overpowering, and the trio were streaming perspiration at every pore.
It was Chichester only, who by virtue of his professional knowledge was
aware of the evil results attending a sudden chill, who first took the
precaution of advancing to the edge of the basin and testing the
temperature of the water by plunging his hand into it, and it was while
he was doing this that his attention was arrested by the peculiar
appearance of what he at first took to be a large stone projecting out
of the shallow water on the opposite side of the basin. At first sight
it looked exactly like a grey boulder of some fifteen or twenty pounds
weight, yet there was a certain something in its appearance which caused
him to bestow a second and more attentive glance upon it, and now he
felt not quite so certain that it really was a stone, after all. To
resolve his doubts he picked up a small stone and threw it at the
questionable object, the missile falling about a foot short. He felt
almost sure that, as the stone plopped into the water, he detected a
slight movement on the part of the mysterious object. To make quite
sure, he threw a second stone, and this time his aim was better, the
stone hitting the target fair and square in the middle. But the sound
of the impact was not that of stone upon stone, it was rather that of
stone upon wood, or even some still more yielding substance, and it was
immediately followed by a loud angry hiss and the uprearing of the
object aimed at. The next instant the amazed trio beheld the head and
neck of a gigantic serpent lift itself some four or five feet out of the
pool, while fierce hissings issued from the wide-opened jaws. For a few
breathless seconds the enormous reptile glared around, apparently in
search of the audacious disturbers of its slumbers, then, seeing the
three white men standing on the opposite shore of the pool, it swung
round, and came swimming, with an easy, undulatory movement of its body,
straight toward them at an astonishing speed.
"Avaunt, Sathanas!" exclaimed Cole, throwing up his hands. "Surely 'tis
the Devil himself in his original form that hath taken possession of
this Eden! No mortal serpent was ever so big as thicky. Look to the
length of mun! He must be all of thirty foot, or more. And look to the
pace at which he cometh! We must run for it, my masters." And he
turned with intent to fly from the scene.
"Not a bit of it," exclaimed George, who was by this time half
undressed. "`Resist the Devil and he will fly from thee.' And if he be
not the Devil, but only a mortal snake, there is still less reason for
flight, seeing that there be three of us to one of him. Besides, I mean
to have his skin, and take it home to my mother." And he snatched up
his long, keen sword from the ground where he had thrown it when about
to undress, and boldly advanced to the attack.
The python, which was of the species known as "anaconda," is very common
in the forests bordering the Orinoco, and is occasionally found in
Trinidad even to this day, the belief current with regard to its
presence in the island being that the ancestors of those now found in
the island originally reached it by swimming across the strait from the
mainland, a distance of only some nine miles. They are very fond of the
water, and are not venomous. But George did not know this, therefore it
was all the more courageous of him that he should have determined to
fight rather than retreat from the huge reptile.
The creature was making straight for a small space of smooth, level
beach, free from big boulders and fallen logs, and as this afforded good
firm foothold for a fight, young Saint Leger took up his position there,
and boldly awaited the approach of the monster. The creature came
steadily on, its eyes gleaming balefully; and presently it reached
shallow water, when it suddenly threw its extended body into a coil, and
raised its great head to the level of George's face, its immense jaws
wide open, and its wire-like forked tongue darting and quivering as it
emitted a series of savage hisses that might well have quelled the
courage of the bravest man. But George was one of those peculiarly
constituted people who know not what fear is. Danger but added a
piquant zest to his enjoyment, and steadied instead of upsetting his
nerves. He loved to pit himself, his courage, his coolness, his skill
and his sagacity against what looked like overwhelming odds, and the
formidable aspect of this enormous serpent, which might well have
paralysed another man with terror, only had the effect of bracing him
and filling him with the joy of combat. With his good sword gripped
firmly in his hand he stood his ground, intently watching the movements
of his formidable antagonist, with every muscle of his body tense and
ready for action, and presently, when the python hurled itself at him
with a lightning-like extension of its great coils, the lad as nimbly
bounded aside, and at the same moment dealt a slashing blow at the spot
where, a fraction of a second later, he knew its great head would be. A
jar, which thrilled his sword arm to the shoulder, told him that his
stroke had got home, and the next instant he was violently hurled a
fathom away as the snake's severed head fell to the ground, and the
enormous body, writhing in a thousand terrific convolutions, churned the
blue waters of the basin into diamond-tinted spray. For full ten
minutes the amazed trio stood gazing in breathless astonishment at the
amazing twistings and writhings of the decapitated body, and then
George, taking advantage of a momentary cessation of movement, dashed
into the shallow water, seized the creature with both hands by its
quivering tail, and drew it ashore. Then, impaling the severed and
still gasping head upon his sword blade, and inviting his two friends to
help him, the trio, with some difficulty, raised the still convulsively
writhing and twitching body upon their shoulders and, thus heavily
loaded, made the best of their way back to their boat.
The sun had already sunk behind the high land in the direction where
their ship lay, when the adventurers, with their strange prize bestowed
in the bottom of the boat, emerged from the river into the open waters
of the gulf, and shortly afterward the darkness swept down upon them
with the extraordinary suddenness peculiar to the tropics. But they
cared nothing for that, for they now had a fair wind to carry them back
to camp, the heavens were thickly studded with stars, shining with that
exceeding brilliancy and splendour which is also peculiar to the
tropics, and the men in camp had kindled a fire on the beach as a beacon
to guide them back; they therefore had no difficulty in finding their
way.
But their day's adventures were not yet quite at an end. For as the
boat slid smoothly along under the impulse of the fast waning wind Cole,
the chaplain, who was sitting on one of the side thwarts, while the
surgeon balanced him on the other side of the boat, suddenly looked up
from the water, into the dark depths of which he had been gazing, with
the startled exclamation:
"Lord ha' mercy! what be that, now? Look, cap'n, look overside, do 'e,
and tell me, if you can, what monstrous thing we've a-run foul of now."
And as he spoke he pointed straight downward.
George, thus adjured, leaned over the gunwale and directed his gaze
downward. What he saw was startling enough to cause him to suddenly
shift his helm, with the result that the sail jibed over unexpectedly
and all but capsized the boat. Luckily the wind had been dropping
steadily for the last half-hour, so they escaped with no worse
consequence than a gallon or two of water over the gunwale.
But what was it that caused young Saint Leger to so far forget himself?
Simply a great shape, made brilliantly luminous by its passage through
the water as it swam immediately underneath the boat, keeping pace with
her. It was lozenge or diamond-shaped, about twenty-five feet long and
thirty feet broad, with a tail some ten feet long trailing away behind
it. The light generated by its passage through the water revealed it
sufficiently to enable the startled beholders to perceive that it was
undoubtedly a living thing of some sort, that it was propelling itself
by the movement of its wing-like sides, and that at its forward angle--
which was of course its head--it was furnished with a pair of great
goggle eyes with which it seemed to be regarding the boat intently and
not too amiably. Whether or not it was startled by the sudden flap of
the sail as the boat jibed, it is of course impossible to say, but, be
that as it may, as the boat suddenly swerved away from above it the huge
creature rose with a rush to the surface and sprang right out of the
water to a height of some twelve feet, and, flapping its enormous wings
like a great bird, _flew right over the boat_, coming down on the other
side of her, at a distance of some four or five fathoms, with a _boom_
like the sound of a gigantic drum, and a disturbance of the sea so
violent that it all but swamped the boat. Five times it soared into the
air in this extraordinary fashion, luckily descending each time at a
greater distance from the boat, and then it disappeared altogether, to
the great relief of the voyagers.
"Looked as much like a giant thornback as anything I ever saw," remarked
George, when at length the creature had freed them from its presence and
their astonishment had sufficiently subsided to permit of their speaking
again. "We must ask Dyer about it. I remember him telling me, some
time ago, about a thing that he once saw when he was last in these seas,
and from his description I think it must have been the same sort of
fish. He said that the Indians called it, in their own language, the
devil fish, or great sea bat, and they further told him that it is a
most dangerous monster, since it has an unpleasant trick of rising
alongside a canoe, overlapping it with one of its wings, and forcing
canoe and occupants under-water. I think it not unlikely that the brute
we just now saw may have been meditating to serve us in the same
fashion, but was somehow frightened into thinking better of it."
Twenty minutes later the trio safely arrived at the camp without further
adventure, and found all well there. The men, it seemed, had enjoyed
the day of rest, each in his own fashion, some in practising archery,
some in repairing and washing their clothes, some in bathing in the
shallow water close inshore, while a party of their comrades in a boat
kept watch outside them to frighten away intruding sharks; while others
had walked up the valley, gathering fruit and flowers. One party, more
adventurous than the rest, had, ignoring the order against straying far
from the camp, penetrated the valley for a distance of some two miles,
as far as the base of the hills at its higher extremity, and had there
come upon a small Indian village, the inhabitants of which had at first
fled at their approach, but had afterwards been induced to return and
barter with them, giving barbed spears, feather head-dresses, parrots,
monkeys and a queer-looking little animal something like a miniature pig
encased in a shell-like coat--which the men had incontinently named a
"hog in armour"--now known as the armadillo, in exchange for brass
buttons off the white men's coats, old knives, fish-hooks and the like.
Questioned by George as to the appearance of these same Indians, the men
described them as extraordinarily ugly and dirty, wearing no clothing,
but ornaments with pieces of bone thrust through their ears, nostrils
and lips, very repulsive as to appearance, but apparently quite friendly
disposed. And so indeed they proved to be, for on the following day a
number of them approached the camp, bringing fruit, vegetables, and a
variety of other articles, which they offered in exchange for almost any
rubbish which the white men were willing to part with. And being
treated kindly, by George's express orders, they continued this practice
so long as the ship remained, to the very great profit and advantage of
the English. Of course communication with them was exceedingly
difficult, being conducted entirely by signs, hence it was found quite
impossible to obtain any information whatever from them, the business
transactions being conducted by the Indians exhibiting the goods which
they desired to dispose of, and the English producing the articles which
they were willing to give in exchange.
The ship was hove down on the following day, and, all hands working
hard, one side of her was scraped clean and made ready for painting by
the time that the men knocked off work at night. The next day was
devoted to painting that side of her which had been scraped, and
Wednesday was given up to the drying of the paint and a general overhaul
of the stores. On Thursday the ship was righted, swung, and hove down
again, exposing the other side of her bottom, and the process of
cleaning, painting and drying was repeated, the operation being
completed by the end of the week. Sunday was again observed as a day to
be devoted to worship and recreation, and on Monday morning the ship was
finally righted and the work of replacing her ballast, stores, ordnance,
ammunition and so on was begun, the task ending on the following Friday
night, by which time the _Nonsuch_ was once more all ataunto and ready
for any adventure which her young captain might choose to engage in.
And, meanwhile, the invalids, who, at Doctor Chichester's suggestion,
had been spared all labour, had completely recovered from their
sickness, and were as well and strong again as ever. And, incidentally,
the python which George had slain at the Blue Basin had been most
scientifically skinned and the skin cured, stuffed with dry grass,
stitched up, and the head joined to it again by an Indian whose services
the young captain had contrived to secure; and when the _Nonsuch_ sailed
out of the Gulf of Paria on the eventful Saturday which saw the actual
beginning of her great adventure, the skin--measuring thirty-four feet
eight and a half inches from snout to tail--gracefully, if somewhat
gruesomely, adorned the forward bulkhead of her state cabin.
CHAPTER FIVE.
HOW THEY CAPTURED THE "SANTA MARIA" AT MARGARITA.
By the advice of Dyer, the pilot, George kept the mainland aboard upon
issuing from the Gulf of Paria; for the island of Margarita was at no
great distance to the westward. And not only was Margarita the spot
where the Spaniards had established a vastly profitable pearl-fishing
industry, but it was also a kind of depot where all sorts of supplies
from Old Spain for the maintenance of her West Indian possessions were
landed and stored, to be drawn upon as occasion might demand. There
was, therefore, the double possibility of securing a more or less rich
booty of pearls, and of replenishing the stores, somewhat depleted by
two months of usage, at the Spaniards' expense.
Now, it was usual to approach Margarita from the northward; but that
course involved the risk of being sighted from the battery which the
Spaniards had constructed on the north-eastern extremity of the island;
and to be sighted meant that the garrison of the battery would give
timely warning to the colonists, who would thus be afforded ample
opportunity to conceal such treasure of pearls or otherwise as they
might happen to have on hand before the arrival of the English.
Therefore Dyer counselled an approach from the south-eastward, taking
care to keep far enough to the southward to escape observation from the
inmates of the battery, assuring George that he was thoroughly
acquainted with the navigation of those waters and guaranteeing that if
his advice were followed the surprise of the colonists should be
complete.
Accordingly the _Nonsuch_ hugged the coast of the Main as closely as was
at all prudent, a good look-out for rocks and shoals being maintained;
and at dawn on the following morning high land was descried on the
north-western horizon, which Dyer, having inspected it from aloft,
confidently pronounced to be the mountain peaks of the eastern half of
Margarita.
The ship was now, as she had been all through the night and the
preceding day, within the influence of the land and sea-breezes, and it
was under the influence of the former that she was now driving along to
the westward. But Dyer was aware that very shortly after sunrise the
land breeze would die away and the ship would be becalmed for the best
part of an hour before the setting in of the sea-breeze; therefore,
knowing exactly where he was, with Margarita in sight, he gave the order
to bear up and run off the land, which was done just in time to escape
the calm and run into the trade-wind.
Two hours later more land was sighted, this time straight ahead, and a
little later it was made out to be a small island, right in the fairway
between Margarita and the main. And as, upon a nearer approach, a
number of buildings were seen upon it, while in the offing a whole fleet
of boats--which Dyer affirmed bore a remarkable resemblance to pearl-
fishing-boats--were sighted at anchor, George resolved to give the place
an overhaul before calling upon the Margaritans. Now, one advantage
possessed by the _Nonsuch_ happened to be that, owing to the peculiarity
of her design, she bore a very remarkable resemblance to the Spanish
race-ships, or _razees_, which, in conjunction with the great galleons,
transacted almost the whole of the business on the Spanish Main; and
Saint Leger determined to avail himself of this peculiarity in the hope
that he would thereby be enabled to approach the little settlement
without arousing the suspicion of its inhabitants. Accordingly he stood
boldly on until he was abreast of the place--which now showed as one
large wooden shed and about a dozen smaller ones, together with a small
stone building which had the appearance of a church; then, rounding-to,
came to an anchor, at a distance of about a mile from the shore, the
colour of the water indicating that the island was surrounded by a
shoal.
As the _Nonsuch_ let go her anchor and clewed up her canvas, a number of
people were seen to emerge from the sheds and stand gazing at her, as
though curious to learn what her business might be. But they showed no
signs of anxiety or alarm; on the contrary, when two boats, with their
crews armed to the teeth, put off from the ship, under the command of
George and Captain Basset, who commanded the small contingent of land
forces forming part of the ship's company, the islanders came sauntering
down to the beach to meet them.
A steady pull of about a quarter of an hour's duration took the boats to
the beach of the island, which was a low and parched-looking place
clothed with guinea-grass with a few clumps of palms and palmetto, and
the inevitable coconut trees close down by the water. As George stepped
ashore a tall, sallow man attired in trunk hose, gorget, and steel
headpiece, with a long straight sword girded to his thigh, stepped
forward from the little crowd of about a dozen people and courteously
greeted his visitor in good Castilian Spanish.
George, whose trade with the Biscayan ports had enabled him to acquire a
pretty thorough acquaintance with the Spanish language, returned the
greeting in due form; but there was apparently something not quite right
about his accent, for the Spaniard stepped back quickly and, clapping
his hand to his sword-hilt, exclaimed:
"Senor, you are not a Spaniard! Who are you, and what is your business
here?"
And as he did so his supporters made a movement which seemed the
preliminary to a hurried retreat. Whereupon George threw up his right
hand warningly and said--of course in Spanish:
"Stand fast, every one of you. The man who attempts to move will be
instantly shot down. As to who I am, senor, it matters not. But my
business is to examine this island, and particularly to see what yonder
shed contains. Therefore I must trouble you and your comrades to
surrender your swords for an hour or two. You are my prisoners."
"But, senor, with all submission, this is an outrage," expostulated the
Spaniard. "I cannot surrender my sword to a stranger who declines to
give me his name, and produces no authority for his actions."
"This is my authority," exclaimed George, suddenly whipping out his
sword with a nourish. "Will you submit to it, or must I resort to
sterner measures?"
"I submit, of course," replied the Spaniard, "seeing that your party is
much the stronger of the two. But I do so under protest; and I warn
you, senor, that my Government will speedily avenge this outrage, which
is worthy only of-- Ha! now I know who you are. You are an Englishman--
possibly that thrice-accursed corsair, Drake, who, last year, at San
Juan de Ulua--"
"You are mistaken, senor; I am not Drake; nor does it matter who I am,"
retorted George. "Come, senors, your swords, if you please, for I have
little time to waste. Simons--and Way," to two of his men, "relieve
those gentlemen of their swords. A thousand thanks, gentlemen," as the
Spaniards surrendered their weapons. "Now do me the favour to accompany
me; and please remember that any man who attempts to escape will
instantly be shot down."
So saying, George, with his drawn sword in his right hand and his left
resting suggestively upon the butt of one of the pistols that adorned
his belt, led the way toward the little settlement, wondering meanwhile
what could possibly be the explanation of certain whiffs of a singularly
vile and offensive odour which now and then assailed his nostrils when
there occurred an occasional flaw in the trade-wind which was sweeping
briskly over the island. He might, of course, have asked, but the
thought occurred to him that by doing so he might perhaps be betraying
his ignorance, and so lay himself open to the chance of being misled
upon a matter that might very well be of importance. A little later on
he was very glad that he had held his peace.
A walk of a few minutes' duration brought the party to the settlement,
whereupon George called a halt and directed three of his men to follow
him into the first house they came to, and the rest to keep a wary eye
upon the prisoners. The building was a small wooden affair, consisting
of three rooms only, two of which were sleeping apartments, while the
third was furnished with a table, a sideboard, a couch, and a few
chairs, and was evidently used as a sitting-room. There was nobody in
the house, but upon passing through it to the rear they discovered a
small detached structure, the odours proceeding from which seemed to
suggest that it was being used as a kitchen. There they found a young
Indian woman bending over a fire and preparing a savoury mess of some
sort; and it was not without difficulty that they at length made her
understand she was a prisoner, and must abandon her cookery and
accompany them. In like manner they visited all the remaining houses of
the settlement, collecting altogether two white women and some twenty
blacks, as well as a priest, the whole of whom, together with their
other prisoners, they unceremoniously marched to the little church,
locking them therein, and so making prisoners of every soul in the
settlement. Then, having posted half a dozen men round the church, to
see that nobody broke out, George led the way to the big shed, which was
the most conspicuous building in the settlement. Entering it, he found
that it was divided into two unequal compartments, the smaller of which
contained a few casks of wine, a few bales of cloth of different kinds,
and a miscellaneous assortment of goods, evidently intended for the use
of the settlers. Then, passing from this into the larger compartment,
he at once became aware of a faint suggestion of the same peculiar and
offensive odour that had assailed his nostrils while walking up from the
beach, and, looking more closely, he found that it proceeded from an
enormous heap of something piled high against the further wall, which,
upon investigation, he found to be a kind of oyster-shell, the interior
of which was more or less thickly coated with a beautiful white,
iridescent substance. At once he understood the meaning of everything.
Those shells were shells of the pearl oyster; the settlement was a
subsidiary pearl-fishing station; and the odour which had so offended
him was the odour of decaying oysters laid out to rot in the sun in
order that the pearls might be extracted without injury from the dead
fish. And it had apparently dawned upon somebody that the shells, as
well as the pearls, possessed a market value, and this was where they
were being stored after being cleansed from the decayed fish.