the inmates of
Marheyo's house retired to their mats rather early in the evening; but not
for the night, since after slumbering lightly for awhile, they rose again,
relit their tapers, partook of the third and last meal of the day, at
which poee-poee alone was eaten, and then, after inhaling a narcotic whiff
from a pipe of tobacco, disposed themselves for the great business of the
night--sleep. With the Marquesans it might almost be styled the great
business of life, for they pass a large portion of their time in the arms
of Somnus. The native strength of their constitution is no way shown more
emphatically than in the quantity of sleep they can endure. To many of
them, indeed, life is little else than an often interrupted and luxurious
nap.

CHAPTER XX

The spring of Arva Wai--Remarkable monumental remains--Some ideas
with regard to the history of the pi-pis found in the valley.

Almost every country has its medicinal springs famed for their healing
virtues. The Cheltenham of Typee is embosomed in the deepest solitude, and
but seldom receives a visitor. It is situated remote from any dwelling, a
little way up the mountain, near the head of the valley; and you approach
it by a pathway shaded by the most beautiful foliage, and adorned with a
thousand fragrant plants.

The mineral waters of Arva Wai(2) ooze forth from the crevices of a rock,
and gliding down its mossy side, fall at last, in many clustering drops,
into a natural basin of stone, fringed round with grass and dewy-looking
little violet-coloured flowers, as fresh and beautiful as the perpetual
moisture they enjoy can make them.

The water is held in high estimation by the islanders, some of whom
consider it an agreeable as well as a medicinal beverage; they bring it
from the mountain in their calabashes, and store it away beneath heaps of
leaves in some shady nook near the house. Old Marheyo had a great love for
the waters of the spring. Every now and then he lugged off to the mountain
a great round demijohn of a calabash, and, panting with his exertions,
brought it back filled with his darling fluid.

The water tasted like a solution of a dozen disagreeable things, and was
sufficiently nauseous to have made the fortune of the proprietor, had the
spa been situated in the midst of any civilized community.

As I am no chemist, I cannot give a scientific analysis of the water. All
I know about the mat