CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
EXCURSION CONTINUED--FEARFUL ENCOUNTER WITH A MONSTER.
I was the first inhabitant of our hut awake. Daylight was justbreaking; and going out silently, not wishing to disturb the rest of theparty, I looked round me. Potto Jumbo, who had the morning watch, wassitting by the fire; a few branches of trees stuck in the ground forminga sufficient shelter from the night dews. He was leaning against them,and had evidently fallen asleep, for the fire was almost out. I stoodfor some minutes contemplating the strange scene. Surrounding us onevery side were the curious trees I have before described, festoonedwith creepers. Here and there the bright flowers of some orchidaceousplant ornamented their summits, or hung down from their boughs. Ithought to myself, if any natives are in the island, how easily we mighthave been surprised; or if tigers lurk in its thickets, how easily oneof our party might be picked off.
Presently Potto Jumbo sprang to his feet with a loud shout. He musthave been dreaming, and supposed that one of the animals I was thinkingof was approaching. His shout was echoed, it seemed, by a thousandshrill voices; and looking up, I saw the whole of the trees surroundingus alive with creatures--some trumpeting, some screeching, and othersmaking prolonged shrill whistlings; and from the high branches, like aflock of birds, down came some forty or fifty monkeys, striking the topsof the brushwood to which they clung, either with hands or tails, andthen off they went with the speed of arrows through the jungle. Thereseemed to be several descriptions. Some were small creatures of a slatecolour; others of a light yellow, with long arms and long tails. Thenoise they made quickly roused Emily and Grace, as well as the rest ofthe party, who sprang out of their bowers, watching the proceedings ofour neighbours. Some made tremendous leaps from one branch of a tree toanother, a little lower down. First went one bold leader, taking a jumptowards a tree which it seemed scarcely possible he could reach. Thenthe others followed, with more or less trepidation. Some seemed afraidto take a leap till their companions began to move off, when, for fearof being left alone, they threw themselves frantically into the air,while two or three came crashing through the slender branches down tothe ground.
"Oh, do catch one of those pretty creatures for us!" said Emily andGrace.
Oliver and I ran forward to catch them; but they were not too much hurtto defend themselves; and one of them bit me so severely in the hand,that I was glad to let him go; while the rest, picking themselves up,hopped off at a rate which would have made pursuit useless.
"I am very sorry," I said to Grace, "to lose the monkey; though I do notthink he would have proved a very amiable pet. However, I hope to bemore fortunate another time."
My uncle laughed heartily at me, while he put some salve on my fingerand bound it up, the pain quickly subsiding under his treatment.
We soon had our coffee-pot boiling, and we took our breakfast beforecommencing our day's walk. The girls declared themselves fully able toproceed. While we were sitting on the ground, I perceived a movement inthe boughs, and saw that the monkeys were coming back to have a furtherlook at us; and presently the boughs above our heads were filled withcurious prying black, grey, and yellow faces. I pointed them out toGrace and Emily.
"If we could but entice some of them to come down, perhaps we mightcapture one for you," I observed.
"Oh no, no; pray do not attempt it," said Grace, "or you will getanother bite. I thought they were such good-natured little creaturesthat they would hurt no one."
"Nor would they, young lady, if left alone," said my uncle. "However, Ihave some tame ones at home, and you shall choose the most docile whenwe return as your especial property. We must give them anothersteeple-chase, however," he whispered; and suddenly starting up, heuttered a loud cry and clapped his hands.
Again the wood was full of living creatures, and away they went asbefore, swinging from bough to bough, with the aid of their long tails,in the most wonderful manner. We saw several further off on one side,who moved in a different manner from the rest.
"Those are apes," said our uncle, pointing them out. "I have one in mycollection which I will show you. It is the _Siamang syndactyla_."
It was moving much slower than the monkeys, keeping lower down in theunderwood, but still it moved rapidly by means of its long arms. Itappeared to be about three feet high, while its arms were between fiveand six feet across, and by them it was swinging itself along among thetrees at a rapid rate. Although at first I thought I could catch one, Isoon found that it could escape me as well as the monkeys had done.
We now packed up to proceed on our journey. I should like to describemore particularly some of the trees of the wonderful forest throughwhich we passed. In the lowlands near the shore were groves ofcocoa-nut palms, of which I have already spoken. Near them was thecurious pandanus or screw-pine. My uncle said he always called it atrunk with branches growing at both ends. There were two species of it.The one we saw had fragrant flowers. Its leaves are manufactured intomats and baskets. Its fruit is of a spherical form, from four to sixinches in diameter, the surface being exactly divided by projections ofa pointed, pyramidal shape. I have already described the bamboos. Aswe proceeded higher up we found ourselves among lofty fig-trees. Herethe number of orchidaceous plants greatly increased, hanging down fromthe boughs of nearly all the trees, clinging to them so closely thatthey often appeared to belong to the tree. The ferns, too, were ingreat variety; among them were many curious pitcher-plants. Thirstyfrom our walk, we were looking about for water, when my uncle went up toone of these remarkable productions of nature. Each pitcher containedabout half a pint of water. Some were full of insects, but in others itwas perfectly limpid, and thankfully we drank it off. Though it was notso cool as the juice of the cocoa-nut, still it served to quench ourthirst. Thus we found how God has so bountifully provided this regionwith the greatest necessary of life, guarding with a thick shell theproduce of the palm on the lower lands, and allowing the cool breeze ofthe mountains to temper the water collected in the cups of thepitcher-plant.
Instead of ascending the mountain--a task which the young ladies at allevents could not accomplish--we proceeded round it, towards acurious-looking rock which rose up on one side. We made our way withoutmuch difficulty to the gap, when we found ourselves on the summit of acliff, and looking down into a wonderful circular basin surroundedentirely by precipitous rocks, while another gap beyond seemed to openinto a smaller lake at a lower elevation. It had apparently been thecrater of a volcano--so my uncle thought. The sides of the higher lakewere nearly three hundred feet high, we calculated, and covered in mostplaces with trees and shrubs. A beach or broad ledge extended round oneside as far as the further gap, on which we hoped we should have amplespace for walking and viewing the wonders of the lake. Our ambition wasnow to reach the water, and we looked about on every side to discoversome practicable path by which we might gain it. After hunting about,we found a way down the side of the mountain by which we hoped we couldaccomplish our object.
The jungle through which we had to force our way, however, waswonderfully thorny. The creepers were thorny, even the bamboos werethorny, while shrubs grew in a zig-zag and jagged fashion, forming aninextricable tangle, through which it was difficult to cut our way.Beautiful birds flitted in and out among the shrubs--grass-green doves,large black cockatoos, golden orioles, and king-crows--their varied andbrilliant colours flashing brightly as they darted forth here and therein the sunlight from out of the dark shade. The most beautiful,perhaps, were the golden orioles, which my uncle afterwards told me areoften classed with the birds of paradise, and are sometimes placed inthe same genus as the regent bird of Australia. These, however, mightnot have been the true golden oriole, because that bird is very rare,and is an inhabitant of the mainland of New Guinea, though also found onthe island of Salwatty. We observed their nests cleverly suspendedbetween the horizontal forks of the outer branches of lofty trees, wherethey are not likely to be reached by the larger serpents w
hich prey onbirds. The paradise oriole has the throat, tail, and part of the wingsand back of a jet-black hue, but the rest of the body is of a brilliantyellow colour, with the exception of the neck, which is covered by longfeathers of a deep orange, reaching some way down the back, somewhat asdo the hackles of a game-cock. The birds we now saw, though not exactlylike those I have mentioned, were still very beautiful, and I believerare. I cannot, however, attempt to describe but faintly the lovelybirds and insects we met with in our expedition.
Just then even our uncle could pay but little attention to them, for weall had to use our axes with untiring energy before we could make anyprogress. At length, however, perseverance overcame all difficulties,and we cut a narrow path through the thick belt which surrounded themountain. We then found ourselves beneath a lofty cliff, which, weconcluded, formed one side of the lake, and circling round it, wereached what we at once guessed was the lower lake, where the cliffswere of less height and far more broken. Emily and Grace sat down onthe top, while the rest of us began to make a path by which we mightdescend to the level of the water. It was not a very easy task.Sometimes Dick Tarbox, who led the way, had to be lowered down by a ropeto a ledge below us, cutting away the shrubs which impeded his progress,leaving only certain stumps in the rock which would assist those whofollowed. In some places he had to clear away the grass and earth toallow of a firm footing; in others, he drove in pieces of bamboo, toserve as supports to the hands or feet in our descent. At last hereached the beach, and we all eagerly followed him. The lower lake wasvery curious and beautiful, but we had an idea, from the glimpse we hadhad of the inner one, that that was still more so.
"The young ladies would be disappointed at not seeing this!" exclaimedOliver; "and I am sure that they would be able to come down. May I goup and fetch them?"
"We must go and lend them a hand, though," said Dick Tarbox, beginningto ascend.
I also went, while the rest of the party proceeded some way along thebeach towards the upper lake. We found the ascent far more easy than weexpected--indeed, it seemed as if the girls would have no greatdifficulty in coming down. As we neared the top we heard them cry out,and saw them standing by in an attitude of terror, looking towards thejungle on the outer side of the lake.
"Oh, come, come!" exclaimed Emily. "We saw a savage just now peeringamong the trees! There he is! there he is! even now looking at us!"
We hurried to their side. "Savage he is, miss," said Dick Tarbox; "buthe is not a human savage, I think. He is one of those big man-apes Ihave heard tell of, though I never yet set eyes on one. I don't think,however, he will venture up to where we are."
I looked in the direction the girls were pointing, and there I saw alarge orang-outan some fifty feet below us. He kept dauntlessly gazingup at us, as if doubting whether he should venture to approach. He wasa big hairy monster, with a black coat and a light-coloured face, withenormous feet and hands, almost the height of a man. His face, as wesaw him, had a particularly savage expression, and he was evidently aformidable enemy to encounter. Our shouts brought back the rest of theparty, who climbed up with their guns, for we had left ours at the footof the cliff.
"A mias! a huge mias!" exclaimed my uncle, as he saw the orang-outan,levelling his fowling-piece, Potto following his example. The mias wasstanding holding on by a branch of a tree, as if about to ascend. Atthe report of the fire-arms he hauled himself up to a branch, much as asailor would do, and deliberately walked along the bough, evidentlyuninjured by the shots, which, if they had not missed altogether, couldhave but slightly wounded him. Some of the trees, with large lusciousfruit, had evidently tempted him to come up to this hilly region, as themias seldom leaves the flat ground, where he spends the night.Ascending from the bough, he caught hold of a branch of a tree whichcrossed it by one of his long arms, and flung himself on to it withgreat deliberation. He did not appear to jump, or spring, or in any wayto hurry himself, but we saw him then go to the end of another branchand catch hold of an opposing bough. He then grasped them together withboth hands, and finding the other sufficiently strong to support him,deliberately swung himself on to it; thus on he went among the loftysummits of the trees, till he was lost to sight.
It was some time before Emily and Grace could get rid of their frightsufficiently to begin their descent. They had now plenty of people toassist them, and ropes fastened round their waists to prevent the riskof accidents. They soon reached the level of the water. We thenproceeded towards the gap. Here we were again stopped for some time,finding a way by which we might ascend the cliffy sides. However, theshrubs and the broken under-cliffs enabled us at length to climb up,passing close to the waterfall formed between the two. The whole partyuttered an exclamation of surprise and delight when we entered withinthe circle of the inner lake. The sides were covered with the mostbeautiful and luxuriant vegetation. Jungle trees of every descriptionjutted out from the crevices of the rocks, their trunks and branchesbearing an endless variety of beautiful creepers in brilliant blossom,hanging down in festoons to the very water's edge. Over our heads,disturbed at our appearance, flew a number of pigeons and other birds ofbeautiful plumage, backwards and forwards. The water was intenselyblue, and beautifully clear.
"I should not be surprised but what this is one of the lakes I haveheard speak of which has no bottom," observed Dick Tarbox. "They saythat water-spirits and monsters of all sorts live in some of them. I donot know what they would think at our coming among them."
"I have heard of lakes without bottoms, but I have always found, onfathoming them, that they were not so deep as was supposed," observed myuncle. "I should like to try this one. It may be very deep, but Isuspect that it is much shallower than from the top of these cliffs downto where we stand. What should you say, boatswain, if the rope you holdin your hand, with a stone fastened to it, would reach the bottom andgive you some feet to spare?"
"Well, sir, you know better than I do; but I should be surprised if byfastening all the ropes we have together we found soundings."
At last it was agreed that we should build a raft and try. We had amplematerials; for in one corner was a large grove of bamboos, and plenty ofother light wood trees growing about. We soon cut down some of thelarger bamboos, with ratan to secure the cross pieces, and had an amplybuoyant raft to carry one person out into the centre. I begged that Imight go on it, but Dick Tarbox said he would make the expedition. Hesoon had a paddle formed out of bamboo, and sitting down on his somewhatfrail bark, away he went, with a coil of rope before him, to which astone was attached, into the middle of the lake. We all watched himeagerly as he let down the stone, when lo, and behold, long before therope had run out, the stone had reached the bottom.
"There must be a rock out here!" he exclaimed. "It cannot be so shallowas this." Again he pulled up his stone, and pulled away between thecentre and the shore. "Soundings again!" he cried; "and rather lessthan in the middle. I cannot make it out."
He now paddled round and round the lake, dropping the stone every nowand then, and at length came round to the spot where he had embarked.
"You are satisfied now," said Mr Sedgwick. "I have generally found itto be the case that lakes which are reputed fathomless are like thisone."
We all in turns had a paddle on the lake, and as the raft was foundlarge enough to support fully a couple of men, Emily and Grace got onit, and I acted as their boatman. We took the circuit of the lake,while they admired the beautiful scenery I have already described. Ouruncle meantime was hunting about for birds and butterflies. The gap,when we were on the opposite side, had a curious appearance, being likea large gateway, fully one hundred feet in height, though broken andruinous. The creepers also were seen to great advantage, some of themfalling in the most beautiful luxuriance from the very summits of thesurrounding heights down to the water's edge, many of them covered thewhole length with brilliant flowers.
"What a delightful place for a pic-nic!" exclaimed Emily.
; "True, young lady," answered Mr Sedgwick; "and as all our meals arepic-nics, I propose that we halt here and make our dinner. We havewater in abundance, and our provisions at our backs."
A fire was at once kindled, the kettle which Potto carried at his backunslung, and our various provisions produced. Not many birds hadhitherto been shot, and our larder was therefore but ill supplied.
"I forgot all about eating!" exclaimed Mr Sedgwick; "but stay; we willsoon have some birds for the pot."
Saying this, he proceeded along to the lower lake. The sound of hisfowling-piece, as he fired several times, reverberated strangely amongthe rocks, making the birds fly to and fro in alarm at the unusualsound. Never before perhaps had fire-arms been discharged in thatromantic region, but instinct told them that it boded them no good. Ina short time he returned with several pigeons and a couple ofparroquets. It seemed almost a sin to deprive such beautiful birds oftheir plumage; but Potto Jumbo, influenced by no such notions, quicklyhad them plucked and prepared for roasting. They were then stuck onskewers, and in woodland fashion placed on forked sticks before thefire. They were pronounced excellent, and quite as tender as if theyhad been kept for a long time; indeed, in that hot climate the only wayto have them tender is to pluck and cook them before they have time togrow cold. We had brought a supply of fruit, which we had plucked onour way, as well as sago-bread and other articles, which altogether gaveus a luxurious repast. No spot could have been more lovely than thatwhere we sat. The bank was covered with soft, almost velvety grass,being shaded constantly from the noonday sun, and the air felt cool,though soft. I had just opened a durian, which I was handing to Graceand Emily, who had got over their repugnance to the smell, and nowpronounced it the most delicious of fruits. One declared it had thefragrance of pine-apple, another of the richest melon with cream andstrawberries, and the consistency of liquid blanc-mange, or morecorrectly, perhaps, hasty pudding. Our uncle had lighted his pipe, andlay back on the soft grass enjoying the scene. The three men, seated ata little distance, followed his example.
"What a delightful spot this would be to fix our abode on, if compelledfor ever to remain on this island," said Emily.
"Oh, do not talk of remaining!" exclaimed Grace. "Beautiful it is, andvery thankful I am to be with you, but I cannot help thinking of myfather and mother, and how anxious they will be when the _Dugong_ doesnot arrive as they expect at Singapore. Oh, it will break my mother'sheart, if she thinks any accident has happened to us. They will notknow what has occurred, and they will think perhaps that we have beencut off by pirates, or that the vessel has gone down, in a hurricane, orhas been driven ashore among savages."
Oliver and I tried to cheer her up. "Some vessel will surely appear offhere before long," I observed; "or if not, when Mr Thudicumb gets wellwe must set to work and build a cutter sufficiently large to carry usall away."
While I was speaking, I heard a strange noise above our heads, andlooking up, I saw in the trees directly over us a dozen or morelong-armed monkeys, yellow-skinned fellows, with flesh-coloured faces.Down they had come from branch to branch from the cliff above us.Presently one made a spring, and seized hold of a fruit which Grace hadjust taken. She screamed with alarm, as well she might. Oliver dashedforward to seize the monkey, but before we could catch it, it had sprungup again towards the nearest bough, and again hand over hand up thebranches, till he was far out of our reach. There he and his companionssat, eating away at the fruit; but they soon quarrelled amongthemselves, and the greater portion of it fell from their paws to theground. We could not help laughing at the audacity of the creatures.Potto Jumbo especially was heartily amused, and lay back on the grassshaking his sides with laughter. The girls' faces, too, indicative ofastonishment and dismay, amused me excessively.
"Well, those are thieves," cried Dick Tarbox. "It is the first time, Ihave a notion, they have ever seen a human face, and I suppose they takeus to be big apes or monkeys like themselves."
The creatures seemed in no way alarmed at our gestures, nor did theyappear to fear the gun which Mr Sedgwick levelled at them. He loweredit again, however.
"No," he said; "they do not know better; and as we do not want to eatthem, it would be downright cruelty to kill the creatures."
I was very glad of this, for I should have been sorry to have had any ofthem hurt. The case would have been very different had my uncle wantedone as a specimen. He then seemed to have no regard for the life of anyanimals he required. He apparently considered that the honour he didthe creature by preserving it was ample amends for putting it to death.
It was now time for us to recommence our return journey.
"But shall we have to pass through the country of those dreadful apes?"exclaimed Grace. "Surely if a number of them were to come together,they might attack us."
"No fear of that, young lady," said Mr Sedgwick. "They will seldominjure any one unless they themselves are attacked, though the bigfellow you saw would be a formidable antagonist to any one unsupported."
I thought so too, and was very thankful that we had come up in time. Wewere making our way towards the shores of the lower lake, Mr Sedgwickleading; but on this occasion we young people lingered behind. I waswalking with Grace; Oliver and Emily were a short distance behind us.Emily had brought her sketch-book, which she had used in taking viewsfrom the inner lake. Presently Oliver came running after us to say thatshe wished to take a view of the gap, and bid us wait a few minutes forher while she hastily sketched it. I went on to the party ahead to begthem also to stop, or, at all events, when they had found the way, towait till we had come up to them. I had almost got back to where I hadleft Grace, when I heard a loud scream, and I saw a huge black monster--so he seemed to me--drop from the branch of a tree near to where mysister was standing. Oliver quickly ran forward and threw himselfbetween her and the creature, which I now saw was a huge mias, very likethe one we had before seen. Oliver had his gun in his hand, andpresenting it at the animal's head, he drew the trigger, but it failedto go off, and the mias closed upon him. One grip of the fiercecreature's powerful mouth would, it seemed, have been sufficient todeprive him of life. Oliver had lifted up his gun with the other hand.The creature seized the weapon. What was my horror the next moment tosee it rising on its hind legs, and bending forward, fix its teeth intoOliver's arm, which he had raised to defend his head. Meantime Merlin,who had been with the rest of the party, came bounding back, andattacked with his powerful jaws the leg of the mias. The creature foran instant let go Oliver's arm.
"Fly, Miss Emily! fly!" he cried out. "Never mind me."
"But I do! I do!" exclaimed Emily; "I cannot have you hurt for mysake."
"Fly! fly!" again cried Oliver.
While this was going on Grace was shrieking loudly, and I shouting outto our friends to come to Oliver's assistance, while I ran forward togive him what aid I could. I did not of course stop to consider thedanger I also was in, as the beast would have probably seized us both,had I got within his grasp. I also cried out to Emily to fly. I sawthat not only her safety depended on her doing so, but that of Oliver,for he would not move till she was at a distance from the orang-outan.Meantime the rest of our party were hurrying up to our support. Oliversprang back to avoid the creature's hand-like claws, which he stretchedout towards him. Never had I seen anything so ferocious as thosepowerful paws and the grinning row of teeth exhibited as he ran forwardto attack us, regardless for the moment of Merlin, who was now ingreater danger than we were. The mias still held the gun in his claws.While he again advanced towards Oliver, I levelled my fowling-piece andfired. The ball with which it was loaded, however, although itcertainly passed through the creature's neck, only increased his fury,without apparently greatly injuring him. Oliver's danger was fearful.Already the creature was within a couple of yards of him, in spite ofthe impediment which Merlin offered. I had no time to load again,though I attempted to do so as I retreated, shouting at the top of myvoice, and urging Oliver to do
the same, in the hope that we mightfrighten the huge ape. He, however, was in no way alarmed by our shoutsand cries. He still advanced, holding the musket. Already, if he wasto stretch out one of his long arms, he might again grasp Oliver anddraw him towards him. Oh, what would I not have given for a loaded gunat that moment! In vain I attempted to load mine while I steppedbackward. Oliver was attempting to escape; but just then his heelcaught in the root of a tree, which grew at the base of the cliff, anddown he fell, rolling in the sand. His fate appeared to be sealed. Icried out in terror and alarm. The mias, uttering a shout of mockinglaughter, seemed prepared to throw himself on his victim. At thatinstant, as he changed the gun from one hand to the other, apparentlyintending to get rid of Merlin before he attacked Oliver, it suddenlyexploded, bursting into twenty fragments, and wounding him severely inthe hands, face, and chest. He uttered a loud scream of anger, butstill advanced. Suddenly, when I thought that my friend's life would bein an instant more taken from him, the creature fell back to the ground,where he lay struggling violently, biting the earth and tearing it upwith his claws, while Merlin, evading his clutches, attacked himwherever he could get a gripe, without risk of being seized, andprevented him probably from again rising.
"Oh, he is killed! he is killed!" cried Emily, who had hitherto stoodterror-stricken, running to Oliver and kneeling down by him. She heardthe report, and probably thought that he had been wounded by the gun.
"No, no, Miss Emily; do not be alarmed, I am not much hurt," saidOliver, trying to lift himself up. "The creature only tore my flesh,and I have sprained my foot in falling. I have been mercifullypreserved."
For some time, however, Emily could scarcely be convinced of the fact.There lay the monstrous mias, still struggling violently, while Merlinpertinaciously hung on to him. I had now reached Oliver, and assistedEmily in supporting him, while we put a safer distance between thecreature and ourselves. Grace, who was far more timid than Emily, hadstood transfixed, as it were, to the ground, unable to advance or fly.The rest of the party now came up, and a blow from Dick's hatchetdeprived the mias of life.
"I suppose he good for dinner," observed Potto Jumbo, surveying him. "Icut steak out of him before we go away."
"Out on you for a cannibal!" exclaimed Tarbox, with a look of horror."I would as soon think of eating a nigger boy."
"No, no, Massa Tarbox," answered Potto, in an indignant tone. "Niggerboy got soul. Dis," and he gave the brute a kick with his foot, "justlike hog or cow."
"You may spare yourself the trouble of cutting a steak out of him," saidRoger Trew. "I do not think any of us would make up our minds to eathim, whatever he may be."
"If it was not so far off, I should have liked the skin, though," saidMr Sedgwick. "However, we will hang him up in a tree, and some day Imay have his skeleton, when the ants have picked it clean."
Under his direction the men now got some ratan, with which theysurrounded the body of the monster, and then, in a sort of framework,they hoisted him up to the stoutest branch of a tree which they couldmanage to reach. We left him there, for all the world, as Roger Trewobserved, like a pirate hanging in chains, and then began our homewardmarch with greater speed than before, to make amends for the time we hadlost.