There She Blows! Or, The Log of the Arethusa

by William Hussey Macy

"After the collation comes the ball;" said the cooper. "You see those fellows backing down wood, and getting ready to make a bonfire. They will light up the fire after dark, and then dance and sing round it. But here's another game going on. Let's go and see what this means."

The natives were all gathering on a large plat of greensward, near the feast-house, and the young men were seating themselves in a circle on the ground, several ranks deep, so as to leave an arena of convenient size in the centre. The women, children and old men closed up outside of this ring as spectators, a space being kept clear for King George and the principal chiefs, where they could overlook the whole scene. It was evident some sort of gladiatorial show or sparring exhibition was now to begin.

At a signal from the king, an athletic young man sprang lightly from his seat in the circle to the centre of the ring, bringing his hands together with a loud clap of defiance. He was instantly confronted by another, and the sparring was commenced. Passes were rapidly made and warded off, no harm being done to the combatants, as all blows were struck open-handed. Great dexterity was displayed on both sides, the object aimed at by all this, being, for some little time, a mystery; but at length the challenger, watching his opportunity, rushed under the other's guard and seized him at the waist, which closed the combat, amid tumultuous applause from king, court and spectators. Both fell back to their places in the circle, the victor to be petted and patted by his delighted comrades, and instantly a fresh champion bounded into the arena to be met by another. Thus the entertainment continued, till nearly every young man had put in at least one appearance, and some particularly smart fellows had come off victors in several matches, so that their challenges were not readily accepted. Sometimes a careless or over-confident youth would be caught almost instantly, calling down upon himself the jeers and uproarious mirth of the whole assembly; and, on the other hand, when two of the most skilfull of the gladiators were about equally matched, the struggle would be prolonged amid the eager and breathless attention of the excited audience. Everything was expected to be done with the most perfect good humor; and if, as was sometimes the case, the vanquished party lost his temper, he was greeted with such yells of derisive laughter, that he was soon glad to join in the laugh against himself, in order to escape further ridicule. The men were naked, with the sole exception of a broad belt about the hips, and their eager attitudes and quick movements displayed their figures and the development of their muscle to the best advantage. We all agreed that the exhibition was a most beautiful one, possessing all the wholesome excitement that belongs to athletic sports of this kind, without the drawbacks of brutality and smothered hatred.

We remained on shore in the evening to see the dance round the fire, which is accompanied with wild chants or recitations, and has no very striking points about it. There is but little variety in the movements, and the interest depends simply upon the almost perfect concert of voice and gesture among a large number of performers. Its scenic effect is heightened by the uniform system of tattooing, the chief point in which is a stripe running the whole length of the arm on the outside, and a wider one up and down the leg, like those worn by sergeants in our army. But on the whole, the display is inferior in variety and vigor to the Marquesan "hula hula," or to the war-dances of the North American tribes. An incident occurred during this performance, which forcibly illustrated the absolute control over the lives of his subjects possessed by the irresponsible despot, King George. One of the young men engaged in the dance failed to give satisfaction to the critical eye or ear of the king, being, as I thought, a little out of time in the chant, when, without a word, the king picked up a stone, and hurled it at him, striking full in his breast, and effectually knocking him out of the ranks, while the dance went on without interruption, as if this was merely an ordinary recreation, in which the monarch was wont to indulge when the humor seized him. A shudder and murmur of indignation ran through us visitors from the ships at this cruelty, but what could we do or say about it? The poor delinquent gathered himself up and slunk away, evidently suffering dreadful pain. He must have been severely, if, indeed, not dangerously injured; but it seemed a matter of indifference to his royal master whether he lived or died.

"I suppose," said Mr. Grafton, who was standing near me, "you feel just as I do about that affair; as if you'd like to hurl that same rock back at the king's breast with a will."

"Yes sir," I replied; "but it wouldn't be policy for us to attempt anything of that kind."

"Hardly;" returned the mate. "We should have a hornet's nest about our ears in short order, if we touched his sacred person. I presume these young men consider it all right, and a mere matter of course, each one feeling that it may be his turn next. I have no doubt that the old savage has killed more than one of them in getting them up to their present state of drill. He holds his subjects' lives at his own disposal, as much as the Czar of all the Russias, or even more so; and, as a general rule, these savage races are very reckless of human life, seeming to attach but little value to it."

"Didn't you admire the sparring match, this afternoon?" I asked.

"I didn't see it;" the said mate. "I took my gun, and went out in the woods pigeon shooting. I had pretty good luck. I got about twenty pigeons, and saw a great deal of sport besides the shooting. The old chief Seelic went with me, he is the second in rank below King George, as near as I can get at it. He took another chief of lower rank with him, and a couple of boys of no rank at all. Old Seelic and I kept company, the petty chief fell into our wake at a short distance, and the two youths jogged along astern of him. Whenever we stopped a moment down they went on their beam-ends right into the mud or wherever they chanced to be, and waited there till we started on again, keeping their stations in line. When we got into the woods, they were signalled to keep in close order, but it was amusing to see manœuvres when one of the youngsters got the first sight of a pigeon. You see, he could not speak to his superior in a standing position, nor speak to old Seelic at all, until commanded or invited to do so. So he would go down on his marrow-bones and tell the petty chief, and then he would go down the same way with his head almost in the mud, to tell old Seelic, and sometimes while all this etiquette was going on, the pigeon would take the alarm and leave the tree, before old Seelic could bring his gun to bear on him. The old fellow is a good shot and would drop his bird almost every time. But the war dance is about finished for to-night, and it's time to muster the boys and shove off."

We got all our water and wood on board, and a good stock of fruit, though the only recruits to be got to serve as sea stores for any length of time were yams, and these of indifferent quality. When ready for sea, we lay wind-bound two days, but on the third the trades were so far to the northward that we could lay our course through the passage in the reef, and both ship's windlasses were at once manned to take advantage of the start. It was observed that, as we began to get under way, nearly all the natives left us, and that very few were in sight even on the beach. As our anchor made its appearance at the surface it brought with it the bight of a small chain, which had caught across the stock. The few natives about the ship got sight of it as quick as we did, and, as conscious guilt needs no accuser, in the twinkling of an eye, they were off for the shore, some in canoes and others jumping overboard. It was a critical moment for us, as the ship was swinging, and we could not afford to lose the wind, so we "hooked cat," and secured our anchor, the bight of the chain slipping off the anchorstock, and falling back to its submarine bed, where it had probably lain for several years. It might have been the cable to a vessel of a hundred and fifty to two hundred tons. In a few minutes both ships were standing out through the narrow passage, the Leonidas leading, as the increased strain on our windlass in lifting the anchor had given her the start.