HERMAN MELVILLE'S RESIDENCE III THE MARQUESAS. THIS new addition to

Mr. Murray's Colonial Library contains the adven- tures of an American sailor, who, goaded by the tyranny of the captain of the Dolly, South Sea whaler, " ran away " from the vessel when she touched at Nukulieva, the principal of the Marquesas group. In this exploit he was accompanied by a comrade ; and as they well knew Cap- tain Vangs would offer a reward for them much beyond the power of any native to resist, they resolved to take to the mountains, and live upon the fruits they might find till the departure of the ship. The character of the country favoured this conception ; for a Pope Joan board would appear to furnish a pretty good idea of its "ground plan." A number of willies radiate from one common Adantean 'centre and run down to- wards the sea, being physically separated from each other by lofty moun- tains, and, very often, socially by the hostility of the respective inhabit- ants. Once on the mountains, the fugitives could defy pursuit, by the facility of their position for descrying any suspicious approach, and the certainty that the natives of Nukuheva would not venture far from their own valley, through fear of their neighbours, the dreaded Typees, reputed the most ferocious cannibals of the Pacific. The scheme was good, but it failed from want of accurate information. The fruits of the valley did not grow upon the mountains, and in a few days the runaways were ravenous with hunger ; no cave opened to receive them, and they were saturated by heavy rains in the only substitute for a hut they could construct ; fever and lameness (apparently from a sprain) overtook Melville; and the heights, which from a distance looked a plain surface, were intersected by deep ravines, so that to advance a very little way they had to descend and then ascend almost perpendicular precipices. A main object had been to avoid the valley of the Typees ; but, bewildered among the rocks,: hungry and worn, they became reck- less, and determined to venture into any valley. Proceeding upon the axiom that water runs downward, they followed the course of a moun- tain-stream; in the descent of which they encountered such obstacles as none but sailors, accustomed to the high and giddy mast, and reckless of danger, could have overcome. Here is the descent of the first cataract

they met.

"Our progress along the steep watercourse was necessarily slow, and by noon we had not advanced more than a mile. It was somewhere near this part of the day that the noise of falling waters, which we had faintly caught in the early morning, became more distinct; and it was not long before we were aerested by a rocky precipice of nearly a hundred feet in depth, that extended all across the channel, and over which the wild stream poured in an unbroken leap. On either hand the walls of the ravine presented their overhanging sides both above and below the fall, affording no means whatever of avoiding the cataract by taking a circuit round it."

Toby, Melville's companion, being lighter and fresher, went to recon- noitre; and lie conceived a plan of getting down.

"With this he conducted me to the verge of the cataract, and pointed along the side of the ravine to a number of curious-looking roots, some three or four inches in thickness and several feet long, which after twisting among the fissures of the rock shot perpendicularly from it and ran tapering to a point in the mr, hanging over the gulf like so many dark icicles. They covered nearly the entire surface of one side of the gorge, the lowest of them reaching even to the water. Many were moss-grown and decayed, with their extremities snapped short off, and those in the immediate vicinity of the fall were slippery with moisture.

" Toby's scheme—and it was a desperate one—was to intrust ourselves to these treacherous-looking roots, and by slipping down from one to another to gam the bottom.

"Are you ready to venture it?' asked Toby, looking at me earnestly, but with- out saying a word as to the practicability of the plan.

"' 1 am,' was my reply; for I saw it was our only resource if we wished to ad- vance, and as for retreating, all thoughts of that sort had been long abandoned. "After I had signified my assent, Toby, without uttering a single word, crawled along the dripping ledge until he gained a point from whence he could just reach one of the largest of the pendent roots; be shook it—it quivered in his grasp, and when he let it go it twanged in the air like a strong wire sharply struck. Satisfied by his scrutiny, my light-limbed companion swung himself nimbly upon it, and twisting his legs round it in sailor fashion, slinp.d down eight or ten feet, where his weight gave it a motion not unlike that of a pendulum. He could not venture to descend any further; so, holding on with one hand, he with the other shook one by one all the slender roots around him, and at last finding one which he thought trustworthy, shifted himself to it and continued his downward progress. "So far so well; but I could not avoid comparing my heavier frame and disabled condition with his light figure and remarkable activity: but there was no help for it, and in less than a minute's time I was swinging directly over his head. As soon as his upturned ayes caught a glimpse of me, he exclaimed, in his usual dry toile, for the danger did not seem to daunt him in the least, Mate, do me the kindness not to fill until I get out of your way!' and then swinging himself more on one side, he continued his descent. In the mean time, I cautiously transferred myself from the limb down which I had been slipping to a couple of others that

were near it, deeming two strings to my bow better than one and taking care to test their strength before! trusted my weight to them.

" On arriving towards the end of the second stage in this vertical journey, and shaking the long roots which were round me, to my consternation they snapped off one after another like so many pipe-stems, and fell in fragments against the side of the gulf, splashing at last into the waters beneath. "As one after another the treacherous roots yielded to my grasp, and fell into the torrent, my heart sunk within me. The branches on which I was suspended over the yawning chasm swung to and fro in the air, and I expected them every i

moment to snap n twain. Appalled at the dreadful fate that menaced me,. I clutched frantically at the only large root which remained near me; but in vain; I could not reach it; though my fingers were within a few inches of it. Again and again I tried to reach it; until at length, maddened with the thought of my situation, I swayed myself violently by striking my foot against the side of the rock, and at the instant that I approached the large root caught desperately at it, and transferred myself to it. It vibrated violently under the sudden weight, but fortunately did not give way.

"My brain grew dizzy with the idea of the frightful risk I had just run, and I involuntarily closed my eyes to shut out the view of the depth beneath me. For the instant I was safe, and I uttered a devout ejaculation of thanksgiving for my eglarketty well done shouted Toby underneath me; 'you are nimbler than I thought you to be, hopping about up there from root to root like any young squirrel. As soon as you have diverted yourself sufficiently, I would advise you to proceed.' "'Ay, ay, Toby, all in good time: two or three more such famous roots as this, and I shall be with you.'

"The residue of my downward progress was comparatively easy; the roots were in greater abundance, and in one or two places jutting out points of rock assisted me greatly. In a few moments I was standing by the side of my companion."

They reached the valley at last ; which turned out to be that of the Typees; but, in Herman Melville's view, these "good fellows" have been much calumniated by their Indian enemies, and the Europeans whose attacks they have resisted or whose oppression they have avenged. After a short time of agonizing suspense in a species of public assembly, names were exchanged, and the wanderers were received, in the light, as it would appear, of public guests. The motives that dictated this con- duct we do not penetrate ; but they were probably superstitious, as both the seamen were made "taboo,"—though one is uncertain whether this was a species of privilege or merely an embargo to prevent their escape : however, they lived upon the fat of the land ; were honoured guests throughout the upper part of the valley, (for Melville was never allowed to approach the sea) ; and he continued to enjoy the same distinction as a lion in London, till he managed to make his escape in the boat of an English vessel. Toby had been permitted to go down to the beach some time before, on the rumour of a boat approaching ; but whether he really escaped, or whether (as seems probable from the mystery observed) he was killed in trying to effect it, his companion has never been able to learn.

It will be seen that the Residence in the Marquesas consists of ad- venture and observation. The adventure embraces a portion of the voyage in the Dolly, the narrative of the wanderings among the moun- tains, and Melville's escape from the Happy Valley, as well as several incidents during his detention,--such as his surprising the worthy house- hold in which he lived examining three smoked human heads, one of which his hasty glance saw to be a White man's, with a first idea that it might be Toby's ; the cannibal feast, which he is sure took place after a fight with the inhabitants of a neighbouring valley, when bundles con- sisting of human bodies wrapped in leaves were, as he infers, brought in. And, notwithstanding a tendency to make too much of things by writing about them, wherever there is a story, however slight, the book is very in- teresting. The descriptive parts are not of so striking a character. The American fluency, which even in the narrative verges upon prolixity, be- comes rather uninteresting where there is no action to relieve it : espe- cially as Mr. Melville's mind, though vigorous enough, has not been trained in those studies which enable men to observe with profit; nor did he master the language sufficiently to have comprehended any communica- tion made to him beyond the commonest subject. The book, however, is of great curiosity in one point of view : it is the first moonlit that has been published of a residence among the natives of the Polynesian Islands, by a person who has lived with them in their own fashion, and as near as may be upon terms of social equality : for although hundreds of mariners have lived and died upon these islands, and some of them—as Christian the mutineer—were perhaps capable of writing a book, none of them that we remember have ever done so.

The picture of this life which Mr. Melville draws is very attractive, upon the text, "Let me enjoy the cheerful day,

Till many a year has o'er me nird; Pleased let me trifle life sway,

And sing of love ere I grow old."

The warmth of the Tropics, tempered by the vast Pacific, makes the climate a delightful "June melting into July"; the fertile soil, with its cocoas and bread fruit and other nutritious vegetation, supports life without labour, (assisted, we cannot help imagining, by some preventive check, notwithstanding our author's vehement disclaimer of infanticide,) whilst a community of goods, and an absence of anything like jealousy or female restraint, realize the Pantisocracy which Southey, Coleridge, and others, fancied the perfection of society during the phrensy of the French Revolution. It is not, therefore, surprising that a sailor, just escaped from the confinement and disagreeables of a South Sea whaler and the low tyranny of its captain, should be enraptured with the mode of life, or should draw comparisons with civilized society or the mission- ary converts very much in favour of the Typees. At the same time, his theory and practice were different; for he seized the first opportunity of escaping, and his pleasurable existence was constantly damped by the fear that he never should be able to escape.

Had this work been put forward as the production of an English com- mon sailor, we should have had some doubts of its authenticity, in the ab- sence of distinct proof. But in the United States it is different. There social opinion does not invest any employment with ante discredit ; and it seems customary with young men of respectability to serve as c011=0,11 seamen, either as a probationership to the navy or as a mode of seeing life. Cooper and Dana are examples of this practice. The wide-spread., system of popular education also bestows upon the American a greater familiarity with popular literature and a readier use of the pen than is usual with classes of the same apparent grade in England. Striking aa the style of composition may sometimes seem in a Residence in the ar- gue-vas, there is nothing in it beyond the effects of i vivacious mind, ac- quainted with popular books, and writing with the national fluency; or a reading sailor spinning a yarn; nothing to indicate the student or the scholar. Yet we should like to have had the story of the book; to have known the motives of the publication, and whether it is an American reprint or a conjoint appearance, or whether Mr. Murray has the sole right of publishing. There are certain sea freedoms, too that might ad well have been removed before issuing it for family reading.

Much of the book is not beyond the range of invention, especially by a person acquainted with the Islands, and with the fictions of De Foe ; and we think that several things have been heightened for effect, if in- deed this artistical principle does not pervade the work. Many of the incidents, however, seem too natural to be invented by the author. Stich is the following picture, which but requires us to call the savages celestials, to suppose Mr. Melville to have dropped from the clouds instead of "bolting" from the skipper Vangs, and to fancy some Ovidian - graces added to the narrative, in order to become a scene of classical mythology.

THE Barn OF TIIE NYMPHS.

Returning health and peace of mind gave a new interest to everything around me. I sought to diversify my time by as many enjoyments as lay within reach. Bathing in company with troops of girls formed one of my chief amusements. We sometimes enjoyed the recreation in the waters of a miniature lake, into which the central stream of the valley expanded. This lovely sheet of water was al- most circular in figure, and about three hundred yards across. Its beauty was indescribable. All around its banks waved luxuriant 1130,SSCS of Tropical foliage; soaring high above w`hich were to be seen, here and there, the symmetrical sha of the cocoa-nut tree, surmounted by its tuft of graceful branches, drooping in the air like so many waving ostrich-plumes. The ease and grace with which the maidens of the valley propelled themselves through the water, and their familiarity with the element, were truly astonishing. Sometimes they might be seen gliding along just under the surface, without apparently moving hand or foot; then throwing themselves on their sides, they darted through the water, revealing glimpses of their forms, as, in the course of. their rapid progress, they shot for an instant partly into the air; at one moment they dived deep down into the water, and the next they rose bounding to the surface.

I remember upon one occasion plunging in among a parcel of these river- nymphs, and, counting vainly upon my superior strength, sought to drag some of them under the water; but I quickly repented my temerity. The amphibious young creatures swarmed about me like a shoal of dolphins, and, seizing hold of my devoted limbs, tumbled me about and ducked me under the surface, until, from the strange noises which rang in any ears, and the supernatural visions . dancing before my eyes, I thought I was in the land of spirits. I stood, indeed, „ as little chance among them ass cumbrous whale attacked on all sides by alegion. , of sword-fish. When at length they relinquished their hold of me' they swam' away in every direction, laughing at my clumsy endeavours to reach them.

The "service" has had the effect of enlarging Mr. Melville's mind, and making him less provincial in feeling than many of his countrymen.

It has also given him some knowledge of South Seas generally, which appears in the comparisons he incidentally introduces ; and has impressed him with an indifferent opinion of (to say the least) the self-seeking and worldly spirit of the missionaries. Here is an example of them at the Sandwich Islands.

TILE MISSIONARY EQUIPAGE.

Not until I visited Honolulu was I aware of the fact, that the small remnant of the Natives had been civilized into draught-horses, and evangelized into beast* of burden. But so it is. They have been literally broken into the traces, and. are harnessed to the vehicles of their spiritual instructors like so many dumb brutes !

Among a multitude of similar exhibitions that I saw, I shall never forget a robust, red-faced, and very lady-like personage, a missionary's spouse, who day after day for months together took her regular airings in a little go-cart drawn by two of the islanders, one an old grey-headed man and the other a rognieish stripling, both being, with the exception of the fig:leaf, as naked as when they were born. Over a level piece of ground this pair of draught bipeds would go with a shambling, unsightly trot, the youngster hanging back all the time like a knowing horse, while the old hack plodded on and did all the work. Rattling along through the streets of the town in this stylish equipage, the lady looks about her as magnificently as any queen driven in state to her corona- tion. A sudden elevation and a sandy road, however, soon distorb her serenity. The small wheels become imbedded in the loose soil,—the old stager stands tug- ging and sweating, while the young one frisks about and does nothing: not an inch does the chariot budge. Will the tender-hearted lady, who has left friends and home for the good of the souls of the poor heathen, will she think a little about their bodies and get out, and ease the wretched old man until the ascent is mounted? Not she: she could not dream of it. To be sure, she used to think nothing of driving the cows to pasture on the old farm in New England; but times have changed since then. So she retains her seat, and bawls out, " Hookee, hookee !" (pull, pull.) The old gentleman, frightened at the sound, labours away harder than ever; and the younger one makes a great show of straining himself, but takes care to keep one eye on his mistress in order to know when to dodge out of harm's way. At last the good lady loses all patience; " Hookee, hookee!" and rap goes the heavy handle of her huge fan over the naked skull of the old savage; while the young one shies to one side and keeps beyond its range. "Hookee, hookee!" again she cries—"Hookee tots kannaka!" (pull strong, men)—but all in vain, and she is obliged in the end to dismount, and, sad necessity ! actually to walk to the to of the hill.

At the town where this paragon ot humility resides is a spacious and elegant American chapel, where divine service is regularly performed. Twice every &,b- bath towards the close of the exercises may be seen a score or two of little wag- gons ranged along the railing in front of the edifice, with two squalid Native foot- men in the livery of nakedness standing by each, and waiting for the dismission- of the congregation to draw their superiors home.