"God has taken care of us thus far, and he will take care of us, if he
thinks fit, till morning," observed Tillard; "we must not give in,
however bad things look."
At last day began to break. The wind blew as hard as ever, and no land
was visible--only the tumbling, foam-crested seas, amid which we flew,
were around us.
"Patience, lads," said Mudge; "all we can do is to stand on as we have
been going,--and we may be thankful that we have been preserved thus
far,--better to have no land, than to find ourselves close to a coral
reef with the sea dashing furiously over it." Which there was no
gainsaying.
After a time I again asked if I might serve out some food; to this Mudge
consented, charging me to be careful as to quantity.
After taking our scanty meal, most of us lay down to rest again.
Tillard having repeatedly begged Mudge to let him take the helm, Mudge
at last agreed to his offer, desiring to be called in a couple of hours,
or immediately should there be the slightest change; and in a moment,
almost, he was asleep.
Tillard ordered Tamaku to keep a look-out ahead, while we four younger
ones went to sleep. Before I did so, however, I took a look-out in
every direction in the hope of seeing the barque; but no sail was in
sight. Though the weather was much clearer than it had been on the
previous evening, the gale blew as heavily as at first; and in a couple
of hours Mudge started up and insisted on taking the helm again, while
Tillard lay down to obtain the rest he so much needed, I taking Tamaku's
place in the bows.
Thus we ran on for the greater part of the day, hoping every hour that
the wind would abate. Late in the afternoon I thought I saw land. I
told Mudge, who, standing up, observed that there was no doubt about it.
It was a small island directly in our course, so that we should have to
haul up to avoid it.
"If we do, we shall be swamped," said Mudge. "We must trust, therefore,
to find an opening in the encircling reef, if there is one; but if not,
to run into a harbour, or to beach the boat on the sand. Of course, you
will understand, we may run on a coral reef and be dashed to pieces, or
we may meet with the same fate against a rocky shore. We must trust to
Providence, as we have done heretofore, and not expect the worst till it
comes upon us."
"We are ready, I hope, for whatever is to happen, Mr Mudge," said
Tillard; "and we know that you will do the best that is to be done under
the circumstances."
Though it would be satisfactory to run into a snug harbour, yet I could
not help wishing that the land was farther off. We approached it with
terrible rapidity; in a few minutes, I knew, our fate must be sealed.
Mudge stood up and gazed ahead. "The sea is breaking heavily over the
encircling reef," he said; "but there is a smooth lagoon between it and
the land. If we strike the reef, though our boat may be knocked to
pieces we may be washed over into the lagoon, and those who can swim
well may reach the shore," he said quite calmly.
He was silent for a minute, and no one else spoke.
"Lads," he exclaimed at length, "I see an opening--it is a narrow one,
but we may get through it if we can hit the centre; get your oars ready,
and stand by to hoist the sail, should I tell you."
Soon after he spoke I heard the roar of the breakers borne up against
the blast, and turning round for a moment I saw that we were rapidly
approaching them.
"Hoist the sail," he cried out; "and you at the oars, give way for your
lives!"
We tore on, the foaming surges rising up on either side; the sea washed
into the boat, and half filled her, but still we flew on. I know that I
held my breath, as I should think did most of the party; but Mudge had a
firm grasp of the helm, and I saw that his countenance exhibited no
signs of dismay. Another sea struck the boat on the opposite quarter;
the next moment, when I thought we were safe, a crash was heard,--the
boat quivered from stem to stern,--we had struck the reef. A cry
escaped from several of us, for we expected the boat to sink. Another
sea came roaring towards us, completely deluging us, and washing away
everything not firmly secured; but we held tightly to the sides and
thwarts. I felt that the boat was being hurled forward.
"Pull for your lives, lads!" shouted Mudge.
Alas! only two oars remained. Those were plied lustily by Tillard, and
Harry, and I; and before we had time for much more thought the boat was
driven on the beach which formed the inner shore of the lagoon. How we
had got there we could scarcely tell: all we knew was that we had been
mercifully preserved. We leaped out of our shattered boat, and
endeavoured to haul her up so as to prevent her being carried away by
any of the following seas; but none of those which succeeded were of
like size to that which had carried us on to the beach. We had great
cause to be thankful that we had escaped the fearful danger which had
threatened us. Exhausted with the anxiety we had felt, and want of
sleep, we all sank down on the sand.
It was now nearly dark, and we felt too tired to go in search of any
other spot on which we could rest. After a little time, however, our
hunger reminded us that we had had no food for some hours; and as we
naturally expected to obtain an abundance on the island, we agreed that
we would at all events have a good supper. Tillard and Tamaku
accordingly went to the boat to bring up our provisions, which had been
stowed away in the locker.
As they were some time absent,--"Well, lads, when are you coming back
with our food?" asked Mudge.
"We can't find it, sir," was the unsatisfactory answer. "It must have
been washed out of the boat when that sea struck us."
There could be no doubt about the matter. The breaker of water, which
had fortunately been secured, was at length found; the contents served
to quench our thirst, but we had to go to sleep in our wet clothes, and
supperless. Tommy began to grumble at his hard fate, for he was very
sharp set; and so were we all.
"I'll tell you what, my lads," said Mudge: "we ought to be thanking God
from our hearts that we have been preserved thus far; for in all my life
I never came through so bad a sea as that we have just escaped from.
Now let us just lift our voices together and praise Him from whom all
blessings flow."
We joined heartily in the prayer Mudge offered up, as also in the hymn
in which he led us; and then we again lay down on the bank, trusting
that we should find food the next morning; and that if there were any
inhabitants they might prove friendly.
The rays of the sun just rising out of the ocean awoke me. Harry and
Tom were already sitting up; the rest of the party, having their faces
turned away from the bright luminary, were still asleep. The country
wore a more pleasing aspect than it had done when we landed in the gloom
of evening. The shore was fringed by a variety of trees, among which we
recognised the graceful plume-like heads of a grove of cocoa-nut trees,
several broad-leaved bananas, and a number of the pandanus or screw-pine
(readily known by the beauty of its form and its white glossy leaves),
as also the paper mulberry tree, of much lower growth, with large
leaves. The gnawings of hunger, however, made us consider more
particularly how we could most quickly obtain some cocoa-nuts,--which I
saw hanging from the trees,--rather than about anything else. Harry and
Tom were thinking of exactly the same thing; so we got up, and being
unwilling to awaken our companions, proceeded together along the shore
till we reached one of the smaller trees, which Harry said he could
climb without difficulty.
"Then the sooner you are up it the better," cried Tom; "for if I don't
get something solid to eat soon, I must turn into a sheep, and begin to
nibble the grass and leaves."
"Other animals than sheep eat grass and leaves," I could not help
saying; "you might find yourself turned into one of them."
Tommy looked somewhat angry, which surprised Harry, who did not
understand my allusion, never having seen either a sheep or a donkey.
"Don't quarrel," he said. "I will soon get the cocoa-nuts; and Tom may
eat a whole one if he likes." So saying, he pulled off his shoes and
socks, and began climbing the tree in a way neither Tommy nor I could
have accomplished.
We watched him eagerly. I ran under the tree, intending to catch them.
"You had better stand away, or they may chance to break your head,"
shouted Harry. In a short time he had reached the top of the tree, and
broken off two large clusters of the fruit, with which he descended.
"They might have broken, and we should have lost the milk," he observed,
as he reached the bottom.
While we were employed in breaking off the outer husks, Harry ran down
to the beach and brought back a piece of sharp coral, with which he soon
made a hole in one of the cocoa-nuts. "There," he said, handing it to
me, "drink that--that will do you good."
How delicious the milk tasted! I passed it on to Tommy. In the
meantime, Harry had another cocoa-nut ready. We insisted, however, on
his taking the first draught from it. A third cocoa-nut supplied us all
with as much liquid as we required; we then broke open the shells, but
one cocoa-nut afforded us a sufficient breakfast. With the remainder we
returned to the spot where we had left our companions; who were very
glad, when they awoke, to find their breakfast ready.
The hurricane, I should have said, was over, and the sea glittered
brightly in the rays of the sun. We asked Mudge whether he proposed
returning at once to the island where we had left the ship.
"There are several reasons against our doing so," he answered. "We must
in the first place repair our battered boat--and that will be no easy
job, I suspect; and we have but two oars remaining to pull, should it
prove calm; then, we have no food nor water, and the distance which it
has taken us a night and a day to accomplish may occupy us three or four
days in returning, perhaps longer, should the wind be contrary. Before
we can put to sea, therefore, we must repair our boat, and make a couple
of oars at all events, if not more, and obtain a sufficient stock of
provisions and water. It won't do to trust to cocoa-nuts; we want fish
or fowl, and it will take us more than a day to get them. We must also
consider whether it will be prudent to go in search of the ship, as she
may have left the harbour to look for us. Judging from the appearance
of the country we saw, we are not likely to find any food upon it; so
that should we arrive there after she has gone, we should be in a worse
predicament than we should be by remaining here."
The rest of the party agreeing to Mudge's proposal, we went down to the
beach and anxiously examined the boat. Two planks in her starboard
bilge had been stove in, as had also a portion of her bow; and it seemed
wonderful that she should have floated till she had reached the shore.
Harry and I must have placed our feet unconsciously on the shattered
planks, and thus partially prevented the water from rushing in. Tom,
who was in the bows, had also pressed down the sail with his body, while
he was desperately clinging to the foremost thwart. We could account
for our preservation in no other way.
Without nails, or tools of any sort except our clasp-knives, we could
scarcely hope to render the boat sufficiently sea-worthy for such a
voyage as we might have to take before we could get back to the ship.
We all looked at each other, wondering whether any one would suggest
something.
"Our safest plan will be to remain on the island, in the hope that the
ship may, in the course of time, come off the shore to look for us,"
said Mudge. "They will know that if we have escaped, we must have been
driven in this direction; and I don't think our commander will desert us
till he has made a thorough search in all directions. If the _Heroine_,
from any cause, does not appear, we may hope that a whaler or some other
craft may pass by and see our signals. We must keep a look-out on both
sides of the island; for though we may be happy enough while we remain
here, it won't do to turn altogether into Robinson Crusoes."
"Pleasanter than having to keep watch, however," remarked Tom.
"We must think of our friends at home," I observed. "Should the report
reach England that we are lost, they will be mourning for us; and I for
one am anxious to let Captain and Mrs Hudson know that we have found
their son."
"Very right, Godfrey," said Mudge. "I am glad to see you thoughtful
about others; and I don't suppose Tom would wish to make his own family
unhappy, as I have no doubt that they care for him more than he
fancies."
"I was not thinking about them just then," said Tom. "However, if I
catch sight of a passing sail, depend upon it I will do my best to let
her know that we are here."
The idea of immediately going off in the boat to try and find the ship
was, therefore, of necessity abandoned. We agreed that our first
business must be to explore the island, and ascertain what supplies of
food we were likely to find. We had little doubt that we should procure
other fruit besides cocoa-nuts, while we might also obtain oysters or
other molluscs, and perhaps be able to catch fish--though we should
first have to manufacture hooks and lines or nets of some sort.
While Mudge and Tom and I had been talking over these matters, Tillard
had been again examining the boat. "I have been thinking, Mr Mudge,
that if we could manage to get some small nails, we might secure some
canvas over the damaged part of the boat, and patch her up fit to go to
sea again," he said.
"That `if' is the most difficult thing to get over," said Mudge. "Where
are the nails to come from?"
"Out of the handles of our clasp-knives," answered Dick. "I am a bit of
a blacksmith; and I have been thinking that if I could manage to make a
pair of bellows, I would soon get a forge up, and I should not be long
before I had a few dozen of nails."
"There's another `if' in the case," observed Mudge.
"Yes, sir; but it's one that can be got over, if I can catch a seal or
some other animal with a thick skin."
"Still there is an `if,'" said Mudge.
"Well, sir, but perhaps I can do without the skin. I'll try and make
use of a piece of canvas. I'll render it air-tight with grease or wax,
or something of that sort. I don't promise to succeed, but I'll try my
best."
"That's all we can expect of you," said Mudge.
Tillard's proposal somewhat raised our hopes. We had, however, in the
first place, to look out for water, though the cocoa-nut milk prevented
our suffering from thirst; and, what was of equal importance, to search
for food. Before setting out, we each of us cut a long pointed stick--
the most ready weapon we could manufacture; not for defence, for it
would be useless against the arms of the natives, should any exist on
the island, but to enable us to kill any animals we might meet with, as
also to assist us in getting over any rough ground, or to beat down the
brushwood should we meet with forests through which we might have to
force our way.
Leaving Tillard to look after the boat and to make preparations for
repairing her, we set out. Mudge led the way, Tom and Harry and I
followed, Tamaku and Popo brought up the rear. We proceeded along the
sea-shore, which was more level than the interior, and presented few
impediments to our progress. After going some distance to the south, we
reached a region which had apparently, at no remote period, been covered
by the sea--probably upheaved by some convulsion of nature. A few
cocoa-nut and pandanus trees, however, grew on it, and a scant herbage.
We were about to keep along the sea-beach, near which the land rose,
covered thickly with trees, when I observed a number of birds hovering
over the part of the island I have described. Crossing a level space
covered at high tide by the sea, we reached what was evidently at such
times an island. Numberless birds had made it their abode. As we
approached, they seemed in no way alarmed--those which were sitting on
their nests keeping their posts, merely poking out their necks, and
uttering such hoarse croaks that we were almost deafened by the sound,
and could scarcely hear each other speak.
"Hurrah!" cried Mudge, "we have here food enough to supply all our
wants; and, what's better, such as I hope we may be able to preserve for
our voyage."
A large number of the birds were sitting on their eggs, and so tame were
they that we had to push them over to get at the said eggs. Among them
were numerous beautiful tropic-birds, sooty terns, and gannets. The
eggs of the latter were laid on the ground, without any nest; and so
faithful were the hens to their trust, that they allowed themselves to
be captured rather than desert them. The most remarkable and beautiful
of those we saw, however, were the frigate-birds, whose nests,
constructed of a few sticks, were seen in all the surrounding trees.
The old birds, as they flew off, inflated their blood-red pouches to the
size of a child's head, looking exactly as if large bladders were
attached to their necks, and not at all improving their appearance,
handsome as they were in other respects. We at once filled our pockets
with eggs; choosing such as looked the freshest. We also knocked down
as many birds as we were likely to require for our dinner and supper.
This discovery raised our spirits, as we had now as much animal food as
we could require.
On our return along the sea-shore, we met with several large crabs. One
big fellow had caught a snake, and was walking off with it wriggling in
his claws, when down pounced a frigate-bird, and carried off both crab
and snake together. Whole armies, too, of soldier-crabs, with their
shells on their backs, were moving about in search of prey, or looking
out for more commodious homes; it being their wise custom not to leave
one home until they have found another. When they neglect this
precaution, their soft tails are nearly sure to be nabbed by one of
their numerous enemies. The snakes, as far as we could judge, were not
venomous; though, as we were not certain of that fact, we agreed that it
would be as well to avoid them. The tropic-birds were the tamest,--or I
should rather say the least aware of the harm we might do them,--and
allowed us to put our hands under them and carry off their eggs without
showing the slightest fear.
We had to hurry back, as the tide was rising, and our retreat might be
cut off.
On reaching the bay where we were cast ashore, we found that Tillard had
made some progress with his forge.
"If I can once get the bellows to work, it will not be long before we
shall have as many nails as we want. But we must have patience, sir,"
he observed to Mudge; "patience will overcome all difficulties."
We none of us were disposed to dispute this; so, just then, being rather
anxious to cook our eggs and birds, I inquired how we were to get a
light to kindle our fire. No one till then had thought of that
important point. We each of us searched in our pockets for flint and
steel, but none were to be found. The Sandwich Islander was applied to.
We had heard that the natives of the South Sea Islands obtained a light
by rubbing two pieces of wood together. He could do it, he replied, if
he could find the right sort of wood. But the process was not an easy
one, and required time; so, as we were too hungry to wait, we dined off
raw eggs, with a dessert of cocoa-nut, washed down with the milk.
After we had finished our meal, Tamaku set off to look for the wood he
required, while we were employed in collecting leaves and erecting some
arbours of boughs, in which we might shelter ourselves during the night,
instead of spending it, as we had done the previous one, on the open
beach. It was nearly dark when Tamaku returned, saying that he had
found the wood he required; but as we were tired and sleepy, we
preferred lying down to rest instead of waiting till a fire could be
kindled and provisions cooked.