CHAPTER XXX
Strange custom of the islanders--Their chanting, and the peculiarity of their voice--Rapture of the king at first hearing a song--A new dignity conferred on the author--Musical instruments in the valley--Admiration of the savages at beholding a pugilistic performance--Swimming infant--Beautiful tresses of the girls--Ointment for the hair.
Sadly discursive as I have already been, I must still further entreat thereader's patience, as I am about to string together, without any attemptat order, a few odds and ends of things not hitherto mentioned, but whichare either curious in themselves, or peculiar to the Typees.
There was one singular custom, observed in old Marheyo's domesticestablishment, which often excited my surprise. Every night, beforeretiring, the inmates of the house gathered together on the mats, andsquatting upon their haunches, after the universal practice of theseislanders, would commence a low, dismal, and monotonous chant,accompanying the voice with the instrumental melody produced by two smallhalf-rotten sticks tapped slowly together, a pair of which were held inthe hands of each person present. Thus would they employ themselves for anhour or two, sometimes longer. Lying in the gloom which wrapped thefarther end of the house, I could not avoid looking at them, although thespectacle suggested nothing but unpleasant reflections. The flickeringrays of the "armor" nut just served to reveal their savage lineaments,without dispelling the darkness that hovered about them.
Sometimes when, after falling into a kind of doze, and awaking suddenly inthe midst of these doleful chantings, my eye would fall upon thewild-looking group engaged in their strange occupation, with their nakedtattooed limbs, and shaven heads disposed in a circle, I was almosttempted to believe that I gazed upon a set of evil beings in the act ofworking a frightful incantation.
What was the meaning or purpose of this custom, whether it was practisedmerely as a diversion, or whether it was a religious exercise, a sort offamily prayers, I never could discover.
The sounds produced by the natives on these occasions were of a mostsingular description; and had I not actually been present, I never wouldhave believed that such curious noises could have been produced by humanbeings.
To savages, generally, is imputed a guttural articulation. This, however,is not always the case, especially among the inhabitants of the PolynesianArchipelago. The labial melody with which the Typee girls carry on anordinary conversation, giving a musical prolongation to the final syllableof every sentence, and chirping out some of the words with a liquid,bird-like accent, was singularly pleasing.
The men, however, are not quite so harmonious in their utterance; and whenexcited upon any subject, would work themselves up into a sort of wordyparoxysm, during which all descriptions of rough-sided sounds wereprojected from their mouths, with a force and rapidity which wasabsolutely astonishing.
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Although these savages are remarkably fond of chanting, still they appearto have no idea whatever of singing, at least as the art is practisedamong other nations.
I never shall forget the first time I happened to roar out a stave in thepresence of the noble Mehevi. It was a stanza from the "BavarianBroom-seller." His Typean majesty, with all his court, gazed upon me inamazement, as if I had displayed some preternatural faculty which Heavenhad denied to them. The king was delighted with the verse; but the chorusfairly transported him. At his solicitation, I sang it again and again,and nothing could be more ludicrous than his vain attempts to catch theair and the words. The royal savage seemed to think that by screwing allthe features of his face into the end of his nose, he might possiblysucceed in the undertaking, but it failed to answer the purpose; and inthe end he gave it up, and consoled himself by listening to my repetitionof the sounds fifty times over.
Previous to Mehevi's making the discovery, I had never been aware thatthere was anything of the nightingale about me; but I was now promoted tothe place of court minstrel, in which capacity I was afterwardsperpetually called upon to officiate.
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Besides the sticks and the drums, there are no other musical instrumentsamong the Typees, except one which might appropriately be denominated anasal flute. It is somewhat longer than an ordinary fife, is made of abeautiful scarlet-coloured reed, and has four or five stops, with a largehole near one end, which latter is held just beneath the left nostril. Theother nostril being closed by a peculiar movement of the muscles about thenose, the breath is forced into the tube, and produces a soft dulcetsound, which is varied by the fingers running at random over the stops.This is a favourite recreation with the females, and one in which Fayawaygreatly excelled. Awkward as such an instrument may appear, it was, inFayaway's delicate little hands, one of the most graceful I have everseen. A young lady in the act of tormenting a guitar, strung about herneck by a couple of yards of blue ribbon, is not half so engaging.
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Singing was not the only means I possessed of diverting the royal Meheviand his easy-going subjects. Nothing afforded them more pleasure than tosee me go through the attitudes of a pugilistic encounter. As not one ofthe natives had soul enough in him to stand up like a man, and allow me tohammer away at him, for my own personal gratification and that of theking, I was necessitated to fight with an imaginary enemy, whom Iinvariably made to knock under to my superior prowess. Sometimes, whenthis sorely battered shadow retreated precipitately towards a group of thesavages, and, following him up, I rushed among them, dealing my blowsright and left, they would disperse in all directions, much to theenjoyment of Mehevi, the chiefs, and themselves.
The noble art of self-defence appeared to be regarded by them as thepeculiar gift of the white man; and I make little doubt but that theysupposed armies of Europeans were drawn up provided with nothing else butbony fists and stout hearts, with which they set to in column, andpummelled one another at the word of command.
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One day, in company with Kory-Kory, I had repaired to the stream for thepurpose of bathing, when I observed a woman sitting upon a rock in themidst of the current, and watching with the liveliest interest the gambolsof something, which at first I took to be an uncommonly large species offrog that was sporting in the water near her. Attracted by the novelty ofthe sight, I waded towards the spot where she sat, and could hardly creditthe evidence of my senses when I beheld a little infant, the period ofwhose birth could not have extended back many days, paddling about as ifit had just risen to the surface, after being hatched into existence atthe bottom. Occasionally the delighted parent reached out her hand towardsit, when the little thing, uttering a faint cry, and striking out its tinylimbs, would sidle for the rock, and the next moment be clasped to itsmother's bosom. This was repeated again and again, the baby remaining inthe stream about a minute at a time. Once or twice it made wry faces atswallowing a mouthful of water, and choked and spluttered as if on thepoint of strangling. At such times, however, the mother snatched it up,and by a process scarcely to be mentioned obliged it to eject the fluid.For several weeks afterward I observed the woman bringing her child downto the stream regularly every day, in the cool of the morning and evening,and treating it to a bath. No wonder that the South Sea islanders are soamphibious a race, when they are thus launched into the water as soon asthey see the light. I am convinced that it is as natural for a human beingto swim as it is for a duck. And yet, in civilized communities, how manyable-bodied individuals die, like so many drowning kittens, from theoccurrence of the most trivial accidents!
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The long, luxuriant, and glossy tresses of the Typee damsels oftenattracted my admiration. A fine head of hair is the pride and joy of everywoman's heart! Whether, against the express will of Providence, it istwisted up on the crown of the head and there coiled away; whether it
bebuilt up in a great tower, with combs and pins, or is plastered over thehead in sleek, shiny folds; or whether it be permitted to flow over theshoulders in natural ringlets, it is always the pride of the owner, andthe glory of the toilette.
The Typee girls devote much of their time to the dressing of their hairand redundant locks. After bathing, as they sometimes do five or six timesevery day, the hair is carefully dried, and if they have been in the sea,invariably washed in fresh water, and anointed with a highly-scented oilextracted from the meat of the cocoa-nut. This oil is obtained in greatabundance, by the following very simple process:--
A large vessel of wood, with holes perforated in the bottom, is filledwith the pounded meat, and exposed to the rays of the sun. As theoleaginous matter exudes, it falls in drops through the apertures into awide-mouthed calabash placed underneath. After a sufficient quantity hasthus been collected, the oil undergoes a purifying process, and is thenpoured into the small spherical shells of the nuts of the moo-tree, whichare hollowed out to receive it. These nuts are then hermetically sealedwith a resinous gum, and the vegetable fragrance of their green rind soonimparts to the oil a delightful odour. After a lapse of a few weeks, theexterior shell of the nuts becomes quite dry and hard, and assumes abeautiful carnation tint; and when opened they are found to be abouttwo-thirds full of an ointment of a light yellow colour, and diffusing thesweetest perfume. This elegant little odorous globe would not be out ofplace even upon the toilette of a queen. Its merits as a preparation forthe hair are undeniable,--it imparts to it a superb gloss and a silkyfineness.