- end_line
- 9917
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-30T20:48:15.153Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 9843
- text
- karhowree sabbee lee-lee ena arva tee maitai!” in other words, what a
blockhead of a white man! this is the real stuff!
We could not have been more startled had a frog leaped from his mouth.
For an instant, he looked confused enough himself; and then placing a
finger mysteriously upon his mouth, he contrived to make us understand
that at times he was subject to a suspension of the powers of speech.
Deeming the phenomenon a remarkable one, every way, the doctor desired
him to open his mouth so that he might have a look down. But he
refused.
This occurrence made us rather suspicious of our host; nor could we
afterward account for his conduct, except by supposing that his
feigning dumbness might in some way or other assist him in the
nefarious pursuits in which it afterwards turned out that he was
engaged. This conclusion, however, was not altogether satisfactory.
To oblige him, we at last took a sip of his “arva tee,” and found it
very crude, and strong as Lucifer. Curious to know whence it was
obtained, we questioned him; when, lighting up with pleasure, he seized
the taper, and led us outside the hut, bidding us follow.
After going some distance through the woods, we came to a dismantled
old shed of boughs, apparently abandoned to decay. Underneath, nothing
was to be seen but heaps of decaying leaves and an immense, clumsy jar,
wide-mouthed, and by some means, rudely hollowed out from a ponderous
stone.
Here, for a while, we were left to ourselves; the old man placing the
light in the jar, and then disappearing. He returned, carrying a long,
large bamboo, and a crotched stick. Throwing these down, he poked under
a pile of rubbish, and brought out a rough block of wood, pierced
through and through with a hole, which was immediately clapped on the
top of the jar. Then planting the crotched stick upright about two
yards distant, and making it sustain one end of the bamboo, he inserted
the other end of the latter into the hole in the block: concluding
these arrangements by placing an old calabash under the farther end of
the bamboo.
Coming up to us now with a sly, significant look, and pointing
admiringly at his apparatus, he exclaimed, “Ah, karhowree, ena
hannahanna arva tee!” as much as to say, “This, you see, is the way
it’s done.”
His contrivance was nothing less than a native still, where he
manufactured his island “poteen.” The disarray in which we found it was
probably intentional, as a security against detection. Before we left
the shed, the old fellow toppled the whole concern over, and dragged it
away piecemeal.
His disclosing his secret to us thus was characteristic of the “Tootai
Owrees,” or contemners of the missionaries among the natives; who,
presuming that all foreigners are opposed to the ascendancy of the
missionaries, take pleasure in making them confidants, whenever the
enactments of their rulers are secretly set at nought.
The substance from which the liquor is produced is called “Tee,” which
is a large, fibrous root, something like yam, but smaller. In its green
state, it is exceedingly acrid; but boiled or baked, has the sweetness
of the sugar-cane. After being subjected to the fire, macerated and
reduced to a certain stage of fermentation, the “Tee” is stirred up
with water, and is then ready for distillation.
On returning to the hut, pipes were introduced; and, after a while,
Long Ghost, who, at first, had relished the “Arva Tee” as little as
myself, to my surprise, began to wax sociable over it, with Varvy; and,
before long, absolutely got mellow, the old toper keeping him company.
It was a curious sight. Everyone knows that, so long as the occasion
lasts, there is no stronger bond of sympathy and good feeling among men
than getting tipsy together. And how earnestly, nay, movingly, a brace
of worthies, thus employed, will endeavour to shed light upon, and
elucidate their mystical ideas!
- title
- Chunk 2