"I must now, though in sore straits for writing materials, and having
entirely lost count of time, post up my diary, or rather commence my
narrative. So far as I can learn from the jargon of the strange and lost
people among whom Providence has cast me, this is, in their speech, the
last of the month, Thargeelyun, as near as I can imitate the sound in
English. Being in doubt as to the true time, I am resolved to regard to-
morrow, and every seventh day in succession, as the Sabbath. The very
natives, I have observed with great interest, keep one day at fixed
intervals sacred to the Sun-god, whom they call Apollon, perhaps the same
word as Apollyon. On this day they do no manner of work, but _that_ is
hardly an exception to their usual habits. A less industrious people
(slaves and all) I never met, even in the Pacific. As to being more than
common idle on one day out of seven, whether they have been taught so
much of what is _essential_ by some earlier missionary, or whether they
may be the corrupted descendants of the Lost Tribes (whom they do not,
however, at all resemble outwardly, being, I must admit, of prepossessing
appearance), I can only conjecture. This Apollon of theirs, in his
graven images (of which there are many), carries a bow and arrows, _fiery
darts of the wicked_, another point in common between him and Apollyon,
in the Pilgrim's Progress. May I, like Christian, turn aside and quench
his artillery!
To return to my narrative. When I recovered consciousness, after the
sinking of the Blackbird, I found myself alone, clinging to the mast. Now
was I tossed on the crest of the wave, now the waters opened beneath me,
and I sank down in the valleys of the sea. Cold, numbed, and all but
lifeless, I had given up hope of earthly existence, and was nearly
insensible, when I began to revive beneath the rays of the sun.
The sea, though still moved by a swell, was now much smoother, and, but
for a strange vision, I might have believed that I was recovering my
strength. I must, however, have been delirious or dreaming, for it
appeared to me that a foreign female, of prepossessing exterior, though
somewhat indelicately dressed, arose out of the waters close by my side,
as lightly as if she had been a sea-gull on the wing. About her head
there was wreathed a kind of muslin scarf, which she unwound and offered
to me, indicating that I was to tie it about my waist, and it would
preserve me from harm. So weak and exhausted was I that, without
thinking, I did her bidding, and then lost sight of the female.
Presently, as it seemed (but I was so drowsy that the time may have been
longer than I fancied), I caught sight of land from the crest of a wave.
Steep blue cliffs arose far away out of a white cloud of surf, and,
though a strong swimmer, I had little hope of reaching the shore in
safety.
Fortunately, or rather, I should say, providentially, the current and
tide-rip carried me to the mouth of a river, and, with a great effort, I
got into the shoal-water, and finally staggered out on shore. There was
a wood hard by, and thither I dragged myself. The sun was in mid heavens
and very warm, and I managed to dry my clothes. I am always most
particular to wear the dress of my calling, observing that it has a
peculiar and gratifying effect on the minds of the natives. I soon dried
my tall hat, which, during the storm, I had attached to my button-hole by
a string, and, though it was a good deal battered, I was not without
hopes of partially restoring its gloss and air of British respectability.
As will be seen, this precaution was, curiously enough, the human means
of preserving my life. My hat, my black clothes, my white neck-tie, and
the hymn-book I carry would, I was convinced, secure for me a favourable
reception among the natives (if of the gentle brown Polynesian type),
whom I expected to find on the island.
Exhausted by my sufferings, I now fell asleep, but was soon wakened by
loud cries of anguish uttered at no great distance. I started to my
feet, and beheld an extraordinary spectacle, which at once assured me
that I had fallen among natives of the worst and lowest type. The dark
places of the earth are, indeed, full of horrid cruelty.
The first cries which had roused me must have been comparatively distant,
though piercing, and even now they reached me confused in the notes of a
melancholy chant or hymn. But the shrieks grew more shrill, and I
thought I could distinguish the screams of a woman in pain or dread from
the groans drawn with more difficulty from a man. I leaped up, and,
climbing a high part of the river bank, I beheld, within a couple of
hundred yards, an extraordinary procession coming from the inner country
towards the mouth of the stream.
At first I had only a confused view of bright stuffs--white, blue, and
red--and the shining of metal objects, in the midst of a crowd partly
concealed by the dust they raised on their way. Very much to my surprise
I found that they were advancing along a wide road, paved in a peculiar
manner, for I had never seen anything of this kind among the heathen
tribes of the Pacific. Their dresses, too, though for the most part mere
wraps, as it were, of coloured stuff, thrown round them, pinned with
brooches, and often clinging in a very improper way to the figure, did
not remind me of the costume (what there is of it) of Samoans, Fijians,
or other natives among whom I have been privileged to labour.
But these observations give a more minute impression of what I saw than,
for the moment, I had time to take in. The foremost part of the
procession consisted of boys, many of them almost naked. Their hands
were full of branches, wreathed in a curious manner with strips of white
or coloured wools. They were all singing, and were led by a woman
carrying in her arms a mis-shapen wooden idol, not much unlike those
which are too frequent spectacles all over the Pacific. Behind the boys
I could now distinctly behold a man and woman of the Polynesian type,
naked to the waist, and staggering with bent backs beneath showers of
blows. The people behind them, who were almost as light in colour as
ourselves, were cruelly flogging them with cutting branches of trees.
Round the necks of the unfortunate victims--criminals I presumed--were
hung chains of white and black figs, and in their hands they held certain
herbs, figs, and cheese, for what purpose I was, and remain, unable to
conjecture. Whenever their cries were still for a moment, the woman who
carried the idol turned round, and lifted it in her arms with words which
I was unable to understand, urging on the tormentors to ply their
switches with more severity.
Naturally I was alarmed by the strangeness and ferocity of the natives,
so I concealed myself hastily in some brushwood behind a large tree. Much
to my horror I found that the screams, groans, and singing only drew
nearer and nearer. The procession then passed me so close that I could
see blood on the backs of the victims, and on their faces an awful dread
and apprehension. Finally, the crowd reached the mouth of the river, at
the very place where I had escaped from the sea. By aid of a small
pocket-glass I could make out that the men were piling great faggots of
green wood, which I had noticed that some of them carried, on a spot
beneath the wash of high tide. When the pile had reached a considerable
height, the two victims were placed in the middle. Then, by some means,
which I was too far off to detect, fire was produced, and applied to the
wild wood in which the unhappy man and woman were enveloped. Soon,
fortunately, a thick turbid smoke, in which but little flame appeared,
swept all over the beach. I endeavoured to stop my ears, and turned my
head away that I might neither see nor hear more of this spectacle, which
I now perceived to be a human sacrifice more cruel than is customary even
among the Fijians.
When I next ventured to look up, the last trails of smoke were vanishing
away across the sea; the sun gazed down on the bright, many-coloured
throng, who were now singing another of their hymns, while some of the
number were gathering up ashes (human ashes!) from a blackened spot on
the sand, and were throwing them into the salt water. The wind tossed
back a soft grey dust in their faces, mixed with the surf and spray. It
was dark before the crowd swept by me again, now chanting in what
appeared to be a mirthful manner, and with faces so smiling and happy
that I could scarcely believe they had just taken part in such abominable
cruelty. On the other hand, a weight seemed to have been removed from
their consciences. So deceitful are the wiles of Satan, who deludes the
heathen most in their very religion! Tired and almost starved as I was,
these reflections forced themselves upon me, even while I was pondering
on the dreadful position in which I found myself. Way of escape from the
island (obviously a very large one) there was none. But, if I remained
all night in the wood, I must almost perish of cold and hunger. I had
therefore no choice but to approach the barbarous people, though, from my
acquaintance with natives, I knew well that they were likely either to
kill and eat me, or to worship me as a god. Either event was too
dreadful to bear reflection. I was certain, however, that, owing to the
dress of my sacred calling, I could not be mistaken for a mere
beach-comber or labour-hunter, and I considered that I might easily
destroy the impression (natural among savages on first seeing a European)
that I was a god. I therefore followed the throng from a distance,
taking advantage for concealment of turns in the way, and of trees and
underwood beside the road. Some four miles' walking, for which I was
very unfit, brought us across a neck of land, and from high ground in the
middle I again beheld the sea. Very much to my surprise the cape on
which I looked down, safe in the rear of the descending multitude, was
occupied by a kind of city.
The houses were not the mere huts of South Sea Islanders, but, though
built for the most part of carved and painted wood, had white stone
foundations, and were of considerable height. On a rock in the centre of
the bay were some stone edifices which I took to be temples or public
buildings. The crowd gradually broke up, turning into their own
dwellings on the shore, where, by the way, some large masted vessels were
drawn up in little docks. But, while the general public, if I may say
so, slowly withdrew, the woman with the idol in her arms, accompanied by
some elderly men of serious aspect, climbed the road up to the central
public buildings.
Moved by some impulse which I could hardly explain, I stealthily followed
them, and at last found myself on a rocky platform, a kind of public
square, open on one side to the sea, and shut in on either hand, and at
the back, by large houses with smooth round pillars, and decorated with
odd coloured carvings. There was in the open centre of the square an
object which I recognized as an altar, with a fire burning on it. Some
men came out of the chief building, dragging a sheep, with chains of
flowers round its neck. Another man threw something on the fire, which
burned with a curious smell. At once I recognized the savour of incense,
against which (as employed illegally by the Puseyites) I had often firmly
protested in old days at home. The spirit of a soldier of the Truth
entered into me; weary as I was, I rushed from the dusky corner where I
had been hidden in the twilight, ran to the altar, and held up my hand
with my hymn-book as I began to repeat an address that had often silenced
the papistic mummers in England. Before I had uttered half a dozen
words, the men who were dragging the sheep flew at me, and tried to seize
me, while one of them offered a strange-looking knife at my throat. I
thought my last hour had come, and the old Adam awakening in me, I
delivered such a blow with my right on the eye of the man with the knife,
that he reeled and fell heavily against the altar. Then assuming an
attitude of self-defence (such as was, alas! too familiar to me in my
unregenerate days), I awaited my assailants.
They were coming on in a body when the veil of the large edifice in front
was lifted, and a flash of light streamed out on the dusky square, as an
old man dressed in red hurried to the scene of struggle. He wore a long
white beard, had green leaves twisted in his hair, and carried in his
hand a gilded staff curiously wreathed with wool. When they saw him
approaching, my assailants fell back, each of them kissing his own hand
and bowing slightly in the direction of the temple, as I rightly supposed
it to be. The old man, who was followed by attendants carrying torches
burning, was now close to us, and on beholding me, he exhibited unusual
emotions.
My appearance, no doubt, was at that moment peculiar, and little
creditable, as I have since thought, to a minister, however humble. My
hat was thrust on the back of my head, my coat was torn, my shirt open,
my neck-tie twisted round under my ear, and my whole attitude was not one
generally associated with the peaceful delivery of the message. Still, I
had never conceived that any spectacle, however strange and unbecoming,
could have produced such an effect on the native mind, especially in a
person who was manifestly a chief, or high-priest of some heathen god.
Seeing him pause, and turn pale, I dropped my hands, and rearranged my
dress as best I might. The old Tohunga, as my New Zealand flock used to
call their priest, now lifted his eyes to heaven with an air of devotion,
and remained for some moments like one absorbed in prayer or meditation.
He then rapidly uttered some words, which, of course, I could not
understand, whereon his attendants approached me gently, with signs of
respect and friendship. Not to appear lacking in courtesy, or inferior
in politeness to savages, I turned and raised my hat, which seemed still
more to alarm the old priest. He spoke to one of his attendants, who
instantly ran across the square, and entered the courtyard of a large
house, surrounded by a garden, of which the tall trees looked over the
wall, and wooden palisade. The old man then withdrew into the temple,
and I distinctly saw him scatter, with the leafy bough of a tree, some
water round him as he entered, from a vessel beside the door. This
convinced me that some of the emissaries of the Scarlet Woman had already
been busy among the benighted people, a conjecture, however, which proved
to be erroneous.
I was now left standing by the altar, the attendants observing me with
respect which I feared might at any moment take the blasphemous form of
worship. Nor could I see how I was to check their adoration, and turn it
into the proper channel, if, as happened to Captain Cook, and has
frequently occurred since, these darkened idolaters mistook me for one of
their own deities. I might spurn them, indeed; but when Nicholson
adopted that course, and beat the Fakirs who worshipped him during the
Indian Mutiny, his conduct, as I have read, only redoubled their
enthusiasm. However, as events proved, they never at any time were
inclined to substitute me for their heathen divinities; very far from it
indeed, though their peculiar conduct was calculated to foster in my
breast this melancholy delusion.
I had not been left long to my own thoughts when I marked lights
wandering in the garden or courtyard whither the messenger had been sent
by the old priest. Presently there came forth from the court a man of
remarkable stature, and with an air of seriousness and responsibility. In
his hand he carried a short staff, or baton, with gold knobs, and he wore
a thin golden circlet in his hair. As he drew near, the veil of the
temple was again lifted, and the aged priest came forward, bearing in his
arms a singular casket of wood, ornamented with alternate bands of gold
and ivory, carved with outlandish figures. The torch-bearers crowded
about us in the darkness, and it was a strange spectacle to behold the
smoky, fiery light shining on the men's faces and the rich coloured
dresses, or lighting up the white idol of Apollon, which stood among the
laurel trees at the entrance of the temple.