Our situation, as it now appeared, was scarcely less dreadful than when
we had conceived ourselves entombed for ever. We saw before us no
prospect but that of being put to death by the savages, or of dragging
out a miserable existence in captivity among them. We might, to be
sure, conceal ourselves for a time from their observation among the
fastnesses of the hills, and, as a final resort, in the chasm from
which we had just issued; but we must either perish in the long Polar
winter through cold and famine, or be ultimately discovered in our
efforts to obtain relief.
The whole country around us seemed to be swarming with savages, crowds
of whom, we now perceived, had come over from the islands to the
southward on flat rafts, doubtless with a view of lending their aid in
the capture and plunder of the Jane. The vessel still lay calmly at
anchor in the bay, those on board being apparently quite unconscious of
any danger awaiting them. How we longed at that moment to be with them!
either to aid in effecting their escape, or to perish with them in
attempting a defence. We saw no chance even of warning them of their
danger without bringing immediate destruction upon our own heads, with
but a remote hope of benefit to them. A pistol fired might suffice to
apprize them that something wrong had occurred; but the report could
not possibly inform them that their only prospect of safety lay in
getting out of the harbour forthwith--it could not tell them that no
principles of honour now bound them to remain, that their companions
were no longer among the living. Upon hearing the discharge they could
not be more thoroughly prepared to meet the foe, who were now getting
ready to attack, than they already were, and always had been. No good,
therefore, and infinite harm, would result from our firing, and, after
mature deliberation, we forbore.
Our next thought was to attempt a rush towards the vessel, to seize one
of the four canoes which lay at the head of the bay, and endeavour to
force a passage on board. But the utter impossibility of succeeding in
this desperate task soon became evident. The country, as I said before,
was literally swarming with the natives, skulking among the bushes and
recesses of the hills, so as not to be observed from the schooner. In
our immediate vicinity especially, and blockading the sole path by
which we could hope to attain the shore in the proper point, were
stationed the whole party of the black skin warriors, with Too-wit at
their head, and apparently only waiting for some re-enforcement to
commence his onset upon the Jane. The canoes, too, which lay at the
head of the bay were manned with savages, unarmed, it is true, but who
undoubtedly had arms within reach. We were forced, therefore, however
unwillingly, to remain in our place of concealment, mere spectators of
the conflict which presently ensued.
In about half an hour we saw some sixty or seventy rafts, or flatboats,
with outriggers, filled with savages, and coming round the southern
bight of the harbour. They appeared to have no arms except short clubs,
and stones which lay in the bottom of the rafts. Immediately afterward
another detachment, still larger, approached in an opposite direction,
and with similar weapons. The four canoes, too, were now quickly filled
with natives, starting up from the bushes at the head of the bay, and
put off swiftly to join the other parties. Thus, in less time than I
have taken to tell it, and as if by magic, the Jane saw herself
surrounded by an immense multitude of desperadoes evidently bent upon
capturing her at all hazards.
That they would succeed in so doing could not be doubted for an
instant. The six men left in the vessel, however resolutely they might
engage in her defence, were altogether unequal to the proper management
of the guns, or in any manner to sustain a contest at such odds. I
could hardly imagine that they would make resistance at all, but in
this was deceived; for presently I saw them get springs upon the cable,
and bring the vessel's starboard broadside to bear upon the canoes,
which by this time were within pistol range, the rafts being nearly a
quarter of a mile to windward. Owing to some cause unknown, but most
probably to the agitation of our poor friends at seeing themselves in
so hopeless a situation, the discharge was an entire failure. Not a
canoe was hit or a single savage injured, the shots striking short and
_ricochêting_ over their heads. The only effect produced upon them was
astonishment at the unexpected report and smoke, which was so excessive
that for some moments I almost thought they would abandon their design
entirely, and return to the shore. And this they would most likely have
done had our men followed up their broadside by a discharge of small
arms, in which, as the canoes were now so near at hand, they could not
have failed in doing some execution, sufficient, at least, to deter
this party from a farther advance, until they could have given the
rafts also a broadside. But, in place of this, they left the canoe
party to recover from their panic, and, by looking about them, to see
that no injury had been sustained, while they flew to the larboard to
get ready for the rafts.
The discharge to larboard produced the most terrible effect. The star
and double-headed shot of the large guns cut seven or eight of the
rafts completely asunder, and killed, perhaps, thirty or forty of the
savages outright, while a hundred of them, at least, were thrown into
the water, the most of them dreadfully wounded. The remainder,
frightened out of their senses, commenced at once a precipitate
retreat, not even waiting to pick up their maimed companions, who were
swimming about in every direction, screaming and yelling for aid. This
great success, however, came too late for the salvation of our devoted
people. The canoe party were already on board the schooner to the
number of more than a hundred and fifty, the most of them having
succeeded in scrambling up the chains and over the boarding nettings
even before the matches had been applied to the larboard guns. Nothing
could now withstand their brute rage. Our men were borne down at once,
overwhelmed, trodden under foot, and absolutely torn to pieces in an
instant.
Seeing this, the savages on the rafts got the better of their fears,
and came up in shoals to the plunder. In five minutes the Jane was a
pitiable scene indeed of havoc and tumultuous outrage. The decks were
split open and ripped up; the cordage, sails, and everything moveable
on deck demolished as if by magic; while, by dint of pushing at the
stern, towing with the canoes, and hauling at the sides, as they swam
in thousands around the vessel, the wretches finally forced her on
shore (the cable having been slipped), and delivered her over to the
good offices of Too-wit, who, during the whole of the engagement, had
maintained, like a skilful general, his post of security and
reconnoissance among the hills, but, now that the victory was completed
to his satisfaction, condescended to scamper down with his warriors of
the black skin, and become a partaker in the spoils.
Too-wit's descent left us at liberty to quit our hiding-place and
reconnoitre the hill in the vicinity of the chasm. At about fifty yards
from the mouth of it we saw a small spring of water, at which we slaked
the burning thirst that now consumed us. Not far from the spring we
discovered several of the filbert-bushes which I mentioned before. Upon
tasting the nuts we found them palatable, and very nearly resembling in
flavour the common English filbert. We collected our hats full
immediately, deposited them within the ravine, and returned for more.
While we were busily employed in gathering these, a rustling in the
bushes alarmed us, and we were upon the point of stealing back to our
covert, when a large black bird of the bittern species strugglingly and
slowly arose above the shrubs. I was so much startled that I could do
nothing, but Peters had sufficient presence of mind to run up to it
before it could make its escape, and seize it by the neck. Its
struggles and screams were tremendous, and we had thoughts of letting
it go, lest the noise should alarm some of the savages who might be
still lurking in the neighbourhood. A stab with a Bowie knife, however,
at length brought it to the ground, and we dragged it into the ravine,
congratulating ourselves that, at all events, we had thus obtained a
supply of food enough to last us for a week.
We now went out again to look about us, and ventured a considerable
distance down the southern declivity of the hill, but met with nothing
else which could serve us for food. We therefore collected a quantity
of dry wood and returned, seeing one or two large parties of the
natives on their way to the village, laden with the plunder of the
vessel, and who, we were apprehensive, might discover us in passing
beneath the hill.
Our next care was to render our place of concealment as secure as
possible, and, with this object, we arranged some brushwood over the
aperture which I have before spoken of as the one through which we saw
the patch of blue sky, on reaching the platform from the interior of
the chasm. We left only a very small opening, just wide enough to admit
of our seeing the bay, without the risk of being discovered from below.
Having done this, we congratulated ourselves upon the security of the
position; for we were now completely excluded from observation, as long
as we chose to remain within the ravine itself, and not venture out
upon the hill. We could perceive no traces of the savages having ever
been within this hollow; but, indeed, when we came to reflect upon the
probability that the fissure through which we attained it had been only
just now created by the fall of the cliff opposite, and that no other
way of attaining it could be perceived, we were not so much rejoiced at
the thought of being secure from molestation as fearful lest there
should be absolutely no means left us for descent. We resolved to
explore the summit of the hill thoroughly, when a good opportunity
should offer. In the mean time we watched the motions of the savages
through our loophole.
They had already made a complete wreck of the vessel, and were now
preparing to set her on fire. In a little while we saw the smoke
ascending in huge volumes from her main-hatchway, and, shortly
afterward, a dense mass of flame burst up from the forecastle. The
rigging, masts, and what remained of the sails caught immediately, and
the fire spread rapidly along the decks. Still a great many of the
savages retained their stations about her, hammering with large stones,
axes, and cannon balls at the bolts and other copper and iron work. On
the beach, and in canoes and rafts, there were not less, altogether, in
the immediate vicinity of the schooner, than ten thousand natives,
besides the shoals of them who, laden with booty, were making their way
inland and over to the neighbouring islands. We now anticipated a
catastrophe, and were not disappointed. First of all there came a smart
shock (which we felt distinctly where we were as if we had been
slightly galvanized), but unattended with any visible signs of an
explosion. The savages were evidently startled, and paused for an
instant from their labours and yellings. They were upon the point of
recommencing, when suddenly a mass of smoke puffed up from the decks,
resembling a black and heavy thunder-cloud--then, as if from its
bowels, arose a tall stream of vivid fire to the height, apparently, of
a quarter of a mile--then there came a sudden circular expansion of the
flame--then the whole atmosphere was magically crowded, in a single
instant, with a wild chaos of wood, and metal, and human limbs--and,
lastly, came the concussion in its fullest fury, which hurled us
impetuously from our feet, while the hills echoed and re-echoed the
tumult, and a dense shower of the minutest fragments of the ruins
tumbled headlong in every direction around us.
The havoc among the savages far exceeded our utmost expectation, and
they had now, indeed, reaped the full and perfect fruits of their
treachery. Perhaps a thousand perished by the explosion, while at least
an equal number were desperately mangled. The whole surface of the bay
was literally strewn with the struggling and drowning wretches, and on
shore matters were even worse. They seemed utterly appalled by the
suddenness and completeness of their discomfiture, and made no efforts
at assisting one another. At length we observed a total change in their
demeanour. From absolute stupor they appeared to be, all at once,
aroused to the highest pitch of excitement, and rushed wildly about,
going to and from a certain point on the beach, with the strangest
expressions of mingled horror, rage, and intense curiosity depicted on
their countenances, and shouting, at the top of their voices,
_Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!_
Presently we saw a large body go off into the hills, whence they
returned in a short time, carrying stakes of wood. These they brought
to the station where the crowd was the thickest, which now separated so
as to afford us a view of the object of all this excitement. We
perceived something white lying on the ground, but could not
immediately make out what it was. At length we saw that it was the
carcass of the strange animal with the scarlet teeth and claws which
the schooner had picked up at sea on the eighteenth of January. Captain
Guy had had the body preserved for the purpose of stuffing the skin and
taking it to England. I remember he had given some directions about it
just before our making the island, and it had been brought into the
cabin and stowed away in one of the lockers. It had now been thrown on
shore by the explosion; but why it had occasioned so much concern among
the savages was more than we could comprehend. Although they crowded
around the carcass at a little distance, none of them seemed willing to
approach it closely. By-and-by the men with the stakes drove them in a
circle around it, and, no sooner was this arrangement completed, than
the whole of the vast assembly rushed into the interior of the island,
with loud screams of _Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!_