The Strange Adventures of Eric Blackburn
by Harry Collingwood · English · Gutenberg #21058 · 439,113 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: The Strange Adventures of Eric Blackburn
Author: Harry Collingwood
Illustrator: C. M. Padday
Release date: April 13, 2007 [eBook #21058]
Language: English
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21058
Credits: Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF ERIC BLACKBURN ***
Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
The Strange Adventures of Eric Blackburn
By Harry Collingwood
________________________________________________________________________
We found the original publisher's blurb for this book:
In Chapter I the reader is introduced to Eric Blackburn, fourth officer
of the ill-fated "Saturn", and hero of this story. The s.s. "Saturn" is
overtaken in mid-ocean by a sudden and irreparable disaster, Blackburn
being the sole survivor. Picked up by a sailing ship, the castaway
finds himself elevated to the position of skipper, and joins in a search
for hidden treasure. The search is successful, but on its way to port
the ship is wrecked on an uncharted island.
Blackburn and the dead captain's son reach land safely, and while
exploring have many adventures and experiences. They become acquainted
with a savage king, to whom they render aid in repelling attacks by huge
apes which are a continual menace
The treasure, which they have saved, proves a source of danger when two
doubtful characters, former member's of Blackburn's crew, turn up
unexpectedly. A settlement is effected, but complications arise and
disaster is narrowly averted.
Later, the hero and his companion leave their island home, carrying the
treasure with them.
________________________________________________________________________
THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF ERIC BLACKBURN
BY HARRY COLLINGWOOD
CHAPTER ONE.
THE CATASTROPHE.
It happened on our seventh night out from Cape Town, when we had
accomplished about a third of the distance between that city and
Melbourne.
The ship was the _Saturn_, of the well-known Planet Line of combined
freight and passenger steamers trading between London, Cape Town, and
Melbourne; and I--Eric Blackburn, aged a trifle over twenty-three
years--was her fourth officer.
The _Saturn_ was a brand-new ship, this being her maiden voyage. She
was a twin-screw, of 9800 tons register, 100 A1 at Lloyd's, steaming 14
knots; and she had accommodation for 432 passengers, of whom 84 were
first class, 128 second class, and 220 steerage; and every berth was
occupied, the steerage crowd consisting mostly of miners attracted to
Australia by the rumour of a newly discovered goldfield of fabulous
richness. The crew of the ship numbered, all told, 103; therefore, when
the catastrophe occurred, the _Saturn_ was responsible for the lives of
535 people, of whom about 120 were women and children.
I was officer of the watch, and was therefore on the bridge when it
happened, the time being shortly after six bells in the middle watch, or
say about a quarter past three o'clock in the morning. The weather was
fine, with so moderate a westerly wind blowing that the speed of the
ship just balanced it, the smoke and sparks from the funnel rising
straight up into the air when the firemen shovelled coal into the
furnaces; and apart from the long westerly swell there was very little
sea running. The motion of the ship was therefore very easy, just a
slow roll of four or five degrees to port and starboard, and an equally
slow, gentle rise and fall of the ship over the swell that followed us.
The moon was only four days old, consequently she had set hours earlier,
but the sky was cloudless, the air was clear, and the stars, shining
brilliantly, afforded light enough to reveal a ship at a distance of
quite three miles; it would be difficult, therefore, to imagine
conditions of more apparently perfect safety than those at the moment
prevailing aboard the _Saturn_. Yet destruction came upon us in a
manner, and with a suddenness, that was absolutely appalling.
I was pacing the bridge from one extremity to the other, keeping a sharp
look-out ahead and all round the ship; and when, at the port end of my
promenade, I wheeled on my return march, there was no sign that but a
few minutes intervened between us and eternity. But as I approached the
wheel-house I became aware of a sudden access of light in the sky behind
me, illuminating the entire ship in a radiance that increased with
incredible rapidity, while at the same moment a low humming sound became
audible that also grew in volume as rapidly as the light. Wheeling
sharply round, to ascertain the meaning of this strange phenomenon, I
heard the helmsman ejaculate, through the open window of the wheel-
house:
"Gosh! that's a big 'un, and no mistake; the biggest I ever seen;
and,"--on a note of sudden alarm--"it ain't goin' to fall so very far
away from us, neither! D'ye see that big fireball, sir, headin' this
way?"
As the man spoke I caught sight of the object to which he referred--and
horror chilled me to the marrow; for never before, I verily believe, had
mortal eyes beheld so awful an apparition. Broad over the port bow, at
an elevation of some forty degrees above the horizon, I beheld a great
white-hot flaming mass, emitting a long trail of brilliant sparks,
_coming straight for the ship_. It was increasing in apparent size even
as I gazed at it, dumb and paralysed with terror indescribable, while
the sound of its passage through the air grew, in the course of a second
or two, from a murmur to a deafening roar, and the light which it
emitted became so dazzling that it nearly blinded me as I looked at it.
As it came hurtling toward us it seemed to expand until it looked almost
as big as the ship herself; but that was, of course, an optical
illusion, for when, a second or two later, it struck us, I saw that the
fiercely incandescent mass, of roughly spherical shape, was some twelve
feet in diameter.
It struck the ship aslant, on her port side, a few feet abaft the funnel
and close to the water-line, passing through the engine-room and out
through her bottom. There was no perceptible shock attending the blow,
but the crash was terrific, while the smell of burning was almost
suffocating--which is not to be wondered at, since the mass was blazing
so fiercely that it set the ship on fire merely by passing through her.
So intense was the heat of it that, as it passed through the ship's
bottom into the water, we instantly became enveloped in a dense cloud of
hot, steamy vapour. A moment later it exploded under us, throwing up a
cone of water that came near to swamping the ship.
For a space of perhaps two seconds after the passage of the meteor
through the ship's hull the silence of the night continued, and then, as
though in response to a signal, there arose such a dreadful outcry as I
hope never to hear again; while the cabin doors were dashed open, and
out from the cabins and the companion-ways streamed crowds of distracted
men, women, and children, clad in their night gear, just as they had
leapt from their berths, the men shouting to know what had happened,
while the poor women and children rushed frantically hither and thither,
jostling each other, wringing their hands, some weeping, some screaming
hysterically, and some calling to children who had become separated from
them in the seething crowd.
The first man to run up against me was the skipper, who sprang out of
his cabin straight on to the bridge, exclaiming, as he clutched me by
the arm:
"What is it? What has happened? For God's sake speak, man!"
"The ship," I answered, "has been struck by an enormous meteorite, sir,
which has set her on fire, I believe, and has passed out through her
bottom. She has taken a perceptible list to starboard already."
At this moment I was interrupted by the chief engineer, who dashed up on
the bridge, demanding breathlessly: "Where is the captain?"
"I am here, Mr Kennedy. What is the news? Out with it!" jerked the
skipper.
"My engines are wrecked, sir; utterly destroyed," answered Kennedy; "and
the ship is holed through her bottom, down in the engine-room. The hole
is big enough to drive a coach through, and the room is half-full of
water already. If either of the bulkheads goes we shall sink like a
stone!"
At this juncture we were joined by the chief, second, and third
officers, who came upon each other's heels.
"Ah! here you are, gentlemen," remarked the skipper. "I was about to
send for you. I learn from Mr Blackburn that the ship has been struck
by a falling meteor which, Mr Kennedy tells me, has passed through her
bottom. According to him the engine-room is flooded; and he is of
opinion that if either of the engine-room bulkheads yields the ship will
go down quickly--in which opinion I agree with him. Even as it is, you
may notice that the ship is taking a strong list, and is very
perceptibly deeper in the water; therefore I will ask you, Mr Hoskins,"
(to the chief officer) "and you, Mr Cooper," (to the second) "to muster
the hands, proceed to the boat-deck, and clear away the boats, ready for
lowering, in case of necessity. You, Mr Stroud," (to the third
officer) "will mount guard at the foot of the boat-deck ladder and
prevent passengers passing up until the boats are ready and I give the
word. Mr Blackburn, go down and find the purser; tell him what has
happened, what we are doing, and ask him to keep the people quiet until
we are ready for them, and you can lend him a hand. Thank God, the
boats are all provisioned, ready for any emergency, while the water in
them was renewed only yesterday, so there is nothing to do but cut them
adrift and swing them outboard. That is all at present, gentlemen, so
go and get to work at once--why, who are those men on the boat-deck now,
and what are they doing with the boats?"
"Looks like the miners," answered Hoskins. "They're a rough lot, and as
likely as not we may have trouble with 'em. Ay, I thought so! Our
chaps are up there too, trying to send the others away, and they don't
seem inclined to go. Come along, Cooper, we've got to clear those
miners off somehow, or we shall get nothing done."
Therewith the four of us departed upon our respective missions, leaving
the captain in charge on the bridge.
The decks were now full of people rushing aimlessly hither and thither,
stopping everybody they met, and asking each other what had happened.
Meanwhile all the electric lights had been switched on, so that it was
possible to see who was who, and, as I quite expected, no sooner did
those poor distracted creatures catch sight of my uniform than I was
surrounded, hemmed in by a crowd who piteously besought me to tell them
what had happened, and if there was any danger. I had by this time
quite recovered my self-possession, and was therefore able to answer
them calmly and with a steady voice. Naturally, I did not tell them the
whole truth, for that, I knew, would precipitate a panic in which
everybody would get out of hand. I therefore told them there had been a
breakdown in the engine-room, which was being attended to; that there
was no immediate danger, but that I strongly advised them, purely as a
measure of precaution, to return to their cabins, dress themselves
warmly, and put into their pockets, or into parcels, any money or
valuables they might have in their baggage, so that in the event of
anything untoward happening, whereby we might be compelled to take to
the boats, they would be prepared to do so at a moment's notice. Some
of them listened to me and allowed themselves to be persuaded, but
others seemed afraid to leave the deck for a moment lest they should be
overtaken by calamity.
After all, their apprehension was not to be wondered at; there was
excuse enough for it, and to spare. There was a very strong smell of
burning and occasional puffs of smoke coming up from below, where the
engine-room staff were fighting the flames. The ship had taken a heavy
and steadily-increasing list to starboard; she was visibly settling in
the water; and, to crown all, the crowd of miners who upon the first
alarm had taken possession of the boat-deck were refusing to leave it,
and a brisk struggle between them and the seamen was proceeding, though
as yet no firearms were being used. But I knew Hoskins's temper; he was
by no means a patient man, or one given to much verbal argument. It was
usually a word and a blow with him, and not infrequently the blow came
first; I knew also that he habitually carried a revolver in his pocket
when at sea. I should not, therefore, have been at all surprised to
hear the crack of the weapon at any moment.
I had just managed to extricate myself from the crowd, and was making my
way toward the purser's cabin, when from the interior of the ship, and
almost beneath my feet, there came a deep _boom_, and I knew that the
after bulkhead of the engine-room had given way, and that the moments of
the _Saturn_ were numbered.
"No use to hunt up the purser, now," I thought; and I made a dash for
the boat-deck, to see if I could render any assistance there. But I was
too late; the sound of the bursting bulkhead, coming on top of the
previous alarms, was all that was needed to produce the panic I had all
along been dreading, and in an instant the decks were alive with frantic
people, all desperately fighting their way upward to the boat-deck,
where pandemonium now raged supreme, and where pistols were popping
freely, showing that Hoskins was by no means the only man in the ship
who went armed.
Now, what was the best thing for me to do? Could I do _anything_
useful? I stood on the outskirts of that seething, maddened crowd, and
watched men and women striving desperately together, trampling each
other remorselessly down; shrieking, cursing, fighting; no longer human,
but reduced by the fear of death to the condition of rabid, ferocious
brutes. No, I could do nothing: as well go down below and attempt to
stay the inrush of water with my two hands, as strive by argument to
restore those people to reason; while, as for _force_, what could my
strength avail against that of hundreds? No, they had all gone mad,
and, in their madness, were destroying themselves, rendering it
impossible to launch the boats, and so dooming themselves and everybody
else to death. It was awful! That scene often revisits me in dreams,
even to this day, and I awake sweating and trembling with the
unspeakable horror of it.
Meanwhile the ship was rapidly sinking; she had taken so strong a list
to starboard that it was only with the utmost difficulty I could retain
my footing upon her steeply inclined deck, while she was so much down by
the stern that the sea was almost level with the deck right aft.
Scarcely knowing what I did, acting with the inconsequence of one in a
dream, I clawed my way across the bridge that led from the upper deck to
the poop, and reached the taffrail, where I stood gazing blankly down
into the black water, thinking, I am afraid, some rather rebellious
thoughts. I must have stood thus for at least five minutes before I
realised that my hands were gripping a life-buoy, one of six that were
stopped to the rail. Still acting mechanically, and with no very
definite purpose, I drew forth my pocket-knife, severed the lashing,
passed the buoy over my head and shoulders, thrust my arms through it,
climbed the rail--and dropped into the water.
The chill of the immersion instantly brought me to my senses. In a
moment I realised that if I would save my life I must, without an
instant's delay, put the greatest possible distance between the ship and
myself before she foundered, otherwise when she sank--which she might do
at any moment--she would drag me down with her, and drown me. The
desire to live, which seemed to have been paralysed within me by the
suddenness of the disaster and the dreadful scenes I had subsequently
witnessed, re-awoke, and I struck out vigorously.
I know not how long I had been swimming--it seemed to me, in my anxiety
to get well away from the ship, to have been but a very few minutes--
when the tumultuous sounds of contention aboard the doomed _Saturn_
suddenly changed to a long wailing scream, and, glancing back over my
shoulder, I saw, upreared against the star-lit sky, the fore end of the
ship standing almost vertically out of the water, while at the same
instant another loud _boom_ reached my ears, proclaiming either the
bursting of the ship's boilers, the yielding of another bulkhead, or,
possibly, the blowing up of her decks; then, as I paused for a moment to
watch the conclusion of the catastrophe, the hull sank lower and lower
still in the water until within the space of a minute it completely
vanished.
The dreadful sight stimulated me to superhuman exertion, for I believed
I was still perilously near that great sinking mass; and indeed I had
scarcely covered another dozen yards when I felt the strong suction of
the foundering ship. I fought against it with desperate energy, and in
about a minute's time it relaxed, and I ceased swimming.
"Now," I asked myself, "what is the next thing to be done? I suppose it
was instinct that prompted me to get into this life-buoy and swim away
from the sinking ship; but in doing so have I not merely exchanged a
quick for a lingering death? If I had stuck to the ship I should have
gone down with her, and died with very little suffering, if any; while,
so far as I can see, I am now fated to drift about in this buoy until I
perish slowly and miserably of cold, hunger, and thirst."
It was a most depressing reflection, and for a moment I felt strongly
tempted to slip out of the buoy, throw up my hands, sink, and have done
with it. But no; love of life, self-preservation, which we are told is
the first law of nature, would not permit me to act foolishly; reason
reasserted herself, reminding me that while there is life there is hope.
I remembered that I was floating in a stretch of water that is the
highway for ships bound round the Cape to and from Australia and New
Zealand. It is a highway that, if not quite so busy as London's Fleet
Street, is traversed almost daily by craft of one sort or another, bound
either east or west; and something might come along at any moment and,
if I could but attract attention to myself, pick me up. Besides, I did
not really believe in "giving up". It had been instilled into me from
my earliest childhood that the correct way to meet difficulties is to
_fight_ them, and to fight the harder the more formidable appear the
difficulties. And the doctrine is sound; I had and have proved it to be
so, over and over again, and I meant again to put it to the test, then,
in the most discouraging combination of adverse circumstances with which
I had ever been confronted.
But the water was bitterly cold; if I remained submerged to my armpits,
as I then was, I could not survive long enough to get a fair chance. I
needed a raft of some sort buoyant enough to support me practically dry;
and, remembering that there were numerous loose articles such as deck-
chairs, gratings, and what not that would probably float off the wreck
when she sank, I turned and swam back towards the spot where the
_Saturn_ had gone down, hoping that I might be fortunate enough to find
something that would afford me the support I required. And as I struck
out afresh I was cheered and encouraged by the assurance that day was
not far distant, for, looking ahead, I saw that the sky low down toward
the horizon wore the pallor that is the forerunner of dawn.
By imperceptible degrees the day crept up over the eastern horizon, cold
and white; and, as soon as there was light enough to enable me to see
from the crest of one swell to that of the next, I began to look about
me in the hope of finding flotsam of some sort that would be useful to
me; also it occurred to me that there might be some who had remembered
that cork jackets were to be found in every state-room, and might have
made use of them; in which case I might fall in with other survivors,
who might be useful to me, and I to them, if we joined forces.
For several minutes my search of the surface of the sea proved
fruitless, at which I was distinctly disconcerted, for I knew that there
were many articles of a buoyant nature which had been lying loose about
the decks, and which must have floated off when the ship sank; and I was
beginning to fear that somehow I had got out of my reckoning and had
missed the scene of the catastrophe. But a minute or two later, as I
topped the ridge of a swell, I caught a momentary glimpse of something
floating, some fifty or sixty fathoms away, and, striking out vigorously
in that direction, I presently arrived at the spot and found myself in
the midst of a small collection of brooms, scrubbing-brushes, squeegees,
buckets, deck-chairs, gratings, and--gigantic slice of luck!--one of the
ship's life-boats floating bottom up! But of human beings, living or
dead, not a sign; it was therefore evident that, of the five hundred and
thirty-five aboard the _Saturn_ at the moment of the disaster, I was the
sole survivor.
Naturally, I made straight for the upturned life-boat; but recognising
that a bucket might prove very useful I secured one and towed it along
with me. Reaching the boat I was greatly gratified to find that not
only was she quite undamaged but also that she was riding buoyantly,
with the whole of her keel and about a foot of her bottom above the
surface of the water. Of course the first thing to be done was to right
the boat, and then to bale her out; and, with the water as smooth as it
then was, I thought there ought not to be much difficulty in doing
either. The righting of the boat, however, proved to be very much more
difficult than I had imagined. She was a fairly big boat and, floating
wrong side up and full of water, she was very sluggish, and for a long
time scarcely responded to my efforts; but I eventually succeeded, and,
with a glad heart, seized the bucket I had secured, hove it into the
boat, and climbed in after it, finding to my joy that, even with my
weight in her, the boat floated with both gunwales nearly four inches
above the surface of the water. Thus there would be no difficulty in
baling her dry; and this I at once proceeded to do, working vigorously
at the task, not only with the object of freeing the boat as speedily as
possible, but, still more, to restore my circulation and get a little
warmth into my chilled and benumbed body.
CHAPTER TWO.
THE "YORKSHIRE LASS."
By the time that I had baled the boat dry the sun was above the horizon,
the air had become quite genially warm, and my exertions had set my body
aglow, while my clothing was rapidly drying in the gentle breeze that
was blowing out from about north-west; also I discovered that I had
somehow developed a most voracious appetite.
Fortunately, I was able to regard this last circumstance with
equanimity, for the manager of the Planet Line of steamers had laid it
down as a most stringent rule that while the ships were at sea all boats
were not only to be maintained in a state of perfect preparation for
instant launching, but were also to be fully supplied with provisions
and water upon a scale proportional to their passenger-carrying
capacity, and each was also to have her full equipment of gear stowed in
her, ready for instant service. Now, the boat which I had been
fortunate enough to find--and which, by the way, seemed to be the only
one that had not been carried down with the ship--was Number 5, a craft
thirty-two feet long by eight feet beam, carvel-built, double-ended,
fitted with air-chambers fore and aft and along each side, with a keel
six inches deep to enable her to work to windward under sail. She was
yawl-rigged, pulled six oars, and her full carrying capacity was twenty-
four persons, for which number she carried provisions and water enough
to last, according to a carefully regulated scale, four days, or even
six days at a pinch. These provisions were all of the tinned variety,
and were stowed in a locker specially arranged for their reception
between the two midship thwarts. Thus there was no risk of the food
being damaged by salt water, on the one hand, or of being washed out of
the boat, on the other. Upon coming into possession of the boat,
therefore, I was not only so fortunate as to find an ark of refuge, but
also rations of food sufficient to last me ninety-six days.
Knowing all this--such knowledge being a part of my duty--no sooner had
I hove the last bucketful of water out over the gunwale than I opened
the food locker and spread the constituents of a very satisfying
breakfast in the stern-sheets of the boat; whereupon I fell to and made
an excellent meal.
As I sat there, eating and drinking, a solitary individual adrift in the
vast expanse of the Southern Ocean, I began to look my future in the
face and ask myself what I was now to do. In a general sense it was not
at all a difficult question to answer. The _Saturn_, that splendid,
new, perfectly equipped steamship, had gone to the bottom, taking with
her five hundred and thirty-four human beings; and, apart from myself
and the boat I sat in, there was nothing and nobody to tell what her
fate had been. I was the sole survivor of a probably unexampled
disaster, and my obvious duty was to hasten, with as little delay as
possible, to some spot from which I could report the particulars of that
disaster to the owners of the ship.
But what spot, precisely, must I endeavour to reach? As an officer of
the ship I of course knew her exact position at noon on the day
preceding her loss. It was Latitude 39 degrees 3 minutes 20 seconds
South; Longitude 52 degrees 26 minutes 45 seconds East; I remembered the
figures well, having something of a gift in that direction, which I had
sedulously cultivated, in view of the possibility that some day I might
find it exceedingly useful. In the same way I was able to form a fairly
accurate mental picture of the chart upon which that position had been
pricked off, for Cooper, our "second", and I had been studying it
together in the chart-house shortly after the skipper had "pricked her
off". As a result, I knew that the _Saturn_ had foundered some two
thousand miles east-south-east of the Cape of Good Hope; that
Madagascar--the nearest land--bore about north-by-west, true; with the
islands of Reunion and Mauritius, not much farther off, bearing about
two points farther east. These items of information were of course
valuable; but their value was to a very great extent discounted by the
fact that I had neither sextant nor chronometer wherewith to determine
the boat's position, day after day, nor a chart to guide me.
At this point in my self-communion I realised that alternative courses
were open to me, and I proceeded to give them my most careful
consideration, comparing the one with the other. And the more carefully
I examined them, the more difficult did I find it to come to a decision.
On the one hand, here was I, right in the track of ships bound east and
west; consequently I stood a very fair chance of being picked up at any
moment, when the ship's wireless installation would at once enable me to
make my report. On the other hand, in the unlikely event of my failing
to be picked up, I could dispatch a cablegram from, say, Port Louis,
Mauritius, immediately upon my arrival there; and the point which I had
to decide was whether I should at once steer north, or whether I should
remain where I was, and trust to being speedily picked up. I will not
weary the reader by repeating in detail the arguments, pro and con, that
presented themselves to my mind; let it suffice me to say that I
eventually adopted the second of the courses outlined above. And so
certain did I feel that this was the right decision that I actually
adhered to it for seven days, during which I sighted four steamers and
one sailing ship; but, as ill-fortune would have it, three of the
steamers and the sailing ship passed me at too great a distance to
permit of my intercepting them, while the fourth steamer--a big liner,
with three tiers of ports blazing with electric light--passed during the
night, within less than four miles of me; but I had no light with which
to signal to her, and thus I was passed unseen.
The liner passed me during the fifth night succeeding that of the wreck;
and during the following two days I saw nothing. As I watched the sun
go down on the seventh day that I had spent in the boat I said to
myself:
"Well, here endeth the seventh day of a most disappointing experience.
If, seven days ago, anyone had told me that I could hang about here in a
boat for a whole week, right in the track of ships, without being
sighted and picked up, I would not have believed it. Yet here I am,
and, judging from past experience, here I may remain for another seven
days, or even longer, with no more satisfactory result. I have spent
seven precious days waiting for a ship to come along and find me; now I
will go and see if I cannot find a ship, or, failing that, find land,
where I shall at least be safe from destruction by the first gale that
chances to spring up."
Thinking thus, I put up my helm, wore the boat round, and headed her
upon a course that I believed would eventually enable me to hit off
either Reunion or Mauritius, should I not be picked up beforehand.
That was a very anxious night indeed for me; by far the most anxious
that I had thus far spent since the destruction of the _Saturn_, for the
wind steadily increased, compelling me to haul down a first and then a
second reef in the mainsail, while--the wind and sea being now square
abeam--I was continually exposed to the danger of being swamped by a sea
breaking aboard. By constant watchfulness, however, I contrived to
escape this danger, and my eighth morning found the boat bowling along
to the northward and reeling off her six knots per hour, with a steady
breeze from the westward, a long, regular sea running, and a clear sky
giving promise that the weather conditions were unlikely to grow any
worse than they were then. But I had to stick to the mainsheet and the
yoke-lines, and do as best I could without rest, for the time being.
Fortunately, as the day wore on, the wind moderated, until by nightfall
it had dropped to such an extent that I was able to shake out first one
reef and then the other, while with the moderating of the breeze the sea
also went down until it was no longer dangerous.
I had now had no sleep for thirty-six hours, consequently I felt in sore
need of rest. I therefore hove-to the boat, coiled myself down, and
instantly sank into a dreamless slumber. It must have been about
midnight when I awoke. I at once let draw the fore-sheet, filled away
upon the course I had decided upon, and kept the boat going for the
remainder of the night.
The ninth day of my boat voyage dawned pleasantly, with the wind still
blowing a moderate breeze from the westward, a long, regular swell
running, and no sea worth troubling about. The conditions were
therefore quite favourable for a little experiment I desired to make.
Being only human, I could not avoid the necessity for securing a certain
amount of sleep, and, up to now, when I needed rest it had been my habit
to heave-to the boat and leave her to take care of herself, trusting to
that curious sailor-sense, which all sailor-men soon acquire, to awake
me should the need arise. But heaving-to meant loss of time; and having
already lost so much I was very reluctant to lose more, if such loss
could possibly be avoided. I therefore set the boat going on her
correct compass course, and then, releasing the yoke-lines, I
endeavoured to render the craft self-steering by adjusting the fore and
mizen sheets. It took me the best part of half an hour to accomplish
this to my complete satisfaction, but I did it at length and, this done,
I went aloft and took a good look round. There was nothing in sight--
indeed I scarcely expected to see anything in the part of the ocean
which I had then reached; I therefore descended and rested until dinner-
time, indulging in another nap until the hour for my evening meal, in
preparation for an all-night watch.
The weather had now become quite settled, and was as favourable as it
could possibly be to persons who, like myself, were engaged upon an
ocean voyage in an open boat. The wind still held steadily in the
western quarter, enabling me to lay my course with eased sheets, while
its strength was sufficient to push the boat along under whole canvas at
a speed of about five knots, with no need to keep one's eye continually
watching the lee gunwale. My only difficulty at this time was the lack
of a light to illuminate the boat compass at night, the can containing
the supply of lamp oil seeming to have gone adrift when the boat was
capsized. I was therefore compelled to steer entirely by the stars, and
I was sometimes disturbed by an uneasy doubt as to whether I might not
occasionally have deviated slightly from my proper course by holding on
to one particular star for too long a time. In all other respects I did
splendidly.
The morning of the tenth day of this remarkable but, on the whole,
uneventful voyage of mine in the life-boat dawned auspiciously, and the
daily routine into which I had settled began. I went aloft for a look
round, and then, the horizon being empty, I had breakfast; after which,
with the boat steering herself, I stretched myself out for a short
sleep.
I must have slept for perhaps two hours when some mysterious influence
awoke me, and I started up, gazing eagerly about me. There was still
nothing in sight from the low elevation of the boat herself, but being
awake I decided to have a look round from aloft. In another minute I
was straddling the yard of the main lug, from which position, as the
boat floated up on a ridge of swell, I caught a momentary glimpse of
something gleaming white in the brilliant sunshine right ahead. It
could, of course, be but one thing, namely, the upper canvas of a
sailing craft of some sort. I remained where I was, intently watching
that gleaming white speck until it had grown into the semblance of a
royal and the head of a topgallant sail. From time to time I also got
occasional glimpses of the upper part of another sail which I could not
for the moment identify; but ultimately, as I watched, the strange craft
seemed to alter her course a little, and then I made out the puzzling
piece of canvas to be the triangular head of a gaff-topsail; the vessel
was therefore, without a doubt, a brigantine. What I could not at first
understand, however, was the way she was steering; at one moment she
would appear absolutely end-on, while a minute or two later she would be
broad off the wind, to the extent of four or five points. It was
exceedingly erratic steering, to say the least of it, and I was
tantalised too by my inability to determine whether she was heading
toward or away from me; but eventually I decided that, since her masts
had hove up above the horizon just where they were, she must be heading
toward me. The only argument against this assumption was that she did
not appear to be rising rapidly enough to justify it; but she certainly
_was_ rising, although slowly, and that was enough for me in the
meantime. Without further ado, therefore, I slid down from aloft, went
aft, and seized the yoke-lines, saying to myself:
"I believe it's going to be all right this time. She is a sailing craft
and I am raising her, although very slowly. It will be afternoon before
I can get alongside her, but, please God, there will be no more open
boating for me after to-day."
That the craft in sight was indeed a brigantine became unmistakable as I
stood on, slowly raising her canvas above the horizon; and later on in
the day I made two further discoveries, of a rather peculiar character,
in connection with her. One was, that she was hove-to; the other, that
she was flying her ensign upside-down at the peak of her mainsail, the
latter circumstance indicating that she was in distress or required
assistance of some kind.
It was about three o'clock in the afternoon when the life-boat crept up
near enough to the brigantine to enable me to distinguish details; and
the first thing I observed was that a group of five or six men--
apparently forecastle hands--were grouped aft, curiously inspecting the
boat through a telescope as I approached. A little later, when I
arrived within a few fathoms of her, I learned, from the inscription in
white letters on her stern, that the craft was named the _Yorkshire
Lass_, and that she hailed from Hull.
As I drew up within hail I put my hands to my mouth, trumpet-wise, and
shouted:
"_Yorkshire Lass_ ahoy! I am a castaway, and have been adrift in this
boat ten days. May I board you?"
To my amazement, instead of replying, the group of men clustered on deck
aft turned to each other and seemed to hold a brief consultation.
Finally, after a short palaver, one of them hailed:
"Boat ahoy! I say, mister, are you a navigator?"
"Yes, certainly," I replied, much astonished at having such a question
addressed to me by a British seaman, instead of--as I had fully
expected--receiving a cordial invitation to come alongside; "I was
fourth officer of the _Saturn_, of the Planet Line of steamers running
between London and Melbourne--" and then I stopped, for instead of
listening to me they were all talking together again. At length, when
the life-boat had crept up close under the brigantine's lee quarter, one
of the men came to the rail and, looking down into the boat, remarked:
"All right, mister; come aboard, and welcome. Look out, and I'll heave
ye a line."
A couple of minutes later the life-boat, with her sails lowered, was
alongside, and, climbing the craft's low side, I reached her deck.
"Welcome aboard the _Yorkshire Lass_, mister," I was greeted by a great
burly specimen of the British "shellback", as I stepped in over the
rail. "Very glad to see ye, I'm sure. But what about your boat? She's
a fine boat and no mistake; but I'm afraid we'll have to let her go
adrift. She's too big for us to hoist her in; we've no place on deck
where we could stow her. But if there's anything of value aboard her
we'll have it out, eh, mister?"
"Certainly," I agreed. "There is still a quantity of preserved
provisions in that locker; there are the two water breakers; there is a
life-buoy--and that is about all. But, look here!" I continued; "if
something must be turned adrift, why not get rid of that long-boat of
yours, and hoist in the life-boat in her place? The latter is very much
the better boat of the two--there is indeed no comparison between them--
and I am sure she would stow very snugly in your long-boat's chocks."
"Ay," agreed the other, "I believe she would. And, as you say, she's a
lot better than the long-boat; she've got air-chambers, I see, and--in
fact she's a proper life-boat, and she's roomy enough to take all hands
of us if anything should happen. What say, chaps, shall us try it?"
This last to the other men, who had stood around listening to everything
that was said.
The party, five of them in all, slouched over to the rail and stood
looking down into the life-boat with an air of stolid indifference, as
she rose and fell alongside. Then they turned and looked inboard at the
long-boat, which stood upright in chocks, on top of the main hatch, with
the jolly-boat stowed, keel-up, inside her. Finally one of them said:
"Yah, ve'll do id; she's wort' de drouble. Gome on, poys, led's ged do
vork; we haven'd done moosh dese lasd dwo days, und id von'd hurd us.
Shoomp ub dere, zome of you und ged de sholly-boad oud of dad!"
"Now," thought I, "what sort of a craft is this that I've blundered
aboard of? She's Liberty Hall afloat, by the look of it--Jack as good
as his master! There seems to be something a bit queer here--something
that I can't quite understand at present, but I'll find out what it is
before long. Which of those fellows is the skipper, I wonder--or, if
neither of them is, as I am very much inclined to think, where is he?"
And then I suddenly recalled to mind the question--"Are you a
navigator?"--which had been put to me before I received permission to
come aboard. For a moment I thought of demanding an explanation before
permitting the life-boat to be hoisted in; but I changed my mind and
resolved to defer my investigation until later. I flattered myself that
if anything should prove to be really wrong aboard the brigantine I had
wit enough to enable me to deal with it.
Meanwhile, the five men, having summoned three others from the
forecastle to their assistance, got to work with the exasperating
deliberation characteristic of the British merchant seaman to be found
in the forecastles of small craft; and first of all they got the jolly-
boat down on deck and ran her aft, out of the way; then they cleared out
a number of warps, cork fenders, and other lumber from the long-boat,
lifted her out of her chocks, and finally, unshipping the gangway,
launched her overboard, fisherman-fashion, and dropped her astern,
riding to her painter. Then they got their mast and yard tackles aloft,
arranged the chocks in place on the main hatch, and with a tremendous
amount of fuss, with the assistance of snatch-blocks, the windlass, and
the winch, they contrived to hoist in and stow the life-boat that had
stood me in such good stead for nearly a fortnight. That done, all
hands held another somewhat lengthy and animated pow-wow on the
forecastle-head, at the conclusion of which the man who had given me
permission to come aboard came aft and, pointing to the life-boat,
remarked to me:
"I reckon we've made a very good job of that, mister, and I'm sure we're
all very much obliged to ye for the idee. She's worth a dozen of the
long-boat and quite worth all the trouble we've took to put her where
she is." Then, without waiting for any response, he stepped aft, peered
through the skylight, and, stepping to where the ship's bell hung, he
struck eight bells (four o'clock). Rejoining me as I stood watching the
long-boat, that had been cast adrift, he remarked, with a clumsy effort
at civility:
"Tea'll be coming along aft in about five minutes, and I reckon you'll
be glad of a cup. I s'pose you haven't been gettin' much hot food while
you've been moochin' about in that boat, have ye?"
"I have not," I replied. "It was impossible to do cooking of any kind,
as of course you will readily understand."
"Ah, well, ye'll be able to make up for it now," was the rejoinder, "for
here comes the steward, teapot and all. Step down below into the cabin,
and make yourself at home."
"Many thanks," said I. "By the way, are you the master of this vessel?
And I gather from your ensign being hoisted union-down that you are in
distress. What is wrong with you?"
CHAPTER THREE.
AN AMAZING STORY.
We were now passing down the companion ladder on our way to the cabin,
and as I finished speaking the man to whom I addressed my question, and
who had led the way below, motioned me to enter an open doorway at the
foot of the stairs.
Obeying the invitation, I found myself in a small, rather dark and
stuffy cabin, very plainly fitted up; the woodwork painted dark-oak
colour, the beams and underside of the deck planking overhead imparting
a little cheerfulness to the small interior by being painted white,
while the lockers were covered with cushions of much worn plush that had
once been crimson, but which, through age, wear, and dirt, had become
almost black. The place was lighted by a small skylight in the deck,
and two ports, or scuttles, on each side. At one end of the skylight
was screwed a clock, while to the other end was screwed a mercurial
barometer hung in gimbals; and immediately over the chair at the fore
end of the table hung a tell-tale compass. The table was laid with a
damask table-cloth that had seen better days, and, no doubt, had once
been white, while the ware was white and of that thick and solid
character that defies breakage. A well-filled bread barge, containing
ordinary ship biscuit, stood at one end of the table, flanked by a dish
of butter on one side and a pot of jam on the other; the tray was placed
at the starboard side of the table, and amidships, at the fore end,
there stood a dish containing a large lump of salt beef behind three
plates, with a carving knife and fork alongside them. To the chair in
front of these, or at the head of the table, the man who was acting the
part of host now waved a hand, mutely inviting me to take it.
"Certainly not," I said. "You are the master of the ship, I presume,
and, as such, this is of course your rightful place. Why should you
surrender it to me?"
"Ah, but that's just where you make a mistake, Mr--er--er--I forget
your name. No, I'm not the skipper; I'm the bosun, and my name's
Enderby--John Enderby. And this man,"--indicating an individual who at
this moment joined us--"is William Johnson, the carpenter--otherwise
`Chips'."
"Then, where is your skipper--and your mate?" I demanded.
"That's what we're in distress about," answered the boatswain. "Sit
down, sir, please, and let's get on with our tea; and while we're
gettin' of it I'll spin ye the yarn. That's why me and Chips is havin'
tea down here, aft, this afternoon. At other times we messes with the
rest of the men in the fo'c'sle; but as soon as you comed aboard we all
reckernised that you'd want to know the ins and outs of this here
traverse that we finds ourselves in, so 'twas arranged that me and Chips
should have tea with ye, and explain the whole thing."
"I see," said I. "Well, you may heave ahead while I carve this beef. I
can do that and listen at the same time."
"Yes," assented Enderby. Then, breathing deeply, he gazed steadfastly
at the clock for so long a time and with an air of such complete
abstraction that at length Chips, who was sitting on the locker
alongside him, gave him an awakening nudge of the elbow, accompanied by
the injunction:
"Heave ahead, man; heave ahead! You'll never get under way if you don't
show better than this."
"Ay, you're right there, my lad, I shan't, and that's a fact," returned
Enderby. "The trouble is that I don't know where to make a start--
whether to begin with what happened the night afore last, or whether
'twould be best to go back to our sailin' from London."
"Perhaps the last will be the better plan," I suggested. "If you start
at the very beginning I shall stand a better chance of understanding the
whole affair."
"Ay, ay; yes, of course you will," agreed the boatswain. "Well, it's
like this here," he began. "We left London last September--you'll find
the exact date in the log-book--with a full cargo for Cape Town, our
complement bein' thirteen, all told. Thirteen's an unlucky number,
mister; and as soon as I reckernised that our ship's company totted up
to that I _knowed_ we should have trouble, in some shape or form. But
we arrived at Cape Town all right; discharged our cargo; took in
ballast; filled up our water tanks, and got away to sea again all right;
and it wasn't until the night afore last that the trouble comed along.
Our skipper's name was Stenson, and the mate called hisself John Barber,
but I 'low it was, as likely as not, a purser's name, for I never liked
the man, and no more didn't any of us, for though he was a good enough
seaman he had a very nasty temper and was everlastin'ly naggin' the men.
"It appeared that he and the skipper was old friends--or anyway they
knowed one another pretty well, havin' been schoolfellers together; and
the story goes that some while ago this man, Barber, bein' at the time
on his beam-ends, runned foul of the skipper and begged help from him,
spinnin' a yarn about a lot of treasure that he'd found on an island
somewhere away to the east'ard, and offerin' to go shares if he'd help
Barber to get hold of the stuff. I dunno whether the yarn's true or no,
but the skipper believed it, for the upshot of it was that Cap'n
Stenson--who, I might say, was the owner of the _Yorkshire Lass_--
hustled around and got a general cargo for Cape Town, after dischargin'
which we took in ballast and sailed in search of this here treasure.
Well, everything worked all right until the night afore last, when
Barber, who was takin' the middle watch, went below and, for some reason
or another, brought the skipper up on deck. Svorenssen, who was at the
wheel, says that the pair of 'em walked fore and aft in the waist for a
goodish bit, talkin' together; and then suddenly they got to high words;
then, all in a minute, they started fightin' or strugglin' together, and
before Svorenssen could sing out or do anything they was at the rail,
and the pair of 'em went overboard, locked in one another's arms."
"Went overboard!" I reiterated. "Good Heavens! what an extraordinary
thing! And was no effort made to save them?"
"Svorenssen sung out, of course," replied the boatswain, "but he
couldn't leave the wheel, for 'twas pipin' up a freshish breeze on our
port quarter, and we was doin' about seven, or seven and a half knots,
with topmast and lower stunsails set to port, and of course we had to
take 'em in, clew up the royal and to'ga'ntsail, and haul down the gaff-
tops'l before we could round to; and that took us so long that at last,
when we'd brought the hooker to the wind, hove her to, and had got the
jolly-boat over the side, we knowed that it'd be no earthly use to look
for either of 'em. All the same, I took the boat, with three hands, and
we pulled back over the course we'd come; as near as we could guess at
it; but although we pulled about until daylight. We never got a sight
of either of 'em."
"What a truly extraordinary story!" I repeated. "And, pray, who is now
in command of the ship?"
"Well, I s'pose I am, as much as anybody--though there haven't been much
`commandin'' since the skipper was lost," answered Enderby. "But I'm
the oldest and most experienced man aboard, and the others have been
sort of lookin' to me to advise 'em what to do; and since there's ne'er
a one of us as knows anything about navigation I advised that we should
heave-to, hoist a signal of distress, and then wait until something
comed along that would supply us with a navigator. But now that you've
comed along we needn't waste any more of this fine fair wind, because I
s'pose you won't have no objection to do our navigatin' for us, eh?"
"That depends entirely upon where you are bound for," I replied. "Of
course I shall be very pleased to navigate the ship to the nearest port
on your way, but I cannot promise to do more than that. And you have
not yet told me where you are bound. Did I not understand that it is to
some island?"
"Ay, yes, that's right," answered the boatswain, "but,"--here he raised
his voice to a shout--"Billy, come here, my lad, and tell the gen'leman
what you knows about this here v'yage."
Whereupon, to my astonishment, a very intelligent-looking boy, of
apparently about eleven or twelve years of age, emerged from the pantry,
where it appeared he had been helping the steward, and stood before us,
alert and evidently prepared to answer questions. He was only a little
chap, fair-haired and blue-eyed, and his eyelids were red, as though he
had recently been crying; but there were honesty, straightforwardness,
and fearlessness in the way in which he looked me straight in the eye,
and an evident eagerness in his manner that greatly pleased me.
"This," said Enderby, by way of introduction, "is Billy Stenson, the
skipper's son. He haven't no mother, pore little chap, so he've been
comin' to sea with his father the last two or three years, haven't you,
Billy?"
"Yes, that's quite right, bosun," answered the boy.
"Well, now, this gentleman, Mr--er--dashed if I can remember your name,
mister!" proceeded Enderby.
"Blackburn," I prompted.
"Thank 'e, sir. Blackburn. Well, Billy," continued the boatswain,
"this here Mr Blackburn is a first-class navigator, havin' been an
orficer aboard a liner, and he'll be able to take us to Barber's
treasure island, if anybody can. But, of course, he'll have to know
whereabouts it is afore he can navigate the ship to it; and now that
your pore father's--um--no longer aboard, I reckon that you're the only
one who can say what's the latitood and longitood of it."
"But that's just what I _can't_ do, bosun," answered Billy. "I know
what the latitude of it is, but the longitude's another matter. Mr
Barber didn't know it; Father didn't know it; and _I_ don't know it."
"What!" I exclaimed. "Do you mean to tell me that your father actually
started out with the deliberate intention of looking for an island the
latitude only of which he knew?"
"Yes, sir," answered the boy, "that's right. Let me tell you how it all
happened. I know, because Father told me the story lots of times; and
besides, I've heard him and Mr Barber talking about it so often that
I'm not likely to forget a word of it. This is how it was:--
"Before Mr Barber met Father, this last time, he was mate of a Dutch
ship trading out of Batavia, collecting sandalwood and shell. They
called at a place named--named--Waing-- Do you mind, sir, if I get the
chart and show you the place on it? Somehow, I never can exactly
remember the names of these places, but I can point 'em out on the
chart, because I've listened and watched while Father and Mr Barber
talked it over together."
"Yes," I said, "by all means get the chart, my boy. I shall be able to
understand your story ever so much better with that before me."
Whereupon the lad entered a state-room at the fore end of the main
cabin, and presently returned with a chart of the Malay Archipelago,
which he spread open on the table.
"There," he said, pointing with his finger, "that's the place they
called at--Waingapu, in Sumba Island; and this pencil-mark Mr Barber
drew to show the track of the ship and the boat afterwards--as nearly as
he could remember. After leaving Waingapu the ship sailed along this
line,"--pointing with his finger--"through Maurissa Strait, up to here.
And here Mr Barber and the Dutch captain had a terrible quarrel and a
fight--I don't know what about, because Mr Barber didn't say, but it
ended in Mr Barber being turned adrift by himself in a boat, with a
small stock of provisions and one breaker of fresh water. The boat was
an old one, very leaky, and she had no sail, so Mr Barber could do
nothing but just let her drift, hoping every day that something would
come along and pick him up. But nothing came, and five days later he
found that his water was all gone, the breaker havin' been leaky. The
next thing that happened was that Mr Barker got light-headed with
thirst; and it used to make me feel awfully uncomfortable to hear him
tell about the things he thought he saw while he was that way. At last
he got so thirsty that he couldn't stand it any longer, and, bein' mad,
he filled the baler with water from over the side, and drank it. And
then he found that the water was _fresh_, and he drank some more, and
his senses came back to him, and, lookin' round, he saw that there was
land on both sides of the boat and that she was in a sort of wide river.
But, although the land was so plain in sight, Mr Barber was so weak
that he couldn't do anything; for while he was light-headed he'd hove
all his grub overboard and was now starving. So he just had to let the
boat drift with the wind; and after a bit she drove ashore. But even
then Mr Barber couldn't do anything but just climb out of the boat and
fling himself down upon the sand, where he slept until next morning.
"When he woke up he felt a bit better, but awfully hungry, so he got up
and, seeing a few trees not far off, he managed to crawl over to 'em,
and was lucky enough to find some fruit on 'em. He said he didn't know
what the fruit was, and didn't care, he was so awfully hungry that he'd
have eaten it, even if he'd known it was poison. But it wasn't; it was
quite good; and after he had eaten he felt so much stronger that he went
back to the beach and moored his boat to a big boulder, so that she
wouldn't drift away.
"Now that Mr Barber had found food and water he set about taking care
of himself, so that he might get strong again and be able to get away
from where he was--because, of course, he didn't want to spend the rest
of his days there. But he wanted to find out as much as he could about
the place; so as soon as he was strong enough he began to wander about a
bit, explorin', and in particular he wanted to have a look at something
that he thought might be a house all overgrown with creepers. And when
at last he was able to get to it he found that it was a very ancient
_ship_, that he thought must have drove ashore during the height of a
very heavy gale of wind, when the level of the sea surface was raised
several feet above ordinary, deeply flooding the low ground where he
found her.
"Of course Mr Barber climbed aboard and had a good look round, thinking
that he'd perhaps be able to take up his quarters aboard her until he
could get away from the place; but he found her timbers and deck
planking all so rotten that it wasn't safe to move about aboard her.
All the same, he gave her a good overhaul; and down in the run he found
a little room, and in it eight big chests all bound round with thick,
steel bands. With a lot of trouble he broke 'em open, and five of 'em
he found packed full of gold and silver things--coins, candlesticks,
images and things that he believed had been stolen out of churches, with
chains and rings and bracelets and things of that sort. And the other
three chests had in 'em all sorts of gems--diamonds, rubies, emeralds--
and oh, I forget the names of all the things he said he found in them;
but I remember he said that they looked as though they'd been broken out
of articles of jewellery. Two of the chests were full, chock-a-block,
and the other was about three-parts full; and he said that, altogether,
the treasure must be worth millions!
"So as soon as Mr Barber felt well and strong enough to get away from
the place, he caulked the seams of his boat, and his water breaker, with
a kind of cotton that he found growing wild, made a mat sail for his
boat out of grass, laid in a stock of fruit and water, and, taking a
handful of the gems along with him, went out to sea again. But before
leaving the place he got the meridian altitude of the sun, by setting a
stick upright in the ground and measuring the length of its shadow very
carefully several days running; and in this way he afterwards found that
the latitude of the wreck was about 3 degrees 50 minutes South. Then,
when he was satisfied that he'd got the position near enough to be able
to find it again, he set his sail and went out to sea.
"But he was unlucky again, for on that very night a gale sprang up, his
sail was blown away, and he had all his work cut out to keep the boat
from being swamped. Then he fell ill again and went crazy once more,
coming to himself again aboard a Chinese junk bound for Singapore. Of
course the first thing he did was to search for his little packet of
gems; but they were gone; and, although he strongly suspected the
Chinese of having stolen them, they swore that they had seen nothing of
them. At Singapore Mr Barber applied for help as a distressed sailor,
and, after waiting a bit, he was sent home in a ship bound for London.
Four days after he landed in London he met Father, who helped him by
giving him money and inviting him to take up his quarters, for a bit,
aboard the _Yorkshire Lass_. Then he told Father all about the
treasure, and they kept on talkin' about it every evenin', when the
day's work was done, until at last Father agreed to help Mr Barber to
search for the treasure, he and Mr Barber to go halves in everything
they found, and Mr Barber to come with us as mate. And--and--I think,
sir, that's all."
"And quite enough, too," I said. "Why, it is the most amazing story to
which I have ever listened. And do you really mean to say that your
father actually allowed himself to be persuaded into engaging in such a
wild-goose chase as that of hunting for a spot of which the latitude
only is known--and that merely approximately, I should imagine."
"Yes, indeed, sir, it is a fact," answered Billy. "I know, because
Father and Mr Barber drew up an agreement and signed it, Father keeping
one copy, and Mr Barber the other. Father's copy is in his desk now,
if you'd care to see it."
"Later on, perhaps," I said. "There are other and more pressing matters
requiring attention just now. This--er--unfortunate affair of the night
before last has, I suppose, upset all plans, and clapped an effectual
stopper on the treasure-hunting scheme, eh?" I asked, turning to the
boatswain.
"Oh no, sir, it haven't," answered Enderby. "It looked a bit like it,
first off, I'll allow; 'cause, you see, the loss of the Old Man and the
mate left us without a navigator, and none of us knew which way to head
the ship. But me and Chips, bein' the only two officers left, had a
confab together, and then we mustered the rest of the hands and put it
to 'em whether they'd all agree to what we two proposed. And what we
proposed was this: Barber had evidently persuaded Cap'n Stenson that
there wasn't no mistake about the treasure actually existin', and that
it might be found, with a bit of tryin', otherwise the ship wouldn't be
where she is now.
"Then there was the agreement between the two, by which the treasure--
when found--was to be equally divided between 'em. Both of 'em havin'
gone over the side, that agreement couldn't be carried out; but there
was Billy, here; and there was us, the crew of the ship; and what me and
Chips proposed was, first of all, to get hold of a navigator who'd agree
to join in with us, and then go and try to find the treasure; the
arrangement bein' that Billy, as his father's son, should have half of
it, and we--the crew and the navigator--should divide the other half
equally between us.
"There was a lot of palaver over it, naturally--you know, sir, what
sailor-men are--but at last everybody agreed; and then, since we didn't
know where to head for, we hove-to, waitin' for something to come along
whereby we could get hold of a navigator. Then, at last, along comes
you, and you havin' turned up, I s'pose there's no reason why we
shouldn't haul down our ensign, swing the head yards, and fill away to
complete the v'yage?"
"No," I said; "no reason at all why you should not do those things. I
advise you to fill on the ship at once, and steer as you were heading
when you had the misfortune to lose your skipper and mate. Do you know
what that course was?"
"Oh yes," answered Enderby; "the course was north-east, a quarter east."
"Very good," said I. "Let that be the course until I shall have had an
opportunity to take a set of sights to determine the ship's position. I
suppose Captain Stenson had a sextant, chronometer, and all necessary
navigation tables aboard?"
"Yes, sir," said Billy. "They're all in his state-room. If you'll come
with me I'll show them to you."
"Thanks," I said. "What I am chiefly interested in, just now, is the
chronometer. Do you happen to know when it was last wound, Billy?"
"Yes, sir," answered the boy; "last Sunday morning. Father used always
to wind it every Sunday morning directly after breakfast."
"Good!" I remarked. "Then everything will be quite all right. And
now, bosun, what about berthing me? Where can you stow me?"
"No difficulty at all about that, sir," answered Enderby. "The Old
Man's state-room is the place for you, because his instruments and
charts and books are all in there; and, as of course you'll want the
place to yourself, Billy can shift over into the mate's state-room,
which is also vacant."
"An excellent suggestion," I remarked.
"All right," agreed Enderby; "then we'll call that settled. Steward!"
And when that functionary appeared the boatswain continued:
"Joe, this is Mr Blackburn, our new skipper. You'll take your orders
from him in future; and--Joe, see that things are straightened up in
those two state-rooms, the beds made, and so on."
The steward very cheerfully assented, and Enderby and the carpenter then
rose to go on deck, quickly followed by myself. The two men went
for'ard and joined the little crowd assembled on the forecastle, to
whom, as I of course surmised, they forthwith proceeded to relate what
had passed in the cabin. Whatever it may have been, it seemed to afford
the hearers satisfaction, for they smiled and nodded approval from time
to time, as the story was being told; and when at length it was ended
they all came aft and, while one hand hauled down the ensign and stowed
it away, another stationed himself at the wheel, and the remainder
tailed on to the braces, swung the headyards, boarded the foretack, and
trimmed the jib and staysail sheets, getting way upon the ship and
bringing her to her former course; after which, without waiting for any
order from me, they set the port topgallant, topmast, and lower
studding-sails. This done, the boatswain and carpenter came aft to
where I stood and inquired whether what had been done met with my
approval; to which I replied in the affirmative.
"And now, sir, about the watches," remarked Enderby. "Before the night
afore last, the mate took the port watch, and I the starboard; but now
that the mate's gone, how would it be if I was to take the port and
Chips the starboard watch? Would that suit ye, sir?"
"Yes," I said, "that would be an excellent arrangement, I think. By the
way, how many do you muster in a watch?"
"Four in each, includin' me and Chips," answered the boatswain.
"Um! none too many, especially considering the part of the world to
which you are bound," I remarked. "You will have to keep a sharp eye
upon the weather, and call me in good time if you should be in the least
doubt as to what you ought to do. Has either of you ever been this way
before?"
They had not, it appeared.
"And what about your forecastle crowd?" I asked. "Are they all good,
reliable men? Some of them are foreigners, aren't they?"
"Yes," answered Enderby, lowering his voice and drawing me away from the
vicinity of the man at the wheel. "Yes, worse luck, our four A.B.s are
all foreigners. Not that I've got anything very special to say against
'em. They're good sailor-men, all of 'em; but the fact is, sir, I don't
like bein' shipmates with foreigners; I don't like their ways, and some
of 'em has got very nasty tempers. There's Svorenssen, for instance--
that big chap with the red hair and beard--he's a Roosian Finn; and
he've got a vile temper, and I believe he's an unforgivin' sort of
feller, remembers things against a man--if you understand what I mean.
Then there's `Dutchy', as we calls him--that chap that pushed hisself
for'ard when we hoisted in your boat--he's an awk'ard feller to get on
with, too; hates bein' ordered about, and don't believe in discipline.
He and Svorenssen will both be in my watch, and I'll see to it that they
minds their P's and Q's. The other two aren't so bad; but they'd be a
lot better if Svorenssen and Dutchy was out of the ship."
"Ah, well," I said, "we are five Englishmen to four of them. If they
should take it into their heads to be insubordinate I have no doubt we
shall know how to deal with them. And now, I should like to have a look
at the log-book. I suppose you know where it is kept?"
"Yes," answered Enderby, "the skipper used to keep it in his cabin.
Billy'll give it you, and show you all you want to see. He knows where
his father kept everything. Oh! and I forgot to mention it, but
supper'll be on the table at seven o'clock."
"Righto!" I returned as I wheeled about and headed for the companion.
CHAPTER FOUR.
I TAKE COMMAND OF THE "YORKSHIRE LASS."
"Billy, my boy, where are you?" I called, as I entered the cabin.
"Here I am, sir," replied the lad, emerging from what had been his
father's state-room. "Is there anything I can do for you, sir?"
Billy Stenson was certainly an amusing and very lovable little chap as
he stood there before me, alert and bright-eyed, reminding me somehow of
a dog asking for a stick to be thrown into the water, that he may show
how cleverly he can retrieve it. If Billy had possessed a tail I am
certain that at that moment it would have been wagging vigorously.
"Yes, Billy," I said. "I should like to see the ship's log-book.
Enderby tells me that you know where it is kept, and can find it for me.
And I should like another look at the chart that you showed me a little
while ago. Also, if you can put your hand upon that agreement between
your father and Mr Barber, I should like to look through it--with any
other papers there may be, bearing upon the matter. The story is a very
remarkable one, and I feel greatly interested in it."
"Yes, sir," said Billy. "I'll get you the log-book, and the chart,
_and_ the agreement. And I think you'd like to see Father's diary too,
sir. When he met Mr Barber, and they began to talk about goin' huntin'
for the treasure, he started to keep a diary, writin' down in it
everything that Mr Barber told him about it; and there's a drawin' in
it that Mr Barber made--a sort of picture of the place, showing how it
looked, so that they might know it when they saw it again."
"Ah!" said I. "I should certainly like to see that diary, if you care
to show it me. The perusal of it will be most interesting and will
probably tell me all that I want to know."
A few minutes later I was seated at the table, with the chart spread
open before me, the log-book open, and the diary at hand, ready for
immediate reference. The log-book, however, had nothing to do with the
story of the treasure; it simply recorded the daily happenings aboard
the brigantine and her position every noon, from the date of her
departure from London; and the only interest it had for me was that it
enabled me to approximate the position of the ship at the moment of the
tragedy. It had been written up to four o'clock in the afternoon of the
day on which the tragedy had occurred, while the log slate carried on
the story up to midnight. A few minutes sufficed to make me fully
acquainted with all that I required to learn from the log-book, and I
then laid it aside and turned to the diary.
This document was inscribed in a thick manuscript book, and appeared to
have been started about the time when the writer first began seriously
to entertain Barber's proposal to join him in a search for the treasure.
It opened with a record of the meeting between Barber and the writer,
and set forth at some length the story of Barber's destitute condition,
and what the writer did to ameliorate it. Then followed, in full
detail, Barber's story of his adventure culminating in the discovery of
the stranded wreck and the chests of treasure stowed down in her run,
with the expression of Barber's conviction that the ship had been a
pirate. It also recorded at length the steps which Barber had taken to
obtain the necessary data from which to calculate the latitude of the
wreck; and it was the ingenuity of the man's methods that at last began
to impress upon me the conviction that the story might possibly be true,
especially as it was illustrated by a sketch--drawn from memory, it is
true--showing the appearance of the land from the entrance of the river,
very much in the same way that charts are occasionally illustrated for
the guidance of the seaman.
This story was succeeded by a record of the successive stages by which
the negotiations between the writer and Barber advanced, winding up with
a final statement that on such and such a date an agreement had been
drawn up in duplicate and signed by the contracting parties, whereby
Stenson was to bear the entire cost of the expedition--recouping
himself, so far as might be, by securing freights along the route,
Barber undertaking to discharge the duties of mate during the voyage,
without pay; the proceeds of such treasure as might be found to be
equally divided between the two men.
The perusal of the diary fully occupied me right up to the moment when
the steward entered to lay the table for supper; and when I had finished
it I found myself regarding the adventure with very different eyes from
those which I had turned upon it to start with. To be perfectly frank,
when I first heard the yarn I had not a particle of faith in the
existence of the treasure, and quite set down the late skipper as a
credulous fool for risking his hard-earned money in such a hare-brained
speculation; but after reading the story as set out _in extenso_ and
with a very great wealth of detail, I felt by no means sure that skipper
Stenson, very far from being the credulous fool that I had originally
supposed him to be, might not prove to have been an exceedingly shrewd
and wide-awake person. In a word, I had begun to believe in the truth
of the story of the treasure, strange and incredible as it had seemed at
first hearing.
And this change of view on my part involved a corresponding change in my
attitude toward the adventure. My conversation with Enderby and Johnson
over the tea-table had left upon my mind the impression that I had been
invited by them, as representatives of the entire crew, to act as
navigator and assist in every possible way to secure the treasure, my
remuneration for this service to be one share of half the value of the
amount of treasure obtained. Now, Barber had expressed the opinion that
this value was to be reckoned in _millions_; but, the eight chests
notwithstanding, I regarded this estimate as enormously exaggerated, the
result, probably, of ignorance of values on Barber's part.
Nevertheless, assuming the value to be very considerably less, say half
a million--and I believed it might possibly amount to that--only a very
simple calculation was needed to show that if this sum were divided by
two, and one of those parts were awarded to Billy, as skipper Stenson's
heir, the remaining sum of one quarter of a million divided into eleven
equal parts--there being eleven prospective participants, including
myself--would yield to each participant nearly twenty-three thousand
pounds; a sum very well worth trying for. Viewing the matter in all its
bearings I finally came to the conclusion that, regarding it merely as a
speculation, it might be quite worth my while to throw in my lot with
these men.
The project certainly had its allurements, for it must be remembered
that I was then young enough to be thoroughly imbued with the spirit of
adventure. I was poor, and even the bare possibility of making over
twenty thousand pounds in a few months very powerfully appealed to me;
and finally, if I rejected this chance and made the best of my way back
home, there was the possibility that I might be out of employment for a
considerable period, while at best I could hope for nothing better than
another billet as fourth officer in a Planet boat. In fine, the more I
considered the boatswain's proposal, the better I liked it; but at the
same time some inward monitor whispered that it would be wise not to
manifest too keen a readiness to fall in with the men's proposals.
While these reflections were passing through my mind I noticed that the
steward, in laying the table for supper, was laying for one person
only--myself. But while this arrangement had its advantages, it also
had certain disadvantages which I regarded as outweighing the former. I
therefore bade him lay for the boatswain and the carpenter as well; for
I had sense enough to recognise the importance of keeping my finger upon
the pulse of the crew, so to speak, and I knew that this could best be
done by means of little confidential chats with the boatswain and Chips,
who were the men's representatives.
The steward presently brought along from the galley the chief
ingredients of the supper, consisting of a pot of piping hot cocoa and a
dish of steaming "lobscouse", to be followed, he informed me, by a jam
tart. Then I sent Billy up on deck to find Enderby and bid him come to
supper in the cabin.
During the progress of the meal the conversation was of a general
character, consisting chiefly of discussions concerning the weather, the
behaviour of the ship under various circumstances, and the relation of
certain not very interesting incidents connected with the voyage. But
after we had finished, and Chips had come down to take his supper while
Enderby took over the charge of the deck, the boatswain fell into step
alongside me as I paced fore and aft, enjoying the unwonted luxury of a
pipe.
"There's just one p'int in what was said at tea-time, Mr Blackburn," he
remarked, "that I feels a bit hazy about, and that I haven't been able
to make quite clear to the men. You remember that when I spoke about
you navigatin' the ship for us, you said you'd be willin' to do it _so
far as the nearest port_. That's about what it was, isn't it?"
"Yes," I replied. "That is what I said."
"So I thought," concurred the boatswain. "Well, sir," he continued, "do
that mean that you're unwillin' to take a hand in this here treasure-
huntin' game with us?"
"Oh, as to that," I said, "I really have not had time to consider the
matter, as yet. Besides, I do not quite know what it is that you men
propose. Let me know that, and I will give the matter my most careful
consideration."
"Ay, ay, yes, of course; that's quite right," agreed Enderby. "I'll
have a talk to the chaps for'ard, and hear what they've got to say about
it. And--about that `nearest port' that you mentioned, sir, had ye got
any particular port in your mind's eye?"
"N-o, I can scarcely say that I had," I returned--"or if I had, it was
probably Port Louis, Mauritius. But all my ideas are very hazy thus
far, you must understand, for at the present moment I do not know where
the ship is, and I shall be unable to discover her position until I can
take the requisite sights. Then we will have out the chart, prick off
our position, and discuss the matter further."
"Yes, sir; thank 'e," answered Enderby. "And that'll be some time to-
morrow, I s'pose?"
"Certainly," I agreed; "some time to-morrow--unless of course the sky
should be obscured by cloud, preventing the taking of the necessary
observations. But I think we need not seriously fear anything of that
kind."
"No, sir, no; not much fear of that," agreed Enderby; and therewith he
trundled away for'ard and joined a little group of men who seemed to be
somewhat impatiently awaiting him.
It was a pleasant evening. The sun was on the point of setting, and the
western sky was a magnificent picture of massed clouds ablaze with the
most brilliant hues of gold, scarlet, crimson, and purple, while the
zenith was a vast dome of purest, richest ultramarine. A fresh breeze
was blowing steadily out from about west-sou'-west, and there was a long
and rather high swell, overrun by seas just heavy enough to break in
squadrons of creaming foam-caps that would have meant an anxious night
for me had I still been adrift in the life-boat. Apart from those white
foam-caps the ocean was a wide expanse of deepest sapphire blue, over
which the brigantine was rolling and plunging at a speed of fully eight
knots, her taut rigging humming like an Aeolian harp with the sweep of
the wind through it. For several minutes after Enderby had left me I
stood gazing in admiration at the brilliant, exhilarating scene; then,
for the mere pleasure of stretching my legs a bit, after being for so
long cramped within the confined limits of the life-boat, I started upon
a vigorous tramp fore and aft the weather side of the deck, between the
wheel grating and the main rigging.
On the following morning, immediately after breakfast, I had a long talk
with Enderby, who came aft to lay before me the proposals of the men as
to the terms upon which I was to be admitted to partnership in the
adventure. These were, in brief, that in consideration of my
undertaking the navigation of the ship, I was to receive one-eleventh
part of that half of the treasure to be shared among the crew. So far
so good; I had no objection to that part of the proposal, but when we
came to the question of my status in the ship I learned that the four
foreigners insisted upon the brigantine being run upon strictly
socialistic lines: there was to be no skipper, no officers, no giving of
orders; the ship was to be worked by two committees consisting of the
two watches, who were to decide all questions as to making, shortening,
or trimming sail, while I was to have no authority whatever, no voice in
anything except just the determination of the courses to be steered.
"Well," I demanded, "what have you Englishmen to say to such a
proposal?"
"Oh, as to that," said Enderby, "me and Chips is dead against it. We
knows as it wouldn't work at all. Fancy me sayin': `Svorenssen, nip up
aloft and stow that there to'garns'l!' and him turnin' round and sayin':
`If you wants the to'garns'l stowed, nip up and stow it yourself!' Oh
no; it wouldn't never do."
"Of course it would not," I returned. "But what do the other Englishmen
think of it?"
"Why, I fancy they don't much care, one way or t'other," answered
Enderby. "Ye see, sir, they're an ignorant lot, and can easy be talked
over by chaps with the gift of the gab, like Svorenssen and Van Ryn.
They'd be all right if they was left to their selves, and was treated as
if they was men and not just dumb cattle at the mercy of a brutal
driver; but them Dagoes has a way of talkin' about one man being as good
as another that makes ignorant men feel dissatisfied with things the way
they are."
"Just so," I returned. "I've been shipmate with that class of man
before to-day, and I know from experience what mischief socialistic
doctrines can work in a ship's forecastle--and elsewhere. Now you can
go for'ard and explain to the men that if I am to remain in this ship to
navigate her and to find the spot where the treasure is supposed to be,
I will have no socialism aboard her. The conditions I insist on are
that I am to be skipper; that I am to issue such orders as I may deem
necessary for the safety of the ship and the welfare of all hands; and
that I am to be obeyed without question or argument of any kind. If the
men agree to those conditions, well and good; if not, I shape a course
for the nearest port, and leave the ship there."
"Right ye are, sir," returned Enderby; "ye may trust me to put the
matter to the chaps in a way that they'll understand; and I don't think
as there'll be any trouble to speak of. And if there is, I fancy that
me and Chips 'll be able to deal with it."
With that the boatswain walked away forward to convey my ultimatum to
the men, who were all gathered on the forecastle-head, evidently waiting
for him, while I turned to Billy, who was standing close by, and said:
"When your father took his sights, Billy, who used to note the
chronometer times?"
"Mr Barber, always," answered Billy; "and then he and Father used to
work out the calculations together. But if you want anybody to note the
times when you are taking your sights, Mr Blackburn, I can do it for
you."
"Are you sure you can do it quite accurately?" I asked.
"_Quite_ sure!" asserted Billy. "Just you try me, sir."
"Very well, I will," said I. "Come below, and let me see what you can
do."
Billy soon demonstrated that he was to be implicitly trusted in the
matter of noting the chronometer times while I took my sights, and, the
morning being gloriously fine, I had no difficulty in determining the
longitude of the ship, which I found to be 50 degrees 48 minutes 40
seconds East, while a meridian altitude of the sun, taken two hours
later, gave our latitude as 34 degrees 26 minutes 15 seconds South.
Then I got out the chart of the Indian Ocean, pricked off the ship's
position on it, and sat down to consider what should be the next step.
For, whether I decided to remain in the ship or to leave her, her
position, as now laid down on the chart, showed that a shift of helm
would be necessary. It did not take me very long to decide that in any
case I would take the ship into Port Louis Harbour, Mauritius, which
might be reached in a week, or less if the weather held favourable.
Thence I could report to the owners the loss of the _Saturn_. Also, if
I decided to quit the _Yorkshire Lass_ there, I should have the choice
of two routes home, namely by Messageries Maritimes, via Madagascar and
the Suez Canal; or by the Union-Castle Line, via Cape Town and the
Atlantic. If, on the other hand, the crew acceded to my conditions, and
I was to remain in the ship, to call at Port Louis would be deviating
but a mere trifle from a straight course for the east end of Sandalwood
Island, whence I would pass through Maurissa Strait and go over, as
nearly as might be, the ground that Barber was said to have travelled
before he struck the spot where he was supposed to have found the
treasure.
When at length I went up on deck again, Enderby was waiting for me.
"Well," I said, "have the people for'ard made up their minds what they
are going to do? I am rather anxious to know, because upon their
decision will depend my final plans."
"It's all right, Mr Blackburn," answered the boatswain. "Them two
chaps, Svorenssen and Van Ryn, seemed to have quite made up their minds
to have things all their own way; but me and Chips soon brought 'em up
with a round turn by tellin' all hands what you'd said. Says I: `Now
look here, you chaps. We've got the navigator we wants, and if this
here treasure place is to be found you may all bet your boots he'll find
it. But he won't have no socialism, no runnin' the ship by committees,
nor no nonsense of that sort; he'll be Mister Skipper, and don't none of
you forget it! Now, you was all quite satisfied when Cap'n Stenson
commanded the ship: what difference do it make to any of you whether
it's Stenson or Mr Blackburn what gives the orders? It don't make a
hap'orth of difference to e'er a one of ye! Very well, then; me and
Chips has been talkin' things over together and we've decided that,
havin' been lucky enough to get hold of Mr Blackburn, we ain't goin' to
lose 'im because of any socialistic tommy-rot; so if there's anybody
here as objects to Mr Blackburn's conditions, let 'im say so, and we'll
ask the new skipper to put in somewheres, and we'll shove the
dissatisfied ones ashore.'
"There was a fine old rumpus when I said that. The four Dagoes swore as
they wasn't goin' to be done out of their share of the treasure for
nobody, nor nobody wasn't goin' to put 'em out of the ship; and for a
minute or two it looked as though we was goin' to have a mutiny. But we
Englishmen all stuck together, the others backin' up me and Chips; and
at last, when the Dagoes seen which way the wind was blowin', they give
in, and said, all right, we might 'ave our own way, since we seemed so
stuck upon it. So there you are, sir; you're our new skipper, and if
the Dagoes gets obstropolous we'll just shove 'em ashore, even if we has
to maroon 'em."
"I scarcely think it will be necessary to adopt any such extremely
drastic step as that," said I. "If the foreigners are made to
understand that the rest of you will stand no nonsense from them they
will probably settle down quietly enough. If they do not--if they
manifest the least inclination to be troublesome--I will put them ashore
at Port Louis, Mauritius, at which port I intend to call in any case,
that I may report the loss of the _Saturn_, and send certain letters
home. It will take us very little out of our way, and if the Dagoes
learn that we are going to call in at a British port on our way, it may
steady them a bit and help them to see that their wisest plan will be to
settle down and behave themselves. Now I am going to shift the helm.
Haul up to Nor'-Nor'-East, and take a pull upon the lee braces."
During the ensuing six days we made excellent progress, the brigantine
revealing a quite unexpected and most welcome turn of speed, which
carried us to Port Louis exactly a week after I had boarded her. We
remained there four days, to enable me to dispatch a cablegram home and
receive a reply; after which, having meanwhile laid in a good supply of
fruit and a little fresh meat, we sailed again, shaping a course for
Maurissa Strait.
For the four days following our departure from Port Louis we did well;
then the breeze lessened in strength, became baffling, and finally died
away altogether, leaving us helplessly becalmed, except when for a few
minutes at a time some vagrant draught of air would come stealing along
the glassy surface of the sea, imparting to it an evanescent tint of
delicate blue; and then there would be a call upon the watch to man the
braces and trim the yards to meet the transient breathing, to the
muttered disgust of the men, who could see no advantage in labour that
resulted, in many cases, in moving the ship only to the extent of a few
fathoms. But it had to be done, for we were on the border-line between
the prevailing westerly winds of the Southern Ocean and the south-east
Trades, and to get into the latter the ship had to be jockeyed across
the intervening belt of calms. A curious fact in connection with this
time of trial to our patience--and it was a fact that caused me some
anxious speculation--was that the two men, Svorenssen and Van Ryn, who,
at the outset of my connection with them, seemed most likely to be a
source of trouble, were the two who grumbled least at the continual
calls to the braces.
It was on the afternoon of the fourth of these trying days that, as we
lay becalmed in the middle of a glass-smooth sea, the polished surface
became touched here and there with faint, evanescent patches of softest
turquoise-blue, appearing for a moment and then vanishing again. They
were the "cats-paws" that indicated a momentary stir in the stagnant
air, and the appearances of which were always greeted by the foremast
hands with execrations, for they meant "box-hauling" the yards--work for
what they regarded as a ludicrously inadequate result. But on this
occasion the cats-paws, instead of enduring for a few seconds and then
being no more seen for hours at a time, lingered for as long, perhaps,
as two or three minutes, then passing away only to be succeeded by
others coming from the same quarter and enduring a little longer than
their predecessors, so continuing until at length we not only got way
upon the ship but were able to maintain it during the lessening
intervals between one puff and another. Finally a moment arrived when
the cats-paws began to merge one into another, while the whole surface
of the sea down in the south-eastern quarter lost its hateful mirror-
like appearance and donned a tint of faintest, most delicate blue that
deepened, even as we watched, creeping steadily down toward us until it
reached the ship and, with a last gentle rustle of canvas, she yielded
to the impulse of the first breathing of the south-east Trades.
When at length the true breeze reached us it came away out from about
South-East by South, enabling us still to lay our course, on the
starboard tack, with the braces the merest trifle checked. Once fairly
set in, the wind rapidly freshened until, when we of the afterguard went
down to supper at seven o'clock that evening, a fiery breeze was humming
through our tautened rigging, and the hooker was reeling off her seven
knots, with the royal stowed, and a rapidly rising sea foaming under her
lee bow.
CHAPTER FIVE.
WE FIND THE TREASURE.
It was a grand evening when, after supper, I went on deck for my usual
"constitutional". The salt, ozone-laden breeze was just cool enough to
set one's blood coursing freely through one's veins and to fill one with
the joy of living; the ship was making good headway; and the sky over
our lee quarter was a gorgeous blaze of gold and colour where the sun
was sinking in the midst of a galaxy of clouds of the most wonderful
forms. It was like a yachting experience.
In those latitudes the glories of the sunset very quickly fade, and with
their disappearance night falls upon the scene like the drawing of a
curtain. So was it on the evening in question; but I had grown
accustomed to those rapid nightfalls, and for a few minutes I, immersed
in my own thoughts, was quite unaware of anything unusual in our
surroundings. As the darkness deepened around us, however, it suddenly
occurred to me that there was something strange in the appearance of the
water; instead of its colour deepening under the shadow of night, as
usual, it seemed to be becoming lighter, as though it was being diluted
with increasing quantities of milk, until, as I stood and watched it,
wondering, it became, first of all, snow-white, and then, as the
darkness continued to deepen and the stars appeared, the entire ocean,
from horizon to horizon, became a sea of luminous, molten silver, the
weird, unearthly beauty of which there are no words to describe. Yet,
beautiful as it was, the unusual, almost unique character of the
phenomenon invested it with an awe-inspiring element that was not very
far removed from terror, especially for the men on the forecastle, whose
anxious glances aft, and restless, agitated movements sufficiently
proclaimed their apprehension.
Presently Chips, who was in charge of the watch and who had been padding
fore and aft on the lee side of the after-deck, crossed over and
remarked:
"What's the matter with the water to-night, Mr Blackburn? Boy and man
I've used the sea a good twenty year and more, and never have I seen a
sight like this. Do it signify anything particular, think ye?"
"Nothing beyond a most unusual and exceedingly beautiful state of
phosphorescence," I replied. "I have not used the sea for anything like
so long a time as yourself, but I have seen something of the same kind
once before, though nothing like so brilliant and beautiful as this.
And it was not so very far from this spot that I saw it, while making
the run from Cape Town to Melbourne. It is due to the presence, in
quite unusual numbers, of the animalculae which produce the appearance
of phosphorescence in the water; but while under ordinary circumstances
those animalculae are only present in sufficient numbers to cause the
usual appearance of stars and luminous clouds in agitated water, they
are present here to-night in such incalculable myriads that the light
they emit, instead of being more or less detached, is merged into one
uniform blaze of the beautiful silvery radiance which we see. It may
last for several hours yet, but sooner or later it will become normal
again."
My explanation seemed to afford Chips considerable relief, and he
presently sauntered away for'ard, with the evident intention of allaying
the apprehensions of the forecastle hands; while my prognostication as
to the ending of the phenomenon was verified about an hour later.
There now ensued a full month and more during which we steadily plodded
our way across the Indian Ocean, close-hauled day after day, with
nothing more eventful than the occasional capture of a shark, or a
capful of wind, to break the somewhat wearisome monotony of the voyage,
during which I devoted an hour or two every day to the improvement of
Master Billy Stenson's education; also giving a considerable amount of
study to the late skipper's diary, in the endeavour to arrive at some
sort of conclusion as to the whereabouts of the spot where Barber's
alleged treasure was to be looked for. Taking Barber's determination of
the latitude of the place, 3 degrees 50 minutes South, as being
approximately correct, I ruled a pencil line representing that parallel
right across the chart and noted the various islands that it crossed.
Then, marking the spot where the man had been turned adrift by the Dutch
skipper, I strove to trace the course over which the boat had drifted,
taking into consideration the prevailing winds and currents, as set
forth in the Sailing Directions; and in this way I ultimately arrived at
the conclusion that the spot we were seeking would be found somewhere
between the meridians of 125 degrees and 135 degrees east longitude.
Still assuming Barber's story to be true, I reasoned that the fact of
the stranded ship having remained so long where she was, apparently
unvisited and uninterfered with--until the Englishman's arrival upon the
scene--argued that she was to be found on an island not only uninhabited
but also very rarely visited; and reasoning thus I was at length enabled
to make a fairly shrewd guess as to the most likely direction in which
to look for her; and in that direction I accordingly headed the ship.
It was about a month after our passage through Maurissa Strait that, as
we were working to windward against a light and fickle breeze, land was
sighted about three points on the weather bow. The time was close upon
eight bells in the afternoon watch, and the land sighted was a mere dot
of faintest blue showing just clear of the horizon. I had been
anticipating its appearance at any moment since I had worked out my
sights at noon and pricked off the ship's position on the chart, for the
spot of which we were in search was no unknown, mysterious island.
Careful study of Barber's narrative, as recorded in the late Skipper
Stenson's diary, had convinced me that the island was quite well known
and had been more or less thoroughly surveyed; and exhaustive study of
the diary and the chart combined had finally led me to the conclusion
that if the treasure really existed it would be found not very far from
the peak that had just hove in sight. But of that I should perhaps be
better able to judge when I could see a little more of it. I therefore
took the ship's telescope out of the beckets where it hung in the
companion, and, slinging it over my shoulder, made my way up to the
royal yard, where I seated myself comfortably and, steadying the tube of
the instrument against the masthead, brought it to bear upon the land to
windward. From my elevated position this now showed as a steep cone of
moderate height rising from one extremity of a long range of lofty hills
running away in a south-easterly direction until they sank below the
horizon.
So far, so good; the contours of the distant land, as revealed by the
lenses of the telescope, agreed in a general way fairly accurately with
a sketch--made from memory by Barber--in the late skipper's diary,
illustrating a passage descriptive of the appearance of the treasure
country as it had appeared to the man upon his departure from it. If,
as we drew nearer, a certain arrangement of white rocks outcropping on
the hill-side immediately below the cone should reveal itself, I should
then know, beyond all possibility of doubt, that I had found the spot of
which we were in search. But this condition of certainty could not
possibly be arrived at before the morrow, at the earliest, for the land
was quite fifty miles away, it was dead to windward, and the ship--
working up against a light breeze--was approaching it at the rate of
less than a knot an hour.
Happily for our impatience, matters shortly afterwards improved
somewhat, for with the setting of the sun the breeze freshened, and by
the end of the second dog-watch we were slashing away to windward at a
fine rate, reeling off our eight knots per hour, with the royal stowed.
The breeze held all through the night, and when I went on deck at eight
o'clock on the following morning the cone that I had viewed through the
telescope on the previous evening was only some fifteen or sixteen miles
distant, broad on the weather bow, and the arrangement of white rocks on
the hill-side--five of them forming a vertical line--which the diary
assured me was the distinguishing mark by which I might identify the
spot for which I was searching--was clearly visible in the lenses of the
telescope, while the mouth of the estuary was about five miles ahead.
"Yes," I said to Enderby, who was standing beside me as I closed the
instrument, "we are all right--so far; the opening to the nor'ard of
that curious hummock is the mouth of the estuary into which Barber
drifted while in a state of delirium, and the stranded hulk which is
supposed to contain the treasure stands, according to him, somewhere on
the southern shore. We shall have to make short boards along that
southern shore, keeping a sharp look-out for anything in the nature of a
stranded craft, anchor abreast it, and go ashore and give it a careful
overhaul. Thus far it looks as though there might be some truth in the
man's story. I have no longer any doubt that Barber actually entered
that estuary; but I shall still have to see that wreck before I am
finally convinced of her existence. Barber was admittedly crazy when he
landed yonder, and for all that we know to the contrary he may have
remained crazy all the time that he was there, and have imagined the
whole thing."
"Holy Moses!" exclaimed the boatswain, in consternation, "you surely
don't mean to say, sir, that after all this time you still has doubts
about the truth of that there treasure yarn, do ye? If we don't find
that wrack there'll be the dickens to pay in the forecastle. The men--
especially them Dagoes--'ll be that disapp'inted that there's no knowin'
what game they may try to play."
"How--what do you mean, boatswain?" I demanded sharply.
"Well, Mr Blackburn," he returned, "what I means is that if we don't
find the wrack the chaps'll be so disapp'inted that, in their rage, they
may rise upon us, the afterguard, and try to take the ship from us."
"What good would that do them?" I demanded. "If they were to attempt
so foolish a thing, and were to succeed, what could they do with the
ship? I suppose even they--dolts as they would prove themselves in such
an event as you mention--would not be idiots enough to suppose that they
could compensate for their disappointment by becoming pirates, eh?"
"Blest if I know what they mightn't believe if Svorenssen and the two
Dutchmen got talkin' to 'em," asserted the boatswain. "They're
wonderful talkers, all three of 'em, and they're everlastin'ly gassin'
about one man bein' as good as another, and freedom, and the rights of
man--_you_ know, sir, the sort of slush that such chaps spouts, and that
the shellback swallers as greedily as he would a pannikin of egg-flip!"
"Yes," I said, "I know. I have heard it all, over and over again, until
I have been sick and tired of listening to it; and I have wondered how
it is that sensible, level-headed British sailors, even though they may
not have had very much education, can swallow and believe in such froth.
However, I am very glad that you have mentioned the matter; I will keep
my weather eye lifting, and at the very first sign of trouble I'll act,
and to some purpose, too."
"That's right, sir; I hopes you will," approved Enderby. "And if action
should ever be needful you may depend upon me and Chips to back ye up.
In the meantime I'll keep my eyes and ears open, too, and let you know
directly I sees any signs of trouble brewin'."
When I descended to the cabin, a few minutes later, in response to the
steward's summons to breakfast, I found Billy Stenson already seated at
the table. Billy, I should explain, had, within two days of my arrival
aboard the _Yorkshire Lass_, been promoted from the position of pantry-
boy to that of passenger, in virtue of the fact that, through his
father's death, he had become the owner of the brigantine and the
inheritor of all prospective profits which might accrue in respect of
the present highly speculative voyage; he had also become my pupil, I
having undertaken to ground him in the rudiments of navigation.
"Good morning, Billy," I said. "Do you happen to know whether there are
any firearms, or weapons of any sort, aboard here?"
"Yes, Mr Blackburn," replied the lad. "When Father and Mr Barber
agreed upon this voyage they decided that they ought to have the means
of defending the ship, if necessary, and so Father bought a dozen rifles
with bayonets, and three brace of navy revolvers, with a good supply of
ammunition for both kinds of firearms. They're in two cases, down in
the lazarette."
"Do the men for'ard know they're aboard?" I asked.
"Oh no, sir, I don't think so," answered the lad. "They came aboard and
were stored away a week or more before the crew was shipped."
"Good!" I commented. Then, turning to Enderby, who also was present, I
said: "What you said on deck, a little while ago, suggests to me that it
will be a wise thing to have those cases up out of the lazarette without
further delay. We'll open them, give their contents an overhaul, and
clean and oil them, ready for immediate use, if need be. We may not
require them, but if on the other hand we should, the need will probably
be so urgent that there will then be no time for preparation. We will
have them up immediately after breakfast."
Upon my return to the deck I found that we were just entering the
estuary, the mouth of which was about three miles wide, the shore on
either side being quite low, with, here and there, narrow strips of
beach composed of sand and gravel. The low, flat shore on either side
of the inlet was backed by ranges of hills extending inland as far as
the eye could see, but whereas the low, flat country between the shore
and the base of the hills was less than a mile wide on the northern
bank, it ranged from five to twelve miles wide on the southern side.
The soil was everywhere grass-clad, the grass seeming to be very
luxuriant and about three feet high, while dotted about pretty thickly
all over the plains were clumps of palmetto, palms, trees of various
kinds--some of which would probably be the fruit-trees that had restored
Barber to life--and big clumps of bamboo and scrub. I anticipated that
it would be among those clumps of scrub that we should eventually find
the treasure hulk, if indeed the craft actually existed and was not the
figment of a madman's imagination; and I also foresaw that our search
for the hulk might easily be a very much more arduous and protracted
affair than I had anticipated, for it appeared to me that every one of
those clumps big enough to conceal the hull of a five-hundred-ton hulk
ought to be examined. There was no need, however, for us to begin our
search quite at once, for we were only entering the estuary, whereas,
according to Barber's account, the hulk lay some six or eight miles from
the entrance. This assumed distance was of course a very vague and
unreliable guide, and I therefore determined to take the ship up the
inlet about five miles, anchor her, and commence our search at that
point, gradually working our way upward. Meanwhile, the wind had come
away far enough out from the southward to enable us to hug the southern
shore as closely as we pleased; consequently although the breeze was
light we made good progress, and within an hour had reached a point at
which, I decided, our quest might very well begin. We therefore
anchored, furled all canvas, hoisted out the jolly-boat, and, making up
a search-party consisting of the four foreigners, Enderby, and myself,
went ashore and began our hunt for a craft in the existence of which I
had little or no belief.
Our chief difficulty was that we had no bearings to guide us. I
concluded that at the time of Barber's visit he was destitute of all
means to make notes or records of any kind, for his story was set down
entirely from memory, and was singularly barren of all information but
that of the most general character; there were no little illuminating
details to tell us whether we were or were not nearing our goal. The
one solitary fact from which I could draw a useful deduction was that,
at the time of Barber's arrival in the estuary, he was very ill and
weak, yet despite his feeble condition he was able to reach certain
trees, the fruit of which restored him to health. Now, from that fact I
deduced the inference that the particular fruit-trees to which Barber
owed his restoration must of necessity be at no great distance from the
beach, otherwise the man would not have had strength to reach them;
hence, to find the spot at or near which Barber landed, we must look for
a part of the plain where trees were growing within, say, two or three
hundred yards of the water's edge. There was just one such clump
abreast the spot where we had anchored, apart from which I could see no
others anything like so near the beach for a distance of fully a mile to
the eastward.
I confess that I entered upon this treasure-hunt hampered by a very
strong feeling of doubt. Of course I had ocular evidence of the
existence of such a place as Barber had described as that where the
treasure was to be found, for there it was, visibly before me. I was
also prepared to lend credence to the story of the stranded hulk,
strange as that story might seem, for I actually had personal knowledge
of even stranger happenings than that; but it was the existence of the
treasure itself--those steel-bound chests packed with gold, silver, and
gems--that I doubted. According to Barber's own story he was crazy when
he drifted into the estuary, and, although he may not have known it, he
perhaps remained crazy all the time he was there; and if it was indeed
true that he had stumbled upon a stranded ancient hulk, that very fact
may have so excited his disordered brain as to cause him to imagine the
treasure. Looking back at the episode now, after the lapse of years,
that, it appears to me, was very much my mental attitude with regard to
it; yet, my doubts notwithstanding, I was determined to leave no stone
unturned to test Barber's story to the uttermost; consequently when,
late in the afternoon of the following day, we actually came upon the
hulk, my chief feeling was one of surprise.
There was nothing whatever of an exciting or dramatic character in the
circumstances connected with our discovery; it was all absolutely
commonplace; we were not even molested by natives, of whom we saw no
sign from first to last. Having thoroughly searched, without result,
the entire area of the flat country for a space of eight or nine square
miles immediately opposite the spot where the brigantine was first
anchored, we got under way again and, under fore-and-aft canvas only,
moved the ship some three miles farther up the estuary, intently
studying the country on our starboard hand, meanwhile, through the
ship's telescope, on the look-out for any object suggestive of a
stranded hulk overgrown with creepers. And it was in this way that we
found her, the telescope enabling us to identify her at a distance of
fully a mile.
Arrived abreast of her, we again anchored the brigantine, and the same
search-party, under my command, once more landed and walked straight to
the hulk.
She lay high and dry, at a distance of about a quarter of a mile from
the beach, a dismasted craft of some seven hundred tons burden, built on
the lines of the old Spanish galleon, with a low bow and forecastle and
a lofty stern and after-castle; the great flat stern embellished with
much carving and the remains of a gallery, and surmounted by the iron
frames of three big poop lanterns. No doubt she had once presented a
very gallant picture of paintwork and gilding, traces of which were
discoverable about her here and there, but, apart from these, her whole
exterior had been reduced by sun and rain to a uniform tint of neutral
grey, except where moss and fungus had taken hold of her.
We boarded her without difficulty; but no sooner had we arrived below
than we found ample confirmation of Barber's statement as to her
rottenness, for, what with dry-rot and white ants, her deck planking and
beams had become the merest shells of wood, yielding freely in places to
the pressure of a man's weight, so that, in order to avoid accidents, we
had to move about aboard her with the utmost circumspection.
What was very much more to the point, however, was that we found not
only the ship but also the eight big chests of treasure, exactly as
described by Barber in the yarn given in the late skipper's diary. They
had all been broken open; but their contents appeared to be intact, and
as I very carefully examined them I arrived at the conclusion that they
had never been touched since Barber himself had left them to go in
search of the assistance he needed in order to secure possession of
their contents.
The discovery of the chests and, still more, the sight of their contents
was naturally productive of the utmost excitement, and, also quite
naturally, it at once roused all the greed that was latent in our
natures. So far as Enderby and I were concerned we were quite able to
control ourselves; but no sooner did the four Dagoes set eyes upon the
gold coins with which one of the chests was filled than they threw
themselves upon that chest, as starving wolves might throw themselves
upon a carcass, and proceeded to stuff their pockets with coin. This,
of course, could not possibly be permitted, and Enderby and I, drawing
our revolvers, compelled the quartette to replace in the chest every
coin they had snatched; but they yielded only under compulsion, and with
snarls, growlings, and muttered menaces which were only silenced by my
threat to maroon them on the spot if they showed the least sign of a
disposition to give further trouble.
The transfer of those eight heavy steel-bound chests with their contents
was a trying job, but nothing would induce the men to leave a single one
of them where they were for another night; they insisted on being
allowed to stick to their task until it was completed; and, by dint of
such strenuous effort as probably none of them had ever before exerted,
the task was completed a few minutes after sunset; following upon which
I caused the whole to be securely fastened up and struck down into the
lazarette. The forenoon of the next day was spent ashore gathering an
abundant stock of such fruits as the place afforded; and immediately
after dinner the jolly-boat was hoisted in, the anchor hove up, and the
_Yorkshire Lass_ stood out to sea.
CHAPTER SIX.
CAUGHT IN A TYPHOON.
Those who have never enjoyed the experience of suddenly coming upon a
treasure of enormous value, a substantial share of which one knows will
one day be one's own, will naturally suppose that the crew of the
_Yorkshire Lass_ would be one of the happiest and most contented little
communities on the face of the earth. And assuredly they ought to have
been, in so far at least as the prospective possession of great wealth
can confer happiness; for, little as any of us knew of the actual value
of the treasure we had so easily obtained, we knew enough to feel
assured that, when the time for division should arrive, we should each
be rich enough to be independent, for the rest of our lives, of any need
to work for a living. But, on the contrary, as a matter of fact the
acquisition of the treasure gave rise to a condition of restiveness and
discontent that caused me grave uneasiness.
Not that I was greatly surprised. From the moment when I first climbed
in over the brigantine's rail from the _Saturn's_ life-boat I recognised
that the presence of the four Dagoes in the ship's company was likely to
breed discord, but it was not until I witnessed the mad covetousness
with which they flung themselves upon the chest containing coin, and
proceeded to help themselves regardless of the rights of us others, that
I actually began to scent real, serious trouble; for I then foresaw
that, having once glimpsed the treasure, those men would never more be
content until it was actually theirs to squander in the debauchery that
they called pleasure.
The trouble which I anticipated developed within twenty-four hours of
our departure from the estuary, first taking the form of a demand, on
the part of the six seamen in the forecastle, that the division of the
treasure should be effected forthwith; and when I pointed out that,
owing to the impossibility of justly valuing such articles as gold and
silver candlesticks, salvers, bowls, cups, caskets, jewelled crosses,
articles of jewellery and gems, such a division as they desired was out
of the question, they insisted that the ship should forthwith be taken
to the nearest civilised port, in order that the treasure might be
turned into money, and the division effected. To this I replied that
only in London would it be possible to obtain anything approaching fair
value for so enormous a treasure as ours, therefore to London I intended
to take it; whereupon the Dagoes became so violently insubordinate that
forcible measures had to be resorted to, and a very pretty fight ensued
between them on the one hand, and the boatswain, carpenter, and myself
on the other before we succeeded in putting the quartette in irons and
dumping them down upon the ballast in the main hold, where, I informed
them, they would remain until they should show unmistakable signs of
having come to their senses. Such resolute action, coupled with the
fact that during their confinement their food consisted solely of coarse
ship biscuit and water, soon brought the insubordinate ones to their
bearings, a message of unconditional surrender being brought from them
to me within thirty-six hours of their confinement, promising good
behaviour in the future if I would release them and permit them to
return to duty.
Naturally I was more than willing to accept the olive branch thus held
out, for the absence from duty of four able seamen out of our little
company left the ship perilously undermanned, and would have involved us
in serious difficulties, might indeed have imperilled the safety of the
ship, had we fallen in with bad weather. Fortunately, however, the
weather, for the first week after our departure from the estuary, proved
to be almost too fine for our liking, consisting as it did of light,
baffling contrary airs, interspersed with spells of calm; thus the
temporary confinement below of the four foreigners proved of no
disadvantage to us, although I was heartily glad to have them back on
duty again. Nevertheless it soon became apparent that their reformation
was, like beauty, only skin-deep, and that at heart they were as ready
as ever to give trouble.
The exceptionally fine weather, to which I have just referred, continued
for nearly a month, during which, with much pulling and hauling at
tacks, sheets, and braces, we contrived to jockey the brigantine fairly
into the Pacific, where I intended to hunt up a cargo of copra,
sandalwood, and shell on the way home.
But such an extraordinarily long spell of fine weather as we had been
experiencing was bound to break, sooner or later, and the break came
during the afternoon of our twenty-seventh day out. The barometer,
which for nearly three weeks had been standing well above thirty inches,
gave us the first warning of the coming change by an ominously rapid
decline of the mercury, which was quickly succeeded by a subtle veiling
of the sky, the clear, rich blue of which gradually changed to a uniform
tint of dirty white, in the midst of which the sun hung a mere shapeless
blotch. The light breeze that during the earlier part of the day had
been fanning us along at a scant three knots, died away, leaving the
surface of the sea oil-smooth and colourless, while the stagnant air
grew so hot that we literally felt the heat of it in our nostrils with
every breath we drew. The _quality_ of the air seemed to change, too,
rendering it difficult to breathe, so that we found ourselves gasping
for breath at frequent intervals, while perspiration poured from us in
streams that we could distinctly feel trickling down our bodies and
limbs. So enervating were the conditions that none of us cared to make
the slightest unnecessary movement; yet the steady decline of the
mercury was a warning that I dared not ignore. Accordingly, at eight
bells in the afternoon watch, when Enderby took charge of the deck, I
showed him the barometer, expressed the conviction that we were in for a
typhoon, and instructed him to set all hands to the task of stripping
the ship to a close-reefed topsail, reefed fore topmast-staysail, and
close-reefed main trysail.
When the boatswain went for'ard and gave the necessary orders, the men
received them, as I had quite expected, with black looks, muttered
curses, and inarticulate growls; but the sight of Chips and me lowering
and stowing the big mainsail while they surlily slouched about the deck,
letting go halliards, clewing up and hauling down; and perhaps, more
than all, the aspect of the heavens, conveying a message that no man
could misinterpret, caused them somewhat to modify their attitude, and
by four bells the ship was as nearly ready for what might come as we
could make her.
But our preparations were completed not a moment too soon, for we were
in a latitude where twilight is unknown, and with the disappearance of
the sun below the horizon there closed down upon us a darkness that
might literally be felt, for any attempt to move about the decks, well
as we believed ourselves to be acquainted with them, resulted in
constant collisions with unexpected obstacles.
This bewildering state of affairs continued until shortly after five
bells in the first watch, when we became aware that the atmosphere was
being subtly and gradually suffused with ruddy light, coming from we
knew not where. The change was so gradual that it was impossible to say
just when it began, but within half an hour of our first perception of
it the light had grown so strong that not only were we able to move
about freely without running foul of things but, standing aft by the
useless wheel and looking forward, every detail of the ship's hull,
spars, sails, and rigging stood out clearly and sharply, like a
silhouette cut out of black paper, against a background of shining oil-
smooth water and dense masses of twisting and writhing cloud-shapes all
reflecting the weird, mysterious ruddy light. It was an awe-inspiring
phenomenon, strongly suggestive of the supernatural, and from the uneasy
glances that were directed aft from the forecastle it was not difficult
to surmise that none of the men had ever before beheld anything like it.
Neither had we of the afterguard, for that matter, and I have no doubt
that I should have been very much more seriously alarmed than I was at
the spectacle, had I not read somewhere the description of a hurricane
that had been similarly heralded. As it was, I was by no means happy at
the prospect of what was in store for us, asking myself uneasily whether
quite all had been done that it was possible to do to prepare the ship
for the impending ordeal. There was but one thing I could think of, and
that was to order all the scuttles to be securely closed, and this was
at once done, although it rendered the cabins insupportably hot and
close. Of course I should have liked to send down the royal and
topgallant yards, and to have housed the fore topgallant mast and main
topmast, and I would have attempted it had we had a decently willing
crew; but I doubted whether the Dagoes would have undertaken the job,
except under compulsion; and I was unwilling to engage in a tussle with
a crowd of insubordinates with a hurricane threatening to burst upon us
at any moment.
Naturally, under the circumstances I never dreamed of turning in; nor
did any of the others, for that matter, the boatswain and Chips keeping
me company aft, while a glance for'ard showed that even the forecastle
bunch, jealous as they were of their "rights", preferred for once in a
way to spend their watch below on deck. Shortly after midnight the
weird, ruddy light began to fade, indicating that the crisis was
approaching. I accordingly sent the boy Billy below, secured the
companion doors, and closed the slide, knowing this to be one of the
ship's most vulnerable points in a heavy sea, such as one might expect
when the gale should burst upon us, and thereafter there was nothing
more to be done but to abide events.
It was about half an hour later, and the light had almost entirely
faded, when we got our first distinct warning to "stand by". It came in
the form of a sudden scurry of wind, apparently from nowhere in
particular, that swept, whining and moaning, over the ship, causing the
canvas to flap violently--and then it was gone. This occurred perhaps
half a dozen times, each gust lasting a few seconds longer and being
perceptibly stronger than the one which preceded it, smiting the canvas
with such violence that I quite expected to see it fly out of the bolt-
ropes, while the brigantine, being only in ballast, rocked and staggered
like a drunken man. Fortunately, there remained just light enough to
enable us to trace the direction from which those tornadoes came. With
their help, therefore, Chips and I, who at once sprang to the wheel,
managed to get the ship's head round before the hurricane itself struck
us, Enderby going for'ard to stand by on the forecastle.
It announced its approach by a low, weird, unearthly moaning that with
terrifying rapidity swelled to a deafening compound of the shrieking
yell of the swooping wind and the hiss of the tempest-lashed sea as it
rushed, in the form of a wall of ghastly, heaped-up, phosphorescent foam
stretching from horizon to horizon, straight down upon the ship. The
spectacle of that unbridled outburst of elemental fury was awe-inspiring
beyond the power of words to describe, but it was terrifying too, as was
evidenced by Chips' remark, a moment before the gale struck us. Leaning
over toward me as we stood on opposite sides of the wheel, he yelled:
"Good-bye, sir! This is the finish. The ship ain't built that could
weather such an outfly as this!"
And I felt very much inclined to agree with him. To me it seemed
impossible that any combination of wood and metal, the work of men's
hands, however cunningly fashioned and deftly put together, could
withstand such a frenzied onslaught as that which was about to burst
upon us.
Another instant and we were within the hurricane's clutches. With a
yell of indescribable fury the blast struck us, and as the storm-wave
boiled in over our taffrail and swept along the deck, filling it to the
level of the rail and taking with it in its rush for'ard every movable
thing in its way, I saw the storm trysail fill, with a terrific jerk of
the doubled sheets, and then go flying away out of the bolt-ropes like a
sheet of tissue paper. Whether or not the remainder of our canvas had
withstood the strain I could not for the moment determine, for I was up
to the armpits in the surging water, pinned by it and the pressure of
the wind so hard up against the wheel that I momentarily expected to
feel my breast-bone collapse under the pressure. Luckily the gale came
up square astern, and hit us end-on; luckily, also, we were in ballast,
and the ship was therefore quite lively; nevertheless I felt the hull
under my feet tremble perceptibly under the tremendous strain to which
it was subjected as the wind and sea smote her, and for a few breathless
moments I believed she was foundering under us. Then, as she gradually
freed herself of the water that flooded her decks, she gathered way and
went foaming off before the gale like a mad thing.
The next occurrence of which I was clearly conscious was that Chips was
again leaning over toward me and shouting:
"My God! Mr Blackburn, that was a narrer squeak, if ever there was
one! If anybody had told me that the old hooker would have stood it, I
wouldn't ha' believed 'em. But I think we're all right now, so long as
we can keep her runnin' afore it, if only the spars and riggin' 'll
stand the strain. But what about what's ahead of us, sir? Is there
anything that we're likely to run foul of?"
"Nothing, so far as I know," answered I. "The chart shows a clear sea
for some hundreds of miles to the eastward; and before we have run that
distance the gale will have blown itself out. But there is Enderby
trying to claw his way aft. I wonder what news he has for us."
The unnatural, ruddy light in the sky had by this time quite died out,
but it was replaced by a faint, ghostly sheen emitted by the foaming
surface of the wind-scourged sea, and by this feeble radiance it was
just possible to discern the burly form of the boatswain laboriously
clawing aft along the port bulwarks against the tremendous pressure of
the wind. Presently he reached us and seated himself upon the wheel
grating at my feet, gasping and panting for breath.
"Well, Enderby," I shouted, "what's the news from the fore end of the
ship? Did the sea that pooped us do any damage?"
"Not so much as might ha' been expected," returned the boatswain. "The
jolly-boat's clean gone; the life-boat's a wreck; the to'gallant
bulwark, both sides, is gone, for'ard of the fore riggin'; the staysail
blowed out of the bolt-ropes directly the gale struck us; and--worst of
all--we've lost three of our little crowd."
"Lost!" I ejaculated. "What d'ye mean, man?"
"Just what I says, Mr Blackburn," answered the boatswain. "We've lost
three hands--Van Haalst, Mendal, and Manning. The sea that broke aboard
us must have took 'em unawares and swept 'em over the bows, for they was
on deck before we was swept, and when she cleared herself they was
gone!"
"Jove! that's bad news indeed," said I. "We were short-handed enough
before, but we shall be worse off than ever now. And they were all good
men, too; we can ill spare them."
"Ay," agreed Enderby; "there's others that we could better have spared,
if some of 'em had to go. But as to them bein' good men--well, they was
good enough sailor-men, I won't deny, but if we'd lost 'em any other way
than bein' drownded--if they'd cut and run, for instance--I wouldn't ha'
grieved overmuch at the loss of the two Dagoes."
Thereupon we fell silent, for to out-shout the yell of the wind and the
roar of the sea was no easy matter; moreover the loss of those three men
set me thinking, and on top of that the ship needed most careful
watching, for, in light trim as she was, there were moments when the
rudder seemed to lose control of her, and then it taxed our skill and
strength to the utmost to prevent her broaching to, which would have
meant the end of her and of all hands.
I shall never forget that night, so long as I live. Never before had I
known it blow anything like so hard; the wind smote one like something
solid and with such tremendous force that to have stood up, unsupported,
against the pressure of it, would have been impossible. If it had been
blowing, say, half as hard as it actually was, there would have been a
terrific sea running, but, far from this being the case, the surface of
the ocean was as flat as a billiard-table, the slightest roughness being
instantly seized by the wind and swept away to leeward in the form of
scud-water.
Then there was the appalling unnatural darkness, through which the ship
was rushing at a speed which I am certain she had never before attained.
The only mitigating circumstance was that the wind-lashed sea emitted a
certain ghostly radiance that, despite the deluge of spindrift and scud-
water with which the air was saturated, enabled one dimly to discern
objects as far forward as the foremast. But to rush, at the speed at
which we were travelling, into the heart of that pitchy blackness was
nerve-racking work, for although the chart assured us that we had a
clear sea for some hundreds of miles ahead, there were still such
possibilities as derelicts to be reckoned with, and under such
circumstances as I have been endeavouring to describe, if an obstacle of
any sort should happen to be in our way, to avoid it would be a sheer
impossibility, while to strike it would mean for us simply--destruction.
I was anxiously considering the chance of such an eventuality when
another terrific gust swooped down upon us; the ship trembled and
lurched forward as though she were about to plunge to the bottom and
have done with it; I heard a loud "crack" behind me, and simultaneously
received a terrible blow on the back of the head; then--oblivion.
A dull, aching, throbbing pain at the back of my head was the sensation
of which I was first conscious upon awaking from what seemed to have
been a sleep haunted by innumerable harrowing nightmares. Then, before
I had time to fully realise that I was once more awake and free from the
torment of those dreadful nightmares, I became aware of two things;
first, that a soft, warm, salt-laden breeze was gently fanning my face
and affording me much refreshment, and next, that the air was vibrant
with the deep, booming thunder of heavily breaking surf. I was aware
also that I was in bed, and that, apart from my throbbing headache, I
was quite comfortable; and for perhaps two or three minutes I remained
as I was, quiescent, enjoying the sensation of comfort, quite oblivious
of everything else. Then it suddenly occurred to me to wonder where I
was, what was the matter with my head--and back came the memory of that
awful night of hurricane--that terrible blow on the back of my head--
and, opening my eyes, I started up, with an inarticulate cry.
That is to say I _attempted_ to start up--but failed: my body felt like
lead; I had no strength to move it, and after a moment's ineffectual
struggle I abandoned the attempt and let my head sink back upon the
pillow. As I did so I became aware of a slight movement at my side and,
glancing in that direction, I saw the boy Billy bending over me with an
expression of deep anxiety in his eyes. As he continued to gaze, the
expression of anxiety gave place to one of satisfaction, and he said:
"Ah, that's better, Mr Blackburn! I believe you're not going to die
yet, after all."
"Going to die!" I reiterated. "Have I been ill, then?"
"You _have_, and no mistake!" emphatically asserted the boy. "For four
days and nights you have been just raving; and all the while you refused
to take anything but an occasional drink of water. No wonder you found
yourself too weak to rise just now."
"By Jove!" ejaculated I, "you amaze me, Billy. But--I am puzzled. I am
in my own bunk, in my own cabin; there is a nice breeze blowing, for I
can feel it coming through the open scuttle, and I hear the seething of
water along the ship's side, yet I'll swear she is not moving an inch.
What is the explanation?"
"I'll tell you in a minute or two," answered Billy. "But, first, let me
get you some broth, for I can see that you're about done up, and need
something to strengthen you. I thought, this morning, that you seemed a
bit different, and when you stopped raving and dropped off to sleep I
seized the chance to get something ready for you against the time when
you woke up. I'll fetch it in half a jiffy."
So saying, Billy disappeared into the main cabin, returning a minute or
two later with a bowl of steaming-hot, savoury-smelling soup, with
which, after propping me up with cushions, he cautiously fed me, a
little at a time, until he thought I had taken as much as was good for
me. Then, removing the cushions, he lowered me gently back into a
reclining position, made me comfortable and, seating himself by my
bedside, proceeded to make me acquainted with the happenings succeeding
my accident.
CHAPTER SEVEN.
Billy tells how we became wrecked.
"My word," began Billy, "I shan't forget in a hurry the awful look of
the sky, that night, when you ordered me to come below, and I heard you
slam the companion doors behind me, and draw over the slide. I felt
certain that, with a sky blazing like that, when it was gettin' on
toward the middle of the night, something dreadful was goin' to happen;
and--it did, didn't it? I was frightened enough, to start with, but
when you battened me down I tell you, Mr Blackburn, I was fairly
terrified, and two or three times I climbed half-way up the companion
stairs, intendin' to shout to you to let me out; then I thought again
that you wouldn't have sent me below if you hadn't known it was the best
place for me, so I crept back again and curled up on the locker
cushions. And then came the hurricane. I heard it, even before it
struck the ship; and when it hit her, and I felt her shiver, I made sure
that it was all up with us, and I knelt down on the cabin floor and kept
on sayin' my prayers, over and over again.
"I was still sayin' 'em when I suddenly heard the slide pushed back and
the companion doors flung open; there was a scuffling of feet on the
stairs, and I heard Enderby and Chips warnin' one another to be careful.
Then they came into the cabin, carryin' you between 'em; and they laid
you on the cabin table, and said you'd met with an accident; and I saw
that your head was bleedin'. They undressed you, all in a hurry, put
you in your bunk, told me to look after you, and then rushed up on deck
again, shuttin' me in, just as you did.
"You were insensible then, so I got to work and hunted up some stuff to
make bandages with. Then I opened the medicine-chest and got out the
book of instructions; and while I was trying to find out what was the
proper thing to do I heard the bosun and Chips shoutin' something. I
listened, tryin' to hear what they were shoutin' about; and then, above
the noise of the wind, I heard another sound, like--well, I can hardly
describe it, but you can hear it now, the roar of the surf on the reef.
It grew louder, and louder still, until it was--well, just deafenin';
then I felt the ship hove, first up and then down; then she touched
something, but didn't seem to hit it very hard; I felt a blow, like a
heavy sea hittin' her; I heard the fall and rush of water on her deck,
and a crash that sounded as if the mainmast had gone over the side, then
she struck again--harder--three or four times, heeling over until she
seemed to be on her beam-ends, and flinging me right across the cabin
floor; and all the time I could hear that she was bein' swept by awfully
heavy seas. But after a bit things got rather more quiet. I felt that
we were aground, but still rolling heavily, and I could hear at every
roll a sort of crunching sound, as though the planking of the ship's
bottom was grinding upon something; but the seas weren't coming aboard
now nearly so heavy nor so often as they were, and after a time they
didn't come aboard at all; the rocking motion eased up, and I thought,
from the sound, that it didn't seem to be blowin' quite so hard.
"All this time you were in your bunk, insensible; but as soon as I was
able to stand without bein' flung down again I got some water from the
pantry filter, and bathed your head. There was a nasty cut in it, and
it was still bleedin', but I washed it as well as I could, and made a
pad that I bound tightly over it, accordin' to the directions I found in
the book. And then I think I must have fallen asleep, for I don't
remember anything more happenin' until I awoke and saw the sun shinin'
through your scuttle and the cabin skylight.
"You were still insensible, so I bathed your head afresh, put a new
dressing on it, and then went on deck to have a look round. My word!
Mr Blackburn, I _was_ astonished when I pushed open the companion slide
and looked out. The ship is ashore on a reef; a total wreck; both masts
gone by the board; bulwarks carried away; decks swept, and everything
but the galley gone--and you and I are all that are left of the crew."
"Good Heavens, Billy, you surely don't mean to say that all hands except
ourselves are lost!" I exclaimed, in horrified tones.
"Yes, I do, Mr Blackburn," protested the boy; "and you wouldn't be
surprised if you had heard--as I did--the tremendous seas that swept the
ship when she first hit the reef. I shouldn't have been a bit surprised
if she had gone to pieces right then. It's no wonder that the decks
were clean swept."
"No wonder, indeed," I agreed. "You say that we are ashore on a reef,
Billy. What sort of a reef is it; just ordinary rocks, or--?"
"No," answered Billy; "it's not just jagged, seaweed-covered rocks, but
all white, almost like marble, a little bit rough and uneven, but not
like the rocks we get at home. This reef seems to be all in a piece,
like a great, tremendously thick wall--"
"Yes," I interrupted; "I think I understand. It is probably a coral
reef. How far does it extend?"
"How far?" reiterated Billy. "Why,"--pointing--"it comes from away over
there, as far as you can see, and stretches right across to as far as
you can see on the other side."
"Ay," I agreed; "a coral reef, without a doubt. And how much water is
there alongside?"
"Not more than two or three feet, at most," answered Billy. "We're
standin' a lot higher out of the water than we were when afloat. When I
first noticed it I thought it was because it happened to be low water
when I looked; but it isn't that, because it's always pretty nearly the
same. I don't think there's a difference of more than just a few inches
between high and low water."
"In that case," I commented, as much to myself as to my companion, "the
explanation probably is that when we hit the reef the sea was heaped up
by the gale considerably above its usual level, and that it has now
subsided again, leaving us nearly high and dry. Now, Billy, is there
any land in sight? If so, what does it look like?"
Billy considered for a moment or two, evidently conjuring up a mental
picture. Then he answered:
"First, about two miles off, there's a beach of very white sand. Then
there's a lot of trees--palm trees, I think they must be--growing all
along the inner edge of the beach, and, behind them, bushes and more
trees--thousands--millions of 'em, of all sorts of colours--white,
yellow, green, red, purple--but I don't remember seein' any that were
really black."
"Is there a mountain on the island?" I asked.
"Well--no; not exactly what you'd call a mountain, I think; but there
are plenty of fairly high hills," answered Billy.
"And how big do you suppose the island to be?" I asked.
"How big?" repeated Billy. "Oh, really I don't know; quite a big place,
I'd say. It stretches athwart our bows as far as you can see, both
ways."
"The dickens it does!" I exclaimed. "That is very extraordinary. I
cannot understand it. At that rate the island must be at least thirty
miles long! Yet there is no such island shown on the chart; no island
of any sort, indeed, large or small, just where we are. Yet I have been
under the impression that these seas have been thoroughly surveyed. The
main fact, however, and the one most important to us is that _we are
here_, with very little prospect, I fear, of getting away again for some
time. I must turn out and begin to get busy; there is evidently no time
to waste. Billy, please find me my clothes."
Billy regarded me gravely; then shook his head.
"That's all very well, Mr Blackburn," he said, "but what's the good of
talkin' about turnin' out, when you haven't even got strength enough to
lift yourself up in bed? No, sir, please don't attempt to do anything
so foolish; you'd only fall, and hurt yourself worse. What you've got
to do is to get well as quick as ever you can; and the best way to do
that is to stay where you are until you've got your strength again. And
I'll help you all I can; I'll feed you up, and look after you, and tell
you everything that happens; but please--_please_ don't be in too great
a hurry; this is a case of `the more hurry, the less speed'; I'm sure of
it. Only trust yourself to me, Mr Blackburn, and I'll get you well as
quick as ever I can."
"By Jove, Billy," said I, "I believe you will. You have done
marvellously well, thus far. Why, boy, you must have been born to
become a great physician; and you talk more wisely than many lads of
twice your age. Yes; I will trust myself absolutely to you. But, now
that I come to look at you, your eyes are so heavy with sleeplessness
that you seem scarcely able to keep them open. How have you managed for
sleep while I have been ill?"
"Oh," answered Billy, "I've done pretty well. When you've been quiet
for a bit I've stretched myself out on the sofa and slept until you woke
me with your ravin'; but now that you've come to your senses I expect I
shall be able to get a really _good_ rest."
"I hope you will," said I. "And there's no time like the present; so,
as I am feeling very comfortable just now, and much inclined to sleep,
go and turn in, and get that really _good_ rest that you spoke of.
Leave open the door of my state-room, and that of your own, and if I
need anything I'll call out for you."
Thanks to the tireless attention with which Billy tended me, and the
meticulous care with which he followed the instructions set forth in the
book of directions attached to the ship's medicine-chest, for such a
case as mine, I was not again troubled with delirium, nor did I
experience any other set-back of any kind; on the contrary, I made such
excellent progress that within the fortnight I was able to be up and
about again, although it was something of a task to climb the companion
stairway to the deck, even with the help of Billy. But, that task once
achieved, I made rapid headway, and was soon my old self again. Upon my
first visit to the deck after my illness I sustained something of a
shock. My last view of the brigantine had shown her all ataunto, and
although what Billy had told me ought to have prepared me for the change
that met my gaze, I must confess that I was distinctly taken aback when
upon my first emergence from the companion I beheld both masts gone by
the board, all the bulwarks swept away, and the deck hampered by a
confused mass of raffle consisting of the mainmast with all attached
stretched fore and aft, while the foremast had gone over the bows, its
head resting upon the coral while its splintered lower extremity
projected some ten feet above the knightheads. The fore topmast had
carried away close to the cap and, with the yards, was afloat under the
bows, fast to the wreck by the standing and running rigging. The life-
boat that had served me so well had practically disappeared, only the
keel and a fragment of the sternpost remaining; but, by a miracle, the
galley remained intact, and was in regular use by Billy for the
preparation of our meals. Almost my first care was to sound the well,
in the hope that by some stroke of marvellous good fortune the hull
might have, so far, escaped serious damage and be capable of being
floated again; but, of course, that was too much to expect. I found
nearly two and a half feet of water in the well, which was about the
depth alongside; the inference therefore was that, upon striking the
reef, the ship had been bilged, or some of her planks had been started,
and that therefore, if it depended upon my efforts alone, she would
never float again.
I next turned my attention to externals. Helped by Billy, I tottered to
the skylight and seated myself upon the cover, from which I obtained a
clear view of the whole reef, from horizon to horizon. It appeared to
be a typical example of a coral barrier reef, running roughly parallel
to the shore of the island, from north to south; but it seemed to vary
greatly in width, for while in some places I judged it to be not more
than five or six yards wide, it was nearly or quite three hundred yards
wide where the brigantine lay. And most fortunate was it for us that it
was so; for if, after striking, the ship had been driven over the inner
edge of the reef to the comparatively deep water of the lagoon, she
would assuredly have gone down, taking us with her. As it was, there
was a space of only about a fathom between our forefoot and the inner
edge of the reef, as I ascertained later. The great wall of surf, fifty
feet high, breaking perpetually upon the outer face of the reef, and
stretching mile after mile to north and south of us, was a wonderful
sight, especially in the early morning, when the sun's rays struck the
great cloud of spray, creating a most beautiful and perfect rainbow.
That same wall of spray, by the way, effectually excluded all view of
the ocean outside, so that even if a whole navy happened to be passing,
we should never catch the smallest glimpse of it, so long as we remained
aboard the wreck. It was evident, therefore, that the first step toward
an escape from our present predicament must be the transfer of ourselves
and everything of value to the island.
By a natural transition of thought I next turned my attention to the
land which stretched north and south athwart the bows of the wreck. A
great belt of smooth water, averaging some two miles in width, lay
between the reef and the beach of dazzling white sand, both extending to
right and left as far as the eye could see. To the south the land
seemed to dip out of sight below the horizon, but northward it appeared
to terminate in a high headland which I estimated to be about eighteen
miles distant; I considered, therefore, that the island must measure,
from north to south, at least forty miles. What it might measure from
east to west was not to be easily determined, but the summits of the
most distant range of hills appeared to be nearly or quite twenty miles
distant; and how much land lay beyond them it was of course impossible
to guess. The description of the island which Billy had given me,
several days earlier, was quite a good one. There was the far-
stretching ribbon of white beach, bordered on its inshore margin by
innumerable cocoa-nut palms, beyond which the land rose gently, in
irregular folds, to the hills in the rear, every inch of soil,
apparently, being clothed with vegetation of some sort, chiefly trees,
many of which seemed--as seen through the ship's telescope--to be
smothered in blossoms of varied and most beautiful hues. I subjected
every foot of the land in sight to a most rigorous scrutiny through the
lenses of the telescope, in search of some indication of inhabitants,
but could find nothing; no cleared and cultivated land, no smoke,
suggestive of dwellings, no canoes on the beach, no moving figures; to
all appearances, indeed, the gulls, pelicans, and other aquatic birds
that wheeled and screamed over the lagoon and dived into its waters
might be the only life on the island.
"Well, Mr Blackburn, what do you think of it?" demanded Billy, when at
length I lowered the telescope from my eye.
"It is wonderful," I declared. "I am amazed. I simply cannot
understand it. That island is quite a big place. There is nothing in
the least like it shown on the chart anywhere near the spot which it
actually occupies, yet how it has so far escaped the notice of the
hydrographers is a puzzle to me. The matter, however, which most
concerns us is that, viewed from here at least, it appears to be a
sufficiently desirable place, on which we ought, without difficulty, to
find ample means of subsistence. How does the idea of living ashore
there for a time appeal to you?"
"Oh, I say!" exclaimed Billy, "that will be splendid! Just think of the
jolly times we shall be able to have, huntin' wild beasts, fightin' the
savages, and havin' all sorts of splendid adventures."
"Well," I said, "some of those things may possibly come our way, but we
really want no excitements of that sort, Billy boy. Of course, we are
all right where we are, so long as the wreck holds together and remains
habitable; but the trouble is that we don't know how long that may be.
Another such gale as placed us here might send such a tremendous sea
pouring in over the reef as to wash the old hooker off the reef into the
lagoon, where she would quickly founder--which is the reason why I
consider that we must establish ourselves ashore as soon as possible."
"Oh!" exclaimed Billy, "I never thought of that. Do you really think,
Mr Blackburn, that there's a chance of the wreck sinking?"
"It is quite possible," I replied, "although I have known cases where
stranded wrecks have remained for years undisturbed. Still the
possibility must be recognised and provided against, wherefore it is of
the utmost importance that we lose no time in getting ourselves safely
settled ashore."
"Then, what do you propose to do, sir?" demanded Billy.
"The moment that I am strong enough to do any work," said I, "I shall
start to build some sort of a craft in which we can ferry ourselves
across the lagoon and explore the island in search of a suitable spot
upon which to pitch our camp. After that, everything will depend upon
the conditions on which we find it possible to live. But one condition
is of paramount importance; we must establish ourselves where a clear
view of the open sea can be obtained, and from which it will be possible
to signal to any ship that may heave in sight. And now, Billy, do you
happen to know whether there is any timber aboard, out of which it would
be possible for me to build a boat without the preliminary necessity to
start breaking up the _Yorkshire Lass_?"
"Why--yes--I--I believe--there is," answered Billy hesitatingly. "I
can't say for certain, but I seem to remember hearin' Dad say something
about buyin' some planks as a stand-by in case of repairs of any sort
bein' needed; and I believe I saw some planks and scantlin' down in the
fore hold a bit later, while the ship was still in dock. If the
timber's aboard anywhere, that's where you'll find it, Mr Blackburn."
"Thanks, Billy," said I. "As soon as I am strong enough to lift a hatch
we will explore the fore hold, and see what is to be found there."
Nearly a fortnight elapsed before I was strong enough to open the fore
hatchway, even with Billy's help; but when at length we managed it we
were amply rewarded for our labour, an abundant supply of planks and
scantling for our utmost need being found. I took careful stock of it
all, recording the nature and dimensions of each piece of scantling and
plank, and then, providing myself with paper, pencil, and scale, I set
to work to scheme out a craft that should be easy to build, fast, stiff
and weatherly under canvas, a fairly good sea-boat, and of light
draught. It was a decidedly ambitious scheme for an individual who, up
to then, had attempted nothing bigger than a three-foot model; but even
that experience was, I soon found, of great value to me; and ultimately
I evolved a design that I believed would approach within a reasonable
distance of my requirements. This done, I routed out the carpenter's
chest of tools from the forecastle, cleaned and sharpened them, got up
on deck such timber as I immediately required, and started work, with
Billy as an enthusiastic helpmate.
CHAPTER EIGHT.
WE GO EXPLORING, AND MEET WITH AN ADVENTURE.
It cost Billy and me nearly three months of strenuous labour to build
our boat, rig her, and get her afloat; then, upon a certain day, the boy
and I, provided with a rifle apiece, a brace of revolvers, and an
abundant supply of cartridges for each kind of weapon, climbed down the
side of the wreck into our completed craft, set her sails, and pushed
off upon our first voyage of exploration.
The wind was, as usual, blowing a moderate breeze from the eastward when
we started, consequently the island lay dead to windward, a "beat" of
two miles to the nearest point of the beach, thus affording an excellent
opportunity to test the weatherly qualities of the boat; and I was
agreeably surprised not only at the style in which she turned to
windward, but also at the speed with which she slipped through the
water, and the certainty and celerity with which she "stayed". She made
the distance in a few minutes over the half-hour, which, considering
that as we drew in under the land the wind grew ever more scanty, I
regarded as a very creditable performance.
As we shortened the distance between ourselves and the land the prospect
grew ever more attractive, eliciting frequent exclamations of delight
from Billy. The ground now revealed itself as finely broken into a
range of lofty hills of gracefully flowing outline, with suggestions of
picturesque valleys winding between them, affording an infinite variety
of glowing light and soft shadow, while the variegated and brilliant
hues of the foliage completed a picture of indescribable beauty.
But all this beauty by no means exhausted the charm of the place, for as
we drew still closer to the beach we were able to distinguish that the
woods were the habitat of countless thousands of birds of strange and
most gorgeous plumage, among which I identified what I believed to be
three or four species of birds of paradise, as well as a great variety
of sun birds flitting from flower to flower like living gems. It is to
be admitted that the cries of those birds were not always in accord with
the splendour of their plumage, being for the most part distinctly harsh
and unmusical; but there was one exception that startled us not a little
when we first heard it. Its cry was an exact reproduction of the sound
of a sweet-toned bell, so exact, indeed, that for the moment I felt
fully persuaded that, hidden somewhere in the heart of that vast ocean
of greenery, there must be a monastery, or some such institution; and it
was not until we marked the irregular, intermittent character of the
sounds, and the fact that they emanated from frequently changing
localities, that we at length arrived at an explanation of the apparent
mystery.
While we were still discussing the matter the boat gently grounded upon
the dazzlingly white beach of coral sand, and we stepped out, securing
the boat by means of a grapnel attached to the end of a long painter,
digging the flukes of the former deeply into the sand. Then Billy and
I, each carrying the weapons with which we had provided ourselves, set
out to explore the new territory.
The beach was of varying width, ranging from two or three yards to, in
places, nothing at all; indeed many of the cocoa-nut trees were actually
rooted in soil that was, at the moment, being laved by the salt water,
due to the fact that we happened to land about the time of full tide.
It happened also that the fruit was at that season just ripening, so
many of the nuts falling to the ground with a thud, even as we stood
staring about us, that we were able without difficulty to collect and
place in the boat as many as we pleased. This done, we attempted to
make our way inland, but so dense was the undergrowth at that point that
we were soon compelled to abandon our efforts, it being clearly evident
that the only way in which we could penetrate would be by hewing a path
for ourselves.
But it did not follow that because we failed here we must necessarily
fail everywhere. We therefore re-embarked and, again getting under way,
headed northward, keeping close to the beach and maintaining a good
look-out for a spot affording a reasonable prospect of successful
penetration. Several times we believed we had found what we were
seeking, but on each occasion our hopes were speedily dashed, our most
successful effort resulting merely in penetration for a distance of less
than half a mile. But, even so, our attempts were not unmitigated
failures, for while our clothing suffered somewhat in our encounters
with the thorns that persistently barred our passage, we were fortunate
enough to secure a few bunches of delicious wild grapes, a large bunch
of very delicately flavoured bananas, and six splendid pineapples. Upon
our return to the beach I took the precaution to mark the spot by
cutting a good big branch and inserting it upright in the sand, so that
it could easily be seen at some distance; and then we resumed our voyage
of exploration, lunching luxuriously upon bananas, meanwhile.
At length, after working northward for a distance of some fourteen miles
along the western shore, we quite suddenly opened out the mouth of what
I at first supposed to be an important river running in a south-easterly
direction toward the interior of the island, but which subsequently
proved to be one of several channels dividing what I originally imagined
to be only one island into a group of no less than seven. Naturally, I
at once decided to abandon for the moment the further exploration of the
lagoon, in favour of a survey of this waterway, and the boat was
accordingly put about and headed into it. At its entrance it measured
about half a mile wide, but as we proceeded it gradually widened out
until, at a point about eight miles inward from the lagoon, it was quite
two and a half miles wide. Here the channel trended a point or two
farther to the eastward; and some four miles farther on it forked, one
branch continuing to the south-eastward while the other trended away
toward the north-east. I decided to follow the latter.
The land on both sides was still distinctly hilly, and densely covered
with forest, but on our left the hills sloped rapidly downward until
they died away in a plateau, the level of which was only two or three
feet above the surface of the water. As the boat glided slowly onward
under the influence of a breeze that had steadily grown more languid and
fitful as we progressed, we subjected this plateau to a rigorous
scrutiny through the ship's telescope, which we carried with us, but the
place looked so uninviting that we decided against landing there. Nor
did the land to the southward look any more inviting, for it consisted
of cliffs ranging from two hundred to five or six hundred feet high,
rising almost vertically from the water. We therefore pushed on, all
the more impelled thereto because the channel now ran almost directly to
windward and we were therefore obliged to beat up through it; moreover,
the afternoon was progressing, and I wanted, if possible, to find some
spot where we could pass the night in comfort.
At a point some eight miles farther on the channel again forked, one
branch heading away to the north-east while the other trended off in a
south-easterly direction. As we reached this point the wind suddenly
freshened, and there was a salt tang in it quite distinctive from the
odour of earth and vegetation that we had now been breathing for several
hours; also there came to our ears, subdued by distance, the low,
continuous booming thunder of surf, from which I surmised--correctly as
it subsequently proved--that we were nearing the eastern extremity of
the group.
Heading the boat into the south-eastern channel, with the long range of
vertical rocky cliffs still stretching away on our starboard bow, we
presently came abreast of an island measuring some six miles from east
to west, by about seven miles from north to south, roughly triangular in
plan, the surface sloping upward on all sides from the water's edge to a
peak which I estimated to be about two thousand feet high. Standing
close inshore, to get as near a view as possible of this island, we
found its appearance most delectable. Like much of what we had already
seen, the entire island was forest-clad, but the country was much more
park-like in character; the trees grew less thickly together; they were
not matted together by an impenetrable jungle of undergrowth, although
many of them were almost smothered in what appeared to be innumerable
varieties of orchids, and the soil was clothed with what looked like
short, grey-green grass down to the inner edge of the narrow beach,
which was lined with cocoa-nut palms. Taken altogether, the place wore
so exceedingly attractive an appearance that, finding ourselves rather
unexpectedly standing into a nice, snug little bay, I headed straightway
for the beach, determined to push our explorations no farther for that
day.
Securely mooring the boat as before, we landed and, fully armed, made
our way inland over the southern shoulder of the hill, observing, as we
went, that among the forest giants that towered about us on every hand
there were fruit-trees in abundance, among which I identified the bread-
fruit, the mango, the custard-apple, the shaddock or grape-fruit, grape-
vines twining about many of the bigger trees and yielding large clusters
of richly flavoured fruit, while bananas and plantains were to be seen
wherever one turned one's eyes. Birds also seemed to regard this island
as a desirable dwelling-place, for they were everywhere, their beautiful
plumage adding a further charm to the little island paradise.
From the beach to the ridge of the hill, for which we were making, the
distance was about a mile, the ground rising gently all the way; but the
going was comparatively easy, for by making slight detours here and
there we were able to progress without the need to force our way through
dense undergrowth; a gentle saunter of about half an hour's duration
therefore took us to the point for which I was aiming. Arrived there,
we were afforded a clear view eastward, when we discovered, as I had
suspected, that we had practically reached the eastern extremity of the
group. Immediately before us the ground sloped down to the eastern
shore, its distance being about a mile. That shore was washed by the
waters of the lagoon, which was at this point some six or seven miles
wide, its outer margin being marked by a continuous wall of spray thrown
up by the long lines of Pacific swell that eternally hurled themselves
upon the barrier reef. And midway between that reef and the island on
which we stood there was a smaller island which, in all essentials,
appeared to be a replica of the one we were on, for it, too, was park-
like in the arrangement of the trees that grew upon it, while it also
boasted a central peak, rising to a height of some six or seven hundred
feet. This small island, it was evident, was the easternmost of the
whole group, and I at once determined to pay it a visit early on the
morrow; for if it should prove, upon inspection, to be as desirable as
it looked, it would certainly be the place on which we ought to take up
our abode, since from it we should best be able to signal any ship that
might heave in sight, and from which also--if an opening in the reef
happened to be anywhere handy--we could slip out to sea in our boat and,
if need be, intercept that ship. South of us, and on the opposite side
of a channel about three-quarters of a mile wide, lay the curious island
of the vertical cliffs, already referred to. From the view-point which
we occupied we could see the entire length of this island, which I
estimated at about sixteen miles, its eastern extremity being a low
cliff some eight miles south-east of us. I resolved that on the morrow,
after visiting the small island to the eastward of us, which I already
began to speak of as "ours", I would pay a visit to this other island,
which somehow seemed to have invested itself in my eyes with an air of
mystery. We spent that night encamped on the grass close to the beach,
occupying a tent formed of an old sail and three oars which I had
brought along for the purpose. And we slept soundly, the night air on
the eastern side of the group being, as we discovered, very much fresher
and cooler than on the western side, where the wreck lay.
We were astir by sunrise next morning, treating ourselves to a swim in
the bay, after which we proceeded to prepare breakfast. When we had
finished the meal we struck the tent, packed it away in the boat, and
started upon another day's exploration.
Our first call was at the small island forming the easternmost extremity
of the group, which I had practically determined upon as our place of
abode during such time as fate might keep us prisoners on the group; and
we found it almost ideal for our purpose. In the first place there was,
on its south-western side, a snug little cove, just large enough to
accommodate our boat, and wherein she might ride safely in all weathers.
Next, discharging into this cove there was a brook of deliciously cool,
sweet water, springing from the side of the cove, affording us an ample
supply for every purpose. The island was rich in fruit-trees of great
variety; and, finally, a rigorous examination of it failed to disclose
the existence upon it of anything noxious or inimical to human life,
although, like the other islands visited, the place swarmed with birds.
To crown all, and complete my satisfaction, we found that there was a
passage through the reef immediately to the eastward of the island,
through which, in our boat, we might reach the open sea.
We spent the entire morning on "our" island, and partook of our mid-day
meal there, leaving it, rather reluctantly, to continue our survey of
the group. The island which I next intended to visit was the one with
the vertical cliffs, along which we had coasted on the previous day.
Those rugged precipitous cliffs formed the northern coast-line of the
island, but from certain observations which I had made from "our own"
island I came to the conclusion that the southern side of the island
would reveal very dissimilar characteristics. And so it proved, for
when, after a sail of some six miles in a southerly direction, we
rounded its south-eastern extremity, we discovered that its southern
shore rose only a few feet above the level of the water, being bounded,
as seemed usual in the group, by a narrow beach of coral sand, liberally
fringed with cocoa-nut trees, the ground sloping gently up from the
beach for a distance ranging from two to four miles, when it abruptly
ended against the southern face of the cliffs to which I have so
frequently referred. But this was by no means its most surprising
characteristic to us explorers. For, having thus far failed to discover
any sign of inhabitants, I had, perhaps rather hastily, jumped to the
conclusion that the group was uninhabited, whereas we now saw that the
whole surface of this particular island, from its southern shore right
up to the base of its range of northern cliffs, was under cultivation.
Wide areas of Indian corn were interspersed with spacious fields of
sugar-cane, varied here and there by great orchards of what I assumed to
be fruit-trees of various kinds, and what appeared to be garden plots
devoted to the cultivation of vegetables. Occasionally we caught
glimpses of the natives working, either singly or in small groups, in
the fields, orchards, and gardens, and from their gestures of amazement,
and from the manner in which they stood transfixed and staring when our
boat swept within their range of vision, I conjectured that it was the
first time in their lives that they had ever beheld such a sight. They
were almost coal-black in colour, and inspection of them through the
telescope showed them to be absolutely naked, wherefore I decided not to
pay them a visit until some future occasion when Billy should not be
with me, although, apart from their state of nudity, they impressed me
as being perfectly harmless.
My resolve to abstain from landing there on that occasion was, however,
broken down within the next half-hour, and that, too, in a sufficiently
remarkable and tragic manner. We were skimming briskly along before the
pleasant easterly breeze, Billy being at the helm, while I sat in the
bottom of the boat, taking peeps through the telescope at interesting
objects in the landscape that seemed to be gliding past us, when
suddenly we heard, from some distance ahead of us, a sound as of a horn
being blown, the sound being taken up and repeated at various points
both ahead and astern of us.
"What do you think is the meaning of that rumpus, Mr Blackburn?" asked
Billy. "Do you think they're scared at the sight of us? It looks a bit
like it, doesn't it; for, see, sir, they've all started to run."
I directed the telescope toward the shore. It was as Billy had said;
everybody within sight was running, and at remarkable speed too; but
whether or not it was the apparition of the boat that had startled them
I could not tell, for about half of them seemed to be hastening at
breakneck speed toward a part of the beach about half a mile ahead,
where a group of some forty or fifty blacks had already gathered, close
to the water's edge, and seemed to be engaged, in feverish haste, in
collecting stones, or lumps of coral. Other groups, which I believed to
be composed of women, were running with equal speed toward the cliffs at
the back of the island.
Turning my telescope again upon the rapidly gathering natives on the
beach, I saw that it could not be the boat that was causing their
excitement, for a number of them, having collected as many stones as
could be conveniently held in the hollow of the left arm, were now
excitedly pointing and directing their companions' attention to some
object in the channel immediately before them. Turning the telescope in
the direction toward which they were pointing, I presently sighted three
objects, that I believed to be the heads of animals, making rapid
progress through the water toward that point on the beach where the
still rapidly swelling crowd had collected, and, as I watched, little
jets of water began to spout up round the foremost of those heads. The
blacks were stoning it, with the evident object of driving it off, or at
least of preventing its approach; and remarkably good marksmen they
appeared to be, too, for as I continued to watch I observed four or five
direct hits, evoking from the target a most appalling shrieking roar,
while its progress through the water perceptibly speeded up. That the
three swimming creatures had been recognised by the blacks as enemies--
possibly of long standing--was clear enough; and here, it appeared to
me, was an excellent opportunity for me to establish good relations
between ourselves and the savages by taking a hand in the game that was
evidently toward. I accordingly laid down the telescope and, as I
reached for the rifles, directed Billy to luff and head the boat
straight for the spot where the blacks were gathered. As I rapidly
threw open the breeches of the rifles, to assure myself that the weapons
were loaded, the leading swimmer reached shallow water and, rising to
its feet, revealed itself as a gigantic anthropoid ape, probably a
species of gorilla. The creature towered a clear head and shoulders in
stature above the natives; it had a comparatively small head with a flat
receding forehead, very wide nostrils, a long, enormously muscular body,
immensely wide across its massive shoulders, disproportionately short
legs, and huge arms so long that even when the brute stood upright its
clenched fists reached to within a foot of the ground. As it started to
wade ashore its advance was momentarily checked by a terrific volley of
stones, hurled with amazing force and precision; then, emitting a series
of those dreadful, shrieking roars, it dashed forward with outstretched
arms, seized the nearest native and, without apparent effort, literally
tore the unfortunate man's head from his body.
It was evident that if I meant to intervene to any good purpose there
was not a moment to lose. The boat was now within a hundred yards of
the spot where the battle between the ape and the natives was raging,
but I dared not risk a shot in that quarter, for the great brute, still
roaring horribly, was completely hemmed in by a crowd of natives, all
battering the huge, hairy body with big lumps of coral, and the
movements of the combatants were so quick that I was more likely to hit
a black than the beast; but the second ape was now in shallow water and
on the point of rising to its feet. I therefore levelled the rifle I
held, and pressed the trigger as the two sights of the weapon came into
line with the centre of the head, just above the ear; a harrowing shriek
pealed out on the hot air and, as the little puff of smoke from the
rifle blew away, I had the satisfaction of seeing the creature throw up
its great hands and sink back into the water, dead.
Dropping the empty weapon, I snatched up the loaded one, and threw a
quick glance around to decide which should be my next mark. The third
ape was now less than twenty yards distant, and as my gaze fell upon him
I saw him change his course and head for the boat. This afforded me the
opportunity I wanted, and levelling my weapon I aimed for the centre of
the forehead, and fired. I distinctly heard the thud of the bullet as
it crashed into the massive skull; but there was no shriek this time;
the beast simply collapsed and sank.
Meanwhile, the aspect of affairs ashore had undergone a remarkable
change. Whether it was the sharp crack of the rifles and the coincident
deaths of the two apes, or the fact that the brute which had effected a
landing had already put some seven or eight of the natives _hors de
combat_, I could not guess, but the natives had, apparently with one
accord, and as though at a preconcerted signal, suddenly abandoned the
fight, and were now fleeing in all directions, while the ape, perhaps
taken by surprise at the quick-change tactics, or possibly dazed by the
severe blows that he had received, stood staring about him, as though
undecided what to do next. But only for a moment, for just then the
boat, with good way on, grounded and slid well up on the beach, while I
rose to my feet and, leaping lightly over the bows, advanced toward the
brute. Glancing quickly about him, the enormous beast instantly noted
my movement and, with a deep, savage roar, turned to meet me. His
little eyes blazing with fury, his lips drawn back in a snarl that
exposed his formidable teeth and a pair of great tusks protruding from
his lower jaw, with blood-stained foam dripping from his champing jaws,
and blood from numerous wounds streaking his great hairy hide, he
presented a most formidable spectacle as he approached me with his body
bent and crouching ready to spring, and his long, sinewy arms
outstretched, the great hands opening and closing, as though eager to
clutch my throat. We were now within half a dozen yards of each other,
and as though by mutual consent we each halted at the same instant,
glaring into each other's eyes. I saw the beast crouch still lower and
noted the ripple of the muscles of the great loins as he gathered
himself together for the spring that was to settle the dispute off-hand,
and quickly levelling the revolver which I had drawn from my belt as I
sprang ashore, I pointed the weapon straight for his head and pulled the
trigger. There was a sharp click as the hammer fell, but no explosion--
the cartridge had missed fire--and at that precise moment the brute made
his leap. As he came hurtling at me through the air I--by instinct, I
suppose, for there was no time for reasoning--again pointed the
revolver, this time straight at his wide-open mouth, and again pressed
the trigger. On this occasion the explosion came off all right; then,
while the report still rang in my ears the huge body of the ape, with a
curious writhing motion, crashed down upon me and dashed me violently to
the ground. We fell side by side, I upon my back, and the ape face
downward. A convulsive shudder shook the body for a moment, and then it
lay still. As for me, I remained where I had fallen, breathless, dazed,
and half stunned, until I was aroused by Billy, who, springing ashore,
rushed up to ask anxiously whether I was very much hurt. Fortunately, I
was not; I was scarcely even bruised by my fall, and I scrambled to my
feet not a penny the worse for my rather grim encounter.
I lingered on the beach for nearly half an hour, in the expectation that
some of the natives might possibly return and thus afford me an
opportunity to establish something in the nature of amicable relations
with them; but none of them did; eventually, therefore, I got the boat
afloat again and made sail on our way back to the wreck, abandoning for
the moment all idea of further exploration.
CHAPTER NINE.
WE SETTLE DOWN ON EDEN.
We found the wreck, as of course we had quite expected, in precisely the
same condition as we had left her. As I stowed the boat's sails and
made her securely fast to the wreck it was my fixed intention to
continue our exploration on the following day, but as I sat on deck that
night, smoking a final pipe before turning in, my plans underwent a
certain amount of modification. I had quite come to the conclusion that
the tiny islet that formed the easternmost extremity of the group was
the spot on which we ought to take up our abode in view of our hope of
eventual rescue; and while considering the matter it also occurred to me
that since it was impossible to forecast the duration of our detention
upon the group--it might run to months, for aught that I could tell--a
reasonably comfortable dwelling of some sort--something less susceptible
to the vicissitudes of weather than a mere tent, for instance--was an
absolute necessity. I therefore spent the ensuing four days in planning
such a house as Billy and I might, between us, be able to construct; and
by the end of that time I had got it satisfactorily planned out on
paper. I determined to build it entirely of wood, first, because the
wreck afforded us abundance of material, and next, because I could do
all the cutting-out, the sawing, planing, mortising, and fitting aboard
the ship, where such tools and conveniences as we possessed were at
immediate command, and where I could work from early morn to dewy eve
without fear of interruption of any kind. Then, when all my timbers
were cut, shaped, and fitted, it would be a comparatively simple matter
to transfer them to the islet by means of the boat, and there erect them
and fit them together.
From such observations as I had already been able to make I had come to
the conclusion that the barrier reef upon which the _Yorkshire Lass_ lay
stranded would probably be found to encircle the group completely--with,
perhaps, a breach or two in it somewhere; and, as the determination of
this point seemed to me a matter of some importance, I decided that our
next exploration should be conducted with that object. Accordingly,
upon the morning of the fifth day after our first expedition we again
left the wreck, the boat being well stocked with everything we could
think of as likely to be required during a week's cruise.
As before, we started by steering a northerly course, and in due time
arrived off the entrance of the channel which we had explored on our
first trip, and which had proved to lead to the centre of the group.
But on this occasion, instead of entering the channel as before, I
continued to push northward, the barrier reef still holding intact on
our port hand while to starboard lay what proved to be the most
northerly island of the group. As we coasted along its north-westerly
shore we were able to see that, while the southern portion of it was low
and flat, a range of hills occupied its eastern side, while another less
lofty and less extensive range marked its north-western extremity. But
the land looked savage, unattractive, uninviting. We therefore made no
attempt to land, contenting ourselves with the maintenance of a strict
and continuous scrutiny of the country through the telescope.
Uninviting, however, as was the aspect of the island, it became markedly
more so when we were presently favoured with a glimpse of some of its
inhabitants, of which, thus far, we had seen nothing. We had just
rounded the headland that was the most northerly point of the group
visible from the deck of the _Yorkshire Lass_, and had hauled up close
to the wind to fetch another point, some four miles distant to the
north-eastward, when, scrutinising the shore through the telescope, I
saw two creatures suddenly burst through the dense scrub that seemed to
be the only form of vegetation growing thereabout, and begin--or,
possibly, it might have been, continue--what had all the appearance of a
desperate fight, on the open beach.
We were at that moment not more than a quarter of a mile from the shore
and but little farther than that from the spot where the fight was
taking place. The creatures were therefore within plain view of us,
while the telescope clearly revealed every detail of what was happening,
and of the creatures themselves, but so incredibly agile were they in
their movements that several minutes elapsed before I was able to do
more than just form a rough estimate of their size; but presently the
boat drew up fairly abreast of them, and then I directed Billy, who was
steering, to haul the fore-sheet to windward to deaden the boat's way,
for I was curious to see what would be the outcome of the struggle.
The combatants were well matched as to size and activity, there
appearing to be not a pin to choose between them in those respects. I
set them down to be about the same size as an ordinary donkey, but they
did not in the least resemble donkeys as to shape; indeed at first sight
they seemed to be more like gigantic frogs. That, however, was merely a
first impression, for there presently occurred a momentary pause in the
fight--presumably to enable them to get their second wind--and then I
was enabled to note details accurately. Their hind legs were,
proportionately, as long as those of frogs, but much more muscular,
while their fore legs appeared to be not more than a foot long, all four
extremities being armed with exceedingly stout and formidable claws.
Unlike frogs, however, they boasted powerful tails that seemed to serve
very much the same purpose as that of the kangaroo, both as a weapon and
a propellant. At the base it was the same thickness as the body,
tapering away to a point, and it appeared to be about the same length as
the body. The head was, however, the most remarkable feature of the
animal. When seen in profile it was not unlike those of the apes we had
encountered, but it was evidently even more formidable, for projecting
from its nose was a stout, sharp horn, similar to that of a rhinoceros,
while a pair of long tusks projected from its upper jaw. In colour the
animal was a greyish brown, dark on the upper part of the body, fading
to a dirty white on the lower. A serrated ridge of what might be loose
skin ran along its back from the nape of the neck to the extremity of
the tail, and the body appeared to be thickly dotted with wart-like
excrescences. Altogether it had very much more the appearance of a
reptile than of any other class of the animal kingdom. These details I
was able to observe during the short pause in the fight to which I have
already alluded, but in less than a minute the struggle was resumed with
apparently greater ferocity than ever. Their method of fighting was as
remarkable as their general appearance. Facing his opponent and
crouching low, at a distance of some three or four yards apart, one of
them would suddenly spring high in the air and land upon the body of his
adversary, striking furiously with claws, tusks, and tail, while the
other, throwing himself on his back, would lash out as vigorously with
his own weapons. Then the two would grip, rolling over and over each
other, and for a few minutes it would be impossible to see what was
happening, so quick were their movements and dense the cloud of dust
that they raised. Then would occur a brief pause, to be followed by a
further renewal of the fight. But after about a quarter of an hour it
became evident that the struggle was nearly over. The end came with
dramatic suddenness: the one which happened to be lying upon his back
made a lucky upward stroke with his hind claws, disembowelling his
antagonist as the latter descended upon him, and a moment later he was
tearing great morsels of flesh from the still writhing body of his late
adversary.
"Let draw the fore-sheet, Billy," I exclaimed. "We'll get away from
here as quickly as the wind will take us." For the sight was a horrible
and disgusting one.
An hour later we arrived off a gap about a mile wide between two
headlands, this gap forming the entrance of a noble bay some eight miles
long by five miles wide at its widest part. And, curiously enough,
immediately opposite that gap there occurred a corresponding gap or
break, about two miles wide, in the barrier reef, so that, had the place
been known to mariners, a ship in distress might have passed through
this break in the reef and sailed straight into the bay, even in the
hardest gale that ever blew.
Naturally, I at once headed the boat into the bay, and we sailed to its
farther extremity, hugging the western shore all the way, and still
maintaining a close watch upon the country generally through the
telescope. It was very rugged and broken until we reached the bottom of
the bay, where the hills, from a height of some eight hundred feet, sank
into the plain. The hill-sides, inside as outside the bay, nourished a
fairly dense growth of low, coarse scrub, that I searched with the
glass, in vain, for any sign of life. But I noticed, very early after
our passage between the two headlands, that, for some reason which I was
quite unable to guess at, the waters of the bay were swarming with
sharks--the first that we had seen since the occurrence of the wreck--
wherefore I at once christened the great sheet of water "Shark Bay",
while to the island itself I gave the name of "North Island."
The headlands that guarded the entrance to Shark Bay were a pair of
lofty promontories rising to a height of some four or five hundred feet,
forming part of the range of hills that engirdled the bay on either
hand; but while the range on the western side sloped down to the water's
edge, sinking into a plain at a distance of about ten miles from the
entrance, the range on the eastern side, some sixteen miles long,
gradually receded from the shore line as it swept southwards, the space
between its foot and the beach being occupied by a swamp lying so low
that it was difficult to judge, in places, the precise line of
demarcation between land and water. The southern half of the island
consisted entirely of low, flat ground, sparsely covered with coarse
grass and isolated clumps of scrub, across which, at a distance of some
eight miles, the high, precipitous cliffs of the island where we
encountered the apes could be distinctly seen.
By the time that we arrived at the inner, or southern extremity of the
bay the sun had declined to within a finger's width of the ridge of the
western range of hills. It was clear, therefore, that there could be no
further exploration for us until the morrow, and I began to look about
in search of a suitable spot whereon to pitch our camp for the night.
And to choose seemed difficult. The western shore of the bay, with its
broken ground and scrubby vegetation looked uninviting to say the least
of it, in addition to which it was on the other side of those same
hills, at a spot only a few miles distant, that we had, that afternoon,
witnessed the terrific fight between those two horrible, unknown
creatures; and I had no inclination to place ourselves where we might
perchance make closer acquaintance with other creatures of a similar or
perhaps even more ferocious kind. The eastern shore of the bay was a
swamp, and consequently out of the question. I therefore turned my
attention to the plain that formed the southern part of the island,
when, looking in that direction, I saw an animal of some sort squatting
on its hind-quarters on the beach, staring at us. It was only about a
quarter of a mile distant and, bringing the telescope to bear upon it, I
at once identified it as either the victorious fighter of the afternoon
or a creature similar in every respect. It was hardly likely to be the
same beast, however, for I thought it doubtful whether the long arm of
coincidence would bring the same creature within our ken again so soon;
moreover the animal at that moment focused by the lenses of the
telescope showed no wounds or other signs of recent battle.
"I'll have a shot at the beggar if he will only remain as he is half a
minute longer," I exclaimed. "Take the telescope, Billy, and watch.
I'll aim for his heart, and you will be able to see whether or not I
score a hit." And, thrusting the telescope into Billy's hands, I
snatched up a rifle.
"Four hundred and fifty yards should be about right," I muttered as I
adjusted the back sight of the weapon to that range; then, raising the
rifle to my shoulder and bringing the sights into line on that part of
the still motionless beast's body where I supposed its heart to be, I
pressed the trigger.
The "plop" of the bullet upon the creature's hide distinctly reached my
ear a second or two after the crack of the rifle; but instead of
toppling over, dead, as I fully expected, the beast simply wheeled about
and, in a sequence of enormous bounds, quickly vanished in the distance.
"By Jove!" I exclaimed, in amazement, "what an extraordinary thing.
I'll swear I hit him. I had him as neatly covered as possible; my hands
were as steady as rocks; and there is not enough wind to deflect the
bullet; furthermore, I heard it strike."
"Yes; so did I," agreed Billy. "I am certain that you hit the brute,
Mr Blackburn. I can't say for certain that I actually _saw_ the bullet
hit, but I believe that a second or two after you fired, and an instant
before the beast turned and bounded away, I saw a tiny dark spot on the
dirty white skin of its breast."
"I wonder whether you really did, or whether it was merely imagination,"
said I. "Anyway, the beggar must be a tough one to kill; for while I
feel as certain as you do that I hit him, the fact remains that he was
very far from being dead when we last saw him; furthermore, that yonder
plain harbours such creatures is a strong argument against our camping
there to-night; the only thing, therefore, that I can see for it is to
stand off-shore for a mile or two, anchor the boat, and rough it aboard
her for the night."
Which we did. And ample reason had we to congratulate ourselves upon
our decision, for shortly after nightfall and all through the hours of
darkness our ears were assailed by an almost continuous succession of
such hair-raising shrieks and howls, roars and bellowings, as thoroughly
convinced me that North Island was no sort of dwelling-place for human
beings with a penchant for peace and quietness. Furthermore, there was
a moon, that night, well advanced in her second quarter, and at frequent
intervals during a particularly restless night I caught glimpses of
shadowy forms moving restlessly hither and thither ashore.
With the arrival of dawn next morning we were astir; and after an early
breakfast the anchor was hove up and we got under way to resume our
voyage of exploration. On the previous afternoon we pretty closely
skirted the western shore of the bay; now, on our way out, we as closely
hugged the eastern shore, which I kept under continuous scrutiny with
the help of the telescope. But nothing worthy of record was seen; and
that day's voyage might be dismissed with the mere mention of it, but
for the fact that when we were about half-way down the bay we reached a
spot where the water and the swamp were so intermingled that we actually
ran right into a vast bed of rushes without grounding. There was,
perhaps, nothing very remarkable about that, but there was a peculiarity
about those rushes that Billy was the first to observe and remark upon,
namely, their absolutely perfect straightness. This inspired me with an
idea: our stock of ammunition was limited, and when it should become
exhausted, what were we to do? So long as we remained upon the group we
_must_ have weapons of some sort, and the only substitute for the rifle
and revolver that I could think of was the bow and arrow. I cut one of
the rushes and found it to consist of an exceedingly hard outer casing
filled with soft pith; it was remarkably light; and it instantly
occurred to me that the smaller, thinner rushes--they ranged from about
an eighth of an inch up to quite two inches in diameter--would make
ideal arrows. We therefore set to work, there and then, and cut about
two hundred reeds of suitable diameter, each of them being long enough
to make at least two arrows. When, toward sunset that evening, we again
reached the little islet that I had resolved to make our home--and which
I named Eden because it was so like a garden--the first thing we did was
to spread our reeds out on the grass to dry; next we rigged the tent--
for we intended to spend the night on the island--and then Billy and I
took a walk up as far as the shoulder of the hill, from which was to be
obtained a view of the sea, upon the off-chance of there being a sail of
some sort in sight. But, as I more than half expected, the ocean was
bare. We met with no adventures, unpleasant or otherwise, that night,
but enjoyed several hours of sound, dreamless sleep, and awoke refreshed
the next morning to pursue our voyage of exploration.
Nor did we meet with any adventures worth recording on the third day of
our voyage. We sailed past the eastern end of the island inhabited by
the natives, leaving it about two miles on our starboard hand as we
steered south; then we sailed past another and much bigger island, which
I estimated to measure some sixteen miles long by about fourteen miles
wide. It was in the form of a double-coned hill sloping on all sides
down to the water's edge, the higher of the two cones being about nine
hundred feet high, and the other perhaps two hundred feet less. It was
thickly wooded from beach to summit, and I had no doubt that many of the
trees we saw bore edible fruits; but we did not land to test the matter.
Rather late in the afternoon we arrived abreast another and much
smaller island that proved to be the southernmost of the group. This we
named "South Island"; and about sunset we ran into a tiny bay close to
its western extremity and, anchoring the boat, passed the night in her,
this time without disturbance of any kind.
Continuing our circumnavigation of the group, we reached the wreck again
about an hour before sunset on the fourth day of our travels, keeping
within the lagoon all the time and thus confirming my theory that the
reef completely encircled the whole group. I estimated that in the
course of those four days we sailed a distance of about one hundred and
fifty miles, but it was well worth it, for I now had considerable
knowledge of the general characteristics of the entire group, to which I
could add when I set out to traverse the intersecting channels.
The matter about which I was now most anxious was the erection of our
projected house on our little islet of Eden; and to the cutting and
shaping of the timber that was to be employed in its construction Billy
and I at once devoted ourselves energetically, making remorseless
inroads upon the wreck for the required materials, but maintaining the
cabins and after part of the ship intact, that we might not deprive
ourselves of the one dwelling-place until the
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