favourable opportunities to discover themselves to some friends, on whom
they could rely. They learned that the victorious allies had been
guilty of the most intolerable cruelty towards the people of Tewa. Many
of the prisoners had been slain, as sacrifices to the gods, and many
more had been made slaves. Atollo had established himself as chief at
the conquered island, and had gathered about him a band of the most
ferocious and desperate men, who practised every species of cruelty and
oppression upon the inhabitants. The latter, driven to the utmost verge
of endurance, were now ready to incur any risk in an attempt to deliver
themselves from a yoke so galling. They needed only a leader, and the
experience and prowess of Wakatta, together with the presence of their
ancient and rightful chief and his son, inspired them with confidence
and courage. Gathering a small, but resolute, band of warriors, they
awaited the favourable moment to strike a decisive blow; and then,
emulating the secrecy and suddenness of Atollo's recent enterprise, they
sallied forth at night, from their rendezvous in the forest and fell
upon him and his adherents. Wakatta was unable to restrain the ferocity
of his followers, excited by the insults and injuries they had suffered,
and they killed on the spot all who fell into their hands, pausing to
make no prisoners. Atollo, after fighting like a tiger, though almost
alone, succeeded in making his escape with a few of his attendants. The
victors promptly carried the war into the neighbouring islands, both of
which were completely subdued, and afterwards remained under the sway of
Eiulo's grandfather until his death, when the present chief succeeded.
Atollo, after resisting as long as there remained the slightest prospect
of success, had sought refuge among the recesses of the mountains, where
he still lurked with a few outlaw followers, as desperate as himself.
His father had forbidden any search for him, or any efforts for his
capture to be made; and such was the dread inspired by his desperate
courage, ferocity, and cunning, and such the superstitious terror with
which he was generally regarded, that few felt any inclination to
transgress this command, or to meddle in any way with him or his
followers; and he was consequently left unmolested in his favourite
haunts, among the wild and almost inaccessible precipices of the
interior. In seasons of scarcity, his father had even caused supplies
of food to be placed where they would be likely to fall in his way.
Eiulo always shuddered when he spoke of this man. Once, when
accompanied by a young playmate and an attendant, he had strayed a long
way into the wood in search of wild-flowers, and had, without being
aware of it, approached the region frequented by the outlaws, a spear
had suddenly been hurled at him from an adjacent thicket, with so deadly
a purpose, that it whistled past within a few inches of his side. As
they fled in alarm, and were clambering hastily down a steep descent, a
mass of rock was disengaged from the verge of an overhanging precipice,
and came near crushing them all. Looking back, in their flight, they
saw a wild figure, which the attendant recognised at once as that of
Eiulo's uncle, stooping at the edge of the cliff, in the act of
loosening another large stone. Notwithstanding this murderous attempt,
the present chief of Tewa continued to pursue the same forbearing course
which his father had adopted, and Atollo was still permitted to remain
unmolested among his mountain fastnesses.
Eiulo, even before the discovery of the hat, had believed that we were
upon the same island which his father had visited, as above related, and
from which the whites had afterwards come. He was confident that by
sailing northward, with a fair wind, we should reach Tewa in less than a
day. Though generally cheerful, and overflowing with boyish spirits,
there were times when it was apparent that he pined for his home; and,
though he never directly urged it, he earnestly wished to have us make
the attempt to reach his father's island in the yawl.
At length I began to suspect, from the constant and minute inquiries
which Arthur made in relation to Tewa, and its people, their usages,
habits, etcetera, that he was thinking seriously of some such attempt.
He directed his inquiries particularly to the point whether the island
was ever visited by ships. Eiulo remembered hearing his father speak of
big canoes, without any outriggers, and whose masts were as high as a
cocoa-nut-tree, having passed in sight of the island. He had heard,
too, that a long while ago, one of these great vessels had got aground,
upon a reef between Tewa and the adjacent island, and that the natives
had gone off to her in their canoes, and some of them had ventured on
board at the invitation of the strangers. Old Wakatta was one of these,
and he had received a wonderful present from the white chief, which he
had often exhibited to Eiulo, and which, from his description of it,
appeared to be neither more nor less than a small looking-glass. The
great canoe had, by throwing overboard a part of her cargo, got off from
the reef at the rising of the tide, and resumed her voyage. It was
pretty evident that the arrival of a European vessel at the islands, was
an event of very rare occurrence, and in all probability the result of
mere accident. Except that he steadily pursued inquiries of this kind,
Arthur said nothing to show that he entertained the thought of such an
undertaking as I suspected him to be revolving. Browne and Morton both
had exaggerated notions of the cruelty and treachery of the "heathen
native;" as the former called them, and would, I had no doubt, be
strongly averse to any step calculated to place us in their power,
unless it should also, in some way, increase our prospects of ultimately
getting home.
For several days after the occurrences narrated in the last chapter, we
remained at Castle-hill, making little excursions daily in various
directions. Having now discovered a supply of fresh water, and abundant
means of subsistence, it seemed as though there was at present nothing
further for us to do, except to assist Arthur, as far as we could; in
his preparations for manufacturing tappa. The weather was so genial,
(except during the middle of the day, when the heat was frequently
intolerable), that we felt no want of any other shelter than such as the
grove afforded us. Generally, towards evening, a refreshing breeze set
in from the sea, and lasted several hours. We experienced no bad
effects from sleeping in the open air, and far from finding it a
hardship, we soon came to consider it every way more pleasant, than to
be cribbed and cabined within four close walls. There was something
delightful, in dropping off into dreamland, listening to the whispering
of the leaves above you, and catching glimpses through them, of a sky so
deliciously blue, and stars so wonderfully bright. It seemed as though
in this favoured spot, the fable of a perpetual summer was to be
realised, and the whole circle of the year was to be crowned with the
same freshness and verdure and beauty, the same profusion of fruits and
flowers, which we had thus far enjoyed. But such expectations, if any
of us were beguiled into entertaining them, were destined to be rudely
dissipated. One hot afternoon, we were startled from a drowsy siesta in
the grove, by a peal of thunder, such as is rarely heard in temperate
climates, and on springing up and looking about us, we beheld above and
around us, certain indications, which it would have been far more
interesting and agreeable to contemplate from beneath the shelter of a
snug and comfortable dwelling. The wind moaned through the bending
tree-tops; the face of the heavens was black as night, and the waters of
the lagoon, and of the ocean, had darkened to a steely blue beneath
their frown. Before we had fairly shaken off our drowsiness, another
abrupt peal of thunder burst overhead, with a suddenness that seemed to
jar the very clouds and shake the water out of them, for the rain began
all at once to come down violently, in big drops, that rattled like
hailstones upon the crisp leaves of the forest. The thunder appeared to
have completed its office in giving the signal for the clouds to
discharge their contents, and we heard it no more. For a time, the
dense foliage of the large tree under which we gathered, completely
sheltered us; but soon the moisture began to drip slowly from the lower
leaves, and occasionally fell in sudden showers, as the branches were
shaken by the wind.
At length, the ground became thoroughly saturated, shallow puddles
formed in every little hollow or depression, and there was the prospect
of a most miserable night if the storm should continue. Happily, this
did not prove to be the case; in about an hour after we had been aroused
by the first thunder peal, the clouds dispersed almost as suddenly as
they had gathered; the sun shone forth brightly; the trees and the grass
sparkled with raindrops, lustrous as diamonds, and the whole landscape
smiled in fresher beauty than ever.
This little occurrence, however, served as a seasonable hint to recall
to our minds the importance of contriving some kind of a dwelling to
afford us shelter in bad weather, and we resolved to lose no time in
setting about it. Accordingly, the day following that of the thunder
shower, as soon as we had returned from the beach, after taking our
regular morning swim, Arthur called a council, to deliberate and
determine upon the matter of house-building. The first thing was to fix
upon a site; the only objection to the level space at the top of the
hill, was its elevated position, exposing it to the full force of the
violent winds which prevail at certain periods of the tropical year.
But on that side from which the strongest winds blow, the spot was
protected by still higher land towards the interior, and the fine trees
of various kinds and sizes, (some of them evidently the growth of many
years), among which could be seen no prostrate trunks, showed, as we
thought, that nothing was to be feared from that source.
We, therefore, selected a smooth, open space, near the edge of the
terrace, commanding a view of the sea, through a vista of noble trees.
Max insisted, that, inasmuch as with our limited architectural resources
we could not make our house of more than one storey, we ought to build
in "cottage style," and make up for deficiency in height, by spreading
over a large surface. He then proceeded to mark out a ground-plan, upon
a scale that would have been shockingly extravagant, had we been in a
part of the world where the price of building-lots was to be taken into
consideration. A parallelogram, nearly forty feet long by twenty-five
in width, the narrower side fronting the sea, was the plan of the main
building. This was to be flanked by two wings, each some sixteen feet
square, which would serve to strengthen and support the principal
structure. "Upon this model," Max complacently observed, "he intended
one of these days to build his country-seat, near Mount Merino, on the
Hudson: meantime, we were welcome to the benefit of the idea."
"Really, we're greatly obliged to you, Max," said Browne, "for helping
us so generously through with the most difficult part of the business.
All that we now want in order to finish it at once, is merely a few
loads of joist, plank, pine-boards, shingles, and window-sash; a supply
of nails, a set of carpenter's tools, and a couple of carpenters to use
them."
"Of course," rejoined Max, "we shall want a supply of building
materials, tools, etcetera, and I am expecting them along daily. We
have now been here several weeks, and it is quite time, in the natural
and regular course of things, and according to the uniform experience of
people situated as we are, for a ship heavily laden, (say in our case),
with lumber and hardware, to be driven upon our shores in the midst of a
terrible storm, (yesterday, when it began to thunder, I thought it was
at hand). The ship will come driving upon the reef--the crew will take
to the boats, but no boat can live in such a sea, and notwithstanding
our humane and daring efforts to assist them, all perish among the
breakers--that is to say, all except the carpenter--whom I rescue, by
plunging into the raging flood and dragging him ashore by the hair, just
as he is about sinking for the third time."
"Nobly done!" said Browne, "but couldn't you at the same time manage to
save a drowning washerwoman? she would be as great an acquisition as the
carpenter, in my mind."
"At length," resumed Max, "the storm abates--the sea becomes smooth--we
go out in the yawl to the stranded vessel, where she lies upon a coral
patch, and bring off, in two boat loads, the carpenter's chest, a keg of
gunpowder, a blunderbuss, seven muskets, fourteen pairs of pistols, and
a bag of doubloons, (think of that, Johnny!) That very night the wind
rises again: the surf breaks the wreck to pieces, and washes the
fragments ashore, and in the morning the sea is strewn far and wide with
floating spars, and bales, and barrels; and the reef is covered for
miles with `joist, plank, pine-boards, shingles, window-sash,' and
whatever other trifling conveniences are requisite for building my
cottage. This is what Johnny and I confidently calculate upon."
"In the meantime," said Arthur, "in case by any unfortunate accident
your ship should fail to arrive in time to enable us to get the cottage
up before the rains set in, I propose that we commence a less ambitious
structure." He began to trace upon the ground with a pointed stick, the
oval outline of what he called a `Tihitian fare.' "But even for my
fare," he added, "we shall need the means of cutting down a number of
good-sized trees."
"Of which we are entirely destitute," said Max, with an air of triumph,
"and I don't see but that we shall have to wait for my ship after all."
"Not so," answered Arthur, "for I think that two or three of the
cutlasses may be converted into tolerable saws, with which, by dint of a
little patience, we can get out as many posts and rafters as will be
requisite for the frame of our building, though I admit it will be
tedious work."
Johnny heaved a profound sigh at the prospect of the difficulties that
lay in the way of his pet project of house-building, and wished that
"that old magician who built the castle with a thousand windows for
Aladdin, in a single night, would only be clever enough to lend us his
assistance." But upon second thought, he concluded that there would be
"no fun" in having our house ready-made for us, and magnanimously
declared that if he had the wonderful lamp in his hands that minute,
with full power to summon up the obedient genius, and set him to work,
he would not do it.
"I hope you would make him supply us with a few good axes, Johnny, at
least," said Browne.
But Johnny was disposed to be very self-denying and high-minded; he did
not think he ought to do it; we should take a great deal more pleasure
in our house if we made it ourselves, without any magical assistance of
any kind.
"Now, that you mention axes," said Morton, "it occurs to me that there
is an old hatchet-head among the rubbish in the locker of the yawl, and
though it is a good deal battered and worn, it could be fitted with a
handle and made useful."
We all now remembered having seen it, though no one had before thought
of it. Arthur suggested that we should make an excursion to Palm-Islet
as soon as the heat of the day was over, and the sea-breeze had set in,
for the purpose of getting the hatchet, and bringing the boat round to
the side of the island where we intended to fix our residence, as we
might have occasion for its use. "We can get there before dark," said
he, "and pass the night once more at our old quarters on the little
island; then we can row back in the fresh of the morning, before
sunrise, and be ready to commence our building in earnest."
CHAPTER NINETEEN.
THE CORAL REEF.
JOHNNY AND THE CHAMA--AMATEUR PEARL-DIVING--A SHARK BLOCKADE--CULINARY
GENIUS.
"Down in the depths of the lonely sea,
I work at my mystic masonry;
I've crusted the plants of the deep with stone,
And given them colouring not their own;
And now o'er the ocean fields they spread
Their fan-like branches of white and red:
Oh! who can fashion a work like me,
The mason of God, in the boundless sea."
Late in the afternoon, when the slanting beams of the sun began to lose
their fierceness, and the heat was tempered by the breeze setting in
from the ocean, we descended to the beach, and set out for the eastern
side of the island, in accordance with Arthur's suggestion, mentioned at
the close of the last chapter. As we made our way across Sea-bird's
Point, the clamorous cries of the gannets, raising their harsh voices to
the highest pitch, in angry remonstrance against this invasion of their
domain, were almost deafening. They might well be alarmed for the
safety of their nests--or rather of their eggs, which they lay upon the
bare ground, without any attempt at a nest--for they strewed the whole
point so thickly that it was no easy matter to pick one's way without
treading upon them at every alternate step. In nearly every tree were
to be seen the rude nests of the frigate-bird, built of a few coarse
sticks; and numbers of the birds themselves, with their singular
blood-red pouches inflated to the utmost extent, were flying in from the
sea. The large sooty tern, the graceful tropic bird, and the spruce,
fierce-looking man-of-war's hawk, with his crimson bill, and black
flashing eye, flew familiarly around us, frequently coming so near, that
we could easily have knocked them down with our cutlasses, had we been
inclined to abuse, so wantonly, the confidence which they seemed to
repose in us.
When half-way across the point, I came suddenly upon a magnificent male
tropic bird, sitting in his nest behind a tussock of tall, reedy grass.
He did not offer to quit his post, even when the others approached very
near, and paused to admire him; being apparently engaged, in the absence
of his mate, in attending to certain domestic duties, generally supposed
to belong more appropriately to her. He was somewhat larger than a
pigeon, and was a very beautiful bird, though not so brilliantly
coloured as several other species of sea-fowl. His plumage, soft and
lustrous as satin, was of a delicate pearly grey, except the long
middle-feathers of the tail, which were of a pale red, and projected
full a foot and a half beyond the rest. He manifested not the slightest
fear, even when Johnny stooped and stroked his glossy coat. Just as we
left the spot, the partner of this exemplary bird arrived, and hastened
to relieve him from duty, giving him notice to quit, by two or three
quick, impatient chirps, and a playful peck upon the head, whereupon he
resigned his place, into which the other immediately settled, with a
soft, complacent, cooing note, as expressive of perfect content as the
purring of a well-fed tabby, stretched cosily upon the earth-rug before
a cheerful winter evening fire. This transfer was effected so quickly,
that Johnny was baffled in an ill-bred attempt which he made to pry into
the domestic concerns of the affectionate pair, and he could not get
even a transient glimpse of the contents of the nest.
Without permitting ourselves to be tempted into any further deviation or
delay, we kept steadily along the beach, until we arrived, a little
before sunset, at the spot where the yawl lay, drawn up on the sand,
opposite the islet.
Max declared that after our long march, we ought to have a supper
consisting of something more substantial than cocoa-nuts, and proposed
that we should pull over to the reef, and procure some shell-fish, which
proposition meeting with general approval, we got the boat into the
water, and in five minutes reached the inside of the ledge, and landed
upon it at a point about a quarter of a mile from the opening, through
which we had first entered the lagoon. In this place, it was some
fifteen or twenty yards in width, and consisted of a seamed and broken
flat of dead coral, elevated but slightly above the level of the sea.
Though there was no wind, and had been none during the day, the mighty
billows of the open ocean came rolling in upon the outer edge of the
reef with their accustomed violence. The action of the trade-winds is
upon the whole so steady and uniform, that when it does cease for short
periods, its effects continue, and upon the windward side of these
coral-belted islands, there are breakers that never cease to rage, even
in the calmest weather. No sight could be more grand and imposing, than
that of these enormous waves encountering the reef. One of them would
sometimes extend along it a mile, or a mile and a half, in an unbroken
line. As it sweeps onward, with a slow and majestic movement towering
up, like a dark-blue mountain, it seems as if nothing could resist its
power, and you almost tremble lest the solid barrier upon which you
stand should be hurled from its foundations. It meets the curving line
of the reef with a tremendous concussion, and thus suddenly arrested by
the parapet of coral, reared from the depths of the sea, it rises at
once, throughout its entire length, to the height of twelve or fifteen
feet perpendicularly, and stands for a moment as if congealed in its
progress; then breaking with a hollow roar, it falls in a deluge of foam
and spray, filling all the seams and crevices, and marking their course
in lines of white upon the dark ground of the ledge. Not the least
striking feature of the spectacle, was the multitude of fishes, of all
shapes, colours, and sizes, that could be seen suspended in the face of
this liquid wall, the very moment before it fell. How they escaped
being thrown upon the reef seemed inexplicable, but they darted hither
and thither at the very edge of the roller, with the greatest apparent
ease and security, and almost invariably turned sea-ward just in time to
save themselves. Occasionally, however, some careless or unskilful
individual, not sufficiently versed in this perilous kind of navigation,
suffered shipwreck, and was left gasping and floundering upon the coral.
While thus engaged in watching the bursting of the waves upon the reef,
I suddenly heard Johnny at a little distance calling out lustily for
help, and hastening to the spot, I found him in one of the yawning
crevices of the coral rock, up to his neck in water, and struggling
violently to get out, in which he seemed to meet with opposition from
some object in the hole.
"Something has got me by the feet," he cried, as soon as he saw me; "it
is an enormous oyster, or a shell-fish of some kind, and it pinches
dreadfully."
I looked down into the water, and saw what in fact, seemed to be a
gigantic shell-fish, gripping both his legs: it retained its hold so
tenaciously, that I found I could not extricate him, and when Arthur
came up, as he did in a moment, it was as much as we could both do, to
lift him and his singular captor, which still clung obstinately to him,
out of the crevice. We were then obliged to pry open the shells with
our cutlasses before we could release him.
Arthur pronounced this extraordinary shell-fish, to be a specimen of the
"Chama Gigas." The shells were nearly three feet in length, and
curiously marked and clouded. Johnny had slipped from the slimy edge of
the chasm, and happened to fall fairly into the expanded jaws of the
chama, which, had instantly closed upon him. If the water had been
deeper, the consequences might have been serious, as there are instances
of persons being drowned, by having their feet caught in the vice-like
grip of this formidable bivalve.