Arfretee, Po-Po's wife, was a right motherly body. The meal over, she
recommended a nap; and upon our waking much refreshed, she led us to
the doorway, and pointed down among the trees; through which we saw
the gleam of water. Taking the hint, we repaired thither; and finding
a deep shaded pool, bathed, and returned to the house. Our hostess
now sat down by us; and after looking with great interest at the
doctor's cloak, felt of my own soiled and tattered garments for the
hundredth time, and exclaimed plaintively - "Ah nuee nuee olee manee!
olee manee!" (Alas! they are very, very old! very old!)
When Arfretee, good soul, thus addressed us, she thought she was
talking very respectable English. The word "nuee" is so familiar to
foreigners throughout Polynesia, and is so often used by them in
their intercourse with the natives, that the latter suppose it to be
common to all mankind. "Olee manee" is the native pronunciation of
"old man," which, by Society Islanders talking Saxon, is applied
indiscriminately to all aged things and persons whatsoever.
Going to a chest filled with various European articles, she took out
two suits of new sailor frocks and trousers; and presenting them with
a gracious smile, pushed us behind a calico screen, and left us.
Without any fastidious scruples, we donned the garments; and what
with the meal, the nap, and the bath, we now came forth like a couple
of bridegrooms.
Evening drawing on, lamps were lighted. They were very simple; the
half of a green melon, about one third full of cocoa-nut oil, and a
wick of twisted tappa floating on the surface. As a night lamp, this
contrivance cannot be excelled; a soft dreamy light being shed
through the transparent rind.
As the evening advanced, other members of the household, whom as yet
we had not seen, began to drop in. There was a slender young dandy in
a gay striped shirt, and whole fathoms of bright figured calico
tucked about his waist, and falling to the ground. He wore a new
straw hat also with three distinct ribbons tied about the crown; one
black, one green, and one pink. Shoes or stockings, however, he had
none.
There were a couple of delicate, olive-cheeked little
girls - twins - with mild eyes and beautiful hair, who ran about the
house, half-naked, like a couple of gazelles. They had a brother,
somewhat younger - a fine dark boy, with an eye like a woman's. All
these were the children of Po-Po, begotten in lawful wedlock.
Then there were two or three queer-looking old ladies, who wore shabby
mantles of soiled sheeting, which fitted so badly, and withal had
such a second-hand look that I at once put their wearers down as
domestic paupers - poor relations, supported by the bounty of My Lady
Arfretee.
