"I wish we were to get under way to-morrow, instead of going out through that tangle of trees and vines to prove that Captain Porter is no coward," Phil said with a sigh.
"So do I, lad. I reckon we could refit our ships without doin' very much fightin', an' what little trouble might be necessary could be carried on here in the open, where we sailormen would have a fair show."
More than this Master Hackett did not say at the time, but from it I understood that he had come to look upon a battle with the Typees as something which might well be postponed until we had a larger crew.
I must say a word in favor of our commander's decision, otherwise it may be thought that he sent his men into danger without due cause.
In order to gain the assistance of those natives living near about the bay, he had been forced to promise the Happars that he would give the Typees a lesson such as they deserved; and now was come the time when that should be done, otherwise we might count on having trouble with those who had stood our friends.
While Master Hackett and we lads were taking our ease in the grove, a party of natives numbering two or three hundred carried the 6-pounder to the summit of the nearest mountain, and from that moment until the expedition was really begun the Happar warriors continued to come in from their homes ready for battle until there were not less, so my cousin, Lieutenant McKnight, declared, than two thousand men stationed on or near the hill where was the gun, all in something approaching military order.
These soldiers were most imposing in appearance, even though they were heathen. The ordinary costume, now they were attired for battle, was much like this, and I have taken the description from a writer who, having lived two years among them, can well be considered as an authority:—
"The splendid, long, drooping tail-feathers of the tropical bird, thickly interspersed with the gaudy plumage of the cock, were disposed in an immense upright semicircle upon his head, their lower extremities being fixed in a crescent of guinea-beads which spanned the forehead. Around his neck were several enormous necklaces of boar's tusks, polished like ivory, and disposed in such a manner that the longest #and largest were upon his capacious chest.
"Thrust forward through the large apertures in his ears were two small and finely shaped sperm-whale teeth, presenting their cavities in front, stuffed with freshly plucked leaves, and curiously wrought at the other end into strange little images and devices. The loins of the warrior were girt about with heavy folds of dark-colored tappa, hanging before and behind in clusters of braided tassels, while anklets and bracelets of curling human hair completed his unique costume. In his right hand he grasped a beautifully carved paddle spear, nearly fifteen feet in length, made of the bright koa wood, one end sharply pointed, and the other flattened like an oar blade.