THE BARRIER REEF
BEFORE Tamate left Motu-motu for the Fly River he went to Australia.
The _Harrier_--a little ship that took them from village to village in
New Guinea--was broken and battered by the wild waves that surged on
the shores of the island. But she had become so useful that the workers
in New Guinea could not do without something in her stead while she was
in dock under repair. Mr. Chalmers went to get another boat to do her
work.
The _Harrier_ crossed safely from New Guinea to the coast of Australia
through stormy seas. She came to the great Barrier Reef that lies along
the shore of that part of Australia. At some parts the reef is more
than fifty miles out to sea, at others it runs almost close to the
rocks of the shore. It has openings through which ships may enter the
deep water within it. The _Harrier_ made for one of these some distance
north of Cooktown and entered it safely.
Although the night was stormy, and the wind against them, the crew
were in great spirits, and sang “Homeward Bound” as they worked. They
thought of their wives and the other friends who would welcome them in
port. It was Thursday evening, and now that they were safe within the
Barrier Reef they hoped to enter the harbour next morning.
But the weather was against them. Though they carried sail all night,
they found when morning came that they were very little farther south
than they had been the night before. They could not sail straight into
Cooktown. They had to tack backwards and forwards between the shore
and the reef. The wind was so strong that it carried away some of the
_Harrier’s_ sails. The anchor was let go beside Three Islands, and the
ship lay there till repairs were finished.
At four o’clock on Friday afternoon she set sail again. In the evening
the captain began to hope that if he tacked once more out towards the
reef he might bring her into Cooktown harbour with the return tack.
Tamate was in bed and half asleep. He heard the captain come down and
go to the chart-room. Could there be any danger? He was too sleepy
to trouble about that. A few minutes afterwards he was dreaming of
striking a rock--bump, thump, scrape!
But was he dreaming? He started up wide-awake. In a minute he was
dressed and on deck.
All hands were at work. The sails were hauled down. Then the ship’s
boat was launched. She carried an anchor out to deep water. As soon as
it held, the sailors turned the windlass with all their strength. They
hoped to heave the _Harrier_ off the rocks; but no, she was firm. All
night long each wave drove her against the reef. As the tide fell she
leaned over to one side more and more till her crew could scarcely move
from place to place on her deck. There was much work to do. They had to
drag on deck all the heavy things that were on board, so that if she
righted again with the evening tide they might throw them into the sea.
They hoped that if she was as light as possible they might heave her
off into deep water again.
All day long on Saturday they made signals of distress. But the hours
wore on and there was no sign of help. They were out of the channel in
which ships sailed for Cooktown.
The ship righted with the evening tide. Over went everything of iron
and all heavy cargo into the sea. The men at the windlass worked till
it seemed that the anchor-hawser would break. But the _Harrier_ was too
firmly fixed; she would not move.
The sea was still wild on Sunday morning. No one knew if the ship’s
boat could live in it. Yet if the boat did not go to seek for help,
no one might see them and then they would all be drowned. They could
not tell whether it was more dangerous to go in the boat or to stay on
the ship. The _Harrier_ was over on her side again. Before the boat
was sent off the sailors slid and scrambled along the sloping deck and
cut the stays. Then the masts were sawn partly through on the side of
the ship that was uppermost. Every one climbed to the high edge of
the deck, away from all the ropes and rigging, and waited. A great
wave came. Crack, crack, went the masts, and away into the sea went
masts and rigging that the ship might have a better chance of holding
together till help could come.
Then the boat was manned. It was not easy to get into her down the
side of the _Harrier_, whilst the waves dashed her wildly hither and
thither.
“What are you doing?” shouted Tamate, still on the deck of the
_Harrier_, to a sailor who was diving down to the hold searching for
something.
“Looking for the poor old cat, sir.”
He found him, too, and puss was dropped through the spray into the boat.
Then Tamate found another pet, a young cockatoo, half dead with fear,
and screeching at the pitch of his voice.
“What about ‘cockie’?” he said.
“Oh, we save him. He go in boat!”
So the boat with her strange crew rowed away. After fighting with
the waves for two hours she reached the Three Islands. On one of the
islands they found some empty huts that had been used by divers. There
they lit a fire. Then they set fire to a patch of long grass on the
island, in the hope that some passing ship might see the blaze.
The cat and the cockatoo were very funny. Puss had been so long at sea
that he hated the dry land as much as most cats hate water. He was
brought to land, but at each step on the sand he lifted his paw and
shook it, and then suddenly he darted back through the shallow water
and scrambled into the boat!
[Illustration: Puss was dropped into the boat]
“Cockie” was miserable. He stood helplessly where he was set, and
called for one of the sailors, his special friend. When he was taken to
the fire he soon cheered up, but he would not stay alone even beside
the fire. He looked very comical, with his draggled feathers, as he
followed the sailors and scolded them if they left him.
On Monday morning a ship came near. She picked up those on the island
and then steamed for the wreck. Even after she got close to it, it took
hours to fetch all those still on board the _Harrier_ from her to the
steamer.
When at last they steamed away towards Cooktown, even the sadness they
felt for the loss of their ship was forgotten for a little as they saw
the harbour ahead of them and knew that they were safe.