The Feast of Calabashes.
The whole population of the valley seemed to be gathered within the
precincts of the grove. In the distance could be seen the long front of
the Ti, its immense piazza swarming with men, arrayed in every variety
of fantastic costume, and all vociferating with animated gestures;
while the whole interval between it and the place where I stood was
enlivened by groups of females fancifully decorated, dancing, capering,
and uttering wild exclamations. As soon as they descried me they set up
a shout of welcome; and a band of them came dancing towards me,
chanting as they approached some wild recitative. The change in my garb
seemed to transport them with delight, and clustering about me on all
sides, they accompanied me towards the Ti. When, however, we drew near
it, these joyous nymphs paused in their career, and parting on either
side, permitted me to pass on to the now densely thronged building.
So soon as I mounted to the pi-pi I saw at a glance that the revels
were fairly under way.
What lavish plenty reigned around!—Warwick feasting his retainers with
beef and ale, was a niggard to the noble Mehevi!—All along the piazza
of the Ti were arranged elaborately-carved canoe-shaped vessels, some
twenty feet in length, filled with newly-made poee-poee, and sheltered
from the sun by the broad leaves of the banana. At intervals were heaps
of green bread-fruit, raised in pyramidical stacks, resembling the
regular piles of heavy shot to be seen in the yard of an arsenal.
Inserted into the interstices of the huge stones which formed the pi-pi
were large boughs of trees; hanging from the branches of which, and
screened from the sun by their foliage, were innumerable little
packages with leafy coverings containing the meat of the numerous hogs
which had been slain, done up in this manner to make it more accessible
to the crowd. Leaning against the railing of the piazza were an immense
number of long, heavy bamboos, plugged at the lower end, and with their
projecting muzzles stuffed with a wad of leaves. These were filled with
water from the stream, and each of them might hold from four to five
gallons.
The banquet being thus spread, nought remained but for every one to
help himself at his pleasure. Accordingly, not a moment passed but the
transplanted boughs I have mentioned were rifled by the throng of the
fruit they certainly had never borne before. Calabashes of poee-poee
were continually being replenished from the extensive receptacle in
which that article was stored, and multitudes of little fires were
kindled about the Ti for the purpose of roasting the bread-fruit.
Within the building itself was presented a most extraordinary scene.
The immense lounge of mats lying between the parallel rows of the
trunks of cocoa-nut trees, and extending the entire length of the
house, at least two hundred feet, was covered by the reclining forms of
a host of chiefs and warriors, who were eating at a great rate, or
soothing the cares of Polynesian life in the sedative fumes of tobacco.
The smoke was inhaled from large pipes, the bowls of which, made out of
small cocoa-nut shells, were curiously carved in strange heathenish
devices. These were passed from mouth to mouth by the recumbent
smokers, each of whom, taking two or three prodigious whiffs, handed
the pipe to his neighbour; sometimes for that purpose stretching
indolently across the body of some dozing individual whose exertions at
the dinner-table had already induced sleep.
The tobacco used among the Typees was of a very mild and pleasing
flavour, and as I always saw it in leaves, and the natives appeared
pretty well supplied with it, I was led to believe that it must have
been the growth of the valley. Indeed Kory-Kory gave me to understand
that this was the case; but I never saw a single plant growing on the
island. At Nukuheva, and I believe, in all the other valleys, the weed
is very scarce, being only obtained in small quantities from
foreigners, and smoking is consequently with the inhabitants of these
places a very great luxury. How it was that the Typees were so well
furnished with it I cannot divine. I should think them too indolent to
devote any attention to its culture; and, indeed, as far as my
observation extended not a single atom of the soil was under any other
cultivation than that of shower and sunshine. The tobacco-plant,
however, like the sugar-cane, may grow wild in some remote part of the
vale.
There were many in the Ti for whom the tobacco did not furnish a
sufficient stimulus, and who accordingly had recourse to “arva,” as a
more powerful agent in producing the desired effect.
“Arva” is a root very generally dispersed over the South Seas, and from
it is extracted a juice, the effects of which upon the system are at
first stimulating in a moderate degree; but it soon relaxes the
muscles, and, exerting a narcotic influence, produces a luxurious
sleep. In the valley this beverage was universally prepared in the
following way:—Some half-dozen young boys seated themselves in a circle
around an empty wooden vessel, each one of them being supplied with a
certain quantity of the roots of the “arva,” broken into small bits and
laid by his side. A cocoa-nut goblet of water was passed around the
juvenile company, who rinsing their mouth with its contents, proceeded
to the business before them. This merely consisted in thoroughly
masticating the “arva,” and throwing it mouthful after mouthful into
the receptacle provided. When a sufficient quantity had been thus
obtained, water was poured upon the mass, and being stirred about with
the forefinger of the right hand, the preparation was soon in readiness
for use. The “arva” has medicinal qualities.
Upon the Sandwich Islands it has been employed with no small success in
the treatment of scrofulous affections, and in combating the ravages of
a disease which for so many years has been gradually depopulating those
fine and interesting islands. But the tenants of the Typee valley, as
yet exempt from these inflictions, generally employ the “arva” as a
minister to social enjoyment, and a calabash of the liquid circulates
among them as the bottle with us.
Mehevi, who was greatly delighted with the change in my costume, gave
me a cordial welcome. He had reserved for me a most delectable mess of
“cockoo,” well knowing my partiality for that dish; and had likewise
selected three or four young cocoa-nuts, several roasted bread-fruit,
and a magnificent bunch of bananas, for my especial comfort and
gratification. These various matters were at once placed before me; but
Kory-Kory deemed the banquet entirely insufficient for my wants until
he had supplied me with one of the leafy packages of pork, which,
notwithstanding the somewhat hasty manner in which it had been
prepared, possessed a most excellent flavour, and was surprisingly
sweet and tender.
Pork is not a staple article of food among the people of the Marquesas,
consequently they pay little attention to the breeding of the swine.
The hogs are permitted to roam at large in the groves, where they
obtain no small portion of their nourishment from the cocoa-nuts which
continually fall from the trees. But it is only after infinite labour
and difficulty, that the hungry animal can pierce the husk and shell so
as to get at the meat. I have frequently been amused at seeing one of
them, after crunching the obstinate nut with his teeth for a long time
unsuccessfully, get into a violent passion with it. He would then root
furiously under the cocoa-nut, and, with a fling of his snout, toss it
before him on the ground. Following it up, he would crunch at it again
savagely for a moment, and the next knock it on one side, pausing
immediately after, as if wondering how it could so suddenly have
disappeared. In this way the persecuted cocoa-nuts were often chased
half across the valley.
The second day of the Feast of Calabashes was ushered in by still more
uproarious noises than the first. The skins of innumerable sheep seemed
to be resounding to the blows of an army of drummers. Startled from my
slumbers by the din, I leaped up, and found the whole household engaged
in making preparations for immediate departure. Curious to discover of
what strange events these novel sounds might be the precursors, and not
a little desirous to catch a sight of the instruments which produced
the terrific noise, I accompanied the natives as soon as they were in
readiness to depart for the Taboo Groves.
The comparatively open space that extended from the Ti toward the rock,
to which I have before alluded as forming the ascent to the place, was,
with the building itself, now altogether deserted by the men; the whole
distance being filled by bands of females, shouting and dancing under
the influence of some strange excitement.
I was amused at the appearance of four or five old women, who in a
state of utter nudity, with their arms extended flatly down their side,
and holding themselves perfectly erect, were leaping stiffly into the
air, like so many sticks bobbing to the surface, after being pressed
perpendicularly into the water. They preserved the utmost gravity of
countenance, and continued their extraordinary movements without a
single moment’s cessation. They did not appear to attract the
observation of the crowd around them, but I must candidly confess that,
for my own part, I stared at them most pertinaciously.
Desirous of being enlightened in regard to the meaning of this peculiar
diversion, I turned inquiringly to Kory-Kory: that learned Typee
immediately proceeded to explain the whole matter thoroughly. But all
that I could comprehend from what he said was, that the leaping figures
before me were bereaved widows, whose partners had been slain in battle
many moons previously; and who, at every festival, gave public evidence
in this manner of their calamities. It was evident that Kory-Kory
considered this an all-sufficient reason for so indecorous a custom;
but I must say that it did not satisfy me as to its propriety.
Leaving these afflicted females, we passed on to the Hoolah Hoolah
ground. Within the spacious quadrangle, the whole population of the
valley seemed to be assembled, and the sight presented was truly
remarkable. Beneath the sheds of bamboo which opened towards the
interior of the square, reclined the principal chiefs and warriors,
while a miscellaneous throng lay at their ease under the enormous
trees, which spread a majestic canopy overhead. Upon the terraces of
the gigantic altars, at either end, were deposited green bread-fruit in
baskets of cocoa-nut leaves, large rolls of tappa, bunches of white
bananas, clusters of mammee-apples, the golden-hued fruit of the artu
tree, and baked hogs, laid out in large wooden trenchers, fancifully
decorated with freshly-plucked leaves, whilst a variety of rude
implements of war were piled in confused heaps before the ranks of
hideous idols. Fruits of various kinds were likewise suspended in
leafen baskets, from the tops of poles planted uprightly, and at
regular intervals, along the lower terraces of both altars. At their
base were arranged two parallel rows of cumbersome drums, standing at
least fifteen feet in height, and formed from the hollow trunks of
large trees. Their heads were covered with shark skins, and their
barrels were elaborately carved with various quaint figures and
devices. At regular intervals, they were bound round by a species of
sinnate of various colours, and strips of native cloth flattened upon
them here and there. Behind these instruments were built slight
platforms, upon which stood a number of young men, who, beating
violently with the palms of their hands upon the drum-heads, produced
those outrageous sounds which had awakened me in the morning. Every few
minutes these musical performers hopped down from their elevation into
the crowd below, and their places were immediately supplied by fresh
recruits. Thus an incessant din was kept up that might have startled
Pandemonium.
Precisely in the middle of the quadrangle were placed perpendicularly
in the ground a hundred or more slender, fresh-cut poles, stripped of
their bark, and decorated at the end with a floating pennon of white
tappa, the whole being fenced about with a little picket of canes. For
what purpose these singular ornaments were intended, I in vain
endeavoured to discover.
Another most striking feature of the performance was exhibited by a
score of old men, who sat cross-legged in the little pulpits, which
encircled the trunks of the immense trees growing in the middle of the
enclosure. These venerable gentlemen, who I presume were the priests,
kept up an uninterrupted monotonous chant, which was nearly drowned in
the roar of drums. In the right hand they held a finely-woven grass
fan, with a heavy black wooden handle, curiously chased: these fans
they kept in continual motion.
But no attention whatever seemed to be paid to the drummers or to the
old priests, the individuals who composed the vast crowd present being
entirely taken up in chatting and laughing with one another, smoking,
drinking arva, and eating. For all the observation it attracted, or the
good it achieved, the whole savage orchestra might, with great
advantage to its own members and the company in general, have ceased
the prodigious uproar they were making.
In vain I questioned Kory-Kory and others of the natives, as to the
meaning of the strange things that were going on; all their
explanations were conveyed in such a mass of outlandish gibberish and
gesticulation that I gave up the attempt in despair. All that day the
drums resounded, the priests chanted, and the multitude feasted and
roared till sunset, when the throng dispersed, and the Taboo Groves
were again abandoned to quiet and repose. The next day the same scene
was repeated until night, when this singular festival terminated.