A PERILOUS JOURNEY.
In our ignorance of the wild country through which we travelled, our
sole guide towards the sea was the course of the river Formosa, which
rapidly widened into a mighty estuary, along the left bank of which
we proceeded with the utmost circumspection; and inspired by the
triple dread of being recaptured and killed by the natives, devoured
by wild animals, or sinking under the heavy miasma which exhales from
the marshy creeks and isles of the uncounted river-mouths which there
pour their muddy tides into the Bight of Benin, laden with the
decaying vegetable débris of an unexplored world.
By various sounds which the wind swept after us at times, such as the
baying of dogs, and notes of cane horns, we feared a pursuit by the
people of Benin, and the sequel proved that our fears were but _too_
true.
We were frequently bewildered by seeing large lakes, which we
conceived to be the sea, till dawn of day would reveal their size,
and the gigantic trees or walls of wavy reeds which surrounded their
stagnant waters.
Hartly often beguiled the way by relating strange stories he had
heard or read, and by the margin of one of those silent lakes in the
wilderness he told me of the shattered hull of an ancient ship being
found, beached upon the bank of one of those inland waters in the
continent of Africa.
"How came it to be cast up there?" I asked, with surprise.
"Some alleged that it came through a subterraneous opening, a channel
in the bowels of the earth, connected with the same vortex or
whirlpool which had sucked it down long years ago--the Maelstrom,
perhaps, though many say that, like Charybdis, no such place exists.
But it sounds very like a bouncing yarn, such as one may hear at the
Royal Society, or under the leech of the foresail of a fine night,
Jack, when the middle watch are spinning their _twisters_."
We spent a whole night wearily and anxiously circumnavigating the
banks of one of those lakes whose waters were full of thick green
slime, of sturdy reeds, and leaves of wondrous size and form; falling
into black quagmires and deep holes made by the clumsy hippopotami,
and every instant in danger of being pounced upon by a panther or a
poisonous snake for our intrusion upon their secluded domains.
It is in these lakes of Benin, and in those of the kingdom of Angola,
that the quaint old writer named Dapper (who must have been a very
fanciful or credulous personage) relates he saw "water animals which
the negroes call _ambisiangula_, and the Portuguese _pezze-moueller_.
These monsters are both male and female. They are eight feet long
and four broad, with short arms and long fingers of three joints,
like ours. They have an oval head and eyes, a high forehead, a flat
nose, and great mouth. Snares are laid for them, and when caught,
they sigh and cry like women till they are killed by darts. Their
entrails and flesh are like those of hogs in scent, taste, and form.
'Tis said the filings of certain skull-bones in the males, if mixed
with wine, are an excellent remedy against gravel, and the bone which
extends towards the membrane of the ear is good against bad vapour,
if we may believe the Portuguese."
Master Dapper then goes on to state, that of the ribs of this
wonderful fish, particularly those on the left side, surgeons can
make a powder which will effectually stanch bleeding, and that
bracelets made of them were worn for the preservation of health.
Another account, published in 1714, adds, that in the Cabinet of
Rarities at Leyden one of their _hands_ is preserved, and two others
were in the _Musæum Regium_ at Copenhagen.
We, however, never saw aught but the fibrous leaves of enormous
aquatic plants, large as table-cloths, floating on the water of these
lakes, under the clear lustre of a lovely moon, that cast the shadows
of the feathery palm and bending orange-trees from banks where the
alligator dozed amid the slime, or the hippopotamus came to crop the
herbage and bask in the rays of the sun when he rose above the
foliage of the vast untrodden forest.
Manfully we struggled on, supporting nature by such fruits and
esculents as we found, especially yams, and on the sixth night after
our escape, with a prayer of thankfulness, we found ourselves under
the friendly shelter of a chestnut grove, and close upon the shore of
the mighty sea.
We were now so scorched and burned by the sun, and so embrowned by
daily and nightly exposure, that we might very well have passed for a
couple of mulattoes, and so have claimed kindred with our tormentors.
We had now left the territories of Benin, and were in the land of
Waree, which has a dingy sovereign of its own. The whole of this
district is covered by wild forests, which in the wet season are
frequently converted into lakes and marshes, where the stems of the
trees are submerged for two or three feet in water.
Opposite to where we lay concealed, and at the distance of a mile
from us, we saw a little green island, having upon its summit a negro
village, some of the inhabitants of which, when day broke, came over
to the mainland with four canoes, which they moored or beached in a
creek not three hundred yards distant from where we lurked among some
long grass.
These negroes were sixteen in number, all armed with asseguys,
muskets, and bows, and they proceeded into the forest apparently to
hunt.
We climbed into a leafy chestnut for security, and passed the entire
day amid its branches, thus escaping the hunting party, several of
whom passed underneath us, on their way back to the canoes in which
they embarked, and returned to the island laden with game.
These canoes were large; each appeared to be a single tree hollowed
out, and flattened in the bottom. Hartly, who announced his
intention of borrowing one _sans_ leave on the first available
opportunity, said, that after being scooped out, straw was burned in
them to save the wood from being spoiled by worms. They can be rowed
swiftly, and are steered by a long spar, which acts as a rudder. The
oars are usually made of teak-wood, and fashioned like spades.
Each of these canoes had a round knob on its prow; and by this they
were pulled ashore with ease, and beached high and dry upon the thick
mangrove leaves of the creek.
When night fell again, I sank into a profound sleep among the
branches of our chestnut tree. There was no danger of a tumble, we
had become so accustomed to roosting on such perches.
Day dawned again, and we looked about us.
Ah! what were our emotions _then_ on seeing in the blue waters of the
bay, and about two miles from the green island, _two vessels at
anchor_--one a brig, with American colours flying; and the other a
stately ship, with the broad scarlet ensign of Britain floating at
her gaff peak!
There they rode proudly at their moorings; but we were destitute
alike of means for reaching them or making signals; as yet all their
boats were on board, and we could perceive no sign of any of them
being despatched ashore. Their topsails and topgallant sails were
handed; but their courses were only hauled up, and some of their fore
and aft canvas hung loose in the brails.
We gazed at them with tearful and haggard eyes, our hearts swelling
the while with mingled hope and fear--hope that they might yet save,
and fear that they might unwittingly sail and abandon us.
While we were debating what was to be done, the four canoes with the
sixteen negroes again shot off from the island village, and
disappeared among the mangroves of the creek; and soon after we saw
them, as on the previous day, pass, armed, into the wood to hunt.
"Now is our opportunity, Jack--now or never!" cried Hartly, as he
dropped lightly from the tree; "let us make a rush at the canoes,
seize one and shove off!"
I instantly followed his example; but, alas! we were too rash in our
desire to embark, for at the same instant we dropped from our
perches, we found ourselves confronted by two of the savages, whom
the suddenness of our appearance seemed to fill with astonishment and
irresolution.