Typee: A Romance of the South Seas

by Herman Melville

  So much for the respect in which 'personal property' is held in Typee;how secure an investment of 'real property' may be, I cannot take uponme to say. Whether the land of the valley was the joint property of itsinhabitants, or whether it was parcelled out among a certain number oflanded proprietors who allowed everybody to 'squat' and 'poach' asmuch as he or she pleased, I never could ascertain. At any rate, mustyparchments and title-deeds there were none on the island; and I am halfinclined to believe that its inhabitants hold their broad valleys in feesimple from Nature herself; to have and to hold, so long as grass growsand water runs; or until their French visitors, by a summary mode ofconveyancing, shall appropriate them to their own benefit and behoof.

  Yesterday I saw Kory-Kory hie him away, armed with a long pole, withwhich, standing on the ground, he knocked down the fruit from thetopmost boughs of the trees, and brought them home in his basket ofcocoanut leaves. Today I see an islander, whom I know to reside in adistant part of the valley, doing the self-same thing. On the slopingbank of the stream are a number of banana-trees I have often seen ascore or two of young people making a merry foray on the great goldenclusters, and bearing them off, one after another, to different partsof the vale, shouting and trampling as they went. No churlish oldcurmudgeon could have been the owner of that grove of bread-fruit trees,or of these gloriously yellow bunches of bananas.

  From what I have said it will be perceived that there is a vastdifference between 'personal property' and 'real estate' in the valleyof Typee. Some individuals, of course, are more wealthy than others.For example, the ridge-pole of Marheyo's house bends under the weight ofmany a huge packet of tappa; his long couch is laid with mats placed oneupon the other seven deep. Outside, Tinor has ranged along in herbamboo cupboard--or whatever the place may be called--a goodly array ofcalabashes and wooden trenchers. Now, the house just beyond the grove,and next to Marheyo's, occupied by Ruaruga, is not quite so wellfurnished. There are only three moderate-sized packages swingingoverhead: there are only two layers of mats beneath; and the calabashesand trenchers are not so numerous, nor so tastefully stained and carved.But then, Ruaruga has a house--not so pretty a one, to be sure--but justas commodious as Marheyo's; and, I suppose, if he wished to vie withhis neighbour's establishment, he could do so with very little trouble.These, in short, constituted the chief differences perceivable in therelative wealth of the people in Typee.

  Civilization does not engross all the virtues of humanity: she has noteven her full share of them. They flourish in greater abundance andattain greater strength among many barbarous people. The hospitalityof the wild Arab, the courage of the North American Indian, and thefaithful friendship of some of the Polynesian nations, far surpassanything of a similar kind among the polished communities of Europe. Iftruth and justice, and the better principles of our nature, cannotexist unless enforced by the statute-book, how are we to account for thesocial condition of the Typees? So pure and upright were they in all therelations of life, that entering their valley, as I did, under the mosterroneous impressions of their character, I was soon led to exclaim inamazement: 'Are these the ferocious savages, the blood-thirsty cannibalsof whom I have heard such frightful tales! They deal more kindly witheach other, and are more humane than many who study essays on virtue andbenevolence, and who repeat every night that beautiful prayer breathedfirst by the lips of the divine and gentle Jesus.' I will franklydeclare that after passing a few weeks in this valley of the Marquesas,I formed a higher estimate of human nature than I had ever beforeentertained. But alas! since then I have been one of the crew of aman-of-war, and the pent-up wickedness of five hundred men has nearlyoverturned all my previous theories.

  There was one admirable trait in the general character of the Typeeswhich, more than anything else, secured my admiration: it was theunanimity of feeling they displayed on every occasion. With themthere hardly appeared to be any difference of opinion upon any subjectwhatever. They all thought and acted alike. I do not conceive that theycould support a debating society for a single night: there would benothing to dispute about; and were they to call a convention to takeinto consideration the state of the tribe, its session would be aremarkably short one. They showed this spirit of unanimity in everyaction of life; everything was done in concert and good fellowship. Iwill give an instance of this fraternal feeling.

  One day, in returning with Kory-Kory from my accustomed visit to theTi, we passed by a little opening in the grove; on one side of which,my attendant informed me, was that afternoon to be built a dwelling ofbamboo. At least a hundred of the natives were bringing materials to theground, some carrying in their hands one or two of the canes which wereto form the sides, others slender rods of the habiscus, strung withpalmetto leaves, for the roof. Every one contributed something to thework; and by the united, but easy, and even indolent, labours of all,the entire work was completed before sunset. The islanders, whileemployed in erecting this tenement, reminded me of a colony of beaversat work. To be sure, they were hardly as silent and demure as thosewonderful creatures, nor were they by any means as diligent. To tell thetruth they were somewhat inclined to be lazy, but a perfect tumult ofhilarity prevailed; and they worked together so unitedly, and seemedactuated by such an instinct of friendliness, that it was trulybeautiful to behold.

  Not a single female took part in this employment: and if the degree ofconsideration in which the ever-adorable sex is held by the men be--asthe philosophers affirm--a just criterion of the degree of refinementamong a people, then I may truly pronounce the Typees to be as polisheda community as ever the sun shone upon. The religious restrictions ofthe taboo alone excepted, the women of the valley were allowed everypossible indulgence. Nowhere are the ladies more assiduously courted;nowhere are they better appreciated as the contributors to our highestenjoyments; and nowhere are they more sensible of their power. Fardifferent from their condition among many rude nations, where the womenare made to perform all the work while their ungallant lords and masterslie buried in sloth, the gentle sex in the valley of Typee were exemptfrom toil, if toil it might be called that, even in the tropicalclimate, never distilled one drop of perspiration. Their light householdoccupations, together with the manufacture of tappa, the platting ofmats, and the polishing of drinking-vessels, were the only employmentspertaining to the women. And even these resembled those pleasantavocations which fill up the elegant morning leisure of our fashionableladies at home. But in these occupations, slight and agreeable thoughthey were, the giddy young girls very seldom engaged. Indeed thesewilful care-killing damsels were averse to all useful employment.

  Like so many spoiled beauties, they ranged through the groves--bathedin the stream--danced--flirted--played all manner of mischievous pranks,and passed their days in one merry round of thoughtless happiness.

  During my whole stay on the island I never witnessed a single quarrel,nor anything that in the slightest degree approached even to a dispute.The natives appeared to form one household, whose members were boundtogether by the ties of strong affection. The love of kindred I did notso much perceive, for it seemed blended in the general love; and whereall were treated as brothers and sisters, it was hard to tell who wereactually related to each other by blood.

  Let it not be supposed that I have overdrawn this picture. I havenot done so. Nor let it be urged, that the hostility of this tribeto foreigners, and the hereditary feuds they carry on against theirfellow-islanders beyond the mountains, are facts which contradict me.Not so; these apparent discrepancies are easily reconciled. By many alegendary tale of violence and wrong, as well as by events which havepassed before their eyes, these people have been taught to look uponwhite men with abhorrence. The cruel invasion of their country by Porterhas alone furnished them with ample provocation; and I can sympathizein the spirit which prompts the Typee warrior to guard all the passes tohis valley with the point of his levelled spear, and, standing uponthe beach, with his back turned upon his green home, to hold at bay theintruding European.

  As
to the origin of the enmity of this particular clan towards theneighbouring tribes, I cannot so confidently speak. I will not say thattheir foes are the aggressors, nor will I endeavour to palliate theirconduct. But surely, if our evil passions must find vent, it is farbetter to expend them on strangers and aliens, than in the bosom ofthe community in which we dwell. In many polished countries civilcontentions, as well as domestic enmities, are prevalent, and the sametime that the most atrocious foreign wars are waged. How much lessguilty, then, are our islanders, who of these three sins are onlychargeable with one, and that the least criminal!

  The reader will ere long have reason to suspect that the Typees are notfree from the guilt of cannibalism; and he will then, perhaps, charge mewith admiring a people against whom so odious a crime is chargeable. Butthis only enormity in their character is not half so horrible as itis usually described. According to the popular fictions, the crews ofvessels, shipwrecked on some barbarous coast, are eaten alive like somany dainty joints by the uncivil inhabitants; and unfortunate voyagersare lured into smiling and treacherous bays; knocked on the head withoutlandish war-clubs; and served up without any prelimary dressing. Intruth, so horrific and improbable are these accounts, that many sensibleand well-informed people will not believe that any cannibals exist; andplace every book of voyages which purports to give any account of them,on the same shelf with Blue Beard and Jack the Giant-Killer. Whileothers, implicitly crediting the most extravagant fictions, firmlybelieve that there are people in the world with tastes so depraved thatthey would infinitely prefer a single mouthful of material humanity toa good dinner of roast beef and plum pudding. But here, Truth, who lovesto be centrally located, is again found between the two extremes; forcannibalism to a certain moderate extent is practised among several ofthe primitive tribes in the Pacific, but it is upon the bodies of slainenemies alone, and horrible and fearful as the custom is, immeasurablyas it is to be abhorred and condemned, still I assert that those whoindulge in it are in other respects humane and virtuous.