CHAPTER XXVI
The social condition and general character of the Typees.
There seemed to be no rogues of any kind in Typee. In the darkest nightsthe natives slept securely, with all their worldly wealth around them, inhouses the doors of which were never fastened. The disquieting ideas oftheft or assassination never disturbed them. Each islander reposed beneathhis own palmetto-thatching, or sat under his own bread-fruit, with none tomolest or alarm him. There was not a padlock in the valley, nor anythingthat answered the purpose of one: still there was no community of goods.This long spear, so elegantly carved and highly polished, belongs toWarmoonoo--it is far handsomer than the one which old Marheyo so greatlyprizes--it is the most valuable article belonging to its owner. And yet Ihave seen it leaning against a cocoa-nut tree in the grove, and there itwas found when sought for. Here is a sperm-whale tooth, graven all overwith cunning devices--it is the property of Kurluna. It is the mostprecious of the damsel's ornaments. In her estimation, its price is farabove rubies; and yet there hangs the dental jewel, by its cord of braidedbark, in the girl's house, which is far back in the valley; the door isleft open, and all the inmates have gone off to bathe in the stream.(5)
So much for the respect in which such matters are held in Typee. As to theland of the valley, whether it was the joint property of its inhabitants,or whether it was parcelled out among a certain number of landedproprietors, who allowed everybody to roam over it as much as theypleased, I never could ascertain. At any rate, musty parchments andtitle-deeds there were none in the island; and I am half inclined tobelieve that its inhabitants hold their broad valleys in fee simple fromnature herself.
Yesterday I saw Kory-Kory hie him away, armed with a long pole, withwhich, standing on the ground, he knocked down the fruit from the topmostboughs of the trees, and brought them home in his basket of cocoa-nutleaves. To-day I see an islander, whom I know to reside in a distant partof the valley, doing the self-same thing. On the sloping bank of thestream were a number of banana trees. I have often seen a score or two ofyoung people making a merry foray on the great golden clusters, andbearing them off, one after another, to different parts of the vale,shouting and tramping as they went. No churlish old curmudgeon could havebeen the owner of that grove of bread-fruit trees, or of these gloriouslyyellow bunches of bananas.
From what I have said, it will be perceived that there is a vastdifference between "personal property" and "real estate" in the valley ofTypee. Some individuals, of course, are more wealthy than others. Forexample: the ridge-pole of Marheyo's house bends under the weight of manya huge packet of tappa; his long couch is laid with mats placed one uponthe other seven deep. Outside, Tinor has ranged along in her bamboocupboard--or whatever the place may be called--a goodly array of calabashesand wooden trenchers. Now, the house just beyond the grove, and next toMarheyo's, occupied by Ruaruga, is not quite so well furnished. There areonly three moderate-sized packages swinging overhead; there are only twolayers of mats beneath; and the calabashes and trenchers are not sonumerous, nor so tastefully stained and carved. But then, Ruaruga has ahouse--not so pretty a one, to be sure--but just as commodious as Marheyo's;and, I suppose, if he wished to vie with his neighbour's establishment, hecould do so with very little trouble. These, in short, constitute thechief differences perceivable in the relative wealth of the people inTypee.
They lived in great harmony with each other. I will give an instance oftheir fraternal feeling.
One day, in returning with Kory-Kory from my accustomed visit to the Ti,we passed by a little opening in the grove; on one side of which, myattendant informed me, was that afternoon to be built a dwelling ofbamboo. At least a hundred of the natives were bringing materials to theground, some carrying in their hands one or two of the canes which were toform the sides, others slender rods of the Habiscus, strung with palmettoleaves, for the roof. Every one contributed something to the work; and bythe united, but easy, and even indolent, labours of all, the entire workwas completed before sunset. The islanders, while employed in erectingthis tenement, reminded me of a colony of beavers at work. To be sure,they were hardly as silent and demure as those wonderful creatures, norwere they by any means as diligent. To tell the truth, they were somewhatinclined to be lazy, but a perfect tumult of hilarity prevailed; and theyworked together so unitedly, and seemed actuated by such an instinct offriendliness, that it was truly beautiful to behold.
Not a single female took part in this employment: and if the degree ofconsideration in which the ever-adorable sex is held by the men be--as thephilosophers affirm--a just criterion of the degree of refinement among apeople, then I may truly pronounce the Typees to be as polished acommunity as ever the sun shone upon. The religious restrictions of thetaboo alone excepted, the women of the valley were allowed every possibleindulgence. Nowhere are the ladies more assiduously courted; nowhere arethey better appreciated as the contributors to our highest enjoyments; andnowhere are they more sensible of their power. Far different from theircondition among many rude nations, where the women are made to perform allthe work, while their ungallant lords and masters lie buried in sloth, thegentle sex in the valley of Typee were exempt from toil--if toil it mightbe called--that, even in that tropical climate, never distilled one drop ofperspiration. Their light household occupations, together with themanufacture of tappa, the platting of mats, and the polishing ofdrinking-vessels, were the only employments pertaining to the women. Andeven these resembled those pleasant avocations which fill up the elegantmorning leisure of our fashionable ladies at home. But in theseoccupations, slight and agreeable though they were, the giddy young girlsvery seldom engaged. Indeed, these wilful, care-killing damsels wereaverse to all useful employment. Like so many spoiled beauties, theyranged through the groves--bathed in the stream--danced--flirted--played allmanner of mischievous pranks, and passed their days in one merry round ofthoughtless happiness.
During my whole stay on the island I never witnessed a single quarrel, noranything that in the slightest degree approached even to a dispute. Thenatives appeared to form one household, whose members were bound togetherby the ties of strong affection. The love of kindred I did not so muchperceive, for it seemed blended in the general love; and where all weretreated as brothers and sisters, it was hard to tell who were actuallyrelated to each other by blood.
Let it not be supposed that I have overdrawn this picture. I have not doneso. Nor let it be urged, that the hostility of this tribe to foreigners,and the hereditary feuds they carry on against their fellow-islandersbeyond the mountains, are facts which contradict me. Not so; theseapparent discrepancies are easily reconciled. By many a legendary tale ofviolence and wrong, as well as by events which have passed before theireyes, these people have been taught to look upon white men withabhorrence. The cruel invasion of their country by Porter has alonefurnished them with ample provocation; and I can sympathize in the spiritwhich prompts the Typee warrior to guard all the passes to his valley withthe point of his levelled spear, and, standing upon the beach, with hisback turned upon his green home, to hold at bay the intruding European.
As to the origin of the enmity of this particular clan towards theneighbouring tribes, I cannot so confidently speak. I will not say thattheir foes are the aggressors, nor will I endeavour to palliate theirconduct. But surely, if our evil passions must find vent, it is far betterto expend them on strangers and aliens, than in the bosom of the communityin which we dwell. In many polished countries civil contentions, as wellas domestic enmities, are prevalent, at the same time that the mostatrocious foreign wars are waged. How much less guilty, then, are ourislanders, who of these three sins are only chargeable with one, and thatthe least criminal!
The reader will, ere long, have reason to suspect that the Typees are notfree from the guilt of cannibalism; and he will then, perhaps, charge mewith admiring a people against whom so odious a crime is chargeable. Butthis only enormity in their character is not half so horrible as i
t isusually described. According to the popular fictions, the crews ofvessels, shipwrecked on some barbarous coast, are eaten alive like so manydainty joints by the uncivil inhabitants; and unfortunate voyagers arelured into smiling and treacherous bays; knocked on the head withoutlandish war-clubs; and served up without any preliminary dressing. Intruth, so horrific and improbable are these accounts, that many sensibleand well-informed people will not believe that any cannibals exist; andplace every book of voyages which purports to give any account of them, onthe same shelf with Blue Beard and Jack the Giant-killer. While others,implicitly crediting the most extravagant fictions, firmly believe thatthere are people in the world with tastes so depraved, that they wouldinfinitely prefer a single mouthful of material humanity to a good dinnerof roast beef and plum pudding. But here, Truth, who loves to be centrallylocated, is again found between the two extremes; for cannibalism to acertain moderate extent is practised among several of the primitive tribesin the Pacific, but it is upon the bodies of slain enemies alone; andhorrible and fearful as the custom is, immeasurably as it is to beabhorred and condemned, still I assert that those who indulge in it are inother respects humane and virtuous.