"What! you no think of our clothes?" she exclaimed at length. "You
leave the frocks, and gowns, and shoes, and all the little girls'
things? Oh, you thoughtless men!"
We felt ourselves rebuked.
"Well, we must go back at once, Frau," I answered. "I confess that we
ought to have recollected that you would require clothing, and that
mat-made garments, however suited to the climate, are not so becoming as
those you had on board. We will go back and fetch them."
"Oh no, no!" exclaimed Grace. "It is already late, and you have had a
long row to-day--some accident may be happening."
"Not much fear of that, miss," observed Tarbox. "You shall have your
duds, even though we had twice as far to pull for them. Just take care
that no one shakes his pipe over those tins there," he observed,
pointing to the cases of powder. "They might chance to send the house
flying up over the trees, and the unfortunate smoker with it."
We had by this time landed all the articles we had brought on shore.
They were somewhat miscellaneous, but all likely to prove useful.
Besides the fire-arms and ammunition, we had found some cases of
preserved meat and hams, a cask of biscuit, some tins of pepper and salt
and mustard, a case of wine, a cask of pork, a box of cigars, and a
couple of Mr Hooker's cases. We thought it would do his heart good to
see them; and I knew they were among those he valued most for their
contents.
"That was indeed thoughtful of you," observed Emily, when she saw the
cases.
"It was not I who thought of them," I answered; "it was Oliver. He said
he thought it would cheer up Mr Hooker to know that some of his things
had been saved; and we must try and get some more on shore if we can."
"Oh yes, yes!" exclaimed both the girls together. "Bring his treasures
rather than ours. Many of them, probably, he cannot replace; and we can
dress, I daresay, in mats, or the cloth I have seen made out of the
paper mulberry-tree."
"Well, well, young ladies," said Tarbox. "We can find room, I daresay,
in the boat for your light things, as well as Mr Hooker's chests; so I
hope, if we can get hold of the things, you will not have to rig up in
any outlandish fashion."
He said this as we were shoving off the boat with our oars; and now,
sitting down, we again pulled out towards the wreck.
"The gentleman on shore says he has lived here for several years," said
Oliver. "All that time no vessel has called off here. Now, if we are
to get away, would it not be better if we were to try and build one
large enough for the purpose, so that we may quit the island whenever it
is thought best?"
"You are right, Oliver," said Tarbox. "If we can get hold of the
carpenter's tools, and ropes and spars enough, with blocks and sails, we
may build a craft out of the wreck, or of the wood we can cut down in
the island. It does not take so long to dry as it does in Old England."
Roger Trew agreed with Tarbox, and so did I, that we ought to make the
attempt, and thanked Oliver for his suggestion. We determined,
therefore, at once to secure as much rope and as many blocks as we might
want, as well as sailcloth or sails and spars.
"I have heard talk of a man out in the Pacific Islands who built a
vessel with far less means than we have got," observed Tarbox. "He was
a missionary gentleman, though he knew well how to work at a forge, as
well as to use his saw and hammer. To the best of my recollection, he
had only got a file and a saw and an old anchor to begin with. He first
taught the natives how to assist him, and then set to work to cut down
the trees and to saw them into planks. He next put up a forge, and made
the bellows, and manufactured nails and pins, and all the work he
wanted."
"Oh yes, I have read of him," said Oliver. "He was Mr Williams, the
missionary. He built the vessel, I think, at Raratonga, when he was
left there by himself, without another European to help him. She was
called the _Messenger of Peace_, and he sailed many thousand miles
afterwards on board her in his missionary voyages. If Mr Williams--who
had no knowledge of ship-building except such as he obtained from
observation of the vessels he visited--could do so, we, at all events,
ought to be able to build a craft capable of carrying us to Singapore,
even though we may not secure much more from the wreck."
"There is one thing we want, and that is iron," observed Tarbox; "and
rope and blocks, and provisions, too. It would take us some time to put
such a craft together."
"All I know is," said Oliver, "that Mr Williams had but the iron part
of an anchor, a pick-axe, and a few garden tools, with some iron hoops.
His vessel was from about sixty to seventy tons, and from the time he
cut the keel until she was launched not more than four months had
passed. Besides the bellows and forge, he made a lathe, and indeed
manufactured everything that was required. His sails were composed of
fine mats, woven by the natives; and the rope was manufactured from the
hemp which grew on the island. In the same way he found substitutes for
oakum, pitch, and paint, and everything he required."
"He you speak of must have been a very wonderful man," observed Tarbox.
"I consider that a man who could do what he did is fit to be Prime
Minister. Why, he would have made the Thames Tunnel, if he had tried."
"Very likely he would," said Oliver; "but God wanted him for His work,
and that was to go out to those islands to the east of us in the
Pacific, and to convert the natives to Christianity."
By this time we had regained the wreck. Our first search was for the
clothing of the Frau and the young ladies. We managed to get up a trunk
which contained a portion of them, though the water had got in, and had
greatly spoiled the contents. We fished about for some time, and then
got up another box, which had suffered in the same way.
"It cannot be helped," observed Tarbox. "We will not be particular how
the old lady and little girls look; and the clothes will soon dry--
that's one good thing. The sun is not idle out in these parts."
Our next hunt was for the carpenter's tools. When I say that half the
deck was under water, it may be supposed that there were very few things
which had escaped soaking. Fortunately the carpenter had stowed many of
his things away in a locker on the upper side of the vessel. These we
secured, and then searched for his chest, which we knew contained some
more of the necessary tools.
"Poor fellow! if he had stuck by us instead of attempting to swim on
shore, he would have been here to lend us a hand," observed Tarbox.
Oliver was very busy hunting about. Of course, we had thrown off our
jackets, and retained only our trowsers. We did not mind, therefore,
plunging into the water, now and then diving down in the hopes of
getting hold of something. At length Oliver cried out that he felt the
handle of a chest, which he thought must be the carpenter's. We soon
got a hook and rope, and hauled it up, when with much satisfaction we
found he was right. It was somewhat heavy, and we doubted if we should
get it into the boat. At last Oliver suggested that we should open it,
and carry some of the tools separately, so as to lighten it. This we
did; and by the time we had got a few coils of rope on board, and some
blocks, our boat was heavily laden.