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Table of Contents | Printable Version Chapter 3 Summary After spending some days at the harbor of Nukuheva, the speaker decides to remain on the islands and not leave with the ship. Although he had signed some articles, which legally bound him to the ship, he felt that he had enough reasons to break it. For one thing, the other party hadnÂ’t kept its share of the contract. The shipÂ’s climate had been tyrannical, the sick had been neglected, and the provisions had been scantily doled out. Moreover, the period specified on the contracts is always too long, generally four or five years. A detailed description of the preparations made for the expeditions is related. The storing of provisions and water is stated describing the storing of parts of animals in salt and water in barrels. A ship, which embarks on catching whales, generally never turns back unsuccessfully. Even if they fall unlucky, they remain on the sea interminably, bartering goods for fresh provisions. Recalling such misadventures of various ships, the speaker decides to stay on the shore and proceeds to inquire about the island and its inhabitants. Nukuheva is scenic in its beauty, but beyond it are some valleys, which are inhabited by cannibalistic savages. These are the dreaded Typees. The term itself signifies a lover of human flesh. The speaker recollects a story of how an English vessel had sought entry at the Bay of Nukuheva, but the crew had been abducted by a group of natives and was murdered.
The speakerÂ’s reason for remaining on shore seems justified. Lack of amenable conditions on the ship added to the aimlessness of the voyage itself, is enough grounds for him to leave the ship. The Bay of Nukuheva has been described very picturesquely. The "gently rolling hillsides" the deep and romantic "glens" and the clear stream forming "a slender cascade" is poignant and deeply stirring. Yet, against this verdant beauty the savagery of the natives and their incessant warfare is juxtaposed. The Typee tribe is introduced in this chapter, and their inherent savagery combined with their cannibalistic tendencies has been depicted. The speaker finds it faintly amusing to see the Nukuheva tribes mean denouncing the Typees for their cannibal propensities while they were as arrant cannibals as any other tribe. The system prevailing of ships idling away just bartering goods and not continuing its course of whale hunting is regretted. The speaker thus has a right to be disgusted with his boat and for making plans to leave it as soon as possible. The state of the ship too, with its tyrannical captain, lack of provisions and unhealthy neglect, spurs the speaker to quit it. You have reached the end of our free MonkeyNotes booknotes for "Typee" by Herman Melville. While the complete MonkeyNote is no longer
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