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They may be driven to seek other haunts, as was undoubtedly the case at Vau Vau in a great measure, by some causes unknown, but to land they must come at those times. The sperm whale, however, needs no shelter at such periods, or, at any rate, does not avail herself of any. They may often be seen in the vicinity of land where the water is deep close to, but seldom with calves.
There is a proverb in the patois of Vaud which says 'Kan on vau dau pesson, sé fo molli; and on this the Bisuntians act, standing patiently half-way up the thigh in the river, as the Swiss on the Lake of Geneva and other lakes may be seen to do.
Cross, the resident, kindly allowed us to raid his garden, where the ripe fruit was rotting by the bushel for want of consumers. We needed no pressing; for fruit, since we left Vau Vau, of any kind had not come in our way; besides, these were "homey" currants, gooseberries, strawberries delightful to see, smell, and taste.
In process of time we made the land of Vau Vau, a picturesque, densely wooded, and in many places precipitous, group of islands, the approach being singularly free from dangers in the shape of partly hidden reefs. Long and intricate were the passages we threaded, until we finally came to anchor in a lovely little bay perfectly sheltered from all winds.
They spoke a totally different dialect, or maybe language, to that of Vau Vau, for it was only an isolated word here and there that Samuela could make out. But presently, going forward through the crowd that thronged every part of the deck, I saw a man leaning nonchalantly against the rail by the fore-rigging, who struck me at once as being an American negro.
From all I could gather, we were likely to have a good time there, so I looked forward to the visit with a great deal of pleasurable anticipation. We were bound to make a call at Vau Vau, in any case, to discharge our Kanakas shipped at Honolulu, although I fervently hoped to be able to keep my brave harpooner Samuela.
Another story says that Lu came from the west with his fowls, and that from his crew all the islands of the group were peopled. He was said to have come from Pulotu, Papatea, Pau, Vau, Aoao, and Ngaelu. Others say he came with his fowls direct from Tafiti apaau, or the Winged Fiji. Two of the people of Tangaloa of the heavens came down to fish.
Nay, more; the English sailor had been an eye-witness of one of their grand festivals; where the bodies of men and women, cooked in various styles, stewed, roasted, and boiled, had been served out and partaken of by hundreds of Thakombau's courtiers; the sailor's own captain, the captain of a British frigate, ay, the commodore of a British squadron, with cannon sufficient to have blown the island of Viti Vau out of the water, sitting alongside, apparently a tranquil and contented spectator of the horrid ceremonial!
For although they had been much ashore in Vau Vau, that was not looked upon in the same light as a day's freedom in a town where liquor might be procured, and the questionable privilege of getting drunk taken advantage of. Envious eyes watched their progress from the other ships, but, much to my secret satisfaction, none of their crews were allowed ashore at the same time.
This magnificent château, which the architect Le Vau, the artist Le Brun, and the landscape gardener Le Nôtre had conspired to make so beautiful, is still, in a way, a monument to the great financier, although it has passed from his family into the hands of the Duke de Praslin.
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