Attempt to procure relief from Nukuheva—Perilous adventure of Toby in
the Happar Mountains—Eloquence of Kory-Kory.
Amidst these novel scenes a week passed away almost imperceptibly. The
natives, actuated by some mysterious impulse, day after day redoubled
their attention to us. Their manner towards us was unaccountable.
Surely, thought I, they would not act thus if they meant us any harm.
But why this excess of deferential kindness, or what equivalent can
they imagine us capable of rendering them for it?
We were fairly puzzled. But, despite the apprehensions I could not
dispel, the horrible character imputed to these Typees appeared to be
wholly undeserved.
“Why, they are cannibals!” said Toby, on one occasion when I eulogized
the tribe.
“Granted,” I replied, “but a more humane, gentlemanly, and amiable set
of epicures do not probably exist in the Pacific.”
But, notwithstanding the kind treatment we received, I was too familiar
with the fickle disposition of savages not to feel anxious to withdraw
from the valley, and put myself beyond the reach of that fearful death
which, under all these smiling appearances, might yet menace us. But
here there was an obstacle in the way of doing so. It was idle for me
to think of moving from the place until I should have recovered from
the severe lameness that afflicted me; indeed my malady began seriously
to alarm me; for, despite the herbal remedies of the natives, it
continued to grow worse and worse. Their mild applications, though they
soothed the pain, did not remove the disorder, and I felt convinced
that, without better aid, I might anticipate long and acute suffering.
But how was this aid to be procured? From the surgeons of the French
fleet, which probably still lay in the bay of Nukuheva, it might easily
have been obtained, could I have made my case known to them. But how
could that be effected?
At last, in the exigency to which I was reduced, I proposed to Toby
that he should endeavour to go round to Nukuheva, and if he could not
succeed in returning to the valley by water in one of the boats of the
squadron, and taking me off, he might at least procure me some proper
medicines, and effect his return overland.
My companion listened to me in silence, and at first did not appear to
relish the idea. The truth was, he felt impatient to escape from the
place, and wished to avail himself of our present high favour with the
natives to make good our retreat, before we should experience some
sudden alterations in their behaviour. As he could not think of leaving
me in my helpless condition, he implored me to be of good cheer;
assured me that I should soon be better, and enabled in a few days to
return with him to Nukuheva.
Added to this, he could not bear the idea of again returning to this
dangerous place; and as for the expectation of persuading the Frenchmen
to detach a boat’s crew for the purpose of rescuing me from the Typees,
he looked upon it as idle; and, with arguments that I could not answer,
urged the improbability of their provoking the hostilities of the clan
by any such measure; especially as, for the purpose of quieting its
apprehensions, they had as yet refrained from making any visit to the
bay. “And even should they consent,” said Toby, “they would only
produce a commotion in the valley, in which we might both be sacrificed
by these ferocious islanders.” This was unanswerable; but still I clung
to the belief that he might succeed in accomplishing the other part of
my plan; and at last I overcame his scruples, and he agreed to make the
attempt.
As soon as we succeeded in making the natives understand our intention,
they broke out into the most vehement opposition to the measure, and,
for a while, I almost despaired of obtaining their consent. At the bare
thought of one of us leaving them, they manifested the most lively
concern. The grief and consternation of Kory-Kory, in particular, was
unbounded; he threw himself into a perfect paroxysm of gestures, which
were intended to convey to us, not only his abhorrence of Nukuheva and
its uncivilized inhabitants, but also his astonishment that, after
becoming acquainted with the enlightened Typees, we should evince the
least desire to withdraw, even for a time, from their agreeable
society.
However, I overbore his objections by appealing to my lameness; from
which I assured the natives I should speedily recover, if Toby were
permitted to obtain the supplies I needed.
It was agreed that on the following morning my companion should depart,
accompanied by some one or two of the household, who should point out
to him an easy route, by which the bay might be reached before sunset.
At early dawn of the next day, our habitation was astir. One of the
young men mounted into an adjoining cocoa-nut tree, and threw down a
number of the young fruit, which old Marheyo quickly stripped of the
green husks, and strung together upon a short pole. These were intended
to refresh Toby on his route.
The preparations being completed, with no little emotion I bade my
companion adieu. He promised to return in three days at farthest; and,
bidding me keep up my spirits in the interval, turned around the corner
of the pi-pi, and, under the guidance of the venerable Marheyo, was
soon out of sight. His departure oppressed me with melancholy, and,
re-entering the dwelling, I threw myself almost in despair upon the
matting of the floor.
In two hours’ time the old warrior returned, and gave me to understand,
that after accompanying my companion a little distance, and showing him
the route, he had left him journeying on his way.
It was about noon of this same day, a season which these people are
wont to pass in sleep, that I lay in the house, surrounded by its
slumbering inmates, and painfully affected by the strange silence which
prevailed. All at once I thought I heard a faint shout, as if
proceeding from some persons in the depth of the grove which extended
in front of our habitation.
The sounds grew louder and nearer, and gradually the whole valley rang
with wild outcries. The sleepers around me started to their feet in
alarm, and hurried outside to discover the cause of the commotion.
Kory-Kory, who had been the first to spring up, soon returned almost
breathless, and nearly frantic with the excitement under which he
seemed to be labouring. All that I could understand from him was, that
some accident had happened to Toby. Apprehensive of some dreadful
calamity, I rushed out of the house, and caught sight of a tumultuous
crowd, who, with shrieks and lamentations, were just emerging from the
grove, bearing in their arms some object, the sight of which produced
all this transport of sorrow. As they drew near, the men redoubled
their cries, while the girls, tossing their bare arms in the air,
exclaimed plaintively, “Awha! awha! Toby muckee moee!”—Alas! alas! Toby
is killed!
In a moment the crowd opened, and disclosed the apparently lifeless
body of my companion borne between two men, the head hanging heavily
against the breast of the foremost. The whole face, neck, and bosom
were covered with blood, which still trickled slowly from a wound
behind the temple. In the midst of the greatest uproar and confusion,
the body was carried into the house and laid on a mat. Waving the
natives off to give room and air, I bent eagerly over Toby, and, laying
my hand upon the breast, ascertained that the heart still beat.
Overjoyed at this, I seized a calabash of water, and dashed its
contents upon his face, then, wiping away the blood, anxiously examined
the wound. It was about three inches long, and, on removing the clotted
hair from about it, showed the skull laid completely bare. Immediately
with my knife I cut away the heavy locks, and bathed the part
repeatedly in water.
In a few moments Toby revived, and opening his eyes for a second,
closed them again, without speaking. Kory-Kory, who had been kneeling
beside me, now chafed his limbs gently with the palms of his hands,
while a young girl at his head kept fanning him, and I still continued
to moisten his lips and brow. Soon my poor comrade showed signs of
animation, and I succeeded in making him swallow from a cocoa-nut shell
a few mouthfuls of water.
[Illustration: THE BODY WAS CARRIED INTO THE HOUSE AND LAID ON A MAT]
Old Tinor now appeared, holding in her hand some simples she had
gathered, the juice of which she by signs besought me to squeeze into
the wound. Having done so, I thought it best to leave Toby undisturbed
until he should have had time to rally his faculties. Several times he
opened his lips, but, fearful for his safety, I enjoined silence. In
the course of two or three hours however, he sat up, and was
sufficiently recovered to tell me what had occurred.
“After leaving the house with Marheyo,” said Toby, “we struck across
the valley, and ascended the opposite heights. Just beyond them, my
guide informed me, lay the valley of Happar, while along their summits,
and skirting the head of the vale, was my route to Nukuheva. After
mounting a little way up the elevation my guide paused, and gave me to
understand that he could not accompany me any farther, and by various
signs intimated that he was afraid to approach any nearer the
territories of the enemies of his tribe. He, however, pointed out my
path, which now lay clearly before me, and, bidding me farewell,
hastily descended the mountain.
“Quite elated at being so near the Happars, I pushed up the acclivity,
and soon gained its summit. It tapered up to a sharp ridge, from whence
I beheld both the hostile valleys. Here I sat down and rested for a
moment, refreshing myself with my cocoa-nuts. I was soon again pursuing
my way along the height, when suddenly I saw three of the islanders,
who must have just come out of Happar valley, standing in the path
ahead of me. They were each armed with a heavy spear, and one, from his
appearance, I took to be a chief. They sung out something, I could not
understand what, and beckoned me to come on.
“Without the least hesitation I advanced towards them, and had
approached within about a yard of the foremost, when, pointing angrily
into the Typee valley, and uttering some savage exclamation, he wheeled
round his weapon like lightning, and struck me in a moment to the
ground. The blow inflicted this wound, and took away my senses. As soon
as I came to myself, I perceived the three islanders standing a little
distance off, and apparently engaged in some violent altercation
respecting me.
“My first impulse was to run for it; but, in endeavouring to rise, I
fell back, and rolled down a little grassy precipice. The shock seemed
to rally my faculties; so, starting to my feet, I fled down the path I
had just ascended. I had no need to look behind me, for, from the yells
I heard, I knew that my enemies were in full pursuit. Urged on by their
fearful outcries, and heedless of the injury I had received—though the
blood flowing from the wound trickled over into my eyes and almost
blinded me—I rushed down the mountain side with the speed of the wind.
In a short time I had descended nearly a third of the distance, and the
savages had ceased their cries, when suddenly a terrific howl burst
upon my ear, and at the same moment a heavy javelin darted past me as I
fled, and stuck quivering in a tree close to me. Another yell followed,
and a second spear and a third shot through the air within a few feet
of my body, both of them piercing the ground obliquely in advance of
me. The fellows gave a roar of rage and disappointment; but they were
afraid, I suppose, of coming down farther into the Typee valley, and so
abandoned the chase. I saw them recover their weapons and turn back;
and I continued my descent as fast as I could.
“What could have caused this ferocious attack on the part of these
Happars I could not imagine, unless it were that they had seen me
ascending the mountain with Marheyo, and that the mere fact of coming
from the Typee valley was sufficient to provoke them.
“As long as I was in danger I scarcely felt the wound I had received;
but when the chase was over I began to suffer from it. I had lost my
hat in the flight, and the sun scorched my bare head. I felt faint and
giddy; but, fearful of falling to the ground beyond the reach of
assistance, I staggered on as well as I could, and at last gained the
level of the valley, and then down I sunk; and I knew nothing more
until I found myself lying upon these mats, and you stooping over me
with the calabash of water.”
Such was Toby’s account of this sad affair. I afterwards learned that
fortunately he had fallen close to a spot where the natives go for
fuel. A party of them caught sight of him as he fell, and, sounding the
alarm, had lifted him up; and after ineffectually endeavouring to
restore him at the brook, had hurried forward with him to the house.
This incident threw a dark cloud over our prospects. It reminded us
that we were hemmed in by hostile tribes, whose territories we could
not hope to pass, on our route to Nukuheva, without encountering the
effects of their savage resentment. There appeared to be no avenue
opened to our escape but the sea, which washed the lower extremity of
the vale.
Our Typee friends availed themselves of the recent disaster of Toby to
exhort us to a due appreciation of the blessings we enjoyed among them;
contrasting their own generous reception of us with the animosity of
their neighbours. They likewise dwelt upon the cannibal propensities of
the Happars, a subject which they were perfectly aware could not fail
to alarm us; while at the same time they earnestly disclaimed all
participation in so horrid a custom. Nor did they omit to call upon us
to admire the natural loveliness of their own abode, and the lavish
abundance with which it produced all manner of luxuriant fruits;
exalting it in this particular above any of the surrounding valleys.
Kory-Kory seemed to experience so heartfelt a desire to infuse into our
minds proper views on these subjects, that, assisted in his endeavours
by the little knowledge of the language we had acquired, he actually
made us comprehend a considerable part of what he said. To facilitate
our correct apprehension of his meaning, he at first condensed his
ideas into the smallest possible compass.
“Happar keekeeno nuee,” he exclaimed; “nuee, nuee, ki ki kannaka!—ah!
owle motarkee!” which signifies, “Terrible fellows those
Happars!—devour an amazing quantity of men!—ah, shocking bad!” Thus far
he explained himself by a variety of gestures, during the performance
of which he would dart out of the house, and point abhorrently towards
the Happar valley; running in to us again with the rapidity that showed
he was fearful we would lose one part of his meaning before he could
complete the other; and continuing his illustrations by seizing the
fleshy part of my arm in his teeth, intimating, by the operation, that
the people who lived over in that direction would like nothing better
than to treat me in that manner.
Having assured himself that we were fully enlightened on this point, he
proceeded to another branch of the subject. “Ah! Typee me! arkee!—nuee,
nuee mioree—nuee, nuee wai nuee, nuee poee poee—nuee, nuee kokoo—ah!
nuee, nuee kiki—ah! nuee, nuee, nuee!” Which, liberally interpreted as
before, would imply, “Ah, Typee! isn’t it a fine place though!—no
danger of starving here, I tell you!—plenty of bread-fruit—plenty of
water—plenty of pudding—ah! plenty of everything, ah! heaps, heaps,
heaps!” All this was accompanied by a running commentary of signs and
gestures which it was impossible not to comprehend.
As he continued his harangue, however, Kory-Kory, in emulation of our
more polished orators, began to launch out rather diffusely into other
branches of his subject, enlarging probably upon the moral reflections
it suggested; and proceeded in such a strain of unintelligible and
stunning gibberish, that he actually gave me the headache for the rest
of the day.