Typee: A Romance of the South Seas

by Herman Melville

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  MIDNIGHT REFLECTIONS--MORNING VISITORS--A WARRIOR IN COSTUME--A SAVAGEAESCULAPIUS--PRACTICE OF THE HEALING ART--BODY SERVANT--A DWELLING-HOUSEOF THE VALLEY DESCRIBED--PORTRAITS OF ITS INMATES

  VARIOUS and conflicting were the thoughts which oppressed me during thesilent hours that followed the events related in the preceding chapter.Toby, wearied with the fatigues of the day, slumbered heavily by myside; but the pain under which I was suffering effectually preventedmy sleeping, and I remained distressingly alive to all the fearfulcircumstances of our present situation. Was it possible that, after allour vicissitudes, we were really in the terrible valley of Typee, andat the mercy of its inmates, a fierce and unrelenting tribe of savages?Typee or Happar? I shuddered when I reflected that there was no longerany room for doubt; and that, beyond all hope of escape, we were nowplaced in those very circumstances from the bare thought of which I hadrecoiled with such abhorrence but a few days before. What might notbe our fearful destiny? To be sure, as yet we had been treated with noviolence; nay, had been even kindly and hospitably entertained. But whatdependence could be placed upon the fickle passions which sway the bosomof a savage? His inconstancy and treachery are proverbial. Might itnot be that beneath these fair appearances the islanders covered someperfidious design, and that their friendly reception of us might onlyprecede some horrible catastrophe? How strongly did these forebodingsspring up in my mind as I lay restlessly upon a couch of mats surroundedby the dimly revealed forms of those whom I so greatly dreaded!

  From the excitement of these fearful thoughts I sank towards morninginto an uneasy slumber; and on awaking, with a start, in the midst of anappalling dream, looked up into the eager countenance of a number of thenatives, who were bending over me.

  It was broad day; and the house was nearly filled with young females,fancifully decorated with flowers, who gazed upon me as I rose withfaces in which childish delight and curiosity were vividly portrayed.After waking Toby, they seated themselves round us on the mats, and gavefull play to that prying inquisitiveness which time out of mind has beenattributed to the adorable sex.

  As these unsophisticated young creatures were attended by no jealousduennas, their proceedings were altogether informal, and void ofartificial restraint. Long and minute was the investigation with whichthey honoured us, and so uproarious their mirth, that I felt infinitelysheepish; and Toby was immeasurably outraged at their familiarity.

  These lively young ladies were at the same time wonderfully politeand humane; fanning aside the insects that occasionally lighted on ourbrows; presenting us with food; and compassionately regarding me in themidst of my afflictions. But in spite of all their blandishments, myfeelings of propriety were exceedingly shocked, for I could but considerthem as having overstepped the due limits of female decorum.

  Having diverted themselves to their hearts' content, our young visitantsnow withdrew, and gave place to successive troops of the other sex, whocontinued flocking towards the house until near noon; by which time Ihave no doubt that the greater part of the inhabitants of the valley hadbathed themselves in the light of our benignant countenances.

  At last, when their numbers began to diminish, a superb-looking warriorstooped the towering plumes of his head-dress beneath the low portal,and entered the house. I saw at once that he was some distinguishedpersonage, the natives regarding him with the utmost deference, andmaking room for him as he approached. His aspect was imposing. Thesplendid long drooping tail-feathers of the tropical bird, thicklyinterspersed with the gaudy plumage of the cock, were disposed in animmense upright semicircle upon his head, their lower extremities beingfixed in a crescent of guinea-heads which spanned the forehead. Aroundhis neck were several enormous necklaces of boar's tusks, polished likeivory, and disposed in such a manner as that the longest and largestwere upon his capacious chest. Thrust forward through the largeapertures in his ears were two small and finely-shaped sperm whaleteeth, presenting their cavities in front, stuffed with freshly-pluckedleaves, and curiously wrought at the other end into strange littleimages and devices. These barbaric trinkets, garnished in this manner attheir open extremities, and tapering and curving round to a point behindthe ear, resembled not a little a pair of cornucopias.

  The loins of the warrior were girt about with heavy folds of adark-coloured tappa, hanging before and behind in clusters of braidedtassels, while anklets and bracelets of curling human hair completedhis unique costume. In his right hand he grasped a beautifully carvedpaddle-spear, nearly fifteen feet in length, made of the brightkoar-wood, one end sharply pointed, and the other flattened like anoar-blade. Hanging obliquely from his girdle by a loop of sinnate wasa richly decorated pipe; the slender reed forming its stem was colouredwith a red pigment, and round it, as well as the idol-bowl, flutteredlittle streamers of the thinnest tappa.

  But that which was most remarkable in the appearance of this splendidislander was the elaborate tattooing displayed on every noble limb. Allimaginable lines and curves and figures were delineated over his wholebody, and in their grotesque variety and infinite profusion I could onlycompare them to the crowded groupings of quaint patterns we sometimessee in costly pieces of lacework. The most simple and remarkable of allthese ornaments was that which decorated the countenance of the chief.Two broad stripes of tattooing, diverging from the centre of his shavencrown, obliquely crossed both eyes--staining the lids--to a littlebelow each ear, where they united with another stripe which swept in astraight line along the lips and formed the base of the triangle.The warrior, from the excellence of his physical proportions, mightcertainly have been regarded as one of Nature's noblemen, and the linesdrawn upon his face may possibly have denoted his exalted rank.

  This warlike personage, upon entering the house, seated himself at somedistance from the spot where Toby and myself reposed, while the rest ofthe savages looked alternately from us to him, as if in expectation ofsomething they were disappointed in not perceiving. Regarding the chiefattentively, I thought his lineaments appeared familiar to me. Assoon as his full face was turned upon me, and I again beheld itsextraordinary embellishment, and met the strange gaze to which I hadbeen subjected the preceding night, I immediately, in spite of thealteration in his appearance, recognized the noble Mehevi. On addressinghim, he advanced at once in the most cordial manner, and greeting mewarmly, seemed to enjoy not a little the effect his barbaric costume hadproduced upon me.

  I forthwith determined to secure, if possible, the good-will of thisindividual, as I easily perceived he was a man of great authority in histribe, and one who might exert a powerful influence upon our subsequentfate. In the endeavour I was not repulsed; for nothing could surpassthe friendliness he manifested towards both my companion and myself.He extended his sturdy limbs by our side, and endeavoured to makeus comprehend the full extent of the kindly feelings by which he wasactuated. The almost insuperable difficulty in communicating to oneanother our ideas affected the chief with no little mortification. Heevinced a great desire to be enlightened with regard to the customs andpeculiarities of the far-off country we had left behind us, and to whichunder the name of Maneeka he frequently alluded.

  But that which more than any other subject engaged his attention wasthe late proceedings of the 'Frannee' as he called the French, in theneighbouring bay of Nukuheva. This seemed a never-ending theme with him,and one concerning which he was never weary of interrogating us. All theinformation we succeeded in imparting to him on this subject was littlemore than that we had seen six men-of-war lying in the hostile bay atthe time we had left it. When he received this intelligence, Mehevi, bythe aid of his fingers, went through a long numerical calculation, as ifestimating the number of Frenchmen the squadron might contain.

  It was just after employing his faculties in this way that he happenedto notice the swelling in my limb. He immediately examined it with theutmost attention, and after doing so, despatched a boy who happened tobe standing by with some message.

  After the lapse of a few
moments the stripling re-entered the house withan aged islander, who might have been taken for old Hippocrates himself.His head was as bald as the polished surface of a cocoanut shell, whicharticle it precisely resembled in smoothness and colour, while a longsilvery beard swept almost to his girdle of bark. Encircling his templeswas a bandeau of the twisted leaves of the Omoo tree, pressed closelyover the brows to shield his feeble vision from the glare of the sun.His tottering steps were supported by a long slim staff, resembling thewand with which a theatrical magician appears on the stage, and inone hand he carried a freshly plaited fan of the green leaflets of thecocoanut tree. A flowing robe of tappa, knotted over the shoulder, hungloosely round his stooping form, and heightened the venerableness of hisaspect.

  Mehevi, saluting this old gentleman, motioned him to a seat between us,and then uncovering my limb, desired him to examine it. The leechgazed intently from me to Toby, and then proceeded to business. Afterdiligently observing the ailing member, he commenced manipulating it;and on the supposition probably that the complaint had deprived the legof all sensation, began to pinch and hammer it in such a manner that Iabsolutely roared with pain. Thinking that I was as capable of makingan application of thumps and pinches to the part as any one else, Iendeavoured to resist this species of medical treatment. But it wasnot so easy a matter to get out of the clutches of the old wizard; hefastened on the unfortunate limb as if it were something for which hehad been long seeking, and muttering some kind of incantation continuedhis discipline, pounding it after a fashion that set me well nigh crazy;while Mehevi, upon the same principle which prompts an affectionatemother to hold a struggling child in a dentist's chair, restrained mein his powerful grasp, and actually encouraged the wretch in thisinfliction of torture.

  Almost frantic with rage and pain, I yelled like a bedlamite; whileToby, throwing himself into all the attitudes of a posture-master,vainly endeavoured to expostulate with the natives by signs andgestures. To have looked at my companion, as, sympathizing with mysufferings, he strove to put an end to them, one would have thoughtthat he was the deaf and dumb alphabet incarnated. Whether my tormentoryielded to Toby's entreaties, or paused from sheer exhaustion, I do notknow; but all at once he ceased his operations, and at the same time thechief relinquishing his hold upon me, I fell back, faint and breathlesswith the agony I had endured.

  My unfortunate limb was now left much in the same condition as arump-steak after undergoing the castigating process which precedescooking. My physician, having recovered from the fatigues of hisexertions, as if anxious to make amends for the pain to which he hadsubjected me, now took some herbs out of a little wallet that wassuspended from his waist, and moistening them in water, applied themto the inflamed part, stooping over it at the same time, and eitherwhispering a spell, or having a little confidential chat with someimaginary demon located in the calf of my leg. My limb was now swathedin leafy bandages, and grateful to Providence for the cessation ofhostilities, I was suffered to rest.

  Mehevi shortly after rose to depart; but before he went he spokeauthoritatively to one of the natives whom he addressed as Kory-Kory;and from the little I could understand of what took place, pointedhim out to me as a man whose peculiar business thenceforth would be toattend upon my person. I am not certain that I comprehended as much asthis at the time, but the subsequent conduct of my trusty body-servantfully assured me that such must have been the case.

  I could not but be amused at the manner in which the chief addressed meupon this occasion, talking to me for at least fifteen or twenty minutesas calmly as if I could understand every word that he said. I remarkedthis peculiarity very often afterwards in many other of the islanders.

  Mehevi having now departed, and the family physician having likewisemade his exit, we were left about sunset with ten or twelve natives, whoby this time I had ascertained composed the household of which Toby andI were members. As the dwelling to which we had been first introducedwas the place of my permanent abode while I remained in the valley,and as I was necessarily placed upon the most intimate footing with itsoccupants, I may as well here enter into a little description of itand its inhabitants. This description will apply also to nearly all theother dwelling-places in the vale, and will furnish some idea of thegenerality of the natives.

  Near one side of the valley, and about midway up the ascent of a ratherabrupt rise of ground waving with the richest verdure, a number of largestones were laid in successive courses, to the height of nearlyeight feet, and disposed in such a manner that their level surfacecorresponded in shape with the habitation which was perched upon it. Anarrow space, however, was reserved in front of the dwelling, upon thesummit of this pile of stones (called by the natives a 'pi-pi'),which being enclosed by a little picket of canes, gave it somewhat theappearance of a verandah. The frame of the house was constructed oflarge bamboos planted uprightly, and secured together at intervals bytransverse stalks of the light wood of the habiscus, lashed with thongsof bark. The rear of the tenement--built up with successive ranges ofcocoanut boughs bound one upon another, with their leaflets cunninglywoven together--inclined a little from the vertical, and extended fromthe extreme edge of the 'pi-pi' to about twenty feet from its surface;whence the shelving roof--thatched with the long tapering leaves of thepalmetto--sloped steeply off to within about five feet of the floor;leaving the eaves drooping with tassel-like appendages over the frontof the habitation. This was constructed of light and elegant canes in akind of open screenwork, tastefully adorned with bindings of variegatedsinnate, which served to hold together its various parts. The sides ofthe house were similarly built; thus presenting three quarters for thecirculation of the air, while the whole was impervious to the rain.

  In length this picturesque building was perhaps twelve yards, whilein breadth it could not have exceeded as many feet. So much for theexterior; which, with its wire-like reed-twisted sides, not a littlereminded me of an immense aviary.

  Stooping a little, you passed through a narrow aperture in its front;and facing you, on entering, lay two long, perfectly straight, andwell-polished trunks of the cocoanut tree, extending the full length ofthe dwelling; one of them placed closely against the rear, and the otherlying parallel with it some two yards distant, the interval betweenthem being spread with a multitude of gaily-worked mats, nearly all of adifferent pattern. This space formed the common couch and lounging placeof the natives, answering the purpose of a divan in Oriental countries.Here would they slumber through the hours of the night, and reclineluxuriously during the greater part of the day. The remainder of thefloor presented only the cool shining surfaces of the large stones ofwhich the 'pi-pi' was composed.

  From the ridge-pole of the house hung suspended a number of largepackages enveloped in coarse tappa; some of which contained festivaldresses, and various other matters of the wardrobe, held in highestimation. These were easily accessible by means of a line, which,passing over the ridge-pole, had one end attached to a bundle, whilewith the other, which led to the side of the dwelling and was theresecured, the package could be lowered or elevated at pleasure.

  Against the farther wall of the house were arranged in tasteful figuresa variety of spears and javelins, and other implements of savagewarfare. Outside of the habitation, and built upon the piazza-like areain its front, was a little shed used as a sort of larder or pantry, andin which were stored various articles of domestic use and convenience.A few yards from the pi-pi was a large shed built of cocoanut boughs,where the process of preparing the 'poee-poee' was carried on, and allculinary operations attended to.

  Thus much for the house, and its appurtenances; and it will be readilyacknowledged that a more commodious and appropriate dwelling for theclimate and the people could not possibly be devised. It was cool, freeto admit the air, scrupulously clean, and elevated above the dampnessand impurities of the ground.

  But now to sketch the inmates; and here I claim for my tried servitorand faithful valet Kory-Kory the precedence of a first description. Ashis character
will be gradually unfolded in the course of my narrative,I shall for the present content myself with delineating his personalappearance. Kory-Kory, though the most devoted and best naturedserving-man in the world, was, alas! a hideous object to look upon. Hewas some twenty-five years of age, and about six feet in height, robustand well made, and of the most extraordinary aspect. His head wascarefully shaven with the exception of two circular spots, about thesize of a dollar, near the top of the cranium, where the hair, permittedto grow of an amazing length, was twisted up in two prominent knots,that gave him the appearance of being decorated with a pair of horns.His beard, plucked out by the root from every other part of his face,was suffered to droop in hairy pendants, two of which garnished hisunder lip, and an equal number hung from the extremity of his chin.

  Kory-Kory, with a view of improving the handiwork of nature, andperhaps prompted by a desire to add to the engaging expression ofhis countenance, had seen fit to embellish his face with three broadlongitudinal stripes of tattooing, which, like those country roads thatgo straight forward in defiance of all obstacles, crossed his nasalorgan, descended into the hollow of his eyes, and even skirted theborders of his mouth. Each completely spanned his physiognomy; oneextending in a line with his eyes, another crossing the face in thevicinity of the nose, and the third sweeping along his lips from earto ear. His countenance thus triply hooped, as it were, with tattooing,always reminded me of those unhappy wretches whom I have sometimesobserved gazing out sentimentally from behind the grated bars of aprison window; whilst the entire body of my savage valet, covered allover with representations of birds and fishes, and a variety of mostunaccountable-looking creatures, suggested to me the idea of a pictorialmuseum of natural history, or an illustrated copy of 'Goldsmith'sAnimated Nature.'

  But it seems really heartless in me to write thus of the poor islander,when I owe perhaps to his unremitting attentions the very existence Inow enjoy. Kory-Kory, I mean thee no harm in what I say in regard tothy outward adornings; but they were a little curious to my unaccustomedsight, and therefore I dilate upon them. But to underrate or forget thyfaithful services is something I could never be guilty of, even in thegiddiest moment of my life.

  The father of my attached follower was a native of gigantic frame, andhad once possessed prodigious physical powers; but the lofty form wasnow yielding to the inroads of time, though the hand of disease seemednever to have been laid upon the aged warrior. Marheyo--for such washis name--appeared to have retired from all active participation in theaffairs of the valley, seldom or never accompanying the natives intheir various expeditions; and employing the greater part of his timein throwing up a little shed just outside the house, upon which he wasengaged to my certain knowledge for four months, without appearingto make any sensible advance. I suppose the old gentleman was in hisdotage, for he manifested in various ways the characteristics which markthis particular stage of life.

  I remember in particular his having a choice pair of ear-ornaments,fabricated from the teeth of some sea-monster. These he wouldalternately wear and take off at least fifty times in the course of theday, going and coming from his little hut on each occasion with all thetranquillity imaginable. Sometimes slipping them through the slitsin his ears, he would seize his spear--which in length and slightnessresembled a fishing-pole--and go stalking beneath the shadows of theneighbouring groves, as if about to give a hostile meeting to somecannibal knight. But he would soon return again, and hiding his weaponunder the projecting eaves of the house, and rolling his clumsy trinketscarefully in a piece of tappa, would resume his more pacific operationsas quietly as if he had never interrupted them.

  But despite his eccentricities, Marheyo was a most paternal andwarm-hearted old fellow, and in this particular not a little resembledhis son Kory-Kory. The mother of the latter was the mistress of thefamily, and a notable housewife, and a most industrious old lady shewas. If she did not understand the art of making jellies, jams, custard,tea-cakes, and such like trashy affairs, she was profoundly skilled inthe mysteries of preparing 'amar', 'poee-poee', and 'kokoo', with othersubstantial matters.

  She was a genuine busy-body; bustling about the house like a countrylandlady at an unexpected arrival; for ever giving the young girls tasksto perform, which the little hussies as often neglected; poking intoevery corner, and rummaging over bundles of old tappa, or making aprodigious clatter among the calabashes. Sometimes she might have beenseen squatting upon her haunches in front of a huge wooden basin, andkneading poee-poee with terrific vehemence, dashing the stone pestleabout as if she would shiver the vessel into fragments; on otheroccasions, galloping about the valley in search of a particular kindof leaf, used in some of her recondite operations, and returning home,toiling and sweating, with a bundle of it, under which most women wouldhave sunk.

  To tell the truth, Kory-Kory's mother was the only industrious personin all the valley of Typee; and she could not have employed herself moreactively had she been left an exceedingly muscular and destitute widow,with an inordinate ate supply of young children, in the bleakest partof the civilized world. There was not the slightest necessity for thegreater portion of the labour performed by the old lady: but she seemedto work from some irresistible impulse; her limbs continually swaying toand fro, as if there were some indefatigable engine concealed within herbody which kept her in perpetual motion.

  Never suppose that she was a termagant or a shrew for all this; she hadthe kindliest heart in the world, and acted towards me in particularin a truly maternal manner, occasionally putting some little morsel ofchoice food into my hand, some outlandish kind of savage sweetmeat orpastry, like a doting mother petting a sickly urchin with tartsand sugar plums. Warm indeed are my remembrances of the dear, good,affectionate old Tinor!

  Besides the individuals I have mentioned, there belonged to thehousehold three young men, dissipated, good-for-nothing, roysteringblades of savages, who were either employed in prosecuting love affairswith the maidens of the tribe, or grew boozy on 'arva' and tobacco inthe company of congenial spirits, the scapegraces of the valley.

  Among the permanent inmates of the house were likewise several lovelydamsels, who instead of thrumming pianos and reading novels, likemore enlightened young ladies, substituted for these employments themanufacture of a fine species of tappa; but for the greater portion ofthe time were skipping from house to house, gadding and gossiping withtheir acquaintances.

  From the rest of these, however, I must except the beauteous nymphFayaway, who was my peculiar favourite. Her free pliant figure was thevery perfection of female grace and beauty. Her complexion was a richand mantling olive, and when watching the glow upon her cheeks I couldalmost swear that beneath the transparent medium there lurked theblushes of a faint vermilion.

  The face of this girl was a rounded oval, and each feature as perfectlyformed as the heart or imagination of man could desire.

  Her full lips, when parted with a smile, disclosed teeth of dazzlingwhiteness and when her rosy mouth opened with a burst of merriment, theylooked like the milk-white seeds of the 'arta,' a fruit of the valley,which, when cleft in twain, shows them reposing in rows on each side,imbedded in the red and juicy pulp. Her hair of the deepest brown,parted irregularly in the middle, flowed in natural ringlets over hershoulders, and whenever she chanced to stoop, fell over and hid fromview her lovely bosom. Gazing into the depths of her strange blueeyes, when she was in a contemplative mood, they seemed most placid yetunfathomable; but when illuminated by some lively emotion, they beamedupon the beholder like stars. The hands of Fayaway were as soft anddelicate as those of any countess; for an entire exemption from rudelabour marks the girlhood and even prime of a Typee woman's life. Herfeet, though wholly exposed, were as diminutive and fairly shaped asthose which peep from beneath the skirts of a Lima lady's dress. Theskin of this young creature, from continual ablutions and the use ofmollifying ointments, was inconceivably smooth and soft.

  I may succeed, perhaps, in particularizing some of the individualfeat
ures of Fayaway's beauty, but that general loveliness of appearancewhich they all contributed to produce I will not attempt to describe.The easy unstudied graces of a child of nature like this, breathing frominfancy an atmosphere of perpetual summer, and nurtured by the simplefruits of the earth; enjoying a perfect freedom from care and anxiety,and removed effectually from all injurious tendencies, strike the eye ina manner which cannot be pourtrayed. This picture is no fancy sketch; itis drawn from the most vivid recollections of the person delineated.

  Were I asked if the beauteous form of Fayaway was altogether free fromthe hideous blemish of tattooing, I should be constrained to answer thatit was not. But the practitioners of the barbarous art, so remorselessin their inflictions upon the brawny limbs of the warriors of the tribe,seem to be conscious that it needs not the resources of their professionto augment the charms of the maidens of the vale.

  The females are very little embellished in this way, and Fayaway, andall the other young girls of her age, were even less so than those oftheir sex more advanced in years. The reason of this peculiarity willbe alluded to hereafter. All the tattooing that the nymph in questionexhibited upon her person may be easily described. Three minute dots, nobigger than pin-heads, decorated each lip, and at a little distance werenot at all discernible. Just upon the fall of the shoulder were drawntwo parallel lines half an inch apart, and perhaps three inches inlength, the interval being filled with delicately executed figures.These narrow bands of tattooing, thus placed, always reminded me ofthose stripes of gold lace worn by officers in undress, and which are inlieu of epaulettes to denote their rank.

  Thus much was Fayaway tattooed. The audacious hand which had gone so farin its desecrating work stopping short, apparently wanting the heart toproceed.

  But I have omitted to describe the dress worn by this nymph of thevalley.

  Fayaway--I must avow the fact--for the most part clung to the primitiveand summer garb of Eden. But how becoming the costume!

  It showed her fine figure to the best possible advantage; and nothingcould have been better adapted to her peculiar style of beauty. Onordinary occasions she was habited precisely as I have described the twoyouthful savages whom we had met on first entering the valley. At othertimes, when rambling among the groves, or visiting at the houses of heracquaintances, she wore a tunic of white tappa, reaching from her waistto a little below the knees; and when exposed for any length of time tothe sun, she invariably protected herself from its rays by a floatingmantle of--the same material, loosely gathered about the person. Hergala dress will be described hereafter.

  As the beauties of our own land delight in bedecking themselves withfanciful articles of jewellery, suspending them from their ears, hangingthem about their necks, and clasping them around their wrists; soFayaway and her companions were in the habit of ornamenting themselveswith similar appendages.

  Flora was their jeweller. Sometimes they wore necklaces of smallcarnation flowers, strung like rubies upon a fibre of tappa, ordisplayed in their ears a single white bud, the stem thrust backwardthrough the aperture, and showing in front the delicate petals foldedtogether in a beautiful sphere, and looking like a drop of the purestpearl. Chaplets too, resembling in their arrangement the strawberrycoronal worn by an English peeress, and composed of intertwined leavesand blossoms, often crowned their temples; and bracelets and ankletsof the same tasteful pattern were frequently to be seen. Indeed, themaidens of the island were passionately fond of flowers, and neverwearied of decorating their persons with them; a lovely trait in theircharacter, and one that ere long will be more fully alluded to.

  Though in my eyes, at least, Fayaway was indisputably the loveliestfemale I saw in Typee, yet the description I have given of her will insome measure apply to nearly all the youthful portion of her sex in thevalley. Judge ye then, reader, what beautiful creatures they must havebeen.