Omoo: Adventures in the South Seas

by Herman Melville

  Among others, Kooloo was a candidate for my friendship; and being acomely youth, quite a buck in his way, I accepted his overtures. Bythis, I escaped the importunities of the rest; for be it known that,though little inclined to jealousy in love matters, the Tahitian willhear of no rivals in his friendship.

  Kooloo, running over his qualifications as a friend, first of allinformed me that he was a "Mickonaree," thus declaring his communionwith the church.

  The way this "tayo" of mine expressed his regard was by assuring meover and over again that the love he bore me was "nuee, nuee, nuee,"or infinitesimally extensive. All over these seas, the word "nuee"is significant of quantity. Its repetition is like placing ciphers atthe right hand of a numeral; the more places you carry it out to, thegreater the sum. Judge, then, of Kooloo's esteem. Nor is the allusionto the ciphers at all inappropriate, seeing that, in themselves,Kooloo's profession turned out to be worthless. He was, alas! assounding brass and a tinkling cymbal; one of those who make no musicunless the clapper be silver.

  In the course of a few days, the sailors, like the doctor and myself,were cajoled out of everything, and our "tayos," all round, began tocool off quite sensibly. So remiss did they become in theirattentions that we could no longer rely upon their bringing us thedaily supply of food, which all of them had faithfully promised.

  As for Kooloo, after sponging me well, he one morning played the partof a retrograde lover; informing me that his affections had undergonea change; he had fallen in love at first sight with a smart sailor,who had just stepped ashore quite flush from a lucky whaling-cruise.

  It was a touching interview, and with it, our connection dissolved.But the sadness which ensued would soon have been dissipated, had notmy sensibilities been wounded by his indelicately sporting some of mygifts very soon after this transfer of his affections. Hardly a daypassed that I did not meet him on the Broom Road, airing himself in aregatta shirt which I had given him in happier hours.

  He went by with such an easy saunter too, looking me pleasantly in theeye, and merely exchanging the cold salute of the road:--"Yar onor,boyoee," a mere sidewalk how d'ye do. After several experiences likethis, I began to entertain a sort of respect for Kooloo, as quite aman of the world. In good sooth, he turned out to be one; in oneweek's time giving me the cut direct, and lounging by without evennodding. He must have taken me for part of the landscape.

  Before the chests were quite empty, we had a grand washing in thestream of our best raiment, for the purpose of looking tidy, andvisiting the European chapel in the village. Every Sunday morning itis open for divine service, some member of the mission officiating.This was the first time we ever entered Papeetee unattended by anescort.

  In the chapel there were about forty people present, including theofficers of several ships in harbour. It was an energetic discourse,and the pulpit cushion was well pounded. Occupying a high seat in thesynagogue, and stiff as a flagstaff, was our beloved guardian,Wilson. I shall never forget his look of wonder when his interestingwards filed in at the doorway, and took up a seat directly facinghim.

  Service over, we waited outside in hopes of seeing more of him; butsorely annoyed at the sight of us, he reconnoitred from the window,and never came forth until we had started for home.

  CHAPTER XLI.

  WE LEVY CONTRIBUTIONS ON THE SHIPPING

  SCARCELY a week went by after the Julia's sailing, when, with theproverbial restlessness of sailors, some of the men began to growweary of the Calabooza Beretanee, and resolved to go boldly among thevessels in the bay, and offer to ship.

  The thing was tried; but though strongly recommended by the commodoreof the beachcombers, in the end they were invariably told by thecaptains to whom they applied that they bore an equivocal characterashore, and would not answer. So often were they repulsed that wepretty nearly gave up all thoughts of leaving the island in this way;and growing domestic again, settled down quietly at Captain Bob's.

  It was about this time that the whaling-ships, which have theirregular seasons for cruising, began to arrive at Papeetee; and ofcourse their crews frequently visited us. This is customary all overthe Pacific. No sailor steps ashore, but he straightway goes to the"Calabooza," where he is almost sure to find some poor fellow or otherin confinement for desertion, or alleged mutiny, or something of thatsort. Sympathy is proffered, and if need be, tobacco. The latter,however, is most in request; as a solace to the captive, it isinvaluable.

  Having fairly carried the day against both consul and captain, we wereobjects of even more than ordinary interest to these philanthropists;and they always cordially applauded our conduct. Besides, theyinvariably brought along something in the way of refreshments;occasionally smuggling in a little Pisco. Upon one occasion, whenthere was quite a number present, a calabash was passed round, and apecuniary collection taken up for our benefit.

  One day a newcomer proposed that two or three of us should pay him asly, nocturnal visit aboard his ship; engaging to send us away wellfreighted with provisions. This was not a bad idea; nor were we atall backward in acting upon it. Right after night every vessel inthe harbour was visited in rotation, the foragers borrowing CaptainBob's canoe for the purpose. As we all took turns at this--two bytwo--in due course it came to Long Ghost and myself, for the sailorsinvariably linked us together. In such an enterprise, I somewhatdistrusted the doctor, for he was no sailor, and very tall; and acanoe is the most ticklish of navigable things. However, it couldnot be helped; and so we went.

  But a word about the canoes before we go any further. Among theSociety Islands, the art of building them, like all nativeaccomplishments, has greatly deteriorated; and they are now the mostinelegant, as well as the most insecure of any in the South Seas. InCook's time, according to his account, there was at Tahiti a royalfleet of seventeen hundred and twenty large war canoes, handsomelycarved, and otherwise adorned. At present, those used are quitesmall; nothing more than logs hollowed out, sharpened at one end, andthen launched into the water.

  To obviate a certain rolling propensity, the Tahitians, like allPolynesians, attach to them what sailors call an "outrigger." Itconsists of a pole floating alongside, parallel to the canoe, andconnected with it by a couple of cross sticks, a yard or more inlength. Thus equipped, the canoe cannot be overturned, unless youovercome the buoyancy of the pole, or lift it entirely out of thewater.

  Now, Captain Bob's "gig" was exceedingly small; so small, and of sucha grotesque shape, that the sailors christened it the Pill Box; andby this appellation it always went. In fact, it was a sort of"sulky," meant for a solitary paddler, but, on an emergency, capableof floating two or three. The outrigger was a mere switch, alternatelyrising in air, and then depressed in the water.

  Assuming the command of the expedition, upon the strength of my beinga sailor, I packed the Long Doctor with a paddle in the bow, and thenshoving off, leaped into the stern; thus leaving him to do all thework, and reserving to myself the dignified sinecure of steering. Allwould have gone on well, were it not that my paddler made such clumsywork that the water spattered, and showered down upon us withoutceasing. Continuing to ply his tool, however, quite energetically, Ithought he would improve after a while, and so let him alone. But byand bye, getting wet through with this little storm we were raising,and seeing no signs of its clearing off, I conjured him, in mercy'sname, to stop short, and let me wring myself out. Upon this, hesuddenly turned round, when the canoe gave a roll, the outrigger flewoverhead, and the next moment came rap on the doctor's skull, and wewere both in the water.

  Fortunately, we were just over a ledge of coral, not half-a-fathomunder the surface. Depressing one end of the filled canoe, andletting go of it quickly, it bounced up, and discharged a great partof its contents; so that we easily baled out the remainder, and againembarked. This time, my comrade coiled himself away in a very smallspace; and enjoining upon him not to draw a single unnecessarybreath, I proceeded to urge the canoe along by myself. I wasastonished at his docility, never speaking a word, an
d stirringneither hand nor foot; but the secret was, he was unable to swim, andin case we met with a second mishap, there were no more ledgesbeneath to stand upon. "Crowning's but a shabby way of going out ofthe world," he exclaimed, upon my rallying him; "and I'm not going tobe guilty of it."

  At last, the ship was at hand, and we approached with much caution,wishing to avoid being hailed by anyone from the quarter-deck.Dropping silently under her bows, we heard a low whistle--the signalagreed upon--and presently a goodly-sized bag was lowered over to us.

  We cut the line, and then paddled away as fast as we could, and madethe best of our way home. Here, we found the rest waitingimpatiently.

  The bag turned out to be well filled with sweet potatoes boiled, cubesof salt beef and pork, and a famous sailors' pudding, what they call"duff," made of flour and water, and of about the consistence of anunderdone brick. With these delicacies, and keen appetites, we wentout into the moonlight, and had a nocturnal picnic.

  CHAPTER XLII.

  MOTOO-OTOO A TAHITIAN CASUIST

  THE Pill Box was sometimes employed for other purposes than thatdescribed in the last chapter. We sometimes went a-pleasuring in it.

  Right in the middle of Papeetee harbour is a bright, green island, onecircular grove of waving palms, and scarcely a hundred yards across.It is of coral formation; and all round, for many rods out, the bayis so shallow that you might wade anywhere. Down in these waters, astransparent as air, you see coral plants of every hue and shapeimaginable:--antlers, tufts of azure, waving reeds like stalks ofgrain, and pale green buds and mosses. In some places, you lookthrough prickly branches down to a snow-white floor of sand,sprouting with flinty bulbs; and crawling among these are strangeshapes:--some bristling with spikes, others clad in shining coats ofmail, and here and there, round forms all spangled with eyes.

  The island is called Hotoo-Otoo; and around Hotoo-Otoo have I oftenpaddled of a white moonlight night, pausing now and then to admirethe marine gardens beneath.

  The place is the private property of the queen, who has a residencethere--a melancholy-looking range of bamboo houses--neglected andfalling to decay among the trees.

  Commanding the harbour as it does, her majesty has done all she couldto make a fortress of the island. The margin has been raised andlevelled, and built up with a low parapet of hewn Hocks of coral.Behind the parapet are ranged, at wide intervals, a number of rustyold cannon, of all fashions and calibres. They are mounted upon lame,decrepit-looking carriages, ready to sink under the useless burden ofbearing them up. Indeed, two or three have given up the ghostaltogether, and the pieces they sustained lie half buried among theirbleaching bones. Several of the cannon are spiked; probably with aview of making them more formidable; as they certainly must be toanyone undertaking to fire them off.

  Presented to Pomaree at various times by captains of British armedships, these poor old "dogs of war," thus toothless and turned out todie, formerly bayed in full pack as the battle-hounds of Old England.

  There was something about Hotoo-Otoo that struck my fancy; and Iregistered a vow to plant my foot upon its soil, notwithstanding anold bareheaded sentry menaced me in the moonlight with an unsightlymusket. As my canoe drew scarcely three inches of water, I couldpaddle close up to the parapet without grounding; but every time Icame near, the old man ran toward me, pushing his piece forward, butnever clapping it to his shoulder. Thinking he only meant to frightenme, I at last dashed the canoe right Up to the wall, purposing aleap. It was the rashest act of my life; for never did cocoa-nut comenearer getting demolished than mine did then. With the stock of hisgun, the old warder fetched a tremendous blow, which I managed tododge; and then falling back, succeeded in paddling out of harm'sreach.

  He must have been dumb; for never a word did he utter; but grinningfrom ear to ear, and with his white cotton robe streaming in themoonlight, he looked more like the spook of the island than anythingmortal.

  I tried to effect my object by attacking him in the rear--but he wasall front; running about the place as I paddled, and presenting hisconfounded musket wherever I went. At last I was obliged to retreat;and to this day my vow remains unfulfilled.

  It was a few days after my repulse from before the walls of Hotoo-Otoothat I heard a curious case of casuistry argued between one of themost clever and intelligent natives I ever saw in Tahiti, a man bythe name of Arheetoo, and our learned Theban of a doctor.

  It was this:--whether it was right and lawful for anyone, being anative, to keep the European Sabbath, in preference to the day setapart as such by the missionaries, and so considered by the islandersin general.

  It must be known that the missionaries of the good ship Duff, who morethan half-a-century ago established the Tahitian reckoning, camehither by the way of the Cape of Good Hope; and by thus sailing tothe eastward, lost one precious day of their lives all round, gettingabout that much in advance of Greenwich time. For this reason,vessels coming round Cape Horn--as they most all do nowadays--find itSunday in Tahiti, when, according to their own view of the matter, itought to be Saturday. But as it won't do to alter the log, thesailors keep their Sabbath, and the islanders theirs.

  This confusion perplexes the poor natives mightily; and it is to nopurpose that you endeavour to explain so incomprehensible aphenomenon. I once saw a worthy old missionary essay to shed somelight on the subject; and though I understood but a few of the wordsemployed, I could easily get at the meaning of his illustrations.They were something like the following:

  "Here," says he, "you see this circle" (describing a large one on theground with a stick); "very good; now you see this spot here"(marking a point in the perimeter): "well; this is Beretanee(England), and I'm going to sail round to Tahiti. Here I go, then(following the circle round), and there goes the sun (snatching upanother stick, and commissioning a bandy-legged native to travelround with it in a contrary direction). Now then, we are both off,and both going away from each other; and here you see I have arrivedat Tahiti (making a sudden stop); and look now where Bandy Legs is!"

  But the crowd strenuously maintained that Bandy Legs ought to besomewhere above them in the atmosphere; for it was a traditionaryfact that the people from the Duff came ashore when the sun was highoverhead. And here the old gentleman, being a very good sort of man,doubtless, but no astronomer, was obliged to give up.

  Arheetoo, the casuist alluded to, though a member of the church, andextremely conscientious about what Sabbath he kept, was more liberalin other matters. Learning that I was something of a "mick-onaree"(in this sense, a man able to read, and cunning in the use of thepen), he desired the slight favour of my forging for him a set ofpapers; for which, he said, he would be much obliged, and give me agood dinner of roast pig and Indian turnip in the bargain.

  Now, Arheetoo was one of those who board the shipping for theirwashing; and the competition being very great (the proudest chiefsnot disdaining to solicit custom in person, though the work is doneby their dependants), he had decided upon a course suggested by aknowing sailor, a friend of his. He wished to have manufactured a setof certificates, purporting to come from certain man-of-war andmerchant captains, known to have visited the island; recommending himas one of the best getters up of fine linen in all Polynesia.

  At this time, Arheetoo had known me but two hours; and, as he made theproposition very coolly, I thought it rather presumptuous, and toldhim so. But as it was quite impossible to convey a hint, and therewas a slight impropriety in the thing, I did not resent the insult,but simply declined.

  CHAPTER XLIII.

  ONE IS JUDGED BY THE COMPANY HE KEEPS

  ALTHOUGH, from its novelty, life at Captain Bob's was pleasant enough,for the time; there were some few annoyances connected with itanything but agreeable to a "soul of sensibility."

  Prejudiced against us by the malevolent representations of the consuland others, many worthy foreigners ashore regarded us as a set oflawless vagabonds; though, truth to speak, better behaved sailorsnever stepped on the island, nor any who
gave less trouble to thenatives. But, for all this, whenever we met a respectably-dressedEuropean, ten to one he shunned us by going over to the other side ofthe road. This was very unpleasant, at least to myself; though,certes, it did not prey upon the minds of the others.

  To give an instance.

  Of a fine evening in Tahiti--but they are all fine evenings there--youmay see a bevy of silk bonnets and parasols passing along the BroomRoad: perhaps a band of pale, little white urchins--sicklyexotics--and, oftener still, sedate, elderly gentlemen, with canes;at whose appearance the natives, here and there, slink into theirhuts. These are the missionaries, their wives, and children, taking afamily airing. Sometimes, by the bye, they take horse, and ride downto Point Venus and back; a distance of several miles. At this placeis settled the only survivor of the first missionaries thatlanded--an old, white-headed, saint-like man, by the name of Wilson,the father of our friend, the consul.

  The little parties on foot were frequently encountered; and,recalling, as they did, so many pleasant recollections of home andthe ladies, I really longed for a dress coat and beaver that I mightstep up and pay my respects. But, situated as I was, this was out ofthe question. On one occasion, however, I received a kind, inquisitiveglance from a matron in gingham. Sweet lady! I have not forgottenher: her gown was a plaid.

  But a glance, like hers, was not always bestowed.

  One evening, passing the verandah of a missionary's dwelling, thedame, his wife, and a pretty, blonde young girl, with ringlets, weresitting there, enjoying the sea-breeze, then coming in, all cool andrefreshing, from the spray of the reef. As I approached, the old ladypeered hard at me; and her very cap seemed to convey a prim rebuke.The blue, English eyes, by her side, were also bent on me. But, ohHeavens! what a glance to receive from such a beautiful creature! Asfor the mob cap, not a fig did I care for it; but, to be taken foranything but a cavalier, by the ringleted one, was absolutelyunendurable.