- end_line
- 4846
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-30T20:48:25.200Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 4789
- text
- restore him at the brook, had hurried forward with him to the house.
This incident threw a dark cloud over our prospects. It reminded us that
we were hemmed in by hostile tribes, whose territories we could not hope
to pass, on our route to Nukuheva, without encountering the effects of
their savage resentment. There appeared to be no avenue opened to our
escape but the sea, which washed the lower extremities of the vale.
Our Typee friends availed themselves of the recent disaster of Toby to
exhort us to a due appreciation of the blessings we enjoyed among them,
contrasting their own generous reception of us with the animosity of
their neighbours. They likewise dwelt upon the cannibal propensities of
the Happars, a subject which they were perfectly aware could not fail
to alarm us; while at the same time they earnestly disclaimed all
participation in so horrid a custom. Nor did they omit to call upon
us to admire the natural loveliness of their own abode, and the lavish
abundance with which it produced all manner of luxuriant fruits;
exalting it in this particular above any of the surrounding valleys.
Kory-Kory seemed to experience so heartfelt a desire to infuse into our
minds proper views on these subjects, that, assisted in his endeavours
by the little knowledge of the language we had acquired, he actually
made us comprehend a considerable part of what he said. To facilitate
our correct apprehension of his meaning, he at first condensed his ideas
into the smallest possible compass.
‘Happar keekeeno nuee,’ he exclaimed, ‘nuee, nuee, ki ki
kannaka!--ah! owle motarkee!’ which signifies, ‘Terrible fellows those
Happars!--devour an amazing quantity of men!--ah, shocking bad!’
Thus far he explained himself by a variety of gestures, during
the performance of which he would dart out of the house, and point
abhorrently towards the Happar valley; running in to us again with
a rapidity that showed he was fearful he would lose one part of
his meaning before he could complete the other; and continuing his
illustrations by seizing the fleshy part of my arm in his teeth,
intimating by the operation that the people who lived over in that
direction would like nothing better than to treat me in that manner.
Having assured himself that we were fully enlightened on this point, he
proceeded to another branch of his subject. ‘Ah! Typee mortakee!--nuee,
nuee mioree--nuee, nuee wai--nuee, nuee poee-poee--nuee, nuee kokoo--ah!
nuee, nuee kiki--ah! nuee, nuee, nuee!’ Which literally interpreted
as before, would imply, ‘Ah, Typee! isn’t it a fine place though!--no
danger of starving here, I tell you!--plenty of bread-fruit--plenty of
water--plenty of pudding--ah! plenty of everything! ah! heaps, heaps
heaps!’ All this was accompanied by a running commentary of signs and
gestures which it was impossible not to comprehend.
As he continued his harangue, however, Kory-Kory, in emulation of our
more polished orators, began to launch out rather diffusely into other
branches of his subject, enlarging probably upon the moral reflections
it suggested; and proceeded in such a strain of unintelligible and
stunning gibberish, that he actually gave me the headache for the rest
of the day.
- title
- Chunk 5