The doctor awoke Mr Griffiths to tell him the good news. He at once
hove the boat to. We sat eagerly watching the stranger. She could not
possibly at present see us, and might alter her course before she came
near enough to do so. Her topsails rose above the horizon, then in a
short time her courses were seen, and then her hull itself as she came
on swiftly before the breeze. I saw Mr Griffiths several times rub his
eyes, then he stood up and looked fixedly at her.
"Brown," he said, "did you ever see that ship before?"
"Well, I was thinking that the same sail-maker cut her topsails that cut
the _Intrepid's_; but there's no wonder in that," answered Brown.
"What do you say to that white patch in the head of her foresail?" asked
the mate. "It looks to me like one we put in when we were last at the
Sandwich Islands. To be sure it's where the sail is likely to get worn,
and another vessel may have had one put in like it, still, the
_Intrepid's_ foresail had just such a patch as that."
"What! Do you mean to say that she's the _Intrepid_?" exclaimed the
doctor, interrupting him.
"I mean to say that she's very like her, if she's not her," answered the
mate.
We all of us now looked with even greater eagerness than before at the
approaching vessel.
"Let draw the foresail," cried the mate.
We stood on so that we might be in the best possible position for
running alongside the whaler, for such she was, as soon as she hove-to.
"We're seen!--we're seen!" shouted several of our crew.
We waved our hats, and shouted.
"She is the _Intrepid_!" cried Mr Griffiths.
Presently she came to the wind, and we, lowering our sail and getting
out our oars, were soon alongside her. There stood Captain Hawkins--
there the second mate, with many other faces we knew. I never saw
people look so astonished as we sprang up the side, while our boat was
hooked on and hoisted on board.
"Why, Griffiths!--Cockle! Where have you come from?" exclaimed Captain
Hawkins. "I had given you up for lost long ago."
They gave a brief account of our adventures, but there was not much time
for talking, for we had not been aboard five minutes before all hands
were employed in shortening sail, and the gale came down upon us with
even greater strength than on the previous night. Had we been exposed
to it in our open boat there would have been little chance of our
escape. We had thus much reason to be thankful to Heaven that we had
got aboard in time.
There being plenty of sea room, the _Intrepid_ was hove-to. Even as it
was, the sea broke aboard and carried away one of her boats and did
other damage. She had been nearly wrecked on the reef during the gale
when we were on the island; and Captain Hawkins, believing that we had
been lost, stood for Guam, where he had been detained for want of proper
workmen and fresh hands. Had it not been for this she would long before
have been on her homeward voyage.
For some time I felt very strange on board, often when half asleep
fancying myself still in the boat, and the air below seemed close and
oppressive.
The mate declared that he had caught cold from sleeping in a bed after
not having been in one for so many months.
The doctor suggested that his bed might have been damp. However, the
gale being over, the sun came out brightly, and he soon got rid of his
chill.
The captain took no more notice of me than he did before, and did not
even speak to Jack. His idea was to keep us at a proper distance, I
suppose. He had heard, I have no doubt, of our adventures from Dr
Cockle or the mate. It mattered very little to us, though I was afraid
that he might take it into his head to turn Jack out of the ship at some
place or other, on the plea that he did not belong to her.
I advised my brother, therefore, to keep out of his sight as much as
possible, especially when in harbour. Jim and I agreed that if he was
sent ashore we would go also, wherever it might be.
"So will I," said Miles Soper, who had heard us talking about the
matter.
"And I no stop eider, and den he lose four good hands. He no like dat,"
said Sam Coal.
Brown, hearing from Jim of my apprehensions, said he would go likewise
if the captain attempted to play any tricks of that sort.
Three days after the gale we hove-to off three small islands surrounded
by a reef. Brown, Miles Soper, two Africans and the New Zealander, the
second mate and I, were sent on shore to catch turtle. We hauled the
boat up and waited till the evening, at which time the creatures land to
lay their eggs.
Darkness approached, and we concealed ourselves behind some rocks, and
watched for their coming. Presently one landed, and crawled slowly up
the beach. Sam declared that she was as big as the boat. She was
certainly an enormous creature. Then another and another came ashore,
and commenced scraping away in the sand to make holes for their eggs.
We waited till some thirty or forty had come ashore.
"Now is your time," cried the mate; and rushing out, grasping the
handspikes with which we were armed, we got between them and the sea,
and turned them over on their backs, where they lay kicking their legs,
unable to move. We had brought ropes to assist us in dragging them down
to the water and hauling them on board. We had turned a dozen or more,
when I said to Jim.
"We mustn't let that big one go we first saw land."
She and the other turtles still on their feet, had taken the alarm, and
were scuttling down the beach. We made her out and attempted to turn
her, but that was more than we could do.
"She'll be off," cried Jim.
We hove the bight of a rope over her head.
"Hold on, Peter!" he cried; and he and I attempted to haul the turtle
back, all the time shouting for help, for she was getting closer and
closer to the water. At last in she got, dragging us after her. We
could not stop her before, and there was very little chance of our doing
so now.
"Let her go, Jim," I cried out.
"We shall lose the rope," he answered, still holding on.
We were already up to our middles in the water.
"It's of no use. Let go! Let go!" I cried out, "or we shall be
dragged away to sea!"
Supposing that he would do as I told him, I let go at the same moment,
when what was my dismay to see Jim dragged away out of his depth.
I swam off to him, still shouting loudly. Presently Soper and Sam Coal
came up, and seeing what was happening, dashed into the water. Our
united strength, however, could not stop the turtle, and Sam, who had a
sharp knife in his pocket, drawing it, cut the rope, and we got Jim back
to shore.
The mate rated Jim for losing the rope, though Brown and the rest
declared that he had behaved very pluckily, and that if help had come in
time we should have saved the turtle. As it was we had turned more than
we could carry off.
Having been ordered not to attempt to regain the ship during the night,
we turned the boat up and slept under it, while a couple of hands
remained outside to watch the turtles and see that they did not manage
to get on their feet again and escape.
In the morning we loaded the boat, and pulled back with our prizes.
The mate said nothing about the lost rope, as he knew the notion Brown
and the rest had formed of Jim's courage.
We sighted after this several small islands, and then made the coast of
New Guinea.
The captain, seeing a good place for landing, sent a boat ashore with
the doctor and most of us who had been engaged in catching turtle.
It seemed a beautiful country, with magnificent trees, and birds flying
about in numbers among them.
"This is a perfect paradise," said the doctor, as we approached the
beach.
Just then a number of natives came rushing out from the forest,
brandishing clubs and spears. They were the ugliest set of people I
ever saw, their bodies nearly naked and their heads covered with hair
frizzled out like huge mops. They had also bows at their backs, but
they did not point their arrows at us.
The doctor and mate agreed that it would be folly to land amongst them,
so we lay on our oars while the mate held up bottles and bits of iron
hoops, beads and knives, and a few old clothes, to show them that we
wished to trade. After a considerable time they seemed to understand
what we wanted, and some of them going away returned with numbers of
stuffed birds of a delicate yellow with long tails. We made signs that
only those who wanted to trade must come near us. At last several came
wading into the water bringing their birds. They set a high price on
them, and we only bought a dozen or so. As the rest of the people
behaved in as threatening a manner as before, as soon as the trading was
over we pulled off, not wishing to risk an encounter with them.
The doctor said that the birds were birds of paradise, and that they
were such as the ladies of England wore in their hats. The curious
thing was that none of the birds had feet.
"Of course not," said the second mate, when I pointed this out to him;
"they say that the birds come down from the skies and live in the air,
and as they never perch, they don't want feet. That's why they're
called birds of paradise."
The doctor laughed. "That's a very old notion," he remarked, "but it's
a wrong one notwithstanding, and has long since been exploded. They
have legs and claws like other birds, though the natives cut them off
and dry the birds as these have been over a hot fire. It's the only way
they have of preserving them."
The captain said we were very right not to land, as the natives might
have been tempted to cut us off for the sake of possessing themselves of
the articles in our boat.
As we sailed along the coast the country seemed to be thickly populated,
and the boat was frequently sent to try and land, but we always met with
the same inhospitable reception. The moment we drew near the shore the
black-skinned natives would rush down, apparently to prevent our
landing.
This was a great disappointment, for the captain was anxious to obtain
fresh provisions, as several of the men, from having lived a long time
on salt meat, were suffering from scurvy. Curiously enough, we, who had
been in the boat, were free from it. At one place, however, we traded
with the natives, and bought several more of the stuffed paradise birds,
and a number of live lories, which we kept in cages, and beautiful
little creatures they were. Our hope was to carry them safely home,
but, either from improper food or change of climate, they all shortly
died.
Rounding New Guinea, and passing the island of Mysole, we came to a
small island called Gely, at the south-east end of Gillolo, lying
exactly under the equator. It contains a magnificent and secure
harbour, in which we brought up. There being an abundance of good
water, and trees from which spars can be cut, it is an excellent place
for repairing damages. The second mate said that those suffering from
scurvy would, now have an opportunity of being cured.
The plan he proposed was to bury them up to their necks in the sand, and
to leave them there for some hours. The doctor was unwilling to try the
experiment, though he did not deny that it might be effectual. Two of
our men suffering from the complaint were, however, perfectly willing to
submit to the remedy, and, our boats having to go on shore to fill the
water-casks, we carried them with us. Holes were dug, and the poor
fellows, being stripped naked, were covered up side by side in the warm
sand, leaving only their heads above the surface, so that they could not
possibly extricate themselves. The captain, I should have said,
approved of the plan, having before seen it tried with success; but the
doctor, declaring that he would have nothing to do with the matter, went
with Jack and another man in an opposite direction. Horner and I had
charge of the watering party. The stream from which we filled our casks
was at some distance from the place where the men were buried. I
undertook to see to the casks being filled if Horner would remain by the
men. We had just finished our work and were rolling the casks down to
the boat when Horner came rushing up, with his eyes staring and his hair
almost on end.
"What's the matter? What has happened?" I asked, thinking he had gone
out of his mind.
"I can't bear it!" he exclaimed. "It's too dreadful. I couldn't help
it."
"What is dreadful? What could you not help?" I inquired.
"The brutes of crocodiles. Poor fellows," he stammered out. "There
won't be a bit of them left presently!" and he pointed to where we had
buried our poor shipmates, and where he ought to have been watching.
The men and I set off running to the spot. A dreadful sight met our
eyes. The body of one man lay half eaten on the sand. A huge crocodile
was dragging off the other. He had dragged it under the water before we
could reach the spot. We could do nothing but shout at the crocodiles.
Horner confessed that he had gone to a distance for a short time, during
which the brutes had landed and killed the two men. We returned very
sad to the boat. As for Horner, it was a long time before he could get
over the horror he felt for his neglect of duty. Several canoes filled
with natives came into the harbour from Gillolo, bringing potatoes and
other vegetables. One of them brought a number of clam-shells of
various sizes. One which we hoisted on board weighed four
hundred-weight, and we afterwards saw on shore one which must have
weighed a quarter of a ton. The natives use them as tubs; I saw a woman
bathing a child in one. The meat of the creature when fried is very
palatable. I also obtained some beautiful specimens of coral, which I
wanted to carry home to Mary and my Shetland relations. I bought also
two gallons of nutmegs for an old file, and a large number of shells for
some old clothes. The harbour swarmed with sharks, which prevented us
from bathing. We here cut some splendid spars for the use of the ship.
I may mention that the inner harbour, from its perfect security, has
obtained the name of "Abraham's Bosom." Were it not for the sharks and
crocodiles the place would be perfect.
All the crew having recovered from scurvy, and the ship being refitted,
we once more put to sea. The weather was delightful, and we sailed on
over the calm ocean with a light breeze.
We had to keep a constant look-out for rocks and reefs.
I can assert, though it is often denied, that when passing under the lee
of the Spice Islands, the scent which came off from the shore was
perfectly delicious. Whether this arises from the flowers of the cloves
and nutmegs, or from the nature of the soil, I cannot determine.
Though we generally had a light breeze, we were sometimes completely
becalmed, on which occasions, when near shore, we ran the risk of being
driven on the rocks by the currents, and more than once we had all the
boats towing ahead to keep her off them till the breeze should spring
up. We continued our course, passing to the eastward of Ceram and
Banda, and steering for Timor, to the north-west of Australia. We had
other dangers besides calms and currents. We had just left the Serwatty
Islands astern when the wind dropped, and we lay becalmed.
Though there was little chance of catching whales, we always kept a
look-out for them from the masthead, as we could stow one or two more
away. We were most of us on deck whistling for a breeze, when the
look-out aloft shouted that he saw three craft stealing up from behind
the island to the eastward. The second mate went up to have a look at
them through his glass, and when he returned on deck he reported that
they were three large proas, pulling, he should say, twenty oars or
more, and full of men, and that he had no doubt they were pirates.
Those seas, we knew, were infested with such gentry--generally Malays,
the most bloodthirsty and cruel of their race. Many a merchant vessel
has been captured by them and sunk, all hands being killed.
"Whatever they are, we must be prepared for them!" cried Captain
Hawkins. "I'll trust to you, lads, to fight to the last; and I tell you
that if they once get alongside us we shall find it a difficult job to
keep them off. We will have the arms on deck, Mr Griffiths, for if we
don't get a breeze, as they pull fast, they'll soon be up to us."
All the muskets were at once brought up and arranged in order; our two
guns were loaded, and the armourer and carpenter set to work to sharpen
the blubber-spades, harpoons, and spears. We had thus no lack of
weapons; our high bulwarks also gave us an advantage; but the pirates,
we knew, would probably out-number us by ten to one.
However, we did not lose heart; Captain Hawkins looked cool and
determined, and the mates imitated his example. I didn't think about
myself, but the fear came over me that, after all, Jack might be killed,
and that I should not have the happiness of taking him home.
As the pirates approached, we made all necessary preparations for
defending ourselves. Muskets and ammunition were served out to the men
most accustomed to firearms; the others had the blubber-spades and
spears put into their hands. The two mates took charge of the guns,
which were loaded to their muzzles, and matches were got ready for
firing them. The doctor provided himself with a couple of muskets and a
sword. The captain told him he must not run the risk of being wounded,
as he might be required to bind up the hurts of the rest of us. He
laughed, and said that the first thing to be done was to drive back our
enemies should they attempt to board the ship.
The pirates came closer and closer. The captain looked anxiously round
the horizon, for though, like a brave man, he was prepared to defend his
ship to the last, he had no wish for a fight. As I looked over the
sides I saw some cats-paws playing along the surface of the water. The
pirates by this time were not a quarter of a mile astern. Presently the
lighter canvas, which had hung down against the masts, bulged out, and
then the topsails filled.
"All hands trim sails!" shouted the captain.
The breeze came from the eastward; the yards were squared, and the
_Intrepid_ began to move through the water. She glided on but slowly;
the pirates were still gaining on us. The wind, however, freshened.
As we watched our pursuers, first one raised a mast and a long taper
yard, then another, and they were soon under all sail standing after us.
The breeze increased; we gave a cheer, hoping soon to get well ahead of
them. Still on they came, and it seemed very doubtful whether we should
succeed. I believe that some of the crew would rather have had a fight
than have escaped without it.
The pirates, by keeping their oars moving, still gained on us. To look
at the captain, one might have supposed that it was a matter of
indifference to him whether they came alongside or not, but our cargo
was too valuable to risk the chance of being lost. We had soon
studding-sails rigged below and aloft. Again the wind dropped, and the
pirates were now almost within musket shot.
"We will slew round one of our guns, and run it through the after port,
Griffiths," said the captain. "A shot or two will teach the rascals
what to expect should they come up to us."
Just, however, as we had got the gun run out the wind again freshened.
The _Intrepid_, deep in the water though she was, showed that she had
not lost her power of sailing. Though the pirates were straining every
nerve, we once more drew ahead of them. The more the breeze increased
the faster we left them astern, and by the time the sun had set we had
got fully four miles ahead, but still by going aloft we could see them
following, evidently hoping that we should be again becalmed, and that
they might get up with us. During the night we continued our course for
Timor. At the usual hour the watch below turned in, though the captain
remained on deck, and a sharp look-out was kept astern. However, as
long as the breeze continued we had no fear of being overtaken.
It was my morning watch. As soon as it was daylight I went aloft, and
saw the proas the same distance off that they had been at nightfall. I
told Mr Griffiths when I came below.
"The rascals still expect to catch us," he said, "but we must hope that
they'll be disappointed. However, we're prepared for them."
For some hours the breeze continued steady. Soon after noon it again
fell, and our pursuers crept closer to us. It was somewhat exciting,
and kept us all alive, though it did not spoil our appetites. The whole
of the day they were in sight, but when the wind freshened up again in
the evening we once more distanced them. The night passed as the former
had done. We could not tell when we went below what moment we might be
roused up to fight for our lives. I for one did not sleep the worse for
that.
The breeze was pretty steady during the middle watch, and I was not on
deck again till it was broad daylight. The second mate, who had been
aloft, reported that the pirates were still in sight, but farther off
than they were the day before, and the breeze now freshening, their
hulls sank beneath the horizon, and we fully expected to see no more of
them. We sighted Timor about three weeks after leaving Gely, and in the
evening brought up in a small bay, with a town on its shore, called
Cushbab. Our object was to obtain vegetables and buffalo meat.
The natives are Malays, and talk Portuguese. Nearly all those we met on
shore carried creeses, or long, sharp knives, in their belt, which they
use on the slightest provocation. Every boy we saw had a cock under his
arm. The people seemed to spend all their time in cock-fighting. They
are very fond of the birds, which are of enormous size; considerably
larger than any English cocks. Being unable to obtain any buffaloes
here, we got under way, and anchored in another bay some way to the
west, where we obtained twelve animals.
At first they were very wild when we got them on board, but in a few
hours became tame, and would eat out of our hands. They were destined,
however, for the butcher's knife. Some of the meat we ate fresh, but
the larger quantity was salted down for sea stores. The unsalted meat
kept for a very short time, and we had to throw a large piece overboard.
The instant it reached the water up came two tiger sharks, which fought
for it, seizing each other in the most ferocious manner possible, and
struggling together, although there was enough for both of them.
After leaving Timor we steered along the south-east coast of Java, and
then shaped a course across the Indian Ocean for the Cape of Good Hope.
The wind was fair, the sea smooth, and I never remember enjoying a
longer period of fine weather. In consequence of the light winds our
passage was lengthened more than we had expected, and we were running
short of provisions of all sorts. There were still two casks of bread
left, each containing about four hundred-weight.
"Never mind," observed the second mate, "we shall have enough to take us
to the Cape."
At length the first was finished, and we went below to get up the
second. It was marked bread clearly enough, but when the carpenter
knocked in the head, what was our dismay to find it full of new sails,
it having been wrongly branded! The captain at once ordered a search to
be made in the store-room for other provisions. The buffalo meat we had
salted had long been exhausted, part of it having turned bad; and
besides one cask of pork, which proved to be almost rancid, a couple of
pounds of flour with a few other trifling articles, not a particle of
food remained in the ship. Starvation stared us in the face.