There are, according to my own experience, very great differences, not
only in physique, but in mental qualities, betwixt the savages--as they
are called--of different parts of the world, and even between different
tribes who live in the same vicinity, or within a few hundred miles of
each other. Look, for example, at the good-natured simplicity of the
Eskimo Indians, and compare it with the wild, cruel nature of the Red
men of the Rockies, or forest lands of the Far West. Or witness the
innocent, harmless nature of the tribes who dwell south of the Equator
on the eastern shores of Africa, as compared with the treacherous
ferocity of the Somali Africans, who live but a little way north.
Yet there is a right way and a wrong way of dealing with even the
wildest tribes of what I may call fighting savages. There are certain
peculiarities of character which are common to all, and at which, seeing
the manner of life they lead, we cannot wonder. They are all
suspicious, especially as regards the intentions of white men--or "white
demons" as we are sometimes called--landing on their coast. They are
all greedy, all superstitious in a high degree, and all lawless, and
easily inclined to give vent to unbridled passions of any kind. All
these traits of character must be borne in mind by any one going amongst
them. Nor must it be forgotten that they are most observant. They
cannot perhaps speak or understand a word of your language, but they can
read your face and eye, and almost know your thoughts therefrom. To
show fear among them is fatal to all success of intercommunication; even
to feel fear is bad enough, for you can hardly hide it from their
scrutiny. You must be cool, determined, and kindly withal, but bear
yourself as if it were a matter of the greatest indifference to you
whether you have their friendship or not. You must not so much woo
_them_ as conduct yourself in a manner that will cause them to woo _you_
and seek your good will. It is all, you see, a matter of fact. And I
have landed among savages with my hands in my pockets, when, had I
carried arms, even a stick, I should have been speared to death in a
very short time.
Captain Blunt was wise as regards savages, and he imparted his wisdom to
Our heroes, Douglas and Leonard, at dinner one beautiful evening--just
the night before they reached the Sandwich Islands.
At New York they had bought large quantities of beads, also knives and
hatchets, and these, or rather a portion of them, came in handy in their
intercourse with the natives.
They had already passed, on the wings of a favouring breeze, very many
little islands, some mere coral reefs green-fringed with trees, looking
as if they were afloat in the sea or in the sky's blue. But although
they had seen natives both in canoes and on the beach they had made no
attempt to communicate with the _Gloaming Star_.
Men were kept constantly in the chains, and when the water became too
shallow, or breakers ahead were seen frothing on a shallow green reef,
her way was stopped and the course altered. By night they often cast
anchor.
I wish I had the power to describe in words a thousandth part of all the
beauty they saw about and around them in this enchanting ocean, in sky,
on shore, and in the water itself. The marine gardens, with their
many-coloured corals, their waving wealth of tinted seaweed, the
strange-shaped and curious fishes, the lovely medusae and marvellous
shell-fish, some beautiful as a dream, others more hideous than a
nightmare; the bright inexpressible blue sky above, the azure ocean
beneath, patched here and there with sheets of green or grey, where
cloud shadows fell or where the banks shone through, and last, but not
least, the thousand isles, each more delightful to behold than another,
all formed a scene, or series of scenes, that to cast eyes on but once
is to look back to with pleasure ever after.
I have it not on record at which of these islands our wanderers first
landed. It was a large one, however, and, to commence with, they had
but a cool reception.
For days they ventured no farther than the beach, so threatening was the
aspect of the natives. But by degrees their confidence was won, then
all was hospitality, all was safety on the island, far into its very
interior. Having once made friends with the white men, these poor
savages thought they had dropped from the sky, and vied with each other
in their kindness towards them. They brought them kids and fowl and
fruit and flowers, and escorted them through the forests, to glorious
glens, across streams and little lovely lakes embowered in trees,
festooned and hung with wild climbing flowers, and to cataracts whose
waters as they tumbled over the rocks made drowsy music in the summer
sunshine.
"Was nought around but images of rest,
Sleep-soothing groves, and quiet lawns between,
And flowery beds, that slumbrous influence cast
From poppies breathed; and beds of pleasant green.
Meanwhile unnumbered glittering streamlets played,
And hurled everywhere their waters' sheen;
That as they bickered through the sunny glade,
Though restless still themselves, a lulling murmur made."
They stayed for months at the Sandwich Islands, and their residence
among the wild natives exemplifies in a remarkable way two facts--first,
that the influence of the white man over the savage is very great and
very potent; and secondly, that almost anything can be done by means of
kindness and sincerity. Our heroes were sincere, and these poor black
folks were quick to perceive it.
It is but fair to Captain Blunt and his party to state that they did not
leave the islands without telling its inhabitants the beautiful Biblical
story of the world, of the creation, the fall, and of Redemption through
a Saviour's love. And one never knows what good fruits may not be borne
of a few seeds thus let fall even among darkened savages.
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And now we return to the scene of the first chapter of this book, where
we left Leonard and Douglas pacing the storm-swept decks of the
_Gloaming Star_, night falling, and the wind blowing high and cold from
off the Antarctic ice.
They had sojourned and had many adventures among the snows of the far,
far north, where in summer "_Daylight never shuts its eye_," and they
were now to have a peep at the other pole.
For days and days they cruised along the edge of the great icefields
here, and very different they found them from anything they had ever
seen before. The edge of the main body was one vast indented glacier of
glittering crystal, rising sheer up from the ocean beneath it. From the
top of this enormous icy cliff an immense field of snow stretched away
southwards, rising, in some places, mountains high, so that they could
not be certain that it was not actually land they were looking on. The
ice-rocks shimmered in the sun's rays in all the colours of the rainbow,
with a beauty that at times was dazzling to behold.
The detached icebergs that floated off this strange weird-looking coast
were less jagged than those of the North Pole. Very often they were
immense square snow-clad blocks. They were nearly all very large. Here
comes floating along, slowly moving up and down, a good representation
of a cathedral without a spire. Behind, a library of books piled one
above the other, truly a Titanic collection, for every volume is as
large as a church, yet the representation is faithful. But what comes
behind? A giant's head upreared above the black water; eyes and nose
and all are perfect, and it is bigger than the Egyptian Sphinx, while in
the rear of this pyramids innumerable, and lo! as they pass these they
come upon--what? They may well ask what. A soldiers' camp, sure
enough, larger than any at Aldershot. But there are no soldiers about,
only the white and shapely tents all afloat on the deep dark sea.