rills, and
silver-toned voices of Tahitian maidens, to the rough seamen who had so
long been "cabined, cribbed, confined," in the Julia's filthy
forecastle! Not that they were allowed free range of the Eden of the
South Seas. On board the Reine Blanche their ankles had been manacled to
an iron bar; in the Calabooza, (from the Spanish _calabozo_, a dungeon,)
they were placed in rude wooden stocks twenty feet long, constructed for
the particular benefit of refractory mariners. There they lay, merry men
all of a row, fed upon _taro_ (Indian turnip) and bread-fruit, and
covered up at night with one huge counterpane of brown _tappa_, the
native cloth. It was owing to no friendly indulgence on the part of Guy
and the consul, that their diet was so agreeable and salutary. Every
morning Ropey came grinning into the prison, with a bucket full of the
old worm-eaten biscuit from the Julia. It was a huge treat to the
unfortunate Cockney, thus to be instrumental in the annoyance of his
former persecutors; and lucky for him that their limbo'd legs prevented
their rewarding his visible exultation otherwise than by a shower of
maledictions. They swore to starve rather than consume the maggoty
provender. Luckily the natives had it in very different estimation. They
did not mind maggots, and held British biscuit to be a piquant and
delicious delicacy. So in exchange for their allotted ration, the
mutineers obtained a small quantity of vegetable food, and an unlimited
supply of oranges, thanks to which refreshing regimen the sick were
speedily restored to health. And after a few days of stocks and
submission, jolly old Captain Bob, who spoke sailor's English, and
obstinately claimed intimacy with Captain Cook,--whose visit to the
island had occurred some years before his birth--relaxed his severity,
and allowed the captives their freedom during the day. They profited of
this permission to forage a little, in a quiet way; assisting at
pig-killings, and dropping in at dinner-time upon the wealthier of their
neighbours. Tahitian hospitality is boundless, and the more praiseworthy
that the island, although so fertile, produces but a scanty amount of
edibles. Bread-fruit is the chief resource; fish, a very important one,
the chief dependence of many of the poorer natives. There is little
industry amongst them, and on the spontaneous produce of the soil the
shipping make heavy demands. Polynesian indolence is proverbial. Very
light labour would