A canoe, with two natives, approaches the island.--Communication
opened with them.--A great number of canoes, filled with armed
natives, suddenly arrive; rough treatment of the captain by one of
the chiefs.--They all arrive at the harbor of the island, which
proved to be one of the Pelew islands.--Description of the island
and its inhabitants.--Consultation of the chiefs respecting the
ship's company.--Result of the consultation.
Having satisfied our most pressing wants, we next set ourselves at work
to obtain food. We had with us a part of the bread brought from the
wreck, and the preparation given us by the natives composed of the
cocoa-nut pulverized and mixed with the sweet liquor extracted from the
tree. Putting these together into a bucket-full of water, we made out
the materials for a supper, which, though not of a kind to suit the
delicate palate, was devoured with thankfulness and a good relish.
Feeling refreshed and invigorated by our meal, we gathered ourselves
into a group on the beach, and passed our moments of relaxation in
conversing upon the melancholy vicissitudes through which we had passed,
and the gloomy prospect which was at that unpromising moment spread out
before us. Should we find it possible to procure the means of
subsistence, it was thought best to remain where we were for a day or
two, not knowing what reception we should meet with, were we to throw
ourselves into the hands of the inhabitants of the main island, and
feeling an unconquerable reluctance to come in contact with beings
scarce less ferocious than beasts of prey. But fortune having commenced
making us the sport of painful incidents, soon subjected us to another
annoyance.
A canoe containing two living beings, in the form of men, in a state of
nakedness, was seen, from where we sat, putting off from a point of land
which projected into the sea a small distance below us. They had
evidently discovered us, and were approaching the spot where we were,
for the purpose of making themselves acquainted with us and our
condition. When within hailing distance they stopped, and seemed afraid
to come nearer. Thinking it best to be on friendly terms with them, we
beckoned to have them approach. This seemed to please them; and, to
manifest a friendly disposition, they held up a fish. To show them that
we were inclined to reciprocate any acts of kindness, to the extent of
our ability, we held up a crab which we had caught. Upon this they
immediately came near to where we stood. We presented to each one a
jackknife, and indicated by signs, that they were at liberty to take any
thing we had. They appeared highly gratified, and their conduct was
inoffensive. In a short time they returned to their canoe, and made
signs to us to follow them; we thought best to do so, and accordingly
soon placed our effects in the boat, and followed them towards a sort of
harbor at no great distance. In consequence of the lightness of their
canoe and their dexterity in managing it, they were soon ahead of us,
and, turning round a point of land, they were speedily withdrawn from
our view.
In a few minutes they returned, accompanied by a large number of
canoes--the water seemed to be literally covered by this miniature
fleet. The natives were all armed, much like those with whom we first
became acquainted.
This instantaneous movement was occasioned, as we afterwards learned, by
an alarm given by the two natives who had visited us on the small
island. Intelligence of the fact, that a boat's crew of strange looking
beings, as we doubtless appeared to them, had landed upon their
territory, was given by sounding a shell. This aroused the multitude,
and caused them to come out, to satisfy their curiosity, and assist in
conducting us safely and speedily to a place of security. A large war
canoe made directly towards us; and, on coming alongside, the head chief
sprung into our boat, seized the captain by the shoulder, and struck him
several times with a war-club; in the mean while giving him to
understand, that it was his will and pleasure to have us row, with all
convenient despatch, to the place whence they had issued. He then
commenced swinging his club over our heads with great apparent ferocity,
for the purpose, as it seemed, of awing us into submission; occasionally
striking some of our number. After pretty thoroughly convincing us that
in this case our only course was submission, he began to strip us of our
clothing. While this was going on, his associates in arms and mischief
kept their canoe close alongside, and, standing up, held their spears in
a position to enable them to pierce us through in an instant, if there
had been any occasion for so doing.
We were soon in their miserable harbor; and, it being low water, we were
compelled to leave our boat, and wade to the tableland through the mud.
Our appearance, as the reader will naturally conclude, was not very
creditable to the land which gave us birth; but since our destitute and
miserable condition was not our choice, we could do no less than be
thankful that it was no worse; and, making the best of it, we suffered
ourselves to be ushered into the presence of the dignitaries of the
island, in the way they thought most proper. We were conducted to a
platform, on a rise of land at a little distance from the harbor, on
which were seated those who had power to dispose of us as they pleased.
This platform was twelve or fifteen feet square, and was situated
between two long buildings, called "_pyes_." These, as we afterwards
learned, were used by the chiefs as places of carousal, and as a sort of
harem for their women. They were constructed in a rude manner, of bamboo
sticks, and covered with leaves. They were sixty or seventy feet in
length, and about twenty-four in width.
That something like a correct conception of this scene may be formed by
the reader, it may be well to give, in this place, a brief account of
the appearance, manners, and customs of the natives of this island. This
was the island known to navigators as Baubelthouap, the largest of the
group of the Pelew islands. It lies not far from the eighth degree of
north latitude, is about one hundred and twenty miles in length, and
contains probably not far from two thousand inhabitants.[2]
The men were entirely naked. They always go armed, in the way before
described, and carry with them a small basket, containing generally the
whole amount of their movable property. The women wear no other clothing
than a sort of apron (fastened to the waist by a curiously wrought
girdle) extending nearly to the knees, and left open at the sides. The
material of these garments (if such they can be called) is the bark of a
tree called by them "_karamal_." This tree grows from thirty to forty
feet high, and is two or three feet in circumference. The hair of both
males and females is worn long; it is coarse and stiff, and of a color
resembling that of the natives of North America. They make free use of
the oil extracted from the cocoa-nut; with this they anoint their
bodies, considering it the extreme of gentility to have the skin
entirely saturated with it. Their arms, and sometimes the lower parts of
the body and legs, are ingeniously tattooed. Their complexion is a light
copper. Their eyes have a very singular appearance, being of a reddish
color. Their noses were somewhat flat, but not so flat as those of the
Africans; nor are their lips so thick. They are excessively fond of
trinkets. It would cause a fashionable lady of America to smile, to
observe the pains taken by those simple daughters of nature to set off
their persons. In their ears they wear a sort of ornament made of a
peculiar kind of grass, which they work into a tassel; this is painted
and richly perfumed. In their noses they wear a stem of the _kabooa_
leaf, which answers the double purpose of an ornament and a smelling
bottle; and their arms, in addition to being tattooed in the manner
above mentioned, are adorned with a profusion of shells. Our fair
readers may judge how much we were amused, on finding that the
copper-colored females of the island cut up our old shoes into
substitutes for jewelry, and seemed highly delighted with wearing the
shreds suspended from their ears.
Our further acquaintance with this extraordinary people confirmed us in
the opinion, that the ceremony of marriage is unpractised and unknown
among them. The chiefs appropriate to themselves as many females as they
please, and in the selection they exercise this despotism over the
affections without regard to any other laws than those of caprice.
Reserving a more particular account of their manners, customs and mode
of living for another place, I content myself with observing at this
time, that the people of these islands, generally speaking, are in the
rudest state imaginable. It is true that some sense of propriety, and
some regard to the decencies of life, were observable; nor did they
appear entirely destitute of those feelings which do honor to our
nature, and which we should hardly expect to find in a people so rude
and barbarous.
Such were the beings among whom Providence had cast our lot; and to
think of remaining with them to the end of life, or for any great length
of time, was like the contemplation of imprisonment for life in the
gloomy cells of a dungeon.
From the rudely constructed wharf near the spot where we left our boat,
we were conducted into the presence of a number of the chiefs, who were
seated upon the platform above mentioned. The natives eagerly pressed
forward to obtain a sight of us. That curiosity peculiar to the better
portion of our race was, on this occasion, manifested by the females of
the island. They clustered around us, and, placing their hands upon our
flesh, seemed greatly to wonder that it should differ so much from their
own. The fashion of wearing a skin so white as ours, seemed to them, no
doubt, to be an offence against the taste and refinement of their
portion of the world. To go at large without being tattooed, was to
carry with us the palpable proofs of our vulgarity; and, to our sorrow,
we were afterwards compelled to conform to the custom of the barbarians
in this respect, and shall carry with us to the grave the marks of their
well-meant, though cruel operation upon our bodies.
Judging from appearances, our case had become a concern of great
importance. The chiefs seemed to have had under discussion the question,
whether we were to be treated as enemies, and subjected to the process
of beheading upon the block of the executioner, (which was there in
readiness before our eyes) or regarded as friends, and welcomed to their
rude hospitalities. Unable as we were to understand a word of their
language, or to say any thing by way of explanation or defence, the
reader will conceive, better than we could describe, our painful
situation. For a time we considered our case as hopeless. The women, who
seemed to have taken an interest in our welfare, after observing, for a
time, what was going on among the chiefs, began to utter their cries and
lamentations, as if greatly distressed on our account. Their grief had
the appearance of being sincere; they wept, and in a variety of ways
expressed emotions of deep and heart-felt solicitude. Whether this was
their manner of interceding in our behalf, to avert some impending
calamity, or was expressive of their regret on account of our doom
having been already sealed, it was impossible for us to determine. Nor
did we ever know the amount of our obligations to those female strangers
for the interest taken in our welfare. A termination was put to our
suspense, however, in the course of an hour.
At the close of the consultation, a large bowl was brought to us, filled
with sweetened water, and richly ornamented with shells, so arranged as
to form a sort of hieroglyphical characters. We drank of the contents of
the bowl, in compliance with their request, from a richly wrought cup
made of a cocoa-nut shell. This act of hospitality was regarded as a
favorable indication of a friendly disposition on their part towards us;
and our hopes were afterwards confirmed; for no sooner had we finished
drinking, than the natives prepared to conduct us away. We afterwards
learned, that a messenger had been despatched to a neighboring town, or
settlement, to consult their prophetess in regard to the proper manner
of disposing of us; and that she had directed them to send us to her. Of
this important personage a more particular account will be given
hereafter; suffice it, for the present, to say, that the respect paid to
her by the natives of the island was of the most profound character, and
her authority over them was almost unlimited.
We were conducted, through an inconsiderable place, to the town where
the prophetess resided. In this place there were several
dwelling-houses, scattered about without regard to order; and, besides
the dwelling of the prophetess, two of their long buildings, or "pyes,"
gave it not a little importance in the estimation of these rude and
uncultivated beings. We were halted in front of one of the "pyes," and
directly opposite the house of the prophetess. Here, again, we were
reminded of the fact, that we were in the presence of our superiors, as
to power, by the platform on which were placed our judges, the chiefs,
and the block standing near them, for the purpose of execution.
We were soon surrounded by a vast crowd of the natives, eager to see us,
and to learn something of the nature of beings so different from
themselves.
A short time after our arrival, a quantity of food was brought from the
house of the prophetess, and placed in the centre of the platform. This
consisted of a hog's head, boiled in sea-water, highly seasoned with
cayenne and aromatic herbs, a plentiful supply of yams, and a large bowl
of sweetened water. This meal was abundant and delicious; and we partook
of it with an excellent relish.
FOOTNOTES:
[2] This island is not always laid down by name on our common maps, nor
mentioned in geographical works. In the best _charts_ it is called
_Baubelthouap_. In the chart prefixed to the fifth volume of _Burney's
Chronological History of the Voyages and Discoveries in the South Sea_,
it is called "Panloq or Babelthoup." In the map accompanying the late
edition of Malte Brun's Geography, (in 4to) it is carelessly printed
_Banbeltbonap_.--_Edit._