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[page 156:]
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CHAPTER XIX.
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 of 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 manœuvres 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 [page 157:] 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 [[were]] 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 [page 158:] 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, elephantfish, 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 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, and 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 [page
159:] 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 thereabouts 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
[page 160:] the conclusion of his
harangue, when
Captain
Guy replied by assuring the chief of his eternal friendship and
goodwill,
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, nor 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 [page 161:] still farther out,
where
we saw a far greater quantity of biche de mer than the oldest
seamen
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. |
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