d towards me, his eye purposely evading mine, and seated
himself within less than a yard of me. I had hardly recovered from my
surprise, when he suddenly turned round, and, with a most benignant
countenance extended his right hand gracefully towards me. Of course I
accepted the courteous challenge, and, as soon as our palms met, he bent
towards me, and murmured in musical accents--'How you do?' 'How long you
been in this bay?' 'You like this bay?'

Had I been pierced simultaneously by three Happar spears, I could not
have started more than I did at hearing these simple questions. For a
moment I was overwhelmed with astonishment, and then answered something
I know not what; but as soon as I regained my self-possession, the
thought darted through my mind that from this individual I might obtain
that information regarding Toby which I suspected the natives had
purposely withheld from me. Accordingly I questioned him concerning
the disappearance of my companion, but he denied all knowledge of
the matter. I then inquired from whence he had come? He replied, from
Nukuheva. When I expressed my surprise, he looked at me for a moment,
as if enjoying my perplexity, and then with his strange vivacity,
exclaimed,--'Ah! Me taboo,--me go Nukuheva,--me go Tior,--me go
Typee,--me go everywhere,--nobody harm me,--me taboo.'

This explanation would have been altogether unintelligible to me, had
it not recalled to my mind something I had previously heard concerning
a singular custom among these islanders. Though the country is possessed
by various tribes, whose mutual hostilities almost wholly prelude any
intercourse between them; yet there are instances where a person having
ratified friendly relations with some individual belonging longing to
the valley, whose inmates are at war with his own, may, under particular
restrictions, venture with impunity into the country of his friend,
where, under other circumstances, he would have been treated as an
enemy. In this light are personal friendships regarded among them, and
the individual so protected is said to be 'taboo', and his person, to a
certain extent, is held as sacred. Thus the stranger informed me he had
access to all the valleys in the island.

Curious to know how he had acquired his knowledge of English, I
questioned him on the subject. At first, for some reason or other, he
evaded the inquiry, but afterwards told me that, when a boy, he had
been carried to sea by the captain of