75. CHAPTER LXXV.
A RAMBLE THROUGH THE SETTLEMENT.
The following morning, making our toilets carefully, we
donned our sombreros, and sallied out on a tour. Without
meaning to reveal our designs upon the court, our principal
object was, to learn what chances there were for white men to
obtain employment under the queen. On this head, it is true,
we had questioned Po-Po; but his answers had been very
discouraging; so we determined to obtain further information
elsewhere.
But first, to give some little description of the village.
The settlement of Partoowye is nothing more than some
eighty houses, scattered here and there, in the midst of an immense
grove, where the trees have been thinned out, and the
underbrush cleared away. Through the grove flows a stream;
and the principal avenue crosses it, over an elastic bridge of
cocoa-nut trunks, laid together side by side. The avenue is
broad, and serpentine; well shaded, from one end to the other;
and as pretty a place for a morning promenade, as any lounger
could wish. The houses, constructed without the slightest regard
to the road, peep into view from among the trees on either side;
some looking you right in the face as you pass, and others, without
any manners, turning their backs. Occasionally, you observe
a rural retreat, inclosed by a picket of bamboos, or with a solitary
pane of glass massively framed in the broadside of the
dwelling, or with a rude, strange-looking door, swinging upon
dislocated wooden hinges. Otherwise, the dwellings are built
in the original style of the natives; and never mind how mean
and filthy some of them may appear within, they all look picturesque
enough without.
As we sauntered along, the people we met, saluted us pleasantly,
and invited us into their houses; and in this way we
made a good many brief morning calls. But the hour could
not have been the fashionable one in Partoowye; since the
ladies were invariably in dishabille. But they always gave us
a cordial reception, and were particularly polite to the doctor;
caressing him, and amorously hanging about his neck; wonderfully
taken up, in short, with a gay handkerchief he wore there.
Arfretee had that morning bestowed it upon the pious youth.
With some exceptions, the general appearance of the natives
of Partoowye, was far better than that of the inhabitants of
Papeetee: a circumstance only to be imputed to their restricted
intercourse with foreigners.
Strolling on, we turned a sweep of the road, when the doctor
gave a start; and no wonder. Right before us, in the grove,
was a block of houses: regular square frames, boarded over,
furnished with windows and doorways, and two stories high.
We ran up, and found them fast going to decay; very dingy,
and here and there covered with moss; no sashes nor doors;
and on one side, the entire block had settled down nearly a
foot. On going into the basement, we looked clean up through
the unboarded timbers to the roof; where rays of light, glimmering
through many a chink, illuminated the cobwebs which
swung all round.
The whole interior was dark and close. Burrowing among
some old mats in one corner, like a parcel of Gipsys in a ruin,
were a few vagabond natives. They had their dwelling here.
Curious to know, who on earth could have been thus trying
to improve the value of real estate in Partoowye, we made
inquiries; and learned that, some years previous, the block
had been thrown up by a veritable Yankee (one might have
known that), a house carpenter by trade, and a bold, enterprising
fellow by nature.
Put ashore from his ship, sick, he first went to work and got
well; then sallied out with chisel and plane, and made himself
generally useful. A sober, steady man, it seems, he at last
obtained the confidence of several chiefs, and soon filled them
with all sorts of ideas concerning the alarming want of public
spirit in the people of Imeeo. More especially did he dwell
upon the humiliating fact of their living in paltry huts of bamboo,
when magnificent palaces of boards might so easily be
morticed together.
In the end, these representations so far prevailed with one
old chief, that the carpenter was engaged to build a batch of
these wonderful palaces. Provided with plenty of men, he at
once set to work: built a saw-mill among the mountains, felled
trees, and sent over to Papeetee for nails.
Presto! the castle rose; but alas, the roof was hardly on,
when the Yankee's patron, having speculated beyond his means,
broke all to pieces, and was absolutely unable to pay one “plug”
of tobacco in the pound. His failure involved the carpenter,
who sailed away from his creditors in the very next ship that
touched at the harbor.
The natives despised the rickety palace of boards; and often
lounged by, wagging their heads, and jeering.
We were told that the queen's residence was at the extreme
end of the village; so, without waiting for the doctor to procure
a fiddle, we suddenly resolved upon going thither at once,
and learning whether any privy counselorships were vacant.
Now, although there was a good deal of my waggish comrade's
nonsense about what has been said concerning our expectations
of court preferment, we, nevertheless, really thought,
that something to our advantage might turn up in that quarter.
On approaching the palace grounds, we found them rather
peculiar. A broad pier of hewn coral rocks was built right
out into the water; and upon this, and extending into a grove
adjoining, were some eight or ten very large native houses,
constructed in the handsomest style, and inclosed together by a
low picket of bamboos, which embraced a considerable area.
Throughout the Society Islands, the residences of the chiefs
are mostly found in the immediate vicinity of the sea; a site
which gives them the full benefit of a cooling breeze; nor are
they so liable to the annoyance of insects; besides enjoying
when they please, the fine shade afforded by the neighboring
groves, always most luxuriant near the water.
Lounging about the grounds, were some sixty or eighty
handsomely dressed natives, men and women; some reclining
on the shady side of the houses, others under the trees, and a
small group conversing close by the railing, facing us.
We went up to the latter; and giving the usual salutation, were
on the point of vaulting over the bamboos, when they turned
upon us angrily, and said we could not enter. We stated our
earnest desire to see the queen; hinting that we were bearers
of important dispatches. But it was to no purpose; and not
a little vexed, we were obliged to return to Po-Po's without
effecting any thing.
