WE VISIT THE COURT
IT WAS about the middle of the second month of the Hegira, and
therefore some five weeks after our arrival in Partoowye, that we at
last obtained admittance to the residence of the queen.
It happened thus. There was a Marquesan in the train of Pomaree who
officiated as nurse to her children. According to the Tahitian
custom, the royal youngsters are carried about until it requires no
small degree of strength to stand up under them. But Marbonna was
just the man for this - large and muscular, well made as a statue, and
with an arm like a degenerate Tahitian's thigh.
Embarking at his native island as a sailor on board of a French
whaler, he afterward ran away from the ship at Tahiti; where, being
seen and admired by Pomaree, he had been prevailed upon to enlist in
her service.
Often, when visiting the grounds, we saw him walking about in the
shade, carrying two handsome boys, who encircled his neck with their
arms. Marbonna's face, tattooed as it was in the ornate style of his
tribe, was as good as a picture-book to these young Pomarees. They
delighted to trace with their fingers the outlines of the strange
shapes there delineated.
The first time my eyes lighted upon the Marquesan, I knew his country
in a moment; and hailing him in his own language, he turned round,
surprised that a person so speaking should be a stranger. He proved
to be a native of Tior, a glen of Nukuheva. I had visited the place
more than once; and so, on the island of Imeeo, we met like old
friends.
In my frequent conversations with him over the bamboo picket, I found
this islander a philosopher of nature - a wild heathen, moralizing
upon the vices and follies of the Christian court of Tahiti - a
savage, scorning the degeneracy of the people among whom fortune had
thrown him.
I was amazed at the national feelings of the man. No European, when
abroad, could speak of his country with more pride than Marbonna. He
assured me, again and again, that so soon as he had obtained
sufficient money to purchase twenty muskets, and as many bags of
powder, he was going to return to a place with which Imeeo was not
worthy to be compared.
It was Marbonna who, after one or two unsuccessful attempts, at last
brought about our admission into the queen's grounds. Through a
considerable crowd he conducted us along the pier to where an old man
was sitting, to whom he introduced us as a couple of "karhowrees" of
his acquaintance, anxious to see the sights of the palace. The
venerable chamberlain stared at us, and shook his head: the doctor,
thinking he wanted a fee, placed a plug of tobacco in his hand. This
was ingratiating, and we were permitted to pass on. Upon the point of
entering one of the houses, Marbonna's name was shouted in
half-a-dozen different directions, and he was obliged to withdraw.
