University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER XII.

When Mehevi had departed from the house, as related in the
preceding chapter, Kory-Kory commenced the functions of the
post assigned him. He brought us various kinds of food; and,
as if I were an infant, insisted upon feeding me with his own
hands. To this procedure I, of course, most earnestly objected,
but in vain; and having laid a calabash of kokoo before me, he
washed his fingers in a vessel of water, and then putting his
hand into the dish and rolling the food into little balls, put them
one after another into my mouth. All my remonstrances against
this measure only provoked so great a clamour on his part, that
I was obliged to acquiesce; and the operation of feeding being
thus facilitated, the meal was quickly despatched. As for Toby,
he was allowed to help himself after his own fashion.

The repast over, my attendant arranged the mats for repose,
and, bidding me lie down, covered me with a large robe of
tappa, at the same time looking approvingly upon me, and exclaiming,
"Ki-Ki, muee muee, ah! moee moee mortarkee" (eat
plenty, ah! sleep very good). The philosophy of this sentiment
I did not pretend to question; for deprived of sleep for several
preceding nights, and the pain in my limb having much abated,
I now felt inclined to avail myself of the opportunity afforded me.

The next morning, on waking, I found Kory-Kory stretched
out on one side of me, while my companion lay upon the other.
I felt sensibly refreshed after a night of sound repose, and immediately
agreed to the proposition of my valet that I should repair
to the water and wash, although dreading the suffering that the
exertion might produce. From this apprehension, however, I

was quickly relieved; for Kory-Kory, leaping from the pi-pi,
and then backing himself up against it, like a porter in readiness
to shoulder a trunk, with loud vociferations and a superabundance
of gestures, gave me to understand that I was to mount
upon his back and be thus transported to the stream, which
flowed perhaps two hundred yards from the house.

Our appearance upon the verandah in front of the habitation
drew together quite a crowd, who stood looking on and conversing
with one another in the most animated manner. They reminded
one of a group of idlers gathered about the door of a
village tavern when the equipage of some distinguished traveller
is brought round previous to his departure. As soon as I clasped
my arms about the neck of the devoted fellow, and he jogged off
with me, the crowd—composed chiefly of young girls and boys—
followed after, shouting and capering with infinite glee, and
accompanied us to the banks of the stream.

On gaining it, Kory-Kory, wading up to his hips in the water,
carried me half way across, and deposited me on a smooth black
stone which rose a few inches above the surface. The amphibious
rabble at our heels plunged in after us, and, climbing to
the summit of the grass-grown rocks with which the bed of the
brook was here and there broken, waited curiously to witness
our morning ablutions.

Somewhat embarrassed by the presence of the female portion
of the company, and feeling my cheeks burning with bashful
timidity, I formed a primitive basin by joining my hands together,
and cooled my blushes in the water it contained; then
removing my frock, bent over and washed myself down to my
waist in the stream. As soon as Kory-Kory comprehended from
my motions that this was to be the extent of my performance,
he appeared perfectly aghast with astonishment, and rushing
towards me, poured out a torrent of words in eager deprecation
of so limited an operation, enjoining me by unmistakeable signs
to immerse my whole body. To this I was forced to consent;
and the honest fellow regarding me as a froward, inexperienced
child, whom it was his duty to serve at the risk of offending,
lifted me from the rock, and tenderly bathed my limbs. This
over, and resuming my seat, I could not avoid bursting into
admiration of the scene around me.

From the verdant surfaces of the large stones that lay scattered
about, the natives were now sliding off into the water, diving and
ducking beneath the surface in all directions—the young girls
springing buoyantly into the air, and revealing their naked forms
to the waist, with their long tresses dancing about their shoulders,
their eyes sparkling like drops of dew in the sun, and their gay
laughter pealing forth at every frolicsome incident.

On the afternoon of the day that I took my first bath in the
valley, we received another visit from Mehevi. The noble savage
seemed to be in the same pleasant mood, and was quite as cordial
in his manner as before. After remaining about an hour, he rose
from the mats, and motioning to leave the house, invited Toby
and myself to accompany him. I pointed to my leg; but Mehevi
in his turn pointed to Kory-Kory, and removed that objection;
so, mounting upon the faithful fellow's shoulders again—
like the old man of the sea astride of Sindbad—I followed after
the chief.

The nature of the route we now pursued struck me more
forcibly than anything I had yet seen, as illustrating the indolent
disposition of the islanders. The path was obviously the most
beaten one in the valley, several others leading from either side
into it, and perhaps for successive generations it had formed the
principal avenue of the place. And yet, until I grew more familiar
with its impediments, it seemed as difficult to travel as the
recesses of a wilderness. Part of it swept round an abrupt rise
of ground, the surface of which was broken by frequent inequalities,
and thickly strewn with projecting masses of rocks, whose
summits were often hidden from view by the drooping foliage of the
luxuriant vegetation. Sometimes directly over, sometimes evading
these obstacles with a wide circuit, the path wound along;—
one moment climbing over a sudden eminence smooth with continued
wear, then descending on the other side into a steep glen,
and crossing the flinty channel of a brook. Here it pursued the
depths of a glade, occasionally obliging you to stoop beneath vast
horizontal branches; and now you stepped over huge trunks and
boughs that lay rotting across the track.

Such was the grand thoroughfare of Typee. After proceeding
a little distance along it—Kory-Kory panting and blowing with
the weight of his burden—I dismounted from his back, and

grasping the long spear of Mehevi in my hand, assisted my steps
over the numerous obstacles of the road; preferring this mode of
advance to one which, from the difficulties of the way, was equally
painful to myself and my wearied servitor.

Our journey was soon at an end; for, scaling a sudden height,
we came abruptly upon the place of our destination. I wish that it
were possible to sketch in words this spot as vividly as I recollect
it.

Here were situated the Taboo groves of the valley—the scene
of many a prolonged feast, of many a horrid rite. Beneath the
dark shadows of the consecrated bread-fruit trees there reigned a
solemn twilight—a cathedral-like gloom. The frightful genius
of pagan worship seemed to brood in silence over the place,
breathing its spell upon every object around. Here and there,
in the depths of these awful shades, half screened from sight by
masses of overhanging foliage, rose the idolatrous altars of the
savages, built of enormous blocks of black and polished stone,
placed one upon another, without cement, to the height of twelve
or fifteen feet, and surmounted by a rustic open temple, enclosed
with a low picket of canes, within which might be seen, in various
stages of decay, offerings of bread-fruit and cocoa-nuts, and the
putrefying relics of some recent sacrifice.

In the midst of the wood was the hallowed "hoolah hoolah"
ground—set apart for the celebration of the fantastic religious
ritual of these people—comprising an extensive oblong pi-pi,
terminating at either end in a lofty terraced altar, guarded by
ranks of hideous wooden idols, and with the two remaining sides
flanked by ranges of bamboo sheds, opening towards the interior
of the quadrangle thus formed. Vast trees, standing in the middle
of this space, and throwing over it an umbrageous shade, had
their massive trunks built round with slight stages, elevated a
few feet above the ground, and railed in with canes, forming so
many rustic pulpits, from which the priests harangued their
devotees.

This holiest of spots was defended from profanation by the
strictest edicts of the all-pervading "taboo," which condemned
to instant death the sacrilegious female who should enter or touch
its sacred precincts, or even so much as press with her feet the
ground made holy by the shadows that it cast.

Access was had to the enclosure through an embowered entrance
on one side, facing a number of towering cocoa-nut trees,
planted at intervals along a level area of a hundred yards. At the
further extremity of this space was to be seen a building of considerable
size, reserved for the habitation of the priests and religious
attendants of the groves.

In its vicinity was another remarkable edifice, built as usual
upon the summit of a pi-pi, and at least two hundred feet in
length, though not more than twenty in breadth. The whole
front of this latter structure was completely open, and from one
end to the other ran a narrow verandah, fenced in on the edge of
the pi-pi with a picket of canes. Its interior presented the appearance
of an immense lounging-place, the entire floor being
strewn with successive layers of mats, lying between parallel
trunks of cocoa-nut trees, selected for the purpose from the
straightest and most symmetrical the vale afforded.

To this building, denominated in the language of the natives
the "Ti," Mehevi now conducted us. Thus far we had been
accompanied by a troop of the natives of both sexes; but as soon
as we approached its vicinity, the females gradually separated
themselves from the crowd, and standing aloof, permitted us to
pass on. The merciless prohibitions of the taboo extended likewise
to this edifice, and were enforced by the same dreadful penalty
that secured the Hoolah Hoolah ground from the imaginary pollution
of a woman's presence.

On entering the house, I was surprised to see six muskets
ranged against the bamboo on one side, from the barrels of which
depended as many small canvas pouches, partly filled with powder.
Disposed about these muskets, like the cutlasses that decorate
the bulkhead of a man-of-war's cabin, were a great variety of
rude spears and paddles, javelins, and war-clubs. This then, said
I to Toby, must be the armory of the tribe.

As we advanced further along the building, we were struck
with the aspect of four or five hideous old wretches, on whose
decrepit forms time and tattooing seemed to have obliterated
every trace of humanity. Owing to the continued operation of
this latter process, which only terminates among the warriors of
the island after all the figures stretched upon their limbs in
youth have been blended together—an effect, however, produced

only in cases of extreme longevity — the bodies of these men
were of a uniform dull green colour—the hue which the tattooing
gradually assumes as the individual advances in age. Their skin
had a frightful scaly appearance, which, united with its singular
colour, made their limbs not a little resemble dusty specimens of
verde-antique. Their flesh, in parts, hung upon them in huge
folds, like the overlapping plaits on the flank of a rhinoceros.
Their heads were completely bald, whilst their faces were
puckered into a thousand wrinkles, and they presented no vestige
of a beard. But the most remarkable peculiarity about
them was the appearance of their feet; the toes, like the radiating
lines of the mariner's compass, pointed to every quarter
of the horizon. This was doubtless attributable to the fact,
that during nearly a hundred years of existence the said toes
never had been subjected to any artificial confinement, and in
their old age, being averse to close neighbourhood, bid one another
keep open order.

These repulsive-looking creatures appeared to have lost the
use of their lower limbs altogether; sitting upon the floor crosslegged
in a state of torpor. They never heeded us in the least,
scarcely looking conscious of our presence, while Mehevi seated
us upon the mats, and Kory-Kory gave utterance to some unintelligible
gibberish.

In a few moments a boy entered with a wooden trencher of
poee-poee; and in regaling myself with its contents I was obliged
again to submit to the officious intervention of my indefatigable
servitor. Various other dishes followed, the chief manifesting
the most hospitable importunity in pressing us to partake, and to
remove all bashfulness on our part, set us no despicable example
in his own person.

The repast concluded, a pipe was lighted, which passed from
mouth to mouth, and yielding to its soporific influence, the quiet
of the place, and the deepening shadows of approaching night,
my companion and I sank into a kind of drowsy repose, while
the chief and Kory-Kory seemed to be slumbering beside us.

I awoke from an uneasy nap, about midnight, as I supposed;
and, raising myself partly from the mat, became sensible that we
were enveloped in utter darkness. Toby lay still asleep, but our
late companions had disappeared. The only sound that interrupted

the silence of the place was the asthmatic breathing of the
old men I have mentioned, who reposed at a little distance from
us. Beside them, as well as I could judge, there was no one else
in the house.

Apprehensive of some evil, I roused my comrade, and we
were engaged in a whispered conference concerning the unexpected
withdrawal of the natives, when all at once, from the
depths of the grove, in full view of us where we lay, shoots of
flame were seen to rise, and in a few moments illuminated the
surrounding trees, casting, by contrast, into still deeper gloom
the darkness around us.

While we continued gazing at this sight, dark figures appeared
moving to and fro before the flames; while others, dancing and
capering about, looked like so many demons.

Regarding this new phenomenon with no small degree of trepidation,
I said to my companion, "What can all this mean,
Toby?"

"Oh, nothing," replied he; "getting the fire ready, I suppose."

"Fire!" exclaimed I, while my heart took to beating like a
trip-hammer, "what fire?"

"Why, the fire to cook us, to be sure; what else would the
cannibals be kicking up such a row about if it were not for
that?"

"Oh, Toby! have done with your jokes; this is no time for
them; something is about to happen, I feel confident."

"Jokes, indeed!" exclaimed Toby, indignantly. "Did you
ever hear me joke? Why, for what do you suppose the devils
have been feeding us up in this kind of style during the last
three days, unless it were for something that you are too much
frightened at to talk about? Look at that Kory-Kory there!—
has he not been stuffing you with his confounded mushes, just in
the way they treat swine before they kill them? Depend upon
it, we will be eaten this blessed night, and there is the fire we
shall be roasted by."

This view of the matter was not at all calculated to allay my
apprehensions, and I shuddered when I reflected that we were
indeed at the mercy of a tribe of cannibals, and that the dreadful

contingency to which Toby had alluded was by no means removed
beyond the bounds of possibility.

"There! I told you so! they are coming for us!" exclaimed
my companion the next moment, as the forms of four of the
islanders were seen in bold relief against the illuminated background,
mounting the pi-pi and approaching towards us.

They came on noiselessly, nay stealthily, and glided along
through the gloom that surrounded us as if about to spring upon
some object they were fearful of disturbing before they should
make sure of it.—Gracious heaven! the horrible reflections
which crowded upon me that moment.—A cold sweat stood upon
my brow, and spell-bound with terror I awaited my fate!

Suddenly the silence was broken by the well-remembered tones
of Mehevi, and at the kindly accents of his voice my fears were
immediately dissipated. "Tommo, Toby, ki ki!" (eat).—He
had waited to address us until he had assured himself that we
were both awake, at which he seemed somewhat surprised.

"Ki ki! is it?" said Toby in his gruff tones; "well, cook us
first, will you?—but what's this?" he added, as another savage
appeared, bearing before him a large trencher of wood, containing
some kind of steaming meat, as appeared from the odours it
diffused, and which he deposited at the feet of Mehevi. "A
baked baby, I dare say! but I will have none of it, never mind
what it is.—A pretty fool I should make of myself, indeed, waked
up here in the middle of the night, stuffing and guzzling, and all
to make a fat meal for a parcel of bloody-minded cannibals one
of these mornings!—No, I see what they are at very plainly, so
I am resolved to starve myself into a bunch of bones and gristle,
and then, if they serve me up, they are welcome! But I say,
Tommo, you are not going to eat any of that mess there, in the
dark, are you? Why, how can you tell what it is?"

"By tasting it, to be sure," said I, masticating a morsel that
Kory-Kory had just put in my mouth; "and excellently good it
is too, very much like veal."

"A baked baby, by the soul of Captain Cook!" burst forth
Toby, with amazing vehemence; "Veal! why there never was
a calf on the island till you landed. I tell you you are bolting
down mouthfuls from a dead Happar's carcass, as sure as you
live, and no mistake!"

Emetics and lukewarm water! What a sensation in the abdominal
regions! Sure enough, where could the fiends incarnate
have obtained meat? But I resolved to satisfy myself at all
hazards; and turning to Mehevi, I soon made the ready chief
understand that I wished a light to be brought. When the taper
came, I gazed eagerly into the vessel, and recognised the mutilated
remains of a juvenile porker! "Puarkee!" exclaimed
Kory-Kory, looking complacently at the dish; and from that
day to this I have never forgotten that such is the designation of
a pig in the Typee lingo.

The next morning, after being again abundantly feasted by
the hospitable Mehevi, Toby and myself arose to depart. But
the chief requested us to postpone our intention. "Abo, abo,"
(Wait, wait,) he said, and accordingly we resumed our seats,
while, assisted by the zealous Kory-Kory, he appeared to be engaged
in giving directions to a number of the natives outside,
who were busily employed in making arrangements, the nature
of which we could not comprehend. But we were not left long
in our ignorance, for a few moments only had elapsed when the
chief beckoned us to approach, and we perceived that he had
been marshalling a kind of guard of honour to escort us on our
return to the house of Marheyo.

The procession was led off by two venerable-looking savages,
each provided with a spear, from the end of which streamed a
pennon of milk-white tappa. After them went several youths,
bearing aloft calabashes of poee-poee; and followed in their turn
by four stalwart fellows, sustaining long bamboos, from the tops
of which hung suspended, at least twenty feet from the ground,
large baskets of green bread-fruit. Then came a troop of boys,
carrying bunches of ripe banannas, and baskets made of the
woven leaflets of cocoa-nut boughs, filled with the young fruit of
the tree, the naked shells stripped of their husks peeping forth
from the verdant wicker-work that surrounded them. Last of all
came a burly islander, holding over his head a wooden trencher,
in which lay disposed the remnants of our midnight feast, hidden
from view, however, by a covering of bread-fruit leaves.

Astonished as I was at this exhibition, I could not avoid
smiling at its grotesque appearance, and the associations it naturally
called up. Mehevi, it seemed, was bent on replenishing

old Marheyo's larder, fearful perhaps that without this precaution
his guests might not fare as well as they could desire.

As soon as I descended from the pi-pi, the procession formed
anew, enclosing us in its centre; where I remained part of the
time, carried by Kory-Kory, and occasionally relieving him from
his burden by limping along with a spear. When we moved off
in this order, the natives struck up a musical recitative, which,
with various alternations, they continued until we arrived at the
place of our destination.

As we proceeded on our way, bands of young girls, darting
from the surrounding groves, hung upon our skirts, and accompanied
us with shouts of merriment and delight, which almost
drowned the deep notes of the recitative. On approaching old
Marheyo's domicile, its inmates rushed out to receive us; and
while the gifts of Mehevi were being disposed of, the superannuated
warrior did the honours of his mansion with all the
warmth of hospitality evinced by an English squire when he
regales his friends at some fine old patrimonial mansion.