COOKING FISH.
Most of the party were snoring in about ten minutes. For myself, I found
it impossible to sleep soundly. The gloomy walls of rock, the strange
and romantic situation into which chance had thrown me, the remembrance
of what I had read of this island in early youth, the dismal moaning of
the surf down on the beach, all contributed to confuse my mind. An hour
or two before daylight, I was completely chilled through by the dampness
of the ground, and entirely beyond sleep.
[Illustration: COOKING IN JUAN FERNANDEZ.]
I heard some voices outside, and got up to see who was talking. Lest it
might be the Spaniards, I took the harpoon with me. At the mouth of one
of the convict-cells near by I found four of my comrades, who, unable to
pass the time any other way, had lit a fire and were baking some fish.
They had dug a hole in the ground, which they lined with flat stones, so
as to form a kind of oven; this they heated with coals. Then they
wrapped up a large fish in some leaves, and put it in; and by covering
the top over with fire, the fish was very nicely baked. I think I never
tasted any thing more delicate or better flavored. We had an abundant
meal, which we relished exceedingly. The smoke troubled us a good deal;
but, by telling stories of shipwreck, and wondering what our friends at
home would think if they could see us here cooking fish, we contrived to
pass an hour or so very pleasantly. I then went back into the cave, and
turned in once more upon the sail.
Of course, after eating fish at so unusual an hour, I had a confusion of
bad dreams. Perhaps they were visions. In this age of spiritual
visitations, it is not altogether unlikely the spirits of the island got
possession of me. At all events, I saw Robinson Crusoe dressed in
goatskins, and felt him breathe, as plainly as I see this paper and feel
this pen. How could I help it? for I actually thought it was myself that
had been shipwrecked; that I was the very original Crusoe, and no other
but the original; and I fancied that Abraham had turned black, and was
running about with a rag tied round his waist, and I called him my man
Friday, and fully believed him to be Friday. Sometimes I opened my eyes
and looked round the dismal cavern, and clenched my fists, and hummed an
old air of former times to try if Robinson had become totally savage in
his nature; but it was all the same, there was no getting rid of the
illusion.
The dawn of day came. No ship was in sight. The sea was white with foam,
and gulls were soaring about over the rock-bound shores. I walked down
to a spring and bathed my head, which was hot and feverish for want of
rest.
Bright and early we started off on a goat-hunt among the mountains.
Several passengers from the Brooklyn, well provided with guns, joined
the party, and the enthusiasm was general. It had been my greatest
desire, from the first sight of the island, to ascend a high peak
between the harbor and Crusoe's Valley, and by following the ridge from
that point, to explore as far as practicable the interior. For this
purpose, I selected as a companion my friend Abraham, in whose
enthusiastic spirit and powers of endurance I had great confidence. He
was heartily pleased to join me; so, buckling up our belts, we branched
off from the party, who by this time were peppering away at the wild
goats. We were soon well up on the mountain. Another adventurer joined
us before we reached the first elevation; but he was so exhausted by the
effort, and so unfavorably impressed by the frightful appearance of the
precipices all round, that he was forced to abandon the expedition and
return into the valley. We speedily lost sight of him, as he crept down
among the declivities.
[Illustration: THE CLIFF.]
The side of the mountain which we were ascending was steep and smooth,
and was covered with a growth of long grass and wild oats, which made
it very hard to keep the goat-paths; and all about us, except where
these snake-like traces lay, was as smooth and sloping as the roof of a
house. There was one part of the mountain that sloped down in an almost
perpendicular line to the verge of the cliff overhanging the sea, where
the abrupt fall was more than a thousand feet, lined with sharp crags.
This fearful precipice rose like a wall of solid rock out of the sea,
and there was a continual roar of surf at its base. There was no way of
getting up any higher without scaling the slope above, which, as I said
before, was covered with long grass and oats, that lay upon it like the
thatch of a house; and the rain which had fallen during the previous
night now made it very smooth. I looked at it, I must confess, with
something like dismay, thinking how we were to climb over such a steep
place without slipping down over the cliff; when I beheld Abraham, of
whom I had lost sight for a time, toiling upward upon it like a huge
bear. His outline against the sky reminded me especially of a bear of
the grizzly species. I saw that he clung to the roots of the grass with
his hands, and dug his toes into the soft earth to keep from sliding
back, in case his hold should give way. Committing myself to Providence,
I started after him by a shorter cut, grasping hold of the grass by the
roots as I went. Every few perches, I stopped to search for a strong
bunch of grass, for there was nothing else to hold on by. Some of it was
so loose that it gave way as soon as I laid hold of it, and I came near
going for want of something to balance me. Six inches of a slide would
have sent me twirling over the cliff into the raging surf a thousand
feet below. Once, impressed with the terrible idea that I was slipping,
I stopped short, and my heart beat till it shook me all over. It was
only by lying flat down and seizing the roots of the grass with both
hands, while I dug my toes into the sod, that I retained my presence of
mind. Indeed, at this place, having turned to look back, I was so struck
with horror at the frail tenure upon which my life depended, that I
turned partly blind, and a rushing noise whirled through my brain at the
thought that I should be no longer able to retain my grasp. If for one
moment I lost my consciousness and let go my hold of the grass, I would
surely be lost; there was no hope; I must be dashed over the precipice,
and go spinning through a thousand feet of space till I struck the rocks
below, or was buried in the surf. I lay panting for breath, while every
muscle quivered as if it would shake loose my grasp. In the space of
five minutes I thought more of death than I had ever thought before. Was
this to be my end after all? What would they say on board the ship when
I was dead? What would be the distress of my friends and kindred at home
when they heard how my mangled body was picked up in the surf, and
buried upon this lonely rock-bound island? A thousand thoughts flashed
through my brain in succession. Even the happy days of my youth rose up
before me now, but the vision was sadly mingled with errors and follies
that could never be retrieved. Believing my time had come, I looked
upward in my agony, and beheld Abraham, scarcely twenty yards in
advance, lying down in the same position, with hands stretched out and
dug into the roots of the grass.
"Abraham," said I, "this is terrible!"
"Yes," said he, "a foretaste of death, if nothing worse."
"But how in the world are we to get out of it?"
"I don't know--there seems to be no hope; we can't go back again, that's
an absolute certainty. In my opinion, we'll have to stay here till
somebody comes for us, which doesn't seem a likely chance just now."
A good rest, however, having inspired us with fresh courage, we resolved
upon pushing on. There was a narrow ledge about a hundred yards above
us; if we could reach that, we would be safe for the present. By great
exertion we got a little above the place where we had lain down; and,
the sod beginning to give way as before, we threw ourselves on our faces
again, and rested a while. In this way, hanging, as it were, between
life and death, we at last reached the ledge. Here we flung ourselves on
the solid rock, quite exhausted. Abraham was a brave man, but he now lay
gasping for breath, as pale as a ghost. I suppose I looked about the
same, for, to tell the honest truth, I was well-nigh scared out of my
senses. Certainly all the gold of Ophir could not have induced me to go
through the same ordeal again.
There was still above us, about five hundred feet higher, a point or
pyramid of volcanic rock, that stood out over the sea in a slanting
direction. It was the highest peak in the neighborhood of the coast, and
was called the Nipple. We had done nothing yet compared with the ascent
of that peak. Both of us looked toward it, and smiled.
"Shall we try it?" said Abraham.
"No," said I, "we never could get up there; it would be perfect folly to
try."
"I think not, Luff; it isn't so smooth as the place we have just climbed
over. Don't you see there are rocks to hold on to?"
"Yes, but they look as if they'd give way. However, if you say so, we'll
make the attempt."
With this, we each drew a long breath, and commenced climbing up the
rocks. Sometimes we dug our fingers into the crevices and lifted
ourselves up, and sometimes we wound around ledges less than a foot
wide, overhanging deep chasms, and were forced to cling to the rough
points that jutted out in order to keep our balance. Flocks of pigeons
flew startled from their nests, and whirled past us, as if affrighted at
the intrusion of man. Herds of wild goats dashed by us also, and ran
bleating down into the rugged defiles, where they looked like so many
insects. The wind whistled mournfully against the sharp crags, and swept
against us in such fierce and sudden gusts that we were sometimes
obliged to stop and cling to the rocks with all our might to keep from
being blown off. At last we reached the base of the Nipple. This was the
wildest place of all. Above us stood the dizzy peak, like the turret of
a ruined castle, overlooking the surf at a height of nearly two thousand
feet. We now lay down again, breathing hard, and a good deal exhausted.
When partly recovered, I looked over the edge toward Crusoe's Valley. It
was the grandest sight I ever beheld; rugged cliffs and winding ridges
hundreds of feet below; a green valley embowered in shrubbery nestling
beneath the heights, all calm and smiling in the warm sunshine; slopes
of woodland stretching up in the ravines; a line of white spray from the
surf all along the shores, and the boundless ocean outspread in one vast
sweep beyond.
"I'll tell you what it is, Luff," said Abraham, "this may be all very
fine, but I don't want to try it again."
"Nor I either, Abraham. Isn't it awful climbing?"
"Yes, awful enough; but we must get on the top of that old castle
there."
"To be sure," said I, rather doubtfully. "Of course, Abraham; we ought
to climb that as a sort of climax. It will make an excellent climax
either to ourselves or the adventure."
Saying this, I walked a few steps from the place where we were lying
down, to see if there was any way of scaling the Nipple. It appeared to
be a huge pile of loose rocks ready to fall to pieces upon being
touched. It was about a hundred feet high, and nearly perpendicular all
round. There was no part that seemed to me at all accessible. Even the
first part or foundation could not be reached without passing over a
sharp ridge, steep at both sides, and entirely destitute of vegetation.
I was not quite mad enough to undertake such a thing as this without the
least hope of success.
"No, Abraham," said I, "we can't do it. I see no way of getting up
there."
"Let me take a look," said Abraham, who was always fertile in
discoveries. "I think I see a place that we can climb over, so as to get
on that horseback sort of a ridge, and the rest of the way may be easier
than we suppose."
[Illustration: ABRAHAM ON THE PEAK.]
He then walked a few steps round a ledge of crumbling rock, and I soon
saw him climbing up where it seemed as if there was no possible way of
holding on. I actually began to think there was something supernatural
in his hands and feet; yet I felt an indescribable dread that he would
fall at last. For a while I was in perfect agony; each moment I expected
to see him roll headlong over the cliff. Presently I lost sight of him
altogether. I thought he had lost his balance, and was dashed to atoms
below! Seized with horror, I sat down and groaned aloud. Again I rose
and ran to the edge of the cliff, shouting wildly in the faint hope that
he was not yet lost. There was no answer but the wail of the winds and
the moaning of the surf. While I looked from the depths to the fearful
height above, I saw his head rise slowly and cautiously over the top of
the Nipple; then his body, and then, with a wild shout of triumph, he
stood waving his hat on the summit!
There he stood, a man of stalwart frame, now no bigger than a dwarf
against the sky!
I saw him point toward the horizon, and, looking in the direction of his
finger, perceived the Anteus about twenty miles off under short sail.
He remained but a few minutes in this perilous position, as I supposed
on account of the wind, which was now very strong.
On his return, being unable to get down on the same side, he was forced
to creep backward over the ridge, and lower himself by fixing his hands
in the crevices to the ledge over the sea, from which he made his way
round to the starting-point. When he reached the spot where I stood, he
sat down, breathing hard, and looking very pale.
"Luff," said he, "don't go up there. It shook under me like a tree.
Every flaw of wind made it sway as if it would topple over."
"Why," said I, "after scaring me out of my wits, it isn't exactly fair
to deprive me of some satisfaction."
"Don't do it, Luff; I warn you as a friend! It ought to be satisfaction
enough to find me here safe and sound, after such a climb as that."
"No, Abraham, I must do it; because when we return to the ship, don't
you see what an advantage you'll have over me?"
"Only in being the greater fool."
"Then there must be two fools, to make us even. It would hardly be
friendly to let you be the only one; so here goes, Abraham. In case I
tumble over, give my love to all at home, and tell them I died like a
Trojan."
All this was folly, to be sure; but how could I help it? how could I
bear the thought of hearing Abraham talk about having scaled the Nipple,
while I was ingloriouly groaning for him down below? It would mortify me
to the very soul.
Following now the same path that Abraham had taken, I was soon on top of
the first elevation; for, being lighter and more active, though not so
strong, I had rather the advantage in climbing. Here I wound round by a
different way, so as to reach the ridge that led over the chasm. It was
about the width of a horse's back, sloping down abruptly on each side.
The distance was not over twenty feet, which I gained by straddling the
ridge and working along by my hands. The descent on each side was, as
before stated, nearly two thousand feet. I need not say it was the most
terrible ride I ever had. Indeed, when I think of it now, it brings up
strange and thrilling sensations. How I got over the final peak, I can
hardly tell; it seems as if I must have been drunk with excitement, and
reached the summit by one of those mysterious chances of fortune which
not unfrequently favor men whose minds are in a morbid state.
When I looked down on the waters of the bay, I saw the Brooklyn still at
anchor. She looked like some big insect floating on its back, with its
legs in the air and little insects running about all over it. I staid up
on the top of the Nipple only a few minutes. The view on every side was
sublime beyond all the powers of language; but a gust of wind coming,
the frail pinnacle of lava upon which I stood swayed, as Abraham had
told me; and, fearing it would tumble over, I hurried down the best way
I could.