CHAPTER EIGHT
THE IMPORTANT QUESTION, TYPEE OR HAPPAR?--A WILD GOOSE CHASE--MYSUFFERINGS--DISHEARTENING SITUATION--A NIGHT IN A RAVINE--MORNINGMEAL--HAPPY IDEA OF TOBY--JOURNEY TOWARDS THE VALLEY
RECOVERING from my astonishment at the beautiful scene before me, Iquickly awakened Toby, and informed him of the discovery I had made.Together we now repaired to the border of the precipice, and mycompanion's admiration was equal to my own. A little reflection,however, abated our surprise at coming so unexpectedly upon this valley,since the large vales of Happar and Typee, lying upon this side ofNukuheva, and extending a considerable distance from the sea towards theinterior, must necessarily terminate somewhere about this point.
The question now was as to which of those two places we were lookingdown upon. Toby insisted that it was the abode of the Happar, and I thatit was tenanted by their enemies the ferocious Typees. To be sure I wasnot entirely convinced by my own arguments, but Toby's proposition todescend at once into the valley, and partake of the hospitality of itsinmates, seemed to me to be risking so much upon the strength of a meresupposition, that I resolved to oppose it until we had more evidence toproceed upon.
The point was one of vital importance, as the natives of Happar werenot only at peace with Nukuheva, but cultivated with its inhabitants themost friendly relations, and enjoyed besides a reputation for gentlenessand humanity which led us to expect from them, if not a cordialreception, at least a shelter during the short period we should remainin their territory.
On the other hand, the very name of Typee struck a panic into my heartwhich I did not attempt to disguise. The thought of voluntarily throwingourselves into the hands of these cruel savages, seemed to me an actof mere madness; and almost equally so the idea of venturing into thevalley, uncertain by which of these two tribes it was inhabited. Thatthe vale at our feet was tenanted by one of them, was a point thatappeared to us past all doubt, since we knew that they resided in thisquarter, although our information did not enlighten us further.
My companion, however, incapable of resisting the tempting prospectwhich the place held out of an abundant supply of food and other meansof enjoyment, still clung to his own inconsiderate view of the subject,nor could all my reasoning shake it. When I reminded him that it wasimpossible for either of us to know anything with certainty, and whenI dwelt upon the horrible fate we should encounter were we rashlyto descend into the valley, and discover too late the error we hadcommitted, he replied by detailing all the evils of our presentcondition, and the sufferings we must undergo should we continue toremain where we then were.
Anxious to draw him away from the subject, if possible--for I sawthat it would be in vain to attempt changing his mind--I directed hisattention to a long bright unwooded tract of land which, sweeping downfrom the elevations in the interior, descended into the valley beforeus. I then suggested to him that beyond this ridge might lie a capaciousand untenanted valley, abounding with all manner of delicious fruits;for I had heard that there were several such upon the island, andproposed that we should endeavour to reach it, and if we found ourexpectations realized we should at once take refuge in it and remainthere as long as we pleased.
He acquiesced in the suggestion; and we immediately, therefore, begansurveying the country lying before us, with a view of determining uponthe best route for us to pursue; but it presented little choice, thewhole interval being broken into steep ridges, divided by dark ravines,extending in parallel lines at right angles to our direct course. Allthese we would be obliged to cross before we could hope to arrive at ourdestination.
A weary journey! But we decided to undertake it, though, for my ownpart, I felt little prepared to encounter its fatigues, shivering andburning by turns with the ague and fever; for I know not how else todescribe the alternate sensations I experienced, and suffering nota little from the lameness which afflicted me. Added to this was thefaintness consequent on our meagre diet--a calamity in which Tobyparticipated to the same extent as myself.
These circumstances, however, only augmented my anxiety to reach a placewhich promised us plenty and repose, before I should be reduced to astate which would render me altogether unable to perform the journey.Accordingly we now commenced it by descending the almost perpendicularside of a steep and narrow gorge, bristling with a thick growth ofreeds. Here there was but one mode for us to adopt. We seated ourselvesupon the ground, and guided our descent by catching at the canes in ourpath. This velocity with which we thus slid down the side of the ravinesoon brought us to a point where we could use our feet, and in a shorttime we arrived at the edge of the torrent, which rolled impetuouslyalong the bed of the chasm.
After taking a refreshing draught from the water of the stream, weaddressed ourselves to a much more difficult undertaking than the last.Every foot of our late descent had to be regained in ascending theopposite side of the gorge--an operation rendered the less agreeablefrom the consideration that in these perpendicular episodes we did notprogress a hundred yards on our journey. But, ungrateful as the taskwas, we set about it with exemplary patience, and after a snail-likeprogress of an hour or more, had scaled perhaps one half of thedistance, when the fever which had left me for a while returned withsuch violence, and accompanied by so raging a thirst, that it requiredall the entreaties of Toby to prevent me from losing all the fruits ofmy late exertion, by precipitating myself madly down the cliffs we hadjust climbed, in quest of the water which flowed so temptingly at theirbase. At the moment all my hopes and fears appeared to be merged inthis one desire, careless of the consequences that might result from itsgratification. I am aware of no feeling, either of pleasure or of pain,that so completely deprives one of an power to resist its impulses, asthis same raging thirst.
Toby earnestly conjured me to continue the ascent, assuring me that alittle more exertion would bring us to the summit, and that then in lessthan five minutes we should find ourselves at the brink of the stream,which must necessarily flow on the other side of the ridge.
'Do not,' he exclaimed, 'turn back, now that we have proceeded thus far;for I tell you that neither of us will have the courage to repeat theattempt, if once more we find ourselves looking up to where we now arefrom the bottom of these rocks!'
I was not yet so perfectly beside myself as to be heedless of theserepresentations, and therefore toiled on, ineffectually endeavouring toappease the thirst which consumed me, by thinking that in a short time Ishould be able to gratify it to my heart's content.
At last we gained the top of the second elevation, the loftiest ofthose I have described as extending in parallel lines between us and thevalley we desired to reach. It commanded a view of the whole interveningdistance; and, discouraged as I was by other circumstances, thisprospect plunged me into the very depths of despair. Nothing but darkand fearful chasms, separated by sharp-crested and perpendicular ridgesas far as the eye could reach. Could we have stepped from summitto summit of these steep but narrow elevations we could easily haveaccomplished the distance; but we must penetrate to the bottom of everyyawning gulf, and scale in succession every one of the eminences beforeus. Even Toby, although not suffering as I did, was not proof againstthe disheartening influences of the sight.
But we did not long stand to contemplate it, impatient as I was to reachthe waters of the torrent which flowed beneath us. With an insensibilityto danger which I cannot call to mind without shuddering, we threwourselves down the depths of the ravine, startling its savage solitudeswith the echoes produced by the falling fragments of rock we everymoment dislodged from their places, careless of the insecurity of ourfooting, and reckless whether the slight roots and twigs we clutched atsustained us for the while, or treacherously yielded to our grasp. Formy own part, I scarcely knew whether I was helplessly falling from theheights above, or whether the fearful rapidity with which I descendedwas an act of my own volition.
In a few minutes we reached the foot of the gorge, and kneeling upona small ledge of dripping rocks, I bent over to the stream. Wha
t adelicious sensation was I now to experience! I paused for a second toconcentrate all my capabilities of enjoyment, and then immerged my lipsin the clear element before me. Had the apples of Sodom turned to ashesin my mouth, I could not have felt a more startling revulsion. A singledrop of the cold fluid seemed to freeze every drop of blood in my body;the fever that had been burning in my veins gave place on the instant todeath-like chills, which shook me one after another like so many shocksof electricity, while the perspiration produced by my late violentexertions congealed in icy beads upon my forehead. My thirst was gone,and I fairly loathed the water. Starting to my feet, the sight of thosedank rocks, oozing forth moisture at every crevice, and the darkstream shooting along its dismal channel, sent fresh chills throughmy shivering frame, and I felt as uncontrollable a desire to climb uptowards the genial sunlight as I before had to descend the ravine.
After two hours' perilous exertions we stood upon the summit of anotherridge, and it was with difficulty I could bring myself to believe thatwe had ever penetrated the black and yawning chasm which then gaped atour feet. Again we gazed upon the prospect which the height commanded,but it was just as depressing as the one which had before met our eyes.I now felt that in our present situation it was in vain for us to thinkof ever overcoming the obstacles in our way, and I gave up all thoughtsof reaching the vale which lay beyond this series of impediments; whileat the same time I could not devise any scheme to extricate ourselvesfrom the difficulties in which we were involved.
The remotest idea of returning to Nukuheva, unless assured of ourvessel's departure, never once entered my mind, and indeed it wasquestionable whether we could have succeeded in reaching it, divided aswe were from the bay by a distance we could not compute, and perplexedtoo in our remembrance of localities by our recent wanderings. Besides,it was unendurable the thought of retracing our steps and rendering allour painful exertions of no avail.
There is scarcely anything when a man is in difficulties that he ismore disposed to look upon with abhorrence than a rightabout retrogrademovement--a systematic going over of the already trodden ground:and especially if he has a love of adventure, such a course appearsindescribably repulsive, so long as there remains the least hope to bederived from braving untried difficulties.
It was this feeling that prompted us to descend the opposite side of theelevation we had just scaled, although with what definite object in viewit would have been impossible for either of us to tell.
Without exchanging a syllable upon the subject, Toby and myselfsimultaneously renounced the design which had lured us thusfar--perceiving in each other's countenances that desponding expressionwhich speaks more eloquently than words.
Together we stood towards the close of this weary day in the cavity ofthe third gorge we had entered, wholly incapacitated for any furtherexertion, until restored to some degree of strength by food and repose.
We seated ourselves upon the least uncomfortable spot we could select,and Toby produced from the bosom of his frock the sacred package. Insilence we partook of the small morsel of refreshment that had been leftfrom the morning's repast, and without once proposing to violate thesanctity of our engagement with respect to the remainder, we rose toour feet, and proceeded to construct some sort of shelter under which wemight obtain the sleep we so greatly needed.
Fortunately the spot was better adapted to our purpose than the one inwhich we had passed the last wretched night. We cleared away the tallreeds from the small but almost level bit of ground, and twisted theminto a low basket-like hut, which we covered with a profusion of longthick leaves, gathered from a tree near at hand. We disposed themthickly all around, reserving only a slight opening that barelypermitted us to crawl under the shelter we had thus obtained.
These deep recesses, though protected from the winds that assail thesummits of their lofty sides, are damp and chill to a degree that onewould hardly anticipate in such a climate; and being unprovided withanything but our woollen frocks and thin duck trousers to resist thecold of the place, we were the more solicitous to render our habitationfor the night as comfortable as we could. Accordingly, in addition towhat we had already done, we plucked down all the leaves within ourreach and threw them in a heap over our little hut, into which we nowcrept, raking after us a reserved supply to form our couch.
That night nothing but the pain I suffered prevented me from sleepingmost refreshingly. As it was, I caught two or three naps, while Tobyslept away at my side as soundly as though he had been sandwichedbetween two Holland sheets. Luckily it did not rain, and we werepreserved from the misery which a heavy shower would have occasionedus. In the morning I was awakened by the sonorous voice of my companionringing in my ears and bidding me rise. I crawled out from our heap ofleaves, and was astonished at the change which a good night's rest hadwrought in his appearance. He was as blithe and joyous as a young bird,and was staying the keenness of his morning's appetite by chewing thesoft bark of a delicate branch he held in his hand, and he recommendedthe like to me as an admirable antidote against the gnawings of hunger.
For my own part, though feeling materially better than I had done thepreceding evening, I could not look at the limb that had pained meso violently at intervals during the last twenty-four hours, withoutexperiencing a sense of alarm that I strove in vain to shake off.Unwilling to disturb the flow of my comrade's spirits, I managed tostifle the complaints to which I might otherwise have given vent, andcalling upon him good-humouredly to speed our banquet, I prepared myselffor it by washing in the stream. This operation concluded, we swallowed,or rather absorbed, by a peculiar kind of slow sucking process, ourrespective morsels of nourishment, and then entered into a discussion asto the steps is was necessary for us to pursue.
'What's to be done now?' inquired I, rather dolefully.
'Descend into that same valley we descried yesterday.' rejoined Toby,with a rapidity and loudness of utterance that almost led me to suspecthe had been slyly devouring the broadside of an ox in some of theadjoining thickets. 'What else,' he continued, 'remains for us to do butthat, to be sure? Why, we shall both starve to a certainty if we remainhere; and as to your fears of those Typees--depend upon it, it is allnonsense.'
'It is impossible that the inhabitants of such a lovely place as wesaw can be anything else but good fellows; and if you choose rather toperish with hunger in one of these soppy caverns, I for one prefer tochance a bold descent into the valley, and risk the consequences'.
'And who is to pilot us thither,' I asked, 'even if we should decideupon the measure you propose? Are we to go again up and down thoseprecipices that we crossed yesterday, until we reach the place westarted from, and then take a flying leap from the cliffs to thevalley?'
'Faith, I didn't think of that,' said Toby; 'sure enough, both sides ofthe valley appeared to be hemmed in by precipices, didn't they?'
'Yes,' answered I, 'as steep as the sides of a line-of-battle ship,and about a hundred times as high.' My companion sank his head upon hisbreast, and remained for a while in deep thought. Suddenly he sprang tohis feet, while his eyes lighted up with that gleam of intelligence thatmarks the presence of some bright idea.
'Yes, yes,' he exclaimed; 'the streams all run in the same direction,and must necessarily flow into the valley before they reach the sea; allwe have to do is just to follow this stream, and sooner or later it willlead us into the vale.'
'You are right, Toby,' I exclaimed, 'you are right; it must conduct usthither, and quickly too; for, see with what a steep inclination thewater descends.'
'It does, indeed,' burst forth my companion, overjoyed at myverification of his theory, 'it does indeed; why, it is as plain as apike-staff. Let us proceed at once; come, throw away all those stupidideas about the Typees, and hurrah for the lovely valley of theHappars.'
'You will have it to be Happar, I see, my dear fellow; pray Heaven youmay not find yourself deceived,' observed I, with a shake of my head.
'Amen to all that, and much more,' shouted Toby, rushing forwar
d; 'butHappar it is, for nothing else than Happar can it be. So glorious avalley--such forests of bread-fruit trees--such groves of cocoanut--suchwilderness of guava-bushes! Ah! shipmate! don't linger behind: in thename of all delightful fruits, I am dying to be at them. Come on, comeon; shove ahead, there's a lively lad; never mind the rocks; kick themout of the way, as I do; and tomorrow, old fellow, take my word forit, we shall be in clover. Come on;' and so saying, he dashed along theravine like a madman, forgetting my inability to keep up with him. In afew minutes, however, the exuberance of his spirits abated, and, pausingfor a while, he permitted me to overtake him.
Typee: A Romance of the South Seas Page 10
