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Title: Mardi: and A Voyage Thither, Vol. I (of 2)
Author: Herman Melville
Release Date: October 12, 2004 [EBook #13720]
Last updated: July 25, 2020
Language: English
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MARDI: AND A VOYAGE THITHER
BY HERMAN MELVILLE
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOL. I
1864
DEDICATED TO My Brother, ALLAN MELVILLE.
PREFACE
Not long ago, having published two narratives of voyages in the Pacific,
which, in many quarters, were received with incredulity, the thought
occurred to me, of indeed writing a romance of Polynesian adventure, and
publishing it as such; to see whether, the fiction might not, possibly,
be received for a verity: in some degree the reverse of my previous
experience.
This thought was the germ of others, which have resulted in Mardi. New
York, January, 1849.
MARDI.
CONTENTS VOL. I
CHAPTER 1. Foot in Stirrup 2. A Calm 3. A King for a Comrade 4. A Chat
in the Clouds 5. Seats secured and Portmanteaus packed 6. Eight Bells 7.
A Pause 8. They push off, Velis et Bemis 9. The Watery World is all
before Them 10. They arrange their Canopies and Lounges, and try to make
Things comfortable 11. Jarl afflicted with the Lockjaw 12. More about
being in an open Boat 13. Of the Chondropterygii, and other uncouth
Hordes infesting the South Seas 14. Jarl's Misgivings 15. A Stitch in
time saves Nine 16. They are Becalmed 17. In high Spirits they push on
for the Terra Incognita 18. My Lord Shark and his Pages 19. Who goes
there? 20. Noises and Portents 21. Man ho! 22. What befel the Brigantine
at the Pearl Shell Islands 23. Sailing from the Island they pillage the
Cabin 24. Dedicated to the College of Physicians and Surgeons 25. Peril
a Peace-maker 26. Containing a Pennyweight of Philosophy 27. In which
the past History of the Parki is concluded 28. Suspicions laid, and
something about the Calmuc 29. What they lighted upon in further
searching the Craft, and the Resolution they came to 30. Hints for a
full length of Samoa 31. Rovings Alow and Aloft 32. Xiphius Platypterus
33. Otard 34. How they steered on their Way 35. Ah, Annatoo! 36. The
Parki gives up the Ghost 37. Once more they take to the Chamois 38. The
Sea on Fire 39. They fall in with Strangers 40. Sire and Sons 41. A Fray
42. Remorse 43. The Tent entered 44. Away! 45. Reminiscences 46. The
Chamois with a roving Commission 47. Yillah, Jarl, and Samoa 48.
Something under the Surface 49. Yillah 50. Yillah in Ardair 51. The
Dream begins to fade 52. World ho! 53. The Chamois Ashore 54. A
Gentleman from the Sun 55. Tiffin in a Temple 56. King Media a Host 57.
Taji takes Counsel with himself 58. Mardi by Night and Yillah by Day 59.
Their Morning Meal 60. Belshazzar on the Bench 61. An Incognito 62. Taji
retires from the World 63. Odo and its Lord 64. Yillah a Phantom 65.
Taji makes three Acquaintances 66. With a fair Wind at Sunrise they sail
67. Little King Peepi 68. How Teeth were regarded in Valapee 69. The
Company discourse, and Braid-Beard rehearses a Legend 70. The Minstrel
leads of with a Paddle-Song; and a Message is received from Abroad 71.
They land upon the Island of Juam 72. A Book from the Chronicles of Mohi
73. Something more of the Prince 74. Advancing deeper into the Vale,
they encounter Donjalolo 75. Time and Temples 76. A pleasant Place for a
Lounge 77. The House of the Afternoon 78. Babbalanja solus 79. The
Center of many Circumferences 80. Donjalolo in the Bosom of his Family
81. Wherein Babbalanja relates the Adventure of one Karkeke in the Land
of Shades 82. How Donjalolo, sent Agents to the surrounding Isles; with
the Result 83. They visit the Tributary Islets 84. Taji sits down to
Dinner with five-and-twenty Kings, and a royal Time they have 85. After
Dinner 86. Of those Scamps the Plujii 87. Nora-Bamma 88. In a Calm,
Hautia's Heralds approach 89. Braid-Beard rehearses the Origin of the
Isle of Rogues 90. Rare Sport at Ohonoo 91. Of King Uhia and his
Subjects 92. The God Keevi and the Precipice of Mondo 93. Babbalanja
steps in between Mohi and Yoomy; and Yoomy relates a Legend 94. Of that
jolly old Lord, Borabolla; and that jolly Island of his, Mondoldo; and
of the Fish-ponds, and the Hereafters of Fish 95. That jolly old Lord
Borabolla laughs on both Sides of his Face 96. Samoa a Surgeon 97. Faith
and Knowledge 98. The Tale of a Traveler 99. "Marnee Ora, Ora Marnee."
100. The Pursuer himself is pursued 101. The Iris 102. They depart from
Mondoldo 103. As they sail 104. Wherein Babbalanja broaches a diabolical
Theory, and in his own Person proves it
MARDI
CHAPTER I Foot In Stirrup
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 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 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 symptoms 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 half, score 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.
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! sea-moss 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 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 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 Caesar 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 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.
CHAPTER II A Calm
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 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 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.
CHAPTER III A King For A Comrade
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 or 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 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
Scalds. 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 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 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 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
thawing-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._
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.
CHAPTER IV A Chat In The Clouds
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.
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 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!"
CHAPTER V Seats Secured And Portmanteaus Packed
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 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 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 straight-forwardness,
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.
CHAPTER VI Eight Bells
The moon must be monstrous 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 "boatscrew-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 harpooner. One of these
seamen, however, being an invalid, there were only two left for us to
manage.
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 star board-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 sea-dog 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.
CHAPTER VII A Pause
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.
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
Thermopylae.
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.
CHAPTER VIII They Push Off, Velis Et Remis
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 harpooner--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 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 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.
"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.
CHAPTER IX The Watery World Is All Before Them
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 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.
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.
CHAPTER X They Arrange Their Canopies And Lounges, And Try To Make
Things Comfortable
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 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 after-most 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
were fain to strike it altogether; for the wind being from aft, and
getting underneath the canvas, almost lifted the light boat's stem 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.
CHAPTER XI Jarl Afflicted With The Lockjaw
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 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.
CHAPTER XII More About Being In An Open Boat
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 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 Kingsmil isles and the Radack chain, I
fancied there could be naught but an endless sea.
CHAPTER XIII Of The Chondropterygii, And Other Uncouth Hordes Infesting
The South Seas
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 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 Muller 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 Muller, 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 sea attorney, 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. 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 cross-roads. But giving it up at last, for a bootless
errand, they 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 clipper-built about the
nose, were the Algerines; so called, probably, 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 al 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.
CHAPTER XIV Jarl's Misgivings
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 precious fluid grew
into something little short of a mono-mania; 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 boat-kegs,
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, dog-like, 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 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!
CHAPTER XV A Stitch In Time Saves Nine
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 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 stem, 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.
CHAPTER XVI They Are Becalmed
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 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 pilot-boat, 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 gun-wale; a sharp look-out being kept for prowling
sharks. A 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!
CHAPTER XVII In High Spirits, They Push On For The Terra Incognita
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 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!
CHAPTER XVIII My Lord Shark And His Pages
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 link-boys lighting the monster's way.
Pity there were no ray-fish 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.
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 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.
CHAPTER XIX Who Goes There?
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; 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.
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; unscrupulous mutineers--Lascars, or Manilla-men; who, 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 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 stem, 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 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 ground,
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
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 even 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.
CHAPTER XX Noises And Portents
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.
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, notwith-standing, 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 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, 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.
CHAPTER XXI Man Ho!
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 super-natural.
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?"
"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.
CHAPTER XXII What Befel The Brigantine At The Pearl Shell Islands
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, 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 Caesar, 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 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 bow-sprit, 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.
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 slashing, 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 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 half-breeds; 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 sea-hawks, 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 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 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.
CHAPTER XXIII Sailing From The Island They Pillage The Cabin
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.
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 bulk-head. 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
congénial 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 Calmuc, 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 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 fore-mast 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.
CHAPTER XXIV Dedicated To The College Of Physicians And Surgeons
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. 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 Scaevola 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, 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 there-in. 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 steel-gloved fingers, and vainly
striving to cook his cold coffee in his helmet.
CHAPTER XXV Peril A Peace-Maker
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 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 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.
CHAPTER XXVI Containing A Pennyweight Of Philosophy
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 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.
CHAPTER XXVII In Which The Past History Op The Parki Is Concluded
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 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 over-turning 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 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 half-breeds.
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 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.
CHAPTER XXVIII Suspicions Laid, And Something About The Calmuc
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 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 horrors--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 ship-mates, 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 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 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.
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.
CHAPTER XXIX What They Lighted Upon In Further Searching The Craft, And
The Resolution They Came To
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. 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 dead-wall 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 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 seize 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
heir-at-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 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.
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 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.
CHAPTER XXX Hints For A Full Length Of Samoa
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 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.
CHAPTER XXXI Rovings Alow And Aloft
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 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.
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 ground-tier 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 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?
CHAPTER XXXII Xiphius Platypterus
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 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
anchor-stocks 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 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 along-side, 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.
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.
CHAPTER XXXIII Otard
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 there-of; 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 bibing. 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 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, ever-present 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? Haft 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.
CHAPTER XXXIV How They Steered On Their Way
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 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.
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 beat on sleep, come
dreams or death. He seemed insensible to the peril we ran. Often I sent
the sleepy savage below, sad, 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 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, 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 rainwater.
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.
CHAPTER XXXV Ah, Annatoo!
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 her to mischief on their
own separate behoof, and not less 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.
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 horror-struck 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 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.
Witness that noble dame's affair with the youth Theodosius; when her
deluded lord charged upon the scandal-mongers 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.
CHAPTER XXXVI The Parki Gives Up The Ghost
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 bode 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 sit a sweep or great oar, we endeavored to cast
the brigantine's head toward the foe.
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 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 clash
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.
CHAPTER XXXVII Once More They Take To The Chamois
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 up-ward 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.
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.
CHAPTER XXXVIII The Sea On Fire
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 Medusae, 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.
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.
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 corning 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 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.
CHAPTER XXXIX They Fall In With Strangers
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 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 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 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
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.
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.
CHAPTER XL Sire And Sons
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 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.
CHAPTER XLI A Fray
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 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 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 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.
CHAPTER XLII Remorse
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. By this hand, the dead man had
died. Remorse smote me hard; and like lightning I asked myself, whether
the death-deed 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
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 gauze-like 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, 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.
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.
CHAPTER XLIV Away
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 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 demigod, 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; 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 mat-sail; 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.
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.
CHAPTER XLV Reminiscences
In resecuing 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 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!
CHAPTER XLVI The Chamois With A Roving Commission
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 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.
CHAPTER XLVII Yillah, Jarl, And Samoa
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.
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 Vikings 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.
CHAPTER XLVIII Something Under The Surface
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.
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 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.
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. Re-treating 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.
CHAPTER XLIX Yillah
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 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.
CHAPTER L Yillah In Ardair
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 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 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 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.
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.
CHAPTER LI The Dream Begins To Fade
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.
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.
CHAPTER LII World Ho!
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, ere-while 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.
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.
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.
CHAPTER LIII The Chamois Ashore
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 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 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 flying
our eyes in the direction of these sounds, we impatiently awaited what
was to follow.
CHAPTER LIV A Gentleman From The Sun
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."
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 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.
CHAPTER LV Tiffin In A Temple
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 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.
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 over 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.
CHAPTER LVI King Media A Host
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.
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 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.
CHAPTER LVII Taji Takes Counsel With Himself
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 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 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 Caesars 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 rent-roll, 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 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 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, high_ priests, kings, and gentlemen, that made up the
principalities of Mardi.
CHAPTER LVIII Mardi By Night And Yillah By Day
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 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, scroll-prowed 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.
CHAPTER LIX Their Morning Meal
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
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 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.
CHAPTER LX Belshazzar On The Bench
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.
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.
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 Ode, 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.
"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 Cacti 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."
"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.
CHAPTER LXI An Incognito
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.
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.
CHAPTER LXII Taji Retires From The World
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 wined; 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 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 whirl-pool," 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
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 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 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 demigod. 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 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.
CHAPTER LXIV Yillah A Phantom
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 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 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.
CHAPTER LXV Taji Makes Three Acquaintances
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 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.
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 stem-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.
CHAPTER LXVI With A Fair Wind, At Sunrise They Sail
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 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, 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."
CHAPTER LXVII Little King Peepi
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 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 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. Today, valiant Tongatona ruled the isle, meditating
wars and invasions; tomorrow, 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 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.
CHAPTER LXVIII How Teeth Were Regarded In Valapee
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 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 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!"
CHAPTER LXIX The Company Discourse, And Braid-Beard Rehearses A Legend
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 ambassadors 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."
"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 as urn. Pray, Mohi, their
names and terrible deeds."
"Alas! their sepulcher only remains."
"And, no doubt, like many others, they made that sepul for themselves.
They sleep sound, my word for it, old 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
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."
"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."
"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."
CHAPTER LXX The Minstrel Leads Off With A Paddle-Song; And A Message Is
Received From Abroad
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?
(_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 fog, 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 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."
CHAPTER LXXI They Land Upon The Island Of Juam
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 engulfing 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, 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 hillsides, and sloping into the glen, stood grand old groves;
still and stately, as if no insolent waves were throbbing in the
mountain's heart.
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.
CHAPTER LXXII A Book From The Chronicles Of Mohi
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 desperate fighting, the main body of the foe
corning 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 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, 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 Dwarf! 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 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.
CHAPTER LXXIII Something More Of The Prince
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.
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.
CHAPTER LXXIV Advancing Deeper Into The Vale, They Encounter Donjalolo
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 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, Donjaloln'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 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.
CHAPTER LXXV Time And Temples
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 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 store. 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 values 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 congéal. No, no: nor was the Pyramid of Cheops masoned in a
month; though, once built, the sands left by the 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 Saturn, 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.
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.
CHAPTER LXXVI A Pleasant Place For A Lounge
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
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.
CHAPTER LXXVII The House Of The Afternoon
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 mouth 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, 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 Willamina. 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.
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.
CHAPTER LXXVIII Babbalanja Solus
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; 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 hest! 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 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 balsam-dropping 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
brother-hood, 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.
CHAPTER LXXIX The Center Of Many Circumferences
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 torchlight processions in the skies, when, in state, the
suns march to be crowned.
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 goldenrinded orange; the red royal stone in an effeminate
peach; the insphered sphere of spheres.
CHAPTER LXXX Donjalolo In The Bosom Of His Family
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
CHAPTER LXXXI Wherein Babbalanja Relates The Adventure Of One Karkeke In
The Land Of Shades
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.
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 congéaled.
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
under-breeding 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 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.
CHAPTER LXXXII How Donjalolo, Sent Agents To The Surrounding Isles; With
The Result
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 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 mountings.
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.
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 vociferation; 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."
CHAPTER LXXXIII They Visit The Tributary Islets
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 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.
CHAPTER LXXXIV Taji Sits Down To Dinner With Five-And-Twenty Kings, And
A Royal Time They Have
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 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 in-variably 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.
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 messenger 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 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 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 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 network 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 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 frill; '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;
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 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 languor, 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.
CHAPTER LXXXV After Dinner
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, announcing 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 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.
CHAPTER LXXXVI Of Those Scamps The Plujii
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 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 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 meta-physics."
"Well, peace to the Plujii," said Media; "they trouble not me."
CHAPTER LXXXVII Nora-Bamma
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 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.
CHAPTER LXXXVIII In A Calm, Hautia's Heralds Approach
"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 moss-roses numberless, and
odorous handfuls of Verbena.
Said Yoomy--"Yet fly, oh fly to me: all rosy joys and sweets are mine."
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.
CHAPTER LXXXIX Braid-Beard Rehearses The Origin Of The Isle Of Rogues
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.
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. 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 overstepped 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."
CHAPTER XC Rare Sport At Ohonoo
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 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.
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.
CHAPTER XCI Of King Uhia And His Subjects
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 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.
CHAPTER XCII The God Keevi And The Precipice Op Mondo
One object of interest in Ohonoo was the original image of Keevi the god
of Thieves; hence, from time immemorial, 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.
"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 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."
CHAPTER XCIII Babbalanja Steps In Between Mohi And Yoomy; And Yoomy
Relates A Legend
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?"
"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--"
"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; 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 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 moon-beams 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."
"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."
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
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 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 stockade, 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 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 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, whoso shall
Christianize, and by so doing, humanize the sharks, will do a greater
good, by the saving of human life in all time to 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.
CHAPTER XCV That Jolly Old Lord Borabolla Laughs On Both Sides Of His
Face
"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 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.
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-fiend 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.
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.
CHAPTER XCVI Samoa A Surgeon
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 sank
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 cocoanut--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.
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.
CHAPTER XCVII Faith And Knowledge
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 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 Commonwealth'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.
CHAPTER XCVIII The Tale Of A Traveler
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 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.
CHAPTER XCIX "Marnee Ora, Ora Marnee"
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."
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 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 solely 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 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.
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 reek 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.
CHAPTER C The Pursuer Himself Is Pursued
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 Bootes. Soon, a violent
gale overtook them; driving them to and fro; leaving them they knew not
where. But still struggling against strange 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 pros 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.
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 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 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.
CHAPTER CI The Iris
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."
CHAPTER CII They Depart From Mondoldo
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.
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 inamorata.
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 Aleema, 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.
CHAPTER CIII As They Sail
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.
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 Hind: '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 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."
CHAPTER CIV Wherein Babbalanja Broaches A Diabolical Theory, And, In His
Own Person, Proves It
"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 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.
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."
"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 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. Further-more; 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 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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