The Call Of The South by George Lewis Becke (i read book .TXT) 📕

in the universe. For of all the many beautiful island gems which lie upon the blue bosom of the North Pacific, there is none that exceeds in beauty and fertility the Isle of Ascension, as Ponape is sometimes called--that being the name used by the Spaniards.

Three thousand feet below we could see for many miles the trend of the coast north and south. Within the wavering line of roaring white surf, which marked the barrier reef, lay the quiet green waters of the narrow lagoon encompassing the whole of this part of Ponape, studded with many small islands--some rocky and precipitous, some so low-lying and so thickly palm-clad that they, seemed, with their girdles of shining beach, to be but floating gardens of verdure, so soft and ephemeral that even the gentle breath of the rising trade wind at early morn would cause them to vanish like some desert mirage.

To the southward was the small, land-locked harbour of Roan Kiti, whose gleaming waters were as yet undisturbed by the faintest ripple, and the two American whaleships and my own vessel which floated on its placid bosom, lay so still and quiet, that one could have thought them to be abandoned by their crews were it not that one of the whalers began to loose and dry sails, for it had rained heavily during the night. These two ships were from New Bedford, and they had put into the little harbour to wood and water, and give their sea-worn crews a fortnight's rest ere they sailed northward away from the bright isles of the Pacific to the cold, wintry seas of the Siberian coast and the Kurile Islands, where they would cruise for "bowhead" whales, before returning home to America.

Here, because the White Man both felt and looked tired after the long climb, and because the Brown Men wanted to make a drink of green kava, we decided to rest for an hour or two--some of the men suggesting that we should not return till the following day. Food we had brought with us, and everywhere on the tops of the mountains water was to be found in small rocky pools. So whilst one of the men cut up a rugged root of green kava and began to pound it with a smooth stone, the White Man, well content, laid down his gun, sat upon a boulder of stone and looked around him. I was pleased at the view of sea and verdant shore far below, and pleased too at the prospect of some good sport; for everywhere, on our way up to the mountains, we had seen the tracks of many a wild pig, and here, on the summit of this spur, could rest awhile, before descending into a deep valley on the eastern side of the island, where we knew we would find the wild pigs feeding along the banks of a mountain stream which debouched into Roan Kiti harbour, four miles away.

"How is this place named, and how came it to be clear of the forest trees?" I asked one of my native friends, a handsome young man, about thirty years of age, whose naked, smooth, and red-brown skin, from neck to waist, showed by its tatooing that he was of chiefly lineage.

"Tokolme it is called," he replied. "It was once a place of great strength; a fortress was made here in the mountains, in the olden time--in the old days, long before white men came to Ponape. See, all around us, half-buried in the ground, are some of the blocks of stone which were carried up from the face of the mountain which overlooks Metalanien "--he pointed to several huge basaltic prisms lying near--"these stones were the lower course of the fort; the upper part was of wood, great forest trees, cut down and squared into lengths of two fathoms. And it is because of the cutting down of these trees, which were very old and took many hundred years to grow, that the place where we now sit, and all around us, is so clear. For the blood of many hundreds of men have sunk into it, and because it was the blood of innocent people, there be now nothing that will grow upon it."

The place was certainly quite bare of trees, though encompassed by the forest on all sides lower down. One reason for this may have been that in addition to the large basaltic prisms, the ground was thickly covered with a layer of smaller and broken stones to which time and the action of the weather had given a comparatively smooth surface.

"Tell me of it, Rai," I said.

"Presently, friend, after we have had the drink of kava and eaten some food. Ah, this green kava of ours is good to drink, not like the weak, dried root that the women of Samoa chew and mix with much water in a wooden bowl. What goodness can there be in that? Here, we take the root fresh from the soil when it is full of juice, beat it to a pulp and add but little water."

"It is good, Rai," I admitted, "but give me only a little. It is too strong for me and a full bowl would cause me to stagger and fall."

He laughed good-naturedly as he handed me a half coco-nut shell containing a little of the thick greenish-yellow liquid. And then, after all had drunk in turn, the baskets of cold baked food were opened and we ate; and then as we lit our pipes and smoked Rai told us the story of Tokolme.

"In those days, before the white men came here to this country, though they had been to islands not many days' sail from here by canoe, there were but two great chiefs of Ponape--now there are seven--one was Lirou, who ruled all this part of the land, and who dwelt at Roan Kiti with two thousand people, and the other was Roka, king of all the northern coast and ruler of many villages. Roka was a great voyager and had sailed as far to the east as Kusaie, which is two hundred leagues from here, and his people were proud of him and his great daring and of the slaves that he brought back with him from Kusaie.{*}


* Strongs Island.


"Here in Tokolme lived three hundred and two-score people, who owed allegiance neither to Lirou nor Roka, for their ancestors had come to Ponape from Yap, an island far to the westward. After many years of fighting on the coast they made peace with Lirou's father, who gave them all this piece of country as a free gift, and without tribute, and many of their young men and women intermarried with ours, for the language and customs of Yap are akin to those of Ponape.

"Soon after peace was made and Tolan, chief of the strangers, had built the village and made plantations, he died, and as he left no son, his daughter Lea became chieftainess, although she was but fourteen years of age.

"Lirou, who was a haughty, overbearing young man, sent presents, and asked her in marriage, and great was his anger when she refused, saying that she had no desire to leave her people now that her father was dead.

"'See,' he said to his father, 'see the insult put upon thee by these proud ones of Yap--these dog-eating strangers who drifted to our land as a log drifts upon the ocean. Thou hast given them fair lands with running water, and great forest trees, and this girl refuses to marry me. Am I as nothing that I should be so treated? Shall I, Lirou, be laughed at? Am I a boy or a grown man?'

"The old chief, who desired peace, sought in vain to soothe him. 'Wait for another year,' he said, 'and it may be that she will be of a different mind. And already thou hast two wives--why seek another?'

"'Because it is my will,' replied Lirou fiercely, and he went away, nursing his wrath.

"One day a party of Roka's young men and women went in several canoes to the group of small islands near the mainland called Pakin to catch turtle; whilst the men were away out on the reef at night with their turtle nets a number of Lirou's men came to the huts where the women were and watched them cooking food to give to their husbands on their return. Rain was falling heavily, and Lirou's men came into the houses, unasked, and sat down and then began to jest with the women somewhat rudely. This made them somewhat afraid, for they were all married, and to jest with the wife of another man is looked upon as an evil thing. But their husbands being a league away the women could do nothing and went on with their cooking in silence. Presently, Lirou's men who had brought with them some gourds of the grog called _rarait_, which is made from sugar-cane, began to drink it and pressed the women to do so also. When they refused to do so, the men became still more rude and bade the women serve them with some of the food they had prepared. This was a great insult, but being in fear, they obeyed. Then, as the grog made them bolder, some of the men laid hands on the women and there was a great outcry and struggle, and a young woman named Sipi-nah fell or was thrown against a great burning log, and her face so badly burned that she cried out in agony and ran outside, followed by all the other women. They ran along the beach in the pouring rain till they were abreast of the place where their husbands were fishing and called to them to return. When the fishermen saw what had befallen Sipi-nah they were filled with rage, for she was a blood-relation of Roka's, and hastening back to the houses they rushed in upon Lirou's people, slew three of them, put their heads in baskets and brought them to Roka.

"From this thing came a long war which was called 'the war of the face of Sipi-nah,' and a great battle was fought in canoes on the lagoon. Lirou's father with many hundreds of his people were slain, and the rest fled to Roan Kiti pursued by King Roka, who burnt the town. Then Lirou (who, now that his father was killed, was chief) sued for peace, and promised Roka a yearly tribute of three thousand plates of turtle shell, and five new canoes. So Roka, being satisfied, sailed away, and there was peace. Had he so desired it he could have utterly swept away all Lirou's people and burned their villages and destroyed every one of their plantations, but although he was a great fighting man he was not cruel. Yet he said to Sipi-nah, after peace was made: 'I pray thee, come near me no more; for although I have revenged myself upon those who have ill-used and insulted thee and me, my hand will again incline to the spear if I look upon thy scarred face again. And I want no more wars.'

"The son of Lirou (who now took his father's name) and his people began, with heavy hearts, to rebuild the town. After the council house was finished, Lirou told them to cease work and called together his head men and spoke.

"'Why should we labour to build more houses here?' he said. 'See, this is my mind. Only for one year shall I pay this heavy tribute to Roka Then shall I defy him.'

"The head men were silent.

"Lirou laughed. 'Have no fear. I am no boaster. But we