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- # CHAPTER XXXIV. LIFE AT THE CALABOOZA
## Overview
This is chapter 34 of [Omoo: Adventures in the South Seas](arke:01KG8AJ7VM7B8YZ2568YF8PQ5J), titled "CHAPTER XXXIV. LIFE AT THE CALABOOZA." It describes the daily life of the narrator and his companions while confined at the Calabooza, a Tahitian jail. The chapter spans lines 4672-4752 of the source file, [omoo.txt](arke:01KG89J1H7Y803CZ7X80F0QFHZ).
## Context
The chapter is part of the novel [Omoo: Adventures in the South Seas](arke:01KG8AJ7VM7B8YZ2568YF8PQ5J) by Herman Melville, which is contained in the [Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW) collection. It follows [CHAPTER XXXIII. WE RECEIVE CALLS AT THE HOTEL DE CALABOOZA](arke:01KG8AJJFYN2ARDCNXWFGNX0J7) and precedes [CHAPTER XXXV. VISIT FROM AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE](arke:01KG8AJJFY2HXAXH018FSHPPHP).
## Contents
The chapter details how Captain Bob, in disobedience to Wilson’s orders, allows the prisoners to roam freely during the day, with scouts posted to warn of approaching strangers. Despite receiving food from Captain Bob and his friends, the rations are meager, highlighting the scarcity faced by common Tahitians due to the demands of shipping and the chiefs' ownership of land. The prisoners supplement their diet by foraging in the surrounding country, finding the homes of wealthier natives just as open to them as those of the destitute. The chapter also describes how the prisoners would attend feasts following the slaughter of a chief's pig, with Flash Jack taking a particularly active role in the preparations. Doctor Long Ghost is mentioned for his large appetite and his habit of carrying salt and pepper in a "monkey bag" to season his food.
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- CHAPTER XXXIV. LIFE AT THE CALABOOZA
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- CHAPTER XXXIV.
LIFE AT THE CALABOOZA
A few days passed; and, at last, our docility was rewarded by some
indulgence on the part of Captain Bob.
He allowed the entire party to be at large during the day; only
enjoining upon us always to keep within hail. This, to be sure, was in
positive disobedience to Wilson’s orders; and so, care had to be taken
that he should not hear of it. There was little fear of the natives
telling him; but strangers travelling the Broom Road might. By way of
precaution, boys were stationed as scouts along the road. At sight of a
white man, they sounded the alarm! when we all made for our respective
holes (the stocks being purposely left open): the beam then descended,
and we were prisoners. As soon as the traveller was out of sight, of
course, we were liberated.
Notwithstanding the regular supply of food which we obtained from
Captain Bob and his friends, it was so small that we often felt most
intolerably hungry. We could not blame them for not bringing us more,
for we soon became aware that they had to pinch themselves in order to
give us what they did; besides, they received nothing for their
kindness but the daily bucket of bread.
Among a people like the Tahitians, what we call “hard times” can only
be experienced in the scarcity of edibles; yet, so destitute are many
of the common people that this most distressing consequence of
civilization may be said, with them, to be ever present. To be sure,
the natives about the Calabooza had abundance of limes and oranges; but
what were these good for, except to impart a still keener edge to
appetites which there was so little else to gratify? During the height
of the bread-fruit season, they fare better; but, at other times, the
demands of the shipping exhaust the uncultivated resources of the
island; and the lands being mostly owned by the chiefs, the inferior
orders have to suffer for their cupidity. Deprived of their nets, many
of them would starve.
As Captain Bob insensibly remitted his watchfulness, and we began to
stroll farther and farther from the Calabooza, we managed, by a
systematic foraging upon the country round about, to make up some of
our deficiencies. And fortunate it was that the houses of the wealthier
natives were just as open to us as those of the most destitute; we were
treated as kindly in one as the other.
Once in a while, we came in at the death of a chiefs pig; the noise of
whose slaughtering was generally to be heard at a great distance. An
occasion like this gathers the neighbours together, and they have a bit
of a feast, where a stranger is always welcome. A good loud squeal,
therefore, was music in our ears. It showed something going on in that
direction.
Breaking in upon the party tumultuously, as we did, we always created a
sensation. Sometimes, we found the animal still alive and struggling;
in which case, it was generally dropped at our approach.
To provide for these emergencies, Flash Jack generally repaired to the
scene of operations with a sheath-knife between his teeth, and a club
in his hand. Others were exceedingly officious in singeing off the
bristles, and disembowelling. Doctor Long Ghost and myself, however,
never meddled with these preliminaries, but came to the feast itself
with unimpaired energies.
Like all lank men, my long friend had an appetite of his own. Others
occasionally went about seeking what they might devour, but he was
always on the alert.
He had an ingenious way of obviating an inconvenience which we all
experienced at times. The islanders seldom use salt with their food; so
he begged Rope Yarn to bring him some from the ship; also a little
pepper, if he could; which, accordingly, was done. This he placed in a
small leather wallet—a “monkey bag” (so called by sailors)—usually worn
as a purse about the neck.
“In my opinion,” said Long Ghost, as he tucked the wallet out of sight,
“it behooves a stranger, in Tahiti, to have his knife in readiness, and
his castor slung.”
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- CHAPTER XXXIV. LIFE AT THE CALABOOZA