The Coral Island: A Tale of the Pacific Ocean

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER XXV.

  The Sandal-wood party--Native children's games, somewhatsurprising--Desperate amusements suddenly and fatally brought to aclose--An old friend recognised--News--Romata's mad conduct.

  Next day the wood-cutting party went ashore again, and I accompanied themas before. During the dinner hour I wandered into the woods alone, beingdisinclined for food that day. I had not rambled far when I found myselfunexpectedly on the sea-shore, having crossed a narrow neck of land whichseparated the native village from a large bay. Here I found a party ofthe islanders busy with one of their war-canoes, which was almost readyfor launching. I stood for a long time watching this party with greatinterest, and observed that they fastened the timbers and planks to eachother very much in the same way in which I had seen Jack fasten those ofour little boat. But what surprised me most was its immense length,which I measured very carefully, and found to be a hundred feet long; andit was so capacious that it could have held three hundred men. It hadthe unwieldy out-rigger and enormously high stern-posts which I hadremarked on the canoe that came to us while I was on the Coral Island.Observing some boys playing at games a short way along the beach, Iresolved to go and watch them; but as I turned from the natives who wereengaged so busily and cheerfully at their work, I little thought of theterrible event that hung on the completion of that war-canoe.

  Advancing towards the children, who were so numerous that I began tothink this must be the general play-ground of the village, I sat down ona grassy bank under the shade of a plantain-tree, to watch them. And ahappier or more noisy crew I have never seen. There were at least twohundred of them, both boys and girls, all of whom were clad in no othergarments than their own glossy little black skins, except the maro, orstrip of cloth round the loins of the boys, and a very short petticoat orkilt on the girls. They did not all play at the same game, but amusedthemselves in different groups.

  One band was busily engaged in a game exactly similar to our blind-man's-buff. Another set were walking on stilts, which raised the childrenthree feet from the ground. They were very expert at this amusement andseldom tumbled. In another place I observed a group of girls standingtogether, and apparently enjoying themselves very much; so I went up tosee what they were doing, and found that they were opening their eye-lidswith their fingers till their eyes appeared of an enormous size, and thenthrusting pieces of straw between the upper and lower lids, across theeye-ball, to keep them in that position! This seemed to me, I mustconfess, a very foolish as well as dangerous amusement. Nevertheless thechildren seemed to be greatly delighted with the hideous faces they made.I pondered this subject a good deal, and thought that if little childrenknew how silly they seem to grown-up people when they make faces, theywould not be so fond of doing it. In another place were a number of boysengaged in flying kites, and I could not help wondering that some of thegames of those little savages should be so like to our own, although theyhad never seen us at play. But the kites were different from ours inmany respects, being of every variety of shape. They were made of verythin cloth, and the boys raised them to a wonderful height in the air bymeans of twine made from the cocoa-nut husk. Other games there were,some of which showed the natural depravity of the hearts of these poorsavages, and made me wish fervently that missionaries might be sent outto them. But the amusement which the greatest number of the children ofboth sexes seemed to take chief delight in, was swimming and diving inthe sea; and the expertness which they exhibited was truly amazing. Theyseemed to have two principal games in the water, one of which was to diveoff a sort of stage which had been erected near a deep part of the sea,and chase each other in the water. Some of them went down to anextraordinary depth; others skimmed along the surface, or rolled over andover like porpoises, or diving under each other, came up unexpectedly andpulled each other down by a leg or an arm. They never seemed to tire ofthis sport, and, from the great heat of the water in the South Seas, theycould remain in it nearly all day without feeling chilled. Many of thesechildren were almost infants, scarce able to walk; yet they staggereddown the beach, flung their round fat little black bodies fearlessly intodeep water, and struck out to sea with as much confidence as ducklings.

  The other game to which I have referred was swimming in the surf. But asthis is an amusement in which all engage, from children of ten to gray-headed men of sixty, and as I had an opportunity of witnessing it inperfection the day following, I shall describe it more minutely.

  I suppose it was in honour of their guest that this grand swimming-matchwas got up, for Romata came and told the captain that they were going toengage in it, and begged him to "come and see."

  "What sort of amusement is this surf swimming?" I inquired of Bill, as wewalked together to a part of the shore on which several thousands of thenatives were assembled.

  "It's a very favourite lark with these 'xtr'or'nary critters," repliedBill, giving a turn to the quid of tobacco that invariably bulged out hisleft cheek. "Ye see, Ralph, them fellows take to the water as soona'most as they can walk, an' long before they can do that anythingrespectably, so that they are as much at home in the sea as on the land.Well, ye see, I 'spose they found swimmin' for miles out to sea, anddivin' fathoms deep, wasn't exciting enough, so they invented this gameo' the surf. Each man and boy, as you see, has got a short board orplank, with which he swims out for a mile or more to sea, and then,gettin' on the top o' yon thundering breaker, they come to shore on thetop of it, yellin' and screechin' like fiends. It's a marvel to me thatthey're not dashed to shivers on the coral reef, for sure an' sartin am Ithat if any o' us tried it, we wouldn't be worth the fluke of a brokenanchor after the wave fell. But there they go!"

  As he spoke, several hundreds of the natives, amongst whom we were nowstanding, uttered a loud yell, rushed down the beach, plunged into thesurf, and were carried off by the seething foam of the retreating wave.

  At the point where we stood, the encircling coral reef joined the shore,so that the magnificent breakers, which a recent stiff breeze hadrendered larger than usual, fell in thunder at the feet of the multitudeswho lined the beach. For some time the swimmers continued to strike outto sea, breasting over the swell like hundreds of black seals. Then theyall turned, and, watching an approaching billow, mounted its white crest,and, each laying his breast on the short flat board, came rolling towardsthe shore, careering on the summit of the mighty wave, while they and theonlookers shouted and yelled with excitement. Just as the monster wavecurled in solemn majesty to fling its bulky length upon the beach, mostof the swimmers slid back into the trough behind; others, slipping offtheir boards, seized them in their hands, and, plunging through thewatery waste, swam out to repeat the amusement; but a few, who seemed tome the most reckless, continued their career until they were launchedupon the beach, and enveloped in the churning foam and spray. One ofthese last came in on the crest of the wave most manfully, and landedwith a violent bound almost on the spot where Bill and I stood. I saw byhis peculiar head-dress that he was the chief whom the tribe entertainedas their guest. The sea-water had removed nearly all the paint withwhich his face had been covered; and, as he rose panting to his feet, Irecognised, to my surprise, the features of Tararo, my old friend of theCoral Island!

  Tararo at the same moment recognised me, and, advancing quickly, took meround the neck and rubbed noses; which had the effect of transferring agood deal of the moist paint from his nose to mine. Then, recollectingthat this was not the white man's mode of salutation, he grasped me bythe hand and shook it violently.

  "Hallo, Ralph!" cried Bill, in surprise, "that chap seems to have taken asudden fancy to you, or he must be an old acquaintance."

  "Right, Bill," I replied, "he is indeed an old acquaintance;" and Iexplained in a few words that he was the chief whose party Jack andPeterkin and I had helped to save.

  Tararo having thrown away his surf-board, entered into an animatedconversation with Bill, pointing frequently during the course of it tome; whereby I concluded he
must be telling him about the memorablebattle, and the part we had taken in it. When he paused, I begged ofBill to ask him about the woman Avatea, for I had some hope that shemight have come with Tararo on this visit. "And ask him," said I, "whoshe is, for I am persuaded she is of a different race from theFeejeeans." On the mention of her name the chief frowned darkly, andseemed to speak with much anger.

  "You're right, Ralph," said Bill, when the chief had ceased to talk;"she's not a Feejee girl, but a Samoan. How she ever came to this placethe chief does not very clearly explain, but he says she was taken inwar, and that he got her three years ago, an' kept her as his daughterever since. Lucky for her, poor girl, else she'd have been roasted andeaten like the rest."

  "But why does Tararo frown and look so angry?" said I.

  "Because the girl's somewhat obstinate, like most o' the sex, an' won'tmarry the man he wants her to. It seems that a chief of some otherisland came on a visit to Tararo and took a fancy to her, but shewouldn't have him on no account, bein' already in love, and engaged to ayoung chief whom Tararo hates, and she kicked up a desperate shindy; so,as he was going on a war expedition in his canoe, he left her to thinkabout it, sayin' he'd be back in six months or so, when he hoped shewouldn't be so obstropolous. This happened just a week ago; an' Tararosays that if she's not ready to go, when the chief returns, as his bride,she'll be sent to him as a _long pig_."

  "As a long pig!" I exclaimed in surprise; "why what does he mean bythat?"

  "He means somethin' very unpleasant," answered Bill with a frown. "Yousee these blackguards eat men an' women just as readily as they eat pigs;and, as baked pigs and baked men are very like each other in appearance,they call men _long_ pigs. If Avatea goes to this fellow as a long pig,it's all up with her, poor thing."

  "Is she on the island now?" I asked eagerly.

  "No, she's at Tararo's island."

  "And where does it lie?"

  "About fifty or sixty miles to the south'ard o' this," returned Bill;"but I--"

  At this moment we were startled by the cry of "Mao! mao!--a shark! ashark!" which was immediately followed by a shriek that rang clear andfearfully loud above the tumult of cries that arose from the savages inthe water and on the land. We turned hastily towards the directionwhence the cry came, and had just time to observe the glaring eye-ballsof one of the swimmers as he tossed his arms in the air. Next instant hewas pulled under the waves. A canoe was instantly launched, and the handof the drowning man was caught, but only half of his body was draggedfrom the maw of the monster, which followed the canoe until the waterbecame so shallow that it could scarcely swim. The crest of the nextbillow was tinged with red as it rolled towards the shore.

  In most countries of the world this would have made a deep impression onthe spectators, but the only effect it had upon these islanders was tomake them hurry with all speed out of the sea, lest a similar fate shouldbefall some of the others; but, so utterly reckless were they of humanlife, that it did not for a moment suspend the progress of theiramusements. It is true the surf-swimming ended for that time somewhatabruptly, but they immediately proceeded with other games. Bill told methat sharks do not often attack the surf-swimmers, being frightened awayby the immense numbers of men and boys in the water, and by the shoutingand splashing that they make. "But," said he, "such a thing as you haveseen just now don't frighten them much. They'll be at it again to-morrowor next day, just as if there wasn't a single shark between Feejee andNova Zembla."

  After this the natives had a series of wrestling and boxing matches; andbeing men of immense size and muscle, they did a good deal of injury toeach other, especially in boxing, in which not only the lower orders, butseveral of the chiefs and priests engaged. Each bout was very quicklyterminated, for they did not pretend to a scientific knowledge of theart, and wasted no time in sparring, but hit straight out at each other'sheads, and their blows were delivered with great force. Frequently oneof the combatants was knocked down with a single blow; and one giganticfellow hit his adversary so severely that he drove the skin entirely offhis forehead. This feat was hailed with immense applause by thespectators.

  During these exhibitions, which were very painful to me, though I confessI could not refrain from beholding them, I was struck with the beauty ofmany of the figures and designs that were tattooed on the persons of thechiefs and principal men. One figure, that seemed to me very elegant,was that of a palm-tree tattooed on the back of a man's leg, the rootsrising, as it were, from under his heel, the stem ascending the tendon ofthe ankle, and the graceful head branching out upon the calf. Iafterwards learned that this process of tattooing is very painful, andtakes long to do, commencing at the age of ten, and being continued atintervals up to the age of thirty. It is done by means of an instrumentmade of bone, with a number of sharp teeth with which the skin ispunctured. Into these punctures a preparation made from the kernel ofthe candle-nut, mixed with cocoa-nut oil, is rubbed, and the mark thusmade is indelible. The operation is performed by a class of men whoseprofession it is, and they tattoo as much at a time, as the person onwhom they are operating can bear; which is not much, the pain andinflammation caused by tattooing being very great, sometimes causingdeath. Some of the chiefs were tattooed with an ornamental stripe downthe legs, which gave them the appearance of being clad in tights. Othershad marks round the ankles and insteps, which looked like tight-fittingand elegant boots. Their faces were also tattooed, and their breastswere very profusely marked with every imaginable species ofdevice,--muskets, dogs, birds, pigs, clubs, and canoes, intermingled withlozenges, squares, circles, and other arbitrary figures.

  The women were not tattooed so much as the men, having only a few markson their feet and arms. But I must say, however objectionable thisstrange practice may be, it nevertheless had this good effect, that ittook away very much from their appearance of nakedness.

  Next day, while we were returning from the woods to our schooner, weobserved Romata rushing about in the neighbourhood of his house,apparently mad with passion.

  "Ah!" said Bill to me, "there he's at his old tricks again. That's hisway when he gets drink. The natives make a sort of drink o' their own,and it makes him bad enough; but when he gets brandy he's like a wildtiger. The captain, I suppose, has given him a bottle, as usual, to keephim in good humour. After drinkin' he usually goes to sleep, and thepeople know it well and keep out of his way, for fear they should wakenhim. Even the babies are taken out of ear-shot; for, when he's waked up,he rushes out just as you see him now, and spears or clubs the firstperson he meets."

  It seemed at the present time, however, that no deadly weapon had been inhis way, for the infuriated chief was raging about without one. Suddenlyhe caught sight of an unfortunate man who was trying to conceal himselfbehind a tree. Rushing towards him, Romata struck him a terrible blow onthe head, which knocked out the poor man's eye and also dislocated thechief's finger. The wretched creature offered no resistance; he did noteven attempt to parry the blow. Indeed, from what Bill said, I foundthat he might consider himself lucky in having escaped with his life,which would certainly have been forfeited had the chief been possessed ofa club at the time.

  "Have these wretched creatures no law among themselves," said I, "whichcan restrain such wickedness?"

  "None," replied Bill. "The chief's word is law. He might kill and eat adozen of his own subjects any day for nothing more than his own pleasure,and nobody would take the least notice of it."

  This ferocious deed took place within sight of our party as we wended ourway to the beach, but I could not observe any other expression on thefaces of the men than that of total indifference or contempt. It seemedto me a very awful thing that it should be possible for men to come tosuch hardness of heart and callousness to the sight of bloodshed andviolence; but, indeed, I began to find that such constant exposure toscenes of blood was having a slight effect upon myself, and I shudderedwhen I came to think that I, too, was becoming callous.

  I th
ought upon this subject much that night while I walked up and downthe deck during my hours of watch; and I came to the conclusion that ifI, who hated, abhorred, and detested such bloody deeds as I had witnessedwithin the last few weeks, could so soon come to be less sensitive aboutthem, how little wonder that these poor ignorant savages, who were bornand bred in familiarity therewith, should think nothing of them at all,and should hold human life in so very slight esteem.