 Chapter 53 and 54 of Oumu, this LibriVox recording is in the public domain, Oumu, A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas, by Herman Melville, Chapter 53, Farming in Polynesia. The planters were both whole-souled fellows, but in other respects as unlike as possible. One was a tall, robust Yankee born in the backwoods of Maine, sallow and with a long face. The other was a short little cockney who had first clapped his eyes on the monument. The voice of Zeke, the Yankee, had a twang like a cracked vial, and Shorty, as his comrade called him, clipped the aspirate from every word beginning with one. The latter, though not the tallest man in the world, was a good-looking young fellow of twenty-five. His cheeks were dyed with the fine Saxon red, burned deeper from his roving life. His blue eye opened well, and a profusion of fair hair curled over a well-shaped head. But Zeke was no beauty. A strong, ugly man, he was well adapted for manual labor, and that was all. His eyes were made to see with, and not for ogling. Compared with the cockney he was grave and rather taciturn. But there was a deal of good old humor bottled up in him after all. For the rest he was frank, good-hearted, shrewd, and resolute, and, like Shorty, quite illiterate. Though a curious conjunction, the pair got along together famously. But as no two men were ever united in any enterprise without one getting the upper hand of the other, so in most matters Zeke had his own way. Shorty, too, had imbibed from him a spirit of invincible industry, and Heaven only knows what ideas of making a fortune on their plantation. We were much concerned at this, for the prospect of their setting us in their own persons an example of downright hard labor was anything but agreeable. But it was now too late to repent what we had done. The first day, thank fortune, we did nothing. Having treated us as guests thus far, they no doubt thought it would be wanting in delicacy to set us to work before the compliments of the occasion were well over. The next morning, however, they both looked business-like and we were put to. Well-bys, boys, said Zeke, knocking the ashes out of his pipe after breakfast, we must get at it. Shorty, give Peter there, the doctor, the big hoe, and Paul the other, and let's be off. Going to a corner Shorty brought forth three of the implements, and distributing them impartially, trudged on after his partner, who took the lead with something in the shape of an axe. For a moment left alone in the house, we looked at each other, quaking. We were each equipped with a great clumsy piece of a tree, armed at one end with a heavy, flat mass of iron. The cutlery part, especially adapted to primitive soil, was an importation from Sydney. The handles must have been of domestic manufacture. Hoes, so called, we had heard of and seen, but they were harmless in comparison with the tools in our hands. What's to be done with them? inquired I of Peter. Lift them up and down, he replied, or put them in motion some way or other. Paul, we are in a scrape, but hark they are calling, and shouldering the hose off we marched. Our destination was the farther side of the plantation, where the ground, cleared in part, had not yet been broken up, but they were now setting about it. Upon halting I asked why a plow was not used. Some of the young wild steers might be caught and trained for draft. Zeke replied that, for such a purpose, no cattle to his knowledge had ever been used in any part of Polynesia. As for the soil of Martyr, so obstructed was it with roots crossing and recrossing each other at all points, that no kind of a plow could be used to advantage. The heavy Sydney hose were the only thing for such land. Our work was now before us, but, previous to commencing operations, I endeavored to engage the Yankee in a little further friendly chat concerning the nature of virgin soils in general and that of the valley of Martyr in particular. So masterly a stratagem made Longost brighten up, and he stood by ready to join in. But what our friend had to say about agriculture all referred to the particular part of his plantation upon which we stood, and having communicated enough on this head to enable us to set to work to the best advantage, he fell to himself, and Shorty, who had been looking on, followed suit. The surface here and there presented closely amputated branches of what had once been a dense thicket. They seemed purposely left projecting as if to furnish a handle whereby to drag out the roots underneath. After loosening the hard soil by dint of much thumping and pounding, the Yankee jerked one of the roots this way and that, twisting it round and round, and then tugging at it horizontally. Come, lend us a hand, he cried at last, and running up we all four strained away in concert. The tough obstacle convulsed the surface with throes and spasms, but stuck fast notwithstanding. Dumb it! cried Zeke, we'll have to get a rope, run to the house Shorty and fetch one. The end of this being attached we took plenty of room and strained away once more. Give us a song, Shorty, said the doctor, who was rather sociable on a short acquaintance, where the work to be accomplished is any way difficult, this mode of enlivening toil is quite efficacious among sailors. So, willing to make everything as cheerful as possible, Shorty struck up, were you ever in Dumbarton? A marvelously inspiring but somewhat in decorous windless chorus. At last the Yankee cast a damper on his enthusiasm by exclaiming in a pet, Oh, dumb you're singing, keep quiet and pull away. This we now did in the most uninteresting silence, until with a jerk that made every elbow hum the root dragged out, and most inelegantly we all landed upon the ground. The doctor, quite exhausted, stayed there, and deluded into believing that, after so dowdy a performance, we would be allowed a cessation of toil, took off his hat and fanned himself. Ray, they're a hard customer that, Peter, observed the Yankee going up to him, but it's no use for any on them to hang back, for I'm dumbed if they ain't got to come out whether or no. Hurrah! Let's get at it again. Mercy ejaculated the doctor, rising slowly and turning round. He'll be the death of us. Falling too with our hose again, we worked singly or together, as occasion required, until nooning time came. The period so called by the planters embraced about three hours in the middle of the day, during which it was so excessively hot in the still brooding valley shut out from the trades and only open toward the leeward side of the island that labor in the sun was out of the question. To use a hyperbolic phrase of shorties, it was hot enough to melt the nose half a brass monkey. According to the house, shortie, assisted by old Tenoy, cooked the dinner, and after we had all partaken thereof, both the cockney and zeke threw themselves into one of the hammocks, inviting us to occupy the other. Thinking it no bad idea, we did so, and after skirmishing with the mosquitoes, managed to fall into a dose. As for the planters, more accustomed to nooning, they at once presented a nuptial back to each other, and were soon snoring away at a great rate. Tenoy snoozed on a mat in one corner. At last we were roused by zeke's crying out, up, buys, up, rise and shine, time to get at it again. Looking at the doctor, I perceived very plainly that he had decided upon something. In a languid voice he told zeke that he was not very well, indeed that he had not been himself for some time past, though a little rest no doubt would recruit him. The Yankee, thinking from this that our valuable services might be lost to him altogether, were he too hard upon us at the outset, at once begged us both to consult our own feelings and not exert ourselves for the present unless we felt like it. Then without recognizing the fact that my comrade claimed to be actually unwell, he simply suggested that, since he was so tired, he had better perhaps swing in his hammock for the rest of the day. If agreeable, however, I myself might accompany him upon a little bullock hunting excursion in the neighboring hills. In this proposition I gladly acquiesced, though Peter, who was a great sportsman, put on a long face. The muskets in ammunition were forthwith got down from overhead, and everything being then ready, zeke cried out, tonoy, come, are am I? Get up, we want you for pilot. Shorty, my lad, look harder things, you know, and if you likes, why there's them roots in the field yonder. Having thus arranged his domestic affairs to please himself, though little to shorty's satisfaction I thought, he slung his powder horn over his shoulder and we started. Tonoy was at once set on in advance, and, leaving the plantation, he struck into a path which led toward the mountains. After hurrying through the thickets for some time, we came out into the sunlight in an open glade, just under the shadow of the hills. Here zeke pointed aloft to a beatling craig, far distant, where a bullock with horns thrown back stood like a statue. Chapter 54 Some account of the wild cattle in Polynesia Before we proceed further, a word or two concerning these wild cattle and the way they came on the island. Some fifty years ago Vancouver left several bullocks, sheep, and goats at various places in the society group. He instructed the natives to look after the animals carefully, and by no means to slaughter any until a considerable stock had accumulated. The sheep must have died off, for I never saw a solitary fleece in any part of Polynesia. The pair left were an ill assorted couple, perhaps, separated in disgust, and died without issue. As for the goats, occasionally you came across a black, misanthropic ram nibbling the scant herbage of some height inaccessible to man in preference to the sweet grasses of the valley below. The goats were not very numerous. The bullocks, coming of a prolific ancestry, were a hearty set, racing over the island of Aimeo in considerable numbers, though in Tahiti but few of them are seen. At the former place the original pair must have scampered off to the interior, because it is now so thickly populated by their wild progeny. The herds are the private property of Queen Pomerie, from whom the planters had obtained permission to shoot for their own use as many as they pleased. The natives stand in great awe of these cattle, and for this reason are excessively timid in crossing the island, preferring rather to sail round to an opposite village in their canoes. Tonoi abounded in bullock stories, most of which, by the by, had a spice of the marvellous. The following is one of these. Once upon a time he was going over the hills with a brother, now no more, when a great bull came bellowing out of the wood, and both took to their heels. The old chief sprang into a tree, his companion, flying in an opposite direction, was pursued, and in the very act of reaching up to a bow, trampled underfoot. The unhappy man was then gored, tossed in the air, and finally run away with on the bull's horns. More dead than alive, Tonoi waited till all was over, and then made the best of his way home. The neighbors, armed with two or three muskets, at once started to recover, if possible, his unfortunate brother's remains. At nightfall they returned without discovering any trace of him, but the next morning Tonoi himself caught a glimpse of a bullock marching across the mountain's brow with a long dark object borne aloft on his horns. Having referred to Vancouver's attempts to colonize the islands with useful quadrupeds, we may as well say something concerning his success upon Hawaii, one of the largest islands in the whole Polynesian archipelago, and which gives the native name to the well-known cluster named by Cook in honor of Lord Sandwich. Hawaii is some one hundred leagues in circuit, and covers an area of over four thousand square miles. Until within a few years past its interior was almost unknown even to the inhabitants themselves, who, for ages, had been prevented from wandering thither by certain strange superstitions. Hele, the terrific goddess of the volcanoes Mauna Roa and Mauna Kea, footnote, perhaps the most remarkable volcanoes in the world. For very interesting accounts of three adventurous expeditions to their summits, seventeen thousand feet above the level of the sea, Sea Lord Byron's voyage of HBM ship blond, Ellis's journal of a visit to the Sandwich Islands, and Wilkie's narrative of the U.S. exploring expedition, and footnote, was supposed to guard all the passes to the extensive valleys lying round their base. There are legends of her having chased with streams of fire several impious adventurers. Near Hele, a jet-black cliff is shown with the vitreous torrent apparently pouring over into the sea, just as it cooled after one of these supernatural eruptions. To these inland valleys and the adjoining hillsides which are closed in the most luxuriant vegetation, Vancouver's bullocks soon wandered, and, unmolested for a long period, multiplied in vast herds. Some twelve or fifteen years ago, the natives, losing sight of their superstitions and learning the value of the hides in commerce, began hunting the creatures that wore them, but being very fearful and awkward in a business so novel, their success was small, and it was not until the arrival of a party of Spanish hunters, men regularly trained to their calling upon the plains of California, that the work of slaughter was fairly begun. The Spaniards were showy fellows, tricked out in gay blankets, leggings worked with porcupine quills and jingling spurs. Mounted upon trained Indian mares, these heroes pursued their prey up to the very base of the burning mountains, making the profoundest solitudes ring with their shouts and flinging the lasso under the very nose of the vixen goddess Pele. Kilo, a village upon the coast, was their place of resort, and thither flocked roving whites from all the islands of the group. As pupils of the dashing Spaniards, many of these dissipated fellows quaffing too freely of the stirrup cup and riding headlong after the herds, when they reeled in the saddle, were unhorsed and killed. This was about the year 1835, when the present king, Tamahamaha the Third, was a lad. With royal impudence, laying claim to the sole property of the cattle, he was delighted with the idea of receiving one of every two silver dollars paid down for their hides. So, with no thought for the future, the work of extermination went madly on. In three years' time, 18,000 bullocks were slain, almost entirely upon the single island of Hawaii. The herds being thus nearly destroyed, the sagacious young prince imposed a rigorous taboo upon the few surviving cattle, which was to remain in force for ten years. During this period, not yet expired, all hunting is forbidden, unless directly authorized by the king. The massacre of the cattle extended to the hapless goats. In one year, three thousand of their skins were sold to the merchants of Honolulu, fetching a quartilia or shilling sterling a peace. After this digression, it is time to run on after Tonoi and the Yankee. CHAPTER 55 A HUNTING RAMBLE WITH ZEEK At the foot of the mountain, a steep path went up among rocks and clefs, mantled with bear-dure. Here and there were green gulfs, on which it made one giddy to peep. At last we gained an overhanging wooded shelf of land which crowned the heights, and along this the path, well shaded, ran like a gallery. In every direction the scenery was enchanting. There was a low rustling breeze, and below, in the veil, the leaves were quivering. The sea lay blue and serene in the distance, and inland the surface swelled up, ridge after ridge, and peak upon peak, all bathed in the Indian haze of the tropics, and dreamy to look upon. Still valleys, leagues away, reposed in the deep shadows of the mountains, and here and there waterfalls lifted up their voices in the solitude. High above all and central, the marling spike lifted its finger. Upon the hillsides, small groups of bullocks were seen, some quietly browsing, others slowly winding into the valleys. We went on, directing our course for a slope of the hills a mile or two further, where the nearest bullocks were seen. We were cautious in keeping to windward of them, their sense of smell and hearing being, like those of all wild creatures, exceedingly acute. As there was no knowing that we might not surprise some other kind of game in the coverts through which we were passing, we crept along warily. The wild hogs of the island are uncommonly fierce, and as they often attack the natives, I could not help following Tonoi's example of once in a while peeping in under the foliage. Frequent retrospective glances also served to assure me that our retreat was not cut off. As we rounded a clump of bushes, a noise behind them, like the crackling of dry branches, broke the stillness. In an instant, Tonoi's hand was on a bow, ready for a spring, and Zeke's finger touched the trigger of his piece. Again the stillness was broken, and thinking at high time to get ready, I brought my musket to my shoulder. Look sharp! cried the Yankee, and dropping on one knee, he brushed the twigs aside. Presently off went his piece, and with a wild snort, a black, bristling boar, his cherry red lip curled up by two glittering tusks, dashed unharmed across the path, and crashed through the opposite thicket. I saluted him with a charge as he disappeared, but not the slightest notice was taken of the civility. By this time Tonoi, the illustrious descendant of the bishops of Aimeo, was twenty feet from the ground. Are am I? Come down, you old fool! cried the Yankee. The pesky critters on Tother side of the island before this. I ray their gas, he continued, as we began reloading, that we've spoiled sport by firing at that eternal hog. Them bullocks heard the racket, and is flinging their tales about now on the keen jump. Quick, Paul, and let's climb that rock yonder, and see if so be there's any in sight. But none were to be seen, except at such a distance that they looked like ants. As evening was now at hand, my companion proposed our returning home forthwith, and then after a sound night's rest, starting in the morning upon a good day's hunt with the whole force of the plantation. Following another path in descending into the valley, we passed through some nobly wooded land on the face of the mountain. One variety of tree particularly attracted my attention. The black mossy stem, over seventy feet high, was perfectly branchless for many feet above the ground, when it shot out in broad boughs laden with lustrous leaves of the deepest green. And all around the lower part of the trunk, thin slab-like buttresses of bark, perfectly smooth and radiating from a common center, projected along the ground for at least two yards. From below, these natural props tapered upward until gradually blended with the trunk itself. There were signs of the wild cattle having sheltered themselves behind them. Zeke called this the canoe tree, as in old times it supplied the navies of the kings of Tahiti. For canoe building, the wood is still used. Being extremely dense and impervious to worms, it is very durable. Emerging from the forest, when halfway down the hillside, we came upon an open space covered with ferns and grass, over which a few lonely trees were casting long shadows in the setting sun. Here a piece of ground some hundred feet square, covered with weeds and brambles, and sounding hollow to the tread, was enclosed by a ruinous wall of stones. Tonoi said it was an almost forgotten burial place of great antiquity, where no one had been interred since the islanders had been Christians. Sealed up in dry, deep vaults, many a dead heathen was lying there. Curious to prove the old man's statement, I was anxious to get a peep at the catacombs, but hermetically overgrown with vegetation as they were, no aperture was visible. Before gaining the level of the valley, we passed by the site of a village near a water-course long since deserted. There was nothing but stone walls and rude, dismantled foundations of houses constructed of the same material. Large trees and brushwood were growing rankly among them. I asked Tonoi how long it was since anyone had lived here. Me tamari, boy, plenty canaker, men, martyre, he replied. Now only poor pehe kanaka, fishermen, left. Me born here. Going down the valley, vegetation of every kind presented a different aspect from that of the high land. Chief among the trees of the plain on this island is the ati, large and lofty with a massive trunk and broad, laurel-shaped leaves. The wood is splendid. In Tahiti I was shown a narrow polished plank fit to make a cabinet for a king. Taken from the heart of the tree, it was of a deep, rich scarlet traced with yellow veins and in some places clouded with hazel. In the same grove with the regal ati, you may see the beautiful flowering hotu, its pyramid of shining leaves diversified with numberless small white blossoms. Planted with trees as the valley is, almost throughout its entire length, I was astonished to observe so very few which were useful to the natives. Not one in a hundred was a coconut or breadfruit tree. But here Tonoi again enlightened me. In the sanguinary religious hostilities which ensued upon the conversion to Christianity of the first palmery, a war party from Tahiti destroyed by girdling the bark, entire groves of these invaluable trees. For some time afterward they stood stark and leafless in the sun, sad monuments of the fate which befell the inhabitants of the valley. Chapter 56 Mosquitoes The night following the hunting trip, long ghost and myself after a valiant defense, had to fly the house on account of the mosquitoes. And here I cannot avoid relating a story rife among the natives concerning the manner in which these insects were introduced upon the island. Some years previous, a wailing captain, touching at an adjoining bay, got into difficulty with its inhabitants and at last carried his complaint before one of the native tribunals. But receiving no satisfaction and deeming himself aggrieved, he resolved upon taking signal revenge. One night he told a rotten old water-cask ashore and left it in a neglected taro patch where the ground was warm and moist, hence the mosquitoes. I tried my best to learn the name of this man and hereby do what I can to hand it down to posterity. It was Coleman, Nathan Coleman. The ship belonged to Nantucket. When tormented by the mosquitoes, I found much relief in coupling the word Coleman with another of one syllable and pronouncing them together energetically. The doctor suggested a walk to the beach where there was a long, low shed tumbling to pieces but open lengthwise to a current of air which he thought might keep off the mosquitoes. So thither we went. The ruin partially sheltered a relic of times gone by, which a few days after we examined with much curiosity. It was an old war canoe crumbling to dust. Being supported by the same rude blocks upon which apparently it had years before been hollowed out, in all probability it had never been afloat. Outside it seemed originally stained of a green color, which here and there was now changed into a dingy purple. The prow terminated in a high, blunt peak. Both sides were covered with carving, and upon the stern was something which long-ghost maintained to be the arms of the royal house of Pomeray. The device had a heraldic look, certainly. Being two sharks with the talons of hawks, clawing a knot, left projecting from the wood. The canoe was at least forty feet long, about two wide and four deep. The upper part, consisting of narrow planks laced together with cords of synate, had in many places fallen off and lay decaying upon the ground. Still there were ample accommodations left for sleeping, and in we sprang the doctor into the bow and I into the stern. I soon fell asleep, but waking suddenly, cramped in every joint from my constrained posture, I thought for an instant that I must have been prematurely screwed down in my coffin. Presenting my compliments to long-ghost, I asked how it fared with him. Bad enough, he replied, as he tossed about in the outlandish rubbish lying in the bottom of our couch. Pah! how these old mats smell! As he continued talking in this exciting strain for some time, I at last made no reply, having resumed certain mathematical reveries to induce repose. But finding the multiplication table to no avail, I summoned up a grayish image of chaos in a sort of sliding fluidity, and was just falling into a nap on the strength of it when I heard a solitary and distinct buzz. The hour of my calamity was at hand. One blended hum, the creature darted into the canoe like a small swordfish, and I out of it. Upon getting into the open air, to my surprise, there was long-ghost fanning himself wildly with an old paddle. He had just made a noiseless escape from a swarm, which had attacked his own end of the canoe. It was now proposed to try the water, so a small fishing canoe hauled up nearby was quickly launched, and paddling a good distance off, we dropped overboard the native contrivance for an anchor, a heavy stone attached to a cable of braided bark. At this part of the island, the encircling reef was close to the shore, leaving the water within smooth and extremely shallow. It was a blessed thought. We knew nothing till sunrise when the motion of our aquatic cot awakened us. I looked up and beheld Zeke waiting toward the shore and towing us after him by the bark cable. Pointing to the reef, he told us we had had a narrow escape. It was true enough, the water sprites had rolled our stone out of its noose, and we had floated away. CHAPTER 57 THE SECOND HUNT IN THE MOUNTAINS Fair dawned over the hills of Martyr the jockened morning of our hunt. Everything had been prepared for it overnight, and when we arrived at the house a good breakfast was spread by shorty, and old Tonoi was bustling about like an innkeeper. Several of his men also were in attendance to accompany us with calabashes of food, and in case we met with any success, to officiate as bearers of burdens on our return. Apprised the evening previous of the meditated sport, the doctor had announced his willingness to take part therein. Now subsequent events made us regard this expedition as a shrewd device of the Yankees. Once get us off on a pleasure trip, and with what face could we afterwards refuse to work? Besides, he enjoyed all the credit for giving us a holy day. Nor did he omit assuring us that, work or play, our wages were all the while running on. A dilapidated old musket of Tonoi's was borrowed for the doctor. It was exceedingly short and heavy with a clumsy lock which required a strong finger to pull the trigger. On trying the piece by firing at a mark, Longost was satisfied that it could not fail of doing execution. The charge went one way and he the other. Upon this he endeavored to negotiate an exchange of muskets with shorty, but the cockney was proof against his blandishments. At last he entrusted his weapon to one of the natives to carry for him. Marshalling our forces, we started for the head of the valley, near which a path ascended to a range of high land, said to be a favorite resort of the cattle. Shortly after gaining the heights, a small herd, some way off, was perceived entering a wood. We hurried on, and dividing our party went in after them at four different points, each white man followed by several natives. I soon found myself in a dense covert, and after looking round was just emerging into a clear space when I heard a report, and a bullet knocked the bark from a tree nearby. The same instant there was a trampling and crashing, and five bullocks nearly abreast, broken to view across the opening and plunged right towards the spot where myself and three of the islanders were standing. They were small, black, vicious-looking creatures with short, sharp horns, red nostrils, and eyes like coals of fire. On they came, their dark woolly heads hanging down. By this time my island backers were roosting among the trees, glancing round for an instant to discover a retreat in case of emergency, I raised my peace when a voice cried out from the wood, right between the horns, Paul, right between the horns. Down went my barrel in range with a small white tuft on the forehead of the headmost one, and letting him have it, I darted to one side. As I turned again, the five bullocks shot by like a blast, making the air eddy in their wake. The Yankee now burst into view and saluted them in flank, whereupon the fierce little bull with the tufted forehead flirted his long tail over his buttocks, kicked out with his hind feet, and shot forward at full length. It was nothing but a graze, and in an instant they were out of sight, the thicket into which they broke, rocking overhead and marking their progress. The action over the heavy artillery came up in the person of the long doctor with his blunder-bus. Where are they? he cried out of breath. A mile or two off by this time, replied the cockney, Lord Paul, you ought to have sent a nail-stone into that little blacken. While excusing my want of skill as well as I could, Zeke, rushing forward, suddenly exclaimed, Creation, what are you about there, Peter? Peter incensed at our ill luck, and ignorantly imputing it to the cowardice of our native auxiliaries, was bringing his piece to bear upon his trembling squire, the musket-carrier, now descending a tree. Pulling trigger, the bullet went high over his head, and hopping to the ground, bellowing like a calf, the fellow ran away as fast as his heels could carry him. The rest followed us after this, with fear and trembling. After forming our line of march anew, we went on for several hours without catching a glimpse of the game, the reports of the muskets having been heard at a great distance. At last we mounted a craggy height to obtain a wide view of the country. From this place we beheld three cattle quietly browsing in a green opening of a wood below, the trees shutting them in all round. A general re-examination of the muskets now took place, followed by a hasty lunch from the calabashes, we then started. As we descended the mountain side, the cattle were in plain sight until we entered the forest when we lost sight of them for a moment, but only to see them again as we crept close up to the spot where they grazed. They were a bull, a cow, and a calf. The cow was lying down in the shade by the edge of the wood, the calf sprawling out before her in the grass licking her lips. While old Taurus himself stood close by, casting a paternal glance at this domestic little scene and conjugly elevating his nose in the air. Now, then, said Zeke in a whisper, let's take the poor creeders while they are huddled together, crawl along, boys, crawl along. Fire together, mind, and not till I say the word. We crept up to the very edge of the open ground and knelt behind a clump of bushes resting our leveled barrels among the branches. The slight rustling was heard. Taurus turned round, dropped his head to the ground, and sent forth a low, sullen bellow, then snuffed the air. The cow rose on her four knees, pitched forward alarmedly, and stood upon her legs. While the calf, with ears pricked, got right underneath her. All three were now grouped, and in an instant would be off. I take the bull, cried our leader. Fire! The calf fell like a claw. Its dam uttered a cry, and thrust her head into the thicket. But she turned, and came moaning up to the lifeless calf, going round and round it, snuffing fiercely with her bleeding nostrils. A crashing in the wood and a loud roar announced the flying bull. Soon another shot was fired, and the cow fell, leaving some of the natives to look after the dead cattle, the rest of us hurried on after the bull, his dreadful bellowings guiding us to the spot where he lay. Wounded in the shoulder, in his fright and agony, he had bounded into the wood. But when we came up to him, he had sunk to the earth in a green hollow, thrusting his black muzzle into a pool of his own blood, and tossing it over his hide and clots. The Yankee brought his peace to a rest, and the next instant the wild brute sprang into the air, and with his four legs crouching under him, fell dead. Our island friends were now in high spirits, all courage and alacrity. Old Tonoi thought nothing of taking poor Taurus himself by the horns and peering into his glazed eyes. Our ship knives were at once in request, and skinning the cattle, we hung them high up by cords of bark from the boughs of a tree. Withdrawing into a covert, we there waited for the wild hogs, which, according to Zeke, would soon make their appearance lured by the smell of blood. Presently we heard them coming in two or three different directions, and in a moment they were tearing the awful to pieces. As only one shot at these creatures could be relied on, we intended firing simultaneously, but somehow or other the doctor's peace went off by itself and one of the hogs dropped. The others then breaking into the thicket, the rest of us spraying after them resolved to have another shot at all hazards. The cockney darted among some bushes, and a few moments after we heard the report of his musket followed by a quick cry. On running up, we saw our comrade doing battle with a young devil of a boar as black as night, whose snout had been partly torn away. Firing when the game was in full career and coming directly toward him, Shorty had been assailed by the enraged brute. It was now crunching the breach of the musket with which he had tried to club it, Shorty holding fast to the barrel and fingering his waist for a knife. Being in advance of the others, I clapped my gun to the boar's head and so put an end to the contest. Evening now coming on, we set to work loading our carriers. The cattle were so small that a stout native could walk off with an entire quarter, brushing through thickets and descending rocks without a parent effort, though to tell the truth no white man present could have done the thing with any ease. As for the wild hogs, none of the islanders could be induced to carry Shorty's, some invincible superstition being connected with its black color. We were therefore obliged to leave it. The other, a spotted one being slung by green thongs to a pole, was marched off with by two young natives. With our bearers of burdens ahead, we then commenced our return down the valley. Halfway home, darkness overtook us in the woods and torches became necessary. We stopped and made them of dry palm branches and then sending two lads on in advance for the purpose of gathering fuel to feed the flambeau, we continued our journey. It was a wild sight. The torches waved aloft flashed through the forest and were admitted. The islanders went along in a brisk trot notwithstanding they had been forward under their loads. Their naked backs were stained with blood and occasionally running by each other they raised wild cries which startled the hill-sides. Chapter 58 The Hunting Feast and a visit to Uffrihitu Two bullocks and a boar no bad trophies of our day's sport. So by torchlight the wild hog rocking from its pole and the doctor singing an old hunting song Tally Ho the chorus of which swelled high above the yells of the natives. We resolved to make a night of it kindling a great fire just outside the dwelling and hanging one of the heifer's quarters from a limb of the banyan tree everyone was at liberty to cut and broil for himself. Baskets of roasted breadfruit bunches of bananas and young coconuts had also been provided by the natives against our return. The fire burned bravely keeping off the mosquitoes and making every man's face glow like a beaker of port. The meat had a true wild game flavor not at all impaired by our famous appetites and a couple of flasks of white brandy which Zeke, producing from his secret store circulated freely. There was no end to the long comrades' spirits. After telling his stories and singing his songs he sprang to his feet clasped a young damsel of the grove round the waist and waltzed over the grass with her. But there's no telling all the pranks he played that night. The natives, who delight in a wag, emphatically pronounced him my tie. It was long after midnight ere we broke up and my little monkey salted down what was left of the meat. The next day was Sunday and at my request shorty accompanied me to Afrihetu a neighboring bay and the seat of a mission almost directly opposite Pappatee. In Afrihetu is a large church and school house both quite dilapidated and planted amid shrubbery on a fine knoll stands a very tasteful cottage I caught sight of a graceful calico skirt disappearing from the piazza through a doorway the place was the residence of the missionary a trim little sailboat was dancing out at her moorings a few yards from the beach straggling over the low lands in the vicinity were several native huts untidy enough but much better every way than most of those in Tahiti we attended service at the church where we found but a small congregation and after what I had seen in Pappatee nothing very interesting took place but the audience had a curious fidgety look which I knew not how to account for until we ascertained that a sermon with the 8th commandment for a text was being preached it seemed that there lived an Englishman in the district who like our friends the planters was cultivating tombase potatoes for the Pappatee market in spite of all his precautions the natives were in the habit of making nocturnal forays into his enclosure and carrying off the potatoes one night he fired a fouling piece charged with pepper and salt at several shadows which he discovered stealing across his premises they fled but it was like seasoning anything else the naves stole again with a greater relish than ever and the very next night he caught a party in the act of roasting potatoes under his own cooking shed at last he stated his grievances to the missionary who for the benefit of his congregation preached the sermon we heard now there were no thieves in Martyr but then the people of the valley were bribed to be honest it was a regular business transaction between them and the planters in consideration of so many potatoes to them in hand duly paid they were to abstain from all depredations upon the plantation another security against roguery was the permanent residence upon the premises of their chief Tonoi on our return to Martyr in the afternoon we found the doctor and Zeke making themselves comfortable the latter was reclining on the ground pipe in mouth watching the doctor who's sitting like a Turk before a large iron kettle was slicing potatoes in Indian turnip now and then shattering splinters from a bone all of which by turns were thrown into the pot he was making what he called bullock broth in gastronomic affairs my friend was something of an artist and by way of improving his knowledge did nothing the rest of the day but practice in what might be called experimental cookery broiling and grilling and deviling slices of meat and subjecting them to all sorts of igneous operations it was the first fresh beef that either of us had tasted in more than a year oh, you'll pick up Artyr a while, Peter observed Zeke toward night as Long Ghost was turning a great rib over the coals what do you think, Paul? he'll get along, I daresay replied I he only wants to get those cheeks of his tanned to tell the truth he promised to see the doctor's reputation as an invalid fading away so fast especially as on the strength of his being one he had promised to have such easy times of it and very likely too at my expense End of chapters 57 and 58 Recording by Tricia G. Chapters 59 and 60 of Omu this Librebox recording is in the public domain Omu, a narrative of adventures in the South Seas by Herman Melville Chapter 59 The Murphy's dozing in our canoe the next morning about daybreak we were wakened by Zeke's hailing us loudly from the beach upon paddling up he told us that a canoe had arrived overnight from Papati with an order from a ship lying there for a supply of his potatoes and as they must be on board the vessel by noon he wanted us to assist in bringing them down to his sailboat my long comrade was one of those who from always thrusting forth the wrong foot foremost when they rise for committing some other indiscretion of the limbs are more or less crabbed or sullen before breakfast it was in vain therefore that the Yankee deplored the urgency of the case which obliged him to call us up thus early the doctor only looked the more glum at last by way of getting up a little enthusiasm for the occasion the Yankee exclaimed quite spiritedly what do you say then boys shall we get at it yes in the devil's name replied the doctor like a snapping turtle and we moved on to the house not withstanding his ungracious answer he probably thought that after the gastronomic performance of the day previous it would hardly do to hang back at the house we found shorty ready with the hose and we at once repaired to the farther side of the enclosure where the potatoes had yet to be taken out of the ground the rich tawny soil seemed specially adapted to the crop the great yellow Murphy's rolling out of the hills like eggs from a nest my comrade really surprised me by the zeal with which he applied himself to his hoe on his own part exhilarated by the cool breath of the morning I worked away like a good fellow as for Zeke and the cockney they seemed mightily pleased at this evidence of our willingness to exert ourselves it was not long ere all the potatoes were turned out and then came the worst of it they were to be lugged down to the beach a distance of at least a quarter of a mile and there being no such thing as a barrow or cart on the island nothing for it but spinal mirrors and broad shoulders well knowing that this part of the business would be anything but agreeable Zeke did his best to put his encouraging a face upon it as possible and giving us no time to indulge in desponding thoughts gleefully directed our attention to a pile of rude baskets made of stout stocks which had been provided for the occasion so without more ado we helped ourselves from the heap and soon we were all forced staggering along under our loads the first trip down we arrived at the beach together Zeke's enthusiastic cries proving irresistible a trip or two more however and my shoulders began to grate in their sockets while the doctor's tall figure acquired an obvious stoop presently we both threw down our baskets protesting we could stand it no longer but our employers bent as it were upon getting the work out of us by a silent appeal to our moral sense toiled away without pretending to notice us it was as much to say there men we've been boarding and lodging ye for the last three days and yesterday ye did nothing earthly but eat so stand by now and look at us working if ye dare thus driven to it then we resumed our employment yet in spite of all we could do we liked behind Zeke and Shorty who breathing hard and perspiring at every pour toiled away without pause or cessation I almost wickedly wished that they would load themselves down with one potato too many gasping as I was with my own hamper I could not for the life of me help laughing at long ghost there he went his long neck thrust forward his arms twisted behind him to form a shelf for his basket to rest on and his stilts of legs every once in a while giving way under him as if his knee joints slipped either way there I carry no more he exclaimed all at once flinging his potatoes into the boat where the Yankee was just then stowing them away oh then said Zeke quite briskly I guess you and Paul had better try the barrel machine come along I'll fix ye out in no time and so saying he waited ashore and hurried back to the house bidding us follow wondering what upon earth the barrel machine could be and rather suspicious of it we limped after on arriving at the house we found him getting ready a sort of sedan chair it was nothing more than an old barrel suspended by a rope from the middle of a stout ore quite an ingenious contrivance of the Yankees proposed arrangement with regard to mine and the doctor's shoulders was equally so there now said he when everything was ready there's no back breaking about this you can stand right up under it you see just try it once and he politely rested the blade of the ore on my comrade's right shoulder and the other end on mine leaving the barrel between us just the thing he added standing up admiringly while we remained in this interesting attitude there was no help for us with broken hearts and backs we trudged back to the field the doctor all the while saying masses upon starting with the loaded barrel for a few paces we got along pretty well and were constrained to think the idea not a bad one but we did not long think so in less than five minutes we came to a dead halt we were struggling and buckling of the clumsy ore being almost unendurable let's shift ends cried the doctor who did not quite relish the blade of the stick which was cutting into the blade of his shoulder at last by stages short and frequent we managed to shamble down to the beach where we again dumped our cargo in something of a pet why not make the natives help asked long ghost rubbing his shoulder natives be dumbed said the Yankee twenty on them ain't worth one white man they never was meant to work any of them chaps and they knows it too for dumbed little work any on them ever does but notwithstanding this abuse Zeke was at last obliged to press a few of the bipeds into service our am I come here he shouted to several who reclining on a bank had hitherto been critical observers of our proceedings and among other things had been particularly amused by the performance with the sedan chair after making these fellows load their baskets together the Yankee filled his own and then drove them before him down to the beach probably he had seen the herds of pan-eared mules driven in this way by mounted Indians along the great road from Kayao to Lima the boat at last loaded the Yankee taking with him a couple of natives at once hoisted sail and stood across the channel for papity the next morning at breakfast old Tonoy ran in and told us that the voyagers were returning we hurried down to the beach and saw the boat gliding toward us with a dozing islander at the helm and Zeke standing up in the boughs jingling a small bag of silver the proceeds of his cargo Chapter 60 What They Thought of Us in Martyr several quiet days now passed away during which we just worked sufficiently to sharpen our appetites the planters leniently exempting us from any severe toil their desire to retain us became more and more evident which was not to be wondered at for, beside esteeming us from the beginning a couple of civil, good-natured fellows who would soon become quite at home with them they were not slow in perceiving that we were far different from the common run of rovers and that our society was both entertaining and instructive to a couple of solitary illiterate men like themselves in a literary point of view indeed they soon regarded us with emotions of envy and wonder and the doctor was considered nothing short of a prodigy the cockney found out that he, the doctor could read a book upside down without even so much as spelling the big words beforehand and the Yankee in the twinkling of an eye received from him the sum total of several arithmetical items stated aloud with the view of testing the extent of his mathematical lore then frequently in discoursing upon men and things my long comrade employed such imposing phrases that upon one occasion they actually remained uncovered while he talked in short their favorable opinion of Longost in particular rose higher and higher every day and they began to indulge in all manner of dreams concerning the advantages to be derived from employing so learned a laborer among other projects revealed was that of building a small craft of some 40 tons for the purpose of trading among the neighboring islands with a native crew we could then take turns cruising over the tranquil pacific touching here and there as Caprice suggested in collecting romantic articles of commerce beech demer the pearl oyster arrow root ambergris, sandalwood, coconut oil and edible birds nests this south sea yachting was delightful to think of and straight away the doctor announced his willingness to navigate the future schooner clear of all shoals and reefs whatsoever his impudence was audacious he enlarged upon the science of navigation treated us to a dissertation on Mercator's sailing and the azimuth compass and went into an inexplicable explanation of the lord only knows what plan of his for infallibly settling the longitude whenever my comrade thus gave reigns to his fine fancy it was a treat to listen and therefore I never interfered but with the planters sat in mute admiration before him this apparent self-abasement on my part must have been considered as truly indicative of our respective merits for to my no small concern I quickly perceived that in the estimate formed of us long ghost began to be rated far above myself for odd I knew indeed he might have privately thrown out a hint concerning the difference in our respective stations of the Julia or else the planters must have considered him some illustrious individual for certain inscrutable reasons going incognito with this idea of him his undisguised disinclination for work became venial and entertaining such views of extending their business they counted more upon his ultimate value to them as a man of science than as a mere ditcher nor did the humorous doctor to foster an opinion every way so advantageous to himself at times for the sake of the joke assuming heirs of superiority over myself which though laughable enough were sometimes annoying to tell the plain truth things at last came to such a pass that I told him up and down that I had no notion to put up with his pretensions if he were going to play the gentleman I was going to follow suit and there would quickly be an explosion at this he laughed heartily and after some mirthful chat we resolved upon leaving the valley as soon as we could do so with a proper regard to politeness at supper therefore the same evening the doctor hinted at our intention though much surprised and vexed Zeke moved not a muscle Peter he said at last very gravely and after mature deliberation would you like to do the cooking? it's easy work and you needn't do anything else Paul's hardier he can work in the field when it suits him and before long will have ye at something more agreeable won't we shorty shorty assented doubtless the proposed arrangement was a snug one especially the sine cure for the doctor but I by no means relished the functions allotted to myself they were too indefinite nothing final however was agreed upon our intention to leave was revealed and that was enough for the present but as we said nothing further about going the Yankee must have concluded that we might yet be induced to remain he redoubled his endeavors to make us contented it was during this state of affairs that one morning before breakfast we were set to weeding in a potato patch and the planters being engaged at the house we were left to ourselves now though the pulling of weeds was considered by our employers an easy occupation for which reason they had assigned it to us and although as a garden recreation it may be pleasant enough for those who like it still long persisted in the business becomes excessively irksome nevertheless we toiled away for some time until the doctor who from his height was obliged to stoop at a very acute angle suddenly sprang upright and with one hand propping his spinal column exclaimed oh that one's joints were but provided with holes to drop a little oil through vain as the aspiration was for this proposed improvement upon our species I cordially responded there too for every vertebra in my spine was articulating its sympathy presently the sun rose over the mountains inducing that deadly morning so fatal to early exertion in a warm climate we could stand it no longer but shouldering our hose moved on to the house resolved to impose no more upon the good nature of the planters by continuing one moment longer in an occupation so extremely uncongenial we freely told them so he was exceedingly hurt and said everything he could think of to alter our determination but finding all on availing he very hospitably urged us not to be in any hurry about leaving for we might stay with him as guests until we had time to decide upon our future movements we thanked him sincerely but replied that the following morning we must turn our backs upon the hills of Martyr end of chapters 59 and 60 recording by Tricia G chapter 61 and 62 of Omu this LibriVox recording is in the public domain Omu a narrative of adventures in the south seas by Herman Melville chapter 61 preparing for the journey during the remainder of the day we loitered about talking over our plans the doctor was all eagerness to visit Tamay a solitary inland village standing upon the banks of a considerable lake of the same name and embusomed among groves from Afrehitu he went to this place by a lonely pathway leading through the wildest scenery in the world much too we had heard concerning the lake itself which abounded in such delicious fish that in former times angling parties occasionally came over to it from Pappity and its banks moreover grew the finest fruit of the islands and in their greatest perfection the vey or Brazilian plum here attained the size of an orange and the gorgeous arhia or red apple of Tahiti flushed with deeper dyes than in any of the seaward valleys beside all this in Tamay dwelt the most beautiful and unsophisticated women in the entire society group in short the village was so remote from the coast and had been so much less affected by recent changes than other places that in most things Tahitian life was here seen as formerly existing in the days of young Ohtu the boy king in Cook's time after obtaining from the planters all the information which was needed we decided upon penetrating to the village and after a temporary sojourn there to strike the beach again and journey round to Talu a harbor on the opposite side of the island we had once put ourselves in traveling trim just previous to leaving Tahiti having found my wardrobe reduced to two suits frock and trousers both much the worse for wear I had quilted them together for mutual preservation after a fashion peculiar to sailors in grafting a red frock upon a blue one and producing thereby a choice variety in the way of clothing this was the extent of my wardrobe nor was the doctor by any means better off his improvidence had at last driven him to don the nautical garb but by this time his frock a light cotton one had almost given out and he had nothing to replace it shorty very generously offered him one which was a little less ragged but the alms was proudly refused long ghost preferring to assume a fashion costume of Tahiti the Roura this garment once worn as a festival dress is now seldom met with but Captain Bob had often shown us one which he kept as an heirloom it was a cloak or mantel of yellow tappa precisely similar to the poncho worn by the South American Spaniards the head being slipped through a slit in the middle the rope hangs about the person in ample drapery with a sufficient coarse brown tappa to make a short mantel of this description and in five minutes the doctor was equipped Zeke, eyeing his toga critically reminded its proprietor that there were many streams to forward and precipices to scale between Martyr and Tamai and if he traveled in petticoats he had better hold them up besides other deficiencies we were utterly shoe less in the free and easy pacific sailors seldom wear shoes mine had been tossed overboard the day we met the trades and except in one or two tramps ashore I had never worn any since in Martyr they would have been desirable but none were to be had for the expedition we meditated however they were indispensable Zeke, being the owner of a pair of huge dilapidated boots hanging from a rafter like saddle bags the doctor succeeded in exchanging for them a case knife the last valuable article in his possession for myself I made sandals from a bullock's hide such as are worn by the Indians in California they are made in a minute the soul rudely fashioned to the foot being confined across the instep by three straps of leather our headgear deserves a passing word my comrades was a brave old Panama hat made of grass almost as fine as the threads of silk and so elastic that upon rolling it up it sprang into perfect shape again set off by the jaunty slouch of the Spanish sombrero doctor Longost in this and his roura looked like a mendicant grand day nor was my own appearance in an eastern turban less distinguished the way I came to wear it was this my hat having been knocked overboard a few days before reaching Pappity obliged to mount an abominable wad of party-colored worsted what sailors call a scotch cap everyone knows the elasticity of knit wool and this Caledonian headdress crowned my temples so effectually that the confined atmosphere was prejudicial to my curls in vain I tried to ventilate the cap every gash made seemed to heal whole in no time then such a continual chafing of hot sun seeing my dislike to the thing Hulu, my worthy friend prevailed upon me to bestow it upon him I did so hinting that a good boiling might restore the original brilliancy of the colors it was then that I mounted the turban taking a new regatta frock of the doctors which was of a gay calico and winding it round my head in folds I allowed the sleeves to droop behind thus forming a good defense against the sun though in a shower it was best off the pendant sleeves adding much to the effect the doctor always called me the basha with two tails thus a raid we were ready for tamai in whose green saloons we counted upon creating no small sensation chapter 62 tamai long before sunrise the next morning my sandals were laced on and the doctor had vaulted into ziks boots expecting to see us again before we went to talu the planters wished us a pleasant journey and on parting very generously presented us with a pound or two of what sailors call plug tobacco telling us to cut it up into small change the virginian weed being the principal circulating medium on the island tamai we are told was not more than three or four leagues distant so making allowances for a wild road a few hours to rest at noon and our determination to take the journey leisurely we counted upon reaching the shores of the lake sometime in the flush of the evening for several hours we went on slowly through wooden ravine and over hill and precipice seeing nothing but occasional herds of wild cattle and often resting until we found ourselves about noon in the very heart of the island it was a green cool hollow among the mountains into which we at last descended with a bound the place was gushing with a hundred springs and shaded over with great solemn trees on whose mossy bowls the moisture stood in beads strange to say no traces of the bullocks ever having been here were revealed nor was there a sound to be heard nor a bird to be seen nor any breath of wind stirring the leaves the utter solitude and silence were oppressive and after peering about under the shades and seeing nothing but ranks of dark motionless trunks we hurried across the hollow and ascended a steep mountain opposite midway up we rested where the earth had gathered about the roots of three palms and thus formed a pleasant lounge from which we looked down upon the hollow now one dark green tuft of woodland at our feet here we brought forth a small Calabash of Poe a parting present from Tonoi after eating heartily we obtained fire by two sticks and throwing ourselves back puffed forth our fatigue in wreaths of smoke at last we fell asleep nor did we waken till the sun had sunk so low that its rays darted in upon us under the foliage starting up we then continued our journey and as we gained the mountaintop there to our surprise lay the lake and village of Tonoi we had thought it a good league off where we stood the yellow sunset was still lingering but over the valley below long shadows were stealing the rippling green lake reflecting the houses and trees just as they stood along its banks several small canoes moored here and there to posts in the water were dancing upon the waves and one solitary fisherman was paddling over to a grassy point in front of the houses groups of natives were seen some thrown at full length upon the ground and others indolently leaning against the bamboos with whoop and halloo we ran down the hills the villagers soon hurrying forth to see who were coming as we drew near they gathered round all curiosity to know what brought the carhawries into their quiet country the doctor contriving to make them understand the purely social object of our visit they gave us a true Tahitian welcome pointing into their dwellings and saying they were ours as long as we chose to remain we were struck by the appearance of these people both men and women so much more healthful than the inhabitants of the bays as for the young girls they were more retiring and modest more tidy in their dress and far fresher and more beautiful than the damsels of the coast a thousand pitties thought I that they should bury their charms in this nook of a valley that night we abode in the house of Rartu a hospitable old chief it was right on the shore of the lake and at supper we looked out through a rustling screen of foliage upon the surface of the starlit water the next day we rambled about and found a happy little community comparatively free from many deplorable evils to which the rest of their countrymen were subject their time too was more occupied to my surprise the manufacture of Tapa was going on in several buildings European calicoes were seldom seen and not many articles of foreign origin of any description the people of Tamay were nominally Christians but being so remote from ecclesiastical jurisdiction their religion sat lightly upon them we had been told even that many heathenish games and dances still secretly lingered in their valley now the prospect of seeing an old-fashioned Hevar or Tahitian reel was one of the inducements which brought us here and so finding Rartu rather liberal in his religious ideas we disclosed our desire at first he demurred and shrugging his shoulders like a Frenchman declared it could not be brought about the dangerous matter to attempt and might bring all concerned into trouble but we overcame all this convinced him that the thing could be done and a Hevar a genuine pagan fandango was arranged for that very night end of chapters 61 and 62 recording by Tricia G chapter 63 and 64 of Omu this LibriVox recording is in the public domain Omu a narrative of adventures in the south seas by Herman Melville chapter 63 a dance in the valley there were some ill-natured people tell tales it seemed into my and hence there was a deal of mystery about getting up the dance an hour or two before midnight Rartu entered the house and throwing robes of tappa over us made us follow at a distance behind him and until out of the village hood our faces keenly alive to the adventure we obeyed at last after taking a wide circuit we came out upon the farthest shore of the lake it was a wide, dewy space lighted up by a full moon and carpeted with a minute species of fern growing closely together it swept right down to the water showing the village opposite glistening among the groves near the trees inside of the clear space was a ruinous pile of stones many rods in extent upon which had formerly stood a temple of oro at present there was nothing but a rude hut planted on the lowermost terrace it seemed to have been used as a tappa harry or house for making the native cloth here we saw lights gleaming from between the bamboos and casting long rod-like shadows upon the ground without our faces were also heard we went up and had a peep at the dancers who were getting ready for the ballet they were some twenty in number waited upon by hideous old crones who might have been duenas long ghost proposed to send the latter packing but rar2 said it would never do and so they were permitted to remain we tried to effect an entrance at the door which was fastened with one of the old witches within our guide became fidgety and at last told us to desist or we would spoil all he then let us off to a distance to await the performance as the girls he said did not wish to be recognized he furthermore made us promise to remain where we were until all was over and the dancers had retired we waited impatiently and at last they came forth they were arrayed in short tunics of white tappa with garlands of flowers on their heads following them were the duenas who remained clustering about the house while the girls advanced a few paces and in an instant two of them taller than their companions were standing side by side in the middle of a ring formed by the clasped hands of the rest this movement was made in perfect silence presently the two girls joined hands over head and crying out ahluh ahluh wave them to and fro upon which the ring begins to circle slowly the dancers moving sideways with their arms a little drooping soon they quicken their pace and at last fly round and round bosoms heaving hair streaming flowers dropping and every sparkling eye circling in what seemed a line of light meanwhile the pair within were passing and repassing each other incessantly inclining sideways so that their long hair falls far over they glide this way and that one foot continually in the air and their fingers thrown forth and twirling in the moon beams ahluh ahluh again cry the dance queens and coming together in the middle of the ring they once more lift up the arch and stand motionless ahluh ahluh every link of the circle is broken and the girls deeply breathing stand perfectly still they pant hard and fast a moment or two and then just as the deep flush is dying away from their faces slowly recede all round thus enlarging the ring again the two leaders wave their hands when the rest pause and now far apart stand in the still moonlight like a circle of fairies presently raising a strange chant they softly sway themselves gradually quickening the movement until at length for a few passionate moments with robbing bosoms and glowing cheeks they abandon themselves to all the spirit of the dance apparently lost to everything round but soon subsiding again into the same languid measure as before they become motionless and then reeling forward on all sides their eyes swimming in their heads join in one wild chorus and sink into each other's arms such is the lorry lorry I think they call it the dance of the backsliding girls of tamai while it was going on we had as much as we could do to keep the doctor from rushing forward and seizing a partner they would give us no more hevars that night and Rartu fairly dragged us away to a canoe hauled up on the lake shore when we reluctantly embarked and paddling over to the village arrived there in time for a good nap before sunrise the next day the doctor went about trying to hunt up the overnight dancers he thought to detect them by their late rising but never was man more mistaken for on first sallying out the whole village was asleep waking up in concert about an hour after but in the course of the day he came across several whom he had once charged with taking part in the hevar there were some prim-looking fellows standing by visiting elders from Afrahitu perhaps and the girls looked embarrassed but parried the exchange most skillfully though soft as doves in general the ladies of tamai are nevertheless flavored with a slight tincture of what we clearly enough call the devil and they showed it on the present occasion when the doctor pressed one rather hard she all at once turned round upon him and giving him a box on the ear told him to Henry Parer be off with himself chapter 64 mysterious there was a little old man of a most hideous aspect living in tamai who in a course mantel of tapa went about the village dancing and singing and making faces about wherever we went and when unobserved by others plucked at our garments making frightful signs for us to go along with him somewhere and see something it was in vain that we tried to get rid of him kicks and cuffs even were at last resorted to but though he howls like one possessed he would not go away but still haunted us at last we conjured the natives to rid us of him we laughed so we were forced to endure the dispensation as well as we could on the fourth night of our visit returning home late from paying a few calls through the village we turned a dark corner of trees and came full upon our goblin friend as usual chattering and motioning with his hands the doctor venting a curse hurried forward but from some impulse or other I stood my ground an accountable object wanted of us seeing me pause he crept close up to me peered into my face and then retreated beckoning me to follow which I did in a few moments the village was behind us and with my guide in advance I found myself in the shadow of the heights overlooking the farther side of the valley here my guide paused until I came up with him when side by side and without speaking I ended the hill presently we came to a wretched hut barely distinguishable in the shade cast by the neighboring trees pushing aside a rude sliding door held together with thongs the goblin signed me to enter within it looked dark as pitch so I gave him to understand that he must strike a light and go in before me without replying he disappeared in the darkness and after groping about two sticks rubbing together and directly saw a spark a native taper was then lighted and I stooped and entered it was a mere kennel foul old mats and broken coconut shells and callibashes were strewn about the floor of earth and overhead I caught glimpses of the stars through chinks in the roof here and there the thatch had fallen through and hung down in wisps I now told him he was set about what he was going to do or produce whatever he had to show without delay looking round fearfully as if dreading a surprise he commenced turning over and over the rubbish in one corner at last he clutched a callibash stained black and with a neck broken off on one side of it was a large hole something seemed to be stuffed away in the vessel and after a deal of poking at the aperture a musty old pair of sailor trousers was drawn forth and holding them up eagerly he inquired how many pieces of tobacco I would give for them without replying I turned away the old man chasing me and shouting as I ran until I gained the village here I dodged him and made my way home resolved never to disclose so inglorious an adventure to no purpose the next morning my comrade besought me to enlighten him I preserved a mysterious silence the occurrence served me a good turn however so long as we abode into my for the old close man never afterward troubled me but forever haunted the doctor who in vain supplicated heaven to be delivered from him end of chapters 63 and 64 recording by trisha g chapters 65 and 66 of omu chamber box recording is in the public domain omu a narrative of adventures in the south seas by herman melville chapter 65 the hagiara or flight I say doctor cried I a few days after my adventure with the goblin as in the presence of our host we were one morning lounging upon the matting in his dwelling smoking our reed pipes tamize a thriving place why not settle down faith said he not a bad idea paul but do you fancy they'll let us stay though why certainly they would be overjoyed to have a couple of car howries for townsmen gad you're right my pleasant fellow ha ha I'll put up a banana leaf as position from London deliver lectures on Polynesian antiquities teach English in five lessons of one hour each establish power looms for the fracture of Tapa lay out a public park in the middle of the village and found a festival in honor of captain cook but surely not without stopping to take breath observed I the doctor's projects to be sure were of a rather visionary cast but we seriously thought nevertheless of prolonging our stay in the valley for an indefinite period and with this understanding we were turning over various plans in our time pleasantly when several women came running into the house and hurriedly beside us to hurry hurry make our escape crying out something about the mcconneries thinking that we were about to be taken up under the act for the suppression of vagrancy we flew out of the house spring into a canoe before the door and paddled with might and main over to the other side of the lake approaching Rartu's dwelling was a great crowd among which we perceived several natives who from their partly European dress we were certain did not reside into my plunging into the groves we thanked our stars that we had thus narrowly escaped being apprehended as runaway seamen and marched off to the beach this at least was what we thought we had escaped having fled the village we could not think of prowling in doing so, we might be risking our liberty again we therefore determined upon journeying back to Martyr and setting our faces thitherward we reached the planter's house about nightfall they gave us a cordial reception and a hearty supper and we set up talking until a late hour we now prepared to go round to Talu a place from which we were not far off when at Tamai but wishing to see as much of the island as we could, we preferred returning to Martyr and then going round by way of the beach Talu, the only frequented harbor of Aimeo, lies on the western side of the island almost directly over against Martyr upon one shore of the bay stands the village of Partuwae a missionary station in its vicinity is an extensive sugar plantation the best of the south seas perhaps worked by a person from Sydney the patrimonial property of the husband of Pomerie and every way a delightful retreat Partuwae was one of the occasional residences of the court but at the time I write of it was permanently fixed there the queen having fled thither from Tahiti Partuwae they told us was by no means the place Papiti was ships seldom touched and very few foreigners were living a solitary whaler however was reported to be lying in the harbor wooding and watering and said to be in want of men all things considered I could not help looking upon Talu as offering a splendid opening for us adventurers to say nothing of the facilities presented for going to sea in the whaler or hiring ourselves out as day laborers in the sugar plantation there were hopes to be entertained of being promoted to some office of high trust and emolument about the person of her majesty the queen nor was this expectation altogether quixotic in the train of many Polynesian princes roving whites were frequently found gentlemen pensioners of state basking in the tropical sunshine of the court and leading the pleasantest lives in the world upon islands little visited by foreigners the first semen that settles down is generally investigated in the family of the head chief or king where he frequently discharges the functions of various offices elsewhere filled by as many different individuals as historiographer for instance he gives the natives some account of distant countries as commissioner of the arts and sciences he instructs them in the use of the jack knife and the best way of shaping bits of iron hoop into spearheads and as interpreter to his majesty he facilitates intercourse with strangers besides instructing the people generally in the uses of the most common English phrases civil and profane but often are the latter these men generally marry well often like hardy of Hannah Manu into the blood royal sometimes they officiate as personal attendant or first lord in waiting to the king at Amboy one of the Tonga lands a vagabond Welshman bends his knee as cup bearer to his cannibal majesty he mixes his morning cup of arva and with profound genuflections presents it in a coconut ball richly carved upon another island of the same group where it is customary to bestow no small pains in dressing the hair frizzing it out by a curious process into an enormous popes head an old man of war's man fills the post barber to the king and as his majesty is not very neat his mop is exceedingly populous so that when Jack is not engaged in dressing the head entrusted to his charge he busies himself in gently titillating it a sort of skewer being actually worn about the patient's hair for that special purpose even upon the sandwich islands a low rabble of foreigners is kept about the person of Tamahamaha for the purpose of ministering to his ease or enjoyment Billy Loone a jolly little negro tricked out in a soiled blue jacket studded all over with rusty bell buttons and garnished with shabby gold lace is the royal drummer and pounder of the tambourine Joe, a wooden-legged Portuguese who lost his leg by a whale is violinist and Mordecai as he is called a villainous looking scamp going about with his cups and balls in his side pocket diverts the court with his jugglery these idle rascals receive no fixed salary being altogether dependent upon the casual bounty of their master now and then they run up a score at the dance houses in Honolulu where the illustrious Tamahamaha the third afterwards calls and settles the bill a few years since an auctioneer to his majesty came near being added to the retinue it seems that he was the first man who had practiced his vocation on the sandwich islands and delighted with the sport of bidding upon his wares the king was one of his best customers at last he besought the man to leave his profession and he should be handsomely provided for at court but the auctioneer refused and so the ivory hammer lost the chance of being born before him on a velvet cushion when the next king went to be crowned but it was not a strolling players nor as footmen out of employ that the doctor and myself looked forward to our approaching introduction to the court of the queen of Tahiti on the contrary as before hinted we expected to swell the appropriations of breadfruit and coconuts on the civil list by filling some honorable office in her gift we were told that to resist the usurpation of the French the queen was rallying about her person all the foreigners she could her partiality for the English and Americans was well known and this was an additional ground for our anticipating a favorable reception Zeke had informed us moreover that by the queen's counsellors at part 2 y a war of aggression against the invaders at Papiti had been seriously thought of should this prove true a surgeon's commission for the doctor and a lieutenancy for myself were certainly counted upon in our sanguine expectations such then were our views and such our hopes in projecting a trip to Talu but in our most lofty aspirations we by no means lost sight of any minor matters which might help us to promotion the doctor had informed me that he excelled in playing the fiddle I now suggested that as soon as we arrived at part 2 y we should endeavor to borrow a violin for him or if this could not be done that he should manufacture some kind of a substitute and thus equipped apply for an audience of the queen her well known passion for music would at once secure his admittance and so under the most favorable auspices bring about our introduction to her notice and who knows said my waggish comrade throwing his head back and performing an imaginary air by briskly drawing one arm across the other who knows that I may not fiddle myself into her majesty's good graces so as to become a sort of risio to the Tahitian princess chapter 64 how we were to get to Talu the inglorious circumstances of our somewhat premature departure from Tamay filled the sagacious doctor in myself with sundry misgivings for the future under Zeke's protection we were secure from all tension and interference in our concerns on the part of the natives but as friendless wanderers over the island we ran the risk of being apprehended as runaways and as such sent back to Tahiti the truth is that the rewards constantly offered for the apprehension of deserters from ships induce some of the natives to eye all strangers suspiciously a passport was therefore desirable but such a thing had never been heard in Aimeo at last Longost suggested that as the Yankee was well known and much respected all over the island we should endeavor to obtain from him some sort of paper not only certifying to our having been in his employ but also to our not being highwaymen kidnappers nor yet runaway cement even written in English a paper like this would answer every purpose for the unlettered natives the law of the document would not dare to molest us until acquainted with its purport then if it came to the worst we might repair to the nearest missionary and have the passport explained upon informing Zeke of these matters he seemed highly flattered with the opinion we entertained of his reputation abroad and he agreed to oblige us the doctor at once offered to furnish him with a draft of the paper but he refused saying he would write it himself with a roosters quill therefore a bit of soiled paper and a stout heart he set to work evidently he was not accustomed to composition for his literary throws were so violent that the doctor suggested that some sort of a cesarean operation might be necessary the precious paper was at last finished and a great curiosity it was we were much diverted with his reasons for doing it in this here dumbed climate he observed a feller can't keep the run of the months know how because there's no seasons no summer and winter to go by one's eternally thinking it's always July it's so pesky hot a passport provided we cast about for some means of getting to Talu the island of Aimeo is very nearly surrounded by a regular breakwater of coral extending within less of the shore the smooth canal within furnishes the best means of communication with the different settlements all of which with the exception of Tamai are right upon the water and so indolent are the Aimeos that they think nothing of going 20 or 30 miles around the island in a canoe in order to reach a place not a quarter of that distance by land but as hinted before the fear of the bullocks has something to do with this the idea of journeying in a canoe struck our fancy quite pleasantly and we at once set about chartering one if possible but none could we obtain for not only did we have nothing to pay for hiring one but we could not expect to have it loaned in as much as the good-natured owner would in all probability have to walk along the beach as we paddled in order to bring back his property when we had no further use for it at last it was decided to commence our journey on foot trusting that we would soon fall in with a canoe going our way in which we might take passage the planters said we would find no beaten path all we had to do was to follow the beach and however inviting it might look inland on no account must we stray from it in short the longest way round was the nearest way to Talu at intervals there were little hamlets along the shore besides lonely fishermen's huts here and there where we could get plenty to eat without pay so there was no necessity to lay in any store intending to be off before sunrise the next warning so as to have the benefit of the coolest part of the day we bade our kind host farewell overnight and then repairing to the beach we launched our floating pallet and slept away merrily till dawn end of chapters 65 and 66 recording by Tricia G