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.
