CHAPTER FIVE.
DAYLIGHT--I MAKE THE LAND--DICK RECOVERS--CAPTURED BY A NATIVE CANOE--TAKEN ON SHORE--COMPELLED TO WORK AS SLAVES--OUR HOPES OF ESCAPEDISAPPOINTED--DICK AGAIN ILL--HIS DEATH--I BURY HIM--THREATENING OFWAR--HARRY JOINS ME--WE WITNESS A SINGLE COMBAT--OUR CHAMPION DEFEATED--CAPTURED BY THE ENEMY--ILL-TREATED--HARRY DISAPPEARS--I ESCAPE TO THEBEACH--SEE A BOAT--THE SAVAGES PURSUE ME--RESCUED BY MUDGE.
Anxiously I looked out ahead for land--now on one bow, now on the other;for I could not tell how far to the westward I had been driven, or onwhich side it might appear. It was possible, indeed, that I might havegot so far to the west as to pass the island altogether should Icontinue to steer due south; and yet in the uncertainty I hesitated totake another course.
As I sat in the stern-sheets, I watched Tillard's countenance. Heseemed at length to have fallen into a quiet sleep, and I trusted thatwhen he awoke he would feel himself much better. I bored a hole in theend of a cocoa-nut, and also got some fish ready, that I might give himsome food as soon as he awoke. But still he slept on; and the fear cameover me that it might prove the sleep preceding death. Under othercircumstances, I should not probably have thought so; but I was wearyand anxious, and my spirits sank to the lowest ebb. As I sat in theboat, gliding over the now tranquil sea, glittering with the rays of thesun, I might have been regarded as a picture of perfect contentment,--very different, indeed, from what was really the case.
Every now and then I stood up to look out for the wished-for land; tillat length a light mist which had hung over the water was dissipated bythe increasing heat of the sun, and to my joy I caught sight of thelofty headland we had hoped to double the day before, rising out of theblue water much nearer than I had expected to find it. My spirits rose;and I began to hope that, should Dick recover, my troubles and anxietieswould be at an end. I could not help shouting out "Land! land!" thoughI was not aware that I had done so till I heard the sound of my ownvoice. It had the effect of arousing Dick, however.
"Land, Mr Rayner!" he exclaimed. "I thought we were about to enter theharbour to meet Mr Mudge and the rest."
I tried to explain what had happened, but his senses were too confusedto allow him for some time to understand me.
"What! have you been at the helm all night? You must be pretty wellknocked up, sir," he said. "Let me take it while you lie down. Youneed rest."
I observed, from the way he spoke, that his senses were still confused;so I told him that I had already had some sleep, and that I was able tokeep at the helm very well for the present.
I now gave him some cocoa-nut milk and a little fish, which he took veryreadily; and after eating some of the solid food he appeared muchbetter, and was soon able to sit up and talk rationally.
Calculating by the time we had taken to reach the headland, he judgedthat we should not get into the harbour at soonest till sunset; and headvised that we should economise our food, in case we should be kept outstill longer, as would certainly be the case did it again fall calm.
We at length got up with the island. On the western side it presented asuccession of high cliffs, along which we coasted. As the day advancedthe breeze freshened, and we ran briskly through the water. We had gonehalf a mile or so along the coast, when I caught sight of a sail ahead.
"Hurrah!" I cried out. "Perhaps that is a ship. Yonder craft may beable to take us and our companions on board."
"She is only a native canoe," observed Dick; "and it is questionablewhether she has friends or enemies on board. If the latter, and shecatches us, we may have our voyage put a stop to in a way we didn'tbargain for."
The craft at which we were looking was one of the large double canoes ofthese seas, with a single triangular sail of white matting, which I, inthe first instance, had taken for canvas. On she came towards us,close-hauled, at a rate which would have made it useless to attemptescaping her. The two canoes which formed the lower part of herstructure were of great length, and very narrow, supporting a largeplatform of some height, which served to keep them some distance apart.
We could only distinguish three men on her deck; and had Dick been well,we might easily have resisted them in the event of their exhibiting anyhostile intentions. But he felt himself too weak to show fight, and weagreed that our best course was to put a bold face on the matter, and tobid them go on their way, while we continued our course to thesouthward. As we drew nearer, however, three more men appeared frombelow, holding bows and spears in their hands. Placing the spears onthe deck, each fixed an arrow to his bow; on seeing which--believingthat they were going to shoot--I hauled down the sail, and, holding upmy hands, tried to make them understand that I surrendered. On thisthey withdrew their arrows, and the canoe was steered up alongside theboat. I then pointed to Dick, wishing to explain to them that he wasill. They took no notice of my signs, however; and two or three of themleaping into the boat, which they secured by a rope to the canoe,dragged him and me out of it on to their deck. At first I thought thatthey were going to kill us immediately. Dick was too weak to make anyresistance; and I knew that I could do nothing by myself. I endeavouredto exhibit as little fear as possible, however, and taking one of thesavages by the hand, shook it and smiled, to show that I wished to be onfriendly terms. After they had talked together, they appeared to havedetermined to spare our lives; then lowering their sail, they hoisted iton the other tack, and stood for the shore, towing our boat astern.Dick was allowed to sit on the deck, while I stood near him, no onemolesting us.
"We're in a bad case, Mr Rayner," he observed; "but it won't do to giveway to despair, and we must try to put a good face on the matter. If Iwas well, and able to help you, I shouldn't so much mind it; but I feelas weak as a baby, and that tries me."
"I hope you will get stronger soon, Dick, and then we must try to makeour escape to our friends," I answered. "I am afraid that the savagesare more likely in the meantime to get hold of them," he observed."What puzzles me is, that they didn't find us out before; but I suspectthat, for some reason or other, the southern end of the island is notinhabited."
I could only account for the circumstance as Dick did; and I hoped thatMudge would discover that there were natives on the island in time toguard against them. Of course, I regretted much that he should havedivided our party, as I felt that, united, we might have held outagainst them, or, at the worst, have escaped in our boats. However,there was no use thinking of what had been done; and we must, I felt,employ our energies in making the best of our situation.
I did my utmost to appear contented, as if I had no fear of our captors.To show this, I walked about the deck and examined the structure of thecanoe. The separate lower portions, I found, were composed of two largetrees hollowed out, each having a raised gunwale about two inches high,and closed at the ends with a kind of bulk-head of the same height; sothat the whole resembled a long square trough, about three feet shorterthan the body of the canoe. The two canoes thus fitted were secured toeach other, about three feet asunder, by means of cross spars, whichprojected about a foot over the side. Over these spars was laid thedeck, made of small round spars placed close together. On it was afire-hearth of clay, on which a fire was burning; and I observed a largepot suspended over it, with something boiling within which had a savourysmell. The mast was secured to the deck by knees; the whole being fixedto a cross-beam resting on the lower sides of the canoe. The sail,which was composed of matting, was stretched on a lateen yard, the footbeing extended to a boom. The ropes were made of the coarse filamentsof the plantain-tree, twisted into cordage of the thickness of a finger;and three or four such cords marled together served for shrouds. Thiscurious craft was steered by a long scull, the handle of which rose fouror five feet above the deck. In calm weather, as I afterwards observed,the natives propel these canoes simply by sculling; a man standingastern and working the scull with both hands--a very slow process. Theyare, indeed, better fitted for sailing than paddling.
Beginning to feel very hungr
y, I made signs to our captors that I shouldlike to have some food; and I also pointed to Dick, wishing to make themunderstand that he too required nourishment. One of them on this wentto the pot and stirred it with the handle of his spear, as if toascertain whether the contents were sufficiently boiled. Satisfied onthis point, he dived down into one of the canoes and brought up from alocker a hooked stick and some plantain leaves; whereupon all the party,with the exception of the helmsman, gathered round the pot, when thesame man drew out some fish and roots, and divided them among hiscompanions, giving Dick and me an equal share. We thanked them as wellas we could by eating the food. Dick, who relished it very much,nodding his head and stroking his stomach, exclaimed "Bono, bono,--verygood, master savages." The fish certainly was very good; and as ourcaptors ate it, we had no doubt that it was wholesome. Dick said hefelt much the better for it, and could now look things in the face withless despondency than before.
The canoe all this time was gliding smoothly over the water, though Iconfess, from her apparently slight structure, I should not haverelished being on board her in a heavy sea. As we approached theisland, I observed a small bay or inlet for which she was steering, withhigh cliffs above it, and a valley running up inland to some distance,while on all the level spots near the beach grew cocoa-nut and othertrees. The aspect of the country was highly picturesque, and altogetherpleasing.
As we drew nearer, I saw a number of dark-skinned natives, almost naked;some in the water, engaged apparently in fishing, others lolling abouton the beach watching them. At first they took but little notice of thecanoe; but as they caught sight of us, and the jolly-boat towing astern,those not employed in fishing hurried down to the shore of the harbour,up which the canoe ran till she reached a secure spot alongside a rock,on to which her crew could step from the canoe without difficulty.
The captain, or chief man of the canoe, now made a long speech to thenatives on shore, describing apparently how he had found us; on whichDick, who was now much recovered, and I shook him by the hand, hopingthat what he had said was in our favour. This seemed to please him andhis countrymen; and we were now conducted on shore with far more respectthan we had at first expected to receive. While some inspected ourboat, others, collecting round us, examined our clothes, lookingcuriously at our light-coloured skins. After more palavering, we wereled towards their village, when a few old men and a number of women andchildren came out to have a look at us, and we had again to endure thesame sort of scrutiny as before.
After a little time, we made out that the captain of the canoe which hadcaptured us was the son of the old chief of the village, under whoseprotection we were placed, or rather whose property we had become. Iasked the old man his name, mentioning my own, and then pointing to Dickand pronouncing his. The old man understood me, and replied, "Paowang."I then asked the son his. He replied, "Whagoo;" on which Dick and Iagain shook hands with him, thanking them for the information.
"Well, Mr Paowang, I hope you and we shall be friends," said Dick; "andwe shall be further obliged to you if you will show us a house to livein, for we should be glad to get out of the heat of the sud, and to takea quiet snooze; and at supper-time, if you will tell your people tobring us a dish of fish, and any other articles you may think fit, weshall be further indebted to you."
Although Paowang could not understand Dick's words, he comprehended hisgestures, and pointing to a hut near his own, signified that we mighttake possession of it. It was a simple structure, consisting ofuprights on which matting was stretched for walls, the roof beingthatched with plantain leaves. Some coarse mats were also spread on thefloor. It enabled us to escape from the pressure of the crowd, whichwas just what we wanted to do.
The personal appearance of most of the people was not speciallyprepossessing, though the chief and his son had good-humouredcountenances. The women wore petticoats of matting; and the men kiltsor cloths round their waists and brought between their legs. They werenaturally brown rather than black; but many of them had covered theirbodies with a pigment mixed with either earth or charcoal, which madethem much darker than they really were. The older men had short bushybeards, and large heads of almost woolly hair. Besides spears and bows,they carried large heavy carved clubs in their hands, of various shapes,some being very formidable-looking weapons. They had also darts withbarbed edges, which they threw from a becket or sort of sling fixed tothe hand. With these darts we saw them kill both birds and fish at adistance of eight or ten yards. The only tools we saw were composed ofstone or shells. Their hatchets were in form like an axe, the pointedend being fixed to a hole in a thick handle. However, I have not timeat present to describe the people. What disgusted Dick and me most wasto see the poor women compelled to perform all the hard work, and oftento receive blows or abuse from their ill-tempered masters.
We were allowed to rest in quiet till the evening, when the chief sentus, by one of his daughters, some more fish and a dish of poi,--a sortof paste made of the bread-fruit or yams. At night, also, we wereallowed to sleep without interruption. The next morning, however, thechief signified that we must not expect to eat the bread of idleness,and that we must either work in the taro grounds, or go out hunting andfishing. Dick at once said that we would go out fishing in our ownboat; hoping, as he whispered to me, that we might thus have the chanceof escaping. I warned him not to show too great eagerness, lest theymight suspect that such an idea had entered our minds.
As we could only converse by signs, we had some difficulty in makingthem understand what was meant. Dick was the most successful. Hesignified that we could not go out hunting, as we had no arms to huntwith; then he pretended to hoe and dig, shaking his head to signify thatthat was not to his taste; then he went through the attitudes of lettingdown the line and hauling up a big fish. The chief nodded his head andpointed to the sea, and allowed us to go down to the harbour. We showedour hooks, which were stowed away in the locker; and seeing some smallfish, begged to have them as bait,--quite happy in the thought that weshould be allowed to go out alone, and might thus, having thrown ourcaptors off their guard, in the course of a few days easily make ourescape,--when three black fellows, with heavy clubs and sharp axes,stepped in after us, showing by their grinning countenances that theysuspected our intentions.
Dick looked in no way disconcerted, but putting the oars into theirhands, bade them sit down and pull. Of this, however, they had noconception; so he and I had to row the boat out of the harbour, thusletting them see how we managed the oars. After some time two of themproposed trying; but they were not very successful. First one caught acrab, then the other toppled right over on his back and very nearly lostthe oar; then the first went over with his legs in the air, bringing hishead with a crack against the thwart behind him. Dick and I could nothelp laughing at the hideous faces he made--at which he grew angry, andseizing his club, threatened to use it on Dick's head. Dick, pattinghim on the back, advised him to cool his temper; then telling him tosteer, took the oar to show him how he could use it.
At last, having got some distance from the shore, Dick proposed bringingup and trying our luck. Almost immediately I got a bite, and pulled upa big fish; Dick directly afterwards caught another; and thus we wenton, greatly to the delight of the natives. Indeed, our hooks and linescaught more fish in the course of three hours than their nets usuallyentrapped in a day.
The chief, when we got back, was highly pleased, and bestowed the nameof Big-fish-man on Dick.
Several days went by. We were in high favour with Paowang, and the restof the people treated us with much kindness; still we were slaves, andwe felt very anxious about the fate of our companions. Should thesavages discover them, and they be tempted to defend themselves, theymight not be treated so well as we were; whilst, should they becaptured, our chances of escape would be smaller than ever.
A fortnight or more had gone by; and the natives began to treat us morecapriciously than at first. Several of them had by this time learned torow, a
nd sometimes Dick was compelled to go out to fish by himself witha couple of natives; sometimes I was sent, while Dick was ordered towork in the taro fields. When I was kept on shore, I had to perform thesame sort of labour, in company with the women and girls. I should nothave minded it very much, had it not been for the heat of the sun: andfrom this I found Dick also suffered extremely; indeed, he was lookingvery ill, and I much feared that he would have a relapse.
My worst apprehensions were too soon fulfilled. One evening, when I andmy black crew returned home from fishing, I found Dick lying in our hutscarcely able to speak. He had been out the whole day in the fields,scantily supplied with food, and had received a sun-stroke. He was in ahigh fever. I ran to the chief and entreated him to give me a supply ofcocoa-nut milk, which I hoped, at all events, might alleviate hissufferings. The chief replied that I might help myself to somecocoa-nuts, but offered me no other assistance. In desperation Iclimbed the nearest tree, on which some were still hanging, and threwthem to the ground; two were split and the milk lost, but I brought homethree others. I feared, however, as I offered the contents of one ofthem to my poor companion, that it was too late to afford him anyrelief. I sat up with him all night, giving him from time to time someof the cooling beverage; but he was evidently getting worse. Once onlyhe spoke to me. "Get off in the boat, Mr Rayner," he said; "it is youronly chance. Trust in God; he will help you in time of need."
He was silent after this, and, overcome with fatigue, I dropped off tosleep. When I awoke the light was shining in through the door of thehut. I looked at Dick's countenance; it was calm and pleasant. I tookhis hand--it dropped by his side. Then I knew that my poor friend wasdead; and I burst into tears.
When I recovered myself I got up and told the chief what had happened,begging that some men might be sent to help me to dig his grave, foralready the flies were gathering about his face. The chief compliedwith my request; so we dug a grave on the top of a hill a short distancefrom the village, and within view of the sea. In the evening we carriedhim there, and I took my last look of his honest countenance ere thesoil was thrown in on his body. I then got some young saplings andplanted them round the grave, which I covered up with a pile of earth.On this also I planted some flowering shrubs. Next day I employedmyself in carving on a piece of wood his name, and the date, as far as Icould calculate it, of his death.
Soon after this I discovered that something unusual was going forward inthe village. The chief had evidently important intelligence broughthim; for the warriors were arming, and the women were in a state ofagitation. What it was all about I could not tell, and the savages didnot think fit to enlighten me. They did not, however, neglect theirtaro fields; and I was sent out as usual to work.
I had started at daybreak, that I might get as much done as possibleduring the cool hours of the morning, and was labouring away, when,hearing a noise in the bushes near me, I looked up and saw a figurespring out from among them. The next instant I recognised Harry Hudson,who ran towards me.
"Come along," he exclaimed; "I am pursued, and we may both be captured.I'll tell you what has happened when we reach a place of safety."
I set off with him towards the village. Our appearance, with theaccount we gave, made all the warriors turn out, led by Whagoo, to stopthe progress of the enemy; for by Harry's account the hostile party wasapproaching, and would, if not stopped, quickly destroy the taro fieldsand cut down all the trees in their course. The chief expressed hisgratitude to Harry for giving him the warning, and promised to defendhim should those from whom he had escaped attempt his recapture. To mysurprise, Harry was able to make himself clearly understood, though thedialect he spoke evidently differed considerably from that of Paowangand his people.
"But I am eager to learn how you found your way to this place, and knewthat I was here," I observed.
Harry then, having said how anxious he and the rest of them had becomeat not hearing of Dick and me, told how one day he and Tamaku had setoff on an exploring expedition farther to the north than they had yetventured, in search of cocoa-nuts and other fruit, which was becomingscarce around them; that they had crossed a stream which seemed toseparate the southern from the northern end of the island; but as theywere going through a forest which extended down to the sea, they weresuddenly set upon by a large party of savages; when Tamaku, attemptingto defend himself, was struck down, and, he feared, killed. The savagesthen hurried him along with them to their village, where they treatedhim with tolerable kindness; but still he dreaded lest, should he by anychance offend them, they might without ceremony kill him, and heintended to make his escape, if possible, in order to warn Mudge and therest of their danger. Understanding tolerably well what they said, helearned that a white man and a boy--and of course he had no doubt thatDick and I were spoken of--had been captured in a boat by their enemiesat the northern end of the island, and that an attack upon Paowang'stribe had been planned. The chief of the party into whose hands he hadfallen was, he found, called Oamo; he appeared to be a fierce,sanguinary savage, and he felt that his own life, while he remained inthe chief's power, was very insecure. So, finding that he could muchmore easily reach us than get back southward, and that his captors wereless likely to look out for him on our side, he resolved to escape; andthat very night succeeded in doing so.
On hearing this, Paowang and Whagoo hurried on their preparations; and,led by the latter, the warriors sallied forth in battle array, takingHarry and me with them. As we had no arms, and should have beenunwilling to fight even had we possessed any, we were surprised at this;but Whagoo insisted that it was necessary, and we were compelled tocomply. We marched on at a rapid rate till we reached a broad stream,which separated, we learned, the territory of Paowang from that of Oamo.On reaching the stream we caught sight of Oamo's forces drawn up on theopposite side. The two armies then set to work to hurl abusive epithetsat each other, instead of, as we expected, making use of murderousweapons. This had the effect, however, of exciting their courage andworking up their anger. Harry told me, that as far as he could makeout, each party was trying to induce the other to cross the stream andfight.
At length Whagoo dared Oamo to come over and engage in single combat.The challenge, after some deliberation, was accepted; and that chief,with about twenty of his followers, wading across the stream, formed onthe northern bank, where they stood facing our party at about thedistance of fifty yards. The two champions then advanced to meet eachother, armed with the formidable carved clubs I have described, one blowfrom which would, it appeared, quickly decide the contest. As theyadvanced slowly, they narrowly eyed each other, waiting for a favourablemoment to deal the first blow. Whagoo was young and active, but Oamoappeared to possess superior strength. Cautiously he advanced, holdinghis club with both hands towards the ground; while Whagoo kept hiselevated above his shoulders, as if ready to bring it down on hisantagonist's head. For a minute or more they stood facing each other,their eyes glaring like balls of fire, when like lightning Oamo boundedtowards his antagonist and dealt a blow of force sufficient to bring anox to the ground; but Whagoo, actively leaping on one side, avoided it,and prepared to strike in return. In an instant Oamo, recoveringhimself, lifted his club in a position to receive his enemy's attack.They thus stood for another minute or more face to face, each unwillingto risk defeat by giving a fruitless blow.
At length Whagoo, losing patience, gave a sudden bound for the purposeof reaching the right side of Oamo, who, however, quickly faced him andmade a blow at his head; which he avoided by dropping on his knee,receiving it on the blunt part of his club. In an instant he was againon his feet, and with another bound attempted to reach Oamo's unguardedshoulder. The latter, however, was too wary to allow him to succeed.Thus they continued springing round each other, Oamo's aim beingevidently to exhaust the strength of his antagonist. At last hesucceeded in bringing his weapon down on Whagoo's left shoulder, andinflicted a fearful wound; sufficient apparently to disable himcompletely, for
the blood gushed forth in a way which must quickly, itseemed, drain his veins of their contents. He, however, took no noticeof it, though it had evidently excited his rage and made him abandon thecaution he had hitherto maintained.
I now began seriously to fear for the result. Oamo saw his advantage,and allowed Whagoo still further to exhaust his strength.
"What are we to do, Harry, if our friend gets beaten?" I asked.
"We must try and escape, for otherwise I fear that we shall be handedover to the victorious party," he answered.
"Will they kill us?" I asked.
"Not if Oamo escapes without a wound," he answered; "they will be sodelighted with their victory that they will keep us as trophies. Idon't like the look of things, however."
Our fears were still further increased when Oamo succeeded in bringinghis weapon down on Whagoo's thigh, leaping back quick as lightning toavoid the blow which the other dealt in return. In his eagerness tostrike, and much weakened by his wounds, Whagoo overbalanced himself,and before he could again recover his feet or raise his club Oamobrought his weapon with tremendous force down on his unguarded skull,which with a single blow he clove in two, and our champion fell dead tothe earth.
Oamo's followers, uttering loud shouts of triumph, immediately rushedforward, and before Harry and I, who stood rooted with horror to thespot, could make our escape, they had surrounded us; Whagoo's partyhaving bounded off like startled deer the instant they perceived thefall of their chief. Satisfied with his victory, Oamo did not attemptto follow them, aware probably that Paowang, with the rest of his tribe,would quickly be down upon them to avenge his son's death.
We were at once dragged off across the stream; after which the wholeparty, carrying us with them, retreated southward, singing songs oftriumph.
Our captors did not halt till they reached their village, when the womencame out in crowds to welcome them and to gaze at us. I expectednothing less than torture and death; but even Oamo, savage as he was,did not look at us fiercely, as if intending to do us any harm: possiblyhe was so well-pleased with his victory that he was inclined to treat usmore kindly than he would otherwise have done. We were, however,doomed, we found, to captivity; and I naturally supposed that they wouldkeep so strict a watch over us that we should have no chance ofescaping.
"I do not despair, however, of doing that," said Harry, when we weretalking over the subject. "They are not aware that I understand whatthey say, and I shall thus be able to learn what they are about; so wemay be able to get off by watching an opportunity. From what Iunderstand, the southern end of the island is tabooed, having belongedto a chief who was looked upon as a priest, or sacred character of somesort. He, before setting out on an expedition with all his people, fromwhich he never returned, threatened to visit with the most fearfulcurses any who should take possession of his territory during hisabsence. Oamo and his people had therefore been afraid to occupy it,and thus we were allowed to remain there so long unmolested. I thushope that if we can once get across the stream which divides it fromthis region, we shall be safe."
Harry's remarks greatly raised my spirits, and I was better able toendure the annoyances to which we were subjected than I should have beenhad there been less hope of escape.
Day after day passed by, and we were treated much as I had before beenby Paowang and his people. We were not compelled, however, to go outand fish, for the best of reasons--our captors had no canoes: indeed,Harry learned that Paowang possessed but the one canoe, which hadcaptured us; and as Whagoo was dead, there was no one in the tribe tocommand it, so that in all probability it was either laid up on shore orkept in the harbour. This seemed at first to be a matter of littleconsequence to us; but on further consideration we saw that, should wefind it necessary to escape in our boat, there would be little risk ofour being pursued.
As time went on, our captivity became more and more galling, though itwas a satisfaction to us to be allowed to remain together; and duringthe evenings, when our work was over, I had a constant source ofamusement in endeavouring to impart such knowledge as I possessed toHarry. I fortunately remembered portions of the Bible, and numerouspieces of poetry and prose; and by repeating them to him, he also wasable to get them by heart. I used to tell him all about England, andhow various articles in common use were manufactured. I taught him agood deal of history and geography; and even arithmetic, by making useof pebbles. By this exercise of my memory I benefited greatly, as I wasthus induced to recall subjects which I should otherwise in time haveforgotten.
Our comparatively pleasant life was, however, at length to come to anend. From some motive which we could not understand--perhaps becausethey thought we should attempt to escape--the savages at lengthseparated us, and compelled us to sleep in different huts; while we wereemployed apart during the day. Harry, however, contrived one evening tofind me; and I then urged him, if he had an opportunity of escaping byhimself, not to run the risk of being caught by coming to look for me.I said that I would either follow, or that perhaps Mudge would manage bysome means or other to obtain my liberty, should he not already haveleft the island. There was some risk of this being the case, we agreed;and if so, Harry said that he would come back to me rather than have tolive alone in Taboo Land, as we called it.
Several days passed after this, and though I looked about for Harry, Icould nowhere meet with him, so I began to hope that he had escaped.Sometimes the dreadful idea occurred to me that the savages might havekilled him; and I was more inclined to think this, owing to the way inwhich they began to treat me. I was made to work harder than ever; andeven the women, who had hitherto looked kindly on me, turned away theirfaces; and I was often almost starving, being glad of the scraps left bythe women after their lords and masters had handed them the remains oftheir meals. Still, being of a buoyant disposition, I did not give wayto despair, and trusted that I might some day effect my escape. I hadvarious plans for doing so. If I could get down to the coast, I thoughtthat I might make my way along the beach, hiding among the rocks in theday time, and moving on in the water just at the margin at night, sothat no traces of my footsteps might be left.
As I returned very regularly to my hut at night, my savage mastersbecame less vigilant than before. At last I felt my captivity soirksome that I determined at all risks to put my plan into execution. Icame back as usual to the village in the evening, and, pretending tohave hurt my foot, as soon as I had eaten the scanty meal given to me Ilay down, as if about to go to sleep. I waited anxiously till allnoises had ceased in the village, and then quietly stole out of my hut;and, having well noted the way, as soon as I had got to such a distancethat my footsteps were not likely to be heard, I ran as fast as I couldto the west shore, which was much the nearest. In about an hour Ireached it, and at once began to make my way, as I had proposed, alongthe beach. At all events, Oamo would not be able to ascertain whether Ihad gone to the north or to the south. Fortunately the water was high,so that I had the soft sand to tread on, my feet being on the margin.As fast as I could move, afraid even for an instant to step on the drysand lest I might leave a footprint behind me, I went on. Sometimes Ihad to climb over rocks; but fortunately there were no cliffs in thispart of the island rising sheer out of the water, or my progress wouldhave been effectually stopped.
All night long I went on; the light of the moon, which rose soon after Ireached the shore, enabling me to make way with less difficulty than Ihad anticipated. In spite of the temptation to continue my course, whenmorning dawned I sought shelter among some rocks, amid which I judgedthat I should be effectually concealed from any pursuers on the shore.
How far I had gone I could not well calculate, but I supposed that I wasstill a long way from the harbour, where I hoped to find Mudge. As Iwas well beyond the high-water mark, I had no fear of being overwhelmedby the rising tide; therefore, feeling very tired, I composed myself onmy somewhat hard couch to sleep. I awoke with the idea that a pair ofhuge wings were fanning me; and on looking up I saw
a large sea-fowl, asbig as an albatross, about to pounce down on my head. I started to myfeet, defending my face with my arm, and shouting at the top of my voiceto frighten it off. My cries had the desired effect; and as I watchedits flight seaward, I saw a small speck on the water. Eagerly I gazedat it; it was a boat, not a canoe, as I had at first feared. It camenearer and nearer, evidently steering along the coast. I feared that Ishould not be seen among the broken rocks where I had concealed myself,and I could scarcely hope to make my voice heard so far. My only chancewas to run along the light-coloured sand, and to wave my hands, trustingthat I might attract the attention of my friends in the boat--for thatthey were my friends I felt certain.
Without further consideration, I rushed from my hiding-place, and beganfrantically waving my hands, shouting at the same time at the top of myvoice. As I for a moment ceased, I heard an echo to my cries; andlooking over my shoulder, I saw a party of dark-skinned savagesdescending the hill towards the beach. From the glimpse I got of them,I saw that they differed in appearance from those among whom I had solong been held captive; I saw, also, that they had neither bows norspears. With fierce cries they rushed down the hill towards me; whilelouder and louder I shouted, and waved my hands more vehemently towardsthe boat. The savages, with pointed daggers in their hands, had reachedthe foot of the hill; and I was almost abandoning myself to despair,when I saw the boat's head turned towards the shore, and a figure in thebows stand up and wave to me, while a friendly cheer reached my ears.
In a few minutes more--long before the boat could get up to me--thesavages were on the beach. Though I knew that sharks abounded on thecoast, I no longer hesitated, but, rushing into the water, waded as faras I could, and then struck out towards the boat. I did not take timeto throw off my jacket, but, fully clothed as I was, swam on; oneglance, as I looked backward, revealing the savages not a dozen yardsbehind me. If they chose to swim after me, I should have scarcely achance of escaping; but that thought did not make me abandon theattempt. I struck out boldly, and my friends in the boat pulled awaylustily to meet me.
On turning on my back for one moment to rest, though not to stop, for Istill struck out with my feet, I saw the savages on the margin of thewater, fiercely threatening me with their daggers, but not daring toswim off in pursuit. My mind was greatly relieved; but there was therisk of cramp, or giving way from fatigue, as also the still greaterdanger of being snapped up by a huge shark. My friends, however, knewthis as well as I did, and continuing to exert themselves as at first,at length came up with me. The time, however, seemed very, very long,and I was almost fainting from my exertions, when I felt a strong handseize me by the collar of my jacket, and Mudge--for it was he who hadgot hold of me--pulled me over the gunwale and placed me in thestern-sheets.
I soon recovered, and the first face my eyes fell upon was that ofHarry. The pleasure of seeing him soon restored me. He told me that hehad effected his escape just as I was attempting to do, though he hadbeen compelled to remain concealed for several days among the rocks. Assoon as he reached the harbour he told Mudge, who had given up allexpectation of ever seeing me again alive, of my captivity; and arrangedwith him a plan for rescuing me. Harry's intention was to land afternightfall, and boldly make his way up to the village; where, knowing myhut, he hoped to be able to find me, and to conduct me back to the boatbefore daylight. The boat, however, had first to be brought round tothe east side; so Mudge, himself, and Tom went across the islandtogether, and brought her round by the south end.
The day after his arrival, while they were employed in putting on boardprovisions for the expedition, Popo, who had been out shooting with hisbow and arrows, came rushing back, saying that he had seen a party ofsavage natives, who were evidently advancing towards the harbour. Theyhad but just time to jump into the boat, leaving a large portion of theprovisions they had prepared behind them, and to shove off, when thesavages came rushing down with threatening gestures, shouting andshrieking. From Harry's account, they were similar in appearance to themen from whom I had escaped, and we agreed that they were probably partof the tribe who had been absent, and had just returned to Taboo Land.
In the meantime, Mudge had put the boat round, and we were pulling awayfrom the shore. One of the plans formed by my friends, they told me,had been, as soon as they had recovered me, to try and cut out ourjolly-boat, as the small boat was but ill adapted for the long voyage wemight have to take. They were afraid, however, should we linger on thecoast, that the savages who had just landed would pursue us in thecanoes in which they had arrived; and hence our only safe course was atonce to get to a distance, in the hope that we might either fall in witha whaler, or reach some island inhabited by people of a more hospitabledisposition. With reluctance, therefore, we abandoned the design oftrying to get hold of the jolly-boat. There would, of course, have beendanger in the attempt, and we therefore considered it altogether wiserto avoid it.
Unhappily, we had no sail, and only a couple of rough oars, formed byTamaku; we had a few salted fish and birds, a basket of eggs, and somecocoa-nuts. Our stock of water was contained in a dozencocoa-nut-shells, prepared as bottles by poor Tamaku. This stock wouldnot last us many days; and should it be exhausted before we could reachanother island, or fall in with a ship, we must starve.
Such were our prospects as we rowed away from the island, without chartor compass, or any other means of guiding our course, with the exceptionof the stars by night and the sun by day.