Exploration of the island. Third day. Stalking goats. Mirror lake and
river and bay. Sad moonlight thoughts.
I awoke to still another pleasant day, having scarcely moved in my
seaweed bed during the night. My first duty was to make my way to the
running brook and have a good wash, and then to look about me for
breakfast. I bethought myself all at once of the turtle that I had seen
on the beach the previous day, and I made my way back to the place
where I observed the marks of its ingress into the sea, and, looking
about carefully, I soon found its eggs nicely covered up in the sand. I
took as many as I wanted and turned about and made my way back to camp,
and soon had them roasting in the ashes.
After breakfast I pushed my way a little into the island, and found
pleasant groves and fields, in one of the latter of which I observed
a flock of goats feeding. They did not see me, and I found by the
direction of the wind that I was to leeward of them, and therefore
beyond their scent, and I determined to stalk them, or creep in
upon them, and try to get a shot with my arrows. For this purpose I
divested myself of all extra articles, and, armed only with my bow
and two arrows, and my knife in its sheath, I got upon my hands and
knees and commenced the task. At first this was not difficult, for the
animals were at least two hundred yards distant from me, and by taking
advantage of different clumps of trees and shrubs I soon approached
within one hundred yards of them; but then my labors commenced. I
felt that I must get very near to be sure of my aim with arrows, and
to pierce them sufficiently deep to produce death; at least within
twenty-five yards.
I made progress for some twenty or thirty yards quite well by keeping
within range of intervening objects, but when I found myself within
about sixty or seventy yards of them I found my task difficult, and I
had often to lie upon my belly and drag myself along, inch by inch, so
as not to be seen, and with one hand to clear the ground before me of
the smallest twig or anything that would make the slightest noise when
my body was passing over it. It took me a full hour to make twenty-five
yards in this manner, which brought me within, as I should judge,
thirty-five yards of them. Here my precautions had to be increased, and
it was with infinite labor, and the expenditure of at least another
hour (but what was time to me) before I found myself behind a low clump
of bushes, on the other side of which, not more than twenty yards
distant, I could hear the goats feeding. Silently I fitted an arrow to
the string, and rising inch by inch till the muscles of my arms and
thighs were nearly worn out from immovability, I saw through the thin
tops of the bushes one of the goats not fifteen paces from me. I was
at a fever heat of excitement, and drawing my arrow silently to the
head, and with the utmost force of my arm, I launched it at the game,
and saw it pierce the goat through and through, who fell upon his side,
but immediately regaining his feet made off with amazing swiftness;
its companions, to the number of some six or eight, scattering in
all directions. I followed as fast as possible on foot, and saw with
satisfaction that my game had not gone more than one hundred yards
before it began to waver and to lose its speed, and within the next
fifty yards, in the open field, to fall upon its side, and, just before
I arrived, expire, in its fall breaking the arrow short off. I looked
down upon the creature with exultation, for it was food, and good food,
and I had won it by honest and persevering labor, and by means of what
in our day was considered a contemptible weapon.
I took out my knife and cut the creature's throat and let the blood
escape, and then taking him--for it was a buck--by the hind-legs I
threw him over my back and started for my camp on the rivulet, where I
dumped him down beside my fire and commenced to skin him. This, with
my knife, I soon completed, and, cutting off some of the tender chops
I soon had them roasting on the coals, for, although I had breakfasted
a few hours before, I could not resist the temptation of tasting fresh
meat, which, on account of my sea voyage, it was so long since I had
enjoyed. I found it exceedingly good in flavor, but a little tough,
my customer evidently being far from young. He carried a very handsome
pair of curved horns, and a long, majestic beard. The hair was of
rather a finer texture than I expected to find it, and was not very
long or thick; another proof, I thought, of my theory of the mildness
of the climate. The animal was such a true, commonplace goat, such as
one sees on whalers, that I felt convinced that the breed had at some
long-distant day been left on the island in this manner, but no signs
had I yet found of the island having ever been lived upon or explored.
Then, again, it might with great probability have been stocked fifty
or sixty years ago, and any signs of persons having been here, except
they had left enduring monuments of some kind, would long ago have
been effaced or destroyed. I made up my mind to accept the blessing
without puzzling my brains any more to find out how it happened that
they were here. I was pained to know what to do with the large mass
of flesh that I had remaining, and having, at Buenos Ayres, seen the
jerked beef of the prairies, I cut large portions of this creature into
strips and hung it on the surrounding trees and bushes to dry and cure
in the pure air. A large portion of what was left I roasted and put in
my bag, throwing away the remainder of the turtle steaks and gulls'
eggs, of which I had become somewhat tired. All this brought me to the
afternoon, and, packing up all my articles, after a good long smoke,
harpoon in hand I started forth again, heading towards the westward.
Two miles' walk brought me to an elevation running out into the sea,
which was evidently the southern extremity of my island, and I marked
it upon the chart _South Cape_, and the hill-top _Watch Hill_, for the
reason that I could see from this position much further in both an
easterly and westerly direction than from any point upon the island
that I had yet reached.
To the right of me as I faced to the southward was a beautiful and
lovely bay, at least a mile and a half deep and three-quarters wide,
as smooth as glass, in which the shadows of the surrounding shores and
hill-tops were pictured. I marked it down upon my chart as _Mirror
Bay_. Long and steadily I looked to the southward before leaving South
Cape, but no sign of land met my longing view. To the westward, on
the other side of Mirror Bay, trended the white sand beach, backed by
groves of beautiful trees which were in full verdure. Drinking in all
the beauties of Nature round about me, I turned my steps towards the
head of Mirror Bay, and in about a mile and a half came to a river of
considerable size pouring into it, which seemed of some depth, and was
at least thirty or forty yards wide. I followed this stream about a
mile and a half more, when, struggling along by the side of the river,
which I named _Mirror River_, through a short undergrowth of a sort of
scrub oak, I all at once came out upon the most lovely lake imaginable,
fringed round about by beautiful groves of trees, and looking like
molten lead or silver in its quietness and calm. I named it at once
_Mirror Lake_, but in forcing my way to its margin, after having for
a few moments enjoyed its beauties, I started up from its borders
innumerable flocks of birds, amongst which I distinguished geese,
swans, ducks, and other birds of which I knew not the name. I sat down
upon the borders of this beautiful sheet of water and contemplated it
in silence.
After having enjoyed its beauties to my fill, I passed again to the
river bank to pass over and get again to the seaside, but I found
the water rapid and quite deep, although not over my head, and I was
obliged to undress and carry my things over one by one, and to make
several trips before I stood with all my weapons round about me on the
southwestern bank. This lake I should say was about one mile in extent
and half a mile wide, of nearly an oval form, and its waters, which
I tasted and found excellent, singularly pure and limpid, with hard,
sandy shores, and free from any slime or stagnant water. A walk of a
mile brought me again to the seaside, and I trudged on, I should judge,
about three miles, till I saw a ledge of rocks jutting into the sea and
confining my vision as to the extent of the island in that direction.
As I drew nearer I saw forms upon the rocks that looked like human
figures,--like soldiers in full uniform,--but singularly small in size.
For just one moment I was deceived,--nay, even frightened,--but the
next my sailor's eyes told me they were penguins, and sure enough, as
I approached, my soldiers gravely plunged into the ocean and swam out
seaward. I named the point, _Penguin Point_, being the first of these
birds that I had seen. From this point the coast ran in a northerly
direction in almost a straight line, but I had no time to examine it
further on this day, for the beautiful sun was fast dipping into the
western ocean before my eyes, with nothing to veil the magnificent
sight. Eagerly did I look for land as its lower limb touched the water
and set it all in a blaze, but nothing met my view.
I did not find here the thick, shady trees of the remainder of the
island; but short, stumpy cedars and pines, and I noticed that the land
was flat and sandy. I built a small fire so as to light my pipe and
enjoy its company, and gathered together my customary bed of seaweed.
The stars came out in all their brilliancy, and by and by the moon came
creeping up behind me over the island, but I could not sleep as usual.
I was too solitary and desolate to enjoy that luxury of forgetfulness,
and I sat for long hours into the night, listening to sounds that, in
any but a sailor's ear, would have created fear and anxiety; for on
the ocean side I heard the never-ending pulsations and throbs of its
ceaseless breathing, and inland the nameless noises of the night which
I had learned years before in anchor-watches in some distant river of a
far-off clime. I was not afraid, but I was lonely, and in the agony of
my spirit I prayed for rescue from my living tomb; but better feelings
came to my mind as the night wore on, and I thought over how much I
had to be thankful for, and how many comforts I could get round about
me with a little industry and foresight. I suppose that it was about
midnight when I put out my pipe and fell asleep; at any rate, when I
awoke it was broad daylight, and the sun at least two hours high.