CHAPTER XIII.
Attempt to procure Relief from Nukuheva—Perilous Adventure of Toby in
the Happar Mountain—Eloquence of Kory-Kory.
Amidst these novel scenes a week passed away almost imperceptibly.
The natives, actuated by some mysterious impulse,
day after day redoubled their attentions to us. Their manner
towards us was unaccountable. Surely, thought I, they would
not act thus if they meant us any harm. But why this excess
of deferential kindness, or what equivalent can they imagine us
capable of rendering them for it?
We were fairly puzzled. But despite the apprehensions I could
not dispel, the horrible character imputed to these Typees appeared
to me wholly undeserved.
"Why, they are cannibals!" said Toby on one occasion when
I eulogised the tribe. "Granted," I replied, "but a more
humane, gentlemanly, and amiable set of epicures do not probably
exist in the Pacific."
But, notwithstanding the kind treatment we received, I was
too familiar with the fickle disposition of savages not to feel
anxious to withdraw from the valley, and put myself beyond the
reach of that fearful death which, under all these smiling appearances,
might yet menace us. But here there was an obstacle
in the way of doing so. It was idle for me to think of moving
from the place until I should have recovered from the severe
lameness that afflicted me; indeed my malady began seriously
to alarm me; for, despite the herbal remedies of the natives, it
continued to grow worse and worse. Their mild applications,
though they soothed the pain, did not remove the disorder, and
I felt convinced that without better aid I might anticipate long
and acute suffering.
But how was this aid to be procured? From the surgeons of
the French fleet, which probably still lay in the bay of Nukuheva,
it might easily have been obtained, could I have made my
case known to them. But how could that be effected?
At last, in the exigency to which I was reduced, I proposed
to Toby that he should endeavour to go round to Nukuheva,
and if he could not succeed in returning to the valley by
water, in one of the boats of the squadron, and taking me off,
he might at least procure me some proper medicines, and effect
his return overland.
My companion listened to me in silence, and at first did not
appear to relish the idea. The truth was, he felt impatient to
escape from the place, and wished to avail himself of our present
high favour with the natives to make good our retreat, before
we should experience some sudden alteration in their behaviour.
As he could not think of leaving me in my helpless condition,
he implored me to be of good cheer, assured me that I should
soon be better, and enabled in a few days to return with him to
Nukuheva.
Added to this, he could not bear the idea of again returning
to this dangerous place; and as for the expectation of persuading
the Frenchmen to detach a boat's crew for the purpose of rescuing
me from the Typees, he looked upon it as idle; and with
arguments that I could not answer, urged the improbability of
their provoking the hostilities of the clan by any such measure;
especially as, for the purpose of quieting its apprehensions, they
had as yet refrained from making any visit to the bay. "And
even should they consent," said Toby, "they would only produce
a commotion in the valley, in which we might both be
sacrificed by these ferocious islanders." This was unanswerable;
but still I clung to the belief that he might succeed in accomplishing
the other part of my plan; and at last I overcame his
scruples, and he agreed to make the attempt.
As soon as we succeeded in making the natives understand
our intention, they broke out into the most vehement opposition
to the measure, and for a while I almost despaired of obtaining
their consent. At the bare thought of one of us leaving them,
they manifested the most lively concern. The grief and consternation
of Kory-Kory, in particular, was unbounded; he
threw himself into a perfect paroxysm of gestures, which were
intended to convey to us not only his abhorrence of Nukuheva
and its uncivilized inhabitants, but also his astonishment that
after becoming acquainted with the enlightened Typees, we should
evince the least desire to withdraw, even for a time, from their
agreeable society.
However, I overbore his objections by appealing to my lameness;
from which I assured the natives I should speedily recover,
if Toby were permitted to obtain the supplies I needed.
It was agreed that on the following morning my companion
should depart, accompanied by some one or two of the household,
who should point out to him an easy route, by which the bay
might be reached before sunset.
At early dawn of the next day, our habitation was astir. One
of the young men mounted into an adjoining cocoa-nut tree,
and threw down a number of the young fruit, which old
Marheyo quickly stripped of the green husks, and strung together
upon a short pole. These were intended to refresh Toby
on his route.
The preparations being completed, with no little emotion I
bade my companion adieu. He promised to return in three days
at farthest; and, bidding me keep up my spirits in the interval,
turned round the corner of the pi-pi, and, under the guidance of
the venerable Marheyo, was soon out of sight. His departure
oppressed me with melancholy, and, re-entering the dwelling, I
threw myself almost in despair upon the matting of the floor.
In two hours' time the old warrior returned, and gave me to
understand that, after accompanying my companion a little distance,
and showing him the route, he had left him journeying on
his way.
It was about noon of this same day, a season which these people
are wont to pass in sleep, that I lay in the house, surrounded by
its slumbering inmates, and painfully affected by the strange
silence which prevailed. All at once I thought I heard a faint
shout, as if proceeding from some persons in the depth of the
grove which extended in front of our habitation.
The sounds grew louder and nearer, and gradually the whole
valley rang with wild outcries. The sleepers around me started
to their feet in alarm, and hurried outside to discover the cause
of the commotion. Kory-Kory, who had been the first to spring
up, soon returned almost breathless, and nearly frantic with the
excitement under which he seemed to be labouring. All that I
could understand from him was that some accident had happened
to Toby. Apprehensive of some dreadful calamity, I rushed out
of the house, and caught sight of a tumultuous crowd, who, with
shrieks and lamentations, were just emerging from the grove
bearing in their arms some object, the sight of which produced
all this transport of sorrow. As they drew near, the men redoubled
their cries, while the girls, tossing their bare arms in
the air, exclaimed plaintively, "Awha! awha! Toby muckee
moee!"—Alas! alas! Toby is killed!
In a moment the crowd opened, and disclosed the apparently
lifeless body of my companion borne between two men, the
head hanging heavily against the breast of the foremost. The
whole face, neck, and bosom were covered with blood, which
still trickled slowly from a wound behind the temple. In the
midst of the greatest uproar and confusion the body was carried
into the house and laid on a mat. Waving the natives off to give
room and air, I bent eagerly over Toby, and, laying my hand
upon the breast, ascertained that the heart still beat. Overjoyed
at this, I seized a calabash of water, and dashed its contents
upon his face, then wiping away the blood, anxiously examined
the wound. It was about three inches long, and on removing the
clotted hair from about it, showed the skull laid completely bare.
Immediately with my knife I cut away the heavy locks, and
bathed the part repeatedly in water.
In a few moments Toby revived, and opening his eyes for a
second, closed them again without speaking. Kory-Kory, who
had been kneeling beside me, now chafed his limbs gently with
the palms of his hands, while a young girl at his head kept
fanning him, and I still continued to moisten his lips and brow.
Soon my poor comrade showed signs of animation, and I succeeded
in making him swallow from a cocoa-nut shell a few
mouthfuls of water.
Old Tinor now appeared, holding in her hand some simples
she had gathered, the juice of which, she by signs besought me
to squeeze into the wound. Having done so, I thought it best to
leave Toby undisturbed until he should have had time to rally
his faculties. Several times he opened his lips, but fearful for
his safety I enjoined silence. In the course of two or three hours,
however, he sat up, and was sufficiently recovered to tell me
what had occurred.
"After leaving the house with Marheyo," said Toby, "we
struck across the valley, and ascended the opposite heights. Just
beyond them, my guide informed me, lay the valley of Happar,
while along their summits, and skirting the head of the vale, was
my route to Nukuheva. After mounting a little way up the
elevation my guide paused, and gave me to understand that he
could not accompany me any farther, and by various signs intimated
that he was afraid to approach any nearer the territories
of the enemies of his tribe. He however pointed out my path,
which now lay clearly before me, and bidding me farewell hastily
descended the mountain.
"Quite elated at being so near the Happars, I pushed up the
acclivity, and soon gained its summit. It tapered up to a sharp
ridge, from whence I beheld both the hostile valleys. Here I
sat down and rested for a moment, refreshing myself with my
cocoa nuts. I was soon again pursuing my way along the height,
when suddenly I saw three of the islanders, who must have just
come out of Happar valley, standing in the path ahead of me.
They were each armed with a heavy spear, and one from his appearance
I took to be a chief. They sung out something, I
could not understand what, and beckoned me to come on.
"Without the least hesitation I advanced towards them, and had
approached within about a yard of the foremost, when, pointing
angrily into the Typee valley, and uttering some savage exclamation,
he wheeled round his weapon like lightning, and struck
me in a moment to the ground. The blow inflicted this wound,
and took away my senses. As soon as I came to myself, I perceived
the three islanders standing a little distance off, and apparently
engaged in some violent altercation respecting me.
"My first impulse was to run for it; but, in endeavouring to
rise, I fell back, and rolled down a little grassy precipice. The
shock seemed to rally my faculties; so, starting to my feet, I fled
down the path I had just ascended. I had no need to look behind
me, for, from the yells I heard, I knew that my enemies were
in full pursuit. Urged on by their fearful outcries, and heedless
of the injury I had received—though the blood flowing from the
wound trickled over into my eyes and almost blinded me—I
rushed down the mountain side with the speed of the wind. In
a short time I had descended nearly a third of the distance, and
the savages had ceased their cries, when suddenly a terrific howl
burst upon my ear, and at the same moment a heavy javelin
darted past me as I fled, and stuck quivering in a tree close to
me. Another yell followed, and a second spear and a third shot
through the air within a few feet of my body, both of them
piercing the ground obliquely in advance of me. The fellows
gave a roar of rage and disappointment; but they were afraid,
I suppose, of coming down further into the Typee valley, and
so abandoned the chase. I saw them recover their weapons and
turn back; and I continued my descent as fast as I could.
"What could have caused this ferocious attack on the part of
these Happars I could not imagine, unless it were that they had
seen me ascending the mountain with Marheyo, and that the
mere fact of coming from the Typee valley was sufficient to
provoke them.
"As long as I was in danger I scarcely felt the wound I had
received; but when the chase was over I began to suffer from it.
I had lost my hat in my flight, and the sun scorched my bare
head. I felt faint and giddy; but, fearful of falling to the
ground beyond the reach of assistance, I staggered on as well
as I could, and at last gained the level of the valley, and then
down I sunk; and I knew nothing more until I found myself
lying upon these mats, and you stooping over me with the calabash
of water."
Such was Toby's account of this sad affair. I afterwards
learned that fortunately he had fallen close to a spot where the
natives go for fuel. A party of them caught sight of him as he
fell, and sounding the alarm, had lifted him up; and after ineffectually
endeavouring to restore him at the brook, had hurried
forward with him to the house.
This incident threw a dark cloud over our prospects. It reminded
us that we were hemmed in by hostile tribes, whose territories
we could not hope to pass, on our route to Nukuheva,
without encountering the effects of their savage resentment.
There appeared to be no avenue opened to our escape but the
sea, which washed the lower extremity of the vale.
Our Typee friends availed themselves of the recent disaster of
Toby to exhort us to a due appreciation of the blessings we
enjoyed among them; contrasting their own generous reception
of us with the animosity of their neighbours. They likewise
dwelt upon the cannibal propensities of the Happars, a subject
which they were perfectly aware could not fail to alarm us;
while at the same time they earnestly disclaimed all participation
in so horrid a custom. Nor did they omit to call upon us to
admire the natural loveliness of their own abode, and the lavish
abundance with which it produced all manner of luxuriant fruits;
exalting it in this particular above any of the surrounding
valleys.
Kory-Kory seemed to experience so heartfelt a desire to infuse
into our minds proper views on these subjects, that, assisted in
his endeavours by the little knowledge of the language we had
acquired, he actually succeeded in making us comprehend a considerable
part of what he said. To facilitate our correct apprehension
of his meaning, he at first condensed his ideas into the
smallest possible compass.
"Happar keekeeno nuee," he exclaimed; "nuee, nuee, ki ki
kannaka!—ah! owle motarkee!" which signifies, "Terrible fellows
those Happars!—devour an amazing quantity of men!—
ah, shocking bad!" Thus far he explained himself by a variety
of gestures, during the performance of which he would dart out
of the house, and point abhorrently towards the Happar valley;
running in to us again with a rapidity that showed he was fearful
we would lose one part of his meaning before he could complete
the other; and continuing his illustrations by seizing the
fleshy part of my arm in his teeth, intimating by the operation
that the people who lived over in that direction would like
nothing better than to treat me in that manner.
Having assured himself that we were fully enlightened on this
point, he proceeded to another branch of his subject. "Ah!
Typee motarkee!—nuee, nuee mioree—nuee, nuee wai—nuee,
nuee poee-poee—nuee, nuee kokoo—ah! nuee, nuee kiki—ah!
nuee, nuee, nuee!" Which, literally interpreted as before, would
imply, "Ah, Typee! isn't it a fine place though!—no danger of
starving here, I tell you!—plenty of bread-fruit—plenty of
water—plenty of pudding—ah! plenty of everything!—ah!
heaps, heaps, heaps!" All this was accompanied by a running
commentary of signs and gestures which it was impossible not to
comprehend.
As he continued his harangue, however, Kory-Kory, in emulation
of our more polished orators, began to launch out rather
diffusely into other branches of his subject, enlarging, probably,
upon the moral reflections it suggested; and proceeded in such
a strain of unintelligible and stunning gibberish, that he actually
gave me the headache for the rest of the day.
