CHAPTER I. FOOT IN STIRRUP.
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We are off! The courses and topsails are set: the
coral-hung anchor swings from the bow: and together, the
three royals are given to the breeze, that follows us out to
sea like the baying of a hound. Out spreads the canvas—
alow, aloft—boom-stretched, on both sides, with many a
stun' sail; till like a hawk, with pinions poised, we shadow
the sea with our sails, and reelingly cleave the brine.
But whence, and whither wend ye, mariners?
We sail from Ravavai, an isle in the sea, not very far
northward from the tropic of Capricorn, nor very far westward
from Pitcairn's island, where the mutineers of the
Bounty settled. At Ravavai I had stepped ashore some
few months previous; and now was embarked on a cruise
for the whale, whose brain enlightens the world.
And from Ravavai we sail for the Gallipagos, otherwise
called the Enchanted Islands, by reason of the many wild
currents and eddies there met.
Now, round about those isles, which Dampier once trod,
where the Spanish bucaniers once hived their gold moidores,
the Cachalot, or sperm whale, at certain seasons abounds.
But thither, from Ravavai, your craft may not fly, as flies
the sea-gull, straight to her nest. For, owing to the
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prevalence of the trade winds, ships bound to the northeast from
the vicinity of Ravavai are fain to take something of a circuit;
a few thousand miles or so. First, in pursuit of the
variable winds, they make all haste to the south; and there,
at length picking up a stray breeze, they stand for the main:
then, making their easting, up helm, and away down the
coast, toward the Line.
This round-about way did the Arcturion take; and in all
conscience a weary one it was. Never before had the
ocean appeared so monotonous; thank fate, never since.
But bravo! in two weeks' time, an event. Out of the
gray of the morning, and right ahead, as we sailed along, a
dark object rose out of the sea; standing dimly before us,
mists wreathing and curling aloft, and creamy breakers frothing
round its base.—We turned aside, and, at length, when
day dawned, passed Massafuero. With a glass, we spied two
or three hermit goats winding down to the sea, in a ravine;
and presently, a signal: a tattered flag upon a summit beyond.
Well knowing, however, that there was nobody on
the island but two or three noose-fulls of runaway convicts
from Chili, our captain had no mind to comply with their
invitation to land. Though, haply, he may have erred in
not sending a boat off with his card.
A few days more and we “took the trades.” Like favors
snappishly conferred, they came to us, as is often the case,
in a very sharp squall; the shock of which carried away
one of our spars; also our fat old cook off his legs; depositing
him plump in the scuppers to leeward.
In good time making the desired longitude upon the equator,
a few leagues west of the Gallipagos, we spent several
weeks chassezing across the Line, to and fro, in unavailing
search for our prey. For some of their hunters believe,
that whales, like the silver ore in Peru, run in veins through
the ocean. So, day after day, daily; and week after week,
weekly, we traversed the self-same longitudinal intersection
of the self-same Line; till we were almost ready to swear
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that we felt the ship strike every time her keel crossed that
imaginary locality.
At length, dead before the equatorial breeze, we threaded
our way straight along the very Line itself. Westward sailing;
peering right, and peering left, but seeing naught.
It was during this weary time, that I experienced the
first symptons of that bitter impatience of our monotonous
craft, which ultimately led to the adventures herein recounted.
But hold you! Not a word against that rare old ship,
nor its crew. The sailors were good fellows all, the halfscore
of pagans we had shipped at the islands included.
Nevertheless, they were not precisely to my mind. There
was no soul a magnet to mine; none with whom to mingle
sympathies; save in deploring the calms with which we
were now and then overtaken; or in hailing the breeze
when it came. Under other and livelier auspices the tarry
knaves might have developed qualities more attractive. Had
we sprung a leak, been “stove” by a whale, or been blessed
with some despot of a captain against whom to stir up some
spirited revolt, these shipmates of mine might have proved
limber lads, and men of mettle. But as it was, there was
naught to strike fire from their steel.
There were other things, also, tending to make my lot
on ship-board very hard to be borne. True, the skipper
himself was a trump; stood upon no quarter-deck dignity;
and had a tongue for a sailor. Let me do him justice,
furthermore: he took a sort of fancy for me in particular;
was sociable, nay, loquacious, when I happened to stand at
the helm. But what of that? Could he talk sentiment or
philosophy? Not a bit. His library was eight inches by
four: Bowditch, and Hamilton Moore.
And what to me, thus pining for some one who could
page me a quotation from Burton on Blue Devils; what to
me, indeed, were flat repetitions of long-drawn yarns, and
the everlasting stanzas of Black-eyed Susan sung by our
full forecastle choir? Staler than stale ale.
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Ay, ay, Arcturion! I say it in no malice, but thou
wast exceedingly dull. Not only at sailing: hard though
it was, that I could have borne; but in every other respect.
The days went slowly round and round, endless and uneventful
as cycles in space. Time, and time-pieces! How
many centuries did my hammock tell, as pendulum-like it
swung to the ship's dull roll, and ticked the hours and ages.
Sacred forever be the Arcturion's fore-hatch—alas! seamoss
is over it now—and rusty forever the bolts that held
together that old sea hearth-stone, about which we so often
lounged. Nevertheless, ye lost and leaden hours, I will rail
at ye while life lasts.
Well: weeks, chronologically speaking, went by. Bill
Marvel's stories were told over and over again, till the
beginning and end dovetailed into each other, and were
united for aye. Ned Ballad's songs were sung till the
echoes lurked in the very tops, and nested in the bunts of
the sails. My poor patience was clean gone.
But, at last after some time sailing due westward we
quitted the Line in high disgust; having seen there, no sign
of a whale.
But whither now? To the broiling coast of Papua? That
region of sun-strokes, typhoons, and bitter pulls after whales
unattainable. Far worse. We were going, it seemed, to
illustrate the Whistonian theory concerning the damned and
the comets;—hurried from equinoctial heats to arctic frosts.
To be short, with the true fickleness of his tribe, our skipper
had abandoned all thought of the Cachalot. In desperation,
he was bent upon bobbing for the Right whale on the Nor'West
Coast and in the Bay of Kamschatska.
To the uninitiated in the business of whaling, my feelings
at this juncture may perhaps be hard to understand.
But this much let me say: that Right whaling on the Nor'West
Coast, in chill and dismal fogs, the sullen inert monsters
rafting the sea all round like Hartz forest logs on the
Rhine, and submitting to the harpoon like half-stunned
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bullocks to the knife; this horrid and indecent Right whaling,
I say, compared to a spirited hunt for the gentlemanly
Cachalot in southern and more genial seas, is as the butchery
of white bears upon blank Greenland icebergs to zebra
hunting in Caffraria, where the lively quarry bounds before
you through leafy glades.
Now, this most unforeseen determination on the part of
my captain to measure the arctic circle was nothing more
nor less than a tacit contravention of the agreement between
us. That agreement needs not to be detailed. And
having shipped but for a single cruise, I had embarked
aboard his craft as one might put foot in stirrup for a day's
following of the hounds. And here, Heaven help me, he
was going to carry me off to the Pole! And on such a vile
errand too! For there was something degrading in it.
Your true whaleman glories in keeping his harpoon unspotted
by blood of aught but Cachalot. By my halidome, it
touched the knighthood of a tar. Sperm and spermaceti!
It was unendurable.
“Captain,” said I, touching my sombrero to him as I
stood at the wheel one day, “It's very hard to carry me off
this way to purgatory. I shipped to go elsewhere.”
“Yes, and so did I,” was his reply. “But it can't be
helped. Sperm whales are not to be had. We've been
out now three years, and something or other must be got;
for the ship is hungry for oil, and her hold a gulf to look
into. But cheer up my boy! once in the Bay of Kamschatka,
and we'll be all afloat with what we want, though
it be none of the best.”
Worse and worse! The oleaginous prospect extended
into an immensity of Macassar. “Sir,” said I, “I did not
ship for it; put me ashore somewhere, I beseech.” He
stared, but no answer vouchsafed; and for a moment I
thought I had roused the domineering spirit of the sea-captain,
to the prejudice of the more kindly nature of the man.
But not so. Taking three turns on the deck, he placed
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his hand on the wheel, and said, “Right or wrong, my lad,
go with us you must. Putting you ashore is now out of
the question. I make no port till this ship is full to the
combings of her hatchways. However, you may leave her
if you can.” And so saying he entered his cabin, like
Julius Cæsar into his tent.
He may have meant little by it, but that last sentence
rung in my ear like a bravado. It savored of the turnkey's
compliments to the prisoner in Newgate, when he shoots to
the bolt on him.
“Leave the ship if I can!” Leave the ship when neither
sail nor shore was in sight! Ay, my fine captain, stranger
things have been done. For on board that very craft, the
old Arcturion, were four tall fellows, whom two years previous
our skipper himself had picked up in an open boat, far
from the farthest shoal. To be sure, they spun a long yarn
about being the only survivors of an Indiaman burnt down
to the water's edge. But who credited their tale? Like
many others, they were keepers of a secret: had doubtless
contracted a disgust for some ugly craft still afloat and
hearty, and stolen away from her, off soundings. Among
seamen in the Pacific such adventures not seldom occur.
Nor are they accounted great wonders. They are but incidents,
not events, in the career of the brethren of the order
of South Sea rovers. For what matters it, though hundreds
of miles from land, if a good whale-boat be under foot, the
Trades behind, and mild, warm seas before? And herein
lies the difference between the Atlantic and Pacific:—that
once within the Tropics, the bold sailor who has a mind to
quit his ship round Cape Horn, waits not for port. He
regards that ocean as one mighty harbor.
Nevertheless, the enterprise hinted at was no light one;
and I resolved to weigh well the chances. It's worth noticing,
this way we all have of pondering for ourselves the
enterprise, which, for others, we hold a bagatelle.
My first thoughts were of the boat to be obtained, and
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the right or wrong of abstracting it, under the circumstances.
But to split no hairs on this point, let me say, that were I
placed in the same situation again, I would repeat the thing
I did then. The captain well knew that he was going to
detain me unlawfully: against our agreement; and it was
he himself who threw out the very hint, which I merely
adopted, with many thanks to him.
In some such willful mood as this, I went aloft one day,
to stand my allotted two hours at the mast-head. It was
toward the close of a day, serene and beautiful. There I
stood, high upon the mast, and away, away, illimitably rolled
the ocean beneath. Where we then were was perhaps the
most unfrequented and least known portion of these seas.
Westward, however, lay numerous groups of islands, loosely
laid down upon the charts, and invested with all the
charms of dream-land. But soon these regions would be
past; the mild equatorial breeze exchanged for cold, fierce
squalls, and all the horrors of northern voyaging.
I cast my eyes downward to the brown planks of the dull,
plodding ship, silent from stem to stern; then abroad.
In the distance what visions were spread! The entire
western horizon high piled with gold and crimson clouds;
airy arches, domes, and minarets; as if the yellow, Moorish
sun were setting behind some vast Alhambra. Vistas seemed
leading to worlds beyond. To and fro, and all over the
towers of this Nineveh in the sky, flew troops of birds.
Watching them long, one crossed my sight, flew through a
low arch, and was lost to view. My spirit must have sailed
in with it; for directly, as in a trance, came upon me the
cadence of mild billows laving a beach of shells, the waving
of boughs, and the voices of maidens, and the lulled beatings
of my own dissolved heart, all blended together.
Now, all this, to be plain, was but one of the many visions
one has up aloft. But coming upon me at this time, it
wrought upon me so, that thenceforth my desire to quit the
Arcturion became little short of a frenzy.
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CHAPTER II. A CALM.
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Next day there was a calm, which added not a little to
my impatience of the ship. And, furthermore, by certain
nameless associations revived in me my old impressions upon
first witnessing as a landsman this phenomenon of the sea.
Those impressions may merit a page.
To a landsman a calm is no joke. It not only revolutionizes
his abdomen, but unsettles his mind; tempts him to
recant his belief in the eternal fitness of things; in short,
almost makes an infidel of him.
At first he is taken by surprise, never having dreamt of a
state of existence where existence itself seems suspended.
He shakes himself in his coat, to see whether it be empty
or no. He closes his eyes, to test the reality of the glassy
expanse. He fetches a deep breath, by way of experiment,
and for the sake of witnessing the effect. If a reader of
books, Priestley on Necessity occurs to him; and he believes
in that old Sir Anthony Absolute to the very last chapter.
His faith in Malte Brun, however, begins to fail; for the
geography, which from boyhood he had implicitly confided in,
always assured him, that though expatiating all over the
globe, the sea was at least margined by land. That over
against America, for example, was Asia. But it is a calm,
and he grows madly skeptical.
To his alarmed fancy, parallels and meridians become
emphatically what they are merely designated as being: imaginary
lines drawn round the earth's surface.
The log assures him that he is in such a place; but the
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log is a liar; for no place, nor any thing possessed of a local
angularity, is to be lighted upon in the watery waste.
At length horrible doubts overtake him as to the captain's
competency to navigate his ship. The ignoramus
must have lost his way, and drifted into the outer confines
of creation, the region of the everlasting lull, introductory to
a positive vacuity.
Thoughts of eternity thicken. He begins to feel anxious
concerning his soul.
The stillness of the calm is awful. His voice begins to
grow strange and portentous. He feels it in him like something
swallowed too big for the esophagus. It keeps up a
sort of involuntary interior humming in him, like a live
beetle. His cranium is a dome full of reverberations. The
hollows of his very bones are as whispering galleries. He
is afraid to speak loud, lest he be stunned; like the man in
the bass drum.
But more than all else is the consciousness of his utter
helplessness. Succor or sympathy there is none. Penitence
for embarking avails not. The final satisfaction of despairing
may not be his with a relish. Vain the idea of idling
out the calm. He may sleep if he can, or purposely delude
himself into a crazy fancy, that he is merely at leisure.
All this he may compass; but he may not lounge; for
to lounge is to be idle; to be idle implies an absence of any
thing to do; whereas there is a calm to be endured: enough
to attend to, Heaven knows.
His physical organization, obviously intended for locomotion,
becomes a fixture; for where the calm leaves him, there
he remains. Even his undoubted vested rights, comprised
in his glorious liberty of volition, become as naught. For
of what use? He wills to go: to get away from the calm:
as ashore he would avoid the plague. But he can not; and
how foolish to revolve expedients. It is more hopeless than
a bad marriage in a land where there is no Doctors' Commons.
He has taken the ship to wife, for better or for
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worse, for calm or for gale; and she is not to be shuffled
off. With yards akimbo, she says unto him scornfully,
as the old beldam said to the little dwarf:—“Help yourself.”
And all this, and more than this, is a calm.
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CHAPTER III. A KING FOR A COMRADE.
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At the time I now write of, we must have been something
more than sixty degrees to the west of the Gallipagos.
And having attained a desirable longitude, we were standing
northward for our arctic destination: around us one
wide sea.
But due west, though distant a thousand miles, stretched
north and south an almost endless Archipelago, here and
there inhabited, but little known; and mostly unfrequented,
even by whalemen, who go almost every where. Beginning
at the southerly termination of this great chain, it comprises
the islands loosely known as Ellice's group; then, the Kingsmill
isles; then, the Radack and Mulgrave clusters. These
islands had been represented to me as mostly of coral formation,
low and fertile, and abounding in a variety of fruits.
The language of the people was said to be very similar to
that of the Navigator's islands, from which, their ancestors
are supposed to have emigrated.
And thus much being said, all has been related that I
then knew of the islands in question. Enough, however,
that they existed at all; and that our path thereto lay over
a pleasant sea, and before a reliable Trade-wind. The distance,
though great, was merely an extension of water; so
much blankness to be sailed over; and in a craft, too, that
properly managed has been known to outlive great ships in
a gale. For this much is true of a whale-boat, the cunningest
thing in its way ever fabricated by man.
Upon one of the Kingsmill islands, then, I determined to
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plant my foot, come what come would. And I was equally
determined that one of the ship's boats should float me
thither. But I had no idea of being without a companion.
It would be a weary watch to keep all by myself, with
naught but the horizon in sight.
Now, among the crew was a fine old seaman, one Jarl,
how old, no one could tell, not even himself. Forecastle
chronology is ever vague and defective. “Man and boy,”
said honest Jarl, “I have lived ever since I can remember.”
And truly, who may call to mind when he was not? To
ourselves, we all seem coeval with creation. Whence it
comes, that it is so hard to die, ere the world itself is departed.
Jarl hailed from the isle of Skye, one of the constellated
Hebrides. Hence, they often called him the Skyeman.
And though he was far from being piratical of soul, he was
yet an old Norseman to behold. His hands were brawny as
the paws of a bear; his voice hoarse as a storm roaring
round the old peak of Mull; and his long yellow hair waved
round his head like a sunset. My life for it, Jarl, thy ancestors
were Vikings, who many a time sailed over the salt
German sea and the Baltic; who wedded their Brynhildas
in Jutland; and are now quaffing mead in the halls of Valhalla,
and beating time with their cans to the hymns of the
Sealds. Ah! how the old Sagas run through me!
Yet Jarl, the descendant of heroes and kings, was a lone,
friendless mariner on the main, only true to his origin in the
sea-life that he led. But so it has been, and forever will be.
What yeoman shall swear that he is not descended from
Alfred? what dunce, that he is not sprung of old Homer?
King Noah, God bless him! fathered us all. Then hold up
your heads, oh ye Helots, blood potential flows through your
veins. All of us have monarchs and sages for kinsmen;
nay, angels and archangels for cousins; since in antediluvian
days, the sons of God did verily wed with our mothers, the
irresistible daughters of Eve. Thus all generations are
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blended: and heaven and earth of one kin: the hierarchies
of seraphs in the uttermost skies; the thrones and principalities
in the zodiac; the shades that roam throughout space;
the nations and families, flocks and folds of the earth;
one and all, brothers in essence—oh, be we then brothers
indeed! All things form but one whole; the universe a
Judea, and God Jehovah its head. Then no more let us
start with affright. In a theocracy, what is to fear? Let us
compose ourselves to death as fagged horsemen sleep in the
saddle. Let us welcome even ghosts when they rise. Away
with our stares and grimaces. The New Zealander's tattooing
is not a prodigy; nor the Chinaman's ways an enigma.
No custom is strange; no creed is absurd; no foe, but who
will in the end prove a friend. In heaven, at last, our good,
old, white-haired father Adam will greet all alike, and sociality
forever prevail. Christian shall join hands between
Gentile and Jew; grim Dante forget his Infernos, and
shake sides with fat Rabelais; and monk Luther, over a
flagon of old nectar, talk over old times with Pope Leo.
Then, shall we sit by the sages, who of yore gave laws to
the Medes and Persians in the sun; by the cavalry captains
in Perseus, who cried, “To horse!” when waked by their Last
Trump sounding to the charge; by the old hunters, who
eternities ago, hunted the moose in Orion; by the minstrels,
who sang in the Milky Way when Jesus our Saviour was
born. Then shall we list to no shallow gossip of Magellans
and Drakes; but give ear to the voyagers who have circumnavigated
the Ecliptic; who rounded the Polar Star as
Cape Horn. Then shall the Stagirite and Kant be forgotten,
and another folio than theirs be turned over for wisdom;
even the folio now spread with horoscopes as yet undeciphered,
the heaven of heavens on high.
Now, in old Jarl's lingo there was never an idiom. Your
aboriginal tar is too much of a cosmopolitan for that. Long
companionship with seamen of all tribes: Manilla-men,
Anglo-Saxons, Cholos, Lascars, and Danes, wear away in
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good time all mother-tongue stammerings. You sink your
clan; down goes your nation; you speak a world's language,
jovially jabbering in the Lingua-Franca of the forecastle.
True to his calling, the Skyeman was very illiterate; witless
of Salamanca, Heidelberg, or Brazen-Nose; in Delhi,
had never turned over the books of the Brahmins. For geography,
in which sailors should be adepts, since they are forever
turning over and over the great globe of globes, poor Jarl
was deplorably lacking. According to his view of the matter,
this terraqueous world had been formed in the manner of
a tart; the land being a mere marginal crust, within which
rolled the watery world proper. Such seemed my good
Viking's theory of cosmography. As for other worlds, he
weened not of them; yet full as much as Chrysostom.
Ah, Jarl! an honest, earnest wight; so true and simple,
that the secret operations of thy soul were more inscrutable
than the subtle workings of Spinoza's.
Thus much be said of the Skyeman; for he was exceedingly
taciturn, and but seldom will speak for himself.
Now, higher sympathies apart, for Jarl I had a wonderful
liking; for he loved me; from the first had cleaved to me.
It is sometimes the case, that an old mariner like him
will conceive a very strong attachment for some young
sailor, his shipmate; an attachment so devoted, as to be
wholly inexplicable, unless originating in that heart-loneliness
which overtakes most seamen as they grow aged;
impelling them to fasten upon some chance object of regard.
But however it was, my Viking, thy unbidden affection was
the noblest homage ever paid me. And frankly, I am more
inclined to think well of myself, as in some way deserving
thy devotion, than from the rounded compliments of more
cultivated minds.
Now, at sea, and in the fellowship of sailors, all men appear
as they are. No school like a ship for studying human
nature. The contact of one man with another is too near
and constant to favor deceit. You wear your character as
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loosely as your flowing trowsers. Vain all endeavors to
assume qualities not yours; or to conceal those you possess.
Incognitos, however desirable, are out of the question.
And thus aboard of all ships in which I have sailed,
I have invariably been known by a sort of drawing-room
title. Not,—let me hurry to say,—that I put hand in tar
bucket with a squeamish air, or ascended the rigging with
a Chesterfieldian mince. No, no, I was never better than
my vocation; and mine have been many. I showed as
brown a chest, and as hard a hand, as the tarriest tar of
them all. And never did shipmate of mine upbraid me
with a genteel disinclination to duty, though it carried me
to truck of main-mast, or jib-boom-end, in the most wolfish
blast that ever howled.
Whence then, this annoying appellation? for annoying it
most assuredly was. It was because of something in me
that could not be hidden; stealing out in an occasional
polysyllable; an otherwise incomprehensible deliberation in
dining; remote, unguarded allusions to Belles-Lettres affairs;
and other trifles superfluous to mention.
But suffice it to say, that it had gone abroad among the
Arcturion's crew, that at some indefinite period of my career,
I had been a “nob.” But Jarl seemed to go further.
He must have taken me for one of the House of Hanover in
disguise; or, haply, for bonneted Charles Edward the
Pretender, who, like the Wandering Jew, may yet be a vagrant.
At any rate, his loyalty was extreme. Unsolicited,
he was my laundress and tailor; a most expert one, too;
and when at meal-times my turn came round to look out at
the mast-head, or stand at the wheel, he catered for me
among the “kids” in the forecastle with unwearied assiduity.
Many's the good lump of “duff” for which I was indebted
to my good Viking's good care of me. And like Sesostris I
was served by a monarch. Yet in some degree the obligation
was mutual. For be it known that, in sea-parlance, we
were chummies.
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Now this chummying among sailors is like the brotherhood
subsisting between a brace of collegians (chums) rooming
together. It is a Fidus-Achates-ship, a league of offense
and defense, a copartnership of chests and toilets, a bond of
love and good feeling, and a mutual championship of the
absent one. True, my nautical reminiscenses remind me of
sundry lazy, ne'er-do-well, unprofitable, and abominable
chummies; chummies, who at meal times were last at the
“kids,” when their unfortunate partners were high upon
the spars; chummies, who affected awkwardness at the
needle, and conscientious scruples about dabbling in the
suds; so that chummy the simple was made to do all the
work of the firm, while chummy the cunning played the
sleeping partner in his hammock. Out upon such
chummies!
But I appeal to thee, honest Jarl, if I was ever chummy
the cunning. Never mind if thou didst fabricate my tarpaulins;
and with Samaritan charity bind up the rents,
and pour needle and thread into the frightful gashes that
agonized my hapless nether integuments, which thou calledst
“ducks;”—Didst thou not expressly declare, that all these
things, and more, thou wouldst do for me, despite my own
quaint thimble, fashioned from the ivory tusk of a whale?
Nay; could I even wrest from thy willful hands my very
shirt, when once thou hadst it steaming in an unsavory
pickle in thy capacious vat, a decapitated cask? Full well
thou knowest, Jarl, that these things are true; and I am
bound to say it, to disclaim any lurking desire to reap advantage
from thy great good nature.
Now my Viking for me, thought I, when I cast about
for a comrade; and my Viking alone.
-- -- p275-036
CHAPTER IV. A CHAT IN THE CLOUDS.
[figure description] Page 029.[end figure description]
The Skyeman seemed so earnest and upright a seaman,
that to tell the plain truth, in spite of his love for me, I
had many misgivings as to his readiness to unite in an undertaking
which apparently savored of a moral dereliction.
But all things considered, I deemed my own resolution
quite venial; and as for inducing another to join me, it
seemed a precaution so indispensable, as to outweigh all
other considerations.
Therefore I resolved freely to open my heart to him; for
that special purpose paying him a visit, when, like some old
albatross in the air, he happened to be perched at the foremast-head,
all by himself, on the lookout for whales never seen.
Now this standing upon a bit of stick 100 feet aloft for
hours at a time, swiftly sailing over the sea, is very much
like crossing the Channel in a balloon. Manfred-like, you
talk to the clouds: you have a fellow feeling for the sun.
And when Jarl and I got conversing up there, smoking our
dwarfish “dudeens,” any sea-gull passing by might have
taken us for Messrs. Blanchard and Jeffries, socially puffing
their after-dinner Bagdads, bound to Calais, via Heaven,
from Dover. Honest Jarl, I acquainted with all: my conversation
with the captain, the hint implied in his last
words, my firm resolve to quit the ship in one of her boats,
and the facility with which I thought the thing could be
done. Then I threw out many inducements, in the shape
of pleasant anticipations of bearing right down before the
wind upon the sunny isles under our lee.
-- 030 --
[figure description] Page 030.[end figure description]
He listened attentively; but so long remained silent
that I almost fancied there was something in Jarl which
would prove too much for me and my eloquence.
At last he very bluntly declared that the scheme was a
crazy one; he had never known of such a thing but thrice
before; and in every case the runaways had never afterwards
been heard of. He entreated me to renounce my
determination, not be a boy, pause and reflect, stick to the
ship, and go home in her like a man. Verily, my Viking
talked to me like my uncle.
But to all this I turned a deaf ear; affirming that my
mind was made up; and that as he refused to accompany
me, and I fancied no one else for a comrade, I would go
stark alone rather than not at all. Upon this, seeing my
resolution immovable, he bluntly swore that he would
follow me through thick and thin.
Thanks, Jarl! thou wert one of those devoted fellows
who will wrestle hard to convince one loved of error; but
failing, forthwith change their wrestling to a sympathetic
hug.
But now his elderly prudence came into play. Casting
his eye over the boundless expanse below, he inquired how
far off were the islands in question.
“A thousand miles and no less.”
“With a fair trade breeze, then, and a boat sail, that is
a good twelve days' passage, but calms and currents may
make it a month, perhaps more.” So saying, he shook his
old head, and his yellow hair streamed.
But trying my best to chase away these misgivings, he
at last gave them over. He assured me I might count
upon him to his uttermost keel.
My Viking secured, I felt more at ease; and thoughtfully
considered how the enterprise might best be accomplished.
There was no time to be lost. Every hour was carrying
us farther and farther from the parallel most desirable for us
to follow in our route to the westward. So, with all
-- 031 --
[figure description] Page 031.[end figure description]
possible dispatch, I matured my plans, and communicated them
to Jarl, who gave several old hints—having ulterior probabilities
in view—which were not neglected.
Strange to relate, it was not till my Viking, with a rueful
face, reminded me of the fact, that I bethought me of a circumstance
somewhat alarming at the first blush. We must
push off without chart or quadrant; though, as will shortly
be seen, a compass was by no means out of the question.
The chart, to be sure, I did not so much lay to heart; but
a quadrant was more than desirable. Still, it was by no
means indispensable. For this reason. When we started, our
latitude would be exactly known; and whether, on our
voyage westward, we drifted north or south therefrom, we
could not, by any possibility, get so far out of our reckoning,
as to fail in striking some one of a long chain of islands,
which, for many degrees, on both sides of the equator,
stretched right across our track.
For much the same reason, it mattered little, whether
on our passage we daily knew our longitude; for no known
land lay between us and the place we desired to reach. So
what could be plainer than this: that if westward we
patiently held on our way, we must eventually achieve our
destination?
As for intervening shoals or reefs, if any there were, they
intimidated us not. In a boat that drew but a few inches
of water, but an indifferent look-out would preclude all danger
on that score. At all events, the thing seemed feasible
enough, notwithstanding old Jarl's superstitious reverence
for nautical instruments, and the philosophical objections
which might have been urged by a pedantic disciple of Mercator.
Very often, as the old maxim goes, the simplest things are
the most startling, and that, too, from their very simplicity.
So cherish no alarms, if thus we addressed the setting sun—
“Be thou, old pilot, our guide!”
-- -- p275-039
CHAPTER V. SEATS SECURED AND PORTMANTEAUS PACKED.
[figure description] Page 032.[end figure description]
But thoughts of sextants and quadrants were the least of
our cares.
Right from under the very arches of the eyebrows of
thirty men—captain, mates, and crew—a boat was to be
abstracted; they knowing nothing of the event, until all
knowledge would prove unavailing.
Hark ye:
At sea, the boats of a South Sea-man (generally four in
number, spare ones omitted,) are suspended by tackles, hooked
above, to curved timbers called “davits,” vertically fixed to
the ship's sides.
Now, no fair one with golden locks is more assiduously
waited upon, or more delicately handled by her tire-women,
than the slender whale-boat by her crew. And out of its
element, it seems fragile enough to justify the utmost solicitude.
For truly, like a fine lady, the fine whale-boat is most
delicate when idle, though little coy at a pinch.
Besides the “davits,” the following supports are provided.
Two small cranes are swung under the keel, on which the
latter rests, preventing the settling of the boat's middle,
while hanging suspended by the bow and stern. A broad,
braided, hempen band, usually worked in a tasteful pattern,
is also passed round both gunwales; and secured to the ship's
bulwarks, firmly lashes the craft to its place. Being elevated
above the ship's rail, the boats are in plain sight from all
parts of the deck.
Now, one of these boats was to be made way with. No
-- 033 --
[figure description] Page 033.[end figure description]
facile matter, truly. Harder than for any dashing young
Janizary to run off with a sultana from the Grand Turk's
seraglio. Still, the thing could be done, for, by Jove, it had
been.
What say you to slyly loosing every thing by day; and
when night comes, cast off the band and swing in the cranes?
But how lower the tackles, even in the darkest night, without
a creaking more fearful than the death rattle? Easily
avoided. Anoint the ropes, and they will travel deftly
through the subtle windings of the blocks.
But though I had heard of this plan being pursued, there
was a degree of risk in it, after all, which I was far from
fancying. Another plan was hit upon; still bolder; and
hence more safe. What it was, in the right place will be
seen.
In selecting my craft for this good voyage, I would fain
have traversed the deck, and eyed the boats like a cornet
choosing his steed from out a goodly stud. But this was
denied me. And the “bow boat” was, perforce, singled out,
as the most remote from the quarter-deck, that region of
sharp eyes and relentless purposes.
Then, our larder was to be thought of; also, an abundant
supply of water; concerning which last I determined to take
good heed. There were but two to be taken care of; but I
resolved to lay in sufficient store of both meat and drink for
four; at the same time that the supplemental twain thus
provided for were but imaginary. And if it came to the
last dead pinch, of which we had no fear, however, I was
food for no man but Jarl.
Little time was lost in catering for our mess. Biscuit and
salt beef were our sole resource; and, thanks to the generosity
of the Arcturion's owners, our ship's company had a plentiful
supply. Casks of both, with heads knocked out, were at
the service of all. In bags which we made for the purpose,
a sufficiency of the biscuit was readily stored away, and
secreted in a corner of easy access. The salt beef was more
-- 034 --
[figure description] Page 034.[end figure description]
difficult to obtain; but, little by little, we managed to smuggle
out of the cask enough to answer our purpose.
As for water, most luckily a day or two previous several
“breakers” of it had been hoisted from below for the present
use of the ship's company.
These “breakers” are casks, long and slender, but very
strong. Of various diameters, they are made on purpose to
stow into spaces intervening between the immense butts in a
ship's hold.
The largest we could find was selected, first carefully
examining it to detect any leak. On some pretense or
other, we then rolled them all over to that side of the vessel
where our boat was suspended, the selected breaker being
placed in their middle.
Our compendious wardrobes were snugly packed into bundles
and laid aside for the present. And at last, by due
caution, we had every thing arranged preliminary to the final
start. Let me say, though, perhaps to the credit of Jarl,
that whenever the most strategy was necessary, he seemed
ill at ease, and for the most part left the matter to me. It
was well that he did; for as it was, by his untimely straightforwardness,
he once or twice came near spoiling every thing.
Indeed, on one occasion he was so unseasonably blunt, that
curiously enough, I had almost suspected him of taking that
odd sort of interest in one's welfare, which leads a philanthropist,
all other methods failing, to frustrate a project
deemed bad, by pretending clumsily to favor it. But no
inuendoes; Jarl was a Viking, frank as his fathers; though
not so much of a bucanier.
-- -- p275-042
CHAPTER VI. EIGHT BELLS.
[figure description] Page 035.[end figure description]
The moon must be monstrons coy, or some things fall
out opportunely, or else almanacs are consulted by nocturnal
adventurers; but so it is, that when Cynthia shows a
round and chubby disk, few daring deeds are done. Though
true it may be, that of moonlight nights, jewelers' caskets
and maidens' hearts have been burglariously broken into—
and rifled, for aught Copernicus can tell.
The gentle planet was in her final quarter, and upon her
slender horn I hung my hopes of withdrawing from the ship
undetected.
Now, making a tranquil passage across the ocean, we
kept at this time what are called among whalemen “boats-crew-watches.”
That is, instead of the sailors being divided
at night into two bands, alternately on deck every
four hours, there were four watches, each composed of a
boat's crew, the “headsman” (always one of the mates) excepted.
To the officers, this plan gives uninterrupted repose—
“all-night-in,” as they call it, and of course greatly
lightens the duties of the crew.
The harpooneers head the boats' crews, and are responsible
for the ship during the continuance of their watches.
Now, my Viking being a stalwart seaman, pulled the
midship oar of the boat of which I was bowsman. Hence,
we were in the same watch; to which, also, three others
belonged, including Mark, the harpooneer. One of these
seamen, however, being an invalid, there were only two
left for us to manage.
-- 036 --
[figure description] Page 036.[end figure description]
Voyaging in these seas, you may glide along for weeks
without starting tack or sheet, hardly moving the helm a
spoke, so mild and constant are the Trades. At night, the
watch seldom trouble themselves with keeping much of a
look-out; especially, as a strange sail is almost a prodigy in
these lonely waters. In some ships, for weeks in and weeks
out, you are puzzled to tell when your nightly turn on deck
really comes round; so little heed is given to the standing
of watches, where in the license of presumed safety, nearly
every one nods without fear.
But remiss as you may be in the boats-crew-watch of a
heedless whaleman, the man who heads it is bound to maintain
his post on the quarter-deck until regularly relieved.
Yet drowsiness being incidental to all natures, even to Napoleon,
beside his own sentry napping in the snowy bivouac;
so, often, in snowy moonlight, or ebon eclipse, dozed Mark,
our harpooneer. Lethe be his portion this blessed night,
thought I, as during the morning which preceded our
enterprise, I eyed the man who might possibly cross my
plans.
But let me come closer to this part of my story. During
what are called at sea the “dog-watches” (between four
o'clock and eight in the evening), sailors are quite lively
and frolicsome; their spirits even flow far into the first of
the long “night-watches;” but upon its expiration at “eight
bells” (midnight), silence begins to reign; if you hear a
voice it is no cherub's: all exclamations are oaths.
At eight bells, the mariners on deck, now relieved from
their cares, crawl out from their sleepy retreats in old
monkey jackets, or coils of rigging, and hie to their hammocks,
almost without interrupting their dreams: while the
sluggards below lazily drag themselves up the ladder to resume
their slumbers in the open air.
For these reasons then, the moonless sea midnight was
just the time to escape. Hence, we suffered a whole day
to pass unemployed; waiting for the night, when the
-- 037 --
[figure description] Page 037.[end figure description]
starboard-quarter-boats'-watch, to which we belonged, would be
summoned on deck at the eventful eight of the bell.
But twenty-four hours soon glide away; and “Starboleens
ahoy! eight bells there below!” at last started me
from a troubled doze.
I sprang from my hammock, and would have lighted my
pipe. But the forecastle lamp had gone out. An old seadog
was talking about sharks in his sleep. Jarl and our
solitary watch-mate were groping their way into their trowsers.
And little was heard but the humming of the still
sails aloft; the dash of the waves against the bow; and
the deep breathing of the dreaming sailors around.
-- 038 -- p275-045
CHAPTER VII. A PAUSE.
[figure description] Page 038.[end figure description]
Good old Arcturion! Maternal craft, that rocked me so
often in thy heart of oak, I grieve to tell how I deserted
thee on the broad deep. So far from home, with such a
motley crew, so many islanders, whose heathen babble
echoing through thy Christian hull, must have grated
harshly on every carline.
Old ship! where sails thy lone ghost now? For of the
stout Arcturion no word was ever heard, from the dark
hour we pushed from her fated planks. In what time of
tempest, to what seagull's scream, the drowning eddies did
their work, knows no mortal man. Sunk she silently, helplessly,
into the calm depths of that summer sea, assassinated
by the ruthless blade of the swordfish? Such things have
been. Or was hers a better fate? Stricken down while
gallantly battling with the blast; her storm-sails set; helm
manned; and every sailor at his post; as sunk the Hornet,
her men at quarters, in some distant gale.
But surmises are idle. A very old craft, she may have
foundered; or laid her bones upon some treacherous reef;
but as with many a far rover, her fate is a mystery.
Pray Heaven, the spirit of that lost vessel roaming abroad
through the troubled mists of midnight gales—as old mariners
believe of missing ships—may never haunt my future
path upon the waves. Peacefully may she rest at the bottom
of the sea; and sweetly sleep my shipmates in the
lowest watery zone, where prowling sharks come not, nor
billows roll.
-- 039 --
[figure description] Page 039.[end figure description]
By quitting the Arcturion when we did, Jarl and I unconsciously
eluded a sailor's grave. We hear of providential
deliverances. Was this one? But life is sweet to all,
death comes as hard. And for myself I am almost tempted
to hang my head, that I escaped the fate of my shipmates;
something like him who blushed to have escaped the fell
carnage at Thermopylæ.
Though I can not repress a shudder when I think of that
old ship's end, it is impossible for me so much as to imagine,
that our deserting her could have been in any way instrumental
in her loss. Nevertheless, I would to Heaven the
Arcturion still floated; that it was given me once more to
tread her familiar decks.
-- 040 -- p275-047
CHAPTER VIII. THEY PUSH OFF, VELIS ET REMIS.
[figure description] Page 040.[end figure description]
And now to tell how, tempted by devil or good angel,
and a thousand miles from land, we embarked upon this
western voyage.
It was midnight, mark you, when our watch began; and
my turn at the helm now coming on was of course to be
avoided. On some plausible pretense, I induced our solitary
watchmate to assume it; thus leaving myself untrammeled,
and at the same time satisfactorily disposing of him. For
being a rather fat fellow, an enormous consumer of “duff,”
and with good reason supposed to be the son of a farmer, I
made no doubt, he would pursue his old course and fall to
nodding over the wheel. As for the leader of the watch—
our harpooneer—he fell heir to the nest of old jackets, under
the lee of the mizzen-mast, left nice and warm by his predecessor.
The night was even blacker than we had anticipated;
there was no trace of a moon; and the dark purple haze,
sometimes encountered at night near the Line, half shrouded
the stars from view.
Waiting about twenty minutes after the last man of the
previous watch had gone below, I motioned to Jarl, and we
slipped our shoes from our feet. He then descended into
the forecastle, and I sauntered aft toward the quarter-deck.
All was still. Thrice did I pass my hand full before the
face of the slumbering lubber at the helm, and right between
him and the light of the binnacle.
Mark, the harpooneer, was not so easily sounded. I feared
-- 041 --
[figure description] Page 041.[end figure description]
to approach him. He lay quietly, though; but asleep or
awake, no more delay. Risks must be run, when time
presses. And our ears were a pointer's to catch a sound.
To work we went, without hurry, but swiftly and silently.
Our various stores were dragged from their lurking-places,
and placed in the boat, which hung from the ship's
lee side, the side depressed in the water, an indispensable
requisite to an attempt at escape. And though at sundown
the boat was to windward, yet, as we had foreseen, the vessel
having been tacked during the first watch, brought it to
leeward.
Endeavoring to manhandle our clumsy breaker, and lift
it into the boat, we found, that by reason of the intervention
of the shrouds, it could not be done without risking a
jar; besides straining the craft in lowering. An expedient,
however, though at the eleventh hour, was hit upon.
Fastening a long rope to the breaker, which was perfectly
tight, we cautiously dropped it overboard; paying out
enough line, to insure its towing astern of the ship, so as
not to strike against the copper. The other end of the line
we then secured to the boat's stern.
Fortunately, this was the last thing to be done; for the
breaker, acting as a clog to the vessel's way in the water,
so affected her steering as to fling her perceptibly into the
wind. And by causing the helm to work, this must soon
rouse the lubber there stationed, if not already awake.
But our dropping overboard the breaker greatly aided us in
this respect: it diminished the ship's headway; which
owing to the light breeze had not been very great at any
time during the night. Had it been so, all hope of escaping
without first arresting the vessel's progress, would have
been little short of madness. As it was, the sole daring of
the deed that night achieved, consisted in our lowering
away while the ship yet clove the brine, though but moderately.
All was now ready: the cranes swung in, the lashings
-- 042 --
[figure description] Page 042.[end figure description]
adrift, and the boat fairly suspended; when, seizing the ends
of the tackle ropes, we silently stepped into it, one at each
end. The dead weight of the breaker astern now dragged
the craft horizontally through the air, so that her tackle
ropes strained hard. She quivered like a dolphin. Nevertheless,
had we not feared her loud splash upon striking the
wave, we might have quitted the ship almost as silently as
the breath the body. But this was out of the question,
and our plans were laid accordingly.
“All ready, Jarl?”
“Ready.”
“A man overboard!” I shouted at the top of my compass;
and like lightning the cords slid through our blistering
hands, and with a tremendous shock the boat bounded
on the sea's back. One mad sheer and plunge, one terrible
strain on the tackles as we sunk in the trough of the waves,
tugged upon by the towing breaker, and our knives severed
the tackle ropes—we hazarded not unhooking the blocks—
our oars were out, and the good boat headed round, with
prow to leeward.
“Man overboard!” was now shouted from stem to stern.
And directly we heard the confused tramping and shouting
of the sailors, as they rushed from their dreams into the
almost inscrutable darkness.
“Man overboard! Man overboard!” My heart smote
me as the human cry of horror came out of the black
vaulted night.
“Down helm!” was soon heard from the chief mate.
“Back the main-yard! Quick to the boats! How's this?
One down already? Well done! Hold on, then, those other
boats!”
Meanwhile several seamen were shouting as they strained
at the braces.
“Cut! cut all! Lower away! lower away!” impatiently
cried the sailors, who already had leaped into the
boats.
-- 043 --
[figure description] Page 043.[end figure description]
“Heave the ship to, and hold fast every thing,” cried
the captain, apparently just springing to the deck. “One
boat's enough. Steward! show a light there from the
mizzen-top. Boat ahoy!—Have you got that man?”
No reply. The voice came out of a cloud; the ship
dimly showing like a ghost. We had desisted from rowing,
and hand over hand were now hauling in upon the rope
attached to the breaker, which we soon lifted into the boat,
instantly resuming our oars.
“Pull! pull, men! and save him!” again shouted the
captain.
“Ay, ay, sir,” answered Jarl instinctively, “pulling as
hard as ever we can, sir.”
And pull we did, till nothing could be heard from the
ship but a confused tumult; and, ever and anon, the hoarse
shout of the captain, too distant to be understood.
We now set our sail to a light air; and right into the
darkness, and dead to leeward, we rowed and sailed till
morning dawned.
-- 044 -- p275-051
CHAPTER IX. THE WATERY WORLD IS ALL BEFORE THEM.
[figure description] Page 044.[end figure description]
At sea in an open boat, and a thousand miles from
land!
Shortly after the break of day, in the gray transparent
light, a speck to windward broke the even line of the horizon.
It was the ship wending her way north-eastward.
Had I not known the final indifference of sailors to such
disasters as that which the Arcturion's crew must have
imputed to the night past (did not the skipper suspect the
truth) I would have regarded that little speck with many
compunctions of conscience. Nor, as it was, did I feel in
any very serene humor. For the consciousness of being
deemed dead, is next to the presumable unpleasantness of
being so in reality. One feels like his own ghost unlawfully
tenanting a defunct carcass. Even Jarl's glance
seemed so queer, that I begged him to look another way.
Secure now from all efforts of the captain to recover
those whom he most probably supposed lost; and equally
cut off from all hope of returning to the ship even had
we felt so inclined; the resolution that had thus far nerved
me, began to succumb in a measure to the awful loneliness
of the scene. Ere this, I had regarded the ocean as
a slave, the steed that bore me whither I listed, and whose
vicious propensities, mighty though they were, often proved
harmless, when opposed to the genius of man. But now,
how changed! In our frail boat, I would fain have built
an altar to Neptune.
What a mere toy we were to the billows, that jeeringly
-- 045 --
[figure description] Page 045.[end figure description]
shouldered us from crest to crest, as from hand to hand lost
souls may be tossed along by the chain of shades which enfilade
the route to Tartarus.
But drown or swim, here's overboard with care! Cheer
up, Jarl! Ha! ha! how merrily, yet terribly, we sail!
Up, up—slowly up—toiling up the long, calm wave; then
balanced on its summit a while, like a plank on a rail; and
down, we plunge headlong into the seething abyss, till arrested,
we glide upward again. And thus did we go.
Now buried in watery hollows—our sail idly flapping; then
lifted aloft—canvas bellying; and beholding the furthest
horizon.
Had not our familiarity with the business of whaling
divested our craft's wild motions of its first novel horrors,
we had been but a rueful pair. But day-long pulls after
whales, the ship left miles astern; and entire dark nights
passed moored to the monsters, killed too late to be towed
to the ship far to leeward:—all this, and much more, accustoms
one to strange things. Death, to be sure, has a
mouth as black as a wolf's, and to be thrust into his jaws
is a serious thing. But true it most certainly is—and I
speak from no hearsay—that to sailors, as a class, the grisly
king seems not half so hideous as he appears to those who
have only regarded him on shore, and at a deferential distance.
Like many ugly mortals, his features grow less
frightful upon acquaintance; and met over often and sociably,
the old adage holds true, about familiarity breeding
contempt. Thus too with soldiers. Of the quaking recruit,
three pitched battles make a grim grenadier; and he who
shrank from the muzzle of a cannon, is now ready to yield
his mustache for a sponge.
And truly, since death is the last enemy of all, valiant
souls will taunt him while they may. Yet rather, should
the wise regard him as the inflexible friend, who, even
against our own wills, from life's evils triumphantly relieves
us.
-- 046 --
[figure description] Page 046.[end figure description]
And there is but little difference in the manner of dying.
To die, is all. And death has been gallantly encountered
by those who never beheld blood that was red, only its light
azure seen through the veins. And to yield the ghost
proudly, and march out of your fortress with all the honors
of war, is not a thing of sinew and bone. Though in
prison, Geoffry Hudson, the dwarf, died more bravely than
Goliah, the giant; and the last end of a butterfly shames
us all. Some women have lived nobler lives, and died
nobler deaths, than men. Threatened with the stake,
mitred Cranmer recanted; but through her fortitude, the
lorn widow of Edessa stayed the tide of Valens' persecutions.
'Tis no great valor to perish sword in hand, and
bravado on lip; cased all in panoply complete. For even
the alligator dies in his mail, and the swordfish never surrenders.
To expire, mild-eyed, in one's bed, transcends the
death of Epaminondas.
-- 047 -- p275-054
CHAPTER X. THEY ARRANGE THEIR CANOPIES AND LOUNGES, AND TRY TO MAKE THINGS COMFORTABLE.
[figure description] Page 047.[end figure description]
Our little craft was soon in good order. From the spare
rigging brought along, we made shrouds to the mast, and
converted the boat-hook into a handy boom for the jib.
Going large before the wind, we set this sail wing-and-wing
with the main-sail. The latter, in accordance with the
customary rig of whale-boats, was worked with a sprit and
sheet. It could be furled or set in an instant. The bags
of bread we stowed away in the covered space about the
loggerhead, a useless appurtenance now, and therefore removed.
At night, Jarl used it for a pillow; saying, that
when the boat rolled it gave easy play to his head. The
precious breaker we lashed firmly amidships; thereby much
improving our sailing.
Now, previous to leaving the ship, we had seen to it
well, that our craft was supplied with all those equipments,
with which, by the regulations of the fishery, a whale-boat
is constantly provided: night and day, afloat or suspended.
Hanging along our gunwales inside, were six harpoons, three
lances, and a blubber-spade; all keen as razors, and sheathed
with leather. Besides these, we had three waifs, a couple
of two-gallon water-kegs, several bailers, the boat-hatchet
for cutting the whale-line, two auxiliary knives for the like
purpose, and several minor articles, also employed in hunting
the leviathan. The line and line-tub, however, were on
ship-board.
And here it may be mentioned, that to prevent the strain
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upon the boat when suspended to the ship's side, the heavy
whale-line, over two hundred fathoms in length, and something
more than an inch in diameter, when not in use is
kept on ship-board, coiled away like an endless snake in its
tub. But this tub is always in readiness to be launched
into the boat. Now, having no use for the line belonging
to our craft, we had purposely left it behind.
But well had we marked that by far the most important
item of a whale-boat's furniture was snugly secured in its
place. This was the water-tight keg, at both ends firmly
headed, containing a small compass, tinder-box and flint,
candles, and a score or two of biscuit. This keg is an invariable
precaution against what so frequently occurs in
pursuing the sperm whale—prolonged absence from the
ship, losing sight of her, or never seeing her more, till years
after you reach home again. In this same keg of ours
seemed coopered up life and death, at least so seemed it to
honest Jarl. No sooner had we got clear from the Arcturion,
than dropping his oar for an instant, he clutched at it
in the dark.
And when day at last came, we knocked out the head of
the keg with the little hammer and chisel, always attached
to it for that purpose, and removed the compass, that glistened
to us like a human eye. Then filling up the vacancy
with biscuit, we again made all tight, driving down the
hoops till they would budge no more.
At first we were puzzled to fix our compass. But at last
the Skyeman out knife, and cutting a round hole in the aftermost
thwart, or seat of the boat, there inserted the little
brass case containing the needle.
Over the stern of the boat, with some old canvas which
my Viking's forethought had provided, we spread a rude sort
of awning, or rather counterpane. This, however, proved
but little or no protection from the glare of the sun; for the
management of the main-sail forbade any considerable elevation
of the shelter. And when the breeze was fresh, we
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were fain to strike it altogether; for the wind being from
aft, and getting underneath the canvas, almost lifted the
light boat's stern into the air, vexing the counterpane as if
it were a petticoat turning a gusty corner. But when a
mere breath rippled the sea, and the sun was fiery hot, it
was most pleasant to lounge in this shady asylum. It was
like being transferred from the roast to cool in the cupboard.
And Jarl, much the toughest fowl of the two, out of an
abundant kindness for his comrade, during the day voluntarily
remained exposed at the helm, almost two hours to my
one. No lady-like scruples had he, the old Viking, about
marring his complexion, which already was more than
bronzed. Over the ordinary tanning of the sailor, he seemed
masked by a visor of japanning, dotted all over with freckles,
so intensely yellow, and symmetrically circular, that they
seemed scorched there by a burning glass.
In the tragico-comico moods which at times overtook me,
I used to look upon the brown Skyeman with humorous
complacency. If we fall in with cannibals, thought I, then,
ready-roasted Norseman that thou art, shall I survive to
mourn thee; at least, during the period I revolve upon the
spit.
But of such a fate, it needs hardly be said, we had no
apprehension.
-- -- p275-057
CHAPTER XI. JARL AFFLICTED WITH THE LOCKJAW.
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If ever again I launch whale-boat from sheer-plank of
ship at sea, I shall take good heed, that my comrade be a
sprightly fellow, with a rattle-box head. Be he never so
silly, his very silliness, so long as he be lively at it, shall be
its own excuse.
Upon occasion, who likes not a lively loon, one of your
giggling, gamesome oafs, whose mouth is a grin? Are not
such, well-ordered dispensations of Providence? filling up
vacuums, in intervals of social stagnation relieving the
tedium of existing? besides keeping up, here and there, in
very many quarters indeed, sundry people's good opinion of
themselves? What, if at times their speech is insipid as
water after wine? What, if to ungenial and irascible souls,
their very “mug” is an exasperation to behold, their clack
an inducement to suicide? Let us not be hard upon them
for this; but let them live on for the good they may do.
But Jarl, dear, dumb Jarl, thou wert none of these.
Thou didst carry a phiz like an excommunicated deacon's.
And no matter what happened, it was ever the same. Quietly,
in thyself, thou didst revolve upon thine own sober axis,
like a wheel in a machine which forever goes round, whether
you look at it or no. Ay, Jarl! wast thou not forever intent
upon minding that which so many neglect—thine own
especial business? Wast thou not forever at it, too, with
no likelihood of ever winding up thy moody affairs, and
striking a balance sheet?
But at times how wearisome to me these everlasting
-- 051 --
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reveries in my one solitary companion. I longed for something
enlivening; a burst of words; human vivacity of one kind
or other. After in vain essaying to get something of this
sort out of Jarl, I tried it all by myself; playing upon my
body as upon an instrument; singing, halloing, and making
empty gestures, till my Viking stared hard; and I myself
paused to consider whether I had run crazy or no.
But how account for the Skyeman's gravity? Surely, it
was based upon no philosophic taciturnity; he was nothing
of an idealist; an aerial architect; a constructor of flying
buttresses. It was inconceivable, that his reveries were
Manfred-like and exalted, reminiscent of unutterable deeds,
too mysterious even to be indicated by the remotest of hints.
Suppositions all out of the question.
His ruminations were a riddle. I asked him anxiously,
whether, in any part of the world, Savannah, Surat, or
Archangel, he had ever a wife to think of; or children, that
he carried so lengthy a phiz. Nowhere neither. Therefore,
as by his own confession he had nothing to think of but
himself, and there was little but honesty in him (having
which, by the way, he may be thought full to the brim),
what could I fall back upon but my original theory: namely,
that in repose, his intellects stepped out, and left his body
to itself.
-- -- p275-059
CHAPTER XII. MORE ABOUT BEING IN AN OPEN BOAT.
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On the third morning, at break of day, I sat at the steering
oar, an hour or two previous having relieved Jarl, now
fast asleep. Somehow, and suddenly, a sense of peril so intense,
came over me, that it could hardly have been aggravated
by the completest solitude.
On a ship's deck, the mere feeling of elevation above the
water, and the reach of prospect you command, impart a
degree of confidence which disposes you to exult in your fancied
security. But in an open boat, brought down to the
very plane of the sea, this feeling almost wholly deserts you.
Unless the waves, in their gambols, toss you and your chip
upon one of their lordly crests, your sphere of vision is little
larger than it would be at the bottom of a well. At best,
your most extended view in any one direction, at least, is in
a high, slow-rolling sea; when you descend into the dark,
misty spaces, between long and uniform swells. Then, for
the moment, it is like looking up and down in a twilight
glade, interminable; where two dawns, one on each hand,
seem struggling through the semi-transparent tops of the
fluid mountains.
But, lingering not long in those silent vales, from watery
cliff to cliff, a sea-chamois, sprang our solitary craft,—a goat
among the Alps!
How undulated the horizon; like a vast serpent with ten
thousand folds coiled all round the globe; yet so nigh, apparently,
that it seemed as if one's hand might touch it.
What loneliness; when the sun rose, and spurred up the
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heavens, we hailed him as a wayfarer in Sahara the sight
of a distant horseman. Save ourselves, the sun and the
Chamois seemed all that was left of life in the universe.
We yearned toward its jocund disk, as in strange lands the
traveler joyfully greets a face from home, which there had
passed unheeded. And was not the sun a fellow-voyager?
were we not both wending westward? But how soon he
daily overtook and passed us; hurrying to his journey's end.
When a week had gone by, sailing steadily on, by day
and by night, and nothing in sight but this self-same sea,
what wonder if disquieting thoughts at last entered our hearts?
If unknowingly we should pass the spot where, according to
our reckoning, our islands lay, upon what shoreless sea would
we launch? At times, these forebodings bewildered my
idea of the positions of the groups beyond. All became
vague and confused; so that westward of the Kingsmill
isles and the Radack chain, I fancied there could be naught
but an endless sea.
-- -- p275-061
CHAPTER XIII. OF THE CHONDROPTERYGII, AND OTHER UNCOUTH HOR INFESTING THE SOUTH SEAS.
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At intervals in our lonely voyage, there were sights which
diversified the scene; especially when the constellation Pisces
was in the ascendant.
It's famous botanizing, they say, in Arkansas' boundless
prairies; I commend the student of Ichthyology to an open
boat, and the ocean moors of the Pacific. As your craft
glides along, what strange monsters float by. Elsewhere,
was never seen their like. And nowhere are they found in
the books of the naturalists.
Though America be discovered, the Cathays of the deep
are unknown. And whoso crosses the Pacific might have
read lessons to Buffon. The sea-serpent is not a fable; and
in the sea, that snake is but a garden worm. There are
more wonders than the wonders rejected, and more sights
unrevealed than you or I ever ever dreamt of. Moles and
bats alone should be skeptics; and the only true infidelity is
for a live man to vote himself dead. Be Sir Thomas Brown
our ensample; who, while exploding “Vulgar Errors,” heartily
hugged all the mysteries in the Pentateuch.
But look! fathoms down in the sea; where ever saw you
a phantom like that? An enormous crescent with antlers
like a reindeer, and a Delta of mouths. Slowly it sinks,
and is seen no more.
Doctor Faust saw the devil; but you have seen the “Devil
Fish.”
Look again! Here comes another. Jarl calls it a Bone
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Shark. Full as large as a whale, it is spotted like a leopard;
and tusk-like teeth overlap its jaws like those of the
walrus. To seamen, nothing strikes more terror than the
near vicinity of a creature like this. Great ships steer out
of its path. And well they may; since the good craft Essex,
and others, have been sunk by sea-monsters, as the alligator
thrusts his horny snout through a Carribean canoe.
Ever present to us, was the apprehension of some sudden
disaster from the extraordinary zoological specimens we almost
hourly passed.
For the sharks, we saw them, not by units, nor by tens,
nor by hundreds; but by thousands and by myriads. Trust
me, there are more sharks in the sea than mortals on land.
And of these prolific fish there are full as many species as
of dogs. But by the German naturalists Müller and Henle,
who, in christening the sharks, have bestowed upon them the
most heathenish names, they are classed under one family;
which family, according to Müller, king-at-arms, is an undoubted
branch of the ancient and famous tribe of the Chondropterygii.
To begin. There is the ordinary Brown Shark, or seaattorney,
so called by sailors; a grasping, rapacious varlet,
that in spite of the hard knocks received from it, often snapped
viciously at our steering oar. At times, these gentry
swim in herds; especially about the remains of a slaughtered
whale. They are the vultures of the deep.
Then we often encountered the dandy Blue Shark, a long,
taper and mighty genteel looking fellow, with a slender waist,
like a Bond-street beau, and the whitest tiers of teeth imaginable.
This dainty spark invariably lounged by with a
careless fin and an indolent tail. But he looked infernally
heartless.
How his cold-blooded, gentlemanly air, contrasted with
the rude, savage swagger of the Tiger Shark; a round,
portly gourmand; with distended mouth and collapsed conscience,
swimming about seeking whom he might devour.
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These gluttons are the scavengers of navies, following ships
in the South Seas, picking up odds and ends of garbage, and
sometimes a tit-bit, a stray sailor. No wonder, then, that
sailors denounce them. In substance, Jarl once assured me,
that under any temporary misfortune, it was one of his sweetest
consolations to remember, that in his day, he had murdered,
not killed, shoals of Tiger Sharks.
Yet this is all wrong. As well hate a seraph, as a shark.
Both were made by the same hand. And that sharks are
lovable, witness their domestic endearments. No Fury so
ferocious, as not to have some amiable side. In the wild
wilderness, a leopard-mother caresses her cub, as Hagar did
Ishmael; or a queen of France the dauphin. We know
not what we do when we hate. And I have the word of
my gentlemanly friend Stanhope, for it; that he who declared
he loved a good hater was but a respectable sort of Hottentot,
at best. No very genteel epithet this, though coming
from the genteelest of men. But when the digger of dictionaries
said that saying of his, he was assuredly not much
of a Christian. However, it is hard for one given up to
constitutional hypos like him, to be filled with the milk and
meekness of the gospels. Yet, with deference, I deny that
my old uncle Johnson really believed in the sentiment ascribed
to him. Love a hater, indeed! Who smacks his
lips over gall? Now hate is a thankless thing. So, let us
only hate hatred; and once give love play, we will fall in
love with a unicorn. Ah! the easiest way is the best; and
to hate, a man must work hard. Love is a delight; but hate
a torment. And haters are thumbscrews, Scotch boots, and
Spanish inquisitions to themselves. In five words—would
they were a Siamese diphthong—he who hates is a fool.
For several days our Chamois was followed by two of
these aforesaid Tiger Sharks. A brace of confidential inseparables,
jogging along in our wake, side by side, like a couple
of highwaymen, biding their time till you come to the crossroads.
But giving it up at last, for a bootless errand, they
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dropped farther and farther astern, until completely out of
sight. Much to the Skyeman's chagrin; who long stood in
the stern, lance poised for a dart.
But of all sharks, save me from the ghastly White Shark.
For though we should hate naught, yet some dislikes are
spontaneous; and disliking is not hating. And never yet
could I bring myself to be loving, or even sociable, with a
White Shark. He is not the sort of creature to enlist young
affections.
This ghost of a fish is not often encountered, and shows
plainer by night than by day. Timon-like, he always swims
by himself; gliding along just under the surface, revealing
a long, vague shape, of a milky hue; with glimpses now and
then of his bottomless white pit of teeth. No need of a
dentist hath he. Seen at night, stealing along like a spirit
in the water, with horrific serenity of aspect, the White Shark
sent many a thrill to us twain in the Chamois.
By day, and in the profoundest calms, oft were we startled
by the ponderous sigh of the grampus, as lazily rising to the
surface, he fetched a long breath after napping below.
And time and again we watched the darting albicore, the
fish with the chain-plate armor and golden scales; the Nimrod
of the seas, to whom so many flying fish fall a prey.
Flying from their pursuers, many of them flew into our boat.
But invariably they died from the shock. No nursing could
restore them. One of their wings I removed, spreading it
out to dry under a weight. In two days' time the thin membrane,
all over tracings like those of a leaf, was transparent
as isinglass, and tinted with brilliant hues, like those of a
changing silk.
Almost every day, we spied Black Fish; coal-black and
glossy. They seemed to swim by revolving round and round
in the water, like a wheel; their dorsal fins, every now and
then shooting into view, like spokes.
Of a somewhat similar species, but smaller, and clipperbuilt
about the nose, were the Algerines; so called, probably,
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from their corsair propensities; waylaying peaceful fish on
the high seas, and plundering them of body and soul at a
gulp. Atrocious Turks! a crusade should be preached
against them.
Besides all these, we encountered Killers and Thrashers,
by far the most spirited and “spunky” of the finny tribes.
Though little larger than a porpoise, a band of them think
nothing of assailing leviathan himself. They bait the monster,
as dogs a bull. The Killers seizing the Right whale
by his immense, sulky lower lip, and the Thrashers fastening
on to his back, and beating him with their sinewy tails.
Often they come off conquerors, worrying the enemy to death.
Though, sooth to say, if leviathan gets but one sweep at
them with his terrible tail, they go flying into the air, as if
tossed from Taurus' horn.
This sight we beheld. Had old Wouvermans, who once
painted a bull bait, been along with us, a rare chance, that,
for his pencil. And Gudin or Isabey might have thrown
the blue rolling sea into the picture. Lastly, one of Claude's
setting summer suns would have glorified the whole. Oh,
believe me, God's creatures fighting, fin for fin, a thousand
miles from land, and with the round horizon for an arena,
is no ignoble subject for a masterpiece.
Such are a few of the sights of the great South Sea.
But there is no telling all. The Pacific is populous as
China.
-- -- p275-066
CHAPTER XIV. JARL'S MISGIVINGS.
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About this time an event took place. My good Viking
opened his mouth, and spoke. The prodigy occurred, as,
jacknife in hand, he was bending over the midship oar;
on the loom, or handle, of which he kept our almanac;
making a notch for every set sun. For some forty-eight
hours past, the wind had been light and variable. It
was more than suspected that a current was sweeping us
northward.
Now, marking these things, Jarl threw out the thought,
that the more wind, and the less current, the better; and if
a long calm came on, of which there was some prospect, we
had better take to our oars.
Take to our oars! as if we were crossing a ferry, and no
ocean leagues to traverse. The idea indirectly suggested all
possible horrors. To be rid of them forthwith, I proceeded
to dole out our morning meal. For to make away with such
things, there is nothing better than bolting something down
on top of them; albeit, oft repeated, the plan is very apt to
beget dyspepsia; and the dyspepsia the blues.
But what of our store of provisions? So far as enough
to eat was concerned, we felt not the slightest apprehension;
our supplies proving more abundant than we had anticipated.
But, curious to tell, we felt but little inclination for food.
It was water, bright water, cool, sparkling water, alone, that
we craved. And of this, also, our store at first seemed
ample. But as our voyage lengthened, and breezes blew
faint, and calms fell fast, the idea of being deprived of the
-- 060 --
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precious fluid grew into something little short of a monomania;
especially with Jarl.
Every hour or two with the hammer and chisel belonging
to the tinder box keg, he tinkered away at the invaluable
breaker; driving down the hoops, till in his over solicitude,
I thought he would burst them outright.
Now the breaker lay on its bilge, in the middle of the
boat, where more or less sea-water always collected. And
ever and anon, dipping his finger therein, my Viking was
troubled with the thought, that this sea-water tasted less
brackish than that alongside. Of course the breaker must
be leaking. So, he would turn it over, till its wet side came
uppermost; when it would quickly become dry as a bone.
But now, with his knife, he would gently probe the joints
of the staves; shake his head; look up; look down; taste
of the water in the bottom of the boat; then that of the
sea; then lift one end of the breaker; going through with
every test of leakage he could dream of. Nor was he ever
fully satisfied, that the breaker was in all respects sound.
But in reality it was tight as the drum-heads that beat at
Cerro-Gordo. Oh! Jarl, Jarl: to me in the boat's quiet
stern, steering and philosophizing at one time and the same,
thou and thy breaker were a study.
Besides the breaker, we had, full of water, the two boatkegs,
previously alluded to. These were first used. We
drank from them by their leaden spouts; so many swallows
three times in the day; having no other means of measuring
an allowance. But when we came to the breaker,
which had only a bung-hole, though a very large one, doglike,
it was so many laps apiece; jealously counted by the
observer. This plan, however, was only good for a single
day; the water then getting beyond the reach of the tongue.
We therefore daily poured from the breaker into one of the
kegs; and drank from its spout. But to obviate the absorption
inseparable from decanting, we at last hit upon
something better,—my comrade's shoe, which, deprived of
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its quarters, narrowed at the heel, and diligently rinsed out
in the sea, was converted into a handy but rather limber
ladle. This we kept suspended in the bung-hole of the
breaker, that it might never twice absorb the water.
Now pewter imparts flavor to ale; a Meerschaum bowl,
the same to the tobacco of Smyrna; and goggle green
glasses are deemed indispensable to the bibbing of Hock.
What then shall be said of a leathern goblet for water?
Try it, ye mariners who list.
One morning, taking his wonted draught, Jarl fished up
in his ladle a deceased insect; something like a Daddy-long-legs,
only more corpulent. Its fate? A sea-toss?
Believe it not; with all those precious drops clinging to its
lengthy legs. It was held over the ladle till the last globule
dribbled; and even then, being moist, honest Jarl was but
loth to drop it overboard.
For our larder, we could not endure the salt beef; it
was raw as a live Abyssinian steak, and salt as Cracow.
Besides, the Feegee simile would not have held good with
respect to it. It was far from being “tender as a dead
man.” The biscuit only could we eat; not to be wondered
at; for even on shipboard, seamen in the tropics are but
sparing feeders.
And here let not a suggestion be omitted, most valuable
to any future castaway or sailaway as the case may be.
Eat not your biscuit dry; but dip it in the sea: which
makes it more bulky and palatable. During meal times it
was soak and sip with Jarl and me: one on each side of
the Chamois dipping our biscuit in the brine. This plan
obviated finger-glasses at the conclusion of our repast.
Upon the whole, dwelling upon the water is not so bad
after all. The Chinese are no fools. In the operation of
making your toilet, how handy to float in your ewer!
-- -- p275-069
CHAPTER XV. A STITCH IN TIME SAVES NINE.
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Like most silent earnest sort of people, my good Viking
was a pattern of industry. When in the boats after whales,
I have known him carry along a roll of sinnate to stitch
into a hat. And the boats lying motionless for half an
hour or so, waiting the rising of the chase, his fingers would
be plying at their task, like an old lady knitting. Like an
experienced old-wife too, his digits had become so expert and
conscientious, that his eyes left them alone; deeming optic
supervision unnecessary. And on this trip of ours, when
not otherwise engaged, he was quite as busy with his fingers
as ever:—unraveling old Cape Horn hose, for yarn wherewith
to darn our woolen frocks; with great patches from
the skirts of a condemned reefing-jacket, panneling the
seats of our “ducks;” in short, veneering our broken garments
with all manner of choice old broadcloths.
With the true forethought of an old tar, he had brought
along with him nearly the whole contents of his chest.
His precious “Ditty Bag,” containing his sewing utensils,
had been carefully packed away in the bottom of one of
his bundles; of which he had as many as an old maid on
her travels. In truth, an old salt is very much of an old
maid, though, strictly speaking, far from deserving that
misdeemed appellative. Better be an old maid, a woman
with herself for a husband, than the wife of a fool; and
Solomon more than hints that all men are fools; and every
wise man knows himself to be one.
When playing the sempstress, Jarl's favorite perch was
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[figure description] Page 063.[end figure description]
the triangular little platform in the bow; which being the
driest and most elevated part of the boat, was best adapted
to his purpose. Here for hours and hours together the
honest old tailor would sit darning and sewing away, heedless
of the wide ocean around; while forever, his slouched
Guayaquil hat kept bobbing up and down against the horizon
before us.
It was a most solemn avocation with him. Silently he
nodded like the still statue in the opera of Don Juan. Indeed
he never spoke, unless to give pithy utterance to the
wisdom of keeping one's wardrobe in repair. But herein
my Viking at times waxed oracular. And many's the hour
we glided along, myself deeply pondering in the stern, hand
upon helm; while crosslegged at the other end of the boat
Jarl laid down patch upon patch, and at long intervals precept
upon precept; here several saws, and there innumerable
stitches.
-- -- p275-071
CHAPTER XVI. THEY ARE BECALMED.
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On the eighth day there was a calm.
It came on by night: so that waking at daybreak, and
folding my arms over the gunwale, I looked out upon a
scene very hard to describe. The sun was still beneath
the horizon; perhaps not yet out of sight from the plains
of Paraguay. But the dawn was too strong for the stars;
which, one by one, had gone out, like waning lamps after
a ball.
Now, as the face of a mirror is a blank, only borrowing
character from what it reflects; so in a calm in the Tropics,
a colorless sky overhead, the ocean, upon its surface, hardly
presents a sign of existence. The deep blue is gone; and
the glassy element lies tranced; almost viewless as the air.
But that morning, the two gray firmaments of sky and
water seemed collapsed into a vague ellipsis. And alike,
the Chamois seemed drifting in the atmosphere as in the
sea. Every thing was fused into the calm: sky, air, water,
and all. Not a fish was to be seen. The silence was that
of a vacuum. No vitality lurked in the air. And this
inert blending and brooding of all things seemed gray chaos
in conception.
This calm lasted four days and four nights; during which,
but a few cat's-paws of wind varied the scene. They were
faint as the breath of one dying.
At times the heat was intense. The heavens, at midday,
glowing like an ignited coal mine. Our skin curled
up like lint; our vision became dim; the brain dizzy.
To our consternation, the water in the breaker became
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lukewarm, brackish, and slightly putrescent; notwithstanding
we kept our spare clothing piled upon the breaker, to
shield it from the sun. At last, Jarl enlarged the vent,
carefully keeping it exposed. To this precaution, doubtless,
we owed more than we then thought. It was now
deemed wise to reduce our allowance of water to the smallest
modicum consistent with the present preservation of life;
strangling all desire for more.
Nor was this all. The upper planking of the boat began
to warp; here and there, cracking and splintering.
But though we kept it moistened with brine, one of the
plank-ends started from its place; and the sharp, sudden
sound, breaking the scorching silence, caused us both to
spring to our feet. Instantly the sea burst in; but we
made shift to secure the rebellious plank with a cord, not
having a nail; we then bailed out the boat, nearly half full
of water.
On the second day of the calm, we unshipped the mast,
to prevent its being pitched out by the occasional rolling of
the vast smooth swells now overtaking us. Leagues and
leagues away, after its fierce raging, some tempest must
have been sending to us its last dying waves. For as a
pebble dropped into a pond ruffles it to its marge; so, on
all sides, a sea-gale operates as if an asteroid had fallen
into the brine; making ringed mountain billows, interminably
expanding, instead of ripples.
The great September waves breaking at the base of the
Neversink Highlands, far in advance of the swiftest pilotboat,
carry tidings. And full often, they know the last
secret of many a stout ship, never heard of from the day
she left port. Every wave in my eyes seems a soul.
As there was no steering to be done, Jarl and I sheltered
ourselves as well as we could under the awning. And for
the first two days, one at a time, and every three or four
hours, we dropped overboard for a bath, clinging to the gunwale;
a sharp look-out being kept for prowling sharks. A
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foot or two below the surface, the water felt cool and
refreshing.
On the third day a change came over us. We relinquished
bathing, the exertion taxing us too much. Sullenly
we laid ourselves down; turned our backs to each
other; and were impatient of the slightest casual touch of
our persons. What sort of expression my own countenance
wore, I know not; but I hated to look at Jarl's.
When I did it was a glare, not a glance. I became more
taciturn than he. I can not tell what it was that came
over me, but I wished I was alone. I felt that so long as
the calm lasted, we were without help; that neither could
assist the other; and above all, that for one, the water
would hold out longer than for two. I felt no remorse, not
the slightest, for these thoughts. It was instinct. Like a
desperado giving up the ghost, I desired to gasp by myself.
From being cast away with a brother, good God deliver me!
The four days passed. And on the morning of the fifth,
thanks be to Heaven, there came a breeze. Dancingly,
mincingly it came, just rippling the sea, until it struck our
sails, previously set at the very first token of its advance.
At length it slightly freshened; and our poor Chamois
seemed raised from the dead.
Beyond expression delightful! Once more we heard the
low humming of the sea under our bow, as our boat, like a
bird, went singing on its way.
How changed the scene! Overhead, a sweet blue haze,
distilling sunlight in drops. And flung abroad over the
visible creation was the sun-spangled, azure, rustling robe of
the ocean, ermined with wave crests; all else, infinitely
blue. Such a cadence of musical sounds! Waves chasing
each other, and sporting and frothing in frolicsome foam:
painted fish rippling past; and anon the noise of wings as
sea-fowls flew by.
Oh, Ocean, when thou choosest to smile, more beautiful
thou art than flowery mead or plain!
-- -- p275-074
CHAPTER XVII. IN HIGH SPIRITS, THEY PUSH ON FOR THE TERRA INCOGNITA.
[figure description] Page 067.[end figure description]
There were now fourteen notches on the loom of the
Skyeman's oar:—So many days since we had pushed from
the fore-chains of the Arcturion. But as yet, no floating
bough, no tern, noddy, nor reef-bird, to denote our proximity
to land. In that long calm, whither might not the currents
have swept us?
Where we were precisely, we knew not; but according
to our reckoning, the loose estimation of the knots run every
hour, we must have sailed due west but little more than
one hundred and fifty leagues; for the most part having
encountered but light winds, and frequent intermitting calms,
besides that prolonged one described. But spite of past calms
and currents, land there must be to the westward. Sun,
compass, stout hearts, and steady breezes, pointed our prow
thereto. So courage! my Viking, and never say drown!
At this time, our hearts were much lightened by discovering
that our water was improving in taste. It seemed to
have been undergoing anew that sort of fermentation, or
working, occasionally incident to ship water shortly after
being taken on board. Sometimes, for a period, it is more
or less offensive to taste and smell; again, however, becoming
comparatively limpid.
But as our water improved, we grew more and more
miserly of so priceless a treasure.
And here it may be well to make mention of another
little circumstance, however unsentimental. Thorough-paced
tar that he was, my Viking was an inordinate consumer of
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the Indian weed. From the Arcturion, he had brought
along with him a small half-keg, at bottom impacted with
a solitary layer of sable Negrohead, fossil-marked, like the
primary stratum of the geologists. It was the last tier of
his abundant supply for the long whaling voyage upon which
he had embarked upwards of three years previous. Now
during the calm, and for some days after, poor Jarl's accustomed
quid was no longer agreeable company. To pun:
he eschewed his chew. I asked him wherefore. He replied
that it puckered up his mouth, above all provoked
thirst and had somehow grown every way distasteful. I
was sorry; for the absence of his before ever present wad
impaired what little fullness there was left in his cheek;
though, sooth to say, I no longer called upon him as of yore
to shift over the enormous morsel to starboard or larboard,
and so trim our craft.
The calm gone by, once again my sea-tailor plied needle
and thread; or turning laundress, hung our raiment to dry
on oars peaked obliquely in the thole-pins. All of which
tattered pennons, the wind being astern, helped us gayly
on our way; as jolly poor devils, with rags flying in the
breeze, sail blithely through life; and are merry although
they are poor!
-- -- p275-076
CHAPTER XVIII. MY LORD SHARK AND HIS PAGES.
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There is a fish in the sea that evermore, like a surly
lord, only goes abroad attended by his suite. It is the
Shovel-nosed Shark. A clumsy lethargic monster, unshapely
as his name, and the last species of his kind, one
would think, to be so bravely waited upon, as he is. His
suite is composed of those dainty little creatures called Pilot
fish by sailors. But by night his retinue is frequently increased
by the presence of several small luminous fish, running
in advance, and flourishing their flambeaux like linkboys
lighting the monster's way. Pity there were no rayfish
in rear, page-like, to carry his caudal train.
Now the relation subsisting between the Pilot fish above
mentioned and their huge ungainly lord, seems one of the
most inscrutable things in nature. At any rate, it poses
poor me to comprehend. That a monster so ferocious,
should suffer five or six little sparks, hardly fourteen inches
long, to gambol about his grim hull with the utmost impunity,
is of itself something strange. But when it is considered,
that by a reciprocal understanding, the Pilot fish
seem to act as scouts to the shark, warning him of danger,
and apprising him of the vicinity of prey; and moreover, in
case of his being killed, evincing their anguish by certain
agitations, otherwise inexplicable; the whole thing becomes
a mystery unfathomable. Truly marvels abound. It needs
no dead man to be raised, to convince us of some things.
Even my Viking marveled full as much at those Pilot fish
as he would have marveled at the Pentecost.
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But perhaps a little incident, occurring about this period,
will best illustrate the matter in hand.
We were gliding along, hardly three knots an hour, when
my comrade, who had been dozing over the gunwale, suddenly
started to his feet, and pointed out an immense Shovel-nosed
Shark, less than a boat's length distant, and about
half a fathom beneath the surface. A lance was at once
snatched from its place; and true to his calling, Jarl was
about to dart it at the fish, when, interested by the sight
of its radiant little scouts, I begged him to desist.
One of them was right under the shark, nibbling at his
ventral fin; another above, hovering about his dorsal appurtenance;
one on each flank; and a frisking fifth pranking
about his nose, seemingly having something to say of a
confidential nature. They were of a bright, steel-blue color,
alternated with jet black stripes; with glistening bellies of
a silver-white. Clinging to the back of the shark, were four
or five Remoras, or sucking-fish; snaky parasites, impossible
to remove from whatever they adhere to, without destroying
their lives. The Remora has little power in swimming;
hence its sole locomotion is on the backs of larger fish.
Leech-like, it sticketh closer than a false brother in prosperity;
closer than a beggar to the benevolent; closer than
Webster to the Constitution. But it feeds upon what it
clings to; its feelers having a direct communication with the
esophagus.
The shark swam sluggishly; creating no sign of a ripple;
but ever and anon shaking his Medusa locks, writhing and
curling with horrible life. Now and then, the nimble Pilot
fish darted from his side—this way and that—mostly toward
our boat; but previous to taking a fresh start ever returning
to their liege lord to report progress.
A thought struck me. Baiting a rope's end with a morsel
of our almost useless salt beef, I suffered it to trail in the
sea. Instantly the foremost scout swam toward it; hesitated;
paused; but at last advancing, briskly snuffed at the
-- 071 --
[figure description] Page 071.[end figure description]
line, and taking one finical little nibble, retreated toward the
shark. Another moment, and the great Tamerlane himself
turned heavily about; pointing his black, cannon-like nose
directly toward our broadside. Meanwhile, the little Pilot
fish darted hither and thither; keeping up a mighty fidgeting,
like men of small minds in a state of nervous agitation.
Presently, Tamerlane swam nearer and nearer, all the
while lazily eyeing the Chamois, as a wild boar a kid. Suddenly
making a rush for it, in the foam he made away with
the bait. But the next instant, the uplifted lance sped at
his skull; and thrashing his requiem with his sinewy tail,
he sunk slowly, through his own blood, out of sight. Down
with him swam the terrified Pilot fish; but soon after, three
of them were observed close to the boat, gliding along at a
uniform pace; one an each side, and one in advance; even
as they had attended their lord. Doubtless, one was under
our keel.
“A good omen,” said Jarl; “no harm will befall us so
long as they stay.”
But however that might be, follow us they did, for many
days after: until an event occurred, which necessitated their
withdrawal.
-- -- p275-079
CHAPTER XIX. WHO GOES THERE?
[figure description] Page 072.[end figure description]
Jarl's oar showed sixteen notches on the loom, when
one evening, as the expanded sun touched the horizon's rim,
a ship's uppermost spars were observed, traced like a spider's
web against its crimson disk. It looked like a far-off craft
on fire.
In bright weather at sea, a sail, invisible in the full flood
of noon, becomes perceptible toward sunset. It is the reverse
in the morning. In sight at gray dawn, the distant
vessel, though in reality approaching, recedes from view, as
the sun rises higher and higher. This holds true, till its
vicinity makes it readily fall within the ordinary scope of
vision. And thus, too, here and there, with other distant
things: the more light you throw on them, the more you
obscure. Some revelations show best in a twilight.
The sight of the stranger not a little surprised us. But
brightening up, as if the encounter were welcome, Jarl
looked happy and expectant. He quickly changed his demeanor,
however, upon perceiving that I was bent upon
shunning a meeting.
Instantly our sails were struck; and calling upon Jarl,
who was somewhat backward to obey, I shipped the oars;
and, both rowing, we stood away obliquely from our former
course.
I divined that the vessel was a whaler; and hence, that
by help of the glass, with which her look-outs must be momentarily
sweeping the horizon, they might possibly have
descried us; especially, as we were due east from the ship;
-- 073 --
[figure description] Page 073.[end figure description]
a direction, which at sunset is the one most favorable for
perceiving a far-off object at sea. Furthermore, our canvas
was snow-white and conspicuous. To be sure, we could not
be certain what kind of a vessel it was; but whatever it
might be, I, for one, had no mind to risk an encounter; for
it was quite plain, that if the stranger came within hailing
distance, there would be no resource but to link our fortunes
with hers; whereas I desired to pursue none but the Chamois'.
As for the Skyeman, he kept looking wistfully over
his shoulder; doubtless, praying Heaven, that we might not
escape what I sought to avoid.
Now, upon a closer scrutiny, being pretty well convinced
that the stranger, after all, was steering a nearly westerly
course—right away from us—we reset our sail; and as
night fell, my Viking's entreaties, seconded by my own curiosity,
induced me to resume our original course; and so follow
after the vessel, with a view of obtaining a nearer
glimpse, without danger of detection. So, boldly we steered
for the sail.
But not gaining much upon her, spite of the lightness of
the breeze (a circumstance in our favor: the chase being a
ship, and we but a boat), at my comrade's instigation, we
added oars to sails, readily guiding our way by the former,
though the helm was left to itself.
As we came nearer, it was plain that the vessel was no
whaler; but a small, two-masted craft; in short, a brigantine.
Her sails were in a state of unaccountable disarray;
only the foresail, mainsail, and jib being set. The first
was much tattered; and the jib was hoisted but half
way up the stay, where it idly flapped, the breeze coming
from over the taffrail. She continually yawed in her
course; now almost presenting her broadside, then showing
her stern.
Striking our sails once more, we lay on our oars, and
watched her in the starlight. Still she swung from side to
side, and still sailed on.
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Not a little terrified at the sight, superstitious Jarl more
than insinuated that the craft must be a gold-huntress,
haunted. But I told him, that if such were the case, we
must board her, come gold or goblins. In reality, however,
I began to think that she must have been abandoned by her
crew; or else, that from sickness, those on board were incapable
of managing her.
After a long and anxious reconnoiter, we came still
nearer, using our oars, but very reluctantly on Jarl's part;
who, while rowing, kept his eyes over his shoulder, as if
about to beach the little Chamois on the back of a whale
as of yore. Indeed, he seemed full as impatient to quit
the vicinity of the vessel, as before he had been anxiously
courting it.
Now, as the silent brigantine again swung round her
broadside, I hailed her loudly. No return. Again. But
all was silent. With a few vigorous strokes, we closed
with her, giving yet another unanswered hail; when, laying
the Chamois right alongside, I clutched at the main-chains.
Instantly we felt her dragging us along. Securing
our craft by its painter, I sprang over the rail, followed by
Jarl, who had snatched his harpoon, his favorite arms.
Long used with that weapon to overcome the monsters of
the deep, he doubted not it would prove equally serviceable
in any other encounter.
The deck was a complete litter. Tossed about were
pearl oyster shells, husks of cocoa-nuts, empty casks, and
cases. The deserted tiller was lashed; which accounted
for the vessel's yawing. But we could not conceive, how
going large before the wind, the craft could, for any considerable
time, at least, have guided herself without the
help of a hand. Still, the breeze was light and steady.
Now, seeing the helm thus lashed, I could not but distrust
the silence that prevailed. It conjured up the idea of
miscreants concealed below, and meditating treachery; unserupulous
mutineers—Lascars, or Manilla-men; who,
-- 075 --
[figure description] Page 075.[end figure description]
having murdered the Europeans of the crew, might not be
willing to let strangers depart unmolested. Or yet worse,
the entire ship's company might have been swept away by
a fever, its infection still lurking in the poisoned hull. And
though the first conceit, as the last, was a mere surmise, it
was nevertheless deemed prudent to secure the hatches,
which for the present we accordingly barred down with the
oars of our boat. This done, we went about the deck in
search of water. And finding some in a clumsy cask,
drank long and freely, and to our thirsty souls' content.
The wind now freshening, and the rent sails like to blow
from the yards, we brought the brigantine to the wind, and
brailed up the canvas. This left us at liberty to examine
the craft, though, unfortunately, the night was growing
hazy.
All this while our boat was still towing alongside; and I
was about to drop it astern, when Jarl, ever cautious, declared
it safer where it was; since, if there were people on
board, they would most likely be down in the cabin, from
the dead-lights of which, mischief might be done to the
Chamois.
It was then, that my comrade observed, that the brigantine
had no boats, a circumstance most unusual in any sort
of a vessel at sea. But marking this, I was exceedingly
gratified. It seemed to indicate, as I had opined, that from
some cause or other, she must have been abandoned of her
crew. And in a good measure this dispelled my fears of
foul play, and the apprehension of contagion. Encouraged
by these reflections, I now resolved to descend, and explore
the cabin, though sorely against Jarl's counsel. To be
sure, as he earnestly said, this step might have been deferred
till daylight; but it seemed too wearisome to wait. So
bethinking me of our tinder-box and candles, I sent him
into the boat for them. Presently, two candles were lit;
one of which the Skyeman tied up and down the barbed
end of his harpoon; so that upon going below, the keen
-- 076 --
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steel might not be far off, should the light be blown out by
a dastard.
Unfastening the cabin scuttle, we stepped downward into
the smallest and murkiest den in the world. The altar-like
transom, surmounted by the closed dead-lights in the stern,
together with the dim little sky-light overhead, and the somber
aspect of every thing around, gave the place the air of
some subterranean oratory, say a Prayer Room of Peter the
Hermit. But coils of rigging, bolts of canvas, articles of
clothing, and disorderly heaps of rubbish, harmonized not
with this impression. Two doors, one on each side, led into
wee little state-rooms, the berths of which also were littered.
Among other things, was a large box, sheathed with iron and
stoutly clamped, containing a keg partly filled with powder,
the half of an old cutlass, a pouch of bullets, and a case for
a sextant—a brass plate on the lid, with the maker's name,
London. The broken blade of the cutlass was very rusty
and stained; and the iron hilt bent in. It looked so tragical
that I thrust it out of sight.
Removing a small trap-door, opening into the space beneath,
called the “run,” we lighted upon sundry cutlasses
and muskets, lying together at sixes and sevens, as if pitched
down in a hurry.
Casting round a hasty glance, and satisfying ourselves,
that through the bulkhead of the cabin, there was no passage
to the forward part of the hold, we caught up the muskets
and cutlasses, the powder keg and the pouch of bullets, and
bundling them on deck, prepared to visit the other end of
the vessel. Previous to so doing, however, I loaded a musket,
and belted a cutlass to my side. But my Viking preferred
his harpoon.
In the forecastle reigned similar confusion. But there
was a snug little lair, cleared away in one corner, and furnished
with a grass mat and bolster, like those used among
the Islanders of these seas. This little lair looked to us as if
some leopard had crouched there. And as it turned out, we
-- 077 --
[figure description] Page 077.[end figure description]
were not far from right. Forming one side of this retreat,
was a sailor's chest, stoutly secured by a lock, and monstrous
heavy withal. Regardless of Jarl's entreaties, I managed to
burst the lid; thereby revealing a motley assemblage of
millinery, and outlandish knick-knacks of all sorts; together
with sundry rude calico contrivances, which though of unaccountable
cut, nevertheless possessed a certain petticoatish
air, and latitude of skirt, betokening them the habiliments
of some feminine creature; most probably of the human
species.
In this strong box, also, was a canvas bag, jingling with
rusty old bell-buttons, gangrened copper bolts, and sheathing
nails; damp, greenish Carolus dollars (true coin all), besides
divers iron screws, and battered chisels, and belaying-pins.
Sounded on the chest lid, the dollars rang clear as convent
bells. These were put aside by Jarl; the sight of substantial
dollars doing away, for the nonce, with his superstitious
misgivings. True to his kingship, he loved true coin; though
abroad on the sea, and no land but dollarless dominions
around, all this silver was worthless as charcoal or diamonds.
Nearly one and the same thing, say the chemists; but
tell that to the marines, say the illiterate Jews and the
jewelers. Go, buy a house, or a ship, if you can, with your
charcoal! Yea, all the woods in Canada charred down to
cinders would not be worth the one famed Brazilian diamond,
though no bigger than the egg of a carrier pigeon. Ah!
but these chemists are liars, and Sir Humphrey Davy a
cheat. Many's the poor devil they've deluded into the
charcoal business, who otherwise might have made his fortune
with a mattock.
Groping again into the chest, we brought to light a queer
little hair trunk, very bald and rickety. At every corner
was a mighty clamp, the weight of which had no doubt
debilitated the box. It was jealously secured with a padlock,
almost as big as itself; so that it was almost a question,
which was meant to be security to the other. Prying at it
-- 078 --
[figure description] Page 078.[end figure description]
hard, we at length effected an entrance; but saw no golden
moidores, no ruddy doubloons; nothing under heaven but
three pewter mugs, such as are used in a ship's cabin, several
brass screws, and brass plates, which must have belonged
to a quadrant; together with a famous lot of glass beads,
and brass rings; while, pasted on the inside of the cover,
was a little colored print, representing the harlots, the shameless
hussies, having a fine time with the Prodigal Son.
It should have been mentioned ere now, that while we
were busy in the forecastle, we were several times startled
by strange sounds aloft. And just after, crashing into the
little hair trunk, down came a great top-block, right through
the scuttle, narrowly missing my Viking's crown; a much
stronger article, by the way, than your goldsmiths turn out
in these days. This startled us much; particularly Jarl, as
one might suppose; but accustomed to the strange creakings
and wheezings of the masts and yards of old vessels at sea,
and having many a time dodged stray blocks accidentally
falling from aloft, I thought little more of the matter; though
my comrade seemed to think the noises somewhat different
from any thing of that kind he had ever heard before.
After a little more turning over of the rubbish in the forecastle,
and much marveling thereat, we ascended to the deck;
where we found every thing so silent, that, as we moved
toward the taffrail, the Skyeman unconsciously addressed me
in a whisper.
-- -- p275-086
CHAPTER XX. NOISES AND PORTENTS.
[figure description] Page 079.[end figure description]
I longed for day. For however now inclined to believe
that the brigantine was untenanted, I desired the light of
the sun to place that fact beyond a misgiving.
Now, having observed, previous to boarding the vessel,
that she lay rather low in the water, I thought proper to
sound the well. But there being no line-and-sinker at
hand, I sent Jarl to hunt them up in the arm-chest on the
quarter-deck, where doubtless they must be kept. Meanwhile
I searched for the “breaks,” or pump-handles, which,
as it turned out, could not have been very recently used;
for they were found lashed up and down to the main-mast.
Suddenly Jarl came running toward me, whispering that
all doubt was dispelled;—there were spirits on board, to a
dead certainty. He had overheard a supernatural sneeze.
But by this time I was all but convinced, that we were
alone in the brigantine. Since, if otherwise, I could assign
no earthly reason for the crew's hiding away from a couple
of sailors, whom, were they so minded, they might easily
have mastered. And furthermore, this alleged disturbance
of the atmosphere aloft by a sneeze, Jarl averred to have
taken place in the main-top; directly underneath which I
was all this time standing, and had heard nothing. So complimenting
my good Viking upon the exceeding delicacy of
his auriculars, I bade him trouble himself no more with his
piratical ghosts and goblins, which existed nowhere but in
his own imagination.
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Not finding the line-and-sinker, with the spare end of a
bowline we rigged a substitute; and sounding the well,
found nothing to excite our alarm. Under certain circumstances,
however, this sounding a ship's well is a nervous
sort of business enough. 'Tis like feeling your own pulse
in the last stage of a fever.
At the Skyeman's suggestion, we now proceeded to throw
round the brigantine's head on the other tack. For until
daylight we desired to alter the vessel's position as little as
possible, fearful of coming unawares upon reefs.
And here be it said, that for all his superstitious misgivings
about the brigantine; his imputing to her something
equivalent to a purely phantom-like nature, honest Jarl was
nevertheless exceedingly downright and practical in all hints
and proceedings concerning her. Wherein, he resembled
my Right Reverend friend, Bishop Berkeley—truly, one of
your lords spiritual—who, metaphysically speaking, holding
all objects to be mere optical delusions, was, notwithstanding,
extremely matter-of-fact in all matters touching matter
itself. Besides being pervious to the points of pins, and
possessing a palate capable of appreciating plum-puddings:—
which sentence reads off like a pattering of hailstones.
Now, while we were employed bracing round the yards,
whispering Jarl must needs pester me again with his confounded
suspicions of goblins on board. He swore by the
main-mast, that when the fore-yard swung round, he had
heard a half-stifled groan from that quarter; as if one of
his bugbears had been getting its aerial legs jammed. I
laughed:—hinting that goblins were incorporeal. Whereupon
he besought me to ascend the fore-rigging and test the
matter for myself. But here my mature judgment got the
better of my first crude opinion. I civilly declined. For
assuredly, there was still a possibility, that the fore-top
might be tenanted, and that too by living miscreants; and
a pretty hap would be mine, if, with hands full of rigging,
and legs dangling in air, while surmounting the oblique
-- 081 --
[figure description] Page 081.[end figure description]
futtock-shrouds, some unseen arm should all at once tumble
me overboard. Therefore I held my peace; while Jarl
went on to declare, that with regard to the character of the
brigantine, his mind was now pretty fully made up;—she
was an arrant impostor, a shade of a ship, full of sailors'
ghosts, and before we knew where we were, would dissolve
in a supernatural squall, and leave us twain in the water. In
short, Jarl, the descendant of the superstitious old Norsemen,
was full of old Norse conceits, and all manner of Valhalla
marvels concerning the land of goblins and goblets. No
wonder then, that with this catastrophe in prospect, he
again entreated me to quit the ill-starred craft, carrying off
nothing from her ghostly hull. But I refused.
One can not relate every thing at once. While in the
cabin, we came across a “barge” of biscuit, and finding its
contents of a quality much superior to our own, we had
filled our pockets and occasionally regaled ourselves in the
intervals of rummaging. Now this sea cake-basket we had
brought on deck. And for the first time since bidding
adieu to the Arcturion having fully quenched our thirst,
our appetite returned with a rush; and having nothing
better to do till day dawned, we planted the bread-barge
in the middle of the quarter-deck; and crossing our legs
before it, laid close seige thereto, like the Grand Turk and
his Vizier Mustapha sitting down before Vienna.
Our castle, the Bread-Barge was of the common sort; an
oblong oaken box, much battered and bruised, and like the
Elgin Marbles, all over inscriptions and carving:—foul
anchors, skewered hearts, almanacs, Burton-blocks, love
verses, links of cable, Kings of Clubs; and divers mystic
diagrams in chalk, drawn by old Finnish mariners, in
casting horoscopes and prophecies. Your old tars are all
Daniels. There was a round hole in one side, through
which, in getting at the bread, invited guests thrust their
hands.
And mighty was the thrusting of hands that night; also,
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many and earnest the glances of Mustapha at every sudden
creaking of the spars or rigging. Like Belshazzar, my
royal Viking ate with great fear and trembling; ever and
anon pausing to watch the wild shadows flitting along
the bulwarks.
-- -- p275-090
CHAPTER XXI. MAN HO!
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Slowly, fitfully, broke the morning in the East, showing
the desolate brig forging heavily through the water, which
sluggishly thumped under her bows. While leaping from
sea to sea, our faithful Chamois, like a faithful dog, still
gamboled alongside, confined to the main-chains by its painter.
At times, it would long lag behind; then, pushed by a
wave like lightning dash forward; till bridled by its leash,
it again fell in rear.
As the gray light came on, anxiously we scrutinized the
features of the craft, as one by one they became more plainly
revealed. Every thing seemed stranger now, than when
partially visible in the dingy night. The stanchions, or posts
of the bulwarks, were of rough stakes, still incased in the
bark. The unpainted sides were of a dark-colored, heathenish
looking wood. The tiller was a wry-necked, elbowed
bough, thrusting itself through the deck, as if the tree itself
was fast rooted in the hold. The binnacle, containing the
compass, was defended at the sides by yellow matting. The
rigging—shrouds, halyards and all—was of “Kaiar,” or
cocoa-nut fibres; and here and there the sails were patched
with plaited rushes.
But this was not all. Whoso will pry, must needs light
upon matters for suspicion. Glancing over the side, in the
wake of every scupper-hole, we beheld a faded, crimson stain,
which Jarl averred to be blood. Though now he betrayed
not the slightest trepidation; for what he saw pertained not
to ghosts; and all his fears hitherto had been of the supernatural.
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Indeed, plucking up a heart, with the dawn of the day
my Viking looked bold as a lion; and soon, with the instinct
of an old seaman cast his eyes up aloft.
Directly, he touched my arm,—“Look: what stirs in the
main-top?”
Sure enough, something alive was there.
Fingering our arms, we watched it; till as the day came
on, a crouching stranger was beheld.
Presenting my piece, I hailed him to descend or be shot.
There was silence for a space, when the black barrel of a
musket was thrust forth, leveled at my head. Instantly,
Jarl's harpoon was presented at a dart;—two to one;—and
my hail was repeated. But no reply.
“Who are you?”
“Samoa,” at length said a clear, firm voice.
“Come down from the rigging. We are friends.”
Another pause; when, rising to his feet, the stranger
slowly descended, holding on by one hand to the rigging, for
but one did he have; his musket partly slung from his back,
and partly griped under the stump of his mutilated arm.
He alighted about six paces from where we stood; and
balancing his weapon, eyed us bravely as the Cid.
He was a tall, dark Islander, a very devil to behold, theatrically
arrayed in kilt and turban; the kilt of a gay calico
print, the turban of a red China silk. His neck was jingling
with strings of beads.
“Who else is on board?” I asked; while Jarl, thus far
covering the stranger with his weapon, now dropped it to the
deck.
“Look there:—Annatoo! was his reply in broken English,
pointing aloft to the fore-top. And lo! a woman,
also an Islander; and barring her skirts, dressed very much
like Samoa, was beheld descending.
“Any more?”
“No more.”
“Who are you then; and what craft is this?”
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“Ah, ah—you are no ghost;—but are you my friend?”
he cried, advancing nearer as he spoke; while the woman,
having gained the deck, also approached, eagerly glancing.
We said we were friends; that we meant no harm; but
desired to know what craft this was; and what disaster had
befallen her; for that something untoward had occurred, we
were certain.
Whereto, Samoa made answer, that it was true that
something dreadful had happened; and that he would gladly
tell us all, and tell us the truth. And about it he went.
Now, this story of his was related in the mixed phraseology
of a Polynesian sailor. With a few random reflections,
in substance, it will be found in the six following
chapters.
-- -- p275-093
CHAPTER XXII. WHAT BEFEL THE BRIGANTINE AT THE PEARL SHELL ISLANDS.
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The vessel was the Parki, of Lahina, a village and harbor
on the coast of Mowee, one of the Hawaian isles, where
she had been miserably cobbled together with planks of native
wood, and fragments of a wreck, there drifted ashore.
Her appellative had been bestowed in honor of a high
chief, the tallest and goodliest looking gentleman in all the
Sandwich Islands. With a mixed European and native
crew, about thirty in number (but only four whites in all,
captain included), the Parki, some four months previous, had
sailed from her port on a voyage southward, in quest of pearls,
and pearl oyster shells, sea-slugs, and other matters of that
sort.
Samoa, a native of the Navigator Islands, had long followed
the sea, and was well versed in the business of oyster
diving and its submarine mysteries. The native Lahineese
on board were immediately subordinate to him; the captain
having bargained with Samoa for their services as divers.
The woman, Annatoo, was a native of a far-off, anonymous
island to the westward: whence, when quite young,
she had been carried by the commander of a ship, touching
there on a passage from Macao to Valparaiso. At Valparaiso
her protector put her ashore; most probably, as I afterward
had reason to think, for a nuisance.
By chance it came to pass that when Annatoo's first
virgin bloom had departed, leaving nothing but a lusty frame
and a lustier soul, Samoa, the Navigator, had fallen desperately
in love with her. And thinking the lady to his mind,
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being brave like himself, and doubtless well adapted to the
vicissitudes of matrimony at sea, he meditated suicide—I
would have said, wedlock—and the twain became one. And
some time after, in capacity of wife, Annatoo the dame, accompanied
in the brigantine, Samoa her lord. Now, as
Antony flew to the refuse embraces of Cæsar, so Samoa
solaced himself in the arms of this discarded fair one. And
the sequel was the same. For not harder the life Cleopatra
led my fine frank friend, poor Mark, than Queen Annatoo
did lead this captive of her bow and her spear. But all in
good time.
They left their port; and crossing the Tropic and the
Line, fell in with a cluster of islands, where the shells they
sought were found in round numbers. And here—not at all
strange to tell—besides the natives, they encountered a
couple of Cholos, or half-breed Spaniards, from the Main;
one half Spanish, the other half quartered between the wild
Indian and the devil; a race, that from Baldivia to Panama
are notorious for their unscrupulous villainy.
Now, the half-breeds having long since deserted a ship
at these islands, had risen to high authority among the natives.
This hearing, the Parki's captain was much gratified;
he, poor ignorant, never before having fallen in with any
of their treacherous race. And, no doubt, he imagined that
their influence over the Islanders would tend to his advantage.
At all events, he made presents to the Cholos; who,
in turn, provided him with additional divers from among the
natives. Very kindly, also, they pointed out the best places
for seeking the oysters. In a word, they were exceedingly
friendly; often coming off to the brigantine, and sociably
dining with the captain in the cabin; placing the salt between
them and him.
All things went on very pleasantly until, one morning,
the half-breeds prevailed upon the captain to go with them,
in his whale-boat, to a shoal on the thither side of the island,
some distance from the spot where lay the brigantine. They
-- 088 --
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so managed it, moreover, that none but the Lahineese under
Samoa, in whom the captain much confided, were left in
custody of the Parki; the three white men going along to
row; for there happened to be little or no wind for a sail.
Now, the fated brig lay anchored within a deep, smooth,
circular lagoon, margined on all sides but one by the most
beautiful groves. On that side, was the outlet to the sea;
perhaps a cable's length or more from where the brigantine
had been moored. An hour or two after the party were
gone, and when the boat was completely out of sight, the
natives in shoals were perceived coming off from the shore;
some in canoes, and some swimming. The former brought
bread fruit and bananas, ostentatiously piled up in their proas;
the latter dragged after them long strings of cocoanuts; for
all of which, on nearing the vessel, they clamorously demanded
knives and hatchets in barter.
From their actions, suspecting some treachery, Samoa
stood in the gangway, and warned them off; saying that no
barter could take place until the captain's return. But
presently one of the savages stealthily climbed up from the
water, and nimbly springing from the bob-stays to the bowsprit,
darted a javelin full at the foremast, where it vibrated.
The signal of blood! With terrible outcries, the rest, pulling
forth their weapons, hitherto concealed in the canoes, or
under the floating cocoanuts, leaped into the low chains of
the brigantine; sprang over the bulwarks; and, with clubs
and spears, attacked the aghast crew with the utmost ferocity.
After one faint rally, the Lahineese scrambled for the
rigging; but to a man were overtaken and slain.
At the first alarm, Annatoo, however, had escaped to the
fore-top-gallant-yard, higher than which she could not climb,
and whither the savages durst not venture. For though
after their nuts these Polynesians will climb palm trees like
squirrels; yet, at the first blush, they decline a ship's mast
like Kennebec farmers.
-- 089 --
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Upon the first token of an onslaught, Samoa, having
rushed toward the cabin scuttle for arms, was there fallen
upon by two young savages. But after a desperate momentary
fray, in which his arm was mangled, he made shift to
spring below, instantly securing overhead the slide of the
scuttle. In the cabin, while yet the uproar of butchery
prevailed, he quietly bound up his arm; then laying on the
transom the captain's three loaded muskets, undauntedly
awaited an assault.
The object of the natives, it seems, was to wreck the
brigantine upon the sharp coral beach of the lagoon. And
with this intent, one of their number had plunged into the
water, and cut the cable, which was of hemp. But the
tide ebbing, cast the Parki's head seaward—toward the outlet;
and the savages, perceiving this, clumsily boarded the
fore-tack, and hauled aft the sheet; thus setting, after a
fashion, the fore-sail, previously loosed to dry.
Meanwhile, a gray-headed old chief stood calmly at the
tiller, endeavoring to steer the vessel shoreward. But not
managing the helm aright, the brigantine, now gliding apace
through the water, only made more way toward the outlet.
Seeing which, the ringleaders, six or eight in number, ran to
help the old graybeard at the helm. But it was a black
hour for them. Of a sudden, while they were handling the
tiller, three muskets were rapidly discharged upon them from
the cabin skylight. Two of the savages dropped dead.
The old steersman, clutching wildly at the helm, fell over it,
mortally wounded; and in a wild panic at seeing their
leaders thus unaccountably slain, the rest of the natives
leaped overboard and made for the shore.
Hearing the splashing, Samoa flew on deck; and beholding
the foresail set, and the brigantine heading right
out to sea, he cried out to Annatoo, still aloft, to descend to
the topsail-yard, and loose the canvas there. His command
was obeyed. Annatoo deserved a gold medal for what she
did that day. Hastening down the rigging, after loosing
-- 090 --
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the topsail, she strained away at the sheets; in which operation
she was assisted by Samoa, who snatched an instant
from the helm.
The foresail and fore-topsail were now tolerably well set;
and as the craft drew seaward, the breeze freshened. And
well that it did; for, recovered from their alarm, the savages
were now in hot pursuit; some in canoes, and some
swimming as before. But soon the main-topsail was given
to the breeze, which still freshening, came from over the
quarter. And with this brave show of canvas, the Parki
made gallantly for the outlet; and loud shouted Samoa as
she shot by the reef, and parted the long swells without.
Against these, the savages could not swim. And at that
turn of the tide, paddling a canoe therein was almost
equally difficult. But the fugitives were not yet safe. In
full chase now came in sight the whale-boat manned by the
Cholos, and four or five Islanders. Whereat, making no
doubt, that all the whites who left the vessel that morning
had been massacred through the treachery of the halfbreeds;
and that the capture of the brigantine had been
premeditated; Samoa now saw no other resource than to
point his craft dead away from the land.
Now on came the devils buckling to their oars. Meantime
Annatoo was still busy aloft, loosing the smaller sails—
t'gallants and royals, which she managed partially to
set.
The strong breeze from astern now filling the ill-set sails,
they bellied, and rocked in the air, like balloons, while,
from the novel strain upon it, every spar quivered and
sprung. And thus, like a frightened gull fleeing from seahawks,
the little Parki swooped along, and bravely breasted
the brine.
His shattered arm in a hempen sling, Samoa stood at
the helm, the muskets reloaded, and planted full before him
on the binnacle. For a time, so badly did the brigantine
steer, by reason of her ill-adjusted sails, made still more
-- 091 --
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unmanageable by the strength of the breeze,—that it was
doubtful, after all, notwithstanding her start, whether the
fugitives would not yet fall a prey to their hunters. The
craft wildly yawed, and the boat drew nearer and nearer.
Maddened by the sight, and perhaps thinking more of revenge
for the past, than of security for the future, Samoa,
yielding the helm to Annatoo, rested his muskets on the
bulwarks, and taking long, sure aim, discharged them, one
by one at the advancing foe.
The three reports were answered by loud jeers from the
savages, who brandished their spears, and made gestures of
derision; while with might and main the Cholos tugged at
their oars.
The boat still gaining on the brigantine, the muskets
were again reloaded. And as the next shot sped, there
was a pause; when, like lightning, the headmost Cholo
bounded upwards from his seat, and oar in hand, fell into
the sea. A fierce yell; and one of the natives springing
into the water, caught the sinking body by its long hair;
and the dead and the living were dragged into the boat.
Taking heart from this fatal shot, Samoa fired yet again;
but not with the like sure result; merely grazing the remaining
half-breed, who, crouching behind his comrades,
besought them to turn the boat round, and make for the
shore. Alarmed at the fate of his brother, and seemingly
distrustful of the impartiality of Samoa's fire, the pusillanimous
villain refused to expose a limb above the gunwale.
Fain now would the pursuers have made good their
escape; but an accident forbade. In the careening of the
boat, when the stricken Cholo sprung overboard, two of
their oars had slid into the water; and together with that
death-griped by the half-breed, were now floating off; occasionally
lost to view, as they sunk in the trough of the sea.
Two of the Islanders swam to recover them; but frightened
by the whirring of a shot over their heads, as they unavoidably
struck out towards the Parki, they turned quickly
-- 092 --
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about; just in time to see one of their comrades smite his
body with his hand, as he received a bullet from Samoa.
Enough: darting past the ill-fated boat, they swam rapidly
for land, followed by the rest; who plunged overboard,
leaving in the boat the surviving Cholo—who it seems
could not swim—the wounded savage, and the dead man.
“Load away now, and take thy revenge, my fine fellow,”
said Samoa to himself. But not yet. Seeing all at his
mercy, and having none, he quickly laid his fore-topsail to
the mast; “hove to” the brigantine; and opened fire anew
upon the boat; every swell of the sea heaving it nearer
and nearer. Vain all efforts to escape. The wounded
man paddled wildly with his hands; the dead one rolled
from side to side; and the Cholo, seizing the solitary oar,
in his frenzied heedlessness, spun the boat round and round;
while all the while shot followed shot, Samoa firing as fast
as Annatoo could load. At length both Cholo and savage
fell dead upon their comrades, canting the boat over sideways,
till well nigh awash; in which manner she drifted
off.
-- -- p275-100
CHAPTER XXIII. SAILING FROM THE ISLAND THEY PILLAGE THE CABIN.
[figure description] Page 093.[end figure description]
There was a small carronade on the forecastle, unshipped
from its carriage, and lashed down to ringbolts on the deck.
This Samoa now loaded; and with an ax knocking off the
round knob upon the breech, rammed it home in the tube.
When, running the cannon out at one of the ports, and studying
well his aim, he let fly, sunk the boat, and buried his dead.
It was now late in the afternoon; and for the present
bent upon avoiding land, and gaining the shoreless sea, never
mind where, Samoa again forced round his craft before the
wind, leaving the island astern. The decks were still cumbered
with the bodies of the Lahineese, which heel to point
and crosswise, had, log-like, been piled up on the main-hatch.
These, one by one, were committed to the sea; after which,
the decks were washed down.
At sunrise next morning, finding themselves out of sight
of land, with little or no wind, they stopped their headway,
and lashed the tiller alee, the better to enable them to overhaul
the brigantine; especially the recesses of the cabin.
For there, were stores of goods adapted for barter among the
Islanders; also several bags of dollars.
Now, nothing can exceed the cupidity of the Polynesian,
when, through partial commerce with the whites, his eyes
are opened to his nakedness, and he perceives that in some
things they are richer than himself.
The poor skipper's wardrobe was first explored; his chests
of clothes being capsized, and their contents strown about
the cabin floor.
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Then took place the costuming. Samoa and Annatoo
trying on coats and pantaloons, shirts and drawers, and admiring
themselves in the little mirror panneled in the bulkhead.
Then, were broken open boxes and bales; rolls of
printed cotton were inspected, and vastly admired; insomuch,
that the trumpery found in the captain's chests was disdainfully
doffed: and donned were loose folds of calico, more
congenial to their tastes.
As case after case was opened and overturned, slippery
grew the cabin deck with torrents of glass beads; and heavy
the necks of Samoa and Annatoo with goodly bunches
thereof.
Among other things, came to light brass jewelry,—Rag
Fair gewgaws and baubles a plenty, more admired than all;
Annatoo, bedecking herself like a tragedy queen: one blaze
of brass. Much mourned the married dame, that thus arrayed,
there was none to admire but Samoa her husband;
but he was all the while admiring himself, and not her.
And here must needs be related, what has hitherto remained
unsaid. Very often this husband and wife were no
Darby and Joan. Their married life was one long campaign,
whereof the truces were only by night. They billed
and they cooed on their arms, rising fresh in the morning to
battle, and often Samoa got more than a hen-pecking. To
be short, Annatoo was a Tartar, a regular Calmue, and
Samoa—Heaven help him—her husband.
Yet awhile, joined together by a sense of common danger,
and long engrossed in turning over their tinsel acquisitions
without present thought of proprietorship, the pair refrained
from all squabbles. But soon burst the storm. Having
given every bale and every case a good shaking, Annatoo,
making an estimate of the whole, very coolly proceeded to
set apart for herself whatever she fancied. To this, Samoa
objected; to which objection Annatoo objected; and then
they went at it.
The lady vowed that the things were no more Samoa's
-- 095 --
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than hers; nay, not so much; and that whatever she wanted,
that same would she have. And furthermore, by way of
codicil, she declared that she was slave to nobody.
Now, Samoa, sad to tell, stood in no little awe of his
bellicose spouse. What, though a hero in other respects;
what, though he had slain his savages, and gallantly carried
his craft from their clutches:—Like the valiant captains
Marlborough and Belisarius, he was a poltroon to his wife.
And Annatoo was worse than either Sarah or Antonina.
However, like every thing partaking of the nature of a
scratch, most conjugal squabbles are quickly healed; for if
they healed not, they would never anew break out: which
is the beauty of the thing. So at length they made up;
but the treaty stipulations of Annatoo told much against the
interests of Samoa. Nevertheless, ostensibly, it was agreed
upon, that they should strictly go halves; the lady, however,
laying special claim to certain valuables, more particularly
fancied. But as a set-off to this, she generously renounced
all claims upon the spare rigging; all claims upon the foremast
and mainmast; and all claims upon the captain's
arms and ammunition. Of the latter, by the way, Dame
Antonina stood in no need. Her voice was a park of artillery;
her talons a charge of bayonets.
-- -- p275-103
CHAPTER XXIV. DEDICATED TO THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS.
[figure description] Page 096.[end figure description]
By this time Samoa's wounded arm was in such a state,
that amputation became necessary. Among savages, severe
personal injuries are, for the most part, accounted but trifles.
When a European would be taking to his couch in despair,
the savage would disdain to recline.
More yet. In Polynesia, every man is his own barber and
surgeon, cutting off his beard or arm, as occasion demands.
No unusual thing, for the warriors of Varvoo to saw off
their own limbs, desperately wounded in battle. But owing
to the clumsiness of the instrument employed—a flinty, serrated
shell—the operation has been known to last several
days. Nor will they suffer any friend to help them; maintaining,
that a matter so nearly concerning a warrior is far
better attended to by himself. Hence it may be said, that
they amputate themselves at their leisure, and hang up their
tools when tired. But, though thus beholden to no one for
aught connected with the practice of surgery, they never cut
off their own heads, that ever I heard; a species of amputation
to which, metaphorically speaking, many would-be independent
sort of people in civilized lands are addicted.
Samoa's operation was very summary. A fire was
kindled in the little caboose, or cook-house, and so made
as to produce much smoke. He then placed his arm
upon one of the windlass bitts (a short upright timber,
breast-high), and seizing the blunt cook's ax would have
struck the blow; but for some reason distrusting the
precision of his aim, Annatoo was assigned to the task.
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Three strokes, and the limb, from just above the elbow,
was no longer Samoa's; and he saw his own bones; which
many a centenarian can not say. The very clumsiness of
the operation was safety to the subject. The weight and
bluntness of the instrument both deadened the pain and
lessened the hemorrhage. The wound was then scorched,
and held over the smoke of the fire, till all signs of blood
vanished. From that day forward it healed, and troubled
Samoa but little.
But shall the sequel be told? How that, superstitiously
averse to burying in the sea the dead limb of a body yet
living; since in that case Samoa held, that he must very
soon drown and follow it; and how, that equally dreading
to keep the thing near him, he at last hung it aloft from
the topmast-stay; where yet it was suspended, bandaged
over and over in cerements. The hand that must have
locked many others in friendly clasp, or smote a foe, was
no food, thought Samoa, for fowls of the air nor fishes of
the sea.
Now, which was Samoa? The dead arm swinging high
as Haman? Or the living trunk below? Was the arm
severed from the body, or the body from the arm? The
residual part of Samoa was alive, and therefore we say it
was he. But which of the writhing sections of a ten times
severed worm, is the worm proper?
For myself, I ever regarded Samoa as but a large fragment
of a man, not a man complete. For was he not an
entire limb out of pocket? And the action at Teneriffe
over, great Nelson himself—physiologically speaking—was
but three-quarters of a man. And the smoke of Waterloo
blown by, what was Anglesea but the like? After Saratoga,
what Arnold? To say nothing of Mutius Scævola
minus a hand, General Knox a thumb, and Hannibal an
eye; and that old Roman grenadier, Dentatus, nothing
more than a bruised and battered trunk, a knotty sort of
hemlock of a warrior, hard to hack and hew into chips,
-- 098 --
[figure description] Page 098.[end figure description]
though much marred in symmetry by battle-ax blows. Ah!
but these warriors, like anvils, will stand a deal of hard
hammering. Especially in the old knight-errant times.
For at the battle of Brevieux in Flanders, my glorious old
gossiping ancestor, Froissart, informs me, that ten good
knights, being suddenly unhorsed, fell stiff and powerless to
the plain, fatally encumbered by their armor. Whereupon,
the rascally burglarious peasants, their foes, fell to picking
their visors; as burglars, locks; or oystermen, oysters; to
get at their lives. But all to no purpose. And at last
they were fain to ask aid of a blacksmith; and not till
then, were the inmates of the armor dispatched. Now it
was deemed very hard, that the mysterious state-prisoner
of France should be riveted in an iron mask; but these
knight-errants did voluntarily prison themselves in their
own iron Bastiles; and thus helpless were murdered therein.
Days of chivalry these, when gallant chevaliers died
chivalric deaths!
And this was the epic age, over whose departure my late
eloquent and prophetic friend and correspondent, Edmund
Burke, so movingly mourned. Yes, they were glorious
times. But no sensible man, given to quiet domestic delights,
would exchange his warm fireside and muffins, for a
heroic bivouac, in a wild beechen wood, of a raw gusty
morning in Normandy; every knight blowing his steelgloved
fingers, and vainly striving to cook his cold coffee in
his helmet.
-- -- p275-106
CHAPTER XXV. PERIL A PEACE-MAKER.
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A few days passed: the brigantine drifting hither and
thither, and nothing in sight but the sea, when forth again
on its stillness rung Annatoo's domestic alarum. The truce
was up. Most egregiously had the lady infringed it; appropriating
to herself various objects previously disclaimed
in favor of Samoa. Besides, forever on the prowl, she was
perpetually going up and down; with untiring energy, exploring
every nook and cranny; carrying off her spoils and
diligently secreting them. Having little idea of feminine
adaptations, she pilfered whatever came handy:—iron hooks,
dollars, bolts, hatchets, and stopping not at balls of marline
and sheets of copper. All this, poor Samoa would
have borne with what patience he might, rather than
again renew the war, were it not, that the audacious
dame charged him with peculations upon her own private
stores; though of any such thing he was innocent as the
bowsprit.
This insulting impeachment got the better of the poor
islander's philosophy. He keenly resented it. And the consequence
was, that seeing all domineering useless, Annatoo flew
off at a tangent; declaring that, for the future, Samoa might
stay by himself; she would have nothing more to do with
him. Save when unavoidable in managing the brigantine,
she would not even speak to him, that she wouldn't, the
monster! She then boldly demanded the forecastle—in the
brig's case, by far the pleasantest end of the ship—for her
own independent suite of apartments. As for hapless
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Belisarius, he might do what he pleased in his dark little den
of a cabin.
Concerning the division of the spoils, the termagant succeeded
in carrying the day; also, to her quarters, bale after
bale of goods, together with numerous odds and ends, sundry
and divers. Moreover, she laid in a fine stock of edibles,
so as, in all respects possible, to live independent of her
spouse.
Unlovely Annatoo! Unfortunate Samoa! Thus did the
pair make a divorce of it; the lady going upon a separate
maintenance,—and Belisarius resuming his bachelor loneliness.
In the captain's state room, all cold and comfortless,
he slept; his lady whilome retiring to her forecastle boudoir;
beguiling the hours in saying her pater-nosters, and tossing
over and assorting her ill-gotten trinkets and finery; like
Madame De Maintenon dedicating her last days and nights
to continence and calicoes.
But think you this was the quiet end of their conjugal
quarrels? Ah, no! No end to those feuds, till one or
t'other gives up the ghost.
Now, exiled from the nuptial couch, Belisarius bore the
hardship without a murmur. And hero that he was, who
knows that he felt not like a soldier on a furlough? But
as for Antonina, she could neither get along with Belisarius,
nor without him. She made advances. But of what sort?
Why, breaking into the cabin and purloining sundry goods
therefrom; in artful hopes of breeding a final reconciliation
out of the temporary outburst that might ensue.
Then followed a sad scene of altercation; interrupted at
last by a sudden loud roaring of the sea. Rushing to the
deck, they beheld themselves sweeping head-foremost toward
a shoal making out from a cluster of low islands, hitherto,
by banks of clouds, shrouded from view.
The helm was instantly shifted; and the yards braced
about. But for several hours, owing to the freshness of the
breeze, the set of the currents, and the irregularity and
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extent of the shoal, it seemed doubtful whether they would
escape a catastrophe. But Samoa's seamanship, united to
Annatoo's industry, at last prevailed; and the brigantine
was saved.
Of the land where they came so near being wrecked,
they knew nothing; and for that reason, they at once steered
away. For after the fatal events which had overtaken the
Parki at the Pearl Shell islands, so fearful were they of
encountering any Islanders, that from the first they had
resolved to keep open sea, shunning every appearance of
land; relying upon being eventually picked up by some
passing sail.
Doubtless this resolution proved their salvation. For to
the navigator in these seas, no risk so great, as in approaching
the isles; which mostly are so guarded by outpost reefs,
and far out from their margins environed by perils, that the
green flowery field within, lies like a rose among thorns;
and hard to be reached as the heart of proud maiden.
Though once attained, all three—red rose, bright shore, and
soft heart—are full of love, bloom, and all manner of delights.
The Pearl Shell islands excepted.
Besides, in those generally tranquil waters, Samoa's little
craft, though hundreds of miles from land, was very readily
managed by himself and Annatoo. So small was the Parki,
that one hand could brace the main-yard; and a very easy
thing it was, even to hoist the small top-sails; for after their
first clumsy attempt to perform that operation by hand, they
invariably led the halyards to the windlass, and so managed
it, with the utmost facility.
-- -- p275-109
CHAPTER XXVI. CONTAINING A PENNYWEIGHT OF PHILOSOPHY.
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Still many days passed and the Parki yet floated. The
little flying-fish got used to her familiar, loitering hull; and
like swallows building their nests in quiet old trees, they
spawned in the great green barnacles that clung to her
sides.
The calmer the sea, the more the barnacles grow. In
the tropical Pacific, but a few weeks suffice thus to encase
your craft in shell armor. Vast bunches adhere to the very
cutwater, and if not stricken off, much impede the ship's
sailing. And, at intervals, this clearing away of barnacles
was one of Annatoo's occupations. For be it known, that,
like most termagants, the dame was tidy at times, though
capriciously; loving cleanliness by fits and starts. Wherefore,
these barnacles oftentimes troubled her; and with a
long pole she would go about, brushing them aside. It beguiled
the weary hours, if nothing more; and then she would
return to her beads and her trinkets; telling them all over
again; murmuring forth her devotions, and marking whether
Samoa had been pilfering from her store.
Now, the escape from the shoal did much once again to
heal the differences of the good lady and her spouse. And
keeping house, as they did, all alone by themselves, in that
lonely craft, a marvel it is, that they should ever have quarreled.
And then to divorce, and yet dwell in the same
tenement, was only aggravating the evil. So Belisarius and
Antonina again came together. But now, grown wise by
experience, they neither loved over-keenly, nor hated; but
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took things as they were; found themselves joined, without
hope of a sundering, and did what they could to make a
match of the mate. Annatoo concluded that Samoa was
not wholly to be enslaved; and Samoa thought best to wink
at Annatoo's foibles, and let her purloin when she pleased.
But as in many cases, all this philosophy about wedlock
is not proof against the perpetual contact of the parties concerned;
and as it is far better to revive the old days of
courtship, when men's mouths are honey-combs: and, to
make them still sweeter, the ladies the bees which there store
their sweets; when fathomless raptures glimmer far down in
the lover's fond eye; and best of all, when visits are alternated
by absence: so, like my dignified lord duke and his
duchess, Samoa and Annatoo, man and wife, dwelling in the
same house, still kept up their separate quarters. Marlborough
visiting Sarah; and Sarah, Marlborough, whenever
the humor suggested.
-- -- p275-111
CHAPTER XXVII. IN WHICH THE PAST HISTORY OF THE PARKI IS CONCLUDED.
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Still days, days, days sped by; and steering now this
way, now that, to avoid the green treacherous shores,
which frequently rose into view, the Parki went to and fro
in the sea; till at last, it seemed hard to tell, in what watery
world she floated. Well knowing the risks they ran,
Samoa desponded. But blessed be ignorance. For in the
day of his despondency, the lively old lass his wife bade
him be of stout heart, cheer up, and steer away manfully
for the setting sun; following which, they must inevitably
arrive at her own dear native island, where all their cares
would be over. So squaring their yards, away they glided;
far sloping down the liquid sphere.
Upon the afternoon of the day we caught sight of
them in our boat, they had sighted a cluster of low islands,
which put them in no small panic, because of their resemblance
to those where the massacre had taken place.
Whereas, they must have been full five hundred leagues
from that fearful vicinity. However, they altered their
course to avoid it; and a little before sunset, dropping the
islands astern, resumed their previous track. But very soon
after, they espied our little sea-goat, bounding over the billows
from afar.
This they took for a canoe giving chase to them. It
renewed and augmented their alarm.
And when at last they perceived that the strange object
was a boat, their fears, instead of being allayed, only so
much the more increased. For their wild superstitions led
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them to conclude, that a white man's craft coming upon
them so suddenly, upon the open sea, and by night, could
be naught but a phantom. Furthermore, marking two of
us in the Chamois, they fancied us the ghosts of the Cholos.
A conceit which effectually damped Samoa's courage, like
my Viking's, only proof against things tangible. So seeing
us bent upon boarding the brigantine; after a hurried overturning
of their chattels, with a view of carrying the most
valuable aloft for safe keeping, they secreted what they
could; and together made for the fore-top; the man with
a musket, the woman with a bag of beads. Their endeavoring
to secure these treasures against ghostly appropriation
originated in no real fear, that otherwise they
would be stolen: it was simply incidental to the vacant
panic into which they were thrown. No reproach this, to
Belisarius' heart of game; for the most intrepid Feegee
warrior, he who has slain his hecatombs, will not go ten
yards in the dark alone, for fear of ghosts.
Their purpose was to remain in the top until daylight;
by which time, they counted upon the withdrawal of their
visitants; who, sure enough, at last sprang on board, thus
verifying their worst apprehensions.
They watched us long and earnestly. But curious to
tell, in that very strait of theirs, perched together in that
airy top, their domestic differences again broke forth; most
probably, from their being suddenly forced into such very
close contact.
However that might be, taking advantage of our descent
into the cabin, Samoa, in desperation fled from his wife, and
one-armed as he was, sailor-like, shifted himself over by the
fore and aft-stays to the main-top, his musket being slung to
his back. And thus divided, though but a few yards intervened,
the pair were as much asunder as if at the opposite
Poles.
During the live-long night they were both in great perplexity
as to the extraordinary goblins on board. Such
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inquisitive, meddlesome spirits, had never before been encountered.
So cool and systematic; sagaciously stopping
the vessel's headway the better to rummage;—the very plan
they themselves had adopted. But what most surprised
them, was our striking a light, a thing of which no true
ghost would be guilty. Then, our eating and drinking on
the quarter-deck including the deliberate investment of
Vienna; and many other actions equally strange, almost led
Samoa to fancy that we were no shades, after all, but a
couple of men from the moon.
Yet they had dimly caught sight of the frocks and trowsers
we wore, similar to those which the captain of the Parki
had bestowed upon the two Cholos, and in which those villains
had been killed. This, with the presence of the whale-boat,
united to chase away the conceit of our lunar origin.
But these considerations renewed their first superstitious impressions
of our being the ghosts of the murderous halfbreeds.
Nevertheless, while during the latter part of the night we
were reclining beneath him, munching our biscuit, Samoa
eyeing us intently, was half a mind to open fire upon us by
way of testing our corporeality. But most luckily, he concluded
to defer so doing till sunlight; if by that time we
should not have evaporated.
For dame Annatoo, almost from our first boarding the
brigantine, something in our manner had bred in her a lurking
doubt as to the genuineness of our atmospheric organization;
and abandoned to her speculations when Samoa fled
from her side, her incredulity waxed stronger and stronger.
Whence we came she knew not; enough, that we seemed
bent upon pillaging her own precious purloinings. Alas!
thought she, my buttons, my nails, my tappa, my dollars,
my beads, and my boxes!
Wrought up to desperation by these dismal forebodings,
she at length shook the ropes leading from her own perch to
Samoa's; adopting this method of arousing his attention to
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the heinousness of what was in all probability going on in
the cabin, a prelude most probably to the invasion of her
own end of the vessel. Had she dared raise her voice, no
doubt she would have suggested the expediency of shooting
us so soon as we emerged from the cabin. But failing to
shake Samoa into an understanding of her views on the subject,
her malice proved futile.
When her worst fears were confirmed, however, and we
actually descended into the forecastle; there ensued such a
reckless shaking of the ropes, that Samoa was fain to hold
on hard, for fear of being tossed out of the rigging. And it
was this violent rocking that caused the loud creaking of the
yards, so often heard by us while below in Annatoo's apartment.
And the fore-top being just over the open forecastle scuttle,
the dame could look right down upon us; hence our proceedings
were plainly revealed by the lights that we carried.
Upon our breaking open her strong-box, her indignation
almost completely overmastered her fears. Unhooking a
top-block, down it came into the forecastle, charitably commissioned
with the demolition of Jarl's cocoa-nut, then more
exposed to the view of an aerial observer than my own. But
of it turned out, no harm was done to our porcelain.
At last, morning dawned; when ensued Jarl's discovery
as the occupant of the main-top; which event, with what
followed, has been duly recounted.
And such, in substance, was the first, second, third and
fourth acts of the Parki drama. The fifth and last, including
several scenes, now follows.
-- -- p275-115
CHAPTER XXVIII. SUSPICIONS LAID, AND SOMETHING ABOUT THE CALMUC.
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Though abounding in details full of the savor of reality,
Samoa's narrative did not at first appear altogether satisfactory.
Not that it was so strange; for stranger recitals I
had heard.
But one reason, perhaps, was that I had anticipated a
narrative quite different; something agreeing with my previous
surmises.
Not a little puzzling, also, was his account of having seen
islands the day preceding; though, upon reflection, that
might have been the case, and yet, from his immediately
altering the Parki's course, the Chamois, unknowingly might
have sailed by their vicinity. Still, those islands could form
no part of the chain we were seeking. They must have
been some region hitherto undiscovered.
But seems it likely, thought I, that one, who, according
to his own account, has conducted himself so heroically in
rescuing the brigantine, should be the victim of such childish
terror at the mere glimpse of a couple of sailors in an
open boat, so well supplied, too, with arms, as he was, to
resist their capturing his craft, if such proved their intention?
On the contrary, would it not have been more natural, in
his dreary situation, to have hailed our approach with the
utmost delight? But then again, we were taken for phantoms,
not flesh and blood. Upon the whole, I regarded the
narrator of these things somewhat distrustfully. But he
met my gaze like a man. While Annatoo, standing by,
looked so expressively the Amazonian character imputed to
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her, that my doubts began to waver. And recalling all the
little incidents of their story, so hard to be conjured up on the
spur of a presumed necessity to lie; nay, so hard to be conjured
up at all; my suspicions at last gave way. And I
could no longer harbor any misgivings.
For, to be downright, what object could Samoa have, in
fabricating such a narrative of horror—those of the massacre,
I mean—unless to conceal some tragedy, still more
atrocious, in which he himself had been criminally concerned?
A supposition, which, for obvious reasons, seemed
out of the question. True, instances were known to me of
half-civilized beings, like Samoa, forming part of the crews
of ships in these seas, rising suddenly upon their white shipmates,
and murdering them, for the sake of wrecking the
ship on the shore of some island near by, and plundering her
hull, when stranded.
But had this been purposed with regard to the Parki,
where the rest of the mutineers? There was no end to my
conjectures; the more I indulged in them, the more they
multiplied. So, unwilling to torment myself, when nothing
could be learned, but what Samoa related, and stuck to like
a hero; I gave over conjecturing at all; striving hard to
repose full faith in the Islander.
Jarl, however, was skeptical to the last; and never could
be brought completely to credit the tale. He stoutly maintained
that the hobgoblins must have had something or other
to do with the Parki.
My own curiosity satisfied with respect to the brigantine,
Samoa himself turned inquisitor. He desired to know
who we were; and whence we came in our marvelous
boat. But on these heads I thought best to withhold from
him the truth; among other things, fancying that if disclosed,
it would lessen his deference for us, as men superior to himself.
I therefore spoke vaguely of our adventures, and
assumed the decided air of a master; which I perceived
was not lost upon the rude Islander. As for Jarl, and what
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he might reveal, I embraced the first opportunity to impress
upon him the importance of never divulging our flight from
the Arcturion; nor in any way to commit himself on that
head: injunctions which he faithfully promised to observe.
If not wholly displeased with the fine form of Samoa,
despite his savage lineaments, and mutilated member, I was
much less conciliated by the person of Annatoo; who, being
sinewy of limb, and neither young, comely, nor amiable, was
exceedingly distasteful in my eyes. Besides, she was a tigress.
Yet how avoid admiring those Penthesilian qualities which
so signally had aided Samoa, in wresting the Parki from its
treacherous captors. Nevertheless, it was indispensable that
she should at once be brought under prudent subjection; and
made to know, once for all, that though conjugally a rebel,
she must be nautically submissive. For to keep the sea
with a Calmuc on board, seemed next to impossible. In
most military marines, they are prohibited by law; no officer
may take his Pandora and her bandbox off soundings.
By the way, this self-same appellative, Pandora, has been
bestowed upon vessels. There was a British ship by that
name, dispatched in quest of the mutineers of the Bounty.
But any old tar might have prophesied her fate. Bound
home she was wrecked on a reef off New South Wales.
Pandora, indeed! A pretty name for a ship: fairly smiting
Fate in the face. But in this matter of christening ships of
war, Christian nations are but too apt to be dare-devils.
Witness the following: British names all.—The Conqueror,
the Defiance, the Revenge, the Spitfire, the Dreadnaught,
the Thunderer, and the Tremendous; not omitting the
Etna, which, in the Roads of Corfu, was struck by lightning,
coming nigh being consumed by fire from above. But
almost potent as Moses' rod, Franklin's proved her salvation.
With the above catalogue, compare we the Frenchman's;
quite characteristic of the aspirations of Monsieur:—
The Destiny, the Glorious, the Magnanimous, the
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Magnificent, the Conqueror, the Triumphant, the Indomitable, the
Intrepid, the Mont-Blanc. Lastly, the Dons; who have
ransacked the theology of the religion of peace for fine names
for their fighting ships; stopping not at designating one of
their three-deckers, The Most Holy Trinity. But though,
at Trafalgar, the Santissima Trinidada thundered like
Sinai, her thunders were silenced by the victorious cannonade
of the Victory.
And without being blown into splinters by artillery, how
many of these Redoubtables and Invincibles have succumbed
to the waves, and like braggarts gone down before hurricanes,
with their bravadoes broad on their bows.
Much better the American names (barring Scorpions,
Hornets, and Wasps;) Ohio, Virginia, Carolina, Vermont.
And if ever these Yankees fight great sea engagements—
which Heaven forefend!—how glorious, poetically speaking,
to range up the whole federated fleet, and pour forth a
broadside from Florida to Maine. Ay, ay, very glorious
indeed! yet in that proud crowing of cannon, how shall the
shade of peace-loving Penn be astounded, to see the mightiest
murderer of them all, the great Pennsylvania, a very
namesake of his. Truly, the Pennsylvania's guns should
be the wooden ones, called by men-of-war's-men, Quakers.
But all this is an episode, made up of digressions. Time
to tack ship, and return.
Now, in its proper place, I omitted to mention, that
shortly after descending from the rigging, and while Samoa
was rehearsing his adventures, dame Annatoo had stolen
below into the forecastle, intent upon her chattels. And
finding them all in mighty disarray, she returned to the
deck prodigiously excited, and glancing angrily toward Jarl
and me, showered a whole torrent of objurgations into both
ears of Samoa.
This contempt of my presence surprised me at first; but
perhaps women are less apt to be impressed by a pretentious
demeanor, than men.
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Now, to use a fighting phrase, there is nothing like boarding
an enemy in the smoke. And therefore, upon this first
token of Annatoo's termagant qualities, I gave her to understand—
craving her pardon—that neither the vessel nor
aught therein was hers; but that every thing belonged to
the owners in Lahina. I added, that at all hazards, a stop
must be put to her pilferings. Rude language for feminine
ears; but how to be avoided? Here was an infatuated
woman, who, according to Samoa's account, had been repeatedly
detected in the act of essaying to draw out the
screw-bolts which held together the planks. Tell me;
was she not worse than the Load-Stone Rock, sailing by
which a stout ship fell to pieces?
During this scene, Samoa said little. Perhaps he was
secretly pleased that his matrimonial authority was reinforced
by myself and my Viking, whose views of the proper
position of wives at sea, so fully corresponded with his own;
however difficult to practice, those purely theoretical ideas of
his had hitherto proved.
Once more turning to Annatoo, now looking any thing but
amiable, I observed, that all her clamors would be useless;
and that if it came to the worst, the Parki had a hull that
would hold her.
In the end she went off in a fit of the sulks; sitting down
on the windlass and glaring; her arms akimbo, and swaying
from side to side; while ever and anon she gave utterance
to a dismal chant. It sounded like an invocation to
the Cholos to rise and dispatch us.
-- -- p275-120
CHAPTER XXIX. WHAT THEY LIGHTED UPON IN FURTHER SEARCHING THE CRAFT, AND THE RESOLUTION THEY CAME TO.
[figure description] Page 113.[end figure description]
Descending into the cabin with Samoa, I bade him hunt
up the brigantine's log, the captain's writing-desk, and nautical
instruments; in a word, aught that could throw light
on the previous history of the craft, or aid in navigating her
homeward.
But nearly every thing of the kind had disappeared: log,
quadrant, and ship's papers. Nothing was left but the
sextant-case, which Jarl and I had lighted upon in the state-room.
Upon this, vague though they were, my suspicions returned;
and I closely questioned the Islander concerning the disappearance
of these important articles. In reply, he gave
me to understand, that the nautical instruments had been
clandestinely carried down into the forecastle by Annatoo;
and by that indefatigable and inquisitive dame they had
been summarily taken apart for scientific inspection. It
was impossible to restore them; for many of the fixtures
were lost, including the colored glasses, sights, and little
mirrors; and many parts still recoverable, were so battered
and broken as to be entirely useless. For several days afterward,
we now and then came across bits of the quadrant or
sextant; but it was only to mourn over their fate.
However, though sextant and quadrant were both unattainable,
I did not so quickly renounce all hope of discovering
a chronometer, which, if in good order, though at present
not ticking, might still be made in some degree serviceable.
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But no such instrument was to be seen. No: nor to be heard
of; Samoa himself professing utter ignorance.
Annatoo, I threatened and coaxed; describing the chronometer—
a live, round creature like a toad, that made a
strange noise, which I imitated; but she knew nothing about
it. Whether she had lighted upon it unbeknown to Samoa,
and dissected it as usual, there was now no way to determine.
Indeed, upon this one point, she maintained an air of such
inflexible stupidity, that if she were really fibbing, her deadwall
countenance superseded the necessity for verbal deceit.
It may be, however, that in this particular she was
wronged; for, as with many small vessels, the Parki might
never have possessed the instrument in question. All
thought, therefore, of feeling our way, as we should penetrate
farther and farther into the watery wilderness, was
necessarily abandoned.
The log book had also formed a portion of Annatoo's pilferings.
It seems she had taken it into her studio to ponder
over. But after amusing herself by again and again counting
over the leaves, and wondering how so many distinct
surfaces could be compacted together in so small a compass,
she had very suddenly conceived an aversion to literature, and
dropped the book overboard as worthless. Doubtless, it met
the fate of many other ponderous tomes; sinking quickly
and profoundly. What Camden or Stowe hereafter will
dive for it?
One evening Samoa brought me a quarto half-sheet of
yellowish, ribbed paper, much soiled and tarry, which he
had discovered in a dark hole of the forecastle. It had
plainly formed part of the lost log; but all the writing
thereon, at present decipherable, conveyed no information
upon the subject then nearest my heart.
But one could not but be struck by a tragical occurrence,
which the page very briefly recounted as well, as by a noteworthy
pictorial illustration of the event in the margin of
the text. Save the cut, there was no further allusion to the
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matter than the following:—“This day, being calm, Tooboi,
one of the Lahina men, went overboard for a bath, and was
eaten up by a shark. Immediately sent forward for his
bag.”
Now, this last sentence was susceptible of two meanings.
It is truth, that immediately upon the decease of a friendless
sailor at sea, his shipmates oftentimes seizee upon his effects,
and divide them; though the dead man's clothes are seldom
worn till a subsequent voyage. This proceeding seems
heartless. But sailors reason thus: Better we, than the
captain. For by law, either scribbled or unscribbled, the
effects of a mariner, dying on shipboard, should be held in
trust by that officer. But as sailors are mostly foundlings
and castaways, and carry all their kith and kin in their
arms and their legs, there hardly ever appears any heirat-law
to claim their estate; seldom worth inheriting,
like Esterhazy's. Wherefore, the withdrawal of a dead
man's “kit” from the forecastle to the cabin, is often held
tantamount to its virtual appropriation by the captain. At
any rate, in small ships on long voyages, such things have
been done.
Thus much being said, then, the sentence above quoted
from the Parki's log, may be deemed somewhat ambiguous.
At the time it struck me as singular; for the poor diver's
grass bag could not have contained much of any thing valuable;
unless, peradventure, he had concealed therein some
Cleopatra pearls, feloniously abstracted from the shells
brought up from the sea.
Aside of the paragraph, copied above, was a pen-and-ink
sketch of the casualty, most cruelly executed; the poor
fellow's legs being represented half way in the process of
deglutition; his arms firmly grasping the monster's teeth,
as if heroically bent upon making as tough a morsel of himself
as possible.
But no doubt the honest captain sketched this cenotaph
to the departed in all sincerity of heart; perhaps, during
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the melancholy leisure which followed the catastrophe.
Half obliterated were several stains upon the page; seemingly,
lingering traces of a salt tear or two.
From this unwonted embellishment of the text, I was led
to infer, that the designer, at one time or other, must have
been engaged in the vocation of whaling. For, in India
ink, the logs of certain whalemen are decorated by somewhat
similar illustrations.
When whales are seen, but not captured, the fact is denoted
by an outline figure representing the creature's flukes,
the broad, curving lobes of his tail. But in those cases
where the monster is both chased and killed, this outline is
filled up jet black; one for every whale slain; presenting
striking objects in turning over the log; and so facilitating
reference. Hence, it is quite imposing to behold, all in a
row, three or four, sometime five or six, of these drawings;
showing that so many monsters that day jetted their last
spout. And the chief mate, whose duty it is to keep the
ship's record, generally prides himself upon the beauty, and
flushy likeness to life, of his flukes; though, sooth to say,
many of these artists are no Landseers.
After vainly searching the cabin for those articles we most
needed, we proceeded to explore the hold, into which as yet
we had not penetrated. Here, we found a considerable
quantity of pearl shells; cocoanuts; an abundance of fresh
water in casks; spare sails and rigging; and some fifty barrels
or more of salt beef and biscuit. Unromantic as these
last mentioned objects were, I lingered over them long, and
in a revery. Branded upon each barrel head was the name
of a place in America, with which I was very familiar. It
is from America chiefly, that ship's stores are originally procured
for the few vessels sailing out of the Hawaiian Islands.
Having now acquainted myself with all things respecting
the Parki, which could in any way be learned, I repaired to
the quarter-deck, and summoning round me Samoa, Annatoo,
and Jarl, gravely addressed them.
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I said, that nothing would give me greater satisfaction
than forthwith to return to the scene of the massacre, and
chastise its surviving authors. But as there were only four
of us in all; and the place of those islands was wholly unknown
to me; and even if known, would be altogether out
of our reach, since we possessed no instruments of navigation;
it was quite plain that all thought of returning thither
was entirely useless. The last mentioned reason, also,
prevented our voyaging to the Hawaiian group, where the
vessel belonged; though that would have been the most
advisable step, resulting, as it would, if successful, in restoring
the ill-fated craft to her owners.
But all things considered, it seemed best, I added, cautiously
to hold on our way to the westward. It was our
easiest course; for we would ever have the wind from
astern; and though we could not so much as hope to arrive
at any one spot previously designated, there was still a positive
certainty, if we floated long enough, of falling in with
islands whereat to refresh ourselves; and whence, if we
thought fit, we might afterward embark for more agreeable
climes. I then reminded them of the fact, that so long as
we kept the sea, there was always some prospect of encountering
a friendly sail; in which event, our solicitude would
be over.
All this I said in the mild, firm tone of a superior; being
anxious, at once to assume the unquestioned supremacy.
For, otherwise, Jarl and I might better quit the vessel forthwith,
than remain on board subject to the outlandish caprices
of Annatoo, who through Samoa would then have the sway.
But I was sure of my Viking; and if Samoa proved docile,
had no fear of his dame.
And therefore during my address, I steadfastly eyed him;
thereby learning enough to persuade me, that though he deferred
to me at present, he was, notwithstanding, a man
who, without precisely meditating mischief, could upon occasion
act an ugly part. But of his courage, and savage
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honor, such as it was, I had little doubt. Then, wild buffalo
that he was, tamed down in the yoke matrimonial, I could
not but fancy, that if upon no other account, our society
must please him, as rendering less afflictive the tyranny of
his spouse.
For a hen-pecked husband, by the way, Samoa was a
most terrible fellow to behold. And though, after all, I
liked him; it was as you fancy a fiery steed with mane
disheveled, as young Alexander fancied Bucephalus; which
wild horse, when he patted, he preferred holding by the
bridle. But more of Samoa anon.
Our course determined, and the command of the vessel
tacitly yielded up to myself, the next thing done was to put
every thing in order. The tattered sails were replaced by
others, dragged up from the sail-room below; in several
places, new running-rigging was rove; blocks restrapped;
and the slackened stays and shrouds set taught. For all of
which, we were mostly indebted to my Viking's unwearied
and skillful marling-spike, which he swayed like a scepter.
The little Parki's toilet being thus thoroughly made for
the first time since the massacre, we gave her new raiment
to the breeze, and daintily squaring her yards, she gracefully
glided away; honest old Jarl at the helm, watchfully guiding
her path, like some devoted old foster-father.
As I stood by his side like a captain, or walked up and
down on the quarter-deck, I felt no little importance upon
thus assuming for the first time in my life, the command of
a vessel at sea. The novel circumstances of the case only
augmented this feeling; the wild and remote seas where we
were; the character of my crew, and the consideration, that
to all purposes, I was owner, as well as commander of the
craft I sailed.
-- -- p275-126
CHAPTER XXX. HINTS FOR A FULL LENGTH OF SAMOA.
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My original intention to touch at the Kingsmill Chain,
or the countries adjacent, was greatly strengthened by thus
encountering Samoa; and the more I had to do with my
Belisarius, the more I was pleased with him. Nor could I
avoid congratulating myself, upon having fallen in with a
hero, who in various ways, could not fail of proving exceedingly
useful.
Like any man of mark, Samoa best speaks for himself;
but we may as well convey some idea of his person. Though
manly enough, nay, an obelisk in stature, the savage was
far from being sentimentally prepossessing. Be not alarmed;
but he wore his knife in the lobe of his dexter ear, which,
by constant elongation almost drooped upon his shoulder.
A mode of sheathing it exceedingly handy, and far less brigandish
than the Highlander's dagger concealed in his leggins.
But it was the mother of Samoa, who at a still earlier
day had punctured him through and through in still another
direction. The middle cartilage of his nose was slightly
pendent, peaked, and Gothic, and perforated with a hole;
in which, like a Newfoundland dog carrying a cane, Samoa
sported a trinket: a well polished nail.
In other respects he was equally a coxcomb. In his style
of tattooing, for instance, which seemed rather incomplete;
his marks embracing but a vertical half of his person, from
crown to sole; the other side being free from the slightest
stain. Thus clapped together, as it were, he looked like a
union of the unmatched moieties of two distinct beings; and
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your fancy was lost in conjecturing, where roamed the absent
ones. When he turned round upon you suddenly,
you thought you saw some one else, not him whom you
had been regarding before.
But there was one feature in Samoa beyond the reach of
the innovations of art:—his eye; which in civilized man or
savage, ever shines in the head, just as it shone at birth.
Truly, our eyes are miraculous things. But alas, that in
so many instances, these divine organs should be mere lenses
inserted into the socket, as glasses in spectacle rims.
But my Islander had a soul in his eye; looking out upon
you there, like somebody in him. What an eye, to be sure!
At times, brilliantly changeful as opal; in anger, glowing
like steel at white heat.
Belisarius, be it remembered, had but very recently lost
an arm. But you would have thought he had been born
without it; so Lord Nelson-like and cavalierly did he sport
the honorable stump.
But no more of Samoa; only this: that his name had
been given him by a sea-captain; to whom it had been suggested
by the native designation of the islands to which he
belonged; the Saviian or Samoan group, otherwise known
as the Navigator Islands. The island of Upolua, one of
that cluster, claiming the special honor of his birth, as Corsica
does Napoleon's, we shall occasionally hereafter speak
of Samoa as the Upoluan; by which title he most loved to
be called.
It is ever ungallant to pass over a lady. But what shall
be said of Annatoo? As I live, I can make no pleasing
portrait of the dame; for as in most ugly subjects, flattering
would but make the matter worse. Furthermore, unalleviated
ugliness should ever go unpainted, as something unnecessary
to duplicate. But the only ugliness is that of the
heart, seen through the face. And though beauty be obvious,
the only loveliness is invisible.
-- -- p275-128
CHAPTER XXXI. ROVINGS ALOW AND ALOFT.
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Every one knows what a fascination there is in wandering
up and down in a deserted old tenement in some warm,
dreamy country; where the vacant halls seem echoing of
silence, and the doors creak open like the footsteps of strangers;
and into every window the old garden trees thrust their
dark boughs, like the arms of night-burglars; and ever and
anon the nails start from the wainscot; while behind it the
mice rattle like dice. Up and down in such old specter
houses one loves to wander; and so much the more, if the
place be haunted by some marvelous story.
And during the drowsy stillness of the tropical sea-day,
very much such a fancy had I, for prying about our
little brigantine, whose tragic hull was haunted by the
memory of the massacre, of which it still bore innumerable
traces.
And so far as the indulgence of quiet strolling and reverie
was concerned, it was well nigh the same as if I were all
by myself. For Samoa, for a time, was rather reserved,
being occupied with thoughts of his own. And Annatoo
seldom troubled me with her presence. She was taken up
with her calicoes and jewelry; which I had permitted her
to retain, to keep her in good humor if possible. And as for
my royal old Viking, he was one of those individuals who
seldom speak, unless personally addressed.
Besides, all that by day was necessary to navigating the
Parki was, that somebody should stand at the helm; the
craft being so small, and the grating, whereon the steersman
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stood, so elevated, that he commanded a view far beyond the
bowsprit; thus keeping Argus eyes on the sea, as he steered
us along. In all other respects we left the brigantine to the
guardianship of the gentle winds.
My own turn at the helm—for though commander, I felt
constrained to do duty with the rest—came but once in the
twenty-four hours. And not only did Jarl and Samoa,
officiate as helmsmen, but also Dame Annatoo, who had
become quite expert at the business. Though Jarl always
maintained that there was a slight drawback upon her usefulness
in this vocation. Too much taken up by her lovely
image partially reflected in the glass of the binnacle before
her, Annatoo now and then neglected her duty, and led us
some devious dances. Nor was she, I ween, the first woman
that ever led men into zigzags.
For the reasons above stated, I had many spare hours to
myself. At times, I mounted aloft, and lounging in the
slings of the topsail yard—one of the many snug nooks in a
ship's rigging—I gazed broad off upon the blue boundless
sea, and wondered what they were doing in that unknown
land, toward which we were fated to be borne. Or feeling
less meditative, I roved about hither and thither; slipping
over, by the stays, from one mast to the other; climbing
up to the truck; or lounging out to the ends of the yards;
exploring wherever there was a foothold. It was like
climbing about in some mighty old oak, and resting in the
crotches.
To a sailor, a ship's ropes are a study. And to me, every
rope-yarn of the Parki's was invested with interest. The
outlandish fashion of her shrouds, the collars of her stays,
the stirrups, seizings, Flemish-horses, gaskets,—all the
wilderness of her rigging, bore unequivocal traces of her
origin.
But, perhaps, my pleasantest hours were those which I
spent, stretched out on a pile of old sails, in the fore-top;
lazily dozing to the craft's light roll.
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Frequently, I descended to the cabin: for the fiftieth time,
exploring the lockers and state-rooms for some new object of
curiosity. And often, with a glimmering light, I went into
the midnight hold, as into old vaults and catacombs; and
creeping between damp ranges of casks, penetrated into its
farthest recesses.
Sometimes, in these under-ground burrowings, I lighted
upon sundry out-of-the-way hiding places of Annatoo's;
where were snugly secreted divers articles, with which she
had been smitten. In truth, no small portion of the hull
seemed a mine of stolen goods, stolen out of its own bowels.
I found a jaunty shore-cap of the captain's, hidden away in
the hollow heart of a coil of rigging; covered over in a
manner most touchingly natural, with a heap of old ropes;
and near by, in a breaker, discovered several entire pieces of
calico, heroically tied together with cords almost strong
enough to sustain the mainmast.
Near the stray light, which, when the hatch was removed,
gleamed down into this part of the hold, was a huge groundtier
butt, headless as Charles the First. And herein was a
mat nicely spread for repose; a discovery which accounted
for what had often proved an enigma. Not seldom Annatoo
had been among the missing; and though, from stem to
stern, loudly invoked to come forth and relieve the poignant
distress of her anxious friends, the dame remained perdu;
silent and invisible as a spirit. But in her own good time,
she would mysteriously emerge; or be suddenly espied
lounging quietly in the forecastle, as if she had been there
from all eternity.
Useless to inquire, “Where hast thou been, sweet Annatoo?”
For no sweet rejoinder would she give.
But now the problem was solved. Here, in this silent
cask in the hold, Annatoo was wont to coil herself away,
like a garter-snake under a stone.
Whether she thus stood sentry over her goods secreted
round about: whether she here performed penance like a
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nun in her cell; or was moved to this unaccountable freak
by the powers of the air; no one could tell. Can you?
Verily, her ways were as the ways of the inscrutable
penguins in building their inscrutable nests, which baffle all
science, and make a fool of a sage.
Marvelous Annatoo! who shall expound thee?
-- -- p275-132
CHAPTER XXXII. XIPHIUS PLATYPTERUS.
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About this time, the loneliness of our voyage was relieved
by an event worth relating.
Ever since leaving the Pearl Shell Islands, the Parki had
been followed by shoals of small fish, pleasantly enlivening
the sea, and socially swimming by her side. But in vain
did Jarl and I search among their ranks for the little, steel-blue
Pilot fish, so long outriders of the Chamois. But perhaps
since the Chamois was now high and dry on the Parki's
deck, our bright little avant-couriers were lurking out of
sight, far down in the brine; racing along close to the
keel.
But it is not with the Pilot fish that we now have to do.
One morning our attention was attracted to a mighty
commotion in the water. The shoals of fish were darting
hither and thither, and leaping into the air in the utmost
affright. Samoa declared, that their deadly foe the Sword
fish must be after them.
And here let me say, that, since of all the bullies, and
braggarts, and bravoes, and free-booters, and Hectors, and
fish-at-arms, and knight-errants, and moss-troopers, and assassins,
and foot-pads, and gallant soldiers, and immortal heroes
that swim the seas, the Indian Sword fish is by far the most
remarkable, I propose to dedicate this chapter to a special
description of the warrior. In doing which, I but follow the
example of all chroniclers and historians, my Peloponnesian
friend Thucydides and others, who are ever mindful of devoting
much space to accounts of eminent destroyers; for
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the purpose, no doubt, of holding them up as ensamples to
the world.
Now, the fish here treated of is a very different creature
from the Sword fish frequenting the Northern Atlantic;
being much larger every way, and a more dashing varlet to
boot. Furthermore, he is denominated the Indian Sword
fish, in contradistinction from his namesake above mentioned.
But by seamen in the Pacific, he is more commonly known
as the Bill fish; while for those who love science and hard
names, be it known, that among the erudite naturalists he
goeth by the outlandish appellation of “Xiphius Platypterus.”
But I waive for my hero all these his cognomens, and
substitute a much better one of my own: namely, the Chevalier.
And a Chevalier he is, by good right and title. A
true gentleman of Black Prince Edward's bright day, when
all gentlemen were known by their swords; whereas, in times
present, the Sword fish excepted, they are mostly known by
their high polished boots and rattans.
A right valiant and jaunty Chevalier is our hero; going
about with his long Toledo perpetually drawn. Rely upon
it, he will fight you to the hilt, for his bony blade has never
a scabbard. He himself sprang from it at birth; yea, at
the very moment he leaped into the Battle of Life; as we
mortals ourselves spring all naked and scabbardless into the
world. Yet, rather, are we scabbards to our souls. And
the drawn soul of genius is more glittering than the drawn
cimeter of Saladin. But how many let their steel sleep, till
it eat up the scabbard itself, and both corrode to rust-chips.
Saw you ever the hillocks of old Spanish anchors, and anchorstocks
of ancient galleons, at the bottom of Callao Bay? The
world is full of old Tower armories, and dilapidated Venetian
arsenals, and rusty old rapiers. But true warriors polish
their good blades by the bright beams of the morning; and
gird them on to their brave sirloins; and watch for rust spots
as for foes; and by many stout thrusts and stoccadoes keep
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their metal lustrous and keen, as the spears of the Northern
Lights charging over Greenland.
Fire from the flint is our Chevalier enraged. He takes
umbrage at the cut of some ship's keel crossing his road;
and straightway runs a tilt at it; with one mad lounge
thrusting his Andrea Ferrara clean through and through;
not seldom breaking it short off at the haft, like a bravo
leaving his poignard in the vitals of his foe.
In the case of the English ship Foxhound, the blade penetrated
through the most solid part of her hull, the bow;
going completely through the copper plates and timbers, and
showing for several inches in the hold. On the return of
the ship to London, it was carefully sawn out; and, imbedded
in the original wood, like a fossil, is still preserved. But
this was a comparatively harmless onslaught of the valiant
Chevalier. With the Rousseau, of Nantucket, it fared worse.
She was almost mortally stabbed; her assailant withdrawing
his blade. And it was only by keeping the pumps
clanging, that she managed to swim into a Tahitian harbor,
“heave down,” and have her wound dressed by a ship-surgeon
with tar and oakum. This ship I met with at sea,
shortly after the disaster.
At what armory our Chevalier equips himself after one
of his spiteful tilting-matches, it would not be easy to say.
But very hard for him, if ever after he goes about in the
lists, swordless and disarmed, at the mercy of any caitiff
shark he may meet.
Now, seeing that our fellow-voyagers, the little fish alongside,
were sorely tormented and thinned out by the incursions
of a pertinacious Chevalier, bent upon making a hearty breakfast
out of them, I determined to interfere in their behalf, and
capture the enemy.
With shark-hook and line I succeeded, and brought my
brave gentleman to the deck. He made an emphatic landing;
lashing the planks with his sinewy tail; while a yard and a
half in advance of his eyes, reached forth his terrible blade.
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As victor, I was entitled to the arms of the vanquished;
so, quickly dispatching him, and sawing off his Toledo, I
bore it away for a trophy. It was three-sided, slightly concave
on each, like a bayonet; and some three inches through
at the base, it tapered from thence to a point.
And though tempered not in Tagus or Guadalquiver, it
yet revealed upon its surface that wavy grain and watery
fleckiness peculiar to tried blades of Spain. It was an
aromatic sword; like the ancient caliph's, giving out a peculiar
musky odor by friction. But far different from steel
of Tagus or Damascus, it was inflexible as Crocket's rifle
tube; no doubt, as deadly.
Long hung that rapier over the head of my hammock.
Was it not storied as the good trenchant blade of brave
Bayard, that other chevalier? The knight's may have
slain its scores, or fifties; but the weapon I preserved had,
doubtless, run through and riddled its thousands.
-- -- p275-136
CHAPTER XXXIII. OTARD.
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And here is another little incident.
One afternoon while all by myself curiously penetrating
into the hold, I most unexpectedly obtained proof, that the
ill-fated captain of the Parki had been a man of sound
judgment and most excellent taste. In brief, I lighted
upon an aromatic cask of prime old Otard.
Now, I mean not to speak lightly of any thing immediately
connected with the unfortunate captain. Nor, on
the other hand, would I resemble the inconsolable mourner,
who among other tokens of affliction, bound in funereal
crape his deceased friend's copy of Joe Miller. Is there
not a fitness in things?
But let that pass. I found the Otard, and drank thereof;
finding it, moreover, most pleasant to the palate, and
right cheering to the soul. My next impulse was to share
my prize with my shipmates. But here a judicious reflection
obtruded. From the sea-monarchs, his ancestors, my
Viking had inherited one of their cardinal virtues, a detestation
and abhorrence of all vinous and spirituous beverages;
insomuch, that he never could see any, but he instantly
quaffed it out of sight. To be short, like Alexander the
Great and other royalties, Jarl was prone to overmuch bibbing.
And though at sea more sober than a Fifth Monarchy
Elder, it was only because he was then removed
from temptation. But having thus divulged my Viking's
weak side, I earnestly entreat, that it may not disparage
him in any charitable man's estimation. Only think, how
many more there are like him—to say nothing further of
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Alexander the Great—especially among his own class;
and consider, I beseech, that the most capacious-souled fellows,
for that very reason, are the most apt to be too liberal
in their libations; since, being so large-hearted, they hold
so much more good cheer than others.
For Samoa, from his utter silence hitherto as to aught
inebriating on board, I concluded, that, along with his
other secrets, the departed captain had very wisely kept his
Otard to himself.
Nor did I doubt, but that the Upoluan, like all Polynesians,
much loved getting high of head; and in that
state, would be more intractable than a Black Forest
boar. And concerning Annatoo, I shuddered to think, how
that Otard might inflame her into a Fury more fierce than
the foremost of those that pursued Orestes.
In good time, then, bethinking me of the peril of publishing
my discovery;—bethinking me of the quiet, lazy, everpresent
perils of the voyage, of all circumstances, the very
worst under which to introduce an intoxicating beverage to
my companions, I resolved to withhold it from them altogether.
So impressed was I with all this, that for a moment, I
was almost tempted to roll over the cask on its bilge, remove
the stopper, and suffer its contents to mix with the
foul water at the bottom of the hold.
But no, no: What: dilute the brine with the double
distilled soul of the precious grape? Hafiz himself would
have haunted me!
Then again, it might come into play medicinally; and
Paracelsus himself stands sponsor for every cup drunk for
the good of the abdomen. So at last, I determined to let
it remain where it was: visiting it occasionally, by myself,
for inspection.
But by way of advice to all ship-masters, let me say,
that if your Otard magazine be exposed to view—then, in
the evil hour of wreck, stave in your spirit-casks, ere rigging
the life-boat.
-- -- p275-138
CHAPTER XXXIV. HOW THEY STEERED ON THEIR WAY.
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When we quitted the Chamois for the brigantine, we
must have been at least two hundred leagues to the westward
of the spot, where we had abandoned the Arcturion.
Though how far we might then have been, North or South
of the Equator, I could not with any certainty divine.
But that we were not removed any considerable distance
from the Line, seemed obvious. For in the starriest night
no sign of the extreme Polar constellations was visible;
though often we scanned the northern and southern horizon
in search of them. So far as regards the aspect of
the skies near the ocean's rim, the difference of several degrees
in one's latitude at sea, is readily perceived by a person
long accustomed to surveying the heavens.
If correct in my supposition, concerning our longitude at
the time here alluded to, and allowing for what little progress
we had been making in the Parki, there now remained
some one hundred leagues to sail, ere the country we sought
would be found. But for obvious reasons, how long precisely
we might continue to float out of sight of land, it was
impossible to say. Calms, light breezes, and currents made
every thing uncertain. Nor had we any method of estimating
our due westward progress, except by what is called
Dead Reckoning,—the computation of the knots run hourly;
allowances being made for the supposed deviations from our
course, by reason of the ocean streams; which at times in
this quarter of the Pacific run with very great velocity.
Now, in many respects we could not but feel safer aboard
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the Parki than in the Chamois. The sense of danger is
less vivid, the greater the number of lives involved. He
who is ready to despair in solitary peril, plucks up a heart
in the presence of another. In a plurality of comrades is
much countenance and consolation.
Still, in the brigantine there were many sources of uneasiness
and anxiety unknown to me in the whale-boat.
True, we had now between us and the deep, five hundred
good planks to one lath in our buoyant little chip. But the
Parki required more care and attention; especially by night,
when a vigilant look-out was indispensable. With impunity,
in our whale-boat, we might have run close to shoal
or reef; whereas, similar carelessness or temerity now,
might prove fatal to all concerned.
Though in the joyous sunlight, sailing through the sparkling
sea, I was little troubled with serious misgivings; in
the hours of darkness it was quite another thing. And the
apprehensions, nay terrors I felt, were much augmented by
the remissness of both Jarl and Samoa, in keeping their
night-watches. Several times I was seized with a deadly
panic, and earnestly scanned the murky horizon, when rising
from slumber I found the steersman, in whose hands for the
time being were life and death, sleeping upright against the
tiller, as much of a fixture there, as the open-mouthed
dragon rudely carved on our prow.
Were it not, that on board of other vessels, I myself had
many a time dozed at the helm, spite of all struggles, I
would have been almost at a loss to account for this heedlessness
in my comrades. But it seemed as if the mere
sense of our situation, should have been sufficient to prevent
the like conduct in all on board our craft.
Samoa's aspect, sleeping at the tiller, was almost appalling.
His large opal eyes were half open; and turned
toward the light of the binnacle, gleamed between the lids
like bars of flame. And added to all, was his giant stature
and savage lineaments.
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It was in vain, that I remonstrated, begged, or threatened:
the occasional drowsiness of my fellow-voyagers
proved incurable. To no purpose, I reminded my Viking
that sleeping in the night-watch in a craft like ours, was
far different from similar heedlessness on board the Arcturion.
For there, our place upon the ocean was always
known, and our distance from land; so that when by night
the seamen were permitted to be drowsy, it was mostly,
because the captain well knew that strict watchfulness
could be dispensed with.
Though in all else, the Skyeman proved a most faithful
ally, in this one thing he was either perversely obtuse, or
infatuated. Or, perhaps, finding himself once more in a
double-decked craft, which rocked him as of yore, he was
lulled into a deceitful security.
For Samoa, his drowsiness was the drowsiness of one
bent on sleep, come dreams or death. He seemed insensible
to the peril we ran. Often I sent the sleepy savage below,
and steered myself till morning. At last I made a point of
slumbering much by day, the better to stand watch by
night; though I made Samoa and Jarl regularly go through
with their allotted four hours each.
It has been mentioned, that Annatoo took her turn at
the helm; but it was only by day. And in justice to the
lady, I must affirm, that upon the whole she acquitted herself
well. For notwithstanding the syren face in the binnacle,
which dimly allured her glances, Annatoo after all
was tolerably heedful of her steering. Indeed she took
much pride therein; always ready for her turn; with marvelous
exactitude calculating the approaching hour, as it
came on in regular rotation. Her time-piece was ours, the
sun. By night it must have been her guardian star; for
frequently she gazed up at a particular section of the
heavens, like one regarding the dial in a tower.
By some odd reasoning or other, she had cajoled herself
into the notion, that whoever steered the brigantine, for
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that period was captain. Wherefore, she gave herself
mighty airs at the tiller; with extravagant gestures issuing
unintelligible orders about trimming the sails, or pitching
overboard something to see how fast we were going. All
this much diverted my Viking, who several times was delivered
of a laugh; a loud and healthy one to boot: a phenomenon
worthy the chronicling.
And thus much for Annatoo, preliminary to what is
further to be said. Seeing the drowsiness of Jarl and
Samoa, which so often kept me from my hammock at night,
forcing me to repose by day, when I far preferred being
broad awake, I decided to let Annatoo take her turn at the
night watches; which several times she had solicited me to
do; railing at the sleepiness of her spouse; though abstaining
from all reflections upon Jarl, toward whom she had of
late grown exceedingly friendly.
Now the Calmuc stood her first night watch to admiration;
if any thing, was altogether too wakeful. The mere
steering of the craft employed not sufficiently her active
mind. Ever and anon she must needs rush from the tiller
to take a parenthetical pull at the fore-brace, the end of
which led down to the bulwarks near by; then refreshing
herself with a draught or two of water and a biscuit, she
would continue to steer away, full of the importance of her
office. At any unusual flapping of the sails, a violent
stamping on deck announced the fact to the startled crew.
Finding her thus indefatigable, I readily induced her to
stand two watches to Jarl's and Samoa's one; and when
she was at the helm, I permitted myself to doze on a pile
of old sails, spread every evening on the quarter-deck.
It was the Skyeman, who often admonished me to
“heave the ship to” every night, thus stopping her headway
till morning; a plan which, under other circumstances,
might have perhaps warranted the slumbers of all. But
as it was, such a course would have been highly imprudent.
For while making no onward progress through the water,
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the rapid currents we encountered would continually be
drifting us eastward; since, contrary to our previous experience,
they seemed latterly to have reversed their flow, a
phenomenon by no means unusual in the vicinity of the
Line in the Pacific. And this it was that so prolonged our
passage to the westward. Even in a moderate breeze, I
sometimes fancied, that the impulse of the wind little more
than counteracted the glide of the currents; so that with
much show of sailing, we were in reality almost a fixture
on the sea.
The equatorial currents of the South Seas may be regarded
as among the most mysterious of the mysteries of the
deep. Whence they come, whither go, who knows? Tell
us, what hidden law regulates their flow. Regardless of
the theory which ascribes to them a nearly uniform course
from east to west, induced by the eastwardly winds of the
Line, and the collateral action of the Polar streams; these
currents are forever shifting. Nor can the period of their
revolutions be at all relied upon or predicted.
But however difficult it may be to assign a specific cause
for the ocean streams, in any part of the world, one of the
wholesome effects thereby produced would seem obvious
enough. And though the circumstance here alluded to is
perhaps known to every body, it may be questioned, whether
it is generally invested with the importance it deserves.
Reference is here made to the constant commingling and
purification of the sea-water by reason of the currents.
For, that the ocean, according to the popular theory,
possesses a special purifying agent in its salts, is somewhat
to be doubted. Nor can it be explicitly denied, that those
very salts might corrupt it, were it not for the brisk circulation
of its particles consequent upon the flow of the
streams. It is well known to seamen, that a bucket of
sea-water, left standing in a tropical climate, very soon
becomes highly offensive; which is not the case with rain-water.
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But I build no theories. And by way of obstructing the
one, which might possibly be evolved from the statement
above, let me add, that the offensiveness of sea-water left
standing, may arise in no small degree from the presence of
decomposed animal matter.
-- -- p275-144
CHAPTER XXXV. AH, ANNATOO!
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In order to a complete revelation, I must needs once
again discourse of Annatoo and her pilferings; and to what
those pilferings led. In the simplicity of my soul, I fancied
that the dame, so much flattered as she needs must have
been, by the confidence I began to repose in her, would now
mend her ways, and abstain from her larcenies. But not
so. She was possessed by some scores of devils, perpetually
inciting her to mischief on their own separate behoof, and
not hers; for many of her pranks were of no earthly advantage
to her, present or prospective.
One day the log-reel was missing. Summon Annatoo.
She came; but knew nothing about it. Jarl spent a whole
morning in contriving a substitute; and a few days after, pop,
we came upon the lost article hidden away in the main-top.
Another time, discovering the little vessel to “gripe” hard
in steering, as if some one under water were jerking her
backward, we instituted a diligent examination, to see what
was the matter. When lo; what should we find but a
rope, cunningly attached to one of the chain-plates under the
starboard main-channel. It towed heavily in the water.
Upon dragging it up—much as you would the cord of a
ponderous bucket far down in a well—a stout wooden box
was discovered at the end; which opened, disclosed sundry
knives, hatchets, and ax-heads.
Called to the stand, the Upoluan deposed, that thrice he
had rescued that identical box from Annatoo's all-appropriating
clutches.
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Now, here were four human beings shut up in this little
oaken craft, and, for the time being, their interests the same.
What sane mortal, then, would forever be committing thefts,
without rhyme or reason. It was like stealing silver from
one pocket and decanting it into the other. And what might
it not lead to in the end?
Why, ere long, in good sooth, it led to the abstraction of
the compass from the binnacle; so that we were fain to substitute
for it, the one brought along in the Chamois.
It was Jarl that first published this last and alarming
theft. Annatoo being at the helm at dawn, he had gone to
relieve her; and looking to see how we headed, was horrorstruck
at the emptiness of the binnacle.
I started to my feet; sought out the woman, and ferociously
demanded the compass. But her face was a blank;
every word a denial.
Further lenity was madness. I summoned Samoa, told
him what had happened, and affirmed that there was no
safety for us except in the nightly incarceration of his spouse.
To this he privily assented; and that very evening, when
Annatoo descended into the forecastle, we barred over her
the scuttle-slide. Long she clamored, but unavailingly.
And every night this was repeated; the dame saying her
vespers most energetically.
It has somewhere been hinted, that Annatoo occasionally
cast sheep's eyes at Jarl. So I was not a little surprised
when her manner toward him decidedly changed. Pulling
at the ropes with us, she would give him sly pinches, and
then look another way, innocent as a lamb. Then again,
she would refuse to handle the same piece of rigging with
him; with wry faces, rinsed out the wooden can at the
water cask, if it so chanced that my Viking had previously
been drinking therefrom. At other times, when the
honest Skyeman came up from below, she would set up a
shout of derision, and loll out her tongue; accompanying all
this by certain indecorous and exceedingly unladylike
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gestures, significant of the profound contempt in which she held
him.
Yet, never did Jarl heed her ill-breeding; but patiently
overlooked and forgave it. Inquiring the reason of the
dame's singular conduct, I learned, that with eye averted,
she had very lately crept close to my Viking, and met with
no tender reception.
Doubtless, Jarl, who was much of a philosopher, innocently
imagined that ere long the lady would forgive and
forget him. But what knows a philosopher about women?
Ere long, so outrageous became Annatoo's detestation of
him, that the honest old tar could stand it no longer, and
like most good-natured men when once fairly roused, he was
swept through and through with a terrible typhoon of passion.
He proposed, that forthwith the woman should be
sacked and committed to the deep; he could stand it no
longer.
Murder is catching. At first I almost jumped at the
proposition; but as quickly rejected it. Ah! Annatoo:
Woman unendurable: deliver me, ye gods, from being shut
up in a ship with such a hornet again.
But are we yet through with her? Not yet. Hitherto
she had continued to perform the duties of the office assigned
her since the commencement of the voyage: namely,
those of the culinary department. From this she was now
deposed. Her skewer was broken. My Viking solemnly
averring, that he would eat nothing more of her concocting,
for fear of being poisoned. For myself, I almost believed,
that there was malice enough in the minx to give us our
henbane broth.
But what said Samoa to all this? Passing over the
matter of the cookery, will it be credited, that living right
among us as he did, he was yet blind to the premeditated
though unachieved peccadilloes of his spouse? Yet so it
was. And thus blind was Belisarius himself, concerning
the intrigues of Antonina.
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Witness that noble dame's affair with the youth Theodosius;
when her deluded lord charged upon the scandalmongers
with the very horns she had bestowed upon him.
Upon one occasion, seized with a sudden desire to palliate
Annatoo's thievings, Samoa proudly intimated, that the lady
was the most virtuous of her sex.
But alas, poor Annatoo, why say more? And bethinking
me of the hard fate that so soon overtook thee, I almost
repent what has already and too faithfully been portrayed.
-- -- p275-148
CHAPTER XXXVI. THE PARKI GIVES UP THE GHOST.
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A long calm in the boat, and now, God help us, another
in the brigantine. It was airless and profound.
In that hot calm, we lay fixed and frozen in like Parry
at the Pole. The sun played upon the glassy sea like the
sun upon the glaciers.
At the end of two days we lifted up our eyes and beheld
a low, creeping, hungry cloud expanding like an army,
wing and wing, along the eastern horizon. Instantly Jarl
bade me take heed.
Here be it said, that though for weeks and weeks reign
over the equatorial latitudes of the Pacific, the mildest and
sunniest of days; that nevertheless, when storms do come,
they come in their strength: spending in a few, brief blasts
their concentrated rage. They come like the Mamelukes:
they charge, and away.
It wanted full an hour to sunset; but the sun was well
nigh obscured. It seemed toiling among bleak Scythian
steeps in the hazy background. Above the storm-cloud
flitted ominous patches of scud, rapidly advancing and receding:
Attila's skirmishers, thrown forward in the van of
his Huns. Beneath, a fitful shadow slid along the surface.
As we gazed, the cloud came nearer; accelerating
its approach.
With all haste we proceeded to furl the sails, which,
owing to the calm, had been hanging loose in the brails.
And by help of a spare boom, used on the forecastle-deck
as a sweep or great oar, we endeavored to cast the brigantine's
head toward the foe.
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The storm seemed about to overtake us; but we felt no
breeze. The noiseless cloud stole on; its advancing shadow
lowering over a distinct and prominent milk-white crest
upon the surface of the ocean. But now this line of surging
foam came rolling down upon us like a white charge of
cavalry: mad Hotspur and plumed Murat at its head;
pouring right forward in a continuous frothy cascade, which
curled over, and fell upon the glassy sea before it.
Still, no breath of air. But of a sudden, like a blow
from a man's hand, and before our canvas could be secured,
the stunned craft, giving one lurch to port, was stricken
down on her beam-ends; the roaring tide dashed high up
against her windward side, and drops of brine fell upon the
deck, heavy as drops of gore.
It was all a din and a mist; a crashing of spars and of
ropes; a horrible blending of sights and of sounds; as for
an instant we seemed in the hot heart of the gale; our
cordage, like harp-strings, shrieking above the fury of the
blast. The masts rose, and swayed, and dipped their
trucks in the sea. And like unto some stricken buffalo
brought low to the plain, the brigantine's black hull, shaggy
with sea-weed, lay panting on its flank in the foam.
Frantically we clung to the uppermost bulwarks. And
now, loud above the roar of the sea, was suddenly heard a
sharp, splintering sound, as of a Norway woodman felling a
pine in the forest. It was brave Jarl, who foremost of all
had snatched from its rack against the mainmast, the ax,
always there kept.
“Cut the lanyards to windward!” he cried; and again
buried his ax into the mast. He was quickly obeyed.
And upon cutting the third lanyard of the five, he shouted
for us to pause. Dropping his ax, he climbed up to windward.
As he clutched the rail, the wounded mast snapped
in twain with a report like a cannon. A slight smoke was
perceptible where it broke. The remaining lanyards parted.
From the violent strain upon them, the two shrouds
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flew madly into the air, and one of the great blocks at
their ends, striking Annatoo upon the forehead, she let go
her hold upon a stanchion, and sliding across the aslant
deck, was swallowed up in the whirlpool under our lea.
Samoa shrieked. But there was no time to mourn; no
hand could reach to save.
By the connecting stays, the mainmast carried over with
it the foremast; when we instantly righted, and for the
time were saved; my own royal Viking our saviour.
The first fury of the gale was gone. But far to leeward
was seen the even, white line of its onset, pawing the ocean
into foam. All round us, the sea boiled like ten thousand
caldrons; and through eddy, wave, and surge, our almost
water-logged craft waded heavily; every dead dash ringing
hollow against her hull, like blows upon a coffin.
We floated a wreck. With every pitch we lifted our
dangling jib-boom into the air; and beating against the side,
were the shattered fragments of the masts. From these we
made all haste to be free, by cutting the rigging that held
them.
Soon, the worst of the gale was blown over. But the sea
ran high. Yet the rack and scud of the tempest, its mad,
tearing foam, was subdued into immense, long-extended, and
long-rolling billows; the white cream on their crests like
snow on the Andes. Ever and anon we hung poised on
their brows; when the furrowed ocean all round looked like
a panorama from Chimborazo.
A few hours more, and the surges went down. There
was a moderate sea, a steady breeze, and a clear, starry sky.
Such was the storm that came after our calm.
-- -- p275-151
CHAPTER XXXVII. ONCE MORE THEY TAKE TO THE CHAMOIS.
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Try the pumps. We dropped the sinker, and found the
Parki bleeding at every pore. Up from her well, the water,
spring-like, came bubbling, pure and limpid as the water of
Saratoga. Her time had come. But by keeping two hands
at the pumps, we had no doubt she would float till daylight;
previous to which we liked not to abandon her.
The interval was employed in clanging at the pump-breaks,
and preparing the Chamois for our reception. So
soon as the sea permitted, we lowered it over the side; and
letting it float under the stern, stowed it with water and
provisions, together with various other things, including
muskets and cutlasses.
Shortly after daylight, a violent jostling and thumping
under foot showed that the water, gaining rapidly in the
hold, spite of all pumping, had floated the lighter casks upward
to the deck, against which they were striking.
Now, owing to the number of empty butts in the hold,
there would have been, perhaps, but small danger of the
vessel's sinking outright—all awash as her decks would
soon be—were it not, that many of her timbers were of a
native wood, which, like the Teak of India, is specifically
heavier than water. This, with the pearl shells on board,
counteracted the buoyancy of the casks.
At last, the sun—long waited for—arose; the Parki
meantime sinking lower and lower.
All things being in readiness, we proceeded to embark
from the wreck, as from a wharf.
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But not without some show of love for our poor brigantine.
To a seaman, a ship is no piece of mechanism merely;
but a creature of thoughts and fancies, instinct with life.
Standing at her vibrating helm, you feel her beating pulse.
I have loved ships, as I have loved men.
To abandon the poor Parki was like leaving to its fate
something that could feel. It was meet that she should die
decently and bravely.
All this thought the Skyeman. Samoa and I were in
the boat, calling upon him to enter quickly, lest the vessel
should sink, and carry us down in the eddies; for already
she had gone round twice. But cutting adrift the last fragments
of her broken shrouds, and putting her decks in order,
Jarl buried his ax in the splintered stump of the mainmast,
and not till then did he join us.
We slowly cheered, and sailed away.
Not ten minutes after, the hull rolled convulsively in the
sea; went round once more; lifted its sharp prow as a man
with arms pointed for a dive; gave a long seething plunge;
and went down.
Many of her old planks were twice wrecked; once strown
upon ocean's beach; now dropped into its lowermost vaults,
with the bones of drowned ships and drowned men.
Once more afloat in our shell! But not with the intrepid
spirit that shoved off with us from the deck of the Arcturion.
A bold deed done from impulse, for the time carries
few or no misgivings along with it. But forced upon you,
its terrors stare you in the face. So now. I had pushed
from the Arcturion with a stout heart; but quitting the
sinking Parki, my heart sunk with her.
With a fair wind, we held on our way westward, hoping
to see land before many days.
-- -- p275-153
CHAPTER XXXVIII. THE SEA ON FIRE.
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The night following our abandonment of the Parki, was
made memorable by a remarkable spectacle.
Slumbering in the bottom of the boat, Jarl and I were
suddenly awakened by Samoa. Starting, we beheld the
ocean of a pallid white color, corruscating all over with
tiny golden sparkles. But the pervading hue of the water
cast a cadaverous gleam upon the boat, so that we looked
to each other like ghosts. For many rods astern our wake
was revealed in a line of rushing illuminated foam; while
here and there beneath the surface, the tracks of sharks
were denoted by vivid, greenish trails, crossing and recrossing
each other in every direction. Farther away, and distributed
in clusters, floated on the sea, like constellations in
the heavens, innumerable Medusæ, a species of small, round,
refulgent fish, only to be met with in the South Seas and
the Indian Ocean.
Suddenly, as we gazed, there shot high into the air a
bushy jet of flashes, accompanied by the unmistakable
deep breathing sound of a sperm whale. Soon, the sea all
round us spouted in fountains of fire; and vast forms,
emitting a glare from their flanks, and ever and anon raising
their heads above water, and shaking off the sparkles,
showed where an immense shoal of Cachalots had risen
from below to sport in these phosphorescent billows.
The vapor jetted forth was far more radiant than any
portion of the sea; ascribable perhaps to the originally
luminous fluid contracting still more brilliancy from its passage
through the spouting canal of the whales.
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We were in great fear, lest without any vicious intention
the Leviathans might destroy us, by coming into close
contact with our boat. We would have shunned them;
but they were all round and round us. Nevertheless we
were safe; for as we parted the pallid brine, the peculiar
irradiation which shot from about our keel seemed to deter
them. Apparently discovering us of a sudden, many of
them plunged headlong down into the water, tossing their
fiery tails high into the air, and leaving the sea still more
sparkling from the violent surging of their descent.
Their general course seemed the same as our own; to
the westward. To remove from them, we at last out oars,
and pulled toward the north. So doing, we were steadily
pursued by a solitary whale, that must have taken our
Chamois for a kindred fish. Spite of all our efforts, he
drew nearer and nearer; at length rubbing his fiery flank
against the Chamois' gunwale, here and there leaving long
strips of the glossy transparent substance which thin as
gossamer invests the body of the Cachalot.
In terror at a sight so new, Samoa shrank. But Jarl
and I, more used to the intimate companionship of the
whales, pushed the boat away from it with our oars: a
thing often done in the fishery.
The close vicinity of the whale revived in the so long
astute Skyeman all the enthusiasm of his daring vocation.
However quiet by nature, a thorough-bred whaleman betrays
no little excitement in sight of his game. And it
required some persuasion to prevent Jarl from darting his
harpoon: insanity under present circumstances; and of
course without object. But “Oh! for a dart,” cried my
Viking. And “Where's now our old ship?” he added
reminiscently.
But to my great joy the monster at last departed; rejoining
the shoal, whose lofty spoutings of flame were still
visible upon the distant line of the horizon; showing there,
like the fitful starts of the Aurora Borealis.
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The sea retained its luminosity for about three hours; at
the expiration of half that period beginning to fade; and
excepting occasional faint illuminations consequent upon the
rapid darting of fish under water, the phenomenon at last
wholly disappeared.
Heretofore, I had beheld several exhibitions of marine
phosphorescence, both in the Atlantic and Pacific.
But nothing in comparison with what was seen that night.
In the Atlantic, there is very seldom any portion of the
ocean luminous, except the crests of the waves; and these
mostly appear so during wet, murky weather. Whereas,
in the Pacific, all instances of the sort, previously coming
under my notice, had been marked by patches of greenish
light, unattended with any pallidness of sea. Save twice
on the coast of Peru, where I was summoned from my
hammock to the alarming midnight cry of “All hands
ahoy! tack ship!” And rushing on deck, beheld the sea
white as a shroud; for which reason it was feared we were
on soundings.
Now, sailors love marvels, and love to repeat them. And
from many an old shipmate I have heard various sage opinings,
concerning the phenomenon in question. Dismissing,
as destitute of sound philosophic probability, the extravagant
notion of one of my nautical friends—no less a philosopher
than my Viking himself—namely: that the phosphoresence
of the sea is caused by a commotion among the mermaids,
whose golden locks, all torn and disheveled, do irradiate the
waters at such times; I proceed to record more reliable
theories.
Faraday might, perhaps, impute the phenomenon to a
peculiarly electrical condition of the atmosphere; and to that
solely. But herein, my scientific friend would be stoutly contradicted
by many intelligent seamen, who, in part, impute it
to the presence of large quantities of putrescent animal matter,
with which the sea is well known to abound.
And it would seem not unreasonable to suppose, that it is
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by this means that the fluid itself becomes charged with the
luminous principle. Draw a bucket of water from the phosphorescent
ocean, and it still retains traces of fire; but,
standing awhile, this soon subsides. Now pour it along the
deck, and it is a stream of flame; caused by its renewed
agitation. Empty the bucket, and for a space sparkles cling
to it tenaciously; and every stave seems ignited.
But after all, this seeming ignition of the sea can not be
wholly produced by dead matter therein. There are many
living fish, phosphorescent; and, under certain conditions,
by a rapid throwing off of luminous particles must largely
contribute to the result. Not to particularize this circumstance
as true of divers species of sharks, cuttle-fish, and
many others of the larger varieties of the finny tribes; the
myriads of microscopic mollusca, well known to swarm off
soundings, might alone be deemed almost sufficient to kindle
a fire in the brine.
But these are only surmises; likely, but uncertain.
After science comes sentiment.
A French naturalist maintains, that the nocturnal radiance
of the fire-fly is purposely intended as an attraction to
the opposite sex; that the artful insect illuminates its body for
a beacon to love. Thus: perched upon the edge of a leaf,
and waiting the approach of her Leander, who comes buffeting
with his wings the aroma of the flowers, some insect
Hero may show a torch to her gossamer gallant.
But alas, thrice alas, for the poor little fire-fish of the
sea, whose radiance but reveals them to their foes, and lights
the way to their destruction.
-- -- p275-157
CHAPTER XXXIX. THEY FALL IN WITH STRANGERS.
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After quitting the Parki, we had much calm weather,
varied by light breezes. And sailing smoothly over a sea, so
recently one sheet of foam, I could not avoid bethinking me,
how fortunate it was, that the gale had overtaken us in the
brigantine, and not in the Chamois. For deservedly high
as the whale-shallop ranks as a sea boat; still, in a severe
storm, the larger your craft the greater your sense of security.
Wherefore, the thousand reckless souls tenanting a line-of-battle
ship scoff at the most awful hurricanes; though, in
reality, they may be less safe in their wooden-walled Troy,
than those who contend with the gale in a clipper.
But not only did I congratulate myself upon salvation
from the past, but upon the prospect for the future. For
storms happening so seldom in these seas, one just blown
over is almost a sure guarantee of very many weeks' calm
weather to come.
Now sun followed sun; and no land. And at length it
almost seemed as if we must have sailed past the remotest
presumable westerly limit of the chain of islands we sought;
a lurking suspicion which I sedulously kept to myself. However,
I could not but nourish a latent faith that all would
yet be well.
On the ninth day my forebodings were over. In the
gray of the dawn, perched upon the peak of our sail, a
noddy was seen fast asleep. This freak was true to the
nature of that curious fowl, whose name is significant of its
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drowsiness. Its plumage was snow-white, its bill and legs
blood-red; the latter looking like little pantalettes. In a sly
attempt at catching the bird, Samoa captured three tail-feathers;
the alarmed creature flying away with a scream,
and leaving its quills in his hand.
Sailing on, we gradually broke in upon immense low-sailing
flights of other aquatic fowls, mostly of those species
which are seldom found far from land: terns, frigate-birds,
mollymeaux, reef-pigeons, boobies, gulls, and the like. They
darkened the air; their wings making overhead an incessant
rustling like the simultaneous turning over of ten thousand
leaves. The smaller sort skimmed the sea like pebbles
sent skipping from the shore. Over these, flew myriads
of birds of broader wing. While high above all, soared in
air the daring “Diver,” or sea-kite, the power of whose
vision is truly wonderful. It perceives the little flying-fish
in the water, at a height which can not be less than four
hundred feet. Spirally wheeling and screaming as it goes,
the sea-kite, bill foremost, darts downward, swoops into the
water, and for a moment altogether disappearing, emerges
at last; its prey firmly trussed in its claws. But bearing
it aloft, the bold bandit is quickly assailed by other birds of
prey, that strive to wrest from him his booty. And snatched
from his talons, you see the fish falling through the air,
till again caught up in the very act of descent, by the fleetest
of its pursuers.
Leaving these sights astern, we presently picked up the
slimy husk of a cocoanut, all over green barnacles. And
shortly after, passed two or three limbs of trees, and the solitary
trunk of a palm; which, upon sailing nearer, seemed
but very recently started on its endless voyage. As noon
came on, the dark purple land-haze, which had been dimly
descried resting upon the western horizon, was very nearly
obscured. Nevertheless, behind that dim drapery we doubted
not bright boughs were waving.
We were now in high spirits. Samoa between times
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humming to himself some heathenish ditty, and Jarl ten
times more intent on his silence than ever; yet his eye full
of expectation and gazing broad off from our bow. Of a
sudden, shading his face with his hand, he gazed fixedly for
an instant, and then springing to his feet, uttered the long-drawn
sound—“Sail ho!”
Just tipping the furthest edge of the sky was a little
speck, dancing into view every time we rose upon the swells.
It looked like one of many birds; for half intercepting our
view, fell showers of plumage: a flight of milk-white noddies
flying downward to the sea.
But soon the birds are seen no more. Yet there remains
the speck; plainly a sail; but too small for a ship. Was
it a boat after a whale? The vessel to which it belonged
far astern, and shrouded by the haze? So it seemed.
Quietly, however, we waited the stranger's nearer approach;
confident, that for some time he would not be able
to perceive us, owing to our being in what mariners denominate
the “sun-glade,” or that part of the ocean upon which
the sun's rays flash with peculiar intensity.
As the sail drew nigh, its failing to glisten white led us
to doubt whether it was indeed a whale-boat. Presently,
it showed yellow; and Samoa declared, that it must be the
sail of some island craft. True. The stranger proving a
large double-canoe, like those used by the Polynesians in
making passages between distant islands.
The Upoluan was now clamorous for a meeting, to which
Jarl was averse. Deliberating a moment, I directed the
muskets to be loaded; then setting the sail—the wind on
our quarter—we headed away for the canoe, now sailing at
right angles with our previous course.
Here it must be mentioned, that from the various gay
cloths and other things provided for barter by the captain
of the Parki, I had very strikingly improved my costume;
making it free, flowing, and eastern. I looked like an
Emir. Nor had my Viking neglected to follow my
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example; though with some few modifications of his own.
With his long tangled hair and harpoon, he looked like the
sea-god, that boards ships, for the first time crossing the
Equator. For tatooed Samoa, he yet sported both kilt and
turban, reminding one of a tawny leopard, though his spots
were all in one place. Besides this raiment of ours, against
emergencies we had provided our boat with divers nankeens
and silks.
But now into full view comes a yoke of huge clumsy
prows, shaggy with carving, and driving through the water
with considerable velocity; the immense sprawling sail
holding the wind like a bag. She seemed full of men;
and from the dissonant cries borne over to us, and the
canoe's widely yawing, it was plain that we had occasioned
no small sensation. They seemed undetermined what
course to pursue: whether to court a meeting, or avoid it;
whether to regard us as friends or foes.
As we came still nearer, distinctly beholding their faces,
we loudly hailed them, inviting them to furl their sails, and
allow us to board them. But no answer was returned;
their confusion increasing. And now, within less than two
ships'-lengths, they swept right across our bow, gazing at us
with blended curiosity and fear.
Their craft was about thirty feet long, consisting of a pair
of parallel canoes, very narrow, and at the distance of a yard
or so, lengthwise, united by stout cross-timbers, lashed across
the four gunwales. Upon these timbers was a raised platform
or dais, quite dry; and astern an arched cabin or tent;
behind which, were two broad-bladed paddles terminating in
rude shark-tails, by which the craft was steered.
The yard, spreading a yellow sail, was a crooked bough,
supported obliquely in the crotch of a mast, to which the
green bark was still clinging. Here and there were little
tufts of moss. The high, beaked prow of that canoe in
which the mast was placed, resembled a rude altar; and all
round it was suspended a great variety of fruits, including
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scores of cocoanuts, unhusked. This prow was railed off,
forming a sort of chancel within.
The foremost beam, crossing the gunwales, extended some
twelve feet beyond the side of the dais; and at regular intervals
hereupon, stout cords were fastened, which, leading
up to the head of the mast, answered the purpose of shrouds.
The breeze was now streaming fresh; and, as if to force
down into the water the windward side of the craft, five men
stood upon this long beam, grasping five shrouds. Yet they
failed to counterbalance the pressure of the sail; and owing
to the opposite inclination of the twin canoes, these living
statues were elevated high above the water; their appearance
rendered still more striking by their eager attitudes, and
the apparent peril of their position, as the mad spray from
the bow dashed over them. Suddenly, the Islanders threw
their craft into the wind; while, for ourselves, we lay on
our oars, fearful of alarming them by now coming nearer.
But hailing them again, we said we were friends, and had
friendly gifts for them, if they would peaceably permit us to
approach. This understood, there ensued a mighty clamor;
insomuch, that I bade Jarl and Samoa out oars, and row
very gently toward the strangers. Whereupon, amid a
storm of vociferations, some of them hurried to the furthest
side of their dais; standing with arms arched over their
heads, as if for a dive; others menacing us with clubs and
spears; and one, an old man with a bamboo trellis on his
head forming a sort of arbor for his hair, planted himself
full before the tent, stretching behind him a wide plaited
sling.
Upon this hostile display, Samoa dropped his oar, and
brought his piece to bear upon the old man, who, by his attitude,
seemed to menace us with the fate of the great braggart
of Gath. But I quickly knocked down the muzzle of
his musket, and forbade the slightest token of hostility; enjoining
it upon my companions, nevertheless, to keep well
on their guard.
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We now ceased rowing, and after a few minutes' uproar
in the canoe, they ran to the steering-paddles, and forcing
round their craft before the wind, rapidly ran away from us.
With all haste we set our sail, and pulling also at our oars,
soon overtook them, determined upon coming into closer
communion.
-- 156 -- p275-163
CHAPTER XL. SIRE AND SONS.
[figure description] Page 156.[end figure description]
Seeing flight was useless, the Islanders again stopped
their canoe, and once more we cautiously drew nearer;
myself crying out to them not to be fearful; and Samoa,
with the odd humor of his race, averring that he had known
every soul of them from his infancy.
We approached within two or three yards; when we
paused, which somewhat allayed their alarm. Fastening a
red China handkerchief to the blade of our long mid-ship
oar, I waved it in the air. A lively clapping of hands,
and many wild exclamations.
While yet waving the flag, I whispered to Jarl to give
the boat a sheer toward the canoe, which being adroitly
done, brought the bow, where I stood, still nearer to the
Islanders. I then dropped the silk among them; and the
Islander, who caught it, at once handed it to the warlike
old man with the sling; who, on seating himself, spread it
before him; while the rest crowding round, glanced rapidly
from the wonderful gift, to the more wonderful donors.
This old man was the superior of the party. And Samoa
asserted, that he must be a priest of the country to which
the Islanders belonged; that the craft could be no other
than one of their sacred canoes, bound on some priestly voyage.
All this he inferred from the altar-like prow, and
there being no women on board.
Bent upon conciliating the old priest, I dropped into the
canoe another silk handkerchief; while Samoa loudly exclaimed,
that we were only three men, and were peaceably
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inclined. Meantime, old Aaron, fastening the two silks
crosswise over his shoulders, like a brace of Highland plaids,
crosslegged sat, and eyed us.
It was a curious sight. The old priest, like a scroll of
old parchment, covered all over with hieroglyphical devices,
harder to interpret, I'll warrant, than any old Sanscrit
manuscript. And upon his broad brow, deep-graven in
wrinkles, were characters still more mysterious, which no
Champollion nor gipsy could have deciphered. He looked
old as the elderly hills; eyes sunken, though bright; and
head white as the summit of Mont Blanc.
The rest were a youthful and comely set: their complexion
that of Gold Sherry, and all tattooed after this pattern:
two broad cross-stripes on the chest and back, reaching
down to the waist, like a foot-soldier's harness. Their
faces were full of expression; and their mouths were full of
fine teeth; so that the parting of their lips, was as the
opening of pearl oysters. Marked, here and there, after the
style of Tahiti, with little round figures in blue, dotted in
the middle with a spot of vermilion, their brawny brown
thighs looked not unlike the gallant hams of Westphalia,
spotted with the red dust of Cayenne.
But what a marvelous resemblance in the features of all.
Were they born at one birth? This resemblance was
heightened by their uniform marks. But it was subsequently
ascertained, that they were the children of one sire; and
that sire, old Aaron; who, no doubt, reposed upon his sons,
as an old general upon the trophies of his youth.
They were the children of as many mothers; and he
was training them up for the priesthood.
-- -- p275-165
CHAPTER XLI. A FRAY.
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So bent were the strangers upon concealing who they
were, and the object of their voyage, that it was some time
ere we could obtain the information we desired.
They pointed toward the tent, as if it contained their
Eleusinian mysteries. And the old priest gave us to know,
that it would be profanation to enter it.
But all this only roused my curiosity to unravel the wonder.
At last I succeeded.
In that mysterious tent was concealed a beautiful maiden.
And, in pursuance of a barbarous custom, by Aleema, the
priest, she was being borne an offering from the island of
Amma to the gods of Tedaidee.
Now, hearing of the maiden, I waited for no more. Need
I add, how stirred was my soul toward this invisible victim;
and how hotly I swore, that precious blood of hers should
never smoke upon an altar. If we drowned for it, I was
bent upon rescuing the captive. But as yet, no gentle signal
of distress had been waved to us from the tent. Thence, no
sound could be heard, but an occasional rustle of the matting.
Was it possible, that one about to be immolated could
proceed thus tranquilly to her fate?
But desperately as I resolved to accomplish the deliverance
of the maiden, it was best to set heedfully about it.
I desired no shedding of blood; though the odds were against
us.
The old priest seemed determined to prevent us from
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boarding his craft. But being equally determined the other
way, I cautiously laid the bow of the Chamois against the
canoe's quarter, so as to present the smallest possible chance
for a hostile entrance into our boat. Then, Samoa, knife in
ear, and myself with a cutlass, stepped upon the dais, leaving
Jarl in the boat's head, equipped with his harpoon; three
loaded muskets lying by his side. He was strictly enjoined
to resist the slightest demonstration toward our craft.
As we boarded the canoe, the Islanders slowly retreated;
meantime earnestly conferring in whispers; all but the old
priest, who, still seated, presented an undaunted though
troubled front. To our surprise, he motioned us to sit down
by him; which we did; taking care, however, not to cut
off our communication with Jarl.
With the hope of inspiring good will, I now unfolded a
roll of printed cotton, and spreading it before the priest,
directed his attention to the pictorial embellishments thereon,
representing some hundreds of sailor boys simultaneously
ascending some hundreds of uniform sections of a ship's rigging.
Glancing at them a moment, by a significant sign, he
gave me to know, that long previous he himself had ascended
the shrouds of a ship. Making this allusion, his countenance
was overcast with a ferocious expression, as if something
terrific was connected with the reminiscence. But it soon
passed away, and somewhat abruptly he assumed an air of
much merriment.
While we were thus sitting together, and my whole soul
full of the thoughts of the captive, and how best to accomplish
my purpose, and often gazing toward the tent; I all at
once noticed a movement among the strangers. Almost in
the same instant, Samoa, right across the face of Aleema,
and in his ordinary tones, bade me take heed to myself, for
mischief was brewing. Hardly was this warning uttered;
when, with carved clubs in their hands, the Islanders completely
surrounded us. Then up rose the old priest, and
gave us to know, that we were wholly in his power, and if
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[figure description] Page 160.[end figure description]
we did not swear to depart in our boat forthwith, and molest
him no more, the peril be ours.
“Depart and you live; stay and you die.”
Fifteen to three. Madness to gainsay his mandate. Yet
a beautiful maiden was at stake.
The knife before dangling in Samoa's ear was now in his
hand. Jarl cried out for us to regain the boat, several of
the Islanders making a rush for it. No time to think. All
passed quicker than it can be said. They closed in upon
us, to push us from the canoe. Rudely the old priest flung
me from his side, menacing me with his dagger, the sharp
spine of a fish. A thrust and a threat! Ere I knew it,
my cutlass made a quick lunge. A curse from the
priest's mouth; red blood from his side; he tottered,
stared about him, and fell over like a brown hemlock
into the sea. A yell of maledictions rose on the air. A
wild cry was heard from the tent. Making a dead breach
among the crowd, we now dashed side by side for the boat.
Springing into it, we found Jarl battling with two Islanders;
while the rest were still howling upon the dais. Rage and
grief had almost disabled them.
With one stroke of my cutlass, I now parted the line that
held us to the canoe, and with Samoa falling upon the two
Islanders, by Jarl's help, we quickly mastered them; forcing
them down into the bottom of the boat.
The Skyeman and Samoa holding passive the captives,
I quickly set our sail, and snatching the sheet at the cavil,
we rapidly shot from the canoe. The strangers defying us
with their spears; several couching them as if to dart;
while others held back their hands, as if to prevent them from
jeopardizing the lives of their countrymen in the Chamois.
Seemingly untoward events oftentimes lead to successful
results. Far from destroying all chance of rescuing the
captive, our temporary flight, indispensable for the safety of
Jarl, only made the success of our enterprise more probable.
For having made prisoners two of the strangers, I
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determined to retain them as hostages, through whom to effect
my plans without further bloodshed.
And here it must needs be related, that some of the
natives were wounded in the fray: while all three of their
assailants had received several bruises.
-- -- p275-169
CHAPTER XLII. REMORSE.
[figure description] Page 162.[end figure description]
During the skirmish not a single musket had been discharged.
The first snatched by Jarl had missed fire, and
ere he could seize another, it was close quarters with him,
and no gestures to spare. His harpoon was his all. And
truly, there is nothing like steel in a fray. It comes and it
goes with a will, and is never a-weary. Your sword is your
life, and that of your foe; to keep or to take as it happens.
Closer home does it go than a rammer; and fighting with
steel is a play without ever an interlude. There are points
more deadly than bullets; and stocks packed full of subtle
tubes, whence comes an impulse more reliable than powder.
Binding our prisoners lengthwise across the boat's seats,
we rowed for the canoe, making signs of amity.
Now, if there be any thing fitted to make a high tide ebb
in the veins, it is the sight of a vanquished foe, inferior to
yourself in powers of destruction; but whom some necessity
has forced you to subdue. All victories are not triumphs,
nor all who conquer, heroes.
As we drew near the canoe, it was plain, that the loss of
their sire had again for the instant overcome the survivors.
Raising hands, they cursed us; and at intervals sent forth a
low, piercing wail, peculiar to their race. As before, faint
cries were heard from the tent. And all the while rose and
fell on the sea, the ill-fated canoe.
As I gazed at this sight, what iron mace fell on my soul;
what curse rang sharp in my ear! It was I, who was the
author of the deed that caused the shrill wails that I heard.
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By this hand, the dead man had died. Remorse smote me
hard; and like lightning I asked myself, whether the deathdeed
I had done was sprung of a virtuous motive, the rescuing
a captive from thrall; or whether beneath that pretense,
I had engaged in this fatal affray for some other, and
selfish purpose; the companionship of a beautiful maid. But
throttling the thought, I swore to be gay. Am I not rescuing
the maiden? Let them go down who withstand me.
At the dismal spectacle before him, Jarl, hitherto menacing
our prisoners with his weapon, in order to intimidate
their countrymen, honest Jarl dropped his harpoon. But
shaking his knife in the air, Samoa yet defied the strangers;
nor could we prevent him. His heathenish blood was up.
Standing foremost in the boat, I now assured the strangers,
that all we sought at their hands was the maiden in the tent.
That captive surrendered, our own, unharmed, should be
restored. If not, they must die. With a cry, they started
to their feet, and brandished their clubs; but, seeing Jarl's
harpoon quivering over the hearts of our prisoners, they
quickly retreated; at last signifying their acquiescence in my
demand. Upon this, I sprang to the dais, and across it indicating
a line near the bow, signed the Islanders to retire
beyond it. Then, calling upon them one by one to deliver
their weapons, they were passed into the boat.
The Chamois was now brought round to the canoe's stern;
and leaving Jarl to defend it as before, the Upoluan rejoined
me on the dais. By these precautions—the hostages still
remaining bound hand and foot in the boat—we deemed
ourselves entirely secure.
Attended by Samoa, I stood before the tent, now still
as the grave.
-- --
CHAPTER XLIII. THE TENT ENTERED.
[figure description] Page 164.[end figure description]
By means of thin spaces between the braids of matting,
the place was open to the air, but not to view. There was
also a round opening on one side, only large enough, however,
to admit the arm; but this aperture was partially
closed from within. In front, a deep-dyed rug of osiers, covering
the entrance way, was intricately laced to the standing
part of the tent. As I divided this lacing with my
cutlass, there arose an outburst of voices from the Islanders.
And they covered their faces, as the interior was revealed to
my gaze.
Before me crouched a beautiful girl. Her hands were
drooping. And, like a saint from a shrine, she looked sadly
out from her long, fair hair. A low wail issued from her
lips, and she trembled like a sound. There were tears on
her cheek, and a rose-colored pearl on her bosom.
Did I dream?—A snow-white skin: blue, firmament eyes:
Golconda locks. For an instant spell-bound I stood; while
with a slow, apprehensive movement, and still gazing fixedly,
the captive gathered more closely about her a gauzelike
robe. Taking one step within, and partially dropping
the curtain of the tent, I so stood, as to have both sight and
speech of Samoa, who tarried without; while the maiden,
crouching in the farther corner of the retreat, was wholly
screened from all eyes but mine.
Crossing my hands before me, I now stood without speaking.
For the soul of me, I could not link this mysterious
creature with the tawny strangers. She seemed of another
race. So powerful was this impression, that unconsciously,
-- 165 -- p275-172
[figure description] Page 165.[end figure description]
I addressed her in my own tongue. She started, and bending
over, listened intently, as if to the first faint echo of
something dimly remembered. Again I spoke, when throwing
back her hair, the maiden looked up with a piercing,
bewildered gaze. But her eyes soon fell, and bending over
once more, she resumed her former attitude. At length
she slowly chanted to herself several musical words, unlike
those of the Islanders; but though I knew not what they
meant, they vaguely seemed familiar.
Impatient to learn her story, I now questioned her in
Polynesian. But with much earnestness, she signed me to
address her as before. Soon perceiving, however, that without
comprehending the meaning of the words I employed,
she seemed merely touched by something pleasing in their
sound, I once more addressed her in Polynesian; saying
that I was all eagerness to hear her history.
After much hesitation she complied; starting with alarm
at every sound from without; yet all the while deeply regarding
me.
Broken as these disclosures were at the time, they are
here presented in the form in which they were afterward
more fully narrated.
So unearthly was the story, that at first I little comprehended
it; and was almost persuaded that the luckless
maiden was some beautiful maniac.
She declared herself more than mortal, a maiden from
Oroolia, the Island of Delights, somewhere in the paradisiacal
archipelago of the Polynesians. To this isle, while yet
an infant, by some mystical power, she had been spirited
from Amma, the place of her nativity. Her name was
Yillah. And hardly had the waters of Oroolia washed
white her olive skin, and tinged her hair with gold, when
one day strolling in the woodlands, she was snared in the
tendrils of a vine. Drawing her into its bowers, it gently
transformed her into one of its blossoms, leaving her conscious
soul folded up in the transparent petals.
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Here hung Yillah in a trance, the world without all
tinged with the rosy hue of her prison. At length when
her spirit was about to burst forth in the opening flower,
the blossom was snapped from its stem; and borne by a
soft wind to the sea; where it fell into the opening valve
of a shell; which in good time was cast upon the beach of
the Island of Amma.
In a dream, these events were revealed to Aleema the
priest; who by a spell unlocking its pearly casket, took
forth the bud, which now showed signs of opening in the
reviving air, and bore faint shadowy revealings, as of the
dawn behind crimson clouds. Suddenly expanding, the
blossom exhaled away in perfumes; floating a rosy mist in
the air. Condensing at last, there emerged from this mist
the same radiant young Yillah as before; her locks all
moist, and a rose-colored pearl on her bosom. Enshrined
as a goddess, the wonderful child now tarried in the sacred
temple of Apo, buried in a dell; never beheld of mortal
eyes save Aleema's.
Moon after moon passed away, and at last, only four
days gone by, Aleema came to her with a dream; that
the spirits in Oroolia had recalled her home by the way
of Tedaidee, on whose coast gurgled up in the sea an enchanted
spring; which streaming over upon the brine,
flowed on between blue watery banks; and, plunging into
a vortex, went round and round, descending into depths
unknown. Into this whirlpool Yillah was to descend in
a canoe, at last to well up in an inland fountain of
Oroolia.
-- -- p275-174
CHAPTER XLIV. AWAY!
[figure description] Page 167.[end figure description]
Though clothed in language of my own, the maiden's
story is in substance the same as she related. Yet were
not these things narrated as past events; she merely recounted
them as impressions of her childhood, and of her
destiny yet unaccomplished. And mystical as the tale most
assuredly was, my knowledge of the strange arts of the
island priesthood, and the rapt fancies indulged in by many
of their victims, deprived it in good part of the effect it
otherwise would have produced.
For ulterior purposes connected with their sacerdotal
supremacy, the priests of these climes oftentimes secrete
mere infants in their temples; and jealously secluding them
from all intercourse with the world, craftily delude them, as
they grow up, into the wildest conceits.
Thus wrought upon, their pupils almost lose their humanity
in the constant indulgence of seraphic imaginings. In
many cases becoming inspired as oracles; and as such, they
are sometimes resorted to by devotees; always screened from
view, however, in the recesses of the temples. But in every
instance, their end is certain. Beguiled with some fairy
tale about revisiting the islands of Paradise, they are led to
the secret sacrifice, and perish unknown to their kindred.
But, would that all this had been hidden from me at
the time. For Yillah was lovely enough to be really
divine; and so I might have been tranced into a belief of
her mystical legends.
But with what passionate exultation did I find myself
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[figure description] Page 168.[end figure description]
the deliverer of this beautiful maiden; who, thinking no
harm, and rapt in a dream, was being borne to her fate on
the coast of Tedaidee. Nor now, for a moment, did the
death of Aleema her guardian seem to hang heavy upon my
heart. I rejoiced that I had sent him to his gods; that in
place of the sea moss growing over sweet Yillah drowned
in the sea, the vile priest himself had sunk to the bottom.
But though he had sunk in the deep, his ghost sunk not
in the deep waters of my soul. However in exultations its
surface foamed up, at bottom guilt brooded. Sifted out, my
motives to this enterprise justified not the mad deed, which,
in a moment of rage, I had done: though, those motives
had been covered with a gracious pretense; concealing myself
from myself. But I beat down the thought.
In relating her story, the maiden frequently interrupted it
with questions concerning myself:—Whence I came: being
white, from Oroolia? Whither I was going: to Amma?
And what had happened to Aleema? For she had been
dismayed at the fray, though knowing not what it could
mean; and she had heard the priest's name called upon in
lamentations. These questions for the time I endeavored
to evade; only inducing her to fancy me some gentle demi-god,
that had come over the sea from her own fabulous
Oroolia. And all this she must verily have believed. For
whom, like me, ere this could she have beheld? Still fixed
she her eyes upon me strangely, and hung upon the accents
of my voice.
While this scene was passing, the strangers began to
show signs of impatience, and a voice from the Chamois
repeatedly hailed us to accelerate our movements.
My course was quickly decided. The only obstacle to be
encountered was the possibility of Yillah's alarm at being
suddenly borne into my prow. For this event I now sought
to prepare her. I informed the damsel that Aleema had
been dispatched on a long errand to Oroolia; leaving to my
care, for the present, the guardianship of the lovely Yillah;
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[figure description] Page 169.[end figure description]
and that therefore, it was necessary to carry her tent into
my own canoe, then waiting to receive it.
This intelligence she received with the utmost concern;
and not knowing to what her perplexity might lead, I
thought fit to transport her into the Chamois, while yet
overwhelmed by the announcement of my intention.
Quitting her retreat, I apprised Jarl of my design; and
then, no more delay!
At bottom, the tent was attached to a light framework
of bamboos; and from its upper corners, four cords, like
those of a marquee, confined it to the dais. These, Samoa's
knife soon parted; when lifting the light tent, we speedily
transferred it to the Chamois; a wild yell going up from
the Islanders, which drowned the faint cries of the maiden.
But we heeded not the din. Toss in the fruit, hanging
from the altar-prow! It was done; and then running up
our sail, we glided away;—Chamois, tent, hostages, and all.
Rushing to the now vacant stern of their canoe, the Islanders
once more lifted up their hands and their voices in curses.
A suitable distance gained, we paused to fling overboard
the arms we had taken; and Jarl proceeded to liberate the
hostages.
Meanwhile, I entered the tent, and by many tokens,
sought to allay the maiden's alarm. Thus engaged, violent
plunges were heard: our prisoners taking to the sea to
regain their canoe. All dripping, they were received by
their brethren with wild caresses.
From something now said by the captives, the rest seemed
suddenly inspirited with hopes of revenge; again wildly
shaking their spears, just before picked up from the sea.
With great clamor and confusion they soon set their matsail;
and instead of sailing southward for Tedaidee, or
northward for Amma their home, they steered straight
after us, in our wake.
Foremost in the prow stood three; javelins poised for a
dart; at intervals, raising a yell.
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Did they mean to pursue me? Full in my rear they
came on, baying like hounds on their game. Yillah trembled
at their cries. My own heart beat hard with undefinable
dread. The corpse of Aleema seemed floating before:
its avengers were raging behind.
But soon these phantoms departed. For very soon it appeared
that in vain the pagans pursued. Their craft, our
fleet Chamois outleaped. And farther and farther astern
dropped the evil-boding canoe, till at last but a speck; when
a great swell of the sea surged up before it, and it was seen
no more. Samoa swore that it must have swamped, and
gone down. But however it was, my heart lightened
apace. I saw none but ourselves on the sea: I remembered
that our keel left no track as it sailed.
Let the Oregon Indian through brush, bramble, and
brier, hunt his enemy's trail, far over the mountains and
down in the vales; comes he to the water, he snuffs idly
in air.
-- -- p275-178
CHAPTER XLV. REMINISCENCES.
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In rescuing the gentle Yillah from the hands of the
Islanders, a design seemed accomplished. But what was
now to be done? Here, in our adventurous Chamois, was
a damsel more lovely than the flushes of morning; and for
companions, whom had she but me and my comrades? Besides,
her bosom still throbbed with alarms, her fancies all
roving through mazes.
How subdue these dangerous imaginings? How gently
dispel them?
But one way there was: to lead her thoughts toward
me, as her friend and preserver; and a better and wiser
than Aleema the priest. Yet could not this be effected but
by still maintaining my assumption of a divine origin in
the blessed isle of Oroolia; and thus fostering in her heart
the mysterious interest, with which from the first she had
regarded me. But if punctilious reserve on the part of
her deliverer should teach her to regard him as some frigid
stranger from the Arctic Zone, what sympathy could she
have for him? and hence, what peace of mind, having no
one else to cling to?
Now re-entering the tent, she again inquired where tarried
Aleema.
“Think not of him, sweet Yillah,” I cried. “Look on
me. Am I not white like yourself? Behold, though since
quitting Oroolia the sun has dyed my cheek, am I not even
as you? Am I brown like the dusky Aleema? They
snatched you away from your isle in the sea, too early for
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you to remember me there. But you have not been forgotten
by me, sweetest Yillah. Ha! ha! shook we not the
palm-trees together, and chased we not the rolling nuts
down the glen? Did we not dive into the grotto on the
sea-shore, and come up together in the cool cavern in the
hill? In my home in Oroolia, dear Yillah, I have a lock
of your hair, ere yet it was golden: a little dark tress like
a ring. How your cheeks were then changing from olive to
white. And when shall I forget the hour, that I came
upon you sleeping among the flowers, with roses and lilies
for cheeks. Still forgetful? Know you not my voice?
Those little spirits in your eyes have seen me before. They
mimic me now as they sport in their lakes. All the past a
dim blank? Think of the time when we ran up and down
in our arbor, where the green vines grew over the great ribs
of the stranded whale. Oh Yillah, little Yillah, has it all
come to this? am I forever forgotten? Yet over the wide
watery world have I sought thee: from isle to isle, from
sea to sea. And now we part not. Aleema is gone. My
prow shall keep kissing the waves, till it kisses the beach at
Oroolia. Yillah, look up.”
Sunk the ghost of Aleema: Sweet Yillah was mine!
-- -- p275-180
CHAPTER XLVI. THE CHAMOIS WITH A ROVING COMMISSION.
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Through the assiduity of my Viking, ere nightfall our
Chamois was again in good order. And with many subtle
and seamanlike splices the light tent was lashed in its
place; the sail taken up by a reef.
My comrades now questioned me, as to my purposes;
whether they had been modified by the events of the day.
I replied that our destination was still the islands to the
westward.
But from these we had steadily been drifting all the
morning long; so that now no loom of the land was visible.
But our prow was kept pointing as before.
As evening came on, my comrades fell fast asleep, leaving
me at the helm.
How soft and how dreamy the light of the hour. The
rays of the sun, setting behind golden-barred clouds, came
to me like the gleaming of a shaded light behind a lattice.
And the low breeze, pervaded with the peculiar balm of the
mid-Pacific near land, was fragrant as the breath of a bride.
Such was the scene; so still and witching that the hand
of Yillah in mine seemed no hand, but a touch. Visions
flitted before me and in me; something hummed in my
ear; all the air was a lay.
And now entered a thought into my heart. I reflected
how serenely we might thus glide along, far removed from
all care and anxiety. And then, what different scenes
might await us upon any of the shores roundabout. But
there seemed no danger in the balmy sea; the assured
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vicinity of land imparting a sense of security. We had
ample supplies for several days more, and thanks to the
Pagan canoe, an abundance of fruit.
Besides, what cared I now for the green groves and
bright shore? Was not Yillah my shore and my grove?
my meadow, my mead, my soft shady vine, and my arbor?
Of all things desirable and delightful, the full-plumed sheaf,
and my own right arm the band? Enough: no shore for
me yet. One sweep of the helm, and our light prow
headed round toward the vague land of song, sun, and vine:
the fabled South.
As we glided along, strange Yillah gazed down in the
sea, and would fain have had me plunge into it with her, to
rove through its depths. But I started dismayed; in fancy,
I saw the stark body of the priest drifting by. Again that
phantom obtruded; again guilt laid his red hand on my
soul. But I laughed. Was not Yillah my own? by my
arm rescued from ill? To do her a good, I had periled
myself. So down, down, Aleema.
When next morning, starting from slumber, my comrades
beheld the sun on our beam, instead of astern as before at
that hour, they eagerly inquired, “Whither now?” But
very briefly I gave them to know, that after devoting the
night to the due consideration of a matter so important, I
had determined upon voyaging for the island Tedaidee, in
place of the land to the westward.
At this, they were not displeased. But to tell the plain
truth, I harbored some shadowy purpose of merely hovering
about for a while, till I felt more landwardly inclined.
But had I not declared to Yillah, that our destination
was the fairy isle she spoke of, even Oroolia? Yet that
shore was so exceedingly remote, and the folly of endeavoring
to reach it in a craft built with hands, so very apparent,
that what wonder I really nourished no thought of it?
So away floated the Chamois, like a vagrant cloud in
the heavens: bound, no one knew whither.
-- -- p275-182
CHAPTER XLVII. YILLAH, JARL, AND SAMOA.
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But time to tell, how Samoa and Jarl regarded this
mystical Yillah; and how Yillah regarded them.
As Beauty from the Beast, so at first shrank the damsel
from my one-armed companion. But seeing my confidence
in the savage, a reaction soon followed. And in accordance
with that curious law, by which, under certain conditions,
the ugliest mortals become only amiably hideous, Yillah at
length came to look upon Samoa as a sort of harmless and
good-natured goblin. Whence came he, she cared not; or
what was his history; or in what manner his fortunes were
united to mine.
May be, she held him a being of spontaneous origin.
Now, as every where women are the tamers of the menageries
of men; so Yillah in good time tamed down Samoa
to the relinquishment of that horrible thing in his ear, and
persuaded him to substitute a vacancy for the bauble in his
nose. On his part, however, all this was conditional. He
stipulated for the privilege of restoring both trinkets upon
suitable occasions.
But if thus gayly the damsel sported with Samoa; how
different his emotions toward her? The fate to which she
had been destined, and every nameless thing about her, appealed
to all his native superstitions, which ascribed to beings
of her complexion a more than terrestrial origin. When
permitted to approach her, he looked timid and awkwardly
strange; suggesting the likeness of some clumsy satyr,
drawing in his horns; slowly wagging his tail; crouching
abashed before some radiant spirit.
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And this reverence of his was most pleasing to me.
Bravo! thought I; be a pagan forever. No more than
myself; for, after a different fashion, Yillah was an idol to
both.
But what of my Viking? Why, of good Jarl I grieve
to say, that the old-fashioned interest he took in my affairs
led him to look upon Yillah as a sort of intruder, an Ammonite
syren, who might lead me astray. This would now
and then provoke a phillipic; but he would only turn toward
my resentment his devotion; and then I was silent.
Unsophisticated as a wild flower in the germ, Yillah
seemed incapable of perceiving the contrasted lights in which
she was regarded by our companions. And like a true
beauty seemed to cherish the presumption, that it was quite
impossible for such a person as hers to prove otherwise than
irresistible to all.
She betrayed much surprise at my Viking's appearance.
But most of all was she struck by a characteristic device
upon the arm of the wonderful mariner—our Saviour on
the cross, in blue; with the crown of thorns, and three
drops of blood in vermilion, falling one by one from each
hand and foot.
Now, honest Jarl did vastly pride himself upon this ornament.
It was the only piece of vanity about him. And
like a lady keeping gloveless her hand to show off a fine
Turquoise ring, he invariably wore that sleeve of his frock
rolled up, the better to display the embellishment.
And round and round would Yillah turn Jarl's arm, till
Jarl was fain to stand firm, for fear of revolving all over.
How such untutored homage would have thrilled the heart
of the ingenious artist!
Eventually, through the Upoluan, she made overtures to
the Skyeman, concerning the possession of his picture in her
own proper right. In her very simplicity, little heeding,
that like a landscape in fresco, it could not be removed.
-- -- p275-184
CHAPTER XLVIII. SOMETHING UNDER THE SURFACE.
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Not to omit an occurrence of considerable interest, we
must needs here present some account of a curious retinue
of fish which overtook our Chamois, a day or two after parting
with the canoe.
A violent creaming and frothing in our rear announced
their approach. Soon we found ourselves the nucleus of an
incredible multitude of finny creatures, mostly anonymous.
First, far in advance of our prow, swam the helmeted
Silver-heads; side by side, in uniform ranks, like an army.
Then came the Boneetas, with their flashing blue flanks.
Then, like a third distinct regiment, wormed and twisted
through the water like Archimedean screws, the quivering
Wriggle-tails; followed in turn by the rank and file of the
Trigger-fish—so called from their quaint dorsal fins being
set in their backs with a comical curve, as if at half-cock.
Far astern the rear was brought up by endless battalions of
Yellow-backs, right martially vested in buff.
And slow sailing overhead were flights of birds; a wing
in the air for every fin in the sea.
But let the sea-fowls fly on: turn we to the fish.
Their numbers were amazing; countless as the tears shed
for perfidious lovers. Far abroad on both flanks, they swam
in long lines, tier above tier; the water alive with their
hosts. Locusts of the sea, peradventure, going to fall with
a blight upon some green, mossy province of Neptune. And
tame and fearless they were, as the first fish that swam in
Euphrates; hardly evading the hand; insomuch that Samoa
caught many without lure or line.
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They formed a decorous escort; paddling along by our
barnacled sides, as if they had been with us from the very
beginning; neither scared by our craft's surging in the water;
nor in the least sympathetic at losing a comrade by the hand
of Samoa. They closed in their ranks and swam on.
How innocent, yet heartless they looked! Had a plank
dropped out of our boat, we had sunk to the bottom; and
belike, our cheerful retinue would have paid the last rites to
our remains.
But still we kept company; as sociably as you please;
Samoa helping himself when he listed, and Yillah clapping
her hands as the radiant creatures, by a simultaneous turning
round on their silvery bellies, caused the whole sea to
glow like a burnished shield.
But what has befallen this poor little Boneeta astern,
that he swims so toilingly on, with gills showing purple?
What has he there, towing behind? It is tangled sea-kelp
clinging to its fins. But the clogged thing strains to keep
up with its fellows. Yet little they heed. Away they go;
every fish for itself, and any fish for Samoa.
At last the poor Boneeta is seen no more. The myriad fins
swim on; a lonely waste, where the lost one drops behind.
Strange fish! All the live-long day, they were there by
our side; and at night still tarried and shone; more crystal
and scaly in the pale moonbeams, than in the golden glare
of the sun.
How prettily they swim; all silver life; darting hither
and thither between their long ranks, and touching their
noses, and scraping acquaintance. No mourning they wear
for the Boneeta left far astern; nor for those so cruelly
killed by Samoa. No, no; all is glee, fishy glee, and frolicking
fun; light hearts and light fins; gay backs and gay
spirits.—Swim away, swim away! my merry fins all. Let
us roam the flood; let us follow this monster fish with the
barnacled sides; this strange-looking fish, so high out of
water; that goes without fins. What fish can it be? What
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rippling is that? Dost hear the great monster breathe?
Why, 'tis sharp at both ends; a tail either way; nor eyes
has it any, nor mouth. What a curious fish! what a comical
fish! But more comical far, those creatures above, on
its hollow back, clinging thereto like the snaky eels, that
cling and slide on the back of the Sword fish, our terrible
foe. But what curious eels these are! Do they deem
themselves pretty as we? No, no; for sure, they behold
our limber fins, our speckled and beautiful scales. Poor,
powerless things! How they must wish they were we, that
roam the flood, and scour the seas with a wish. Swim
away; merry fins, swim away! Let him drop, that fellow
that halts; make a lane; close in, and fill up. Let him
drown, if he can not keep pace. No laggards for us:—
We fish, we fish, we merrily swim,
We care not for friend nor for foe:
Our fins are stout,
Our tails are out,
As through the seas we go.
Fish, Fish, we are fish with red gills;
Naught disturbs us, our blood is at zero:
We are buoyant because of our bags,
Being many, each fish is a hero.
We care not what is it, this life
That we follow, this phantom unknown:
To swim, it's exceedingly pleasant,—
So swim away, making a foam.
This strange looking thing by our side,
Not for safety, around it we flee:—
Its shadow's so shady, that's all,—
We only swim under its lee.
And as for the eels there above,
And as for the fowls in the air,
We care not for them nor their ways,
As we cheerily glide afar!
We fish, we fish, we merrily swim,
We care not for friend nor for foe:
Our fins are stout,
Our tails are out,
As through the seas we go.
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But how now, my fine fish! what alarms your long
ranks, and tosses them all into a hubbub of scales and of
foam? Never mind that long knave with the spear there,
astern. Pipe away, merry fish, and give us a stave or two
more, keeping time with your doggerel tails. But no, no!
their singing was over. Grim death, in the shape of a
Chevalier, was after them.
How they changed their boastful tune! How they
hugged the vilified boat! How they wished they were in
it, the braggarts! And how they all tingled with fear!
For, now here, now there, is heard a terrific rushing sound
under water, betokening the onslaught of the dread fish of
prey, that with spear ever in rest, charges in upon the out-skirts
of the shoal, transfixing the fish on his weapon. Retreating
and shaking them off, the Chevalier devours them;
then returns to the charge.
Hugging the boat to desperation, the poor fish fairly
crowded themselves up to the surface, and floundered upon
each other, as men are lifted off their feet in a mob. They
clung to us thus, out of a fancied security in our presence.
Knowing this, we felt no little alarm for ourselves, dreading
lest the Chevalier might despise our boat, full as much as his
prey; and in pursuing the fish, run through the poor Chamois
with a lunge. A jacket, rolled up, was kept in readiness
to be thrust into the first opening made; while as the
thousand fins audibly patted against our slender planks, we
felt nervously enough; as if treading upon thin, crackling
ice.
At length, to our no small delight, the enemy swam away;
and again by our side merrily paddled our escort; ten times
merrier than ever.
-- -- p275-188
CHAPTER XLIX. YILLAH.
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While for a few days, now this way, now that, as our
craft glides along, surrounded by these locusts of the deep,
let the story of Yillah flow on.
Of her beauty say I nothing. It was that of a crystal
lake in a fathomless wood: all light and shade; full of
fleeting revealings; now shadowed in depths; now sunny in
dimples; but all sparkling and shifting, and blending together.
But her wild beauty was a vail to things still more strange.
As often she gazed so earnestly into my eyes, like some pure
spirit looking far down into my soul, and seeing therein some
upturned faces, I started in amaze, and asked what spell was
on me, that thus she gazed.
Often she entreated me to repeat over and over again certain
syllables of my language. These she would chant to
herself, pausing now and then, as if striving to discover
wherein lay their charm.
In her accent, there was something very different from
that of the people of the canoe. Wherein lay the difference,
I knew not; but it enabled her to pronounce with readiness
all the words which I taught her; even as if recalling
sounds long forgotten.
If all this filled me with wonder, how much was that
wonder increased, and yet baffled again, by considering her
complexion, and the cast of her features.
After endeavoring in various ways to account for these
things, I was led to imagine, that the damsel must be an
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Albino (Tulla) occasionally to be met with among the people
of the Pacific. These persons are of an exceedingly delicate
white skin, tinted with a faint rose hue, like the lips of a
shell. Their hair is golden. But, unlike the Albinos of
other climes, their eyes are invariably blue, and no way intolerant
of light.
As a race, the Tullas die early. And hence the belief,
that they pertain to some distant sphere, and only through
irregularities in the providence of the gods, come to make
their appearance upon earth: whence, the oversight discovered,
they are hastily snatched. And it is chiefly on this
account, that in those islands where human sacrifices are
offered, the Tullas are deemed the most suitable oblations for
the altar, to which from their birth many are prospectively
devoted. It was these considerations, united to others, which
at times induced me to fancy, that by the priest, Yillah was
regarded as one of these beings. So mystical, however, her
revelations concerning her past history, that often I knew
not what to divine. But plainly they showed that she had
not the remotest conception of her real origin.
But these conceits of a state of being anterior to an earthly
existence may have originated in one of those celestial visions
seen transparently stealing over the face of a slumbering
child. And craftily drawn forth and re-echoed by another,
and at times repeated over to her with many additions, these
imaginings must at length have assumed in her mind a hue
of reality, heightened into conviction by the dreamy seclusion
of her life.
But now, let her subsequent and more credible history be
related, as from time to time she rehearsed it.
-- -- p275-190
CHAPTER L. YILLAH IN ARDAIR.
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In the verdant glen of Ardair, far in the silent interior
of Amma, shut in by hoar old cliffs, Yillah the maiden
abode.
So small and so deep was this glen, so surrounded on all
sides by steep acclivities, and so vividly green its verdure,
and deceptive the shadows that played there; that, from
above, it seemed more like a lake of cool, balmy air, than a
glen: its woodlands and grasses gleaming shadowy all, like
sea groves and mosses beneath the calm sea.
Here, none came but Aleema the priest, who at times
was absent for days together. But at certain seasons, an
unseen multitude with loud chants stood upon the verge of
the neighboring precipices, and traversing those shaded wilds,
slowly retreated; their voices lessening and lessening, as
they wended their way through the more distant groves.
At other times, Yillah being immured in the temple of
Apo, a band of men entering the vale, surrounded her retreat,
dancing there till evening came. Meanwhile, heaps
of fruit, garlands of flowers, and baskets of fish, were laid
upon an altar without, where stood Aleema, arrayed in
white tappa, and muttering to himself, as the offerings were
laid at his feet.
When Aleema was gone, Yillah went forth into the glen,
and wandered among the trees, and reposed by the banks
of the stream. And ever as she strolled, looked down upon
her the grim old cliffs, bearded with trailing moss.
Toward the lower end of the vale, its lofty walls
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advancing and overhanging their base, almost met in mid air. And
a great rock, hurled from an adjacent height, and falling
into the space intercepted, there remained fixed. Aerial
trees shot up from its surface; birds nested in its clefts; and
strange vines roved abroad, overrunning the tops of the
trees, lying thereon in coils and undulations, like anacondas
basking in the light. Beneath this rock, was a lofty wall
of ponderous stones. Between its crevices, peeps were had
of a long and leafy arcade, quivering far away to where the
sea rolled in the sun. Lower down, these crevices gave an
outlet to the waters of the brook, which, in a long cascade,
poured over sloping green ledges near the foot of the wall,
into a deep shady pool; whose rocky sides, by the perpetual
eddying of the water, had been worn into a grotesque resemblance
to a group of giants, with heads submerged, indolently
reclining about the basin.
In this pool, Yillah would bathe. And once, emerging,
she heard the echoes of a voice, and called aloud. But the
only reply, was the rustling of branches, as some one, invisible,
fled down the valley beyond. Soon after, a stone rolled
inward, and Aleema the priest stood before her; saying that
the voice she had heard was his. But it was not.
At last the weary days grew longer and longer, and the
maiden pined for companionship. When the breeze blew
not, but slept in the caves of the mountains, and all the
leaves of the trees stood motionless as tears in the eye, Yillah
would sadden, and call upon the spirits in her soul to
awaken. She sang low airs, she thought she had heard in
Oroolia; but started affrighted, as from dingles and dells,
came back to her strains more wild than hers. And ever,
when sad, Aleema would seek to cheer her soul, by calling
to mind the bright scenes of Oroolia the Blest, to which
place, he averred, she was shortly to return, never more to
depart.
Now, at the head of the vale of Ardair, rose a tall, dark
peak, presenting at the top the grim profile of a human
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face; whose shadow, every afternoon, crept down the verdant
side of the mountain: a silent phantom, stealing all
over the bosom of the glen.
At times, when the phantom drew near, Aleema would
take Yillah forth, and waiting its approach, lay her down
by the shadow, disposing her arms in a caress; saying, “Oh,
Apo! dost accept thy bride?” And at last, when it crept
beyond the place where he stood, and buried the whole valley
in gloom; Aleema would say, “Arise Yillah; Apo hath
stretched himself to sleep in Ardair. Go, slumber where
thou wilt; for thou wilt slumber in his arms.”
And so, every night, slept the maiden in the arms of
grim Apo.
One day when Yillah had come to love the wild shadow,
as something that every day moved before her eyes, where
all was so deathfully still; she went forth alone to watch it,
as softly it slid down from the peak. Of a sudden, when its
face was just edging a chasm, that made it to look as if
parting its lips, she heard a loud voice, and thought it was
Apo calling “Yillah! Yillah!” But now it seemed like
the voice she had heard while bathing in the pool. Glancing
upward, she beheld a beautiful open-armed youth, gazing
down upon her from an inaccessible crag. But presently,
there was a rustling in the groves behind, and swift as
thought, something darted through the air. The youth
bounded forward. Yillah opened her arms to receive him;
but he fell upon the cliff, and was seen no more. As
alarmed, and in tears, she fled from the scene, some one out
of sight ran before her through the wood.
Upon recounting this adventure to Aleema, he said, that
the being she had seen, must have been a bad spirit come
to molest her; and that Apo had slain him.
The sight of this youth, filled Yillah with wild yearnings
to escape from her lonely retreat; for a glimpse of some one
beside the priest and the phantom, suggested vague thoughts
of worlds of fair beings, in regions beyond Ardair. But
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Aleema sought to put away these conceits; saying, that ere
long she would be journeying to Oroolia, there to rejoin the
spirits she dimly remembered.
Soon after, he came to her with a shell—one of those
ever moaning of ocean—and placing it to her ear, bade her
list to the being within, which in that little shell had voyaged
from Oroolia to bear her company in Amma.
Now, the maiden oft held it to her ear, and closing her
eyes, listened and listened to its soft inner breathings, till
visions were born of the sound, and her soul lay for hours in
a trance of delight.
And again the priest came, and brought her a milk-white
bird, with a bill jet-black, and eyes like stars. “In
this, lurks the soul of a maiden; it hath flown from Oroolia
to greet you.” The soft stranger willingly nestled in her
bosom; turning its bright eyes upon hers, and softly
warbling.
Many days passed; and Yillah, the bird, and the shell
were inseparable. The bird grew familiar; pecked seeds
from her mouth; perched upon her shoulder, and sang in
her ear; and at night, folded its wings in her bosom, and,
like a sea-fowl, went softly to sleep: rising and falling upon
the maiden's heart. And every morning it flew from its
nest, and fluttered and chirped; and sailed to and fro; and
blithely sang; and brushed Yillah's cheek till she woke.
Then came to her hand: and Yillah, looking earnestly in
its eyes, saw strange faces there; and said to herself as she
gazed—“These are two souls, not one.”
But at last, going forth into the groves with the bird, it
suddenly flew from her side, and perched in a bough; and
throwing back its white downy throat, there gushed from its
bill a clear warbling jet, like a little fountain in air. Now
the song ceased; when up and away toward the head of
the vale, flew the bird. “Lil! Lil! come back, leave me
not, blest souls of the maidens.” But on flew the bird, far
up a defile, winging its way till a speck.
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It was shortly after this, and upon the evening of a day
which had been tumultuous with sounds of warfare beyond
the lower wall of the glen; that Aleema came to Yillah in
alarm; saying—“Yillah, the time has come to follow thy
bird; come, return to thy home in Oroolia.” And he told
her the way she would voyage there: by the vortex on the
coast of Tedaidee. That night, being veiled and placed in
the tent, the maiden was borne to the sea-side, where the
canoe was in waiting. And setting sail quickly, by next
morning the island of Amma was no longer in sight.
And this was the voyage, whose sequel has already been
recounted.
-- -- p275-195
CHAPTER LI. THE DREAM BEGINS TO FADE.
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Stripped of the strange associations, with which a mind
like Yillah's must have invested every incident of her life,
the story of her abode in Ardair seemed not incredible.
But so etherealized had she become from the wild conceits
she nourished, that she verily believed herself a being of the
lands of dreams. Her fabulous past was her present.
Yet as our intimacy grew closer and closer, these fancies
seemed to be losing their hold. And often she questioned
me concerning my own reminiscences of her shadowy isle.
And cautiously I sought to produce the impression, that
whatever I had said of that clime, had been revealed to me
in dreams; but that in these dreams, her own lineaments
had smiled upon me; and hence the impulse which had
sent me roving after the substance of this spiritual image.
And true it was to say so; and right it was to swear it,
upon her white arms crossed. For oh, Yillah; were you
not the earthly semblance of that sweet vision, that haunted
my earliest thoughts?
At first she had wildly believed, that the nameless affinities
between us, were owing to our having in times gone by
dwelt together in the same ethereal region. But thoughts
like these were fast dying out. Yet not without many
strange scrutinies. More intently than ever she gazed into
my eyes; rested her ear against my heart, and listened to its
beatings. And love, which in the eye of its object ever seeks
to invest itself with some rare superiority, love, sometimes
induced me to prop my failing divinity; though it was I
myself who had undermined it.
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But if it was with many regrets, that in the sight of Yillah,
I perceived myself thus dwarfing down to a mortal; it
was with quite contrary emotions, that I contemplated the
extinguishment in her heart of the notion of her own spirituality.
For as such thoughts were chased away, she clung
the more closely to me, as unto one without whom she would
be desolate indeed.
And now, at intervals, she was sad, and often gazed long
and fixedly into the sea. Nor would she say why it was,
that she did so; until at length she yielded; and replied,
that whatever false things Aleema might have instilled into
her mind; of this much she was certain: that the whirlpool
on the coast of Tedaidee prefigured her fate; that in
the waters she saw lustrous eyes, and beckoning phantoms,
and strange shapes smoothing her a couch among the mosses.
Her dreams seemed mine. Many visions I had of the
green corse of the priest, outstretching its arms in the water,
to receive pale Yillah, as she sunk in the sea.
But these forebodings departed, no happiness in the universe
like ours. We lived and we loved; life and love were
united; in gladness glided our days.
-- -- p275-197
CHAPTER LII. WORLD HO!
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Five suns rose and set. And Yillah pining for the shore,
we turned our prow due west, and next morning came in
sight of land.
It was innumerable islands; lifting themselves bluely
through the azure air, and looking upon the distant sea, like
haycocks in a hazy field. Towering above all, and mid-most,
rose a mighty peak; one fleecy cloud sloping against
its summit; a column wreathed. Beyond, like purple
steeps in heaven at set of sun, stretched far away, what
seemed lands on lands, in infinite perspective.
Gliding on, the islands grew more distinct; rising up
from the billows to greet us; revealing hills, vales, and
peaks, grouped within a milk-white zone of reef, so vast,
that in the distance all was dim. The jeweled vapors, erewhile
hovering over these violet shores, now seemed to be
shedding their gems; and as the almost level rays of the
sun, shooting through the air like a variegated prism, touched
the verdant land, it trembled all over with dewy sparkles.
Still nearer we came: our sail faintly distended as the
breeze died away from our vicinity to the isles. The billows
rolled listlessly by, as if conscious that their long task
was nigh done; while gleamed the white reef, like the trail
of a great fish in a calm. But as yet, no sign of paddle
or canoe; no distant smoke; no shining thatch. Bravo!
good comrades, we've discovered some new constellation in
the sea.
Sweet Yillah, no more of Oroolia; see you not this flowery
land? Nevermore shall we desire to roam.
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Voyaging along the zone, we came to an opening; and
quitting the firmament blue of the open sea, we glided in
upon the still, green waters of the wide lagoon. Mapped
out in the broad shadows of the isles, and tinted here and
there with the reflected hues of the sun clouds, the mild
waters stretched all around us like another sky. Near by
the break in the reef, was a little island, with palm trees
harping in the breeze; an aviary of alluring sounds, that
seemed calling upon us to land. And here, Yillah, whom
the sight of the verdure had made glad, threw out a merry
suggestion. Nothing less, than to plant our mast, sail-set,
upon the highest hill; and fly away, island and all; trees
rocking, birds caroling, flowers springing; away, away,
across the wide waters, to Oroolia! But alas! how weigh
the isle's coral anchor, leagues down in the fathomless sea?
We glanced around; but all the islands seemed slumbering
in the flooding light.
“A canoe! a canoe!” cried Samoa, as three proas showed
themselves rounding a neighboring shore. Instantly we
sailed for them; but after shooting to and fro for a time, and
standing up and gazing at us, the Islanders retreated behind
the headland. Hardly were they out of sight, when from
many a shore roundabout, other proas pushed off. Soon the
water all round us was enlivened by fleets of canoes, darting
hither and thither like frighted water-fowls. Presently they
all made for one island.
From their actions we argued that these people could
have had but little or no intercourse with whites; and
most probably knew not how to account for our appearance
among them. Desirous, therefore, of a friendly meeting,
ere any hostile suspicions might arise, we pointed our craft
for the island, whither all the canoes were now hastening.
Whereupon, those which had not yet reached their
destination, turned and fled; while the occupants of the
proas that had landed, ran into the groves, and were lost to
view.
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Crossing the distinct outer line of the isle's shadow on the
water, we gained the shore; and gliding along its margin,
passing canoe after canoe, hauled up on the silent beach,
which otherwise seemed entirely innocent of man.
A dilemma. But I decided at last upon disembarking
Jarl and Samoa, to seek out and conciliate the natives. So,
landing them upon a jutting buttress of coral, whence they
waded to the shore; I pushed off with Yillah into the water
beyond, to await the event.
Full an hour must have elapsed; when, to our great joy,
loud shouts were heard; and there burst into view a tumultuous
crowd, in the midst of which my Viking was descried,
mounted upon the shoulders of two brawny natives; while
the Upoluan, striding on in advance, seemed resisting a similar
attempt to elevate him in the world.
Good omens both.
“Come ashore!” cried Jarl. “Aramai!” cried Samoa;
while storms of interjections went up from the Islanders,
who with extravagant gestures danced about the beach.
Further caution seemed needless: I pointed our prow for
the shore. No sooner was this perceived, than, raising an
applauding shout, the Islanders ran up to their waists in the
sea. And skimming like a gull over the smooth lagoon, the
light shallop darted in among them. Quick as thought, fifty
hands were on the gunwale: and, with all its contents,
lifted bodily into the air, the little Chamois, upon many a
dripping shoulder, was borne deep into the groves. Yillah
shrieked at the rocking motion, and when the boughs of
the trees brushed against the tent.
With his staff, an old man now pointed to a couple of
twin-like trees, some four paces apart; and a little way
from the ground conveniently crotched.
And here, eftsoons, they deposited their burden; lowering
the Chamois gently between the forks of the trees, whose
willow-like foliage fringed the tent and its inmate.
-- -- p275-200
CHAPTER LIII. THE CHAMOIS ASHORE.
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Until now, enveloped in her robe, and crouching like a
fawn, Yillah had been well nigh hidden from view. But
presently she withdrew her hood.
What saw the Islanders, that they so gazed and adored
in silence: some retreating, some creeping nearer, and the
women all in a flutter? Long they gazed; and following
Samoa's example, stretched forth their arms in reverence.
The adoration of the maiden was extended to myself.
Indeed, from the singular gestures employed, I had all
along suspected, that we were being received with unwonted
honors.
I now sought to get speech of my comrades. But so
obstreperous was the crowd, that it was next to impossible.
Jarl was still in his perch in the air; his enthusiastic
bearers not yet suffering him to alight. Samoa, however,
who had managed to keep out of the saddle, by-and-by contrived
to draw nearer to the Chamois.
He advised me, by no means to descend for the present;
since in any event we were sure of remaining unmolested
therein; the Islanders regarding it as sacred.
The Upoluan attracted a great deal of attention; chiefly
from his style of tattooing, which, together with other peculiarities,
so interested the natives, that they were perpetually
hanging about him, putting eager questions, and all the
time keeping up a violent clamor.
But despite the large demand upon his lungs, Samoa
made out to inform me, that notwithstanding the multitude
-- 194 --
[figure description] Page 194.[end figure description]
assembled, there was no high chief, or person of consequence
present; the king of the place, also those of the islands adjacent,
being absent at a festival in another quarter of the
Archipelago. But upon the first distant glimpse of the
Chamois, fleet canoes had been dispatched to announce the
surprising event that had happened.
In good time, the crowd becoming less tumultuous, and
abandoning the siege of Samoa, I availed myself of this
welcome lull, and called upon him and my Viking to enter
the Chamois; desirous of condensing our forces against all
emergencies.
Samoa now gave me to understand, that from all he
could learn, the Islanders regarded me as a superior being.
They had inquired of him, whether I was not white Taji,
a sort of half-and-half deity, now and then an Avatar among
them, and ranking among their inferior ex-officio demi-gods.
To this, Samoa had said ay; adding, moreover, all he could
to encourage the idea.
He now entreated me, at the first opportunity, to announce
myself as Taji: declaring that if once received
under that title, the unbounded hospitality of our final
reception would be certain; and our persons fenced about
from all harm.
Encouraging this. But it was best to be wary. For
although among some barbarians the first strangers landing
upon their shores, are frequently hailed as divine; and in
more than one wild land have been actually styled gods, as
a familiar designation; yet this has not exempted the
celestial visitants from peril, when too much presuming
upon the reception extended to them. In sudden tumults
they have been slain outright, and while full faith in their
divinity had in no wise abated. The sad fate of an eminent
navigator is a well-known illustration of this unaccountable
waywardness.
With no small anxiety, therefore, we awaited the approach
of some of the dignitaries of Mardi; for by this
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collective appellation, the people informed us, their islands
were known.
We waited not long. Of a sudden, from the sea-side, a
single shrill cry was heard. A moment more, and the blast
of numerous conch shells startled the air; a confused
clamor drew nearer and nearer; and fixing our eyes in the
direction of these sounds, we impatiently awaited what was
to follow.
-- -- p275-203
CHAPTER LIV. A GENTLEMAN FROM THE SUN.
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Never before had I seen the deep foliage of woodlands
navigated by canoes. But on they came sailing through
the leaves; two abreast; borne on men's shoulders; in
each a chief, carried along to the measured march of his
bearers; paddle-blades reversed under arms. As they
emerged, the multitude made gestures of homage. At the
distance of some eight or ten paces the procession halted;
when the kings alighted to the ground.
They were fine-looking men, arrayed in various garbs.
Rare the show of stained feathers, and jewels, and other
adornments. Brave the floating of dyed mantles.
The regal bearing of these personages, the deference paid
them, and their entire self-possession, not a little surprised
me. And it seemed preposterous, to assume a divine dignity
in the presence of these undoubted potentates of terra
firma. Taji seemed oozing from my fingers' ends. But
courage! and erecting my crest, I strove to look every inch
the character I had determined to assume.
For a time, it was almost impossible to tell with what
emotions precisely the chiefs were regarding me. They said
not a word.
But plucking up heart of grace, I crossed my cutlass on
my chest, and reposing my hand on the hilt, addressed their
High Mightinesses thus. “Men of Mardi, I come from
the sun. When this morning it rose and touched the
wave, I pushed my shallop from its golden beach, and
hither sailed before its level rays. I am Taji.”
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More would have been added, but I paused for the effect
of my exordium.
Stepping back a pace or two, the chiefs eagerly conversed.
Emboldened, I returned to the charge, and labored hard
to impress them with just such impressions of me and mine,
as I deemed desirable. The gentle Yillah was a seraph
from the sun; Samoa I had picked off a reef in my route
from that orb; and as for the Skyeman, why, as his name
imported, he came from above. In a word, we were all
strolling divinities.
Advancing toward the Chamois, one of the kings, a calm
old man, now addressed me as follows:—“Is this indeed
Taji? he, who according to a tradition, was to return to
us after five thousand moons? But that period is yet unexpired.
What bring'st thou hither then, Taji, before thy
time? Thou wast but a quarrelsome demi-god, say the
legends, when thou dwelt among our sires. But wherefore
comest thou, Taji? Truly, thou wilt interfere with the
worship of thy images, and we have plenty of gods besides
thee. But comest thou to fight?—We have plenty of
spears, and desire not thine. Comest thou to dwell?—
Small are the houses of Mardi. Or comest thou to fish in
the sea? Tell us, Taji.”
Now, all this was a series of posers hard to be answered;
furnishing a curious example, moreover, of the reception
given to strange demi-gods when they travel without their
portmanteaus; and also of the familiar manner in which
these kings address the immortals. Much I mourned that
I had not previously studied better my part, and learned
the precise nature of my previous existence in the land.
But nothing like carrying it bravely.
“Attend. Taji comes, old man, because it pleases him
to come. And Taji will depart when it suits him. Ask
the shades of your sires whether Taji thus scurvily greeted
them, when they came stalking into his presence in the land
-- 198 --
[figure description] Page 198.[end figure description]
of spirits. No. Taji spread the banquet. He removed
their mantles. He kindled a fire to drive away the damp.
He said not, `Come you to fight, you fogs and vapors?
come you to dwell? or come you to fish in the sea?' Go
to, then, kings of Mardi!”
Upon this, the old king fell back; and his place was
supplied by a noble chief, of a free, frank bearing. Advancing
quickly toward the boat, he exclaimed—“I am
Media, the son of Media. Thrice welcome, Taji. On my
island of Odo hast thou an altar. I claim thee for my
guest.” He then reminded the rest, that the strangers had
voyaged far, and needed repose. And, furthermore, that he
proposed escorting them forthwith to his own dominions;
where, next day, he would be happy to welcome all visitants.
And good as his word, he commanded his followers to
range themselves under the Chamois. Springing out of our
prow, the Upoluan was followed by Jarl; leaving Yillah
and Taji to be borne therein toward the sea.
Soon, we were once more afloat; by our side, Media sociably
seated; six of his paddlers, perched upon the gunwale,
swiftly urging us over the lagoon.
The transition from the grove to the sea was instantaneous.
All seemed a dream.
The place to which we were hastening, being some
distance away, as we rounded isle after isle, the extent of
the Archipelago grew upon us greatly.
-- 199 -- p275-206
CHAPTER LV. TIFFIN IN A TEMPLE.
[figure description] Page 199.[end figure description]
Upon at last drawing nigh to Odo, its appearance somewhat
disappointed me. A small island, of moderate elevation.
But plumb not the height of the house that feasts you.
The beach was lined with expectant natives, who, lifting
the Chamois, carried us up the beach.
Alighting, as they were bearing us along, King Media,
designating a canoe-house hard by, ordered our craft to be
deposited therein. This being done, we stepped upon the
soil. It was the first we had pressed in very many days.
It sent a sympathetic thrill through our frames.
Turning his steps inland, Media signed us to follow.
Soon we came to a rude sort of inclosure, fenced in by an
imposing wall. Here a halt was sounded, and in great haste
the natives proceeded to throw down a portion of the stones.
This accomplished, we were signed to enter the fortress thus
carried by storm. Upon an artificial mound, opposite the
breach, stood a small structure of bamboo, open in front.
Within, was a long pedestal, like a settee, supporting three
images, also of wood, and about the size of men; bearing,
likewise, a remote resemblance to that species of animated
nature. Before these idols was an altar, and at its base
many fine mats.
Entering the temple, as if he felt very much at home,
Media disposed these mats so as to form a very pleasant
lounge; where he deferentially entreated Yillah to recline.
Then deliberately removing the first idol, he motioned me to
-- 200 --
[figure description] Page 200.[end figure description]
seat myself in its place. Setting aside the middle one, he
quietly established himself in its stead. The displaced
ciphers, meanwhile, standing upright before us, and their
blank faces looking upon this occasion unusually expressive.
As yet, not a syllable as to the meaning of this cavalier
treatment of their wooden godships.
We now tranquilly awaited what next might happen,
and I earnestly prayed, that if sacrilege was being committed,
the vengeance of the gods might be averted from an
ignoramus like me; notwithstanding the petitioner himself
hailed from the other world. Perfect silence was preserved:
Jarl and Samoa standing a little without the temple; the
first looking quite composed, but his comrade casting wondering
glances at my sociable apotheosis with Media.
Now happening to glance upon the image last removed,
I was not long in detecting a certain resemblance between
it and our host. Both were decorated in the same manner;
the carving on the idol exactly corresponding with the tattooing
of the king.
Presently, the silence was relieved by a commotion without:
and a butler approached, staggering under an immense
wooden trencher; which, with profound genuflexions, he deposited
upon the altar before us. The tray was loaded like
any harvest wain; heaped up with good things sundry and
divers: Bread-fruit, and cocoanuts, and plantains, and
guavas; all pleasant to the eye, and furnishing good earnest
of something equally pleasant to the palate.
Transported at the sight of these viands, after so long an
estrangement from full indulgence in things green, I was
forthwith proceeding to help Yillah and myself, when, like
lightning, a most unwelcome query obtruded. Did deities
dine? Then also recurred what Media had declared about
my shrine in Odo. Was this it? Self-sacrilegious demigod
that I was, was I going to gluttonize on the very offerings,
laid before me in my own sacred fane? Give heed to thy
ways, oh Taji, lest thou stumble and be lost.
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But hereupon, what saw we, but his cool majesty of Odo
tranquilly proceeding to lunch in the temple?
How now? Was Media too a god? Egad, it must be
so. Else, why his image here in the fane, and the original
so entirely at his ease, with legs full cosily tucked away under
the very altar itself. This put to flight all appalling
apprehensions of the necessity of starving to keep up the
assumption of my divinity. So without more ado I helped
myself right and left; taking the best care of Yillah; who
ever fed her flushed beauty with juicy fruits, thereby transferring
to her cheek the sweet glow of the guava.
Our hunger appeased, and Media in token thereof celestially
laying his hand upon the appropriate region, we proceeded
to quit the inclosure. But coming to the wall
where the breach had been made, lo, and behold, no breach
was to be seen. But down it came tumbling again, and
forth we issued.
This overthrowing of walls, be it known, is an incidental
compliment paid distinguished personages in this part of
Mardi. It would seem to signify, that such gentry can go
nowhere without creating an impression; even upon the
most obdurate substances.
But to return to our ambrosial lunch.
Sublimate, as you will, the idea of our ethereality as intellectual
beings; no sensible man can harbor a doubt, but that
there is a vast deal of satisfaction in dining. More: there
is a savor of life and immortality in substantial fare. Like
balloons, we are nothing till filled.
And well knowing this, nature has provided this jolly round
board, our globe, which in an endless sequence of courses
and crops, spreads a perpetual feast. Though, as with
most public banquets, there is no small crowding, and many
go away famished from plenty.
-- -- p275-209
CHAPTER LVI. KING MEDIA A HOST.
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Striking into a grove, about sunset we emerged upon a
fine, clear space, and spied a city in the woods.
In the middle of all, like a generalissimo's marquee among
tents, was a structure more imposing than the rest. Here,
abode King Media.
Disposed round a space some fifty yards square, were
many palm posts staked firmly in the earth. A man's
height from the ground, these supported numerous horizontal
trunks, upon which lay a flooring of habiscus. High
over this dais, but resting upon independent supports beyond,
a gable-ended roof sloped away to within a short distance of
the ground.
Such was the palace.
We entered it by an arched, arbored entrance, at one of
its palmetto-thatched ends. But not through this exclusive
portal entered the Islanders. Humbly stooping, they found
ingress under the drooping eaves. A custom immemorial,
and well calculated to remind all contumacious subjects of
the dignity of the habitation thus entered.
Three steps led to the summit of the dais, where piles of
soft mats, and light pillows of woven grass, stuffed with the
golden down of a wild thistle, invited all loiterers to lounge.
How pleasant the twilight that welled up from under the
low eaves, above which we were seated. And how obvious
now the design of the roof. No shade more grateful and
complete; the garish sun lingering without like some lackey
in waiting.
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But who is this in the corner, gaping at us like a butler
in a quandary? Media's household deity, in the guise of a
plethoric monster, his enormous head lolling back, and wide,
gaping mouth stuffed full of fresh fruits and green leaves.
Truly, had the idol possessed a soul under his knotty ribs,
how tantalizing to hold so glorious a mouthful without the
power of deglutition. Far worse than the inexorable lock-jaw,
which will not admit of the step preliminary to a
swallow.
This jolly Josh image was that of an inferior deity, the
god of Good Cheer, and often after, we met with his merry
round mouth in many other abodes in Mardi. Daily, his
jaws are replenished, as a flower vase in summer.
But did the demi-divine Media thus brook the perpetual
presence of a subaltern divinity? Still more; did he render
it homage? But ere long the Mardian mythology will be
discussed, thereby making plain what may now seem anomalous.
Politely escorting us into his palace, Media did the honors
by inviting his guests to recline. He then seemed very anxious
to impress us with the fact, that, by bringing us to his
home, and thereby charging the royal larder with our maintenance,
he had taken no hasty or imprudent step. His
merry butlers kept piling round us viands, till we were well
nigh walled in. At every fresh deposit, Media directing
our attention to the same, as yet additional evidence of his
ample resources as a host. The evidence was finally closed
by dragging under the eaves a felled plantain tree, the spike
of red ripe fruit, sprouting therefrom, blushing all over, at
so rude an introduction to the notice of strangers.
During this scene, Jarl was privily nudging Samoa, in
wonderment, to know what upon earth it all meant. But
Samoa, scarcely deigning to notice interrogatories propounded
through the elbow, only let drop a vague hint or two.
It was quite amusing, what airs Samoa now gave himself,
at least toward my Viking. Among the Mardians he was
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[figure description] Page 204.[end figure description]
at home. And who, when there, stretches not out his legs,
and says unto himself, “Who is greater than I?”
To be plain: concerning himself and the Skyeman, the
tables were turned. At sea, Jarl had been the oracle: an
old sea-sage, learned in hemp and helm. But our craft
high and dry, the Upoluan lifted his crest as the erudite
pagan; master of Gog and Magog, expounder of all things
heathenish and obscure.
An hour or two was now laughed away in very charming
conversation with Media; when I hinted, that a couch
and solitude would be acceptable. Whereupon, seizing a
taper, our host escorted us without the palace. And ushering
us into a handsome unoccupied mansion, gave me to understand
that the same was mine. Mounting to the dais,
he then instituted a vigorous investigation, to discern whether
every thing was in order. Not fancying something about
the mats, he rolled them up into bundles, and one by one
sent them flying at the heads of his servitors; who, upon
that gentle hint made off with them, soon after returning
with fresh ones. These, with mathematical precision, Media
in person now spread on the dais; looking carefully to
the fringes or ruffles with which they were bordered, as if
striving to impart to them a sentimental expression.
This done, he withdrew.
-- -- p275-212
CHAPTER LVII. TAJI TAKES COUNSEL WITH HIMSELF.
[figure description] Page 205.[end figure description]
My brief intercourse with our host, had by this time enabled
me to form a pretty good notion of the light, in which
I was held by him and his more intelligent subjects.
His free and easy carriage evinced, that though acknowledging
my assumptions, he was no way overawed
by them; treating me as familiarly, indeed, as if I were
a mere mortal, one of the abject generation of mushrooms.
The scene in the temple, however, had done much toward
explaining this demeanor of his. A demi-god in his
own proper person, my claims to a similar dignity neither
struck him with wonder, nor lessened his good opinion of
himself.
As for any thing foreign in my aspect, and my ignorance
of Mardian customs:—all this, instead of begetting a doubt
unfavorable to my pretensions, but strengthened the conviction
of them as verities. Thus has it been in similar instances;
but to a much greater extent. The celebrated
navigator referred to in a preceding chapter, was hailed by
the Hawaiians as one of their demi-gods, returned to earth,
after a wide tour of the universe. And they worshiped
him as such, though incessantly he was interrogating them,
as to who under the sun his worshipers were; how their
ancestors came on the island; and whether they would have
the kindness to provide his followers with plenty of pork
during his stay.
But a word or two concerning the idols in the shrine at
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Odo. Superadded to the homage rendered him as a temporal
prince, Media was there worshiped as a spiritual being.
In his corporeal absence, his effigy receiving all oblations intended
for him. And in the days of his boyhood, listening
to the old legends of the Mardian mythology, Media had
conceived a strong liking for the fabulous Taji; a deity
whom he had often declared was worthy a niche in any
temple extant. Hence he had honored my image with a
place in his own special shrine; placing it side by side with
his worshipful likeness.
I appreciated the compliment. But of the close companionship
of the other image there, I was heartily ashamed.
And with reason. The nuisance in question being the
image of a deified maker of plantain-pudding, lately deceased;
who had been famed far and wide as the most
notable fellow of his profession in the whole Archipelago
During his sublunary career, having been attached to the
household of Media, his grateful master had afterward seen
fit to crown his celebrity by this posthumous distinction: a
circumstance sadly subtracting from the dignity of an apotheosis.
Nor must it here be omitted, that in this part of
Mardi culinary artists are accounted worthy of high consideration.
For among these people of Odo, the matter of eating
and drinking is held a matter of life and of death.
“Drag away my queen from my arms,” said old Tyty when
overcome of Adommo, “but leave me my cook.”
Now, among the Mardians there were plenty of incarnated
deities to keep me in countenance. Most of the
kings of the Archipelago, besides Media, claiming homage
as demi-gods; and that, too, by virtue of hereditary descent,
the divine spark being transmissable from father to
son. In illustration of this, was the fact, that in several
instances the people of the land addressed the supreme god
Oro, in the very same terms employed in the political adoration
of their sublunary rulers.
Ay: there were deities in Mardi far greater and taller
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than I: right royal monarchs to boot, living in jolly round
tabernacles of jolly brown clay; and feasting, and roystering,
and lording it in yellow tabernacles of bamboo. These
demi-gods had wherewithal to sustain their lofty pretensions.
If need were, could crush out of him the infidelity
of a non-conformist. And by this immaculate union of
church and state, god and king, in their own proper persons
reigned supreme Cæsars over the souls and bodies of their
subjects.
Beside these mighty magnates, I and my divinity shrank
into nothing. In their woodland ante-chambers plebeian
deities were kept lingering. For be it known, that in due
time we met with several decayed, broken down demi-gods:
magnificos of no mark in Mardi; having no temples wherein
to feast personal admirers, or spiritual devotees. They
wandered about forlorn and friendless. And oftentimes in
their dinnerless despair hugely gluttonized, and would fain
have grown fat, by reflecting upon the magnificence of their
genealogies. But poor fellows! like shabby Scotch lords in
London in King James's time, the very multitude of them
confounded distinction. And since they could show no rentroll,
they were permitted to fume unheeded.
Upon the whole, so numerous were living and breathing
gods in Mardi, that I held my divinity but cheaply. And
seeing such a host of immortals, and hearing of multitudes
more, purely spiritual in their nature, haunting woodlands
and streams; my views of theology grew strangely confused;
I began to bethink me of the Jew that rejected the
Talmud, and his all-permeating principle, to which Goethe
and others have subscribed.
Instead, then, of being struck with the audacity of endeavoring
to palm myself off as a god—the way in which
the thing first impressed me—I now perceived that I
might be a god as much as I pleased, and yet not whisk a
lion's tail after all; at least on that special account.
As for Media's reception, its graciousness was not wholly
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owing to the divine character imputed to me. His, he believed
to be the same. But to a whim, a freakishness in
his soul, which led him to fancy me as one among many,
not as one with no peer.
But the apparent unconcern of King Media with respect
to my godship, by no means so much surprised me, as his
unaffected indifference to my amazing voyage from the sun;
his indifference to the sun itself; and all the wonderful circumstances
that must have attended my departure. Whether
he had ever been there himself, that he regarded a solar trip
with so much unconcern, almost became a question in my
mind. Certain it is, that as a mere traveler he must have
deemed me no very great prodigy.
My surprise at these things was enhanced by reflecting,
that to the people of the Archipelago the map of Mardi
was the map of the world. With the exception of certain
islands out of sight and at an indefinite distance, they had
no certain knowledge of any isles but their own.
And, no long time elapsed ere I had still additional
reasons to cease wondering at the easy faith accorded to the
story which I had given of myself. For these Mardians
were familiar with still greater marvels than mine; verily
believing in prodigies of all sorts. Any one of them put my
exploits to the blush.
Look to thy ways then, Taji, thought I, and carry not
thy crest too high. Of a surety, thou hast more peers
than inferiors. Thou art overtopped all round. Bear thyself
discreetly and not haughtily, Taji. It will not answer
to give thyself airs. Abstain from all consequential allusions
to the other world, and the genteel deities among
whom thou hast circled. Sport not too jauntily thy raiment,
because it is novel in Mardi; nor boast of the fleetness
of thy Chamois, because it is unlike a canoe. Vaunt
not of thy pedigree, Taji; for Media himself will measure
it with thee there by the furlong. Be not a “snob,” Taji.
So then, weighing all things well, and myself severely, I
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resolved to follow my Mentor's wise counsel; neither arrogating
aught, nor abating of just dues; but circulating
freely, sociably, and frankly, among the gods, heroes, highpriests,
kings, and gentlemen, that made up the principalities
of Mardi.
-- -- p275-217
CHAPTER LVIII. MARDI BY NIGHT AND YILLAH BY DAY.
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During the night following our arrival, many dreams
were no doubt dreamt in Odo. But my thoughts were
wakeful. And while all others slept, obeying a restless
impulse, I stole without into the magical starlight. There
are those who in a strange land ever love to view it by
night.
It has been said, that the opening in the groves where
was situated Media's city, was elevated above the surrounding
plains. Hence was commanded a broad reach of
prospect.
Far and wide was deep low-sobbing repose of man and
nature. The groves were motionless; and in the meadows,
like goblins, the shadows advanced and retreated. Full before
me, lay the Mardian fleet of isles, profoundly at anchor
within their coral harbor. Near by was one belted round
by a frothy luminous reef, wherein it lay, like Saturn in its
ring.
From all their summits, went up a milk-white smoke, as
from Indian wigwams in the hazy harvest-moon. And
floating away, these vapors blended with the faint mist, as
of a cataract, hovering over the circumvallating reef. Far
beyond all, and far into the infinite night, surged the jet-black
ocean.
But how tranquil the wide lagoon, which mirrored the
burning spots in heaven! Deep down into its innermost
heart penetrated the slanting rays of Hesperus like a shaft
of light, sunk far into mysterious Golcondas, where myriad
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gnomes seemed toiling. Soon a light breeze rippled the
water, and the shaft was seen no more. But the moon's
bright wake was still revealed: a silver track, tipping every
wave-crest in its course, till each seemed a pearly, scrollprowed
nautilus, buoyant with some elfin crew.
From earth to heaven! High above me was Night's
shadowy bower, traversed, vine-like, by the Milky Way, and
heavy with golden clusterings. Oh stars! oh eyes, that see
me, wheresoe'er I roam: serene, intent, inscrutable for aye,
tell me Sybils, what I am.—Wondrous worlds on worlds!
Lo, round and round me, shining, awful spells: all glorious,
vivid constellations, God's diadem ye are! To you, ye stars,
man owes his subtlest raptures, thoughts unspeakable, yet
full of faith.
But how your mild effulgence stings the boding heart.
Am I a murderer, stars?
Hours pass. The starry trance is departed. Long
waited for, the dawn now comes.
First, breaking along the waking face; peeping from out
the languid lids; then shining forth in longer glances; till,
like the sun, up comes the soul, and sheds its rays abroad.
When thus my Yillah did daily dawn, how she lit up my
world; tinging more rosily the roseate clouds, that in her
summer cheek played to and fro, like clouds in Italian air.
-- -- p275-219
CHAPTER LIX. THEIR MORNING MEAL.
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Not wholly is our world made up of bright stars and
bright eyes: so now to our story.
A conscientious host should ever be up betimes, to
look after the welfare of his guests, and see to it that
their day begin auspiciously. King Media announced the
advent of the sun, by rustling at my bower's eaves in person.
A repast was spread in an adjoining arbor, which Media's
pages had smoothed for our reception, and where his
subordinate chiefs were in attendance. Here we reclined
upon mats. Balmy and fresh blew the breath of the morning;
golden vapors were upon the mountains, silver sheen
upon the grass; and the birds were at matins in the groves;
their bright plumage flashing into view, here and there, as
if some rainbow were crouching in the foliage.
Spread before us were viands, served in quaint-shaped,
curiously-dyed gourds, not Sevres, but almost as tasteful;
and like true porcelain, fire had tempered them. Green and
yielding, they are plucked from the tree; and emptied of
their pulp, are scratched over with minute marks, like those
of a line engraving. The ground prepared, the various
figures are carefully etched. And the outlines filled up with
delicate punctures, certain vegetable oils are poured over
them, for coloring. Filled with a peculiar species of earth,
the gourd is now placed in an oven in the ground. And in
due time exhumed, emptied of its contents, and washed in
the stream, it presents a deep-dyed exterior; every figure
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distinctly traced and opaque, but the ground semi-transparent.
In some cases, owing to the variety of dyes employed, each
figure is of a different hue.
More glorious goblets than these for the drinking of wine,
went never from hand to mouth. Capacious as pitchers,
they almost superseded decanters.
Now, in a tropical climate, fruit, with light wines, forms
the only fit meal of a morning. And with orchards and
vineyards forever in sight, who but the Hetman of the Cossacs
would desire more? We had plenty of the juice of
the grape. But of this hereafter; there are some fine old
cellars, and plenty of good cheer in store.
During the repast, Media, for a time, was much taken up
with our raiment. He begged me to examine for a moment
the texture of his right royal robe, and observe how much
superior it was to my own. It put my mantle to the
blush; being tastefully stained with rare devices in red and
black; and bordered with dyed fringes of feathers, and tassels
of red birds' claws.
Next came under observation the Skyeman's Guayaquil
hat; at whose preposterous shape, our host laughed in derision;
clapping a great conical calabash upon the head of an
attendant, and saying that now he was Jarl. At this, and
all similar sallies, Samoa was sure to roar louder than any;
though mirth was no constitutional thing with him. But
he seemed rejoiced at the opportunity of turning upon us
the ridicule, which as a barbarian among whites, he himself
had so often experienced.
These pleasantries over, King Media very slightly drew
himself up, as if to make amends for his previous unbending.
He discoursed imperially with his chiefs; nodded his sovereign
will to his pages; called for another gourd of wine;
in all respects carrying his royalty bravely.
The repast concluded, we journeyed to the canoe-house,
where we found the little Chamois stabled like a steed.
One solitary depredation had been committed. Its sides
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and bottom had been completely denuded of the minute
green barnacles, and short sea-grass, which, like so many
leeches, had fastened to our planks during our long, lazy
voyage.
By the people they had been devoured as dainties.
-- -- p275-222
CHAPTER LX. BELSHAZZAR ON THE BENCH.
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Now, Media was king of Odo. And from the simplicity
of his manners hitherto, and his easy, frank demeanor
toward ourselves, had we foolishly doubted that fact, no
skepticism could have survived an illustration of it, which
this very day we witnessed at noon.
For at high noon, Media was wont to don his dignity
with his symbols of state; and sit on his judgment divan or
throne, to hear and try all causes brought before him, and
fulminate his royal decrees.
This divan was elevated at one end of a spacious arbor,
formed by an avenue of regal palms, which in brave state,
held aloft their majestical canopy.
The crown of the island prince was of the primitive old
Eastern style; in shape, similar, perhaps, to that jauntily
sported as a foraging cap by his sacred majesty King Nimrod,
who so lustily followed the hounds. It was a plaited
turban of red tappa, radiated by the pointed and polished
white bones of the Ray-fish. These diverged from a
bandeau or fillet of the most precious pearls; brought up
from the sea by the deepest diving mermen of Mardi. From
the middle of the crown rose a tri-foiled spear-head. And
a spear-headed scepter graced the right hand of the king.
Now, for all the rant of your democrats, a fine king
on a throne is a very fine sight to behold. He looks very
much like a god. No wonder that his more dutiful subjects
so swore, that their good lord and master King Media
was demi-divine.
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A king on his throne! Ah, believe me, ye Gracchi, ye
Acephali, ye Levelers, it is something worth seeing, be
sure; whether beheld at Babylon the Tremendous, when
Nebuchadnezzar was crowned; at old Scone in the days of
Macbeth; at Rheims, among Oriflammes, at the coronation
of Louis le Grand; at Westminster Abbey, when the gentlemanly
George doffed his beaver for a diadem; or under
the soft shade of palm trees on an isle in the sea.
Man lording it over man, man kneeling to man, is a
spectacle that Gabriel might well travel hitherward to behold;
for never did he behold it in heaven. But Darius
giving laws to the Medes and the Persians, or the conqueror
of Bactria with king-cattle yoked to his car, was not a whit
more sublime, than Beau Brummel magnificently ringing
for his valet.
A king on his throne! It is Jupiter nodding in the
councils of Olympus; Satan, seen among the coronets in
Hell.
A king on his throne! It is the sun over a mountain;
the sun over law-giving Sinai; the sun in our system:
planets, duke-like, dancing attendance, and baronial satellites
in waiting.
A king on his throne! After all, but a gentleman seated.
And thus sat the good lord, King Media.
Time passed. And after trying and dismissing several
minor affairs, Media called for certain witnesses to testify
concerning one Jiromo, a foolhardy wight, who had been
silly enough to plot against the majesty now sitting judge
and jury upon him.
His guilt was clear. And the witnesses being heard,
from a bunch of palm plumes Media taking a leaf, placed
it in the hand of a runner or pursuivant, saying, “This to
Jiromo, where he is prisoned; with his king's compliments;
say we here wait for his head.”
It was doffed like a turban before a Dey, and brought
back on the instant.
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Now came certain lean-visaged, poverty-stricken, and
hence suspicious-looking varlets, grumbling and growling,
and amiable as Bruin. They came muttering some wild
jargon about “bulwarks,” “bulkheads,” “cofferdams,”
“safeguards,” “noble charters,” “shields,” and “paladiums,”
“great and glorious birthrights,” and other unintelligible
gibberish.
Of the pursuivants, these worthies asked audience of
Media.
“Go, kneel at the throne,” was the answer.
“Our knee-pans are stiff with sciatics,” was the rheumatic
reply.
“An artifice to keep on your legs,” said the pursuivants.
And advancing they salamed, and told Media the excuse
of those sour-looking varlets. Whereupon my lord
commanded them to down on their marrow-bones instanter,
either before him or the headsman, whichsoever they
pleased.
They preferred the former. And as they there kneeled,
in vain did men with sharp ears (who abound in all courts)
prick their auriculars, to list to that strange crackling and
firing off of bone balls and sockets, ever incident to the
genuflections of rheumatic courtiers.
In a row, then, these selfsame knee-pans did kneel before
the king; who eyed them as eagles in air do goslings on
dunghills; or hunters, hounds crouching round their calves.
“Your prayer?” said Media.
It was a petition, that thereafter all differences between
man and man in Odo, together with all alleged offenses
against the state, might be tried by twelve good men and
true. These twelve to be unobnoxious to the party or
parties concerned; their peers; and previously unbiased
touching the matter at issue. Furthermore, that unanimity
in these twelve should be indispensable to a verdict; and
no dinner be vouchsafed till unanimity came.
Loud and long laughed King Media in scorn.
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“This be your judge,” he cried, swaying his scepter.
“What! are twelve wise men more wise than one? or will
twelve fools, put together, make one sage? Are twelve
honest men more honest than one? or twelve knaves less
knavish than one? And if, of twelve men, three be fools,
and three wise, three knaves, and three upright, how obtain
real unanimity from such?
“But if twelve judges be better than one, then are twelve
hundred better than twelve. But take the whole populace
for a judge, and you will long wait for a unanimous
verdict.
“If upon a thing dubious, there be little unanimity in
the conflicting opinions of one man's mind, how expect it in
the uproar of twelve puzzled brains? though much unanimity
be found in twelve hungry stomachs.
“Judges unobnoxious to the accused! Apply it to a
criminal case. Ha! ha! if peradventure a Cadi be rejected,
because he had seen the accused commit the crime for
which he is arraigned. Then, his mind would be biased:
no impartiality from him! Or your testy accused might
object to another, because of his tomahawk nose, or a cruel
squint of the eye.
“Of all follies the most foolish! Know ye from me, that
true peers render not true verdicts. Jiromo was a rebel.
Had I tried him by his peers, I had tried him by rebels;
and the rebel had rebelled to some purpose.
“Away! As unerring justice dwells in a unity, and as
one judge will at last judge the world beyond all appeal;
so—though often here below justice be hard to attain—does
man come nearest the mark, when he imitates that model
divine. Hence, one judge is better than twelve.”
“And as Justice, in ideal, is ever painted high lifted
above the crowd; so, from the exaltation of his rank, an
honest king is the best of those unical judges, which individually
are better than twelve. And therefore am I, King
Media, the best judge in this land.
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“Subjects! so long as I live, I will rule you and judge
you alone. And though you here kneeled before me till you
grew into the ground, and there took root, no yea to your
petition will you get from this throne. I am king: ye are
slaves. Mine to command: yours to obey. And this hour
I decree, that henceforth no gibberish of bulwarks and bulkheads
be heard in this land. For a dead bulwark and a
bulkhead, to dam off sedition, will I make of that man, who
again but breathes those bulky words. Ho! spears! see
that these knee-pans here kneel till set of sun.”
High noon was now passed; and removing his crown,
and placing it on the dais for the kneelers to look at during
their devotions, King Media departed from that place, and
once more played the agreeable host.
-- -- p275-227
CHAPTER LXI. AN INCOGNITO.
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For the rest of that day, and several that followed, we
were continually receiving visits from the neighboring islands;
whose inhabitants in fleets and flotillas flocked round Odo to
behold the guests of its lord. Among them came many
messengers from the neighboring kings with soft speeches
and gifts.
But it were needless to detail our various interviews, or
relate in what manifold ways, the royal strangers gave token
of their interest concerning us.
Upon the third day, however, there was noticed a mysterious
figure, like the inscrutable incognitos sometimes encountered,
crossing the tower-shadowed Plaza of Assignations
at Lima. It was enveloped in a dark robe of tappa, so
drawn and plaited about the limbs; and with one hand, so
wimpled about the face, as only to expose a solitary eye.
But that eye was a world. Now it was fixed upon Yillah
with a sinister glance, and now upon me, but with a different
expression. However great the crowd, however tumultuous,
that fathomless eye gazed on; till at last it seemed
no eye, but a spirit, forever prying into my soul. Often I
strove to approach it, but it would evade me, soon reappearing.
Pointing out the apparition to Media, I intreated him to
take means to fix it, that my suspicions might be dispelled,
as to its being incorporeal. He replied that, by courtesy,
incognitos were sacred. Insomuch that the close-plaited
robe and the wimple were secure as a castle. At last, to
my relief, the phantom disappeared, and was seen no more.
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Numerous and fervent the invitations received to return
the calls wherewith we were honored. But for the present
we declined them; preferring to establish ourselves firmly
in the heart of Media, ere encountering the vicissitudes of
roaming. In a multitude of acquaintances is less security,
than in one faithful friend.
Now, while these civilities were being received, and on
the fourth morning after our arrival, there landed on the
beach three black-eyed damsels, deep brunettes, habited in
long variegated robes, and with gay blossoms on their heads.
With many salams, the strangers were ushered into my
presence by an old white-haired servitor of Media's, who
with a parting congé murmured, “From Queen Hautia,”
then departed. Surprised, I stood mute, and welcomed them.
The first, with many smiles and blandishments, waved
before me a many-tinted Iris: the flag-flower streaming
with pennons. Advancing, the second then presented three
rose-hued purple-veined Circea flowers, the dew still clinging
to them. The third placed in my hand a moss-rose bud;
then, a Venus-car.
“Thanks for your favors! now your message.”
Starting at this reception, graciously intended, they conferred
a moment; when the Iris-bearer said in winning
phrase, “We come from Hautia, whose moss-rose you hold.”
“All thanks to Hautia then; the bud is very fragrant.”
Then she pointed to the Venus-car.
“This too is sweet; thanks to Hautia for her flowers.
Pray, bring me more.”
“He mocks our mistress,” and gliding from me, they
waved witch-hazels, leaving me alone and wondering.
Informing Media of this scene, he smiled; threw out queer
hints of Hautia; but knew not what her message meant.
At first this affair occasioned me no little uneasiness,
with much matter for marveling; but in the novel pleasure
of our sojourn in Odo, it soon slipped from my mind; nor
for some time, did I again hear aught of Queen Hautia.
-- -- p275-229
CHAPTER LXII. TAJI RETIRES FROM THE WORLD.
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After a while, when the strangers came not in shoals as
before, I proposed to our host, a stroll over his dominions;
desirous of beholding the same, and secretly induced by the
hope of selecting an abode, more agreeable to my fastidious
taste, than the one already assigned me.
The ramble over—a pleasant one it was—it resulted in
a determination on my part to quit Odo. Yet not to go
very far; only ten or twelve yards, to a little green tuft of
an islet; one of many, which here and there, all round the
island, nestled like birds' nests in the branching boughs of
the coral grove, whose roots laid hold of the foundations of
the deep. Between these islets and the shore, extended
shelving ledges, with shallows above, just sufficient to float
a canoe. One of these islets was wooded and vined; an
arbor in the sea. And here, Media permitting, I decided
to dwell.
Not long was Media in complying; nor long, ere my
retreat was in readiness. Laced together, the twisting
boughs were closely thatched. And thatched were the
sides also, with deep crimson pandannus leaves; whose
long, forked spears, lifted by the breeze, caused the whole
place to blaze, as with flames. Canes, laid on palm trunks,
formed the floor. How elastic! In vogue all over Odo,
among the chiefs, it imparted such a buoyancy to the person,
that to this special cause may be imputed in good part the
famous fine spirits of the nobles.
Hypochondriac! essay the elastic flooring! It shall
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so pleasantly and gently jolt thee, as to shake up, and pack
off the stagnant humors mantling thy pool-like soul.
Such was my dwelling. But I make no mention of
sundry little appurtenances of tropical housekeeping: calabashes,
cocoanut shells, and rolls of fine tappa; till with
Yillah seated at last in my arbor, I looked round, and
wanted for naught.
But what of Jarl and Samoa? Why Jarl must needs
be fanciful, as well as myself. Like a bachelor in chambers,
he settled down right opposite to me, on the main
land, in a little wigwam in the grove.
But Samoa, following not his comrade's example, still
tarried in the camp of the Hittites and Jebusites of Odo.
Beguiling men of their leisure by his marvelous stories: and
maidens of their hearts by his marvelous wiles.
When I chose, I was completely undisturbed in my
arbor; an ukase of Media's forbidding indiscriminate intrusion.
But thrice in the day came a garrulous old man
with my viands.
Thus sequestered, however, I could not entirely elude the
pryings of the people of the neighboring islands; who often
passed by, slowly paddling, and earnestly regarding my retreat.
But gliding along at a distance, and never essaying
a landing, their occasional vicinity troubled me but
little. But now and then of an evening, when thick and
fleet the shadows were falling, dim glimpses of a canoe
would be spied; hovering about the place like a ghost.
And once, in the stillness of the night, hearing the near
ripple of a prow, I sallied forth, but the phantom quickly
departed.
That night, Yillah shuddered as she slept. “The whirlpool,”
she murmured, “sweet mosses.” Next day she was
lost in reveries, plucking pensive hyacinths, or gazing intently
into the lagoon.
-- --
CHAPTER LXIII. ODO AND ITS LORD.
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Time now to enter upon some further description of the
island and its lord.
And first for Media: a gallant gentleman and king.
From a goodly stock he came. In his endless pedigree,
reckoning deities by decimals, innumerable kings, and scores
of great heroes, chiefs, and priests. Nor in person, did he
belie his origin. No far-descended dwarf was he, the least
of a receding race. He stood like a palm tree; about
whose acanthus capital droops not more gracefully the silken
fringes, than Media's locks upon his noble brow. Strong
was his arm to wield the club, or hurl the javelin; and
potent, I ween, round a maiden's waist.
Thus much here for Media. Now comes his isle.
Our pleasant ramble found it a little round world by
itself; full of beauties as a garden; chequered by charming
groves; watered by roving brooks; and fringed all
round by a border of palm trees, whose roots drew nourishment
from the water. But though abounding in other
quarters of the Archipelago, not a solitary bread-fruit grew
in Odo. A noteworthy circumstance, observable in these
regions, where islands close adjoining, so differ in their soil,
that certain fruits growing genially in one, are foreign to
another. But Odo was famed for its guavas, whose flavor
was likened to the flavor of new-blown lips; and for its
grapes, whose juices prompted many a laugh and many a
groan.
Beside the city where Media dwelt, there were few other
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clusters of habitations in Odo. The higher classes living,
here and there, in separate households; but not as eremites.
Some buried themselves in the cool, quivering bosoms of the
groves. Others, fancying a marine vicinity, dwelt hard by
the beach in little cages of bamboo; whence of mornings
they sallied out with jocund cries, and went plunging into
the refreshing bath, whose frothy margin was the threshold
of their dwellings. Others still, like birds, built their nests
among the sylvan nooks of the elevated interior; whence
all below, and hazy green, lay steeped in languor the
island's throbbing heart.
Thus dwelt the chiefs and merry men of mark. The
common sort, including serfs, and Helots, war-captives held
in bondage, lived in secret places, hard to find. Whence
it came, that, to a stranger, the whole isle looked care-free
and beautiful. Deep among the ravines and the rocks,
these beings lived in noisome caves, lairs for beasts, not
human homes; or built them coops of rotten boughs—
living trees were banned them—whose mouldy hearts
hatched vermin. Fearing infection of some plague, born of
this filth, the chiefs of Odo seldom passed that way; and
looking round within their green retreats, and pouring out
their wine, and plucking from orchards of the best, marveled
how these swine could grovel in the mire, and wear
such sallow cheeks. But they offered no sweet homes;
from that mire they never sought to drag them out; they
open threw no orchard; and intermitted not the mandates
that condemned their drudges to a life of deaths. Sad
sight! to see those round-shouldered Helots, stooping in
their trenches: artificial, three in number, and concentric:
the isle well nigh surrounding. And herein, fed by oozy
loam, and kindly dew from heaven, and bitter sweat from
men, grew as in hot-beds the nutritious Taro.
Toil is man's allotment; toil of brain, or toil of hands,
or a grief that's more than either, the grief and sin of
idleness. But when man toils and slays himself for
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masters who withhold the life he gives to them—then, then,
the soul screams out, and every sinew cracks. So with
these poor serfs. And few of them could choose but be the
brutes they seemed.
Now needs it to be said, that Odo was no land of pleasure
unalloyed, and plenty without a pause?—Odo, in whose
lurking-places infants turned from breasts, whence flowed no
nourishment.—Odo, in whose inmost haunts, dark groves
were brooding, passing which you heard most dismal cries,
and voices cursing Media. There, men were scourged;
their crime, a heresy; the heresy, that Media was no demi-god.
For this they shrieked. Their fathers shrieked before;
their fathers, who, tormented, said, “Happy we to
groan, that our children's children may be glad.” But their
children's children howled. Yet these, too, echoed previous
generations, and loudly swore, “The pit that's dug for us
may prove another's grave.”
But let all pass. To look at, and to roam about of holidays,
Odo seemed a happy land. The palm-trees waved—
though here and there you marked one sear and palsy-smitten;
the flowers bloomed—though dead ones moldered in
decay; the waves ran up the strand in glee—though, receding,
they sometimes left behind bones mixed with shells.
But else than these, no sign of death was seen throughout
the isle. Did men in Odo live for aye? Was Ponce
de Leon's fountain there? For near and far, you saw no
ranks and files of graves, no generations harvested in winrows.
In Odo, no hard-hearted nabob slept beneath a
gentle epitaph; no requiescat-in-pace mocked a sinner
damned; no memento-mori admonished men to live while
yet they might. Here Death hid his skull; and hid it in
the sea, the common sepulcher of Odo. Not dust to dust,
but dust to brine; not hearses but canoes. For all who
died upon that isle were carried out beyond the outer reef,
and there were buried with their sires' sires. Hence came
the thought, that of gusty nights, when round the isles, and
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high toward heaven, flew the white reef's rack and foam,
that then and there, kept chattering watch and ward, the
myriads that were ocean-tombed.
But why these watery obsequies?
Odo was but a little isle, and must the living make way
for the dead, and Life's small colony be dislodged by Death's
grim hosts; as the gaunt tribes of Tamerlane o'erspread the
tented pastures of the Khan?
And now, what follows, said these Islanders: “Why
sow corruption in the soil which yields us life? We would
not pluck our grapes from over graves. This earth's an
urn for flowers, not for ashes.”
They said that Oro, the supreme, had made a cemetery
of the sea.
And what more glorious grave? Was Mausolus more
sublimely urned? Or do the minster-lamps that burn before
the tomb of Charlemagne, show more of pomp, than
all the stars, that blaze above the shipwrecked mariner?
But no more of the dead; men shrug their shoulders,
and love not their company; though full soon we shall all
have them for fellows.
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CHAPTER LXIV. YILLAH A PHANTOM.
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For a time we were happy in Odo: Yillah and I in
our islet. Nor did the pearl on her bosom glow more
rosily than the roses in her cheeks; though at intervals
they waned and departed; and deadly pale was her glance,
when she murmured of the whirlpool and mosses. As pale
my soul, bethinking me of Aleema the priest.
But day by day, did her spell weave round me its magic,
and all the hidden things of her being grew more lovely and
strange. Did I commune with a spirit? Often I thought
that Paradise had overtaken me on earth, and that Yillah
was verily an angel, and hence the mysteries that hallowed
her.
But how fleeting our joys. Storms follow bright dawnings.—
Long memories of short-lived scenes, sad thoughts
of joyous hours—how common are ye to all mankind.
When happy, do we pause and say—“Lo, thy felicity, my
soul?” No: happiness seldom seems happiness, except when
looked back upon from woes. A flowery landscape, you
must come out of, to behold.
Sped the hours, the days, the one brief moment of our
joys. Fairy bower in the fair lagoon, scene of sylvan ease
and heart's repose,—Oh, Yillah, Yillah! All the woods
repeat the sound, the wild, wild woods of my wild soul.
Yillah! Yillah! cry the small strange voices in me, and
evermore, and far and deep, they echo on.
Days passed. When one morning I found the arbor
vacant. Gone! A dream. I closed my eyes, and would
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have dreamed her back. In vain. Starting, I called upon
her name; but none replied. Fleeing from the islet, I
gained the neighboring shore, and searched among the
woods; and my comrades meeting, besought their aid.
But idle all. No glimpse of aught, save trees and flowers.
Then Media was sought out; the event made known; and
quickly, bands were summoned to range the isle.
Noon came; but no Yillah. When Media averred she
was no longer in Odo. Whither she was gone, or how, he
knew not; nor could any imagine.
At this juncture, there chanced to arrive certain messengers
from abroad; who, presuming that all was well with
Taji, came with renewed invitations to visit various pleasant
places round about. Among these, came Queen Hautia's
heralds, with their Iris flag, once more bringing flowers.
But they came and went unheeded.
Setting out to return, these envoys were accompanied by
numerous followers of Media, dispatched to the neighboring
islands, to seek out the missing Yillah. But three days
passed; and, one by one, they all returned; and stood
before me silently.
For a time I raved. Then, falling into outer repose,
lived for a space in moods and reveries, with eyes that knew
no closing, one glance forever fixed.
They strove to rouse me. Girls danced and sang; and
tales of fairy times were told; of monstrous imps, and
youths enchanted; of groves and gardens in the sea. Yet
still I moved not, hearing all, yet noting naught. Media
cried, “For shame, oh Taji; thou, a god?” and placed a
spear in my nerveless hand. And Jarl loud called upon
me to awake. Samoa marveled.
Still sped the days. And at length, my memory was
restored. The thoughts of things broke over me like returning
billows on a beach long bared. A rush, a foam of
recollections!—Sweet Yillah gone, and I bereaved.
Another interval, and that mood was past. Misery became
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a memory. The keen pang a deep vibration. The remembrance
seemed the thing remembered; though bowed with sadness.
There are thoughts that lie and glitter deep: tearful pearls
beneath life's sea, that surges still, and rolls sunlit, whatever
it may hide. Common woes, like fluids, mix all round.
Not so with that other grief. Some mourners load the air
with lamentations; but the loudest notes are struck from
hollows. Their tears flow fast: but the deep spring only
wells.
At last I turned to Media, saying I must hie from Odo,
and rove throughout all Mardi; for Yillah might yet be
found.
But hereafter, in words, little more of the maiden, till
perchance her fate be learned.
-- 231 -- p275-238
CHAPTER LXV. TAJI MAKES THREE ACQUAINTANCES.
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Down to this period, I had restrained Samoa from wandering
to the neighboring islands, though he had much desired
it, in compliance with the invitations continually
received. But now I informed both him, and his comrade,
of the tour I purposed; desiring their company.
Upon the announcement of my intention to depart, to my
no small surprise Media also proposed to accompany me: a
proposition gladly embraced. It seems, that for some reason,
he had not as yet extended his travels to the more
distant islands. Hence the voyage in prospect was particularly
agreeable to him. Nor did he forbear any pains to
insure its prosperity; assuring me, furthermore, that its
object must eventually be crowned with success. “I myself
am interested in this pursuit,” said he; “and trust me, Yillah
will be found.”
For the tour of the lagoon, the docile Chamois was
proposed; but Media dissented; saying, that it befitted not
the lord of Odo to voyage in the equipage of his guest.
Therefore, three canoes were selected from his own royal
fleet.
One for ourselves, and a trio of companions whom he
purposed introducing to my notice; the rest were reserved
for attendants,
Thanks to Media's taste and heedfulness, the strangers
above mentioned proved truly acceptable.
The first was Mohi, or Braid-Beard, so called from the
manner in which he wore that appendage, exceedingly long
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and gray. He was a venerable teller of stories and legends,
one of the Keepers of the Chronicles of the Kings of
Mardi.
The second was Babbalanja, a man of a mystical aspect,
habited in a voluminous robe. He was learned in Mardian
lore; much given to quotations from ancient and obsolete
authorities: the Ponderings of Old Bardianna: the Pandects
of Alla-Malolla.
Third and last, was Yoomy, or the Warbler. A youthful,
long-haired, blue-eyed minstrel; all fits and starts; at
times, absent of mind, and wan of cheek; but always very
neat and pretty in his apparel; wearing the most becoming
of turbans, a Bird of Paradise feather its plume, and sporting
the gayest of sashes. Most given was Yoomy to amorous
melodies, and rondos, and roundelays, very witching to
hear. But at times disdaining the oaten reed, like a clarion
he burst forth with lusty lays of arms and battle; or, in
mournful strains, sounded elegies for departed bards and
heroes.
Thus much for Yoomy as a minstrel. In other respects,
it would be hard to depict him. He was so capricious a
mortal; so swayed by contrary moods; so lofty, so humble,
so sad, so merry; so made up of a thousand contradictions,
that we must e'en let him depict himself as our story progresses.
And herein it is hoped he will succeed; since no
one in Mardi comprehended him.
Now the trio, thus destined for companions on our voyage,
had for some time been anxious to take the tour of the Archipelago.
In particular, Babbalanja had often expressed
the most ardent desire to visit every one of the isles, in quest
of some object, mysteriously hinted. He murmured deep
concern for my loss, the sincerest sympathy; and pressing
my hand more than once, said lowly, “Your pursuit is mine,
noble Taji. Where'er you search, I follow.”
So, too, Yoomy addressed me; but with still more feeling.
And something like this, also, Braid-Beard repeated.
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But to my sorrow, I marked that both Mohi and Babbalanja,
especially the last, seemed not so buoyant of hope,
concerning lost Yillah, as the youthful Yoomy, and his high-spirited
lord, King Media.
As our voyage would embrace no small period of time, it
behoved King Media to appoint some trustworthy regent, to
rule during his absence. This regent was found in Almanni,
a stern-eyed, resolute warrior, a kinsman of the king.
All things at last in readiness, and the ensuing morning
appointed for a start, Media, on the beach, at eventide, when
both light and water waned, drew a rude map of the lagoon,
to compensate for the obstructions in the way of a comprehensive
glance at it from Odo.
And thus was sketched the plan of our voyage; which
islands first to visit; and which to touch at, when we should
be homeward bound.
-- 234 -- p275-241
CHAPTER LXVI. WITH A FAIR WIND, AT SUNRISE THEY SAIL.
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True each to his word, up came the sun, and round to
my isle came Media.
How glorious a morning! The new-born clouds all
dappled with gold, and streaked with violet; the sun in high
spirits; and the pleasant air cooled overnight by the blending
circumambient fountains, forever playing all round the
reef; the lagoon within, the coral-rimmed basin, into which
they poured, subsiding, hereabouts, into green tranquillity.
But what monsters of canoes! Would they devour an
innocent voyager? their great black prows curling aloft, and
thrown back like trunks of elephants; a dark, snaky length
behind, like the sea-serpent's train.
The prow of the foremost terminated in a large, open,
shark's mouth, garnished with ten rows of pearly human
teeth, curiously inserted into the sculptured wood. The
gunwale was ornamented with rows of rich spotted Leopard
and Tiger-shells; here and there, varied by others, flat and
round, and spirally traced; gay serpents petrified in coils.
These were imbedded in a grooved margin, by means of a
resinous compound, exhaling such spices, that the canoes
were odoriferous as the Indian chests of the Maldives.
The likeness of the foremost canoe to an elephant, was
helped by a sort of canopied Howdah in its stern, of heavy,
russet-dyed tappa, tasselled at the corners with long bunches
of cocoanut fibres, stained red. These swayed to and fro,
like the fox-tails on a Tuscarora robe.
But what is this, in the head of the canoe, just under the
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shark's mouth? A grinning little imp of an image; a ring
in its nose; cowrie shells jingling at its ears; with an abominable
leer, like that of Silenus reeling on his ass. It was
taking its ease; cosily smoking a pipe; its bowl, a duodecimo
edition of the face of the smoker. This image looked sternward;
everlastingly mocking us.
Of these canoes, it may be well to state, that although
during our stay in Odo, so many barges and shallops had
touched there, nothing similar to Media's had been seen.
But inquiring whence his sea-equipage came, we were thereupon
taught to reverence the same as antiquities and heir-looms;
claw-keeled, dragon-prowed crafts of a bygone generation;
at present, superseded in general use by the more
swan-like canoes, significant of the advanced stage of marine
architecture in Mardi. No sooner was this known, than
what had seemed almost hideous in my eyes, became merely
grotesque. Nor could I help being greatly delighted with
the good old family pride of our host.
The upper corners of our sails displayed the family crest
of Media; three upright boars' tusks, in an heraldic field
argent. A fierce device: Whom rends he?
All things in readiness, we glided away: the multitude
waving adieu; and our flotilla disposed in the following
order.
First went the royal Elephant, carrying Media, myself,
Jarl, and Samoa; Mohi the Teller of Legends, Babbalanja,
and Yoomy, and six vivacious paddlers; their broad paddle-blades
carved with the royal boars' tusks, the same tattooed
on their chests for a livery.
And thus, as Media had promised, we voyaged in state.
To crown all, seated sideways in the high, open shark's-mouth
of our prow was a little dwarf of a boy, one of Media's
pages, a red conch-shell, bugle-wise suspended at his
side. Among various other offices, it was the duty of little
Vee-Vee to announce the advent of his master, upon drawing
near to the islands in our route. Two short bars,
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projecting from one side of the prow, furnished him the means
of ascent to his perch.
As we gained the open lagoon with bellied sails, and
paddles playing, a sheaf of foam borne upright at our prow;
Yoomy, standing where the spicy spray flew over him,
stretched forth his hand and cried—“The dawn of day
is passed, and Mardi lies all before us: all her isles, and all
her lakes; all her stores of good and evil. Storms may
come, our barks may drown. But blow before us, all ye
winds; give us a lively blast, good clarion; rally round us
all our wits; and be this voyage full gayly sailed, for Yillah
will yet be found.”
-- -- p275-244
CHAPTER LXVII. LITTLE KING PEEPI.
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Valapee, or the Isle of Yams, being within plain sight
of Media's dominions, we were not very long in drawing
nigh to its shores.
Two long parallel elevations, rising some three arrow-flights
into the air, double-ridge the island's entire length,
lapping between, a widening vale, so level withal, that at
either extremity, the green of its groves blends with the
green of the lagoon; and the isle seems divided by a strait.
Within several paces of the beach, our canoes keeled the
bottom, and camel-like mutely hinted that we voyagers must
dismount.
Hereupon, the assembled islanders ran into the water,
and with bent shoulders obsequiously desired the honor of
transporting us to land. The beach gained, all present
wearing robes instantly stripped them to the waist; a naked
chest being their salute to kings. Very convenient for the
common people, this; their half-clad forms presenting a perpetual
and profound salutation.
Presently, Peepi, the ruler of Valapee drew near: a boy,
hardly ten years old, striding the neck of a burly mute,
bearing a long spear erect before him, to which was attached
a canopy of five broad banana leaves, new plucked.
Thus shaded, little Peepi advanced, steadying himself by
the forelock of his bearer.
Besides his bright red robe, the young prince wore nothing
but the symbol of Valapeean royalty; a string of small,
close-fitting, concave shells, coiled and ambushed in his
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profuse, curly hair; one end falling over his ear, revealing a
serpent's head, curiously carved from a nutmeg.
Quite proverbial, the unembarrassed air of young slips of
royalty. But there was something so surprisingly precocious
in this young Peepi, that at first one hardly knew
what to conclude.
The first compliments over, the company were invited inland
to a shady retreat.
As we pursued the path, walking between old Mohi the
keeper of chronicles and Samoa the Upoluan, Babbalanja
besought the former to enlighten a stranger concerning the
history of this curious Peepi. Whereupon the chronicler
gave us the following account; for all of which he alone is
responsible.
Peepi, it seems, had been proclaimed king before he was
born; his sire dying some few weeks previous to that
event; and vacating his divan, declared that he left a monarch
behind.
Marvels were told of Peepi. Along with the royal dignity,
and superadded to the soul possessed in his own proper
person, the infant monarch was supposed to have inherited
the valiant spirits of some twenty heroes, sages, simpletons,
and demi-gods, previously lodged in his sire.
Most opulent in spiritual gifts was this lord of Valapee;
the legatee, moreover, of numerous anonymous souls, bequeathed
to him by their late loyal proprietors. By a
slavish act of his convocation of chiefs, he also possessed
the reversion of all and singular the immortal spirits, whose
first grantees might die intestate in Valapee. Servile, yet
audacious senators! thus prospectively to administrate away
the inalienable rights of posterity. But while yet unborn,
the people of Valapee had been deprived of more than they
now sought to wrest from their descendants. And former
Peepies, infant and adult, had received homage more profound,
than Peepi the Present. Witness the demeanor of
the chieftains of old, upon every new investiture of the royal
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serpent. In a fever of loyalty, they were wont to present
themselves before the heir to the isle, to go through with
the court ceremony of the Pupera; a curious proceeding, so
called: inverted endeavors to assume an erect posture: the
nasal organ the base.
It was to the frequent practice of this ceremony, that
most intelligent observers imputed the flattened noses of the
elderly chiefs of the island; who, nevertheless, much gloried
therein.
It was these chiefs, also, who still observed the old-fashioned
custom of retiring from the presence of royalty with
their heads between their thighs; so that while advancing
in the contrary direction, their faces might be still deferentially
turned toward their lord and master. A fine view
of him did they obtain. All objects look well through an
arch.
But to return to Peepi, the inheritor of souls and subjects.
It was an article of faith with the people of Valapee, that
Peepi not only actually possessed the souls bequeathed to
him; but that his own was enriched by their peculiar qualities:
The headlong valor of the late Tongatona; the
pusillanimous discretion of Blandoo; the cunning of Voyo;
the simplicity of Raymonda; the prodigality of Zonoree;
the thrift of Titonti.
But had all these, and similar opposite qualities, simultaneously
acted as motives upon Peepi, certes, he would
have been a most pitiable mortal, in a ceaseless eddy of resolves,
incapable of a solitary act.
But blessed be the gods, it was otherwise. Though it
fared little better for his subjects as it was. His assorted
souls were uppermost and active in him, one by one. To-day,
valiant Tongatona ruled the isle, meditating wars and
invasions; to-morrow, thrice discreet Blandoo, who, disbanding
the levies, turned his attention to the terraces of
yams. And so on in rotation to the end.
Whence, though capable of action, Peepi, by reason of
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these revolving souls in him, was one of the most unreliable
of beings. What the open-handed Zonoree promised freely
to-day, the parsimonious Titonti withheld to-morrow; and
forever Raymonda was annulling the doings of Voyo; and
Voyo the doings of Raymonda.
What marvel then, that in Valapee all was legislative
uproar and confusion; advance and retreat; abrogations
and revivals; foundations without superstructures; nothing
permanent but the island itself,
Nor were there those in the neighboring countries, who
failed to reap profit from this everlasting transition state of
the affairs of the kingdom. All boons from Peepi were entreated
when the prodigal Zonoree was lord of the ascendant.
And audacious claims were urged upon the state
when the pusillanimous Blandoo shrank from the thought
of resisting them.
Thus subject to contrary impulses, over which he had
not the faintest control, Peepi was plainly denuded of all
moral obligation to virtue. He was no more a free agent,
than the heart which beat in his bosom. Wherefore, his
complaisant parliament had passed a law, recognizing that
curious, but alarming fact; solemnly proclaiming, that
King Peepi was minus a conscience. Agreeable to truth.
But when they went further, and vowed by statute, that
Peepi could do no wrong, they assuredly did violence to the
truth; besides, making a sad blunder in their logic. For
far from possessing an absolute aversion to evil, by his very
nature it was the hardest thing in the world for Peepi to
do right.
Taking all these things into consideration, then, no
wonder that this wholly irresponsible young prince should
be a lad of considerable assurance, and the easiest manners
imaginable.
-- -- p275-248
CHAPTER LXVIII. HOW TEETH WERE REGARDED IN VALAPEE.
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Coiling through the thickets, like the track of a serpent,
wound along the path we pursued. And ere long we came
to a spacious grove, embowering an oval arbor. Here, we
reclined at our ease, and refreshments were served.
Little worthy of mention occurred, save this. Happening
to catch a glimpse of the white even teeth of Hohora
one of our attendants, King Peepi coolly begged of Media
the favor, to have those same dentals drawn on the spot,
and presented to him.
Now human teeth, extracted, are reckoned among the
most valuable ornaments in Mardi. So open wide thy
strong box, Hohora, and show thy treasures. What a gallant
array! standing shoulder to shoulder, without a hiatus
between. A complete set of jewelry, indeed, thought Peepi.
But, it seems, not destined for him; Media leaving it to
the present proprietor, whether his dentals should change
owners or not.
And here, to prepare the way for certain things hereafter
to be narrated, something farther needs be said concerning
the light in which men's molars are regarded in Mardi.
Strung together, they are sported for necklaces, or hung
in drops from the ear; they are wrought into dice; in lieu
of silken locks, are exchanged for love tokens.
As in all lands, men smite their breasts, and tear their
hair, when transported with grief; so, in some countries,
teeth are stricken out under the sway of similar emotions.
To a very great extent, this was once practiced in the
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Hawaiian Islands, ere idol and altar went down. Still living
in Oahu, are many old chiefs, who were present at the
famous obsequies of their royal old generalissimo, Tammahammaha,
when there is no telling how many pounds of
ivory were cast upon his grave.
Ah! had the regal white elephants of Siam been there,
doubtless they had offered up their long, hooked tusks,
whereon they impale the leopards, their foes; and the unicorn
had surrendered that fixed bayonet in his forehead;
and the imperial Cachalot-whale, the long chain of white
towers in his jaw; yea, over that grim warrior's grave, the
mooses, and elks, and stags, and fallow-deer had stacked
their antlers, as soldiers their arms on the field.
Terrific shade of tattooed Tammahammaha! if, from a
vile dragon's molars, rose mailed men, what heroes shall
spring from the cannibal canines once pertaining to warriors
themselves!—Am I the witch of Endor, that I conjure up
this ghost? Or, King Saul, that I so quake at the sight?
For, lo! roundabout me Tammahammaha's tattooing expands,
till all the sky seems a tiger's skin. But now, the
spotted phantom sweeps by; as a man-of-war's main-sail,
cloud-like, blown far to leeward in a gale.
Banquo down, we return.
In Valapee, prevails not the barbarous Hindoo custom of
offering up widows to the shades of their lords; for, bereaved,
the widows there marry again. Nor yet prevails
the savage Hawaiian custom of offering up teeth to the
manes of the dead; for, at the decease of a friend, the
people rob not their own mouths to testify their woe. On
the contrary, they extract the teeth from the departed, distributing
them among the mourners for memorial legacies;
as elsewhere, silver spoons are bestowed.
From the high value ascribed to dentals throughout the
archipelago of Mardi, and also from their convenient size,
they are circulated as money; strings of teeth being regarded
by these people very much as belts of wampum
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among the Winnebagoes of the North; or cowries, among
the Bengalese. So, that in Valapee the very beggars are
born with a snug investment in their mouths; too soon,
however, to be appropriated by their lords; leaving them
toothless for the rest of their days, and forcing them to diet
on poee-pudding and banana blanc-mange.
As a currency, teeth are far less clumsy than cocoanuts;
which, among certain remote barbarians, circulate for coin;
one nut being equivalent, perhaps, to a penny. The voyager
who records the fact, chuckles over it hugely; as
evincing the simplicity of those heathens; not knowing that
he himself was the simpleton; since that currency of theirs
was purposely devised by the men, to check the extravagance
of their women; cocoanuts, for spending money,
being such a burden to carry.
It only remains to be added, that the most solemn oath
of a native of Valapee is that sworn by his tooth. “By
this tooth,” said Bondo to Noojoomo, “by this tooth I
swear to be avenged upon thee, oh Noojoomo!”
-- -- p275-251
CHAPTER LXIX. THE COMPANY DISCOURSE, AND BRAID-BEARD REHEARSES A LEGEND.
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Finding in Valapee no trace of her whom we sought,
and but little pleased with the cringing demeanor of the
people, and the wayward follies of Peepi their lord, we
early withdrew from the isle.
As we glided away, King Media issued a sociable decree.
He declared it his royal pleasure, that throughout
the voyage, all stiffness and state etiquette should be suspended:
nothing must occur to mar the freedom of the
party. To further this charming plan, he doffed his symbols
of royalty, put off his crown, laid aside his scepter, and
assured us that he would not wear them again, except
when we landed; and not invariably, then.
“Are we not all now friends and companions?” he said.
“So companions and friends let us be. I unbend my bow;
do ye likewise.”
“But are we not to be dignified?” asked Babbalanja.
“If dignity be free and natural, be as dignified as you
please; but away with rigidities.”
“Away they go,” said Babbalanja; “and, my lord, now
that you mind me of it, I have often thought, that it is all
folly and vanity for any man to attempt a dignified carriage.
Why, my lord,”—frankly crossing his legs where
he lay—“the king, who receives his embassadors with a
majestic toss of the head, may have just recovered from the
tooth-ache. That thought should cant over the spine he
bears so bravely.”
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“Have a care, sir! there is a king within hearing.”
“Pardon, my lord; I was merely availing myself of the
immunity bestowed upon the company. Hereafter, permit
a subject to rebel against your sociable decrees. I will not
be so frank any more.”
“Well put, Babbalanja; come nearer; here, cross your
legs by mine; you have risen a cubit in my regard Vee-Vee,
bring us that gourd of wine; so, pass it round with
the cups. Now, Yoomy, a song!”
And a song was sung.
And thus did we sail; pleasantly reclining on the mats
stretched out beneath the canopied howdah.
At length, we drew nigh to a rock, called Pella, or The
Theft. A high, green crag, toppling over its base, and
flinging a cavernous shadow upon the lagoon beneath,
bubbling with the moisture that dropped.
Passing under this cliff was like finding yourself, as some
sea-hunters unexpectedly have, beneath the open, upper jaw
of a whale; which, descending, infallibly entombs you.
But familiar with the rock, our paddlers only threw back
their heads, to catch the cool, pleasant tricklings from the
mosses above.
Wiping away several glittering beads from his beard, old
Mohi turning round where he sat, just outside the canopy,
solemnly affirmed, that the drinking of that water had cured
many a man of ambition.
“How so, old man?” demanded Media.
“Because of its passing through the ashes of ten kings,
of yore buried in a sepulcher, hewn in the heart of the
rock.”
“Mighty kings, and famous, doubtless,” said Babbalanja,
“whose bones were thought worthy of so noble and enduring
an urn. Pray, Mohi, their names and terrible deeds.”
“Alas! their sepulcher only remains.”
“And, no doubt, like many others, they made that sepulcher
for themselves. They sleep sound, my word for it, old
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man. But I very much question, if, were the rock rent,
any ashes would be found. Mohi, I deny that those kings
ever had any bones to bury.”
“Why, Babbalanja,” said Media, “since you intimate
that they never had ghosts to give up, you ignore them in
toto; denying the very fact of their being even defunct.”
“Ten thousand pardons, my lord, no such discourtesy
would I do the anonymous memory of the illustrious dead.
But whether they ever lived or not, it is all the same with
them now. Yet, grant that they lived; then, if death be
a deaf-and-dumb death, a triumphal procession over their
graves would concern them not. If a birth into brightness,
then Mardi must seem to them the most trivial of reminiscences.
Or, perhaps, theirs may be an utter lapse of memory
concerning sublunary things; and they themselves be
not themselves, as the butterfly is not the larva.”
Said Yoomy, “Then, Babbalanja, you account that a fit
illustration of the miraculous change to be wrought in man
after death?”
“No; for the analogy has an unsatisfactory end. From
its chrysalis state, the silkworm but becomes a moth, that
very quickly expires. Its longest existence is as a worm. All
vanity, vanity, Yoomy, to seek in nature for positive warranty
to these aspirations of ours. Through all her provinces,
nature seems to promise immortality to life, but destruction
to beings. Or, as old Bardianna has it, if not against us,
nature is not for us.”
Said Media, rising, “Babbalanja, you have indeed put
aside the courtier; talking of worms and caterpillars to me,
a king and a demi-god! To renown, for your theme: a
more agreeable topic.”
“Pardon, once again, my lord. And since you will, let
us discourse of that subject. First, I lay it down for an
indubitable maxim, that in itself all posthumous renown,
which is the only renown, is valueless. Be not offended,
my lord. To the nobly ambitious, renown hereafter may be
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something to anticipate. But analyzed, that feverish typhoid
feeling of theirs may be nothing more than a flickering
fancy, that now, while living, they are recognized as those
who will be as famous in their shrouds, as in their girdles.”
Said Yoomy, “But those great and good deeds, Babbalanja,
of which the philosophers so often discourse: must it
not be sweet to believe that their memory will long survive
us; and we ourselves in them?”
“I speak now,” said Babbalanja, “of the ravening for
fame; which even appeased, like thirst slaked in the desert,
yields no felicity, but only relief; and which discriminates
not in aught that will satisfy its cravings. But let me resume.
Not an hour ago, Braid-Beard was telling us that
story of prince Ottimo, who inodorous while living, expressed
much delight at the prospect of being perfumed and embalmed,
when dead. But was not Ottimo the most eccentric
of mortals? For few men issue orders for their shrouds,
to inspect their quality beforehand. Far more anxious are
they about the texture of the sheets in which their living
limbs lie. And, my lord, with some rare exceptions, does
not all Mardi, by its actions, declare, that it is far better to
be notorious now, than famous hereafter?”
“A base sentiment, my lord,” said Yoomy. “Did not
poor Bonja, the unappreciated poet, console himself for the
neglect of his contemporaries, by inspiriting thoughts of the
future?”
“In plain words by bethinking him of the glorious harvest
of bravos his ghost would reap for him,” said Babbalanja;
“but Banjo,—Bonjo,—Binjo,—I never heard of
him.”
“Nor I,” said Mohi.
“Nor I,” said Media.
“Poor fellow!” cried Babbalanja; “I fear me his harvest
is not yet ripe.”
“Alas!” cried Yoomy; “he died more than a century
ago.”
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“But now that you speak of unappreciated poets, Yoomy,”
said Babbalanja, “Shall I give you a piece of my mind?”
“Do,” said Mohi, stroking his beard.
“He, who on all hands passes for a cypher to-day, if at
all remembered hereafter, will be sure to pass for the same.
For there is more likelihood of being overrated while living,
than of being underrated when dead. And to insure your
fame, you must die.”
“A rather discouraging thought for your race. But answer:
I assume that King Media is but a mortal like you;
now, how may I best perpetuate my name?”
Long pondered Babbalanja; then said, “Carve it, my
lord, deep into a ponderous stone, and sink it, face downward,
into the sea; for the unseen foundations of the deep are more
enduring than the palpable tops of the mountains.”
Sailing past Pella, we gained a view of its farther side;
and seated in a lofty cleft, beheld a lonely fisherman; solitary
as a seal on an iceberg; his motionless line in the water.
“What recks he of the ten kings,” said Babbalanja.
“Mohi,” said Media, “methinks there is another tradition
concerning that rock: let us have it.”
“In old times of genii and giants, there dwelt in barren
lands, not very remote from our outer reef, but since
submerged, a band of evil-minded, envious goblins, furlongs
in stature, and with immeasurable arms; who from time to
time cast covetous glances upon our blooming isles. Long
they lusted; till at last, they waded through the sea, strode
over the reef, and seizing the nearest islet, rolled it over and
over, toward an adjoining outlet.
“But the task was hard; and day-break surprised them
in the midst of their audacious thieving; while in the very
act of giving the devoted land another doughty surge and
somerset. Leaving it bottom upward and midway poised,
gardens under water, its foundations in air, they precipitately
fled; in their great haste, deserting a comrade, vainly struggling
to liberate his foot caught beneath the overturned land.
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“This poor fellow now raised such an outcry, as to
awaken the god Upi, or the Archer, stretched out on a
long cloud in the East; who forthwith resolved to make an
example of the unwilling lingerer. Snatching his bow, he
let fly an arrow. But overshooting its mark, it pierced
through and through, the lofty promontory of a neighboring
island; making an arch in it, which remaineth even unto
this day. A second arrow, however, accomplished its errand:
the slain giant sinking prone to the bottom.”
“And now,” added Mohi, “glance over the gunwale,
and you will see his remains petrified into white ribs of
coral.”
“Ay, there they are,” said Yoomy, looking down into the
water where they gleamed. “A fanciful legend, Braid-beard.”
“Very entertaining,” said Media.
“Even so,” said Babbalanja. “But perhaps we lost
time in listening to it; for though we know it, we are none
the wiser.”
“Be not a cynic,” said Media. “No pastime is lost
time.”
Musing a moment, Babbalanja replied, “My lord, that
maxim may be good as it stands; but had you made six
words of it, instead of six syllables, you had uttered a better
and a deeper.”
-- -- p275-257
CHAPTER LXX. THE MINSTREL LEADS OFF WITH A PADDLE-SONG; AND A MESSAGE IS RECEIVED FROM ABROAD.
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From seaward now came a breeze so blithesome and
fresh, that it made us impatient of Babbalanja's philosophy,
and Mohi's incredible legends. One and all, we called upon
the minstrel Yoomy to give us something in unison with the
spirited waves wide-foaming around us.
“If my lord will permit, we will give Taji the Paddle-Chant
of the warriors of King Bello.”
“By all means,” said Media.
So the three canoes were brought side to side; their sails
rolled up; and paddles in hand, our paddlers seated themselves
sideways on the gunwales; Yoomy, as leader, occupying
the place of the foremast, or Bow-Paddler of the royal
barge.
Whereupon the six rows of paddle-blades being uplifted,
and every eye on the minstrel, this song was sung, with
actions corresponding; the canoes at last shooting through
the water, with a violent roll.
(All.)
Thrice waved on high,
Our paddles fly:
Thrice round the head, thrice dropt to feet:
And then well timed,
Of one stout mind,
All fall, and back the waters heap!
(Bow-Paddler.)
Who lifts this chant?
Who sounds this vaunt?
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(All.)
The wild sea song, to the billows' throng,
Rising, falling,
Hoarsely calling,
Now high, now low, as fast we go,
Fast on our flying foe!
(Bow-Paddler.)
Who lifts this chant?
Who sounds this vaunt?
(All.)
Dip, dip, in the brine our paddles dip,
Dip, dip, the fins of our swimming ship!
How the waters part,
As on we dart;
Our sharp prows fly,
And curl on high,
As the upright fin of the rushing shark,
Rushing fast and far on his flying mark!
Like him we prey;
Like him we slay;
Swim on the foe,
Our prow a blow!
(Bow-Paddler.)
Who lifts this chant?
Who sounds this vaunt?
(All.)
Heap back; heap back; the waters back!
Pile them high astern, in billows black;
Till we leave our wake,
In the slope we make;
And rush and ride,
On the torrent's tide!
Here we were overtaken by a swift gliding canoe, which,
bearing down upon us before the wind, lowered its sail when
close by: its occupants signing our paddlers to desist.
I started.
The strangers were three hooded damsels; the enigmatical
Queen Hautia's heralds.
Their pursuit surprised and perplexed me. Nor was there
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wanting a vague feeling of alarm to heighten these emotions.
But perhaps I was mistaken, and this time they meant not
me.
Seated in the prow, the foremost waved her Iris flag.
Cried Yoomy, “Some message! Taji, that Iris points
to you.”
It was then, I first divined, that some meaning must have
lurked in those flowers they had twice brought me before.
The second damsel now flung over to me Circe flowers;
then, a faded jonquil, buried in a tuft of wormwood leaves.
The third sat in the shallop's stern, and as it glided from
us, thrice waved oleanders.
“What dumb show is this?” cried Media. “But it
looks like poetry: minstrel, you should know.”
“Interpret then,” said I.
“Shall I, then, be your Flora's flute, and Hautia's dragoman?
Held aloft, the Iris signified a message. These
purple-woven Circe flowers mean that some spell is weaving.
That golden, pining jonquil, which you hold, buried in
those wormwood leaves, says plainly to you—Bitter love in
absence.”
Said Media, “Well done, Taji, you have killed a queen.”
“Yet no Queen Hautia have these eyes beheld.”
Said Babbalanja, “The thrice waved oleanders, Yoomy;
what meant they?”
“Beware—beware—beware.”
“Then that, at least, seems kindly meant,” said Babbalanja;
“Taji, beware of Hautia.”
-- -- p275-260
CHAPTER LXXI. THEY LAND UPON THE ISLAND OF JUAM.
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Crossing the lagoon, our course now lay along the reef
to Juam; a name bestowed upon one of the largest islands
hereabout; and also, collectively, upon several wooded isles
engirdling it, which together were known as the dominions
of one monarch. That monarch was Donjalolo. Just turned
of twenty-five, he was accounted not only the handsomest
man in his dominions, but throughout the lagoon. His
comeliness, however, was so feminine, that he was sometimes
called “Fonoo,” or the Girl.
Our first view of Juam was imposing. A dark green
pile of cliffs, towering some one hundred toises; at top, presenting
a range of steep, gable-pointed projections; as if
some Titanic hammer and chisel had shaped the mass.
Sailing nearer, we perceived an extraordinary rolling of
the sea, which bursting into the lagoon through an adjoining
breach in the reef, surged toward Juam in enormous billows.
At last, dashing against the wall of the cliff, they
played there in unceasing fountains. But under the brow
of a beetling crag, the spray came and went unequally.
There, the blue billows seemed swallowed up, and lost.
Right regally was Juam guarded. For, at this point,
the rock was pierced by a cave, into which the great waves
chased each other like lions; after a hollow, subterraneous
roaring issuing forth with manes disheveled.
Cautiously evading the dangerous currents here ruffling
the lagoon, we rounded the wall of cliff, and shot upon a
smooth expanse; on one side, hemmed in by the long,
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verdent, northern shore of Juam; and across the water, sentineled
by its tributary islets.
With sonorous Vee-Vee in the shark's mouth, we swept
toward the beach, tumultuous with a throng.
Our canoes were secured. And surrounded by eager
glances, we passed the lower ends of several populous valleys;
and crossing a wide, open meadow, gradually ascending,
came to a range of light-green bluffs. Here, we wended
our way down a narrow defile, almost cleaving this quarter
of the island to its base. Black crags frowned overhead:
among them the shouts of the Islanders reverberated. Yet
steeper grew the defile, and more overhanging the crags;
till at last, the keystone of the arch seemed dropped into its
place. We found ourselves in a subterranean tunnel, dimly
lighted by a span of white day at the end.
Emerging, what a scene was revealed! All round, embracing
a circuit of some three leagues, stood heights inaccessible,
here and there, forming buttresses, sheltering deep
recesses between. The bosom of the place was vivid with
verdure.
Shining aslant into this wild hollow, the afternoon sun
lighted up its eastern side with tints of gold. But opposite,
brooded a somber shadow, double-shading the secret places
between the salient spurs of the mountains. Thus cut in
twain by masses of day and night, it seemed as if some Last
Judgment had been enacted in the glen.
No sooner did we emerge from the defile, than we became
sensible of a dull, jarring sound; and Yoomy was almost
tempted to turn and flee, when informed that the sea-cavern,
whose mouth we had passed, was believed to penetrate
deep into the opposite hills; and that the surface of
the amphitheater was depressed beneath that of the lagoon.
But all over the lowermost hill-sides, and sloping
into the glen, stood grand old groves; still and stately,
as if no insolent waves were throbbing in the mountain's
heart.
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Such was Willamilla, the hereditary abode of the young
monarch of Juam.
Was Yillah immured in this strange retreat? But
from those around us naught could we learn.
Our attention was now directed to the habitations of the
glen; comprised in two handsome villages; one to the
west, the other to the east; both stretching along the base
of the cliffs.
Said Media, “Had we arrived at Willamilla in the
morning, we had found Donjalolo and his court in the eastern
village; but being afternoon, we must travel farther,
and seek him in his western retreat; for that is now in the
shade.”
Wending our way, Media added, that aside from his elevated
station as a monarch, Donjalolo was famed for many
uncommon traits; but more especially for certain peculiar
deprivations, under which he labored.
Whereupon Braid-Beard unrolled his old chronicles; and
regaled us with the history, which will be found in the following
chapter.
-- -- p275-263
CHAPTER LXXII. A BOOK FROM THE CHRONICLES OF MOHI.
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Many ages ago, there reigned in Juam a king called
Teei. This Teei's succession to the sovereignty was long
disputed by his brother Marjora; who at last rallying round
him an army, after many vicissitudes, defeated the unfortunate
monarch in a stout fight of clubs on the beach.
In those days, Willamilla during a certain period of the
year was a place set apart for royal games and diversions;
and was furnished with suitable accommodations for king
and court. From its peculiar position, moreover, it was
regarded as the last stronghold of the Juam monarchy: in
remote times having twice withstood the most desperate
assaults from without. And when Roonoonoo, a famous
upstart, sought to subdue all the isles in this part of the
Archipelago, it was to Willamilla that the banded kings
had repaired to take counsel together; and while there
conferring, were surprised at the sudden onslaught of Roonoonoo
in person. But in the end, the rebel was captured,
he and all his army, and impaled on the tops of the hills.
Now, defeated and fleeing for his life, Teei with his surviving
followers was driven across the plain toward the
mountains. But to cut him off from all escape to inland
Willamilla, Marjora dispatched a fleet band of warriors to
occupy the entrance of the defile. Nevertheless, Teei the
pursued ran faster than his pursuers; first gained the spot;
and with his chiefs, fled swiftly down the gorge, closely
hunted by Marjora's men. But arriving at the further
end, they in vain sought to defend it. And after much
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desperate fighting, the main body of the foe coming up,
with great slaughter the fugitives were driven into the glen.
They ran to the opposite wall of cliff; where turning,
they fought at bay, blood for blood, and life for life, till at
last, overwhelmed by numbers, they were all put to the
point of the spear.
With fratricidal hate, singled out by the ferocious Marjora,
Teei fell by that brother's hand. When stripping
from the body the regal girdle, the victor wound it round
his own loins; thus proclaiming himself king over Juam.
Long torn by this intestine war, the island acquiesced in
the new sovereignty. But at length a sacred oracle declared,
that since the conqueror had slain his brother in
deep Willamilla, so that Teei never more issued from that
refuge of death; therefore, the same fate should be Marjora's;
for never, thenceforth, from that glen, should he go
forth; neither Marjora; nor any son of his girdled loins;
nor his son's sons; nor the uttermost scion of his race.
But except this denunciation, naught was denounced
against the usurper; who, mindful of the tenure by which
he reigned, ruled over the island for many moons; at his
death bequeathing the girdle to his son.
In those days, the wildest superstitions concerning the
interference of the gods in things temporal, prevailed to a
much greater extent than at present. Hence Marjora himself,
called sometimes in the traditions of the island, The-Heart-of-Black-Coral,
even unscrupulous Marjora had quailed
before the oracle. “He bowed his head,” say the legends.
Nor was it then questioned, by his most devoted adherents,
that had he dared to act counter to that edict, he had dropped
dead, the very instant he went under the shadow of the
defile. This persuasion also guided the conduct of the son
of Marjora, and that of his grandson.
But there at last came to pass a change in the popular
fancies concerning this ancient anathema. The penalty
denounced against the posterity of the usurper should they
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issue from the glen, came to be regarded as only applicable
to an invested monarch, not to his relatives, or heirs.
A most favorable construction of the ban; for all those
related to the king, freely passed in and out of Willamilla.
From the time of the usurpation, there had always been
observed a certain ceremony upon investing the heir to the
sovereignty with the girdle of Teei. Upon these occasions,
the chief priests of the island were present, acting an important
part. For the space of as many days, as there had
reigned kings of Marjora's dynasty, the inner mouth of the
defile remained sealed; the new monarch placing the last
stone in the gap. This symbolized his relinquishment forever
of all purpose of passing out of the glen. And without
this observance, was no king girdled in Juam.
It was likewise an invariable custom, for the heir to receive
the regal investiture immediately upon the decease of
his sire. No delay was permitted. And instantly upon
being girdled, he proceeded to take part in the ceremony of
closing the cave; his predecessor yet remaining uninterred
on the purple mat where he died.
In the history of the island, three instances were recorded;
wherein, upon the vacation of the sovereignty, the immediate
heir had voluntarily renounced all claim to the
succession, rather than surrender the privilege of roving, to
which he had been entitled, as a prince of the blood.
Said Rani, one of these young princes, in reply to the remonstrances
of his friends, “What! shall I be a king, only
to be a slave? Teei's girdle would clasp my waist less
tightly, than my soul would be banded by the mountains of
Willamilla. A subject, I am free. No slave in Juam but
its king; for all the tassels round his loins.”
To guard against a similar resolution in the mind of his
only son, the wise sire of Donjalolo, ardently desirous of
perpetuating his dignities in a child so well beloved, had
from his earliest infancy, restrained the boy from passing out
of the glen, to contract in the free air of the Archipelago,
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tastes and predilections fatal to the inheritance of the
girdle.
But as he grew in years, so impatient became young
Donjalolo of the king his father's watchfulness over him,
though hitherto a most dutiful son, that at last he was
prevailed upon by his youthful companions to appoint a day,
on which to go abroad, and visit Mardi. Hearing this determination,
the old king sought to vanquish it. But in
vain. And early on the morning of the day, that Donjalolo
was to set out, he swallowed poison, and died; in order to
force his son into the instant assumption of the honors thus
suddenly inherited.
The event, but not its dreadful circumstances, was communicated
to the prince; as with a gay party of young
chiefs, he was about to enter the mouth of the defile.
“My sire dead!” cried Donjalolo. “So sudden, it seems
a bolt from Heaven.” And bursting into exclamations of
grief, he wept upon the bosom of Talara his friend.
But starting from his side:—“My fate converges to a
point. If I but cross that shadow, my kingdom is lost.
One lifting of my foot, and the girdle goes to my proud
uncle Darfi, who would so joy to be my master. Haughty
Darfi! Oh Oro! would that I had ere this passed thee,
fatal cavern; and seen for myself, what outer Mardi is,
Say ye true, comrades, that Willamilla is less lovely than
the valleys without? that there is bright light in the eyes
of the maidens of Mina? and wisdom in the hearts of the
old priests of Maramma; that it is pleasant to tread the
green earth where you will; and breathe the free ocean
air? Would, oh would, that I were but the least of yonder
sun-clouds, that look down alike on Willamilla and all places
besides, that I might determine aright. Yet why do I pause?
did not Rani, and Atama, and Mardonna, my ancestors,
each see for himself, free Mardi; and did they not fly the
proffered girdle; choosing rather to be free to come and go,
than bury themselves forever in this fatal glen? Oh
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Mardi! Mardi! art thou then so fair to see? Is liberty a
thing so glorious? Yet can I be no king, and behold thee!
Too late, too late, to view thy charms and then return. My
sire! my sire! thou hast wrung my heart with this agony
of doubt. Tell me, comrades,—for ye have seen it,—is
Mardi sweeter to behold, than it is royal to reign over Juam?
Silent, are ye? Knowing what ye do, were ye me, would
ye be kings? Tell me, Talara.—No king: no king:—
that were to obey, and not command. And none hath
Donjalolo ere obeyed but the king his father. A king,
and my voice may be heard in farthest Mardi, though I
abide in narrow Willamilla. My sire! my sire! Ye flying
clouds, what look ye down upon? Tell me, what ye
see abroad? Methinks sweet spices breathe from out the
cave.”
“Hail, Donjalolo, King of Juam,” now sounded with
acclamations from the groves.
Starting, the young prince beheld a multitude approaching:
warriors with spears, and maidens with flowers; and
Kubla, a priest, lifting on high the tasseled girdle of Teei,
and waving it toward him.
The young chiefs fell back. Kubla, advancing, came close
to the prince, and unclasping the badge of royalty, exclaimed,
“Donjalolo, this instant it is king or subject with
thee: wilt thou be girdled monarch?”
Gazing one moment up the dark defile, then staring vacantly,
Donjalolo turned and met the eager gaze of Darfi.
Stripping off his mantle, the next instant he was a king.
Loud shouted the multitude, and exulted; but after mutely
assisting at the closing of the cavern, the new-girdled
monarch retired sadly to his dwelling, and was not seen
again for many days.
-- -- p275-268
CHAPTER LXXIII. SOMETHING MORE OF THE PRINCE.
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Previous to recording our stay in his dominions, it only
remains to be related of Donjalolo, that after assuming the
girdle, a change came over him.
During the lifetime of his father, he had been famed for
his temperance and discretion. But when Mardi was forever
shut out; and he remembered the law of his isle,
interdicting abdication to its kings; he gradually fell into
desperate courses, to drown the emotions at times distracting
him.
His generous spirit thirsting after some energetic career,
found itself narrowed down within the little glen of Willamilla,
where ardent impulses seemed idle. But these are
hard to die; and repulsed all round, recoil upon themselves.
So with Donjalolo; who, in many a riotous scene, wasted
the powers which might have compassed the noblest designs.
Not many years had elapsed since the death of the king,
his father. But the still youthful prince was no longer the
bright-eyed and elastic boy who at the dawn of day had
sallied out to behold the landscapes of the neighboring isles.
Not more effeminate Sardanapalus, than he. And, at
intervals, he was the victim of unaccountable vagaries;
haunted by specters, and beckoned to by the ghosts of his
sires.
At times, loathing his vicious pursuits, which brought him
no solid satisfaction, but ever filled him with final disgust,
he would resolve to amend his ways; solacing himself for
his bitter captivity, by the society of the wise and discreet.
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But brief the interval of repentance. Anew, he burst into
excesses, a hundred fold more insane than ever.
Thus vacillating between virtue and vice; to neither
constant, and upbraided by both; his mind, like his person
in the glen, was continually passing and repassing between
opposite extremes.
-- -- p275-270
CHAPTER LXXIV. ADVANCING DEEPER INTO THE VALE, THEY ENCOUNTER DONJALOLO.
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From the mouth of the cavern, a broad shaded way over-arched
by fraternal trees embracing in mid-air, conducted us
to a cross-path, on either hand leading to the opposite cliffs,
shading the twin villages before mentioned.
Level as a meadow, was the bosom of the glen. Here,
nodding with green orchards of the Bread-fruit and the
Palm; there, flashing with golden plantations of the Banana.
Emerging from these, we came out upon a grassy
mead, skirting a projection of the mountain. And soon we
crossed a bridge of boughs, spanning a trench, thickly planted
with roots of the Tara, like alligators, or Hollanders, reveling
in the soft alluvial. Strolling on, the wild beauty of
the mountains excited our attention. The topmost crags
poured over with vines; which, undulating in the air, seemed
leafy cascades; their sources the upland groves.
Midway up the precipice, along a shelf of rock, sprouted
the multitudinous roots of an apparently trunkless tree.
Shooting from under the shallow soil, they spread all over
the rocks below, covering them with an intricate net-work.
While far aloft, great boughs—each a copse—clambered to
the very summit of the mountain; then bending over,
struck anew into the soil; forming along the verge an
interminable colonnade; all manner of antic architecture
standing against the sky.
According to Mohi, this tree was truly wonderful; its
seed having been dropped from the moon; where were
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plenty more similar forests, causing the dark spots on its
surface.
Here and there, the cool fluid in the veins of the mountains
gushed forth in living springs; their waters received
in green mossy tanks, half buried in grasses.
In one place, a considerable stream, bounding far out
from a wooded height, ere reaching the ground was dispersed
in a wide misty shower, falling so far from the base
of the cliff, that walking close underneath, you felt little
moisture. Passing this fall of vapors, we spied many
Islanders taking a bath.
But what is yonder swaying of the foliage? And what
now issues forth, like a habitation astir? Donjalolo drawing
nigh to his guests.
He came in a fair sedan; a bower, resting upon three
long, parallel poles, borne by thirty men, gayly attired;
five at each pole-end. Decked with dyed tappas, and looped
with garlands of newly-plucked flowers, from which, at
every step, the fragrant petals were blown; with a sumptuous,
elastic motion the gay sedan came on; leaving behind
it a long, rosy wake of fluttering leaves and odors.
Drawing near, it revealed a slender, enervate youth, of
pallid beauty, reclining upon a crimson mat, near the festooned
arch of the bower. His anointed head was resting
against the bosom of a girl; another stirred the air, with a
fan of Pintado plumes. The pupils of his eyes were as
floating isles in the sea. In a soft low tone he murmured
“Media!”
The bearers paused; and Media advancing, the Island
Kings bowed their foreheads together.
Through tubes ignited at the end, Donjalolo's reclining
attendants now blew an aromatic incense around him.
These were composed of the stimulating leaves of the
“Aina,” mixed with the long yellow blades of a sweet-scented
upland grass; forming a hollow stem. In general,
the agreeable fumes of the “Aina” were created by one's
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own inhalations; but Donjalolo deeming the solace too
dearly purchased by any exertion of the royal lungs, regaled
himself through those of his attendants, whose lips were as
moss-rose buds after a shower.
In silence the young prince now eyed us attentively;
meanwhile gently waving his hand, to obtain a better view
through the wreaths of vapor. He was about to address
us, when chancing to catch a glimpse of Samoa, he suddenly
started; averted his glance; and wildly commanded the
warrior out of sight. Upon this, his attendants would have
soothed him; and Media desired the Upoluan to withdraw.
While we were yet lost in wonder at this scene, Donjalolo,
with eyes closed, fell back into the arms of his damsels.
Recovering, he fetched a deep sigh, and gazed
vacantly around.
It seems, that he had fancied Samoa the noon-day specter
of his ancestor Marjora; the usurper having been deprived
of an arm in the battle which gained him the girdle. Poor
prince: this was one of those crazy conceits, so puzzling to
his subjects.
Media now hastened to assure Donjalolo, that Samoa,
though no cherub to behold, was good flesh and blood,
nevertheless. And soon the king unconcernedly gazed; his
monomania having departed as a dream.
But still suffering from the effects of an overnight feast,
he presently murmured forth a desire to be left to his women;
adding that his people would not fail to provide for the
entertainment of his guests.
The curtains of the sedan were now drawn; and soon it
disappeared in the groves. Journeying on, ere long we arrived
at the western side of the glen; where one of the
many little arbors scattered among the trees, was assigned
for our abode. Here, we reclined to an agreeable repast.
After which, we strolled forth to view the valley at large;
more especially the far-famed palaces of the prince.
-- -- p275-273
CHAPTER LXXV. TIME AND TEMPLES.
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In the oriental Pilgrimage of the pious old Purchas, and
in the fine old folio Voyages of Hakluyt, Thevenot, Ramusio,
and De Bry, we read of many glorious old Asiatic
temples, very long in erecting. And veracious Gaudentia
di Lucca hath a wondrous narration of the time consumed
in rearing that mighty three-hundred-and-seventy-five-pillared
Temple of the Year, somewhere beyond Libya; whereof,
the columns did signify days, and all round fronted upon
concentric zones of palaces, cross-cut by twelve grand avenues
symbolizing the signs of the zodiac, all radiating from
the sun-dome in their midst. And in that wild eastern tale
of his, Marco Polo tells us, how the Great Mogul began
him a pleasure-palace on so imperial a scale, that his grandson
had much ado to complete it.
But no matter for marveling all this: great towers take
time to construct.
And so of all else.
And that which long endures full-fledged, must have long
lain in the germ. And duration is not of the future, but
of the past; and eternity is eternal, because it has been;
and though a strong new monument be builded to-day, it
only is lasting because its blocks are old as the sun. It is
not the Pyramids that are ancient, but the eternal granite
whereof they are made; which had been equally ancient
though yet in the quarry. For to make an eternity, we
must build with eternities; whence, the vanity of the cry
for any thing alike durable and new; and the folly of the
reproach—Your granite hath come from the old-fashioned
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hills. For we are not gods and creators; and the controversialists
have debated, whether indeed the All-Plastic
Power itself can do more than mold. In all the universe
is but one original; and the very suns must to their source
for their fire; and we Prometheuses must to them for ours;
which, when had, only perpetual Vestal tending will keep
alive.
But let us back from fire to stone. No fine firm fabric ever
yet grew like a gourd. Nero's House of Gold was not raised
in a day; nor the Mexican House of the Sun; nor the Alhambra;
nor the Escurial; nor Titus's Amphitheater; nor
the Illinois Mounds; nor Diana's great columns at Ephesus;
nor Pompey's proud Pillar; nor the Parthenon; nor the
Altar of Belus; nor Stonehenge; nor Solomon's Temple;
nor Tadmor's towers; nor Susa's bastions; nor Persepolis'
pediments. Round and round, the Moorish turret at Seville
was not wound heavenward in the revolution of a day; and
from its first founding, five hundred years did circle, ere
Strasbourg's great spire lifted its five hundred feet into the
air. No: nor were the great grottos of Elephanta hewn
out in an hour; nor did the Troglodytes dig Kentucky's
Mammoth Cave in a sun; nor that of Trophonius, nor
Antiparos; nor the Giant's Causeway. Nor were the subterranean
arched sewers of Etruria channeled in a trice;
nor the airy arched aqueducts of Nerva thrown over their
vallies in the ides of a month. Nor was Virginia's Natural
Bridge worn under in a year; nor, in geology, were the
eternal Grampians upheaved in an age. And who shall
count the cycles that revolved ere earth's interior sedimentary
strata were crystalized into stone. Nor Peak of Piko,
nor Teneriffe, were chiseled into obelisks in a decade; nor
had Mount Athos been turned into Alexander's statue so
soon. And the bower of Artaxerxes took a whole Persian summer
to grow; and the Czar's Ice Palace a long Muscovite
winter to congeal. No, no: nor was the Pyramid of Cheops
masoned in a month; though, once built, the sands left by the
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deluge might not have submerged such a pile. Nor were
the broad boughs of Charles' Oak grown in a spring; though
they outlived the royal dynasties of Tudor and Stuart.
Nor were the parts of the great Iliad put together in
haste; though old Homer's temple shall lift up its dome,
when St. Peter's is a legend. Even man himself lives
months ere his Maker deems him fit to be born; and ere his
proud shaft gains its full stature, twenty-one long Julian
years must elapse. And his whole mortal life brings not
his immortal soul to maturity; nor will all eternity perfect
him. Yea, with uttermost reverence, as to human understanding,
increase of dominion seems increase of power;
and day by day new planets are being added to elder-born
Saturns, even as six thousand years ago our own Earth made
one more in this system; so, in incident, not in essence, may
the Infinite himself be not less than more infinite now, than
when old Aldebaran rolled forth from his hand. And if
time was, when this round Earth, which to innumerable
mortals has seemed an empire never to be wholly explored;
which, in its seas, concealed all the Indies over four thousand
five hundred years; if time was, when this great quarry of
Assyrias and Romes was not extant; then, time may have
been, when the whole material universe lived its Dark Ages;
yea, when the Ineffable Silence, proceeding from its unimaginable
remoteness, espied it as an isle in the sea. And
herein is no derogation. For the Immeasurable's altitude is
not heightened by the arches of Mahomet's heavens; and
were all space a vacuum, yet would it be a fullness; for to
Himself His own universe is He.
Thus deeper and deeper into Time's endless tunnel, does
the winged soul, like a night-hawk, wend her wild way;
and finds eternities before and behind; and her last limit is
her everlasting beginning.
But sent over the broad flooded sphere, even Noah's dove
came back, and perched on his hand. So comes back my
spirit to me, and folds up her wings.
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Thus, then, though Time be the mightiest of Alarics,
yet is he the mightiest mason of all. And a tutor, and a
counselor, and a physician, and a scribe, and a poet, and a
sage, and a king.
Yea, and a gardener, as ere long will be shown.
But first must we return to the glen.
-- -- p275-277
CHAPTER LXXVI. A PLEASANT PLACE FOR A LOUNGE.
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Whether the hard condition of their kingly state, very
naturally demanding some luxurious requital, prevailed upon
the monarchs of Juam to house themselves so delightfully as
they did; whether buried alive in their glen, they sought to
center therein a secret world of enjoyment; however it may
have been, throughout the Archipelago this saying was a
proverb—“You are lodged like the king in Willamilla.”
Hereby was expressed the utmost sumptuousness of a palace.
A well warranted saying; for of all the bright places,
where my soul loves to linger, the haunts of Donjalolo are
most delicious.
In the eastern quarter of the glen was the House of the
Morning. This fanciful palace was raised upon a natural
mound, many rods square, almost completely filling up a
deep recess between deep-green and projecting cliffs, overlooking
many abodes distributed in the shadows of the groves
beyond.
Now, if it indeed be, that from the time employed in its
construction, any just notion may be formed of the stateliness
of an edifice, it must needs be determined, that this retreat
of Donjalolo could not be otherwise than imposing.
Full five hundred moons was the palace in completing;
for by some architectural arborist, its quadrangular foundations
had been laid in seed-cocoanuts, requiring that period
to sprout up into pillars. In front, these were horizontally
connected, by elaborately carved beams, of a scarlet hue,
inserted into the vital wood; which, swelling out, and
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over-lapping, firmly secured them. The beams supported the
rafters, inclining from the rear; while over the aromatic
grasses covering the roof, waved the tufted tops of the Palms,
green capitals to their dusky shafts.
Through and through this vibrating verdure, bright birds
flitted and sang; the scented and variegated thatch seemed
a hanging-garden; and between it and the Palm tops, was
leaf-hung an arbor in the air.
Without these columns, stood a second and third colonnade,
forming the most beautiful bowers; advancing through
which, you fancied that the palace beyond must be chambered
in a fountain, or frozen in a crystal. Three sparkling
rivulets flowing from the heights were led across its summit,
through great trunks half buried in the thatch; and emptying
into a sculptured channel, running along the eaves,
poured over in one wide sheet, plaited and transparent.
Received into a basin beneath, they were thence conducted
down the vale.
The sides of the palace were hedged by Diomi bushes
bearing a flower, from its perfume, called Lenora, or Sweet
Breath; and within these odorous hedges, were heavy piles
of mats, richly dyed and embroidered.
Here lounging of a glowing noon, the plaited cascade
playing, the verdure waving, and the birds melodious, it
was hard to say, whether you were an inmate of a garden
in the glen, or a grotto in the sea.
But enough for the nonce, of the House of the Morning.
Cross we the hollow, to the House of the Afternoon.
-- -- p275-279
CHAPTER LXXVII. THE HOUSE OF THE AFTERNOON.
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For the most part, the House of the Afternoon was but
a wing built against a mansion wrought by the hand of Nature
herself; a grotto running into the side of the mountain.
From high over the month of this grotto, sloped a long
arbor, supported by great blocks of stone, rudely chiseled into
the likeness of idols, each bearing a carved lizard on its chest:
a sergeant's guard of the gods condescendingly doing duty as
posts.
From the grotto thus vestibuled, issued hilariously forth
the most considerable stream of the glen; which, seemingly
overjoyed to find daylight in Willamilla, sprang into the
arbor with a cheery, white bound. But its youthful enthusiasm
was soon repressed; its waters being caught in a large
stone basin, scooped out of the natural rock; whence, staid
and decorous, they traversed sundry moats; at last meandering
away, to join floods with the streams trained to do
service at the other end of the vale.
Truant streams: the livelong day wending their loitering
path to the subterraneous outlet, flowing into which, they
disappeared. But no wonder they loitered; passing such
ravishing landscapes. Thus with life: man bounds out of
night; runs and babbles in the sun; then returns to his
darkness again; though, peradventure, once more to emerge.
But the grotto was not a mere outlet to the stream.
Flowing through a dark flume in the rock, on both sides it
left a dry, elevated shelf, to which you ascend from the
arbor by three artificially-wrought steps, sideways disposed,
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to avoid the spray of the rejoicing cataract. Mounting
these, and pursuing the edge of the flume, the grotto gradually
expands and heightens; your way lighted by rays in
the inner distance. At last you come to a lofty subterraneous
dome, lit from above by a cleft in the mountain;
while full before you, in the opposite wall, from a low,
black arch, midway up, and inaccessible, the stream, with a
hollow ring and a dash, falls in a long, snowy column into
a bottomless pool, whence, after many an eddy and whirl, it
entered the flume, and away with a rush. Half hidden
from view by an overhanging brow of the rock, the white
fall looked like the sheeted ghost of the grotto.
Yet gallantly bedecked was the cave, as any old armorial
hall hung round with banners and arras. Streaming from
the cleft, vines swung in the air; or crawled along the
rocks, wherever a tendril could be fixed. High up, their
leaves were green; but lower down, they were shriveled;
and dyed of many colors; and tattered and torn with
much rustling; as old banners again; sore raveled with
much triumphing.
In the middle of this hall in the hill was incarcerated
the stone image of one Demi, the tutelar deity of Willamilla.
All green and oozy like a stone under water, poor
Demi looked as if sore harassed with sciatics and lumbagos.
But he was cheered from aloft, by the promise of receiving
a garland all blooming on his crown; the Dryads sporting
in the woodlands above, forever peeping down the cleft,
and essaying to drop him a coronal.
Now, the still, panting glen of Willamilla, nested so
close by the mountains, and a goodly green mark for the
archer in the sun, would have been almost untenable were
it not for the grotto. Hereby, it breathed the blessed
breezes of Omi; a mountain promontory buttressing the
island to the east, receiving the cool stream of the upland
Trades; much pleasanter than the currents beneath.
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At all times, even in the brooding noon-day, a gush of
cool air came hand-in-hand with the cool waters, that burst
with a shout into the palace of Donjalolo. And as, after
first refreshing the king, as in loyalty bound, the stream
flowed at large through the glen, and bathed its verdure;
so, the blessed breezes of Omi, not only made pleasant the
House of the Afternoon; but finding ample outlet in its
wide, open front, blew forth upon the bosom of all
Willamilla.
“Come let us take the air of Omi,” was a very common
saying in the glen. And the speaker would hie with his
comrade toward the grotto; and flinging himself on the
turf, pass his hand through his locks, and recline; making
a joy and a business of breathing; for truly the breezes of
Omi were as air-wine to the lungs.
Yet was not this breeze over-cool; though at times the
zephyrs grew boisterous. Especially at the season of high
sea, when the strong Trades drawn down the cleft in the
mountain, rushed forth from the grotto with wonderful
force. Crossing it then, you had much ado to keep your
robe on your back.
Thus much for the House of the Afternoon. Whither—
after spending the shady morning under the eastern cliffs of
the glen—daily, at a certain hour, Donjalolo in his palanquin
was borne; there, finding new shades; and there tarrying
till evening; when again he was transported whence
he came: thereby anticipating the revolution of the sun.
Thus dodging day's luminary through life, the prince hied
to and fro in his dominions; on his smooth, spotless brow
Sol's rays never shining.
-- -- p275-282
CHAPTER LXXVIII. BABBALANJA SOLUS.
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Of the House of the Afternoon something yet remains
to be said.
It was chiefly distinguished by its pavement, where,
according to the strange customs of the isle, were inlaid
the reputed skeletons of Donjalolo's sires; each surrounded
by a mosaic of corals,—red, white, and black, intermixed
with vitreous stones fallen from the skies in a meteoric
shower. These delineated the tattooing of the departed.
Near by, were imbedded their arms: mace, bow, and spear,
in similar marquetry; and over each skull was the likeness
of a scepter.
First and conspicuous lay the half-decayed remains of
Marjora, the father of these Coral Kings; by his side, the
storied, sickle-shaped weapon, wherewith he slew his brother
Teei.
“Line of kings and row of scepters,” said Babbalanja as
he gazed. “Donjalolo, come forth and ponder on thy
sires. Here they lie, from dread Marjora down to him who
fathered thee. Here are their bones, their spears, and their
javelins; their scepters, and the very fashion of their tattooing:
all that can be got together of what they were.
Tell me, oh king, what are thy thoughts? Dotest thou on
these thy sires? Art thou more truly royal, that they
were kings? Or more a man, that they were men? Is
it a fable, or a verity about Marjora and the murdered
Teei? But here is the mighty conqueror,—ask him.
Speak to him: son to sire: king to king. Prick him;
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beg; buffet; entreat; spurn; split the globe, he will not
budge. Walk over and over thy whole ancestral line, and
they will not start. They are not here. Ay, the dead
are not to be found, even in their graves. Nor have they
simply departed; for they willed not to go; they died not
by choice; whithersoever they have gone, thither have they
been dragged; and if so be, they are extinct, their nihilities
went not more against their grain, than their forced quitting
of Mardi. Either way, something has become of them
that they sought not. Truly, had stout-hearted Marjora
sworn to live here in Willamilla for ay, and kept the vow,
that would have been royalty indeed; but here he lies.
Marjora! rise! Juam revolteth! Lo, I stamp upon thy
scepter; base menials tread upon thee where thou liest!
Up, king, up! What? no reply? Are not these bones
thine? Oh, how the living triumph over the dead! Marjora!
answer. Art thou? or art thou not? I see thee
not; I hear thee not; I feel thee not; eyes, ears, hands,
are worthless to test thy being; and if thou art, thou art
something beyond all human thought to compass. We must
have other faculties to know thee by. Why, thou art not
even a sightless sound; not the echo of an echo; here are
thy bones. Donjalolo, methinks I see thee fallen upon by
assassins:—which of thy fathers riseth to the rescue? I
see thee dying:—which of them telleth thee what cheer
beyond the grave? But they have gone to the land unknown.
Meet phrase. Where is it? Not one of Oro's
priests telleth a straight story concerning it; 'twill be hard
finding their paradises. Touching the life of Alma, in
Mohi's chronicles, 'tis related, that a man was once raised
from the tomb. But rubbed he not his eyes, and stared he
not most vacantly? Not one revelation did he make.
Ye gods! to have been a bystander there!
“At best, 'tis but a hope. But will a longing bring the thing
desired? Doth dread avert its object? An instinct is no preservative.
The fire I shrink from, may consume me.—But
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dead, and yet alive; alive, yet dead;—thus say the sages of
Maramma. But die we then living? Yet if our dead fathers
somewhere and somehow live, why not our unborn sons? For
backward or forward, eternity is the same; already have we
been the nothing we dread to be. Icy thought! But
bring it home,—it will not stay. What ho, hot heart of
mine: to beat thus lustily awhile, to feel in the red rushing
blood, and then be ashes,—can this be so? But peace,
peace, thou liar in me, telling me I am immortal—shall I
not be as these bones? To come to this! But the balsamdropping
palms, whose boles run milk, whose plumes wave
boastful in the air, they perish in their prime, and bow
their blasted trunks. Nothing abideth; the river of yesterday
floweth not to-day; the sun's rising is a setting; living
is dying; the very mountains melt; and all revolve:—systems
and asteroids; the sun wheels through the zodiac, and
the zodiac is a revolution. Ah gods! in all this universal
stir, am I to prove one stable thing?
“Grim chiefs in skeletons, avaunt! Ye are but dust;
belike the dust of beggars; for on this bed, paupers may lie
down with kings, and filch their skulls. This, great Marjora's
arm? No, some old paralytic's. Ye, kings? ye,
men? Where are your vouchers? I do reject your brotherhood,
ye libelous remains. But no, no; despise them not,
oh Babbalanja! Thy own skeleton, thou thyself dost carry
with thee, through this mortal life; and aye would view it,
but for kind nature's screen; thou art death alive; and
e'en to what's before thee wilt thou come. Ay, thy children's
children will walk over thee: thou, voiceless as a
calm.”
And over the Coral Kings, Babbalanja paced in profound
meditation.
-- -- p275-285
CHAPTER LXXIX. THE CENTER OF MANY CIRCUMFERENCES.
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Like Donjalolo himself, we hie to and fro; for back now
must we pace to the House of the Morning.
In its rear, there diverged three separate arbors, leading
to less public apartments.
Traversing the central arbor, and fancying it will soon
lead you to open ground, you suddenly come upon the most
private retreat of the prince: a square structure; plain as a
pyramid; and without, as inscrutable. Down to the very
ground, its walls are thatched; but on the farther side a
passage-way opens, which you enter. But not yet are you
within. Scarce a yard distant, stands an inner thatched
wall, blank as the first. Passing along the intervening corridor,
lighted by narrow apertures, you reach the opposite
side, and a second opening is revealed. This entering,
another corridor; lighted as the first, but more dim, and a
third blank wall. And thus, three times three, you worm
round and round, the twilight lessening as you proceed; until
at last, you enter the citadel itself: the innermost arbor
of a nest; whereof, each has its roof, distinct from the rest.
The heart of the place is but small; illuminated by a
range of open sky-lights, downward contracting.
Innumerable as the leaves of an endless folio, multitudinous
mats cover the floor; whereon reclining by night, like
Pharaoh on the top of his patrimonial pile, the inmate looks
heavenward, and heavenward only; gazing at the torch-light
processions in the skies, when, in state, the suns march
to be crowned.
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And here, in this impenetrable retreat, centrally slumbered
the universe-rounded, zodiac-belted, horizon-zoned, sea-girt,
reef-sashed, mountain-locked, arbor-nested, royalty-girdled,
arm-clasped, self-hugged, indivisible Donjalolo, absolute
monarch of Juam:—the husk-inhusked meat in a nut; the
innermost spark in a ruby; the juice-nested seed in a golden-rinded
orange; the red royal stone in an effeminate peach;
the insphered sphere of spheres.
-- -- p275-287
CHAPTER LXXX. DONJALOLO IN THE BOSOM OF HIS FAMILY.
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To pretend to relate the manner in which Juam's ruler
passed his captive days, without making suitable mention
of his harem, would be to paint one's full-length likeness
and omit the face. For it was his harem that did much
to stamp the character of Donjalolo.
And had he possessed but a single spouse, most discourteous,
surely, to have overlooked the princess; much more,
then, as it is; and by how much the more, a plurality exceeds
a unit.
Exclusive of the female attendants, by day waiting upon the
person of the king, he had wives thirty in number, corresponding
in name to the nights of the moon. For, in Juam, time is
not reckoned by days, but by nights; each night of the lunar
month having its own designation; which, relatively only,
is extended to the day.
In uniform succession, the thirty wives ruled queen of
the king's heart. An arrangement most wise and judicious;
precluding much of that jealousy and confusion prevalent in
ill-regulated seraglios. For as thirty spouses must be either
more desirable, or less desirable than one; so is a harem
thirty times more difficult to manage than an establishment
with one solitary mistress. But Donjalolo's wives were so
nicely drilled, that for the most part, things went on very
smoothly. Nor were his brows much furrowed with wrinkles
referable to domestic cares and tribulations. Although,
as in due time will be seen, from these he was not altogether
exempt.
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Now, according to Braid-Beard, who, among other abstruse
political researches, had accurately informed himself
concerning the internal administration of Donjalolo's harem,
the following was the method pursued therein.
On the Aquella, or First Night of the month, the queen
of that name assumes her diadem, and reigns. So too with
Azzolino the Second, and Velluvi the Third Night of the
Moon; and so on, even unto the utter eclipse thereof;
through Calends, Nones, and Ides.
For convenience, the king is furnished with a card,
whereon are copied the various ciphers upon the arms of
his queens; and parallel thereto, the hieroglyphics significant
of the corresponding Nights of the month. Glancing
over this, Donjalolo predicts the true time of the rising and
setting of all his stars.
This Moon of wives was lodged in two spacious seraglios,
which few mortals beheld. For, so deeply were they buried
in a grove; so overpowered with verdure; so overrun with
vines; and so hazy with the incense of flowers; that they
were almost invisible, unless closely approached. Certain
it was, that it demanded no small enterprise, diligence, and
sagacity, to explore the mysterious wood in search of them.
Though a strange, sweet, humming sound, as of the clustering
and swarming of warm bees among roses, at last hinted
the royal honey at hand. High in air, toward the summit
of the cliff, overlooking this side of the glen, a narrow
ledge of rocks might have been seen, from which, rumor
whispered, was to be caught an angular peep at the tip of
the apex of the roof of the nearest seraglio. But this
wild report had never been established. Nor, indeed, was
it susceptible of a test. For was not that rock inaccessible
as the eyrie of young eagles? But to guard against the
possibility of any visual profanation, Donjalolo had authorized
an edict, forever tabooing that rock to foot of man or
pinion of fowl. Birds and bipeds both trembled and obeyed;
taking a wide circuit to avoid the spot.
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Access to the seraglios was had by corresponding arbors
leading from the palace. The seraglio to the right was
denominated “Ravi” (Before), that to the left “Zono”
(After). The meaning of which was, that upon the termination
of her reign the queen wended her way to the Zono;
there tarrying with her predecessors till the Ravi was
emptied; when the entire Moon of wives, swallow-like,
migrated back whence they came; and the procession was
gone over again.
In due order, the queens reposed upon mats inwoven with
their respective ciphers. In the Ravi, the mat of the
queen-apparent, or next in succession, was spread by the
portal. In the Zono, the newly-widowed queen reposed
furthest from it.
But alas for all method where thirty wives are concerned.
Notwithstanding these excellent arrangements, the
mature result of ages of progressive improvement in the
economy of the royal seraglios in Willamilla, it must needs
be related, that at times the order of precedence became
confused, and was very hard to restore.
At intervals, some one of the wives was weeded out, to
the no small delight of the remainder; but to their equal
vexation her place would soon after be supplied by some
beautiful stranger; who assuming the denomination of the
vacated Night of the Moon, thenceforth commenced her
monthly revolutions in the king's infallible calendar.
In constant attendance, was a band of old men; woe-begone,
thin of leg, and puny of frame; whose grateful
task it was, to tarry in the garden of Donjalolo's delights,
without ever touching the roses. Along with innumerable
other duties, they were perpetually kept coming and going
upon ten thousand errands; for they had it in strict charge
to obey the slightest behests of the damsels; and with all
imaginable expedition to run, fly, swim, or dissolve into impalpable
air, at the shortest possible notice.
So laborious their avocations, that none could discharge
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them for more than a twelvemonth, at the end of that
period giving up the ghost out of pure exhaustion of the
locomotive apparatus. It was this constant drain upon the
stock of masculine old age in the glen, that so bethinned
its small population of gray-beards and hoary-heads. And
any old man hitherto exempted, who happened to receive a
summons to repair to the palace, and there wait the pleasure
of the king: this unfortunate, at once suspecting his
doom, put his arbor in order; oiled and suppled his joints;
took a long farewell of his friends; selected his burial-place;
and going resigned to his fate, in due time expired
like the rest.
Had any one of them cast about for some alleviating circumstance,
he might possibly have derived some little consolation
from the thought, that though a slave to the whims
of thirty princesses, he was nevertheless one of their guardians,
and as such, he might ingeniously have concluded, their
superior. But small consolation this. For the damsels
were as blithe as larks, more playful than kittens; never
looking sad and sentimental, projecting clandestine escapes.
But supplied with the thirtieth part of all that Aspasia
could desire; glorying in being the spouses of a king; nor
in the remotest degree anxious about eventual dowers;
they were care-free, content, and rejoicing, as the rays of
the morning.
Poor old men, then; it would be hard to distill out of
your fate, one drop of the balm of consolation. For, commissioned
to watch over those who forever kept you on the
trot, affording you no time to hunt up peccadilloes; was
not this circumstance an aggravation of hard times? a
sharpening and edge-giving to the steel in your souls?
But much yet remains unsaid.
To dwell no more upon the eternal wear-and-tear incident
to these attenuated old warders, they were intensely hated
by the damsels. Inasmuch, as it was archly opined, for
what ulterior purposes they were retained.
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Nightly couching, on guard, round the seraglio, like fangless
old bronze dragons round a fountain enchanted, the old
men ever and anon cried out mightily, by reason of sore
pinches and scratches received in the dark. And tri-trebly-tri-triply
girt about as he was, Donjalolo himself started
from his slumbers, raced round and round through his ten
thousand corridors; at last bursting all dizzy among his
twenty-nine queens, to see what under the seventh-heavens
was the matter. When, lo and behold! there lay the innocents
all sound asleep; the dragons moaning over their
mysterious bruises.
Ah me! his harem, like all large families, was the delight
and the torment of the days and nights of Donjalolo.
And in one special matter was he either eminently miserable,
or otherwise: for all his multiplicity of wives, he
had never an heir. Not his, the proud paternal glance of
the Grand Turk Solyman, looking round upon a hundred
sons, all bone of his bone, and squinting with his squint.
-- -- p275-292
CHAPTER LXXXI. WHEREIN BABBALANJA RELATES THE ADVENTURE OF ONE KARKEKE IN THE LAND OF SHADES.
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At our morning repast on the second day of our stay in
the hollow, our party indulged in much lively discourse.
“Samoa,” said I, “those isles of yours, of whose beauty
you so often make vauntful mention, can those isles, good
Samoa, furnish a valley in all respects equal to Willamilla?”
Disdainful answer was made, that Willamilla might be
endurable enough for a sojourn, but as a permanent abode,
any glen of his own natal isle was unspeakably superior.
“In the great valley of Savaii,” cried Samoa, “for every
leaf grown here in Willamilla, grows a stately tree; and
for every tree here waving, in Savaii flourishes a goodly
warrior.”
Immeasurable was the disgust of the Upoluan for the
enervated subjects of Donjalolo; and for Donjalolo himself;
though it was shrewdly divined, that his annoying reception
at the hands of the royalty of Juam, had something to do
with his disdain.
To Jarl, no similar question was put; for he was sadly
deficient in a taste for the picturesque. But he cursorily
observed, that in his blue-water opinion, Willamilla was
next to uninhabitable, all view of the sea being intercepted.
And here it may be well to relate a comical blunder on
the part of honest Jarl; concerning which, Samoa, the
savage, often afterward twitted him; as indicating a rusticity,
and want of polish in his breeding. It rather originated,
however, in his not heeding the conventionalities of the
strange people among whom he was thrown.
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The anecdote is not an epic; but here it is.
Reclining in our arbor, we breakfasted upon a marble
slab; so frost-white, and flowingly traced with blue veins,
that it seemed a little lake sheeted over with ice: Diana's
virgin bosom congealed.
Before each guest was a richly carved bowl and gourd,
fruit and wine freighted; also the empty hemisphere of a
small nut, the purpose of which was a problem. Now,
King Jarl scorned to admit the slightest degree of underbreeding
in the matter of polite feeding. So nothing was a
problem to him. At once reminded of the morsel of Arvaroot
in his mouth, a substitute for another sort of sedative
then unattainable, he was instantly illuminated concerning
the purpose of the nut; and very complacently introduced
each to the other; in the innocence of his ignorance making
no doubt that he had acquitted himself with discretion; the
little hemisphere plainly being intended as a place of temporary
deposit for the Arva of the guests.
The company were astounded: Samoa more than all.
King Jarl, meanwhile, looking at all present with the utmost
serenity. At length, one of the horrified attendants, using
two sticks for a forceps, disappeared with the obnoxious nut,
Upon which, the meal proceeded.
This attendant was not seen again for many days; which
gave rise to the supposition, that journeying to the sea-side,
he had embarked for some distant strand; there, to bury
out of sight the abomination with which he was freighted.
Upon this, his egregious misadventure, calculated to do
discredit to our party, and bring Media himself into contempt,
Babbalanja had no scruples in taking Jarl roundly to
task. He assured him, that it argued but little brains to
evince a desire to be thought familiar with all things; that
however desirable as incidental attainments, conventionalities,
in themselves, were the very least of arbitrary trifles;
the knowledge of them, innate with no man. “Moreover,
Jarl,” he added, “in essence, conventionalities are but
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mimickings, at which monkeys succeed best. Hence, when you find
yourself at a loss in these matters, wait patiently, and mark
what the other monkeys do: and then follow suit. And by
so doing, you will gain a vast reputation as an accomplished
ape. Above all things, follow not the silly example of the
young spark Karkeke, of whom Mohi was telling me. Dying,
and entering the other world with a mincing gait, and
there finding certain customs quite strange and new; such
as friendly shades passing through each other by way of a
salutation;—Karkeke, nevertheless, resolved to show no sign
of embarrassment. Accosted by a phantom, with wings
folded pensively, plumes interlocked across its chest, he off
head; and stood obsequiously before it. Staring at him for
an instant, the spirit cut him dead; murmuring to itself,
“Ah, some terrestrial bumpkin, I fancy,” and passed on
with its celestial nose in the highly rarified air. But silly
Karkeke undertaking to replace his head, found that it
would no more stay on; but forever tumbled off; even in
the act of nodding a salute; which calamity kept putting
him out of countenance. And thus through all eternity is
he punished for his folly, in having pretended to be wise,
wherein he was ignorant. Head under arm, he wanders
about, the scorn and ridicule of the other world.”
Our repast concluded, messengers arrived from the prince,
courteously inviting our presence at the House of the Morning.
Thither we went; journeying in sedans, sent across
the hollow, for that purpose, by Donjalolo.
-- -- p275-295
CHAPTER LXXXII. HOW DONJALOLO, SENT AGENTS TO THE SURROUNDING ISLES; WITH THE RESULT.
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Ere recounting what was beheld on entering the House
of the Morning, some previous information is needful.
Though so many of Donjalolo's days were consumed by
sloth and luxury, there came to him certain intervals of
thoughtfulness, when all his curiosity concerning the things
of outer Mardi revived with augmented intensity. In these
moods, he would send abroad deputations, inviting to Willamilla
the kings of the neighboring islands; together with
the most celebrated priests, bards, story-tellers, magicians,
and wise men; that he might hear them converse of those
things, which he could not behold for himself.
But at last, he bethought him, that the various narrations
he had heard, could not have been otherwise than unavoidably
faulty; by reason that they had been principally obtained
from the inhabitants of the countries described; who,
very naturally, must have been inclined to partiality or
uncandidness in their statements. Wherefore he had very
lately dispatched to the isles special agents of his own; honest
of heart, keen of eye, and shrewd of understanding; to
seek out every thing that promised to illuminate him concerning
the places they visited, and also to collect various
specimens of interesting objects; so that at last he might
avail himself of the researches of others, and see with their
eyes.
But though two observers were sent to every one of the
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neighboring lands; yet each was to act independently; make
his own inquiries; form his own conclusions; and return
with his own specimens; wholly regardless of the proceedings
of the other.
It so came to pass, that on the very day of our arrival in
the glen, these pilgrims returned from their travels. And
Donjalolo had set apart the following morning to giving them
a grand public reception. And it was to this, that our
party had been invited, as related in the chapter preceding.
In the great Palm-hall of the House of the Morning, we
were assigned distinguished mats, to the right of the prince;
his chiefs, attendants, and subjects assembled in the open
colonnades without.
When all was in readiness, in marched the company of
savans and travelers; and humbly standing in a semi-circle
before the king, their numerous hampers were deposited at
their feet.
Donjalolo was now in high spirits, thinking of the rich
store of reliable information about to be furnished.
“Zuma,” said he, addressing the foremost of the company,
“you and Varnopi were directed to explore the island of
Rafona. Proceed now, and relate all you know of that
place. Your narration heard, we will list to Varnopi.”
With a profound inclination the traveler obeyed.
But soon Donjalolo interrupted him. “What say you,
Zuma, about the secret cavern, and the treasures therein?
A very different account, this, from all I have heard hitherto;
but perhaps yours is the true version. Go on.”
But very soon, poor Zuma was again interrupted by exclamations
of surprise. Nay, even to the very end of his
recountings.
But when he had done, Donjalolo observed, that if from
any cause Zuma was in error or obscure, Varnopi would not
fail to set him right.
So Varnopi was called upon.
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But not long had Varnopi proceeded, when Donjalolo
changed color.
“What!” he exclaimed, “will ye contradict each other
before our very face. Oh Oro! how hard is truth to be
come at by proxy! Fifty accounts have I had of Rafona;
none of which wholly agreed; and here, these two varlets,
sent expressly to behold and report, these two lying knaves,
speak crookedly both. How is it? Are the lenses in their
eyes diverse-hued, that objects seem different to both; for
undeniable is it, that the things they thus clashingly speak
of are to be known for the same; though represented with
unlike colors and qualities. But dumb things can not lie
nor err. Unpack thy hampers, Zuma. Here, bring them
close: now: what is this?”
“That,” tremblingly replied Zuma, “is a specimen of the
famous reef-bar on the west side of the island of Rafona;
your highness perceives its deep red dyes.”
Said Donjalolo, “Varnopi, hast thou a piece of this coral,
also?”
“I have, your highness,” said Varnopi; “here it is.”
Taking it from his hand, Donjalolo gazed at its bleached,
white hue; then dashing it to the pavement, “Oh mighty
Oro! Truth dwells in her fountains; where every one
must drink for himself. For me, vain all hope of ever
knowing Mardi! Away! Better know nothing, than be
deceived. Break up!”
And Donjalolo rose, and retired.
All present now broke out in a storm of vociferations;
some siding with Zuma; others with Varnopi; each of
whom, in turn, was declared the man to be relied upon.
Marking all this, Babbalanja, who had been silently looking
on, leaning against one of the palm pillars, quietly observed
to Media:—“My lord, I have seen this same reef at
Rafona. In various places, it is of various hues. As for
Zuma and Varnopi, both are wrong, and both are right.”
-- -- p275-298
CHAPTER LXXXIII. THEY VISIT THE TRIBUTARY ISLETS.
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In Willamilla, no Yillah being found, on the third day
we took leave of Donjalolo; who lavished upon us many
caresses; and, somewhat reluctantly on Media's part, we
quitted the vale,
One by one, we now visited the outer villages of Juam;
and crossing the waters, wandered several days among its
tributary isles. There we saw the viceroys of him who
reigned in the hollow: chieftains of whom Donjalolo was
proud; so honest, humble, and faithful; so bent upon ameliorating
the condition of those under their rule. For, be
it said, Donjalolo was a charitable prince; in his serious
intervals, ever seeking the welfare of his subjects, though
after an imperial view of his own. But alas, in that sunny
donjon among the mountains, where he dwelt, how could
Donjalolo be sure, that the things he decreed were executed
in regions forever remote from his view. Ah! very bland,
very innocent, very pious, the faces his viceroys presented
during their monthly visits to Willamilla. But as cruel
their visage, when, returned to their islets, they abandoned
themselves to all the license of tyrants; like Verres reveling
down the rights of the Sicilians.
Like Carmelites, they came to Donjalolo, barefooted; but
in their homes, their proud latchets were tied by their slaves.
Before their king-belted prince, they stood rope-girdled like
self-abased monks of St. Francis; but with those ropes, before
their palaces, they hung Innocence and Truth.
As still seeking Yillah, and still disappointed, we roved
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through the lands which these chieftains ruled, Babbalanja
exclaimed—“Let us depart; idle our search, in isles that
have viceroys for kings.”
At early dawn, about embarking for a distant land, there
came to us certain messengers of Donjalolo, saying that their
lord the king, repenting of so soon parting company with
Media and Taji, besought them to return with all haste;
for that very morning, in Willamilla, a regal banquet was
preparing; to which many neighboring kings had been invited,
most of whom had already arrived.
Declaring that there was no alternative but compliance,
Media acceded; and with the king's messengers we returned
to the glen.
-- -- p275-300
CHAPTER LXXXIV. TAJI SITS DOWN TO DINNER WITH FIVE-AND-TWENTY KINGS, AND A ROYAL TIME THEY HAVE.
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It was afternoon when we emerged from the defile. And
informed that our host was receiving his guests in the House
of the Afternoon, thither we directed our steps.
Soft in our face, blew the blessed breezes of Omi, stirring
the leaves overhead; while, here and there, through the
trees, showed the idol-bearers of the royal retreat, hand in
hand, linked with festoons of flowers. Still beyond, on a
level, sparkled the nodding crowns of the kings, like the constellation
Corona-Borealis, the horizon just gained.
Close by his noon-tide friend, the cascade at the mouth
of the grotto, reposed on his crimson mat, Donjalolo:—arrayed
in a vestment of the finest white tappa of Mardi, figured
all over with bright yellow lizards, so curiously stained
in the gauze, that he seemed overrun, as with golden mice.
Marjora's girdle girdled his loins, tasseled with the congregated
teeth of his sires. A jeweled turban-tiara, milk-white,
surmounted his brow, over which waved a copse of
Pintado plumes.
But what sways in his hand? A scepter, similar to
those likenesses of scepters, imbedded among the corals at
his feet. A polished thigh-bone; by Braid-Beard declared
once Teei's the Murdered. For to emphasize his intention
utterly to rule, Marjora himself had selected this emblem of
dominion over mankind.
But even this last despite done to dead Teei had once
been transcended. In the usurper's time, prevailed the
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belief, that the saliva of kings must never touch ground; and
Mohi's Chronicles made mention, that during the life time
of Marjora, Teei's skull had been devoted to the basest of
purposes: Marjora's, the hate no turf could bury.
Yet, traditions like these ever seem dubious. There be
many who deny the hump, moral and physical, of Gloster
Richard.
Still advancing unperceived, in social hilarity we descried
their Highnesses, chatting together like the most plebeian of
mortals; full as merry as the monks of old. But marking
our approach, all changed. A pair of potentates, who
had been playfully trifling, hurriedly adjusted their diadems,
threw themselves into attitudes, looking stately as statues.
Phidias turned not out his Jupiter so soon.
In various-dyed robes the five-and-twenty kings were arrayed;
and various their features, as the rows of lips, eyes
and ears in John Caspar Lavater's physiognomical charts.
Nevertheless, to a king, all their noses were aquiline.
There were long fox-tail beards of silver gray, and enameled
chins, like those of girls; bald pates and Merovingian
locks; smooth brows and wrinkles: forms erect and stooping;
an eye that squinted; one king was deaf; by his side,
another that was halt; and not far off, a dotard. They
were old and young, tall and short, handsome and ugly, fat
and lean, cunning and simple.
With animated courtesy our host received us; assigning
a neighboring bower for Babbalanja and the rest;
and among so many right-royal, demi-divine guests, how
could the demi-gods Media and Taji be otherwise than at
home?
The unwonted sprightliness of Donjalolo surprised us.
But he was in one of those relapses of desperate gayety invariably
following his failures in efforts to amend his life.
And the bootless issue of his late mission to outer Mardi
had thrown him into a mood for revelry. Nor had he
lately shunned a wild wine, called Morando.
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A slave now appearing with a bowl of this beverage, it
circulated freely.
Not to gainsay the truth, we fancied the Morando much.
A nutty, pungent flavor it had; like some kinds of arrack
distilled in the Philippine isles. And a marvelous effect did
it have, in dissolving the crystalization of the brain; leaving
nothing but precious little drops of good humor, beading
round the bowl of the cranium.
Meanwhile, garlanded boys, climbing the limbs of the
idol-pillars, and stirruping their feet in their most holy
mouths, suspended hangings of crimson tappa all round the
hall; so that sweeping the pavement they rustled in the
breeze from the grot.
Presently, stalwart slaves advanced; bearing a mighty
basin of a porphyry hue, deep-hollowed out of a tree.
Outside, were innumerable grotesque conceits; conspicuous
among which, for a border, was an endless string of the
royal lizards circumnavigating the basin in inverted chase of
their tails.
Peculiar to the groves of Willamilla, the yellow lizard
formed part of the arms of Juam. And when Donjalolo's
messengers went abroad, they carried its effigy, as the emblem
of their royal master; themselves being known, as the
Gentlemen of the Golden Lizard.
The porphyry-hued basin planted full in our midst, the
attendants forthwith filled the same with the living waters
from the cascade; a proceeding, for which some of the
company were at a loss to account, unless his highness, our
host, with all the coolness of royalty, purposed cooling himself
still further, by taking a bath in presence of his guests.
A conjecture, most premature; for directly, the basin being
filled to within a few inches of the lizards, the attendants
fell to launching therein divers goodly sized trenchers, all
laden with choice viands:—wild boar meat; humps of
grampuses; embrowned bread-fruit, roasted in odoriferous
fires of sandal wood, but suffered to cool; gold fish, dressed
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with the fragrant juices of berries; citron sauce; rolls of
the baked paste of yams; juicy bananas, steeped in a saccharine
oil; marmalade of plantains; jellies of guava; confections
of the treacle of palm sap; and many other dainties;
besides numerous stained calabashes of Morando, and other
beverages, fixed in carved floats to make them buoyant.
The guests assigned seats, by the woven handles attached
to his purple mat, the prince, our host, was now gently moved
by his servitors to the head of the porphyry-hued basin.
Where, flanked by lofty crowned-heads, white-tiaraed, and
radiant with royalty, he sat; like snow-turbaned Mont
Blanc, at sunrise presiding over the head waters of the
Rhone; to right and left, looming the gilded summits of the
Simplon, the Gothard, the Jungfrau, the Great St. Bernard,
and the Grand Glockner.
Yet turbid from the launching of its freight, Lake Como
tossed to and fro its navies of good cheer, the shadows of
the king-peaks wildly flitting thereupon.
But no frigid wine and fruit cooler, Lake Como; as at
first it did seem; but a tropical dining table, its surface a
slab of light blue St. Pons marble in a state of fluidity.
Now, many a crown was doffed; scepters laid aside;
girdles slackened; and among those verdant viands the
bearded kings like goats did browse; or tusking their wild
boar's meat, like mastiffs ate.
And like unto some well-fought fight, beginning calmly,
but pressing forward to a fiery rush, this well-fought feast
did now wax warm.
A few royal epicures, however, there were: epicures intent
upon concoctions, admixtures, and masterly compoundings;
who comported themselves with all due deliberation and dignity;
hurrying themselves into no reckless deglutition of the
dainties. Ah! admirable conceit, Lake Como: superseding
attendants. For, from hand to hand the trenchers sailed; no
sooner gaining one port, than dispatched over sea to another.
Well suited they were for the occasion; sailing high out
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of water, to resist the convivial swell at times ruffling the
sociable sea; and sharp at both ends, still better adapting
them to easy navigation.
But soon, the Morando, in triumphant decanters, went
round, reeling like barks before a breeze. But their voyages
were brief; and ere long, in certain havens, the accumulation
of empty vessels threatened to bridge the lake with
pontoons. In those directions, Trade winds were setting.
But full soon, cut out were all unladen and unprofitable
gourds; and replaced by jolly-bellied calabashes, for a time
sailing deep, yawing heavily to the push.
At last, the whole flotilla of trenchers—wrecks and all—
were sent swimming to the further end of Lake Como; and
thence removed, gave place to ruddy hillocks, of fruit, and
floating islands of flowers. Chief among the former, a
quince-like, golden sphere, that filled the air with such fragrance,
you thought you were tasting its flavor.
Nor did the wine cease flowing. That day the Juam
grape did bleed; that day the tendril ringlets of the vines,
did all uncurl; and grape by grape, in sheer dismay, the
sun-ripe clusters dropped. Grape-glad were five-and-twenty
kings: five-and-twenty kings were merry.
Morando's vintage had no end; nor other liquids, in the
royal cellar stored, somewhere secret in the grot. Oh!
where's the endless Niger's source? Search ye here, or
search ye there; on, on, through ravine, vega, vale—no
head waters will ye find. But why need gain the hidden
spring, when its lavish stream flows by? At three-fold
mouths that Delta-grot, discharged; rivers golden, white,
and red.
But who may sing for aye? Down I come, and light
upon the old and prosy plain.
Among other decanters set afloat, was a pompous, lordly-looking
demijohn, but old and reverend withal, that sailed
about, consequential as an autocrat going to be crowned, or
a treasure-freighted argosie bound home before the wind. It
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looked solemn, however, though it reeled; peradventure, far
gone with its own potent contents.
Oh! russet shores of Rhine and Rhone! oh, mellow memories
of ripe old vintages! oh, cobwebs in the Pyramids!
oh, dust on Pharaoh's tomb!—all, all recur, as I bethink
me of that glorious gourd, its contents cogent as Tokay,
itself as old as Mohi's legends; more venerable to look at
than his beard. Whence came it? Buried in vases, so
saith the label, with the heart of old Marjora, now dead
one hundred thousand moons. Exhumed at last, it looked
no wine, but was shrunk into a subtile syrup.
This special calabash was distinguished by numerous trappings,
caparisoned like the sacred bay steed led before the
Great Khan of Tartary. A most curious and betasseled
net-work encased it; and the royal lizard was jealously
twisted about its neck, like a hand on a throat containing
some invaluable secret.
All Hail, Marzilla! King's Own Royal Particular! A
vinous Percy! Dating back to the Conquest! Distilled
of yore from purple berries growing in the purple valley of
Ardair! Thrice hail.
But the imperial Marzilla was not for all; gods only
could partake; the Kings and demigods of the isles; excluding
left-handed descendants of sad rakes of immortals, in
old times breaking heads and hearts in Mardi, bequeathing
bars-sinister to many mortals, who now in vain might urge
a claim to a cup-full of right regal Marzilla.
The Royal Particular was pressed upon me, by the now
jovial Donjalolo. With his own sceptered hand charging
my flagon to the brim, he declared his despotic pleasure,
that I should quaff it off to the last lingering globule. No
hard calamity, truly; for the drinking of this wine was as
the singing of a mighty ode, or frenzied lyric to the soul.
“Drink, Taji,” cried Donjalolo, “drink deep. In this
wine a king's heart is dissolved. Drink long; in this wine
lurk the seeds of the life everlasting Drink deep; drink
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long: thou drinkest wisdom and valor at every draught.
Drink forever, oh Taji, for thou drinkest that which will
enable thee to stand up and speak out before mighty Oro
himself.”
“Borabolla,” he added, turning round upon a domed old
king at his left, “Was it not the god Xipho, who begged
of my great-great-grandsire a draught of this same wine,
saying he was about to beget a hero?”
“Even so. And thy glorious Marzilla produced thrice
valiant Ononna, who slew the giants of the reef.”
“Ha, ha, hear'st that, oh Taji?” And Donjalolo drained
another cup.
Amazing! the flexibility of the royal elbow, and the rigidity
of the royal spine! More especially as we had been impressed
with a notion of their debility. But, sometimes
these seemingly enervated young blades approve themselves
steadier of limb, than veteran revelers of very long standing.
“Discharge the basin, and refill it with wine,” cried
Donjalolo. “Break all empty gourds! Drink, kings, and
dash your cups at every draught.”
So saying, he started from his purple mat; and with one
foot planted unknowingly upon the skull of Marjora; while
all the skeletons grinned at him from the pavement; Donjalolo,
holding on high his blood-red goblet, burst forth with
the following invocation:—
Ha, ha, gods and kings; fill high, one and all;
Drink, drink! shout and drink! mad respond to the call!
Fill fast, and fill full; 'gainst the goblet ne'er sin;
Quaff there, at high tide, to the uttermost rim:—
Flood-tide, and soul-tide to the brim!
Who with wine in him fears? who thinks of his cares?
Who sighs to be wise, when wine in him flares?
Water sinks down below, in currents full slow;
But wine mounts on high with its genial glow:—
Welling up, till the brain overflow!
As the spheres, with a roll, some fiery of soul,
Others golden, with music, revolve round the pole;
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So let our cups, radiant with many hued wines,
Round and round in groups circle, our Zodiac's Signs:—
Round reeling, and ringing their chimes!
Then drink, gods and kings; wine merriment brings;
It bounds through the veins; there, jubilant sings.
Let it ebb, then, and flow; wine never grows dim;
Drain down that bright tide at the foam beaded rim:—
Fill up, every cup, to the brim!
Caught by all present, the chorus resounded again and
again. The beaded wine danced on many a beard; the
cataract lifted higher its voice; the grotto sent back a shout;
the ghosts of the Coral Monarchs seemed starting from their
insulted bones. But ha, ha, ha, roared forth the five-and-twenty
kings—alive, not dead—holding both hands to their
girdles, and baying out their laughter from abysses; like
Nimrod's hounds over some fallen elk.
Mad and crazy revelers, how ye drank and roared! but
kings no more: vestures loosed; and scepters rolling on the
ground.
Glorious agrarian, thou wine! bringing all hearts on a
level, and at last all legs to the earth; even those of kings,
who, to do them justice, have been much maligned for imputed
qualities not theirs. For whoso has touched flagons
with monarchs, bear they their back bones never so stiffly
on the throne, well know the rascals, to be at bottom royal
good fellows; capable of a vinous frankness exceeding that of
base-born men. Was not Alexander a boon companion?
And daft Cambyses? and what of old Rowley, as good a
judge of wine and other matters, as ever sipped claret or
kisses.
If ever Taji joins a club, be it a Beef-Steak Club of
Kings!
Donjalolo emptied yet another cup.
The mirth now blew a gale; like a ship's shrouds in a
Typhoon, every tendon vibrated; the breezes of Omi came
forth with a rush; the hangings shook; the goblets danced
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fandangos; and Donjalolo, clapping his hands, called before
him his dancing women.
Forth came from the grotto a reed-like burst of song,
making all start, and look that way to behold such enchanting
strains. Sounds heralding sights! Swimming in the
air, emerged the nymphs, lustrous arms interlocked like
Indian jugglers' glittering snakes. Round the cascade they
thronged; then paused in its spray. Of a sudden, seemed
to spring from its midst, a young form of foam, that danced
into the soul like a thought. At last, sideways floating off,
it subsided into the grotto, a wave. Evening drawing on
apace, the crimson draperies were lifted, and festooned to
the arms of the idol-pillars, admitting the rosy light of the
even.
Yielding to the re-action of the banquet, the kings now
reclined; and two mute damsels entered: one with a gourd
of scented waters; the other with napkins. Bending over
Donjalolo's steaming head, the first let fall a shower of aromatic
drops, slowly aborbed by her companion. Thus, in
turn, all were served; nothing heard but deep breathing.
In a marble vase they now kindled some incense: a
handful of spices.
Shortly after, came three of the king's beautiful smokers;
who, lighting their tubes at this odorous fire, blew over the
company the sedative fumes of the Aina.
Steeped in langour, I strove against it long; essayed to
struggle out of the enchanted mist. But a syren hand
seemed ever upon me, pressing me back.
Half-revealed, as in a dream, and the last sight that I
saw, was Donjalolo:—eyes closed, face pale, locks moist,
borne slowly to his sedan, to cross the hollow, and wake in
the seclusion of his harem.
-- -- p275-309
CHAPTER LXXXV. AFTER DINNER.
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As in dreams I behold thee again, Willamila! as in
dreams, once again I stroll through thy cool shady groves,
oh fairest of the vallies of Mardi! the thought of that mad
merry feasting steals over my soul till I faint.
Prostrate here and there over the bones of Donjalolo's
sires, the royal bacchanals lay slumbering till noon.
“Which are the deadest?” said Babbalanja, peeping in,
“the live kings, or the dead ones?”
But the former were drooping flowers sought to be revived
by watering. At intervals the sedulous attendants went to
and fro, besprinkling their heads with the scented contents
of their vases.
At length, one by one, the five-and-twenty kings lifted
their ambrosial curls; and shaking the dew therefrom, like
eagles opened their right royal eyes, and dilated their aquiline
nostrils, full upon the golden rays of the sun.
But why absented himself, Donjalolo? Had he cavalierly
left them to survive the banquet by themselves? But
this apparent incivility was soon explained by heralds, an-nouncing
to their prone majesties, that through the over
solicitude of his slaves, their lord the king had been borne
to his harem, without being a party to the act. But to
make amends, in his sedan, Donjalolo was even now drawing
nigh. Not, however, again to make merry; but socially
to sleep in company with his guests; for, together they had
all got high, and together they must all lie low.
So at it they went: each king to his bones, and
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slumbered like heroes till evening; when, availing themselves of
the cool moonlight approaching, the royal guests bade adieu
to their host; and summoning their followers, quitted the
glen.
Early next day, having determined to depart for our
canoes, we proceeded to the House of the Morning, to take
leave of Donjalolo.
An amazing change, one night of solitude had wrought!
Pale and languid, we found him reclining: one hand on his
throbbing temples.
Near an overturned vessel of wine, the royal girdle lay
tossed at his feet. He had waved off his frightened attendants,
who crouched out of sight.
We advanced.
“Do ye too leave me? Ready enough are ye to partake
of my banquetings, which, to such as ye, are but mad incidents
in one round of more tranquil diversions. But heed
me not, Media;—I am mad. Oh, ye gods! am I forever
a captive?—Ay, free king of Odo, when you list, condescend
to visit the poor slave in Willamilla. I account them but
charity, your visits; would fain allure ye by sumptuous fare.
Go, leave me; go, and be rovers again throughout blooming
Mardi. For me, I am here for aye.—Bring me wine,
slaves! quick! that I may pledge my guests fitly. Alas,
Media, at the bottom of this cup are no sparkles as at top.
Oh, treacherous, treacherous friend! full of smiles and daggers.
Yet for such as me, oh wine, thou art e'en a prop,
though it pierce the side; for man must lean. Thou wine
art the friend of the friendless, though a foe to all. King
Media, let us drink. More cups!—And now, farewell.”
Falling back, he averted his face; and silently we quitted
the palace.
-- -- p275-311
CHAPTER LXXXVI. OF THOSE SCAMPS THE PLUJII.
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The beach gained, we embarked.
In good time our party recovered from the seriousness into
which we had been thrown; and a rather long passage being
now before us, we whiled away the hours as best we might.
Among many entertaining narrations, old Braid-Beard,
crossing his calves, and peaking his beard, regaled us with
some account of certain invisible spirits, ycleped the Plujii,
arrant little knaves as ever gulped moonshine.
They were spoken of as inhabiting the island of Quelquo,
in a remote corner of the lagoon; the innocent people of
which island were sadly fretted and put out by their diabolical
proceedings. Not to be wondered at; since, dwelling
as they did in the air, and completely inaccessible, these
spirits were peculiarly provocative of ire.
Detestable Plujii! With malice aforethought, they
brought about high winds that destroyed the banana plantations,
and tumbled over the heads of its occupants many a
bamboo dwelling. They cracked the calabashes; soured
the “poee;” induced the colic; begat the spleen; and
almost rent people in twain with stitches in the side. In
short, from whatever evil, the cause of which the Islanders
could not directly impute to their gods, or in their own opinion
was not referable to themselves,—of that very thing
must the invisible Plujii be guilty. With horrible dreams,
and blood-thirsty gnats, they invaded the most innocent
slumbers.
All things they bedeviled. A man with a wry neck
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ascribed it to the Plujii; he with a bad memory railed
against the Plujii; and the boy, bruising his finger, also
cursed those abominable spirits.
Nor, to some minds, at least, was there wanting strong
presumptive evidence, that at times, with invisible fingers,
the above mentioned Plujii did leave direct and tangible
traces of their presence; pinching and pounding the unfortunate
Islanders; pulling their hair; plucking their ears,
and tweaking their beards and their noses. And thus perpetually
vexing, incensing, tormenting, and exasperating their
helpless victims, the atrocious Plujii reveled in their malicious
dominion over the souls and bodies of the people of
Quelquo.
What it was, that induced them to enact such a part,
Oro only knew; and never but once, it seems, did old Mohi
endeavor to find out.
Once upon a time, visiting Quelquo, he chanced to
encounter an old woman almost doubled together, both
hands upon her abdomen; in that manner running about
distracted.
“My good woman,” said he, “what under the firmament
is the matter?”
“The Plujii! the Plujii!” affectionately caressing the
field of their operations.
“But why do they torment you?” he soothingly inquired.
“How should I know? and what good would it do me if
I did?”
And on she ran.
At this part of his narration, Mohi was interrupted by
Media; who, much to the surprise of all present, observed,
that, unbeknown to him (Braid-Beard), he happened to have
been on that very island, at that very time, and saw that
identical old lady in the very midst of those abdominal tribulations.
“That she was really in great distress,” he went on to
say, “was plainly to be seen; but that in that particular
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instance, your Plujii had any hand in tormenting her, I had
some boisterous doubts. For, hearing that an hour or two
previous she had been partaking of some twenty unripe
bananas, I rather fancied that that circumstance might
have had something to do with her sufferings. But however
it was, all the herb-leeches on the island would not have
altered her own opinions on the subject.”
“No,” said Braid-Beard; “a post-mortem examination
would not have satisfied her ghost.”
“Curious to relate,” he continued, “the people of that
island never abuse the Plujii, notwithstanding all they suffer
at their hands, unless under direct provocation; and a settled
matter of faith is it, that at such times all bitter words
and hasty objurgations are entirely overlooked, nay, pardoned
on the spot, by the unseen genii against whom they are
directed.”
“Magnanimous Plujii!” cried Media. “But, Babbalanja,
do you, who run a tilt at all things, suffer this silly conceit
to be uttered with impunity in your presence? Why
so silent?”
“I have been thinking, my lord,” said Babbalanja, “that
though the people of that island may at times err, in imputing
their calamities to the Plujii, that, nevertheless, upon
the whole, they indulge in a reasonable belief. For, Plujii
or no Plujii, it is undeniable, that in ten thousand ways, as
if by a malicious agency, we mortals are woefully put out
and tormented; and that, too, by things in themselves so
exceedingly trivial, that it would seem almost impiety to ascribe
them to the august gods. No; there must exist some
greatly inferior spirits; so insignificant, comparatively, as to
be overlooked by the supernal powers; and through them it
must be, that we are thus grievously annoyed. At any rate
such a theory would supply a hiatus in my system of metaphysics.”
“Well, peace to the Plujii,” said Media; “they trouble
not me.”
-- 307 -- p275-314
CHAPTER LXXXVII. NORA-BAMMA.
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Still onward gliding, the lagoon a calm.
Hours pass; and full before us, round and green, a Moslem
turban by us floats—Nora-Bamma, Isle of Nods.
Noon-tide rolls its flood. Vibrates the air, and trembles.
And by illusion optical, thin-draped in azure haze, drift here
and there the brilliant lands: swans, peacock-plumaged,
sailing through the sky. Down to earth hath heaven come;
hard telling sun-clouds from the isles.
And high in air nods Nora-Bamma. Nid-nods its tufted
summit like three ostrich plumes; its beetling crags, bent
poppies, shadows, willowy shores, all nod; its streams are
murmuring down the hills; its wavelets hush the shore.
Who dwells in Nora-Bamma? Dreamers, hypochondriacs,
somnambulists; who, from the cark and care of outer
Mardi fleeing, in the poppy's jaded odors, seek oblivion for
the past, and ecstasies to come.
Open-eyed, they sleep and dream; on their roof-trees,
grapes unheeded drop. In Nora-Bamma, whispers are as
shouts; and at a zephyr's breath, from the woodlands shake
the leaves, as of humming-birds, a flight.
All this spake Braid-Beard, of the isle. How that none
ere touched its strand, without rendering instant tribute of
a nap; how that those who thither voyaged, in golden quest
of golden gourds, fast dropped asleep, ere one was plucked;
waking not till night; how that you must needs rub hard
your eyes, would you wander through the isle; and how that
silent specters would be met, haunting twilight groves, and
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dreamy meads; hither gliding, thither fading, end or purpose
none.
True or false, so much for Mohi's Nora Bamma.
But as we floated on, it looked the place described. We
yawned, and yawned, as crews of vessels may; as in
warm Indian seas, their winnowing sails all swoon, when
by them glides some opium argosie.
-- 309 -- p275-316
CHAPTER LXXXVIII. IN A CALM, HAUTIA'S HERALDS APPROACH.
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“How still!” cried Babbalanja. “This calm is like unto
Oro's everlasting serenity, and like unto man's last despair.”
But now the silence was broken by a strange, distant,
intermitted melody in the water.
Gazing over the side, we saw naught but a far-darting
ray in its depths.
Then Yoomy, before buried in a reverie, burst forth with
a verse, sudden as a jet from a Geyser.
Like the fish of the bright and twittering fin,
Bright fish! diving deep as high soars the lark,
So, far, far, far, doth the maiden swim,
Wild song, wild light, in still ocean's dark.
“What maiden, minstrel?” cried Media.
“None of these,” answered Yoomy, pointing out a shallop
gliding near.
“The damsels three:—Taji, they pursue you yet.”
That still canoe drew nigh, the Iris in its prow.
Gliding slowly by, one damsel flung a Venus-car, the
leaves yet fresh.
Said Yoomy—“Fly to love.”
The second maiden flung a pallid blossom, buried in
hemlock leaves.
Said Yoomy, starting—“I have wrought a death.”
Then came showering Venus-cars, and glorious mossroses
numberless, and odorous handfuls of Verbena.
Said Yoomy—“Yet fly, oh fly to me: all rosy joys and
sweets are mine.”
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Then the damsels floated on.
“Was ever queen more enigmatical?” cried Media—
“Love,—death,—joy,—fly to me? But what says Taji?”
“That I turn not back for Hautia; whoe'er she be, that
wild witch I contemn.”
“Then spread our pinions wide! a breeze! up sails! ply
paddles all! Come, Flora's flute, float forth a song.”
To pieces picking the thorny roses culled from Hautia's
gifts, and holding up their blighted cores, thus plumed and
turbaned Yoomy sang, leaning against the mast:—
Oh! royal is the rose,
But barbed with many a dart;
Beware, beware the rose,
'Tis cankered at the heart.
Sweet, sweet the sunny down,
Oh! lily, lily, lily down!
Sweet, sweet, Verbena's bloom!
Oh! pleasant, gentle, musky bloom!
Dread, dread the sunny down;
Lo! lily-hooded asp;
Blooms, blooms no more Verbena;
White-withered in your clasp.
-- 311 -- p275-318
CHAPTER LXXXIX. BRAID-BEARD REHEARSES THE ORIGIN OF THE ISLE OF ROGUES.
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Judge not things by their names. This, the maxim illustrated
respecting the isle toward which we were sailing.
Ohonoo was its designation, in other words the Land of
Rogues. So what but a nest of villains and pirates could
one fancy it to be: a downright Tortuga, swarming with
“Brethren of the coast,”—such as Montbars, L'Ollonais,
Bartolomeo, Peter of Dieppe, and desperadoes of that kidney.
But not so. The men of Ohonoo were as honest as
any in Mardi. They had a suspicious appellative for their
island, true; but not thus seemed it to them. For, upon
nothing did they so much plume themselves as upon this
very name. Why? Its origin went back to old times;
and being venerable they gloried therein; though they disclaimed
its present applicability to any of their race; showing,
that words are but algebraic signs, conveying no meaning
except what you please. And to be called one thing, is
oftentimes to be another.
But how came the Ohonoose by their name?
Listen, and Braid-Beard, our Herodotus, will tell.
Long and long ago, there were banished to Ohonoo all
the bucaniers, flibustiers, thieves, and malefactors of the
neighboring islands; who, becoming at last quite a numerous
community, resolved to make a stand for their dignity,
and number one among the nations of Mardi. And even
as before they had been weeded out of the surrounding
countries; so now, they went to weeding out themselves;
banishing all objectionable persons to still another island.
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These events happened at a period so remote, that at present
it was uncertain whether those twice banished, were
thrust into their second exile by reason of their superlative
knavery, or because of their comparative honesty. If the
latter, then must the residue have been a precious enough
set of scoundrels.
However it was, the commonwealth of knaves now mustered
together their gray-beards, and wise-pates, and knowing-ones,
of which last there was a plenty, chose a king to
rule over them, and went to political housekeeping for
themselves.
And in the fullness of time, this people became numerous
and mighty. And the more numerous and mighty they
waxed, by so much the more did they take pride and glory
in their origin, frequently reverting to it with manifold
boastings. The proud device of their monarch was a hand
with the forefinger crooked, emblematic of the peculatory
propensities of his ancestors.
And all this, at greater length, said Mohi.
“It would seem, then, my lord,” said Babbalanja, reclining,
“as if these men of Ohonoo had canonized the derelictions
of their progenitors, though the same traits are
deemed scandalous among themselves. But it is time that
makes the difference. The knave of a thousand years ago
seems a fine old fellow full of spirit and fun, little malice in
his soul; whereas, the knave of to-day seems a sour-visaged
wight, with nothing to redeem him. Many great scoundrels
of our Chronicler's chronicles are heroes to us:—witness,
Marjora the usurper. Ay, time truly works wonders.
It sublimates wine; it sublimates fame; nay, is the creator
thereof; it enriches and darkens our spears of the Palm;
enriches and enlightens the mind; it ripens cherries and
young lips; festoons old ruins, and ivies old heads; imparts
a relish to old yams, and a pungency to the Ponderings of
old Bardianna; of fables distills truths; and finally, smooths,
levels, glosses, softens, melts, and meliorates all things.
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Why, my lord, round Mardi itself is all the better for its
antiquity, and the more to be revered; to the cozy-minded,
more comfortable to dwell in. Ah! if ever it lay in embryo
like a green seed in the pod, what a damp, shapeless
thing it must have been, and how unpleasant from the traces
of its recent creation. The first man, quoth old Bardianna,
must have felt like one going into a new habitation, where
the bamboos are green. Is there not a legend in Maramma,
that his family were long troubled with influenzas and
catarrhs?”
“Oh Time, Time, Time! cried Yoomy—“it is Time,
old midsummer Time, that has made the old world what it
is. Time hoared the old mountains, and balded their old
summits, and spread the old prairies, and built the old forests,
and molded the old vales. It is Time that has worn
glorious old channels for the glorious old rivers, and rounded
the old lakes, and deepened the old sea! It is Time—”
“Ay, full time to cease,” cried Media. “What have
you to do with cogitations not in verse, minstrel? Leave
prose to Babbalanja, who is prosy enough.”
“Even so,” said Babbalanja, “Yoomy, you have over-stepped
your province. My lord Media well knows, that
your business is to make the metal in you jingle in tags, not
ring in the ingot.”
-- 314 -- p275-321
CHAPTER XC. RARE SPORT AT OHONOO.
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Approached from the northward, Ohonoo, midway cloven
down to the sea, one half a level plain; the other, three
mountain terraces—Ohonoo looks like the first steps of a
gigantic way to the sun. And such, if Braid-Beard spoke
truth, it had formerly been.
“Ere Mardi was made,” said that true old chronicler,
“Vivo, one of the genii, built a ladder of mountains whereby
to go up and go down. And of this ladder, the island of
Ohonoo was the base. But wandering here and there,
incognito in a vapor, so much wickedness did Vivo spy out,
that in high dudgeon he hurried up his ladder, knocking the
mountains from under him as he went. These here and
there fell into the lagoon, forming many isles, now green
and luxuriant; which, with those sprouting from seeds
dropped by a bird from the moon, comprise all the groups
in the reef.”
Surely, oh, surely, if I live till Mardi be forgotten by
Mardi, I shall not forget the sight that greeted us, as we
drew nigh the shores of this same island of Ohonoo; for was
not all Ohonoo bathing in the surf of the sea?
But let the picture be painted.
Where eastward the ocean rolls surging against the outer
reef of Mardi, there, facing a flood-gate in the barrier, stands
cloven Ohonoo; her plains sloping outward to the sea, her
mountains a bulwark behind. As at Juam, where the wild
billows from seaward roll in upon its cliffs; much more at
Ohonoo, in billowy battalions charge they hotly into the
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lagoon, and fall on the isle like an army from the deep.
But charge they never so boldly, and charge they forever,
old Ohonoo gallantly throws them back till all before her is
one scud and rack. So charged the bright billows of cuirassiers
at Waterloo: so hurled them off the long line of living
walls, whose base was as the sea-beach, wreck-strown, in a
gale.
Without the break in the reef, wide banks of coral shelve
off, creating the bar, where the waves muster for the onset,
thundering in water-bolts, that shake the whole reef, till its
very spray trembles. And then is it, that the swimmers
of Ohonoo most delight to gambol in the surf.
For this sport, a surf-board is indispensable: some five
feet in length; the width of a man's body; convex on both
sides; highly polished; and rounded at the ends. It is
held in high estimation; invariably oiled after use; and
hung up conspicuously in the dwelling of the owner.
Ranged on the beach, the bathers, by hundreds dash in;
and diving under the swells, make straight for the outer sea,
pausing not till the comparatively smooth expanse beyond
has been gained. Here, throwing themselves upon their
boards; tranquilly they wait for a billow that suits. Snatching
them up, it hurries them landward, volume and speed
both increasing, till it races along a watery wall, like the
smooth, awful verge of Niagara. Hanging over this scroll,
looking down from it as from a precipice, the bathers halloo;
every limb in motion to preserve their place on the very
crest of the wave. Should they fall behind, the squadrons
that follow would whelm them; dismounted, and thrown
forward, as certainly would they be run over by the steed
they ride. 'Tis like charging at the head of cavalry: you
must on.
An expert swimmer shifts his position on his plank; now
half striding it; and anon, like a rider in the ring, poising
himself upright in the scud, coming on like a man in the
air.
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At last all is lost in scud and vapor, as the overgrown
billow bursts like a bomb. Adroitly emerging, the swimmers
thread their way out; and like seals at the Orkneys,
stand dripping upon the shore.
Landing in smooth water, some distance from the scene,
we strolled forward; and meeting a group resting, inquired
for Uhia, their king. He was pointed out in the foam.
But presently drawing nigh, he embraced Media, bidding all
welcome.
The bathing over, and evening at hand, Uhia and his
subjects repaired to their canoes; and we to ours.
Landing at another quarter of the island, we journeyed
up a valley called Monlova, and were soon housed in a very
pleasant retreat of our host.
Soon supper was spread. But though the viands were
rare, and the red wine went round and round like a foaming
bay horse in the ring; yet we marked, that despite the
stimulus of his day's good sport, and the stimulus of his
brave good cheer, Uhia our host was moody and still.
Said Babbalanja “My lord, he fills wine cups for others
to quaff.”
“But whispered King Media, “Though Uhia be sad, be
we merry, merry men.”
And merry some were, and merrily went to their mats.
-- -- p275-324
CHAPTER XCI. OF KING UHIA AND HIS SUBJECTS.
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As beseemed him, Uhia was royally lodged. Ample his
roof. Beneath it a hundred attendants nightly laying their
heads. But long since, he had disbanded his damsels.
Springing from syren embrace—“They shall sap and
mine me no more” he cried “my destiny commands me. I
will don my manhood. By Keevi! no more will I clasp a
waist.”
“From that time forth,” said Braid-Beard, “young Uhia
spread like the tufted top of the Palm; his thigh grew
brawny as the limb of the Banian; his arm waxed strong
as the back bone of the shark; yea, his voice grew sonorous
as a conch.
“And now he bent his whole soul to the accomplishment
of the destiny believed to be his. Nothing less than bodily
to remove Ohonoo to the center of the lagoon, in fulfillment
of an old prophecy running thus—“When a certain island
shall stir from its foundations and stand in the middle of the
still water, then shall the ruler of that island be ruler of all
Mardi.”
The task was hard, but how glorious the reward! So
at it he went, and all Ohonoo helped him. Not by hands,
but by calling in the magicians. Thus far, nevertheless, in
vain. But Uhia had hopes.
Now, informed of all this, said Babbalanja to Media,
“My lord, if the continual looking-forward to something
greater, be better than an acquiescence in things present;
then, wild as it is, this belief of Uhia's he should hug to his
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heart, as erewhile his wives. But my lord, this faith it is,
that robs his days of peace; his nights of sweet unconsciousness.
For holding himself foreordained to the dominion
of the entire Archipelago, he upbraids the gods for laggards,
and curses himself as deprived of his rights; nay, as
having had wrested from him, what he never possessed.
Discontent dwarfs his horizon till he spans it with his hand.
`Most miserable of demi-gods,' he cries, `here am I cooped
up in this insignificant islet, only one hundred leagues by
fifty, when scores of broad empires own me not for their
lord.' Yet Uhia himself is envied. `Ah!' cries Karrolono,
one of his chieftains, master of a snug little glen, `Here am
I cabined in this paltry cell among the mountains, when
that great King Uhia is lord of the whole island, and every
cubic mile of matter therein.' But this same Karrolono is
envied. `Hard, oh beggarly lot is mine,' cries Donno, one
of his retainers. `Here am I fixed and screwed down to
this paltry plantation, when my lord Karrolono owns the
whole glen, ten long parasangs from cliff to sea.' But
Donno too is envied. `Alas, cursed fate!' cries his servitor
Flavona. `Here am I made to trudge, sweat, and labor
all day, when Donno my master does nothing but command.'
But others envy Flavona; and those who envy him are
envied in turn; even down to poor bed-ridden Manta, who
dying of want, groans forth, `Abandoned wretch that I am!
here I miserably perish, while so many beggars gad about
and live!' But surely, none envy Manta! Yes; great
Uhia himself. `Ah!' cries the king. `Here am I vexed
and tormented by ambition; no peace night nor day; my
temples chafed sore by this cursed crown that I wear;
while that ignoble wight Manta, gives up the ghost with
none to molest him.”'
In vain we wandered up and down in this isle, and
peered into its innermost recesses: no Yillah was there.
-- -- p275-326
CHAPTER XCII. THE GOD KEEVI AND THE PRECIPICE OF MONDO.
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One object of interest in Ohonoo was the original image
of Keevi the god of Thieves; hence, from time inmemorial,
the tutelar deity of the isle.
His shrine was a natural niche in a cliff, walling in the
valley of Monlova And here stood Keevi, with his five
eyes, ten hands, and three pair of legs, equipped at all
points for the vocation over which he presided. Of mighty
girth, his arms terminated in hands, every finger a limb,
spreading in multiplied digits: palms twice five, and fifty
fingers.
According to the legend, Keevi fell from a golden cloud,
burying himself to the thighs in the earth, tearing up the
soil all round. Three meditative mortals, strolling by at
the time, had a narrow escape.
A wonderful recital; but none of us voyagers durst flout
it. Did they not show us the identical spot where the idol
fell? We descended into the hollow, now verdant. Questionless,
Keevi himself would have vouched for the truth of
the miracle, had he not been unfortunately dumb. But by
far the most cogent, and pointed argument advanced in support
of this story, is a spear which the priests of Keevi
brought forth, for Babbalanja to view.
“Let me look at it closer,” said Babbalanja.
And turning it over and over and curiously inspecting it,
“Wonderful spear,” he cried. “Doubtless, my reverends,
this self-same spear must have persuaded many recusants!”
“Nay, the most stubborn,” they answered.
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“And all afterward quoted as additional authority for
the truth of the legend?”
“Assuredly.”
From the sea to the shrine of this god, the fine valley of
Monlova ascends with a gentle gradation, hardly perceptible;
but upon turning round toward the water, one is surprised
to find himself high elevated above its surface. Pass on,
and the same silent ascent deceives you; and the valley
contracts; and on both sides the cliffs advance; till at last
you come to a narrow space, shouldered by buttresses of
rock. Beyond, through this cleft, all is blue sky. If the
Trades blow high, and you came unawares upon the spot,
you would think Keevi himself pushing you forward with
all his hands; so powerful is the current of air rushing
through this elevated defile. But expostulate not with the
tornado that blows you along; sail on; but soft; look
down; the land breaks off in one sheer descent of a thousand
feet, right down to the wide plain below. So sudden
and profound this precipice, that you seem to look off from
one world to another. In a dreamy, sunny day, the spangled
plain beneath assumes an uncertain fleeting aspect.
Had you a deep-sea-lead you would almost be tempted to
sound the ocean-haze at your feet.
This, mortal! is the precipice of Mondo.
From this brink, spear in hand, sprang fifty rebel warriors,
driven back into the vale by a superior force. Finding
no spot to stand at bay, with a fierce shout they took
the fatal leap.
Said Mohi, “Their souls ascended, ere their bodies
touched.”
This tragical event took place many generations gone by,
and now a dizzy, devious way conducts one, firm of foot,
from the verge to the plain. But none ever ascended. So
perilous, indeed, is the descent itself, that the islanders venture
not the feat, without invoking supernatural aid. Flanking
the precipice. beneath beetling rocks, stand the guardian
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deities of Mondo; and on altars before them, are placed the
propitiatory offerings of the traveler.
To the right of the brink of the precipice, and far over it,
projects a narrow ledge. The test of legitimacy in the
Ohonoo monarchs is to stand hereon, arms folded, and javelins
darting by.
And there in his youth Uhia stood.
“How felt you, cousin?” asked Media.
“Like the King of Ohonoo,” he replied. “As I shall
again feel, when King of all Mardi.”
-- -- p275-329
CHAPTER XCIII. BABBALANJA STEPS IN BETWEEN MOHI AND YOOMY; AND YOOMY RELATES A LEGEND.
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Embarking from Ohonoo, we at length found ourselves
gliding by the pleasant shores of Tupia, an islet which according
to Braid-Beard had for ages remained uninhabited
by man. Much curiosity being expressed to know more of
the isle, Mohi was about to turn over his chronicles, when,
with modesty, the minstrel Yoomy interposed; saying, that
if my Lord Media permitted, he himself would relate the
legend. From its nature, deeming the same pertaining to
his province as poet; though, as yet, it had not been versified.
But he added, that true pearl shells rang musically,
though not strung upon a cord.
Upon this presumptuous interference, Mohi looked highly
offended; and nervously twitching his beard, uttered something
invidious about frippery young poetasters being too full
of silly imaginings to tell a plain tale.
Said Yoomy, in reply, adjusting his turban, “Old Mohi,
let us not clash. I honor your calling; but, with submission,
your chronicles are more wild than my cantos. I deal
in pure conceits of my own; which have a shapeliness and
a unity, however unsubstantial; but you, Braid-Beard, deal
in mangled realities. In all your chapters, you yourself
grope in the dark. Much truth is not in thee, historian.
Besides, Mohi: my songs perpetuate many things which you
sage scribes entirely overlook. Have you not oftentimes
come to me, and my ever dewy ballads for information, in
which you and your musty old chronicles were deficient?
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In much that is precious, Mohi, we poets are the true historians;
we embalm; you corrode.”
To this Mohi, with some ire, was about to make answer,
when, flinging over his shoulder a new fold of his mantle,
Babbalanja spoke thus: “Peace, rivals. As Bardianna
has it, like all who dispute upon pretensions of their own,
you are each nearest the right, when you speak of the
other; and furthest therefrom, when you speak of yourselves.”
Said Mohi and Yoomy in a breath, “Who sought your
opinion, philosopher? you filcher from old Bardianna, and
monger of maxims!”
“You, who have so long marked the vices of Mardi, that
you flatter yourself you have none of your own,” added
Braid-Beard.
“You, who only seem wise, because of the contrasting
follies of others, and not of any great wisdom in yourself,”
continued the minstrel, with unwonted asperity.
“Now here,” said Babballanja, “am I charged upon by
a bearded old ram, and a lamb. One butting with his
carious and brittle old frontlet; the other pushing with its
silly head before its horns are sprouted. But this comes of
being impartial. Had I espoused the cause of Yoomy versus
Mohi, or that of Mohi versus Yoomy, I had been sure
to have had at least one voice in my favor. The impartialist
insulteth all sides, saith old Bardianna; but smite with
but one hand, and the other shall be kissed.—Oh incomparable
Bardianna!”
“Will no one lay that troubled old ghost,” exclaimed
Media, devoutly. “Proceed with thy legend, Yoomy; and
see to it, that it be brief; for I mistrust me, these legends
do but test the patience of the hearers. But draw a long
breath, and begin.”
“A long bow,” muttered Mohi.
And Yoomy began.
“It is now about ten hundred thousand moons—”
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“Great Oro! How long since, say you?” cried Mohi,
making Gothic arches of his brows.
Looking at him disdainfully, but vouchsafing no reply,
Yoomy began over again.
“It is now above ten hundred thousand moons, since there
died the last of a marvelous race, once inhabiting the very
shores by which we are sailing. They were a very diminutive
people, only a few inches high—”
“Stop, minstrel,” cried Mohi; “how many pennyweights
did they weigh?”
Continued Yoomy, unheedingly, “They were covered all
over with a soft, silky down, like that on the rind of the
Avee; and there grew upon their heads a green, lance-leaved
vine, of a most delicate texture. For convenience, the
manikins reduced their tendrils, sporting nothing but coronals.
Whereas, priding themselves upon the redundancy of
their tresses, the little maidens assiduously watered them
with the early dew of the morning; so that all wreathed and
festooned with verdure, they moved about in arbors, trailing
after them trains.”
“I can hear no more,” exclaimed Mohi, stopping his ears.
Continued Yoomy, “The damsels lured to their bowers,
certain red-plumaged insect-birds, and taught them to nestle
therein, and warble; which, with the pleasant vibrating of
the leaves, when the little maidens moved, produced a strange
blending of sweet, singing sounds. The little maidens embraced
not with their arms, but with their viny locks; whose
tendrils instinctively twined about their lovers, till both were
lost in the bower.”
“And what then?” asked Mohi, who, notwithstanding
the fingers in his ears, somehow contrived to listen; “What
then?”
Vouchsafing no reply, Yoomy went on.
“At a certain age, but while yet the maidens were very
young, their vines bore blossoms. Ah! fatal symptoms.
For soon as they burst, the maidens died in their arbors;
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and were buried in the valleys; and their vines spread forth;
and the flowers bloomed; but the maidens themselves were
no more. And now disdaining the earth, the vines shot upward:
climbing to the topmost boughs of the trees; and
flowering in the sunshine forever and aye.”
Yoomy here paused for a space; but presently continued:
“The little eyes of the people of Tupia were very strange
to behold: full of stars, that shone from within, like the
Pleiades, deep-bosomed in blue. And like the stars, they
were intolerant of sunlight; and slumbering through the
day, the people of Tupia only went abroad by night. But
it was chiefly when the moon was at full, that they were
mostly in spirits.
“Then the little manikins would dive down into the sea,
and rove about in the coral groves, making love to the mermaids.
Or, racing round, make a mad merry night of it
with the sea-urchins:—plucking the reverend mullets by
the beard; serenading the turtles in their cells; worrying
the sea-nettles; or tormenting with their antics the touchy
torpedos. Sometimes they went prying about with the starfish,
that have an eye at the end of each ray; and often
with coral files in their hands stole upon slumbering swordfish,
slyly blunting their weapons. In short, these stout
little manikins were passionately fond of the sea, and swore
by wave and billow, that sooner or later they would embark
thereon in nautilus shells, and spend the rest of their roving
days thousands of inches from Tupia. Too true, they were
shameless little rakes. Oft would they return to their
sweethearts, sporting musky girdles of sea-kelp, tasseled with
green little pouches of grass, brimful of seed-pearls; and
jingling their coin in the ears of the damsels, throw out
inuendoes about the beautiful and bountiful mermaids: how
wealthy and amorous they were, and how they delighted in
the company of the brave gallants of Tupia. Ah! at such
heartless bravadoes, how mourned the poor little nymphs.
Deep into their arbors they went; and their little hearts
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burst like rose-buds, and filled the whole air with an odorous
grief. But when their lovers were gentle and true, no happier
maidens haunted the lilies than they. By some mystical
process they wrought minute balls of light: touchy,
mercurial globules, very hard to handle; and with these, at
pitch and toss, they played in the groves. Or mischievously
inclined, they toiled all night long at braiding the moonbeams
together, and entangling the plaited end to a bough;
so that at night, the poor planet had much ado to set.”
Here Yoomy once more was mute.
“Pause you to invent as you go on?” said old Mohi,
elevating his chin, till his beard was horizontal.
Yoomy resumed.
“Little or nothing more, my masters, is extant of the
legend; only it must be mentioned, that these little people
were very tasteful in their personal adornings; the manikins
wearing girdles of fragrant leaves, and necklaces of aromatic
seeds; and the little damsels, not content with their vines,
and their verdure, sporting pearls in their ears; bracelets of
wee little porpoise teeth; and oftentimes dancing with their
mates in the moonlit glades, coquettishly fanned themselves
with the transparent wings of the flying fish.”
“Now, I appeal to you, royal Media; to you, noble Taji;
to you, Babbalanja;” said the chronicler, with an impressive
gesture, “whether this seems a credible history: Yoomy has
invented.”
“But perhaps he has entertained, old Mohi,” said Babbalanja.
“He has not spoken the truth,” persisted the chronicler.
“Mohi,” said Babbalanja, “truth is in things, and not in
words: truth is voiceless; so at least saith old Bardianna.
And I, Babbalanja, assert, that what are vulgarly called
fictions are as much realities as the gross mattock of Dididi,
the digger of trenches; for things visible are but conceits of
the eye: things imaginative, conceits of the fancy. If duped
by one, we are equally duped by the other.”
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“Clear as this water,” said Yoomy.
“Opaque as this paddle,” said Mohi, “But, come now,
thou oracle, if all things are deceptive, tell us what is
truth?”
“The old interrogatory; did they not ask it when the
world began? But ask it no more. As old Bardianna
hath it, that question is more final than any answer.”
-- -- p275-335
CHAPTER XCIV. OF THAT JOLLY OLD LORD, BORABOLLA; AND THAT JOLLY ISLAND OF HIS, MONDOLDO; AND OF THE FISH-PONDS, AND THE HEREAFTERS OF FISH.
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Drawing near Mondoldo, our next place of destination,
we were greeted by six fine canoes, gayly tricked out with
streamers, and all alive with the gestures of their occupants.
King Borabolla and court were hastening to welcome our
approach; Media, unbeknown to all, having notified him at
the Banquet of the Five-and-Twenty Kings, of our intention
to visit his dominions.
Soon, side by side, these canoes floated with ours; each
barge of Odo courteously flanked by those of Mondoldo.
Not long were we in identifying Borabolla: the portly,
pleasant old monarch, seated cross-legged upon a dais, projecting
over the bow of the largest canoe of the six, close-grappling
to the side of the Sea Elephant.
Was he not a goodly round sight to behold? Round all
over; round of eye and of head; and like the jolly round
Earth, roundest and biggest about the Equator. A girdle of
red was his Equinoctial Line, giving a compactness to his
plumpness.
This old Borabolla permitted naught to come between
his head and the sun; not even gray hairs. Bald as a
gourd, right down on his brazen skull, the rays of the luminary
converged.
He was all hilarity; full of allusions to the feast at Willamilla,
where he had done royal execution. Rare old
Borabolla! thou wert made for dining out; thy ample
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mouth an inlet for good cheer, and a sally-port for good
humor.
Bustling about on his dais, he now gave orders for the
occupants of our canoes to be summarily emptied into his
own; saying, that in that manner only did he allow guests
to touch the beach of Mondoldo.
So, with no little trouble—for the waves were grown
somewhat riotous—we proceeded to comply; bethinking
ourselves all the while, how annoying is sometimes an over-strained
act of hospitality.
We were now but little less than a mile from the shore.
But what of that? There was plenty of time, thought
Borabolla, for a hasty lunch, and the getting of a subsequent
appetite ere we effected a landing. So viands were produced;
to which the guests were invited to pay heedful
attention; or take the consequences, and famish till the
long voyage in prospect was ended.
Soon the water shoaled (approaching land is like nearing
truth in metaphysics), and ere we yet touched the beach,
Borabolla declared, that we were already landed. Which
paradoxical assertion implied, that the hospitality of Mondoldo
was such, that in all directions it radiated far out upon
the lagoon, embracing a great circle; so that no canoe could
sail by the island, without its occupants being so long its
guests.
In most hospitable vicinity to the water, was a fine large
structure, inclosed by a stockade; both rather dilapidated;
as if the cost of entertaining its guests, prevented outlays
for repairing the place. But it was one of Borabolla's maxims,
that generally your tumble-down old homesteads yield
the most entertainment; their very dilapidation betokening
their having seen good service in hospitality; whereas,
spruce-looking, finical portals, have a phiz full of meaning;
for niggards are oftentimes neat.
Now, after what has been said, who so silly as to fancy,
that because Borabolla's mansion was inclosed by a stock
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ade, that the same was intended as a defense against guests?
By no means. In the palisade was a mighty breach, not
an entrance-way, wide enough to admit six Daniel Lamberts
abreast.
“Look,” cried Borabolla, as landing we stepped toward
the place. “Look Media! look all. These gates, you here
see, lashed back with osiers, have been so lashed during my
life-time; and just where they stand, shall they rot; ay,
they shall perish wide open.”
“But why have them at all?” inquired Media.
“Ah! there you have old Borabolla,” cried the other.
“No,” said Babbalanja, “a fence whose gate is ever kept
open, seems unnecessary, I grant; nevertheless, it gives a
notable hint, otherwise not so aptly conveyed; for is not the
open gate the sign of the open heart?”
“Right, right,” cried Borabolla; “so enter both, cousin
Media;” and with one hand smiting his chest, with the
other he waved us on.
But if the stockade seemed all open gate, the structure
within seemed only a roof; for nothing but a slender pillar
here and there, supported it.
“This is my mode of building,” said Borabolla; “I will
have no outside to my palaces. Walls are superfluous.
And to a high-minded guest, the entering a narrow doorway
is like passing under a yoke; every time he goes in, or
comes out, it reminds him, that he is being entertained at
the cost of another. So storm in all round.”
Within, was one wide field-bed; where reclining, we
looked up to endless rows of brown calabashes, and trenchers
suspended along the rafters; promissory of ample cheer as
regiments of old hams in a baronial refectory.
They were replenished with both meat and drink; the
trenchers readily accessible by means of cords; but the
gourds containing arrack, suspended neck downward, were
within easy reach where they swung.
Seeing all these indications of hard roystering; like a
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cautious young bridegroom at his own marriage merry-making,
Taji stood on his guard. And when Borabolla
urged him to empty a gourd or two, by way of making
room in him for the incidental repast about to be served,
Taji civilly declined; not wishing to cumber the floor, before
the cloth was laid.
Jarl, however, yielding to importunity, and unmindful of
the unities of time and place, went freely about, from gourd
to gourd, concocting in him a punch. At which, Samoa
expressed much surprise, that he should be so unobservant
as not to know, that in Mardi, guests might be pressed to
demean themselves, without its being expected that so they
would do. A true toss-pot himself, he bode his time.
The second lunch over, Borabolla placed both hands to
the ground, and giving the sigh of the fat man, after three
vigorous efforts, succeeded in gaining his pins; which pins
of his, were but small for his body; insomuch that they
hugely staggered about, under the fine old load they carried.
The specific object of his thus striving after an erect posture,
was to put himself in motion, and conduct us to his
fish-ponds, famous throughout the Archipelago as the hobby
of the king of Mondoldo. Furthermore, as the great repast
of the day, yet to take place, was to be a grand piscatory
one, our host was all anxiety, that we should have a glimpse
of our fish, while yet alive and hearty.
We were alarmed at perceiving, that certain servitors
were preparing to accompany us with trenchers of edibles.
It begat the notion, that our trip to the fish-ponds was to
prove a long journey. But they were not three hundred
yards distant; though Borabolla being a veteran traveler,
never stirred from his abode without his battalion of butlers.
The ponds were four in number, close bordering the water,
embracing about an acre each, and situated in a low fen,
draining several valleys. The excavated soil was thrown
up in dykes, made tight by being beaten all over, while in a
soft state, with the heavy, flat ends of Palm stalks. Lying
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side by side, by three connecting trenches, these ponds could
be made to communicate at pleasure; while two additional
canals afforded means of letting in upon them the salt waters
of the lagoon on one hand, or those of an inland stream on
the other. And by a third canal with four branches, together
or separately, they could be partially drained. Thus,
the waters could be mixed to suit any gills; and the young
fish taken from the sea, passed through a stated process of
freshening; so that by the time they graduated, the salt was
well out of them, like the brains out of some diplomaed
collegians.
Fresh-water fish are only to be obtained in Mondoldo by
the artificial process above mentioned; as the streams and
brooks abound not in trout or other Waltonian prey.
Taken all floundering from the sea, Borabolla's fish, passing
through their regular training for the table, and daily
tended by their keepers, in course of time became quite tame
and communicative. To prove which, calling his Head
Ranger, the king bade him administer the customary supply
of edibles.
Accordingly, mouthfuls were thrown into the ponds.
Whereupon, the fish darted in a shoal toward the margin;
some leaping out of the water in their eagerness. Crouching
on the bank, the Ranger now called several by name,
patted their scales, carrying on some heathenish nursery-talk,
like St. Anthony, in ancient Coptic, instilling virtuous
principles into his finny flock on the sea shore.
But alas, for the hair-shirted old dominie's backsliding
disciples. For, of all nature's animated kingdoms, fish are
the most unchristian, inhospitable, heartless, and cold-blooded
of creatures. At least, so seem they to strangers; though
at bottom, somehow, they must be all right. And truly it
is not to be wondered at, that the very reverend Anthony
strove after the conversion of fish. For, whose shall Christianize,
and by so doing, humanize the sharks, will do a
greater good, by the saving of human life in all time to
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come, than though he made catechumens of the head-hunting
Dyaks of Borneo, or the blood-bibbing Battas of Sumatra.
And are these Dyaks and Battas one whit better than tiger-sharks?
Nay, are they so good? Were a Batta your
intimate friend, you would often mistake an orang-outang
for him; and have orang-outangs immortal souls? True,
the Battas believe in a hereafter; but of what sort? Full
of Blue-Beards and bloody bones. So, also, the sharks; who
hold that Paradise is one vast Pacific, ploughed by navies
of mortals, whom an endless gale forever drops into their
maws.
Not wholly a surmise. For, does it not appear a little
unreasonable to imagine, that there is any creature, fish,
flesh, or fowl, so little in love with life, as not to cherish
hopes of a future state? Why does man believe in it?
One reason, reckoned cogent, is, that he desires it. Who
shall say, then, that the leviathan this day harpooned on
the coast of Japan, goes not straight to his ancestor, who
rolled all Jonah, as a sweet morsel, under his tongue?
Though herein, some sailors are slow believers, or at best
hold themselves in a state of philosophical suspense. Say
they—“That catastrophe took place in the Mediterranean;
and the only whales frequenting the Mediterranean, are of
a sort having not a swallow large enough to pass a man
entire; for those Mediterranean whales feed upon small
things, as horses upon oats.” But hence, the sailors draw
a rash inference. Are not the Straits of Gibralter wide
enough to admit a sperm-whale, even though none have
sailed through, since Nineveh and the gourd in its suburbs
dried up?
As for the possible hereafter of the whales; a creature
eighty feet long without stockings, and thirty feet round the
waist before dinner, is not inconsiderately to be consigned to
annihilation.
-- -- p275-341
CHAPTER XCV. THAT JOLLY OLD LORD BORABOLLA LAUGHS ON BOTH SIDES OF HIS FACE.
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“A very good palace, this, coz, for you and me,” said
waddling old Borabolla to Media, as, returned from our
excursion, he slowly lowered himself down to his mat, sighing
like a grampus.
By this, he again made known the vastness of his hospitality,
which led him for the nonce to parcel out his kingdom
with his guests.
But apart from these extravagant expressions of good
feeling, Borabolla was the prince of good fellows. His
great tun of a person was indispensable to the housing of
his bullock-heart; under which, any lean wight would have
sunk. But alas! unlike Media and Taji, Borabolla, though
a crowned king, was accounted no demi-god; his obesity
excluding him from that honor. Indeed, in some quarters
of Mardi, certain pagans maintain, that no fat man can be
even immortal. A dogma! truly, which should be thrown
to the dogs. For fat men are the salt and savor of the
earth; full of good humor, high spirits, fun, and all manner
of jollity. Their breath clears the atmosphere: their exhalations
air the world. Of men, they are the good measures;
brimmed, heaped, pressed down, piled up, and running
over. They are as ships from Teneriffe; swimming deep,
full of old wine, and twenty steps down into their holds.
Soft and susceptible, all round they are easy of entreaty.
Wherefore, for all their rotundity, they are too often circumnavigated
by hatchet-faced knaves. Ah! a fat uncle, with
a fat paunch, and a fat purse, is a joy and a delight to all
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nephews; to philosophers, a subject of endless speculation,
as to how many droves of oxen and Lake Eries of wine
might have run through his great mill during the full term
of his mortal career. Fat men not immortal! This
very instant, old Lambert is rubbing his jolly abdomen in
Paradise.
Now, to the fact of his not being rated a demi-god, was
perhaps ascribable the circumstance, that Borabolla comported
himself with less dignity, than was the wont of their
Mardian majesties. And truth to say, to have seen him
regaling himself with one of his favorite cuttle-fish, its long
snaky arms and feelers instinctively twining round his head
as he ate; few intelligent observers would have opined that
the individual before them was the sovereign lord of Mondoldo.
But what of the banquet of fish? Shall we tell how
the old king ungirdled himself thereto; how as the feast
waxed toward its close, with one sad exception, he still remained
sunny-sided all round; his disc of a face joyous as
the South Side of Madeira in the hilarious season of
grapes? Shall we tell how we all grew glad and frank;
and how the din of the dinner was heard far into night?
We will.
When Media ate slowly, Borabolla took him to task,
bidding him dispatch his viands more speedily.
Whereupon said Media “But Borabolla, my round fellow,
that would abridge the pleasure.”
“Not at all, my dear demi-god; do like me: eat fast
and eat long.”
In the middle of the feast, a huge skin of wine was
brought in. The portly peltry of a goat; its horns embattling
its effigy head; its mouth the nozzle; and its long
beard flowed to its jet-black hoofs. With many ceremonial
salams, the attendants bore it along, placing it at one end
of the convivial mats, full in front of Borabolla; where
seated upon its haunches it made one of the party.
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Brimming a ram's horn, the mellowest of bugles, Borabolla
bowed to his silent guest, and thus spoke—“In this
wine, which yet smells of the grape, I pledge you my reverend
old toper, my lord Capricornus; you alone have enough;
and here's full skins to the rest!”
“How jolly he is,” whispered Media to Babbalanja.
“Ay, his lungs laugh loud; but is laughing, rejoicing?”
“Help! help!” cried Borabolla “lay me down! lay me
down! good gods, what a twinge!”
The goblet fell from his hand; the purple flew from his
wine to his face; and Borabolla fell back into the arms of
his servitors. “That gout! that gout!” he groaned.
“Lord! lord! no more cursed wine will I drink!”
“Then at ten paces distant, a clumsy attendant let fall a
trencher—“Take it off my foot, you knave!”
Afar off another entered gallanting a calabash—“Look
out for my toe, you hound!”
During all this, the attendants tenderly nursed him.
And in good time, with its thousand fangs, the gout-frend
departed for a while.
Reprieved, the old king brightened up; by degrees becoming
jolly as ever.
“Come! let us be merry again,” he cried, “what shall
we eat? and what shall we drink? that infernal gout is
gone; come, what will your worships have?”
So at it once more we went.
But of our feast, little more remains to be related than
this;—that out of it, grew a wondrous kindness between
Borabolla and Jarl. Strange to tell, from the first our fat
host had regarded my Viking with a most friendly eye.
Still stranger to add, this feeling was returned. But though
they thus fancied each other, they were very unlike; Borabolla
and Jarl. Nevertheless, thus is it ever. And as the
convex fits not into the convex, but into the concave; so do
men fit into their opposites; and so fitted Borabolla's arched
paunch into Jarl's, hollowed out to receive it.
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But how now? Borabolla was jolly and loud: Jarl
demure and silent; Borabolla a king: Jarl only a Viking;—
how came they together? Very plain, to repeat:—because
they were heterogeneous; and hence the affinity.
But as the affinity between those chemical opposites chlorine
and hydrogen, is promoted by caloric; so the affinity between
Borabolla and Jarl was promoted by the warmth of the
wine that they drank at this feast. For of all blessed fluids,
the juice of the grape is the greatest foe to cohesion. True,
it tightens the girdle; but then it loosens the tongue, and
opens the heart.
In sum, Borabolla loved Jarl; and Jarl, pleased with this
sociable monarch, for all his garrulity, esteemed him the
most sensible old gentleman and king he had as yet seen in
Mardi. For this reason, perhaps; that his talkativeness
favored that silence in listeners, which was my Viking's delight
in himself.
Repeatedly during the banquet, our host besought Taji
to allow his henchman to remain on the island, after the
rest of our party should depart; and he faithfully promised
to surrender Jarl, whenever we should return to claim him.
But though I harbored no distrust of Borabolla's friendly
intentions, I could not so readily consent to his request; for
with Jarl for my one only companion, had I not both famished
and feasted? was he not my only link to things
past?—
Things past!—Ah Yillah! for all its mirth, and though
we hunted wide, we found thee not in Mondoldo.
-- -- p275-345
CHAPTER XCVI. SAMOA A SURGEON.
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The second day of our stay in Mondoldo was signalized
by a noteworthy exhibition of the surgical skill of Samoa;
who had often boasted, that though well versed in the science
of breaking men's heads, he was equally an adept in mending
their crockery.
Overnight, Borabolla had directed his corps of sea-divers
to repair early on the morrow, to a noted section of the
great Mardian reef, for the purpose of procuring for our regalement
some of the fine Hawk's-bill turtle, whose secret
retreats were among the cells and galleries of that submerged
wall of coral, from whose foamy coping no plummet dropped
ever yet touched bottom.
These turtles were only to be obtained by diving far down
under the surface; and then swimming along horizontally,
and peering into the coral honeycomb; snatching at a flipper
when seen, as at a pinion in a range of billing dove-cotes.
As the king's divers were thus employed, one of them,
Karhownoo by name, perceived a Devil-shark, so called,
swimming wistfully toward him from out his summer grotto
in the reef. No way petrified by the sight, and pursuing
the usual method adopted by these divers in such emergencies,
Karhownoo, splashing the water, instantly swam toward
the stranger. But the shark, undaunted, advanced: a thing
so unusual, and fearful, that, in an agony of fright, the diver
shot up for the surface. Heedless, he looked not up as he
went; and when within a few inches of the open air, dashed
his head against a projection of the reef. He would have
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sunk into the live tomb beneath, were it not that three of
his companions, standing on the brink, perceived his peril,
and dragged him into safety.
Seeing the poor fellow was insensible, they endeavored,
ineffectually, to revive him; and at last, placing him in
their canoe, made all haste for the shore. Here a crowd
soon gathered, and the diver was borne to a habitation, close
adjoining Borabolla's; whence, hearing of the disaster, we
sallied out to render assistance.
Upon entering the hut, the benevolent old king commanded
it to be cleared; and then proceeded to examine the
sufferer.
The skull proved to be very badly fractured; in one
place, splintered.
“Let me mend it,” said Samoa, with ardor.
And being told of his experience in such matters, Borabolla
surrendered the patient.
With a gourd of water, and a tappa cloth, the one-armed
Upoluan carefully washed the wound; and then calling for
a sharp splinter of bamboo, and a thin, semi-transparent cup
of cocoa-nut shell, he went about the operation: nothing
less than the “Tomoti” (head-mending), in other words the
trepan.
The patient still continuing insensible, the fragments were
disengaged by help of a bamboo scalpel; when a piece of
the drinking cup—previously dipped in the milk of a cocoa-nut—
was nicely fitted into the vacancy, the skin as nicely
adjusted over it, and the operation was complete.
And now, while all present were crying out in admiration
of Samoa's artistic skill, and Samoa himself stood complacently
regarding his workmanship, Babbalanja suggested,
that it might be well to ascertain whether the patient survived.
When, upon sounding his heart, the diver was found
to be dead.
The bystanders loudly lamented; but declared the surgeon
a man of marvelous science.
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Returning to Borabolla's, much conversation ensued, concerning
the sad scene we had witnessed, which presently
branched into a learned discussion upon matters of surgery
at large.
At length, Samoa regaled the company with a story; for
the truth of which no one but him can vouch, for no one
but him was by, at the time; though there is testimony to
show that it involves nothing at variance with the customs
of certain barbarous tribes.
Read on.
-- -- p275-348
CHAPTER XCVII. FAITH AND KNOWLEDGE.
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A thing incredible is about to be related; but a thing
may be incredible and still be true; sometimes it is incredible
because it is true. And many infidels but disbelieve the
least incredible things; and many bigots reject the most obvious.
But let us hold fast to all we have; and stop all
leaks in our faith; lest an opening, but of a hand's breadth,
should sink our seventy-fours. The wide Atlantic can rush
in at one port-hole; and if we surrender a plank, we surrender
the fleet. Panoplied in all the armor of St. Paul,
morion, hauberk, and greaves, let us fight the Turks inch by
inch, and yield them naught but our corpse.
But let us not turn round upon friends, confounding them
with foes. For dissenters only assent to more than we.
Though Milton was a heretic to the creed of Athanasius,
his faith exceeded that of Athanasius himself; and the
faith of Athanasius that of Thomas, the disciple, who with
his own eyes beheld the mark of the nails. Whence it
comes that though we be all Christians now, the best of us
had perhaps been otherwise in the days of Thomas.
The higher the intelligence, the more faith, and the less
credulity: Gabriel rejects more than we, but out-believes us
all. The greatest marvels are first truths; and first truths
the last unto which we attain. Things nearest are furthest
off. Though your ear be next-door to your brain, it is forever
removed from your sight. Man has a more comprehensive
view of the moon, than the man in the moon himself.
We know the moon is round; he only infers it. It is
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because we ourselves are in ourselves, that we know ourselves
not. And it is only of our easy faith, that we are not infidels
throughout; and only of our lack of faith, that we
believe what we do.
In some universe-old truths, all mankind are disbelievers.
Do you believe that you lived three thousand years ago?
That you were at the taking of Tyre, were overwhelmed
in Gomorrah? No. But for me, I was at the subsiding
of the Deluge, and helped swab the ground, and build the
first house. With the Israelites, I fainted in the wilderness;
was in court, when Solomon outdid all the judges before
him. I, it was, who suppressed the lost work of Manetho,
on the Egyptian theology, as containing mysteries not to be
revealed to posterity, and things at war with the canonical
scriptures; I, who originated the conspiracy against that
purple murderer, Domitian; I, who in the senate moved,
that great and good Aurelian be emperor. I instigated the
abdication of Diocletian, and Charles the Fifth; I touched
Isabella's heart, that she hearkened to Columbus. I am he,
that from the king's minions hid the Charter in the old oak
at Hartford; I harbored Goffe and Whalley: I am the
leader of the Mohawk masks, who in the Old Common-wealth's
harbor, overboard threw the East India Company's
Souchong; I am the Vailed Persian Prophet; I, the man
in the iron mask; I, Junius.
-- -- p275-350
CHAPTER XCVIII. THE TALE OF A TRAVELER.
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It was Samoa, who told the incredible tale; and he told
it as a traveler. But stay-at-homes say travelers lie. Yet
a voyage to Ethiopia would cure them of that; for few
skeptics are travelers; fewer travelers liars, though the
proverb respecting them lies. It is false, as some say, that
Bruce was cousin-german to Baron Munchausen; but true,
as Bruce said, that the Abysinnians cut live steaks from
their cattle. It was, in good part, his villainous transcribers,
who made monstrosities of Mandeville's travels. And
though all liars go to Gehenna; yet, assuming that Mandeville
died before Dante; still, though Dante took the census
of Hell, we find not Sir John, under the likeness of a roasted
neat's tongue, in that infernalest of infernos, The Inferno.
But let not the truth be postponed. To the stand, Samoa,
and through your interpreter, speak.
Once upon a time, during his endless sea-rovings, the
Upoluan was called upon to cobble the head of a friend,
grievously hurt in a desperate fight of slings.
Upon examination, that part of the brain proving as much
injured as the cranium itself, a young pig was obtained; and
preliminaries being over, part of its live brain was placed in
the cavity, the trepan accomplished with cocoanut shell, and
the scalp drawn over and secured.
This man died not, but lived. But from being a warrior
of great sense and spirit, he became a perverse-minded and
piggish fellow, showing many of the characteristics of his
swinish grafting. He survived the operation more than a
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year; at the end of that period, however, going mad, and
dying in his delirium.
Stoutly backed by the narrator, this anecdote was credited
by some present. But Babbalanja held out to the last.
“Yet, if this story be true,” said he, “and since it is well
settled, that our brains are somehow the organs of sense;
then, I see not why human reason could not be put into a
pig, by letting into its cranium the contents of a man's. I
have long thought, that men, pigs, and plants, are but curious
physiological experiments; and that science would at last
enable philosophers to produce new species of beings, by
somehow mixing, and concocting the essential ingredients of
various creatures; and so forming new combinations. My
friend Atahalpa, the astrologer and alchymist, has long had
a jar, in which he has been endeavoring to hatch a fairy,
the ingredients being compounded according to a receipt of
his own.”
But little they heeded Babbalanja. It was the traveler's
tale that most arrested attention.
Tough the thews, and tough the tales of Samoa.
-- -- p275-352
CHAPTER XCIX. “MARNEE ORA, ORA MARNEE. ”
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During the afternoon of the day of the diver's decease,
preparations were making for paying the last rites to his
remains, and carrying them by torch-light to their sepulcher,
the sea; for, as in Odo, so was the custom here.
Meanwhile, all over the isle, to and fro went heralds,
dismally arrayed, beating shark-skin drums; and, at intervals,
crying—“A man is dead; let no fires be kindled;
have mercy, oh Oro!—Let no canoes put to sea till the
burial. This night, oh Oro!—Let no food be cooked.”
And ever and anon, passed and repassed these, others in
brave attire; with castanets of pearl shells, making gay
music; and these sang—
Be merry, oh men of Mondoldo,
A maiden this night is to wed:
Be merry, oh damsels of Mardi,—
Flowers, flowers for the bridal bed.
Informed that the preliminary rites were about being
rendered, we repaired to the arbor, whither the body had
been removed.
Arrayed in white, it was laid out on a mat; its arms
mutely crossed, between its lips an asphodel; at the feet, a
withered hawthorn bough.
The relatives were wailing, and cutting themselves with
shells, so that blood flowed, and spotted their vesture.
Upon remonstrating with the most abandoned of these
mourners, the wife of the diver, she exclaimed, “Yes; great
is the pain, but greater my affliction.”
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Another, the deaf sire of the dead, went staggering about,
and groping; saying, that he was now quite blind; for
some months previous he had lost one eye in the death of
his eldest son; and now the other was gone.
“I am childless,” he cried; “henceforth call me Roi
Mori,” that is, Twice-Blind.
While the relatives were thus violently lamenting, the
rest of the company occasionally scratched themselves with
their shells; but very slightly, and mostly on the soles of
their feet; from long exposure, quite callous. This was
interrupted, however, when the real mourners averted their
eyes; though at no time was there any deviation in the
length of their faces.
But on all sides, lamentations afresh broke forth, upon
the appearance of a person who had been called in to assist
in solemnizing the obsequies, and also to console the afflicted.
In rotundity, he was another Borabolla. He puffed and
panted.
As he approached the corpse, a sobbing silence ensued;
when holding the hand of the dead, between his, the stranger
thus spoke:—
“Mourn not, oh friends of Karhownoo, that this your
brother lives not. His wounded head pains him no more;
he would not feel it, did a javelin pierce him. Yea; Karhownoo
is exempt from all the ills and evils of this miserable
Mardi!”
Hereupon, the Twice-Blind, who being deaf, heard not
what was said, tore his gray hair, and cried, “Alas! alas!
my boy; thou wert the merriest man in Mardi, and now
thy pranks are over!”
But the other proceeded—“Mourn not, I say, oh friends
of Karhownoo; the dead whom ye deplore is happier than
the living; is not his spirit in the aerial isles?”
“True! true!” responded the raving wife, mingling her
blood with her tears, “my own poor hapless Karhownoo is
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thrice happy in Paradise!” And anew she wailed, and
lacerated her cheeks.
“Rave not, I say.”
But she only raved the more.
And now the good stranger departed; saying, he must
hie to a wedding, waiting his presence in an arbor adjoining.
Understanding that the removal of the body would not
take place till midnight, we thought to behold the mode of
marrying in Mondoldo.
Drawing near the place, we were greeted by merry voices,
and much singing, which greatly increased when the good
stranger was perceived.
Gayly arrayed in fine robes, with plumes on their heads,
the bride and groom stood in the middle of a joyous throng,
in readiness for the nuptial bond to be tied.
Standing before them, the stranger was given a cord, so
bedecked with flowers, as to disguise its stout fibers; and
taking the bride's hands, he bound them together to a ritual
chant; about her neck, in festoons, disposing the flowery
ends of the cord. Then turning to the groom, he was given
another, also beflowered; but attached thereto was a great
stone, very much carved, and stained; indeed, so every way
disguised, that a person not knowing what it was, and lifting
it, would be greatly amazed at its weight. This cord
being attached to the waist of the groom, he leaned over
toward the bride, by reason of the burden of the drop.
All present now united in a chant, and danced about the
happy pair, who meanwhile looked ill at ease; the one being
so bound by the hands, and the other sorely weighed down
by his stone.
A pause ensuing, the good stranger, turning them back to
back, thus spoke:—
“By thy flowery gyves, oh bride, I make thee a wife;
and by thy burdensome stone, oh groom, I make thee a
husband. Live and be happy, both; for the wise and good
Oro hath placed us in Mardi to be glad. Doth not all
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nature rejoice in her green groves and her flowers? and
woo and wed not the fowls of the air, trilling their bliss in
their bowers? Live then, and be happy, oh bride and
groom; for Oro is offended with the unhappy, since he
meant them to be gay.”
And the ceremony ended with a joyful feast.
But not all nuptials in Mardi were like these. Others
were wedded with different rites; without the stone and
flowery gyves. These were they who plighted their troth
with tears not smiles, and made responses in the heart.
Returning from the house of the merry to the house of
the mournful, we lingered till midnight to witness the issuing
forth of the body.
By torch light, numerous canoes, with paddlers standing
by, were drawn up on the beach, to accommodate those who
purposed following the poor diver to his home.
The remains embarked, some confusion ensued concerning
the occupancy of the rest of the shallops. At last the procession
glided off, our party included. Two by two, forming
a long line of torches trailing round the isle, the canoes all
headed toward the opening in the reef.
For a time, a decorous silence was preserved; but presently,
some whispering was heard; perhaps melancholy discoursing
touching the close of the diver's career. But we
were shocked to discover, that poor Karhownoo was not
much in their thoughts; they were conversing about the
next bread-fruit harvest, and the recent arrival of King
Media and party at Mondoldo. From far in advance, however,
were heard the lamentations of the true mourners, the
relatives of the diver.
Passing the reef, and sailing a little distance therefrom,
the canoes were disposed in a circle; the one bearing the
corpse in the center. Certain ceremonies over, the body
was committed to the waves; the white foam lighting up
the last, long plunge of the diver, to see sights more strange,
than ever he saw in the brooding cells of the Turtle Reef.
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And now, while in the still midnight, all present were
gazing down into the ocean, watching the white wake of
the corpse, ever and anon illuminated by sparkles, an unknown
voice was heard, and all started and vacantly stared,
as this wild song was sung:—
We drop our dead in the sea,
The bottomless, bottomless sea;
Each bubble a hollow sigh,
As it sinks forever and aye.
We drop our dead in the sea,—
The dead reck not of aught;
We drop our dead in the sea,—
The sea ne'er gives it a thought.
Sink, sink, oh corpse, still sink,
Far down in the bottomless sea,
Where the unknown forms do prowl,
Down, down in the bottomless sea.
'Tis night above, and night all round,
And night will it be with thee;
As thou sinkest, and sinkest for aye,
Deeper down in the bottomless sea.
The mysterious voice died away; no sign of the corpse
was now seen; and mute with amaze, the company long
listed to the low moan of the billows and the sad sough of
the breeze.
At last, without speaking, the obsequies were concluded
by sliding into the ocean a carved tablet of Palmetto, to
mark the place of the burial. But a wave-crest received
it, and fast it floated away.
Returning to the isle, long silence prevailed. But at
length, as if the scene in which they had just taken part,
afresh reminded them of the mournful event which had
called them together, the company again recurred to it;
some present, sadly and incidentally alluding to Borabolla's
banquet of turtle, thereby postponed.
-- -- p275-357
CHAPTER C. THE PURSUER HIMSELF IS PURSUED.
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Next morning, when much to the chagrin of Borabolla
we were preparing to quit his isle, came tidings to the
palace, of a wonderful event, occurring in one of the “Motoos,”
or little islets of the great reef; which “Motoo” was
included in the dominions of the king.
The men who brought these tidings were highly excited;
and no sooner did they make known what they knew, than
all Mondoldo was in a tumult of marveling.
Their story was this.
Going at day break to the Motoo to fish, they perceived
a strange proa beached on its seaward shore; and presently
were hailed by voices; and saw among the palm trees, three
specter-like men, who were not of Mardi.
The first amazement of the fishermen over, in reply to
their eager questions, the strangers related, that they were
the survivors of a company of men, natives of some unknown
island to the northeast; whence they had embarked for
another country, distant three days' sail to the southward
of theirs. But falling in with a terrible adventure, in
which their sire had been slain, they altered their course to
pursue the fugitive who murdered him; one and all vowing,
never more to see home, until their father's fate was avenged.
The murderer's proa outsailing theirs, soon ran out of sight;
yet after him they blindly steered by day and by night:
steering by the blood-red star in Boötes. Soon, a violent
gale overtook them; driving them to and fro; leaving them
they knew not where. But still struggling against strange
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currents, at times counteracting their sailing, they drifted on
their way; nigh to famishing for water; and no shore in sight.
In long calms, in vain they held up their dry gourds to
heaven, and cried “send us a breeze, sweet gods!” The
calm still brooded; and ere it was gone, all but three
gasped; and dead from thirst, were plunged into the sea.
The breeze which followed the calm, soon brought them in
sight of a low, uninhabited isle; where tarrying many days,
they laid in good store of cocoanuts and water, and again
embarked.
The next land they saw was Mardi; and they landed on
the Motoo, still intent on revenge.
This recital filled Taji with horror.
Who could these avengers be, but the sons of him I had
slain. I had thought them far hence, and myself forgotten;
and now, like adders, they started up in my path, as I
hunted for Yillah.
But I dissembled my thoughts.
Without waiting to hear more, Borabolla, all curiosity to
behold the strangers, instantly dispatched to the Motoo one
of his fleetest canoes, with orders to return with the voyagers.
Ere long they came in sight; and perceiving that strange
proa in tow of the king's, Samoa cried out: “Lo! Taji, the
canoe that was going to Tedaidee!”
Too true; the same double-keeled craft, now sorely broken,
the fatal dais in wild disarray: the canoe, the canoe of
Aleema! And with it came the spearmen three, who,
when the Chamois was fleeing from their bow, had poised
their javelins. But so wan their aspect now, their faces
looked like skulls.
Then came over me the wild dream of Yillah; and, for
a space, like a madman, I raved. It seemed as if the mysterious
damsel must still be there; the rescue yet to be
achieved. In my delirium I rushed upon the skeletons,
as they landed—“Hide not the maiden!” But interposing,
Media led me aside; when my transports abated.
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Now, instantly, the strangers knew who I was; and,
brandishing their javelins, they rushed upon me, as I had
on them, with a yell. But deeming us all mad, the crowd
held us apart; when, writhing in the arms that restrained
them, the pale specters foamed out their curses again and
again:—“Oh murderer! white curses upon thee! Bleached
be thy soul with our hate! Living, our brethren cursed
thee; and dying, dry-lipped, they cursed thee again. They
died not through famishing for water, but for revenge upon
thee! Thy blood, their thirst would have slaked!”
I lay fainting against the hard-throbbing heart of Samoa,
while they showered their yells through the air. Once
more, in my thoughts, the green corpse of the priest drifted
by.
Among the people of Mondoldo, a violent commotion
now raged. They were amazed at Taji's recognition by
the strangers, and at the deadly ferocity they betrayed.
Rallying upon this, and perceiving that by divulging all
they knew, these sons of Aleema might stir up the Islanders
against me, I resolved to anticipate their story; and, turning
to Borabolla, said—“In these strangers, oh, king! you
behold the survivors of a band we encountered on our voyage.
From them I rescued a maiden, called Yillah, whom they
were carrying captive. Little more of their history do I
know.”
“Their maledictions?” exclaimed Borabolla.
“Are they not delirious with suffering?” I cried. “They
know not what they say.”
So, moved by all this, he commanded them to be guarded,
and conducted within his palisade; and having supplied
them with cheer, entered into earnest discourse. Yet all
the while, the pale strangers on me fixed their eyes; deep,
dry, crater-like hollows, lurid with flames, reflected from the
fear-frozen glacier, my soul.
But though their hatred appalled, spite of that spell,
again the sweet dream of Yillah stole over me, with all the
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mysterious things by her narrated, but left unexplained.
And now, before me were those who might reveal the lost
maiden's whole history, previous to the fatal affray.
Thus impelled, I besought them to disclose what they
knew.
But, “Where now is your Yillah?” they cried. “Is the
murderer wedded and merry? Bring forth the maiden!”
Yet, though they tore out my heart's core, I told them
not of my loss.
Then, anxious, to learn the history of Yillah, all present
commanded them to divulge it; and breathlessly I heard
what follows.
“Of Yillah, we know only this:—that many moons ago,
a mighty canoe, full of beings, white, like this murderer
Taji, touched at our island of Amma. Received with wonder,
they were worshiped as gods; were feasted all over the
land. Their chief was a tower to behold; and with him,
was a being, whose cheeks were of the color of the red
coral; her eye, tender as the blue of the sky. Every day
our people brought her offerings of fruit and flowers; which
last she would not retain for herself, but hung them round
the neck of her child, Yillah; then only an infant in her
mother's arms; a bud, nestling close to a flower, full-blown.
All went well between our people and the gods, till at last
they slew three of our countrymen, charged with stealing
from their great canoe. Our warriors retired to the hills,
brooding over revenge. Three days went by; when by
night, descending to the plain, in silence they embarked;
gained the great vessel, and slaughtered every soul but
Yillah. The bud was torn from the flower; and, by our
father Aleema, was carried to the Valley of Ardair;
there set apart as a sacred offering for Apo, our deity.
Many moons passed; and there arose a tumult, hostile to
our sire's longer holding custody of Yillah; when, foreseeing
that the holy glen would ere long be burst open, he embarked
the maiden in yonder canoe, to accelerate her
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sacrifice at the great shrine of Apo, in Tedaidee.—The rest thou
knowest, murderer!”
“Yillah! Yillah!” now hunted again that sound through
my soul. “Oh, Yillah! too late, too late have I learned
what thou art!”
Apprised of the disappearance of their former captive, the
meager strangers exulted; declaring that Apo had taken her
to himself. For me, ere long, my blood they would quaff
from my skull.
But though I shrunk from their horrible threats, I dissembled
anew; and turning, again swore that they raved.
“Ay!” they retorted, “we rave and raven for you; and
your white heart will we have!”
Perceiving the violence of their rage, and persuaded from
what I said, that much suffering at sea must have maddened
them; Borabolla thought fit to confine them for the
present; so that they could not molest me.
-- -- p275-362
CHAPTER CI. THE IRIS.
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That evening, in the groves, came to me three gliding
forms:—Hautia's heralds: the Iris mixed with nettles.
Said Yoomy, “A cruel message!”
With the right hand, the second syren presented glossy,
green wax-myrtle berries, those that burn like tapers; the
third, a lily of the valley, crushed in its own broad leaf.
This done, they earnestly eyed Yoomy; who, after much
pondering, said—“I speak for Hautia; who by these berries
says, I will enlighten you.”
“Oh, give me then that light! say, where is Yillah?”
and I rushed upon the heralds.
But eluding me, they looked reproachfully at Yoomy;
and seemed offended.
“Then, I am wrong,” said Yoomy. “It is thus:—Taji,
you have been enlightened, but the lily you seek is crushed.”
Then fell my heart, and the phantoms nodded; flinging
upon me bilberries, like rose pearls, which bruised against
my skin, left stains.
Waving oleanders, they retreated.
“Harm! treachery! beware!” cried Yoomy.
Then they glided through the wood: one showering dead
leaves along the path I trod, the others gayly waving bunches
of spring-crocuses, yellow, white, and purple; and thus
they vanished.
Said Yoomy, “Sad your path, but merry Hautia's.”
“Then merry may she be, whoe'er she is; and though
woe be mine, I turn not from that to Hautia; nor ever will
I woo her, though she woo me till I die;—though Yillah
never bless my eyes.”
-- -- p275-363
CHAPTER CII. THEY DEPART FROM MONDOLDO.
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Night passed; and next morning we made preparations
for leaving Mondoldo that day.
But fearing anew, lest after our departure, the men of
Amma might stir up against me the people of the isle, I determined
to yield to the earnest solicitations of Borabolla,
and leave Jarl behind, for a remembrance of Taji; if necessary,
to vindicate his name. Apprised hereof, my follower
was loth to acquiesce. His guiltless spirit feared not the
strangers: less selfish considerations prevailed. He was
willing to remain on the island for a time, but not without
me. Yet, setting forth my reasons; and assuring him, that
our tour would not be long in completing, when we would
not fail to return, previous to sailing for Odo, he at last, but
reluctantly, assented.
At Mondoldo, we also parted with Samoa. Whether it
was, that he feared the avengers, whom he may have thought
would follow on my track; or whether the islands of Mardi
answered not in attractiveness to the picture his fancy-had
painted; or whether the restraint put upon him by the
domineering presence of King Media, was too irksome withal;
or whether, indeed, he relished not those disquisitions with
which Babbalanja regaled us: however it may have been,
certain it was, that Samoa was impatient of the voyage.
He besought permission to return to Odo, there to await my
return; and a canoe of Mondoldo being about to proceed in
that direction, permission was granted; and departing for
the other side of the island, from thence he embarked.
Long after, dark tidings came, that at early dawn he had
been found dead in the canoe: three arrows in his side.
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Yoomy was at a loss to account for the departure of
Samoa; who, while ashore, had expressed much desire to
roam.
Media, however, declared that he must be returning to
some mamorata.
But Babbalanja averred, that the Upoluan was not the
first man, who had turned back, after beginning a voyage
like our own.
To this, after musing, Yoomy assented. Indeed, I had
noticed, that already the Warbler had abated those sanguine
assurances of success, with which he had departed from Odo.
The futility of our search thus far, seemed ominous to him,
of the end.
On the eve of embarking, we were accompanied to the
beach by Borabolla; who, with his own hand, suspended
from the shark's mouth of Media's canoe, three red-ripe
bunches of plantains, a farewell gift to his guests.
Though he spoke not a word, Jarl was long in taking
leave. His eyes seemed to say, I will see you no more.
At length we pushed from the strand; Borabolla waving
his adieus with a green leaf of banana; our comrade ruefully
eyeing the receding canoes; and the multitude loudly
invoking for us a prosperous voyage.
But to my horror, there suddenly dashed through the
crowd, the three specter sons of Alcema, escaped from their
prison. With clenched hands, they stood in the water, and
cursed me anew. And with that curse in our sails, we
swept off.
-- -- p275-365
CHAPTER CIII. AS THEY SAIL.
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As the canoes now glided across the lagoon, I gave myself
up to reverie; and revolving over all that the men of
Amma had rehearsed of the history of Yillah, I one by one
unriddled the mysteries, before so baffling. Now, all was
made plain: no secret remaining, but the subsequent event
of her disappearance. Yes, Hautia! enlightened I had
been—but where was Yillah?
Then I recalled that last interview with Hautia's messengers,
so full of enigmas; and wondered, whether Yoomy
had interpreted aright. Unseen, and unsolicited; still pursuing
me with omens, with taunts, and with wooings, mysterious
Hautia appalled me. Vaguely I began to fear her.
And the thought, that perhaps again and again, her heralds
would haunt me, filled me with a nameless dread, which I
almost shrank from acknowledging. Inwardly I prayed,
that never more they might appear.
While full of these thoughts, Media interrupted them by
saying, that the minstrel was about to begin one of his
chants, a thing of his own composing; and therefore, as he
himself said, all critics must be lenient; for Yoomy, at
times, not always, was a timid youth, distrustful of his own
sweet genius for poesy.
The words were about a curious hereafter, believed in by
some people in Mardi: a sort of nocturnal Paradise, where
the sun and its heat are excluded: one long, lunar day,
with twinkling stars to keep company.
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THE SONG.
Far off in the sea is Marlena,
A land of shades and streams,
A land of many delights.
Dark and bold, thy shores, Marlena;
But green, and timorous, thy soft knolls,
Crouching behind the woodlands.
All shady thy hills; all gleaming thy springs,
Like eyes in the earth looking at you.
How charming thy haunts Marlena!—
Oh, the waters that flow through Onimoo:
Oh, the leaves that rustle through Ponoo:
Oh, the roses that blossom in Tarma.
Come, and see the valley of Vina:
How sweet, how sweet, the Isles from Hina:
'Tis aye afternoon of the full, full moon,
And ever the season of fruit,
And ever the hour of flowers,
And never the time of rains and gales,
All in and about Marlena.
Soft sigh the boughs in the stilly air,
Soft lap the beach the billows there;
And in the woods or by the streams,
You needs must nod in the Land of Dreams.
“Yoomy,” said old Mohi with a yawn, “you composed
that song, then, did you?”
“I did,” said Yoomy, placing his turban a little to one
side.
“Then, minstrel, you shall sing me to sleep every night,
especially with that song of Marlena; it is soporific as the
airs of Nora-Bamma.”
“Mean you, old man, that my lines, setting forth the
luxurious repose to be enjoyed hereafter, are composed with
such skill, that the description begets the reality; or would
you ironically suggest, that the song is a sleepy thing itself?”
“An important discrimination,” said Media; “which
mean you, Mohi?”
“Now, are you not a silly boy,” said Babbalanja, “when
from the ambiguity of his speech, you could so easily have
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derived something flattering, thus to seek to extract unpleasantness
from it? Be wise, Yoomy; and hereafter, whenever
a remark like that seems equivocal, be sure to wrest
commendation from it, though you torture it to the quick.”
“And most sure am I, that I would ever do so; but
often I so incline to a distrust of my powers, that I am far
more keenly alive to censure, than to praise; and always
deem it the more sincere of the two; and no praise so much
elates me, as censure depresses.”
-- -- p275-368
CHAPTER CIV. WHEREIN BABBALANJA BROACHES A DIABOLICAL THEORY, AND, IN HIS OWN PERSON, PROVES IT.
[figure description] Page 361.[end figure description]
“A TRUCE!” cried Media, “here comes a gallant before
the wind.—Look, Taji!”
Turning, we descried a sharp-prowed canoe, dashing on,
under the pressure of an immense triangular sail, whose
outer edges were streaming with long, crimson pennons.
Flying before it, were several small craft, belonging to the
poorer sort of Islanders.
“Out of his way there, ye laggards,” cried Media, “or
that mad prince, Tribonnora, will ride over ye with a rush!”
“And who is Tribonnora,” said Babbalanja, “that he
thus bravely diverts himself, running down innocent paddlers?”
“A harum-scarum young chief,” replied Media, “heir to
three islands; he likes nothing better than the sport you
now see him at.”
“He must be possessed by a devil,” said Mohi.
Said Babbalanja, “Then he is only like all of us.”
“What say you?” cried Media.
“I say, as old Bardianna in the Nine hundred and ninety
ninth book of his immortal Ponderings saith, that all men—”
“As I live, my lord, he has swamped three canoes,” cried
Mohi, pointing off the beam.
But just then a fiery fin-back whale, having broken into
the paddock of the lagoon, threw up a high fountain of foam,
almost under Tribonnora's nose; who, quickly turning about
his canoe, cur-like slunk off; his steering-paddle between
his legs.
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Comments over; “Babbalanja, you were going to quote,”
said Media. “Proceed.”
“Thank you, my lord. Says old Bardianna, `All men
are possessed by devils; but as these devils are sent into
men, and kept in them, for an additional punishment; not
garrisoning a fortress, but limboed in a bridewell; so, it
may be more just to say, that the devils themselves are
possessed by men, not men by them.”'
“Faith!” cried Media, “though sometimes a bore, your
old Bardianna is a trump.”
“I have long been of that mind, my lord. But let me
go on. Says Bardianna, `Devils are divers;—strong devils,
and weak devils; knowing devils, and silly devils; mad
devils, and mild devils; devils, merely devils; devils, themselves
bedeviled; devils, doubly bedeviled.”'
“And in the devil's name, what sort of a devil is yours?”
cried Mohi.
“Of him anon; interrupt me not, old man. Thus, then,
my lord, as devils are divers, divers are the devils in men.
Whence, the wide difference we see. But after all, the
main difference is this:—that one man's devil is only more
of a devil than another's; and be bedeviled as much as you
will; yet, may you perform the most bedeviled of actions
with impunity, so long as you only bedevil yourself. For it
is only when your deviltry injures another, that the other
devils conspire to confine yours for a mad one. That is to
say, if you be easily handled. For there are many bedeviled
Bedlamites in Mardi, doing an infinity of mischief, who
are too brawny in the arms to be tied.”
“A very devilish doctrine that,” cried Mohi. “I don't
believe it.”
“My lord,” said Babbalanja, “here's collateral proof;—
the sage lawgiver Yamjamma, who flourished long before
Bardianna, roundly asserts, that all men who knowingly do
evil are bedeviled; for good is happiness; happiness the object
of living; and evil is not good.”
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“If the sage Yamjamma said that,” said old Mohi, “the
sage Yamjamma might have bettered the saying; it's not
quite so plain as it might be.”
“Yamjamma disdained to be plain; he scorned to be
fully comprehended by mortals. Like all oracles, he dealt
in dark sayings. But old Bardianna was of another sort;
he spoke right out, going straight to the point like a javelin;
especially when he laid it down for a universal maxim, that
minus exceptions, all men are bedeviled.”
“Of course, then,” said Media, “you include yourself
among the number.”
“Most assuredly; and so did old Bardianna; who somewhere
says, that being thoroughly bedeviled himself, he was
so much the better qualified to discourse upon the deviltries
of his neighbors. But in another place he seems to contradict
himself, by asserting, that he is not so sensible of his
own deviltry as of other people's.”
“Hold!” cried Media, “who have we here?” and he
pointed ahead of our prow to three men in the water, urging
themselves along, each with a paddle.
We made haste to overtake them.
“Who are you?” said Media, “where from, and where
bound?”
“From Variora,” they answered, “and bound to Mondoldo.”
“And did that devil Tribonnora swamp your canoe?”
asked Media, offering to help them into ours.
“We had no such useless incumbrance to lose,” they replied,
resting on their backs, and panting with their exertions.
“If we had had a canoe, we would have had to
paddle it along with us; whereas we have only our bodies
to paddle.”
“You are a parcel of loons,” exclaimed Media. “But
go your ways, if you are satisfied with your locomotion,
well and good.”
“Now, it is an extreme case, I grant,” said Babbalanja,
“but those poor devils there, help to establish old
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Bardianna's position. They belong to that species of our bedeviled
race, called simpletons; but their devils harming none but
themselves, are permitted to be at large with the fish.
Whereas, Tribonnora's devil, who daily runs down canoes,
drowning their occupants, belongs to the species of out and
out devils; but being high in station, and strongly backed
by kith and kin, Tribonnora can not be mastered, and put
in a strait-jacket. For myself, I think my devil is some
where between these two extremes; at any rate, he belongs
to that class of devils who harm not other devils.”
“I am not so sure of that,” retorted Media. “Methinks
this doctrine of yours, about all mankind being bedeviled,
will work a deal of mischief; seeing that by implication it
absolves you mortals from moral accountability. Furthermore;
as your doctrine is exceedingly evil, by Yamjamma's
theory it follows, that you must be proportionably bedeviled;
and since it harms others, your devil is of the number of
those whom it is best to limbo; and since he is one of those
that can be limboed, limboed he shall be in you.”
And so saying, he humorously commanded his attendants
to lay hands upon the bedeviled philosopher, and place a
bandage upon his mouth, that he might no more disseminate
his devilish doctrine.
Against this, Babbalanja demurred, protesting that he
was no orang-outang, to be so rudely handled.
“Better and better,” said Media, “you but illustrate
Bardianna's theory; that men are not sensible of their being
bedeviled.”
Thus tantalized, Babbalanja displayed few signs of philosophy.
Whereupon, said Media, “Assuredly his devil is foaming;
behold his mouth!” And he commanded him to be bound
hand and foot.
At length, seeing all resistance ineffectual, Babbalanja
submitted; but not without many objurgations.
Presently, however, they released him; when Media
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inquired, how he relished the application of his theory; and
whether he was still of old Bardianna's mind?
To which, haughtily adjusting his robe, Babbalanja replied,
“The strong arm, my lord, is no argument, though it
overcomes all logic.”
END OF VOL. I.
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Melville, Herman, 1819-1891 [1849], Mardi and a voyage thither, volume 1 (Harper & Brothers, New York) [word count] [eaf275v1].