Po-Po, for some reason or other, always gave us our meals before the
rest of the family were served; and the doctor, who was very
discerning in such matters, declared that we fared much better than
they. Certain it was that, had Ereemear's guests travelled with
purses, portmanteau, and letters of introduction to the queen, they
could not have been better cared for.
The day after our arrival, Monee, the old butler, brought us in for
dinner a small pig, baked in the ground. All savoury, it lay in a
wooden trencher, surrounded by roasted hemispheres of the breadfruit.
A large calabash, filled with taro pudding, or poee, followed; and
the young dandy, overcoming his customary languor, threw down our
cocoa-nuts from an adjoining tree.
When all was ready, and the household looking on, Long Ghost, devoutly
clasping his hands over the fated pig, implored a blessing. Hereupon,
everybody present looked exceedingly pleased; Po-Po coming up and
addressing the doctor with much warmth; and Arfretee, regarding him
with almost maternal affection, exclaimed delightedly, "Ah!
mickonaree tata matai!" in other words, "What a pious young man!"
It was just after this meal that she brought me a roll of grass
sinnate (of the kind which sailors sew into the frame of their
tarpaulins), and then, handing me needle and thread, bade me begin at
once, and make myself the hat which I so much needed. An accomplished
hand at the business, I finished it that day - merely stitching the
braid together; and Arfretee, by way of rewarding my industry, with
her own olive hands ornamented the crown with a band of
flame-coloured ribbon; the two long ends of which streaming behind,
sailor-fashion, still preserved for me the Eastern title bestowed by
Long Ghost.
CHAPTER LXXV.
A RAMBLE THROUGH THE SETTLEMENT
THE following morning, making our toilets carefully, we donned our
sombreros, and sallied out on a tour. Without meaning to reveal our
designs upon the court, our principal object was, to learn what
chances there were for white men to obtain employment under the
queen. On this head, it is true, we had questioned Po-Po; but his
answers had been very discouraging; so we determined to obtain
further information elsewhere.
But, first, to give some little description of the village.
The settlement of Partoowye is nothing more than some eighty houses,
scattered here and there, in the midst of an immense grove, where the
trees have been thinned out and the underbrush cleared away. Through
the grove flows a stream; and the principal avenue crosses it, over
an elastic bridge of cocoa-nut trunks, laid together side by side.
The avenue is broad, and serpentine; well shaded from one end to the
other, and as pretty a place for a morning promenade as any lounger
could wish. The houses, constructed without the slightest regard to
the road, peep into view from among the trees on either side: some
looking you right in the face as you pass, and others, without any
manners, turning their backs. Occasionally you observe a rural
retreat, inclosed by a picket of bamboos, or with a solitary pane of
glass massively framed in the broadside of the dwelling, or with a
rude, strange-looking door, swinging upon dislocated wooden hinges.
Otherwise, the dwellings are built in the original style of the
natives; and never mind how mean and filthy some of them may appear
within, they all look picturesque enough without.
As we sauntered along the people we met saluted us pleasantly, and
invited us into their houses; and in this way we made a good many
brief morning calls. But the hour could not have been the fashionable
one in Partoowye, since the ladies were invariably in dishabille. But
they always gave us a cordial reception, and were particularly polite
to the doctor; caressing him, and amorously hanging about his neck;
wonderfully taken up, in short, with a gay handkerchief he wore there.
Arfretee had that morning bestowed it upon the pious youth.
With some exceptions, the general appearance of the natives of
Partoowye was far better than that of the inhabitants of Papeetee: a
circumstance only to be imputed to their restricted intercourse with
foreigners.
Strolling on, we turned a sweep of the road, when the doctor gave a
start; and no wonder. Right before us, in the grove, was a block of
houses: regular square frames, boarded over, furnished with windows
and doorways, and two stories high. We ran up and found them fast
going to decay: very dingy, and here and there covered with moss; no
sashes, no doors; and on one side, the entire block had settled down
nearly a foot. On going into the basement we looked clean up through
the unbearded timbers to the roof; where rays of light, glimmering
through many a chink, illuminated the cobwebs which swung all round.
The whole interior was dark and close. Burrowing among some old mats
in one corner, like a parcel of gipsies in a ruin, were a few
vagabond natives. They had their dwelling here.
Curious to know who on earth could have been thus trying to improve
the value of real estate in Partoowye, we made inquiries; and learned
that some years previous the block had been thrown up by a veritable
Yankee (one might have known that), a house-carpenter by trade, and a
bold, enterprising fellow by nature.
Put ashore from his ship, sick, he first went to work and got well;
then sallied out with chisel and plane, and made himself generally
useful. A sober, steady man, it seems, he at last obtained the
confidence of several chiefs, and soon filled them with all sorts of
ideas concerning the alarming want of public spirit in the people of
Imeeo.
