I barricade myself in.—I am besieged.—The verandah becomes a
fort.—What I discover at the end of a forgotten room.—Lord
Campbell’s journal.—What this journal says.—The Malay pirates
and the Sultan of Sooloo.—Three hundred junks.—A formidable
hunt.—Death of a mysterious and colossal mandrill.—Explanation
of the white skeleton.—Torture of a man compelled to drink
nothing but excellent old wine.—A poignard stuck in the
sand.—The last _fête_ at the station.—How it terminates.—End of
an unfinished journal.
I have already remarked that the destruction, which was in other respects
general, had not extended to the range of apartments which opened to the
cool air of the verandah, and the vast kitchens where I had discovered
such a large stock of provisions. As soon as I found myself alone I
hastened to shut the three doors of the arcades of the reception-room,
and I moreover barricaded them securely. This was a good thing done.
In less than ten minutes after the miraculous departure of these cruel
wretches I was securely fortified against all their attacks. Firearms,
and perhaps cannon even, were necessary to dislodge me. And I had plenty
of provisions!
I passed the rest of the night as tranquilly as I was accustomed to do
in my house at Macao—so tranquilly, in fact, that I believe I must have
slept several days.
At the end of this indeterminable time, during which I was absorbed,
as it were, by a sleep of lead, my first thought on awaking in a calmer
frame of mind than I had known for some time past was to make myself
perfectly conversant with my situation. I had no difficulty in coming to
the conclusion that so long as I was destined to remain on this island I
should be exposed to a perpetual vengeance worse than death at the hands
of my tormentors. At present I believed myself to be perfectly secure,
but if I dared to venture forth I should, of course, become the object of
renewed attacks.
Occupied with these thoughts, I proceeded to examine the retreat in which
I had intrenched myself, to see whether I had left any point of attack
accessible to my crafty foes. First of all I assured myself that the
three doors of the saloon and the door of the kitchen would resist their
united malice. They were of heart of oak and teak, the hardest of all
woods; and the locks, admirable examples of English manufacture, added
much to the security of my defence. The lower portion of the fortress
might, therefore, be considered impregnable.
But these doors once closed, light penetrated to the ground-floor only
by a little Moorish bell-tower belonging to the upper story. It was
necessary, therefore, for me, as I dared not open the doors, to pass my
days in the second story; at night I could descend, if I pleased, to the
lower rooms.
Not having the slightest idea of the arrangement of this upper story, I
proceeded there at once; a spiral staircase, constructed in the thickness
of the wall, led to it. Once arrived there, I could see that the
apartments composing it had been kept in remarkable order by the former
occupiers. One was unquestionably Vice-Admiral Campbell’s study. The
walls were hidden behind a row of boxes which assuredly contained papers
of great importance. I thought as much simply because I had no knowledge
whatever of the matter.
Before proceeding any farther in my researches I approached the windows
of the bell-tower, which were filled with transparent horn from China,
through which one can see without being seen. I at once directed my eyes
to the courtyard of the verandah. The reader will understand this was
overlooked by the Moorish belfry, from which I moreover had a view of
the woods and garden plots outside the courtyard. But what did I see on
glancing around? Why, my indefatigable enemies all posted on guard from
one point to another, on all the heights, on the branches of the trees,
on every knoll of ground, watching to see whether I would venture to
leave my retreat, or even if I would show myself at some opening where,
on signalling me, they could commence their attack in a regular manner.
All were armed with bamboos and sticks of an enormous size. It was a
silent siege of an enemy, invisible behind his lines of defence. To climb
up to that story, the loftiness of which defied their malice, was to them
a real impossibility, and it was none the less an impossibility for them
to burst open the barricaded doors, which were placed between their rage
and me.
Thus reassured on all sides, I proceeded to resume my investigations of
the Vice-Admiral Campbell’s apartments.
I was delighted to find in the remotest room—that in which I commenced
my inspection—a small collection of books on travels, consisting of the
most esteemed works on Japan, Tartary, China, New Guinea, New South
Wales, and the islands of Oceania, from Marco Polo to Dumont d’Urville.
Most of these useful works had the admiral’s crest and initials on the
corner. I felt certain that they had been removed from the library of
the frigate Halcyon, and had evidently been placed temporarily in this
room that the officers might have recourse to them during their sojourn
on land. It is scarcely possible to imagine what an inestimable treasure
these books were to me. I was seized with a most impatient desire to
consult these works. Perhaps by reading them and consulting the valuable
maps which they contained I might learn on what island I had been thrown
by my shipwreck. I had already placed my hand on the travels of the
celebrated Spanish navigator who gave his glorious name to the group of
islands called Mindanao, which are mostly peopled by Malay pirates, even
to the present day, when my attention was diverted by a volume lying on
the study table. I opened it and found it was a manuscript. A sense of
discretion warned me to close it, but having read in large letters on
the first page, “Personal and private journal of Vice-Admiral Campbell,
commanding the English forces in Oceania,” I opened it anew with an
irresistible curiosity, and I may add with a very good reason, since I
foresaw all the information I was going to derive from it.
“Having left Macao towards the end of the month of July, 1849,” observed
the admiral in the opening lines of his journal, “I established my
station during the following six months—that is to say, till the month
of January, 1850—at times among the Luzon islands and at others among
the group of Philippines, taking care, however, not to neglect some
precautionary visits to the archipelago of Sooloo, that seemingly
imperishable nest of pirates.
“The purely nautical events which have taken place during these six
months of my cruise among the different islets having been noted day by
day and nearly hour by hour in the ship’s log-book, I propose to insert
in this private journal a few notes which it is my intention to transmit
to the Admiralty on the first opportunity that offers.
“The notes to which I refer are as follows,” was the next line in the
journal which I had under my eyes.
My attention increased—I continued to read without missing a single
letter.
“It is demonstrated to me as clear as a geometrical theorem that at
this moment the naval forces of England, Holland, and Spain assembled
in Oceania are insufficient, each for a different reason, to resist the
ever-increasing audacity of the pirates spread over the seas of this
part of the world.
“The Spanish forces are a derision, and they would really be exterminated
in a few months by the pirates but for the assistance which they never
cease to ask from those of England.
“The naval forces of Holland, which are in truth much more considerable,
scarcely ever leave the shores of Sumatra, Java, and some points of
Borneo, under the pretext, plausible enough but not on that account the
less selfish, that their duty above all things is to watch the safety of
their own colonies.
“There remain our English naval forces.
“As we also are under the necessity of displaying great vigilance with
respect to our own colonies, and as we have, moreover, as I have already
mentioned, to render constant assistance to the secondary maritime
powers, such as Holland, Spain, and Portugal, it becomes more and
more evident that we contend but indifferently at present against the
depredations, pillagings, and descents, incendiary fires and barbarous
murders, of which the incorrigible Malay pirates are constantly guilty.
“On the other hand, the power of these unconquerable corsairs increasing
from year to year, their flotillas have become fleets; their barques,
prahs, and junks are now almost frigates; their sailors have never ceased
to be the most energetic on the face of the earth.
“In view of this state of things I conceive it is of the
utmost importance that the number of our war-vessels in these
unceasingly-threatened seas should be largely increased, or we shall very
shortly be placed in a position of serious peril.
“It is my duty to warn the Admiralty of all these things, which concern
in the highest degree the security of the various fine colonies which
England possesses in Australia and Oceania in general.
“Whilst awaiting the reinforcements which the Admiralty will, without
doubt, consider it necessary to send me, I have thought the best
course for me to follow was to establish myself in the very centre of
the Malayan piracy, in order to watch its progress and to study its
resources, that I may be enabled to annihilate it by some sure blow when
I should have at my command the means of action, which are at present
wanting.
“I have chosen for my post of observation an island situated among
the hundred and fifty or two hundred isles of which the well-known
archipelago of Sooloo is composed.”
Sooloo! Surprise and fright made me stop. Sooloo, the nest of sea-sharks,
birds of prey hovering unceasingly over the vessels of all nations! I was
on an island of the archipelago of Sooloo!
It took me nearly a quarter of an hour to recover from the agitation into
which this discovery had thrown me.
And it was under the influence of the henceforth unconquerable idea that
I was living in the very midst of this nest of savage bandits that I
recommenced the reading of the journal.
“Having referred above,” continued Vice-Admiral Campbell, “to my log-book
for the purely nautical circumstances of the first six months of my
cruise, I intend to confine myself to such incidents as may arise from
the present time up to the day of my leaving this island, where I have
now been nearly a fortnight. It is now the 15th of January, 1850.
“After having brought the Halcyon to an anchorage, so well sheltered by
the woody shores of the island that it is impossible to perceive the
frigate a hundred fathoms from the beach, and having given it in charge
to a sufficient number of sailors commanded by one of my best officers, I
landed on the island with the larger portion of the crew and immediately
took possession of it.
“This island is called by the small number of aborigines that I found
upon it _Kouparou_, which signifies in the Malay tongue the island of
_sleeping fire_ or of the dead volcano.
“These aborigines are Tagals, the most ancient inhabitants of Malaya,
but they have been driven from every part by the Malays. They are a mild
race, devoted to Europeans, and possessing some of the instincts of our
advanced civilisation.
“By means of these Tagals, who have the same customs as the Malays,
although they do not like one another in the least, and whom I think of
sending as spies into all the islands of the archipelago of Sooloo, I
should become acquainted with all that was being done and meditated in
these arsenals of piracy.
“From six months of such study on the spot more would be learnt than
could possibly be acquired during any number of years engaged in sailing
in and out the islands of the archipelago.
“I gave orders to have all the portable houses which I had had
constructed at Calcutta unshipped and placed in position.
“Ten or fifteen days were occupied in this work, at the expiration of
which time we installed ourselves in the houses, which for all the world
resembled a village of Sumatra.
“The aborigines seemed very pleased at our arrival, and I have considered
the moment a favourable one for the execution of my project. I therefore
chose from the Tagals those on whom I thought I could most rely, and sent
them in their fishing-boats to the neighbouring isles, in order that on
their return they might furnish me with conscientious reports concerning
the prospects and projects of piracy.
“This expedition, which required twenty days’ preparation, set sail
on the 21st of February. The aborigines whom I have retained are
indispensable for the cultivation of the island. From them we look to
learn all about its topography and natural resources.
“The soil of Kouparou is evidently very fertile; flowers and fruit are
seen in abundance, and the covers positively swarm with game! Save for
the apes, with which the island swarms, Kouparou would be a garden in the
midst of the ocean. But those apes utterly destroy the charm of the spot.
They increase, too, like flies.”
“Hallo!” I exclaimed to myself, “why the vice-admiral has also been in
contact with these terrible animals. But how did this happen? If he has
been assailed, beaten, and almost murdered like I have been, what, in
goodness’ name, did he do?” But let us continue.
“My Tagals returned after a month’s absence, and the information which
they brought back with them concerning the contemplated proceedings of
the pirates was of the highest importance, and likely to be of very great
service to me. All their reports, without exception, announce that a
vast expedition of Malay pirates is preparing in the isle of Brassilan,
the capital of the archipelago of Sooloo, and where the Sultan of Sooloo
himself resided.
“The pirates proposed to leave this port, and the ports of Besvan,
Taouitaoui, and Palawan, with a fleet of at least three hundred junks,
to cross the straits of Mindanao and Celebes, in order to seize all the
English, Dutch, Spanish, or Portuguese merchant ships proceeding to
China during the year. The time of their departure is kept so secret
that none of my faithful Tagals have been able to discover it for me.
But from the knowledge which I possess of the particular winds which are
required to allow of their leaving the archipelago of Sooloo to proceed
in the course they have planned to the sea-coast of Asia, I think that my
pirates will not set sail until the end of June—that is to say, in three
months from the present time. At this period the Halcyon will leave her
hidden anchorage, and joining with the other vessels on the station, will
proceed in search of the pirate fleet which if we are fortunate enough
to encounter we will lose no time in measuring our strength with these
myriads of bold and unscrupulous robbers. The struggle will be a warm
one; but I am aware that I can only count on my own forces. At the period
to which I refer the reinforcements which I have asked from England will,
in all probability, not have arrived. In this case we must try alone!
God, I know, will be with us, and we shall do very well with His aid.
“In the meanwhile my Tagals are about to return to Sooloo, Besvan, and
the other points of rendezvous, so as to keep me well informed with
reference to the forthcoming great event.
“But here we are installed in Kouparou. My officers and their families
are enjoying the best of health in the wooden houses surrounded with
palm-trees. My verandah would compare for elegance with those of Madras
and Cananor.
“We want for nothing, and our amusements are numerous. The weather is
delicious; I have never seen a finer April, even in Australia.
“I am about to set out on a swan-hunt; but I am very much afraid of only
bringing back apes instead of swans, as I did on the last occasion. They
are everywhere! They are so numerous, in fact, that I am almost certain
in firing off a gun at hazard, above my head, to bring down an ape.
“I have never seen them so savage before; those which I brought with me
from Macao are perfectly civilised beings compared with the apes which we
encounter here.”
“Worthy admiral!” I exclaimed, “he remembers the purchases which he made
of me at Macao. What a remembrance! Macao! Macao! Shall I ever see you
again?”
Let us continue his interesting journal.
“I have returned from the chase, bringing back with me my baboon
Karabouffi. Wishing to amuse this big stupid ape, who is dying of
ennui, although he has numbers of his compatriots around him, I let
him accompany me on my expedition. A foolish melancholy seems to have
taken possession of him, because the beautiful chimpanzee Saïmira, who
is passionately attached to her lover Mococo, refuses to receive his
attentions.”
“Alas!” said I to myself—“alas! if the vice-admiral could only see Mococo
now!”
“I may here note,” continues Admiral Campbell, “that there occurred
during this chase an extraordinary incident which is deserving of a place
in my journal.
“In the midst of a large wood of pandanus and mimosas, into which I had
wandered with Karabouffi, I suddenly saw advancing towards me, stick in
hand, which he carried like a sceptre, a gigantic mandrill, black as
a Kaffir, and followed by a troop of apes, among which were numerous
vervets, who seemed to form a kind of court for him, they were so
respectful in their bearing towards him.
“Karabouffi, generally so proud and fearless, trembled with terror on
beholding this gigantic mandrill. He had recognised in him a master, and
consequently an enemy. He positively shuddered, then he came close up
to me, as if to solicit my protection, all the time, however, showing
in his eyes, which were lit up with rage, the pleasure he would feel
in tearing him to pieces. As I was on the point of taking aim at the
colossal mandrill he rushed upon Karabouffi, and the struggle which
raged between the two animals was certainly a superb one. It was evident
from the courage and ferocity which they both exhibited that they were
the representatives of two profoundly antipathetic races. Karabouffi
was visibly getting the worst of the encounter, for the mandrill was
strong enough to tackle three baboons such as he. So at the risk of
being slaughtered if I missed my mark, I profited by the moment when the
mandrill retired a few paces to take a spring, and sent a bullet through
his head. He fell, uttering the most frightful groans, which had in them
something of a man’s plaintive cry. Karabouffi was triumphant. I believed
that he would have strangled me in his excess of joy. As to the apes
that accompanied the black mandrill, they immediately dispersed, which
would not have been the case had they been of a more powerful species.
I should assuredly have had to defend myself against their vindictive
attacks, but the greater part of them were vervets, the most gentle and
inoffensive of the quadrumanous family. Nevertheless, at the moment of
their flight, they cast at Karabouffi looks which made him quiver. It
would have been hard times for him if he had fallen under their claws.
I shall have this monster mandrill skinned, and shall dry his skin and
bones in the sun, and offer them to the British Museum.”
“Ah!” said I to myself, “this is the explanation of the skeleton
which I found hanging to a tree during the first days of my sojourn
in this island. It must have been that of the mandrill killed by
Admiral Campbell.” My only regret—and it may well be believed this was
sincere—was that he had not killed Karabouffi number one in preference to
the mandrill.
“From what I have heard of the habits of these particular animals,
coupled with my own observations of them,” continued the admiral in his
journal, “I am of the opinion that the mandrill killed by me exercised
authority over this island before the Tagals, who do not seem to have
occupied it long, arrived here.
“On my return from this expedition, in accordance with my usual habit, I
placed my gun in the armoury.”
His gun in the armoury! I rose precipitately from my seat on seeing this,
and ran and opened several cupboards. At last I hit upon the right one,
which I found contained not only some fine fowling-pieces, but also a
large quantity of powder, and bullets of all sizes. Let my persecutors
come now! I am ready for them; I have something to receive them with,
thought I. In my transport I rushed to the window, so as to defy them
face to face. They were still in the same places and in the same
attitudes of hostility. Only they were far more numerous.
I did not proceed any further with the reading of the journal that day. I
had ample materials for reflection; moreover, I still felt fatigued with
the exertions of the preceding evening. After having promised myself to
resume my perusal of the journal the first thing the next day, I resolved
to go and have my dinner.
My second repast off the preserved meats of the station was one of the
best I have ever partaken of. While choosing the things most agreeable
to my taste, I had ample opportunity of noting the extent and variety of
my stores, and saw that I had plenty to depend on whatever time I might
be forced to live in the state of imprisonment in which circumstances
had placed me. Hampers upon hampers of wine offered me a choice of the
best vintages of Spain, Portugal, and the south of France. Vice-Admiral
Campbell was evidently a connoisseur in wine. Perhaps the wines which
he was in the habit of drinking were somewhat too alcoholic; still the
English, as we all know, are fond of strong wines. I tasted several
bottles, too many bottles in fact, since finding my throat parched by
the fiery heat of these generous wines, I longed for a draught of water,
but could discover none. They would surely have sunk a well, thought I,
in the large apartment of which I have already spoken, for the admiral’s
use; but I was mistaken—the admiral does not seem to have cared for so
insipid a beverage.
I had no alternative, therefore, but to continue to drink, during my
dinner, a fluid which was somewhat too heating. My sleep, although my
tongue was rather dry, was sound and refreshing. No saddening dream
disturbed my rest, and at some early hour in the morning, precisely as I
had arranged in the projects of the preceding day, I found myself awake.
I immediately mounted the narrow staircase leading to the admiral’s
study. The staircase, I ought to have mentioned, was hidden in the
wall, and so well hidden, indeed, that it was solely owing to this
the barbarous devastators of the other houses of the station had not
pillaged and ransacked this room.
Before sitting down to continue my perusal of the journal I betook
myself to the bell-tower to see what was going on around the place. The
examination was anything but a very reassuring one. Various changes had
taken place, and these were among them. Every member of the besieging
force had, in addition to his stick, a little heap of stones beside
him, which he had piled up with as much care as is bestowed on the
cannon-balls in our arsenals. What did they intend to do with these
missiles? Stones are very rare things in an island where sand abounds.
It is, indeed, a positive event to meet with a stone, except on the
sea-shore, or on the banks of some lake, such as had furnished me with
a handful when I was endeavouring to knock down some fruit. Time would,
no doubt, teach me how my enemies proposed to apply these new engines
of war; at present the affair was an enigma—an enigma, moreover, of bad
augury.
At length I seated myself, and opening Admiral Campbell’s journal, read
the following:—
“My Tagals departed anew ten days ago; I have desired them to endeavour
to ascertain more exactly than they have yet been able to do the precise
date of the departure of the Malay fleet for the north of Asia, and
to discover, so far as they can, the part which the Sultan of Sooloo,
himself our doubtful ally, takes in this expedition—whether he encourages
it, tolerates it, or is not powerful enough to prevent it.
“While awaiting the return of my Tagals, I occupied myself with studying
the geology of Kouparou. The island is evidently of recent formation. The
extinct volcano is still working at a moderate depth, since streams of
water of a high degree of temperature are constantly upheaving the bed of
lava which surrounds its base.
“If I succeed in prevailing on the Admiralty to make a permanent station
of Kouparou I shall ask, before all things, that the island may be
purged of the intolerable herd of apes, with which it is now infested,
by a regular hunt of several months’ duration; in the same way as our
ancestors formerly got rid of wolves in England.”
“What an admirable project!” I exclaimed, “and if Admiral Campbell had
only had time to put it into execution, I should not be where I am.”
“Here we are at the end of May,” pursued the journal, several dates of
which I pass over as of no importance to my story; “nearly two months
have elapsed since the second departure of my devoted Tagals, and I have
had no news from them. They do not like, I suppose, to return to Kouparou
without bringing with them certain information of the time fixed for the
departure of the pirate fleet.
“I can only ascribe to a more than ordinarily lively imagination,”
observed the vice-admiral, further on, “the remark made this morning
by Mr. Dawson, my secretary, to the effect that he thought he saw
last night some scattered fires burning on the sea-shore, such as are
generally kindled by the fishermen and pirates of these coasts. After
all, although Kouparou is very difficult to approach, and of course still
more difficult to effect a landing upon, in the midst of the reefs which
form a belt round it to a distance of eight leagues, it is not by any
means impossible that fishermen, castaways, or even pirates, may have
lighted some fires such as Mr. Dawson believed he saw. Should they have
done so, they will most likely depart on the morrow, believing the island
to be uninhabited, like the greater number of those which form the vast
archipelago of Sooloo. All I have to say is, ‘Joy go with them.’
“To-day, Mr. Dawson, after having gone over to that part of the beach
where he thought he saw the smoke ascending last evening, has been to
tell me that he must have been deceived. He saw no footprints in the
sand, nor any remains of burnt wood anywhere near the shore. He admits it
must have been an illusion on his part; I felt sure of it.
“To-morrow, the first of June, I have arranged to give a grand _fête_
here, in my cool verandah, to the officers of the Halcyon and their
families. It will be an agreeable relief to the monotonous sort of lives
we have been leading during the past two months.
“I have this moment had brought to me a long poignard, found by one of
our sailors, plunged in the sand on the shore opposite that which Mr.
Dawson examined this morning. What can it possibly portend?
“A saw-poignard, and with teeth of the Malay form; in other words, a
_crees_, since this is the name which the brigands of Oceania give to
this murderous and nearly always poisonous weapon. Dawson, who is as
superstitious as an Irishman can be, indulged in a variety of comments.
The sailor who found the _crees_ could give us no additional information
respecting it.”
“Yes”—I asked in my turn of the journal which I had beneath my
questioning gaze—“yes, what did this poignard portend? Whence did it
come? Why had it been stuck by its point in the sand?”
Admiral Campbell did not say another word respecting it, but passed from
it to his _fête_, which was evidently the thing uppermost in his mind at
this moment.
“As the weather is magnificently fine,” he went on to say, “I have
arranged for us to dine in the verandah court, and we shall in this case
remain at table till the time arrives for opening the ball; we shall then
proceed to the great gallery, where dancing will commence. I certainly
owe to my brave officers and their families such amusements as I am able
to furnish them with, to repay them for the fatigues and annoyances they
have experienced during the six months which have elapsed since we left
Macao, although latterly our discomforts have certainly been fewer than
usual. I trust that everything will go off satisfactorily, and that these
gentlemen and their excellent helpmates will have cause to thank me
to-morrow for the agreeable entertainment I have provided for them.
“But for the inquietude, becoming every day more serious, which the
prolonged absence of my good Tagals causes me, I should be perfectly
happy in this altogether unknown and nearly desert island. Can some
misfortune have overtaken them? What if these Malays have suspected the
motive of their visit? But no; my faithful envoys, a little slow, as all
primitive people are, will arrive to-morrow, perhaps this evening.”
The page containing the foregoing was complete. I eagerly turned over a
new leaf to commence the following one, but there was not another line
to be seen, not a trace of writing on the page. The admiral’s journal,
which I hoped would extend to another fifty pages at least, suddenly
ended there. Eh! not a word respecting the _fête_! Not a word more on
the poignard stuck by its point in the sand! Not a word about the return
of the Tagals! Good Heaven, what sudden misfortune could have crushed
the pen and the noble hand which held it? But what about the Malay
pirates and their fleet? And what about the Halcyon? Nothing! absolutely
nothing! A sinister blank followed the last line penned by the worthy
vice-admiral. What had happened to the colony of Kouparou, and to the
admiral himself, since this last entry in his journal? There was no one
to answer me. When there was not silence there was desolation, houses
partially destroyed, and their contents turned topsy-turvy; savage
and vindictive animals wearing, as though with the raillery of a low
vengeance, the habiliments of the gallant officers of a noble vessel
belonging to the most powerful nation in the world.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]