ON THE ISLAND--OYSTERS ON TREES--HARRY'S NARROW ESCAPE FROM A SHARE--OUR
FIRST BREAKFAST--TILLARD'S FORGE--EXPEDITION ACROSS THE ISLAND--WE
MANUFACTURE NAILS AND HOOKS--FIND A BOAT--SUCCESSFUL FISHING--OUR
FRIENDS RETURN--LAUNCH THE BOAT--DICK AND I START TO SAIL ROUND THE
ISLAND--DICK TAKEN ILL--MY DISMAY--WE ARE BLOWN OFF THE COAST.
Although our beds of leaves were tolerably comfortable, and our clothes
were dry, we did not oversleep ourselves, but awoke at daybreak the next
morning. Refreshing as was the cocoa-nut milk we had obtained, we all
felt very thirsty; so Mudge announced his intention of setting off to
look for a spring of water, taking Popo with him to carry the breaker.
Tamaku sat down with his knife to cut the wood he had found into the
required shape for producing fire; Tillard proceeded with the
arrangements for his forge; while Harry and Tom and I agreed to go along
the shore to look for shell-fish, and to obtain a further supply of
cocoa-nuts.
We had not gone far when we came to a creek, or narrow bay, running
inland for some distance. Its shores were thickly lined with trees,
their roots being washed by the water, and many of their boughs dipping
into it. Near at hand we discovered a cocoa-nut tree bearing several
bunches of fruit, and Harry at once volunteered to climb to the summit.
While he was thus engaged, I heard Tom shouting out, "Halloa, here are
oysters growing on the trees!"
I ran down to the opening by which he had gained the water; and there,
sure enough, all the boughs reaching the surface were fringed with
good-sized oysters. We gathered those we could reach; and looking down
into the clear water below the trees, I saw that the rocks at the bottom
were thickly covered with those nutritive shell-fish, in every stage of
growth, many of the size of a shilling and even smaller. Here, at all
events, was an unfailing supply of food; and, encouraged by the
discovery, we hoped that we should obtain a still further variety.
Having filled our pockets and handkerchiefs, we hurried back to the
tree, down which Harry was descending with a load of cocoa-nuts. On our
showing him the oysters, he observed that they were too small to be of
much use, and volunteered at once to dive to the bottom and obtain some
larger ones. We accordingly returned to the bay; when, stripping off
his clothes, he at once plunged in, and soon brought a number of large
oysters to the surface in his handkerchief, which he had taken down with
him for the purpose.
"Oh, there are not enough," he said,--"I will soon get some more;" and
again he plunged down. We could see him at the bottom, working away
with his knife. I could not have remained half the time beneath the
surface.
While he was thus engaged, I caught sight of a dark object at the
entrance of the bay. Horror seized me, for I knew it to be a shark. I
shrieked out to Harry to return. Tom also saw the fearful monster, and,
with a presence of mind for which I should not have given him credit, he
took up one of the larger oysters and sent it skimming along the
surface, in the way boys are accustomed to make "ducks and drakes" with
pieces of slate on a calm day by the sea-side. I immediately followed
his example, hoping thus to distract the attention of the shark.
At length, though it seemed a long time, Harry came up, and only then
hearing our cries, swam rapidly to the shore. We held out our hands to
help him, and I breathed more freely when his feet touched the dry
ground. A moment longer, and he would have been lost; for the shark,
darting forward, almost ran his snout against the bank in his eagerness
to seize his prey; then, startled by our cries, and the oysters we
continued to heave at him, he suddenly turned round, whisking the water
into our faces with his tail.
Harry took the matter very coolly. "It is not the first time I have had
a shark dart at me," he observed; "but I have generally had a companion
who has attacked the creature with his knife. Had I been prepared, I
would have met him in the same way."
"I am very glad you did not make the experiment, Harry," I answered.
"However, it is a lesson to us not to venture into the water without
keeping a look-out; and I am very thankful that you have escaped."
"So am I," he answered; "but now, as we have got as many oysters as we
can carry, in addition to the cocoa-nuts, we may as well join our
friends and have breakfast."
"I hope that Tamaku will have managed to light a fire," said Tom; "for
though the oysters and cocoa-nuts are nice enough as they are, I don't
like raw eggs; and I have an especial fancy for some roast-duck."
As we approached the bay we saw a cloud of smoke ascending from the
sand, and we found Tamaku busily employed in blowing up a fire which he
had kindled there. We soon rejoined him, and asked why he had chosen
this spot.
"Because, you see, if I had lighted it on the grass, we might have had a
larger fire than would have been pleasant."
While we were standing round the fire, Popo came back with a breaker of
water, saying that Mr Mudge would soon follow. Wishing to surprise
him, we set to work to pluck the ducks, and spit a couple, and roast
some eggs. We were thus employed when we saw him coming leisurely
towards us; but discovering the fire, he held up his hand with a look of
astonishment, and hurried forward.
"Well, lads, you have prepared a feast," he exclaimed, sitting down on
the bank above the sand. "I little expected to have so many good
things; and I am thankful to say that I have found a stream of fresh,
cold water, issuing from the side of the hill, and falling into a deep
basin--in which I could not resist taking a bath; and I would advise you
to do the same."
We were too hungry to wait for the roast-ducks, so we sat down and
commenced our breakfast on eggs and oysters, with cocoa-nut milk. By
the time we had taken the edge off our appetites, the ducks, under
Tamaku's superintendence, were thoroughly cooked. They were pronounced
excellent, and we agreed that no aldermen could have breakfasted better.
"And what are we to do now?" I asked.
"We have no necessity to be anxious about food; we must first of all go
across to the other side of the island, which I believe is not far off,
and establish a look-out place from whence we can make signals should
any vessel pass by," answered Mudge. "You, Tillard, I suppose, will
prefer waiting to finish your forge; and we must trust to you to keep up
the fire, so that, should a ship appear off the coast, her attention may
be attracted."
"I'll undertake to do that, sir," answered Tillard; "but as I shall want
help, I shall be obliged if some one will remain with me. I would
rather have one of the young gentlemen; they will understand what I want
better than either Popo or Tamaku. Mr Rayner, will you stay by me?"
"I was going to offer to do so," I answered; "although I should have
liked making an exploring expedition across the island."
I was anxious to be of use; and besides wishing to oblige Dick, I was
curious to see how he would proceed. He thanked me very much; and the
rest of the party wishing us good-bye, set off with their thick sticks
as arms, and a supply of ducks and eggs, wild-fowl, and cocoa-nuts for
provisions, leaving us as much as we could require for a couple of days.
As soon as they were gone, Tillard and I set to work on the forge. He
had already nearly manufactured a pair of bellows with the aid of the
bottom boards of the boat,--fortunately of considerable width,--and some
of the spare canvas which had remained in the boat's bows. It was a
very rough-looking machine, but still was likely to answer its purpose.
We also found several pieces of iron about the boat which could be
removed without impairing its strength; and these we managed to wrench
off, with the help of a sharp piece of coral.
At length the fire was kindled in the forge, and on working the bellows
a strong flame was produced. All our tools were composed of coral; two
long pieces served as tongs, and another as a hammer. Having heated the
iron, Dick knocked it out into a long thin bar, and then placing it on
the mass of coral which served as an anvil, cut it with successive sharp
blows of his knife into small pieces. Each of these had to be
re-heated, and taken up and dropped into a small hole with a blow from
the hammer, when the head was produced by another sharp blow. In this
way he formed a number of small nails with large heads, which, if not
very well-shaped, were at least likely to answer the purpose.
We had found a gum issuing from some pine-trees, which did not dissolve
in water; and by mixing it with some grease which we happily found in
the after-locker, a thick paste was formed with which we payed over the
canvas. The boat had been hauled up sufficiently to enable us to get at
both leaks during low tide; so we at once set to work, and were thankful
to find that the nails answered very well: fortunately, I should have
said, I had a small bradawl in my knife, and also a file, with which I
sharpened the points of the nails. The whole work was accomplished
sooner than I could have expected; and Tillard declared his belief that
not a drop of water would come through the damaged part of the boat,
whatever it might do elsewhere.
"I wish we could try her," I said, when our last nail was expended.
"Wait patiently, Mr Rayner," answered Dick; "when the tide rises, we'll
get her afloat."
He was mistaken, however, for with all our efforts we could not succeed
in launching her. We had to wait, therefore, for the return of our
companions. Getting into the boat, however, we made another thorough
search; and while doing so I found jammed into a corner of the
after-locker a large fishing-hook, such as is used for catching sharks,
bonitos, and other finny monsters of the deep. Besides this, we
discovered a ball of twine and some spare pieces of rope.
Dick examined the fishing-hook. "We must keep it as it is," he
observed. "At first I thought that I might form it into smaller hooks;
but we have still some iron remaining, and I will try my hand at making
such as will catch the moderate-sized fish we are likely to find in the
lagoon or outside the reef."
Returning to the forge, Dick at once set to work, and succeeded in
shaping four hooks, though he and I burned our fingers in the operation.
On trying them, however, they were found to be too soft for use.
"We must temper them," I observed; and I ran and filled a
cocoa-nut-shell with water.
We again heated the hooks, and plunged them into the water, when we
found that they were considerably hardened. I then worked away with the
file till I had sharpened the barbs and reduced them to a fair shape.
With the twine we manufactured a couple of serviceable lines, to which
we attached some small pieces of coral.
Our companions not having returned, we agreed to walk along the shore to
the northward of the oyster creek, where Harry had been so nearly caught
by the shark. Having made up our fire so that it was not likely to go
out before our return, we set forth with our sticks in our hands. We
walked on rapidly, anxious to get back to receive our friends,--who
would, we thought, at all events return before nightfall. Having
doubled the creek, which did not run far inland, we proceeded along the
shore, turning our eyes every now and then seaward in case a vessel
should appear, though I scarcely expected to see one. Some way on we
discovered another opening in the reef, through which we might have
passed, had we known of it, with greater ease than by the one through
which we had entered.
"We must go out by that opening, if Mr Mudge determines to put to sea,"
observed Tillard; "though, without a compass or chart, I doubt whether
it will be wise to leave this island, where we have an abundance of
food."
I was inclined to agree with him, as I thought that we had a fair
prospect of being taken off by our own ship or by a passing whaler.
We had got nearly abreast of the opening, and were about to turn back,
when I caught sight of a dark object on the shore some distance off. I
pointed it out to Dick. "What can that be?" I asked.
"It looks to me like a boat," he answered; "and if so, perhaps we may
find that there are other people on the island besides ourselves."
We hurried eagerly on, and as we drew nearer we saw that we were not
mistaken. There lay a small boat, somewhat clumsily though strongly
built, but evidently after a European model. From the position in which
she lay, almost floating in a miniature lagoon still full of water, we
agreed that she must have been thrown up by an unusually high sea, and
left there by the receding wave. She was in no way injured; and except
that her upper works were likely to leak from having been exposed to the
sun for some time, she was still fit for use. Her painter was over her
bows; and Dick, having examined the end, was of opinion that she had
broken adrift while towing astern of a vessel, probably during a gale of
wind. What had become of the craft to which she had belonged, it was
impossible to say. Whether she had gone to pieces on the reef, or had
managed to haul off, was the question.
Hunting about, we found a broken oar and two pieces of board, which had
probably been washed out of her, "I think that we might get her afloat;
and it will save us a long walk if we can paddle her back," observed
Dick. I agreed with him; and we accordingly set to work to clear a
channel through the sand into the lagoon, using the pieces of board as
spades. It did not take us long; and though it was as much as our
strength could accomplish, we contrived, by putting our shoulders under
the gunwale, to lift the boat out of her bed, and to launch her on the
water of the lagoon. We then got in; and though she leaked, as we
expected, we were able with our hats to bale out the water fast enough
to keep her afloat.
Paddling on with the broken oar and one of the pieces of board, we
reached Refuge Bay, as we called the spot where we had landed. Much to
our disappointment, our companions had not returned. Expecting,
however, that they might arrive at any moment, we set to work to roast
some eggs and the remainder of our wild-fowl, sufficient for all hands.
Still our friends did not appear. Though we began to feel somewhat
anxious about them, the smell of the roast-duck made us so hungry that
we could not resist the temptation of eating our share without waiting
for them. Dick then set to work to prepare our fishing gear, and in the
course of the evening not only made a netting pin and needle, but
manufactured a landing-net, which would serve the double purpose of
catching some small fish for bait, and rifting up any larger fish likely
to break our tackle should we attempt to haul them out of the water.
Darkness now came on, and at last we had to give up all hope of seeing
our friends that night. We agreed that in all probability they had
found the distance greater than they had expected; so creeping into our
arbours, and repressing the anxiety we could not help feeling, we went
to sleep.
On awaking next morning, we found that the weather was still calm and
fine; and supposing that our friends would remain on the other side of
the island to breakfast, and perhaps still longer, we did not expect
them back till late in the day.
"I vote that we go off and try to catch some fish," I said. "Our
friends will be much obliged to us if we can offer them some fish
instead of the ducks, which, to say the best of them, are rather tough
and strong-tasted."
Dick agreed to my proposal; and having payed over the seams of the small
boat with the mixture we had before used, we found on launching her that
she no longer leaked to any extent. Before embarking, Dick, tucking up
his trousers, waded into the water with his hand-net, and soon caught an
ample supply of small fish for bait. Indeed, had we been pressed for
food, we should have been glad to cook and eat them. We then put the
jolly-boat's oars and the boat-hook, which had been preserved, into the
small boat, and shoved off, carrying a lump of coral with a long rope to
serve as our anchor and cable. We first tried the centre of the lagoon,
where before long I got a bite, and hauled up a fish with a large mouth
and scales of rich and varied colours.
"I should be sorry to eat that fellow," observed Dick; "for, in spite of
his gay coat, I suspect he is poisonous; but we will keep him in case
the bait runs short."
Dick soon afterwards caught three others of the same description. "We
must try fresh ground," he observed; so hauling up our anchor, we pulled
away towards the broad entrance of the lagoon, and again brought up. We
soon caught several more fish of good size and sombre colours, which, as
far as we could judge, were likely to prove wholesome. They tried our
hooks, however; and I was hauling up another big fellow, when he broke
away just as Dick was getting the landing-net under him. Another hook
disappeared before we could even see the fish which carried it off!
"I must try our shark-hook," observed Dick, putting on a large bait, and
fastening it to the end of a thick rope. "Nothing frightens the fish in
these seas; and if we were to lower down a hempen cable with a baited
hook, they would bite as freely as they would if we were to use a
hair-line."
The hook had not been overboard a minute when he shouted out, "I've got
hold of a big one now, anyhow!" and began hauling away.
"He must be a shark, by the way he is pulling," I observed.
"No, he isn't," he answered; "though he is bigger than any fish I ever
caught with a hook and line before. Just you lean over to the other
side of the boat, Mr Rayner, or maybe he'll capsize us. I'll tackle
him."
I did as Dick told me; while he hauled and hauled away, and soon brought
to the surface a fish shaped something like a perch, but apparently of
sixty or seventy pounds weight. It was indeed, I saw, a species of
sea-perch, from the large spines on its back.
In spite of the monster's struggles, Dick held it fast, and at length
hauled it into the boat. "This fellow is a prize," he exclaimed, and I
agreed with him. A blow on the head made it remain tolerably quiet; and
on further examination I was convinced that I was right in supposing it
to be the fish above-named.
Having now more food than we could consume, we pulled back to the shore;
to find that our companions had not yet returned. Having hauled up our
boat, we had ample employment in cleaning our fish for cooking. The big
fellow could only be dressed by being cut up into slices; but as we
wished to show it to our friends, we allowed it to remain entire. We
had just finished our own dinner on one of the fish--which being
well-shaped and of sombre hue, we believed to be wholesome--when we
heard a shout, and saw Harry and Tom running towards us, followed by
Tamaku.
I pointed to the big fish, which hung, in the shade, from the bough of a
tree.
"That's grand!" exclaimed Tom. "Still, I don't know but what the other
side of the island beats this; for we have found bread-fruit trees, and
plantains, and yams, and all sorts of other roots and fruits. And Mudge
has sent us over to tell you to bring the jolly-boat round, if you have
made her sea-worthy, as he thinks we should have a better chance of
getting on board a vessel on that side than this. There is a capital
harbour, in which she can lie at anchor; and a hill near it from whence
we can obtain a fine look-out over the ocean for ever so many miles.
Tamaku, Harry, and I are to remain here to keep a look-out on this side
till you have arrived on the other; and then you can come back and
relieve us if you think fit."
I told him that I was ready to do whatever Mudge wished, but that the
difficulty would be to launch the jolly-boat, which Dick and I had in
vain attempted to do.
"Five hands may accomplish what two could not," he answered. "Perhaps,
if we can get some rollers under her keel, we may be able to do it; and
Tamaku is as strong as an elephant."
Dick, feeling confidence in the sea-worthiness of the jolly-boat, was
ready to take her round, either by himself, or with one of us to help
him. I said that I was willing to go, and we settled to start the next
morning. Our friends were highly pleased at finding another boat in
which they could go off fishing. I reminded them that they must make
some oars first, as we should have to take ours; and as they only had
their clasp-knives, it would be a pretty tough job.
"Patience, as Dick says, will accomplish wonders; and Tamaku cuts away
with his knife in a fashion I never saw any one else do," answered Tom.
"I cut out the oars," said Tamaku. Indeed, he was ready to aid in any
way proposed, and was well-pleased to find that he should be able to go
fishing in the punt.
The rest of the day was spent in making some rollers, and also in
preparing some food for our voyage; for although the distance was not
great, we might encounter a calm or contrary wind, and be delayed longer
than we expected. Unwilling to lose our big fish, too, we now cut it up
into slices, which we smoked over the fire. Dick Tillard also advised
us to search for some salt, that we might still better preserve our
fish; and Tom and Harry undertook to do so after we had set sail.
The next morning, breakfast being over, and the tide at its highest, we
got the rollers under the boat, and by our united exertions managed to
launch her. Dick, on getting on board, was well satisfied with the way
in which he had repaired her damages, and expressed his confidence that
she was not only fit to perform the voyage round to the other side of
the island, but to make a much longer one if necessary.
Having taken our provisions on board, we hoisted the sail; and the wind
being from the southward, we intended to go out at the broad passage,
and round by the north end of the island. Our friends accompanied us in
the small boat to the entrance of the lagoon, and then with three cheers
left us.
As we kept some distance from the coast, to avoid any reefs which might
run off it, we could see the land stretching away much farther to the
north than we had expected.
"Our trip will be longer than I thought for, Mr Rayner," said Dick;
"but now we have got thus far, and have the wind with us, it will be
better to keep on, and maybe when we round the point we shall then get
it favourable; though I don't suppose Mr Mudge was aware how far the
island stretches to the northward."
I thought as Dick did, and agreed with him that it would not now do to
try and beat round the southern end, which appeared quite as far off as
the northern one. On we sailed; but still the northern cape we wished
to double seemed a long way off. The weather, too, which was very fine
when we started, now gave signs of changing. I saw that Dick was
looking graver than usual: still he was not a man to give up a task he
had undertaken; so we continued running on, though clouds had gathered
in the sky, and the wind blew much stronger than at first.
"We may as well take a reef down, Mr Rayner," he observed--"or perhaps
two. When we come to haul our wind, we shall have as much sail as the
boat will bear."
We soon had the reefs in, and the sail again hoisted up. The boat now
flew rapidly over the fast-rising, foaming seas. On the larboard side
the surf was breaking furiously on the coral reef, through which no
opening could be seen; while out at sea, on the opposite side, all was
dark and lowering. The wind came in fitful gusts; now from the
southward, now blowing from the land.