"I wish you to understand," said he, "that my unwillingness to go on
with my history, proceeds from my being obliged to make known to you
the hatred that subsisted between your father and me; but if you will
recollect, that we both had, in our early days, been striving to gain
the same object--I mean your mother--and also that he had taken, as it
were, what I considered to have been my place, in other points--that he
had been successful in life, and I had been unfortunate, you must not
then be surprised at my hating him as I did."
"I understand nothing about your feelings," replied I; "and why he
injured you by marrying my mother, I cannot see."
"Why I loved her."
"Well, suppose you did, I don't know what love is, and therefore cannot
understand it, so tell me the story."
"Well then, when I left off, I told you that we had ventured to land
upon this island by running the boat into the bathing-pond, but in so
doing, the boat was beaten to pieces, and was of no use afterwards. We
landed, eight persons in all--that is, the captain, your father, the
carpenter, mate, and three seamen, besides your mother. We had
literally nothing in the boat except three axes, two kids, and the two
pannikins, which we have indeed now, but as for provisions or even
water we had none of either. Our first object, therefore, was to search
the island to obtain water, and this we soon found at the rill which
now runs down by the side of the cabin. It was very fortunate for us
that we arrived exactly at the time that the birds had come on the
island, and had just laid their eggs; if not, we must have perished
with hunger, for we had not a fish-hook with us or even a fathom of
line.
"We collected a quantity of eggs, and made a good meal, although we
devoured them raw. While we were running about, or rather climbing
about, over the rocks, to find out what chance of subsistence we might
have on the island, the captain and your father remained with your
mother, who sat down in a sheltered spot near to the bathing-pool. On
our return in the evening, the captain called us all together that he
might speak to us, and he said that if we would do well we must all act
in concert; that it also would be necessary that one should have the
command and control of the others; that without such was the case,
nothing would go on well;--and he asked us if we did not consider that
what he said was true. We all agreed, although I, for one, felt little
inclination to do so, but as all the rest said so, I raised no
objections. The captain then told us that as we were all of one
opinion, the next point, was to decide as to who should have the
command--he said, that if it had been on ship-board, he of course would
have taken it himself, but now we were on shore he thought that Mr
Henniker was a much more competent person than he was, and he therefore
proposed that the command should be given to him, and he, for one,
would willingly be under his orders. To this proposal, the carpenter
and mate immediately agreed, and at last two of the seamen. I was left
alone, but I resisted, saying, that I was not going to be ordered about
by a landsman, and that if I were to obey orders, it must be from a
thorough-bred seaman. The other two sailors were of my way of thinking,
I was sure, although they had given their consent, and I hoped that
they would join me, which they appeared very much inclined to do. Your
father spoke very coolly, modestly, and prudently. He pointed out that
he had no wish to take the command, and that he would cheerfully serve
under the captain of the vessel, if it would be more satisfactory to
all parties that such should be the case. But the captain and the
others were positive, saying that they would not have their choice
disputed by such a drunken vagabond as I was, and that if I did not
like to remain with them, I might go to any part of the island that I
chose. This conference ended by my getting in a passion, and saying
that I would not be under your father's orders; and I was seizing one
of the axes to go off with it, when the captain caught my arm and
wrested it from me, stating that the axe was his property, and then
telling me that I was welcome to go where I pleased.
"I left them, therefore, and went away by myself to where the birds
were hatching, as I wished to secure a supply of eggs. When the night
closed in, I lay down upon the guano, and felt no cold, for the gale
was now over, and the weather was very mild.
"The next morning, when I awoke, I found that the sun had been up some
time. I looked for the rest of my companions whom I had quitted, and
perceived that they were all busily at work. The sea was quite calm;
and, when the vessel went down after we left, many articles had
floated, and had been washed to the island. Some of the men were busy
collecting spars and planks, which were near the rocks, and pushing
them along with the boat-hooks to the direction of the bathing pond,
where they hauled them over the ridge, and secured them. Your father
and mother, with the carpenter, were on this ledge where we now are,
having selected it as a proper place for building a shelter, and were
apparently very busy. The captain and one of the seamen were carrying
up what spars and timber could be collected to where your father was
standing with the carpenter. All appeared to be active, and working
into each others hands; and I confess that, as I looked on, I envied
them, and wished that I had been along with them; but I could not bear
the idea of obeying any orders given by your father; and this alone
prevented my joining them, and making my excuses for what I had done
and said the previous night. I therefore swallowed some more birds'
eggs raw, and sat down in the sun, looking at them as they worked.
"I soon perceived that the carpenter had commenced operations. The
frame of this cabin was, with the assistance of your father, before it
was noon, quite complete and put up; and then they all went down to the
bathing place, where the boat was lying with her bottom beaten out.
They commenced taking her to pieces and saving all the nails; the other
men carried up the portions of the boat as they were ripped off, to
where the frame of the cabin had been raised. I saw your mother go up
with a load in her hand, which I believed to be the nails taken from
the boat. In a couple of hours the boat was in pieces and carried up,
and then your father and most of the men went up to assist the
carpenter. I hardly need tell what they did, as you have the cabin
before you. The roof, you see, is mostly built out of the timbers of
the boat; and the lower part out of heavier wood; and a very good job
they made of it. Before the morning closed in, one of the sides of the
cabin was finished; and I saw them light a fire with the chips that had
been cut off with the axes, and they then dressed the eggs and birds
which they had collected the first day.
"There was one thing which I had quite forgotten when I mutinied and
left my companions, which was, the necessity of water to drink; and I
now perceived that they had taken possession of the spot where the only
water had as yet been found. I was suffering very much from thirst
towards the close of the day, and I set off up the ravine to ascertain
if there was none to be found in that direction. Before night I
succeeded in finding some, as you know, for you have often drunk from
the spring when you have gone up for firewood. This gave me great
encouragement, for I was afraid that the want of water would have
driven me to submission. By way of bravado, I tore off, and cut with my
knife, as many boughs of the underwood on the ravine as I well could
carry, and the next morning I built a sort of wigwam for myself on the
guano, to show them that I had a house over my head as well as they
had; but I built it farther up to the edge of the cliff, above the
guano plain, so that I need not have any communication with those who I
knew would come for eggs and birds for their daily sustenance.
"Before the night of the following day set in, the cabin was quite
finished.
"The weather became warmer every day, and I found it very fatiguing to
have to climb the ravine two or three times a day to procure a drink of
water, for I had nothing to hold water in, and I thought that it would
be better that I should take up my quarters in the ravine, and build
myself a wigwam among the brushwood close to the water, instead of
having to make so many journeys for so necessary an article. I knew
that I could carry eggs in my hat and pocket-handkerchief sufficient
for two or three days at one trip; so I determined that I would do so;
and the next morning I went up the ravine, loaded with eggs, to take up
my residence there. In a day or two I had built my hut of boughs, and
made it very comfortable. I returned for a fresh supply of eggs on the
third day, with a basket I had constructed out of young boughs, and
which enabled me to carry a whole week's sustenance. Then I felt quite
satisfied, and made up my mind that I would live as a hermit during my
sojourn on the island, however long it might be; for I preferred
anything to obeying the orders of one whom I detested as I did your
father.
"It soon was evident, however, how well they had done in selecting your
father as their leader. They had fancied that the birds would remain on
the island, and that thus they would always be able to procure a
supply. Your father, who had lived so long in Chili, knew better, and
that in a few weeks they would quit their nesting place. He pointed
this out to them, showing them what a mercy it was that they had been
cast away just at this time, and how necessary it was to make a
provision for the year. But this they could not imagine that it was
possible to do without salt to cure the birds with; but he knew how
beef was preserved without salt on the continent, and showed them how
to dry the birds in the sun. While therefore I was up in the ravine,
they were busy collecting and drying them in large quantities, and
before the time of the birds leaving they had laid up a sufficient
supply. It was he also that invented the fishing lines out of the
sinews of the legs of the birds, and your mother who knotted them
together. At first, they caught fish with some hooks made of nails, but
your father showed them the way to take them without a hook, as you
have learnt from me, and which he had been shown by some of the Indians
on the continent. Owing to your father, they were well prepared when
the birds flew away with their young ones, while I was destitute.
Previous to the flight, I had fared but badly, for the eggs contained
the young birds half formed, and latterly so completely formed that I
could not eat them, and as I had no fire and did not understand drying
them, I had no alternative but eating the young birds raw, which was
anything but pleasant. I consoled myself, however, with the idea that
your father and mother and the rest were faring just as badly as
myself, and I looked forward to the time when the birds would begin to
lay eggs again, when I resolved to hoard up a much larger supply while
they were fresh. But my schemes were all put an end to, for in two
days, after a great deal of noise and flying about in circles, all the
birds, young and old, took wing, and left me without any means of
future subsistence.
"This was a horrid discovery, and I was put to my wits' ends. I
wandered over the guano place, and, after the third day of their
departure, was glad to pick up even a dead bird with which to appease
my hunger. At the same time, I wondered how my former companions got
on, for I considered that they must be as badly off as I was. I watched
them from behind the rocks, but I could perceive no signs of
uneasiness. There was your mother sitting quietly on the level by the
cabin, and your father or the captain talking with her. I perceived,
however, that two of the party were employed fishing off the rocks, and
I wondered where they got their fishing-lines, and at last I concluded
that it was by catching fish that they supported themselves. This,
however, did not help me--I was starving, and starvation will bring
down the pride of any man. On the fifth day, I walked down to the
rocks, to where one of the seamen was fishing, and having greeted him,
I told him that I was starving, and asked for something to eat.
"'I cannot help you,' replied he; 'I have no power to give anything
away; it is more than I dare do. You must apply to Mr Henniker, who is
the governor now. What a foolish fellow you were to mutiny, as you did;
see what it has brought you to.'
"'Why,' replied I, 'if it were not for fishing, you would not be better
off than I am.'
"'Oh yes we should be; but we have to thank him for that--without him,
I grant, we should not have been. We have plenty of provisions,
although we fish to help them out.'
"This puzzled me amazingly, but there was no help for it. I could
starve no longer, so up I went to the level where your father was
standing with the captain, and in a swaggering sort of tone, said that
I had come back, and wanted to join my comrades. The captain looked at
me, and referred me to your father, who said that he would consult with
the rest when they came to dinner, as without their permission he could
do nothing, and then they both turned away. In the meantime I was
ravenous with hunger, and was made more so by perceiving that two large
fish were slowly baking on the embers of the fire, and that your mother
was watching them; however, there was no help for it, and I sat down at
some little distance, anxiously waiting for the return of the rest of
the party, when my fate would be decided. My pride was now brought down
so low that I could have submitted to any terms which might have been
dictated. In about two hours they were all assembled to dinner, and I
remained envying every morsel that they ate, until the repast was
finished; when after some consultation, I was ordered to
approach--which I did--and your father addressed me: 'Jackson, you
deserted us when you might have been very useful, and when our labour
was severe; now that we have worked hard, and made ourselves tolerably
comfortable, you request to join us, and partake with us of the fruits
of our labour and foresight. You have provided nothing, we have--the
consequence is that we are in comparative plenty, while you are
starving. Now I have taken the opinion of my companions, and they are
all agreed, that as you have not assisted when you are wanted, should
we now allow you to join us, you will have to work more than the others
to make up an equivalent. It is therefore proposed that you shall join
us on one condition, which is, that during the year till the birds
again visit the island, it will be your task to go up to the ravine
every day, and procure the firewood which is required. If you choose to
accept these terms, you are permitted to join, always supposing that to
all the other rules and regulations which we have laid down for our
guidance, you will be subject as well as we are. These are our terms,
and you may decide as you think proper.' I hardly need say, that I
gladly accepted them, and was still more glad when the remnants of the
dinner were placed before me; I was nearly choked, I devoured with such
haste until my appetite was appeased.
"When this was done, I thought over the conditions which I had
accepted, and my blood boiled at the idea that I was to be in a manner
the slave to the rest, as I should have to work hard every day. I
forgot that it was but justice, and that I was only earning my share of
the years' provisions, which I had not assisted to collect. My heart
was still more bitter against your father, and I vowed vengeance if
ever I had an opportunity, but there was no help for it. Every day I
went up with a piece of cord and an axe, cut a large faggot of wood,
and brought it down to the cabin. It was hard work, and occupied me
from breakfast to dinner-time, and I had no time to lose if I wanted to
be back for dinner. The captain always examined the faggot, and
ascertained that I had brought down a sufficient supply for the day's
consumption."