BLOODY BILL IS COMMUNICATIVE AND SAGACIOUS--UNPLEASANT PROSPECTS--
RETROSPECTIVE MEDITATIONS INTERRUPTED BY VOLCANIC AGENCY--THE PIRATES
NEGOTIATE WITH A FEEJEE CHIEF--VARIOUS ETCETERAS THAT ARE CALCULATED TO
SURPRISE AND HORRIFY.
It was many days after the events just narrated ere I recovered a little
of my wonted spirits. I could not shake off the feeling for a long time
that I was in a frightful dream, and the sight of our captain filled me
with so much horror that I kept out of his way as much as my duties
about the cabin would permit. Fortunately he took so little notice of
me that he did not observe my changed feelings towards him, otherwise it
might have been worse for me.
But I was now resolved that I would run away the very first island we
should land at, and commit myself to the hospitality of the natives
rather than remain an hour longer than I could help in the pirate
schooner. I pondered this subject a good deal, and at last made up my
mind to communicate my intention to Bloody Bill; for during several
talks I had had with him of late, I felt assured that he too would
willingly escape if possible. When I told him of my design he shook his
head. "No, no, Ralph," said he; "you must not think of running away
here. Among some of the groups of islands you might do so with safety;
but if you tried it here, you would find that you had jumped out of the
fryin'-pan into the fire."
"How so, Bill?" said I. "Would the natives not receive me?"
"That they would, lad; but they would eat you too."
"Eat me!" said I in surprise. "I thought the South Sea Islanders never
ate anybody except their enemies."
"Humph!" ejaculated Bill. "I 'spose 'twas yer tender-hearted friends in
England that put that notion into your head. There's a set o'
soft-hearted folk at home that I knows on who don't like to have their
feelin's ruffled; and when you tell them anything they don't like--that
shocks them, as they call it--no matter how true it be, they stop their
ears and cry out, `Oh, that is _too_ horrible! We can't believe that!'
An' they say truth. They can't believe it, 'cause they won't believe
it. Now, I believe there's thousands o' the people in England who are
sich born drivellin' _won't believers_ that they think the black fellows
hereaways, at the worst, eat an enemy only now an' then out o' spite;
whereas I know for certain, and many captains of the British and
American navies know as well as me, that the Feejee Islanders eat not
only their enemies but one another--and they do it not for spite, but
for pleasure. It's a _fact_ that they prefer human flesh to any other.
But they don't like white men's flesh so well as black; they say it
makes them sick."
"Why, Bill," said I, "you told me just now that they would eat _me_ if
they caught me!"
"So I did, and so I think they would. I've only heard some o' them say
they don't like white men _so well_ as black; but if they was hungry
they wouldn't be particular. Anyhow, I'm sure they would kill you. You
see, Ralph, I've been a good while in them parts, and I've visited the
different groups of islands oftentimes as a trader. And thorough-goin'
blackguards some o' them traders are--no better than pirates, I can tell
you. One captain that I sailed with was not a chip better than the one
we're with now. He was trading with a friendly chief one day aboard his
vessel. The chief had swam off to us with the things for trade tied
atop of his head, for them chaps are like otters in the water. Well,
the chief was hard on the captain, and would not part with some o' his
things. When their bargainin' was over they shook hands, and the chief
jumped overboard to swim ashore; but before he got forty yards from the
ship, the captain seized a musket and shot him dead. He then hove up
anchor and put to sea, and as we sailed along the shore he dropped six
black fellows with his rifle, remarkin' that `that would spoil the trade
for the next-comers.' But, as I was sayin', I'm up to the ways o' these
fellows. One o' the laws o' the country is that every shipwrecked
person who happens to be cast ashore, be he dead or alive, is doomed to
be roasted and eaten. There was a small tradin' schooner wrecked off
one of these islands when we were lyin' there in harbour during a storm.
The crew was lost--all but three men, who swam ashore. The moment they
landed, they were seized by the natives and carried up into the woods.
We knew pretty well what their fate would be; but we could not help
them, for our crew was small, and if we had gone ashore they would
likely have killed us all. We never saw the three men again. But we
heard frightful yelling and dancing and merrymaking that night; and one
of the natives, who came aboard to trade with us next day, told us that
the _long pigs_, as he called the men, had been roasted and eaten, and
their bones were to be converted into sail-needles. He also said that
white men were bad to eat, and that most o' the people on shore were
sick."
I was very much shocked and cast down in my mind at this terrible
account of the natives, and asked Bill what he would advise me to do.
Looking round the deck to make sure that we were not overheard, he
lowered his voice and said, "There are two or three ways that we might
escape, Ralph, but none o' them's easy. If the captain would only sail
for some o' the islands near Tahiti we might run away there well enough,
because the natives are all Christians; an' we find that wherever the
savages take up with Christianity they always give over their bloody
ways, and are safe to be trusted. I never cared for Christianity
myself," he continued in a soliloquising voice, "and I don't well know
what it means; but a man with half-an-eye can see what it does for these
black critters. However, the captain always keeps a sharp lookout after
us when we get to these islands, for he half-suspects that one or two o'
us are tired of his company. Then we might manage to cut the boat
adrift some fine night when it's our watch on deck, and clear off before
they discovered that we were gone. But we would run the risk o' bein'
caught by the blacks. I wouldn't like to try that plan. But you and I
will think over it, Ralph, and see what's to be done. In the meantime
it's our watch below, so I'll go and turn in."
Bill then bade me good-night and went below, while a comrade took his
place at the helm; but feeling no desire to enter into conversation with
him, I walked aft, and leaning over the stern, looked down into the
phosphorescent waves that gurgled around the rudder, and streamed out
like a flame of blue light in the vessel's wake. My thoughts were very
sad, and I could scarce refrain from tears as I contrasted my present
wretched position with the happy, peaceful time I had spent on the Coral
Island with my dear companions. As I thought upon Jack and Peterkin,
anxious forebodings crossed my mind, and I pictured to myself the grief
and dismay with which they would search every nook and corner of the
island in a vain attempt to discover my dead body; for I felt assured
that if they did not see any sign of the pirate schooner or boat when
they came out of the cave to look for me, they would never imagine that
I had been carried away. I wondered, too, how Jack would succeed in
getting Peterkin out of the cave without my assistance; and I trembled
when I thought that he might lose presence of mind, and begin to kick
when he was in the tunnel! These thoughts were suddenly interrupted and
put to flight by a bright-red blaze, which lighted up the horizon to the
southward and cast a crimson glow far over the sea. This appearance was
accompanied by a low growling sound, as of distant thunder, and at the
same time the sky above us became black, while a hot, stifling wind blew
around us in fitful gusts.
The crew assembled hastily on deck, and most of them were under the
belief that a frightful hurricane was pending; but the captain, coming
on deck, soon explained the phenomena.
"It's only a volcano," said he. "I knew there was one hereabouts, but
thought it was extinct.--Up, there, and furl topgallant sails! We'll
likely have a breeze, and it's well to be ready."
As he spoke, a shower began to fall, which, we quickly observed, was not
rain, but fine ashes. As we were many miles distant from the volcano,
these must have been carried to us from it by the wind. As the captain
had predicted, a stiff breeze soon afterwards sprang up, under the
influence of which we speedily left the volcano far behind us; but
during the greater part of the night we could see its lurid glare and
hear its distant thunder. The shower did not cease to fall for several
hours, and we must have sailed under it for nearly forty miles--perhaps
farther. When we emerged from the cloud, our decks and every part of
the rigging were completely covered with a thick coat of ashes. I was
much interested in this, and recollected that Jack had often spoken of
many of the islands of the Pacific as being volcanoes, either active or
extinct, and had said that the whole region was more or less volcanic,
and that some scientific men were of opinion that the islands of the
Pacific were nothing more or less than the mountain-tops of a huge
continent which had sunk under the influence of volcanic agency.
Three days after passing the volcano, we found ourselves a few miles to
windward of an island of considerable size and luxuriant aspect. It
consisted of two mountains, which seemed to be nearly four thousand feet
high. They were separated from each other by a broad valley, whose
thick-growing trees ascended a considerable distance up the
mountain-sides; and rich, level plains or meadow-land spread round the
base of the mountains, except at the point immediately opposite the
large valley, where a river seemed to carry the trees, as it were, along
with it down to the white, sandy shore. The mountain-tops, unlike those
of our Coral Island, were sharp, needle-shaped, and bare, while their
sides were more rugged and grand in outline than anything I had yet seen
in those seas. Bloody Bill was beside me when the island first hove in
sight.
"Ah!" he exclaimed, "I know that island well. They call it Emo."
"Have you been there before, then?" I inquired.
"Ay, that I have, often, and so has this schooner. 'Tis a famous island
for sandal-wood. We have taken many cargoes of it already--and have
paid for them, too, for the savages are so numerous that we dared not
try to take it by force. But our captain has tried to cheat them so
often that they're beginnin' not to like us overmuch now. Besides, the
men behaved ill the last time we were here, and I wonder the captain is
not afraid to venture. But he's afraid o' nothin' earthly, I believe."
We soon ran inside the barrier coral reef, and let go our anchor in six
fathoms water, just opposite the mouth of a small creek, whose shores
were densely covered with mangroves and tall umbrageous trees. The
principal village of the natives lay about half-a-mile from this point.
Ordering the boat out, the captain jumped into it, and ordered me to
follow him. The men, fifteen in number, were well armed; and the mate
was directed to have Long Tom ready for emergencies.
"Give way, lads!" cried the captain.
The oars fell into the water at the word, the boat shot from the
schooner's side, and in a few minutes reached the shore. Here, contrary
to our expectation, we were met with the utmost cordiality by Romata,
the principal chief of the island, who conducted us to his house and
gave us mats to sit upon. I observed in passing that the natives, of
whom there were two or three thousand, were totally unarmed.
After a short preliminary palaver, a feast of baked pigs and various
roots was spread before us, of which we partook sparingly, and then
proceeded to business. The captain stated his object in visiting the
island, regretted that there had been a slight misunderstanding during
the last visit, and hoped that no ill-will was borne by either party,
and that a satisfactory trade would be accomplished.
Romata answered that he had forgotten there had been any differences
between them, protested that he was delighted to see his friends again,
and assured them they should have every assistance in cutting and
embarking the wood. The terms were afterwards agreed on, and we rose to
depart. All this conversation was afterwards explained to me by Bill,
who understood the language pretty well.
Romata accompanied us on board, and explained that a great chief from
another island was then on a visit to him, and that he was to be
ceremoniously entertained on the following day. After begging to be
allowed to introduce him to us, and receiving permission, he sent his
canoe ashore to bring him off. At the same time he gave orders to bring
on board his two favourites, a cock and a paroquet. While the canoe was
gone on this errand, I had time to regard the savage chief attentively.
He was a man of immense size, with massive but beautifully moulded limbs
and figure, only parts of which--the broad chest and muscular arms--were
uncovered; for although the lower orders generally wore no other
clothing than a strip of cloth called _maro_ round their loins, the
chief, on particular occasions, wrapped his person in voluminous folds
of a species of native cloth made from the bark of the Chinese
paper-mulberry. Romata wore a magnificent black beard and moustache,
and his hair was frizzed out to such an extent that it resembled a large
turban, in which was stuck a long wooden pin! I afterwards found that
this pin served for scratching the head, for which purpose the fingers
were too short without disarranging the hair. But Romata put himself to
much greater inconvenience on account of his hair; for we found that he
slept with his head resting on a wooden pillow, in which was cut a
hollow for the neck, so that the hair of the sleeper might not be
disarranged.
In ten minutes the canoe returned, bringing the other chief, who
certainly presented a most extraordinary appearance, having painted one
half of his face red and the other half yellow, besides ornamenting it
with various designs in black! Otherwise he was much the same in
appearance as Romata, though not so powerfully built. As this chief had
never seen a ship before--except, perchance, some of the petty traders
that at long intervals visit these remote islands--he was much taken up
with the neatness and beauty of all the fittings of the schooner. He
was particularly struck with a musket which was shown to him, and asked
where the white men got hatchets hard enough to cut the tree of which
the barrel was made! While he was thus engaged, his brother-chief stood
aloof, talking with the captain, and fondling a superb cock and a little
blue-headed paroquet--the favourites of which I have before spoken. I
observed that all the other natives walked in a crouching posture while
in the presence of Romata. Before our guests left us, the captain
ordered the brass gun to be uncovered and fired for their gratification;
and I have every reason to believe he did so for the purpose of showing
our superior power, in case the natives should harbour any evil designs
against us. Romata had never seen this gun before, as it had not been
uncovered on previous visits, and the astonishment with which he viewed
it was very amusing. Being desirous of knowing its power, he begged
that the captain would fire it; so a shot was put into it. The chiefs
were then directed to look at a rock about two miles out at sea, and the
gun was fired. In a second the top of the rock was seen to burst
asunder, and to fall in fragments into the sea.
Romata was so delighted with the success of this shot that he pointed to
a man who was walking on the shore, and begged the captain to fire at
him, evidently supposing that his permission was quite sufficient to
justify the captain in such an act. He was therefore surprised, and not
a little annoyed, when the captain refused to fire at the native and
ordered the gun to be housed.
Of all the things, however, that afforded matter of amusement to these
savages, that which pleased Romata's visitor most was the ship's pump.
He never tired of examining it and pumping up the water. Indeed, so
much was he taken up with this pump that he could not be prevailed on to
return on shore, but sent a canoe to fetch his favourite stool, on which
he seated himself, and spent the remainder of the day in pumping the
bilge-water out of the ship!
Next day the crew went ashore to cut sandal-wood, while the captain,
with one or two men, remained on board, in order to be ready, if need
be, with the brass gun, which was unhoused and conspicuously elevated,
with its capacious muzzle directed point-blank at the chief's house.
The men were fully armed, as usual; and the captain ordered me to go
with them, to assist in the work. I was much pleased with this order,
for it freed me from the captain's company, which I could not now
endure, and it gave me an opportunity of seeing the natives.
As we wound along in single file through the rich, fragrant groves of
banana, cocoa-nut, bread-fruit, and other trees, I observed that there
were many of the plum and banyan trees, with which I had become familiar
on the Coral Island. I noticed, also, large quantities of taro--roots,
yams, and sweet potatoes growing in enclosures. On turning into an open
glade of the woods, we came abruptly upon a cluster of native houses.
They were built chiefly of bamboos, and were thatched with the large,
thick leaves of the pandanus; but many of them had little more than a
sloping roof and three sides with an open front, being the most simple
shelter from the weather that could well be imagined. Within these and
around them were groups of natives--men, women, and children--who all
stood up to gaze at us as we marched along, followed by the party of men
whom the chief had sent to escort us. About half-a-mile inland we
arrived at the spot where the sandal-wood grew, and while the men set to
work I clambered up an adjoining hill to observe the country.
About midday the chief arrived with several followers, one of whom
carried a baked pig on a wooden platter, with yams and potatoes on
several plantain leaves, which he presented to the men, who sat down
under the shade of a tree to dine. The chief sat down to dine also;
but, to my surprise, instead of feeding himself, one of his wives
performed that office for him! I was seated beside Bill, and asked him
the reason of this.
"It is beneath his dignity, I believe, to feed himself," answered Bill;
"but I dare say he's not particular, except on great occasions. They've
a strange custom among them, Ralph, which is called _tabu_, and they
carry it to great lengths. If a man chooses a particular tree for his
god, the fruit o' that tree is tabued to him; and if he eats it, he is
sure to be killed by his people--and eaten, of course, for killing means
eating hereaway. Then, you see that great mop o' hair on the chief's
head? Well, he has a lot o' barbers to keep it in order; and it's a law
that whoever touches the head of a living chief or the body of a dead
one, his hands are tabued. So in that way the barbers' hands are always
tabued, and they daren't use them for their lives, but have to be fed
like big babies--as they are, sure enough!"
"That's odd, Bill. But look there," said I, pointing to a man whose
skin was of a much lighter colour than the generality of the natives.
"I've seen a few of these light-skinned fellows among the Feejeeans.
They seem to me to be of quite a different race."
"So they are," answered Bill. "These fellows come from the Tongan
Islands, which lie a long way to the eastward. They come here to build
their big war-canoes; and as these take two, and sometimes four, years
to build, there's always some o' the brown-skins among the black
sarpents o' these islands."
"By the way, Bill," said I, "your mentioning serpents reminds me that I
have not seen a reptile of any kind since I came to this part of the
world."
"No more there are any," said Bill, "if ye except the niggers
themselves. There's none on the islands but a lizard or two, and some
sich harmless things; but I never seed any myself. If there's none on
the land, however, there's more than enough in the water; and that
reminds me of a wonderful brute they have here. But come, I'll show it
to you." So saying, Bill arose, and leaving the men still busy with the
baked pig, led me into the forest. After proceeding a short distance we
came upon a small pond of stagnant water. A native lad had followed us,
to whom we called and beckoned him to come to us. On Bill saying a few
words to him, which I did not understand, the boy advanced to the edge
of the pond and gave a low, peculiar whistle. Immediately the water
became agitated, and an enormous eel thrust its head above the surface
and allowed the youth to touch it. It was about twelve feet long, and
as thick round the body as a man's thigh.
"There!" said Bill, his lip curling with contempt; "what do you think of
that for a god, Ralph? This is one o' their gods, and it has been fed
with dozens o' livin' babies already. How many more it'll get afore it
dies is hard to say."
"Babies!" said I with an incredulous look.
"Ay, babies," returned Bill. "Your soft-hearted folk at home would say,
`Oh, horrible! Impossible!' to that, and then go away as comfortable
and unconcerned as if their sayin' `Horrible! impossible!' had made it a
lie. But I tell you, Ralph, it's a _fact_. I've seed it with my own
eyes the last time I was here; an' mayhap, if you stop awhile at this
accursed place and keep a sharp lookout, you'll see it too. They don't
feed it regularly with livin' babies, but they give it one now and then
as a treat.--Bah, you brute!" cried Bill in disgust, giving the reptile
a kick on the snout with his heavy boot that sent it sweltering back in
agony into its loathsome pool. I thought it lucky for Bill--indeed for
all of us--that the native youth's back happened to be turned at the
time, for I am certain that if the poor savages had come to know that we
had so rudely handled their god we should have had to fight our way back
to the ship. As we retraced our steps I questioned my companion further
on this subject.
"How comes it, Bill, that the mothers allow such a dreadful thing to be
done?"
"Allow it? the mothers _do_ it! It seems to me that there's nothing too
fiendish or diabolical for these people to do. Why, in some of the
islands they have an institution called the _Areoi_, and the persons
connected with that body are ready for any wickedness that mortal man
can devise. In fact, they stick at nothing; and one o' their customs is
to murder their infants the moment they are born. The mothers agree to
it, and the fathers do it. And the mildest ways they have of murdering
them is by sticking them through the body with sharp splinters of
bamboo, strangling them with their thumbs, or burying them alive and
stamping them to death while under the sod."