Omoo: Adventures in the South Seas

by Herman Melville

  At last, the Yankee cast a damper on his enthusiasm by exclaiming, ina pet, "Oh! dumn your singing! keep quiet, and pull away!" This wenow did, in the most uninteresting silence; until, with a jerk thatmade every elbow hum, the root dragged out; and most inelegantly, weall landed upon the ground. The doctor, quite exhausted, stayedthere; and, deluded into believing that, after so doughty aperformance, we would be allowed a cessation of toil, took off hishat, and fanned himself.

  "Rayther a hard customer, that, Peter," observed the Yankee, going upto him: "but it's no use for any on 'em to hang back; for I'm dumnedif they hain't got to come out, whether or no. Hurrah! let's get atit agin!"

  "Mercy!" ejaculated the doctor, rising slowly, and turning round."He'll be the death of us!"

  Falling to with our hoes again, we worked singly, or together, asoccasion required, until "Nooning Time" came.

  The period, so called by the planters, embraced about three hours inthe middle of the day; during which it was so excessively hot, inthis still, brooding valley, shut out from the Trades, and only opentoward the leeward side of the island, that labour in the sun was outof the question. To use a hyperbolical phrase of Shorty's, "It was'ot enough to melt the nose h'off a brass monkey."

  Returning to the house, Shorty, assisted by old Tonoi, cooked thedinner; and, after we had all partaken thereof, both the Cockney andZeke threw themselves into one of the hammocks, inviting us to occupythe other. Thinking it no bad idea, we did so; and, after skirmishingwith the mosquitoes, managed to fall into a doze. As for theplanters, more accustomed to "Nooning," they, at once, presented anuptial back to each other; and were soon snoring away at a greatrate. Tonoi snoozed on a mat, in one corner.

  At last, we were roused by Zeke's crying out, "Up b'ys; up! rise, andshine; time to get at it agin!"

  Looking at the doctor, I perceived, very plainly, that he had decidedupon something.

  In a languid voice, he told Zeke that he was not very well: indeed,that he had not been himself for some time past; though a littlerest, no doubt, would recruit him. The Yankee thinking, from this,that our valuable services might be lost to him altogether, were hetoo hard upon us at the outset, at once begged us both to consult ourown feelings, and not exert ourselves for the present, unless we feltlike it. Then--without recognizing the fact that my comrade claimedto be actually unwell--he simply suggested that, since he was sotired, he had better, perhaps, swing in his hammock for the rest ofthe day. If agreeable, however, I myself might accompany him upon alittle bullock-hunting excursion in the neighbouring hills. In thisproposition, I gladly acquiesced; though Peter, who was a greatsportsman, put on a long face. The muskets and ammunition wereforthwith got from overhead; and, everything being then ready, Zekecried out, "Tonoi! come; aramai! (get up) we want you for pilot.Shorty, my lad, look arter things, you know; and if you likes, why,there's them roots in the field yonder."

  Having thus arranged his domestic affairs to please himself, thoughlittle to Shorty's satisfaction, I thought, he slung his powder-hornover his shoulder, and we started. Tonoi was, at once, sent on inadvance; and leaving the plantation, he struck into a path which ledtoward the mountains.

  After hurrying through the thickets for some time, we came out intothe sunlight, in an open glade, just under the shadow of the hills.Here, Zeke pointed aloft to a beetling crag far distant, where abullock, with horns thrown back, stood like a statue.

  CHAPTER LIV.

  SOME ACCOUNT OF THE WILD CATTLE IN POLYNESIA

  BEFORE we proceed further, a word or two concerning these wild cattle,and the way they came on the island.

  Some fifty years ago, Vancouver left several bullocks, sheep andgoats, at various places in the Society group. He instructed thenatives to look after the animals carefully; and by no means toslaughter any until a considerable stock had accumulated.

  The sheep must have died off: for I never saw a solitary fleece in anypart of Polynesia. The pair left were an ill-assorted couple,perhaps; separated in disgust, and died without issue.

  As for the goats, occasionally you come across a black, misanthropicram, nibbling the scant herbage of some height inaccessible to man,in preference to the sweet grasses of the valley below. The goats arenot very numerous.

  The bullocks, coming of a prolific ancestry, are a hearty set, racingover the island of Imeeo in considerable numbers, though in Tahitibut few of them are seen. At the former place, the original pair musthave scampered off to the interior since it is now so thicklypopulated by their wild progeny. The herds are the private propertyof Queen Pomaree; from whom the planters had obtained permission toshoot for their own use as many as they pleased.

  The natives stand in great awe of these cattle; and for this reasonare excessively timid in crossing the island, preferring rather tosail round to an opposite village in their canoes.

  Tonoi abounded in bullock stories; most of which, by the bye, had aspice of the marvellous. The following is one of these.

  Once upon a time, he was going over the hills with a brother--now nomore--when a great bull came bellowing out of a wood, and both tookto their heels. The old chief sprang into a tree; his companion,flying in an opposite direction, was pursued, and, in the very act ofreaching up to a bough, trampled underfoot. The unhappy man was thengored--tossed in the air--and finally run away with on the bull'shorns. More dead than alive, Tonoi waited till all was over, and thenmade the best of his way home. The neighbours, armed with two orthree muskets, at once started to recover, if possible, hisunfortunate brother's remains. At nightfall, they returned withoutdiscovering any trace of him; but the next morning, Tonoi himselfcaught a glimpse of the bullock, marching across the mountain's brow,with a long dark object borne aloft on his horns.

  Having referred to Vancouver's attempts to colonize the islands withuseful quadrupeds, we may as well say something concerning hissuccess upon Hawaii, one of the largest islands in the wholePolynesian Archipelago; and which gives the native name to thewell-known cluster named by Cook in honour of Lord Sandwich.

  Hawaii is some one hundred leagues in circuit, and covers an area ofover four thousand miles. Until within a few years past, its interiorwas almost unknown, even to the inhabitants themselves, who, forages, had been prevented from wandering thither by certain strangesuperstitions. Pelee, the terrific goddess of the volcanoes Mount Eoaand Mount Kea, was supposed to guard all the passes to the extensivevalleys lying round their base. There are legends of her having chasedwith streams of fire several impious adventurers. Near Hilo, ajet-black cliff is shown, with the vitreous torrent apparentlypouring over into the sea: just as it cooled after one of thesesupernatural eruptions.

  To these inland valleys, and the adjoining hillsides, which areclothed in the most luxuriant vegetation, Vancouver's bullocks soonwandered; and unmolested for a long period, multiplied in vast herds.

  Some twelve or fifteen years ago, the natives lost sight of theirsuperstitions, and learning the value of the hides in commerce, beganhunting the creatures that wore them; but being very fearful andawkward in a business so novel, their success was small; and it wasnot until the arrival of a party of Spanish hunters, men regularlytrained to their calling upon the plains of California, that the workof slaughter was fairly begun.

  The Spaniards were showy fellows, tricked out in gay blankets,leggings worked with porcupine quills, and jingling spurs. Mountedupon trained Indian mares, these heroes pursued their prey up to thevery base of the burning mountains; making the profoundest solitudesring with their shouts, and flinging the lasso under the very nose ofthe vixen goddess Pelee. Hilo, a village upon the coast, was theirplace of resort; and thither flocked roving whites from all theislands of the group. As pupils of the dashing Spaniards, many ofthese dissipated fellows, quaffing too freely of the stirrup-cup, andriding headlong after the herds, when they reeled in the saddle, wereunhorsed and killed.

  This was about the year 1835, when the present king, Tammahamaha III.,was a lad. With royal impudence laying claim to the sole
property ofthe cattle, he was delighted with the idea of receiving one of everytwo silver dollars paid down for their hides; so, with no thought forthe future, the work of extermination went madly on. In three years'time, eighteen thousand bullocks were slain, almost entirely upon thesingle island of Hawaii.

  The herds being thus nearly destroyed, the sagacious young princeimposed a rigorous "taboo" upon the few surviving cattle, which wasto remain in force for ten years. During this period--not yetexpired--all hunting is forbidden, unless directly authorized by theking.

  The massacre of the cattle extended to the hapless goats. In one year,three thousand of their skins were sold to the merchants of Honolulu,fetching a quartila, or a shilling sterling apiece.

  After this digression, it is time to run on after Tonoi and theYankee.

  CHAPTER LV.

  A HUNTING RAMBLE WITH ZEKE

  AT THE foot of the mountain, a steep path went up among rocks andclefts mantled with verdure. Here and there were green gulfs, downwhich it made one giddy to peep. At last we gained an overhanging,wooded shelf of land which crowned the heights; and along this, thepath, well shaded, ran like a gallery.

  In every direction the scenery was enchanting. There was a low,rustling breeze; and below, in the vale, the leaves were quivering;the sea lay, blue and serene, in the distance; and inland the surfaceswelled up, ridge after ridge, and peak upon peak, all bathed in theIndian haze of the Tropics, and dreamy to look upon. Still valleys,leagues away, reposed in the deep shadows of the mountains; and hereand there, waterfalls lifted up their voices in the solitude. Highabove all, and central, the "Marling-spike" lifted its finger. Uponthe hillsides, small groups of bullocks were seen; some quietlybrowsing; others slowly winding into the valleys.

  We went on, directing our course for a slope of these hills, a mile ortwo further, where the nearest bullocks were seen.

  We were cautious in keeping to the windward of them; their sense ofsmell and hearing being, like those of all wild creatures,exceedingly acute.

  As there was no knowing that we might not surprise some other kind ofgame in the coverts through which we were passing, we crept alongwarily.

  The wild hogs of the island are uncommonly fierce; and as they oftenattack the natives, I could not help following Tonoi's example ofonce in a while peeping in under the foliage. Frequent retrospectiveglances also served to assure me that our retreat was not cut off.

  As we rounded a clump of bushes, a noise behind them, like thecrackling of dry branches, broke the stillness. In an instant,Tonoi's hand was on a bough, ready for a spring, and Zeke's fingertouched the trigger of his piece. Again the stillness was broken; andthinking it high time to get ready, I brought my musket to myshoulder.

  "Look sharp!" cried the Yankee; and dropping on one knee, he brushedthe twigs aside. Presently, off went his piece; and with a wildsnort, a black, bristling boar--his cherry red lip curled up by twoglittering tusks--dashed, unharmed, across the path, and crashedthrough the opposite thicket. I saluted him with a charge as hedisappeared; but not the slightest notice was taken of the civility.

  By this time, Tonoi, the illustrious descendant of the Bishops ofImeeo, was twenty feet from the ground. "Aramai! come down, you oldfool!" cried the Yankee; "the pesky critter's on t'other side of theisland afore this."

  "I rayther guess," he continued, as we began reloading, "that we'vespoiled sport by firing at that 'ere tarnal hog. Them bullocks heardthe racket, and are flinging their tails about now on the keen jump.Quick, Paul, and let's climb that rock yonder, and see if so bethere's any in sight."

  But none were to be seen, except at such a distance that they lookedlike ants.

  As evening was now at hand, my companion proposed our returning homeforthwith; and then, after a sound night's rest, starting in themorning upon a good day's hunt with the whole force of theplantation.

  Following another pass in descending into the valley, we passedthrough some nobly wooded land on the face of the mountain.

  One variety of tree particularly attracted my attention. The darkmossy stem, over seventy feet high, was perfectly branchless for manyfeet above the ground, when it shot out in broad boughs laden withlustrous leaves of the deepest green. And all round the lower part ofthe trunk, thin, slab-like buttresses of bark, perfectly smooth, andradiating from a common centre, projected along the ground for atleast two yards. From below, these natural props tapered upward untilgradually blended with the trunk itself. There were signs of the wildcattle having sheltered themselves behind them. Zeke called this thecanoe tree; as in old times it supplied the navies of the Kings ofTahiti. For canoe building, the woods is still used. Being extremelydense, and impervious to worms, it is very durable.

  Emerging from the forest, when half-way down the hillside, we cameupon an open space, covered with ferns and grass, over which a fewlonely trees were casting long shadows in the setting sun. Here, apiece of ground some hundred feet square, covered with weeds andbrambles, and sounding hollow to the tread, was inclosed by a ruinouswall of stones. Tonoi said it was an almost forgotten burial-place, ofgreat antiquity, where no one had been interred since the islandershad been Christians. Sealed up in dry, deep vaults, many a deadheathen was lying here.

  Curious to prove the old man's statement, I was anxious to get a peepat the catacombs; but hermetically overgrown with vegetation as theywere, no aperture was visible.

  Before gaining the level of the valley, we passed by the site of avillage, near a watercourse, long since deserted. There was nothingbut stone walls, and rude dismantled foundations of houses,constructed of the same material. Large trees and brushwood weregrowing rankly among them.

  I asked Tonoi how long it was since anyone had lived here. "Me,tammaree (boy)--plenty kannaker (men) Martair," he replied. "Now,only poor pehe kannaka (fishermen) left--me born here."

  Going down the valley, vegetation of every kind presented a differentaspect from that of the high land.

  Chief among the trees of the plain on this island is the "Ati," largeand lofty, with a massive trunk, and broad, laurel-shaped leaves. Thewood is splendid. In Tahiti, I was shown a narrow, polished plank fitto make a cabinet for a king. Taken from the heart of the tree, itwas of a deep, rich scarlet, traced with yellow veins, and in someplaces clouded with hazel.

  In the same grove with the regal "AH" you may see the beautifulflowering "Hotoo"; its pyramid of shining leaves diversified withnumberless small, white blossoms.

  Planted with trees as the valley is almost throughout its entirelength, I was astonished to observe so very few which were useful tothe natives: not one in a hundred was a cocoa-nut or bread-fruittree.

  But here Tonoi again enlightened me. In the sanguinary religioushostilities which ensued upon the conversion of Christianity of thefirst Pomaree, a war-party from Tahiti destroyed (by "girdling" thebark) entire groves of these invaluable trees. For some timeafterwards they stood stark and leafless in the sun; sad monuments ofthe fate which befell the inhabitants of the valley.

  CHAPTER LVI.

  MOSQUITOES

  THE NIGHT following the hunting trip, Long Ghost and myself, after avaliant defence, had to fly the house on account of the mosquitoes.

  And here I cannot avoid relating a story, rife among the natives,concerning the manner in which these insects were introduced upon theisland.

  Some years previous, a whaling captain, touching at an adjoining bay,got into difficulty with its inhabitants, and at last carried hiscomplaint before one of the native tribunals; but receiving nosatisfaction, and deeming himself aggrieved, he resolved upon takingsignal revenge. One night, he towed a rotten old water-cask ashore,and left it in a neglected Taro patch where the ground was warm andmoist. Hence the mosquitoes.

  I tried my best to learn the name of this man; and hereby do what Ican to hand it down to posterity. It was Coleman--Nathan Cole-man.The ship belonged to Nantucket.

  When tormented by the mosquitoes, I found much relief in coupling theword "Coleman" with another of
one syllable, and pronouncing themtogether energetically.

  The doctor suggested a walk to the beach, where there was a long, lowshed tumbling to pieces, but open lengthwise to a current of airwhich he thought might keep off the mosquitoes. So thither we went.

  The ruin partially sheltered a relic of times gone by, which, a fewdays after, we examined with much curiosity. It was an old war-canoe,crumbling to dust. Being supported by the same rude blocks uponwhich, apparently, it had years before been hollowed out, in allprobability it had never been afloat.

  Outside, it seemed originally stained of a green colour, which, hereand there, was now changed into a dingy purple. The prow terminatedin a high, blunt beak; both sides were covered with carving; and uponthe stern, was something which Long Ghost maintained to be the armsof the royal House of Pomaree. The device had an heraldic look,certainly--being two sharks with the talons of hawks clawing a knotleft projecting from the wood.

  The canoe was at least forty feet long, about two wide, and four deep.The upper part--consisting of narrow planks laced together with cordsof sinnate--had in many places fallen off, and lay decaying upon theground. Still, there were ample accommodations left for sleeping; andin we sprang--the doctor into the bow, and I into the stern. I soonfell asleep; but waking suddenly, cramped in every joint from myconstrained posture, I thought, for an instant, that I must have beenprematurely screwed down in my coffin.