THE CANOE ADRIFT
They passed in time the rocks that guard Madeira, the green bay of
Funchal, the peak of Teneriffe, and then the ship turned on its heel
to the West Coast, and, while yet a thousand miles away, was
welcomed by two messengers--a shrike and a hawk-moth, who had sailed
along some upper current of air with red sand from the Sahara to
filter down at last on to a firm resting-place.
They went away down into the Gulf of Guinea, and with many a call by
the way to discharge cargo, approached the mouth of the Congo,
whose flood gave a tawny colour to the sea. So far they had seen
nothing but the squalid fringe of the Continent, and the damp heat
had steamed them and tried them, but the young explorers had not
lost the fine edge of their imagination. They knew that hundreds of
miles back in the unexplored heart of the land there were secrets to
be unraveled, and though they shed their warmer clothing, they
retained their ardour. The river somewhere in its far reaches held
for them, and them alone, new forms of life--the grandfather of all
the crocodiles, a mammoth hippo; and somewhere in the forest was
some huge gorilla waiting to offer them battle. Moreover, were these
not the gates of the Place of Rest?
"Surely," said Compton, as they steamed slowly into the night off
the mouth of the great river, "thy slave is not cast down because
the black children of the mud-house at our last calling-place did
mock us with their mouths, and the man, their father, wore the silk
hat and frock-coat of civilization?"
"Perish the thought," said Venning, throwing a banana peel at a
brilliant flash of phosphorescent light in the oily waters. "Yet the
man-who-was-tired, he of the parchment face, who sat on a verandah
with his feet on the rail, prophesied that within seven days we
should be sighing for English bacon in the country where a white man
could breathe."
"There is no snap in the air; but I can breathe freely. See;" and
Compton took a deep breath.
"That is the teaching of the hunter," said Venning, wisely. "Deep
breathing gives a man deep lungs. That is his teaching. Also this,
that a man should keep his skin clean and his muscles supple by hard
rubbing after the bath. Therefore, I did ask the bo'sun to turn the
hose on us in the morning when they clean down the decks. It is good
friction."
"And he has another saying--that it is good for the skin to apply
oil with the palm of the hand till the skin reddens. I have a smell
about me like a blue gum-tree, for the ointment he gave contains
eucalyptus oil."
"And the fat of a goat. There is much virtue in goats' fat, and the
eucalyptus is not to the taste of the trumpeter."
"The mosquito?"
"Even so."
"Then why don't you say so in good English?" and Compton dropped
away from his high-flown speech. "I bet that's a shark kicking up
all that phosphorescence."
"He swims in fire, like the--like the----"
"Sprat!"
"Like Apollo, you lean-minded insect. With every sweep of his tail
he sends out diadems of liquid gems, and his broad nose shovels fire
before him like a----"
"Stoker. Exactly; and if we had a lump of fat pork and a hook we
could drag him up and collect a basketful of jewels. I dare say he
is leering up at us with a green and longing eye."
"Did you hear that cry?" asked Venning, suddenly.
"No." "Was it the shark whispering, do you think?"
"Shut up and listen."
They leant over the rail and peered into the night. The drowsy air
throbbed to the measured beat of the engines, but they scarcely
noticed that accustomed sound.
"There it is again."
"Yes. I heard something like a sheep bleating."
"Would a sheep be swimming out here, you ass?"
"The shark's off--look!" and they saw a streak of fire shoot
forward.
"And there goes another. By Jove, they must have heard the cry!"
"I'm sorry for the sheep then," muttered Compton.
They bent far forward, listening intently, and following the course
taken by the sharks as defined by the gleaming wake. The leadsman
swung out the sounder as the vessel slackened down with a yell from
the escape-valve that drowned all other sounds with its deafening
clamour.
"By the deep nine!" cried a bass voice.
The bell in the engine-room signaled the skipper's order, and the
ship felt her way once more. Again there was silence, save for the
throb of the engines and the grating of the steering-chain at
intervals.
"I have not heard the cry again," said Compton.
"Can you see anything over there--follow the line of my finger--
there, just by that gleam?"
"Yes; I think there is something."
"Then I think the captain ought to know;" and Venning ran off first
to Mr. Hume.
"Something afloat, eh?" and Mr. Home rose from his deck-chair.
"Some one in distress, I think," They went on to the bridge, and
Venning began his story; but the captain cut him short by wheeling
round to the rail.
"Ahoy, there--ahoy!"
A startling response came in a long, quivering wail out of the dark
sea.
"By the lord," muttered the captain, "what's that?"
"Jackal," said Mr. Hume.
"Impossible! We are miles from the shore."
"Jackal, sure enough. Maybe sent adrift by a flood, and taken to a
tree."
The captain laughed. "I thought it was a hoodoo at least. Well,
lad"--turning to Venning--"you don't want me to pick up a creature
like that?"
"I don't think it is far away, sir. I think I see a tree or boat,
and if you would lower me over the bows and ease the vessel----"
"Well?"
"Perhaps I could pick it up."
"You are not afraid of being bitten?"
"I think it would know I meant it good."
The skipper laughed good-humouredly. "Well, you're a plucky lad,
and, at any rate, I'd not be losing time." He touched the bell, and
motioned to the steersman. The ship slowed down and came round. "Mr.
Bobbins, just sling this young gentleman over the port-bows, and
have a light lowered. Do you still stick to your bargain?"
Venning answered by sliding off the bridge and climbing up into the
bows, where a knot of sailors had gathered at the gangway. A rope
was looped round his thigh, so as to give his arms play, and two men
stood to pay him over and down.
"Here she is!" sang out the mate.
The bell rang out, "Stop her," and Venning went over, catching the
rope above his head with his left hand, and taking a turn round with
his right foot. There was a scraping sound against the side of the
vessel.
"I've got hold," he shouted. "It's a tree--no, a boat." Then, "By
Jove!"
"What is it?" cried several together, excited by the startled
exclamation.
"Lower the light!" The lantern sank over the side, but those above
could not see well because of the bulge of the hull.
"Now lower me. I shall get in and make fast."
"Take care!" cried Mr. Hume.
"Look out for the sharks, sir," sang out a sailor. "There's one
coming up."
"Lower away, please--quick!"
The men lowered. "That's right. I'm in the boat, or whatever it is.
Now let down the lantern."
Those leaning over the side saw Venning reach up for the lantern,
and then they heard a snarling and snapping.
"Stand ready to haul in!" cried the captain. "That brute will attack
the boy. One of you men go down."
The snarling continued, mingled with soothing cries from Venning;
and then the weird howl burst forth anew, daunting the sailor who
was carrying out the captain's order.
The mate stepped forward. "Stand aside!" he cried, and swung himself
over and down. He reached Venning's side, and they saw him peering
about him.
"By thunder!" he muttered.
"What is it?" demanded the captain, irritably. "D'ye expect me to
spend the whole night here?"
"A minute, sir. Let over a running tackle, and we'll have the whole
thing aboard."
"Lively there! Lower the tackle, and don't stand staring with your
mouths open. Swing out those davits."
The davits swung out, the tackle ran through the pulleys into the
water with a splash, and the mate shifted the unknown craft, with
its mysterious freight, amidships. A few moments he occupied in
getting the tackle into position.
"Haul in!" he shouted.
"Heave!" roared the captain, in a state of high excitement; and the
sailors, wrought up to a pitch, heaved with a will.
The captain, Mr. Hume, and Compton, peering over the side, saw a
long, narrow canoe rising up, with the forms of the mate and Venning
standing amidships, and some huddled object aft.
The canoe swung clear of the rails, the tackle was made fast, the
davits swung in, and then the canoe was slowly lowered to the main
deck.
"Why, it's a man," shouted Compton.
"And a dog," muttered the sailors, falling back. "With a mouthful of
teeth."
The mate and Venning stepped out as the canoe reached the deck, and
the mate turned the lantern full on the huddled group, showing a
jackal, with raised mane and bared teeth, crouching over the
prostrate form of a man, whose teeth also were bared, and whose eyes
seemed to glare with the same fury that showed in the flaming green
eyes of the animal.
"What a pair of demons!"
"The man is gagged and bound, captain," said Venning. "If the cook
will bring a piece of meat for the jackal, I think I can get to the
man without trouble."
"You've done very well, Venning," said Mr. Hume, quietly. "Leave
this matter to me; it is more in my line."
With his eyes on the jackal, he placed his hand on the side of the
canoe and moved forward gently while he spoke in Kaffir. "Peace,
little friend," were his words, as he afterwards explained to the
amazed captain. "We are hunters both, eh? We know each other, eh?
There is no harm in me towards you. You know it, little hunter; you
know it well."
It was strange to hear the deep accents of an unknown tongue,
strange to see a man using speech in complete gravity to a wild
animal, but stranger than all to note the effect on the animal
itself.
At first the red mouth opened wide and the green eyes flamed up, but
as the strong hand crept nearer, the glare went out under the steady
gaze of the man's tawny eyes, and next, with a whimper, the jackal
crept forward on its stomach, till the sharp black nose smelt the
man's hand.
"We are friends, little hunter, we three;" and the great fingers
passed over the yellow body up towards the face of the bound man.
"Friends--together--for we are hunters all--you, myself, and this
poor one here with his speech cut off." "We will see to that, eh?"
The fingers were on the man's face, and with a twist the gag was
out, and the man drew in his breath with a great sob.
"Ow--ay, that is better; now a little water."
Still keeping his eyes fixed on the man and his beast, Mr. Hume held
out a hand for a cup, and with a moistened handkerchief bathed the
cracked and swollen lips. The eyes of both the man and his beast
continued fixed on the hunter, following his every movement, and
never straying to the ring of faces round, showing white in the
glare of the light. The strong fingers moved swiftly here and there,
loosening the hide ropes that bound the legs and arms, and then
rubbing ointment with a strong smell of eucalyptus into the bruised
skin.
"So--now a little broth for the man, cook, and a scrap of meat for
the jackal. Gently, gently, cook; don't scare them, and don't crowd
in, you others."
"Ay, ay," burst out the captain, in a sudden fury. "What's the whole
ship's company doing here? Is this a garden-party, Mr. Robbins?"
"Get forward!" roared the mate, in a voice that sent the jackal
almost crazy with renewed fright; and at the creature's wild cry the
sailors hurried off, muttering that they had taken a whole cargo of
misfortune aboard.
The hunter looked reproachfully at the mate, who was mounting to the
bridge, and then began once more to soothe the frightened animal,
which in time took a bit of raw meat he proffered. The man drank
his broth, and then sat up to stare about him with quick glances.
When lying down he had seemed black, but, now that he was in the
light, it was seen that he was more mahogany than black, with a more
prominent nose and thinner lips than are usually found with the
negroid stock. His hair, however, was in little tufts, and the white
of his eyes had the smoky hue of the negro. As he sat, Mr. Hume
rubbed the back of his neck, and fed him with broth, a mouthful at a
time, and as this went on the fierce black eyes again and again
returned from their swift, suspicious range to the hunter's face.
"He seems to grow stronger," said Venning.
"Fetch a rug from my cabin; we will make him a bed in his own canoe.
He will rest easier there till the morning."
The rug was brought, and the man nodded his head as it was arranged
comfortably; then, with another long intent look at the hunter, he
settled himself down with a sigh, spoke a word to his strange
companion, which at once curled itself at his feet, and was asleep.
"Now, boys," said Mr. Hume, "you go to bed. I will watch here, and
in the morning, maybe, we will find out the mystery."
In the morning the steamer was on the yellow waters of the Congo,
and the boys forgot even about the strange couple in their first
view of the mighty river; but the sight of a native-manned canoe,
shooting out from the mist which hung in wisp over the waters,
recalled the incident. They found Mr. Hume in an easy-chair,
drinking his early morning cup of coffee, and at his feet,
stretching along the scuppers, was the canoe, still with its crew
aboard and asleep, though the jackal slept apparently with one eye
open. The canoe was, they saw, made out of a single tree-trunk, and
was thickly coated with the slime of the river, a heavy, sodden,
roughly shaped craft, most unlike the light boat that skimmed into
view from out the mist.
"What do you make of it?" said Mr. Hume, after the two boys had made
a long inspection.
"It seems to me," said Venning, "that the jackal has a very dark
coat."
"That is so; it is unusually dark. What does that suggest to you?"
"Well, as the colour is adapted to the nature of the country in
which the animal hunts, I should say that the jackal came from a
wooded district."
"Good. And what is your opinion, Compton?"
Compton bent down to examine the bows. "Look here, sir," he said;
"there is a prayer to Allah carved in Arabic on a leaden medallion,
and fixed into the wood."
"Is that so?" and the hunter looked at the signs with interest. "I
had not seen that. And it means----"
"That Arabs had something to do with the making of the canoe."
"Umph! I doubt very much if it is Arab-built. That talisman may have
been found by a native and fixed on--though that is impossible;" and
Mr. Hume pondered. "The Arabs may have taken the canoe from the
native owner and fixed in the medallion."
"He's awake," said Venning; and the three of them saw that the man,
without so much as a movement of surprise at his awakening under
such altered circumstances, was keenly observing them.
After he had gravely inspected each in turn, he sat up and raised
his hand in salutation. The rug slipped off his shoulders, showing
his bare breast, with every rib exposed, and clearly outlined in
blue was the form of an animal.
"A totem!" exclaimed the hunter.
"Otter," said Venning.
"Ask the steward if he has the porridge ready that I ordered."
Venning ran off, and returned with a basin of thick oatmeal
porridge. The man took it gravely, made another salutation, and ate
the whole.
"There's nothing wrong with him," said Mr. Hume, with a smile. "Now
we'll get him out of that and fix him up comfortably. I like his
looks, and have hopes that he will be useful."
They removed him to a deck-chair, whither he was followed by the
jackal, who was in such a state of suspicion that he declined food.
"What I think," said Mr. Hume, in answer to the boys, who wanted his
explanation, "is this--that the man and the jackal have come from
the interior."
"From the Great Forest?"
"Probably from the Great Forest; for these reasons--that the men who
shaped the canoe had no knowledge of the coast-built craft with
their high bows; that the man is of a different race from the coast
tribes; and because the jackal, from his dark markings, is evidently
from a thickly wooded region. That is merely a theory, which does
not help us much, and certainly does not explain how he came to be
bound and gagged in a canoe at sea hundreds of miles from the
forest. However, the main point is that we have got him, and having
got him, will keep him."
"Against his will, sir?"
"Oh, I reckon he will be only too thankful for our protection."
"I should think, sir," said Venning, "the fact of his totem being an
otter proves that his tribe derives its living mainly from fish."
"That is plausible; but it may, again, be a sign of chieftainship,
and a chief I have no doubt he is. Maybe he was sent adrift by some
rival faction; but that can scarcely be, for he would not have
survived a long journey; and, again, the canoe would have gone
aground."
"There is another explanation," said Compton, with a grin. "He may
not have come down the river at all. He may have been set adrift
from one of those ships we passed for insubordination."
"Ships do not carry canoes or jackals," said Venning, who had made
up his mind that the castaway was from the forest, and from nowhere
else.
They went down to breakfast, and the morning was occupied in getting
their kit and packages together. At noon the steamer was berthed at
a pier, and their packages were transferred to a paddle-wheeler,
which was to take them over three hundred miles up the wide estuary
to a Belgian station. Thence, perhaps, they would proceed hundreds
of miles further by another river steamer before they took to their
own boat.
"Why, we may be days before we really get to work," said Venning,
when the vastness of the Congo was forced on his attention by a
casual reference to "hundreds of miles."
"Days--weeks, my boy, before we come to the fringe of our field. The
river is more than half the length of the Continent; its length is
half the distance by sea from Southampton to the Cape, and, next to
the Amazon, it pours a greater body of water into the sea than any
river in the world."
"Africa," said Compton, "seems to be the driest and the wettest, in
parts, of any country; and all its great rivers, except the Nile,
run to waste."
"They'll keep," said Mr. Hume. "When the old world gets tired, worn
out, and over-populated, it will find use for these big, silent,
deserted rivers, that would carry the ships of the world on their
yellow waters."