University of Virginia Library

19. CHAPTER XIX.

We were nearly three hours in reaching the village,
it being more than nine miles in the interior, and the
path lying through a rugged country. As we passed
along, the party of Too-wit (the whole hundred and ten
savages of the canoes) was momentarily strengthened
by smaller detachments, of from two to six or seven,
which joined us, as if by accident, at different turns in
the road. There appeared so much of system in this
that I could not help feeling distrust, and I spoke to
Captain Guy of my apprehensions. It was now too late,
however, to recede, and we concluded that our best security
lay in evincing a perfect confidence in the good
faith of Too-wit. We accordingly went on, keeping a
wary eye upon the manœuvres of the savages, and not
permitting them to divide our numbers by pushing in between.
In this way, passing through a precipitous ravine,
we at length reached what we were told was the
only collection of habitations upon the island. As we
came in sight of them, the chief set up a shout, and frequently
repeated the word Klock-Klock; which we supposed
to be the name of the village, or perhaps the generic
name for villages.

The dwellings were of the most miserable description
imaginable, and, unlike those of even the lowest of the
savage races with which mankind are acquainted, were
of no uniform plan. Some of them (and these we found
belonged to the Wampoos or Yampoos, the great men of
the land) consisted of a tree cut down at about four feet
from the root, with a large black skin thrown over it, and
hanging in loose folds upon the ground. Under this the
savage nestled. Others were formed by means of rough
limbs of trees, with the withered foliage upon them,
made to recline, at an angle of forty-five degrees, against
a bank of clay, heaped up, without regular form, to the

height of five or six feet. Others, again, were mere holes
dug in the earth perpendicularly, and covered over with
similar branches, these being removed when the tenant
was about to enter, and pulled on again when he had
entered. A few were built among the forked limbs of
trees as they stood, the upper limbs being partially cut
through, so as to bend over upon the lower, thus forming
thicker shelter from the weather. The greater number,
however, consisted of small shallow caverns, apparently
scratched in the face of a precipitous ledge of dark stone,
resembling fuller's earth, with which three sides of the
village was bounded. At the door of each of these
primitive caverns was a small rock, which the tenant
carefully placed before the entrance upon leaving his
residence, for what purpose I could not ascertain, as the
stone itself was never of sufficient size to close up more
than a third of the opening.

This village, if it were worthy of the name, lay in a
valley of some depth, and could only be approached
from the southward, the precipitous ledge of which I
have already spoken cutting off all access in other directions.
Through the middle of the valley ran a brawling
stream of the same magical-looking water which has
been described. We saw several strange animals about
the dwellings, all appearing to be thoroughly domesticated.
The largest of these creatures resembled our common
hog in the structure of the body and snout; the tail,
however, was bushy, and the legs slender as those of the
antelope. Its motion was exceedingly awkward and indecisive,
and we never saw it attempt to run. We noticed
also several animals very similar in appearance, but of a
greater length of body, and covered with a black wool.
There were a great variety of tame fowls running about,
and these seemed to constitute the chief food of the natives.
To our astonishment we saw black albatross
among these birds in a state of entire domestication, going
to sea periodically for food, but always returning to the
village as a home, and using the southern shore in the vicinity
as a place of incubation. There they were joined
by their friends the pelicans as usual, but these latter

never followed them to the dwellings of the savages.
Among the other kinds of tame fowls were ducks, differing
very little from the canvass-back of our own
country, black gannets, and a large bird not unlike the
buzzard in appearance, but not carnivorous. Of fish
there seemed to be a great abundance. We saw, during
our visit, a quantity of dried salmon, rock cod, blue dolphins,
mackerel, blackfish, skate, conger eels, elephant-fish,
mullets, soles, parrotfish, leather-jackets, gurnards,
hake, flounders, paracutas, and innumerable other varieties.
We noticed, too, that most of them were similar
to the fish about the group of the Lord Auckland
Islands, in a latitude as low as fifty-one degrees south.
The Gallipago tortoise was also very plentiful. We
saw but few wild animals, and none of a large size, or
of a species with which we were familiar. One or two
serpents of a formidable aspect crossed our path, but
the natives paid them little attention, and we concluded
that they were not venomous.

As we approached the village with Too-wit and his
party, a vast crowd of the people rushed out to meet us,
with loud shouts, among which we could only distinguish
the everlasting Anamoo-moo! and Lama-Lama! We
were much surprised at perceiving that, with one or
two exceptions, these new comers were entirely naked,
the skins being used only by the men of the canoes.
All the weapons of the country seemed also to be in the
possession of the latter, for there was no appearance of
any among the villagers. There were a great many
women and children, the former not altogether wanting
in what might be termed personal beauty. They were
straight, tall, and well formed, with a grace and freedom
of carriage not to be found in civilized society. Their
lips, however, like those of the men, were thick and
clumsy, so that, even when laughing, the teeth were
never disclosed. Their hair was of a finer texture than
that of the males. Among these naked villagers there
might have been ten or twelve who were clothed, like
the party of Too-wit, in dresses of black skin, and armed
with lances and heavy clubs. These appeared to

have great influence among the rest, and were always
addressed by the title Wampoo. These, too, were the
tenants of the black skin palaces. That of Too-wit was
situated in the centre of the village, and was much larger
and somewhat better constructed than others of its kind.
The tree which formed its support was cut off at a distance
of twelve feet or thereabout from the root, and
there were several branches left just below the cut, these
serving to extend the covering, and in this way prevent
its flapping about the trunk. The covering, too, which
consisted of four very large skins fastened together
with wooden skewers, was secured at the bottom with
pegs driven through it and into the ground. The floor
was strewed with a quantity of dry leaves by way of
carpet.

To this hut we were conducted with great solemnity,
and as many of the natives crowded in after us as possible.
Too-wit seated himself on the leaves, and made
signs that we should follow his example. This we did,
and presently found ourselves in a situation peculiarly
uncomfortable, if not indeed critical. We were on the
ground, twelve in number, with the savages, as many as
forty, sitting on their hams so closely around us that, if
any disturbance had arisen, we should have found it impossible
to make use of our arms, or indeed to have risen
on our feet. The pressure was not only inside the tent,
but outside, where probably was every individual on the
whole island, the crowd being prevented from trampling
us to death only by the incessant exertions and vociferations
of Too-wit. Our chief security lay, however, in the
presence of Too-wit himself among us, and we resolved
to stick by him closely, as the best chance of extricating
ourselves from the dilemma, sacrificing him immediately
upon the first appearance of hostile design.

After some trouble a certain degree of quiet was restored,
when the chief addressed us in a speech of great
length, and very nearly resembling the one delivered in
the canoes, with the exception that the Anamoo-moos!
were now somewhat more strenuously insisted upon than
the Lama-Lamas! We listened in profound silence until

the conclusion of his harangue, when Captain Guy replied
by assuring the chief of his eternal friendship and goodwill,
concluding what he had to say by a present of several
strings of blue beads and a knife. At the former
the monarch, much to our surprise, turned up his nose
with some expression of contempt; but the knife gave him
the most unlimited satisfaction, and he immediately ordered
dinner. This was handed into the tent over the
heads of the attendants, and consisted of the palpitating
entrails of a species of unknown animal, probably one of
the slim-legged hogs which we had observed in our approach
to the village. Seeing us at a loss how to proceed,
he began, by way of setting us an example, to devour
yard after yard of the enticing food, until we could
positively stand it no longer, and evinced such manifest
symptoms of rebellion of stomach as inspired his majesty
with a degree of astonishment only inferior to that
brought about by the looking-glasses. We declined,
however, partaking of the delicacies before us, and endeavoured
to make him understand that we had no appetite
whatever, having just finished a hearty déjeuner.

When the monarch had made an end of his meal, we
commenced a series of cross-questioning in every ingenious
manner we could devise, with a view of discovering
what were the chief productions of the country, and
whether any of them might be turned to profit. At length
he seemed to have some idea of our meaning, and offered
to accompany us to a part of the coast where he assured
us the biche de mer (pointing to a specimen of that animal)
was to be found in great abundance. We were
glad at this early opportunity of escaping from the oppression
of the crowd, and signified our eagerness to proceed.
We now left the tent, and, accompanied by the
whole population of the village, followed the chief to the
southeastern extremity of the island, not far from the bay
where our vessel lay at anchor. We waited here for
about an hour, until the four canoes were brought round
by some of the savages to our station. The whole of
our party then getting into one of them, we were paddled
along the edge of the reef before mentioned, and of another

still farther out, where we saw a far greater quantity
of bicke de mer than the oldest seaman among us had
ever seen in those groups of the lower latitudes most
celebrated for this article of commerce. We stayed near
these reefs only long enough to satisfy ourselves that we
could easily load a dozen vessels with the animal if necessary,
when we were taken alongside the schooner,
and parted with Too-wit after obtaining from him a promise
that he would bring us, in the course of twenty-four
hours, as many of the canvass-back ducks and Gallipago
tortoises as his canoes would hold. In the whole of this
adventure we saw nothing in the demeanour of the natives
calculated to create suspicion, with the single exception
of the systematic manner in which their party
was strengthened during our route from the schooner to
the village.