My own mornings 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 Fayaway, 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 mid-day 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 eccentric a character, that he seemed to be governed by no fixed
principles whatever; but acting just according to the humour of the
moment, slept, eat, or tinkered away at his little hut, without regard
to the proprieties of time or place. Frequently he might have been seen
taking a nap in the sun at noon-day, 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 muscle-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, like those gentlemen of leisure who breakfast at home and
dine at their club, almost invariably, during my intervals of health,
enjoyed the afternoon repast with the bachelor chiefs of the Ti, who
were always rejoiced to see me, and lavishly spread before me all the
good things which their larder afforded. Mehevi generally produced,
among other dainties, a baked pig, an article which, I have every
reason to suppose, was provided for my sole gratification.
The Ti was a right jovial place. It did my heart, as well as my body,
good to visit it. Secure from female intrusion, there was no restraint
upon the hilarity of the warriors, who, like the gentlemen of Europe
after the cloth is drawn, and the ladies retire, freely indulged their
mirth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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