CHAPTER XI.
Effects of over-eating, and reflections thereon--Humble advice regardingcold water--The "horrible cry" accounted for--The curious birds calledpenguins--Peculiarity of the cocoa nut palm--Questions on the formationof coral islands--Mysterious footsteps--Strange discoveries and sadsights.
When we awoke on the following morning, we found that the sun was alreadya good way above the horizon, so I came to the conclusion that a heavysupper is not conducive to early rising. Nevertheless, we feltremarkably strong and well, and much disposed to have our breakfast.First, however, we had our customary morning bathe, which refreshed usgreatly.
I have often wondered very much in after years that the inhabitants of myown dear land did not make more frequent use of this most charmingelement, water. I mean in the way of cold bathing. Of course, I haveperceived that it is not convenient for them to go into the sea or therivers in winter, as we used to do on the Coral Island; but then, I knewfrom experience that a large washing-tub and a sponge do form a mostpleasant substitute. The feelings of freshness, of cleanliness, ofvigour, and extreme hilarity, that always followed my bathes in the sea,and even, when in England, my ablutions in the wash-tub, were sodelightful, that I would sooner have gone without my breakfast thanwithout my bathe in cold water. My readers will forgive me for askingwhether they are in the habit of bathing thus every morning; and if theyanswer "No," they will pardon me for recommending them to begin at once.Of late years, since retiring from the stirring life of adventure which Ihave led so long in foreign climes, I have heard of a system called thecold-water-cure. Now, I do not know much about that system, so I do notmean to uphold it, neither do I intend to run it down. Perhaps, inreference to it, I may just hint that there may be too much of a goodthing. I know not; but of this I am quite certain, that there may alsobe too little of a good thing; and the great delight I have had in coldbathing during the course of my adventurous career inclines me to thinkthat it is better to risk taking too much than to content one's self withtoo little. Such is my opinion, derived from much experience; but I putit before my readers with the utmost diffidence and with profoundmodesty, knowing that it may possibly jar with their feelings ofconfidence in their own ability to know and judge as to what is best andfittest in reference to their own affairs. But, to return from thisdigression, for which I humbly crave forgiveness.
We had not advanced on our journey much above a mile or so, and were justbeginning to feel the pleasant glow that usually accompanies vigorousexercise, when, on turning a point that revealed to us a new andbeautiful cluster of islands, we were suddenly arrested by the appallingcry which had so alarmed us a few nights before. But this time we wereby no means so much alarmed as on the previous occasion, because, whereasat that time it was night, now it was day; and I have always found,though I am unable to account for it, that daylight banishes many of thefears that are apt to assail us in the dark.
On hearing the sound, Peterkin instantly threw forward his spear.
"Now, what can it be?" said he, looking round at Jack. "I tell you whatit is, if we are to go on being pulled up in a constant state of horrorand astonishment, as we have been for the last week, the sooner we're outo' this island the better, notwithstanding the yams and lemonade, andpork and plums!"
Peterkin's remark was followed by a repetition of the cry, louder thanbefore.
"It comes from one of these islands," said Jack.
"It must be the ghost of a jackass, then," said Peterkin, "for I neverheard anything so like."
We all turned our eyes towards the cluster of islands, where, on thelargest, we observed curious objects moving on the shore.
"Soldiers they are,--that's flat!" cried Peterkin, gazing at them in theutmost amazement.
And, in truth, Peterkin's remark seemed to me to be correct; for, at thedistance from which we saw them, they appeared to be an army of soldiers.There they stood, rank and file, in lines and in squares, marching andcountermarching, with blue coats and white trousers. While we werelooking at them, the dreadful cry came again over the water, and Peterkinsuggested that it must be a regiment sent out to massacre the natives incold blood. At this remark Jack laughed and said,--
"Why, Peterkin, they are penguins!"
"Penguins?" repeated Peterkin.
"Ay, penguins, Peterkin, penguins,--nothing more or less than big sea-birds, as you shall see one of these days, when we pay them a visit inour boat, which I mean to set about building the moment we return to ourbower."
"So, then, our dreadful yelling ghosts and our murdering army ofsoldiers," remarked Peterkin, "have dwindled down to penguins,--big sea-birds! Very good. Then I propose that we continue our journey as fastas possible, lest our island should be converted into a dream before weget completely round it."
Now, as we continued on our way, I pondered much over this new discovery,and the singular appearance of these birds, of which Jack could only giveus a very slight and vague account; and I began to long to commence toour boat, in order that we might go and inspect them more narrowly. Butby degrees these thoughts left me, and I began to be much taken up againwith the interesting peculiarities of the country which we were passingthrough.
The second night we passed in a manner somewhat similar to the first, atabout two-thirds of the way round the island, as we calculated, and wehoped to sleep on the night following at our bower. I will not here noteso particularly all that we said and saw during the course of this secondday, as we did not make any further discoveries of great importance. Theshore along which we travelled, and the various parts of the woodsthrough which we passed, were similar to those which have been alreadytreated of. There were one or two observations that we made, however,and these were as follows:--
We saw that, while many of the large fruit-bearing trees grew only in thevalleys, and some of them only near the banks of the streams, where thesoil was peculiarly rich, the cocoa-nut palm grew in every placewhatsoever,--not only on the hill sides, but also on the sea shore, andeven, as has been already stated, on the coral reef itself, where thesoil, if we may use the name, was nothing better than loose sand mingledwith broken shells and coral rock. So near to the sea, too, did thisuseful tree grow, that in many places its roots were washed by the sprayfrom the breakers. Yet we found the trees growing thus on the sands tobe quite as luxuriant as those growing in the valleys, and the fruit asgood and refreshing also. Besides this, I noticed that, on the summit ofthe high mountain, which we once more ascended at a different point fromour first ascent, were found abundance of shells and broken coralformations, which Jack and I agreed proved either that this island musthave once been under the sea, or that the sea must once have been abovethe island. In other words, that as shells and coral could not possiblyclimb to the mountain top, they must have been washed upon it while themountain top was on a level with the sea. We pondered this very much;and we put to ourselves the question, "What raised the island to itspresent height above the sea?" But to this we could by no means give toourselves a satisfactory reply. Jack thought it might have been blown upby a volcano; and Peterkin said he thought it must have jumped up of itsown accord! We also noticed, what had escaped us before, that the solidrocks of which the island was formed were quite different from the livecoral rocks on the shore, where the wonderful little insects werecontinually working. They seemed, indeed, to be of the sauce material,--asubstance like limestone; but, while the coral rocks were quite full ofminute cells in which the insects lived, the other rocks inland were hardand solid, without the appearance of cells at all. Our thoughts andconversations on this subject were sometimes so profound that Peterkinsaid we should certainly get drowned in them at last, even although wewere such good divers! Nevertheless we did not allow his pleasantry onthis and similar points to deter us from making our notes andobservations as we went along.
We found several more droves of hogs in the woods, but abstained fromkilling any of them, having more than sufficient for our presentnecessities.
We saw also many of their foot-prints in thisneighbourhood. Among these we also observed the footprints of a smalleranimal, which we examined with much care, but could form no certainopinion as to them. Peterkin thought they were those of a little dog,but Jack and I thought differently. We became very curious on thismatter, the more so that we observed these foot-prints to lie scatteredabout in one locality, as if the animal which had made them was wanderinground about in a very irregular manner, and without any object in view.Early in the forenoon of our third day we observed these footprints to bemuch more numerous than ever, and in one particular spot they divergedoff into the woods in a regular beaten track, which was, however, soclosely beset with bushes, that we pushed through it with difficulty. Wehad now become so anxious to find out what animal this was, and where itwent to, that we determined to follow the track, and, if possible, clearup the mystery. Peterkin said, in a bantering tone, that he was sure itwould be cleared up as usual in some frightfully simple way, and prove tobe no mystery at all!
The beaten track seemed much too large to have been formed by the animalitself, and we concluded that some larger animal had made it, and thatthe smaller one made use of it. But everywhere the creeping plants andtangled bushes crossed our path, so that we forced our way along withsome difficulty. Suddenly, as we came upon an open space, we heard afaint cry, and observed a black animal standing in the track before us.
"A wild-cat!" cried Jack, fitting an arrow to his bow, and discharging itso hastily that he missed the animal, and hit the earth about half a footto one side of it. To our surprise the wild-cat did not fly, but walkedslowly towards the arrow, and snuffed at it.
"That's the most comical wild-cat I ever saw!" cried Jack.
"It's a tame wild-cat, I think," said Peterkin, levelling his spear tomake a charge.
"Stop!" cried I, laying my hand on his shoulder; "I do believe the poorbeast is blind. See, it strikes against the branches as it walks along.It must be a very old one;" and I hastened towards it.
"Only think," said Peterkin, with a suppressed laugh, "of a superannuatedwild-cat!"
We now found that the poor cat was not only blind, or nearly so, butextremely deaf, as it did not hear our footsteps until we were quiteclose behind it. Then it sprang round, and, putting up its back andtail, while the black hair stood all on end, uttered a hoarse mew and afuff.
"Poor thing," said Peterkin, gently extending his hand, and endeavouringto pat the cat's head. "Poor pussy; chee, chee, chee; puss, puss, puss;cheetie pussy!"
No sooner did the cat hear these sounds than all signs of anger fled,and, advancing eagerly to Peterkin, it allowed itself to be stroked, andrubbed itself against his legs, purring loudly all the time, and showingevery symptom of the most extreme delight.
"It's no more a wild cat than I am!" cried Peterkin, taking it in hisarms. "It's quite tame. Poor pussy, cheetie pussy!"
We now crowded around Peterkin, and were not a little surprised, and, tosay truth, a good deal affected, by the sight of the poor animal'sexcessive joy. It rubbed its head against Peterkin's cheek, licked hischin, and thrust its head almost violently into his neck, while it purredmore loudly than I ever heard a cat purr before, and appeared to be somuch overpowered by its feelings, that it occasionally mewed and purredalmost in the same breath. Such demonstrations of joy and affection ledus at once to conclude that this poor cat must have known man before, andwe conjectured that it had been left either accidentally or by design onthe island many years ago, and was now evincing its extreme joy atmeeting once more with human beings. While we were fondling the cat andtalking about it, Jack glanced round the open space in the midst of whichwe stood.
"Hallo!" exclaimed he; "this looks something like a clearing. The axehas been at work here. Just look at these tree-stumps."
We now turned to examine these, and, without doubt, we found trees thathad been cut down here and there, also stumps and broken branches; all ofwhich, however, were completely covered over with moss, and bore evidenceof having been in this condition for some years. No human foot-printswere to be seen, either on the track or among the bushes; but those ofthe cat were found everywhere. We now determined to follow up the trackas far as it went, and Peterkin put the cat down; but it seemed to be soweak, and mewed so very pitifully, that he took it up again and carriedit in his arms, where, in a few minutes, it fell sound asleep.
About ten yards farther on, the felled trees became more numerous, andthe track, diverging to the right, followed for a short space the banksof a stream. Suddenly we came to a spot where once must have been a rudebridge, the stones of which were scattered in the stream, and those oneach bank entirely covered over with moss. In silent surprise andexpectancy we continued to advance, and, a few yards farther on, beheld,under the shelter of some bread-fruit trees, a small hut or cottage. Icannot hope to convey to my readers a very correct idea of the feelingsthat affected us on witnessing this unexpected sight. We stood for along time in silent wonder, for there was a deep and most melancholystillness about the place that quite overpowered us; and when we did atlength speak, it was in subdued whispers, as if we were surrounded bysome awful or supernatural influence. Even Peterkin's voice, usually soquick and lively on all occasions, was hushed now; for there was adreariness about this silent, lonely, uninhabited cottage,--so strange inits appearance, so far away from the usual dwellings of man, so old,decayed, and deserted in its aspect,--that fell upon our spirits like athick cloud, and blotted out as with a pall the cheerful sunshine thathad filled us since the commencement of our tour round the island.
The hut or cottage was rude and simple in its construction. It was notmore than twelve feet long by ten feet broad, and about seven or eightfeet high. It had one window, or rather a small frame in which a windowmight, perhaps, once have been, but which was now empty. The door wasexceedingly low, and formed of rough boards, and the roof was coveredwith broad cocoa-nut and plantain leaves. But every part of it was in astate of the utmost decay. Moss and green matter grew in spots all overit. The woodwork was quite perforated with holes; the roof had nearlyfallen in, and appeared to be prevented from doing so altogether by thethick matting of creeping-plants and the interlaced branches which yearsof neglect had allowed to cover it almost entirely; while the thick,luxuriant branches of the bread-fruit and other trees spread above it,and flung a deep, sombre shadow over the spot, as if to guard it from theheat and the light of day. We conversed long and in whispers about thisstrange habitation ere we ventured to approach it; and when at length wedid so it was, at least on my part, with feelings of awe.
At first Jack endeavoured to peep in at the window, but from the deepshadow of the trees already mentioned, and the gloom within, he could notclearly discern objects; so we lifted the latch and pushed open the door.We observed that the latch was made of iron, and almost eaten away withrust. In the like condition were also the hinges, which creaked as thedoor swung back. On entering, we stood still and gazed around us, whilewe were much impressed with the dreary stillness of the room. But whatwe saw there surprised and shocked us not a little. There was nofurniture in the apartment save a little wooden stool and an iron pot,the latter almost eaten through with rust. In the corner farthest fromthe door was a low bedstead, on which lay two skeletons, imbedded in alittle heap of dry dust. With beating hearts we went forward to examinethem. One was the skeleton of a man, the other that of a dog, which wasextended close beside that of the man, with its head resting on his bosom
Now we were very much concerned about this discovery, and could scarcerefrain from tears on beholding these sad remains. After some time, webegan to talk about what we had seen, and to examine in and around thehut, in order to discover some clue to the name or history of this poorman, who had thus died in solitude, with none to mourn his loss save hiscat and his faithful dog. But we found nothing,--neither a book nor ascrap of paper. We found, however, the decayed remnants of what appearedto have been clothing, and an old axe. But none
of these things boremarks of any kind; and, indeed, they were so much decayed as to convinceus that they had lain in the condition in which we found them for manyyears.
This discovery now accounted to us for the tree stump at the top of themountain with the initials cut on it; also for the patch of sugar-caneand other traces of man which we had met with in the course of ourrambles over the island. And we were much saddened by the reflectionthat the lot of this poor wanderer might possibly be our own, after manyyears' residence on the island, unless we should be rescued by the visitof some vessel or the arrival of natives. Having no clue whatever toaccount for the presence of this poor human being in such a lonely spot,we fell to conjecturing what could have brought him there. I wasinclined to think that he must have been a shipwrecked sailor, whosevessel had been lost here, and all the crew been drowned except himselfand his dog and cat. But Jack thought it more likely that he had runaway from his vessel, and had taken the dog and cat to keep him company.We were also much occupied in our minds with the wonderful differencebetween the cat and the dog. For here we saw that while the oneperished, like a loving friend, by its master's side, with its headresting on his bosom, the other had sought to sustain itself by prowlingabroad in the forest, and had lived in solitude to a good old age.However, we did not conclude from this that the cat was destitute ofaffection, for we could not forget its emotions on first meeting with us;but we saw from this, that the dog had a great deal more of generous lovein its nature than the cat, because it not only found it impossible tolive after the death of its master, but it must needs, when it came todie, crawl to his side and rest its head upon his lifeless breast.
While we were thinking on these things, and examining into everythingabout the room, we were attracted by an exclamation from Peterkin.
"I say, Jack," said he, "here is something that will be of use to us."
"What is it?" said Jack, hastening across the room.
"An old pistol," replied Peterkin, holding up the weapon, which he hadjust pulled from under a heap of broken wood and rubbish that lay in acorner.
"That, indeed, might have been useful," said Jack, examining it, "if wehad any powder; but I suspect the bow and the sling will prove moreserviceable."
"True, I forgot that," said Peterkin; "but we may as well take it withus, for the flint will serve to strike fire with when the sun does notshine."
{A saddening discovery: p136.jpg}
After having spent more than an hour at this place without discoveringanything of further interest, Peterkin took up the old cat, which hadlain very contentedly asleep on the stool whereon he had placed it, andwe prepared to take our departure. In leaving the hut, Jack stumbledheavily against the door-post, which was so much decayed as to breakacross, and the whole fabric of the hut seemed ready to tumble about ourears. This put into our heads that we might as well pull it down, and soform a mound over the skeleton. Jack, therefore, with his axe, cut downthe other door-post, which, when it was done, brought the whole hut inruins to the ground, and thus formed a grave to the bones of the poorrecluse and his dog. Then we left the spot, having brought away the ironpot, the pistol, and the old axe, as they might be of much use to ushereafter.
During the rest of this day we pursued our journey, and examined theother end of the large valley, which we found to be so much alike to theparts already described, that I shall not recount the particulars of whatwe saw in this place. I may, however, remark, that we did not quiterecover our former cheerful spirits until we arrived at our bower, whichwe did late in the evening, and found everything just in the samecondition as we had left it three days before.