"'TYPEE\n\nA ROMANCE OF THE SOUTH SEAS\n\n\nBy Herman Melville\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\nMORE than three years have elapsed since the occurrence of the events\nrecorded in this volume. The interval, with the exception of the last\nfew months, has been chiefly spent by the author tossing about on\nthe wide ocean. Sailors are the only class of men who now-a-days see\nanything like stirring adventure; and many things which to fire-side\npeople appear strange and romantic, to them seem as common-place as a\njacket out at elbows. Yet, notwithstanding the familiarity of sailors\nwith all sorts of curious adventure, the incidents recorded in the\nfollowing pages have often served, when \'spun as a yarn,\' not only to\nrelieve the weariness of many a night-watch at sea, but to excite the\nwarmest sympathies of the author\'s shipmates. He has been, therefore,\nled to think that his story could scarcely fail to interest those who\nare less familiar than the sailor with a life of adventure.\n\nIn his account of the singular and interesting people among whom he was\nthrown, it will be observed that he chiefly treats of their more obvious\npeculiarities; and, in describing their customs, refrains in most cases\nfrom entering into explanations concerning their origin and purposes.\nAs writers of travels among barbarous communities are generally very\ndiffuse on these subjects, he deems it right to advert to what may be\nconsidered a culpable omission. No one can be more sensible than the\nauthor of his deficiencies in this and many other respects; but when the\nvery peculiar circumstances in which he was placed are understood, he\nfeels assured that all these omissions will be excused.\n\nIn very many published narratives no little degree of attention is\nbestowed upon dates; but as the author lost all knowledge of the days of\nthe week, during the occurrence of the scenes herein related, he hopes\nthat the reader will charitably pass over his shortcomings in this\nparticular.\n\nIn the Polynesian words used in this volume,--except in those cases\nwhere the spelling has been previously determined by others,--that form\nof orthography has been employed, which might be supposed most easily\nto convey their sound to a stranger. In several works descriptive of the\nislands in the Pacific, many of the most beautiful combinations of\nvocal sounds have been altogether lost to the ear of the reader by an\nover-attention to the ordinary rules of spelling.\n\nThere are a few passages in the ensuing chapters which may be thought\nto bear rather hard upon a reverend order of men, the account of whose\nproceedings in different quarters of the globe--transmitted to us\nthrough their own hands--very generally, and often very deservedly,\nreceives high commendation. Such passages will be found, however, to\nbe based upon facts admitting of no contradiction, and which have come\nimmediately under the writer\'s cognizance. The conclusions deduced from\nthese facts are unavoidable, and in stating them the author has been\ninfluenced by no feeling of animosity, either to the individuals\nthemselves, or to that glorious cause which has not always been served\nby the proceedings of some of its advocates.\n\nThe great interest with which the important events lately occurring\nat the Sandwich, Marquesas, and Society Islands, have been regarded in\nAmerica and England, and indeed throughout the world, will, he trusts,\njustify a few otherwise unwarrantable digressions.\n\nThere are some things related in the narrative which will be sure to\nappear strange, or perhaps entirely incomprehensible, to the reader;\nbut they cannot appear more so to him than they did to the author at the\ntime. He has stated such matters just as they occurred, and leaves every\none to form his own opinion concerning them; trusting that his anxious\ndesire to speak the unvarnished truth will gain for him the confidence\nof his readers. 1846.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION TO THE EDITION OF 1892\n\nBy Arthur Stedman\n\nOF the trinity of American authors whose births made the year 1819 a\nnotable one in our literary history,--Lowell, Whitman, and Melville,--it\nis interesting to observe that the two latter were both descended, on\nthe fathers\' and mothers\' sides respectively, from have families of\nBritish New England and Dutch New York extraction. Whitman and Van\nVelsor, Melville and Gansevoort, were the several combinations which\nproduced these men; and it is easy to trace in the life and character\nof each author the qualities derived from his joint ancestry. Here,\nhowever, the resemblance ceases, for Whitman\'s forebears, while worthy\ncountry people of good descent, were not prominent in public or private\nlife. Melville, on the other hand, was of distinctly patrician birth,\nhis paternal and maternal grandfathers having been leading characters in\nthe Revolutionary War; their descendants still maintaining a dignified\nsocial position.\n\nAllan Melville, great-grandfather of Herman Melville, removed from\nScotland to America in 1748, and established himself as a merchant\nin Boston. His son, Major Thomas Melville, was a leader in the famous\n\'Boston Tea Party\' of 1773 and afterwards became an officer in the\nContinental Army. He is reported to have been a Conservative in all\nmatters except his opposition to unjust taxation, and he wore the\nold-fashioned cocked hat and knee-breeches until his death, in 1832,\nthus becoming the original of Doctor Holmes\'s poem, \'The Last Leaf\'.\nMajor Melville\'s son Allan, the father of Herman, was an importing\nmerchant,--first in Boston, and later in New York. He was a man of much\nculture, and was an extensive traveller for his time. He married Maria\nGansevoort, daughter of General Peter Gansevoort, best known as \'the\nhero of Fort Stanwix.\' This fort was situated on the present site of\nRome, N.Y.; and there Gansevoort, with a small body of men, held in\ncheck reinforcements on their way to join Burgoyne, until the disastrous\nending of the latter\'s campaign of 1777 was insured. The Gansevoorts, it\nshould be said, were at that time and subsequently residents of Albany,\nN.Y.\n\nHerman Melville was born in New York on August 1,1819, and received\nhis early education in that city. There he imbibed his first love of\nadventure, listening, as he says in \'Redburn,\' while his father \'of\nwinter evenings, by the well-remembered sea-coal fire in old Greenwich\nStreet, used to tell my brother and me of the monstrous waves at sea,\nmountain high, of the masts bending like twigs, and all about Havre\nand Liverpool.\' The death of his father in reduced circumstances\nnecessitated the removal of his mother and the family of eight brothers\nand sisters to the village of Lansingburg, on the Hudson River. There\nHerman remained until 1835, when he attended the Albany Classical School\nfor some months. Dr. Charles E. West, the well-known Brooklyn educator,\nwas then in charge of the school, and remembers the lad\'s deftness in\nEnglish composition, and his struggles with mathematics.\n\nThe following year was passed at Pittsfield, Mass., where he engaged in\nwork on his uncle\'s farm, long known as the \'Van Schaack place.\' This\nuncle was Thomas Melville, president of the Berkshire Agricultural\nSociety, and a successful gentleman farmer.\n\nHerman\'s roving disposition, and a desire to support himself\nindependently of family assistance, soon led him to ship as cabin boy\nin a New York vessel bound for Liverpool. He made the voyage, visited\nLondon, and returned in the same ship. \'Redburn: His First Voyage,\'\npublished in 1849, is partly founded on the experiences of this trip,\nwhich was undertaken with the full consent of his relatives, and which\nseems to have satisfied his nautical ambition for a time. As told in the\nbook, Melville met with more than the usual hardships of a sailor-boy\'s\nfirst venture. It does not seem difficult in \'Redburn\' to separate the\nauthor\'s actual experiences from those invented by him, this being the\ncase in some of his other writings.\n\nA good part of the succeeding three years, from 1837 to 1840, was\noccupied with school-teaching. While so engaged at Greenbush, now\nEast Albany, N.Y., he received the munificent salary of \'six dollars\na quarter and board.\' He taught for one term at Pittsfield, Mass.,\n\'boarding around\' with the families of his pupils, in true American\nfashion, and easily suppressing, on one memorable occasion, the efforts\nof his larger scholars to inaugurate a rebellion by physical force.\n\nI fancy that it was the reading of Richard Henry Dana\'s \'Two Years\nBefore the Mast\' which revived the spirit of adventure in Melville\'s\nbreast. That book was published in 1840, and was at once talked of\neverywhere. Melville must have read it at the time, mindful of his\nown experience as a sailor. At any rate, he once more signed a ship\'s\narticles, and on January 1, 1841, sailed from New Bedford harbour in the\nwhaler Acushnet, bound for the Pacific Ocean and the sperm fishery.\nHe has left very little direct information as to the events of this\neighteen months\' cruise, although his whaling romance, \'Moby Dick; or,\nthe Whale,\' probably gives many pictures of life on board the Acushnet.\nIn the present volume he confines himself to a general account of\nthe captain\'s bad treatment of the crew, and of his non-fulfilment of\nagreements. Under these considerations, Melville decided to abandon the\nvessel on reaching the Marquesas Islands; and the narrative of \'Typee\'\nbegins at this point. However, he always recognised the immense\ninfluence the voyage had had upon his career, and in regard to its\nresults has said in \'Moby Dick,\'--\n\n\'If I shall ever deserve any real repute in that small but high hushed\nworld which I might not be unreasonably ambitious of; if hereafter I\nshall do anything that on the whole a man might rather have done than to\nhave left undone... then here I prospectively ascribe all the honour\nand the glory to whaling; for a whale-ship was my Yale College and my\nHarvard.\'\n\nThe record, then, of Melville\'s escape from the Dolly, otherwise the\nAcushnet, the sojourn of his companion Toby and himself in the Typee\nValley on the island of Nukuheva, Toby\'s mysterious disappearance, and\nMelville\'s own escape, is fully given in the succeeding pages; and rash\nindeed would he be who would enter into a descriptive contest with these\ninimitable pictures of aboriginal life in the \'Happy Valley.\' So great\nan interest has always centred in the character of Toby, whose actual\nexistence has been questioned, that I am glad to be able to declare him\nan authentic personage, by name Richard T. Greene. He was enabled to\ndiscover himself again to Mr. Melville through the publication of the\npresent volume, and their acquaintance was renewed, lasting for quite\na long period. I have seen his portrait,--a rare old daguerrotype,--and\nsome of his letters to our author. One of his children was named for the\nlatter, but Mr. Melville lost trace of him in recent years.\n\nWith the author\'s rescue from what Dr. T. M. Coan has styled his\n\'anxious paradise,\' \'Typee\' ends, and its sequel, \'Omoo,\' begins. Here,\nagain, it seems wisest to leave the remaining adventures in the South\nSeas to the reader\'s own discovery, simply stating that, after a sojourn\nat the Society Islands, Melville shipped for Honolulu. There he remained\nfor four months, employed as a clerk. He joined the crew of the American\nfrigate United States, which reached Boston, stopping on the way at one\nof the Peruvian ports, in October of 1844. Once more was a narrative\nof his experiences to be preserved in \'White Jacket; or, the World in\na Man-of-War.\' Thus, of Melville\'s four most important books, three,\n\'Typee,\' \'Omoo,\' and \'White-Jacket,\' are directly auto biographical,\nand \'Moby Dick\' is partially so; while the less important \'Redburn\' is\nbetween the two classes in this respect. Melville\'s other prose works,\nas will be shown, were, with some exceptions, unsuccessful efforts at\ncreative romance.\n\nWhether our author entered on his whaling adventures in the South Seas\nwith a determination to make them available for literary purposes, may\nnever be certainly known. There was no such elaborate announcement or\nadvance preparation as in some later cases. I am inclined to believe\nthat the literary prospect was an after-thought, and that this insured\na freshness and enthusiasm of style not otherwise to be attained.\nReturning to his mother\'s home at Lansingburg, Melville soon began the\nwriting of \'Typee,\' which was completed by the autumn of 1845. Shortly\nafter this his older brother, Gansevoort Melville, sailed for England\nas secretary of legation to Ambassador McLane, and the manuscript was\nintrusted to Gansevoort for submission to John Murray. Its immediate\nacceptance and publication followed in 1846. \'Typee\' was dedicated to\nChief Justice Lemuel Shaw of Massachusetts, an old friendship between\nthe author\'s family and that of Justice Shaw having been renewed about\nthis time. Mr. Melville became engaged to Miss Elizabeth Shaw, the only\ndaughter of the Chief Justice, and their marriage followed on August 4,\n1847, in Boston.\n\nThe wanderings of our nautical Othello were thus brought to a\nconclusion. Mr. and Mrs. Melville resided in New York City until 1850,\nwhen they purchased a farmhouse at Pittsfield, their farm adjoining that\nformerly owned by Mr. Melville\'s uncle, which had been inherited by the\nlatter\'s son. The new place was named \'Arrow Head,\' from the numerous\nIndian antiquities found in the neighbourhood. The house was so situated\nas to command an uninterrupted view of Greylock Mountain and the\nadjacent hills. Here Melville remained for thirteen years, occupied\nwith his writing, and managing his farm. An article in Putnam\'s Monthly\nentitled \'I and My Chimney,\' another called \'October Mountain,\' and the\nintroduction to the \'Piazza Tales,\' present faithful pictures of Arrow\nHead and its surroundings. In a letter to Nathaniel Hawthorne, given\nin \'Nathaniel Hawthorne and His Wife,\' his daily life is set forth. The\nletter is dated June 1, 1851.\n\n\'Since you have been here I have been building some shanties of houses\n(connected with the old one), and likewise some shanties of chapters and\nessays. I have been ploughing and sowing and raising and printing and\npraying, and now begin to come out upon a less bristling time, and to\nenjoy the calm prospect of things from a fair piazza at the north of the\nold farmhouse here. Not entirely yet, though, am I without something to\nbe urgent with. The \'Whale\' is only half through the press; for, wearied\nwith the long delays of the printers, and disgusted with the heat\nand dust of the Babylonish brick-kiln of New York, I came back to the\ncountry to feel the grass, and end the book reclining on it, if I may.\'\n\nMr. Hawthorne, who was then living in the red cottage at Lenox, had\na week at Arrow Head with his daughter Una the previous spring. It is\nrecorded that the friends \'spent most of the time in the barn, bathing\nin the early spring sunshine, which streamed through the open doors,\nand talking philosophy.\' According to Mr. J. E. A. Smith\'s volume on the\nBerkshire Hills, these gentlemen, both reserved in nature, though near\nneighbours and often in the same company, were inclined to be shy of\neach other, partly, perhaps, through the knowledge that Melville had\nwritten a very appreciative review of \'Mosses from an Old Manse\' for the\nNew York Literary World, edited by their mutual friends, the Duyckincks.\n\'But one day,\' writes Mr. Smith, \'it chanced that when they were out on\na picnic excursion, the two were compelled by a thundershower to take\nshelter in a narrow recess of the rocks of Monument Mountain. Two hours\nof this enforced intercourse settled the matter. They learned so much\nof each other\'s character,... that the most intimate friendship for\nthe future was inevitable.\' A passage in Hawthorne\'s \'Wonder Book\'\nis noteworthy as describing the number of literary neighbours in\nBerkshire:--\n\n\'For my part, I wish I had Pegasus here at this moment,\' said the\nstudent. \'I would mount him forthwith, and gallop about the country\nwithin a circumference of a few miles, making literary calls on my\nbrother authors. Dr. Dewey would be within ray reach, at the foot of\nthe Taconic. In Stockbridge, yonder, is Mr. James [G. P. R. James],\nconspicuous to all the world on his mountain-pile of history and\nromance. Longfellow, I believe, is not yet at the Oxbow, else the winged\nhorse would neigh at him. But here in Lenox I should find our most\ntruthful novelist [Miss Sedgwick], who has made the scenery and life\nof Berkshire all her own. On the hither side of Pittsfield sits Herman\nMelville, shaping out the gigantic conception of his \'White Whale,\'\nwhile the gigantic shadow of Greylock looms upon him from his study\nwindow. Another bound of my flying steed would bring me to the door of\nHolmes, whom I mention last, because Pegasus would certainly unseat me\nthe next minute, and claim the poet as his rider.\'\n\nWhile at Pittsfield, Mr. Melville was induced to enter the lecture\nfield. From 1857 to 1860 he filled many engagements in the lyceums,\nchiefly speaking of his adventures in the South Seas. He lectured\nin cities as widely apart as Montreal, Chicago, Baltimore, and San\nFrancisco, sailing to the last-named place in 1860, by way of Cape\nHorn, on the Meteor, commanded, by his younger brother, Captain Thomas\nMelville, afterward governor of the \'Sailor\'s Snug Harbor\' at Staten\nIsland, N.Y. Besides his voyage to San Francisco, he had, in 1849 and\n1856, visited England, the Continent, and the Holy Land, partly to\nsuperintend the publication of English editions of his works, and partly\nfor recreation.\n\nA pronounced feature of Melville\'s character was his unwillingness to\nspeak of himself, his adventures, or his writings in conversation. He\nwas, however, able to overcome this reluctance on the lecture platform.\nOur author\'s tendency to philosophical discussion is strikingly set\nforth in a letter from Dr. Titus Munson Coan to the latter\'s mother,\nwritten while a student at Williams College over thirty years ago,\nand fortunately preserved by her. Dr. Coan enjoyed the friendship and\nconfidence of Mr. Melville during most of his residence in New York. The\nletter reads:--\n\n\'I have made my first literary pilgrimage, a call upon Herman Melville,\nthe renowned author of \'Typee,\' etc. He lives in a spacious farmhouse\nabout two miles from Pittsfield, a weary walk through the dust. But it\nas well repaid. I introduced myself as a Hawaiian-American, and soon\nfound myself in full tide of talk, or rather of monologue. But he would\nnot repeat the experiences of which I had been reading with rapture in\nhis books. In vain I sought to hear of Typee and those paradise islands,\nbut he preferred to pour forth his philosophy and his theories of\nlife. The shade of Aristotle arose like a cold mist between myself and\nFayaway. We have quite enough of deep philosophy at Williams College,\nand I confess I was disappointed in this trend of the talk. But what\na talk it was! Melville is transformed from a Marquesan to a gypsy\nstudent, the gypsy element still remaining strong within him. And this\ncontradiction gives him the air of one who has suffered from opposition,\nboth literary and social. With his liberal views, he is apparently\nconsidered by the good people of Pittsfield as little better than a\ncannibal or a \'beach-comber.\' His attitude seemed to me something like\nthat of Ishmael; but perhaps I judged hastily. I managed to draw him out\nvery freely on everything but the Marquesas Islands, and when I left him\nhe was in full tide of discourse on all things sacred and profane. But\nhe seems to put away the objective side of his life, and to shut himself\nup in this cold north as a cloistered thinker.\'\n\nI have been told by Dr. Coan that his father, the Rev. Titus Coan, of\nthe Hawaiian Islands, personally visited the Marquesas group, found\nthe Typee Valley, and verified in all respects the statements made\nin \'Typee.\' It is known that Mr. Melville from early manhood indulged\ndeeply in philosophical studies, and his fondness for discussing such\nmatters is pointed out by Hawthorne also, in the \'English Note Books.\'\nThis habit increased as he advanced in years, if possible.\n\nThe chief event of the residence in Pittsfield was the completion and\npublication of \'Moby Dick; or, the Whale,\' in 1851. How many young men\nhave been drawn to sea by this book is a question of interest. Meeting\nwith Mr. Charles Henry Webb (\'John Paul\') the day after Mr. Melville\'s\ndeath, I asked him if he were not familiar with that author\'s writings.\nHe replied that \'Moby Dick\' was responsible for his three years of life\nbefore the mast when a lad, and added that while \'gamming\' on board\nanother vessel he had once fallen in with a member of the boat\'s crew\nwhich rescued Melville from his friendly imprisonment among the Typees.\n\nWhile at Pittsfield, besides his own family, Mr. Melville\'s mother\nand sisters resided with him. As his four children grew up he found\nit necessary to obtain for them better facilities for study than the\nvillage school afforded; and so, several years after, the household was\nbroken up, and he removed with his wife and children to the New York\nhouse that was afterwards his home. This house belonged to his brother\nAllan, and was exchanged for the estate at Pittsfield. In December,\n1866, he was appointed by Mr. H. A. Smyth, a former travelling companion\nin Europe, a district officer in the New York Custom House. He held the\nposition until 1886, preferring it to in-door clerical work, and then\nresigned, the duties becoming too arduous for his failing strength.\n\nIn addition to his philosophical studies, Mr. Melville was much\ninterested in all matters relating to the fine arts, and devoted most of\nhis leisure hours to the two subjects. A notable collection of etchings\nand engravings from the old masters was gradually made by him, those\nfrom Claude\'s paintings being a specialty. After he retired from the\nCustom House, his tall, stalwart figure could be seen almost daily\ntramping through the Fort George district or Central Park, his roving\ninclination leading him to obtain as much out-door life as possible.\nHis evenings were spent at home with his books, his pictures, and his\nfamily, and usually with them alone; for, in spite of the melodramatic\ndeclarations of various English gentlemen, Melville\'s seclusion in his\nlatter years, and in fact throughout his life, was a matter of personal\nchoice. More and more, as he grew older, he avoided every action on his\npart, and on the part of his family, that might tend to keep his name\nand writings before the public. A few friends felt at liberty to visit\nthe recluse, and were kindly welcomed, but he himself sought no one. His\nfavorite companions were his grandchildren, with whom he delighted to\npass his time, and his devoted wife, who was a constant assistant and\nadviser in his literary work, chiefly done at this period for his\nown amusement. To her he addressed his last little poem, the touching\n\'Return of the Sire de Nesle.\' Various efforts were made by the New York\nliterary colony to draw him from his retirement, but without success.\nIt has been suggested that he might have accepted a magazine editorship,\nbut this is doubtful, as he could not bear business details or routine\nwork of any sort. His brother Allan was a New York lawyer, and until his\ndeath, in 1872, managed Melville\'s affairs with ability, particularly\nthe literary accounts.\n\nDuring these later years he took great pleasure in a friendly\ncorrespondence with Mr. W. Clark Russell. Mr. Russell had taken many\noccasions to mention Melville\'s sea-tales, his interest in them, and his\nindebtedness to them. The latter felt impelled to write Mr. Russell in\nregard to one of his newly published novels, and received in answer the\nfollowing letter:\n\nJuly 21, 1886.\n\nMY DEAR Mr. MELVILLE, Your letter has given me a very great and singular\npleasure. Your delightful books carry the imagination into a maritime\nperiod so remote that, often as you have been in my mind, I could\nnever satisfy myself that you were still amongst the living. I am glad,\nindeed, to learn from Mr. Toft that you are still hale and hearty, and I\ndo most heartily wish you many years yet of health and vigour.\n\nYour books I have in the American edition. I have \'Typee, \'Omoo,\'\n\'Redburn,\' and that noble piece \'Moby Dick.\' These are all I have been\nable to obtain. There have been many editions of your works in this\ncountry, particularly the lovely South Sea sketches; but the editions\nare not equal to those of the American publishers. Your reputation here\nis very great. It is hard to meet a man whose opinion as a reader is\nworth leaving who does not speak of your works in such terms as he\nmight hesitate to employ, with all his patriotism, toward many renowned\nEnglish writers.\n\nDana is, indeed, great. There is nothing in literature more remarkable\nthan the impression produced by Dana\'s portraiture of the homely inner\nlife of a little brig\'s forecastle.\n\nI beg that you will accept my thanks for the kindly spirit in which you\nhave read my books. I wish it were in my power to cross the Atlantic,\nfor you assuredly would be the first whom it would be my happiness to\nvisit.\n\nThe condition of my right hand obliges me to dictate this to my son;\nbut painful as it is to me to hold a pen, I cannot suffer this letter\nto reach the hands of a man of so admirable genitis as Herman Melville\nwithout begging him to believe me to be, with my own hand, his most\nrespectful and hearty admirer, W. Clark Russell.\n\nIt should be noted here that Melville\'s increased reputation in England\nat the period of this letter was chiefly owing to a series of articles\non his work written by Mr. Russell. I am sorry to say that few English\npapers made more than a passing reference to Melville\'s death. The\nAmerican press discussed his life and work in numerous and lengthy\nreviews. At the same time, there always has been a steady sale of his\nbooks in England, and some of them never have been out of print in that\ncountry since the publication of \'Typee.\' One result of this friendship\nbetween the two authors was the dedication of new volumes to each other\nin highly complimentary terms--Mr. Melville\'s \'John Marr and Other\nSailors,\' of which twenty-five copies only were printed, on the one\nhand, and Mr. Russell\'s \'An Ocean Tragedy,\' on the other, of which many\nthousand have been printed, not to mention unnumbered pirated copies.\n\nBeside Hawthorne, Mr. Richard Henry Stoddard, of American writers,\nspecially knew and appreciated Herman Melville. Mr. Stoddard was\nconnected with the New York dock department at the time of Mr.\nMelville\'s appointment to a custom-house position, and they at once\nbecame acquainted. For a good many years, during the period in which\nour author remained in seclusion, much that appeared in print in America\nconcerning Melville came from the pen of Mr. Stoddard. Nevertheless,\nthe sailor author\'s presence in New York was well known to the literary\nguild. He was invited to join in all new movements, but as often felt\nobliged to excuse himself from doing so. The present writer lived for\nsome time within a short distance of his house, but found no opportunity\nto meet him until it became necessary to obtain his portrait for an\nanthology in course of publication. The interview was brief, and the\ninterviewer could not help feeling although treated with pleasant\ncourtesy, that more important matters were in hand than the perpetuation\nof a romancer\'s countenance to future generations; but a friendly family\nacquaintance grew up from the incident, and will remain an abiding\nmemory.\n\nMr. Melville died at his home in New York City early on the morning of\nSeptember 28, 1891. His serious illness had lasted a number of\nmonths, so that the end came as a release. True to his ruling passion,\nphilosophy had claimed him to the last, a set of Schopenhauer\'s works\nreceiving his attention when able to study; but this was varied with\nreadings in the \'Mermaid Series\' of old plays, in which he took much\npleasure. His library, in addition to numerous works on philosophy and\nthe fine arts, was composed of standard books of all classes, including,\nof course, a proportion of nautical literature. Especially interesting\nare fifteen or twenty first editions of Hawthorne\'s books inscribed to\nMr. and Mrs. Melville by the author and his wife.\n\nThe immediate acceptance of \'Typee\' by John Murray was followed by an\narrangement with the London agent of an American publisher, for its\nsimultaneous publication in the United States. I understand that Murray\ndid not then publish fiction. At any rate, the book was accepted by him\non the assurance of Gansevoort Melville that it contained nothing not\nactually experienced by his brother. Murray brought it out early in\n1846, in his Colonial and Home Library, as \'A Narrative of a Four\nMonths\' Residence among the Natives of a Valley of the Marquesas\nIslands; or, a Peep at Polynesian Life,\' or, more briefly, \'Melville\'s\nMarquesas Islands.\' It was issued in America with the author\'s own\ntitle, \'Typee,\' and in the outward shape of a work of fiction. Mr.\nMelville found himself famous at once. Many discussions were carried on\nas to the genuineness of the author\'s name and the reality of the events\nportrayed, but English and American critics alike recognised the book\'s\nimportance as a contribution to literature.\n\nMelville, in a letter to Hawthorne, speaks of himself as having no\ndevelopment at all until his twenty-fifth year, the time of his return\nfrom the Pacific; but surely the process of development must have been\nwell advanced to permit of so virile and artistic a creation as \'Typee.\'\nWhile the narrative does not always run smoothly, yet the style for the\nmost part is graceful and alluring, so that we pass from one scene of\nPacific enchantment to another quite oblivious of the vast amount of\ndescriptive detail which is being poured out upon us. It is the varying\nfortune of the hero which engrosses our attention. We follow his\nadventures with breathless interest, or luxuriate with him in the leafy\nbowers of the \'Happy Valley,\' surrounded by joyous children of nature.\nWhen all is ended, we then for the first time realise that we know these\npeople and their ways as if we too had dwelt among them.\n\nI do not believe that \'Typee\' will ever lose its position as a classic\nof American Literature. The pioneer in South Sea romance--for\nthe mechanical descriptions of earlier voyagers are not worthy of\ncomparison--this book has as yet met with no superior, even in French\nliterature; nor has it met with a rival in any other language than the\nFrench. The character of \'Fayaway,\' and, no less, William S. Mayo\'s\n\'Kaloolah,\' the enchanting dreams of many a youthful heart, will retain\ntheir charm; and this in spite of endless variations by modern explorers\nin the same domain. A faint type of both characters may be found in the\nSurinam Yarico of Captain John Gabriel Stedman, whose \'Narrative of a\nFive Years\' Expedition\' appeared in 1796.\n\n\'Typee,\' as written, contained passages reflecting with considerable\nseverity on the methods pursued by missionaries in the South Seas. The\nmanuscript was printed in a complete form in England, and created much\ndiscussion on this account, Melville being accused of bitterness; but he\nasserted his lack of prejudice. The passages referred to were omitted in\nthe first and all subsequent American editions. They have been restored\nin the present issue, which is complete save for a few paragraphs\nexcluded by written direction of the author. I have, with the consent\nof his family, changed the long and cumbersome sub-title of the book,\ncalling it a \'Real-Romance of the South Seas,\' as best expressing its\nnature.\n\nThe success of his first volume encouraged Melville to proceed in his\nwork, and \'Omoo,\' the sequel to \'Typee,\' appeared in England and America\nin 1847. Here we leave, for the most part, the dreamy pictures of island\nlife, and find ourselves sharing the extremely realistic discomforts of\na Sydney whaler in the early forties. The rebellious crew\'s experiences\nin the Society Islands are quite as realistic as events on board ship\nand very entertaining, while the whimsical character, Dr. Long Ghost,\nnext to Captain Ahab in \'Moby Dick,\' is Melville\'s most striking\ndelineation. The errors of the South Sea missions are pointed out with\neven more force than in \'Typee,\' and it is a fact that both these books\nhave ever since been of the greatest value to outgoing missionaries on\naccount of the exact information contained in them with respect to the\nislanders.\n\nMelville\'s power in describing and investing with romance scenes and\nincidents witnessed and participated in by himself, and his frequent\nfailure of success as an inventor of characters and situations, were\nearly pointed out by his critics. More recently Mr. Henry S. Salt\nhas drawn the same distinction very carefully in an excellent article\ncontributed to the Scottish Art Review. In a prefatory note to \'Mardi\'\n(1849), Melville declares that, as his former books have been received\nas romance instead of reality, he will now try his hand at pure fiction.\n\'Mardi\' may be called a splendid failure. It must have been soon after\nthe completion of \'Omoo\' that Melville began to study the writings of\nSir Thomas Browne. Heretofore our author\'s style was rough in places,\nbut marvellously simple and direct. \'Mardi\' is burdened with an\nover-rich diction, which Melville never entirely outgrew. The scene\nof this romance, which opens well, is laid in the South Seas, but\neverything soon becomes overdrawn and fantastical, and the thread of the\nstory loses itself in a mystical allegory.\n\n\'Redburn,\' already mentioned, succeeded \'Mardi\' in the same year, and\nwas a partial return to the author\'s earlier style. In \'White-Jacket;\nor, the World in a Man-of-War\' (1850), Melville almost regained it. This\nbook has no equal as a picture of life aboard a sailing man-of-war, the\nlights and shadows of naval existence being well contrasted.\n\nWith \'Moby Dick; or, the Whale\' (1851), Melville reached the topmost\nnotch of his fame. The book represents, to a certain extent, the\nconflict between the author\'s earlier and later methods of composition,\nbut the gigantic conception of the \'White Whale,\' as Hawthorne expressed\nit, permeates the whole work, and lifts it bodily into the highest\ndomain of romance. \'Moby Dick\' contains an immense amount of information\nconcerning the habits of the whale and the methods of its capture, but\nthis is characteristically introduced in a way not to interfere with\nthe narrative. The chapter entitled \'Stubb Kills a Whale\' ranks with the\nchoicest examples of descriptive literature.\n\n\'Moby Dick\' appeared, and Melville enjoyed to the full the enhanced\nreputation it brought him. He did not, however, take warning from\n\'Mardi,\' but allowed himself to plunge more deeply into the sea of\nphilosophy and fantasy.\n\n\'Pierre; or, the Ambiguities\' (1852) was published, and there ensued\na long series of hostile criticisms, ending with a severe, though\nimpartial, article by Fitz-James O\'Brien in Putnam\'s Monthly. About the\nsame time the whole stock of the author\'s books was destroyed by fire,\nkeeping them out of print at a critical moment; and public interest,\nwhich until then had been on the increase, gradually began to diminish.\n\nAfter this Mr. Melville contributed several short stories to Putnam\'s\nMonthly and Harper\'s Magazine. Those in the former periodical were\ncollected in a volume as Piazza Tales (1856); and of these \'Benito\nCereno\' and \'The Bell Tower\' are equal to his best previous efforts.\n\n\'Israel Potter: His Fifty Years of Exile\' (1855), first printed as a\nserial in Putnam\'s, is an historical romance of the American Revolution,\nbased on the hero\'s own account of his adventures, as given in a little\nvolume picked up by Mr. Melville at a book-stall. The story is well\ntold, but the book is hardly worthy of the author of \'Typee.\' \'The\nConfidence Man\' (1857), his last serious effort in prose fiction, does\nnot seem to require criticism.\n\nMr. Melville\'s pen had rested for nearly ten years, when it was again\ntaken up to celebrate the events of the Civil War. \'Battle Pieces and\nAspects of the War\' appeared in 1866. Most of these poems originated,\naccording to the author, in an impulse imparted by the fall of Richmond;\nbut they have as subjects all the chief incidents of the struggle. The\nbest of them are \'The Stone Fleet,\' \'In the Prison Pen,\' \'The College\nColonel,\' \'The March to the Sea,\' \'Running the Batteries,\' and \'Sheridan\nat Cedar Creek.\' Some of these had a wide circulation in the press, and\nwere preserved in various anthologies. \'Clarel, a Poem and Pilgrimage\nin the Holy Land\' (1876), is a long mystical poem requiring, as some one\nhas said, a dictionary, a cyclopaedia, and a copy of the Bible for its\nelucidation. In the two privately printed volumes, the arrangement of\nwhich occupied Mr. Melville during his last illness, there are several\nfine lyrics. The titles of these books are, \'John Marr and Other\nSailors\' (1888), and \'Timoleon\' (1891).\n\nThere is no question that Mr. Melville\'s absorption in philosophical\nstudies was quite as responsible as the failure of his later books for\nhis cessation from literary productiveness. That he sometimes realised\nthe situation will be seen by a passage in \'Moby Dick\':--\n\n\'Didn\'t I tell you so?\' said Flask. \'Yes, you\'ll soon see this right\nwhale\'s head hoisted up opposite that parmacetti\'s.\'\n\n\'In good time Flask\'s saying proved true. As before, the Pequod steeply\nleaned over towards the sperm whale\'s head, now, by the counterpoise of\nboth heads, she regained her own keel, though sorely strained, you may\nwell believe. So, when on one side you hoist in Locke\'s head, you go\nover that way; but now, on the other side, hoist in Kant\'s and you\ncome back again; but in very poor plight. Thus, some minds forever keep\ntrimming boat. Oh, ye foolish! throw all these thunderheads overboard,\nand then you will float right and light.\'\n\nMr. Melville would have been more than mortal if he had been indifferent\nto his loss of popularity. Yet he seemed contented to preserve an\nentirely independent attitude, and to trust to the verdict of the\nfuture. The smallest amount of activity would have kept him before the\npublic; but his reserve would not permit this. That reinstatement of his\nreputation cannot be doubted.\n\nIn the editing of this reissue of \'Melville\'s Works,\' I have been\nmuch indebted to the scholarly aid of Dr. Titus Munson Coan, whose\nfamiliarity with the languages of the Pacific has enabled me to\nharmonise the spelling of foreign words in \'Typee\' and \'Omoo,\' though\nwithout changing the phonetic method of printing adopted by Mr.\nMelville. Dr. Coan has also been most helpful with suggestions in other\ndirections. Finally, the delicate fancy of La Fargehas supplemented the\nimmortal pen-portrait of the Typee maiden with a speaking impersonation\nof her beauty.\n\nNew York, June, 1892.\n\n\n\n\nTYPEE\n\n\n\nCHAPTER ONE\n\nTHE SEA--LONGINGS FOR SHORE--A LAND-SICK SHIP--DESTINATION OF THE\nVOYAGERS--THE MARQUESAS--ADVENTURE OF A MISSIONARY\'S WIFE AMONG THE\nSAVAGES--CHARACTERISTIC ANECDOTE OF THE QUEEN OF NUKUHEVA\n\nSix months at sea! Yes, reader, as I live, six months out of sight of\nland; cruising after the sperm-whale beneath the scorching sun of the\nLine, and tossed on the billows of the wide-rolling Pacific--the sky\nabove, the sea around, and nothing else! Weeks and weeks ago our fresh\nprovisions were all exhausted. There is not a sweet potato left; not a\nsingle yam. Those glorious bunches of bananas, which once decorated\nour stern and quarter-deck, have, alas, disappeared! and the delicious\noranges which hung suspended from our tops and stays--they, too, are\ngone! Yes, they are all departed, and there is nothing left us but\nsalt-horse and sea-biscuit. Oh! ye state-room sailors, who make so\nmuch ado about a fourteen-days\' passage across the Atlantic; who so\npathetically relate the privations and hardships of the sea, where,\nafter a day of breakfasting, lunching, dining off five courses,\nchatting, playing whist, and drinking champagne-punch, it was your hard\nlot to be shut up in little cabinets of mahogany and maple, and sleep\nfor ten hours, with nothing to disturb you but \'those good-for-nothing\ntars, shouting and tramping overhead\',--what would ye say to our six\nmonths out of sight of land?\n\nOh! for a refreshing glimpse of one blade of grass--for a snuff at the\nfragrance of a handful of the loamy earth! Is there nothing fresh around\nus? Is there no green thing to be seen? Yes, the inside of our bulwarks\nis painted green; but what a vile and sickly hue it is, as if nothing\nbearing even the semblance of verdure could flourish this weary way from\nland. Even the bark that once clung to the wood we use for fuel has been\ngnawed off and devoured by the captain\'s pig; and so long ago, too, that\nthe pig himself has in turn been devoured.\n\nThere is but one solitary tenant in the chicken-coop, once a gay and\ndapper young cock, bearing him so bravely among the coy hens.\n\nBut look at him now; there he stands, moping all the day long on that\neverlasting one leg of his. He turns with disgust from the mouldy corn\nbefore him, and the brackish water in his little trough. He mourns no\ndoubt his lost companions, literally snatched from him one by one, and\nnever seen again. But his days of mourning will be few for Mungo, our\nblack cook, told me yesterday that the word had at last gone forth, and\npoor Pedro\'s fate was sealed. His attenuated body will be laid out upon\nthe captain\'s table next Sunday, and long before night will be buried\nwith all the usual ceremonies beneath that worthy individual\'s vest. Who\nwould believe that there could be any one so cruel as to long for the\ndecapitation of the luckless Pedro; yet the sailors pray every minute,\nselfish fellows, that the miserable fowl may be brought to his end. They\nsay the captain will never point the ship for the land so long as he\nhas in anticipation a mess of fresh meat. This unhappy bird can alone\nfurnish it; and when he is once devoured, the captain will come to his\nsenses. I wish thee no harm, Pedro; but as thou art doomed, sooner or\nlater, to meet the fate of all thy race; and if putting a period to\nthy existence is to be the signal for our deliverance, why--truth to\nspeak--I wish thy throat cut this very moment; for, oh! how I wish to\nsee the living earth again! The old ship herself longs to look out upon\nthe land from her hawse-holes once more, and Jack Lewis said right the\nother day when the captain found fault with his steering.\n\n\'Why d\'ye see, Captain Vangs,\' says bold Jack, \'I\'m as good a helmsman\nas ever put hand to spoke; but none of us can steer the old lady now. We\ncan\'t keep her full and bye, sir; watch her ever so close, she will fall\noff and then, sir, when I put the helm down so gently, and try like to\ncoax her to the work, she won\'t take it kindly, but will fall round off\nagain; and it\'s all because she knows the land is under the lee, sir,\nand she won\'t go any more to windward.\' Aye, and why should she, Jack?\ndidn\'t every one of her stout timbers grow on shore, and hasn\'t she\nsensibilities; as well as we?\n\nPoor old ship! Her very looks denote her desires! how deplorably she\nappears! The paint on her sides, burnt up by the scorching sun, is\npuffed out and cracked. See the weeds she trails along with her, and\nwhat an unsightly bunch of those horrid barnacles has formed about her\nstern-piece; and every time she rises on a sea, she shows her copper\ntorn away, or hanging in jagged strips.\n\nPoor old ship! I say again: for six months she has been rolling and\npitching about, never for one moment at rest. But courage, old lass, I\nhope to see thee soon within a biscuit\'s toss of the merry land, riding\nsnugly at anchor in some green cove, and sheltered from the boisterous\nwinds.\n\n . . . . . .\n\n\'Hurra, my lads! It\'s a settled thing; next week we shape our course to\nthe Marquesas!\' The Marquesas! What strange visions of outlandish things\ndoes the very name spirit up! Naked houris--cannibal banquets--groves\nof cocoanut--coral reefs--tattooed chiefs--and bamboo temples; sunny\nvalleys planted with bread-fruit-trees--carved canoes dancing on\nthe flashing blue waters--savage woodlands guarded by horrible\nidols--HEATHENISH RITES AND HUMAN SACRIFICES.\n\nSuch were the strangely jumbled anticipations that haunted me during our\npassage from the cruising ground. I felt an irresistible curiosity to\nsee those islands which the olden voyagers had so glowingly described.\n\nThe group for which we were now steering (although among the earliest of\nEuropean discoveries in the South Seas, having been first visited in\nthe year 1595) still continues to be tenanted by beings as strange\nand barbarous as ever. The missionaries sent on a heavenly errand, had\nsailed by their lovely shores, and had abandoned them to their idols of\nwood and stone. How interesting the circumstances under which they were\ndiscovered! In the watery path of Mendanna, cruising in quest of some\nregion of gold, these isles had sprung up like a scene of enchantment,\nand for a moment the Spaniard believed his bright dream was realized.\n\nIn honour of the Marquess de Mendoza, then viceroy of Peru--under whose\nauspices the navigator sailed--he bestowed upon them the name which\ndenoted the rank of his patron, and gave to the world on his return\na vague and magnificent account of their beauty. But these islands,\nundisturbed for years, relapsed into their previous obscurity; and it is\nonly recently that anything has been known concerning them. Once in the\ncourse of a half century, to be sure, some adventurous rover would break\nin upon their peaceful repose, and astonished at the unusual scene,\nwould be almost tempted to claim the merit of a new discovery.\n\nOf this interesting group, but little account has ever been given, if\nwe except the slight mention made of them in the sketches of South-Sea\nvoyages. Cook, in his repeated circumnavigations of the globe, barely\ntouched at their shores; and all that we know about them is from a few\ngeneral narratives.\n\nAmong these, there are two that claim particular notice. Porter\'s\n\'Journal of the Cruise of the U.S. frigate Essex, in the Pacific,\nduring the late War\', is said to contain some interesting particulars\nconcerning the islanders. This is a work, however, which I have never\nhappened to meet with; and Stewart, the chaplain of the American sloop\nof war Vincennes, has likewise devoted a portion of his book, entitled\n\'A Visit to the South Seas\', to the same subject.\n\nWithin the last few, years American and English vessels engaged in the\nextensive whale fisheries of the Pacific have occasionally, when short\nof provisions, put into the commodious harbour which there is in one of\nthe islands; but a fear of the natives, founded on the recollection of\nthe dreadful fate which many white men have received at their hands, has\ndeterred their crews from intermixing with the population sufficiently\nto gain any insight into their peculiar customs and manners.\n\nThe Protestant Missions appear to have despaired of reclaiming these\nislands from heathenism. The usage they have in every case received from\nthe natives has been such as to intimidate the boldest of their number.\nEllis, in his \'Polynesian Researches\', gives some interesting accounts\nof the abortive attempts made by the \'\'Tahiti Mission\'\' to establish a\nbranch Mission upon certain islands of the group. A short time before\nmy visit to the Marquesas, a somewhat amusing incident took place in\nconnection with these efforts, which I cannot avoid relating.\n\nAn intrepid missionary, undaunted by the ill-success that had attended\nall previous endeavours to conciliate the savages, and believing much\nin the efficacy of female influence, introduced among them his young and\nbeautiful wife, the first white woman who had ever visited their shores.\nThe islanders at first gazed in mute admiration at so unusual a prodigy,\nand seemed inclined to regard it as some new divinity. But after a short\ntime, becoming familiar with its charming aspect, and jealous of the\nfolds which encircled its form, they sought to pierce the sacred veil\nof calico in which it was enshrined, and in the gratification of their\ncuriosity so far overstepped the limits of good breeding, as deeply\nto offend the lady\'s sense of decorum. Her sex once ascertained, their\nidolatry was changed into contempt and there was no end to the contumely\nshowered upon her by the savages, who were exasperated at the deception\nwhich they conceived had been practised upon them. To the horror of\nher affectionate spouse, she was stripped of her garments, and given to\nunderstand that she could no longer carry on her deceits with impunity.\nThe gentle dame was not sufficiently evangelical to endure this, and,\nfearful of further improprieties, she forced her husband to relinquish\nhis undertaking, and together they returned to Tahiti.\n\nNot thus shy of exhibiting her charms was the Island Queen herself, the\nbeauteous wife of Movianna, the king of Nukuheva. Between two and three\nyears after the adventures recorded in this volume, I chanced, while\naboard of a man-of-war to touch at these islands. The French had\nthen held possession of the Marquesas some time, and already prided\nthemselves upon the beneficial effects of their jurisdiction, as\ndiscernible in the deportment of the natives. To be sure, in one of\ntheir efforts at reform they had slaughtered about a hundred and fifty\nof them at Whitihoo--but let that pass. At the time I mention, the\nFrench squadron was rendezvousing in the bay of Nukuheva, and during an\ninterview between one of their captains and our worthy Commodore, it\nwas suggested by the former, that we, as the flag-ship of the American\nsquadron, should receive, in state, a visit from the royal pair. The\nFrench officer likewise represented, with evident satisfaction, that\nunder their tuition the king and queen had imbibed proper notions of\ntheir elevated station, and on all ceremonious occasions conducted\nthemselves with suitable dignity. Accordingly, preparations were made to\ngive their majesties a reception on board in a style corresponding with\ntheir rank.\n\nOne bright afternoon, a gig, gaily bedizened with streamers, was\nobserved to shove off from the side of one of the French frigates, and\npull directly for our gangway. In the stern sheets reclined Mowanna and\nhis consort. As they approached, we paid them all the honours due to\nroyalty;--manning our yards, firing a salute, and making a prodigious\nhubbub.\n\nThey ascended the accommodation ladder, were greeted by the Commodore,\nhat in hand, and passing along the quarter-deck, the marine guard\npresented arms, while the band struck up \'The King of the Cannibal\nIslands\'. So far all went well. The French officers grimaced and smiled\nin exceedingly high spirits, wonderfully pleased with the discreet\nmanner in which these distinguished personages behaved themselves.\n\nTheir appearance was certainly calculated to produce an effect. His\nmajesty was arrayed in a magnificent military uniform, stiff with gold\nlace and embroidery, while his shaven crown was concealed by a huge\nchapeau bras, waving with ostrich plumes. There was one slight blemish,\nhowever, in his appearance. A broad patch of tattooing stretched\ncompletely across his face, in a line with his eyes, making him look as\nif he wore a huge pair of goggles; and royalty in goggles suggested some\nludicrous ideas. But it was in the adornment of the fair person of his\ndark-complexioned spouse that the tailors of the fleet had evinced the\ngaiety of their national taste. She was habited in a gaudy tissue of\nscarlet cloth, trimmed with yellow silk, which, descending a little\nbelow the knees, exposed to view her bare legs, embellished with spiral\ntattooing, and somewhat resembling two miniature Trajan\'s columns. Upon\nher head was a fanciful turban of purple velvet, figured with silver\nsprigs, and surmounted by a tuft of variegated feathers.\n\nThe ship\'s company, crowding into the gangway to view the sight, soon\narrested her majesty\'s attention. She singled out from their number an\nold salt, whose bare arms and feet, and exposed breast, were covered\nwith as many inscriptions in India ink as the lid of an Egyptian\nsarcophagus. Notwithstanding all the sly hints and remonstrances of the\nFrench officers, she immediately approached the man, and pulling further\nopen the bosom of his duck frock, and rolling up the leg of his wide\ntrousers, she gazed with admiration at the bright blue and vermilion\npricking thus disclosed to view. She hung over the fellow, caressing\nhim, and expressing her delight in a variety of wild exclamations and\ngestures. The embarrassment of the polite Gauls at such an unlooked-for\noccurrence may be easily imagined, but picture their consternation, when\nall at once the royal lady, eager to display the hieroglyphics on her\nown sweet form, bent forward for a moment, and turning sharply round,\nthrew up the skirt of her mantle and revealed a sight from which the\naghast Frenchmen retreated precipitately, and tumbling into their boats,\nfled the scene of so shocking a catastrophe.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER TWO\n\nPASSAGE FROM THE CRUISING GROUND TO THE MARQUESAS--SLEEPY TIMES ABOARD\nSHIP--SOUTH SEA SCENERY--LAND HO--THE FRENCH SQUADRON DISCOVERED AT\nANCHOR IN THE BAY OF NUKUHEVA--STRANGE PILOT--ESCORT OF CANOES--A\nFLOTILLA OF COCOANUTS--SWIMMING VISITORS--THE DOLLY BOARDED BY\nTHEM--STATE OF AFFAIRS THAT ENSUE\n\nI CAN never forget the eighteen or twenty days during which the light\ntrade-winds were silently sweeping us towards the islands. In pursuit of\nthe sperm whale, we had been cruising on the line some twenty degrees\nto the westward of the Gallipagos; and all that we had to do, when our\ncourse was determined on, was to square in the yards and keep the vessel\nbefore the breeze, and then the good ship and the steady gale did the\nrest between them. The man at the wheel never vexed the old lady with\nany superfluous steering, but comfortably adjusting his limbs at the\ntiller, would doze away by the hour. True to her work, the Dolly headed\nto her course, and like one of those characters who always do best when\nlet alone, she jogged on her way like a veteran old sea-pacer as she\nwas.\n\nWhat a delightful, lazy, languid time we had whilst we were thus gliding\nalong! There was nothing to be done; a circumstance that happily\nsuited our disinclination to do anything. We abandoned the fore-peak\naltogether, and spreading an awning over the forecastle, slept, ate,\nand lounged under it the live-long day. Every one seemed to be under the\ninfluence of some narcotic. Even the officers aft, whose duty required\nthem never to be seated while keeping a deck watch, vainly endeavoured\nto keep on their pins; and were obliged invariably to compromise the\nmatter by leaning up against the bulwarks, and gazing abstractedly over\nthe side. Reading was out of the question; take a book in your hand, and\nyou were asleep in an instant.\n\nAlthough I could not avoid yielding in a great measure to the general\nlanguor, still at times I contrived to shake off the spell, and to\nappreciate the beauty of the scene around me. The sky presented a\nclear expanse of the most delicate blue, except along the skirts of the\nhorizon, where you might see a thin drapery of pale clouds which never\nvaried their form or colour. The long, measured, dirge-like well of\nthe Pacific came rolling along, with its surface broken by little tiny\nwaves, sparkling in the sunshine. Every now and then a shoal of flying\nfish, scared from the water under the bows, would leap into the air,\nand fall the next moment like a shower of silver into the sea. Then you\nwould see the superb albicore, with his glittering sides, sailing aloft,\nand often describing an arc in his descent, disappear on the surface of\nthe water. Far off, the lofty jet of the whale might be seen, and nearer\nat hand the prowling shark, that villainous footpad of the seas, would\ncome skulking along, and, at a wary distance, regard us with his evil\neye. At times, some shapeless monster of the deep, floating on the\nsurface, would, as we approached, sink slowly into the blue waters, and\nfade away from the sight. But the most impressive feature of the\nscene was the almost unbroken silence that reigned over sky and water.\nScarcely a sound could be heard but the occasional breathing of the\ngrampus, and the rippling at the cut-water.\n\nAs we drew nearer the land, I hailed with delight the appearance of\ninnumerable sea-fowl. Screaming and whirling in spiral tracks, they\nwould accompany the vessel, and at times alight on our yards and\nstays. That piratical-looking fellow, appropriately named the\nman-of-war\'s-hawk, with his blood-red bill and raven plumage, would\ncome sweeping round us in gradually diminishing circles, till you\ncould distinctly mark the strange flashings of his eye; and then, as if\nsatisfied with his observation, would sail up into the air and disappear\nfrom the view. Soon, other evidences of our vicinity to the land were\napparent, and it was not long before the glad announcement of its being\nin sight was heard from aloft,--given with that peculiar prolongation of\nsound that a sailor loves--\'Land ho!\'\n\nThe captain, darting on deck from the cabin, bawled lustily for his\nspy-glass; the mate in still louder accents hailed the masthead with a\ntremendous \'where-away?\' The black cook thrust his woolly head from the\ngalley, and Boatswain, the dog, leaped up between the knight-heads, and\nbarked most furiously. Land ho! Aye, there it was. A hardly perceptible\nblue irregular outline, indicating the bold contour of the lofty heights\nof Nukuheva.\n\nThis island, although generally called one of the Marquesas, is by some\nnavigators considered as forming one of a distinct cluster, comprising\nthe islands of Ruhooka, Ropo, and Nukuheva; upon which three the\nappellation of the Washington Group has been bestowed. They form a\ntriangle, and lie within the parallels of 8 degrees 38\" and 9 degrees\n32\" South latitude and 139 degrees 20\" and 140 degrees 10\" West\nlongitude from Greenwich. With how little propriety they are to be\nregarded as forming a separate group will be at once apparent, when\nit is considered that they lie in the immediate vicinity of the other\nislands, that is to say, less than a degree to the northwest of them;\nthat their inhabitants speak the Marquesan dialect, and that their laws,\nreligion, and general customs are identical. The only reason why they\nwere ever thus arbitrarily distinguished may be attributed to the\nsingular fact, that their existence was altogether unknown to the world\nuntil the year 1791, when they were discovered by Captain Ingraham, of\nBoston, Massachusetts, nearly two centuries after the discovery of the\nadjacent islands by the agent of the Spanish Viceroy. Notwithstanding\nthis, I shall follow the example of most voyagers, and treat of them as\nforming part and parcel of Marquesas.\n\nNukuheva is the most important of these islands, being the only one\nat which ships are much in the habit of touching, and is celebrated as\nbeing the place where the adventurous Captain Porter refitted his ships\nduring the late war between England and the United States, and whence he\nsallied out upon the large whaling fleet then sailing under the enemy\'s\nflag in the surrounding seas. This island is about twenty miles in\nlength and nearly as many in breadth. It has three good harbours on its\ncoast; the largest and best of which is called by the people living\nin its vicinity \'Taiohae\', and by Captain Porter was denominated\nMassachusetts Bay. Among the adverse tribes dwelling about the shores of\nthe other bays, and by all voyagers, it is generally known by the name\nbestowed upon the island itself--Nukuheva. Its inhabitants have become\nsomewhat corrupted, owing to their recent commerce with Europeans, but\nso far as regards their peculiar customs and general mode of life, they\nretain their original primitive character, remaining very nearly in the\nsame state of nature in which they were first beheld by white men. The\nhostile clans, residing in the more remote sections of the island, and\nvery seldom holding any communication with foreigners, are in every\nrespect unchanged from their earliest known condition.\n\nIn the bay of Nukuheva was the anchorage we desired to reach. We had\nperceived the loom of the mountains about sunset; so that after running\nall night with a very light breeze, we found ourselves close in with\nthe island the next morning, but as the bay we sought lay on its farther\nside, we were obliged to sail some distance along the shore, catching,\nas we proceeded, short glimpses of blooming valleys, deep glens,\nwaterfalls, and waving groves hidden here and there by projecting and\nrocky headlands, every moment opening to the view some new and startling\nscene of beauty.\n\nThose who for the first time visit the South Sea, generally are\nsurprised at the appearance of the islands when beheld from the sea.\nFrom the vague accounts we sometimes have of their beauty, many people\nare apt to picture to themselves enamelled and softly swelling plains,\nshaded over with delicious groves, and watered by purling brooks, and\nthe entire country but little elevated above the surrounding ocean. The\nreality is very different; bold rock-bound coasts, with the surf beating\nhigh against the lofty cliffs, and broken here and there into deep\ninlets, which open to the view thickly-wooded valleys, separated by the\nspurs of mountains clothed with tufted grass, and sweeping down towards\nthe sea from an elevated and furrowed interior, form the principal\nfeatures of these islands.\n\nTowards noon we drew abreast the entrance go the harbour, and at last\nwe slowly swept by the intervening promontory, and entered the bay of\nNukuheva. No description can do justice to its beauty; but that beauty\nwas lost to me then, and I saw nothing but the tri-coloured flag of\nFrance trailing over the stern of six vessels, whose black hulls and\nbristling broadsides proclaimed their warlike character. There they\nwere, floating in that lovely bay, the green eminences of the shore\nlooking down so tranquilly upon them, as if rebuking the sternness of\ntheir aspect. To my eye nothing could be more out of keeping than the\npresence of these vessels; but we soon learnt what brought them\nthere. The whole group of islands had just been taken possession of\nby Rear-Admiral Du Petit Thouars, in the name of the invincible French\nnation.\n\nThis item of information was imparted to us by a most extraordinary\nindividual, a genuine South-Sea vagabond, who came alongside of us in\na whale-boat as soon as we entered the bay, and, by the aid of some\nbenevolent persons at the gangway, was assisted on board, for our\nvisitor was in that interesting stage of intoxication when a man is\namiable and helpless. Although he was utterly unable to stand erect or\nto navigate his body across the deck, he still magnanimously proffered\nhis services to pilot the ship to a good and secure anchorage. Our\ncaptain, however, rather distrusted his ability in this respect, and\nrefused to recognize his claim to the character he assumed; but\nour gentleman was determined to play his part, for, by dint of much\nscrambling, he succeeded in getting into the weather-quarter boat,\nwhere he steadied himself by holding on to a shroud, and then commenced\nissuing his commands with amazing volubility and very peculiar gestures.\nOf course no one obeyed his orders; but as it was impossible to quiet\nhim, we swept by the ships of the squadron with this strange fellow\nperforming his antics in full view of all the French officers.\n\nWe afterwards learned that our eccentric friend had been a lieutenant in\nthe English navy; but having disgraced his flag by some criminal conduct\nin one of the principal ports on the main, he had deserted his ship,\nand spent many years wandering among the islands of the Pacific, until\naccidentally being at Nukuheva when the French took possession of\nthe place, he had been appointed pilot of the harbour by the newly\nconstituted authorities.\n\nAs we slowly advanced up the bay, numerous canoes pushed off from the\nsurrounding shores, and we were soon in the midst of quite a flotilla\nof them, their savage occupants struggling to get aboard of us, and\njostling one another in their ineffectual attempts. Occasionally the\nprojecting out-riggers of their slight shallops running foul of one\nanother, would become entangled beneath the water, threatening to\ncapsize the canoes, when a scene of confusion would ensue that baffles\ndescription. Such strange outcries and passionate gesticulations I never\ncertainly heard or saw before. You would have thought the islanders were\non the point of flying at each other\'s throats, whereas they were only\namicably engaged in disentangling their boats.\n\nScattered here and there among the canoes might be seen numbers of\ncocoanuts floating closely together in circular groups, and bobbing up\nand down with every wave. By some inexplicable means these cocoanuts\nwere all steadily approaching towards the ship. As I leaned curiously\nover the side, endeavouring to solve their mysterious movements, one\nmass far in advance of the rest attracted my attention. In its centre\nwas something I could take for nothing else than a cocoanut, but which\nI certainly considered one of the most extraordinary specimens of the\nfruit I had ever seen. It kept twirling and dancing about among the rest\nin the most singular manner, and as it drew nearer I thought it bore a\nremarkable resemblance to the brown shaven skull of one of the savages.\nPresently it betrayed a pair of eyes, and soon I became aware that what\nI had supposed to have been one of the fruit was nothing else than the\nhead of an islander, who had adopted this singular method of bringing\nhis produce to market. The cocoanuts were all attached to one another\nby strips of the husk, partly torn from the shell and rudely fastened\ntogether. Their proprietor inserting his head into the midst of them,\nimpelled his necklace of cocoanuts through the water by striking out\nbeneath the surface with his feet.\n\nI was somewhat astonished to perceive that among the number of natives\nthat surrounded us, not a single female was to be seen. At that time I\nwas ignorant of the fact that by the operation of the \'taboo\' the use of\ncanoes in all parts of the island is rigorously prohibited to the entire\nsex, for whom it is death even to be seen entering one when hauled on\nshore; consequently, whenever a Marquesan lady voyages by water, she\nputs in requisition the paddles of her own fair body.\n\nWe had approached within a mile and a half perhaps of this foot of\nthe bay, when some of the islanders, who by this time had managed to\nscramble aboard of us at the risk of swamping their canoes, directed our\nattention to a singular commotion in the water ahead of the vessel. At\nfirst I imagined it to be produced by a shoal of fish sporting on the\nsurface, but our savage friends assured us that it was caused by a shoal\nof \'whinhenies\' (young girls), who in this manner were coming off from\nthe shore to welcome is. As they drew nearer, and I watched the rising\nand sinking of their forms, and beheld the uplifted right arm bearing\nabove the water the girdle of tappa, and their long dark hair trailing\nbeside them as they swam, I almost fancied they could be nothing else\nthan so many mermaids--and very like mermaids they behaved too.\n\nWe were still some distance from the beach, and under slow headway,\nwhen we sailed right into the midst of these swimming nymphs, and they\nboarded us at every quarter; many seizing hold of the chain-plates and\nspringing into the chains; others, at the peril of being run over by\nthe vessel in her course, catching at the bob-stays, and wreathing their\nslender forms about the ropes, hung suspended in the air. All of them\nat length succeeded in getting up the ship\'s side, where they clung\ndripping with the brine and glowing from the bath, their jet-black\ntresses streaming over their shoulders, and half enveloping their\notherwise naked forms. There they hung, sparkling with savage vivacity,\nlaughing gaily at one another, and chattering away with infinite glee.\nNor were they idle the while, for each one performed the simple offices\nof the toilette for the other. Their luxuriant locks, wound up and\ntwisted into the smallest possible compass, were freed from the briny\nelement; the whole person carefully dried, and from a little round\nshell that passed from hand to hand, anointed with a fragrant oil: their\nadornments were completed by passing a few loose folds of white tappa,\nin a modest cincture, around the waist. Thus arrayed they no longer\nhesitated, but flung themselves lightly over the bulwarks, and were\nquickly frolicking about the decks. Many of them went forward, perching\nupon the headrails or running out upon the bowsprit, while others seated\nthemselves upon the taffrail, or reclined at full length upon the boats.\nWhat a sight for us bachelor sailors! How avoid so dire a temptation?\nFor who could think of tumbling these artless creatures overboard, when\nthey had swum miles to welcome us?\n\nTheir appearance perfectly amazed me; their extreme youth, the\nlight clear brown of their complexions, their delicate features, and\ninexpressibly graceful figures, their softly moulded limbs, and free\nunstudied action, seemed as strange as beautiful.\n\nThe Dolly was fairly captured; and never I will say was vessel carried\nbefore by such a dashing and irresistible party of boarders! The ship\ntaken, we could not do otherwise than yield ourselves prisoners, and for\nthe whole period that she remained in the bay, the Dolly, as well as her\ncrew, were completely in the hands of the mermaids.\n\nIn the evening after we had come to an anchor the deck was illuminated\nwith lanterns, and this picturesque band of sylphs, tricked out with\nflowers, and dressed in robes of variegated tappa, got up a ball in\ngreat style. These females are passionately fond of dancing, and in the\nwild grace and spirit of the style excel everything I have ever seen.\nThe varied dances of the Marquesan girls are beautiful in the extreme,\nbut there is an abandoned voluptuousness in their character which I dare\nnot attempt to describe.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER THREE\n\nSOME ACCOUNT OF THE LATE OPERATIONS OF THE FRENCH AT THE\nMARQUESAS--PRUDENT CONDUCT OF THE ADMIRAL--SENSATION PRODUCED BY\nTHE ARRIVAL OF THE STRANGERS--THE FIRST HORSE SEEN BY THE\nISLANDERS--REFLECTIONS--MISERABLE SUBTERFUGE OF THE FRENCH--DIGRESSION\nCONCERNING TAHITI--SEIZURE OF THE ISLAND BY THE ADMIRAL--SPIRITED\nCONDUCT OF AN ENGLISH LADY\n\nIT was in the summer of 1842 that we arrived at the islands; the French\nhad then held possession of them for several weeks. During this time\nthey had visited some of the principal places in the group, and had\ndisembarked at various points about five hundred troops. These were\nemployed in constructing works of defence, and otherwise providing\nagainst the attacks of the natives, who at any moment might be expected\nto break out in open hostility. The islanders looked upon the people who\nmade this cavalier appropriation of their shores with mingled feelings\nof fear and detestation. They cordially hated them; but the impulses\nof their resentment were neutralized by their dread of the floating\nbatteries, which lay with their fatal tubes ostentatiously pointed,\nnot at fortifications and redoubts, but at a handful of bamboo sheds,\nsheltered in a grove of cocoanuts! A valiant warrior doubtless, but\na prudent one too, was this same Rear-Admiral Du Petit Thouars. Four\nheavy, doublebanked frigates and three corvettes to frighten a parcel of\nnaked heathen into subjection! Sixty-eight pounders to demolish huts of\ncocoanut boughs, and Congreve rockets to set on fire a few canoe sheds!\n\nAt Nukuheva, there were about one hundred soldiers ashore. They were\nencamped in tents, constructed of the old sails and spare spars of\nthe squadron, within the limits of a redoubt mounted with a few\nnine-pounders, and surrounded with a fosse. Every other day, these\ntroops were marched out in martial array, to a level piece of ground\nin the vicinity, and there for hours went through all sorts of military\nevolutions, surrounded by flocks of the natives, who looked on with\nsavage admiration at the show, and as savage a hatred of the actors.\nA regiment of the Old Guard, reviewed on a summer\'s day in the Champs\nElysees, could not have made a more critically correct appearance. The\nofficers\' regimentals, resplendent with gold lace and embroidery as if\npurposely calculated to dazzle the islanders, looked as if just unpacked\nfrom their Parisian cases.\n\nThe sensation produced by the presence of the strangers had not in the\nleast subsided at the period of our arrival at the islands. The natives\nstill flocked in numbers about the encampment, and watched with the\nliveliest curiosity everything that was going forward. A blacksmith\'s\nforge, which had been set up in the shelter of a grove near the beach,\nattracted so great a crowd, that it required the utmost efforts of the\nsentries posted around to keep the inquisitive multitude at a sufficient\ndistance to allow the workmen to ply their vocation. But nothing gained\nso large a share of admiration as a horse, which had been brought from\nValparaiso by the Achille, one of the vessels of the squadron. The\nanimal, a remarkably fine one, had been taken ashore, and stabled in a\nhut of cocoanut boughs within the fortified enclosure. Occasionally it\nwas brought out, and, being gaily caparisoned, was ridden by one of the\nofficers at full speed over the hard sand beach. This performance was\nsure to be hailed with loud plaudits, and the \'puarkee nuee\' (big hog)\nwas unanimously pronounced by the islanders to be the most extraordinary\nspecimen of zoology that had ever come under their observation.\n\nThe expedition for the occupation of the Marquesas had sailed from Brest\nin the spring of 1842, and the secret of its destination was solely in\nthe possession of its commander. No wonder that those who contemplated\nsuch a signal infraction of the rights of humanity should have sought to\nveil the enormity from the eyes of the world. And yet, notwithstanding\ntheir iniquitous conduct in this and in other matters, the French\nhave ever plumed themselves upon being the most humane and polished of\nnations. A high degree of refinement, however, does not seem to subdue\nour wicked propensities so much after all; and were civilization itself\nto be estimated by some of its results, it would seem perhaps better for\nwhat we call the barbarous part of the world to remain unchanged.\n\nOne example of the shameless subterfuges under which the French stand\nprepared to defend whatever cruelties they may hereafter think fit to\ncommit in bringing the Marquesan natives into subjection is well worthy\nof being recorded. On some flimsy pretext or other Mowanna, the king of\nNukuheva, whom the invaders by extravagant presents had cajoled over to\ntheir interests, and moved about like a mere puppet, has been set up\nas the rightful sovereign of the entire island--the alleged ruler by\nprescription of various clans, who for ages perhaps have treated with\neach other as separate nations. To reinstate this much-injured prince in\nthe assumed dignities of his ancestors, the disinterested strangers have\ncome all the way from France: they are determined that his title shall\nbe acknowledged. If any tribe shall refuse to recognize the authority\nof the French, by bowing down to the laced chapeau of Mowanna, let them\nabide the consequences of their obstinacy. Under cover of a similar\npretence, have the outrages and massacres at Tahiti the beautiful, the\nqueen of the South Seas, been perpetrated.\n\nOn this buccaneering expedition, Rear Admiral Du Petit Thouars, leaving\nthe rest of his squadron at the Marquesas,--which had then been occupied\nby his forces about five months--set sail for the doomed island in\nthe Reine Blanche frigate. On his arrival, as an indemnity for alleged\ninsults offered to the flag of his country, he demanded some twenty\nor thirty thousand dollars to be placed in his hands forthwith, and in\ndefault of payment, threatened to land and take possession of the place.\n\nThe frigate, immediately upon coming to an anchor, got springs on her\ncables, and with her guns cast loose and her men at their quarters, lay\nin the circular basin of Papeete, with her broadside bearing upon the\ndevoted town; while her numerous cutters, hauled in order alongside,\nwere ready to effect a landing, under cover of her batteries. She\nmaintained this belligerent attitude for several days, during which time\na series of informal negotiations were pending, and wide alarm spread\nover the island. Many of the Tahitians were at first disposed to resort\nto arms, and drive the invaders from their shores; but more pacific and\nfeebler counsels ultimately prevailed. The unfortunate queen Pomare,\nincapable of averting the impending calamity, terrified at the arrogance\nof the insolent Frenchman, and driven at last to despair, fled by night\nin a canoe to Emio.\n\nDuring the continuance of the panic there occurred an instance of\nfeminine heroism that I cannot omit to record.\n\nIn the grounds of the famous missionary consul, Pritchard, then absent\nin London, the consular flag of Britain waved as usual during the day,\nfrom a lofty staff planted within a few yards of the beach, and in full\nview of the frigate. One morning an officer, at the head of a party\nof men, presented himself at the verandah of Mr Pritchard\'s house, and\ninquired in broken English for the lady his wife. The matron soon made\nher appearance; and the polite Frenchman, making one of his best bows,\nand playing gracefully with the aiguillettes that danced upon his\nbreast, proceeded in courteous accents to deliver his mission. \'The\nadmiral desired the flag to be hauled down--hoped it would be perfectly\nagreeable--and his men stood ready to perform the duty.\' \'Tell the\nPirate your master,\' replied the spirited Englishwoman, pointing to\nthe staff, \'that if he wishes to strike these colours, he must come and\nperform the act himself; I will suffer no one else to do it.\' The lady\nthen bowed haughtily and withdrew into the house. As the discomfited\nofficer slowly walked away, he looked up to the flag, and perceived that\nthe cord by which it was elevated to its place, led from the top of the\nstaff, across the lawn, to an open upper window of the mansion, where\nsat the lady from whom he had just parted, tranquilly engaged in\nknitting. Was that flag hauled down? Mrs Pritchard thinks not; and\nRear-Admiral Du Petit Thouars is believed to be of the same opinion.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER FOUR\n\nSTATE OF AFFAIRS ABOARD THE SHIP--CONTENTS OF HER LARDER--LENGTH OF\nSOUTH SEAMEN\'S VOYAGES--ACCOUNT OF A FLYING WHALE-MAN--DETERMINATION\nTO LEAVE THE VESSEL--THE BAY OF NUKUHEVA--THE TYPEES--INVASION OF THEIR\nVALLEY BY PORTER--REFLECTIONS--GLEN OF TIOR--INTERVIEW BETWEEN THE OLD\nKING AND THE FRENCH ADMIRAL\n\nOUR ship had not been many days in the harbour of Nukuheva before I came\nto the determination of leaving her. That my reasons for resolving to\ntake this step were numerous and weighty, may be inferred from the fact\nthat I chose rather to risk my fortunes among the savages of the island\nthan to endure another voyage on board the Dolly. To use the concise,\npointblank phrase of the sailors. I had made up my mind to \'run away\'.\nNow as a meaning is generally attached to these two words no way\nflattering to the individual to whom they are applied, it behoves\nme, for the sake of my own character, to offer some explanation of my\nconduct.\n\nWhen I entered on board the Dolly, I signed as a matter of course the\nship\'s articles, thereby voluntarily engaging and legally binding\nmyself to serve in a certain capacity for the period of the voyage;\nand, special considerations apart, I was of course bound to fulfill the\nagreement. But in all contracts, if one party fail to perform his share\nof the compact, is not the other virtually absolved from his liability?\nWho is there who will not answer in the affirmative?\n\nHaving settled the principle, then, let me apply it to the particular\ncase in question. In numberless instances had not only the implied but\nthe specified conditions of the articles been violated on the part of\nthe ship in which I served. The usage on board of her was tyrannical;\nthe sick had been inhumanly neglected; the provisions had been doled out\nin scanty allowance; and her cruises were unreasonably protracted. The\ncaptain was the author of the abuses; it was in vain to think that he\nwould either remedy them, or alter his conduct, which was arbitrary\nand violent in the extreme. His prompt reply to all complaints and\nremonstrances was--the butt-end of a handspike, so convincingly\nadministered as effectually to silence the aggrieved party.\n\nTo whom could we apply for redress? We had left both law and equity\non the other side of the Cape; and unfortunately, with a very few\nexceptions, our crew was composed of a parcel of dastardly and\nmeanspirited wretches, divided among themselves, and only united in\nenduring without resistance the unmitigated tyranny of the captain.\nIt would have been mere madness for any two or three of the number,\nunassisted by the rest, to attempt making a stand against his ill\nusage. They would only have called down upon themselves the particular\nvengeance of this \'Lord of the Plank\', and subjected their shipmates to\nadditional hardships.\n\nBut, after all, these things could have been endured awhile, had we\nentertained the hope of being speedily delivered from them by the due\ncompletion of the term of our servitude. But what a dismal prospect\nawaited us in this quarter! The longevity of Cape Horn whaling voyages\nis proverbial, frequently extending over a period of four or five years.\n\nSome long-haired, bare-necked youths, who, forced by the united\ninfluences of Captain Marryatt and hard times, embark at Nantucket for\na pleasure excursion to the Pacific, and whose anxious mothers provide\nthem, with bottled milk for the occasion, oftentimes return very\nrespectable middle-aged gentlemen.\n\nThe very preparations made for one of these expeditions are enough to\nfrighten one. As the vessel carries out no cargo, her hold is filled\nwith provisions for her own consumption. The owners, who officiate\nas caterers for the voyage, supply the larder with an abundance\nof dainties. Delicate morsels of beef and pork, cut on scientific\nprinciples from every part of the animal, and of all conceivable shapes\nand sizes, are carefully packed in salt, and stored away in barrels;\naffording a never-ending variety in their different degrees of\ntoughness, and in the peculiarities of their saline properties. Choice\nold water too, decanted into stout six-barrel-casks, and two pints of\nwhich is allowed every day to each soul on board; together with ample\nstore of sea-bread, previously reduced to a state of petrifaction, with\na view to preserve it either from decay or consumption in the ordinary\nmode, are likewise provided for the nourishment and gastronomic\nenjoyment of the crew.\n\nBut not to speak of the quality of these articles of sailors\' fare,\nthe abundance in which they are put onboard a whaling vessel is almost\nincredible. Oftentimes, when we had occasion to break out in the hold,\nand I beheld the successive tiers of casks and barrels, whose contents\nwere all destined to be consumed in due course by the ship\'s company, my\nheart has sunk within me.\n\nAlthough, as a general case, a ship unlucky in falling in with\nwhales continues to cruise after them until she has barely sufficient\nprovisions remaining to take her home, turning round then quietly and\nmaking the best of her way to her friends, yet there are instances when\neven this natural obstacle to the further prosecution of the voyage\nis overcome by headstrong captains, who, bartering the fruits of their\nhard-earned toils for a new supply of provisions in some of the ports\nof Chili or Peru, begin the voyage afresh with unabated zeal and\nperseverance. It is in vain that the owners write urgent letters to him\nto sail for home, and for their sake to bring back the ship, since it\nappears he can put nothing in her. Not he. He has registered a vow: he\nwill fill his vessel with good sperm oil, or failing to do so, never\nagain strike Yankee soundings.\n\nI heard of one whaler, which after many years\' absence was given up for\nlost. The last that had been heard of her was a shadowy report of her\nhaving touched at some of those unstable islands in the far Pacific,\nwhose eccentric wanderings are carefully noted in each new edition\nof the South-Sea charts. After a long interval, however, \'The\nPerseverance\'--for that was her name--was spoken somewhere in the\nvicinity of the ends of the earth, cruising along as leisurely as ever,\nher sails all bepatched and be quilted with rope-yarns, her spars fished\nwith old pipe staves, and her rigging knotted and spliced in every\npossible direction. Her crew was composed of some twenty venerable\nGreenwich-pensioner-looking old salts, who just managed to hobble about\ndeck. The ends of all the running ropes, with the exception of the\nsignal halyards and poop-down-haul, were rove through snatch-blocks, and\nled to the capstan or windlass, so that not a yard was braced or a sail\nset without the assistance of machinery.\n\nHer hull was encrusted with barnacles, which completely encased her.\nThree pet sharks followed in her wake, and every day came alongside to\nregale themselves from the contents of the cook\'s bucket, which were\npitched over to them. A vast shoal of bonetas and albicores always kept\nher company.\n\nSuch was the account I heard of this vessel and the remembrance of it\nalways haunted me; what eventually became of her I never learned; at\nany rate: he never reached home, and I suppose she is still regularly\ntacking twice in the twenty-four hours somewhere off Desolate Island, or\nthe Devil\'s-Tail Peak.\n\nHaving said thus much touching the usual length of these voyages, when I\ninform the reader that ours had as it were just commenced, we being only\nfifteen months out, and even at that time hailed as a late arrival and\nboarded for news, he will readily perceive that there was little to\nencourage one in looking forward to the future, especially as I had\nalways had a presentiment that we should make an unfortunate voyage, and\nour experience so far had justified the expectation.\n\nI may here state, and on my faith as an honest man, that though more\nthan three years have elapsed since I left this same identical vessel,\nshe still continues; in the Pacific, and but a few days since I saw\nher reported in the papers as having touched at the Sandwich Islands\nprevious to going on the coast of Japan.\n\nBut to return to my narrative. Placed in these circumstances then, with\nno prospect of matters mending if I remained aboard the Dolly, I at once\nmade up my mind to leave her: to be sure it was rather an inglorious\nthing to steal away privily from those at whose hands I had received\nwrongs and outrages that I could not resent; but how was such a course\nto be avoided when it was the only alternative left me? Having made\nup my mind, I proceeded to acquire all the information I could obtain\nrelating to the island and its inhabitants, with a view of shaping my\nplans of escape accordingly. The result of these inquiries I will now\nstate, in order that the ensuing narrative may be the better understood.\n\nThe bay of Nukuheva in which we were then lying is an expanse of\nwater not unlike in figure the space included within the limits of a\nhorse-shoe. It is, perhaps, nine miles in circumference. You approach\nit from the sea by a narrow entrance, flanked on each side by two small\ntwin islets which soar conically to the height of some five hundred\nfeet. From these the shore recedes on both hands, and describes a deep\nsemicircle.\n\nFrom the verge of the water the land rises uniformly on all sides, with\ngreen and sloping acclivities, until from gently rolling hill-sides\nand moderate elevations it insensibly swells into lofty and majestic\nheights, whose blue outlines, ranged all around, close in the view. The\nbeautiful aspect of the shore is heightened by deep and romantic\nglens, which come down to it at almost equal distances, all apparently\nradiating from a common centre, and the upper extremities of which are\nlost to the eye beneath the shadow of the mountains. Down each of these\nlittle valleys flows a clear stream, here and there assuming the form\nof a slender cascade, then stealing invisibly along until it bursts\nupon the sight again in larger and more noisy waterfalls, and at last\ndemurely wanders along to the sea.\n\nThe houses of the natives, constructed of the yellow bamboo, tastefully\ntwisted together in a kind of wicker-work, and thatched with the long\ntapering leaves of the palmetto, are scattered irregularly along these\nvalleys beneath the shady branches of the cocoanut trees.\n\nNothing can exceed the imposing scenery of this bay. Viewed from our\nship as she lay at anchor in the middle of the harbour, it presented the\nappearance of a vast natural amphitheatre in decay, and overgrown with\nvines, the deep glens that furrowed it\'s sides appearing like enormous\nfissures caused by the ravages of time. Very often when lost in\nadmiration at its beauty, I have experienced a pang of regret that a\nscene so enchanting should be hidden from the world in these remote\nseas, and seldom meet the eyes of devoted lovers of nature.\n\nBesides this bay the shores of the island are indented by several other\nextensive inlets, into which descend broad and verdant valleys. These\nare inhabited by as many distinct tribes of savages, who, although\nspeaking kindred dialects of a common language, and having the same\nreligion and laws, have from time immemorial waged hereditary warfare\nagainst each other. The intervening mountains generally two or three\nthousand feet above the level of the sea geographically define the\nterritories of each of these hostile tribes, who never cross them, save\non some expedition of war or plunder. Immediately adjacent to Nukuheva,\nand only separated from it by the mountains seen from the harbour, lies\nthe lovely valley of Happar, whose inmates cherish the most friendly\nrelations with the inhabitants of Nukuheva. On the other side of Happar,\nand closely adjoining it, is the magnificent valley of the dreaded\nTypees, the unappeasable enemies of both these tribes.\n\nThese celebrated warriors appear to inspire the other islanders with\nunspeakable terrors. Their very name is a frightful one; for the word\n\'Typee\' in the Marquesan dialect signifies a lover of human flesh. It\nis rather singular that the title should have been bestowed upon them\nexclusively, inasmuch as the natives of all this group are irreclaimable\ncannibals. The name may, perhaps, have been given to denote the peculiar\nferocity of this clan, and to convey a special stigma along with it.\n\nThese same Typees enjoy a prodigious notoriety all over the islands. The\nnatives of Nukuheva would frequently recount in pantomime to our ship\'s\ncompany their terrible feats, and would show the marks of wounds they\nhad received in desperate encounters with them. When ashore they would\ntry to frighten us by pointing, to one of their own number, and calling\nhim a Typee, manifesting no little surprise that we did not take to our\nheels at so terrible an announcement. It was quite amusing, too, to see\nwith what earnestness they disclaimed all cannibal propensities on their\nown part, while they denounced their enemies--the Typees--as inveterate\ngourmandizers of human flesh; but this is a peculiarity to which I shall\nhereafter have occasion to allude.\n\nAlthough I was convinced that the inhabitants of our bay were as arrant\ncannibals as any of the other tribes on the island, still I could not\nbut feel a particular and most unqualified repugnance to the aforesaid\nTypees. Even before visiting the Marquesas, I had heard from men who\nhad touched at the group on former voyages some revolting stories in\nconnection with these savages; and fresh in my remembrance was the\nadventure of the master of the Katherine, who only a few months\nprevious, imprudently venturing into this bay in an armed boat for the\npurpose of barter, was seized by the natives, carried back a little\ndistance into their valley, and was only saved from a cruel death by the\nintervention of a young girl, who facilitated his escape by night along\nthe beach to Nukuheva.\n\nI had heard too of an English vessel that many years ago, after a weary\ncruise, sought to enter the bay of Nukuheva, and arriving within two or\nthree miles of the land, was met by a large canoe filled with natives,\nwho offered to lead the way to the place of their destination. The\ncaptain, unacquainted with the localities of the island, joyfully\nacceded to the proposition--the canoe paddled on, the ship followed. She\nwas soon conducted to a beautiful inlet, and dropped her anchor in\nits waters beneath the shadows of the lofty shore. That same night the\nperfidious Typees, who had thus inveigled her into their fatal bay,\nflocked aboard the doomed vessel by hundreds, and at a given signal\nmurdered every soul on board.\n\nI shall never forget the observation of one of our crew as we were\npassing slowly by the entrance of the bay in our way to Nukuheva. As we\nstood gazing over the side at the verdant headlands, Ned, pointing\nwith his hand in the direction of the treacherous valley, exclaimed,\n\'There--there\'s Typee. Oh, the bloody cannibals, what a meal they\'d make\nof us if we were to take it into our heads to land! but they say they\ndon\'t like sailor\'s flesh, it\'s too salt. I say, maty, how should you\nlike to be shoved ashore there, eh?\' I little thought, as I shuddered\nat the question, that in the space of a few weeks I should actually be a\ncaptive in that self-same valley.\n\nThe French, although they had gone through the ceremony of hoisting\ntheir colours for a few hours at all the principal places of the\ngroup, had not as yet visited the bay of Typee, anticipating a fierce\nresistance on the part of the savages there, which for the present at\nleast they wished to avoid. Perhaps they were not a little influenced in\nthe adoption of this unusual policy from a recollection of the warlike\nreception given by the Typees to the forces of Captain Porter, about\nthe year 1814, when that brave and accomplished officer endeavoured to\nsubjugate the clan merely to gratify the mortal hatred of his allies the\nNukuhevas and Happars.\n\nOn that occasion I have been told that a considerable detachment of\nsailors and marines from the frigate Essex, accompanied by at least two\nthousand warriors of Happar and Nukuheva, landed in boats and canoes at\nthe head of the bay, and after penetrating a little distance into the\nvalley, met with the stoutest resistance from its inmates. Valiantly,\nalthough with much loss, the Typees disputed every inch of ground, and\nafter some hard fighting obliged their assailants to retreat and abandon\ntheir design of conquest.\n\nThe invaders, on their march back to the sea, consoled themselves for\ntheir repulse by setting fire to every house and temple in their route;\nand a long line of smoking ruins defaced the once-smiling bosom of the\nvalley, and proclaimed to its pagan inhabitants the spirit that reigned\nin the breasts of Christian soldiers. Who can wonder at the deadly\nhatred of the Typees to all foreigners after such unprovoked atrocities?\n\nThus it is that they whom we denominate \'savages\' are made to deserve\nthe title. When the inhabitants of some sequestered island first descry\nthe \'big canoe\' of the European rolling through the blue waters towards\ntheir shores, they rush down to the beach in crowds, and with open arms\nstand ready to embrace the strangers. Fatal embrace! They fold to their\nbosom the vipers whose sting is destined to poison all their joys; and\nthe instinctive feeling of love within their breast is soon converted\ninto the bitterest hate.\n\nThe enormities perpetrated in the South Seas upon some of the\ninoffensive islanders will nigh pass belief. These things are seldom\nproclaimed at home; they happen at the very ends of the earth; they\nare done in a corner, and there are none to reveal them. But there is,\nnevertheless, many a petty trader that has navigated the Pacific whose\ncourse from island to island might be traced by a series of cold-blooded\nrobberies, kidnappings, and murders, the iniquity of which might be\nconsidered almost sufficient to sink her guilty timbers to the bottom of\nthe sea.\n\nSometimes vague accounts of such thing\'s reach our firesides, and\nwe coolly censure them as wrong, impolitic, needlessly severe, and\ndangerous to the crews of other vessels. How different is our tone when\nwe read the highly-wrought description of the massacre of the crew of\nthe Hobomak by the Feejees; how we sympathize for the unhappy victims,\nand with what horror do we regard the diabolical heathens, who, after\nall, have but avenged the unprovoked injuries which they have received.\nWe breathe nothing but vengeance, and equip armed vessels to traverse\nthousands of miles of ocean in order to execute summary punishment upon\nthe offenders. On arriving at their destination, they burn, slaughter,\nand destroy, according to the tenor of written instructions, and sailing\naway from the scene of devastation, call upon all Christendom to applaud\ntheir courage and their justice.\n\nHow often is the term \'savages\' incorrectly applied! None really\ndeserving of it were ever yet discovered by voyagers or by travellers.\nThey have discovered heathens and barbarians whom by horrible cruelties\nthey have exasperated into savages. It may be asserted without fear\nof contradictions that in all the cases of outrages committed by\nPolynesians, Europeans have at some time or other been the aggressors,\nand that the cruel and bloodthirsty disposition of some of the islanders\nis mainly to be ascribed to the influence of such examples.\n\nBut to return. Owing to the mutual hostilities of the different tribes\nI have mentioned, the mountainous tracts which separate their respective\nterritories remain altogether uninhabited; the natives invariably\ndwelling in the depths of the valleys, with a view of securing\nthemselves from the predatory incursions of their enemies, who often\nlurk along their borders, ready to cut off any imprudent straggler,\nor make a descent upon the inmates of some sequestered habitation. I\nseveral times met with very aged men, who from this cause had never\npassed the confines of their native vale, some of them having never even\nascended midway up the mountains in the whole course of their lives, and\nwho, accordingly had little idea of the appearance of any other part of\nthe island, the whole of which is not perhaps more than sixty miles in\ncircuit. The little space in which some of these clans pass away their\ndays would seem almost incredible.\n\nThe glen of the Tior will furnish a curious illustration of this.\n\nThe inhabited part is not more than four miles in length, and varies\nin breadth from half a mile to less than a quarter. The rocky vine-clad\ncliffs on one side tower almost perpendicularly from their base to\nthe height of at least fifteen hundred feet; while across the vale--in\nstriking contrast to the scenery opposite--grass-grown elevations rise\none above another in blooming terraces. Hemmed in by these stupendous\nbarriers, the valley would be altogether shut out from the rest of the\nworld, were it not that it is accessible from the sea at one end, and by\na narrow defile at the other.\n\nThe impression produced upon the mind, when I first visited this\nbeautiful glen, will never be obliterated.\n\nI had come from Nukuheva by water in the ship\'s boat, and when we\nentered the bay of Tior it was high noon. The heat had been intense, as\nwe had been floating upon the long smooth swell of the ocean, for there\nwas but little wind. The sun\'s rays had expended all their fury upon us;\nand to add to our discomfort, we had omitted to supply ourselves with\nwater previous to starting. What with heat and thirst together, I became\nso impatient to get ashore, that when at last we glided towards it,\nI stood up in the bow of the boat ready for a spring. As she shot\ntwo-thirds of her length high upon the beach, propelled by three or four\nstrong strokes of the oars, I leaped among a parcel of juvenile savages,\nwho stood prepared to give us a kind reception; and with them at my\nheels, yelling like so many imps, I rushed forward across the open\nground in the vicinity of the sea, and plunged, diver fashion, into the\nrecesses of the first grove that offered.\n\nWhat a delightful sensation did I experience! I felt as if floating in\nsome new element, while all sort of gurgling, trickling, liquid sounds\nfell upon my ear. People may say what they will about the refreshing\ninfluences of a coldwater bath, but commend me when in a perspiration to\nthe shade baths of Tior, beneath the cocoanut trees, and amidst the cool\ndelightful atmosphere which surrounds them.\n\nHow shall I describe the scenery that met my eye, as I looked out\nfrom this verdant recess! The narrow valley, with its steep and close\nadjoining sides draperied with vines, and arched overhead with a\nfret-work of interlacing boughs, nearly hidden from view by masses\nof leafy verdure, seemed from where I stood like an immense arbour\ndisclosing its vista to the eye, whilst as I advanced it insensibly\nwidened into the loveliest vale eye ever beheld.\n\nIt so happened that the very day I was in Tior the French admiral,\nattended by all the boats of his squadron, came down in state from\nNukuheva to take formal possession of the place. He remained in the\nvalley about two hours, during which time he had a ceremonious interview\nwith the king. The patriarch-sovereign of Tior was a man very far\nadvanced in years; but though age had bowed his form and rendered him\nalmost decrepid, his gigantic frame retained its original magnitude and\ngrandeur of appearance.\n\nHe advanced slowly and with evident pain, assisting his tottering steps\nwith the heavy warspear he held in his hand, and attended by a group of\ngrey-bearded chiefs, on one of whom he occasionally leaned for support.\nThe admiral came forward with head uncovered and extended hand, while\nthe old king saluted him by a stately flourish of his weapon. The\nnext moment they stood side by side, these two extremes of the social\nscale,--the polished, splendid Frenchman, and the poor tattooed savage.\nThey were both tall and noble-looking men; but in other respects how\nstrikingly contrasted! Du Petit Thouars exhibited upon his person\nall the paraphernalia of his naval rank. He wore a richly decorated\nadmiral\'s frock-coat, a laced chapeau bras, and upon his breast were\na variety of ribbons and orders; while the simple islander, with the\nexception of a slight cincture about his loins, appeared in all the\nnakedness of nature.\n\nAt what an immeasurable distance, thought I, are these two beings\nremoved from each other. In the one is shown the result of long\ncenturies of progressive Civilization and refinement, which have\ngradually converted the mere creature into the semblance of all that is\nelevated and grand; while the other, after the lapse of the same period,\nhas not advanced one step in the career of improvement, \'Yet, after\nall,\' quoth I to myself, \'insensible as he is to a thousand wants, and\nremoved from harassing cares, may not the savage be the happier man of\nthe two?\' Such were the thoughts that arose in my mind as I gazed upon\nthe novel spectacle before me. In truth it was an impressive one,\nand little likely to be effaced. I can recall even now with vivid\ndistinctness every feature of the scene. The umbrageous shades where\nthe interview took place--the glorious tropical vegetation around--the\npicturesque grouping of the mingled throng of soldiery and natives--and\neven the golden-hued bunch of bananas that I held in my hand at the\ntime, and of which I occasionally partook while making the aforesaid\nphilosophical reflections.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER FIVE\n\nTHOUGHTS PREVIOUS TO ATTEMPTING AN ESCAPE--TOBY, A FELLOW SAILOR, AGREES\nTO SHARE THE ADVENTURE--LAST NIGHT ABOARD THE SHIP\n\nHAVING fully resolved to leave the vessel clandestinely, and having\nacquired all the knowledge concerning the bay that I could obtain under\nthe circumstances in which I was placed, I now deliberately turned over\nin my mind every plan to escape that suggested itself, being determined\nto act with all possible prudence in an attempt where failure would be\nattended with so many disagreeable consequences. The idea of being\ntaken and brought back ignominiously to the ship was so inexpressibly\nrepulsive to me, that I was determined by no hasty and imprudent\nmeasures to render such an event probable.\n\nI knew that our worthy captain, who felt, such a paternal solicitude\nfor the welfare of his crew, would not willingly consent that one of his\nbest hands should encounter the perils of a sojourn among the natives\nof a barbarous island; and I was certain that in the event of my\ndisappearance, his fatherly anxiety would prompt him to offer, by way of\na reward, yard upon yard of gaily printed calico for my apprehension.\nHe might even have appreciated my services at the value of a musket, in\nwhich case I felt perfectly certain that the whole population of the\nbay would be immediately upon my track, incited by the prospect of so\nmagnificent a bounty.\n\nHaving ascertained the fact before alluded to, that the islanders,--from\nmotives of precaution, dwelt altogether in the depths of the valleys,\nand avoided wandering about the more elevated portions of the shore,\nunless bound on some expedition of war or plunder, I concluded that if\nI could effect unperceived a passage to the mountain, I might easily\nremain among them, supporting myself by such fruits as came in my way\nuntil the sailing of the ship, an event of which I could not fail to be\nimmediately apprised, as from my lofty position I should command a view\nof the entire harbour.\n\nThe idea pleased me greatly. It seemed to combine a great deal of\npracticability with no inconsiderable enjoyment in a quiet way; for how\ndelightful it would be to look down upon the detested old vessel from\nthe height of some thousand feet, and contrast the verdant scenery about\nme with the recollection of her narrow decks and gloomy forecastle! Why,\nit was really refreshing even to think of it; and so I straightway fell\nto picturing myself seated beneath a cocoanut tree on the brow of the\nmountain, with a cluster of plantains within easy reach, criticizing her\nnautical evolutions as she was working her way out of the harbour.\n\nTo be sure there was one rather unpleasant drawback to these agreeable\nanticipations--the possibility of falling in with a foraging party of\nthese same bloody-minded Typees, whose appetites, edged perhaps by the\nair of so elevated a region, might prompt them to devour one. This, I\nmust confess, was a most disagreeable view of the matter.\n\nJust to think of a party of these unnatural gourmands taking it into\ntheir heads to make a convivial meal of a poor devil, who would have\nno means of escape or defence: however, there was no help for it. I was\nwilling to encounter some risks in order to accomplish my object, and\ncounted much upon my ability to elude these prowling cannibals amongst\nthe many coverts which the mountains afforded. Besides, the chances\nwere ten to one in my favour that they would none of them quit their own\nfastnesses.\n\nI had determined not to communicate my design of withdrawing from the\nvessel to any of my shipmates, and least of all to solicit any one to\naccompany me in my flight. But it so happened one night, that being upon\ndeck, revolving over in my mind various plans of escape, I perceived one\nof the ship\'s company leaning over the bulwarks, apparently plunged in a\nprofound reverie. He was a young fellow about my own age, for whom I\nhad all along entertained a great regard; and Toby, such was the name\nby which he went among us, for his real name he would never tell us, was\nevery way worthy of it. He was active, ready and obliging, of dauntless\ncourage, and singularly open and fearless in the expression of his\nfeelings. I had on more than one occasion got him out of scrapes into\nwhich this had led him; and I know not whether it was from this cause,\nor a certain congeniality of sentiment between us, that he had always\nshown a partiality for my society. We had battled out many a long watch\ntogether, beguiling the weary hours with chat, song, and story, mingled\nwith a good many imprecations upon the hard destiny it seemed our common\nfortune to encounter.\n\nToby, like myself, had evidently moved in a different sphere of life,\nand his conversation at times betrayed this, although he was anxious\nto conceal it. He was one of that class of rovers you sometimes meet\nat sea, who never reveal their origin, never allude to home, and go\nrambling over the world as if pursued by some mysterious fate they\ncannot possibly elude.\n\nThere was much even in the appearance of Toby calculated to draw me\ntowards him, for while the greater part of the crew were as coarse in\nperson as in mind, Toby was endowed with a remarkably prepossessing\nexterior. Arrayed in his blue frock and duck trousers, he was as smart a\nlooking sailor as ever stepped upon a deck; he was singularly small\nand slightly made, with great flexibility of limb. His naturally dark\ncomplexion had been deepened by exposure to the tropical sun, and a mass\nof jetty locks clustered about his temples, and threw a darker shade\ninto his large black eyes. He was a strange wayward being, moody,\nfitful, and melancholy--at times almost morose. He had a quick and fiery\ntemper too, which, when thoroughly roused, transported him into a state\nbordering on delirium.\n\nIt is strange the power that a mind of deep passion has over feebler\nnatures. I have seen a brawny, fellow, with no lack of ordinary courage,\nfairly quail before this slender stripling, when in one of his curious\nfits. But these paroxysms seldom occurred, and in them my big-hearted\nshipmate vented the bile which more calm-tempered individuals get rid of\nby a continual pettishness at trivial annoyances.\n\nNo one ever saw Toby laugh. I mean in the hearty abandonment of\nbroad-mouthed mirth. He did smile sometimes, it is true; and there was\na good deal of dry, sarcastic humour about him, which told the more from\nthe imperturbable gravity of his tone and manner.\n\nLatterly I had observed that Toby\'s melancholy had greatly increased,\nand I had frequently seen him since our arrival at the island gazing\nwistfully upon the shore, when the remainder of the crew would be\nrioting below. I was aware that he entertained a cordial detestation\nof the ship, and believed that, should a fair chance of escape present\nitself, he would embrace it willingly.\n\nBut the attempt was so perilous in the place where we then lay, that\nI supposed myself the only individual on board the ship who was\nsufficiently reckless to think of it. In this, however, I was mistaken.\n\nWhen I perceived Toby leaning, as I have mentioned, against the bulwarks\nand buried in thought, it struck me at once that the subject of his\nmeditations might be the same as my own. And if it be so, thought I,\nis he not the very one of all my shipmates whom I would choose: for the\npartner of my adventure? and why should I not have some comrade with me\nto divide its dangers and alleviate its hardships? Perhaps I might be\nobliged to lie concealed among the mountains for weeks. In such an event\nwhat a solace would a companion be?\n\nThese thoughts passed rapidly through my mind, and I wondered why I had\nnot before considered the matter in this light. But it was not too late.\nA tap upon the shoulder served to rouse Toby from his reverie; I found\nhim ripe for the enterprise, and a very few words sufficed for a mutual\nunderstanding between us. In an hour\'s time we had arranged all the\npreliminaries, and decided upon our plan of action. We then ratified our\nengagement with an affectionate wedding of palms, and to elude suspicion\nrepaired each to his hammock, to spend the last night on board the\nDolly.\n\nThe next day the starboard watch, to which we both belonged, was to be\nsent ashore on liberty; and, availing ourselves of this opportunity,\nwe determined, as soon after landing as possible, to separate ourselves\nfrom the rest of the men without exciting their suspicions, and strike\nback at once for the mountains. Seen from the ship, their summits\nappeared inaccessible, but here and there sloping spurs extended from\nthem almost into the sea, buttressing the lofty elevations with which\nthey were connected, and forming those radiating valleys I have before\ndescribed. One of these ridges, which appeared more practicable than the\nrest, we determined to climb, convinced that it would conduct us to\nthe heights beyond. Accordingly, we carefully observed its bearings and\nlocality from the ship, so that when ashore we should run no chance of\nmissing it.\n\nIn all this the leading object we had in view was to seclude ourselves\nfrom sight until the departure of the vessel; then to take our chance as\nto the reception the Nukuheva natives might give us; and after remaining\nupon the island as long as we found our stay agreeable, to leave it the\nfirst favourable opportunity that offered.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER SIX\n\nA SPECIMEN OF NAUTICAL ORATORY--CRITICISMS OF THE SAILORS--THE STARBOARD\nWATCH ARE GIVEN A HOLIDAY--THE ESCAPE TO THE MOUNTAINS\n\nEARLY the next morning the starboard watch were mustered upon the\nquarter-deck, and our worthy captain, standing in the cabin gangway,\nharangued us as follows:--\n\n\'Now, men, as we are just off a six months\' cruise, and have got through\nmost all our work in port here, I suppose you want to go ashore. Well, I\nmean to give your watch liberty today, so you may get ready as soon all\nyou please, and go; but understand this, I am going to give you liberty\nbecause I suppose you would growl like so many old quarter gunners if I\ndidn\'t; at the same time, if you\'ll take my advice, every mother\'s son\nof you will stay aboard and keep out of the way of the bloody cannibals\naltogether. Ten to one, men, if you go ashore, you will get into some\ninfernal row, and that will be the end of you; for if those tattooed\nscoundrels get you a little ways back into their valleys, they\'ll nab\nyou--that you may be certain of. Plenty of white men have gone ashore\nhere and never been seen any more. There was the old Dido, she put in\nhere about two years ago, and sent one watch off on liberty; they never\nwere heard of again for a week--the natives swore they didn\'t know where\nthey were--and only three of them ever got back to the ship again, and\none with his face damaged for life, for the cursed heathens tattooed a\nbroad patch clean across his figure-head. But it will be no use talking\nto you, for go you will, that I see plainly; so all I have to say is,\nthat you need not blame me if the islanders make a meal of you. You may\nstand some chance of escaping them though, if you keep close about the\nFrench encampment,--and are back to the ship again before sunset. Keep\nthat much in your mind, if you forget all the rest I\'ve been saying to\nyou. There, go forward: bear a hand and rig yourselves, and stand by for\na call. At two bells the boat will be manned to take you off, and the\nLord have mercy on you!\'\n\nVarious were the emotions depicted upon the countenances of the\nstarboard watch whilst listening to this address; but on its conclusion\nthere was a general move towards the forecastle, and we soon were\nall busily engaged in getting ready for the holiday so auspiciously\nannounced by the skipper. During these preparations his harangue was\ncommented upon in no very measured terms; and one of the party, after\ndenouncing him as a lying old son of a seacook who begrudged a fellow a\nfew hours\' liberty, exclaimed with an oath, \'But you don\'t bounce me out\nof my liberty, old chap, for all your yarns; for I would go ashore if\nevery pebble on the beach was a live coal, and every stick a gridiron,\nand the cannibals stood ready to broil me on landing.\'\n\nThe spirit of this sentiment was responded to by all hands, and we\nresolved that in spite of the captain\'s croakings we would make a\nglorious day of it.\n\nBut Toby and I had our own game to play, and we availed ourselves of\nthe confusion which always reigns among a ship\'s company preparatory to\ngoing ashore, to confer together and complete our arrangements. As our\nobject was to effect as rapid a flight as possible to the mountains, we\ndetermined not to encumber ourselves with any superfluous apparel; and\naccordingly, while the rest were rigging themselves out with some idea\nof making a display, we were content to put on new stout duck trousers,\nserviceable pumps, and heavy Havre-frocks, which with a Payta hat\ncompleted our equipment.\n\nWhen our shipmates wondered at this, Toby exclaimed in his odd grave way\nthat the rest might do, as they liked, but that he for one preserved\nhis go-ashore traps for the Spanish main, where the tie of a sailor\'s\nneckerchief might make some difference; but as for a parcel of\nunbreeched heathen, he wouldn\'t go to the bottom of his chest for any\nof them, and was half disposed to appear among them in buff himself. The\nmen laughed at what they thought was one of his strange conceits, and so\nwe escaped suspicion.\n\nIt may appear singular that we should have been thus on our guard with\nour own shipmates; but there were some among us who, had they possessed\nthe least inkling of our project, would, for a paltry hope of reward,\nhave immediately communicated it to the captain.\n\nAs soon as two bells were struck, the word was passed for the\nliberty-men to get into the boat. I lingered behind in the forecastle a\nmoment to take a parting glance at its familiar features, and just as\nI was about to ascend to the deck my eye happened to light on the\nbread-barge and beef-kid, which contained the remnants of our last hasty\nmeal. Although I had never before thought of providing anything in the\nway of food for our expedition, as I fully relied upon the fruits of the\nisland to sustain us wherever we might wander, yet I could not resist\nthe inclination I felt to provide luncheon from the relics before me.\nAccordingly I took a double handful of those small, broken, flinty bits\nof biscuit which generally go by the name of \'midshipmen\'s nuts\', and\nthrust them into the bosom of my frock in which same simple receptacle I\nhad previously stowed away several pounds of tobacco and a few yards of\ncotton cloth--articles with which I intended to purchase the good-will\nof the natives, as soon as we should appear among them after the\ndeparture of our vessel.\n\nThis last addition to my stock caused a considerable protuberance in\nfront, which I abated in a measure by shaking the bits of bread around\nmy waist, and distributing the plugs of tobacco among the folds of the\ngarment.\n\nHardly had I completed these arrangements when my name was sung out by a\ndozen voices, and I sprung upon the deck, where I found all the party in\nthe boat, and impatient to shove off. I dropped over the side and seated\nmyself with the rest of the watch in the stern sheets, while the poor\nlarboarders shipped their oars, and commenced pulling us ashore.\n\nThis happened to be the rainy season at the islands, and the heavens\nhad nearly the whole morning betokened one of those heavy showers which\nduring this period so frequently occur. The large drops fell bubbling\ninto the water shortly after our leaving the ship, and by the time we\nhad affected a landing it poured down in torrents. We fled for shelter\nunder cover of an immense canoe-house which stood hard by the beach, and\nwaited for the first fury of the storm to pass.\n\nIt continued, however, without cessation; and the monotonous beating of\nthe rain over head began to exert a drowsy influence upon the men, who,\nthrowing themselves here and there upon the large war-canoes, after\nchatting awhile, all fell asleep.\n\nThis was the opportunity we desired, and Toby and I availed ourselves\nof it at once by stealing out of the canoe-house and plunging into the\ndepths of an extensive grove that was in its rear. After ten minutes\'\nrapid progress we gained an open space from which we could just descry\nthe ridge we intended to mount looming dimly through the mists of the\ntropical shower, and distant from us, as we estimated, something more\nthan a mile. Our direct course towards it lay through a rather populous\npart of the bay; but desirous as we were of evading the natives and\nsecuring an unmolested retreat to the mountains, we determined, by\ntaking a circuit through some extensive thickets, to avoid their\nvicinity altogether.\n\nThe heavy rain that still continued to fall without intermission\nfavoured our enterprise, as it drove the islanders into their houses,\nand prevented any casual meeting with them. Our heavy frocks soon became\ncompletely saturated with water, and by their weight, and that of\nthe articles we had concealed beneath them, not a little impeded our\nprogress. But it was no time to pause when at any moment we might be\nsurprised by a body of the savages, and forced at the very outset to\nrelinquish our undertaking.\n\nSince leaving the canoe-house we had scarcely exchanged a single\nsyllable with one another; but when we entered a second narrow opening\nin the wood, and again caught sight of the ridge before us, I took Toby\nby the arm, and pointing along its sloping outline to the lofty heights\nat its extremity, said in a low tone, \'Now, Toby, not a word, nor a\nglance backward, till we stand on the summit of yonder mountain--so no\nmore lingering but let us shove ahead while we can, and in a few hours\'\ntime we may laugh aloud. You are the lightest and the nimblest, so lead\non, and I will follow.\'\n\n\'All right, brother,\' said Toby, \'quick\'s our play; only lets keep close\ntogether, that\'s all;\' and so saying with a bound like a young roe, he\ncleared a brook which ran across our path, and rushed forward with a\nquick step.\n\nWhen we arrived within a short distance of the ridge, we were stopped by\na mass of tall yellow reeds, growing together as thickly as they could\nstand, and as tough and stubborn as so many rods of steel; and we\nperceived, to our chagrin, that they extended midway up the elevation we\nproposed to ascend.\n\nFor a moment we gazed about us in quest of a more practicable route; it\nwas, however, at once apparent that there was no resource but to pierce\nthis thicket of canes at all hazards. We now reversed our order of\nmarch, I, being the heaviest, taking the lead, with a view of breaking a\npath through the obstruction, while Toby fell into the rear.\n\nTwo or three times I endeavoured to insinuate myself between the canes,\nand by dint of coaxing and bending them to make some progress; but a\nbull-frog might as well have tried to work a passage through the teeth\nof a comb, and I gave up the attempt in despair.\n\nHalf wild with meeting an obstacle we had so little anticipated, I threw\nmyself desperately against it, crushing to the ground the canes with\nwhich I came in contact, and, rising to my feet again, repeated the\naction with like effect. Twenty minutes of this violent exercise almost\nexhausted me, but it carried us some way into the thicket; when Toby,\nwho had been reaping the benefit of my labours by following close at my\nheels, proposed to become pioneer in turn, and accordingly passed ahead\nwith a view of affording me a respite from my exertions. As however\nwith his slight frame he made but bad work of it, I was soon obliged to\nresume my old place again. On we toiled, the perspiration starting from\nour bodies in floods, our limbs torn and lacerated with the splintered\nfragments of the broken canes, until we had proceeded perhaps as far\nas the middle of the brake, when suddenly it ceased raining, and the\natmosphere around us became close and sultry beyond expression. The\nelasticity of the reeds quickly recovering from the temporary pressure\nof our bodies, caused them to spring back to their original position;\nso that they closed in upon us as we advanced, and prevented the\ncirculation of little air which might otherwise have reached us.\nBesides this, their great height completely shut us out from the view of\nsurrounding objects, and we were not certain but that we might have been\ngoing all the time in a wrong direction.\n\nFatigued with my long-continued efforts, and panting for breath, I felt\nmyself completely incapacitated for any further exertion. I rolled up\nthe sleeve of my frock, and squeezed the moisture it contained into\nmy parched mouth. But the few drops I managed to obtain gave me little\nrelief, and I sank down for a moment with a sort of dogged apathy, from\nwhich I was aroused by Toby, who had devised a plan to free us from the\nnet in which we had become entangled.\n\nHe was laying about him lustily with his sheath-knive, lopping the canes\nright and left, like a reaper, and soon made quite a clearing around us.\nThis sight reanimated me; and seizing my own knife, I hacked and hewed\naway without mercy. But alas! the farther we advanced the thicker and\ntaller, and apparently the more interminable, the reeds became.\n\nI began to think we were fairly snared, and had almost made up my mind\nthat without a pair of wings we should never be able to escape from the\ntoils; when all at once I discerned a peep of daylight through the canes\non my right, and, communicating the joyful tidings to Toby, we both fell\nto with fresh spirit, and speedily opening the passage towards it we\nfound ourselves clear of perplexities, and in the near vicinity of the\nridge. After resting for a few moments we began the ascent, and after\na little vigorous climbing found ourselves close to its summit. Instead\nhowever of walking along its ridge, where we should have been in full\nview of the natives in the vales beneath, and at a point where they\ncould easily intercept us were they so inclined, we cautiously advanced\non one side, crawling on our hands and knees, and screened from\nobservation by the grass through which we glided, much in the fashion of\na couple of serpents. After an hour employed in this unpleasant kind\nof locomotion, we started to our feet again and pursued our way boldly\nalong the crest of the ridge.\n\nThis salient spur of the lofty elevations that encompassed the bay rose\nwith a sharp angle from the valleys at its base, and presented, with the\nexception of a few steep acclivities, the appearance of a vast inclined\nplane, sweeping down towards the sea from the heights in the distance.\nWe had ascended it near the place of its termination and at its lowest\npoint, and now saw our route to the mountains distinctly defined along\nits narrow crest, which was covered with a soft carpet of verdure, and\nwas in many parts only a few feet wide.\n\nElated with the success which had so far attended our enterprise, and\ninvigorated by the refreshing atmosphere we now inhaled, Toby and I in\nhigh spirits were making our way rapidly along the ridge, when suddenly\nfrom the valleys below which lay on either side of us we heard the\ndistant shouts of the natives, who had just descried us, and to whom our\nfigures, brought in bold relief against the sky, were plainly revealed.\n\nGlancing our eyes into these valleys, we perceived their savage\ninhabitants hurrying to and fro, seemingly under the influence of some\nsudden alarm, and appearing to the eye scarcely bigger than so many\npigmies; while their white thatched dwellings, dwarfed by the distance,\nlooked like baby-houses. As we looked down upon the islanders from our\nlofty elevation, we experienced a sense of security; feeling confident\nthat, should they undertake a pursuit, it would, from the start we\nnow had, prove entirely fruitless, unless they followed us into the\nmountains, where we knew they cared not to venture.\n\nHowever, we thought it as well to make the most of our time; and\naccordingly, where the ground would admit of it, we ran swiftly along\nthe summit of the ridge, until we were brought to a stand by a steep\ncliff, which at first seemed to interpose an effectual barrier to our\nfarther advance. By dint of much hard scrambling however, and at some\nrisk to our necks, we at last surmounted it, and continued our fight\nwith unabated celerity.\n\nWe had left the beach early in the morning, and after an uninterrupted,\nthough at times difficult and dangerous ascent, during which we had\nnever once turned our faces to the sea, we found ourselves, about\nthree hours before sunset, standing on the top of what seemed to be the\nhighest land on the island, an immense overhanging cliff composed of\nbasaltic rocks, hung round with parasitical plants. We must have been\nmore than three thousand feet above the level of the sea, and the\nscenery viewed from this height was magnificent.\n\nThe lonely bay of Nukuheva, dotted here and there with the black hulls\nof the vessels composing the French squadron, lay reposing at the base\nof a circular range of elevations, whose verdant sides, perforated with\ndeep glens or diversified with smiling valleys, formed altogether the\nloveliest view I ever beheld, and were I to live a hundred years, I\nshall never forget the feeling of admiration which I then experienced.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER SEVEN\n\nTHE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN--DISAPPOINTMENT--INVENTORY OF ARTICLES\nBROUGHT FROM THE SHIP--DIVISION OF THE STOCK OF BREAD--APPEARANCE OF\nTHE INTERIOR OF THE ISLAND--A DISCOVERY--A RAVINE AND WATERFALLS--A\nSLEEPLESS NIGHT--FURTHER DISCOVERIES--MY ILLNESS--A MARQUESAN LANDSCAPE\n\nMY curiosity had been not a little raised with regard to the description\nof country we should meet on the other side of the mountains; and I had\nsupposed, with Toby, that immediately on gaining the heights we should\nbe enabled to view the large bays of Happar and Typee reposing at our\nfeet on one side, in the same way that Nukuheva lay spread out below\non the other. But here we were disappointed. Instead of finding the\nmountain we had ascended sweeping down in the opposite direction into\nbroad and capacious valleys, the land appeared to retain its general\nelevation, only broken into a series of ridges and inter-vales which\nso far as the eye could reach stretched away from us, with their\nprecipitous sides covered with the brightest verdure, and waving here\nand there with the foliage of clumps of woodland; among which, however,\nwe perceived none of those trees upon whose fruit we had relied with\nsuch certainty.\n\nThis was a most unlooked-for discovery, and one that promised to defeat\nour plans altogether, for we could not think of descending the mountain\non the Nukuheva side in quest of food. Should we for this purpose\nbe induced to retrace our steps, we should run no small chance of\nencountering the natives, who in that case, if they did nothing worse to\nus, would be certain to convey us back to the ship for the sake of the\nreward in calico and trinkets, which we had no doubt our skipper would\nhold out to them as an inducement to our capture.\n\nWhat was to be done? The Dolly would not sail perhaps for ten days, and\nhow were we to sustain life during this period? I bitterly repented our\nimprovidence in not providing ourselves, as we easily might have done,\nwith a supply of biscuits. With a rueful visage I now bethought me of\nthe scanty handful of bread I had stuffed into the bosom of my frock,\nand felt somewhat desirous to ascertain what part of it had weathered\nthe rather rough usage it had experienced in ascending the mountain.\nI accordingly proposed to Toby that we should enter into a joint\nexamination of the various articles we had brought from the ship.\n\nWith this intent we seated ourselves upon the grass; and a little\ncurious to see with what kind of judgement my companion had filled\nhis frock--which I remarked seemed about as well lined as my own--I\nrequested him to commence operations by spreading out its contents.\n\nThrusting his hand, then, into the bosom of this capacious receptacle,\nhe first brought to light about a pound of tobacco, whose component\nparts still adhered together, the whole outside being covered with\nsoft particles of sea-bread. Wet and dripping, it had the appearance of\nhaving been just recovered from the bottom of the sea. But I paid\nslight attention to a substance of so little value to us in our present\nsituation, as soon as I perceived the indications it gave of Toby\'s\nforesight in laying in a supply of food for the expedition.\n\nI eagerly inquired what quantity he had brought with him, when rummaging\nonce more beneath his garment, he produced a small handful of something\nso soft, pulpy, and discoloured, that for a few moments he was as\nmuch puzzled as myself to tell by what possible instrumentality such\na villainous compound had become engendered in his bosom. I can only\ndescribe it as a hash of soaked bread and bits of tobacco, brought to\na doughy consistency by the united agency of perspiration and rain.\nBut repulsive as it might otherwise have been, I now regarded it as\nan invaluable treasure, and proceeded with great care to transfer this\npaste-like mass to a large leaf which I had plucked from a bush beside\nme. Toby informed me that in the morning he had placed two whole\nbiscuits in his bosom, with a view of munching them, should he feel so\ninclined, during our flight. These were now reduced to the equivocal\nsubstance which I had just placed on the leaf.\n\nAnother dive into the frock brought to view some four or five yards of\ncalico print, whose tasteful pattern was rather disfigured by the yellow\nstains of the tobacco with which it had been brought in contact. In\ndrawing this calico slowly from his bosom inch by inch, Toby reminded\nme of a juggler performing the feat of the endless ribbon. The next\ncast was a small one, being a sailor\'s little \'ditty bag\', containing\nneedles, thread, and other sewing utensils, then came a razor-case,\nfollowed by two or three separate plugs of negro-head, which were fished\nup from the bottom of the now empty receptacle. These various matters,\nbeing inspected, I produced the few things which I had myself brought.\n\nAs might have been anticipated from the state of my companion\'s edible\nsupplies, I found my own in a deplorable condition, and diminished to a\nquantity that would not have formed half a dozen mouthfuls for a hungry\nman who was partial enough to tobacco not to mind swallowing it. A\nfew morsels of bread, with a fathom or two of white cotton cloth, and\nseveral pounds of choice pigtail, composed the extent of my possessions.\n\nOur joint stock of miscellaneous articles were now made up into a\ncompact bundle, which it was agreed we should carry alternately. But the\nsorry remains of the biscuit were not to be disposed of so summarily:\nthe precarious circumstances in which we were placed made us regard them\nas something on which very probably, depended the fate of our adventure.\nAfter a brief discussion, in which we both of us expressed our\nresolution of not descending into the bay until the ship\'s departure,\nI suggested to my companion that little of it as there was, we should\ndivide the bread into six equal portions, each of which should be a\nday\'s allowance for both of us. This proposition he assented to; so I\ntook the silk kerchief from my neck, and cutting it with my knife into\nhalf a dozen equal pieces, proceeded to make an exact division.\n\nAt first, Toby with a degree of fastidiousness that seemed to me\nill-timed, was for picking out the minute particles of tobacco\nwith which the spongy mass was mixed; but against this proceeding I\nprotested, as by such an operation we must have greatly diminished its\nquantity.\n\nWhen the division was accomplished, we found that a day\'s allowance for\nthe two was not a great deal more than what a table-spoon might hold.\nEach separate portion we immediately rolled up in the bit of silk\nprepared for it, and joining them all together into a small package, I\ncommitted them, with solemn injunctions of fidelity, to the custody of\nToby. For the remainder of that day we resolved to fast, as we had been\nfortified by a breakfast in the morning; and now starting again to our\nfeet, we looked about us for a shelter during the night, which, from the\nappearance of the heavens, promised to be a dark and tempestuous one.\n\nThere was no place near us which would in any way answer our purpose,\nso turning our backs upon Nukuheva, we commenced exploring the unknown\nregions which lay upon the other side of the mountain.\n\nIn this direction, as far as our vision extended, not a sign of life,\nnor anything that denoted even the transient residence of man, could be\nseen. The whole landscape seemed one unbroken solitude, the interior of\nthe island having apparently been untenanted since the morning of the\ncreation; and as we advanced through this wilderness, our voices\nsounded strangely in our ears, as though human accents had never before\ndisturbed the fearful silence of the place, interrupted only by the low\nmurmurings of distant waterfalls.\n\nOur disappointment, however, in not finding the various fruits with\nwhich we had intended to regale ourselves during our stay in these\nwilds, was a good deal lessened by the consideration that from this very\ncircumstance we should be much less exposed to a casual meeting with the\nsavage tribes about us, who we knew always dwelt beneath the shadows of\nthose trees which supplied them with food.\n\nWe wandered along, casting eager glances into every bush we passed,\nuntil just as we had succeeded in mounting one of the many ridges that\nintersected the ground, I saw in the grass before me something like an\nindistinctly traced footpath, which appeared to lead along the top of\nthe ridge, and to descend--with it into a deep ravine about half a mile\nin advance of us.\n\nRobinson Crusoe could not have been more startled at the footprint in\nthe sand than we were at this unwelcome discovery. My first impulse was\nto make as rapid a retreat as possible, and bend our steps in some\nother direction; but our curiosity to see whither this path might lead,\nprompted us to pursue it. So on we went, the track becoming more and\nmore visible the farther we proceeded, until it conducted us to the\nverge of the ravine, where it abruptly terminated.\n\n\'And so,\' said Toby, peering down into the chasm, \'everyone that travels\nthis path takes a jump here, eh?\'\n\n\'Not so,\' said I, \'for I think they might manage to descend without it;\nwhat say you,--shall we attempt the feat?\'\n\n\'And what, in the name of caves and coal-holes, do you expect to find at\nthe bottom of that gulf but a broken neck--why it looks blacker than our\nship\'s hold, and the roar of those waterfalls down there would batter\none\'s brains to pieces.\'\n\n\'Oh, no, Toby,\' I exclaimed, laughing; \'but there\'s something to be seen\nhere, that\'s plain, or there would have been no path, and I am resolved\nto find out what it is.\'\n\n\'I will tell you what, my pleasant fellow,\' rejoined Toby quickly, \'if\nyou are going to pry into everything you meet with here that excites\nyour curiosity, you will marvellously soon get knocked on the head; to\na dead certainty you will come bang upon a party of these savages in the\nmidst of your discovery-makings, and I doubt whether such an event would\nparticularly delight you, just take my advice for once, and let us \'bout\nship and steer in some other direction; besides, it\'s getting late and\nwe ought to be mooring ourselves for the night.\'\n\n\'That is just the thing I have been driving at,\' replied I; \'and I am\nthinking that this ravine will exactly answer our purpose, for it is\nroomy, secluded, well watered, and may shelter us from the weather.\'\n\n\'Aye, and from sleep too, and by the same token will give us sore\nthroats, and rheumatisms into the bargain,\' cried Toby, with evident\ndislike at the idea.\n\n\'Oh, very well then, my lad,\' said I, \'since you will not accompany me,\nhere I go alone. You will see me in the morning;\' and advancing to the\nedge of the cliff upon which we had been standing, I proceeded to lower\nmyself down by the tangled roots which clustered about all the crevices\nof the rock. As I had anticipated, Toby, in spite of his previous\nremonstrances, followed my example, and dropping himself with the\nactivity of a squirrel from point to point, he quickly outstripped\nme and effected a landing at the bottom before I had accomplished\ntwo-thirds of the descent.\n\nThe sight that now greeted us was one that will ever be vividly\nimpressed upon my mind. Five foaming streams, rushing through as many\ngorges, and swelled and turbid by the recent rains, united together in\none mad plunge of nearly eighty feet, and fell with wild uproar into a\ndeep black pool scooped out of the gloomy looking rocks that lay piled\naround, and thence in one collected body dashed down a narrow sloping\nchannel which seemed to penetrate into the very bowels of the earth.\nOverhead, vast roots of trees hung down from the sides of the ravine\ndripping with moisture, and trembling with the concussions produced by\nthe fall. It was now sunset, and the feeble uncertain light that found\nits way into these caverns and woody depths heightened their strange\nappearance, and reminded us that in a short time we should find\nourselves in utter darkness.\n\nAs soon as I had satisfied my curiosity by gazing at this scene, I fell\nto wondering how it was that what we had taken for a path should have\nconducted us to so singular a place, and began to suspect that after all\nI might have been deceived in supposing it to have been a trick\nformed by the islanders. This was rather an agreeable reflection than\notherwise, for it diminished our dread of accidentally meeting with any\nof them, and I came to the conclusion that perhaps we could not have\nselected a more secure hiding-place than this very spot we had so\naccidentally hit upon.\n\nToby agreed with me in this view of the matter, and we immediately began\ngathering together the limbs of trees which lay scattered about, with\nthe view of constructing a temporary hut for the night. This we were\nobliged to build close to the foot of the cataract, for the current of\nwater extended very nearly to the sides of the gorge. The few moments\nof light that remained we employed in covering our hut with a species of\nbroad-bladed grass that grew in every fissure of the ravine. Our hut,\nif it deserved to be called one, consisted of six or eight of the\nstraightest branches we could find laid obliquely against the steep wall\nof rock, with their lower ends within a foot of the stream. Into the\nspace thus covered over we managed to crawl, and dispose our wearied\nbodies as best we could.\n\nShall I ever forget that horrid night! As for poor Toby, I could\nscarcely get a word out of him. It would have been some consolation to\nhave heard his voice, but he lay shivering the live-long night like a\nman afflicted with the palsy, with his knees drawn up to his head, while\nhis back was supported against the dripping side of the rock. During\nthis wretched night there seemed nothing wanting to complete the perfect\nmisery of our condition. The rain descended in such torrents that our\npoor shelter proved a mere mockery. In vain did I try to elude the\nincessant streams that poured upon me; by protecting one part I only\nexposed another, and the water was continually finding some new opening\nthrough which to drench us.\n\nI have had many a ducking in the course of my life, and in general\ncared little about it; but the accumulated horrors of that night, the\ndeathlike coldness of the place, the appalling darkness and the dismal\nsense of our forlorn condition, almost unmanned me.\n\nIt will not be doubted that the next morning we were early risers, and\nas soon as I could catch the faintest glimpse of anything like daylight\nI shook my companion by the arm, and told him it was sunrise. Poor Toby\nlifted up his head, and after a moment\'s pause said, in a husky voice,\n\'Then, shipmate, my toplights have gone out, for it appears darker now\nwith my eyes open that it did when they were shut.\'\n\n\'Nonsense!\' exclaimed I; \'You are not awake yet.\'\n\n\'Awake!\' roared Toby in a rage, \'awake! You mean to insinuate I\'ve been\nasleep, do you? It is an insult to a man to suppose he could sleep in\nsuch an infernal place as this.\'\n\nBy the time I had apologized to my friend for having misconstrued his\nsilence, it had become somewhat more light, and we crawled out of our\nlair. The rain had ceased, but everything around us was dripping with\nmoisture. We stripped off our saturated garments, and wrung them as dry\nas we could. We contrived to make the blood circulate in our benumbed\nlimbs by rubbing them vigorously with our hands; and after performing\nour ablutions in the stream, and putting on our still wet clothes,\nwe began to think it advisable to break our long fast, it being now\ntwenty-four hours since we had tasted food.\n\nAccordingly our day\'s ration was brought out, and seating ourselves on a\ndetached fragment of rock, we proceeded to discuss it. First we divided\nit into two equal portions, and carefully rolling one of them up for our\nevening\'s repast, divided the remainder again as equally as possible,\nand then drew lots for the first choice. I could have placed the morsel\nthat fell to my share upon the tip of my finger; but notwithstanding\nthis I took care that it should be full ten minutes before I had\nswallowed the last crumb. What a true saying it is that \'appetite\nfurnishes the best sauce.\' There was a flavour and a relish to this\nsmall particle of food that under other circumstances it would have\nbeen impossible for the most delicate viands to have imparted. A copious\ndraught of the pure water which flowed at our feet served to complete\nthe meal, and after it we rose sensibly refreshed, and prepared for\nwhatever might befall us.\n\nWe now carefully examined the chasm in which we had passed the night.\nWe crossed the stream, and gaining the further side of the pool I have\nmentioned, discovered proofs that the spot must have been visited by\nsome one but a short time previous to our arrival. Further observation\nconvinced us that it had been regularly frequented, and, as we\nafterwards conjectured from particular indications, for the purpose\nof obtaining a certain root, from which the natives obtained a kind of\nointment.\n\nThese discoveries immediately determined us to abandon a place which\nhad presented no inducement for us to remain, except the promise of\nsecurity; and as we looked about us for the means of ascending again\ninto the upper regions, we at last found a practicable part of the rock,\nand half an hour\'s toil carried us to the summit of the same cliff from\nwhich the preceding evening we had descended.\n\nI now proposed to Toby that instead of rambling about the island,\nexposing ourselves to discovery at every turn, we should select some\nplace as our fixed abode for as long a period as our food should\nhold out, build ourselves a comfortable hut, and be as prudent and\ncircumspect as possible. To all this my companion assented, and we at\nonce set about carrying the plan into execution.\n\nWith this view, after exploring without success a little glen near us,\nwe crossed several of the ridges of which I have before spoken; and\nabout noon found ourselves ascending a long and gradually rising slope,\nbut still without having discovered any place adapted to our purpose.\nLow and heavy clouds betokened an approaching storm, and we hurried on\nto gain a covert in a clump of thick bushes, which appeared to terminate\nthe long ascent. We threw ourselves under the lee of these bushes, and\npulling up the long grass that grew around, covered ourselves completely\nwith it, and awaited the shower.\n\nBut it did not come as soon as we had expected, and before many minutes\nmy companion was fast asleep, and I was rapidly falling into the same\nstate of happy forgetfulness. Just at this juncture, however, down came\nthe rain with the violence that put all thoughts of slumber to flight.\nAlthough in some measure sheltered, our clothes soon became as wet\nas ever; this, after all the trouble we had taken to dry them, was\nprovoking enough: but there was no help for it; and I recommend all\nadventurous youths who abandon vessels in romantic islands during the\nrainy season to provide themselves with umbrellas.\n\nAfter an hour or so the shower passed away. My companion slept through\nit all, or at least appeared so to do; and now that it was over I had\nnot the heart to awaken him. As I lay on my back completely shrouded\nwith verdure, the leafy branches drooping over me, my limbs buried\nin grass, I could not avoid comparing our situation with that of the\ninteresting babes in the wood. Poor little sufferers!--no wonder their\nconstitutions broke down under the hardships to which they were exposed.\n\nDuring the hour or two spent under the shelter of these bushes, I began\nto feel symptoms which I at once attributed to the exposure of the\npreceding night. Cold shiverings and a burning fever succeeded one\nanother at intervals, while one of my legs was swelled to such a degree,\nand pained me so acutely, that I half suspected I had been bitten by\nsome venomous reptile, the congenial inhabitant of the chasm from which\nwe had lately emerged. I may here remark by the way--what I subsequently\ngleamed--that all the islands of Polynesia enjoy the reputation, in\ncommon with the Hibernian isle, of being free from the presence of any\nvipers; though whether Saint Patrick ever visited them, is a question I\nshall not attempt to decide.\n\nAs the feverish sensation increased upon me I tossed about, still\nunwilling to disturb my slumbering companion, from whose side I removed\ntwo or three yards. I chanced to push aside a branch, and by so doing\nsuddenly disclosed to my view a scene which even now I can recall with\nall the vividness of the first impression. Had a glimpse of the gardens\nof Paradise been revealed to me, I could scarcely have been more\nravished with the sight.\n\nFrom the spot where I lay transfixed with surprise and delight, I looked\nstraight down into the bosom of a valley, which swept away in long wavy\nundulations to the blue waters in the distance. Midway towards the\nsea, and peering here and there amidst the foliage, might be seen the\npalmetto-thatched houses of its inhabitants glistening in the sun that\nhad bleached them to a dazzling whiteness. The vale was more than three\nleagues in length, and about a mile across at its greatest width.\n\nOn either side it appeared hemmed in by steep and green acclivities,\nwhich, uniting near the spot where I lay, formed an abrupt and\nsemicircular termination of grassy cliffs and precipices hundreds of\nfeet in height, over which flowed numberless small cascades. But the\ncrowning beauty of the prospect was its universal verdure; and in this\nindeed consists, I believe, the peculiar charm of every Polynesian\nlandscape. Everywhere below me, from the base of the precipice upon\nwhose very verge I had been unconsciously reposing, the surface of the\nvale presented a mass of foliage, spread with such rich profusion\nthat it was impossible to determine of what description of trees it\nconsisted.\n\nBut perhaps there was nothing about the scenery I beheld more impressive\nthan those silent cascades, whose slender threads of water, after\nleaping down the steep cliffs, were lost amidst the rich herbage of the\nvalley.\n\nOver all the landscape there reigned the most hushed repose, which I\nalmost feared to break, lest, like the enchanted gardens in the fairy\ntale, a single syllable might dissolve the spell. For a long time,\nforgetful alike of my own situation, and the vicinity of my still\nslumbering companion, I remained gazing around me, hardly able to\ncomprehend by what means I had thus suddenly been made a spectator of\nsuch a scene.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER EIGHT\n\nTHE IMPORTANT QUESTION, TYPEE OR HAPPAR?--A WILD GOOSE CHASE--MY\nSUFFERINGS--DISHEARTENING SITUATION--A NIGHT IN A RAVINE--MORNING\nMEAL--HAPPY IDEA OF TOBY--JOURNEY TOWARDS THE VALLEY\n\nRECOVERING from my astonishment at the beautiful scene before me, I\nquickly awakened Toby, and informed him of the discovery I had made.\nTogether we now repaired to the border of the precipice, and my\ncompanion\'s admiration was equal to my own. A little reflection,\nhowever, abated our surprise at coming so unexpectedly upon this valley,\nsince the large vales of Happar and Typee, lying upon this side of\nNukuheva, and extending a considerable distance from the sea towards the\ninterior, must necessarily terminate somewhere about this point.\n\nThe question now was as to which of those two places we were looking\ndown upon. Toby insisted that it was the abode of the Happar, and I that\nit was tenanted by their enemies the ferocious Typees. To be sure I was\nnot entirely convinced by my own arguments, but Toby\'s proposition to\ndescend at once into the valley, and partake of the hospitality of its\ninmates, seemed to me to be risking so much upon the strength of a mere\nsupposition, that I resolved to oppose it until we had more evidence to\nproceed upon.\n\nThe point was one of vital importance, as the natives of Happar were\nnot only at peace with Nukuheva, but cultivated with its inhabitants the\nmost friendly relations, and enjoyed besides a reputation for gentleness\nand humanity which led us to expect from them, if not a cordial\nreception, at least a shelter during the short period we should remain\nin their territory.\n\nOn the other hand, the very name of Typee struck a panic into my heart\nwhich I did not attempt to disguise. The thought of voluntarily throwing\nourselves into the hands of these cruel savages, seemed to me an act\nof mere madness; and almost equally so the idea of venturing into the\nvalley, uncertain by which of these two tribes it was inhabited. That\nthe vale at our feet was tenanted by one of them, was a point that\nappeared to us past all doubt, since we knew that they resided in this\nquarter, although our information did not enlighten us further.\n\nMy companion, however, incapable of resisting the tempting prospect\nwhich the place held out of an abundant supply of food and other means\nof enjoyment, still clung to his own inconsiderate view of the subject,\nnor could all my reasoning shake it. When I reminded him that it was\nimpossible for either of us to know anything with certainty, and when\nI dwelt upon the horrible fate we should encounter were we rashly\nto descend into the valley, and discover too late the error we had\ncommitted, he replied by detailing all the evils of our present\ncondition, and the sufferings we must undergo should we continue to\nremain where we then were.\n\nAnxious to draw him away from the subject, if possible--for I saw\nthat it would be in vain to attempt changing his mind--I directed his\nattention to a long bright unwooded tract of land which, sweeping down\nfrom the elevations in the interior, descended into the valley before\nus. I then suggested to him that beyond this ridge might lie a capacious\nand untenanted valley, abounding with all manner of delicious fruits;\nfor I had heard that there were several such upon the island, and\nproposed that we should endeavour to reach it, and if we found our\nexpectations realized we should at once take refuge in it and remain\nthere as long as we pleased.\n\nHe acquiesced in the suggestion; and we immediately, therefore, began\nsurveying the country lying before us, with a view of determining upon\nthe best route for us to pursue; but it presented little choice, the\nwhole interval being broken into steep ridges, divided by dark ravines,\nextending in parallel lines at right angles to our direct course. All\nthese we would be obliged to cross before we could hope to arrive at our\ndestination.\n\nA weary journey! But we decided to undertake it, though, for my own\npart, I felt little prepared to encounter its fatigues, shivering and\nburning by turns with the ague and fever; for I know not how else to\ndescribe the alternate sensations I experienced, and suffering not\na little from the lameness which afflicted me. Added to this was the\nfaintness consequent on our meagre diet--a calamity in which Toby\nparticipated to the same extent as myself.\n\nThese circumstances, however, only augmented my anxiety to reach a place\nwhich promised us plenty and repose, before I should be reduced to a\nstate which would render me altogether unable to perform the journey.\nAccordingly we now commenced it by descending the almost perpendicular\nside of a steep and narrow gorge, bristling with a thick growth of\nreeds. Here there was but one mode for us to adopt. We seated ourselves\nupon the ground, and guided our descent by catching at the canes in our\npath. This velocity with which we thus slid down the side of the ravine\nsoon brought us to a point where we could use our feet, and in a short\ntime we arrived at the edge of the torrent, which rolled impetuously\nalong the bed of the chasm.\n\nAfter taking a refreshing draught from the water of the stream, we\naddressed ourselves to a much more difficult undertaking than the last.\nEvery foot of our late descent had to be regained in ascending the\nopposite side of the gorge--an operation rendered the less agreeable\nfrom the consideration that in these perpendicular episodes we did not\nprogress a hundred yards on our journey. But, ungrateful as the task\nwas, we set about it with exemplary patience, and after a snail-like\nprogress of an hour or more, had scaled perhaps one half of the\ndistance, when the fever which had left me for a while returned with\nsuch violence, and accompanied by so raging a thirst, that it required\nall the entreaties of Toby to prevent me from losing all the fruits of\nmy late exertion, by precipitating myself madly down the cliffs we had\njust climbed, in quest of the water which flowed so temptingly at their\nbase. At the moment all my hopes and fears appeared to be merged in\nthis one desire, careless of the consequences that might result from its\ngratification. I am aware of no feeling, either of pleasure or of pain,\nthat so completely deprives one of an power to resist its impulses, as\nthis same raging thirst.\n\nToby earnestly conjured me to continue the ascent, assuring me that a\nlittle more exertion would bring us to the summit, and that then in less\nthan five minutes we should find ourselves at the brink of the stream,\nwhich must necessarily flow on the other side of the ridge.\n\n\'Do not,\' he exclaimed, \'turn back, now that we have proceeded thus far;\nfor I tell you that neither of us will have the courage to repeat the\nattempt, if once more we find ourselves looking up to where we now are\nfrom the bottom of these rocks!\'\n\nI was not yet so perfectly beside myself as to be heedless of these\nrepresentations, and therefore toiled on, ineffectually endeavouring to\nappease the thirst which consumed me, by thinking that in a short time I\nshould be able to gratify it to my heart\'s content.\n\nAt last we gained the top of the second elevation, the loftiest of\nthose I have described as extending in parallel lines between us and the\nvalley we desired to reach. It commanded a view of the whole intervening\ndistance; and, discouraged as I was by other circumstances, this\nprospect plunged me into the very depths of despair. Nothing but dark\nand fearful chasms, separated by sharp-crested and perpendicular ridges\nas far as the eye could reach. Could we have stepped from summit\nto summit of these steep but narrow elevations we could easily have\naccomplished the distance; but we must penetrate to the bottom of every\nyawning gulf, and scale in succession every one of the eminences before\nus. Even Toby, although not suffering as I did, was not proof against\nthe disheartening influences of the sight.\n\nBut we did not long stand to contemplate it, impatient as I was to reach\nthe waters of the torrent which flowed beneath us. With an insensibility\nto danger which I cannot call to mind without shuddering, we threw\nourselves down the depths of the ravine, startling its savage solitudes\nwith the echoes produced by the falling fragments of rock we every\nmoment dislodged from their places, careless of the insecurity of our\nfooting, and reckless whether the slight roots and twigs we clutched at\nsustained us for the while, or treacherously yielded to our grasp. For\nmy own part, I scarcely knew whether I was helplessly falling from the\nheights above, or whether the fearful rapidity with which I descended\nwas an act of my own volition.\n\nIn a few minutes we reached the foot of the gorge, and kneeling upon\na small ledge of dripping rocks, I bent over to the stream. What a\ndelicious sensation was I now to experience! I paused for a second to\nconcentrate all my capabilities of enjoyment, and then immerged my lips\nin the clear element before me. Had the apples of Sodom turned to ashes\nin my mouth, I could not have felt a more startling revulsion. A single\ndrop of the cold fluid seemed to freeze every drop of blood in my body;\nthe fever that had been burning in my veins gave place on the instant to\ndeath-like chills, which shook me one after another like so many shocks\nof electricity, while the perspiration produced by my late violent\nexertions congealed in icy beads upon my forehead. My thirst was gone,\nand I fairly loathed the water. Starting to my feet, the sight of those\ndank rocks, oozing forth moisture at every crevice, and the dark\nstream shooting along its dismal channel, sent fresh chills through\nmy shivering frame, and I felt as uncontrollable a desire to climb up\ntowards the genial sunlight as I before had to descend the ravine.\n\nAfter two hours\' perilous exertions we stood upon the summit of another\nridge, and it was with difficulty I could bring myself to believe that\nwe had ever penetrated the black and yawning chasm which then gaped at\nour feet. Again we gazed upon the prospect which the height commanded,\nbut it was just as depressing as the one which had before met our eyes.\nI now felt that in our present situation it was in vain for us to think\nof ever overcoming the obstacles in our way, and I gave up all thoughts\nof reaching the vale which lay beyond this series of impediments; while\nat the same time I could not devise any scheme to extricate ourselves\nfrom the difficulties in which we were involved.\n\nThe remotest idea of returning to Nukuheva, unless assured of our\nvessel\'s departure, never once entered my mind, and indeed it was\nquestionable whether we could have succeeded in reaching it, divided as\nwe were from the bay by a distance we could not compute, and perplexed\ntoo in our remembrance of localities by our recent wanderings. Besides,\nit was unendurable the thought of retracing our steps and rendering all\nour painful exertions of no avail.\n\nThere is scarcely anything when a man is in difficulties that he is\nmore disposed to look upon with abhorrence than a rightabout retrograde\nmovement--a systematic going over of the already trodden ground:\nand especially if he has a love of adventure, such a course appears\nindescribably repulsive, so long as there remains the least hope to be\nderived from braving untried difficulties.\n\nIt was this feeling that prompted us to descend the opposite side of the\nelevation we had just scaled, although with what definite object in view\nit would have been impossible for either of us to tell.\n\nWithout exchanging a syllable upon the subject, Toby and myself\nsimultaneously renounced the design which had lured us thus\nfar--perceiving in each other\'s countenances that desponding expression\nwhich speaks more eloquently than words.\n\nTogether we stood towards the close of this weary day in the cavity of\nthe third gorge we had entered, wholly incapacitated for any further\nexertion, until restored to some degree of strength by food and repose.\n\nWe seated ourselves upon the least uncomfortable spot we could select,\nand Toby produced from the bosom of his frock the sacred package. In\nsilence we partook of the small morsel of refreshment that had been left\nfrom the morning\'s repast, and without once proposing to violate the\nsanctity of our engagement with respect to the remainder, we rose to\nour feet, and proceeded to construct some sort of shelter under which we\nmight obtain the sleep we so greatly needed.\n\nFortunately the spot was better adapted to our purpose than the one in\nwhich we had passed the last wretched night. We cleared away the tall\nreeds from the small but almost level bit of ground, and twisted them\ninto a low basket-like hut, which we covered with a profusion of long\nthick leaves, gathered from a tree near at hand. We disposed them\nthickly all around, reserving only a slight opening that barely\npermitted us to crawl under the shelter we had thus obtained.\n\nThese deep recesses, though protected from the winds that assail the\nsummits of their lofty sides, are damp and chill to a degree that one\nwould hardly anticipate in such a climate; and being unprovided with\nanything but our woollen frocks and thin duck trousers to resist the\ncold of the place, we were the more solicitous to render our habitation\nfor the night as comfortable as we could. Accordingly, in addition to\nwhat we had already done, we plucked down all the leaves within our\nreach and threw them in a heap over our little hut, into which we now\ncrept, raking after us a reserved supply to form our couch.\n\nThat night nothing but the pain I suffered prevented me from sleeping\nmost refreshingly. As it was, I caught two or three naps, while Toby\nslept away at my side as soundly as though he had been sandwiched\nbetween two Holland sheets. Luckily it did not rain, and we were\npreserved from the misery which a heavy shower would have occasioned\nus. In the morning I was awakened by the sonorous voice of my companion\nringing in my ears and bidding me rise. I crawled out from our heap of\nleaves, and was astonished at the change which a good night\'s rest had\nwrought in his appearance. He was as blithe and joyous as a young bird,\nand was staying the keenness of his morning\'s appetite by chewing the\nsoft bark of a delicate branch he held in his hand, and he recommended\nthe like to me as an admirable antidote against the gnawings of hunger.\n\nFor my own part, though feeling materially better than I had done the\npreceding evening, I could not look at the limb that had pained me\nso violently at intervals during the last twenty-four hours, without\nexperiencing a sense of alarm that I strove in vain to shake off.\nUnwilling to disturb the flow of my comrade\'s spirits, I managed to\nstifle the complaints to which I might otherwise have given vent, and\ncalling upon him good-humouredly to speed our banquet, I prepared myself\nfor it by washing in the stream. This operation concluded, we swallowed,\nor rather absorbed, by a peculiar kind of slow sucking process, our\nrespective morsels of nourishment, and then entered into a discussion as\nto the steps is was necessary for us to pursue.\n\n\'What\'s to be done now?\' inquired I, rather dolefully.\n\n\'Descend into that same valley we descried yesterday.\' rejoined Toby,\nwith a rapidity and loudness of utterance that almost led me to suspect\nhe had been slyly devouring the broadside of an ox in some of the\nadjoining thickets. \'What else,\' he continued, \'remains for us to do but\nthat, to be sure? Why, we shall both starve to a certainty if we remain\nhere; and as to your fears of those Typees--depend upon it, it is all\nnonsense.\'\n\n\'It is impossible that the inhabitants of such a lovely place as we\nsaw can be anything else but good fellows; and if you choose rather to\nperish with hunger in one of these soppy caverns, I for one prefer to\nchance a bold descent into the valley, and risk the consequences\'.\n\n\'And who is to pilot us thither,\' I asked, \'even if we should decide\nupon the measure you propose? Are we to go again up and down those\nprecipices that we crossed yesterday, until we reach the place we\nstarted from, and then take a flying leap from the cliffs to the\nvalley?\'\n\n\'Faith, I didn\'t think of that,\' said Toby; \'sure enough, both sides of\nthe valley appeared to be hemmed in by precipices, didn\'t they?\'\n\n\'Yes,\' answered I, \'as steep as the sides of a line-of-battle ship,\nand about a hundred times as high.\' My companion sank his head upon his\nbreast, and remained for a while in deep thought. Suddenly he sprang to\nhis feet, while his eyes lighted up with that gleam of intelligence that\nmarks the presence of some bright idea.\n\n\'Yes, yes,\' he exclaimed; \'the streams all run in the same direction,\nand must necessarily flow into the valley before they reach the sea; all\nwe have to do is just to follow this stream, and sooner or later it will\nlead us into the vale.\'\n\n\'You are right, Toby,\' I exclaimed, \'you are right; it must conduct us\nthither, and quickly too; for, see with what a steep inclination the\nwater descends.\'\n\n\'It does, indeed,\' burst forth my companion, overjoyed at my\nverification of his theory, \'it does indeed; why, it is as plain as a\npike-staff. Let us proceed at once; come, throw away all those stupid\nideas about the Typees, and hurrah for the lovely valley of the\nHappars.\'\n\n\'You will have it to be Happar, I see, my dear fellow; pray Heaven you\nmay not find yourself deceived,\' observed I, with a shake of my head.\n\n\'Amen to all that, and much more,\' shouted Toby, rushing forward; \'but\nHappar it is, for nothing else than Happar can it be. So glorious a\nvalley--such forests of bread-fruit trees--such groves of cocoanut--such\nwilderness of guava-bushes! Ah! shipmate! don\'t linger behind: in the\nname of all delightful fruits, I am dying to be at them. Come on, come\non; shove ahead, there\'s a lively lad; never mind the rocks; kick them\nout of the way, as I do; and tomorrow, old fellow, take my word for\nit, we shall be in clover. Come on;\' and so saying, he dashed along the\nravine like a madman, forgetting my inability to keep up with him. In a\nfew minutes, however, the exuberance of his spirits abated, and, pausing\nfor a while, he permitted me to overtake him.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER NINE\n\nPERILOUS PASSAGE OF THE RAVINE--DESCENT INTO THE VALLEY\n\nThe fearless confidence of Toby was contagious, and I began to adopt the\nHappar side of the question. I could not, however, overcome a certain\nfeeling of trepidation as we made our way along these gloomy solitudes.\nOur progress, at first comparatively easy, became more and more\ndifficult. The bed of the watercourse was covered with fragments of\nbroken rocks, which had fallen from above, offering so many obstructions\nto the course of the rapid stream, which vexed and fretted about\nthem,--forming at intervals small waterfalls, pouring over into deep\nbasins, or splashing wildly upon heaps of stones.\n\nFrom the narrowness of the gorge, and the steepness of its sides, there\nwas no mode of advancing but by wading through the water; stumbling\nevery moment over the impediments which lay hidden under its surface,\nor tripping against the huge roots of trees. But the most annoying\nhindrance we encountered was from a multitude of crooked boughs, which,\nshooting out almost horizontally from the sides of the chasm, twisted\nthemselves together in fantastic masses almost to the surface of the\nstream, affording us no passage except under the low arches which they\nformed. Under these we were obliged to crawl on our hands and feet,\nsliding along the oozy surface of the rocks, or slipping into the deep\npools, and with scarce light enough to guide us. Occasionally we would\nstrike our heads against some projecting limb of a tree; and while\nimprudently engaged in rubbing the injured part, would fall sprawling\namongst flinty fragments, cutting and bruising ourselves, whilst the\nunpitying waters flowed over our prostrate bodies. Belzoni, worming\nhimself through the subterranean passages of the Egyptian catacombs,\ncould not have met with great impediments than those we here\nencountered. But we struggled against them manfully, well knowing our\nonly hope lay in advancing.\n\nTowards sunset we halted at a spot where we made preparations for\npassing the night. Here we constructed a hut, in much the same way as\nbefore, and crawling into it, endeavoured to forget our sufferings. My\ncompanion, I believe, slept pretty soundly; but at day break, when we\nrolled out of our dwelling, I felt nearly disqualified for any further\nefforts. Toby prescribed as a remedy for my illness the contents of one\nof our little silk packages, to be taken at once in a single dose. To\nthis species of medical treatment, however, I would by no means accede,\nmuch as he insisted upon it; and so we partook of our usual morsel, and\nsilently resumed our journey. It was now the fourth day since we left\nNukuheva, and the gnawings of hunger became painfully acute. We were\nfain to pacify them by chewing the tender bark of roots and twigs,\nwhich, if they did not afford us nourishment, were at least sweet and\npleasant to the taste.\n\nOur progress along the steep watercourse was necessarily slow, and by\nnoon we had not advanced more than a mile. It was somewhere near this\npart of the day that the noise of falling waters, which we had faintly\ncaught in the early morning, became more distinct; and it was not long\nbefore we were arrested by a rocky precipice of nearly a hundred feet\nin depth, that extended all across the channel, and over which the wild\nstream poured in an unbroken leap. On each hand the walls of the\nravine presented their overhanging sides both above and below the fall,\naffording no means whatever of avoiding the cataract by taking a circuit\nround it.\n\n\'What\'s to be done now, Toby?\' said I.\n\n\'Why,\' rejoined he, \'as we cannot retreat, I suppose we must keep\nshoving along.\'\n\n\'Very true, my dear Toby; but how do you purpose accomplishing that\ndesirable object?\'\n\n\'By jumping from the top of the fall, if there be no other way,\'\nunhesitatingly replied my companion: \'it will be much the quickest way\nof descent; but as you are not quite as active as I am, we will try some\nother way.\'\n\nAnd, so saying, he crept cautiously along and peered over into the\nabyss, while I remained wondering by what possible means we could\novercome this apparently insuperable obstruction. As soon as my\ncompanion had completed his survey, I eagerly inquired the result.\n\n\'The result of my observations you wish to know, do you?\' began Toby,\ndeliberately, with one of his odd looks: \'well, my lad, the result of my\nobservations is very quickly imparted. It is at present uncertain which\nof our two necks will have the honour to be broken first; but about a\nhundred to one would be a fair bet in favour of the man who takes the\nfirst jump.\'\n\n\'Then it is an impossible thing, is it?\' inquired I gloomily.\n\n\'No, shipmate; on the contrary, it is the easiest thing in life: the\nonly awkward point is the sort of usage which our unhappy limbs may\nreceive when we arrive at the bottom, and what sort of travelling trim\nwe shall be in afterwards. But follow me now, and I will show you the\nonly chance we have.\' With this he conducted me to the verge of the\ncataract, and pointed along the side of the ravine to a number of\ncurious looking roots, some three or four inches in thickness, and\nseveral feet long, which, after twisting among the fissures of the rock,\nshot perpendicularly from it and ran tapering to a point in the air,\nhanging over the gulf like so many dark icicles. They covered nearly\nthe entire surface of one side of the gorge, the lowest of them\nreaching even to the water. Many were moss grown and decayed, with their\nextremities snapped short off, and those in the immediate vicinity of\nthe fall were slippery with moisture.\n\nToby\'s scheme, and it was a desperate one, was to entrust ourselves\nto these treacherous-looking roots, and by slipping down from one to\nanother to gain the bottom.\n\n\'Are you ready to venture it?\' asked Toby, looking at me earnestly but\nwithout saying a word as to the practicability of the plan.\n\n\'I am,\' was my reply; for I saw it was our only resource if we wished to\nadvance, and as for retreating, all thoughts of that sort had been long\nabandoned.\n\nAfter I had signified my assent, Toby, without uttering a a single word,\ncrawled along the dripping ledge until he gained a point from whence\nhe could just reach one of the largest of the pendant roots; he shook\nit--it quivered in his grasp, and when he let it go it twanged in the\nair like a strong, wire sharply struck. Satisfied by his scrutiny, my\nlight limbed companion swung himself nimbly upon it, and twisting his\nlegs round it in sailor fashion, slipped down eight or ten feet, where\nhis weight gave it a motion not un-like that of a pendulum. He could not\nventure to descend any further; so holding on with one hand, he with the\nother shook one by one all the slender roots around him, and at last,\nfinding one which he thought trustworthy, shifted him self to it and\ncontinued his downward progress.\n\nSo far so well; but I could not avoid comparing my heavier frame and\ndisabled condition with his light figure and remarkable activity;\nbut there was no help for it, and in less than a minute\'s time I was\nswinging directly over his head. As soon as his upturned eyes caught a\nglimpse of me, he exclaimed in his usual dry tone, for the danger did\nnot seem to daunt him in the least, \'Mate, do me the kindness not to\nfall until I get out of your way;\' and then swinging himself more on\none side, he continued his descent. In the mean time I cautiously\ntransferred myself from the limb down which I had been slipping to a\ncouple of others that were near it, deeming two strings to my bow better\nthan one, and taking care to test their strength before I trusted my\nweight to them.\n\nOn arriving towards the end of the second stage in this vertical\njourney, and shaking the long roots which were round me, to my\nconsternation they snapped off one after another like so many pipe\nstems, and fell in fragments against the side of the gulf, splashing at\nlast into the waters beneath.\n\nAs one after another the treacherous roots yielded to my grasp, and fell\ninto the torrent, my heart sunk within me. The branches on which I was\nsuspended over the yawning chasm swang to and fro in the air, and I\nexpected them every moment to snap in twain. Appalled at the dreadful\nfate that menaced me, I clutched frantically at the only large root\nwhich remained near me, but in vain; I could not reach it, though my\nfingers were within a few inches of it. Again and again I tried to reach\nit, until at length, maddened with the thought of my situation, I swayed\nmyself violently by striking my foot against the side of the rock, and\nat the instant that I approached the large root caught desperately at\nit, and transferred myself to it. It vibrated violently under the sudden\nweight, but fortunately did not give way.\n\nMy brain grew dizzy with the idea of the frightful risk I had just run,\nand I involuntarily closed my eyes to shut out the view of the\ndepth beneath me. For the instant I was safe, and I uttered a devout\nejaculation of thanksgiving for my escape.\n\n\'Pretty well done,\' shouted Toby underneath me; \'you are nimbler than\nI thought you to be--hopping about up there from root to root like any\nyoung squirrel. As soon as you have diverted yourself sufficiently, I\nwould advise you to proceed.\'\n\n\'Aye, aye, Toby, all in good time: two or three more such famous roots\nas this, and I shall be with you.\'\n\nThe residue of my downward progress was comparatively easy; the roots\nwere in greater abundance, and in one or two places jutting out points\nof rock assisted me greatly. In a few moments I was standing by the side\nof my companion.\n\nSubstituting a stout stick for the one I had thrown aside at the top of\nthe precipice, we now continued our course along the bed of the ravine.\nSoon we were saluted by a sound in advance, that grew by degrees\nlouder and louder, as the noise of the cataract we were leaving behind\ngradually died on our ears.\n\n\'Another precipice for us, Toby.\'\n\n\'Very good; we can descend them, you know--come on.\'\n\nNothing indeed appeared to depress or intimidate this intrepid fellow.\nTypees or Niagaras, he was as ready to engage one as the other, and I\ncould not avoid a thousand times congratulating myself upon having such\na companion in an enterprise like the present.\n\nAfter an hour\'s painful progress, we reached the verge of another fall,\nstill loftier than the preceding and flanked both above and below with\nthe same steep masses of rock, presenting, however, here and there\nnarrow irregular ledges, supporting a shallow soil, on which grew a\nvariety of bushes and trees, whose bright verdure contrasted beautifully\nwith the foamy waters that flowed between them.\n\nToby, who invariably acted as pioneer, now proceeded to reconnoitre.\nOn his return, he reported that the shelves of rock on our right\nwould enable us to gain with little risk the bottom of the cataract.\nAccordingly, leaving the bed of the stream at the very point where it\nthundered down, we began crawling along one of those sloping ledges\nuntil it carried us to within a few feet of another that inclined\ndownwards at a still sharper angle, and upon which, by assisting each\nother we managed to alight in safety. We warily crept along this,\nsteadying ourselves by the naked roots of the shrubs that clung to every\nfissure. As we proceeded, the narrow path became still more contracted,\nrendering it difficult for us to maintain our footing, until suddenly,\nas we reached an angle of the wall of rock where we had expected it to\nwiden, we perceived to our consternation that a yard or two further on\nit abruptly terminated at a place we could not possibly hope to pass.\n\nToby as usual led the van, and in silence I waited to learn from him how\nhe proposed to extricate us from this new difficulty.\n\n\'Well, my boy,\' I exclaimed, after the expiration of several minutes,\nduring which time my companion had not uttered a word, \'what\'s to be\ndone now?\'\n\nHe replied in a tranquil tone, that probably the best thing we could do\nin our present strait was to get out of it as soon as possible.\n\n\'Yes, my dear Toby, but tell me how we are to get out of it.\'\n\n\'Something in this sort of style,\' he replied, and at the same moment to\nmy horror he slipped sideways off the rocks and, as I then thought, by\ngood fortune merely, alighted among the spreading branches of a species\nof palm tree, that shooting its hardy roots along a ledge below, curved\nits trunk upwards into the air, and presented a thick mass of foliage\nabout twenty feet below the spot where we had thus suddenly been brought\nto a standstill. I involuntarily held my breath, expecting to see the\nform of my companion, after being sustained for a moment by the branches\nof the tree, sink through their frail support, and fall headlong to\nthe bottom. To my surprise and joy, however, he recovered himself, and\ndisentangling his limbs from the fractured branches, he peered out from\nhis leafy bed, and shouted lustily, \'Come on, my hearty there is no\nother alternative!\' and with this he ducked beneath the foliage, and\nslipping down the trunk, stood in a moment at least fifty feet beneath\nme, upon the broad shelf of rock from which sprung the tree he had\ndescended.\n\nWhat would I not have given at that moment to have been by his side. The\nfeat he had just accomplished seemed little less than miraculous, and\nI could hardly credit the evidence of my senses when I saw the wide\ndistance that a single daring act had so suddenly placed between us.\n\nToby\'s animating \'come on\' again sounded in my ears, and dreading to\nlose all confidence in myself if I remained meditating upon the step,\nI once more gazed down to assure myself of the relative bearing of the\ntree and my own position, and then closing my eyes and uttering one\ncomprehensive ejaculation of prayer, I inclined myself over towards the\nabyss, and after one breathless instant fell with a crash into the tree,\nthe branches snapping and cracking with my weight, as I sunk lower and\nlower among them, until I was stopped by coming in contact with a sturdy\nlimb.\n\nIn a few moments I was standing at the foot of the tree manipulating\nmyself all over with a view of ascertaining the extent of the injuries\nI had received. To my surprise the only effects of my feat were a few\nslight contusions too trifling to care about. The rest of our descent\nwas easily accomplished, and in half an hour after regaining the ravine\nwe had partaken of our evening morsel, built our hut as usual, and\ncrawled under its shelter.\n\nThe next morning, in spite of our debility and the agony of hunger under\nwhich we were now suffering, though neither of us confessed to the fact,\nwe struggled along our dismal and still difficult and dangerous path,\ncheered by the hope of soon catching a glimpse of the valley before\nus, and towards evening the voice of a cataract which had for some time\nsounded like a low deep bass to the music of the smaller waterfalls,\nbroke upon our ears in still louder tones, and assured us that we were\napproaching its vicinity.\n\nThat evening we stood on the brink of a precipice, over which the dark\nstream bounded in one final leap of full 300 feet. The sheer descent\nterminated in the region we so long had sought. On each side of the\nfall, two lofty and perpendicular bluffs buttressed the sides of the\nenormous cliff, and projected into the sea of verdure with which the\nvalley waved, and a range of similar projecting eminences stood disposed\nin a half circle about the head if the vale. A thick canopy of trees\nhung over the very verge of the fall, leaving an arched aperture for the\npassage of the waters, which imparted a strange picturesqueness to the\nscene.\n\nThe valley was now before us; but instead of being conducted into its\nsmiling bosom by the gradual descent of the deep watercourse we had thus\nfar pursued, all our labours now appeared to have been rendered futile\nby its abrupt termination. But, bitterly disappointed, we did not\nentirely despair.\n\nAs it was now near sunset we determined to pass the night where we were,\nand on the morrow, refreshed by sleep, and by eating at one meal all our\nstock of food, to accomplish a descent into the valley, or perish in the\nattempt.\n\nWe laid ourselves down that night on a spot, the recollection of which\nstill makes me shudder. A small table of rock which projected over the\nprecipice on one side of the stream, and was drenched by the spray\nof the fall, sustained a huge trunk of a tree which must have been\ndeposited there by some heavy freshet. It lay obliquely, with one end\nresting on the rock and the other supported by the side of the ravine.\nAgainst it we placed in a sloping direction a number of the half decayed\nboughs that were strewn about, and covering the whole with twigs and\nleaves, awaited the morning\'s light beneath such shelter as it afforded.\n\n\nDuring the whole of this night the continual roaring of the\ncataract--the dismal moaning of the gale through the trees--the\npattering of the rain, and the profound darkness, affected my spirits to\na degree which nothing had ever before produced. Wet, half famished,\nand chilled to the heart with the dampness of the place, and nearly wild\nwith the pain I endured, I fairly cowered down to the earth under\nthis multiplication of hardships, and abandoned myself to frightful\nanticipations of evil; and my companion, whose spirit at last was a good\ndeal broken, scarcely uttered a word during the whole night.\n\nAt length the day dawned upon us, and rising from our miserable pallet,\nwe stretched our stiffened joints, and after eating all that remained\nof our bread, prepared for the last stage of our journey. I will not\nrecount every hair-breadth escape, and every fearful difficulty that\noccurred before we succeeded in reaching the bosom of the valley. As I\nhave already described similar scenes, it will be sufficient to say that\nat length, after great toil and great dangers, we both stood with no\nlimbs broken at the head of that magnificent vale which five days before\nhad so suddenly burst upon my sight, and almost beneath the shadow of\nthose very cliffs from whose summits we had gazed upon the prospect.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER TEN\n\nTHE HEAD OF THE VALLEY--CAUTIOUS ADVANCE--A PATH--FRUIT--DISCOVERY\nOF TWO OF THE NATIVES--THEIR SINGULAR CONDUCT--APPROACH TOWARDS\nTHE INHABITED PARTS OF THE VALE--SENSATION PRODUCED BY OUR\nAPPEARANCE--RECEPTION AT THE HOUSE OF ONE OF THE NATIVES\n\nHOW to obtain the fruit which we felt convinced must grow near at hand\nwas our first thought.\n\nTypee or Happar? A frightful death at the hands of the fiercest of\ncannibals, or a kindly reception from a gentler race of savages? Which?\nBut it was too late now to discuss a question which would so soon be\nanswered.\n\nThe part of the valley in which we found ourselves appeared to be\naltogether uninhabited. An almost impenetrable thicket extended\nfrom side to side, without presenting a single plant affording the\nnourishment we had confidently calculated upon; and with this object, we\nfollowed the course of the stream, casting quick glances as we\nproceeded into the thick jungles on each hand. My companion--to whose\nsolicitations I had yielded in descending into the valley--now that\nthe step was taken, began to manifest a degree of caution I had little\nexpected from him. He proposed that in the event of our finding an\nadequate supply of fruit, we should remain in this unfrequented portion\nof the country--where we should run little chance of being surprised by\nits occupants, whoever they might be--until sufficiently recruited to\nresume our journey; when laying a store of food equal to our wants, we\nmight easily regain the bay of Nukuheva, after the lapse of a sufficient\ninterval to ensure the departure of our vessel.\n\nI objected strongly to this proposition, plausible as it was, as the\ndifficulties of the route would be almost insurmountable, unacquainted\nas we were with the general bearings of the country, and I reminded\nmy companion of the hardships which we had already encountered in our\nuncertain wanderings; in a word, I said that since we had deemed\nit advisable to enter the valley, we ought manfully to face the\nconsequences, whatever they might be; the more especially as I was\nconvinced there was no alternative left us but to fall in with the\nnatives at once, and boldly risk the reception they might give us; and\nthat as to myself, I felt the necessity of rest and shelter, and that\nuntil I had obtained them, I should be wholly unable to encounter such\nsufferings as we had lately passed through. To the justice of these\nobservations Toby somewhat reluctantly assented.\n\nWe were surprised that, after moving as far as we had along the valley,\nwe should still meet with the same impervious thickets; and thinking,\nthat although the borders of the stream might be lined for some distance\nwith them, yet beyond there might be more open ground, I requested Toby\nto keep a bright look-out upon one side, while I did the same on the\nother, in order to discover some opening in the bushes, and especially\nto watch for the slightest appearance of a path or anything else that\nmight indicate the vicinity of the islanders.\n\nWhat furtive and anxious glances we cast into those dim-looking shadows!\nWith what apprehensions we proceeded, ignorant at what moment we might\nbe greeted by the javelin of some ambushed savage. At last my companion\npaused, and directed my attention to a narrow opening in the foliage. We\nstruck into it, and it soon brought us by an indistinctly traced path to\na comparatively clear space, at the further end of which we descried\na number of the trees, the native name of which is \'annuee\', and which\nbear a most delicious fruit. What a race! I hobbling over the ground\nlike some decrepid wretch, and Toby leaping forward like a greyhound. He\nquickly cleared one of the trees on which there were two or three of\nthe fruit, but to our chagrin they proved to be much decayed; the rinds\npartly opened by the birds, and their hearts half devoured. However, we\nquickly despatched them, and no ambrosia could have been more delicious.\n\nWe looked about us uncertain whither to direct our steps, since the path\nwe had so far followed appeared to be lost in the open space around us.\nAt last we resolved to enter a grove near at hand, and had advanced a\nfew rods, when, just upon its skirts, I picked up a slender bread-fruit\nshoot perfectly green, and with the tender bark freshly stripped from\nit. It was still slippery with moisture, and appeared as if it had been\nbut that moment thrown aside. I said nothing, but merely held it up to\nToby, who started at this undeniable evidence of the vicinity of the\nsavages.\n\nThe plot was now thickening.--A short distance further lay a little\nfaggot of the same shoots bound together with a strip of bark. Could it\nhave been thrown down by some solitary native, who, alarmed at seeing\nus, had hurried forward to carry the tidings of our approach to his\ncountrymen?--Typee or Happar?--But it was too late to recede, so we\nmoved on slowly, my companion in advance casting eager glances under the\ntrees on each side, until all at once I saw him recoil as if stung by\nan adder. Sinking on his knee, he waved me off with one hand, while with\nthe other he held aside some intervening leaves, and gazed intently at\nsome object.\n\nDisregarding his injunction, I quickly approached him and caught a\nglimpse of two figures partly hidden by the dense foliage; they were\nstanding close together, and were perfectly motionless. They must have\npreviously perceived us, and withdrawn into the depths of the wood to\nelude our observation.\n\nMy mind was at once made up. Dropping my staff, and tearing open the\npackage of things we had brought from the ship, I unrolled the cotton\ncloth, and holding it in one hand picked with the other a twig from the\nbushes beside me, and telling Toby to follow my example, I broke through\nthe covert and advanced, waving the branch in token of peace towards\nthe shrinking forms before me. They were a boy and a girl, slender and\ngraceful, and completely naked, with the exception of a slight girdle of\nbark, from which depended at opposite points two of the russet leaves of\nthe bread-fruit tree. An arm of the boy, half screened from sight by\nher wild tresses, was thrown about the neck of the girl, while with the\nother he held one of her hands in his; and thus they stood together,\ntheir heads inclined forward, catching the faint noise we made in our\nprogress, and with one foot in advance, as if half inclined to fly from\nour presence.\n\nAs we drew near, their alarm evidently increased. Apprehensive that\nthey might fly from us altogether, I stopped short and motioned them\nto advance and receive the gift I extended towards them, but they would\nnot; I then uttered a few words of their language with which I was\nacquainted, scarcely expected that they would understand me, but to show\nthat we had not dropped from the clouds upon them. This appeared to give\nthem a little confidence, so I approached nearer, presenting the cloth\nwith one hand, and holding the bough with the other, while they slowly\nretreated. At last they suffered us to approach so near to them that we\nwere enabled to throw the cotton cloth across their shoulders, giving\nthem to understand that it was theirs, and by a variety of gestures\nendeavouring to make them understand that we entertained the highest\npossible regard for them.\n\nThe frightened pair now stood still, whilst we endeavoured to make them\ncomprehend the nature of our wants. In doing this Toby went through with\na complete series of pantomimic illustrations--opening his mouth from\near to ear, and thrusting his fingers down his throat, gnashing his\nteeth and rolling his eyes about, till I verily believe the poor\ncreatures took us for a couple of white cannibals who were about to\nmake a meal of them. When, however, they understood us, they showed\nno inclination to relieve our wants. At this juncture it began to rain\nviolently, and we motioned them to lead us to some place of shelter.\nWith this request they appeared willing to comply, but nothing could\nevince more strongly the apprehension with which they regarded us,\nthan the way in which, whilst walking before us, they kept their eyes\nconstantly turned back to watch every movement we made, and even our\nvery looks.\n\n\'Typee or Happar, Toby?\' asked I as we walked after them.\n\n\'Of course Happar,\' he replied, with a show of confidence which was\nintended to disguise his doubts.\n\n\'We shall soon know,\' I exclaimed; and at the same moment I\nstepped forward towards our guides, and pronouncing the two names\ninterrogatively and pointing to the lowest part of the valley,\nendeavoured to come to the point at once. They repeated the words after\nme again and again, but without giving any peculiar emphasis to either,\nso that I was completely at a loss to understand them; for a couple of\nwilier young things than we afterwards found them to have been on this\nparticular occasion never probably fell in any traveller\'s way.\n\nMore and more curious to ascertain our fate, I now threw together in the\nform of a question the words \'Happar\' and \'Motarkee\', the latter being\nequivalent to the word \'good\'. The two natives interchanged glances\nof peculiar meaning with one another at this, and manifested no little\nsurprise; but on the repetition of the question after some consultation\ntogether, to the great joy of Toby, they answered in the affirmative.\nToby was now in ecstasies, especially as the young savages continued\nto reiterate their answer with great energy, as though desirous of\nimpressing us with the idea that being among the Happars, we ought to\nconsider ourselves perfectly secure.\n\nAlthough I had some lingering doubts, I feigned great delight with Toby\nat this announcement, while my companion broke out into a pantomimic\nabhorrence of Typee, and immeasurable love for the particular valley in\nwhich we were; our guides all the while gazing uneasily at one another\nas if at a loss to account for our conduct.\n\nThey hurried on, and we followed them; until suddenly they set up a\nstrange halloo, which was answered from beyond the grove through which\nwe were passing, and the next moment we entered upon some open ground,\nat the extremity of which we descried a long, low hut, and in front of\nit were several young girls. As soon as they perceived us they fled with\nwild screams into the adjoining thickets, like so many startled fawns.\nA few moments after the whole valley resounded with savage outcries, and\nthe natives came running towards us from every direction.\n\nHad an army of invaders made an irruption into their territory they\ncould not have evinced greater excitement. We were soon completely\nencircled by a dense throng, and in their eager desire to behold us they\nalmost arrested our progress; an equal number surrounded our youthful\nguides, who with amazing volubility appeared to be detailing the\ncircumstances which had attended their meeting with us. Every item of\nintelligence appeared to redouble the astonishment of the islanders, and\nthey gazed at us with inquiring looks.\n\nAt last we reached a large and handsome building of bamboos, and were by\nsigns told to enter it, the natives opening a lane for us through which\nto pass; on entering without ceremony, we threw our exhausted frames\nupon the mats that covered the floor. In a moment the slight tenement\nwas completely full of people, whilst those who were unable to obtain\nadmittance gazed at us through its open cane-work.\n\nIt was now evening, and by the dim light we could just discern the\nsavage countenances around us, gleaming with wild curiosity and wonder;\nthe naked forms and tattooed limbs of brawny warriors, with here and\nthere the slighter figures of young girls, all engaged in a perfect\nstorm of conversation, of which we were of course the one only\ntheme, whilst our recent guides were fully occupied in answering the\ninnumerable questions which every one put to them. Nothing can exceed\nthe fierce gesticulation of these people when animated in conversation,\nand on this occasion they gave loose to all their natural vivacity,\nshouting and dancing about in a manner that well nigh intimidated us.\n\nClose to where we lay, squatting upon their haunches, were some eight or\nten noble-looking chiefs--for such they subsequently proved to be--who,\nmore reserved than the rest, regarded us with a fixed and stern\nattention, which not a little discomposed our equanimity. One of them\nin particular, who appeared to be the highest in rank, placed himself\ndirectly facing me, looking at me with a rigidity of aspect under which\nI absolutely quailed. He never once opened his lips, but maintained his\nsevere expression of countenance, without turning his face aside for\na single moment. Never before had I been subjected to so strange and\nsteady a glance; it revealed nothing of the mind of the savage, but it\nappeared to be reading my own.\n\nAfter undergoing this scrutiny till I grew absolutely nervous, with a\nview of diverting it if possible, and conciliating the good opinion of\nthe warrior, I took some tobacco from the bosom of my frock and\noffered it to him. He quietly rejected the proffered gift, and, without\nspeaking, motioned me to return it to its place.\n\nIn my previous intercourse with the natives of Nukuheva and Tior, I had\nfound that the present of a small piece of tobacco would have rendered\nany of them devoted to my service. Was this act of the chief a token of\nhis enmity? Typee or Happar? I asked within myself. I started, for at\nthe same moment this identical question was asked by the strange being\nbefore me. I turned to Toby, the flickering light of a native taper\nshowed me his countenance pale with trepidation at this fatal question.\nI paused for a second, and I know not by what impulse it was that I\nanswered \'Typee\'. The piece of dusky statuary nodded in approval, and\nthen murmured \'Motarkee!\' \'Motarkee,\' said I, without further hesitation\n\'Typee motarkee.\'\n\nWhat a transition! The dark figures around us leaped to their feet,\nclapped their hands in transport, and shouted again and again the\ntalismanic syllables, the utterance of which appeared to have settled\neverything.\n\nWhen this commotion had a little subsided, the principal chief squatted\nonce more before me, and throwing himself into a sudden rage, poured\nforth a string of philippics, which I was at no loss to understand, from\nthe frequent recurrence of the word Happar, as being directed against\nthe natives of the adjoining valley. In all these denunciations my\ncompanion and I acquiesced, while we extolled the character of the\nwarlike Typees. To be sure our panegyrics were somewhat laconic,\nconsisting in the repetition of that name, united with the potent\nadjective \'motarkee\'. But this was sufficient, and served to conciliate\nthe good will of the natives, with whom our congeniality of sentiment on\nthis point did more towards inspiring a friendly feeling than anything\nelse that could have happened.\n\nAt last the wrath of the chief evaporated, and in a few moments he\nwas as placid as ever. Laying his hand upon his breast, he gave me to\nunderstand that his name was \'Mehevi\', and that, in return, he wished me\nto communicate my appellation. I hesitated for an instant, thinking that\nit might be difficult for him to pronounce my real name, and then with\nthe most praiseworthy intentions intimated that I was known as \'Tom\'.\nBut I could not have made a worse selection; the chief could not master\nit. \'Tommo,\' \'Tomma\', \'Tommee\', everything but plain \'Tom\'. As he\npersisted in garnishing the word with an additional syllable, I\ncompromised the matter with him at the word \'Tommo\'; and by that name\nI went during the entire period of my stay in the valley. The same\nproceeding was gone through with Toby, whose mellifluous appellation was\nmore easily caught.\n\nAn exchange of names is equivalent to a ratification of good will and\namity among these simple people; and as we were aware of this fact, we\nwere delighted that it had taken place on the present occasion.\n\nReclining upon our mats, we now held a kind of levee, giving audience\nto successive troops of the natives, who introduced themselves to us by\npronouncing their respective names, and retired in high good humour on\nreceiving ours in return. During this ceremony the greatest merriment\nprevailed nearly every announcement on the part of the islanders being\nfollowed by a fresh sally of gaiety, which induced me to believe that\nsome of them at least were innocently diverting the company at our\nexpense, by bestowing upon themselves a string of absurd titles, of the\nhumour of which we were of course entirely ignorant.\n\nAll this occupied about an hour, when the throng having a little\ndiminished, I turned to Mehevi and gave him to understand that we were\nin need of food and sleep. Immediately the attentive chief addressed a\nfew words to one of the crowd, who disappeared, and returned in a few\nmoments with a calabash of \'poee-poee\', and two or three young cocoanuts\nstripped of their husks, and with their shells partly broken. We both\nof us forthwith placed one of these natural goblets to our lips, and\ndrained it in a moment of the refreshing draught it contained. The\npoee-poee was then placed before us, and even famished as I was, I\npaused to consider in what manner to convey it to my mouth.\n\nThis staple article of food among the Marquese islanders is manufactured\nfrom the produce of the bread-fruit tree. It somewhat resembles in\nits plastic nature our bookbinders\' paste, is of a yellow colour, and\nsomewhat tart to the taste.\n\nSuch was the dish, the merits of which I was now eager to discuss. I\neyed it wistfully for a moment, and then, unable any longer to stand on\nceremony, plunged my hand into the yielding mass, and to the boisterous\nmirth of the natives drew it forth laden with the poee-poee, which\nadhered in lengthy strings to every finger. So stubborn was its\nconsistency, that in conveying my heavily-weighted hand to my mouth, the\nconnecting links almost raised the calabash from the mats on which it\nhad been placed. This display of awkwardness--in which, by-the-bye, Toby\nkept me company--convulsed the bystanders with uncontrollable laughter.\n\nAs soon as their merriment had somewhat subsided, Mehevi, motioning us\nto be attentive, dipped the forefinger of his right hand in the dish,\nand giving it a rapid and scientific twirl, drew it out coated smoothly\nwith the preparation. With a second peculiar flourish he prevented the\npoee-poee from dropping to the ground as he raised it to his mouth, into\nwhich the finger was inserted and drawn forth perfectly free from any\nadhesive matter.\n\nThis performance was evidently intended for our instruction; so I\nagain essayed the feat on the principles inculcated, but with very ill\nsuccess.\n\nA starving man, however, little heeds conventional proprieties,\nespecially on a South-Sea Island, and accordingly Toby and I partook of\nthe dish after our own clumsy fashion, beplastering our faces all over\nwith the glutinous compound, and daubing our hands nearly to the\nwrist. This kind of food is by no means disagreeable to the palate of a\nEuropean, though at first the mode of eating it may be. For my own\npart, after the lapse of a few days I became accustomed to its singular\nflavour, and grew remarkably fond of it.\n\nSo much for the first course; several other dishes followed it, some of\nwhich were positively delicious. We concluded our banquet by tossing\noff the contents of two more young cocoanuts, after which we regaled\nourselves with the soothing fumes of tobacco, inhaled from a quaintly\ncarved pipe which passed round the circle.\n\nDuring the repast, the natives eyed us with intense curiosity, observing\nour minutest motions, and appearing to discover abundant matter for\ncomment in the most trifling occurrence. Their surprise mounted the\nhighest, when we began to remove our uncomfortable garments, which were\nsaturated with rain. They scanned the whiteness of our limbs, and seemed\nutterly unable to account for the contrast they presented to the swarthy\nhue of our faces embrowned from a six months\' exposure to the scorching\nsun of the Line. They felt our skin, much in the same way that a silk\nmercer would handle a remarkably fine piece of satin; and some of them\nwent so far in their investigation as to apply the olfactory organ.\n\nTheir singular behaviour almost led me to imagine that they never before\nhad beheld a white man; but a few moments\' reflection convinced me that\nthis could not have been the case; and a more satisfactory reason for\ntheir conduct has since suggested itself to my mind.\n\nDeterred by the frightful stories related of its inhabitants, ships\nnever enter this bay, while their hostile relations with the tribes in\nthe adjoining valleys prevent the Typees from visiting that section of\nthe island where vessels occasionally lie. At long intervals, however,\nsome intrepid captain will touch on the skirts of the bay, with two or\nthree armed boats\' crews and accompanied by interpreters. The natives\nwho live near the sea descry the strangers long before they reach their\nwaters, and aware of the purpose for which they come, proclaim loudly\nthe news of their approach. By a species of vocal telegraph the\nintelligence reaches the inmost recesses of the vale in an inconceivably\nshort space of time, drawing nearly its whole population down to\nthe beach laden with every variety of fruit. The interpreter, who is\ninvariably a \'tabooed Kanaka\'*, leaps ashore with the goods intended for\nbarter, while the boats, with their oars shipped, and every man on his\nthwart, lie just outside the surf, heading off the shore, in readiness\nat the first untoward event to escape to the open sea. As soon as the\ntraffic is concluded, one of the boats pulls in under cover of the\nmuskets of the others, the fruit is quickly thrown into her, and the\ntransient visitors precipitately retire from what they justly consider\nso dangerous a vicinity.\n\n* The word \'Kanaka\' is at the present day universally used in the South\nSeas by Europeans to designate the Islanders. In the various dialects\nof the principal groups it is simply a sexual designation applied to\nthe males; but it is now used by the natives in their intercourse with\nforeigners in the same sense in which the latter employ it.\n\nA \'Tabooed Kanaka\' is an islander whose person has been made to a\ncertain extent sacred by the operation of a singular custom hereafter to\nbe explained.\n\n\n\nThe intercourse occurring with Europeans being so restricted, no wonder\nthat the inhabitants of the valley manifested so much curiosity with\nregard to us, appearing as we did among them under such singular\ncircumstances. I have no doubt that we were the first white men who ever\npenetrated thus far back into their territories, or at least the first\nwho had ever descended from the head of the vale. What had brought us\nthither must have appeared a complete mystery to them, and from our\nignorance of the language it was impossible for us to enlighten them. In\nanswer to inquiries which the eloquence of their gestures enabled us to\ncomprehend, all that we could reply was, that we had come from Nukuheva,\na place, be it remembered, with which they were at open war. This\nintelligence appeared to affect them with the most lively emotions.\n\'Nukuheva motarkee?\' they asked. Of course we replied most energetically\nin the negative.\n\nThen they plied us with a thousand questions, of which we could\nunderstand nothing more than that they had reference to the recent\nmovements of the French, against whom they seemed to cherish the most\nfierce hatred. So eager were they to obtain information on this point,\nthat they still continued to propound their queries long after we had\nshown that we were utterly unable to answer them. Occasionally we caught\nsome indistinct idea of their meaning, when we would endeavour by every\nmethod in our power to communicate the desired intelligence. At such\ntimes their gratification was boundless, and they would redouble their\nefforts to make us comprehend them more perfectly. But all in vain; and\nin the end they looked at us despairingly, as if we were the receptacles\nof invaluable information; but how to come at it they knew not.\n\nAfter a while the group around us gradually dispersed, and we were\nleft about midnight (as we conjectured) with those who appeared to be\npermanent residents of the house. These individuals now provided us with\nfresh mats to lie upon, covered us with several folds of tappa, and then\nextinguishing the tapers that had been burning, threw themselves down\nbeside us, and after a little desultory conversation were soon sound\nasleep.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER ELEVEN\n\nMIDNIGHT REFLECTIONS--MORNING VISITORS--A WARRIOR IN COSTUME--A SAVAGE\nAESCULAPIUS--PRACTICE OF THE HEALING ART--BODY SERVANT--A DWELLING-HOUSE\nOF THE VALLEY DESCRIBED--PORTRAITS OF ITS INMATES\n\nVARIOUS and conflicting were the thoughts which oppressed me during the\nsilent hours that followed the events related in the preceding chapter.\nToby, wearied with the fatigues of the day, slumbered heavily by my\nside; but the pain under which I was suffering effectually prevented\nmy sleeping, and I remained distressingly alive to all the fearful\ncircumstances of our present situation. Was it possible that, after all\nour vicissitudes, we were really in the terrible valley of Typee, and\nat the mercy of its inmates, a fierce and unrelenting tribe of savages?\nTypee or Happar? I shuddered when I reflected that there was no longer\nany room for doubt; and that, beyond all hope of escape, we were now\nplaced in those very circumstances from the bare thought of which I had\nrecoiled with such abhorrence but a few days before. What might not\nbe our fearful destiny? To be sure, as yet we had been treated with no\nviolence; nay, had been even kindly and hospitably entertained. But what\ndependence could be placed upon the fickle passions which sway the bosom\nof a savage? His inconstancy and treachery are proverbial. Might it\nnot be that beneath these fair appearances the islanders covered some\nperfidious design, and that their friendly reception of us might only\nprecede some horrible catastrophe? How strongly did these forebodings\nspring up in my mind as I lay restlessly upon a couch of mats surrounded\nby the dimly revealed forms of those whom I so greatly dreaded!\n\nFrom the excitement of these fearful thoughts I sank towards morning\ninto an uneasy slumber; and on awaking, with a start, in the midst of an\nappalling dream, looked up into the eager countenance of a number of the\nnatives, who were bending over me.\n\nIt was broad day; and the house was nearly filled with young females,\nfancifully decorated with flowers, who gazed upon me as I rose with\nfaces in which childish delight and curiosity were vividly portrayed.\nAfter waking Toby, they seated themselves round us on the mats, and gave\nfull play to that prying inquisitiveness which time out of mind has been\nattributed to the adorable sex.\n\nAs these unsophisticated young creatures were attended by no jealous\nduennas, their proceedings were altogether informal, and void of\nartificial restraint. Long and minute was the investigation with which\nthey honoured us, and so uproarious their mirth, that I felt infinitely\nsheepish; and Toby was immeasurably outraged at their familiarity.\n\nThese lively young ladies were at the same time wonderfully polite\nand humane; fanning aside the insects that occasionally lighted on our\nbrows; presenting us with food; and compassionately regarding me in the\nmidst of my afflictions. But in spite of all their blandishments, my\nfeelings of propriety were exceedingly shocked, for I could but consider\nthem as having overstepped the due limits of female decorum.\n\nHaving diverted themselves to their hearts\' content, our young visitants\nnow withdrew, and gave place to successive troops of the other sex, who\ncontinued flocking towards the house until near noon; by which time I\nhave no doubt that the greater part of the inhabitants of the valley had\nbathed themselves in the light of our benignant countenances.\n\nAt last, when their numbers began to diminish, a superb-looking warrior\nstooped the towering plumes of his head-dress beneath the low portal,\nand entered the house. I saw at once that he was some distinguished\npersonage, the natives regarding him with the utmost deference, and\nmaking room for him as he approached. His aspect was imposing. The\nsplendid long drooping tail-feathers of the tropical bird, thickly\ninterspersed with the gaudy plumage of the cock, were disposed in an\nimmense upright semicircle upon his head, their lower extremities being\nfixed in a crescent of guinea-heads which spanned the forehead. Around\nhis neck were several enormous necklaces of boar\'s tusks, polished like\nivory, and disposed in such a manner as that the longest and largest\nwere upon his capacious chest. Thrust forward through the large\napertures in his ears were two small and finely-shaped sperm whale\nteeth, presenting their cavities in front, stuffed with freshly-plucked\nleaves, and curiously wrought at the other end into strange little\nimages and devices. These barbaric trinkets, garnished in this manner at\ntheir open extremities, and tapering and curving round to a point behind\nthe ear, resembled not a little a pair of cornucopias.\n\nThe loins of the warrior were girt about with heavy folds of a\ndark-coloured tappa, hanging before and behind in clusters of braided\ntassels, while anklets and bracelets of curling human hair completed\nhis unique costume. In his right hand he grasped a beautifully carved\npaddle-spear, nearly fifteen feet in length, made of the bright\nkoar-wood, one end sharply pointed, and the other flattened like an\noar-blade. Hanging obliquely from his girdle by a loop of sinnate was\na richly decorated pipe; the slender reed forming its stem was coloured\nwith a red pigment, and round it, as well as the idol-bowl, fluttered\nlittle streamers of the thinnest tappa.\n\nBut that which was most remarkable in the appearance of this splendid\nislander was the elaborate tattooing displayed on every noble limb. All\nimaginable lines and curves and figures were delineated over his whole\nbody, and in their grotesque variety and infinite profusion I could only\ncompare them to the crowded groupings of quaint patterns we sometimes\nsee in costly pieces of lacework. The most simple and remarkable of all\nthese ornaments was that which decorated the countenance of the chief.\nTwo broad stripes of tattooing, diverging from the centre of his shaven\ncrown, obliquely crossed both eyes--staining the lids--to a little\nbelow each ear, where they united with another stripe which swept in a\nstraight line along the lips and formed the base of the triangle.\nThe warrior, from the excellence of his physical proportions, might\ncertainly have been regarded as one of Nature\'s noblemen, and the lines\ndrawn upon his face may possibly have denoted his exalted rank.\n\nThis warlike personage, upon entering the house, seated himself at some\ndistance from the spot where Toby and myself reposed, while the rest of\nthe savages looked alternately from us to him, as if in expectation of\nsomething they were disappointed in not perceiving. Regarding the chief\nattentively, I thought his lineaments appeared familiar to me. As\nsoon as his full face was turned upon me, and I again beheld its\nextraordinary embellishment, and met the strange gaze to which I had\nbeen subjected the preceding night, I immediately, in spite of the\nalteration in his appearance, recognized the noble Mehevi. On addressing\nhim, he advanced at once in the most cordial manner, and greeting me\nwarmly, seemed to enjoy not a little the effect his barbaric costume had\nproduced upon me.\n\nI forthwith determined to secure, if possible, the good-will of this\nindividual, as I easily perceived he was a man of great authority in his\ntribe, and one who might exert a powerful influence upon our subsequent\nfate. In the endeavour I was not repulsed; for nothing could surpass\nthe friendliness he manifested towards both my companion and myself.\nHe extended his sturdy limbs by our side, and endeavoured to make\nus comprehend the full extent of the kindly feelings by which he was\nactuated. The almost insuperable difficulty in communicating to one\nanother our ideas affected the chief with no little mortification. He\nevinced a great desire to be enlightened with regard to the customs and\npeculiarities of the far-off country we had left behind us, and to which\nunder the name of Maneeka he frequently alluded.\n\nBut that which more than any other subject engaged his attention was\nthe late proceedings of the \'Frannee\' as he called the French, in the\nneighbouring bay of Nukuheva. This seemed a never-ending theme with him,\nand one concerning which he was never weary of interrogating us. All the\ninformation we succeeded in imparting to him on this subject was little\nmore than that we had seen six men-of-war lying in the hostile bay at\nthe time we had left it. When he received this intelligence, Mehevi, by\nthe aid of his fingers, went through a long numerical calculation, as if\nestimating the number of Frenchmen the squadron might contain.\n\nIt was just after employing his faculties in this way that he happened\nto notice the swelling in my limb. He immediately examined it with the\nutmost attention, and after doing so, despatched a boy who happened to\nbe standing by with some message.\n\nAfter the lapse of a few moments the stripling re-entered the house with\nan aged islander, who might have been taken for old Hippocrates himself.\nHis head was as bald as the polished surface of a cocoanut shell, which\narticle it precisely resembled in smoothness and colour, while a long\nsilvery beard swept almost to his girdle of bark. Encircling his temples\nwas a bandeau of the twisted leaves of the Omoo tree, pressed closely\nover the brows to shield his feeble vision from the glare of the sun.\nHis tottering steps were supported by a long slim staff, resembling the\nwand with which a theatrical magician appears on the stage, and in\none hand he carried a freshly plaited fan of the green leaflets of the\ncocoanut tree. A flowing robe of tappa, knotted over the shoulder, hung\nloosely round his stooping form, and heightened the venerableness of his\naspect.\n\nMehevi, saluting this old gentleman, motioned him to a seat between us,\nand then uncovering my limb, desired him to examine it. The leech\ngazed intently from me to Toby, and then proceeded to business. After\ndiligently observing the ailing member, he commenced manipulating it;\nand on the supposition probably that the complaint had deprived the leg\nof all sensation, began to pinch and hammer it in such a manner that I\nabsolutely roared with pain. Thinking that I was as capable of making\nan application of thumps and pinches to the part as any one else, I\nendeavoured to resist this species of medical treatment. But it was\nnot so easy a matter to get out of the clutches of the old wizard; he\nfastened on the unfortunate limb as if it were something for which he\nhad been long seeking, and muttering some kind of incantation continued\nhis discipline, pounding it after a fashion that set me well nigh crazy;\nwhile Mehevi, upon the same principle which prompts an affectionate\nmother to hold a struggling child in a dentist\'s chair, restrained me\nin his powerful grasp, and actually encouraged the wretch in this\ninfliction of torture.\n\nAlmost frantic with rage and pain, I yelled like a bedlamite; while\nToby, throwing himself into all the attitudes of a posture-master,\nvainly endeavoured to expostulate with the natives by signs and\ngestures. To have looked at my companion, as, sympathizing with my\nsufferings, he strove to put an end to them, one would have thought\nthat he was the deaf and dumb alphabet incarnated. Whether my tormentor\nyielded to Toby\'s entreaties, or paused from sheer exhaustion, I do not\nknow; but all at once he ceased his operations, and at the same time the\nchief relinquishing his hold upon me, I fell back, faint and breathless\nwith the agony I had endured.\n\nMy unfortunate limb was now left much in the same condition as a\nrump-steak after undergoing the castigating process which precedes\ncooking. My physician, having recovered from the fatigues of his\nexertions, as if anxious to make amends for the pain to which he had\nsubjected me, now took some herbs out of a little wallet that was\nsuspended from his waist, and moistening them in water, applied them\nto the inflamed part, stooping over it at the same time, and either\nwhispering a spell, or having a little confidential chat with some\nimaginary demon located in the calf of my leg. My limb was now swathed\nin leafy bandages, and grateful to Providence for the cessation of\nhostilities, I was suffered to rest.\n\nMehevi shortly after rose to depart; but before he went he spoke\nauthoritatively to one of the natives whom he addressed as Kory-Kory;\nand from the little I could understand of what took place, pointed\nhim out to me as a man whose peculiar business thenceforth would be to\nattend upon my person. I am not certain that I comprehended as much as\nthis at the time, but the subsequent conduct of my trusty body-servant\nfully assured me that such must have been the case.\n\nI could not but be amused at the manner in which the chief addressed me\nupon this occasion, talking to me for at least fifteen or twenty minutes\nas calmly as if I could understand every word that he said. I remarked\nthis peculiarity very often afterwards in many other of the islanders.\n\nMehevi having now departed, and the family physician having likewise\nmade his exit, we were left about sunset with ten or twelve natives, who\nby this time I had ascertained composed the household of which Toby and\nI were members. As the dwelling to which we had been first introduced\nwas the place of my permanent abode while I remained in the valley,\nand as I was necessarily placed upon the most intimate footing with its\noccupants, I may as well here enter into a little description of it\nand its inhabitants. This description will apply also to nearly all the\nother dwelling-places in the vale, and will furnish some idea of the\ngenerality of the natives.\n\nNear one side of the valley, and about midway up the ascent of a rather\nabrupt rise of ground waving with the richest verdure, a number of large\nstones were laid in successive courses, to the height of nearly\neight feet, and disposed in such a manner that their level surface\ncorresponded in shape with the habitation which was perched upon it. A\nnarrow space, however, was reserved in front of the dwelling, upon the\nsummit of this pile of stones (called by the natives a \'pi-pi\'),\nwhich being enclosed by a little picket of canes, gave it somewhat the\nappearance of a verandah. The frame of the house was constructed of\nlarge bamboos planted uprightly, and secured together at intervals by\ntransverse stalks of the light wood of the habiscus, lashed with thongs\nof bark. The rear of the tenement--built up with successive ranges of\ncocoanut boughs bound one upon another, with their leaflets cunningly\nwoven together--inclined a little from the vertical, and extended from\nthe extreme edge of the \'pi-pi\' to about twenty feet from its surface;\nwhence the shelving roof--thatched with the long tapering leaves of the\npalmetto--sloped steeply off to within about five feet of the floor;\nleaving the eaves drooping with tassel-like appendages over the front\nof the habitation. This was constructed of light and elegant canes in a\nkind of open screenwork, tastefully adorned with bindings of variegated\nsinnate, which served to hold together its various parts. The sides of\nthe house were similarly built; thus presenting three quarters for the\ncirculation of the air, while the whole was impervious to the rain.\n\nIn length this picturesque building was perhaps twelve yards, while\nin breadth it could not have exceeded as many feet. So much for the\nexterior; which, with its wire-like reed-twisted sides, not a little\nreminded me of an immense aviary.\n\nStooping a little, you passed through a narrow aperture in its front;\nand facing you, on entering, lay two long, perfectly straight, and\nwell-polished trunks of the cocoanut tree, extending the full length of\nthe dwelling; one of them placed closely against the rear, and the other\nlying parallel with it some two yards distant, the interval between\nthem being spread with a multitude of gaily-worked mats, nearly all of a\ndifferent pattern. This space formed the common couch and lounging place\nof the natives, answering the purpose of a divan in Oriental countries.\nHere would they slumber through the hours of the night, and recline\nluxuriously during the greater part of the day. The remainder of the\nfloor presented only the cool shining surfaces of the large stones of\nwhich the \'pi-pi\' was composed.\n\nFrom the ridge-pole of the house hung suspended a number of large\npackages enveloped in coarse tappa; some of which contained festival\ndresses, and various other matters of the wardrobe, held in high\nestimation. These were easily accessible by means of a line, which,\npassing over the ridge-pole, had one end attached to a bundle, while\nwith the other, which led to the side of the dwelling and was there\nsecured, the package could be lowered or elevated at pleasure.\n\nAgainst the farther wall of the house were arranged in tasteful figures\na variety of spears and javelins, and other implements of savage\nwarfare. Outside of the habitation, and built upon the piazza-like area\nin its front, was a little shed used as a sort of larder or pantry, and\nin which were stored various articles of domestic use and convenience.\nA few yards from the pi-pi was a large shed built of cocoanut boughs,\nwhere the process of preparing the \'poee-poee\' was carried on, and all\nculinary operations attended to.\n\nThus much for the house, and its appurtenances; and it will be readily\nacknowledged that a more commodious and appropriate dwelling for the\nclimate and the people could not possibly be devised. It was cool, free\nto admit the air, scrupulously clean, and elevated above the dampness\nand impurities of the ground.\n\nBut now to sketch the inmates; and here I claim for my tried servitor\nand faithful valet Kory-Kory the precedence of a first description. As\nhis character will be gradually unfolded in the course of my narrative,\nI shall for the present content myself with delineating his personal\nappearance. Kory-Kory, though the most devoted and best natured\nserving-man in the world, was, alas! a hideous object to look upon. He\nwas some twenty-five years of age, and about six feet in height, robust\nand well made, and of the most extraordinary aspect. His head was\ncarefully shaven with the exception of two circular spots, about the\nsize of a dollar, near the top of the cranium, where the hair, permitted\nto grow of an amazing length, was twisted up in two prominent knots,\nthat gave him the appearance of being decorated with a pair of horns.\nHis beard, plucked out by the root from every other part of his face,\nwas suffered to droop in hairy pendants, two of which garnished his\nunder lip, and an equal number hung from the extremity of his chin.\n\nKory-Kory, with a view of improving the handiwork of nature, and\nperhaps prompted by a desire to add to the engaging expression of\nhis countenance, had seen fit to embellish his face with three broad\nlongitudinal stripes of tattooing, which, like those country roads that\ngo straight forward in defiance of all obstacles, crossed his nasal\norgan, descended into the hollow of his eyes, and even skirted the\nborders of his mouth. Each completely spanned his physiognomy; one\nextending in a line with his eyes, another crossing the face in the\nvicinity of the nose, and the third sweeping along his lips from ear\nto ear. His countenance thus triply hooped, as it were, with tattooing,\nalways reminded me of those unhappy wretches whom I have sometimes\nobserved gazing out sentimentally from behind the grated bars of a\nprison window; whilst the entire body of my savage valet, covered all\nover with representations of birds and fishes, and a variety of most\nunaccountable-looking creatures, suggested to me the idea of a pictorial\nmuseum of natural history, or an illustrated copy of \'Goldsmith\'s\nAnimated Nature.\'\n\nBut it seems really heartless in me to write thus of the poor islander,\nwhen I owe perhaps to his unremitting attentions the very existence I\nnow enjoy. Kory-Kory, I mean thee no harm in what I say in regard to\nthy outward adornings; but they were a little curious to my unaccustomed\nsight, and therefore I dilate upon them. But to underrate or forget thy\nfaithful services is something I could never be guilty of, even in the\ngiddiest moment of my life.\n\nThe father of my attached follower was a native of gigantic frame, and\nhad once possessed prodigious physical powers; but the lofty form was\nnow yielding to the inroads of time, though the hand of disease seemed\nnever to have been laid upon the aged warrior. Marheyo--for such was\nhis name--appeared to have retired from all active participation in the\naffairs of the valley, seldom or never accompanying the natives in\ntheir various expeditions; and employing the greater part of his time\nin throwing up a little shed just outside the house, upon which he was\nengaged to my certain knowledge for four months, without appearing\nto make any sensible advance. I suppose the old gentleman was in his\ndotage, for he manifested in various ways the characteristics which mark\nthis particular stage of life.\n\nI remember in particular his having a choice pair of ear-ornaments,\nfabricated from the teeth of some sea-monster. These he would\nalternately wear and take off at least fifty times in the course of the\nday, going and coming from his little hut on each occasion with all the\ntranquillity imaginable. Sometimes slipping them through the slits\nin his ears, he would seize his spear--which in length and slightness\nresembled a fishing-pole--and go stalking beneath the shadows of the\nneighbouring groves, as if about to give a hostile meeting to some\ncannibal knight. But he would soon return again, and hiding his weapon\nunder the projecting eaves of the house, and rolling his clumsy trinkets\ncarefully in a piece of tappa, would resume his more pacific operations\nas quietly as if he had never interrupted them.\n\nBut despite his eccentricities, Marheyo was a most paternal and\nwarm-hearted old fellow, and in this particular not a little resembled\nhis son Kory-Kory. The mother of the latter was the mistress of the\nfamily, and a notable housewife, and a most industrious old lady she\nwas. If she did not understand the art of making jellies, jams, custard,\ntea-cakes, and such like trashy affairs, she was profoundly skilled in\nthe mysteries of preparing \'amar\', \'poee-poee\', and \'kokoo\', with other\nsubstantial matters.\n\nShe was a genuine busy-body; bustling about the house like a country\nlandlady at an unexpected arrival; for ever giving the young girls tasks\nto perform, which the little hussies as often neglected; poking into\nevery corner, and rummaging over bundles of old tappa, or making a\nprodigious clatter among the calabashes. Sometimes she might have been\nseen squatting upon her haunches in front of a huge wooden basin, and\nkneading poee-poee with terrific vehemence, dashing the stone pestle\nabout as if she would shiver the vessel into fragments; on other\noccasions, galloping about the valley in search of a particular kind\nof leaf, used in some of her recondite operations, and returning home,\ntoiling and sweating, with a bundle of it, under which most women would\nhave sunk.\n\nTo tell the truth, Kory-Kory\'s mother was the only industrious person\nin all the valley of Typee; and she could not have employed herself more\nactively had she been left an exceedingly muscular and destitute widow,\nwith an inordinate ate supply of young children, in the bleakest part\nof the civilized world. There was not the slightest necessity for the\ngreater portion of the labour performed by the old lady: but she seemed\nto work from some irresistible impulse; her limbs continually swaying to\nand fro, as if there were some indefatigable engine concealed within her\nbody which kept her in perpetual motion.\n\nNever suppose that she was a termagant or a shrew for all this; she had\nthe kindliest heart in the world, and acted towards me in particular\nin a truly maternal manner, occasionally putting some little morsel of\nchoice food into my hand, some outlandish kind of savage sweetmeat or\npastry, like a doting mother petting a sickly urchin with tarts\nand sugar plums. Warm indeed are my remembrances of the dear, good,\naffectionate old Tinor!\n\nBesides the individuals I have mentioned, there belonged to the\nhousehold three young men, dissipated, good-for-nothing, roystering\nblades of savages, who were either employed in prosecuting love affairs\nwith the maidens of the tribe, or grew boozy on \'arva\' and tobacco in\nthe company of congenial spirits, the scapegraces of the valley.\n\nAmong the permanent inmates of the house were likewise several lovely\ndamsels, who instead of thrumming pianos and reading novels, like\nmore enlightened young ladies, substituted for these employments the\nmanufacture of a fine species of tappa; but for the greater portion of\nthe time were skipping from house to house, gadding and gossiping with\ntheir acquaintances.\n\nFrom the rest of these, however, I must except the beauteous nymph\nFayaway, who was my peculiar favourite. Her free pliant figure was the\nvery perfection of female grace and beauty. Her complexion was a rich\nand mantling olive, and when watching the glow upon her cheeks I could\nalmost swear that beneath the transparent medium there lurked the\nblushes of a faint vermilion.\n\nThe face of this girl was a rounded oval, and each feature as perfectly\nformed as the heart or imagination of man could desire.\n\nHer full lips, when parted with a smile, disclosed teeth of dazzling\nwhiteness and when her rosy mouth opened with a burst of merriment, they\nlooked like the milk-white seeds of the \'arta,\' a fruit of the valley,\nwhich, when cleft in twain, shows them reposing in rows on each side,\nimbedded in the red and juicy pulp. Her hair of the deepest brown,\nparted irregularly in the middle, flowed in natural ringlets over her\nshoulders, and whenever she chanced to stoop, fell over and hid from\nview her lovely bosom. Gazing into the depths of her strange blue\neyes, when she was in a contemplative mood, they seemed most placid yet\nunfathomable; but when illuminated by some lively emotion, they beamed\nupon the beholder like stars. The hands of Fayaway were as soft and\ndelicate as those of any countess; for an entire exemption from rude\nlabour marks the girlhood and even prime of a Typee woman\'s life. Her\nfeet, though wholly exposed, were as diminutive and fairly shaped as\nthose which peep from beneath the skirts of a Lima lady\'s dress. The\nskin of this young creature, from continual ablutions and the use of\nmollifying ointments, was inconceivably smooth and soft.\n\nI may succeed, perhaps, in particularizing some of the individual\nfeatures of Fayaway\'s beauty, but that general loveliness of appearance\nwhich they all contributed to produce I will not attempt to describe.\nThe easy unstudied graces of a child of nature like this, breathing from\ninfancy an atmosphere of perpetual summer, and nurtured by the simple\nfruits of the earth; enjoying a perfect freedom from care and anxiety,\nand removed effectually from all injurious tendencies, strike the eye in\na manner which cannot be pourtrayed. This picture is no fancy sketch; it\nis drawn from the most vivid recollections of the person delineated.\n\nWere I asked if the beauteous form of Fayaway was altogether free from\nthe hideous blemish of tattooing, I should be constrained to answer that\nit was not. But the practitioners of the barbarous art, so remorseless\nin their inflictions upon the brawny limbs of the warriors of the tribe,\nseem to be conscious that it needs not the resources of their profession\nto augment the charms of the maidens of the vale.\n\nThe females are very little embellished in this way, and Fayaway, and\nall the other young girls of her age, were even less so than those of\ntheir sex more advanced in years. The reason of this peculiarity will\nbe alluded to hereafter. All the tattooing that the nymph in question\nexhibited upon her person may be easily described. Three minute dots, no\nbigger than pin-heads, decorated each lip, and at a little distance were\nnot at all discernible. Just upon the fall of the shoulder were drawn\ntwo parallel lines half an inch apart, and perhaps three inches in\nlength, the interval being filled with delicately executed figures.\nThese narrow bands of tattooing, thus placed, always reminded me of\nthose stripes of gold lace worn by officers in undress, and which are in\nlieu of epaulettes to denote their rank.\n\nThus much was Fayaway tattooed. The audacious hand which had gone so far\nin its desecrating work stopping short, apparently wanting the heart to\nproceed.\n\nBut I have omitted to describe the dress worn by this nymph of the\nvalley.\n\nFayaway--I must avow the fact--for the most part clung to the primitive\nand summer garb of Eden. But how becoming the costume!\n\nIt showed her fine figure to the best possible advantage; and nothing\ncould have been better adapted to her peculiar style of beauty. On\nordinary occasions she was habited precisely as I have described the two\nyouthful savages whom we had met on first entering the valley. At other\ntimes, when rambling among the groves, or visiting at the houses of her\nacquaintances, she wore a tunic of white tappa, reaching from her waist\nto a little below the knees; and when exposed for any length of time to\nthe sun, she invariably protected herself from its rays by a floating\nmantle of--the same material, loosely gathered about the person. Her\ngala dress will be described hereafter.\n\nAs the beauties of our own land delight in bedecking themselves with\nfanciful articles of jewellery, suspending them from their ears, hanging\nthem about their necks, and clasping them around their wrists; so\nFayaway and her companions were in the habit of ornamenting themselves\nwith similar appendages.\n\nFlora was their jeweller. Sometimes they wore necklaces of small\ncarnation flowers, strung like rubies upon a fibre of tappa, or\ndisplayed in their ears a single white bud, the stem thrust backward\nthrough the aperture, and showing in front the delicate petals folded\ntogether in a beautiful sphere, and looking like a drop of the purest\npearl. Chaplets too, resembling in their arrangement the strawberry\ncoronal worn by an English peeress, and composed of intertwined leaves\nand blossoms, often crowned their temples; and bracelets and anklets\nof the same tasteful pattern were frequently to be seen. Indeed, the\nmaidens of the island were passionately fond of flowers, and never\nwearied of decorating their persons with them; a lovely trait in their\ncharacter, and one that ere long will be more fully alluded to.\n\nThough in my eyes, at least, Fayaway was indisputably the loveliest\nfemale I saw in Typee, yet the description I have given of her will in\nsome measure apply to nearly all the youthful portion of her sex in the\nvalley. Judge ye then, reader, what beautiful creatures they must have\nbeen.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER TWELVE\n\nOFFICIOUSNESS OF KORY-KORY--HIS DEVOTION--A BATH IN THE STREAM--WANT\nOF REFINEMENT OF THE TYPEE DAMSELS--STROLL WITH MEHEVI--A TYPEE\nHIGHWAY--THE TABOO GROVES--THE HOOLAH HOOLAH GROUND--THE TI--TIMEWORN\nSAVAGES--HOSPITALITY OF MEHEVI--MIDNIGHT MUSINGS--ADVENTURES IN THE\nDARK--DISTINGUISHED HONOURS PAID TO THE VISITORS--STRANGE PROCESSION AND\nRETURN TO THE HOUSE OF MARHEYO\n\nWHEN Mehevi had departed from the house, as related in the preceding\nchapter, Kory-Kory commenced the functions of the post assigned him.\nHe brought out, various kinds of food; and, as if I were an infant,\ninsisted upon feeding me with his own hands. To this procedure I, of\ncourse, most earnestly objected, but in vain; and having laid a calabash\nof kokoo before me, he washed his fingers in a vessel of water, and then\nputting his hands into the dish and rolling the food into little balls,\nput them one after another into my mouth. All my remonstrances against\nthis measure only provoked so great a clamour on his part, that I\nwas obliged to acquiesce; and the operation of feeding being thus\nfacilitated, the meal was quickly despatched. As for Toby, he was\nallowed to help himself after his own fashion.\n\nThe repast over, my attendant arranged the mats for repose, and, bidding\nme lie down, covered me with a large robe of tappa, at the same time\nlooking approvingly upon me, and exclaiming \'Ki-Ki, nuee nuee, ah! moee\nmoee motarkee\' (eat plenty, ah! sleep very good). The philosophy of\nthis sentiment I did not pretend to question; for deprived of sleep for\nseveral preceding nights, and the pain of my limb having much abated, I\nnow felt inclined to avail myself of the opportunity afforded me.\n\nThe next morning, on waking, I found Kory-Kory stretched out on one side\nof me, while my companion lay upon the other. I felt sensibly refreshed\nafter a night of sound repose, and immediately agreed to the proposition\nof my valet that I should repair to the water and wash, although\ndreading the suffering that the exertion might produce. From this\napprehension, however, I was quickly relieved; for Kory-Kory, leaping\nfrom the pi-pi, and then backing himself up against it, like a porter\nin readiness to shoulder a trunk, with loud vociferations and a\nsuperabundance of gestures, gave me to understand that I was to mount\nupon his back and be thus transported to the stream, which flowed\nperhaps two hundred yards from the house.\n\nOur appearance upon the verandah in front of the habitation drew\ntogether quite a crowd, who stood looking on and conversing with one\nanother in the most animated manner. They reminded one of a group of\nidlers gathered about the door of a village tavern when the equipage\nof some distinguished traveller is brought round previously to his\ndeparture. As soon as I clasped my arms about the neck of the devoted\nfellow, and he jogged off with me, the crowd--composed chiefly of young\ngirls and boys--followed after, shouting and capering with infinite\nglee, and accompanied us to the banks of the stream.\n\nOn gaining it, Kory-Kory, wading up to his hips in the water, carried me\nhalf way across, and deposited me on a smooth black stone which rose a\nfew inches above the surface. The amphibious rabble at our heels plunged\nin after us, and climbing to the summit of the grass-grown rocks with\nwhich the bed of the brook was here and there broken, waited curiously\nto witness our morning ablutions.\n\nSomewhat embarrassed by the presence of the female portion of the\ncompany, and feeling my cheeks burning with bashful timidity, I formed\na primitive basin by joining my hands together, and cooled my blushes\nin the water it contained; then removing my frock, bent over and washed\nmyself down to my waist in the stream. As soon as Kory-Kory comprehended\nfrom my motions that this was to be the extent of my performance, he\nappeared perfectly aghast with astonishment, and rushing towards me,\npoured out a torrent of words in eager deprecation of so limited an\noperation, enjoining me by unmistakable signs to immerse my whole body.\nTo this I was forced to consent; and the honest fellow regarding me as a\nfroward, inexperienced child, whom it was his duty to serve at the risk\nof offending, lifted me from the rocks, and tenderly bathed my limbs.\nThis over, and resuming my seat, I could not avoid bursting into\nadmiration of the scene around me.\n\nFrom the verdant surfaces of the large stones that lay scattered about,\nthe natives were now sliding off into the water, diving and ducking\nbeneath the surface in all directions--the young girls springing\nbuoyantly into the air, and revealing their naked forms to the waist,\nwith their long tresses dancing about their shoulders, their eyes\nsparkling like drops of dew in the sun, and their gay laughter pealing\nforth at every frolicsome incident. On the afternoon of the day that I\ntook my first bath in the valley, we received another visit from Mehevi.\nThe noble savage seemed to be in the same pleasant mood, and was quite\nas cordial in his manner as before. After remaining about an hour, he\nrose from the mats, and motioning to leave the house, invited Toby and\nmyself to accompany him. I pointed to my leg; but Mehevi in his turn\npointed to Kory-Kory, and removed that objection; so, mounting upon the\nfaithful fellow\'s shoulders again--like the old man of the sea astride\nof Sindbad--I followed after the chief.\n\nThe nature of the route we now pursued struck me more forcibly than\nanything I had yet seen, as illustrating the indolent disposition of\nthe islanders. The path was obviously the most beaten one in the\nvalley, several others leading from each side into it, and perhaps for\nsuccessive generations it had formed the principal avenue of the place.\nAnd yet, until I grew more familiar with its impediments, it seemed as\ndifficult to travel as the recesses of a wilderness. Part of it swept\naround an abrupt rise of ground, the surface of which was broken by\nfrequent inequalities, and thickly strewn with projecting masses of\nrocks, whose summits were often hidden from view by the drooping foliage\nof the luxurious vegetation. Sometimes directly over, sometimes evading\nthese obstacles with a wide circuit, the path wound along;--one moment\nclimbing over a sudden eminence smooth with continued wear, then\ndescending on the other side into a steep glen, and crossing the flinty\nchannel of a brook. Here it pursued the depths of a glade, occasionally\nobliging you to stoop beneath vast horizontal branches; and now you\nstepped over huge trunks and boughs that lay rotting across the track.\n\nSuch was the grand thoroughfare of Typee. After proceeding a little\ndistance along it--Kory-Kory panting and blowing with the weight of\nhis burden--I dismounted from his back, and grasping the long spear of\nMehevi in my hand, assisted my steps over the numerous obstacles of\nthe road; preferring this mode of advance to one which, from the\ndifficulties of the way, was equally painful to myself and my wearied\nservitor.\n\nOur journey was soon at an end; for, scaling a sudden height, we came\nabruptly upon the place of our destination. I wish that it were possible\nto sketch in words this spot as vividly as I recollect it.\n\nHere were situated the Taboo groves of the valley--the scene of many a\nprolonged feast, of many a horrid rite. Beneath the dark shadows of\nthe consecrated bread-fruit trees there reigned a solemn twilight--a\ncathedral-like gloom. The frightful genius of pagan worship seemed to\nbrood in silence over the place, breathing its spell upon every object\naround. Here and there, in the depths of these awful shades, half\nscreened from sight by masses of overhanging foliage, rose the\nidolatrous altars of the savages, built of enormous blocks of black and\npolished stone, placed one upon another, without cement, to the height\nof twelve or fifteen feet, and surmounted by a rustic open temple,\nenclosed with a low picket of canes, within which might be seen, in\nvarious stages of decay, offerings of bread-fruit and cocoanuts, and the\nputrefying relics of some recent sacrifice.\n\nIn the midst of the wood was the hallowed \'Hoolah Hoolah\' ground--set\napart for the celebration of the fantastical religious ritual of these\npeople--comprising an extensive oblong pi-pi, terminating at either end\nin a lofty terraced altar, guarded by ranks of hideous wooden idols, and\nwith the two remaining sides flanked by ranges of bamboo sheds, opening\ntowards the interior of the quadrangle thus formed. Vast trees, standing\nin the middle of this space, and throwing over it an umbrageous shade,\nhad their massive trunks built round with slight stages, elevated a few\nfeet above the ground, and railed in with canes, forming so many rustic\npulpits, from which the priests harangued their devotees.\n\nThis holiest of spots was defended from profanation by the strictest\nedicts of the all-pervading \'taboo\', which condemned to instant death\nthe sacrilegious female who should enter or touch its sacred precincts,\nor even so much as press with her feet the ground made holy by the\nshadows that it cast.\n\nAccess was had to the enclosure through an embowered entrance, on one\nside, facing a number of towering cocoanut trees, planted at intervals\nalong a level area of a hundred yards. At the further extremity of this\nspace was to be seen a building of considerable size, reserved for the\nhabitation of the priests and religious attendants of the groves.\n\nIn its vicinity was another remarkable edifice, built as usual upon the\nsummit of a pi-pi, and at least two hundred feet in length, though not\nmore than twenty in breadth. The whole front of this latter structure\nwas completely open, and from one end to the other ran a narrow\nverandah, fenced in on the edge of the pi-pi with a picket of canes.\nIts interior presented the appearance of an immense lounging place, the\nentire floor being strewn with successive layers of mats, lying between\nparallel trunks of cocoanut trees, selected for the purpose from the\nstraightest and most symmetrical the vale afforded.\n\nTo this building, denominated in the language of the natives the \'Ti\',\nMehevi now conducted us. Thus far we had been accompanied by a troop of\nthe natives of both sexes; but as soon as we approached its vicinity,\nthe females gradually separated themselves from the crowd, and standing\naloof, permitted us to pass on. The merciless prohibitions of the\ntaboo extended likewise to this edifice, and were enforced by the\nsame dreadful penalty that secured the Hoolah-Hoolah ground from the\nimaginary pollution of a woman\'s presence.\n\nOn entering the house, I was surprised to see six muskets ranged against\nthe bamboo on one side, from the barrels of which depended as many small\ncanvas pouches, partly filled with powder.\n\nDisposed about these muskets, like the cutlasses that decorate the\nbulkhead of a man-of-war\'s cabin, were a great variety of rude spears\nand paddles, javelins, and war-clubs. This then, said I to Toby, must be\nthe armoury of the tribe.\n\nAs we advanced further along the building, we were struck with the\naspect of four or five hideous old wretches, on whose decrepit forms\ntime and tattooing seemed to have obliterated every trace of humanity.\nOwing to the continued operation of this latter process, which only\nterminates among the warriors of the island after all the figures\nstretched upon their limbs in youth have been blended together--an\neffect, however, produced only in cases of extreme longevity--the bodies\nof these men were of a uniform dull green colour--the hue which the\ntattooing gradually assumes as the individual advances in age. Their\nskin had a frightful scaly appearance, which, united with its singular\ncolour, made their limbs not a little resemble dusty specimens of\nverde-antique. Their flesh, in parts, hung upon them in huge folds, like\nthe overlapping plaits on the flank of a rhinoceros. Their heads were\ncompletely bald, whilst their faces were puckered into a thousand\nwrinkles, and they presented no vestige of a beard. But the most\nremarkable peculiarity about them was the appearance of their feet;\nthe toes, like the radiating lines of the mariner\'s compass, pointed\nto every quarter of the horizon. This was doubtless attributable to\nthe fact, that during nearly a hundred years of existence the said toes\nnever had been subjected to any artificial confinement, and in their\nold age, being averse to close neighbourhood, bid one another keep open\norder.\n\nThese repulsive-looking creatures appeared to have lost the use of their\nlower limbs altogether; sitting upon the floor cross-legged in a state\nof torpor. They never heeded us in the least, scarcely looking conscious\nof our presence, while Mehevi seated us upon the mats, and Kory-Kory\ngave utterance to some unintelligible gibberish.\n\nIn a few moments a boy entered with a wooden trencher of poee-poee; and\nin regaling myself with its contents I was obliged again to submit to\nthe officious intervention of my indefatigable servitor. Various other\ndishes followed, the chief manifesting the most hospitable importunity\nin pressing us to partake, and to remove all bashfulness on our part,\nset us no despicable example in his own person.\n\nThe repast concluded, a pipe was lighted, which passed from mouth to\nmouth, and yielding to its soporific influence, the quiet of the place,\nand the deepening shadows of approaching night, my companion and I sank\ninto a kind of drowsy repose, while the chief and Kory-Kory seemed to be\nslumbering beside us.\n\nI awoke from an uneasy nap, about midnight, as I supposed; and, raising\nmyself partly from the mat, became sensible that we were enveloped\nin utter darkness. Toby lay still asleep, but our late companions had\ndisappeared. The only sound that interrupted the silence of the place\nwas the asthmatic breathing of the old men I have mentioned, who reposed\nat a little distance from us. Besides them, as well as I could judge,\nthere was no one else in the house.\n\nApprehensive of some evil, I roused my comrade, and we were engaged in a\nwhispered conference concerning the unexpected withdrawal of the natives\nwhen all at once, from the depths of the grove, in full view of us\nwhere we lay, shoots of flame were seen to rise, and in a few moments\nilluminated the surrounding trees, casting, by contrast, into still\ndeeper gloom the darkness around us.\n\nWhile we continued gazing at this sight, dark figures appeared moving\nto and fro before the flames; while others, dancing and capering about,\nlooked like so many demons.\n\nRegarding this new phenomenon with no small degree of trepidation, I\nsaid to my companion, \'What can all this mean, Toby?\'\n\n\'Oh, nothing,\' replied he; \'getting the fire ready, I suppose.\'\n\n\'Fire!\' exclaimed I, while my heart took to beating like a trip-hammer,\n\'what fire?\'\n\n\'Why, the fire to cook us, to be sure, what else would the cannibals be\nkicking up such a row about if it were not for that?\'\n\n\'Oh, Toby! have done with your jokes; this is no time for them;\nsomething is about to happen, I feel confident.\'\n\n\'Jokes, indeed?\' exclaimed Toby indignantly. \'Did you ever hear me joke?\nWhy, for what do you suppose the devils have been feeding us up in this\nkind of style during the last three days, unless it were for something\nthat you are too much frightened at to talk about? Look at that\nKory-Kory there!--has he not been stuffing you with his confounded\nmushes, just in the way they treat swine before they kill them? Depend\nupon it, we will be eaten this blessed night, and there is the fire we\nshall be roasted by.\'\n\nThis view of the matter was not at all calculated to allay my\napprehensions, and I shuddered when I reflected that we were indeed at\nthe mercy of a tribe of cannibals, and that the dreadful contingency\nto which Toby had alluded was by no means removed beyond the bounds of\npossibility.\n\n\'There! I told you so! they are coming for us!\' exclaimed my companion\nthe next moment, as the forms of four of the islanders were seen in\nbold relief against the illuminated back-ground mounting the pi-pi and\napproaching towards us.\n\nThey came on noiselessly, nay stealthily, and glided along through the\ngloom that surrounded us as if about to spring upon some object they\nwere fearful of disturbing before they should make sure of it.--Gracious\nheaven! the horrible reflections which crowded upon me that moment.--A\ncold sweat stood upon my brow, and spell-bound with terror I awaited my\nfate!\n\nSuddenly the silence was broken by the well-remembered tones of Mehevi,\nand at the kindly accents of his voice my fears were immediately\ndissipated. \'Tommo, Toby, ki ki!\' (eat). He had waited to address us,\nuntil he had assured himself that we were both awake, at which he seemed\nsomewhat surprised.\n\n\'Ki ki! is it?\' said Toby in his gruff tones; \'Well, cook us first, will\nyou--but what\'s this?\' he added, as another savage appeared, bearing\nbefore him a large trencher of wood containing some kind of steaming\nmeat, as appeared from the odours it diffused, and which he deposited at\nthe feet of Mehevi. \'A baked baby, I dare say I but I will have none\nof it, never mind what it is.--A pretty fool I should make of myself,\nindeed, waked up here in the middle of the night, stuffing and guzzling,\nand all to make a fat meal for a parcel of booby-minded cannibals one\nof these mornings!--No, I see what they are at very plainly, so I am\nresolved to starve myself into a bunch of bones and gristle, and then,\nif they serve me up, they are welcome! But I say, Tommo, you are not\ngoing to eat any of that mess there, in the dark, are you? Why, how can\nyou tell what it is?\'\n\n\'By tasting it, to be sure,\' said I, masticating a morsel that Kory-Kory\nhad just put in my mouth, \'and excellently good it is, too, very much\nlike veal.\'\n\n\'A baked baby, by the soul of Captain Cook!\' burst forth Toby, with\namazing vehemence; \'Veal? why there never was a calf on the island\ntill you landed. I tell you you are bolting down mouthfuls from a dead\nHappar\'s carcass, as sure as you live, and no mistake!\'\n\nEmetics and lukewarm water! What a sensation in the abdominal region!\nSure enough, where could the fiends incarnate have obtained meat? But I\nresolved to satisfy myself at all hazards; and turning to Mehevi, I soon\nmade the ready chief understand that I wished a light to be brought.\nWhen the taper came, I gazed eagerly into the vessel, and recognized the\nmutilated remains of a juvenile porker! \'Puarkee!\' exclaimed Kory-Kory,\nlooking complacently at the dish; and from that day to this I have never\nforgotten that such is the designation of a pig in the Typee lingo.\n\nThe next morning, after being again abundantly feasted by the hospitable\nMehevi, Toby and myself arose to depart. But the chief requested us to\npostpone our intention. \'Abo, abo\' (Wait, wait), he said and accordingly\nwe resumed our seats, while, assisted by the zealous Kory-Kory, he\nappeared to be engaged in giving directions to a number of the natives\noutside, who were busily employed in making arrangements, the nature\nof which we could not comprehend. But we were not left long in our\nignorance, for a few moments only had elapsed, when the chief beckoned\nus to approach, and we perceived that he had been marshalling a kind of\nguard of honour to escort us on our return to the house of Marheyo.\n\nThe procession was led off by two venerable-looking savages, each\nprovided with a spear, from the end of which streamed a pennon of\nmilk-white tappa. After them went several youths, bearing aloft\ncalabashes of poee-poee, and followed in their turn by four stalwart\nfellows, sustaining long bamboos, from the tops of which hung\nsuspended, at least twenty feet from the ground, large baskets of\ngreen bread-fruits. Then came a troop of boys, carrying bunches of ripe\nbananas, and baskets made of the woven leaflets of cocoanut boughs,\nfilled with the young fruit of the tree, the naked shells stripped of\ntheir husks peeping forth from the verdant wicker-work that surrounded\nthem. Last of all came a burly islander, holding over his head a wooden\ntrencher, in which lay disposed the remnants of our midnight feast,\nhidden from view, however, by a covering of bread-fruit leaves.\n\nAstonished as I was at this exhibition, I could not avoid smiling at\nits grotesque appearance, and the associations it naturally called\nup. Mehevi, it seemed, was bent on replenishing old Marheyo\'s larder,\nfearful perhaps that without this precaution his guests might not fare\nas well as they could desire.\n\nAs soon as I descended from the pi-pi, the procession formed anew,\nenclosing us in its centre; where I remained part of the time, carried\nby Kory-Kory, and occasionally relieving him from his burden by limping\nalong with spear. When we moved off in this order, the natives struck\nup a musical recitative, which with various alternations, they continued\nuntil we arrived at the place of our destination.\n\nAs we proceeded on our way, bands of young girls, darting from the\nsurrounding groves, hung upon our skirts, and accompanied us with shouts\nof merriment and delight, which almost drowned the deep notes of the\nrecitative. On approaching old Marheyo\'s domicile, its inmates rushed\nout to receive us; and while the gifts of Mehevi were being disposed of,\nthe superannuated warrior did the honours of his mansion with all the\nwarmth of hospitality evinced by an English squire when he regales his\nfriends at some fine old patrimonial mansion.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER THIRTEEN\n\nATTEMPT TO PROCURE RELIEF FROM NUKUHEVA--PERILOUS ADVENTURE OF TOBY IN\nTHE HAPPAR MOUNTAINS--ELOQUENCE OF KORY-KORY\n\nAMIDST these novel scenes a week passed away almost imperceptibly. The\nnatives, actuated by some mysterious impulse, day after day redoubled\ntheir attentions to us. Their manner towards us was unaccountable.\nSurely, thought I, they would not act thus if they meant us any harm.\nBut why this excess of deferential kindness, or what equivalent can they\nimagine us capable of rendering them for it?\n\nWe were fairly puzzled. But despite the apprehensions I could not\ndispel, the horrible character imputed to these Typees appeared to be\nwholly undeserved.\n\n\'Why, they are cannibals!\' said Toby on one occasion when I eulogized\nthe tribe. \'Granted,\' I replied, \'but a more humane, gentlemanly and\namiable set of epicures do not probably exist in the Pacific.\'\n\nBut, notwithstanding the kind treatment we received, I was too familiar\nwith the fickle disposition of savages not to feel anxious to withdraw\nfrom the valley, and put myself beyond the reach of that fearful death\nwhich, under all these smiling appearances, might yet menace us. But\nhere there was an obstacle in the way of doing so. It was idle for me\nto think of moving from the place until I should have recovered from the\nsevere lameness that afflicted me; indeed my malady began seriously to\nalarm me; for, despite the herbal remedies of the natives, it continued\nto grow worse and worse. Their mild applications, though they soothed\nthe pain, did not remove the disorder, and I felt convinced that without\nbetter aid I might anticipate long and acute suffering.\n\nBut how was this aid to be procured? From the surgeons of the French\nfleet, which probably still lay in the bay of Nukuheva, it might easily\nhave been obtained, could I have made my case known to them. But how\ncould that be effected?\n\nAt last, in the exigency to which I was reduced, I proposed to Toby that\nhe should endeavour to go round to Nukuheva, and if he could not\nsucceed in returning to the valley by water, in one of the boats of the\nsquadron, and taking me off, he might at least procure me some proper\nmedicines, and effect his return overland.\n\nMy companion listened to me in silence, and at first did not appear to\nrelish the idea. The truth was, he felt impatient to escape from the\nplace, and wished to avail himself of our present high favour with\nthe natives to make good our retreat, before we should experience some\nsudden alteration in their behaviour. As he could not think of leaving\nme in my helpless condition, he implored me to be of good cheer; assured\nme that I should soon be better, and enabled in a few days to return\nwith him to Nukuheva.\n\nAdded to this, he could not bear the idea of again returning to this\ndangerous place; and as for the expectation of persuading the Frenchmen\nto detach a boat\'s crew for the purpose of rescuing me from the Typees,\nhe looked upon it as idle; and with arguments that I could not answer,\nurged the improbability of their provoking the hostilities of the clan\nby any such measure; especially, as for the purpose of quieting its\napprehensions, they had as yet refrained from making any visit to the\nbay. \'And even should they consent,\' said Toby, \'they would only produce\na commotion in the valley, in which we might both be sacrificed by these\nferocious islanders.\' This was unanswerable; but still I clung to the\nbelief that he might succeed in accomplishing the other part of my plan;\nand at last I overcame his scruples, and he agreed to make the attempt.\n\nAs soon as we succeeded in making the natives understand our intention,\nthey broke out into the most vehement opposition to the measure, and\nfor a while I almost despaired of obtaining their consent. At the bare\nthought of one of us leaving them, they manifested the most lively\nconcern. The grief and consternation of Kory-Kory, in particular, was\nunbounded; he threw himself into a perfect paroxysm of gestures which\nwere intended to convey to us not only his abhorrence of Nukuheva\nand its uncivilized inhabitants, but also his astonishment that after\nbecoming acquainted with the enlightened Typees, we should evince the\nleast desire to withdraw, even for a time, from their agreeable society.\n\nHowever, I overbore his objections by appealing to my lameness; from\nwhich I assured the natives I should speedily recover if Toby were\npermitted to obtain the supplies I needed.\n\nIt was agreed that on the following morning my companion should depart,\naccompanied by some one or two of the household, who should point out to\nhim an easy route, by which the bay might be reached before sunset.\n\nAt early dawn of the next day, our habitation was astir. One of the\nyoung men mounted into an adjoining cocoanut tree, and threw down a\nnumber of the young fruit, which old Marheyo quickly stripped of the\ngreen husks, and strung together upon a short pole. These were intended\nto refresh Toby on his route.\n\nThe preparations being completed, with no little emotion I bade my\ncompanion adieu. He promised to return in three days at farthest; and,\nbidding me keep up my spirits in the interval, turned round the corner\nof the pi-pi, and, under the guidance of the venerable Marheyo, was\nsoon out of sight. His departure oppressed me with melancholy, and,\nre-entering the dwelling, I threw myself almost in despair upon the\nmatting of the floor.\n\nIn two hours\' time the old warrior returned, and gave me to understand\nthat after accompanying my companion a little distance, and showing him\nthe route, he had left him journeying on his way.\n\nIt was about noon of this same day, a season which these people are wont\nto pass in sleep, that I lay in the house, surrounded by its slumbering\ninmates, and painfully affected by the strange silence which prevailed.\nAll at once I thought I heard a faint shout, as if proceeding from\nsome persons in the depth of the grove which extended in front of our\nhabitation.\n\nThe sounds grew louder and nearer, and gradually the whole valley rang\nwith wild outcries. The sleepers around me started to their feet in\nalarm, and hurried outside to discover the cause of the commotion.\nKory-Kory, who had been the first to spring up, soon returned almost\nbreathless, and nearly frantic with the excitement under which he seemed\nto be labouring. All that I could understand from him was that some\naccident had happened to Toby. Apprehensive of some dreadful calamity,\nI rushed out of the house, and caught sight of a tumultuous crowd, who,\nwith shrieks and lamentations, were just emerging from the grove\nbearing in their arms some object, the sight of which produced all this\ntransport of sorrow. As they drew near, the men redoubled their\ncries, while the girls, tossing their bare arms in the air, exclaimed\nplaintively, \'Awha! awha! Toby mukee moee!\'--Alas! alas! Toby is killed!\n\nIn a moment the crowd opened, and disclosed the apparently lifeless body\nof my companion home between two men, the head hanging heavily against\nthe breast of the foremost. The whole face, neck, back, and bosom were\ncovered with blood, which still trickled slowly from a wound behind the\ntemple. In the midst of the greatest uproar and confusion the body was\ncarried into the house and laid on a mat. Waving the natives off to give\nroom and air, I bent eagerly over Toby, and, laying my hand upon the\nbreast, ascertained that the heart still beat. Overjoyed at this, I\nseized a calabash of water, and dashed its contents upon his face, then\nwiping away the blood, anxiously examined the wound. It was about three\ninches long, and on removing the clotted hair from about it, showed the\nskull laid completely bare. Immediately with my knife I cut away the\nheavy locks, and bathed the part repeatedly in water.\n\nIn a few moments Toby revived, and opening his eyes for a second--closed\nthem again without speaking. Kory-Kory, who had been kneeling beside me,\nnow chafed his limbs gently with the palms of his hands, while a young\ngirl at his head kept fanning him, and I still continued to moisten his\nlips and brow. Soon my poor comrade showed signs of animation, and I\nsucceeded in making him swallow from a cocoanut shell a few mouthfuls of\nwater.\n\nOld Tinor now appeared, holding in her hand some simples she had\ngathered, the juice of which she by signs besought me to squeeze into\nthe wound. Having done so, I thought it best to leave Toby undisturbed\nuntil he should have had time to rally his faculties. Several times he\nopened his lips, but fearful for his safety I enjoined silence. In the\ncourse of two or three hours, however, he sat up, and was sufficiently\nrecovered to tell me what had occurred.\n\n\'After leaving the house with Marheyo,\' said Toby, \'we struck across the\nvalley, and ascended the opposite heights. Just beyond them, my guide\ninformed me, lay the valley of Happar, while along their summits, and\nskirting the head of the vale, was my route to Nukuheva. After mounting\na little way up the elevation my guide paused, and gave me to understand\nthat he could not accompany me any farther, and by various signs\nintimated that he was afraid to approach any nearer the territories of\nthe enemies of his tribe. He however pointed out my path, which now\nlay clearly before me, and bidding me farewell, hastily descended the\nmountain.\n\n\'Quite elated at being so near the Happars, I pushed up the acclivity,\nand soon gained its summit. It tapered to a sharp ridge, from whence\nI beheld both the hostile valleys. Here I sat down and rested for a\nmoment, refreshing myself with my cocoanuts. I was soon again pursuing\nmy way along the height, when suddenly I saw three of the islanders, who\nmust have just come out of Happar valley, standing in the path ahead of\nme. They were each armed with a heavy spear, and one from his appearance\nI took to be a chief. They sung out something, I could not understand\nwhat, and beckoned me to come on.\n\n\'Without the least hesitation I advanced towards them, and had\napproached within about a yard of the foremost, when, pointing angrily\ninto the Typee valley, and uttering some savage exclamation, he wheeled\nround his weapon like lightning, and struck me in a moment to the\nground. The blow inflicted this wound, and took away my senses. As soon\nas I came to myself, I perceived the three islanders standing a little\ndistance off, and apparently engaged in some violent altercation\nrespecting me.\n\n\'My first impulse was to run for it; but, in endeavouring to rise, I\nfell back, and rolled down a little grassy precipice. The shock seemed\nto rally my faculties; so, starting to my feet, I fled down the path I\nhad just ascended. I had no need to look behind me, for, from the yells\nI heard, I knew that my enemies were in full pursuit. Urged on by their\nfearful outcries, and heedless of the injury I had received--though\nthe blood flowing from the wound trickled over into my eyes and almost\nblinded me--I rushed down the mountain side with the speed of the wind.\nIn a short time I had descended nearly a third of the distance, and the\nsavages had ceased their cries, when suddenly a terrific howl burst upon\nmy ear, and at the same moment a heavy javelin darted past me as I fled,\nand stuck quivering in a tree close to me. Another yell followed, and\na second spear and a third shot through the air within a few feet of my\nbody, both of them piercing the ground obliquely in advance of me. The\nfellows gave a roar of rage and disappointment; but they were afraid, I\nsuppose, of coming down further into the Typee valley, and so abandoned\nthe chase. I saw them recover their weapons and turn back; and I\ncontinued my descent as fast as I could.\n\n\'What could have caused this ferocious attack on the part of these\nHappars I could not imagine, unless it were that they had seen me\nascending the mountain with Marheyo, and that the mere fact of coming\nfrom the Typee valley was sufficient to provoke them.\n\n\'As long as I was in danger I scarcely felt the wound I had received;\nbut when the chase was over I began to suffer from it. I had lost my\nhat in the flight, and the run scorched my bare head. I felt faint\nand giddy; but, fearful of falling to the ground beyond the reach of\nassistance, I staggered on as well as I could, and at last gained the\nlevel of the valley, and then down I sank; and I knew nothing more until\nI found myself lying upon these mats, and you stooping over me with the\ncalabash of water.\'\n\nSuch was Toby\'s account of this sad affair. I afterwards learned that,\nfortunately, he had fallen close to a spot where the natives go for\nfuel. A party of them caught sight of him as he fell, and sounding\nthe alarm, had lifted him up; and after ineffectually endeavouring to\nrestore him at the brook, had hurried forward with him to the house.\n\nThis incident threw a dark cloud over our prospects. It reminded us that\nwe were hemmed in by hostile tribes, whose territories we could not hope\nto pass, on our route to Nukuheva, without encountering the effects of\ntheir savage resentment. There appeared to be no avenue opened to our\nescape but the sea, which washed the lower extremities of the vale.\n\nOur Typee friends availed themselves of the recent disaster of Toby to\nexhort us to a due appreciation of the blessings we enjoyed among them,\ncontrasting their own generous reception of us with the animosity of\ntheir neighbours. They likewise dwelt upon the cannibal propensities of\nthe Happars, a subject which they were perfectly aware could not fail\nto alarm us; while at the same time they earnestly disclaimed all\nparticipation in so horrid a custom. Nor did they omit to call upon\nus to admire the natural loveliness of their own abode, and the lavish\nabundance with which it produced all manner of luxuriant fruits;\nexalting it in this particular above any of the surrounding valleys.\n\nKory-Kory seemed to experience so heartfelt a desire to infuse into our\nminds proper views on these subjects, that, assisted in his endeavours\nby the little knowledge of the language we had acquired, he actually\nmade us comprehend a considerable part of what he said. To facilitate\nour correct apprehension of his meaning, he at first condensed his ideas\ninto the smallest possible compass.\n\n\'Happar keekeeno nuee,\' he exclaimed, \'nuee, nuee, ki ki\nkannaka!--ah! owle motarkee!\' which signifies, \'Terrible fellows those\nHappars!--devour an amazing quantity of men!--ah, shocking bad!\'\nThus far he explained himself by a variety of gestures, during\nthe performance of which he would dart out of the house, and point\nabhorrently towards the Happar valley; running in to us again with\na rapidity that showed he was fearful he would lose one part of\nhis meaning before he could complete the other; and continuing his\nillustrations by seizing the fleshy part of my arm in his teeth,\nintimating by the operation that the people who lived over in that\ndirection would like nothing better than to treat me in that manner.\n\nHaving assured himself that we were fully enlightened on this point, he\nproceeded to another branch of his subject. \'Ah! Typee mortakee!--nuee,\nnuee mioree--nuee, nuee wai--nuee, nuee poee-poee--nuee, nuee kokoo--ah!\nnuee, nuee kiki--ah! nuee, nuee, nuee!\' Which literally interpreted\nas before, would imply, \'Ah, Typee! isn\'t it a fine place though!--no\ndanger of starving here, I tell you!--plenty of bread-fruit--plenty of\nwater--plenty of pudding--ah! plenty of everything! ah! heaps, heaps\nheaps!\' All this was accompanied by a running commentary of signs and\ngestures which it was impossible not to comprehend.\n\nAs he continued his harangue, however, Kory-Kory, in emulation of our\nmore polished orators, began to launch out rather diffusely into other\nbranches of his subject, enlarging probably upon the moral reflections\nit suggested; and proceeded in such a strain of unintelligible and\nstunning gibberish, that he actually gave me the headache for the rest\nof the day.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER FOURTEEN\n\nA GREAT EVENT HAPPENS IN THE VALLEY--THE ISLAND TELEGRAPH--SOMETHING\nBEFALLS TOBY--FAYAWAY DISPLAYS A TENDER HEART--MELANCHOLY\nREFLECTIONS--MYSTERIOUS CONDUCT OF THE ISLANDERS--DEVOTION OF\nKORY-KORY--A RURAL COUCH--A LUXURY--KORY-KORY STRIKES A LIGHT A LA TYPEE\n\nIN the course of a few days Toby had recovered from the effects of\nhis adventure with the Happar warriors; the wound on his head rapidly\nhealing under the vegetable treatment of the good Tinor. Less fortunate\nthan my companion however, I still continued to languish under a\ncomplaint, the origin and nature of which were still a mystery. Cut off\nas I was from all intercourse with the civilized world, and feeling the\ninefficacy of anything the natives could do to relieve me; knowing,\ntoo, that so long as I remained in my present condition, it would\nbe impossible for me to leave the valley, whatever opportunity might\npresent itself; and apprehensive that ere long we might be exposed to\nsome caprice on the part of the islanders, I now gave up all hopes\nof recovery, and became a prey to the most gloomy thoughts. A deep\ndejection fell upon me, which neither the friendly remonstrances of\nmy companion, the devoted attentions of Kory-Kory nor all the soothing\ninfluences of Fayaway could remove.\n\nOne morning as I lay on the mats in the house, plunged in melancholy\nreverie, and regardless of everything around me, Toby, who had left me\nabout an hour, returned in haste, and with great glee told me to cheer\nup and be of good heart; for he believed, from what was going on among\nthe natives, that there were boats approaching the bay.\n\nThese tidings operated upon me like magic. The hour of our deliverance\nwas at hand, and starting up, I was soon convinced that something\nunusual was about to occur. The word \'botee! botee!\' was vociferated in\nall directions; and shouts were heard in the distance, at first\nfeebly and faintly; but growing louder and nearer at each successive\nrepetition, until they were caught up by a fellow in a cocoanut tree a\nfew yards off, who sounding them in turn, they were reiterated from a\nneighbouring grove, and so died away gradually from point to point, as\nthe intelligence penetrated into the farthest recess of the valley. This\nwas the vocal telegraph of the islanders; by means of which condensed\nitems of information could be carried in a very few minutes from the\nsea to their remotest habitation, a distance of at least eight or nine\nmiles. On the present occasion it was in active operation; one piece of\ninformation following another with inconceivable rapidity.\n\nThe greatest commotion now appeared to prevail. At every fresh item of\nintelligence the natives betrayed the liveliest interest, and redoubled\nthe energy with which they employed themselves in collecting fruit to\nsell to the expected visitors. Some were tearing off the husks from\ncocoanuts; some perched in the trees were throwing down bread-fruit\nto their companions, who gathered them into heaps as they fell; while\nothers were plying their fingers rapidly in weaving leafen baskets in\nwhich to carry the fruit.\n\nThere were other matters too going on at the same time. Here you would\nsee a stout warrior polishing his spear with a bit of old tappa, or\nadjusting the folds of the girdle about his waist; and there you might\ndescry a young damsel decorating herself with flowers, as if having\nin her eye some maidenly conquest; while, as in all cases of hurry\nand confusion in every part of the world, a number of individuals kept\nhurrying to and fro, with amazing vigour and perseverance, doing nothing\nthemselves, and hindering others.\n\nNever before had we seen the islanders in such a state of bustle and\nexcitement; and the scene furnished abundant evidence of the fact--that\nit was only at long intervals any such events occur.\n\nWhen I thought of the length of time that might intervene before a\nsimilar chance of escape would be presented, I bitterly lamented that\nI had not the power of availing myself effectually of the present\nopportunity.\n\nFrom all that we could gather, it appeared that the natives were fearful\nof arriving too late upon the beach, unless they made extraordinary\nexertions. Sick and lame as I was, I would have started with Toby at\nonce, had not Kory-Kory not only refused to carry me, but manifested\nthe most invincible repugnance to our leaving the neighbourhood of the\nhouse. The rest of the savages were equally opposed to our wishes, and\nseemed grieved and astonished at the earnestness of my solicitations.\nI clearly perceived that while my attendant avoided all appearance of\nconstraining my movements, he was nevertheless determined to thwart my\nwishes. He seemed to me on this particular occasion, as well as often\nafterwards, to be executing the orders of some other person with regard\nto me, though at the same time feeling towards me the most lively\naffection.\n\nToby, who had made up his mind to accompany the islanders if possible,\nas soon as they were in readiness to depart, and who for that reason had\nrefrained from showing the same anxiety that I had done, now represented\nto me that it was idle for me to entertain the hope of reaching the\nbeach in time to profit by any opportunity that might then be presented.\n\n\'Do you not see,\' said he, \'the savages themselves are fearful of being\ntoo late, and I should hurry forward myself at once did I not think that\nif I showed too much eagerness I should destroy all our hopes of reaping\nany benefit from this fortunate event. If you will only endeavour to\nappear tranquil or unconcerned, you will quiet their suspicions, and I\nhave no doubt they will then let me go with them to the beach, supposing\nthat I merely go out of curiosity. Should I succeed in getting down to\nthe boats, I will make known the condition in which I have left you, and\nmeasures may then be taken to secure our escape.\'\n\nIn the expediency of this I could not but acquiesce; and as the natives\nhad now completed their preparations, I watched with the liveliest\ninterest the reception that Toby\'s application might meet with. As soon\nas they understood from my companion that I intended to remain, they\nappeared to make no objection to his proposition, and even hailed it\nwith pleasure. Their singular conduct on this occasion not a little\npuzzled me at the time, and imparted to subsequent events an additional\nmystery.\n\nThe islanders were now to be seen hurrying along the path which led to\nthe sea. I shook Toby warmly by the hand, and gave him my Payta hat\nto shield his wounded head from the sun, as he had lost his own. He\ncordially returned the pressure of my hand, and solemnly promising to\nreturn as soon as the boats should leave the shore, sprang from my side,\nand the next minute disappeared in a turn of the grove.\n\nIn spite of the unpleasant reflections that crowded upon my mind, I\ncould not but be entertained by the novel and animated sight which by\nnow met my view. One after another the natives crowded along the narrow\npath, laden with every variety of fruit. Here, you might have seen one,\nwho, after ineffectually endeavouring to persuade a surly porker to be\nconducted in leading strings, was obliged at last to seize the perverse\nanimal in his arms, and carry him struggling against his naked breast,\nand squealing without intermission. There went two, who at a little\ndistance might have been taken for the Hebrew spies, on their return to\nMoses with the goodly bunch of grape. One trotted before the other at a\ndistance of a couple of yards, while between them, from a pole resting\non the shoulders, was suspended a huge cluster of bananas, which swayed\nto and fro with the rocking gait at which they proceeded. Here ran\nanother, perspiring with his exertions, and bearing before him a\nquantity of cocoanuts, who, fearful of being too late, heeded not the\nfruit that dropped from his basket, and appeared solely intent upon\nreaching his destination, careless how many of his cocoanuts kept\ncompany with him.\n\nIn a short time the last straggler was seen hurrying on his way, and the\nfaint shouts of those in advance died insensibly upon the ear. Our\npart of the valley now appeared nearly deserted by its inhabitants,\nKory-Kory, his aged father, and a few decrepit old people, being all\nthat were left.\n\nTowards sunset the islanders in small parties began to return from\nthe beach, and among them, as they drew near to the house, I sought to\ndescry the form of my companion. But one after another they passed the\ndwelling, and I caught no glimpse of him. Supposing, however, that he\nwould soon appear with some of the members of the household, I quieted\nmy apprehensions, and waited patiently to see him advancing in company\nwith the beautiful Fayaway. At last, I perceived Tinor coming forward,\nfollowed by the girls and young men who usually resided in the house of\nMarheyo; but with them came not my comrade, and, filled with a thousand\nalarms, I eagerly sought to discover the cause of his delay.\n\nMy earnest questions appeared to embarrass the natives greatly. All\ntheir accounts were contradictory: one giving me to understand that\nToby would be with me in a very short time; another that he did not know\nwhere he was; while a third, violently inveighing, against him, assured\nme that he had stolen away, and would never come back. It appeared\nto me, at the time, that in making these various statements they\nendeavoured to conceal from me some terrible disaster, lest the\nknowledge of it should overpower me.\n\nFearful lest some fatal calamity had overtaken him, I sought out young\nFayaway, and endeavoured to learn from her, if possible, the truth.\n\nThis gentle being had early attracted my regard, not only from her\nextraordinary beauty, but from the attractive cast of her countenance,\nsingularly expressive of intelligence and humanity. Of all the natives\nshe alone seemed to appreciate the effect which the peculiarity of the\ncircumstances in which we were placed had produced upon the minds of my\ncompanion and myself. In addressing me--especially when I lay reclining\nupon the mats suffering from pain--there was a tenderness in her manner\nwhich it was impossible to misunderstand or resist. Whenever she entered\nthe house, the expression of her face indicated the liveliest sympathy\nfor me; and moving towards the place where I lay, with one arm slightly\nelevated in a gesture of pity, and her large glistening eyes gazing\nintently into mine, she would murmur plaintively, \'Awha! awha! Tommo,\'\nand seat herself mournfully beside me.\n\nHer manner convinced me that she deeply compassionated my situation, as\nbeing removed from my country and friends, and placed beyond the reach\nof all relief. Indeed, at times I was almost led to believe that her\nmind was swayed by gentle impulses hardly to be anticipated from one in\nher condition; that she appeared to be conscious there were ties rudely\nsevered, which had once bound us to our homes; that there were sisters\nand brothers anxiously looking forward to our return, who were, perhaps,\nnever more to behold us.\n\nIn this amiable light did Fayaway appear in my eyes; and reposing full\nconfidence in her candour and intelligence, I now had recourse to her,\nin the midst of my alarm, with regard to my companion.\n\nMy questions evidently distressed her. She looked round from one to\nanother of the bystanders, as if hardly knowing what answer to give me.\nAt last, yielding to my importunities, she overcame her scruples, and\ngave me to understand that Toby had gone away with the boats which had\nvisited the bay, but had promised to return at the expiration of three\ndays. At first I accused him of perfidiously deserting me; but as I grew\nmore composed, I upbraided myself for imputing so cowardly an action\nto him, and tranquillized myself with the belief that he had availed\nhimself, of the opportunity to go round to Nukuheva, in order to make\nsome arrangement by which I could be removed from the valley. At any\nrate, thought I, he will return with the medicines I require, and then,\nas soon as I recover, there will be no difficulty in the way of our\ndeparture.\n\nConsoling myself with these reflections, I lay down that night in a\nhappier frame of mind than I had done for some time. The next day passed\nwithout any allusion to Toby on the part of the natives, who seemed\ndesirous of avoiding all reference to the subject. This raised some\napprehensions in my breast; but when night came, I congratulated myself\nthat the second day had now gone by, and that on the morrow Toby would\nagain be with me. But the morrow came and went, and my companion did\nnot appear. Ah! thought I, he reckons three days from the morning of his\ndeparture,--tomorrow he will arrive. But that weary day also closed upon\nme, without his return. Even yet I would not despair; I thought that\nsomething detained him--that he was waiting for the sailing of a boat,\nat Nukuheva, and that in a day or two at farthest I should see him\nagain. But day after day of renewed disappointment passed by; at last\nhope deserted me, and I fell a victim to despair.\n\nYes; thought I, gloomily, he has secured his own escape, and cares not\nwhat calamity may befall his unfortunate comrade. Fool that I was,\nto suppose that any one would willingly encounter the perils of this\nvalley, after having once got beyond its limits! He has gone, and has\nleft me to combat alone all the dangers by which I am surrounded. Thus\nwould I sometimes seek to derive a desperate consolation from dwelling\nupon the perfidity of Toby: whilst at other times I sunk under the\nbitter remorse which I felt as having by my own imprudence brought upon\nmyself the fate which I was sure awaited me.\n\nAt other times I thought that perhaps after all these treacherous\nsavages had made away with him, and thence the confusion into which\nthey were thrown by my questions, and their contradictory answers, or he\nmight be a captive in some other part of the valley, or, more dreadful\nstill, might have met with that fate at which my very soul shuddered.\nBut all these speculations were vain; no tidings of Toby ever reached\nme; he had gone never to return.\n\nThe conduct of the islanders appeared inexplicable. All reference to my\nlost comrade was carefully evaded, and if at any time they were forced\nto make some reply to my frequent inquiries on the subject, they would\nuniformly denounce him as an ungrateful runaway, who had deserted\nhis friend, and taken himself off to that vile and detestable place\nNukuheva.\n\nBut whatever might have been his fate, now that he was gone the natives\nmultiplied their acts of kindness and attention towards myself, treating\nme with a degree of deference which could hardly have been surpassed had\nI been some celestial visitant. Kory-Kory never for one moment left my\nside, unless it were to execute my wishes. The faithful fellow, twice\nevery day, in the cool of the morning and in the evening, insisted upon\ncarrying me to the stream, and bathing me in its refreshing water.\n\nFrequently in the afternoon he would carry me to a particular part of\nthe stream, where the beauty of the scene produced a soothing influence\nupon my mind. At this place the waters flowed between grassy banks,\nplanted with enormous bread-fruit trees, whose vast branches interlacing\noverhead, formed a leafy canopy; near the stream were several smooth\nblack rocks. One of these, projecting several feet above the surface\nof the water, had upon its summit a shallow cavity, which, filled with\nfreshly-gathered leaves, formed a delightful couch.\n\nHere I often lay for hours, covered with a gauze-like veil of tappa,\nwhile Fayaway, seated beside me, and holding in her hand a fan woven\nfrom the leaflets of a young cocoanut bough, brushed aside the insects\nthat occasionally lighted on my face, and Kory-Kory, with a view of\nchasing away my melancholy, performed a thousand antics in the water\nbefore us.\n\nAs my eye wandered along this romantic stream, it would fall upon the\nhalf-immersed figure of a beautiful girl, standing in the transparent\nwater, and catching in a little net a species of diminutive shell-fish,\nof which these people are extraordinarily fond. Sometimes a chattering\ngroup would be seated upon the edge of a low rock in the midst of the\nbrook, busily engaged in thinning and polishing the shells of cocoanuts,\nby rubbing them briskly with a small stone in the water, an operation\nwhich soon converts them into a light and elegant drinking vessel,\nsomewhat resembling goblets made of tortoise shell.\n\nBut the tranquillizing influence of beautiful scenery, and the\nexhibition of human life under so novel and charming an aspect were not\nmy only sources of consolation.\n\nEvery evening the girls of the house gathered about me on the mats, and\nafter chasing away Kory-Kory from my side--who nevertheless, retired\nonly to a little distance and watched their proceedings with the most\njealous attention--would anoint my whole body with a fragrant oil,\nsqueezed from a yellow root, previously pounded between a couple of\nstones, and which in their language is denominated \'aka\'. And most\nrefreshing and agreeable are the juices of the \'aka\', when applied to\nones, limbs by the soft palms of sweet nymphs, whose bright eyes are\nbeaming upon you with kindness; and I used to hail with delight the\ndaily recurrence of this luxurious operation, in which I forgot all my\ntroubles, and buried for the time every feeling of sorrow.\n\nSometimes in the cool of the evening my devoted servitor would lead me\nout upon the pi-pi in front of the house, and seating me near its edge,\nprotect my body from the annoyance of the insects which occasionally\nhovered in the air, by wrapping me round with a large roll of tappa.\nHe then bustled about, and employed himself at least twenty minutes in\nadjusting everything to secure my personal comfort.\n\nHaving perfected his arrangements, he would get my pipe, and, lighting\nit, would hand it to me. Often he was obliged to strike a light for the\noccasion, and as the mode he adopted was entirely different from what I\nhad ever seen or heard of before I will describe it.\n\nA straight, dry, and partly decayed stick of the Hibiscus, about six\nfeet in length, and half as many inches in diameter, with a small, bit\nof wood not more than a foot long, and scarcely an inch wide, is as\ninvariably to be met with in every house in Typee as a box of lucifer\nmatches in the corner of a kitchen cupboard at home.\n\nThe islander, placing the larger stick obliquely against some object,\nwith one end elevated at an angle of forty-five degrees, mounts astride\nof it like an urchin about to gallop off upon a cane, and then grasping\nthe smaller one firmly in both hands, he rubs its pointed end slowly\nup and down the extent of a few inches on the principal stick, until at\nlast he makes a narrow groove in the wood, with an abrupt termination\nat the point furthest from him, where all the dusty particles which the\nfriction creates are accumulated in a little heap.\n\nAt first Kory-Kory goes to work quite leisurely, but gradually quickens\nhis pace, and waxing warm in the employment, drives the stick furiously\nalong the smoking channel, plying his hands to and fro with amazing\nrapidity, the perspiration starting from every pore. As he approaches\nthe climax of his effort, he pants and gasps for breath, and his eyes\nalmost start from their sockets with the violence of his exertions. This\nis the critical stage of the operation; all his previous labours\nare vain if he cannot sustain the rapidity of the movement until the\nreluctant spark is produced. Suddenly he stops, becoming perfectly\nmotionless. His hands still retain their hold of the smaller stick,\nwhich is pressed convulsively against the further end of the channel\namong the fine powder there accumulated, as if he had just pierced\nthrough and through some little viper that was wriggling and struggling\nto escape from his clutches. The next moment a delicate wreath of smoke\ncurls spirally into the air, the heap of dusty particles glows with\nfire, and Kory-Kory, almost breathless, dismounts from his steed.\n\nThis operation appeared to me to be the most laborious species of work\nperformed in Typee; and had I possessed a sufficient intimacy with the\nlanguage to have conveyed my ideas upon the subject, I should certainly\nhave suggested to the most influential of the natives the expediency of\nestablishing a college of vestals to be centrally located in the valley,\nfor the purpose of keeping alive the indispensable article of fire; so\nas to supersede the necessity of such a vast outlay of strength and\ngood temper, as were usually squandered on these occasions. There might,\nhowever, be special difficulties in carrying this plan into execution.\n\nWhat a striking evidence does this operation furnish of the wide\ndifference between the extreme of savage and civilized life. A gentleman\nof Typee can bring up a numerous family of children and give them all\na highly respectable cannibal education, with infinitely less toil\nand anxiety than he expends in the simple process of striking a light;\nwhilst a poor European artisan, who through the instrumentality of a\nlucifer performs the same operation in one second, is put to his wit\'s\nend to provide for his starving offspring that food which the children\nof a Polynesian father, without troubling their parents, pluck from the\nbranches of every tree around them.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER FIFTEEN\n\nKINDNESS OF MARHEYO AND THE REST OF THE ISLANDERS--A FULL DESCRIPTION OF\nTHE BREAD-FRUIT TREE--DIFFERENT MODES OF PREPARING THE FRUIT\n\nALL the inhabitants of the valley treated me with great kindness; but as\nto the household of Marheyo, with whom I was now permanently domiciled,\nnothing could surpass their efforts to minister to my comfort. To the\ngratification of my palate they paid the most unwearied attention.\nThey continually invited me to partake of food, and when after eating\nheartily I declined the viands they continued to offer me, they seemed\nto think that my appetite stood in need of some piquant stimulant to\nexcite its activity.\n\nIn pursuance of this idea, old Marheyo himself would hie him away to\nthe sea-shore by the break of day, for the purpose of collecting\nvarious species of rare sea-weed; some of which among these people are\nconsidered a great luxury. After a whole day spent in this employment,\nhe would return about nightfall with several cocoanut shells filled with\ndifferent descriptions of kelp. In preparing these for use he manifested\nall the ostentation of a professed cook, although the chief mystery of\nthe affair appeared to consist in pouring water in judicious quantities\nupon the slimy contents of his cocoanut shells.\n\nThe first time he submitted one of these saline salads to my critical\nattention I naturally thought that anything collected at such pains must\npossess peculiar merits; but one mouthful was a complete dose; and great\nwas the consternation of the old warrior at the rapidity with which I\nejected his Epicurean treat.\n\nHow true it is, that the rarity of any particular article enhances\nits value amazingly. In some part of the valley--I know not where, but\nprobably in the neighbourhood of the sea--the girls were sometimes in\nthe habit of procuring small quantities of salt, a thimble-full or\nso being the result of the united labours of a party of five or six\nemployed for the greater part of the day. This precious commodity they\nbrought to the house, enveloped in multitudinous folds of leaves; and\nas a special mark of the esteem in which they held me, would spread\nan immense leaf on the ground, and dropping one by one a few minute\nparticles of the salt upon it, invite me to taste them.\n\nFrom the extravagant value placed upon the article, I verily believe,\nthat with a bushel of common Liverpool salt all the real estate in Typee\nmight have been purchased. With a small pinch of it in one hand, and a\nquarter section of a bread-fruit in the other, the greatest chief in the\nvalley would have laughed at all luxuries of a Parisian table.\n\nThe celebrity of the bread-fruit tree, and the conspicuous place it\noccupies in a Typee bill of fare, induces me to give at some length\na general description of the tree, and the various modes in which the\nfruit is prepared.\n\nThe bread-fruit tree, in its glorious prime, is a grand and towering\nobject, forming the same feature in a Marquesan landscape that the\npatriarchal elm does in New England scenery. The latter tree it not a\nlittle resembles in height, in the wide spread of its stalwart branches,\nand in its venerable and imposing aspect.\n\nThe leaves of the bread-fruit are of great size, and their edges are cut\nand scolloped as fantastically as those of a lady\'s lace collar. As they\nannually tend towards decay, they almost rival in brilliant variety\nof their gradually changing hues the fleeting shades of the expiring\ndolphin. The autumnal tints of our American forests, glorious as they\nare, sink into nothing in comparison with this tree.\n\nThe leaf, in one particular stage, when nearly all the prismatic colours\nare blended on its surface, is often converted by the natives into\na superb and striking head-dress. The principal fibre traversing its\nlength being split open a convenient distance, and the elastic sides of\nthe aperture pressed apart, the head is inserted between them, the leaf\ndrooping on one side, with its forward half turned jauntily up on the\nbrows, and the remaining part spreading laterally behind the ears.\n\nThe fruit somewhat resembles in magnitude and general appearance one of\nour citron melons of ordinary size; but, unlike the citron, it has no\nsectional lines drawn along the outside. Its surface is dotted all over\nwith little conical prominences, looking not unlike the knobs, on an\nantiquated church door. The rind is perhaps an eighth of an inch in\nthickness; and denuded of this at the time when it is in the greatest\nperfection, the fruit presents a beautiful globe of white pulp, the\nwhole of which may be eaten, with the exception of a slender core, which\nis easily removed.\n\nThe bread-fruit, however, is never used, and is indeed altogether unfit\nto be eaten, until submitted in one form or other to the action of fire.\n\nThe most simple manner in which this operation is performed, and I\nthink, the best, consists in placing any number of the freshly plucked\nfruit, when in a particular state of greenness, among the embers of a\nfire, in the same way that you would roast a potato. After the lapse\nof ten or fifteen minutes, the green rind embrowns and cracks, showing\nthrough the fissures in its sides the milk-white interior. As soon as it\ncools the rind drops off, and you then have the soft round pulp in its\npurest and most delicious state. Thus eaten, it has a mild and pleasing\nflavour.\n\nSometimes after having been roasted in the fire, the natives snatch it\nbriskly from the embers, and permitting it to slip out of the yielding\nrind into a vessel of cold water, stir up the mixture, which they\ncall \'bo-a-sho\'. I never could endure this compound, and indeed the\npreparation is not greatly in vogue among the more polite Typees.\n\nThere is one form, however, in which the fruit is occasionally served,\nthat renders it a dish fit for a king. As soon as it is taken from the\nfire the exterior is removed, the core extracted, and the remaining part\nis placed in a sort of shallow stone mortar, and briskly worked with\na pestle of the same substance. While one person is performing this\noperation, another takes a ripe cocoanut, and breaking it in halves,\nwhich they also do very cleverly, proceeds to grate the juicy meat into\nfine particles. This is done by means of a piece of mother-of-pearl\nshell, lashed firmly to the extreme end of a heavy stick, with its\nstraight side accurately notched like a saw. The stick is sometimes a\ngrotesquely-formed limb of a tree, with three or four branches twisting\nfrom its body like so many shapeless legs, and sustaining it two or\nthree feet from the ground.\n\nThe native, first placing a calabash beneath the nose, as it were, of\nhis curious-looking log-steed, for the purpose of receiving the\ngrated fragments as they fall, mounts astride of it as if it were a\nhobby-horse, and twirling the inside of his hemispheres of cocoanut\naround the sharp teeth of the mother-of-pearl shell, the pure white meat\nfalls in snowy showers into the receptacle provided. Having obtained a\nquantity sufficient for his purpose, he places it in a bag made of\nthe net-like fibrous substance attached to all cocoanut trees, and\ncompressing it over the bread-fruit, which being now sufficiently\npounded, is put into a wooden bowl--extracts a thick creamy milk. The\ndelicious liquid soon bubbles round the fruit, and leaves it at last\njust peeping above its surface.\n\nThis preparation is called \'kokoo\', and a most luscious preparation it\nis. The hobby-horse and the pestle and mortar were in great requisition\nduring the time I remained in the house of Marheyo, and Kory-Kory had\nfrequent occasion to show his skill in their use.\n\nBut the great staple articles of food into which the bread-fruit is\nconverted by these natives are known respectively by the names of Amar\nand Poee-Poee.\n\nAt a certain season of the year, when the fruit of the hundred groves\nof the valley has reached its maturity, and hangs in golden spheres from\nevery branch, the islanders assemble in harvest groups, and garner in\nthe abundance which surrounds them.\n\nThe trees are stripped of their nodding burdens, which, easily freed\nfrom the rind and core, are gathered together in capacious wooden\nvessels, where the pulpy fruit is soon worked by a stone pestle,\nvigorously applied, into a blended mass of a doughy consistency, called\nby the natives \'Tutao\'. This is then divided into separate parcels,\nwhich, after being made up into stout packages, enveloped in successive\nfolds of leaves, and bound round with thongs of bark, are stored away in\nlarge receptacles hollowed in the earth, from whence they are drawn as\noccasion may require. In this condition the Tutao sometimes remains for\nyears, and even is thought to improve by age. Before it is fit to be\neaten, however, it has to undergo an additional process. A primitive\noven is scooped in the ground, and its bottom being loosely covered\nwith stones, a large fire is kindled within it. As soon as the requisite\ndegree of heat is attained, the embers are removed, and the surface of\nthe stones being covered with thick layers of leaves, one of the large\npackages of Tutao is deposited upon them and overspread with another\nlayer of leaves. The whole is then quickly heaped up with earth, and\nforms a sloping mound.\n\nThe Tutao thus baked is called \'Amar\'; the action of the oven having\nconverted it into an amber-coloured caky substance, a little tart, but\nnot at all disagreeable to the taste.\n\nBy another and final process the \'Amar\' is changed into \'Poee-Poee\'.\nThis transition is rapidly effected. The Amar is placed in a vessel, and\nmixed with water until it gains a proper pudding-like consistency, when,\nwithout further preparation, it is in readiness for use. This is the\nform in which the \'Tutao\' is generally consumed. The singular mode of\neating it I have already described.\n\nWere it not that the bread-fruit is thus capable of being preserved for\na length of time, the natives might be reduced to a state of starvation;\nfor owing to some unknown cause the trees sometimes fail to bear fruit;\nand on such occasions the islanders chiefly depend upon the supplies\nthey have been enabled to store away.\n\nThis stately tree, which is rarely met with upon the Sandwich Islands,\nand then only of a very inferior quality, and at Tahiti does not abound\nto a degree that renders its fruit the principal article of food,\nattains its greatest excellence in the genial climate of the Marquesan\ngroup, where it grows to an enormous magnitude, and flourishes in the\nutmost abundance.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER SIXTEEN\n\nMELANCHOLY CONDITION--OCCURRENCE AT THE TI--ANECDOTE OF MARHEYO--SHAVING\nTHE HEAD OF A WARRIOR\n\nIN looking back to this period, and calling to remembrance the\nnumberless proofs of kindness and respect which I received from the\nnatives of the valley, I can scarcely understand how it was that, in the\nmidst of so many consolatory circumstances, my mind should still have\nbeen consumed by the most dismal forebodings, and have remained a\nprey to the profoundest melancholy. It is true that the suspicious\ncircumstances which had attended the disappearance of Toby were enough\nof themselves to excite distrust with regard to the savages, in whose\npower I felt myself to be entirely placed, especially when it was\ncombined with the knowledge that these very men, kind and respectful\nas they were to me, were, after all, nothing better than a set of\ncannibals.\n\nBut my chief source of anxiety, and that which poisoned every temporary\nenjoyment, was the mysterious disease in my leg, which still remained\nunabated. All the herbal applications of Tinor, united with the severer\ndiscipline of the old leech, and the affectionate nursing of Kory-Kory,\nhad failed to relieve me. I was almost a cripple, and the pain I endured\nat intervals was agonizing. The unaccountable malady showed no signs\nof amendment: on the contrary, its violence increased day by day, and\nthreatened the most fatal results, unless some powerful means were\nemployed to counteract it. It seemed as if I were destined to sink\nunder this grievous affliction, or at least that it would hinder me from\navailing myself of any opportunity of escaping from the valley.\n\nAn incident which occurred as nearly as I can estimate about three weeks\nafter the disappearance of Toby, convinced me that the natives, from\nsome reason or other, would interpose every possible obstacle to my\nleaving them.\n\nOne morning there was no little excitement evinced by the people near\nmy abode, and which I soon discovered proceeded from a vague report\nthat boats, had been seen at a great distance approaching the bay.\nImmediately all was bustle and animation. It so happened that day that\nthe pain I suffered having somewhat abated, and feeling in much better\nspirits than usual, I had complied with Kory-Kory\'s invitation to visit\nthe chief Mehevi at the place called the \'Ti\', which I have before\ndescribed as being situated within the precincts of the Taboo Groves.\nThese sacred recesses were at no great distance from Marheyo\'s\nhabitation, and lay between it and the sea; the path that conducted to\nthe beach passing directly in front of the Ti, and thence skirting along\nthe border of the groves.\n\nI was reposing upon the mats, within the sacred building, in company\nwith Mehevi and several other chiefs, when the announcement was first\nmade. It sent a thrill of joy through my whole frame;--perhaps Toby was\nabout to return. I rose at once to my feet, and my instinctive impulse\nwas to hurry down to the beach, equally regardless of the distance that\nseparated me from it, and of my disabled condition. As soon as Mehevi\nnoticed the effect the intelligence had produced upon me, and the\nimpatience I betrayed to reach the sea, his countenance assumed that\ninflexible rigidity of expression which had so awed me on the afternoon\nof our arrival at the house of Marheyo. As I was proceeding to leave\nthe Ti, he laid his hand upon my shoulder, and said gravely, \'abo, abo\'\n(wait, wait). Solely intent upon the one thought that occupied my mind,\nand heedless of his request, I was brushing past him, when suddenly he\nassumed a tone of authority, and told me to \'moee\' (sit down). Though\nstruck by the alteration in his demeanour, the excitement under which I\nlaboured was too strong to permit me to obey the unexpected command,\nand I was still limping towards the edge of the pi-pi with Kory-Kory\nclinging to one arm in his efforts to restrain me, when the natives\naround started to their feet, ranged themselves along the open front of\nthe building, while Mehevi looked at me scowlingly, and reiterated his\ncommands still more sternly.\n\nIt was at this moment, when fifty savage countenances were glaring upon\nme, that I first truly experienced I was indeed a captive in the\nvalley. The conviction rushed upon me with staggering force, and I was\noverwhelmed by this confirmation of my worst fears. I saw at once that\nit was useless for me to resist, and sick at heart, I reseated myself\nupon the mats, and for the moment abandoned myself to despair.\n\nI now perceived the natives one after the other hurrying past the Ti and\npursuing the route that conducted to the sea. These savages, thought\nI, will soon be holding communication with some of my own countrymen\nperhaps, who with ease could restore me to liberty did they know of the\nsituation I was in. No language can describe the wretchedness which I\nfelt; and in the bitterness of my soul I imprecated a thousand curses on\nthe perfidious Toby, who had thus abandoned me to destruction. It was in\nvain that Kory-Kory tempted me with food, or lighted my pipe, or sought\nto attract my attention by performing the uncouth antics that\nhad sometimes diverted me. I was fairly knocked down by this last\nmisfortune, which, much as I had feared it, I had never before had the\ncourage calmly to contemplate.\n\nRegardless of everything but my own sorrow, I remained in the Ti for\nseveral hours, until shouts proceeding at intervals from the groves\nbeyond the house proclaimed the return of the natives from the beach.\n\nWhether any boats visited the bay that morning or not, I never could\nascertain. The savages assured me that there had not--but I was inclined\nto believe that by deceiving me in this particular they sought to allay\nthe violence of my grief. However that might be, this incident showed\nplainly that the Typees intended to hold me a prisoner. As they still\ntreated me with the same sedulous attention as before, I was utterly\nat a loss how to account for their singular conduct. Had I been in a\nsituation to instruct them in any of the rudiments of the mechanic arts,\nor had I manifested a disposition to render myself in any way useful\namong them, their conduct might have been attributed to some adequate\nmotive, but as it was, the matter seemed to me inexplicable.\n\nDuring my whole stay on the island there occurred but two or three\ninstances where the natives applied to me with the view of availing\nthemselves of my superior information; and these now appear so ludicrous\nthat I cannot forbear relating them.\n\nThe few things we had brought from Nukuheva had been done up into a\nsmall bundle which we had carried with us in our descent to the valley.\nThis bundle, the first night of our arrival, I had used as a pillow, but\non the succeeding morning, opening it for the inspection of the natives,\nthey gazed upon the miscellaneous contents as though I had just revealed\nto them a casket of diamonds, and they insisted that so precious a\ntreasure should be properly secured. A line was accordingly attached to\nit, and the other end being passed over the ridge-pole of the house, it\nwas hoisted up to the apex of the roof, where it hung suspended directly\nover the mats where I usually reclined. When I desired anything from it\nI merely raised my finger to a bamboo beside me, and taking hold of\nthe string which was there fastened, lowered the package. This was\nexceedingly handy, and I took care to let the natives understand how\nmuch I applauded the invention. Of this package the chief contents were\na razor with its case, a supply of needles and thread, a pound or two of\ntobacco and a few yards of bright-coloured calico.\n\nI should have mentioned that shortly after Toby\'s disappearance,\nperceiving the uncertainty of the time I might be obliged to remain in\nthe valley--if, indeed, I ever should escape from it--and considering\nthat my whole wardrobe consisted of a shirt and a pair of trousers, I\nresolved to doff these garments at once, in order to preserve them in\na suitable condition for wear should I again appear among civilized\nbeings. I was consequently obliged to assume the Typee costume, a little\naltered, however, to suit my own views of propriety, and in which I have\nno doubt I appeared to as much advantage as a senator of Rome enveloped\nin the folds of his toga. A few folds of yellow tappa tucked about my\nwaist, descended to my feet in the style of a lady\'s petticoat, only\nI did not have recourse to those voluminous paddings in the rear with\nwhich our gentle dames are in the habit of augmenting the sublime\nrotundity of their figures. This usually comprised my in-door dress;\nwhenever I walked out, I superadded to it an ample robe of the same\nmaterial, which completely enveloped my person, and screened it from the\nrays of the sun.\n\nOne morning I made a rent in this mantle; and to show the islanders with\nwhat facility it could be repaired, I lowered my bundle, and taking\nfrom it a needle and thread, proceeded to stitch up the opening. They\nregarded this wonderful application of science with intense admiration;\nand whilst I was stitching away, old Marheyo, who was one of the\nlookers-on, suddenly clapped his hand to his forehead, and rushing to\na corner of the house, drew forth a soiled and tattered strip of faded\ncalico which he must have procured some time or other in traffic on the\nbeach--and besought me eagerly to exercise a little of my art upon it.\nI willingly complied, though certainly so stumpy a needle as mine never\ntook such gigantic strides over calico before. The repairs completed,\nold Marheyo gave me a paternal hug; and divesting himself of his \'maro\'\n(girdle), swathed the calico about his loins, and slipping the beloved\nornaments into his ears, grasped his spear and sallied out of the house,\nlike a valiant Templar arrayed in a new and costly suit of armour.\n\nI never used my razor during my stay in the island, but although a\nvery subordinate affair, it had been vastly admired by the Typees; and\nNarmonee, a great hero among them, who was exceedingly precise in the\narrangements of his toilet and the general adjustment of is person,\nbeing the most accurately tattooed and laboriously horrified individual\nin all the valley, thought it would be a great advantage to have it\napplied to the already shaven crown of his head.\n\nThe implement they usually employ is a shark\'s tooth, which is about as\nwell adapted to the purpose as a one-pronged fork for pitching hay. No\nwonder, then, that the acute Narmonee perceived the advantage my razor\npossessed over the usual implement. Accordingly, one day he requested as\na personal favour that I would just run over his head with the razor. In\nreply, I gave him to understand that it was too dull, and could not be\nused to any purpose without being previously sharpened. To assist my\nmeaning, I went through an imaginary honing process on the palm of my\nhand. Narmonee took my meaning in an instant, and running out of the\nhouse, returned the next moment with a huge rough mass of rock as big\nas a millstone, and indicated to me that that was exactly the thing\nI wanted. Of course there was nothing left for me but to proceed to\nbusiness, and I began scraping away at a great rate. He writhed and\nwriggled under the infliction, but, fully convinced of my skill, endured\nthe pain like a martyr.\n\nThough I never saw Narmonee in battle I will, from what I then observed,\nstake my life upon his courage and fortitude. Before commencing\noperations, his head had presented a surface of short bristling hairs,\nand by the time I had concluded my unskilful operation it resembled not\na little a stubble field after being gone over with a harrow. However,\nas the chief expressed the liveliest satisfaction at the result, I was\ntoo wise to dissent from his opinion.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER SEVENTEEN\n\nIMPROVEMENT IN HEALTH AND SPIRITS--FELICITY OF THE\nTYPEES--THEIR ENJOYMENTS COMPARED WITH THOSE OF MORE ENLIGHTENED\nCOMMUNITIES--COMPARATIVE WICKEDNESS OF CIVILIZED AND UNENLIGHTENED\nPEOPLE--A SKIRMISH IN THE MOUNTAIN WITH THE WARRIORS OF HAPPAR\n\nDAY after day wore on, and still there was no perceptible change in the\nconduct of the islanders towards me. Gradually I lost all knowledge of\nthe regular recurrence of the days of the week, and sunk insensibly into\nthat kind of apathy which ensues after some violent outburst of despair.\nMy limb suddenly healed, the swelling went down, the pain subsided, and\nI had every reason to suppose I should soon completely recover from the\naffliction that had so long tormented me.\n\nAs soon as I was enabled to ramble about the valley in company with the\nnatives, troops of whom followed me whenever I sallied out of the house,\nI began to experience an elasticity of mind which placed me beyond the\nreach of those dismal forebodings to which I had so lately been a prey.\nReceived wherever I went with the most deferential kindness; regaled\nperpetually with the most delightful fruits; ministered to by dark-eyed\nnymphs, and enjoying besides all the services of the devoted Kory-Kory,\nI thought that, for a sojourn among cannibals, no man could have well\nmade a more agreeable one.\n\nTo be sure there were limits set to my wanderings. Toward the sea my\nprogress was barred by an express prohibition of the savages; and after\nhaving made two or three ineffectual attempts to reach it, as much to\ngratify my curiosity as anything else, I gave up the idea. It was in\nvain to think of reaching it by stealth, since the natives escorted me\nin numbers wherever I went, and not for one single moment that I can\nrecall to mind was I ever permitted to be alone.\n\nThe green and precipitous elevations that stood ranged around the\nhead of the vale where Marheyo\'s habitation was situated effectually\nprecluded all hope of escape in that quarter, even if I could have\nstolen away from the thousand eyes of the savages.\n\nBut these reflections now seldom obtruded upon me; I gave myself up to\nthe passing hour, and if ever disagreeable thoughts arose in my mind, I\ndrove them away. When I looked around the verdant recess in which I was\nburied, and gazed up to the summits of the lofty eminence that hemmed me\nin, I was well disposed to think that I was in the \'Happy Valley\',\nand that beyond those heights there was naught but a world of care\nand anxiety. As I extended my wanderings in the valley and grew more\nfamiliar with the habits of its inmates, I was fain to confess that,\ndespite the disadvantages of his condition, the Polynesian savage,\nsurrounded by all the luxurious provisions of nature, enjoyed an\ninfinitely happier, though certainly a less intellectual existence than\nthe self-complacent European.\n\nThe naked wretch who shivers beneath the bleak skies, and starves among\nthe inhospitable wilds of Tierra-del-Fuego, might indeed be made happier\nby civilization, for it would alleviate his physical wants. But the\nvoluptuous Indian, with every desire supplied, whom Providence has\nbountifully provided with all the sources of pure and natural enjoyment,\nand from whom are removed so many of the ills and pains of life--what\nhas he to desire at the hands of Civilization? She may \'cultivate his\nmind--may elevate his thoughts,\'--these I believe are the established\nphrases--but will he be the happier? Let the once smiling and populous\nHawaiian islands, with their now diseased, starving, and dying natives,\nanswer the question. The missionaries may seek to disguise the matter\nas they will, but the facts are incontrovertible; and the devoutest\nChristian who visits that group with an unbiased mind, must go away\nmournfully asking--\'Are these, alas! the fruits of twenty-five years of\nenlightening?\'\n\nIn a primitive state of society, the enjoyments of life, though few\nand simple, are spread over a great extent, and are unalloyed; but\nCivilization, for every advantage she imparts, holds a hundred evils in\nreserve;--the heart-burnings, the jealousies, the social rivalries,\nthe family dissentions, and the thousand self-inflicted discomforts of\nrefined life, which make up in units the swelling aggregate of human\nmisery, are unknown among these unsophisticated people.\n\nBut it will be urged that these shocking unprincipled wretches are\ncannibals. Very true; and a rather bad trait in their character it must\nbe allowed. But they are such only when they seek to gratify the passion\nof revenge upon their enemies; and I ask whether the mere eating of\nhuman flesh so very far exceeds in barbarity that custom which only\na few years since was practised in enlightened England:--a convicted\ntraitor, perhaps a man found guilty of honesty, patriotism, and suchlike\nheinous crimes, had his head lopped off with a huge axe, his bowels\ndragged out and thrown into a fire; while his body, carved into four\nquarters, was with his head exposed upon pikes, and permitted to rot and\nfester among the public haunts of men!\n\nThe fiend-like skill we display in the invention of all manner of\ndeath-dealing engines, the vindictiveness with which we carry on our\nwars, and the misery and desolation that follow in their train, are\nenough of themselves to distinguish the white civilized man as the most\nferocious animal on the face of the earth.\n\nHis remorseless cruelty is seen in many of the institutions of our own\nfavoured land. There is one in particular lately adopted in one of the\nStates of the Union, which purports to have been dictated by the most\nmerciful considerations. To destroy our malefactors piece-meal, drying\nup in their veins, drop by drop, the blood we are too chicken-hearted\nto shed by a single blow which would at once put a period to their\nsufferings, is deemed to be infinitely preferable to the old-fashioned\npunishment of gibbeting--much less annoying to the victim, and more in\naccordance with the refined spirit of the age; and yet how feeble is all\nlanguage to describe the horrors we inflict upon these wretches, whom we\nmason up in the cells of our prisons, and condemn to perpetual solitude\nin the very heart of our population.\n\nBut it is needless to multiply the examples of civilized barbarity; they\nfar exceed in the amount of misery they cause the crimes which we regard\nwith such abhorrence in our less enlightened fellow-creatures.\n\nThe term \'Savage\' is, I conceive, often misapplied, and indeed, when I\nconsider the vices, cruelties, and enormities of every kind that spring\nup in the tainted atmosphere of a feverish civilization, I am inclined\nto think that so far as the relative wickedness of the parties is\nconcerned, four or five Marquesan Islanders sent to the United States\nas Missionaries might be quite as useful as an equal number of Americans\ndespatched to the Islands in a similar capacity.\n\nI once heard it given as an instance of the frightful depravity of a\ncertain tribe in the Pacific that they had no word in their language\nto express the idea of virtue. The assertion was unfounded; but were\nit otherwise, it might be met by stating that their language is almost\nentirely destitute of terms to express the delightful ideas conveyed by\nour endless catalogue of civilized crimes.\n\nIn the altered frame of mind to which I have referred, every object that\npresented itself to my notice in the valley struck me in a new light,\nand the opportunities I now enjoyed of observing the manners of its\ninmates, tended to strengthen my favourable impressions. One peculiarity\nthat fixed my admiration was the perpetual hilarity reigning through the\nwhole extent of the vale.\n\nThere seemed to be no cares, griefs, troubles, or vexations, in all\nTypee. The hours tripped along as gaily as the laughing couples down a\ncountry dance.\n\nThere were none of those thousand sources of irritation that the\ningenuity of civilized man has created to mar his own felicity. There\nwere no foreclosures of mortgages, no protested notes, no bills payable,\nno debts of honour in Typee; no unreasonable tailors and shoemakers\nperversely bent on being paid; no duns of any description and battery\nattorneys, to foment discord, backing their clients up to a quarrel,\nand then knocking their heads together; no poor relations, everlastingly\noccupying the spare bed-chamber, and diminishing the elbow room at the\nfamily table; no destitute widows with their children starving on the\ncold charities of the world; no beggars; no debtors\' prisons; no proud\nand hard-hearted nabobs in Typee; or to sum up all in one word--no\nMoney! \'That root of all evil\' was not to be found in the valley.\n\nIn this secluded abode of happiness there were no cross old women, no\ncruel step-dames, no withered spinsters, no lovesick maidens, no sour\nold bachelors, no inattentive husbands, no melancholy young men, no\nblubbering youngsters, and no squalling brats. All was mirth, fun and\nhigh good humour. Blue devils, hypochondria, and doleful dumps, went and\nhid themselves among the nooks and crannies of the rocks.\n\nHere you would see a parcel of children frolicking together the\nlive-long day, and no quarrelling, no contention, among them. The same\nnumber in our own land could not have played together for the space of\nan hour without biting or scratching one another. There you might have\nseen a throng of young females, not filled with envyings of each other\'s\ncharms, nor displaying the ridiculous affectations of gentility, nor\nyet moving in whalebone corsets, like so many automatons, but free,\ninartificially happy, and unconstrained.\n\nThere were some spots in that sunny vale where they would frequently\nresort to decorate themselves with garlands of flowers. To have seen\nthem reclining beneath the shadows of one of the beautiful groves;\nthe ground about them strewn with freshly gathered buds and blossoms,\nemployed in weaving chaplets and necklaces, one would have thought\nthat all the train of Flora had gathered together to keep a festival in\nhonour of their mistress.\n\nWith the young men there seemed almost always some matter of diversion\nor business on hand that afforded a constant variety of enjoyment. But\nwhether fishing, or carving canoes, or polishing their ornaments, never\nwas there exhibited the least sign of strife or contention among them.\nAs for the warriors, they maintained a tranquil dignity of demeanour,\njourneying occasionally from house to house, where they were always sure\nto be received with the attention bestowed upon distinguished guests.\nThe old men, of whom there were many in the vale, seldom stirred from\ntheir mats, where they would recline for hours and hours, smoking and\ntalking to one another with all the garrulity of age.\n\nBut the continual happiness, which so far as I was able to judge\nappeared to prevail in the valley, sprang principally from that\nall-pervading sensation which Rousseau has told us be at one time\nexperienced, the mere buoyant sense of a healthful physical existence.\nAnd indeed in this particular the Typees had ample reason to felicitate\nthemselves, for sickness was almost unknown. During the whole period of\nmy stay I saw but one invalid among them; and on their smooth skins you\nobserved no blemish or mark of disease.\n\nThe general repose, however, upon which I have just been descanting,\nwas broken in upon about this time by an event which proved that the\nislanders were not entirely exempt from those occurrences which disturb\nthe quiet of more civilized communities.\n\nHaving now been a considerable time in the valley, I began to feel\nsurprised that the violent hostility subsisting between its inhabitants,\nand those of the adjoining bay of Happar, should never have manifested\nitself in any warlike encounter. Although the valiant Typees would often\nby gesticulations declare their undying hatred against their enemies,\nand the disgust they felt at their cannibal propensities; although they\ndilated upon the manifold injuries they had received at their hands, yet\nwith a forbearance truly commendable, they appeared to sit down under\ntheir grievances, and to refrain from making any reprisals. The Happars,\nentrenched behind their mountains, and never even showing themselves on\ntheir summits, did not appear to me to furnish adequate cause for that\nexcess of animosity evinced towards them by the heroic tenants of our\nvale, and I was inclined to believe that the deeds of blood attributed\nto them had been greatly exaggerated.\n\nOn the other hand, as the clamours of war had not up to this period\ndisturbed the serenity of the tribe, I began to distrust the truth of\nthose reports which ascribed so fierce and belligerent a character to\nthe Typee nation. Surely, thought I, all these terrible stories I have\nheard about the inveteracy with which they carried on the feud, their\ndeadly intensity, of hatred and the diabolical malice with which they\nglutted their revenge upon the inanimate forms of the slain, are nothing\nmore than fables, and I must confess that I experienced something like a\nsense of regret at having my hideous anticipations thus disappointed.\nI felt in some sort like a \'prentice boy who, going to the play in the\nexpectation of being delighted with a cut-and-thrust tragedy, is almost\nmoved to tears of disappointment at the exhibition of a genteel comedy.\n\nI could not avoid thinking that I had fallen in with a greatly traduced\npeople, and I moralized not a little upon the disadvantage of having a\nbad name, which in this instance had given a tribe of savages, who\nwere as pacific as so many lambkins, the reputation of a confederacy of\ngiant-killers.\n\nBut subsequent events proved that I had been a little too premature in\ncoming to this conclusion. One, day about noon, happening to be at the\nTi, I had lain down on the mats with several of the chiefs, and had\ngradually sunk into a most luxurious siesta, when I was awakened by\na tremendous outcry, and starting up beheld the natives seizing their\nspears and hurrying out, while the most puissant of the chiefs, grasping\nthe six muskets which were ranged against the bamboos, followed after,\nand soon disappeared in the groves. These movements were accompanied\nby wild shouts, in which \'Happar, Happar,\' greatly predominated. The\nislanders were now seen running past the Ti, and striking across the\nvalley to the Happar side. Presently I heard the sharp report of a\nmusket from the adjoining hills, and then a burst of voices in the same\ndirection. At this the women who had congregated in the groves, set up\nthe most violent clamours, as they invariably do here as elsewhere on\nevery occasion of excitement and alarm, with a view of tranquillizing\ntheir own minds and disturbing other people. On this particular\noccasion they made such an outrageous noise, and continued it with such\nperseverance, that for awhile, had entire volleys of musketry been fired\noff in the neighbouring mountains, I should not have been able to have\nheard them.\n\nWhen this female commotion had a little subsided I listened eagerly for\nfurther information. At last bang went another shot, and then a second\nvolley of yells from the hills. Again all was quiet, and continued so\nfor such a length of time that I began to think the contending armies\nhad agreed upon a suspension of hostilities; when pop went a third gun,\nfollowed as before with a yell. After this, for nearly two hours\nnothing occurred worthy of comment, save some straggling shouts from the\nhillside, sounding like the halloos of a parcel of truant boys who had\nlost themselves in the woods.\n\nDuring this interval I had remained standing on the piazza of the \'Ti,\'\nwhich directly fronted the Happar mountain, and with no one near me\nbut Kory-Kory and the old superannuated savages I have described. These\nlatter never stirred from their mats, and seemed altogether unconscious\nthat anything unusual was going on.\n\nAs for Kory-Kory, he appeared to think that we were in the midst of\ngreat events, and sought most zealously to impress me with a due sense\nof their importance. Every sound that reached us conveyed some momentous\nitem of intelligence to him. At such times, as if he were gifted with\nsecond sight, he would go through a variety of pantomimic illustrations,\nshowing me the precise manner in which the redoubtable Typees were at\nthat very moment chastising the insolence of the enemy. \'Mehevi hanna\npippee nuee Happar,\' he exclaimed every five minutes, giving me to\nunderstand that under that distinguished captain the warriors of his\nnation were performing prodigies of valour.\n\nHaving heard only four reports from the muskets, I was led to believe\nthat they were worked by the islanders in the same manner as the Sultan\nSolyman\'s ponderous artillery at the siege of Byzantium, one of them\ntaking an hour or two to load and train. At last, no sound whatever\nproceeding from the mountains, I concluded that the contest had been\ndetermined one way or the other. Such appeared, indeed, to be the case,\nfor in a little while a courier arrived at the \'Ti\', almost breathless\nwith his exertions, and communicated the news of a great victory having\nbeen achieved by his countrymen: \'Happar poo arva!--Happar poo arva!\'\n(the cowards had fled). Kory-Kory was in ecstasies, and commenced a\nvehement harangue, which, so far as I understood it, implied that the\nresult exactly agreed with his expectations, and which, moreover,\nwas intended to convince me that it would be a perfectly useless\nundertaking, even for an army of fire-eaters, to offer battle to the\nirresistible heroes of our valley. In all this I of course acquiesced,\nand looked forward with no little interest to the return of the\nconquerors, whose victory I feared might not have been purchased without\ncost to themselves.\n\nBut here I was again mistaken; for Mehevi, in conducting his warlike\noperations, rather inclined to the Fabian than to the Bonapartean\ntactics, husbanding his resources and exposing his troops to no\nunnecessary hazards. The total loss of the victors in this obstinately\ncontested affair was, in killed, wounded, and missing--one forefinger\nand part of a thumb-nail (which the late proprietor brought along with\nhim in his hand), a severely contused arm, and a considerable effusion\nof blood flowing from the thigh of a chief, who had received an ugly\nthrust from a Happar spear. What the enemy had suffered I could not\ndiscover, but I presume they had succeeded in taking off with them the\nbodies of their slain.\n\nSuch was the issue of the battle, as far as its results came under my\nobservation: and as it appeared to be considered an event of prodigious\nimportance, I reasonably concluded that the wars of the natives were\nmarked by no very sanguinary traits. I afterwards learned how the\nskirmish had originated. A number of the Happars had been discovered\nprowling for no good purpose on the Typee side of the mountain; the\nalarm sounded, and the invaders, after a protracted resistance, had been\nchased over the frontier. But why had not the intrepid Mehevi carried\nthe war into Happar? Why had he not made a descent into the hostile\nvale, and brought away some trophy of his victory--some materials for\nthe cannibal entertainment which I had heard usually terminated every\nengagement? After all, I was much inclined to believe that these\nshocking festivals must occur very rarely among the islanders, if,\nindeed, they ever take place.\n\nFor two or three days the late event was the theme of general comment;\nafter which the excitement gradually wore away, and the valley resumed\nits accustomed tranquility.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER EIGHTEEN\n\nSWIMMING IN COMPANY WITH THE GIRLS OF THE VALLEY--A CANOE--EFFECTS\nOF THE TABOO--A PLEASURE EXCURSION ON THE POND--BEAUTIFUL FREAK OF\nFAYAWAY--MANTUA-MAKING--A STRANGER ARRIVES IN THE VALLEY--HIS MYSTERIOUS\nCONDUCT--NATIVE ORATORY--THE INTERVIEW--ITS RESULTS--DEPARTURE OF THE\nSTRANGER\n\nRETURNING health and peace of mind gave a new interest to everything\naround me. I sought to diversify my time by as many enjoyments as lay\nwithin my reach. Bathing in company with troops of girls formed one of\nmy chief amusements. We sometimes enjoyed the recreation in the waters\nof a miniature lake, to which the central stream of the valley expanded.\nThis lovely sheet of water was almost circular in figure, and about\nthree hundred yards across. Its beauty was indescribable. All around\nits banks waved luxuriant masses of tropical foliage, soaring high above\nwhich were seen, here and there, the symmetrical shaft of the cocoanut\ntree, surmounted by its tufts of graceful branches, drooping in the air\nlike so many waving ostrich plumes.\n\nThe ease and grace with which the maidens of the valley propelled\nthemselves through the water, and their familiarity with the element,\nwere truly astonishing. Sometimes they might be seen gliding along just\nunder the surface, without apparently moving hand or foot--then throwing\nthemselves on their sides, they darted through the water, revealing\nglimpses of their forms, as, in the course of their rapid progress, they\nshot for an instant partly into the air--at one moment they dived deep\ndown into the water, and the next they rose bounding to the surface.\n\nI remember upon one occasion plunging in among a parcel of these\nriver-nymphs, and counting vainly on my superior strength, sought to\ndrag some of them under the water, but I quickly repented my temerity.\nThe amphibious young creatures swarmed about me like a shoal of\ndolphins, and seizing hold of my devoted limbs, tumbled me about and\nducked me under the surface, until from the strange noises which rang in\nmy ears, and the supernatural visions dancing before my eyes, I thought\nI was in the land of the spirits. I stood indeed as little chance among\nthem as a cumbrous whale attacked on all sides by a legion of swordfish.\nWhen at length they relinquished their hold of me, they swam away in\nevery direction, laughing at my clumsy endeavours to reach them.\n\nThere was no boat on the lake; but at my solicitation and for my special\nuse, some of the young men attached to Marheyo\'s household, under\nthe direction of the indefatigable Kory-Kory, brought up a light and\ntastefully carved canoe from the sea. It was launched upon the sheet\nof water, and floated there as gracefully as a swan. But, melancholy to\nrelate, it produced an effect I had not anticipated. The sweet nymphs,\nwho had sported with me before on the lake, now all fled its vicinity.\nThe prohibited craft, guarded by the edicts of the \'taboo,\' extended the\nprohibition to the waters in which it lay.\n\nFor a few days, Kory-Kory, with one or two other youths, accompanied\nme in my excursions to the lake, and while I paddled about in my light\ncanoe, would swim after me shouting and gambolling in pursuit. But I\nas ever partial to what is termed in the \'Young Men\'s Own Book\'--\'the\nsociety of virtuous and intelligent young ladies;\' and in the absence\nof the mermaids, the amusement became dull and insipid. One morning\nI expressed to my faithful servitor my desire for the return of the\nnymphs. The honest fellow looked at me bewildered for a moment, and\nthen shook his head solemnly, and murmured \'taboo! taboo!\' giving me to\nunderstand that unless the canoe was removed I could not expect to have\nthe young ladies back again. But to this procedure I was averse; I not\nonly wanted the canoe to stay where it was, but I wanted the beauteous\nFayaway to get into it, and paddle with me about the lake. This latter\nproposition completely horrified Kory-Kory\'s notions of propriety. He\ninveighed against it, as something too monstrous to be thought of. It\nnot only shocked their established notions of propriety, but was at\nvariance with all their religious ordinances.\n\nHowever, although the \'taboo\' was a ticklish thing to meddle with, I\ndetermined to test its capabilities of resisting an attack. I consulted\nthe chief Mehevi, who endeavoured to dissuade me from my object; but\nI was not to be repulsed; and accordingly increased the warmth of my\nsolicitations. At last he entered into a long, and I have no doubt a\nvery learned and eloquent exposition of the history and nature of the\n\'taboo\' as affecting this particular case; employing a variety of most\nextraordinary words, which, from their amazing length and sonorousness,\nI have every reason to believe were of a theological nature. But all\nthat he said failed to convince me: partly, perhaps, because I could not\ncomprehend a word that he uttered; but chiefly, that for the life of me\nI could not understand why a woman would not have as much right to\nenter a canoe as a man. At last he became a little more rational, and\nintimated that, out of the abundant love he bore me, he would consult\nwith the priests and see what could be done.\n\nHow it was that the priesthood of Typee satisfied the affair with their\nconsciences, I know not; but so it was, and Fayaway dispensation from\nthis portion of the taboo was at length procured. Such an event I\nbelieve never before had occurred in the valley; but it was high time\nthe islanders should be taught a little gallantry, and I trust that the\nexample I set them may produce beneficial effects. Ridiculous, indeed,\nthat the lovely creatures should be obliged to paddle about in the\nwater, like so many ducks, while a parcel of great strapping fellows\nskimmed over its surface in their canoes.\n\nThe first day after Fayaway\'s emancipation, I had a delightful little\nparty on the lake--the damsels\' Kory-Kory, and myself. My zealous\nbody-servant brought from the house a calabash of poee-poee, half a\ndozen young cocoanuts--stripped of their husks--three pipes, as many\nyams, and me on his back a part of the way. Something of a load; but\nKory-Kory was a very strong man for his size, and by no means brittle in\nthe spine. We had a very pleasant day; my trusty valet plied the paddle\nand swept us gently along the margin of the water, beneath the shades\nof the overhanging thickets. Fayaway and I reclined in the stern of\nthe canoe, on the very best terms possible with one another; the gentle\nnymph occasionally placing her pipe to her lip, and exhaling the mild\nfumes of the tobacco, to which her rosy breath added a fresh perfume.\nStrange as it may seem, there is nothing in which a young and beautiful\nfemale appears to more advantage than in the act of smoking. How\ncaptivating is a Peruvian lady, swinging in her gaily-woven hammock of\ngrass, extended between two orange-trees, and inhaling the fragrance of\na choice cigarro!\n\nBut Fayaway, holding in her delicately formed olive hand the long yellow\nreed of her pipe, with its quaintly carved bowl, and every few moments\nlanguishingly giving forth light wreaths of vapour from her mouth and\nnostrils, looked still more engaging.\n\nWe floated about thus for several hours, when I looked up to the warm,\nglowing, tropical sky, and then down into the transparent depths below;\nand when my eye, wandering from the bewitching scenery around, fell upon\nthe grotesquely-tattooed form of Kory-Kory, and finally, encountered the\npensive gaze of Fayaway, I thought I had been transported to some fairy\nregion, so unreal did everything appear.\n\nThis lovely piece of water was the coolest spot in all the valley, and I\nnow made it a place of continual resort during the hottest period of\nthe day. One side of it lay near the termination of a long gradually\nexpanding gorge, which mounted to the heights that environed the vale.\nThe strong trade wind, met in its course by these elevations, circled\nand eddied about their summits, and was sometimes driven down the\nsteep ravine and swept across the valley, ruffling in its passage the\notherwise tranquil surface of the lake.\n\nOne day, after we had been paddling about for some time, I disembarked\nKory-Kory, and paddled the canoe to the windward side of the lake. As\nI turned the canoe, Fayaway, who was with me, seemed all at once to be\nstruck with some happy idea. With a wild exclamation of delight, she\ndisengaged from her person the ample robe of tappa which was knotted\nover her shoulder (for the purpose of shielding her from the sun), and\nspreading it out like a sail, stood erect with upraised arms in the head\nof the canoe. We American sailors pride ourselves upon our straight,\nclean spars, but a prettier little mast than Fayaway made was never\nshipped aboard of any craft.\n\nIn a moment the tappa was distended by the breeze--the long brown\ntresses of Fayaway streamed in the air--and the canoe glided rapidly\nthrough the water, and shot towards the shore. Seated in the stern, I\ndirected its course with my paddle until it dashed up the soft sloping\nbank, and Fayaway, with a light spring alighted on the ground; whilst\nKory-Kory, who had watched our manoeuvres with admiration, now\nclapped his hands in transport, and shouted like a madman. Many a time\nafterwards was this feat repeated.\n\nIf the reader has not observed ere this that I was the declared admirer\nof Miss Fayaway, all I can say is that he is little conversant with\naffairs of the heart, and I certainly shall not trouble myself to\nenlighten him any farther. Out of the calico I had brought from the ship\nI made a dress for this lovely girl. In it she looked, I must confess,\nsomething like an opera-dancer.\n\nThe drapery of the latter damsel generally commences a little above\nthe elbows, but my island beauty\'s began at the waist, and terminated\nsufficiently far above the ground to reveal the most bewitching ankle in\nthe universe.\n\nThe day that Fayaway first wore this robe was rendered memorable by a\nnew acquaintance being introduced to me. In the afternoon I was lying\nin the house when I heard a great uproar outside; but being by this time\npretty well accustomed to the wild halloos which were almost continually\nringing through the valley, I paid little attention to it, until old\nMarheyo, under the influence of some strange excitement, rushed into my\npresence and communicated the astounding tidings, \'Marnoo pemi!\' which\nbeing interpreted, implied that an individual by the name of Marnoo was\napproaching.\n\nMy worthy old friend evidently expected that this intelligence would\nproduce a great effect upon me, and for a time he stood earnestly\nregarding me, as if curious to see how I should conduct myself, but as\nI remained perfectly unmoved, the old gentleman darted out of the house\nagain, in as great a hurry as he had entered it.\n\n\'Marnoo, Marnoo,\' cogitated I, \'I have never heard that name before.\nSome distinguished character, I presume, from the prodigious riot the\nnatives are making;\' the tumultuous noise drawing nearer and nearer\nevery moment, while \'Marnoo!--Marnoo!\' was shouted by every tongue.\n\nI made up my mind that some savage warrior of consequence, who had\nnot yet enjoyed the honour of an audience, was desirous of paying his\nrespects on the present occasion. So vain had I become by the lavish\nattention to which I had been accustomed, that I felt half inclined,\nas a punishment for such neglect, to give this Marnoo a cold reception,\nwhen the excited throng came within view, convoying one of the most\nstriking specimens of humanity that I ever beheld.\n\nThe stranger could not have been more than twenty-five years of age, and\nwas a little above the ordinary height; had he a single hair\'s breadth\ntaller, the matchless symmetry of his form would have been destroyed.\nHis unclad limbs were beautifully formed; whilst the elegant outline of\nhis figure, together with his beardless cheeks, might have entitled him\nto the distinction of standing for the statue of the Polynesian Apollo;\nand indeed the oval of his countenance and the regularity of every\nfeature reminded one of an antique bust. But the marble repose of art\nwas supplied by a warmth and liveliness of expression only to be seen in\nthe South Sea Islander under the most favourable developments of nature.\nThe hair of Marnoo was a rich curling brown, and twined about his\ntemples and neck in little close curling ringlets, which danced up and\ndown continually, when he was animated in conversation. His cheek was\nof a feminine softness, and his face was free from the least blemish\nof tattooing, although the rest of his body was drawn all over with\nfanciful figures, which--unlike the unconnected sketching usual among\nthese natives--appeared to have been executed in conformity with some\ngeneral design.\n\nThe tattooing on his back in particular attracted my attention. The\nartist employed must indeed have excelled in his profession. Traced\nalong the course of the spine was accurately delineated the slender,\ntapering and diamond checkered shaft of the beautiful \'artu\' tree.\nBranching from the stem on each side, and disposed alternately, were\nthe graceful branches drooping with leaves all correctly drawn and\nelaborately finished. Indeed the best specimen of the Fine Arts I had\nyet seen in Typee. A rear view of the stranger might have suggested the\nidea of a spreading vine tacked against a garden wall. Upon his breast,\narms and legs, were exhibited an infinite variety of figures; every\none of which, however, appeared to have reference to the general\neffect sought to be produced. The tattooing I have described was of the\nbrightest blue, and when contrasted with the light olive-colour of the\nskin, produced an unique and even elegant effect. A slight girdle of\nwhite tappa, scarcely two inches in width, but hanging before and behind\nin spreading tassels, composed the entire costume of the stranger.\n\nHe advanced surrounded by the islanders, carrying under one arm a small\nroll of native cloth, and grasping in his other hand a long and richly\ndecorated spear. His manner was that of a traveller conscious that he is\napproaching a comfortable stage in his journey. Every moment he turned\ngood-humouredly on the throng around him, and gave some dashing sort of\nreply to their incessant queries, which appeared to convulse them with\nuncontrollable mirth.\n\nStruck by his demeanour, and the peculiarity of his appearance, so\nunlike that of the shaven-crowned and face-tattooed natives in general,\nI involuntarily rose as he entered the house, and proffered him a seat\non the mats beside me. But without deigning to notice the civility, or\neven the more incontrovertible fact of my existence, the stranger passed\non, utterly regardless of me, and flung himself upon the further end\nof the long couch that traversed the sole apartment of Marheyo\'s\nhabitation.\n\nHad the belle of the season, in the pride of her beauty and power, been\ncut in a place of public resort by some supercilious exquisite, she\ncould not have felt greater indignation than I did at this unexpected\nslight.\n\nI was thrown into utter astonishment. The conduct of the savages had\nprepared me to anticipate from every newcomer the same extravagant\nexpressions of curiosity and regard. The singularity of his conduct,\nhowever, only roused my desire to discover who this remarkable personage\nmight be, who now engrossed the attention of every one.\n\nTinor placed before him a calabash of poee-poee, from which the stranger\nregaled himself, alternating every mouthful with some rapid exclamation,\nwhich was eagerly caught up and echoed by the crowd that completely\nfilled the house. When I observed the striking devotion of the natives\nto him, and their temporary withdrawal of all attention from myself, I\nfelt not a little piqued. The glory of Tommo is departed, thought I, and\nthe sooner he removes from the valley the better. These were my feelings\nat the moment, and they were prompted by that glorious principle\ninherent in all heroic natures--the strong-rooted determination to have\nthe biggest share of the pudding or to go without any of it.\n\nMarnoo, that all-attractive personage, having satisfied his hunger and\ninhaled a few whiffs from a pipe which was handed to him, launched\nout into an harangue which completely enchained the attention of his\nauditors.\n\nLittle as I understood of the language, yet from his animated gestures\nand the varying expression of his features--reflected as from so many\nmirrors in the countenances around him, I could easily discover the\nnature of those passions which he sought to arouse. From the frequent\nrecurrence of the words \'Nukuheva\' and \'Frannee\' (French), and some\nothers with the meaning of which I was acquainted, he appeared to be\nrehearsing to his auditors events which had recently occurred in the\nneighbouring bays. But how he had gained the knowledge of these matters\nI could not understand, unless it were that he had just come from\nNukuheva--a supposition which his travel-stained appearance not a little\nsupported. But, if a native of that region, I could not account for his\nfriendly reception at the hands of the Typees.\n\nNever, certainly, had I beheld so powerful an exhibition of natural\neloquence as Marnoo displayed during the course of his oration. The\ngrace of the attitudes into which he threw his flexible figure, the\nstriking gestures of his naked arms, and above all, the fire which shot\nfrom his brilliant eyes, imparted an effect to the continually changing\naccents of his voice, of which the most accomplished orator might have\nbeen proud. At one moment reclining sideways upon the mat, and leaning\ncalmly upon his bended arm, he related circumstantially the aggressions\nof the French--their hostile visits to the surrounding bays, enumerating\neach one in succession--Happar, Puerka, Nukuheva, Tior,--and then\nstarting to his feet and precipitating himself forward with clenched\nhands and a countenance distorted with passion, he poured out a tide of\ninvectives. Falling back into an attitude of lofty command, he exhorted\nthe Typees to resist these encroachments; reminding them, with a fierce\nglance of exultation, that as yet the terror of their name had preserved\nthem from attack, and with a scornful sneer he sketched in ironical\nterms the wondrous intrepidity of the French, who, with five war-canoes\nand hundreds of men, had not dared to assail the naked warriors of their\nvalley.\n\nThe effect he produced upon his audience was electric; one and all they\nstood regarding him with sparkling eyes and trembling limbs, as though\nthey were listening to the inspired voice of a prophet.\n\nBut it soon appeared that Marnoo\'s powers were as versatile as they\nwere extraordinary. As soon as he had finished his vehement harangue, he\nthrew himself again upon the mats, and, singling out individuals in the\ncrowd, addressed them by name, in a sort of bantering style, the humour\nof which, though nearly hidden from me filled the whole assembly with\nuproarious delight.\n\nHe had a word for everybody; and, turning rapidly from one to another,\ngave utterance to some hasty witticism, which was sure to be followed\nby peals of laughter. To the females as well as to the men, he addressed\nhis discourse. Heaven only knows what he said to them, but he caused\nsmiles and blushes to mantle their ingenuous faces. I am, indeed, very\nmuch inclined to believe that Marnoo, with his handsome person and\ncaptivating manners, was a sad deceiver among the simple maidens of the\nisland.\n\nDuring all this time he had never, for one moment, deigned to regard me.\nHe appeared, indeed, to be altogether unconscious of my presence. I\nwas utterly at a loss how to account for this extraordinary conduct. I\neasily perceived that he was a man of no little consequence among the\nislanders; that he possessed uncommon talents; and was gifted with a\nhigher degree of knowledge than the inmates of the valley. For these\nreasons, I therefore greatly feared lest having, from some cause or\nother, unfriendly feelings towards me, he might exert his powerful\ninfluence to do me mischief.\n\nIt seemed evident that he was not a permanent resident of the vale, and\nyet, whence could he have come? On all sides the Typees were girt in by\nhostile tribes, and how could he possibly, if belonging to any of these,\nbe received with so much cordiality?\n\nThe personal appearance of the enigmatical stranger suggested additional\nperplexities. The face, free from tattooing, and the unshaven crown,\nwere peculiarities I had never before remarked in any part of the\nisland, and I had always heard that the contrary were considered the\nindispensable distinction of a Marquesan warrior. Altogether the matter\nwas perfectly incomprehensible to me, and I awaited its solution with no\nsmall degree of anxiety.\n\nAt length, from certain indications, I suspected that he was making me\nthe subject of his remarks, although he appeared cautiously to avoid\neither pronouncing my name, or looking in the direction where I lay. All\nat once he rose from the mats where he had been reclining, and, still\nconversing, moved towards me, his eye purposely evading mine, and seated\nhimself within less than a yard of me. I had hardly recovered from my\nsurprise, when he suddenly turned round, and, with a most benignant\ncountenance extended his right hand gracefully towards me. Of course I\naccepted the courteous challenge, and, as soon as our palms met, he bent\ntowards me, and murmured in musical accents--\'How you do?\' \'How long you\nbeen in this bay?\' \'You like this bay?\'\n\nHad I been pierced simultaneously by three Happar spears, I could not\nhave started more than I did at hearing these simple questions. For a\nmoment I was overwhelmed with astonishment, and then answered something\nI know not what; but as soon as I regained my self-possession, the\nthought darted through my mind that from this individual I might obtain\nthat information regarding Toby which I suspected the natives had\npurposely withheld from me. Accordingly I questioned him concerning\nthe disappearance of my companion, but he denied all knowledge of\nthe matter. I then inquired from whence he had come? He replied, from\nNukuheva. When I expressed my surprise, he looked at me for a moment,\nas if enjoying my perplexity, and then with his strange vivacity,\nexclaimed,--\'Ah! Me taboo,--me go Nukuheva,--me go Tior,--me go\nTypee,--me go everywhere,--nobody harm me,--me taboo.\'\n\nThis explanation would have been altogether unintelligible to me, had\nit not recalled to my mind something I had previously heard concerning\na singular custom among these islanders. Though the country is possessed\nby various tribes, whose mutual hostilities almost wholly prelude any\nintercourse between them; yet there are instances where a person having\nratified friendly relations with some individual belonging longing to\nthe valley, whose inmates are at war with his own, may, under particular\nrestrictions, venture with impunity into the country of his friend,\nwhere, under other circumstances, he would have been treated as an\nenemy. In this light are personal friendships regarded among them, and\nthe individual so protected is said to be \'taboo\', and his person, to a\ncertain extent, is held as sacred. Thus the stranger informed me he had\naccess to all the valleys in the island.\n\nCurious to know how he had acquired his knowledge of English, I\nquestioned him on the subject. At first, for some reason or other, he\nevaded the inquiry, but afterwards told me that, when a boy, he had\nbeen carried to sea by the captain of a trading vessel, with whom he\nhad stayed three years, living part of the time with him at Sidney in\nAustralia, and that at a subsequent visit to the island, the captain\nhad, at his own request, permitted him to remain among his countrymen.\nThe natural quickness of the savage had been wonderfully improved by his\nintercourse with the white men, and his partial knowledge of a foreign\nlanguage gave him a great ascendancy over his less accomplished\ncountrymen.\n\nWhen I asked the now affable Marnoo why it was that he had not\npreviously spoken to me, he eagerly inquired what I had been led to\nthink of him from his conduct in that respect. I replied, that I had\nsupposed him to be some great chief or warrior, who had seen plenty\nof white men before, and did not think it worth while to notice a poor\nsailor. At this declaration of the exalted opinion I had formed of him,\nhe appeared vastly gratified, and gave me to understand that he had\npurposely behaved in that manner, in order to increase my astonishment,\nas soon as he should see proper to address me.\n\nMarnoo now sought to learn my version of the story as to how I came\nto be an inmate of the Typee valley. When I related to him the\ncircumstances under which Toby and I had entered it, he listened\nwith evident interest; but as soon as I alluded to the absence, yet\nunaccounted for, of my comrade, he endeavoured to change the subject, as\nif it were something he desired not to agitate. It seemed, indeed, as\nif everything connected with Toby was destined to beget distrust and\nanxiety in my bosom. Notwithstanding Marnoo\'s denial of any knowledge\nof his fate, I could not avoid suspecting that he was deceiving me; and\nthis suspicion revived those frightful apprehensions with regard to my\nown fate, which, for a short time past, had subsided in my breast.\n\nInfluenced by these feelings, I now felt a strong desire to avail myself\nof the stranger\'s protection, and under his safeguard to return to\nNukuheva. But as soon as I hinted at this, he unhesitatingly pronounced\nit to be entirely impracticable; assuring me that the Typees would never\nconsent to my leaving the valley. Although what he said merely confirmed\nthe impression which I had before entertained, still it increased\nmy anxiety to escape from a captivity which, however endurable, nay,\ndelightful it might be in some respects, involved in its issues a fate\nmarked by the most frightful contingencies.\n\nI could not conceal from my mind that Toby had been treated in the same\nfriendly manner as I had been, and yet all their kindness terminated\nwith his mysterious disappearance. Might not the same fate await me?--a\nfate too dreadful to think of. Stimulated by these considerations,\nI urged anew my request to Marnoo; but he only set forth in stronger\ncolours the impossibility of my escape, and repeated his previous\ndeclaration that the Typees would never be brought to consent to my\ndeparture.\n\nWhen I endeavoured to learn from him the motives which prompted them to\nhold me a prisoner, Marnoo again presumed that mysterious tone which had\ntormented me with apprehension when I had questioned him with regard to\nthe fate of my companion.\n\nThus repulsed, in a manner which only served, by arousing the most\ndreadful forebodings, to excite me to renewed attempts, I conjured him\nto intercede for me with the natives, and endeavour to procure their\nconsent to my leaving them. To this he appeared strongly averse; but,\nyielding at last to my importunities, he addressed several of the\nchiefs, who with the rest had been eyeing us intently during the whole\nof our conversation. His petition, however, was at once met with the\nmost violent disapprobation, manifesting itself in angry glances and\ngestures, and a perfect torrent of passionate words, directed to both\nhim and myself. Marnoo, evidently repenting the step he had taken,\nearnestly deprecated the resentment of the crowd, and, in a few moments\nsucceeded in pacifying to some extent the clamours which had broken out\nas soon as his proposition had been understood.\n\nWith the most intense interest had I watched the reception his\nintercession might receive; and a bitter pang shot through my heart\nat the additional evidence, now furnished, of the unchangeable\ndetermination of the islanders. Marnoo told me with evident alarm in his\ncountenance, that although admitted into the bay on a friendly footing\nwith its inhabitants, he could not presume to meddle with their\nconcerns, as such procedure, if persisted in, would at once absolve\nthe Typees from the restraints of the \'taboo\', although so long as\nhe refrained from such conduct, it screened him effectually from the\nconsequences of the enmity they bore his tribe. At this moment, Mehevi,\nwho was present, angrily interrupted him; and the words which he uttered\nin a commanding tone, evidently meant that he must at once cease talking\nto me and withdraw to the other part of the house. Marnoo immediately\nstarted up, hurriedly enjoining me not to address him again, and as I\nvalued my safety, to refrain from all further allusion to the subject of\nmy departure; and then, in compliance with the order of the determined\nchief, but not before it had again been angrily repeated, he withdrew to\na distance.\n\nI now perceived, with no small degree of apprehension, the same savage\nexpression in the countenances of the natives, which had startled me\nduring the scene at the Ti. They glanced their eyes suspiciously from\nMarnoo to me, as if distrusting the nature of an intercourse carried on,\nas it was, in a language they could not understand, and they seemed to\nharbour the belief that already we had concerted measures calculated to\nelude their vigilance.\n\nThe lively countenances of these people are wonderfully indicative of\nthe emotions of the soul, and the imperfections of their oral language\nare more than compensated for by the nervous eloquence of their looks\nand gestures. I could plainly trace, in every varying expression of\ntheir faces, all those passions which had been thus unexpectedly aroused\nin their bosoms.\n\nIt required no reflection to convince me, from what was going on, that\nthe injunction of Marnoo was not to be rashly slighted; and accordingly,\ngreat as was the effort to suppress my feelings, I accosted Mehevi in\na good-humoured tone, with a view of dissipating any ill impression\nhe might have received. But the ireful, angry chief was not so easily\nmollified. He rejected my advances with that peculiarly stern expression\nI have before described, and took care by the whole of his behaviour\ntowards me to show the displeasure and resentment which he felt.\n\nMarnoo, at the other extremity of the house, apparently desirous of\nmaking a diversion in my favour, exerted himself to amuse with his\npleasantries the crowd about him; but his lively attempts were not so\nsuccessful as they had previously been, and, foiled in his efforts, he\nrose gravely to depart. No one expressed any regret at this movement,\nso seizing his roll of tappa, and grasping his spear, he advanced to\nthe front of the pi-pi, and waving his hand in adieu to the now silent\nthrong, cast upon me a glance of mingled pity and reproach, and flung\nhimself into the path which led from the house. I watched his receding\nfigure until it was lost in the obscurity of the grove, and then gave\nmyself up to the most desponding reflections.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER NINETEEN\n\nREFLECTIONS AFTER MARNOO\'S DEPARTURE-BATTLE OF THE POP-GUNS--STRANGE\nCONCEIT OF MARHEYO--PROCESS OF MAKING TAPPA\n\nTHE knowledge I had now obtained as to the intention of the savages\ndeeply affected me.\n\nMarnoo, I perceived, was a man who, by reason of his superior\nacquirements, and the knowledge he possessed of the events which were\ntaking place in the different bays of the island, was held in no little\nestimation by the inhabitants of the valley. He had been received with\nthe most cordial welcome and respect. The natives had hung upon the\naccents of his voice, and, had manifested the highest gratification at\nbeing individually noticed by him. And yet despite all this, a few\nwords urged in my behalf, with the intent of obtaining my release from\ncaptivity, had sufficed not only to banish all harmony and good-will;\nbut, if I could believe what he told me, had gone on to endanger his own\npersonal safety.\n\nHow strongly rooted, then, must be the determination of the Typees\nwith regard to me, and how suddenly could they display the strangest\npassions! The mere suggestion of my departure had estranged from me,\nfor the time at least, Mehevi, who was the most influential of all\nthe chiefs, and who had previously exhibited so many instances of his\nfriendly sentiments. The rest of the natives had likewise evinced their\nstrong repugnance to my wishes, and even Kory-Kory himself seemed to\nshare in the general disapprobation bestowed upon me.\n\nIn vain I racked my invention to find out some motive for them, but I\ncould discover none.\n\nBut however this might be, the scene which had just occurred admonished\nme of the danger of trifling with the wayward and passionate spirits\nagainst whom it was vain to struggle, and might even be fatal to do go.\nMy only hope was to induce the natives to believe that I was reconciled\nto my detention in the valley, and by assuming a tranquil and cheerful\ndemeanour, to allay the suspicions which I had so unfortunately aroused.\nTheir confidence revived, they might in a short time remit in some\ndegree their watchfulness over my movements, and I should then be the\nbetter enabled to avail myself of any opportunity which presented itself\nfor escape. I determined, therefore, to make the best of a bad\nbargain, and to bear up manfully against whatever might betide. In this\nendeavour, I succeeded beyond my own expectations. At the period\nof Marnoo\'s visit, I had been in the valley, as nearly as I could\nconjecture, some two months. Although not completely recovered from my\nstrange illness, which still lingered about me, I was free from pain\nand able to take exercise. In short, I had every reason to anticipate a\nperfect recovery. Freed from apprehension on this point, and resolved\nto regard the future without flinching, I flung myself anew into all the\nsocial pleasures of the valley, and sought to bury all regrets, and\nall remembrances of my previous existence in the wild enjoyments it\nafforded.\n\nIn my various wanderings through the vale, and as I became better\nacquainted with the character of its inhabitants, I was more and more\nstruck with the light-hearted joyousness that everywhere prevailed. The\nminds of these simple savages, unoccupied by matters of graver moment,\nwere capable of deriving the utmost delight from circumstances which\nwould have passed unnoticed in more intelligent communities. All their\nenjoyment, indeed, seemed to be made up of the little trifling incidents\nof the passing hour; but these diminutive items swelled altogether to an\namount of happiness seldom experienced by more enlightened individuals,\nwhose pleasures are drawn from more elevated but rarer sources.\n\nWhat community, for instance, of refined and intellectual mortals\nwould derive the least satisfaction from shooting pop-guns? The\nmere supposition of such a thing being possible would excite their\nindignation, and yet the whole population of Typee did little else for\nten days but occupy themselves with that childish amusement, fairly\nscreaming, too, with the delight it afforded them.\n\nOne day I was frolicking with a little spirited urchin, some six years\nold, who chased me with a piece of bamboo about three feet long, with\nwhich he occasionally belaboured me. Seizing the stick from him, the\nidea happened to suggest itself, that I might make for the youngster,\nout of the slender tube, one of those nursery muskets with which I had\nsometimes seen children playing.\n\nAccordingly, with my knife I made two parallel slits in the cane several\ninches in length, and cutting loose at one end the elastic strip between\nthem, bent it back and slipped the point into a little notch made for\nthe purse. Any small substance placed against this would be projected\nwith considerable force through the tube, by merely springing the bent\nstrip out of the notch.\n\nHad I possessed the remotest idea of the sensation this piece of\nordnance was destined to produce, I should certainly have taken out a\npatent for the invention. The boy scampered away with it, half delirious\nwith ecstasy, and in twenty minutes afterwards I might have been seen\nsurrounded by a noisy crowd--venerable old graybeards--responsible\nfathers of families--valiant warriors--matrons--young men--girls and\nchildren, all holding in their hands bits of bamboo, and each clamouring\nto be served first.\n\nFor three or four hours I was engaged in manufacturing pop-guns, but\nat last made over my good-will and interest in the concern to a lad of\nremarkably quick parts, whom I soon initiated into the art and mystery.\n\nPop, Pop, Pop, Pop, now resounded all over the valley. Duels,\nskirmishes, pitched battles, and general engagements were to be seen\non every side. Here, as you walked along a path which led through a\nthicket, you fell into a cunningly laid ambush, and became a target for\na body of musketeers whose tattooed limbs you could just see peeping\ninto view through the foliage. There you were assailed by the intrepid\ngarrison of a house, who levelled their bamboo rifles at you from\nbetween the upright canes which composed its sides. Farther on you were\nfired upon by a detachment of sharpshooters, mounted upon the top of a\npi-pi.\n\nPop, Pop, Pop, Pop! green guavas, seeds, and berries were flying about\nin every direction, and during this dangerous state of affairs I was\nhalf afraid that, like the man and his brazen bull, I should fall\na victim to my own ingenuity. Like everything else, however, the\nexcitement gradually wore away, though ever after occasionally pop-guns\nmight be heard at all hours of the day.\n\nIt was towards the close of the pop-gun war, that I was infinitely\ndiverted with a strange freak of Marheyo\'s.\n\nI had worn, when I quitted the ship, a pair of thick pumps, which, from\nthe rough usage they had received in scaling precipices and sliding down\ngorges, were so dilapidated as to be altogether unfit for use--so, at\nleast, would have thought the generality of people, and so they most\ncertainly were, when considered in the light of shoes. But things\nunservicable in one way, may with advantage be applied in another,\nthat is, if one have genius enough for the purpose. This genius Marheyo\npossessed in a superlative degree, as he abundantly evinced by the use\nto which he put those sorely bruised and battered old shoes.\n\nEvery article, however trivial, which belonged to me, the natives\nappeared to regard as sacred; and I observed that for several days\nafter becoming an inmate of the house, my pumps were suffered to remain,\nuntouched, where I had first happened to throw them. I remembered,\nhowever, that after awhile I had missed them from their accustomed\nplace; but the matter gave me no concern, supposing that Tinor--like any\nother tidy housewife, having come across them in some of her domestic\noccupations--had pitched the useless things out of the house. But I was\nsoon undeceived.\n\nOne day I observed old Marheyo bustling about me with unusual activity,\nand to such a degree as almost to supersede Kory-Kory in the functions\nof his office. One moment he volunteered to trot off with me on his back\nto the stream; and when I refused, noways daunted by the repulse, he\ncontinued to frisk about me like a superannuated house-dog. I could not\nfor the life of me conjecture what possessed the old gentleman, until\nall at once, availing himself of the temporary absence of the household,\nhe went through a variety of of uncouth gestures, pointing eagerly down\nto my feet, then up to a little bundle, which swung from the ridge pole\noverhead. At last I caught a faint idea of his meaning, and motioned him\nto lower the package. He executed the order in the twinkling of an eye,\nand unrolling a piece of tappa, displayed to my astonished gaze the\nidentical pumps which I thought had been destroyed long before.\n\nI immediately comprehended his desire, and very generously gave him the\nshoes, which had become quite mouldy, wondering for what earthly purpose\nhe could want them. The same afternoon I descried the venerable warrior\napproaching the house, with a slow, stately gait, ear-rings in ears, and\nspear in hand, with this highly ornamental pair of shoes suspended from\nhis neck by a strip of bark, and swinging backwards and forwards on\nhis capacious chest. In the gala costume of the tasteful Marheyo, these\ncalf-skin pendants ever after formed the most striking feature.\n\nBut to turn to something a little more important. Although the whole\nexistence of the inhabitants of the valley seemed to pass away exempt\nfrom toil, yet there were some light employments which, although amusing\nrather than laborious as occupations, contributed to their comfort and\nluxury. Among these the most important was the manufacture of the native\ncloth,--\'tappa\',--so well known, under various modifications, throughout\nthe whole Polynesian Archipelago. As is generally understood, this\nuseful and sometimes elegant article is fabricated from the bark\nof different trees. But, as I believe that no description of its\nmanufacture has ever been given, I shall state what I know regarding it.\n\nIn the manufacture of the beautiful white tappa generally worn on the\nMarquesan Islands, the preliminary operation consists in gathering a\ncertain quantity of the young branches of the cloth-tree. The exterior\ngreen bark being pulled off as worthless, there remains a slender\nfibrous substance, which is carefully stripped from the stick, to which\nit closely adheres. When a sufficient quantity of it has been collected,\nthe various strips are enveloped in a covering of large leaves, which\nthe natives use precisely as we do wrapping-paper, and which are secured\nby a few turns of a line passed round them. The package is then laid in\nthe bed of some running stream, with a heavy stone placed over it, to\nprevent its being swept away. After it has remained for two or three\ndays in this state, it is drawn out, and exposed, for a short time, to\nthe action of the air, every distinct piece being attentively inspected,\nwith a view of ascertaining whether it has yet been sufficiently\naffected by the operation. This is repeated again and again, until the\ndesired result is obtained.\n\nWhen the substance is in a proper state for the next process, it\nbetrays evidences of incipient decomposition; the fibres are relaxed and\nsoftened, and rendered perfectly malleable. The different strips are\nnow extended, one by one, in successive layers, upon some smooth\nsurface--generally the prostrate trunk of a cocoanut tree--and the heap\nthus formed is subjected, at every new increase, to a moderate beating,\nwith a sort of wooden mallet, leisurely applied. The mallet is made of a\nhard heavy wood resembling ebony, is about twelve inches in length, and\nperhaps two in breadth, with a rounded handle at one end, and in shape\nis the exact counterpart of one of our four-sided razor-strops. The flat\nsurfaces of the implement are marked with shallow parallel indentations,\nvarying in depth on the different sides, so as to be adapted to the\nseveral stages of the operation. These marks produce the corduroy sort\nof stripes discernible in the tappa in its finished state. After being\nbeaten in the manner I have described, the material soon becomes blended\nin one mass, which, moistened occasionally with water, is at intervals\nhammered out, by a kind of gold-beating process, to any degree of\nthinness required. In this way the cloth is easily made to vary in\nstrength and thickness, so as to suit the numerous purposes to which it\nis applied.\n\nWhen the operation last described has been concluded, the new-made tappa\nis spread out on the grass to bleach and dry, and soon becomes of a\ndazzling whiteness. Sometimes, in the first stages of the manufacture,\nthe substance is impregnated with a vegetable juice, which gives it\na permanent colour. A rich brown and a bright yellow are occasionally\nseen, but the simple taste of the Typee people inclines them to prefer\nthe natural tint.\n\nThe notable wife of Kamehameha, the renowned conqueror and king of the\nSandwich Islands, used to pride herself in the skill she displayed in\ndyeing her tappa with contrasting colours disposed in regular figures;\nand, in the midst of the innovations of the times, was regarded, towards\nthe decline of her life, as a lady of the old school, clinging as she\ndid to the national cloth, in preference to the frippery of the\nEuropean calicoes. But the art of printing the tappa is unknown upon the\nMarquesan Islands. In passing along the valley, I was often attracted by\nthe noise of the mallet, which, when employed in the manufacture of\nthe cloth produces at every stroke of its hard, heavy wood, a clear,\nringing, and musical sound, capable of being heard at a great distance.\nWhen several of these implements happen to be in operation at the same\ntime, near one another, the effect upon the ear of a person, at a little\ndistance, is really charming.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER TWENTY\n\nHISTORY OF A DAY AS USUALLY SPENT IN TYPEE VALLEY--DANCES OF THE\nMARQUESAN GIRLS\n\nNOTHING can be more uniform and undiversified than the life of the\nTypees; one tranquil day of ease and happiness follows another in quiet\nsuccession; and with these unsophisicated savages the history of a\nday is the history of a life. I will, therefore, as briefly as I can,\ndescribe one of our days in the valley.\n\nTo begin with the morning. We were not very early risers--the sun would\nbe shooting his golden spikes above the Happar mountain, ere I threw\naside my tappa robe, and girding my long tunic about my waist, sallied\nout with Fayaway and Kory-Kory, and the rest of the household, and bent\nmy steps towards the stream. Here we found congregated all those who\ndwelt in our section of the valley; and here we bathed with them. The\nfresh morning air and the cool flowing waters put both soul and body in\na glow, and after a half-hour employed in this recreation, we sauntered\nback to the house--Tinor and Marheyo gathering dry sticks by the way\nfor fire-wood; some of the young men laying the cocoanut trees under\ncontribution as they passed beneath them; while Kory-Kory played his\noutlandish pranks for my particular diversion, and Fayaway and I, not\narm in arm to be sure, but sometimes hand in hand, strolled along, with\nfeelings of perfect charity for all the world, and especial good-will\ntowards each other.\n\nOur morning meal was soon prepared. The islanders are somewhat\nabstemious at this repast; reserving the more powerful efforts of\ntheir appetite to a later period of the day. For my own part, with the\nassistance of my valet, who, as I have before stated, always officiated\nas spoon on these occasions, I ate sparingly from one of Tinor\'s\ntrenchers, of poee-poee; which was devoted exclusively for my own use,\nbeing mixed with the milky meat of ripe cocoanut. A section of a roasted\nbread-fruit, a small cake of \'Amar\', or a mess of \'Cokoo,\' two or three\nbananas, or a mammee-apple; an annuee, or some other agreeable and\nnutritious fruit served from day to day to diversify the meal, which was\nfinished by tossing off the liquid contents of a young cocoanut or two.\n\nWhile partaking of this simple repast, the inmates of Marheyo\'s house,\nafter the style of the ancient Romans, reclined in sociable groups upon\nthe divan of mats, and digestion was promoted by cheerful conversation.\n\nAfter the morning meal was concluded, pipes were lighted; and among them\nmy own especial pipe, a present from the noble Mehevi.\n\nThe islanders, who only smoke a whiff or two at a time, and at long\nintervals, and who keep their pipes going from hand to hand continually,\nregarded my systematic smoking of four or five pipefuls of tobacco in\nsuccession, as something quite wonderful. When two or three pipes had\ncirculated freely, the company gradually broke up. Marheyo went to the\nlittle hut he was forever building. Tinor began to inspect her rolls of\ntappa, or employed her busy fingers in plaiting grass-mats. The girls\nanointed themselves with their fragrant oils, dressed their hair, or\nlooked over their curious finery, and compared together their ivory\ntrinkets, fashioned out of boar\'s tusks or whale\'s teeth. The young men\nand warriors produced their spears, paddles, canoe-gear, battle-clubs,\nand war-conchs, and occupied themselves in carving, all sorts of figures\nupon them with pointed bits of shell or flint, and adorning them,\nespecially the war-conchs, with tassels of braided bark and tufts of\nhuman hair. Some, immediately after eating, threw themselves once more\nupon the inviting mats, and resumed the employment of the previous\nnight, sleeping as soundly as if they had not closed their eyes for a\nweek. Others sallied out into the groves, for the purpose of gathering\nfruit or fibres of bark and leaves; the last two being in constant\nrequisition, and applied to a hundred uses. A few, perhaps, among the\ngirls, would slip into the woods after flowers, or repair to the stream\nwill; small calabashes and cocoanut shells, in order to polish them\nby friction with a smooth stone in the water. In truth these innocent\npeople seemed to be at no loss for something to occupy their time; and\nit would be no light task to enumerate all their employments, or rather\npleasures.\n\nMy own mornings I spent in a variety of ways. Sometimes I rambled about\nfrom house to house, sure of receiving a cordial welcome wherever I\nwent; or from grove to grove, and from one shady place to another, in\ncompany with Kory-Kory and Fayaway, and a rabble rout of merry young\nidlers. Sometimes I was too indolent for exercise, and accepting one of\nthe many invitations I was continually receiving, stretched myself out\non the mats of some hospitable dwelling, and occupied myself pleasantly\neither in watching the proceedings of those around me or taking part\nin them myself. Whenever I chose to do the latter, the delight of the\nislanders was boundless; and there was always a throng of competitors\nfor the honour of instructing me in any particular craft. I soon became\nquite an accomplished hand at making tappa--could braid a grass sling as\nwell as the best of them--and once, with my knife, carved the handle of\na javelin so exquisitely, that I have no doubt, to this day, Karnoonoo,\nits owner, preserves it as a surprising specimen of my skill. As noon\napproached, all those who had wandered forth from our habitation, began\nto return; and when midday was fairly come scarcely a sound was to be\nheard in the valley: a deep sleep fell upon all. The luxurious siesta\nwas hardly ever omitted, except by old Marheyo, who was so eccentric\na character, that he seemed to be governed by no fixed principles\nwhatever; but acting just according to the humour of the moment,\nslept, ate, or tinkered away at his little hut, without regard to the\nproprieties of time or place. Frequently he might have been seen taking\na nap in the sun at noon-day, or a bath in the stream of mid-night.\nOnce I beheld him perched eighty feet from the ground, in the tuft of a\ncocoanut tree, smoking; and often I saw him standing up to the waist\nin water, engaged in plucking out the stray hairs of his beard, using a\npiece of muscle-shell for tweezers.\n\nThe noon-tide slumber lasted generally an hour and a half: very often\nlonger; and after the sleepers had arisen from their mats they again\nhad recourse to their pipes, and then made preparations for the most\nimportant meal of the day.\n\nI, however, like those gentlemen of leisure who breakfast at home and\ndine at their club, almost invariably, during my intervals of health,\nenjoyed the afternoon repast with the bachelor chiefs of the Ti, who\nwere always rejoiced to see me, and lavishly spread before me all the\ngood things which their larder afforded. Mehevi generally introduced\namong other dainties a baked pig, an article which I have every reason\nto suppose was provided for my sole gratification.\n\nThe Ti was a right jovial place. It did my heart, as well as my body,\ngood to visit it. Secure from female intrusion, there was no restraint\nupon the hilarity of the warriors, who, like the gentlemen of Europe\nafter the cloth is drawn and the ladies retire, freely indulged their\nmirth.\n\nAfter spending a considerable portion of the afternoon at the Ti, I\nusually found myself, as the cool of the evening came on, either sailing\non the little lake with Fayaway, or bathing in the waters of the\nstream with a number of the savages, who, at this hour, always repaired\nthither. As the shadows of night approached Marheyo\'s household were\nonce more assembled under his roof: tapers were lit, long curious chants\nwere raised, interminable stories were told (for which one present was\nlittle the wiser), and all sorts of social festivities served to while\naway the time.\n\nThe young girls very often danced by moonlight in front of their\ndwellings. There are a great variety of these dances, in which, however,\nI never saw the men take part. They all consist of active, romping,\nmischievous evolutions, in which every limb is brought into requisition.\nIndeed, the Marquesan girls dance all over, as it were; not only do\ntheir feet dance, but their arms, hands, fingers, ay, their very eyes,\nseem to dance in their heads.\n\nThe damsels wear nothing but flowers and their compendious gala tunics;\nand when they plume themselves for the dance, they look like a band of\nolive-coloured Sylphides on the point of taking wing. In good sooth,\nthey so sway their floating forms, arch their necks, toss aloft their\nnaked arms, and glide, and swim, and whirl, that it was almost too much\nfor a quiet, sober-minded, modest young man like myself.\n\nUnless some particular festivity was going forward, the inmates of\nMarheyo\'s house retired to their mats rather early in the evening; but\nnot for the night, since, after slumbering lightly for a while, they\nrose again, relit their tapers, partook of the third and last meal of\nthe day, at which poee-poee alone was eaten, and then, after inhaling a\nnarcotic whiff from a pipe of tobacco, disposed themselves for the great\nbusiness of night, sleep. With the Marquesans it might almost most be\nstyled the great business of life, for they pass a large portion\nof their time in the arms of Somnus. The native strength of their\nconstitution is no way shown more emphatically than in the quantity of\nsleep they can endure. To many of them, indeed, life is little else than\nan often interrupted and luxurious nap.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER TWENTY-ONE\n\nTHE SPRING OF ARVA WAI--REMARKABLE MONUMENTAL REMAINS--SOME IDEAS WITH\nREGARD TO THE HISTORY OF THE PI-PIS FOUND IN THE VALLEY\n\nALMOST every country has its medicinal springs famed for their healing\nvirtues. The Cheltenham of Typee is embosomed in the deepest solitude,\nand but seldom receives a visitor. It is situated remote from any\ndwelling, a little way up the mountain, near the head of the valley; and\nyou approach it by a pathway shaded by the most beautiful foliage, and\nadorned with a thousand fragrant plants. The mineral waters of Arva Wai*\nooze forth from the crevices of a rock, and gliding down its mossy side,\nfall at last, in many clustering drops, into a natural basin of stone\nfringed round with grass and dewy-looking little violet-coloured\nflowers, as fresh and beautiful as the perpetual moisture they enjoy can\nmake them.\n\n*I presume this might be translated into \'Strong Waters\'. Arva is the\nname bestowed upon a root the properties of which are both inebriating\nand medicinal. \'Wai\' is the Marquesan word for water.\n\n\n\nThe water is held in high estimation by the islanders, some of whom\nconsider it an agreeable as well as a medicinal beverage; they bring it\nfrom the mountain in their calabashes, and store it away beneath heaps\nof leaves in some shady nook near the house. Old Marheyo had a great\nlove for the waters of the spring. Every now and then he lugged off to\nthe mountain a great round demijohn of a calabash, and, panting with his\nexertions, brought it back filled with his darling fluid.\n\nThe water tasted like a solution of a dozen disagreeable things, and was\nsufficiently nauseous to have made the fortune of the proprietor, had\nthe spa been situated in the midst of any civilized community.\n\nAs I am no chemist, I cannot give a scientific analysis of the water.\nAll I know about the matter is, that one day Marheyo in my presence\npoured out the last drop from his huge calabash, and I observed at the\nbottom of the vessel a small quantity of gravelly sediment very much\nresembling our common sand. Whether this is always found in the water,\nand gives it its peculiar flavour and virtues, or whether its presence\nwas merely incidental, I was not able to ascertain.\n\nOne day in returning from this spring by a circuitous path, I came upon\na scene which reminded me of Stonehenge and the architectural labours of\nthe Druids.\n\nAt the base of one of the mountains, and surrounded on all sides by\ndense groves, a series of vast terraces of stone rises, step by step,\nfor a considerable distance up the hill side. These terraces cannot\nbe less than one hundred yards in length and twenty in width. Their\nmagnitude, however, is less striking than the immense size of the blocks\ncomposing them. Some of the stones, of an oblong shape, are from ten\nto fifteen feet in length, and five or six feet thick. Their sides are\nquite smooth, but though square, and of pretty regular formation, they\nbear no mark of the chisel. They are laid together without cement, and\nhere and there show gaps between. The topmost terrace and the lower\none are somewhat peculiar in their construction. They have both a\nquadrangular depression in the centre, leaving the rest of the terrace\nelevated several feet above it. In the intervals of the stones immense\ntrees have taken root, and their broad boughs stretching far over, and\ninterlacing together, support a canopy almost impenetrable to the sun.\nOvergrowing the greater part of them, and climbing from one to another,\nis a wilderness of vines, in whose sinewy embrace many of the stones\nlie half-hidden, while in some places a thick growth of bushes entirely\ncovers them. There is a wild pathway which obliquely crosses two of\nthese terraces; and so profound is the shade, so dense the vegetation,\nthat a stranger to the place might pass along it without being aware of\ntheir existence.\n\nThese structures bear every indication of a very high antiquity and\nKory-Kory, who was my authority in all matters of scientific research,\ngave me to understand that they were coeval with the creation of the\nworld; that the great gods themselves were the builders; and that they\nwould endure until time shall be no more.\n\nKory-Kory\'s prompt explanation and his attributing the work to a\ndivine origin, at once convinced me that neither he nor the rest of his\ncountry-men knew anything about them.\n\nAs I gazed upon this monument, doubtless the work of an extinct and\nforgotten race, thus buried in the green nook of an island at the ends\nof the earth, the existence of which was yesterday unknown, a stronger\nfeeling of awe came over me than if I had stood musing at the mighty\nbase of the Pyramid of Cheops. There are no inscriptions, no sculpture,\nno clue, by which to conjecture its history; nothing but the dumb\nstones. How many generations of the majestic trees which overshadow them\nhave grown and flourished and decayed since first they were erected!\n\nThese remains naturally suggest many interesting reflections. They\nestablish the great age of the island, an opinion which the builders\nof theories concerning, the creation of the various groups in the South\nSeas are not always inclined to admit. For my own part, I think it\njust as probable that human beings were living in the valleys of the\nMarquesas three thousand years ago as that they were inhabiting the land\nof Egypt. The origin of the island of Nukuheva cannot be imputed to the\ncoral insect; for indefatigable as that wonderful creature is, it would\nbe hardly muscular enough to pile rocks one upon the other more than\nthree thousand feet above the level of the sea. That the land may have\nbeen thrown up by a submarine volcano is as possible as anything else.\nNo one can make an affidavit to the contrary, and therefore I still say\nnothing against the supposition: indeed, were geologists to assert that\nthe whole continent of America had in like manner been formed by the\nsimultaneous explosion of a train of Etnas laid under the water all the\nway from the North Pole to the parallel of Cape Horn, I am the last man\nin the world to contradict them.\n\nI have already mentioned that the dwellings of the islanders were almost\ninvariably built upon massive stone foundations, which they call pi-pis.\nThe dimensions of these, however, as well as of the stones composing\nthem, are comparatively small: but there are other and larger erections\nof a similar description comprising the \'morais\', or burying grounds,\nand festival-places, in nearly all the valleys of the island. Some of\nthese piles are so extensive, and so great a degree of labour and skill\nmust have been requisite in constructing them, that I can scarcely\nbelieve they were built by the ancestors of the present inhabitants. If\nindeed they were, the race has sadly deteriorated in their knowledge of\nthe mechanic arts. To say nothing of their habitual indolence, by what\ncontrivance within the reach of so simple a people could such enormous\nmasses have been moved or fixed in their places? and how could they with\ntheir rude implements have chiselled and hammered them into shape?\n\nAll of these larger pi-pis--like that of the Hoolah Hoolah ground in the\nTypee valley--bore incontestible marks of great age; and I am disposed\nto believe that their erection may be ascribed to the same race of men\nwho were the builders of the still more ancient remains I have just\ndescribed.\n\nAccording to Kory-Kory\'s account, the pi-pi upon which stands the Hoolah\nHoolah ground was built a great many moons ago, under the direction of\nMonoo, a great chief and warrior, and, as it would appear, master-mason\namong the Typees. It was erected for the express purpose to which it is\nat present devoted, in the incredibly short period of one sun; and was\ndedicated to the immortal wooden idols by a grand festival, which lasted\nten days and nights.\n\nAmong the smaller pi-pis, upon which stand the dwelling-houses of the\nnatives, I never observed any which intimated a recent erection. There\nare in every part of the valley a great many of these massive stone\nfoundations which have no houses upon them. This is vastly convenient,\nfor whenever an enterprising islander chooses to emigrate a few hundred\nyards from the place where he was born, all he has to do in order to\nestablish himself in some new locality, is to select one of the many\nunappropriated pi-pis, and without further ceremony pitch his bamboo\ntent upon it.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER TWENTY-TWO\n\nPREPARATIONS FOR A GRAND FESTIVAL IN THE VALLEY--STRANGE DOINGS IN\nTHE TABOO GROVES--MONUMENT OF CALABASHES--GALA COSTUME OF THE TYPEE\nDAMSELS--DEPARTURE FOR THE FESTIVAL\n\nFROM the time that my lameness had decreased I had made a daily practice\nof visiting Mehevi at the Ti, who invariably gave me a most cordial\nreception. I was always accompanied in these excursions by Fayaway\nand the ever-present Kory-Kory. The former, as soon as we reached the\nvicinity of the Ti--which was rigorously tabooed to the whole female\nsex--withdrew to a neighbouring hut, as if her feminine delicacy\n\'restricted\' her from approaching a habitation which might be regarded\nas a sort of Bachelor\'s Hall.\n\nAnd in good truth it might well have been so considered. Although it\nwas the permanent residence of several distinguished chiefs, and of\nthe noble Mehevi in particular, it was still at certain seasons the\nfavourite haunt of all the jolly, talkative, and elderly savages of\nthe vale, who resorted thither in the same way that similar characters\nfrequent a tavern in civilized countries. There they would remain hour\nafter hour, chatting, smoking, eating poee-poee, or busily engaged in\nsleeping for the good of their constitutions.\n\nThis building appeared to be the head-quarters of the valley, where all\nflying rumours concentrated; and to have seen it filled with a crowd\nof the natives, all males, conversing in animated clusters, while\nmultitudes were continually coming and going, one would have thought it\na kind of savage Exchange, where the rise and fall of Polynesian Stock\nwas discussed.\n\nMehevi acted as supreme lord over the place, spending the greater\nportion of his time there: and often when, at particular hours of the\nday, it was deserted by nearly every one else except the verd-antique\nlooking centenarians, who were fixtures in the building, the chief\nhimself was sure to be found enjoying his \'otium cum dignitate\'--upon\nthe luxurious mats which covered the floor. Whenever I made my\nappearance he invariably rose, and like a gentleman doing the honours of\nhis mansion, invited me to repose myself wherever I pleased, and calling\nout \'tamaree!\' (boy), a little fellow would appear, and then retiring\nfor an instant, return with some savoury mess, from which the chief\nwould press me to regale myself. To tell the truth, Mehevi was indebted\nto the excellence of his viands for the honour of my repeated visits--a\nmatter which cannot appear singular, when it is borne in mind that\nbachelors, all the world over, are famous for serving up unexceptionable\nrepasts.\n\nOne day, on drawing near to the Ti, I observed that extensive\npreparations were going forward, plainly betokening some approaching\nfestival. Some of the symptoms reminded me of the stir produced among\nthe scullions of a large hotel, where a grand jubilee dinner is about to\nbe given. The natives were hurrying about hither and thither, engaged in\nvarious duties, some lugging off to the stream enormous hollow\nbamboos, for the purpose of filling them with water; others chasing\nfurious-looking hogs through the bushes, in their endeavours to capture\nthem; and numbers employed in kneading great mountains of poee-poee\nheaped up in huge wooden vessels.\n\nAfter observing these lively indications for a while, I was attracted to\na neighbouring grove by a prodigious squeaking which I heard there. On\nreaching the spot I found it proceeded from a large hog which a number\nof natives were forcibly holding to the earth, while a muscular fellow,\narmed with a bludgeon, was ineffectually aiming murderous blows at the\nskull of the unfortunate porker. Again and again he missed his\nwrithing and struggling victim, but though puffing and panting with\nhis exertions, he still continued them; and after striking a sufficient\nnumber of blows to have demolished an entire drove of oxen, with one\ncrashing stroke he laid him dead at his feet.\n\nWithout letting any blood from the body, it was immediately carried to a\nfire which had been kindled near at hand and four savages taking hold of\nthe carcass by its legs, passed it rapidly to and fro in the flames.\nIn a moment the smell of burning bristles betrayed the object of this\nprocedure. Having got thus far in the matter, the body was removed to a\nlittle distance and, being disembowelled, the entrails were laid aside\nas choice parts, and the whole carcass thoroughly washed with water. An\nample thick green cloth, composed of the long thick leaves of a species\nof palm-tree, ingeniously tacked together with little pins of bamboo,\nwas now spread upon the ground, in which the body being carefully\nrolled, it was borne to an oven previously prepared to receive it. Here\nit was at once laid upon the heated stones at the bottom, and covered\nwith thick layers of leaves, the whole being quickly hidden from sight\nby a mound of earth raised over it.\n\nSuch is the summary style in which the Typees convert perverse-minded\nand rebellious hogs into the most docile and amiable pork; a morsel\nof which placed on the tongue melts like a soft smile from the lips of\nBeauty.\n\nI commend their peculiar mode of proceeding to the consideration of all\nbutchers, cooks, and housewives. The hapless porker whose fate I have\njust rehearsed, was not the only one who suffered in that memorable day.\nMany a dismal grunt, many an imploring squeak, proclaimed what was going\non throughout the whole extent of the valley; and I verily believe the\nfirst-born of every litter perished before the setting of that fatal\nsun.\n\nThe scene around the Ti was now most animated. Hogs and poee-poee were\nbaking in numerous ovens, which, heaped up with fresh earth into slight\nelevations, looked like so many ant-hills. Scores of the savages were\nvigorously plying their stone pestles in preparing masses of poee-poee,\nand numbers were gathering green bread-fruit and young cocoanuts in the\nsurrounding groves; when an exceeding great multitude, with a view of\nencouraging the rest in their labours, stood still, and kept shouting\nmost lustily without intermission.\n\nIt is a peculiarity among these people, that, when engaged in an\nemployment, they always make a prodigious fuss about it. So seldom do\nthey ever exert themselves, that when they do work they seem determined\nthat so meritorious an action shall not escape the observation of those\naround if, for example, they have occasion to remove a stone to a little\ndistance, which perhaps might be carried by two able-bodied men, a whole\nswarm gather about it, and, after a vast deal of palavering, lift it\nup among them, every one struggling to get hold of it, and bear it off\nyelling and panting as if accomplishing some mighty achievement. Seeing\nthem on these occasions, one is reminded of an infinity of black ants\nclustering about and dragging away to some hole the leg of a deceased\nfly.\n\nHaving for some time attentively observed these demonstrations of good\ncheer, I entered the Ti, where Mehevi sat complacently looking out upon\nthe busy scene, and occasionally issuing his orders. The chief appeared\nto be in an extraordinary flow of spirits and gave me to understand that\non the morrow there would be grand doings in the Groves generally, and\nat the Ti in particular; and urged me by no means to absent myself. In\ncommemoration of what event, however, or in honour of what\ndistinguished personage, the feast was to be given, altogether passed my\ncomprehension. Mehevi sought to enlighten my ignorance, but he failed as\nsignally as when he had endeavoured to initiate me into the perplexing\narcana of the taboo.\n\nOn leaving the Ti, Kory-Kory, who had as a matter of course accompanied\nme, observing that my curiosity remained unabated, resolved to make\neverything plain and satisfactory. With this intent, he escorted\nme through the Taboo Groves, pointing out to my notice a variety of\nobjects, and endeavoured to explain them in such an indescribable jargon\nof words, that it almost put me in bodily pain to listen to him. In\nparticular, he led me to a remarkable pyramidical structure some three\nyards square at the base, and perhaps ten feet in height, which had\nlately been thrown up, and occupied a very conspicuous position. It\nwas composed principally of large empty calabashes, with a few polished\ncocoanut shells, and looked not unlike a cenotaph of skulls. My cicerone\nperceived the astonishment with which I gazed at this monument of savage\ncrockery, and immediately addressed himself in the task of enlightening\nme: but all in vain; and to this hour the nature of the monument remains\na complete mystery to me. As, however, it formed so prominent a feature\nin the approaching revels, I bestowed upon the latter, in my own mind,\nthe title of the \'Feast of Calabashes\'.\n\nThe following morning, awaking rather late, I perceived the whole of\nMarheyo\'s family busily engaged in preparing for the festival.\n\nThe old warrior himself was arranging in round balls the two grey locks\nof hair that were suffered to grow from the crown of his head; his\nearrings and spear, both well polished, lay beside him, while the highly\ndecorative pair of shoes hung suspended from a projecting cane against\nthe side of the house. The young men were similarly employed; and the\nfair damsels, including Fayaway, were anointing themselves with \'aka\',\narranging their long tresses, and performing other matters connected\nwith the duties of the toilet.\n\nHaving completed their preparations, the girls now exhibited themselves\nin gala costume; the most conspicuous feature of which was a necklace\nof beautiful white flowers, with the stems removed, and strung closely\ntogether upon a single fibre of tappa. Corresponding ornaments were\ninserted in their ears, and woven garlands upon their heads. About their\nwaist they wore a short tunic of spotless white tappa, and some of them\nsuper-added to this a mantle of the same material, tied in an elaborate\nbow upon the left shoulder, and falling about the figure in picturesque\nfolds.\n\nThus arrayed, I would have matched the charming Fayaway against any\nbeauty in the world.\n\nPeople may say what they will about the taste evinced by our fashionable\nladies in dress. Their jewels, their feathers, their silks, and\ntheir furbelows, would have sunk into utter insignificance beside the\nexquisite simplicity of attire adopted by the nymphs of the vale on this\nfestive occasion. I should like to have seen a gallery of coronation\nbeauties, at Westminster Abbey, confronted for a moment by this band of\nisland girls; their stiffness, formality, and affectation, contrasted\nwith the artless vivacity and unconcealed natural graces of these savage\nmaidens. It would be the Venus de\' Medici placed beside a milliner\'s\ndoll. It was not long before Kory-Kory and myself were left alone in the\nhouse, the rest of its inmates having departed for the Taboo Groves.\nMy valet was all impatience to follow them; and was as fidgety about my\ndilatory movements as a diner out waiting hat in hand at the bottom\nof the stairs for some lagging companion. At last, yielding to his\nimportunities, I set out for the Ti. As we passed the houses peeping out\nfrom the groves through which our route lay, I noticed that they were\nentirely deserted by their inhabitants.\n\nWhen we reached the rock that abruptly terminated the path, and\nconcealed from us the festive scene, wild shouts and a confused blending\nof voices assured me that the occasion, whatever it might be, had\ndrawn together a great multitude. Kory-Kory, previous to mounting the\nelevation, paused for a moment, like a dandy at a ball-room door, to put\na hasty finish to his toilet. During this short interval, the thought\nstruck me that I ought myself perhaps to be taking some little pains\nwith my appearance.\n\nBut as I had no holiday raiment, I was not a little puzzled to devise\nsome means of decorating myself. However, as I felt desirous to create a\nsensation, I determined to do all that lay in my power; and knowing that\nI could not delight the savages more than by conforming to their style\nof dress, I removed from my person the large robe of tappa which I was\naccustomed to wear over my shoulders whenever I sallied into the open\nair, and remained merely girt about with a short tunic descending from\nmy waist to my knees.\n\nMy quick-witted attendant fully appreciated the compliment I was paying\nto the costume of his race, and began more sedulously to arrange the\nfolds of the one only garment which remained to me. Whilst he was doing\nthis, I caught sight of a knot of young lasses, who were sitting near us\non the grass surrounded by heaps of flowers which they were forming into\ngarlands. I motioned to them to bring some of their handywork to me;\nand in an instant a dozen wreaths were at my disposal. One of them I\nput round the apology for a hat which I had been forced to construct for\nmyself out of palmetto-leaves, and some of the others I converted into a\nsplendid girdle. These operations finished, with the slow and dignified\nstep of a full-dressed beau I ascended the rock.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER TWENTY-THREE\n\nTHE FEAST OF CALABASHES\n\nTHE whole population of the valley seemed to be gathered within the\nprecincts of the grove. In the distance could be seen the long front of\nthe Ti, its immense piazza swarming with men, arrayed in every variety\nof fantastic costume, and all vociferating with animated gestures; while\nthe whole interval between it and the place where I stood was enlivened\nby groups of females fancifully decorated, dancing, capering, and\nuttering wild exclamations. As soon as they descried me they set up a\nshout of welcome; and a band of them came dancing towards me, chanting\nas they approached some wild recitative. The change in my garb seemed to\ntransport them with delight, and clustering about me on all sides, they\naccompanied me towards the Ti. When however we drew near it these joyous\nnymphs paused in their career, and parting on either side, permitted me\nto pass on to the now densely thronged building.\n\nSo soon as I mounted to the pi-pi I saw at a glance that the revels were\nfairly under way.\n\nWhat lavish plenty reigned around?--Warwick feasting his retainers with\nbeef and ale, was a niggard to the noble Mehevi!--All along the piazza\nof the Ti were arranged elaborately carved canoe-shaped vessels, some\ntwenty feet in length, tied with newly made poee-poee, and sheltered\nfrom the sun by the broad leaves of the banana. At intervals were heaps\nof green bread-fruit, raised in pyramidical stacks, resembling the\nregular piles of heavy shot to be seen in the yard of an arsenal.\nInserted into the interstices of the huge stones which formed the pi-pi\nwere large boughs of trees; hanging from the branches of which, and\nscreened from the sun by their foliage, were innumerable little packages\nwith leafy coverings, containing the meat of the numerous hogs which\nhad been slain, done up in this manner to make it more accessible to the\ncrowd. Leaning against the railing on the piazza were an immense\nnumber of long, heavy bamboos, plugged at the lower end, and with their\nprojecting muzzles stuffed with a wad of leaves. These were filled with\nwater from the stream, and each of them might hold from four to five\ngallons.\n\nThe banquet being thus spread, naught remained but for everyone to\nhelp himself at his pleasure. Accordingly not a moment passed but the\ntransplanted boughs I have mentioned were rifled by the throng of the\nfruit they certainly had never borne before. Calabashes of poee-poee\nwere continually being replenished from the extensive receptacle in\nwhich that article was stored, and multitudes of little fires were\nkindled about the Ti for the purpose of roasting the bread-fruit.\n\nWithin the building itself was presented a most extraordinary scene. The\nimmense lounge of mats lying between the parallel rows of the trunks of\ncocoanut trees, and extending the entire length of the house, at least\ntwo hundred feet, was covered by the reclining forms of a host of chiefs\nand warriors who were eating at a great rate, or soothing the cares of\nPolynesian life in the sedative fumes of tobacco. The smoke was inhaled\nfrom large pipes, the bowls of which, made out of small cocoanut shells,\nwere curiously carved in strange heathenish devices. These were passed\nfrom mouth to mouth by the recumbent smokers, each of whom, taking two\nor three prodigious whiffs, handed the pipe to his neighbour; sometimes\nfor that purpose stretching indolently across the body of some dozing\nindividual whose exertions at the dinner-table had already induced\nsleep.\n\nThe tobacco used among the Typees was of a very mild and pleasing\nflavour, and as I always saw it in leaves, and the natives appeared\npretty well supplied with it, I was led to believe that it must have\nbeen the growth of the valley. Indeed Kory-Kory gave me to understand\nthat this was the case; but I never saw a single plant growing on the\nisland. At Nukuheva, and, I believe, in all the other valleys, the weed\nis very scarce, being only obtained in small quantities from foreigners,\nand smoking is consequently with the inhabitants of these places a very\ngreat luxury. How it was that the Typees were so well furnished with\nit I cannot divine. I should think them too indolent to devote any\nattention to its culture; and, indeed, as far as my observation\nextended, not a single atom of the soil was under any other cultivation\nthan that of shower and sunshine. The tobacco-plant, however, like the\nsugar-cane, may grow wild in some remote part of the vale.\n\nThere were many in the Ti for whom the tobacco did not furnish a\nsufficient stimulus, and who accordingly had recourse to \'arva\', as a\nmore powerful agent in producing the desired effect.\n\n\'Arva\' is a root very generally dispersed over the South Seas, and from\nit is extracted a juice, the effects of which upon the system are at\nfirst stimulating in a moderate degree; but it soon relaxes the muscles,\nand exerting a narcotic influence produces a luxurious sleep. In\nthe valley this beverage was universally prepared in the following\nway:--Some half-dozen young boys seated themselves in a circle around\nan empty wooden vessel, each one of them being supplied with a certain\nquantity of the roots of the \'arva\', broken into small bits and laid\nby his side. A cocoanut goblet of water was passed around the juvenile\ncompany, who rinsing their mouths with its contents, proceeded to the\nbusiness before them. This merely consisted in thoroughly masticating\nthe \'arva\', and throwing it mouthful after mouthful into the receptacle\nprovided. When a sufficient quantity had been thus obtained water was\npoured upon the mass, and being stirred about with the forefinger of the\nright hand, the preparation was soon in readiness for use. The \'arva\'\nhas medicinal qualities.\n\nUpon the Sandwich Islands it has been employed with no small success in\nthe treatment of scrofulous affections, and in combating the ravages\nof a disease for whose frightful inroads the ill-starred inhabitants of\nthat group are indebted to their foreign benefactors. But the tenants of\nthe Typee valley, as yet exempt from these inflictions, generally employ\nthe \'arva\' as a minister to social enjoyment, and a calabash of the\nliquid circulates among them as the bottle with us.\n\nMehevi, who was greatly delighted with the change in my costume, gave\nme a cordial welcome. He had reserved for me a most delectable mess\nof \'cokoo\', well knowing my partiality for that dish; and had likewise\nselected three or four young cocoanuts, several roasted bread-fruit,\nand a magnificent bunch of bananas, for my especial comfort and\ngratification. These various matters were at once placed before me; but\nKory-Kory deemed the banquet entirely insufficient for my wants until\nhe had supplied me with one of the leafy packages of pork, which,\nnotwithstanding the somewhat hasty manner in which it had been prepared,\npossessed a most excellent flavour, and was surprisingly sweet and\ntender.\n\nPork is not a staple article of food among the people of the Marquesas;\nconsequently they pay little attention to the BREEDING of the swine. The\nhogs are permitted to roam at large on the groves, where they obtain\nno small part of their nourishment from the cocoanuts which continually\nfall from the trees. But it is only after infinite labour and\ndifficulty, that the hungry animal can pierce the husk and shell so as\nto get at the meat. I have frequently been amused at seeing one of\nthem, after crunching the obstinate nut with his teeth for a long time\nunsuccessfully, get into a violent passion with it. He would then root\nfuriously under the cocoanut, and, with a fling of his snout, toss it\nbefore him on the ground. Following it up, he would crunch at it again\nsavagely for a moment, and then next knock it on one side, pausing\nimmediately after, as if wondering how it could so suddenly have\ndisappeared. In this way the persecuted cocoanuts were often chased half\nacross the valley.\n\nThe second day of the Feast of Calabashes was ushered in by still more\nuproarious noises than the first. The skins of innumerable sheep seemed\nto be resounding to the blows of an army of drummers. Startled from my\nslumbers by the din, I leaped up, and found the whole household engaged\nin making preparations for immediate departure. Curious to discover of\nwhat strange events these novel sounds might be the precursors, and not\na little desirous to catch a sight of the instruments which produced\nthe terrific noise, I accompanied the natives as soon as they were in\nreadiness to depart for the Taboo Groves.\n\nThe comparatively open space that extended from the Ti toward the rock,\nto which I have before alluded as forming the ascent to the place, was,\nwith the building itself, now altogether deserted by the men; the whole\ndistance being filled by bands of females, shouting and dancing under\nthe influence of some strange excitement.\n\nI was amused at the appearance of four or five old women who, in a state\nof utter nudity, with their arms extended flatly down their sides, and\nholding themselves perfectly erect, were leaping stiffly into the\nair, like so many sticks bobbing to the surface, after being pressed\nperpendicularly into the water. They preserved the utmost gravity of\ncountenance, and continued their extraordinary movements without\na single moment\'s cessation. They did not appear to attract the\nobservation of the crowd around them, but I must candidly confess that\nfor my own part, I stared at them most pertinaciously.\n\nDesirous of being enlightened in regard to the meaning of this peculiar\ndiversion, I turned, inquiringly to Kory-Kory; that learned Typee\nimmediately proceeded to explain the whole matter thoroughly. But all\nthat I could comprehend from what he said was, that the leaping figures\nbefore me were bereaved widows, whose partners had been slain in battle\nmany moons previously; and who, at every festival, gave public evidence\nin this manner of their calamities. It was evident that Kory-Kory\nconsidered this an all-sufficient reason for so indecorous a custom; but\nI must say that it did not satisfy me as to its propriety.\n\nLeaving these afflicted females, we passed on to the Hoolah Hoolah\nground. Within the spacious quadrangle, the whole population of the\nvalley seemed to be assembled, and the sight presented was truly\nremarkable. Beneath the sheds of bamboo which opened towards the\ninterior of the square reclined the principal chiefs and warriors, while\na miscellaneous throng lay at their ease under the enormous trees which\nspread a majestic canopy overhead. Upon the terraces of the gigantic\naltars, at each end, were deposited green bread-fruit in baskets of\ncocoanut leaves, large rolls of tappa, bunches of ripe bananas, clusters\nof mammee-apples, the golden-hued fruit of the artu-tree, and baked\nhogs, laid out in large wooden trenchers, fancifully decorated with\nfreshly plucked leaves, whilst a variety of rude implements of war were\npiled in confused heaps before the ranks of hideous idols. Fruits of\nvarious kinds were likewise suspended in leafen baskets, from the tops\nof poles planted uprightly, and at regular intervals, along the lower\nterraces of both altars. At their base were arranged two parallel rows\nof cumbersome drums, standing at least fifteen feet in height, and\nformed from the hollow trunks of large trees. Their heads were covered\nwith shark skins, and their barrels were elaborately carved with various\nquaint figures and devices. At regular intervals they were bound round\nby a species of sinnate of various colours, and strips of native cloth\nflattened upon them here and there. Behind these instruments were built\nslight platforms, upon which stood a number of young men who, beating\nviolently with the palms of their hands upon the drum-heads, produced\nthose outrageous sounds which had awakened me in the morning. Every few\nminutes these musical performers hopped down from their elevation into\nthe crowd below, and their places were immediately supplied by fresh\nrecruits. Thus an incessant din was kept up that might have startled\nPandemonium.\n\nPrecisely in the middle of the quadrangle were placed perpendicularly\nin the ground, a hundred or more slender, fresh-cut poles, stripped of\ntheir bark, and decorated at the end with a floating pennon of white\ntappa; the whole being fenced about with a little picket of canes. For\nwhat purpose these angular ornaments were intended I in vain endeavoured\nto discover.\n\nAnother most striking feature of the performance was exhibited by a\nscore of old men, who sat cross-legged in the little pulpits, which\nencircled the trunks of the immense trees growing in the middle of the\nenclosure. These venerable gentlemen, who I presume were the priests,\nkept up an uninterrupted monotonous chant, which was partly drowned in\nthe roar of drums. In the right hand they held a finely woven grass fan,\nwith a heavy black wooden handle curiously chased: these fans they kept\nin continual motion.\n\nBut no attention whatever seemed to be paid to the drummers or to the\nold priests; the individuals who composed the vast crowd present being\nentirely taken up in chanting and laughing with one another, smoking,\ndrinking \'arva\', and eating. For all the observation it attracted,\nor the good it achieved, the whole savage orchestra might with great\nadvantage to its own members and the company in general, have ceased the\nprodigious uproar they were making.\n\nIn vain I questioned Kory-Kory and others of the natives, as to the\nmeaning of the strange things that were going on; all their explanations\nwere conveyed in such a mass of outlandish gibberish and gesticulation\nthat I gave up the attempt in despair. All that day the drums resounded,\nthe priests chanted, and the multitude feasted and roared till sunset,\nwhen the throng dispersed, and the Taboo Groves were again abandoned to\nquiet and repose. The next day the same scene was repeated until night,\nwhen this singular festival terminated.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR\n\nIDEAS SUGGESTED BY THE FEAST OF CALABASHES--INACCURACY OF CERTAIN\nPUBLISHED ACCOUNTS OF THE ISLANDS--A REASON--NEGLECTED STATE OF\nHEATHENISM IN THE VALLEY--EFFIGY OF A DEAD WARRIOR--A SINGULAR\nSUPERSTITION--THE PRIEST KOLORY AND THE GOD MOA ARTUA--AMAZING RELIGIOUS\nOBSERVANCE--A DILAPIDATED SHRINE--KORY-KORY AND THE IDOL--AN INFERENCE\n\nALTHOUGH I had been baffled in my attempts to learn the origin of\nthe Feast of Calabashes, yet it seemed very plain to me that it was\nprincipally, if not wholly, of a religious character. As a religious\nsolemnity, however, it had not at all corresponded with the horrible\ndescriptions of Polynesian worship which we have received in some\npublished narratives, and especially in those accounts of the\nevangelized islands with which the missionaries have favoured us. Did\nnot the sacred character of these persons render the purity of their\nintentions unquestionable, I should certainly be led to suppose that\nthey had exaggerated the evils of Paganism, in order to enhance the\nmerit of their own disinterested labours.\n\nIn a certain work incidentally treating of the \'Washington, or Northern\nMarquesas Islands,\' I have seen the frequent immolation of human victims\nupon the altars of their gods, positively and repeatedly charged upon\nthe inhabitants. The same work gives also a rather minute account of\ntheir religion--enumerates a great many of their superstitions--and\nmakes known the particular designations of numerous orders of the\npriesthood. One would almost imagine from the long list that is given\nof cannibal primates, bishops, arch-deacons, prebendaries, and other\ninferior ecclesiastics, that the sacerdotal order far outnumbered the\nrest of the population, and that the poor natives were more severely\npriest-ridden than even the inhabitants of the papal states. These\naccounts are likewise calculated to leave upon the reader\'s mind an\nimpression that human victims are daily cooked and served up upon the\naltars; that heathenish cruelties of every description are continually\npractised; and that these ignorant Pagans are in a state of the\nextremest wretchedness in consequence of the grossness of their\nsuperstitions. Be it observed, however, that all this information is\ngiven by a man who, according to his own statement, was only at one of\nthe islands, and remained there but two weeks, sleeping every night on\nboard his ship, and taking little kid-glove excursions ashore in the\ndaytime, attended by an armed party.\n\nNow, all I can say is, that in all my excursions through the valley of\nTypee, I never saw any of these alleged enormities. If any of them are\npractised upon the Marquesas Islands they must certainly have come to\nmy knowledge while living for months with a tribe of savages, wholly\nunchanged from their original primitive condition, and reputed the most\nferocious in the South Seas.\n\nThe fact is, that there is a vast deal of unintentional humbuggery\nin some of the accounts we have from scientific men concerning the\nreligious institutions of Polynesia. These learned tourists generally\nobtain the greater part of their information from retired old South-Sea\nrovers, who have domesticated themselves among the barbarous tribes of\nthe Pacific. Jack, who has long been accustomed to the long-bow, and\nto spin tough yarns on the ship\'s forecastle, invariably officiates as\nshowman of the island on which he has settled, and having mastered a few\ndozen words of the language, is supposed to know all about the people\nwho speak it. A natural desire to make himself of consequence in the\neyes of the strangers, prompts him to lay claim to a much greater\nknowledge of such matters than he actually possesses. In reply to\nincessant queries, he communicates not only all he knows but a good deal\nmore, and if there be any information deficient still he is at no\nloss to supply it. The avidity with which his anecdotes are noted\ndown tickles his vanity, and his powers of invention increase with the\ncredulity auditors. He knows just the sort of information wanted, and\nfurnishes it to any extent.\n\nThis is not a supposed case; I have met with several individuals like\nthe one described, and I have been present at two or three of their\ninterviews with strangers.\n\nNow, when the scientific voyager arrives at home with his collection\nof wonders, he attempts, perhaps, to give a description of some of the\nstrange people he has been visiting. Instead of representing them as\na community of lusty savages, who are leading a merry, idle, innocent\nlife, he enters into a very circumstantial and learned narrative of\ncertain unaccountable superstitions and practices, about which he knows\nas little as the islanders themselves. Having had little time, and\nscarcely any opportunity, to become acquainted with the customs he\npretends to describe, he writes them down one after another in an\noff-hand, haphazard style; and were the book thus produced to be\ntranslated into the tongue of the people of whom it purports to give the\nhistory, it would appear quite as wonderful to them as it does to the\nAmerican public, and much more improbable.\n\nFor my own part, I am free to confess my almost entire inability to\ngratify any curiosity that may be felt with regard to the theology of\nthe valley. I doubt whether the inhabitants themselves could do so. They\nare either too lazy or too sensible to worry themselves about abstract\npoints of religious belief. While I was among them, they never held any\nsynods or councils to settle the principles of their faith by agitating\nthem. An unbounded liberty of conscience seemed to prevail. Those\nwho pleased to do so were allowed to repose implicit faith in an\nill-favoured god with a large bottle-nose and fat shapeless arms crossed\nupon his breast; whilst others worshipped an image which, having no\nlikeness either in heaven or on earth, could hardly be called an idol.\nAs the islanders always maintained a discreet reserve with regard to\nmy own peculiar views on religion, I thought it would be excessively\nill-bred of me to pry into theirs.\n\nBut, although my knowledge of the religious faith of the Typees was\nunavoidably limited, one of their superstitious observances with which I\nbecame acquainted interested me greatly.\n\nIn one of the most secluded portions of the valley within a stone\'s\ncast of Fayaway\'s lake--for so I christened the scene of our island\nyachting--and hard by a growth of palms, which stood ranged in order\nalong both banks of the stream, waving their green arms as if to do\nhonour to its passage, was the mausoleum of a deceased, warrior chief.\nLike all the other edifices of any note, it was raised upon a small\npi-pi of stones, which, being of unusual height, was a conspicuous\nobject from a distance. A light thatching of bleached palmetto-leaves\nhung over it like a self supported canopy; for it was not until you\ncame very near that you saw it was supported by four slender columns of\nbamboo rising at each corner to a little more than the height of a man.\nA clear area of a few yards surrounded the pi-pi, and was enclosed by\nfour trunks of cocoanut trees resting at the angles on massive blocks of\nstone. The place was sacred. The sign of the inscrutable Taboo was seen\nin the shape of a mystic roll of white tappa, suspended by a twisted\ncord of the same material from the top of a slight pole planted within\nthe enclosure*. The sanctity of the spot appeared never to have been\nviolated. The stillness of the grave was there, and the calm solitude\naround was beautiful and touching. The soft shadows of those lofty\npalm-trees!--I can see them now--hanging over the little temple, as if\nto keep out the intrusive sun.\n\n*White appears to be the sacred colour among the Marquesans.\n\nOn all sides as you approached this silent spot you caught sight of the\ndead chief\'s effigy, seated in the stern of a canoe, which was raised on\na light frame a few inches above the level of the pi-pi. The canoe was\nabout seven feet in length; of a rich, dark coloured wood, handsomely\ncarved and adorned in many places with variegated bindings of stained\nsinnate, into which were ingeniously wrought a number of sparkling\nseashells, and a belt of the same shells ran all round it. The body\nof the figure--of whatever material it might have been made--was\neffectually concealed in a heavy robe of brown tappa, revealing; only\nthe hands and head; the latter skilfully carved in wood, and surmounted\nby a superb arch of plumes. These plumes, in the subdued and gentle\ngales which found access to this sequestered spot, were never for one\nmoment at rest, but kept nodding and waving over the chief\'s brow. The\nlong leaves of the palmetto drooped over the eaves, and through them you\nsaw the warrior holding his paddle with both hands in the act of rowing,\nleaning forward and inclining his head, as if eager to hurry on his\nvoyage. Glaring at him forever, and face to face, was a polished human\nskull, which crowned the prow of the canoe. The spectral figurehead,\nreversed in its position, glancing backwards, seemed to mock the\nimpatient attitude of the warrior.\n\nWhen I first visited this singular place with Kory-Kory, he told me--or\nat least I so understood him--that the chief was paddling his way to\nthe realms of bliss, and bread-fruit--the Polynesian heaven--where\nevery moment the bread-fruit trees dropped their ripened spheres to the\nground, and where there was no end to the cocoanuts and bananas: there\nthey reposed through the livelong eternity upon mats much finer than\nthose of Typee; and every day bathed their glowing limbs in rivers\nof cocoanut oil. In that happy land there were plenty of plumes and\nfeathers, and boars\'-tusks and sperm-whale teeth, far preferable to all\nthe shining trinkets and gay tappa of the white men; and, best of all,\nwomen far lovelier than the daughters of earth were there in abundance.\n\'A very pleasant place,\' Kory-Kory said it was; \'but after all, not much\npleasanter, he thought, than Typee.\' \'Did he not then,\' I asked him,\n\'wish to accompany the warrior?\' \'Oh no: he was very happy where he was;\nbut supposed that some time or other he would go in his own canoe.\'\n\nThus far, I think, I clearly comprehended Kory-Kory. But there was a\nsingular expression he made use of at the time, enforced by as singular\na gesture, the meaning of which I would have given much to penetrate.\nI am inclined to believe it must have been a proverb he uttered; for I\nafterwards heard him repeat the same words several times, and in what\nappeared to me to be a somewhat: similar sense. Indeed, Kory-Kory had\na great variety of short, smart-sounding sentences, with which he\nfrequently enlivened his discourse; and he introduced them with an air\nwhich plainly intimated, that in his opinion, they settled the matter in\nquestion, whatever it might be.\n\nCould it have been then, that when I asked him whether he desired to go\nto this heaven of bread-fruit, cocoanuts, and young ladies, which he had\nbeen describing, he answered by saying something equivalent to our\nold adage--\'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush\'?--if he did,\nKory-Kory was a discreet and sensible fellow, and I cannot sufficiently\nadmire his shrewdness.\n\nWhenever, in the course of my rambles through the valley I happened to\nbe near the chief\'s mausoleum, I always turned aside to visit it. The\nplace had a peculiar charm for me; I hardly know why, but so it was. As\nI leaned over the railing and gazed upon the strange effigy and watched\nthe play of the feathery head-dress, stirred by the same breeze which in\nlow tones breathed amidst the lofty palm-trees, I loved to yield myself\nup to the fanciful superstition of the islanders, and could almost\nbelieve that the grim warrior was bound heavenward. In this mood when\nI turned to depart, I bade him \'God speed, and a pleasant voyage.\' Aye,\npaddle away, brave chieftain, to the land of spirits! To the material\neye thou makest but little progress; but with the eye of faith, I see\nthy canoe cleaving the bright waves, which die away on those dimly\nlooming shores of Paradise.\n\nThis strange superstition affords another evidence of the fact, that\nhowever ignorant man may be, he still feels within him his immortal\nspirit yearning, after the unknown future.\n\nAlthough the religious theories of the islands were a complete mystery\nto me, their practical every-day operation could not be concealed. I\nfrequently passed the little temples reposing in the shadows of the\ntaboo groves and beheld the offerings--mouldy fruit spread out upon\na rude altar, or hanging in half-decayed baskets around some uncouth\njolly-looking image; I was present during the continuance of the\nfestival; I daily beheld the grinning idols marshalled rank and file in\nthe Hoolah Hoolah ground, and was often in the habit of meeting\nthose whom I supposed to be the priests. But the temples seemed to be\nabandoned to solitude; the festival had been nothing more than a jovial\nmingling of the tribe; the idols were quite harmless as any other logs\nof wood; and the priests were the merriest dogs in the valley.\n\nIn fact religious affairs in Typee were at a very low ebb: all such\nmatters sat very lightly upon the thoughtless inhabitants; and, in the\ncelebration of many of their strange rites, they appeared merely to seek\na sort of childish amusement.\n\nA curious evidence of this was given in a remarkable ceremony in which I\nfrequently saw Mehevi and several other chefs and warriors of note take\npart; but never a single female.\n\nAmong those whom I looked upon as forming the priesthood of the valley,\nthere was one in particular who often attracted my notice, and whom\nI could not help regarding as the head of the order. He was a noble\nlooking man, in the prime of his life, and of a most benignant aspect.\nThe authority this man, whose name was Kolory, seemed to exercise over\nthe rest, the episcopal part he took in the Feast of Calabashes, his\nsleek and complacent appearance, the mystic characters which were\ntattooed upon his chest, and above all the mitre he frequently wore,\nin the shape of a towering head-dress, consisting of part of a cocoanut\nbranch, the stalk planted uprightly on his brow, and the leaflets\ngathered together and passed round the temples and behind the ears, all\nthese pointed him out as Lord Primate of Typee. Kolory was a sort of\nKnight Templar--a soldier-priest; for he often wore the dress of a\nMarquesan warrior, and always carried a long spear, which, instead of\nterminating in a paddle at the lower end, after the general fashion of\nthese weapons, was curved into a heathenish-looking little image. This\ninstrument, however, might perhaps have been emblematic of his double\nfunctions. With one end in carnal combat he transfixed the enemies of\nhis tribe; and with the other as a pastoral crook he kept in order his\nspiritual flock. But this is not all I have to say about Kolory.\n\nHis martial grace very often carried about with him what seemed to me\nthe half of a broken war-club. It was swathed round with ragged bits of\nwhite tappa, and the upper part, which was intended to represent a\nhuman head, was embellished with a strip of scarlet cloth of European\nmanufacture. It required little observation to discover that this\nstrange object was revered as a god. By the side of the big and lusty\nimages standing sentinel over the altars of the Hoolah Hoolah ground, it\nseemed a mere pigmy in tatters. But appearances all the world over are\ndeceptive. Little men are sometimes very potent, and rags sometimes\ncover very extensive pretensions. In fact, this funny little image was\nthe \'crack\' god of the island; lording it over all the wooden lubbers\nwho looked so grim and dreadful; its name was Moa Artua*. And it was in\nhonour of Moa Artua, and for the entertainment of those who believe in\nhim, that the curious ceremony I am about to describe was observed.\n\n*The word \'Artua\', although having some other significations, is in\nnearly all the Polynesian dialects used as the general designation of\nthe gods.\n\n\n\nMehevi and the chieftains of the Ti have just risen from their noontide\nslumbers. There are no affairs of state to dispose of; and having eaten\ntwo or three breakfasts in the course of the morning, the magnates of\nthe valley feel no appetite as yet for dinner. How are their leisure\nmoments to be occupied? They smoke, they chat, and at last one of their\nnumber makes a proposition to the rest, who joyfully acquiescing, he\ndarts out of the house, leaps from the pi-pi, and disappears in the\ngrove. Soon you see him returning with Kolory, who bears the god Moa\nArtua in his arms, and carries in one hand a small trough, hollowed out\nin the likeness of a canoe. The priest comes along dandling his charge\nas if it were a lachrymose infant he was endeavouring to put into a\ngood humour. Presently entering the Ti, he seats himself on the mats as\ncomposedly as a juggler about to perform his sleight-of-hand tricks; and\nwith the chiefs disposed in a circle around him, commences his ceremony.\nIn the first place he gives Moa Artua an affectionate hug, then\ncaressingly lays him to his breast, and, finally, whispers something in\nhis ear; the rest of the company listening eagerly for a reply. But\nthe baby-god is deaf or dumb,--perhaps both, for never a word does, he\nutter. At last Kolory speaks a little louder, and soon growing angry,\ncomes boldly out with what he has to say and bawls to him. He put me in\nmind of a choleric fellow, who, after trying in vain to communicated a\nsecret to a deaf man, all at once flies into a passion and screams it\nout so that every one may hear. Still Moa Artua remains as quiet as\never; and Kolory, seemingly losing his temper, fetches him a box over\nthe head, strips him of his tappa and red cloth, and laying him in\na state of nudity in a little trough, covers him from sight. At this\nproceeding all present loudly applaud and signify their approval by\nuttering the adjective \'motarkee\' with violent emphasis. Kolory however,\nis so desirous his conduct should meet with unqualified approbation,\nthat he inquires of each individual separately whether under existing\ncircumstances he has not done perfectly right in shutting up Moa Artua.\nThe invariable response is \'Aa, Aa\' (yes, yes), repeated over again\nand again in a manner which ought to quiet the scruples of the most\nconscientious. After a few moments Kolory brings forth his doll again,\nand while arraying it very carefully in the tappa and red cloth,\nalternately fondles and chides it. The toilet being completed, he once\nmore speaks to it aloud. The whole company hereupon show the greatest\ninterest; while the priest holding Moa Artua to his ear interprets to\nthem what he pretends the god is confidentially communicating to him.\nSome items intelligence appear to tickle all present amazingly; for one\nclaps his hands in a rapture; another shouts with merriment; and a third\nleaps to his feet and capers about like a madman.\n\nWhat under the sun Moa Artua on these occasions had to say to Kolory\nI never could find out; but I could not help thinking that the former\nshowed a sad want of spirit in being disciplined into making those\ndisclosures, which at first he seemed bent on withholding. Whether the\npriest honestly interpreted what he believed the divinity said to him,\nor whether he was not all the while guilty of a vile humbug, I shall\nnot presume to decide. At any rate, whatever as coming from the god\nwas imparted to those present seemed to be generally of a complimentary\nnature: a fact which illustrates the sagacity of Kolory, or else the\ntimeserving disposition of this hardly used deity.\n\nMoa Artua having nothing more to say, his bearer goes to nursing\nhim again, in which occupation, however, he is soon interrupted by a\nquestion put by one of the warriors to the god. Kolory hereupon snatches\nit up to his ear again, and after listening attentively, once more\nofficiates as the organ of communication. A multitude of questions and\nanswers having passed between the parties, much to the satisfaction of\nthose who propose them, the god is put tenderly to bed in the trough,\nand the whole company unite in a long chant, led off by Kolory. This\nended, the ceremony is over; the chiefs rise to their feet in high good\nhumour, and my Lord Archbishop, after chatting awhile, and regaling\nhimself with a whiff or two from a pipe of tobacco, tucks the canoe\nunder his arm and marches off with it.\n\nThe whole of these proceedings were like those of a parcel of children\nplaying with dolls and baby houses.\n\nFor a youngster scarcely ten inches high, and with so few early\nadvantages as he doubtless had had, Moa Artua was certainly a precocious\nlittle fellow if he really said all that was imputed to him; but for\nwhat reason this poor devil of a deity, thus cuffed about, cajoled, and\nshut up in a box, was held in greater estimation than the full-grown\nand dignified personages of the Taboo Groves, I cannot divine. And yet\nMehevi, and other chiefs of unquestionable veracity--to say nothing of\nthe Primate himself--assured me over and over again that Moa Artua was\nthe tutelary deity of Typee, and was more to be held in honour than a\nwhole battalion of the clumsy idols in the Hoolah Hoolah grounds.\n\nKory-Kory--who seemed to have devoted considerable attention to the\nstudy of theology, as he knew the names of all the graven images in the\nvalley, and often repeated them over to me--likewise entertained some\nrather enlarged ideas with regard to the character and pretensions of\nMoa Artua. He once gave me to understand, with a gesture there was no\nmisconceiving, that if he (Moa Artua) were so minded he could cause a\ncocoanut tree to sprout out of his (Kory-Kory\'s) head; and that it\nwould be the easiest thing in life for him (Moa Artua) to take the whole\nisland of Nukuheva in his mouth and dive down to the bottom of the sea\nwith it.\n\nBut in sober seriousness, I hardly knew what to make of the religion\nof the valley. There was nothing that so much perplexed the illustrious\nCook, in his intercourse with the South Sea islanders, as their sacred\nrites. Although this prince of navigators was in many instances assisted\nby interpreters in the prosecution of his researches, he still frankly\nacknowledges that he was at a loss to obtain anything like a clear\ninsight into the puzzling arcana of their faith. A similar admission has\nbeen made by other eminent voyagers: by Carteret, Byron, Kotzebue, and\nVancouver.\n\nFor my own part, although hardly a day passed while I remained upon the\nisland that I did not witness some religious ceremony or other, it was\nvery much like seeing a parcel of \'Freemasons\' making secret signs to\neach other; I saw everything, but could comprehend nothing.\n\nOn the whole, I am inclined to believe, that the islanders in the\nPacific have no fixed and definite ideas whatever on the subject of\nreligion. I am persuaded that Kolory himself would be effectually posed\nwere he called upon to draw up the articles of his faith and pronounce\nthe creed by which he hoped to be saved. In truth, the Typees, so far\nas their actions evince, submitted to no laws human or divine--always\nexcepting the thrice mysterious Taboo. The \'independent electors\' of the\nvalley were not to be brow-beaten by chiefs, priests, idol or devils.\nAs for the luckless idols, they received more hard knocks than\nsupplications. I do not wonder that some of them looked so grim, and\nstood so bolt upright as if fearful of looking to the right or the left\nlest they should give any one offence. The fact is, they had to\ncarry themselves \'PRETTY STRAIGHT,\' or suffer the consequences. Their\nworshippers were such a precious set of fickle-minded and irreverent\nheathens, that there was no telling when they might topple one of them\nover, break it to pieces, and making a fire with it on the very altar\nitself, fall to roasting the offerings of bread-fruit, and at them in\nspite of its teeth.\n\nIn how little reverence these unfortunate deities were held by the\nnatives was on one occasion most convincingly proved to me.--Walking\nwith Kory-Kory through the deepest recesses of the groves, I perceived\na curious looking image, about six feet in height which originally had\nbeen placed upright against a low pi-pi, surmounted by a ruinous bamboo\ntemple, but having become fatigued and weak in the knees, was now\ncarelessly leaning against it. The idol was partly concealed by the\nfoliage of a tree which stood near, and whose leafy boughs drooped over\nthe pile of stones, as if to protect the rude fane from the decay to\nwhich it was rapidly hastening. The image itself was nothing more than\na grotesquely shaped log, carved in the likeness of a portly naked man\nwith the arms clasped over the head, the jaws thrown wide apart, and its\nthick shapeless legs bowed into an arch. It was much decayed. The\nlower part was overgrown with a bright silky moss. Thin spears of grass\nsprouted from the distended mouth, and fringed the outline of the head\nand arms. His godship had literally attained a green old age. All its\nprominent points were bruised and battered, or entirely rotted away.\nThe nose had taken its departure, and from the general appearance of the\nhead it might have, been supposed that the wooden divinity, in despair\nat the neglect of its worshippers, had been trying to beat its own\nbrains out against the surrounding trees.\n\nI drew near to inspect more closely this strange object of idolatry, but\nhalted reverently at the distance of two or three paces, out of regard\nto the religious prejudices of my valet. As soon, however, as Kory-Kory\nperceived that I was in one of my inquiring, scientific moods, to my\nastonishment, he sprang to the side of the idol, and pushing it away\nfrom the stones against which it rested, endeavoured to make it stand\nupon its legs. But the divinity had lost the use of them altogether; and\nwhile Kory-Kory was trying to prop it up, placing a stick between it\nand the pi-pi, the monster fell clumsily to the ground, and would have\ninfallibly have broken its neck had not Kory-Kory providentially broken\nits fall by receiving its whole weight on his own half-crushed back. I\nnever saw the honest fellow in such a rage before. He leaped furiously\nto his feet, and seizing the stick, began beating the poor image: every\nmoment, or two pausing and talking to it in the most violent manner, as\nif upbraiding it for the accident. When his indignation had subsided\na little he whirled the idol about most profanely, so as to give me an\nopportunity of examining it on all sides. I am quite sure I never should\nhave presumed to have taken such liberties with the god myself, and I\nwas not a little shocked at Kory-Kory\'s impiety.\n\nThis anecdote speaks for itself. When one of the inferior order of\nnatives could show such contempt for a venerable and decrepit God of the\nGroves, what the state of religion must be among the people in general\nis easy to be imagined. In truth, I regard the Typees as a back-slidden\ngeneration. They are sunk in religious sloth, and require a spiritual\nrevival. A long prosperity of bread-fruit and cocoanuts has rendered\nthem remiss in the performance of their higher obligations. The wood-rot\nmalady is spreading among the idols--the fruit upon their altars\nis becoming offensive--the temples themselves need rethatching--the\ntattooed clergy are altogether too light-hearted and lazy--and their\nflocks are going astray.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE\n\nGENERAL INFORMATION GATHERED AT THE FESTIVAL--PERSONAL BEAUTY OF\nTHE TYPEES--THEIR SUPERIORITY OVER THE INHABITANTS OF THE OTHER\nISLANDS--DIVERSITY OF COMPLEXION--A VEGETABLE COSMETIC AND\nOINTMENT--TESTIMONY OF VOYAGERS TO THE UNCOMMON BEAUTY OF\nTHE MARQUESANS--FEW EVIDENCES OF INTERCOURSE WITH CIVILIZED\nBEINGS--DILAPIDATED MUSKET--PRIMITIVE SIMPLICITY OF GOVERNMENT--REGAL\nDIGNITY OF MEHEVI\n\nALTHOUGH I had been unable during the late festival to obtain\ninformation on many interesting subjects which had much excited my\ncuriosity, still that important event had not passed by without adding\nmaterially to my general knowledge of the islanders.\n\nI was especially struck by the physical strength and beauty which\nthey displayed, by their great superiority in these respects over the\ninhabitants of the neighbouring bay of Nukuheva, and by the singular\ncontrasts they presented among themselves in their various shades of\ncomplexion.\n\nIn beauty of form they surpassed anything I had ever seen. Not a single\ninstance of natural deformity was observable in all the throng attending\nthe revels. Occasionally I noticed among the men the scars of wounds\nthey had received in battle; and sometimes, though very seldom, the loss\nof a finger, an eye, or an arm, attributable to the same cause. With\nthese exceptions, every individual appeared free from those blemishes\nwhich sometimes mar the effect of an otherwise perfect form. But their\nphysical excellence did not merely consist in an exemption from these\nevils; nearly every individual of their number might have been taken for\na sculptor\'s model.\n\nWhen I remembered that these islanders derived no advantage from dress,\nbut appeared in all the naked simplicity of nature, I could not avoid\ncomparing them with the fine gentlemen and dandies who promenade such\nunexceptionable figures in our frequented thoroughfares. Stripped of\nthe cunning artifices of the tailor, and standing forth in the garb\nof Eden--what a sorry, set of round-shouldered, spindle-shanked,\ncrane-necked varlets would civilized men appear! Stuffed calves,\npadded breasts, and scientifically cut pantaloons would then avail them\nnothing, and the effect would be truly deplorable.\n\nNothing in the appearance of the islanders struck me more forcibly\nthan the whiteness of their teeth. The novelist always compares the\nmasticators of his heroine to ivory; but I boldly pronounce the teeth\nof the Typee to be far more beautiful than ivory itself. The jaws of the\noldest graybeards among them were much better garnished than those of\nmost of the youths of civilized countries; while the teeth of the young\nand middle-aged, in their purity and whiteness, were actually dazzling\nto the eye. Their marvellous whiteness of the teeth is to be ascribed\nto the pure vegetable diet of these people, and the uninterrupted\nhealthfulness of their natural mode of life.\n\nThe men, in almost every instance, are of lofty stature, scarcely\never less than six feet in height, while the other sex are uncommonly\ndiminutive. The early period of life at which the human form arrives\nat maturity in this generous tropical climate, likewise deserves to be\nmentioned. A little creature, not more than thirteen years of age, and\nwho in other particulars might be regarded as a mere child, is often\nseen nursing her own baby, whilst lads who, under less ripening skies,\nwould be still at school, are here responsible fathers of families.\n\nOn first entering the Typee Valley, I had been struck with the marked\ncontrast presented by its inhabitants with those of the bay I had\npreviously left. In the latter place, I had not been favourably\nimpressed with the personal appearance of the male portion of the\npopulation; although with the females, excepting in some truly\nmelancholy instances, I had been wonderfully pleased. I had observed\nthat even the little intercourse Europeans had carried on with the\nNukuheva natives had not failed to leave its traces amongst them. One of\nthe most dreadful curses under which humanity labours had commenced its\nhavocks, and betrayed, as it ever does among the South Sea islanders,\nthe most aggravated symptoms. From this, as from all other foreign\ninflictions, the yet uncontaminated tenants of the Typee Valley were\nwholly exempt; and long may they continue so. Better will it be for them\nfor ever to remain the happy and innocent heathens and barbarians\nthat they now are, than, like the wretched inhabitants of the Sandwich\nIslands, to enjoy the mere name of Christians without experiencing any\nof the vital operations of true religion, whilst, at the same time, they\nare made the victims of the worst vices and evils of civilized life.\n\nApart, however, from these considerations, I am inclined to believe that\nthere exists a radical difference between the two tribes, if indeed\nthey are not distinct races of men. To those who have merely touched at\nNukuheva Bay, without visiting other portions of the island, it would\nhardly appear credible the diversities presented between the various\nsmall clans inhabiting so diminutive a spot. But the hereditary\nhostility which has existed between them for ages, fully accounts for\nthis.\n\nNot so easy, however, is it to assign an adequate cause for the endless\nvariety of complexions to be seen in the Typee Valley. During the\nfestival, I had noticed several young females whose skins were almost as\nwhite as any Saxon damsel\'s; a slight dash of the mantling brown being\nall that marked the difference. This comparative fairness of complexion,\nthough in a great degree perfectly natural, is partly the result of an\nartificial process, and of an entire exclusion from the sun. The juice\nof the \'papa\' root found in great abundance at the head of the valley,\nis held in great esteem as a cosmetic, with which many of the females\ndaily anoint their whole person. The habitual use of it whitens and\nbeautifies the skin. Those of the young girls who resort to this method\nof heightening their charms, never expose themselves selves to the\nrays of the sun; an observance, however, that produces little or no\ninconvenience, since there are but few of the inhabited portions of the\nvale which are not shaded over with a spreading canopy of boughs, so\nthat one may journey from house to house, scarcely deviating from the\ndirect course, and yet never once see his shadow cast upon the ground.\n\nThe \'papa\', when used, is suffered to remain upon the skin for several\nhours; being of a light green colour, it consequently imparts for\nthe time a similar hue to the complexion. Nothing, therefore, can be\nimagined more singular than the appearance of these nearly naked damsels\nimmediately after the application of the cosmetic. To look at one of\nthem you would almost suppose she was some vegetable in an unripe state;\nand that, instead of living in the shade for ever, she ought to be\nplaced out in the sun to ripen.\n\nAll the islanders are more or less in the habit of anointing themselves;\nthe women preferring the \'aker\' to \'papa\', and the men using the oil\nof the cocoanut. Mehevi was remarkable fond of mollifying his entire\ncuticle with this ointment. Sometimes he might be seen, with his whole\nbody fairly reeking with the perfumed oil of the nut, looking as if he\nhad just emerged from a soap-boiler\'s vat, or had undergone the process\nof dipping in a tallow-chandlery. To this cause perhaps, united to their\nfrequent bathing and extreme cleanliness, is ascribable, in a great\nmeasure, the marvellous purity and smoothness of skin exhibited by the\nnatives in general.\n\nThe prevailing tint among the women of the valley was a light olive, and\nof this style of complexion Fayaway afforded the most beautiful example.\nOthers were still darker; while not a few were of a genuine golden\ncolour, and some of a swarthy hue.\n\nAs agreeing with much previously mentioned in this narrative I may\nhere observe that Mendanna, their discoverer, in his account of the\nMarquesas, described the natives as wondrously beautiful to behold, and\nas nearly resembling the people of southern Europe. The first of these\nislands seen by Mendanna was La Madelena, which is not far distant from\nNukuheva; and its inhabitants in every respect resemble those dwelling\non that and the other islands of the group. Figueroa, the chronicler of\nMendanna\'s voyage, says, that on the morning the land was descried,\nwhen the Spaniards drew near the shore, there sallied forth, in rude\nprogression, about seventy canoes, and at the same time many of the\ninhabitants (females I presume) made towards the ships by swimming. He\nadds, that \'in complexion they were nearly white; of good stature,\nand finely formed; and on their faces and bodies were delineated\nrepresentations of fishes and other devices\'. The old Don then goes on\nto say, \'There came, among others, two lads paddling their canoe, whose\neyes were fixed on the ship; they had beautiful faces and the most\npromising animation of countenance; and were in all things so becoming,\nthat the pilot-mayor Quiros affirmed, nothing in his life ever caused\nhim so much regret as the leaving such fine creatures to be lost in that\ncountry.\'* More than two hundred years have gone by since the passage of\nwhich the above is a translation was written; and it appears to me\nnow, as I read it, as fresh and true as if written but yesterday. The\nislanders are still the same; and I have seen boys in the Typee Valley\nof whose \'beautiful faces\' and promising \'animation of countenance\' no\none who has not beheld them can form any adequate idea. Cook, in the\naccount of his voyage, pronounces the Marquesans as by far the most\nsplendid islanders in the South Seas. Stewart, the chaplain of the U.S.\nship Vincennes, in his \'Scenes in the South Seas\', expresses, in more\nthan one place, his amazement at the surpassing loveliness of the women;\nand says that many of the Nukuheva damsels reminded him forcibly of the\nmost celebrated beauties in his own land. Fanning, a Yankee mariner of\nsome reputation, likewise records his lively impressions of the physical\nappearance of these people; and Commodore David Porter of the U.S.\nfrigate Essex, is said to have been vastly smitten by the beauty of the\nladies. Their great superiority over all other Polynesians cannot fail\nto attract the notice of those who visit the principal groups in the\nPacific. The voluptuous Tahitians are the only people who at all deserve\nto be compared with them; while the dark-haired Hawaiians and\nthe woolly-headed Feejees are immeasurably inferior to them. The\ndistinguishing characteristic of the Marquesan islanders, and that\nwhich at once strikes you, is the European cast of their features--a\npeculiarity seldom observable among other uncivilized people. Many of\ntheir faces present profiles classically beautiful, and in the valley of\nTypee I saw several who, like the stranger Marnoo, were in every respect\nmodels of beauty.\n\n* This passage, which is cited as an almost literal translation from the\noriginal, I found in a small volume entitled \'Circumnavigation of the\nGlobe, in which volume are several extracts from \'Dalrymple\'s Historical\nCollections\'. The last-mentioned work I have never seen, but it is said\nto contain a very correct English version of great part of the learned\nDoctor Christoval Suaverde da Figueroa\'s History of Mendanna\'s Voyage,\npublished at Madrid, A.D. 1613.\n\n\n\nSome of the natives present at the Feast of Calabashes had displayed a\nfew articles of European dress; disposed however, about their persons\nafter their own peculiar fashion. Among these I perceived two pieces of\ncotton-cloth which poor Toby and myself had bestowed upon our youthful\nguides the afternoon we entered the valley. They were evidently reserved\nfor gala days; and during those of the festival they rendered the young\nislanders who wore them very distinguished characters. The small number\nwho were similarly adorned, and the great value they appeared to place\nupon the most common and most trivial articles, furnished ample evidence\nof the very restricted intercourse they held with vessels touching at\nthe island. A few cotton handkerchiefs, of a gay pattern, tied about the\nneck, and suffered to fall over the shoulder; strips of fanciful calico,\nswathed about the loins, were nearly all I saw.\n\nIndeed, throughout the valley, there were few things of any kind to\nbe seen of European origin. All I ever saw, besides the articles just\nalluded to, were the six muskets preserved in the Ti, and three or four\nsimilar implements of warfare hung up in other houses; some small\ncanvas bags, partly filled with bullets and powder, and half a dozen old\nhatchet-heads, with the edges blunted and battered to such a degree\nas to render them utterly useless. These last seemed to be regarded as\nnearly worthless by the natives; and several times they held up, one\nof them before me, and throwing it aside with a gesture of disgust,\nmanifested their contempt for anything that could so soon become\nunserviceable.\n\nBut the muskets, the powder, and the bullets were held in most\nextravagant esteem. The former, from their great age and the\npeculiarities they exhibited, were well worthy a place in any\nantiquarian\'s armoury. I remember in particular one that hung in the\nTi, and which Mehevi--supposing as a matter of course that I was able to\nrepair it--had put into my hands for that purpose. It was one of those\nclumsy, old-fashioned, English pieces known generally as Tower Hill\nmuskets, and, for aught I know, might have been left on the island by\nWallace, Carteret, Cook, or Vancouver. The stock was half rotten and\nworm-eaten; the lock was as rusty and about as well adapted to its\nostensible purpose as an old door-hinge; the threading of the screws\nabout the trigger was completely worn away; while the barrel shook in\nthe wood. Such was the weapon the chief desired me to restore to its\noriginal condition. As I did not possess the accomplishments of a\ngunsmith, and was likewise destitute of the necessary tools, I was\nreluctantly obliged to signify my inability to perform the task. At this\nunexpected communication Mehevi regarded me, for a moment, as if he half\nsuspected I was some inferior sort of white man, who after all did not\nknow much more than a Typee. However, after a most laboured explanation\nof the matter, I succeeded in making him understand the extreme\ndifficulty of the task. Scarcely satisfied with my apologies, however,\nhe marched off with the superannuated musket in something of a huff, as\nif he would no longer expose it to the indignity of being manipulated by\nsuch unskilful fingers.\n\nDuring the festival I had not failed to remark the simplicity of manner,\nthe freedom from all restraint, and, to certain degree, the equality\nof condition manifested by the natives in general. No one appeared to\nassume any arrogant pretensions. There was little more than a slight\ndifference in costume to distinguish the chiefs from the other natives.\nAll appeared to mix together freely, and without any reserve; although\nI noticed that the wishes of a chief, even when delivered in the mildest\ntone, received the same immediate obedience which elsewhere would have\nbeen only accorded to a peremptory command. What may be the extent\nof the authority of the chiefs over the rest of the tribe, I will not\nventure to assert; but from all I saw during my stay in the valley, I\nwas induced to believe that in matters concerning the general welfare\nit was very limited. The required degree of deference towards them,\nhowever, was willingly and cheerfully yielded; and as all authority is\ntransmitted from father to son, I have no doubt that one of the effects\nhere, as elsewhere, of high birth, is to induce respect and obedience.\n\nThe civil institutions of the Marquesas Islands appear to be in this,\nas in other respects, directly the reverse of those of the Tahitian and\nHawaiian groups, where the original power of the king and chiefs was far\nmore despotic than that of any tyrant in civilized countries. At Tahiti\nit used to be death for one of the inferior orders to approach, without\npermission, under the shadow, of the king\'s house; or to fail in paying\nthe customary reverence when food destined for the king was borne past\nthem by his messengers. At the Sandwich Islands, Kaahumanu, the gigantic\nold dowager queen--a woman of nearly four hundred pounds weight, and\nwho is said to be still living at Mowee--was accustomed, in some of her\nterrific gusts of temper, to snatch up an ordinary sized man who had\noffended her, and snap his spine across her knee. Incredible as this\nmay seem, it is a fact. While at Lahainaluna--the residence of this\nmonstrous Jezebel--a humpbacked wretch was pointed out to me, who, some\ntwenty-five years previously, had had the vertebrae of his backbone very\nseriously discomposed by his gentle mistress.\n\nThe particular grades of rank existing among the chiefs of Typee, I\ncould not in all cases determine. Previous to the Feast of Calabashes\nI had been puzzled what particular station to assign to Mehevi. But the\nimportant part he took upon that occasion convinced me that he had no\nsuperior among the inhabitants of the valley. I had invariably noticed a\ncertain degree of deference paid to him by all with whom I had ever seen\nhim brought in contact; but when I remembered that my wanderings had\nbeen confined to a limited portion of the valley, and that towards\nthe sea a number of distinguished chiefs resided, some of whom had\nseparately visited me at Marheyo\'s house, and whom, until the Festival,\nI had never seen in the company of Mehevi, I felt disposed to believe\nthat his rank after all might not be particularly elevated.\n\nThe revels, however, had brought together all the warriors whom I had\nseen individually and in groups at different times and places. Among\nthem Mehevi moved with an easy air of superiority which was not to be\nmistaken; and he whom I had only looked at as the hospitable host of the\nTi, and one of the military leaders of the tribe, now assumed in my eyes\nthe dignity of royal station. His striking costume, no less than his\nnaturally commanding figure, seemed indeed to give him pre-eminence over\nthe rest. The towering helmet of feathers that he wore raised him\nin height above all who surrounded him; and though some others were\nsimilarly adorned, the length and luxuriance of their plumes were\ninferior to his.\n\nMehevi was in fact the greatest of the chiefs--the head of his clan--the\nsovereign of the valley; and the simplicity of the social institutions\nof the people could not have been more completely proved than by the\nfact, that after having been several weeks in the valley, and almost in\ndaily intercourse with Mehevi, I should have remained until the time of\nthe festival ignorant of his regal character. But a new light had now\nbroken in upon me. The Ti was the palace--and Mehevi the king. Both the\none and the other of a most simple and patriarchal nature: it must be\nallowed, and wholly unattended by the ceremonious pomp which usually\nsurrounds the purple.\n\nAfter having made this discovery I could not avoid congratulating myself\nthat Mehevi had from the first taken me as it were under his royal\nprotection, and that he still continued to entertain for me the warmest\nregard, as far at least as I was enabled to judge from appearances. For\nthe future I determined to pay most assiduous court to him, hoping that\neventually through his kindness I might obtain my liberty.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER TWENTY-SIX\n\nKING MEHEVI--ALLUSION TO HIS HAWAIIAN MAJESTY--CONDUCT OF MARHEYO AND\nMEHEVI IN CERTAIN DELICATE MATTERS--PECULIAR SYSTEM OF MARRIAGE--NUMBER\nOF POPULATION--UNIFORMITY--EMBALMING--PLACES OF SEPULTURE--FUNERAL\nOBSEQUIES AT NUKUHEVA-NUMBER OF INHABITANTS IN TYPEE--LOCATION OF THE\nDWELLINGS--HAPPINESS ENJOYED IN THE VALLEY--A WARNING--SOME IDEAS WITH\nREGARD TO THE PRESENT STATE OF THE HAWAIIANS--STORY OF A MISSIONARY\'S\nWIFE--FASHIONABLE EQUIPAGES AT OAHU--REFLECTIONS\n\nKING MEHEVI!--A goodly sounding title--and why should I not bestow\nit upon the foremost man in the valley of Typee? The republican\nmissionaries of Oahu cause to be gazetted in the Court Journal,\npublished at Honolulu, the most trivial movement of \'his gracious\nmajesty\' King Kammehammaha III, and \'their highnesses the princes of the\nblood royal\'.* And who is his \'gracious majesty\', and what the\nquality of this blood royal\'?--His \'gracious majesty\' is a fat, lazy,\nnegro-looking blockhead, with as little character as power. He has\nlost the noble traits of the barbarian, without acquiring the redeeming\ngraces of a civilized being; and, although a member of the Hawiian\nTemperance Society, is a most inveterate dram-drinker.\n\n*Accounts like these are sometimes copied into English and American\njournals. They lead the reader to infer that the arts and customs of\ncivilized life are rapidly refining the natives of the Sandwich Islands.\nBut let no one be deceived by these accounts. The chiefs swagger about\nin gold lace and broadcloth, while the great mass of the common people\nare nearly as primitive in their appearance as in the days of Cook. In\nthe progress of events at these islands, the two classes are receding\nfrom each other; the chiefs are daily becoming more luxurious and\nextravagant in their style of living, and the common people more and\nmore destitute of the necessaries and decencies of life. But the end\nto which both will arrive at last will be the same: the one are fast\ndestroying themselves by sensual indulgences, and the other are\nfast being destroyed by a complication of disorders, and the want of\nwholesome food. The resources of the domineering chiefs are wrung from\nthe starving serfs, and every additional bauble with which they bedeck\nthemselves is purchased by the sufferings of their bondsmen; so that the\nmeasure of gew-gaw refinement attained by the chiefs is only an index\nto the actual state in which the greater portion of the population lie\ngrovelling.\n\n\n\nThe \'blood royal\' is an extremely thick, depraved fluid; formed\nprincipally of raw fish, bad brandy, and European sweetmeats, and is\ncharged with a variety of eruptive humours, which are developed in\nsundry blotches and pimples upon the august face of \'majesty itself\',\nand the angelic countenances of the \'princes and princesses of the blood\nroyal\'!\n\nNow, if the farcical puppet of a chief magistrate in the Sandwich\nIslands be allowed the title of King, why should it be withheld from\nthe noble savage Mehevi, who is a thousand times more worthy of the\nappellation? All hail, therefore, Mehevi, King of the Cannibal Valley,\nand long life and prosperity to his Typeean majesty! May Heaven for many\na year preserve him, the uncompromising foe of Nukuheva and the French,\nif a hostile attitude will secure his lovely domain from the remorseless\ninflictions of South Sea civilization.\n\nPreviously to seeing the Dancing Widows I had little idea that there\nwere any matrimonial relations subsisting in Typee, and I should as soon\nhave thought of a Platonic affection being cultivated between the sexes,\nas of the solemn connection of man and wife. To be sure, there were old\nMarheyo and Tinor, who seemed to have a sort of nuptial understanding\nwith one another; but for all that, I had sometimes observed a\ncomical-looking old gentleman dressed in a suit of shabby tattooing, who\nhad the audacity to take various liberties with the lady, and that too\nin the very presence of the old warrior her husband, who looked on\nas good-naturedly as if nothing was happening. This behaviour, until\nsubsequent discoveries enlightened me, puzzled me more than anything\nelse I witnessed in Typee.\n\nAs for Mehevi, I had supposed him a confirmed bachelor, as well as most\nof the principal chiefs. At any rate, if they had wives and families,\nthey ought to have been ashamed of themselves; for sure I am, they never\ntroubled themselves about any domestic affairs. In truth, Mehevi seemed\nto be the president of a club of hearty fellows, who kept \'Bachelor\'s\nHall\' in fine style at the Ti. I had no doubt but that they regarded\nchildren as odious incumbrances; and their ideas of domestic felicity\nwere sufficiently shown in the fact, that they allowed no meddlesome\nhousekeepers to turn topsy-turvy those snug little arrangements they had\nmade in their comfortable dwelling. I strongly suspected however, that\nsome of these jolly bachelors were carrying on love intrigues with\nthe maidens of the tribe; although they did not appear publicly to\nacknowledge them. I happened to pop upon Mehevi three or four times when\nhe was romping--in a most undignified manner for a warrior king--with\none of the prettiest little witches in the valley. She lived with an\nold woman and a young man, in a house near Marheyo\'s; and although in\nappearance a mere child herself, had a noble boy about a year old, who\nbore a marvellous resemblance to Mehevi, whom I should certainly have\nbelieved to have been the father, were it not that the little fellow\nhad no triangle on his face--but on second thoughts, tattooing is not\nhereditary. Mehevi, however, was not the only person upon whom the\ndamsel Moonoony smiled--the young fellow of fifteen, who permanently\nresided in the home with her, was decidedly in her good graces. I\nsometimes beheld both him and the chief making love at the same time. Is\nit possible, thought I, that the valiant warrior can consent to give\nup a corner in the thing he loves? This too was a mystery which, with\nothers of the same kind, was afterwards satisfactorily explained.\n\nDuring the second day of the Feast of Calabashes, Kory-Kory--being\ndetermined that I should have some understanding on these matters--had,\nin the course of his explanations, directed my attention to\na peculiarity I had frequently remarked among many of the\nfemales;--principally those of a mature age and rather matronly\nappearance. This consisted in having the right hand and the left foot\nmost elaborately tattooed; whilst the rest of the body was wholly free\nfrom the operation of the art, with the exception of the minutely dotted\nlips and slight marks on the shoulders, to which I have previously\nreferred as comprising the sole tattooing exhibited by Fayaway, in\ncommon with other young girls of her age. The hand and foot thus\nembellished were, according to Kory-Kory, the distinguishing badge of\nwedlock, so far as that social and highly commendable institution is\nknown among those people. It answers, indeed, the same purpose as the\nplain gold ring worn by our fairer spouses.\n\nAfter Kory-Kory\'s explanation of the subject, I was for some time\nstudiously respectful in the presence of all females thus distinguished,\nand never ventured to indulge in the slightest approach to flirtation\nwith any of their number. Married women, to be sure!--I knew better than\nto offend them.\n\nA further insight, however, into the peculiar domestic customs of the\ninmates of the valley did away in a measure with the severity of my\nscruples, and convinced me that I was deceived in some at least of my\nconclusions. A regular system of polygamy exists among the islanders;\nbut of a most extraordinary nature,--a plurality of husbands, instead of\nwives! and this solitary fact speaks volumes for the gentle disposition\nof the male population.\n\nWhere else, indeed, could such a practice exist, even for a single\nday?--Imagine a revolution brought about in a Turkish seraglio, and\nthe harem rendered the abode of bearded men; or conceive some beautiful\nwoman in our own country running distracted at the sight of her numerous\nlovers murdering one another before her eyes, out of jealousy for the\nunequal distribution of her favours!--Heaven defend us from such a state\nof things!--We are scarcely amiable and forbearing enough to submit to\nit.\n\nI was not able to learn what particular ceremony was observed in forming\nthe marriage contract, but am inclined to think that it must have been\nof a very simple nature. Perhaps the mere \'popping the question\', as\nit is termed with us, might have been followed by an immediate nuptial\nalliance. At any rate, I have more than one reason to believe that\ntedious courtships are unknown in the valley of Typee.\n\nThe males considerably outnumber the females. This holds true of many\nof the islands of Polynesia, although the reverse of what is the case in\nmost civilized countries. The girls are first wooed and won, at a very\ntender age, by some stripling in the household in which they reside.\nThis, however, is a mere frolic of the affections, and no formal\nengagement is contracted. By the time this first love has a little\nsubsided, a second suitor presents himself, of graver years, and carries\nboth boy and girl away to his own habitation. This disinterested and\ngenerous-hearted fellow now weds the young couple--marrying damsel\nand lover at the same time--and all three thenceforth live together\nas harmoniously as so many turtles. I have heard of some men who in\ncivilized countries rashly marry large families with their wives, but\nhad no idea that there was any place where people married supplementary\nhusbands with them. Infidelity on either side is very rare. No man\nhas more than one wife, and no wife of mature years has less than two\nhusbands,--sometimes she has three, but such instances are not\nfrequent. The marriage tie, whatever it may be, does not appear to be\nindissoluble; for separations occasionally happen. These, however,\nwhen they do take place, produce no unhappiness, and are preceded by no\nbickerings; for the simple reason, that an ill-used wife or a henpecked\nhusband is not obliged to file a bill in Chancery to obtain a divorce.\nAs nothing stands in the way of a separation, the matrimonial yoke sits\neasily and lightly, and a Typee wife lives on very pleasant and sociable\nterms with her husband. On the whole, wedlock, as known among these\nTypees, seems to be of a more distinct and enduring nature than\nis usually the case with barbarous people. A baneful promiscuous\nintercourse of the sexes is hereby avoided, and virtue, without being\nclamorously invoked, is, as it were, unconsciously practised.\n\nThe contrast exhibited between the Marquesas and other islands of the\nPacific in this respect, is worthy of being noticed. At Tahiti the\nmarriage tie was altogether unknown; and the relation of husband\nand wife, father and son, could hardly be said to exist. The Arreory\nSociety--one of the most singular institutions that ever existed in any\npart of the world--spread universal licentiousness over the island. It\nwas the voluptuous character of these people which rendered the disease\nintroduced among them by De Bougainville\'s ships, in 1768, doubly\ndestructive. It visited them like a plague, sweeping them off by\nhundreds.\n\nNotwithstanding the existence of wedlock among the Typees, the\nScriptural injunction to increase and multiply seems to be but\nindifferently attended to. I never saw any of those large families in\narithmetical or step-ladder progression which one often meets with at\nhome. I never knew of more than two youngsters living together in the\nsame home, and but seldom even that number. As for the women, it was\nvery plain that the anxieties of the nursery but seldom disturbed the\nserenity of their souls; and they were never seen going about the valley\nwith half a score of little ones tagging at their apron-strings, or\nrather at the bread-fruit-leaf they usually wore in the rear.\n\nThe ratio of increase among all the Polynesian nations is very small;\nand in some places as yet uncorrupted by intercourse with Europeans,\nthe births would appear not very little to outnumber the deaths; the\npopulation in such instances remaining nearly the same for several\nsuccessive generations, even upon those islands seldom or never\ndesolated by wars, and among people with whom the crime of infanticide\nis altogether unknown. This would seem expressively ordained by\nProvidence to prevent the overstocking of the islands with a race too\nindolent to cultivate the ground, and who, for that reason alone, would,\nby any considerable increase in their numbers, be exposed to the most\ndeplorable misery. During the entire period of my stay in the valley of\nTypee, I never saw more than ten or twelve children under the age of six\nmonths, and only became aware of two births.\n\nIt is to the absence of the marriage tie that the late rapid decrease\nof the population of the Sandwich Islands and of Tahiti is in part to be\nascribed. The vices and diseases introduced among these unhappy people\nannually swell the ordinary mortality of the islands, while, from the\nsame cause, the originally small number of births is proportionally\ndecreased. Thus the progress of the Hawaiians and Tahitians to utter\nextinction is accelerated in a sort of compound ratio.\n\nI have before had occasion to remark, that I never saw any of the\nordinary signs of a pace of sepulture in the valley, a circumstance\nwhich I attributed, at the time, to my living in a particular part\nof it, and being forbidden to extend my rambles to any considerable\ndistance towards the sea. I have since thought it probable, however,\nthat the Typees, either desirous of removing from their sight the\nevidences of mortality, or prompted by a taste for rural beauty, may\nhave some charming cemetery situation in the shadowy recesses along\nthe base of the mountains. At Nukuheva, two or three large quadrangular\n\'pi-pis\', heavily flagged, enclosed with regular stone walls, and shaded\nover and almost hidden from view by the interlacing branches of\nenormous trees, were pointed out to me as burial-places. The bodies, I\nunderstood, were deposited in rude vaults beneath the flagging, and were\nsuffered to remain there without being disinterred. Although nothing\ncould be more strange and gloomy than the aspect of these places, where\nthe lofty trees threw their dark shadows over rude blocks of stone,\na stranger looking at them would have discerned none of the ordinary\nevidences of a place of sepulture.\n\nDuring my stay in the valley, as none of its inmates were so\naccommodating as to die and be buried in order to gratify my curiosity\nwith regard to their funeral rites, I was reluctantly obliged to\nremain in ignorance of them. As I have reason to believe, however, the\nobservances of the Typees in these matters are the same with those of\nall the other tribes in the island, I will here relate a scene I chanced\nto witness at Nukuheva.\n\nA young man had died, about daybreak, in a house near the beach. I had\nbeen sent ashore that morning, and saw a good deal of the preparations\nthey were making for his obsequies. The body, neatly wrapped in a new\nwhite tappa, was laid out in an open shed of cocoanut boughs, upon a\nbier constructed of elastic bamboos ingeniously twisted together. This\nwas supported about two feet from the ground, by large canes planted\nuprightly in the earth. Two females, of a dejected appearance, watched\nby its side, plaintively chanting and beating the air with large grass\nfans whitened with pipe-clay. In the dwelling-house adjoining a numerous\ncompany we assembled, and various articles of food were being prepared\nfor consumption. Two or three individuals, distinguished by head-dresses\nof beautiful tappa, and wearing a great number of ornaments, appeared\nto officiate as masters of the ceremonies. By noon the entertainment had\nfairly begun and we were told that it would last during the whole of\nthe two following days. With the exception of those who mourned by\nthe corpse, every one seemed disposed to drown the sense of the late\nbereavement in convivial indulgence. The girls, decked out in their\nsavage finery, danced; the old men chanted; the warriors smoked and\nchatted; and the young and lusty, of both sexes, feasted plentifully,\nand seemed to enjoy themselves as pleasantly as they could have done had\nit been a wedding.\n\nThe islanders understand the art of embalming, and practise it with such\nsuccess that the bodies of their great chiefs are frequently preserved\nfor many years in the very houses where they died. I saw three of these\nin my visit to the Bay of Tior. One was enveloped in immense folds of\ntappa, with only the face exposed, and hung erect against the side of\nthe dwelling. The others were stretched out upon biers of bamboo, in\nopen, elevated temples, which seemed consecrated to their memory. The\nheads of enemies killed in battle are invariably preserved and hung up\nas trophies in the house of the conqueror. I am not acquainted with the\nprocess which is in use, but believe that fumigation is the principal\nagency employed. All the remains which I saw presented the appearance of\na ham after being suspended for some time in a smoky chimney.\n\nBut to return from the dead to the living. The late festival had drawn\ntogether, as I had every reason to believe, the whole population of the\nvale, and consequently I was enabled to make some estimate with regard\nto its numbers. I should imagine that there were about two thousand\ninhabitants in Typee; and no number could have been better adapted to\nthe extent of the valley. The valley is some nine miles in length,\nand may average one in breadth; the houses being distributed at wide\nintervals throughout its whole extent, principally, however, towards the\nhead of the vale. There are no villages; the houses stand here and there\nin the shadow of the groves, or are scattered along the banks of the\nwinding stream; their golden-hued bamboo sides and gleaming white thatch\nforming a beautiful contrast to the perpetual verdure in which they are\nembowered. There are no roads of any kind in the valley. Nothing but a\nlabyrinth of footpaths twisting and turning among the thickets without\nend.\n\nThe penalty of the Fall presses very lightly upon the valley of Typee;\nfor, with the one solitary exception of striking a light, I scarcely saw\nany piece of work performed there which caused the sweat to stand upon\na single brow. As for digging and delving for a livelihood, the thing is\naltogether unknown. Nature has planted the bread-fruit and the banana,\nand in her own good time she brings them to maturity, when the idle\nsavage stretches forth his hand, and satisfies his appetite.\n\nIll-fated people! I shudder when I think of the change a few years\nwill produce in their paradisaical abode; and probably when the most\ndestructive vices, and the worst attendances on civilization, shall have\ndriven all peace and happiness from the valley, the magnanimous\nFrench will proclaim to the world that the Marquesas Islands have been\nconverted to Christianity! and this the Catholic world will doubtless\nconsider as a glorious event. Heaven help the \'Isles of the Sea\'!--The\nsympathy which Christendom feels for them, has, alas! in too many\ninstances proved their bane.\n\nHow little do some of these poor islanders comprehend when they look\naround them, that no inconsiderable part of their disasters originate\nin certain tea-party excitements, under the influence of which\nbenevolent-looking gentlemen in white cravats solicit alms, and old\nladies in spectacles, and young ladies in sober russet gowns, contribute\nsixpences towards the creation of a fund, the object of which is to\nameliorate the spiritual condition of the Polynesians, but whose end has\nalmost invariably been to accomplish their temporal destruction!\n\nLet the savages be civilized, but civilize them with benefits, and not\nwith evils; and let heathenism be destroyed, but not by destroying the\nheathen. The Anglo-Saxon hive have extirpated Paganism from the greater\npart of the North American continent; but with it they have likewise\nextirpated the greater portion of the Red race. Civilization is\ngradually sweeping from the earth the lingering vestiges of Paganism,\nand at the same time the shrinking forms of its unhappy worshippers.\n\nAmong the islands of Polynesia, no sooner are the images overturned, the\ntemples demolished, and the idolators converted into NOMINAL Christians,\nthat disease, vice, and premature death make their appearance. The\ndepopulated land is then recruited from the rapacious, hordes of\nenlightened individuals who settle themselves within its borders,\nand clamorously announce the progress of the Truth. Neat villas, trim\ngardens, shaven lawns, spires, and cupolas arise, while the poor savage\nsoon finds himself an interloper in the country of his fathers, and\nthat too on the very site of the hut where he was born. The spontaneous\nfruits of the earth, which God in his wisdom had ordained for the\nsupport of the indolent natives, remorselessly seized upon and\nappropriated by the stranger, are devoured before the eyes of the\nstarving inhabitants, or sent on board the numerous vessels which now\ntouch at their shores.\n\nWhen the famished wretches are cut off in this manner from their natural\nsupplies, they are told by their benefactors to work and earn their\nsupport by the sweat of their brows! But to no fine gentleman born to\nhereditary opulence, does this manual labour come more unkindly than\nto the luxurious Indian when thus robbed of the bounty of heaven.\nHabituated to a life of indolence, he cannot and will not exert himself;\nand want, disease, and vice, all evils of foreign growth, soon terminate\nhis miserable existence.\n\nBut what matters all this? Behold the glorious result!--The abominations\nof Paganism have given way to the pure rites of the Christian\nworship,--the ignorant savage has been supplanted by the refined\nEuropean! Look at Honolulu, the metropolis of the Sandwich Islands!--A\ncommunity of disinterested merchants, and devoted self-exiled heralds of\nthe Cross, located on the very spot that twenty years ago was defiled by\nthe presence of idolatry. What a subject for an eloquent Bible-meeting\norator! Nor has such an opportunity for a display of missionary rhetoric\nbeen allowed to pass by unimproved!--But when these philanthropists send\nus such glowing accounts of one half of their labours, why does their\nmodesty restrain them from publishing the other half of the good they\nhave wrought?--Not until I visited Honolulu was I aware of the fact that\nthe small remnant of the natives had been civilized into draught-horses;\nand evangelized into beasts of burden. But so it is. They have been\nliterally broken into the traces, and are harnessed to the vehicles of\ntheir spiritual instructors like so many dumb brutes!\n\n . . . . . . .\n\nLest the slightest misconception should arise from anything thrown out\nin this chapter, or indeed in any other part of the volume, let me here\nobserve that against the cause of missions in, the abstract no Christian\ncan possibly be opposed: it is in truth a just and holy cause. But\nif the great end proposed by it be spiritual, the agency employed to\naccomplish that end is purely earthly; and, although the object in\nview be the achievement of much good, that agency may nevertheless be\nproductive of evil. In short, missionary undertaking, however it may\nblessed of heaven, is in itself but human; and subject, like everything\nelse, to errors and abuses. And have not errors and abuses crept into\nthe most sacred places, and may there not be unworthy or incapable\nmissionaries abroad, as well as ecclesiastics of similar character\nat home? May not the unworthiness or incapacity of those who assume\napostolic functions upon the remote islands of the sea more easily\nescape detection by the world at large than if it were displayed in\nthe heart of a city? An unwarranted confidence in the sanctity of its\napostles--a proneness to regard them as incapable of guile--and\nan impatience of the least suspicion to their rectitude as men or\nChristians, have ever been prevailing faults in the Church. Nor is this\nto be wondered at: for subject as Christianity is to the assaults of\nunprincipled foes, we are naturally disposed to regard everything like\nan exposure of ecclesiastical misconduct as the offspring of malevolence\nor irreligious feeling. Not even this last consideration, however shall\ndeter me from the honest expression of my sentiments.\n\nThere is something apparently wrong in the practical operations of\nthe Sandwich Islands Mission. Those who from pure religious motives\ncontribute to the support of this enterprise should take care to\nascertain that their donations, flowing through many devious channels,\nat last effect their legitimate object, the conversion of the Hawaiians.\nI urge this not because I doubt the moral probity of those who disburse\nthe funds, but because I know that they are not rightly applied. To read\npathetic accounts of missionary hardships, and glowing descriptions of\nconversion, and baptisms, taking place beneath palm-trees, is one thing;\nand to go to the Sandwich Islands and see the missionaries dwelling\nin picturesque and prettily furnished coral-rock villas, whilst the\nmiserable natives are committing all sorts of immorality around them, is\nquite another.\n\nIn justice to the missionaries, however, I will willingly admit, that\nwhere-ever evils may have resulted from their collective mismanagement\nof the business of the mission, and from the want of vital piety evinced\nby some of their number, still the present deplorable condition of the\nSandwich Islands is by no means wholly chargeable against them. The\ndemoralizing influence of a dissolute foreign population, and the\nfrequent visits of all descriptions of vessels, have tended not a little\nto increase the evils alluded to. In a word, here, as in every case\nwhere civilization has in any way been introduced among those whom we\ncall savages, she has scattered her vices, and withheld her blessings.\n\nAs wise a man as Shakespeare has said, that the bearer of evil tidings\nhath but a losing office; and so I suppose will it prove with me, in\ncommunicating to the trusting friends of the Hawiian Mission what has\nbeen disclosed in various portions of this narrative. I am persuaded,\nhowever, that as these disclosures will by their very nature attract\nattention, so they will lead to something which will not be without\nultimate benefit to the cause of Christianity in the Sandwich Islands.\n\nI have but one more thing to add in connection with this subject--those\nthings which I have stated as facts will remain facts, in spite of\nwhatever the bigoted or incredulous may say or write against them. My\nreflections, however, on those facts may not be free from error. If such\nbe the case, I claim no further indulgence than should be conceded to\nevery man whose object is to do good.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN\n\nTHE SOCIAL CONDITION AND GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE TYPEES\n\nI HAVE already mentioned that the influence exerted over the people\nof the valley by their chiefs was mild in the extreme; and as to any\ngeneral rule or standard of conduct by which the commonality were\ngoverned in their intercourse with each other, so far as my observation\nextended, I should be almost tempted to say, that none existed on the\nisland, except, indeed, the mysterious \'Taboo\' be considered as such.\nDuring the time I lived among the Typees, no one was ever put upon his\ntrial for any offence against the public. To all appearance there\nwere no courts of law or equity. There was no municipal police for the\npurpose of apprehending vagrants and disorderly characters. In\nshort, there were no legal provisions whatever for the well-being and\nconservation of society, the enlightened end of civilized legislation.\nAnd yet everything went on in the valley with a harmony and smoothness\nunparalleled, I will venture to assert, in the most select, refined, and\npious associations of mortals in Christendom. How are we to explain this\nenigma? These islanders were heathens! savages! ay, cannibals! and how\ncame they without the aid of established law, to exhibit, in so eminent\na degree, that social order which is the greatest blessing and highest\npride of the social state?\n\nIt may reasonably be inquired, how were these people governed? how were\ntheir passions controlled in their everyday transactions? It must have\nbeen by an inherent principle of honesty and charity towards each other.\nThey seemed to be governed by that sort of tacit common-sense law which,\nsay what they will of the inborn lawlessness of the human race, has\nits precepts graven on every breast. The grand principles of virtue and\nhonour, however they may be distorted by arbitrary codes, are the same\nall the world over: and where these principles are concerned, the right\nor wrong of any action appears the same to the uncultivated as to the\nenlightened mind. It is to this indwelling, this universally diffused\nperception of what is just and noble, that the integrity of the\nMarquesans in their intercourse with each other, is to be attributed.\nIn the darkest nights they slept securely, with all their worldly wealth\naround them, in houses the doors of which were never fastened. The\ndisquieting ideas of theft or assassination never disturbed them.\n\nEach islander reposed beneath his own palmetto thatching, or sat under\nhis own bread-fruit trees, with none to molest or alarm him. There was\nnot a padlock in the valley, nor anything that answered the purpose\nof one: still there was no community of goods. This long spear, so\nelegantly carved, and highly polished, belongs to Wormoonoo: it is far\nhandsomer than the one which old Marheyo so greatly prizes; it is the\nmost valuable article belonging to its owner. And yet I have seen it\nleaning against a cocoanut tree in the grove, and there it was found\nwhen sought for. Here is a sperm-whale tooth, graven all over with\ncunning devices: it is the property of Karluna; it is the most precious\nof the damsel\'s ornaments. In her estimation its price is far above\nrubies--and yet there hangs the dental jewel by its cord of braided\nbark, in the girl\'s house, which is far back in the valley; the door is\nleft open, and all the inmates have gone off to bathe in the stream.*\n\n*The strict honesty which the inhabitants of nearly all the Polynesian\nIslands manifest toward each other, is in striking contrast with the\nthieving propensities some of them evince in their intercourse with\nforeigners. It would almost seem that, according to their peculiar code\nof morals, the pilfering of a hatchet or a wrought nail from a European,\nis looked upon as a praiseworthy action. Or rather, it may be presumed,\nthat bearing in mind the wholesale forays made upon them by their\nnautical visitors, they consider the property of the latter as a fair\nobject of reprisal. This consideration, while it serves to reconcile an\napparent contradiction in the moral character of the islanders, should\nin some measure alter that low opinion of it which the reader of South\nSea voyages is too apt to form.\n\n\n\nSo much for the respect in which \'personal property\' is held in Typee;\nhow secure an investment of \'real property\' may be, I cannot take upon\nme to say. Whether the land of the valley was the joint property of its\ninhabitants, or whether it was parcelled out among a certain number of\nlanded proprietors who allowed everybody to \'squat\' and \'poach\' as\nmuch as he or she pleased, I never could ascertain. At any rate, musty\nparchments and title-deeds there were none on the island; and I am half\ninclined to believe that its inhabitants hold their broad valleys in fee\nsimple from Nature herself; to have and to hold, so long as grass grows\nand water runs; or until their French visitors, by a summary mode of\nconveyancing, shall appropriate them to their own benefit and behoof.\n\nYesterday I saw Kory-Kory hie him away, armed with a long pole, with\nwhich, standing on the ground, he knocked down the fruit from the\ntopmost boughs of the trees, and brought them home in his basket of\ncocoanut leaves. Today I see an islander, whom I know to reside in a\ndistant part of the valley, doing the self-same thing. On the sloping\nbank of the stream are a number of banana-trees I have often seen a\nscore or two of young people making a merry foray on the great golden\nclusters, and bearing them off, one after another, to different parts\nof the vale, shouting and trampling as they went. No churlish old\ncurmudgeon could have been the owner of that grove of bread-fruit trees,\nor of these gloriously yellow bunches of bananas.\n\nFrom what I have said it will be perceived that there is a vast\ndifference between \'personal property\' and \'real estate\' in the valley\nof Typee. Some individuals, of course, are more wealthy than others.\nFor example, the ridge-pole of Marheyo\'s house bends under the weight of\nmany a huge packet of tappa; his long couch is laid with mats placed one\nupon the other seven deep. Outside, Tinor has ranged along in her\nbamboo cupboard--or whatever the place may be called--a goodly array of\ncalabashes and wooden trenchers. Now, the house just beyond the grove,\nand next to Marheyo\'s, occupied by Ruaruga, is not quite so well\nfurnished. There are only three moderate-sized packages swinging\noverhead: there are only two layers of mats beneath; and the calabashes\nand trenchers are not so numerous, nor so tastefully stained and carved.\nBut then, Ruaruga has a house--not so pretty a one, to be sure--but just\nas commodious as Marheyo\'s; and, I suppose, if he wished to vie with\nhis neighbour\'s establishment, he could do so with very little trouble.\nThese, in short, constituted the chief differences perceivable in the\nrelative wealth of the people in Typee.\n\nCivilization does not engross all the virtues of humanity: she has not\neven her full share of them. They flourish in greater abundance and\nattain greater strength among many barbarous people. The hospitality\nof the wild Arab, the courage of the North American Indian, and the\nfaithful friendship of some of the Polynesian nations, far surpass\nanything of a similar kind among the polished communities of Europe. If\ntruth and justice, and the better principles of our nature, cannot\nexist unless enforced by the statute-book, how are we to account for the\nsocial condition of the Typees? So pure and upright were they in all the\nrelations of life, that entering their valley, as I did, under the most\nerroneous impressions of their character, I was soon led to exclaim in\namazement: \'Are these the ferocious savages, the blood-thirsty cannibals\nof whom I have heard such frightful tales! They deal more kindly with\neach other, and are more humane than many who study essays on virtue and\nbenevolence, and who repeat every night that beautiful prayer breathed\nfirst by the lips of the divine and gentle Jesus.\' I will frankly\ndeclare that after passing a few weeks in this valley of the Marquesas,\nI formed a higher estimate of human nature than I had ever before\nentertained. But alas! since then I have been one of the crew of a\nman-of-war, and the pent-up wickedness of five hundred men has nearly\noverturned all my previous theories.\n\nThere was one admirable trait in the general character of the Typees\nwhich, more than anything else, secured my admiration: it was the\nunanimity of feeling they displayed on every occasion. With them\nthere hardly appeared to be any difference of opinion upon any subject\nwhatever. They all thought and acted alike. I do not conceive that they\ncould support a debating society for a single night: there would be\nnothing to dispute about; and were they to call a convention to take\ninto consideration the state of the tribe, its session would be a\nremarkably short one. They showed this spirit of unanimity in every\naction of life; everything was done in concert and good fellowship. I\nwill give an instance of this fraternal feeling.\n\nOne day, in returning with Kory-Kory from my accustomed visit to the\nTi, we passed by a little opening in the grove; on one side of which,\nmy attendant informed me, was that afternoon to be built a dwelling of\nbamboo. At least a hundred of the natives were bringing materials to the\nground, some carrying in their hands one or two of the canes which were\nto form the sides, others slender rods of the habiscus, strung with\npalmetto leaves, for the roof. Every one contributed something to the\nwork; and by the united, but easy, and even indolent, labours of all,\nthe entire work was completed before sunset. The islanders, while\nemployed in erecting this tenement, reminded me of a colony of beavers\nat work. To be sure, they were hardly as silent and demure as those\nwonderful creatures, nor were they by any means as diligent. To tell the\ntruth they were somewhat inclined to be lazy, but a perfect tumult of\nhilarity prevailed; and they worked together so unitedly, and seemed\nactuated by such an instinct of friendliness, that it was truly\nbeautiful to behold.\n\nNot a single female took part in this employment: and if the degree of\nconsideration in which the ever-adorable sex is held by the men be--as\nthe philosophers affirm--a just criterion of the degree of refinement\namong a people, then I may truly pronounce the Typees to be as polished\na community as ever the sun shone upon. The religious restrictions of\nthe taboo alone excepted, the women of the valley were allowed every\npossible indulgence. Nowhere are the ladies more assiduously courted;\nnowhere are they better appreciated as the contributors to our highest\nenjoyments; and nowhere are they more sensible of their power. Far\ndifferent from their condition among many rude nations, where the women\nare made to perform all the work while their ungallant lords and masters\nlie buried in sloth, the gentle sex in the valley of Typee were exempt\nfrom toil, if toil it might be called that, even in the tropical\nclimate, never distilled one drop of perspiration. Their light household\noccupations, together with the manufacture of tappa, the platting of\nmats, and the polishing of drinking-vessels, were the only employments\npertaining to the women. And even these resembled those pleasant\navocations which fill up the elegant morning leisure of our fashionable\nladies at home. But in these occupations, slight and agreeable though\nthey were, the giddy young girls very seldom engaged. Indeed these\nwilful care-killing damsels were averse to all useful employment.\n\nLike so many spoiled beauties, they ranged through the groves--bathed\nin the stream--danced--flirted--played all manner of mischievous pranks,\nand passed their days in one merry round of thoughtless happiness.\n\nDuring my whole stay on the island I never witnessed a single quarrel,\nnor anything that in the slightest degree approached even to a dispute.\nThe natives appeared to form one household, whose members were bound\ntogether by the ties of strong affection. The love of kindred I did not\nso much perceive, for it seemed blended in the general love; and where\nall were treated as brothers and sisters, it was hard to tell who were\nactually related to each other by blood.\n\nLet it not be supposed that I have overdrawn this picture. I have\nnot done so. Nor let it be urged, that the hostility of this tribe\nto foreigners, and the hereditary feuds they carry on against their\nfellow-islanders beyond the mountains, are facts which contradict me.\nNot so; these apparent discrepancies are easily reconciled. By many a\nlegendary tale of violence and wrong, as well as by events which have\npassed before their eyes, these people have been taught to look upon\nwhite men with abhorrence. The cruel invasion of their country by Porter\nhas alone furnished them with ample provocation; and I can sympathize\nin the spirit which prompts the Typee warrior to guard all the passes to\nhis valley with the point of his levelled spear, and, standing upon\nthe beach, with his back turned upon his green home, to hold at bay the\nintruding European.\n\nAs to the origin of the enmity of this particular clan towards the\nneighbouring tribes, I cannot so confidently speak. I will not say that\ntheir foes are the aggressors, nor will I endeavour to palliate their\nconduct. But surely, if our evil passions must find vent, it is far\nbetter to expend them on strangers and aliens, than in the bosom of\nthe community in which we dwell. In many polished countries civil\ncontentions, as well as domestic enmities, are prevalent, and the same\ntime that the most atrocious foreign wars are waged. How much less\nguilty, then, are our islanders, who of these three sins are only\nchargeable with one, and that the least criminal!\n\nThe reader will ere long have reason to suspect that the Typees are not\nfree from the guilt of cannibalism; and he will then, perhaps, charge me\nwith admiring a people against whom so odious a crime is chargeable. But\nthis only enormity in their character is not half so horrible as it\nis usually described. According to the popular fictions, the crews of\nvessels, shipwrecked on some barbarous coast, are eaten alive like so\nmany dainty joints by the uncivil inhabitants; and unfortunate voyagers\nare lured into smiling and treacherous bays; knocked on the head with\noutlandish war-clubs; and served up without any prelimary dressing. In\ntruth, so horrific and improbable are these accounts, that many sensible\nand well-informed people will not believe that any cannibals exist; and\nplace every book of voyages which purports to give any account of them,\non the same shelf with Blue Beard and Jack the Giant-Killer. While\nothers, implicitly crediting the most extravagant fictions, firmly\nbelieve that there are people in the world with tastes so depraved that\nthey would infinitely prefer a single mouthful of material humanity to\na good dinner of roast beef and plum pudding. But here, Truth, who loves\nto be centrally located, is again found between the two extremes; for\ncannibalism to a certain moderate extent is practised among several of\nthe primitive tribes in the Pacific, but it is upon the bodies of slain\nenemies alone, and horrible and fearful as the custom is, immeasurably\nas it is to be abhorred and condemned, still I assert that those who\nindulge in it are in other respects humane and virtuous.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT\n\nFISHING PARTIES--MODE OF DISTRIBUTING THE FISH--MIDNIGHT\nBANQUET--TIME-KEEPING TAPERS--UNCEREMONIOUS STYLE OF EATING THE FISH\n\nTHERE was no instance in which the social and kindly dispositions of the\nTypees were more forcibly evinced than in the manner the conducted their\ngreat fishing parties. Four times during my stay in the valley the young\nmen assembled near the full of the moon, and went together on these\nexcursions. As they were generally absent about forty-eight hours, I was\nled to believe that they went out towards the open sea, some distance\nfrom the bay. The Polynesians seldom use a hook and line, almost always\nemploying large well-made nets, most ingeniously fabricated from the\ntwisted fibres of a certain bark. I examined several of them which had\nbeen spread to dry upon the beach at Nukuheva. They resemble very much\nour own seines, and I should think they were nearly as durable.\n\nAll the South Sea Islanders are passionately fond of fish; but none\nof them can be more so than the inhabitants of Typee. I could not\ncomprehend, therefore, why they so seldom sought it in their waters, for\nit was only at stated times that the fishing parties were formed, and\nthese occasions were always looked forward to with no small degree of\ninterest.\n\nDuring their absence the whole population of the place were in a\nferment, and nothing was talked of but \'pehee, pehee\' (fish, fish).\nTowards the time when they were expected to return the vocal telegraph\nwas put into operation--the inhabitants, who were scattered throughout\nthe length of the valley, leaped upon rocks and into trees, shouting\nwith delight at the thoughts of the anticipated treat. As soon as the\napproach of the party was announced, there was a general rush of the\nmen towards the beach; some of them remaining, however, about the Ti in\norder to get matters in readiness for the reception of the fish, which\nwere brought to the Taboo Groves in immense packages of leaves, each one\nof them being suspended from a pole carried on the shoulders of two men.\n\nI was present at the Ti on one of these occasions, and the sight was\nmost interesting. After all the packages had arrived, they were laid in\na row under the verandah of the building and opened.\n\nThe fish were all quite small, generally about the size of a herring,\nand of every variety. About one-eighth of the whole being reserved\nfor the use of the Ti itself, the remainder was divided into numerous\nsmaller packages, which were immediately dispatched in every direction\nto the remotest parts of the valley. Arrived at their destination, these\nwere in turn portioned out, and equally distributed among the various\nhouses of each particular district. The fish were under a strict Taboo,\nuntil the distribution was completed, which seemed to be effected in the\nmost impartial manner. By the operation of this system every man, woman,\nand child in the vale, were at one and the same time partaking of this\nfavourite article of food.\n\nOnce I remember the party arrived at midnight; but the unseasonableness\nof the tour did not repress the impatience of the islanders. The\ncarriers dispatched from the Ti were to be seen hurrying in all\ndirections through the deep groves; each individual preceded by a boy\nbearing a flaming torch of dried cocoanut boughs, which from time to\ntime was replenished from the materials scattered along the path. The\nwild glare of these enormous flambeaux, lighting up with a startling\nbrilliancy the innermost recesses of the vale, and seen moving rapidly\nalong beneath the canopy of leaves, the savage shout of the excited\nmessengers sounding the news of their approach, which was answered\non all sides, and the strange appearance of their naked bodies, seen\nagainst the gloomy background, produced altogether an effect upon my\nmind that I shall long remember.\n\nIt was on this same occasion that Kory-Kory awakened me at the dead\nhour of night, and in a sort of transport communicated the intelligence\ncontained in the words \'pehee perni\' (fish come). As I happened to have\nbeen in a remarkably sound and refreshing slumber, I could not imagine\nwhy the information had not been deferred until morning, indeed, I felt\nvery much inclined to fly into a passion and box my valet\'s ears; but on\nsecond thoughts I got quietly up, and on going outside the house was not\na little interested by the moving illumination which I beheld.\n\nWhen old Marheyo received his share of the spoils, immediate\npreparations were made for a midnight banquet; calabashes of poee-poee\nwere filled to the brim; green bread-fruit were roasted; and a huge cake\nof \'amar\' was cut up with a sliver of bamboo and laid out on an immense\nbanana-leaf.\n\nAt this supper we were lighted by several of the native tapers, held in\nthe hands of young girls. These tapers are most ingeniously made. There\nis a nut abounding in the valley, called by the Typees \'armor\', closely\nresembling our common horse-chestnut. The shell is broken, and the\ncontents extracted whole. Any number of these are strung at pleasure\nupon the long elastic fibre that traverses the branches of the cocoanut\ntree. Some of these tapers are eight or ten feet in length; but being\nperfectly flexible, one end is held in a coil, while the other is\nlighted. The nut burns with a fitful bluish flame, and the oil that it\ncontains is exhausted in about ten minutes. As one burns down, the next\nbecomes ignited, and the ashes of the former are knocked into a cocoanut\nshell kept for the purpose. This primitive candle requires continual\nattention, and must be constantly held in the hand. The person so\nemployed marks the lapse of time by the number of nuts consumed, which\nis easily learned by counting the bits of tappa distributed at regular\nintervals along the string.\n\nI grieve to state so distressing a fact, but the inhabitants of\nTypee were in the habit of devouring fish much in the same way that\na civilized being would eat a radish, and without any more previous\npreparation. They eat it raw; scales, bones, gills, and all the inside.\nThe fish is held by the tail, and the head being introduced into the\nmouth, the animal disappears with a rapidity that would at first nearly\nlead one to imagine it had been launched bodily down the throat.\n\nRaw fish! Shall I ever forget my sensations when I first saw my island\nbeauty devour one. Oh, heavens! Fayaway, how could you ever have\ncontracted so vile a habit? However, after the first shock had subsided,\nthe custom grew less odious in my eyes, and I soon accustomed myself to\nthe sight. Let no one imagine, however, that the lovely Fayaway was in\nthe habit of swallowing great vulgar-looking fishes: oh, no; with her\nbeautiful small hand she would clasp a delicate, little, golden-hued\nlove of a fish and eat it as elegantly and as innocently as though it\nwere a Naples biscuit. But alas! it was after all a raw fish; and all I\ncan say is, that Fayaway ate it in a more ladylike manner than any other\ngirl of the valley.\n\nWhen at Rome do as the Romans do, I held to be so good a proverb, that\nbeing in Typee I made a point of doing as the Typees did. Thus I\nate poee-poee as they did; I walked about in a garb striking for its\nsimplicity; and I reposed on a community of couches; besides doing many\nother things in conformity with their peculiar habits; but the farthest\nI ever went in the way of conformity, was on several occasions to regale\nmyself with raw fish. These being remarkably tender, and quite small,\nthe undertaking was not so disagreeable in the main, and after a few\ntrials I positively began to relish them; however, I subjected them to a\nslight operation with a knife previously to making my repast.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER TWENTY-NINE\n\nNATURAL HISTORY OF THE VALLEY--GOLDEN LIZARDS--TAMENESS OF THE\nBIRDS--MOSQUITOES--FLIES--DOGS--A SOLITARY CAT--THE CLIMATE--THE\nCOCOANUT TREE--SINGULAR MODES OF CLIMBING IT--AN AGILE YOUNG\nCHIEF--FEARLESSNESS OF THE CHILDREN--TOO-TOO AND THE COCOANUT TREE--THE\nBIRDS OF THE VALLEY\n\nI THINK I must enlighten the reader a little about the natural history\nof the valley.\n\nWhence, in the name of Count Buffon and Baron Cuvier, came those dogs\nthat I saw in Typee? Dogs!--Big hairless rats rather; all with smooth,\nshining speckled hides--fat sides, and very disagreeable faces. Whence\ncould they have come? That they were not the indigenous production of\nthe region, I am firmly convinced. Indeed they seemed aware of their\nbeing interlopers, looking fairly ashamed, and always trying to hide\nthemselves in some dark corner. It was plain enough they did not feel at\nhome in the vale--that they wished themselves well out of it, and back\nto the ugly country from which they must have come.\n\nScurvy curs! they were my abhorrence; I should have liked nothing\nbetter than to have been the death of every one of them. In fact, on one\noccasion, I intimated the propriety of a canine crusade to Mehevi; but\nthe benevolent king would not consent to it. He heard me very patiently;\nbut when I had finished, shook his head, and told me in confidence that\nthey were \'taboo\'.\n\nAs for the animal that made the fortune of the ex-lord-mayor\nWhittington, I shall never forget the day that I was lying in the house\nabout noon, everybody else being fast asleep; and happening to raise\nmy eyes, met those of a big black spectral cat, which sat erect in the\ndoorway, looking at me with its frightful goggling green orbs, like one\nof those monstrous imps that torment some of Teniers\' saints! I am one\nof those unfortunate persons to whom the sight of these animals are, at\nany time an insufferable annoyance.\n\nThus constitutionally averse to cats in general, the unexpected\napparition of this one in particular utterly confounded me. When I had\na little recovered from the fascination of its glance, I started up; the\ncat fled, and emboldened by this, I rushed out of the house in pursuit;\nbut it had disappeared. It was the only time I ever saw one in the\nvalley, and how it got there I cannot imagine. It is just possible that\nit might have escaped from one of the ships at Nukuheva. It was in vain\nto seek information on the subject from the natives, since none of them\nhad seen the animal, the appearance of which remains a mystery to me to\nthis day.\n\nAmong the few animals which are to be met with in Typee, there was none\nwhich I looked upon with more interest than a beautiful golden-hued\nspecies of lizard. It measured perhaps five inches from head to tail,\nand was most gracefully proportioned. Numbers of those creatures were\nto be seen basking in the sunshine upon the thatching of the houses, and\nmultitudes at all hours of the day showed their glittering sides as they\nran frolicking between the spears of grass or raced in troops up and\ndown the tall shafts of the cocoanut trees. But the remarkable beauty\nof these little animals and their lively ways were not their only claims\nupon my admiration. They were perfectly tame and insensible to fear.\nFrequently, after seating myself upon the ground in some shady place\nduring the heat of the day, I would be completely overrun with them.\nIf I brushed one off my arm, it would leap perhaps into my hair: when I\ntried to frighten it away by gently pinching its leg, it would turn for\nprotection to the very hand that attacked it.\n\nThe birds are also remarkably tame. If you happened to see one perched\nupon a branch within reach of your arm, and advanced towards it, it did\nnot fly away immediately, but waited quietly looking at you, until you\ncould almost touch it, and then took wing slowly, less alarmed at your\npresence, it would seem, than desirous of removing itself from your\npath. Had salt been less scarce in the valley than it was, this was the\nvery place to have gone birding with it. I remember that once, on an\nuninhabited island of the Gallipagos, a bird alighted on my outstretched\narm, while its mate chirped from an adjoining tree. Its tameness, far\nfrom shocking me, as a similar occurrence did Selkirk, imparted to\nme the most exquisite thrill of delight I ever experienced, and with\nsomewhat of the same pleasure did I afterwards behold the birds and\nlizards of the valley show their confidence in the kindliness of man.\n\nAmong the numerous afflictions which the Europeans have entailed upon\nsome of the natives of the South Seas, is the accidental introduction\namong them of that enemy of all repose and ruffler of even tempers--the\nMosquito. At the Sandwich Islands and at two or three of the Society\ngroup, there are now thriving colonies of these insects, who promise ere\nlong to supplant altogether the aboriginal sand-flies. They sting, buzz,\nand torment, from one end of the year to the other, and by incessantly\nexasperating the natives materially obstruct the benevolent labours of\nthe missionaries.\n\nFrom this grievous visitation, however the Typees are as yet wholly\nexempt; but its place is unfortunately in some degree supplied by the\noccasional presence of a minute species of fly, which, without stinging,\nis nevertheless productive of no little annoyance. The tameness of the\nbirds and lizards is as nothing when compared to the fearless confidence\nof this insect. He will perch upon one of your eye-lashes, and go to\nroost there if you do not disturb him, or force his way through your\nhair, or along the cavity of the nostril, till you almost fancy he is\nresolved to explore the very brain itself. On one occasion I was so\ninconsiderate as to yawn while a number of them were hovering around\nme. I never repeated the act. Some half-dozen darted into the open\napartment, and began walking about its ceiling; the sensation was\ndreadful. I involuntarily closed my mouth, and the poor creatures being\nenveloped in inner darkness, must in their consternation have stumbled\nover my palate, and been precipitated into the gulf beneath. At any\nrate, though I afterwards charitably held my mouth open for at least\nfive minutes, with a view of affording egress to the stragglers, none of\nthem ever availed themselves of the opportunity.\n\nThere are no wild animals of any kind on the island unless it be decided\nthat the natives themselves are such. The mountains and the interior\npresent to the eye nothing but silent solitudes, unbroken by the roar\nof beasts of prey, and enlivened by few tokens even of minute animated\nexistence. There are no venomous reptiles, and no snakes of any\ndescription to be found in any of the valleys.\n\nIn a company of Marquesan natives the weather affords no topic of\nconversation. It can hardly be said to have any vicissitudes. The rainy\nseason, it is true, brings frequent showers, but they are intermitting\nand refreshing. When an islander bound on some expedition rises from his\ncouch in the morning, he is never solicitous to peep out and see how the\nsky looks, or ascertain from what quarter the wind blows. He is always\nsure of a \'fine day\', and the promise of a few genial showers he hails\nwith pleasure. There is never any of that \'remarkable weather\' on the\nislands which from time immemorial has been experienced in America, and\nstill continues to call forth the wondering conversational exclamations\nof its elderly citizens. Nor do there even occur any of those eccentric\nmeteorological changes which elsewhere surprise us. In the valley of\nTypee ice-creams would never be rendered less acceptable by sudden\nfrosts, nor would picnic parties be deferred on account of inauspicious\nsnowstorms: for there day follows day in one unvarying round of summer\nand sunshine, and the whole year is one long tropical month of June just\nmelting into July.\n\nIt is this genial climate which causes the cocoanuts to flourish as they\ndo. This invaluable fruit, brought to perfection by the rich soil of the\nMarquesas, and home aloft on a stately column more than a hundred feet\nfrom the ground, would seem at first almost inaccessible to the simple\nnatives. Indeed the slender, smooth, and soaring shaft, without a single\nlimb or protuberance of any kind to assist one in mounting it, presents\nan obstacle only to be overcome by the surprising agility and ingenuity\nof the islanders. It might be supposed that their indolence would lead\nthem patiently to await the period when the ripened nuts, slowly parting\nfrom their stems, fall one by one to the ground. This certainly would\nbe the case, were it not that the young fruit, encased in a soft green\nhusk, with the incipient meat adhering in a jelly-like pellicle to its\nsides, and containing a bumper of the most delicious nectar, is what\nthey chiefly prize. They have at least twenty different terms to express\nas many progressive stages in the growth of the nut. Many of them reject\nthe fruit altogether except at a particular period of its growth, which,\nincredible as it may appear, they seemed to me to be able to ascertain\nwithin an hour or two. Others are still more capricious in their\ntastes; and after gathering together a heap of the nuts of all ages, and\ningeniously tapping them, will first sip from one and then from another,\nas fastidiously as some delicate wine-bibber experimenting glass in hand\namong his dusty demi-johns of different vintages.\n\nSome of the young men, with more flexible frames than their comrades,\nand perhaps with more courageous souls, had a way of walking up\nthe trunk of the cocoanut trees which to me seemed little less than\nmiraculous; and when looking at them in the act, I experienced that\ncurious perplexity a child feels when he beholds a fly moving feet\nuppermost along a ceiling.\n\nI will endeavour to describe the way in which Narnee, a noble young\nchief, sometimes performed this feat for my peculiar gratification; but\nhis preliminary performances must also be recorded. Upon my signifying\nmy desire that he should pluck me the young fruit of some particular\ntree, the handsome savage, throwing himself into a sudden attitude of\nsurprise, feigns astonishment at the apparent absurdity of the request.\nMaintaining this position for a moment, the strange emotions depicted on\nhis countenance soften down into one of humorous resignation to my will,\nand then looking wistfully up to the tufted top of the tree, he\nstands on tip-toe, straining his neck and elevating his arm, as though\nendeavouring to reach the fruit from the ground where he stands. As\nif defeated in this childish attempt, he now sinks to the earth\ndespondingly, beating his breast in well-acted despair; and then,\nstarting to his feet all at once, and throwing back his head, raises\nboth hands, like a school-boy about to catch a falling ball. After\ncontinuing this for a moment or two, as if in expectation that the fruit\nwas going to be tossed down to him by some good spirit in the tree-top,\nhe turns wildly round in another fit of despair, and scampers off to the\ndistance of thirty or forty yards. Here he remains awhile, eyeing the\ntree, the very picture of misery; but the next moment, receiving, as it\nwere, a flash of inspiration, he rushes again towards it, and clasping\nboth arms about the trunk, with one elevated a little above the other,\nhe presses the soles of his feet close together against the tree,\nextending his legs from it until they are nearly horizontal, and his\nbody becomes doubled into an arch; then, hand over hand and foot over\nfoot, he rises from the earth with steady rapidity, and almost before\nyou are aware of it, has gained the cradled and embowered nest of nuts,\nand with boisterous glee flings the fruit to the ground.\n\nThis mode of walking the tree is only practicable where the trunk\ndeclines considerably from the perpendicular. This, however, is almost\nalways the case; some of the perfectly straight shafts of the trees\nleaning at an angle of thirty degrees.\n\nThe less active among the men, and many of the children of the valley\nhave another method of climbing. They take a broad and stout piece of\nbark, and secure each end of it to their ankles, so that when the feet\nthus confined are extended apart, a space of little more than twelve\ninches is left between them. This contrivance greatly facilitates\nthe act of climbing. The band pressed against the tree, and closely\nembracing it, yields a pretty firm support; while with the arms clasped\nabout the trunk, and at regular intervals sustaining the body, the feet\nare drawn up nearly a yard at a time, and a corresponding elevation of\nthe hands immediately succeeds. In this way I have seen little children,\nscarcely five years of age, fearlessly climbing the slender pole of\na young cocoanut tree, and while hanging perhaps fifty feet from the\nground, receiving the plaudits of their parents beneath, who clapped\ntheir hands, and encouraged them to mount still higher.\n\nWhat, thought I, on first witnessing one of these exhibitions, would\nthe nervous mothers of America and England say to a similar display of\nhardihood in any of their children? The Lacedemonian nation might have\napproved of it, but most modern dames would have gone into hysterics at\nthe sight.\n\nAt the top of the cocoanut tree the numerous branches, radiating on\nall sides from a common centre, form a sort of green and waving\nbasket, between the leaflets of which you just discern the nuts thickly\nclustering together, and on the loftier trees looking no bigger from\nthe ground than bunches of grapes. I remember one adventurous little\nfellow--Too-Too was the rascal\'s name--who had built himself a sort of\naerial baby-house in the picturesque tuft of a tree adjoining Marheyo\'s\nhabitation. He used to spend hours there,--rustling among the branches,\nand shouting with delight every time the strong gusts of wind rushing\ndown from the mountain side, swayed to and fro the tall and flexible\ncolumn on which he was perched. Whenever I heard Too-Too\'s musical voice\nsounding strangely to the ear from so great a height, and beheld him\npeeping down upon me from out his leafy covert, he always recalled to my\nmind Dibdin\'s lines--\n\n \'There\'s a sweet little cherub that sits up aloft,\n To look out for the life of poor Jack.\'\n\nBirds--bright and beautiful birds--fly over the valley of Typee. You\nsee them perched aloft among the immovable boughs of the majestic\nbread-fruit trees, or gently swaying on the elastic branches of the\nOmoo; skimming over the palmetto thatching of the bamboo huts; passing\nlike spirits on the wing through the shadows of the grove, and sometimes\ndescending into the bosom of the valley in gleaming flights from the\nmountains. Their plumage is purple and azure, crimson and white, black\nand gold; with bills of every tint: bright bloody red, jet black, and\nivory white, and their eyes are bright and sparkling; they go sailing\nthrough the air in starry throngs; but, alas! the spell of dumbness is\nupon them all--there is not a single warbler in the valley!\n\nI know not why it was, but the sight of these birds, generally the\nministers of gladness, always oppressed me with melancholy. As in their\ndumb beauty they hovered by me whilst I was walking, or looked down upon\nme with steady curious eyes from out the foliage, I was almost inclined\nto fancy that they knew they were gazing upon a stranger, and that they\ncommiserated his fate.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER THIRTY\n\nA PROFESSOR OF THE FINE ARTS--HIS PERSECUTIONS--SOMETHING ABOUT\nTATTOOING AND TABOOING--TWO ANECDOTES IN ILLUSTRATION OF THE LATTER--A\nFEW THOUGHTS ON THE TYPEE DIALECT\n\nIN one of my strolls with Kory-Kory, in passing along the border of a\nthick growth of bushes, my attention was arrested by a singular noise.\nOn entering the thicket I witnessed for the first time the operation of\ntattooing as performed by these islanders.\n\nI beheld a man extended flat upon his back on the ground, and, despite\nthe forced composure of his countenance, it was evident that he was\nsuffering agony. His tormentor bent over him, working away for all the\nworld like a stone-cutter with mallet and chisel. In one hand he held a\nshort slender stick, pointed with a shark\'s tooth, on the upright end of\nwhich he tapped with a small hammer-like piece of wood, thus puncturing\nthe skin, and charging it with the colouring matter in which the\ninstrument was dipped. A cocoanut shell containing this fluid was placed\nupon the ground. It is prepared by mixing with a vegetable juice the\nashes of the \'armor\', or candle-nut, always preserved for the purpose.\nBeside the savage, and spread out upon a piece of soiled tappa, were\na great number of curious black-looking little implements of bone and\nwood, used in the various divisions of his art. A few terminated in a\nsingle fine point, and, like very delicate pencils, were employed in\ngiving the finishing touches, or in operating upon the more sensitive\nportions of the body, as was the case in the present instance. Others\npresented several points distributed in a line, somewhat resembling the\nteeth of a saw. These were employed in the coarser parts of the work,\nand particularly in pricking in straight marks. Some presented their\npoints disposed in small figures, and being placed upon the body,\nwere, by a single blow of the hammer, made to leave their indelible\nimpression. I observed a few the handles of which were mysteriously\ncurved, as if intended to be introduced into the orifice of the ear,\nwith a view perhaps of beating the tattoo upon the tympanum. Altogether\nthe sight of these strange instruments recalled to mind that display\nof cruel-looking mother-of-pearl-handled things which one sees in their\nvelvet-lined cases at the elbow of a dentist.\n\nThe artist was not at this time engaged on an original sketch, his\nsubject being a venerable savage, whose tattooing had become somewhat\nfaded with age and needed a few repairs, and accordingly he was merely\nemployed in touching up the works of some of the old masters of the\nTypee school, as delineated upon the human canvas before him. The parts\noperated upon were the eyelids, where a longitudinal streak, like the\none which adorned Kory-Kory, crossed the countenance of the victim.\n\nIn spite of all the efforts of the poor old man, sundry twitchings and\nscrewings of the muscles of the face denoted the exquisite sensibility\nof these shutters to the windows of his soul, which he was now having\nrepainted. But the artist, with a heart as callous as that of an army\nsurgeon, continued his performance, enlivening his labours with a wild\nchant, tapping away the while as merrily as a woodpecker.\n\nSo deeply engaged was he in his work, that he had not observed our\napproach, until, after having, enjoyed an unmolested view of the\noperation, I chose to attract his attention. As soon as he perceived me,\nsupposing that I sought him in his professional capacity, he seized hold\nof me in a paroxysm of delight, and was an eagerness to begin the work.\nWhen, however, I gave him to understand that he had altogether mistaken\nmy views, nothing could exceed his grief and disappointment. But\nrecovering from this, he seemed determined not to credit my assertion,\nand grasping his implements, he flourished them about in fearful\nvicinity to my face, going through an imaginary performance of his art,\nand every moment bursting into some admiring exclamation at the beauty\nof his designs.\n\nHorrified at the bare thought of being rendered hideous for life if the\nwretch were to execute his purpose upon me, I struggled to get away\nfrom him, while Kory-Kory, turning traitor, stood by, and besought me\nto comply with the outrageous request. On my reiterated refusals the\nexcited artist got half beside himself, and was overwhelmed with sorrow\nat losing so noble an opportunity of distinguishing himself in his\nprofession.\n\nThe idea of engrafting his tattooing upon my white skin filled him\nwith all a painter\'s enthusiasm; again and again he gazed into my\ncountenance, and every fresh glimpse seemed to add to the vehemence\nof his ambition. Not knowing to what extremities he might proceed,\nand shuddering at the ruin he might inflict upon my figure-head, I now\nendeavoured to draw off his attention from it, and holding out my arm\nin a fit of desperation, signed to him to commence operations. But he\nrejected the compromise indignantly, and still continued his attack on\nmy face, as though nothing short of that would satisfy him. When his\nforefinger swept across my features, in laying out the borders of those\nparallel bands which were to encircle my countenance, the flesh fairly\ncrawled upon my bones. At last, half wild with terror and indignation, I\nsucceeded in breaking away from the three savages, and fled towards old\nMarheyo\'s house, pursued by the indomitable artist, who ran after me,\nimplements in hand. Kory-Kory, however, at last interfered and drew him\noff from the chase.\n\nThis incident opened my eyes to a new danger; and I now felt convinced\nthat in some luckless hour I should be disfigured in such a manner as\nnever more to have the FACE to return to my countrymen, even should an\nopportunity offer.\n\nThese apprehensions were greatly increased by the desire which King\nMehevi and several of the inferior chiefs now manifested that I should\nbe tattooed. The pleasure of the king was first signified to me some\nthree days after my casual encounter with Karky the artist. Heavens!\nwhat imprecations I showered upon that Karky. Doubtless he had plotted a\nconspiracy against me and my countenance, and would never rest until his\ndiabolical purpose was accomplished. Several times I met him in various\nparts of the valley, and, invariably, whenever he descried me, he came\nrunning after me with his mallet and chisel, flourishing them about my\nface as if he longed to begin. What an object he would have made of me!\n\nWhen the king first expressed his wish to me, I made known to him my\nutter abhorrence of the measure, and worked myself into such a state of\nexcitement, that he absolutely stared at me in amazement. It evidently\nsurpassed his majesty\'s comprehension how any sober-minded and\nsensible individual could entertain the least possible objection to so\nbeautifying an operation.\n\nSoon afterwards he repeated his suggestion, and meeting with a little\nrepulse, showed some symptoms of displeasure at my obduracy. On his a\nthird time renewing his request, I plainly perceived that something must\nbe done, or my visage was ruined for ever; I therefore screwed up my\ncourage to the sticking point, and declared my willingness to have both\narms tattooed from just above the wrist to the shoulder. His majesty was\ngreatly pleased at the proposition, and I was congratulating myself with\nhaving thus compromised the matter, when he intimated that as a thing of\ncourse my face was first to undergo the operation. I was fairly driven\nto despair; nothing but the utter ruin of my \'face divine\', as the\npoets call it, would, I perceived, satisfy the inexorable Mehevi and his\nchiefs, or rather, that infernal Karky, for he was at the bottom of it\nall.\n\nThe only consolation afforded me was a choice of patterns: I was at\nperfect liberty to have my face spanned by three horizontal bars, after\nthe fashion of my serving-man\'s; or to have as many oblique stripes\nslanting across it; or if, like a true courtier, I chose to model my\nstyle on that of royalty, I might wear a sort of freemason badge upon\nmy countenance in the shape of a mystic triangle. However, I would have\nnone of these, though the king most earnestly impressed upon my mind\nthat my choice was wholly unrestricted. At last, seeing my unconquerable\nrepugnance, he ceased to importune me.\n\nBut not so some other of the savages. Hardly a day passed but I was\nsubjected to their annoying requests, until at last my existence\nbecame a burden to me; the pleasures I had previously enjoyed no longer\nafforded me delight, and all my former desire to escape from the valley\nnow revived with additional force.\n\nA fact which I soon afterwards learned augmented my apprehension. The\nwhole system of tattooing was, I found, connected with their religion;\nand it was evident, therefore, that they were resolved to make a convert\nof me.\n\nIn the decoration of the chiefs it seems to be necessary to exercise the\nmost elaborate pencilling; while some of the inferior natives looked\nas if they had been daubed over indiscriminately with a house-painter\'s\nbrush. I remember one fellow who prided himself hugely upon a great\noblong patch, placed high upon his back, and who always reminded me of\na man with a blister of Spanish flies, stuck between his shoulders.\nAnother whom I frequently met had the hollow of his eyes tattooed in two\nregular squares and his visual organs being remarkably brilliant, they\ngleamed forth from out this setting like a couple of diamonds inserted\nin ebony.\n\nAlthough convinced that tattooing was a religious observance, still the\nnature of the connection between it and the superstitious idolatry of\nthe people was a point upon which I could never obtain any information.\nLike the still more important system of the \'Taboo\', it always appeared\ninexplicable to me.\n\nThere is a marked similarity, almost an identity, between the religious\ninstitutions of most of the Polynesian islands, and in all exists the\nmysterious \'Taboo\', restricted in its uses to a greater or less extent.\nSo strange and complex in its arrangements is this remarkable system,\nthat I have in several cases met with individuals who, after residing\nfor years among the islands in the Pacific, and acquiring a considerable\nknowledge of the language, have nevertheless been altogether unable to\ngive any satisfactory account of its operations. Situated as I was\nin the Typee valley, I perceived every hour the effects of this\nall-controlling power, without in the least comprehending it. Those\neffects were, indeed, wide-spread and universal, pervading the most\nimportant as well as the minutest transactions of life. The savage, in\nshort, lives in the continual observance of its dictates, which guide\nand control every action of his being.\n\nFor several days after entering the valley I had been saluted at least\nfifty times in the twenty-four hours with the talismanic word \'Taboo\'\nshrieked in my ears, at some gross violation of its provisions, of which\nI had unconsciously been guilty. The day after our arrival I happened to\nhand some tobacco to Toby over the head of a native who sat between\nus. He started up, as if stung by an adder; while the whole company,\nmanifesting an equal degree of horror, simultaneously screamed out\n\'Taboo!\' I never again perpetrated a similar piece of ill-manners,\nwhich, indeed, was forbidden by the canons of good breeding, as well as\nby the mandates of the taboo. But it was not always so easy to perceive\nwherein you had contravened the spirit of this institution. I was many\ntimes called to order, if I may use the phrase, when I could not for the\nlife of me conjecture what particular offence I had committed.\n\nOne day I was strolling through a secluded portion of the valley, and\nhearing the musical sound of the cloth-mallet at a little distance, I\nturned down a path that conducted me in a few moments to a house where\nthere were some half-dozen girls employed in making tappa. This was an\noperation I had frequently witnessed, and had handled the bark in all\nthe various stages of its preparation. On the present occasion the\nfemales were intent upon their occupation, and after looking up and\ntalking gaily to me for a few moments, they resumed their employment. I\nregarded them for a while in silence, and then carelessly picking up a\nhandful of the material that lay around, proceeded unconsciously to pick\nit apart. While thus engaged, I was suddenly startled by a scream, like\nthat of a whole boarding-school of young ladies just on the point of\ngoing into hysterics. Leaping up with the idea of seeing a score of\nHappar warriors about to perform anew the Sabine atrocity, I found\nmyself confronted by the company of girls, who, having dropped their\nwork, stood before me with starting eyes, swelling bosoms, and fingers\npointed in horror towards me.\n\nThinking that some venomous reptile must be concealed in the bark which\nI held in my hand, I began cautiously to separate and examine it. Whilst\nI did so the horrified girls re-doubled their shrieks. Their wild cries\nand frightened motions actually alarmed me, and throwing down the tappa,\nI was about to rush from the house, when in the same instant their\nclamours ceased, and one of them, seizing me by the arm, pointed to the\nbroken fibres that had just fallen from my grasp, and screamed in my\nears the fatal word Taboo!\n\nI subsequently found out that the fabric they were engaged in making was\nof a peculiar kind, destined to be worn on the heads of the females, and\nthrough every stage of its manufacture was guarded by a rigorous taboo,\nwhich interdicted the whole masculine gender from even so much as\ntouching it.\n\nFrequently in walking through the groves I observed bread-fruit and\ncocoanut trees, with a wreath of leaves twined in a peculiar fashion\nabout their trunks. This was the mark of the taboo. The trees\nthemselves, their fruit, and even the shadows they cast upon the ground,\nwere consecrated by its presence. In the same way a pipe, which the king\nhad bestowed upon me, was rendered sacred in the eyes of the natives,\nnone of whom could I ever prevail upon to smoke from it. The bowl was\nencircled by a woven band of grass, somewhat resembling those Turks\'\nheads occasionally worked in the handles of our whip-stalks.\n\nA similar badge was once braided about my wrist by the royal hand\nof Mehevi himself, who, as soon as he had concluded the operation,\npronounced me \'Taboo\'. This occurred shortly after Toby\'s disappearance;\nand, were it not that from the first moment I had entered the valley\nthe natives had treated me with uniform kindness, I should have supposed\nthat their conduct afterwards was to be ascribed to the fact that I had\nreceived this sacred investiture.\n\nThe capricious operations of the taboo are not its least remarkable\nfeature: to enumerate them all would be impossible. Black hogs--infants\nto a certain age--women in an interesting situation--young men while the\noperation of tattooing their faces is going on--and certain parts of the\nvalley during the continuance of a shower--are alike fenced about by the\noperation of the taboo.\n\nI witnessed a striking instance of its effects in the bay of Tior,\nmy visit to which place has been alluded to in a former part of this\nnarrative. On that occasion our worthy captain formed one of the party.\nHe was a most insatiable sportsman. Outward bound, and off the pitch of\nCape Horn, he used to sit on the taffrail, and keep the steward loading\nthree or four old fowling pieces, with which he would bring down\nalbatrosses, Cape pigeons, jays, petrels, and divers other marine fowl,\nwho followed chattering in our wake. The sailors were struck aghast at\nhis impiety, and one and all attributed our forty days\' beating about\nthat horrid headland to his sacrilegious slaughter of these inoffensive\nbirds.\n\nAt Tior he evinced the same disregard for the religious prejudices of\nthe islanders, as he had previously shown for the superstitions of the\nsailors. Having heard that there were a considerable number of fowls in\nthe valley the progeny of some cocks and hens accidentally left there by\nan English vessel, and which, being strictly tabooed, flew about almost\nin a wild state--he determined to break through all restraints, and\nbe the death of them. Accordingly, he provided himself with a most\nformidable looking gun, and announced his landing on the beach by\nshooting down a noble cock that was crowing what proved to be his own\nfuneral dirge, on the limb of an adjoining tree. \'Taboo\', shrieked the\naffrighted savages. \'Oh, hang your taboo,\' says the nautical sportsman;\n\'talk taboo to the marines\'; and bang went the piece again, and down\ncame another victim. At this the natives ran scampering through the\ngroves, horror-struck at the enormity of the act.\n\nAll that afternoon the rocky sides of the valley rang with successive\nreports, and the superb plumage of many a beautiful fowl was ruffled by\nthe fatal bullet. Had it not been that the French admiral, with a large\nparty, was then in the glen, I have no doubt that the natives, although\ntheir tribe was small and dispirited, would have inflicted summary\nvengeance upon the man who thus outraged their most sacred institutions;\nas it was, they contrived to annoy him not a little.\n\nThirsting with his exertions, the skipper directed his steps to\na stream; but the savages, who had followed at a little distance,\nperceiving his object, rushed towards him and forced him away from its\nbank--his lips would have polluted it. Wearied at last, he sought to\nenter a house that he might rest for a while on the mats; its inmates\ngathered tumultuously about the door and denied him admittance. He\ncoaxed and blustered by turns, but in vain; the natives were neither\nto be intimidated nor appeased, and as a final resort he was obliged\nto call together his boat\'s crew, and pull away from what he termed the\nmost infernal place he ever stepped upon.\n\nLucky was it for him and for us that we were not honoured on our\ndeparture by a salute of stones from the hands of the exasperated Tiors.\nIn this way, on the neighbouring island of Ropo, were killed, but a few\nweeks previously, and for a nearly similar offence, the master and three\nof the crew of the K---.\n\nI cannot determine with anything approaching to certainty, what power\nit is that imposes the taboo. When I consider the slight disparity\nof condition among the islanders--the very limited and inconsiderable\nprerogatives of the king and chiefs--and the loose and indefinite\nfunctions of the priesthood, most of whom were hardly to be\ndistinguished from the rest of their countrymen, I am wholly at a loss\nwhere to look for the authority which regulates this potent institution.\nIt is imposed upon something today, and withdrawn tomorrow; while its\noperations in other cases are perpetual. Sometimes its restrictions only\naffect a single individual--sometimes a particular family--sometimes\na whole tribe; and in a few instances they extend not merely over the\nvarious clans on a single island, but over all the inhabitants of an\nentire group. In illustration of this latter peculiarity, I may cite\nthe law which forbids a female to enter a canoe--a prohibition which\nprevails upon all the northern Marquesas Islands.\n\nThe word itself (taboo) is used in more than one signification. It\nis sometimes used by a parent to his child, when in the exercise\nof parental authority he forbids it to perform a particular action.\nAnything opposed to the ordinary customs of the islanders, although not\nexpressly prohibited, is said to be \'taboo\'.\n\nThe Typee language is one very difficult to be acquired; it bears a\nclose resemblance to the other Polynesian dialects, all of which show a\ncommon origin. The duplication of words, as \'lumee lumee\', \'poee poee\',\n\'muee muee\', is one of their peculiar features. But another, and a more\nannoying one, is the different senses in which one and the same word is\nemployed; its various meanings all have a certain connection, which\nonly makes the matter more puzzling. So one brisk, lively little word\nis obliged, like a servant in a poor family, to perform all sorts of\nduties; for instance, one particular combination of syllables expresses\nthe ideas of sleep, rest, reclining, sitting, leaning, and all other\nthings anywise analogous thereto, the particular meaning being shown\nchiefly by a variety of gestures and the eloquent expression of the\ncountenance.\n\nThe intricacy of these dialects is another peculiarity. In the\nMissionary College at Lahainaluna, on Mowee, one of the Sandwich\nIslands, I saw a tabular exhibition of a Hawiian verb, conjugated\nthrough all its moods and tenses. It covered the side of a considerable\napartment, and I doubt whether Sir William Jones himself would not have\ndespaired of mastering it.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER THIRTY-ONE\n\nSTRANGE CUSTOM OF THE ISLANDERS--THEIR CHANTING, AND THE PECULIARITY OF\nTHEIR VOICE--RAPTURE OF THE KING AT FIRST HEARING A SONG--A NEW DIGNITY\nCONFERRED ON THE AUTHOR--MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS IN THE VALLEY--ADMIRATION\nOF THE SAVAGES AT BEHOLDING A PUGILISTIC PERFORMANCE--SWIMMING\nINFANT--BEAUTIFUL TRESSES OF THE GIRLS--OINTMENT FOR THE HAIR\n\nSADLY discursive as I have already been, I must still further entreat\nthe reader\'s patience, as I am about to string together, without any\nattempt at order, a few odds and ends of things not hitherto mentioned,\nbut which are either curious in themselves or peculiar to the Typees.\n\nThere was one singular custom observed in old Marheyo\'s domestic\nestablishment, which often excited my surprise. Every night, before\nretiring, the inmates of the house gathered together on the mats, and\nso squatting upon their haunches, after the universal practice of\nthese islanders, would commence a low, dismal and monotonous chant,\naccompanying the voice with the instrumental melody produced by two\nsmall half-rotten sticks tapped slowly together, a pair of which\nwere held in the hands of each person present. Thus would they employ\nthemselves for an hour or two, sometimes longer. Lying in the gloom\nwhich wrapped the further end of the house, I could not avoid looking\nat them, although the spectacle suggested nothing but unpleasant\nreflection. The flickering rays of the \'armor\' nut just served to reveal\ntheir savage lineaments, without dispelling the darkness that hovered\nabout them.\n\nSometimes when, after falling into a kind of doze, and awaking suddenly\nin the midst of these doleful chantings, my eye would fall upon the\nwild-looking group engaged in their strange occupation, with their naked\ntattooed limbs, and shaven heads disposed in a circle, I was almost\ntempted to believe that I gazed upon a set of evil beings in the act of\nworking at a frightful incantation.\n\nWhat was the meaning or purpose of this custom, whether it was practiced\nmerely as a diversion, or whether it was a religious exercise, a sort of\nfamily prayers, I never could discover.\n\nThe sounds produced by the natives on these occasions were of a most\nsingular description; and had I not actually been present, I never would\nhave believed that such curious noises could have been produced by human\nbeings.\n\nTo savages generally is imputed a guttural articulation. This however,\nis not always the case, especially among the inhabitants of the\nPolynesian Archipelago. The labial melody with which the Typee girls\ncarry on an ordinary conversation, giving a musical prolongation to the\nfinal syllable of every sentence, and chirping out some of the words\nwith a liquid, bird-like accent, was singularly pleasing.\n\nThe men however, are not quite so harmonious in their utterance, and\nwhen excited upon any subject, would work themselves up into a sort of\nwordy paroxysm, during which all descriptions of rough-sided sounds\nwere projected from their mouths, with a force and rapidity which was\nabsolutely astonishing.\n\n . . . . . . . .\n\nAlthough these savages are remarkably fond of chanting, still they\nappear to have no idea whatever of singing, at least as the art is\npractised in other nations.\n\nI shall never forget the first time I happened to roar out a stave\nin the presence of noble Mehevi. It was a stanza from the \'Bavarian\nbroom-seller\'. His Typeean majesty, with all his court, gazed upon me in\namazement, as if I had displayed some preternatural faculty which Heaven\nhad denied to them. The King was delighted with the verse; but the\nchorus fairly transported him. At his solicitation I sang it again and\nagain, and nothing could be more ludicrous than his vain attempts to\ncatch the air and the words. The royal savage seemed to think that by\nscrewing all the features of his face into the end of his nose he\nmight possibly succeed in the undertaking, but it failed to answer the\npurpose; and in the end he gave it up, and consoled himself by listening\nto my repetition of the sounds fifty times over.\n\nPrevious to Mehevi\'s making the discovery, I had never been aware that\nthere was anything of the nightingale about me; but I was now promoted\nto the place of court-minstrel, in which capacity I was afterwards\nperpetually called upon to officiate.\n\n . . . . . . . .\n\nBesides the sticks and the drums, there are no other musical instruments\namong the Typees, except one which might appropriately be denominated a\nnasal flute. It is somewhat longer than an ordinary fife; is made of\na beautiful scarlet-coloured reed; and has four or five stops, with\na large hole near one end, which latter is held just beneath the left\nnostril. The other nostril being closed by a peculiar movement of the\nmuscles about the nose, the breath is forced into the tube, and produces\na soft dulcet sound which is varied by the fingers running at random\nover the stops. This is a favourite recreation with the females and one\nin which Fayaway greatly excelled. Awkward as such an instrument may\nappear, it was, in Fayaway\'s delicate little hands, one of the most\ngraceful I have ever seen. A young lady, in the act of tormenting a\nguitar strung about her neck by a couple of yards of blue ribbon, is not\nhalf so engaging.\n\n . . . . . . . .\n\nSinging was not the only means I possessed of diverting the royal Mehevi\nand his easy-going subject. Nothing afforded them more pleasure than to\nsee me go through the attitude of pugilistic encounter. As not one of\nthe natives had soul enough in him to stand up like a man, and allow me\nto hammer away at him, for my own personal gratification and that of\nthe king, I was necessitated to fight with an imaginary enemy, whom I\ninvariably made to knock under to my superior prowess. Sometimes when\nthis sorely battered shadow retreated precipitately towards a group of\nthe savages, and, following him up, I rushed among them dealing my\nblows right and left, they would disperse in all directions much to the\nenjoyment of Mehevi, the chiefs, and themselves.\n\nThe noble art of self-defence appeared to be regarded by them as the\npeculiar gift of the white man; and I make little doubt that they\nsupposed armies of Europeans were drawn up provided with nothing else\nbut bony fists and stout hearts, with which they set to in column, and\npummelled one another at the word of command.\n\n . . . . . . . .\n\nOne day, in company with Kory-Kory, I had repaired to the stream for the\npurpose of bathing, when I observed a woman sitting upon a rock in\nthe midst of the current, and watching with the liveliest interest the\ngambols of something, which at first I took to be an uncommonly large\nspecies of frog that was sporting in the water near her. Attracted by\nthe novelty of the sight, I waded towards the spot where she sat, and\ncould hardly credit the evidence of my senses when I beheld a little\ninfant, the period of whose birth could not have extended back many\ndays, paddling about as if it had just risen to the surface, after being\nhatched into existence at the bottom. Occasionally, the delighted parent\nreached out her hand towards it, when the little thing, uttering a faint\ncry, and striking out its tiny limbs, would sidle for the rock, and the\nnext moment be clasped to its mother\'s bosom. This was repeated again\nand again, the baby remaining in the stream about a minute at a time.\nOnce or twice it made wry faces at swallowing a mouthful of water, and\nchoked a spluttered as if on the point of strangling. At such times\nhowever, the mother snatched it up and by a process scarcely to be\nmentioned obliged it to eject the fluid. For several weeks afterwards\nI observed this woman bringing her child down to the stream regularly\nevery day, in the cool of the morning and evening and treating it to a\nbath. No wonder that the South Sea Islanders are so amphibious a race,\nwhen they are thus launched into the water as soon as they see the\nlight. I am convinced that it is as natural for a human being to swim as\nit is for a duck. And yet in civilized communities how many able-bodied\nindividuals die, like so many drowning kittens, from the occurrence of\nthe most trivial accidents!\n\n . . . . . . . .\n\nThe long luxuriant and glossy tresses of the Typee damsels often\nattracted my admiration. A fine head of hair is the pride and joy of\nevery woman\'s heart. Whether against the express will of Providence, it\nis twisted upon the crown of the head and there coiled away like a rope\non a ship\'s deck; whether it be stuck behind the ears and hangs down\nlike the swag of a small window-curtain; or whether it be permitted to\nflow over the shoulders in natural ringlets, it is always the pride of\nthe owner, and the glory of the toilette.\n\nThe Typee girls devote much of their time to the dressing of their fair\nand redundant locks. After bathing, as they sometimes do five or six\ntimes every day, the hair is carefully dried, and if they have been in\nthe sea, invariably washed in fresh water, and anointed with a highly\nscented oil extracted from the meat of the cocoanut. This oil is\nobtained in great abundance by the following very simple process:\n\nA large vessel of wood, with holes perforated in the bottom, is filled\nwith the pounded meat, and exposed to the rays of the sun. As the\noleaginous matter exudes, it falls in drops through the apertures into a\nwide-mouthed calabash placed underneath. After a sufficient quantity has\nthus been collected, the oil undergoes a purifying process, and is then\npoured into the small spherical shells of the nuts of the moo-tree,\nwhich are hollowed out to receive it. These nuts are then hermetically\nsealed with a resinous gum, and the vegetable fragrance of their green\nrind soon imparts to the oil a delightful odour. After the lapse of a\nfew weeks the exterior shell of the nuts becomes quite dry and hard, and\nassumes a beautiful carnation tint; and when opened they are found to\nbe about two-thirds full of an ointment of a light yellow colour and\ndiffusing the sweetest perfume. This elegant little odorous globe would\nnot be out of place even upon the toilette of a queen. Its merits as a\npreparation for the hair are undeniable--it imparts to it a superb gloss\nand a silky fineness.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER THIRTY-TWO\n\nAPPREHENSIONS OF EVIL--FRIGHTFUL DISCOVERY--SOME REMARKS\nON CANNIBALISM--SECOND BATTLE WITH THE HAPPARS--SAVAGE\nSPECTACLE--MYSTERIOUS FEAST--SUBSEQUENT DISCLOSURES\n\nFROM the time of my casual encounter with Karky the artist, my life was\none of absolute wretchedness. Not a day passed but I was persecuted by\nthe solicitations of some of the natives to subject myself to the odious\noperation of tattooing. Their importunities drove me half wild, for I\nfelt how easily they might work their will upon me regarding this or\nanything else which they took into their heads. Still, however, the\nbehaviour of the islanders towards me was as kind as ever. Fayaway was\nquite as engaging; Kory-Kory as devoted; and Mehevi the king just as\ngracious and condescending as before. But I had now been three months in\ntheir valley, as nearly as I could estimate; I had grown familiar with\nthe narrow limits to which my wandering had been confined; and I began\nbitterly to feel the state of captivity in which I was held. There\nwas no one with whom I could freely converse; no one to whom I could\ncommunicate my thoughts; no one who could sympathize with my sufferings.\nA thousand times I thought how much more endurable would have been my\nlot had Toby still been with me. But I was left alone, and the thought\nwas terrible to me. Still, despite my griefs, I did all in my power\nto appear composed and cheerful, well knowing that by manifesting any\nuneasiness, or any desire to escape, I should only frustrate my object.\n\nIt was during the period I was in this unhappy frame of mind that the\npainful malady under which I had been labouring--after having almost\ncompletely subsided--began again to show itself, and with symptoms as\nviolent as ever. This added calamity nearly unmanned me; the recurrence\nof the complaint proved that without powerful remedial applications\nall hope of cure was futile; and when I reflected that just beyond the\nelevations, which bound me in, was the medical relief I needed, and that\nalthough so near, it was impossible for me to avail myself of it, the\nthought was misery.\n\nIn this wretched situation, every circumstance which evinced the\nsavage nature of the beings at whose mercy I was, augmented the fearful\napprehensions that consumed me. An occurrence which happened about this\ntime affected me most powerfully.\n\nI have already mentioned that from the ridge-pole of Marheyo\'s house\nwere suspended a number of packages enveloped in tappa. Many of these I\nhad often seen in the hands of the natives, and their contents had been\nexamined in my presence. But there were three packages hanging\nvery nearly over the place where I lay, which from their remarkable\nappearance had often excited my curiosity. Several times I had asked\nKory-Kory to show me their contents, but my servitor, who, in almost\nevery other particular had acceded to my wishes, refused to gratify me\nin this.\n\nOne day, returning unexpectedly from the \'Ti\', my arrival seemed to\nthrow the inmates of the house into the greatest confusion. They were\nseated together on the mats, and by the lines which extended from the\nroof to the floor I immediately perceived that the mysterious packages\nwere for some purpose or another under inspection. The evident alarm\nthe savages betrayed filled me with forebodings of evil, and with an\nuncontrollable desire to penetrate the secret so jealously guarded.\nDespite the efforts of Marheyo and Kory-Kory to restrain me, I forced\nmy way into the midst of the circle, and just caught a glimpse of three\nhuman heads, which others of the party were hurriedly enveloping in the\ncoverings from which they had been taken.\n\nOne of the three I distinctly saw. It was in a state of perfect\npreservation, and from the slight glimpse I had of it, seemed to have\nbeen subjected to some smoking operation which had reduced it to the\ndry, hard, and mummy-like appearance it presented. The two long scalp\nlocks were twisted up into balls upon the crown of the head in the same\nway that the individual had worn them during life. The sunken cheeks\nwere rendered yet more ghastly by the rows of glistening teeth which\nprotruded from between the lips, while the sockets of the eyes--filled\nwith oval bits of mother-of-pearl shell, with a black spot in the\ncentre--heightened the hideousness of its aspect.\n\nTwo of the three were heads of the islanders; but the third, to my\nhorror, was that of a white man. Although it had been quickly removed\nfrom my sight, still the glimpse I had of it was enough to convince me\nthat I could not be mistaken.\n\nGracious God! what dreadful thoughts entered my head; in solving this\nmystery perhaps I had solved another, and the fate of my lost companion\nmight be revealed in the shocking spectacle I had just witnessed. I\nlonged to have torn off the folds of cloth and satisfied the awful\ndoubts under which I laboured. But before I had recovered from the\nconsternation into which I had been thrown, the fatal packages were\nhoisted aloft, and once more swung over my head. The natives now\ngathered round me tumultuously, and laboured to convince me that what\nI had just seen were the heads of three Happar warriors, who had been\nslain in battle. This glaring falsehood added to my alarm, and it was\nnot until I reflected that I had observed the packages swinging from\ntheir elevation before Toby\'s disappearance, that I could at all recover\nmy composure.\n\nBut although this horrible apprehension had been dispelled, I had\ndiscovered enough to fill me, in my present state of mind, with the most\nbitter reflections. It was plain that I had seen the last relic of some\nunfortunate wretch, who must have been massacred on the beach by the\nsavages, in one of those perilous trading adventures which I have before\ndescribed.\n\nIt was not, however, alone the murder of the stranger that overcame me\nwith gloom. I shuddered at the idea of the subsequent fate his inanimate\nbody might have met with. Was the same doom reserved for me? Was I\ndestined to perish like him--like him perhaps, to be devoured and my\nhead to be preserved as a fearful memento of the events? My imagination\nran riot in these horrid speculations, and I felt certain that the\nworst possible evils would befall me. But whatever were my misgivings, I\nstudiously concealed them from the islanders, as well as the full extent\nof the discovery I had made.\n\nAlthough the assurances which the Typees had often given me, that they\nnever eat human flesh, had not convinced me that such was the case, yet,\nhaving been so long a time in the valley without witnessing anything\nwhich indicated the existence of the practice, I began to hope that it\nwas an event of very rare occurrence, and that I should be spared the\nhorror of witnessing it during my stay among them: but, alas, these\nhopes were soon destroyed.\n\nIt is a singular fact, that in all our accounts of cannibal tribes we\nhave seldom received the testimony of an eye-witness account to this\nrevolting practice. The horrible conclusion has almost always been\nderived from the second-hand evidence of Europeans, or else from the\nadmissions of the savages themselves, after they have in some degree\nbecome civilized. The Polynesians are aware of the detestation in which\nEuropeans hold this custom, and therefore invariably deny its existence,\nand with the craft peculiar to savages, endeavour to conceal every trace\nof it.\n\nThe excessive unwillingness betrayed by the Sandwich Islanders, even at\nthe present day, to allude to the unhappy fate of Cook, has often been\nremarked. And so well have they succeeded in covering the event with\nmystery, that to this very hour, despite all that has been said and\nwritten on the subject, it still remains doubtful whether they wreaked\nupon his murdered body the vengeance they sometimes inflicted upon their\nenemies.\n\nAt Kealakekau, the scene of that tragedy, a strip of ship\'s copper\nnailed against an upright post in the ground used to inform\nthe traveller that beneath reposed the \'remains\' of the great\ncircumnavigator. But I am strongly inclined to believe not only the\ncorpse was refused Christian burial, but that the heart which was\nbrought to Vancouver some time after the event, and which the Hawaiians\nstoutly maintained was that of Captain Cook, was no such thing; and that\nthe whole affair was a piece of imposture which was sought to be palmed\noff upon the credulous Englishman.\n\nA few years since there was living on the island of Maui (one of the\nSandwich group) an old chief, who, actuated by a morbid desire for\nnotoriety, gave himself out among the foreign residents of the place\nas the living tomb of Captain Cook\'s big toe!--affirming that at the\ncannibal entertainment which ensued after the lamented Briton\'s death,\nthat particular portion of his body had fallen to his share. His\nindignant countrymen actually caused him to be prosecuted in the native\ncourts, on a charge nearly equivalent to what we term defamation of\ncharacter; but the old fellow persisting in his assertion, and no\ninvalidating proof being adduced, the plaintiffs were cast in the suit,\nand the cannibal reputation of the defendant firmly established. This\nresult was the making of his fortune; ever afterwards he was in the\nhabit of giving very profitable audiences to all curious travellers who\nwere desirous of beholding the man who had eaten the great navigator\'s\ngreat toe.\n\nAbout a week after my discovery of the contents of the mysterious\npackages, I happened to be at the Ti, when another war-alarm was\nsounded, and the natives rushing to their arms, sallied out to resist\na second incursion of the Happar invaders. The same scene was again\nrepeated, only that on this occasion I heard at least fifteen reports of\nmuskets from the mountains during the time that the skirmish lasted.\nAn hour or two after its termination, loud paeans chanted through the\nvalley announced the approach of the victors. I stood with Kory-Kory\nleaning against the railing of the pi-pi awaiting their advance, when\na tumultuous crowd of islanders emerged with wild clamours from\nthe neighbouring groves. In the midst of them marched four men, one\npreceding the other at regular intervals of eight or ten feet, with\npoles of a corresponding length, extending from shoulder to shoulder,\nto which were lashed with thongs of bark three long narrow bundles,\ncarefully wrapped in ample coverings of freshly plucked palm-leaves,\ntacked together with slivers of bamboo. Here and there upon these green\nwinding-sheets might be seen the stains of blood, while the warriors who\ncarried the frightful burdens displayed upon their naked limbs similar\nsanguinary marks. The shaven head of the foremost had a deep gash upon\nit, and the clotted gore which had flowed from the wound remained in dry\npatches around it. The savage seemed to be sinking under the weight\nhe bore. The bright tattooing upon his body was covered with blood\nand dust; his inflamed eyes rolled in their sockets, and his whole\nappearance denoted extraordinary suffering and exertion; yet sustained\nby some powerful impulse, he continued to advance, while the throng\naround him with wild cheers sought to encourage him. The other three men\nwere marked about the arms and breasts with several slight wounds, which\nthey somewhat ostentatiously displayed.\n\nThese four individuals, having been the most active in the late\nencounter, claimed the honour of bearing the bodies of their slain\nenemies to the Ti. Such was the conclusion I drew from my own\nobservations, and, as far as I could understand, from the explanation\nwhich Kory-Kory gave me.\n\nThe royal Mehevi walked by the side of these heroes. He carried in one\nhand a musket, from the barrel of which was suspended a small canvas\npouch of powder, and in the other he grasped a short javelin, which he\nheld before him and regarded with fierce exultation. This javelin he had\nwrested from a celebrated champion of the Happars, who had ignominiously\nfled, and was pursued by his foes beyond the summit of the mountain.\n\nWhen within a short distance of the Ti, the warrior with the wounded\nhead, who proved to be Narmonee, tottered forward two or three steps,\nand fell helplessly to the ground; but not before another had caught the\nend of the pole from his shoulder, and placed it upon his own.\n\nThe excited throng of islanders, who surrounded the person of the king\nand the dead bodies of the enemy, approached the spot where I stood,\nbrandishing their rude implements of warfare, many of which were bruised\nand broken, and uttering continual shouts of triumph. When the crowd\ndrew up opposite the Ti, I set myself to watch their proceedings most\nattentively; but scarcely had they halted when my servitor, who had left\nmy side for an instant, touched my arm and proposed our returning to\nMarheyo\'s house. To this I objected; but, to my surprise, Kory-Kory\nreiterated his request, and with an unusual vehemence of manner. Still,\nhowever, I refused to comply, and was retreating before him, as in his\nimportunity he pressed upon me, when I felt a heavy hand laid upon my\nshoulder, and turning round, encountered the bulky form of Mow-Mow, a\none-eyed chief, who had just detached himself from the crowd below, and\nhad mounted the rear of the pi-pi upon which we stood. His cheek had\nbeen pierced by the point of a spear, and the wound imparted a still\nmore frightful expression to his hideously tattooed face, already\ndeformed by the loss of an eye. The warrior, without uttering a\nsyllable, pointed fiercely in the direction of Marheyo\'s house, while\nKory-Kory, at the same time presenting his back, desired me to mount.\n\nI declined this offer, but intimated my willingness to withdraw, and\nmoved slowly along the piazza, wondering what could be the cause of this\nunusual treatment. A few minutes\' consideration convinced me that the\nsavages were about to celebrate some hideous rite in connection with\ntheir peculiar customs, and at which they were determined I should not\nbe present. I descended from the pi-pi, and attended by Kory-Kory, who\non this occasion did not show his usual commiseration for my lameness,\nbut seemed only anxious to hurry me on, walked away from the place. As I\npassed through the noisy throng, which by this time completely environed\nthe Ti, I looked with fearful curiosity at the three packages, which now\nwere deposited upon the ground; but although I had no doubt as to their\ncontents, still their thick coverings prevented my actually detecting\nthe form of a human body.\n\nThe next morning, shortly after sunrise, the same thundering sounds\nwhich had awakened me from sleep on the second day of the Feast of\nCalabashes, assured me that the savages were on the eve of celebrating\nanother, and, as I fully believed, a horrible solemnity.\n\nAll the inmates of the house, with the exception of Marheyo, his son,\nand Tinor, after assuming their gala dresses, departed in the direction\nof the Taboo Groves.\n\nAlthough I did not anticipate a compliance with my request, still, with\na view of testing the truth of my suspicions, I proposed to Kory-Kory\nthat, according to our usual custom in the morning, we should take a\nstroll to the Ti: he positively refused; and when I renewed the request,\nhe evinced his determination to prevent my going there; and, to divert\nmy mind from the subject, he offered to accompany me to the stream. We\naccordingly went, and bathed. On our coming back to the house, I was\nsurprised to find that all its inmates had returned, and were lounging\nupon the mats as usual, although the drums still sounded from the\ngroves.\n\nThe rest of the day I spent with Kory-Kory and Fayaway, wandering about\na part of the valley situated in an opposite direction from the Ti,\nand whenever I so much as looked towards that building, although it was\nhidden from view by intervening trees, and at the distance of more than\na mile, my attendant would exclaim, \'Taboo, taboo!\'\n\nAt the various houses where we stopped, I found many of the inhabitants\nreclining at their ease, or pursuing some light occupation, as if\nnothing unusual were going forward; but amongst them all I did not\nperceive a single chief or warrior. When I asked several of the people\nwhy they were not at the \'Hoolah Hoolah\' (the feast), their uniformly\nanswered the question in a manner which implied that it was not intended\nfor them, but for Mehevi, Narmonee, Mow-Mow, Kolor, Womonoo, Kalow,\nrunning over, in their desire to make me comprehend their meaning, the\nnames of all the principal chiefs.\n\nEverything, in short, strengthened my suspicions with regard to the\nnature of the festival they were now celebrating; and which amounted\nalmost to a certainty. While in Nukuheva I had frequently been informed\nthat the whole tribe were never present at these cannibal banquets, but\nthe chiefs and priests only; and everything I now observed agreed with\nthe account.\n\nThe sound of the drums continued without intermission the whole day, and\nfalling continually upon my ear, caused me a sensation of horror which I\nam unable to describe. On the following day, hearing none of those\nnoisy indications of revelry, I concluded that the inhuman feast was\nterminated; and feeling a kind of morbid curiosity to discover whether\nthe Ti might furnish any evidence of what had taken place there, I\nproposed to Kory-Kory to walk there. To this proposition he replied\nby pointing with his finger to the newly risen sun, and then up to the\nzenith, intimating that our visit must be deferred until noon. Shortly\nafter that hour we accordingly proceeded to the Taboo Groves, and as\nsoon as we entered their precincts, I looked fearfully round in, quest\nof some memorial of the scene which had so lately been acted there; but\neverything appeared as usual. On reaching the Ti, we found Mehevi and a\nfew chiefs reclining on the mats, who gave me as friendly a reception as\never. No allusions of any kind were made by them to the recent events;\nand I refrained, for obvious reasons, from referring to them myself.\n\nAfter staying a short time I took my leave. In passing along the piazza,\npreviously to descending from the pi-pi, I observed a curiously carved\nvessel of wood, of considerable size, with a cover placed over it, of\nthe same material, and which resembled in shape a small canoe. It was\nsurrounded by a low railing of bamboos, the top of which was scarcely\na foot from the ground. As the vessel had been placed in its present\nposition since my last visit, I at once concluded that it must have\nsome connection with the recent festival, and, prompted by a curiosity\nI could not repress, in passing it I raised one end of the cover; at the\nsame moment the chiefs, perceiving my design, loudly ejaculated, \'Taboo!\ntaboo!\'\n\nBut the slight glimpse sufficed; my eyes fell upon the disordered\nmembers of a human skeleton, the bones still fresh with moisture, and\nwith particles of flesh clinging to them here and there!\n\nKory-Kory, who had been a little in advance of me, attracted by\nthe exclamations of the chiefs, turned round in time to witness the\nexpression of horror on my countenance. He now hurried towards me,\npointing at the same time to the canoe, and exclaiming rapidly,\n\'Puarkee! puarkee!\' (Pig, pig). I pretended to yield to the deception,\nand repeated the words after him several times, as though acquiescing\nin what he said. The other savages, either deceived by my conduct\nor unwilling to manifest their displeasure at what could not now be\nremedied, took no further notice of the occurrence, and I immediately\nleft the Ti.\n\nAll that night I lay awake, revolving in my mind the fearful situation\nin which I was placed. The last horrid revelation had now been made, and\nthe full sense of my condition rushed upon my mind with a force I had\nnever before experienced.\n\nWhere, thought I, desponding, is there the slightest prospect of escape?\nThe only person who seemed to possess the ability to assist me was the\nstranger Marnoo; but would he ever return to the valley? and if he did,\nshould I be permitted to hold any communication with him? It seemed as\nif I were cut off from every source of hope, and that nothing remained\nbut passively to await whatever fate was in store for me. A thousand\ntimes I endeavoured to account for the mysterious conduct of the\nnatives.\n\nFor what conceivable purpose did they thus retain me a captive? What\ncould be their object in treating me with such apparent kindness, and\ndid it not cover some treacherous scheme? Or, if they had no other\ndesign than to hold me a prisoner, how should I be able to pass away my\ndays in this narrow valley, deprived of all intercourse with civilized\nbeings, and for ever separated from friends and home?\n\nOne only hope remained to me. The French could not long defer a visit\nto the bay, and if they should permanently locate any of their troops\nin the valley, the savages could not for any length of time conceal my\nexistence from them. But what reason had I to suppose that I should be\nspared until such an event occurred, an event which might be postponed\nby a hundred different contingencies?\n\n\n\nCHAPTER THIRTY-THREE\n\nTHE STRANGER AGAIN ARRIVES IN THE VALLEY--SINGULAR INTERVIEW WITH\nHIM--ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE--FAILURE--MELANCHOLY SITUATION--SYMPATHY OF\nMARHEYO\n\n\'MARNOO, Marnoo pemi!\' Such were the welcome sounds which fell upon my\near some ten days after the events related in the preceding chapter.\nOnce more the approach of the stranger was heralded, and the\nintelligence operated upon me like magic. Again I should be able to\nconverse with him in my own language; and I resolve at all hazards to\nconcert with him some scheme, however desperate, to rescue me from a\ncondition that had now become insupportable.\n\nAs he drew near, I remembered with many misgivings the inauspicious\ntermination of our former interview, and when he entered the house, I\nwatched with intense anxiety the reception he met with from its inmates.\nTo my joy, his appearance was hailed with the liveliest pleasure; and\naccosting me kindly, he seated himself by my side, and entered into\nconversation with the natives around him. It soon appeared however,\nthat on this occasion he had not any intelligence of importance to\ncommunicate. I inquired of him from whence he had just come? He replied\nfrom Pueearka, his native valley, and that he intended to return to it\nthe same day.\n\nAt once it struck me that, could I but reach that valley under his\nprotection, I might easily from thence reach Nukuheva by water; and\nanimated by the prospect which this plan held, out I disclosed it in\na few brief words to the stranger, and asked him how it could be best\naccomplished. My heart sunk within me, when in his broken English he\nanswered me that it could never be effected. \'Kanaka no let you go\nnowhere,\' he said; \'you taboo. Why you no like to stay? Plenty moee-moee\n(sleep)--plenty ki-ki (eat)--plenty wahenee (young girls)--Oh, very good\nplace Typee! Suppose you no like this bay, why you come? You no hear\nabout Typee? All white men afraid Typee, so no white men come.\'\n\nThese words distressed me beyond belief; and when I had again related to\nhim the circumstances under which I had descended into the valley, and\nsought to enlist his sympathies in my behalf by appealing to the bodily\nmisery I had endure, he listened with impatience, and cut me short by\nexclaiming passionately, \'Me no hear you talk any more; by by Kanaka\nget mad, kill you and me too. No you see he no want you to speak at\nall?--you see--ah! by by you no mind--you get well, he kill you, eat\nyou, hang you head up there, like Happar Kanaka.--Now you listen--but no\ntalk any more. By by I go;--you see way I go--Ah! then some night Kanaka\nall moee-moee (sleep)--you run away, you come Pueearka. I speak Pueearka\nKanaka--he no harm you--ah! then I take you my canoe Nukuheva--and you\nrun away ship no more.\' With these words, enforced by a vehemence of\ngesture I cannot describe, Marnoo started from my side, and immediately\nengaged in conversation with some of the chiefs who had entered the\nhouse.\n\nIt would have been idle for me to have attempted resuming the interview\nso peremptorily terminated by Marnoo, who was evidently little disposed\nto compromise his own safety by any rash endeavour to ensure mine.\nBut the plan he had suggested struck me as one which might possibly be\naccomplished, and I resolved to act upon it as speedily as possible.\n\nAccordingly, when he arose to depart, I accompanied him with the natives\noutside of the house, with a view of carefully noting the path he\nwould take in leaving the valley. Just before leaping from the pi-pi he\nclasped my hand, and looking significantly at me, exclaimed, \'Now you\nsee--you do what I tell you--ah! then you do good;--you no do so--ah!\nthen you die.\' The next moment he waved his spear to the islanders, and\nfollowing the route that conducted to a defile in the mountains lying\nopposite the Happar side, was soon out of sight.\n\nA mode of escape was now presented to me, but how was I to avail myself\nof it? I was continually surrounded by the savages; I could not stir\nfrom one house to another without being attended by some of them; and\neven during the hours devoted to slumber, the slightest movement which I\nmade seemed to attract the notice of those who shared the mats with me.\nIn spite of these obstacles, however, I determined forthwith to make the\nattempt. To do so with any prospect of success, it was necessary that\nI should have at least two hours start before the islanders should\ndiscover my absence; for with such facility was any alarm spread through\nthe valley, and so familiar, of course, were the inhabitants with the\nintricacies of the groves, that I could not hope, lame and feeble as I\nwas, and ignorant of the route, to secure my escape unless I had this\nadvantage. It was also by night alone that I could hope to accomplish my\nobject, and then only by adopting the utmost precaution.\n\nThe entrance to Marheyo\'s habitation was through a low narrow opening\nin its wicker-work front. This passage, for no conceivable reason that I\ncould devise, was always closed after the household had retired to rest,\nby drawing a heavy slide across it, composed of a dozen or more bits of\nwood, ingeniously fastened together by seizings of sinnate. When any of\nthe inmates chose to go outside, the noise occasioned by the removing of\nthis rude door awakened every body else; and on more than one occasion\nI had remarked that the islanders were nearly as irritable as more\ncivilized beings under similar circumstances.\n\nThe difficulty thus placed in my way I, determined to obviate in the\nfollowing manner. I would get up boldly in the course of the night, and\ndrawing the slide, issue from the house, and pretend that my object was\nmerely to procure a drink from the calabash, which always stood\nwithout the dwelling on the corner of the pi-pi. On re-entering I would\npurposely omit closing the passage after me, and trusting that the\nindolence of the savages would prevent them from repairing my neglect,\nwould return to my mat, and waiting patiently until all were again\nasleep, I would then steal forth, and at once take the route to\nPueearka.\n\nThe very night which followed Marnoo\'s departure, I proceeded to put\nthis project into execution. About midnight, as I imagined, I arose and\ndrew the slide. The natives, just as I had expected, started up, while\nsome of them asked, \'Arware poo awa, Tommo?\' (where are you going,\nTommo?) \'Wai\' (water) I laconically answered, grasping the calabash. On\nhearing my reply they sank back again, and in a minute or two I returned\nto my mat, anxiously awaiting the result of the experiment.\n\nOne after another the savages, turning restlessly, appeared to resume\ntheir slumbers, and rejoicing at the stillness which prevailed, I was\nabout to rise again from my couch, when I heard a slight rustling--a\ndark form was intercepted between me and the doorway--the slide was\ndrawn across it, and the individual, whoever he was, returned to\nhis mat. This was a sad blow to me; but as it might have aroused the\nsuspicions of the islanders to have made another attempt that night, I\nwas reluctantly obliged to defer it until the next. Several times after\nI repeated the same manoeuvre, but with as little success as before.\nAs my pretence for withdrawing from the house was to allay my thirst,\nKory-Kory either suspecting some design on my part, or else prompted\nby a desire to please me, regularly every evening placed a calabash of\nwater by my side.\n\nEven, under these inauspicious circumstances I again and again renewed\nthe attempt, but when I did so, my valet always rose with me, as if\ndetermined I should not remove myself from his observation. For\nthe present, therefore, I was obliged to abandon the attempt; but I\nendeavoured to console myself with the idea that by this mode I might\nyet effect my escape.\n\nShortly after Marnoo\'s visit I was reduced to such a state that it was\nwith extreme difficulty I could walk, even with the assistance of a\nspear, and Kory-Kory, as formerly, was obliged to carry me daily to the\nstream.\n\nFor hours and hours during the warmest part of the day I lay upon my\nmat, and while those around me were nearly all dozing away in careless\nease, I remained awake, gloomily pondering over the fate which it\nappeared now idle for me to resist, when I thought of the loved friends\nwho were thousands and thousands of miles from the savage island in\nwhich I was held a captive, when I reflected that my dreadful fate would\nfor ever be concealed from them, and that with hope deferred they might\ncontinue to await my return long after my inanimate form had blended\nwith the dust of the valley--I could not repress a shudder of anguish.\n\nHow vividly is impressed upon my mind every minute feature of the scene\nwhich met my view during those long days of suffering and sorrow. At my\nrequest my mats were always spread directly facing the door, opposite\nwhich, and at a little distance, was the hut of boughs that Marheyo was\nbuilding.\n\nWhenever my gentle Fayaway and Kory-Kory, laying themselves down beside\nme, would leave me awhile to uninterrupted repose, I took a strange\ninterest in the slightest movements of the eccentric old warrior. All\nalone during the stillness of the tropical mid-day, he would pursue his\nquiet work, sitting in the shade and weaving together the leaflets of\nhis cocoanut branches, or rolling upon his knee the twisted fibres of\nbark to form the cords with which he tied together the thatching of\nhis tiny house. Frequently suspending his employment, and noticing my\nmelancholy eye fixed upon him, he would raise his hand with a gesture\nexpressive of deep commiseration, and then moving towards me slowly,\nwould enter on tip-toes, fearful of disturbing the slumbering natives,\nand, taking the fan from my hand, would sit before me, swaying it gently\nto and fro, and gazing earnestly into my face.\n\nJust beyond the pi-pi, and disposed in a triangle before the entrance\nof the house, were three magnificent bread-fruit trees. At this moment I\ncan recap to my mind their slender shafts, and the graceful inequalities\nof their bark, on which my eye was accustomed to dwell day after day in\nthe midst of my solitary musings. It is strange how inanimate objects\nwill twine themselves into our affections, especially in the hour of\naffliction. Even now, amidst all the bustle and stir of the proud and\nbusy city in which I am dwelling, the image of those three trees seems\nto come as vividly before my eyes as if they were actually present, and\nI still feel the soothing quiet pleasure which I then had in watching\nhour after hour their topmost boughs waving gracefully in the breeze.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR\n\nTHE ESCAPE\n\nNEARLY three weeks had elapsed since the second visit of Marnoo, and it\nmust have been more than four months since I entered the valley, when\none day about noon, and whilst everything was in profound silence,\nMow-Mow, the one-eyed chief, suddenly appeared at the door, and leaning\ntowards me as I lay directly facing him, said in a low tone, \'Toby pemi\nena\' (Toby has arrived here). Gracious heaven! What a tumult of emotions\nrushed upon me at this startling intelligence! Insensible to the pain\nthat had before distracted me, I leaped to my feet, and called wildly\nto Kory-Kory who was reposing by my side. The startled islanders sprang\nfrom their mats; the news was quickly communicated to them; and the\nnext moment I was making my way to the Ti on the back of Kory-Kory; and\nsurrounded by the excited savages.\n\nAll that I could comprehend of the particulars which Mow-Mow rehearsed\nto his audience as we proceeded, was that my long-lost companion had\narrived in a boat which had just entered the bay. These tidings made\nme most anxious to be carried at once to the sea, lest some untoward\ncircumstance should prevent our meeting; but to this they would not\nconsent, and continued their course towards the royal abode. As we\napproached it, Mehevi and several chiefs showed themselves from the\npiazza, and called upon us loudly to come to them.\n\nAs soon as we had approached, I endeavoured to make them understand that\nI was going down to the sea to meet Toby. To this the king objected, and\nmotioned Kory-Kory to bring me into the house. It was in vain to resist;\nand in a few moments I found myself within the Ti, surrounded by a noisy\ngroup engaged in discussing the recent intelligence. Toby\'s name was\nfrequently repeated, coupled with violent exclamations of astonishment.\nIt seemed as if they yet remained in doubt with regard to the fact of\nhis arrival, at at every fresh report that was brought from the shore\nthey betrayed the liveliest emotions.\n\nAlmost frenzied at being held in this state of suspense, I passionately\nbesought Mehevi to permit me to proceed. Whether my companion had\narrived or not, I felt a presentiment that my own fate was about to be\ndecided. Again and again I renewed my petition to Mehevi. He regarded me\nwith a fixed and serious eye, but at length yielding to my importunity,\nreluctantly granted my request.\n\nAccompanied by some fifty of the natives, I now rapidly continued my\njourney; every few moments being transferred from the back of one\nto another, and urging my bearer forward all the while with earnest\nentreaties. As I thus hurried forward, no doubt as to the truth of the\ninformation I had received ever crossed my mind.\n\nI was alive only to the one overwhelming idea, that a chance of\ndeliverance was now afforded me, if the jealous opposition of the\nsavages could be overcome.\n\nHaving been prohibited from approaching the sea during the whole of my\nstay in the valley, I had always associated with it the idea of escape.\nToby too--if indeed he had ever voluntarily deserted me--must have\neffected this flight by the sea; and now that I was drawing near to\nit myself, I indulged in hopes which I had never felt before. It was\nevident that a boat had entered the bay, and I saw little reason to\ndoubt the truth of the report that it had brought my companion. Every\ntime therefore that we gained an elevation, I looked eagerly around,\nhoping to behold him. In the midst of an excited throng, who by their\nviolent gestures and wild cries appeared to be under the influence of\nsome excitement as strong as my own, I was now borne along at a rapid\ntrot, frequently stooping my head to avoid the branches which crossed\nthe path, and never ceasing to implore those who carried me to\naccelerate their already swift pace.\n\nIn this manner we had proceeded about four or five miles, when we were\nmet by a party of some twenty islanders, between whom and those who\naccompanied me ensued an animated conference. Impatient of the delay\noccasioned by this interruption, I was beseeching the man who carried me\nto proceed without his loitering companions, when Kory-Kory, running\nto my side, informed me, in three fatal words, that the news had all\nproved, false--that Toby had not arrived--\'Toby owlee pemi\'. Heaven only\nknows how, in the state of mind and body I then was, I ever sustained\nthe agony which this intelligence caused me; not that the news was\naltogether unexpected; but I had trusted that the fact might not have\nbeen made known until we should have arrived upon the beach. As it was,\nI at once foresaw the course the savages would pursue. They had only\nyielded thus far to my entreaties, that I might give a joyful welcome to\nmy long-lost comrade; but now that it was known he had not arrived they\nwould at once oblige me to turn back.\n\nMy anticipations were but too correct. In spite of the resistance I\nmade, they carried me into a house which was near the spot, and left me\nupon the mats. Shortly afterwards several of those who had accompanied\nme from the Ti, detaching themselves from the others, proceeded in\nthe direction of the sea. Those who remained--among whom were Marheyo,\nMow-Mow, Kory-Kory, and Tinor--gathered about the dwelling, and appeared\nto be awaiting their return.\n\nThis convinced me that strangers--perhaps some of my own countrymen--had\nfor some cause or other entered the bay. Distracted at the idea of their\nvicinity, and reckless of the pain which I suffered, I heeded not the\nassurances of the islanders, that there were no boats at the beach, but\nstarting to my feet endeavoured to gain the door. Instantly the passage\nwas blocked up by several men, who commanded me to resume my seat. The\nfierce looks of the irritated savages admonished me that I could gain\nnothing by force, and that it was by entreaty alone that I could hope to\ncompass my object.\n\nGuided by this consideration, I turned to Mow-Mow, the only chief\npresent whom I had been much in the habit of seeing, and carefully\nconcealing, my real design, tried to make him comprehend that I still\nbelieved Toby to have arrived on the shore, and besought him to allow me\nto go forward to welcome him.\n\nTo all his repeated assertions, that my companion had not been seen,\nI pretended to turn a deaf ear, while I urged my solicitations with an\neloquence of gesture which the one-eyed chief appeared unable to resist.\nHe seemed indeed to regard me as a forward child, to whose wishes he had\nnot the heart to oppose force, and whom he must consequently humour. He\nspoke a few words to the natives, who at once retreated from the door,\nand I immediately passed out of the house.\n\nHere I looked earnestly round for Kory-Kory; but that hitherto faithful\nservitor was nowhere to be seen. Unwilling to linger even for a single\ninstant when every moment might be so important, I motioned to a\nmuscular fellow near me to take me upon his back; to my surprise he\nangrily refused. I turned to another, but with a like result. A third\nattempt was as unsuccessful, and I immediately perceived what had\ninduced Mow-Mow to grant my request, and why the other natives conducted\nthemselves in so strange a manner. It was evident that the chief had\nonly given me liberty to continue my progress towards the sea, because\nhe supposed that I was deprived of the means of reaching it.\n\nConvinced by this of their determination to retain me a captive, I\nbecame desperate; and almost insensible to the pain which I suffered,\nI seized a spear which was leaning against the projecting eaves of the\nhouse, and supporting myself with it, resumed the path that swept by\nthe dwelling. To my surprise, I was suffered to proceed alone; all\nthe natives remaining in front of the house, and engaging in earnest\nconversation, which every moment became more loud and vehement; and to\nmy unspeakable delight, I perceived that some difference of opinion\nhad arisen between them; that two parties, in short, were formed, and\nconsequently that in their divided counsels there was some chance of my\ndeliverance.\n\nBefore I had proceeded a hundred yards I was again surrounded by the\nsavages, who were still in all the heat of argument, and appeared every\nmoment as if they would come to blows. In the midst of this tumult\nold Marheyo came to my side, and I shall never forget the benevolent\nexpression of his countenance. He placed his arm upon my shoulder, and\nemphatically pronounced the only two English words I had taught him\n\'Home\' and \'Mother\'. I at once understood what he meant, and eagerly\nexpressed my thanks to him. Fayaway and Kory-Kory were by his side, both\nweeping violently; and it was not until the old man had twice repeated\nthe command that his son could bring himself to obey him, and take me\nagain upon his back. The one-eyed chief opposed his doing so, but he was\noverruled, and, as it seemed to me, by some of his own party.\n\nWe proceeded onwards, and never shall I forget the ecstasy I felt when I\nfirst heard the roar of the surf breaking upon the beach. Before long\nI saw the flashing billows themselves through the opening between the\ntrees. Oh glorious sight and sound of ocean! with what rapture did I\nhail you as familiar friends! By this time the shouts of the crowd\nupon the beach were distinctly audible, and in the blended confusion\nof sounds I almost fancied I could distinguish the voices of my own\ncountrymen.\n\nWhen we reached the open space which lay between the groves and the sea,\nthe first object that met my view was an English whale-boat, lying with\nher bow pointed from the shore, and only a few fathoms distant from it.\nIt was manned by five islanders, dressed in shirt tunics of calico. My\nfirst impression was that they were in the very act of pulling out from\nthe bay; and that, after all my exertions, I had come too late. My soul\nsunk within me: but a second glance convinced me that the boat was only\nhanging off to keep out of the surf; and the next moment I heard my own\nname shouted out by a voice from the midst of the crowd.\n\nLooking in the direction of the sound, I perceived, to my indescribable\njoy, the tall figure of Karakoee, an Oahu Kanaka, who had often been\naboard the \'Dolly\', while she lay in Nukuheva. He wore the green\nshooting-jacket with gilt buttons, which had been given to him by an\nofficer of the Reine Blanche--the French flag-ship--and in which I had\nalways seen him dressed. I now remembered the Kanaka had frequently told\nme that his person was tabooed in all the valleys of the island, and the\nsight of him at such a moment as this filled my heart with a tumult of\ndelight.\n\nKarakoee stood near the edge of the water with a large roll of\ncotton-cloth thrown over one arm, and holding two or three canvas bags\nof powder, while with the other hand he grasped a musket, which he\nappeared to be proffering to several of the chiefs around him. But they\nturned with disgust from his offers and seemed to be impatient at\nhis presence, with vehement gestures waving him off to his boat, and\ncommanding him to depart.\n\nThe Kanaka, however, still maintained his ground, and I at once\nperceived that he was seeking to purchase my freedom. Animated by the\nidea, I called upon him loudly to come to me; but he replied, in broken\nEnglish, that the islanders had threatened to pierce him with their\nspears, if he stirred a foot towards me. At this time I was still\nadvancing, surrounded by a dense throng of the natives, several of whom\nhad their hands upon me, and more than one javelin was threateningly\npointed at me. Still I perceived clearly that many of those least\nfriendly towards me looked irresolute and anxious. I was still some\nthirty yards from Karakoee when my farther progress was prevented by the\nnatives, who compelled me to sit down upon the ground, while they still\nretained their hold upon my arms. The din and tumult now became tenfold,\nand I perceived that several of the priests were on the spot, all of\nwhom were evidently urging Mow-Mow and the other chiefs to prevent my\ndeparture; and the detestable word \'Roo-ne! Roo-ne!\' which I had heard\nrepeated a thousand times during the day, was now shouted out on every\nside of me. Still I saw that the Kanaka continued his exertions in my\nfavour--that he was boldly debating the matter with the savages, and was\nstriving to entice them by displaying his cloth and powder, and snapping\nthe lock of his musket. But all he said or did appeared only to augment\nthe clamours of those around him, who seemed bent upon driving him into\nthe sea.\n\nWhen I remembered the extravagant value placed by these people upon the\narticles which were offered to them in exchange for me, and which\nwere so indignantly rejected, I saw a new proof of the same fixed\ndetermination of purpose they had all along manifested with regard\nto me, and in despair, and reckless of consequences, I exerted all my\nstrength, and shaking myself free from the grasp of those who held me, I\nsprang upon my feet and rushed towards Karakoee.\n\nThe rash attempt nearly decided my fate; for, fearful that I might slip\nfrom them, several of the islanders now raised a simultaneous shout,\nand pressing upon Karakoee, they menaced him with furious gestures, and\nactually forced him into the sea. Appalled at their violence, the poor\nfellow, standing nearly to the waist in the surf, endeavoured to pacify\nthem; but at length fearful that they would do him some fatal violence,\nhe beckoned to his comrades to pull in at once, and take him into the\nboat.\n\nIt was at this agonizing moment, when I thought all hope was ended, that\na new contest arose between the two parties who had accompanied me to\nthe shore; blows were struck, wounds were given, and blood flowed. In\nthe interest excited by the fray, every one had left me except Marheyo,\nKory-Kory and poor dear Fayaway, who clung to me, sobbing indignantly.\nI saw that now or never was the moment. Clasping my hands together, I\nlooked imploringly at Marheyo, and move towards the now almost deserted\nbeach. The tears were in the old man\'s eyes, but neither he nor\nKory-Kory attempted to hold me, and I soon reached the Kanaka, who had\nanxiously watched my movements; the rowers pulled in as near as they\ndared to the edge of the surf; I gave one parting embrace to Fayaway,\nwho seemed speechless with sorrow, and the next instant I found myself\nsafe in the boat, and Karakoee by my side, who told the rowers at once\nto give way. Marheyo and Kory-Kory, and a great many of the women,\nfollowed me into the water, and I was determined, as the only mark of\ngratitude I could show, to give them the articles which had been brought\nas my ransom. I handed the musket to Kory-Kory, with a rapid gesture\nwhich was equivalent to a \'Deed of Gift\'; threw the roll of cotton to\nold Marheyo, pointing as I did so to poor Fayaway, who had retired from\nthe edge of the water and was sitting down disconsolate on the shingles;\nand tumbled the powder-bags out to the nearest young ladies, all of whom\nwere vastly willing to take them. This distribution did not occupy ten\nseconds, and before it was over the boat was under full way; the Kanaka\nall the while exclaiming loudly against what he considered a useless\nthrowing away of valuable property.\n\nAlthough it was clear that my movements had been noticed by several of\nthe natives, still they had not suspended the conflict in which they\nwere engaged, and it was not until the boat was above fifty yards from\nthe shore that Mow-Mow and some six or seven other warriors rushed into\nthe sea and hurled their javelins at us. Some of the weapons passed\nquite as close to us as was desirable, but no one was wounded, and the\nmen pulled away gallantly. But although soon out of the reach of the\nspears, our progress was extremely slow; it blew strong upon the shore,\nand the tide was against us; and I saw Karakoee, who was steering the\nboat, give many a look towards a jutting point of the bay round which we\nhad to pass.\n\nFor a minute or two after our departure, the savages, who had formed\ninto different groups, remained perfectly motionless and silent. All\nat-once the enraged chief showed by his gestures that he had resolved\nwhat course he would take. Shouting loudly to his companions, and\npointing with his tomahawk towards the headland, he set off at full\nspeed in that direction, and was followed by about thirty of the\nnatives, among whom were several of the priests, all yelling out\n\'Roo-ne! Roo-ne!\' at the very top of their voices. Their intention was\nevidently to swim off from the headland and intercept us in our course.\nThe wind was freshening every minute, and was right in our teeth, and it\nwas one of those chopping angry seas in which it is so difficult to\nrow. Still the chances seemed in our favour, but when we came within a\nhundred yards of the point, the active savages were already dashing into\nthe water, and we all feared that within five minutes\' time we should\nhave a score of the infuriated wretches around us. If so our doom\nwas sealed, for these savages, unlike the feeble swimmer of civilized\ncountries, are, if anything, more formidable antagonists in the water\nthan when on the land. It was all a trial of strength; our natives\npulled till their oars bent again, and the crowd of swimmers shot\nthrough the water despite its roughness, with fearful rapidity.\n\nBy the time we had reached the headland, the savages were spread right\nacross our course. Our rowers got out their knives and held them ready\nbetween their teeth, and I seized the boat-hook. We were all aware that\nif they succeeded in intercepting us they would practise upon us the\nmanoeuvre which has proved so fatal to many a boat\'s crew in these seas.\nThey would grapple the oars, and seizing hold of the gunwhale, capsize\nthe boat, and then we should be entirely at their mercy.\n\nAfter a few breathless moments discerned Mow-Mow. The athletic islander,\nwith his tomahawk between his teeth, was dashing the water before him\ntill it foamed again. He was the nearest to us, and in another instant\nhe would have seized one of the oars. Even at the moment I felt horror\nat the act I was about to commit; but it was no time for pity or\ncompunction, and with a true aim, and exerting all my strength, I dashed\nthe boat-hook at him. It struck him just below the throat, and forced\nhim downwards. I had no time to repeat the blow, but I saw him rise\nto the surface in the wake of the boat, and never shall I forget the\nferocious expression of his countenance.\n\nOnly one other of the savages reached the boat. He seized the gunwhale,\nbut the knives of our rowers so mauled his wrists, that he was forced to\nquit his hold, and the next minute we were past them all, and in safety.\nThe strong excitement which had thus far kept me up, now left me, and I\nfell back fainting into the arms of Karakoee.\n\n . . . . . . . .\n\nThe circumstances connected with my most unexpected escape may be very\nbriefly stated. The captain of an Australian vessel, being in distress\nfor men in these remote seas, had put into Nukuheva in order to recruit\nhis ship\'s company; but not a single man was to be obtained; and the\nbarque was about to get under weigh, when she was boarded by Karakoee,\nwho informed the disappointed Englishman that an American sailor\nwas detained by the savages in the neighbouring bay of Typee; and he\noffered, if supplied with suitable articles of traffic, to undertake his\nrelease. The Kanaka had gained his intelligence from Marnoo, to whom,\nafter all, I was indebted for my escape. The proposition was acceded to;\nand Karakoee, taking with him five tabooed natives of Nukuheva, again\nrepaired aboard the barque, which in a few hours sailed to that part of\nthe island, and threw her main-top-sail aback right off the entrance\nto the Typee bay. The whale-boat, manned by the tabooed crew, pulled\ntowards the head of the inlet, while the ship lay \'off and on\' awaiting\nits return.\n\nThe events which ensued have already been detailed, and little more\nremains to be related. On reaching the \'Julia\' I was lifted over the\nside, and my strange appearance and remarkable adventure occasioned the\nliveliest interest. Every attention was bestowed upon me that humanity\ncould suggest. But to such a state was I reduced, that three months\nelapsed before I recovered my health.\n\nThe mystery which hung over the fate of my friend and companion Toby has\nnever been cleared up. I still remain ignorant whether he succeeded in\nleaving the valley, or perished at the hands of the islanders.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF TOBY\n\nTHE morning my comrade left me, as related in the narrative, he was\naccompanied by a large party of the natives, some of them carrying fruit\nand hogs for the purposes of traffic, as the report had spread that\nboats had touched at the bay.\n\nAs they proceeded through the settled parts of the valley, numbers\njoined them from every side, running with animated cries from every\npathway. So excited were the whole party, that eager as Toby was to gain\nthe beach, it was almost as much as he could do to keep up with them.\nMaking the valley ring with their shouts, they hurried along on a swift\ntrot, those in advance pausing now and then, and flourishing their\nweapons to urge the rest forward.\n\nPresently they came to a place where the paths crossed a bend of the\nmain stream of the valley. Here a strange sound came through the grove\nbeyond, and the Islanders halted. It was Mow-Mow, the one-eyed chief,\nwho had gone on before; he was striking his heavy lance against the\nhollow bough of a tree.\n\nThis was a signal of alarm;--for nothing was now heard but shouts\nof \'Happar! Happar!\'--the warriors tilting with their spears and\nbrandishing them in the air, and the women and boys shouting to each\nother, and picking up the stones in the bed of the stream. In a moment\nor two Mow-Mow and two or three other chiefs ran out from the grove, and\nthe din increased ten fold.\n\nNow, thought Toby, for a fray; and being unarmed, he besought one of the\nyoung men domiciled with Marheyo for the loan of his spear. But he was\nrefused; the youth roguishly telling him that the weapon was very good\nfor him (the Typee), but that a white man could fight much better with\nhis fists.\n\nThe merry humour of this young wag seemed to be shared by the rest, for\nin spite of their warlike cries and gestures, everybody was capering\nand laughing, as if it was one of the funniest things in the world to be\nawaiting the flight of a score or two of Happar javelins from an ambush\nin the thickets.\n\nWhile my comrade was in vain trying to make out the meaning of all this,\na good number of the natives separated themselves from the rest and ran\noff into the grove on one side, the others now keeping perfectly still,\nas if awaiting the result. After a little while, however, Mow-Mow, who\nstood in advance, motioned them to come on stealthily, which they did,\nscarcely rustling a leaf. Thus they crept along for ten or fifteen\nminutes, every now and then pausing to listen.\n\nToby by no means relished this sort of skulking; if there was going to\nbe a fight, he wanted it to begin at once. But all in good time,--for\njust then, as they went prowling into the thickest of the wood, terrific\nhowls burst upon them on all sides, and volleys of darts and stones flew\nacross the path. Not an enemy was to be seen, and what was still more\nsurprising, not a single man dropped, though the pebbles fell among the\nleaves like hail.\n\nThere was a moment\'s pause, when the Typees, with wild shrieks, flung\nthemselves into the covert, spear in hand; nor was Toby behindhand.\nComing so near getting his skull broken by the stones, and animated by\nan old grudge he bore the Happars, he was among the first to dash at\nthem. As he broke his way through the underbush, trying, as he did\nso, to wrest a spear from a young chief, the shouts of battle all of a\nsudden ceased, and the wood was as still as death. The next moment, the\nparty who had left them so mysteriously rushed out from behind every\nbush and tree, and united with the rest in long and merry peals of\nlaughter.\n\nIt was all a sham, and Toby, who was quite out of breath with\nexcitement, was much incensed at being made a fool of.\n\nIt afterwards turned out that the whole affair had been concerted for\nhis particular benefit, though with what precise view it would be hard\nto tell. My comrade was the more enraged at this boys\' play, since it\nhad consumed so much time, every moment of which might be precious.\nPerhaps, however, it was partly intended for this very purpose; and he\nwas led to think so, because when the natives started again, he observed\nthat they did not seem to be in so great a hurry as before. At last,\nafter they had gone some distance, Toby, thinking all the while that\nthey never would get to the sea, two men came running towards them,\nand a regular halt ensued, followed by a noisy discussion, during which\nToby\'s name was often repeated. All this made him more and more anxious\nto learn what was going on at the beach; but it was in vain that he now\ntried to push forward; the natives held him back.\n\nIn a few moments the conference ended, and many of them ran down the\npath in the direction of the water, the rest surrounding Toby, and\nentreating him to \'Moee\', or sit down and rest himself. As an additional\ninducement, several calabashes of food, which had been brought along,\nwere now placed on the ground, and opened, and pipes also were lighted.\nToby bridled his impatience a while, but at last sprang to his feet\nand dashed forward again. He was soon overtaken nevertheless, and again\nsurrounded, but without further detention was then permitted to go down\nto the sea.\n\nThey came out upon a bright green space between the groves and the\nwater, and close under the shadow of the Happar mountain, where a path\nwas seen winding out of sight through a gorge.\n\nNo sign of a boat, however, was beheld, nothing but a tumultuous crowd\nof men and women, and some one in their midst, earnestly talking to\nthem. As my comrade advanced, this person came forward and proved to\nbe no stranger. He was an old grizzled sailor, whom Toby and myself had\nfrequently seen in Nukuheva, where he lived an easy devil-may-care life\nin the household of Mowanna the king, going by the name of \'Jimmy\'.\nIn fact he was the royal favourite, and had a good deal to say in his\nmaster\'s councils. He wore a Manilla hat and a sort of tappa morning\ngown, sufficiently loose and negligent to show the verse of a song\ntattooed upon his chest, and a variety of spirited cuts by native\nartists in other parts of his body. He sported a fishing rod in his\nhand, and carried a sooty old pipe slung about his neck.\n\nThis old rover having retired from active life, had resided in Nukuheva\nsome time--could speak the language, and for that reason was frequently\nemployed by the French as an interpreter. He was an arrant old gossip\ntoo; for ever coming off in his canoe to the ships in the bay, and\nregaling their crews with choice little morsels of court scandal--such,\nfor instance, as a shameful intrigue of his majesty with a Happar\ndamsel, a public dancer at the feasts--and otherwise relating some\nincredible tales about the Marquesas generally. I remember in particular\nhis telling the Dolly\'s crew what proved to be literally a cock-and-bull\nstory, about two natural prodigies which he said were then on the\nisland. One was an old monster of a hermit, having a marvellous\nreputation for sanctity, and reputed a famous sorcerer, who lived away\noff in a den among the mountains, where he hid from the world a\ngreat pair of horns that grew out of his temples. Notwithstanding his\nreputation for piety, this horrid old fellow was the terror of all the\nisland round, being reported to come out from his retreat, and go a\nman-hunting every dark night. Some anonymous Paul Pry, too, coming down\nthe mountain, once got a peep at his den, and found it full of bones. In\nshort, he was a most unheard-of monster.\n\nThe other prodigy Jimmy told us about was the younger son of a chief,\nwho, although but just turned of ten, had entered upon holy orders,\nbecause his superstitious countrymen thought him especially intended\nfor the priesthood from the fact of his having a comb on his head like\na rooster. But this was not all; for still more wonderful to relate, the\nboy prided himself upon his strange crest, being actually endowed with a\ncock\'s voice, and frequently crowing over his peculiarity.\n\nBut to return to Toby. The moment he saw the old rover on the beach, he\nran up to him, the natives following after, and forming a circle round\nthem.\n\nAfter welcoming him to the shore, Jimmy went on to tell him how that he\nknew all about our having run away from the ship, and being among the\nTypees. Indeed, he had been urged by Mowanna to come over to the valley,\nand after visiting his friends there, to bring us back with him, his\nroyal master being exceedingly anxious to share with him the reward\nwhich had been held out for our capture. He, however, assured Toby that\nhe had indignantly spurned the offer.\n\nAll this astonished my comrade not a little, as neither of us had\nentertained the least idea that any white man ever visited the Typees\nsociably. But Jimmy told him that such was the case nevertheless,\nalthough he seldom came into the bay, and scarcely ever went back\nfrom the beach. One of the priests of the valley, in some way or other\nconnected with an old tattooed divine in Nukuheva, was a friend of his,\nand through him he was \'taboo\'.\n\nHe said, moreover, that he was sometimes employed to come round to the\nbay, and engage fruit for ships lying in Nukuheva. In fact, he was now\non that very errand, according to his own account, having just come\nacross the mountains by the way of Happar. By noon of the next day the\nfruit would be heaped up in stacks on the beach, in readiness for the\nboats which he then intended to bring into the bay.\n\nJimmy now asked Toby whether he wished to leave the island--if he did,\nthere was a ship in want of men lying in the other harbour, and he would\nbe glad to take him over, and see him on board that very day.\n\n\'No,\' said Toby, \'I cannot leave the island unless my comrade goes with\nme. I left him up the valley because they would not let him come down.\nLet us go now and fetch him.\'\n\n\'But how is he to cross the mountain with us,\' replied Jimmy, \'even if\nwe get him down to the beach? Better let him stay till tomorrow, and I\nwill bring him round to Nukuheva in the boats.\'\n\n\'That will never do,\' said Toby, \'but come along with me now, and let\nus get him down here at any rate,\' and yielding to the impulse of the\nmoment, he started to hurry back into the valley. But hardly was his\nback turned, when a dozen hands were laid on him, and he learned that he\ncould not go a step further.\n\nIt was in vain that he fought with them; they would not hear of his\nstirring from the beach. Cut to the heart at this unexpected repulse,\nToby now conjured the sailor to go after me alone. But Jimmy replied,\nthat in the mood the Typees then were they would not permit him so to\ndo, though at the same time he was not afraid of their offering him any\nharm.\n\nLittle did Toby then think, as he afterwards had good reason to suspect,\nthat this very Jimmy was a heartless villain, who, by his arts, had just\nincited the natives to restrain him as he was in the act of going after\nme. Well must the old sailor have known, too, that the natives would\nnever consent to our leaving together, and he therefore wanted to get\nToby off alone, for a purpose which he afterwards made plain. Of all\nthis, however, my comrade now knew nothing.\n\nHe was still struggling with the islanders when Jimmy again came up to\nhim, and warned him against irritating them, saying that he was only\nmaking matters worse for both of us, and if they became enraged, there\nwas no telling what might happen. At last he made Toby sit down on a\nbroken canoe by a pile of stones, upon which was a ruinous little shrine\nsupported by four upright poles, and in front partly screened by a net.\nThe fishing parties met there, when they came in from the sea, for their\nofferings were laid before an image, upon a smooth black stone within.\nThis spot Jimmy said was strictly \'taboo\', and no one would molest or\ncome near him while he stayed by its shadow. The old sailor then went\noff, and began speaking very earnestly to Mow-Mow and some other chiefs,\nwhile all the rest formed a circle round the taboo place, looking\nintently at Toby, and talking to each other without ceasing.\n\nNow, notwithstanding what Jimmy had just told him, there presently came\nup to my comrade an old woman, who seated herself beside him on the\ncanoe.\n\n\'Typee motarkee?\' said she. \'Motarkee nuee,\' said Toby.\n\nShe then asked him whether he was going to Nukuheva; he nodded yes; and\nwith a plaintive wail and her eyes filling with tears she rose and left\nhim.\n\nThis old woman, the sailor afterwards said, was the wife of an aged king\nof a small island valley, communicating by a deep pass with the country\nof the Typees. The inmates of the two valleys were related to each other\nby blood, and were known by the same name. The old woman had gone down\ninto the Typee valley the day before, and was now with three chiefs, her\nsons, on a visit to her kinsmen.\n\nAs the old king\'s wife left him, Jimmy again came up to Toby, and told\nhim that he had just talked the whole matter over with the natives, and\nthere was only one course for him to follow. They would not allow him to\ngo back into the valley, and harm would certainly come to both him and\nme, if he remained much longer on the beach. \'So,\' said he, \'you and I\nhad better go to Nukuheva now overland, and tomorrow I will bring Tommo,\nas they call him, by water; they have promised to carry him down to the\nsea for me early in the morning, so that there will be no delay.\'\n\n\'No, no,\' said Toby desperately, \'I will not leave him that way; we must\nescape together.\'\n\n\'Then there is no hope for you,\' exclaimed the sailor, \'for if I leave\nyou here on the beach, as soon as I am gone you will be carried back\ninto the valley, and then neither of you will ever look upon the\nsea again.\' And with many oaths he swore that if he would only go to\nNukuheva with him that day, he would be sure to have me there the very\nnext morning.\n\n\'But how do you know they will bring him down to the beach tomorrow,\nwhen they will not do so today?\' said Toby. But the sailor had many\nreasons, all of which were so mixed up with the mysterious customs\nof the islanders, that he was none the wiser. Indeed, their conduct,\nespecially in preventing him from returning into the valley, was\nabsolutely unaccountable to him; and added to everything else, was the\nbitter reflection, that the old sailor, after all, might possibly be\ndeceiving him. And then again he had to think of me, left alone with the\nnatives, and by no means well. If he went with Jimmy, he might at least\nhope to procure some relief for me. But might not the savages who had\nacted so strangely, hurry me off somewhere before his return? Then, even\nif he remained, perhaps they would not let him go back into the valley\nwhere I was.\n\nThus perplexed was my poor comrade; he knew not what to do, and his\ncourageous spirit was of no use to him now. There he was, all by\nhimself, seated upon the broken canoe--the natives grouped around him at\na distance, and eyeing him more and more fixedly. \'It is getting late:\nsaid Jimmy, who was standing behind the rest. \'Nukuheva is far off, and\nI cannot cross the Happar country by night. You see how it is;--if you\ncome along with me, all will be well; if you do not, depend upon it,\nneither of you will ever escape.\'\n\n\'There is no help for it,\' said Toby, at last, with a heavy heart, \'I\nwill have to trust you,\' and he came out from the shadow of the little\nshrine, and cast a long look up the valley.\n\n\'Now keep close to my side,\' said the sailor, \'and let us be moving\nquickly.\' Tinor and Fayaway here appeared; the kindhearted old woman\nembracing Toby\'s knees, and giving way to a flood of tears; while\nFayaway, hardly less moved, spoke some few words of English she had\nlearned, and held up three fingers before him--in so many days he would\nreturn.\n\nAt last Jimmy pulled Toby out of the crowd, and after calling to a\nyoung Typee who was standing by with a young pig in his arms, all three\nstarted for the mountains.\n\n\'I have told them that you are coming back again,\' said the old fellow,\nlaughing, as they began the ascent, \'but they\'ll have to wait a long\ntime.\' Toby turned, and saw the natives all in motion--the girls waving\ntheir tappas in adieu, and the men their spears. As the last figure\nentered the grove with one arm raised, and the three fingers spread, his\nheart smote him.\n\nAs the natives had at last consented to his going, it might have been,\nthat some of them, at least, really counted upon his speedy return;\nprobably supposing, as indeed he had told them when they were coming\ndown the valley, that his only object in leaving them was to procure the\nmedicines I needed. This, Jimmy also must have told them. And as they\nhad done before, when my comrade, to oblige me, started on his perilous\njourney to Nukuheva, they looked upon me, in his absence, as one of two\ninseparable friends who was a sure guaranty for the other\'s return.\nThis is only my own supposition, however, for as to all their strange\nconduct, it is still a mystery.\n\n\'You see what sort of a taboo man I am,\' said the sailor, after for some\ntime silently following the path which led up the mountain. \'Mow-Mow\nmade me a present of this pig here, and the man who carries it will\ngo right through Happar, and down into Nukuheva with us. So long as he\nstays by me he is safe, and just so it will be with you, and tomorrow\nwith Tommo. Cheer up, then, and rely upon me, you will see him in the\nmorning.\'\n\nThe ascent of the mountain was not very difficult, owing to its being\nnear to the sea, where the island ridges are comparatively low; the\npath, too, was a fine one, so that in a short time all three were\nstanding on the summit with the two valleys at their feet. The white\ncascade marking the green head of the Typee valley first caught Toby\'s\neye; Marheyo\'s house could easily be traced by them.\n\nAs Jimmy led the way along the ridge, Toby observed that the valley of\nthe Happars did not extend near so far inland as that of the Typees.\nThis accounted for our mistake in entering the latter valley as we had.\n\nA path leading down from the mountain was soon seen, and, following it,\nthe party were in a short time fairly in the Happar valley.\n\n\'Now,\' said Jimmy, as they hurried on, \'we taboo men have wives in all\nthe bays, and I am going to show you the two I have here.\'\n\nSo, when they came to the house where he said they lived,--which was\nclose by the base of the mountain in a shady nook among the groves--he\nwent in, and was quite furious at finding it empty--the ladies, had gone\nout. However, they soon made their appearance, and to tell the truth,\nwelcomed Jimmy quite cordially, as well as Toby, about whom they were\nvery inquisitive. Nevertheless, as the report of their arrival spread,\nand the Happars began to assemble, it became evident that the appearance\nof a white stranger among them was not by any means deemed so wonderful\nan event as in the neighbouring valley.\n\nThe old sailor now bade his wives prepare something to eat, as he must\nbe in Nukuheva before dark. A meal of fish, bread-fruit, and bananas,\nwas accordingly served up, the party regaling themselves on the mats, in\nthe midst of a numerous company.\n\nThe Happars put many questions to Jimmy about Toby; and Toby himself\nlooked sharply at them, anxious to recognize the fellow who gave him the\nwound from which he was still suffering. But this fiery gentleman, so\nhandy with his spear, had the delicacy, it seemed, to keep out of view.\nCertainly the sight of him would not have been any added inducement to\nmaking a stay in the valley,--some of the afternoon loungers in Happar\nhaving politely urged Toby to spend a few days with them,--there was a\nfeast coming on. He, however, declined.\n\nAll this while the young Typee stuck to Jimmy like his shadow, and\nthough as lively a dog as any of his tribe, he was now as meek as\na lamb, never opening his mouth except to eat. Although some of the\nHappars looked queerly at him, others were more civil, and seemed\ndesirous of taking him abroad and showing him the valley. But the Typee\nwas not to be cajoled in that way. How many yards he would have to\nremove from Jimmy before the taboo would be powerless, it would be hard\nto tell, but probably he himself knew to a fraction.\n\nOn the promise of a red cotton handkerchief, and something else which he\nkept secret, this poor fellow had undertaken a rather ticklish journey,\nthough, as far as Toby could ascertain, it was something that had never\nhappened before.\n\nThe island-punch--arva--was brought in at the conclusion of the repast,\nand passed round in a shallow calabash.\n\nNow my comrade, while seated in the Happar house, began to feel more\ntroubled than ever at leaving me; indeed, so sad did he feel that he\ntalked about going back to the valley, and wanted Jimmy to escort him\nas far as the mountains. But the sailor would not listen to him, and, by\nway of diverting his thoughts, pressed him to drink of the arva. Knowing\nits narcotic nature, he refused; but Jimmy said he would have something\nmixed with it, which would convert it into an innocent beverage that\nwould inspirit them for the rest of their journey. So at last he was\ninduced to drink of it, and its effects were just as the sailor had\npredicted; his spirits rose at once, and all his gloomy thoughts left\nhim.\n\nThe old rover now began to reveal his true character, though he was\nhardly suspected at the time. \'If I get you off to a ship,\' said he,\n\'you will surely give a poor fellow something for saving you.\' In short,\nbefore they left the house, he made Toby promise that he would give him\nfive Spanish dollars if he succeeded in getting any part of his wages\nadvanced from the vessel, aboard of which they were going; Toby,\nmoreover, engaging to reward him still further, as soon as my\ndeliverance was accomplished.\n\nA little while after this they started again, accompanied by many of the\nnatives, and going up the valley, took a steep path near its head,\nwhich led to Nukuheva. Here the Happars paused and watched them as they\nascended the mountain, one group of bandit-looking fellows, shaking\ntheir spears and casting threatening glances at the poor Typee, whose\nheart as well as heels seemed much the lighter when he came to look down\nupon them.\n\nOn gaining the heights once more, their way led for a time along several\nridges covered with enormous ferns. At last they entered upon a wooded\ntract, and here they overtook a party of Nukuheva natives, well armed,\nand carrying bundles of long poles. Jimmy seemed to know them all very\nwell, and stopped for a while, and had a talk about the \'Wee-Wees\', as\nthe people of Nukuheva call the Monsieurs.\n\nThe party with the poles were King Mowanna\'s men, and by his orders they\nhad been gathering them in the ravines for his allies the French.\n\nLeaving these fellows to trudge on with their loads, Toby and his\ncompanions now pushed forward again, as the sun was already low in the\nwest. They came upon the valleys of Nukuheva on one side of the bay,\nwhere the highlands slope off into the sea. The men-of-war were still\nlying in the harbour, and as Toby looked down upon them, the strange\nevents which had happened so recently, seemed all a dream.\n\nThey soon descended towards the beach, and found themselves in Jimmy\'s\nhouse before it was well dark. Here he received another welcome from\nhis Nukuheva wives, and after some refreshments in the shape of cocoanut\nmilk and poee-poee, they entered a canoe (the Typee of course going\nalong) and paddled off to a whaleship which was anchored near the shore.\nThis was the vessel in want of men. Our own had sailed some time before.\nThe captain professed great pleasure at seeing Toby, but thought from\nhis exhausted appearance that he must be unfit for duty. However, he\nagreed to ship him, as well as his comrade, as soon as he should arrive.\nToby begged hard for an armed boat, in which to go round to Typee and\nrescue me, notwithstanding the promises of Jimmy. But this the captain\nwould not hear of, and told him to have patience, for the sailor would\nbe faithful to his word. When, too, he demanded the five silver dollars\nfor Jimmy, the captain was unwilling to give them. But Toby insisted\nupon it, as he now began to think that Jimmy might be a mere mercenary,\nwho would be sure to prove faithless if not well paid. Accordingly he\nnot only gave him the money, but took care to assure him, over and over\nagain, that as soon as he brought me aboard he would receive a still\nlarger sum.\n\nBefore sun-rise the next day, Jimmy and the Typee started in two of the\nship\'s boats, which were manned by tabooed natives. Toby, of course, was\nall eagerness to go along, but the sailor told him that if he did, it\nwould spoil all; so, hard as it was, he was obliged to remain.\n\nTowards evening he was on the watch, and descried the boats turning the\nheadland and entering the bay. He strained his eyes, and thought he saw\nme; but I was not there. Descending from the mast almost distracted, he\ngrappled Jimmy as he struck the deck, shouting in a voice that startled\nhim, \'Where is Tommo?\' The old fellow faltered, but soon recovering,\ndid all he could to soothe him, assuring him that it had proved to be\nimpossible to get me down to the shore that morning; assigning many\nplausible reasons, and adding that early on the morrow he was going to\nvisit the bay again in a French boat, when, if he did not find me on the\nbeach--as this time he certainly expected to--he would march right back\ninto the valley, and carry me away at all hazards. He, however, again\nrefused to allow Toby to accompany him. Now, situated as Toby was, his\nsole dependence for the present was upon this Jimmy, and therefore he\nwas fain to comfort himself as well as he could with what the old sailor\ntold him. The next morning, however, he had the satisfaction of seeing\nthe French boat start with Jimmy in it. Tonight, then, I will see him,\nthought Toby; but many a long day passed before he ever saw Tommo again.\nHardly was the boat out of sight, when the captain came forward and\nordered the anchor weighed; he was going to sea.\n\nVain were all Toby\'s ravings--they were disregarded; and when he came to\nhimself, the sails were set, and the ship fast leaving the land.\n\n... \'Oh!\' said he to me at our meeting, \'what sleepless nights were\nmine. Often I started from my hammock, dreaming you were before me, and\nupbraiding me for leaving you on the island.\'\n\n . . . . . . .\n\nThere is little more to be related. Toby left this vessel at New\nZealand, and after some further adventures, arrived home in less than\ntwo years after leaving the Marquesas. He always thought of me as\ndead--and I had every reason to suppose that he too was no more; but a\nstrange meeting was in store for us, one which made Toby\'s heart all the\nlighter.\n\n\n\n\nNOTE.\n\nThe author was more than two years in the South Seas, after escaping\nfrom the valley, as recounted in the last chapter. Some time after\nreturning home the foregoing narrative was published, though it was\nlittle thought at the time that this would be the means of revealing\nthe existence of Toby, who had long been given up for lost. But so it\nproved.\n\nThe story of his escape supplies a natural sequel to the adventure, and\nas such it is now added to the volume. It was related to the author by\nToby himself, not ten days since.\n\nNew York, July, 1846.'"