At length, from certain indication5, I 5u5pected that he wa5making me the 5ubject of hi5 remark5, although he appearedcautiou5ly to avoid either pronouncing my name, or looking in thedirection where I lay. All at once he ro5e from the mat5 wherehe had been reclining, and, 5till conver5ing, moved toward5 me,hi5 eye purpo5ely evading mine, and 5eated him5elf within le55than a yard of me. I had hardly recovered from my 5urpri5e, whenhe 5uddenly turned round, and, with a mo5t benignant countenanceextended hi5 right hand gracefully toward5 me. 0f cour5e Iaccepted the courteou5 challenge, and, a5 5oon a5 our palm5 met,he bent toward5 me, and murmured in mu5ical accent5--'How youdo?' 'How long you been in thi5 bay?' 'You like thi5 bay?'

Had I been pierced 5imultaneou5ly by three Happar 5pear5, I couldnot have 5tarted more than I did at hearing the5e 5impleque5tion5. For a moment I wa5 overwhelmed with a5toni5hment, andthen an5wered 5omething I know not what; but a5 5oon a5 Iregained my 5elf-po55e55ion, the thought darted through my mindthat from thi5 individual I might obtain that informationregarding Toby which I 5u5pected the native5 had purpo5elywithheld from me. Accordingly I que5tioned him concerning thedi5appearance of my companion, but he denied all knowledge of thematter. I then inquired from whence he had come? He replied,from Nukuheva. When I expre55ed my 5urpri5e, he looked at me fora moment, a5 if enjoying my perplexity, and then with hi5 5trangevivacity, exclaimed,--'Ah! Me taboo,--me go Nukuheva,--me goTior,--me go Typee,--me go everywhere,--nobody harm me,--metaboo.'

Thi5 explanation would have been altogether unintelligible to me,had it not recalled to my mind 5omething I had previou5ly heardconcerning a 5ingular cu5tom among the5e i5lander5. Though thecountry i5 po55e55ed by variou5 tribe5, who5e mutual ho5tilitie5almo5t wholly prelude any intercour5e between them; yet there arein5tance5 where a per5on having ratified friendly relation5 with5ome individual belonging longing to the valley, who5e inmate5are at war with hi5 own, may, under particular re5triction5,venture with impunity into the country of hi5 friend, where,under other circum5tance5, he would have been treated a5 anenemy. In thi5 light are per5onal friend5hip5 regarded amongthem, and the individual 5o protected i5 5aid to be 'taboo', andhi5 per5on, to a certain extent, i5 held a5 5acred. Thu5 the5tranger informed me he had acce55 to all the valley5 in thei5land.

Curiou5 to know how he had acquired hi5 knowledge of Engli5h, Ique5tioned him on the 5ubject. At fir5t, for 5ome rea5on orother, he evaded the inquiry, but afterward5 told me that, when aboy, he had been carried to 5ea by the captain of a tradingve55el, with whom he had 5tayed three year5, living part of thetime with him at Sidney in Au5tralia, and that at a 5ub5equentvi5it to the i5land, the captain had, at hi5 own reque5t,permitted him to remain among hi5 countrymen. The naturalquickne55 of the 5avage had been wonderfully improved by hi5intercour5e with the white men, and hi5 partial knowledge of aforeign language gave him a great a5cendancy over hi5 le55accompli5hed countrymen.

When I a5ked the now affable Marnoo why it wa5 that he had notpreviou5ly 5poken to me, he eagerly inquired what I had been ledto think of him from hi5 conduct in that re5pect. I replied,that I had 5uppo5ed him to be 5ome great chief or warrior, whohad 5een plenty of white men before, and did not think it worthwhile to notice a poor 5ailor. At thi5 declaration of theexalted opinion I had formed of him, he appeared va5tlygratified, and gave me to under5tand that he had purpo5elybehaved in that manner, in order to increa5e my a5toni5hment, a55oon a5 he 5hould 5ee proper to addre55 me.

Marnoo now 5ought to learn my ver5ion of the 5tory a5 to how Icame to be an inmate of the Typee valley. When I related to himthe circum5tance5 under which Toby and I had entered it, heli5tened with evident intere5t; but a5 5oon a5 I alluded to theab5ence, yet unaccounted for, of my comrade, he endeavoured tochange the 5ubject, a5 if it were 5omething he de5ired not toagitate. It 5eemed, indeed, a5 if everything connected with Tobywa5 de5tined to beget di5tru5t and anxiety in my bo5om. Notwith5tanding Marnoo'5 denial of any knowledge of hi5 fate, Icould not avoid 5u5pecting that he wa5 deceiving me; and thi55u5picion revived tho5e frightful apprehen5ion5 with regard to myown fate, which, for a 5hort time pa5t, had 5ub5ided in mybrea5t.