Typee: A Romance of the South Seas

by Herman Melville

  CHAPTER TEN

  THE HEAD OF THE VALLEY--CAUTIOUS ADVANCE--A PATH--FRUIT--DISCOVERYOF TWO OF THE NATIVES--THEIR SINGULAR CONDUCT--APPROACH TOWARDSTHE INHABITED PARTS OF THE VALE--SENSATION PRODUCED BY OURAPPEARANCE--RECEPTION AT THE HOUSE OF ONE OF THE NATIVES

  HOW to obtain the fruit which we felt convinced must grow near at handwas our first thought.

  Typee or Happar? A frightful death at the hands of the fiercest ofcannibals, or a kindly reception from a gentler race of savages? Which?But it was too late now to discuss a question which would so soon beanswered.

  The part of the valley in which we found ourselves appeared to bealtogether uninhabited. An almost impenetrable thicket extendedfrom side to side, without presenting a single plant affording thenourishment we had confidently calculated upon; and with this object, wefollowed the course of the stream, casting quick glances as weproceeded into the thick jungles on each hand. My companion--to whosesolicitations I had yielded in descending into the valley--now thatthe step was taken, began to manifest a degree of caution I had littleexpected from him. He proposed that in the event of our finding anadequate supply of fruit, we should remain in this unfrequented portionof the country--where we should run little chance of being surprised byits occupants, whoever they might be--until sufficiently recruited toresume our journey; when laying a store of food equal to our wants, wemight easily regain the bay of Nukuheva, after the lapse of a sufficientinterval to ensure the departure of our vessel.

  I objected strongly to this proposition, plausible as it was, as thedifficulties of the route would be almost insurmountable, unacquaintedas we were with the general bearings of the country, and I remindedmy companion of the hardships which we had already encountered in ouruncertain wanderings; in a word, I said that since we had deemedit advisable to enter the valley, we ought manfully to face theconsequences, whatever they might be; the more especially as I wasconvinced there was no alternative left us but to fall in with thenatives at once, and boldly risk the reception they might give us; andthat as to myself, I felt the necessity of rest and shelter, and thatuntil I had obtained them, I should be wholly unable to encounter suchsufferings as we had lately passed through. To the justice of theseobservations Toby somewhat reluctantly assented.

  We were surprised that, after moving as far as we had along the valley,we should still meet with the same impervious thickets; and thinking,that although the borders of the stream might be lined for some distancewith them, yet beyond there might be more open ground, I requested Tobyto keep a bright look-out upon one side, while I did the same on theother, in order to discover some opening in the bushes, and especiallyto watch for the slightest appearance of a path or anything else thatmight indicate the vicinity of the islanders.

  What furtive and anxious glances we cast into those dim-looking shadows!With what apprehensions we proceeded, ignorant at what moment we mightbe greeted by the javelin of some ambushed savage. At last my companionpaused, and directed my attention to a narrow opening in the foliage. Westruck into it, and it soon brought us by an indistinctly traced path toa comparatively clear space, at the further end of which we descrieda number of the trees, the native name of which is 'annuee', and whichbear a most delicious fruit. What a race! I hobbling over the groundlike some decrepid wretch, and Toby leaping forward like a greyhound. Hequickly cleared one of the trees on which there were two or three ofthe fruit, but to our chagrin they proved to be much decayed; the rindspartly opened by the birds, and their hearts half devoured. However, wequickly despatched them, and no ambrosia could have been more delicious.

  We looked about us uncertain whither to direct our steps, since the pathwe had so far followed appeared to be lost in the open space around us.At last we resolved to enter a grove near at hand, and had advanced afew rods, when, just upon its skirts, I picked up a slender bread-fruitshoot perfectly green, and with the tender bark freshly stripped fromit. It was still slippery with moisture, and appeared as if it had beenbut that moment thrown aside. I said nothing, but merely held it up toToby, who started at this undeniable evidence of the vicinity of thesavages.

  The plot was now thickening.--A short distance further lay a littlefaggot of the same shoots bound together with a strip of bark. Could ithave been thrown down by some solitary native, who, alarmed at seeingus, had hurried forward to carry the tidings of our approach to hiscountrymen?--Typee or Happar?--But it was too late to recede, so wemoved on slowly, my companion in advance casting eager glances under thetrees on each side, until all at once I saw him recoil as if stung byan adder. Sinking on his knee, he waved me off with one hand, while withthe other he held aside some intervening leaves, and gazed intently atsome object.

  Disregarding his injunction, I quickly approached him and caught aglimpse of two figures partly hidden by the dense foliage; they werestanding close together, and were perfectly motionless. They must havepreviously perceived us, and withdrawn into the depths of the wood toelude our observation.

  My mind was at once made up. Dropping my staff, and tearing open thepackage of things we had brought from the ship, I unrolled the cottoncloth, and holding it in one hand picked with the other a twig from thebushes beside me, and telling Toby to follow my example, I broke throughthe covert and advanced, waving the branch in token of peace towardsthe shrinking forms before me. They were a boy and a girl, slender andgraceful, and completely naked, with the exception of a slight girdle ofbark, from which depended at opposite points two of the russet leaves ofthe bread-fruit tree. An arm of the boy, half screened from sight byher wild tresses, was thrown about the neck of the girl, while with theother he held one of her hands in his; and thus they stood together,their heads inclined forward, catching the faint noise we made in ourprogress, and with one foot in advance, as if half inclined to fly fromour presence.

  As we drew near, their alarm evidently increased. Apprehensive thatthey might fly from us altogether, I stopped short and motioned themto advance and receive the gift I extended towards them, but they wouldnot; I then uttered a few words of their language with which I wasacquainted, scarcely expected that they would understand me, but to showthat we had not dropped from the clouds upon them. This appeared to givethem a little confidence, so I approached nearer, presenting the clothwith one hand, and holding the bough with the other, while they slowlyretreated. At last they suffered us to approach so near to them that wewere enabled to throw the cotton cloth across their shoulders, givingthem to understand that it was theirs, and by a variety of gesturesendeavouring to make them understand that we entertained the highestpossible regard for them.

  The frightened pair now stood still, whilst we endeavoured to make themcomprehend the nature of our wants. In doing this Toby went through witha complete series of pantomimic illustrations--opening his mouth fromear to ear, and thrusting his fingers down his throat, gnashing histeeth and rolling his eyes about, till I verily believe the poorcreatures took us for a couple of white cannibals who were about tomake a meal of them. When, however, they understood us, they showedno inclination to relieve our wants. At this juncture it began to rainviolently, and we motioned them to lead us to some place of shelter.With this request they appeared willing to comply, but nothing couldevince more strongly the apprehension with which they regarded us,than the way in which, whilst walking before us, they kept their eyesconstantly turned back to watch every movement we made, and even ourvery looks.

  'Typee or Happar, Toby?' asked I as we walked after them.

  'Of course Happar,' he replied, with a show of confidence which wasintended to disguise his doubts.

  'We shall soon know,' I exclaimed; and at the same moment Istepped forward towards our guides, and pronouncing the two namesinterrogatively and pointing to the lowest part of the valley,endeavoured to come to the point at once. They repeated the words afterme again and again, but without giving any peculiar emphasis to either,so that I was completely at a loss to understand them; for a couple ofwilier young things than we afterwards found them to have been
on thisparticular occasion never probably fell in any traveller's way.

  More and more curious to ascertain our fate, I now threw together in theform of a question the words 'Happar' and 'Motarkee', the latter beingequivalent to the word 'good'. The two natives interchanged glancesof peculiar meaning with one another at this, and manifested no littlesurprise; but on the repetition of the question after some consultationtogether, to the great joy of Toby, they answered in the affirmative.Toby was now in ecstasies, especially as the young savages continuedto reiterate their answer with great energy, as though desirous ofimpressing us with the idea that being among the Happars, we ought toconsider ourselves perfectly secure.

  Although I had some lingering doubts, I feigned great delight with Tobyat this announcement, while my companion broke out into a pantomimicabhorrence of Typee, and immeasurable love for the particular valley inwhich we were; our guides all the while gazing uneasily at one anotheras if at a loss to account for our conduct.

  They hurried on, and we followed them; until suddenly they set up astrange halloo, which was answered from beyond the grove through whichwe were passing, and the next moment we entered upon some open ground,at the extremity of which we descried a long, low hut, and in front ofit were several young girls. As soon as they perceived us they fled withwild screams into the adjoining thickets, like so many startled fawns.A few moments after the whole valley resounded with savage outcries, andthe natives came running towards us from every direction.

  Had an army of invaders made an irruption into their territory theycould not have evinced greater excitement. We were soon completelyencircled by a dense throng, and in their eager desire to behold us theyalmost arrested our progress; an equal number surrounded our youthfulguides, who with amazing volubility appeared to be detailing thecircumstances which had attended their meeting with us. Every item ofintelligence appeared to redouble the astonishment of the islanders, andthey gazed at us with inquiring looks.

  At last we reached a large and handsome building of bamboos, and were bysigns told to enter it, the natives opening a lane for us through whichto pass; on entering without ceremony, we threw our exhausted framesupon the mats that covered the floor. In a moment the slight tenementwas completely full of people, whilst those who were unable to obtainadmittance gazed at us through its open cane-work.

  It was now evening, and by the dim light we could just discern thesavage countenances around us, gleaming with wild curiosity and wonder;the naked forms and tattooed limbs of brawny warriors, with here andthere the slighter figures of young girls, all engaged in a perfectstorm of conversation, of which we were of course the one onlytheme, whilst our recent guides were fully occupied in answering theinnumerable questions which every one put to them. Nothing can exceedthe fierce gesticulation of these people when animated in conversation,and on this occasion they gave loose to all their natural vivacity,shouting and dancing about in a manner that well nigh intimidated us.

  Close to where we lay, squatting upon their haunches, were some eight orten noble-looking chiefs--for such they subsequently proved to be--who,more reserved than the rest, regarded us with a fixed and sternattention, which not a little discomposed our equanimity. One of themin particular, who appeared to be the highest in rank, placed himselfdirectly facing me, looking at me with a rigidity of aspect under whichI absolutely quailed. He never once opened his lips, but maintained hissevere expression of countenance, without turning his face aside fora single moment. Never before had I been subjected to so strange andsteady a glance; it revealed nothing of the mind of the savage, but itappeared to be reading my own.

  After undergoing this scrutiny till I grew absolutely nervous, with aview of diverting it if possible, and conciliating the good opinion ofthe warrior, I took some tobacco from the bosom of my frock andoffered it to him. He quietly rejected the proffered gift, and, withoutspeaking, motioned me to return it to its place.

  In my previous intercourse with the natives of Nukuheva and Tior, I hadfound that the present of a small piece of tobacco would have renderedany of them devoted to my service. Was this act of the chief a token ofhis enmity? Typee or Happar? I asked within myself. I started, for atthe same moment this identical question was asked by the strange beingbefore me. I turned to Toby, the flickering light of a native tapershowed me his countenance pale with trepidation at this fatal question.I paused for a second, and I know not by what impulse it was that Ianswered 'Typee'. The piece of dusky statuary nodded in approval, andthen murmured 'Motarkee!' 'Motarkee,' said I, without further hesitation'Typee motarkee.'

  What a transition! The dark figures around us leaped to their feet,clapped their hands in transport, and shouted again and again thetalismanic syllables, the utterance of which appeared to have settledeverything.

  When this commotion had a little subsided, the principal chief squattedonce more before me, and throwing himself into a sudden rage, pouredforth a string of philippics, which I was at no loss to understand, fromthe frequent recurrence of the word Happar, as being directed againstthe natives of the adjoining valley. In all these denunciations mycompanion and I acquiesced, while we extolled the character of thewarlike Typees. To be sure our panegyrics were somewhat laconic,consisting in the repetition of that name, united with the potentadjective 'motarkee'. But this was sufficient, and served to conciliatethe good will of the natives, with whom our congeniality of sentiment onthis point did more towards inspiring a friendly feeling than anythingelse that could have happened.

  At last the wrath of the chief evaporated, and in a few moments hewas as placid as ever. Laying his hand upon his breast, he gave me tounderstand that his name was 'Mehevi', and that, in return, he wished meto communicate my appellation. I hesitated for an instant, thinking thatit might be difficult for him to pronounce my real name, and then withthe most praiseworthy intentions intimated that I was known as 'Tom'.But I could not have made a worse selection; the chief could not masterit. 'Tommo,' 'Tomma', 'Tommee', everything but plain 'Tom'. As hepersisted in garnishing the word with an additional syllable, Icompromised the matter with him at the word 'Tommo'; and by that nameI went during the entire period of my stay in the valley. The sameproceeding was gone through with Toby, whose mellifluous appellation wasmore easily caught.

  An exchange of names is equivalent to a ratification of good will andamity among these simple people; and as we were aware of this fact, wewere delighted that it had taken place on the present occasion.

  Reclining upon our mats, we now held a kind of levee, giving audienceto successive troops of the natives, who introduced themselves to us bypronouncing their respective names, and retired in high good humour onreceiving ours in return. During this ceremony the greatest merrimentprevailed nearly every announcement on the part of the islanders beingfollowed by a fresh sally of gaiety, which induced me to believe thatsome of them at least were innocently diverting the company at ourexpense, by bestowing upon themselves a string of absurd titles, of thehumour of which we were of course entirely ignorant.

  All this occupied about an hour, when the throng having a littlediminished, I turned to Mehevi and gave him to understand that we werein need of food and sleep. Immediately the attentive chief addressed afew words to one of the crowd, who disappeared, and returned in a fewmoments with a calabash of 'poee-poee', and two or three young cocoanutsstripped of their husks, and with their shells partly broken. We bothof us forthwith placed one of these natural goblets to our lips, anddrained it in a moment of the refreshing draught it contained. Thepoee-poee was then placed before us, and even famished as I was, Ipaused to consider in what manner to convey it to my mouth.

  This staple article of food among the Marquese islanders is manufacturedfrom the produce of the bread-fruit tree. It somewhat resembles inits plastic nature our bookbinders' paste, is of a yellow colour, andsomewhat tart to the taste.

  Such was the dish, the merits of which I was now eager to discuss. Ieyed it wistfully for a moment, and then, unable any longer to stand onceremony, plung
ed my hand into the yielding mass, and to the boisterousmirth of the natives drew it forth laden with the poee-poee, whichadhered in lengthy strings to every finger. So stubborn was itsconsistency, that in conveying my heavily-weighted hand to my mouth, theconnecting links almost raised the calabash from the mats on which ithad been placed. This display of awkwardness--in which, by-the-bye, Tobykept me company--convulsed the bystanders with uncontrollable laughter.

  As soon as their merriment had somewhat subsided, Mehevi, motioning usto be attentive, dipped the forefinger of his right hand in the dish,and giving it a rapid and scientific twirl, drew it out coated smoothlywith the preparation. With a second peculiar flourish he prevented thepoee-poee from dropping to the ground as he raised it to his mouth, intowhich the finger was inserted and drawn forth perfectly free from anyadhesive matter.

  This performance was evidently intended for our instruction; so Iagain essayed the feat on the principles inculcated, but with very illsuccess.

  A starving man, however, little heeds conventional proprieties,especially on a South-Sea Island, and accordingly Toby and I partook ofthe dish after our own clumsy fashion, beplastering our faces all overwith the glutinous compound, and daubing our hands nearly to thewrist. This kind of food is by no means disagreeable to the palate of aEuropean, though at first the mode of eating it may be. For my ownpart, after the lapse of a few days I became accustomed to its singularflavour, and grew remarkably fond of it.

  So much for the first course; several other dishes followed it, some ofwhich were positively delicious. We concluded our banquet by tossingoff the contents of two more young cocoanuts, after which we regaledourselves with the soothing fumes of tobacco, inhaled from a quaintlycarved pipe which passed round the circle.

  During the repast, the natives eyed us with intense curiosity, observingour minutest motions, and appearing to discover abundant matter forcomment in the most trifling occurrence. Their surprise mounted thehighest, when we began to remove our uncomfortable garments, which weresaturated with rain. They scanned the whiteness of our limbs, and seemedutterly unable to account for the contrast they presented to the swarthyhue of our faces embrowned from a six months' exposure to the scorchingsun of the Line. They felt our skin, much in the same way that a silkmercer would handle a remarkably fine piece of satin; and some of themwent so far in their investigation as to apply the olfactory organ.

  Their singular behaviour almost led me to imagine that they never beforehad beheld a white man; but a few moments' reflection convinced me thatthis could not have been the case; and a more satisfactory reason fortheir conduct has since suggested itself to my mind.

  Deterred by the frightful stories related of its inhabitants, shipsnever enter this bay, while their hostile relations with the tribes inthe adjoining valleys prevent the Typees from visiting that section ofthe island where vessels occasionally lie. At long intervals, however,some intrepid captain will touch on the skirts of the bay, with two orthree armed boats' crews and accompanied by interpreters. The nativeswho live near the sea descry the strangers long before they reach theirwaters, and aware of the purpose for which they come, proclaim loudlythe news of their approach. By a species of vocal telegraph theintelligence reaches the inmost recesses of the vale in an inconceivablyshort space of time, drawing nearly its whole population down tothe beach laden with every variety of fruit. The interpreter, who isinvariably a 'tabooed Kanaka'*, leaps ashore with the goods intended forbarter, while the boats, with their oars shipped, and every man on histhwart, lie just outside the surf, heading off the shore, in readinessat the first untoward event to escape to the open sea. As soon as thetraffic is concluded, one of the boats pulls in under cover of themuskets of the others, the fruit is quickly thrown into her, and thetransient visitors precipitately retire from what they justly considerso dangerous a vicinity.

  * The word 'Kanaka' is at the present day universally used in the SouthSeas by Europeans to designate the Islanders. In the various dialectsof the principal groups it is simply a sexual designation applied tothe males; but it is now used by the natives in their intercourse withforeigners in the same sense in which the latter employ it.

  A 'Tabooed Kanaka' is an islander whose person has been made to acertain extent sacred by the operation of a singular custom hereafter tobe explained.