I never drink French brandy but I pledge Father Murphy. His healthagain! And many jolly proselytes may he make in Polynesia!
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
LITTLE JULIA SAILS WITHOUT US
TO MAKE good the hint thrown out by the consul upon the conclusion ofthe Farce of the Affidavits, we were again brought before him withinthe time specified.
It was the same thing over again: he got nothing out of us, and wewere remanded; our resolute behaviour annoying him prodigiously.
What we observed led us to form the idea that, on first learning thestate of affairs on board the Julia, Wilson must have addressed hisinvalid friend, the captain, something in the following style:
"Guy, my poor fellow, don't worry yourself now about those rascallysailors of yours. I'll dress them out for you--just leave it all tome, and set your mind at rest."
But handcuffs and stocks, big looks, threats, dark hints, anddepositions, had all gone for nought.
Conscious that, as matters now stood, nothing serious could grow outof what had happened; and never dreaming that our being sent home fortrial had ever been really thought of, we thoroughly understoodWilson, and laughed at him accordingly.
Since leaving the Julia, we had caught no glimpse of the mate; but weoften heard of him.
It seemed that he remained on board, keeping house in the cabin forhimself and Viner; who, going to see him according to promise, wasinduced to remain a guest. These two cronies now had fine times;tapping the captain's quarter-casks, playing cards on the transom,and giving balls of an evening to the ladies ashore. In short, theycut up so many queer capers that the missionaries complained of themto the consul; and Jermin received a sharp reprimand.
This so affected him that he still drank more freely than before; andone afternoon, when mellow as a grape, he took umbrage at a canoefull of natives, who, on being hailed from the deck to come aboardand show their papers, got frightened, and paddled for the shore.
Lowering a boat instantly, he equipped Wymontoo and the Dane with acutlass apiece, and seizing another himself, off they started inpursuit, the ship's ensign flying in the boat's stern. The alarmedislanders, beaching their canoe, with loud cries fled through thevillage, the mate after them, slashing his naked weapon to right andleft. A crowd soon collected; and the "Karhowree toonee," or crazystranger, was quickly taken before Wilson.
Now, it so chanced that, in a native house hard by, the consul andCaptain Guy were having a quiet game at cribbage by themselves, adecanter on the table standing sentry. The obstreperous Jermin wasbrought in; and finding the two thus pleasantly occupied, it had asoothing effect upon him; and he insisted upon taking a hand at thecards, and a drink of the brandy. As the consul was nearly as tipsy ashimself, and the captain dared not object for fear of giving offence,at it they went--all three of them--and made a night of it; themate's delinquencies being summarily passed over, and his captorssent away.
An incident worth relating grew out of this freak.
There wandered about Papeetee, at this time, a shrivelled littlefright of an Englishwoman, known among sailors as "Old Mother Tot."From New Zealand to the Sandwich Islands, she had been all over theSouth Seas; keeping a rude hut of entertainment for mariners, andsupplying them with rum and dice. Upon the missionary islands, ofcourse, such conduct was severely punishable; and at various places,Mother Tot's establishment had been shut up, and its proprietor madeto quit in the first vessel that could be hired to land herelsewhere. But, with a perseverance invincible, wherever she went shealways started afresh; and so became notorious everywhere.
By some wicked spell of hers, a patient, one-eyed little cobblerfollowed her about, mending shoes for white men, doing the oldwoman's cooking, and bearing all her abuse without grumbling. Strangeto relate, a battered Bible was seldom out of his sight; and wheneverhe had leisure, and his mistress' back was turned, he was foreverporing over it. This pious propensity used to enrage the old cronepast belief; and oftentimes she boxed his ears with the book, andtried to burn it. Mother Tot and her man Josy were, indeed, a curiouspair.
But to my story.
A week or so after our arrival in the harbour, the old lady had onceagain been hunted down, and forced for the time to abandon hernefarious calling. This was brought about chiefly by Wilson, who, forsome reason unknown, had contracted the most violent hatred for her;which, on her part, was more than reciprocated.
Well: passing, in the evening, where the consul and his party weremaking merry, she peeped through the bamboos of the house; andstraightway resolved to gratify her spite.
The night was very dark; and providing herself with a huge ship'slantern, which usually swung in her hut, she waited till they cameforth. This happened about midnight; Wilson making his appearance,supported by two natives, holding him up by the arms. These threewent first; and just as they got under a deep shade, a bright lightwas thrust within an inch of Wilson's nose. The old hag was kneelingbefore him, holding the lantern with uplifted hands.
"Ha, ha! my fine counsellor," she shrieked; "ye persecute a lone oldbody like me for selling rum--do ye? And here ye are, carried homedrunk--Hoot! ye villain, I scorn ye!" And she spat upon him.
Terrified at the apparition, the poor natives--arrant believers inghosts--dropped the trembling consul, and fled in all directions.After giving full vent to her rage, Mother Tot hobbled away, and leftthe three revellers to stagger home the best way they could.
The day following our last interview with Wilson, we learned thatCaptain Guy had gone on board his vessel for the purpose of shippinga new crew. There was a round bounty offered; and a heavy bag ofSpanish dollars, with the Julia's articles ready for signing, werelaid on the capstan-head.
Now, there was no lack of idle sailors ashore, mostly "Beachcombers,"who had formed themselves into an organized gang, headed by one Mack,a Scotchman, whom they styled the Commodore. By the laws of thefraternity, no member was allowed to ship on board a vessel unlessgranted permission by the rest. In this way the gang controlled theport, all discharged seamen being forced to join them.
To Mack and his men our story was well known; indeed, they had severaltimes called to see us; and of course, as sailors and congenialspirits, they were hard against Captain Guy.
Deeming the matter important, they came in a body to the Calabooza,and wished to know whether, all things considered, we thought it bestfor any of them to join the Julia.
Anxious to pack the ship off as soon as possible, we answered, by allmeans. Some went so far as to laud the Julia to the skies as the bestand fastest of ships. Jermin too, as a good fellow, and a sailorevery inch, came in for his share of praise; and as for thecaptain--quiet man, he would never trouble anyone. In short, everyinducement we could think of was presented; and Plash Jack ended byassuring the beachcombers solemnly that, now we were all well andhearty, nothing but a regard to principle prevented us from returningon board ourselves.
The result was that a new crew was finally obtained, together with asteady New Englander for second mate, and three good whalemen forharpooners. In part, what was wanting for the ship's larder was alsosupplied; and as far as could be done in a place like Tahiti, thedamages the vessel had sustained were repaired. As for the Mowree,the authorities refusing to let him be put ashore, he was carried tosea in irons, down in the hold. What eventually became of him wenever heard.
Ropey, poor poor Ropey, who a few days previous had fallen sick, wasleft ashore at the sailor hospital at Townor, a small place upon thebeach between Papeetee and Matavai. Here, some time after, hebreathed his last. No one knew his complaint: he must have died ofhard times. Several of us saw him interred in the sand, and I planteda rude post to mark his resting-place.
The cooper, and the rest who had remained aboard from the first, ofcourse, composed part of the Julia's new crew.
To account for the conduct, all along, of the consul and captain, intrying so hard to alter our purpose with respect to the ship, thefollowing statement is all that is requisite. Beside an
advance offrom fifteen to twenty-five dollars demanded by every sailor shippingat Tahiti, an additional sum for each man so shipped has to be paidinto the hands of the government, as a charge of the port. Besidethis, the men--with here and there an exception--will only ship forone cruise, thus becoming entitled to a discharge before the vesselreaches home; which, in time, creates the necessity of obtainingother men, at a similar cost. Now, the Julia's exchequer was atlow-water mark, or rather, it was quite empty; and to meet theseexpenses, a good part of what little oil there was aboard had to besold for a song to a merchant of Papeetee.
It was Sunday in Tahiti and a glorious morning, when Captain Bob,waddling into the Calabooza, startled us by announcing "Ah--myboy--shippy you, harre--maky sail!" In other words, the Julia wasoff.
The beach was quite near, and in this quarter altogether uninhabited;so down we ran, and, at cable's length, saw little Jule glidingpast--top-gallant-sails hoisting, and a boy aloft with one leg thrownover the yard, loosing the fore-royal. The decks were all life andcommotion; the sailors on the forecastle singing "Ho, cheerly men!"as they catted the anchor; and the gallant Jennin, bare-headed as hiswont, standing up on the bowsprit, and issuing his orders. By the manat the helm stood Captain Guy, very quiet and gentlemanly, andsmoking a cigar.
Soon the ship drew near the reef, and, altering her course, glided outthrough the break, and went on her way.
Thus disappeared little Jule, about three weeks after entering theharbour: and nothing more have I ever heard of her.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
JERMIN SERVES US A GOOD TURN--FRIENDSHIPS IN POLYNESIA
THE ship out of the way, we were quite anxious to know what was goingto be done with us. On this head, Captain Bob could tell us nothing;no further, at least, than that he still considered himselfresponsible for our safe-keeping. However, he never put us to bed anymore; and we had everything our own way.
The day after the Julia left, the old man came up to us in greattribulation, saying that the bucket of bread was no longerforthcoming, and that Wilson had refused to send anything in itsplace. One and all, we took this for a hint to disperse quietly, andgo about our business. Nevertheless, we were not to be shaken off soeasily; and taking a malicious pleasure in annoying our old enemy, weresolved, for the present, to stay where we were. For the part he hadbeen acting, we learned that the consul was the laughing-stock of allthe foreigners ashore, who frequently twitted him upon his hopefulproteges of the Calabooza Beretanee.
As we were wholly without resources, so long as we remained on theisland no better place than Captain Bob's could be selected for anabiding-place. Beside, we heartily loved the old gentleman, and couldnot think of leaving him; so, telling him to give no thought as towherewithal we should be clothed and fed, we resolved, by extendingand systematizing our foraging operations, to provide for ourselves.
We were greatly assisted by a parting legacy of Jermin's. To him wewere indebted for having all our chests sent ashore, and everythingleft therein. They were placed in the custody of a petty chief livingnear by, who was instructed by the consul not to allow them to betaken away; but we might call and make our toilets whenever wepleased.
We went to see Mahinee, the old chief; Captain Bob going along, andstoutly insisting upon having the chattels delivered up. At last thiswas done; and in solemn procession the chests were borne by thenatives to the Calabooza. Here, we disposed them about quitetastefully; and made such a figure that, in the eyes of old Bob andhis friends, the Calabooza Beretanee was by far the most sumptuouslyfurnished saloon in Tahiti.
Indeed, so long as it remained thus furnished, the native courts ofthe district were held there; the judge, Mahinee, and his associates,sitting upon one of the chests, and the culprits and spectatorsthrown at full length upon the ground, both inside of the buildingand under the shade of the trees without; while, leaning over thestocks as from a gallery, the worshipful crew of the Julia looked on,and canvassed the proceedings.
I should have mentioned before that, previous to the vessel'sdeparture, the men had bartered away all the clothing they couldpossibly spare; but now, it was resolved to be more provident.
The contents of the chests were of the most miscellaneousdescription:--sewing utensils, marling-spikes, strips of calico, bitsof rope, jack-knives; nearly everything, in short, that a seamancould think of. But of wearing apparel, there was little but oldfrocks, remnants of jackets, and legs of trousers, with now and thenthe foot of a stocking.
These, however, were far from being valueless; for, among the poorerTahitians, everything European is highly esteemed. They come from"Beretanee, Fenooa Pararee" (Britain, Land of Wonders), and that isenough.
The chests themselves were deemed exceedingly precious, especiallythose with unfractured looks, which would absolutely click, andenable the owner to walk off with the key. Scars, however, andbruises, were considered great blemishes. One old fellow, smittenwith the doctor's large mahogany chest (a well-filled one, by thebye), and finding infinite satisfaction in merely sitting thereon,was detected in the act of applying a healing ointment to a shockingscratch which impaired the beauty of the lid.
There is no telling the love of a Tahitian for a sailor's trunk. Soornamental is it held as an article of furniture in the hut, that thewomen are incessantly tormenting their husbands to bestir themselvesand make them a present of one. When obtained, no pier-table justplaced in a drawing-room is regarded with half the delight. For thesereasons, then, our coming into possession of our estate at this timewas an important event.
The islanders are much like the rest of the world; and the news of ourgood fortune brought us troops of "tayos," or friends, eager to forman alliance after the national custom, and do our slightest bidding.
The really curious way in which all the Polynesians are in the habitof making bosom friends at the shortest possible notice is deservingof remark. Although, among a people like the Tahitians, vitiated asthey are by sophisticating influences, this custom has in most casesdegenerated into a mere mercenary relation, it nevertheless had itsorigin in a fine, and in some instances, heroic sentiment, formerlyentertained by their fathers.
In the annals of the island are examples of extravagant friendships,unsurpassed by the story of Damon and Pythias: in truth, much morewonderful; for, notwithstanding the devotion--even of life in somecases--to which they led, they were frequently entertained at firstsight for some stranger from another island.
Filled with love and admiration for the first whites who came amongthem, the Polynesians could not testify the warmth of their emotionsmore strongly than by instantaneously making their abrupt proffer offriendship. Hence, in old voyages we read of chiefs coming off fromthe shore in their canoes, and going through with strange antics,expressive of the desire. In the same way, their inferiors accostedthe seamen; and thus the practice has continued in some islands downto the present day.
There is a small place, not many days' sail from Tahiti, and seldomvisited by shipping, where the vessel touched to which I thenhappened to belong.
Of course, among the simple-hearted natives, We had a friend allround. Mine was Poky, a handsome youth, who never could do enough forme. Every morning at sunrise, his canoe came alongside loaded withfruits of all kinds; upon being emptied, it was secured by a line tothe bowsprit, under which it lay all day long, ready at any time tocarry its owner ashore on an errand.
Seeing him so indefatigable, I told Poky one day that I was a virtuosoin shells and curiosities of all kinds. That was enough; away hepaddled for the head of the bay, and I never saw him again fortwenty-four hours. The next morning, his canoe came gliding slowlyalong the shore with the full-leaved bough of a tree for a sail. Forthe purpose of keeping the things dry, he had also built a sort ofplatform just behind the prow, railed in with green wicker-work; andhere was a heap of yellow bananas and cowree shells; young cocoa-nutsand antlers of red coral; two or three pieces of carved wood; alittle pocket-idol, black as jet, and rolls of printed tappa.
We wer
e given a holiday; and upon going ashore, Poky, of course, wasmy companion and guide. For this, no mortal could be betterqualified; his native country was not large, and he knew every inchof it. Gallanting me about, everyone was stopped and ceremoniouslyintroduced to Poty's "tayo karhowree nuee" or his particular whitefriend.
He showed me all the lions; but more than all, he took me to see acharming lioness--a young damsel--the daughter of a chief--thereputation of whose charms had spread to the neighbouring islands,and even brought suitors therefrom. Among these was Tooboi, the heirof Tamatory, King of Eaiatair, one of the Society Isles. The girl wascertainly fair to look upon. Many heavens were in her sunny eyes; andthe outline of that arm of hers, peeping forth from a capricioustappa robe, was the very curve of beauty.
Though there was no end to Poky's attentions, not a syllable did heever breathe of reward; but sometimes he looked very knowing. At lastthe day came for sailing, and with it, also, his canoe, loaded downto the gunwale with a sea stock of fruits. Giving him all I couldspare from my chest, I went on deck to take my place at the windlass;for the anchor was weighing. Poky followed, and heaved with me at thesame handspike.
The anchor was soon up; and away we went out of the bay with more thantwenty shallops towing astern. At last they left us; but long as Icould see him at all, there was Poky, standing alone and motionlessin the bow of his canoe.
PART II
CHAPTER XL.
WE TAKE UNTO OURSELVES FRIENDS
THE arrival of the chests made my friend, the doctor, by far thewealthiest man of the party. So much the better for me, seeing that Ihad little or nothing myself; though, from our intimacy, the nativescourted my favour almost as much as his.
Omoo: Adventures in the South Seas Page 15