With Porter in the Essex

CHAPTER VIII
NUKUHEVA

We set sail from Banks's Bay October 2, in company with the Essex Junior and our prizes, but the latter were such slow sailers as compared with the frigate that we did not make the group of the Marquesas until the 23d, when we ran here and there seeking such a harbor as would admit of our performing the work the captain counted on doing.

Not until four days more had passed did we find that which seemed to suit us in every particular, and then the fleet came to anchor in a fine bay at the island of Nukuheva.

Now a word in regard to the spelling of the island's name. My cousin, Lieutenant McKnight, gave it as set down above; but I have since seen it written "Nooaheevah," and "Noukahiva," therefore the reader, if it so chances that any one ever reads what has cost me so much time to set down, may take his choice of the names. I believe, however, that it should be written Nukuheva, because my cousin, the lieutenant, told me so.

And now, before I relate anything concerning our visit to this island, which proved to be so full of adventure, I ask permission to copy here that which I read many years afterward, and this I do because it would be impossible otherwise to describe the beautiful place – the most beautiful I have ever seen.

That which follows was written by a sailor¹ who spent many months on the island, and was fortunate in being able to describe in a most entertaining manner everything he saw, which is by long odds more than I can do.

"The cluster comprising the islands of Roohka, Ropo, and Nukuheva were altogether unknown to the world until the year 1791, when they were discovered by Captain Ingraham of Boston, nearly two centuries after the discovery of the adjacent islands by the agent of the Spanish viceroy.

"Nukuheva is the most important of these islands, being the only one at which ships are much in the habit of touching, and is celebrated as being the place where the adventurous Captain Porter refitted his ships during the late war between England and the United States, and whence he sallied out upon the large whaling fleet then sailing under the enemy's flag in the surrounding seas. This island is about twenty miles in length and nearly as many in breadth. It has three good harbors on its coast; the largest and best of which is called by the people living in its vicinity, 'Tyohee,' and by Captain Porter was denominated Massachusetts Bay. Among the adverse tribes dwelling about the shores of the other bays, and by all voyagers, it is generally known by the name bestowed upon the island itself – Nukuheva.

"In the bay of Nukuheva was the anchorage we desired to reach. We had perceived the loom of the mountains about sunset; so that after running all night with a very light breeze, we found ourselves close in with the island the next morning; but as the bay we sought lay on its farther side, we were obliged to sail some distance along the shore, catching, as we proceeded, short glimpses of blooming valleys, deep glens, waterfalls, and waving groves, hidden here and there by projecting and rocky headlands, every moment opening to the view some new and startling scene of beauty.

"Those who for the first time visit the South Seas, generally are surprised at the appearance of the islands when beheld from the sea. From the vague accounts we sometimes have of their beauty, many people are apt to picture to themselves enamelled and softly swelling plains, shaded over with delicious groves, and watered by purling brooks, and the entire country but little elevated above the surrounding ocean. The reality is very different; bold rock-bound coasts with the surf beating high against the lofty cliffs, and broken here and there into deep inlets which open to the view thickly wooded valleys separated by the spurs of mountains clothed with tufted grass, and sweeping down toward the sea from an elevated and furrowed interior, form the principal features of these islands.

"… As we slowly advanced up the bay, numerous canoes pushed off from the surrounding shores, and we were soon in the midst of quite a flotilla of them, their savage occupants struggling to get aboard of us, and jostling one another in their ineffectual attempts.

"Occasionally the projecting outriggers of their slight shallops, running foul of one another, would become entangled beneath the water, threatening to capsize the canoes, when a scene of confusion would ensue that baffles description. Such strange outcries and passionate gesticulations I never certainly heard or saw before. You would have thought the islanders were on the point of flying at one another's throats, whereas they were only amicably engaged in disentangling their boats.

"Scattered here and there among the canoes might be seen numbers of cocoanuts floating closely together in circular groups, and bobbing up and down with every wave. By some inexplicable means these cocoanuts were all steadily approaching toward the ship. As I leaned curiously over the side, endeavoring to solve their mysterious movements, one mass far in advance of the rest attracted my attention. In its centre was something I could take for nothing less than a cocoanut, but which I certainly considered one of the most extraordinary specimens of the fruit I had ever seen. It kept twirling and dancing about among the rest in the most singular manner, and as it grew nearer I thought it bore a remarkable resemblance to the brown shaven skull of one of the savages. Presently it betrayed a pair of eyes, and soon I became aware that what I had supposed to have been one of the fruit was nothing else than the head of an Islander, who had adopted this singular method of bringing his produce to market. The cocoanuts were all attached to one another by strips of the husk, partly torn from the shell and rudely fashioned together. Their proprietor, inserting his head into the midst of them, impelled his necklace of cocoanuts through the water by striking out beneath the surface with his feet.

"… We had approached within a mile and a half, perhaps, of the foot of the bay, when some of the islanders, who by this time had managed to scramble aboard of us at the risk of swamping their canoes, directed our attention to a singular commotion in the water ahead of the vessel. At first I imagined it to be produced by a shoal of fish sporting on the surface, but our savage friends assured us that it was caused by a shoal of 'whinhenies' (young girls), who in this manner were coming off from the shore to welcome us. As they drew nearer, and I watched the rising and sinking of their forms, and beheld the uplifted right arm bearing above the water the girdle of tappa, and their long dark hair trailing behind them as they swam, I almost fancied they could be nothing else than so many mermaids – and very like mermaids they behaved too…

"The bay of Nukuheva in which we were then lying is an expanse of water not unlike in figure the space included within the limits of a horseshoe. It is, perhaps, nine miles in circumference. You approach it from the sea by a narrow entrance, flanked on either side by two small twin islets which soar conically to the height of some five hundred feet. From these the shore recedes on both hands, and describes a deep semicircle.

"From the verge of the water the land rises uniformly on all sides, with green and sloping acclivities, until from gentle rolling hillsides and moderate elevations it insensibly swells into lofty and majestic heights, whose blue outlines, ranged all around, close in the view. The beautiful aspect of the shore is heightened by deep and romantic glens, which come down to it at almost equal distances, all apparently radiating from a common centre, and the upper extremities of which are lost to the eye beneath the shadow of the mountains. Down each of these little valleys flows a clear stream, here and there assuming the form of a slender cascade, then stealing invisibly along until it bursts upon the sight again in larger and more noisy waterfalls, and at last demurely wanders along to the sea.

"The houses of the natives, constructed of the yellow bamboo, tastefully twisted together in a kind of wickerwork, and thatched with the long tapering leaves of the palmetto, are scattered irregularly along these valleys beneath the shady branches of the cocoanut tree.

"Nothing can exceed the imposing scenery of this bay. Viewed from our ship as she lay at anchor in the middle of the harbor, it presented the appearance of a vast natural amphitheatre in decay, and overgrown with vines, the deep glens that furrowed its sides appearing like enormous fissures caused by the ravages of time. Very often when lost in admiration of its beauty, I have experienced a pang of regret that a scene so enchanting should be hidden from the world in these remote seas, and seldom meet the eyes of devoted lovers of nature.

"Besides this bay the shores of the island are indented by several other extensive inlets, into which descend broad and verdant valleys. These are inhabited by as many different kinds of savages, who, although speaking kindred dialects of a common language, and having the same religion and laws, have from time immemorial waged hereditary warfare against each other. The intervening mountains, generally two or three thousand feet above the level of the sea, geographically define the territories of each of these hostile tribes who never cross them, save on some expedition of war or plunder. Immediately adjacent to Nukuheva, and only separated from it by the mountains seen from the harbor, lies the lovely valley of Happar, whose inmates cherish the most friendly relations with the inhabitants of Nukuheva. On the other side of Happar, and closely adjoining it, is the magnificent valley of the dreaded Typees, the unappeasable enemies of both these tribes.

"These celebrated warriors appear to inspire the other islanders with unspeakable terrors. Their very name is a frightful one; for the word 'Typee' in the Marquesan dialect signifies a lover of human flesh.

"It is rather singular that the title should have been bestowed upon them exclusively, inasmuch as the natives of all this group are irreclaimable cannibals. The name may, perhaps, have been given to denote the powerful ferocity of this clan, and to convey a special stigma along with it.

"These same Typees enjoy a prodigious notoriety all over the islands. The natives of Nukuheva would frequently recount in pantomime to our ship's company their terrible feats, and would show the marks of wounds they had received in desperate encounters with them. When ashore they would try to frighten us by pointing to one of their own number, and calling him a 'Typee,' manifesting no little surprise that we did not take to our heels at so terrible an announcement. It was quite amusing, too, to see with what earnestness they disclaimed all cannibal propensities on their own part, while they denounced their enemies – the Typees – as inveterate gormandizers of human flesh…

"Although I was convinced that the inhabitants of our bay were as arrant cannibals as any of the other tribes on the island, still I could not but feel a particular and most unqualified repugnance to the aforesaid Typees. Even before visiting the Marquesas, I had heard from men who had touched at the group on former voyages, some revolting stories in connection with these savages; and fresh in my remembrance was the adventure of the master of the Katherine, who only a few months previous, imprudently venturing into this bay in an armed boat for the purpose of barter, was seized by the natives, carried back a little distance into their valley, and was only saved from a cruel death by the intervention of a young girl, who facilitated his escape by night along the beach to Nukuheva.

"I have heard too of an English vessel that many years ago, after a weary cruise, sought to enter the bay of Nukuheva, and arriving within two or three miles of the land, was met by a large canoe filled with natives, who offered to lead the way to the place of their destination. The captain, unacquainted with the localities of the island, joyfully acceded to the proposition – the canoe paddled on and the ship followed. She was soon conducted to a beautiful inlet, and dropped her anchor in its waters beneath the shadows of the lofty shore. That same night the perfidious Typees, who had thus inveigled her into their fatal bay, flocked aboard the doomed vessel by hundreds, and at a given signal murdered every soul on board."

After reading the description which I have copied word for word, it is possible to have a good idea concerning that harbor into which our fleet sailed, all hands knowing full well that here we might remain secure alike from the elements and Britishers, so long as it should please us to stay.

In addition, we were free from any fears regarding what the natives might attempt to do, partly owing to our strength, but chiefly because the first person to greet us was neither more nor less than a member of the American navy.

Fancy meeting a Yankee gentleman in this out-of-the-way place whose inhabitants were credited with being the most ferocious of cannibals, eager to devour anything in the way of human flesh that crossed their path!

The natives came out in boats to meet us exactly as is set down in that which I have copied; but all hands gave way to a canoe in which we saw one of our own countrymen.

He came over the side, spoke a few words with Lieutenant McKnight, who immediately treated him with the greatest consideration, and then introduced the stranger to our captain.

It can well be supposed that every man jack of our crew stood by in open-mouthed astonishment at seeing this white man come aboard as if he felt himself at home in the Marquesas group; but we were forced to remain in ignorance until that evening, when one of the marines unravelled the yarn which at first had seemed too strange to us.

Our visitor was Mr. John Maury, a midshipman of the navy, who, with three sailors, had been left in this harbor by the captain of an American merchantman, himself a lieutenant in the service, to gather sandalwood while the ship was gone to China. Now that he heard of the war for the first time, and believed his captain would not dare come to fetch him away, the midshipman proposed to Captain Porter that he and his companions join our frigate; a proposition which was quickly accepted. A little later that evening the three sailors came on board, and mighty good shipmates did they prove to be.

These last told us of the gun-deck that a fierce war was raging between the Typees over the mountains and the Happars who dwelt along the shore of the bay, and most likely it would be necessary for us to take part in it against the Typees if we counted on being allowed to remain unmolested while the repairs were being made to our ships.

This did not cause us very much uneasiness, however, and Master Hackett but echoed the thought in the minds of all when he said to the newcomers: —

"Seein's how we've driven the Britishers out of the Pacific Ocean, so to speak, I reckon it won't be any very hard job to wipe up the earth with a lot of niggers that ain't supposed to know the muzzle of a musket from the stock."

The new sailors made no reply to this rather bold remark, and I fancied from the expression on their faces that they did not believe we would find it very easy work to do the "wiping," even though the Typees were ignorant as to the use of a musket.

These jolly fellows also told us another yarn which caused some surprise, and led us to wonder whether we might not find more of our countrymen on the island.

According to the story which they had heard from the Happars, a small schooner had gone ashore further up the coast, and at least one of her crew was yet living with the Typees, which went to prove, according to my way of thinking, that these natives were not quite the cannibals they had been represented; although Phil suggested that the man, too lean for good eating, was thus being kept until he had gathered fat enough for the roasting.

However, we gave but little heed to the story, because in the first place, none of our visitors had seen the man, and secondly, owing to the fact that the natives might easily have been mistaken.

Perhaps it would have been better for Phil and me had we paid more attention to the yarn and kept it well in mind.

Next morning when the captain and two of the lieutenants went on shore, Mr. Maury accompanied them. He, having learned the language, was to act as interpreter, which assistance, so all hands believed, would help us along in great shape.

It was owing to my cousin, Lieutenant McKnight, that Phil and I had an opportunity of seeing the landing, which was a rare sight, I assure you.

When the boat's crew was called away Stephen motioned for us two lads to take our places in the boat, and since each of us pulled an oar, it is doubtful if the captain knew that we were out of place.

The natives had been swimming around our ship since early daylight, passing up fruit and flowers until the gun-deck of the Essex had much the appearance of a country fair-ground; and now when the captain was rowed ashore they followed our boat, tossing and tumbling in the water like a lot of seals, or, perhaps, mermaids, though I'm not just certain how these last would act under the same circumstances.

Well, the natives gave Captain Porter a fine reception, – though perhaps they would have made him into a stew but for the fact that they were needing help in their war, – and, later in the day, we learned by way of the marines that our commander had agreed to do whatever he might to end the war.

As we were situated he couldn't have done less than agree to this, so our old sea lawyers declared after a tremendous lot of jawing; for unless the natives were willing to help us with the repairs and keep the peace, Nukuheva harbor was no place for us.

During the afternoon one watch from each ship was given shore leave, and every Happar who owned a house set out his best in the way of a feast for the frolicsome sailors.

We were given quarts and quarts of peoo-peoo, which looks exactly like thick flour paste and tastes like a nice stew, and in the eating of it we made fun enough for the natives to keep them laughing half a life-time. It seems, as we learned afterward, that the people stick their finger into the stuff, twist it around a bit, and manage to hook up a portion as large as a walnut; but there's considerable of a knack in that kind of work, as we soon learned to our cost.

Master Hackett, Phil, and I, the guests of an old native who was covered with tattooing till his body looked like a piece of calico, contrived to cover our hands and face with the sticky stuff; and if the old woman who appeared to be our host's wife had not swabbed us off with a mop, we would have been glued fast to whatever we touched.

We were also treated to the milk of young cocoanuts, which comes precious near being the best drink you ever tasted, and fruit of all kinds, which would have been received with more show of gratitude but for the fact that the gun-deck of the Essex was literally lumbered up with such stuff.

Describe what we saw and did that afternoon? It's beyond me entirely, and I must give over the attempt by saying that it was the queerest and quite the most enjoyable half day I ever spent. Of course we couldn't do any chinning with the natives; but we looked at them and laughed, and they looked at us laughing still harder, until we managed to get the same idea they probably did, that the whole boiling of us were firm friends forever.

I wish you could have seen those boys and girls swim! They were like so many ducks in the water, and spent the greater portion of their time, when there was no company at home, drifting around the bay with, so far as Phil and I could make out, no effort whatever to keep themselves afloat.

Next morning the other watch was given shore leave, and meanwhile our officers were making preparations for the war which must be fought before we could set about getting the fleet into trim for another rub with the Britishers.

There was more than one man on our gun-deck who began to believe, now there was no question but we should have a scrimmage ashore, that it was risky for our captain to take any part in the quarrel, and the argument they put forth was a good one, as even Master Hackett was forced to admit.

In the first place we were so few in numbers that not a single vessel in the fleet was fully manned, and there would be no opportunity to enlist others to make up a crew. Every man killed or disabled would weaken our force just so much when we met the British ships of war, and such chances as these we had no right to take.

In the second place our jackies understood nothing about fighting on land, particularly in such a wild country as we saw before us. The natives might not be overly well armed; but we knew for a fact that they possessed weapons of some kind and could use them to good advantage.

"How much show would an old shellback who must depend upon a cutlass or a boarding pike, stand against these black fellows in a bit of woods so thick that you couldn't swing a cat?" one of the men asked, and Master Hackett replied sharply: —

"We've muskets enough to arm all hands, an' I allow that you've got sense enough to pull the trigger after the piece has been loaded, eh?"

"I can do that much all right, matey; but what about the rest of it. While I'm mixed up with a lot of bushes tryin' to reload, how am I to keep the villains from comin' to close quarters where I'm outclassed?"

"If you're goin' to pick up sich imaginin's as that, I reckon you wouldn't be fit timber for a shore fight; but I'd hate to say I was a Yankee, an' didn't dare to stand up in front of these heathen."

"I'm willin' enough to stand up pervidin' I can find out what it all amounts to. We're mixin' in this 'ere row without gettin' any benefit from it."

"We shall have the use of the bay while we're refittin', an' won't stand in danger of bein' knocked over by a dirty heathen and a club."

"There's plenty of islands about here with bays as big as we need, an' no bloomin' war on hand," the old barnacle said in a surly tone, whereupon Master Hackett jumped upon him, so to speak: —

"How do you know that? Have you been knockin' 'round these seas so many years that you can call to mind every hole and corner? If three white men can live here a matter of ten months, as we know has been the case, why isn't it the choice island of the whole group for us?"

"I ain't kickin' about the island; it's the war that sticks in my crop."

"Let it stick there then," Master Hackett growled. "Send word aft that you've got a rush of light-colored blood to the head, an' ain't fit to be trusted ashore. I reckon the captain will let you off without makin' much of a fuss."

"See here, Hiram Hackett, you're too free with your tongue, an' that's no lie either. When I try to get out of a scrimmage, jest let me know, an' I'll make you a present of the best pair of black eyes you ever wore. I reckon a man can have his growl without it bein' told all over the ship that he's gettin' weak in the upper story, eh?"

This last remark brought the squabble to a close, and each man appeared to think that he had come off at the top of the heap, when, according to my idea, they ended in the same place they began.

Phil and I did a good bit of thinking and arguing over this new war in which we were to take part; but we were mighty careful not to speak of it where any sailorman might hear us, and in the meantime we watched and took part in the preparations.

On the third day after our arrival a crowd of Typees appeared on the crests of the mountains, brandishing spears and clubs as if they counted on killing and eating us in short order.

One of the marines told us of the gun-deck that Captain Porter had sent word to the Typees that he had force enough to take possession of the island, and if they didn't mind their eyes and keep peaceable, he'd settle the hash of the whole tribe before their chief could so much as say, scat! I didn't believe the yarn, however, for if all that Mr. Maury's sailormen had told us was true, where did the captain find a messenger to carry his threats?

Phil and I had supposed, from the preparations which were being made, and the talk we had heard, that we'd begin our share of the war before work was commenced on the vessels; but this we soon learned was a mistake.

The muskets, cutlasses, and ammunition had been taken out where we might get at them handily, I suppose, and the boats were fitted up with small 2-pounder guns, after which we were set to work on other duties.

Camps, made of spare sails, were set up in a grove a short distance from the shore, and the frigate pulled in where we might clean her bottom by diving, or, what was better still, hire the natives to do it.

Phil and I were detailed for shore duty, and we had a soft snap of it, since our only work was to help the cooks; and while the men were setting up rigging, scraping spars, or slushing down the masts, we loafed in the cool grove, enjoying ourselves mightily.

We didn't see anything that looked like war, except once in a while when a crowd of Typees came out on the top of the mountain and shook their clubs at us; but all that was such harmless amusement for them, and did not interfere with us in the slightest, that we came to think of the promise to the natives as something already forgotten.

Now and again we would hear of the white man who was with the Typees, evidently enjoying himself, and more than one of our crew seemed to think it was the captain's duty to go in search of him; but nothing was done in that line, and meanwhile the work on the fleet was progressing in great shape.

All the ships had been cleaned of the marine growth which prevented them from sailing at their best speed, and on each a fair share of other work had been done.

Captain Porter had given out that the name of the bay was to be "Massachusetts" instead of Nukuheva; but otherwise than that, and the fact that we had grown fast friends with the natives, particularly the girls and young fellows, all was as when we first arrived.

Then came the day when we found that our commander meant all he promised, so far as taking a hand in the war was concerned.

The Typees, having danced and shaken their clubs without being disturbed, probably came to believe that we wouldn't attempt to do them any harm if they cut capers with the Happars, so they began operations by coming into the valley one dark night, tearing down houses, trampling over gardens, and killing bread-fruit trees.

The scoundrels did a big lot of mischief, and having grown bolder by action, even had the cheek to send a messenger to Captain Porter with the announcement that he was a coward who didn't dare come on the mountains.

Master Hackett was near by when the Typee boy arrived, and heard Mr. Maury translate the message. This is the old sailor's story: —

"The captain kept his face straight when the lad begun, and then Mr. Maury tried to back down from repeatin' all that was said; but our commander wouldn't have any such sneakin' as that. 'Repeat every word, sir!' he cried, an' the little midshipman went at it lookin' as if he counted on bein' kicked after it was finished. When all was said, the captain sent his message back, which was this: 'Tell him who sent you that I will be on the mountain before the sun has risen three times, an' then it will be seen which of us is the coward.' The boy went off, though some of the Happars claimed he ought 'er be killed jest for the sake of keepin' their hand in at such work; an' I reckon we'll know mighty soon what it's like to be standin' up against a lot of niggers with nothin' but a musket an' a cutlass to help out."

The island war was to be begun, and I felt very uncomfortable in the region of my spine, for there was good reason to believe I would soon succeed in proving myself an arrant coward.