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Walter E. Traprock - The Cruise of the Kawa
delight of the bronze warriors about us.
After a few moments of this friendly massage, the most ornamental of the savages, whom I judged to be
the chief, uttered dissyllabic command of "Oo-a," and slapped his right thigh smartly with his left hand, a
feat more easily described than accomplished. Coincident with this signal came a cheerful riffling sound
as the Filbertines broke out their large umbrellas of panjandrus leaves which we had first mistaken for
weapons. This implement, (known technically as a naa-naa or taa- taa, depending on
whether it was open or closed), was in reality not only a useful and necessary protection against the
continuous nut- showers but also a weapon of both of-and de-fensive warfare. [Footnote: This primitive
people we soon found to be profoundly pacifistic, a natural condition in a race who, since the dawn of
time, had known no influence other than that of the Pacific Ocean. Warfare with its cruel attributes had
never penetrated their isolation. With nations as with people, it takes two to make a quarrel. Here was but
one.]
We stood thus, in open formation, among the luxurious haro until in response to another signal from the
chief, a resounding slap on the left shank, they escorted us ceremoniously along a winding path which
led toward the interior of the island. It was for all the world as if we were being taken out to dinner, a
thought which suggested for an instant the reflection that we might turn out to be not guests
but courses at the banquet, in which case I promised myself I should be a
piece-de-resistance of the most violent character.
But these solemn thoughts were not proof against the gaiety of our surroundings, the soft patter of the
constantly dropping nuts bounding from the protective taa-taas, and the squawks and screeches of
countless cuttywinks and fatu-liva birds, those queens of the tropics whose gorgeous plumage
swept across our path.
For Whinney and Swank as well as myself the promenade was a memorable one, the former feasting his
cool eyes on the hundreds of new scientific items which he was later to classify, the bulbous
oo-pa, a sort of vegetable cream-puff, the succulent tuki-taki, pale-green with red dots, a
natural cross between the banana and the cocoanut, having the taste of neither, and the numerous
crawling things, the whistling-ants and shy, lamp-eyed lily-bugs (anchoridae flamens) who
flashed their signals as we passed.
Swank revelled in the rainbow colors about us, the flaming nabiscus blossoms and the unearthly saffron
of the alova blooms, one inhale of which, we were to learn, contained the kick of three
old-fashioned mint-juleps. Only Triplett's hard-boiled countenance reflected no interest whatever in his
surroundings.
It was doubtless this unintelligent dignity on our Captain's part, coupled with what was left of his brass
buttons and visor cap on which the legend "Kawa" still glimmered faintly, which prompted the
aborigines to select him as our chief, an error which I at first thought of correcting by some sort of
dramatic tableau such as having Triplett lie down and letting me place my foot on his Adam's apple, of
which he had a splendid specimen. On second thought, however, I decided that it would be more modest
to allow him any honors he might receive together with the responsibilities attendant upon his position. It
is the invariable habit of South Sea Islanders, in the event of trouble, to capture and hold as hostages the
chief men of a tribe. Their heads, with or without the original bodies, seem to have a peculiar value.
Soon the trail widened, and we were called upon to hurdle several low barriers of papoo-reeds,
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