I BECOME CHIEF COOK
I now resolved to introduce the cooking of food upon the island. From
the fish and clams which the natives offered me in their raw state I
turned in disgust, but I reflected that, cooked, they would make
excellent eating. I was tired of fruit, and craved a more substantial
diet. How long I might be compelled to remain upon this island I knew
not. Perhaps I was destined to spend the rest of my life upon it. Why,
then, should I be deprived of the luxury of cooking my food, when, with
my flint and steel, I possessed the means of making a fire?
When I spoke of my intention to Melannie she failed to grasp my
meaning. She had no notion of fire except in connexion with the smoke
on the mountain, and when I told her I could make fire like that and
convert it to my use, she became incredulous.
"If you can make fire, Peter," she said, "you are greater than all the
gods upon the island. Whoever heard of making fire?"
In order to convince her, and to test the effect which my fire might
have upon these islanders, I invited her to accompany me to a remote
part of the island, seldom visited, where I had already constructed a
fire-place and collected a quantity of fuel, of which there was an
abundance lying round. She came with me fearlessly, for she trusted me
entirely, and her intelligence, which was superior to the islanders',
made her less superstitious than the savages over whom she nominally
reigned. When she saw the dried wood and leaves I had collected in my
fire-place she appeared to think I had become suddenly demented, as
sometimes happened to the people on the island, when they were thought
to be possessed by evil spirits.
When I took up my flint and steel, however, and began to strike sparks
on to the prepared tinder, she drew back alarmed, although her woman's
curiosity conquered her desire to run away. But when the sparks
lighted the dried leaves, causing the wood to crackle and burn, she
would have fled if I had not detained her.
"There is no magic in fire-making, Melannie," I said, trying to allay
her fears; "all white men make fires. It is as necessary to them as air
and water."
But it was hard to convince the queen of this. She looked at my fire,
which now burned brightly, with wonder and alarm. "Of a truth, Peter,"
she said, "thy magic is beyond me. I know now thou art indeed come from
the sun. No man born of men could work such marvel."
I had brought with me a fine fish, caught that morning from the rocks,
which I had sealed and cleaned with my dagger-knife, and I now toasted
it over the hot coals, after which I enjoyed the most satisfying meal I
had tasted since I had been cast upon the island. I induced Melannie to
eat some of the fish, which she found so much to her liking that her
fear of the fire changed to admiration for what it could do.
"When my people eat of this delicious food," she said, "they will
worship you."
I had no desire to be worshipped. All I asked was permission to eat my
grilled fish in peace. But Melannie was so delighted with her meal that
she made me promise to prepare a fish each day for our mutual
enjoyment. For some days we continued to dine by stealth. Fish were
plentiful, and we also found the bivalves I had noticed on my first
landing round the fresh water pools very palatable.
At length our daily absence from the village, always at the same hour,
excited suspicion, and spies were set upon us, who reported we were
making another smoke mountain, which led to a surprise visit from
Ackbau, who came upon us one day when our meal was preparing. I had
made some rude vessels of clay, hardened by fire, in which to boil the
shell-fish, and with these simmering in the pot, and a fine rock cod
grilling upon the hot coals, we were awaiting our dinner with
pleasurable anticipation, when Ackbau appeared.
He was too astonished at what he saw to find fault, and when, later, he
had eaten of grilled cod and boiled clams, seasoned with salt and
cut-up bananas, a recipe which Melannie, with her woman's instinct, had
invented for the preparation of this delicacy, he was so pleased with
his food that he forgot to be ill-tempered.
After this surprise visit from Ackbau our privacy was at an end. Next
day the whole council came to dinner. They brought with them a quantity
of fish and clams, which they wanted cooked, and it became necessary to
make fresh fires, and to instruct them in the art of cooking. This was
soon done, for the natives, when shown our simple methods, very quickly
began to understand what was required of them, and they became so
interested in the cookery that for the time being all other business on
the island was suspended. Soon the whole tribe took part in the
cooking, and fires burned all along the shore at which fish and clams
prepared as Melannie directed were converted into luscious banquets for
the astonished islanders. Nothing else was thought of but cooking and
eating, and the natives often gorged themselves to such an extent that
they were unable for hours to stir from the spot.
This soon gave rise to disagreements and led to quarrels, until at
length Ackbau, who in his own way was a born organizer, called the
council together and enacted laws for the regulation of the cookery.
By these laws cooks were appointed, of whom I was made chief, and it
became an offence, punishable by death, for any except those duly
qualified to indulge in cooking. Regulations were also made for the
distribution of food, and each day, at stated hours, the tribe
assembled round the fires, when they were served with their portions,
which they greedily devoured. There were no birds upon the island, or I
might have added game to our bill of fare, but turtles were plentiful,
and, when captured, were cooked under my directions in a manner which
convinced the savages that I was of divine origin. The method of
fire-making I kept to myself, rightly conceiving that so long as I
preserved this secret my life would be spared.
But notwithstanding the improvement in their mode of living which I had
brought to these people by the introduction of the use of fire amongst
them, I could see that Ackbau still regarded me with disfavour. His
cruel nature, moreover, began to suggest to him another use to which
fire might be applied. One of his slaves inadvertently picked up a
burning brand, which burnt his fingers, and the pain which it caused
suggested to Ackbau that fire might be employed in torture. He ruled by
fear, and the fear of fire had now become universal among the
islanders. Ackbau spoke to me privately with regard to the making of
this new element, and even offered to give me a seat on the council if
I would surrender to him my flint and steel, but I told him that to me
alone was committed the power of making fire, and that any other
attempting it would bring upon himself inevitable disaster. Ackbau's
ambition to become a fire-maker was checked for the moment, but I could
see it was not satisfied.