I have before said that, tired of repeating the words of the songs
which Jackson had taught me, I had taken those of Psalms in metre, at
the end of the Prayer-book, by way of variety; and, as far as metre
went, they answered very well, although people would have been
surprised to have heard Psalms sung to such quick and varied measure.
The Psalm I chose this time was the first--"How blest is he who ne'er
consents;" and I began accordingly; but when I came to the end of the
line, to my astonishment I heard a plaintive voice, at a distance,
repeat after me "con-sents." I looked round. I thought I must have been
deceived, so I continued--"By ill advice to walk." This time I could
not be mistaken--"to walk" was repeated by the same voice as plainly as
possible. I stopped singing, lost in wonder. There must be somebody on
the island as well as myself, thought I; for I never had heard an echo
before, except when it thundered, and such echoes I had put down as a
portion of the thunder. "Who's there?" cried I. "Who's there?" replied
the voice. "It's me!" "It's me!" was the answer. I did not know what to
make of it. I cried out again and again, and again and again I heard
what I said repeated, but no answer to my questions. I thought I was
insulted by somebody, and yet, when I listened, the voice that spoke
came from the face of the rock on the other side of the chasm, and no
one could be there without my seeing them. This made me think that I
was mistaken, and that there could not be anybody, but still I could
not solve the mystery. At last I became frightened, and as the sun was
now setting, I determined to get back to the cabin. I did so, and went
down much faster than I had gone up, for as it grew dark I became the
more alarmed. The only thing that re-assured me was the softness and
plaintiveness of the voice--not like Jackson's, but as of someone who
would not think of injuring me.
Although I was, generally speaking, quiet and content with my isolated
position, yet it was only when I was employed or amused with my
favourites. At times, I could not find anything to do, and was overcome
by weariness. I would then throw away my books, and remain for hours
thinking upon the probability of my ever again seeing a fellow
creature; and a fit of melancholy would come over me, which would last
many days. I was in one of these moods, when it occurred to me, that,
although I had seen the other side of the island from the summit, I had
not gone down to the beach to explore it; and I resolved that I would
do so, making a trip of three or four days. When my knives had become
blunt, Jackson had told me how to sharpen them, by rubbing the blades
upon a hard flat piece of rock, wetted with water. This I had found to
answer very well, and I now determined I would try and sharpen one of
the old axes in the same way, so as to make it serviceable, for I was
very much afraid of breaking my knives in cutting down the brushwood,
and I knew how much more rapidly it could be done with an axe. I picked
out a large stone, suitable for the purpose, and with a kid of water at
hand, I set-to to sharpen the axe. It was a long job, but in a day or
two I had succeeded admirably, and the axe was in good order. I then
thought how I could leave my birds for so many days, as they would
require food. At last, I considered that if I caught two large fish and
cut them up, they would be sufficient for their sustenance. I did so,
and provided with a packet of dried birds for food, tied up in a duck
frock, with my Natural History book for amusement, a pannikin to get
water in, my axe on my shoulder, and my knives by my side--I first
kissed all the birds, and told them to remain quiet and good till I
came back--I set off on a bright clear morning on my tour of
examination.
In a couple of hours I had gained the summit of the island, and
prepared for my descent, by sitting down and eating my dinner. I
observed that, as before, the water on the other side of the island was
quite smooth, compared to what it was on the side where I resided. It
was, in fact, from the prevailing winds during the year, the lee side
of the island. Having rested myself sufficiently, I commenced my
descent, which I accomplished in little less time than it took me to
ascend from the other side. As I neared the rocks by the shore, I
thought I perceived something occasionally moving about on them. I was
not mistaken, for as I came closer, I found that there were several
large animals lying on the rocks, and occasionally dropping into the
sea close to them.
The sight of anything living was to me of great interest. I determined
to get nearer, and ascertain what animals they were. At last, by
creeping along from rock to rock, I arrived to within forty yards of
them. I recollected some animals of the same shape in my book of
Natural History, which, fortunately, I had with me in the duck frock,
and sitting down behind the rock, I pulled it out, and turned over the
pages until I came to a print which exactly answered to their
appearance. It was the Seal. Having satisfied myself on that point, I
read the history of the animal, and found that it was easily tamed, and
very affectionate when taken young, and also might be easily killed by
a blow on the nose. These, at least, were for me the two most important
pieces of information. It occurred to me that it would be very pleasant
to have a young seal for a playmate (for the Gannets, after all, were
not very intelligent), and I resolved to obtain one if I could. I put
down my duck frock with my provisions behind the rock, and taking my
axe in my hand, I cautiously advanced to where the animals lay. There
were about twenty of them all together on one rock, but they were all
large, and seemed to be about five or six feet long. I could not see a
small one anywhere, so I walked in behind the rocks farther to the
right, towards another rock, where I saw another batch of them lying.
As I neared them, I saw by herself a seal with a young one by her side,
not more than two feet long. This was what I wanted. They lay at some
distance from the water, upon a low rock. I watched them for some time,
and was much amused at the prattling which passed between the old and
the young one. I thought that to obtain the young one, I must of course
kill the old one, for I perceived that it had large teeth. I considered
it advisable to get between them and the water, that they might not
escape me, and I contrived so to do before I made my appearance. As
soon as the old one perceived me running to them, it gave a shrill cry,
and then floundered towards the water; as we came close together, it
showed its teeth, and rose upon its flappers to defend itself and its
young one, which kept close to its side; but a blow on its nose with
the axe rendered it motionless, and apparently dead. Delighted with my
success, I seized hold of the young one and took it in my arms, and was
carrying it away, when I found myself confronted with the male seal,
which, alarmed by the cry of the female, had come to her assistance. It
was much larger than the female, with more shaggy hair about the neck
and shoulders, and apparently very fierce. I could not pass it, as it
was in shore of me, and I had just time to drop the young seal, and
leap behind a rock on one side, with my axe all ready. The animal
reared itself on the rock to pass over to me, when I saluted it with a
blow on the head, which staggered it. I had lost my presence of mind by
the creature coming upon me so unexpectedly, and my blow was not well
aimed, but before it could recover the first blow, another on its nose
tumbled it over, to all appearance lifeless. I then hastened to gain
the other side of the rock, where I had left the young seal, and found
that it had crept to its mother's body, and was fondling it. I took it
in my arms, and retreated to where I had left my duck frock, and
throwing everything else out, I put the animal in, and tied up the end,
so that it could not escape. I then sat down to recover myself from the
excitement occasioned by this first engagement I had ever been in,
quite delighted with my newly-acquired treasure.
I then thought what I should do. It was now within an hour of dark, and
was too late to return to the other side of the island, or I would have
done so, as I was anxious to get my seal home. At last I decided that I
would go farther from the beach, and take up my quarters for the night.
I collected my provision, and with my seal under my arm, I walked away
about one hundred yards from the water's edge, and took up a position
under a large rock; here I ate my supper, and then untied the line
which closed up the frock, and had a parting look at my little friend
before I went to sleep. He had struggled a good deal at first, but was
now quiet, although he occasionally made attempts to bite me. I coaxed
him and fondled him a good deal, and then put him into his bag again,
and made him secure, which appeared to annoy him very much, as he was
not half as quiet in a bag as he was when I held him in my lap. I then
took my book to read over again the history of the seal, and I found
that their skins were valuable, and also that they gave a great deal of
oil, but I had no use for oil, though I thought that their skins might
be very comfortable in my bed-place. I shut my book and lay down to
sleep, but I could not obtain any till near daylight, I had been so
excited, and was so anxious about my treasure. The sun shining in my
eyes woke me up; I found my seal was lying very quiet; I touched him to
see that he was not dead, and the cry that he gave assured me to the
contrary. I then walked back to where I had left the bodies of the
parents. I found on examination that they were both dead, and also that
their furs were very beautiful, and I resolved that I would have their
skins. But here was a difficulty. If I took off the skins, I could not
carry them with me, and I was anxious to get the young one home, lest
it should die of hunger, so I decided that I would first take home the
young one, give it food and warm it, and then return and skin the old
ones.
I therefore made my breakfast, and leaving the remainder of my
provision in a cleft in the rock, that I might not have the trouble of
bringing it again, I set off on my return, and used such diligence that
I was back at the cabin by noon. I found my birds all well, and
apparently quite satisfied with the provision that I had left them, for
they were most of them asleep, and those that were awake did not notice
my arrival.
"Ah," thought I, "you only like me for what I give you; next time I go
away I will leave you hungry, and then when you see me come back, you
will all flutter your wings with gladness."
I was puzzled where to put my seal so as to keep him safe: at last I
decided upon opening the seaman's chest and putting him in that. I did
so, and gave him a piece of fish which the birds had not eaten. The
little creature devoured it eagerly, and I took my lines and went down
to catch some fish for a further supply. In half an hour I returned
with two large fish, and I then took the seal out of the chest and fed
him again. He ate very heartily; and I was glad to perceive that he
appeared much tamer already. I threw some of the insides of the fish to
the birds, who were now become of very inferior interest to me. Having
fed my animals, I then thought of myself, and, as I took my meal, I
arranged that the next morning I would go over to the other side of the
island, skin the two seals, and spread out the skins on the rocks to
dry, and would leave them there till I had a better opportunity of
bringing them to the cabin; at present I could not be away from my new
acquaintance, which I wished to make tame and fond of me. Having fed
him again in the morning, I put down the lid of the chest, and then
started for the lee side of the island.