We had now obtained a fair amount of cargo, and I would have returned to
Brisbane well satisfied with our voyage; but Harry, being anxious to get
as many pearls as could be procured, resolved to wait on as long as they
came in freely and he had goods to pay for them.
Trading was just over for the day, when, looking towards the entrance to
the harbour, I saw the topsails of a brigantine appearing over a point
to the westward, but as the point was covered with trees, the masts of
the schooner could not have been seen from her deck. Her appearance
showed us that the island was not so completely unknown as Tom had
supposed. I immediately told Harry, who at once proposed sending a boat
to assist in piloting her in, and pointing out a good anchorage should
she be a stranger. Tom offered to go, and I agreed to accompany him.
As we got round the point, we saw that the brigantine was shortening
sail, and before we were up to her she had dropped her anchor in mid
channel, as if she were not aware of the existence of a harbour, or at
all events had no intention of entering it. She was tolerably secure
where she lay, and had the advantage of being able to get out again with
less difficulty than if she had come into the harbour. We, however,
went alongside. She was a rakish-looking craft, and there appeared to
be a good many men on board. As we went up her side we saw a swarthy
fellow with big whiskers standing to receive us.
"Hulloa, I did not know any other vessel was in here," he said, as we
gained the deck. "Where have you come from? What are you about?"
"We hail from Brisbane; we are engaged in trading with the natives," I
answered. "And may I ask you in return where you come from, and what is
the object of your voyage?"
"We come from Callao, and are engaged as you are," he answered.
I did not like the tone of his voice or manner, and thought it useless
asking any further questions. As I looked round the deck it struck me
that the people I saw were as ruffianly a crew as I had ever set eyes
on, and that the sooner we took our leave the better. I therefore
merely observed that on seeing his vessel coming up the channel,
supposing that he intended to enter the harbour we had pulled out to
offer him our assistance, but that as he did not require it we would
wish him good evening.
"I don't like the looks of those chaps," observed Tom, as we pulled
away. "They're after no good."
"I do not suppose that they will interfere with us," I remarked.
"I'm not so sure of that," said Tom. "They'll interfere with the
natives and spoil our trade; at all events it would be as well to keep a
watch on them, and the sooner we are out of their reach the better."
Old Tom was not generally an alarmist; but I did not fancy that even out
in the Pacific, in the middle of the nineteenth century, any crew could
be found who would venture to commit an act of violence on an English
trader when they would be so surely discovered and brought to justice.
Still, I fancied that Harry, who was always prudent, would take all
necessary precautions. On hearing the account we gave of the trader he,
however, to my surprise, laughed at my apprehensions.
"She may not be altogether honest, and I daresay her crew would not
scruple to ill-treat the natives; but they will not venture to interfere
with us, or to misbehave themselves while we are here to watch them," he
observed.
He, however, afterwards, having had a conversation with old Tom, instead
of the usual anchor watch at sunset, ordered half the crew to remain on
deck, the guns to be loaded, and the small arms placed in readiness for
instant use. Sam Pest was in the first watch, and as I walked the deck
I spoke to him as I frequently did.
"I have been hearing about the strange craft which came in this evening,
sir," he said, "and from what they say I think it's more than likely
she's the one I was aboard of some time ago. Strange pranks she played.
Her skipper was a regular rough one, never minded what he did, and
thought no more of a man's life than that of a dog. I mind what
happened once when we were away to the westward after sandal-wood, where
the black men of one island are always at war with those of another, and
when one side gains the victory never fail to kill and eat their
enemies. We had gone to one island where the natives were friendly, and
had got them to cut down and bring aboard a good quantity of the wood.
When they had cut down all that was to be found in that part of the
island, and we had shipped the best part of it, the skipper told them to
bring off the remainder in their canoes and he would pay them
handsomely. No sooner were they on board than he invited them down into
the hold to receive their payment, when he had the hatches clapped on
over them, and casting their canoes adrift made sail. He then told them
that he was going to take them to another island where there was plenty
of sandal-wood, and that when they had cut it down for him and shipped
it he would take them back to their own country. This quieted them,
though it seemed strange that they should have believed him. In three
or four days we got to the island he spoke of, when about half the crew
well armed landed with the black fellows, and soon set them to work on
the sandal-wood trees, which were some way from the coast. We were on
the watch all the time to prevent them or ourselves being attacked by
the natives, who kept at a distance, for they dreaded our firearms, as
we had shot three or four of them for coming too near. We made our
prisoners carry the sandal-wood on their shoulders down to the harbour,
when our boats took it on board. We went on in this fashion till we had
got a full cargo, notwithstanding which the skipper said he must have
the remainder of the wood cut down, and ordered our prisoners to go and
fetch it. As they knew the way they trudged on as they had done for
several days past. As soon as they were out of sight the skipper told
us to give them the slip and return to the boats. On getting aboard he
ordered the anchor to be hove up, and sail made, and stood out of the
harbour. Just then we saw the sandal-wood cutters come rushing back
waving and shouting to us.
"`You must shout louder for me to hear you,' cried the skipper. `I
cannot stop for you.'
"Presently we saw a whole army of natives with spears and clubs come
rushing out of the wood. They soon overtook the runaways, every one of
whom was struck down or speared through before they reached the beach.
"That's an easy way of paying our debts," says the skipper, and that was
the only remark he made about the unfortunate wretches who were killed;
and as the people in those islands are all cannibals I have no doubt
were eaten by the next day.
"This will give you, sir, some notion of the sort of man the skipper
was, and if the same man commands the brigantine out there, it's just as
well to be on our guard against him."
When I went below to get some supper I told Harry what Sam had said.
"I cannot take more precautions than we are now doing," he answered;
"and as soon as we get a breeze to carry us out of the harbour, we'll
put as wide a distance as we can between him and ourselves."
It appeared after all, when morning came, that our precautions were
unnecessary, not a canoe nor a boat was seen in the harbour; indeed,
Harry said that even supposing the crew of the brigantine were the
greatest ruffians afloat it was very improbable that they would venture
to attack us. Only a few canoes came alongside bringing pearls or
oyster-shells. The natives said that if we would wait for a few days
they would procure a further supply from some beds at the other end of
the island. Harry, however, determined to sail as soon as possible. We
now only waited for a fair wind, without which it would have been
dangerous to attempt the passage between the reefs.
Breakfast was just over when a boat was seen pulling towards us; she
evidently belonged to the brigantine. The guns had been secured, the
small arms placed out of sight, and the awning having been rigged, Mary
and Fanny were on deck seated with their work in their hands. Presently
the boat came alongside, and the skipper whom we had seen the previous
evening stepped on deck. Harry received him politely, and begged to
know the cause to which he was indebted for a visit from him.
"Just come to learn what you are about, here," answered the skipper in a
gruff tone. "I am Captain Samuel Myers. My vessel is the _Wasp_, now
belonging to Callao."
"I am happy to see you, Captain Myers; but I thought that my brother,
who visited you yesterday evening, had told you that we were on a
trading voyage, and about to return immediately to Brisbane."
"What have you been trading in?" asked Captain Myers. "I should not
have thought there was much to be got in these islands."
Harry frankly told him, adding, "We have, I believe, obtained all the
pearls the natives had collected."
"Where those came from, others may be got," observed the skipper. "I
know a trick or two to make the natives work for me; and I should be
obliged to you, captain, if you'd show me some of those you have got,
that I may see whether they are worth having."
Harry, not liking to refuse, as it would have shown want of confidence
in his visitor, told me to bring up one of the cases, as also some
specimens of the oyster-shells. I did not think it necessary to select
the finest. When Captain Myers saw them his eyes glittered.
"I did not think there were such pearls to be got in these parts," he
observed. "Have you many of them, captain?"
"Enough to satisfy me," answered Harry. "Indeed, as I said before, I do
not think there are many more to be procured at present."
"We shall see about that," remarked Captain Myers, glancing his eyes
round the deck. They fell, I observed, on the guns, and he evidently
noted each man of our crew, who had come up to have a talk with the
strangers alongside. Harry had not invited any of the latter on board,
and I guessed had no intention of doing so.
Captain Myers waited, as if expecting to be asked below to take
something, as is usual when one skipper visits another; but Harry, who
did not like his appearance more than I had done, apologised by saying
that, as the cabin was devoted to the use of the ladies, he could not
invite strangers into it; but not wishing altogether to be inhospitable,
he ordered the steward to bring up some wine and spirits and biscuits,
which were placed in a tray on the companion-hatch. Our visitor,
without ceremony, poured out for himself half a tumbler of rum, to which
he added a very small quantity of water.
"I like a nip neat at this time of the morning," he observed, as he
gulped it down. "It sets a fellow up. Well, as you have got ladies
aboard, I won't trouble you with my company any longer," he added,
taking another look round the deck. "Good morning to you," and without
more ado he stepped back into his boat.
I saw him surveying the schooner as he pulled away. As soon as he was
gone, Sam Pest came aft.
"He's the very chap I thought he was, and as neat a villain as ever
lived," he said. "I knew him at a glance, but I do not know if he knew
me. If he did, he did not show it; but that's just like him, for he is
as cunning as need be, and, depend on it, will be up to some trick or
other if he thinks he can play it to his own advantage."