CHAPTER TWELVE.
OUR LIFE ON THE ISLAND.
The success we had already met with in finding food raised our spirits;but I knew the risk we should run of losing our health if we could notobtain vegetables was very great. I therefore urged my companions toset to work at once and try to get the sago manufactured.
"Come directly," said Macco, collecting a quantity of half-dried leaves.These he placed on the fire. He then covered them up with green twigs,thereby preventing the flames bursting out, at the same time producingan abundant smoke. "Dere, dat do bery well," he observed. "No creaturecome to carry off de fish, and he well dry when we come back."
I cannot say I felt any great confidence in the success of hisexperiment; and I thought it of no great importance even should it fail,as I began to hope that we should have a sufficient supply of food. Wesoon found a palm of moderate dimensions, which we might hope, even withour knives, to cut down in the course of a day or two by working awayassiduously. What, however, would take us several days, a sharp axewould accomplish almost in the course of almost as many minutes.However, we could all three work at once.
"You take one side, Oliver; Macco, you take another; and I will take athird," I observed.
"Stay, Massa Walter," he answered; "you no want to break head. Do disfirst. You cut here; Oliver cut here; and I go make rope."
Some ratans were growing not far off; he immediately began cutting themaway, and having collected a large supply, twisted them ingeniously intoa rope. Oliver and I had made apparently but little impression in thetree by the time he had done so. Taking the rope, he climbed up asbefore, to a considerable height, where he fastened it, and then carriedthe other end to another tree at some little distance, so that it mightfall to the ground clear of its companions.
"Now," he said, "do bery well;" and taking out his knife, he began towork away with great energy. So dexterously did he ply his instrument,that he soon had made almost as much impression as we had done, who hadbeen working so much longer a time. The ratans I speak of, thoughallied to palms, are creepers. They grow from the ground, climbing up atree, and then running along the branches, and descending again, mountup another tree, or sometimes climb from branch to branch. They oftenencircle a tree, which, in time, is completely destroyed; while theysurvive, forming an extraordinary intricate mass of natural cordage onthe ground. In some places the original trunk had entirely disappeared,leaving only the ratan. They greatly ornament the forest as they hangin graceful festoons from branch to branch, or adorn their summits withfeathery crowns of leaves, their highest points being erect leafy spikeswhich rise up above all the other foliage.
Macco had collected several lengths of this curious creeper, eachperhaps of fifty fathoms; and having twisted them together, had formed avery strong rope. The natives make their cables of them, as well as thestanding rigging of their masts; indeed, they are used for all sorts ofstout cordage. While we were working away, looking up, I saw on thebranch of a tree, at no great distance, as if watching our proceedings,an animal with a small head and very large bright eyes. He was covered,apparently, with very thick fur, and, I soon saw, had also a long tail,which was curled on a branch below him. As we did not move, he beganeating away in a fearless manner the leaves from a branch which hungnear his snout. He reminded me somewhat of the opossum, covered withthick, pure white fur, on which appeared a few black spots of variousshapes. I pointed him out at length to Macco. "He good eat," hewhispered. "I catch him." Several pieces of small ratan lay near us,and taking one of them, he formed a noose, with which in his hand hecrept towards the tree. On considering what the animal could be, Irecollected one called the cuscus, a picture of which I had seen in oneof Mr Hooker's books. "Yes, I am sure that must be a cuscus. It is amarsupial, or pouch-possessing animal, like the kangaroo," I said toOliver. Macco quickly climbed the tree, and reached a branch just abovethe cuscus. Not till then did the creature catch sight of him, andbegan moving along the branch, but at a very slow pace. Maccoimmediately climbed down towards us and followed it. Just, however, ashe was approaching, cuscus let go his hold, hanging down by his tail.It was a fatal manoeuvre, for Macco's noose was immediately let drop,and quickly drawn over the head of poor cuscus, who in vain tried toliberate himself with his claws. He was now a captive, and Macco,keeping the noose tight, descended the tree. Cuscus held on by his longprehensile tail; but Macco pulled and pulled, and down the animal camewith a flop to the ground. His claws were so sharp, that it was ratherdifficult to take hold of him without the risk of being severelyscratched. Macco called out to us to bring him one of the bamboospears. With this he transfixed the poor creature to the ground; buteven then it struggled, and not till he had made use of his knife, halfsevering the head from the body, did the creature die. It lookedsomewhat, in its white, woolly covering, like a small, fat lamb; but ithad short legs, hand-like feet, with large claws.
"He make bery good dinner for us," observed Macco. "No fear of ourstarving. Dat good t'ing."
Oliver and I were very glad, and thanked him very much for catching thecreature. However, I urged him to go back at once, that we mightcontinue our work on the sago-tree, for I was sure that, though byeating flesh and fish we might support our lives, we should not retainour health without bread, or a substitute for it, which the sago wouldafford. From the height of the sun, in addition to the hints of our ownappetites, we guessed that it was already past noon. We thereforeproposed returning with the cuscus to our hut. Tying up the legs of ourprize with the ratan, we passed a piece of bamboo through them, and tookour way by the path we had cut to the beach. Our fire was out, and thenumber of flies collected round our mollusc made us doubtful whether wewere not too late to preserve it from destruction.
"Soon drive dem away," said Macco, and bringing fresh fuel, he piled itup under the triangle. "I get fire dis time," he said. "I see man onboard de prow do it de oder day."
Taking a piece of bamboo sharpened like a knife in one hand, he heldanother piece in the other, split in two, with the convex partuppermost, in which he had cut a small notch. He began passing thesharp piece slowly over the other, as a fiddler does his bow over hisfiddle--strings, increasing in rapidity, till, in a very short time, thepowder produced by the friction ignited, and fell down upon the ashes.This he quickly blew up, and even more rapidly than I could have donewith my burning-glass, a flame was produced. The smoke which ascendedsoon sent some of the flies to a distance, while the others fell downinto the fire. This gave us a hint that we must not leave any of ourfood exposed, or that it would very quickly be destroyed.
"Cuscus better for dinner dan dis," he said, for he had heard me namethe creature; and he at once began to draw off the skin; then cuttingsome slices off the animal, he soon had them toasting on forked sticksbefore the fire.
"I wish I had some salt," I observed, pointing to the large shell inwhich we had boiled our eggs. The water had evaporated, leaving thesides and stones covered with saline particles. By scraping this off,we had an ample supply of salt for our meat.
"It strikes me, Mr Walter," said Oliver, "that we may be able tomanufacture enough salt to preserve the animals we kill, for the timemay come when we may not be able to obtain any, and possibly it might bea better way of preserving them than by drying them in the smoke."
"In dry, cool weather we might do so," I observed; "but in this hotclimate I doubt whether we could get the salt in with sufficientrapidity to stop putrefaction. However, of course, it would assist inpreserving the meat."
"I am afraid you are right, Mr Walter," he answered. "At all events,it is satisfactory to know that we can procure salt for our daily use."
"Oliver," I said, "I must ask a favour of you--it is, not to call me MrWalter. A common misfortune has made us brothers, and as a brother, Iam sure, I shall ever look upon you."
"I will do what you wish," said Oliver, "for I owe my life to you; yet,though I regard you as a brother, I do not feel myself your eq
ual."
"Do not talk of that, my dear fellow," I said. "We will not bandycompliments. I should have been very miserable had I been left on thisisland by myself, or even with so honest a fellow as our dark-skinnedfriend here; for though we two might have been like Robinson Crusoe andhis man Friday, I have often thought that Crusoe must have passed manydull and melancholy hours, without a companion with whom he couldexchange ideas on equal terms."
I felt much more at my ease after I had said this to Oliver. I had longlooked upon him as a very superior lad. His earnest piety, his courageand his coolness, had made me greatly respect him. Had I been told tochoose a companion in the situation in which I was placed, I certainlyshould have selected him. Our meal over, we went back to our sago-tree,and commenced our work. We made some progress, but still clasp-kniveswere very inadequate tools for the work we had undertaken. Every nowand then, as we were labouring on silently, we heard the same cry ofWawk--wawk--wawk!--Wok--wok--wok! and caught sight of magnificent birdsflitting among the higher branches of the trees, but so rapidly did theymove, that we could scarcely distinguish their forms. We knew them,however, to be birds of paradise, which Mr Hooker had fully describedto us. I knew from this that we must be on an island very close to theshores of New Guinea, as Mr Hooker had told me these birds are onlyfound in that vast country, or in the surrounding islands. WhenEuropeans first arrived at the Moluccas to obtain cloves and nutmegs,which were then supposed to be rare, and considered of great value, theysaw, in the possession of the natives, dried skins of birds of beautifulplumage and unusual shape. On inquiring their name, they were told thatthey were God's birds. As the bodies shown them had neither feet norwings, they easily believed the story they heard, that they had fallenfrom the sun, and the Portuguese therefore called them birds of the sun.The Dutch, who came afterwards, gave them the name of birds ofparadise. One of their early writers declared that no one had ever seenthem alive, that they existed only in the air, invariably keeping theirheads towards the sun, and never reaching earth till they died. Even aslate as 1760 they were supposed to have no feet, and Linnaeus calls themfootless birds of paradise. Another account says that they come to someof the spice islands of the East to eat nutmegs, which so intoxicatethem, that they fall down senseless, and are then killed. Mr Hooker,however, assured me that they were found only in New Guinea, and in afew groups of islands in its immediate neighbourhood. There is aconsiderable number of species of this bird, all of which have amagnificent plumage. They are of moderate size, and are allied in theirhabits and structure to crows, starlings, and to the Australianhoney-suckers. I longed to get some of these beautiful birds; but atpresent we had too much important work on which our existence mightdepend to allow me to make an attempt to obtain them.
We laboured on till the sun nearly reached the horizon, and then hurriedback to our hut. As may be supposed, as we passed along the shore wetook an anxious look-out in every direction to ascertain if any sail wasin sight; but the distant horizon still remained unbroken, as it hadbeen since the prow which had brought us to the island had disappearedacross it.
I was still unwilling to attack the mollusc; but Macco, cutting off someslices, toasted them before the fire, and declared them very good. Ipreferred supping on the remainder of the turtle's eggs, as did Oliver.He, however, tried a bit of the mollusc, but agreed that, unless moreperfectly cooked, it was likely to prove very indigestible. Havingfinished our repast, we crept into our hut. I should have said we hadstrewn it thickly with leaves to serve as a mattress. The nights werewarm, and as there was no wind, we required no covering beyond thatafforded us by the roof. We agreed, however, that as soon as we couldmanufacture some sago, we would build a more substantial mansion, inwhich we might be able to live should the rains come on.
I cannot describe the incidents of each day; for having no note-book,they are somewhat mixed up in my memory. For two days we laboured on atthe tree, and had now begun to make some progress. I became somewhateager at length, and hacked away incautiously with my knife. In sodoing, I caught it in the wood; and in drawing it out again, snapped theblade across. Here was indeed a misfortune.
"O Massa Walter," exclaimed Macco, "dat bad!"
"It is indeed," I said; "for though you and Oliver may in time getthrough the trunk with your knives, it will certainly take much longer."
"Not so certain of dat," said Macco. "An idea strike me. You take myknife--don't break it, though--and I come back by-and-by and see what Ican do."
Saying this, he handed me his knife, and with greater caution Icontinued my task.
"We must be content to chop out a little at a time," observed Oliver."Perseverance will succeed in the end. It might even be done with apenknife, if we did not attempt to work too quickly."
Macco, after being absent an hour, returned with several articles in hishand. One was a thick flat shell, something like an oyster-shell, onlyvery much larger. He had also brought some pieces of wood, with somefibre to serve as string, and some small sticks of bamboo. He sat downnear us, and taking the shell, formed with the bamboo a small drillingmachine. With wonderful rapidity he worked away, drilling first onehole and then another in the shell, till he had formed a line completelyacross it. He now asked for his knife, and shaped away the wood he hadbrought. Placing two pieces, one on each side of the shell, withanother at the back, he secured the whole together by means of thefibre, binding it round and round through the holes, till he had formeda serviceable-looking axe.
"Dere," he said, lifting the weapon.
"Let me have it!" I exclaimed. "I will work away gladly with it."
"No, no, Massa Walter," he answered. "I make de axe, I use it; if youmake it, you use it."
Macco, lifting his newly-made axe, advanced to the tree, and beganchopping away with careful and delicate strokes. He cut off only verythin slices at a time, but by degrees he increased the rapidity of hisstrokes, and I soon saw would produce far greater effect than we coulddo with our knives. When he stopped, we set to work again. By the endof the day, we calculated that we had got through more than half of thetrunk. It showed, at all events, what perseverance could do; and ingood spirits we returned to the shore. It was some time before sunset,but we were anxious to try and find some more turtles' eggs. In vain,however, we searched; and thinking that we might possibly find some morefurther on, we continued our walk along the shore. We had gone somedistance without meeting with any success, when, the brushwood appearingsomewhat lighter, we determined to proceed a little way inland. We hadnot gone far when we found a large mound fully six feet high, and, Idaresay, not less than twelve feet across. What it could be, we couldnot at first tell. It seemed as if a building of some sort had stoodthere, and the whole had tumbled down and been broken to atoms. We hadour bamboo spades with us, so we took it into our heads to dig into themound. It appeared to be composed, on examination, of dead leaves,stones, earth, and rotten wood, and sticks of all sorts--indeed, everyvariety of rubbish. At first I thought it might possibly be an ant'snest, as I had read of the curious buildings formed by those creatures.I had begun on one side; but Oliver went to the very top, and begandigging away. Macco could not assist us, as he said he had seen nothingof the sort before. One thing we were certain of, that the mound wasartificial.
"I am afraid we are only wasting our time," I observed; "and it will bebetter to go back to the shore to look for turtles' eggs; and perhaps wemay catch a turtle itself."
I had already begun to walk away, expecting my companions to follow,when Oliver cried out, "Stay!--stay!--see here!" and he lifted up alarge egg of a light brick-red colour, fully as large as that of a swan.I hurried back, and now, assisting him to dig, we uncovered aconsiderable number--two or three dozen at least. I now recollectedhaving heard from Mr Hooker of a bird called the megapodius, which laysits eggs in large heaps. It is said that a number of birds make thesemounds together. For this purpose they are furnished with large feetand long curved claws, to ena
ble them to scrape up the dirt and rubbish.This they are supposed to do by labouring together; and they then,making a hole in the centre, lay their eggs in it and cover them up.The heat caused by the fermenting leaves is sufficient to hatch theeggs; and the young birds then work their own way out of the mound, andrun off in a most independent manner into the woods, picking up theirfood as they go. They are quite independent of parental control, andseem at once to obtain all the knowledge they are ever likely topossess. We determined to watch for the birds themselves, when we hadtime, to learn more about them. Of the fact that they thus lay theireggs, we now had a very pleasant proof.
"Stay," said Macco; "I make baskets to carry de eggs."
Ascending a tall palm-tree, he cat from the top some fan like leaves,and descending, speedily wove them into three baskets, sufficient tocarry away our prize. We left, however, a portion to be hatched, notliking to take the whole--indeed, there were more than we shouldprobably require while they remained good. We had not got far withthem, when a dreadful idea struck me.
"Suppose they are nearly hatched," I said; "I am afraid they would beuneatable!"
Macco understood me, and laughed heartily. "Oh, dem bery good," heanswered. "Little bird better dan big, bird."
However, I could not agree with him. To satisfy myself, I at once brokeone. Greatly to my delight I found that it was perfectly fresh; andprobably, had we approached the mound more cautiously, we might havefound the parent birds in the neighbourhood, for it was evident that theeggs could only just have been laid.
As may be supposed, we made a hearty supper. On examining our larder,we found that the flesh of the cuscus was still perfectly fresh. Atfirst I had some repugnance to eating a new animal. However, the steakswhich Macco cut from the creature's fat sides looked so tempting that Idid not refuse the portion he offered me, and found it very delicate.As the eggs were more likely to keep than the flesh of the animal, weagreed to preserve it for our morning's meal, cooking only one, which wedivided amongst us. A couple we agreed would be sufficient for a heartymeal; indeed, one was almost enough to satisfy a moderate appetite.While we were eating it, we discussed the best plan for keeping oureggs.
"What do you say to trying to hatch some of them?" said Oliver. "We maythen have some poultry about us, as I suppose, if we were to begin whenthe birds are first hatched, we might tame them, and then, in case ofnecessity, we may kill them for food."
There appeared to be no great difficulty in imitating the parents' wayof building. We therefore constructed a mound, similar in character tothe one we had discovered, and placed half-a-dozen eggs at the samedepth that we had found them. And, as far as we could recollect, in thesame position. The others were hung up in the air on the branch of atree in baskets, that they might be kept as cool as possible, hopingthus that they would remain fit for food till they were exhausted.
"What cause we have to be thankful!" said Oliver. "See tow bountifullywe are supplied with food; and the care thus taken of us by a kindProvidence should make us trust that we may some day be rescued from ourposition, and restored to our friends."