our hero becomes a favourite, and entertains hopes of escape.
the sufferings which jarwin with his little dog had hitherto undergone were as nothing compared to those which he endured for some months after being taken prisoner by the savages. at first he gave himself up for lost, feeling assured that ere long he would be sacrificed in the temple of one of their idols, and then baked in an oven and consumed as food, according to the horrible practice of the south-sea islanders. indeed he began to be much astonished that, as day after day passed, there was no sign of any intention to treat him in this way, although several times the natives took him out of the hut in which he was imprisoned, and, placing him in the centre of a circle, held excited and sometimes angry discussions over him.
it was not till months afterwards, when he had acquired a slight knowledge of their language, that he came to understand why he was spared at this time. it appeared that four shipwrecked sailors, who had been cast on a neighbouring island, had been killed, baked, and eaten, according to usage, by the chief and his friends. immediately afterwards, those who had partaken of this dreadful food had been seized with severe illness, and one or two had died. this fact had been known for some time to jarwin’s captors, and the discussions above referred to had been engaged in with reference to the question whether it was likely that the flesh of the white man who had been thrown on their island would be likely to disagree with their stomachs! it was agreed that this was highly probable, and thus the seaman’s life was spared; but he was sometimes tempted to wish that it had not been spared, for his master, the big chief, was a very hard man; he put him to the most toilsome labour, and treated him with every sort of indignity. moreover, he was compelled to be a witness of practices so revolting and cruel, that he often put the question to himself whether it was possible for devils to display greater wickedness and depravity than these people.
jarwin was frequently tempted to resent the treatment he received, but, fortunately, he was prudent enough to bear it submissively, for it is certain that if he had rebelled he would have been slain on the spot. moreover, he set himself to carry out his favourite maxim—namely, that it was wise in all circumstances to make the best of everything. he laboured, therefore, with such goodwill, that he softened the breast of the big chief, who gradually became more amiable, and even indulgent to him. thus he came to know experimentally the wisdom of that scripture, “be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”
john jarwin possessed a remarkably fine sonorous bass voice, which, in former days, had been a source of great delight to his messmates. although strong and deep, it was very sweet and tender in its tones, and eminently suited for pathetic and sentimental songs. indeed jarwin’s nature was so earnest, that although he had a great deal of quiet humour about him, and could enjoy comic songs very much, he never himself sang anything humorous. now, it chanced that the big chief had a good ear for music, and soon became so fond of the songs which his slave was wont to hum when at work, that he used to make him sit down beside him frequently and sing for hours at a time! fortunately, jarwin’s lungs were powerful, and his voice being full-toned and loud, he was able to sing as much as his master desired without much exertion. he gave him his whole budget which was pretty extensive—including melodies of the “black-eyed susan” and “ben bolt” stamp. when these had been sung over and over again, he took to the psalms and paraphrases—many of which he knew by heart, and, finally, he had recourse to extempore composition, which he found much easier than he had expected—the tones flowing naturally and the words being gibberish! thus he became a sort of david to this remarkable saul. by degrees, as he learnt the native tongue, he held long conversations with the big chief, and told him about his own land and countrymen and religion. in regard to the last the chief was very inquisitive, and informed his slave that white men had been for some time in that region, trying to teach their religion to the men of an island which, though invisible from his island, was not very far distant. jarwin said little about this, but from that time he began to hope that, through the missionaries, he might be able to make his escape ere long.
during all this time poor cuffy experienced a variety of vicissitudes, and made several narrow escapes. at first he had been caught and was on the point of being killed and roasted, when he wriggled out of his captor’s grasp and made off to the mountains, terrorstruck! here he dwelt for some weeks in profound melancholy. being unable to stand separation from his master any longer, he ventured to return to the village, but was immediately hunted out of it, and once again fled in horror to the hills. jarwin was not allowed to quit the village alone, he therefore never saw his little dog, and at length came to the conclusion that it had been killed. when, however, he had ingratiated himself with his master, he was allowed more freedom, and one day, having wandered a considerable distance into the mountains, he came suddenly and unexpectedly upon cuffy. having experienced nothing from man of late but the most violent and cruel treatment, cuffy no sooner beheld, as he supposed, one of his enemies, than, without giving him a second glance, he sprang up, put his ears back, his tail between his legs, and, uttering a terrible yell, fled “on the wings of terror!” but jarwin put two fingers in his mouth and gave a peculiarly shrill whistle, which brought the dog to a sudden stop. he looked back with ears cocked. again jarwin whistled. instantly cuffy turned and ran at him with a series of mingled yells, whines, and barks, that gave but a faint idea of his tumultuous feelings. it would scarcely be too much to say that he almost ate his master up. he became like an india-rubber ball gone mad! he bounded round him to such an extent that jarwin found it very difficult to get hold of or pat him. it is impossible to do justice to such a meeting. we draw a veil over it, only remarking that the sailor took his old favourite back to the village, and, after much entreaty and a good deal of persuasive song, was permitted to keep him.
about ten months after this event, war broke out between the big chief and a neighbouring tribe of natives, who were a very quarrelsome and vindictive set. the tribe with whom jarwin dwelt would gladly have lived at peace, but the other tribe was stronger in numbers and thirsted for conquest—a consequence of strength which is by no means confined to savages!
when war was formally declared, the big chief told jarwin to prepare himself for battle. at first our hero had some qualms of conscience about it, but on reflecting that on the part of the tribe to which he belonged it was a war of self-defence, his conscience was pacified.
the big chief ordered him to throw away his now ragged garments, smear his whole body over with oil and red earth, paint black spots on his cheeks, and a white streak down his nose, and put on warrior’s costume. in vain jarwin begged and protested and sang. the big chief’s blood was up, and his commands must be obeyed, therefore jarwin did as he was bid; went out to battle in this remarkable costume—if we may so style it—and proved himself such a prodigy of valour that his prowess went far to turn the tide of victory wherever he appeared during the fight. but we pass over all this. suffice it to say, that the pugnacious tribe was severely chastised and reduced to a state of quiet—for the time at least.
one day, not long after the cessation of the war, a canoe arrived with several natives, all of whom wore clothing of a much more civilised description than is usually seen among south-sea savages. they had a long, earnest talk with the natives, but jarwin was not allowed to hear it, or to show himself. next day they went away. for some time after that big chief was very thoughtful, but silent, and jarwin could not induce him to become confidential until he had sung all his melodies and all his psalms several times over, and had indulged in extempore melody and gibberish until his brain and throat were alike exhausted. the big chief gave way at last, however, and told him that his late visitors were christians, who, with two native teachers, had been sent from a distant island by a white chief named williams, to try and persuade him and his people to burn their idols.
“and are ’ee goin’ to do it?” asked jarwin.
“no,” replied the chief, “but i am going to raratonga to see cookee williams.”
of course they conversed in the native tongue, but as this would be unintelligible to the reader, we translate. it may also be remarked here that “cookee” signified a white man, and is a word derived from the visit of that great navigator captain cook to these islands, by the natives of which he was ultimately murdered.
jarwin had heard, while in england, of the missionary williams. on learning that he was among the islands, his heart beat high, and he begged earnestly that he might be allowed to go with the chief and his party to raratonga, but his wily master would not consent “you will run away!” he said.
“no, i won’t,” said jarwin, earnestly. big chief shook his head. “they will take you from me,” he said, “when they find out who you are.”
“i’ll not let ’em,” replied jarwin, with pathetic sincerity, and then began to sing in such a touching strain, that his master lay back on his couch and rolled his large eyes in rapture.
“you shall go, jowin,” (that was the best he could make of the name), “if you will make me a promise.”
“name it, old boy,” said jarwin.
“that you will go dressed like one of my young men, and never open your lips to speak a word, no more than if you were dumb, whether the cookees speak to you or not.”
jarwin hesitated, but reflecting that there was no chance of his seeing the missionary at all if he did not give this promise, he consented.
a week after that all the preparations were made, and four large canoes, full of well-armed men, set out for raratonga.
at the time we write of, the island of raratonga had been recently discovered by the missionary williams. the success of the labours of that devoted man and his native teachers, is one of the most marvellous chapters in the history of the isles of the pacific. at raratonga, god seemed to have prepared the way for the introduction of the gospel in a wonderful manner, for although the native teachers who first went ashore there were roughly handled, they were enabled, nevertheless, to persevere, and in not much more than a single year, the gospel wrought a change in the feelings and habits of the people, which was little short of miraculous. within that brief period they had given up and burnt all their idols, had ceased to practise their bloody and horrible rites, and had embraced christianity—giving full proof of their sincerity by submitting to a code of laws founded on scripture, by agreeing to abandon polygamy, by building a large place of worship, and by leading comparatively virtuous and peaceful lives. and all this was begun and carried on for a considerable time, not by the european missionaries but by two of the devoted native teachers, who had previously embraced christianity.
the extent of the change thus wrought in the raratongans in so short a time by the gospel, may be estimated by a glance at the difficulties with which the missionaries had to contend. in writing of the ancient usages of the people, mr williams, (see williams’ most interesting work, entitled “a narrative of missionary enterprises in the south-sea islands”), tells us that one of their customs was an unnatural practice called kukumi anga. as soon as a son reached manhood, he would fight and wrestle with his father for the mastery, and if he obtained it, would take forcible possession of the farm belonging to his parent, whom he drove in a state of destitution from his home. another custom was equally unnatural and inhuman. when a woman lost her husband, the relatives of the latter, instead of paying visits of kindness to the fatherless and widow in their affliction, would seize every article of value belonging to the deceased, turn the disconsolate mother and her children away, and possess themselves of the house, food, and land. but they had another custom which caused still greater difficulties to the missionaries. it was called “land-eating”—in other words, the getting possession of each other’s lands unjustly, and these, once obtained, were held with the greatest possible tenacity, for land was exceedingly valuable at raratonga, and on no subject were the contentions of the people more frequent or fierce.
from this it will be seen that the raratongans were apparently a most unpromising soil in which to plant the “good seed,” for there is scarcely another race of people on earth so depraved and unnatural as they seem to have been. nevertheless, god’s blessed word overcame these deep-rooted prejudices, and put an end to these and many other horrible practices in little more than a year.
after this glorious work had been accomplished, the energetic missionary—who ultimately laid down his life in one of these islands (the island of erramanga) for the sake of jesus christ—resolved to go himself in search of other islands in which to plant the gospel, and to send out native teachers with the same end in view. the record of their labours reads more like a romance than a reality, but we cannot afford to diverge longer from the course of our narrative. it was one of these searching parties of native teachers that had visited the big chief’s island as already described, and it was their glowing words and representations that had induced him to undertake this voyage to raratonga.
big chief of course occupied the largest of the four canoes, and our friend jarwin sat on a seat in front of him—painted and decorated like a native warrior, and wielding a paddle like the rest. of course cuffy had been left behind.
poor jarwin had, during his captivity, undergone the process of being tatooed from head to foot. it had taken several months to accomplish and had cost him inexpressible torture, owing to the innumerable punctures made by the comb-like instrument with which it was done on the inflamed muscles of his body. by dint of earnest entreaty and much song, he had prevailed on big chief to leave his face and hands untouched. it is doubtful if he would have succeeded in this, despite the witching power of his melodious voice, had he not at the same time offered to paint his own face in imitation of tatooing, and accomplished the feat to such perfection that his delighted master insisted on having his own painted forthwith in the same style.
during a pause in their progress, while the paddlers were resting, big chief made his captive sit near him.
“you tell me that cookee-men” (by which he meant white men) “never lie, never deceive.”
“i shud lie an’ deceive myself, if i said so,” replied jarwin, bluntly.
“what did you tell me, then?” asked the chief, with a frown.
“i told you that christian men don’t lie or deceive—leastwise they don’t do it with a will.”
“are you a christian man, jowin?”
“i am,” replied the sailor promptly. then with a somewhat perplexed air, “anyhow i hope i am, an’ i try to act as sitch.”
“good, i will soon prove it. you will be near the cookee-men of raratonga to-morrow. you will have chance to go with them and leave me; but if you do, or if you speak one word of cookee-tongue—you are not christian. moreover, i will batter your skull with my club, till it is like the soft pulp of the bread-fruit.”
“you’re a cute fellar, as the yankees say,” remarked jarwin, with a slight smile. this being said in english, the chief took no notice of it, but glanced at his slave suspiciously.
“big chief,” said jarwin, after a short silence, “even before i was a christian, i had been taught by my mother to be ashamed of telling a lie, so you’ve no occasion for to doubt me. but it’s a hard thing to stand by a countryman, specially in my pecooliar circumstances, an’ not let him know that you can speak to him. may i not be allowed to palaver a bit with ’em? i wont ask ’em to take me from you.”
“no,” said the chief sternly. “you came with me promising that you would not even speak to the cookee-men.”
“well, big chief,” replied jarwin, energetically, “you shall see that a british seaman can stick to his promise. i’ll be true to you. honour bright. i’ll not give ’em a word of the english lingo if they was to try to tear it out o’ me wi’ red hot pincers. i’ll content myself wi’ lookin’ at ’em and listenin’ to ’em. it’ll be a comfort to hear my mother-tongue, anyhow.”
“good,” replied the chief, “i trust you.”
the interval of rest coming to an end at this point, the conversation ceased and the paddles were resumed.
it was a magnificent day. the great pacific was in that condition of perfect repose which its name suggests. not a breath of air ruffled the wide sheet of water, which lay spread out like a vast circular looking-glass to reflect the sky, and it did reflect the sky with such perfect fidelity, that the clouds and cloudlets in the deep were exact counterparts of those that floated in the air, while the four canoes, resting on their own reflections, seemed to be suspended in the centre of a crystal world, which was dazzlingly lit up by two resplendent suns.
this condition of calm lasted the whole of that day and night, and the heat was very great; nevertheless the warriors—of whom there were from forty to fifty in each canoe—did not cease to paddle for an instant, save when the short spells of rest came round, and when, twice during the day, they stopped to eat a hasty meal.
when the sun set they still continued to paddle onwards, the only difference being that instead of passing over a sea of crystal, they appeared to traverse an ocean of amber and burnished gold. all night they continued their labours. about daybreak the chief permitted them to enjoy a somewhat longer period of rest, during which most of them, without lying down, indulged in a short but refreshing nap. resuming the paddles, they proceeded until sunrise, when their hearts were gladdened by the sight of the blue hills of raratonga on the bright horizon.
“now we shall soon be at the end of our voyage,” said the chief, as he pointed to the distant hills, and glanced at jarwin as he might at a prize which he was much afraid of losing. “remember the promise, you christian. don’t be a deceiver, you ‘breetish tar!’” (he quoted jarwin here.)
“honour bright!” replied our hero.
the savage gazed earnestly into the sailor’s bright eyes, and appeared to think that if his honour was as bright as they were, there was not much cause to fear. at all events he looked pleased, nodded his head, and said “good,” with considerable emphasis.
by this time the hills of raratonga were beginning to look less like blue clouds and more like real mountains; gradually as the canoes drew nearer, the markings on them became more and more defined, until at last everything was distinctly visible—rocky eminences and luxuriant valleys, through which flowed streams and rivulets that glittered brightly in the light of the ascending sun, and almost constrained jarwin to shout with delight, for he gazed upon a scene more lovely by far than anything that he had yet beheld in the southern seas.
