The next morning we were up betimes, and that Ella might be removed from
the scene of dirt and confusion which the cutter would present during
the day, our first act was to convey on shore the necessary rear and
materials for the preparation and consumption of our meals there, it
being anticipated that one day would suffice for all we intended to do
just then.
By the time that we had done so and had returned to the cutter, Ella
made her appearance on deck, meeting me affectionately, and then turning
to thank Bob for the congratulations the honest and warm-hearted fellow
saw fit to offer on the occasion. These over, I pulled the dear girl
ashore, and she forthwith set about seeking for a favourable spot where
to spread the tablecloth upon the sward, and to arrange her equipage, a
fire having already been lighted and the kettle suspended over it,
gipsy-fashion, from three crossed sticks.
Whilst she was thus engaged I returned on board, and routed out our
small stock of paints, and set to work mixing them, whilst Bob, having
already washed down inboard, busied himself in casting off and easing up
the rigging preparatory to a regular overhaul, the first thing after
breakfast.
As soon as the meal was ready, Ella came down to the beach and waved her
pocket-handkerchief, the signal agreed upon; and we pulled ashore and
took a hasty meal, it being understood that the day would be a busy one,
I being desirous of finishing all before sunset, so as to make a start
again next day, there being nothing to detain us or to make it worth our
while to prolong our stay where we then were.
Breakfast over, Bob and I pulled back to the cutter, where we at once
commenced work in earnest, leaving Ella to amuse herself by strolling
along the shore and making her proposed collection of shells. By
dinner-time I succeeded in finishing the painting, giving the craft not
only a coat of black from her rail down to the copper, with a white
stripe or ribbon round the ornamental groove cut for that purpose in the
covering-board, but also a coat of pale stone-colour all round the
inside of her low bulwarks, as well as a touch of varnish on the teak
and mahogany-fittings of the deck.
This left me free to assist Bob in the afternoon, and such good progress
did we make that by sunset the rigging had been overhauled and lifted,
the mast-head examined in the eyes of the rigging, new service put on
where required, and everything got back into its place again, the
lanyards all set up, and the mainsail rebent, which it badly required.
We then had a good wash and adjourned to the shore, where we found our
fair companion awaiting us with tea all ready, and a collection of most
beautiful shells to exhibit, the fruits of her day's gathering. As soon
as the meal was over, everything was transported on board again, and put
in its place; and I then rejoined Ella, who remained on shore, and we
had a very enjoyable ramble, enlivened with such conversation as lovers
delight in.
The next morning, as soon as breakfast was over, we all adjourned to the
shore once more; and whilst Ella, at my recommendation, took another
stroll about the island. Bob and I set to work upon the oysters. They
were all dead by this time, of course, and not only so, but in such a
condition that it taxed our resolution to the utmost to go through with
the task about which we had set ourselves.
But what will man not do for the sake of wealth? It is true, we both
felt sanguine about finding our treasure-island; and if the account we
had received of it was true, there was more wealth there than we had the
means of taking away with us; still we could not resist the temptation
to secure this, comparatively speaking, small windfall that had come in
our way, so we persevered; and we certainly had no reason to be
dissatisfied with our reward.
When all was over we found that our acquisition amounted to about a
quart-measure full of seed-pearls, and a similar measure full of pearls
of a large size, ranging from the size of peas to, in one instance, a
splendid fellow fully as large as a pigeon's egg, many others being
nearly as fine.
This task occupied us all the morning, and when it was finished we
returned to the cutter, and at once set about taking our boat to pieces
and stowing her away below.
This done, we took dinner, immediately after which Bob and I got the
canvas set, hove up our anchor, and stood away for the western passage
through the reef.
This passage was much wider than the one by which we had entered, and
not nearly so crooked; and as we were just within the influence of the
trade-winds, and it trended generally in a westerly direction, we had a
fair wind through, so we had no difficulty whatever in passing out
between the reefs, which we did under easy sail jetting the gaff-topsail
and spinnaker upon the craft, however, as soon as we were fairly
outside.
The wind was blowing fresh, but steady, from about south-east, and as
our course was west-north-west, we flew merrily away very nearly dead
before the wind, with our spinnaker boomed out to port.
Bob took the afternoon watch, and I retired below and lay down, as it
was my eight hours out that night.
Ella remained on deck chatting gaily with Bob, and busying herself with
some mysterious bit of sewing, and I soon dropped off into a doze.
Nothing of importance occurred for the remainder of that day, nor during
the next.
Ella now regularly kept the first night-watch with me, whenever it was
my eight hours out, and many a pleasant chat did we have together; and
more and more reason did I see for congratulating myself upon my choice
of a bride, hasty as that choice had been.
Now that we had had an explanation, and there no longer existed any
reason for the fair girl's concealing her ardent attachment to me, many
little puzzling peculiarities and contradictions, which I had before
observed in her conduct, disappeared; and I found her society more
charming and her conversation more frank and enjoyable every day.
There was not a particle of coquettishness, or nonsense of any kind
about her, and she made no hesitation whatever about acknowledging
frankly yet modestly, the warmth of her affection.
She questioned me eagerly, and with the utmost interest, about my
father; and I saw with delight that there was already springing up
within her breast a feeling of regard for him, simply _because_ he
happened to be my father, which promised, with but a little
encouragement, to blossom into deep affection.
In the prospect of finding the treasure she also exhibited an interest,
but it was nothing in comparison with the other.
On one occasion, for example, when in speaking of it, I endeavoured to
explain to her that there was no absolute _certainty_ of our being able
to find it, and that if we failed I should be compelled of necessity to
return to my own profession as a means of support, she replied, "Well,
Harry, dear, I really _do_ hope you _will_ find it, for it would be very
hard to have you away from me for many months at a time, or indeed at
all but I could reconcile myself to that if we only happen to be
fortunate enough to find your dear father, so that I might have the
satisfaction of knowing that when my darling was absent from me, he
would be with a beloved parent."
She was not at all insensible to the advantages of wealth; but I could
see, in many little ways, that she was quite sincere in the statement
she often made, that she would willingly sacrifice our chances of
securing the gold for the certainty of discovering my father.
When I went on deck at seven-bells, in answer to Bob's call, on the
morning but one succeeding the day of our departure from the island, I
found that the wind had dropped almost to a dead calm, the _Lily_ making
no more than about three knots; and that there was a heavy sultry
feeling in the air, quite different from the usual freshness of the sea
breeze. A thin and almost impalpable vapour was spread over the entire
firmament, like a curtain, and away to the eastward a heavy bank of dark
menacing cloud was slowly rising above the horizon.
A glance at the aneroid, which was fixed in the companion-way, so as to
be visible to the helmsman, revealed the fact that the pointer of the
instrument had gone considerably back; and this, together with the
threatening aspect of the heavens, made me fear that we were about to
have a very unpleasant break in the fine weather we had been favoured
with since entering the Pacific.
"I don't like the looks of things, Harry," said Bob, as I glanced round
at the aspect of our surroundings; "that glass there has gone back a
good inch within the hour, and this light-flying stuff overhead has
sprung from Lord knows where within the last ten minutes; and that bank
down yonder seems to me to be working about in a way that's altogether
onaccountable, and looks very much as though 'twas breeding mischief.
I'd ha' called ye before, lad, but it's only within these ten minutes
that there's been anything out of the way about the look of the
weather."
"It has a threatening look about it, certainly," I replied, "and we will
not waste a moment in getting the canvas off the craft, and in making
her snug for whatever may befall. Leave the tiller to take care of
itself, Bob, and in with the gaff-topsail, whilst I hand the spinnaker.
Never mind about rolling them up; we can do that by-and-by, if we have
time. So that's well. Now settle away the peak halliards, or--here,
let me have them, and I will lower away both peak and throat, whilst you
gather in the sail. Now roll it snugly up, and stow it securely, and
put the cover on, whilst I get in the jib and lower the topmast. Be as
lively as you like, Bob; we shall have none too much time, by the look
of things astern. Now we may yet roll up these sails and get them out
of the way below, if we are smart. You do that, whilst I close-reef the
foresail. I hope that whatever is coming will not last long; for we are
in rather an ugly berth here among so many islands, and it may not be an
easy matter to avoid them if we are obliged to scud, as I expect we
shall be."
We worked with a will, and in a quarter of an hour had the craft
stripped, with the exception of a close-reefed foresail, and her topmast
lowered. All the time that we were working, the heavy bank astern had
been rising and spreading itself over the heavens like a dark canopy,
the vast mass of vapour of which it was composed writhing and twisting
like the contortions of a wounded snake; and by the time that our
preparations were complete, the entire sky was overspread, with the
exception of a low strip away on the western horizon, which was rapidly
lessening, even as we looked upon it.
The interposition of this vast curtain of vapour between us and the sky
caused an awful semi-darkness to fall upon the scene, and this was still
further increased by the presence of a kind of smoky mist, which now
filled the air, rendering everything so obscure that it was difficult to
see further than a mile on either side.
Ella now came upon deck to announce that breakfast was ready, but we had
something else to occupy our attention just then; and the fair girl
placed her arm in mine, and gazed with us in silence at the
awe-inspiring scene.
The wind had died away altogether, but the inky sea exhibited a singular
and alarming appearance, leaping into low waves which had no run in any
direction, and which presented more the appearance of what we see on the
surface of a simmering caldron than anything else to which I can compare
it.
Suddenly a blinding flash of lightning rent the canopy overhead, and
simultaneously came the cracking, rattling crash of the thunder. I
directed Ella to retire below, and not to attempt returning to the deck
unless I called her, advising her also to get her breakfast at once, and
clear everything away, if she wished to save the crockery, as I expected
we should soon have more of both wind and sea than we wanted.
I then closed the cabin doors and drew over the slide, and well it was
that I did so; for at that moment there came another flash, another
deafening, stunning peal, and then the floodgates of heaven were opened,
and the rain descended in such blinding sheets that our deck was in less
than a minute full to the low rail, notwithstanding that there was an
inch of clear space all round the craft, between bulwarks and
covering-board, to enable her to free herself rapidly of water.
This lasted perhaps five minutes, and then the rain ceased as suddenly
as it had come on. It was, to compare great things with small, like the
emptying of a bucket of water. It was a deluge whilst it lasted, and it
ceased as suddenly as would the shower from a bucket when its contents
had all fallen to the ground.
Another minute or two of suspense succeeded, and then a pale,
primrose-coloured streak appeared on the horizon to the eastward,
rapidly increasing in size, and a hollow moaning sound gradually became
audible in the air. I did not like it at all. I was sure something out
of the common was about to happen, and I desired Bob to go forward and
haul down the foresail, and stow it.
He had just done this, and was coming aft again, when he sung out, "Here
it comes at last, Harry; stand by the tiller." I looked, and away
astern, right and left, far as the eye could reach, was a rapidly
advancing and widening streak of white foam. On it came, outstripping
in speed the fastest express train, the sea in front of it inky black,
whilst behind it was all as white as milk. I sat down on deck, bracing
my feet against the companion, and desired Bob to do the same and it was
well we did so, or I verily believe we should have been blown overboard.
The hurricane struck us fairly astern, and I fully expected to see the
mast go clean out of the cutter, whilst the foam boiled up over the
taffrail and surged inboard, filling our decks, and piling; over us in a
truly alarming manner. However, our rigging was all first-rate, and
stood the tremendous strain bravely and, the laws of nature asserting
their supremacy even in this wild scene, the little _Lily_ rose and
shook herself clear of the water which had swept in over her, and then
away she flew, at a perfectly frightful speed, dead before it.
Had she been of the usual model, her bows would have been forced under
by the enormous pressure of the wind behind, and she would have gone
down head foremost; but, sharp as were her water-lines, her bows curved
boldly out above water, and thus afforded her a support forward, which
now proved her salvation.
The first fierceness of the gust lasted perhaps five minutes, possibly
not so much, but it is difficult to measure time on such occasions as
these, and then we got the strength of the gale proper. I thought it
blew pretty hard off Cape Horn, but it was a trifle compared with this.
The sea remained perfectly smooth, for the simple reason that it _could
not_ get up. The tops of the surges, as they rose, were taken by the
wind and swept off as neatly as you would cut a flower from its stalk
with a riding-switch, and the air was filled completely with this scud
water, rendering it so thick that it was impossible to see a cable's
length ahead.
As all immediate danger was for the present over, I now desired Bob to
push back the companion slide, leaving the doors still closed however,
and go below and get a mouthful of something to eat, as I did not know
what call might yet be made upon our energies, and it was desirable that
we should not allow ourselves to become exhausted from want of food.
As soon as he had snatched a hasty meal, he relieved me, and I went
below in my turn, when I found that Ella had contrived to keep some
coffee hot for us, as well as a supply of the cakes or rolls which she
was so fond of making; and the dear girl, pale and terrified as she was,
took her place at the table, attending to my wants with true womanly
assiduity and self-forgetfulness.
She earnestly entreated to be allowed to accompany me on deck, and share
whatever danger there might be, but this of course I would not allow,
asserting, a little ungallantly, I fear, that she could do no good
there, and would only be in the way. I gave her permission, however, to
stand in the companion-way and look abroad upon the strange scene,
providing that she wrapped herself well up, and put on my macintosh to
prevent becoming wet through, and this concession she gratefully
accepted.
Hour after hour we flew before the fury of the gale, my anxiety
increasing with every mile that we travelled, for my chart told me that
a group of islands lay directly ahead as we were then steering; and I
knew, by my reckoning, that we must be drawing fearfully close to them,
if indeed we were not already actually among them.
The wind had moderated, to a certain extent, from its first terrific
violence, but it was still blowing far too hard to permit of our
rounding-to, and making use of our floating-anchor; any attempt to do so
must inevitably have resulted in the craft "turning the turtle" with us,
and I had, therefore, no choice but to keep scudding.
The sea began to get up, too, now, and followed us in a very menacing
manner, the huge foaming crests rearing high above our taffrail, and
threatening every moment to fall on board. So great did this danger at
last become, that I reluctantly directed Bob to go forward and set the
foresail (which I had close-reefed before it was stowed) upon the craft.
This, in such weather, and with only one hand to do the work, promised
to be a task of no ordinary difficulty; but Bob was the man to do it if
any one could, and he set about the work with all the care and skill of
which he was master.
I sheered the cutter about one point to port to keep the sail steadily
drawing; and, the sheets being carefully trimmed, the old fellow took
the halliards in one hand, knelt down upon the sail, and cast off the
stops by which it was secured. He then steadied the halliards taut,
sprang to the weather-side of the deck, and swayed away, catching a turn
under a belaying-pin the moment the sail was up.
It almost set itself, and by Bob's careful management it was filled and
drawing without a single flap, which would at that moment have insured
its destruction.
The effect of the exhibition of this mere shred of canvas was such a
material acceleration of speed that we were no longer in any great
danger of being "pooped;" but, on the other hand, we were now rushing
with the greater impetuosity down upon the dangers which, I had too much
reason to fear, awaited us ahead.
Indeed, I had abundant confirmation of these fears within the next
half-hour, for we soon afterwards dashed past an extensive reef--over
which the sea boiled and seethed with terrific violence--at so short a
distance that, but for our slight alteration of course when the foresail
was set, we must have plunged headlong upon it. To add to my anxiety,
it still continued thick as ever, rendering it utterly impossible to see
above a cable's length, or two at the utmost, on any side of us.
So anxious did I at last become, that I was on the point of resigning
the helm to Bob, that I might go below to consult the chart, and
ascertain as nearly as I could our exact position, when suddenly,
directly ahead, appeared a wild waste of boiling foaming surf, swirling,
seething, and leaping high in the air, where it became instantly
dissipated in the form of a dense driving mist.
I glanced wildly to port and to starboard, vainly hoping I should see
clear unbroken water on one side or the other, though we were already
too near the breakers to escape them. But far as the eye could
penetrate the dense atmosphere on either side, stretched the remorseless
breakers, and in another minute we were among them.
On first catching sight of the broken water, I had pointed to the
companion in which Ella still stood; and Bob, seeing the action, caught
my meaning in a moment, and with rather scant ceremony, thrust the poor
little girl's head below and drew the slide close over.
At the same instant I thought I detected a spot where the sea was
breaking somewhat less madly than elsewhere, and I gave the cutter a
strong sheer to starboard, that we might enter the surf at that point,
it being my opinion that then lay the deepest water.
I had no hope of escaping, but the instinct of self-preservation
asserted itself, as it always will, and prompted me to avail myself of
even the slenderest and most doubtful chance in our favour.
The cutter heeled violently down, burying her lee gunwale half-deck high
in the seething water, and I thought for a moment that she was going
over altogether with us; the foresail jibed with a loud flap, and blew
clear and clean out of the bolt-rope, and at the same instant the _Water
Lily_ plunged wildly into the boiling surf.
I braced myself for the shock which I expected would instantly follow,
accompanied by the crashing in of the poor little craft's timbers, but
she did not touch.
The water tumbled on board forward, aft, everywhere, and Bob and I were
frequently standing waist deep; and still the cutter rushed furiously
on, all my efforts and energies now being directed to keeping as much as
possible in those parts where the sea broke with least violence.
After the first half-minute or so, finding that we did not strike, hope
faintly revived within me, especially as the cutter suddenly shot into a
belt of unbroken water.
Down this channel we rushed, sheering now to port, now to starboard, as
we followed its windings, the water becoming smoother with every fathom
we proceeded.
I began to hope that our troubles were coming to an end, when suddenly
the channel took a quick bend to windward, and without sail upon the
boat it became impossible to follow it.
Selecting, as before, that part where the surf broke least heavily, I
was fain therefore once again to let the little _Lily_ drive into the
white water, and the next moment we touched, though but lightly.
Another perilous quarter of a mile was run, and then, the air being
rather clearer, I saw, some distance ahead, beyond the now much reduced
surf, clear water again; but there was an unbroken barrier of foam
between us and it, and from its appearance I greatly feared that the
reef rose everywhere in that direction dangerously near to the surface.
There was not much to choose in the way of a course just then, so I
steered for the nearest point of the new channel, and was just
congratulating myself that we should reach it without touching again,
when we plunged into the thickest of the foam, struck heavily, and
sheered broadside to, heeling over so violently that Bob lost his
footing and his hold together, and fell into the sea to leeward.
The main-sheet was lying coiled upon the deck under my hand, and I threw
it over to him bodily. He fortunately caught it, and, exerting his
utmost strength, succeeded in clambering on board again.
As he did so, a huge roller came foaming and tumbling towards us,
striking our upturned side so violently that it hove us fairly over on
our beam-ends, whilst it lifted us clear of the ledge to which we had
hung, and launched us into the unbroken water to leeward.
Once clear of the ledge, the little craft instantly righted, and I put
the helm hard up. We soon paid off, and swept away to leeward once
more; but we were now in a good broad channel, with comparatively smooth
water, and I saw, with satisfaction, that the surf on each side of us
was becoming less and less heavy every minute.
Five minutes might have elapsed perhaps after we last struck, when I saw
land looming through the haze ahead, and soon afterwards we found
ourselves clear of the reefs altogether--inside of them, that is--and
floating on the comparatively smooth surface of an extensive lagoon.
High land now distinctly appeared ahead of us, and we shortly discovered
that it formed a portion of an island of considerable size, the northern
end of which lay about three points on our starboard-bow.
Towards this point I at once directed the head of the cutter, with the
object of getting under a lee as quickly as possible, and, if
practicable, into a berth which would permit of our careening our poor
little craft and examining into the extent of her damage. I directed
Bob to open the companion now, as I was fearful that Ella might have
received some injury when the cutter was hove on her beam-ends; but, to
my great joy, as soon as the doors were thrown back, there she was,
clinging desperately to the ladder, terribly frightened, but unhurt, as
she assured me, beyond a few unimportant bruises.
As we neared the northern extremity of the island, towards which I was
steering, we found that it terminated in an almost perpendicular cliff
of some fifty or sixty feet in height, constituting the northern part of
the base of a high hill, rising almost to the dignity of a mountain,
which was thickly-wooded almost to its summit, and to the very verge of
the cliffs, close under which we were now gliding swiftly along.
As my eye ranged over the northern face of these cliffs, which we had by
this time opened, I detected a rather singular break in them at a
particular point; and, curiosity prompting me, I sheered the cutter a
little closer to get a nearer view of it.
Approaching still nearer, it seemed to me that this break extended quite
to the water's edge; but it was not until we were almost past it that I
felt convinced not only that this was the case, but that there actually
was a bay or cove of some sort inside it.
This discovery was made barely in time to enable me to jam my helm
hard-a-starboard and just fetch the opening, through which in about five
minutes afterwards we gently slid, finding ourselves in the midst of a
deep basin of almost perfect circular form, so completely landlocked and
with such a narrow and artfully-concealed entrance that it was not until
we were within a biscuit-throw of the rocks that I felt absolutely
certain there, really existed a passage at all.
The basin, as I have already said, was of circular form, and I judged it
to be about a mile in diameter. The entrance was at the most northerly
point in its circumference; at which spot, as I afterwards ascertained
by sounding, there was nearly forty fathoms of water, though the horns
or cusps of the encircling cliffs approached each other so closely that
it would have been impossible to take even a small square-rigged vessel
through without bracing her yards sharp fore and aft, and a craft of say
a couple of hundred tons could not have been carried through at all.
At the entrance the cliffs rose almost perpendicularly out of the water,
both outside and inside, terminating in a wedge on either side.
From this point, however, they gradually widened away in the form of a
gently-rising plateau, out of which two spurs of the mountain sprang,
one on each side of the basin.
Between these spurs or shoulders lay a ravine, which sloped evenly down
from the level of the plateau on each side until it terminated, at the
southern extremity of the basin, in a beach of fine sand. This ravine
lay, of course, directly ahead of us as we entered; and its smooth,
lawn-like surface, swelling gradually upwards towards the mountain in
the rear and the plateaus on each side, formed a truly lovely picture
under any circumstances, and especially to us who had, within the last
hour, been battling with a stormy sea.
Its central portion, for perhaps a mile in length and a quarter of that
width, was luxuriantly clothed with the freshest verdure, but was quite
destitute of trees.
Beyond these limits, however, the whole face of the country was
thickly-wooded, cocoa-nuts and bananas being conspicuously abundant.
The beach ran about three-fourths round the basin, being broadest
immediately in front of the ravine and gradually narrowing away to
nothing at about a mile's distance on either side.
At the western extremity of the beach a beautiful cascade tumbled over
the edge of the cliff upon a low rocky platform below, from whence it
dispersed itself into the sea.
I took the glass, and carefully swept the entire ravine with it to
ascertain whether there were any indications that the island was
inhabited, for I felt convinced that were it so this lovely spot would
be the first selected as a place of abode. But for all that I could see
no human foot had ever pressed the soil, and I felt encouraged to go
close in and anchor; though, before doing anything else, I determined to
make a voyage of discovery inland, and settle the question as to the
existence or nonexistence of inhabitants.
If it should really prove that we had this lovely island all to
ourselves, nothing could possibly be better suited to our purpose of
careening the cutter: for I found, by repeated casts of the lead, that
the water shoaled with almost mathematical regularity as we approached
the beach.
On shooting through the narrow entrance we had found ourselves almost
becalmed under the lofty cliffs, though the gale still howled overhead,
so, having made up my mind as to the berth in which I would place the
cutter, I desired Bob to get the jib on her, and under this short canvas
we slid quietly across the basin to our anchorage, bringing up in three
fathoms.
We immediately got our boat out and put her together and, as soon as she
was ready, I took a double-barrelled shot-gun, and got Bob to put me
ashore, leaving him to take care of Ella and the cutter, and telling him
that in the event of anything transpiring to render his assistance
necessary I would fire both barrels quickly one after the other, and not
otherwise.
If a distant view of the country was attractive, it was, upon a closer
inspection, perfectly enchanting, everything having the appearance
rather of the happiest effects of landscape-gardening than of an unaided
effort of nature. The ground, which from a distance appeared almost too
regular for perfect beauty, I found to be finely broken; and on each
side, as I walked up the ravine, were constantly recurring elevations
and declivities, ornamented with fine clumps of tropical trees.
Besides the cocoa-nuts and bananas, I found plantains, figs, breadfruit,
pine-apples, superior in size and flavour to any that I had ever before
met with, and a large variety of other fruits with the names and
qualities of which I was unacquainted.
Innumerable birds of the most beautiful plumage sported among the trees,
and a few of them sang very sweetly, but for the most part the sounds
which they emitted were quite unlike any that I had heard before.
I saw no traces of animals or reptiles, great or small and none whatever
of man.
I walked quite to the head of the ravine, and then turned off to the
right, with the object of passing round the base of the mountain; but,
after an hour's walk, I found that I had my labour for my pains, for I
came out upon the edge of the cliff on the north-western side of the
island, and now discovered that at that spot it not only extended for
some distance to the southward, but swept round the northern base of the
mountain inland, rising sheer like a wall for quite a hundred feet.
After searching unavailingly for some time for a point at which it might
be possible for me to pass, I was obliged to give it up and retrace my
steps.
Reaching the head of the ravine once more, I now struck off to the left
with the intention of passing round to the eastward. Another walk of
about an hour, during which my progress was much impeded, as it had been
on the opposite side, by the dense undergrowth, and I came out upon a
small platform on the extreme eastern side of the mountain. This
platform terminated on my left at the edge of the cliff, and ahead it
gradually narrowed until there was barely room for a man to pass, and
not then unless he had remarkably steady nerves: for on the right rose a
perpendicular precipice, and on the left was the cliff-edge, with the
lagoon nearly two hundred feet below. From my present position I was
now able to see that this ledge was the only available point of passage
from the northern to the southern side of the island unless one chose
fairly to scale the mountain, which I was convinced would be a work of
considerable difficulty, on account of the thickness of the bush or
undergrowth.
Along this narrow ledge, then, I proceeded to take my way and, after a
perilous journey of half a mile, came out upon safe ground once more.
Half an hour afterwards I reached the southern side of the island, and
clambering with considerable difficulty to the top of a precipitous
knoll, I obtained an uninterrupted view of the whole southern side of
the island. It extended from the point upon which I stood a distance of
quite twelve miles, running nearly due north and south, and was divided
pretty evenly by a ridge or spur of the mountain, which passed down its
entire length.
The island varied considerably in width, being irregularly shaped
somewhat like a diamond or lozenge, with numerous bays and creeks on its
western side, but none whatever on the east. It was well wooded
throughout, and presented a magnificent park-like appearance.
I had brought my most powerful glass with me, and from the commanding
elevation upon which I stood, I now carefully swept the entire island as
far as the range of my glass permitted, but without detecting the
slightest trace of inhabitants.
Greatly gratified at the perfect security which this promised, I now
retraced my steps, as the sun, which had burst through the clouds, was
by this time approaching the horizon; and in about a couple of hours I
found myself once more on board the cutter, where I was joyously
welcomed by my companions, who had both begun to feel very uneasy at my
prolonged absence.
Of course I did not fail to take back with me a plentiful supply of
fruit, upon which we regaled ourselves luxuriously after a late dinner,
during which I gave a detailed report of my explorations.
So satisfactory was this, that my companions were both delighted when I
announced my intention of remaining there for a sufficient length of
time to careen and examine the cutter and as this would of course
necessitate the taking of everything movable out of her, it was arranged
that we should commence our work next morning by rigging-up a couple of
tents on shore, in which to take up our quarters until the cutter was
once more ready to receive us.
Volume Two, Chapter V.