of the proper length, he made the upright bamboo fast to the horizontal
peg by a knowing knot, such as only a savage or sailor can tie.
Captain Redwood and his ship-carpenter having now obtained an inkling of
his design, stood by to render every assistance, while the young people
as spectators were very much interested in the proceeding.
As soon as the upright cane was securely lashed to the cross piece, and
also made safe against shifting by having its lower end "stepped" or
embedded in the ground, Saloo prepared to ascend, taking with him
several of the pegs that had been sharpened. Murtagh "gave him a leg,"
and he stood upon the first "round" of the ladder.
Then reaching up, he drove in a second peg--not quite so far above the
first as this was from the ground. With another piece of creeper he
made it also fast to the perpendicular pole, and the second round was
formed, upon which he had to climb without any helping hand, and with
the agility of an ape.
A third step was similarly established; then a fourth and fifth, and so
on, till the pegs and cordage carried up with him gave out, when he came
back to the ground to provide himself with a second supply. Obtaining
this, he once more ascended, and continued to carry aloft his singular
"shrouds."
The next thing to be exhausted was the upright piece, which, being only
about thirty feet in length, and requiring a surplus to be left, of
course came far short of reaching to the lowest limbs of the durion.
Another similar stem of bamboo had to be added on by splicing; but for
this he did not need to descend, as Murtagh, stretching to his arm's
length, handed it up to him, so that he was enabled to lay hold of and
draw it up of himself.
Giving the two pieces a good length of double for the splice, he bound
them securely together, and then went on with the driving of his pegs,
to complete the remaining rounds of the ladder.
In a space of time that did not in all exceed twenty minutes, he had got
up to within ten or twelve feet of the lower branches of the durion--to
such a height as caused those looking at him from below to feel giddy as
they gazed. It was, indeed, a strange and somewhat fearful spectacle--
that slight human form, sixty or seventy feet above their heads, at such
a vast elevation so diminished in size as to appear like a child or a
pigmy, and the more fearful to them who could not convince themselves of
the security of the slender stair upon which he was standing. They were
half expecting that, at any moment, one of the pegs would give way, and
precipitate the poor fellow to the earth, a crushed and shapeless mass!
It was just as when some courageous workman in a manufacturing town--
bricklayer or carpenter--ascends to the top of one of its tall factory
chimneys, to repair some damage done by fire-crack or lightning, and the
whole populace of the place rushes out of doors, to look up at the
strange spectacle, and admire the daring individual, while trembling in
fear for his fate.
So stood the little party under the tall durion-tree, regarding the
ascent of Saloo.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
SOMETHING SHARP.
The Malay had ascended, as already said, to within ten or twelve feet
from the lower limbs of the tree, and was still engaged driving in his
pegs and binding on the upright bamboo to continue his ascent, when all
at once he was seen to start and abruptly suspend operations. At the
same time an exclamation escaped his lips, in a low tone, but seemingly
in accents of alarm.
They all looked up apprehensively, and also started away from the tree;
for they expected to see him come tumbling down in their midst. But no;
he was still standing firm upon the last made round of the ladder, and
in an erect attitude, as if he had no fear of falling. With one hand he
held the axe, the other gently grasping the upright bamboo that served
him for a support. Instead of looking down to them, to call out or
claim their assistance, they saw that his eyes were turned upward and
fixed, as if on some object directly over his head. It did not appear
to be among the branches of the durion, but as if in the trunk of the
tree; and in the interval of silence that succeeded his first quick
exclamation, they could hear a hissing sound, such as might proceed from
the throat of a goose when some stranger intrudes upon the domain of the
farmyard. As it was carried down the smooth stem of the durion, which
acted as a conductor, the spectators underneath guessed it was not a
goose, but some creature of a less innocent kind.
"A snake, be japers!" was the conjecture that dropped from the
ship-carpenter's lips, while the same thought occurred simultaneously to
the others; for they could think of no living thing, other than a
serpent, capable of sending forth such a sibilant sound as that just
heard.
"What is it, Saloo?" hailed Captain Redwood; "are you in any danger?"
"No dangee, cappen; only little bit good luck, that all," was the
cheering response that restored their confidence.
"How good luck?" asked the captain, puzzled to think of what fortune
could have turned up in their favour so high above their heads.
"You see soon," rejoined the Malay, taking a fresh peg from his girdle,
and once more resuming his task at stair-making.
While he was engaged in hammering, and between the resounding strokes,
they at the bottom of the tree repeatedly heard the same hissing sound
they had taken for the sibilations of a snake, and which they might
still have believed to be this, but for a hoarse croaking voice,
mingling with the sibilation, which reached their ears at intervals,
evidently proceeding from the same throat.
Moreover, as they continued to gaze upward, watching Saloo at his work,
they caught sight of something in motion on the trunk, and about a foot
above his face. It was something of a whitish colour and slender shape,
pointed like one of the bamboo pegs he was busily driving at. Now they
saw it, and now they did not see it; for whatever it was, it was sunk
inside the trunk of the durion-tree, alternately protruding and drawing
back. It was also clear to them, that from this sharp-pointed thing,
whether beast, bird, or reptile, came the hissing and hoarse croaking
that puzzled them.
"What is it?" again asked the captain, now no longer anxious or alarmed,
but only curious to know what the strange creature could be.
"Buld, cappen--biggee buld."
"Oh, a bird, that's all; what sort of bird?"
"Honbill; ole hen hornbill. She on ha ness inside, hatchee egg; she
built up in dat; ole cock he shuttee up with mud."
"Oh, a hornbill!" said the captain, repeating the name of the bird for
the information of those around him; and now that they more narrowly
scrutinised the spot where the white-pointed beak was still bobbing out
and in, they could perceive that there was a patch or space of irregular
roundish shape, slightly elevated above the bark, having a plastered
appearance, and of the colour of dry mud. They had barely time to make
this last observation, when Saloo, having got another peg planted so as
to enable him to ascend high enough, turned the edge of his axe against
the trunk of the durion, and commenced chipping off the mud, that now
fell in flakes to the bottom of the tree.
It took him only a very short time to effect a breach into the
barricaded nest--one big enough to admit his hand with the fingers at
fall spread.
His arm was at once thrust in up to the elbow; and as his digits closed
fearlessly around the throat of the old hen hornbill, she was drawn
forth from her place of imprisonment.
For a time she was seen in Saloo's hands, convulsively writhing and
flopping her great wings, like a turkey gobbler with his head suddenly
cut off. There was some screaming, hissing, and croaking, but to all
these sounds Saloo quickly put an end, by taking a fresh grasp of the
throat of the great bird, choking the breath out of it until the wings
ceased fluttering; and then he flung its body down at the feet of the
spectators.
Saloo did not descend immediately, but once more thrust his hand into
the nest, hoping, no doubt, to find an egg or eggs in it. Instead of
these, the contents proved to be a bird--and only one--a chick recently
hatched, about the size of a squab-pigeon, and fat as a fed ortolan.
Unlike the progeny of the megapodes, hatched in the hot sand, the infant
hornbill was without the semblance of a feather upon its skin, which was
all over of a green, yellowish hue. There was not even so much as a
show of down upon it.
For a moment Saloo held it in his hand, hissing as it was in his own
tiny way. Then chucking it down after its murdered mother, where it
fell not only killed, but "squashed," he prepared to descend in a less
hasty manner. He now saw no particular need for their dining on
durions, at least on that particular day; and therefore discontinued his
task upon the bamboo ladder, which could be completed on the morrow, or
whenever the occasion called for it.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
AN ENEMY IN THE AIR.
Though the old hen hornbill, after her long and seemingly forced period
of incubation, might not prove such a tender morsel, they were
nevertheless rejoiced at this accession to their now exhausted larder,
and the pilot at once set about plucking her, while Murtagh kindled a
fresh fire.
While they were thus engaged, Henry, who had greatly admired the
ingenuity displayed by Saloo in the construction of his singular ladder,
bethought him of ascending it. He was led to this exploit partly out of
curiosity to try what such a climb would be like; but more from a desire
to examine the odd nest so discovered--for to him, as to most boys of
his age, a bird's nest was a peculiarly attractive object. He thought
that Saloo had not sufficiently examined the one first plundered, and
that there might be another bird or an egg behind. He was not
naturalist enough to know--what the ex-pilot's old Sumatran experience
had long ago taught him--that the hornbill only lays one egg, and brings
forth but a single chick. Whether or no, he was determined to ascend
and satisfy himself.
He had no fear of being able to climb the tree-ladder. It did not seem
any more difficult than swarming up the shrouds of a ship, and not half
so hard as going round the main-top without crawling through the
"lubber's hole"--a feat he had often performed on his father's vessel.
Therefore, without asking leave, or saying a word to any one, he laid
hold of the bamboo pegs and started up the tree.
None of the others had taken any notice of him. Captain Redwood was
engaged in wiping out his gun, with little Helen attending upon him,
while Saloo was playing poulterer, and Murtagh, a little way off in the
woods, gathering faggots for the fire. Henry kept on, hand over hand,
and foot after foot, till he at length stood upon the topmost round of
the unfinished ladder. Being almost as tall as Saloo himself, he easily
got his arm into the cavity that contained the nest, and commenced
groping all over it. He could find no other bird, nor yet an egg. Only
the dried-up ordure of the denizens that had lately occupied the prison
cell, along with some bits of the shell out of which the young hornbill
had been but recently hatched.
After a moment or two spent in examining the curious cavity, and
reflecting on the odd habit of a bird being thus plastered up and kept
for weeks in close confinement--all, too, done by its own mate, who
surely could not so act from any intention of cruelty--after in vain
puzzling himself as to what could be the object of such a singular
imprisonment, he determined upon returning to the ground, and seeking
the explanation from Saloo.
He had returned upon the topmost step, and was about letting himself
down to that next below, when not only were his ears assailed by sharp
cries, but he suddenly saw his eyes in danger of being dug out of their
sockets by the sharp beak of a bird, whose huge shadowy wings were
flapping before his face!
Although somewhat surprised by the onslaught, so sudden and unexpected--
and at the same time no little alarmed--there was no mystery about the
matter. For he could see at a glance that the bird so assailing him was
a hornbill; and a moment's reflection told him it was the cock.
Afar off in the forest--no doubt in search of food--catering for his
housekeeper and their new chick, of whose birth he was most probably
aware, he could not have heard her cries of distress; else would he have
rushed to the rescue, and appeared much sooner upon the scene. But at
length he had arrived; and with one glance gathered in the ruin that had
occurred during his absence. There was his carefully plastered wall
pulled down, the interior of his domicile laid open, his darlings gone,
no doubt dragged out, throttled and slaughtered, by the young robber
still standing but a step from the door.
The enraged parent did not pause to look downward, else he might have
seen a still more heart-rending spectacle at the bottom of the tree. He
did not stay for this; on the instant he went swoop at the head of the
destroyer, with a scream that rang far over the forest, and echoed in a
thousand reverberations through the branches of the trees.
Fortunately for Henry, he had on his head a thick cloth cap, with its
crown cotton-padded. But for this, which served as a helmet, the beak
of the bird would have been into his skull, for at the first dab it
struck right at his crown.
At the second onslaught, which followed quick after, Henry, being
warned, was enabled to ward off the blow, parrying with one hand, while
with the other supporting himself on his perch. For all this the danger
was not at an end; as the bird, instead of being scared away, or showing
any signs of an intention to retreat, only seemed to become more
infuriated by the resistance, and continued its swooping and screaming
more vigorously and determinedly than ever. The boy was well aware of
the peril that impended; and so, too, were those below; who, of course,
at the first screech of the hornbill, had looked up and seen what was
passing above them.
They would have called upon him to come down, and he would have done so
without being summoned, if there had been a chance. But there was none:
for he could not descend a single step without using both hands on the
ladder; and to do this would leave his face and head without protection.
Either left unguarded for a single instant, and the beak of the bird,
playing about like a pickaxe, would be struck into his skull, or buried
deep in the sockets of his eyes. He knew this, and so also they who
looked from below. He could do nothing but keep his place, and continue
to fight off the furious assailant with his free arm--the hand getting
torn at each contact, till the blood could be seen trickling from the
tips of his fingers.
It is difficult to say how long this curious contest might have
continued, or how it would have terminated, had the combatants been left
to themselves. In all probability it would have ended by the boy's
having his skull cleft open or his eyes torn out; or, growing feeble, he
would have lost his hold upon the ladder and fallen to the foot of the
tree--of itself certain death.
It in reality looked as if this would be the lamentable result, and very
quickly. Saloo had sprung to the tree, and was already ascending to the
rescue. But for all that he might be too late; or even if successful in
reaching the elevated point where Henry struggled against danger, he
might still be unable to effect his deliverance. The alarmed father
seemed to fear this, as he stood gazing, with agony depicted on his
face--agony at the thought of seeing his dear boy exposed to such a
fearful peril, and feeling himself so helpless to rescue him.
All at once a thought flashed into his mind, that at least gave him some
relief through the necessity of action. His rifle, which fortunately
after cleaning he had reloaded, stood resting against the trunk of the
tree. He sprang toward and seized hold of it. In another second it was
raised to his shoulder; its muzzle pointed almost vertically upward, and
circling around to get bearing upon the body of the bird.
It was a dangerous shot to take, like that of Tell with the arrow and
the apple. But it seemed yet more dangerous not to venture it; and with
this reflection passing through his mind he watched the hornbill through
several of its swoopings, and when at length in one of these it receded
to some distance from Henry's face, he took quick sight upon it, and
pulled trigger.
A splendid shot--a broken wing--a huge bird seen fluttering through the
air to the earth--then flopping and screaming over the ground, till its
cries were stilled and its strugglings terminated by a few blows from a
boat-hook held in the hands of the ship-carpenter;--all this was the
spectacle of only a few seconds!
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
SITTING BY THE SPIT.
Saloo had by this time climbed to the topmost rounds of the ladder; and
was able to assist Henry in descending, which he did without further
difficulty or danger.
No great harm had happened to him; he had received only a few scratches
and skin-wounds, that would soon yield to careful treatment and the
surgical skill which his father possessed, along with certain herbal
remedies known to Saloo.
They were soon restored to their former state of equanimity, and thought
nothing more of the little incident that had just flurried them, except
to congratulate themselves on having so unexpectedly added to their
stock of provisions the bodies of two great birds, each of respectable
size; to say nothing of the fat featherless chick, which appeared as if
it would make a very _bonne bouche_ for a gourmand.
As we have said, Saloo did not think any more of ascending the
durion-tree, nor they of asking him to do so. Its fruits might have
served them for dessert, to come after the game upon which they were now
going to dine.
But they were not in condition to care for following the usual fashion
of dining, and least of all did they desire a dinner of different
courses, so long as they had one sufficiently substantial to satisfy the
simple demands of hunger. The two hornbills promised, each of them, a
fair _piece-de-resistance_, while the fat pult was plainly a titbit, to
be taken either _hors d'oeuvres_, or as an _entree_.
They were not slow in deciding what should be done with the stock so
unexpectedly added to their larder. In a trice the cock bird was
despoiled of his plumage; the hen having been well-nigh dismantled of
hers already. The former was trussed and made ready for the spit, the
latter being intended for the pot, on the supposition that boiling might
be better for her toughness. Murtagh had taken to finishing the
plucking of the hen, while Saloo set about divesting the old cock of his
feathers.
The chick needed no plucking, nor even to be singed. Its skin was as
free of covering as the shell of the egg lately containing it. It was
tender enough to be cooked in any way. It could be boiled over the
embers, and would make a nice meal for the two young people, and
doubtless greatly benefit their strength.
When the bodies of the old birds were unmasked of their feathery
envelopment, it was seen that they were much smaller than supposed; and,
moreover, that the hen was by many degrees larger in size and fatter
than the cock. It was but natural, and was due to her sex, as well as
to her long confinement in a dark cell of but limited dimensions, where
she had nothing to do but to rest.
But as the cock bird, after all, was quite as large as a Cochin-China
fowl, and, moreover, in good condition, there would be enough of him to
supply a full repast, without touching either the hen or chick. So it
was determined that both should be reserved till the following morning,
when no doubt all hands would be again hungry enough for the toughest of
fowls.
This point settled, the old cock was staked upon a bamboo spit, and set
over the fire, where he soon began to sputter, sending out a savoury
odour that was charmingly appetising.
The hen was at the same time chopped into small pieces, which were
thrown into one of the great shells, along with some seasoning herbs
Saloo had discovered in the neighbouring woods; and as they could now
give the stew plenty of time to simmer, it was expected that before next
day the toughness would be taken out of the meat, and after all it might
prove a palatable dish to people distressed as they had been, and not
caring much for mere dainties.
As they had nothing else to do but watch the spit, now and then turn it,
and wait till the roast should be done, they fell into conversation,
which naturally turned upon hornbills and their habits, Saloo furnishing
most of the information concerning these curious birds.
Captain Redwood had not only seen them before, in the course of his
voyages among the Malayan Archipelago, but he had read about their
habits, and knew that they were found in various parts of the African
continent.
They are there called _Korwe (Tockus erythrorhynchus_), and Dr
Livingstone gives an interesting account of them.
He says,--"We passed the nest of a korwe, just ready for the female to
enter; the orifice was plastered on both sides, but a space left of a
heart shape, and exactly the size of the bird's body. The hole in the
tree was in every case found to be prolonged some distance above the
opening, and thither the korwe always fled to escape being caught."
The first time that Dr Livingstone himself saw the bird, it was caught
by a native, who informed him that when the female hornbill enters her
nest, she submits to a positive confinement. The male plasters up the
entrance, leaving only a narrow slit by which to feed his mate, and
which exactly suits the form of his beak. The female makes a nest of
her own feathers, lays her eggs, hatches them, and remains with the
young till they are fully fledged. During all this time, which is
stated to be two or three months, the male continues to feed her and her
young family.
Strange to say, the prisoner generally becomes fat, and is esteemed a
very dainty morsel by the natives, while the poor slave of a husband
gets so lean that, on the sudden lowering of the temperature, which
sometimes happens after a fall of rain, he is benumbed, falls down, and
dies.
It is somewhat unusual, as Captain Redwood remarked, for the prisoner to
fatten, while the keeper pines!
The toucan of South America also forms her nest in the cavity of a tree,
and, like the hornbill, plasters up the aperture with mud.
The hornbill's beak, added Captain Redwood, is slightly curved,
sharp-pointed, and about two inches long.
While the body of the rooster was sputtering away in the bright blaze,
Saloo entertained the party by telling them what _he_ knew about the
habits of the hornbills; and this was a good deal, for he had often
caught them in the forests of Sumatra. It may be remarked here, that
many of the natives of the Malayan Archipelago possess a considerable
knowledge of natural history, at least of its practical part. The
reason is, that the Dutch, who own numerous settlements throughout these
islands, have always been great taxidermists and skin-preservers, and to
procure specimens for them and obtain the reward, has naturally
originated a race of collectors among the native people. Saloo himself
had been one of these bird-hunters, in early life, before taking to the
sea, which last, as a general thing, is the favourite element and
profession of a Malay.