"Set to work and scrape up the ground, for it is scarcely necessary to
dig it very deep. We will put in the corn, and you will see that my
prediction will be fulfilled. Fortunately, I saved a quantity of seed,
which I placed with my collections in concealment," he said.
From house-building all hands set to work to cultivate the ground, and
we quickly had a large space cleared for the reception of the seed,
which, although not a native of that clime, flourishes, as it does
throughout the greater portion of the American continent, whatever may
be the latitude.
By this time my uncle had almost recovered from his wound, and Oliver
and the Malay were much better and able to move about. Both my uncle
and Mr Hooker could converse with the Malay. They found him a very
intelligent fellow. He told them that his name was Ali, that he had
followed various occupations, but that, having gambled away all his
property, he had as a last resource taken to piracy. Among other
things, he had been a bee-hunter, and seemed to possess a great
knowledge of those wonderful insects. He boasted also of his skill as a
fisherman. Constantly listening to us as we talked, he soon began to
pick up a great many words of English. He was thus able to understand
things said to him, though he could not make any very clear reply.
Mr Thudicumb now once more urged the importance of commencing our
proposed vessel. I rather think that the two naturalists were in no
hurry to get away from the island, as they were both of them anxious to
replace the objects of natural history which had been destroyed by the
pirates. However, they could not refuse to comply with Mr Thudicumb's
request, and we therefore set forth with tools to the bay where we had
collected the materials, which, it will be remembered, we called Hope
Harbour. Fortunately, the pirates had not discovered it, or they would
probably have burned our wood. The timber and planks which had been
brought on shore did not appear very promising; at first, indeed, I
thought it would be impossible to make a vessel out of them.
"Perseverance will overcome difficulties," observed Mr Thudicumb.
"Never fear, Walter. With our axes and saws we shall be able in time to
smooth away these planks and fit the ribs to the new craft. However,
the first thing to be done is to get the keel laid, and for that purpose
we must have one of the longest and straightest trees we can find."
There was a clear road from the bay up into the interior, and while one
party prepared the spot where the vessel was to be built, levelling the
ground, and fixing logs on which the keel was to be placed, under Mr
Thudicumb's directions another started to select the timber. We were
not long before we came to a tall tree, fully eighty feet in height, and
as straight as an arrow.
"That will do admirably for us," said Mr Thudicumb; "for though our
vessel must not be so long, we shall require the thicker part for the
purpose."
Tarbox, Roger Trew, and Potto Jumbo set to work to fell the tree, the
forest loudly resounding with the blows of their axes. I must not
occupy too much time in describing how the tree was felled, the branches
cut off, and squared into shape. We then, fastening some ratans round
it, dragged it on rollers to the bed which had been prepared, and thus
in due form laid the keel of the _Hope_. Mr Thudicumb, with pencil and
paper, had drawn a plan of the proposed vessel.
"We will give her a good floor," he said, "though she may be rather long
for her beam; but a long vessel is better suited to the seas we may have
to go through. We will rig her as a cutter or yawl perhaps."
Day after day we repaired to the bay; but to my eye our progress was but
slow indeed, as every timber had to be reformed, and the old bolts taken
out of them, as well as out of the planks. It was a long business.
With the exception of Mr Thudicumb and Tarbox, we were all
inexperienced carpenters. At last, indeed, Mr Thudicumb proposed that
he and Tarbox and Roger Trew, with Potto Jumbo, should devote themselves
to building the vessel, while the rest of us either went fishing, or
assisted Mr Sedgwick and Mr Hooker in collecting objects of natural
history, or in manufacturing sago, or in making other articles which
would be required for the voyage or present use.
We set to work to make our sago, much in the way I have before
described. We had got through the pith of a couple of trees, when one
day Ali made us understand that he had seen some bees at a distance, and
that he was sure we might procure some honey, if we would assist him in
obtaining it. The Frau pricked up her ears at the sound.
"Oh yes, yes!" she exclaimed; "it will be great thing with sago-bread.
You go, Ali; go!"
It was arranged that Mr Hooker, with Oliver and I, should accompany Ali
in his search. We started, therefore, accompanied by Merlin. Ali
supplied himself with a couple of large cloths. He also, as he went
along, cut some creepers, one a stout one, and another, of considerable
length, very fine. These he begged us to carry. With our guns as
usual, we took our way through the forest. I had often remarked that he
seemed very uncomfortable, as if there was something he wanted very
much. As we were proceeding, we came to several tall, slender, and
extremely graceful palms. The trunks were from six to eight inches only
in diameter, though the sheath of green leaves that sprang from their
summits was nearly forty feet from the ground. They were indeed elegant
trees. Mr Hooker, when he saw them, said they were the pinang, or
betel-nut palm--_Areca catechu_. We found the nuts growing from a stalk
hanging down in the centre, forming a loose conical cluster. Ali no
sooner set eyes on them, than he climbed one of the trees, and brought
down a bunch of the nuts. He put several of them into the bag he
carried by his side, and we proceeded some distance, till we came to a
stony place, when he instantly, selecting two large stones, pounded some
nuts. They were ripe, each about the size of a small chicken's egg, the
skin of a brightish yellow. Within was a husk, similar to the husk of a
cocoa-nut. Within this again was a small spherical nut, not unlike a
nutmeg, and somewhat hard and tough. Having picked some leaves, he took
one of them, and produced from his pocket a small piece of lime about
the size of a pea. This he mixed with some of the nut, and enclosed in
the leaf. He then took the roll between his thumb and forefinger, and
rubbed it violently against the front of his gums, his teeth being
closed and his lips open. After this, he began to chew it for some
time, and then held it between his lips and teeth, a portion protruding
from his mouth. Nothing could be more disagreeable than the result, for
immediately a profusion of a red brick-coloured saliva poured out from
each corner, dropping to the ground as if his mouth was bleeding. He
seemed, however, highly satisfied, and continued on at a brisk pace.
Soon, however, he spoke a few words to Mr Hooker, who forthwith
produced from his pocket a tobacco-bag. The eyes of the Malay glistened
with delight as he saw it; and as soon as Mr Hooker gave him a small
portion of the tobacco, cut very fine, he put it in with the betel,
leaving long threads, like pieces of oakum, hanging out on either side
of his mouth, not improving his appearance; and on again he went,
chewing the mass with evident delight.
Mr Hooker was not at all surprised. He told me that not only the men
but the women indulge in the same unpleasant habit. When a number of
them meet to chat, the various articles are produced from a box at hand,
and a high urn-shaped receptacle of brass is placed in the middle of the
circle, into which each dame or damsel may discharge the surplus saliva
from her mouth. When a guest comes in, the _siri_ box is immediately
presented, that the mouth may be filled before commencing conversation.
In a short time a bee was seen flying before us; and immediately Ali
hurried on at a rapid rate, till we came under a tall, straight tree,
with a very smooth bark, and without a branch for at least eighty feet
from the ground. On one of the long outspreading branches I saw a
couple of large combs hanging down, of a black colour. After watching
it for a minute, there was a slight movement on the outside, and I
discovered that it was covered with bees. Ali now produced a small
bundle of resinous wood, which he had brought with him to serve as a
torch, and giving it to me to hold, lighted the end. He then fastened
one of the cloths round his loins, and another over his head, neck, and
body, leaving, however, his face, arms, and legs without covering. The
thin coil of rope he had brought he secured to his girdle, while he
formed round the tree a circle of tough creepers, inside of which he
placed his body. He now secured his torch to the end of another piece
of ratan, eight or ten yards long, with his chopping-knife fastened by a
short rope. Having done this, he began to ascend the tree, throwing his
ratan band a short distance above him, leaning back at the same time and
placing his feet against the trunk. It appeared to us who looked on
that every instant he would perform a somersault, and come down head
first, with a great risk of breaking his neck; but he seemed to have no
fear of that sort. Up he went. After ascending a few feet, and getting
a firm hold with his bare feet, he again threw up the creeper; and thus
he went on and on. If there was any unevenness in the trunk, he took
immediate advantage of it by either placing his foot upon it or catching
the creeper above it. At length he got within about ten feet of the
bough on which the bees hung. He then lifted the torch, swinging it
towards the bees, so that the smoke ascended between him and them. He
next in a wonderful manner mounted on the bough; and we could not help
dreading that the bees would attack him and sting him to death. He,
however, brought the torch nearer and nearer to them; and in a short
time the cones, which before had been black with bees, were completely
deserted, and their natural white colour appeared. The insects, instead
of flying towards him, formed a dense mass above his head, where they
seemed to hover as if contemplating an attack. Some, braver than the
rest, occasionally flew towards him; but he, with perfect coolness,
brushed them away, allowing the smoke to circle round above his head,
thus keeping them at a distance from his face. At length he got close
to the cone, and, with one stroke of his knife, cut it from the bough,
when, fastening the end of the rope round it, he lowered it down to us.
Proceeding along the bough, he cut the other cone away in the same
manner, when the bees, angry at being deprived of their habitation,
food, and their young, began to dart down towards us. He, of course,
had enough to do to think of himself, and continued waving the torch
about his body, while he returned by the same way he had gone up, though
at a somewhat more rapid rate.
Meantime the bees had begun to swarm about our heads. Poor Merlin was
furiously attacked, and I saw him driving his nose among the leaves, in
the vain endeavour to get rid of them. Defeated by the pertinacious
insects, he rushed howling away through the forest. We, having secured
the cones, followed at full speed, the bees pursuing us, and every now
and then giving a disagreeable sting at our ears, face, and hands. We
knocked them off as they approached as well as we could. Though we were
glad we had got the honey, we agreed that we had paid somewhat dearly
for it. However, our blood was in good order, and the pain soon wore
off. We had not only got some delicious honey for our friends, but some
wax, which was of considerable value. We agreed, however, that the next
time we went bee-hunting we would each of us carry a torch for our
defence.
"Ali says there are many more cones in the island, and it is a pity not
to take them," said Mr Hooker. We were therefore ready to proceed,
provided we could find torches. Ali made us a sign to follow him, and
soon afterwards, on the side of a hill which we were passing, he pointed
out some tall trees. On approaching them we found that from the trunks
masses of a sort of gum had exuded.
"Those are dammar trees," observed Mr Hooker. "It burns readily, and
the natives of these regions use it for torches; indeed, in some places
it serves them instead of candles."
We found not only small lumps, but some weighing upwards of fifteen
pounds. Some were hanging on to the trunk; others had fallen, and were
partly buried in the ground near the roots. Ali took some of these
lumps, and, putting them on a piece of rock, with the blunt end of his
axe reduced them to powder. He then cut some palm-leaves, which he
formed into tubes about a yard long, and these tubes he filled with the
resin, binding them tightly round with small creepers. He presented one
to each of us, and then signified that if we followed him he would find
more bees' nests, and that we should thus have the means of defending
ourselves.
"But poor Merlin, what can he do?" I could not help asking.
"We must defend him then," said Mr Hooker; "and Ali must make another
tube to be at his service."
Another was quickly manufactured, and we then proceeded on carefully to
discover the nests. In a short time we came to another tree with no
less than four cones hanging to one of the branches. In spite of the
injuries he had received (for he had not escaped altogether free), Ali
prepared to ascend the tree. He made his preparations as before; and it
was wonderful to see the composure with which he occasionally swung the
torches towards the creatures while ascending, or waved it slowly above
his head when he got on the bough. Four more fine cones rewarded him
for his enterprise. The bees descended as before, but we received them
with the smoke from our dammar torches, which helped considerably to
keep them off. Now and then, however, one bold fellow would rush in
between the wreaths of smoke and inflict a disagreeable sting; and we
had difficult work to defend Merlin's nose and tail at the same time.
Mr Hooker, however, stood stock still, merely letting his torch burn
quietly; and though some of the bees settled on him, they seemed to
consider that they could do him no harm, and again flew off in pursuit
of Oliver, Merlin, and I, as we ran away from them.
We now commenced our return homewards, laden with our honey cones and a
supply of dammar. We were proceeding across a space rather more open
than usual, when we saw a creature run up the trunk of a tree and fly
obliquely from it towards the ground, near the foot of another, up which
it immediately commenced its ascent. I should have supposed it to be a
huge bat, had I not seen it climbing as it did. Ali immediately made
chase; and as the creature did not move very fast, he succeeded in
overtaking it before it had got to any great distance up the stem. He
gave it a tremendous blow on the head, when it fell to the ground, and
we thought it had been killed; but as we reached it, it gradually began
to move off, running along like any ordinary quadruped. We caught it
just as it was about to ascend another tree, when again it received
several heavy blows. Even then, however, it seemed not to be dead. Ali
coming up, pinned it to the ground with a forked stick. We then saw
that it was a creature about the size of a cat, and that it had broad
membranes, extending completely round its body to the extremities of the
toes, as also to the end of its tail. This was of considerable length,
and by the way it curled round a stick we placed near it we found that
it was prehensile. The creature we now saw had a young one clinging to
its breast, a miserable little wrinkled, hairless monster, and
apparently as yet unable to see. Its fur was beautifully soft, almost
like velvet. The little one had escaped injury; indeed, the mother was
evidently still alive.
Mr Hooker at once recognised it as a flying lemur, the learned name for
which is _Galeo-pithecus_. Ali having covered up its head, undertook to
carry it home, as Mr Hooker hoped it would recover.
"Your uncle will be delighted to have it in his menagerie," said Mr
Hooker; "and I believe that, unless we cut the creature's head off,
nothing will deprive it of life. So I have no doubt that it will be in
good health again by to-morrow morning."
We had not got far after this adventure when I heard a curious noise
close to us, which I thought must proceed from some bird. It sounded
like "Tokay, tokay;" almost, indeed, like a human voice. I drew Mr
Hooker's attention to it. He also thought it must be some bird, till
Ali coming up at once informed him that it was a lizard, and that he had
often heard the creatures thus talk. What it said, he declared he could
not tell, but he was very positive that it did talk some language.
Perhaps some day a person who did understand it might come that way.
As may be supposed, we were cordially welcomed on our return, especially
by the Frau, who was highly delighted with the honey and wax which we
brought her.
"Oh! now you shall have honey for your breakfasts, and wax candles when
you sit in the house to read or stuff the birds and beasts; though I
cannot tell what use they are after you have taken the meat out of them,
or wherefore you get so many skins, and pack them up in the boxes," she
remarked.
The Frau was no naturalist.