"Yes, yes!" he said; "dey bery good. I make food from dem. Come to
look for water dere."
Following him, we proceeded to the hollow I have mentioned. The ground
was low and soft, and gave us some hopes of finding water. We instantly
set to work, digging with our bamboo spades. We dug and dug in the soft
earth; but though it was somewhat moist, not a thimbleful of water
appeared. Still we did not despair. Oliver proposed that we should
look for another spot at a lower level, where we might hope to be more
successful. We accordingly set to work to force our way through the
jungle towards the shore. Even with sharp axes we should have found
some difficulty; but it was very heavy work with our knives. Still, it
had to be done. Water was the first thing we required. We had
progressed a hundred yards or less, though it had appeared to us upwards
of a mile, when we heard close to us a peculiar cry, which sounded
something like, "Wawk--wawk--wawk!--Wok--wok--wok!" loud and shrill
above our heads. On looking up we caught sight of a magnificent bird,
with rich crimson wings, and a long pendant tail like strips of satin.
The head, and back, and shoulders were covered with the richest yellow,
while the throat was of a deep metallic-green. The end of the side
plumes had white points. I had little difficulty in recognising the
bird of paradise, and I remembered Mr Hooker speaking of one which he
called the red bird of paradise. This, I had little doubt, was the bird
before us. Away he flew, however, followed by a smaller bird of a
sombre brown plumage, which I could scarcely have supposed was his mate,
had I not known that the wives of these gay-plumaged gentlemen are
nearly always robed in Quaker-like simplicity. As he went, he appeared
to be pecking away at the fruit of various trees over which he passed.
It seemed surprising, too, that his long ribbon-like tail should have
escaped catching in the thick foliage through which he rapidly flew.
We, poor creatures, scrambling through the lower part of the forest, had
a difficulty in making our way, without losing our close-fitting
garments; indeed, as it was, they were sadly torn by the underwood. We
were rewarded for our exertions, by reaching another hollow in which a
number of the sago-palms grew.
The sago-palm has a creeping root-stem, like a nipa-palm, and Mr Hooker
had told me that when it is nearly fifteen years old it sends up an
immense terminal spike of flowers, after which it dies. It is not so
tall as the cocoa-nut tree, but is thicker and larger. The mid-ribs of
its immense leaves are twelve or fifteen feet long, and sometimes the
lower part is as thick as a man's leg. They are excessively light,
consisting of a firm pith, covered with a hard rind. They are
frequently used instead of bamboo; entire houses, indeed, are built of
them. They serve for the roofs of houses, as also for the floors; and
when pegged together, side by side, they form the centre part of the
panels of frame houses. As they do not shrink, but look clean and nice,
without requiring varnish, they serve better for walls and partitions
than do ordinary boards. Boxes, also, are made of them; indeed, it
would be difficult to describe the numberless uses to which they are
put. The trunk, however, is the more valuable part, as the pith of the
interior is the staple food of large numbers of the inhabitants of these
regions. I will not stop here to describe how the sago is made; but I
will do so shortly.
We again set to work with our bamboo spades, and dug away most
energetically. Some moisture on the ground encouraged us to proceed,
while the burning thirst from which we were suffering increased our
anxiety for success. As we dug lower the ground became soft, and more
and more moist, when Macco, putting down his hand, brought it up full of
liquid mud. "Water come soon," he exclaimed, digging away more
energetically than before.
"Hurrah!" I shouted. "A spring! a spring! We are indeed lucky!"
"Let us rather say that God is merciful," said Oliver, though in so low
a voice that it seemed scarcely as if he intended me to hear him.
"You are right," I answered; "I do feel grateful." Some bamboos grew a
short way off, and Macco, running to them, soon cut several pieces,
leaving the knots at the ends to serve as bottoms; we thus in a few
minutes were each supplied with a serviceable cup. By this time the
thick mud had settled down, though the water was far from limpid. We
each of us eagerly took a draught to quench our thirst. Thus, then, we
were supplied with the first necessary of life. By this time we had all
become very hungry; though we felt sure we could manufacture some sago
out of the sago-palms, yet it would be a work of time. Our chief hope
of obtaining food immediately was on the sea-shore--we might at all
events find shell-fish. Macco told us he was sure he could manufacture
some fishing-lines and hooks; the latter out of the bones of birds, and
the lines from some of the numerous creepers with which the island
abounded. While this was being done, however, we should be starved; we
therefore made the best of our way round through the path we had already
made to the shore. I had often thought the matter over, and I was sure
that many persons had lost their lives from not immediately setting to
work to try and find the means of subsistence. I had read of two
parties being cast away on the same island at a short distance from each
other: the one perishing; the other, from their energy and perseverance,
existing for many months, and ultimately escaping.
Oliver needed no urging, and Macco especially seemed ready to exert his
faculties in obtaining food. We looked along the beach, but the water
was up, and no shells with live creatures in them could we find. There
was no lack of empty shells, however, some of them of great size and
beauty, such as would fetch a high price in England.
"They are of very little use to us," I observed.
Macco heard me. "Not so sure of dat, Massa Walter," he said, for I
should remark that, having learned his English from Potto Jumbo, he
spoke very much in his way. "Here dis big shell make good cook-pot;
here clean out dis, make good cup; here plates, and here dis make good
spoon," and he picked up shells of different shapes.
"I wish, however, we could find something to put into them and cook," I
could not help saying.
Soon after, we had reached the beach where we had landed. We found the
sand soft and fine. Macco looked about, and then exclaimed, "Ha, ha!
here's somet'ing;" and he began digging away with the bamboo spade. In
a short time he produced a couple of turtle's eggs: we hunted, and soon
found several more. "Dese do till tide go down and we find shell-fish,"
he observed.
Though very hungry, I had no fancy for eating turtle's eggs raw. "We
must try and find the means of lighting a fire," I observed. "Do you
think, Macco, you could produce a flame with two pieces of wood, as is
done in some countries?"
"Not so sure," he answered; "but if we had flint, I soon find pith to
set on fire."
From the character of the island, which appeared to be entirely
volcanic, I had no hope of finding flints. Just then it flashed across
me that a few days before I had been using a glass from my telescope as
a burning-glass, and I recollected putting it in my pocket on being
called off suddenly to attend to some duty; I had little hope, however,
of finding it unbroken. I put my hands into my trowsers pockets, and
then into my jacket pockets, but it was not there; neither was it in my
waistcoat pockets, but there was a hole in one of them, and after
feeling about, I found it had worked its way round into the corner of
the waistcoat by my side. It had thus escaped being broken, or
discovered by the Malays when they took away our money. I produced it
with great satisfaction. Macco ran off immediately, and came back with
some dried pith and a bundle of sticks. We soon produced a flame and
had a fire burning. Macco then made a collection of round stones, which
he put on the fire, at the same time filling one of the shells with
water. "Too much water," he observed, turning some of it out. He then
transferred the hot stones to the water, which began bubbling and
hissing as if it were boiling. "Put in the eggs," he observed; "soon
boil dem." We followed his advice, and in four or five minutes the eggs
were boiled thoroughly, quite as well as if they had been put into a pot
on the fire. We had now no danger of starving, for the present at all
events; and indeed, if we could manufacture the sago, we might supply
ourselves with food sufficient to last for any length of time.
The tide had, meantime, been going out, and here and there where the
rocks were exposed we caught sight of shell-fish. I, however, knowing
even in that climate the danger of sleeping entirely exposed to the
night air without a roof over the head, advised my companions at once to
set to work and build a hut. We accordingly went back to the sago-palm
grove, and cut down as many of the leaves as we could carry. With these
we returned to the beach, on the highest part of which, just under the
trees, we proposed putting up a temporary hut, till we could get a more
permanent building. We soon had an edifice erected, something like a
North American Indian wigwam, into which we could all creep and lie
conveniently at full length. By this time the tide had gone down, and
by crawling along the rocks, Macco was able to capture a number of
shell-fish. This he did by cutting them off the rock with the bamboo
spear: our only fear was lest they should be poisonous. We asked him
what he thought about the matter. "All right," he answered; "dem good
for eat." He had brought an ample supply for our supper; some were
roasted, but others were boiled as we had done the turtle's eggs. After
this, commending ourselves to One whom we knew would watch over us, we
lay down in our small hut to sleep.
The sun was just rising out of the horizon when we awoke; the sea was
calm and blue, and the sky was beautifully clear. Our first discussion
while at breakfast on turtle's eggs, was the best means of manufacturing
the sago. If we could get a tree cut down, there would not be much
difficulty; but how to fell it with our clasp-knives was the question.
"Perseverance conquers all difficulties," observed Oliver. "I remember
the story of the mouse letting the lion out of the net by nibbling away
at the meshes. We can work away at the stem with our knives, and do a
little every day, in the meantime subsisting on the eggs and the
shell-fish."
"Yes, yes," said Macco; "we choose small tree, enough for us to live on
for many days, and we soon have him down."
Before starting, however, the tide being still low, we collected a
further supply of shell-fish. As we were proceeding along the beach, we
saw, just rising as it were out of the water, a small ridge. "What can
that be?" I said, drawing nearer to it. I saw, as I got close to the
water's edge, that it was a huge bivalve. As far as I could judge, it
was alive. I called my companions, and catching hold of it, we dragged
it up, though our united strength could with difficulty accomplish our
object.
"Take care no put hand inside," said Macco, "or he bite bery hard!"
I am certain that I am right when I say that it could not have weighed
much less than a hundredweight. It would afford us not only one, but
several meals probably, if the creature inside bore any proportion to
his house. I did not know the name at the time, but I afterwards
learned that it must have been a specimen of the _Tridacna gigas_. I
have since heard that the shells themselves, without the mollusc, weigh
even more than that; indeed, I afterwards saw some in use of larger
size. Having captured our prize, however, we found that there was some
chance of our not being able to get at the mollusc inside; for when the
difficulty of opening an ordinary oyster-shell is remembered, the force
required to get at the inside of so large a shell as this would be no
easy task. It was important, however, to get the creature out at once,
for if it were exposed to the sun, it would, in all probability, not be
fit to eat by the evening. Macco, ever fertile in resource, ran off,
and soon returned with a supply of bamboos, which he split up into fine
long wedges. He hunted about on every side till he found a small
opening; into this he instantly inserted the fine point of a piece of
bamboo, and going round the shell, placed another in a similar position.
There was no lack of pieces of coral rock lying about which had been
broken off by the sea, and thrown up on the beach; these served as
hammers. "Now," he cried out, "strike! strike altogether!" We did so,
but Oliver's instrument and mine made no impression; Macco's, however,
went right in, and seemed to cut some part of the creature; for directly
afterwards, by using the wedges as levers, we lifted up one of the
valves, and exposed to view a huge mass of blubber-like flesh. Macco
seemed highly delighted. "Dat bery good, bery good!" he exclaimed, and
soon cut the whole away from the shell, and held it up to let the water
run out.
"I should be very hungry before I could eat that," I observed.
"Ah, Massa Walter," he answered, "you will be bery hungry if you no eat
dis, and many oder curious t'ings. De great t'ing is, if good to eat.
If good, no mind looks; better to eat dis dan starve."
With some powerful blows, he separated the two shells, and now begged us
to carry them up to the hut. "Dey hold water," he observed; "and we
soon have all we want to live well." Having made up the fire, he cut
three very long bamboo stakes, with which he made a triangle over it, so
high that the flames could not reach the poles to burn them. From the
centre he hung down the huge mollusc, so that the smoke might circle
round it. "Dere," he said, "dis now dry, and keep well till we want eat
it."