Typee: A Romance of the South Seas
Page 23
CHAPTER TWENTY
HISTORY OF A DAY AS USUALLY SPENT IN TYPEE VALLEY--DANCES OF THEMARQUESAN GIRLS
NOTHING can be more uniform and undiversified than the life of theTypees; one tranquil day of ease and happiness follows another in quietsuccession; and with these unsophisicated savages the history of aday is the history of a life. I will, therefore, as briefly as I can,describe one of our days in the valley.
To begin with the morning. We were not very early risers--the sun wouldbe shooting his golden spikes above the Happar mountain, ere I threwaside my tappa robe, and girding my long tunic about my waist, salliedout with Fayaway and Kory-Kory, and the rest of the household, and bentmy steps towards the stream. Here we found congregated all those whodwelt in our section of the valley; and here we bathed with them. Thefresh morning air and the cool flowing waters put both soul and body ina glow, and after a half-hour employed in this recreation, we saunteredback to the house--Tinor and Marheyo gathering dry sticks by the wayfor fire-wood; some of the young men laying the cocoanut trees undercontribution as they passed beneath them; while Kory-Kory played hisoutlandish pranks for my particular diversion, and Fayaway and I, notarm in arm to be sure, but sometimes hand in hand, strolled along, withfeelings of perfect charity for all the world, and especial good-willtowards each other.
Our morning meal was soon prepared. The islanders are somewhatabstemious at this repast; reserving the more powerful efforts oftheir appetite to a later period of the day. For my own part, with theassistance of my valet, who, as I have before stated, always officiatedas spoon on these occasions, I ate sparingly from one of Tinor'strenchers, of poee-poee; which was devoted exclusively for my own use,being mixed with the milky meat of ripe cocoanut. A section of a roastedbread-fruit, a small cake of 'Amar', or a mess of 'Cokoo,' two or threebananas, or a mammee-apple; an annuee, or some other agreeable andnutritious fruit served from day to day to diversify the meal, which wasfinished by tossing off the liquid contents of a young cocoanut or two.
While partaking of this simple repast, the inmates of Marheyo's house,after the style of the ancient Romans, reclined in sociable groups uponthe divan of mats, and digestion was promoted by cheerful conversation.
After the morning meal was concluded, pipes were lighted; and among themmy own especial pipe, a present from the noble Mehevi.
The islanders, who only smoke a whiff or two at a time, and at longintervals, and who keep their pipes going from hand to hand continually,regarded my systematic smoking of four or five pipefuls of tobacco insuccession, as something quite wonderful. When two or three pipes hadcirculated freely, the company gradually broke up. Marheyo went to thelittle hut he was forever building. Tinor began to inspect her rolls oftappa, or employed her busy fingers in plaiting grass-mats. The girlsanointed themselves with their fragrant oils, dressed their hair, orlooked over their curious finery, and compared together their ivorytrinkets, fashioned out of boar's tusks or whale's teeth. The young menand warriors produced their spears, paddles, canoe-gear, battle-clubs,and war-conchs, and occupied themselves in carving, all sorts of figuresupon them with pointed bits of shell or flint, and adorning them,especially the war-conchs, with tassels of braided bark and tufts ofhuman hair. Some, immediately after eating, threw themselves once moreupon the inviting mats, and resumed the employment of the previousnight, sleeping as soundly as if they had not closed their eyes for aweek. Others sallied out into the groves, for the purpose of gatheringfruit or fibres of bark and leaves; the last two being in constantrequisition, and applied to a hundred uses. A few, perhaps, among thegirls, would slip into the woods after flowers, or repair to the streamwill; small calabashes and cocoanut shells, in order to polish themby friction with a smooth stone in the water. In truth these innocentpeople seemed to be at no loss for something to occupy their time; andit would be no light task to enumerate all their employments, or ratherpleasures.
My own mornings I spent in a variety of ways. Sometimes I rambled aboutfrom house to house, sure of receiving a cordial welcome wherever Iwent; or from grove to grove, and from one shady place to another, incompany with Kory-Kory and Fayaway, and a rabble rout of merry youngidlers. Sometimes I was too indolent for exercise, and accepting one ofthe many invitations I was continually receiving, stretched myself outon the mats of some hospitable dwelling, and occupied myself pleasantlyeither in watching the proceedings of those around me or taking partin them myself. Whenever I chose to do the latter, the delight of theislanders was boundless; and there was always a throng of competitorsfor the honour of instructing me in any particular craft. I soon becamequite an accomplished hand at making tappa--could braid a grass sling aswell as the best of them--and once, with my knife, carved the handle ofa javelin so exquisitely, that I have no doubt, to this day, Karnoonoo,its owner, preserves it as a surprising specimen of my skill. As noonapproached, all those who had wandered forth from our habitation, beganto return; and when midday was fairly come scarcely a sound was to beheard in the valley: a deep sleep fell upon all. The luxurious siestawas hardly ever omitted, except by old Marheyo, who was so eccentrica character, that he seemed to be governed by no fixed principleswhatever; but acting just according to the humour of the moment,slept, ate, or tinkered away at his little hut, without regard to theproprieties of time or place. Frequently he might have been seen takinga nap in the sun at noon-day, or a bath in the stream of mid-night.Once I beheld him perched eighty feet from the ground, in the tuft of acocoanut tree, smoking; and often I saw him standing up to the waistin water, engaged in plucking out the stray hairs of his beard, using apiece of muscle-shell for tweezers.
The noon-tide slumber lasted generally an hour and a half: very oftenlonger; and after the sleepers had arisen from their mats they againhad recourse to their pipes, and then made preparations for the mostimportant meal of the day.
I, however, like those gentlemen of leisure who breakfast at home anddine at their club, almost invariably, during my intervals of health,enjoyed the afternoon repast with the bachelor chiefs of the Ti, whowere always rejoiced to see me, and lavishly spread before me all thegood things which their larder afforded. Mehevi generally introducedamong other dainties a baked pig, an article which I have every reasonto suppose was provided for my sole gratification.
The Ti was a right jovial place. It did my heart, as well as my body,good to visit it. Secure from female intrusion, there was no restraintupon the hilarity of the warriors, who, like the gentlemen of Europeafter the cloth is drawn and the ladies retire, freely indulged theirmirth.
After spending a considerable portion of the afternoon at the Ti, Iusually found myself, as the cool of the evening came on, either sailingon the little lake with Fayaway, or bathing in the waters of thestream with a number of the savages, who, at this hour, always repairedthither. As the shadows of night approached Marheyo's household wereonce more assembled under his roof: tapers were lit, long curious chantswere raised, interminable stories were told (for which one present waslittle the wiser), and all sorts of social festivities served to whileaway the time.
The young girls very often danced by moonlight in front of theirdwellings. There are a great variety of these dances, in which, however,I never saw the men take part. They all consist of active, romping,mischievous evolutions, in which every limb is brought into requisition.Indeed, the Marquesan girls dance all over, as it were; not only dotheir feet dance, but their arms, hands, fingers, ay, their very eyes,seem to dance in their heads.
The damsels wear nothing but flowers and their compendious gala tunics;and when they plume themselves for the dance, they look like a band ofolive-coloured Sylphides on the point of taking wing. In good sooth,they so sway their floating forms, arch their necks, toss aloft theirnaked arms, and glide, and swim, and whirl, that it was almost too muchfor a quiet, sober-minded, modest young man like myself.
Unless some particular festivity was going forward, the inmates ofMarheyo's house retired to their mats rather early in the evening; butnot for the night, since,
after slumbering lightly for a while, theyrose again, relit their tapers, partook of the third and last meal ofthe day, at which poee-poee alone was eaten, and then, after inhaling anarcotic whiff from a pipe of tobacco, disposed themselves for the greatbusiness of night, sleep. With the Marquesans it might almost most bestyled the great business of life, for they pass a large portionof their time in the arms of Somnus. The native strength of theirconstitution is no way shown more emphatically than in the quantity ofsleep they can endure. To many of them, indeed, life is little else thanan often interrupted and luxurious nap.