In the summer of 1842, the American whaling ship Dolly, after a six-month voyage, reaches the Marquesas archipelago in Polynesia and anchors in the bay of Nukuhiva Island. Here, one of the sailors (later, before the natives, he will call himself Tom), no longer wanting to endure captain tyranny and cruelty and believing, moreover, that the flight may be too long, decides to leave the ship. But the ship agreement, which every sailor signed, hiring a whaler, actually gives it to the captain for the duration of the voyage. Therefore, it is simply impossible to stay on the shore: it is necessary to run away and then hide for several days from the chase sent for the deserted sailor anyway as for the fugitive convict, until the search is over and the ship again goes to sea. Since the archipelago has recently been colonized by the French, and ships flying other flags often go into the bay, Tom expects that he can subsequently enter one of them and thus return to the civilized world.
He collects information about the island and its inhabitants in order to develop an escape plan. According to the natives living in the vicinity of the bay, fertile valleys, separated by mountain ranges, exist in other parts of the island, and they are inhabited by various tribes waging endless wars with each other. The nearest of these valleys belongs to the peace-loving happer tribe. Behind her lie the possessions of the formidable taipei tribe, whose warriors inspire an irresistible fear to all the other islanders. Their very name is terrible: in the local dialect, the word "taipei" means "lover of human meat." And the glory that goes about them corresponds to such a name. The French do not dare to land in their valley. Natives from the bay show scars from wounds received in collisions with them. There is also a legend about an English ship, on which bloodthirsty taipis cleaned out a crew, luring a ship to its shore.
Tom understands that he has nowhere to hide in the bay itself: it will be enough for the captain to promise the natives seductive gifts - they will immediately find him and give him away. If you go deep into the island - there is a considerable risk of becoming the prey of cannibals. But after finding out that the islanders only settle deep in the valleys, because they fear, due to constant hostility, the proximity of foreigners, and in elevated places they generally avoid appearing except in order to go down for neighbors for the sake of war or robbery into the valley, it concludes that having managed to quietly get into the mountains, he will be able to stay there long enough, eating fruits and fruits. In addition, the departure of the ship in this case will not go unnoticed - from the mountain he will have a view of the entire bay. At first, Tom does not think about the satellite, but, watching another young sailor, nicknamed Toby, he also guesses in him the desire to part with the whaler and tells him his plan. They decide to run together.
Having gone ashore with other sailors, Toby and Tom, taking advantage of heavy rain, are hiding in the thicket. Even before sunset, they reach the most elevated place in the center of the island. Reality, however, deceives their expectations. There is no descent into the valleys anywhere nearby - the mountainous landscape, intersected by cliffs and ridges, stretches as far as the eye can see, and among the trees growing here there are no species whose fruits could serve as food. The fugitives distribute their meager bread supply and begin to search for a more blessed refuge.
For several days, they either descend into gorges or climb cliffs. They spend the night on the stones, having built a leafy roof, which, however, does not save from rain. The bread is coming to an end. Tom has a fever, and his inflamed leg also prevents him from moving on. One of the valleys opens in front of him, but, mindful of taipei, they do not immediately decide to enter it. And only after making sure that further climbing the rocks is no longer possible for them, they go there, relying on providence and hoping that the valley is uninhabited or populated by friendly Happars.
There are still owners of the valley, and meetings with them do not have to wait long. Soon the fugitives find themselves in a native village, and their curious inhabitants surround them with a crowd. The natives, although somewhat wary, are generally quite friendly - all the more so since Tom presents on time a piece of chintz and a pack of tobacco captured from the ship as a present. Tom and Toby no longer doubt that everything turned out well and that they are now using exactly the Happar hospitality. But here, when Tom, using gestures and a few words of the local language known to him, tries to communicate with the native leader, and it turns out that they are among the cannibals of taipei.
The savages whom Toby and Tom see around themselves do not scare them at all, and to start a fire to immediately fry the aliens, no one here seems to be in a hurry. However, it is difficult for Tom to get rid of the suspicion that the islanders are hiding some bloodthirsty plan behind their external courtesy, and a cordial welcome is just a prelude to a brutal reprisal. But night passes, another day - nothing happens; the natives are still curious, but they are already starting to get used to the presence of white people in the village. They were settled in the house of the famous warrior Marheio, a young native of Kori-Kori was appointed to serve Tom, the first beauty Fayavei does not ignore him, and the local healer tries, though unsuccessfully, to cure his leg. His leg is already so bad that Tom is almost unable to walk. Therefore, he asks Toby to get back into the bay and try to return from there behind him on a French boat, or at least by land with the necessary medicines. Taipei expresses disappointment and direct protest that one of the guests is going to leave them. However, Tom's deplorable state convinces them of the need for this. Accompanied by Marheio Tobi, he goes to the borders of taipei territory, and soon the old warrior returns alone, and after a few hours the natives find Tobi wounded and without feelings: the "friendly" Happarians attacked him even before he had time to set foot on their land.
But it turns out that people from the bay themselves visit these places. Soon, several boats appear on the coast of the taipei valley. Contrary to expectations, the excited natives are not going to attack their team, but bear the fruits of the exchange. No matter how much Tom begs Corey-Corey to help him get there, he refuses flatly. For some reason, the islanders do not interfere with you, and he goes with them to inform the arrivals of the plight of his comrade, and to ask for help. But when the natives return to the village by the end of the day, Toby is not among them. To Tom’s excited questions, they explain to him that his friend left with the boats and promised to return in three days. However, neither at the appointed time nor later does Toby appear, and Tom does not know whom to suspect him: whether Toby himself is in low treason or savages that they secretly did away with a stranger, But one way or another it is clear that from now on he is left with his own fate
Many years later, having returned to America long ago, Tom will meet Toby, and he will tell him that he really went to the bay, believing the promise that the next day a boat with armed people would be sent for it from Tom, but was deceived by the captain of the ship, who urgently needed sailors, and transported to sea.
Left alone, considering his situation hopeless, Tom falls into apathy. But gradually, interest in life returns to him. Observing the life and customs of the natives based on the taboo system, he comes to the conclusion that the opinion about the islanders is deeply erroneous, but the so-called civilized man, with his diabolical art in inventing the murder tools, everywhere carrying misfortunes and ruin, - rightfully considered the most bloodthirsty creature on earth. In the village, Toma is already considered so his own that they offer to put a tattoo on the face of the tribe, which is obligatory for the members of the tribe - and he should do a great deal to refuse this offer. They treat him with great respect. In order to enable him to ride the beautiful Fayaway in a canoe on the lake, it is temporarily canceled, by some ritual tricks, the strictest taboo forbidding women to enter boats. But thoughts of Toby’s fate still haunt him. And although among the dried human heads that he accidentally found in Marheio’s house, Toby’s head is not found, such a find does not add vigor to Tom - especially since one of the heads undoubtedly belonged to a white man. The natives carefully hide from him everything that may indicate their cannibalism. However, you can’t hide the sewn in the bag: after a skirmish with the Happar neighbors, Tom determines from the remnants of the feast that the taipei soldiers ate the bodies of the killed enemies.
Month by month pass. Once an unusual native Marne appears in the village. The taboo lying on it allows him to roam freely from valley to valley, from tribe to tribe. It is able to explain in broken English, as it often happens in the bay. Marne unambiguously hints to Tom that sooner or later he will certainly be eaten - taipei just wait for him to recover and become strong. Tom decides to run. Marne agrees to help him: he will wait for him with a boat in a neighboring valley, but Tom must go there himself at night, since his leg is gradually recovering. However, Tom and at night do not look down, and the guards are not able to deceive the vigilance.
A few weeks later, the village was again excited by the news that boats had been spotted on the coast, and Tom begged the leaders to let him go this time, at least only ashore. Those of the natives who managed to make friends with Tom and love him during this time tend to let him return with boats to the bay, while the priests and many others say that this should never be done. In the end, he is still allowed to go - but only under the protection of fifty soldiers. However, a dispute continues between the natives on the shore; Tom, taking advantage of the opportunity and with the connivance of old Marheillo, manages to get to the boat, which, as it turned out, was sent from the Australian barge to try to bargain for him freedom: Marne showed up in the bay and on the ship learned that the typi were holding an American sailor in captivity. The natives swim in pursuit of the boat, but the rowers manage to repel the attack. Bark, ready to immediately go to sea, is already waiting for the cape.
