Typee

by Herman Melville

  CHAPTER XXIII

  Ideas suggested by the Feast of Calabashes--Effigy of a dead warrior--A singular superstition--The priest Kolory and the god Moa Artua--Amazing religious observance--A dilapidated shrine--Kory-Kory and the idol--An inference.

  Although I had been baffled in my attempts to learn the origin of theFeast of Calabashes, yet it seemed very plain to me that it wasprincipally, if not wholly, of a religious character.

  Yet, notwithstanding all I observed on this occasion, I am free to confessmy almost entire inability to gratify any curiosity that may be felt withregard to the theology of the valley. I doubt whether the inhabitantsthemselves could do so. They are either too lazy or too sensible to worrythemselves about abstract points of religious belief. While I was amongthem, they never held any synods or councils to settle the principles oftheir faith by agitating them. An unbounded liberty of conscience seemedto prevail. Those who pleased to do so were allowed to repose implicitfaith in an ill-favoured god, with a large bottle-nose, and fat shapelessarms crossed upon his breast; whilst others worshipped an image which,having no likeness either in heaven or on earth, could hardly be called anidol. As the islanders always maintained a discreet reserve with regard tomy own peculiar views on religion, I thought it would be excessivelyill-bred in me to pry into theirs.

  But, although my knowledge of the religious faith of the Typees wasunavoidably limited, one of their superstitious observances with which Ibecame acquainted interested me greatly.

  In one of the most secluded portions of the valley, within a stone's castof Fayaway's lake--for so I christened the scene of our island yachting--andhard by a growth of palms, which stood ranged in order along both banks ofthe stream, waving their green arms as if to do honour to its passage, wasthe mausoleum of a deceased warrior-chief. Like all the other edifices ofany note, it was raised upon a small pi-pi of stones, which, being ofunusual height, was a conspicuous object from a distance. A lightthatching of bleached palmetto-leaves hung over it like a self-supportedcanopy; for it was not until you came very near that you saw it wassupported by four slender columns of bamboo, rising at each corner to alittle more than the height of a man. A clear area of a few yardssurrounded the pi-pi, and was enclosed by four trunks of cocoa-nut trees,resting at the angles on massive blocks of stone. The place was sacred.The sign of the inscrutable Taboo was seen, in the shape of a mystic rollof white tappa, suspended by a twisted cord of the same material from thetop of a slight pole planted within the enclosure.(3) The sanctity of thespot appeared never to have been violated. The stillness of the grave wasthere, and the calm solitude around was beautiful and touching. The softshadows of those lofty palm trees--I can see them now--hanging over thelittle temple, as if to keep out the intrusive sun.

  On all sides, as you approached this silent spot, you caught sight of thedead chief's effigy, seated in the stern of a canoe, which was raised on alight frame a few inches above the level of the pi-pi. The canoe was aboutseven feet in length; of a rich, dark-coloured wood, handsomely carved,and adorned in many places with variegated bindings of stained sinnate,into which were ingeniously wrought a number of sparkling sea-shells, anda belt of the same shells ran all round it. The body of the figure--ofwhatever material it might have been made--was effectually concealed in aheavy robe of brown tappa, revealing only the hands and head; the latterskilfully carved in wood, and surmounted by a superb arch of plumes. Theseplumes, in the subdued and gentle gales which found access to thissequestered spot, were never for one moment at rest, but kept nodding andwaving over the chief's brow. The long leaves of the palmetto dropped overthe eaves, and through them you saw the warrior, holding his paddle withboth hands in the act of rowing, leaning forward and inclining his head,as if eager to hurry on his voyage. Glaring at him for ever, and face toface, was a polished human skull, which crowned the prow of the canoe. Thespectral figure-head, reversed in its position, glancing backwards, seemedto mock the impatient attitude of the warrior.

  When I first visited this singular place with Kory-Kory, he told me--or, atleast, I so understood him--that the chief was paddling his way to therealms of bliss and bread-fruit--the Polynesian heaven--where every momentthe bread-fruit trees dropped their ripened spheres to the ground, andwhere there was no end to the cocoa-nuts and bananas; there they reposedthrough the live-long eternity upon mats much finer than those of Typee;and every day bathed their glowing limbs in rivers of cocoa-nut oil. Inthat happy land there were plenty of plumes and feathers, and boars'-tusksand sperm-whale teeth, far preferable to all the shining trinkets and gaytappa of the white men; and, best of all, women, far lovelier than thedaughters of earth, were there in abundance. "A very pleasant place,"Kory-Kory said it was; "but, after all, not much pleasanter, he thought,than Typee." "Did he not, then," I asked him, "wish to accompany thewarrior?" "Oh, no; he was very happy where he was; but supposed that sometime or other he would go in his own canoe."

  Thus far, I think, I clearly comprehended Kory-Kory. But there was asingular expression he made use of at the time, enforced by as singular agesture, the meaning of which I would have given much to penetrate. I aminclined to believe it must have been a proverb he uttered; for Iafterwards heard him repeat the same words several times, and in whatappeared to me to be a somewhat similar sense. Indeed, Kory-Kory had agreat variety of short, smart-sounding sentences, with which he frequentlyenlivened his discourse; and he introduced them with an air which plainlyintimated, that, in his opinion, they settled the matter in question,whatever it might be.

  Could it have been, then, that when I asked him whether he desired to goto this heaven of bread-fruit, cocoa-nuts, and young ladies, which he hadbeen describing, he answered by saying something equivalent to our oldadage--"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush!"--if he did, Kory-Korywas a discreet and sensible fellow, and I cannot sufficiently admire hisshrewdness.

  Whenever, in the course of my rambles through the valley, I happened to benear the chief's mausoleum, I always turned aside to visit it. The placehad a peculiar charm for me; I hardly know why, but so it was. As I leanedover the railing and gazed upon the strange effigy, and watched the playof the feathery head-dress, stirred by the same breeze which in low tonesbreathed amidst the lofty palm trees, I loved to yield myself up to thefanciful superstition of the islanders, and could almost believe that thegrim warrior was bound heavenward. In this mood, when I turned to depart,I bade him, "God speed, and a pleasant voyage." Ay, paddle away, bravechieftain, to the land of spirits! To the material eye thou makest butlittle progress, but, with the eye of faith, I see thy canoe cleaving thebright waves, which die away on those dimly looming shores of Paradise.

  This strange superstition affords another evidence of the fact, thathowever ignorant man may be, he still feels within him his immortal spirityearning after the unknown future.

  Although the religious theories of the islands were a complete mystery tome, their practical every-day operation could not be concealed. Ifrequently passed the little temples reposing in the shadows of the TabooGroves, and beheld the offerings--mouldy fruit spread out upon a rudealtar, or hanging in half-decayed baskets around some uncouth,jolly-looking images. I was present during the continuance of thefestival. I daily beheld the grinning idols marshalled rank and file inthe Hoolah Hoolah ground, and was often in the habit of meeting those whomI supposed to be the priests. But the temples seemed to be abandoned tosolitude; the festival had been nothing more than a jovial mingling of thetribe; the idols were quite as harmless as any other logs of wood; and thepriests were the merriest dogs in the valley.

  In fact, religious affairs in Typee were at a very low ebb. All suchmatters sat very lightly upon the thoughtless inhabitants; and, in thecelebration of many of their strange rites, they appeared merely to seek asort of childish amusement.

  A curious evidence of this was given in a remarkable ceremony, in which Ifrequently saw Mehevi and several other chiefs and warriors of n
ote takepart; but never a single female.

  Among those whom I looked upon as forming the priesthood of the valley,there was one in particular who often attracted my notice, and whom Icould not help regarding as the head of the order. He was a noble-lookingman, in the prime of his life, and of a most benignant aspect. Theauthority this man, whose name was Kolory, seemed to exercise over therest, the episcopal part he took in the Feast of Calabashes, his sleek andcomplacent appearance, the mystic characters which were tattooed upon hischest, and, above all, the mitre he frequently wore, in the shape of atowering head-dress, consisting of part of a cocoa-nut branch, the stalkplanted uprightly on his brow, and the leaflets gathered together andpassed round the temples and behind the ears, all these pointed him out asLord Primate of Typee. Kolory was a sort of Knight Templar--asoldier-priest; for he often wore the dress of a Marquesan warrior, andalways carried a long spear, which, instead of terminating in a paddle atthe lower end, after the general fashion of these weapons, was curved intoa heathenish-looking little image. This instrument, however, might perhapshave been emblematic of his double functions. With one end, in carnalcombat he tranfixed the enemies of his tribe; and with the other, as apastoral crook, he kept in order his spiritual flock. But this is not allI have to about Kolory. His martial grace very often carried about withhim what seemed to me the half of a broken war-club. It was swathed roundwith ragged bits of white tappa, and the upper part, which was intended torepresent a human head, was embellished with a strip of scarlet cloth ofEuropean manufacture. It required little observation to discover that thisstrange object was revered as a god. By the side of the big and lustyimages standing sentinel over the altars of the Hoolah Hoolah ground, itseemed a mere pigmy in tatters. But appearances all the world over aredeceptive. Little men are sometimes very potent, and rags sometimes coververy extensive pretensions. In fact, this funny little image was the"crack" god of the island; lording it over all the wooden lubbers wholooked so grim and dreadful; its name was Moa Artua.(4) And it was inhonour of Moa Artua, and for the entertainment of those who believe inhim, that the curious ceremony I am about to describe was observed.

  Mehevi and the chieftains of the Ti have just risen from their noontideslumbers. There are no affairs of state to dispose of; and having eatentwo or three breakfasts in the course of the morning, the magnates of thevalley feel no appetite as yet for dinner. How are their leisure momentsto be occupied? They smoke, they chat, and at last one of their numbermakes a proposition to the rest, who joyfully acquiescing, he darts out ofthe house, leaps from the pi-pi, and disappears in the grove. Soon you seehim returning with Kolory, who bears the god Moa Artua in his arms, andcarries in one hand a small trough, hollowed out in the likeness of acanoe. The priest comes along dangling his charge as if it were alachrymose infant he was endeavouring to put into a good humour.Presently, entering the Ti, he seats himself on the mats as composedly asa juggler about to perform his sleight-of-hand tricks; and, with thechiefs disposed in a circle around him, commences his ceremony.

  In the first place he gives Moa Artua an affectionate hug, thencaressingly lays him to his breast, and, finally, whispers something inhis ear, the rest of the company listening eagerly for a reply. But thebaby-god is deaf or dumb,--perhaps both, for never a word does he utter. Atlast Kolory speaks a little louder, and soon growing angry, comes boldlyout with what he has to say, and bawls to him. He put me in mind of acholeric fellow, who, after trying in vain to communicate a secret to adeaf man, all at once flies into a passion and screams it out so thatevery one may hear. Still Moa Artua remains as quiet as ever, and Kolory,seemingly losing his temper, fetches him a box over the head, strips himof his tappa and red cloth, and, laying him in a state of nudity in alittle trough, covers him from sight. At this proceeding all presentloudly applaud, and signify their approval by uttering the adjective"motarkee" with violent emphasis. Kolory, however, is so desirous hisconduct should meet with unqualified approbation, that he inquires of eachindividual separately whether, under existing circumstances, he has notdone perfectly right in shutting up Moa Artua. The invariable response is"Aa, Aa" (yes, yes), repeated over again and again in a manner which oughtto quiet the scruples of the most conscientious. After a few momentsKolory brings forth his doll again, and, while arraying it very carefullyin the tappa and red cloth, alternately fondles and chides it. The toiletbeing completed, he once more speaks to it aloud. The whole companyhereupon show the greatest interest; while the priest, holding Moa Artuato his ear, interprets to them what he pretends the god is confidentiallycommunicating to him. Some items of intelligence appear to tickle allpresent amazingly; for one claps his hands in a rapture; another shoutswith merriment; and a third leaps to his feet and capers about like amadman.

  What under the sun Moa Artua on these occasions had to say to Kolory Inever could find out; but I could not help thinking that the former showeda sad want of spirit in being disciplined into making those disclosures,which at first he seemed bent on withholding. Whether the priest honestlyinterpreted what he believed the divinity said to him, or whether he wasnot all the while guilty of a vile humbug, I shall not presume to decide.At any rate, whatever, as coming from the god, was imparted to thosepresent, seemed to be generally of a complimentary nature--a fact whichillustrates the sagacity of Kolory, or else the time-serving dispositionof this hardly-used deity.

  Moa Artua having nothing more to say, his bearer goes to nursing himagain, in which occupation, however, he is soon interrupted by a questionput by one of the warriors to the god. Kolory hereupon snatches it up tohis ear again, and after listening attentively, once more officiates asthe organ of communication. A multitude of questions and answers havingpassed between the parties, much to the satisfaction of those who proposethem, the god is put tenderly to bed in the trough, and the whole companyunite in a long chant, led off by Kolory. This ended, the ceremony isover; the chiefs rise to their feet in high good humour, and my LordArchbishop, after chatting awhile, and regaling himself with a whiff ortwo from a pipe of tobacco, tucks the canoe under his arm and marches offwith it.

  The whole of these proceedings were like those of a parcel of childrenplaying with dolls and baby-houses.

  For a youngster scarcely ten inches high, and with so few early advantagesas he doubtless had had, Moa Artua was certainly a precocious littlefellow, if he really said all that was imputed to him; but for what reasonthis poor devil of a deity, thus cuffed about, cajoled, and shut up in abox, was held in greater estimation than the full-grown and dignifiedpersonages of the Taboo Groves, I cannot divine. And yet Mehevi, and otherchiefs of unquestionable veracity--to say nothing of the Primatehimself--assured me over and over again that Moa Artua was the tutelarydeity of Typee, and was more to be held in honour than a whole battalionof the clumsy idols in the Hoolah Hoolah grounds. Kory-Kory--who seemed tohave devoted considerable attention to the study of theology, as he knewthe names of all the graven images in the valley, and often repeated themover to me--likewise entertained some rather enlarged ideas with regard tothe character and pretensions of Moa Artua. He once gave me to understand,with a gesture there was no misconceiving, that if he (Moa Artua) were sominded, he could cause a cocoa-nut tree to sprout out of his (Kory-Kory's)head; and that it would be the easiest thing in life for him (Moa Artua)to take the whole island of Nukuheva in his mouth, and dive down to thebottom of the sea with it.

  But, in sober seriousness, I hardly knew what to make of the religion ofthe valley. There was nothing that so much perplexed the illustrious Cook,in his intercourse with the South Sea islanders, as their sacred rites.Although this prince of navigators was in many instances assisted byinterpreters in the prosecution of his researches, he still franklyacknowledges that he was at a loss to obtain anything like a clear insightinto the puzzling arcana of their faith. A similar admission has been madeby other eminent voyagers,--by Carteret, Byron, Kotzebue, and Vancouver.

  For my own part, although hardly a day passed while I remained upon theisland that I did not
witness some religious ceremony or other, it wasvery much like seeing a parcel of "Freemasons" making secret signs to eachother: I saw everything, but could comprehend nothing.

  On the whole, I am inclined to believe that the islanders in the Pacifichave no fixed and definite ideas whatever on the subject of religion. I ampersuaded that Kolory himself would be effectually posed were he calledupon to draw up the articles of his faith, and pronounce the creed bywhich he hoped to be saved. In truth, the Typees, so far as their actionsevince, submitted to no laws, human or divine--always excepting the thricemysterious Taboo. The "independent electors" of the valley were not to bebrowbeaten by chiefs, priests, idols, or devils. As for the lucklessidols, they received more hard knocks than supplications. I do not wonderthat some of them looked so grim, and stood so bolt upright, as if fearfulof looking to the right or the left, lest they should give any oneoffence. The fact is, they had to carry themselves "_pretty straight_," orsuffer the consequences. Their worshippers were such a precious set offickle-minded and irreverent heathens, that there was no telling when theymight topple one of them over, break it to pieces, and making a fire withit on the very altar itself, fall to roasting the offerings ofbread-fruit, and eat them in spite of its teeth.

  In how little reverence these unfortunate deities were held by thenatives, was on one occasion most convincingly proved to me. Walking withKory-Kory through the deepest recesses of the groves, I perceived acurious-looking image about six feet in height, which originally had beenplaced upright against a low pi-pi, surmounted by a ruinous bamboo temple,but having become fatigued and weak in the knees, was now carelesslyleaning against it. The idol was partly concealed by the foliage of a treewhich stood near, and whose leafy boughs drooped over the pile of stones,as if to protect the rude fane from the decay to which it was rapidlyhastening. The image itself was nothing more than a grotesquely-shapedlog, carved in the likeness of a portly naked man, with the arms claspedover the head, the jaws thrown wide apart, and its thick shapeless legsbowed into an arch. It was much decayed. The lower part was overgrown witha bright silky moss. Thin spears of grass sprouted from the distendedmouth, and fringed the outline of the head and arms. His godship hadliterally attained a green old age. All its prominent points were bruisedand battered or entirely rotted away. The nose had taken its departure,and from the general appearance of the head, it might have been supposedthat the wooden divinity, in despair at the neglect of its worshippers,had been trying to beat its own brains out against the surrounding trees.

  I drew near, to inspect more closely this strange object of idolatry, buthalted reverently at the distance of two or three paces, out of regard ofthe religious prejudices of my valet. As soon, however, as Kory-Koryperceived that I was in one of my inquiring, scientific moods, to myastonishment he sprang to the side of the idol, and pushing it away fromthe stones against which it rested, endeavoured to make it stand upon itslegs. But the divinity had lost the use of them altogether; and whileKory-Kory was trying to prop it up, by placing a stick between it andpi-pi, the monster fell clumsily to the ground, and would infallibly havebroken its neck had not Kory-Kory providentially broken its fall, byreceiving its whole weight on his own half-crushed back. I never saw thehonest fellow in such a rage before. He leaped furiously to his feet, and,seizing the stick, began beating the poor image, every moment or twopausing and talking to it in the most violent manner, as if upbraiding itfor the accident. When his indignation had subsided a little, he whirledthe idol about most profanely, so as to give me an opportunity ofexamining it on all sides. I am quite sure I never should have presumed tohave taken such liberties with the god myself, and I was not a littleshocked at Kory-Kory's impiety.