- end_line
- 6521
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-30T20:48:25.203Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 6459
- text
- CONCEIT OF MARHEYO--PROCESS OF MAKING TAPPA
The knowledge I had now obtained as to the intention of the savages
deeply affected me.
Marnoo, I perceived, was a man who, by reason of his superior
acquirements, and the knowledge he possessed of the events which were
taking place in the different bays of the island, was held in no little
estimation by the inhabitants of the valley. He had been received with
the most cordial welcome and respect. The natives had hung upon the
accents of his voice, and, had manifested the highest gratification at
being individually noticed by him. And yet despite all this, a few
words urged in my behalf, with the intent of obtaining my release from
captivity, had sufficed not only to banish all harmony and good-will;
but, if I could believe what he told me, had gone on to endanger his own
personal safety.
How strongly rooted, then, must be the determination of the Typees
with regard to me, and how suddenly could they display the strangest
passions! The mere suggestion of my departure had estranged from me,
for the time at least, Mehevi, who was the most influential of all
the chiefs, and who had previously exhibited so many instances of his
friendly sentiments. The rest of the natives had likewise evinced their
strong repugnance to my wishes, and even Kory-Kory himself seemed to
share in the general disapprobation bestowed upon me.
In vain I racked my invention to find out some motive for them, but I
could discover none.
But however this might be, the scene which had just occurred admonished
me of the danger of trifling with the wayward and passionate spirits
against whom it was vain to struggle, and might even be fatal to do go.
My only hope was to induce the natives to believe that I was reconciled
to my detention in the valley, and by assuming a tranquil and cheerful
demeanour, to allay the suspicions which I had so unfortunately aroused.
Their confidence revived, they might in a short time remit in some
degree their watchfulness over my movements, and I should then be the
better enabled to avail myself of any opportunity which presented itself
for escape. I determined, therefore, to make the best of a bad
bargain, and to bear up manfully against whatever might betide. In this
endeavour, I succeeded beyond my own expectations. At the period
of Marnoo’s visit, I had been in the valley, as nearly as I could
conjecture, some two months. Although not completely recovered from my
strange illness, which still lingered about me, I was free from pain
and able to take exercise. In short, I had every reason to anticipate a
perfect recovery. Freed from apprehension on this point, and resolved
to regard the future without flinching, I flung myself anew into all the
social pleasures of the valley, and sought to bury all regrets, and
all remembrances of my previous existence in the wild enjoyments it
afforded.
In my various wanderings through the vale, and as I became better
acquainted with the character of its inhabitants, I was more and more
struck with the light-hearted joyousness that everywhere prevailed. The
minds of these simple savages, unoccupied by matters of graver moment,
were capable of deriving the utmost delight from circumstances which
would have passed unnoticed in more intelligent communities. All their
enjoyment, indeed, seemed to be made up of the little trifling incidents
of the passing hour; but these diminutive items swelled altogether to an
amount of happiness seldom experienced by more enlightened individuals,
whose pleasures are drawn from more elevated but rarer sources.
- title
- Chunk 1