CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
HOUSE-BUILDING.
DAWN ON THE LAGOON--THE "SEA-ATTORNEY"--THE "SHARK-EXTERMINATOR"--MAX"CARRIES THE WAR INTO AFRICA."
"Another hour must pass ere day grows bright, And ere the little birds begin discourse In quick low voices, ere the streaming light Pours on their nests, just sprung from day's fresh source."
After the late hours we had kept on the last evening, most of us wouldwillingly have prolonged our slumbers beyond the time previously fixedfor setting out upon our return to Castle-hill. But before it wasfairly light, Arthur was up, with an unseasonable and provokingalacrity, calling loudly upon us to bestir ourselves.
In vain Browne apostrophised him in moving strains as "the rudedisturber of his pillow," remonstrated against such unmercifulpunctuality, and petitioned for another nap; in vain Max protested thatwe were not New York shop-boys, obliged to rise at daylight to makefires, and open and sweep out stores, but free and independent desertislanders, who had escaped from the bondage of civilised life, and theshackles of slavish routine, and who need not get up until noon, unlessof our own good pleasure. Arthur was inexorable, and finding thatfurther sleep was out of the question, we yielded at last to hisdespotic pertinacity, and groped our way into the boat, yawningdesperately, and not more than half awake.
The sea-fowl had not yet begun to stir in their nests, when we pushedout into the lagoon, and commenced pulling homeward--as we had nowalmost come to regard it--holding a course midway between the reef andthe shore. A few moments' exercise at the oars sufficed to dispel ourdrowsiness, and to reconcile us somewhat to the early start, which wehad so reluctantly taken.
The faint grey light revealed the sleeping landscape, invested with thedelicious freshness and repose of the earliest dawn in summer. Theshores of the island, with their dense masses of verdure, were soperfectly mirrored in the lagoon, that the peculiar characteristics ofthe different kinds of foliage could be distinguished in theirreflections. The drooping plumes of the palms, the lance-shapedpandanus leaves, and the delicate, filmy foliage of the casuarina, wereall accurately imaged there; the inverted shore below, with its fringeof trees and shrubbery, looking scarcely less substantial and real, thanits counterpart above. But as the light increased, these reflectionslost their softness, and the clearness of their outlines. The graduallybrightening dawn, cast new and rapidly changing lights and shades uponthe waters and the shores; and the latter, which, as we moved onward, webeheld every moment from a new point of view, charmed the eye with aperpetual variety. In some places they were abrupt and bold; in otherssmoothly rounded, or gently sloping. Now we were opposite a juttingpromontory, which, crowned with verdure, and overgrown with pendulousand creeping plants, pushed out over the narrow alluvial belt of shore,to the water's edge; now shooting past it, we caught a sudden andtransient glimpse of some cool valley, opening down to the lagoon, andstretching away inland through vistas of fine trees.
Johnny expressed a fervent wish that he was a painter, in order that wemight sail round the island, take sketches of the scenery, and thenpaint a panorama, embracing all the best views, by exhibiting which attwenty-five cents a head, we should all make our fortunes upon gettinghome. He appeared to have some doubts, however, whether that particulartime of day could be painted, even by the most accomplished artist. Thelagoon channel wound through fields of branching coral trees ofluxuriant growth, among which, numbers of large fish were movingsluggishly about, as if they had got up too early, and were more thanhalf inclined to indulge in another nap. As we passed over a sort ofbar, where there was not more than a fathom and a half of water, weespied an immense green turtle at the bottom, quietly pursuing his wayacross our track, and though by no means a beautiful creature, lookinginfinitely happier and more lively than the dull-eyed wretches of hisrace, which I have seen lying on their backs, at the doors of the NewYork restaurants, ready to be converted into soup and steaks. Johnnymourned over the impracticability of making any attempt at his capture,and heaved a sigh which seemed to come from the bottom of his heart, asthe unsightly reptile disappeared among the mazes of the submarineshrubbery. The hardship of the case, seemed to be greatly aggravated inhis eyes, as he contrasted it with the better fortune of Robinson Crusoeand the Swiss Family, the former of whom, as he reminded us, caught "anyquantity of turtles" on the beach of his island, with no other troublethan that of turning them over upon their backs; while the latter,having surprised an enormous fellow taking an afternoon nap on thesurface of the water, treacherously harpooned him in his sleep, andthen, steering him as easily as one would drive a well-broken nag,compelled him to tow themselves and their pinnace ashore.
A somewhat startling incident put an end to these interestingreminiscences. Johnny was leaning over the gunwale, and with his facealmost touching the surface, and his hands playing in the water, waspeering down into the lagoon, probably on the look-out for anotherturtle, when a large shark, coming as it seemed from beneath the boat,rose suddenly but quietly, and made a snatch at him. Johnny saw themonster barely in time; for just as he sprang up with a cry of affright,and fell backwards into the boat the shark's shovel-nose shot four feetabove water at our stern, his jaws snapping together as he disappearedagain, with a sound like the springing of a powerful steel-trap. Thoughbaffled in his first attack, the voracious fish continued to follow us,watching closely an opportunity for a more successful attempt. He was alarge brown shark, of the species known to sailors as the"sea-attorney," which designation, together with his formidablereputation for keenness, vigilance, and enterprise, shows the estimationin which the members of the ancient and honourable profession of thelaw, are held by the honest sons of Neptune. Max professed to recognisehim, as our acquaintance of the previous evening, by whom himself andBrowne had been for a time kept in a state of blockade: our presentvisitor certainly evinced the same uncommon fierceness and audacitywhich had astonished us in the individual referred to. He was a trim,round-bodied, compact fellow with a wonderful display of vigour, andeven of grace, in his movements; but though not without a certain kindof beauty, I do not wish to be understood as saying that his personalappearance was upon the whole, prepossessing. On the contrary, hisexpression, if I may venture to use the term, (and he certainly had agood deal of expression), was, if not decidedly bad, at the leastexceedingly sinister. His flattened head, and long leather-like snouttogether with a pair of projecting goggle eyes, so situated as tocommand a view both in front and rear, and which he kept turningrestlessly on every side, contributed greatly to enhance this forbiddingaspect. Every moment he seemed to grow fiercer and bolder, and atlength he actually laid hold of our keel next the rudder and fairlyshook the boat from stem to stern. To our great relief, he soondesisted from this, for such was his bulk and strength, that we hardlyknew what he might not effect in his furious efforts. His next move,was to make a sudden dash at Max's oar, which had probably given himoffence by coming too near his nose, and which he jerked from his hands.
Max seemed to regard this last exploit as a personal affront, and loudlydeclared that, "this was going altogether too far, and that he shouldnot stand it any longer." He accordingly proceeded with great energy,to lash his cutlass to the handle of one of the remaining oars, withsome twine which he found in the locker, threatening all sorts ofterrible things against the unsuspecting object of his wrath. MeanwhileMorton succeeded in fishing up the lost oar, which the vigilance andactivity of our attentive escort rendered a somewhat dangerousundertaking; when recovered, the marks of six rows of formidable teethwere found deeply indented upon its blade.
Max having completed his novel weapon, Browne, who had been engaged inan unprofitable attempt to strike the shark across the eyes with hiscutlass, inquired, "what he was going to do with that clumsycontrivance!"
"That clumsy contrivance, as you rashly term it," replied Max, withdignity, "is designed as a shark-exterminator, with which I intendforthwith to pay my respects to this audacious sea-bully. We have stood
on the defensive quite long enough, and I am now about to carry the warinto Africa."
He accordingly jumped upon the middle seat of the yawl, where, in spiteof all attempts at dissuasion, he stood watching a favourableopportunity for a thrust. This was soon presented. All unconscious ofthe unfriendly designs cherished against him, the shark came propellinghimself carelessly alongside, and directly under Max's nose, with hisback fin quite above water. The temptation was not to be resisted. Maxbraced himself as firmly as possible in his position: Arthurexpostulated, and begged him at least to get down and stand in the boat:Morton exhorted him to caution. But he only answered by a wave of thehand and a grim smile; then requesting Browne to lay fast hold of hiswaist-band, to assist him in preserving the centre of gravity, he raisedhis weapon in both hands, and giving it a preliminary flourish, broughtit down with his full force, aiming at the broadest part of the fish'sback, just forward of the dorsal fin. But the weapon was too dull, orthe blow too feeble, to pierce the tough hide of the "sea-attorney," forit glanced smoothly off and Max losing his balance, went headlong intothe sea. Browne, in a hasty effort to save him came near going overalso, while the boat careened until the water poured in over thegunwale, and for a moment there was imminent danger of capsizing. Maxcame to the surface, almost paralysed with fright, and clutchedconvulsively at the side of the boat; when we drew him on boardunharmed, but pale and shivering, as he well might be, after soextraordinary an escape. The shark had disappeared, and was now nowhereto be seen. Not being accustomed to Max's system of "carrying the warinto Africa," so sudden and headlong an attack in his own element hadprobably somewhat disconcerted him. Max made a great effort to assumean air of composure. "Well!" said he, looking coolly around, "the enemyhas, I perceive, beaten a retreat. I dare say he was quite as muchfrightened as I was, and that is saying a good deal."
"But what has become of that patent shark-exterminator!" observedBrowne, "I don't see it anywhere: has the enemy carried it off as atrophy of victory, as conquering knights take possession of the arms oftheir vanquished adversaries!"
"It is much more likely," replied Max with disdain, "that he has carriedit off stuck fast in his carcass."
But neither supposition proved to be correct, for we presently picked upthe "exterminator," floating near us. Johnny narrowly examined theblade, and was much disappointed at not finding "any blood on it."
Max now took an oar to steady his nerves by rowing, for, notwithstandinghis assumed composure and forced pleasantry, they had evidently been agood deal shaken by his recent narrow escape.
By the time we came in sight of Sea-bird's Point, the increasing light,and the rosy glow in the "dappled east," heralded the rising of the sun,and announced that the heat and glare of the tropical day, were on thepoint of succeeding the mild freshness of "incense-breathing morn." Norwere other tokens wanting, that the reign of night was over. A strangeconfusion of indistinct and broken sounds, issuing from myriads of nestsand perches all along the beach, showed that the various tribes ofsea-fowl were beginning to bestir themselves. A few slumbrous,half-smothered sounds from scattered nests preluded the general concert,and then the notes were taken up, and repeated by the entire featheredpopulation for miles along the shore, until the clamour seemed like thatof ten thousand awakening barn-yards. And now the scene began to beenlivened by immense multitudes of birds, rising in the air, andhovering in clouds over the lagoon. Some wheeled around us in theirspiral flight; others skimmed the water like swallows, dipping withmarvellous promptness after any ill-starred fish that ventured near thesurface; others again, rose high into the air, from whence, by theirincredible keenness of sight, they seemed readily to discern their prey,when, poising themselves an instant on expanded wings, they would pounceperpendicularly downward, and disappearing entirely in the water for aninstant, emerge, clutching securely a struggling victim. But incarrying on this warfare upon the finny inhabitants of the lagoon thefeathered spoilers were not perfectly united and harmonious; and fiercedomestic contentions occasionally interrupted and diversified theirproceedings. A number of unprincipled man-of-war hawks, who preferredgaining their livelihood by robbing their neighbours and associates, torelying upon their own honest industry, would sail lazily around onwide-spread pinions, watching with the air of unconcerned spectators themethodical toil of the plodding gannets. But the instant that one ofthe latter rose from a successful plunge, with a plump captive writhingin his grasp, all appearance of indifference would vanish, and somedark-plumaged pirate of the lagoon, pouncing down like lightning uponhis unwarlike neighbour, would ruthlessly despoil him of his hard-earnedprize. One of these piratical gentry suffered before our eyes a fateworthy of his rapacity. A gannet had seized upon a fish much largerthan his strength enabled him to manage, and was struggling in vain tolift it into the air, when a hawk darted upon them, and striking histalons into the fish, put the gannet to flight. But the greedy victorhad greatly miscalculated the strength of his intended prey. Adesperate conflict, sometimes under water, and sometimes just at thesurface, ensued. The hawk struggled gallantly, but in vain, and was atlength drawn under by his ponderous antagonist, to rise no more.
We landed a short distance beyond Johnny's row of "Oyster-trees," and bythe time we had climbed the hill, the sun had risen, though not yetvisible above the wooded heights which sheltered us to the eastward.
We were so intent upon our house-building project that, contentingourselves with a self-denying breakfast of cocoa-nuts, we at once setzealously to work in carrying it out.
Arthur directed, superintended, and laid out the work in detail.Morton, having fitted a handle to the hatchet-head, and laboriouslysharpened it upon a rough stone, undertook to supply materials as fastas called for. While he cut down trees of the kind and size required byArthur, Max trimmed off the branches with his cutlass, and prepared themfor use. Johnny and Eiulo dragged them to the site of the building,where Browne and I assisted Arthur in setting the posts into the ground,and putting together the frame of the house. Of course, our destitutionof proper tools and implements rendered all this exceedingly laborious,and, but for Arthur's perseverance and ingenuity, we should more thanonce have given up in despair. Instead of spades, we were obliged touse sharp bivalve shells from the shore, in digging places for theupright posts of the building, and as it was necessary that these shouldbe set quite deep, in order to give it firmness and stability, the toilwas severe. Max, who came up occasionally to see how the work wasprogressing, and to offer suggestions and criticisms, (more especiallythe latter), on finding us upon our knees, patiently grubbing up theearth with our shells, flatteringly compared us to so many hedge-hogsexcavating their burrows.
Nevertheless, we persevered; and before night we had nearly completedthe frame of our building, with the exception of the ridge-pole, therafters, and cross-pieces.
The posts at the sides stood six feet out of the ground, and werestationed about three feet apart. The centre-posts, to support theridge-pole, were nine feet high, and made from the trunks of well-growntrees, some six inches in diameter. This certainly was a good day'swork under the circumstances; at any rate, we were quite unanimous inconsidering it so; and towards twilight we went down to the beach forour evening bath, in an exceedingly complacent and self-satisfied stateof mind, Max enlarging upon the pleasures of industry, and professing tobe in the present enjoyment of those feelings--
"Which follow arduous duty well performed."
Instead of repairing to our usual bathing-place, we proceeded along thebeach to the north-west, until we reached the clump of trees at the edgeof the water, already mentioned as being visible from Castle-hill. Aswe approached the spot, we found that what had appeared at a distance tobe but a single group of trees, was, in fact, a small grove extendingalong the shore, and fringing a little cove of nearly elliptical form,which at this point set into the land. The narrow, shelving beach,rivalled the whiteness of a fresh snow-drift. The trees were mostlycocoa-palms; indeed, scarcely
any others could flourish in such a spot;and there were no shrubs or undergrowth of any kind. The cove wasperhaps a hundred paces long, and half as wide in the widest part;contracting to less than fifty feet where it communicated with thelagoon. The water was clear, the bottom smooth and regularly formed,and the greatest depth was only eight or ten feet. Max, after viewingthe cove with the eye of a connoisseur, pronounced it a noble spot forbathing purposes, and fully equal to the basin on the reef in everyrespect, except in depth and facilities for diving.
The impression of his morning's adventure, however, was still fresh, andhe hinted at the possibility that some shark of elegant tastes, andpossessing an eye for the beautiful, might be in the habit offrequenting the cove. Arthur volunteered to keep watch at the narrowentrance, while the rest of us were bathing, in order to give timelynotice of the approach of the dreaded enemy; but on walking out to theedge of the lagoon we found that this precaution would be unnecessary.A bar, consisting of a coral patch, very near the surface, stretchedacross the mouth of the cove, rendering it almost impossible for a sharkto enter.
Johnny named the spot, "The Mermaid's Cove," but this possessivedesignation was merely complimentary, for so far were we from renouncingthe cove in favour of the mermaids, that from the day on which wediscovered it, it became one of our favourite and regular resorts.