We were nearly three hours in reaching the village, it being more than
nine miles in the interior, and the path lying through a rugged
country. As we passed along, the party of Too-wit (the whole hundred
and ten savages of the canoes) was momentarily strengthened by smaller
detachments, of from two to six or seven, which joined us, as if by
accident, at different turns in the road. There appeared so much of
system in this that I could not help feeling distrust, and I spoke to
Captain Guy of my apprehensions. It was now too late, however, to
recede, and we concluded that our best security lay in evincing a
perfect confidence in the good faith of Too-wit. We accordingly went
on, keeping a wary eye upon the manoeuvres of the savages, and not
permitting them to divide our numbers by pushing in between. In this
way, passing through a precipitous ravine, we at length reached what we
were told was the only collection of habitations upon the island. As we
came in sight of them, the chief set up a shout, and frequently
repeated the word _Klock-Klock_; which we supposed to be the name of
the village, or perhaps the generic name for villages.
The dwellings were of the most miserable description imaginable, and,
unlike those of even the lowest of the savage races with which mankind
are acquainted, were of no uniform plan. Some of them (and these we
found belonged to the _Wampoos_ or _Yampoos_, the great men of the
land) consisted of a tree cut down at about four feet from the root,
with a large black skin thrown over it, and hanging in loose folds upon
the ground. Under this the savage nestled. Others were formed by means
of rough limbs of trees, with the withered foliage upon them, made to
recline, at an angle of forty-five degrees, against a bank of clay,
heaped up, without regular form, to the height of five or six feet.
Others, again, were mere holes dug in the earth perpendicularly, and
covered over with similar branches, these being removed when the tenant
was about to enter, and pulled on again when he had entered. A few were
built among the forked limbs of trees as they stood, the upper limbs
being partially cut through, so as to bend over upon the lower, thus
forming thicker shelter from the weather. The greater number, however,
consisted of small shallow caverns, apparently scratched in the face of
a precipitous ledge of dark stone, resembling fuller's earth, with
which three sides of the village was bounded. At the door of each of
these primitive caverns was a small rock, which the tenant carefully
placed before the entrance upon leaving his residence, for what purpose
I could not ascertain, as the stone itself was never of sufficient size
to close up more than a third of the opening.
This village, if it were worthy of the name, lay in a valley of some
depth, and could only be approached from the southward, the precipitous
ledge of which I have already spoken cutting off all access in other
directions. Through the middle of the valley ran a brawling stream of
the same magical-looking water which has been described. We saw several
strange animals about the dwellings, all appearing to be thoroughly
domesticated. The largest of these creatures resembled our common hog
in the structure of the body and snout; the tail, however, was bushy,
and the legs slender as those of the antelope. Its motion was
exceedingly awkward and indecisive, and we never saw it attempt to run.
We noticed also several animals very similar in appearance, but of a
greater length of body, and covered with a black wool. There were a
great variety of tame fowls running about, and these seemed to
constitute the chief food of the natives. To our astonishment we saw
black albatross among these birds in a state of entire domestication,
going to sea periodically for food, but always returning to the village
as a home, and using the southern shore in the vicinity as a place of
incubation. There they were joined by their friends the pelicans as
usual, but these latter never followed them to the dwellings of the
savages. Among the other kinds of tame fowls were ducks, differing very
little from the canvass-back of our own country, black gannets, and a
large bird not unlike the buzzard in appearance, but not carnivorous.
Of fish there seemed to be a great abundance. We saw, during our visit,
a quantity of dried salmon, rock cod, blue dolphins, mackerel,
blackfish, skate, conger eels, elephant-fish, mullets, soles,
parrotfish, leather-jackets, gurnards, hake, flounders, paracutas, and
innumerable other varieties. We noticed, too, that most of them were
similar to the fish about the group of the Lord Auckland Islands, in a
latitude as low as fifty-one degrees south. The Gallipago tortoise was
also very plentiful. We saw but few wild animals, and none of a large
size, or of a species with which we were familiar. One or two serpents
of a formidable aspect crossed our path, but the natives paid them
little attention, and we concluded that they were not venomous.
As we approached the village with Too-wit and his party, a vast crowd
of the people rushed out to meet us, with loud shouts, among which we
could only distinguish the everlasting _Anamoo-moo!_ and _Lama-Lama!_
We were much surprised at perceiving that, with one or two exceptions,
these new comers were entirely naked, the skins being used only by the
men of the canoes. All the weapons of the country seemed also to be in
the possession of the latter, for there was no appearance of any among
the villagers. There were a great many women and children, the former
not altogether wanting in what might be termed personal beauty. They
were straight, tall, and well formed, with a grace and freedom of
carriage not to be found in civilized society. Their lips, however,
like those of the men, were thick and clumsy, so that, even when
laughing, the teeth were never disclosed. Their hair was of a finer
texture than that of the males. Among these naked villagers there might
have been ten or twelve who were clothed, like the party of Too-wit, in
dresses of black skin, and armed with lances and heavy clubs. These
appeared to have great influence among the rest, and were always
addressed by the title _Wampoo_. These, too, were the tenants of the
black skin palaces. That of Too-wit was situated in the centre of the
village, and was much larger and somewhat better constructed than
others of its kind. The tree which formed its support was cut off at a
distance of twelve feet or thereabout from the root, and there were
several branches left just below the cut, these serving to extend the
covering, and in this way prevent its flapping about the trunk. The
covering, too, which consisted of four very large skins fastened
together with wooden skewers, was secured at the bottom with pegs
driven through it and into the ground. The floor was strewed with a
quantity of dry leaves by way of carpet.
To this hut we were conducted with great solemnity, and as many of the
natives crowded in after us as possible. Too-wit seated himself on the
leaves, and made signs that we should follow his example. This we did,
and presently found ourselves in a situation peculiarly uncomfortable,
if not indeed critical. We were on the ground, twelve in number, with
the savages, as many as forty, sitting on their hams so closely around
us that, if any disturbance had arisen, we should have found it
impossible to make use of our arms, or indeed to have risen on our
feet. The pressure was not only inside the tent, but outside, where
probably was every individual on the whole island, the crowd being
prevented from trampling us to death only by the incessant exertions
and vociferations of Too-wit. Our chief security lay, however, in the
presence of Too-wit himself among us, and we resolved to stick by him
closely, as the best chance of extricating ourselves from the dilemma,
sacrificing him immediately upon the first appearance of hostile
design.
After some trouble a certain degree of quiet was restored, when the
chief addressed us in a speech of great length, and very nearly
resembling the one delivered in the canoes, with the exception that the
_Anamoo-moos!_ were now somewhat more strenuously insisted upon than
the _Lama-Lamas!_ We listened in profound silence until the conclusion
of his harangue, when Captain Guy replied by assuring the chief of his
eternal friendship and good-will, concluding what he had to say by a
present of several strings of blue beads and a knife. At the former the
monarch, much to our surprise, turned up his nose with some expression
of contempt; but the knife gave him the most unlimited satisfaction,
and he immediately ordered dinner. This was handed into the tent over
the heads of the attendants, and consisted of the palpitating entrails
of a species of unknown animal, probably one of the slim-legged hogs
which we had observed in our approach to the village. Seeing us at a
loss how to proceed, he began, by way of setting us an example, to
devour yard after yard of the enticing food, until we could positively
stand it no longer, and evinced such manifest symptoms of rebellion of
stomach as inspired his majesty with a degree of astonishment only
inferior to that brought about by the looking-glasses. We declined,
however, partaking of the delicacies before us, and endeavoured to make
him understand that we had no appetite whatever, having just finished a
hearty _déjeuner_.
When the monarch had made an end of his meal, we commenced a series of
cross-questioning in every ingenious manner we could devise, with a
view of discovering what were the chief productions of the country, and
whether any of them might be turned to profit. At length he seemed to
have some idea of our meaning, and offered to accompany us to a part of
the coast where he assured us the _biche de mer_ (pointing to a
specimen of that animal) was to be found in great abundance. We were
glad at this early opportunity of escaping from the oppression of the
crowd, and signified our eagerness to proceed. We now left the tent,
and, accompanied by the whole population of the village, followed the
chief to the southeastern extremity of the island, not far from the bay
where our vessel lay at anchor. We waited here for about an hour, until
the four canoes were brought round by some of the savages to our
station. The whole of our party then getting into one of them, we were
paddled along the edge of the reef before mentioned, and of another
still farther out, where we saw a far greater quantity of _biche de
mer_ than the oldest seaman among us had ever seen in those groups of
the lower latitudes most celebrated for this article of commerce. We
stayed near these reefs only long enough to satisfy ourselves that we
could easily load a dozen vessels with the animal if necessary, when we
were taken alongside the schooner, and parted with Too-wit after
obtaining from him a promise that he would bring us, in the course of
twenty-four hours, as many of the canvass-back ducks and Gallipago
tortoises as his canoes would hold. In the whole of this adventure we
saw nothing in the demeanour of the natives calculated to create
suspicion, with the single exception of the systematic manner in which
their party was strengthened during our route from the schooner to the
village.