9.Coral Islands: Another name for the Tuamotus, which lie between the Marquesas and the Tahitian, or Society, islands.

  10.bread-fruit: The fruit of a tree native to the South Sea Islands that has a pulp with the consistency of bread.

  11.Society group: The Society group, sometimes referred to as the Tahitian islands, is subdivided into the Windward Islands, Tahiti, and Moorea, which are farther east, and the Leeward Islands, Huahine, Raiatea, Taha’a, Bora Bora, and Maupiti.

  12.Pomaree, the Queen of Tahiti: Queen Pomare IV, who came to power in 1827 and ruled over Tahiti for fifty years until her death in 1877. Queen Pomare was forced to yield to the French in 1842, when Rear Admiral Abel Dupetit-Thouars arrived in the French warship La Reine Blanche. After a period of self-imposed exile, Queen Pomare returned to Tahiti in 1847 but ruled only as a figurehead. 13. Merenhout: Belgian-born Catholic merchant Jacques Antoine Moerenhout, who served as American consul in Tahiti. Melville is in error when he calls him “a Dutchman by birth” and “French Consul at Tahiti.”

  CHAPTER 18

  1.“Hivarhoo!”: Hiva Oa. Wymontoo, on seeing the island of Tahiti, mistakes it for his home island of Hiva Oa in the southern Marquesas.

  2.Orohena, Aorai, and Pirohitee: Mount Orohena is 7,350 feet, Mount Aorai 6,776 feet, and Pito Iti 6,920 feet; these are the three highest peaks on the island of Tahiti.

  3.Tempe: Beautiful valley between Mount Olympus and Mount Ossa.

  4.New Cytherea: Cytherea is the island associated with Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty.

  5.De Bougainville: Louis-Antoine de Bougainville (1729–1811), French navigator. He visited Tahiti in 1768 during his 1766–1769 circumnavigation.

  6.Omai: Omai traveled to London, England, with Captain James Cook on his second voyage, arriving in 1774. He was entertained by society, painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds, and treated as befitted the Noble Savage.

  7.Aotooroo: Aoturu was taken to France by Louis-Antoine de Bougainville during his 1766–1769 circumnavigation.

  8.Quiros: Pedro Fernández de Quirós (c. 1565–1614), navigator in the Pacific. He served as pilot on the second voyage of Álvaro de Mendaña (1595–1596), during which Mendaña made the European discovery of the Marquesas. Quirós was not actually Spanish, as Melville calls him, but Portuguese, although he is usually known by the Castilian version of his name. During his voyage to the Pacific in 1605, Quirós passed close to but did not sight Tahiti.

  9.Wallis: Samuel Wallis (c. 1720–1795), Cornish navigator. Under his command, HMS Dolphin circumnavigated the world (1766–1768). In 1767, he became the first European to land on Tahiti, which he named “King George the Third’s Island” in honor of his king.

  10.Byron: John Byron (1723–1786), British vice admiral and explorer. He sailed in 1740 with Admiral George Anson on a voyage around the world but was shipwrecked off Chile. His Narrative of Great Distresses on the Shores of Patagonia (1768) is said to have been used by his grandson, the poet George Gordon, Lord Byron, in writing Don Juan (1819–1824). In 1765, as captain of HMS Dolphin, Byron completed the charting of the Tuamotu islands but missed Tahiti.

  11.Cook: James Cook (1728–1779), English navigator and explorer. Cook made three voyages to the Pacific: 1768–1771, 1772–1775, 1776–1779. He was killed in Hawaii during his third voyage in a dispute with the islanders over the theft of a boat. He arrived at Tahiti on board HMS Endeavour in 1769 to observe the transit of Venus.

  12.Vancouver: George Vancouver (1757–1798), English navigator and explorer. Vancouver sailed with Captain James Cook on his second and third voyages. In 1791, Vancouver arrived in Tahiti as commander of an expedition aboard HMS Discovery and the smaller HMS Chatham.

  13.La Perouse: Jean-François de Galaup, Comte de La Pérouse (1741–1788), French navigator and explorer. He visited Tahiti in 1786.

  14.Transit of Venus: Captain James Cook was sent to Tahiti to observe the transit of Venus in June 1769. One of the chief puzzles of the eighteenth century was the size of the solar system. By observing the start and stop times of the transit of Venus across the face of the sun from seventy-six widely spaced locations on planet Earth, astronomers hoped to calculate the distance to Venus using the principles of parallax. The data collected were not precise enough to set the scale of the solar system. Transits of Venus are rare, occurring in pairs 8 years apart and then not again for 120 years. It was not until the next transit, in the nineteenth century, that the desired information was obtained.

  15.Bounty: In 1789, Master’s Mate Fletcher Christian led a mutiny against Lieutenant William Bligh, commander of HMS Bounty, soon after the ship left Tahiti, setting Bligh and some of his supporters adrift in the ship’s launch.

  16.Protestant missionaries: The first Protestant missionaries were sent to Tahiti by the London Missionary Society. Their vessel, HMS Duff, arrived at Matavia Bay, Tahiti, in 1797.

  CHAPTER 19

  1.Cokes: Sir Edward Coke (1552–1634), seventeenth-century English jurist.

  2.Marine Courts of Law: Admiralty court, which decided issues of law related to maritime matters.

  3.holydays: Holiday: originally a day set aside for religious observance; later, simply a day off from work.

  4.Papeetee: Main town of Tahiti; selected as the administrative headquarters for the new French protectorate in 1843, a year after Melville’s visit.

  5.Reine Blanche: La Reine Blanche, the French warship that carried Rear Admiral Dupetit-Thouars to what is now French Polynesia in 1842, when he took possession of the Marquesas, Tuamotus, and Society islands for France.

  6.Rear Admiral Du Petit Thouars: Abel Aubert Dupetit-Thouars (1793–1864), French rear admiral who took possession of the Marquesas, Tuamotus, and Society islands for France in 1842.

  7.stern-sheets: Flooring in the after, or back, section of a boat.

  8.Payta hat: Straw hat; Payta is a port in Peru often visited by whaleships.

  9.Bay of Islands: The Bay of Islands is located on the northeast side of the North Island of New Zealand and was commonly visited by whaleships.

  10.“stove boat”: Boat whose planks have been crushed or smashed in by the jaws or tail of a whale.

  11.gunwale: Upper section of vessel’s side.

  12.darted his harpoon: Threw his harpoon at a whale in order to make fast the line to the whale. The harpoon did not kill the whale but simply attached the boat to the whale; the whale then towed the boat around until it was exhausted, at which point the mate would kill the whale by stabbing its lungs with a killing lance.

  13.the line: Line used with a harpoon to attach a whaleboat to a whale. Chapter 60 of Moby-Dick (1851), entitled “The Line,” describes in detail how the whaleline is rove through the whaleboat.

  CHAPTER 20

  1.courses: The course is the lowest squaresail on a mast; here, the courses have been bunched up because there is no wind. Leaving the sails set could cause them to slap around and possibly tear.

  2.jib: Triangular sail at the front of a vessel.

  3.Lacedæmonian: Native of Sparta, Greece.

  4.“Handspikes”: Wooden bars inserted into the capstan or windlass, vertical and horizontal winches, respectively, to provide mechanical power to aid with the heavy work on board ship.

  5.“shindy”: Fracas or uproar.

  6.“Out stun-sails!”: Stuns’ls, or studdingsails, are light-wind sails set out and beyond the regular squaresails. They would be set only when there were very light winds or when the vessel was anxious to make speed.

  7.“Round Robin”: Writing names in a circle so that all signers share equally the responsibility of sending the note and no one is signaled out as the leader.

  8.“Purser’s name”: A false name entered into the books, usually of the British Royal Navy.

  9.Pritchard: George Pritchard (1796–1883), missionary, came to Tahiti in 1824. He was appointed British consul in 1837 and served as the unofficial chief adviser to Queen Pomare IV. He was away in 1842 when the French, as well as Melville, arrived at Tahiti. After his return, he was arrested by the French and forced to leave the island in 1844.

  10.Wilson: Charles B. Wilson, acting British consul at Tahiti during the absence of George Pritchard.

  11.Doctor Johnson: Francis Johnstone, surgeon, a British resident of Tahiti, who examined Henry Ventom, master of the Lucy Ann, as well as the seamen who claimed to be on the sick list. He later gave a deposition in the trial of the mutinous seamen of the Lucy Ann.

  CHAPTER 21

  1.land-crane: Tall, skinny land bird with long legs.

  2.petrels: Pelagic seabirds.

  3.swallow-tail coat: Jacket with a forked tail.

  4.marlingspikes: Generally spelled “marlinespike” or “marlinspike”; tool that tapers to a point and is used to separate strands of rope or wire, especially in splicing.

  5.sported many…white one: The cooper had been rather cocky, but now he is showing the white flag (white feather) of surrender and becoming subdued.

  6.“salt horse”: Salted meat; the staple of the seamen’s diet.

  CHAPTER 22

  1.becalmed: A vessel that is becalmed is motionless, without wind in its sails.

  2.kelson: Keelson: lowest timber in a ship.

  3.“Stand by for stays”: A vessel “in stays” is caught aback, with the wind pushing on the front of the sails instead of on the back. This is very dangerous, as the whole rig could come down. Flash Jack threatens to bring down the whole rig by chopping the stays, or supporting rigging, with his ax.

  4.“Heave round cheerly, men”: A command usually given when the handspikes are to be inserted into the capstan so that the men can push against them (“heave”) in order to raise the anchor; here, a derisive command, since Antone uses the handspike destructively to smash the skylight.

  CHAPTER 23

  1.pea-jacket: Heavy woolen double-breasted jacket worn by sailors.

  2.close hauled: Sailing close to the wind with the sails pulled in tight.

  3.flew to…the wind: When the wheel is released, it turns to leeward, allowing the bow of the ship to turn into the wind; when the bow is pointing into the wind, the sails are no longer filled with wind, so the vessel stops moving forward.

  4.three or four points free: A point is equal to 11.25 degrees. The Julia has been sailing 34–45 degrees off, or away from, the wind, which has allowed her to sail along quite nicely—directly for the reef.

  5.“Haul back…about!”: Commands given in order to turn the ship.

  6.“All ready for’ard; hard down!”: More commands during the maneuver of turning the ship.

  7.spinning to windward like a top: The Julia tacked, or put her bow through the wind. To turn a vessel by tacking takes less time and distance than waring, putting the stern through the wind, but it is sometimes difficult to tack a barque (the Julia is rigged as a barque—see earlier).

  8.jib-sheets…“Main-sail haul!”: More steps taken and commands given while completing the turning of the vessel.

  9.no soundings: So deep that the depth cannot be measured with a sounding lead. The Society Islands are calderas, formed from old volcanoes; therefore, the islands themselves are steep and mountainous, thrusting up from the bottom of the ocean. A fringing reef encircles the islands; just beyond this fringing reef, it becomes very deep.

  CHAPTER 25

  1.Imeeo, or Moreea: Imeeo is Melville’s spelling of Eimeo, the older name for Moorea, the island next to Tahiti.

  2.sweeps: Long oars.

  3.six-pounders: Cannon that fires a six-pound ball.

  4.side-ports: Openings on the side of the ship through which the cannon can be pointed in order to fire.

  5.New Hebrides: Island group in the southwest Pacific.

  6.Lascar: Indian soldier.

  7.“jibing”: To jibe is to bring the stern through the wind. An uncontrolled jibe is dangerous in a small boat because the boom makes a long arc, swinging from one side to the other. The boom can pick up quite a bit of speed, thus rolling the boat over and causing it to capsize.

  8.Valparaiso: Major port in Chile.

  CHAPTER 26

  1.beat up: To sail against the tide or wind.

  2.union-jack: British naval flag.

  3.union down in distress: A flag hung upside down on a vessel is a sign of distress and therefore a request for assistance.

  4.steerage-way: Space sufficient in which to maneuver.

  5.knight-heads: Large pieces of wood at the bow of a ship.

  6.Flying Dutchman: Legendary ghost ship condemned to sail the seas forever.

  CHAPTER 27

  1.tri-color: French flag.

  2.heave down: To pull a ship on its side in order to work on the hull.

  3.fag end: The last part.

  CHAPTER 28

  1.Gamboge: Gamboge is a resin obtained from trees native to Southeast Asia and used as a yellow pigment. The name refers to the first lieutenant’s yellow face.

  2.ratan: Usually spelled “rattan”; a cane or switch, originally from the rattan tree, a climbing palm with very long, tough stems.

  3.“kids”: Dishes for holding food.

  4.captain of the foretop: Petty officer in charge of the men who handle the sails on the foremast of a naval vessel.

  5.line-of-battle ship: Large naval ship.

  CHAPTER 29

  1.breech of a gun: Hind part of a cannon.

  2.gratings: Lattice wooden hatch cover that is upended in order to tie sailors to it during a flogging.

  3.I do not…of flogging: Melville’s statement here is very interesting when set against his strong denunciation of flogging in White-Jacket (1850). Melville served on board an American frigate, the United States, for fourteen months (1843–1844) and during that time witnessed 163 floggings.

  4.by the board: By boarding. It takes a lot of courage to board an enemy ship and fight hand-to-hand.

  5.Waterloo: At the Battle of Waterloo, fought in Belgium in 1815, the English defeated Napoleon and the French and thus ended the Napoleonic Wars. The term “Waterloo” came to signify a decisive defeat. Here, Melville points out that the American and British navies are much better than the French; naval battles are their “game,” and the French will be soundly defeated should they try to fight the Americans or British at sea.

  6.Caryatides: Female figures used to support a structure.

  7.Gaul: Frenchman.

  8.demi-semi-quavers: Thirty-second notes. Here the term refers to a flurry of these notes as florid, overelaborate ornamentation of a simple melody, thus evoking the stereotype of the French as excessively, fussily sophisticated.

  9.“’cute”: Acute.

  10.water-facets: Water faucets; the “wine” has been greatly watered down.

  11.pressed: Forced to enlist.

  12.Nelson gave…at Trafalgar: Many French ships were lost at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, when the British fleet commanded by Lord Horatio Nelson defeated the French.

  CHAPTER 30

  1.Taiarboo: Evidently Taravao, which is on the eastern side of the narrow juncture joining Tahiti Nui, the large section of the island of Tahiti, and Tahiti Iti, the small section.

  2.Sandwich Islanders: Hawaiians. Captain James Cook made the European discovery of Hawaii in 1778 and gave the name Sandwich Islands to the group in honor of one of his sponsors, the First Lord of the Admiralty, John Montagu, Earl of Sandwich.

  3.Pawnee-Loups: Native American tribe.

  CHAPTER 31

  1.defile: Narrow passageway.

  2.hogshead: Cask holding sixty-three gallons.

  CHAPTER 32

  1.Laval and Caret: Two French Catholic missionaries, Fr. Honoré Laval and Fr. François d’Assise Caret, who had served together in the Gambier Islands, came to Tahiti in 1836 but were expelled by Queen Pomare IV, prompted by George Pritchard.

  2.Wallis’ island: Wallis Island was named in honor of Samuel Wallis (see chapter 18, note 9); its Polynesian name is Uvea. It lies 210 miles east of Samoa and 1,860 miles northwest of Tahiti. The population is mostly of Polynesian descent.

  3.ardent spirits: Liquor.

  4.Pomarees: The ruling family of Tahiti. Pomare I ruled 1788–1791; Pomare II, 1803–1821; Pomare III, 1821–1827; and Queen Pomare IV, 1827–1877, although her power was greatly reduced after the French arrived in 1842. Her son, Pomare V, reigned 1877–1880.

  5.Tuilleries: The Palais des Tuileries, or Tuileries Palace, in Paris, France: the royal residence.

  6.Bruat: Armand Bruat was governor of Tahiti after the island became a French protectorate in 1843 and became embroiled in a guerrilla war with the islanders.

  7.St. George: Patron saint of England.

  8.St. Denis: Patron saint of France.

  9.Mahanar: The battle at Mahaena Beach in 1844 was the beginning of three years of guerrilla warfare between the Tahitians, loyal to Queen Pomare IV, and the French, under the leadership of Governor Armand Bruat. The Tahitians lost 102 men and the French 15.10. Aeorai Society: Properly Areoi Society, a secret society. In the origin myth of the Areoi, a male sun god mates with the most beautiful of all women, Vaïraümati, to found a new race. Paul Gauguin painted his mistress as Vaïraümati in The Seed of the Areoi (1892). More soberly, missionaries such as Henry Nott, who came to Tahiti on the missionary ship Duff in 1797, claimed that members of the society blackened their bodies, dyed their faces red, indulged in acts of buffoonery, and practiced infanticide.

  CHAPTER 33

  1.observations: Although the narrator claims here that he had a fine opportunity for “making observations,” most of the observations that he makes are borrowed directly from the second edition of William Ellis’s Polynesian Researches (1833).

  2.Roorootoo: Rurutu in the Australs, a group of islands south of Tahiti.

  CHAPTER 35

  1.plays the deuse: Causes problems.

  CHAPTER 36

  1.Habiscus: Melville’s spelling of hibiscus, a tropical plant with large colorful flowers.

  2.affidavit of John Jermin: This document still exists, as do the other official records of the revolt kept by Charles B. Wilson, the acting British consul at Tahiti, in 1842; the documents are housed in the collection of the Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.