
                                Melville, Herman

                                      Omoo


                                Herman Melville

                                      Omoo

                                    Preface

Nowhere, perhaps, are the proverbial characteristics of sailors shown under
wilder aspects than in the South Seas. For the most part, the vessels navigating
those remote waters are engaged in the Sperm Whale Fishery; a business which is
not only peculiarly fitted to attract the most reckless seamen of all nations,
but m various ways is calculated to foster in them a spirit of the utmost
licence. These voyages, also, are unusually long and perilous; the only harbours
accessible are among the barbarous or semi-civilised islands of Polynesia, or
along the lawless western coast of South America. Hence, scenes the most novel,
and not directly connected with the business of whaling, frequently occur among
the crews of ships in the Pacific.
    Without pretending to give any account of the whale-fishery (for the scope
of the narrative does not embrace the subject), it is partly the object of this
work to convey some idea of the kind of life to which allusion is made, by means
of a circumstantial history of adventures befalling the author.
    Another object proposed is, to give a familiar account of the present
condition of the converted Polynesians, as affected by their promiscuous
intercourse with foreigners, and the teachings of the missionaries, combined.
    As a roving sailor, the author spent about three months in various parts of
the islands of Tahiti and Imeeo, and under circumstances most favourable for
correct observations on the social condition of the natives.
    In every statement connected with missionary operations, a strict adherence
to facts has, of course, been scrupulously observed; and in some instances, it
has even been deemed advisable to quote previous voyagers, in corroboration of
what is offered as the fruit of the author's own observations. Nothing but an
earnest desire for truth and good has led him to touch upon this subject at all.
And if he refrains from offering hints as to the best mode of remedying the
evils which are pointed out, it is only because he thinks, that after being made
acquainted with the facts, others are better qualified to do so.
    Should a little jocoseness be shown upon some curious traits of the
Tahitians, it proceeds from no intention to ridicule: things are merely
described as, from their entire novelty, they first struck an unbiased observer.
    The present narrative necessarily begins where Typee concludes, but has no
further connection with the latter work. All, therefore, necessary for the
reader to understand, who has not read Typee, is given in a brief introduction.
    No journal was kept by the author during his wanderings in the South Seas;
so that, in preparing the ensuing chapters for the press, precision with respect
to dates would have been impossible; and every occurrence has been put down from
simple recollection. The frequency, however, with which these incidents have
been verbally related, has tended to stamp them upon the memory.
    Although it is believed that one or two imperfect Polynesian vocabularies
have been published, none of the Tahitian dialect has as yet appeared. At any
rate, the author has had access to none whatever. In the use of the native
words, therefore, he has been mostly governed by the bare recollection of
sounds.
    Upon several points connected with the history and ancient customs of
Tahiti, collateral information has been obtained from the oldest books of South
Sea voyages, and also from the Polynesian Researches of Ellis.
    The title of the work - Omoo - is borrowed from the dialect of the Marquesas
Islands, where, among other uses, the word signifies a rover, or rather, a
person wandering from one island to another, like some of the natives known
among their countrymen as Taboo kannakers.
    In no respect does the author make pretensions to philosophic research. In a
familiar way, he has merely described what he has seen; and if reflections are
occasionally indulged in, they are spontaneous, and such as would very probably
suggest themselves to the most casual observer.
 
NEW YORK,
    January 28, 1847.

                          Adventures in the South Seas

 

                                  Introduction

In the summer of 1842, the author of this narrative, as a sailor before the
mast, visited the Marquesas Islands in an American South Seaman. At the island
of Nukuheva he left his vessel, which afterwards sailed without him. Wandering in
the interior, he came upon the valley of Typee, inhabited by a primitive tribe
of savages, from which valley a fellow-sailor who accompanied him soon afterwards
effected his escape. The author, however, was detained in an indulgent captivity
for about the space of four months; at the end of which period, he escaped in a
boat which visited the bay.
    This boat belonged to a vessel in need of men, which had recently touched at
a neighbouring harbour of the same island, where the captain had been informed
of the author's detention in Typee. Desirous of adding to his crew, he sailed
round thither, and hove to off the mouth of the bay. As the Typees were
considered hostile, the boat, manned by Taboo natives from the other harbour,
was then sent in, with an interpreter at their head, to procure the author's
release. This was finally accomplished, though not without peril to all
concerned. At the time of his escape, the author was suffering severely from
lameness.
    The boat having gained the open sea, the ship appeared in the distance. Here
the present narrative opens.
 

                                     Part I

                                   Chapter I

                              My Reception Aboard

It was in the middle of a bright tropical afternoon that we made good our escape
from the bay. The vessel we sought lay with her main-top-sail aback about a
league from the land, and was the only object that broke the broad expanse of
the ocean.
    On approaching, she turned out to be a small, slatternly-looking craft, her
hull and spars a dingy black, rigging all slack and bleached nearly white, and
everything denoting an ill state of affairs aboard. The four boats hanging from
her sides proclaimed her a whaler. Leaning carelessly over the bulwarks were the
sailors, wild, haggard-looking fellows in Scotch caps and faded blue frocks;
some of them with cheeks of a mottled bronze, to which sickness soon changes the
rich berry-brown of a seaman's complexion in the tropics.
    On the quarter-deck was one whom I took for the chief mate. He wore a
broad-brimmed Panama hat, and his spy-glass was levelled as we advanced.
    When we came alongside, a low cry ran fore and aft the deck, and everybody
gazed at us with inquiring eyes. And well they might. To say nothing of the
savage boat's crew, panting with excitement, all gesture and vociferation, my
own appearance was calculated to excite curiosity. A robe of the native cloth
was thrown over my shoulders, my hair and beard were uncut, and I betrayed other
evidences of my recent adventure. Immediately on gaining the deck, they beset me
on all sides with questions, the half of which I could not answer, so
incessantly were they put.
    As an instance of the curious coincidences which often befall the sailor, I
must here mention that two countenances before me were familiar. One was that of
an old man-of-war's-man, whose acquaintance I had made in Rio de Janeiro, at
which place touched the ship in which I sailed from home. The other was a young
man, whom, four years previous, I had frequently met in a sailor boarding-house
in Liverpool. I remembered parting with him at Prince's Dock Gates, in the midst
of a swarm of police-officers, truckmen, stevedores, beggars, and the like. And
here we were again: - years had rolled by, many a league of ocean had been
traversed, and we were thrown together under circumstances which almost made me
doubt my own existence.
    But a few moments passed ere I was sent for into the cabin by the captain.
    He was quite a young man, pale and slender, more like a sickly
counting-house clerk than a bluff sea-captain. Bidding me be seated, he ordered
the steward to hand me a glass of Pisco.1 In the state I was, this stimulus
almost made me delirious; so that of all I then went on to relate concerning my
residence on the island, I can scarcely remember a word. After this I was asked
whether I desired to ship; of course I said yes; that is, if he would allow me
to enter for one cruise, engaging to discharge me, if I so desired, at the next
port. In this way men are frequently shipped on board whalemen in the South
Seas. My stipulation was acceded to, and the ship's articles handed me to sign.
    The mate was now called below, and charged to make a well man of me; not,
let it be borne in mind, that the captain felt any great compassion for me, he
only desired to have the benefit of my services as soon as possible.
    Helping me on deck, the mate stretched me out on the windlass and commenced
examining my limb; and then doctoring it after a fashion with something from the
medicine chest, rolled it up in a piece of an old sail, making so big a bundle
that, with my feet resting on the windlass, I might have been taken for a sailor
with the gout. While this was going on, someone removing my tappa cloak slipped
on a blue frock in its place; and another, actuated by the same desire to make a
civilised mortal of me, flourished about my head a great pair of sheep-shears,
to the imminent jeopardy of both ears, and the certain destruction of hair and
beard.
    The day was now drawing to a close, and, as the land faded from my sight, I
was all alive to the change in my condition. But how far short of our
expectations is oftentimes the fulfilment of the most ardent hopes. Safe aboard
of a ship - so long my earnest prayer - with home and friends once more in
prospect, I nevertheless felt weighed down by a melancholy that could not be
shaken off. It was the thought of never more seeing those who, notwithstanding
their desire to retain me a captive, had, upon the whole, treated me so kindly.
I was leaving them forever.
    So unforeseen and sudden had been my escape, so excited had I been through
it all, and so great the contrast between the luxurious repose of the valley,
and the wild noise and motion of a ship at sea, that at times my recent
adventures had all the strangeness of a dream: and I could scarcely believe that
the same sun now setting over a waste of waters, had that very morning risen
above the mountains and peered in upon me as I lay on my mat in Typee.
    Going below into the forecastle just after dark, I was inducted into a
wretched bunk or sleeping-box built over another. The rickety bottoms of both
were spread with several pieces of a blanket. A battered tin can was then handed
me, containing about half a pint of tea - so called by courtesy, though whether
the juice of such stalks as one finds floating therein deserves that title, is a
matter all shipowners must settle with their consciences. A cube of salt beef,
on a hard round biscuit by way of platter, was also handed up; and without more
ado I made a meal, the salt flavour of which, after the Nebuchadnezzar fare of
the valley, was positively delicious.
    While thus engaged, an old sailor on a chest just under me was puffing out
volumes of tobacco smoke. My supper finished, he brushed the stem of his sooty
pipe against the sleeve of his frock, and politely waved it toward me. The
attention was sailor-like; as for the nicety of the thing, no man who has lived
in forecastles is at all fastidious; and so, after a few vigorous whiffs to
induce repose, I turned over and tried my best to forget myself. But in vain. My
crib, instead of extending fore and aft, as it should have done, was placed
athwart-ships, that is, at right angles to the keel; and the vessel, going
before the wind, rolled to such a degree, that every time my heels went up and
my head went down, I thought I was on the point of turning a somerset. Besides
this, there were still more annoying causes of inquietude; and, every once in a
while, a splash of water came down the open scuttle, and flung the spray in my
face.
    At last, after a sleepless night, broken twice by the merciless call of the
watch, a peep of daylight struggled into view from above, and someone came
below. It was my old friend with the pipe.
    »Here, shipmate,« said I, »help me out of this place, and let me go on
deck.«
    »Halloa, who 's that croaking?« was the rejoinder, as he peered into the
obscurity where I lay. »Ay, Typee, my king of the cannibals, is it you? But I
say, my lad, how 's that spar of your'n? the mate says it 's in a devil of a
way; and last night set the steward to sharpening the handsaw: hope he won't
have the carving of ye.«
    Long before daylight we arrived off the bay of Nukuheva, and making short
tacks until morning, we then ran in and sent a boat ashore with the natives who
had brought me to the ship. Upon its return we made sail again, and stood off
from the land. There was a fine breeze; and notwithstanding my bad night's rest,
the cool fresh air of a morning at sea was so bracing, that, as soon as I
breathed it, my spirits rose at once.
    Seated upon the windlass the greater portion of the day, and chatting freely
with the men, I learned the history of the voyage thus far, and everything
respecting the ship and its present condition.
    These matters I will now throw together in the next chapter.
 

                                   Chapter II

                            Some Account of the Ship

First and foremost, I must give some account of the Julia herself, or Little
Jule, as the sailors familiarly styled her.
    She was a small barque of a beautiful model, something more than two hundred
tons, Yankee-built, and very old. Fitted for a privateer out of a New England
port during the war of 1812, she had been captured at sea by a British cruiser,
and, after seeing all sorts of service, was at last employed as a government
packet in the Australian seas. Being condemned, however, about two years
previous, she was purchased at auction by a house in Sydney, who, after some
slight repairs, dispatched her on the present voyage.
    Notwithstanding the repairs, she was still in a miserable plight. The lower
masts were said to be unsound; the standing rigging was much worn; and, in some
places, even the bulwarks were quite rotten. Still, she was tolerably tight, and
but little more than the ordinary pumping of a morning served to keep her free.
    But all this had nothing to do with her sailing; at that, brave Little Jule,
plump Little Jule, was a witch. Blow high, or blow low, she was always ready for
the breeze; and when she dashed the waves from her prow, and pranced, and pawed
the sea, you never thought of her patched sails and blistered hull. How the
fleet creature would fly before the wind! rolling, now and then, to be sure, but
in very playfulness. Sailing to windward, no gale could bow her over: with spars
erect, she looked right up into the wind's eye, and so she went.
    But after all, Little Jule was not to be confided in. Lively enough, and
playful she was, but on that very account the more to be distrusted. Who knew
but that, like some vivacious old mortal all at once sinking into a decline, she
might, some dark night, spring a leak and carry us all to the bottom? However,
she played us no such ugly trick, and therefore I wrong Little Jule in supposing
it.
    She had a free, roving commission. According to her papers she might go
whither she pleased - whaling, sealing, or anything else. Sperm whaling,
however, was what she relied upon; though, as yet, only two fish had been
brought alongside.
    The day they sailed out of Sydney Heads, the ship's company, all told,
numbered some thirty-two souls; now, they mustered about twenty; the rest had
deserted. Even the three junior mates who had headed the whale-boats were gone;
and of the four harpooners, only one was left, a wild New Zealander, or Mowree,
as his countrymen are more commonly called in the Pacific. But this was not all.
More than half the seamen remaining were more or less unwell from a long sojourn
in a dissipated port; some of them wholly unfit for duty, one or two dangerously
ill, and the rest managing to stand their watch, though they could do but
little.
    The captain was a young Cockney, who, a few years before, had emigrated to
Australia, and, by some favouritism or other, had procured the command of the
vessel, though in no wise competent. He was essentially a landsman, and though a
man of education, no more meant for the sea than a hair-dresser. Hence everybody
made fun of him. They called him The Cabin Boy, Paper Jack, and half a dozen
other undignified names. In truth, the men made no secret of the derision in
which they held him; and as for the slender gentleman himself, he knew it all
very well, and bore himself with becoming meekness. Holding as little
intercourse with them as possible, he left everything to the chief mate, who, as
the story went, had been given his captain in charge. Yet, despite his apparent
unobtrusiveness, the silent captain had more to do with the men than they
thought. In short, although one of your sheepish- fellows, he had a sort of
still, timid cunning, which no one would have suspected, and which, for that
very reason, was all the more active. So the bluff mate, who always thought he
did what he pleased, was occasionally made a tool of; and some obnoxious
measures which he carried out, in spite of all growlings, were little thought to
originate with the dapper little fellow in nankeen jacket and white canvas
pumps. But, to all appearance, at least, the mate had everything his own way;
indeed, in most things this was actually the case; and it was quite plain that
the captain stood in awe of him.
    So far as courage, seamanship, and a natural aptitude for keeping riotous
spirits in subjection were concerned, no man was better qualified for his
vocation than John Jermin. He was the very beau-ideal of the efficient race of
short, thick-set men. His hair curled in little rings of iron gray all over his
round, bullet head. As for his countenance, it was strongly marked, deeply
pitted with the small-pox. For the rest, there was a fierce little squint out of
one eye; the nose had a rakish twist to one side; while his large mouth, and
great white teeth, looked absolutely sharkish when he laughed. In a word, no
one, after getting a fair look at him, would ever think of improving the shape
of his nose, wanting in symmetry if it was. Notwithstanding his pugnacious
looks, however, Jermin had a heart as big as a bullock's; that you saw at a
glance.
    Such was our mate; but he had one failing: he abhorred all weak infusions,
and cleaved manfully to strong drink. At all times he was more or less under the
influence of it. Taken in moderate quantities, I believe, in my soul, it did a
man like him good; brightened his eyes, swept the cobwebs out of his brain, and
regulated his pulse. But the worst of it was, that sometimes he drank too much,
and a more obstreperous fellow than Jermin in his cups, you seldom came across.
He was always for having a fight; but the very men he flogged loved him as a
brother, for he had such an irresistibly good-natured way of knocking them down,
that no one could find it in his heart to bear malice against him. So much for
stout little Jermin.
    All English whalemen are bound by law to carry a physician, who, of course,
is rated a gentleman, and lives in the cabin, with nothing but his professional
duties to attend to; but incidentally he drinks flip, and plays cards with the
captain. There was such a worthy aboard of the Julia; but, curious to tell, he
lived in the forecastle with the men. And this was the way it happened.
    In the early part of the voyage the doctor and the captain lived together as
pleasantly as could be. To say nothing of many a can they drank over the cabin
transom, both of them had read books, and one of them had travelled; so their
stories never flagged. But once on a time they got into a dispute about
politics, and the doctor, moreover, getting into a rage, drove home an argument
with his fist, and left the captain on the floor literally silenced. This was
carrying it with a high hand; so he was shut up in his state-room for ten days,
and left to meditate on bread and water, and the impropriety of flying into a
passion. Smarting under his disgrace, he undertook, a short time after his
liberation, to leave the vessel clandestinely at one of the islands, but was
brought back ignominiously, and again shut up. Being set at large for the second
time, he vowed he would not live any longer with the captain, and went forward
with his chests among the sailors, where he was received with open arms as a
good fellow and an injured man.
    I must give some further account of him, for he figures largely in the
narrative. His early history, like that of many other heroes, was enveloped in
the profoundest obscurity; though he threw out hints of a patrimonial estate, a
nabob uncle, and an unfortunate affair which sent him a-roving. All that was
known, however, was this. He had gone out to Sydney as assistant-surgeon of an
emigrant ship. On his arrival there, he went back into the country, and after a
few months' wanderings, returned to Sydney penniless, and entered as doctor
aboard of the Julia.
    His personal appearance was remarkable. He was over six feet high - a tower
of bones, with a complexion absolutely colourless, fair hair, and a light,
unscrupulous gray eye, twinkling occasionally with the very devil of mischief.
Among the crew, he went by the name of the Long Doctor, or more frequently
still, Doctor Long Ghost. And from whatever high estate Doctor Long Ghost might
have fallen, he had certainly at some time or other spent money, drunk Burgundy,
and associated with gentlemen.
    As for his learning, he quoted Virgil, and talked of Hobbes of Malmsbury,
besides repeating poetry by the canto, especially Hudibras. He was, moreover, a
man who had seen the world. In the easiest way imaginable, he could refer to an
amour he had in Palermo, his lion-hunting before breakfast among the Caffres,
and the quality of the coffee to be drunk in Muscat; and about these places, and
a hundred others, he had more anecdotes than I can tell of. Then such mellow old
songs as he sang, in a voice so round and racy, the real juice of sound. How
such notes came forth from his lank body was a constant marvel.
    Upon the whole, Long Ghost was as entertaining a companion as one could
wish; and to me in the Julia, an absolute godsend.
 

                                  Chapter III

                          Further Account of the Julia

Owing to the absence of anything like regular discipline, the vessel was in a
state of the greatest uproar. The captain, having for some time past been more
or less confined to the cabin from sickness, was seldom seen. The mate, however,
was as hearty as a young lion, and ran about the decks making himself heard at
all hours. Bembo, the New Zealand harpooneer, held little intercourse with
anybody but the mate, who could talk to him freely in his own lingo. Part of his
time he spent out on the bowsprit, fishing for albicores with a bone hook; and
occasionally he waked all hands up of a dark night dancing some cannibal
fandango all by himself on the forecastle. But, upon the whole, he was
remarkably quiet, though something in his eye showed he was far from being
harmless.
    Doctor Long Ghost, having sent in a written resignation as the ship's
doctor, gave himself out as a passenger for Sydney, and took the world quite
easy. As for the crew, those who were sick seemed marvellously contented for men
in their condition; and the rest, not displeased with the general licence, gave
themselves little thought of the morrow.
    The Julia's provisions were very poor. When opened, the barrels of pork
looked as if preserved in iron rust, and diffused an odour like a stale ragout.
The beef was worse yet; a mahogany-coloured fibrous substance, so tough and
tasteless, that I almost believed the cook's story of a horse's hoof with the
shoe on having been fished up out of the pickle of one of the casks. Nor was the
biscuit much better; nearly all of it was broken into hard little gun-flints,
honeycombed through and through, as if the worms usually infesting this article
in long tropical voyages, had, in boring after nutriment, come out at the
antipodes without finding anything.
    Of what sailors call small stores, we had but little. Tea, however, we had
in abundance; though, I dare say, the Hong merchants never had the shipping of
it. Besides this, every other day we had what English seamen call shot soup -
great round peas, polishing themselves like pebbles by rolling about in tepid
water.
    It was afterwards told me, that all our provisions had been purchased by the
owners at an auction sale of condemned navy stores in Sydney.
    But notwithstanding the wateriness of the first course of soup, and the
saline flavour of the beef and pork, a sailor might have made a satisfactory
meal aboard of the Julia had there been any side dishes - a potato or two, a
yam, or a plantain. But there was nothing of the kind. Still, there was
something else, which, in the estimation of the men, made up for all
deficiencies; and that was the regular allowance of Pisco.
    It may seem strange that in such a state of affairs the captain should be
willing to keep the sea with his ship. But the truth was, that by lying in
harbour, he ran the risk of losing the remainder of his men by desertion; and as
it was, he still feared that, in some outlandish bay or other, he might one day
find his anchor down, and no crew to weigh it.
    With judicious officers the most unruly seamen can at sea be kept in some
sort of subjection; but once get them within a cable's length of the land, and
it is hard restraining them. It is for this reason that many South Sea whalemen
do not come to an anchor for eighteen or twenty months on a stretch. When fresh
provisions are needed, they run for the nearest land - heave to eight or ten
miles off, and send a boat ashore to trade. The crews manning vessels like these
are for the most part villains of all nations and dyes; picked up in the lawless
ports of the Spanish Main, and among the savages of the islands. Like
galley-slaves, they are only to be governed by scourges and chains. Their
officers go among them with dirk and pistol - concealed, but ready at a grasp.
    Not a few of our own crew were men of this stamp; but, riotous at times as
they were, the bluff drunken energies of Jermin were just the thing to hold them
in some sort of noisy subjection. Upon an emergency, he flew in among them,
showering his kicks and cuffs right and left, and creating a sensation in every
direction. And, as hinted before, they bore this knock-down authority with great
good-humour. A sober, discreet, dignified officer could have done nothing with
them; such a set would have thrown him and his dignity overboard.
    Matters being thus, there was nothing for the ship but to keep the sea. Nor
was the captain without hope that the invalid portion of his crew, as well as
himself, would soon recover; and then there was no telling what luck in the
fishery might yet be in store for us. At any rate, at the time of my coming
aboard, the report was that Captain Guy was resolved upon retrieving the past,
and filling the vessel with oil in the shortest space possible.
    With this intention, we were now shaping our course for Hytyhoo, a village
on the island of St. Christina - one of the Marquesas, and so named by Mendanna
- for the purpose of obtaining eight seamen, who, some weeks before, had stepped
ashore there from the Julia. It was supposed that by this time they must have
recreated themselves sufficiently, and would be glad to return to their duty.
    So to Hytyhoo, with all our canvas spread, and coquetting with the warm,
breezy Trades, we bowled along; gliding up and down the long, slow swells, the
bonettas and albicores frolicking round us.
 

                                   Chapter IV

                           A Scene in the Forecastle

I had scarcely been aboard of the ship twenty-four hours when a circumstance
occurred, which, although no ways picturesque, is so significant of the state of
affairs, that I cannot forbear relating it.
    In the first place, however, it must be known, that among the crew was a man
so excessively ugly, that he went by the ironical appellation of Beauty. He was
the ship's carpenter; and for that reason, was sometimes known by his nautical
cognomen of Chips. There was no absolute deformity about the man; he was
symmetrically ugly. But ill favoured as he was in person, Beauty was none the
less ugly in temper; but no one could blame him; his countenance had soured his
heart. Now Jermin and Beauty were always at sword's points. The truth was, the
latter was the only man in the ship whom the mate had never decidedly got the
better of; and hence the grudge he bore him. As for Beauty, he prided himself
upon talking up to the mate, as we shall soon see.
    Toward evening there was something to be done on deck, and the carpenter,
who belonged to the watch, was missing. »Where 's that skulk, Chips?« shouted
Jermin down the forecastle scuttle.
    »Taking his ease, d' ye see, down here on a chest, if you want to know,«
replied that worthy himself, quietly withdrawing his pipe from his mouth. This
insolence flung the fiery little mate into a mighty rage; but Beauty said
nothing, puffing away with all the tranquillity imaginable. Here it must be
remembered that, never mind what may be the provocation, no prudent officer ever
dreams of entering a ship's forecastle on a hostile visit. If he wants to see
anybody who happens to be there, and refuses to come up, why he must wait
patiently until the sailor is willing. The reason is this. The place is very
dark, and nothing is easier than to knock one descending on the head, before he
knows where he is, and a very long while before he ever finds out who did it.
    Nobody knew this better than Jermin, and so he contented himself with
looking down the scuttle and storming. At last Beauty made some cool observation
which set him half wild.
    »Tumble on deck,« he then bellowed - »come, up with you, or I 'll jump down
and make you.« The carpenter begged him to go about it at once.
    No sooner said than done; prudence forgotten, Jermin was there; and by a
sort of instinct, had his man by the throat before he could well see him. One of
the men now made a rush at him, but the rest dragged him off, protesting that
they should have fair play.
    »Now, come on deck,« shouted the mate, struggling like a good fellow to hold
the carpenter fast.
    »Take me there,« was the dogged answer, and Beauty wriggled about in the
nervous grasp of the other like a couple of yards of boa-constrictor.
    His assailant now undertook to make him up into a compact bundle, the more
easily to transport him. While thus occupied, Beauty got his arms loose, and
threw him over backward. But Jermin quickly recovered himself, when for a time
they had it every way, dragging each other about, bumping their heads against
the projecting beams, and returning each other's blows the first favourable
opportunity that offered. Unfortunately, Jermin at last slipped and fell; his
foe seating himself on his chest, and keeping him down. Now this was one of
those situations in which the voice of counsel, or reproof, comes with peculiar
unction. Nor did Beauty let the opportunity slip. But the mate said nothing in
reply, only foaming at the mouth and struggling to rise.
    Just then a thin tremor of a voice was heard from above. It was the captain;
who, happening to ascend to the quarter-deck at the commencement of the scuffle,
would gladly have returned to the cabin, but was prevented by the fear of
ridicule. As the din increased, and it became evident that his officer was in
serious trouble, he thought it would never do to stand leaning over the
bulwarks, so he made his appearance on the forecastle, resolved, as his best
policy, to treat the matter lightly.
    »Why, why,« he began, speaking pettishly, and very fast, »what 's all this
about? - Mr. Jermin, Mr. Jermin - carpenter, carpenter; what are you doing down
there? Come on deck; come on deck.«
    Whereupon Doctor Long Ghost cries out in a squeak, »Ah! Miss Guy, is that
you? Now, my dear, go right home, or you 'll get hurt.«
    »Pooh, pooh! you, sir, whoever you are, I was not speaking to you; none of
your nonsense. Mr. Jermin, I was talking to you; have the kindness to come on
deck, sir; I want to see you.«
    »And how, in the devil's name, am I to get there?« cried the mate,
furiously. »Jump down here, Captain Guy, and show yourself a man. Let me up, you
Chips! unhand me, I say! Oh! I 'll pay you for this, some day! Come on, Captain
Guy!«
    At this appeal, the poor man was seized with a perfect spasm of fidgets.
»Pooh, pooh, carpenter; have done with your nonsense! Let him up, sir; let him
up! Do you hear? Let Mr. Jermin come on deck!«
    »Go along with you, Paper Jack,« replied Beauty; »this quarrel 's between
the mate and me; so go aft, where you belong!«
    As the captain once more dipped his head down the scuttle to make answer,
from an unseen hand he received, full in the face, the contents of a tin can of
soaked biscuit and tea-leaves. The doctor was not far off just then. Without
waiting for anything more, the discomfited gentleman, with both hands to his
streaming face, retreated to the quarter-deck.
    A few moments more, and Jermin, forced to a compromise, followed after, in
his torn frock and scarred face, looking for all the world as if he had just
disentangled himself from some intricate piece of machinery. For about half an
hour both remained in the cabin, where the mate's rough tones were heard high
above the low, smooth voice of the captain.
    Of all his conflicts with the men, this was the first in which Jermin had
been worsted; and he was proportionably enraged. Upon going below - as the
steward afterwards told us - he bluntly informed Guy that, for the future, he
might look out for his ship himself; for his part, he was done with her, if that
was the way he allowed his officers to be treated. After many high words, the
captain finally assured him that, the first fitting opportunity, the carpenter
should be cordially flogged; though, as matters stood, the experiment would be a
hazardous one. Upon this Jermin reluctantly consented to drop the matter for the
present; and he soon drowned all thought of it in a can of flip, which Guy had
previously instructed the steward to prepare, as a sop to allay his wrath.
    Nothing more ever came of this.
 

                                   Chapter V

                            What Happened at Hytyhoo

Less than forty-eight hours after leaving Nukuheva, the blue, looming island of
St. Christina greeted us from afar. Drawing near the shore, the grim, black
spars and waspish hull of a small man-of-war craft crept into view; the masts
and yards lined distinctly against the sky. She was riding to her anchor in the
bay, and proved to be a French corvette.
    This pleased our captain exceedingly, and, coming on deck, he examined her
from the mizen rigging with his glass. His original intention was not to let go
an anchor; but, counting upon the assistance of the corvette in case of any
difficulty, he now changed his mind, and anchored alongside of her. As soon as a
boat could be lowered, he then went off to pay his respects to the commander,
and moreover, as we supposed, to concert measures for the apprehension of the
runaways.
    Returning in the course of twenty minutes, he brought along with him two
officers in undress and whiskers, and three or four drunken obstreperous old
chiefs; one with his legs thrust into the armholes of a scarlet vest, another
with a pair of spurs on his heels, and a third in a cocked hat and feather. In
addition to these articles, they merely wore the ordinary costume of their race
- a slip of native cloth about the loins. Indecorous as their behaviour was,
these worthies turned out to be a deputation from the reverend the clergy of the
island; and the object of their visit was to put our ship under a rigorous
Taboo, to prevent the disorderly scenes and facilities for desertion which would
ensue were the natives - men and women - allowed to come off to us freely.
    There was little ceremony about the matter. The chiefs went aside for a
moment, laid their shaven old crowns together, and went over a little mummery.
Whereupon, their leader tore a long strip from his girdle of white tappa, and
handed it to one of the French officers, who, after explaining what was to be
done, gave it to Jermin. The mate at once went out to the end of the
flying-jib-boom, and fastened there the mystic symbol of the ban. This put to
flight a party of girls who had been observed swimming toward us. Tossing their
arms about, and splashing the water like porpoises, with loud cries of »taboo!
taboo!« they turned about and made for the shore.
    The night of our arrival, the mate and the Mowree were to stand watch and
watch, relieving each other every four hours; the crew, as is sometimes
customary when lying at an anchor, being allowed to remain all night below. A
distrust of the men, however, was, in the present instance, the principal reason
for this proceeding. Indeed, it was all but certain, that some kind of attempt
would be made at desertion; and therefore, when Jermin's first watch came on at
eight bells (midnight) - by which time all was quiet - he mounted to the deck
with a flask of spirits in one hand, and the other in readiness to assail the
first countenance that showed itself above the forecastle scuttle.
    Thus prepared, he doubtless meant to stay awake; but for all that, before
long he fell asleep; and slept with such hearty good-will too, that the men who
left us that night might have been waked up by his snoring. Certain it was, the
mate snored most strangely; and no wonder, with that crooked bugle of his. When
he came to himself it was just dawn, but quite light enough to show two boats
gone from the side. In an instant he knew what had happened.
    Dragging the Mowree out of an old sail where he was napping, he ordered him
to clear away another boat, and then darted into the cabin to tell the captain
the news. Springing on deck again, he dived down into the forecastle for a
couple of oarsmen, but hardly got there before there was a cry, and a loud
splash heard over the side. It was the Mowree and the boat - into which he had
just leaped to get ready for lowering - rolling over and over in the water.
    The boat having at nightfall been hoisted up to its place over the starboard
quarter, someone had so cut the tackles which held it there, that a moderate
strain would at once part them. Bembo's weight had answered the purpose, showing
that the deserters must have ascertained his specific gravity to a fibre of
hemp. There was another boat remaining; but it was as well to examine it before
attempting to lower. And it was well they did; for there was a hole in the
bottom large enough to drop a barrel through: she had been scuttled most
ruthlessly.
    Jermin was frantic. Dashing his hat upon deck, he was about to plunge
overboard and swim to the corvette for a cutter, when Captain Guy made his
appearance and begged him to stay where he was. By this time the officer of the
deck aboard the Frenchman had noticed our movements, and hailed to know what had
happened. Guy informed him through his trumpet, and men to go in pursuit were
instantly promised. There was a whistling of a boatswain's pipe, an order or
two, and then a large cutter pulled out from the man-of-war's stern, and in half
a dozen strokes was alongside. The mate leaped into her, and they pulled rapidly
ashore.
    Another cutter, carrying an armed crew, soon followed.
    In an hour's time the first returned, towing the two whale-boats, which had
been found turned up like tortoises on the beach.
    Noon came, and nothing more was heard from the deserters. Meanwhile Doctor
Long Ghost and myself lounged about, cultivating an acquaintance, and gazing
upon the shore scenery. The bay was as calm as death; the sun high and hot; and
occasionally a still gliding canoe stole out from behind the headlands, and shot
across the water.
    And all the morning long our sick men limped about the deck, casting wistful
glances inland, where the palm-trees waved and beckoned them into their reviving
shades. Poor invalid rascals! How conducive to the restoration of their
shattered health would have been those delicious groves! But hard-hearted Jermin
assured them, with an oath, that foot of theirs should never touch the beach.
    Toward sunset a crowd was seen coming down to the water. In advance of all
were the fugitives - bareheaded - their frocks and trousers hanging in tatters,
every face covered with blood and dust, and their arms pinioned behind them with
green thongs. Following them up, was a shouting rabble of islanders, pricking
them with the points of their long spears, the party from the corvette menacing
them in the flank with their naked cutlasses.
    The bonus of a musket to the king of the Bay, and the promise of a tumbler
full of powder for every man caught, had set the whole population on their
track; and so successful was the hunt, that not only were that morning's
deserters brought back, but five of those left behind on a former visit. The
natives, however, were the mere hounds of the chase, raising the game in their
coverts, but leaving the securing of it to the Frenchmen. Here, as elsewhere,
the islanders have no idea of taking part in such a scuffle as ensues upon the
capture of a party of desperate seamen.
    The runaways were at once brought aboard, and, though they looked rather
sulky, soon came round, and treated the whole affair as a frolicsome adventure.
 

                                   Chapter VI

                            We Touch at La Dominica

Fearful of spending another night at Hytyhoo, Captain Guy caused the ship to be
got under way shortly after dark.
    The next morning, when all supposed that we were fairly embarked for a long
cruise, our course was suddenly altered for La Dominica, or Hivarhoo, an island
just north of the one we had quitted. The object of this, as we learned, was to
procure, if possible, several English sailors, who, according to the commander
of the corvette, had recently gone ashore there from an American whaler, and
were desirous of shipping aboard of one of their own country vessels.
    We made the land in the afternoon, coming abreast of a shady glen opening
from a deep bay, and winding by green defiles far out of sight. »Hands by the
weather-main-brace!« roared the mate, jumping up on the bulwarks; and in a
moment the prancing Julia, suddenly arrested in her course, bridled her head
like a steed reined in, while the foam flaked under her bows.
    This was the place where we expected to obtain the men; so a boat was at
once got in readiness to go ashore. Now it was necessary to provide a picked
crew - men the least likely to abscond. After considerable deliberation on the
part of the captain and mate, four of the seamen were pitched upon as the most
trustworthy; or rather they were selected from a choice assortment of suspicious
characters as being of an inferior order of rascality.
    Armed with cutlasses all round - the natives were said to be an ugly set -
they were followed over the side by the invalid captain, who, on this occasion,
it seems, was determined to signalise himself. Accordingly, in addition to his
cutlass, he wore an old boarding belt, in which was thrust a brace of pistols.
They at once shoved off.
    My friend Long Ghost had, among other things which looked somewhat strange
in a ship's forecastle, a capital spy-glass, and on the present occasion we had
it in use.
    When the boat neared the head of the inlet, though invisible to the naked
eye, it was plainly revealed by the glass; looking no bigger than an egg-shell,
and the men diminished to pigmies.
    At last, borne on what seemed a long flake of foam, the tiny craft shot up
the beach amid a shower of sparkles. Not a soul was there. Leaving one of their
number by the water, the rest of the pigmies stepped ashore, looking about them
very circumspectly, pausing now and then hand to ear, and peering under a dense
grove, which swept down within a few paces of the sea. No one came, and to all
appearances everything was as still as the grave. Presently, he with the
pistols, followed by the rest flourishing their bodkins, entered the wood and
were soon lost to view. They did not stay long; probably anticipating some
inhospitable ambush were they to stray any distance up the glen.
    In a few moments they embarked again, and were soon riding pertly over the
waves of the bay. All of a sudden the captain started to his feet - the boat
spun round, and again made for the shore. Some twenty or thirty natives armed
with spears, which through the glass looked like reeds, had just come out of the
grove, and were apparently shouting to the strangers not to be in such a hurry,
but return and be sociable. But they were somewhat distrusted, for the boat
paused about its length from the beach, when the captain standing up in its head
delivered an address in pantomime, the object of which seemed to be that the
islanders should draw near. One of them stepped forward and made answer,
seemingly again urging the strangers not to be diffident, but beach their boat.
The captain declined, tossing his arms about in another pantomime. In the end he
said something which made them shake their spears; whereupon he fired a pistol
among them, which set the whole party running; while one poor little fellow,
dropping his spear and clapping his hand behind him, limped away in a manner
which almost made me itch to get a shot at his assailant.
    Wanton acts of cruelty like this are not unusual on the part of sea-captains
landing at islands comparatively unknown. Even at the Pomotu Group, but a day's
sail from Tahiti, the islanders coming down to the shore have several times been
fired at by trading schooners passing through their narrow channels; and this
too as a mere amusement on the part of the ruffians.
    Indeed, it is almost incredible, the light in which many sailors regard
these naked heathens. They hardly consider them human. But it is a curious fact,
that the more ignorant and degraded men are, the more contemptuously they look
upon those whom they deem their inferiors.
    All powers of persuasion being thus lost upon these foolish savages, and no
hope left of holding further intercourse, the boat returned to the ship.
 

                                  Chapter VII

                          What Happened at Hannamanoo

On the other side of the island was the large and populous bay of Hannamanoo,
where the men sought might yet be found. But as the sun was setting by the time
the boat came alongside, we got our off-shore tacks aboard and stood away for an
offing. About daybreak we wore, and ran in, and by the time the sun was well up,
entered the long, narrow channel dividing the islands of La Dominica and St.
Christina.
    On one hand was a range of steep green bluffs hundreds of feet high, the
white huts of the natives here and there nestling like birds' nests in deep
clefts gushing with verdure. Across the water, the land rolled away in bright
hillsides, so warm and undulating, that they seemed almost to palpitate in the
sun. On we swept, past bluff and grove, wooded glen and valley, and dark ravines
lighted up far inland with wild falls of water. A fresh land-breeze filled our
sails, the embayed waters were gentle as a lake, and every blue wave broke with
a tinkle against our coppered prow.
    On gaining the end of the channel we rounded a point, and came full upon the
bay of Hannamanoo. This is the only harbour of any note about the island, though
as far as a safe anchorage is concerned it hardly deserves the title.
    Before we held any communication with the shore, an incident occurred which
may convey some further idea of the character of our crew.
    Having approached as near the land as we could prudently, our headway was
stopped, and we awaited the arrival of a canoe which was coming out of the bay.
All at once we got into a strong current, which swept us rapidly toward a rocky
promontory forming one side of the harbour. The wind had died away; so two boats
were at once lowered for the purpose of pulling the ship's head round. Before
this could be done, the eddies were whirling upon all sides, and the rock so
near, that it seemed as if one might leap upon it from the mast-head.
Notwithstanding the speechless fright of the captain, and the hoarse shouts of
the unappalled Jermin, the men handled the ropes as deliberately as possible,
some of them chuckling at the prospect of going ashore, and others so eager for
the vessel to strike, that they could hardly contain themselves. Unexpectedly a
counter-current befriended us, and assisted by the boats we were soon out of
danger.
    What a disappointment for our crew! All their little plans for swimming
ashore from the wreck, and having a fine time of it for the rest of their days,
thus cruelly nipt in the bud.
    Soon after, the canoe came alongside. In it were eight or ten natives,
comely, vivacious-looking youths, all gesture and exclamation; the red feathers
in their headbands perpetually nodding. With them also came a stranger, a
renegado from Christendom and humanity - a white man in the South Sea girdle,
and tattooed in the face. A broad blue band stretched across his face from ear
to ear, and on his forehead was the taper figure of a blue shark, nothing but
fins from head to tail.
    Some of us gazed upon this man with a feeling akin to horror, no ways abated
when informed that he had voluntarily submitted to this embellishment of his
countenance. What an impress! Far worse than Cain's - his was, perhaps, a
wrinkle, or a freckle, which some of our modern cosmetics might have effaced;
but the blue shark was a mark indelible, which all the waters of Abana and
Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, could never wash out. He was an Englishman, Lem
Hardy he called himself, who had deserted from a trading brig touching at the
island for wood and water some ten years previous. He had gone ashore as a
sovereign power armed with a musket and a bag of ammunition, and ready, if need
were, to prosecute war on his own account. The country was divided by the
hostile kings of several large valleys. With one of them, from whom he first
received overtures, he formed an alliance, and became what he now was, the
military leader of the tribe, and war-god of the entire island.
    His campaigns beat Napoleon's. In one night-attack, his invincible musket,
backed by the light infantry of spears and javelins, vanquished two clans, and
the next morning brought all the others at the feet of his royal ally.
    Nor was the rise of his domestic fortunes at all behind the Corsican's:
three days after landing, the exquisitely tattooed hand of a princess was his;
receiving along with the damsel, as her portion, one thousand fathoms of fine
tappa, fifty double-braided mats of split grass, four hundred hogs, ten houses
in different parts of her native valley, and the sacred protection of an express
edict of the Taboo, declaring his person inviolable forever.
    Now, this man was settled for life, perfectly satisfied with his
circumstances, and feeling no desire to return to his friends. Friends, indeed,
he had none. He told me his history. Thrown upon the world a foundling, his
paternal origin was as much a mystery to him as the genealogy of Odin; and,
scorned by everybody, he fled the parish workhouse when a boy, and launched upon
the sea. He had followed it for several years, a dog before the mast, and now he
had thrown it up forever.
    And for the most part, it is just this sort of men - so many of whom are
found among sailors - uncared for by a single soul, without ties, reckless, and
impatient of the restraints of civilisation, who are occasionally found quite at
home upon the savage islands of the Pacific. And, glancing at their hard lot in
their own country, what marvel at their choice?
    According to the renegado, there was no other white man on the island; and
as the captain could have no reason to suppose that Hardy intended to deceive
us, he concluded that the Frenchmen were in some way or other mistaken in what
they had told us. However, when our errand was made known to the rest of our
visitors, one of them, a fine, stalwart fellow, his face all eyes and
expression, volunteered for a cruise. All the wages he asked was a red shirt, a
pair of trousers, and a hat, which were to be put on there and then; besides a
plug of tobacco and a pipe. The bargain was struck directly; but Wymontoo
afterwards came in with a codicil, to the effect that a friend of his, who had
come along with him, should be given ten whole sea-biscuits, without crack or
flaw, twenty perfectly new and symmetrically straight nails, and one jack-knife.
This being agreed to, the articles were at once handed over; the native
receiving them with great avidity, and in the absence of clothing, using his
mouth as a pocket to put the nails in. Two of them, however, were first made to
take the place of a pair of ear-ornaments, curiously fashioned out of bits of
whitened wood.
    It now began breezing strongly from seaward, and no time was to be lost in
getting away from the land; so after an affecting rubbing of noses between our
new shipmate and his countrymen, we sailed away with him.
    To our surprise, the farewell shouts from the canoe, as we dashed along
under bellied royals, were heard unmoved by our islander; but it was not long
thus. That very evening, when the dark blue of his native hills sunk in the
horizon, the poor savage leaned over the bulwarks, dropped his head upon his
chest, and gave way to irrepressible emotions. The ship was plunging hard, and
Wymontoo, sad to tell, in addition to his other pangs, was terribly sea-sick.
 

                                  Chapter VIII

                          The Tattooers of La Dominica

For a while leaving Little Jule to sail away by herself, I will here put down
some curious information obtained from Hardy.
    The renegado had lived so long on the island that its customs were quite
familiar; and I much lamented that, from the shortness of our stay, he could not
tell us more than he did.
    From the little intelligence gathered, however, I learned to my surprise
that, in some things, the people of Hivarhoo, though of the same group of
islands, differed considerably from my tropical friends in the valley of Typee.
    As his tattooing attracted so much remark, Hardy had a good deal to say
concerning the manner in which that art was practised upon the island.
    Throughout the entire cluster the tattooers of Hivarhoo enjoyed no small
reputation. They had carried their art to the highest perfection, and the
profession was esteemed most honourable. No wonder, then, that like genteel
tailors, they rated their services very high; so much so, that none but those
belonging to the higher classes could afford to employ them. So true was this,
that the elegance of one's tattooing was in most cases a sure indication of
birth and riches.
    Professors in large practice lived in spacious houses, divided by screens of
tappa into numerous little apartments, where subjects were waited upon in
private. The arrangement chiefly grew out of a singular ordinance of the Taboo,
which enjoined the strictest privacy upon all men, high and low, while under the
hands of a tattooer. For the time, the slightest intercourse with others is
prohibited, and the small portion of food allowed is pushed under the curtain by
an unseen hand. The restriction with regard to food is intended to reduce the
blood, so as to diminish the inflammation consequent upon puncturing the skin.
As it is, this comes on very soon, and takes some time to heal; so that the
period of seclusion generally embraces many days, sometimes several weeks.
    All traces of soreness vanished, the subject goes abroad; but only again to
return; for, on account of the pain, only a small surface can be operated upon
at once; and as the whole body is to be more or less embellished by a process so
slow, the studios alluded to are constantly filled. Indeed, with a vanity
elsewhere unheard of, many spend no small portion of their days thus sitting to
an artist.
    To begin the work, the period of adolescence is esteemed the most suitable.
After casting about for some eminent tattooer, the friends of the youth take him
to his house, to have the outlines of the general plan laid out. It behoves the
professor to have a nice eye, for a suit to be worn for life should be well cut.
    Some tattooers, yearning after perfection, employ, at large wages, one or
two men of the commonest order - vile fellows, utterly regardless of
appearances, upon whom they first try their patterns and practice generally.
Their backs remorselessly scrawled over, and no more canvas remaining, they are
dismissed, and ever after go about, the scorn of their countrymen.
    Hapless wights! thus martyred in the cause of the Fine Arts.
    Besides the regular practitioners, there are a parcel of shabby, itinerant
tattooers, who, by virtue of their calling, stroll unmolested from one hostile
bay to another, doing their work dog-cheap for the multitude. They always repair
to the various religious festivals, which gather great crowds. When these are
concluded, and the places where they are held vacated even by the tattooers,
scores of little tents of coarse tappa are left standing, each with a solitary
inmate, who, forbidden to talk to his unseen neighbours, is obliged to stay
there till completely healed. The itinerants are a reproach to their profession,
mere cobblers, dealing in nothing but jagged lines and clumsy patches, and
utterly incapable of soaring to those heights of fancy attained by gentlemen of
the faculty.
    All professors of the arts love to fraternise; and so, in Hannamanoo, the
tattooers came together in the chapters of their worshipful order. In this
society, duly organised, and conferring degrees, Hardy, from his influence as a
white, was a sort of honorary Grand Master. The blue shark, and a sort of Urim
and Thummim engraven upon his chest, were the seal of his initiation. All over
Hivarhoo are established these orders of tattooers. The way in which the
renegado's came to be founded is this. A year or two after his landing there
happened to be a season of scarcity, owing to the partial failure of the
bread-fruit harvest for several consecutive seasons. This brought about such a
falling off in the number of subjects for tattooing that the profession became
quite needy. The royal ally of Hardy, however, hit upon a benevolent expedient
to provide for their wants, at the same time conferring a boon upon many of his
subjects.
    By sound of conch-shell it was proclaimed before the palace, on the beach,
and at the head of the valley, that Noomai, King of Hannamanoo, and friend of
Hardee-Hardee, the white, kept open heart and table for all tattooers
whatsoever; but, to entitle themselves to his hospitality, they were commanded
to practise without fee upon the meanest native soliciting their services.
    Numbers at once flocked to the royal abode, both artists and sitters. It was
a famous time; and the buildings of the palace being taboo to all but the
tattooers and chiefs, the sitters bivouacked on the common, and formed an
extensive encampment.
    The Lora Tattoo, or the Time of Tattooing, will be long remembered. An
enthusiastic sitter celebrated the event in verse. Several lines were repeated
to us by Hardy, some of which, in a sort of colloquial chant, he translated
nearly thus:
 
»Where is that sound?
In Hannamanoo.
And wherefore that sound?
The sound of a hundred hammers
Tapping, tapping, tapping
The shark teeth.2
 
Where is that light?
Round about the king's house.
And the small laughter?
The small, merry laughter it is
Of the sons and daughters of the tattooed.«
 

                                   Chapter IX

                  We Steer to the Westward - State of Affairs

The night, we left Hannamanoo was bright and starry, and so warm, that when the
watches were relieved, most of the men, instead of going below, flung themselves
around the foremast.
    Toward morning, finding the heat of the forecastle unpleasant, I ascended to
the deck, where everything was noiseless. The Trades were blowing with a mild,
steady strain upon the canvas, and the ship heading right out into the immense
blank of the Western Pacific. The watch were asleep. With one foot resting on
the rudder, even the man at the helm nodded, and the mate himself, with arms
folded, was leaning against the capstan.
    On such a night, and all alone, revery was inevitable. I leaned over the
side, and could not help thinking of the strange objects we might be sailing
over.
    But my meditations were soon interrupted by a gray, spectral shadow cast
over the heaving billows. It was the dawn, soon followed by the first rays of
the morning. They flashed into view at one end of the arched night, like - to
compare great things with small - the gleamings of Guy Fawkes's lantern in the
vaults of the Parliament House. Before long, what seemed a live ember rested for
a moment on the rim of the ocean, and at last the blood-red sun stood full and
round in the level East, and the long sea-day began.
    Breakfast over, the first thing attended to was the formal baptism of
Wymontoo, who, after thinking over his affairs during the night, looked dismal
enough.
    There were various opinions as to a suitable appellation. Some maintained
that we ought to call him Sunday, that being the day we caught him; others,
Eighteen Forty-two, the then year of our Lord; while Doctor Long Ghost remarked
that he ought, by all means, to retain his original name - Wymontoo-Hee, meaning
(as he maintained), in the figurative language of the island, something
analogous to one who had got himself into a scrape. The mate put an end to the
discussion by sousing the poor fellow with a bucket of salt water, and bestowing
upon him the nautical appellation of Luff.
    Though a certain mirthfulness succeeded his first pangs at leaving home,
Wymontoo - we will call him thus - gradually relapsed into his former mood, and
became very melancholy. Often I noticed him crouching apart in the forecastle,
his strange eyes gleaming restlessly, and watching the slightest movement of the
men. Many a time he must have been thinking of his bamboo hut, when they were
talking of Sydney and its dance-houses.
    We were now fairly at sea, though to what particular cruising-ground we were
going, no one knew; and, to all appearances, few cared. The men, after a fashion
of their own, began to settle down into the routine of sea-life, as if
everything was going on prosperously. Blown along over a smooth sea, there was
nothing to do but steer the ship, and relieve the look-outs at the mast-heads.
As for the sick, they had two or three more added to their number - the air of
the island having disagreed with the constitutions of several of the runaways.
To crown all, the captain again relapsed, and became quite ill.
    The men fit for duty were divided into two small watches, headed
respectively by the mate and the Mowree; the latter, by virtue of his being a
harpooneer, succeeding to the place of the second mate, who had absconded.
    In this state of things, whaling was out of the question; but in the face of
everything, Jermin maintained that the invalids would soon be well. However that
might be, with the same pale blue sky overhead, we kept running steadily to the
westward. For ever advancing, we seemed always in the same place, and every day
was the former lived over again. We saw no ships, expected to see none. No sign
of life was perceptible but the porpoises and other fish sporting under the bows
like pups ashore. But, at intervals, the gray albatross, peculiar to these seas,
came flapping his immense wings over us, and then skimmed away silently as if
from a plague-ship; or flights of the tropic bird, known among seamen as the
boatswain, wheeled round and round us, whistling shrilly as they flew.
    The uncertainty hanging over our destination at this time, and the fact that
we were abroad upon waters comparatively little traversed, lent an interest to
this portion of the cruise which I shall never forget.
    From obvious prudential considerations the Pacific has been principally
sailed over in known tracts, and this is the reason why new islands are still
occasionally discovered by exploring ships and adventurous whalers,
notwithstanding the great number of vessels of all kinds of late navigating this
vast ocean. Indeed, considerable portions still remain wholly unexplored; and
there is no doubt as to the actual existence of certain shoals, and reefs, and
small clusters of islands vaguely laid down in the charts. The mere
circumstance, therefore, of a ship like ours penetrating into these regions, was
sufficient to cause any reflecting mind to feel at least a little uneasy. For my
own part, the many stories I had heard of ships striking at midnight upon
unknown rocks, with all sail set, and a slumbering crew, often recurred to me,
especially, as from the absence of discipline, and our being so short-handed,
the watches at night were careless in the extreme.
    But no thoughts like these were entertained by my reckless shipmates; and
along we went, the sun every evening setting right ahead of our jib-boom.
    For what reason the mate was so reserved with regard to our precise
destination was never made known. The stories he told us, I, for one, did not
believe; deeming them all a mere device to lull the crew.
    He said we were bound to a fine cruising-ground, scarcely known to other
whalemen, which he had himself discovered when commanding a small brig upon a
former voyage. Here, the sea was alive with large whales, so tame that all you
had to do was to go up and kill them: they were too frightened to resist. A
little to leeward of this was a small cluster of islands, where we were going to
refit, abounding with delicious fruits, and peopled by a race almost wholly
unsophisticated by intercourse with strangers.
    In order, perhaps, to guard against the possibility of any one finding out
the precise latitude and longitude of the spot we were going to, Jermin never
revealed to us the ship's place at noon, though such is the custom aboard of
most vessels.
    Meanwhile, he was very assiduous in his attention to the invalids. Doctor
Long Ghost having given up the keys of the medicine-chest, they were handed over
to him; and, as physician, he discharged his duties to the satisfaction of all.
Pills and powders, in most cases, were thrown to the fish, and in place thereof,
the contents of a mysterious little quarter-cask were produced, diluted with
water from the butt. His draughts were mixed on the capstan, in cocoa-nut shells
marked with the patients' names. Like shore doctors, he did not eschew his own
medicines, for his professional calls in the forecastle were sometimes made when
he was comfortably tipsy: nor did he omit keeping his invalids in good-humour,
spinning his yarns to them, by the hour, whenever he went to see them.
    Owing to my lameness, from which I soon began to recover, I did no active
duty, except standing an occasional trick at the helm. It was in the forecastle
chiefly that I spent my time, in company with the Long Doctor, who was at great
pains to make himself agreeable. His books, though sadly torn and battered, were
an invaluable resource. I read them through again and again, including a learned
treatise on the yellow fever. In addition to these, he had an old file of Sydney
papers, and I soon became intimately acquainted with the localities of all the
advertising tradesmen there. In particular, the rhetorical flourishes of Stubbs,
the real-estate auctioneer, diverted me exceedingly, and I set him down as no
other than a pupil of Robins the Londoner.
    Aside from the pleasure of his society, my intimacy with Long Ghost was of
great service to me in other respects. His disgrace in the cabin only confirmed
the good-will of the democracy in the forecastle; and they not only treated him
in the most friendly manner, but looked up to him with the utmost deference,
besides laughing heartily at all his jokes. As his chosen associate, this
feeling for him extended to me, and gradually we came to be regarded in the
light of distinguished guests. At meal-times we were always first served, and
otherwise were treated with much respect.
    Among other devices to kill time, during the frequent calms, Long Ghost hit
upon the game of chess. With a jack-knife, we carved the pieces quite tastefully
out of bits of wood, and our board was the middle of a chest-lid, chalked into
squares, which, in playing, we straddled at either end. Having no other suitable
way of distinguishing the sets, I marked mine by tying round them little scarfs
of black silk, torn from an old neck-handkerchief. Putting them in mourning this
way, the doctor said, was quite appropriate, seeing that they had reason to feel
sad three games out of four. Of chess, the men never could make head nor tail;
indeed, their wonder rose to such a pitch, that they at last regarded the
mysterious movements of the game with something more than perplexity; and after
puzzling over them through several long engagements, they came to the conclusion
that we must be a couple of necromancers.
 

                                   Chapter X

               A Sea-Parlour Described, with Some of Its Tenants

I may as well give some idea of the place in which the doctor and I lived
together so sociably.
    Most persons know that a ship's forecastle embraces the forward part of the
deck about the bowsprit: the same term, however, is generally bestowed upon the
sailors' sleeping-quarters, which occupy a space immediately beneath, and are
partitioned off by a bulkhead.
    Planted right in the bows, or, as sailors say, in the very eyes of the ship,
this delightful apartment is of a triangular shape, and is generally fitted with
two tiers of rude bunks. Those of the Julia were in a most deplorable condition,
mere wrecks, some having been torn down altogether to patch up others; and on
one side there were but two standing. But with most of the men it made little
difference whether they had a bunk or not, since, having no bedding, they had
nothing to put in it but themselves.
    Upon the boards of my own crib I spread all the old canvas and old clothes I
could pick up. For a pillow, I wrapped an old jacket round a log. This helped a
little the wear and tear of one's bones when the ship rolled.
    Rude hammocks made out of old sails were in many cases used as substitutes
for the demolished bunks; but the space they swung in was so confined, that they
were far from being agreeable.
    The general aspect of the forecastle was dungeon-like and dingy in the
extreme. In the first place, it was not five feet from deck to deck, and even
this space was encroached upon by two outlandish cross-timbers bracing the
vessel, and by the sailors' chests, over which you must needs crawl in getting
about. At meal-times, and especially when we indulged in after-dinner chat, we
sat about the chests like a parcel of tailors.
    In the middle of all, were two square, wooden columns, denominated in marine
architecture Bowsprit Bitts. They were about a foot apart, and between them, by
a rusty chain, swung the forecastle lamp, burning day and night, and forever
casting two long black shadows. Lower down, between the bitts, was a locker, or
sailors' pantry, kept in abominable disorder, and sometimes requiring a vigorous
cleaning and fumigation.
    All over, the ship was in a most dilapidated condition; but in the
forecastle it looked like the hollow of an old tree going to decay. In every
direction the wood was damp and discoloured, and here and there soft and porous.
Moreover, it was hacked and hewed without mercy, the cook frequently helping
himself to splinters for kindling-wood from the bitts and beams. Overhead, every
carline was sooty, and here and there deep holes were burned in them, a freak of
some drunken sailors on a voyage long previous.
    From above, you entered by a plank, with two cleets, slanting down from the
scuttle, which was a mere hole in the deck. There being no slide to draw over in
case of emergency, the tarpaulin temporarily placed there was little protection
from the spray heaved over the bows; so that in anything of a breeze the place
was miserably wet. In a squall, the water fairly poured down in sheets like a
cascade, swashing about, and afterwards spirting up between the chests like the
jets of a fountain.
    Such were our accommodations aboard of the Julia; but bad as they were, we
had not the undisputed possession of them. Myriads of cockroaches, and regiments
of rats, disputed the place with us. A greater calamity than this can scarcely
befall a vessel in the South Seas.
    So warm is the climate that it is almost impossible to get rid of them. You
may seal up every hatchway, and fumigate the hull till the smoke forces itself
out at the seams, and enough will survive to repeople the ship in an incredibly
short period. In some vessels, the crews of which after a hard fight have given
themselves up, as it were, for lost, the vermin seem to take actual possession,
the sailors being mere tenants by sufferance. With sperm whalemen, hanging about
the Line, as many of them do for a couple of years on a stretch, it is
infinitely worse than with other vessels.
    As for the Julia, these creatures never had such free and easy times as they
did in her crazy old hull; every chink and cranny swarmed with them; they did
not live among you, but you among them. So true was this, that the business of
eating and drinking was better done in the dark than in the light of day.
    Concerning the cockroaches, there was an extraordinary phenomenon, for which
none of us could ever account.
    Every night they had a jubilee. The first symptom was an unusual clustering
and humming among the swarms lining the beams overhead, and the inside of the
sleeping-places. This was succeeded by a prodigious coming and going on the part
of those living out of sight. Presently they all came forth; the larger sort
racing over the chests and planks; winged monsters darting to and fro in the
air; and the small fry buzzing in heaps almost in a state of fusion.
    On the first alarm, all who were able darted on deck; while some of the sick
who were too feeble, lay perfectly quiet - the distracted vermin running over
them at pleasure. The performance lasted some ten minutes, during which no hive
ever hummed louder. Often it was lamented by us that the time of the visitation
could never be predicted; it was liable to come upon us at any hour of the
night, and what a relief it was, when it happened to fall in the early part of
the evening.
    Nor must I forget the rats: they did not forget me. Tame as Trenck's mouse,
they stood in their holes peering at you like old grandfathers in a doorway.
Often they darted in upon us at meal-times, and nibbled our food. The first time
they approached Wymontoo, he was actually frightened; but becoming accustomed to
it, he soon got along with them much better than the rest. With curious
dexterity he seized the animals by their legs, and flung them up the scuttle to
find a watery grave.
    But I have a story of my own to tell about these rats. One day the cabin
steward made me a present of some molasses, which I was so choice of, that I
kept it hid away in a tin can in the farthest corner of my bunk. Faring as we
did, this molasses dropped upon a biscuit was a positive luxury, which I shared
with none but the doctor, and then only in private. And sweet as the treacle
was, how could bread thus prepared and eaten in secret be otherwise than
pleasant.
    One night our precious can ran low, and in canting it over in the dark,
something besides the molasses slipped out. How long it had been there, kind
Providence never revealed; nor were we over anxious to know; for we hushed up
the bare thought as quickly as possible. The creature certainly died a luscious
death, quite equal to Clarence's in the butt of Malmsey.
 

                                   Chapter XI

                  Doctor Long Ghost a Wag - One of His Capers

Grave though he was at times, Doctor Long Ghost was a decided wag.
    Everyone knows what lovers of fun sailors are ashore - afloat, they are
absolutely mad after it. So his pranks were duly appreciated.
    The poor old black cook! Unlashing his hammock for the night, and finding a
wet log fast asleep in it; and then waking in the morning with his woolly head
tarred. Opening his coppers, and finding an old boot boiling away as saucy as
could be, and sometimes cakes of pitch candying in his oven.
    Baltimore's3 tribulations were indeed sore; there was no peace for him day
nor night. Poor fellow! he was altogether too good-natured. Say what they will
about easy-tempered people, it is far better, on some accounts, to have the
temper of a wolf. Whoever thought of taking liberties with gruff Black Dan!
    The most curious of the doctor's jokes, was hoisting the men aloft by the
foot or shoulder, when they fell asleep on deck during the night-watches.
    Ascending from the forecastle on one occasion, he found every soul napping,
and forthwith went about his capers. Fastening a rope's end to each sleeper, he
rove the lines through a number of blocks, and conducted them all to the
windlass; then, by heaving round cheerily, in spite of cries and struggles, he
soon had them dangling aloft in all directions by arms and legs. Waked by the
uproar, we rushed up from below, and found the poor fellows swinging in the
moonlight from the tops and lower yard-arms, like a parcel of pirates gibbeted
at sea by a cruiser.
    Connected with this sort of diversion was another prank of his. During the
night some of those on deck would come below to light a pipe, or take a mouthful
of beef and biscuit. Sometimes they fell asleep; and being missed directly that
anything was to be done, their shipmates often amused themselves by running them
aloft with a pulley dropped down the scuttle from the fore-top.
    One night, when all was perfectly still, I lay awake in the forecastle; the
lamp was burning low and thick, and swinging from its blackened beam; and with
the uniform motion of the ship, the men in the bunks rolled slowly from side to
side; the hammocks swaying in unison.
    Presently I heard a foot upon the ladder, and, looking up, saw a wide
trousers' leg. Immediately, Navy Bob, a stout old Triton, stealthily descended,
and at once went to groping in the locker after something to eat.
    Supper ended, he proceeded to load his pipe. Now, for a good comfortable
smoke at sea, there never was a better place than the Julia's forecastle at
midnight. To enjoy the luxury, one wants to fall into a kind of dreamy revery,
only known to the children of the weed. And the very atmosphere of the place,
laden as it was with the snores of the sleepers, was inducive of this. No
wonder, then, that after a while Bob's head sunk upon his breast; presently his
hat fell off, the extinguished pipe dropped from his mouth, and the next moment
he lay out on the chest as tranquil as an infant.
    Suddenly an order was heard on deck, followed by the trampling of feet and
the hauling of rigging. The yards were being braced, and soon after the sleeper
was missed; for there was a whispered conference over the scuttle.
    Directly a shadow glided across the forecastle and noiselessly approached
the unsuspecting Bob. It was one of the watch with the end of a rope leading out
of sight up the scuttle. Pausing an instant, the sailor pressed softly the chest
of his victim, sounding his slumbers; and then hitching the cord to his ankle,
returned to the deck.
    Hardly was his back turned, when a long limb was thrust from a hammock
opposite, and Doctor Long Ghost, leaping forth warily, whipped the rope from
Bob's ankle, and fastened it like lightning to a great lumbering chest, the
property of the man who had just disappeared.
    Scarcely was the thing done, when lo! with a thundering bound, the clumsy
box was torn from its fastenings, and banging from side to side, flew toward the
scuttle. Here it jammed; and thinking that Bob, who was as strong as a windlass,
was grappling a beam and trying to cut the line, the jokers on deck strained
away furiously. On a sudden, the chest went aloft, and striking against the
mast, flew open, raining down on the heads of the party a merciless shower of
things too numerous to mention.
    Of course the uproar roused all hands, and when we hurried on deck, there
was the owner of the box, looking aghast at its scattered contents, and with one
wandering hand taking the altitude of a bump on his head.
 

                                  Chapter XII

                      Death and Burial of Two of the Crew

The mirthfulness which at times reigned among us was in strange and shocking
contrast with the situation of some of the invalids. Thus, at least, did it seem
to me, though not to others.
    But an event occurred about this period, which, in removing by far the most
pitiable cases of suffering, tended to make less grating to my feelings the
subsequent conduct of the crew.
    We had been at sea about twenty days, when two of the sick, who had rapidly
grown worse, died one night within an hour of each other.
    One occupied a bunk right next to mine, and for several days had not risen
from it. During this period he was often delirious, starting up and glaring
around him, and sometimes wildly tossing his arms.
    On the night of his decease, I retired shortly after the middle watch began,
and waking from a vague dream of horrors, felt something clammy resting on me.
It was the sick man's hand. Two or three times during the evening previous, he
had thrust it into my bunk, and I had quietly removed it; but now I started and
flung it from me. The arm fell stark and stiff, and I knew that he was dead.
    Waking the men, the corpse was immediately rolled up in the strips of
blanketing upon which it lay, and carried on deck. The mate was then called, and
preparations made for an instantaneous burial. Laying the body out on the
fore-hatch, it was stitched up in one of the hammocks, some kentlege being
placed at the feet instead of shot. This done, it was borne to the gangway, and
placed on a plank laid across the bulwarks. Two men supported the inside end. By
way of solemnity, the ship's headway was then stopped by hauling aback the
main-top-sail.
    The mate, who was far from being sober, then staggered up, and holding on to
a shroud, gave the word. As the plank tipped, the body slid off slowly, and fell
with a splash into the sea. A bubble or two, and nothing more was seen.
    »Brace forward!« The main-yard swung round to its place, and the ship glided
on, whilst the corpse, perhaps, was still sinking.
    We had tossed a shipmate to the sharks, but no one would have thought it, to
have gone among the crew immediately after. The dead man had been a churlish,
unsocial fellow, while alive, and no favourite; and now that he was no more,
little thought was bestowed upon him. All that was said, was concerning the
disposal of his chest, which, having been always kept locked, was supposed to
contain money. Someone volunteered to break it open, and distribute its
contents, clothing and all, before the captain should demand it.
    While myself and others were endeavouring to dissuade them from this, all
started at a cry from the forecastle. There could be no one there but two of the
sick, unable to crawl on deck. We went below, and found one of them dying on a
chest. He had fallen out of his hammock in a fit, and was insensible. The eyes
were open and fixed, and his breath coming and going convulsively. The men
shrunk from him; but the doctor, taking his hand, held it a few moments in his,
and suddenly letting it fall, exclaimed, »He 's gone!« The body was instantly
borne up the ladder.
    Another hammock was soon prepared, and the dead sailor stitched up as
before. Some additional ceremony, however, was now insisted upon, and a Bible
was called for. But none was to be had, not even a Prayer Book. When this was
made known, Antone, a Portuguese, from the Cape-de-Verd Islands, stepped up,
muttered something over the corpse of his countryman, and, with his finger,
described upon the back of the hammock the figure of a large cross; whereupon it
received the dead-launch.
    These two men both perished from the proverbial indiscretions of seamen,
heightened by circumstances apparent; but had either of them been ashore under
proper treatment, he would, in all human probability, have recovered.
    Behold here the fate of a sailor! They give him the last toss, and no one
asks whose child he was.
    For the rest of that night there was no more sleep. Many stayed on deck
until broad morning, relating to each other those marvellous tales of the sea
which the occasion was calculated to call forth. Little as I believed in such
things, I could not listen to some of these stories unaffected. Above all was I
struck by one of the carpenter's.
    On a voyage to India, they had a fever aboard, which carried off nearly half
the crew in the space of a few days. After this the men never went aloft in the
night-time, except in couples. When top-sails were to be reefed, phantoms were
seen at the yard-arm ends; and in tacking ship, voices called aloud from the
tops. The carpenter himself, going with another man to furl the
main-top-gallant-sail in a squall, was nearly pushed from the rigging by an
unseen hand; and his shipmate swore that a wet hammock was flirted in his face.
    Stories like these were related as gospel truths, by those who declared
themselves eye-witnesses.
    It is a circumstance not generally known, perhaps, that, among ignorant
seamen, Finlanders, or Finns, as they are more commonly called, are regarded
with peculiar superstition. For some reason or other, which I never could get
at, they are supposed to possess the gift of second sight, and the power to
wreak supernatural vengeance upon those who offend them. On this account they
have great influence among sailors, and two or three with whom I have sailed at
different times were persons well calculated to produce this sort of impression,
at least upon minds disposed to believe in such things.
    Now, we had one of these sea-prophets aboard; an old, yellow-haired fellow,
who always wore a rude seal-skin cap of his own make, and carried his tobacco in
a large pouch made of the same stuff. Van, as we called him, was a quiet,
inoffensive man to look at, and, among such a set, his occasional peculiarities
had hitherto passed for nothing. At this time, however, he came out with a
prediction, which was none the less remarkable from its absolute fulfilment,
though not exactly in the spirit in which it was given out.
    The night of the burial he laid his hand on the old horseshoe nailed as a
charm to the fore-mast, and solemnly told us that, in less than three weeks, not
one quarter of our number would remain aboard the ship - by that time they would
have left her for ever.
    Some laughed; Flash Jack called him an old fool; but among the men generally
it produced a marked effect. For several days a degree of quiet reigned among
us, and allusions of such a kind were made to recent events, as could be
attributed to no other cause than the Finn's omen.
    For my own part, what had lately come to pass was not without its influence.
It forcibly brought to mind our really critical condition. Doctor Long Ghost,
too, frequently revealed his apprehensions, and once assured me that he would
give much to be safely landed upon any island around us.
    Where we were exactly no one but the mate seemed to know, nor whither we
were going. The captain - a mere cipher - was an invalid in his cabin; to say
nothing more of so many of his men languishing in the forecastle.
    Our keeping the sea under these circumstances, a matter strange enough at
first, now seemed wholly unwarranted; and added to all was the thought that our
fate was absolutely in the hand of the reckless Jermin. Were anything to happen
to him, we would be left without a navigator, for, according to Jermin himself,
he had, from the commencement of the voyage, always kept the ship's reckoning,
the captain's nautical knowledge being insufficient.
    But considerations like these, strange as it may seem, seldom or never
occurred to the crew. They were alive only to superstitious fears; and when, in
apparent contradiction to the Finn's prophecy, the sick men rallied a little,
they began to recover their former spirits, and the recollection of what had
occurred insensibly faded from their minds. In a week's time, the unworthiness
of Little Jule, as a sea vessel, always a subject of jest, now became more so
than ever. In the forecastle, Flash Jack, with his knife, often dug into the
dank, rotten planks ribbed between us and death, and flung away the splinters
with some sea joke.
    As to the remaining invalids, they were hardly ill enough to occasion any
serious apprehension, at least for the present, in the breasts of such
thoughtless beings as themselves. And even those who suffered the most,
studiously refrained from any expression of pain.
    The truth is, that among sailors as a class, sickness at sea is so heartily
detested, and the sick so little cared for, that the greatest invalid generally
strives to mask his sufferings. He has given no sympathy to others, and he
expects none in return. Their conduct, in this respect, so opposed to their
generous-hearted behaviour ashore, painfully affects the landsman on his first
intercourse with them as a sailor.
    Sometimes, but seldom, our invalids inveighed against their being kept at
sea, where they could be of no service, when they ought to be ashore and in the
way of recovery. But - »Oh! cheer up - cheer up, my hearties!« - the mate would
say. And after this fashion he put a stop to their murmurings.
    But there was one circumstance, to which heretofore I have but barely
alluded, that tended more than anything else to reconcile many to their
situation. This was the receiving regularly, twice every day, a certain portion
of Pisco, which was served out at the capstan, by the steward, in little tin
measures called tots.
    The lively affection seamen have for strong drink is well known; but in the
South Seas, where it is so seldom to be had, a thorough-bred sailor deems
scarcely any price too dear which will purchase his darling tot. Nowadays,
American whalemen in the Pacific never think of carrying spirits as a ration;
and aboard of most of them, it is never served out even in times of the greatest
hardships. All Sydney whalemen, however, still cling to the old custom, and
carry it as a part of the regular supplies for the voyage.
    In port, the allowance of Pisco was suspended; with a view, undoubtedly, of
heightening the attractions of being out of sight of land.
    Now, owing to the absence of proper discipline, our sick, in addition to
what they took medicinally, often came in for their respective tots convivially;
and, added to all this, the evening of the last day of the week was always
celebrated by what is styled on board of English vessels, The Saturday-night
bottles. Two of these were sent down into the forecastle, just after dark; one
for the starboard watch, and the other for the larboard.
    By prescription, the oldest seaman in each claims the treat as his, and,
accordingly, pours out the good cheer and passes it round like a lord doing the
honours of his table. But the Saturday-night bottles were not all. The carpenter
and cooper - in sea parlance, Chips and Bungs - who were the Cods, or leaders of
the forecastle, in some way or other managed to obtain an extra supply, which
perpetually kept them in fine after-dinner spirits, and, moreover, disposed them
to look favourably upon a state of affairs like the present.
    But where were the sperm whales all this time? In good sooth, it made little
matter where they were, since we were in no condition to capture them. About
this time, indeed, the men came down from the mast-heads, where, until now, they
had kept up the form of relieving each other every two hours. They swore they
would go there no more. Upon this, the mate carelessly observed that they would
soon be where look-outs were entirely unnecessary, the whales he had in his eye
(though Flash Jack said they were all in his) being so tame that they made a
practice of coming round ships, and scratching their backs against them.
    Thus went the world of waters with us, some four weeks or more after leaving
Hannamanoo.
 

                                  Chapter XIII

                            Our Destination Changed

It was not long after the death of the two men, that Captain Guy was reported as
fast declining, and in a day or two more, as dying. The doctor, who previously
had refused to enter the cabin upon any consideration, now relented, and paid
his old enemy a professional visit.
    He prescribed a warm bath, which was thus prepared. The skylight being
removed, a cask was lowered down into the cabin, and then filled with buckets of
water from the ship's coppers. The cries of the patient, when dipped into his
rude bath, were most painful to hear. They at last laid him on the transom, more
dead than alive.
    That evening, the mate was perfectly sober, and coming forward to the
windlass, where we were lounging, summoned aft the doctor, myself, and two or
three others of his favourites; when, in the presence of Bembo the Mowree, he
spoke to us thus:
    »I have something to say to ye, men. There 's none but Bembo here as belongs
aft, so I 've picked ye out as the best men for'ard to take counsel with d' ye
see, consarning the ship. The captain's anchor is pretty nigh atrip; I shouldn't
wonder if he croaked afore morning. So what's to be done? If we have to sew him
up, some of those pirates there for'ard may take it into their heads to run off
with the ship, because there 's no one at the tiller. Now, I 've detarmined
what's best to be done; but I don't want to do it unless I 've good men to back
me, and make things all fair and square if ever we get home again.«
    We all asked what his plan was.
    »I 'll tell ye what it is, men. If the skipper dies, all agree to obey my
orders, and in less than three weeks I 'll engage to have five hundred barrels
of sperm oil under hatches: enough to give every mother's son of ye a handful of
dollars when we get to Sydney. If ye don't agree to this, ye won't have a
farthing coming to ye.«4
    Doctor Long Ghost at once broke in. He said that such a thing was not to be
dreamt of; that if the captain died, the mate was in duty bound to navigate the
ship to the nearest civilised port, and deliver her up into an English consul's
hands; when, in all probability, after a run ashore, the crew would be sent
home. Everything forbade the mate's plan. »Still,« said he, assuming an air of
indifference, »if the men say stick it out, stick it out say I; but in that
case, the sooner we get to those islands of yours the better.«
    Something more he went on to say; and from the manner in which the rest
regarded him, it was plain that our fate was in his hands. It was finally
resolved upon, that if Captain Guy was no better in twenty-four hours, the
ship's head should be pointed for the island of Tahiti.
    This announcement produced a strong sensation - the sick rallied - and the
rest speculated as to what was next to befall us; while the doctor, without
alluding to Guy, congratulated me upon the prospect of soon beholding a place so
famous as the island in question.
    The night after the holding of the council, I happened to go on deck in the
middle watch, and found the yards braced sharp up on the larboard tack, with the
South-East Trades strong on our bow. The captain was no better; and we were off
for Tahiti.
 

                                  Chapter XIV

                                   Rope Yarn

While gliding along on our way, I cannot well omit some account of a poor devil
we had among us, who went by the name of Rope Yarn, or Ropey.
    He was a nondescript who had joined the ship as a landsman. Being so
excessively timid and awkward, it was thought useless to try and make a sailor
of him; so he was translated into the cabin as steward; the man previously
filling that post, a good seaman, going among the crew and taking his place. But
poor Ropey proved quite as clumsy among the crockery as in the rigging; and one
day when the ship was pitching, having stumbled into the cabin with a wooden
tureen of soup, he scalded the officers so that they didn't get over it in a
week. Upon which he was dismissed, and returned to the forecastle.
    Now, nobody is so heartily despised as a pusillanimous, lazy,
good-for-nothing land-lubber; a sailor has no bowels of compassion for him. Yet,
useless as such a character may be in many respects, a ship's company is by no
means disposed to let him reap any benefit from his deficiencies. Regarded in
the light of a mechanical power, whenever there is any plain, hard work to be
done, he is put to it like a lever; everyone giving him a pry.
    Then, again, he is set about all the vilest work. Is there a heavy job at
tarring to be done, he is pitched neck and shoulders into a tar-barrel, and set
to work at it. Moreover, he is made to fetch and carry like a dog. Like as not,
if the mate sends him after his quadrant, on the way he is met by the captain,
who orders him to pick some oakum; and while he is hunting up a bit of rope, a
sailor comes along and wants to know what the deuce he 's after, and bids him be
off to the forecastle.
    Obey the last order, is a precept inviolable at sea. So the land-lubber,
afraid to refuse to do anything, rushes about distracted, and does nothing: in
the end receiving a shower of kicks and cuffs from all quarters.
    Added to his other hardships, he is seldom permitted to open his mouth
unless spoken to; and then, he might better keep silent. Alas for him! if he
should happen to be anything of a droll; for in an evil hour should he
perpetrate a joke, he would never know the last of it.
    The witticisms of others, however, upon himself, must be received in the
greatest good-humour.
    Woe be unto him, if at meal-times he so much as look sideways at the
beef-kid before the rest are helped.
    Then he is obliged to plead guilty to every piece of mischief which the real
perpetrator refuses to acknowledge; thus taking the place of that sneaking
rascal, nobody, ashore. In short, there is no end to his tribulations.
    The land-lubber's spirits often sink, and the first result of his being
moody and miserable is naturally enough an utter neglect of his toilet.
    The sailors, perhaps, ought to make allowances; but heartless as they are,
they do not. No sooner is his cleanliness questioned than they rise upon him
like a mob of the Middle Ages upon a Jew; drag him into the lee-scuppers, and
strip him to the buff. In vain he bawls for mercy; in vain calls upon the
captain to save him.
    Alas! I say again, for the land-lubber at sea. He is the veriest wretch the
watery world over. And such was Rope Yarn; of all land-lubbers, the most
lubberly and most miserable. A forlorn, stunted, hook-visaged mortal he was too;
one of those whom you know at a glance to have been tried hard and long in the
furnace of affliction. His face was an absolute puzzle; though sharp and sallow,
it had neither the wrinkles of age nor the smoothness of youth; so that, for the
soul of me, I could hardly tell whether he was twenty-five or fifty.
    But to his history. In his better days, it seems he had been a journeyman
baker in London, somewhere about Holborn; and on Sundays wore a blue coat and
metal buttons, and spent his afternoons in a tavern, smoking his pipe and
drinking his ale like a free and easy journeyman baker that he was. But this did
not last long; for an intermeddling old fool was the ruin of him. He was told
that London might do very well for elderly gentlemen and invalids; but for a lad
of spirit, Australia was the Land of Promise. In a dark day Ropey wound up his
affairs and embarked.
    Arriving in Sydney with a small capital, and after a while waxing snug and
comfortable by dint of hard kneading, he took unto himself a wife; and so far as
she was concerned, might then have gone into the country and retired; for she
effectually did his business. In short, the lady worked him woe in heart and
pocket; and in the end, ran off with his till and his foreman. Ropey went to the
sign of the Pipe and Tankard; got fuddled; and over his fifth pot meditated
suicide - an intention carried out; for the next day he shipped as landsman
aboard the Julia, South Seaman.
    The ex-baker would have fared far better, had it not been for his heart,
which was soft and underdone. A kind word made a fool of him; and hence most of
the scrapes he got into. Two or three wags, aware of his infirmity, used to draw
him out in conversation whenever the most crabbed and choleric old seamen were
present.
    To give an instance. The watch below, just waked from their sleep, are all
at breakfast; and Ropey, in one corner, is disconsolately partaking of its
delicacies. Now, sailors newly waked are no cherubs; and therefore not a word is
spoken, everybody munching his biscuit, grim and unshaven. At this juncture an
affable-looking scamp - Flash Jack - crosses the forecastle, tin can in hand,
and seats himself beside the land-lubber.
    »Hard fare this, Ropey,« he begins; »hard enough, too, for them that 's
known better and lived in Lun'nun. I say now, Ropey, s'posing you were back to
Holborn this morning, what would you have for breakfast, eh?«
    »Have for breakfast!« cried Ropey in a rapture. »Don't speak of it!«
    »What ails that fellow?« here growled an old sea-bear, turning round
savagely.
    »Oh, nothing, nothing,« said Jack; and then, leaning over to Rope Yarn, he
bade him go on, but speak lower.
    »Well, then,« said he, in a smugged tone, his eyes lighting up like two
lanterns, »well, then, I 'd go to Mother Moll's that makes the great muffins: I
'd go there, you know, and cock my foot on the 'ob, and call for a noggin o'
something to begin with.«
    »And what then, Ropey?«
    »Why then, Flashy,« continued the poor victim, unconsciously warming with
his theme; »why then, I 'd draw my chair up and call for Betty, the gal wot
tends to customers. Betty, my dear, says I, you looks charmin' this mornin';
give me a nice rasher of bacon and h'eggs, Betty, my love; and I wants a pint of
h'ale, and three nice 'ot muffins and butter - and a slice of Cheshire; and
Betty, I wants -«
    »A shark-steak, and be hanged to you!« roared Black Dan, with an oath.
Whereupon, dragged over the chests, the ill-starred fellow is pummelled on deck.
    I always made a point of befriending poor Ropey when I could; and, for this
reason, was a great favourite of his.
 

                                   Chapter XV

                                Chips and Bungs

Bound into port, Chips and Bungs increased their devotion to the bottle; and, to
the unspeakable envy of the rest, these jolly companions - or the Partners, as
the men called them - rolled about deck, day after day, in the merriest mood
imaginable.
    But jolly as they were in the main, two more discreet tipplers it would be
hard to find. No one ever saw them take anything, except when the regular
allowance was served out by the steward; and to make them quite sober and
sensible, you had only to ask them how they contrived to keep otherwise. Some
time after, however, their secret leaked out.
    The casks of Pisco were kept down the after-hatchway, which, for this
reason, was secured with bar and padlock. The cooper, nevertheless, from time to
time, effected a burglarious entry, by descending into the fore-hold; and then,
at the risk of being jammed to death, crawling along over a thousand
obstructions, to where the casks were stowed.
    On the first expedition, the only one to be got at lay among others, upon
its bilge, with the bung-hole well over. With a bit of iron hoop, suitably bent,
and a good deal of prying and punching, the bung was forced in; and then the
cooper's neck-handkerchief, attached to the end of the hoop, was drawn in and
out - the absorbed liquor being deliberately squeezed into a small bucket.
    Bungs was a man after a bar-keeper's own heart. Drinking steadily, until
just manageably tipsy, he contrived to continue so; getting neither more nor
less inebriated, but, to use his own phrase, remaining just about right. When in
this interesting state, he had a free lurch in his gait, a queer way of hitching
up his waistbands, looked unnecessarily steady at you when speaking, and for the
rest, was in very tolerable spirits. At these times, moreover, he was
exceedingly patriotic; and in a most amusing way, frequently showed his
patriotism whenever he happened to encounter Dunk, a good-natured, square-faced
Dane, aboard.
    It must be known here, by the by, that the cooper had a true sailor
admiration for Lord Nelson. But he entertained a very erroneous idea of the
personal appearance of the hero. Not content with depriving him of an eye and an
arm, he stoutly maintained that he had also lost a leg in one of his battles.
Under this impression, he sometimes hopped up to Dunk with one leg curiously
locked behind him into his right arm, at the same time closing an eye.
    In this attitude he would call upon him to look up, and behold the man who
gave his countrymen such a thrashing at Copenhagen. »Look you, Dunk,« says he,
staggering about, and winking hard with one eye to keep the other shut; »look
you: one man - hang me, half a man - with one leg, one arm, one eye - hang me,
with only a piece of a carcass, flogged your whole shabby nation. Do you deny
it, you lubber?«
    The Dane was a mule of a man, and understanding but little English, seldom
made anything of a reply; so the cooper generally dropped his leg, and marched
off, with the air of a man who despised saying anything further.
 

                                  Chapter XVI

                              We Encounter a Gale

The mild blue weather we enjoyed after leaving the Marquesas gradually changed
as we ran farther south and approached Tahiti. In these generally tranquil seas,
the wind sometimes blows with great violence; though, as every sailor knows, a
spicy gale in the tropic latitudes of the Pacific is far different from a
tempest in the howling North Atlantic. We soon found ourselves battling with the
waves, while the before mild Trades, like a woman roused, blew fiercely, but
still warmly, in our face.
    For all this, the mate carried sail without stint; and as for the brave
Little Jule, she stood up to it well; and though once in a while floored in the
trough of a sea, sprang to her keel again and showed play. Every old timber
groaned - every spar buckled - every chafed cord strained; and yet, spite of
all, she plunged on her way like a racer. Jermin, sea-jockey that he was,
sometimes stood in the fore-chains, with the spray every now and then dashing
over him, and shouting out, »Well done, Jule - drive into it, sweetheart!
Hurrah!«
    One afternoon there was a mighty queer noise aloft, which set the men
running in every direction. It was the main-t'-gallant-mast. Crash! it broke off
just above the cap, and, held there by the rigging, dashed with every roll from
side to side, with all the hamper that belonged to it. The yard hung by a hair,
and at every pitch, thumped against the cross-trees; while the sail streamed in
ribbons, and the loose ropes coiled, and thrashed the air, like whip-lashes.
»Stand from under!« and down came the rattling blocks, like so many shot. The
yard, with a snap and a plunge, went hissing into the sea, disappeared, and shot
its full length out again. The crest of a great wave then broke over it - the
ship rushed by - and we saw the stick no more.
    While this lively breeze continued, Baltimore, our old black cook, was in
great tribulation.
    Like most South Seamen, the Julia's caboose, or cook-house, was planted on
the larboard side of the forecastle. Under such a press of canvas, and with the
heavy sea running, the barque, diving her bows under, now and then shipped green
glassy waves, which, breaking over the head-rails, fairly deluged that part of
the ship, and washed clean aft. The caboose-house - thought to be fairly lashed
down to its place - served as a sort of breakwater to the inundation.
    About these times, Baltimore always wore what he called his gale suit; among
other things, comprising a sou'-wester and a huge pair of well-anointed
sea-boots, reaching almost to his knees. Thus equipped for a ducking or a
drowning, as the case might be, our culinary high-priest drew to the slides of
his temple, and performed his sooty rites in secret.
    So afraid was the old man of being washed overboard, that he actually
fastened one end of a small line to his waistbands, and coiling the rest about
him, made use of it as occasion required. When engaged outside, he unwound the
cord, and secured one end to a ring-bolt in the deck; so that if a chance sea
washed him off his feet, it could do nothing more.
    One evening, just as he was getting supper, the Julia reared up on her stern
like a vicious colt, and when she settled again forward, fairly dished a
tremendous sea. Nothing could withstand it. One side of the rotten head-bulwarks
came in with a crash; it smote the caboose, tore it from its moorings, and after
boxing it about, dashed it against the windlass, where it stranded. The water
then poured along the deck like a flood, rolling over and over pots, pans, and
kettles, and even old Baltimore himself, who went breaching along like a
porpoise.
    Striking the taffrail, the wave subsided, and, washing from side to side,
left the drowning cook high and dry on the after-hatch, his extinguished pipe
still between his teeth, and almost bitten in two.
    The few men on deck having sprung into the main-rigging, sailor-like, did
nothing but roar at his calamity.
    The same night, our flying-jib-boom snapped off like a pipe-stem, and our
spanker-gaff came down by the run.
    By the following morning, the wind in a great measure had gone down; the sea
with it; and by noon we had repaired our damages as well as we could, and were
sailing along as pleasantly as ever.
    But there was no help for the demolished bulwarks; we had nothing to replace
them; and so, whenever it breezed again, our dauntless craft went along with her
splintered prow dripping, but kicking up her fleet heels just as high as before.
 

                                  Chapter XVII

                               The Coral Islands

How far we sailed to the westward after leaving the Marquesas, or what might
have been our latitude and longitude at any particular time, or how many leagues
we voyaged on our passage to Tahiti, are matters about which, I am sorry to say,
I cannot with any accuracy enlighten the reader. Jermin, as navigator, kept our
reckoning; and, as hinted before, kept it all to himself. At noon he brought out
his quadrant, a rusty old thing, so odd-looking that it might have belonged to
an astrologer.
    Sometimes, when rather flustered from his potations, he went staggering
about deck, instrument to eye, looking all over for the sun - a phenomenon which
any sober observer might have seen right overhead. How upon earth he contrived,
on some occasions, to settle his latitude, is more than I can tell. The
longitude he must either have obtained by the Rule of Three, or else by special
revelation. Not that the chronometer in the cabin was seldom to be relied on, or
was any ways fidgety; quite the contrary; it stood stock-still; and by that
means, no doubt, the true Greenwich time - at the period of its stopping, at
least - was preserved to a second.
    The mate, however, in addition to his Dead Reckoning, pretended to ascertain
his meridian distance from Bow Bells by an occasional lunar observation. This, I
believe, consists in obtaining, with the proper instruments, the angular
distance between the moon and some of the stars. The operation generally
requires two observers to take sights, at one and the same time.
    Now, though the mate alone might have been thought well calculated for this,
inasmuch as he generally saw things double, the doctor was usually called upon
to play a sort of second quadrant to Jermin's first; and what with the capers of
both, they used to furnish a good deal of diversion. The mate's tremulous
attempts to level his instrument at the star he was after, were comical enough.
For my own part, when he did catch sight of it, I hardly knew how he managed to
separate it from the astral host revolving in his own brain.
    However, by hook or by crook, he piloted us along; and before many days, a
fellow sent aloft to darn a rent in the fore-top-sail, threw his hat into the
air, and bawled out, »Land ho!«
    Land it was; but in what part of the South Seas, Jermin alone knew, and some
doubted whether even he did. But no sooner was the announcement made, than he
came running on deck, spy-glass in hand, and clapping it to his eye, turned
round with the air of a man receiving indubitable assurance of something he was
quite certain of before. The land was precisely that for which he had been
steering; and, with a wind, in less than twenty-four hours we would sight
Tahiti. What he said was verified.
    The island turned out to be one of the Pomotu or Low Group - sometimes
called the Coral Islands - perhaps the most remarkable and interesting in the
Pacific. Lying to the east of Tahiti, the nearest are within a day's sail of
that place.
    They are very numerous; mostly small, low, and level; sometimes wooded, but
always covered with verdure. Many are crescent-shaped; others resemble a
horse-shoe in figure. These last are nothing more than narrow circles of land
surrounding a smooth lagoon, connected by a single opening with the sea. Some of
the lagoons, said to have subterranean outlets, have no visible ones; the
enclosing island, in such cases, being a complete zone of emerald. Other lagoons
still, are girdled by numbers of small, green islets, very near to each other.
    The origin of the entire group is generally ascribed to the coral insect.
    According to some naturalists, this wonderful little creature, commencing
its erections at the bottom of the sea, after the lapse of centuries, carries
them up to the surface, where its labours cease. Here, the inequalities of the
coral collect all floating bodies; forming, after a time, a soil, in which the
seeds carried thither by birds germinate, and cover the whole with vegetation.
Here and there, all over this archipelago, numberless naked, detached coral
formations are seen, just emerging, as it were, from the ocean. These would
appear to be islands in the very process of creation - at any rate, one
involuntarily concludes so, on beholding them.5
    As far as I know, there are but few bread-fruit trees in any part of the
Pomotu Group. In many places the cocoa-nut even does not grow; though, in
others, it largely flourishes. Consequently, some of the islands are altogether
uninhabited; others support but a single family; and in no place is the
population very large. In some respects the natives resemble the Tahitians:
their language, too, is very similar. The people of the south-easterly clusters
- concerning whom, however, but little is known - have a bad name as cannibals;
and for that reason their hospitality is seldom taxed by the mariner.
    Within a few years past, missionaries from the Society Group have settled
among the Leeward Islands, where the natives have treated them kindly. Indeed,
nominally many of these people are now Christians; and, through the political
influence of their instructors, no doubt, a short time since came under the
allegiance of Pomaree, the Queen of Tahiti; with which island they always
carried on considerable intercourse.
    The Coral Islands are principally visited by the pearl-shell fishermen, who
arrive in small schooners, carrying not more than five or six men.
    For a long while the business was engrossed by Merenhout, the French consul
at Tahiti, but a Dutchman by birth, who, in one year, is said to have sent to
France fifty thousand dollars' worth of shells. The oysters are found in the
lagoons, and about the reefs; and, for half a dozen nails a day, or a
compensation still less, the natives are hired to dive after them.
    A great deal of cocoa-nut oil is also obtained in various places. Some of
the uninhabited islands are covered with dense groves; and the ungathered nuts
which have fallen year after year, lie upon the ground in incredible quantities.
Two or three men, provided with the necessary apparatus for trying out the oil,
will, in the course of a week or two, obtain enough to load one of the large
sea-canoes.
    Cocoa-nut oil is now manufactured in different parts of the South Seas, and
forms no small part of the traffic carried on with trading vessels. A
considerable quantity is annually exported from the Society Islands to Sydney.
It is used in lamps and for machinery, being much cheaper than the sperm, and,
for both purposes, better than the right-whale oil. They bottle it up in large
bamboos, six or eight feet long; and these form part of the circulating medium
of Tahiti.
    To return to the ship. The wind dying away, evening came on before we drew
near the island. But we had it in view during the whole afternoon.
    It was small and round, presenting one enamelled level, free from trees, and
did not seem four feet above the water. Beyond it was another and larger island,
about which a tropical sunset was throwing its glories; flushing all that part
of the heavens, and making it flame like a vast dyed oriel illuminated.
    The Trades scarce filled our swooning sails; the air was languid with the
aroma of a thousand strange, flowering shrubs. Upon inhaling it, one of the
sick, who had recently shown symptoms of scurvy, cried out in pain, and was
carried below. This is no unusual effect in such cases.
    On we glided, within less than a cable's length of the shore, which was
margined with foam that sparkled all round. Within nestled the still, blue
lagoon. No living thing was seen, and, for aught we knew, we might have been the
first mortals who had ever beheld the spot. The thought was quickening to the
fancy; nor could I help dreaming of the endless grottoes and galleries, far
below the reach of the mariner's lead.
    And what strange shapes were lurking there! Think of those arch creatures,
the mermaids, chasing each other in and out of the coral cells, and catching
their long hair in the coral twigs.
 

                                 Chapter XVIII

                                     Tahiti

At early dawn of the following morning we saw the Peaks of Tahiti. In clear
weather they may be seen at the distance of ninety miles.
    »Hivarhoo!« shouted Wymontoo, overjoyed, and running out upon the bowsprit
when the land was first faintly descried in the distance. But when the clouds
floated away, and showed the three peaks standing like obelisks against the sky,
and the bold shore undulating along the horizon, the tears gushed from his eyes.
Poor fellow! It was not Hivarhoo. Green Hivarhoo was many a long league off.
    Tahiti is by far the most famous island in the South Seas; indeed, a variety
of causes has made it almost classic. Its natural features alone distinguish it
from the surrounding groups. Two round and lofty promontories, whose mountains
rise nine thousand feet above the level of the ocean, are connected by a low,
narrow isthmus; the whole being some one hundred miles in circuit. From the
great central peaks of the larger peninsula - Orohena, Aorai, and Pirohitee -
the land radiates on all sides to the sea in sloping green ridges. Between these
are broad and shadowy valleys - in aspect, each a Tempe - watered with fine
streams, and thickly wooded. Unlike many of the other islands, there extends
nearly all round Tahiti a belt of low, alluvial soil, teeming with the richest
vegetation. Here, chiefly, the natives dwell.
    Seen from the sea, the prospect is magnificent. It is one mass of shaded
tints of green, from beach to mountain top; endlessly diversified with valleys,
ridges, glens, and cascades. Over the ridges, here and there, the loftier peaks
fling their shadows, and far down the valleys. At the head of these, the
waterfalls flash out into the sunlight, as if pouring through vertical bowers of
verdure. Such enchantment, too, breathes over the whole, that it seems a fairy
world, all fresh and blooming from the hand of the Creator.
    Upon a near approach, the picture loses not its attractions. It is no
exaggeration to say, that to a European of any sensibility, who for the first
time wanders back into these valleys - away from the haunts of the natives - the
ineffable repose and beauty of the landscape is such, that every object strikes
him like something seen in a dream; and for a time he almost refuses to believe
that scenes like these should have a commonplace existence. No wonder that the
French bestowed upon the island the appellation of the New Cytherea. »Often,«
says De Bougainville, »I thought I was walking in the Garden of Eden.«
    Nor, when first discovered, did the inhabitants of this charming country at
all diminish the wonder and admiration of the voyager. Their physical beauty and
amiable dispositions harmonised completely with the softness of their clime. In
truth, everything about them was calculated to awaken the liveliest interest.
Glance at their civil and religious institutions. To their king, divine rights
were paid; while, for poetry, their mythology rivalled that of ancient Greece.
    Of Tahiti, earlier and more full accounts were given, than of any other
island in Polynesia; and this is the reason why it still retains so strong a
hold on the sympathies of all readers of South Sea voyages. The journals of its
first visitors, containing, as they did, such romantic descriptions of a country
and people before unheard of, produced a marked sensation throughout Europe; and
when the first Tahitians were carried thither, Omai in London, and Aotooroo in
Paris, were caressed by nobles, scholars, and ladies.
    In addition to all this, several eventful occurrences, more or less
connected with Tahiti, have tended to increase its celebrity. Over two centuries
ago, Quiros, the Spaniard, is supposed to have touched at the island; and, at
intervals, Wallis, Byron, Cook, De Bougainville, Vancouver, Le Pérouse, and
other illustrious navigators refitted their vessels in its harbours. Here the
famous Transit of Venus was observed in 1769. Here the memorable mutiny of the
Bounty afterwards had its origin. It was to the pagans of Tahiti that the first
regularly constituted Protestant missionaries were sent; and from their shores
also have sailed successive missions to the neighbouring islands.
    These, with other events which might be mentioned, have united in keeping up
the first interest which the place awakened; and the recent proceedings of the
French have more than ever called forth the sympathies of the public.
 

                                  Chapter XIX

                         A Surprise - More about Bembo

The sight of the island was right welcome. Going into harbour after a cruise is
always joyous enough, and the sailor is apt to indulge in all sorts of pleasant
anticipations. But to us, the occasion was heightened by many things peculiar to
our situation.
    Since steering for the land, our prospects had been much talked over. By
many it was supposed that, should the captain leave the ship, the crew were no
longer bound by her articles. This was the opinion of our forecastle Cokes;
though, probably, it would not have been sanctioned by the Marine Courts of Law.
At any rate, such was the state of both vessel and crew that, whatever might be
the event, a long stay, and many holydays in Tahiti, were confidently predicted.
    Everybody was in high spirits. The sick, who had been improving day by day
since the change in our destination, were on deck, and leaning over the
bulwarks; some all animation, and others silently admiring an object unrivalled
for its stately beauty - Tahiti from the sea.
    The quarter-deck, however, furnished a marked contrast to what was going on
at the other end of the ship. The Mowree was there, as usual, scowling by
himself; and Jermin walked to and fro in deep thought, every now and then
looking to windward, or darting into the cabin and quickly returning.
    With all our light sails wooingly spread, we held on our way, until, with
the doctor's glass, Papeetee, the village metropolis of Tahiti, came into view.
Several ships were descried lying in the harbour, and among them, one which
loomed up black and large; her two rows of teeth proclaiming a frigate. This was
the Reine Blanche, last from the Marquesas, and carrying at the fore the flag of
Rear-Admiral Du Petit Thouars. Hardly had we made her out, when the booming of
her guns came over the water. She was firing a salute, which afterwards turned
out to be in honour of a treaty; or rather - as far as the natives were
concerned - a forced cession of Tahiti to the French, that morning concluded.
    The cannonading had hardly died away, when Jermin's voice was heard giving
an order so unexpected that everyone started. »Stand by to haul back the
main-yard!«
    »What 's that mean?« shouted the men; »are we not going into port?«
    »Tumble after here, and no words!« cried the mate; and in a moment the
main-yard swung round, when, with her jib-boom pointing out to sea, the Julia
lay as quiet as a duck. We all looked blank - what was to come next?
    Presently the steward made his appearance, carrying a mattress, which he
spread out in the stern-sheets of the captain's boat; two or three chests, and
other things belonging to his master, were similarly disposed of.
    This was enough. A slight hint suffices for a sailor.
    Still adhering to his resolution to keep the ship at sea in spite of
everything, the captain, doubtless, intended to set himself ashore, leaving the
vessel under the mate, to resume her voyage at once; but after a certain period
agreed upon, to touch at the island and take him off. All this, of course, could
easily be done without approaching any nearer the land with the Julia than we
now were. Invalid whaling captains often adopt a plan like this; but, in the
present instance, it was wholly unwarranted; and, everything considered, at war
with the commonest principles of prudence and humanity. And although, on Guy's
part, this resolution showed more hardihood than he had ever been given credit
for, it, at the same time, argued an unaccountable simplicity, in supposing that
such a crew would, in any way, submit to the outrage.
    It was soon made plain that we were right in our suspicions; and the men
became furious. The cooper and carpenter volunteered to head a mutiny forthwith;
and while Jermin was below, four or five rushed aft to fasten down the cabin
scuttle; others, throwing down the main-braces, called out to the rest to lend a
hand, and fill away for the land. All this was done in an instant; and things
were looking critical, when Doctor Long Ghost and myself prevailed upon them to
wait awhile, and do nothing hastily; there was plenty of time, and the ship was
completely in our power.
    While the preparations were still going on in the cabin, we mustered the men
together, and went into council upon the forecastle.
    It was with much difficulty that we could bring these rash spirits to a calm
consideration of the case. But the doctor's influence at last began to tell;
and, with a few exceptions, they agreed to be guided by him; assured that, if
they did so, the ship would eventually be brought to her anchors without anyone
getting into trouble. Still they told us, up and down, that if peaceable means
failed, they would seize Little Jule, and carry her into Papeetee, if they all
swung for it; but, for the present, the captain should have his own way.
    By this time everything was ready; the boat was lowered and brought to the
gangway; and the captain was helped on deck by the mate and steward. It was the
first time we had seen him in more than two weeks, and he was greatly altered.
As if anxious to elude every eye, a broad-brimmed Payta hat was pulled down over
his brow; so that his face was only visible when the brim flapped aside. By a
sling, rigged from the main-yard, the cook and Bembo now assisted in lowering
him into the boat. As he went moaning over the side, he must have heard the
whispered maledictions of his crew.
    While the steward was busy adjusting matters in the boat, the mate, after a
private interview with the Mowree, turned round abruptly, and told us that he
was going ashore with the captain, to return as soon as possible. In his
absence, Bembo, as next in rank, would command; there being nothing to do but
keep the ship at a safe distance from the land. He then sprang into the boat,
and, with only the cook and steward as oarsmen, steered for the shore.
    Guy's thus leaving the ship in the men's hands, contrary to the mate's
advice, was another evidence of his simplicity; for, at this particular
juncture, had neither the doctor nor myself been aboard, there is no telling
what they might have done.
    For the nonce, Bembo was captain; and, so far as mere seamanship was
concerned, he was as competent to command as any one. In truth, a better seaman
never swore. This accomplishment, by the by, together with a surprising
familiarity with most nautical names and phrases, comprised about all the
English he knew.
    Being a harpooneer, and, as such, having access to the cabin, this man,
though not yet civilised, was, according to sea usages, which know no
exceptions, held superior to the sailors; and therefore nothing was said against
his being left in charge of the ship; nor did it occasion any surprise.
    Some additional account must be given of Bembo. In the first place, he was
far from being liked. A dark, moody savage, everybody but the mate more or less
distrusted or feared him. Nor were these feelings unreciprocated. Unless duty
called, he seldom went among the crew. Hard stories, too, were told about him;
something, in particular, concerning an hereditary propensity to kill men and
eat them. True, he came from a race of cannibals; but that was all that was
known to a certainty.
    Whatever unpleasant ideas were connected with the Mowree, his personal
appearance no way lessened them. Unlike most of his countrymen, he was, if
anything, below the ordinary height; but then, he was all compact, and under his
swart, tattooed skin, the muscles worked like steel rods. Hair, crisp and
coal-black, curled over shaggy brows, and ambushed small, intense eyes, always
on the glare. In short, he was none of your effeminate barbarians.
    Previous to this, he had been two or three voyages in Sydney whalemen;
always, however, as in the present instance, shipping at the Bay of Islands, and
receiving his discharge there on the homeward-bound passage. In this way, his
countrymen frequently entered on board the colonial whaling vessels.
    There was a man among us who had sailed with the Mowree on his first voyage,
and he told me that he had not changed a particle since then.
    Some queer things this fellow told me. The following is one of his stories.
I give it for what it is worth; premising, however, that from what I know of
Bembo, and the foolhardy, dare-devil feats sometimes performed in the
sperm-whale fishery, I believe in its substantial truth.
    As may be believed, Bembo was a wild one after a fish; indeed, all New
Zealanders engaged in this business are; it seems to harmonise sweetly with
their blood-thirsty propensities. At sea, the best English they speak is the
South Seaman's slogan in lowering away, »A dead whale, or a stove boat!« Game to
the marrow, these fellows are generally selected for harpooners; a post in
which a nervous, timid man would be rather out of his element.
    In darting, the harpooneer, of course, stands erect in the head of the boat,
one knee braced against a support. But Bembo disdained this; and was always
pulled up to his fish, balancing himself right on the gunwale.
    But to my story. One morning, at daybreak, they brought him up to a large,
lone whale. He darted his harpoon, and missed; and the fish sounded. After a
while, the monster rose again, about a mile off, and they made after him. But he
was frightened, or gallied, as they call it; and noon came, and the boat was
still chasing him. In whaling, as long as the fish is in sight, and no matter
what may have been previously undergone, there is no giving up, except when
night comes; and nowadays, when whales are so hard to be got, frequently not
even then. At last, Bembo's whale was alongside for the second time. He darted
both harpoons; but, as sometimes happens to the best men, by some unaccountable
chance, once more missed. Though it is well known that such failures will happen
at times, they, nevertheless, occasion the bitterest disappointment to a boat's
crew, generally expressed in curses both loud and deep. And no wonder. Let any
man pull with might and main for hours and hours together under a burning sun,
and if it do not make him a little peevish, he is no sailor.
    The taunts of the seamen may have maddened the Mowree; however it was, no
sooner was he brought up again, than, harpoon in hand, he bounded upon the
whale's back, and for one dizzy second was seen there. The next, all was foam
and fury, and both were out of sight. The men sheered off, flinging overboard
the line as fast as they could; while ahead, nothing was seen but a red
whirlpool of blood and brine.
    Presently, a dark object swam out; the line began to straighten; then smoked
round the loggerhead, and, quick as thought, the boat sped like an arrow through
the water. They were fast, and the whale was running.
    Where was the Mowree? His brown hand was on the boat's gunwale; and he was
hauled aboard in the very midst of the mad bubbles that burst under the bows.
    Such a man, or devil, if you will, was Bembo.
 

                                   Chapter XX

                     The Round Robin - Visitors from Shore

After the captain left, the land-breeze died away; and, as is usual about these
islands, toward noon it fell a dead calm. There was nothing to do but haul up
the courses, run down the jib, and lie and roll up the swells. The repose of the
elements seemed to communicate itself to the men; and for a time there was a
lull.
    Early in the afternoon, the mate, having left the captain at Papeetee,
returned to the ship. According to the steward, they were to go ashore again
right after dinner with the remainder of Guy's effects.
    On gaining the deck, Jermin purposely avoided us, and went below without
saying a word. Meanwhile, Long Ghost and I laboured hard to diffuse the right
spirit among the crew; impressing upon them that a little patience and
management would, in the end, accomplish all that their violence could; and
that, too, without making a serious matter of it.
    For my own part, I felt that I was under a foreign flag; that an English
consul was close at hand, and that sailors seldom obtain justice. It was best to
be prudent. Still, so much did I sympathise with the men - so far, at least, as
their real grievances were concerned - and so convinced was I of the cruelty and
injustice of what Captain Guy seemed bent upon, that, if need were, I stood
ready to raise a hand.
    In spite of all we could do, some of them again became most refractory,
breathing nothing but downright mutiny. When we went below to dinner, these
fellows stirred up such a prodigious tumult that the old hull fairly echoed.
Many, and fierce too, were the speeches delivered, and uproarious the comments
of the sailors. Among others, Long Jim, or - as the doctor afterwards called him
- Lacedæmonian Jim, rose in his place, and addressed the forecastle parliament
in the following strain: -
    »Look ye, Britons! if, after what's happened, this here craft goes to sea
with us, we are no men; and that's the way to say it. Speak the word, my
livelies, and I 'll pilot her in. I 've been to Tahiti before, and I can do it.«
Whereupon, he sat down amid a universal pounding of chest-lids and cymballing of
tin pans; the few invalids, who, as yet, had not been actively engaged with the
rest, now taking part in the applause, creaking their bunk-boards and swinging
their hammocks. Cries were also heard of »Handspikes and a shindy!« »Out
stun'-sails!« »Hurrah!«
    Several now ran on deck, and, for a moment, I thought it was all over with
us; but we finally succeeded in restoring some degree of quiet.
    At last, by way of diverting their thoughts, I proposed that a Round Robin
should be prepared and sent ashore to the consul by Baltimore, the cook. The
idea took mightily, and I was told to set about it at once. On turning to the
doctor for the requisite materials, he told me he had none; there was not a
fly-leaf, even, in any of his books. So, after great search, a damp, musty
volume, entitled A History of the most Atrocious and Bloody Piracies, was
produced, and its two remaining blank leaves being torn out, were, by help of a
little pitch, lengthened into one sheet. For ink, some of the soot over the lamp
was then mixed with water, by a fellow of a literary turn; and an immense quill,
plucked from a distended albatross's wing, which, nailed against the bowsprit
bitts, had long formed an ornament of the forecastle, supplied a pen.
    Making use of the stationery thus provided, I indited, upon a chest-lid, a
concise statement of our grievances; concluding with the earnest hope, that the
consul would at once come off, and see how matters stood, for himself. Right
beneath the note was described the circle about which the names were to be
written; the great object of a Round Robin being to arrange the signatures in
such a way, that, although they are all found in a ring, no man can be picked
out as the leader of it.
    Few among them had any regular names; many answering to some familiar title,
expressive of a personal trait; or, oftener still, to the name of the place from
which they hailed; and in one or two cases were known by a handy syllable or
two, significant of nothing in particular but the men who bore them. Some, to be
sure, had, for the sake of formality, shipped under a feigned cognomen, or
Purser's name; these, however, were almost forgotten by themselves; and so, to
give the document an air of genuineness, it was decided that every man's name
should be put down as it went among the crew. The annexed, therefore, as nearly
as I can recall it, is something like a correct representation of the
signatures. It is due to the doctor to say that the circumscribed device was
his. Folded, and sealed with a drop of tar, the Round Robin was directed to The
English Consul, Tahiti; and, handed to the cook, was by him delivered into that
gentleman's hands as soon as the mate went ashore.
    On the return of the boat, some time after dark, we learned a good deal from
old Baltimore, who, having been allowed to run about as much as he pleased, had
spent his time gossiping.
    Owing to the proceedings of the French, everything in Tahiti was in an
uproar. Pritchard, the missionary consul, was absent in England; but his place
was temporarily filled by one Wilson, an educated white man, born on the island,
and the son of an old missionary of that name still living.
    With natives and foreigners alike, Wilson the younger was exceedingly
unpopular, being held an unprincipled and dissipated man, a character verified
by his subsequent conduct. Pritchard's selecting a man like this to attend to
the duties of his office had occasioned general dissatisfaction ashore.
    Though never in Europe or America, the acting consul had been several
voyages to Sydney in a schooner belonging to the mission; and therefore our
surprise was lessened when Baltimore told us, that he and Captain Guy were as
sociable as could be - old acquaintances, in fact; and that the latter had taken
up his quarters at Wilson's house. For us this boded ill.
    The mate was now assailed by a hundred questions as to what was going to be
done with us. His only reply was, that in the morning the consul would pay us a
visit, and settle everything.
    After holding our ground off the harbour during the night, in the morning a
shore boat, manned by natives, was seen coming off. In it were Wilson and
another white man, who proved to be a Doctor Johnson, an Englishman, and a
resident physician of Papeetee.
    Stopping our headway as they approached, Jermin advanced to the gangway to
receive them. No sooner did the consul touch the deck, than he gave us a
specimen of what he was.
    »Mr. Jermin,« he cried loftily, and not deigning to notice the respectful
salutation of the person addressed, »Mr. Jermin, tack ship, and stand off from
the land.«
    Upon this, the men looked hard at him, anxious to see what sort of a looking
cove he was. Upon inspection, he turned out to be an exceedingly minute cove,
with a viciously pugged nose, and a decidedly thin pair of legs. There was
nothing else noticeable about him. Jermin, with ill-assumed suavity, at once
obeyed the order, and the ship's head soon pointed out to sea.
    Now, contempt is as frequently produced at first sight as love; and thus was
it with respect to Wilson. No one could look at him without conceiving a strong
dislike, or a cordial desire to entertain such a feeling the first favourable
opportunity. There was such an intolerable air of conceit about this man, that
it was almost as much as one could do to refrain from running up and affronting
him.
    »So the counsellor is come,« exclaimed Navy Bob, who, like all the rest,
invariably styled him thus, much to mine and the doctor's diversion. »Ay,« said
another, »and for no good, I 'll be bound.«
    Such were some of the observations made, as Wilson and the mate went below
conversing.
    But no one exceeded the cooper in the violence with which he inveighed
against the ship and everything connected with her. Swearing like a trooper, he
called the main-mast to witness, that if he (Bungs) ever again went out of sight
of land in the Julia, he prayed Heaven that a fate might be his - altogether too
remarkable to be here related.
    Much had he to say also concerning the vileness of what we had to eat - not
fit for a dog; besides enlarging upon the imprudence of entrusting the vessel
longer to a man of the mate's intemperate habits. With so many sick, too, what
could we expect to do in the fishery? It was no use talking; come what come
might, the ship must let go her anchor.
    Now, as Bungs, besides being an able seaman, a Cod in the forecastle, and
about the oldest man in it, was, moreover, thus deeply imbued with feelings so
warmly responded to by the rest, he was all at once selected to officiate as
spokesman, so soon as the consul should see fit to address us. The selection was
made contrary to mine and the doctor's advice; however, all assured us they
would keep quiet, and hear everything Wilson had to say, before doing anything
decisive.
    We were not kept long in suspense; for very soon he was seen standing in the
cabin gangway, with the tarnished tin case containing the ship's papers; and
Jermin at once sung out for the ship's company to muster on the quarter-deck.
 
                                The Round Robin.
 

                                  Chapter XXI

                           Proceedings of the Consul

The order was instantly obeyed, and the sailors ranged themselves, facing the
consul.
    They were a wild company; men of many climes - not at all precise in their
toilet arrangements, but picturesque in their very tatters. My friend, the Long
Doctor, was there too; and with a view, perhaps, of enlisting the sympathies of
the consul for a gentleman in distress, had taken more than ordinary pains with
his appearance. But among the sailors, he looked like a land-crane blown off to
sea, and consorting with petrels.
    The forlorn Rope Yarn, however, was by far the most remarkable figure.
Land-lubber that he was, his outfit of sea-clothing had long since been
confiscated; and he was now fain to go about in whatever he could pick up. His
upper garment - an unsailor-like article of dress which he persisted in wearing,
though torn from his back twenty times in the day - was an old claw-hammer
jacket, or swallow-tail coat, formerly belonging to Captain Guy, and which had
formed one of his perquisites when steward.
    By the side of Wilson was the mate, bareheaded, his gray locks lying in
rings upon his bronzed brow, and his keen eye scanning the crowd as if he knew
their every thought. His frock hung loosely, exposing his round throat, mossy
chest, and short and nervous arm embossed with pugilistic bruises, and quaint
with many a device in India ink.
    In the midst of a portentous silence, the consul unrolled his papers,
evidently intending to produce an effect by the exceeding bigness of his looks.
    »Mr. Jermin, call off their names«; and he handed him a list of the ship's
company.
    All answered but the deserters and the two mariners at the bottom of the
sea.
    It was now supposed that the Round Robin would be produced, and something
said about it. But not so. Among the consul's papers that unique document was
thought to be perceived; but, if there, it was too much despised to be made a
subject of comment. Some present, very justly regarding it as an uncommon
literary production, had been anticipating all sorts of miracles therefrom; and
were, therefore, much touched at this neglect.
    »Well, men,« began Wilson again after a short pause, »although you all look
hearty enough, I 'm told there are some sick among you. Now then, Mr. Jermin,
call off the names on that sick-list of yours, and let them go over to the other
side of the deck - I should like to see who they are.«
    »So, then,« said he, after we had all passed over, »you are the sick
fellows, are you? Very good: I shall have you seen to. You will go down into the
cabin, one by one, to Doctor Johnson, who will report your respective cases to
me. Such as he pronounces in a dying state I shall have sent ashore; the rest
will be provided with everything needful, and remain aboard.«
    At this announcement we gazed strangely at each other, anxious to see who it
was that looked like dying, and pretty nearly deciding to stay aboard and get
well, rather than go ashore and be buried. There were some, nevertheless, who
saw very plainly what Wilson was at, and they acted accordingly. For my own
part, I resolved to assume as dying an expression as possible; hoping, that on
the strength of it, I might be sent ashore, and so get rid of the ship without
any further trouble.
    With this intention, I determined to take no part in anything that might
happen until my case was decided upon. As for the doctor, he had all along
pretended to be more or less unwell; and by a significant look now given me, it
was plain that he was becoming decidedly worse.
    The invalids disposed of for the present, and one of them having gone below
to be examined, the consul turned round to the rest, and addressed them as
follows: -
    »Men, I 'm going to ask you two or three questions - let one of you answer
yes or no, and the rest keep silent. Now then: Have you anything to say against
your mate, Mr. Jermin?« And he looked sharply among the sailors, and, at last,
right into the eye of the cooper, whom everybody was eyeing.
    »Well, sir,« faltered Bungs, »we can't say anything against Mr. Jermin's
seamanship, but -«
    »I want no buts,« cried the consul, breaking in: »answer me yes or no - have
you anything to say against Mr. Jermin?«
    »I was going on to say, sir, Mr. Jermin 's a very good man; but then -« Here
the mate looked marling-spikes at Bungs; and Bungs, after stammering out
something, looked straight down to a seam in the deck, and stopped short.
    A rather assuming fellow heretofore, the cooper had sported many feathers in
his cap; he was now showing the white one.
    »So much, then, for that part of the business,« exclaimed Wilson, smartly;
»you have nothing to say against him, I see.«
    Upon this several seemed to be on the point of saying a good deal; but,
disconcerted by the cooper's conduct, checked themselves, and the consul
proceeded.
    »Have you enough to eat, aboard? answer me, you man who spoke before.«
    »Well, I don't know as to that,« said the cooper, looking excessively
uneasy, and trying to edge back, but pushed forward again. »Some of that salt
horse ain't as sweet as it might be.«
    »That's not what I asked you,« shouted the consul, growing brave quite fast;
»answer my questions as I put them, or I 'll find a way to make you.«
    This was going a little too far. The ferment into which the cooper's
poltroonery had thrown the sailors now brooked no restraint; and one of them - a
young American who went by the name of Salem6 - dashed out from among the rest,
and fetching the cooper a blow that sent him humming over toward the consul,
flourished a naked sheath-knife in the air, and burst forth with, »I 'm the
little fellow that can answer your questions; just put them to me once,
counsellor.«
    But the counsellor had no more questions to ask just then; for at the
alarming apparition of Salem's knife, and the extraordinary effect produced upon
Bungs, he had popped his head down the companion-way, and was holding it there.
    Upon the mate's assuring him, however, that it was all over, he looked up,
quite flustered, if not frightened, but evidently determined to put as fierce a
face on the matter as practicable. Speaking sharply, he warned all present to
look out; and then repeated the question, whether there was enough to eat
aboard. Everyone now turned spokesman; and he was assailed by a perfect
hurricane of yells, in which the oaths fell like hailstones.
    »How 's this! what d' ye mean?« he cried, upon the first lull; »who told you
all to speak at once? Here, you man with the knife, you 'll be putting someone's
eyes out yet; d' ye hear, you sir? You seem to have a good deal to say; who are
you, pray? where did you ship?«
    »I 'm nothing more nor a bloody beach-comber,«7 retorted Salem, stepping
forward piratically and eyeing him; »and if you want to know, I shipped at the
Islands about four months ago.«
    »Only four months ago? And here you have more to say than men who have been
aboard the whole voyage«; and the consul made a dash at looking furious, but
failed. »Let me hear no more from you, sir. Where 's that respectable,
gray-headed man, the cooper? he 's the one to answer my questions.«
    »There 's no 'spectable, gray-headed men aboard,« returned Salem; »we 're
all a parcel of mutineers and pirates!«
    All this time, the mate was holding his peace; and Wilson, now completely
abashed, and at a loss what to do, took him by the arm, and walked across the
deck. Returning to the cabin scuttle, after a close conversation, he abruptly
addressed the sailors, without taking any further notice of what had just
happened.
    »For reasons you all know, men, this ship has been placed in my hands. As
Captain Guy will remain ashore for the present, your mate, Mr. Jermin, will
command until his recovery. According to my judgment, there is no reason why the
voyage should not be at once resumed; especially as I shall see that you have
two more harpooners, and enough good men to man three boats. As for the sick,
neither you nor I have anything to do with them; they will be attended to by
Doctor Johnson; but I 've explained that matter before. As soon as things can be
arranged - in a day or two, at farthest - you will go to sea for a three months'
cruise, touching here, at the end of it, for your captain. Let me hear a good
report of you, now, when you come back. At present, you will continue lying off
and on the harbour. I will send you fresh provisions as soon as I can get them.
There: I've nothing more to say; go forward to your stations.«
    And, without another word, he wheeled round to descend into the cabin. But
hardly had he concluded before the incensed men were dancing about him on every
side, and calling upon him to lend an ear. Each one for himself denied the
legality of what he proposed to do; insisted upon the necessity for taking the
ship in; and finally gave him to understand, roughly and roundly, that go to sea
in her they would not.
    In the midst of this mutinous uproar, the alarmed consul stood fast by the
scuttle. His tactics had been decided upon beforehand; indeed, they must have
been concerted ashore, between him and the captain; for all he said, as he now
hurried below, was, »Go forward, men; I 'm through with you: you should have
mentioned these matters before: my arrangements are concluded: go forward, I
say; I 've nothing more to say to you.« And, drawing over the slide of the
scuttle, he disappeared.
    Upon the very point of following him down, the attention of the exasperated
seamen was called off to a party who had just then taken the recreant Bungs in
hand. Amid a shower of kicks and cuffs, the traitor was borne along to the
forecastle, where - I forbear to relate what followed.
 

                                  Chapter XXII

                             The Consul's Departure

During the scenes just described, Doctor Johnson was engaged in examining the
sick; of whom, as it turned out, all but two were to remain in the ship. He had
evidently received his cue from Wilson.
    One of the last called below into the cabin, just as the quarter-deck
gathering dispersed, I came on deck quite incensed. My lameness, which, to tell
the truth, was now much better, was put down as, in a great measure, affected;
and my name was on the list of those who would be fit for any duty in a day or
two. This was enough. As for Doctor Long Ghost, the shore physician, instead of
extending to him any professional sympathy, had treated him very cavalierly. To
a certain extent, therefore, we were now both bent on making common cause with
the sailors.
    I must explain myself here. All we wanted was to have the ship snugly
anchored in Papeetee Bay; entertaining no doubt that, could this be done, it
would in some way or other peaceably lead to our emancipation. Without a
downright mutiny, there was but one way to accomplish this: to induce the men to
refuse all further duty, unless it were to work the vessel in. The only
difficulty lay in restraining them within proper bounds. Nor was it without
certain misgivings, that I found myself so situated, that I must necessarily
link myself, however guardedly, with such a desperate company; and in an
enterprise, too, of which it was hard to conjecture what might be the result.
But anything like neutrality was out of the question; and unconditional
submission was equally so.
    On going forward, we found them ten times more tumultuous than ever. After
again restoring some degree of tranquillity, we once more urged our plan of
quietly refusing duty, and awaiting the result. At first, few would hear of it;
but in the end, a good number were convinced by our representations. Others held
out. Nor were those who thought with us, in all things to be controlled.
    Upon Wilson's coming on deck to enter his boat, he was beset on all sides;
and, for a moment, I thought the ship would be seized before his very eyes.
    »Nothing more to say to you, men; my arrangements are made. Go forward,
where you belong. I 'll take no insolence«; and, in a tremor, Wilson hurried
over the side in the midst of a volley of execrations.
    Shortly after his departure, the mate ordered the cook and steward into his
boat; and saying that he was going to see how the captain did, left us, as
before, under the charge of Bembo.
    At this time we were lying becalmed, pretty close in with the land (having
gone about again), our main-top-sail flapping against the mast with every roll.
    The departure of the consul and Jermin was followed by a scene absolutely
indescribable. The sailors ran about deck like madmen; Bembo, all the while,
leaning against the taffrail by himself, smoking his heathenish stone pipe, and
never interfering.
    The cooper, who that morning had got himself into a fluid of an exceedingly
high temperature, now did his best to regain the favour of the crew. »Without
distinction of party,« he called upon all hands to step up, and partake of the
contents of his bucket.
    But it was quite plain that, before offering to intoxicate others, he had
taken the wise precaution of getting well tipsy himself. He was now once more
happy in the affection of his shipmates, who, one and all, pronounced him sound
to the kelson.
    The Pisco soon told; and, with great difficulty, we restrained a party in
the very act of breaking into the after-hold in pursuit of more.
    All manner of pranks were now played.
    »Mast-head, there! what d' ye see?« bawled Beauty, hailing the main-truck
through an enormous copper funnel. »Stand by the stays,« roared Flash Jack,
hauling off with the cook's axe, at the fastenings of the main-stay. »Looky out
for squalls!« shrieked the Portuguese, Antone, darting a handspike through the
cabin skylight. And »Heave round cheerly, men,« sung out Navy Bob, dancing a
hornpipe on the forecastle.
 

                                 Chapter XXIII

                         The Second Night off Papeetee

Toward sunset, the mate came off, singing merrily, in the stern of his boat; and
in attempting to climb up the side, succeeded in going plump into the water. He
was rescued by the steward, and carried across the deck with many moving
expressions of love for his bearer. Tumbled into the quarter-boat, he soon fell
asleep, and waking about midnight, somewhat sobered, went forward among the men.
Here, to prepare for what follows, we must leave him for a moment.
    It was now plain enough, that Jermin was by no means unwilling to take the
Julia to sea; indeed, there was nothing he so much desired; though what his
reasons were, seeing our situation, we could only conjecture. Nevertheless, so
it was; and having counted much upon his rough popularity with the men to
reconcile them to a short cruise under him, he had consequently been
disappointed in their behaviour. Still, thinking that they would take a
different view of the matter, when they came to know what fine times he had in
store for them, he resolved upon trying a little persuasion.
    So on going forward, he put his head down the forecastle scuttle, and hailed
us all quite cordially, inviting us down into the cabin; where, he said, he had
something to make merry withal. Nothing loth, we went; and throwing ourselves
along the transom, waited for the steward to serve us.
    As the can circulated, Jermin, leaning on the table and occupying the
captain's arm-chair secured to the deck, opened his mind as bluntly and freely
as ever. He was by no means yet sober.
    He told us we were acting very foolishly; that if we only stuck to the ship,
he would lead us all a jovial life of it; enumerating the casks still remaining
untapped in the Julia's wooden cellar. It was even hinted vaguely, that such a
thing might happen as our not coming back for the captain; whom he spoke of but
lightly; asserting, what he had often said before, that he was no sailor.
    Moreover, and perhaps with special reference to Doctor Long Ghost and
myself, he assured us generally, that if there were any among us studiously
inclined, he would take great pleasure in teaching such the whole art and
mystery of navigation, including the gratuitous use of his quadrant.
    I should have mentioned that, previous to this, he had taken the doctor
aside, and said something about reinstating him in the cabin with augmented
dignity; besides throwing out a hint that I myself was in some way or other to
be promoted. But it was all to no purpose; bent the men were upon going ashore,
and there was no moving them.
    At last he flew into a rage - much increased by the frequency of his
potations - and with many imprecations, concluded by driving everybody out of
the cabin. We tumbled up the gangway in high good-humour.
    Upon deck everything looked so quiet that some of the most pugnacious
spirits actually lamented that there was so little prospect of an exhilarating
disturbance before morning. It was not five minutes, however, ere these fellows
were gratified.
    Sydney Ben - said to be a runaway Ticket-of-Leave-Man8, and for reasons of
his own, one of the few who still remained on duty - had, for the sake of the
fun, gone down with the rest into the cabin; where Bembo, who meanwhile was left
in charge of the deck, had frequently called out for him. At first, Ben
pretended not to hear; but on being sung out for again and again, bluntly
refused; at the same time, casting some illiberal reflections on the Mowree's
maternal origin, which the latter had been long enough among sailors to
understand as in the highest degree offensive. So just after the men came up
from below, Bembo singled him out, and gave him such a cursing in his broken
lingo that it was enough to frighten one. The convict was the worse for liquor;
indeed the Mowree had been tippling also, and before we knew it, a blow was
struck by Ben, and the two men came together like magnets.
    The Ticket-of-Leave-Man was a practised bruiser; but the savage knew nothing
of the art pugilistic: and so they were even. It was clear hugging and wrenching
till both came to the deck. Here they rolled over and over in the middle of a
ring which seemed to form of itself. At last the white man's head fell back, and
his face grew purple. Bembo's teeth were at his throat. Rushing in all round,
they hauled the savage off, but not until repeatedly struck on the head would he
let go.
    His rage was now absolutely demoniac; he lay glaring, and writhing on the
deck, without attempting to rise. Cowed, as they supposed he was, from his
attitude, the men, rejoiced at seeing him thus humbled, left him; after rating
him, in sailor style, for a cannibal and a coward.
    Ben was attended to, and led below.
    Soon after this, the rest also, with but few exceptions, retired into the
forecastle; and having been up nearly all the previous night, they quickly
dropped about the chests and rolled into the hammocks. In an hour's time, not a
sound could be heard in that part of the ship.
    Before Bembo was dragged away, the mate had in vain endeavoured to separate
the combatants, repeatedly striking the Mowree; but the seamen interposing, at
last kept him off.
    And intoxicated as he was, when they dispersed, he knew enough to charge the
steward - a steady seaman be it remembered - with the present safety of the
ship; and then went below, where he fell directly into another drunken sleep.
    Having remained upon deck with the doctor some time after the rest had gone
below, I was just on the point of following him down, when I saw the Mowree
rise, draw a bucket of water, and holding it high above his head, pour its
contents right over him. This he repeated several times. There was nothing very
peculiar in the act, but something else about him struck me. However, I thought
no more of it, but descended the scuttle.
    After a restless nap, I found the atmosphere of the forecastle so close,
from nearly all the men being down at the same time, that I hunted up an old
pea-jacket and went on deck; intending to sleep it out there till morning. Here
I found the cook and steward, Wymontoo, Rope Yarn, and the Dane; who, being all
quiet, manageable fellows, and holding aloof from the rest since the captain's
departure, had been ordered by the mate not to go below until sunrise. They were
lying under the lee of the bulwarks; two or three fast asleep, and the others
smoking their pipes and conversing.
    To my surprise, Bembo was at the helm; but there being so few to stand there
now, they told me, he had offered to take his turn with the rest, at the same
time heading the watch; and to this, of course, they made no objection.
    It was a fine bright night; all moon and stars, and white crests of waves.
The breeze was light but freshening; and close hauled, poor Little Jule, as if
nothing had happened, was heading in for the land, which rose high and hazy in
the distance.
    After the day's uproar, the tranquillity of the scene was soothing, and I
leaned over the side to enjoy it.
    More than ever did I now lament my situation - but it was useless to repine,
and I could not upbraid myself. So at last, becoming drowsy, I made a bed with
my jacket under the windlass, and tried to forget myself.
    How long I lay there, I cannot tell; but, as I rose, the first object that
met my eye, was Bembo at the helm; his dark figure slowly rising and falling
with the ship's motion against the spangled heavens behind. He seemed all
impatience and expectation; standing at arm's length from the spokes, with one
foot advanced, and his bare head thrust forward. Where I was, the watch were out
of sight; and no one else was stirring; the deserted decks and broad white sails
were gleaming in the moonlight.
    Presently, a swelling dashing sound came upon my ear, and I had a sort of
vague consciousness that I had been hearing it before. The next instant I was
broad awake and on my feet. Right ahead, and so near that my heart stood still,
was a long line of breakers, heaving and frothing. It was the coral reef,
girdling the island. Behind it, and almost casting their shadows upon the deck,
were the sleeping mountains, about whose hazy peaks the gray dawn was just
breaking. The breeze had freshened, and with a steady gliding motion we were
running straight for the reef.
    All was taken in at a glance; the fell purpose of Bembo was obvious, and
with a frenzied shout to wake the watch I rushed aft. They sprang to their feet
bewildered; and after a short, but desperate scuffle, we tore him from the helm.
In wrestling with him, the wheel - left for a moment unguarded - flew to
leeward, thus, fortunately, bringing the ship's head to the wind, and so
retarding her progress. Previous to this, she had been kept three or four points
free, so as to close with the breakers. Her headway now shortened, I steadied
the helm, keeping the sails just lifting, while we glided obliquely toward the
land. To have run off before the wind - an easy thing - would have been almost
instant destruction, owing to a curve of the reef in that direction. At this
time, the Dane and the steward were still struggling with the furious Mowree,
and the others were running about irresolute and shouting.
    But darting forward the instant I had the helm, the old cook thundered on
the forecastle with a handspike, »Breakers! breakers close aboard! - 'bout ship!
'bout ship!«
    Up came the sailors, staring about them in stupid horror.
    »Haul back the head-yards!« »Let go the lee fore-brace!« »Ready about!
about!« were now shouted on all sides; while, distracted by a thousand orders,
they ran hither and thither, fairly panic-stricken.
    It seemed all over with us; and I was just upon the point of throwing the
ship full into the wind (a step which, saving us for the instant, would have
sealed our fate in the end), when a sharp cry shot by my ear like the flight of
an arrow.
    It was Salem: »All ready for'ard; hard down!«
    Round and round went the spokes - the Julia with her short keel spinning to
windward like a top. Soon the jib-sheets lashed the stays, and the men, more
self-possessed, flew to the braces.
    »Main-sail haul!« was now heard, as the fresh breeze streamed fore and aft
the deck; and directly the after-yards were whirled round.
    In half a minute more we were sailing away from the land on the other tack,
with every sail distended.
    Turning on our heel within little more than a biscuit's toss of the reef, no
earthly power could have saved us, were it not that, up to the very brink of the
coral rampart, there are no soundings.
 

                                  Chapter XXIV

                              Outbreak of the Crew

The purpose of Bembo had been made known to the men generally by the watch; and
now that our salvation was certain, by an instinctive impulse they raised a cry,
and rushed toward him.
    Just before liberated by Dunk and the steward, he was standing doggedly by
the mizen-mast; and, as the infuriated sailors came on, his bloodshot eye
rolled, and his sheath-knife glittered over his head.
    »Down with him!« »Strike him down!« »Hang him at the main-yard!« such were
the shouts now raised. But he stood unmoved, and, for a single instant, they
absolutely faltered.
    »Cowards!« cried Salem, and he flung himself upon him. The steel descended
like a ray of light; but did no harm; for the sailor's heart was beating against
the Mowree's before he was aware.
    They both fell to the deck, when the knife was instantly seized, and Bembo
secured.
    »For'ard! for'ard with him!« was again the cry; »Give him a sea-toss!«
»Overboard with him!« and he was dragged along the deck, struggling and fighting
with tooth and nail.
    All this uproar immediately over the mate's head at last roused him from his
drunken nap, and he came staggering on deck.
    »What 's this?« he shouted, running right in among them.
    »It 's the Mowree, zur; they are going to murder him, zur,« here sobbed poor
Rope Yarn, crawling close up to him.
    »Avast! avast!« roared Jermin, making a spring toward Bembo, and dashing two
or three of the sailors aside. At this moment the wretch was partly flung over
the bulwarks, which shook with his frantic struggles. In vain the doctor and
others tried to save him: the men listened to nothing.
    »Murder and mutiny, by the salt sea!« shouted the mate; and dashing his arms
right and left, he planted, his iron hand upon the Mowree's shoulder.
    »There are two of us now; and as you serve him, you serve me,« he cried,
turning fiercely round.
    »Over with them together, then,« exclaimed the carpenter, springing forward;
but the rest fell back before the courageous front of Jermin, and, with the
speed of thought, Bembo, unharmed, stood upon deck.
    »Aft with ye!« cried his deliverer; and he pushed him right among the men,
taking care to follow him up close. Giving the sailors no time to recover, he
pushed the Mowree before him, till they came to the cabin scuttle, when he drew
the slide over him, and stood still. Throughout, Bembo never spoke one word.
    »Now for'ard, where ye belong!« cried the mate, addressing the seamen, who,
by this time, rallying again, had no idea of losing their victim.
    »The Mowree! the Mowree!« they shouted.
    Here the doctor, in answer to the mate's repeated questions, stepped
forward, and related what Bembo had been doing; a matter which the mate but
dimly understood from the violent threatenings he had been hearing.
    For a moment he seemed to waver; but at last, turning the key in the padlock
of the slide, he breathed through his set teeth - »Ye can't have him; I 'll hand
him over to the consul; so for'ard with ye, I say: when there 's any drowning to
be done, I 'll pass the word; so away with ye, ye bloodthirsty pirates.«
    It was to no purpose that they begged or threatened: Jermin, although by no
means sober, stood his ground manfully, and before long they dispersed, soon to
forget everything that had happened.
    Though we had no opportunity to hear him confess it, Bembo's intention to
destroy us was beyond all question. His only motive could have been, a desire to
revenge the contumely heaped upon him the night previous, operating upon a heart
irreclaimably savage, and at no time fraternally disposed toward the crew.
    During the whole of this scene the doctor did his best to save him. But well
knowing that all I could do would have been equally useless, I maintained my
place at the wheel. Indeed, no one but Jermin could have prevented this murder.
 

                                  Chapter XXV

                       Jermin Encounters an Old Shipmate

During the morning of the day which dawned upon the events just recounted, we
remained a little to leeward of the harbour, waiting the appearance of the
consul, who had promised the mate to come off in a shore boat for the purpose of
seeing him.
    By this time the men had forced his secret from the cooper; and the
consequence was, that they kept him continually coming and going from the
after-hold. The mate must have known this; but he said nothing, notwithstanding
all the dancing, and singing, and occasional fighting which announced the flow
of the Pisco.
    The peaceable influence which the doctor and myself had heretofore been
exerting was now very nearly at an end.
    Confident, from the aspect of matters, that the ship, after all, would be
obliged to go in; and learning, moreover, that the mate had said so, the
sailors, for the present, seemed in no hurry about it; especially as the bucket
of Bungs gave such generous cheer.
    As for Bembo, we were told that, after putting him in double irons, the mate
had locked him up in the captain's state-room, taking the additional precaution
of keeping the cabin scuttle secured. From this time forward we never saw the
Mowree again, a circumstance which will explain itself as the narrative
proceeds.
    Noon came, and no consul; and as the afternoon advanced without any word
even from the shore, the mate was justly incensed; more especially as he had
taken great pains to keep perfectly sober against Wilson's arrival.
    Two or three hours before sundown, a small schooner came out of the harbour,
and headed over for the adjoining island of Imeeo, or Moreea, in plain sight,
about fifteen miles distant. The wind failing, the current swept her down under
our bows, where we had a fair glimpse of the natives on her decks.
    There were a score of them, perhaps, lounging upon spread mats, and smoking
their pipes. On floating so near, and hearing the maudlin cries of our crew, and
beholding their antics, they must have taken us for a pirate; at any rate, they
got out their sweeps, and pulled away as fast as they could; the sight of our
two six-pounders, which, by way of a joke, were now run out of the side-ports,
giving a fresh impetus to their efforts. But they had not gone far, when a white
man, with a red sash about his waist, made his appearance on deck, the natives
immediately desisting.
    Hailing us loudly, he said he was coming aboard; and after some confusion on
the schooner's decks, a small canoe was launched overboard, and in a minute or
two he was with us. He turned out to be an old shipmate of Jermin's, one Viner,
long supposed dead, but now resident on the island.
    The meeting of these men, under the circumstances, is one of a thousand
occurrences appearing exaggerated in fiction; but, nevertheless, frequently
realised in actual lives of adventure.
    Some fifteen years previous, they had sailed together as officers of the
bark Jane, of London, a South Seaman. Somewhere near the New Hebrides, they
struck one night upon an unknown reef; and, in a few hours, the Jane went to
pieces. The boats, however, were saved; some provisions also, a quadrant, and a
few other articles. But several of the men were lost before they got clear of
the wreck.
    The three boats, commanded respectively by the captain, Jermin, and the
third mate, then set sail for a small English settlement at the Bay of Islands
in New Zealand. Of course they kept together as much as possible. After being at
sea about a week, a Lascar in the captain's boat went crazy; and it being
dangerous to keep him, they tried to throw him overboard. In the confusion that
ensued the boat capsized from the sail's jibing; and a considerable sea running
at the time, and the other boats being separated more than usual, only one man
was picked up. The very next night it blew a heavy gale; and the remaining boats
taking in all sail, made bundles of their oars, flung them overboard, and rode
to them with plenty of line. When morning broke, Jermin and his men were alone
upon the ocean; the third mate's boat, in all probability, having gone down.
    After great hardships, the survivors caught sight of a brig, which took them
on board, and eventually landed them at Sydney.
    Ever since then our mate had sailed from that port, never once hearing of
his lost shipmates, whom, by this time, of course, he had long given up. Judge,
then, his feelings when Viner, the lost third mate, the instant he touched the
deck, rushed up and wrung him by the hand.
    During the gale his line had parted; so that the boat, drifting fast to
leeward, was out of sight by morning. Reduced, after this, to great extremities,
the boat touched, for fruit, at an island of which they knew nothing. The
natives, at first, received them kindly; but one of the men getting into a
quarrel on account of a woman, and the rest taking his part, they were all
massacred but Viner, who, at the time, was in an adjoining village. After
staying on the island more than two years, he finally escaped in the boat of an
American whaler, which landed him at Valparaiso. From this period he had
continued to follow the seas, as a man before the mast, until about eighteen
months previous, when he went ashore at Tahiti, where he now owned the schooner
we saw, in which he traded among the neighbouring islands.
    The breeze springing up again just after nightfall, Viner left us, promising
his old shipmate to see him again, three days hence, in Papeetee harbour.
 

                                  Chapter XXVI

                      We Enter the Harbour - Jim the Pilot

Exhausted by the day's wassail, most of the men went below at an early hour,
leaving the deck to the steward and two of the men remaining on duty; the mate,
with Baltimore and the Dane, engaging to relieve them at midnight. At that hour,
the ship - now standing off shore, under short sail - was to be tacked.
    It was not long after midnight, when we were wakened in the forecastle by
the lion roar of Jermin's voice, ordering a pull at the jib-halyards; and soon
afterwards a handspike struck the scuttle, and all hands were called to take the
ship into port.
    This was wholly unexpected; but we learned directly that the mate, no longer
relying upon the consul, and renouncing all thought of inducing the men to
change their minds, had suddenly made up his own. He was going to beat up to the
entrance of the harbour, so as to show a signal for a pilot before sunrise.
    Notwithstanding this, the sailors absolutely refused to assist in working
the ship under any circumstances whatever: to all mine and the doctor's
entreaties lending a deaf ear. Sink or strike, they swore they would have
nothing more to do with her. This perverseness was to be attributed, in a great
measure, to the effects of their late debauch.
    With a strong breeze, all sail set, and the ship in the hands of four or
five men, exhausted by two nights' watching, our situation was bad enough;
especially as the mate seemed more reckless than ever, and we were now to tack
ship several times closer under the land.
    Well knowing that if anything untoward happened to the vessel before
morning, it would be imputed to the conduct of the crew, and so lead to serious
results, should they ever be brought to trial; I called together those on deck
to witness my declaration: - that now that the Julia was destined for the
harbour (the only object for which I, at least, had been struggling), I was
willing to do what I could toward carrying her in safely. In this step I was
followed by the doctor.
    The hours passed anxiously until morning; when, being well to windward of
the mouth of the harbour, we bore up for it, with the Union Jack at the fore. No
sign, however, of boat or pilot was seen; and after running close in several
times, the ensign was set at the mizen-peak, Union down in distress. But it was
of no avail.
    Attributing to Wilson this unaccountable remissness on the part of those
ashore, Jermin, quite enraged, now determined to stand boldly in upon his own
responsibility; trusting solely to what he remembered of the harbour on a visit
there many years previous.
    This resolution was characteristic. Even with a competent pilot, Papeetee
Bay is considered a ticklish one to enter. Formed by a bold sweep of the shore,
it is protected seaward by the coral reef, upon which the rollers break with
great violence. After stretching across the bay, the barrier extends on toward
Point Venus,9 in the district of Matavai, eight or nine miles distant. Here
there is an opening, by which ships enter, and glide down the smooth, deep canal
between the reef and the shore to the harbour. But, by seamen generally, the
leeward entrance is preferred, as the wind is extremely variable inside the
reef. This latter entrance is a break in the barrier directly facing the bay and
village of Papeetee. It is very narrow; and, from the baffling winds, currents,
and sunken rocks, ships now and then grate their keels against the coral.
    But the mate was not to be daunted; so, stationing what men he had at the
braces, he sprang upon the bulwarks, and, bidding everybody keep wide awake,
ordered the helm up. In a few moments, we were running in. Being toward noon,
the wind was fast leaving us, and, by the time the breakers were roaring on
either hand, little more than steerage-way was left. But on we glided - smoothly
and deftly; avoiding the green, darkling objects here and there strewn in our
path; Jermin occasionally looking down in the water, and then about him, with
the utmost calmness, and not a word spoken. Just fanned along thus, it was not
many minutes ere we were past all danger, and floated into the placid basin
within. This was the cleverest specimen of his seamanship that he ever gave us.
    As we held on toward the frigate and shipping, a canoe, coming out from
among them, approached. In it were a boy and an old man - both islanders; the
former nearly naked, and the latter dressed in an old naval frock-coat. Both
were paddling with might and main; the old man, once in a while, tearing his
paddle out of the water; and, after rapping his companion over the head, both
fell to with fresh vigour. As they came within hail, the old fellow, springing
to his feet and flourishing his paddle, cut some of the queerest of capers; all
the while jabbering something which at first we could not understand.
    Presently we made out the following: - »Ah! you pemi, ah! - you come! - What
for you come? - You be fine for come no pilot. - I say, you hear? - I say, you
ita maitai (no good). - You hear? - You no pilot. - Yes, you d-- me, you no
pilot 't all; I d-- you; you hear?«
    This tirade, which showed plainly that, whatever the profane old rascal was
at, he was in right good earnest, produced peals of laughter from the ship. Upon
which, he seemed to get beside himself; and the boy, who, with suspended paddle,
was staring about him, received a sound box over the head, which set him to work
in a twinkling, and brought the canoe quite near. The orator now opening afresh,
it turned out that his vehement rhetoric was all addressed to the mate, still
standing conspicuously on the bulwarks.
    But Jermin was in no humour for nonsense; so, with a sailor's blessing, he
ordered him off. The old fellow then flew into a regular frenzy, cursing and
swearing worse than any civilised being I ever heard.
    »You sabbee10 me?« he shouted. »You know me, ah? Well: me Jim, me pilot -
been pilot now long time.«
    »Ay,« cried Jermin, quite surprised, as indeed we all were, »you are the
pilot, then, you old pagan. Why didn't you come off before this?«
    »Ah! me sabbee - me know - you piratee (pirate) - see you long time, but no
me come - I sabbee you - you ita maitai nuee (superlatively bad).«
    »Paddle away with ye,« roared Jermin in a rage; »be off! or I 'll dart a
harpoon at ye!«
    But, instead of obeying the order, Jim, seizing his paddle, darted the canoe
right up to the gangway, and, in two bounds, stood on deck. Pulling a greasy
silk handkerchief still lower over his brow, and improving the sit of his
frock-coat with a vigorous jerk, he then strode up to the mate; and, in a more
flowery style than ever, gave him to understand that the redoubtable Jim himself
was before him; that the ship was his until the anchor was down; and he should
like to hear what anyone had to say to it.
    As there now seemed little doubt that he was all he claimed to be, the Julia
was at last surrendered.
    Our gentleman now proceeded to bring us to an anchor, jumping up between the
knight-heads, and bawling out »Luff! luff! keepy off! keepy off!« and insisting
upon each time being respectfully responded to by the man at the helm. At this
time our steerage-way was almost gone; and yet, in giving his orders, the
passionate old man made as much fuss as a white squall aboard the Flying
Dutchman.
    Jim turned out to be the regular pilot of the harbour; a post, be it known,
of no small profit; and, in his eyes, at least, invested with immense
importance.11 Our unceremonious entrance, therefore, was regarded as highly
insulting, and tending to depreciate both the dignity and lucrativeness of his
office.
    The old man is something of a wizard. Having an understanding with the
elements, certain phenomena of theirs are exhibited for his particular benefit.
Unusually clear weather, with a fine steady breeze, is a certain sign that a
merchantman is at hand; whale-spouts seen from the harbour are tokens of a
whaling vessel's approach; and thunder and lightning, happening so seldom as
they do, are proof positive that a man-of-war is drawing near.
    In short, Jim, the pilot, is quite a character in his way; and no one visits
Tahiti without hearing some curious story about him.
 

                                 Chapter XXVII

             A Glance at Papeetee - We Are Sent Aboard the Frigate

The village of Papeetee struck us all very pleasantly. Lying in a semicircle
round the bay, the tasteful mansions of the chiefs and foreign residents impart
an air of tropical elegance, heightened by the palm-trees waving here and there,
and the deep-green groves of the bread-fruit in the background. The squalid huts
of the common people are out of sight, and there is nothing to mar the prospect.
    All round the water, extends a wide, smooth beach of mixed pebbles and
fragments of coral. This forms the thoroughfare of the village; the handsomest
houses all facing it - the fluctuation of the tides12 being so inconsiderable
that they cause no inconvenience.
    The Pritchard residence - a fine large building - occupies a site on one
side of the bay: a green lawn slopes off to the sea: and in front waves the
English flag. Across the water, the Tricolour, also, and the Stars and Stripes,
distinguish the residences of the other consuls.
    What greatly added to the picturesqueness of the bay at this time was the
condemned hull of a large ship, which at the farther end of the harbour lay
bilged upon the beach, its stern settled low in the water, and the other end
high and dry. From where we lay, the trees behind seemed to lock their leafy
boughs over its bowsprit; which, from its position, looked nearly upright.
    She was an American whaler, a very old craft. Having sprung a leak at sea,
she had made all sail for the island, to heave down for repairs. Found utterly
unseaworthy, however, her oil was taken out and sent home in another vessel; the
hull was then stripped and sold for a trifle.
    Before leaving Tahiti, I had the curiosity to go over this poor old ship,
thus stranded on a strange shore. What were my emotions when I saw upon her
stern the name of a small town on the river Hudson! She was from the noble
stream on whose banks I was born; in whose waters I had a hundred times bathed.
In an instant, palm-trees and elms - canoes and skiffs - church spires and
bamboos - all mingled in one vision of the present and the past.
    But we must not leave Little Jule.
    At last the wishes of many were gratified; and like an aeronaut's grapnel,
her rusty little anchor was caught in the coral groves at the bottom of Papeetee
Bay. This must have been more than forty days after leaving the Marquesas.
    The sails were yet unfurled, when a boat came alongside with our esteemed
friend Wilson, the consul.
    »How 's this, how 's this, Mr. Jermin?« he began, looking very savage as he
touched the deck. »What brings you in without orders?«
    »You did not come off to us, as you promised, sir; and there was no hanging
on longer with nobody to work the ship,« was the blunt reply.
    »So the infernal scoundrels held out - did they? Very good; I 'll make them
sweat for it,« and he eyed the scowling men with unwonted intrepidity. The truth
was, he felt safer now, than when outside the reef.
    »Muster the mutineers on the quarter-deck,« he continued. »Drive them aft,
sir, sick and well: I have a word to say to them.«
    »Now, men,« said he, »you think it 's all well with you, I suppose. You
wished the ship in, and here she is. Captain Guy 's ashore, and you think you
must go too: but we 'll see about that - I 'll miserably disappoint you.« (These
last were his very words.) »Mr. Jermin, call off the names of those who did not
refuse duty, and let them go over to the starboard side.«
    This done, a list was made out of the mutineers, as he was pleased to call
the rest. Among these, the doctor and myself were included; though the former
stepped forward, and boldly pleaded the office held by him when the vessel left
Sydney. The mate also - who had always been friendly - stated the service
rendered by myself two nights previous, as well as my conduct when he announced
his intention to enter the harbour. For myself, I stoutly maintained that,
according to the tenor of the agreement made with Captain Guy, my time aboard
the ship had expired - the cruise being virtually at an end, however it had been
brought about - and I claimed my discharge.
    But Wilson would hear nothing. Marking something in my manner, nevertheless,
he asked my name and country; and then observed with a sneer, »Ah, you are the
lad, I see, that wrote the Round Robin; I 'll take good care of you, my fine
fellow - step back, sir.«
    As for poor Long Ghost, he denounced him as a Sydney Flash-Gorger; though
what under heaven he meant by that euphonious title is more than I can tell.
Upon this, the doctor gave him such a piece of his mind that the consul
furiously commanded him to hold his peace, or he would instantly have him seized
into the rigging and flogged. There was no help for either of us - we were
judged by the company we kept.
    All were now sent forward; not a word being said as to what he intended
doing with us.
    After a talk with the mate, the consul withdrew, going aboard the French
frigate, which lay within a cable's length. We now suspected his object; and
since matters had come to this pass, were rejoiced at it. In a day or two the
Frenchman was to sail for Valparaiso, the usual place of rendezvous for the
English squadron in the Pacific; and doubtless Wilson meant to put us on board,
and send us thither to be delivered up. Should our conjecture prove correct, all
we had to expect, according to our most experienced shipmates, was the fag end
of a cruise in one of Her Majesty's ships, and a discharge before long at
Portsmouth.
    We now proceeded to put on all the clothes we could - frock over frock, and
trousers over trousers - so as to be in readiness for removal at a moment's
warning. Armed ships allow nothing superfluous to litter up the deck; and
therefore, should we go aboard the frigate, our chests and their contents would
have to be left behind.
    In an hour's time, the first cutter of the Reine Blanche came alongside,
manned by eighteen or twenty sailors, armed with cutlasses and boarding-pistols
- the officers, of course, wearing their side-arms, and the consul in an
official cocked hat, borrowed for the occasion. The boat was painted a pirate
black, its crew were a dark, grim-looking set, and the officers uncommonly
fierce-looking little Frenchmen. On the whole they were calculated to intimidate
- the consul's object, doubtless, in bringing them.
    Summoned aft again, every one's name was called separately; and being
solemnly reminded that it was his last chance to escape punishment, was asked if
he still refused duty. The response was instantaneous: »Ay, sir, I do.« In some
cases followed up by divers explanatory observations, cut short by Wilson's
ordering the delinquent into the cutter. As a general thing, the order was
promptly obeyed - some taking a sequence of hops, skips, and jumps, by way of
showing not only their unimpaired activity of body, but their alacrity in
complying with all reasonable requests.
    Having avowed their resolution not to pull another rope of the Julia's -
even if at once restored to perfect health - all the invalids, with the
exception of the two to be set ashore, accompanied us into the cutter. They were
in high spirits; so much so that something was insinuated about their not having
been quite as ill as pretended.
    The cooper's name was the last called; we did not hear what he answered, but
he stayed behind. Nothing was done about the Mowree.
    Shoving clear from the ship, three loud cheers were raised; Flash Jack and
others receiving a sharp reprimand for it from the consul.
    »Good-bye, Little Jule,« cried Navy Bob, as we swept under the bows. »Don't
fall overboard, Ropey,« said another to the poor land-lubber, who, with
Wymontoo, the Dane, and others left behind, was looking over at us from the
forecastle.
    »Give her three more!« cried Salem, springing to his feet and whirling his
hat round. »You sacre dam raskeel,« shouted the lieutenant of the party,
bringing the flat of his sabre across his shoulders, »you now keepy steel.«
    The doctor and myself, more discreet, sat quietly in the bow of the cutter;
and for my own part, though I did not repent what I had done, my reflections
were far from being enviable.
 

                                 Chapter XXVIII

                          Reception from the Frenchman

In a few moments, we were paraded in the frigate's gangway; the first lieutenant
- an elderly, yellow-faced officer, in an ill-cut coat and tarnished gold lace -
coming up, and frowning upon us.
    This gentleman's head was a mere bald spot; his legs, sticks; in short, his
whole physical vigour seemed exhausted in the production of one enormous
moustache. Old Gamboge, as he was forthwith christened, now received a paper
from the consul; and, opening it, proceeded to compare the goods delivered with
the invoice.
    After being thoroughly counted, a meek little midshipman was called, and we
were soon after given in custody to half a dozen sailor-soldiers - fellows with
tarpaulins and muskets. Preceded by a pompous functionary (whom we took for one
of the ship's corporals, from his ratan and the gold lace on his sleeve), we
were now escorted down the ladders to the berth-deck.
    Here we were politely handcuffed, all round; the man with the bamboo
evincing the utmost solicitude in giving us a good fit from a large basket of
the articles of assorted sizes.
    Taken by surprise at such an uncivil reception, a few of the party demurred;
but all coyness was, at last, overcome; and finally our feet were inserted into
heavy anklets of iron, running along a great bar bolted down to the deck. After
this, we considered ourselves permanently established in our new quarters.
    »The deuce take their old iron!« exclaimed the doctor; »if I 'd known this,
I 'd stayed behind.«
    »Ha, ha!« cried Flash Jack, »you 're in for it, Doctor Long Ghost.«
    »My hands and feet are, anyway,« was the reply.
    They placed a sentry over us; a great lubber of a fellow, who marched up and
down with a dilapidated old cutlass of most extraordinary dimensions. From its
length, we had some idea that it was expressly intended to keep a crowd in order
- reaching over the heads of half a dozen, say, so as to get a cut at somebody
behind.
    »Mercy!« ejaculated the doctor with a shudder, »what a sensation it must be
to be killed by such a tool.«
    We fasted till night, when one of the boys came along with a couple of kids
containing a thin, saffron-coloured fluid, with oily particles floating on top.
The young wag told us this was soup: it turned out to be nothing more than
oleaginous warm water. Such as it was, nevertheless, we were fain to make a meal
of it, our sentry being attentive enough to undo our bracelets. The kids passed
from mouth to mouth, and were soon emptied.
    The next morning, when the sentry's back was turned, someone, whom we took
for an English sailor, tossed over a few oranges, the rinds of which we
afterwards used for cups.
    On the second day nothing happened worthy of record. On the third, we were
amused by the following scene.
    A man, whom we supposed a boatswain's mate, from the silver whistle hanging
from his neck, came below, driving before him a couple of blubbering boys, and
followed by a whole troop of youngsters in tears. The pair, it seemed, were sent
down to be punished by command of an officer; the rest had accompanied them out
of sympathy.
    The boatswain's mate went to work without delay, seizing the poor little
culprits by their loose frocks, and using a ratan without mercy. The other boys
wept, clasped their hands, and fell on their knees; but in vain; the boatswain's
mate only hit out at them; once in a while making them yell ten times louder
than ever.
    In the midst of the tumult, down comes a midshipman, who, with a great air,
orders the man on deck, and running in among the boys, sets them to scampering
in all directions.
    The whole of this proceeding was regarded with infinite scorn by Navy Bob,
who, years before, had been captain of the fore-top on board a line-of-battle
ship. In his estimation, it was a lubberly piece of business throughout: they
did things differently in the English navy.
 

                                  Chapter XXIX

                               The Reine Blanche

I cannot forbear a brief reflection upon the scene ending the last chapter.
    The ratanning of the young culprits, although significant of the imperfect
discipline of a French man-of-war, may also be considered as in some measure
characteristic of the nation.
    In an American or English ship, a boy when flogged is either lashed to the
breech of a gun, or brought right up to the gratings, the same way the men are.
But as a general rule, he is never punished beyond his strength. You seldom or
never draw a cry from the young rogue. He bites his tongue, and stands up to it
like a hero. If practicable (which is not always the case), he makes a point of
smiling under the operation. And so far from his companions taking any
compassion on him, they always make merry over his misfortunes. Should he turn
baby and cry, they are pretty sure to give him afterwards a sly pounding in some
dark corner.
    This tough training produces its legitimate results.13 The boy becomes, in
time, a thoroughbred tar, equally ready to strip and take a dozen on board his
own ship, or, cutlass in hand, dash pell-mell on board the enemy's. Whereas the
young Frenchman, as all the world knows, makes but an indifferent seaman; and
though, for the most part, he fights well enough, somehow or other he seldom
fights well enough to beat.
    How few sea-battles have the French ever won! But more: how few ships have
they ever carried by the board - that true criterion of naval courage! But not a
word against French bravery - there is plenty of it; but not of the right sort.
A Yankee's, or an Englishman's, is the downright Waterloo game. The French fight
better on land; and not being essentially a maritime people, they ought to stay
there. The best of shipwrights, they are no sailors.
    And this carries me back to the Reine Blanche, as noble a specimen of what
wood and iron can make as ever floated.
    She was a new ship: the present her maiden cruise. The greatest pains having
been taken in her construction, she was accounted the crack craft in the French
navy. She is one of the heavy sixty-gun frigates now in vogue all over the
world, and which we Yankees were the first to introduce. In action these are the
most murderous vessels ever launched.
    The model of the Reine Blanche has all that warlike comeliness only to be
seen in a fine fighting- Still, there is a good deal of French flummery about
her - brass plates and other gewgaws stuck on all over, like baubles on a
handsome woman.
    Among other things, she carries a stern gallery resting on the uplifted
hands of two Caryatides, larger than life. You step out upon this from the
commodore's cabin. To behold the rich hangings, and mirrors, and mahogany
within, one is almost prepared to see a bevy of ladies trip forth on the balcony
for an airing.
    But come to tread the gun-deck, and all thoughts like these are put to
flight. Such batteries of thunderbolt hurlers! with a sixty-eight-pounder or two
thrown in as make-weights. On the spar-deck, also, are carronades of enormous
calibre.
    Recently built, this vessel, of course, had the benefit of the latest
improvements. I was quite amazed to see on what high principles of art some
exceedingly simple things were done. But your Gaul is scientific about
everything; what other people accomplish by a few hard knocks, he delights in
achieving by a complex arrangement of the pulley, lever, and screw.
    What demi-semi-quavers in a French air! In exchanging naval courtesies, I
have known a French band play »Yankee Doodle« with such a string of variations
that no one but a pretty 'cute Yankee could tell what they were at.
    In the French navy they have no marines; their men, taking turns at carrying
the musket, are sailors one moment, and soldiers the next; a fellow running
aloft in his line-frock to-day, to-morrow stands sentry at the admiral's cabin
door. This is fatal to anything like proper sailor pride. To make a man a
seaman, he should be put to no other duty. Indeed, a thorough tar is unfit for
anything else; and what is more, this fact is the best evidence of his being a
true sailor.
    On board the Reine Blanche, they did not have enough to eat; and what they
did have was not of the right sort. Instead of letting the sailors file their
teeth against the rim of a hard sea-biscuit, they baked their bread daily in
pitiful little rolls. Then they had no grog; as a substitute, they drugged the
poor fellows with a thin, sour wine - the juice of a few grapes, perhaps, to a
pint of the juice of water-facets. Moreover, the sailors asked for meat, and
they gave them soup; a rascally substitute, as they well knew.
    Ever since leaving home, they had been on short allowance. At the present
time, those belonging to the boats - and thus getting an occasional opportunity
to run ashore - frequently sold their rations of bread to some less fortunate
shipmate for sixfold its real value.
    Another thing tending to promote dissatisfaction among the crew was, their
having such a devil of a fellow for a captain. He was one of those horrid naval
bores - a great disciplinarian. In port, he kept them constantly exercising
yards and sails, and manoeuvring with the boats; and at sea, they were for ever
at quarters; running in and out the enormous guns, as if their arms were made
for nothing else. Then there was the admiral aboard, also; and, no doubt, he too
had a paternal eye over them.
    In the ordinary routine of duty, we could not but be struck with the
listless, slovenly behaviour of these men; there was nothing of the national
vivacity in their movements; nothing of the quick precision perceptible on the
deck of a thoroughly disciplined armed vessel.
    All this, however, when we came to know the reason, was no matter of
surprise; three-fourths of them were pressed men. Some old merchant sailors had
been seized the very day they landed from distant voyages; while the landsmen,
of whom there were many, had been driven down from the country in herds, and so
sent to sea.
    At the time, I was quite amazed to hear of press-gangs in a day of
comparative peace: but the anomaly is accounted for by the fact that, of late,
the French have been building up a great military marine, to take the place of
that which Nelson gave to the waves of the sea at Trafalgar. But it is to be
hoped that they are not building their ships for the people across the Channel
to take. In case of a war, what a fluttering of French ensigns there would be!
    Though I say the French are no sailors, I am far from seeking to underrate
them as a people. They are an ingenious and right gallant nation. And, as an
American, I take pride in asserting it.
 

                                  Chapter XXX

                   They Take Us Ashore - What Happened There

Five days and nights, if I remember right, we were aboard the frigate. On the
afternoon of the fifth, we were told that the next morning she sailed for
Valparaiso. Rejoiced at this, we prayed for a speedy passage. But, as it turned
out, the consul had no idea of letting us off so easily. To our no small
surprise, an officer came along toward night, and ordered us out of irons. Being
then mustered in the gangway, we were escorted into a cutter alongside, and
pulled ashore.
    Accosted by Wilson as we struck the beach, he delivered us up to a numerous
guard of natives, who at once conducted us to a house near by. Here we were made
to sit down under a shade without; and the consul and two elderly European
residents passed by us, and entered.
    After some delay, during which we were much diverted by the hilarious
good-nature of our guard, one of our number was called out for, followed by an
order for him to enter the house alone.
    On returning a moment after, he told us we had little to encounter. It had
simply been asked, whether he still continued of the same mind; on replying yes,
something was put down upon a piece of paper, and he was waved outside. All
being summoned in rotation, my own turn came at last.
    Within, Wilson and his two friends were seated magisterially at a table - an
inkstand, a pen, and a sheet of paper lending quite a business-like air to the
apartment. These three gentlemen, being arrayed in coats and pantaloons, looked
respectable, at least in a country where complete suits of garments are so
seldom met with. One present essayed a solemn aspect; but having a short neck
and a full face, only made out to look stupid.
    It was this individual who condescended to take a paternal interest in
myself. After declaring my resolution with respect to the ship unalterable, I
was proceeding to withdraw, in compliance with a sign from the consul, when the
stranger turned round to him, saying, »Wait a minute, if you please, Mr. Wilson;
let me talk to that youth. Come here, my young friend: I 'm extremely sorry to
see you associated with these bad men; do you know what it will end in?«
    »Oh, that 's the lad that wrote the Round Robin,« interposed the consul. »He
and that rascally doctor are at the bottom of the whole affair - go outside,
sir.«
    I retired as from the presence of royalty; backing out with many bows.
    The evident prejudice of Wilson against both the doctor and myself was by no
means inexplicable. A man of any education before the mast is always looked upon
with dislike by his captain; and, never mind how peaceable he may be, should any
disturbance arise, from his intellectual superiority, he is deemed to exert an
underhand influence against the officers.
    Little as I had seen of Captain Guy, the few glances cast upon me after
being on board a week or so were sufficient to reveal his enmity - a feeling
quickened by my undisguised companionship with Long Ghost, whom he both feared
and cordially hated. Guy's relations with the consul readily explains the
latter's hostility.
    The examination over, Wilson and his friends advanced to the doorway; when
the former, assuming a severe expression, pronounced our perverseness
infatuation in the extreme. Nor was there any hope left: our last chance for
pardon was gone. Even were we to become contrite, and crave permission to return
to duty, it would not now be permitted.
    »Oh! get along with your gammon, counsellor,« exclaimed Black Dan,
absolutely indignant that his understanding should be thus insulted.
    Quite enraged, Wilson bade him hold his peace; and then, summoning a fat old
native to his side, addressed him in Tahitian, giving directions for leading us
away to a place of safe-keeping.
    Hereupon, being marshalled in order, with the old man at our head, we were
put in motion, with loud shouts, along a fine pathway, running far on, through
wide groves of the cocoa-nut and bread-fruit.
    The rest of our escort trotted on beside us in high good-humour; jabbering
broken English, and in a hundred ways giving us to understand that Wilson was no
favourite of theirs, and that we were prime, good fellows for holding out as we
did. They seemed to know our whole history.
    The scenery around was delightful. The tropical day was fast drawing to a
close; and from where we were, the sun looked like a vast red fire burning in
the woodlands - its rays falling aslant through the endless ranks of trees, and
every leaf fringed with flame. Escaped from the confined decks of the frigate,
the air breathed spices to us; streams were heard flowing; green boughs were
rocking; and far inland, all sunset flushed, rose the still, steep peaks of the
island.
    As we proceeded, I was more and more struck by the picturesqueness of the
wide, shaded road. In several places, durable bridges of wood were thrown over
large water-courses; others were spanned by a single arch of stone. In any part
of the road, three horsemen might have ridden abreast.
    This beautiful avenue - by far the best thing which civilisation has done
for the island - is called by foreigners the Broom Road, though for what reason
I do not know. Originally planned for the convenience of the missionaries
journeying from one station to another, it almost completely encompasses the
larger peninsula; skirting for a distance of at least sixty miles along the low,
fertile lands bordering the sea. But on the side next Taiarboo, or the lesser
peninsula, it sweeps through a narrow, secluded valley, and thus crosses the
island in that direction.
    The uninhabited interior, being almost impenetrable from the densely wooded
glens, frightful precipices, and sharp mountain ridges absolutely inaccessible,
is but little known, even to the natives themselves; and so, instead of striking
directly across from one village to another, they follow the Broom Road round
and round.14
    It is by no means, however, altogether travelled on foot; horses being now
quite plentiful. They were introduced from Chili; and, possessing all the
gaiety, fleetness, and docility of the Spanish breed, are admirably adapted to
the tastes of the higher classes, who as equestrians have become very expert.
The missionaries and chiefs never think of journeying except in the saddle; and
at all hours of the day you see the latter galloping along at full speed. Like
the Sandwich Islanders, they ride like Pawnee-Loups.
    For miles and miles I have travelled the Broom Road and never wearied of the
continual change of scenery. But wherever it leads you - whether through level
woods, across grassy glens, or over hills waving with palms - the bright blue
sea on one side, and the green mountain pinnacles on the other, are always in
sight.
 

                                  Chapter XXXI

                            The Calabooza Beretanee

About a mile from the village we came to a halt.
    It was a beautiful spot. A mountain stream here flowed at the foot of a
verdant slope; on one hand, it murmured along until the waters, spreading
themselves upon a beach of small, sparkling shells, trickled into the sea; on
the other was a long defile, where the eye pursued a gleaming, sinuous thread,
lost in shade and verdure.
    The ground next the road was walled in by a low, rude parapet of stones;
and, upon the summit of the slope beyond, was a large, native house, the thatch
dazzling white, and in shape an oval.
    »Calabooza! Calabooza Beretanee!« (the English Jail), cried our conductor,
pointing to the building.
    For a few months past, having been used by the consul as a house of
confinement for his refractory sailors, it was thus styled to distinguish it
from similar places in and about Papeetee.
    Though extremely romantic in appearance, on a near approach it proved but
ill adapted to domestic comfort. In short, it was a mere shell, recently built,
and still unfinished. It was open all round, and tufts of grass were growing
here and there under the very roof. The only piece of furniture was the stocks,
a clumsy machine for keeping people in one place, which, I believe, is pretty
much out of date in most countries. It is still in use, however, among the
Spaniards in South America; from whom, it seems, the Tahitians have borrowed the
contrivance, as well as the name by which all places of confinement are known
among them.
    The stocks were nothing more than two stout timbers, about twenty feet in
length, and precisely alike. One was placed edgeways on the ground, and the
other, resting on top, left, at regular intervals along the seam, several round
holes, the object of which was evident at a glance.
    By this time our guide had informed us that he went by the name of Capin Bob
(Captain Bob); and a hearty old Bob he proved. It was just the name for him.
From the first, so pleased were we with the old man that we cheerfully
acquiesced in his authority.
    Entering the building, he set us about fetching heaps of dry leaves to
spread behind the stocks for a couch. A trunk of a small cocoa-nut tree was then
placed for a bolster - rather a hard one, but the natives are used to it. For a
pillow, they use a little billet of wood, scooped out, and standing on four
short legs - a sort of head-stool.
    These arrangements completed, Captain Bob proceeded to hannapar, or secure
us, for the night. The upper timber of the machine being lifted at one end, and
our ankles placed in the semicircular spaces of the lower one, the other beam
was then dropped; both being finally secured together by an old iron hoop at
either extremity. This initiation was performed to the boisterous mirth of the
natives, and diverted ourselves not a little.
    Captain Bob now bustled about, like an old woman seeing the children to bed.
A basket of baked taro, or Indian turnip, was brought in, and we were given a
piece all round. Then a great counterpane of coarse, brown tappa was stretched
over the whole party; and, after sundry injunctions to moee-moee, and be maitai
- in other words, to go to sleep, and be good boys - we were left to ourselves,
fairly put to bed and tucked in.
    Much talk was now had concerning our prospects in life; but the doctor and
I, who lay side by side, thinking the occasion better adapted to meditation,
kept pretty silent; and, before long, the rest ceased conversing, and, wearied
with loss of rest on board the frigate, were soon sound asleep.
    After sliding from one revery into another, I started, and gave the doctor a
pinch. He was dreaming, however; and, resolved to follow his example, I troubled
him no more.
    How the rest managed, I know not; but, for my own part, I found it very hard
to get asleep. The consciousness of having one's foot pinned, and the
impossibility of getting it anywhere else than just where it was, was most
distressing.
    But this was not all: there was no way of lying but straight on your back;
unless, to be sure, one's limb went round and round in the ankle, like a swivel.
Upon getting into a sort of doze, it was no wonder this uneasy posture gave me
the nightmare. Under the delusion that I was about some gymnastics or other, I
gave my unfortunate member such a twitch that I started up with the idea that
someone was dragging the stocks away.
    Captain Bob and his friends lived in a little hamlet hard by; and when
morning showed in the east, the old gentleman came forth from that direction
likewise, emerging from a grove, and saluting us loudly as he approached.
    Finding everybody awake, he set us at liberty; and, leading us down to the
stream, ordered every man to strip and bathe.
    »All han's, my boy, hanna-hanna, wash!« he cried. Bob was a linguist, and
had been to sea in his day, as he many a time afterwards told us.
    At this moment, we were all alone with him; and it would have been the
easiest thing in the world to have given him the slip; but he seemed to have no
idea of such a thing; treating us so frankly and cordially, indeed, that even
had we thought of running, we would have been ashamed of attempting it. He very
well knew, nevertheless (as we ourselves were not slow in finding out), that,
for various reasons, any attempt of the kind, without some previously arranged
plan for leaving the island, would be certain to fail.
    As Bob was a rare one every way, I must give some account of him. There was
a good deal of personal appearance about him; in short, he was a corpulent
giant, over six feet in height, and literally as big round as a hogshead. The
enormous bulk of some of the Tahitians has been frequently spoken of by
voyagers.
    Besides being the English consul's jailer, as it were, he carried on a
little Tahitian farming; that is to say, he owned several groves of the
bread-fruit and palm, and never hindered their growing. Close by was a taro
patch of his which he occasionally visited.
    Bob seldom disposed of the produce of his lands; it was all needed for
domestic consumption. Indeed, for gormandising, I would have matched him against
any three common-council-men at a civic feast.
    A friend of Bob's told me that, owing to his voraciousness, his visits to
other parts of the island were much dreaded; for, according to Tahitian customs,
hospitality without charge is enjoined upon every one; and though it is
reciprocal in most cases, in Bob's it was almost out of the question. The damage
done to a native larder in one of his morning calls was more than could be made
good by his entertainer's spending the holydays with him.
    The old man, as I have hinted, had, once upon a time, been a cruise or two
in a whaling-vessel; and, therefore, he prided himself upon his English. Having
acquired what he knew of it in the forecastle, he talked little else than sailor
phrases, which sounded whimsically enough.
    I asked him one day how old he was. Olee! he exclaimed, looking very
profound in consequence of thoroughly understanding so subtle a question - »Oh!
very olee - 'tousand 'ear - more - big man when Capin Tootee (Captain Cook)
heavey in sight« (in sea parlance, came into view).
    This was a thing impossible; but adapting my discourse to the man, I
rejoined - »Ah! you see Capin Tootee - well, how you like him?«
    »Oh! he maitai (good): friend of me, and know my wife.«
    On my assuring him strongly that he could not have been born at the time, he
explained himself by saying that he was speaking of his father all the while.
This, indeed, might very well have been.
    It is a curious fact, that all these people, young and old, will tell you
that they have enjoyed the honour of a personal acquaintance with the great
navigator; and if you listen to them, they will go on and tell anecdotes without
end. This springs from nothing but their great desire to please; well knowing
that a more agreeable topic for a white man could not be selected. As for the
anachronism of the thing, they seem to have no idea of it: days and years are
all the same to them.
    After our sunrise bath, Bob once more placed us in the stocks, almost moved
to tears at subjecting us to so great a hardship; but he could not treat us
otherwise, he said, on pain of the consul's displeasure. How long we were to be
confined, he did not know; nor what was to be done with us in the end.
    As noon advanced, and no signs of a meal were visible, someone inquired
whether we were to be boarded, as well as lodged, at the Hotel de Calabooza?
    »Vast heavey« (avast heaving, or wait a bit), said Bob, »kow-kow (food) come
ship by by.«
    And, sure enough, along comes Rope Yam with a wooden bucket of the Julia's
villainous biscuit. With a grin, he said it was a present from Wilson; it was
all we were to get that day. A great cry was now raised; and well was it for the
land-lubber that he had a pair of legs, and the men could not use theirs. One
and all, we resolved not to touch the bread, come what come might; and so we
told the natives.
    Being extravagantly fond of ship-biscuit - the harder the better - they were
quite overjoyed; and offered to give us, every day, a small quantity of baked
bread-fruit and Indian turnip in exchange for the bread. This we agreed to; and
every morning afterwards, when the bucket came, its contents were at once handed
over to Bob and his friends, who never ceased munching until nightfall.
    Our exceedingly frugal meal of bread-fruit over, Captain Bob waddled up to
us with a couple of long poles hooked at one end, and several large baskets of
woven cocoa-nut branches.
    Not far off was an extensive grove of orange-trees in full bearing; and
myself and another were selected to go with him, and gather a supply for the
party. When we went in among the trees, the sumptuousness of the orchard was
unlike anything I had ever seen; while the fragrance shaken from the gently
waving boughs regaled our senses most delightfully.
    In many places the trees formed a dense shade, spreading overhead a dark,
rustling vault, groined with boughs, and studded here and there with the ripened
spheres, like gilded balls. In several places, the overladen branches were borne
to the earth, hiding the trunk in a tent of foliage. Once fairly in the grove,
we could see nothing else; it was oranges all round.
    To preserve the fruit from bruising, Bob, hooking the twigs with his pole,
let them fall into his basket. But this would not do for us; seizing hold of a
bough, we brought such a shower to the ground that our old friend was fain to
run from under. Heedless of remonstrance, we then reclined in the shade, and
feasted to our hearts' content. Heaping up the baskets afterwards, we returned to
our comrades, by whom our arrival was hailed with loud plaudits; and in a
marvellously short time, nothing was left of the oranges we brought but the
rinds.
    While inmates of the Calabooza, we had as much of the fruit as we wanted;
and to this cause, and others that might be mentioned, may be ascribed the
speedy restoration of our sick to comparative health.
    The orange of Tahiti is delicious - small and sweet, with a thin, dry rind.
Though now abounding, it was unknown before Cook's time, to whom the natives are
indebted for so great a blessing. He likewise introduced several other kinds of
fruit; among these were the fig, pine-apple, and lemon, now seldom met with. The
lime still grows, and some of the poorer natives express the juice to sell to
the shipping. It is highly valued as an anti-scorbutic. Nor was the variety of
foreign fruits and vegetables which were introduced the only benefit conferred
by the first visitors to the Society Group. Cattle and sheep were left at
various places. More of them anon.
    Thus, after all that has of late years been done for these islanders, Cook
and Vancouver may, in one sense at least, be considered their greatest
benefactors.
 

                                 Chapter XXXII

                      Proceedings of the French at Tahiti

As I happened to arrive at the island at a very interesting period in its
political affairs, it may be well to give some little account here of the
proceedings of the French, by way of episode to the narrative. My information
was obtained at the time from the general reports then rife among the natives,
as well as from what I learned upon a subsequent visit, and reliable accounts
which I have seen since reaching home.
    It seems that for some time back the French had been making repeated
ineffectual attempts to plant a Roman Catholic mission here. But, invariably
treated with contumely, they sometimes met with open violence; and, in every
case, those directly concerned in the enterprise were ultimately forced to
depart. In one instance, two priests, Laval and Caset, after enduring a series
of persecutions, were set upon by the natives, maltreated, and finally carried
aboard a small trading schooner, which eventually put them ashore at Wallis
Island - a savage place - some two thousand miles to the westward.
    Now, that the resident English missionaries authorised the banishment of
these priests, is a fact undenied by themselves. I was also repeatedly informed
that by their inflammatory harangues they instigated the riots which preceded
the sailing of the schooner. At all events, it is certain that their unbounded
influence with the natives would easily have enabled them to prevent everything
that took place on this occasion, had they felt so inclined.
    Melancholy as such an example of intolerance on the part of Protestant
missionaries must appear, it is not the only one, and by no means the most
flagrant, which might be presented. But I forbear to mention any others; since
they have been more than hinted at by recent voyagers, and their repetition here
would, perhaps, be attended with no good effect. Besides, the conduct of the
Sandwich Island missionaries, in particular, has latterly much amended in this
respect.
    The treatment of the two priests formed the principal ground (and the only
justifiable one) upon which Du Petit Thouars demanded satisfaction; and which
subsequently led to his seizure of the island. In addition to other things, he
also charged that the flag of Merenhout, the consul, had been repeatedly
insulted, and the property of a certain French resident violently appropriated
by the government. In the latter instance, the natives were perfectly in the
right. At that time, the law against the traffic in ardent spirits (every now
and then suspended and revived) happened to be in force; and finding a large
quantity on the premises of Victor, a low, knavish adventurer from Marseilles,
the Tahitians pronounced it forfeit.
    For these, and similar alleged outrages, a large pecuniary restitution was
demanded (10,000 dollars), which there being no exchequer to supply, the island
was forthwith seized, under cover of a mock treaty, dictated to the chiefs on
the gun-deck of Du Petit Thouars' frigate. But, notwithstanding this formality,
there now seems little doubt that the downfall of the Pomarees was decided upon
at the Tuileries.
    After establishing the Protectorate, so called, the rear-admiral sailed;
leaving M. Bruat governor, assisted by Reine and Carpegne, civilians, named
members of the council of government, and Merenhout, the consul, now made
commissioner-royal. No soldiers, however, were landed, until several months
afterwards. As men, Reine and Carpegne were not disliked by the natives; but
Bruat and Merenhout they bitterly detested. In several interviews with the poor
queen, the unfeeling governor sought to terrify her into compliance with his
demands; clapping his hand upon his sword, shaking his fist in her face, and
swearing violently. »Oh, king of a great nation,« said Pomaree, in her letter to
Louis Philippe, »fetch away this man; I and my people cannot endure his evil
doings. He is a shameless man.«
    Although the excitement among the natives did not wholly subside upon the
rear-admiral's departure, no overt act of violence immediately followed. The
queen had fled to Imeeo; and the dissensions among the chiefs, together with the
ill-advised conduct of the missionaries, prevented a union upon some common plan
of resistance. But the great body of the people, as well as their queen,
confidently relied upon the speedy interposition of England - a nation bound to
them by many ties, and which, more than once, had solemnly guaranteed their
independence.
    As for the missionaries, they openly defied the French governor, childishly
predicting fleets and armies from Britain. But what is the welfare of a spot
like Tahiti to the mighty interests of France and England! There was a
remonstrance on one side, and a reply on the other; and there the matter rested.
For once in their brawling lives, St. George and St. Denis were hand and glove;
and they were not going to cross sabres about Tahiti.
    During my stay upon the island, so far as I could see, there was little to
denote that any change had taken place in the government. Such laws as they had
were administered the same as ever; the missionaries went about unmolested, and
comparative tranquillity everywhere prevailed. Nevertheless, I sometimes heard
the natives inveighing against the French (no favourites, by the by, throughout
Polynesia), and bitterly regretting that the queen had not, at the outset, made
a stand.
    In the house of the chief Adea, frequent discussions took place, concerning
the ability of the island to cope with the French: the number of fighting men
and muskets among the natives were talked of, as well as the propriety of
fortifying several heights overlooking Papeetee. Imputing these symptoms to the
mere resentment of a recent outrage, and not to any determined spirit of
resistance, I little anticipated the gallant, though useless warfare, so soon to
follow my departure.
    At a period subsequent to my first visit, the island, which before was
divided into nineteen districts, with a native chief over each, in capacity of
governor and judge, was, by Bruat, divided into four. Over these he set as many
recreant chiefs, Kitoti, Tati, Utamai, and Paraita; to whom he paid 1000 dollars
each, to secure their assistance in carrying out his evil designs.
    The first blood shed, in any regular conflict, was at Mahanar, upon the
peninsula of Taiarboo. The fight originated in the seizure of a number of women
from the shore, by men belonging to one of the French vessels of war. In this
affair, the islanders fought desperately, killing about fifty of the enemy, and
losing ninety of their own number. The French sailors and marines, who, at the
time, were reported to be infuriated with liquor, gave no quarter; and the
survivors only saved themselves by fleeing to the mountains. Subsequently, the
battles of Hararparpi and Fararar were fought, in which the invaders met with
indifferent success.
    Shortly after the engagement at Hararparpi, three Frenchmen were waylaid in
a pass of the valleys, and murdered by the incensed natives. One was Lefevre, a
notorious scoundrel, and a spy, whom Bruat had sent to conduct a certain Major
Fergus (said to be a Pole) to the hiding-place of four chiefs, whom the governor
wished to seize and execute. This circumstance violently inflamed the hostility
of both parties.
    About this time, Kitoti, a depraved chief, and the pliant tool of Bruat, was
induced by him to give a great feast in the Vale of Paree, to which all his
countrymen were invited. The governor's object was to gain over all he could to
his interests; he supplied an abundance of wine and brandy, and a scene of
bestial intoxication was the natural consequence. Before it came to this,
however, several speeches were made by the islanders. One of these, delivered by
an aged warrior, who had formerly been at the head of the celebrated Aeorai
Society, was characteristic. »This is a very good feast,« said the reeling old
man, »and the wine also is very good; but you evil-minded Wee-Wees (French), and
you false-hearted men of Tahiti, are all very bad.«
    By the latest accounts, most of the islanders still refuse to submit to the
French; and what turn events may hereafter take, it is hard to predict. At any
rate, these disorders must accelerate the final extinction of their race.
    Along with the few officers left by Du Petit Thouars, were several French
priests, for whose unobstructed exertions in the dissemination of their faith,
the strongest guarantees were provided by an article of the treaty. But no one
was bound to offer them facilities, much less a luncheon, the first day they
went ashore. True, they had plenty of gold; but to the natives it was anathema -
taboo - and, for several hours and some odd minutes, they would not touch it.
Emissaries of the Pope and the devil, as the strangers were considered - the
smell of sulphur hardly yet shaken out of their canonicals - what islander would
venture to jeopardise his soul, and call down a blight upon his bread-fruit, by
holding any intercourse with them! That morning the priests actually picnicked
in a grove of cocoa-nut trees; but, before night, Christian hospitality - in
exchange for a commercial equivalent of hard dollars - was given them in an
adjoining house.
    Wanting in civility as the conduct of the English missionaries may be
thought, in withholding a decent reception to these persons, the latter were
certainly to blame in needlessly placing themselves in so unpleasant a
predicament. Under far better auspices, they might have settled upon some one of
the thousand unconverted isles of the Pacific, rather than have forced
themselves thus upon a people already professedly Christians.
 

                                 Chapter XXXIII

                   We Receive Calls at the Hotel de Calabooza

Our place of confinement being open all round, and so near the Broom Road, of
course we were in plain sight of everybody passing; and, therefore, we had no
lack of visitors among such an idle, inquisitive set as the Tahitians. For a few
days, they were coming and going continually; while, thus ignobly fast by the
foot, we were fain to give passive audience.
    During this period, we were the lions of the neighbourhood; and, no doubt,
strangers from the distant villages were taken to see the Karhowrees (white
men), in the same way that countrymen, in a city, are gallanted to the
Zoological Gardens.
    All this gave us a fine opportunity of making observations. I was painfully
struck by the considerable number of sickly or deformed persons; undoubtedly
made so by a virulent complaint, which, under native treatment, almost
invariably affects, in the end, the muscles and bones of the body. In
particular, there is a distortion of the back, most unsightly to behold,
originating in a horrible form of the malady.
    Although this, and other bodily afflictions, were unknown before the
discovery of the islands by the whites, there are several cases found of the
Fa-Fa, or Elephantiasis - a native disease, which seems to have prevailed among
them from the earliest antiquity. Affecting the legs and feet alone, it swells
them, in some instances, to the girth of a man's body, covering the skin with
scales. It might be supposed that one thus afflicted would be incapable of
walking; but, to all appearance, they seem to be nearly as active as anybody;
apparently suffering no pain, and bearing the calamity with a degree of
cheer-fullness truly marvellous.
    The Fa-Fa is very gradual in its approaches, and years elapse before the
limb is full swollen. Its origin is ascribed by the natives to various causes;
but the general impression seems to be that it arises, in most cases, from the
eating of unripe bread-fruit and Indian turnip. So far as I could find out, it
is not hereditary. In no stage do they attempt a cure; the complaint being held
incurable.
    Speaking of the Fa-Fa, reminds me of a poor fellow, a sailor, whom I
afterwards saw at Roorootoo, a lone island, some two days' sail from Tahiti.
    The island is very small, and its inhabitants nearly extinct. We sent a boat
off to see whether any yams were to be had, as formerly the yams of Roorootoo
were as famous among the islands round about, as Sicily oranges in the
Mediterranean. Going ashore, to my surprise, I was accosted, near a little
shanty of a church, by a white man, who limped forth from a wretched hut. His
hair and beard were unshorn, his face deadly pale and haggard, and one limb
swelled with the Fa-Fa to an incredible bigness. This was the first instance of
a foreigner suffering from it that I had ever seen or heard of; and the
spectacle shocked me accordingly.
    He had been there for years. From the first symptoms, he could not believe
his complaint to be what it really was, and trusted it would soon disappear. But
when it became plain that his only chance for recovery was a speedy change of
climate, no ship would receive him as a sailor: to think of being taken as a
passenger, was idle. This speaks little for the humanity of sea-captains; but
the truth is, that those in the Pacific have little enough of the virtue; and,
nowadays, when so many charitable appeals are made to them, they have become
callous.
    I pitied the poor fellow from the bottom of my heart; but nothing could I
do, as our captain was inexorable. »Why,« said he, »here we are - started on a
six months' cruise - I can't put back; and he is better off on the island than
at sea. So on Roorootoo he must die.« And probably he did.
    I afterwards heard of this melancholy object, from two seamen. His attempts
to leave were still unavailing, and his hard fate was fast closing in.
    Notwithstanding the physical degeneracy of the Tahitians as a people, among
the chiefs, individuals of personable figures are still frequently met with;
and, occasionally, majestic-looking men, and diminutive women as lovely as the
nymphs who, nearly a century ago, swam round the ships of Wallis. In these
instances, Tahitian beauty is quite as seducing as it proved to the crew of the
Bounty; the young girls being just such creatures as a poet would picture in the
tropics - soft, plump, and dreamy-eyed.
    The natural complexion of both sexes is quite light; but the males appear
much darker, from their exposure to the sun. A dark complexion, however, in a
man, is highly esteemed, as indicating strength of both body and soul. Hence
there is a saying, of great antiquity among them,
 
»If dark the cheek of the mother,
The son will sound the war-conch;
If strong her frame, he will give laws.«
 
With this idea of manliness, no wonder the Tahitians regard all pale and
tepid-looking Europeans as weak and feminine; whereas a sailor, with a cheek
like the breast of a roast turkey, is held a lad of brawn: to use their own
phrase, a taata tona, or man of bones.
    Speaking of bones recalls an ugly custom of theirs, now obsolete - that of
making fish-hooks and gimlets out of those of their enemies. This beats the
Scandinavians turning people's skulls into cups and saucers.
    But to return to the Calabooza Beretanee. Immense was the interest we
excited among the throngs that called there; they would stand talking about us
by the hour, growing most unnecessarily excited too, and dancing up and down
with all the vivacity of their race. They invariably sided with us; flying out
against the consul, and denouncing him as »Ita maitai nuee,« or very bad
exceedingly. They must have borne him some grudge or other.
    Nor were the women, sweet souls, at all backward in visiting. Indeed, they
manifested even more interest than the men; gazing at us with eyes full of a
thousand meanings, and conversing with marvellous rapidity. But, alas!
inquisitive though they were, and, doubtless, taking some passing compassion on
us, there was little real feeling in them after all, and still less sentimental
sympathy. Many of them laughed outright at us, noting only what was ridiculous
in our plight.
    I think it was the second day of our confinement that a wild, beautiful girl
burst into the Calabooza, and, throwing herself into an arch attitude, stood
afar off, and gazed at us. She was a heartless one: tickled to death with Black
Dan's nursing his chafed ankle, and indulging in certain moral reflections on
the consul and Captain Guy. After laughing her fill at him, she condescended to
notice the rest; glancing from one to another in the most methodical and
provoking manner imaginable. Whenever anything struck her comically, you saw it
like a flash - her finger levelled instantaneously, and, flinging herself back,
she gave loose to strange, hollow little notes of laughter, that sounded like
the bass of a music-box, playing a lively air with the lid down.
    Now, I knew not that there was anything in my own appearance calculated to
disarm ridicule; and indeed, to have looked at all heroic, under the
circumstances, would have been rather difficult. Still, I could not but feel
exceedingly annoyed at the prospect of being screamed at in turn, by this
mischievous young witch, even though she were but an islander. And, to tell a
secret, her beauty had something to do with this sort of feeling; and, pinioned
as I was to a log, and clad most unbecomingly, I began to grow sentimental.
    Ere her glance fell upon me, I had, unconsciously, thrown myself into the
most graceful attitude I could assume, leaned my head upon my hand, and summoned
up as abstracted an expression as possible. Though my face was averted, I soon
felt it flush, and knew that the glance was on me; deeper and deeper grew the
flush, and not a sound of laughter.
    Delicious thought! she was moved at the sight of me. I could stand it no
longer, but started up. Lo! there she was; her great hazel eyes rounding and
rounding in her head, like two stars, her whole frame in a merry quiver, and an
expression about the mouth that was sudden and violent death to anything like
sentiment.
    The next moment she spun round, and, bursting from peal to peal of laughter,
went racing out of the Calabooza; and, in mercy to me, never returned.
 

                                 Chapter XXXIV

                             Life at the Calabooza

A few days passed; and, at last, our docility was rewarded by some indulgence on
the part of Captain Bob.
    He allowed the entire party to be at large during the day; only enjoining
upon us always to keep within hail. This, to be sure, was in positive
disobedience to Wilson's orders; and so, care had to be taken that he should not
hear of it. There was little fear of the natives telling him; but strangers
travelling the Broom Road might. By way of precaution, boys were stationed as
scouts along the road. At sight of a white man, they sounded the alarm! when we
all made for our respective holes (the stocks being purposely left open): the
beam then descended, and we were prisoners. As soon as the traveller was out of
sight, of course we were liberated.
    Notwithstanding the regular supply of food which we obtained from Captain
Bob and his friends, it was so small, that we often felt most intolerably
hungry. We could not blame them for not bringing us more, for we soon became
aware that they had to pinch themselves in order to give us what they did;
besides, they received nothing for their kindness but the daily bucket of bread.
    Among a people like the Tahitians, what we call hard times can only be
experienced in a scarcity of edibles; yet, so destitute are many of the common
people, that this most distressing consequence of civilisation may be said, with
them, to be ever present. To be sure, the natives about the Calabooza had
abundance of limes and oranges; but what were these good for, except to impart a
still keener edge to appetites which there was so little else to gratify? During
the height of the bread-fruit season, they fare better; but, at other times, the
demands of the shipping exhaust the uncultivated resources of the island; and
the lands being mostly owned by the chiefs, the inferior orders have to suffer
for their cupidity. Deprived of their nets, many of them would starve.
    As Captain Bob insensibly remitted his watchfulness, and we began to stroll
farther and farther from the Calabooza, we managed by a systematic foraging upon
the country round about, to make up for some of our deficiencies. And fortunate
it was that the houses of the wealthier natives were just as open to us as those
of the most destitute: we were treated as kindly in one as the other.
    Once in a while, we came in at the death of a chief's pig; the noise of
whose slaughtering was generally to be heard at a great distance. An occasion
like this gathers the neighbours together, and they have a bit of a feast, where
a stranger is always welcome. A good loud squeal, therefore, was music in our
ears. It showed something going on in that direction.
    Breaking in upon the party tumultuously, as we did, we always created a
sensation. Sometimes, we found the animal still alive and struggling; in which
case, it was generally dropped at our approach. To provide for these
emergencies, Flash Jack generally repaired to the scene of operations, with a
sheath-knife between his teeth, and a club in his hand. Others were exceedingly
officious in singeing off the bristles, and disembowelling. Doctor Long Ghost
and myself, however, never meddled with these preliminaries, but came to the
feast itself with unimpaired energies.
    Like all lank men, my long friend had an appetite of his own. Others
occasionally went about seeking what they might devour, but he was always on the
alert.
    He had an ingenious way of obviating an inconvenience which we all
experienced at times. The islanders seldom use salt with their food; so he
begged Rope Yarn to bring him some from the ship; also a little pepper, if he
could; which, accordingly, was done. This he placed in a small leather wallet -
a monkey bag (so called by sailors) - usually worn as a purse about the neck.
    »In my poor opinion,« said Long Ghost, as he tucked the wallet out of sight,
»it behooves a stranger in Tahiti to have his knife in readiness, and his castor
slung.«
 

                                  Chapter XXXV

                         Visit from an Old Acquaintance

We had not been many days ashore, when Doctor Johnson was espied coming along
the Broom Road.
    We had heard that he meditated a visit, and suspected what he was after.
Being upon the consul's hands, all our expenses were of course payable by him in
his official capacity; and, therefore, as a friend of Wilson, and sure of good
pay, the shore doctor had some idea of allowing us to run up a bill with him.
True, it was rather awkward to ask us to take medicines which, on board the
ship, he told us were not needed. However, he resolved to put a bold face on the
matter, and give us a call.
    His approach was announced by one of the scouts, upon which someone
suggested that we should let him enter, and then put him in the stocks. But Long
Ghost proposed better sport. What it was, we shall presently see.
    Very bland and amiable, Doctor Johnson advanced, and, resting his cane on
the stocks, glanced to right and left, as we lay before him. »Well, my lads,« he
began, »how do you find yourselves to-day?«
    Looking very demure, the men made some rejoinder; and he went on.
    »Those poor fellows I saw the other day - the sick, I mean - how are they?«
and he scrutinised the company. At last, he singled out one who was assuming a
most unearthly appearance, and remarked, that he looked as if he were extremely
ill. »Yes,« said the sailor dolefully, »I 'm afraid, doctor, I 'll soon be
losing the number of my mess!« (a sea phrase, for departing this life) and he
closed his eyes, and moaned.
    »What does he say?« said Johnson, turning round eagerly.
    »Why,« exclaimed Flash Jack, who volunteered as interpreter, »he means he 's
going to croak« (die).
    »Croak! and what does that mean, applied to a patient?«
    »Oh! I understand,« said he, when the word was explained; and he stepped
over the stocks, and felt the man's pulse.
    »What's his name?« he asked, turning this time to old Navy Bob.
    »We calls him Jingling Joe,« replied that worthy.
    »Well then, men, you must take good care of poor Joseph; and I will send him
a powder, which must be taken according to the directions. Some of you know how
to read, I presume?«
    »That 'ere young cove does,« replied Bob, pointing toward the place where I
lay, as if he were directing attention to a sail at sea.
    After examining the rest - some of whom were really invalids, but
convalescent, and others only pretending to be labouring under divers maladies,
Johnson turned round, and addressed the party.
    »Men,« said he, »if any more of you are ailing, speak up, and let me know.
By order of the consul, I 'm to call every day; so if any of you are at all
sick, it's my duty to prescribe for you. This sudden change from ship fare to
shore living plays the deuce with you sailors; so be cautious about eating
fruit. Good day! I 'll send you the medicines the first thing in the morning.«
    Now, I am inclined to suspect that with all his want of understanding,
Johnson must have had some idea that we were quizzing him. Still, that was
nothing, so long as it answered his purpose; and therefore, if he did see
through us, he never showed it.
    Sure enough, at the time appointed, along came a native lad with a small
basket of cocoa-nut stalks, filled with powders, pill-boxes, and vials, each
with names and directions written in a large, round hand. The sailors, one and
all, made a snatch at the collection, under the strange impression that some of
the vials were seasoned with spirits. But, asserting his privilege as physician
to the first reading of the labels, Doctor Long Ghost was at last permitted to
take possession of the basket.
    The first thing lighted upon was a large vial, labelled - For William - rub
well in.
    This vial certainly had a spirituous smell; and upon handing it to the
patient, he made a summary internal application of its contents. The doctor
looked aghast.
    There was now a mighty commotion. Powders and pills were voted mere drugs in
the market, and the holders of vials were pronounced lucky dogs. Johnson must
have known enough of sailors to make some of his medicines palatable - this, at
least, Long Ghost suspected. Certain it was, everyone took to the vials; if at
all spicy, directions were unheeded, their contents all going one road.
    The largest one of all, quite a bottle indeed, and having a sort of burnt
brandy odour, was labelled - For Daniel; drink freely, and until relieved. This,
Black Dan proceeded to do; and would have made an end of it at once, had not the
bottle, after a hard struggle, been snatched from his hands, and passed round,
like a jovial decanter. The old tar had complained of the effects of an
immoderate eating of fruit.
    Upon calling the following morning, our physician found his precious row of
patients reclining behind the stocks, and doing as well as could be expected.
    But the pills and powders were found to have been perfectly inactive:
probably because none had been taken. To make them efficacious, it was suggested
that, for the future, a bottle of Pisco should be sent along with them.
According to Flash Jack's notions, unmitigated medical compounds were but dry
stuff at the best, and needed something good to wash them down.
    Thus far, our own M.D., Doctor Long Ghost, after starting the frolic, had
taken no further part in it; but on the physician's third visit, he took him to
one side, and had a private confabulation. What it was, exactly, we could not
tell; but from certain illustrative signs and gestures, I fancied that he was
describing the symptoms of some mysterious disorganisation of the vitals, which
must have come on within the hour. Assisted by his familiarity with medical
terms, he seemed to produce a marked impression. At last, Johnson went his way,
promising aloud that he would send Long Ghost what he desired.
    When the medicine boy came along the following morning, the doctor was the
first to accost him, walking off with a small purple vial. This time, there was
little else in the basket but a case-bottle of the burnt brandy cordial, which,
after much debate, was finally disposed of by someone pouring the contents,
little by little, into the half of a cocoa-nut shell, and so giving all who
desired a glass. No further medicinal cheer remaining, the men dispersed.
    An hour or two passed, when Flash Jack directed attention to my long friend,
who, since the medicine boy left, had not been noticed till now. With eyes
closed, he was lying behind the stocks, and Jack was lifting his arm and letting
it fall as if life were extinct. On running up with the rest, I at once
connected the phenomenon with the mysterious vial. Searching his pocket, I found
it, and holding it up, it proved to be laudanum. Flash Jack, snatching it from
my hand in a rapture, quickly informed all present what it was; and with much
glee, proposed a nap for the company. Some of them not comprehending him
exactly, the apparently defunct Long Ghost - who lay so still that I a little
suspected the genuineness of his sleep - was rolled about as an illustration of
the virtues of the vial's contents. The idea tickled everybody mightily; and
throwing themselves down, the magic draught was passed from hand to hand.
Thinking that, as a matter of course, they must at once become insensible, each
man, upon taking his sip, fell back, and closed his eyes.
    There was little fear of the result, since the narcotic was equally
distributed. But, curious to see how it would operate, I raised myself gently
after a while, and looked around. It was about noon, and perfectly still; and as
we all daily took the siesta, I was not much surprised to find everyone quiet.
Still, in one or two instances, I thought I detected a little peeping.
    Presently, I heard a footstep, and saw Doctor Johnson approaching.
    And perplexed enough did he look at the sight of his prostrate file of
patients, plunged apparently in such unaccountable slumbers.
    »Daniel,« he cried, at last, punching in the side with his cane the
individual thus designated - »Daniel, my good fellow, get up! do you hear?«
    But Black Dan was immovable; and he poked the next sleeper.
    »Joseph, Joseph! come, wake up! it's me, Doctor Johnson.«
    But Jingling Joe, with mouth open, and eyes shut, was not to be started.
    »Bless my soul!« he exclaimed, with uplifted hands and cane, »what's got
into 'em? I say, men« - he shouted, running up and down - »come to life, men!
what under the sun 's the matter with you?« and he struck the stocks, and bawled
with increased vigour.
    At last he paused, folded his hands over the head of his cane, and
steadfastly gazed upon us. The notes of the nasal orchestra were rising and
falling upon his ear, and a new idea suggested itself.
    »Yes, yes; the rascals must have been getting boozy. Well, it's none of my
business - I 'll be off«; and off he went.
    No sooner was he out of sight, than nearly all started to their feet, and a
hearty laugh ensued.
    Like myself, most of them had been watching the event from under a sly
eyelid. By this time, too, Doctor Long Ghost was as wide awake as anybody. What
were his reasons for taking laudanum - if, indeed, he took any whatever - is
best known to himself; and, as it is neither mine nor the reader's business, we
will say no more about it.
 

                                 Chapter XXXVI

                  We Are Carried before the Consul and Captain

We had been inmates of the Calabooza Beretanee about two weeks, when one
morning, Captain Bob, coming from the bath, in a state of utter nudity, brought
into the building an armful of old tappa, and began to dress to go out.
    The operation was quite simple. The tappa - of the coarsest kind - was in
one long, heavy piece; and fastening one end to a column of habiscus wood,
supporting the Calabooza, he went off a few paces, and putting the other about
his waist, wound himself right up to the post. This unique costume, in rotundity
something like a farthingale, added immensely to his large bulk; so much so that
he fairly waddled in his gait. But he was only adhering to the fashion of his
fathers; for, in the olden time, the Kihee, or big girdle, was quite the mode
for both sexes. Bob, despising recent innovations, still clung to it. He was a
gentleman of the old school - one of the last of the Kihees.
    He now told us, that he had orders to take us before the consul. Nothing
loth, we formed in procession; and, with the old man at our head, sighing and
labouring like an engine, and flanked by a guard of some twenty natives, we
started for the village.
    Arrived at the consular office, we found Wilson there, and four or five
Europeans, seated in a row facing us; probably with the view of presenting as
judicial an appearance as possible.
    On one side was a couch, where Captain Guy reclined. He looked convalescent;
and, as we found out, intended soon to go aboard his ship. He said nothing, but
left everything to the consul.
    The latter now rose, and drawing forth a paper from a large roll, tied with
red tape, commenced reading aloud.
    It purported to be, The affidavit of John Jermin, first officer of the
British Colonial Barque, Julia; Guy, Master; and proved to be a long statement
of matters, from the time of leaving Sydney, down to our arrival in the harbour.
Though artfully drawn up, so as to bear hard against every one of us, it was
pretty correct in the details; excepting, that it was wholly silent as to the
manifold derelictions of the mate himself - a fact which imparted unusual
significance to the concluding sentence, »And furthermore, this deponent sayeth
not.«
    No comments were made, although we all looked round for the mate, to see
whether it was possible that he would have authorised this use of his name. But
he was not present.
    The next document produced was the deposition of the captain himself. As on
all other occasions, however, he had very little to say for himself, and it was
soon set aside.
    The third affidavit was that of the seamen remaining aboard the vessel,
including the traitor Bungs, who, it seemed, had turned ship's evidence. It was
an atrocious piece of exaggeration, from beginning to end; and those who signed
it could not have known what they were about. Certainly Wymontoo did not, though
his mark was there. In vain the consul commanded silence during the reading of
this paper; comments were shouted out upon every paragraph.
    The affidavits read, Wilson, who, all the while, looked as stiff as a poker,
solemnly drew forth the ship's articles from their tin case. This document was a
discoloured, musty, bilious-looking affair, and hard to read. When finished, the
consul held it up; and, pointing to the marks of the ship's company, at the
bottom, asked us, one by one, whether we acknowledged the same for our own.
    »What 's the use of asking that?« said Black Dan; »Captain Guy there knows
as well as we they are.«
    »Silence, sir!« said Wilson, who, intending to produce a suitable impression
by this ridiculous parade, was not a little mortified by the old sailor's
bluntness.
    A pause of a few moments now ensued; during which the bench of judges
communed with Captain Guy, in a low tone, and the sailors canvassed the motives
of the consul in having the affidavits taken.
    The general idea seemed to be that it was done with a view of bouncing, or
frightening us into submission. Such proved to be the case; for Wilson, rising
to his feet again, addressed us as follows: -
    »You see, men, that every preparation has been made to send you to Sydney
for trial. The Rosa (a small Australian schooner, lying in the harbour) will
sail for that place in the course of ten days, at farthest. The Julia sails on a
cruise this day week. Do you still refuse duty?«
    We did.
    Hereupon the consul and captain exchanged glances; and the latter looked
bitterly disappointed.
    Presently I noticed Guy's eye upon me; and, for the first time, he spoke,
and told me to come near. I stepped forward.
    »Was it not you that was taken off the island?«
    »It was.«
    »It is you, then, who owe your life to my humanity. Yet this is the
gratitude of a sailor, Mr. Wilson!«
    »Not so, sir.« And I at once gave him to understand that I was perfectly
acquainted with his motives in sending a boat into the bay; his crew was
reduced, and he merely wished to procure the sailor whom he expected to find
there. The ship was the means of my deliverance, and no thanks to the
benevolence of its captain.
    Doctor Long Ghost, also, had a word to say. In two masterly sentences he
summed up Captain Guy's character, to the complete satisfaction of every seaman
present.
    Matters were now growing serious; especially as the sailors became riotous,
and talked about taking the consul and the captain back to the Calabooza with
them.
    The other judges fidgeted, and loudly commanded silence. It was at length
restored; when Wilson, for the last time addressing us, said something more
about the Rosa and Sydney, and concluded by reminding us that a week would
elapse ere the Julia sailed.
    Leaving these hints to operate for themselves, he dismissed the party,
ordering Captain Bob and his friends to escort us back whence we came.
 

                                 Chapter XXXVII

                     The French Priests Pay Their Respects

A day or two after the events just related, we were lounging in the Calabooza
Beretanee, when we were honoured by a visit from three of the French priests;
and as about the only notice ever taken of us by the English missionaries, was
their leaving their cards for us in the shape of a package of tracts, we could
not help thinking, that the Frenchmen, in making a personal call, were at least
much better bred.
    By this time they had settled themselves down quite near our habitation. A
pleasant little stroll down the Broom Road, and a rustic cross peeped through
the trees; and soon you came to as charming a place as one would wish to see: a
soft knoll, planted with old bread-fruit trees; in front, a savannah, sloping to
a grove of palms, and, between these, glimpses of blue, sunny waves.
    On the summit of the knoll was a rude chapel of bamboos; quite small, and
surmounted by the cross. Between the canes, at nightfall, the natives stole
peeps at a small portable altar; a crucifix to correspond, and gilded
candlesticks and censers. Their curiosity carried them no farther; nothing could
induce them to worship there. Such queer ideas as they entertained of the hated
strangers! Masses and chants were nothing more than evil spells. As for the
priests themselves, they were no better than diabolical sorcerers; like those
who, in old times, terrified their fathers.
    Close by the chapel was a range of native houses; rented from a chief, and
handsomely furnished. Here lived the priests; and very comfortably too. They
looked sanctimonious enough abroad; but that went for nothing: since at home, in
their retreat, they were a club of Friar Tucks; holding priestly wassail over
many a good cup of red brandy, and rising late in the morning.
    Pity it was they couldn't marry - pity for the ladies of the island, I mean,
and the cause of morality; for what business had the ecclesiastical old
bachelors, with such a set of trim little native handmaidens? These damsels were
their first converts; and devoted ones they were.
    The priests, as I said before, were accounted necromancers: the appearance
of two of our three visitors might have justified the conceit.
    They were little, dried-up Frenchmen, in long, straight gowns of black
cloth, and unsightly three-cornered hats, so preposterously big that, in putting
them on, the reverend fathers seemed extinguishing themselves.
    Their companion was dressed differently. He wore a sort of yellow flannel
morning-gown, and a broad-brimmed Manilla hat. Large and portly, he was also
hale and fifty; with a complexion like an autumnal leaf, handsome blue eyes,
fine teeth, and a racy Milesian brogue. In short, he was an Irishman; Father
Murphy by name; and, as such, pretty well known, and very thoroughly disliked,
throughout all the Protestant missionary settlements in Polynesia. In early
youth, he had been sent to a religious seminary in France; and, taking orders
there, had but once or twice afterwards revisited his native land.
    Father Murphy marched up to us briskly; and the first words he uttered were,
to ask whether there were any of his countrymen among us. There were two of
them; one, a lad of sixteen - a bright, curly-headed rascal - and, being a young
Irishman, of course his name was Pat. The other was an ugly, and rather
melancholy-looking scamp; one M'Gee, whose prospects in life had been blasted by
a premature transportation to Sydney. This was the report, at least, though it
might have been scandal.
    In most of my shipmates were some redeeming qualities; but about M'Gee there
was nothing of the kind; and, forced to consort with him, I could not help
regretting, a thousand times, that the gallows had been so tardy. As if
impelled, against her will, to send him into the world, Nature had done all she
could to ensure his being taken for what he was. About the eyes, there was no
mistaking him; with a villainous cast in one, they seemed suspicious of each
other.
    Glancing away from him at once, the bluff priest rested his gaze on the
good-humoured face of Pat, who, with a pleasant roguishness, was twigging the
enormous hats (or Hytee Belteezers, as land beavers are called by sailors), from
under which, like a couple of snails, peeped the two little Frenchmen.
    Pat and the priest were both from the same town in Meath; and, when this was
found out, there was no end to the questions of the latter. To him, Pat seemed a
letter from home, and said a hundred times as much.
    After a long talk between these two, and a little broken English from the
Frenchmen, our visitors took leave; but Father Murphy had hardly gone a dozen
rods when back he came, inquiring whether we were in want of anything.
    »Yes,« cried one, »something to eat.« Upon this he promised to send us some
fresh wheat bread, of his own baking; a great luxury in Tahiti.
    We all felicitated Pat upon picking up such a friend, and told him his
fortune was made.
    The next morning, a French servant of the priest's made his appearance, with
a small bundle of clothing for our young Hibernian; and the promised bread for
the party. Pat, being out at the knees and elbows, and, like the rest of us, not
full inside, the present was acceptable all round.
    In the afternoon, Father Murphy himself came along; and, in addition to his
previous gifts, gave Pat a good deal of advice: said he was sorry to see him in
limbo, and that he would have a talk with the consul about having him set free.
    We saw nothing more of him for two or three days; at the end of which time
he paid us another call, telling Pat that Wilson was inexorable, having refused
to set him at liberty, unless to go aboard the ship. This, the priest now
besought him to do forthwith; and to escape the punishment which, it seems,
Wilson had been hinting at to his intercessor. Pat, however, was staunch against
entreaties; and, with all the ardour of a sophomorean sailor, protested his
intention to hold out to the last. With none of the meekness of a good little
boy about him, the blunt youngster stormed away at such a rate, that it was hard
to pacify him; and the priest said no more.
    How it came to pass - whether from Murphy's speaking to the consul, or
otherwise - we could not tell, but the next day Pat was sent for by Wilson, and
being escorted to the village by our good old keeper, three days elapsed before
he returned.
    Bent upon reclaiming him, they had taken him on board the ship; feasted him
in the cabin; and, finding that of no avail, down they thrust him into the hold,
in double irons, and on bread and water. All would not do; and so he was sent
back to the Calabooza. Boy that he was, they must have counted upon his being
more susceptible to discipline than the rest.
    The interest felt in Pat's welfare, by his benevolent countryman, was very
serviceable to the rest of us; especially as we all turned Catholics, and went
to mass every morning, much to Captain Bob's consternation. Upon finding it out,
he threatened to keep us in the stocks if we did not desist. He went no farther
than this, though; and so, every few days, we strolled down to the priest's
residence, and had a mouthful to eat, and something generous to drink. In
particular, Doctor Long Ghost and myself became huge favourites with Pat's
friend; and many a time he regaled us from a quaint-looking travelling-case for
spirits, stowed away in one corner of his dwelling. It held four square flasks,
which, somehow or other, always contained just enough to need emptying. In
truth, the fine old Irishman was a rosy fellow in canonicals. His countenance
and his soul were always in a glow. It may be ungenerous to reveal his failings,
but he often talked thick, and sometimes was perceptibly eccentric in his gait.
    I never drink French brandy, but I pledge Father Murphy. His health again!
And many jolly proselytes may he make in Polynesia!
 

                                Chapter XXXVIII

                          Little Jule Sails without Us

To make good the hint thrown out by the consul upon the conclusion of the Farce
of the Affidavits, we were again brought before him within the time specified.
    It was the same thing over again: he got nothing out of us, and we were
remanded; our resolute behaviour annoying him prodigiously.
    What we observed, led us to form the idea, that on first learning the state
of affairs on board the Julia, Wilson must have addressed his invalid friend,
the captain, something in the following style: -
    »Guy, my poor fellow, don't worry yourself now about those rascally sailors
of yours. I 'll dress them out for you - just leave it all to me, and set your
mind at rest.«
    But handcuffs and stocks, big looks, threats, dark hints, and depositions,
had all gone for nought.
    Conscious that, as matters now stood, nothing serious could grow out of what
had happened; and never dreaming that our being sent home for trial had ever
been really thought of, we thoroughly understood Wilson, and laughed at him
accordingly.
    Since leaving the Julia, we had caught no glimpse of the mate; but we often
heard of him.
    It seemed that he remained on board, keeping house in the cabin for himself
and Viner; who, going to see him according to promise, was induced to remain a
guest. These two cronies now had fine times; tapping the captain's
quarter-casks, playing cards on the transom, and giving balls of an evening to
the ladies ashore. In short, they cut up so many queer capers, that the
missionaries complained of them to the consul; and Jermin received a sharp
reprimand.
    This so affected him, that he drank still more freely than before; and one
afternoon, when mellow as a grape, he took umbrage at a canoe full of natives,
who, on being hailed from the deck to come aboard and show their papers, got
frightened, and paddled for the shore. Lowering a boat instantly, he equipped
Wymontoo and the Dane with a cutlass apiece, and seizing another himself, off
they started in pursuit, the ship's ensign flying in the boat's stern. The
alarmed islanders, beaching their canoe, with loud cries fled through the
village, the mate after them, slashing his naked weapon to right and left. A
crowd soon collected; and the Karhowree toonee, or crazy stranger, was quickly
taken before Wilson.
    Now, it so chanced, that in a native house hard by, the consul and Captain
Guy were having a quiet game at cribbage by themselves, a decanter on the table
standing sentry. The obstreperous Jermin was brought in; and finding the two
thus pleasantly occupied, it had a soothing effect upon him; and he insisted
upon taking a hand at the cards, and a drink of the brandy. As the consul was
nearly as tipsy as himself, and the captain dared not object for fear of giving
offence, at it they went - all three of them - and made a night of it; the
mate's delinquencies being summarily passed over, and his captors sent away.
    An incident worth relating grew out of this freak.
    There wandered about Papeetee, at this time, a shrivelled little fright of
an Englishwoman, known among sailors as Old Mother Tot. From New Zealand to the
Sandwich Islands, she had been all over the South Seas; keeping a rude hut of
entertainment for mariners, and supplying them with rum and dice. Upon the
missionary islands, of course, such conduct was severely punishable; and at
various places, Mother Tot's establishment had been shut up, and its proprietor
made to quit in the first vessel that could be hired to land her elsewhere. But,
with a perseverance invincible, wherever she went she always started afresh; and
so became notorious everywhere.
    By some wicked spell of hers, a patient, one-eyed little cobbler followed
her about, mending shoes for white men, doing the old woman's cooking, and
bearing all her abuse without grumbling. Strange to relate, a battered Bible was
seldom out of his sight; and whenever he had leisure, and his mistress's back
was turned, he was forever poring over it. This pious propensity used to enrage
the old crone past belief; and oftentimes she boxed his ears with the book, and
tried to burn it. Mother Tot and her man Josy were, indeed, a curious pair.
    But to my story.
    A week or so after our arrival in the harbour, the old lady had once again
been hunted down, and forced for the time to abandon her nefarious calling. This
was brought about chiefly by Wilson, who, for some reason unknown, had
contracted the most violent hatred for her; which, on her part was more than
reciprocated.
    Well, passing in the evening, where the consul and his party were making
merry, she peeped through the bamboos of the house; and straightway resolved to
gratify her spite.
    The night was very dark, and providing herself with a huge ship's lantern,
which usually swung in her hut, she waited till they came forth. This happened
about midnight; Wilson making his appearance, supported by two natives, holding
him up by the arms. These three went first; and just as they got under a deep
shade, a bright light was thrust within an inch of Wilson's nose. The old hag
was kneeling before him, holding the lantern with uplifted hands.
    »Ha, ha! my fine counsellor,« she shrieked; »ye persecute a lone old body
like me for selling rum - do ye? And here ye are, carried home drunk - Hoot! ye
villain, I scorn ye!« And she spat upon him.
    Terrified at the apparition, the poor natives - arrant believers in ghosts -
dropped the trembling consul, and fled in all directions. After giving full vent
to her rage, Mother Tot hobbled away, and left the three revellers to stagger
home the best way they could.
    The day following our last interview with Wilson, we learned that Captain
Guy had gone on board his vessel for the purpose of shipping a new crew. There
was a round bounty offered; and a heavy bag of Spanish dollars, with the Julia's
articles ready for signing, were laid on the capstan-head.
    Now, there was no lack of idle sailors ashore, mostly beach-combers, who had
formed themselves into an organised gang, headed by one Mack, a Scotchman, whom
they styled the Commodore. By the laws of the fraternity, no member was allowed
to ship on board a vessel, unless granted permission by the rest. In this way
the gang controlled the port, all discharged seamen being forced to join them.
    To Mack and his men our story was well known; indeed, they had several times
called to see us; and of course, as sailors and congenial spirits, they were
hard against Captain Guy.
    Deeming the matter important, they came in a body to the Calabooza, and
wished to know whether, all things considered, we thought it best for any of
them to join the Julia.
    Anxious to pack the ship off as soon as possible, we answered, by all means.
Some went so far as to laud the Julia to the skies as the best and fastest of
ships. Jermin too, as a good fellow, and a sailor every inch, came in for his
share of praise; and as for the captain - quiet man, he would never trouble
anyone. In short, every inducement we could think of was presented; and Flash
Jack ended by assuring the beach-combers solemnly that, now we were all well and
hearty, nothing but a regard to principle prevented us from returning on board
ourselves.
    The result was, that a new crew was finally obtained, together with a steady
New Englander for second mate, and three good whalemen for harpooners. In part,
what was wanting for the ship's larder was also supplied; and as far as could be
done in a place like Tahiti, the damages the vessel had sustained were repaired.
As for the Mowree, the authorities refusing to let him be put ashore, he was
carried to sea in irons, down in the hold. What eventually became of him we
never heard.
    Ropey, poor, poor Ropey, who a few days previous had fallen sick, was left
ashore at the sailor hospital at Townor, a small place upon the beach between
Papeetee and Matavai. Here, some time after, he breathed his last. No one knew
his complaint: he must have died of hard times. Several of us saw him interred
in the sand, and I planted a rude post to mark his resting-place.
    The cooper and the rest who had remained aboard from the first, of course,
composed part of the Julia's new crew.
    To account for the conduct, all along, of the consul and captain, in trying
so hard to alter our purpose with respect to the ship, the following statement
is all that is requisite. Besides an advance of from fifteen to twenty-five
dollars demanded by every sailor shipping at Tahiti, an additional sum for each
man so shipped has to be paid into the hands of the government, as a charge of
the port. Besides this, the men - with here and there an exception - will only
ship for one cruise, thus becoming entitled to a discharge before the vessel
reaches home; which, in time, creates the necessity of obtaining other men, at a
similar cost. Now, the Julia's exchequer was at low-water mark, or rather, it
was quite empty: and to meet these expenses, a good part of what little oil
there was aboard had to be sold for a song to a merchant of Papeetee.
    It was Sunday in Tahiti, and a glorious morning, when Captain Bob, waddling
into the Calabooza, startled us by announcing, »Ah - my boy - shippy you, harree
- maky sail!« In other words, the Julia was off.
    The beach was quite near, and in this quarter altogether uninhabited; so
down we ran, and, at a cable's length, saw Little Jule gliding past -
top-gallant-sails hoisting, and a boy aloft with one leg thrown over the yard,
loosing the fore-royal. The decks were all life and commotion; the sailors on
the forecastle singing, »Ho, cheerly, men!« as they catted the anchor; and the
gallant Jermin, bareheaded as his wont, standing up on the bowsprit, and issuing
his orders. By the man at the helm stood Captain Guy, very quiet and
gentlemanly, and smoking a cigar. Soon the ship drew near the reef, and altering
her course, glided out through the break, and went on her way.
    Thus disappeared Little Jule, about three weeks after entering the harbour;
and nothing more have I ever heard of her.
 

                                 Chapter XXXIX

            Jermin Serves Us a Good Turn - Friendships in Polynesia

The ship out of the way, we were quite anxious to know what was going to be done
with us. On this head, Captain Bob could tell us nothing; no further, at least,
than that he still considered himself responsible for our safe-keeping. However,
he never put us to bed any more; and we had everything our own way.
    The day after the Julia left, the old man came up to us in great
tribulation, saying that the bucket of bread was no longer forthcoming, and that
Wilson had refused to send anything in its place. One and all, we took this for
a hint to disperse quietly, and go about our business. Nevertheless, we were not
to be shaken off so easily; and taking a malicious pleasure in annoying our old
enemy, we resolved, for the present, to stay where we were. For the part he had
been acting, we learned that the consul was the laughing-stock of all the
foreigners ashore, who frequently twitted him upon his hopeful protégés of the
Calabooza Beretanee.
    As we were wholly without resources, so long as we remained on the island no
better place than Captain Bob's could be selected for an abiding-place. Besides,
we heartily loved the old gentleman, and could not think of leaving him; so,
telling him to be quite at ease on the score of our clothing and food, we
resolved, by extending and systematising our foraging operations, to provide for
ourselves.
    We were greatly assisted by a parting legacy of Jermin's. To him we were
indebted for having all our chests sent ashore, and everything left therein.
They were placed in the custody of a petty chief living near by, who was
instructed by the consul not to allow them to be taken away; but we might call
and make our toilets whenever we pleased.
    We went to see Mahinee, the old chief; Captain Bob going along, and stoutly
insisting upon having the chattels delivered up. At last this was done; and in
solemn procession the chests were borne by the natives to the Calabooza. Here,
we disposed them about quite tastefully; and made such a figure, that in the
eyes of old Bob and his friends, the Calabooza Beretanee was by far the most
sumptuously furnished saloon in Tahiti.
    Indeed, so long as it remained thus furnished, the native courts of the
district were held there; the judge, Mahinee, and his associates, sitting upon
one of the chests, and the culprits and spectators thrown at full length upon
the ground, both inside of the building, and under the shade of the trees
without; while leaning over the stocks as from a gallery, the worshipful crew of
the Julia looked on, and canvassed the proceedings.
    I should have mentioned before, that previous to the vessel's departure, the
men had bartered away all the clothing they could possibly spare; but now, it
was resolved to be more provident.
    The contents of the chests were of the most miscellaneous description: -
sewing utensils, marling-spikes, strips of calico, bits of rope, jack-knives;
nearly everything, in short, that a seaman could think of. But of wearing
apparel, there was little but old frocks, remnants of jackets, and legs of
trousers, with now and then the foot of a stocking. These, however, were far
from being valueless; for, among the poorer Tahitians, everything European is
highly esteemed. They come from Beretanee, Fenooa Pararee (Britain, Land of
Wonders), and that is enough.
    The chests themselves were deemed exceedingly precious, especially those
with unfractured locks, which would absolutely click, and enable the owner to
walk off with the key. Scars, however, and bruises, were considered great
blemishes. One old fellow, smitten with the doctor's large mahogany chest (a
well-filled one, by the by), and finding infinite satisfaction in merely sitting
thereon, was detected in the act of applying a healing ointment to a shocking
scratch which impaired the beauty of the lid.
    There is no telling the love of a Tahitian for a sailor's trunk. So
ornamental is it held as an article of furniture in his hut, that the women are
incessantly tormenting their husbands to bestir themselves, and make them a
present of one. When obtained, no pier table just placed in a drawing-room is
regarded with half the delight. For these reasons, then, our coming into
possession of our estate at this time was an important event.
    The islanders are much like the rest of the world; and the news of our good
fortune brought us troops of tayos, or friends, eager to form an alliance after
the national custom, and do our slightest bidding.
    The really curious way in which all the Polynesians are in the habit of
making bosom friends at the shortest possible notice is deserving of remark.
Although, among a people like the Tahitians, vitiated as they are by
sophisticating influences, this custom has in most cases degenerated into a mere
mercenary relation, it nevertheless had its origin in a fine, and in some
instances, heroic sentiment, formerly entertained by their fathers.
    In the annals of the island are examples of extravagant friendships,
unsurpassed by the story of Damon and Pythias: in truth, much more wonderful;
for, notwithstanding the devotion - even of life in some cases - to which they
led, they were frequently entertained at first sight for some stranger from
another island.
    Filled with love and admiration for the first whites who came among them,
the Polynesians could not testify the warmth of their emotions more strongly
than by instantaneously making their abrupt proffer of friendship. Hence, in old
voyages we read of chiefs coming off from the shore in their canoes, and going
through with strange antics, expressive of this desire. In the same way, their
inferiors accosted the seamen; and thus the practice has continued in some
islands down to the present day.
    There is a small place, not many days' sail from Tahiti, and seldom visited
by shipping, where the vessel touched to which I then happened to belong.
    Of course, among the simple-hearted natives, we had a friend all round. Mine
was Poky, a handsome youth, who never could do enough for me. Every morning at
sunrise, his canoe came alongside loaded with fruits of all kinds; upon being
emptied, it was secured by a line to the bowsprit, under which it lay all day
long, ready at any time to carry its owner ashore on an errand.
    Seeing him so indefatigable, I told Poky one day, that I was a virtuoso in
shells and curiosities of all kinds. That was enough; away he paddled for the
head of the bay, and I never saw him again for twenty-four hours. The next
morning, his canoe came gliding slowly along the shore, with the full-leaved
bough of a tree for a sail. For the purpose of keeping the things dry, he had
also built a sort of platform just behind the prow, railed in with green
wicker-work; and here was a heap of yellow bananas and cowree shells; young
cocoa-nuts and antlers of red coral; two or three pieces of carved wood; a
little pocket-idol, black as jet, and rolls of printed tappa.
    We were given a holyday; and upon going ashore, Poky, of course, was my
companion and guide. For this, no mortal could be better qualified; his native
country was not large, and he knew every inch of it. Gallanting me about,
everyone was stopped and ceremoniously introduced to Poky's tayo karhowree nuee,
or his particular white friend.
    He showed me all the lions; but more than all, he took me to see a charming
lioness - a young damsel - the daughter of a chief - the reputation of whose
charms had spread to the neighbouring islands, and even brought suitors
therefrom. Among these was Tooboi, the heir of Tamatoy, King of Raiatair, one of
the Society Isles. The girl was certainly fair to look upon. Many heavens were
in her sunny eyes; and the outline of that arm of hers, peeping forth from a
capricious tappa robe, was the very curve of beauty.
    Though there was no end to Poky's attentions, not a syllable did he ever
breathe of reward; but sometimes he looked very knowing. At last the day came
for sailing, and with it, also, his canoe, loaded down to the gunwale with a sea
stock of fruits. Giving him all I could spare from my chest, I went on deck to
take my place at the windlass; for the anchor was weighing. Poky followed, and
heaved with me at the same handspike.
    The anchor was soon up, and away we went out of the bay with more than
twenty shallops towing astern. At last they left us; but long as I could see him
at all, there was Poky, standing alone and motionless in the bow of his canoe.
 
                                 End of Part I
 

                                    Part II

                                   Chapter XL

                         We Take unto Ourselves Friends

The arrival of the chests made my friend, the doctor, by far the wealthiest man
of the party. So much the better for me, seeing that I had little or nothing
myself; though, from our intimacy, the natives courted my favour almost as much
as his.
    Among others, Kooloo was a candidate for my friendship; and being a comely
youth, quite a buck in his way, I accepted his overtures. By this, I escaped the
importunities of the rest; for be it known that, though little inclined to
jealousy in love matters, the Tahitian will hear of no rivals in his friendship.
    Kooloo, running over his qualifications as a friend, first of all informed
me that he was a mickonaree, thus declaring his communion with the Church.
    The way this tayo of mine expressed his regard was by assuring me over and
over again that the love he bore me was nuee, nuee, nuee, or infinitesimally
extensive. All over these seas, the word nuee is significant of quantity. Its
repetition is like placing ciphers at the right hand of a numeral; the more
places you carry it out to, the greater the sum. Judge, then, of Kooloo's
esteem. Nor is the allusion to the ciphers at all inappropriate, seeing that, in
themselves, Kooloo's professions turned out to be worthless. He was, alas! as
sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal; one of those who make no music unless the
clapper be silver.
    In the course of a few days, the sailors, like the doctor and myself, were
cajoled out of everything, and our tayos, all round, began to cool off quite
sensibly. So remiss did they become in their attentions that we could no longer
rely upon their bringing us the daily supply of food, which all of them had
faithfully promised.
    As for Kooloo, after sponging me well, he one morning played the part of a
retrograde lover; informing me that his affections had undergone a change; he
had fallen in love at first sight with a smart sailor, who had just stepped
ashore quite flush from a lucky whaling-cruise.
    It was a touching interview, and with it, our connection dissolved. But the
sadness which ensued would soon have been dissipated, had not my sensibilities
been wounded by his indelicately sporting some of my gifts very soon after this
transfer of his affections. Hardly a day passed, that I did not meet him on the
Broom Road, airing himself in a Regatta shirt, which I had given him in happier
hours.
    He went by with such an easy saunter too, looking me pleasantly in the eye,
and merely exchanging the cold salute of the road: - »Yar onor, boyoee,« a mere
sidewalk how d'ye do. After several experiences like this, I began to entertain
a sort of respect for Kooloo, as quite a man of the world. In good sooth, he
turned out to be one; in one week's time giving me the cut direct, and lounging
by without even nodding. He must have taken me for part of the landscape.
    Before the chests were quite empty, we had a grand washing in the stream of
our best raiment, for the purpose of looking tidy, and visiting the European
chapel in the village. Every Sunday morning it is open for divine service, some
member of the mission officiating. This was the first time we ever entered
Papeetee unattended by an escort.
    In the chapel there were about forty people present, including the officers
of several ships in harbour. It was an energetic discourse, and the
pulpit-cushion was well pounded. Occupying a high seat in the synagogue, and
stiff as a flag-staff, was our beloved guardian, Wilson. I shall never forget
his look of wonder when his interesting wards filed in at the doorway, and took
up a seat directly facing him.
    Service over, we waited outside in hopes of seeing more of him; but, sorely
annoyed at the sight of us, he reconnoitred from the window, and never came
forth until we had started for home.
 

                                  Chapter XLI

                     We Levy Contributions on the Shipping

Scarcely a week went by after the Julia's sailing, when, with the proverbial
restlessness of sailors, some of the men began to grow weary of the Calabooza
Beretanee, and resolved to go boldly among the vessels in the bay, and offer to
ship.
    The thing was tried; but though strongly recommended by the commodore of the
beach-combers, in the end they were invariably told by the captains to whom they
applied that they bore an equivocal character ashore, and would not answer. So
often were they repulsed, that we pretty nearly gave up all thoughts of leaving
the island in this way; and growing domestic again, settled down quietly at
Captain Bob's.
    It was about this time that the whaling-ships, which have their regular
seasons for cruising, began to arrive at Papeetee; and of course their crews
frequently visited us. This is customary all over the Pacific. No sailor steps
ashore, but he straightway goes to the Calabooza, where he is almost sure to
find some poor fellow or other in confinement for desertion, or alleged mutiny,
or something of that sort. Sympathy is proffered, and, if need be, tobacco. The
latter, however, is most in request; as a solace to the captive, it is
invaluable.
    Having fairly carried the day against both consul and captain, we were
objects of even more than ordinary interest to these philanthropists; and they
always cordially applauded our conduct. Besides, they invariably brought along
something in the way of refreshments; occasionally smuggling in a little Pisco.
Upon one occasion, when there was quite a number present, a calabash was passed
round, and a pecuniary collection taken up for our benefit.
    One day a newcomer proposed that two or three of us should pay him a sly
nocturnal visit aboard his ship; engaging to send us away well freighted with
provisions. This was not a bad idea; nor were we at all backward in acting upon
it. Night after night every vessel in the harbour was visited in rotation, the
foragers borrowing Captain Bob's canoe for the purpose. As we all took turns at
this, two by two, in due course it came to Long Ghost and myself, for the
sailors invariably linked us together. In such an enterprise, I somewhat
distrusted the doctor, for he was no sailor, and very tall; and a canoe is the
most ticklish of navigable things. However, it could not be helped; and so we
went.
    But a word about the canoes, before we go any further. Among the Society
Islands, the art of building them, like all native accomplishments, has greatly
deteriorated; and they are now the most inelegant, as well as the most insecure,
of any in the South Seas. In Cook's time, according to his account, there was at
Tahiti a royal fleet of seventeen hundred and twenty large war-canoes,
handsomely carved, and otherwise adorned. At present, those used are quite
small; nothing more than logs hollowed out, sharpened at one end, and then
launched into the water.
    To obviate a certain rolling propensity, the Tahitians, like all
Polynesians, attach to them what sailors call an outrigger. It consists of a
pole floating alongside, parallel to the canoe, and connected with it by a
couple of cross-sticks, a yard or more in length. Thus equipped, the canoe
cannot be overturned, unless you overcome the buoyancy of the pole, or lift it
entirely out of the water.
    Now, Captain Bob's gig was exceedingly small; so small, and of such a
grotesque shape, that the sailors christened it the Pill Box; and by this
appellation it always went. In fact, it was a sort of sulky, meant for a
solitary paddler, but, on an emergency, capable of floating two or three. The
outrigger was a mere switch, alternately rising in air, and then depressed in
the water.
    Assuming the command of the expedition, upon the strength of my being a
sailor, I packed the Long Doctor with a paddle in the bow, and then shoving off,
leaped into the stern; thus leaving him to do all the work, and reserving to
myself the dignified sinecure of steering. All would have gone well, were it not
that my paddler made such clumsy work, that the water spattered, and showered
down upon us without ceasing. Continuing to ply his tool, however, quite
energetically, I thought he would improve after a while, and so let him alone.
But by and by, getting wet through with this little storm we were raising, and
seeing no signs of its clearing off, I conjured him, in Mercy's name, to stop
short, and let me wring myself out. Upon this, he suddenly turned round, when
the canoe gave a roll, the outrigger flew overhead, and the next moment came rap
on the doctor's skull, and we were both in the water.
    Fortunately, we were just over a ledge of coral, not half a fathom under the
surface. Depressing one end of the filled canoe, and letting go of it quickly,
it bounced up, and discharged great part of its contents; so that we easily
baled out the remainder, and again embarked. This time, my comrade coiled
himself away in a very small space; and enjoining upon him not to draw a single
unnecessary breath, I proceeded to urge the canoe along by myself. I was
astonished at his docility, never speaking a word, and stirring neither hand nor
foot; but the secret was, he was unable to swim, and in case we met with a
second mishap, there were no more ledges beneath to stand upon. »Drowning 's but
a shabby way of going out of the world,« he exclaimed, upon my rallying him;
»and I 'm not going to be guilty of it.«
    At last, the ship was at hand, and we approached with much caution, wishing
to avoid being hailed by anyone from the quarter-deck. Dropping silently under
her bows, we heard a low whistle - the signal agreed upon - and presently a
goodly sized bag was lowered over to us.
    We cut the line, and then paddled away as fast as we could, and made the
best of our way home. Here, we found the rest waiting impatiently.
    The bag turned out to be well filled with sweet potatoes boiled, cubes of
salt beef and pork, and a famous sailors' pudding, what they call duff, made of
flour and water, and of about the consistence of an underdone brick. With these
delicacies, and keen appetites, we went out into the moonlight, and had a
nocturnal picnic.
 

                                  Chapter XLII

                        Motoo-Otoo - a Tahitian Casuist

The Pill Box was sometimes employed for other purposes than that described in
the last chapter. We sometimes went a-pleasuring in it.
    Right in the middle of Papeetee harbour is a bright, green island, one
circular grove of waving palms, and scarcely a hundred yards across. It is of
coral formation; and all round, for many rods out, the bay is so shallow that
you might wade anywhere. Down in these waters, as transparent as air, you see
coral plants of every hue and shape imaginable - antlers, tufts of azure, waving
reeds like stalks of grain, and pale green buds and mosses. In some places, you
look through prickly branches down to a snow-white floor of sand, sprouting with
flinty bulbs; and crawling among these are strange shapes - some bristling with
spikes, others clad in shining coats of mail, and here and there, round forms
all spangled with eyes.
    The island is called Motoo-Otoo; and around Motoo-Otoo have I often paddled
of a white moonlight night, pausing now and then to admire the marine gardens
beneath.
    The place is the private property of the queen, who has a residence there -
a melancholy-looking range of bamboo houses - neglected and falling to decay
among the trees.
    Commanding the harbour as it does, her majesty has done all she could to
make a fortress of the island. The margin has been raised and levelled, and
built up with a low parapet of hewn blocks of coral. Behind the parapet are
ranged, at wide intervals, a number of rusty old cannon, of all fashions and
calibres. They are mounted upon lame, decrepit-looking carriages, ready to sink
under the useless burden of bearing them up. Indeed, two or three have given up
the ghost altogether, and the pieces they sustained lie half buried among their
bleaching bones. Several of the cannon are spiked; probably with a view of
making them more formidable; as they certainly must be to anyone undertaking to
fire them off.
    Presented to Pomaree at various times by captains of British armed ships,
these poor old dogs of war, thus toothless and turned out to die, formerly bayed
in full pack, as the battle-hounds of Old England.
    There was something about Motoo-Otoo that struck my fancy; and I registered
a vow to plant my foot upon its soil, notwithstanding an old bareheaded sentry
menaced me in the moonlight with an unsightly musket. As my canoe drew scarcely
three inches of water, I could paddle close up to the parapet without grounding;
but every time I came near, the old man ran toward me, pushing his piece
forward, but never clapping it to his shoulder. Thinking he only meant to
frighten me, I at last dashed the canoe right up to the wall, purposing a leap.
It was the rashest act of my life; for never did cocoa-nut come nearer getting
demolished than mine did then. With the stock of his gun, the old warder fetched
a tremendous blow, which I managed to dodge; and then falling back, succeeded in
paddling out of harm's reach.
    He must have been dumb; for never a word did he utter; but, grinning from
ear to ear, and with his white cotton robe streaming in the moonlight, he looked
more like the spook of the island than anything mortal.
    I tried to effect my object by attacking him in the rear - but he was all
front; running about the place as I paddled, and presenting his confounded
musket wherever I went. At last I was obliged to retreat; and to this day my vow
remains unfulfilled.
    It was a few days after my repulse from before the walls of Motoo-Otoo that
I heard a curious case of casuistry argued between one of the most clever and
intelligent natives I ever saw in Tahiti, a man by the name of Arheetoo, and our
learned Theban of a doctor.
    It was this: whether it was right and lawful for any one, being a native, to
keep the European Sabbath, in preference to the day set apart as such by the
missionaries, and so considered by the islanders in general.
    It must be known that the missionaries of the good ship Duff, who more than
half a century ago established the Tahitian reckoning, came hither by the way of
the Cape of Good Hope; and, by thus sailing to the eastward, lost one precious
day of their lives all round, getting about that much in advance of Greenwich
time. For this reason, vessels coming round Cape Horn - as they most all do
nowadays - find it Sunday in Tahiti, when, according to their own view of the
matter, it ought to be Saturday. But as it won't do to alter the log, the
sailors keep their Sabbath, and the islanders theirs.
    This confusion perplexes the poor natives mightily; and it is to no purpose
that you endeavour to explain so incomprehensible a phenomenon. I once saw a
worthy old missionary essay to shed some light on the subject; and though I
understood but few of the words employed, I could easily get at the meaning of
his illustrations. They were something like the following: -
    »Here,« says he, »you see this circle« (describing a large one on the ground
with a stick): »very good; now you see this spot here« (marking a point in the
perimeter): »well; this is Beretanee (England), and I 'm going to sail round to
Tahiti. Here I go, then« (following the circle round), »and there goes the sun«
(snatching up another stick, and commissioning a bandy-legged native to travel
round with it in a contrary direction). »Now then, we are both off, and both
going away from each other; and here you see I have arrived at Tahiti« (making a
sudden stop); »and look now, where Bandy Legs is!«
    But the crowd strenuously maintained, that Bandy Legs ought to be somewhere
above them in the atmosphere; for it was a traditionary fact, that the people
from the Duff came ashore when the sun was high overhead. And here the old
gentleman, being a very good sort of man, doubtless, but no astronomer, was
obliged to give up.
    Arheetoo, the casuist alluded to, though a member of the church, and
extremely conscientious about what Sabbath he kept, was more liberal in other
matters. Learning that I was something of a mickonaree (in this sense, a man
able to read, and cunning in the use of the pen), he desired the slight favour
of my forging for him a set of papers; for which, he said, he would be much
obliged, and give me a good dinner of roast pig and Indian turnip in the
bargain.
    Now, Arheetoo was one of those who board the shipping for their washing; and
the competition being very great (the proudest chiefs not disdaining to solicit
custom in person, though the work is done by their dependants), he had decided
upon a course suggested by a knowing sailor, a friend of his. He wished to have
manufactured a set of certificates, purporting to come from certain man-of-war
and merchant captains, known to have visited the island; recommending him as one
of the best getters-up of fine linen in all Polynesia.
    At this time, Arheetoo had known me but two hours; and, as he made the
proposition very coolly, I thought it rather presumptuous, and told him so. But
as it was quite impossible to convey a hint, that there was a slight impropriety
in the thing, I did not resent the insult, but simply declined.
 

                                 Chapter XLIII

                     One Is Judged by the Company He Keeps

Although, from its novelty, life at Captain Bob's was pleasant enough, for the
time, there were some few annoyances connected with it anything but agreeable to
a soul of sensibility.
    Prejudiced against us by the malevolent representations of the consul and
others, many worthy foreigners ashore regarded us as a set of lawless vagabonds;
though truth to speak, better behaved sailors never stepped on the island, nor
any who gave less trouble to the natives. But, for all this, whenever we met a
respectably dressed European, ten to one he shunned us by going over to the
other side of the road. This was very unpleasant, at least to myself; though,
certes, it did not prey upon the minds of the others.
    To give an instance.
    Of a fine evening in Tahiti - but they are all fine evenings there - you may
see a bevy of silk bonnets and parasols passing along the Broom Road: perhaps a
band of pale, little white urchins - sickly exotics - and, oftener still,
sedate, elderly gentlemen, with canes; at whose appearance the natives, here and
there, slink into their huts. These are the missionaries, their wives, and
children, taking a family airing. Sometimes, by the by, they take horse, and
ride down to Point Venus and back; a distance of several miles. At this place is
settled the only survivor of the first missionaries that landed - an old,
white-headed, saint-like man, by the name of Wilson, the father of our friend
the consul.
    The little parties on foot were frequently encountered; and recalling, as
they did, so many pleasant recollections of home and the ladies, I really longed
for a dress-coat and beaver, that I might step up and pay my respects. But,
situated as I was, this was out of the question. On one occasion, however, I
received a kind, inquisitive glance from a matron in gingham. Sweet lady! I have
not forgotten her: her gown was a plaid.
    But a glance like hers was not always bestowed.
    One evening, passing the verandah of a missionary's dwelling, the dame, his
wife, and a pretty blonde young girl, with ringlets, were sitting there,
enjoying the sea-breeze, then coming in, all cool and refreshing, from the spray
of the reef. As I approached, the old lady peered hard at me; and her very cap
seemed to convey a prim rebuke. The blue, English eyes, by her side, were also
bent on me. But, oh Heavens! what a glance to receive, from such a beautiful
creature! As for the mob cap, not a fig did I care for it; but, to be taken for
anything but a cavalier, by the ringletted one, was absolutely unendurable.
    I resolved on a courteous salute, to show my good breeding, if nothing more.
But, happening to wear a sort of turban - hereafter to be particularly alluded
to - there was no taking it off and putting it on again with anything like
dignity. At any rate, then, here goes a bow. But another difficulty presented
itself; my loose frock was so voluminous, that I doubted whether any spinal
curvature would be perceptible.
    »Good evening, ladies,« exclaimed I, at last, advancing winningly; »a
delightful air from the sea, ladies.«
    Hysterics and hartshorn! who would have-thought it? The young lady screamed,
and the old one came near fainting. As for myself, I retreated, in double-quick
time; and scarcely drew breath until safely housed in the Calabooza.
 

                                  Chapter XLIV

               Cathedral of Papoar - the Church of the Cocoa-Nuts

On Sundays I always attended the principal native church on the outskirts of the
village of Papeetee, and not far from the Calabooza Beretanee. It was esteemed
the best specimen of architecture in Tahiti.
    Of late, they have built their places of worship with more reference to
durability than formerly. At one time there were no less than thirty-six on the
island - mere barns, tied together with thongs, which went to destruction in a
very few years.
    One, built many years ago in this style, was a most remarkable structure. It
was erected by Pomaree II., who, on this occasion, showed all the zeal of a
royal proselyte. The building was over seven hundred feet in length, and of a
proportionate width; the vast ridgepole was, at intervals, supported by a row of
thirty-six cylindrical trunks of the bread-fruit tree; and, all round, the
wall-plates rested on shafts of the palm. The roof - steeply inclining to within
a man's height of the ground - was thatched with leaves, and the sides of the
edifice were open. Thus spacious was the Royal Mission Chapel of Papoar.
    At its dedication, three distinct sermons were, from different pulpits,
preached to an immense concourse gathered from all parts of the island.
    As the chapel was built by the king's command, nearly as great a multitude
was employed in its construction as swarmed over the scaffolding of the great
temple of the Jews. Much less time, however, was expended. In less than three
weeks from planting the first post, the last tier of palmetto leaves drooped
from the eaves, and the work was done.
    Apportioned to the several chiefs and their dependants, the labour, though
immense, was greatly facilitated by everyone's bringing his post, or his rafter,
or his pole strung with thatching, ready for instant use. The materials thus
prepared being afterwards secured together by thongs, there was literally neither
hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was building.
    But the most singular circumstance connected with this South Sea cathedral
remains to be related. As well for the beauty as the advantages of such a site,
the islanders love to dwell near the mountain streams; and so, a considerable
brook, after descending from the hills and watering the valley, was bridged over
in three places, and swept clean through the chapel.
    Flowing waters! what an accompaniment to the songs of the sanctuary;
mingling with them the praises and thanksgivings of the green solitudes inland.
    But the chapel of the Polynesian Solomon has long since been deserted. Its
thousand rafters of habiscus have decayed, and fallen to the ground; and now the
stream murmurs over them in its bed.
    The present metropolitan church of Tahiti is very unlike the one just
described. It is of moderate dimensions, boarded over, and painted white. It is
furnished also with blinds, but no sashes; indeed, were it not for the rustic
thatch, it would remind one of a plain chapel at home.
    The wood-work was all done by foreign carpenters, of whom there are always
several about Papeetee.
    Within, its aspect is unique, and cannot fail to interest a stranger. The
rafters overhead are bound round with fine matting of variegated dyes; and all
along the ridgepole, these trappings hang pendent, in alternate bunches of
tassels and deep fringes of stained grass. The floor is composed of rude planks.
Regular aisles run between ranges of native settees, bottomed with crossed
braids of the cocoa-nut fibre, and furnished with backs.
    But the pulpit, made of a dark, lustrous wood, and standing at one end, is
by far the most striking object. It is preposterously lofty; indeed, a capital
bird's-eye view of the congregation ought to be had from its summit.
    Nor does the church lack a gallery, which runs round on three sides, and is
supported by columns of the cocoa-nut tree.
    Its facings are here and there daubed over with a tawdry blue; and in other
places (without the slightest regard to uniformity), patches of the same colour
may be seen. In their ardour to decorate the sanctuary, the converts must have
borrowed each a brush full of paint, and zealously daubed away at the first
surface that offered.
    As hinted, the general impression is extremely curious. Little light being
admitted, and everything being of a dark colour, there is an indefinable Indian
aspect of duskiness throughout. A strange, woody smell, also - more or less
pervading every considerable edifice in Polynesia - is at once perceptible. It
suggests the idea of worm-eaten idols packed away in some old lumber-room at
hand.
    For the most part, the congregation attending this church is composed of the
better and wealthier orders - the chiefs and their retainers; in short, the rank
and fashion of the island. This class is infinitely superior in personal beauty
and general healthfulness to the marenhoar, or common people; the latter having
been more exposed to the worst and most debasing evils of foreign intercourse.
On Sundays, the former are invariably arrayed in their finery; and thus appear
to the best advantage. Nor are they driven to the chapel, as some of their
inferiors are to other places of worship; on the contrary, capable of
maintaining a handsome exterior, and possessing greater intelligence, they go
voluntarily.
    In respect of the woodland colonnade supporting its galleries, I called this
chapel the Church of the Cocoa-nuts.
    It was the first place for Christian worship in Polynesia that I had seen;
and the impression upon entering during service was all the stronger.
Majestic-looking chiefs, whose fathers had hurled the battle-club, and old men
who had seen sacrifices smoking upon the altars of Oro, were there. And hark!
hanging from the bough of a bread-fruit tree without, a bell is being struck
with a bar of iron by a native lad. In the same spot, the blast of the war-conch
had often resounded. But to the proceedings within.
    The place is well filled. Everywhere meet the eye the gay calico draperies
worn on great occasions by the higher classes, and forming a strange contrast of
patterns and colours. In some instances, these are so fashioned as to resemble
as much as possible European garments. This is in excessively bad taste. Coats
and pantaloons, too, are here and there seen; but they look awkwardly enough,
and take away from the general effect.
    But it is the array of countenances that most strikes you. Each is suffused
with the peculiar animation of the Polynesians, when thus collected in large
numbers. Every robe is rustling, every limb in motion, and an incessant buzzing
going on throughout the assembly. The tumult is so great that the voice of the
placid old missionary, who now rises, is almost inaudible. Some degree of
silence is at length obtained through the exertions of half a dozen strapping
fellows, in white shirts and no pantaloons. Running in among the settees, they
are at great pains to inculcate the impropriety of making a noise by creating a
most unnecessary racket themselves. This part of the service was quite comical.
    There is a most interesting Sabbath school connected with the church; and
the scholars, a vivacious, mischievous set, were in one part of the gallery. I
was amused by a party in a corner. The teacher sat at one end of the bench, with
a meek little fellow by his side. When the others were disorderly, this young
martyr received a rap; intended, probably, as a sample of what the rest might
expect if they didn't amend.
    Standing in the body of the church, and leaning against a pillar, was an old
man, in appearance very different from others of his countrymen. He wore nothing
but a coarse, scant mantle, of faded tappa; and from his staring, bewildered
manner, I set him down as an aged bumpkin from the interior, unaccustomed to the
strange sights and sounds of the metropolis. This old worthy was sharply
reprimanded for standing up, and thus intercepting the view of those behind; but
not comprehending exactly what was said to him, one of the white-liveried gentry
made no ceremony of grasping him by the shoulders, and fairly crushing him down
into a seat.
    During all this, the old missionary in the pulpit - as well as his
associates beneath - never ventured to interfere, leaving everything to native
management. With South Sea islanders, assembled in any numbers, there is no
other way of getting along.
 

                                  Chapter XLV

                  A Missionary's Sermon; with Some Reflections

Some degree of order at length restored, the service was continued, by singing.
The choir was composed of twelve or fifteen ladies of the mission, occupying a
long bench to the left of the pulpit. Almost the entire congregation joined in.
    The first air fairly startled me; it was the brave tune of Old Hundred,
adapted to a Tahitian psalm. After the graceless scenes I had recently passed
through, this circumstance, with all its accessories, moved me forcibly.
    Many voices around were of great sweetness and compass. The singers, also,
seemed to enjoy themselves mightily; some of them pausing, now and then, and
looking round, as if to realise the scene more fully. In truth, they sang right
joyously, despite the solemnity of the tune.
    The Tahitians have much natural talent for singing; and, on all occasions,
are exceedingly fond of it. I have often heard a stave or two of psalmody,
hummed over by rakish young fellows, like a snatch from an opera.
    With respect to singing, as in most other matters, the Tahitians widely
differ from the people of the Sandwich Islands; where the parochial flocks may
be said rather to bleat than sing.
    The psalm concluded, a prayer followed. Very considerately, the good old
missionary made it short; for the congregation became fidgety and inattentive as
soon as it commenced.
    A chapter of the Tahitian Bible was now read; a text selected; and the
sermon began. It was listened to with more attention than I had anticipated.
    Having been informed, from various sources, that the discourses of the
missionaries, being calculated to engage the attention of their simple auditors,
were, naturally enough, of a rather amusing description to strangers; in short,
that they had much to say about steamboats, lord mayors' coaches, and the way
fires are put out in London, I had taken care to provide myself with a good
interpreter, in the person of an intelligent Hawaiian sailor, whose acquaintance
I had made.
    »Now, Jack,« said I, before entering, »hear every word, and tell me what you
can, as the missionary goes on.«
    Jack's was not, perhaps, a critical version of the discourse; and at the
time, I took no notes of what he said. Nevertheless, I will here venture to give
what I remember of it; and, as far as possible, in Jack's phraseology, so as to
lose nothing by a double translation.
    »Good friends, I glad to see you; and I very well like to have some talk
with you to-day. Good friends, very bad times in Tahiti; it make me weep.
Pomaree is gone - the island no more yours, but the Wee-wee's (French). Wicked
priests here, too; and wicked idols in woman's clothes, and brass chains.15
    Good friends, no you speak, or look at them - but I know you won't - they
belong to a set of robbers - the wicked Wee-wees. Soon these bad men be made to
go very quick. Beretanee ships of thunder come and away they go. But no more
'bout this now. I speak more by by.
    Good friends, many whale-ships here now; and many bad men come in 'em. No
good sailors living - that you know very well. They come here, 'cause so bad
they no keep 'em home.
    My good little girls, no run after sailors - no go where they go; they harm
you. Where they come from no good people talk to 'em - just like dogs. Here,
they talk to Pomaree, and drink arva with great Poofai.16
    Good friends, this very small island, but very wicked, and very poor; these
two go together. Why Beretanee so great? Because that island good island, and
send mickonaree17 to poor kannaka.18 In Beretanee, every man rich: plenty things
to buy; and ple nty things to sell. Houses bigger than Pomaree's, and more
grand. Everybody, too, ride about in coaches, bigger than hers;19 and wear fine
tappa every day. (Several luxurious appliances of civilisation were here
enumerated, and described.)
    Good friends, little to eat left at my house. Schooner from Sydney no bring
bag of flour: and kannaka no bring pig and fruit enough. Mickonaree do great
deal for kannaka; kannaka do little for mickonaree. So, good friends, weave
plenty of cocoa-nut baskets, fill 'em, and bring 'em to-morrow.«
    Such was the substance of great part of this discourse; and, whatever may be
thought of it, it was specially adapted to the minds of the islanders; who are
susceptible to no impressions, except from things palpable, or novel and
striking. To them, a dry sermon would be dry indeed.
    The Tahitians can hardly ever be said to reflect: they are all impulse; and
so, instead of expounding dogmas, the missionaries give them the large type,
pleasing cuts, and short and easy lessons of the primer. Hence, anything like a
permanent religious impression is seldom or never produced.
    In fact, there is, perhaps, no race upon earth less disposed by nature to
the monitions of Christianity than the people of the South Sea. And this
assertion is made with full knowledge of what is called the Great Revival at the
Sandwich Islands, about the year 1836; when several thousands were, in the
course of a few weeks, admitted into the bosom of the Church. But this result
was brought about by no sober moral convictions; as an almost instantaneous
relapse into every kind of licentiousness soon afterwards testified. It was the
legitimate effect of a morbid feeling, engendered by the sense of severe
physical wants, preying upon minds excessively prone to superstition; and by
fanatical preaching, inflamed into the belief, that the gods of the missionaries
were taking vengeance upon the wickedness of the land.20
    It is a noteworthy fact that those very traits in the Tahitians which
induced the London Missionary Society to regard them as the most promising
subjects for conversion, and which led, moreover, to the selection of their
island as the very first field for missionary labour, eventually proved the most
serious obstruction. An air of softness in their manners, great apparent
ingenuousness and docility, at first misled; but these were the mere
accompaniments of an indolence, bodily and mental; a constitutional
voluptuousness; and an aversion to the least restraint; which, however fitted
for the luxurious state of nature, in the tropics, are the greatest possible
hindrances to the strict moralities of Christianity.
    Added to all this is a quality inherent in Polynesians; and more akin to
hypocrisy than anything else. It leads them to assume the most passionate
interest in matters for which they really feel little or none whatever; but in
which those whose power they dread, or whose favour they court, they believe to
be at all affected. Thus, in their heathen state, the Sandwich Islanders
actually knocked out their teeth, tore their hair, and mangled their bodies with
shells, to testify their inconsolable grief at the demise of a high chief, or
member of the royal family. And yet, Vancouver relates, that, on such an
occasion, upon which he happened to be present, those apparently the most
abandoned to their feelings, immediately assumed the utmost light-heartedness on
receiving the present of a penny whistle, or a Dutch looking-glass. Similar
instances, also, have come under my own observation.
    The following is an illustration of the trait alluded to, as occasionally
manifested among the converted Polynesians.
    At one of the Society Islands - Raiatair, I believe - the natives, for
special reasons, desired to commend themselves particularly to the favour of the
missionaries. Accordingly, during divine service, many of them behaved in a
manner, otherwise unaccountable, and precisely similar to their behaviour as
heathens. They pretended to be wrought up to madness by the preaching which they
heard. They rolled their eyes; foamed at the mouth; fell down in fits; and so
were carried home. Yet, strange to relate, all this was deemed the evidence of
the power of the Most High; and, as such, was heralded abroad.
    But, to return to the Church of the Cocoa-nuts. The blessing pronounced, the
congregation disperse; enlivening the Broom Road with their waving mantles. On
either hand, they disappear down the shaded pathways, which lead off from the
main route, conducting to hamlets in the groves, or to the little marine villas
upon the beach. There is considerable hilarity; and you would suppose them just
from an old-fashioned hevar, or jolly heathen dance. Those who carry Bibles
swing them carelessly from their arms, by cords of sinnate.
    The Sabbath is no ordinary day with the Tahitians. So far as doing any work
is concerned, it is scrupulously observed. The canoes are hauled up on the
beach; the nets are spread to dry. Passing by the hen-coop huts, on the
roadside, you find their occupants idle, as usual; but less disposed to gossip.
After service, repose broods over the whole island; the valleys reaching inland
look stiller than ever.
    In short, it is Sunday - their Taboo Day; the very word formerly expressing
the sacredness of their pagan observances, now proclaiming the sanctity of the
Christian Sabbath.
 

                                  Chapter XLVI

                        Something about the Kannakippers

A worthy young man, formerly a friend of mine (I speak of Kooloo with all
possible courtesy, since after our intimacy there would be an impropriety in
doing otherwise) - this worthy youth, having some genteel notions of retirement,
dwelt in a maroo boro, or bread-fruit shade, a pretty nook in a wood, midway
between the Calabooza Beretanee and the Church of Cocoa-nuts. Hence, at the
latter place, he was one of the most regular worshippers.
    Kooloo was a blade. Standing up in the congregation in all the bravery of a
striped calico shirt, with the skirts rakishly adjusted over a pair of white
sailor trousers, and hair well anointed with cocoa-nut oil, he ogled the ladies
with an air of supreme satisfaction. Nor were his glances unreturned.
    But such looks as the Tahitian belles cast at each other: frequently turning
up their noses at the advent of a new cotton mantle recently imported in the
chest of some amorous sailor. Upon one occasion, I observed a group of young
girls, in tunica of coarse, soiled sheeting, disdainfully pointing at a damsel
in a flaming red one. »Oee tootai owree!« said they with ineffable scorn, »itai
maitai!« (you are a good-for-nothing huzzy, no better than you should be).
    Now, Kooloo communed with the church; so did all these censorious young
ladies. Yet after eating breadfruit at the Eucharist, I knew several of them,
the same night, to be guilty of some sad derelictions.
    Puzzled by these things, I resolved to find out, if possible, what ideas, if
any, they entertained of religion; but as one's spiritual concerns are rather
delicate for a stranger to meddle with, I went to work as adroitly as I could.
    Farnow, an old native who had recently retired from active pursuits, having
thrown up the business of being a sort of running footman to the queen, had
settled down in a snug little retreat, not fifty rods from Captain Bob's. His
selecting our vicinity for his residence may have been with some view to the
advantages it afforded for introducing his three daughters into polite circles.
At any rate, not averse to receiving the attentions of so devoted a gallant as
the doctor, the sisters (communicants, be it remembered) kindly extended to him
free permission to visit them sociably whenever he pleased.
    We dropped in one evening, and found the ladies at home. My long friend
engaged his favourites, the two younger girls, at the game of Now, or hunting a
stone under three piles of tappa. For myself, I lounged on a mat with Ideea, the
eldest, dallying with her grass fan, and improving my knowledge of Tahitian.
    The occasion was well adapted to my purpose, and I began.
    »Ah, Ideea, mickonaree oee?« the same as drawling out - »By the by, Miss
Ideea, do you belong to the church?«
    »Yes, me mickonaree,« was the reply.
    But the assertion was at once qualified by certain reservations; so curious
that I cannot forbear their relation.
    »Mickonaree ena,« (church member here), exclaimed she, laying her hand upon
her mouth, and a strong emphasis on the adverb. In the same way, and with
similar exclamations, she touched her eyes and hands. This done, her whole air
changed in an instant; and she gave me to understand, by unmistakable gestures,
that in certain other respects she was not exactly a mickonaree. In short, Ideea
was
 
»A sad good Christian at the heart -
A very heathen in the carnal part.«21
 
The explanation terminated in a burst of laughter, in which all three sisters
joined; and, for fear of looking silly, the doctor and myself. As soon as
good-breeding would permit, we took leave.
    The hypocrisy in matters of religion, so apparent in all Polynesian
converts, is most injudiciously nourished in Tahiti, by a zealous and, in many
cases, a coercive superintendence over their spiritual well-being. But it is
only manifested with respect to the common people, their superiors being
exempted.
    On Sunday mornings, when the prospect is rather small for a full house in
the minor churches, a parcel of fellows are actually sent out with ratans into
the highways and byways as whippers-in of the congregation. This is a sober
fact.22
    These worthies constitute a religious police; and you always know them by
the great white diapers they wear. On week days, they are quite as busy as on
Sundays; to the great terror of the inhabitants, going all over the island, and
spying out the wickedness thereof.
    Moreover, they are the collectors of fines - levied generally in grass mats
- for obstinate non-attendance upon divine worship, and other offences amenable
to the ecclesiastical judicature of the missionaries.
    Old Bob called these fellows kannakippers, a corruption, I fancy, of our
word constable.
    He bore them a bitter grudge; and one day, drawing near home, and learning
that two of them were just then making a domiciliary visit at his house, he ran
behind a bush; and as they came forth, two green bread-fruit from a hand unseen
took them each between the shoulders. The sailors in the Calabooza were
witnesses to this, as well as several natives; who, when the intruders were out
of sight, applauded Captain Bob's spirit in no measured terms; the ladies
present vehemently joining in. Indeed, the kannakippers have no greater enemies
than the latter. And no wonder: the impertinent varlets, popping into their
houses at all hours, are forever prying into their peccadilloes.
    Kooloo, who at times was patriotic and pensive, and mourned the evils under
which his country was groaning, frequently inveighed against the statute which
thus authorised an utter stranger to interfere with domestic arrangements. He
himself - quite a ladies' man - had often been annoyed thereby. He considered
the kannakippers a bore.
    Besides their confounded inquisitiveness, they add insult to injury, by
making a point of dining out every day at some hut within the limits of their
jurisdiction. As for the gentleman of the house, his meek endurance of these
things is amazing. But, good easy man, there is nothing for him but to be as
hospitable as possible.
    These gentry are indefatigable. At the dead of night prowling round the
houses, and in the daytime hunting amorous couples in the groves. Yet in one
instance the chase completely baffled them.
    It was thus: -
    Several weeks previous to our arrival at the island, someone's husband and
another person's wife, having taken a mutual fancy for each other, went out for
a walk. The alarm was raised, and with hue and cry they were pursued; but
nothing was seen of them again until the lapse of some ninety days; when we were
called out from the Calabooza to behold a great mob enclosing the lovers, and
escorting them for trial to the village.
    Their appearance was most singular. The girdle excepted, they were quite
naked; their hair was long, burned yellow at the ends, and entangled with burrs;
and their bodies scratched and scarred in all directions. It seems that, acting
upon the love in a cottage principle, they had gone right into the interior; and
throwing up a hut in an uninhabited valley, had lived there, until in an unlucky
stroll they were observed and captured.
    They were subsequently condemned to make one hundred fathoms of Broom Road -
a six months' work, if not more.
    Often, when seated in a house, conversing quietly with its inmates, I have
known them betray the greatest confusion at the sudden announcement of a
kannakipper's being in sight. To be reported by one of these officials as a
Tootai Owree (in general, signifying a bad person or disbeliever in
Christianity) is as much dreaded as the forefinger of Titus Oates was, levelled
at an alleged papist.
    But the islanders take a sly revenge upon them. Upon entering a dwelling,
the kannakippers oftentimes volunteer a pharisaical prayer-meeting: hence, they
go in secret by the name of Boora-Artuas, literally, Pray-to-Gods.
 

                                 Chapter XLVII

                            How They Dress in Tahiti

Except where the employment of making tappa is inflicted as a punishment, the
echoes of the cloth-mallet have long since died away in the listless valleys of
Tahiti. Formerly, the girls spent their mornings like ladies at their tambour
frames; now, they are lounged away in almost utter indolence. True, most of them
make their own garments; but this comprises but a stitch or two; the ladies of
the mission, by the by, being entitled to the credit of teaching them to sew.
    The kihee whihenee, or petticoat, is a mere breadth of white cotton, or
calico, loosely enveloping the person, from the waist to the feet. Fastened
simply, by a single tuck, or by twisting the upper corners together, this
garment frequently becomes disordered; thus affording an opportunity of being
coquettishly adjusted. Over the kihee, they wear a sort of gown, open in front,
very loose, and as negligent as you please. The ladies here never dress for
dinner.
    But what shall be said of those horrid hats! Fancy a bunch of straw, plaited
into the shape of a coal- and stuck, bolt upright, on the crown; with a yard or
two of red ribbon, flying about like kite-strings. Milliners of Paris, what
would ye say to them! Though made by the natives, they are said to have been
first contrived and recommended by the missionaries' wives; a report which I
really trust is nothing but scandal.
    Curious to relate, these things for the head are esteemed exceedingly
becoming. The braiding of the straw is one of the few employments of the higher
classes; all of which but minister to the silliest vanity. The young girls,
however, wholly eschew the hats; leaving those dowdy old souls, their mothers,
to make frights of themselves.
    As for the men, those who aspire to European garments seem to have no
perception of the relation subsisting between the various parts of a gentleman's
costume. To the wearer of a coat, for instance, pantaloons are by no means
indispensable; and a bell-crowned hat and a girdle are full dress. The young
sailor, for whom Kooloo deserted me, presented him with a shaggy old pea-jacket;
and, with this buttoned up to his chin, under a tropical sun, he promenaded the
Broom Road, quite elated. Doctor Long Ghost, who saw him thus, ran away with the
idea that he was under medical treatment at the time - in the act of taking,
what the quacks call, a sweat.
    A bachelor friend of Captain Bob rejoiced in the possession of a full
European suit; in which he often stormed the ladies' hearts. Having a military
leaning, he ornamented the coat with a great scarlet patch on the breast; and
mounted it also, here and there, with several regimental buttons, slyly cut from
the uniform of a parcel of drunken marines, sent ashore on a holyday from a
man-of-war. But, in spite of the ornaments, the dress was not exactly the thing.
From the tightness of the cloth across the shoulders, his elbows projected from
his sides, like an ungainly rider's; and his ponderous legs were jammed so hard
into his slim nether garments, that the threads of every seam showed; and at
every step you looked for a catastrophe.
    In general, there seems to be no settled style of dressing among the males:
they wear anything they can get; in some cases, awkwardly modifying the fashions
of their fathers so as to accord with their own altered views of what is
becoming.
    But ridiculous as many of them now appear in foreign habiliments, the
Tahitians presented a far different appearance in the original national costume;
which was graceful in the extreme, modest to all but the prudish, and peculiarly
adapted to the climate. But the short kilts of dyed tappa, the tasselled maroes,
and other articles formerly worn, are, at the present day, prohibited by law as
indecorous. For what reason necklaces and garlands of flowers, among the women,
are also forbidden, I never could learn; but it is said that they were
associated, in some way, with a forgotten heathen observance.
    Many pleasant and seemingly innocent sports and pastimes are likewise
interdicted. In old times, there were several athletic games practised, such as
wrestling, foot-racing, throwing the javelin, and archery. In all these they
greatly excelled; and, for some, splendid festivals were instituted. Among their
everyday amusements were dancing, tossing the football, kite-flying,
flute-playing, and singing traditional ballads - now, all punishable offences;
though most of them have been so long in disuse that they are nearly forgotten.
    In the same way, the Opio, or festive harvest-home of the bread-fruit, has
been suppressed; though, as described to me by Captain Bob, it seemed wholly
free from any immoral tendency. Against tattooing, of any kind, there is a
severe law.
    That this abolition of their national amusements and customs was not
willingly acquiesced in, is shown in the frequent violation of many of the
statutes inhibiting them; and, especially, in the frequency with which their
hevars, or dances, are practised in secret.
    Doubtless, in thus denationalising the Tahitians, as it were, the
missionaries were prompted by a sincere desire for good; but the effect has been
lamentable. Supplied with no amusements in place of those forbidden, the
Tahitians, who require more recreation than other people, have sunk into a
listlessness, or indulge in sensualities, a hundred times more pernicious than
all the games ever celebrated in the Temple of Tanee.
 

                                 Chapter XLVIII

                                Tahiti as It Is

As, in the last few chapters, several matters connected with the general
condition of the natives have been incidentally touched upon, it may be well not
to leave so important a subject in a state calculated to convey erroneous
impressions. Let us bestow upon it, therefore, something more than a mere
cursory glance.
    But, in the first place, let it be distinctly understood, that in all I have
to say upon this subject, both here and elsewhere, I mean no harm to the
missionaries, nor their cause: I merely desire to set forth things as they
actually exist.
    Of the results which have flowed from the intercourse of foreigners with the
Polynesians, including the attempts to civilise and Christianise them by the
missionaries, Tahiti, on many accounts, is obviously the fairest practical
example. Indeed, it may now be asserted that the experiment of Christianising
the Tahitians, and improving their social condition by the introduction of
foreign customs, has been fully tried. The present generation have grown up
under the auspices of their religious instructors. And although it may be urged
that the labours of the latter have at times been more or less obstructed by
unprincipled foreigners, still this in no wise renders Tahiti any the less a
fair illustration; for, with obstacles like these, the missionaries in Polynesia
must always, and everywhere struggle.
    Nearly sixty years have elapsed since the Tahitian mission was started; and
during this period it has received the unceasing prayers and contributions of
its friends abroad. Nor has any enterprise of the kind called forth more
devotion on the part of those directly employed in it.
    It matters not, that the earlier labourers in the work, although strictly
conscientious, were, as a class, ignorant, and, in many cases, deplorably
bigoted: such traits have, in some degree, characterised the pioneers of all
faiths. And although, in zeal and disinterestedness, the missionaries now on the
island are, perhaps, inferior to their predecessors, they have, nevertheless, in
their own way at least, laboured hard to make a Christian people of their
charge.
    Let us now glance at the most obvious changes wrought in their condition.
    The entire system of idolatry has been done away, together with several
barbarous practices engrafted thereon. But this result is not so much to be
ascribed to the missionaries as to the civilising effects of a long and constant
intercourse with whites of all nations; to whom, for many years, Tahiti has been
one of the principal places of resort in the South Seas. At the Sandwich
Islands, the potent institution of the Taboo, together with the entire paganism
of the land, was utterly abolished by a voluntary act of the natives, some time
previous to the arrival of the first missionaries among them.
    The next most striking change in the Tahitians is this. From the permanent
residence among them of influential and respectable foreigners, as well as from
the frequent visits of ships of war, recognising the nationality of the island,
its inhabitants are no longer deemed fit subjects for the atrocities practised
upon mere savages; and hence, secure from retaliation, vessels of all kinds now
enter their harbours with perfect safety.
    But let us consider what results are directly ascribable to the missionaries
alone.
    In all cases, they have striven hard to mitigate the evils resulting from
the commerce with the whites in general. Such attempts, however, have been
rather injudicious, and often ineffectual: in truth, a barrier almost
insurmountable is presented in the dispositions of the people themselves. Still,
in this respect, the morality of the islanders is, upon the whole, improved by
the presence of the missionaries.
    But the greatest achievement of the latter, and one which in itself is most
hopeful and gratifying, is that they have translated the entire Bible into the
language of the island; and I have myself known several who were able to read it
with facility. They have also established churches, and schools for both
children and adults; the latter, I regret to say, are now much neglected; which
must be ascribed, in a great measure, to the disorders growing out of the
proceedings of the French.
    It were unnecessary here to enter diffusely into matters connected with the
internal government of the Tahitian churches and schools. Nor, upon this head,
is my information copious enough to warrant me in presenting details. But we do
not need them. We are merely considering general results, as made apparent in
the moral and religious condition of the island at large.
    Upon a subject like this, however, it would be altogether too assuming for a
single individual to decide; and so, in place of my own random observations,
which may be found elsewhere, I will here present those of several known
authors, made under various circumstances, at different periods, and down to a
comparatively late date. A few very brief extracts will enable the reader to
mark for himself what progressive improvement, if any, has taken place.
    Nor must it be overlooked that, of these authorities, the two first in order
are largely quoted by the Right Reverend M. Russell, in a work composed for the
express purpose of imparting information on the subject of Christian missions in
Polynesia. And he frankly acknowledges, moreover, that they are such as cannot
fail to have great weight with the public.23
    After alluding to the manifold evils entailed upon the natives by
foreigners, and their singularly inert condition; and after somewhat too
severely denouncing the undeniable errors of the mission, Kotzebue, the Russian
navigator, says, »A religion like this, which forbids every innocent pleasure,
and cramps or annihilates every mental power, is a libel on the divine founder
of Christianity. It is true that the religion of the missionaries has, with a
great deal of evil, effected some good. It has restrained the vices of theft and
incontinence; but it has given birth to ignorance, hypocrisy, and a hatred of
all other modes of faith, which was once foreign to the open and benevolent
character of the Tahitian.«24
    Captain Beechey says, that while at Tahiti he saw scenes »which must have
convinced the greatest sceptic of the thoroughly immoral condition of the
people, and which would force him to conclude, as Turnbull25 did many years
previous, that their intercourse with the Europeans had tended to debase, rather
than exalt their condition.«26
    About the year 1834, Daniel Wheeler, an honest-hearted Quaker, prompted by
motives of the purest philanthropy, visited, in a vessel of his own, most of the
missionary settlements in the South Seas. He remained some time at Tahiti;
receiving the hospitalities of the missionaries there, and, from time to time,
exhorting the natives.
    After bewailing their social condition, he frankly says of their religious
state, »Certainly, appearances are unpromising; and however unwilling to adopt
such a conclusion, there is reason to apprehend that Christian principle is a
great rarity.«27
    Such, then, is the testimony of good and unbiased men, who have been upon
the spot; but how comes it to differ so widely from impressions of others at
home? Simply thus: instead of estimating the result of missionary labours by the
number of heathens who have actually been made to understand and practise (in
some measure, at least) the precepts of Christianity, this result has been
unwarrantably inferred from the number of those who, without any understanding
of these things, have in any way been induced to abandon idolatry and conform to
certain outward observances.
    By authority of some kind or other, exerted upon the natives through their
chiefs, and prompted by the hope of some worldly benefit to the latter, and not
by appeals to reason, have conversions in Polynesia been in most cases brought
about.
    Even in one or two instances - so often held up as wonderful examples of
divine power - where the natives have impulsively burned their idols, and rushed
to the waters of baptism, the very suddenness of the change has but indicated
its unsoundness. Williams, the martyr of Erromanga, relates an instance where
the inhabitants of an island professing Christianity voluntarily assembled, and
solemnly revived all their heathen customs.
    All the world over, facts are more eloquent than words; and the following
will show in what estimation the missionaries themselves hold the present state
of Christianity and morals among the converted Polynesians.
    On the island of Imeeo (attached to the Tahitian mission) is a seminary
under the charge of the Rev. Mr. Simpson and wife, for the education of the
children of the missionaries, exclusively. Sent home - in many cases, at a very
early age - to finish their education, the pupils here are taught nothing but
the rudiments of knowledge; nothing more than may be learned in the native
schools. Notwithstanding this, the two races are kept as far as possible from
associating; the avowed reason being, to preserve the young whites from moral
contamination. The better to ensure this end, every effort is made to prevent
them from acquiring the native language.
    They went even further at the Sandwich Islands; where, a few years ago, a
playground for the children of the missionaries was enclosed with a fence many
feet high, the more effectually to exclude the wicked little Hawaiians.
    And yet, strange as it may seem, the depravity among the Polynesians, which
renders precautions like these necessary, was in a measure unknown before their
intercourse with the whites. The excellent Captain Wilson, who took the first
missionaries out to Tahiti, affirms that the people of that island had, in many
things, »more refined ideas of decency than ourselves.«28 Vancouver, also, has
some noteworthy ideas on this subject, respecting the Sandwich Islanders.29
    That the immorality alluded to is continually increasing is plainly shown in
the numerous, severe, and perpetually violated laws against licentiousness of
all kinds in both groups of islands.
    It is hardly to be expected, that the missionaries would send home accounts
of this state of things. Hence, Captain Beechey, in alluding to the Polynesian
Researches of Ellis, says, that the author has impressed his readers with a far
more elevated idea of the moral condition of the Tahitians, and the degree of
civilisation to which they have attained, than they deserve; or, at least, than
the facts which came under his observation authorised. He then goes on to say,
that in his intercourse with the islanders, »they had no fear of him, and
consequently acted from the impulse of their natural feelings; so that he was
the better enabled to obtain a correct knowledge of their real disposition and
habits.«30
    From my own familiar intercourse with the natives, this last reflection
still more forcibly applies to myself.
 

                                  Chapter XLIX

                             Same Subject Continued

We have glanced at their moral and religious condition; let us see how it is
with them socially, and in other respects.
    It has been said that the only way to civilise a people is to form in them
habits of industry. Judged by this principle, the Tahitians are less civilised
now than formerly. True, their constitutional indolence is excessive; but
surely, if the spirit of Christianity is among them, so unchristian a vice ought
to be, at least, partially remedied. But the reverse is the fact. Instead of
acquiring new occupations, old ones have been discontinued.
    As previously remarked, the manufacture of tappa is nearly obsolete in many
parts of the island. So, too, with that of the native tools and domestic
utensils; very few of which are now fabricated, since the superiority of
European wares has been made so evident.
    This, however, would be all very well, were the natives to apply themselves
to such occupations as would enable them to supply the few articles they need.
But they are far from doing so; and the majority being unable to obtain European
substitutes for many things before made by themselves, the inevitable
consequence is seen in the present wretched and destitute mode of life among the
common people. To me, so recently from a primitive valley of the Marquesas, the
aspect of most of the dwellings of the poorer Tahitians, and their general
habits, seemed anything but tidy; nor could I avoid a comparison, immeasurably
to the disadvantage of these partially civilised islanders.
    In Tahiti the people have nothing to do; and idleness, everywhere, is the
parent of vice. »There is scarcely anything,« says the good old Quaker Wheeler,
»so striking, or pitiable, as their aimless, nerveless mode of spending life.«
    Attempts have repeatedly been made to rouse them from their sluggishness;
but in vain. Several years ago, the cultivation of cotton was introduced; and,
with their usual love of novelty, they went to work with great alacrity; but the
interest excited quickly subsided, and now not a pound of the article is raised.
    About the same time, machinery for weaving was sent out from London; and a
factory was started at Afrehitoo, in Imeeo. The whiz of the wheels and spindles
brought in volunteers from all quarters, who deemed it a privilege to be
admitted to work: yet, in six months, not a boy could be hired; and the
machinery was knocked down, and packed off to Sydney.
    It was the same way with the cultivation of the sugar-cane, a plant
indigenous to the island; peculiarly fitted to the soil and climate, and of so
excellent a quality that Bligh took slips of it to the West Indies. All the
plantations went on famously for a while; the natives swarming in the fields
like ants, and making a prodigious stir. What few plantations now remain are
owned and worked by whites, who would rather pay a drunken sailor eighteen or
twenty Spanish dollars a month, than hire a sober native for his fish and taro.
    It is well worthy remark here, that every evidence of civilisation among the
South Sea Islands directly pertains to foreigners; though the fact of such
evidence existing at all is usually urged as a proof of the elevated condition
of the natives. Thus, at Honolulu, the capital of the Sandwich Islands, there
are fine dwelling-houses, several hotels, and barber-shops, ay, even
billiard-rooms; but all these are owned and used, be it observed, by whites.
There are tailors, and blacksmiths, and carpenters also; but not one of them is
a native.
    The fact is, that the mechanical and agricultural employments of civilised
life require a kind of exertion altogether too steady and sustained to agree
with an indolent people like the Polynesians. Calculated for a state of nature,
in a climate providentially adapted to it, they are unfit for any other. Nay, as
a race, they cannot otherwise long exist.
    The following statement speaks for itself.
    About the year 1777, Captain Cook estimated the population of Tahiti at
about two hundred thousand.31 By a regular census, taken some four or five years
ago, it was found to be only nine thousand.32 This amazing decrease not only
shows the malignancy of the evils necessary to produce it, but from the fact the
inference unavoidably follows that all the wars, child murders, and other
depopulating causes, alleged to have existed in former times, were nothing in
comparison to them.
    These evils, of course, are solely of foreign origin. To say nothing of the
effects of drunkenness, the occasional inroads of the small-pox, and other
things which might be mentioned, it is sufficient to allude to a virulent
disease which now taints the blood of at least two-thirds of the common people
of the island; and, in some form or other, is transmitted from father to son.
    Their first horror and consternation at the earlier ravages of this scourge
were pitiable in the extreme. The very name bestowed upon it is a combination of
all that is horrid and unmentionable to a civilised being.
    Distracted with their sufferings, they brought forth their sick before the
missionaries, when they were preaching, and cried out, »Lies, lies! you tell us
of salvation; and, behold, we are dying. We want no other salvation than to live
in this world. Where are there any saved through your speech? Pomaree is dead;
and we are all dying with your cursed diseases. When will you give over?«
    At present, the virulence of the disorder in individual cases has somewhat
abated; but the poison is only the more widely diffused.
    »How dreadful and appalling,« breaks forth old Wheeler, »the consideration
that the intercourse of distant nations should have entailed upon these poor,
untutored islanders a curse unprecedented and unheard of in the annals of
history.«
    In view of these things, who can remain blind to the fact, that so far as
mere temporal felicity is concerned, the Tahitians are far worse off now than
formerly; and although their circumstances, upon the whole, are bettered by the
presence of the missionaries, the benefits conferred by the latter become
utterly insignificant when confronted with the vast preponderance of evil
brought about by other means.
    Their prospects are hopeless. Nor can the most devoted efforts now exempt
them from furnishing a marked illustration of a principle which history has
always exemplified. Years ago brought to a stand, where all that is corrupt in
barbarism and civilisation unite, to the exclusion of the virtues of either
state; like other uncivilised beings brought into contact with Europeans, they
must here remain stationary until utterly extinct.
    The islanders themselves are mournfully watching their doom. Several years
since, Pomaree II. said to Tyreman and Bennet, the deputies of the London
Missionary Society, »You have come to see me at a very bad time. Your ancestors
came in the time of men, when Tahiti was inhabited: you are come to behold just
the remnant of my people.«
    Of like import was the prediction of Teearmoar, the high-priest of Paree;
who lived over a hundred years ago. I have frequently heard it chanted, in a
low, sad tone, by aged Tahitians: -
 
»A harree ta fow,
A toro ta farraro,
A now ta tararta.«
 
The palm-tree shall grow,
The coral shall spread,
But man shall cease.
 

                                   Chapter L

                        Something Happens to Long Ghost

We will now return to the narrative.
    The day before the Julia sailed, Doctor Johnson paid his last call. He was
not quite so bland as usual. All he wanted was the men's names to a paper,
certifying to their having received from him sundry medicaments, therein
mentioned. This voucher, endorsed by Captain Guy, secured his pay. But he would
not have obtained for it the sailors' signs manual, had either the doctor or
myself been present at the time.
    Now, my long friend wasted no love upon Johnson; but, for reasons of his
own, hated him heartily: all the same thing in one sense; for either passion
argues an object deserving thereof. And so, to be hated cordially, is only a
left-handed compliment, which shows how foolish it is to be bitter against
anyone.
    For my own part, I merely felt a cool - purely incidental - and passive
contempt for Johnson, as a selfish, mercenary apothecary; and hence I often
remonstrated with Long Ghost when he flew out against him, and heaped upon him
all manner of scurrilous epithets. In his professional brother's presence,
however, he never acted thus; maintaining an amiable exterior, to help along the
jokes which were played.
    I am now going to tell another story in which my long friend figures with
the physician: I do not wish to bring one or the other of them too often upon
the stage; but, as the thing actually happened, I must relate it.
    A few days after Johnson presented his bill, as above mentioned, the doctor
expressed to me his regret that, although he (Johnson) had apparently been
played off for our entertainment, yet, nevertheless, he had made money out of
the transaction. And I wonder, added the doctor, if, that now he cannot expect
to receive any further pay, he could be induced to call again.
    By a curious coincidence, not five minutes after making this observation,
Doctor Long Ghost himself fell down in an unaccountable fit; and without asking
anybody's leave, Captain Bob, who was by, at once dispatched a boy, hot-foot,
for Johnson.
    Meanwhile, we carried him into the Calabooza; and the natives, who assembled
in numbers, suggested various modes of treatment. One rather energetic
practitioner was for holding the patient by the shoulders, while somebody tugged
at his feet. This resuscitatory operation was called the Potata; but thinking
our long comrade sufficiently lengthy without additional stretching, we declined
potataing him.
    Presently the physician was spied coming along the Broom Road at a great
rate, and so absorbed in the business of locomotion, that he heeded not the
imprudence of being in a hurry in a tropical climate. He was in a profuse
perspiration; which must have been owing to the warmth of his feelings,
notwithstanding we had supposed him a man of no heart. But his benevolent haste
upon this occasion was subsequently accounted for: it merely arose from
professional curiosity, to behold a case most unusual in his Polynesian
practice. Now, under certain circumstances, sailors, generally so frolicsome,
are exceedingly particular in having everything conducted with the strictest
propriety. Accordingly, they deputed me, as his intimate friend, to sit at Long
Ghost's head, so as to be ready to officiate as spokesman; and answer all
questions propounded, the rest to keep silent.
    »What's the matter?« exclaimed Johnson, out of breath, and bursting into the
Calabooza: »how did it happen? - speak, quick!« and he looked at Long Ghost.
    I told him how the fit came on.
    »Singular« - he observed - »very: good enough pulse«; and he let go of it,
and placed his hand upon the heart.
    »But what's all that frothing at the mouth?« he continued; »and bless me!
look at the abdomen!«
    The region thus denominated exhibited the most unaccountable symptoms. A
low, rumbling sound was heard; and a sort of undulation was discernible beneath
the thin cotton frock.
    »Colic, sir?« suggested a bystander.
    »Colic be hanged!« shouted the physician; »who ever heard of anybody in a
trance of the colic?«
    During this, the patient lay upon his back, stark and straight, giving no
signs of life except those above mentioned.
    »I 'll bleed him!« cried Johnson at last - »run for a calabash, one of you!«
    »Life ho!« here sung out Navy Bob, as if he had just spied a sail.
    »What under the sun 's the matter with him!« cried the physician, starting
at the appearance of the mouth, which had jerked to one side, and there remained
fixed.
    »Pr'aps it's St. Witus's hornpipe,« suggested Bob.
    »Hold the calabash!« - and the lancet was out in a moment.
    But before the deed could be done, the face became natural - a sigh was
heaved - the eyelids quivered, opened, closed; and Long Ghost, twitching all
over, rolled on his side, and breathed audibly. By degrees, he became
sufficiently recovered to speak.
    After trying to get something coherent out of him, Johnson withdrew;
evidently disappointed in the scientific interest of the case. Soon after his
departure, the doctor sat up; and upon being asked what upon earth ailed him,
shook his head mysteriously. He then deplored the hardship of being an invalid
in such a place, where there was not the slightest provision for his comfort.
This awakened the compassion of our good old keeper, who offered to send him to
a place where he would be better cared for. Long Ghost acquiesced; and being at
once mounted upon the shoulders of four of Captain Bob's men, was marched off in
state, like the Grand Lama of Thibet.
    Now, I do not pretend to account for his remarkable swoon; but his reason
for suffering himself to be thus removed from the Calabooza was strongly
suspected to be nothing more than a desire to ensure more regularity in his
dinner-hour; hoping that the benevolent native to whom he was going would set a
good table.
    The next morning we were all envying his fortune; when, of a sudden, he
bolted in upon us, looking decidedly out of humour.
    »Hang it!« he cried, »I 'm worse off than ever; let me have some breakfast!«
We lowered our slender bag of ship-stores from a rafter, and handed him a
biscuit. While this was being munched, he went on and told us his story.
    »After leaving here, they trotted me back into a valley, and left me in a
hut, where an old woman lived by herself. This must be the nurse, thought I; and
so I asked her to kill a pig, and bake it; for I felt my appetite returning. 
Ita! ita! - oee mattee - mattee nuee - (no, no; you too sick). The devil mattee
ye, said I, give me something to eat! But nothing could be had. Night coming on,
I had to stay. Creeping into a corner, I tried to sleep; but it was to no
purpose; the old crone must have had the quinsy, or something else; and she kept
up such a wheezing and choking that at last I sprang up, and groped after her;
but she hobbled away like a goblin; and that was the last of her. As soon as the
sun rose, I made the best of my way back; and here I am.«
    He never left us more, nor ever had a second fit.
 

                                   Chapter LI

                 Wilson Gives Us the Cut - Departure for Imeeo

About three weeks after the Julia's sailing, our condition began to be a little
precarious. We were without any regular supply of food; the arrival of ships was
growing less frequent; and, what was worse yet, all the natives but good old
Captain Bob began to tire of us. Nor was this to be wondered at; we were obliged
to live upon their benevolence, when they had little enough for themselves.
Besides, we were sometimes driven to acts of marauding: such as kidnapping pigs,
and cooking them in the groves; at which their proprietors were by no means
pleased.
    In this state of affairs, we determined to march off to the consul in a
body; and, as he had brought us to these straits, demand an adequate
maintenance.
    On the point of starting, Captain Bob's men raised the most outrageous
cries, and tried to prevent us. Though hitherto we had strolled about wherever
we pleased, this grand conjunction of our whole force, upon one particular
expedition, seemed to alarm them. But we assured them that we were not going to
assault the village; and so, after a good deal of gibberish, they permitted us
to leave.
    We went straight to the Pritchard residence, where the consul dwelt. This
house - to which I have before referred - is quite commodious. It has a wide
verandah, glazed windows, and other appurtenances of a civilised mansion. Upon
the lawn in front are palm-trees standing erect here and there, like sentinels.
The Consular Office, a small building by itself, is enclosed by the same picket
which fences in the lawn.
    We found the office closed; but in the verandah of the dwelling-house was a
lady performing a tonsorial operation on the head of a prim-looking, elderly
European, in a low, white cravat - the most domestic little scene I had
witnessed since leaving home. Bent upon an interview with Wilson, the sailors
now deputed the doctor to step forward as a polite inquirer after his health.
    The pair stared very hard as he advanced; but no ways disconcerted, he
saluted them gravely, and inquired for the consul.
    Upon being informed that he had gone down to the beach, we proceeded in that
direction; and soon met a native, who told us that, apprised of our vicinity,
Wilson was keeping out of the way. We resolved to meet him; and passing through
the village, he suddenly came walking toward us; having apparently made up his
mind that any attempt to elude us would be useless.
    »What do you want of me, you rascals?« he cried - a greeting which provoked
a retort in no measured terms. At this juncture, the natives began to crowd
round, and several foreigners strolled along. Caught in the very act of speaking
to such disreputable acquaintances, Wilson now fidgeted, and moved rapidly
toward his office; the men following. Turning upon them incensed, he bade them
be off - he would have nothing more to say to us; and then, hurriedly addressing
Captain Bob in Tahitian, he hastened on, and never stopped till the postern of
Pritchard's wicket was closed behind him.
    Our good old keeper was now highly excited, bustling about in his huge
petticoats, and conjuring us to return to the Calabooza. After a little debate,
we acquiesced.
    This interview was decisive. Sensible that none of the charges brought
against us would stand, yet unwilling formally to withdraw them, the consul now
wished to get rid of us altogether; but without being suspected of encouraging
our escape. Thus only could we account for his conduct.
    Some of the party, however, with a devotion to principle truly heroic, swore
they would never leave him, happen what might. For my own part, I began to long
for a change; and as there seemed to be no getting away in a ship, I resolved to
hit upon some other expedient. But first, I cast about for a comrade; and of
course the long doctor was chosen. We at once laid our heads together; and for
the present, resolved to disclose nothing to the rest.
    A few days previous, I had fallen in with a couple of Yankee lads, twins,
who, originally deserting their ship at Fanning's Island (an uninhabited spot,
but exceedingly prolific in fruit of all kinds), had, after a long residence
there, roved about among the Society Group. They were last from Imeeo - the
island immediately adjoining - where they had been in the employ of two
foreigners, who had recently started a plantation there. These persons, they
said, had charged them to send over from Papeetee, if they could, two white men
for field-labourers.
    Now, all but the prospect of digging and delving, suited us exactly; but the
opportunity for leaving the island was not to be slighted; and so we held
ourselves in readiness to return with the planters; who, in a day or two, were
expected to visit Papeetee in their boat.
    At the interview which ensued, we were introduced to them as Peter and Paul;
and they agreed to give Peter and Paul fifteen silver dollars a month, promising
something more, should we remain with them permanently. What they wanted was men
who would stay. To elude the natives - many of whom, not exactly understanding
our relations with the consul, might arrest us, were they to see us departing -
the coming midnight was appointed for that purpose.
    When the hour drew nigh, we disclosed our intention to the rest. Some
upbraided us for deserting them; others applauded, and said that, on the first
opportunity, they would follow our example. At last, we bade them farewell. And
there would now be a serene sadness in thinking over the scene - since we never
saw them again - had not all been dashed by M'Gee's picking the doctor's pocket
of a jack-knife, in the very act of embracing him.
    We stole down to the beach, where, under the shadow of a grove, the boat was
waiting. After some delay, we shipped the oars, and pulling outside of the reef,
set the sail; and with a fair wind, glided away for Imeeo.
    It was a pleasant trip. The moon was up - the air, warm - the waves, musical
- and all above was the tropical night, one purple vault hung round with soft,
trembling stars.
    The channel is some five leagues wide. On one hand, you have the three great
peaks of Tahiti lording it over ranges of mountains and valleys; and on the
other, the equally romantic elevations of Imeeo, high above which a lone peak,
called by our companions the Marling-spike, shot up its verdant spire.
    The planters were quite sociable. They had been seafaring men, and this, of
course, was a bond between us. To strengthen it, a flask of wine was produced,
one of several which had been procured in person from the French admiral's
steward; for whom the planters, when on a former visit to Papeetee, had done a
good turn, by introducing the amorous Frenchman to the ladies ashore. Besides
this, they had a calabash filled with wild boar's meat, baked yams, bread-fruit,
and Tombez potatoes. Pipes and tobacco also were produced; and while regaling
ourselves, plenty of stories were told about the neighbouring islands.
    At last we heard the roar of the Imeeo reef; and gliding through a break,
floated over the expanse within, which was smooth as a young girl's brow, and
beached the boat.
 

                                  Chapter LII

                             The Valley of Martair

We went up through groves to an open space, where we heard voices, and a light
was seen glimmering from out a bamboo dwelling. It was the planters' retreat;
and in their absence, several girls were keeping house, assisted by an old
native, who, wrapped up in tappa, lay in the corner, smoking.
    A hasty meal was prepared, and after it we essayed a nap; but, alas! a
plague, little anticipated, prevented. Unknown in Tahiti, the mosquitoes here
fairly eddied round us. But more of them anon.
    We were up betimes, and strolled out to view the country. We were in the
valley of Martair; shut in, on both sides, by lofty hills. Here and there were
steep cliffs, gay with flowering shrubs, or hung with pendulous vines, swinging
blossoms in the air. Of considerable width at the sea, the vale contracts as it
runs inland; terminating, at the distance of several miles, in a range of the
most grotesque elevations, which seem embattled with turrets and towers, grown
over with verdure, and waving with trees. The valley itself is a wilderness of
woodland; with links of streams flashing through, and narrow pathways fairly
tunnelled through masses of foliage.
    All alone, in this wild place, was the abode of the planters; the only one
back from the beach - their sole neighbours, the few fishermen and their
families, dwelling in a small grove of cocoa-nut trees whose roots were washed
by the sea.
    The cleared tract which they occupied comprised some thirty acres, level as
a prairie, part of which was under cultivation; the whole being fenced in by a
stout palisade of trunks and boughs of trees staked firmly in the ground. This
was necessary, as a defence against the wild cattle and hogs over-running the
island.
    Thus far, Tombez potatoes33 were the principal crop raised; a ready sale for
them being obtained among the shipping touching at Papeetee. There was a small
patch of the taro, or Indian turnip, also; another of yams; and, in one corner,
a thrifty growth of the sugar-cane, just ripening.
    On the side of the enclosure next the sea was the house; newly built of
bamboos, in the native style. The furniture consisted of a couple of sea-chests,
an old box, a few cooking utensils, and agricultural tools; together with three
fowling-pieces, hanging from a rafter; and two enormous hammocks, swinging in
opposite corners, and composed of dried bullocks' hides, stretched out with
poles.
    The whole plantation was shut in by a dense forest; and, close by the house,
a dwarfed Aoa, or species of banian-tree, had purposely been left, twisting over
the palisade, in the most grotesque manner, and thus made a pleasant shade. The
branches of this curious tree afforded low perches, upon which the natives
frequently squatted, after the fashion of their race, and smoked and gossiped by
the hour.
    We had a good breakfast of fish - speared by the natives, before sunrise, on
the reef - pudding of Indian turnip, fried bananas, and roasted bread-fruit.
    During the repast, our new friends were quite sociable and communicative. It
seems that, like nearly all uneducated foreigners, residing in Polynesia, they
had, some time previous, deserted from a ship; and, having heard a good deal
about the money to be made by raising supplies for whaling-vessels, they
determined upon embarking in the business. Strolling about, with this intention,
they, at last, came to Martair; and, thinking the soil would suit, set
themselves to work. They began by finding out the owner of the particular spot
coveted, and then making a tayo of him.
    He turned out to be Tonoi, the chief of the fishermen, who, one day, when
exhilarated with brandy, tore his meagre tappa from his loins, and gave me to
know that he was allied by blood with Pomaree herself; and that his mother came
from the illustrious race of pontiffs who, in old times, swayed their bamboo
crosier over all the pagans of Imeeo. A regal and right reverend lineage! But at
the time I speak of, the dusky noble was in decayed circumstances, and therefore
by no means unwilling to alienate a few useless acres. As an equivalent, he
received from the strangers two or three rheumatic old muskets, several red
woollen shirts, and a promise to be provided for in his old age: he was always
to find a home with the planters.
    Desirous of living on the cosy footing of a father-in-law, he frankly
offered his two daughters for wives; but, as such, they were politely declined;
the adventurers, though not averse to courting, being unwilling to entangle
themselves in a matrimonial alliance, however splendid in point of family.
    Tonoi's men, the fishermen of the grove, were a sad set. Secluded, in a
great measure, from the ministrations of the missionaries, they gave themselves
up to all manner of lazy wickedness. Strolling among the trees of a morning, you
came upon them napping on the shady side of a canoe hauled up among the bushes;
lying under a tree smoking; or, more frequently still, gambling with pebbles;
though, a little tobacco excepted, what they gambled for at their outlandish
games, it would be hard to tell. Other idle diversions they had also, in which
they seemed to take great delight. As for fishing, it employed but a small part
of their time. Upon the whole, they were a merry, indigent, godless race.
    Tonoi, the old sinner, leaning against the fallen trunk of a cocoa-nut tree,
invariably squandered his mornings at pebbles; a gray-headed rook of a native
regularly plucking him of every other stick of tobacco obtained from his
friends, the planters. Toward afternoon, he strolled back to their abode; where
he tarried till the next morning, smoking and snoozing, and, at times, prating
about the hapless fortunes of the House of Tonoi. But, like any other easy-going
old dotard, he seemed for the most part perfectly content with cheerful board
and lodging.
    On the whole, the valley of Martair was the quietest place imaginable. Could
the mosquitoes be induced to emigrate, one might spend the month of August there
quite pleasantly. But this was not the case with the luckless Long Ghost and
myself; as will presently be seen.
 

                                  Chapter LIII

                              Farming in Polynesia

The planters were both whole-souled fellows; but, in other respects, as unlike
as possible.
    One was a tall, robust Yankee, born in the backwoods of Maine, sallow, and
with a long face; the other was a short little Cockney, who had first clapped
his eyes on the Monument.
    The voice of Zeke, the Yankee, had a twang like a cracked viol; and Shorty
(as his comrade called him) clipped the aspirate from every word beginning with
one. The latter, though not the tallest man in the world, was a good-looking
young fellow of twenty-five. His cheeks were dyed with the fine Saxon red,
burned deeper from his roving life; his blue eye opened well, and a profusion of
fair hair curled over a well-shaped head.
    But Zeke was no beauty. A strong, ugly man, he was well adapted for manual
labour; and that was all. His eyes were made to see with, and not for ogling.
Compared with the Cockney, he was grave, and rather taciturn; but there was a
deal of good old humour bottled up in him, after all. For the rest, he was
frank, good-hearted, shrewd, and resolute; and, like Shorty, quite illiterate.
    Though a curious conjunction, the pair got along together famously. But as
no two men were ever united in any enterprise, without one getting the upper
hand of the other; so, in most matters, Zeke had his own way. Shorty, too, had
imbibed from him a spirit of invincible industry; and Heaven only knows what
ideas of making a fortune on their plantation.
    We were much concerned at this; for the prospect of their setting us in
their own persons an example of downright hard labour, was anything but
agreeable. But it was now too late to repent what we had done.
    The first day - thank fortune - we did nothing. Having treated us as guests
thus far, they no doubt thought it would be wanting in delicacy to set us to
work before the compliments of the occasion were well over. The next morning,
however, they both looked business-like, and we were put to.
    »Wall, b'ys« (boys), said Zeke, knocking the ashes out of his pipe, after
breakfast, »we must get at it. Shorty, give Peter there (the doctor), the big
hoe, and Paul the other, and let's be off.« Going to a corner, Shorty brought
forth three of the implements; and distributing them impartially, trudged on
after his partner, who took the lead with something in the shape of an axe.
    For a moment left alone in the house, we looked at each other, quaking. We
were each equipped with a great, clumsy piece of a tree, armed at one end with a
heavy, flat mass of iron.
    The cutlery part - especially adapted to a primitive soil - was an
importation from Sydney; the handles must have been of domestic manufacture.
Hoes - so called - we had heard of, and seen; but they were harmless, in
comparison with the tools in our hands.
    »What's to be done with them?« inquired I of Peter.
    »Lift them up and down,« he replied; »or put them in motion some way or
other. Paul, we are in a scrape - but, hark! they are calling«; and shouldering
the hoes, off we marched.
    Our destination was the farther side of the plantation, where the ground,
cleared in part, had not yet been broken up; but they were now setting about it.
Upon halting, I asked why a plough was not used; some of the young wild steers
might be caught, and trained for draught.
    Zeke replied that, for such a purpose, no cattle, to his knowledge, had ever
been used in any part of Polynesia. As for the soil of Martair, so obstructed
was it with roots, crossing and recrossing each other at all points, that no
kind of a plough could be used to advantage. The heavy Sydney hoes were the only
thing for such land.
    Our work was now before us; but, previous to commencing operations, I
endeavoured to engage the Yankee in a little further friendly chat, concerning
the nature of virgin soils in general, and that of the valley of Martair in
particular. So masterly a stratagem made Long Ghost brighten up; and he stood by
ready to join in. But what our friend had to say about agriculture, all referred
to the particular part of his plantation upon which we stood; and having
communicated enough on this head to enable us to set to work to the best
advantage, he fell to himself; and Shorty, who had been looking on, followed
suit.
    The surface, here and there, presented closely amputated branches of what
had once been a dense thicket. They seemed purposely left projecting, as if to
furnish a handle whereby to drag out the roots beneath. After loosening the hard
soil, by dint of much thumping and pounding, the Yankee jerked one of the roots
this way and that, twisting it round and round, and then tugging at it
horizontally.
    »Come! lend us a hand!« he cried, at last; and running up, we all four
strained away in concert. The tough obstacle convulsed the surface with throes
and spasms; but stuck fast, notwithstanding.
    »Dumn it!« cried Zeke, »we'll have to get a rope; run to the house, Shorty,
and fetch one.«
    The end of this being attached, we took plenty of room, and strained away
once more.
    »Give us a song, Shorty,« said the doctor, who was rather sociable, on a
short acquaintance. Where the work to be accomplished is any way difficult, this
mode of enlivening toil is quite efficacious among sailors. So, willing to make
everything as cheerful as possible, Shorty struck up, »Were you ever in
Dumbarton?« a marvellously inspiring, but somewhat indecorous windlass chorus.
    At last, the Yankee cast a damper on his enthusiasm by exclaiming, in a pet,
»Oh! dumn your singing! keep quiet, and pull away!« This we now did, in the most
uninteresting silence; until, with a jerk that made every elbow hum, the root
dragged out; and, most inelegantly, we all landed upon the ground. The doctor,
quite exhausted, stayed there; and, deluded into believing that, after so
doughty a performance, we would be allowed a cessation of toil, took off his
hat, and fanned himself.
    »Rayther a hard customer that, Peter,« observed the Yankee, going up to him:
»but it's no use for any on 'em to hang back; for I 'm dumned if they haint got
to come out, whether or no. Hurrah! let's get at it again!«
    »Mercy!« ejaculated the doctor, rising slowly, and turning round. »He'll be
the death of us!«
    Falling to with our hoes again, we worked singly, or together, as occasion
required, until Nooning Time came.
    The period, so called by the planters, embraced about three hours in the
middle of the day; during which it was so excessively hot, in this still,
brooding valley, shut out from the Trades, and only open toward the leeward side
of the island, that labour in the sun was out of the question. To use a
hyperbolical phrase of Shorty's, »It was hot enough to melt the nose h'off a
brass monkey.«
    Returning to the house, Shorty, assisted by old Tonoi, cooked the dinner;
and, after we had all partaken thereof, both the Cockney and Zeke threw
themselves into one of the hammocks, inviting us to occupy the other. Thinking
it no bad idea, we did so; and, after skirmishing with the mosquitoes, managed
to fall into a doze. As for the planters, more accustomed to Nooning, they, at
once, presented a nuptial back to each other; and were soon snoring away at a
great rate. Tonoi snoozed on a mat in one corner.
    At last, we were roused by Zeke's crying out, »Up! b'ys; up! rise, and
shine; time to get at it again!«
    Looking at the doctor, I perceived very plainly that he had decided upon
something.
    In a languid voice, he told Zeke that he was not very well: indeed, that he
had not been himself for some time past; though a little rest, no doubt, would
recruit him. The Yankee, thinking from this that our valuable services might be
lost to him altogether, were he too hard upon us at the outset, at once begged
us both to consult our own feelings, and not exert ourselves for the present,
unless we felt like it. Then - without recognising the fact that my comrade
claimed to be actually unwell - he simply suggested, that, since he was so
tired, he had better, perhaps, swing in his hammock for the rest of the day. If
agreeable, however, I myself might accompany him upon a little bullock hunting
excursion, in the neighbouring hills. In this proposition, I gladly acquiesced;
though Peter, who was a great sportsman, put on a long face. The muskets and
ammunition were forthwith got down from overhead; and, everything being then
ready, Zeke cried out, »Tonoi! come; aramai! (get up) we want you for pilot.
Shorty, my lad, look arter things, you know; and if you likes, why, there's them
roots in the field yonder.«
    Having thus arranged his domestic affairs to please himself, though little
to Shorty's satisfaction I thought, he slung his powder-horn over his shoulder,
and we started. Tonoi was at once sent on in advance; and leaving the
plantation, he struck into a path which led toward the mountains.
    After hurrying through the thickets for some time, we came out into the
sunlight, in an open glade, just under the shadow of the hills. Here, Zeke
pointed aloft to a beetling crag far distant; where a bullock, with horns thrown
back, stood like a statue.
 

                                  Chapter LIV

                  Some Account of the Wild Cattle in Polynesia

Before we proceed further, a word or two concerning these wild cattle, and the
way they came on the island.
    Some fifty years ago, Vancouver left several bullocks, sheep, and goats, at
various places in the Society Group. He instructed the natives to look after the
animals carefully; and by no means to slaughter any, until a considerable stock
had accumulated.
    The sheep must have died off; for I never saw a solitary fleece in any part
of Polynesia. The pair left were an ill-assorted couple, perhaps; separated in
disgust, and died without issue.
    As for the goats, occasionally you come across a black, misanthropic ram,
nibbling the scant herbage of some height inaccessible to man, in preference to
the sweet grasses of the valley below. The goats are not very numerous.
    The bullocks, coming of a prolific ancestry, are a hearty set, racing over
the island of Imeeo in considerable numbers, though in Tahiti but few of them
are seen. At the former place, the original pair must have scampered off to the
interior, since it is now so thickly populated by their wild progeny. The herds
are the private property of Queen Pomaree; from whom the planters had obtained
permission to shoot for their own use as many as they pleased.
    The natives stand in great awe of these cattle; and, for this reason, are
excessively timid in crossing the island, preferring rather to sail round to an
opposite village in their canoes.
    Tonoi abounded in bullock stories; most of which, by the by, had a spice of
the marvellous. The following is one of these.
    Once upon a time, he was going over the hills with a brother - now no more -
when a great bull came bellowing out of a wood, and both took to their heels.
The old chief sprang into a tree; his companion, flying in an opposite
direction, was pursued, and, in the very act of reaching up to a bough, trampled
underfoot. The unhappy man was then gored - tossed in the air - and finally run
away with on the bull's horns. More dead than alive, Tonoi waited till all was
over, and then made the best of his way home. The neighbours, armed with two or
three muskets, at once started to recover, if possible, his unfortunate
brother's remains. At nightfall, they returned without discovering any trace of
him; but the next morning, Tonoi himself caught a glimpse of a bullock, marching
across the mountain's brow, with a long dark object borne aloft on his horns.
    Having referred to Vancouver's attempts to colonise the islands with useful
quadrupeds, we may as well say something concerning his success upon Hawaii, one
of the largest islands in the whole Polynesian Archipelago; and which gives the
native name to the well-known cluster named by Cook in honour of Lord Sandwich.
    Hawaii is some one hundred leagues in circuit, and covers an area of over
four thousand square miles. Until within a few years past, its interior was
almost unknown, even to the inhabitants themselves, who, for ages, had been
prevented from wandering thither by certain strange superstitions. Pelee, the
terrific goddess of the volcanoes Mouna Roa and Mouna Kea,34 was supposed to
guard all the passes to the extensive valleys lying round their base. There are
legends of her having chased with streams of fire several impious adventurers.
Near Hilo, a jet-black cliff is shown, with the vitreous torrent apparently
pouring over into the sea; just as it cooled after one of these supernatural
eruptions.
    To these inland valleys, and the adjoining hillsides, which are clothed in
the most luxuriant vegetation, Vancouver's bullocks soon wandered; and,
unmolested for a long period, multiplied in vast herds.
    Some twelve or fifteen years ago, the natives, losing sight of their
superstitions, and learning the value of the hides in commerce, began hunting
the creatures that wore them; but being very fearful and awkward in a business
so novel, their success was small; and it was not until the arrival of a party
of Spanish hunters, men regularly trained to their calling upon the plains of
California, that the work of slaughter was fairly begun.
    The Spaniards were showy fellows, tricked out in gay blankets, leggings
worked with porcupine quills, and jingling spurs. Mounted upon trained Indian
mares, these heroes pursued their prey up to the very base of the burning
mountains; making the profoundest solitudes ring with their shouts, and flinging
the lasso under the very nose of the vixen goddess Pelee. Hilo, a village upon
the coast, was their place of resort; and thither flocked roving whites from all
the islands of the group. As pupils of the dashing Spaniards, many of these
dissipated fellows, quaffing too freely of the stirrup-cup, and riding headlong
after the herds, when they reeled in the saddle, were unhorsed and killed.
    This was about the year 1835, when the present king, Tammahammaha III., was
a lad. With royal impudence, laying claim to the sole property of the cattle, he
was delighted with the idea of receiving one of every two silver dollars paid
down for their hides; so, with no thought for the future, the work of
extermination went madly on. In three years' time, eighteen thousand bullocks
were slain, almost entirely upon the single island of Hawaii.
    The herds being thus nearly destroyed, the sagacious young prince imposed a
rigorous taboo upon the few surviving cattle, which was to remain in force for
ten years. During this period - not yet expired - all hunting is forbidden,
unless directly authorised by the king.
    The massacre of the cattle extended to the hapless goats. In one year, three
thousand of their skins were sold to the merchants of Honolulu, fetching a
quartilia, or a shilling sterling, apiece.
    After this digression, it is time to run on after Tonoi and the Yankee.
 

                                   Chapter LV

                           A Hunting Ramble with Zeke

At the foot of the mountain, a steep path went up among rocks and clefts mantled
with verdure. Here and there were green gulfs, down which it made one giddy to
peep. At last we gained an overhanging, wooded shelf of land which crowned the
heights; and along this, the path, well shaded, ran like a gallery.
    In every direction the scenery was enchanting. There was a low, rustling
breeze; and below, in the vale, the leaves were quivering; the sea lay, blue and
serene, in the distance; and inland the surface swelled up, ridge after ridge,
and peak upon peak, all bathed in the Indian haze of the tropics, and dreamy to
look upon. Still valleys, leagues away, reposed in the deep shadows of the
mountains; and here and there, waterfalls lifted up their voices in the
solitude. High above all, and central, the Marling-spike lifted its finger. Upon
the hillsides, small groups of bullocks were seen; some quietly browsing; others
slowly winding into the valleys.
    We went on, directing our course for a slope of the hills, a mile or two
farther, where the nearest bullocks were seen.
    We were cautious in keeping to the windward of them; their sense of smell
and hearing being, like those of all wild creatures, exceedingly acute.
    As there was no knowing that we might not surprise some other kind of game
in the coverts through which we were passing, we crept along warily.
    The wild hogs of the island are uncommonly fierce; and as they often attack
the natives, I could not help following Tonoi's example of once in a while
peeping in under the foliage. Frequent retrospective glances also served to
assure me that our retreat was not cut off.
    As we rounded a clump of bushes, a noise behind them, like the crackling of
dry branches, broke the stillness. In an instant, Tonoi's hand was on a bough,
ready for a spring, and Zeke's finger touched the trigger of his piece. Again
the stillness was broken; and thinking it high time to get ready, I brought my
musket to my shoulder.
    »Look sharp!« cried the Yankee; and dropping on one knee, he brushed the
twigs aside. Presently, off went his piece; and with a wild snort, a black,
bristling boar - his cherry red lip curled up by two glittering tusks - dashed,
unharmed, across the path, and crashed through the opposite thicket. I saluted
him with a charge as he disappeared; but not the slightest notice was taken of
the civility.
    By this time, Tonoi, the illustrious descendant of the Bishops of Imeeo, was
twenty feet from the ground. »Aramai! come down, you old fool!« cried the
Yankee; »the pesky critter 's on t'other side of the island afore this.«
    »I rather guess,« he continued, as we began reloading, »that we 've spoiled
sport by firing at that ere 'tarnal hog. Them bullocks heard the racket, and is
flinging their tails about now on the keen jump. Quick, Paul, and let's climb
that rock yonder, and see if so be there 's any in sight.«
    But none were to be seen, except at such a distance that they looked like
ants.
    As evening was now at hand, my companion proposed our returning home
forthwith; and then, after a sound night's rest, starting in the morning upon a
good day's hunt with the whole force of the plantation.
    Following another path, in descending into the valley, we passed through
some nobly wooded land on the face of the mountain.
    One variety of tree particularly attracted my attention. The dark mossy
stem, over seventy feet high, was perfectly branchless for many feet above the
ground, when it shot out in broad boughs laden with lustrous leaves of the
deepest green. And all round the lower part of the trunk, thin, slab-like
buttresses of bark, perfectly smooth, and radiating from a common centre,
projected along the ground for at least two yards. From below, these natural
props tapered upward until gradually blended with the trunk itself. There were
signs of the wild cattle having sheltered themselves behind them. Zeke called
this the canoe-tree; as in old times it supplied the navies of the kings of
Tahiti. For canoe-building, the wood is still used. Being extremely dense, and
impervious to worms, it is very durable.
    Emerging from the forest, when half-way down the hill-side, we came upon an
open space, covered with ferns and grass, over which a few lonely trees were
casting long shadows in the setting sun. Here, a piece of ground some hundred
feet square, covered with weeds and brambles, and sounding hollow to the tread,
was enclosed by a ruinous wall of stones. Tonoi said it was an almost forgotten
burial-place, of great antiquity, where no one had been interred since the
islanders had been Christians. Sealed up in dry, deep vaults, many a dead
heathen was lying here.
    Curious to prove the old man's statement, I was anxious to get a peep at the
catacombs; but hermetically overgrown with vegetation as they were, no aperture
was visible.
    Before gaining the level of the valley, we passed by the site of a village,
near a water-course, long since deserted. There was nothing but stone walls, and
rude dismantled foundations of houses, constructed of the same material. Large
trees and brushwood were growing rankly among them.
    I asked Tonoi how long it was since anyone had lived here. »Me, tammaree
(boy) - plenty kannaker (men) Martair,« he replied. »Now, only poor pehe kannaka
(fishermen) left - me born here.«
    Going down the valley, vegetation of every kind presented a different aspect
from that of the high land.
    Chief among the trees of the plain on this island is the Ati, large and
lofty, with a massive trunk, and broad, laurel-shaped leaves. The wood is
splendid. In Tahiti, I was shown a narrow, polished plank fit to make a cabinet
for a king. Taken from the heart of the tree, it was of a deep, rich scarlet,
traced with yellow veins, and in some places clouded with hazel.
    In the same grove with the regal Ati, you may see the beautiful flowering
Hotoo; its pyramid of shining leaves diversified with numberless small, white
blossoms.
    Planted with trees as the valley is, almost throughout its entire length, I
was astonished to observe so very few which were useful to the natives: not one
in a hundred was a cocoa-nut or bread-fruit tree.
    But here Tonoi again enlightened me. In the sanguinary religious hostilities
which ensued upon the conversion to Christianity of the first Pomaree, a
war-party from Tahiti destroyed (by girdling the bark) entire groves of these
invaluable trees. For some time afterwards, they stood stark and leafless in the
sun; sad monuments of the fate which befell the inhabitants of the valley.
 

                                  Chapter LVI

                                   Mosquitoes

The night following the hunting trip, Long Ghost and myself, after a valiant
defence, had to fly the house on account of the mosquitoes.
    And here I cannot avoid relating a story, rife among the natives, concerning
the manner in which these insects were introduced upon the island.
    Some years previous, a whaling captain, touching at an adjoining bay, got
into difficulty with its inhabitants, and at last carried his complaint before
one of the native tribunals; but receiving no satisfaction, and deeming himself
aggrieved, he resolved upon taking signal revenge. One night, he towed a rotten
old water-cask ashore, and left it in a neglected taro patch, where the ground
was warm and moist. Hence the mosquitoes.
    I tried my best to learn the name of this man: and hereby do what I can to
hand it down to posterity. It was Coleman - Nathan Coleman. The ship belonged to
Nantucket.
    When tormented by the mosquitoes, I found much relief in coupling the word
Coleman with another of one syllable, and pronouncing them together
energetically.
    The doctor suggested a walk to the beach, where there was a long, low shed
tumbling to pieces, but open lengthwise to a current of air which he thought
might keep off the mosquitoes. So thither we went.
    The ruin partially sheltered a relic of times gone by, which, a few days
after, we examined with much curiosity. It was an old war-canoe, crumbling to
dust. Being supported by the same rude blocks upon which, apparently, it had
years before been hollowed out, in all probability it had never been afloat.
    Outside, it seemed originally stained of a green colour, which, here and
there, was now changed into a dingy purple. The prow terminated in a high, blunt
beak; both sides were covered with carving; and upon the stern was something
which Long Ghost maintained to be the arms of the royal House of Pomaree. The
device had an heraldic look, certainly - being two sharks with the talons of
hawks clawing a knot left projecting from the wood.
    The canoe was at least forty feet long, about two wide, and four deep. The
upper part - consisting of narrow planks laced together with cords of sinnate -
had in many places fallen off, and lay decaying upon the ground. Still, there
were ample accommodations left for sleeping; and in we sprang - the doctor into
the bow, and I into the stern. I soon fell asleep; but waking suddenly, cramped
in every joint from my constrained posture, I thought, for an instant, that I
must have been prematurely screwed down in my coffin.
    Presenting my compliments to Long Ghost, I asked how it fared with him.
    »Bad enough,« he replied, as he tossed about in the outlandish rubbish lying
in the bottom of our couch. »Pah! how these old mats smell!«
    As he continued talking in this exciting strain for some time, I at last
made no reply, having resumed certain mathematical reveries to induce repose.
But finding the multiplication table of no avail, I summoned up a grayish image
of chaos in a sort of sliding fluidity, and was just falling into a nap on the
strength of it, when I heard a solitary and distinct buzz. The hour of my
calamity was at hand. One blended hum, the creature darted into the canoe like a
small sword-fish; and I out of it.
    Upon getting into the open air, to my surprise, there was Long Ghost,
fanning himself wildly with an old paddle. He had just made a noiseless escape
from a swarm which had attacked his own end of the canoe.
    It was now proposed to try the water; so a small fishing canoe, hauled up
near by, was quickly launched; and paddling a good distance off, we dropped
overboard the native contrivance for an anchor - a heavy stone, attached to a
cable of braided bark. At this part of the island, the encircling reef was close
to the shore, leaving the water within smooth, and extremely shallow.
    It was a blessed thought! We knew nothing till sunrise, when the motion of
our aquatic cot awakened us. I looked up, and beheld Zeke wading toward the
shore, and towing us after him by the bark cable. Pointing to the reef, he told
us we had had a narrow escape.
    It was true enough; the water-sprites had rolled our stone out of its noose,
and we had floated away.
 

                                  Chapter LVII

                        The Second Hunt in the Mountains

Fair dawned, over the hills of Martair, the jocund morning of our hunt.
    Everything had been prepared for it overnight; and, when we arrived at the
house, a good breakfast was spread by Shorty: and old Tonoi was bustling about
like an innkeeper. Several of his men, also, were in attendance, to accompany us
with calabashes of food; and, in case we met with any success, to officiate as
bearers of burdens, on our return.
    Apprised, the evening previous, of the meditated sport, the doctor had
announced his willingness to take part therein.
    Now, subsequent events made us regard this expedition as a shrewd device of
the Yankee's. Once get us off on a pleasure trip, and with what face could we
afterwards refuse to work? Besides, he enjoyed all the credit of giving us a
holyday. Nor did he omit assuring us that, work or play, our wages were all the
while running on.
    A dilapidated old musket of Tonoi's was borrowed for the doctor. It was
exceedingly short and heavy, with a clumsy lock, which required a strong finger
to pull the trigger. On trying the piece, by firing at a mark, Long Ghost was
satisfied that it could not fail of doing execution: the charge went one way,
and he the other.
    Upon this, he endeavoured to negotiate an exchange of muskets with Shorty;
but the Cockney was proof against his blandishments; at last, he entrusted his
weapon to one of the natives to carry for him.
    Marshalling our forces, we started for the head of the valley; near which, a
path ascended to a range of high land, said to be a favourite resort of the
cattle.
    Shortly after gaining the heights, a small herd, some way off, was perceived
entering a wood. We hurried on; and, dividing our party, went in after them at
four different points; each white man followed by several natives.
    I soon found myself in a dense covert; and, after looking round, was just
emerging into a clear space, when I heard a report, and a bullet knocked the
bark from a tree near by. The same instant there was a trampling and crashing;
and five bullocks, nearly abreast, broke into view across the opening, and
plunged right toward the spot where myself and three of the islanders were
standing.
    They were small, black, vicious-looking creatures; with short, sharp horns,
red nostrils, and eyes like coals of fire. On they came - their dark woolly
heads hanging down.
    By this time, my island backers were roosting among the trees. Glancing
round, for an instant, to discover a retreat in case of emergency, I raised my
piece, when a voice cried out, from the wood, »Right between the 'orns, Paul!
right between the 'orns!« Down went my barrel in range with a small white tuft
on the forehead of the headmost one; and, letting him have it, I darted to one
side. As I turned again, the five bullocks shot by like a blast, making the air
eddy in their wake.
    The Yankee now burst into view, and saluted them in flank. Whereupon, the
fierce little bull with the tufted forehead flirted his long tail over his
buttocks; kicked out with his hind feet, and shot forward a full length. It was
nothing but a graze; and, in an instant, they were out of sight, the thicket
into which they broke rocking overhead, and marking their progress.
    The action over, the heavy artillery came up, in the person of the Long
Doctor with his blunderbuss.
    »Where are they?« he cried, out of breath.
    »A mile or two h'off, by this time,« replied the Cockney. »Lord, Paul! you
ought to 've sent an 'ailstone into that little black 'un.«
    While excusing my want of skill as well as I could, Zeke, rushing forward,
suddenly exclaimed, »Creation! what are you 'bout there, Peter?«
    Peter, incensed at our ill luck, and ignorantly imputing it to the cowardice
of our native auxiliaries, was bringing his piece to bear upon his trembling
squire - the musket carrier - now descending a tree.
    Pulling trigger, the bullet went high over his head; and hopping to the
ground, bellowing like a calf, the fellow ran away as fast as his heels could
carry him. The rest followed us, after this, with fear and trembling.
    After forming our line of march anew, we went on for several hours, without
catching a glimpse of the game; the reports of the muskets having been heard at
a great distance. At last, we mounted a craggy height, to obtain a wide view of
the country. From this place, we beheld three cattle, quietly browsing in a
green opening of a wood below; the trees shutting them in all round.
    A general re-examination of the muskets now took place, followed by a hasty
lunch from the calabashes: we then started. As we descended the mountain-side
the cattle were in plain sight, until we entered the forest, when we lost sight
of them for a moment; but only to see them again, as we crept close up to the
spot where they grazed.
    They were a bull, a cow, and a calf. The cow was lying down in the shade, by
the edge of the wood; the calf, sprawling out before her in the grass, licking
her lips; while old Taurus himself stood close by, casting a paternal glance at
this domestic little scene, and conjugally elevating his nose in the air.
    »Now, then,« said Zeke, in a whisper, »let 's take the poor creeturs, while
they are huddled together. Crawl along, b'ys; crawl along. Fire together, mind;
and not till I say the word.«
    We crept up to the very edge of the open ground, and knelt behind a clump of
bushes, resting our levelled barrels among the branches. The slight rustling was
heard. Taurus turned round, dropped his head to the ground, and sent forth a
low, sullen bellow; then snuffed the air. The cow rose on her fore-knees,
pitched forward alarmedly, and stood upon her legs; while the calf, with ears
pricked, got right underneath her. All three were now grouped, and in an instant
would be off.
    »I take the bull,« cried our leader; »fire!«
    The calf fell like a clod; its dam uttered a cry, and thrust her head into
the thicket; but she turned, and came moaning up to the lifeless calf, going
round and round it, snuffing fiercely with her bleeding nostrils. A crashing in
the wood, and a loud roar, announced the flying bull.
    Soon, another shot was fired, and the cow fell. Leaving some of the natives
to look after the dead cattle, the rest of us hurried on after the bull; his
dreadful bellowings guiding us to the spot where he lay. Wounded in the
shoulder, in his fright and agony he had bounded into the wood; but when we came
up to him, he had sunk to the earth in a green hollow, thrusting his black
muzzle into a pool of his own blood, and tossing it over his hide in clots.
    The Yankee brought his piece to rest; and, the next instant, the wild brute
sprang into the air, and with his fore-legs crouching under him, fell dead.
    Our island friends were now in high spirits; all courage and alacrity. Old
Tonoi thought nothing of taking poor Taurus himself by the horns, and peering
into his glazed eyes.
    Our ship knives were at once in request; and, skinning the cattle, we hung
them high up by cords of bark from the boughs of a tree. Withdrawing into a
covert, we there waited for the wild hogs; which, according to Zeke, would soon
make their appearance, lured by the smell of blood. Presently, we heard them
coming, in two or three different directions; and, in a moment, they were
tearing the offal to pieces.
    As only one shot at these creatures could be relied on, we intended firing
simultaneously; but, somehow or other, the doctor's piece went off by itself,
and one of the hogs dropped. The others then breaking into the thicket, the rest
of us sprang after them, resolved to have another shot at all hazards.
    The Cockney darted among some bushes; and, a few moments after, we heard the
report of his musket, followed by a quick cry. On running up, we saw our comrade
doing battle with a young devil of a boar, as black as night, whose snout had
been partly torn away. Firing when the game was in full career, and coming
directly toward him, Shorty had been assailed by the enraged brute; it was now
crunching the breech of the musket, with which he had tried to club it; Shorty
holding fast to the barrel, and fingering his waist for a knife. Being in
advance of the others, I clapped my gun to the boar's head, and so put an end to
the contest.
    Evening now coming on, we set to work loading our carriers. The cattle were
so small that a stout native could walk off with an entire quarter; brushing
through thickets, and descending rocks without an apparent effort: though, to
tell the truth, no white man present could have done the thing with any ease. As
for the wild hogs, none of the islanders could be induced to carry Shorty's;
some invincible superstition being connected with its black colour. We were,
therefore, obliged to leave it. The other, a spotted one, being slung by green
thongs to a pole, was marched off with by two young natives.
    With our bearers of burdens ahead, we then commenced our return down the
valley. Half-way home, darkness overtook us in the woods; and torches became
necessary. We stopped, and made them of dry palm branches; and then, sending two
lads on in advance for the purpose of gathering fuel to feed the flambeaux, we
continued our journey.
    It was a wild sight. The torches, waved aloft, flashed through the forest;
and, where the ground admitted, the islanders went along on a brisk trot,
notwithstanding they bent forward under their loads. Their naked backs were
stained with blood; and occasionally, running by each other, they raised wild
cries which startled the hillsides.
 

                                 Chapter LVIII

                  The Hunting-Feast; and a Visit to Afrehitoo

Two bullocks and a boar! No bad trophies of our day's sport. So by torchlight we
marched into the plantation, the wild hog rocking from its pole, and the doctor
singing an old hunting-song - Tally-ho! the chorus of which swelled high above
the yells of the natives.
    We resolved to make a night of it. Kindling a great fire just outside the
dwelling, and hanging one of the heifer's quarters from a limb of the
banian-tree, everyone was at liberty to cut and broil for himself. Baskets of
roasted bread-fruit, and plenty of taro pudding; bunches of bananas and young
cocoa-nuts had also been provided by the natives against our return.
    The fire burned bravely, keeping off the mosquitoes, and making every man's
face glow like a beaker of port. The meat had the true wild-game flavour, not at
all impaired by our famous appetites, and a couple of flasks of white brandy,
which Zeke, producing from his secret store, circulated freely.
    There was no end to my long comrade's spirits. After telling his stories,
and singing his songs, he sprang to his feet, clasped a young damsel of the
grove round the waist, and waltzed over the grass with her. But there 's no
telling all the pranks he played that night. The natives, who delight in a wag,
emphatically pronounced him matai.
    It was long after midnight ere we broke up; but when the rest had retired,
Zeke, with the true thrift of a Yankee, salted down what was left of the meat.
    The next day was Sunday; and, at my request, Shorty accompanied me to
Afrehitoo - a neighbouring bay, and the seat of a mission, almost directly
opposite Papeetee. In Afrehitoo is a large church and school-house, both quite
dilapidated; and planted amid shrubbery on a fine knoll, stands a very tasteful
cottage, commanding a view across the channel. In passing, I caught sight of a
graceful calico skirt disappearing from the piazza through a doorway. The place
was the residence of the missionary.
    A trim little sail-boat was dancing out at her moorings, a few yards from
the beach.
    Straggling over the low lands in the vicinity were several native huts -
untidy enough - but much better every way than most of those in Tahiti.
    We attended service at the church, where we found but a small congregation;
and after what I had seen in Papeetee, nothing very interesting took place. But
the audience had a curious, fidgety look, which I knew not how to account for,
until we ascertained that a sermon with the eighth commandment for a text was
being preached.
    It seemed that there lived an Englishman in the district, who, like our
friends, the planters, was cultivating Tombez potatoes for the Papeetee market.
    In spite of all his precautions, the natives were in the habit of making
nocturnal forays into his enclosure, and carrying off the potatoes. One night he
fired a fowling-piece, charged with pepper and salt, at several shadows which he
discovered stealing across his premises. They fled. But it was like seasoning
anything else: the knaves stole again with a greater relish than ever; and the
very next night, he caught a party in the act of roasting a basketful of
potatoes under his own cookingshed. At last, he stated his grievances to the
missionary; who, for the benefit of his congregation, preached the sermon we
heard.
    Now, there were no thieves in Martair; but then the people of the valley
were bribed to be honest. It was a regular business transaction between them and
the planters. In consideration of so many potatoes to them in hand, duly paid,
they were to abstain from all depredations upon the plantation. Another security
against roguery was the permanent residence upon the premises of their chief,
Tonoi.
    On our return to Martair in the afternoon, we found the doctor and Zeke
making themselves comfortable. The latter was reclining on the ground, pipe in
mouth, watching the doctor, who, sitting like a Turk, before a large iron
kettle, was slicing potatoes and Indian turnip, and now and then shattering
splinters from a bone; all of which, by turns, were thrown into the pot. He was
making what he called bullock broth.
    In gastronomic affairs, my friend was something of an artist; and, by way of
improving his knowledge, did nothing the rest of the day but practise in what
might be called Experimental Cookery: broiling and grilling, and devilling
slices of meat, and subjecting them to all sorts of igneous operations. It was
the first fresh beef that either of us had tasted in more than a year.
    »Oh, ye 'll pick up arter a while, Peter,« observed Zeke, toward night, as
Long Ghost was turning a great rib over the coals - »what d' ye think, Paul?«
    »He 'll get along, I dare say,« replied I; »he only wants to get those
cheeks of his tanned.« To tell the truth, I was not a little pleased to see the
doctor's reputation as an invalid fading away so fast; especially as, on the
strength of his being one, he had promised to have such easy times of it, and
very likely, too, at my expense.
 

                                  Chapter LIX

                                  The Murphies

Dozing in our canoe the next morning about daybreak, we were awakened by Zeke's
hailing us loudly from the beach.
    Upon paddling up, he told us that a canoe had arrived overnight, from
Papeetee, with an order from a ship lying there, for a supply of his potatoes;
and as they must be on board the vessel by noon, he wanted us to assist in
bringing them down to his sail-boat.
    My long comrade was one of those, who, from always thrusting forth the wrong
foot foremost when they rise, or committing some other indiscretion of the
limbs, are more or less crabbed or sullen before breakfast. It was in vain,
therefore, that the Yankee deplored the urgency of the case, which obliged him
to call us up thus early: the doctor only looked the more glum, and said nothing
in reply.
    At last, by way of getting up a little enthusiasm for the occasion, the
Yankee exclaimed quite spiritedly, »What d' ye say, then, b'ys, shall we git at
it?«
    »Yes, in the devil's name!« replied the doctor, like a snapping turtle; and
we moved on to the house. Notwithstanding his ungracious answer, he probably
thought that after the gastronomic performance of the day previous, it would
hardly do to hang back. At the house, we found Shorty ready with the hoes; and
we at once repaired to the farther side of the enclosure, where the potatoes had
yet to be taken out of the ground.
    The rich, tawny soil seemed specially adapted to the crop; the great yellow
murphies rolling out of the hills like eggs from a nest.
    My comrade really surprised me by the zeal with which he applied himself to
his hoe. For my own part, exhilarated by the cool breath of the morning, I
worked away like a good fellow. As for Zeke and the Cockney, they seemed
mightily pleased at this evidence of our willingness to exert ourselves.
    It was not long ere all the potatoes were turned out; and then came the
worst of it: they were to be lugged down to the beach, a distance of at least a
quarter of a mile. And there being no such thing as a barrow or cart on the
island, there was nothing for it but spinal marrows and broad shoulders. Well
knowing that this part of the business would be anything but agreeable, Zeke did
his best to put as encouraging a face upon it as possible; and giving us no time
to indulge in despondent thoughts, gleefully directed our attention to a pile of
rude baskets - made of stout stalks - which had been provided for the occasion.
So, without more ado, we helped ourselves from the heap; and soon we were all
four staggering along under our loads.
    The first trip down, we arrived at the beach together, Zeke's enthusiastic
cries proving irresistible. A trip or two more, however, and my shoulders began
to grate in their sockets; while the doctor's tall figure acquired an obvious
stoop. Presently, we both threw down our baskets, protesting we could stand it
no longer. But our employers, bent, as it were, upon getting the work out of us
by a silent appeal to our moral sense, toiled away without pretending to notice
us. It was as much as to say, »There, men, we 've been boarding and lodging ye
for the last three days; and yesterday ye did nothing earthly but eat; so stand
by now, and look at us working, if ye dare.« Thus driven to it, then, we resumed
our employment. Yet, in spite of all we could do, we lagged behind Zeke and
Shorty, who, breathing hard, and perspiring at every pore, toiled away without
pause or cessation. I almost wickedly wished that they would load themselves
down with one potato too many.
    Gasping as I was with my own hamper, I could not, for the life of me, help
laughing at Long Ghost. There he went - his long neck thrust forward, his arms
twisted behind him to form a shelf for his basket to rest on; and his stilts of
legs every once in a while giving way under him, as if his knee-joints slipped
either way.
    »There! I carry no more!« he exclaimed all at once, flinging his potatoes
into the boat, where the Yankee was just then stowing them away.
    »Oh, then,« said Zeke, quite briskly, »I guess you and Paul had better try
the barrel-machine - come along, I 'll fix ye out in no time«; and, so saying,
he waded ashore, and hurried back to the house, bidding us follow.
    Wondering what upon earth the barrel-machine could be, and rather suspicious
of it, we limped after. On arriving at the house, we found him getting ready a
sort of sedan-chair. It was nothing more than an old barrel, suspended by a rope
from the middle of a stout oar. Quite an ingenious contrivance of the Yankee's;
and his proposed arrangement with regard to mine and the doctor's shoulders, was
equally so.
    »There now!« said he, when everything was ready, »there 's no back-breaking
about this; you can stand right up under it, you see: just try it once«; and he
politely rested the blade of the oar on my comrade's right shoulder, and the
other end on mine, leaving the barrel between us.
    »Jist the thing!« he added, standing off admiringly, while we remained in
this interesting attitude.
    There was no help for us; with broken hearts and backs we trudged back to
the field; the doctor all the while saying masses.
    Upon starting with the loaded barrel, for a few paces we got along pretty
well, and were constrained to think the idea not a bad one. But we did not long
think so. In less than five minutes we came to a dead halt, the springing and
buckling of the clumsy oar being almost unendurable.
    »Let 's shift ends,« cried the doctor, who did not quite relish the blade of
the stick, which was cutting into the blade of his shoulder.
    At last, by stages short and frequent, we managed to shamble down to the
beach, where we again dumped our cargo, in something of a pet.
    »Why not make the natives help?« asked Long Ghost, rubbing his shoulder.
    »Natives be dumned!« said the Yankee, »twenty on 'em ain't worth one white
man. They never was meant to work any, them chaps; and they knows it too, for
dumned little work any on 'em ever does.«
    But, notwithstanding this abuse, Zeke was at last obliged to press a few of
the bipeds into service. »Aramai!« (come here), he shouted to several, who,
reclining on a bank, had hitherto been critical observers of our proceedings;
and, among other things, had been particularly amused by the performance with
the sedan-chair.
    After making these fellows load their baskets together, the Yankee filled
his own, and then drove them before him, down to the beach. Probably he had seen
the herds of panniered mules, driven in this way by mounted Indians, along the
great road from Callao to Lima.
    The boat at last loaded, the Yankee, taking with him a couple of natives, at
once hoisted sail, and stood across the channel for Papeetee.
    The next morning at breakfast, old Tonoi ran in, and told us that the
voyagers were returning. We hurried down to the beach, and saw the boat gliding
toward us, with a dozing islander at the helm, and Zeke standing up in the bows,
jingling a small bag of silver, the proceeds of his cargo.
 

                                   Chapter LX

                       What They Thought of Us in Martair

Several quiet days now passed away, during which we just worked sufficiently to
sharpen our appetites; the planters leniently exempting us from any severe toil.
    Their desire to retain us became more and more evident; which was not to be
wondered at; for, besides esteeming us from the beginning a couple of civil,
good-natured fellows, who would soon become quite at home with them, they were
not slow in perceiving that we were far different from the common run of rovers;
and that our society was both entertaining and instructive to a couple of
solitary, illiterate men, like themselves.
    In a literary point of view, indeed, they soon regarded us with emotions of
envy and wonder; and the doctor was considered nothing short of a prodigy. The
Cockney found that he (the doctor) could read a book upside down, without even
so much as spelling the big words beforehand; and the Yankee, in the twinkling
of an eye, received from him the sum total of several arithmetical items, stated
aloud, with the view of testing the extent of his mathematical lore.
    Then, frequently, in discoursing upon men and things, my long comrade
employed such imposing phrases, that, upon one occasion, they actually remained
uncovered while he talked.
    In short, their favourable opinion of Long Ghost in particular, rose higher
and higher every day; and they began to indulge in all manner of dreams
concerning the advantages to be derived from employing so learned a labourer.
Among other projects revealed was that of building a small craft of some forty
tons for the purpose of trading among the neighbouring islands. With a native
crew, we would then take turns cruising over the tranquil Pacific; touching here
and there, as caprice suggested, and collecting romantic articles of commerce; -
bêche-de-mer, the pearl-oyster, arrow-root, ambergris, sandal-wood, cocoa-nut
oil, and edible birds' nests.
    This South Sea yachting was delightful to think of; and straightway the
doctor announced his willingness to navigate the future schooner clear of all
shoals and reefs whatsoever. His impudence was audacious. He enlarged upon the
science of navigation; treated us to a dissertation on Mercator's Sailing and
the Azimuth compass; and went into an inexplicable explanation of the Lord only
knows what plan of his for infallibly settling the longitude.
    Whenever my comrade thus gave the reins to his fine fancy, it was a treat to
listen, and therefore I never interfered; but, with the planters, sat in mute
admiration before him. This apparent self-abasement on my part must have been
considered as truly indicative of our respective merits; for, to my no small
concern, I quickly perceived that, in the estimate formed of us, Long Ghost
began to be rated far above myself. For aught I knew, indeed, he might have
privately thrown out a hint concerning the difference in our respective stations
aboard the Julia; or else the planters must have considered him some illustrious
individual, for certain inscrutable reasons, going incog. With this idea of him,
his undisguised disinclination for work became venial; and entertaining such
views of extending their business, they counted more upon his ultimate value to
them as a man of science than as a mere ditcher.
    Nor did the humorous doctor forbear to foster an opinion every way so
advantageous to himself; at times, for the sake of a joke, assuming airs of
superiority over myself, which, though laughable enough, were sometimes
annoying.
    To tell the plain truth, things at last came to such a pass that I told him,
up and down, that I had no notion to put up with his pretensions; if he were
going to play the gentleman, I was going to follow suit; and then there would
quickly be an explosion.
    At this he laughed heartily; and after some mirthful chat, we resolved upon
leaving the valley as soon as we could do so with a proper regard to politeness.
    At supper, therefore, the same evening, the doctor hinted at our intention.
    Though much surprised and vexed, Zeke moved not a muscle. »Peter,« said he
at last - very gravely - and after mature deliberation, »would you like to do
the cooking? It's easy work; and you needn't do anything else. Paul 's heartier;
he can work in the field when it suits him; and before long, we 'll have ye at
something more agreeable: won't we, Shorty?«
    Shorty assented.
    Doubtless, the proposed arrangement was a snug one; especially the sinecure
for the doctor; but I by no means relished the functions allotted to myself -
they were too indefinite. Nothing final, however, was agreed upon; our intention
to leave was revealed, and that was enough for the present. But, as we said
nothing further about going, the Yankee must have concluded that we might yet be
induced to remain. He redoubled his endeavours to make us contented.
    It was during this state of affairs, that one morning, before breakfast, we
were set to weeding in a potato-patch; and the planters being engaged at the
house, we were left to ourselves.
    Now, though the pulling of weeds was considered by our employers an easy
occupation (for which reason they had assigned it to us), and although, as a
garden recreation, it may be pleasant enough for those who like it - still, long
persisted in, the business becomes excessively irksome.
    Nevertheless, we toiled away for some time, until the doctor, who, from his
height, was obliged to stoop at a very acute angle, suddenly sprang upright;
and, with one hand propping his spinal column, exclaimed, »Oh, that one's joints
were but provided with holes to drop a little oil through!«
    Vain as the aspiration was for this proposed improvement upon our species, I
cordially responded thereto; for every vertebra in my spine was articulating in
sympathy.
    Presently, the sun rose over the mountains, inducing that deadly morning
languor so fatal to early exertion in a warm climate. We could stand it no
longer; but, shouldering our hoes, moved on to the house, resolved to impose no
more upon the good-nature of the planters, by continuing one moment longer in an
occupation so extremely uncongenial.
    We freely told them so. Zeke was exceedingly hurt, and said everything he
could think of to alter our determination; but, finding all unavailing, he very
hospitably urged us not to be in any hurry about leaving; for we might stay with
him as guests until we had time to decide upon our future movements.
    We thanked him sincerely; but replied, that the following morning we must
turn our backs upon the hills of Martair.
 

                                  Chapter LXI

                           Preparing for the Journey

During the remainder of the day we loitered about, talking over our plans.
    The doctor was all eagerness to visit Tamai, a solitary inland village,
standing upon the banks of a considerable lake of the same name, and embosomed
among groves. From Afrehitoo you went to this place by a lonely pathway, leading
through the wildest scenery in the world. Much, too, we had heard concerning the
lake itself, which abounded in such delicious fish that, in former times,
angling parties occasionally came over to it from Papeetee.
    Upon its banks, moreover, grew the finest fruit of the islands, and in their
greatest perfection. The Ve, or Brazilian plum, here attained the size of an
orange; and the gorgeous Arheea, or red apple of Tahiti, blushed with deeper
dyes than in any of the seaward valleys.
    Besides all this, in Tamai dwelt the most beautiful and unsophisticated
women in the entire Society Group. In short, the village was so remote from the
coast, and had been so much less affected by recent changes than other places,
that, in most things, Tahitian life was here seen as formerly existing in the
days of young Otoo, the boy-king, in Cook's time.
    After obtaining from the planters all the information which was needed, we
decided upon penetrating to the village; and after a temporary sojourn there, to
strike the beach again, and journey round to Taloo, a harbour on the opposite
side of the island.
    We at once put ourselves in travelling trim. Just previous to leaving
Tahiti, having found my wardrobe reduced to two suits (frock and trousers, both
much the worse for wear), I had quilted them together for mutual preservation
(after a fashion peculiar to sailors); engrafting a red frock upon a blue one,
and producing thereby a choice variety in the way of clothing. This was the
extent of my wardrobe. Nor was the doctor by any means better off. His
improvidence had at last driven him to don the nautical garb; but by this time
his frock - a light cotton one - had almost given out, and he had nothing to
replace it. Shorty very generously offered him one which was a little less
ragged; but the alms was proudly refused; Long Ghost preferring to assume the
ancient costume of Tahiti - the Roora.
    This garment, once worn as a festival dress, is now seldom met with; but
Captain Bob had often shown us one which he kept as an heirloom. It was a cloak,
or mantle, of yellow tappa, precisely similar to the poncho worn by the
South-American Spaniards. The head being slipped through a slit in the middle,
the robe hangs about the person in ample drapery. Tonoi obtained sufficient
coarse brown tappa to make a short mantle of this description; and in five
minutes the doctor was equipped. Zeke, eyeing his toga critically, reminded its
proprietor that there were many streams to ford, and precipices to scale,
between Martair and Tamai; and if he travelled in petticoats, he had better hold
them up.
    Besides other deficiencies, we were utterly shoeless. In the free and easy
Pacific, sailors seldom wear shoes; mine had been tossed overboard the day we
met the Trades; and except in one or two tramps ashore, I had never worn any
since. In Martair, they would have been desirable; but none were to be had. For
the expedition we meditated, however, they were indispensable. Zeke being the
owner of a pair of huge, dilapidated boots, hanging from a rafter like
saddle-bags, the doctor succeeded in exchanging for them a case-knife, the last
valuable article in his possession. For myself, I made sandals from a bullock's
hide, such as are worn by the Indians in California. They are made in a minute;
the sole, rudely fashioned to the foot, being confined across the instep by
three straps of leather.
    Our headgear deserves a passing word. My comrade's was a brave old Panama
hat, made of grass, almost as fine as threads of silk; and so elastic that, upon
rolling it up, it sprang into perfect shape again. Set off by the jaunty slouch
of this Spanish sombrero, Doctor Long Ghost, in this and his Roora, looked like
a mendicant grandee.
    Nor was my own appearance in an Eastern turban less distinguished. The way I
came to wear it was this. My hat having been knocked overboard a few days before
reaching Papeetee, I was obliged to mount an abominable wad of parti-coloured
worsted - what sailors call a Scotch cap. Everyone knows the elasticity of knit
wool; and this Caledonian head-dress crowned my temples so effectually that the
confined atmosphere engendered was prejudicial to my curls. In vain I tried to
ventilate the cap: every gash made seemed to heal whole in no time. Then such a
continual chafing as it kept up in a hot sun.
    Seeing my dislike to the thing, Kooloo, my worthy friend, prevailed upon me
to bestow it upon him. I did so; hinting that a good boiling might restore the
original brilliancy of the colours.
    It was then that I mounted the turban. Taking a new Regatta frock of the
doctor's, which was of a gay calico, and winding it round my head in folds, I
allowed the sleeves to droop behind - thus forming a good defence against the
sun, though in a shower it was best off. The pendent sleeves adding much to the
effect, the doctor always called me the Bashaw with Two Tails.
    Thus arrayed, we were ready for Tamai; in whose green saloons we counted
upon creating no small sensation.
 

                                  Chapter LXII

                                     Tamai

Long before sunrise the next morning, my sandals were laced on, and the doctor
had vaulted into Zeke's boots.
    Expecting to see us again before we went to Taloo, the planters wished us a
pleasant journey; and, on parting, very generously presented us with a pound or
two of what sailors call plug tobacco; telling us to cut it up into small
change; the Virginian weed being the principal circulating medium on the island.
    Tamai, we were told, was not more than three or four leagues distant; so
making allowances for a wild road, a few hours to rest at noon, and our
determination to take the journey leisurely, we counted upon reaching the shores
of the lake some time in the flush of the evening.
    For several hours we went on slowly through wood and ravine, and over hill
and precipice, seeing nothing but occasional herds of wild cattle, and often
resting; until we found ourselves, about noon, in the very heart of the island.
    It was a green, cool hollow among the mountains, into which we at last
descended with a bound. The place was gushing with a hundred springs, and shaded
over with great solemn trees, on whose mossy boles the moisture stood in beads.
Strange to say, no traces of the bullocks ever having been here were revealed.
Nor was there a sound to be heard, nor a bird to be seen, nor any breath of wind
stirring the leaves. The utter solitude and silence were oppressive; and after
peering about under the shades, and seeing nothing but ranks of dark, motionless
trunks, we hurried across the hollow, and ascended a steep mountain opposite.
    Midway up we rested where the earth had gathered about the roots of three
palms, and thus formed a pleasant lounge, from which we looked down upon the
hollow, now one dark green tuft of woodland at our feet. Here we brought forth a
small calabash of poee, a parting present from Tonoi. After eating heartily, we
obtained fire by two sticks, and throwing ourselves back, puffed forth our
fatigue in wreaths of smoke. At last we fell asleep; nor did we waken till the
sun had sunk so low that its rays darted in upon us under the foliage.
    Starting up, we then continued our journey; and as we gained the mountain
top - there, to our surprise, lay the lake and village of Tamai. We had thought
it a good league off. Where we stood, the yellow sunset was still lingering; but
over the valley below, long shadows were stealing - the rippling green lake
reflecting the houses and trees just as they stood along its banks. Several
small canoes, moored here and there to posts in the water, were dancing upon the
waves; and one solitary fisherman was paddling over to a grassy point. In front
of the houses, groups of natives were seen; some thrown at full length upon the
ground, and others indolently leaning against the bamboos.
    With whoop and halloo, we ran down the hills, the villagers soon hurrying
forth to see who were coming. As we drew near, they gathered round, all
curiosity to know what brought the karhowrees into their quiet country. The
doctor contriving to make them understand the purely social object of our visit,
they gave us a true Tahitian welcome; pointing into their dwellings, and saying
they were ours as long as we chose to remain.
    We were struck by the appearance of these people, both men and women; so
much more healthful than the inhabitants of the bays. As for the young girls,
they were more retiring and modest, more tidy in their dress, and far fresher
and more beautiful than the damsels of the coast. A thousand pities, thought I,
that they should bury their charms in this nook of a valley.
    That night we abode in the house of Rartoo, a hospitable old chief. It was
right on the shore of the lake; and at supper, we looked out through a rustling
screen of foliage upon the surface of the starlit water.
    The next day we rambled about, and found a happy little community,
comparatively free from many deplorable evils to which the rest of their
countrymen are subject. Their time, too, was more occupied. To my surprise, the
manufacture of tappa was going on in several buildings. European calicoes were
seldom seen, and not many articles of foreign origin of any description.
    The people of Tamai were nominally Christians; but being so remote from
ecclesiastical jurisdiction, their religion sat lightly upon them. We had been
told, even, that many heathenish games and dances still secretly lingered in
their valley.
    Now the prospect of seeing an old-fashioned hevar, or Tahitian reel, was one
of the inducements which brought us here; and so, finding Rartoo rather liberal
in his religious ideas, we disclosed our desire. At first he demurred; and
shrugging his shoulders like a Frenchman, declared it could not be brought about
- was a dangerous matter to attempt, and might bring all concerned into trouble.
But we overcame all this, convinced him that the thing could be done, and a
hevar, a genuine pagan fandango, was arranged for that very night.
 

                                 Chapter LXIII

                             A Dance in the Valley

There were some ill-natured people - tell-tales - it seemed, in Tamai; and hence
there was a deal of mystery about getting up the dance.
    An hour or two before midnight, Rartoo entered the house, and, throwing
robes of tappa over us, bade us follow at a distance behind him; and, until out
of the village, hood our faces. Keenly alive to the adventure, we obeyed. At
last, after taking a wide circuit, we came out upon the farthest shore of the
lake. It was a wide, dewy space; lighted up by a full moon, and carpeted with a
minute species of fern, growing closely together. It swept right down to the
water, showing the village opposite, glistening among the groves.
    Near the trees, on one side of the clear space, was a ruinous pile of stones
many rods in extent; upon which had formerly stood a temple of Oro. At present,
there was nothing but a rude hut, planted on the lowermost terrace. It seemed to
have been used as a tappa herree; or house for making the native cloth.
    Here we saw lights gleaming from between the bamboos, and casting long,
rod-like shadows upon the ground without. Voices also were heard. We went up,
and had a peep at the dancers, who were getting ready for the ballet. They were
some twenty in number; waited upon by hideous old crones, who might have been
duennas. Long Ghost proposed to send the latter packing; but Rartoo said it
would never do, and so they were permitted to remain.
    We tried to effect an entrance at the door, which was fastened; but, after a
noisy discussion with one of the old witches within, our guide became fidgety,
and, at last, told us to desist, or we would spoil all. He then led us off to a
distance, to await the performance; as the girls, he said, did not wish to be
recognised. He, furthermore, made us promise to remain where we were until all
was over, and the dancers had retired.
    We waited impatiently; and at last they came forth. They were arrayed in
short tunics of white tappa; with garlands of flowers on their heads. Following
them were the duennas, who remained clustering about the house, while the girls
advanced a few paces; and, in an instant, two of them, taller than their
companions, were standing, side by side, in the middle of a ring formed by the
clasped hands of the rest. This movement was made in perfect silence.
    Presently the two girls join hands overhead; and, crying out, »Ahloo!
ahloo!« wave them to and fro. Upon which the ring begins to circle slowly; the
dancers moving sideways, with their arms a little drooping. Soon they quicken
their pace; and, at last, fly round and round; bosoms heaving, hair streaming,
flowers dropping, and every sparkling eye circling in what seemed a line of
light.
    Meanwhile, the pair within are passing and repassing each other incessantly.
Inclining sideways, so that their long hair falls far over, they glide this way
and that; one foot continually in the air, and their fingers thrown forth, and
twirling in the moonbeams.
    »Ahloo! ahloo!« again cry the dance queens; and, coming together in the
middle of the ring, they once more lift up the arch, and stand motionless.
    »Ahloo! ahloo!« Every link of the circle is broken; and the girls, deeply
breathing, stand perfectly still. They pant hard and fast, a moment or two; and
then, just as the deep flush is dying away from their faces, slowly recede, all
round; thus enlarging the ring.
    Again the two leaders wave their hands, when the rest pause; and now, far
apart, stand in the still moonlight, like a circle of fairies. Presently,
raising a strange chant, they softly sway themselves, gradually quickening the
movement, until at length, for a few passionate moments, with throbbing bosoms,
and glowing cheeks, they abandon themselves to all the spirit of the dance,
apparently lost to everything around. But soon subsiding again into the same
languid measure as before, they become motionless; and then, reeling forward on
all sides, their eyes swimming in their heads, join in one wild chorus, and sink
into each other's arms.
    Such is the Lory-Lory, I think they call it; the dance of the backsliding
girls of Tamai.
    While it was going on, we had as much as we could do to keep the doctor from
rushing forward and seizing a partner.
    They would give us no more hevars that night; and Rartoo fairly dragged us
away to a canoe, hauled up on the lake shore; when we reluctantly embarked, and
paddling over to the village, arrived there in time for a good nap before
sunrise.
    The next day, the doctor went about trying to hunt up the overnight dancers.
He thought to detect them by their late rising; but never was man more mistaken;
for, on first sallying out, the whole village was asleep, waking up in concert
about an hour after. But, in the course of the day, he came across several whom
he at once charged with taking part in the hevar. There were some prim-looking
fellows standing by (visiting elders from Afrehitoo, perhaps), and the girls
looked embarrassed; but parried the charge most skilfully.
    Though soft as doves, in general, the ladies of Tamai are, nevertheless,
flavoured with a slight tincture of what we queerly enough call the devil; and
they showed it on the present occasion. For when the doctor pressed one rather
hard, she all at once turned round upon him, and, giving him a box on the ear,
told him to »hanree perrar!« (be off with himself).
 

                                  Chapter LXIV

                                   Mysterious

There was a little old man of a most hideous aspect living in Tamai, who, in a
coarse mantle of tappa, went about the village, dancing, and singing, and making
faces. He followed us about wherever we went; and, when unobserved by others,
plucked at our garments, making frightful signs for us to go along with him
somewhere, and see something.
    It was in vain that we tried to get rid of him. Kicks and cuffs, even, were
at last resorted to; but, though he howled like one possessed, he would not go
away, but still haunted us. At last, we conjured the natives to rid us of him;
but they only laughed; so we were forced to endure the dispensation as well as
we could.
    On the fourth night of our visit, returning home late from paying a few
calls through the village, we turned a dark corner of trees, and came full upon
our goblin friend; as usual, chattering and motioning with his hands. The
doctor, venting a curse, hurried forward; but, from some impulse or other, I
stood my ground, resolved to find out what this unaccountable object wanted of
us. Seeing me pause, he crept close up to me, peered into my face, and then
retreated, beckoning me to follow, which I did.
    In a few moments the village was behind us; and with my guide in advance, I
found myself in the shadow of the heights overlooking the farther side of the
valley. Here my guide paused until I came up with him; when, side by side, and
without speaking, we ascended the hill.
    Presently, we came to a wretched hut, barely distinguishable in the shade
cast by the neighbouring trees. Pushing aside a rude, sliding door, held
together with thongs, the goblin signed me to enter. Within, it looked dark as
pitch; so I gave him to understand that he must strike a light, and go in before
me. Without replying, he disappeared in the darkness; and, after groping about,
I heard two sticks rubbing together, and directly saw a spark. A native taper
was then lighted, and I stooped, and entered.
    It was a mere kennel. Foul old mats, and broken cocoa-nut shells, and
calabashes were strewn about the floor of earth; and overhead I caught glimpses
of the stars through chinks in the roof. Here and there the thatch had fallen
through, and hung down in wisps.
    I now told him to set about what he was going to do, or produce whatever he
had to show without delay. Looking round fearfully, as if dreading a surprise,
he commenced turning over and over the rubbish in one corner. At last, he
clutched a calabash, stained black, and with the neck broken off; on one side of
it was a large hole. Something seemed to be stuffed away in the vessel; and
after a deal of poking at the aperture, a musty old pair of sailor trousers was
drawn forth; and, holding them up eagerly, he inquired how many pieces of
tobacco I would give for them.
    Without replying, I hurried away; the old man chasing me, and shouting as I
ran, until I gained the village. Here, I dodged him, and made my way home,
resolved never to disclose so inglorious an adventure.
    To no purpose, the next morning, my comrade besought me to enlighten him: I
preserved a mysterious silence.
    The occurrence served me a good turn, however, so long as we abode in Tamai;
for the old clothesman never afterwards troubled me; but forever haunted the
doctor, who, in vain, supplicated Heaven to be delivered from him.
 

                                  Chapter LXV

                             The Hegira, or Flight

»I say, doctor,« cried I, a few days after my adventure with the goblin, as, in
the absence of our host, we were one morning lounging upon the matting in his
dwelling, smoking our reed pipes, »Tamai 's a thriving place; why not settle
down?«
    »Faith!« said he, »not a bad idea, Paul. But do you fancy they 'll let us
stay, though?«
    »Why, certainly: they would be overjoyed to have a couple of karhowrees for
townsmen.«
    »Gad! you 're right, my pleasant fellow. Ha! ha! I 'll put up a banana-leaf
as a physician from London - deliver lectures on Polynesian antiquities - teach
English in five lessons, of one hour each - establish power-looms for the
manufacture of tappa - lay out a public park in the middle of the village, and
found a festival in honour of Captain Cook!«
    »But, surely, not without stopping to take breath,« observed I.
    The doctor's projects, to be sure, were of a rather visionary cast; but we
seriously thought, nevertheless, of prolonging our stay in the valley for an
indefinite period; and, with this understanding, we were turning over various
plans for spending our time pleasantly, when several women came running into the
house, and hurriedly besought us to heree! heree! (make our escape), crying out
something about the mickonarees.
    Thinking that we were about to be taken up under the act for the suppression
of vagrancy, we flew out of the house, sprang into a canoe before the door, and
paddled with might and main over to the opposite side of the lake.
    Approaching Rartoo's dwelling, was a great crowd, among which we perceived
several natives, who, from their partly European dress, we were certain did not
reside in Tamai.
    Plunging into the groves, we thanked our stars that we had thus narrowly
escaped being apprehended as runaway seamen, and marched off to the beach. This,
at least, was what we thought we had escaped.
    Having fled the village, we could not think of prowling about its vicinity,
and then returning; in doing so, we might be risking our liberty again. We
therefore determined upon journeying back to Martair; and setting our faces
thitherward, we reached the planters' house about nightfall. They gave us a
cordial reception, and a hearty supper; and we sat up talking until a late hour.
    We now prepared to go round to Taloo, a place from which we were not far off
when at Tamai; but wishing to see as much of the island as we could, we
preferred returning to Martair, and then going round by way of the beach.
    Taloo, the only frequented harbour of Imeeo, lies on the western side of the
island, almost directly over against Martair. Upon one shore of the bay stands
the village of Partoowye, a missionary station. In its vicinity is an extensive
sugar plantation - the best in the South Seas, perhaps - worked by a person from
Sydney.
    The patrimonial property of the husband of Pomaree, and every way a
delightful retreat, Partoowye was one of the occasional residences of the court.
But at the time I write of, it was permanently fixed there, the queen having
fled thither from Tahiti.
    Partoowye, they told us, was by no means the place Papeetee was. Ships
seldom touched, and very few foreigners were living ashore. A solitary whaler,
however, was reported to be lying in the harbour, wooding and watering, and said
to be in want of men.
    All things considered, I could not help looking upon Taloo as offering a
splendid opening for us adventurers. To say nothing of the facilities presented
for going to sea in the whaler, or hiring ourselves out as day labourers in the
sugar plantation, there were hopes to be entertained of being promoted to some
office of high trust and emolument about the person of her majesty, the queen.
    Nor was this expectation altogether Quixotic. In the train of many
Polynesian princes, roving whites are frequently found: gentlemen pensioners of
state, basking in the tropical sunshine of the court, and leading the
pleasantest lives in the world. Upon islands little visited by foreigners, the
first seaman that settles down is generally domesticated in the family of the
head chief or king; where he frequently discharges the functions of various
offices, elsewhere filled by as many different individuals. As historiographer,
for instance, he gives the natives some account of distant countries; as
commissioner of the arts and sciences, he instructs them in the use of the
jack-knife, and the best way of shaping bits of iron hoop into spear-heads; and
as interpreter to his majesty, he facilitates intercourse with strangers;
besides instructing the people generally in the uses of the most common English
phrases, civil and profane; but oftener the latter.
    These men generally marry well; often - like Hardy of Hannamanoo - into the
blood royal.
    Sometimes they officiate as personal attendant, or first lord in waiting, to
the king. At Amboi, one of the Tonga Islands, a vagabond Welshman bends his knee
as cup-bearer to his cannibal majesty. He mixes his morning cup of arva, and,
with profound genuflections, presents it in a cocoa-nut bowl, richly carved.
Upon another island of the same group, where it is customary to bestow no small
pains in dressing the hair - frizzing it out by a curious process into an
enormous Pope's-head - an old man-of-war's-man fills the post of barber to the
king. And as his majesty is not very neat, his mop is exceedingly populous; so
that, when Jack is not engaged in dressing the head entrusted to his charge, he
busies himself in gently titillating it - a sort of skewer being actually worn
about in the patient's hair for that special purpose.
    Even upon the Sandwich Islands, a low rabble of foreigners is kept about the
person of Tammahammaha, for the purpose of ministering to his ease or enjoyment.
    Billy Loon, a jolly little negro, tricked out in a soiled blue jacket,
studded all over with rusty bell-buttons, and garnished with shabby gold lace,
is the royal drummer and pounder of the tambourine. Joe, a wooden-legged
Portuguese, who lost his leg by a whale, is violinist; and Mordecai, as he is
called, a villainous-looking scamp, going about with his cups and balls in a
side pocket, diverts the court with his jugglery. These idle rascals receive no
fixed salary, being altogether dependent upon the casual bounty of their master.
Now and then they run up a score at the dance houses in Honolulu, where the
illustrious Tammahammaha III. afterwards calls and settles the bill.
    A few years since, an auctioneer to his majesty came near being added to the
retinue of state. It seems that he was the first man who had practised his
vocation on the Sandwich Islands; and delighted with the sport of bidding upon
his wares, the king was one of his best customers. At last he besought the man
to leave his profession, and he should be handsomely provided for at court. But
the auctioneer refused; and so the ivory hammer lost the chance of being borne
before him on a velvet cushion, when the next king went to be crowned.
    But it was not as strolling players, nor as footmen out of employ, that the
doctor and myself looked forward to our approaching introduction to the court of
the Queen of Tahiti. On the contrary, as before hinted, we expected to swell the
appropriations of bread-fruit and cocoa-nuts on the civil list, by filling some
honourable office in her gift.
    We were told that, to resist the usurpation of the French, the queen was
rallying about her person all the foreigners she could. Her partiality for the
English and Americans was well known; and this was an additional ground for our
anticipating a favourable reception. Zeke had informed us, moreover, that by the
queen's counsellors at Partoowye, a war of aggression against the invaders at
Papeetee had been seriously thought of. Should this prove true, a surgeon's
commission for the doctor, and a lieutenancy for myself, were certainly counted
upon in our sanguine expectations.
    Such, then, were our views, and such our hopes in projecting a trip to
Taloo. But in our most lofty aspirations, we by no means lost sight of any minor
matters which might help us to promotion. The doctor had informed me that he
excelled in playing the fiddle. I now suggested, that as soon as we arrived at
Partoowye, we should endeavour to borrow a violin for him; or if this could not
be done, that he should manufacture some kind of a substitute, and, thus
equipped, apply for an audience of the queen. Her well-known passion for music
would at once secure his admittance; and so, under the most favourable auspices,
bring about our introduction to her notice.
    »And who knows,« said my waggish comrade, throwing his head back, and
performing an imaginary air by briskly drawing one arm across the other, »who
knows that I may not fiddle myself into her majesty's good graces, so as to
become a sort of Rizzio to the Tahitian princess?«
 

                                  Chapter LXVI

                          How We Were to Get to Taloo

The inglorious circumstances of our somewhat premature departure from Tamai,
filled the sagacious doctor and myself with sundry misgivings for the future.
    Under Zeke's protection, we were secure from all impertinent interference in
our concerns on the part of the natives. But as friendless wanderers over the
island, we ran the risk of being apprehended as runaways, and, as such, sent
back to Tahiti. The truth is, that the rewards constantly offered for the
apprehension of deserters from ships, induce some of the natives to eye all
strangers suspiciously.
    A passport was therefore desirable; but such a thing had never been heard of
in Imeeo. At last, Long Ghost suggested, that as the Yankee was well known, and
much respected all over the island, we should endeavour to obtain from him some
sort of paper, not only certifying to our having been in his employ, but also to
our not being highwaymen, kidnappers, nor yet runaway seamen. Even written in
English, a paper like this would answer every purpose; for the unlettered
natives, standing in great awe of the document, would not dare to molest us
until acquainted with its purport. Then, if it came to the worst, we might
repair to the nearest missionary, and have the passport explained.
    Upon informing Zeke of these matters, he seemed highly flattered with the
opinion we entertained of his reputation abroad; and he agreed to oblige us. The
doctor at once offered to furnish him with a draft of the paper; but he refused,
saying he would write it himself. With a rooster's quill, therefore, a bit of
soiled paper, and a stout heart, he set to work. Evidently, he was not
accustomed to composition; for his literary throes were so violent, that the
doctor suggested that some sort of a Caesarean operation might be necessary.
    The precious paper was at last finished; and a great curiosity it was. We
were much diverted with his reasons for not dating it.
    »In this here dumned climate,« he observed, »a feller can't keep the run of
the months, nohow; 'cause there 's no seasons; no summer and winter to go by.
One 's etarnally thinking' it 's always July, it 's so pesky hot.«
    A passport provided, we cast about for some means of getting to Taloo.
    The island of Imeeo is very nearly surrounded by a regular breakwater of
coral, extending within a mile or less of the shore. The smooth canal within
furnishes the best means of communication with the different settlements; all of
which, with the exception of Tamai, are right upon the water. And so indolent
are the Imeeose, that they think nothing of going twenty or thirty miles round
the island in a canoe in order to reach a place not a quarter of that distance
by land. But as hinted before, the fear of the bullocks has something to do with
this.
    The idea of journeying in a canoe struck our fancy quite pleasantly; and we
at once set about chartering one, if possible. But none could we obtain. For not
only did we have nothing to pay for hiring one, but we could not expect to have
it loaned; inasmuch as the good-natured owner would, in all probability, have to
walk along the beach as we paddled, in order to bring back his property when we
had no further use for it.
    At last, it was decided to commence our journey on foot; trusting that we
would soon fall in with a canoe going our way, in which we might take passage.
    The planters said we would find no beaten path: all we had to do was to
follow the beach; and however inviting it might look inland, on no account must
we stray from it. In short, the longest way round was the nearest way to Taloo.
At intervals, there were little hamlets along the shore, besides lonely
fishermen's huts here and there, where we could get plenty to eat without pay;
so there was no necessity to lay in any store.
    Intending to be off before sunrise the next morning, so as to have the
benefit of the coolest part of the day, we bade our kind hosts farewell
overnight; and then, repairing to the beach, we launched our floating pallet,
and slept away merrily till dawn.
 

                                 Chapter LXVII

                          The Journey Round the Beach

It was on the fourth day of the first month of the Hegira, or flight from Tamai
(we now reckoned our time thus), that, rising bright and early, we were up and
away out of the valley of Martair, before the fishermen even were stirring.
    It was the earliest dawn. The morning only showed itself along the lower
edge of a bank of purple clouds pierced by the misty peaks of Tahiti. The
tropical day seemed too languid to rise. Sometimes, starting fitfully, it decked
the clouds with faint edgings of pink and gray, which, fading away, left all dim
again. Anon, it threw out thin, pale rays, growing lighter and lighter, until at
last, the golden morning sprang out of the East with a bound - darting its
bright beams hither and thither, higher and higher, and sending them, broadcast,
over the face of the heavens.
    All balmy from the groves of Tahiti, came an indolent air, cooled by its
transit over the waters; and grateful under foot was the damp and slightly
yielding beach, from which the waves seemed just retired.
    The doctor was in famous spirits; removing his Roora, he went splashing into
the sea; and, after swimming a few yards, waded ashore, hopping, skipping, and
jumping along the beach; but very careful to cut all his capers in the direction
of our journey.
    Say what they will of the glowing independence one feels in the saddle, give
me the first morning flush of your cheery pedestrian!
    Thus exhilarated, we went on, as light-hearted and care-free as we could
wish.
    And here I cannot refrain from lauding the very superior inducements which
most intertropical countries afford, not only to mere rovers like ourselves, but
to penniless people generally. In these genial regions one's wants are naturally
diminished; and those which remain are easily gratified: fuel, house-shelter,
and, if you please, clothing, may be entirely dispensed with.
    How different our hard northern latitudes! Alas! the lot of a poor devil,
twenty degrees north of the tropic of Cancer, is indeed pitiable.
    At last, the beach contracted to hardly a yard's width, and the dense
thicket almost dipped into the sea. In place of the smooth sand, too, we had
sharp fragments of broken coral, which made travelling exceedingly unpleasant.
»Lord! my foot!« roared the doctor, fetching it up for inspection, with a
galvanic fling of the limb. A sharp splinter had thrust itself into the flesh
through a hole in his boot. My sandals were worse yet; their soles taking a sort
of fossil impression of everything trod upon.
    Turning round a bold sweep of the beach, we came upon a piece of fine, open
ground, with a fisherman's dwelling in the distance, crowning a knoll which
rolled off into the water.
    The hut proved to be a low, rude erection, very recently thrown up; for the
bamboos were still green as grass, and the thatching, fresh and fragrant as
meadow hay. It was open upon three sides; so that, upon drawing near, the
domestic arrangements within were in plain sight. No one was stirring; and
nothing was to be seen but a clumsy old chest of native workmanship, a few
calabashes, and bundles of tappa hanging against a post; and a heap of
something, we knew not what, in a dark corner. Upon close inspection, the doctor
discovered it to be a loving old couple, locked in each other's arms, and rolled
together in a tappa mantle.
    »Halloa! Darby!« he cried, shaking the one with a beard. But Darby heeded
him not; though Joan, a wrinkled old body, started up in affright, and yelled
aloud. Neither of us attempting to gag her, she presently became quiet; and
after staring hard and asking some unintelligible questions, she proceeded to
rouse her still slumbering mate.
    What ailed him, we could not tell; but there was no waking him. Equally in
vain were all his dear spouse's cuffs, pinches, and other endearments; he lay
like a log, face up, and snoring away like a cavalry trumpeter.
    »Here, my good woman,« said Long Ghost, »just let me try«; and, taking the
patient right by his nose, he so lifted him bodily, into a sitting position, and
held him there until his eyes opened. When this event came to pass, Darby looked
round like one stupefied; and then, springing to his feet, backed away into a
corner, from which place we became the objects of his earnest and respectful
attention.
    »Permit me, my dear Darby, to introduce to you my esteemed friend and
comrade, Paul,« said the doctor, gallanting me up with all the grimace and
flourish imaginable. Upon this, Darby began to recover his faculties, and
surprised us not a little by talking a few words of English. So far as could be
understood, they were expressive of his having been aware that there were two
karhowrees in the neighbourhood; that he was glad to see us, and would have
something for us to eat in no time.
    How he came by his English, was explained to us before we left. Some time
previous, he had been a denizen of Papeetee, where the native language is
broidered over with the most classic sailor phrases. He seemed to be quite proud
of his residence there, and alluded to it in the same significant way in which a
provincial informs you that in his time he has resided in the capital. The old
fellow was disposed to be garrulous; but being sharp-set, we told him to get
breakfast; after which we would hear his anecdotes. While employed among the
calabashes, the strange, antiquated fondness between these old semi-savages was
really amusing. I made no doubt that they were saying to each other, »Yes, my
love« - »No, my life,« just in the same way that some young couples do at home.
    They gave us a hearty meal; and, while we were discussing its merits, they
assured us, over and over again, that they expected nothing in return for their
attentions; more: we were at liberty to stay as long as we pleased; and as long
as we did stay, their house and everything they had was no longer theirs, but
ours; still more: they themselves were our slaves - the old lady, to a degree
that was altogether superfluous. This, now, is Tahitian hospitality!
Self-immolation upon one's own hearth-stone for the benefit of the guest.
    The Polynesians carry their hospitality to an amazing extent. Let a native
of Waiurar, the westernmost part of Tahiti, make his appearance as a traveller
at Partoowye, the most easterly village of Imeeo; though a perfect stranger, the
inhabitants on all sides accost him at their doorways, inviting him to enter,
and make himself at home. But the traveller passes on, examining every house
attentively; until, at last, he pauses before one which suits him, and then
exclaiming, »Ah, ena maitai« (this one will do, I think), he steps in, and makes
himself perfectly at ease, flinging himself upon the mats, and very probably
calling for a nice young cocoa-nut, and a piece of toasted bread-fruit, sliced
thin, and done brown.
    Curious to relate, however, should a stranger carrying it thus bravely be
afterwards discovered to be without a house of his own, why, he may thenceforth
go a-begging for his lodgings. The karhowrees, or white men, are exceptions to
this rule. Thus is it precisely as in civilised countries, where those who have
houses and lands are incessantly bored to death with invitations to come and
live in other people's houses; while many a poor gentleman who inks the seams of
his coat, and to whom the like invitation would be really acceptable, may go and
sue for it. But to the credit of the ancient Tahitians, it should here be
observed that this blemish upon their hospitality is only of recent origin, and
was wholly unknown in old times. So told me Captain Bob.
    In Polynesia it is esteemed a great hit, if a man succeed in marrying into a
family to which the best part of the community is related (Heaven knows it is
otherwise with us). The reason is, that when he goes a-travelling, the greater
number of houses are the more completely at his service.
    Receiving a paternal benediction from old Darby and Joan, we continued our
journey; resolved to stop at the very next place of attraction which offered.
    Nor did we long stroll for it. A fine walk along a beach of shells, and we
came to a spot, where with trees here and there, the land was all meadow,
sloping away to the water, which stirred a sedgy growth of reeds bordering its
margin. Close by was a little cove, walled in with coral, where a fleet of
canoes was dancing up and down. A few paces distant, on a natural terrace
overlooking the sea, were several native dwellings, newly thatched, and peeping
into view out of the foliage like summer-houses.
    As we drew near, forth came a burst of voices; and presently, three gay
girls, overflowing with life, health, and youth, and full of spirits and
mischief. One was arrayed in a flaunting robe of calico; and her long black hair
was braided behind in two immense tresses, joined together at the ends, and
wreathed with the green tendrils of a vine. From her self-possessed and forward
air, I fancied she might be some young lady from Papeetee on a visit to her
country relations. Her companions wore mere slips of cotton cloth; their hair
was dishevelled; and though very pretty, they betrayed the reserve and
embarrassment characteristic of the provinces.
    The little gypsy first mentioned ran up to me with great cordiality; and
giving the Tahitian salutation, opened upon me such a fire of questions that
there was no understanding, much less answering, them. But our hearty welcome to
Loohooloo, as she called the hamlet, was made plain enough. Meanwhile, Doctor
Long Ghost gallantly presented an arm to each of the other young ladies; which,
at first, they knew not what to make of; but at last, taking it for some kind of
joke, accepted the civility.
    The names of these three damsels were at once made known by themselves; and
being so exceedingly romantic, I cannot forbear particularising them. Upon my
comrade's arms, then, were hanging Night and Morning, in the persons of
Farnowar, or the Day-Born, and Farnoopoo, or the Night-Born. She with the
tresses was very appropriately styled Marhar-Rarrar, the Wakeful, or
Bright-eyed.
    By this time, the houses were emptied of the rest of their inmates - a few
old men and women, and several strapping young fellows rubbing their eyes and
yawning. All crowded round putting questions as to whence we came. Upon being
informed of our acquaintance with Zeke, they were delighted; and one of them
recognised the boots worn by the doctor. »Keekee (Zeke) maitai,« they cried,
»nuee nuee hanna hanna portarto« (makes plenty of potatoes).
    There was now a little friendly altercation as to who should have the honour
of entertaining the strangers. At last, a tall old gentleman, by name Marharvai,
with a bald head and white beard, took us each by the hand, and led us into his
dwelling. Once inside, Marharvai, pointing about with his staff, was so
obsequious in assuring us that his house was ours, that Long Ghost suggested he
might as well hand over the deed.
    It was drawing near noon; so after a light lunch of roasted bread-fruit, a
few whiffs of a pipe, and some lively chatting, our host admonished the company
to lie down, and take the everlasting siesta. We complied; and had a social nap
all round.
 

                                 Chapter LXVIII

                            A Dinner-Party in Imeeo

It was just in the middle of the merry, mellow afternoon, that they ushered us
to dinner, underneath a green shelter of palm boughs; open all round, and so low
at the eaves that we stooped to enter.
    Within, the ground was strewn over with aromatic ferns - called nahee -
freshly gathered; which, stirred under foot, diffused the sweetest odour. On one
side was a row of yellow mats, inwrought with fibres of bark, stained a bright
red. Here, seated after the fashion of the Turk, we looked out, over a verdant
bank, upon the mild, blue, endless Pacific. So far round had we skirted the
island, that the view of Tahiti was now intercepted.
    Upon the ferns before us, were laid several layers of broad, thick pooroo
leaves, lapping over, one upon the other. And upon these were placed, side by
side, newly plucked banana leaves, at least two yards in length, and very wide:
the stalks were withdrawn, so as to make them lie flat. This green cloth was set
out and garnished, in the manner following: -
    First, a number of pooroo leaves, by way of plates, were ranged along on one
side; and by each was a rustic nut-bowl, half-filled with sea-water, and a
Tahitian roll, or small bread-fruit, roasted brown. An immense flat calabash,
placed in the centre, was heaped up with numberless small packages of moist,
steaming leaves: in each was a small fish, baked in the earth, and done to a
turn. This pyramid of a dish was flanked on either side by an ornamental
calabash. One was brimming with the golden-hued poee, or pudding, made from the
red plantain of the mountains; the other was stacked up with cakes of the Indian
turnip, previously macerated in a mortar, kneaded with the milk of the
cocoa-nut, and then baked. In the spaces between the three dishes, were piled
young cocoa-nuts, stripped of their husks. Their eyes had been opened and
enlarged; so that each was a ready-charged goblet.
    There was a sort of side-cloth in one corner, upon which, in bright buff
jackets, lay the fattest of bananas; avees, red-ripe; guavas, with the shadows
of their crimson pulp flushing through a transparent skin, and almost coming and
going there like blushes; oranges, tinged here and there, berry-brown; and great
jolly melons, which rolled about in very portliness. Such a heap! All ruddy,
ripe, and round - bursting with the good cheer of the tropical soil from which
they sprang!
    »A land of orchards!« cried the doctor, in a rapture; and he snatched a
morsel from a sort of fruit of which gentlemen of the sanguine temperament are
remarkably fond; namely, the ripe cherry lips of Miss Day-Born, who stood
looking on.
    Marharvai allotted seats to his guests; and the meal began. Thinking that
his hospitality needed some acknowledgement, I rose, and pledged him in the
vegetable wine of the cocoa-nut; merely repeating the ordinary salutation, »Yar
onor boyoee.« Sensible that some compliment, after the fashion of white men, was
paid him, with a smile, and a courteous flourish of the hand, he bade me be
seated. No people, however refined, are more easy and graceful in their manners
than the Imeeose.
    The doctor, sitting next our host, now came under his special protection.
Laying before his guest one of the packages of fish, Marharvai opened it, and
commended its contents to his particular regards. But my comrade was one of
those, who, on convivial occasions, can always take care of themselves. He ate
an indefinite number of Peehee Lee Lees (small fish), his own and next
neighbour's bread-fruit; and helped himself, to right and left, with all the
ease of an accomplished diner-out.
    »Paul,« said he, at last, »you don't seem to be getting along; why don't you
try the pepper sauce?« and, by way of example, he steeped a morsel of food into
his nutful of sea-water. On following suit, I found it quite piquant, though
rather bitter; but, on the whole, a capital substitute for salt. The Imeeose
invariably use sea-water in this way, deeming it quite a treat; and considering
that their country is surrounded by an ocean of catsup, the luxury cannot be
deemed an expensive one.
    The fish were delicious; the manner of cooking them in the ground,
preserving all the juices, and rendering them exceedingly sweet and tender. The
plaintain pudding was almost cloying; the cakes of Indian turnip, quite
palatable; and the roasted bread-fruit, crisp as toast.
    During the meal, a native lad walked round and round the party, carrying a
long staff of bamboo. This he occasionally tapped upon the cloth before each
guest; when a white clotted substance dropped forth, with a savour not unlike
that of a curd. This proved to be Lownee, an excellent relish, prepared from the
grated meat of ripe cocoa-nuts, moistened with cocoa-nut milk and salt water,
and kept perfectly tight, until a little past the saccharine stage of
fermentation.
    Throughout the repast there was much lively chatting among the islanders, in
which their conversational powers quite exceeded ours. The young ladies, too,
showed themselves very expert in the use of their tongues, and contributed much
to the gaiety which prevailed.
    Nor did these lively nymphs suffer the meal to languish; for upon the
doctor's throwing himself back, with an air of much satisfaction, they sprang to
their feet, and pelted him with oranges and guavas. This, at last, put an end to
the entertainment.
    By a hundred whimsical oddities, my long friend became a great favourite
with these people; and they bestowed upon him a long, comical title, expressive
of his lank figure and Roora combined. The latter, by the by, never failed to
excite the remark of everybody we encountered.
    The giving of nicknames is quite a passion with the people of Tahiti and
Imeeo. No one with any peculiarity, whether of person or temper, is exempt; not
even strangers.
    A pompous captain of a man-of-war, visiting Tahiti for the second time,
discovered that, among the natives, he went by the dignified title of Atee Poee
- literally, Poee Head, or Pudding Head. Nor is the highest rank among
themselves any protection. The first husband of the present queen was commonly
known in the court circles as Pot Belly. He carried the greater part of his
person before him, to be sure; and so did the gentlemanly George IV. - but what
a title for a king consort!
    Even Pomaree itself, the royal patronymic, was, originally, a mere nickname,
and literally signifies, one talking through his nose. The first monarch of that
name, being on a war party, and sleeping overnight among the mountains, awoke
one morning with a cold in his head; and some wag of a courtier had no more
manners than to vulgarise him thus.
    How different from the volatile Polynesian in this, as in all other
respects, is our grave and decorous North American Indian. While the former
bestows a name in accordance with some humorous or ignoble trait, the latter
seizes upon what is deemed the most exalted or warlike: and hence, among the red
tribes, we have the truly patrician appellations of White Eagles, Young Oaks,
Fiery Eyes, and Bended Bows.
 

                                  Chapter LXIX

                                 The Cocoa-Palm

While the doctor and the natives were taking a digestive nap after dinner, I
strolled forth to have a peep at the country which could produce so generous a
meal.
    To my surprise, a fine strip of land in the vicinity of the hamlet, and
protected seaward by a grove of cocoa-nut and bread-fruit trees, was under high
cultivation. Sweet potatoes, Indian turnips, and yams were growing; also melons,
a few pine-apples, and other fruits. Still more pleasing was the sight of young
bread-fruit and cocoa-nut trees set out with great care, as if, for once, the
improvident Polynesian had thought of his posterity. But this was the only
instance of native thrift which ever came under my observation. For, in all my
rambles over Tahiti and Imeeo, nothing so much struck me as the comparative
scarcity of these trees in many places where they ought to abound. Entire
valleys, like Martair, of inexhaustible fertility, are abandoned to all the
rankness of untamed vegetation. Alluvial flats bordering the sea, and watered by
streams from the mountains, are overgrown with a wild, scrub guava-bush,
introduced by foreigners, and which spreads with such fatal rapidity that the
natives, standing still while it grows, anticipate its covering the entire
island. Even tracts of clear land, which, with so little pains, might be made to
wave with orchards, lie wholly neglected.
    When I considered their unequalled soil and climate, thus unaccountably
slighted, I often turned in amazement upon the natives about Papeetee; some of
whom all but starve in their gardens run to waste. Upon other islands which I
have visited, of similar fertility, and wholly unreclaimed from their
first-discovered condition, no spectacle of this sort was presented.
    The high estimation in which many of their fruit-trees are held by the
Tahitians and Imeeose - their beauty in the landscape - their manifold uses, and
the facility with which they are propagated, are considerations which render the
remissness alluded to still more unaccountable. The cocoa-palm is an example; a
tree by far the most important production of Nature in the Tropics. To the
Polynesian it is emphatically the Tree of Life; transcending even the
bread-fruit in the multifarious uses to which it is applied.
    Its very aspect is imposing. Asserting its supremacy by an erect and lofty
bearing, it may be said to compare with other trees as man with inferior
creatures.
    The blessings it confers are incalculable. Year after year, the islander
reposes beneath its shade, both eating and drinking of its fruit; he thatches
his hut with its boughs, and weaves them into baskets to carry his food; he
cools himself with a fan plaited from the young leaflets, and shields his head
from the sun by a bonnet of the leaves; sometimes he clothes himself with the
cloth-like substance which wraps round the base of the stalks, whose elastic
rods, strung with filberts, are used as a taper; the larger nuts, thinned and
polished, furnish him with a beautiful goblet; the smaller ones, with bowls for
his pipes; the dry husks kindle his fires; their fibres are twisted into
fishing-lines and cords for his canoes; he heals his wounds with a balsam
compounded from the juice of the nut; and with the oil extracted from its meat
embalms the bodies of the dead.
    The noble trunk itself is far from being valueless. Sawn into posts, it
upholds the islander's dwelling; converted into charcoal, it cooks his food; and
supported on blocks of stones, rails in his lands. He impels his canoe through
the water with a paddle of the wood, and goes to battle with clubs and spears of
the same hard material.
    In pagan Tahiti, a cocoa-nut branch was the symbol of regal authority. Laid
upon the sacrifice in the temple, it made the offering sacred; and with it the
priests chastised and put to flight the evil spirits which assailed them. The
supreme majesty of Oro, the great god of their mythology, was declared in the
cocoa-nut log from which his image was rudely carved. Upon one of the Tonga
Islands, there stands a living tree revered itself as a deity. Even upon the
Sandwich Islands, the cocoa-palm retains all its ancient reputation; the people
there having thought of adopting it as the national emblem.
    The cocoa-nut is planted as follows: Selecting a suitable place, you drop
into the ground a fully ripe nut, and leave it. In a few days, a thin,
lance-like shoot forces itself through a minute hole in the shell, pierces the
husk, and soon unfolds three pale-green leaves in the air; while originating, in
the same soft white sponge which now completely fills the nut, a pair of fibrous
roots, pushing away the stoppers which close two holes in an opposite direction,
penetrate the shell, and strike vertically into the ground. A day or two more,
and the shell and husk which, in the last and germinating stage of the nut, are
so hard that a knife will scarcely make any impression, spontaneously burst by
some force within; and, henceforth, the hardy young plant thrives apace; and
needing no culture, pruning, or attention of any sort, rapidly arrives at
maturity. In four or five years it bears; in twice as many more, it begins to
lift its head among the groves, where, waxing strong, it flourishes for near a
century.
    Thus, as some voyager has said, the man who but drops one of these nuts into
the ground, may be said to confer a greater and more certain benefit upon
himself and posterity than many a life's toil in less genial climes.
    The fruitfulness of the tree is remarkable. As long as it lives, it bears;
and without intermission. Two hundred nuts, besides innumerable white blossoms
of others, may be seen upon it at one time; and though a whole year is required
to bring any one of them to the germinating point, no two, perhaps, are at one
time in precisely the same stage of growth.
    The tree delights in a maritime situation. In its greatest perfection, it is
perhaps found right on the seashore, where its roots are actually washed. But
such instances are only met with upon islands where the swell of the sea is
prevented from breaking on the beach by an encircling reef. No saline flavour is
perceptible in the nut produced in such a place. Although it bears in any soil,
whether upland or bottom, it does not flourish vigorously inland; and I have
frequently observed, that when met with far up the valleys, its tall stem
inclines seaward, as if pining after a more genial region.
    It is a curious fact, that, if you deprive the cocoa- tree of the verdant
tuft at its head, it dies at once; and if allowed to stand thus, the trunk,
which, when alive, is encased in so hard a bark as to be almost impervious to a
bullet, moulders away, and, in an incredibly short period, becomes dust. This
is, perhaps, partly owing to the peculiar constitution of the trunk, a mere
cylinder of minute hollow reeds, closely packed, and very hard; but, when
exposed at top, peculiarly fitted to convey moisture and decay through the
entire stem.
    The finest orchard of cocoa-palms I know, and the only plantation of them I
ever saw at the islands, is one that stands right upon the southern shore of
Papeetee Bay. They were set out by the first Pomaree, almost half a century ago;
and the soil being especially adapted to their growth, the noble trees now form
a magnificent grove, nearly a mile in extent. No other plant, scarcely a bush,
is to be seen within its precincts. The Broom Road passes through its entire
length.
    At noonday, this grove is one of the most beautiful, serene, witching places
that ever was seen. High overhead are ranges of green rustling arches; through
which the sun's rays come down to you in sparkles. You seem to be wandering
through illimitable halls of pillars; everywhere you catch glimpses of stately
aisles, intersecting each other at all points. A strange silence, too, reigns
far and near; the air flushed with the mellow stillness of a sunset.
    But after the long morning calms, the sea-breeze comes in; and creeping over
the tops of these thousand trees, they nod their plumes. Soon the breeze
freshens; and you hear the branches brushing against each other; and the
flexible trunks begin to sway. Toward evening the whole grove is rocking to and
fro; and the traveller on the Broom Road is startled by the frequent falling of
the nuts, snapped from their brittle stems. They come flying through the air,
ringing like jugglers' balls; and often bound along the ground for many rods.
 

                                  Chapter LXX

                               Life at Loohooloo

Finding the society at Loohooloo very pleasant, the young ladies, in particular,
being extremely sociable; and, moreover, in love with the famous good cheer of
old Marharvai, we acquiesced in an invitation of his to tarry a few days longer.
We might then, he said, join a small canoe party which was going to a place a
league or two distant. So averse to all exertion are these people, that they
really thought the prospect of thus getting rid of a few miles' walking, would
prevail with us, even if there were no other inducement.
    The people of the hamlet, as we soon discovered, formed a snug little
community of cousins; of which our host seemed the head. Marharvai, in truth,
was a petty chief, who owned the neighbouring lands. And as the wealthy, in most
cases, rejoice in a numerous kindred, the family footing upon which everybody
visited him was, perhaps, ascribable to the fact of his being the lord of the
manor. Like Captain Bob, he was, in some things, a gentleman of the old school -
a stickler for the customs of a past and pagan age.
    Nowhere else, except in Tamai, did we find the manners of the natives less
vitiated by recent changes. The old-fashioned Tahitian dinner they gave us on
the day of our arrival was a fair example of their general mode of living.
    Our time passed delightfully. The doctor went his way, and I mine. With a
pleasant companion, he was forever strolling inland, ostensibly to collect
botanical specimens; while I, for the most part, kept near the sea; sometimes
taking the girls an aquatic excursion in a canoe.
    Often we went fishing; not dozing over stupid hooks and lines, but leaping
right into the water, and chasing our prey over the coral rocks, spear in hand.
    Spearing fish is glorious sport. The Imeeose, all round the island, catch
them in no other way; the smooth shallows between the reef and the shore, and,
at low water, the reef itself, being admirably adapted to this mode of capturing
them. At almost any time of the day - save ever the sacred hour of noon - you
may see the fish-hunters pursuing their sport; with loud halloos, brandishing
their spears, and splashing through the water in all directions. Sometimes a
solitary native is seen, far out upon a lonely shallow, wading slowly along,
with eye intent and poised spear.
    But the best sport of all, is going out upon the great reef itself by
torch-light. The natives follow this recreation with as much spirit as a
gentleman of England does the chase; and take full as much delight in it.
    The torch is nothing more than a bunch of dry reeds, bound firmly together:
the spear, a long, light pole, with an iron head, on one side barbed.
    I shall never forget the night that old Marharvai and the rest of us,
paddling off to the reef, leaped at midnight upon the coral ledges with waving
torches and spears. We were more than a mile from the land; the sullen ocean,
thundering upon the outside of the rocks, dashed the spray in our faces, almost
extinguishing the flambeaux; and, far as the eye could reach, the darkness of
sky and water was streaked with a long, misty line of foam, marking the course
of the coral barrier. The wild fishermen, flourishing their weapons, and yelling
like so many demons to scare their prey, sprang from ledge to ledge, and
sometimes darted their spears in the very midst of the breakers.
    But fish-spearing was not the only sport we had at Loohooloo. Right on the
beach was a mighty old cocoa-nut tree, the roots of which had been underwashed
by the waves, so that the trunk inclined far over its base. From the tuft of the
tree a stout cord of bark depended, the end of which swept the water several
yards from the shore. This was a Tahitian swing. A native lad seizes hold of the
cord, and, after swinging to and fro quite leisurely, all at once sends himself
fifty or sixty feet from the water, rushing through the air like a rocket. I
doubt whether any of our rope-dancers would attempt the feat. For my own part, I
had neither head nor heart for it; so, after sending a lad aloft with an
additional cord, by way of security, I constructed a large basket of green
boughs, in which I and some particular friends of mine used to swing over sea
and land by the hour.
 

                                  Chapter LXXI

                               We Start for Taloo

Bright was the morning, and brighter still the smiles of the young ladies who
accompanied us, when we sprang into a sort of family canoe - wide and roomy -
and bade adieu to the hospitable Marharvai and his tenantry. As we paddled away,
they stood upon the beach, waving their hands, and crying out, »Aroha! aroha!«
(farewell! farewell!) as long as we were within hearing.
    Very sad at parting with them, we endeavoured, nevertheless, to console
ourselves in the society of our fellow-passengers. Among these were two old
ladies; but as they said nothing to us, we will say nothing about them; nor
anything about the old men who managed the canoe. But of the three mischievous,
dark-eyed young witches, who lounged in the stern of that comfortable old island
gondola, I have a great deal to say.
    In the first place, one of them was Marhar-Rarrar, the Bright-eyed; and, in
the second place, neither she nor the romps, her companions, ever dreamed of
taking the voyage, until the doctor and myself announced our intention; their
going along was nothing more than a madcap frolic; in short, they were a parcel
of wicked hoydens, bent on mischief, who laughed in your face when you looked
sentimental, and only tolerated your company when making merry at your expense.
    Something or other about us was perpetually awaking their mirth. Attributing
this to his own remarkable figure, the doctor increased their enjoyment, by
assuming the part of a Merry Andrew. Yet his cap and bells never jingled but to
some tune; and while playing the Tom-fool, I more than suspected that he was
trying to play the rake. At home, it is deemed auspicious to go a-wooing in
epaulets; but among the Polynesians, your best dress in courting is motley.
    A fresh breeze springing up, we set our sail of matting, and glided along as
tranquilly as if floating upon an inland stream; the white reef on one hand, and
the green shore on the other.
    Soon as we turned a headland, we encountered another canoe, paddling with
might and main in an opposite direction; the strangers shouting to each other,
and a tall fellow in the bow dancing up and down like a crazy man. They shot by
us like an arrow, though our fellow-voyagers shouted again and again for them to
cease paddling.
    According to the natives, this was a kind of royal mail-canoe, carrying a
message from the queen to her friends in a distant part of the island.
    Passing several shady bowers which looked quite inviting, we proposed
touching, and diversifying the monotony of a sea-voyage by a stroll ashore. So,
forcing our canoe among the bushes, behind a decayed palm, lying partly in the
water, we left the old folks to take a nap in the shade, and gallanted the
others among the trees, which were here trellised with vines and creeping
shrubs.
    In the early part of the afternoon, we drew near the place to which the
party were going. It was a solitary house, inhabited by four or five old women,
who, when we entered, were gathered in a circle about the mats, eating poee from
a cracked calabash. They seemed delighted at seeing our companions, but rather
drew up when introduced to ourselves. Eyeing us distrustfully, they whispered to
know who we were. The answers they received were not satisfactory; for they
treated us with marked coolness and reserve, and seemed desirous of breaking off
our acquaintance with the girls. Unwilling, therefore, to stay where our company
was disagreeable, we resolved to depart without even eating a meal.
    Informed of this, Marhar-Rarrar and her companions evinced the most lively
concern; and equally unmindful of their former spirits, and the remonstrances of
the old ladies, broke forth into sobs and lamentations which were not to be
withstood. We agreed, therefore, to tarry until they left for home; which would
be at the Aheharar, or Falling of the Sun; in other words, at sunset.
    When the hour arrived, after much leave-taking, we saw them safely embarked.
As the canoe turned a bluff, they seized the paddles from the hands of the old
men, and waved them silently in the air. This was meant for a touching farewell,
as the paddle is only waved thus, when the parties separating never more expect
to meet.
    We now continued our journey; and following the beach, soon came to a level
and lofty overhanging bank, which, planted here and there with trees, took a
broad sweep round a considerable part of the island. A fine pathway skirted the
edge of the bank; and often we paused to admire the scenery. The evening was
still and fair, even for so heavenly a climate; and all round, far as the eye
could reach, was the blending blue sky and ocean.
    As we went on, the reef-belt still accompanied us; turning as we turned, and
thundering its distant bass upon the ear, like the unbroken roar of a cataract.
Dashing forever against their coral rampart, the breakers looked, in the
distance, like a line of rearing white chargers, reined in, tossing their white
manes, and bridling with foam.
    These great natural breakwaters are admirably designed for the protection of
this land. Nearly all the Society Islands are defended by them. Were the vast
swells of the Pacific to break against the soft alluvial bottoms which in many
places border the sea, the soil would soon be washed away, and the natives be
thus deprived of their most productive lands. As it is, the banks of no rivulet
are firmer.
    But the coral barriers answer another purpose. They form all the harbours of
this group, including the twenty-four round about the shores of Tahiti.
Curiously enough, the openings in the reefs, by which alone vessels enter to
their anchorage, are invariably opposite the mouths of running streams: an
advantage fully appreciated by the mariner who touches for the purpose of
watering his ship.
    It is said, that the fresh water of the land, mixing with the salts held in
solution by the sea, so acts upon the latter, as to resist the formation of the
coral; and hence the breaks. Here and there, these openings are sentinelled, as
it were, by little fairy islets, green as emerald, and waving with palms.
Strangely and beautifully diversifying the long line of breakers, no objects can
strike the fancy more vividly. Pomaree II., with a taste in watering-places
truly Tahitian, selected one of them as a royal retreat. We passed it on our
journey.
    Omitting several further adventures which befell us after leaving the party
from Loohooloo, we must now hurry on to relate what happened just before
reaching the place of our destination.
 

                                 Chapter LXXII

                           A Dealer in the Contraband

It must have been at least the tenth day, reckoning from the Hegira, that we
found ourselves the guests of Varvy, an old hermit of an islander, who kept
house by himself, perhaps a couple of leagues from Taloo.
    A stone's cast from the beach there was a fantastic rock, moss-grown, and
deep in a dell. It was insulated by a shallow brook, which, dividing its waters,
flowed on both sides until united below. Twisting its roots round the rock, a
gnarled Aoa spread itself overhead in a wilderness of foliage; the elastic
branch-roots depending from the larger boughs insinuating themselves into every
cleft, thus forming supports to the parent stem. In some places, these pendulous
branches, half-grown, had not yet reached the rock; swinging their loose fibrous
ends in the air like whiplashes.
    Varvy's hut, a mere coop of bamboos, was perched upon a level part of the
rock, the ridge-pole resting at one end in a crotch of the Aoa, and the other
propped by a forked bough planted in a fissure.
    Notwithstanding our cries as we drew near, the first hint the old hermit
received of our approach was the doctor's stepping up and touching his shoulder,
as he was kneeling over on a stone cleaning fish in the brook. He leaped up, and
stared at us. But with a variety of uncouth gestures, he soon made us welcome;
informing us, by the same means, that he was both deaf and dumb; he then
motioned us into his dwelling.
    Going in, we threw ourselves upon an old mat, and peered round. The soiled
bamboos and calabashes looked so uninviting, that the doctor was for pushing on
to Taloo that night, notwithstanding it was near sunset. But at length we
concluded to stay where we were.
    After a good deal of bustling outside under a decrepit shed, the old man
made his appearance with our supper. In one hand he held a flickering taper, and
in the other a huge, flat calabash, scantily filled with viands. His eyes were
dancing in his head, and he looked from the calabash to us, and from us to the
calabash, as much as to say, »Ah, my lads, what do ye think of this, eh? Pretty
good cheer, eh?« But the fish and Indian turnip being none of the best, we made
but a sorry meal. While discussing it, the old man tried hard to make himself
understood by signs; most of which were so excessively ludicrous that we made no
doubt he was perpetrating a series of pantomimic jokes.
    The remnants of the feast removed, our host left us for a moment, returning
with a calabash of portly dimensions, and furnished with a long hooked neck, the
mouth of which was stopped with a wooden plug. It was covered with particles of
earth, and looked as if just taken from some place underground.
    With sundry winks and horrible giggles, peculiar to the dumb, the vegetable
demijohn was now tapped; the old fellow looking round cautiously, and pointing
at it; as much as to intimate that it contained something which was taboo, or
forbidden.
    Aware that intoxicating liquors were strictly prohibited to the natives, we
now watched our entertainer with much interest. Charging a cocoa-nut shell, he
tossed it off, and then filling it up again, presented the goblet to me.
Disliking the smell, I made faces at it; upon which he became highly excited; so
much so, that a miracle was wrought upon the spot. Snatching the cup from my
hands, he shouted out, »Ah, karhowree sabbee lee-lee, ena arva tee maitai!« in
other words, What a blockhead of a white man! this is the real stuff!
    We could not have been more startled, had a frog leaped from his mouth. For
an instant, he looked confused enough himself; and then, placing a finger
mysteriously upon his mouth, he contrived to make us understand, that at times
he was subject to a suspension of the powers of speech.
    Deeming the phenomenon a remarkable one, every way, the doctor desired him
to open his mouth, so that he might have a look down. But he refused.
    This occurrence made us rather suspicious of our host; nor could we
afterwards account for his conduct, except by supposing that his feigning
deafness might in some way or other assist him in the nefarious pursuits in
which it afterwards turned out that he was engaged. This conclusion, however, was
not altogether satisfactory.
    To oblige him, we at last took a sip of his arva tee, and found it very
crude, and strong as Lucifer. Curious to know whence it was obtained, we
questioned him; when, lighting up with pleasure, he seized the taper, and led us
outside the hut, bidding us follow.
    After going some distance through the woods, we came to a dismantled old
shed of boughs, apparently abandoned to decay. Underneath, nothing was to be
seen but heaps of decaying leaves and an immense, clumsy jar, wide-mouthed, and,
by some means, rudely hollowed out from a ponderous stone.
    Here, for a while, we were left to ourselves; the old man placing the light
in the jar, and then disappearing. He returned, carrying a long, large bamboo,
and a crotched stick. Throwing these down, he poked under a pile of rubbish, and
brought out a rough block of wood, pierced through and through with a hole,
which was immediately clapped on top of the jar. Then planting the crotched
stick upright about two yards distant, and making it sustain one end of the
bamboo, he inserted the other end of the latter into the hole in the block;
concluding these arrangements by placing an old calabash under the farther end
of the bamboo.
    Coming up to us now with a sly, significant look, and pointing admiringly at
his apparatus, he exclaimed, »Ah, karhowree, ena hannahanna arva tee!« as much
as to say, »This, you see, is the way it 's done.«
    His contrivance was nothing less than a native still, where he manufactured
his island poteen. The disarray in which we found it was probably intentional,
as a security against detection. Before we left the shed, the old fellow toppled
the whole concern over, and dragged it away piecemeal.
    His disclosing his secret to us thus was characteristic of the Tootai
Owrees, or contemners of the missionaries among the natives; who, presuming that
all foreigners are opposed to the ascendency of the missionaries, take pleasure
in making them confidants, whenever the enactments of their rulers are secretly
set at nought.
    The substance from which the liquor is produced is called Tee, which is a
large, fibrous root, something like a yam, but smaller. In its green state, it
is exceedingly acrid; but boiled or baked, has the sweetness of the sugar-cane.
After being subjected to the fire, macerated and reduced to a certain stage of
fermentation, the Tee is stirred up with water, and is then ready for
distillation.
    On returning to the hut, pipes were introduced; and, after a while, Long
Ghost, who, at first, had relished the arva tee as little as myself, to my
surprise, began to wax sociable over it with Varvy; and before long absolutely
got mellow, the old toper keeping him company.
    It was a curious sight. Everyone knows, that, so long as the occasion lasts,
there is no stronger bond of sympathy and good feeling among men than getting
tipsy together. And how earnestly, nay, movingly, a brace of worthies thus
employed will endeavour to shed light upon and elucidate their mystical ideas!
    Fancy Varvy and the doctor, then, lovingly tippling, and brimming over with
a desire to become better acquainted; the doctor politely bent upon carrying on
the conversation in the language of his host, and the old hermit persisting in
trying to talk English. The result was, that between the two, they made such a
fricassee of vowels and consonants, that it was enough to turn one's brain.
    The next morning, on waking, I heard a voice from the tombs. It was the
doctor solemnly pronouncing himself a dead man. He was sitting up, with both
hands clasped over his forehead, and his pale face a thousand times paler than
ever.
    »That infernal stuff has murdered me!« he cried. »Heavens! my head 's all
wheels and springs, like the automaton chess-player! What 's to be done, Paul? I
'm poisoned.«
    But, after drinking an herbal draught concocted by our host, and eating a
light meal at noon, he felt much better; so much so, that he declared himself
ready to continue our journey.
    When we came to start, the Yankee's boots were missing; and, after a
diligent search, were not to be found. Enraged beyond measure, their proprietor
said that Varvy must have stolen them; but, considering his hospitality, I
thought this extremely improbable, though to whom else to impute the theft I
knew not. The doctor maintained, however, that one who was capable of drugging
an innocent traveller with arva tee was capable of anything.
    But it was in vain that he stormed, and Varvy and I searched; the boots were
gone.
    Were it not for this mysterious occurrence, and Varvy's detestable liquors,
I would here recommend all travellers going round by the beach to Partoowye to
stop at the Rock and patronise the old gentleman - the more especially as he
entertains gratis.
 

                                 Chapter LXXIII

                           Our Reception in Partoowye

Upon starting, at last, I flung away my sandals - by this time quite worn out -
with the view of keeping company with the doctor, now forced to go barefooted.
Recovering his spirits in good time, he protested that boots were a bore after
all, and going without them decidedly manly.
    This was said, be it observed, while strolling along over a soft carpet of
grass; a little moist, even at midday, from the shade of the wood through which
we were passing.
    Emerging from this we entered upon a blank, sandy tract, upon which the
sun's rays fairly flashed; making the loose gravel under foot well-nigh as hot
as the floor of an oven. Such yelling and leaping as there was in getting over
this ground would be hard to surpass. We could not have crossed at all - until
toward sunset - had it not been for a few small, wiry bushes growing here and
there, into which we every now and then thrust our feet to cool. There was no
little judgment necessary in selecting your bush; for if not chosen judiciously,
the chances were that, on springing forward again, and finding the next bush so
far off, that an intermediate cooling was indispensable, you would have to run
back to your old place again.
    Safely passing the Sahara, or Fiery Desert, we soothed our half-blistered
feet by a pleasant walk through a meadow of long grass, which soon brought us in
sight of a few straggling houses, sheltered by a grove on the outskirts of the
village of Partoowye.
    My comrade was for entering the first one we came to; but, on drawing near,
they had so much of an air of pretension, at least for native dwellings, that I
hesitated; thinking they might be the residences of the higher chiefs, from whom
no very extravagant welcome was to be anticipated.
    While standing irresolute, a voice from the nearest house hailed us:
»Aramai! aramai, karhowree!« (Come in! come in, strangers!)
    We at once entered, and were warmly greeted. The master of the house was an
aristocratic-looking islander, dressed in loose linen drawers, a fine white
shirt, and a sash of red silk tied about the waist, after the fashion of the
Spaniards in Chili. He came up to us with a free, frank air, and, striking his
chest with his hand, introduced himself as Ereemear Po-Po; or to render the
Christian name back again into English - Jeremiah Po-Po.
    These curious combinations of names, among the people of the Society
Islands, originate in the following way. When a native is baptized, his
patronymic often gives offence to the missionaries, and they insist upon
changing to something else whatever is objectionable therein. So, when Jeremiah
came to the font, and gave his name as Narmo-Nana Po-Po (something equivalent to
The-Darer-of-Devils-by-Night), the reverend gentleman officiating told him that
such a heathenish appellation would never do, and a substitute must be had; at
least for the devil part of it. Some highly respectable Christian appellations
were then submitted, from which the candidate for admission into the church was
at liberty to choose. There was Adamo (Adam), Nooar (Noah), Daveedar (David),
Earcobar (James), Eorna (John), Patoora (Peter), Ereemear (Jeremiah), etc. And
thus did he come to be named Jeremiah Po-Po; or, Jeremiah-in-the-Dark - which he
certainly was, I fancy, as to the ridiculousness of his new cognomen.
    We gave our names in return; upon which he bade us be seated; and, sitting
down himself, asked us a great many questions, in mixed English and Tahitian.
After giving some directions to an old man to prepare food, our host's wife, a
large, benevolent-looking woman, upwards of forty, also sat down by us. In our
soiled and travel-stained appearance, the good lady seemed to find abundant
matter for commiseration; and all the while kept looking at us piteously, and
making mournful exclamations.
    But Jeremiah and his spouse were not the only inmates of the mansion.
    In one corner, upon a large native couch, elevated upon posts, reclined a
nymph; who, half-veiled in her own long hair, had yet to make her toilet for the
day. She was the daughter of Po-Po; and a very beautiful little daughter she
was; not more than fourteen; with the most delightful shape - like a bud just
blown; and large hazel eyes. They called her Loo: a name rather pretty and
genteel, and, therefore, quite appropriate; for a more genteel and lady-like
little damsel there was not in all Imeeo.
    She was a cold and haughty young beauty though, this same little Loo, and
never deigned to notice us; further than now and then to let her eyes float over
our persons, with an expression of indolent indifference. With the tears of the
Loohooloo girls hardly dry from their sobbing upon our shoulders, this
contemptuous treatment stung us not a little.
    When we first entered, Po-Po was raking smooth the carpet of dried ferns
which had that morning been newly laid; and now that our meal was ready, it was
spread on a banana leaf, right upon this fragrant floor. Here we lounged at our
ease; eating baked pig and bread-fruit off earthen plates, and using, for the
first time in many a long month, real knives and forks.
    These, as well as other symptoms of refinement, somewhat abated our surprise
at the reserve of the little Loo: her parents, doubtless, were magnates in
Partoowye, and she herself was an heiress.
    After being informed of our stay in the vale of Martair, they were very
curious to know on what errand we came to Taloo. We merely hinted that the ship
lying in the harbour was the reason of our coming.
    Arfretee, Po-Po's wife, was a right motherly body. The meal over, she
recommended a nap; and upon our waking much refreshed, she led us to the
doorway, and pointed down among the trees; through which we saw the gleam of
water. Taking the hint, we repaired thither; and finding a deep shaded pool,
bathed, and returned to the house. Our hostess now sat down by us; and after
looking with great interest at the doctor's cloak, felt of my own soiled and
tattered garments for the hundredth time, and exclaimed plaintively - »Ah nuee
nuee olee manee! olee manee!« (Alas! they are very, very old! very old!)
    When Arfretee, good soul, thus addressed us, she thought she was talking
very respectable English. The word nuee is so familiar to foreigners throughout
Polynesia, and is so often used by them in their intercourse with the natives,
that the latter suppose it to be common to all mankind. Olee manee is the native
pronunciation of old man, which, by Society Islanders talking Saxon, is applied
indiscriminately to all aged things and persons whatsoever.
    Going to a chest filled with various European articles, she took out two
suits of new sailor frocks and trousers; and presenting them with a gracious
smile, pushed us behind a calico screen, and left us. Without any fastidious
scruples, we donned the garments; and what with the meal, the nap, and the bath,
we now came forth like a couple of bridegrooms.
    Evening drawing on, lamps were lighted. They were very simple; the half of a
green melon, about one-third full of cocoa-nut oil, and a wick of twisted tappa
floating on the surface. As a night lamp, this contrivance cannot be excelled; a
soft dreamy light being shed through the transparent rind.
    As the evening advanced, other members of the household, whom as yet we had
not seen, began to drop in. There was a slender young dandy in a gay striped
shirt, and whole fathoms of bright figured calico tucked about his waist, and
falling to the ground. He wore a new straw hat, also, with three distinct
ribbons tied about the crown; one black, one green, and one pink. Shoes or
stockings, however, he had none.
    There were a couple of delicate, olive-cheeked little girls - twins - with
mild eyes and beautiful hair, who ran about the house, half-naked, like a couple
of gazelles. They had a brother, somewhat younger - a fine dark boy, with an eye
like a woman's. All these were the children of Po-Po, begotten in lawful
wedlock.
    Then there were two or three queer-looking old ladies, who wore shabby
mantles of soiled sheeting, which fitted so badly, and withal had such a
second-hand look, that I at once put their wearers down as domestic paupers -
poor relations, supported by the bounty of My Lady Arfretee. They were sad, meek
old bodies; said little and ate less; and either kept their eyes on the ground,
or lifted them up deferentially. The semi-civilisation of the island must have
had something to do with making them what they were.
    I had almost forgotten Monee, the grinning old man who prepared our meal.
His head was a shining, bald globe. He had a round little paunch, and legs like
a cat. He was Po-Po's factotum - cook, butler, and climber of the bread-fruit
and cocoa-nut trees; and, added to all else, a mighty favourite with his
mistress; with whom he would sit smoking and gossiping by the hour.
    Often you saw the indefatigable Monee working away at a great rate; then
dropping his employment all at once - never mind what - run off to a little
distance, and after rolling himself away in a corner and taking a nap, jump up
again, and fall to with fresh vigour.
    From a certain something in the behaviour of Po-Po and his household, I was
led to believe that he was a pillar of the church; though, from what I had seen
in Tahiti, I could hardly reconcile such a supposition with his frank, cordial,
unembarrassed air. But I was not wrong in my conjecture: Po-Po turned out to be
a sort of elder, or deacon; he was also accounted a man of wealth, and was
nearly related to a high chief.
    Before retiring, the entire household gathered upon the floor; and in their
midst, he read aloud a chapter from a Tahitian Bible. Then kneeling with the
rest of us, he offered up a prayer. Upon its conclusion, all separated without
speaking. These devotions took place regularly, every night and morning. Grace,
too, was invariably said by this family, both before and after eating.
    After becoming familiarised with the almost utter destitution of anything
like practical piety upon these islands, what I observed in our host's house
astonished me much. But whatever others might have been, Po-Po was, in truth, a
Christian: the only one, Arfretee excepted, whom I personally knew to be such,
among all the natives of Polynesia.
 

                                 Chapter LXXIV

                Retiring for the Night - the Doctor Grows Devout

They put us to bed very pleasantly.
    Lying across the foot of Po-Po's nuptial couch was a smaller one, made of
Koar-wood; a thin, strong cord, twisted from the fibres of the husk of the
cocoa-nut, and woven into an exceedingly light sort of net-work, forming its
elastic body. Spread upon this was a single, fine mat, with a roll of dried
ferns for a pillow, and a strip of white tappa for a sheet. This couch was mine.
The doctor was provided for in another corner.
    Loo reposed alone on a little settee with a taper burning by her side; the
dandy, her brother, swinging overhead in a sailor's hammock. The two gazelles
frisked upon a mat near by; and the indigent relations borrowed a scant corner
of the old butler's pallet, who snored away by the open door. After all had
retired, Po-Po placed the illuminated melon in the middle of the apartment; and
so, we all slumbered till morning.
    Upon awaking, the sun was streaming brightly through the open bamboos, but
no one was stirring. After surveying the fine attitudes, into which
forgetfulness had thrown at least one of the sleepers, my attention was called
off to the general aspect of the dwelling, which was quite significant of the
superior circumstances of our host.
    The house itself was built in the simple, but tasteful native style. It was
a long, regular oval, some fifty feet in length, with low sides of cane-work,
and a roof thatched with palmetto-leaves. The ridge-pole was, perhaps, twenty
feet from the ground. There was no foundation whatever; the bare earth being
merely covered with ferns; a kind of carpeting which serves very well, if
frequently renewed; otherwise, it becomes dusty, and the haunt of vermin, as in
the huts of the poorer natives.
    Besides the couches, the furniture consisted of three or four sailor chests;
in which were stored the fine wearing-apparel of the household - the ruffled
linen shirts of Po-Po, the calico dresses of his wife and children, and divers
odds and ends of European articles - strings of beads, ribbons, Dutch
looking-glasses, knives, coarse prints, bunches of keys, bits of crockery, and
metal buttons. One of these chests - used as a bandbox by Arfretee - contained
several of the native hats (coal-scuttles), all of the same pattern, but trimmed
with variously coloured ribbons. Of nothing was our good hostess more proud than
of these hats, and her dresses. On Sundays, she went abroad a dozen times; and
every time, like Queen Elizabeth, in a different robe.
    Po-Po, for some reason or other, always gave us our meals before the rest of
the family were served; and the doctor, who was very discerning in such matters,
declared that we fared much better than they. Certain it was, that had
Ereemear's guests travelled with purses, portmanteaux, and letters of
introduction to the queen, they could not have been better cared for.
    The day after our arrival, Monee, the old butler, brought us in for dinner a
small pig, baked in the ground. All savoury, it lay in a wooden trencher,
surrounded by roasted hemispheres of the bread-fruit. A large calabash, filled
with taro pudding, or poee, followed; and the young dandy, overcoming his
customary languor, threw down our cocoa-nuts from an adjoining tree.
    When all was ready, and the household looking on, Long Ghost, devoutly
clasping his hands over the fated pig, implored a blessing. Hereupon, everybody
present looked exceedingly pleased; Po-Po coming up and addressing the doctor
with much warmth; and Arfretee, regarding him with almost maternal affection,
exclaimed delightedly, »Ah! mickonaree tata matai!« in other words, »What a
pious young man!«
    It was just after this meal that she brought me a roll of grass sinnate (of
the kind which sailors sew into the frame of their tarpaulins), and then,
handing me a needle and thread, bade me begin at once, and make myself the hat
which I so much needed. An accomplished hand at the business, I finished it that
day - merely stitching the braid together; and Arfretee, by way of rewarding my
industry, with her own olive hands ornamented, the crown with a band of
flame-coloured ribbon; the two long ends of which streaming behind,
sailor-fashion, still preserved for me the Eastern title bestowed by Long Ghost.
 

                                  Chapter LXXV

                        A Ramble Through the Settlement

The following morning, making our toilets carefully, we donned our sombreros,
and sallied out on a tour. Without meaning to reveal our designs upon the court,
our principal object was, to learn what chances there were for white men to
obtain employment under the queen. On this head, it is true, we had questioned
Po-Po; but his answers had been very discouraging; so we determined to obtain
further information elsewhere.
    But, first, to give some little description of the village.
    The settlement of Partoowye is nothing more than some eighty houses,
scattered here and there, in the midst of an immense grove, where the trees have
been thinned out and the underbrush cleared away. Through the grove flows a
stream; and the principal avenue crosses it, over an elastic bridge of cocoa-nut
trunks, laid together side by side. The avenue is broad and serpentine; well
shaded from one end to the other, and as pretty a place for a morning promenade
as any lounger could wish. The houses, constructed without the slightest regard
to the road, peep into view from among the trees on either side; some looking
you right in the face as you pass, and others, without any manners, turning
their backs. Occasionally, you observe a rural retreat, enclosed by a picket of
bamboos, or with a solitary pane of glass massively framed in the broadside of
the dwelling, or with a rude, strange-looking door, swinging upon dislocated
wooden hinges. Otherwise, the dwellings are built in the original style of the
natives; and never mind how mean and filthy some of them may appear within, they
all look picturesque enough without.
    As we sauntered along, the people we met saluted us pleasantly, and invited
us into their houses; and in this way we made a good many brief morning calls.
But the hour could not have been the fashionable one in Partoowye, since the
ladies were invariably in dishabille. However, they in all cases gave us a
cordial reception, and were particularly polite to the doctor; caressing him,
and amorously hanging about his neck; wonderfully taken up, in short, with a gay
handkerchief he wore there. Arfretee had that morning bestowed it upon the pious
youth.
    With some exceptions, the general appearance of the natives of Partoowye was
far better than that of the inhabitants of Papeetee: a circumstance only to be
imputed to their restricted intercourse with foreigners.
    Strolling on, we turned a sweep of the road, when the doctor gave a start;
and no wonder. Right before us, in the grove, was a block of houses: regular
square frames, boarded over, furnished with windows and doorways, and two
stories high. We ran up and found them fast going to decay; very dingy, and here
and there covered with moss; no sashes nor doors; and on one side, the entire
block had settled down nearly a foot. On going into the basement, we looked
clean up through the unboarded timbers to the roof; where rays of light,
glimmering through many a chink, illuminated the cobwebs which swung all round.
    The whole interior was dark and close. Burrowing among some old mats in one
corner, like a parcel of gypsies in a ruin, were a few vagabond natives. They
had their dwelling here.
    Curious to know who on earth could have been thus trying to improve the
value of real estate in Partoowye, we made inquiries; and learned that some
years previous the block had been thrown up by a veritable Yankee (one might
have known that), a house-carpenter by trade, and a bold, enterprising fellow by
nature.
    Put ashore from his ship, sick, he first went to work and got well; then
sallied out with chisel and plane, and made himself generally useful. A sober,
steady man, it seems, he at last obtained the confidence of several chiefs, and
soon filled them with all sorts of ideas concerning the alarming want of public
spirit in the people of Imeeo. More especially did he dwell upon the humiliating
fact of their living in paltry huts of bamboo, when magnificent palaces of
boards might so easily be mortised together.
    In the end, these representations so far prevailed with one old chief, that
the carpenter was engaged to build a batch of these wonderful palaces. Provided
with plenty of men, he at once set to work; built a saw-mill among the
mountains, felled trees, and sent over to Papeetee for nails.
    Presto! the castle rose; but alas, the roof was hardly on, when the Yankee's
patron, having speculated beyond his means, broke all to pieces, and was
absolutely unable to pay one plug of tobacco in the pound. His failure involved
the carpenter, who sailed away from his creditors in the very next ship that
touched at the harbour.
    The natives despised the rickety palace of boards; and often lounged by,
wagging their heads, and jeering.
    We were told that the queen's residence was at the extreme end of the
village; so, without waiting for the doctor to procure a fiddle, we suddenly
resolved upon going thither at once, and learning whether any privy
councillorships were vacant.
    Now, although there was a good deal of my waggish comrade's nonsense about
what has been said concerning our expectations of court preferment, we,
nevertheless, really thought that something to our advantage might turn up in
that quarter.
    On approaching the palace grounds, we found them rather peculiar. A broad
pier of hewn coral rocks was built right out into the water; and upon this, and
extending into a grove adjoining, were some eight or ten very large native
houses, constructed in the handsomest style and enclosed together by a low
picket of bamboos, which embraced a considerable area.
    Throughout the Society Islands, the residences of the chiefs are mostly
found in the immediate vicinity of the sea; a site which gives them the full
benefit of a cooling breeze; nor are they so liable to the annoyance of insects;
besides enjoying when they please the fine shade afforded by the neighbouring
groves, always most luxuriant near the water.
    Lounging about the grounds were some sixty or eighty handsomely dressed
natives, men and women; some reclining on the shady side of the houses, others
under the trees, and a small group conversing close by the railing, facing us.
    We went up to the latter; and giving the usual salutation, were on the point
of vaulting over the bamboos, when they turned upon us angrily, and said we
could not enter. We stated our earnest desire to see the queen; hinting that we
were bearers of important dispatches. But it was to no purpose; and not a little
vexed, we were obliged to return to Po-Po's without effecting anything.
 

                                 Chapter LXXVI

                       An Island Jilt - We Visit the Ship

Upon arriving home, we fully laid open to Po-Po our motives in visiting Taloo,
and begged his friendly advice. In his broken English he cheerfully gave us all
the information we needed.
    It was true, he said, that the queen entertained some idea of making a stand
against the French; and it was currently reported also that several chiefs from
Bora-bora, Huwyenee, Raiatair, and Tahar, the leeward islands of the group, were
at that very time taking counsel with her as to the expediency of organising a
general movement throughout the entire cluster, with a view of anticipating any
further encroachments on the part of the invaders. Should warlike measures be
actually decided upon, it was quite certain that Pomaree would be glad to enlist
all the foreigners she could; but as to her making officers of either the doctor
or me, that was out of the question; because, already, a number of Europeans,
well known to her, had volunteered as such. Concerning our getting immediate
access to the queen, Po-Po told us it was rather doubtful; she living at that
time very retired, in poor health and spirits, and averse to receiving calls.
Previous to her misfortunes, however, no one, however humble, was denied
admittance to her presence; sailors, even, attended her levees.
    Not at all disheartened by these things, we concluded to kill time in
Partoowye, until some event turned up more favourable to our projects. So that
very day we sallied out on an excursion to the ship which, lying land-locked,
far up the bay, yet remained to be visited.
    Passing, on our route, a long, low shed, a voice hailed us - »White men,
ahoy!« Turning round, who should we see but a rosy-cheeked Englishman (you could
tell his country at a glance), up to his knees in shavings, and planing away at
a bench. He turned out to be a runaway ship's carpenter, recently from Tahiti,
and now doing a profitable business in Imeeo, by fitting up the dwellings of
opulent chiefs with cupboards and other conveniences, and once in a while trying
his hand at a lady's work-box. He had been in the settlement but a few months,
and already possessed houses and lands.
    But though blessed with prosperity and high health, there was one thing
wanting - a wife. And when he came to speak of the matter, his countenance fell,
and he leaned dejectedly upon his plane.
    »It 's too bad!« he sighed, »to wait three long years; and an the while,
dear little Lullee living in the same house with that infernal chief from
Tahar!«
    Our curiosity was piqued; the poor carpenter, then, had been falling in love
with some island coquette, who was going to jilt him.
    But such was not the case. There was a law prohibiting, under a heavy
penalty, the marriage of a native with a foreigner, unless the latter, after
being three years a resident on the island, was willing to affirm his settled
intention of remaining for life.
    William was therefore in a sad way. He told us that he might have married
the girl half a dozen times, had it not been for this odious law; but, latterly,
she had become less loving and more giddy, particularly with the strangers from
Tahar. Desperately smitten, and desirous of securing her at all hazards, he had
proposed to the damsel's friends a nice little arrangement, introductory to
marriage; but they would not hear of it; besides, if the pair were discovered
living together upon such a footing, they would be liable to a degrading
punishment - sent to work making stone walls and opening roads for the queen.
    Doctor Long Ghost was all sympathy. »Bill, my good fellow,« said he,
tremulously, »let me go and talk to her.« But Bill, declining the offer, would
not even inform us where his charmer lived.
    Leaving the disconsolate Willie planing a plank of New Zealand pine (an
importation from the Bay of Islands), and thinking the while of Lullee, we went
on our way. How his suit prospered in the end we never learned.
    Going from Po-Po's house toward the anchorage of the harbour of Taloo, you
catch no glimpse of the water, until coming out from deep groves, you all at
once find yourself upon the beach. A bay, considered by many voyagers the most
beautiful in the South Seas, then lies before you. You stand upon one side of
what seems a deep green river, flowing through mountain passes to the sea. Right
opposite, a majestic promontory divides the inlet from another, called after its
discoverer, Captain Cook. The face of this promontory toward Taloo is one
verdant wall; and at its base the waters lie still and fathomless. On the left
hand, you just catch a peep of the widening mouth of the bay, the break in the
reef by which ships enter, and, beyond, the sea. To the right, the inlet,
sweeping boldly round the promontory, runs far away into the land; where, save
in one direction, the hills close in on every side, knee-deep in verdure and
shooting aloft in grotesque peaks. The open space lies at the head of the bay;
in the distance it extends into a broad, hazy plain lying at the foot of an
amphitheatre of hills. Here is the large sugar plantation previously alluded to.
Beyond the first range of hills, you descry the sharp pinnacles of the interior;
and among these, the same silent Marling-spike which we so often admired from
the other side of the island.
    All alone in the harbour lay the good ship Leviathan. We jumped into the
canoe, and paddled off to her. Though early in the afternoon, everything was
quiet; but upon mounting the side we found four or five sailors lounging about
the forecastle, under an awning. They gave us no very cordial reception; and
though otherwise quite hearty in appearance, seemed to assume a look of
ill-humour on purpose to honour our arrival. There was much eagerness to learn
whether we wanted to ship; and by the unpleasant accounts they gave of the
vessel, they seemed desirous to prevent such a thing, if possible.
    We asked where the rest of the ship's company were; a gruff old fellow made
answer, »One boat's crew of 'em is gone to Davy Jones's locker - went off after
a whale, last cruise, and never came back again. All the starboard watch ran
away last night, and the skipper 's ashore kitching 'em.«
    »And it 's shipping ye 're after, my jewels, is it?« cried a curly-pated
little Belfast sailor, coming up to us, »thin arrah! my livelies, just be after
sailing ashore in a jiffy: the divil of a skipper will carry yees both to sea,
whether or no. Be off wid ye, thin, darlints, and steer clear of the likes of
this ballyhoo of blazes as long as ye live. They murder us here every day, and
starve us into the bargain. Here, Dick, lad, harl the poor divils' canow
alongside; and paddle away wid yees for dear life.«
    But we loitered awhile, listening to more inducements to ship; and at last
concluded to stay to supper. My sheath-knife never cut into better sea-beef than
that which we found lying in the kid in the forecastle. The bread, too, was
hard, dry, and brittle as glass; and there was plenty of both.
    While we were below the mate of the vessel called out for someone to come on
deck. I liked his voice. Hearing it was as good as a look at his face. It
betokened a true sailor, and no taskmaster.
    The appearance of the Leviathan herself was quite pleasing. Like all large,
comfortable old whalemen, she had a sort of motherly look - broad in the beam,
flush decks, and four chubby boats hanging at the breast. Her sails were furled
loosely upon the yards, as if they had been worn long, and fitted easy; her
shrouds swung negligently slack; and as for the running rigging, it never worked
hard as it does in some of your dandy ships, jamming in the sheaves of blocks,
like Chinese slippers, too small to be useful: on the contrary, the ropes ran
glibly through, as if they had many a time travelled the same road, and were
used to it.
    When evening came, we dropped into our canoe, and paddled ashore; fully
convinced that the good ship never deserved the name which they gave her.
 

                                 Chapter LXXVII

                 A Party of Rovers - Little Loo and the Doctor

While in Partoowye, we fell in with a band of six veteran rovers, prowling about
the village and harbour, who had just come overland from another part of the
island.
    A few weeks previous, they had been paid off, at Papeetee, from a whaling
vessel, on board of which they had, six months before, shipped for a single
cruise; that is to say, to be discharged at the next port. Their cruise was a
famous one; and each man stepped upon the beach at Tahiti jingling his dollars
in a sock.
    Weary at last of the shore, and having some money left, they clubbed, and
purchased a sail-boat; proposing a visit to a certain uninhabited island,
concerning which they had heard strange and golden stories. Of course, they
never could think of going to sea without a medicine-chest filled with flasks of
spirits, and a small cask of the same in the hold, in case the chest should give
out.
    Away they sailed; hoisted a flag of their own, and gave three times three,
as they staggered out of the bay of Papeetee with a strong breeze, and under all
the muslin they could carry.
    Evening coming on, and feeling in high spirits and no ways disposed to
sleep, they concluded to make a night of it; which they did; all hands getting
tipsy, and the two masts going over the side about midnight, to the tune of
 
»Sailing down, sailing down,
On the coast of Barbaree.«
 
Fortunately, one worthy could stand, by holding on to the tiller; and the rest
managed to crawl about, and hack away the lanyards of the rigging, so as to
break clear from the fallen spars. While thus employed, two sailors got
tranquilly over the side, and went plumb to the bottom; under the erroneous
impression, that they were stepping upon an imaginary wharf, to get at their
work better.
    After this, it blew quite a gale; and the commodore, at the helm,
instinctively kept the boat before the wind; and by so doing, ran over for the
opposite island of Imeeo. Crossing the channel, by almost a miracle they went
straight through an opening in the reef, and shot upon a ledge of coral, where
the waters were tolerably smooth. Here they lay until morning, when the natives
came off to them in their canoes. By the help of the islanders, the schooner was
hove over on her beam-ends; when, finding the bottom knocked to pieces, the
adventurers sold the boat for a trifle to the chief of the district, and went
ashore, rolling before them their precious cask of spirits. Its contents soon
evaporated, and they came to Partoowye.
    The day after encountering these fellows, we were strolling among the groves
in the neighbourhood, when we came across several parties of natives, armed with
clumsy muskets, rusty cutlasses, and outlandish clubs. They were beating the
bushes, shouting aloud, and apparently trying to scare somebody. They were in
pursuit of the strangers, who, having in a single night set at naught all the
laws of the place, had thought best to decamp.
    In the daytime, Po-Po's house was as pleasant a lounge as one could wish.
So, after strolling about, and seeing all there was to be seen, we spent the
greater part of our mornings there; breakfasting late, and dining about two
hours after noon. Sometimes we lounged on the floor of ferns, smoking, and
telling stories; of which the doctor had as many as a half-pay captain in the
army. Sometimes we chatted, as well as we could, with the natives; and, one day
- joy to us! - Po-Po brought in three volumes of Smollett's novels, which had
been found in the chest of a sailor, who some time previous had died on the
island.
    Amelia! - Peregrine! - you hero of rogues, Count Fathom! - what a debt do we
owe you!
    I know not whether it was the reading of these romances, or the want of some
sentimental pastime, which led the doctor, about this period, to lay siege to
the heart of the little Loo.
    Now, as I have said before, the daughter of Po-Po was most cruelly reserved,
and never deigned to notice us. Frequently I addressed her with a long face and
an air of the profoundest and most distant respect - but in vain; she wouldn't
even turn up her pretty olive nose. Ah! it 's quite plain, thought I; she knows
very well what graceless dogs sailors are, and won't have anything to do with
us.
    But thus thought not my comrade. Bent he was upon firing the cold glitter of
Loo's passionless eyes.
    He opened the campaign with admirable tact: making cautious approaches, and
content, for three days, with ogling the nymph for about five minutes after
every meal. On the fourth day, he asked her a question; on the fifth, she
dropped a nut of ointment, and he picked it up and gave it to her; on the sixth,
he went over and sat down within three yards of the couch where she lay; and, on
the memorable morn of the seventh, he proceeded to open his batteries in form.
    The damsel was reclining on the ferns; one hand supporting her cheek, and
the other listlessly turning over the leaves of a Tahitian Bible. The doctor
approached.
    Now the chief disadvantage under which he laboured was his almost complete
ignorance of the love vocabulary of the island. But French counts, they say,
make love delightfully in broken English; and what hindered the doctor from
doing the same in dulcet Tahitian? So at it he went.
    »Ah!« said he, smiling bewitchingly, »oee mickonaree? oee ready Biblee?«
    No answer; not even a look.
    »Ah! maitai! very goody ready Biblee mickonaree.«
    Loo, without stirring, began reading, in a low tone, to herself.
    »Mickonaree Biblee ready goody maitai,« once more observed the doctor,
ingeniously transposing his words for the third time.
    But all to no purpose; Loo gave no sign.
    He paused despairingly; but it would never do to give up; so he threw
himself at full length beside her, and audaciously commenced turning over the
leaves.
    Loo gave a start, just one little start, barely perceptible, and then,
fumbling something in her hand, lay perfectly motionless; the doctor rather
frightened at his own temerity, and knowing not what to do next. At last, he
placed one arm cautiously about her waist; almost in the same instant he bounded
to his feet, with a cry; the little witch had pierced him with a thorn. But
there she lay just as quietly as ever, turning over the leaves, and reading to
herself.
    My long friend raised the siege incontinently, and made a disorderly retreat
to the place where I reclined, looking on.
    I am pretty sure that Loo must have related this occurrence to her father,
who came in shortly afterwards; for he looked queerly at the doctor. But he said
nothing, and, in ten minutes, was quite as affable as ever. As for Loo, there
was not the slightest change in her; and the doctor, of course, for ever
afterwards held his peace.
 

                                Chapter LXXVIII

                                   Mrs. Bell

One day, taking a pensive afternoon stroll along one of the many bridle-paths
which wind among the shady groves in the neighbourhood of Taloo, I was startled
by a sunny apparition. It was that of a beautiful young Englishwoman, charmingly
dressed, and mounted upon a spirited little white pony. Switching a green
branch, she came cantering toward me.
    I looked round to see whether I could possibly be in Polynesia. There were
the palm-trees; but how to account for the lady?
    Stepping to one side, as the apparition drew near, I made a polite
obeisance. It gave me a bold, rosy look; and then, with a gay air, patted its
palfrey, crying out, »Fly away, Willie!« and galloped among the trees.
    I would have followed; but Willie's heels were making such a pattering among
the dry leaves that pursuit would have been useless.
    So I went straight home to Po-Po's, and related my adventure to the doctor.
    The next day, our inquiries resulted in finding out, that the stranger had
been in the island about two years; that she came from Sydney; and was the wife
of Mr. Bell (happy dog), the proprietor of the sugar plantation to which I have
previously referred.
    To the sugar plantation we went the same day.
    The country round about was very beautiful: a level basin of verdure,
surrounded by sloping hillsides. The sugar-cane - of which there was about one
hundred acres, in various stages of cultivation - looked thrifty. A considerable
tract of land, however, which seemed to have been formerly tilled, was now
abandoned.
    The place where they extracted the saccharine matter was under an immense
shed of bamboos. Here we saw several clumsy pieces of machinery for breaking the
cane; also great kettles for boiling the sugar. But, at present, nothing was
going on. Two or three natives were lounging in one of the kettles, smoking; the
other was occupied by three sailors from the Leviathan, playing cards.
    While we were conversing with these worthies, a stranger approached. He was
a sun-burnt, romantic-looking European, dressed in a loose suit of nankeen; his
fine throat and chest were exposed, and he sported a Guayaquil hat, with a brim
like a Chinese umbrella. This was Mr. Bell. He was very civil; showed us the
grounds, and, taking us into a sort of arbour, to our surprise, offered to treat
us to some wine. People often do the like; but Mr. Bell did more: he produced
the bottle. It was spicy sherry; and we drank out of the halves of fresh citron
melons. Delectable goblets!
    The wine was a purchase from the French in Tahiti.
    Now all this was extremely polite in Mr. Bell; still, we came to see Mrs.
Bell. But she proved to be a phantom, indeed having left the same morning for
Papeetee, on a visit to one of the missionaries' wives there.
    I went home much chagrined.
    To be frank, my curiosity had been wonderfully piqued concerning the lady.
In the first place, she was the most beautiful white woman I ever saw in
Polynesia. But this is saying nothing. She had such eyes, such moss-roses in her
cheeks, such a divine air in the saddle, that, to my dying day, I shall never
forget Mrs. Bell.
    The sugar-planter himself was young, robust, and handsome. So, merrily may
the little Bells increase and multiply, and make music in the land of Imeeo.
 

                                 Chapter LXXIX

                   Taloo Chapel - Holding Court in Polynesia

In Partoowye is to be seen one of the best constructed and handsomest chapels in
the South Seas. Like the buildings of the palace, it stands upon an artificial
pier, presenting a semicircular sweep to the bay. The chapel is built of hewn
blocks of coral; a substance which, although extremely friable, is said to
harden by exposure to the atmosphere. To a stranger, these blocks look extremely
curious. Their surface is covered with strange fossil-like impressions, the seal
of which must have been set before the Flood. Very nearly white when hewn from
the reefs, the coral darkens with age; so that several churches in Polynesia now
look almost as sooty and venerable as famed St. Paul's.
    In shape, the chapel is an octagon, with galleries all round. It will seat,
perhaps, four hundred people. Everything within is stained a tawny red; and
there being but few windows, or rather embrasures, the dusky benches and
galleries, and the tall spectre of a pulpit, look anything but cheerful.
    On Sundays we always went to worship here. Going in the family suite of
Po-Po, we, of course, maintained a most decorous exterior; and hence, by all the
elderly people of the village, were doubtless regarded as pattern young men.
    Po-Po's seat was in a snug corner; and it being particularly snug, in the
immediate vicinity of one of the Palm pillars supporting the gallery, I
invariably leaned against it: Po-Po and his lady on one side, the doctor and the
dandy on the other, and the children and poor relations seated behind.
    As for Loo, instead of sitting (as she ought to have done) by her good
father and mother, she must needs run up into the gallery, and sit with a parcel
of giddy creatures of her own age; who, all through the sermon, did nothing but
look down on the congregation; pointing out, and giggling at the queer-looking
old ladies in dowdy bonnets and scant tunics. But Loo herself was never guilty
of these improprieties.
    Occasionally during the week they have afternoon service in the chapel, when
the natives themselves have something to say; although their auditors are but
few. An introductory prayer being offered by the missionary, and a hymn sung,
communicants rise in their places, and exhort in pure Tahitian, and with
wonderful tone and gesture. And among them all, Deacon Po-Po, though he talked
most, was the one whom you would have liked best to hear. Much would I have
given to have understood some of his impassioned bursts; when he tossed his arms
overhead, stamped, scowled, and glared, till he looked like the very Angel of
Vengeance.
    »Deluded man!« sighed the doctor, on one of these occasions, »I fear he
takes the fanatical view of the subject.« One thing was certain; when Po-Po
spoke, all listened; a great deal more than could be said for the rest; for
under the discipline of two or three I could mention, some of the audience
napped; others fidgeted; a few yawned; and one irritable old gentleman, in a
nightcap of cocoa-nut leaves, used to clutch his long staff in a state of
excessive nervousness, and stride out of the church, making all the noise he
could, to emphasise his disgust.
    Right adjoining the chapel is an immense, rickety building, with windows and
shutters, and a half-decayed board flooring laid upon trunks of palm-trees. They
called it a school-house; but as such we never saw it occupied. It was often
used as a court-room, however; and here we attended several trials; among
others, that of a decayed naval officer, and a young girl of fourteen; the
latter charged with having been very naughty on a particular occasion set forth
in the pleadings; and the former with having aided and abetted her in her
naughtiness, and with other misdemeanours.
    The foreigner was a tall, military-looking fellow, with a dark cheek and
black whiskers. According to his own account, he had lost a colonial armed brig
on the coast of New Zealand; and since then, had been leading the life of a man
about town, among the islands of the Pacific.
    The doctor wanted to know why he did not go home and report the loss of his
brig; but Captain Crash, as they called him, had some incomprehensible reasons
for not doing so, about which he could talk by the hour, and no one be any the
wiser. Probably he was a discreet man, and thought it best to waive an interview
with the lords of the admiralty.
    For some time past, this extremely suspicious character had been carrying on
an illicit trade in French wines and brandies, smuggled over from the men-of-war
lately touching at Tahiti. In a grove near the anchorage, he had a rustic shanty
and arbour, where, in quiet times, when no ships were in Taloo, a stray native
once in a while got boozy, and staggered home, catching at the cocoa-nut trees
as he went. The captain himself lounged under a tree during the warm afternoons,
pipe in mouth; thinking, perhaps, over old times, and occasionally feeling his
shoulders for his lost epaulets.
    But, sail ho! a ship is descried coming into the bay. Soon she drops her
anchor in its waters; and the next day Captain Crash entertains the sailors in
his grove. And rare times they have of it - drinking and quarrelling together as
sociably as you please.
    Upon one of these occasions, the crew of the Leviathan made so prodigious a
tumult that the natives, indignant at the insult offered their laws, plucked up
a heart, and made a dash at the rioters, one hundred strong. The sailors fought
like tigers; but were at last overcome, and carried before a native tribunal;
which, after a mighty clamour, dismissed everybody but Captain Crash, who was
asserted to be the author of the disorders.
    Upon this charge, then, he had been placed in confinement against the coming
on of the assizes; the judge being expected to lounge along in the course of the
afternoon. While waiting his Honour's arrival, numerous additional offences were
preferred against the culprit (mostly by the old women); among others was the
bit of a slip in which he stood implicated along with the young lady. Thus, in
Polynesia as elsewhere - charge a man with one misdemeanour, and all his
peccadilloes are raked up and assorted before him.
    Going to the school-house for the purpose of witnessing the trial, the din
of it assailed our ears a long way off; and upon entering the building we were
almost stunned. About five hundred natives were present; each, apparently,
having something to say, and determined to say it. His Honour - a handsome,
benevolent-looking old man - sat cross-legged on a little platform, seemingly
resigned, with all Christian submission, to the uproar. He was an hereditary
chief in this quarter of the island, and judge for life in the district of
Partoowye.
    There were several cases coming on; but the captain and girl were first
tried together. They were mixing freely with the crowd; and as it afterwards
turned out that everyone, no matter who, had a right to address the court, for
aught we knew they might have been arguing their own case. At what precise
moment the trial began it would be hard to say. There was no swearing of
witnesses, and no regular jury.35 Now and then somebody leaped up and shouted
out something which might have been evidence; the rest, meanwhile, keeping up an
incessant jabbering. Presently the old judge himself began to get excited; and
springing to his feet, ran in among the crowd, wagging his tongue as hard as
anybody.
    The tumult lasted about twenty minutes; and toward the end of it, Captain
Crash might have been seen, tranquilly regarding, from his Honour's platform,
the judicial uproar, in which his fate was about being decided.
    The result of all this was, that both he and the girl were found guilty. The
latter was adjudged to make six mats for the queen; and the former, in
consideration of his manifold offences, being deemed incorrigible, was sentenced
to eternal banishment from the island. Both these decrees seemed to originate in
the general hubbub. His Honour, however, appeared to have considerable
authority, and it was quite plain that the decision received his approval.
    The above penalties were by no means indiscriminately inflicted. The
missionaries have prepared a sort of penal tariff to facilitate judicial
proceedings. It costs so many days' labour on the Broom Road to indulge in the
pleasures of the calabash; so many fathoms of stone wall to steal a musket; and
so on to the end of the catalogue. The judge being provided with a book, in
which all these matters are cunningly arranged, the thing is vastly convenient.
For instance: a crime is proved - say bigamy; turn to letter B - and there you
have it. Bigamy: - forty days on the Broom Road, and twenty mats for the queen.
Read the passage aloud, and sentence is pronounced.
    After taking part in the first trial, the other delinquents present were put
upon their own; in which, also, the convicted culprits seemed to have quite as
much to say as the rest. A rather strange proceeding; but strictly in accordance
with the glorious English principle, that every man should be tried by his
peers.
    They were all found guilty.
 

                                  Chapter LXXX

                                 Queen Pomaree

It is well to learn something about people before being introduced to them, and
so we will here give some account of Pomaree and her family.
    Every reader of Cook's Voyages must remember Otoo, who, in that navigator's
time, was king of the larger peninsula of Tahiti. Subsequently, assisted by the
muskets of the Bounty's men, he extended his rule over the entire island. This
Otoo, before his death, had his name changed into Pomaree, which has ever since
been the royal patronymic.
    He was succeeded by his son, Pomaree II., the most famous prince in the
annals of Tahiti. Though a sad debauchee and drunkard, and even charged with
unnatural crimes, he was a great friend of the missionaries, and one of their
very first proselytes. During the religious wars into which he was hurried by
his zeal for the new faith, he was defeated, and expelled from the island. After
a short exile he returned from Imeeo, with an army of eight hundred warriors;
and, in the battle of Narii, routed the rebellious pagans with great slaughter,
and re-established himself upon the throne. Thus, by force of arms, was
Christianity finally triumphant in Tahiti.
    Pomaree II., dying in 1821, was succeeded by his infant son, under the title
of Pomaree III. This young prince survived his father but six years; and the
government then descended to his elder sister, Aimata, the present queen, who is
commonly called Pomaree Vahinee I., or the first female Pomaree. Her majesty
must be now upward of thirty years of age. She has been twice married. Her first
husband was a son of the old King of Tahar, an island about one hundred miles
from Tahiti. This proving an unhappy alliance, the pair were soon after
divorced. The present husband of the queen is a chief of Imeeo.
    The reputation of Pomaree is not what it ought to be. She, and also her
mother, were, for a long time, excommunicated members of the Church; and the
former, I believe, still is. Among other things, her conjugal fidelity is far
from being unquestioned. Indeed, it was upon this ground chiefly that she was
excluded from the communion of the Church.
    Previous to her misfortunes, she spent the greater portion of her time
sailing about from one island to another, attended by a licentious court; and
wherever she went, all manner of games and festivities celebrated her arrival.
    She was always given to display. For several years the maintenance of a
regiment of household troops drew largely upon the royal exchequer. They were
trowserless fellows, in a uniform of calico shirts and pasteboard hats; armed
with muskets of all shapes and calibres and commanded by a great noisy chief,
strutting it in a coat of fiery red. These heroes escorted their mistress
whenever she went abroad.
    Some time ago, the queen received from her English sister, Victoria, a very
showy, though uneasy, head-dress - a crown; probably made to order, at some
tinman's in London. Having no idea of reserving so pretty a bauble for
coronation days, which come so seldom, her majesty sported it whenever she
appeared in public; and, to show her familiarity with European customs, politely
touched it to all foreigners of distinction - whaling captains, and the like -
whom she happened to meet in her evening walk on the Broom Road.
    The arrival and departure of royalty were always announced at the palace by
the court artilleryman - a fat old gentleman, who, in a prodigious hurry and
perspiration, discharged minute fowling-pieces as fast as he could load and fire
the same.
    The Tahitian princess leads her husband a hard life. Poor fellow! he not
only caught a queen, but a Tartar, when he married her. The style by which he is
addressed is rather significant - Pomaree-Tanee (Pomaree's man). All things
considered, as appropriate a title for a king-consort as could be hit upon.
    If ever there was a henpecked husband, that man is the prince. One day, his
cara-sposa giving audience to a deputation from the captains of the vessels
lying in Papeetee, he ventured to make a suggestion which was very displeasing
to her. She turned round, and boxing his ears, told him to go over to his
beggarly island of Imeeo if he wanted to give himself airs.
    Cuffed and contemned, poor Tanee flies to the bottle, or rather to the
calabash, for solace. Like his wife and mistress, he drinks more than he ought.
    Six or seven years ago, when an American man-of-war was lying at Papeetee,
the town was thrown into the greatest commotion by a conjugal assault and
battery, made upon the sacred person of Pomaree by her intoxicated Tanee.
    Captain Bob once told me the story. And by way of throwing more spirit into
the description, as well as to make up for his oral deficiencies, the old man
went through the accompanying action: myself being proxy for the Queen of
Tahiti.
    It seems, that on a Sunday morning, being dismissed contemptuously from the
royal presence, Tanee was accosted by certain good fellows, friends and boon
companions, who condoled with him on his misfortunes - railed against the queen,
and finally dragged him away to an illicit vender of spirits, in whose house the
party got gloriously mellow. In this state, Pomaree Vahinee I. was the topic
upon which all dilated - »A vixen of a queen,« probably suggested one. »It 's
infamous,« said another; »and I 'd have satisfaction,« cried a third. »And so I
will!« Tanee must have hiccoughed; for off he went; and ascertaining that his
royal half was out riding, he mounted his horse and galloped after her.
    Near the outskirts of the town, a cavalcade of women came cantering toward
him, in the centre of which was the object of his fury. Smiting his beast right
and left, he dashed in among them, completely overturning one of the party,
leaving her on the field, and dispersing everybody else except Pomaree. Backing
her horse dexterously, the incensed queen heaped upon him every scandalous
epithet she could think of; until at last, the enraged Tanee leaped out of his
saddle, caught Pomaree by her dress, and dragging her to the earth, struck her
repeatedly in the face, holding on meanwhile by the hair of her head. He was
proceeding to strangle her on the spot, when the cries of the frightened
attendants brought a crowd of natives to the rescue, who bore the nearly
insensible queen away.
    But his frantic rage was not yet sated. He ran to the palace; and before it
could be prevented, demolished a valuable supply of crockery, a recent present
from abroad. In the act of perpetrating some other atrocity, he was seized from
behind, and carried off with rolling eyes and foaming at the mouth.
    This is a fair example of a Tahitian in a passion. Though the mildest of
mortals in general, and hard to be roused, when once fairly up, he is possessed
with a thousand devils.
    The day following, Tanee was privately paddled over to Imeeo, in a canoe;
where, after remaining in banishment for a couple of weeks, he was allowed to
return, and once more give in his domestic adhesion.
    Though Pomaree Vahinee I. be something of a Jezebel in private life, in her
public rule she is said to have been quite lenient and forbearing. This was her
true policy; for an hereditary hostility to her family had always lurked in the
hearts of many powerful chiefs, the descendants of the old Kings of Taiarboo,
dethroned by her grandfather Otoo. Chief among these, and in fact the leader of
his party, was Poofai; a bold, able man, who made no secret of his enmity to the
missionaries, and the government which they controlled. But while events were
occurring calculated to favour the hopes of the disaffected and turbulent, the
arrival of the French gave a most unexpected turn to affairs.
    During my sojourn in Tahiti, a report was rife - which I knew to originate
with what is generally called the missionary party - that Poofai and some other
chiefs of note had actually agreed, for a stipulated bribe, to acquiesce in the
appropriation of their country. But subsequent events have rebutted the calumny.
Several of these very men have recently died in battle against the French.
    Under the sovereignty of the Pomarees, the great chiefs of Tahiti were
something like the barons of King John. Holding feudal sway over their
patrimonial valleys, and, on account of their descent, warmly beloved by the
people, they frequently cut off the royal revenues by refusing to pay the
customary tribute due from them as vassals.
    The truth is, that with the ascendency of the missionaries, the regal office
in Tahiti lost much of its dignity and influence. In the days of Paganism, it
was supported by all the power of a numerous priesthood, and was solemnly
connected with the entire superstitious idolatry of the land. The monarch
claimed to be a sort of by-blow of Tararroa, the Saturn of the Polynesian
mythology, and cousin-German to inferior deities. His person was thrice holy; if
he entered an ordinary dwelling, never mind for how short a time, it was
demolished when he left; no common mortal being thought worthy to inhabit it
afterwards.
    »I 'm a greater man than King George,« said the incorrigible young Otoo, to
the first missionaries; »he rides on a horse, and I on a man!« Such was the
case. He travelled post through his dominions on the shoulders of his subjects;
and relays of immortal beings were provided in all the valleys.
    But alas! how times have changed! how transient human greatness! Some years
since, Pomaree Vahinee I., the granddaughter of the proud Otoo, went into the
laundry business; publicly soliciting, by her agents, the washing of the linen
belonging to the officers of ships touching in her harbours.
    It is a significant fact, and one worthy of record, that while the influence
of the English missionaries at Tahiti has tended to so great a diminution of the
regal dignity there, that of the American missionaries at the Sandwich Islands
has been purposely exerted to bring about a contrary result.
 

                                 Chapter LXXXI

                               We Visit the Court

It was about the middle of the second month of the Hegira, and therefore some
five weeks after our arrival in Partoowye, that we at last obtained admittance
to the residence of the queen.
    It happened thus. There was a Marquesan in the train of Pomaree, who
officiated as nurse to her children. According to the Tahitian custom, the royal
youngsters are carried about until it requires no small degree of strength to
stand up under them. But Marbonna was just the man for this - large and
muscular, well made as a statue, and with an arm like a degenerate Tahitian's
thigh.
    Embarking at his native island, as a sailor, on board of a French whaler, he
afterwards ran away from the ship at Tahiti; where, being seen and admired by
Pomaree, he had been prevailed upon to enlist in her service.
    Often, when visiting the grounds, we saw him walking about in the shade,
carrying two handsome boys, who encircled his neck with their arms. Marbonna's
face, tattooed as it was in the ornate style of his tribe, was as good as a
picture-book to these young Pomarees. They delighted to trace with their fingers
the outlines of the strange shapes there delineated.
    The first time my eyes lighted upon the Marquesan, I knew his country in a
moment; and hailing him in his own language, he turned round, surprised that a
person so speaking should be a stranger. He proved to be a native of Tior, a
glen of Nukuheva. I had visited the place more than once; and so, on the island
of Imeeo, we met like old friends.
    In my frequent conversations with him over the bamboo picket, I found this
islander a philosopher of nature - a wild heathen, moralising upon the vices and
follies of the Christian court of Tahiti - a savage, scorning the degeneracy of
the people among whom fortune had thrown him.
    I was amazed at the national feelings of the man. No European, when abroad,
could speak of his country with more pride than Marbonna. He assured me, again
and again, that so soon as he had obtained sufficient money to purchase twenty
muskets, and as many bags of powder, he was going to return to a place, with
which Imeeo was not worthy to be compared.
    It was Marbonna, who, after one or two unsuccessful attempts, at last
brought about our admission into the queen's grounds. Through a considerable
crowd, he conducted us along the pier to where an old man was sitting, to whom
he introduced us as a couple of karhowrees of his acquaintance, anxious to see
the sights of the palace. The venerable chamberlain stared at us, and shook his
head: the doctor, thinking he wanted a fee, placed a plug of tobacco in his
hand. This was ingratiating, and we were permitted to pass on. Upon the point of
entering one of the houses, Marbonna's name was shouted in half a dozen
different directions, and he was obliged to withdraw.
    Thus left at the very threshold to shift for ourselves, my companion's
assurance stood us in good stead. He stalked right in, and I followed. The place
was full of women, who, instead of exhibiting the surprise we expected, accosted
us as cordially as if we had called to take our souchong with them, by express
invitation. In the first place, nothing would do but we must each devour a
calabash of poee, and several roasted bananas. Pipes were then lighted, and a
brisk conversation ensued.
    These ladies of the court, if not very polished, were surprisingly free and
easy in their manners; quite as much so as King Charles's beauties. There was
one of them - an arch little miss, who could converse with us pretty fluently -
to whom we strove to make ourselves particularly agreeable, with the view of
engaging her services as cicerone.
    As such, she turned out to be everything we could desire. No one disputing
her will, every place was entered without ceremony, curtains brushed aside, mats
lifted, and each nook and corner explored. Whether the little damsel carried her
mistress's signet, that everything opened to her thus, I know not; but Marbonna
himself, the bearer of infants, could not have been half so serviceable.
    Among other houses which we visited, was one of large size and fine
exterior; the special residence of a European - formerly the mate of a merchant
vessel - who had done himself the honour of marrying into the Pomaree family.
The lady he wedded being a near kinswoman of the queen, he became a permanent
member of her majesty's household. This adventurer rose late, dressed
theatrically in calico and trinkets, assumed a dictatorial tone in conversation,
and was evidently upon excellent terms with himself.
    We found him reclining on a mat, smoking a reed-pipe of tobacco, in the
midst of an admiring circle of chiefs and ladies. He must have noticed our
approach; but instead of rising and offering civilities, he went on talking and
smoking, without even condescending to look at us.
    »His Highness feels his poee,« carelessly observed the doctor. The rest of
the company gave us the ordinary salutation, our guide announcing us beforehand.
    In answer to our earnest requests to see the queen, we were now conducted to
an edifice, by far the most spacious in the enclosure. It was at least one
hundred and fifty feet in length, very wide, with low eaves, and an exceedingly
steep roof of pandannas leaves. There were neither doors nor windows - nothing
along the sides but the slight posts supporting the rafters. Between these
posts, curtains of fine matting and tappa were rustling all round; some of them
were festooned, or partly withdrawn, so as to admit light and air, and afford a
glimpse now and then of what was going on within.
    Pushing aside one of the screens, we entered. The apartment was one immense
hall; the long and lofty ridge-pole fluttering with fringed matting and tassels,
full forty feet from the ground. Lounges of mats, piled one upon another,
extended on either side; while here and there were slight screens, forming as
many recesses, where groups of natives - all females - were reclining at their
evening meal.
    As we advanced, these various parties ceased their buzzing, and in
explanation of our appearance among them, listened to a few cabalistic words
from our guide.
    The whole scene was a strange one; but what most excited our surprise was
the incongruous assemblage of the most costly objects from all quarters of the
globe. Cheek by jowl, they lay beside the rudest native articles, without the
slightest attempt at order. Superb writing-desks of rosewood, inlaid with silver
and mother-of-pearl; decanters and goblets of cut-glass; embossed volumes of
plates; gilded candelabras; sets of globes and mathematical instruments; the
finest porcelain; richly mounted sabres and fowling-pieces; laced hats and
sumptuous garments of all sorts, with numerous other matters of European
manufacture, were strewn about among greasy calabashes half-filled with poee,
rolls of old tappa and matting, paddles and fish-spears, and the ordinary
furniture of a Tahitian dwelling.
    All the articles first mentioned were, doubtless, presents from foreign
powers. They were more or less injured: the fowling-pieces and swords were
rusted; the finest woods were scratched; and a folio volume of Hogarth lay open,
with a cocoa-nut shell of some musty preparation capsized among the
miscellaneous furniture of the Rake's apartment, where that inconsiderate young
gentleman is being measured for a coat.
    While we were amusing ourselves in this museum of curiosities, our conductor
plucked us by the sleeve, and whispered, »Pomaree! Pomaree! aramai kow kow.«
    »She is coming to sup, then,« said the doctor, staring in the direction
indicated. »What say you, Paul, suppose we step up?« Just then a curtain near by
lifted, and from a private building a few yards distant the queen entered,
unattended.
    She wore a loose gown of blue silk, with two rich shawls, one red and the
other yellow, tied about her neck. Her royal majesty was barefooted.
    She was about the ordinary size, rather matronly; her features not very
handsome; her mouth, voluptuous; but there was a care-worn expression in her
face, probably attributable to her late misfortunes. From her appearance, one
would judge her about forty; but she is not so old.
    As the queen approached one of the recesses, her attendants hurried up,
escorted her in, and smoothed the mats on which she at last reclined. Two girls
soon appeared, carrying their mistress's repast; and then, surrounded by
cut-glass and porcelain, and jars of sweetmeats and confections, Pomaree Vahinee
I., the titular Queen of Tahiti, ate fish and poee out of her native calabashes,
disdaining either knife or spoon.
    »Come on,« whispered Long Ghost, »let 's have an audience at once«; and he
was on the point of introducing himself, when our guide, quite alarmed, held him
back and implored silence. The other natives also interfered, and, as he was
pressing forward, raised such an outcry that Pomaree lifted her eyes and saw us
for the first time.
    She seemed surprised and offended, and issuing an order in a commanding tone
to several of her women, waved us out of the house. Summary as the dismissal
was, court etiquette, no doubt, required our compliance. We withdrew; making a
profound inclination as we disappeared behind the tappa arras.
    We departed the grounds without seeing Marbonna; and previous to vaulting
over the picket, fee'd our pretty guide after a fashion of our own. Looking
round a few moments after, we saw the damsel escorted back by two men, who
seemed to have been sent after her. I trust she received nothing more than a
reprimand.
    The next day Po-Po informed us that strict orders had been issued to admit
no strangers within the palace precincts.
 

                                 Chapter LXXXII

                              Which Ends the Book

Disappointed in going to court, we determined upon going to sea. It would never
do, longer to trespass on Po-Po's hospitality; and then, weary somewhat of life
in Imeeo, like all sailors ashore, I at last pined for the billows.
    Now, if her crew were to be credited, the Leviathan was not the craft to our
mind. But I had seen the captain, and liked him. He was an uncommonly tall,
robust, fine-looking man, in the prime of life. There was a deep crimson spot in
the middle of each sunburnt cheek, doubtless the effect of his sea-potations. He
was a Vineyarder, or native of the island of Martha's Vineyard (adjoining
Nantucket), and - I would have sworn it - a sailor, and no tyrant.
    Previous to this, we had rather avoided the Leviathan's men, when they came
ashore; but now, we purposely threw ourselves in their way, in order to learn
more of the vessel.
    We became acquainted with the third mate, a Prussian, and an old
merchant-seaman - a right jolly fellow, with a face like a ruby. We took him to
Po-Po's, and gave him a dinner of baked pig and bread- with pipes and tobacco
for dessert. The account he gave us of the ship agreed with my own surmises. A
cosier old craft never floated; and the captain was the finest man in the world.
There was plenty to eat, too; and, at sea, nothing to do but sit on the windlass
and sail. The only bad trait about the vessel was this: she had been launched
under some baleful star; and so was a luckless ship in the fishery. She dropped
her boats into the brine often enough, and they frequently got fast to the
whales; but lance and harpoon almost invariably drew when darted by the men of
the Leviathan. But what of that? We would have all the sport of chasing the
monsters, with none of the detestable work which follows their capture. So,
hurrah for the coast of Japan! Thither the ship was bound.
    A word now, about the hard stories we heard the first time we visited the
ship. They were nothing but idle fictions, got up by the sailors for the purpose
of frightening us away, so as to oblige the captain, who was in want of more
hands, to lie the longer in a pleasant harbour.
    The next time the Vineyarder came ashore, we flung ourselves in his path.
When informed of our desire to sail with him, he wanted to know our history;
and, above all, what countrymen we were. We said that we had left a whaler in
Tahiti, some time previous; and, since then, had been - in the most praiseworthy
manner - employed upon a plantation. As for our country, sailors belong to no
nation in particular; we were, on this occasion, both Yankees. Upon this he
looked decidedly incredulous; and freely told us, that he verily believed we
were both from Sydney.
    Be it known here, that American sea-captains, in the Pacific, are mortally
afraid of these Sydney gentry; who, to tell the truth, wherever known, are in
excessively bad odour. Is there a mutiny on board a ship in the South Seas, ten
to one a Sydney man is the ringleader. Ashore, these fellows are equally
riotous.
    It was on this account, that we were anxious to conceal the fact of our
having belonged to the Julia; though it annoyed me much, thus to deny the
dashing little craft. For the same reason, also, the doctor fibbed about his
birthplace.
    Unfortunately, one part of our raiment - Arfretee's blue frocks - was deemed
a sort of collateral evidence against us. For, curiously enough, an American
sailor is generally distinguished by his red frock; and an English tar, by his
blue one: thus reversing the national colours. The circumstance was pointed out
by the captain; and we quickly explained the anomaly. But in vain: he seemed
inveterately prejudiced against us; and, in particular, eyed the doctor most
distrustfully.
    By way of propping the latter's pretensions, I was throwing out a hint
concerning Kentucky, as a land of tall men, when our Vineyarder turned away
abruptly, and desired to hear nothing more. It was evident that he took Long
Ghost for an exceedingly problematical character.
    Perceiving this, I resolved to see what a private interview would do. So,
one afternoon, I found the captain smoking a pipe in the dwelling of a portly
old native, one Mai-Mai, who, for a reasonable compensation, did the honours of
Partoowye to illustrious strangers.
    His guest had just risen from a sumptuous meal of baked pig and taro
pudding; and the remnants of the repast were still visible. Two reeking bottles,
also, with their necks wrenched off, lay upon the mat. All this was encouraging;
for, after a good dinner, one feels affluent and amiable, and peculiarly open to
conviction. So, at all events, I found the noble Vineyarder.
    I began by saying that I called for the purpose of setting him right
touching certain opinions of his concerning the place of my nativity: I was an
American, thank Heaven! and wanted to convince him of the fact.
    After looking me in the eye for some time, and, by so doing, revealing an
obvious unsteadiness in his own visual organs, he begged me to reach forth my
arm. I did so; wondering what upon earth that useful member had to do with the
matter in hand.
    He placed his fingers upon my wrist; and holding them there for a moment,
sprang to his feet, and, with much enthusiasm, pronounced me a Yankee, every
beat of my pulse!
    »Here, Mai-Mai!« he cried, »another bottle!« And, when it came, with one
stroke of a knife, he summarily beheaded it, and commanded me to drain it to the
bottom. He then told me, that if I would come on board his vessel the following
morning, I would find the ship's articles on the cabin transom.
    This was getting along famously. But what was to become of the doctor?
    I forthwith made an adroit allusion to my long friend. But it was worse than
useless. The Vineyarder swore he would have nothing to do with him - he (my long
friend) was a bird from Sydney, and nothing would make him (the man of little
faith) believe otherwise.
    I could not help loving the free-hearted captain; but indignant at this most
unaccountable prejudice against my comrade, I abruptly took leave.
    Upon informing the doctor of the result of the interview, he was greatly
amused; and laughingly declared that the Vineyarder must be a penetrating
fellow. He then insisted upon my going to sea in the ship, since he well knew
how anxious I was to leave. As for himself, on second thoughts, he was no
sailor; and although landsmen very often compose part of a whaler's crew, he did
not quite relish the idea of occupying a position so humble. In short, he had
made up his mind to tarry a while in Imeeo.
    I turned the matter over; and at last decided upon quitting the island. The
impulse urging me to sea once more, and the prospect of eventually reaching
home, were too much to be resisted; especially as the Leviathan, so comfortable
a craft, was now bound on her last whaling cruise, and, in little more than a
year's time, would be going round Cape Horn.
    I did not, however, covenant to remain in the vessel for the residue of the
voyage; which would have been needlessly binding myself. I merely stipulated for
the coming cruise, leaving my subsequent movements unrestrained; for there was
no knowing that I might not change my mind, and prefer journeying home by short
and easy stages.
    The next day I paddled off to the ship, signed and sealed, and stepped
ashore with my advance - fifteen Spanish dollars - tasselling the ends of my
neck-handkerchief.
    I forced half of the silver on Long Ghost; and having little use for the
remainder, would have given it to Po-Po as some small return for his kindness;
but, although he well knew the value of the coin, not a dollar would he accept.
    In three days' time the Prussian came to Po-Po's, and told us that the
captain, having made good the number of his crew by shipping several islanders,
had determined upon sailing with the land breeze at dawn the following morning.
These tidings were received in the afternoon. The doctor immediately
disappeared, returning soon after with a couple of flasks of wine concealed in
the folds of his frock. Through the agency of the Marquesan, he had purchased
them from an understrapper of the court.
    I prevailed upon Po-Po to drink a parting shell; and even little Loo,
actually looking conscious that one of her hopeless admirers was about leaving
Partoowye for ever, sipped a few drops from a folded leaf. As for the
warm-hearted Arfretee, her grief was unbounded. She even besought me to spend my
last night under her own palm-thatch; and then, in the morning, she would
herself paddle me off to the ship.
    But this I would not consent to; and so, as something to remember her by,
she presented me with a roll of fine matting, and another of tappa. These gifts
placed in my hammock, I afterwards found very agreeable in the warm latitudes to
which we were bound; nor did they fail to awaken most grateful remembrances.
    About nightfall, we broke away from this generous-hearted household, and
hurried down to the water.
    It was a mad, merry night among the sailors: they had on tap a small cask of
wine, procured in the same way as the doctor's flasks.
    An hour or two after midnight, everything was noiseless; but when the first
streak of the dawn showed itself over the mountains, a sharp voice hailed the
forecastle, and ordered the ship unmoored. The anchors came up cheerily; the
sails were soon set; and with the early breath of the tropical morning, fresh
and fragrant from the hillsides, we slowly glided down the bay, and were swept
through the opening in the reef. Presently, we hove to, and the canoes came
alongside to take off the islanders who had accompanied us thus far. As he
stepped over the side, I shook the doctor long and heartily by the hand. I have
never seen or heard of him since.
    Crowding all sail, we braced the yards square; and, the breeze freshening,
bowled straight away from the land. Once more the sailor's cradle rocked under
me, and I found myself rolling in my gait.
    By noon, the island had gone down in the horizon; and all before us was the
wide Pacific.
 
                                    The End
 

                                     Notes

1 This spirituous liquor derives its name from a considerable town in Peru,
where it is manufactured in large quantities. It is well known along the whole
western coast of South America, whence some of it has been exported to
Australia. It is very cheap.
 
2 The colouring matter is inserted by means of a shark's tooth attached to the
end of a abort stick, which is struck upon the other end with a small mallet of
wood.
 
3 He was so called from the place of his birth, being a runaway Maryland slave.
 
4 The men were shipped by the lay; in other words, they received no wages; but,
by the articles, were entitled to a certain portion of the profits of the
voyage.
 
5 The above is the popular idea on the subject. But of late a theory directly
the reverse has been started. Instead of regarding the phenomena last described
as indicating anything like an active, creative power now in operation, it is
maintained that, together with the entire group, they are merely the remains of
a continent, long ago worn away, and broken up by the action of the sea.
 
6 So called from the place he hailed from; a well-known sea-port on the coast of
Massachusetts.
 
7 This is a term much in vogue among sailors in the Pacific. It is applied to
certain roving characters, who, without attaching themselves permanently to any
vessel, ship now and then for a short cruise in a whaler; but upon the condition
only of being honourably discharged the very next time the anchor takes hold of
the bottom; no matter where. They are, mostly, a reckless, rollicking set,
wedded to the Pacific, and never dreaming of ever doubling Cape Horn again on a
homeward-bound passage. Hence their reputation is a bad one.
 
8 Some of the most promising convicts in New South Wales are hired out to the
citizens as servants; thus being, in some degree, permitted to go at large;
government, however, still claiming them as wards. They are provided with
tickets, which they are obliged to show to any one who pleases to suspect their
being abroad without warrant. Hence the above appellation. This was the doctor's
explanation of the term.
 
9 The most northerly point of the island; and so called from Cook's observatory
being placed there during his first visit.
10 A corruption of the French word savoir, much in use among sailors of all
nations, and hence made familiar to many of the natives of Polynesia.
 
11 For a few years past more than one hundred and fifty sail have annually
touched at Tahiti. They are principally whalemen, whose cruising-grounds lie in
the vicinity. The harbour dues - going to the queen - are so high that they have
often been protested against. Jim, I believe, gets five silver dollars for every
ship brought in.
 
12 The Newtonian theory concerning the tides does not hold good at Tahiti;
where, throughout the year, the waters uniformly commence ebbing at noon and
midnight, and flow about sunset and daybreak. Hence the term Tooerar-Po is used
alike to express high-water and midnight.
 
13 I do not wish to be understood as applauding the flogging system practised in
men-of-war. As long, however, as navies are needed, there is no substitute for
it. War being the greatest of evils, all its accessories necessarily partake of
the same character; and this is about all that can be said in defence of
flogging.
 
14 Concerning the singular ignorance of the natives respecting their own
country, it may be here observed that a considerable inland lake - Whaiherea by
name - is known to exist, although their accounts of it strangely vary. Some
told me it had no bottom, no outlet, and no inlet; others, that it fed all the
streams on the island. A sailor of my acquaintance said that he once visited
this marvellous lake as one of an exploring party from an English sloop-of-war.
It was found to be a great curiosity; very small, deep, and green; a choice well
of water bottled up among the mountains, and abounding with delicious fish.
 
15 Meaning the showy image of the Virgin in the little Catholic chapel.
 
16 The word arva, as here employed, means brandy. Poofai was one of the highest
chiefs on the island, and a jolly companion.
 
17 This word, evidently a corruption of missionary, is used under various
significations by the natives. Sometimes, it is applied to a communicant of the
Church. But, above, it has its original meaning.
 
18 A word generally used by foreigners to designate the natives of Polynesia.
 
19 Pomaree, some time previous, had received a present of a chariot from Queen
Victoria. It was afterwards sent to Oahu (Sandwich Islands), and there sold to
pay her debts.
20 At this period, many of the population were upon the verge of starvation.
 
21 Pope (Epistle to a Lady).
 
22 With abhorrence and disgust the custom is alluded to by a late benevolent
visitor at the island. See page 763 of the Memoirs of the Life and Gospel
Labours of the late Daniel Wheeler. A work hereafter to be more particularly
alluded to.
 
23 Polynesia: or an Historical Account of the Principal Islands of the South
Sea. By the Right Rev. M. Russell, LL.D. (Harpers' Family Library Edition), p.
96.
 
24 A New Voyage round the World in the Years 1823-24-25-26. By Otto Von
Kotzebue, Post Captain in the Russian Imperial Service (London, 1830; 2 vols.
8vo), vol. i. p. 168.
 
25 The author of a Voyage round the World, in the Years 1800-1804 (3 vols. 8vo,
London, 1805).
 
26 Narrative of a Voyage to the Pacific and Beering's Strait under the command
of Captain F.W. Beechey, R.N (London, 1831), vol. i. p. 287.
 
27 Memoirs of the Life and Gospel Labours of the late Daniel Wheeler, a minister
of the Society of Friends (London, 1842, 8vo), p. 757.
28 A Missionary Voyage to the South Pacific Ocean, Appendix, pp. 336, 342.
 
29 See Vancouver's Voyages, 4to edition, vol. i. p. 172.
 
30 Beechey's Narrative, p. 269.
 
31 »I was convinced,« he adds, »that from the vast swarms that everywhere
appeared, this estimate was not at all too great.«
 
32
For an allusion to this census, see one of the chapters on Tahiti in the volumes
of the U.S. Exploring Expedition. And, for the almost incredible depopulation of
the Sandwich Islands, in recent years, see the same work. The progressive
decrease, in certain districts, for a considerable period, is there marked.
    Ruschenberger, an intelligent surgeon in the United States Navy, takes the
following instance from the records kept on the islands. This district of
Rohalo, in Hawaii, at one time numbered 8679 souls: four years after, the
population was 6175: decrease in that time, 2504. No extraordinary cause is
assigned for this depopulation. Vide A Voyage round the World in the Years
1835-36-37. By W.S. Ruschenberger, M.D. (Philadelphia, 1838, 8vo.) The chapter
on the Sandwich Islands.
33 Perhaps the finest sweet potato in the world. It derives its name from a
district of Peru, near Cape Blanco, very favourable to its growth; where, also,
it is extensively cultivated: the root is very large; sometimes as big as a
good-sized melon.
 
34 Perhaps the most remarkable volcanoes in the world. For very interesting
accounts of three adventurous expeditions to their summits (seventeen thousand
feet above the level of the sea) see Lord Byron's Voyage of H.B.M. Ship Blonde;
Ellis's Journal of a Visit to the Sandwich Islands; and Wilkie's Narrative of
the U.S. Exploring Expedition.
 
35 This anomaly exists, notwithstanding that, in other respects, the
missionaries have endeavoured to organise the native courts upon the English
model.
