At dawn the wind had died away to a light breeze, and the sun rose to
shine upon an ocean of unspecked blue. To the eastward, the slopes of
New Britain were hidden from our view by a thick mist, only the tops of
some high mountain peaks far inland showing above, and there seemed
to be every appearance of the fine weather lasting. This gave us much
satisfaction, and after a bathe in a rocky pool on the reef, we ate our
breakfast of fish and coconut with good spirits, then filling our pipes,
went down to the inner beach to bask in the glorious sunshine.
“If this sort ot weather keeps up,” I remarked to Yorke, “I'm afraid
your prediction about our seeing Guest and the cutter in another two
days won't be verified--it'll fall calm before noon to-day, and may keep
so for a week. I've known a calm to last for a solid ten days on the
north side of New Britain.”
“Perhaps so,” he replied; “but then the current about here sets strongly
to the eastward, and somehow I feel certain that, wind or no wind, we'll
see the ships.”
“Well, if we do, you ought to give up sailoring, Captain Yorke, and go
into business as a prophet. I for one would always come to you for a
tip. But, joking apart, let us imagine that Guest or the cutter did not
run far to the eastward, but hove-to, and as soon as the hurricane had
blown itself out, headed back for us; in such a case, both vessels may
be within half a day's sail of us at this very moment.”
“That is quite possible--it is also possible they may be within twenty
miles of us, becalmed. It would not surprise me if Guest actually drifts
in sight of these islands, and comes to look for us in his boat.”
“Now that brings me to the kernel of my imagination. I think it very
likely he may have no boat to send, and----”
He gave me a mighty thump on the back.
“Good boy! I know what you're thinking of--the raft?”
“Exactly, Captain. So don't you think it would be as well for us to turn
to at once, and make a couple of good paddles? though in an emergency
the butt ends of dry coconut branches do very well for paddles.”
Then I went on to say that it was quite likely that Guest had lost both
his boats, and the cutter her dingy, before there was time to have them
properly secured; and that the brigantine had lost the whaler, which had
brought us ashore, I was sure of, for she had, as I have mentioned, been
nearly thrown over on her beam ends when struck by the first blast, and
the boat must certainly either have been hopelessly stove when she was
forced below, or torn away from the davits by the weight of water in her
when the ship righted herself.
We set to at once with a good will--Yorke overhauling the cane
fastenings with which the great bamboos were lashed together, whilst I
went along the beach in search of some young _futu_ trees, the wood of
which is soft when green, but dries hard, and could be easily worked,
even by such a tool as a sheath knife.
A quarter of a mile from our camp I found just what I wanted--three or
four young _futu_ saplings lying on the ground, torn up by the roots.
Taking two ot the best, I stripped off the branches, and returned to
my companion, who was still at work on the raft, relashing its timbers
wherever needed.
In a couple of hours I had made quite a decent pair of paddles, each
about four feet in length, and with four inches of blade in the widest
part. Then Yorke, having finished with the raft, went with me along the
beach, and collected some old coconuts for food, and some young ones to
drink, for, as my comrade observed, one never knew what might happen,
and it would be as well to have some provisions all ready to hand in
case of emergency. There were still thousands of dead fish to be
seen everywhere lying on the sand, cast up among the _débris_ above
high-water mark, but these were now turning putrid, and of no use.
We had noticed a huge banyan tree not far distant from our sleeping
place, which was the roosting and breeding place of a vast number of
whale birds, so Yorke proposed that we should go there and see if we
could kill some by hurling sticks at them. We had often seen this done
by the natives ot the western Caroline Islands, for the birds are very
stupid, and allow themselves, when not on the wing, to be approached
quite closely. We cut ourselves each a half-dozen of short, heavy
throwing-sticks of green wood, and set out for the rookery, and within
an hour had killed thirty or forty of the poor birds, some of which we
at once picked, cleaned, and roasted. We had no lack of salt, for every
rock and shrub above high-water mark on the weather side of the
island was covered with a thin incrustation of it, caused by the rapid
evaporation of the spray under a torrid sun. The remainder of the birds
we cooked later in the day, intending them as a stand-by.
In the afternoon we again bathed, this time in the lagoon, and Yorke,
who was one of the strongest and swiftest swimmers, for an European,
that I had ever seen, succeeded in capturing a turtle which was lying
asleep on the surface of the water, and brought it ashore; but it proved
to be so old and poor that we let it go again in disgust.
Towards the close of the day we again crossed the islet to have a better
look at the New Britain shore, the heavy mist which had hung over it
most of the day having now vanished. That the native owners of the
plantations would put in an appearance before many days had passed I was
certain, for they would be anxious to see what damage had been done by
the hurricane, and no doubt dig up some of the taro, which, as I have
said, was fully grown.
The moment we emerged from the scrub out upon the eastern shore, we
obtained a splendid view of the opposite coast of the great island,
though the actual shore was not visible on account of the extreme
lowness of the belt of littoral, which was many miles in width; but by
climbing a tree we could just discern the long, dark line of palms, and
here and there a narrow strip of white, denoting either surf or a sandy
beach.
“Why,” I said to Yorke, “that land cannot be more than five miles
distant to its nearest point, and if there are niggers living there we
should see their fires to-night, and----”
The next moment I uttered a loud hurrah! and nearly fell off the tree
in my excitement, for away on the northern horizon was a sail, shining
snowy-white in the rays of the sinking sun!
Yorke echoed my cheer. “A day sooner than I prophesied, Drake! Wish we
had a glass, so that we could make out which it is. I am rather inclined
to think it is the _Fray Bentos_ it looks too big for the cutter.
Anyway, whichever it is, she's becalmed; but even if there is not a
breath of wind during the night, she'll be closer in in the morning, as
the current is bound to set her along this way.”
We descended from the tree jubilantly, and I suggested that we should
make a big blaze on the eastern shore, so as to let the ship know we saw
her, but the more cautious Yorke said it would be rather risky. Natives,
he said, might be quite near at that moment, a party of canoes could
have easily crossed over during the day, and we should be none the wiser
unless we happened to see the reflections of their fires, after they had
arrived, on the lagoon waters. So, after waiting another ten minutes,
when the sun set, we returned to camp.
“Let us kill the fatted calf and divide it between us,” said my
companion, taking our plug of tobacco and cutting it in halves; “I'm
going to smoke all night, or at any rate until I fall asleep. Did
you see how the sun set? Well, that thick, yellow haze means a calm
to-morrow, to a dead certainty, and I shouldn't be a bit surprised if we
see Guest pulling into the lagoon at daylight, that is, if he has a boat
left.”
I do not think either of us slept for more than a quarter of an hour
that night. That Yorke could have done so, I do not doubt, but I would
persist in talking, getting up, walking about, and smoking, and he,
good-naturedly, kept awake on my account. The night was wondrously calm
and beautiful, so calm and quiet that there was not the slightest surf
on the outer reef, and the only sound that broke the silence would be
the croak of some night-fishing bird, as it rose, prey in bill, from the
slumbering lagoon.
As soon as ever we could see our way through to the other side of
the island, we were afoot, unheeding the drenching we got from the
dew-soaked trees whenever we touched a branch. Within five minutes after
we had emerged out into the open the sun rose, and a cheer broke from us
when we saw both the cutter and the brigantine lying becalmed about
four miles away, between the islet and the mainland of New Britain, and
almost abreast of where we stood.
“They have both lost all the boats, I am almost sure,” said Yorke,
“or we should see one coming ashore; unless, indeed, a boat is already
pulling down the lagoon on the other side. Let us wait an hour. That
will decide us what to do; if we see no boat between now and then, we
can be assured that Guest has none to send, and that he is waiting for
a breeze, so that he can run in close to the reef, and try to get within
hail of us. I daresay that he has a raft of some sort already made, and
is trying to get closer to the land to send it ashore for us. So we'll
give him a pleasant surprise.”
We waited impatiently till the hour had passed, but could see no sign
of a boat putting off from, or on the way from the brigantine, and were
then certain that she had none to send, as if it had left the vessel,
even at daylight, it would have entered the lagoon and been with us by
that time.
Whilst we were waiting we had piled together on the shore a great heap
of dried coconut branches, on top of which we threw masses of a thick,
green, saline creeper. This heap we lit as a signal, and a pillar of
dense smoke rose high in the windless atmosphere. It was answered by
Guest in a few minutes--not by a gun, as we expected, but by a similar
signal of smoke, caused by a mass of cotton waste being soaked in coal
tar and ignited.
“He's answering us,” exclaimed Yorke. “Now, let's get the raft launched
and make a start.”
We tore back through the scrub to our camp, I panting with excitement,
Yorke as cool as ever. Carrying the raft down to the water we quickly
put on board the bundles of young coconuts, not deeming it worth while
to bother with the old ones and the cooked birds, as we quite expected
to be alongside the _Fray Bentos_ within three hours at least, the sea
being as calm as a mill-pond, and the raft very light.
“Go easy, my lad, go easy,” said Yorke with a smile, as he saw the state
of flurry I was in. “We've got two or three hours paddling to do, so
don't knock yourself up needlessly. Now, what about our rifles?”
I had actually forgotten them, but at once ran back for them (the
cartridges we always kept in our pockets), and picking one up in each
hand, tore down the bank again, caught my left foot in a vine, and
pitched upon my nose on the top of the broken coral and pebbles covering
the beach with such violence that had it not been for the muzzle of the
rifle I was carrying in my right hand plunging into the loose stones,
and bringing me up sharply, I might have broken my jaw against a big
boulder, which just caught me on the chin.
Pretending I was not hurt, though my chin was skinned, and my shoulder
was strained, I picked myself up, handed the rifles to Yorke, and said I
was ready.
“Take a drink first,” he said in his authoritative, yet sympathetic
way, as he opened a young coconut. “Then fill your pipe and rest awhile.
We're in no hurry for ten minutes. Poor chap, you did do a flyer. Talk
about the Gadarene swine! Why you could give them points in running down
steep places!”
I certainly had given myself a tremendous shaking, for I felt quite
dizzy, but after a few draws at my pipe, said I was fit to paddle the
raft to Cape Horn.
We pushed off, then poled along shore till we came to the passage, which
was as smooth as glass. Here, on account of the deep water, we had to
take to our paddles, and were soon out in the open sea, heading for
the vessels. The sun was intensely hot, but we took no heed of it, and
congratulated ourselves upon having such a calm sea, instead of
having to paddle against a swell, which would have greatly impeded our
progress.
For the first mile or so we went along in great style--then, to our
consternation, we suddenly ran right into a heavy tide rip, and away we
went at the rate of three or four knots an hour to the south-east, and
towards the New Britain shore. The belt or tide-rip seemed to be about a
mile in width, and although we paddled furiously in the endeavour to
get out of the whirling, seething stream, it was in vain--the raft spun
round and round with such rapidity that we lost control over, and had
to let her go; for not only were we unable to make any headway, but the
manner in which we were spinning round would not allow us to keep our
feet, and began to make us sea-sick. After half an hour or more of this,
we at last saw a chance of getting out of the rip into a side eddy; and,
putting forth all our strength, we just succeeded in doing so, only to
be menaced by a fresh and more alarming danger.
Yorke, dashing the pouring perspiration from his brow with his hand,
had just stood up to get a look at the brigantine and cutter, when he
uttered an oath.
“By God, we're in for it now! Look, here's four canoes, filled with
niggers, heading dead on for us. The beggars see us, too!”
I stood up beside him, and saw, about a quarter of a mile away, four
canoes, each of which was carrying six or eight natives, coming towards
us at a furious rate. They were, like all New Britain canoes, very low
down in the water, which, together with our own troubles when we were in
the tide rip, had prevented our seeing them long before.
“Lucky we have not wasted any of our cartridges” said Yorke grimly;
“we'll give them all the fight they want. But let them get closer, while
we head back for the ships. We _must_ get out of this current--we can
lick the niggers easy enough; but if we get into that tide-rip again,
we'll be carried out of sight of the brigantine by midday.”
Plunging our paddles into the water, we sent our bamboo craft along till
we were in absolute safety as far as the tide-rip was concerned. Then
Yorke laid down his paddle.
“We're all right now, Drake; and now we'll give these man-chawing
beggars a bit of a surprise. They mean to knock us on the head in
another ten minutes, and take our carcasses ashore for to-night's
dinner. You are the younger man, and can shoot better than I, so I'll be
polite and give you first show. Sight for five hundred yards for a trial
shot, at the leading canoe. But wait a minute--don't stand up.”
He quickly piled up the young coconuts in a firm heap, and then stood
over me, his own rifle in hand, whilst I knelt on the bamboos and placed
my rifle on the top of the heap of coconuts.
I am now, at this time of life, ashamed of the savage instinct that
in those days filled me with a certain joy in destroying human life,
unthinkingly, and without compunction. But I had been brought up in a
rough school, among men who thought it not only justifiable, but correct
and proper to shoot a man--black, or white, or brown, or yellow--who
had done them any wrong. It had been my lot, in the Solomon Islands, to
witness one of the most hideous and appalling massacres of a ship's
crew that was ever perpetrated by natives--a massacre that had filled
my youthful mind with the most intense and unreasoning hatred of all
“niggers,” as we called the natives of Melanesia. The memory of that
awful scene had burned itself upon my brain, for the captain and mate
of the vessel were dear friends of mine, and they and their men had
been cruelly slaughtered, not for any wrong they had done--for they were
good, straight men--but simply because their blind confidence in the
savage natives invited their destruction.
*****
I steadied my rifle upon the top of the heap of coconuts, and waited
a second or two till every man in the first canoe was in line. Then I
pulled the trigger, and was thrown back bleeding and unconscious, for
the rifle burst just in front of the breech block, which blew out and
struck me on the top of my head, nearly fracturing my skull.
When I came to again Yorke's face was bending over me.
“We're all right, Drake. The brigantine is within a mile of us, coming
up with a light air, and we'll be aboard in half an hour. How do you
feel, my son?”
“Rockotty. Did the rifle burst?”
“Burst? It burst like a cannon, all but killed you, and a splinter hurt
me in the eye. Drake, my boy, the next time you do the Gadarene swine
trick with a cheap German Snider in your hand, see that the barrel is
clear before you fire it. When you fell that time, your rifle barrel
must have been pretty badly choked with sand and coral pebbles... Now
lie still, and don't worry like an old maid who has lost her cat. You
can do nothing, and will only be a damned nuisance if you _do_ try to
do anything. The brigantine will be here presently, and you'll get your
head attended to, and have 'pretty-pretty' plasters stuck on your nose
and other parts of your facial beauties.”
“Where are the niggers?” I asked.
“Gone, gone, my dear boy. Vanished, but not vanished in time enough for
five or six of them. I have used every one of our cartridges on the four
canoes, and have had the supreme satisfaction of knowing that I have not
used them in vain. Now stop talking, and let me attend to the ship--the
bamboo ship... There, put your head on my coat; and don't talk.”
*****
When the _Fray Bentos_ sailed up alongside the raft I was lifted on
board, and placed in my berth, and long days passed ere I saw Yorke
again.
When I did see him the brigantine was lying at anchor at Rook Island,
and Guest was in my cabin telling me the story of the hurricane--of how
he had lost the two boats within an hour--one being carried away
when the brigantine was all but thrown over on her beam ends, and the
other--the longboat--swept away with everything else on deck--guns,
deck-houses, bulwarks and all.
“How we escaped smashing into some reef or another I don't know,” said
Guest; “but the strangest thing about it all is that Yorke's cutter,
manned by native seamen, managed to stick so close to the _Fray Bentos_;
for when I, running before the hurricane, with my decks swept with
tremendous seas, suddenly ran into smooth water, brought to in fifteen
fathoms, and dropped anchor, there was the _Francesca_ cheek by jowl,
alongside of me.”
“Kanaka sailors' eyesight,” I said. “Napoleon never lost sight of the
brigantine for a moment! And, talking about eyesight, how is Yorke's
eye?”
“Bad, bad, my boy. It is destroyed entirely, and he is now on board
here, in my cabin. He has been asking for you. Do you feel strong enough
to get up and see him?”
I rose at once, and went into Guest's cabin. Yorke was lying in the
skipper's bunk, and as I entered he extended both hands to me, and
smiled cheerfully, though his left eye was covered with a bandage, and
his brave, square-set face was white and drawn.
“How are you, Drake, my boy? We had a narrow squeak, didn't we, from the
niggers? And here is Captain Guest worrying and tormenting himself that
he could not fire a gun to scare them off.”
I held his big, right hand between my own, and pressed it gently, for
there was something in his one remaining eye that told me the end of all
was near.
“Goodbye, dear lad.... Goodbye, Captain Guest. _I_ know what is the
matter with me--erysipelas--and erysipelas to a big, fat man like me
means death... and if you would put a bullet through my head now you
would do me a good turn... But here, Guest, and you, Drake... your
hands. I'll be dead by to-morrow morning, and want to say goodbye, and
wish good luck to you both, before I begin babbling silly twaddle about
things that are of no account now... of no account now... not worth
speaking about now. But the South Seas are a rotten sort of a place,
anyway.”