STANDARD last the bird gave in, and loosening his clutch, soared heavily and slowly away to his lofty pine-tree, where he sat for a long time sullen and sulky, the picture of disappointed ambition. So might a wounded lion lie down in his lair, and brood over his defeat. Beach said that he could easily have captured them, but he thought it best not to interfere. Whether the eagle in his rage was bent on capturing his prize, and would retain his hold, though at the hazard of his life, or whether in his terrible swoop he had stuck his crooked talons so deep in the back of the salmon that he could not extricate them, the hunter said he could not tell. The latter, however, was doubtless the truth; and the eagle would have been glad to have let go long before he did. Life in the Woods. Undiversified, without change. Lay under contribution, take advantage of. Calabash, a nut whose shell serves for a dish. Interminable, never-ending. HISTORY OF A DAY IN THE MARQUESAS. NOTHING can be more uniform and undiversified than the life of the Typees of the Marquesas. One tranquil day of ease and happiness follows another in quiet succession; and with these simple savages the history of a day is the history of a life. I will, therefore, as briefly as I can, describe one of the days spent there. To begin with the morning. We are not very early risers,—the sun would be shooting its golden spikes above the Happar mountain ere I threw aside my tappa rope, and girding my long tunic about my waist, sallied out with Tayaway and Kory-Kory, and the rest of the household, and bent my steps towards the stream. Here we found all those who dwelt in our section of the valley, and here we bathed with them. The fresh morning air, and the cool flowing waters, put both spirits and body in a glow; and after a half-hour employed in this recreation we sauntered back to the house-Timor and Marheyo gathering dry STANDARD sticks by the way for firewood; some of the young men laying the cocoa-nut trees under contribution as they passed beneath them; while Kory-Kory played his outlandish pranks for my particular diversion. Our morning meal was soon prepared. The islanders are somewhat abstemious at this repast; reserving the more powerful efforts of their appetite to a later period of the day. For my own part, with the assistance of my valet, who, as my constant servant, always served as spoon on these occasions, I ate sparingly from one of Timor's trenchers of Poee Poee, which was devoted exclusively to my own use, being mixed with the milky meat of ripe cocoa-nut. A piece of a roasted bread fruit, a small cake of "amam," or a mess of lookoo, two or three bananas, or a Mawmee apple, annuee, or some other agreeable and nutritious fruit, served from day to day to diversify the meal, which was finished by tossing off the liquid contents of a young cocoa-nut or two. While partaking of this simple repast, the inmates of Marheyo's house, after the style of the indolent Romans, reclined in sociable groups upon the divan mats, and digestion was promoted by cheerful conversation. After the morning meal was concluded pipes were lighted, and among them my own especial pipe, a present from the noble Mehavi. The islanders, who only smoke a whiff or two at a time and at long intervals, as they keep their pipes going from hand to hand continually, regarded my regular smoking of four or five pipefuls of tobacco in succession as something quite wonderful. When two or three pipes had circulated freely the company gradually broke up. Marheyo went to the little hut he was for ever building. Timor began to inspect her rolls of tappa, or employed her busy fingers in plaiting grass mats. The girls anointed themselves with their fragrant oil, dressed their hair, or looked over their curious finery, and compared together their ivory trinkets, fashioned out of boar's tusks or whale's teeth. The young men and warriors produced their spears, paddles, canoe gear, battle clubs, and spears, and occupied themselves by carving all sorts of figures upon them with pointed pieces of shell or flint, and adorning them with tassels of braided bark and tufts of human hair. Some, immediately after eating, threw themselves once more upon the inviting mats, and resumed the employment of the previous night, sleeping as soundly as if they had not closed their eyes for a week. Others sallied out into the groves for the purpose of gathering fruit, or fibres of bark, and leaves, the last two being in constant requisition, and applied to a hundred uses. A few, perhaps, among the girls, would slip into the woods after flowers, or repair to the stream with small calabashes and cocoa-nut shells, in order to polish them by friction with a smooth stone in the water. In truth, these innocent people seemed to be at no loss for something to occupy their time; and it would be no light task to enumerate all their employments, or rather pleasures. My own morning I spent in a variety of ways. Sometimes I rambled about from house to house, sure of receiving a cordial welcome wherever I went; or from grove to grove, and from one shady place to another, in company with Kory-Kory and a rabble rout of merry young idlers. Sometimes I was too indolent for exercise, and, accepting one of the many invitations I was continually receiving, stretched myself out on the mats of some hospitable dwelling, and occupied myself pleasantly, either in watching the proceedings of those around me, or taking part in them myself. Whenever I chose to do the latter the delight of the islanders was boundless; and there was always a throng of competitors for the honor of instructing me in any particular craft. I soon became quite an accomplished hand at making tappa, could braid a grass sling as well as the best of them, and once with my knife carved the handle of a javelin so exquisitely, that I have no doubt to this day Karnoonoo, its owner, preserves it as a surprising specimen of my skill. As noon approached, all those who had wandered forth from our habitation began to return; and when midday was fairly come, scarcely a sound was to be heard in the valley,—a deep sleep fell upon all. The luxurious siesta was hardly ever omitted, except by old Marheyo, who was so odd a character that he seemed to be governed by no fixed principles whatever, but acting just according to the humor of the moment, slept, ate, or tinkered away at his little hut with no regard to proprieties of time or place. Frequently he might have been seen taking a nap in the sun at noonday, or a bath in the stream at midnight. Once I beheld him perched eighty feet from the ground, in the tuft of a cocoa-nut tree, smoking; and often I saw him standing up to the waist in water, engaged in plucking out the stray hairs of his beard, using a piece of mussel shell for tweezers. The noontide slumber lasted generally an hour and a half, very often longer; and after the sleepers had arisen from their mats, they again had recourse to their pipes, and then made preparations for the most important meal of the day. I, however, enjoyed the afternoon repast with the bachelor chiefs of the Ti, who were always rejoiced to see me, and lavishly spread before me the good things their larder afforded. Mehavi generally produced, among other dainties, a baked pig-an article which I have every reason to suppose was provided for my sole gratification. After spending a considerable portion of the afternoon at the Ti, I usually found myself, as the cool of the evening came on, either sailing on the lake or bathing in the waters of the stream, with a number of the savages, who at this hour always repaired thither. As the shadows of night approached, Marheyo's household was once more assembled under his roof; tapers were lit, long and curious chants were raised, interminable stories were told (for which I was little the wiser), and all sorts of social festivities served to while away the time. Unless some particular festivity was going forward, the inmates of Marheyo's house retired to their mats rather early in the evening, but not for the night, since after slumbering lightly for awhile, they rose again, relit their tapers, partook of the third and last meal of the day, at which Poee-Poee alone was eaten; and then, after inhaling a narcotic whiff from a pipe of tobacco, disposed themselves for the great business of the night-sleep. With the Marquesan, it might almost be styled the great business of life, for they pass a large portion of their time in the arms of Somnus. The native strength of their constitutions is in no way shown more completely than in the quantity of sleep they can endure. To many of them, indeed, life is little else than an often interrupted and luxurious nap. Community, an assemblage of people under the same social arrangement, or having the same government. Projected, thrown forward, discharged. MANUFACTURE OF POP-GUNS. 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. What civilised community, for instance, would derive the least satisfaction from shooting pop-guns? The mere supposition of such a thing being possible would arouse their indignation; and yet the whole population of Typee did little else for ten days but occupy themselves with that childish amusement, fairly screaming, too, with the delight it afforded them. One day I was frolicking with a little spirited urchin, some six years old, who chased me with a piece of bamboo, about three feet long, with which he occasionally belabored me. Seizing the stick from him, the idea happened to suggest itself, that I might make for the youngster, out of the slender tube, one of those nursery muskets with which I had sometimes seen children playing. Accordingly, with my knife, I made two parallel slits in the cane, several inches in length, and cutting loose at one end the elastic strap between them, bent it back, and slipped the point into a little notch made for the purpose. Any small substance placed against this would be projected with considerable force through the tube, by merely springing the bent strip out of the notch. Had I possessed the remotest idea of the sensation this piece of ordnance was destined to produce, I should certainly have taken out a patent for the invention. The boy scam pered away with it, half delirious with ecstacy; and in twenty minutes afterwards I might have been seen surrounded by a noisy crowd-venerable old grey beards, responsible fathers of families, valiant warriors, matrons, young men, girls, and children, all |