We had a long tramp after the birds of paradise that day, but did not
get one. We shot some lovely sun-birds though, and a couple of thrushes
such as we had not seen before. Our walk took us well in sight of the
sea once more, and we began to have a pretty good idea of the form of
the island. But the more we went about the more my uncle was satisfied
that it was only a matter of time to make here a glorious collection of
the birds of the eastern islands. We saw four different kinds of birds
of paradise in our walk, though we did not get one on account of their
shyness, but we did not despair of getting over that; and at last, well
tired out, we returned to Ebo, who had hung up the serpent's skin to
dry, and following his guidance till nightfall we got back to our hut by
the sea-shore, where the boat lay perfectly safe, and being too tired to
make a fire and cook, we lay down and fell asleep at once.
It was still dark when I was awakened by a hand shaking my arm, and,
starting up, there was the black face of Ebo bent over me.
"Ikan-ikan," he kept on repeating.
"Ikan--fish," said my uncle, starting up. "Yes, we may as well get some
for a change, Nat;" and in a few minutes we were all down on the sand
launching the boat, which rode out lightly over the rollers.
We had plenty of fishing-lines, so fine that Ebo shook his head at them,
and proceeded to show us how easily they would break; but after trying
over and over again without success, and only cutting his hands, he
grinned and jumped up to dance, but evidently thinking there was no room
he settled down again and began to examine some hooks and glittering tin
baits which we had in a box.
These he scanned most carefully as the boat skimmed along, my uncle
steering, and after trying the sharpness of the hooks he performed what
always seemed to me a conjuring trick, in bringing a couple of
mother-of-pearl baits out of his waist-cloth, with a roll of twine.
The savages of the East, in fact most of the eastern people, wear a cord
round the waist made of a material in accordance with their station.
The poorer people will have it of cotton or twisted grass, the wealthier
and chiefs of silk, while some have it threaded with gold. This thin
cord is used as a support for their waist-cloth, and is rarely taken
off, but is fastened so tightly that I have seen it appear completely
buried in the flesh, just as if the wearers had an idea that they ought
to make themselves look as much like an insect as possible.
Ebo wore a very tight _lingouti_--as it is called--round and over which
he tucked the coarse cotton cloth which formed his only article of
attire, and it was by means of this cotton cloth that he performed what
I have spoken of as being like conjuring tricks, for somehow or another,
although he had the appearance of carrying nothing about with him, he
had always a collection of useful articles stored away in the folds of
that waist-cloth.
Upon the present occasion he brought out two mother-of-pearl baits such
as would be used to attract the fish when no real bait could be
obtained.
It was a sight to see Ebo comparing his pearl baits with our specimens
of tin and tinned copper, and for a time he seemed as if he could hardly
make up his mind which was the better. Then he laid his coil of line
made of roughly twisted grass beside ours, and inspected the two
carefully, after which he uttered a sigh and put his own away, evidently
quite satisfied that the civilised article was by far the better.
We sailed out about a mile and then anchored at the edge of a reef of
coral, which acted as a shelter against the great rollers which broke
far away upon its edge, seeming to make a ridge of surf, while where we
lay all was undulating and calm, but with the tide running strongly over
the reef, where the water was not a fathom deep and growing shallower
moment by moment.
Ebo laid his short club ready to his hand, signing to me to draw my big
hunting-knife and place it beside me.
"That looks as if we were to catch some large and dangerous fish, Nat,"
said my uncle; and he drew his own knife before passing to each of us a
line with the artificial baits affixed.
"Won't you fish, uncle?" I asked.
"No, my boy. You two can fish, and as soon as you catch one we will cut
him up for bait. I don't believe in artificial bait when you can get
real."
By this time Ebo had thrown out his line and I followed his example,
seeing the swift current seize upon the bait and carry it rapidly out
over the reef, twinkling and sparkling in the water as I jerked it by
paying out more line.
All at once, when it was some fifteen yards away. I felt a jerk and a
snatch.
"I've got one," I said; but the tugging ceased directly, and I felt that
the fish had gone.
Either the same, though, or another seized it directly, for there was a
fierce tug which cut my hand, and I had to give line for a few moments
while the fish I had hooked darted here and there like lightning, but I
had it up to the side soon after, and gazed at it with delight, for it
was, as it lay panting in the boat, like a magnificent goldfish, five or
six pounds weight, with bars across its side of the most dazzling blue.
"Poo--chah--chah!" Ebo cried with a face full of disgust as he twisted
his own line round a peg in the boat, and seizing his club battered the
fish to death after unhooking it, and threw it over the side, where, as
it was carried away, I could see that dozens of fish were darting at it,
tearing it to pieces as fast as they could.
"What did you do that for?" I cried angrily, for it seemed wasting a
splendid fish.
Ebo chatted away in reply, almost as angrily, after which, evidently
satisfied that I did not understand, he behaved very nastily, though his
dumb-show was so comic that it made us roar with laughter.
For he pretended to eat, as we supposed, some of the fish. Then he
jumped up, sat down, jumped up again, rubbed his front, kicked out his
legs and shouted, making hideous grimaces as if he were in pain, ending
by leaning over the side of the boat, pretending to be horribly sick,
and finishing his performance by lying down, turning up his eyes, and
moaning.
"We must take what he shows us for granted, Nat," said my uncle, as Ebo
jumped up smiling, as much as to say, "Wasn't I clever?" "These people
know which are the wholesome and which are the unwholesome fish; but I
was going to use some of that fellow for bait."
Just then Ebo hooked and brought in a fine fish that was all blue, but
even this one would not do, for he killed it and tossed it overboard,
chattering at it the while as if he were abusing it for being so bad.
We saw scores of fish dart at it as it was thrown in, and now they bit
so freely at the artificial baits that there was no occasion to change.
I had hold of what seemed a nice fish directly, and after letting it run
a little I began hauling in, watching its progress through the shallow
clear water and thinking how bright and beautiful it looked against the
brilliant corals, the softly waving weeds of every shade of brown and
scarlet, while now and then some other fish darted at it.
All at once I uttered a cry of astonishment, for a long line of
undulating creamy white seemed to dart at my fish, seize it with a jerk,
and twist itself round it, till fish and the eel-like creature that
attacked it resembled a knot.
I kept on hauling in, but only slowly now, for fear the hook should
break out, the weight being double what it was and the water lashed into
glittering foam.
"What is it, uncle?" I cried excitedly.
"Don't hurry, Nat," he replied; and just then Ebo, who had been too busy
pulling in a fish to notice my line, threw out again, and then fastening
his cord came over to my side to see.
No sooner did he make out what I had at the end of the line than he
seized his club, gesticulated furiously, and began beating the side of
the boat, chattering aloud, and signing to me to give him the line.
"Let him have it, Nat," said my uncle. "He has had experience with
these things."
I gave up my hold of the fishing-line most unwillingly, for the little
adventure was intensely exciting, and every jerk and drag made by the
creature that had seized my fish sent a thrill through my arms to my
very heart.
"It is some kind of sea-snake that has taken your fish, Nat, and is
regularly constricting it. As I told you before, there are some of them
dangerously poisonous, and not like our great friend out in the swamp."
Meanwhile Ebo was jerking and shaking the line furiously, as if
endeavouring to get rid of the snake, but without avail, for it held on
tightly, having evidently got one fold twisted round the line, and I
must confess, after hearing about the poisonous nature of these
creatures, to feeling rather nervous as to its behaviour if it were
brought on board.
But Ebo did not mean to bring it on board. He wanted to shake it off,
and what with the struggles of the fish and the writhing and twisting of
the snake, it seemed every moment as if the line must break.
The black brought it close in, then let it go almost to the full length
of the line, jerked it, made fierce snatches, but all in vain; and at
last getting the unwelcome visitor close in, he signed to my uncle to
take his knife while he raised his club for a blow, when there was a
sudden cessation of the rush, and foam in the water, and fish and snake
had gone.
Ebo grinned with triumph, and after examining the bait threw it out
again, returning to the other side directly to draw in a satisfactory
fish for our breakfast, while my uncle chatted to me about my last
captive.
"This is new to me, Nat," he said. "I never could have thought that
these snakes or eels, for they seem to partake of the character of the
latter, would have wound themselves round the prey they seized. The
elongated fish in our part of the world, congers, dog-fish, guard-fish,
and similar creatures, fasten their teeth into their prey, then setting
their bodies in rapid motion like a screw, they regularly cut great
pieces out of their victim. This was precisely the same as a serpent
with its prey, and it is a natural history fact worth recording. But
look!"
I had already felt a fish snap at my bait, checked it, and knew that I
was fast into a monster. For a few moments he let me feel something
heavy and inert at the end of my line, then there was a plunge and a
rush, the line went hissing out, and try as I would to check it, the
fish ran straight off till I dragged with all my might, and felt that
either the line must break or my hands would be terribly cut.
"Give and take, Nat," cried my uncle.
"It's all give, uncle, and I can't take a bit."
I had hardly said the words when I was at liberty to take in as much as
I liked, for the fish was gone, and upon drawing in my line in a
terribly disappointed way, it was to find that the fish had completely
bitten through the very strong wire gimp, not broken it, but bitten it
as cleanly as if it had been done with a knife.
"That must have been a monster," said Uncle Dick. "But never mind, my
boy. Here, hold still and I'll loop on another bait."
He was in the act of doing this when Ebo began to dance about in the
boat, striving hard to drag in the fish he had hooked. His plan was to
haul in as quickly as he could, never giving the fish a moment's rest,
and any form of playing the swift, darting creature did not seem to
enter his head.
He seemed to have found his match this time, for the fish refused to be
dragged on board, but after a fierce struggle the black's arms were too
much for it, and a dozen rapid hand-over-hand hauls resulted in its
being hauled over the side, a sharp-nosed glittering silver-fish about
four feet long, and I was about to fling myself upon it to hold it down
and stop its frantic leaps amongst our tackle, when Ebo uttered a cry of
alarm, darted before me, and attacked the fish with his club, dealing it
the most furious blow upon the head, but apparently without any effect,
for as one of the blows fell, the great fish seemed to make a side dart
with its head, and its jaws closed upon the club, holding on so fiercely
and with such power that it was not until Uncle Dick had cut off its
head that the club could be wrenched away, when Ebo showed me the
creature's jaws full of teeth like lancets and pretty well as sharp.
"No wonder your wire was bitten through," said my uncle. "Hallo! is he
not good to eat?"
Ebo evidently seemed to consider that it was not, for the fish was
thrown over, and the fierce monster, that must have been a perfect
tyrant of the waters, had not floated a dozen feet before it was
furiously attacked and literally hacked to pieces.
There was no difficulty in getting fish that morning, the only thing was
to avoid hooking monsters that would break or bite through our tackle,
and those which were not good for food.
The reef literally swarmed with fish, some large, some small, and every
now and then we could see the rapid dash of one of the snake-eels as I
called them. I saw them regularly leap out of the water sometimes and
come down in a knot, twisting and twining about in the most
extraordinary way, and at last, so interesting was the clear, shallow
water, that we laid aside our lines and leaned over the side gazing down
at the fish that flashed about, till the reef was dry, and leaving Ebo
in the boat we landed to walk about over the shining weeds and coral,
picking our way amongst shell-fish of endless variety, some with great
heavy shells a couple of feet long, and some so small and delicate that
I had to handle them with the greatest delicacy to keep from crushing
their tissue-papery shells.
I could have stayed there for hours and filled the boat with wonders.
There was scarlet and orange coral, so beautiful that I was for bringing
away specimens; but Uncle Dick showed me that it was only the gelatinous
covering that was of so lovely a tint, and this, he told me, would soon
decay.
Then there were the brilliantly tinted weeds. There were sea-slugs too,
delicacies amongst the Chinese under the name of _trepang_, and so many
other wonders of the sea that I should have gone on searching amongst
the crevices of the sharp coral, if I had not had a sharp warning given
to me to make for the boat by the parts that had only been an inch or
two deep rapidly increasing to a foot, and my uncle shouting to me to
come aboard.
It was quite time, for I was some distance from the boat, with the tide
flowing in so rapidly that in a few minutes I should have had to swim,
and a swim in water swarming with such furious kinds of the finny tribe
was anything but tempting.
As it was I had to swim a few strokes, and was of course soaked, but my
uncle hauled me uninjured into the boat and I little minded the wetting,
but laughed at my adventure as we sat over our breakfast and feasted
upon frizzled fish to our hearts' content.