NORTHWARD TO THE SOLOMONS
Once clear of the dangerous expanse of reefs which surround the entrance
to Noumea Harbour, the captain hauled up to the N.N.W. and ran along
under the land, the brig going in gallant style, for the water was
smooth and the wind fresh and steady. Before reaching Noumea, old Sam
had bent his best suit of sails, and painted the ship inside and out, so
that she now cut quite a respectable appearance below as well as aloft;
and now, as he stood at the break of the poop, smoking a huge cigar, his
fat little body swelled with pride. De Caen had expressed his
admiration at the manner in which he had worked the brig out through the
Dunbea Pass; also he had complimented him upon the serviceable condition
and smart appearance of the four carronades and their gear generally.
This had gone to the skipper's heart, and he was struggling with two
emotions--one of which was to joke with his crew, as was usual with him
when in a good temper; and the other was to treat them with dignified
hauteur in the presence of the French officer. He decided upon a middle
course by unbending to Tom--he could not possibly remain silent for a
whole quarter of an hour. So, calling the lad to him, he pointed out
the various headlands and bays on the line of coast, with every one of
which he was familiar. The day was clear and bright, with a cloudless
sky of blue, and Tom could not but be enchanted by the panorama of
tropical beauty which was unfolded before him as the vessel quickly
opened out bay after bay and beach after beach, with a background of the
loveliest green imaginable rising beyond; and here and there the curious
conical-shaped and thatched roofs of a native village could just be
discerned embowered in a forest of coco-nut palms.
'And a murdering lot of ruffians they are, too, Tom, these New Caledonia
Kanakas; no better now than they were fifteen years ago, before the
Frenchmen took the place. Why I can tell you if anybody can all about
'em. I was in the sandal-wood trade with Captain Paddon, of
Annatam--old Jimmy Paddon who is living in Sydney now worth millions.
Do you see that narrow bay in there? Well, that's Uaran; it's a big
village full of the most poisonous niggers as ever polished teeth on a
man's thighbone. I was partner with Paddon. We had a little
fore-and-aft schooner called the Kirribilli which he sailed about the
coast while I kept to this brig meeting him now and again at Noumea,
Levuka in Fiji, or Tongatubu in the Friendly Islands or any other port
agreed upon.
'Well, one day as Jimmy Paddon was sailing along the coast, just about
where we are now four miles off Uaran he sprung his mainmast and ran in
there to anchor and fish it. He knew the place pretty well and was
friendly with the two head chiefs who sometimes visited his trading
station at Noumea; so when one of 'em came aboard with a lot of his
people they were allowed to have the run of the decks and he came down
into the cabin, smoked a pipe with Jimmy, and then went ashore, saying
he would send off some food for the crew as a present. Towards four or
five o'clock a whaleship was sighted about four miles off the land; and
as it was falling calm, Jimmy decided to pull out to her and try to buy
a bolt or two of canvas. He took four hands with him leaving the mate
and six others on board. He got the canvas and started back for the
schooner just after dark, one of the whaleship's boats coming with him
with her second mate and five hands, to buy some pigs from the natives.
She was lying nice and quiet but was showing no light anywhere and there
wasn't a sign of any one on deck. In a moment he thought something was
wrong, so they stopped pulling and hailed--no answer. "Pull up, lads,"
he said, and they ran alongside, and as the poor chap who was pulling
bow oar stood up and caught hold of the rail, a tomahawk came down like
a flash and cut off his hand, and in a moment the schooner's decks were
alive with natives, who began firing at the boat, killing another man
before it could be pushed off again; and then the blacks, seeing the
whaler's boat coming, began to jump overboard and swim ashore.
'They, of course, meant to wait till Jimmy and his boat's crew were all
on deck, and then club them, but one of 'em was in too much of a hurry
and begun work too soon, and that spoilt their plan. As soon as the
other boat came up they lit a boat lantern, and Jimmy and the rest went
on board; and there were the decks just smothered in blood, but no trace
of the mate and the rest of the men. But it was easy to know where they
had been taken to, for the cannibals' drums were beating, and every now
and then the saucy niggers would send a bullet flying out, and then give
a yell together. The schooner was gutted of most everything of any
value--arms, ammunition, trade goods, and even the sails and standing
rigging were cut to pieces. Jimmy wasn't long in hoisting lights for
assistance, slipping his cable, and towing out towards the ship, which
helped him to get the schooner to Noumea. And that there job cost us
nigh on four hundred pounds, let alone the loss of the poor mate and the
other men who went into the niggers' gullets.'
Tom was deeply interested in the skipper's story--only one of hundreds
of such tragedies as were then of common occurrence throughout the
savage Western Pacific, and even at the present day are still enacted
among the murderous and cannibalistic natives of the Solomon Group and
the German Islands of the Bismarck Archipelago.
For three days the brig ran steadily along the coast of New Caledonia,
till D'Entrecasteaux Reefs being cleared, the captain and De Caen held a
consultation. The latter was in favour of laying a direct course for
New Britain. The former thought that the brig should work through the
Solomon Islands, where they would be sure to meet with trading vessels,
from which they might obtain valuable information; furthermore, he
contended that if any of the survivors of the Marengo (the missing
transport) had escaped in boats, they would be almost sure to steer for
Noumea by way of the Solomons, where not only was there a likelihood of
meeting with trading vessels, but where they could obtain fresh supplies
of water and food from numberless islands, many of which being
uninhabited, they could land at and refresh without danger. Then again,
both he and Mr. Collier pointed out to De Caen that the boats, by
working through the smooth waters lying between the two chains of
islands which form the vast archipelago of the Solomon Group, would,
when they reached San Christoval, the last island of the cluster, have
but five hundred miles to traverse to reach the nearest land--the Huon
Islands, off the coast of New Caledonia itself--instead of a long and
trying voyage of sixteen hundred miles across the open sea, without even
sighting a single island, did they endeavour to make a direct course
from New Britain to Noumea.
De Caen followed old Sam's reasoning very closely, and could not but be
convinced of the soundness of his arguments. The general chart of the
Western Pacific was spread out upon the cabin table, and he looked at it
thoughtfully.
'It is possible, Captain Hawkins, that the officer in command of the
boats--if, alas! there is an officer alive--may have steered for the
coast of New Guinea, rounded the Louisiade Archipelago, and kept away
for the Australian coast.'
'That's true enough, Mr. de Cann, but if they have done that it's no use
our looking for them now and our orders are to search northward--through
the Solomons if we like, if not, then along the coast of Noo Britain for
the relicks if any are available. At the same time I am under your
orders if you like to tell me to steer west for Whitsunday Pass on the
Great Barrier Reef and then work up along the coast to the Louisiades.'
'Certainly not, captain! I merely advanced a supposition. I have the
most absolute faith in your very excellent judgment and superior
knowledge. Let us steer north for San Christoval, and trust that good
fortune may attend our search.'
Old Sam's red face beamed with a childish pleasure, and he gurgled
something out about 'the intense relevancy of the satisfaction it gave
him to be in such complete and personal discord with Mr. de Cann,' and
that he 'sincerely trusted they would always remain as such.' Then he
strutted away, and bawled out an order to the second mate to tell the
cook to kill the pig, as the creature 'discommoded and dirtied the decks
with continuous incessity and was always rubbing itself against one of
the carronades and suffusing the ship with its intolerability.' (As a
matter of fact, he had no ill-feeling against poor Julia, but thought it
rather undignified to have the creature poking about the main deck with
a naval officer on board.)
These were happy days for Tom. Between himself and the quiet,
self-contained young mate there already existed a feeling of friendship,
which grew stronger day by day. The advent of De Caen, an educated and
travelled man, whose usually refined and dignified manner but concealed
a disposition that in reality was brimming over with an almost boyish
love of merriment and an ardent spirit of adventure, was another source
of pleasure to him; and both of the grown men seemed to vie with each
other, as the days went on, in instructing a mind so open and ingenuous,
and so quick to receive impressions for good; for whilst Collier gave
him lessons in navigation and practical seamanship, De Caen talked to
him of the world beyond the Southern Seas, of the history of his own
country, and was delighted to find that Tom knew a good deal of his (De
Caen's) pet hero, the adventurous Dupleix, and of his struggle with
Clive for the supremacy of India in the early days of 'John Company.'
And then in the evenings Collier would tell him tales of his own
adventures in the South Seas, tales that made Tom's heart beat quicker
as he listened, for the quiet, grave-eyed young officer had faced death
and danger very often, from one side of the Pacific to the other.
'The South Sea Islands are a bit different, though, Tom, to what they
were fifty, ay, twenty years ago,' he said, with a smile; 'but even
Captain Hawkins, who pretends to grumble at the changes that have
occurred, admits that us sailor-men have much to be thankful for. The
missionaries--English missionaries, I mean--have done a lot for us,
quite apart from what they have done for the natives. And yet most
trading captains have not a good word for the missionary.'
'Why is that, Mr. Collier?'
'For many reasons, Tom. One is because the advent of the missionary
means less profit to the trader, less prestige to him as the one white
man on one particular island. The trader wants to sell his grog and his
firearms, and he ruins and destroys the natives; the missionary comes to
elevate and redeem them. Tom, my boy, you should read what English
missionaries have done in the South Seas! It is a better tale than that
of the victories won by British troops upon the blood-stained field of
battle; for the victories of the missionary have brought peace and
happiness instead of tears and sorrow to the vanquished. Look here,
Tom.'
He took down a book from the shelf over his bunk.
'Here, look at this. It is the narrative of the first voyage of John
Williams to the South Seas--John Williams, who gave up his life for
Christ under the clubs of the savage people of Erromanga. Here you will
read the story of those first missionaries. Some of them, perhaps, were
better fitted for the task than others; but all were eager to teach the
gospel of Jesus Christ. And they taught it well. Some of them, like
Williams, gave their lives for those whom they had come to help; others
lived and worked and died, and no one hears of them, Tom. But though
they have no earthly monument to record their good work, God knows it
all, Tom; God knows it all.'
One morning at breakfast De Caen was telling Collier some stories about
the characters of the convicts in New Caledonia, and of their continual
attempts to escape to Australia in small and ill-equipped boats. Once,
he said, a party of nine desperate creatures hurriedly made a raft by
tying together some timber intended for the flooring of the Governor's
house, and with a few bottles of water and a bag of flour to sustain
them during a voyage of more than a thousand miles, set out to reach
Australia. They actually succeeded in clearing the reefs surrounding
Noumea, when the raft came to pieces, and the poor wretches were
devoured by sharks, in the presence of the crew of a vessel entering
Dumbea Pass.
'Quite recently,' continued the French officer, 'five men, three of whom
were seamen, managed, through the negligence of their guards, to escape
in a good boat. Their leader, an American by birth, had been sentenced
to penal servitude for life, for the murder of the captain of a French
ship, of which he was chief officer. He always protested his innocence,
and at his trial in Bordeaux said that the steward was the guilty man.
Our Governor, who is very just and humane, once told my captain that he
believed his assertions; and indeed the poor fellow was innocent; for
the Cyclope brought an intimation from France to that effect, and
instructions to set him at liberty. This was told to me by the Governor
the day after the Cyclope arrived from Sydney.'
Old Sam nearly choked himself with a large mouthful of bread, and then
said--
'What might his name be Mr. de Cann?'
'Casalle--Henri Casalle.'
'Casalle!' Tom echoed; 'why, that was the name of the captain of the
Bandolier; and the man we saw at Wreck----'
The captain gave him a furious kick beneath the table, upset his own cup
of coffee, and jumping up from his seat, uttered a yell at the helmsman
at the same time.
'Now then, mutton head, where _are_ you steering to? Excuse me Mr. de
Cann, but that fellow who is steering is the continual cause of my
flamatory objections. I could tell you some queer things about him. He
is a native of Rotumah--ever been there, sir?--fine island with
remarkable lucidity of climate one of Natur's handmaidens as it were
only waiting to be tickled with a hoe to laugh with the utmost
profligacy. Tom, as you have finished will you be so good as to go on
deck and tell the second mate to hoist out a barrel of pork I want to
see the head taken off being American pork I'm dubious about it if
there's anything in the world that disturbs my naval and automical
principles it's stinking pork.'
De Caen waited until he had finished, then added--
'The Governor was much distressed to think that this unfortunate man may
never learn of his pardon, for if he and his companions succeed in
reaching Australia, they will most likely never be heard of again. Once
they get to any of the gold-fields in New South Wales or Victoria, it
will be impossible to trace them.'
Collier nodded assent, and then in his quiet manner remarked that, as
one of the five was an innocent man, he hoped they had all reached
Australia in safety. Then, seeing that old Sam was looking very
uncomfortable, he said nothing further, and the subject was dropped.
Under clear, cloudless skies, and with the brave south-east trade wind
blowing steadily all day, and dropping to a faint air at night, the Lady
Alicia made steady progress to the northward till within a hundred miles
of San Christoval. Then it fell calm, and for two days the brig lay
sweltering upon a sea of glass, under a fierce, relentless sun, and
rolling heavily to a long sweeping swell from the eastward. On the
morning of the third day, the wind came away from the westward, and blew
in sharp, short squalls, attended by thick, driving rain, which, rising
black and lowering on the sea-rim, changed to a dull grey and then to
snowy white, as it came rushing and roaring down upon the ship.
Just before noon the sun came out for a brief space, and Maori Bill, who
happened to be aloft, called out that a sail was in sight right ahead,
and standing down towards the brig. Mr. Collier at once went aloft, and
there, not three miles away, was a large white-painted vessel carrying
single-topsails, like the Lady Alicia, and running with squared yards
before the wind.
For the moment Mr. Collier could not make out whether she was a barque
or a brig, as she was coming 'dead on,' but presently she lifted to a
high sea and yawed a bit, and he saw that she was a brig of about 500
tons. In an instant he hailed the captain.
'Please come aloft, sir, at once.'
Old Sam waddled along the deck, and then clambered up to the fore-yard
beside his mate.
[Illustration: SAM CLAMBERED UP TO THE FORE-YARD BESIDE HIS MATE.]
'What is she, Mr. Collier?' he began, and then he gave a gasp of rage,
mingled with alarm, as his eye lit upon the stranger.
'May I be shot if it isn't Bully Hayes's brig! I've never seen the
Leonie but that's her sure enough for I've heard all about the look of
her.'
'Yes, that is the Leonie, sir. I knew her when she was in the China
trade, before Captain Hayes stole her. There is no other vessel like
her in the South Seas. He means to speak us, at any rate--if he intends
no further mischief--and he can sail rings round us, so it is no use our
trying to get away from him. What will you do, sir?'
'Fight him,' said the little man energetically, 'fight him like I would
any other pirate--for he is a pirate and nothing else.' Then he bawled
to the second mate to stand by to wear ship, and in another five seconds
was on deck, followed by Collier.
The helm was put hard up, the yards squared, and the old brig put nearly
before the wind, which was her best sailing point, and which would give
those on board another hour to prepare. Old Sam, though really bursting
with excitement, gave his orders quietly and calmly, and then turned to
Lieutenant de Caen, who was thoroughly at a loss to understand why the
brig's course had been so suddenly altered by the appearance of another
ship.
'Mr. de Cann least said is soonest done as it were so with your
permission I will call the hands aft and if you do not care to
participate in my remarks you are free to do so. All hands aft.'
The crew, headed by Maori Bill, trooped along the main deck and stood in
a group in front of the poop, from which the skipper spoke.
'My lads, I'm not running away from that ship, which is commanded by
Captain Bully Hayes, an out-an-out pirate. I mean to fight him that's
all I have to say and I hope you will not disgrace me and this ship
which is on foreign service. Bos'un, cast off the housings and clear the
guns for action. Mr. Collier you and the steward pass up the small
arms. Mr. Todd you and two hands pass up ammunition for the carronades
and if I see any man funking his mother won't know him again. Mr. de
Cann you may depend upon me to collorate any suggestions you may make
you being as it were my superior in such a case as is now protruded.
Stations men and don't disgrace me and Mr. de Cann. Tom you can bring
up that flash gun of yours and stand by me here; every little helps and
it is a poor heart that never rejoices so cheer up my lad. I will never
let you come to harm through a refuted pirate. Mr. de Cann, this ship
is to all intents and purposes a French ship as it were and I am willing
to obey your orders I am confident that we can smash this fellow but you
must let me have my own way and propagation of ideas which is to lie low
and let him come close to and then let drive at him with the carronades
unless he begins pounding at us beforehand with his two big guns which I
believe he carries being stolen property like the ship herself. Why, he
is the man who sunk a Portuguese gunboat in the East Indies five years
ago. Certainly he only fired one shot at her but it did the trick and
she sunk and when the American commodore at Hongkong tried to arrest him
he sent him a letter and said it was an accident and that if it wasn't
an accident it was a joke.'
The French officer, who could scarcely follow old Sam's rapid
utterances, but quite understood that the strange vessel meant mischief,
was quickly enlightened by Mr. Collier in a few words.
'Captain Hayes is the most notorious man in the Pacific, and his crew
have the reputation of being a band of unmitigated ruffians. That very
vessel you now see he carried off out of Singapore five years ago, and
since then he had been cruising among the Islands, trading,
pearl-shelling, and engaging in native wars. A Portuguese gunboat tried
to capture him off Macao--he sunk her with one shot. He has been chased
all over the Pacific by English and American cruisers, but never yet
caught. At the same time, I do not believe all that is said about him
and his savage nature, but he certainly is a dangerous man.'
During the few minutes which had elapsed since the stranger was sighted,
the utmost activity had prevailed on board the Lady Alicia. Nearly
two-thirds of the eighteen men she carried were determined, resolute
fellows, who had stood by their captain in many a fight with the savage
natives of the Solomon and New Hebrides Group; and they were well able
to work the four carronades, though rifles were more to their liking.
The small arms on board consisted of fifty Enfield rifles and cutlasses,
and then, in addition to these, were the thirty rifles brought on board
by Mr. de Caen. These were breech-loaders, which had only been adopted
by the French Navy a year or two before. They were a Swiss invention,
heavy and awkward to handle, but yet very effective. These were brought
up by the lieutenant's orders, and he at once proceeded to load them,
aided by Tom. Meanwhile, old Sam had his carronades loaded in
readiness, and the decks of the little vessel presented the appearance
of those of an old time ten-gun brig going into action.
The strange vessel was now rapidly overhauling the Lady Alicia, and Tom,
as he stood beside the French officer on the poop, could not repress his
admiration of the beautiful sight she presented as she rose and sank to
the swelling seas--with her snowy white canvas glinting and shining
against the sun. For some minutes the little group watched her in
silence; then Hawkins, noticing how very quickly she was coming up,
turned quietly to the mate.
'Hands to the braces. Mr. Collier, let him come up as quick as he
likes, I'm ready for him.'
The yards were braced up, and the brig laid to her former course; the
stranger at once followed suit, and as she sailed three feet to the one
of the Lazy Alice, she was soon within hailing distance. On decks were a
number of naked natives, some of whom were standing on the top-gallant
fo'c'sle. Aft, on the quarter deck, a big black-bearded man, dressed in
pyjamas, was standing beside the helmsman, smoking a cigar.
The strange ship came sweeping on, then suddenly kept away, so as to
pass astern of the Lady Alicia.
As she surged past, the big man walked over to the rail, and drawing one
hand carelessly through his flowing beard, he nodded to Captain Hawkins,
and said with a laugh--
'Good morning, captain. Will you be so good as to back your main-yard
and let me come aboard? But you won't hurt me, will you?'
Before old Sam could frame a reply, the strange brig came to the wind
swiftly and noiselessly, a whaleboat which hung on the port quarter was
lowered, and pulled over towards the Lady Alicia, the big bearded man
steering.
'Back the main-yard, Mr. Collier,' said old Sam, quietly. 'Let him come
aboard and see how we look.'