Chapter 19

We were nearly three hours in reaching the village, it being more
than nine miles in the interior, and the path lying through a
rugged country. As we passed along, the party of Too-wit (the
whole hundred and ten savages of the canoes) was momentarily
strengthened by smaller detachments, of from two to six or seven,
which joined us, as if by accident, at different turns of the
road. There appeared so much of system in this that I could not
help feeling distrust, and I spoke to Captain Guy of my
apprehensions. It was now too late, however, to recede, and we
concluded that our best security lay in evincing a perfect
confidence in the good faith of Too-wit. We accordingly went on,
keeping a wary eye upon the manoeuvres of the savages, and not
permitting them to divide our numbers by pushing in between. In
this way, passing through a precipitous ravine, we at length
reached what we were told was the only collection of habitations
upon the island. As we came in sight of them, the chief set up a
shout, and frequently repeated the word Klock-klock, which we
supposed to be the name of the village, or perhaps the generic
name for villages.

The dwellings were of the most miserable description imaginable,
and, unlike those of even the lowest of the savage races with
which mankind are acquainted, were of no uniform plan. Some of
them (and these we found belonged to the Wampoos or Yampoos, the
great men of the land) consisted of a tree cut down at about four
feet from the root, with a large black skin thrown over it, and
hanging in loose folds upon the ground. Under this the savage
nestled. Others were formed by means of rough limbs of trees,
with the withered foliage upon them, made to recline, at an angle
of forty-five degrees, against a bank of clay, heaped up, without
regular form, to the height of five or six feet. Others, again,
were mere holes dug in the earth perpendicularly, and covered
over with similar branches, these being removed when the tenant
was about to enter, and pulled on again when he had entered. A
few were built among the forked limbs of trees as they stood, the
upper limbs being partially cut through, so as to bend over upon
the lower, thus forming thicker shelter from the weather. The
greater number, however, consisted of small shallow caverns,
apparently scratched in the face of a precipitous ledge of dark
stone, resembling fuller’s earth, with which three sides of the
village were bounded. At the door of each of these primitive
caverns was a small rock, which the tenant carefully placed
before the entrance upon leaving his residence, for what purpose
I could not ascertain, as the stone itself was never of
sufficient size to close up more than a third of the opening.

This village, if it were worthy of the name, lay in a valley of
some depth, and could only be approached from the southward, the
precipitous ledge of which I have already spoken cutting off all
access in other directions. Through the middle of the valley ran
a brawling stream of the same magical-looking water which has
been described. We saw several strange animals about the
dwellings, all appearing to be thoroughly domesticated. The
largest of these creatures resembled our common hog in the
structure of the body and snout; the tail, however, was bushy,
and the legs slender as those of the antelope. Its motion was
exceedingly awkward and indecisive, and we never saw it attempt
to run. We noticed also several animals very similar in
appearance, but of a greater length of body, and covered with a
black wool. There were a great variety of tame fowls running
about, and these seemed to constitute the chief food of the
natives. To our astonishment we saw black albatross among these
birds in a state of entire domestication, going to sea
periodically for food, but always returning to the village as a
home, and using the southern shore in the vicinity as a place of
incubation. There they were joined by their friends the pelicans
as usual, but these latter never followed them to the dwellings
of the savages. Among the other kinds of tame fowls were ducks,
differing very little from the canvass-back of our own country,
black gannets, and a large bird not unlike the buzzard in
appearance, but not carnivorous. Of fish there seemed to be a
great abundance. We saw, during our visit, a quantity of dried
salmon, rock cod, blue dolphins, mackerel, blackfish, skate,
conger eels, elephantfish, mullets, soles, parrotfish,
leather-jackets, gurnards, hake, flounders, paracutas, and
innumerable other varieties. We noticed, too, that most of them
were similar to the fish about the group of Lord Auckland
Islands, in a latitude as low as fifty-one degrees south. The
Gallipago tortoise was also very plentiful. We saw but few wild
animals, and none of a large size, or of a species with which we
were familiar. One or two serpents of a formidable aspect crossed
our path, but the natives paid them little attention, and we
concluded that they were not venomous.

As we approached the village with Too-wit and his party, a vast
crowd of the people rushed out to meet us, with loud shouts,
among which we could only distinguish the everlasting Anamoo-moo!
and Lama-Lama! We were much surprised at perceiving that, with
one or two exceptions, these new comers were entirely naked, and
skins being used only by the men of the canoes. All the weapons
of the country seemed also to be in the possession of the latter,
for there was no appearance of any among the villagers. There
were a great many women and children, the former not altogether
wanting in what might be termed personal beauty. They were
straight, tall, and well formed, with a grace and freedom of
carriage not to be found in civilized society. Their lips,
however, like those of the men, were thick and clumsy, so that,
even when laughing, the teeth were never disclosed. Their hair
was of a finer texture than that of the males. Among these naked
villagers there might have been ten or twelve who were clothed,
like the party of Too-wit, in dresses of black skin, and armed
with lances and heavy clubs. These appeared to have great
influence among the rest, and were always addressed by the title
Wampoo. These, too, were the tenants of the black skin palaces.
That of Too-wit was situated in the centre of the village, and
was much larger and somewhat better constructed than others of
its kind. The tree which formed its support was cut off at a
distance of twelve feet or thereabouts from the root, and there
were several branches left just below the cut, these serving to
extend the covering, and in this way prevent its flapping about
the trunk. The covering, too, which consisted of four very large
skins fastened together with wooden skewers, was secured at the
bottom with pegs driven through it and into the ground. The floor
was strewed with a quantity of dry leaves by way of carpet.

To this hut we were conducted with great solemnity, and as many
of the natives crowded in after us as possible. Too-wit seated
himself on the leaves, and made signs that we should follow his
example. This we did, and presently found ourselves in a
situation peculiarly uncomfortable, if not indeed critical. We
were on the ground, twelve in number, with the savages, as many
as forty, sitting on their hams so closely around us that, if any
disturbance had arisen, we should have found it impossible to
make use of our arms, or indeed to have risen to our feet. The
pressure was not only inside the tent, but outside, where
probably was every individual on the whole island, the crowd
being prevented from trampling us to death only by the incessant
exertions and vociferations of Too-wit. Our chief security lay,
however, in the presence of Too-wit himself among us, and we
resolved to stick by him closely, as the best chance of
extricating ourselves from the dilemma, sacrificing him
immediately upon the first appearance of hostile design.

After some trouble a certain degree of quiet was restored, when
the chief addressed us in a speech of great length, and very
nearly resembling the one delivered in the canoes, with the
exception that the Anamoo-moos! were now somewhat more
strenuously insisted upon than the Lama-Lamas! We listened in
profound silence until the conclusion of this harangue, when
Captain Guy replied by assuring the chief of his eternal
friendship and goodwill, concluding what he had to say by a
present of several strings of blue beads and a knife. At the
former the monarch, much to our surprise, turned up his nose with
some expression of contempt, but the knife gave him the most
unlimited satisfaction, and he immediately ordered dinner. This
was handed into the tent over the heads of the attendants, and
consisted of the palpitating entrails of a specialis of unknown
animal, probably one of the slim-legged hogs which we had
observed in our approach to the village. Seeing us at a loss how
to proceed, he began, by way of setting us an example, to devour
yard after yard of the enticing food, until we could positively
stand it no longer, and evinced such manifest symptoms of
rebellion of stomach as inspired his majesty with a degree of
astonishment only inferior to that brought about by the
looking-glasses. We declined, however, partaking of the
delicacies before us, and endeavoured to make him understand that
we had no appetite whatever, having just finished a hearty
dejeuner.

When the monarch had made an end of his meal, we commenced a
series of cross-questioning in every ingenious manner we could
devise, with a view of discovering what were the chief
productions of the country, and whether any of them might be
turned to profit. At length he seemed to have some idea of our
meaning, and offered to accompany us to a part of coast where he
assured us the biche de mer (pointing to a specimen of that
animal) was to be found in great abundance. We were glad of this
early opportunity of escaping from the oppression of the crowd,
and signified our eagerness to proceed. We now left the tent,
and, accompanied by the whole population of the village, followed
the chief to the southeastern extremity of the island, nor far
from the bay where our vessel lay at anchor. We waited here for
about an hour, until the four canoes were brought around by some
of the savages to our station. The whole of our party then
getting into one of them, we were paddled along the edge of the
reef before mentioned, and of another still farther out, where we
saw a far greater quantity of biche de mer than the oldest seamen
among us had ever seen in those groups of the lower latitudes
most celebrated for this article of commerce. We stayed near
these reefs only long enough to satisfy ourselves that we could
easily load a dozen vessels with the animal if necessary, when we
were taken alongside the schooner, and parted with Too-wit, after
obtaining from him a promise that he would bring us, in the
course of twenty-four hours, as many of the canvass-back ducks
and Gallipago tortoises as his canoes would hold. In the whole of
this adventure we saw nothing in the demeanour of the natives
calculated to create suspicion, with the single exception of the
systematic manner in which their party was strengthened during
our route from the schooner to the village.