ENCAMPED ON THE ISLAND--BREAKFAST ON ROAST DUCK--SANDAL-WOOD--BOWS AND
ARROWS MANUFACTURED--HORNBILLS CAPTURED--A HOUSE COMMENCED.
The doctor, with Alice and Walter, had just left the side of the stream
to return to the camp, when they met Dan and Nub carrying the cask,
slung on a pole between them.
"We go to get fresh water, and be back soon wid it," said Nub as they
passed. "Mr Shobbrok, him roast de duck ready for breakfast."
The doctor and his young companions hurried on, for their morning's walk
had made them very hungry. They found the mate employed in roasting the
duck in the usual camp fashion, on a spit supported by two forked
sticks. Near it was the large shell of the mollusc on another fire,
where Nub had placed it to warm up its contents.
"We have fish and fowl; but I wish that we had some farinaceous or other
vegetable diet in addition--for the sake of our young lady, especially,"
observed the mate.
"We have, at all events, brought something of the sort," said Walter,
producing his handkerchief, full of the fruits he had picked up.
"I am indeed thankful to see them," said the mate; "for I began to fear
that we should all suffer from living so entirely on animal food."
"I have little doubt that we shall find more fruits and probably various
vegetables," said the doctor; "and I will undertake to go in search of
them after breakfast."
"I should like to accompany you," said Walter; "though, if the fruit in
these regions only grows high up on the trees such as these do, we shall
be puzzled to get them."
"We must climb the trees, then, or find some other means of bringing it
down," said the mate. "My idea is, that, before we do anything else, we
should set about making some bows and arrows, as well as some spears, to
defend ourselves against any savage animals, or to kill any we may be
able to chase."
The doctor agreed to the mate's proposal, though he believed, he said,
that there were no savage animals of any size in the Pacific islands
likely to annoy them. As the duck was not quite cooked, they sat
themselves down under the shade of a lofty tree, to await the return of
Nub and Dan. They very soon appeared; and while Nub went to have a look
at the mollusc which he and Dan were to have for breakfast, the seaman
came and threw himself down at the mate's side with a small branch of
tree in his hand, which he was examining attentively.
"What is that you have got there?" asked the mate, turning round to him.
"Faith, your honour, it's something, I suppose; for Nub says that if we
can cut enough of it, and can get a ship to carry it away, we shall all
make our fortunes." Dan as he spoke handed the branch to the mate, who
turned it about, evidently puzzled to know what it was.
"Let us look at it," said the doctor, who then examined the branch
carefully. After biting the thick end, he observed: "This is
undoubtedly santulum, of the natural order _Santalaceae_. From it is
produced santalin, with which certain tinctures are made. It is also
used in India for colouring silk and cotton. Yes, this is indeed the
valuable sandal-wood, which the Chinese burn as incense, and employ
largely in the manufacture of fans, and of which in England the cases
for lead pencils are formed. Nub is right; and as it is of great
commercial value, if, as he suggests, we can cut down a quantity, and
find a ship to carry it away, we may make enough to pay our expenses
home and have something in our pockets at the end of the voyage. From
what sort of a tree did you break this off?" inquired the doctor,
turning to Dan.
"A big shrub, or what they would call a good-sized tree in other parts;
but those near it were so much larger, that I suppose they would be
offended if we called it a shrub," answered Dan. "It is not far off,
and we saw a good many like it in that part of the forest."
"We will go and examine it presently," said the doctor, who was an
enthusiastic naturalist.
"We must see about getting food first," observed the mate. "We have
many things to do before we can think of cutting down sandal-wood."
"Yes; we must eat our duck first," said the doctor.
"I tink de duck done now," observed Nub, who had been employed during
the discussion in giving the roast a few more turns. Plucking some
large leaves, he arranged them on the ground before the party, to serve
the double purpose of table-cloth and plates; then, taking the duck up
by the end of the spit, he placed it before the doctor, remarking, "You
carve better than anyone of us, sir."
The doctor scientifically cut up, the bird, a portion of which Nub
presented to Alice and Walter. When the doctor offered some to him and
Dan, they both declared that the stewed mollusc was quite enough for
them. The voyagers' first breakfast on the island would have been more
satisfying had they possessed some bread or biscuit, and, above all,
some tea or coffee; but as they could finish it with a good supply of
fruit and fresh water, they acknowledged that they had ample reason to
be thankful.
Their plans for the future were naturally brought under discussion.
"Don't you think, Mr Shobbrok, that we could manage to enlarge our boat
so that we might reach some civilised place?" asked Walter.
"We might certainly improve her," answered the mate; "and if we could
obtain a sufficient amount of provisions and water, we might make a long
voyage in her, provided we were favoured with fine weather. But the
risk, I warn you, would be very great. Occasionally the seas in these
latitudes are excessively heavy and dangerous, and no improvement we
could make would enable her to stand them. We should also, as I
observed, have to carry a large supply of provisions and water, or we
might be compelled to land on a part of the coast where we should have
to encounter savages, who would probably attack and destroy us before we
had time to convince them that we came upon a peaceable errand. Or,
even should they be friendly, we have no goods with which to purchase
provisions; and from what I have heard of them, they are not likely to
supply us without payment. However, we will examine the boat, and
consider how we can enlarge her. We must first ascertain if we can
manage to cut out a sufficient number of planks and ribs; and then, if
we enlarge the boat, we shall want more sails and spars and rigging. We
shall also require casks to carry the water, and a stove for cooking;
and as we have no compass or quadrant or chart we can only make a
coasting voyage. We are also many hundred miles from Sydney in New
South Wales, which is the nearest port where we can obtain assistance.
It is my belief that we are now off the north-eastern end of New Guinea,
either on the mainland or on an island; though I suspect the latter, or
we should probably have fallen in with natives. This point we must
ascertain as soon as possible, for we should do well to avoid them, as
at the best they are a savage race, who are more likely to prove foes
than friends. Now, the first thing we have to do is to provide food for
ourselves. See, I was not idle during your absence."
The mate on this showed several contrivances for catching game. The
question was where to place them. It was first necessary to ascertain
the places frequented by the birds or beasts in the neighbourhood. Dan
had formed some traps composed of stones collected on the seashore, such
as boys in England are accustomed to set for sparrows and robins; but
the doctor very much doubted whether the birds of those regions were
likely to hop into them, as they appeared, he observed, to take their
food from the tops of the trees, and seldom descended to the ground.
"Arrah, I hope they will be after changing their custom when they see
the traps, and just come down to have a look into them," said Dan. "I
will place them under the trees and give them the chance, at all event."
"I would rather trust to bows and arrows," said Walter. "We must look
out for the proper sort of trees to make the bows. Perhaps we may find
some wood similar to the yew-tree of old England."
The doctor and Nub set off with Walter for the object he had in view,
while Alice remained with the mate and Dan, who were finishing their
traps. They first proceeded towards the stream. On their way Nub
showed them the sandal-wood trees which he had discovered. The doctor
was satisfied that he was right. Many of them were of considerable
size, really deserving the name of trees, though some could only be
called large bushes. In general appearance they were something like
myrtles, the trunk being about nine inches in diameter, the leaves very
small, alternate or nearly opposite. The doctor, who had carried the
axe, cut into the trunk of one of them, which was of a deep red colour.
"At all events, though we cannot carry a cargo away with us, we may
return here some day and obtain one," he said. "If there are no
inhabitants, the trees cannot be claimed as the property of anyone; and
we may load a vessel with great ease in the harbour."
"I tink, Mr Lawrie, dat we better look out for food just now," said
Nub, who thought the doctor was spending more time than necessary in
speculating on the future.
"You are right Nub," answered the surgeon, leading the way. They
examined numerous saplings of small size, but none seemed likely to suit
their purpose. On the banks of the stream they came to a magnificent
grove of bamboos of all sizes, some being as thick as a man's leg.
"Here we have the means of building a house ready to our hands," said
the doctor. "Perhaps they will assist also in decking over the boat."
"But I doubt if they would keep out the water," observed Walter. "I
think, however, that the fine ends or some of the very small canes may
serve for arrows."
"Dey make very good cups for drinking out of," said Nub; and asking for
the axe, he cut down a large bamboo cane, though not one of the
thickest, and showed Walter that numerous divisions or knots filled up
the centre of the cane, and that thus each knot would make the bottom of
a cup.
On passing near the tree where the doctor had seen the hornbills, they
observed one of the birds poking its long beak out of its hole.
"We pay you visit before long," said Nub, nodding his head. "Me tink I
know how."
Going up the stream, they found a tree which had fallen over it, by
which they crossed to the opposite bank. Nub begged to go first. "I go
see de way. We no want to pop into de middle of a village; if we do, de
women begin to shriek, and de babies cry out, and tink dat white debils
come among dem, and den de men come out and kill us."
The doctor agreed to Nub's proposal, and they proceeded more cautiously
than before. Walter pulled away at every young tree they met, and at
last he found one which the doctor thought would suit their purpose.
Nub, who came to examine it, was of the same opinion; and they quickly
cut down several which grew near to the proper length, and returned with
them the way they had come. As they passed under the tree in which they
had seen the hornbills, Nub exclaimed, "I tink we come and get dese
fellows at once, if de mate will please to accompany us."
On passing under the tree where the fruit had been found, Walter looked
about for some more; but the birds were not feeding, and none had fallen
since they had been there. On their arrival at the camp, the mate and
Dan had to confess that their traps had not as yet been successful; Nub
then told them his plan for reaching the hornbills, which could not fail
with regard to the hen, who was certain not to leave her nest, and might
possibly either be sitting on her eggs or have some young ones.
"How is that?" asked Walter. "When she sees you, if you succeed in
reaching her, she will surely fly away."
"No, Massa Walter," said Nub, "she not do dat, for de hole is shut up
with clay, and she only got room to poke her head out."
Nub's plan was to form a ladder up the tree with the bamboos they had
seen. With a little patience, he assured them, the feat could be
accomplished; so they all eagerly set out to commence operations, Alice
accompanying them; while the doctor continued his search for the
vegetable food they so much required. He first, however, cut a stick
from the thick end of a bamboo, for the purpose of digging edible roots,
which he thought it probable he might discover.
Nub also suggested that they should forthwith set to work to build a
house large enough to contain the whole party. A house would be far
better for Alice than the tent, in which she had to lie close to the
ground, with some risk of the intrusion of snakes or noxious insects;
besides which, bad weather might come on, when they would all require
shelter.
"Nothing like bamboo-house," observed Nub. "If earthquake come, it no
shake down; if storm come on, it no blow away."
The mate assented to the black's proposal, and agreed at once to cut
down a sufficient number of bamboos, not only for the ladder, but for
the house. This was not quite so easy a task as it at first appeared,
for though the canes were hollow they were excessively hard, and it was
only by chopping downwards all round that they could be broken off. At
length, however, a sufficient number for the proposed ladder were cut
down and carried to the foot of the tree.
Nub was not going to make a ladder of double poles; the tree being of
soft wood, he intended to stick in the rounds horizontally, and to
support them with a single pole. They had also to collect a quantity of
tough and lithe vines, which would serve to bind the rounds to the outer
pole; the thickest end of which was stuck deep into the ground. This
done, the work went on rapidly, round after round being driven into the
tree, about three feet apart. Nub, continuing his work, went on
ascending step after step, Dan following him when he got too high up to
reach the long poles from the ground. The height looked perilous in the
extreme, and Alice, as she watched him, could not help dreading that he
might miss his footing and fall down; but Nub was highly delighted with
the success of undertaking, and seemed to have no fears on the subject.
"Nub puts me in mind of `Jack and the Bean Stalk,'" said Walter,
laughing. "I only hope that he won't find an ogre at the top of the
tree."
"No fear about Nub," observed the mate. "I hope that he may soon wring
the necks of the hornbills and send them down to us."
Nub was now near the hole where the female hornbill had been seen. She
had drawn in her head; and her mate was either absent from home or was
concealed among the thick foliage at the top of the tree. The last
round was in, and Nub was seen preparing to mount on it, that he might
put in his hand and haul out Madam Hornbill. He was just about to do
so, when she put out her long beak, and began pecking away furiously at
his hand; while, at the same moment, down flew Mr Hornbill from a bough
on which he had been snugly ensconced till a favourable opportunity
arose of making an attack on the assailant of his fortress. That every
man's home is his castle, is rightly held in England as an established
law, and the hornbills naturally considered their nest their castle.
With loud screams of rage the male bird attacked poor Nub, who slipped
down to the next round, where he held on with might and main, trying to
defend his head from the furious onslaught of his feathered foe.
Fortunately, his curly head of hair was a good thick one, and prevented
the bird from inflicting the injury it might otherwise have done.
Keeping his head down, so as to defend his eyes, he rapidly descended
the ladder, the hornbills cawing and screaming all the time. The male
bird, however, did not attempt to descend beyond the upper rounds of the
ladder.
"I no tink we lose our dinner, though," said Nub, as he got to the
bottom. "What say you, Massa Shobbrok?"
"Certainly not, Nub," answered the mate. "I have got a notion which I
am pretty sure will succeed."
"Den, if you show me what it is, I go up again, pretty quick," said Nub,
who was afraid that the mate would deprive him of the honour of catching
the bird. The mate took a line from his pocket, forming a noose, which
he secured to a light bamboo. "I see it," cried Nub, "I see it. I soon
catch both of dem, one after de oder."
Taking the bamboo, he quickly ascended the ladder till he got near
enough to reach the hornbill, which was still standing screaming
defiantly on the upper round; and before it was aware of what the black
was about, the latter slipped the noose over the bird's head and drew it
tight, and then with a violent jerk pulling it off its perch, down it
came, with its huge bill first and its wings fluttering, to the ground,
where Dan quickly despatched it. Nub immediately descended for the
bamboo; and mounting again, slipped the noose over the head of the hen
hornbill, which she had poked out to see what had become of her partner.
He held her fast enough, but could not drag her out of her hole. By
standing on the upper round, however, he was able to batter in her
fortress with his fist, after which he speedily sent her to the ground.
Then putting in his hand, he drew out a curious creature like a ball of
down, bearing no resemblance whatever to its parents. Though scarcely
fledged, it was not to be despised, being very fat, and about the size
of, a young chicken. So Nub threw it down to join its parents, shouting
out, "Dere, dat make a fine dinner for Missie Alice." Poor Alice was
grieved when she saw the little creature come tumbling to the earth, and
declared she could not touch it.
"Bery sorry, Missie Alice," said Nub, when he came down again, putting
on a penitent look. Then turning aside to Dan, he whispered, "She talk
bery differently when she see it nicely roasted by-and-by."
Their success in obtaining food encouraged the voyagers to hope that
they were not doomed to starve on an inhospitable shore, but that with
diligence and a due exertion of their wits they might obtain sufficient
food to support life. The hornbills would, at all events, afford them
an ample meal for that day, and they might reasonably expect to obtain a
further supply of shell-fish from the seashore; though Nub might not
succeed in finding another huge mollusc.
"Shall we remove the ladder?" asked Walter. "It might help to build the
house."
"I tink not," answered Nub, looking up. "Perhaps anoder hornbill come
and make her nest dere, den we catch her and her husband. Bery good
chance of dat, I tink."
As it was important to get their house built without delay, they all
returned laden with as many bamboos as they could carry,--Alice taking
charge of the birds, slung, Chinese fashion, at the end of a bamboo,
which she balanced on her shoulder: the little one being hung behind
her, that her tender heart might not be grieved at seeing it.
"Shall we all assist in putting up the house, Mr Shobbrok, or might it
not be as well to try and get one or two bows made first?" asked Walter.
"We cannot obtain food without them, so, by all means, make two or
three," answered the mate. "You and Nub can work at them, while Dan and
I arrange the plan for the house, and begin to put in the uprights."
Alice assisted the mate in holding the line.
"We must try to get the opposite sides even, and the walls at right
angles with each other, and the corner-posts perpendicular," he
observed. "The sides of our house must depend very much, in the first
instance, on the length of the bamboos; and we can so arrange it that we
may increase it without difficulty."
As it was not time to begin cooking, all hands set to work at the
occupations they had settled to follow. While Walter and Nub were
shaping the bows with their knives, the mate, with his two assistants,
having selected a flat spot a considerable height above the water,
marked out the plan for the house--in front of which they intended to
add a broad verandah, facing the seashore. The ground-floor they
divided into two rooms, with space for a staircase to lead to the upper
floor. This floor was to be divided into three rooms,--one for Alice,
another for Walter, and the third for the surgeon; while the mate and
the two men were to occupy one of the lower rooms, the other being
intended for a parlour. The kitchen, they agreed, it would be best to
form at a little distance from the house, lest it might by any accident
catch fire.
While they were thus busily employed, the doctor came back with a large
supply of two different kinds of fruit--one like a plum, the other
having a hard rind but a delicious pulp--while his pockets were filled
with some roots, which he considered were of even more value. He also
reported that he had found a palm which he had no doubt would yield an
abundance of sago; but it would take some time and labour to prepare it.
He proposed forming a manufactory near the stream, as an abundant
supply of water was required for the necessary operations: also that
they should commence the work next morning; for he considered that no
time should be lost, as it would afford them an abundant supply of
nutritious food, on which they could depend under all circumstances. He
would, however, require one hand to assist him. Nub at once volunteered
his services. "I hope by that time to have one of the bows finished,"
said Walter, "and I will go and shoot game, while Mr Shobbrok, Dan, and
Alice continue working away at the house." The mate agreed to this
proposal, though he observed that he thought it would be advisable, as
soon as a sufficient supply of sago was got, for all hands to set to
work at the house, so that they might have shelter should bad weather
come on.
Nub had not forgotten to spit and put the hornbills before the fire in
good time; and when evening came on, and they could no longer see to
work, they sat down to the most ample meal they had yet enjoyed, aided
by the roots and fruits the doctor had collected.
"In a couple of days more, Miss Alice, I hope you will have a good roof
over your head, and a room to yourself," observed the mate. "I shall
not rest satisfied till I see you comfortably lodged."
Alice declared that she was perfectly satisfied with her tent.
"That's very well while the weather is calm and dry; but should the rain
begin to fall, which, from the look of the foliage, I have no doubt is
very heavy hereabouts, it would be a very different matter," he
answered.
"I was, selfishly, only thinking of myself," said Alice, "and forgetting
that you, at all events, would be exposed to the rain; so I hope that
you will set to work and get the house up as soon as possible. I only
wish that I was a man, to be able to help you more than I have done."
"You do help us, Miss Alice," said the mate; "and you encourage us by
your patience and uncomplaining spirit, and your cheerful temper. Do
not think that you are of little use, for I don't think that we could do
without you." Alice, being assured that the mate spoke the truth, was
well pleased to think that young as she was, she was of use to her
companions.
Not only on a desolate island, but in the quiet homes of England, many
little girls like Alice have the power, by their cheerfulness and good
spirits, and, we may add, by their piety and kindness, to be of
inestimable use to all around them.