STRONG'S ISLAND.
The first duty that engaged our attention after coming to anchor was,
of course, to stop the leak; which was done much in the same manner as
in the former case at Dominica, except that it was necessary to stow
all the heavy articles forward, and bring the ship down by the head,
instead of the stern. We also attached a purchase to the mainmast head,
and to a tree on the shore, to assist in careening the ship.
The natives appeared to watch all these operations with great interest;
and our decks were alive with them, both men and women, the day after
our arrival. Compared with the savages, whom we had previously visited,
these people might be called gentle and quiet in their habits. Nothing
could exceed the eagerness and the perseverance displayed, particularly
by the women, in acquiring a thorough knowledge of our language. Every
word that could be picked up to add to their English vocabularies
seemed to afford them a peculiar source of delight. "What name o' this?
What name man?" were questions put to us at every turn, and our answers
were echoed and repeated over and over, till the sound was fully
mastered. Thus the English spoken by these women was not murdered, for
each word was thoroughly learned before passing on to the next.
Suddenly a muttered signal or countersign passes from mouth to mouth;
all noise and conversation cease; and each remains fixed to the spot,
as if struck by an enchanter's wand. Not immediately seeing any
adequate cause for this, I asked, in great surprise, what it meant? One
of the girls ventured to whisper an answer to me:
"You see? King George come!"
I looked over the sail. Our boat, which had been ashore, was just
coming alongside, and, seated with the old man in the stern sheets,
was this potent autocrat, "King George," a rather goodlooking, portly
barbarian, whose royal robes consisted of nothing less--or more--than a
common sailor's checkshirt, his legs disdaining any covering whatever.
He had doubtless received his title from some ironical Englishman, and
his subjects had adopted it as proudly, as it is said our ancestors
did, the music of "Yankee Doodle."
As his majesty's head appeared above the quarter-rail, every one of his
submissive subjects, man, woman and child, fell upon deck in a kneeling
or crouching attitude, with bowed heads, and thus remained till their
sovereign had completed his survey of matters above board, and passed
below with the captain. During this time they rigidly maintained their
positions, however uncomfortable, as immovable as a well drilled
battalion of troops at "parade rest." As soon as he was invisible,
everything resumed its former status, and the stir and bustle went on
as before. The same etiquette, I afterwards observed, was necessary at
the advent of any chief of high rank, or any of the juvenile princes of
the blood royal.
Courtenay, the English captain, had visited this island several times
before, and was on very intimate terms with King George. He told us
to be on our guard against treachery; and informed us that an English
whaleship, called the Harriet, had been taken and burnt in the other
harbor on the lee side of the island about eighteen months previous,
though her fate had been a mystery until quite recently, as the
natives, adopting the motto of ancient sea-rovers, that "Dead men tell
no tales," had massacred every man of her crew. For more than a year
she had been a "missing ship," when another English whaler, touching
at this island, short-handed, shipped two natives, who, a few days
after getting to sea, incautiously let out the secret. The ship at
once put back and came to anchor in the lee harbor, and as Captain
Courtenay happened to be there at the time, the two ships, acting in
concert, succeeded in fishing up the Harriet's anchor and chain, with
the charred remains of her bow, still attached. The two captains,
by stratagem, secured the persons of some of the chiefs, and they
confessed the truth, but no punishment had yet been inflicted by the
English, though there was good reason to believe that other vessels had
been cut off here, at more remote dates, and no one left alive to tell
the tale. They had even destroyed the ship's chronometers, supposing
them to be alive; for King George when questioned by Captain Courtenay
concerning the chronometer of the Harriet, answered expressively, "Kill
him. Take big stone, kill him."
The Seringapatam still lay wind-bound for two or three days after our
arrival, but at last, taking advantage of a morning when the air was
quite light, though blowing directly into the bay, we put the boats of
all three ships ahead of her, and assisted by the whole flotilla of
canoes we towed her to sea, keeping the sails furled, and the yards
pointed to the wind. We thought King George seemed rather relieved when
he got rid of her. He professed great friendship for Captain Courtenay.
But his regard was, doubtless, based on the wholesome fear in which he
stood of him; for the ship mounted eight guns in regular broadside,
besides small swivels on her topgallant forecastle and taffrail, and
even had her arm-chests in her tops.
We were successful in reaching and repairing the injury under our
counter, and, on righting and trimming the ship, had the satisfaction
to find her bottom perfectly tight. We could not, of course, tell how
much external injury she had received under the bow.
I did not fail, on going ashore, to notice the stone walls of which
I had heard, and in which I observed some stones of great size and
weight, at such heights from the ground as would indicate that the
builders must have made use of mechanical power to raise them. I could
get no information as to how long they had been there, or for what
purpose they had been raised.
On showing ourselves near the door of a house, we were always invited
to enter and take a seat among the family on the floor, and the women
immediately put us through a catechism, commencing, according to
established form, with the question, "Name o' you?" This question must
be answered, and the name repeated by the whole family, until they
have the pronunciation perfect. But instead of following this up by
asking "Who give you that name?" the next query is, "Name o' ship?"
and then, "Name o' captain?" We thought it very remarkable that we
found sufficient knowledge of English in every family to conduct these
exercises, in view of the fact that so few ships had visited the place,
and no white man was then living among them. After these points are
all settled, a pipe is produced, with the request, usually made by
one of the younger women in her most seductive tones, "You fill pipe
belong to me?" Of course you feel bound to honor this draft upon your
pocket store of tobacco, and, if you intend to make many calls while on
shore, your pockets must be well filled. It is observable that the pipe
produced on these occasions is invariably one with a large bowl, while
those used for smoking are always small.
We strolled into a large building near the beach abreast of our
anchorage, which appeared to be a feast-home, a royal banqueting
hall. It may, perhaps have been used also as a hall of council, if so
absolute a monarch as King George can be supposed to consult with any
one on affairs of state. I should suppose, from what I saw of this
despot, that he might have had that peculiarity for which the first
Napoleon is said to have been famous, of making up his mind first, and
asking the advice of his generals afterwards. In this building, in a
line extending nearly the whole length of it, flat stones, slightly
hollowed so as to form basins, were set into the ground, and at each
of these was seated a man, pounding kava-root with a smooth stone of
convenient weight to be swung in his hand. The right arms of all these
men, perhaps twenty in number, rose and fell in concert, with a slow
and measured stroke, uniting the sounds produced by the twenty stone
hammers upon the basins into one loud clang. Outside, fires had been
built, and mysterious processes of cookery were being carried on. I
inquired the meaning of all this preparation, and learned that this was
a funeral feast. A woman of some rank, the wife of a chief, had died,
and all the high dignitaries were then attending the burial, after
which they would return to the feast-house, and "partake of a grand
collation," as the celebration programmes have it. I was too late to
see anything of the funeral ceremonies, for they were even now on their
return. The kava-root, after being pounded to a fibrous mass, is mixed
with clear water in the stone basins, and the infusion is strained,
or rather wrung, through a sort of coarse cloth of grassy appearance,
into calabashes, and is ready for the banquet. The first strength
goes to the king and chiefs; it is "spliced" two or three times, the
common natives being glad to get a very indifferent article. At many
of the islands of Polynesia, the kava, instead of being beaten with
stones, is chewed, and the masticated mass is ejected from the mouth
into a vessel, and then water added to it; this chewing operation being
performed chiefly by the women. But at Strong's Island, no woman is
allowed to take any part in its preparation, or even to be present at
the ceremony of preparing or drinking it.
His majesty and suite being at hand, the "funeral-baked meats" were
brought in, with piles of roasted bread-fruit and large bunches of
bananas, and all the natives sat or squatted in their proper places,
according to rank. The king, seeing us whites looking on, beckoned
us to take seats near his royal person, and personally saw that we
were liberally supplied with meat and fruit. We did ample justice to
the fare, as became distinguished guests, and made a hearty meal.
The remains of the feast were being cleared away, and we were about
to leave in quest of further adventures, when the cooper made his
appearance among us, with his pipe in full blast.
"Well, boys," said he, "you've been having a glorious wake, I suppose,
for the old duchess, or marchioness, or whatever her rank may be. You
won't get drunk on kava, though, after the aristocracy have had the
first wringing of it. You might drink a deck bucketful of the slops
that's handed around afterwards. How did they feed you, pretty well?"
"Yes, cooper," said I, "you should have been here sooner. You lost a
good dinner by being too late for it."
"Why what did you have for dinner?" he asked.
"Something that we sailors don't get every day in the week;" I
answered. "We can appreciate roast pig when we do get it."
"Did you have roast pig for dinner?" asked the cooper.
"Certainly, we did," said I, triumphantly.
"Well, I presume you did--all but the pig," said he, dryly.
"What do you mean by that?" I inquired, dubiously. There was no smile
on the cooper's face, but that twinkling of his beard was perceptible,
which always denoted a high state of inward enjoyment.
"Why, pigs that are raised down our way," said he, "have a different
tone of voice in expressing themselves. They don't _bark_."
"Bark!" I exclaimed, as light began to dawn upon me, while some of my
companions already began to look a little qualmish. "You don't mean to
say that--"
"I don't mean to say anything," returned the cooper. "Come outside and
see the sacrificial altar, and its trimmings."
We followed him a short distance back from the house till he halted,
and pointed significantly to an ensanguined block of wood, near
which lay four sets of paws, and four heads, unmistakably canine,
corresponding in number to the four "roast pigs" at the banquet.
"I acknowledge the corn," said I. "I suppose if I had known the fact
before dinner, I shouldn't have relished it, but it is too late to
repent."
"But you might say," said one of boys from the Leonidas, unwilling yet
to admit that he had been sold, "that we don't _know_ what animals we
had for dinner."
"It needs no naturalist to tell us what animals have suffered at the
block;" said I, laughing. "We may as well face the music, for there's
hardly 'a loop to hang a doubt upon.' And, as another link in the chain
of evidence, I now recollect that those pigs had been decapitated
before they were served up, though I hadn't thought of it before. I
never knew that these people were in the habit of eating dogs."
"Yes, I could have told you that," said the cooper, "that is to say, as
regards another island of this group. I know they do at Ascension, and
they prefer them to pigs."
"Well," said I, "I suppose all of us can now testify that they are as
good as pigs, if eaten with a sauce of ignorance."
"After the collation comes the ball;" said the cooper. "You see those
fellows backing down wood, and getting ready to make a bonfire. They
will light up the fire after dark, and then dance and sing round it.
But here's another game going on. Let's go and see what this means."
The natives were all gathering on a large plat of greensward, near the
feast-house, and the young men were seating themselves in a circle on
the ground, several ranks deep, so as to leave an arena of convenient
size in the centre. The women, children and old men closed up outside
of this ring as spectators, a space being kept clear for King George
and the principal chiefs, where they could overlook the whole scene. It
was evident some sort of gladiatorial show or sparring exhibition was
now to begin.
At a signal from the king, an athletic young man sprang lightly from
his seat in the circle to the centre of the ring, bringing his hands
together with a loud clap of defiance. He was instantly confronted by
another, and the sparring was commenced. Passes were rapidly made and
warded off, no harm being done to the combatants, as all blows were
struck open-handed. Great dexterity was displayed on both sides, the
object aimed at by all this, being, for some little time, a mystery;
but at length the challenger, watching his opportunity, rushed under
the other's guard and seized him at the waist, which closed the combat,
amid tumultuous applause from king, court and spectators. Both fell
back to their places in the circle, the victor to be petted and patted
by his delighted comrades, and instantly a fresh champion bounded into
the arena to be met by another. Thus the entertainment continued, till
nearly every young man had put in at least one appearance, and some
particularly smart fellows had come off victors in several matches, so
that their challenges were not readily accepted. Sometimes a careless
or over-confident youth would be caught almost instantly, calling down
upon himself the jeers and uproarious mirth of the whole assembly; and,
on the other hand, when two of the most skilfull of the gladiators
were about equally matched, the struggle would be prolonged amid the
eager and breathless attention of the excited audience. Everything
was expected to be done with the most perfect good humor; and if, as
was sometimes the case, the vanquished party lost his temper, he was
greeted with such yells of derisive laughter, that he was soon glad to
join in the laugh against himself, in order to escape further ridicule.
The men were naked, with the sole exception of a broad belt about the
hips, and their eager attitudes and quick movements displayed their
figures and the development of their muscle to the best advantage. We
all agreed that the exhibition was a most beautiful one, possessing all
the wholesome excitement that belongs to athletic sports of this kind,
without the drawbacks of brutality and smothered hatred.
We remained on shore in the evening to see the dance round the fire,
which is accompanied with wild chants or recitations, and has no very
striking points about it. There is but little variety in the movements,
and the interest depends simply upon the almost perfect concert of
voice and gesture among a large number of performers. Its scenic effect
is heightened by the uniform system of tattooing, the chief point in
which is a stripe running the whole length of the arm on the outside,
and a wider one up and down the leg, like those worn by sergeants in
our army. But on the whole, the display is inferior in variety and
vigor to the Marquesan "_hula hula_," or to the war-dances of the
North American tribes. An incident occurred during this performance,
which forcibly illustrated the absolute control over the lives of his
subjects possessed by the irresponsible despot, King George. One of
the young men engaged in the dance failed to give satisfaction to the
critical eye or ear of the king, being, as I thought, a little out of
time in the chant, when, without a word, the king picked up a stone,
and hurled it at him, striking full in his breast, and effectually
knocking him out of the ranks, while the dance went on without
interruption, as if this was merely an ordinary recreation, in which
the monarch was wont to indulge when the humor seized him. A shudder
and murmur of indignation ran through us visitors from the ships at
this cruelty, but what could we do or say about it? The poor delinquent
gathered himself up and slunk away, evidently suffering dreadful pain.
He must have been severely, if, indeed, not dangerously injured; but it
seemed a matter of indifference to his royal master whether he lived or
died.
"I suppose," said Mr. Grafton, who was standing near me, "you feel just
as I do about that affair; as if you'd like to hurl that same rock back
at the king's breast with a will."
"Yes sir," I replied; "but it wouldn't be policy for us to attempt
anything of that kind."
"Hardly;" returned the mate. "We should have a hornet's nest about
our ears in short order, if we touched his sacred person. I presume
these young men consider it all right, and a mere matter of course,
each one feeling that it may be his turn next. I have no doubt that
the old savage has killed more than one of them in getting them up to
their present state of drill. He holds his subjects' lives at his own
disposal, as much as the Czar of all the Russias, or even more so;
and, as a general rule, these savage races are very reckless of human
life, seeming to attach but little value to it."
"Didn't you admire the sparring match, this afternoon?" I asked.
"I didn't see it;" the said mate. "I took my gun, and went out in the
woods pigeon shooting. I had pretty good luck. I got about twenty
pigeons, and saw a great deal of sport besides the shooting. The old
chief Seelic went with me, he is the second in rank below King George,
as near as I can get at it. He took another chief of lower rank with
him, and a couple of boys of no rank at all. Old Seelic and I kept
company, the petty chief fell into our wake at a short distance, and
the two youths jogged along astern of him. Whenever we stopped a moment
down they went on their beam-ends right into the mud or wherever they
chanced to be, and waited there till we started on again, keeping their
stations in line. When we got into the woods, they were signalled to
keep in close order, but it was amusing to see manoeuvres when one of
the youngsters got the first sight of a pigeon. You see, he could not
speak to his superior in a standing position, nor speak to old Seelic
at all, until commanded or invited to do so. So he would go down on
his marrow-bones and tell the petty chief, and then he would go down
the same way with his head almost in the mud, to tell old Seelic, and
sometimes while all this etiquette was going on, the pigeon would take
the alarm and leave the tree, before old Seelic could bring his gun
to bear on him. The old fellow is a good shot and would drop his bird
almost every time. But the war dance is about finished for to-night,
and it's time to muster the boys and shove off."
We got all our water and wood on board, and a good stock of fruit,
though the only recruits to be got to serve as sea stores for any
length of time were yams, and these of indifferent quality. When ready
for sea, we lay wind-bound two days, but on the third the trades were
so far to the northward that we could lay our course through the
passage in the reef, and both ship's windlasses were at once manned
to take advantage of the start. It was observed that, as we began
to get under way, nearly all the natives left us, and that very few
were in sight even on the beach. As our anchor made its appearance at
the surface it brought with it the bight of a small chain, which had
caught across the stock. The few natives about the ship got sight of
it as quick as we did, and, as conscious guilt needs no accuser, in
the twinkling of an eye, they were off for the shore, some in canoes
and others jumping overboard. It was a critical moment for us, as the
ship was swinging, and we could not afford to lose the wind, so we
"hooked cat," and secured our anchor, the bight of the chain slipping
off the anchorstock, and falling back to its submarine bed, where it
had probably lain for several years. It might have been the cable to
a vessel of a hundred and fifty to two hundred tons. In a few minutes
both ships were standing out through the narrow passage, the Leonidas
leading, as the increased strain on our windlass in lifting the anchor
had given her the start.
It was barely possible that the chain might have been slipped or
accidentally lost by some vessel; but probabilities were strong to the
contrary. The evident uneasy feeling of the natives, when we were about
taking up our anchor, was a significant circumstance. Could we have
let go the other anchor, and taken time to investigate the matter by
underrunning the small chain, we should, no doubt, have found positive
evidence of treachery, and might have shed light upon the fate of some
long-missing vessel.
We ran to leeward of the island and shaped our course to the northward
and westward, not sighting any other island of the Caroline group. In
a few days we parted company with the Leonidas, and went our way alone
toward the Japan cruising-ground.