WHICH ENDS THE BOOK
Disappointed in going to court, we determined upon going to sea. It
would never do, longer to trespass on Po-Po’s hospitality; and then,
weary somewhat of life in Imeeo, like all sailors ashore, I at last
pined for the billows.
Now, if her crew were to be credited, the Leviathan was not the craft
to our mind. But I had seen the captain, and liked him. He was an
uncommonly tall, robust, fine-looking man, in the prime of life. There
was a deep crimson spot in the middle of each sunburnt cheek, doubtless
the effect of his sea-potations. He was a Vineyarder, or native of the
island of Martha’s Vineyard (adjoining Nantucket), and—I would have
sworn it—a sailor, and no tyrant.
Previous to this, we had rather avoided the Leviathan’s men, when they
came ashore; but now, we purposely threw ourselves in their way, in
order to learn more of the vessel.
We became acquainted with the third mate, a Prussian, and an old
merchant-seaman—a right jolly fellow, with a face like a ruby. We took
him to Po-Po’s, and gave him a dinner of baked pig and breadfruit; with
pipes and tobacco for dessert. The account he gave us of the ship
agreed with my own surmises. A cosier old craft never floated; and the
captain was the finest man in the world. There was plenty to eat, too;
and, at sea, nothing to do but sit on the windlass and sail. The only
bad trait about the vessel was this: she had been launched under some
baleful star; and so was a luckless ship in the fishery. She dropped
her boats into the brine often enough, and they frequently got fast to
the whales; but lance and harpoon almost invariably “drew” when darted
by the men of the Leviathan. But what of that? We would have all the
sport of chasing the monsters, with none of the detestable work which
follows their capture. So, hurrah for the coast of Japan! Thither the
ship was bound.
A word now about the hard stories we heard the first time we visited
the ship. They were nothing but idle fictions, got up by the sailors
for the purpose of frightening us away, so as to oblige the captain,
who was in want of more hands, to lie the longer in a pleasant harbour.
The next time the Vineyarder came ashore, we flung ourselves in his
path. When informed of our desire to sail with him, he wanted to know
our history; and, above all, what countrymen we were. We said that we
had left a whaler in Tahiti, some time previous; and, since then, had
been—in the most praiseworthy manner—employed upon a plantation. As for
our country, sailors belong to no nation in particular; we were, on
this occasion, both Yankees. Upon this he looked decidedly incredulous;
and freely told us that he verily believed we were both from Sydney.
Be it known here that American sea captains, in the Pacific, are
mortally afraid of these Sydney gentry; who, to tell the truth,
wherever known, are in excessively bad odour. Is there a mutiny on
board a ship in the South Seas, ten to one a Sydney man is the
ringleader. Ashore, these fellows are equally riotous.
It was on this account that we were anxious to conceal the fact of our
having belonged to the Julia, though it annoyed me much, thus to deny
the dashing little craft. For the same reason, also, the doctor fibbed
about his birthplace.
Unfortunately, one part of our raiment—Arfretee’s blue frocks—we deemed
a sort of collateral evidence against us. For, curiously enough, an
American sailor is generally distinguished by his red frock; and an
English tar by his blue one: thus reversing the national colours. The
circumstance was pointed out by the captain; and we quickly explained
the anomaly. But, in vain: he seemed inveterately prejudiced against
us; and, in particular, eyed the doctor most distrustfully.
By way of propping the tatter’s pretensions, I was throwing out a hint
concerning Kentucky, as a land of tall men, when our Vine-yarder turned
away abruptly, and desired to hear nothing more. It was evident that he
took Long Ghost for an exceedingly problematical character.
Perceiving this, I resolved to see what a private interview would do.
So, one afternoon, I found the captain smoking a pipe in the dwelling
of a portly old native—one Mai-Mai—who, for a reasonable compensation,
did the honours of Partoowye to illustrious strangers.
His guest had just risen from a sumptuous meal of baked pig and taro
pudding; and the remnants of the repast were still visible. Two reeking
bottles, also, with their necks wrenched off, lay upon the mat. All
this was encouraging; for, after a good dinner, one feels affluent and
amiable, and peculiarly open to conviction. So, at all events, I found
the noble Vineyarder.
I began by saying that I called for the purpose of setting him right
touching certain opinions of his concerning the place of my nativity:—I
was an American—thank heaven!—and wanted to convince him of the fact.
After looking me in the eye for some time, and, by so doing, revealing
an obvious unsteadiness in his own visual organs, he begged me to reach
forth my arm. I did so; wondering what upon earth that useful member
had to do with the matter in hand.
He placed his fingers upon my wrist; and holding them there for a
moment, sprang to his feet, and, with much enthusiasm, pronounced me a
Yankee, every beat of my pulse!
“Here, Mai-Mai!” he cried, “another bottle!” And, when it came, with
one stroke of a knife, he summarily beheaded it, and commanded me to
drain it to the bottom. He then told me that if I would come on board
his vessel the following morning, I would find the ship’s articles on
the cabin transom.
This was getting along famously. But what was to become of the doctor?
I forthwith made an adroit allusion to my long friend. But it was worse
than useless. The Vineyarder swore he would have nothing to do with
him—he (my long friend) was a “bird” from Sydney, and nothing would
make him (the man of little faith) believe otherwise.
I could not help loving the free-hearted captain; but indignant at this
most unaccountable prejudice against my comrade, I abruptly took leave.
Upon informing the doctor of the result of the interview, he was
greatly amused; and laughingly declared that the Vineyarder must be a
penetrating fellow. He then insisted upon my going to sea in the ship,
since he well knew how anxious I was to leave. As for himself, on
second thoughts, he was no sailor; and although “lands—’ men” very
often compose part of a whaler’s crew, he did not quite relish the idea
of occupying a position so humble. In short, he had made up his mind to
tarry awhile in Imeeo.
I turned the matter over: and at last decided upon quitting the island.
The impulse urging me to sea once more, and the prospect of eventually
reaching home, were too much to be resisted; especially as the
Leviathan, so comfortable a craft, was now bound on her last whaling
cruise, and, in little more than a year’s time, would be going round
Cape Horn.
I did not, however, covenant to remain in the vessel for the residue of
the voyage; which would have been needlessly binding myself. I merely
stipulated for the coming cruise, leaving my subsequent movements
unrestrained; for there was no knowing that I might not change my mind,
and prefer journeying home by short and easy stages.
The next day I paddled off to the ship, signed and sealed, and stepped
ashore with my “advance”—fifteen Spanish dollars—tasseling the ends of
my neck-handkerchief.
I forced half of the silver on Long Ghost; and having little use for
the remainder, would have given it to Po-Po as some small return for
his kindness; but, although he well knew the value of the coin, not a
dollar would he accept.
In three days’ time the Prussian came to Po-Po’s, and told us that the
captain, having made good the number of his crew by shipping several
islanders, had determined upon sailing with the land breeze at dawn the
following morning. These tidings were received in the afternoon. The
doctor immediately disappeared, returning soon after with a couple of
flasks of wine concealed in the folds of his frock. Through the agency
of the Marquesan, he had purchased them from an understrapper of the
court.
I prevailed upon Po-Po to drink a parting shell; and even little Loo,
actually looking conscious that one of her hopeless admirers was about
leaving Partoowye for ever, sipped a few drops from a folded leaf. As
for the warm-hearted Arfretee, her grief was unbounded. She even
besought me to spend my last night under her own palm-thatch; and then,
in the morning, she would herself paddle me off to the ship.
But this I would not consent to; and so, as something to remember her
by, she presented me with a roll of fine matting, and another of tappa.
These gifts placed in my hammock, I afterward found very agreeable in
the warm latitudes to which we were bound; nor did they fail to awaken
most grateful remembrances.
About nightfall, we broke away from this generous-hearted household,
and hurried down to the water.
It was a mad, merry night among the sailors; they had on tap a small
cask of wine, procured in the same way as the doctor’s flasks.
An hour or two after midnight, everything was noiseless; but when the
first streak of the dawn showed itself over the mountains, a sharp
voice hailed the forecastle, and ordered the ship unmoored.
The anchors came up cheerily; the sails were soon set; and with the
early breath of the tropical morning, fresh and fragrant from the
hillsides, we slowly glided down the bay, and were swept through the
opening in the reef. Presently we “hove to,” and the canoes came
alongside to take off the islanders who had accompanied us thus far. As
he stepped over the side, I shook the doctor long and heartily by the
hand. I have never seen or heard of him since.
Crowding all sail, we braced the yards square; and, the breeze
freshening, bowled straight away from the land. Once more the sailor’s
cradle rocked under me, and I found myself rolling in my gait.
By noon, the island had gone down in the horizon; and all before us was
the wide Pacific.