Notable discovery at the spouting cliffs--The mysterious green monster
explained--We are thrown into unutterable terror by the idea that Jack is
drowned--The Diamond Cave.
"Come, Jack," cried Peterkin, one morning about three weeks after our
return from our long excursion, "let's be jolly to-day, and do something
vigorous. I'm quite tired of hammering and hammering, hewing and
screwing, cutting and butting, at that little boat of ours, that seems as
hard to build as Noah's ark; let us go on an excursion to the mountain
top, or have a hunt after the wild ducks, or make a dash at the pigs. I'm
quite flat--flat as bad ginger-beer--flat as a pancake; in fact, I want
something to rouse me, to toss me up, as it were. Eh! what do you say to
it?"
"Well," answered Jack, throwing down the axe with which he was just about
to proceed towards the boat, "if that's what you want, I would recommend
you to make an excursion to the water-spouts; the last one we had to do
with tossed you up a considerable height, perhaps the next will send you
higher, who knows, if you're at all reasonable or moderate in your
expectations!"
"Jack, my dear boy," said Peterkin, gravely, "you are really becoming too
fond of jesting. It's a thing I don't at all approve of, and if you
don't give it up, I fear that, for our mutual good, we shall have to
part."
"Well, then, Peterkin," replied Jack, with a smile, "what would you
have?"
"Have?" said Peterkin, "I would _have_ nothing. I didn't say I wanted to
_have_; I said that I wanted to _do_."
"By the by," said I, interrupting their conversation, "I am reminded by
this that we have not yet discovered the nature of yon curious appearance
that we saw near the water-spouts, on our journey round the island.
Perhaps it would be well to go for that purpose."
"Humph!" ejaculated Peterkin, "I know the nature of it well enough."
"What was it?" said I.
"It was of a _mysterious_ nature to be sure!" said he, with a wave of his
hand, while he rose from the log on which he had been sitting, and
buckled on his belt, into which he thrust his enormous club.
"Well then, let us away to the water-spouts," cried Jack, going up to the
bower for his bow and arrows; "and bring your spear, Peterkin. It may be
useful."
We now, having made up our minds to examine into this matter, sallied
forth eagerly in the direction of the water-spout rocks, which, as I have
before mentioned, were not far from our present place of abode. On
arriving there we hastened down to the edge of the rocks, and gazed over
into the sea, where we observed the pale-green object still distinctly
visible, moving its tail slowly to and fro in the water.
"Most remarkable!" said Jack.
"Exceedingly curious," said I.
"Beats everything!" said Peterkin.
"Now, Jack," he added, "you made such a poor figure in your last attempt
to stick that object, that I would advise you to let me try it. If it
has got a heart at all, I'll engage to send my spear right through the
core of it; if it hasn't got a heart, I'll send it through the spot where
its heart ought to be."
"Fire away, then, my boy," replied Jack with a laugh.
Peterkin immediately took the spear, poised it for a second or two above
his head, then darted it like an arrow into the sea. Down it went
straight into the centre of the green object, passed quite through it,
and came up immediately afterwards, pure and unsullied, while the
mysterious tail moved quietly as before!
"Now," said Peterkin, gravely, "that brute is a heartless monster; I'll
have nothing more to do with it."
"I'm pretty sure now," said Jack, "that it is merely a phosphoric light;
but I must say I'm puzzled at its staying always in that exact spot."
I also was much puzzled, and inclined to think with Jack that it must be
phosphoric light; of which luminous appearance we had seen much while on
our voyage to these seas. "But," said I, "there is nothing to hinder us
from diving down to it, now that we are sure it is not a shark."
"True," returned Jack, stripping off his clothes; "I'll go down, Ralph,
as I'm better at diving than you are. Now then, Peterkin, out o' the
road!" Jack stepped forward, joined his hands above his head, bent over
the rocks, and plunged into the sea. For a second or two the spray
caused by his dive hid him from view, then the water became still, and we
saw him swimming far down in the midst of the green object. Suddenly he
sank below it, and vanished altogether from our sight! We gazed
anxiously down at the spot where he had disappeared, for nearly a minute,
expecting every moment to see him rise again for breath; but fully a
minute passed, and still he did not reappear. Two minutes passed! and
then a flood of alarm rushed in upon my soul, when I considered that
during all my acquaintance with him, Jack had never stayed underwater
more than a minute at a time; indeed seldom so long.
"Oh, Peterkin!" I said, in a voice that trembled with increasing anxiety,
"something has happened. It is more than three minutes now!" But
Peterkin did not answer and I observed that he was gazing down into the
water with a look of intense fear mingled with anxiety, while his face
was overspread with a deadly paleness. Suddenly he sprang to his feet
and rushed about in a frantic state, wringing his hands, and exclaiming,
"Oh, Jack, Jack! he is gone! It must have been a shark, and he is gone
for ever!"
For the next five minutes I know not what I did. The intensity of my
feelings almost bereft me of my senses. But I was recalled to myself by
Peterkin seizing me by the shoulder and staring wildly into my face,
while he exclaimed, "Ralph! Ralph! perhaps he has only fainted. Dive for
him, Ralph!"
It seemed strange that this did not occur to me sooner. In a moment I
rushed to the edge of the rocks, and, without waiting to throw off my
garments, was on the point to spring into the waves, when I observed
something black rising up through the green object. In another moment
Jack's head rose to the surface, and he gave a wild shout, flinging back
the spray from his locks, as was his wont after a dive. Now we were
almost as much amazed at seeing him reappear, well and strong, as we had
been at first at his non-appearance; for, to the best of our judgment, he
had been nearly ten minutes under water, perhaps longer, and it required
no exertion of our reason to convince us that this was utterly impossible
for mortal man to do and retain his strength and faculties. It was
therefore with a feeling akin to superstitious awe that I held down my
hand and assisted him to clamber up the steep rocks. But no such feeling
affected Peterkin. No sooner did Jack gain the rocks and seat himself on
one, panting for breath, than he threw his arms round his neck, and burst
into a flood of tears. "Oh, Jack, Jack!" said he, "where were you? What
kept you so long?"
After a few moments Peterkin became composed enough to sit still and
listen to Jack's explanation, although he could not restrain himself from
attempting to wink every two minutes at me, in order to express his joy
at Jack's safety. I say he attempted to wink, but I am bound to add that
he did not succeed, for his eyes were so much swollen with weeping, that
his frequent attempts only resulted in a series of violent and altogether
idiotical contortions of the face, that were very far from expressing
what he intended. However, I knew what the poor fellow meant by it, so I
smiled to him in return, and endeavoured to make believe that he was
winking.
"Now, lads," said Jack, when we were composed enough to listen to him,
"yon green object is not a shark; it is a stream of light issuing from a
cave in the rocks. Just after I made my dive, I observed that this light
came from the side of the rock above which we are now sitting; so I
struck out for it, and saw an opening into some place or other that
appeared to be luminous within. For one instant I paused to think
whether I ought to venture. Then I made up my mind, and dashed into it.
For you see, Peterkin, although I take some time to tell this, it
happened in the space of a few seconds, so that I knew I had wind enough
in me to serve to bring me out o' the hole and up to the surface again.
Well, I was just on the point of turning,--for I began to feel a little
uncomfortable in such a place,--when it seemed to me as if there was a
faint light right above me. I darted upwards, and found my head out of
water. This relieved me greatly, for I now felt that I could take in air
enough to enable me to return the way I came. Then it all at once
occurred to me that I might not be able to find the way out again; but,
on glancing downwards, my mind was put quite at rest by seeing the green
light below me streaming into the cave, just like the light that we had
seen streaming out of it, only what I now saw was much brighter.
"At first I could scarcely see anything as I gazed around me, it was so
dark; but gradually my eyes became accustomed to it, and I found that I
was in a huge cave, part of the walls of which I observed on each side of
me. The ceiling just above me was also visible, and I fancied that I
could perceive beautiful glittering objects there, but the farther end of
the cave was shrouded in darkness. While I was looking around me in
great wonder, it came into my head that you two would think I was
drowned; so I plunged down through the passage again in a great hurry,
rose to the surface, and--here I am!"
When Jack concluded his recital of what he had seen in this remarkable
cave, I could not rest satisfied till I had dived down to see it; which I
did, but found it so dark, as Jack had said, that I could scarcely see
anything. When I returned, we had a long conversation about it, during
which I observed that Peterkin had a most lugubrious expression on his
countenance.
"What's the matter, Peterkin?" said I.
"The matter?" he replied. "It's all very well for you two to be talking
away like mermaids about the wonders of this cave, but you know I must be
content to hear about it, while you are enjoying yourselves down there
like mad dolphins. It's really too bad."
"I'm very sorry for you, Peterkin, indeed I am," said Jack, "but we
cannot help you. If you would only learn to dive--"
"Learn to fly, you might as well say!" retorted Peterkin, in a very sulky
tone.
"If you would only consent to keep still," said I, "we would take you
down with us in ten seconds."
"Hum!" returned Peterkin; "suppose a salamander was to propose to you
'only to keep still,' and he would carry you through a blazing fire in a
few seconds, what would you say?"
We both laughed and shook our heads, for it was evident that nothing was
to be made of Peterkin in the water. But we could not rest satisfied
till we had seen more of this cave; so, after further consultation, Jack
and I determined to try if we could take down a torch with us, and set
fire to it in the cavern. This we found to be an undertaking of no small
difficulty; but we accomplished it at last by the following means:--First,
we made a torch of a very inflammable nature out of the bark of a certain
tree, which we cut into strips, and, after twisting, cemented together
with a kind of resin or gum, which we also obtained from another tree;
neither of which trees, however, was known by name to Jack. This, when
prepared, we wrapped up in a great number of plies of cocoa-nut cloth, so
that we were confident it could not get wet during the short time it
should be under water. Then we took a small piece of the tinder, which
we had carefully treasured up lest we should require it, as before said,
when the sun should fail us; also, we rolled up some dry grass and a few
chips, which, with a little bow and drill, like those described before,
we made into another bundle, and wrapped it up in cocoa-nut cloth. When
all was ready we laid aside our garments, with the exception of our
trousers, which, as we did not know what rough scraping against the rocks
we might be subjected to, we kept on.
Then we advanced to the edge of the rocks, Jack carrying one bundle, with
the torch; I the other, with the things for producing fire.
"Now don't weary for us, Peterkin, should we be gone some time," said
Jack; "we'll be sure to return in half-an-hour at the very latest,
however interesting the cave should be, that we may relieve your mind."
"Farewell!" said Peterkin, coming up to us with a look of deep but
pretended solemnity, while he shook hands and kissed each of us on the
cheek. "Farewell! and while you are gone I shall repose my weary limbs
under the shelter of this bush, and meditate on the changefulness of all
things earthly, with special reference to the forsaken condition of a
poor ship-wrecked sailor boy!" So saying, Peterkin waved his hand,
turned from us, and cast himself upon the ground with a look of
melancholy resignation, which was so well feigned, that I would have
thought it genuine had he not accompanied it with a gentle wink. We both
laughed, and, springing from the rocks together, plunged head first into
the sea.
We gained the interior of the submarine cave without difficulty, and, on
emerging from the waves, supported ourselves for some time by treading-
water, while we held the two bundles above our heads. This we did in
order to let our eyes become accustomed to the obscurity. Then, when we
could see sufficiently, we swam to a shelving rock, and landed in safety.
Having wrung the water from our trousers, and dried ourselves as well as
we could under the circumstances, we proceeded to ignite the torch. This
we accomplished without difficulty in a few minutes; and no sooner did it
flare up than we were struck dumb with the wonderful objects that were
revealed to our gaze. The roof of the cavern just above us seemed to be
about ten feet high, but grew higher as it receded into the distance,
until it was lost in darkness. It seemed to be made of coral, and was
supported by massive columns of the same material. Immense icicles (as
they appeared to us) hung from it in various places. These, however,
were formed, not of ice, but of a species of limestone, which seemed to
flow in a liquid form towards the point of each, where it became solid. A
good many drops fell, however, to the rock below, and these formed little
cones, which rose to meet the points above. Some of them had already
met, and thus we saw how the pillars were formed, which at first seemed
to us as if they had been placed there by some human architect to support
the roof. As we advanced farther in, we saw that the floor was composed
of the same material as the pillars; and it presented the curious
appearance of ripples, such as are formed on water when gently ruffled by
the wind. There were several openings on either hand in the walls, that
seemed to lead into other caverns; but these we did not explore at this
time. We also observed that the ceiling was curiously marked in many
places, as if it were the fret-work of a noble cathedral; and the walls,
as well as the roof, sparkled in the light of our torch, and threw back
gleams and flashes, as if they were covered with precious stones.
Although we proceeded far into this cavern, we did not come to the end of
it; and we were obliged to return more speedily than we would otherwise
have done, as our torch was nearly expended. We did not observe any
openings in the roof, or any indications of places whereby light might
enter; but near the entrance to the cavern stood an immense mass of pure
white coral rock, which caught and threw back the little light that found
an entrance through the cave's mouth, and thus produced, we conjectured,
the pale-green object which had first attracted our attention. We
concluded, also, that the reflecting power of this rock was that which
gave forth the dim light that faintly illumined the first part of the
cave.
Before diving through the passage again we extinguished the small piece
of our torch that remained, and left it in a dry spot; conceiving that we
might possibly stand in need of it, if at any future time we should
chance to wet our torch while diving into the cavern. As we stood for a
few minutes after it was out, waiting till our eyes became accustomed to
the gloom, we could not help remarking the deep, intense stillness and
the unutterable gloom of all around us; and, as I thought of the
stupendous dome above, and the countless gems that had sparkled in the
torch-light a few minutes before, it came into my mind to consider how
strange it is that God should make such wonderful and exquisitely beautiful
works never to be seen at all, except, indeed, by chance visitors such as
ourselves.
I afterwards found that there were many such caverns among the islands of
the South Seas, some of them larger and more beautiful than the one I
have just described.
"Now, Ralph, are you ready?" said Jack, in a low voice, that seemed to
echo up into the dome above.
"Quite ready."
"Come along, then," said he; and, plunging off the ledge of the rock into
the water, we dived through the narrow entrance. In a few seconds we
were panting on the rocks above, and receiving the congratulations of our
friend Peterkin.