, sending his nails home with accurate strokes that spoke well -for his trained muscle. Pere Fidelis was concocting coffee and directing -the volunteer cooks, who were seeking to surpass themselves upon this -last meal we were to take together. In an hour _mon pere_ was to start -for the Chapel of the Palms, while I wended my way onward through a new -country, bearing with me the consoling memory of my precious friends. I -can forgive a slight and forget the person who slights me, but little -kindnesses probe me to the quick. I wonder why the twin fathers were so -very careful of me that morning? They could not do enough to satisfy -themselves, and that made me miserable; they stabbed me with tender -words, and tried to be cheerful with such evident effort that I couldn't -eat half my breakfast, though, as it was, I ate more than they did--God -forgive me!--and altogether it was a solemn and memorable meal. - -A group of natives gathered about us seated upon the floor; it was -impossible for Pere Fidelis to move without being stroked by the -affectionate creatures who deplored his departure. Pere Amabilis -insisted upon adjusting our saddles, during which ceremony he slyly hid -a morsel of cold fowl in our saddle-bags. - -That parting was as cruel as death. We shall probably never see one -another again; if we do, we shall be older and more practical and more -worldly, and the exquisite confidence we have in one another will have -grown blunt with time. I felt it then as I know it now--our brief idyl -can never be lived over in this life. - -Well, we departed: the corners of our blessed triangle were spread -frightfully. Pere Fidelis was paler than ever; he caught his breath as -though there wasn't much of it, and the little there was wouldn't last -long; Pere Amabilis wiped his spectacles and looked utterly forsaken; -the natives stood about in awkward, silent groups, coming forward, one -by one, to shake hands, and then falling back like so many automatons. -Somehow, genuine grief is never graceful: it forgets to pose itself; its -muscles are perfectly slack and unreliable. - -The sea looked grey and forbidding as it shook its shaggy breakers under -the cliff: life was dismal enough. The animals were unusually wayward, -and once or twice I paused in despair under the prickly sunshine, half -inclined to go back and begin over again, hoping to renew the past; but -just then Hoke felt like staggering onward, and I began to realize that -there are some brief, perfect experiences in life that pass from us like -a dream, and this was one of them. - -In the proem to this idyl I seem to see two shadowy figures passing up -and down over a lonesome land. Fever and famine do not stay them; the -elements alone have power to check their pilgrimage. Their advent is -hailed with joyful bells: tears fall when they depart. Their paths are -peace. Fearlessly they battle with contagion, and are at hand to close -the pestilential lips of unclean death. They have lifted my soul above -things earthly, and held it secure for a moment. From beyond the waters -my heart returns to them. Again at twilight, over the still sea, floats -the sweet Angelus; again I approach the chapel falling to slow decay: -there are fresh mounds in the churchyard, and the voice of wailing is -heard for a passing soul. By-and-by, if there is work to do, it shall be -done, and the hands shall be folded, for the young apostles will have -followed in the silent footsteps of their flock. Here endeth the lesson -of the Chapel of the Palms. - - - - -KAHELE. - - -From a bluff, whose bald forehead jutted a thousand feet into the air, -and under whose chin the sea shrugged its great shoulders, Kahele, my -boy,--that delightful contradiction, who was always plausible, yet never -right,--Kahele and I looked timidly over into the sunset valley of Meha. -The "Valley of Solitude" it was called; albeit, at that moment, and with -half an eye, we counted the thirty grass-lodges of the village, and -heard the liquid tongues of a trio of waterfalls, that dived head-first -into the groves at the farther end of the valley, where the mountain -seemed to have opened its heart wide enough to let a rivulet escape into -the sea. But the spot was a palpable and living dream, and no fond -rivulet would go too hastily through it; so there was a glittering sort -of monogram writ in water, and about it the village lodges were -clustered in a very pleasing disorder. - -The trail dropped down the cliff below us in long, swinging zigzags, and -wound lazily through the village; crossed the stream at the ford; dipped -off toward the sea, as though the beach, shining like coarse gold, were -a trifle too lovely to be passed without recognition, and then it -climbed laboriously up the opposite cliff, and struck off into space. In -ten seconds a bird might have spanned the deep ravine, and caught as -much of its loveliness as we; but we weren't birds, and, moreover, we -had six legs apiece to look after, so we tipped off from the dizzy ridge -that overhung the valley of Meha to the north, and gradually descended -into the heat and silence of the place, that seemed to make a picture of -itself when we first looked down upon it from our eyrie. - -We found the floor of the valley very solemn and very lovely, when we -reached it. Three youngsters, as brown as berries, and without any -leaves upon them, broke loose from a banana-orchard and leaped into a -low _hou_-tree as we approached. They were a little shy of my colour, -pale-faces being rare in that vicinity. Two women who were washing at -the ford--and washing the very garments they should have had upon their -backs--discovered us, and plunged into the stream with a refreshing -splash, and a laugh apiece that was worth hearing, it was so genuine and -hearty. Another youngster hurried off from a stone wall like a startled -lizard, and struck on his head, but didn't cry much, for he was too -frightened. A large woman lay at full length on a broad mat, spread -under a pandanus, and slept like a turtle. I began to think there were -nothing but women and children in the solitary valley, but Kahele had -kept an eye on the reef, and, with an air of superior intelligence, he -assured me that there were many men living about there, and they, with -most of the women and children, were then out in the surf, fishing. - -"To the beach, by all means!" cried I; and to the beach we hastened, -where, indeed, we found heaps of cast-off raiment, and a hundred -footprints in the sand. What would Mr. Robinson Crusoe have said to -that, I wonder! Across the level water, heads, hands, and shoulders, and -sometimes half-bodies, were floating about, like the _amphibia_. We were -at once greeted with a shout of welcome, which came faintly to us above -the roar of the surf, as it broke heavily on the reef, a half-mile out -from shore. It was drawing toward the hour when the fishers came to -land; and we had not long to wait, before, one after another, they came -out of the sea like so many mermen and mermaids. They were refreshingly -innocent of etiquette,--at least, of our translation of it; and, with a -freedom that was amusing as well as a little embarrassing, I was -deliberately fingered, fondled, and fussed with by nearly every dusky -soul in turn. "At last," thought I, "fate has led me beyond the pale of -civilization; for this begins to look like the genuine article." - -With uncommon slowness, the mermaids donned more or less of their -apparel, a few preferring to carry their robes over their arms; for the -air was delicious, and ropes of seaweed are accounted full dress in that -delectable latitude. Down on the sand the mermen heaped their scaly -spoils,--fish of all shapes and sizes, fish of every colour; some of -them throwing somersaults in the sand, like young athletes; some of them -making wry faces, in their last agony; some of them lying still and -clammy, with big, round eyes like smoked-pearl vest-buttons set in the -middle of their cheeks; all of them smelling fishlike, and none of them -looking very tempting. Small boys laid hold on small fry, bit their -heads off, and held the silver-coated morsels between their teeth, like -animated sticks of candy. There was a Fridayish and Lent-like atmosphere -hovering over the spot, and I turned away to watch some youths who were -riding surf-boards not far distant,--agile, narrow-hipped youths, with -tremendous biceps and proud, impudent heads set on broad shoulders, like -young gods. These were the flower and chivalry of the Meha blood, and -they swam like young porpoises, every one of them. - -There was a break in the reef before us; the sea knew it, and seemed to -take special delight in rushing upon the shore as though it were about -to devour sand, savages, and everything. Kahele and I watched the -surf-swimmers for some time, charmed with the spectacle. Such buoyancy -of material matter I had never dreamed of. Kahele, though much in the -flesh, could not long resist the temptation to exhibit his prowess, and -having been offered a surf-board that would have made a good lid to his -coffin, and was itself as tight as cork and as smooth as glass, suddenly -threw off his last claim to respectability, seized his sea-sled, and -dived with it under the first roller which was then about to break above -his head, not three feet from him. Beyond it, a second roller reared its -awful front, but he swam under that with ease; at the sound of his "open -sesame," its emerald gates parted and closed after him. He seemed some -triton, playing with the elements, and dreadfully "at home" in that very -wet place. The third and mightiest of the waves was gathering its -strength for a charge upon the shore. Having reached its outer ripple, -again Kahele dived and reappeared on the other side of the watery hill, -balanced for a moment in the glassy hollow, turned suddenly, and, -mounting the towering monster, he lay at full length on his fragile -raft, using his arms as a bird its pinions,--in fact, soaring for a -moment with the wave under him. As it rose he climbed to the top of it, -and there, in the midst of foam seething like champagne, on the crest of -a rushing sea-avalanche about to crumble and dissolve beneath him, his -surf-board bidden in spume, on the very top bubble of all, Kahele danced -like a shadow. He leaped to his feet and swam in the air, another -Mercury, tiptoeing a heaven-kissing hill, buoyant as vapour, and with a -suggestion of invisible wings about him,--Kahele transformed for a -moment, and for a moment only; the next second my daring sea-skater -leaped ashore, with a howling breaker swashing at his heels. It was -something glorious and almost incredible; but I saw it with my own eyes, -and I wanted to double his salary on the spot. - -Sunset in the valley of Meha. The air full of floating particles, that -twinkled like diamond-dust; the great green chasm at the head of the -valley illuminated by one broad bar of light shot obliquely through it, -tipped at the end with a shower of white rockets that fringed a -waterfall, and a fragment of rainbow like a torn banner. That deep, -shadowy ravine seemed, for a moment, some mystery about to be divulged; -but the light faded too soon, and I never learned the truth of it. The -sea quieter than usual; very little sound save the rhythmical vibration -of the air, that suggested flowing waters and quivering leaves; the -lights shifted along the upper cliffs; a silver-white tropic-bird sailed -from cloud to cloud, swiftly and noiselessly, like a shooting-star. A -delicious moment, but a brief one; soon the sun was down, and the -deepening shadows and gathering coolness set all the valley astir. - -Camp-fires were kindled throughout the village; column after column of -thin blue smoke ascended in waving spirals, separating at the top in -leaf-shaped clouds. It was like the spiritual resurrection of some -ancient palm-grove; and when the moon rose, a little later, flooding the -Vale of Solitude with her vague light, the illusion was perfected; and a -group of savages, scenting the savoury progress of their supper, sat, -hungry and talkative, under every ghostly palm. Clear voices ascended in -monotonous and weird recitative; they chanted a monody on the death of -some loved one, prompted, perhaps, by the funereal solemnity of the -hour; or sang an ode to the moon-rise, the still-flowing river, or the -valley of Meha, so solitary in one sense, though by no means alone in -its loneliness. - -Kahele patronized me extensively. I was introduced to camp after camp, -and in rapid succession repeated the experiences of a traveler who has -much to answer for in the way of colour, and the peculiar cut of his -garments. I felt as though I was some natural curiosity, in charge of -the robustious Kahele, who waxed more and more officious every hour of -his engagement; and his tongue ran riot as he descanted upon my -characteristics, to the joy of the curious audiences we attracted. - -Some hours must have passed before we thought of sleep. How could we -think of it, when every soul was wide awake, and time alone seemed to -pass us by unconsciously? But Kahele finally led me to a chief's house, -where, under coverlets of _kapa_, spiced with herbs, and in the midst of -numerous members of the household, I was advised to compose my soul in -peace, and patiently await daylight. I did so, for the drowsy sense that -best illustrates the tail-end of a day's journey possessed me, and I was -finally overcome by the low, monotonous drone of a language that I found -about as intelligible as the cooing of the multitudinous pigeon. The boy -sat near me, still descanting upon our late experiences, our possible -future, and the thousand trivial occurrences that make the recollections -of travel forever charming. The familiar pipe, smoked at about the rate -of three whiffs apiece, circulated freely, and kept the air mildly -flavoured with tobacco; and night, with all that pertains to it, bowed -over me, as, in an unguarded moment, I surrendered to its narcotizing -touch. - -There was another valley in my sleep, like unto the one I had closed my -eyes upon, and I saw it thronged with ancients. No white face had yet -filled those savage and sensuous hearts with a sense of disgust, which, -I believe, all dark races feel when they first behold a bleached skin. -Again the breathless heralds announced the approach of a king, and the -multitudes gathered to receive him. I heard the beating of the tom-toms, -and saw the dancers ambling and posing before his august majesty, who -reclined in the midst of a retinue of obsequious retainers. The -spearsmen hurled their spears, and the strong men swung their clubs; the -stone-throwers threw skillfully, and the sweetest singers sang long -_meles_ in praise of their royal guest. A cry of fear rent the air as a -stricken one fled toward the city of refuge; the priests passed by me in -solemn procession, their robes spotted with sacrificial blood. War -canoes drew in from the sea, and death fell upon the valley. I heard -the wail for the slaughtered, and saw the grim idols borne forth in the -arms of the triumphant; then I awoke in the midst of that dream-pageant -of savage and barbaric splendour. - -It was still night; the sea was again moaning; the cool air of the -mountain rustled in the long thatch at the doorway; a ripe bread-fruit -fell to the earth with a loud thud. I rose from my mat and looked about -me. The room was nearly deserted; some one lay swathed like a mummy in a -dark corner of the lodge, but of what sex I knew not,--probably one who -had outlived all sensations, and perhaps all desires; a rush, strung -full of oily _kukui_ nuts, flamed in the centre of the room, and a -thread of black smoke climbed almost to the peak of the roof; but, -falling in with a current of fresh air, it was spirited away in a -moment. - -I looked out of the low door; the hour was such a one as tinges the -stoutest heart with superstition; the landscape was complete in two -colours,--a moist, transparent grey, and a thin, feathery silver, that -seemed almost palpable to the touch. Out on the slopes near the stream -reclined groups of natives, chatting, singing, smoking, or silently -regarding the moon. I passed them unnoticed; dim paths led me through -guava jungles, under orange groves, and beside clusters of jasmine, -overpowering in their fragrance. Against the low eaves of the several -lodges sat singers, players upon the rude instruments of the land, and -glib talkers, who waxed eloquent, and gesticulated with exceeding grace. -Footsteps rustled before and behind me; I stole into the thicket, and -saw lovers wandering together, locked in each other's embrace, and saw -friends go hand-in-hand conversing in low tones, or perhaps mute, with -an impressive air of the most complete tranquillity. The night-blooming -cereus laid its ivory urn open to the moonlight, and a myriad of -crickets chirped in one continuous jubilee. Voices of merriment were -wafted down to me; and, stealing onward toward the great meadow by the -stream, where the sleepless inhabitants of the valley held high -carnival, I saw the most dignified chiefs of Meha sporting like -children, while the children capered like imps, and the whole community -seemed bewitched with the glorious atmosphere of that particular night. - -Who was the gayest of the gay, and the most lawless of the unlawful? My -boy, Kahele, in whom I had placed my trust, and whom, until this hour at -least, I had regarded as the most promising specimen of the reorganized -barbarians. - -Perhaps it was all right; perhaps I had been counting his steps with too -much confidence; they might have been simply a creditable performance, -the result of careful training on the part of his tutors. I am inclined -to think they were! At any rate, Kahele went clean back to barbarism -that night, and seemed to take to it amazingly. I said nothing; I -thought it wiser to seem to hold the reins, though I hold them loosely, -than to try to check the career of my half-tamed domestic, and to find -him beyond my control; therefore I sat on one side taking notes, and -found it rather jolly on the whole. - -The river looked like an inky flood with a broken silver crust; canoes -floated upon its sluggish tide like long feathers; swimmers plied up and -down it, now and then "blowing," whale-fashion, but slipping through -the water as noiselessly as trout. I could scarcely tell which was the -more attractive,--Nature, so fragrant and so voluptuous, or man, who had -become a part of Nature for the hour, and was very unlike man as I had -been taught to accept him. - -Not till dawn did the dance or the song cease; not till everybody was -grey and fagged, and tongues had stopped wagging from sheer exhaustion. -I returned to my mats long ere that, to revolve in my mind plans for the -following day. - -It was evident that Kahele must at once quit the place, or go back to -barbarism and stick there. I didn't care to take the responsibility of -his return to first principles, and so ordered the animals to be saddled -by sunrise. At that delicious moment the youngster lay like one of the -Seven Sleepers, whom nothing could awaken. Everybody in the village -seemed to be making up his lost sleep, and I was forced to await the -return of life before pressing my claims any further. - -The scorching noon drew on; a few of the sleepers awoke, bathed, ate of -their cold repast, and slept again. Kahele followed suit; in the midst -of his refreshment I suggested the advisability of instant departure; he -hesitated. I enlarged upon the topic, and drew an enticing picture of -the home-stretch, with all the endearing associations clustering about -its farther end; he agreed to everything with a sweet and passive grace -that seemed to compensate me for the vexations of the morning. - -I went to the river to bathe while the beasts were being saddled, and -returned anon to find Kahele sound asleep, and as persistent in his -slumbers as ever. The afternoon waned; I began to see the fitness of -the name that had at first seemed to me inappropriate to the valley; -everybody slept or lazed during the hot hours of the day, and a -census-taker might easily have imagined the place a solitude. At sunset, -there was more fishing and more surf-swimming. It seemed to me the fish -smelt stronger, and the swimmers swam less skilfully than on the evening -previous; possibly it was quite as pretty a spectacle as the one that -first charmed me, but blessings are bores when they come out of season. - -Night drew on apace; the moon rose, and the inhabitants pretended to -rest, but were shortly magnetized out of their houses, where they danced -till daybreak. The sweets of that sort of thing began to cloy, and I -resolved upon immediate action. Kahele was taken by the ears at the very -next sunrise, and ordered to get up the mules at once. He was gone -nearly all day, and came in at last with a pitiful air of disappointment -that quite unmanned me; his voice, too, was sympathetic, and there was -something like a tear in his eye when he assured me that the creatures -had gone astray, but might be found shortly,--perhaps even then they -were approaching; and the young scamp rose to reconnoitre, glad, no -doubt, of an excuse for escaping from my natural but ludicrous -discomfiture. It is likely that my boy Kahele would have danced till -doomsday, had I not shown spleen. It is as likely, also, that the chief -and all his people would have helped him out in it, had I not offered -such reward as I thought sufficient to tempt greed; but, thank heaven, -there is an end to everything! - -On the morning of the fourth day, two travellers might have been seen -struggling up the face of the great cliff that walls in the valley of -Meha to the south. The one a pale-face, paler than usual, urging on the -other, a dark-face, darker than was its wont. Never did animals so -puzzle their wits to know whether they were indeed desired to hasten -forward, or to turn back at the very next crook in the trail. We were at -big odds, Kahele and I; for another idol of mine had suddenly turned to -clay, and, though I am used to that sort of thing, I am never able to -bear it with decent composure. On we journeyed, working at cross -purposes, and getting nearer to the sky all the while, and finally -losing sight of the bewitching valley that had demoralized and so nearly -divorced us; getting wet in the damp grasses on the highlands, and -sometimes losing ourselves for a moment in the clouds that lie late on -the mountains; seeing lovely, narrow, and profound vales, wherein the -rain fell with a roar like hail; where the streams swelled suddenly like -veins, and where often there was no visible creature discernible, not -even a bird; where silence brooded, and the world seemed empty. - -A very long day's journey brought us out of the green and fertile land -that lies with its face to the trade-wind; there the clouds gather and -shed their rains; but all of the earth lying in the lee of the great -central peak of the island is as dust and ashes,--unwatered, unfruitful, -and uninteresting, save as a picture of deep and dreadful desolation. No -wonder that Kahele longed to tarry in the small Eden of Meha, knowing -that we were about to journey into the deserts that lie beyond it. No -wonder that the shining shores of the valley beguiled him, when he knew -that henceforth the sea would break upon long reaches of black lava, as -unpicturesque as a coal-heap, the path along which was pain, and the -waysides anguish of spirit; where fruit was scarce, and water brackish, -and every edible dried and deceitful. - -Having slept the sleep of the just,--for I felt that I had done what I -could to reclaim my backsliding Kahele,--I awoke on a Sabbath morning -that presented a singular spectacle. Its chief features were a -glittering, metallic-tinted sea, and a smoking plain backed by naked -sand-hills. The low brush, scattered thinly over the earth, tried hard -to look green, but seldom got nearer to it than a dusty grey. Evidently -there was no sap in those charred twigs, for they snapped like coral -when you tested their pliancy. A few huts, dust-coloured and ragged, -were scattered along the trail; they had apparently lost all hope, and -paused by the wayside, to end their days in despair. - -The _hale-pule_, or prayer-house, chief of the forlorn huts, by virtue -of extraordinary hollowness and a ventilation that was only exceeded by -all out-of-doors,--this prayer-house, or church, was thrown open to the -public; and, to my amazement, Kahele suggested the propriety of our -attending worship, even before the first conch had been blown from the -rude door by the deacon himself. - -We went along the chalky path that led to the front of the house, and -sat in the shelter of the eaves for an hour or more. Seven times that -conch was blown, and on each occasion the neighbourhood responded, -though stingily; a few worshippers would issue out of the wilderness and -draw slowly toward us. One or two men came on horseback, and were happy -in their mood, exhibiting the qualities of their animals on the flats -before us. Some came on foot, with their shoes in hand; the shoes were -carefully put on at the church door, but put off again a few moments -after entering the rustic pews. Dogs came, about one for every human; -these lay all over the floor, or mounted the seats, or were held in the -arms of the congregation, as the case might be. Children came, and -played a savage version of leap-frog in the lee of the church, but they -were bleak-looking youngsters, not at all like the little human -vegetables that flourished in the genial atmosphere of the valley of -Meha. - -The conch was blown again; the most melancholy sound that ever issued -from windy cavity floated up and down that disconsolate land, and seemed -to be saying, in pathetic gusts, "Come to meeting! Come to meeting!" -Probably every one that could come had come; at any rate no one else -followed, and, after a decent pause, the services of the morning were -begun. The brief interval of ominous silence that preceded the opening -was enlivened by the caprices of a fractious horse, and at least two -stampedes of the canine persuasion, at which time the dogs seemed -possessed of devils, and were running down in a body towards the sea, -but thought better of it, and stole noiselessly back again, one after -the other, just in season for the opening prayer, to which they entered -with a low-comedy cast of countenance, and a depressed tail. - -That prayer bubbled out of the savage throat like a clear fountain of -vowels. The dignity of the man was impressive, and his face the picture -of devotion; his deportment, likewise, was all that could be desired in -any one, under the circumstances. Either he was a rare specimen of the -very desirable convert from barbarism, or he was a consummate actor; I -dare not guess which of the two beguiled me with his grave and -euphonious prayer. - -I regret to state that, during the energetic expounding of the -Scriptures, a few of the congregation forgot themselves and slept -audibly; a few arose and went under the eaves to smoke; children went -down on all-fours, and crawled under the pews in chase of pups as -restless and incorrigible as themselves. At a later period, some one -announced an approaching schooner, and the body of the house was -unceremoniously cleared, for a schooner was as rare a visitor to that -part of the island as an angel to any quarter of the globe. Further -ceremony was out of the question, at least until the excitement had -subsided; the parson, with philosophical composure, precipitated his -doxology, and we all walked out into the dreary afternoon to watch the -schooner blowing in toward shore. - -The wind was rising; white clouds scudded over us; transparent shadows -slid under us; the whole earth seemed unstable, and life scarcely worth -the living. Along the dead shore leaped the sea, in a careless, -dare-devil fashion; hollow rocks spouted great mouthfuls of spray -contemptuously into the air; columns of red dust climbed into the sky, -reeling to and fro as they passed over the bleak desert toward the sea -on the opposite side of the island. These dust-chimneys were continually -moving over the land so long as the wind prevailed, which was for the -rest of that afternoon, to my certain knowledge. In fact, the gale -increased every hour; sheets of spray leaped over the rocky barriers of -the shore, and matted the dry grass, that hissed like straw whenever a -fresh gust struck it. - -One tattered cocoa-palm, steadfast in its mission, though the living -emblem of a forlorn hope, wrestled with the tempest that threw all its -crisp and rattling leaves over its head like a pompon, and fretted it -till its slender neck twisted as though it were being throttled. The -thatched house seemed about to go to pieces, and every timber creaked in -agony; yet we gathered in its lee, and awaited the slow approach of the -schooner. Near shore she put about, and seemed upon the point of -scudding off to sea again. For a moment our hearts were in our throats; -we were in danger of missing the sensation of the season; new faces, new -topics of conversation, and, perhaps, something good to eat, sent -thither by Providence, who seldom forgets His children in the waste -places, though I wonder that He lets them lose themselves so often. - -The schooner rocked on the big rollers for half an hour; a small boat -put off from her, with some dark objects seated in it; out on the great -rollers the little shallop rocked, sometimes hidden from view by an -intervening wave, sometimes thrown partly out of the water as it -balanced for a moment on the crest of a breaker, but gradually drawing -in toward a bit of beach, where there was a possible chance of landing, -in some shape or other. A few rods from shore, three dusky creatures -deliberately plunged overboard and swam toward us. We rushed in a body -to welcome them,--two women old residents of the place, who came out of -the sea wailing for joy at their safe return to a home no more inviting -than the one whose prominent features I have sought to reproduce. Down -they sat, not three feet from the water, that bubbled and hissed along -the coarse sand, and lifted up their voices in pitiful and impressive -monotones, as they recounted in a savagely poetic chant their various -adventures since they last looked upon the beloved picture of desolation -that lay about them. - -The third passenger--a youngster--came to land when he had got tired of -swimming for the fun of it, and, once more upon his native heath, he -seemed at a loss to know what to do next, but suffered himself to be -vigorously embraced by nearly everybody in sight, after which he joined -his companions with placid satisfaction, and capered about as naturally -as though nothing unusual had happened. - -Off into the windy sea sped the small schooner, bending to the breeze as -though it were a perpetual miracle that brought her right-side-up every -once in a while. Back to the deserted prayer-house our straggling -community wended its way; everything that had been said before was said -again, with some embellishments. It was beginning to grow tiresome. I -longed to plunge into the desert that stretched around, seeking some -possible oasis where the fainting spirit might reassure itself that -earth was beautiful and life a boon. - -Kahele agreed with me that this sort of thing was growing tiresome. He -knew of a good place not many miles away; we could go there and sleep. -It presented a church and a good priest, and other inducements of an -exceedingly proper and unexceptionable character. The prospect, though -uninviting, was sufficient to revive me for the moment, and daring that -moment we mounted, and were blown away on horseback. The wind howled in -our ears; sand-clouds peppered us heavily; small pebbles and grit cut -our faces; heavier gusts than usual changed earth, sea, and sky into -temporary chaos. The day waned, so did our spirits, so did the life of -our poor beasts. In the distance, the church of Kahele's prophecy stood -out like a small rock in a land than which no land I wot of can be -wearier. The sun fell toward the sea; the wind subsided, though it was -still lusty and disagreeable. - -We entered the church, having turned our disheartened beasts into -paddock, and found a meagre and late afternoon session, seated upon mats -that covered the earthen floor. A priest strove to kindle a flame of -religious enthusiasm in our unnatural hearts, but I fear he sought in -vain. The truth was, we were tired to death; we needed wholesome soup, -savoury meats, and steaming vegetables, to humanize us. I didn't want to -be a Christian on an empty stomach. The wind began to sigh, after its -passion was somewhat spent; sand sifted over the matting with a low -hiss; and the dull red curtains, that stretched across the lower half of -the windows, flapped dolefully. Overhead, the wasps had hung their -mud-baskets, and the grey atmosphere of everything was depressing in the -extreme. Service was soon over; the people departed across the windy -moors, with much fluttering of gay garments. A horse stood at pasture, -with his head down, his back to the wind, and his tail glued to his -side,--a picture of sublime resignation. A high mound, with a sandstone -sepulchre built in the face of it, cut off half of the very red sunset, -while a cactus-hedge, starred with pale pink blossoms, ran up a low -hill, and made silhouette pictures against the sky. - -I turned to watch a large butterfly, blown over in the late -gale,--stranded, as it were, at the church porch, and too far gone to -set sail again; a white sea-bird wheeled over me in big circles, and -screamed faintly; something fell in the church with a loud echo,--a -prayer-book, probably; and then the priest came out, fastened the door -of the deserted sanctuary, and the day's duties were done. We had -nothing to do but follow him to his small frame dwelling, where the one -little window to the west seemed to be set with four panes of burnished -gold, and some homely household shrubs in his garden-plat shivered, and -blossomed while they shivered, but looked like so many widows and -orphans, the whole of them. - -At the hospitable board life began afresh. Another day, and we should -again approach the borders of the earthly paradise that glorified the -opposite side of the island. Kahele's eyes sparkled; my heart leaped -within me; I felt that there was a charm in living, after all; and the -moment was a critical one, for had the lad begged me to return with him -to the beguilements of barbarism, I think it possible that I might have -consented. But he didn't! He was the pink of propriety, and an honour to -his progenitors. He said a brief grace before eating, prayed audibly -before retiring, was patient to the pitch of stupidity, and amiable to -the verge of idiocy. - -At last, I began to see through him. Another four-and-twenty hours, and -he would be restored to the arms of his guardians; the sweet lanes of -Lahaina would again blossom before him; and all that he thought to be -excellent in life would know him as it had known him only a few weeks -before. It was time that he had again begun to walk the straight path, -and he knew it. He was Kahele, the two-sided; Kahele, the chameleon, -whose character and disposition partook of the colour of his -surroundings; who was pious to the tune of the church-bell, yet agile as -any dancer of the lascivious _hula_ at the thump of the tom-tom. He was -a representative worthy of some consideration; a typical Hawaiian whose -versatility was only excelled by the plausibility with which he -developed new phases of his kaleidoscopic character. He was very -charming, and as diverting in one _role_ as another. He was, moreover, -worthy of much praise for his skill in playing each part so perfectly -that to this hour I am not sure which of his dispositions he excelled -in, nor in which he was most at home. - -Kahele, adieu! I might have upbraided thee for thy inconstancy, had I -not been accused of that same myself. I might have felt some modicum of -contempt for thee, had thy skin been white; but under the cover of thy -darkness sin hid her ugliness, and thy rich blood leaped to many -generous actions that a white-livered sycophant might not aspire to. I -can but forgive all, and sometimes long a little to live over the two -sides of you,--extremes that met in your precious corporosity, and made -me contented with a changeful and sometimes cheerless pilgrimage; for I -knew, boy, that if I went astray you would meet me upon the highest -moral grounds; and, though I could not rely upon you, somehow you came -to time when least expected, and filled me with admiration and -surprise,--a sentiment which time and absence only threaten to -perpetuate. - - - - -LOVE-LIFE IN A LANAI. - - -IT was the witching hour of sunset, and we sat at dinner with tearful -eyes over the Commodore's curry. You see the Commodore prided himself on -the strength of this identical dish, and kept a mahogany-tinted -East-Indian steward for the sole sake of his skill in concocting the -same. - -We dined, as usual, in the Commodore's unrivalled _Lanai_,--the very -thought of which is a kind of spiritual feast to this hour,--and while -we sat at his board we heard for the twentieth time the monotonous -recital of his adventures by flood and field. Like most sea-stories, his -narratives were ever fresh, as though they had been stowed away in -brine, were fished out of the vasty deep expressly for the occasion, and -put to soak again in their natural element as soon as we had tasted -their quality. - -The Commodore was a roaring old sea-dog, who had been cast ashore -somewhere in the early part of the century; and finding himself in -quarters more comfortable than his wildest fancy dared to paint, he -resolved to end his amphibious days on that strip of shining beach, and -never more lose sight of land until he should slip his cable for the -last time, and sail into undiscovered seas. Meanwhile, he entertained -his friends at Wai-ki-ki, a kind of tropical Long Branch a few miles out -of Honolulu; and the grace with which he introduced Jack-ashore to the -dreamy twilight of his _Lanai_ is one of Jack's deathless memories. We -met the Commodore in the interesting character of Jack-ashore, and with -uncovered heads and hearts full of emotion entered the _Lanai_. - -And now for a word to the uninitiated concerning the _Lanai_ in -question. Off there in the Pacific, under the vertical sun, all shadow -is held at a premium. There are stationary caravans of cocoa-trees, that -seem to be looking for their desert home,--weird, slender trees, with -tattered plumes, and a hopeless air about them, as though they were born -to sorrow, but meant to make the best of it. Still, these fine old palms -cast a thin shadow, about the size and shape of a colossal spider, and -there is no comfort in trying to sit in it. There are likewise trees -with more foliage, and vines that run riot and blossom themselves to -death; but somehow the sharp arrows of sunshine dart in and sting a -fellow in an unpleasant fashion, and nothing short of a good thatch is -to be relied upon. So out from the low eaves of the Commodore's cottage, -on the seaward side, there was a dense roof of leaves and grass, that -ran clear to the edge of the sea, and looked as though it wanted to go -farther; but the Commodore knew it was useless to attempt to roof over -that institution. There was a leafy tapestry hanging two feet below the -roof on the three sides thereof, and from the floor of the inclosure -rose a sort of trellis of woven rushes that hedged us in to the waist. -There was a wicker gate, and an open space between the leafy stalactite -and stalagmite barricade for ventilation and view, and everywhere there -was a kind of semi-twilight that seamed crammed full of dreams and -delicious indolence,--and this is the Hawaiian _Lanai_! - -Of course the Commodore always dined in his _Lanai_. It was like taking -curry on the quarter-deck of the "Whatyoucallher," in the dead calm of -the Indian seas; and when that mahogany steward entered with turban and -mock-turtle,--he always looked to me like a full-blooded -snake-charmer,--I had the greatest difficulty in restraining myself, for -it seemed to me incredible that any Jack-ashore could dine in a _Lanai_ -with his Excellency, and not rise between each savory course to make a -dozen profound _salaams_ to the fattish gentleman at the head of the -table, who was literally covered with invisible naval buttons, and the -hallucination increased as the dinner-courses multiplied. - -At this stage,--just as the snake-charmer was entering with something -that seemed to have come to an untimely end in wine-sauce,--at this -stage the Commodore turned to us as though he were about to give some -order that we might disregard at the peril of our lives,--these sea-dogs -never quite outgrow that sort of thing. "Gentlemen," said he, casting a -watchful and suspicious eye over the weather-bow, "there is to be a -_Luou_--a native feast--in the adjoining premises. Will you do me the -honour to accompany me thither after we have lighted our cigars?" - -I forget what answer we made; but then dinner was well on toward -dessert, and our answer was immaterial. We had our orders, couched in -courteous language, and we were thankful for this consideration; -moreover, we were wild to see a native feast! There is a peculiar charm -in obeying our superiors, when we happen, by some dispensation of Divine -Providence, to be exactly of the same mind. - -Black coffee was offered us, in cups of the pattern of gull's-eggs. By -this time all the sky was saffron, all the sea a shadow of saffron; and -in the golden haze that lay between, a schooner with a piratical slant -to her masts swam by, beyond the foam that hissed along the reef. It was -a wonderful picture, but it came in between the courses of the -Commodore's dinner as though it were nothing better than a -panel-painting in the after-cabin of the "Whatyoucallher." However, as -she swung in toward the mouth of the harbour, and passed a bottle of -Burgundy in safety, but seemed in imminent danger of missing stays -abreast of an enormous pyramid of fruit,--from the Commodore's point of -sight, you know,--the old gentleman lost his temper, and gave an order -in such peremptory terms that I cheerfully refrain from reproducing it -on this occasion. To cover our confusion, we immediately adjourned to -the native feast. - -Hawaiian feast days are not set down in the calendar. Somebody's child -has a birthday, or there is a new house that needs christening; or -perhaps a church is in want, and the feast can net a hundred or two -dollars for it,--since all the eatables in such cases are donated, and -the eaters enter to the feast with the payment of one dollar per head. -Our feast was not sanctified; a chief of the best blood was in the -humour to entertain his friends, countrymen, and lovers. We belonged to -the first order; or, rather, the Commodore was his friend, and we -speedily became as friendly as possible. As we entered the premises, it -appeared to us that half the island was under cover; for limitless -_Lanais_ seemed to run on to the end of time in bewitching vistas. -Numberless lanterns swung softly in the evening gale. A multitude of -white-robed native girls passed to and fro, with that inimitable grace -which I have always supposed Eve copied from the serpent and imparted to -her daughters, who still affect the modern Edens of the earth. Young -Hawaiian bloods, clad in snow-white trousers and ballet-shirts, with -wreaths of _mailne_ around their necks, and ginger-flowers in their -hair, grouped themselves along the evergreen corridors, and looked -unutterable things without any noticeable effort on their part. - -Through the central corridor, under a long line of lanterns, was spread -the corporeal feast, and on either side of it, in two ravenous lines, -sat, tailor-fashion, the hungry and the thirsty. It is useless to -attempt an idealization of the Hawaiian eater. He simply devours -whatever suits his palate, as though he were a packing-case that needed -filling, and the sooner filled the more creditable the performance. But -the amount of filling that he is equal to is the marvel; and the patient -perseverance of the man, so long as there is a crumb left, is something -that I despair of reconciling with any known system of physiology. The -mastication began early in the afternoon. It was eight p.m. when we -looked in upon the orgie, and the bones were not all picked, though they -seemed likely to be before mid night. - -"Will you eat?" said the host. It was not etiquette to decline, and we -sat at the end of the _Lanai_, with nameless dishes strewn about us in -hopeless confusion. We dipped a finger into pink _poi_, and took a pinch -of baked dog. We had limpits with rock-salt; kukui-nuts roasted and -pulverized; and the pale, quivering bits of fish-flesh, not an hour -dead, and still cool with the native coolness of the sea. It was a -fishful feast, any way; and not even the fruits or the flowers could -entirely alleviate the inward agony consequent upon a morsel of raw -fish, swallowed to please our host. - -There was music at the farther end of the palm-leaf pavilion, and -thither we wended our way. The inner court was festooned with flags, and -covered with a large mat. Upon the mat sat, or reclined, several -chiefesses. I am never able to account for the audacious grace of these -women, who throw themselves upon the floor and stretch their supple -limbs like tigresses, with a kind of imperial scorn for your one-horse -proprieties. Their voluminous light garments scarcely concealed the -ample curves of their bodies, and the marvellous creatures seemed to be -breathing to slow music, while their slumberous eyes regarded us with a -gentle indifference that was more tantalizing than any other species of -coquetry that I have knowledge of. - -At one side of the enclosure sat a group of musicians, twanging upon -native harps, and beating the national calabash. Song after song was -sung, pipe after pipe was smoked, and bits of easy and playful -conversation filled the intervals. The evening waned. The eaters and -drinkers were still unsatisfied, because the eatables and drinkables -were not exhausted; but the moon was high and full, and the reef moaned -most musically, and seemed to invite us to the shore. - -The great charm of a native feast is the entire absence of all -formality. Every man is privileged to seek whom his heart may most -desire, and every woman may receive him or reject him as her spirit -prompts. We noticed that the Commodore was uneasy. He was as plump as a -seal, and the crowd oppressed him. We resolved to get the old gentleman -out of his misery, and proposed an immediate adjournment to the beach. -The inner court was soon deserted, and our little party--which now -embraced, figuratively, several magnificent chiefesses, as well as the -primitive Hawaiian orchestra--moved in silence toward the sea. The long, -curving beach glistened and sparkled in the moonlight. The sea, within -the reef, was like a tideless river, from whose pellucid depths, where -the coral spread its wilderness of branches, an unearthly radiance was -reflected. A fleet of slender canoes floated to and fro upon the water, -and beyond them the creaming reef flashed like a girdle of silver, -belting us in from all the world. - -The crowning luxury of savage life is the multitudinous bondsman who -anticipates your every wish, and makes you blush at your own poverty of -invention by his suggestions of unimagined joys. Mats--broad, sweet, and -clean--lay under foot, and served our purpose better than Persian -carpets. The sea itself fawned at our feet, and all the air was shining -and soft as though the moon had dissolved in an ecstasy, and nothing but -a snap of cold weather could congeal her again. Wherever we lay, pillows -were mysteriously slipped under our heads, and the willingest hands in -the world began an involuntary performance of the _lomi-lomi_. Let me -not think upon the _lomi-lomi_, for there is none of it within reach; -but I may say of it that, before the skilful and magnetic hands of the -manipulator are folded, every nerve in the body is seized with an -intense little spasm of recognition, and dies happy. A dreamless sleep -succeeds, and this is followed by an awakening into new life, full of -proud possibilities. - -We were _lomi-lomied_ to the murmurs of the reef, and during the -intervals of consciousness saw an impromptu rehearsal of the "Naiad -Queen," in operatic form. The dancing-girls, being somewhat heated, had -plunged into the sea, and were complaining to the moon in a chorus of -fine harmonies. History does not record how long their sea-song rang -across the waters. I know that we dozed, and woke to watch a silver sail -wafted along the vague and shadowy distance like a phantom. We slept -again, and woke to a sense of silence broken only by the unceasing -monody of the reef; slept and woke yet again in the waning light, for -the moon had sunk to the ragged rim of an old crater, and seemed to have -a large piece bitten out of her glorious disc. Then we broke camp by the -shore,--for the air was a trifle chilly,--and withdrew into the -seclusion of the Commodore's _Lanai_, where we threw ourselves into -hammocks and swung until daybreak. - -In those days we fed on lotus-flowers. Jack-ashore lives for the hour -only, and the very air of such a latitude breathes enchantment. I -believe we bathed before sunrise, and then went regularly to bed and -slept till noon. Such were the Commodore's orders, and this is our -apology. There was a breakfast about one p.m., at which we were -permitted to appear in undress. The Commodore set the example by -inviting us to the table in an extraordinary suit of cream-coloured -silk, that was suggestive of _panjamas_, but might have been some -Oriental regalia especially designed for morning wear. He looked like a -ship under full sail, rocking good-naturedly in a dead calm. The -Commodore was excessively formal at first sight,--that is, just before -breakfast,--but his heart warmed toward mankind in general, and his -guests in particular, as the meal progressed. Some people never are -themselves until they have broken their fast; they are so cranky, and -seem to lack ballast. - -The snaky steward sloughed his clothes twice a day. He was a slim, -noiseless, gliding fellow at breakfast, but he was positively gorgeous -at dinner. Of course, the Commodore had ordered this nice distinction in -the temporal affairs of his servant, for he kept everything about the -place in ship-shape, even to the flying of his private signal from -sunrise to sunset at the top of a tall staff, that rivalled the royal -ensign floating from a similar altitude not a quarter of a mile distant. -His Majesty has a summer palace in Wai-ki-ki, and it has been whispered -that the Commodore refused to recognize him, and never dipped his -colours as the King cantered by in a light buggy drawn by a pair of -spanking bays. - -After breakfast, the cribbage-board was produced, and for three mortal -hours the Commodore kept his peg on the steady march. At cribbage the -old gentleman was expected to lose his temper. He stormed with the -arrogance of a veteran card-player, than whom no man is supposed to make -himself more disagreeable on short notice. Lieutenant Blank was usually -the victim, but he deserved it. The true story of Lieutenant Blank--his -name is suppressed out of consideration for his family--is so common in -tropical seaports that I do not hope in this epitome to offer anything -novel. The Lieutenant was a typical Jack-ashore. He had twice the mail -that came to the rest of us, and he read his love-letters to the mess -with a gusto. He boasted fresh victims in every port, and gloried in his -lack of principle. It did not surprise me at all that the Lieutenant had -_shaken_ his mother. In fact, under the circumstances, I think his -mother would have been justified in shaking him, if she could have got -her hands on him. In the love-light of the Commodore's _Lanai_, life was -very precious to this particular Jack-ashore. To him a _Lanai_ was a -city of refuge, provided by an all-wise Commodore for those fascinating -lieutenants who were pursued by the chief women of the tribe; yet he -loved to loiter without the walls, during the off-hours from cribbage. -No man so relished the _lomi-lomi_; no man, except the native-born, so -clamoured for the _hula-hula_; and no man, not even the least of these, -forgot himself to the same alarming extent whenever there was the -slightest provocation. - -Of course, he met a chiefess and surrendered; of course, he meant in -time to crush the heart that pulsated with the blood-royal. He simpered -and tried to turn semi-savage, and was simply ridiculous. He made silly -speeches in the worst possible Hawaiian, and afforded unlimited -amusement to the women, who are wiser in their dark skins than the -children of light. He tried to eat _poi_, and ruined his linen. He -suffered himself to be wreathed and garlanded, until he was the picture -of a sacrificial calf. He gave gifts, and babbled in his sleep. But in -the hour when his triumph seemed inevitable he was beautifully snubbed -by his supposed victim. The syrens of Scylla are a match for any mariner -who sails with unwadded ears. The Lieutenant cannot hope to hear the -last of that adventure, though the subject is never broached by himself. - -If we had dwelt a thousand years with the Commodore, and sipped the -elixir of life from the gourd that hung by the door of the wine-closet, -I suppose we should have had the same daily and nightly experiences to -go through with, barring a slight variation in the matter of moonshine. -But there were orders superior to the Commodore's, since he was off -active duty, and these orders demanded our reappearance on shipboard at -an early hour of the day following. There was a farewell round of -everything that had been introduced during our brief stay at -Wai-ki-ki,--dances, songs, sea-baths, and flirtations. The moon rose -later, and was but a shadow of her former self; but the stars burned -brightly, and we could still trace the noiseless flight of the solitary -sail that passed like a spirit over the dusky sea. - -I know that in after years, whenever I come within sound of surf under -the prickly sunshine, my fancy will conjure up a picture of that grass -cottage on the slope of a dazzling beach, and the portly form of the old -Commodore stored snugly in the spacious hollow of a bamboo settee, drawn -up on the stocks, as it were, for repairs, with a bandanna spread over -his face, and a dark-eyed crouching figure beside him, fighting -mosquitoes with a tuft of parrot-feathers. No wonder that a body-guard -of some kind was necessary, for I believe that the old Commodore's veins -ran nothing but wine, and mosquitoes are good tasters. - -The picture would not be complete without the attendant houris, and with -their image comes an echo of barbarous chants and the monotonous thump -of the tom-tom; of swaying figures; of supple wrists; of slender, -lascivious hands tossed skilfully in the air, seeking to interpret their -pantomimic dances, and doing it with remarkable freedom and grace. I -shall hear that one song, like an echo eternally repeated,--the song -that was sung by all the lips that had skill to sing, in every valley -under the Hawaiian sun. I remember it as a refrain that was first raised -in Honolulu, but for the copyright of which the respective residents of -Hawaii and Nihau would willingly lay down their lives with the last -words of the song rattling in their throats. - -"_Poli-anu_" or "Cool-bosom," is a fair specimen of the ballad -literature of Hawaii, and the following free translation will perhaps -give a suggestion of the theme. "_Poli-anu_" is sung by the old and -decrepid, the lame, the halt, and the blind, as well as by the merest -children. I have heard it carolled by a solitary boy tending goats upon -the breezy heights of Kaupo. I have listened to it in the market-place, -where a chorus of a dozen voices held the customer entranced. In the -high winds of the middle channel the song is raised, as the schooner -lays over at a perilous angle, and ships water enough to dampen the -ardour of most singers. It is sung in the church-porch, by the brackish -well in the desert, under the moonlit palms, and everywhere else. It -cheers the midnight vigil of the prisoner, and makes glad the heart of -the sorrowful. It is altogether useful as well as ornamental; and the -Hawaiian who does not number among his accomplishments the ability to -sing "_Poli-anu_" tolerably well, is unworthy of the name. - - POLI-ANU. - - Bosom, here is love for you, - O bosom cool as night! - How you refresh me as with dew,-- - Your coolness gives delight. - - Rain is cold upon the hill, - And water in the pool, - Yet all my frame is colder still - For you, O bosom cool. - - Face to face beneath a bough - I may not you embrace, - But feel a spell on breast and brow - While sitting face to face. - - Thoughts in absence send a thrill - Like touch of sweeter air: - I sought you, and I seek you still, - O bosom cool and fair! - -That is all of it; but your Hawaiian turns back and begins over again, -until he has enough. - -I suppose it is no breach of confidence on my part to state that the -gorgeous old Commodore is dead. There was nothing in his _Lanai_ life to -die of, except an accident, and in course of time he met with one. I -forget the nature of it, but it finished him. There was wailing for -three mortal days in the solemn shadow of the _Lanai_; and then one of -the large, motherly-looking creatures, with numberless gauzy folds in a -dress that fell straight from her broad shoulders, moved in. After three -days of feasting, all vestiges of the Commodore's atmosphere had -disappeared from the premises. I fancy she always felt at home there, -although she was never known to open her lips in the presence of the -Commodore's guests. Life was a little more intense after that. The snaky -steward disappeared, without any sort of warning. I have always believed -that he crawled under some rock, and laid himself away in a coil; that -he will sleep for a century or so, then come out in his real character, -and astonish the inhabitants with his length and his slimness. - -Lieutenant Blank survives, and sails the stormy seas on a moderate -salary, the major portion of which he turns into naval buttons. I hear -from him once in a dog's age. He is first at Callao, with a daily jaunt -into Lima; and then at one of the South Sea paradises; next at -Australia, or in the China Sea; and in the future--heaven knows where! -He vibrates between the two hemispheres, working out his time, and -believing himself supremely happy. I doubt not that he is happy, being -about as selfish as men are made. - -As for myself, I am a landsman. After all that is said, the sea is -rather a bore, you know; but I do not forget the dreamy days of calm in -the flowering equatorial waters, nor the troubled days of storm. There -are a thousand-and-one trifling events in the fragmentary experiences of -the seafarer that are of more importance than this stray leaf, but -perhaps none that will serve my purpose better. For this yarn is as -fine-drawn as the episodes in an out-of-the-way port,--with nothing but -the faint odour of its fruits a little over-ripe, of its flowers a -little over-blown, and a general sense of uncomfortable warmth, to give -it individuality. I have found these experiences excellent memories; for -though the dull "waits" between the acts and the sluggishness of the -action at best are a little dreary at times, they are forgotten, -together with most disagreeable matter. I'll warrant you, Lieutenant -Blank, strutting his little hour between-decks, or in the fleeting -moments of the delectable "dog-watch," muses upon the past. When he has -aroused the fever in his blood, and can no longer hold his tongue, he -heaves an ominous sigh, knits his brows, and, in a voice that quivers -with emotion, he whispers to the marines the beguiling romance of his -_Love-life in a Lanai_. - - - - -IN A TRANSPORT. - - -A LITTLE French _aspirant de marine_, with an incipient moustache, said -to me, confidentially, "Where you see the French flag, you see France!" -We were pacing to and fro on the deck of a transport that swung at -anchor off San Francisco, and, as I looked shoreward for almost the last -time,--we were to sail at daybreak for a southern cruise,--I hugged my -Ollendorf in despair as I dreamed of "French in six easy lessons," -without a master, or a tolerable accent, or anything, save a suggestion -of Babel and a confusion of tongues at sea. - -Thanaron, the aspirant in question, embraced me when I boarded the -transport with my baggage, treated me like a long-lost brother all that -afternoon, and again embraced me when I went ashore towards evening to -take leave of my household. There was something so impulsive and boyish -in his manner that I immediately returned his salute, and with -considerable fervour, feeling that kind Heaven had thrown me into the -arms of the exceptional foreigner who would, to a certain extent, -console me for the loss of my whole family. The mystery that hangs over -the departure of any craft that goes by wind is calculated to appal the -landsman; and when the date of sailing is fixed, the best thing he can -do is to go aboard in season and compose his soul in peace. To be sure, -he may swing at anchor for a day or two, in full sight of the domestic -circle that he has shattered, but he is spared the repetition of those -last agonies, and cuts short the unravelling hours just prior to a -separation, which are probably the most unsatisfactory in life. - -Under cover of darkness a fellow can do almost anything, and I concluded -to go on board. There was a late dinner and a parting toast at home, and -those ominous silences in the midst of a conversation that was as -spasmodic and disconnected and unnatural as possible. There was -something on our minds, and we relapsed in turn and forgot ourselves in -the fathomless abysses of speculation. Some one saw me off that -night,--some one who will never again follow me to the sea, and welcome -me on my return to earth after my wandering. We sauntered down the dark -streets along the city front, and tried to disguise our motives, but it -was hard work. Presently we heard the slow swing of the tide under us, -and the musty odour of the docks regaled us; one or two shadows seemed -to be groping about in the neighbourhood, making more noise than a -shadow has any right to make. - -Then came the myriad-masted shipping, the twinkling lights in the -harbour, and a sense of ceaseless motion in waters that never can be -still. We did not tarry there long. The boat was bumping her bow against -a pair of slippery stairs that led down to the water, and I entered the -tottering thing that half sunk under me, dropped into my seat in the -stern, and tried to call out something or other as we shot away from the -place, with a cloud over my eyes that was darker than night itself, and -a cloud over my heart that was as heavy as lead. After that there was -nothing to do but to climb up one watery swell and slide down on the -other side of it, to count the shadow-ships that shaped themselves out -of chaos as we drew near them, and dissolved again when we had passed; -while the oars seemed to grunt in the rowlocks, and the two jolly tars -in uniform--they might have been mutes, for all I know--swung to and -fro, to and fro, dragging me over the water to my "ocean bride,"--I -think that is what they call a ship, when the mood is on them! - -She did look pretty as we swam up under her. She looked like a great -_silhouette_ against the steel-grey sky; but within was the sound of -revelry, and I hastened on board to find our little cabin blue with -smoke, which, however, was scarcely dense enough to muffle the martial -strains of the _Marseillaise_, as shouted by the whole mess. - -Thanaron--my Thanaron--was in the centre of the table, with his curly -head out of the transom,--not that he was by any means a giant, but we -were all a little cramped between-decks,--and he was leading the chorus -with a sabre in one hand and the head of the Doctor in the other. -Without the support of the faculty, he would probably not have ended his -song of triumph as successfully as he ultimately did, when Nature -herself had fainted from exhaustion. It was the last night in port, a -few friends from shore had come to dine, and black coffee and cognac at -a late hour had finished the business. - -If there is one thing in this world that astonishes me more than -another, it is the rapidity with which some people talk in French. -Thanaron's French, when he once got started, sounded to me like the -well-executed trill of a _prima-donna_, and quite as intelligible. The -joke of it was, that Frenchmen seemed to find no difficulty in -understanding him at his highest speed. On the whole, perhaps, this fact -astonishes me more than the other. - -Dinner was as far over as it could get without beginning again and -calling itself breakfast; so the party broke up in a whirlwind of -patriotic songs, and, one by one, we dropped our guests over the side of -the vessel until there was none left, and then we waved them a thousand -adieus, and kept up the last words as long as we could catch the -faintest syllable of a reply. There were streaks of dull red in the east -by this time, and the outlines of the city were again becoming visible. -This I dreaded a little; and, when our boat had returned and everything -was put in shipshape, I deliberately dropped a tear in the presence of -my messmates, who were overcome with emotion at the spectacle; and, -having all embraced, we went below, where I threw myself, with some -caution, into my hammock, and slept until broad daylight. - -I did not venture on deck again until after our first breakfast,--an -informal one, that set uneasily on the table, and seemed inclined to -make its escape from one side or the other. Of course, we were well -under way by this time. I was assured of the fact by the reckless -rolling of the vessel and the strange and unfamiliar feeling in my -stomach, as though it were some other fellow's stomach, and not my own. -My legs were a trifle uncertain; my head was queer. Everybody was -rushing everywhere, and doing things that had to be undone or done over -again in the course of the next ten minutes. I resolved to pace the -deck, which is probably the best thing for a man to do when he goes down -to the sea in ships, and does business--you could hardly call it -pleasure--on great waters. - -I went up the steep companion-way, and found a deck-load of ropes, and -the entire crew--dressed in blue flannel, with broad collars--skipping -about in the most fantastic manner. It was like a ballet scene in -_L'Africaine_, and highly diverting--for a few minutes! From my -stronghold on the top stair of the companion-way, I cast my eye -shoreward. The long coast ran down the horizon under a broadside of -breakers that threatened to engulf the continent; the air was grey with -scattering mist; the sea was much disturbed, and of that ugly -yellowish-green tint that signifies soundings. Overhead, a few sea-birds -whirled in disorder, shrieking as though their hearts would break. It -looked ominous, yet I felt it my duty, as an American under the shadow -of the tricolour, to keep a stiff upper lip,--and I flatter myself that -I did so. Figuratively speaking, I balanced myself in the mouth of the -companion-way, with a bottle of claret in one pocket and a French roll -in the other, while I brushed the fog from my eyes with the sleeve of my -monkey-jacket, and exclaimed with the bard, "My native land, -good-night." - -It was morning at the time, but I did not seem to care much. In fact, -time is not of the slightest consequence on shipboard. So I withdrew to -my hammock, and having climbed into it in safety ended the day after a -miserable fashion that I have deplored a thousand times since, during -the prouder moments of my life. - -A week passed by--I suppose it was a week, for I could reckon only seven -days, and seven nights of about twice the length of the days--- during -that interval; yet I should, in the innocence of my heart, have called -it a month, without a moment's hesitation. We arose late in the -morning,--those of us who had a watch below; ate a delightfully long and -narrow breakfast, consisting of an interminable procession of dishes in -single file; paced the deck and canvassed the weather; went below to -read, but talked instead; dined as we had breakfasted, only in a far -more elaborate and protracted manner, while a gentle undercurrent of -side-dishes lent interest to the occasion. There was a perpetual stream -of conversation playing over the table, from the moment that heralded -the soup until the last drop of black coffee was sopped up with a bit of -dry bread. By the time we had come to cheese, everybody felt called upon -to say his say, in the face of everybody else. I alone kept my place, -and held it because the heaviest English I knew fell feebly to the floor -before the thunders of those five prime Frenchmen, who were flushed with -enthusiasm and good wine. I dreamed of home over my cigarette, and tried -to look as though I were still interested in life, when, Heaven knows, -my face was more like a half-obliterated cameo of despair than anything -human. Thanaron, my foreign affinity, now and then threw me a -semi-English nut to crack, but by the time I had recovered myself,--it -is rather embarrassing to be assaulted even in the most friendly manner -with a batch of broken English,--by the time I had framed an -intelligible response, Thanaron was in the heat of a fresh argument, -and keeping up a running fire of small shot that nearly floored the -mess. - -But there is an end even to a French dinner, and we ultimately adjourned -to the deck, where, about sunset, everybody took his station while the -_Angelus_ was said. Then twilight, with a subdued kind of skylarking in -the forecastle, and genteel merriment amidships, while _Monsieur le -Capitaine_ paced the high quarter-deck with the shadow of a smile -crouching between the fierce jungles of his intensely black -side-whiskers. Ah, sir, it was something to be at sea in a French -transport with the tricolour flaunting at the peak; to have four guns -with their mouths gagged, and oilcloth capes lashed snugly over them; to -see everybody in uniform, each having the profoundest respect for those -who ranked a notch above him, and having, also, an ill-disguised -contempt for the unlucky fellow beneath him! This spirit was observable -from one end of the ship to the other, and, sirs, we had a little world -of our own revolving on a wabbling axis between the staunch ribs of the -old transport "Chevert." - -We were bound for Tahiti, God willing and the winds favourable; and the -common hope of ultimately finding port in that paradise was all that -held us together through thick and thin. We might wrangle at dinner, and -come to breakfast next morning with bitterness in our hearts; we might -sink into the bottomless pit of despond; we might revile _Monsieur le -Capitaine_ and _Monsieur le Cuisinier_, including in our anathemas the -elements and some other things; they (the Frenchmen) might laugh to -scorn the great American people,--and they did it, two or three -times--and I, in my turn, might feel a secret contempt for Paris, -without having the power to express the same in tolerable French, so I -felt it, and held my tongue. Even Thanaron gave me a French shrug now -and then that sent the cold shivers through me; but there was sure to -come a sunset like a sea of fire, at which golden hour we were -marshalled amidships, and stood with uncovered heads and the soft light -playing over us, while the littlest French boy in the crew said the -evening prayer with exceeding sweetness,--being the youngest, he was the -most worthy of saying it,--and then we all crossed ourselves, and our -hearts melted within us. - -There was something in the delicious atmosphere, growing warmer every -day, and something in the delicious sea, that was beginning to rock her -floating gardens of blooming weed under our bows, and something in the -aspect of _Monsieur le Capitaine_, with his cap off and a shadow of -prayer softening his hard, proud face, that unmanned us; so we rushed to -our own little cabin and hugged one another, lest we should forget how -when we were restored to our sisters and our sweethearts, and everything -was forgiven and forgotten in one intense moment of French remorse. - -Who took me in his arms and carried me the length of the cabin in three -paces, at the imminent peril of my life? Thanaron! Who admired -Thanaron's gush of nature, and nearly squeezed the life out of him in -the vain hope of making their joy known to him? Everybody else in the -mess! Who looked on in bewilderment, and was half glad and half sorry, -though more glad than sorry by half, and wondered all the while what -was coming next? Bless you, it was I! And we kept doing that sort of -thing until I got very used to it, and by the time we sighted the green -summits of Tahiti, my range of experience was so great that nothing -could touch me further. It may not be that we were governed by the laws -of ordinary seafarers. The "Chevert" was shaped a little like a -bath-tub, with a bow like a duck's breast, and a high, old-fashioned -quarter-deck, resembling a Chinese junk with a reef in her stern. Forty -bold sailor-boys, who looked as though they had been built on precisely -the same model and dealt out to the government by the dozen, managed to -keep the decks very clean and tidy, and the brass-work in a state of -dazzling brightness. The ship was wonderfully well-ordered. I could tell -you by the sounds on deck, while I swung in the comfortable seclusion of -my hammock, just the hour of the day or night, but that was after I had -once learned the order of events. There was the Sunday morning -inspection, the Wednesday sham naval battle, the prayers night and -morning, and the order to shorten sail each evening. Between times the -decks were scrubbed and the whole ship renovated; sometimes the rigging -was darkened with drying clothes, and sometimes we felt like ancient -mariners, the sea was so oily, and the air so hot and still. There was -nothing stirring save the sea-birds, who paddled about like tame ducks, -and the faint, thin thread of smoke that ascended noiselessly from the -dainty rolls of tobacco in the fingers of the entire ship's crew. In -fact, when we moved at all in these calm waters, we seemed to be -propelled by forty-cigarette power, for there was not a breath of air -stirring. - -It was at such times that we fought our bloodless battles. The hours -were ominous; breakfast did not seem half a breakfast, because we -hurried through it with the dreadful knowledge that a conflict was -pending, and possibly--though not probably--we might never gather at -that board again, for a naval engagement is something terrible, and life -is uncertain in the fairest weather. Breakfast is scarcely over when the -alarm is given, and with the utmost speed every Frenchman flies to his -post. Already the horizon is darkened with the Prussian navy, yet our -confidence in the staunch old "Chevert," in each particular soul on -board, and in our undaunted leader,--_Monsieur le Capitaine_, who is -even now scouring the sea with an enormous marine glass that of itself -is enough to strike terror to the Prussian heart,--our implicit -confidence in ourselves is such that we smilingly await the approach of -the doomed fleet. At last they come within range of our guns, and the -conflict begins. I am unfortunately compelled to stay beneath the -hatches. A sham battle is no sight for an inexperienced landsman to -witness, and, moreover, I should doubtless get in the way of the frantic -crew, who seem resolved to shed the last drop of French blood in behalf -of _la belle France_. - -Marine engagements are, as a general thing, a great bore. The noise is -something terrific; ammunition is continually passed up through the -transom over our dinner-table, and a thousand feet are rushing over the -deck with a noise as of theatrical thunder. The engagement lasts for an -hour or two. Once or twice we are enveloped in sheets of flame. We are -speedily deluged with water, and the conflict is renewed with the -greatest enthusiasm. Again, and again, and again, we pour a broadside -into the enemy's fleet, and always with terrific effect. We invariably -do ourselves the greatest credit, for, by the time our supplies are -about exhausted, not a vestige of the once glorious navy of Prussia -remains to tell the tale. The sea is, of course, blood-stained for miles -around. The few persistent Prussians who attempt to board us are -speedily despatched, and allowed to drop back into the remorseless -waves. A shout of triumph rings up from our triumphant crew, and the -play is over. - -Once more the hatches are removed; once more I breathe the sweet air of -heaven, for not a grain of powder has been burned through all this -fearful conflict; once more my messmates rush into our little cabin and -regale themselves with copious draughts of absinthe, and I am pressed to -the proud bosom of Thanaron, who is restored to me without a scar to -disfigure his handsome little body. I grew used to these weekly wars, -and before we came in sight of our green haven, there was not a Prussian -left in the Pacific. It is impossible that any nation, though they be -schooled to hardships, could hope to survive such a succession of -disastrous conflicts. On the whole, I like sham battles; they are deuced -exciting, and they don't hurt. - -How different, how very different those sleepy days when we were -drifting on towards the Marquesas Islands! The silvery phaetons darted -overhead like day-stars shooting from their spheres. The seaweed grew -denser, and a thousand floating things,--broken branches with a few -small leaves attached, the husk of a cocoanut, or straws such as any -dove from any ark would be glad to seize upon,--these gave us ample food -for speculation. "Piloted by the slow, unwilling winds," we came close -to the star-lit Nouka Hiva, and shortened sail right under its fragrant -shadow. It was a glorious night. There was the subtile odour of earth in -the warm, faint air, and before us that impenetrable shadow that we knew -to be an island, yet whose outlines were traceable only by the -obliterated stars. - -At sunrise we were on deck, and, looking westward, saw the mists melt -away like a veil swept from before the face of a dusky Venus just rising -from the waves. The island seemed to give out a kind of magnetic heat -that made our blood tingle. We gravitated toward it with an almost -irresistible impulse. Something had to be done before we yielded to the -fascinations of this savage enchantress. Our course lay to the windward -of the south-eastern point of the land; but, finding that we could not -weather it, we went off before the light wind and drifted down the -northern coast, swinging an hour or more under the lee of some parched -rocks, eyeing the "Needles,"--the slender and symmetrical peaks so -called,--and then we managed to work our way out into the open sea -again, and were saved. - -Valleys lay here and there, running back from the shore with green and -inviting vistas; slim waterfalls made one desperate leap from the clouds -and buried themselves in the forests hundreds of feet below, where they -were lost for ever. Rain-clouds hung over the mountains, throwing deep -shadows across the slopes that but for this relief would have been too -bright for the sentimental beauty that usually identifies a tropical -island. - -I happened to know something about the place, and marked every inch of -the scorching soil as we floated past groves of rosewood, sandal-wood, -and a hundred sorts of new and strange trees, looking dark and velvety -in the distance; past strips of beach that shone like brass, while -beyond them the cocoa-palms that towered above the low, brown huts of -the natives seemed to reel and nod in the intense meridian heat. A moist -cloud, far up the mountain, hung above a serene and sacred haunt, and -under its shelter was hidden a deep valley, whose secret has been -carried to the ends of the earth; for Herman Melville has plucked out -the heart of its mystery, and beautiful and barbarous Typee lies naked -and forsaken. - -I was rather glad we could not get any nearer to it, for fear of -dispelling the ideal that has so long charmed me. Catching the wind -again, late in the afternoon, we lost the last outline of Nouka Hiva in -the soft twilight, and said our prayers that evening as much at sea as -ever. Back we dropped into the solemn round of uneventful days. Even the -sham battles no longer thrilled us. In fact, the whole affair was a -little too theatrical to bear frequent repetition. There was but one of -our mess who could muster an episode whenever we became too stagnant for -our health's good, and this was our first officer,--a tall, slim fellow, -with a warlike beard, and very soft, dark eyes, whose pupils seemed to -be floating aimlessly about under the shelter of long lashes. His face -was in a perpetual dispute with itself, and I never knew which was the -right or the wrong side of him. B---- was the happy possessor of a tight -little African, known as Nero, although I always looked upon him as so -much Jamaica ginger. Nero was as handsome a specimen of tangible -darkness as you will sight in a summer's cruise. B---- loved with the -ardour of his vacillating eyes, yet governed with the rigour of his -beard. Nero was consequently prepared for any change in the weather, no -matter how sudden or uncalled for. In the equatorial seas, while we -sailed to the measure of the Ancient Mariner, B---- summoned Nero to the -sacrifice, and, having tortured him to the extent of his wits, there was -a reconciliation more ludicrous than any other scene in the farce. It -was at such moments that B----'s eyes literally swam, when even his -beard wilted, while he told of the thousand pathetic eras in Nero's -life, when he might have had his liberty, but found the service of his -master more beguiling; of the adventures by flood and field, where B---- -was distinguishing himself, yet at his side, through thick and thin, -struggled the faithful Nero. Thus B---- warmed himself at the fire his -own enthusiasm had kindled on the altar of self-love, and every moment -added to his fervour. It was the yellow fever, and the cholera, and the -smallpox, that were powerless to separate that faithful slave from the -agonizing bedside of his master. It was shipwreck, and famine, and the -smallest visible salary, that seemed only to strengthen the ties that -bound them the one to the other. Death--cruel death--alone could -separate them; and B---- took Nero by the throat and kissed him -passionately upon his sooty cheek, and the floating eyes came to a -standstill with an expression of virtuous defiance that was calculated -to put all conventionalities to the blush. We were awed by the -magnanimity of such conduct, until we got thoroughly used to it, and -then we were simply entertained. We kept looking forward to the -conclusion of the scene, which usually followed in the course of half an -hour. B---- having fondled Nero to his heart's content, and Nero having -become somewhat bored, there was sure to arise some mild disturbance, -aggravated by both parties, and B----, believing he had endured as much -as any Frenchman and first officer is expected to endure without -resentment, suddenly rises, and, seizing Nero by the short, wiry moss of -his scalp, kicks him deliberately from the cabin, and returns to us -bursting with indignation. This domestic equinox we soon grew fond of, -and, having become familiar with all its signals of approach, we watched -with agreeable interest the inevitable climax. It was well for Nero that -Nature had provided against any change of colour in his skin, for he -must have borne the sensation of his chastisement for some hours, though -he was unable to give visible expression of it. By-and-by came B----'s -own private birthday. Nothing had been said of it at table, and, in -fact, nothing elsewhere, that I remember; but Nero, who had survived -several of those anniversaries, bore it in mind, and our dinner was -something gorgeous--to look at! Unhappily, certain necessary ingredients -had been unavoidably omitted in the concocting of the dessert, -ornamental pastry not being set down in our regular bill of fare; but -B---- ate of pies that were built of chips, and of puddings that were -stuffed with sawdust, until I feared we should be called upon to mourn -the loss of a first officer before morning. - -Moreover, B---- insisted that everything was unsurpassed; and, heaven be -thanked! I believe the pastry could easily lay claim to that -distinction. At any rate, never before or since have I laid teeth to -such a Dead Sea dessert. At this point, B---- naturally called Nero to -him and thanked him, with moist and truthful eyes, and the ingenuous -little Jamaican dropped a couple of colourless tears that would easily -have passed for anybody's anywhere. For this mutual exhibition of -sentiment every one of us was duly grateful, and we never afterward -scorned B---- for his eccentricities, since we knew him to be capable of -genuine feeling. Moreover, he nearly died of his birthday feast, yet did -not once complain of the unsuspecting cause of all his woe, who was at -his side night and day, anticipating all his wishes, and deploring the -unaccountable misfortunes of his master. - -So the winds blew us into the warm south latitudes. I was getting -restless. Perhaps we had talked ourselves out of legitimate topics of -conversation, and were forcing the social element. It was tedious beyond -expression, passing day after day within sound of the same voices, and -being utterly unable to flee into never so small a solitude, for there -was not an inch of it on board. Swinging at night in my hammock between -decks, wakefully dreaming of the future and of the past, again and again -I have stolen up on deck, where the watch lay in the moonlight, droning -their interminable yarns and smoking their perpetual cigarettes,--for -French sailors have privileges, and improve them with considerable -grace. - -It was at such times that the wind sung in the rigging, with a sound as -of a thousand swaying branches full of quivering leaves,--just as the -soft gale in the garden groves suggests pleasant nights at sea, the -vibration of the taut stays, and the rush of waters along the smooth -sides of the vessel. A ship's rigging is a kind of sea-harp, played upon -by the four winds of heaven. - -The sails were half in moonlight and half in shadow. Every object was -well defined, and on the high quarter-deck paced Thanaron, his boyish -figure looking strangely picturesque, for he showed in every motion how -deeply he felt the responsibility of his office. There was usually a -faint light in the apartments of _Monsieur le Capitaine_, and I thought -of him in his gold lace and dignity, poring over a French novel, or -cursing the light winds. I used to sit upon the neck of a gun,--one of -our four dummies, that were never known to speak louder than a -whisper,--lay my head against the moist bulwarks, and listen to the -half-savage chants of the Tahitian sailors who helped to swell our crew. -As we drew down toward the enchanted islands they seemed fairly -bewitched, and it was with the utmost difficulty that they could keep -their mouths shut until evening, when they were sure to begin intoning -an epic that usually lasted through the watch. Sometimes a fish leaped -into the moonlight, and came down with a splash; or a whale heaved a -great sigh close to us, and as I looked over the bulwarks, I would catch -a glimpse of the old fellow just going down, like a submerged island. -Occasionally a flying-fish--a kind of tangible moonbeam--fell upon deck, -and was secured by one of the sailors; or a bird, sailing about with an -eye to roosting on one of our yards, gave a plaintive, ominous cry, that -was echoed in falsetto by two or three voices, and rung in with the -Tahitian cantata of island delights. Even this sort of thing lost its -charm after a little. Thanaron could not speak to me, because Thanaron -was officer of the deck at that moment, and Thanaron himself had said to -me, "Order, Monsieur, order is the first law of France!" I had always -supposed that Heaven had a finger in the making of that law,--but it is -all the same to a Frenchman. - -Most sea-days have a tedious family resemblance, their chief -characteristic being the almost total absence of any distinguishing -feature. Fair weather and foul; sunlight, moonlight, and starlight; -moments of confidence; oaths of eternal fidelity; plans for the future -long enough to crowd a century uncomfortably; relapses, rows, -recoveries; then, after many days, the water subsided, and we saw land -at last. - -Land, God bless it! Long, low coral reefs, with a strip of garden -glorifying them; rocks towering out of the sea, palm-crowned, -foam-fringed; wreaths of verdure cast upon the bosom of the ocean, for -ever fragrant in their imperishable beauty; and, beyond and above them -all, gorgeous and glorious Tahiti. - -On the morning of the thirty-third day out, there came a revelation to -the whole ship's company. A faint blue peak was seen struggling with the -billows; presently it seemed to get the better of them, growing broader -and taller, but taking hours to do so. The wind was stiff, and the sea -covered with foam; we rolled frightfully all day. Our French dinner lost -its identity. Soup was out of the question; we had hard work to keep -meat and vegetables from total wreck, while we hung on to the legs of -the table with all our strength. How the old "Chevert" "bucked," that -day, as though conscious that for months to come she would swing in -still waters by the edge of green pastures, where any such conduct would -be highly inappropriate. - -Every hour the island grew more and more beautiful, as though it were -some lovely fruit or flower, swiftly and magically coming to maturity. A -central peak, with a tiara of rocky points, crowns it with majesty, and -a neighbouring island of great beauty seems its faithful attendant. I do -not wonder that the crew of the "Bounty" mutinied when they were ordered -to make sail and turn their backs on Tahiti; nor am I surprised that -they put the captain and one or two other objectionable features into a -small boat, and advised them to continue their voyage if they were -anxious to do so: but as for them, give them Tahiti, or give them worse -than death,--and, if convenient, give them Tahiti straight, and keep all -the rest for the next party that came along. - -As soon as we were within hailing distance, the pilot came out and took -us under his wing. We kissed the hand of a citizen of the new world, -and, for the first time since losing sight of the dear California coast, -dismissed it from our minds. There was very little wind right under the -great green mountains, so the frigate "Astrea" sent a dozen boats to tow -us through the opening in the reef to our most welcome anchorage. No -Doge of Venice ever cruised more majestically than we, and our -sea-pageant was the sensation of the day. - -"Click-click" went the anchor-chains through the hawse-holes, down into -a deep, sheltered bowl of the sea, whose waters have never yet been -ruffled by the storms that beat upon the coral wall around it. Along the -crescent shores trees dropped their yellow leaves into the water, and -tried their best to bury the slim canoes drawn up among their roots. -Beyond this barricade of verdure the eye caught glimpses of every sort -of tropical habitation imaginable, together with the high roofs and -ponderous white walls of the French government buildings. The foliage -broke over the little town like a green sea, and every possibility of a -good view of it was lost in the inundation. Above it towered the sublime -crest of the mountain, with a strip of cloud about its middle in true -savage fashion. Perpetual harvest lay in its lap, and it basked in the -smile of God. - -Twilight, fragrant and cool; a fruity flavour in the air, a flower-like -tint in sea and sky, the ship's boat waiting to convey us shoreward.... -O Thanaron, my Thanaron, with your arms about my neck, and B----'s arms -about you, and Nero clinging to his master's knees,--in fact, with -everybody felicitating every other body, because it was such an evening -as descends only upon the chosen places of the earth, and because, -having completed our voyage in safety, we were all literally in a -transport! - - - - -A PRODIGAL IN TAHITI. - - -Let this confession be topped with a vignette done in broad, shadowless -lines, and few of them,--something like this:-- - -A little, flyblown room, smelling of garlic; I cooling my elbows on the -oily slab of a table (breakfast for one), and looking through a window -at a glaring, whitewashed fence high enough to shut out the universe -from my point of sight. Yet it hid not all, since it brought into relief -a panting cock (with one leg in a string), which had so strained to -compress itself into a doubtful inch of shade that its suspended claw -clutched the air in real agony. - -Having dazzled my eyes with this prospect, I turned gratefully to the -vanities of life that may be had for two francs in Tahiti. _Vide_ bill -of fare: One fried egg, like the eye of some gigantic Albino; potatoes -hollowed out bombshell fashion, primed with liver-sausage, very -ingenious and palatable; the naked corpse of a fowl that cared not to -live longer, from appearances, yet looked not happy in death. - -Item: Wonder if there _is_ a more ghastly spectacle than a chicken -cooked in the French style; its knees drawn up on its breast like an -Indian mummy, while its blue-black, parboiled, and melancholy visage -tearfully surveys its own unshrouded remains. After a brief season of -meditation, I said, and I trust I meant it, "I thank the Lord for all -these blessings." Then I gave the corpse of the chicken Christian burial -under a fold of the window curtain, disposed of the fried eye of the -Albino, and transformed myself into a mortar for the time being, taking -potato-bombshells according to my calibre. - -There was claret all the while and plenty of butterless roll, a shaving -of cheese, a banana, black coffee and cognac, when I turned again to -dazzle myself with the white fence, and saw with infinite pity,--a -sentiment perhaps not unmixed with a suspicion of cognac or some other -temporary humanizing element,--I saw for a fact that the poor cock had -wilted, and lay flat in the sun like a last year's duster. That was too -much for me. I wheeled towards the door where gleamed the bay with its -lovely ridges of light; canoes drifting over it drew the eye after them -irresistibly; I heard the ship-calkers on the beach making their -monotonous clatter, and the drone of the bareheaded fruitsellers -squatted in rows chatting indolently, with their eyes half shut. I could -think of nothing but bees humming over their own sweet wares. - -About this time a young fellow at the next table, who had scarcely a -mouthful of English at his command, implored me to take beer with him; -implying that we might, if desirable, become as tight as two bricks. I -declined, much to his admiration, he regarding my refusal as a clear -case of moral courage, whereas it arose simply and solely from my utter -inability to see his treat and go him one better. - -An adult in Tahiti has an eating hour allotted to him twice a day, at 10 -a.m. and 5 p.m. My time being up, I returned to the store in an -indifferent frame of mind, and upon entering the presence of my -employer, who had arrived a moment before me, I was immediately covered -with the deep humiliation of servitude, and withdrew to an obscure -corner, while Monsieur and some naval guests took absinthe unblushingly, -which was, of course, proper enough in them. Call it by what name you -will, you cannot sweeten servility to my taste. Then why was I there and -in bondage? The spirit of adventure that keeps life in us, yet comes -near to worrying it out of us now and then, lured me with my handful of -dollars to the Garden of the Pacific. "You can easily get work," said -some one who had been there and didn't want it. If work I must, why not -better there than here, thought I; and the less money I take with me the -surer am I to seek that which might not attract me under other -circumstances. A few letters which proved almost valueless; an abiding -trust in Providence, afterward somewhat shaken I am sorry to state, -which convinces me that I can no longer hope to travel as a shorn lamb; -considerable confidence in the good feeling of my fellow-men, together -with the few dollars above referred to,--comprised my all when I set -foot on the leaf-strewn and shady beach of Papeete. - -Before the day was over I saw my case was almost hopeless; I was one too -many in a very meagre congregation of foreigners. In a week I was -desperate, with poverty and disgrace brooding like evil spirits on -either hand. Every ten minutes some one suggested something which was -almost immediately suppressed by the next man I met, to whom I applied -for further information. Teach, said one: there wasn't a pupil to be had -in the dominion. Clerkships were out of the question likewise. I might -keep a store, if I could get anything to put in it; or go farther, as -some one suggested, if I had money enough to get there. I thought it -wiser to endure the ills I had than fly to others that I knew not of. In -this state I perambulated the green lanes of Papeete, conscious that I -was drawing down tons of immaterial sympathy from hearts of various -nationalities, beating to the music of regular salaries in hard cash, -and the inevitable ringing of their daily dinner-bell; and I continued -to perambulate under the same depressing avalanches for a fortnight or -more,--a warning to the generation of the inexperienced that persists in -sowing itself broadcast upon the edges of the earth, and learns too late -how hard a thing it is to take root under the circumstances. - -One gloomy day I was seized in the market-place and led before a French -gentleman who offered me a bed and board for such manual compensation as -I might be able to give him in his office during the usual business -hours, namely, from daybreak to sometime in the afternoon, unless it -rained, when business was suspended, and I was dropped until fair -weather should set that little world wagging again. - -I was invited to enter into the bosom of his family, in fact, to be -_one_ of them, and no single man could ask to be more; to sit at his -table and hope for better days, in which diversion he proposed to join -me with all his soul. - -With an emotion of gratitude and a pang at being thus early a subject -of charity, I began business in Papeete, and learned within the hour how -sharper than most sharps it is to know only your own mother-tongue when -you're away from home. - -Nightly I walked two hot and dusty miles through groves of bread-fruit -and colonnades of palms to my new master's. I skirted, with loitering -steps, a placid sea whose crystalline depths sheltered leagues and -leagues of sun-painted corals, where a myriad fish, dyed like the -rainbow, sported unceasingly. Springs gushed from the mountain, singing -their song of joy; the winds sang in the dark locks of the sycamore, -while the palm-boughs clashed like cymbals in rhythmical accompaniment; -glad children chanted their choruses, and I alone couldn't sing, nor -hum, nor whistle, because it doesn't pay to work for your board, and -settle for little necessities out of your own pocket, in any latitude -that I ever heard of. - -We lived in a grove of ten thousand cocoa-palms crowning a hill-slope to -the west. How all-sufficient it sounds as I write it now, but how little -I cared then, for many reasons! My cottage had prior tenants, who -disputed possession with me,--winged tenants who sought admission at -every cranny and frequently obtained it in spite of me; these were not -angels, but hens. My cottage had been a granary until it got too poor a -receptacle for grains, and a better shelter left it open to the -barn-fowls until I arrived. They hated me, these hungry chickens; they -used to sit in rows on the window-sill and stare me out of countenance. -A wide bedstead, corded with thongs, did its best to furnish my -apartment. An arrow, a very narrow and thin ship's mattress, that had -been a bed of torture for many a sea-sick soul before it descended to -me; a flat pillow like a pancake; a condemned horse-blanket contributed -by a good-natured Kanack who raked it from a heap of refuse in the yard, -together with two sacks of rice, the despair of those hens in the -window, were all I could boast of. With this inventory I strove (by -particular request) to be one of those who were comfortable enough in -the chateau adjoining. Summoned peremptorily to dinner, I entered a -little latticed saloon connected with the chateau by a covered walk, -discovered Monsieur seated at table and already served with soup and -claret; the remainder of the company helped themselves as they best -could; and I saw plainly enough that the family bosom was so crowded -already, that I might seek in vain to wedge myself into any corner of -it, at least until some vacancy occurred. - -After dinner, sat on a sack of rice in my room while it grew dark and -Monsieur received calls; wandered down to the beach at the foot of the -hill and lay a long time on a bed of leaves, while the tide was out and -the crabs clattered along shore and were very sociable. Natives began to -kindle their evening fires of cocoanut husks; smoke, sweet as incense, -climbed up to the plumes of the palm-trees and was lost among the stars. -Morsels of fish and bread-fruit were offered me by the untutored savage, -who welcomed me to his frugal meal and desired that I should at least -taste before he broke his fast. Canoes shot out from dense, shadowy -points, fishers standing in the bows with a poised spear in one hand; a -blazing palm-branch held aloft in the other shed a warm glow of light -over their superb nakedness. Bathed by the sea, in a fresh, cool -spring, and returned to my little coop, which was illuminated by the -glare of fifty floating beacons; looking back from the door I could see -the dark outlines of the torch-bearers and hear their signal calls above -the low growl of the reef a half-mile farther out from shore. It was a -blessing to lie awake in my little room and watch the flicker of those -fires; to think how Tahiti must look on a cloudless night from some -heavenly altitude,--the ocean still as death, the procession of -fishermen sweeping from point to point within the reef, till the island, -flooded with starlight and torchlight, lies like a green sea-garden in a -girdle of flame. - -A shrill bell called me from my bed at dawn. I was not unwilling to -rise, for half the night I lay like a saint on the tough thongs, having -turned over in sleep, thereby missing the mattress entirely. Made my -toilet at a spring on the way into town; saw a glorious sunrise that was -as good as breakfast, and found the whole earth and sea and all that in -them is singing again while I listened and gave thanks for that -privilege. At ten a.m. I went to breakfast in the small restaurant where -I have sketched myself at the top of this chronicle, and whither we may -return and begin over again if it please you. - -I was about to remark that probably most melancholy and homesickness may -be cured or alleviated by a wholesome meal of victuals; but I think I -won't, for, on referring to my note-book, I find that within an hour -after my return to the store I was as heart-sick as ever, and wasn't -afraid to say so. It is scarcely to be wondered at: the sky was dark; -aboard a schooner some sailors were making that doleful whine peculiar -to them, as they hauled in to shore and tied up to a tree in a sifting -rain; then everything was ominously still as though something -disagreeable were about to happen; thereupon I doubled myself over the -counter like a half-shut jack-knife, and burying my face in my hands -said to myself, "O, to be alone with Nature! her silence is religion and -her sounds sweet music." After which the rain blew over, and I was sent -with a hand-cart and one underfed Kanack to a wharf half a mile away to -drag back several loads of potatoes. We two hungry creatures struggled -heroically to do our duty. Starting with a multitude of sacks it was -quite impossible to proceed with, we grew weaker the farther we went, so -that the load had to be reduced from time to time, and I believe the -amount of potatoes deposited by the way considerably exceeded the amount -we subsequently arrived at the store with. Finding life a burden, and -seeing the legs of the young fellow in harness with me bend under him in -his frantic efforts to get our cart out of a rut without emptying it -entirely, I resolved to hire a substitute at my own expense, and save my -remaining strength for a new line of business. Thus I was enabled to sit -on the wharf the rest of the afternoon and enjoy myself devising new -means of subsistence and watching the natives swim. - -Some one before me found a modicum of sweets in his cup of bitterness, -and in a complacent hour set the good against the evil in single entry, -summing up the same to his advantage. I concluded to do it myself, and -did it thus:-- - - Evil. Good. - - I find myself in a foreign But I may do as I please in - land with no one to love and consequence, and it is nobody's - none to love me. business save my own. - - I am working for my board But I may quit as soon as I - and lodging (no extras), and feel like it, and shall have no - find it very unprofitable. occasion to dun my employer - for back salary so long as I stop - with him. - - My clothes are in rags. I But the weather is mild and - shall soon be without a stitch to the fig-tree flourisheth. Moreover - my back. many a good savage has - gone naked before me. - - I get hungry before breakfast But fasting is saintly. Day - and feel faint after dinner. by day I grow more spiritual, - What are two meals a day to a and shall shortly be a fit subject - man of my appetite? for translation to that better - world which is doubtless the - envy of all those who have lost - it by over eating and drinking. - -Nothing can exceed the satisfaction with which I read and re-read this -philosophical summary, but I had relapses every few minutes so long as I -lived in Tahiti. I remember one Sunday morning, a day I had all to -myself, when I cried out of the depths and felt better after it. It was -a real Sunday. The fowls confessed it by the indifference with which -they picked up a grain of rice now and then as though they weren't -hungry. The family were moving about in an unnatural way; some people -are never themselves on the Lord's day. The canoes lay asleep off upon -the water, evidently conscious of the long hours of rest they were sure -of having. To sum it all, it seemed as though the cover had been taken -off from the earth, and the angels were sitting in big circles looking -at us. Our clock had run down, and I found myself half an hour too early -at mass. Some diminutive native children talked together with infinite -gesticulation, like little old men. At every lag in the conversation, -two or three of them would steal away to the fence that surrounded the -church and begin diligently counting the pickets thereof. They were -evidently amazed at what they considered a singular coincidence, namely, -that the number of pickets, beginning at the front gate and counting to -the right, tallied exactly with the do. do. beginning at the do. do. and -counting to the left; while they were making repeated efforts to get at -the heart of this mystery, the priest rode up on horseback, dismounted -in our midst, and we all followed him into chapel to mass. - -A young Frenchman offered me holy-water on the tips of his fingers, and -I immediately decided to confide in him to an unlimited extent if he -gave me the opportunity. It was a serious disappointment when I found -later, that we didn't know six words in any common tongue. Concluded to -be independent, and walked off by myself. Got very lonesome immediately. -Tried to be meditative, philosophical, botanical, conchological, and in -less than an hour gave it up,--homesick again, by Jove! - -Strolled to the beach and sat a long time on a bit of wreck partly -imbedded in the sand; consoled by the surpassing radiance of sunset, -wondered how I could ever have repined, but proceeded to do it again as -soon as it grew dark. Some natives drew near, greeting me kindly. They -were evidently lovers; talked in low tones, deeply interested in the -most trivial things, such as a leaf falling into the sea at our feet -and floating stem up, like a bowsprit; he probably made some poetic -allusion to it, may have proposed braving the seas with her in a shallop -as fairy-like, for both fell a-dreaming and were silent for some time, -he worshipping her with fascinated eyes, while she, woman-like, -pretended to be all unconscious of his admiration. - -Silently we sat looking over the sea at Moorea, just visible in the -light of the young moon, like a spirit brooding upon the waters, till I -broke the spell by saying "Good-night," which was repeated in a chorus -as I withdrew to my coop and found my feathered guests had beaten in the -temporary barricade erected in the broken window, entered and made -themselves at home during my absence,--a fact that scarcely endeared the -spot to me. Next morning I was unusually merry; couldn't tell why, but -tried to sing as I made my toilet at the spring; laughed nearly all the -way into town, saying my prayers, and blessing God, when I came suddenly -upon a horse-shoe in the middle of the road. Took it as an omen and a -keepsake; horse-shoes aren't shed everywhere nor for everybody. I -thought it the prophecy of a change, and at once cancelled my engagement -with my employer without having set foot into his house farther than the -dining-room, or made any apparent impression upon the adamantine bosom -of his family. - -After formally expressing my gratitude to Monsieur for his renewed -offers of hospitality, I turned myself into the street, and was once -more adrift in the world. For the space of three minutes I was wild with -joy at the thought of my perfect liberty. Then I grew nervous, began to -feel unhappy, nay, even guilty, as though I had thrown up a good thing. -Concluded it was rash of me to leave a situation where I got two meals -and a mattress, with the privilege of washing at my own expense. Am not -sure that it wasn't unwise, for I had no dinner that afternoon; and -having no bed either, I crept into the verandah of a house to let, and -dozed till daybreak. - -There was but one thing to live for now, namely, to see as much of -Tahiti as possible, and at my earliest convenience to return like the -prodigal son to that father who would doubtless feel like killing -something appropriate as soon as he saw me coming. I said as much to a -couple of Frenchmen, brothers, who are living a dream-life over yonder, -and whose wildest species of dissipation for the last seven years has -been to rise at intervals from their settees in the arbour, go -deliberately to the farther end of the garden and eat several mangoes in -cold blood. - -To comprehend Tahiti, a man must lose himself in forests whose resinous -boughs are knotted with ribbons of sea-grass; there, overcome by the -music of sibilant waters sifting through the antlers of the coral, he is -supposed to sink upon drifts of orange-blossoms only to be resuscitated -by the spray of an approaching shower crashing through the green -solitudes like an army with chariots,--so those brothers said, with a -mango poised in each hand; and they added that I should have an official -document addressed to the best blood in the kingdom, namely, Forty -Chiefs of Tahiti, who would undoubtedly entertain me with true barbarian -hospitality, better the world knows not. There was a delay for some -reason; I, rather impatient, and scarcely hoping to receive so graceful -a compliment from headquarters, trudged on alone with a light purse and -an infinitesimal bundle of necessities, caring nothing for the weather -nor the number of miles cleared per day, since I laid no plans save the -one to see as much as I might with the best grace possible, keeping an -eye on the road for horse-shoes. Through leagues of verdure I wandered, -feasting my five senses and finding life a holiday at last. There were -numberless streams to be crossed, where I loafed for hours on the -bridges, satisfying myself with sunshine. Not a savage in the land was -freer than I. No man could say to me, "Why stand ye here idle?" for I -could continue to stand as long as I liked and as idly as it pleased me -in spite of him! There were bridgeless streams to be forded; but the -Tahitian is a nomad continually wandering from one edge of his fruitful -world to the other; moreover, he is the soul of peace towards men of -good-will: I was invariably picked up by some bare-backed Hercules, who -volunteered to take me over the water on his brawny brown shoulders, and -could have easily taken two like me. It was good to be up there while he -strode through the swift current, for I felt that he was perfectly able -to carry me to the ends of the earth without stopping, and that sense of -reliance helped to reassure my faith in humanity. - -As I wandered, from most native houses came the invitation to enter and -eat. Night after night I found my bed in the corner of some dwelling -whither I had been led by the master of it with unaffected grace. It -wasn't simply showing me to a spare room, but rather unrolling the best -mat and turning everything to my account so long as it pleased me to -tarry. Sometimes the sea talked in its sleep not a rod from the house; -frequently the mosquitoes accepted me as a delicacy and did their best -to dispose of me. Once I awoke with a headache, the air was so dense -with the odour of orange-blossoms. - -There was frequently a strip of blue bay that ebbed and flowed -languidly, and had to be lunched with; or a very deep and melodious -spring, asking for an interview, and, I may add, it always got it. I -remember one miniature castle built in the midst of a grassy Venice by -the shore. Its moats, shining with gold-fish, were spanned with slender -bridges, toy fences of bamboo enclosed the rarer clumps of foliage; and -there was such an air of tranquillity pervading it that I thought I must -belong there. Something seemed to say, "Come in." I went in, but left -very soon; the place was so fairy-like, I felt as though I were liable -to step through it and come out on some other side, and I wasn't anxious -for such a change. - -I ate when I got hungry, a very good sort of a meal, consisting usually -of a tiny piglet cooked in the native fashion, swathed in succulent -leaves and laid between hot stones till ready for eating; bread-fruit, -like mashed potato, but a great deal better; orange-tea and cocoa-milk, -surely enough for two or three francs. Took a sleep whenever sleep came -along, resting always till the clouds or a shadow from the mountain -covered me so as to keep cool and comfortable. Natives passed me with -salutations. A white man now and then went by barely nodding, or more -frequently eyeing me with suspicion, and giving me as much of his dust -as he found convenient. In the wider fellowship of nature, I forswore -all blood relations, and blushed for those representatives of my own -colour as I footed it right royally. Therefore, I was enabled to scorn -the fellow who scorned me while he flashed the steel hoofs of his -charger in my face and dashed on to the village we were both approaching -with the dusk. - -What a spot it was! A long lane as green as a spring meadow, lying -between wall-like masses of foliage whose deep arcades were frescoed -with blossoms and festooned with vines. It seemed a pathway leading to -infinity, for the blood-red bars of sunset glared at its farther end as -though Providence had placed them there to keep out the unregenerated. -Not a house visible all this time, nor a human, though I was in the -heart of the hamlet. Passing up the turf-cushioned road, I beheld, on -either hand, through a screen of leaves, a log spanning a rivulet that -was softly singing its monody; at the end of each log the summer-house -of some Tahitian, who sat in his door smoking complacently. It was a -picture of still-life with a suggestion of possible motion; a village to -put into a greenhouse, water, and keep fresh for ever. Let me picture it -once more,--one mossy street between two babbling brooks, and every -house thereof set each in its own moated wilderness. This was Papeali. - -Like rows of cages full of chirping birds those bamboo hats were -distributed up and down the street. As I walked I knew something would -cause me to turn at the right time and find a new friend ready to -receive me, for it always does. So I walked slowly, and without -hesitation or impatience, until I turned and met him coming out of his -cage, crossing the rill by his log and holding out his hand to me in -welcome. Back we went together, and I ate and slept there as though it -had been arranged a thousand years ago; perhaps it was! There was a -racket up at the farther end of the lane, by the chief's house; songs -and nose-flutings upon the night air; moreover, a bonfire, and doubtless -much nectar,--too much, as usual, for I heard such cheers as the soul -gives when it is careless of consequences, and caught a glimpse of the -joys of barbarism such as even we poor Christians cannot wholly -withstand, but turning our backs think we are safe enough. Commend me to -him who has known temptation and not shunned it, but actually withstood -it! - -It was the dance, as ever it is the dance where all the aspirations of -the soul find expression in the body; those bodies that are incarnate -souls, or those souls that are spiritualized bodies, inseparable, -whatever they are, for the time being. The fire glowed fervently; -bananas hung out their tattered banners like decorations; palms rustled -their silver plumes aloft in the moonlight; the sea panted on its sandy -bed in heavy sleep; the night-blooming cereus opened its waxen chambers -and gave forth its treasured sweets. Circle after circle of swart savage -faces were turned upon the flame-lit arena where the dancers posed for a -moment with their light drapery gathered about them and held carelessly -in one hand. The music again sounded a reiteration of chords caught from -the birds' treble and the wind's bass; full and resounding syllables, -richly poetical, telling of orgies and of the mysteries of the forbidden -revels in the charmed valleys of the gods, hearing which it were -impossible not to be wrought to madness; and the dancers thereat went -mad, dancing with infinite gesticulation, dancing to whirlwinds of -applause till the undulation of their bodies was serpentine, and at last -in frenzy they shrieked with joy, threw off their garments, and were -naked as the moon. So much for a vision that kept me awake till morning, -when I plodded on in the damp grass and tried to forget it, but couldn't -exactly, and never have to this hour. Went on and on over more bridges -spanning still-flowing streams of silver, past springs that lay like -great crystals framed in moss under dripping, fern-clad cliffs that the -sun never reaches. Came at last to a shining, whitewashed fort, on an -eminence that commands the isthmus connecting the two hemispheres of -Tahiti, where down I dropped into a narrow valley full of wind and -discord and a kind of dreary neglect that made me sick for any other -place. More refreshment for the wayfarer, but to be paid for by the -dish, and therefore limited. Was obliged to hate a noisy fellow with too -much bushy black beard and a freckled nose, and to like another who eyed -me kindly over his absinthe, having first mixed a glass for me. A native -asked me where I was going; being unable to give any satisfactory -answer, he conducted me to his canoe, about a mile distant, where he cut -a sapling for a mast, another for a gaff, twisted, in a few moments, a -cord of its fibrous bark, rigged a sail of his sleeping-blanket, and we -were shortly wafted onward before a light breeze between the reef and -shore. - -Three of us with a bull-pup in the bows dozed under the afternoon sun. -He of the paddle awoke now and then to shift sail, beat the sea -impetuously for a few seconds, and fell asleep again. Voices roused me -occasionally, greetings from colonies of indolent Kanacks on shore, -whose business it was to sit there till they got hungry, laughing -weariness to scorn. - -Close upon our larboard-bow lay one of the islands that had bewitched me -as I passed the shore but a few days previous; under us the measureless -gardens of the sea unmasked a myriad imperishable blossoms, centuries -old some of them, but as fair and fresh as though born within the hour. -All that afternoon we drifted between sea and shore, and beached at -sunset in a new land. Footsore and weary, I approached a stable from -which thrice a week stages were despatched to Papeete. - -A modern pilgrim finds his scrip cumbersome if he has any, and deems it -more profitable to pay his coach-man than his cobbler. - -I climbed to my seat by the jolly French driver, who was continually -chatting with three merry nuns sitting just back of us, returning to the -convent in Papeete after a vacation retreat among the hills. How they -enjoyed the ride, as three children might! and were quite wild with -delight at meeting a corpulent _pere_, who smiled amiably from his -saddle and offered to show them the interior of the pretty chapel at -Faaa (only three _a_'s in that word),--the very one I grew melancholy in -when I was a man of business. - -So they hurled themselves madly from the high seat, one after the other, -scorning to touch anything so contaminating as a man's hand, though it -looked suicidal, as the driver and I agreed while the three were at -prayers by the altar. Whipping up over the road townward, I could -almost recognize my own footprints left since the time I used to take -the dust in my face three mornings a week from the wheels of that very -vehicle as I footed it in to business. Passing the spring, my toilet of -other days, drawing to the edge of the town, we stopped being jolly, and -were as proper as befitted travellers. We looked over the wall of the -convent garden as we drove up to the gate, and saw the mother-superior -hurrying down to us with a cumbersome chair for the relief of the nuns, -but before she reached us they had cast themselves to earth again in the -face of destiny, and there was kissing, crying, and commotion as they -withdrew under the gateway like so many doves seeking shelter. When the -gate closed after them, I heard them all _cooing_ at once, but the world -knows nothing further. - -Where would I be dropped? asked the driver. In the middle of the street, -please you, and take half my little whole for your ride, sir! He took -it, dropped me where we stood, and drove away, I pretending to be very -much at my ease. God help me and all poor hypocrites! - -I sought a place of shelter, or rather retirement, for the air is balm -in that country. There was an old house in the middle of a grassy lawn -in a by-street; two of its rooms were furnished with a few papers and -books, and certain gentlemen who contribute to its support lounge in -when they have leisure for reading or a chat. I grew to know the place -familiarly. I stole a night's lodging on its verandah in the shadow of a -passion-vine; but, for fear of embarrassing some early student in -pursuit of knowledge, I passed the second night on the floor of the -dilapidated cook-house, where the ants covered me. I endured the -tortures of one who bares his body to an unceasing shower of sparks; but -I survived. - -There was, in this very cook-house, a sink six feet in length and as -wide as a coffin; the third night I lay like a galvanized corpse with -his lid off till a rat sought to devour me, when I took to the streets -and walked till morning. By this time the president of the club, whose -acquaintance I had the honour of, tendered me the free use of any -portion of the premises that might not be otherwise engaged. With a -gleam of hope I began my explorations. Up a narrow and winding stair I -found a spacious loft. It was like a mammoth tent, a solitary -centre-pole its only ornament. Creeping into it on all-fours, I found a -fragment of matting, a dry crust, and an empty soda bottle,--footprints -on the sands of time. - -"Poor soul!" I gasped, "where did _you_ come from? What _did_ you come -for? Whither, O whither, have you flown?" - -I might have added, How did you manage to get there? But the present was -so important a consideration, I had no heart to look beyond it. The next -ten nights I passed in the silent and airy apartment of my anonymous -predecessor. Ten nights I crossed the unswept floor that threatened at -every step to precipitate me into the reading-room below. With a faint -heart and hollow stomach I threw myself upon my elbow and strove to -sleep. I lay till my heart stopped beating, my joints were wooden, and -my four limbs corky beyond all hope of reanimation. There the mosquito -revelled, and it was a promising place for centipedes. - -At either end of the building an open window admitted the tip of a -banana-leaf; up their green ribs the sprightly mouse careered. I broke -the backbones of these banana-leaves, though they were the joy of my -soul and would have adorned the choicest conservatory in the land. Day -was equally unprofitable to me. My best friends said, "Why not return to -California?" Every one I met invited me to leave the country at my -earliest convenience. The American consul secured me a passage, to be -settled for at home, and my career in that latitude was evidently at an -end. In my superfluous confidence in humanity, I had announced myself as -a correspondent for the press. It was quite necessary that I should give -some plausible reason for making my appearance in Tahiti friendless and -poor. Therefore, I said plainly, "I am a correspondent, friendless and -poor," believing that any one would see truth in the face of it, with -half an eye. "Prove it," said one who knew more of the world than I. -Then flashed upon me the alarming fact that I couldn't prove it, having -nothing whatever in my possession referring to it in the slightest -degree. It was a fatal mistake that might easily have been avoided, but -was too well established to be rectified. - -In my chagrin I looked to the good old bishop for consolation. -Approaching the Mission House through sunlit cloisters of palms, I was -greeted most tenderly. I would have gladly taken any amount of holy -orders for the privilege of ending my troublous days in the sweet -seclusion of the Mission House. - -As it was, I received a blessing, an autograph, and a "God speed" to -some other part of creation. Added to this I learned how the address to -the Forty Chiefs of Tahiti in behalf of the foreign traveller, my poor -self, had been despatched to me by a special courier, who found me not; -and doubtless the _fetes_ I heard of and was for ever missing marked the -march of that messenger, my proxy, in his triumphal progress. In my -innocent degradation it was still necessary to nourish the inner man. - -There is a market in Papeete where, under one broad roof, threescore -hucksters of both sexes congregate long before daylight, and while a few -candles illumine their wares, patiently await custom. A half-dozen -coolies with an eye to business serve hot coffee and chocolate at a dime -per cup to any who choose to ask for it. By seven a.m. the market is so -nearly sold out that only the more plentiful fruits of the country are -to be obtained at any price. A prodigal cannot long survive on husks, -unless he have coffee to wash them down. I took my cup of it, with two -spoonfuls of sugar and ants dipped out of a cigar-box, and a crust of -bread into the bargain, sitting on a bench in the market-place, with a -coolie and a Kanack on either hand. - -It was not the coffee nor the sugared ants that I gave my dime for, but -rather the privilege of sitting in the midst of men and women who were -willing to accept me as a friend and helpmate without questioning my -ancestry, and any one of whom would go me halves in the most -disinterested manner. Then there was sure to be some superb fellow close -at hand, with a sensuous lip curled under his nostril, a glimpse of -which gave me a dime's worth of satisfaction and more too. Having -secreted a French roll, five cents, all hot, under my coat, and gathered -the bananas that would fall in the yard so seasonably, I made my day as -brief and comfortable as possible by filling up with water from time to -time. - -The man who has passed a grimy chop-house, wherein a frowzy fellow sat -at his cheap spread, without envying the frowzy fellow his cheap spread, -cannot truly sympathize with me. - -The man who has not felt a great hollow in his stomach which he found -necessary to fill at the first fountain he came to, or go over on his -beam-ends for lack of ballast, cannot fall upon my neck and call me -brother. - -At daybreak I haunted those street fountains, waiting my turn while -French cooks filled almost fathomless kegs, and coolies filled -potbellied jars, and Kanacks filled their hollow bamboos that seemed -fully a quarter of a mile in length. There I meekly made my toilet, took -my first course of breakfast, rinsed out my handkerchiefs and stockings, -and went my way. The whole performance was embarrassing, because I was a -novice, and a dozen people watched me in curious silence. I had also a -boot with a suction in the toe; there is dust in Papeete; while I walked -that boot loaded and discharged itself in a manner that amazed and -amused a small mob of little natives who followed me in my free -exhibition, advertising my shooting-boot gratuitously. - -I was altogether shabby in my outward appearance, and cannot honestly -upbraid any resident of the town for his neglect of me. I know that I -suffered the agony of shame and the pangs of hanger; but they were -nothing to the utter loneliness I felt as I wandered about with my heart -on my sleeve, and never a bite from so much as a daw. - -Did you ever question the possibility of a man's temporary -transformation under certain mental, moral, or physical conditions? -There are seasons when he certainly isn't what he was, yet may be more -and better than he has been, if you give him time enough. - -I began to think I had either suffered this transformation or been -maliciously misinformed as to my personality. Was I truly what I -represented myself to be, or had I been a living deception all my days? -No longer able to identify myself as any one in particular, it occurred -to me that it would be well to address a few lines to the gentleman I -had been in the habit of calling "father," asking for some particulars -concerning his absent son. I immediately drew up this document ready for -mailing:-- - - MOSQUITO HALL, - - CENTIPEDE AVENUE, PAPEETE. - - DEAR SIR,--A nondescript awaits identification at this office. - Answers to the names at the foot of this page, believes himself to - be your son, to have been your son, or about to be something - equally near and dear to you. He can repeat several chapters of the - New Testament at the shortest notice; recites most of the Catechism - and Commandments; thinks he would recognize two sisters and three - brothers at sight, and know his mother with his eyes shut. - - He likewise confesses to the usual strawberry-mark in fast colours. - If you will kindly send by return mail a few dollars, he will - clothe, feed, and water himself, and return immediately to those - arms which, if his memory does not belie him, have more than once - sheltered his unworthy frame. I have, dear sir, the fortune to be - the article above described. - -The six months which would elapse before I could Hope for an answer -would probably have found me past all recognition, so I ceased crying to -the compassionate bowels of Tom, Dick, and Harry, waiting with haggard -patience the departure of the vessel that was to bear me home with a -palpable C. O. D. tacked on to me. Those last hours were brightened by -the delicate attentions of a few good souls who learned, too late, the -shocking state of my case. Thanks to them, I slept well thereafter in a -real bed, and was sure of dinners that wouldn't rattle in me like a -withered kernel in an old nutshell. - -I had but to walk to the beach, wave my lily hand, heavily tanned about -that time, when lo! a boat was immediately despatched from the plump -little corvette "Chevert," where the tricolour waved triumphantly from -sunrise to sunset, all the year round. - -Such capital French dinners as I had there, such offers of bed and board -and boundless sympathy as were made me by those dear fellows who wore -the gold lace and had a piratical-looking cabin all to themselves, were -enough to wring a heart that had been nearly wrung out in its battle -with life in Tahiti. - -No longer I walked the streets as one smitten with the plague, or -revolved in envious circles about the market-place, where I could have -got my fill for a half-dollar, but had neither the one nor the other. No -longer I went at daybreak to swell the procession at the water-spout, or -sat on the shore the picture of despair, waiting sunrise, finding it my -sole happiness to watch a canoe-load of children drifting out upon the -bay, singing like a railful of larks; nor walked solitarily through the -night up and down the narrow streets wherein the _gendarmes_ had learned -to pass me unnoticed, with my hat under my arm and my heart in my -throat. Those delicious moons always seduced me from my natural sleep, -and I sauntered through the cocoa-groves whose boughs glistened like row -after row of crystals, whose shadows were as mosaics wrought in blocks -of silver. - -I used to nod at the low, whitewashed "calabooses" fairly steaming in -the sun, wherein Herman Melville got some chapters of "Omoo." - -Over and over again I tracked the ground of that delicious story, saying -to the bread-fruit trees that had sheltered him, "Shelter me also, and -whoever shall follow after, so long as your branches quiver in the -wind!" - -O reader of "Omoo," think of "Motoo-Otoo," actually looking warlike in -these sad days, with a row of new cannons around its edge, and pyramids -of balls as big as cocoanuts covering its shady centre. - -Walking alone in those splendid nights I used to hear a dry, ominous -coughing in the huts of the natives. I felt as though I were treading -upon the brinks of half-dug graves, and I longed to bring a respite to -the doomed race. - -One windy afternoon we cut our stern hawser in a fair wind and sailed -out of the harbour; I felt a sense of relief, and moralized for five -minutes without stopping. Then I turned away from all listeners, and saw -those glorious green peaks growing dim in the distance; the clouds -embraced them in their profound secrecy; like a lovely mirage Tahiti -floated upon the bosom of the sea. Between sea and sky was swallowed up -vale, garden, and waterfall; point after point crowded with palms; peak -above peak in that eternal crown of beauty; and with them the nation of -warriors and lovers falling like the leaf, but, unlike it, with no -followers in the new season. - -THE END - -Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO - -London & Edinburgh - - - - -AN AFTERGLOW. - - -There is a bell in a tower in the middle of our Square. At six every -morning that bell does its best to tip over in delirious joy, but a -dozen strokes with the big tongue of it is about all that is ever -accomplished. - -I like to be wakened by that bell; I like to hear it at meridian when my -day's work is nearly done. It is swinging at this very minute, and the -iron hammer is bumping its head on either side, wrought with melodious -fury. - -The voice of it is so like the voice of a certain bell I used to hear in -a dreamy seaside village off in the tropics, that I have only to close -my eyes and I am over the seas again where I belong. - -As it rings now, I fancy I am in a great stone house with broad -verandahs, that stands in the centre of a grove of palms; across a dusty -lane lies the churchyard, and in the midst of the congregation of the -departed I catch a glimpse of the homely whitewashed walls of the old -missionary church. - -As the bell rings out at high noon, the pigeons flutter from the eaves -of this old church, and sail about, half afraid, yet seeming to be a -part of the service that is renewed from day to day. - -In spirit I pace again those winding paths; I meet dark faces, that -brighten as I greet them; I hear the reef-music blown in from the summer -sea; through leafy trellises I look into the watery distance, across -which white sails are wafted like feathers in an azure sky. - -A dry and floating dust, like powdered gold, glorifies the air. The -vertical sun has driven the shadows to the wall, and the dry pods of the -tamarind rattle and crackle in the intense heat, or perhaps a cocoanut -drops suddenly to the grass with a dull _thud_. - -A vixenish hornet swaggers in at the window, dangling its legs, the very -ghost of an emaciated ballet-girl, and pirouettes about my head while I -sit statue-like, but presently flirts out of the window and is gone. - -Do you think nothing transpires in this corner of the world? The Coolie -who brings me my morning cocoanut, the milk of which I drink from the -shell, is just now picking up leaves as big as a panama hat out in the -croquet-ground. Is that a common sight? - -Were I in Honolulu--the metropolis, you know--from my window I could see -as of yore a singularly-shaped hill called Punch-bowl, that looms above -the mass of foliage engulfing the pretty village. This Punch-bowl has -been empty for ages, so have all the craters in that particular island. - -It has baked hard in the sun and is as red as clay, though a tinge of -green in all its chinks suggests those antique bronzes of uncertain -origin. Above it roll the snow-white trade-wind clouds, those commercial -travellers that rush over us as though they had special business -elsewhere. Beyond all is the eternally blue sky of the tropics, which -generally seems so awfully high and hollow, that it makes a fellow -lonesome to look at it. - -I like better to picture the narrow street in the neighbourhood, wherein -man and beast travel amicably, and a disconsolate old kanaka, done up in -a shirt or a sheet, settles wherever it pleases him, to take about three -whiffs of tobacco from a stubby, black, brass-bound pipe before -continuing his journey. - -Over the way there is a small shed, with one of its beams hung full of -dead-ripe bananas; on a little counter, right under these yellow pouches -of creamy pulp, lie heaps of native water-melons, looking very -delicious. A pretty native girl, with an uncombed head, but pretty for -all that, will sell you her poorest stores with a grace that is worth -twice the money. - -Just beyond my window wave mango boughs heavily fruited. There are -strange flowers palpitating in the sunshine, covered with dust-pollen; -flowers whose ancestors have lived and died in Ceylon, Java, Japan, -Madagascar, and all of those far-away lands, that make a boy's mouth -water in study hours as he pores over his enchanted atlas. - -Sindbad had some rough experiences while he was travelling correspondent -of the _Daily Arabian Nights_; but I warrant you there are plenty of us -nowadays who would risk life and reputation for a tithe of his wonderful -adventure. - -I hear the tramp of hoofs upon the hard-baked street; horsemen and -horsewomen dash by, the men sitting limp in their saddles like our -native Californians, and seeming almost a part of the animal, but the -women erect and bold, astride their horses man-fashion, with an ample -spread of the knees, that at first strikes the foreigner as being novel -and a little vulgar,--but of course it isn't, for having once become -accustomed to it, it seems the only natural and graceful way of sitting -a horse. - -What the down is to the peach so is the last hour of sunshine to the -tropical day; it is the finishing touch that makes perfect the whole. -The bell has just struck again, and its reverberating note seems of a -colour with the picture in my mind--a bell for sunset, the _angelus_ -that calls me back to the little village that lies half asleep over the -water. Just fancy a long beach, with the sea rushing upon it, and -turning a regular summersault, all spray and spangles, just before it -gets there; a unique lighthouse at the top of the one solitary wharf, -where the small boats land; the white spires of two churches at the two -ends of the town, and a sprinkling of roofs and verandah s but -half-discovered in the confusion of green boughs,--that is Lahaina from -the anchorage, to me the prettiest sight in the Hawaiian kingdom. - -Let us hasten shoreward. Perhaps we wonder if that ridge of breakers is -to be climbed; perhaps we look with a tinge of superstition into the -affairs of Lahaina, wondering if it be really the abode of men in the -flesh, or but a dream wherein spirits move and have their being. - -But we are speedily awakened by the boat-boy. Great is the boat-boy of -Lahaina! He is amphibious and agile and impudent, and altogether -comical. He has carried all the population of Lahaina, some two or three -thousand, in his boat, first and last. He complacently suns himself on -that solitary wharf, awaiting a fresh arrival and a renewal of business. -He poses himself against the whitewash of the wooden lighthouse in -tremendous relief; he recognizes you in spite of your week-old beard and -the dilapidated state of your travelling suit; he hails you with the -utmost cordiality; it is impossible not to brave the sea with him, -whether you will or no, for he is the embodiment of presuming -good-nature, and you are as wax under the influence of his beaming and -persuasive smile. The finger of Time doubles up the moment it points -toward him; he is the same yesterday, to-day, and in the middle of next -week. I can lead you to the very boat-boy who collared me ten years ago, -for he is still lying in wait for me; and were I there in the flesh as I -am there in the spirit, I should expect to fall into his hands within -the hour, and would instinctively surrender whatever plans I may have -cherished without a struggle and without a murmur. - -At six o'clock this evening the bell will ring again, and again I shall -be transported; then will shadows, very long cool shadows, stretch -through the little tropical village; at dusk the reef is stiller, and -its roar sounds faint and far off, and is sometimes lost altogether. The -pigeons are once more driven from their home in the belfry, but they -soon return to it, and waltzing about on their slender pink legs for a -moment, they disappear within the shelter of the tower. - -Every one has his easy-chair, smoking, chatting, or dreaming; there is a -sudden flush along the evening sky; the marsh hens begin to pipe in the -rushes; the moths hover about, with big, staring, carnelian eyes, and -dash frantically at the old-fashioned solar-lamp that stands on the -centre table in the open parlour. - -The night falls suddenly; the air grows cool and moist; a great golden -star sails through the sky, leaving a wake of fire. O Island Home! made -sacred with a birth and with a death! haunted with sweet and solemn -memories! What if thy rocking palm boughs are as muffled music and thy -reef a dirge? The joy bells that have rung in the happy past shall ring -again in the hopeful future, and life grows rosy in the radiance of the -Afterglow. - - * * * * * - -These typographical errors have been corrected by the etext transcriber: - -green aad glorious mountains=>green and glorious mountains - -In this chyrsalis=>In this chrysalis - -symptoms of returningday;=>symptoms of returning day; - -Hello! the coffee-pot in ablaze again=>Hello! the coffee-pot in a blaze -again - -about one for ever human;=>about one for every human; - -to thin khow Tahiti must look=>to think how Tahiti must look - -Centipede Avenue, Papete=>Centipede Avenue, Papeete - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Summer Cruising in the South Seas, by -Charles Warren Stoddard - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SUMMER CRUISING IN THE SOUTH SEAS *** - -***** This file should be named 40010.txt or 40010.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/0/1/40010/ - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was -produced from scanned images of public domain material -from the Google Print project.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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