________________________________________________
_ THE HEAD OF THE VALLEY--CAUTIOUS ADVANCE--A
PATH--FRUIT--DISCOVERY OF TWO OF THE NATIVES--THEIR SINGULAR
CONDUCT--APPROACH TOWARDS THE INHABITED PARTS OF THE
VALE--SENSATION PRODUCED BY OUR APPEARANCE--RECEPTION AT THE
HOUSE OF ONE OF THE NATIVES
HOW to obtain the fruit which we felt convinced must grow near at
hand was our first thought.
Typee or Happar? A frightful death at the hands of the fiercest
of cannibals, or a kindly reception from a gentler race of
savages? Which? But it was too late now to discuss a question
which would so soon be answered.
The part of the valley in which we found ourselves appeared to be
altogether uninhabited. An almost impenetrable thicket extended
from side to side, without presenting a single plant affording
the nourishment we had confidently calculated upon; and with this
object, we followed the course of the stream, casting quick
glances as we proceeded into the thick jungles on each hand. My
companion--to whose solicitations I had yielded in descending
into the valley--now that the step was taken, began to manifest a
degree of caution I had little expected from him. He proposed
that in the event of our finding an adequate supply of fruit, we
should remain in this unfrequented portion of the country--where
we should run little chance of being surprised by its occupants,
whoever they might be--until sufficiently recruited to resume our
journey; when laying a store of food equal to our wants, we might
easily regain the bay of Nukuheva, after the lapse of a
sufficient interval to ensure the departure of our vessel.
I objected strongly to this proposition, plausible as it was, as
the difficulties of the route would be almost insurmountable,
unacquainted as we were with the general bearings of the country,
and I reminded my companion of the hardships which we had already
encountered in our uncertain wanderings; in a word, I said that
since we had deemed it advisable to enter the valley, we ought
manfully to face the consequences, whatever they might be; the
more especially as I was convinced there was no alternative left
us but to fall in with the natives at once, and boldly risk the
reception they might give us; and that as to myself, I felt the
necessity of rest and shelter, and that until I had obtained
them, I should be wholly unable to encounter such sufferings as
we had lately passed through. To the justice of these
observations Toby somewhat reluctantly assented.
We were surprised that, after moving as far as we had along the
valley, we should still meet with the same impervious thickets;
and thinking, that although the borders of the stream might be
lined for some distance with them, yet beyond there might be more
open ground, I requested Toby to keep a bright look-out upon one
side, while I did the same on the other, in order to discover
some opening in the bushes, and especially to watch for the
slightest appearance of a path or anything else that might
indicate the vicinity of the islanders.
What furtive and anxious glances we cast into those dim-looking
shadows! With what apprehensions we proceeded, ignorant at what
moment we might be greeted by the javelin of some ambushed
savage. At last my companion paused, and directed my attention
to a narrow opening in the foliage. We struck into it, and it
soon brought us by an indistinctly traced path to a comparatively
clear space, at the further end of which we descried a number of
the trees, the native name of which is 'annuee', and which bear a
most delicious fruit. What a race! I hobbling over the ground
like some decrepid wretch, and Toby leaping forward like a
greyhound. He quickly cleared one of the trees on which there
were two or three of the fruit, but to our chagrin they proved to
be much decayed; the rinds partly opened by the birds, and their
hearts half devoured. However, we quickly despatched them, and
no ambrosia could have been more delicious.
We looked about us uncertain whither to direct our steps, since
the path we had so far followed appeared to be lost in the open
space around us. At last we resolved to enter a grove near at
hand, and had advanced a few rods, when, just upon its skirts, I
picked up a slender bread-fruit shoot perfectly green, and with
the tender bark freshly stripped from it. It was still
slippery with moisture, and appeared as if it had been but that
moment thrown aside. I said nothing, but merely held it up to
Toby, who started at this undeniable evidence of the vicinity of
the savages.
The plot was now thickening.--A short distance further lay a
little faggot of the same shoots bound together with a strip of
bark. Could it have been thrown down by some solitary native,
who, alarmed at seeing us, had hurried forward to carry the
tidings of our approach to his countrymen?--Typee or Happar?--But
it was too late to recede, so we moved on slowly, my companion in
advance casting eager glances under the trees on each side, until
all at once I saw him recoil as if stung by an adder. Sinking on
his knee, he waved me off with one hand, while with the other he
held aside some intervening leaves, and gazed intently at some
object.
Disregarding his injunction, I quickly approached him and caught
a glimpse of two figures partly hidden by the dense foliage; they
were standing close together, and were perfectly motionless.
They must have previously perceived us, and withdrawn into the
depths of the wood to elude our observation.
My mind was at once made up. Dropping my staff, and tearing open
the package of things we had brought from the ship, I unrolled
the cotton cloth, and holding it in one hand picked with the
other a twig from the bushes beside me, and telling Toby to
follow my example, I broke through the covert and advanced,
waving the branch in token of peace towards the shrinking forms
before me. They were a boy and a girl, slender and graceful, and
completely naked, with the exception of a slight girdle of bark,
from which depended at opposite points two of the russet leaves
of the bread-fruit tree. An arm of the boy, half screened from
sight by her wild tresses, was thrown about the neck of the girl,
while with the other he held one of her hands in his; and thus
they stood together, their heads inclined forward, catching the
faint noise we made in our progress, and with one foot in
advance, as if half inclined to fly from our presence.
As we drew near, their alarm evidently increased. Apprehensive
that they might fly from us altogether, I stopped short and
motioned them to advance and receive the gift I extended towards
them, but they would not; I then uttered a few words of their
language with which I was acquainted, scarcely expected that they
would understand me, but to show that we had not dropped from the
clouds upon them. This appeared to give them a little
confidence, so I approached nearer, presenting the cloth with one
hand, and holding the bough with the other, while they slowly
retreated. At last they suffered us to approach so near to them
that we were enabled to throw the cotton cloth across their
shoulders, giving them to understand that it was theirs, and by a
variety of gestures endeavouring to make them understand that we
entertained the highest possible regard for them.
The frightened pair now stood still, whilst we endeavoured to
make them comprehend the nature of our wants. In doing this Toby
went through with a complete series of pantomimic
illustrations--opening his mouth from ear to ear, and thrusting
his fingers down his throat, gnashing his teeth and rolling his
eyes about, till I verily believe the poor creatures took us for
a couple of white cannibals who were about to make a meal of
them. When, however, they understood us, they showed no
inclination to relieve our wants. At this juncture it began to
rain violently, and we motioned them to lead us to some place of
shelter. With this request they appeared willing to comply, but
nothing could evince more strongly the apprehension with which
they regarded us, than the way in which, whilst walking before
us, they kept their eyes constantly turned back to watch every
movement we made, and even our very looks.
'Typee or Happar, Toby?' asked I as we walked after them.
'Of course Happar,' he replied, with a show of confidence which
was intended to disguise his doubts.
'We shall soon know,' I exclaimed; and at the same moment I
stepped forward towards our guides, and pronouncing the two names
interrogatively and pointing to the lowest part of the valley,
endeavoured to come to the point at once. They repeated the
words after me again and again, but without giving any peculiar
emphasis to either, so that I was completely at a loss to
understand them; for a couple of wilier young things than we
afterwards found them to have been on this particular occasion
never probably fell in any traveller's way.
More and more curious to ascertain our fate, I now threw together
in the form of a question the words 'Happar' and 'Motarkee', the
latter being equivalent to the word 'good'. The two natives
interchanged glances of peculiar meaning with one another at
this, and manifested no little surprise; but on the repetition of
the question after some consultation together, to the great joy
of Toby, they answered in the affirmative. Toby was now in
ecstasies, especially as the young savages continued to reiterate
their answer with great energy, as though desirous of impressing
us with the idea that being among the Happars, we ought to
consider ourselves perfectly secure.
Although I had some lingering doubts, I feigned great delight
with Toby at this announcement, while my companion broke out into
a pantomimic abhorrence of Typee, and immeasurable love for the
particular valley in which we were; our guides all the while
gazing uneasily at one another as if at a loss to account for our
conduct.
They hurried on, and we followed them; until suddenly they set up
a strange halloo, which was answered from beyond the grove
through which we were passing, and the next moment we entered
upon some open ground, at the extremity of which we descried a
long, low hut, and in front of it were several young girls. As
soon as they perceived us they fled with wild screams into the
adjoining thickets, like so many startled fawns. A few moments
after the whole valley resounded with savage outcries, and the
natives came running towards us from every direction.
Had an army of invaders made an irruption into their territory
they could not have evinced greater excitement. We were soon
completely encircled by a dense throng, and in their eager desire
to behold us they almost arrested our progress; an equal number
surrounded our youthful guides, who with amazing volubility
appeared to be detailing the circumstances which had attended
their meeting with us. Every item of intelligence appeared to
redouble the astonishment of the islanders, and they gazed at us
with inquiring looks.
At last we reached a large and handsome building of bamboos, and
were by signs told to enter it, the natives opening a lane for us
through which to pass; on entering without ceremony, we threw our
exhausted frames upon the mats that covered the floor. In a
moment the slight tenement was completely full of people, whilst
those who were unable to obtain admittance gazed at us through
its open cane-work.
It was now evening, and by the dim light we could just discern
the savage countenances around us, gleaming with wild curiosity
and wonder; the naked forms and tattooed limbs of brawny
warriors, with here and there the slighter figures of young
girls, all engaged in a perfect storm of conversation, of which
we were of course the one only theme, whilst our recent guides
were fully occupied in answering the innumerable questions which
every one put to them. Nothing can exceed the fierce
gesticulation of these people when animated in conversation, and
on this occasion they gave loose to all their natural vivacity,
shouting and dancing about in a manner that well nigh intimidated
us.
Close to where we lay, squatting upon their haunches, were some
eight or ten noble-looking chiefs--for such they subsequently
proved to be--who, more reserved than the rest, regarded us with
a fixed and stern attention, which not a little discomposed our
equanimity. One of them in particular, who appeared to be the
highest in rank, placed himself directly facing me, looking at me
with a rigidity of aspect under which I absolutely quailed. He
never once opened his lips, but maintained his severe expression
of countenance, without turning his face aside for a single
moment. Never before had I been subjected to so strange and
steady a glance; it revealed nothing of the mind of the savage,
but it appeared to be reading my own.
After undergoing this scrutiny till I grew absolutely nervous,
with a view of diverting it if possible, and conciliating the
good opinion of the warrior, I took some tobacco from the bosom
of my frock and offered it to him. He quietly rejected the
proffered gift, and, without speaking, motioned me to return it
to its place.
In my previous intercourse with the natives of Nukuheva and Tior,
I had found that the present of a small piece of tobacco would
have rendered any of them devoted to my service. Was this act of
the chief a token of his enmity? Typee or Happar? I asked
within myself. I started, for at the same moment this identical
question was asked by the strange being before me. I turned to
Toby, the flickering light of a native taper showed me his
countenance pale with trepidation at this fatal question. I
paused for a second, and I know not by what impulse it was that I
answered 'Typee'. The piece of dusky statuary nodded in
approval, and then murmured 'Motarkee!' 'Motarkee,' said I,
without further hesitation 'Typee motarkee.'
What a transition! The dark figures around us leaped to their
feet, clapped their hands in transport, and shouted again and
again the talismanic syllables, the utterance of which appeared
to have settled everything.
When this commotion had a little subsided, the principal chief
squatted once more before me, and throwing himself into a sudden
rage, poured forth a string of philippics, which I was at no loss
to understand, from the frequent recurrence of the word Happar,
as being directed against the natives of the adjoining valley.
In all these denunciations my companion and I acquiesced, while
we extolled the character of the warlike Typees. To be sure our
panegyrics were somewhat laconic, consisting in the repetition of
that name, united with the potent adjective 'motarkee'. But this
was sufficient, and served to conciliate the good will of the
natives, with whom our congeniality of sentiment on this point
did more towards inspiring a friendly feeling than anything else
that could have happened.
At last the wrath of the chief evaporated, and in a few moments
he was as placid as ever. Laying his hand upon his breast, he
gave me to understand that his name was 'Mehevi', and that, in
return, he wished me to communicate my appellation. I hesitated
for an instant, thinking that it might be difficult for him to
pronounce my real name, and then with the most praiseworthy
intentions intimated that I was known as 'Tom'. But I could not
have made a worse selection; the chief could not master it.
'Tommo,' 'Tomma', 'Tommee', everything but plain 'Tom'. As he
persisted in garnishing the word with an additional syllable, I
compromised the matter with him at the word 'Tommo'; and by that
name I went during the entire period of my stay in the valley.
The same proceeding was gone through with Toby, whose mellifluous
appellation was more easily caught.
An exchange of names is equivalent to a ratification of good will
and amity among these simple people; and as we were aware of this
fact, we were delighted that it had taken place on the present
occasion.
Reclining upon our mats, we now held a kind of levee, giving
audience to successive troops of the natives, who introduced
themselves to us by pronouncing their respective names, and
retired in high good humour on receiving ours in return. During
this ceremony the greatest merriment prevailed nearly every
announcement on the part of the islanders being followed by a
fresh sally of gaiety, which induced me to believe that some of
them at least were innocently diverting the company at our
expense, by bestowing upon themselves a string of absurd titles,
of the humour of which we were of course entirely ignorant.
All this occupied about an hour, when the throng having a little
diminished, I turned to Mehevi and gave him to understand that we
were in need of food and sleep. Immediately the attentive chief
addressed a few words to one of the crowd, who disappeared, and
returned in a few moments with a calabash of 'poee-poee', and two
or three young cocoanuts stripped of their husks, and with their
shells partly broken. We both of us forthwith placed one of
these natural goblets to our lips, and drained it in a moment of
the refreshing draught it contained. The poee-poee was then
placed before us, and even famished as I was, I paused to
consider in what manner to convey it to my mouth.
This staple article of food among the Marquese islanders is
manufactured from the produce of the bread-fruit tree. It
somewhat resembles in its plastic nature our bookbinders' paste,
is of a yellow colour, and somewhat tart to the taste.
Such was the dish, the merits of which I was now eager to
discuss. I eyed it wistfully for a moment, and then, unable any
longer to stand on ceremony, plunged my hand into the yielding
mass, and to the boisterous mirth of the natives drew it forth
laden with the poee-poee, which adhered in lengthy strings to
every finger. So stubborn was its consistency, that in conveying
my heavily-weighted hand to my mouth, the connecting links almost
raised the calabash from the mats on which it had been placed.
This display of awkwardness--in which, by-the-bye, Toby kept me
company--convulsed the bystanders with uncontrollable laughter.
As soon as their merriment had somewhat subsided, Mehevi,
motioning us to be attentive, dipped the forefinger of his right
hand in the dish, and giving it a rapid and scientific twirl,
drew it out coated smoothly with the preparation. With a second
peculiar flourish he prevented the poee-poee from dropping to the
ground as he raised it to his mouth, into which the finger was
inserted and drawn forth perfectly free from any adhesive matter.
This performance was evidently intended for our instruction; so I
again essayed the feat on the principles inculcated, but with
very ill success.
A starving man, however, little heeds conventional proprieties,
especially on a South-Sea Island, and accordingly Toby and I
partook of the dish after our own clumsy fashion, beplastering
our faces all over with the glutinous compound, and daubing our
hands nearly to the wrist. This kind of food is by no means
disagreeable to the palate of a European, though at first the
mode of eating it may be. For my own part, after the lapse of a
few days I became accustomed to its singular flavour, and grew
remarkably fond of it.
So much for the first course; several other dishes followed it,
some of which were positively delicious. We concluded our
banquet by tossing off the contents of two more young cocoanuts,
after which we regaled ourselves with the soothing fumes of
tobacco, inhaled from a quaintly carved pipe which passed round
the circle.
During the repast, the natives eyed us with intense curiosity,
observing our minutest motions, and appearing to discover
abundant matter for comment in the most trifling occurrence.
Their surprise mounted the highest, when we began to remove our
uncomfortable garments, which were saturated with rain. They
scanned the whiteness of our limbs, and seemed utterly unable to
account for the contrast they presented to the swarthy hue of our
faces embrowned from a six months' exposure to the scorching sun
of the Line. They felt our skin, much in the same way that a
silk mercer would handle a remarkably fine piece of satin; and
some of them went so far in their investigation as to apply the
olfactory organ.
Their singular behaviour almost led me to imagine that they never
before had beheld a white man; but a few moments' reflection
convinced me that this could not have been the case; and a more
satisfactory reason for their conduct has since suggested itself
to my mind.
Deterred by the frightful stories related of its inhabitants,
ships never enter this bay, while their hostile relations with
the tribes in the adjoining valleys prevent the Typees from
visiting that section of the island where vessels occasionally
lie. At long intervals, however, some intrepid captain will
touch on the skirts of the bay, with two or three armed boats'
crews and accompanied by interpreters. The natives who live near
the sea descry the strangers long before they reach their waters,
and aware of the purpose for which they come, proclaim loudly the
news of their approach. By a species of vocal telegraph the
intelligence reaches the inmost recesses of the vale in an
inconceivably short space of time, drawing nearly its whole
population down to the beach laden with every variety of fruit.
The interpreter, who is invariably a 'tabooed Kanaka'*, leaps
ashore with the goods intended for barter, while the boats, with
their oars shipped, and every man on his thwart, lie just outside
the surf, heading off the shore, in readiness at the first
untoward event to escape to the open sea. As soon as the traffic
is concluded, one of the boats pulls in under cover of the
muskets of the others, the fruit is quickly thrown into her, and
the transient visitors precipitately retire from what they justly
consider so dangerous a vicinity.
* The word 'Kanaka' is at the present day universally used in the
South Seas by Europeans to designate the Islanders. In the
various dialects of the principal groups it is simply a sexual
designation applied to the males; but it is now used by the
natives in their intercourse with foreigners in the same sense in
which the latter employ it.
A 'Tabooed Kanaka' is an islander whose person has been made to a
certain extent sacred by the operation of a singular custom
hereafter to be explained.
The intercourse occurring with Europeans being so restricted, no
wonder that the inhabitants of the valley manifested so much
curiosity with regard to us, appearing as we did among them under
such singular circumstances. I have no doubt that we were the
first white men who ever penetrated thus far back into their
territories, or at least the first who had ever descended from
the head of the vale. What had brought us thither must have
appeared a complete mystery to them, and from our ignorance of
the language it was impossible for us to enlighten them. In
answer to inquiries which the eloquence of their gestures enabled
us to comprehend, all that we could reply was, that we had come
from Nukuheva, a place, be it remembered, with which they were at
open war. This intelligence appeared to affect them with the
most lively emotions. 'Nukuheva motarkee?' they asked. Of
course we replied most energetically in the negative.
Then they plied us with a thousand questions, of which we could
understand nothing more than that they had reference to the
recent movements of the French, against whom they seemed to
cherish the most fierce hatred. So eager were they to obtain
information on this point, that they still continued to propound
their queries long after we had shown that we were utterly unable
to answer them. Occasionally we caught some indistinct idea of
their meaning, when we would endeavour by every method in our
power to communicate the desired intelligence. At such times
their gratification was boundless, and they would redouble their
efforts to make us comprehend them more perfectly. But all in
vain; and in the end they looked at us despairingly, as if we
were the receptacles of invaluable information; but how to come
at it they knew not.
After a while the group around us gradually dispersed, and we
were left about midnight (as we conjectured) with those who
appeared to be permanent residents of the house. These
individuals now provided us with fresh mats to lie upon, covered
us with several folds of tappa, and then extinguishing the tapers
that had been burning, threw themselves down beside us, and after
a little desultory conversation were soon sound asleep. _
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