The chief was as good as his word, and we were soon plentifully
supplied with fresh provision. We found the tortoises as fine as we had
ever seen, and the ducks surpassed our best species of wild fowl, being
exceedingly tender, juicy, and well-flavoured. Besides these, the
savages brought us, upon our making them comprehend our wishes, a vast
quantity of brown celery and scurvy grass, with a canoe-load of fresh
fish and some dried. The celery was a treat indeed, and the scurvy
grass proved of incalculable benefit in restoring those of our men who
had shown symptoms of disease. In a very short time we had not a single
person on the sick-list. We had also plenty of other kinds of fresh
provision, among which may be mentioned a species of shellfish
resembling the muscle in shape, but with the taste of an oyster.
Shrimps, too, and prawns were abundant, and albatross and other birds'
eggs with dark shells. We took in, too, a plentiful stock of the flesh
of the hog which I have mentioned before. Most of the men found it a
palatable food, but I thought it fishy and otherwise disagreeable. In
return for these good things we presented the natives with blue beads,
brass trinkets, nails, knives, and pieces of red cloth, they being
fully delighted in the exchange. We established a regular market on
shore, just under the guns of the schooner, where our barterings were
carried on with every appearance of good faith, and a degree of order
which their conduct at the village of _Klock-klock_ had not led us to
expect from the savages.
Matters went on thus very amicably for several days, during which
parties of the natives were frequently on board the schooner, and
parties of our men frequently on shore, making long excursions into the
interior, and receiving no molestation whatever. Finding the ease with
which the vessel might be loaded with _biche de mer_, owing to the
friendly disposition of the islanders, and the readiness with which
they would render us assistance in collecting it, Captain Guy resolved
to enter into negotiation with Too-wit for the erection of suitable
houses in which to cure the article, and for the services of himself
and tribe in gathering as much as possible, while he himself took
advantage of the fine weather to prosecute his voyage to the southward.
Upon mentioning this project to the chief he seemed very willing to
enter into an agreement. A bargain was accordingly struck, perfectly
satisfactory to both parties, by which it was arranged that, after
making the necessary preparations, such as laying off the proper
grounds, erecting a portion of the buildings, and doing some other work
in which the whole of our crew would be required, the schooner should
proceed on her route, leaving three of her men on the island to
superintend the fulfilment of the project, and instruct the natives in
drying the _biche de mer_. In regard to terms, these were made to
depend upon the exertions of the savages in our absence. They were to
receive a stipulated quantity of blue beads, knives, red cloth, and so
forth, for every certain number of piculs of the _biche de mer_ which
should be ready on our return.
A description of the nature of this important article of commerce, and
the method of preparing it, may prove of some interest to my readers,
and I can find no more suitable place than this for introducing an
account of it. The following comprehensive notice of the substance is
taken from a modern history of a voyage to the South Seas.
"It is that _mollusca_ from the Indian Seas which is known in commerce
by the French name _bouche de mer_ (a nice morsel from the sea). If I
am not much mistaken, the celebrated Cuvier calls it _gasteropeda
pulmonifera_. It is abundantly gathered in the coasts of the Pacific
Islands, and gathered especially for the Chinese market, where it
commands a great price, perhaps as much as their much-talked of edible
bird's nests, which are probably made up of the gelatinous matter
picked up by a species of swallow from the body of these molluscæ. They
have no shell, no legs, nor any prominent part, except an _absorbing_
and an _excretory_, opposite organs; but, by their elastic wings, like
caterpillars or worms, they creep in shallow waters, in which, when
low, they can be seen by a kind of swallow, the sharp bill of which,
inserted in the soft animal, draws a gummy and filamentous substance,
which, by drying, can be wrought into the solid walls of their nest.
Hence the name of _gasteropeda pulmonifera_.
"This mollusca is oblong, and of different sizes, from three to
eighteen inches in length; and I have seen a few that were not less
than two feet long. They are nearly round, a little flattish on one
side, which lies next the bottom of the sea; and they are from one to
eight inches thick. They crawl up into shallow water at particular
seasons of the year, probably for the purpose of gendering, as we often
find them in pairs. It is when the sun has the most power on the water,
rendering it tepid, that they approach the shore; and they often go up
into places so shallow, that, on the tide's receding, they are left
dry, exposed to the heat of the sun. But they do not bring forth their
young in shallow water, as we never see any of their progeny, and the
full-grown ones are always observed coming in from deep water. They
feed principally on that class of zoophytes which produce the coral.
"The _biche de mer_ is generally taken in three or four feet water;
after which they are brought on shore, and split at one end with a
knife, the incision being one inch or more, according to the size of
the mollusca. Through this opening the entrails are forced out by
pressure, and they are much like those of any other small tenant of the
deep. The article is then washed, and afterward boiled to a certain
degree, which must not be too much or too little. They are then buried
in the ground for four hours, then boiled again for a short time, after
which they are dried, either by the fire or the sun. Those cured by the
sun are worth the most; but where one picul (133-1/3 lbs.) can be cured
that way, I can cure thirty piculs by the fire. When once properly
cured, they can be kept in a dry place for two or three years without
any risk; but they should be examined once in every few months, say
four times a year, to see if any dampness is likely to affect them.
"The Chinese, as before stated, consider _biche de mer_ a very great
luxury, believing that it wonderfully strengthens and nourishes the
system, and renews the exhausted system of the immoderate voluptuary.
The first quality commands a high price in Canton, being worth ninety
dollars a picul; the second quality seventy-five dollars; the third
fifty dollars; the fourth thirty dollars; the fifth twenty dollars; the
sixth twelve dollars; the seventh eight dollars; and the eighth four
dollars; small cargoes, however, will often bring more in Manilla,
Singapore, and Batavia."
An agreement having been thus entered into, we proceeded immediately to
land everything necessary for preparing the buildings and clearing the
ground. A large flat space near the eastern shore of the bay was
selected, where there was plenty both of wood and water, and within a
convenient distance of the principal reefs on which the _biche de mer_
was to be procured. We now all set to work in good earnest, and soon,
to the great astonishment of the savages, had felled a sufficient
number of trees for our purpose, getting them quickly in order for the
framework of the houses, which in two or three days were so far under
way that we could safely trust the rest of the work to the three men
whom we intended to leave behind. These were John Carson, Alfred
Harris, and ---- Peterson (all natives of London, I believe), who
volunteered their services in this respect.
By the last of the month we had everything in readiness for departure.
We had agreed, however, to pay a formal visit of leavestaking to the
village, and Too-wit insisted so pertinaciously upon our keeping the
promise, that we did not think it advisable to run the risk of
offending him by a final refusal. I believe that not one of us had at
this time the slightest suspicion of the good faith of the savages.
They had uniformly behaved with the greatest decorum, aiding us with
alacrity in our work, offering us their commodities frequently without
price, and never, in any instance, pilfering a single article, although
the high value they set upon the goods we had with us was evident by
the extravagant demonstrations of joy always manifested upon our making
them a present. The women especially were most obliging in every
respect, and, upon the whole, we should have been the most suspicious
of human beings had we entertained a single thought of perfidy on the
part of a people who treated us so well. A very short while sufficed to
prove that this apparent kindness of disposition was only the result of
a deeply-laid plan for our destruction, and that the islanders for whom
we entertained such inordinate feelings of esteem were among the most
barbarous, subtle, and bloodthirsty wretches that ever contaminated the
face of the globe.
It was on the first of February that we went on shore for the purpose
of visiting the village. Although, as said before, we entertained not
the slightest suspicion, still no proper precaution was neglected. Six
men were left in the schooner with instructions to permit none of the
savages to approach the vessel during our absence, under any pretence
whatever, and to remain constantly on deck. The boarding-nettings were
up, the guns double-shotted with grape and canister, and the swivels
loaded with canisters of musket-balls. She lay, with her anchor apeak,
about a mile from the shore, and no canoe could approach her in any
direction without being distinctly seen and exposed to the full fire of
our swivels immediately.
The six men being left on board, our shore-party consisted of
thirty-two persons in all. We were armed to the teeth, having with us
muskets, pistols, and cutlasses, besides each a long kind of seaman's
knife, somewhat resembling the Bowie knife now so much used throughout
our western and southern country. A hundred of the black skin warriors
met us at the landing for the purpose of accompanying us on our way. We
noticed, however, with some surprise, that they were now entirely
without arms; and, upon questioning Too-wit in relation to this
circumstance, he merely answered that _Mattee non we pa pa si_--meaning
that there was no need of arms where all were brothers. We took this in
good part, and proceeded.
We had passed the spring and rivulet of which I before spoke, and were
now entering upon a narrow gorge leading through the chain of soapstone
hills among which the village was situated. This gorge was very rocky
and uneven, so much so that it was with no little difficulty we
scrambled through it on our first visit to Klock-klock. The whole
length of the ravine might have been a mile and a half, or probably two
miles. It wound in every possible direction through the hills (having
apparently formed, at some remote period, the bed of a torrent), in no
instance proceeding more than twenty yards without an abrupt turn. The
sides of this dell would have averaged, I am sure, seventy or eighty
feet in perpendicular altitude throughout the whole of their extent,
and in some portions they arose to an astonishing height, overshadowing
the pass so completely that but little of the light of day could
penetrate. The general width was about forty feet, and occasionally it
diminished so as not to allow the passage of more than five or six
persons abreast. In short, there could be no place in the world better
adapted for the consummation of an ambuscade, and it was no more than
natural that we should look carefully to our arms as we entered upon
it. When I now think of our egregious folly, the chief subject of
astonishment seems to be, that we should have ever ventured, under any
circumstances, so completely into the power of unknown savages as to
permit them to march both before and behind us in our progress through
this ravine. Yet such was the order we blindly took up, trusting
foolishly to the force of our party, the unarmed condition of Too-wit
and his men, the certain efficacy of our fire-arms (whose effect was
yet a secret to the natives), and, more than all, to the long-sustained
pretension of friendship kept up by these infamous wretches. Five or
six of them went on before, as if to lead the way, ostentatiously
busying themselves in removing the larger stones and rubbish from the
path. Next came our own party. We walked closely together, taking care
only to prevent separation. Behind followed the main body of the
savages, observing unusual order and decorum.
Dirk Peters, a man named Wilson Allen, and myself were on the right of
our companions, examining, as we went along, the singular
stratification of the precipice which overhung us. A fissure in the
soft rock attracted our attention. It was about wide enough for one
person to enter without squeezing, and extended back into the hill some
eighteen or twenty feet in a straight course, sloping afterward to the
left. The height of the opening, as far as we could see into it from
the main gorge, was perhaps sixty or seventy feet. There were one or
two stunted shrubs growing from the crevices, bearing a species of
filbert, which I felt some curiosity to examine, and pushed in briskly
for that purpose, gathering five or six of the nuts at a grasp, and
then hastily retreating. As I turned, I found that Peters and Allen had
followed me. I desired them to go back, as there was not room for two
persons to pass, saying they should have some of my nuts. They
accordingly turned, and were scrambling back, Allen being close to the
mouth of the fissure, when I was suddenly aware of a concussion
resembling nothing I had ever before experienced, and which impressed
me with a vague conception, if indeed I then thought of anything, that
the whole foundations of the solid globe were suddenly rent asunder,
and that the day of universal dissolution was at hand.