THE MANGROVE CREEK.
The secluded creek in which the ship lay moored had a little history
of its own, that was better than the misty recollections of old Marco
Polo, who, by-the-way, never visited Madagascar at all. It was in
this solitary little basin, or natural dock, that the high-pooped and
low-waisted caravella of the first discoverer of Madagascar, Lorenzo
Almieda (son of Don Francisco Almieda, viceroy of India for Don
Emmanuel of Portugal, in 1506), came to anchor, after a voyage that
was long and perilous; and now, as our friends Morley and Heriot
gazed on its strange and fantastic cliffs, the former thought of the
Serendib of the "Arabian Nights," and the latter, who was better
read, recalled the Island of the Moon, and the Cerne of Pliny, with
the works of other writers, who averred that Madagascar was an isle
divided between two races--one of giants, and another of dwarfs--the
Kimos--about three feet high. These were always at war, until the
former were victorious, at a place called Itapere, two leagues
south-west of Fort Dauphin, where a pyramid of stones attests the
alleged slaughter and destruction of the poor dwarfs.
The creek was also known to be the haunt of the famous freebooter,
Captain Avery, an Englishman who gained vast plunder by his piracies
against the emperors of Mogul and China, and who, about the latter
year of Queen Anne's reign, lived in and about Madagascar, with the
strange title of King of the Seas.
Not the least remarkable features of this creek were its enormous
blocks of rock crystal, that sparkled in the sunshine with a thousand
prisms of wonderful light and beauty. Trees surrounded it; the tall
and straight voua-azigne; the bushy fouraka, distilling its
green-coloured balsam; the wild fig, whose fruit yields a milky
juice; the palm-tree, whose leaves are like feathers, and form
roofing for wigwams; the ancient papyrus, the cotton and the nutmeg
trees, all grew on the rocks; while betel, pepper, and tobacco were
the weeds that grew among the jungle, where the puff adder--a reptile
about a yard long--and other serpents lurked.
Just as the sun was rising in his tropical splendour from the sea,
and through the opening to the eastward sent a glorious flush of
light into the leafy recesses of the creek, Noah caught a couple of
gallant turtles, each weighing nearly three hundred pounds.
After bringing them on board, he lowered them into the water by a
line, tied, as sailors alone can tie, round them, and left them to
paddle about, to swim, duck, or dive as they pleased, till required
for the larder.
As for the one brought by Captain Puffadder, he flatly refused to
kill it till sunset, on the plea that "a turtle never dies till the
sun goes down, that he warn't goin' to be so jolly cruel as to leave
it a nole day in a nagony."
From the deck Ethel and Rose, with their opera-glasses, were never
weary of watching all the strange trees, plants, birds, and insects
that surrounded them; everything seemed novel, save the turtles,
which, of course, were like those they had seen squattering in
fish-tubs at home.
Prior to their appearance on deck, with the first peep of dawn, a
long hose, water-casks, and so forth, had been put in operation, and
thus, before noon, a sufficient supply of pure water had been pumped
into the tank from a spring which flowed over a mass of crystal rock,
and through the decayed trunk of a fallen tree, which formed a
species of natural duct.
Morrison, Foster, and Noah Gawthrop then fell to work upon the
starboard side of the fore-rigging; Phillips and Tom Bartelot on the
other, and all proceeded to tar down, and in many places to rattle
anew the shrouds, and various other repairs went on with rapidity;
while the doctor and Morley, with a gun, went ashore, and ascended
the rocks towards the summit of the cliff, which overhangs the
entrance of the creek.
The ascent proved long and toilsome, for everywhere the matted jungle
grew thick; the weedy luxuriance there is wonderful, and so woven
that it seems the result, not of a season's rank vegetation, but of
ages; and as many little reptiles are always lurking amid it, no
small care is requisite for avoiding them.
At last the two explorers reached the plateau, or summit of the
cliff, and merrily gave a united shout, which made their friends at
work on the fore-rigging pause and look up, and Ethel and Rose, who
were seated on the quarter-deck, wave their handkerchiefs in response.
From the elevation of more than 300 feet, the creek, when viewed,
seemed like a pool, the ship a toy.
Beyond the islet Morley and Heriot saw the whole sweep of the
southern end of the great island of Madagascar, from Cape St. Mary
towards Ainse des Galiona, with the pale blue and distant summit of
Botistmeni, the highest mountain to the southward of that lofty chain
which divides the island into two parts.
In many places the coast was flat and low, and by their glasses they
could see that the shore looked green and slimy, and here and there
were dome-shaped huts of mud and palm-leaves, sheltered by clumps of
ebony and raven trees.
North-westward, the ocean they hoped to traverse on the morrow was
flashing in its noonday brilliance; but it seemed lonely and void;
not a sail was visible on all its vast expanse. Towards the
south-west the higher portions of the islet hid the watery path they
had pursued from the great channel of the Mozambique.
"We may ascend higher in _that_ direction," said Morley, pointing,
"and see if a sail is in sight there."
"Stop!" exclaimed Heriot, in an excited tone, as he applied to his
eyes his powerful double-barrelled ship-glass, and gazed intently
towards the mainland.
"What do you see that interests you?"
"Look, Ashton, look! What is that creeping out from behind that
wooded headland?"
"Where?"
"There--about five miles off."
"A boat--a long craft of some kind, without masts."
"Another follows now."
"And another--all painted red!"
"Three!" said Heriot, in a low voice.
"The proas--the three red proas!"
"Down, Ashton, stoop down, lest they see our figures at this distance
against the clear sky!" exclaimed the doctor, suiting the action to
the word.
Lying at full length among the thick grass that covered all the
summit of the cliff, the two friends, resting on their elbows, took a
long sight of the strange boats.
"Each is full of men. I could count their heads."
"They are pulling fast, and steering direct for this island!"
exclaimed Heriot.
"We have been lured in here and deceived, I doubt not, by that old
Malay villain, Puffadder. Old sailors have strange instincts at
times, and Noah seemed to suspect as much."
"This is why he would neither come on board nor pilot us into the
creek. But we may do him an injustice; he may not be in league with
these pirates at all."
"Oh, Ethel!" exclaimed Morley, speaking as if to himself, "your
forebodings, your dreams are perhaps about to be terribly realised."
"Let us away to the ship, we have not a moment to lose! See how the
paddles flash in the sunshine. They are all pulling as if the devil
was after them!"
Their mode of rowing was peculiar, for the paddlers all faced the bow
of each proa, and scooped the water astern.
Breathless with excitement, heat, and alarm, and with their
imaginations picturing visions of cruelty and slaughter, Ashton and
Heriot came plunging down the jungle-covered steep with such speed
and impetuosity, that their friends in the ship paused again and
again to observe them in wonder, though believing that they had some
very unusual reason for this sudden display of activity.
Both were young, light, and active; thus, in less than a quarter of
an hour, they had reached the ship by means of the gig, which they
had left moored among the mangroves, sprang on deck, and reported
what they had observed towards the mainland of Madagascar.
Could they have seen a little way to the south-west they might have
observed something more; but the sight of the three proas proved
quite enough for them.
Their tidings produced instant consternation.
"That wily old villain, Puffadder, has recommended us to warp in
here, and then betrayed our whereabouts. By Heavens--we are in a
precious mess!" exclaimed the captain.
"And Ethel and Rose," said Morley, turning to Heriot, with a voice
and face expressive of grief and terror; "what is to be done now?"
"Done! Why, sir, we must make the best of it," said Noah,
energetically, as his old man-o'-war instincts came upon him, and he
began to strip to his waist; "if these etarnal warmints get hold o'
the ship, they'll pick every copper nail out of her!"
"Captain Phillips," said Morrison, a sharp-witted and resolute
Scotchman, and who spoke with more rapidity than his countrymen
usually do; "the ship is moored athwart the creek, with her port side
to the mouth of it. Bring over her two starboard carronades, and
work the four in battery together. Thus we may knock these proas all
to pieces by round shot as they head for the creek in succession."
"You speak like a nangel or a nadmiral, Mr. Morrison!" said Noah.
"Excellent!" cried Phillips; "to work and with a will, my friends."
He threw aside his coat, and bouncing about with an agility
remarkable for one of his years and fat little figure, added, "Bring
on deck all the arms and ammunition we have, doctor; get the powder
out of the magazine aft, Mr. Ashton; and take your daughters below,
Mr. Basset, please, for the sight of their pale and woe-begone faces
flurries me. Look alive, my hearties. Captain Bartelot and Mr.
Morrison help me here; bear a hand to cast loose these two starboard
guns."
The two carronades were soon clear, their tompions taken out, their
touch-holes cleaned, and they were run over to the port or larboard
side. Originally the _Hermione_ had been pierced for twelve guns,
but, as we have stated, she had only four six-pound carronades, and
only four shot remaining for each. They were loaded, shotted, and
primed with great rapidity by Noah, who used a capstan-bar as a
rammer. Then, diving below, he suddenly reappeared from the steerage
with a hamper full of empty bottles.
"What are these for?" asked Captain Phillips.
"Grape and canister, sir," replied old Noah, as he proceeded to smash
the bottles and fill the carronades with the fragments even to their
very muzzles.
Morley was too busy distributing powder, even to speak one farewell
word to Ethel, as she was taken below by Heriot, who soon after
reappeared with all the arms they had on board: to wit--his own pair
of excellent pistols, the captain's two six-barrel revolvers, six old
brass-barrelled pistols taken from the mutineers, their
sheath-knives, the double-barrelled fowling-piece, a sharp hatchet,
and a harpoon.
Thus they had nearly a brace of pistols each, and, fortunately,
plenty of ball ammunition made up into cartridge form for the
contingencies of the Madagascar coast.
In less than ten minutes all was in readiness; all were certainly
silent, pale, and desperate, for all felt that death and utter
destruction were awfully close at hand.
The misery of the Bassets and the two lovers was more poignant than
any emotion felt by their companions, who were chiefly inspired by
the natural impulse of self-preservation, without the paralysing
horror that on their lives depended the lives of others who were most
dear to them; but the whole affair had come upon them with the
suddenness of a thunderclap, and as yet, perhaps, they could scarcely
understand the terrors of their situation.
"These cursed proas were about five miles off, you say, doctor?" said
the captain, in a low voice, as he looked at his watch.
"Yes, sir; five to leeward of the island."
"The wind is light, though increasing."
"They had neither spars nor sails up, sir, and so may not be here for
more than an hour yet, though swiftly paddled."
"They may not come here at all," said Bartelot; "for perhaps they may
be quite ignorant that we are lying in the creek."
"If not aware now they will soon be," said Morley; "they were
steering directly for the creek, and I don't think these mangroves
will hide the ship's spars."
"Still they may pass it," said Tom, hopefully, as he carefully capped
his revolver, and slung it by his side.
The others shook their heads despondingly, and Noah put a quid into
his cheek, with the nowise cheering reflection that it was "mayhap
the last" he would ever put there.
"It was a fortunate proposal of yours to climb the cliff, doctor,"
said Morley.
"I thank Heaven for the thought," replied Heriot, emphatically; "for
had those Malay devils found us unprepared----"
"My blood runs cold at the idea."
"How quietly they might have come upon us in the night," suggested
Morrison.
"They are perhaps strong enough to despise stratagem," said Captain
Phillips.
"More likely, sir, that old bumboatman, Puff, hadn't time to blow the
gaff on us, or we might all have been with Davy Jones last night,"
said Noah.
All spoke in a species of whisper, and all looked at their watches
from time to time, and listened so intently, that an uninformed
spectator might have thought they were waiting with impatience, but
they heard no sound, save the buzz of insect life in the mangroves
and dense jungle, around that slimy creek.
All was equally still below. Secured in the cabin, Ethel and Rose
were on their knees, with their old nurse, in an agony of terror,
amid which they strove in vain to pray. Mr. Basset, too frail to
work at the guns, or be active in the defence of the deck, sat in the
companion-way, ready to reload the fire-arms when they were
discharged, and now Noah got the matches ready.
How the old fellow's eyes lit up! A brightness spread over his
storm-beaten and sorely-wrinkled visage, making him seem almost young
again, for he felt that it was to him--the old man-o'-war's-man--he
who had heard the thunder of Sebastopol, and seen the Russian bombs
strewing all the Valley of Death; he who had gone with Peel's Brigade
and Havelock's Highlanders to Lucknow and to Delhi--his superiors and
shipmates were now looking chiefly for direction and advice.
They all knew well enough how to load and fire, or ram home the
charge with a capstan-bar; but skill in adjusting the sight and the
quoin under the breech became a different affair.
"Now, gen'lemen shipmates by your leave," said he, "we must fire and
reload each gun as fast as possible; but it will be safer if number
four don't fire till number _vun_ is reloaded."
Almost despairing alike of a successful defence, or an ultimate
victory, Captain Phillips suggested the idea of putting Mr. Basset
and his two daughters into the gig, and sculling her to a secluded
place among the mangroves.
"But, if the ship is taken, and we are all destroyed," said Morley,
"oh, what in Heaven's name would become of them then? They would die
of terror, exposure, and starvation."
"The creek is full of alligators, too!" added Heriot.
"But what may happen to them on board if we are all killed?" asked
Captain Phillips.
The contemplation of that result nearly drove Morley and Heriot mad,
and they knew not what to reply.
"It might give the poor ladies, at least, one other chance for life
if we hid them in the maintop, for we may have to take to the rigging
yet, if these warmint capture the deck by boarding, and up there we
may have to fight to the last with knives or pistols, or whatever we
have."
"And how, Noah, if the Malays cut the mast away?"
"Or fire the ship?"
"No chance of escape, and none of rescue!" groaned Captain Phillips;
"there is a fine breeze in the offing, as I can see by the whitening
waves; but here, with not hands enough to tow her out, the crippled
_Hermione_ might as well be on the top of a mountain."
"Ah, if I had that artful savage with the cocked hat within range of
this!" said Morley, through his clenched teeth, as he slapped the
butt of his gun.
"Run up the ensign, Noah; let them look at that, whoever they are.
We'll die game under it, anyhow," said Phillips, as something of a
British sailor's pride and defiant spirit filled his heart.
"Aye," responded Noah, as he ran the scarlet ensign up to the
gaff-peak, where it floated languidly at first on the still air of
the sheltered creek, but anon the coming breeze made it stream out
boldly; "many a round shot and Whistling-Dick I've seen a bowlin'
under you," added Noah, as he made fast the halyards, looked up at
the colour, and nodded to it as to an old friend.
Anxiously the eyes of the "few but undismayed"--for their courage
certainly rose with the desperation of the emergency--were turned to
the mouth of the creek, where, between the rocks and mangroves, the
deep blue Indian sea, now flecked with white by the breath of a fine
steady breeze, was seen stretching in the distance far, far away,
until it blended with the sky.
Still nothing was seen and nothing heard!
But ere long, each of the eight men on the deck of the _Hermione_ set
his teeth, breathed hard, and turned to his companions, eye seeking
eye, while all their hearts beat quicker.
For suddenly there was an unmistakable sound of paddling in the air,
and then a shrill yell went up to heaven, as the sharp red prow of a
proa, full of dark and active figures, shot round the entrance of the
creek, and a row of rapidly-worked round paddles, shaped like huge
battledores, furrowed up all the slimy water into foam, as they
headed her straight for the ship.