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- 2026-01-30T20:48:15.153Z
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- 11086
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- CHAPTER LXXXI.
WE VISIT THE COURT
It was about the middle of the second month of the Hegira, and
therefore some five weeks after our arrival in Partoowye, that we at
last obtained admittance to the residence of the queen.
It happened thus. There was a Marquesan in the train of Pomaree who
officiated as nurse to her children. According to the Tahitian custom,
the royal youngsters are carried about until it requires no small
degree of strength to stand up under them. But Marbonna was just the
man for this—large and muscular, well made as a statue, and with an arm
like a degenerate Tahitian’s thigh.
Embarking at his native island as a sailor on board of a French whaler,
he afterward ran away from the ship at Tahiti; where, being seen and
admired by Pomaree, he had been prevailed upon to enlist in her
service.
Often, when visiting the grounds, we saw him walking about in the
shade, carrying two handsome boys, who encircled his neck with their
arms. Marbonna’s face, tattooed as it was in the ornate style of his
tribe, was as good as a picture-book to these young Pomarees. They
delighted to trace with their fingers the outlines of the strange
shapes there delineated.
The first time my eyes lighted upon the Marquesan, I knew his country
in a moment; and hailing him in his own language, he turned round,
surprised that a person so speaking should be a stranger. He proved to
be a native of Tior, a glen of Nukuheva. I had visited the place more
than once; and so, on the island of Imeeo, we met like old friends.
In my frequent conversations with him over the bamboo picket, I found
this islander a philosopher of nature—a wild heathen, moralizing upon
the vices and follies of the Christian court of Tahiti—a savage,
scorning the degeneracy of the people among whom fortune had thrown
him.
I was amazed at the national feelings of the man. No European, when
abroad, could speak of his country with more pride than Marbonna. He
assured me, again and again, that so soon as he had obtained sufficient
money to purchase twenty muskets, and as many bags of powder, he was
going to return to a place with which Imeeo was not worthy to be
compared.
It was Marbonna who, after one or two unsuccessful attempts, at last
brought about our admission into the queen’s grounds. Through a
considerable crowd he conducted us along the pier to where an old man
was sitting, to whom he introduced us as a couple of “karhowrees” of
his acquaintance, anxious to see the sights of the palace. The
venerable chamberlain stared at us, and shook his head: the doctor,
thinking he wanted a fee, placed a plug of tobacco in his hand. This
was ingratiating, and we were permitted to pass on. Upon the point of
entering one of the houses, Marbonna’s name was shouted in half-a-dozen
different directions, and he was obliged to withdraw.
Thus left at the very threshold to shift for ourselves, my companion’s
assurance stood us in good stead. He stalked right in, and I followed.
The place was full of women, who, instead of exhibiting the surprise we
expected, accosted us as cordially as if we had called to take our
Souchong with them by express invitation. In the first place, nothing
would do but we must each devour a calabash of “poee,” and several
roasted bananas. Pipes were then lighted, and a brisk conversation
ensued.
These ladies of the court, if not very polished, were surprisingly free
and easy in their manners; quite as much so as King Charles’s beauties.
There was one of them—an arch little miss, who could converse with us
pretty fluently—to whom we strove to make ourselves particularly
agreeable, with the view of engaging her services as cicerone.
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