A TASK IS SET ME
On the day after I was made captive to the people on the Female Island
in the Engano group, I was given an opportunity to observe the customs
which prevail among these Amazons. They appeared to be a happy, healthy
people, nor could I fail to notice the absence of ill-temper and
discord, which may be observed in all communities in which men and
women live together, and where jealousy between the sexes is too often
the cause of lifelong feuds. Here the matrons seemed content to devote
themselves to the rearing of their offspring, who, in return, rendered
heart-whole affection to their mothers. I never witnessed such docility
and loving obedience as was displayed by the children of this island to
those who had the care of them, and while I remained at Engano I never
heard a child cry or saw a woman in tears.
As the girls reach maturity, which they do in these latitudes at the
age of about twelve years, they are instructed by their mothers how to
perform the necessary work, and become very skilful at throwing the
lance, harpoon, or any manner of dart, being bred to it from their
infancy. These girls, from this training, possess wonderful eyesight,
and will descry a sail at sea farther than any sailor could see it.
The dress adopted by the dwellers on the Female Island, though scanty
to civilized eyes, is nevertheless suited to their manner of life. It
consists of tapa cloth cut in a deep fringe depending from waist to
knee. Their hair, which is long, hangs down their backs. Those who,
like Sylvia, have red hair, are mostly freckled and rosy, which, so far
from detracting from their beauty, rather adds to their charms. The
dark-haired ones are burnt brown by the sun.
I was now taken by Sylvia to be presented to the wise-ones, at whose
instigation I had been brought to the island. These I found to be men,
if indeed they could be called such, but they were so wizened in
appearance as more to resemble monkeys. Their manner of life is so
austere as to make it a matter for marvel that body and soul could
cling together. They will not kill an animal for food, or for any other
purpose, not even a fly or a flea, or anything in fact that has life;
for they say they have all souls, and it would be a sin to kill them.
They eat no vegetables in a green state, only such as are dry, for they
believe that even green leaves have life. And they sleep on the bare
ground, naked, without anything to cover them, or to soften the
mountain rocks which form their bed. They fast every day, and drink
nothing but water. Yet, in spite of the rigour of their discipline,
they attain to extreme old age; not one of the wise men, so Sylvia
informed me, being less than one hundred years old, while some were
accredited with upwards of two centuries of life. By reason of their
abstinence, they are supposed to be gifted with mysterious occult
powers, notably second sight, by which they are able to locate
strangers at a great distance from their own country, and to foretell
their advent. Not long since they had foretold the coming to the island
of a Spanish fleet, when the whole Amazon population had taken refuge
in subterranean caves until the Spaniards had left, which they did
under the belief that the island was deserted. It was by means of this
second sight that the "Golden Seahorse" had been located, and that I
had been selected from among the crew to carry out a project which the
wise men had in view, and the particulars of which I was about to
learn.
The chief of the wise-ones, who acted as spokesman, now informed me of
the reason I had been brought to the island.
"You must know, Signor," said he, addressing me as though I was a
Spaniard; an appellation which I felt inclined to resent, "that we are
troubled by a demon we have found it impossible to slay. Many of our
girls have fallen victims to the monster, while the men from the Male
Island have repeatedly attacked it during the months of their residence
here, without being able to overcome it. In length the creature is
thirty feet, and of great bulk. It has two forelegs near the head,
armed with claws. The head is very big, and the eyes stand out from it
on knob-like excrescences. The mouth is big enough to swallow a man
whole, and is armed with pointed teeth. In short, the monster is so
fierce that all stand in fear at the sight of it. Now it is known that
the men of your race are brave, and possess weapons of which we have no
knowledge, so, when it was revealed to us that your ship was close by
on the other side of the Great Barren Island, we resolved to bring you
here; who seemed, in our eyes, to be a brave man, so that you may rid
us of the demon which threatens our peace, if not our very existence."
"Alas! oh, wise-one," I answered. "How much better to have brought the
ship also! On board of her, it is true, we possess weapons against
which even such a monster as you tell me of could not prevail. But
these weapons I have not with me. How then can I, single-handed, hope
to overcome so terrible a creature as you describe? Rather send me back
to my ship, when I promise to bring her here, so that a party of us,
well armed, may attack the demon, when no doubt we shall be able to
destroy it." But at this the wise-one shook his head.
"To bring the ship here," said he, "would be easy. But how do we know
we could be rid of her without injury to our people?"
"I would pass you my word as to that," I answered.
"So you say now," replied the wise-one. "But how shall we know that you
would keep your word?"
An angry retort sprang to my lips, but I restrained myself on receiving
a warning glance from Sylvia, which reminded me that I stood at the
mercy of these monkey men.
"Give me three days, then," I answered, "to devise some means for
destroying the monster. If I succeed, I demand to be sent back to my
ship. Without this promise I will do nothing for you, let the
consequences to me be what they may."
The wise-one seemed to ponder my words carefully.
"Be it so, then," he answered. "If in three days you rid us of this
demon I will see that you are restored to your friends. But if you
should fail, and survive, you must nevertheless be put to death. We
have no room on the Islands of Engano for strangers."