Regret at having undertaken the voyage in boats.--Storm, and damage
in consequence of it.--Loss of the canoe and the provisions on
board.--Danger of perishing from famine.--On the fifteenth day,
when nearly exhausted with fatigue and hunger, they discover a
small island.--Approach of eighteen canoes filled with natives, who
make prisoners of them all.--Cruelty of the natives; and return
with their prisoners to the island.--Reception there.--The
prisoners distributed among the captors.
We had not proceeded far before we had reasons for regretting, that we
had entered upon the perilous undertaking of navigating the waters of
that region in boats so poorly adapted to the purposes we had in view.
There came on a violent storm of rain, the wind blowing hard, and the
waves threatening to swallow us each moment of the night. To our dismay,
the rudder of the canoe, owing to the imperfect manner in which it had
been constructed, was unshipped, and for a time the destruction of those
on board seemed inevitable. Fortunately we continued to keep company.
By great exertion we made out to replace the rudder in the morning, and
then proceeded. In the course of the day the rudder was again unshipped;
but, with less difficulty than before, we succeeded in fastening it to
its place with ropes, so that it answered tolerably well as a substitute
for a better one. Happy would it have been for us, if this had been the
worst of the disasters of our voyage. Our mast next went by the board;
and during the whole of the next night, we lay drifting at the mercy of
the winds and waves. In the mean time the canoe sprung a leak, and we
found it impossible to bail out the water as fast as it came in. In this
extremity we lost no time in shifting all our lading into one end of the
canoe; and by tearing up our old clothes, and stuffing them into the
crack, we at length stopped the leak. In this sad plight we continued
on, meeting with no very serious accident till the fifth day from the
time of leaving the island; when, just at the setting of the sun, owing
to some mismanagement, a light puff of wind capsized the canoe!
Fortunately no one was drowned. All but three swam to our boat; those
who remained continued through the night to cling to the canoe. With
great difficulty we kept our boat from being stove in pieces by coming
in contact with the canoe. During all this time it rained very hard, and
never had we experienced a more dismal night. In the morning we tried to
get the canoe right side up; but finding that impossible, we concluded
to abandon it entirely. We took from it a few cocoa-nuts, and, as our
last resort, all took refuge in the boat. We saved the compass, and did
not so much regret the loss of the canoe, as it had cost us already an
incalculable amount of anxiety, toil, and suffering.
But new difficulties now stared us in the face. Most of our provisions
had been lost by the upsetting of the canoe, and we had but a very small
quantity of water. It was therefore deemed expedient to divide among us
the means of subsistence remaining. We had four cocoa-nuts for each
person, and a few pieces over, which were distributed equally. At this
time no objects were seen, except a few sea birds. We continued in this
condition for nine days and nights, with actual starvation before us, as
the most probable end of our anxieties and sufferings. We were about
settling down into a state of confirmed despair, when, to our
inexpressible joy, we discovered land apparently about ten miles off. We
exerted all our remaining strength to reach it. When within six miles we
saw, approaching us, a fleet of eighteen canoes, filled with the natives
of the small island we were approaching.
At first the small canoes came near us, for the purpose of ascertaining
who and what we were. The appearance of these natives was such as to
excite at once our astonishment and disgust. Like the inhabitants of the
island we had left, they were entirely naked; and, as our subsequent
experience proved, they were infinitely more barbarous and cruel. Very
soon the large canoes came up, when the wretches commenced their
outrages. They attacked us with brutal ferocity, knocking us overboard
with their clubs, in the mean time making the most frightful grimaces,
and yelling like so many incarnate devils. They fell upon our boat and
immediately destroyed it, breaking it into splinters, and taking the
fragments into their canoes. While this was going on we were swimming
from one canoe to another, entreating them by signs to spare our lives
and permit us to get into their canoes. This they for a long time
refused, beating us most unmercifully, whenever we caught hold of any
thing to save ourselves from sinking.
After they had demolished our boat, and kept us in that condition for
some time, they allowed us to get on board. They then compelled us to
row towards the land. They stripped us of all our clothing immediately
after we were taken in; and the reader may form some idea of our
distress in this condition, under a burning sun, from the fact, that
before night our shoulders were blistered, by being thus exposed to the
heat.
On approaching land we discovered no habitation; but after going round a
point of the island, we saw near the beach a row of small and badly
constructed huts. We were compelled to jump from the canoes into the
water and wade to the shore. By this time the beach was lined with women
and children, who caused the air to resound with the most horrid yells
and screams. Their gestures and violent contortions of countenance
resembled the frantic ravings of Bedlamites.
The reception we met with on land was no more agreeable than that upon
the water. Judging from the treatment we had received from the females
of the island which we had left, it was hoped that the gentler sex would
extend to us some proof of their commiseration; but in this we were
sadly disappointed. If possible, they were more cruel than their inhuman
lords and masters. We were soon separated from each other, and dragged
about from place to place; our brutal captors, in the mean time,
contending with each other to see who should have us as his property.
Frequent contests of this kind occurred; in one of which, during the
first day, I was knocked down. The question of ownership was at length
settled, and we were retained by those into whose hands we had at first
fallen. Some of us were taken to their house of worship, called by them
Verre-Yarris--literally, God's house, where they went through with some
of their religious ceremonies, and we received a few mouthfuls of food,
which was the first we had tasted through the day.
It was my good fortune to be retained by one who, compared with the
other natives, was humane. His name was _Pahrahbooah_; the female head
of the family was called Nahkit; and they had four children. I went by
the name of _Tee'mit_; and Benjamin Nute by the name of _Rollo_. The
captain was also fortunate in falling into the hands of a friend of my
master, who treated him with comparative kindness. He was valued the
more highly also on account of being a large, fleshy man--they judging
of these things by the size and appearance.