It was a matter of some satisfaction to find on drawing near to the
shore that the peak of Rakata was still intact, and that, although most
other parts of the island which could be seen were blighted by fire and
covered deeply with pumice-dust, much of the forest in the immediate
neighbourhood of the cave was still undestroyed though considerably
damaged.
"D'you think our old harbour will be available, Moses?" asked Van der
Kemp as they came close to the first headland.
"Pr'aps. Bes' go an' see," was the negro's practical reply.
"Evidently Rakata is not yet active," said Nigel, looking up at the grey
dust-covered crags as the canoe glided swiftly through the dark water.
"That is more than can be said for the other craters," returned the
hermit. "It seems to me that not only all the old ones are at work, but
a number of new ones must have been opened."
The constant roaring and explosions that filled their ears and the rain
of fine ashes bore testimony to the truth of this, though the solid and
towering mass of Rakata rose between them and the part of Krakatoa which
was in eruption, preventing their seeing anything that was passing
except the dense masses of smoke, steam, and dust which rose many miles
into the heavens, obstructing the light of day, but forming cloud-masses
from which the lurid flames of the volcano were reflected downward.
On reaching the little bay or harbour it was found much as they had left
it, save that the rocks and bushes around were thickly covered with
dust, and their boat was gone.
"Strange! at such a time one would scarcely have expected thieves to
come here," said the hermit, looking slowly round.
"No t'ief bin here, massa," said Moses, looking over the side of the
canoe. "I see de boat!"
He pointed downwards as he spoke, and on looking over the side they saw
the wreck of the boat at the bottom, in about ten feet of water, and
crushed beneath a ponderous mass of lava, which must have been ejected
from the volcano and afterwards descended upon the boat.
The destruction of the boat rendered it impossible to remove any of the
property of the hermit, and Nigel now saw, from his indifference, that
this could not have been the cause of his friend's anxiety and
determination to reach his island-home in spite of the danger that such
a course entailed. That there was considerable danger soon became very
obvious, for, having passed to some extent at this point beyond the
shelter of the cliffs of Rakata, and come partly into view of the other
parts of the island, the real extent of the volcanic violence burst upon
Nigel and Moses as a new revelation. The awful sublimity of the scene
at first almost paralysed them, and they failed to note that not only
did a constant rain of pumice-dust fall upon them, but that there was
also a pretty regular dropping of small stones into the water around
them. Their attention was sharply aroused to this fact by the fall of a
lump of semi-molten rock, about the size of a cannon-shot, a short
distance off, which was immediately followed by not less than a cubic
yard of lava which fell close to the canoe and deluged them with spray.
"We must go," said the hermit quietly. "No need to expose ourselves
here, though the watching of the tremendous forces that our Creator has
at command does possess a wonderful kind of fascination. It seems to me
the more we see of His power as exerted on our little earth, the more do
we realise the paltriness of our conception of the stupendous Might that
upholds the Universe."
While he was speaking, Van der Kemp guided the canoe into its little
haven, and in a few minutes he and Moses had carried it into the shelter
of the cave out of which Nigel had first seen it emerge. Then the
lading was carried up, after which they turned into the track which led
to the hermit's home.
The whole operation may be said to have been performed under fire, for
small masses of rock kept pattering continually on the dust-covered
ground around them, causing cloudlets, like smoke, to spring up wherever
they struck. Nigel and Moses could not resist glancing upward now and
then as they moved quickly to and fro, and they experienced a shrinking
sensation when a stone fell very near them, but each scorned to exhibit
the smallest trace of anxiety, or to suggest that the sooner they got
from under fire the better! As for Van der Kemp, he moved about
deliberately as if there was nothing unusual going on, and with an
absent look on his grave face as though the outbursts of smoke, and
fire, and lava, which turned the face of day into lurid night, and
caused the cliffs to reverberate with unwonted thunders, had no effect
whatever on his mind.
A short walk, however, along the track, which was more than ankle-deep
in dust, brought them under the sheltering sides of Rakata, up which
they soon scrambled to the mouth of their cave.
Here all was found as they had left it, save that the entrance was
knee-deep in pumice-dust.
And now a new and very strange sensation was felt by each of them, for
the loud reports and crackling sounds which had assailed their ears
outside were reduced by the thick walls of the cave to a continuous dull
groan, as it were, like the soft but thunderous bass notes of a
stupendous organ. To these sounds were added others which seemed to be
peculiar to the cave itself. They appeared to rise from crevices in the
floor, and were no doubt due to the action of those pent-up subterranean
fires which were imprisoned directly, though it may be very far down,
under their feet. Every now and then there came a sudden increase of
the united sounds as if the "swell" of the great organ had been opened,
and such out-gushing was always accompanied with more or less of
indescribable shocks followed by prolonged tremors of the entire
mountain.
If the three friends had been outside to observe what was taking place,
they would have seen that these symptoms were simultaneous with
occasional and extremely violent outbursts from the crater of
Perboewatan and his compeers. Indeed they guessed as much, and two of
them at least were not a little thankful that, awesome as their position
was, they had the thick mountain between them and the fiery showers
outside.
Of all this the hermit took no notice, but, hastening into the inner
cavern, opened a small box, and took therefrom a bundle of papers and a
little object which, at a first glance, Nigel supposed to be a book, but
which turned out to be a photograph case. These the hermit put
carefully into the breast-pocket of his coat and then turned to his
companions with a sigh as if of relief.
"I think there is no danger of anything occurring at this part of the
island," he remarked, looking round the cave, "for there is no sign of
smoke and no sulphurous smell issuing from any of the crevices in walls
or floor. This, I think, shows that there is no direct communication
with Rakata and the active volcano--at least not at present."
"Do you then think there is a possibility of an outbreak at some future
period?" asked Nigel.
"Who can tell? People here, who don't study the nature of volcanoes
much, though surrounded by them, will expect things ere long to resume
their normal condition. I can never forget the fact that the greater
part of Krakatoa stands, as you know, exactly above the spot where the
two great lines of volcanic action cross, and right over the mouth of
the immense crater to which Perboewatan and all the other craters serve
as mere chimneys or safety-valves. We cannot tell whether a great
eruption similar to that of 1680 may not be in store for us. The only
reason that I can see for the quiescence of this peak of Rakata is, as I
said to you once before, that it stands not so much above the old crater
as above and on the safe side of its lip."
"I t'ink, massa, if I may ventur' to speak," said Moses, "dat de sooner
we git off his lip de better lest we tumble into his mout'."
"You may be right, Moses, and I have no objection to quit," returned the
hermit, "now that I have secured the photograph and papers. At the same
time I fear the rain of stones and lava is growing worse. It might be
safer to stay till there is a lull in the violence of the eruption, and
then make a dash for it. What say you, Nigel?"
"I say that you know best, Van der Kemp. I'm ready to abide by your
decision, whatever it be."
"Well, then, we will go out and have a look at the state of matters."
The view from the entrance was not calculated to tempt them to forsake
the shelter of the cave, however uncertain that might be. The latest
explosions had enshrouded the island in such a cloud of smoke and dust,
that nothing whatever was visible beyond a few yards in front, and even
that space was only seen by the faint rays of the lamp issuing from the
outer cave. This lamp-light was sufficient, however, to show that
within the semi-circle of a few yards there was a continuous rain of
grey ashes and dust mingled with occasional stones of various sizes--
some larger than a man's fist.
"To go out in that would be simply to court death," said Nigel, whose
voice was almost drowned by the noise of the explosions and fall of
material.
As it was manifest that nothing could be done at the moment except to
wait patiently, they returned to the cave, where they lighted the
oil-stove, and Moses--who had taken the precaution to carry up some
provisions in a bag from the canoe--proceeded to prepare a meal.
"Stummicks must be attended to," he murmured to himself as he moved
about the cave-kitchen and shook his head gravely. "Collapses in dat
region is wuss, a long way, dan 'splosion of the eart'!"
Meanwhile, Nigel and the hermit went to examine the passage leading to
the observatory. The eruption had evidently done nothing to it, for,
having passed upwards without difficulty, they finally emerged upon the
narrow ledge.
The scene that burst upon their astonished gaze here was awful in the
extreme. It will be remembered that while the hermit's cave was on the
southern side of Krakatoa, facing Java, the stair and passage leading to
the observatory completely penetrated the peak of Rakata, so that when
standing on the ledge they faced northward and were thus in full view of
all the craters between them and Perboewatan. These were in full blast
at the time, and, being so near, the heat, as well as the dust, molten
lava, and other missiles, instantly drove them back under the protection
of the passage from which they had emerged.
Here they found a small aperture which appeared to have been recently
formed--probably by a blow from a mass of falling rock--through which
they were able to obtain a glimpse of the pandemonium that lay seething
below them. They could not see much, however, owing to the smoke which
filled the air. The noise of the almost continuous explosions was so
loud, that it was impossible to converse save by placing the mouth to
the ear and shouting. Fortunately soon after their ascent the wind
shifted and blew smoke, fire, and dust away to the northward, enabling
them to get out on the ledge, where for a time they remained in
comparative safety.
"Look! look at your mirrors!" exclaimed Nigel suddenly, as his wandering
gaze happened to turn to the hermit's sun-guides.
And he might well exclaim, for not only was the glass of these ingenious
machines shivered and melted, but their iron frameworks were twisted up
into fantastic shapes.
"Lightning has been at work here," said Van der Kemp.
It did not at the moment occur to either of them that the position on
which they stood was peculiarly liable to attack by the subtle and
dangerous fluid which was darting and zigzagging everywhere among the
rolling clouds of smoke and steam.
A louder report than usual here drew their attention again to the
tremendous scene that was going on in front of them. The extreme summit
of Perboewatan had been blown into a thousand fragments, which were
hurtling upwards and crackling loudly as the smaller masses were
impelled against each other in their skyward progress. This crackling
has been described by those who heard it from neighbouring shores as a
"strange rustling sound." To our hermit and his friend, who were, so to
speak, in the very midst of it, the sound rather resembled the
continuous musketry of a battle-field, while the louder explosions might
be compared to the booming of artillery, though they necessarily lose by
the comparison, for no invention of man ever produced sounds equal to
those which thundered at that time from the womb of Krakatoa.
Immediately after this, a fountain of molten lava at white heat welled
up in the great throat that had been so violently widened, and,
overflowing the edges of the crater, rolled down its sides in fiery
rivers. All the other craters in the island became active at the same
moment and a number of new ones burst forth. Indeed it seemed to those
who watched them that if these had not opened up to give vent to the
suppressed forces the whole island must have been blown away. As it
was, the sudden generation of so much excessive heat set fire to what
remained of trees and everything combustible, so that the island
appeared to be one vast seething conflagration, and darkness was for a
time banished by a red glare that seemed to Nigel far more intense than
that of noonday.
It is indeed the partiality, (if we may say so), of conflagration-light
which gives to it the character of impressive power with which we are
all so familiar--the intense lights being here cut sharply off by
equally intense shadows, and then grading into dull reds and duller
greys. The sun, on the other hand, bathes everything in its genial glow
so completely that all nature is permeated with it, and there are no
intense contrasts, no absolutely black and striking shadows, except in
caverns and holes, to form startling contrasts.
"These safety-valves," said the hermit, referring to the new craters,
"have, under God, been the means of saving us from destruction."
"It would seem so," said Nigel, who was too overwhelmed by the sight to
say much.
Even as he spoke the scene changed as if by magic, for from the cone of
Perboewatan there issued a spout of liquid fire, followed by a roar so
tremendous that the awe-struck men shrank within themselves, feeling as
though that time had really come when the earth is to melt with fervent
heat! The entire lake of glowing lava was shot into the air, and lost
in the clouds above, while mingled smoke and steam went bellowing after
it, and dust fell so thickly that it seemed as if sufficient to
extinguish the raging fires. Whether it did so or not is uncertain. It
may have been that the new pall of black vapour only obscured them. At
all events, after the outburst the darkness of night fell suddenly on
all around.
Just then the wind again changed, and the whole mass of vapour, smoke,
and ashes came sweeping like the very besom of destruction towards the
giddy ledge on which the observers stood. Nigel was so entranced that
it is probable he might have been caught in the horrible tempest and
lost, had not his cooler companion grasped his arm and dragged him
violently into the passage--where they were safe, though half suffocated
by the heat and sulphurous vapours that followed them.
At the same time the thunderous roaring became so loud that conversation
was impossible. Van der Kemp therefore took his friend's hand and led
him down to the cave, where the sounds were so greatly subdued as to
seem almost a calm by contrast.
"We are no doubt in great danger," said the hermit, gravely, as he sat
down in the outer cave, "but there is no possibility of taking action
to-night. Here we are, whether wisely or unwisely, and here we must
remain--at least till there is a lull in the eruption. `God is our
refuge.' He ought to be so at _all_ times, but there are occasions when
this great, and, I would add, glorious fact is pressed upon our
understandings with unusual power. Such a time is this. Come--we will
see what His word says to us just now."
To Nigel's surprise, and, he afterwards confessed, to his comfort and
satisfaction, the hermit called the negro from his work, and, taking
down the large Bible from its shelf, read part of the 46th Psalm, "God
is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore
will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains
be carried into the midst of the sea."
He stopped reading at the verse where it is written, "Be still, and know
that I am God."
Then, going down on his knees,--without even the familiar formula, "Let
us pray"--he uttered a brief but earnest prayer for guidance and
deliverance "in the name of Jesus."
Rising, he quietly put the Bible away, and, with the calmness of a
thoroughly practical man, who looks upon religion and ordinary matters
as parts of one grand whole, ordered Moses to serve the supper.
Thus they spent part of that memorable night of 26th August 1883 in
earnest social intercourse, conversing chiefly and naturally about the
character, causes, and philosophy of volcanoes, while Perboewatan and
his brethren played a rumbling, illustrative accompaniment to their
discourse. The situation was a peculiar one. Even the negro was alive
to that fact.
"Ain't it koorious," he remarked solemnly in a moment of confidence
after swallowing the last bite of his supper. "Ain't it koorious, Massa
Nadgel, dat we're a sottin' here comf'rably enjoyin' our wittles ober de
mout' ob a v'licano as is quite fit to blow us all to bits an' hois' us
into de bery middle ob next week--if not farder?"
"It is strange indeed, Moses," said Nigel, who however added no
commentary, feeling indisposed to pursue the subject.
Seeing this, Moses turned to his master.
"Massa," he said. "You don' want nuffin' more to-night, I s'pose?"
"No, Moses, nothing."
"An' is you _quite_ easy in your mind?"
"Quite," replied the hermit with his peculiar little smile.
"Den it would be wuss dan stoopid for me to be oneasy, so I'll bid ye
bof good-night, an' turn in."
In this truly trustful as well as philosophical state of mind, the negro
retired to his familiar couch in the inner cave, and went to sleep.
Nigel and the hermit sat up for some time longer.
"Van der Kemp," said the former, after a pause, "I--I trust you won't
think me actuated by impertinent curiosity if I venture to ask you
about--the--photograph that I think you--"
"My young friend!" interrupted the hermit, taking the case in question
from his breast-pocket; "I should rather apologise to you for having
appeared to make any mystery of it--and yet," he added, pausing as he
was about to open the case, "I have not shown it to a living soul since
the day that--Well, well,--why should I hesitate? It is all I have left
of my dead wife and child."
He placed the case in the hands of Nigel, who almost sprang from his
seat with excitement as he beheld the countenance of a little child of
apparently three or four years of age, who so exactly resembled Kathy
Holbein--allowing of course for the difference of age--that he had now
no doubt whatever as to her being the hermit's lost daughter. He was on
the point of uttering her name, when uncertainty as to the effect the
sudden disclosure might have upon the father checked him.
"You seem surprised, my friend," said Van der Kemp gently.
"Most beautiful!" said Nigel, gazing intently at the portrait. "That
dear child's face seems so familiar to me that I could almost fancy I
had seen it."
He looked earnestly into his friend's face as he spoke, but the hermit
was quite unmoved, and there was not a shadow of change in the sad low
tone of his voice as he said--
"Yes, she was indeed beautiful, like her mother. As to your fancy about
having seen it--mankind is formed in groups and types. We see many
faces that resemble others."
The absent look that was so common to the solitary man here overspread
his massive features, and Nigel felt crushed, as it were, back into
himself. Thus, without having disclosed his belief, he retired to rest
in a very anxious state of mind, while the hermit watched.
"Don't take off your clothes," he said. "If the sounds outside lead me
to think things are quieting down, I will rouse you and we shall start
at once."
It was very early on the morning of the 27th when Van der Kemp roused
our hero.
"Are things quieter?" asked Nigel as he rose.
"Yes, a little, but not much--nevertheless we must venture to leave."
"Is it daylight yet?"
"No. There will be no daylight to-day!" with which prophecy the hermit
left him and went to rouse Moses.
"Massa," said the faithful negro. "Isn't you a-goin' to take nuffin'
wid you? None ob de books or t'ings!"
"No--nothing except the old Bible. All the rest I leave behind. The
canoe could not carry much. Besides, we may have little time. Get
ready; quick! and follow me."
Moses required no spur. The three men left the cave together. It was
so intensely dark that the road could not be distinguished, but the
hermit and his man were so familiar with it that they could have
followed it blindfold.
On reaching the cave at the harbour, some light was obtained from the
fitful outbursts of the volcano, which enabled them to launch the canoe
and push off in safety. Then, without saying a word to each other, they
coasted along the shore of the island, and, finally, leaving its dangers
behind them, made for the island of Java--poor Spinkie sitting in his
accustomed place and looking uncommonly subdued!
Scarcely had they pushed off into Sunda Straits when the volcano burst
out afresh. They had happily seized on the only quiet hour that the day
offered, and had succeeded, by the aid of the sails, in getting several
miles from the island without receiving serious injury, although showers
of stones and masses of rock of all sizes were falling into the sea
around them.
Van der Kemp was so far right in his prophecy that there would be no
daylight that day. By that time there should have been light, as it was
nearly seven o'clock on the memorable morning of the 27th of August.
But now, although the travellers were some miles distant from Krakatoa,
the gloom was so impervious that Nigel, from his place in the centre of
the canoe, could not see the form of poor Spinkie--which sat clinging to
the mast only two feet in front of him--save when a blaze from
Perboewatan or one of the other craters lighted up island and ocean with
a vivid glare.
At this time the sea began to run very high and the wind increased to a
gale, so that the sails of the canoe, small though they were, had to be
reduced.
"Lower the foresail, Nigel," shouted the hermit. "I will close-reef it.
Do you the same to the mainsail."
"Ay, ay, sir," was the prompt reply.
Moses and Nigel kept the little craft straight to the wind while the
foresail was being reefed, Van der Kemp and the former performing the
same duty while Nigel reefed the mainsail.
Suddenly there came a brief but total cessation of the gale, though not
of the tumultuous heaving of the waters. During that short interval
there burst upon the world a crash and a roar so tremendous that for a
few moments the voyagers were almost stunned!
It is no figure of speech to say that the _world_ heard the crash.
Hundreds, ay, thousands of miles did the sound of that mighty upheaval
pass over land and sea to startle, more or less, the nations of the
earth.
The effect of a stupendous shock on the nervous system is curiously
various in different individuals. The three men who were so near to the
volcano at that moment involuntarily looked round and saw by the lurid
blaze that an enormous mass of Krakatoa, rent from top to bottom, was
falling headlong into the sea; while the entire heavens were alive with
flame, lightning, steam, smoke, and the upward-shooting fragments of the
hideous wreck!
The hermit calmly rested his paddle on the deck and gazed around in
silent wonder. Nigel, not less smitten with awe, held his paddle with
an iron grasp, every muscle quivering with tension in readiness for
instant action when the need for action should appear. Moses, on the
other hand, turning round from the sight with glaring eyes, resumed
paddling with unreasoning ferocity, and gave vent at once to his
feelings and his opinion in the sharp exclamation--"Blown to bits!"