MATTERS ON BOARD AS BAD AS EVER--THE MATE'S CRUELTY TO POOR TOM--I
INTERFERE--AN ISLAND IN SIGHT--AN EXPEDITION ON SHORE TO CATCH TURTLE--
COCO DE MER--A NIGHT ON SHORE--WHERE IS THE SHIP?--WE ARE DESERTED--A
SHIP ON FIRE--MR. HENLEY PUTS OFF TO HER ASSISTANCE--TOM AND I LEFT ON
THE ISLAND.
Once more we were upon the ocean, the tall finger-like peaks of the
beautiful Mauritius fading from our sight. Captain Gunnel was as
pleasant and kind in his manner as could be desired, the first mate as
glum and surly as usual. It was curious to observe the sagacious manner
in which Solon avoided him, as if perfectly well aware that if he got in
his way a kick or a rope's end would be his inevitable portion.
For three or four days things went on somewhat quietly; we had fair
winds and fine weather, and there was nothing to put any one out.
Before long, however, some trifle caused the first mate to lose his
temper, and he began ill-treating the men as before. He seemed inclined
especially to vent his rage against Johnny Spratt.
The fat old fellow used to rub his sides, and, as usual, as he limped
away from his tyrant, say, "Well, it's fortunate the bones are so
thickly cased, or they'd have been broken every one on 'em before now."
He never made a reply to all the abuse showered on him; but this
silence, instead of appeasing the mate's anger, only seemed to increase
it. Poor Tommy Bigg, too, got more knocked about than ever. My blood
used to boil as I saw the poor friendless little fellow kicked, and
cuffed, and rope's-ended without mercy, day after day, and more than
once I felt inclined to rush to his rescue, and to tell his tyrants what
cruel brutes they were. In vain Mr Henley expostulated with Mr
Grimes. He got only abused in return.
"Wait till you are kicked yourself and then cry out," was the answer.
Mr Henley could make no reply to this remark, but walked quietly away.
He took good care, however, that while he was on dock none of his
inferiors should bully anybody; and I, to the best of my power, assisted
him. I soon found that I had made mortal enemies of Sills and Broom,
who had never liked me. Several times I reported them to Mr Henley for
striking the men and using foul language towards them. They called me a
sneak and a tell-tale, and said that I was fitter for a nursery or a
girls' boarding school than to come to sea. I said that I saw nothing
sneaking in preventing men from being ill-treated, and reminded them of
a proverb I had met with, "That curses, like pigeons, are sure to come
home to roost at night."
"Hang your proverbs--what do you mean?" exclaimed Broom.
"That curses are sure to recoil on the heads of those who utter them," I
answered. "I earnestly hope that the dreadful ones to which you have
been giving expression may not overtake you; but remember, that though
he may delay, God's arm is not shortened that he cannot strike."
"Now you have taken to quoting Scripture, you canting hypocrite," cried
Sills. "Do you think we are afraid of any such thing happening to us?
Our curses may come back for what we care."
"Oh, it's all humbug! Nothing you can say will make me hold my tongue,"
added Broom, with a hoarse laugh.
"In mercy to yourself do not say such things," I exclaimed, as I turned
away from my two messmates.
Mr Henley had warned me, when some days before I had observed that I
hoped the captain had improved, that before long he would break out as
bad as ever. Such in a few days I unhappily found to be the case. Not
only did he become as bad, but worse than ever, and I heard Dr Cuff
tell Mr Henley that he did not think that he could possibly survive
such continued hard drinking. The first mate overheard the remark,
which was made probably in kindness as a warning to him. It had in one
respect the effect intended. He kept himself perfectly sober, and
attended carefully to the navigation of the ship; but I could not help
strongly suspecting that he was seized with the ambition of becoming
captain, and of having to take the ship home. Mr Henley and the doctor
thought so likewise, for he at once assumed the airs of a master, and
became more dictatorial and overbearing than ever.
There lay the wretched captain, unconscious, in his berth, and of course
this man was virtually in command of the ship. One day, after we had
been rather more than a week at sea, I had called Tommy Bigg aft, and
was speaking to him, directing him to do something or other, when Mr
Grimes came up close to us.
"What do you do here?--go forward to your kennel, you young--," he
exclaimed, with an oath.
Tommy heard him, but his impulse was to wait till I had finished my
sentence. This momentary delay so enraged the first mate, that he flew
at the poor little fellow, knocked him down with his fist, and then
began to kick him along the deck as if he had been a foot-ball.
"Coward! brute!" I exclaimed, gasping for breath; and losing all
command of myself, I rushed in before Tommy. "Let alone the child--
you'll kill him if you continue to treat him thus; if you do I will
brand you as a murderer. Help! help! he is killing the boy."
My cries were heard throughout the ship. The first mate, as was to be
expected, turned his fury upon me.
"Mutiny! mutiny!" he exclaimed, lifting up his fist to strike me.
He would have felled me to the deck, and I should have received the same
treatment from which I had attempted to save Tommy Bigg, when his arm
was seized by Mr Henley, who had at that instant sprung on deck.
"What are you about, Grimes?" he exclaimed; "this behaviour is unworthy
of an officer. He is no mutineer. Anybody with feeling would have
attempted to save that poor boy from your cruelty."
"I didn't doubt that you would have shoved in your officious
interference at every opportunity," growled out the first mate, turning
fiercely on Mr Henley; "you'll find, however, before long, that you
have interfered once too often, and that you have caught a Tartar."
"I am doing my duty as much towards you as towards others," said Mr
Henley calmly. "I entreat you, for your own sake as well as theirs, do
not again strike the boys. You cannot tell what the consequences may
be. We have had an example already on board this ship what men may be
driven to do."
Mr Grimes turned pale on hearing these words, partly from suppressed
rage and partly from fear, I suspect, and giving a threatening look at
me and Mr Henley, walked aft. I felt sure that I had made the first
mate my most bitter enemy, but I could not regret what I had done.
Probably, had not Mr Henley interfered at the moment he did, he would
have declared me a mutineer, and had me put into irons.
We had unusually light winds, though fair, and nothing could be more
pleasant than the weather; but there was every appearance of the passage
being a long one.
Dr Cuff, meantime, was doing his best to restore the captain to a
state of consciousness, and after a time he once more made his
appearance on deck. His temper was not improved; but the doctor had so
far alarmed him by putting clearly before him the inevitable result of
his intemperance, that he appeared more inclined than usual to remain
sober.
"Our captain is the most miserable man on board the ship," observed Mr
Henley, as we saw him walking up and down on the poop, muttering to
himself, and wildly waving his arms about. "He is suffering all the
horrors of the drunkard deprived of the stimulants to which he has
accustomed himself. Indescribable horrors--dreadful recollections of
the past--fears of the present--anticipations of coming evil, not the
less fearful because indefinite and uncertain! O Marsden, as you value
your peace and happiness here and hereafter, avoid every temptation
which may lead you to drink, and do your utmost to warn your friends and
all you meet of the dangers of intemperance."
A day or two after this, when the sun arose, we found ourselves becalmed
little more than a couple of miles from a small island, apparently about
three or four miles in length, with trees and rocks, and a high conical
hill rising up in the centre. There appeared some islets about it but a
few hundred yards across, scarcely elevated above the level of the sea.
When the captain and first mate came on deck they examined them narrowly
with their telescopes, and were seen to talk together earnestly for some
time. Breakfast was just over when the captain observed to Mr Henley--
"There are fine turtle to be got on these islands. Fresh meat would be
a good thing for the people, who are getting sickly for want of it, and
not a bad thing for us. What say you to taking a boat and trying to
catch a few? There is Johnny Spratt and one or two other men well
accustomed to the work. Take them with you. You'll have plenty of
time; these calms often last many days."
The second mate said that he would be very happy to go, and instantly
set about getting a boat ready.
"You'll like to go, Marsden," said the captain to me, in a good-natured
tone of voice.
Of course it was just the thing I wished to do. I bethought me of
taking my sketch-book with me; but I could not find it, and so I carried
off the book in which I wrote my journal, as it would serve my purpose.
As I went on deck I saw the first mate send Johnny Spratt and Tommy Bigg
into the boat, but his doing so did not at the moment excite my
suspicions.
"Come, shove off, lads," he sung out, looking over the side.
"Stay," said Mr Henley, ascending on deck again, "I never go away in a
boat without a compass, and provisions, and water. A fog may come on,
or we may be benighted, or a breeze might spring up, and we might have
some difficulty in getting on board again."
Mr Grimes made no answer to this remark, but turned away whistling.
Mr Henley had, I found, put together a number of things, which were
handed into the boat. I slung my spyglass over my shoulder, and,
thinking that I might get a good shot at some birds, filled my
powder-flask and shot-belt, and rifle in hand, followed by Solon,
stepped into the boat. I took one oar and Spratt another, and we had
two black men whom the chief mate had observed were first-rate hands at
turning turtles. Mr Henley had brought the boat's masts and sails,
because, as he observed, a breeze might spring up, and we might find
them useful. As we pulled away from the _Orion_ I could not help
admiring her size and build, and regretting that she was not better
commanded.
"There are many like her, and there will be, till young men intended for
the sea are educated and brought up as gentlemen and Christians,"
observed Mr Henley, divining my thoughts. "All I can hope is that
before we leave Colombo Captain Seaforth will come out and take command.
I wrote home from the Cape entreating him to do so."
This was good news, and the bare hope of having a change for the better
on board put me in good spirits. I had never encountered any heat equal
to what we were now enduring. The sea was as smooth as glass, and
glittered like a sheet of polished silver; there was not a breath of
air, and the sun was almost perpendicular. Oh, how hot it was!--the
perspiration was running from every pore. The sight of some trees,
however, on the islands we were approaching encouraged us to persevere,
and we contemplated the satisfaction of enjoying their cool shade, and
then a plunge in some quiet pool before we returned on board. But as we
drew near we began to fear that our anticipations would be disappointed,
for on every side appeared a line of surf beating against what Mr
Henley at once pronounced to be a coral bank.
"Still, there may be an opening which may lead to the island," he
remarked. "We'll not give up till we have tried in every direction."
Accordingly, keeping at a little distance from the thin white line of
surf, we continued pulling slowly round to the eastward of the island.
The island had, I observed, a peak rising in the centre to a
considerable elevation, and Mr Henley remarked that it looked like the
cone of a volcano. After pulling on for another half hour a space
appeared where the water was as smooth and glassy as that on which we
floated. We instantly pulled in towards it, and, passing between the
end of the lines of surf, found ourselves in a small bay lined with pure
white sand, and here and there dark rocks rising up among it, while
cocoa nut and other palm-trees came almost close down to the water's
edge. I had never seen a prettier or more romantic spot. Here and
there along the shore we caught glimpses of other similar bays.
Scarcely a ripple broke on the beach, so we ran the boat up on the sand,
and jumped on shore. Not a sign of human beings or of inhabitants of
any sort had we yet seen. Having hauled up the boat, we therefore
proceeded without hesitation towards the summit of the peak, that we
might enjoy amore extensive view of the surrounding scenery. There are
two sorts of turtle found on the shores of the islands of these seas--
the hawk-billed and the green turtle--Mr Henley told me. From the
former the tortoise-shell, so valuable for making combs and other
articles, is taken; but the flesh is considered poisonous. The shell of
the green turtle is of comparatively little value, but then the flesh is
excellent, and it was this turtle we wished to catch. It, however,
comes on shore to lay its eggs chiefly at night, while the hawk-bill
lands in the day-time for that purpose. Had we known this we should
have waited till the evening to pay our visit to the island. It was
only when we asked the blacks why we saw no turtle that we ascertained
the fact. Still, as there appeared every chance of the continuance of
the calm, we agreed to wait till the evening that we might capture some
of the green species. Both lay many hundred eggs, and deposit them in
large holes which they make with their flappers in the sand. Having
with the same implements covered up the eggs, they leave them to be
hatched by the rays of the sun, which strike down with great force on
the white sand; indeed, the heat I should have thought would have been
enough to bake them. Probably the moisture coming through the sand
prevents this, and keeps up a regular temperature. As we advanced we
came to an open space, in which grew a clump of tall trees, which Mr
Henley looked at with much interest.
"I have seen such before at the Seychelles," he remarked. "We are about
the latitude of those islands. These trees are some of the rare and
celebrated coco de mer. See, they must be nearly a hundred feet high,
and little more than twelve or thirteen inches in diameter. There is
scarcely any difference in their size to the very top, where observe
that curious crown of leaves, which has the fruit--the double
cocoa-nut--inside it. If there was a breeze we should see the trees
bending about like whips, of so flexible a nature is the stem."
We calculated that each leaf was upwards of twenty feet long, including
the petioles or stalks. These are of strength sufficient to bear a
person's weight. One of the blacks coming up made preparations to climb
to the summit of one of the trees. First, he fastened a band round the
stem, sufficiently large at the same time to admit his body; then,
pressing his back against the band, he worked his way up to the top.
Securing the band, he disappeared among the leaves. Presently he
returned with a bundle tied round his neck, and quietly descended the
stem as he had ascended, by means of the band. On reaching the ground
he presented us with what looked like three young cocoa-nuts growing
together. Sometimes I found that the fruit not only grows double, but
triple, and even quadruple. We broke the shell, and found the fruit far
superior to that of any cocoa-nut I had ever tasted, though resembling
it in flavour: in appearance and consistency it was more like the ice in
a pastry-cook's shop. We found it particularly refreshing, and there
was enough to supply all our party. The black had brought also the germ
of another fruit, and the crown of the trunk, which, like that of the
true cabbage-tree, makes an excellent dish like asparagus. It bears
flowers and fruit of all ages at the same time. The black showed us the
rings on the stem, which were about four inches apart. They are left by
the leaves falling off as the palm grows; and as two leaves fall off
every year, I conclude that they grow about eight inches in that time.
The coco de mer is as useful as the more common cocoa-nut. With the
leaves houses are thatched; the trunk serves for troughs and piping;
with the leaves and fibres of the petiole baskets and brooms are made;
from the fibrous bark rope called coir is manufactured--so are hats and
baskets; a beverage is extracted from the sap; beautiful cups are made
from the shell; oil is pressed from the fruit; and mattresses are
stuffed with the fibre which surrounds the shell; even the farinacious
matter contained in the stem is used as food, and is not a bad
substitute for sago. Indeed, there is no end to the useful ways in
which it may be employed.
We were not long in reaching the highest point in the island. This, Mr
Henley said, he had no doubt was the crater of a volcano which had long
ceased to emit fire; for though here and there we discovered lava and
ashes, the ground was almost entirely covered with a luxuriant
vegetation. We had a view of the unbroken horizon on every side, with a
number of little green gems of islands scattered over the blue shining
ocean around us. Mr Henley said he suspected that it was one of the
islands which the French frequented during the wars of the first
Napoleon, and where their privateers used to conceal themselves when
they had to refit or refresh their crews to be again ready to go in
search of our merchantmen. In the distance lay our ship with her sails
hanging idly against her masts. There was not a sign of a breeze, so
Mr Henley determined to wait till the night in the hopes of catching
some green turtle. We now returned to the beach where we lighted a fire
and cooked some provisions, not forgetting our tree-cabbage, and most
delicious we found it. After our dinner we wandered along the shore,
admiring the beauty of the spot and the thin reefs of coral which
surrounded it.
"To think that all that work has been produced by small insects, and, so
to speak, out of nothing, is indeed wonderful," observed Mr Henley as
we strolled along together. "Do you know, Marsden, I have often thought
that it is intended that we should learn from these coral reefs what
great results are produced in the moral world by apparently small means,
at the will of our almighty Creator. Sometimes, I daresay, the agents
are conscious that they are working for a great end; sometimes--still
oftener--perhaps not. It should encourage us to persevere when we are
working in a good cause, though our progress may not be quicker than
that of the coral insects. Yet see the result of their labours! In
time these rocky islets may increase to a size sufficient to support a
large population."
I understood what he meant, and fully agreed with him. We found a
number of beautiful shells on the beach of every shape and size, most of
them empty, so that any hermit crabs wandering about in search of a new
home could easily suit themselves with a habitation.
We enjoyed also a bath in a pool surrounded by rocks, where the water
was so clear that we could see to the bottom. I had proposed bathing in
the open bay, but Mr Henley said he would on no account venture to do
so, as we could not tell what sharks there might be in the
neighbourhood. He told me that he knew of so many instances where
people had lost their lives from incautiously venturing in where sharks
had seized on them, that he was always very careful where he bathed. I
remembered his advice and followed it. Had I not done so, I believe
that I should very soon have shared the fate of the unfortunate people
he spoke of.
The time passed quickly away, and hunger at last made us turn our steps
towards the spot where we had left the boat. We found that Johnny
Spratt had got some water boiling to make tea, and Tommy Bigg had
collected some shells, while the blacks had brought in some cocoa-nuts
and several other tropical fruits and roots whose names I do not
remember.
"Wait till turtle come, then plenty supper," they observed.
After supper, while the men smoked their pipes, Mr Henley and I,
followed by Solon, walked on to a rock from which we could watch the
proceedings in the next bay, which more directly faced the opening in
the reefs. We had not long to wait before we observed some black
objects slowly emerging from the water and crawling up the beach. We at
once guessed that they were turtle, and not knowing how long they might
be occupied on shore we hurried back to call the blacks to our
assistance. Solon was for dashing in at them at once, and I had some
little difficulty in restraining his impatience.
"Very good--no hurry--sure more come," was the answer of the blacks when
I told them what we had seen.
However they got up, and all the party set off towards the rock where
Mr Henley and I had been watching. By the time we got there the entire
line of beach from one side of the bay to the other was swarming with
turtle. It was now growing so dark that they could only just be
distinguished. Away we all ran armed with handspikes towards the shore.
Our appearance did not seem to create any commotion among them. We
watched the proceedings of the blacks. One of them seized a flapper,
while the other insinuated his handspike under the animal, and by a
sudden jerk turned her over. Mr Henley and I, and Spratt and Bigg did
the same, but we found that the blacks had turned three or four while we
could scarcely get over some of the smaller ones. We had another
companion who showed that he had no wish to be idle. As soon as we
began the onslaught on the creatures Solon commenced an attack on them
also. As he had no handspike to turn them over, all he could do was to
lay hold of their flappers, and to try to hold them till we came up;
many a severe knock on the nose, though, he got in the attempt as he
flew from one to another barking furiously. After some time I did not
hear him, and on looking about I found that at last he had resolved to
attempt to capture one entirely by himself. He had seized a good large
turtle by the flapper, and was trying to haul it away from the water,
which it was doing its best to reach. Now, as the turtle weighed nearly
one hundred and fifty pounds, Solon would have had very little chance of
victory if he had trusted only to his strength; so sometimes he would
let go and leap round to the other side of the turtle, and would bite
away at its flapper. This made it retreat once more up the beach.
Solon, discovering the good effect of his tactics, would continue them
till the turtle refused to go further, and then he would seize the
former flapper and begin pulling away again. Though he stopped the
turtle's way, still she made progress towards the ocean, and I doubt
whether he would have let go till she had pulled him in. He was highly
delighted when at last we went to his assistance and turned the turtle
on her back. He still, however, seemed to consider it as his own
especial property, and sat sentry over it, barking whenever it moved its
flappers, as if he thought that it was going to get up and escape him.
At length we had turned as many turtles as we would possibly require on
board, or carry off; so we looked out for the ship, purposing at once to
return to her. It had, however, now become very dark, and she was
nowhere to be seen.
"Never mind, lads," observed Mr Henley, "we will light a fire and make
ourselves comfortable. They will see the light on board, and know that
we are all right."
We did not want the fire to keep ourselves warm or to scare off wild
beasts, as there were not likely to be any in that small island, but the
smoke kept off the insects, and we hoped that our shipmates would
understand, by seeing the fire continually blazing, that we were waiting
till the morning to return on board. We sat round our fire talking and
spinning yarns. Mr Henley encouraged the men to speak of themselves,
and to tell their adventures. Nothing so much induces the men to place
confidence in their officers as to show them that an interest is taken
in their welfare. The blacks told us how they had been kidnapped in
their youth from the interior of Africa, carried down to the coast,
confined in barracoons for some weeks till they were shipped on board a
Spanish schooner. They pictured vividly the horrors of the middle
passage, shut up in a hold three feet only between decks, where, with
nearly four hundred of their fellow-creatures, they sat crouched up
together as closely as they could be stowed for many weeks; how sickness
got in among them and carried off great numbers, who were dragged out
and thrown overboard as if they had been rotten sheep; how at last the
schooner had been chased by a British cruiser and captured, and they had
been carried to Sierra Leone and restored to liberty. There they had
served in various vessels, both merchantmen and men-of-war, and had made
several whaling voyages. The two had never been separated. Though not
brothers by birth, they had become more than brothers--where one went
there went the other. It was a strong proof that the gentler and purer
affections are not excluded from the bosoms of the sons of Africa.
Indeed, I suspect it is their very simplicity of mind and gentleness
which make them so much more readily yield to the yoke of slavery than
the white races. One went by the name of Jack, and the other Gill.
When I asked them if these were their real names, they laughed and said
no, but that they were as good as any others; they were not particular
about names.
Though there was little chance of anything happening during the night,
we agreed that one at a time should sit up and watch to give notice of
danger. The atmosphere was far fresher than it had been, for a light
breeze had sprung up, but as it was directly contrary to the course of
the ship, it did not seem necessary to set off in the attempt to find
her, especially as we could not possibly carry all the turtles we had
caught in one trip. I took my watch in the first part of the time. The
early part of the night, it must be remembered, we were employed in
turning the turtles, so that it was past midnight before we lay down, I
was kept awake by having continually to throw dry leaves on the fire to
keep up a smoke; but even had it been otherwise, the beauty and
strangeness of the scene would have kept me awake. Still, the moment I
was relieved and put my head on the ground, I fell asleep with my
faithful Solon by my side. I knew that he would keep a careful watch
over me.