34. CHAPTER XXXIV.
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 traveling
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 traveler
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; beside, 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 civilization 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 neighbors
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 disemboweling.
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 caster slung.”
