University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER X.

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 either 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 in a store of food equal to our
wants, we might easily regain the bay of Nukuheva, after the
lapse of a sufficient interval to ensure the departure of our vessel.

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
shades! With what apprehensions we proceeded, ignorant
at what moment we might be greeted by the javelin of some
ambushed savage! At last my companion paused, and directed
my attention to a narrow opening in the foliage. We struck
into it and it soon brought us by an indistinctly traced path to a
comparatively clear space, at the 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 stript 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 either side,
until all at once I saw him recoil as if stung by an adder.
Sinking on his knee, he waved me off with one hand, while with
the other he held aside some intervening leaves and gazed
intently at some object.

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 plucked
with the other a twig from the bushes beside me, and telling
Toby to follow my example, I broke through the covert and
advanced, waving the branch in token of peace towards the
shrinking forms before me.

They were a boy and 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 expecting that
they would understand me, but to show that we had not dropped
from the clouds upon them. This appeared to give them a little
confidence, so I approached nearer, presenting the cloth with
one hand and holding the bough with the other, while they
slowly retreated. At last they suffered us to approach so near
to them that we were enabled to throw the cotton cloth across
their shoulders, giving them to understand that it was theirs, and
by a variety of gestures endeavouring to make them understand
that we entertained the highest possible regard for them.

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
"Mortarkee," 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 surrounding our youthful guides, who with amazing
volubility appeared to be detailing the circumstances which had
attended their meeting with us. Every item of intelligence appeared
to redouble the astonishment of the islanders, and they
gazed at us with inquiring looks.

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 "Mortarkee!" "Mortarkee,"
said I, without further hesitation—"Typee mortarkee."

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 every thing.

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
"mortarkee." 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 now 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,"
every thing 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 cocoa-nuts 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-freighted hand to my mouth, the connecting links
almost raised the calabash from the mats on which it had been
placed. This display of awkwardness — in which, by-the-bye,
Toby kept me company—convulsed the bystanders with uncontrollable
laughter.

As soon as their merriment had somewhat subsided, Mehevi,
motioning us to be attentive, dipped the fore finger of his right
hand in the dish, and giving it a rapid and scientific twirl, drew
it out coated smoothly with the preparation. With a second peculiar
flourish he prevented the poee-poee from dropping to the
ground as he raised it to his mouth, into which the finger was
inserted and 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 an interpreter. The natives who live near the sea
descry the strangers long before they reach their waters, and
aware of the purpose for which they come, proclaim loudly the
news of their approach. By a species of vocal telegraph the
intelligence reaches the inmost recesses of the vale in an inconceivably
short space of time, drawing nearly its whole population
down to the beach laden with every variety of fruit. The interpreter,
who is invariably a "tabooed Kannaka,"[1] leaps ashore
with the goods intended for barter, while the boats, with their
oars shipped, and every man on his thwart, lie just outside the
surf, heading off from the shore, in readiness at the first untoward
event to escape to the open sea. As soon as the traffic is concluded,
one of the boats pulls in under cover of the muskets of
the others, the fruit is quickly thrown into her, and the transient
visitors precipitately retire from what they justly consider so
dangerous a vicinity.

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.

They then plied us with a thousand questions, of which we
could understand nothing more than that they had reference to
the recent movements of the French, against whom they seemed
to cherish the most fierce hatred. So eager were they to obtain
information on this point, that they still continued to propound
their queries long after we had shown that we were utterly unable
to answer them. Occasionally we caught some indistinct
idea of their meaning, when we would endeavour by every
method in our power to communicate the desired intelligence.
At such times their gratification was boundless, and they would
redouble their efforts to make us comprehend them more perfectly.
But all in vain; and in the end they looked at us
despairingly, as if we were the receptacles of invaluable information;
but how to come at it they knew not.

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.