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Although I had been unable during the late festival to obtain
information on many interesting subjects which had much excited
my curiosity, still that important event had not passed by without
adding materially to my general knowledge of the islanders.

I was especially struck by the physical strength and beauty
which they displayed, by their great superiority in these respects
over the inhabitants of the neighboring bay of Nukuheva, and
by the singular contrasts they presented among themselves in
their various shades of complexion.

In beauty of form they surpassed anything I had ever seen.
Not a single instance of natural deformity was observable in all
the throng attending the revels. Occasionally I noticed among
the men the scars of wounds they had received in battle; and
sometimes, though very seldom, the loss of a finger, an eye, or
an arm, attributable to the same cause. With these exceptions,
every individual appeared free from those blemishes which sometimes
mar the effect of an otherwise perfect form. But their
physical excellence did not merely consist in an exemption from
these evils; nearly every individual of their number might have
been taken for a sculptor's model.

When I remembered that these islanders derived no advantage

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from dress, but appeared in all the naked simplicity of nature, I
could not avoid comparing them with the fine gentlemen and
dandies who promenade such unexceptionable figures in our frequented
thoroughfares. Stripped of the cunning artifices of the
tailor, and standing forth in the garb of Eden,—what a sorry set
of round-shouldered, spindle-shanked, crane-necked varlets would
civilized men appear! Stuffed calves, padded breasts, and scientifically
cut pantaloons would then avail them nothing, and the
effect would be truly deplorable.

Nothing in the appearance of the islanders struck me more
forcibly than the whiteness of their teeth. The novelist always
compares the masticators of his heroine to ivory; but I boldly
pronounce the teeth of the Typees to be far more beautiful than
ivory itself. The jaws of the oldest greybeards among them
were much better garnished than those of most of the youths of
civilized countries; while the teeth of the young and middleaged,
in their purity and whiteness, were actually dazzling to
the eye. This marvellous whiteness of the teeth is to be ascribed
to the pure vegetable diet of these people, and the uninterrupted
healthfulness of their natural mode of life.

The men, in almost every instance, are of lofty stature, scarcely
ever less than six feet in height, while the other sex are uncommonly
diminutive. The early period of life at which the human
form arrives at maturity in this generous tropical climate, likewise
deserves to be mentioned. A little creature, not more than
thirteen years of age, and who in other particulars might be
regarded as a mere child, is often seen nursing her own baby;
whilst lads who, under less ripening skies, would be still at school,
are here responsible fathers of families.

On first entering the Typee Valley, I had been struck with the
marked contrast presented by its inhabitants with those of the bay
I had previously left. In the latter place, I had not been favorably
impressed with the personal appearance of the male portion

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of the population; although with the females, excepting in some
truly melancholy instances, I had been wonderfully pleased. I
had observed that even the little intercourse Europeans had carried
on with the Nukuheva natives had not failed to leave its
traces amongst them. One of the most dreadful curses under
which humanity labors had commenced its havocs, and betrayed,
as it ever does among the South Sea islanders, the most aggravated
symptoms. From this, as from all other foreign inflictions,
the yet uncontaminated tenants of the Typee Valley were
wholly exempt; and long may they continue so. Better it will
be for them for ever to remain the happy and innocent heathens
and barbarians that they now are, than, like the wretched inhabitants
of the Sandwich Islands, to enjoy the mere name of Christians
without experiencing any of the vital operations of true
religion, whilst, at the same time, they are made the victims of
the worst vices and evils of civilized life.

Apart, however, from these considerations, I am inclined to
believe that there exists a radical difference between the two
tribes, if indeed they are not distinct races of men. To those
who have merely touched at Nukuheva Bay, without visiting
other portions of the island, it would hardly appear credible the
diversities presented between the various small clans inhabiting
so diminutive a spot. But the hereditary hostility which has
existed between them for ages, fully accounts for this.

Not so easy, however, is it to assign an adequate cause for the
endless variety of complexions to be seen in the Typee Valley.
During the festival, I had noticed several young females whose
skins were almost as white as any Saxon damsels; a slight dash
of the mantling brown being all that marked the difference.
This comparative fairness of complexion, though in a great degree
perfectly natural, is partly the result of an artificial process,
and of an entire exclusion from the sun. The juice of the
“papa” root, found in great abundance at the head of the valley,

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is held in great esteem as a cosmetic, with which many of the
females daily anoint their whole person. The habitual use of
it whitens and beautifies the skin. Those of the young girls
who resort to this method of heightening their charms, never
expose themselves to the rays of the sun; an observance, however,
that produces little or no inconvenience, since there are
but few of the inhabited portions of the vale which are not
shaded over with a spreading canopy of boughs, so that one
may journey from house to house, scarcely deviating from the
direct course, and yet never once see his shadow cast upon the
ground.

The “papa,” when used, is suffered to remain upon the skin
for several hours; being of a light green color, it consequently
imparts for the time a similar hue to the complexion.
Nothing, therefore, can be imagined more singular than the appearance
of these nearly naked damsels immediately after the
application of the cosmetic. To look at one of them you would
almost suppose she was some vegetable in an unripe state; and
that, instead of living in the shade for ever, she ought to be
placed out in the sun to ripen.

All the islanders are more or less in the habit of anointing
themselves; the women preferring the “aker” or “papa,” and
the men using the oil of the cocoa-nut. Mehevi was remarkably
fond of mollifying his entire cuticle with this ointment. Sometimes
he might be seen with his whole body fairly reeking with
the perfumed oil of the nut, looking as if he had just emerged
from a soap-boiler's vat, or had undergone the process of dipping
in a tallow-chandlery. To this cause perhaps, united to their
frequent bathing and extreme cleanliness, is ascribable, in a great
measure, the marvellous purity and smoothness of skin exhibited
by the natives in general.

The prevailing tint among the women of the valley was a
light olive, and of this style of complexion Fayaway afforded

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the most beautiful example. Others were still darker, while
not a few were of a genuine golden color, and some of a swarthy
hue.

As agreeing with much previously mentioned in this narrative,
I may here observe, that Mendanna, their discoverer, in his account
of the Marquesas, described the natives as wondrously
beautiful to behold, and as nearly resembling the people of southern
Europe. The first of these islands seen by Mendanna was La
Madelena, which is not far distant from Nukuheva; and its inhabitants
in every respect resemble those dwelling on that and
the other islands of the group. Figneroa, the chronicler of Mendanna's
voyage, says, that on the morning the land was descried,
when the Spaniards drew near the shore, there sallied forth, in
rude procession, about seventy canoes, and at the same time
many of the inhabitants (females I presume) made towards the
ships by swimming. He adds, that “in complexion they were
nearly white; of good stature, and finely formed; and on their
faces and bodies were delineated representations of fishes and
other devices.” The old Don then goes on to say, “There came,
among others, two lads paddling their canoe, whose eyes were
fixed on the ship; they had beautiful faces and the most promising
animation of countenance; and were in all things so becoming,
that the pilot-mayor Quiros affirmed, nothing in his life ever
caused him so much regret as the leaving such fine creatures to
be lost in that country.”[4] More than two hundred years have
gone by since the passage of which the above is a translation
was written; and it appears to me now, as I read it, as fresh

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and true as if written but yesterday. The islanders are still the
same; and I have seen boys in the Typee Valley of whose
“beautiful faces and promising animation of countenance” no
one who has not beheld them can form any adequate idea. Cook,
in the account of his voyages, pronounces the Marquesans as by
far the most splendid islanders in the South Seas. Stewart, the
chaplain of the U. S. ship Vincennes, in his “Scenes in the
South Seas,” expresses, in more than one place, his amazement
at the surpassing loveliness of the women; and says that many
of the Nukuheva damsels reminded him forcibly of the most
celebrated beauties in his own land. Fanning, a Yankee mariner
of some reputation, likewise records his lively impressions of
the physical appearance of these people; and Commodore David
Porter of the U. S. frigate Essex, is said to have been vastly
smitten by the beauty of the ladies. Their great superiority
oyer all other Polynesians cannot fail to attract the notice of those
who visit the principal groups in the Pacific. The voluptuous
Tahitians are the only people who at all deserve to be compared
with them; while the dark-hued Hawiians and the woolly-headed
Feegees are immeasurably inferior to them. The distinguishing
characteristic of the Marquesan islanders, and that which at
once strikes you, is the European cast of their features—a peculiarity
seldom observable among other uncivilized people. Many
of their faces present a profile classically beautiful, and in the
valley of Typee I saw several who, like the stranger Marnoo,
were in every respect models of beauty.

Some of the natives present at the Feast of Calibashes had
displayed a few articles of European dress; disposed, however,
about their persons after their own peculiar fashion. Among
these I perceived the two pieces of cotton-cloth which poor Toby
and myself had bestowed upon our youthful guides the afternoon
we entered the valley. They were evidently reserved for gala
days; and during those of the festival they rendered the young

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islanders who wore them very distinguished characters. The
small number who were similarly adorned, and the great value
they appeared to place upon the most common and most trivial
articles, furnished ample evidence of the very restricted intercourse
they held with vessels touching at the island. A few cotton
handkerchiefs, of a gay pattern, tied about the neck, and suffered
to fall over the shoulders; strips of fanciful calico, swathed
about the loins, were nearly all I saw.

Indeed, throughout the valley, there were few things of any
kind to be seen of European origin. All I ever saw, besides the
articles just alluded to, were the six muskets preserved in the
Ti, and three or four similar implements of warfare hung up
in other houses; some small canvas bags, partly filled with bullets
and powder, and half a dozen old hatchet-heads, with the
edges blunted and battered to such a degree as to render them
utterly worthless. These last seemed to be regarded as nearly
worthless by the natives; and several times they held up one of
them before me, and throwing it aside with a gesture of disgust,
manifested their contempt for anything that could so soon become
unserviceable.

But the muskets, the powder, and the bullets were held in
most extravagant esteem. The former, from their great age and
the peculiarities they exhibited, were well worthy a place in any
antiquarian's armory. I remember in particular one that hung
in the Ti, and which Mehevi—supposing as a matter of course
that I was able to repair it—had put into my hands for that purpose.
It was one of those clumsy, old-fashioned, English pieces
known generally as Tower Hill muskets, and, for aught I know,
might have been left on the island by Wallace, Carteret, Cook,
or Vancouver. The stock was half rotten and worm-eaten; the
lock was as rusty and about as well adapted to its ostensible purpose
as an old door-hinge; the threading of the screws about the
trigger was completely worn away; while the barrel shook in

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the wood. Such was the weapon the chief desired me to restore
to its original condition. As I did not possess the accomplishments
of a gunsmith, and was likewise destitute of the necessary
tools, I was reluctantly obliged to signify my inability to perform
the task. At this unexpected communication Mehevi regarded
me, for a moment, as if he half suspected I was some inferior
sort of white man, who after all did not know much more than a
Typee. However, after a most labored explanation of the matter,
I succeeded in making him understand the extreme difficulty
of the task. Scarcely satisfied with my apologies, however, he
marched off with the superannuated musket in something of a
huff, as if he would no longer expose it to the indignity of being
manipulated by such unskilful fingers.

During the festival I had not failed to remark the simplicity
of manner, the freedom from all restraint, and, to a certain degree,
the equality of condition manifested by the natives in
general. No one appeared to assume any arrogant pretensions.
There was little more than a slight difference in costume to distinguish
the chiefs from the other natives. All appeared to mix
together freely, and without any reserve; although I noticed
that the wishes of a chief, even when delivered in the mildest
tone, received the same immediate obedience which elsewhere
would have been only accorded to a peremptory command.
What may be the extent of the authority of the chiefs over the
rest of the tribe, I will not venture to assert; but from all I saw
during my stay in the valley, I was induced to believe that in
matters concerning the general welfare it was very limited.
The required degree of deference towards them, however, was
willingly and cheerfully yielded; and as all authority is transmitted
from father to son, I have no doubt that one of the effects
here, as elsewhere, of high birth, is to induce respect and
obedience.

The civil institutions of the Marquesas Islands appear to be

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in this, as in other respects, directly the reverse of those of the
Tahitian and Hawiian groups, where the original power of the
king and chiefs was far more despotic than that of any tyrant in
civilized countries. At Tahiti it used to be death for one of the
inferior orders to approach, without permission, under the shadow
of the king's house; or to fail in paying the customary reverence
when food destined for the king was borne past them by his messengers.
At the Sandwich Islands, Kaahumanu, the gigantic
old dowager queen—a woman of nearly four hundred pounds
weight, and who is said to be still living at Mowee—was accustomed,
in some of her terrific gusts of temper, to snatch up an
ordinary sized man who had offended her, and snap his spine
across her knee. Incredible as this may seem, it is a fact.
While at Lahainaluna—the residence of this monstrous Jezebel—
a humpbacked wretch was pointed out to me, who, some twenty-five
years previously, had had the vertebræ of his back-bone
very seriously discomposed by his gentle mistress.

The particular grades of rank existing among the chiefs of
Typee, I could not in all cases determine. Previous to the Feast
of Calabashes I had been puzzled what particular station to assign
to Mehevi. But the important part he took upon that occasion
convinced me that he had no superior among the inhabitants of
the valley. I had invariably noticed a certain degree of deference
paid to him by all with whom I had ever seen him brought in
contact; but when I remembered that my wanderings had been
confined to a limited portion of the valley, and that towards the
sea a number of distinguished chiefs resided, some of whom had
separately visited me at Marheyo's house, and whom, until the
Festival, I had never seen in the company of Mehevi, I felt disposed
to believe that his rank after all might not be particularly
elevated.

The revels, however, had brought together all the warriors
whom I had seen individually and in groups at different times

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and places. Among them Mehevi moved with an easy air of
superiority which was not to be mistaken; and he whom I had
only looked at as the hospitable host of the Ti, and one of the
military leaders of the tribe, now assumed in my eyes the dignity
of royal station. His striking costume, no less than his naturally
commanding figure, seemed indeed to give him pre-eminence over
the rest. The towering helmet of feathers that he wore raised
him in height above all who surrounded him; and though some
others were similarly adorned, the length and luxuriance of their
plumes were far inferior to his.

Mehevi was in fact the greatest of the chiefs—the head of his
clan—the sovereign of the valley; and the simplicity of the social
institutions of the people could not have been more completely
proved than by the fact, that after having been several weeks in
the valley, and almost in daily intercourse with Mehevi, I should
have remained until the time of the festival ignorant of his regal
character. But a new light had now broken in upon me. The
Ti was the palace—and Mehevi the king. Both the one and the
other of a most simple and patriarchal nature it must be allowed,
and wholly unattended by the ceremonious pomp which usually
surrounds the purple.

After having made this discovery I could not avoid congratulating
myself that Mehevi had from the first taken me as it were
under his royal protection, and that he still continued to entertain
for me the warmest regard, as far at least as I was enabled to
judge from appearances. For the future I determined to pay
most assiduous court to him, hoping that eventually through his
kindness I might obtain my liberty.

eaf273v2.n4

[4] This passage, which is cited as an almost literal translation from the
original, I found in a small volume entitled “Circumnavigation of the
Globe,” in which volume are several extracts from “Dalrymple's Historical
Collections.” The last-mentioned work I have never seen, but it is said to
contain a very correct English version of great part of the learned Doctor
Christoval Suaverde de Figneroa's History of Mendanna's Voyage, published
at Madrid, A.D. 1613

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