A FOG--WRECKED--A CONSULTATION--SURVEY OF THE SHORE--A STRANGE
SPECTACLE--THE FIRST NIGHT ON SHORE.
It was early morning. Lavie and Warley were sitting at the helm
conversing anxiously, but in subdued tones, unwilling to break the
slumbers of their two companions, who were lying asleep at their feet,
with Lion curled up beside them. It was now sixteen days since they had
left the ship; and so far as they could ascertain, Table Bay was still
seven or eight hundred miles distant. They had been unfortunate in
their weather. For the first few days indeed the wind had been
favourable, and they had made rapid progress. But on the fifth morning
there had come a change. The wind lulled, and for eight and forty hours
there fell a dead calm. This was followed by a succession of light
baffling breezes, during the prevalence of which they could hardly make
any way. On the twelfth day the wind was again fair; but their
provisions, and especially their supply of water, had now run so low,
that there was little hope of its holding out, even if no further
_contretemps_ should occur. Under these circumstances, they had thought
it better to steer for the nearest point of the African coast. They
were now too far to the southward to run any great risk of falling in
with the pirates, and at whatever point they might make the land, there
would be a reasonable prospect of obtaining fresh supplies. The course
of the boat had accordingly been altered, and for the last three days
they had been sailing due east.
According to the doctor's calculations they were not more than sixty or
seventy miles from shore, when the sun set on the previous evening; and
as they had been running steadily before the wind all night, he fully
expected to catch sight of it as soon as the morning dawned. But the
sky was thick and cloudy, and there was a mist over the sea, rendering
objects at the distance of a few hundred yards quite undistinguishable.
"We cannot be far from shore," said the doctor. "My observations, I
dare say, are not very accurate; but I think I cannot be more than
twenty or thirty miles wrong, and according to me we ought to have
sighted land, or rather have been near enough to sight it, three or four
hours ago."
"I think I can hear the noise of breakers," said Warley, "I have fancied
so for the last ten minutes. But there is such a fog, that it is
impossible to make out anything."
"You are right," said Mr Lavie, setting himself to listen. "That is
the beating of surf; we must be close to the shore, but it will be
dangerous to approach until we can see it more clearly. We must go
about."
Ernest obeyed; but the alarm had been taken too late. Almost at the
same moment that he turned the rudder, the boat struck upon a reef,
though not with any great force. Lavie sprang out and succeeded in
pushing her off into deep water again, but the blow had damaged her
bottom, and the water began to come in.
"Bale her out," shouted Lavie to Frank and Nick as he sprang on board
again. "I can see the land now. It's not a quarter of a mile off, and
she'll keep afloat for that distance. Take the other oar, Ernest; while
they bale we must row for that point yonder."
The fog had partially cleared away, and a low sandy shore became here
and there visible, running out into a long projecting spit on their left
hand. This was the spot which Lavie had resolved to make for. It was
not more than two or three hundred yards distant, and there was no
appearance of surf near it. They rowed with all their strength, the
other two baling with their hats, in lieu of any more suitable vessels.
But the water continued to gain on them, nevertheless, though slowly,
and they had approached within thirty yards of the beach, when she
struck a second time on a sunk rock, and began to fill rapidly. They
all simultaneously leaped out into four-foot water, and by their united
strength contrived to drag the boat on until her keel rested on the
sand. Lavie then seized the longest rope, and running up the low,
shelving shore, secured the end to a huge mass of drift-wood which lay
just above high-water mark. Fortunately the tide was now upon the turn,
so that in three-quarters of an hour or so she would be left high and
dry on the beach.
The first impulse of all four was to fall on their knees and return
thanks for their deliverance, even the thoughtless Nick being, for the
time, deeply impressed by his narrow escape from death. Then they
looked about them. The fog had now almost disappeared, and a long
monotonous line of sand hills presented itself in the foreground.
Behind this appeared a dreary stretch of sand, unenlivened by tree,
grass, or shrub, for two or three miles at least, when it terminated in
a range of hills, covered apparently with scrub. Immediately beyond the
narrow strip of beach lay a lagoon, extending inland for about a mile.
This was evidently connected with the sea at high-water; for a great
many fish had been left stranded in the mud, where they were obliged to
remain, until the return of the tide again set them at liberty.
Presently a low growl from Lion startled them, and they noticed an
animal creeping up round a neighbouring sand hill, which on nearer
approach they perceived to be a hyena. It was followed by several
others of the same kind, which forthwith began devouring the stranded
fish, while the latter flapped their tails in vain attempts to escape
from the approach of their enemy. Availing themselves of the hint thus
offered them, the boys, who had not yet breakfasted, pulled off their
shoes and stockings, and followed by Lion, waded into the mud. The
hyenas skulked off as they approached, and they soon possessed
themselves of several large eels and barbel Mr Lavie, whose appetite
also reminded him that he had eaten nothing that morning, gathered a
heap of dry weed and drift-wood, and drawing out his burning-glass, soon
set them ablaze. Frank undertook to clean and broil the fish, which was
soon afterwards served up, and pronounced excellent.
By the time they had finished their meal, all the water had run out of
the boat, and the sand was sufficiently dry to enable them to convey
their stores on shore. Having completed this, and covered them with
tarpaulin to prevent damage from the broiling sun, their next task was
to turn her over and examine her bottom. It took the united strength of
the four to accomplish this; but it had no sooner been done, than it
became evident that it would be useless to bestow further trouble upon
her. The first concussion had merely loosened her timbers, but the
second had broken a large hole in the bottom; which it was beyond their
powers of carpentry to repair, even had they possessed all the necessary
tools.
"Thank God she didn't strike on that sharp rock the first time,"
exclaimed Lavie, as he saw the fracture; "we should not be standing
here, if she had."
"Why, we can all swim, Mr Lavie, and it was not more than a quarter of
a mile from land," observed Gilbert, surprised.
The doctor made no reply, but he pointed out to sea where the black fins
of more than one shark were visible above the surface.
Nick shuddered and turned pale, and all present again offered an inward
thanksgiving.
"Well," resumed Frank, after a few moments' silence, "what is to be
done, then? I suppose it is pretty certain that she will never float
again."
"Well, not certain, Frank," suggested Warley. "There may be some
fishermen--settlers, or natives--living about here, and they of course
would have boats, and would therefore be able to repair ours. The best
thing will be to make search in all directions, and see if we can
discover anywhere a fisherman's hut."
"I am afraid there's not much chance of that, Ernest," said Wilmore.
"If there were any fishermen about here, we should see their boats, or
any way their nets, not to say their cottages; for they would be
tolerably sure to live somewhere near the beach."
"The boats might be out to sea, and the nets on board them," suggested
Gilbert, "and the huts may be anywhere--hidden behind those hillocks of
sand, perhaps."
"So they may, Nick," observed Mr Lavie, "though I fear there is no very
great chance of it. It is worth trying for, at all events. Look here,
one of us had better go along the shore to the right, and another to the
left, until they get to the end of the bay. From thence they will, in
all likelihood, be able to see a long way along the coast, and if no
villages or single dwellings are visible, it will be of no use making
further search for them. It will take several hours to reach the end to
the left there, and that to the right is probably about as far off; but
it is still so hidden by the fog that, at this distance, it can't be
made out."
"And what are the other two to do?" asked Frank.
"They had better stay here and make preparations for supper and passing
the night," said Mr Lavie. "It is still tolerably early, but whoever
goes out to explore won't be back till late in the afternoon, and will
be too tired, I guess, to be willing to set out on a fresh expedition
then. Besides, the night falls so rapidly in these latitudes that it
wouldn't be safe. Now, I have some skill in hut making, and I think you
had better leave that part of the job to me."
"By all means, Charles," said Warley; "and Frank here showed himself
such a capital cook this morning, that I suppose he'll want to undertake
that office again. Well, I'm quite ready. I should like to take the
left side of the bay, Nick, if you've no objection."
"It's all the same to me," said Nick; "anything for a quiet life--and it
seems quiet enough out there anyway. Well, then, I suppose we had
better be off at once, as I don't want to have to walk very fast. I
should like to have Lion, but I suppose he wouldn't follow me."
"No, he's safe to stay with Frank, but you two had better take your guns
with you," said Mr Lavie. "I don't suppose you are likely to meet any
wild animals on these sand flats--nothing worse than a hyena, at any
rate."
"Thank you kindly, Mr Lavie, I don't particularly want to meet even a
hyena," said Nick.
"Pooh, Nick, he wouldn't attack you, if he did meet you. But you may
want our help for some reason or other, which we can't foresee, and we
shall be sure to hear you, if you fire. Here, Nick, you shall have my
rifle for the nonce. It is an old favourite of mine, and has seen many
a day's sport. And here's Captain Renton's rifle for you, Ernest. By
good luck he had asked me to take care of it, so it was safe in my cabin
the day we got away. I've never seen it perform; but if it is only one
half as good an article as he declares, you'll have no cause to complain
of it."
"How was it that the captain didn't take it with him?" asked Gilbert.
"Because they wouldn't let him," said the surgeon. "He asked to be
allowed to fetch it, and looked as savage as he dared to look, when they
swore they'd allow no firearms to be taken."
"I don't wonder at their not permitting it," observed Wilmore.
"Nor I, Frank. The wonder to me has always been that they let the
officers and passengers go at all. But it seems that such of our men as
agreed to join these Congo pirates would not do so, except on the
express condition that the lives of all on board were to be spared; and
the pirates daren't cross them. But we mustn't dawdle here talking.
There's plenty to be done by all of us, and more than we can do, too."
Warley and Nick accordingly set off in opposite directions, and Lavie
and Frank began their work. They first took an axe from their stores,
and choosing from among the drift-wood three of the longest spars,
resolved to fix two of them in the ground, and lash the third to their
upper ends. They selected for this purpose a hollow between two high
sand hills, about a hundred yards above high-water mark. Then they were
to cut six more poles, and lay them on either side against the ridge
piece, burying the other ends in the sand. Over this frame-work the
tarpaulin was to be stretched, and kept in its place by laying some
heavy pieces of wood on the lower ends. Thus a small tent would be
formed, at the bottom of which the boat's sail was to be spread, forming
a convenient place on which to lay their stores, and make up their beds.
Plainly it would occupy a considerable time to complete these
arrangements, but they had not advanced half-way, when Nick came
hurrying back in a state of the greatest excitement, declaring that he
had seen, at a short distance, the roofs of what was evidently a town of
considerable size; and on a flat piece of ground adjoining it, a number
of men--soldiers they seemed to be--in red and white uniforms, drawn out
in long lines, as if on parade.
"A large town, Nick! soldiers in uniform!" repeated Wilmore in great
astonishment. "You must be dreaming."
"I assure you I am not," replied Gilbert, whose demeanour showed that he
was thoroughly in earnest. "I could see, quite distinctly above the
fog, the towers of a church, apparently, and a long row of battlements,
evidently part of a line of fortifications; and, through openings in the
mist, the red caps and jackets of the soldiers were as plain as anything
I ever beheld in my life."
"But it can't be, doctor, can it?" asked Frank. "I am sure I should be
glad enough to think we were near any inhabited spot, let alone a large
city. But you're pretty certain of our whereabouts, ain't you?"
"Yes; I don't think I can be mistaken very much, and I must be out of
all reckoning wrong, if this is true. There is no town, that I know of,
on this coast, between the Portuguese settlements, which are something
like eight hundred miles to the north of where I suppose we now are, and
Cape Town, which is almost as far to the south."
"Well, just come and look for yourself, doctor," said Nick. "It won't
take you long. The place is not above two or three miles off at the
outside."
"Of course I will go--we'll all go, Nick--Lion and all I am sure I hope
with all my heart that you may be right. It will save us a very long
and dangerous journey if you are."
He caught up a fowling-piece which had belonged to his friend the
purser, and handed Frank the fourth gun, an ordinary seaman's carbine.
"Now then, Nick, lead the way."
Gilbert complied, and the whole party stepped out briskly, their
curiosity, as well as their interest, being strongly awakened. They
toiled through the heavy sand, which was only varied by heaps of
drift-wood flung up by the sea, and the rotten carcasses of mud fish,
which had been carried too far inland by the tide to be able to recover
their native element. The stench, under the burning sun, was almost
insupportable, and the three adventurers were greatly relieved, when,
after a walk of three-quarters of an hour, the desert of sand was
passed, and they ascended a rocky plateau, where some crags, twelve or
fifteen feet in height, afforded at least some shelter from the rapidly
increasing heat. "We are getting near the place now," observed Nick, as
they reached the last of a long chain of rocks, and came upon a wide and
apparently level plain, but so much enveloped in mist as to be very
imperfectly discerned.
"There it is, I declare," exclaimed Frank, who was the first of the
party to turn the corner of the limestone shelf. "There it all is--
houses, fortifications, and soldiers, just as Nick said!"
There, indeed, it was. At the distance, as it seemed, of scarcely more
than three hundred feet, were seen distinctly the battlemented walls of
a city of great size and strength. There were the gateways, the
flanking towers, and the embrasures; while behind them rose domes and
cupolas, and the sharp-peaked roofs of numberless houses, intermingled
with lofty trees. Under the walls ran a broad river, the waters of
which rippled brightly in the sunshine, and upon its banks long lines of
infantry were drawn up, or what appeared to be infantry, all standing
silent and motionless as so many statues.
The two boys gazed in the utmost bewilderment at this spectacle, while
Lion bounded forward, evidently meditating a plunge into the cool and
sparkling waters. The astonishment of the party was in no way
diminished, when the doctor, raising his gun to his shoulder, fired
directly at the nearest platoon of soldiers, one of whom was seen to
fall. The next moment the whole of his companions rose with loud
screams into the air, and dispersed themselves in all directions.
Almost at the same moment the walls and battlements of the fortress and
ridges of roof behind them wavered and shook, and finally vanished from
the scene, as the smoke of a wood fire is lost in the surrounding
atmosphere. In their place appeared a low serrated ridge of rock, on
which a few stunted shrubs were growing, while in front and behind alike
extended the interminable waste of sand.
"Here is your soldier, Nick," said the doctor, as he picked up the
carcass of a large flamingo, which his shot had brought down. "Here's
his red cap and jacket--his beak and wings, that is to say--and here are
his white facings--his neck and chest. You are not the first by a good
many that has made that mistake!"
"This is what is called a mirage, then?" said Frank. "I've often heard
of it, and longed to see it; and it is a more extraordinary delusion
than I could have supposed possible. Why that low line of rock there,
and those dwarf shrubs looked as if they were at least sixty feet high.
How in the world do you account for it, Mr Lavie? Why even Lion was
taken in!"
"I am afraid I cannot give you an explanation, which you will understand
very clearly, Frank. It is caused by the inequality of the temperature
in the lower strata of the air; which again is the result of the
reflected heat of the sun's rays on the barren, sandy plain. While the
strata are unequally heated, these curious reflections, which are like
those seen in broken mirrors, continue to deceive the eye. Objects
appear to be raised high into the air, which in reality are to be found
on the surface of the earth, often too they are immensely magnified, as
indeed you saw just now; a single stone will seem the size of a house,
and an insignificant shrub look as big as a forest tree. But when the
sun gains sufficient power to raise all the strata to a uniform heat,
the mirage melts away."
"But your shot seemed to disperse it just now."
"So it did. But my shot only disturbed the strata; and if the mirage
had not been nearly on the point of vanishing, from the increasing solar
heat, I doubt whether the same effect would have followed. But it is
time for us to go back to our hut and finish our work. Nick, I suppose
you will join us? We may see pretty plainly for ourselves that there
are no fishermen's huts in this quarter."
Nick assented, and the three, after a short rest under the shade of the
rocks, returned to the spot whence they had set out, and resumed their
work. By two o'clock the two uprights were fixed in the sand, and in
two hours afterwards the tent was complete. All the stores were then
carefully conveyed inside, the keg of gunpowder being buried in the sand
to prevent the possibility of accident. Then the two lads set about
preparations for supper, which was to consist, like that of the morning,
of fish broiled on the embers.
"And a very good supper too," observed Nick; "I don't think I ever ate a
finer fish than this cod here."
"It's first-rate, there's no doubt of that," returned Frank; "but I must
own I should like something besides. I suppose your flamingo there
wouldn't be very good eating?"
"I expect not," replied Lavie. "The flamingo is too gross a feeder to
make very good food itself. One might eat it, I dare say, if there was
nothing else to be had. I have eaten lion steaks once in my life, but I
have no ambition to repeat the experiment. No, I don't propose to make
any further use of my flamingo than to cut off one of his beautiful red
wings to make a fan of, and hand the rest of the bird over to Lion.
What a splendid-looking bird he was; it really seems almost a shame to
kill him!"
They all gathered round to admire him. The colours in which nature had
dressed him, showed that he was one of her favourite children. The long
thin legs--they were two feet and some inches in length--were of the
most delicate shade of pink, and shaped with wonderful grace. The short
thigh, chest, and neck were covered with down, the softest and whitest
that can be imagined. But the great beauty of the creature lay in its
wings, in which the brilliant scarlet and pure white hues were
intermingled with wonderful delicacy and grace, both colours being
bordered and thrown out by the deep black of the under feathers.
"I wish I could stuff that specimen," said the doctor, as he
contemplated the dead bird. "It would be the making of a collection.
It can't stand less than four foot four, or perhaps four foot six high.
However, I'm afraid it's rather out of place to be thinking of
collections. It will be a good job," he muttered to himself, "if we are
not put into a collection ourselves by some Hottentot or Damara chief
But it won't do to hint that to the boys."
He seated himself on one of the casks in the shelter of the tent, and
appeared to be watching the preparations for supper, lost, in reality,
in a reverie of mingled pain and pleasure. He was roused at last by the
information that Warley was returning; and presently the youth himself
appeared on the scene, throwing down, to Frank's great satisfaction, a
brace of wild ducks which he had been fortunate enough to shoot. His
report, however, was not encouraging. He had reached the extremity of
the bay, and had ascended an eminence, perhaps two or three hundred feet
high; but nothing was to be discerned from it but long wastes of mingled
rock and sand, varied here and there by thickets of euphorbia, or
monotonous scrub. In the distance indeed were lofty mountains; but it
was impossible to say, in that transparent atmosphere, how distant they
might be. As regards the more immediate object of his expedition--the
discovery of some trace of man--it had been an entire failure.
While Warley was delivering his report to the doctor, the other two were
busied in plucking and roasting the ducks. Presently it was announced
that all was ready, and the four sat down to their repast with an
appetite sharpened by a long day of exertion. It was no sooner over
than fatigue began to assert itself in place of hunger. It was agreed
that the fire should be kept up all night, and that each should watch
for two hours by it. It was now nearly nine o'clock, and the last watch
would thus bring them to five in the morning, when it would be desirable
that all four should be awakened to the heavy day's work, which (as none
of them doubted) lay before them.