University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER XXIII.

The whole population of the valley seemed to be gathered within
the precincts of the grove. In the distance could be seen the
long front of the Ti, its immense piazza swarming with men,
arrayed in every variety of fantastic costume, and all vociferating
with animated gestures; while the whole interval between it and
the place where I stood was enlivened by groups of females
fancifully decorated, dancing, capering, and uttering wild exclamations.
As soon as they descried me they set up a shout of
welcome; and a band of them came dancing towards me chanting
as they approached some wild recitative. The change in my
garb seemed to transport them with delight, and clustering about
me on all sides, they accompanied me towards the Ti. When
however we drew near it these joyous nymphs paused in their
career, and parting on either side, permitted me to pass on to the
now densely thronged building.

So soon as I mounted to the pi-pi I saw at a glance that the
revels were fairly under way.

What lavish plenty reigned around!—Warwick feasting his
retainers with beef and ale was a niggard to the noble Mehevi!
—All along the piazza of the Ti were arranged elaborately
carved canoe-shaped vessels, some twenty feet in length, filled
with newly made poee-poee, and sheltered from the sun by the
broad leaves of the banana. At intervals were heaps of green
bread-fruit, raised in pyramidical stacks, resembling the regular
piles of heavy shot to be seen in the yard of an arsenal. Inserted
into the interstices of the huge stones which formed the pi-pi
were large boughs of trees; hanging from the branches of which,
and screened from the sun by their foliage, were innumerable
little packages with leafy coverings, containing the meat of the
numerous hogs which had been slain, done up in this manner to

make it more accessible to the crowd. Leaning against the railing
of the piazza were an immense number of long, heavy bamboos,
plugged at the lower end, and with their projecting muzzles
stuffed with a wad of leaves. These were filled with water from
the stream, and each of them might hold from four to five
gallons.

The banquet being thus spread, nought remained but for
every one to help himself at his pleasure. Accordingly not a
moment passed but the transplanted boughs I have mentioned
were rifled by the throng of the fruit they certainly had never
borne before. Calabashes of poee-poee were continually being
replenished from the extensive receptacle in which that article
was stored, and multitudes of little fires were kindled about the
Ti for the purpose of roasting the bread-fruit.

Within the building itself was presented a most extraordinary
scene. The immense lounge of mats lying between the parallel
rows of the trunks of cocoa-nut trees, and extending the entire
length of the house, at least two hundred feet, was covered by
the reclining forms of a host of chiefs and warriors, who were
eating at a great rate, or soothing the cares of Polynesian life in
the sedative fumes of tobacco. The smoke was inhaled from
large pipes, the bowls of which, made out of small cocoa-nut
shells, were curiously carved in strange heathenish devices.
These were passed from mouth to mouth by the recumbent
smokers, who, taking two or three prodigious whiffs, handed the
pipe to his neighbour; sometimes for that purpose stretching
indolently across the body of some dozing individual whose
exertions at the dinner-table had already induced sleep.

The tobacco used among the Typees was of a very mild and
pleasing flavour, and as I always saw it in leaves, and the natives
appeared pretty well supplied with it, I was led to believe that it
must have been the growth of the valley. Indeed Kory-Kory
gave me to understand that this was the case; but I never saw a
single plant growing on the island. At Nukuheva, and, I believe,
in all the other valleys, the weed is very scarce, being only obtained
in small quantities from foreigners, and smoking is consequently
with the inhabitants of these places a very great luxury.
How it was that the Typees were so well furnished with it I
cannot divine. I should think them too indolent to devote any

attention to its culture; and, indeed, as far as my observation
extended, not a single atom of the soil was under any other
cultivation than that of shower and sunshine. The tobacco-plant,
however, like the sugar-cane, may grow wild in some
remote part of the vale.

There were many in the Ti for whom the tobacco did not
furnish a sufficient stimulus, and who accordingly had recourse to
"arva," as a more powerful agent in producing the desired effect.

"Arva" is a root very generally dispersed over the South
Seas, and from it is extracted a juice, the effects of which upon
the system are at first stimulating in a moderate degree; but it
soon relaxes the muscles, and exerting a narcotic influence produces
a luxurious sleep. In the valley this beverage was universally
prepared in the following way:—Some half-dozen young
boys seated themselves in a circle around an empty wooden vessel,
each one of them being supplied with a certain quantity of the
roots of the "arva," broken into small bits and laid by his side.
A cocoa-nut goblet of water was passed around the juvenile
company, who rinsing their mouths with its contents, proceeded
to the business before them. This merely consisted in thoroughly
masticating the "arva," and throwing it mouthful after mouthful
into the receptacle provided. When a sufficient quantity had
been thus obtained water was poured upon the mass, and being
stirred about with the forefinger of the right-hand, the preparation
was soon in readiness for use. The "arva" has medicinal
qualities.

Upon the Sandwich Islands it has been employed with no
small success in the treatment of scrofulous affections, and in
combating the ravages of a disease for whose frightful inroads
the ill-starred inhabitants of that group are indebted to their
foreign benefactors. But the tenants of the Typee valley, as
yet exempt from these inflictions, generally employ the "arva"
as a minister to social enjoyment, and a calabash of the liquid
circulates among them as the bottle with us.

Mehevi, who was greatly delighted with the change in my
costume, gave me a cordial welcome. He had reserved for me
a most delectable mess of "cokoo," well knowing my partiality
for that dish; and had likewise selected three or four young
cocoa-nuts, several roasted bread-fruit, and a magnificent bunch

of bananas, for my especial comfort and gratification. These
various matters were at once placed before me; but Kory-Kory
deemed the banquet entirely insufficient for my wants until he
had supplied me with one of the leafy packages of pork, which,
notwithstanding the somewhat hasty manner in which it had
been prepared, possessed a most excellent flavour, and was surprisingly
sweet and tender.

Pork is not a staple article of food among the people of the
Marquesas, consequently they pay little attention to the breeding
of the swine. The hogs are permitted to roam at large in the
groves, where they obtain no small part of their nourishment from
the cocoa-nuts which continually fall from the trees. But it is
only after infinite labour and difficulty, that the hungry animal can
pierce the husk and shell so as to get at the meat. I have frequently
been amused at seeing one of them, after crunching the
obstinate nut with his teeth for a long time unsuccessfully, get
into a violent passion with it. He would then root furiously
under the cocoa-nut, and, with a fling of his snout, toss it before
him on the ground. Following it up, he would crunch at
it again savagely for a moment, and the next knock it on one
side, pausing immediately after, as if wondering how it could
so suddenly have disappeared. In this way the persecuted
cocoa-nuts were often chased half across the valley.

The second day of the Feast of Calabashes was ushered in
by still more uproarious noises than the first. The skins of innumerable
sheep seemed to be resounding to the blows of an
army of drummers. Startled from my slumbers by the din, I
leaped up, and found the whole household engaged in making
preparations for immediate departure. Curious to discover of
what strange events these novel sounds might be the precursors,
and not a little desirous to catch a sight of the instruments
which produced the terrific noise, I accompanied the natives as
soon as they were in readiness to depart for the Taboo Groves.

The comparatively open space that extended from the Ti
toward the rock, to which I have before alluded as forming the
ascent to the place was, with the building itself, now altogether
deserted by the men, the whole distance being filled by bands
of females, shouting and dancing under the influence of some
strange excitement.

I was amused at the appearance of four or five old women
who, in a state of utter nudity, with their arms extended flatly
down their sides, and holding themselves perfectly erect, were
leaping stiffly into the air, like so many sticks bobbing to the
surface, after being pressed perpendicularly into the water.
They preserved the utmost gravity of countenance, and continued
their extraordinary movements without a single moment's
cessation. They did not appear to attract the observation of the
crowd around them, but I must candidly confess that, for my
own part, I stared at them most pertinaciously.

Desirous of being enlightened with regard to the meaning
of this peculiar diversion, I turned inquiringly to Kory-Kory;
that learned Typee immediately proceeded to explain the whole
matter thoroughly. But all that I could comprehend from what
he said was, that the leaping figures before me were bereaved
widows, whose partners had been slain in battle many moons
previously; and who, at every festival, gave public evidence
in this manner of their calamities. It was evident that Kory-Kory
considered this an all-sufficient reason for so indecorous a
custom; but I must say that it did not satisfy me as to its propriety.

Leaving these afflicted females, we passed on to the HoolahHoolah
ground. Within the spacious quadrangle, the whole
population of the valley seemed to be assembled, and the sight
presented was truly remarkable. Beneath the sheds of bamboo
which opened towards the interior of the square, reclined
the principal chiefs and warriors, while a miscellaneous throng
lay at their ease under the enormous trees which spread a majestic
canopy overhead. Upon the terraces of the gigantic altars,
at either end, were deposited green bread-fruit in baskets of
cocoa-nut leaves, large rolls of tappa, bunches of ripe bananas,
clusters of mammee-apples, the golden-hued fruit of the artutree,
and baked hogs, laid out in large wooden trenches, fancifully
decorated with freshly plucked leaves, whilst a variety of
rude implements of war were piled in confused heaps before the
ranks of hideous idols. Fruits of various kinds were likewise
suspended in leafen baskets, from the tops of poles planted uprightly,
and at regular intervals, along the lower terraces of
both altars. At their base were arranged two parallel rows of

cumbersome drums, standing at least fifteen feet in height, and
formed from the hollow trunks of large trees. Their heads
were covered with shark skins, and their barrels were elaborately
carved with various quaint figures and devices. At
regular intervals they were bound round by a species of sinnate
of various colours, and strips of native cloth flattened upon
them here and there. Behind these instruments were built
slight platforms, upon which stood a number of young men
who, beating violently with the palms of their hands upon
the drum-heads, produced those outrageous sounds which had
awakened me in the morning. Every few minutes these musical
performers hopped down from their elevation into the
crowd below, and their places were immediately supplied by
fresh recruits. Thus an incessant din was kept up that might
have startled Pandemonium.

Precisely in the middle of the quadrangle were placed perpendicularly
in the ground, a hundred or more slender, fresh-cut
poles, stripped of their bark, and decorated at the end with a
floating pennon of white tappa; the whole being fenced about
with a little picket of canes. For what purpose these singular
ornaments were intended I in vain endeavoured to discover.

Another most striking feature of the performance was exhibited
by a score of old men, who sat cross-legged in the little
pulpits, which encircled the trunks of the immense trees growing
in the middle of the enclosure. These venerable gentlemen,
who I presume were the priests, kept up an uninterrupted monotonous
chant, which was nearly drowned in the roar of drums.
In the right hand they held a finely woven grass fan, with a
heavy black wooden handle curiously chased: these fans they
kept in continual motion.

But no attention whatever seemed to be paid to the drummers
or to the old priests; the individuals who composed the vast
crowd present being entirely taken up in chatting and laughing
with one another, smoking, drinking arva, and eating. For all
the observation it attracted, or the good it achieved, the whole
savage orchestra might, with great advantage to its own members
and the company in general, have ceased the prodigious
uproar they were making.

In vain I questioned Kory-Kory and others of the natives,

as to the meaning of the strange things that were going on; all
their explanations were conveyed in such a mass of outlandish
gibberish and gesticulation that I gave up the attempt in despair.
All that day the drums resounded, the priests chanted,
and the multitude feasted and roared till sunset, when the
throng dispersed, and the Taboo Groves were again abandoned
to quiet and repose. The next day the same scene was repeated
until night, when this singular festival terminated.