Once more the anchor was weighed, and we were about to stand out of the
picturesque bay of Menado the moment a boat, in which Mr Blyth had gone
on shore to bring off a supply of fresh provisions, returned.
Ned, who had been one of the crew, as soon as the sails were set, came
up to me. "I've just heard something, sir, which may or may not be of
importance," he said. "I was talking to one of the men we brought off
from Sanguir, when he confessed to me that he had been on board the
prahu which took me off the shore where we were wrecked. I think he
spoke the truth when he told me how I kicked when the pirates made me
take an oar and pull with the black fellows they had, I suppose, made
slaves of. I asked him if he could tell me where the place was. He
answered that it was on the shores of a large island--a very large one,
I should think, and away somewhere to the eastward, for he pointed in
that direction, though I could not make out exactly how far off it was."
I was deeply interested, and told him that he ought to have brought the
man on board that we might have examined him more particularly with the
aid of Bell and Kalong.
"He would have been afraid to trust himself, sir," answered Ned; "as he
owned that he had been a pirate, he was afraid that the captain or the
Dutch might punish him."
I immediately communicated what I had heard to the first mate, who told
the captain. They sent for Ned, who, as he said that he had got all the
information he could out of the Malay, they did not propose putting
back, as I fancied they would have done. I do not think that the
captain was sanguine about finding any of the "Amphion's" crew, though
Uncle Jack kept up his hopes and mine.
"It may be like looking for a needle in a bundle of hay; still, if we
search long enough, the needle will be found," he remarked. "As long as
the captain will agree we will continue the search."
Rounding the northern end of Celebes, we crossed the Molucca passage for
Ternate, where we were to call. It is a small island off the coast of
the large but little known one of Gillolo. As we approached we saw
rising out of the sea in a line several conical-shaped mountains, four
thousand feet in height, one of which the captain said was Ternate, for
which we were bound. Passing between that island and Tidore, of even
greater height, we anchored before the town which stretches along the
shore, while the mountain overhanging it was clothed to a considerable
height with trees and spice plantations. The scenery was truly
magnificent, but as we thought of the eruption of Sanguir, we saw in
what a moment the whole town and neighbourhood might be reduced to
desolation should an eruption burst forth from the mountains which rose
so grandly above our heads. We remained here four days, during which an
earthquake--an event of frequent occurrence--took place.
I grudged every moment's delay, and was thankful when we once more were
steering southward. We were sailing on with a light breeze through a
perfectly smooth sea, when a dull roaring sound was heard, like a heavy
surf astern. The roar rapidly increased, and we saw a white line of
foam rolling on. Thinking that it might be the precursor of a
hurricane, we clewed up the topsails, but as the wave passed we rode
easily over it with the same sort of movement which is felt when
entering a river across a bar. It was followed with a short interval by
another of similar character, succeeded with greater rapidity by ten or
twelve more, when the sea became as smooth as before. The captain had
no doubt that these waves were caused by an earthquake occurring at some
distance to the northward. While at Ternate we heard that a suspicious
fleet of large prahus had been seen steering to the southward. It was
intended, should a Dutch man-of-war arrive, to send her to watch their
proceedings. We were advised to keep a sharp look-out for the pirates,
and avoid them if we could. "If they think you are Dutch, they'll be
cautious how they molest you; but if they suppose that you belong to any
other nation, they are very likely to try and plunder you, as they are
aware that no men-of-war except those of the Dutch are accustomed to
cruise in these seas," said our friend, an English merchant residing in
the place.
Captain Haiselden thanked his informant, and replied that we had already
fallen in with such gentry, and knew how to deal with them.
"But these are larger and more formidable craft than those by which you
were before attacked. If they once get alongside your brig, you will
find it a difficult matter to beat them off," was the reply.
Wherever we touched we made inquiries about the "Amphion," but as yet we
had only the information gained through Ned from the Sanguir Malay to
guide us. She might have been lost at Gillolo itself, and yet the Dutch
might not have heard of it, as but very irregular intercourse is kept up
between the different parts of that little known island.
Proceeding south we passed between the islands of Bouro and Ceram,
calling at Amboina and Banda, spice islands belonging to the Dutch.
We were steering to the east when land was sighted from the mast-head on
the starboard bow. I went aloft. It was a small island, one of many
extending directly across our course. Intending to pass to the
northward of it we luffed up a little, when, after standing on some way
further, I was again sent to the mast-head, to see if I could discover
any intervening coral reefs or any others running out from it. I could
discover no variation of colour in the sea to indicate the existence of
hidden reefs in our course, but my eye fell on a dark object, a mile, or
it may have been less, from the shore. At the first glance I thought it
was a rock rising out of the water, but on descending to the cross-trees
and looking through my glass I saw that the object was a ship on a reef,
heeling over to one side, with, as far as I could make out, her
topmasts, if not her lower masts, gone; at all events she had no canvas
set. On coming down to the deck, I told the first mate, who had charge
of the watch, and he went aloft and had a look at her also.
"She's in a dangerous position, and I fear is wrecked," he observed.
"We must get up to her, and try to render her assistance. If she's not
to be got off, we shall have to take her people on board."
"Has she been driven by a gale on the reef, do you think?" I asked.
"No; I should say that she was brought up by it, and that the tide has
since fallen, leaving her in her present position, so that when it rises
she may be got off."
While we were speaking the sails gave several flaps against the masts, a
sign that the wind had suddenly fallen, and we lay becalmed. This was
the more tantalising as we were anxious to go to the assistance of the
ship.
I went below to inform the captain, who at once came on deck, and, after
looking round the horizon, said that he thought a breeze would soon
again spring up, and that we would then stand towards the ship and see
what we could do, adding, "in the meantime, as the tide rises she may
probably haul off without our assistance."
"I should like to take one of the boats and pull on board her," observed
Uncle Jack.
"As it must be several hours before you could be back again, the weather
might in the meantime change; so that I cannot consent to your going,"
answered the captain, in a tone which prevented the first mate from
making a reply.
Still Uncle Jack, not satisfied, walked the deck uneasily. He wished at
once to relieve the anxiety of those on board the ship by letting them
know that assistance was near should they not have observed the brig.
Hour after hour passed by, darkness came on, and still no breeze ruffled
the surface of the ocean. All night long the calm continued.
As soon as daylight broke, I was again aloft looking out for the ship.
There she lay in the same position as before; it was evident that
whatever exertions had been made to get her off, they had been
unsuccessful. I was about to come on deck again, when, sweeping my
glass round to the northward, I made out another island of large size
apparently. Between it and where the ship lay I fancied that I could
distinguish a number of small black dots, so faint, however, that had I
not steadied my glass, which was a very good one, I should not have
observed them. Recollecting what we had heard about the pirate fleet, a
fear seized me at once that they might be prahus, and that they were on
their way to pillage the wreck, which they must have discovered while
lying off the northern island. Whether they had discovered us it was
impossible to say, but they certainly would do so when the sun rose and
shone on our canvas.
I at once came down and told the first mate, who took a hurried glance
round the horizon in the hopes of discovering the signs of a coming
breeze.
"I must get the captain to let me take a boat to warn the crew of the
ship of their danger, and to assist them if they are attacked," he
exclaimed. "We may get there before the prahus, which do not pull as
fast as they can sail, and a few well-armed men may turn the scale
against them; but I'll have a look at them first."
Taking the glass he sprang aloft. Directly afterwards the captain
appeared and asked him what he was looking at. I told him.
"I hope we shall get a breeze, for if the pirates, as I suppose they
are, see us boldly standing towards them, they will hesitate before they
meddle with the wreck," he remarked, now apparently as anxious about the
vessel on shore as we had been. "It may have a good effect if we hoist
a pendant and the Dutch flag and fire a gun. They will take us for a
man-of-war, and probably be off again as fast as they can pull; but it
is the breeze we want, the breeze! Without that we are helpless."
The first mate soon came down from aloft and again proffered his
request.
"I dare not give you leave," answered the captain. "What could one or
even two boats do against those prahus, with twenty or thirty well-armed
men in each? You might be cut off, even before you could reach the
wreck; and if you were on board, you would be able to do but little to
defend her, as in the position she lies she could not work her guns if
she had any."
I was almost surprised at the way Uncle Jack pleaded to be allowed to
go.
"It is impossible," replied the captain, "I could not reconcile it to my
conscience. We might lose half the ship's company, and be unable to
defend the brig ourselves."
I never saw the first mate so put out as he was at this answer. He
turned away and continued walking the deck with uneasy strides until he
seemed almost beside himself. He again went aloft and stood watching
the prahus through his glass, occasionally turning his eye round the
horizon, and then he shouted, "A breeze! A breeze coming up from the
south-west!" The next instant down he slid on deck.
The vessel's head, which had been turning now to one point of the
compass now to another, was fortunately just then turned in the right
way.
The captain kept a sharp look-out in the direction from whence the wind
was coming, to judge whether it was likely to be a strong or a light
breeze.
"Set the royals, Radburn. We need not be afraid of it."
The order was quickly obeyed. Scarcely were the sails sheeted home than
they blew gently out. The topgallant-sails did the same; the topsails
soon filled. The brig gathering way steered a little to the northward
so as to intercept the prahus.
We were thankful for the breeze, but we would rather have avoided a
struggle.
"You'll have the studding-sails set, sir?" said Uncle Jack, scarcely
waiting for an answer before he gave the order, and sprang forward to
assist in carrying it out.
We soon had the studding-sails below and aloft, still the brig did not
move along as rapidly as we wished. By this time the pirates might have
seen us, as the sun was shining brightly on our royals and
topgallant-sails, though we could not make them out except from aloft.
We were not long in manufacturing a Dutch pennant, which was run up to
the main-royal mast-head. It was doubtful, however, whether it would be
seen, or, if seen, have the effect we hoped for. The pirates, observing
how light the wind was, would know that they could pull away beyond our
reach.
Again and again Uncle Jack went aloft, until we got near enough to
distinguish not only the ship on the reef but the prahus from the deck,
which were approaching fearfully near her; the guns were loaded and the
small arms got ready for immediate use. Most of the men were ready
enough for a fight, if a fight was to take place, but the second mate
looked downcast as usual, and I heard him muttering--
"We have enough to do to look after ourselves, without fighting for
other people."
This was said for the first mate to hear, but Uncle Jack turned away
without making any observation.
The prahus, although we must have been seen, still continued their
course. Sometimes the hope came across me that they might not be
intending to attack the ship ashore; but it was scarcely to be thought
that they were going to render her assistance. As we examined them
through our glasses, we could see that they were large war prahus with
numerous crews. The breeze filled our sails, but continued light as at
first, and we had done all that was possible to make the brig move
through the water.
Two prahus, apparently the fastest, were leading, and were already
scarcely more than two miles off, while we were at a much greater
distance. They would be up to the ship in twenty minutes or so, and it
would take them but a fearfully short time to perform their work of
murder and pillage if they were so minded. Still we hoped that the crew
would fight, and, at all events, keep them at bay until we could come
up. The pirates were calculating, it was evident, on the wind falling,
of which there appeared every probability. Several times the lower
canvas had given some ominous flaps against the masts, while the
studding-sails hung down from the booms emptied of wind; still the
royals filled and forced the brig along.
Our glasses were constantly turned, now towards the ship on shore, now
towards the pirate fleet. It showed great hardihood on the part of the
Malays that they should still continue their course, while our vessel,
which they must have supposed to be a man-of-war, was so close to them.
They were trusting, we thought, to their numbers, and to the rapidity
with which they could make their escape among the coral reefs, where no
sailing vessel could follow them. They were getting closer and closer,
while we were making scarcely two knots an hour through the water. What
means of defence the ship might possess we could not tell. Even if she
had guns she would, as the captain remarked, be unable to work them with
her deck inclined as it now was. We could only hope that the tide was
rising, and that if so she might get on an even keel, although her crew
might not be able to haul her off.
We carried, I should have said, a light whale boat, remarkable for her
speed; she pulled four oars, and held three persons besides. The wind
provokingly tantalised us, now it filled the sails and then again
allowed them to hang loosely down from the yards.
I had gone forward with the first mate that we might watch the ship and
the headmost of the prahus. He several times sent me aft that I might
take a look astern to see if there were any signs of the breeze
increasing. On each occasion I had to make the same report.
"She's lifting, she's lifting?" exclaimed Uncle Jack, at length; "see,
she's making signals. Run, Harry, and get the signal book, we will try
and learn what she is saying."
I quickly returned with the book, but the wind was so light that the
flags did not blow out. "A breath of air for a single moment would
enable us to see what they are," observed the first mate, watching them
through his telescope. Just then one flag flew out, it was to signify
that the others made the number of the ship. I turned to the right
place in the signal book; presently all the flags flew out together, it
was but for an instant. The first mate rapidly turned over the pages.
"I feared so from the first," he exclaimed; "the captain cannot refuse
to let me go, she is the `Iris.' The pirates have a current against
them, or they would have made faster progress. We'll get on board
before them yet. Who will volunteer, lads?"