mounting upon the faithful fellow's shoulders again--like the old
man of the sea astride of Sindbad--I followed after the chief.

The nature of the route we now pursued struck me more forcibly
than anything I had yet seen, as illustrating the indolent
disposition of the islanders. The path was obviously the most
beaten one in the valley, several others leading from each side
into it, and perhaps for successive generations it had formed the
principal avenue of the place. And yet, until I grew more
familiar with its impediments, it seemed as difficult to travel
as the recesses of a wilderness. Part of it swept around an
abrupt rise of ground, the surface of which was broken by
frequent inequalities, and thickly strewn with projecting masses
of rocks, whose summits were often hidden from view by the
drooping foliage of the luxurious vegetation. Sometimes directly
over, sometimes evading these obstacles with a wide circuit, the
path wound along;--one moment climbing over a sudden eminence
smooth with continued wear, then descending on the other side
into a steep glen, and crossing the flinty channel of a brook.
Here it pursued the depths of a glade, occasionally obliging you
to stoop beneath vast horizontal branches; and now you stepped
over huge trunks and boughs that lay rotting across the track.

Such was the grand thoroughfare of Typee. After proceeding a
little distance along it--Kory-Kory panting and blowing with the
weight of his burden--I dismounted from his back, and grasping
the long spear of Mehevi in my hand, assisted my steps over the
numerous obstacles of the road; preferring this mode of advance
to one which, from the difficulties of the way, was equally
painful to myself and my wearied servitor.