CHAPTER 19

We were nearly three hours in reaching the village, it being more

than nine miles in the interior, and the path lying through a

rugged country. As we passed along, the party of Too-wit (the

whole hundred and ten savages of the canoes) was momentarily

strengthened by smaller detachments, of from two to six or seven,

which joined us, as if by accident, at different turns of the

road. There appeared so much of system in this that I could not

help feeling distrust, and I spoke to Captain Guy of my

apprehensions. It was now too late, however, to recede, and we

concluded that our best security lay in evincing a perfect

confidence in the good faith of Too-wit. We accordingly went on,

keeping a wary eye upon the manoeuvres of the savages, and not

permitting them to divide our numbers by pushing in between. In

this way, passing through a precipitous ravine, we at length

reached what we were told was the only collection of habitations

upon the island. As we came in sight of them, the chief set up a

shout, and frequently repeated the word Klock-klock, which we

supposed to be the name of the village, or perhaps the generic

name for villages.

The dwellings were of the most miserable description imaginable,

and, unlike those of even the lowest of the savage races with

which mankind are acquainted, were of no uniform plan. Some of

them (and these we found belonged to the Wampoos or Yampoos, the

great men of the land) consisted of a tree cut down at about four

feet from the root, with a large black skin thrown over it, and

hanging in loose folds upon the ground. Under this the savage

nestled. Others were formed by means of rough limbs of trees,

with the withered foliage upon them, made to recline, at an angle

of forty-five degrees, against a bank of clay, heaped up, without

regular form, to the height of five or six feet. Others, again,

were mere holes dug in the earth perpendicularly, and covered

over with similar branches, these being removed when the tenant

was about to enter, and pulled on again when he had entered. A

few were built among the forked limbs of trees as they stood, the

upper limbs being partially cut through, so as to bend over upon

the lower, thus forming thicker shelter from the weather. The

greater number, however, consisted of small shallow caverns,

apparently scratched in the face of a precipitous ledge of dark

stone, resembling fuller’s earth, with which three sides of the

village were bounded. At the door of each of these primitive

caverns was a small rock, which the tenant carefully placed

before the entrance upon leaving his residence, for what purpose

I could not ascertain, as the stone itself was never of

sufficient size to close up more than a third of the opening.

This village, if it were worthy of the name, lay in a valley of

some depth, and could only be approached from the southward, the

precipitous ledge of which I have already spoken cutting off all

access in other directions. Through the middle of the valley ran

a brawling stream of the same magical-looking water which has

been described. We saw several strange animals about the

dwellings, all appearing to be thoroughly domesticated. The

largest of these creatures resembled our common hog in the

structure of the body and snout; the tail, however, was bushy,

and the legs slender as those of the antelope. Its motion was

exceedingly awkward and indecisive, and we never saw it attempt

to run. We noticed also several animals very similar in

appearance, but of a greater length of body, and covered with a

black wool. There were a great variety of tame fowls running

about, and these seemed to constitute the chief food of the

natives. To our astonishment we saw black albatross among these

birds in a state of entire domestication, going to sea

periodically for food, but always returning to the village as a

home, and using the southern shore in the vicinity as a place of

incubation. There they were joined by their friends the pelicans

as usual, but these latter never followed them to the dwellings

of the savages. Among the other kinds of tame fowls were ducks,

differing very little from the canvass-back of our own country,

black gannets, and a large bird not unlike the buzzard in

appearance, but not carnivorous. Of fish there seemed to be a

great abundance. We saw, during our visit, a quantity of dried

salmon, rock cod, blue dolphins, mackerel, blackfish, skate,

conger eels, elephantfish, mullets, soles, parrotfish,

leather-jackets, gurnards, hake, flounders, paracutas, and

innumerable other varieties. We noticed, too, that most of them

were similar to the fish about the group of Lord Auckland

Islands, in a latitude as low as fifty-one degrees south. The

Gallipago tortoise was also very plentiful. We saw but few wild

animals, and none of a large size, or of a species with which we

were familiar. One or two serpents of a formidable aspect crossed

our path, but the natives paid them little attention, and we

concluded that they were not venomous.

As we approached the village with Too-wit and his party, a vast

crowd of the people rushed out to meet us, with loud shouts,

among which we could only distinguish the everlasting Anamoo-moo!

and Lama-Lama! We were much surprised at perceiving that, with

one or two exceptions, these new comers were entirely naked, and

skins being used only by the men of the canoes. All the weapons

of the country seemed also to be in the possession of the latter,

for there was no appearance of any among the villagers. There

were a great many women and children, the former not altogether

wanting in what might be termed personal beauty. They were

straight, tall, and well formed, with a grace and freedom of

carriage not to be found in civilized society. Their lips,

however, like those of the men, were thick and clumsy, so that,

even when laughing, the teeth were never disclosed. Their hair

was of a finer texture than that of the males. Among these naked

villagers there might have been ten or twelve who were clothed,

like the party of Too-wit, in dresses of black skin, and armed

with lances and heavy clubs. These appeared to have great

influence among the rest, and were always addressed by the title

Wampoo. These, too, were the tenants of the black skin palaces.

That of Too-wit was situated in the centre of the village, and

was much larger and somewhat better constructed than others of

its kind. The tree which formed its support was cut off at a

distance of twelve feet or thereabouts from the root, and there

were several branches left just below the cut, these serving to

extend the covering, and in this way prevent its flapping about

the trunk. The covering, too, which consisted of four very large

skins fastened together with wooden skewers, was secured at the

bottom with pegs driven through it and into the ground. The floor

was strewed with a quantity of dry leaves by way of carpet.

To this hut we were conducted with great solemnity, and as many

of the natives crowded in after us as possible. Too-wit seated

himself on the leaves, and made signs that we should follow his

example. This we did, and presently found ourselves in a

situation peculiarly uncomfortable, if not indeed critical. We

were on the ground, twelve in number, with the savages, as many

as forty, sitting on their hams so closely around us that, if any

disturbance had arisen, we should have found it impossible to

make use of our arms, or indeed to have risen to our feet. The

pressure was not only inside the tent, but outside, where

probably was every individual on the whole island, the crowd

being prevented from trampling us to death only by the incessant

exertions and vociferations of Too-wit. Our chief security lay,

however, in the presence of Too-wit himself among us, and we

resolved to stick by him closely, as the best chance of

extricating ourselves from the dilemma, sacrificing him

immediately upon the first appearance of hostile design.

After some trouble a certain degree of quiet was restored, when

the chief addressed us in a speech of great length, and very

nearly resembling the one delivered in the canoes, with the

exception that the Anamoo-moos! were now somewhat more

strenuously insisted upon than the Lama-Lamas! We listened in

profound silence until the conclusion of this harangue, when

Captain Guy replied by assuring the chief of his eternal

friendship and goodwill, concluding what he had to say by a

present of several strings of blue beads and a knife. At the

former the monarch, much to our surprise, turned up his nose with

some expression of contempt, but the knife gave him the most

unlimited satisfaction, and he immediately ordered dinner. This

was handed into the tent over the heads of the attendants, and

consisted of the palpitating entrails of a specialis of unknown

animal, probably one of the slim-legged hogs which we had

observed in our approach to the village. Seeing us at a loss how

to proceed, he began, by way of setting us an example, to devour

yard after yard of the enticing food, until we could positively

stand it no longer, and evinced such manifest symptoms of

rebellion of stomach as inspired his majesty with a degree of

astonishment only inferior to that brought about by the

looking-glasses. We declined, however, partaking of the

delicacies before us, and endeavoured to make him understand that

we had no appetite whatever, having just finished a hearty

dejeuner.

When the monarch had made an end of his meal, we commenced a

series of cross-questioning in every ingenious manner we could

devise, with a view of discovering what were the chief

productions of the country, and whether any of them might be

turned to profit. At length he seemed to have some idea of our

meaning, and offered to accompany us to a part of coast where he

assured us the biche de mer (pointing to a specimen of that

animal) was to be found in great abundance. We were glad of this

early opportunity of escaping from the oppression of the crowd,

and signified our eagerness to proceed. We now left the tent,

and, accompanied by the whole population of the village, followed

the chief to the southeastern extremity of the island, nor far

from the bay where our vessel lay at anchor. We waited here for

about an hour, until the four canoes were brought around by some

of the savages to our station. The whole of our party then

getting into one of them, we were paddled along the edge of the

reef before mentioned, and of another still farther out, where we

saw a far greater quantity of biche de mer than the oldest seamen

among us had ever seen in those groups of the lower latitudes

most celebrated for this article of commerce. We stayed near

these reefs only long enough to satisfy ourselves that we could

easily load a dozen vessels with the animal if necessary, when we

were taken alongside the schooner, and parted with Too-wit, after

obtaining from him a promise that he would bring us, in the

course of twenty-four hours, as many of the canvass-back ducks

and Gallipago tortoises as his canoes would hold. In the whole of

this adventure we saw nothing in the demeanour of the natives

calculated to create suspicion, with the single exception of the

systematic manner in which their party was strengthened during

our route from the schooner to the village.