Dana, Richard Henry, 1815-1882; Sailors; Seafaring life; Voyages and travels
In my account of the speed, I was supported by Tom, who had
been to Nantucket, and seen a little steamboat which ran over to
New Bedford. And, by the way, it was strange to hear Tom speak of
America, when the poor fellow had been all the way round Cape Horn
and back, and had seen nothing but Nantucket.
A map of the world, which I once showed them, kept their attention
for hours; those who knew how to read pointing out the places and
referring to me for the distances. I remember being much amused
with a question which Hope asked me. Pointing to the large,
irregular place which is always left blank round the poles, to
denote that it is undiscovered, he looked up and asked, ``Pau?''
(Done? ended?)
The system of naming the streets and numbering the houses they
easily understood, and the utility of it. They had a great desire
to see America, but were afraid of doubling Cape Horn, for they
suffer much in cold weather, and had heard dreadful accounts of
the Cape from those of their number who had been round it.
They smoke a great deal, though not much at a time, using pipes
with large bowls, and very short stems, or no stems at all. These
they light, and, putting them to their mouths, take a long
draught, getting their mouths as full as they can hold of smoke,
and their cheeks distended, and then let it slowly out through
their mouths and nostrils. The pipe is then passed to others, who
draw in the same manner,-- one pipe-full serving for half a dozen.
They never take short, continuous draughts, like Europeans, but
one of these ``Oahu puffs,'' as the sailors call them, serves for
an hour or two, until some one else lights his pipe, and it is
passed round in the same manner. Each Kanaka on the beach had a
pipe, flint, steel, tinder, a hand of tobacco, and a jack-knife,
which he always carried about with him.[1]
That which strikes a stranger most peculiarly is their style of
singing. They run on, in a low, guttural, monotonous sort of
chant, their lips and tongues seeming hardly to move, and the
sounds apparently modulated solely in the throat. There is very
little tune to it, and the words, so far as I could learn, are
extempore. They sing about persons and things which are around
them, and adopt this method when they do not wish to be understood
by any but themselves; and it is very effectual, for with the most
careful attention I never could detect a word that I knew. I have
often heard Mr. Mannini, who was the most noted improvisatore
among them, sing for an hour together, when at work in the midst
of Americans and Englishmen; and, by the occasional shouts and
laughter of the Kanakas, who were at a distance, it was evident
that he was singing about the different men that he was at work
with. They have great powers of ridicule, and are excellent
mimics, many of them discovering and imitating the peculiarities
of our own people before we had observed them ourselves.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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