"I thought it was one of you that made them," he said.
"I heard them also," remarked the doctor, from his end of the boat.
The rest of the men were asleep; all of us were inside, and the sound
certainly came from the outside. On this I crawled out from under the
boat, half expecting to see some one standing there, but neither human
being nor animal was visible. The rain had ceased, but the night was
very dark, and there was time for a person after the knocks had been
given to retreat into the woods. Still, I didn't think that it could
have been Jack. I returned to the boat, supposing that whoever had
knocked would knock again. The expectation of this kept me awake, and I
determined that I would try to spring out and catch the person, whoever
he was. I waited, however, in vain, and in less than two hours saw the
daylight coming in under the gunwale.
The surf was still breaking with a loud roar on the rocks, but the wind
had ceased to howl through the trees, and I hoped that the hurricane was
nearly over. The noise I made in getting out from under the boat
awakened those sleeping near me, and the rest of the party were soon on
foot.
The first thing we did was to go back to our camp and see the effect of
the landslip. The spot where we had been sitting was covered with a
large mass of earth, rocks, and trees. We found a hollow in the rock
near the spot, which appeared safe, and here we determined to light a
fire and cook some more of our fish. While most of the people were thus
employed, Mr Griffiths, the doctor, and I climbed to the highest rock
in the neighbourhood, that we might take a look-out for the ship. The
sun was just rising, and cast a ruddy glow over the still heaving ocean
covered with foam-crested seas, which, rolling in towards the shore,
broke into masses of spray as they reached the surrounding reefs. In
vain we looked round for the ship; not the slightest speck of white
appeared above the horizon.
"Can anything have happened to her?" said the doctor, in an anxious
tone.
"She has weathered out many a worse gale than we have just had,"
observed the mate. "My only fear is that in attempting to make the land
she may have been driven on one of the hidden reefs which abound
everywhere hereabouts."
"And if so, what are we to do?" inquired the doctor.
"We must try to reach the nearest islands inhabited by civilised people.
We have casks sufficient to hold water for the voyage."
"I still hope she will come," said the doctor; "but we must not lose
heart whatever happens."
Taking another look round, we returned to the camp, where we found a
blazing fire and the fish cooked. We remained all that day and the
next, unable to get out and catch any more fish. By this time our stock
was completely exhausted--indeed, for the last day it had been scarcely
eatable. While two of the men remained on shore to collect salt from
the rocks, the rest of us went off, and with the crab-bait soon caught a
large quantity of fish. In two days we got as many as we could well
carry. Some of these were salted, others were smoked over the fire. We
didn't fail, as may be supposed, to pay frequent visits to our look-out
place on the rock. Day after day went by and no sail appeared.
"She's not coming back," said Mr Griffiths, at length; "something must
have happened to her; and I put it to you whether we remain here or try
to reach either Japan or the Ladrones. Though Guam, which is the chief
island of the Ladrones, is much farther off than Japan, we are likely to
receive better treatment from the Spaniards than we are from the
Japanese, who may either send us off again or put us to death. The
passage there is also likely to prove more boisterous than to Guam."
The mate, having concluded his remarks, put the matter to the vote. Two
of the men said they would rather remain on the island. No one proposed
going to Japan, and the doctor and Miles Soper wished to steer for Guam.
The rest of us voted with them. The mate considered that the sooner we
were off the better. He said that the island was not a bad residence,
but that when the winter came on we should have rains and storms, and
might be unable to catch any fish or find other means of supporting
life. We therefore at once set to work to prepare for the voyage. We
first put off and caught a supply of fish, which we cured as before. We
might have killed some birds, but we were unwilling to expend our small
stock of powder, which we might require to defend ourselves against any
natives who might prove hostile.
Led by the doctor, Brown, Jim, and I started to explore the
neighbourhood, to collect scurvy grass or roots of any sort which might
serve as vegetables. The natural productions of the country appeared to
be very limited, but we dug up some roots which the doctor pronounced
wholesome.
We were about returning in despair of obtaining what we wanted, when we
came, near the shore on the other side of the bay, on a small open space
overgrown with what at first looked like weeds, but I saw the doctor's
eye brighten as he espied them. Hurrying on he pulled away eagerly at
the seeming weeds.
"Here are onions," he cried, "of more value to us than gold; and see,
here are potatoes, and these are cabbages, though somewhat overgrown,
but there are leaves enough to supply us for a month."
We set to work to dig up the onions and potatoes with our pointed
sticks, and to pull away at the cabbage leaves.
"Some beneficent person must have planted a garden here not long ago,"
said the doctor, as we were labouring with might and main. "These
vegetables may be the means of preserving our lives, for without them we
should have run a great risk of suffering from scurvy."
We each of us loaded ourselves with as many of the roots as we could
carry, and staggered back with them to camp. We were received with a
loud shout by our companions, who knew the value of what we had brought.
We quickly had some of the potatoes roasting in the ashes, on which,
with some onions and fish, we made a more hearty meal than we had taken
since we landed. We had fortunately an iron pot, in which we were able
to boil a quantity of the potatoes, and afterwards the greens and some
of the roots, which, being well-seasoned with salt, the doctor hoped
would keep for some time.
All our preparations being made, one morning, having breakfasted at
daylight, the doctor and I went up to the top of the rock to take a last
look-out for the ship. On coming down we saw the boat in the water
loaded, when, all hands getting aboard, we shoved off and stood out
through the reef with a fair breeze from the north-west and a smooth
sea. The wind would have been directly against us had we been bound for
Japan, so we were glad that we had decided to sail to the southward.
Our boat was somewhat deeply laden with provisions and water, but our
cargo would be rapidly lightened, and Mr Griffiths told us we must be
prepared to heave some of it overboard should bad weather come on. We
were all in health and good spirits, our chief anxiety being about the
fate of the ship.
I must pass rapidly over the first part of our voyage. We had the
boat's compass to steer by, but having no quadrant to take an
observation or log-line to mark accurately the distance run, we could
only guess at the rate we made. Mr Griffiths, however, was a good
navigator, and was pretty certain that he was correct. We had, we
fancied, plenty of food, but from the first he put us all on an
allowance of water.
While the sea remained smooth he also made us change our places
constantly, and by the doctor's advice he ordered one at a time to stand
up and move his arms and legs about to prevent them from becoming stiff.
He also encouraged us to spin yarns and sing songs; indeed, he did
everything in his power to keep us in good spirits.
After the first day of our landing we had not touched any of the
biscuits we had brought with us. These we now husbanded with great care
in case our other provisions should run short or spoil, which the doctor
feared might be the case. We were much indebted to him for the
precautions taken, as Mr Griffiths carried out all his suggestions.
We had a whole week of fine weather, and we could favourably compare our
lot with that of many poor fellows who had to voyage in open boats in
the Pacific, exposed to storms, and often with a scant allowance of food
and water. The wind was generally from the northward, and when it fell
calm we took to our oars. Mr Griffiths told us that we had a distance
of between seven and eight hundred miles to run, as far as he could
calculate, and that if the fine weather continued we might hope to reach
Guam in ten days or a fortnight.
We had got on so well that we began to fancy that we should have no
difficulties to encounter. We were, of course, constantly on the
look-out for vessels. At length we sighted a sail, but she was standing
away from us. We steered after her for some distance, but before
nightfall her topgallant sails sank beneath the horizon, and we again
kept on our course.
"I wonder whether that craft out there is the _Intrepid_," said Jim to
me.
"Little chance of that," I remarked. "If she escaped shipwreck, or has
not been severely damaged, she would have come to look for us long
before we left the island."
"Perhaps the skipper fancied that we were lost, and didn't think it
worth while to come and look for us," said Jim.
Four days after this, according to Mr Griffiths's calculations, we were
in the latitude of Guam, but to the eastward of the island. Brown,
however, was of opinion that we had run farther to the south, and that
if we stood east we should see it on our port bow. We accordingly
hauled up on the port tack. Scarcely had we done so when the weather,
which had lately looked threatening, completely changed. A strong wind
began to blow from the north-west; it rapidly increased, and the sea got
up and began to break over the bows in a way which threatened to swamp
the boat. Three hands baled away together, but even thus we could
scarcely keep the boat free of water.
"We must form a raft to serve as a breakwater," said Mr Griffiths.
We lashed three oars together, the sail was lowered, the boat rounded
to, and the raft, with a stout rope to it, was hove overboard, the rope
being secured to the bows. At the same time the steering-oar was peaked
and fixed into the after-thwart, with the flat of the blade facing the
bows. This served as a sail, and kept the boat's head to the sea.
Thus, with the seas roaring and hissing round us, driving at the rate of
two miles an hour to the southward and west, we prepared to pass the
night, all of us feeling that we might never see another sun rise.