SHIP AHOY!--RESCUED--THE KIND SKIPPER--ENTER THE ORINOCO--THE
HURRICANE--TWO MEN OVERBOARD--WRECKED ON A TREE--AN ANXIOUS QUESTION--A
CURIOUS SCENE--WE OBTAIN FOOD--QUACKO, OUR NEW FRIEND.
Uncle Paul had charged Arthur and me to call him should there be the
slightest change in the weather. The wind, however, continued very
light, and the boat glided forward, as well as we could judge, steering
by the stars, towards the point we desired to gain. I kept my eyes
about me as long as they would consent to remain open, though it was
often a difficult task.
Several times I was nodding, when Arthur aroused me with his voice. It
must have been about midnight, when, looking astern, I saw a dark
shadowy form gliding over the surface of the ocean. I rubbed my eyes,
supposing it to be a thing of the imagination; but there it was, not
many cable-lengths off, coming up towards us.
"See! see, Arthur! What can that be?" I cried out.
"A sloop or a small schooner!" he exclaimed.
We at once called up Uncle Paul.
"Can she be a vessel sent in chase of us?" I asked.
"No fear of that. It could never have been supposed that we had got so
far south; and they would not know in which direction to look for us,"
he answered.
Still I could not help having some doubts on the subject.
"We will hail the stranger, and learn what she is," said Uncle Paul; so,
uniting our voices, we shouted out, "Ship ahoy! ship ahoy!"
A voice replied, in Dutch; and my father, who understood the language,
at once cried out,--"Heave to, for the love of Heaven, and receive us on
board!"
"Ya, ya," was the answer; "we will be up with you presently."
In a few minutes we were alongside the stranger, a small Dutch
trading-sloop. As soon as we were all on board our boat was dropped
astern, and sail was made. Her skipper, Mynheer Jan van Dunk, gave us a
kind reception, exhibiting the greatest sympathy when he heard of the
sufferings we had endured, and seeming especially moved at hearing of
those Marian had gone through.
"I have one little maid just like her," he said, taking her in his arms.
"She must go into my berth and sleep while we get supper ready. Poor
little dear, she has had no food for so many days."
"Thank you, I am not so very hungry," said Marian; "but I am very
thirsty."
"Well, well, then, we will get you some tea ready," he answered.
"Peter," he cried to his mate, "get a fire lighted in the caboose.
Quick, quick, now; they all want food--I see it in their looks."
The skipper said this while we were seated round the table in his little
cabin, pretty closely packed, as may be supposed.
"We want water more than anything else," said Uncle Paul.
"Ya, ya; but we will put some schiedam into it. Water is bad for
starving people."
Peter quickly brought in a huge jug of water, but the skipper would not
allow him to fill our tumblers till he himself had poured a portion of
schiedam into each of them. "There now," he said, "there will no harm
come to you."
Never had I taken so delicious a draught. It certainly had a very
beneficial effect, and we set to with a will on some cold salt beef,
sausages, and biscuits, which the kind skipper placed before us. By the
time we had finished the viands we were quite ready for a fresh supply
of liquid. Peter then brought in a large pot of hot tea, which perhaps
really refreshed us more than anything else. Captain Jan had not
forgotten Marian. All this time he had kept supplying her, till she
assured him that she could eat and drink no more.
After we had taken all the food we required, the skipper and his mate
arranged the cabin to enable us all to sleep with as much comfort as
possible. My father was put into the mate's berth, Uncle Paul slept on
the after-locker, Tim and Arthur on either side, and I on the table. I
should have said that Captain Jan's crew consisted of his mate Peter,
another Dutchman, a black, and two Indians. Worn-out with fatigue as we
were, we all slept on for several hours, and when we awoke our first
impulse was to ask for some food, which, thanks to the honest mate, was
quickly supplied to us. As the cabin was on deck, and the door and
scuppers were kept wide open, though small, it was tolerably cool; and
we felt, after being so long cooped up in the boat, as if suddenly
transported to a luxurious palace. Captain Jan looked in on us very
frequently, and did not appear at all to mind being turned out of his
cabin, but, on the contrary, exhibited a genuine pleasure in attending
to our wants.
By the evening Marian was quite herself again, and wished to get up and
go on deck; while our father was certainly very much better. He also
wanted to get up, but the skipper insisted that he should remain quiet
till his strength was perfectly restored. My father and Uncle Paul had
been so prostrated mentally as well as physically, that it did not occur
to them to ask where the vessel was bound to, nor had the captain asked
us where we wished to go.
Captain Jan was exactly what I had pictured a Dutch skipper--short, fat,
and fond of a drop of schnapps, and fonder still of his pipe. He was
kind-hearted and good-natured in the extreme, and was evidently pleased
with the thought that he had been the means of saving our lives. His
mate Peter was in appearance very unlike him: tall and thin, with a
melancholy expression of countenance; which, however, belied his natural
disposition, for he was really as merry and kind-hearted as the skipper.
Arthur, Tim, and I went on deck for a short time, and found the sloop
slipping pretty quickly through the water; but I cannot say that we took
a "turn" on deck, for there was very little space to enjoy more than a
fisherman's walk, which is three steps and overboard. We soon returned
to the cabin to have supper, which Sambo the black, under Peter's
supervision, had exerted all his skill to cook. It was not of a refined
style of cookery, but we enjoyed it as much as if it had been the most
magnificent banquet. We had not yet made up for our loss of sleep, so
once more we all lay down in the little cabin, the kind skipper and his
mate still refusing to occupy their own berths.
Next morning, when I went on deck, I found that it was a perfect calm.
After breakfast the oars were got out; and as none of us wished to be
idle, we offered to take our turn with the rest. I should have said
that the vessel belonged to Stabroek, Guiana, then a Dutch settlement.
After having visited Trinidad, she was on her way up the Orinoco to
trade with the natives. Had my father and Uncle Paul known this, they
would certainly have requested the skipper to carry us to Stabroek.
"I am afraid that we put you much out of your way, eat up your
provisions, and keep you out of your cabin," said Uncle Paul to Captain
Jan.
"Oh no, no, my friends," answered the honest skipper. "I am glad of
your company, and that little girl has won my heart; so, if you are
pleased to remain, we will just run up the river for a week or two, and
when we have done some trading with the natives I will carry you to
Stabroek, or wherever else you may wish to go. We shall have no
difficulty in obtaining provisions and water, and I have still a good
store of schiedam, so, my friends, you will not starve, you see."
Although my father and Uncle Paul would much rather have landed at once,
they could not insist on the skipper going out of his course, and they
accordingly agreed to his proposal.
We had been rowing on for some time, the calm still continuing, when I
saw Peter the mate eagerly looking out ahead. Springing up on heel of
the bowsprit, he cried out, "Land ho! We shall soon be within the mouth
of the river."
"Faith, it's curious land now," exclaimed Tim. "My eyes can only make
out a row of bushes floating on the top of the sea."
"We shall find that they are pretty tall trees, by the time we get near
them," observed Peter.
All hands now took to the sweeps, and made the sloop walk through the
water at the rate of three or four miles an hour. Still the current,
which was running out pretty swiftly, would have prevented us from
entering, had not a breeze sprung up. Sail was made immediately, and at
length we found ourselves entering one of the many mouths of the mighty
Orinoco, with mangrove-covered islands on either side. There was
nothing either picturesque or imposing in the scenery, except the great
width of the river. As we advanced, however, we caught faint glimpses
of high mountains rising to the southward. Not a sail dotted the vast
expanse, but now and then we saw native canoes paddling close to the
wood-covered shore, though none of them came near us. The intention of
our skipper was not to delay longer at the mouth of the river than to
obtain provisions, but to proceed at once some hundred miles or so, to
the district where the natives with whom he proposed trading resided.
We had to keep the lead going, with a bright lookout ahead, to prevent
the risk of running on any of the numerous shoals and sandbanks which
impeded the navigation; and at length darkness compelled us to bring up
and furl the sail, for it would have been dangerous to proceed on during
the night without a pilot who was intimately acquainted with the
channel.
I was awakened during the night by a loud rushing sound, and on going on
deck I found the captain and mate anxiously watching the cable.
"What is the matter?" I asked.
"Nothing as yet," was the reply; "but we shall be fortunate if our
anchor holds, and we are saved from being carried down the stream. The
river has risen considerably since we entered, and a strong current is
coming down from the interior."
Happily our anchor did hold. The skipper and his mate kept watching it
the whole night through, and had a second one ready to let go should the
first yield; so I felt no inclination to turn in again, though I would
not awake the rest of our party.
Next morning there was a strong breeze, and we were able to weigh anchor
and run up against the current. When passing an island some way up, a
couple of canoes came off with provisions to sell, when we readily
became purchasers. Among other articles we bought a number of
land-tortoises, which, when cooked, we found delicious. We had also a
supply of very fine ripe plums, which grow wild in the forest on the
banks of the stream. Altogether we fared sumptuously, and soon
recovering our spirits, began to look more hopefully at the future. My
father even talked of being able to return to Trinidad some day, should
the Inquisition be got rid of. The people in the country generally
detested it, and so especially did the new settlers, who had been
accustomed to live in countries blessed with freer institutions.
For fully a week more we ran on, the wind favouring us--otherwise we
should have made no progress. By the appearance of the banks we saw
that the river had risen very considerably, and in many places the whole
forest appeared to be growing out of the water, which extended amid the
trees as far as the eye could reach. We had thus an advantage, as we
could make a straight course and pass over sandbanks and shallows;
whereas in the original state of the river we should have had to steer
now on one side, now on the other, to avoid them.
The weather had hitherto been very fine; but at length one night, some
hours after we had brought up, the wind began to increase, dark clouds
gathered in the sky, the thunder roared, and vivid lightning darted
through the air.
A cry arose, "The anchor has parted!" Sail was instantly made, and we
drove before the blast. The broad river, hitherto so calm, was lashed
into fierce waves, amid which the little sloop tumbled and tossed as if
she was in mid-ocean. To anchor was impossible, and no harbour appeared
on either side into which we could run for shelter. The trees bent
beneath the fierce blast which swept over them. Our only course was to
keep on in the centre of the stream. Our brave skipper went to the
helm, and did his best to keep up our spirits by assuring us that his
sloop had weathered many a fiercer gale. The seas, however, continually
broke aboard, and the straining mast and shrouds threatened every
instant to yield to the fury of the tempest. If there was danger where
we were, it was still greater near the submerged forest on either side;
for the lofty trees, their roots loosened by the rushing water, were
continually falling, and one of them coming down upon our vessel would
quickly have crushed her, and sent her helplessly to the bottom.
Marian behaved like a true heroine, and terrific as was the scene, she
endeavoured to keep up her own courage and that of all on board.
Hour after hour the little vessel struggled on amid the waves, till at
length a blast more furious than any of its predecessors struck her,
heeling her over, so that it appeared as if she would never rise again.
Her sails were blown to ribbons, and the sea carried away her rudder.
Now utterly helpless, she drove before the gale; which, shifting to the
northward, blew directly across the stream, bearing us towards the
submerged forest, where the waves as they rolled along dashed up amid
the tall trees, sending the spray high over their branches.
On and on the vessel drove. A heavy sea rolling up filled our boat,
towing astern, and, for our own safety, we were compelled to cut her
adrift. Before us arose out of the water a large tree with
widespreading branches; and in a few minutes the vessel drove violently
against it. Her bowsprit was carried away, and a huge rent made in her
bows, when she bounded off; but it was only to drive helplessly further
on. Every moment we expected to see the trees which were bending above
our heads come down and crush us. Again the wind shifted, and we found
ourselves drifting along by the edge of the forest. We endeavoured to
get a rope round the trunk of one of the trees, but the effort was vain.
Peter and another of the crew, in attempting to do so, were dragged
overboard. We heard their cries, but we were unable to assist them, and
they were quickly lost to sight in the darkness.
On and on we drove. The water was now rushing into the vessel, and
every instant we expected that she would go down. All chance of saving
her was abandoned; and our only hope was that she might be driven
against some tree, into the branches of which we might clamber for
temporary safety. The roaring of the waves, the howling of the wind
amid the branches, the dashing waters, and the crashing of the boughs
torn off by the tempest, created a deafening uproar which almost drowned
the sound of our voices. Uncle Paul, however, still tried to make
himself heard. "Trust still in God. I will endeavour to save Marian,"
he said. "Be prepared, my friends, for whatever may occur; don't lose
your presence of mind." Scarcely had he spoken when the sloop was
dashed with great violence against the trunk of an enormous tree, which,
with several others forming a group, stood out from the forest. The
water rushed rapidly into her, and we felt that she was sinking.
Uncle Paul, taking Marian in his arms, now sprang to the bows, followed
by Arthur, who grasped my hand. "Come along, Guy; I must do my best to
save you," he exclaimed, dragging me along. I did not at the moment see
my father, who was in the after part of the vessel; but I knew that Tim
would do his utmost to save him. Uncle Paul, in a manner a sailor alone
could have accomplished, leaped on to a mass of hanging creepers which
the sloop was at the moment touching; while Arthur and I found
ourselves--I scarcely knew how we had got there--on another part of the
vast trunk, when we instinctively began to climb up the tree. I saw
that two other persons had reached the tree, when loud cries arose; and,
to my dismay, as I looked down from the secure position I had gained, I
could nowhere discover the vessel: she had disappeared. In vain I
called to my father: no reply came. I now perceived the black man Sambo
clinging to the upper part of a bough; and lower down, Kallolo the
native holding on to a part above the water, out of which he had
scrambled.
Just then the cry arose from amid the surging water of "Help!--help! I
shall be after being drowned entirely, if somebody doesn't pick me out
of this!" I recognised Tim's voice; and Arthur and I were about to
clamber down to help him, when Kallolo the native stretched out his
hand, and catching Tim's as he floated by, dragged him out of the water.
We went down to his assistance, and soon had him hauled up safe on the
bough.
Tim had just expressed his gratitude to Kallolo, when he missed my
father. "Ochone! what has become of the master?" he exclaimed. "Shure,
he hasn't been drowned? Ochone!--ahone! what will become of us?" None
of us could answer Tim's question. My father and the brave skipper had
disappeared with the vessel, which, with too much reason, we feared had
gone down. Tim only knew that he had found himself suddenly swept off
the deck, and struggling in the water. Probably an overhanging bough,
as the vessel swept by, had caught him. But, believing his master to be
lost, he seemed scarcely to feel any satisfaction at having been saved
himself.
With the fierce current rushing by the tree, and the heavy surges which
dashed against it, we could not tell how long it might stand; indeed,
every moment we expected to find it falling. Such must have been its
fate, had not its roots been deeply planted in the ground.
We now turned our attention to Uncle Paul and Marian, who stood in a
sort of network but a few feet above the waves, which threatened to
reach them. Our object was to get them at once into a more secure
position.
Day was just breaking, the light revealing a wild and fearful scene. On
one side the broad river, lashed into fierce waves, foamed and leaped
frantically; while on the other was the forest-region, the ground
covered, as far as the eye could reach, with turbid waters, intermixed
with fallen boughs and uprooted shrubs; while the trees sent down
showers of leaves, fruit, and branches, rent off by the wind. But we
had not much time to contemplate this scene. Arthur managed to reach a
bough just above their heads, and then called to Uncle Paul, and begged
him to climb up higher, so that he might get hold of Marian. It was no
easy matter. But at last he succeeded; and with my help and her own
exertions she was dragged up to the bough to which we clung. Uncle Paul
soon followed; and we were now all able to rest and contemplate the
future. Whether the waters would rise still higher, or how long they
would cover the earth, we did not know. Of one thing we were certain,
that they would not cover it altogether; but in other respects our
position greatly resembled that of the inhabitants of the old world when
the flood first began to rise, and they sought the hilltops and the
highest branches of the trees for safety. With them the water continued
to rise higher and higher, and they must have watched with horror and
dismay their rapid progress. We knew, let the floodgates of heaven be
opened ever so wide, that the waters must ere long be stayed.
"Where is papa?--oh! what has become of him?" exclaimed Marian, looking
round and not seeing our father among us.
"I trust that he is still on board the sloop," answered Uncle Paul,
wishing not to alarm her. "Had she gone down, we should have seen her
masts above the water. Probably, lightened of so many people, she
floated on, and may be even now at no great distance. We must not
despair; though our position, I own, is very critical."
"Shure, I think the master must have escaped," observed Tim. "He was at
the other end of the vessel when the big bough knocked me overboard, and
he and the skipper may even now be better off than we are; for if they
get the craft in among the trees, they may stop without any trouble of
anchoring; and they will have plenty of grub aboard, which is more than
we are likely to find among these big trees, though we are much obliged
to them for giving us shelter just now."
Poor Marian seemed somewhat comforted by these assurances, and asked no
further questions, but sat on the bough on which we had placed her,
gazing down on the waters, which rolled in rapid eddies beneath us.
We were talking of what we should next try to do, when we heard a loud
chattering above our heads; and looking up, we saw several monkeys,
which had descended from the topmost boughs, gazing down on us,--some
inspecting us with all the gravity of Turks, others swinging backwards
and forwards on the pendent vines, as if they felt themselves at home,
and were perfectly indifferent to our presence. While we remained
quiet, they held their posts. One big fellow, especially, with a long
tail and huge bushy whiskers, was unusually bold; and having crept along
a bough, sat himself down not a dozen yards from the native Kallolo, of
whom he appeared not to have the slightest dread. Kallolo began talking
to him in his own language, and as soon as he ceased the monkey
chattered a reply.
"He know me," said Kallolo. "We soon be great friends. Quacko!--
Quacko! Dat your name, I know. Come here, good Quacko. Tell me where
you been since you ran away from your old master," he continued.
"Quacko!--Quacko!" answered the monkey, imitating the Indian's tone of
voice.
Kallolo then began to work his way along the bough. The monkey, instead
of retreating, came nearer and nearer; when Kallolo stopped, still
speaking in the same soothing tone. Once more he moved on. It seemed
as if the monkey were fascinated; for I could not suppose that the
creature really understood the native, or that the native understood the
meaning of the monkey's chattering. At length Kallolo got within reach
of Quacko, when, gently stretching out his hand, he began to tickle the
monkey's nose. Then he got a little nearer, till he could scratch its
head and back. All this time the monkey sat perfectly still, although
its companions were climbing here and there, some swinging backwards and
forwards on the vines, others making all sorts of grimaces at us. At
length, to our surprise, we saw Kallolo take Quacko in his arms, and
quickly return with him into our midst. Quacko looked a little alarmed
at us, but was speedily soothed, and in a few minutes he appeared quite
at home.
"He has been among white men before this," observed Kallolo, showing the
monkey's ears, which had small gold earrings in them. "I thought so
when him first come to look at us. He and I great friends before long."
Thus was the extraordinary way in which Kallolo had apparently
fascinated the monkey accounted for. As the native had predicted, the
creature was soon as much at home with us as if we had been friends all
our lives. Strange as it may seem, under the perilous circumstances in
which we were placed this incident afforded us much amusement and
considerable relief. Our thoughts, however, were soon turned to a more
important subject,--the means of finding support. We agreed that the
monkeys could not live in the trees without food; and what assisted to
sustain them would help to keep us alive, though too probably we should
soon produce a scarcity.
Kallolo overheard us speaking on the subject. "We have plenty to eat,
never fear," he observed.
"I wish you could show us that same," said Tim.
"Why, we catch the other monkeys, and eat them," said Kallolo. "You
take care of Quacko, while I go and look for food."
As Kallolo spoke, he began to ascend the tree, and was soon lost to
sight amid the dense foliage. As we looked up we could not see anywhere
near the summits of the trees. We might, as far as we could judge, be
at the foot of "Jack's beanstalk." Taking Kallolo's hint, Tim tried to
catch one of the other monkeys; but though Quacko remained quietly with
us, they were far too cautious and nimble to allow him to get up with
them, and I feared that in his eagerness he would tumble off into the
foaming waters and be swept away. Uncle Paul at last called to him, and
told him to give up the chase as utterly hopeless. Uncle Paul, however,
advised us to search more carefully, in the hope that we might find
either nuts or fruit of some sort or other, or bird's eggs, or young
birds, which might serve us as food, while he remained to take care of
Marian.
I had not gone far when I heard a sound, coming from no great distance,
of "Wow! wow! wow!" and looking along the bough, I caught sight of a
bird rather smaller than the common pigeon, but of beautiful plumage.
Its head and breast were blue, the neck and belly of a bright yellow;
and, from the shortness of its legs, it appeared as if sitting, like a
hen on her nest. It saw me, but made no attempt to move. I had little
hope, however, of catching it with my hands, and suspected that it would
fly away should I attempt to approach it nearer. I therefore retreated,
and considered what was best to be done. Then, I bethought me that by
cutting a long stiff sepo to serve as a wand, I might form a noose at
the end of it, and thus catch not only the bird before me, but any
others which might be in the trees. I immediately put my plan into
execution; and a sepo suitable for the purpose being within my reach, I
cut it. Fortunately I had a piece of string in my pocket, with which I
manufactured a noose; and returning along the branch, I held my wand at
an angle above me, so as to let the end drop down on the bird. I was
more successful than I expected. Not till it actually felt the noose
round its neck, did it attempt to fly; but it was then too late. As I
jerked it towards me, a quantity of feathers fell from it. I got it
speedily in my hands, and, influenced by feeling how acceptable it would
be, immediately wrung its neck, and brought it down in triumph. Looking
round, I saw several other birds of the same species, and was successful
in catching three more; for they made not the slightest attempt to fly
away till I was close upon them.
I at length returned with my game to the large branch where I had left
Uncle Paul and Marian. Arthur and Tim came back about the same time;
the one with some eggs, and the latter with a couple of tree-frogs of
huge size.
"Faith, when a man's hungry he mustn't be particular," observed Tim;
"and it seemed to me that though these beasts are not over pretty to
look at, they might serve to keep body and soul together till better
times come round."
"Very right," said Uncle Paul. "I trust that these few trees will
supply us with sufficient food if we search for it, and I am not very
squeamish as to its character."
Sambo brought in a very ugly-looking lizard; but he declared that it
would prove as good to eat as anything else. We now somewhat anxiously
awaited the return of Kallolo.
The only articles which could be eaten with satisfaction, unless cooked,
were the eggs which Arthur had brought, and these he and Uncle Paul
insisted should be given to Marian. It required some persuasion to
induce her to take them, as she was unwilling to deprive us of them; and
it was only by assuring her that when our appetites were a little
sharper we should eat the frogs and lizards with satisfaction, that we
could induce her to consume the eggs.
We now discussed the possibility of making a fire to cook our
provisions. There was room enough in the fork of a large branch; but
the danger was that we might set the whole tree alight, and burn it and
ourselves. Still, we did not as yet feel inclined to eat the frogs and
lizards, or even the birds, raw, though we knew that we might in the end
be compelled to do so.
At length we heard Kallolo's voice above us; and looking up, we saw him
descending the tree. "Here, friends. See!" he exclaimed, "I have not
made my trip up to the sky for nothing;" and he produced from a
grass-formed pocket, which he always carried by his side, a supply of
ripe figs. He parted them among us, offering Marian the largest share.
How delicious those figs tasted! They were both meat and drink to us;
and we felt that while a bountiful Providence supplied us with such
food, we need have no fear of starving.
I showed Kallolo the birds which I had caught. He called them bocloras,
and observed that they were pretty good food, and he hoped that we might
catch some others which would come to feed on the ripe figs.