On the flank of the "Mountain" that frowned towards the Happy Valley,
and not far from the Jumbe Rock, a spring gushed forth. So copious was
it as to merit the name of fountain. In its descent down the slope it
was joined by others, and soon became a torrent--leaping from ledge to
ledge, and foaming as it followed its onward course.
About half-way between the summit and base of the mountain, a deep
longitudinal hollow lay in its track--into which the stream was
precipitated, in a clear, curving cascade.
This singular hollow resembled the crater of an extinct volcano--in the
circumstance that on all sides it was surrounded by a precipice facing
inward, and rising two hundred feet sheer from the level below. It was
not of circular shape, however--as craters generally are--but of the
form of a ship, the stream falling in over the poop, and afterwards
escaping through a narrow cleft at the bow.
Preserving the simile of a ship, it may be stated that the channel ran
directly fore and aft, bisecting the bottom of the valley, an area of
several acres, into two equal parts--but in consequence of an
obstruction at its exit, the stream formed a lagoon, or dam, flooding
the whole of the fore-deck, while the main and quarter-decks were
covered with a growth of indigenous timber-trees, of appearance
primeval.
The water, on leaving the lagoon, made its escape below, through a gorge
black and narrow, bounded on each side by the same beetling cliffs that
surrounded the valley. At the lower end of this gorge was a second
waterfall, where the stream again pitched over a precipice of several
hundred feet in height; and thence traversing the slope of the mountain,
ended in becoming a tributary of the Montego River.
The upper cascade precipitated itself upon a bed of grim black boulders;
through the midst of which the froth-crested water seethed swiftly
onward to the lagoon below.
Above these boulders hung continuously a cloud of white vapour, like
steam ascending out of some gigantic cauldron.
When the sun was upon that side of the mountain, an iris might be seen
shining amidst the fleece-like vapour. But rare was the eye that beheld
this beautiful phenomenon: for the Duppy's Hole--in negro parlance, the
appellation of the place--shared the reputation of the Jumbe Rock; and
few were the negroes who would have ventured to approach, even to the
edge of this cavernous abysm: fewer those who would have dared to
descend into it.
Indeed, something more than superstitious terror might have hindered the
execution of this last project: since a descent into the Duppy's Hole
appeared an impossibility. Down the beetling cliffs that encompassed
it, there was neither path nor pass--not a ledge on which the foot might
have rested with safety. Only at one point--and that where the
precipice rose over the lagoon--might a descent have been made: by means
of some stunted trees that, rooting in the clefts of the rock, formed a
straggling screen up the face of the cliff. At this point an agile
individual might possibly have scrambled down; but the dammed water--
dark and deep--would have hindered him from reaching the quarter-deck of
this ship-shaped ravine, unless by swimming; and this, the suck of the
current towards the gorge below would have rendered a most perilous
performance.
It was evident that some one had tempted this peril: for on scrutinising
the straggling trees upon the cliff, a sort of stairway could be
distinguished--the outstanding stems serving as steps, with the
parasitical creepers connecting them together.
Moreover, at certain times, a tiny string of smoke might have been seen
ascending out of the Duppy's Hole; which, after curling diffusely over
the tops of the tall trees, would dissolve itself, and become invisible.
Only one standing upon the cliff above, and parting the foliage that
screened it to its very brink, could have seen this smoke; and, if only
superficially observed, it might easily have been mistaken for a stray
waif of the fog that floated above the waterfall near which it rose.
Closely scrutinised, however, its blue colour and soft filmy haze
rendered it recognisable as the smoke of a wood fire, and one that must
have been made by human hands.
Any day might it have been seen, and three times a-day--at morning,
noon, and evening--as if the fire had been kindled for the purposes of
cooking the three regular meals of breakfast, dinner, and supper.
The diurnal appearance of this smoke proved the presence of a human
being within the Duppy's Hole. One, at least, disregarding the
superstitious terror attached to the place, had made it his home.
By exploring the valley, other evidences of human presence might have
been found. Under the branches of a large tree, standing by the edge of
the lagoon, and from which the silvery tillandsia fell in festoons to
the surface of the water, a small canoe of rude construction could be
seen, a foot or two of its stem protruding from the moss. A piece of
twisted withe, attaching it to the tree, told that it had not drifted
there by accident, but was moored by some one who meant to return to it.
From the edge of the lagoon to the upper end of the valley, the ground,
as already stated, was covered with a thick growth of forest timber--
where the eye of the botanical observer might distinguish, by their
forms and foliage, many of those magnificent indigenous trees for which
the _sylva_ of Jamaica has long been celebrated.
There stood the gigantic cedrela, and its kindred the bastard cedar,
with elm-like leaves; the mountain mahoe; the "tropic birch;" and the
world-known mahogany.
Here and there, the lance-like culms of bamboos might be seen shooting
up over the tops of the dicotyledons, or forming a fringe along the
cliffs above, intermingled with trumpet-trees, with their singular
peltate leaves, and tall tree-ferns, whose delicate lace-like fronds
formed a netted tracery against the blue background of the sky. In the
rich soil of the valley flourished luxuriantly the noble cabbage-palm--
the _prince_ of the Jamaica forest--while, by its side, claiming
admiration for the massive grandeur of its form, stood the _patriarch_
of West-Indian trees--the grand _ceiba_; the hoary Spanish moss that
drooped from its spreading branches forming an appropriate beard for
this venerable giant.
Every tree had its parasites--not a single species, but in hundreds, and
of as many grotesque shapes; some twining around the trunks and boughs
like huge snakes or cables--some seated upon the limbs or in the forking
of the branches; and others hanging suspended from the topmost twigs,
like streamers from the rigging of a ship. Many of these, trailing from
tree to tree, were loaded with clusters of the most brilliant flowers,
thus uniting the forest into one continuous arbour.
Close under the cliff, and near where the cascade came tumbling down
from the rocks, stood a tree that deserves particular mention. It was a
_ceiba_ of enormous dimensions, with a buttressed trunk, that covered a
surface of more than fifty feet in diameter. Its vast bole, rising
nearly to the brow of the cliff, extended horizontally over an area on
which five hundred men could have conveniently encamped; while the
profuse growth of Spanish moss clustering upon its branches, rather than
its own sparse foliage, would have shaded them from the sun, completely
shutting out the view overhead.
Not from any of these circumstances was the tree distinguished from
others of its kind frequently met with in the mountain forests of
Jamaica. What rendered it distinct from those around was, that between
two of the great spurs extending outwards from its trunk, an object
appeared which indicated the presence of man.
This object was a hut constructed in the most simple fashion--having for
its side walls the plate-like buttresses already mentioned, while in
front a stockade of bamboo stems completed the inclosure. In the centre
of the stockade a narrow space had been left open for the entrance--
which could be closed, when occasion required, by a door of split
bamboos that hung lightly upon its hinges of withe.
In front, the roof trended downward from the main trunk of the tree--
following the slope of the spurs to a height of some six feet from the
ground. Its construction was of the simplest kind--being only a few
poles laid transversely, and over these a thatch of the long pinnate
leaves of the cabbage-palm.
The hut inside was of triangular shape, and of no inconsiderable size--
since the converging spurs forming its side walls extended full twelve
feet outwards from the tree. No doubt it was large enough for whoever
occupied it; and the platform of bamboo canes, intended as a bedstead,
from its narrowness showed that only one person was accustomed to pass
the night under the shelter of its roof.
That this person was a man could be told by the presence of some
articles of male attire lying upon this rude couch--where also lay a
strip of coarse rush matting, and an old, tattered blanket--evidently
the sole stock of bedding which the hut contained.
The furniture was scanty as simple. The cane platform already mentioned
appeared to do duty also as a table and chair; and, with the exception
of an old tin kettle, some calabash bowls and platters, nothing else
could be seen that might be termed an "utensil."
There were articles, however, of a different character, and plenty of
them; but these were neither simple nor their uses easily understood.
Against the walls hung a variety of singular objects--some of them of
ludicrous and some of horrid aspect. Among the latter could be observed
the skin of the dreaded galliwasp; the two-headed snake; the skull and
tusks of a savage boar; dried specimens of the ugly gecko lizard;
enormous bats, with human-like faces; and other like hideous creatures.
Little bags, suspended from the rafters, contained articles of still
more mysterious import. Balls of whitish-coloured clay; the claws of
the great-eared owl; parrots' beaks and feathers; the teeth of cats,
alligators, and the native agouti; pieces of rag and broken glass; with
a score of like odds and ends, forming a medley as miscellaneous as
unintelligible.
In one corner was a wicker basket--the cutacoo--filled with roots and
plants of several different species, among which might be identified the
dangerous dumb-cane; the savanna flower; and other "simples" of a
suspicious character.
Entering this hut, and observing the singular collection of specimens
which it contained, a stranger to the Island of Jamaica would have been
puzzled to explain their presence and purpose. Not so, one acquainted
with the forms of the serpent worship of Ethiopia--the creed of the
Coromantees. The grotesque objects were but symbols of the African
_fetish_. The hut was a temple of Obi: in plainer terms, the dwelling
of an _Obeah-man_.
Volume Two, Chapter XX.