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th an old tattooed divine in Nukuheva, was a friend of his,
and through him he was 'taboo'.
He said, moreover, that he was sometimes employed to come round to the
bay, and engage fruit for ships lying in Nukuheva. In fact, he was now
on that very errand, according to his own account, having just come
across the mountains by the way of Happar. By noon of the next day the
fruit would be heaped up in stacks on the beach, in readiness for the
boats which he then intended to bring into the bay.
Jimmy now asked Toby whether he wished to leave the island--if he did,
there was a ship in want of men lying in the other harbour, and he would
be glad to take him over, and see him on board that very day.
'No,' said Toby, 'I cannot leave the island unless my comrade goes with
me. I left him up the valley because they would not let him come down.
Let us go now and fetch him.'
'But how is he to cross the mountain with us,' replied Jimmy, 'even if
we get him down to the beach? Better let him stay till tomorrow, and I
will bring him round to Nukuheva in the boats.'
'That will never do,' said Toby, 'but come along with me now, and let
us get him down here at any rate,' and yielding to the impulse of the
moment, he started to hurry back into the valley. But hardly was his
back turned, when a dozen hands were laid on him, and he learned that he
could not go a step further.
It was in vain that he fought with them; they would not hear of his
stirring from the beach. Cut to the heart at this unexpected repulse,
Toby now conjured the sailor to go after me alone. But Jimmy replied,
that in the mood the Typees then were they would not permit him so to
do, though at the same time he was not afraid of their offering him any
harm.
Little did Toby then think, as he afterwards had good reason to suspect,
that this very Jimmy was a heartless villain, who, by his arts, had just
incited the natives to restrain him as he was in the act of going after
me. Well must the old sailor have known, too, that the natives would
never consent to our leaving together, and he therefore wanted to get
Toby off alone, for a purpose which he afterwards made plain. Of all
this, however, my comrade now knew nothing.
He was still struggling with the islanders when Jimmy again came up to
him, and warned him against irritating them, saying that he was only
making matters worse for both of us, and if they became enraged, there
was no telling what might happen.
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