On the twentieth of the month, finding it altogether impossible to
subsist any longer upon the filberts, the use of which occasioned us
the most excruciating torment, we resolved to make a desperate attempt
at descending the southern declivity of the hill. The face of the
precipice was here of the softest species of soapstone, although nearly
perpendicular throughout its whole extent (a depth of a hundred and
fifty feet at the least), and in many places even overarching. After
long search we discovered a narrow ledge about twenty feet below the
brink of the gulf; upon this Peters contrived to leap, with what
assistance I could render him by means of our pocket-handkerchiefs tied
together. With somewhat more difficulty I also got down; and we then
saw the possibility of descending the whole way by the process in which
we had clambered up from the chasm when we had been buried by the fall
of the hill--that is, by cutting steps in the face of the soapstone
with our knives. The extreme hazard of the attempt can scarcely be
conceived; but, as there was no other resource, we determined to
undertake it.
Upon the ledge where we stood there grew some filbert-bushes; and to
one of these we made fast an end of our rope of handkerchiefs. The
other end being tied round Peters's waist, I lowered him down over the
edge of the precipice until the handkerchiefs were stretched tight. He
now proceeded to dig a deep hole in the soapstone (as far in as eight
or ten inches), sloping away the rock above to the height of a foot, or
thereabout, so as to allow of his driving, with the butt of a pistol, a
tolerably strong peg into the levelled surface. I then drew him up for
about four feet, when he made a hole similar to the one below, driving
in a peg as before, and having thus a resting-place for both feet and
hands. I now unfastened the handkerchiefs from the bush, throwing him
the end, which he tied to the peg in the uppermost hole, letting
himself down gently to a station about three feet lower than he had yet
been, that is, to the full extent of the handkerchiefs. Here he dug
another hole, and drove another peg. He then drew himself up, so as to
rest his feet in the hole just cut, taking hold with his hands upon the
peg in the one above. It was now necessary to untie the handkerchiefs
from the topmost peg, with the view of fastening them to the second;
and here he found that an error had been committed in cutting the holes
at so great a distance apart. However, after one or two unsuccessful
and dangerous attempts at reaching the knot (having to hold on with his
left hand while he laboured to undo the fastening with his right), he
at length cut the string, leaving six inches of it affixed to the peg.
Tying the handkerchiefs now to the second peg, he descended to a
station below the third, taking care not to go too far down. By these
means (means which I should never have conceived of myself, and for
which we were indebted altogether to Peters's ingenuity and resolution)
my companion finally succeeded, with the occasional aid of projections
in the cliff, in reaching the bottom without accident.
It was some time before I could summon sufficient resolution to follow
him; but I did at length attempt it. Peters had taken off his shirt
before descending, and this, with my own, formed the rope necessary for
the adventure. After throwing down the musket found in the chasm, I
fastened this rope to the bushes, and let myself down rapidly,
striving, by the vigour of my movements, to banish the trepidation
which I could overcome in no other manner. This answered sufficiently
well for the first four or five steps; but presently I found my
imagination growing terribly excited by thoughts of the vast depth yet
to be descended, and the precarious nature of the pegs and soapstone
holes which were my only support. It was in vain I endeavoured to
banish these reflections, and to keep my eyes steadily bent upon the
flat surface of the cliff before me. The more earnestly I struggled
_not to think_, the more intensely vivid became my conceptions, and the
more horribly distinct. At length arrived that crisis of fancy, so
fearful in all similar cases, the crisis in which we begin to
anticipate the feelings with which we _shall_ fall--to picture to
ourselves the sickness, and dizziness, and the last struggle, and the
half swoon, and the final bitterness of the rushing and headlong
descent. And now I found these fancies creating their own realities,
and all imagined horrors crowding upon me in fact. I felt my knees
strike violently together, while my fingers were gradually yet
certainly relaxing their grasp. There was a ringing in my ears, and I
said, "This is my knell of death!" And now I was consumed with the
irrepressible desire of looking below. I could not, I would not,
confine my glances to the cliff; and, with a wild, indefinable emotion
half of horror, half of a relieved oppression, I threw my vision far
down into the abyss. For one moment my fingers clutched convulsively
upon their hold, while, with the movement, the faintest possible idea
of ultimate escape wandered, like a shadow, through my mind--in the
next my whole soul was pervaded with _a longing to fall_; a desire, a
yearning, a passion utterly uncontrollable. I let go at once my grasp
upon the peg, and, turning half round from the precipice, remained
tottering for an instant against its naked face. But now there came a
spinning of the brain; a shrill-sounding and phantom voice screamed
within my ears; a dusky, fiendish, and filmy figure stood immediately
beneath me; and, sighing, I sunk down with a bursting heart, and
plunged within its arms.
I had swooned, and Peters had caught me as I fell. He had observed my
proceedings from his station at the bottom of the cliff; and,
perceiving my imminent danger, had endeavoured to inspire me with
courage by every suggestion he could devise; although my confusion of
mind had been so great as to prevent my hearing what he said, or being
conscious that he had even spoken to me at all. At length, seeing me
totter, he hastened to ascend to my rescue, and arrived just in time
for my preservation. Had I fallen with my full weight, the rope of
linen would inevitably have snapped, and I should have been
precipitated into the abyss; as it was, he contrived to let me down
gently, so as to remain suspended without danger until animation
returned. This was in about fifteen minutes. On recovery, my
trepidation had entirely vanished; I felt a new being, and, with some
little further aid from my companion, reached the bottom also in
safety.
We now found ourselves not far from the ravine which had proved the
tomb of our friends, and to the southward of the spot where the hill
had fallen. The place was one of singular wildness, and its aspect
brought to my mind the descriptions given by travellers of those dreary
regions marking the site of degraded Babylon. Not to speak of the ruins
of the disruptured cliff, which formed a chaotic barrier in the vista
to the northward, the surface of the ground in every other direction
was strewn with huge tumuli, apparently the wreck of some gigantic
structures of art; although, in detail, no semblance of art could be
detected. Scoria were abundant, and large shapeless blocks of the black
granite, intermingled with others of marl,[6] and both granulated with
metal. Of vegetation there were no traces whatsoever throughout the
whole of the desolate area within sight. Several immense scorpions were
seen, and various reptiles not elsewhere to be found in the high
latitudes.
[Footnote 6: The marl was also black; indeed, we noticed no
light-coloured substances of any kind upon the island.]
As food was our most immediate object, we resolved to make our way to
the seacoast, distant not more than half a mile, with a view of
catching turtle, several of which we had observed from our place of
concealment on the hill. We had proceeded some hundred yards, threading
our route cautiously between the huge rocks and tumuli, when, upon
turning a corner, five savages sprung upon us from a small cavern,
felling Peters to the ground with a blow from a club. As he fell the
whole party rushed upon him to secure their victim, leaving me time to
recover from my astonishment. I still had the musket, but the barrel
had received so much injury in being thrown from the precipice that I
cast it aside as useless, preferring to trust my pistols, which had
been carefully preserved in order. With these I advanced upon the
assailants, firing one after the other in quick succession. Two savages
fell, and one, who was in the act of thrusting a spear into Peters,
sprung to his feet without accomplishing his purpose. My companion
being thus released, we had no further difficulty. He had his pistols
also, but prudently declined using them, confiding in his great
personal strength, which far exceeded that of any person I have ever
known. Seizing a club from one of the savages who had fallen, he dashed
out the brains of the three who remained, killing each instantaneously
with a single blow of the weapon, and leaving us completely masters of
the field.
So rapidly had these events passed, that we could scarcely believe in
their reality, and were standing over the bodies of the dead in a
species of stupid contemplation, when we were brought to recollection
by the sound of shouts in the distance. It was clear that the savages
had been alarmed by the firing, and that we had little chance of
avoiding discovery. To regain the cliff, it would be necessary to
proceed in the direction of the shouts; and even should we succeed in
arriving at its base, we should never be able to ascend it without
being seen. Our situation was one of the greatest peril, and we were
hesitating in which path to commence a flight, when one of the savages
whom I had shot, and supposed dead, sprang briskly to his feet, and
attempted to make his escape. We overtook him, however, before he had
advanced many paces, and were about to put him to death, when Peters
suggested that we might derive some benefit from forcing him to
accompany us in our attempt at escape. We therefore dragged him with
us, making him understand that we would shoot him if he offered
resistance. In a few minutes he was perfectly submissive, and ran by
our sides as we pushed in among the rocks, making for the seashore.
So far, the irregularities of the ground we had been traversing hid the
sea, except at intervals, from our sight, and, when we first had it
fairly in view, it was, perhaps, two hundred yards distant. As we
emerged into the open beach we saw, to our great dismay, an immense
crowd of the natives pouring from the village, and from all visible
quarters of the island, making towards us with gesticulations of
extreme fury, and howling like wild beasts. We were upon the point of
turning upon our steps, and trying to secure a retreat among the
fastnesses of the rougher ground, when I discovered the bows of two
canoes projecting from behind a large rock which ran out into the
water. Towards these we now ran with all speed, and, reaching them,
found them unguarded, and without any other freight than three of the
large Gallipago turtles and the usual supply of paddles for sixty
rowers. We instantly took possession of one of them, and, forcing our
captive on board, pushed out to sea with all the strength we could
command.
We had not made, however, more than fifty yards from the shore before
we became sufficiently calm to perceive the great oversight of which we
had been guilty in leaving the other canoe in the power of the savages,
who, by this time, were not more than twice as far from the beach as
ourselves, and were rapidly advancing to the pursuit. No time was now
to be lost. Our hope was, at best, a forlorn one, but we had none
other. It was very doubtful whether, with the utmost exertion, we could
get back in time to anticipate them in taking possession of the canoe;
but yet there was a chance that we could. We might save ourselves if we
succeeded, while not to make the attempt was to resign ourselves to
inevitable butchery.
The canoe was modelled with the bow and stern alike, and, in place of
turning it round, we merely changed our position in paddling. As soon
as the savages perceived this they redoubled their yells, as well as
their speed, and approached with inconceivable rapidity. We pulled,
however, with all the energy of desperation, and arrived at the
contested point before more than one of the natives had attained it.
This man paid dearly for his superior agility, Peters shooting him
through the head with a pistol as he approached the shore. The foremost
among the rest of his party were probably some twenty or thirty paces
distant as we seized upon the canoe. We at first endeavoured to pull
her into the deep water, beyond the reach of the savages, but, finding
her too firmly aground, and there being no time to spare, Peters, with
one or two heavy strokes from the butt of the musket, succeeded in
dashing out a large portion of the bow and of one side. We then pushed
off. Two of the natives by this time had got hold of our boat,
obstinately refusing to let go, until we were forced to despatch them
with our knives. We were now clear off, and making great way out to
sea. The main body of the savages, upon reaching the broken canoe, set
up the most tremendous yell of rage and disappointment conceivable. In
truth, from everything I could see of these wretches, they appeared to
be the most wicked, hypocritical, vindictive, bloodthirsty, and
altogether fiendish race of men upon the face of the globe. It is clear
we should have had no mercy had we fallen into their hands. They made a
mad attempt at following us in the fractured canoe, but, finding it
useless, again vented their rage in a series of hideous vociferations,
and rushed up into the hills.
We were thus relieved from immediate danger, but our situation was
still sufficiently gloomy. We knew that four canoes of the kind we had
were at one time in the possession of the savages, and were not aware
of the fact (afterward ascertained from our captive) that two of these
had been blown to pieces in the explosion of the Jane Guy. We
calculated, therefore, upon being yet pursued, as soon as our enemies
could get round to the bay (distant about three miles) where the boats
were usually laid up. Fearing this, we made every exertion to leave the
island behind us, and went rapidly through the water, forcing the
prisoner to take a paddle. In about half an hour, when we had gained,
probably, five or six miles to the southward, a large fleet of the
flat-bottomed canoes or rafts was seen to emerge from the bay,
evidently with the design of pursuit. Presently they put back,
despairing to overtake us.