The situation of the survivors of the ship's company upon the reef
during the night.--A canoe filled with savage natives approaches
the reef; intercourse with them; and description of their persons
and terrific appearance.--Their pilfering of the articles saved,
and plundering of the ship.--Several canoes arrive.--Mr. Nute's
resolute conduct towards the natives.--The ship's company pursue
their course, in their boat, towards an island, on which they land
after severe suffering.
Happily, by the goodness of the allwise Disposer of events, the
unfortunate can avail themselves of a thousand sources of comfort,
which, by those in prosperous circumstances, are either overlooked or
neglected. We were upon a barren rock, in the midst of a waste of
waters, far from kindred and friends, and the abodes of civilized man;
the ship which had been our home, and on board of which we had embarked
with high hopes, lay within sight, a useless wreck; still we were
enabled to enjoy a moment of relief, if not of actual pleasure, derived
from an event, which, though trifling in itself, is worthy of being
recorded.
We succeeded in taking an eel, a few crabs, and a small quantity of
snails. Having our fire-works with us, we collected a sufficient number
of sticks, with a few pieces of drift-wood which had lodged upon the
rock, to make a fire; with this we cooked our fish and snails; and, with
a small allowance of bread, we made what we then thought a sumptuous
repast! After we had finished our meal, we began to prepare for the
night. We erected a tent with some of our clothes and pieces of canvas,
at a little distance from the boat; and, when night came on, a part of
our number kept watch, and the rest soon lost all consciousness of their
misfortunes in sleep. About midnight those who had watched took their
turn at resting; and in the morning we found ourselves considerably
refreshed; though an increased activity of our minds served only to
bring home a more vivid picture of the horrors of the previous night,
and of our present condition.
Providence, it would seem, had ordained that we should not long remain
undetermined as to the course to be adopted; for before sunrise we
discovered a canoe within a short distance of us, containing twenty-two
of the inhabitants of the neighboring island. They approached to within
pistol-shot of where we stood, and there lay on their oars for some
time, looking at us, and manifesting no small degree of fear. Thinking
it best to be on friendly terms with them, we attached a shirt to one of
our oars, and hoisted it as a token of a wish, on our part, to regard
and treat them as friends. This had the desired effect; and they
immediately rowed up to the rock. Manifesting great pleasure, they left
their canoe and rushed towards the place where the principal part of our
boat's crew were standing, bringing with them cocoa-nuts, and a small
quantity of bread made of the cocoa-nut boiled in a liquor extracted
from the trunk of the tree. At that time, I was standing near the tent,
at a little distance from my companions, and was an anxious spectator of
the scene. Their appearance excited my astonishment, and I was filled
with horror by the sight of beings apparently human, and yet almost
destitute of the ordinary marks of humanity. They were entirely naked.
Each one was armed with a spear and tomahawk; some had battle-axes. They
were fantastically tattooed on different parts of their bodies. Their
hair, naturally coarse and black, like that of the Indians of America,
was very long, and hung loosely over their shoulders, giving them a
singular and frightful appearance. Their teeth were entirely black;
rendered so, as we afterwards found, by chewing what they call
"_abooak_."[1] The reader can judge of our feelings on finding ourselves
in the hands of beings of this description. Our confidence in the
honesty of our visiters did not improve on further acquaintance.
No sooner had they landed, than they commenced their depredations upon
the few articles, which at that time constituted all our earthly riches.
The nautical instruments, the musket, and a part of our clothing, they
immediately appropriated to their own benefit. Fortunately a part of our
clothing, the powder, and the cutlasses we had succeeded in concealing
in a crevice of the rock. Taking with them their booty, they
precipitately got into their canoe, and, beckoning to us, evidently with
a view of inducing us to follow them, they steered directly for the
wreck. Their first appearance, and this strong manifestation of their
thievish disposition, so far from inclining us to cultivate their
acquaintance any further, had given us an irresistible inclination to
avoid them. Our minds were not long in coming to the conclusion, that an
open sea, with Heaven to protect us, would be far preferable to a chance
among beings like those. Accordingly, with the least possible delay, we
launched our boat, and putting into it such things of value as we had
saved, once more, surrounded by new difficulties and dangers, committed
ourselves to the mercy of the waves.
The island before mentioned being now distinctly visible, we steered in
a direction towards it; though we found it necessary to go a somewhat
circuitous course, in order to avoid the reef. By the time we had
succeeded in getting into deep water, the natives had been to the ship,
and were returning with the five muskets which we had left on board.
They soon passed us with great rapidity, and evidently with the
intention of escaping with their booty unharmed. The cause of their
precipitancy will soon be explained.
Just at this time there came in sight a number of canoes, perhaps
thirty, filled with natives, who seemed no less intent upon plunder than
those with whom we had already formed a disagreeable acquaintance. Their
language was to us entirely unintelligible, but we could gather from
their somewhat significant gestures, that they most of all desired to
possess themselves of fire-arms. They beckoned to us to go with them,
and seemed quite anxious to avail themselves of our assistance; but we
were not less so to escape; and with the hope of being able to do so,
we continued to row towards the island. Some of them remained near us,
while the rest made for the ship. At length, all, except those in one
canoe, left us, and joined their companions. These seemed particularly
fond of our company, partly on account, as we afterwards learned, of
their suspecting that we had something of value concealed about us, and
partly for the purpose of making us their prisoners, and in that way
gaining some advantage over the others. After a while they offered, with
an appearance of friendship, to render us some assistance by towing our
boat; and after some deliberation we concluded to throw them a line.
This greatly facilitated our progress, as their canoe, being made very
light, skimmed over the water with incredible swiftness. No sooner was
this arrangement completed than a chief, and one other of the natives,
left their canoe and took their station with us; the chief with a
somewhat offensive familiarity seating himself in the stern of the boat,
near the captain. We were not long in doubt concerning the motive which
had led them to this act of condescension. Our bread was contained in a
small chest, which had been placed in the bottom of the boat; this
seemed to have excited their curiosity to the highest pitch, as they
kept their eyes almost constantly upon it, and endeavored to persuade
the captain to give them a chance to examine its contents. He declined
gratifying them, thinking it better to keep their anxiety alive, rather
than to expose to them the comparative worthlessness of the little that
remained with us, of either the comforts or necessaries of life.
Probably owing to this show of resistance on our part, when we had
approached to within five or six miles of the island, at a signal given
by the chief, the sail of their canoe was suddenly dropped; and, seizing
our powder canister, he jumped overboard and swam to the canoe. His
companion, following the example of the thievish chief, seized a bundle
of clothing and was making off with it; whereupon Mr. Nute, who had not
yet become entirely reconciled to the fashion of going without clothes,
like our new acquaintances, and conceiving that it might be well to
insist upon having the rights of property respected, caught hold of the
bundle and retained it. Upon this they immediately hauled us alongside,
and seized upon our oars; here again we had occasion to offer some
resistance to their supposed right to plunder us, and we succeeded in
keeping possession of these; the only remaining means of saving
ourselves from premature death and a watery grave.
They had by this time become so exasperated, that we considered it
altogether desirable to get ourselves out of the reach of their war
clubs, spears, and battle-axes; and we took measures accordingly. We
were still held fast to their canoe, and so completely within their
reach that it required not a little courage to make any attempt to leave
them; but Mr. Nute, whose resolution had been wrought up by the previous
contest, took a knife and deliberately cut the line. Our intention was
to throw ourselves astern, and then, by tacking directly about, and
steering in the wind's eye, to escape from them, or at least to give
them, for a time, some better employment than that of robbing their poor
and suffering victims. This we succeeded in accomplishing; not however
without the expense of much toil, and some blows, which they dealt out
at parting, with so much severity, that we shall not soon lose the
recollection of their barbarous conduct towards us. Mr. Nute, by his
intrepidity, seemed to have rendered himself an object of their
particular dislike; they beat him unmercifully, for his resolution in
retaining the bundle of clothes, and sundering the only cord that bound
us to our tormentors.
Having but three oars, our progress was by no means as rapid as we could
have desired; but perceiving that in going against the wind we had the
advantage of our pursuers, and knowing that our only safety was in
flight, we exerted our utmost strength, and soon had the satisfaction of
leaving them at a safe distance from us. They seemed determined not to
part with us, and continued to pursue us till about four o'clock, P. M.
It was with the greatest difficulty that we kept clear of them; at times
it seemed impossible; and in this situation we could fully realize the
force of the scriptural sentiment, "all that a man hath he will give for
his life." Finding them too near us, and evidently intent upon taking
vengeance for the crime we had committed in attempting to escape, though
our wardrobe had been reduced to a few necessary articles of clothing,
we resorted to the expedient of parting even with these, by casting one
thing at a time upon the water, rightly judging that they might be
detained in picking them up, and hoping by this management to keep our
distance from them.
After they left us, we continued our course, which was directly into the
open sea, until about sunset, when we discovered land ahead, apparently
at the distance of forty miles. We continued to row on till about three
o'clock in the morning, when we found that we were in shoal water, and
near breakers. We contrived to throw the bight of a rope over a point
of rock which was about eight feet under water, and we there remained
until daylight. We then let go our hold, and pulled for land. At about
four o'clock in the afternoon we succeeded in landing on a small island
distant from the main land about half a mile, and drew our boat upon the
beach. By this time our strength had become much exhausted, and we were
suffering beyond description from the want of water. Our first efforts
were made to find some means for quenching our thirst; and, to our
inexpressible joy, we soon found a spring, which, in that extremity of
our sufferings, was of more value than a mine of gold. Poor Sedon was
left lying in the boat in a state of complete prostration. We carried
him some water, and he soon revived.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] In Keate's Account of the Pelew Islands this word is written
_pook_.--_Edit._