A DECEPTIVE COAST--WHAT IS IT?--OUR DISAPPOINTMENT--A STRANGE
APPARITION.
An attempt to cross an unknown expanse of water, such as seemed the
lagoon stretching out before us, was a hazardous experiment. Still, the
water was calm, and we concluded that it was shallow, so that we hoped
by perseverance to gain the dry land at last. There was no time to be
lost, however, as the tide might soon rise again, and make the
undertaking more difficult. I felt like a person in a dream as we waded
on, surrounded on all sides by water, over which hung a peculiar silvery
mist, curiously deceiving the senses,--though perhaps I was not aware of
it at the time. The appearance of the shore even seemed changed. It
looked altogether very different from what we expected to find it.
Instead of a low sandy beach, with here and there hillocks of sand, it
appeared to rise to a considerable height, with hills and intervening
valleys, and lofty rocks springing directly out of the water. "We must
have been further to the south than we supposed," I observed to Boxall.
"Surely we must be near the French settlements. The shore before us
cannot be on the border of the great Desert of Sahara."
"I cannot make it out," he answered. "Still I am pretty certain as to
our latitude. The country, however, is but little known, and we may
have been thrown on a more fertile region than was supposed to exist."
"I hope, then, that we shall be able to find some food," said Halliday;
"I am terribly hungry and thirsty. Don't you think that we may by
chance have got to the mouth of a river, and so may soon find fresh
water?"
"This, at all events, is salt enough," said Boxall, lifting a handful to
his lips. "No; it is merely a lagoon filled by the ocean."
We waded on and on, but the shore appeared no nearer.
"We may have a fearfully long way to swim, should the water grow
deeper," observed Halliday.
"If it does, we can easily return to the rock and wait till the low tide
during daylight, when we shall be better able to judge what course to
take," I observed.
As I said this I turned round to look at the rock, and to see how far we
were from it, when what was my astonishment to be unable to distinguish
it! Behind us the lagoon appeared to stretch out to an illimitable
distance, without a single object rising above the surface. To attempt
to return would have been madness, as we should certainly have lost our
way; we therefore could do nothing else than push boldly forward. The
sand below our feet was smooth and even, but walking in water almost up
to our middle was fatiguing work, and we made but slow progress. Still
on and on we went, when suddenly we saw before us a high conical hill,
and directly afterwards a bright light appeared beyond it. Presently
the upper circle of the full moon rose behind the hill, though it seemed
six times the size of any moon I ever saw; indeed, I could scarcely
believe that it was the moon.
"I suppose that the African moons are much larger than those of any
other part of the world. At all events, that is a whopper," exclaimed
Halliday, without considering what he was saying.
"It will give us light to see our way," observed Boxall, "and we should
be thankful for it. We had better keep to our right, however, where the
shore seems somewhat lower."
He was turning aside, and I was about to follow him, when Halliday
exclaimed--
"Look! look! what can that terrific creature be?"
We turned our eyes towards the summit of the hill, and to our horror saw
an enormous animal with arched back and glaring eyes--so we pictured
it--gazing down upon us, seemingly prepared to make a terrific leap
right down on our heads. Such a creature I had never even read of; for
it looked far larger than any ordinary elephant, and might have
swallowed us all at a gulp.
"What is to be done?" cried Halliday. "If we run, it will certainly be
after us."
"We cannot run, at all events," said Boxall with less anxiety in his
tone than I should have supposed possible, though I knew him to be a
dauntless fellow. "We will keep to our right, as I proposed, and
perhaps the monster won't follow us after all. It is not likely to come
into the water to get at us."
We kept away to our right, and found the water growing shallower and
shallower. It was now but a little above our knees. I confess that I
turned my head very frequently, to see whether the monster was coming
after us. There it stood, however, in the same attitude as before--
which was some comfort, as it thus showed no inclination to act as we
had dreaded.
"What can it be?" I asked of Boxall.
"A wild beast, certainly," he answered. "I might have supposed it a
part of the rock, or some gigantic figure hewn out of it, but it is too
much like a real creature for that; and I begin to think that the mist
which hangs over the water must have given it its supernatural
magnitude. I would have said, from its shape, that it was a hyena or
jackal, but neither the one nor the other approaches to anything like it
in size."
"Whatever it was or is, it has disappeared," I exclaimed; for on looking
round once more, the monster was no longer to be seen on the top of the
hill. The water was now but a very little way above our knees, while
the ascent was much steeper than it had been.
"I only hope we shan't see the creature again on shore," said Halliday.
"We have not much further to go to reach it," observed Boxall. The last
few yards we had taken we had rapidly shoaled the water. "Thank Heaven,
we are ashore at last!" he added, as the light surf which rolled up
slowly went hissing back and left our feet uncovered. A few paces more,
and we were standing on dry sand.
"Halloa! what has become of the mountains?" exclaimed Halliday. "I
thought we were going to land on a rocky country, but I see nothing but
sand-hills around us."
Such indeed was the case. As far as our eyes could reach, we could
discern, in the moonlight, only a succession of sand-hills, rising but a
few feet above the rest of the country.
"I suspected that we should find that to be the case," observed Boxall.
"If we were to measure the rock on the top of which we saw the monster
standing, we should find that the creature's dimensions were not quite
so gigantic as we supposed. However, here we are talking away, and
neglecting to return thanks for our deliverance from the dangers we have
gone through, and forgetting all about our unfortunate companions."
I felt rebuked by Boxall's remark, and so, I dare say, did Halliday. We
all knelt down, and I know that I tried to return hearty thanks for our
preservation; but my mind was still in a confused state, thinking of
Ben, and our long wade, and the monster which we had seen, and of what
might be our future fate. My strength, indeed, was fast failing me; and
though I was generally stronger than Halliday, I was the first to sink
down on the sand. He imitated me, and Boxall soon afterwards sat down
beside us. We none of us felt much inclined to speak; yet we were
afraid to go to sleep, when we recollected the creature we had seen,--
which, though it might not be of extraordinary size, would, if it were a
hyena, prove an ugly customer should it take us unawares. Otherwise, we
had no reason to dread it. Such creatures, indeed, seldom attack human
beings unless first assailed, as they five on carrion, and act a useful
part as scavengers.
Wet through as we were, the night air chilled us to the bones; but we
were too much exhausted to feel inclined to move about and try and warm
ourselves. We sat for some time gazing on the wild, desolate scene
around us, lighted up by the rays of the full moon, which seemed to
increase its aspect of dreariness. On three sides appeared a succession
of sand-hills, one beyond another; while before us was seen the lagoon
across which we had waded, with the tumbling seas, on the crests of
which the moonbeams played, breaking on the reef in the distance. Every
instant the water in front of us became more and more agitated, as the
rising tide flowed over the reef; and we could not but be thankful that
we had crossed the lagoon when we did, as later the undertaking would
have been far more difficult, if not impossible, and we should probably
have been engulfed by the foaming waters, which now with greater and
greater violence rolled up on the shore.
Our thoughts naturally turned to the future. How were we to support
life in this dreary region? or, supposing it to be inhabited, what would
be the character of, and disposition shown towards us by, the people we
might encounter? I had read of the Arabs of the Desert, and of their
generous hospitality to strangers, and I had hopes that such might be
the people we should find. I mentioned this to my companions.
"Poets and romance--writers may have pictured them as you describe, but
I am afraid that we shall find the reality differ greatly from their
glowing accounts," observed Boxall. "My notion is that they are a set
of utter barbarians, who will rob us of everything we possess, and only
feed us for the sake of keeping us alive to work for them."
This was not encouraging, and I could not but hope that Boxall was
wrong.
"We shall soon find out," said Halliday. "I only wish that in the
meantime we had something to eat."
"Well, we are better off than poor Ben and Jose, who have lost their
lives," I said.
"I don't think we ought altogether to give them up," said Boxall. "Now
that we have rested, I propose that we go along the shore and look for
them. They may possibly have been carried in a different direction from
that which we took. I felt the current, though not very strong, setting
to the southward as we crossed; and if they stuck to the raft, or any
portion of it, not being aware that they could wade, they would be
carried in that direction. I have been thinking the matter over, and
believe that they may possibly have escaped."
As Boxall founded his opinion on sound grounds, I began to hope that Ben
might still be in the land of the living; and as Halliday said he felt
strong enough to walk, we set off along the shore. We every now and
then shouted out, "Ben Blewett, ahoy! ahoy!" joining our voices to send
them to a greater distance. But no answer came.
"I am afraid poor Ben must be lost," I said.
"He is not within hearing,--or, at all events, we are not within hearing
of him; but let us still persevere. Had it not been for him, we should
have lost our lives; and we are bound on every account to do our utmost
to find him," observed Boxall.
We accordingly dragged on our weary feet through the yielding sand.
Walking was now excessively fatiguing, as the sea had come up and
covered that part of the shore which had been hardened by the constant
washing of the water over it. Again we stopped and shouted, "Ben
Blewett, ahoy! ahoy!" We waited, hoping against hope that a reply would
come.
"I am so tired, I must sit down and rest for a few minutes," said
Halliday. Boxall and I acknowledged that we felt much in the same
condition, so we threw ourselves down on the sand. Scarcely had we lain
down when the sound of a voice reached our ears. It seemed to come from
a long way off, yet we all felt sure that it was a voice. We
accordingly started up, forgetting our fatigue, and trudged on,--the
sand seeming to our weary feet softer than ever.
We went on for some time, but still we saw no one. We began to fear
that we had been mistaken; still we pushed on, and in another minute I
saw a dark object in the water, which I took to be a rock, close to the
white beach. Directly afterwards I made out a human figure, which
appeared to be coming towards us. I had got a little ahead of my
companions. I called to them, and we tried to hurry on through the soft
sand, which seemed to mock our efforts to advance.
"Is that you, Ben?" I shouted.
"Ay, ay, sir," was the answer, in a tone which showed that the speaker
had but little strength left. We soon reached him. It was indeed Ben
himself.
"I am thankful to see you, gentlemen," he said. "It's what I little
expected, when you disappeared from the raft. But how did you get on
shore?"
We told him, and then asked how he had escaped.
"It's more than I can tell you," he answered. "All I know is, that I
found myself floating alone on what remained of the raft, away from the
reef, with the mast and sail gone and the oars lost. After some time I
was carried again into the breakers, and, clinging on for dear life,
though I couldn't tell where I was going, was sent right through them
into smooth water. I looked about me, but could see nothing, nor hear
any sounds. On I drifted, wondering what would next happen, when at
last I was cast on shore,--the raft, which was turned over, being sent
by a sea almost on the top of me. One of my feet, as it was, got
caught; and if it had not been for the sand under it, my leg would have
been broken: indeed, I had to dig it out before I could set myself free.
Thinking that the tide might still be rising, and that I should be
caught by it, I dragged myself on to the side of a hillock, where I lay
down, and must at once have fallen fast asleep. I was at last awoke, I
suppose, by your hails; though I first heard them several times in my
dreams. I tried to hail in return, but felt my tongue clinging to the
roof of my mouth; and it was not till after some time that I could open
my eyes, and recollect where I was and what had happened. As soon as I
did this, I got up as fast as I was able. And again I say, I am
thankful to have found you, gentlemen; that I am."
"And we are very glad to have found you, Ben," I answered. "Do you
think that poor Jose has escaped?"
"I am afraid not, sir," answered Ben. "He could not swim, and he must
have been washed off the raft on the outside of the reef."
"Have you managed to save any of the provisions?" inquired Halliday.
"I am sorry to say, sir, that I am afraid they are all lost. The raft,
however, was knocking about so much that I couldn't get hold of it by
myself, to see if anything is still fast to it; but now you have come,
we will try what we can do."
Weary as we were, hunger prompted us to exert ourselves; and approaching
the raft, which was heaving up and down in the surf, we got hold of it,
after some difficulty, and at the risk of being crushed, and succeeded
in dragging it partly up the beach. On examining it, to our infinite
satisfaction we found a pork-cask,--which Ben had fastened so securely
that it had escaped being carried away. It was, however, almost crushed
in two. We examined it eagerly, and found that, though part of the
contents had been washed out, several pieces of pork still remained.
The water-casks, which we should have been still more thankful to find,
had, alas! been completely destroyed.
It required all the exertion we were capable of to secure the pork-cask,
which we managed to drag out of reach of the water; and though very
thirsty, our hunger induced us to eat a portion of the pork raw--which,
however, we could with difficulty get down.
"Never fear! Chaw, sir, chaw!" cried Ben, as he saw me hesitating about
putting a piece between my parched lips. "It will seem dry at first;
but go on, and it will slip down easy enough at last, and do you good."
I followed his advice, and found that I could get down far more of the
raw meat than I could have supposed possible.
The wind had in the meantime been increasing, and the surf broke with a
loud, sullen roar on the beach. Having eaten as much as we could
swallow, we now turned the undamaged side of the cask uppermost, so as
to cover its contents; and then, at Boxall's suggestion, we made our way
to a spot a short distance off, between some sand-hills, where, pretty
well worn out, we threw ourselves down to rest.
Though thankful to get back honest Ben, we felt very melancholy at the
dreary prospect before us. Strong as he was, he also appeared utterly
worn out with his exertions; and, stretched at full length on the sand,
he was soon fast asleep. I had rashly undertaken to keep the first
watch.
"Awake me soon, and I will relieve you," said Boxall. "I am afraid you
will not be able to keep your eyes open long."
"No fear," I answered. "I will do my best, depend on it; for I have no
wish to be earned off by a hyena, or any other wild beast which may
chance to visit us."
Boxall and Halliday sat with their heads between their knees, and very
quickly dropped off. As long as I was able to remain on my legs and
walk about, I proved a faithful sentinel; but feeling very weary, I at
last sat down, and the natural consequences followed--I fell fast
asleep. The howling of the wind among the sand-hills and the ceaseless
roar of the surf rather tended to lull my senses than to arouse me from
my slumber. I dreamed of the events which had occurred, and fancied
that I knew exactly where I was and what was happening. Now I was
looking towards the foaming sea, when I observed in the offing a vessel
under all sail approaching the coast. Gradually she faded from my view.
And now, turning my head, I saw to my dismay a pack of hyenas stealing
silently along towards us. I started up, and was thankful to find that
the hyenas had disappeared; but, near the spot where I had seen them, my
waking sight fell on a strange-looking animal with a long neck, a
pointed head, and huge hump on its back, which I at once recognised as a
camel. It advanced at a slow pace, not regarding us, and making its way
directly to the beach. Though unwilling to wake my companions, I could
not help crying out, when Boxall and Halliday started up, though poor
Ben remained as fast asleep as ever.
"What can that strange monster be?" exclaimed Halliday.
At which Boxall, though certainly not in a merry mood, could not help
laughing loudly.
"Why, a camel, to be sure; coming down to the beach to get a lick of
salt, of which most beasts are very fond," he answered.
"I wonder if it's a wild one, then," said Halliday; "if it is, we may
hamstring it, or kill it in some other way, and it will give us an ample
supply of food."
"There are no wild camels, that I ever heard of," answered Boxall; "and
if we were to kill it, depend on it its owners would make us repent
having done so. I suspect they are not far off."
The appearance of the camel, as may be supposed, completely aroused us,
and we watched it as it stalked down to the sands.
"I propose that we catch it, and make it carry us somewhere or other,"
said Halliday. "Its back is long enough to let us all ride on it: you,
Boxall, on the top of the hump, as the post of honour; Ben, astern; and
Charlie and I in front."