QUEEN MELANNIE
The queen was white--indeed very pale--with large dark eyes, and brown
hair that hung down in its natural beauty, untouched by the pigments
with which the savages convert their own hair into mops. She was
dressed in a robe of white tapa cloth with strings of bright shells and
gold ornaments upon her neck and arms. Upon her head was a diadem of
white clay encrusted with uncut gems. The throne upon which she sat
was of polished marble. Her left hand rested upon the woolly head of a
black boy, who showed his white teeth as we entered. In her right hand
she carried a human skull. The queen, though very beautiful, looked
sad. She could not have been more than eighteen years old, and it was
evident she came from European descent, and was in no way related to
the savages by whom she was surrounded.
And now I bethought me if I would gain favour I must make a present to
the queen, and remembering a small mirror I had with me, set in a
silver frame, which Anna had given me as a parting gift, I took it from
my pocket and presented it to Queen Melannie, the name by which her
people addressed her. It cost me a pang to part with it, but I
reflected that if these savages killed me, as seemed likely unless I
could ingratiate myself with them, the mirror would, with equal
certainty, pass into their hands as if I voluntarily surrendered it.
The queen uttered an exclamation of surprise when she caught sight of
her face in the looking glass, nor could some of her attendants who
stood near resist the temptation to look over her shoulder in order to
see the reflection of their own faces also. Nothing that I could have
given the queen would have pleased her more. My present at once brought
me into favour, for all appeared to regard such a prodigy as the work
of immortals.
Queen Melannie, having appropriated Anna's mirror, and finding I
understood what she said to me, then dismissed her attendants and
invited me to a private audience. I asked her how she, a white lady,
came to be among savages, but she could tell me nothing except that she
remembered standing upon the beach as a child, alone, when it was very
cold, and that she cried very much, until the natives had brought her
into this house, where she had been reared and cared for ever since.
"They tell me I was born of the sea," she said, "but I do not believe
that, for I seem to remember other faces, like yours, before I came
here."
It was then plain to me that this poor girl had been shipwrecked as a
child, and cast upon this island. It was sad to think that one so
beautiful should be condemned to live among savages, but I reflected
that my own case was no better, for it seemed unlikely I would return
to civilization. Melannie appeared to place full confidence in me from
our first meeting.
"I am not really queen," she said. "Ackbau is king, and I must do as he
tells me. He makes me speak his words, but sometimes I would rather not
say what he bids me."
I sympathized with her, for I could readily understand why this Ackbau,
who was the chief before whom I had been taken, chose her to be his
mouthpiece. She had become a goddess to the tribe, and it was thought
she could speak nothing wrong. So that by using her as his medium
Ackbau gained his ends without accepting responsibility.
Whilst I was talking to the queen I could not help admiring the jewels
in her diadem, and seeing I was pleased with them she invited me to
accompany her to a rock cavern near to her dwelling, where I saw such
an accumulation of wealth that I began to picture myself among the
richest of men. The floor of this cave was carpeted with gold dust, and
nuggets of the same precious metal were piled high against its walls.
But what caused me to rub my eyes in wonder was a slab of opal, which
seemed ablaze with the fire it contained. Upon this priceless table
were strewn a collection of gems, which, from the knowledge I had
acquired in De Decker's office at Amsterdam, I knew to be of great
value, but which did not appear to be so regarded by the queen, for
when she had presented me with a double handful she still seemed to
consider herself in my debt for the mirror and some other trifles I had
given her. I now knew that I had come to the Island of Gems of which
Hartog had spoken. But, alas! of what use was all this wealth, since I
could not spend it in this place, and it seemed improbable I would ever
go back to my own country?
Melannie now returned to her dwelling, which I subsequently found she
seldom left, except at night, which accounted for the fairness of her
skin. All festivals were held at night, by moonlight, and what struck
me as peculiar was the absence of fire. Fish and shellfish were eaten
raw, but many subsisted entirely upon coconuts and fruit, which grew
upon the island in great profusion.
The native city in which I now found myself consisted of a number of
dwellings of beehive shape, thatched with grass, and usually about
twelve feet high. The queen's house was about three times as large as
the others, and was placed in the centre of the town, with an avenue of
trees, and a clear space before it for tribal dances or meetings.
Ackbau also lived in a large house. On the reserve around the queen's
palace, the older men spent most of the day in gossiping, or playing
upon reed pipes, which furnished their sole musical instrument. The
younger men made nets, mended weapons, or shaped stones for their
slings. The natives in this island did not appear to understand the
use of the bow and arrow, their only weapons being clubs, slings, and
spears. The spears were made of hard wood, polished and inlaid with
pearl shell and beaten gold. The slings were of plaited fibre, the
stones being rounded like an egg. The clubs were of various shapes,
some with rounded heads, and others bent and pointed like a pick.