matter came up one evening when we were having our supper on the open
ground near our hut, for we usually had our supper with the men in a
pleasant family manner--Hoggett and Wabberley and Chick having been
taken back to the rock. When I asked what we were to call her, before
any one else could speak Billy blurted out "Elizabeth Jane," and you
never heard such a shout of laughter as then rang through the air, for
Billy was so ready, and his face turned such a fiery hue the moment he
had spoken, that the men "smoked" him, as the saying is, and they
twitted him (being on very friendly terms with him now) on the lass he
had left behind him, and when he explained, very sheepishly, that she
was no more than eight years old when he saw her last they shouted
again, and told him that she certainly wouldn't know him now, with his
whiskers coming thick, and did he think she would wait for him when
there were properer men about? Billy took it all with surprising good
temper, and I found out afterwards that he and Clums had become very
close friends, and Clums told him that if he could not find Elizabeth
Jane, or if she was already wed, he would present him to his own
daughter Georgiana, called after the king, and a winsome lass, said
Clums, and just husband high.
We named the vessel _Elizabeth Jane_, and launched her, not by that
device of the windlass we had used for the _Fair Hope_, but making a
slipway of rollers, over which the men tugged her with ropes. Then we
sailed her on a first trip round the island, by which we learnt what
little changes were necessary in the outrigger to keep her steady. She
behaved exceeding well, and the seamen were mighty pleased with her,
and began in wondrous good spirits the preparation for the great voyage
we purposed making. They were greatly disappointed when I told them
that we should have to wait a good time yet, until the season of storms
and unsettled weather passed; but we had plenty to occupy us in the
meantime, for there was pork and fish to salt and cure, and breadfruit
to be prepared, for we did not know how long our voyage might last, and
I was in some dread lest our vessel would not have stowage room for all
the food I thought it necessary to take. We had to make also
water-pots of a special shape, so that they would lie snugly in the
bottom of the vessel, and we made hurdles to cover them, so that they
should not be broken. This matter of water gave me much concern, and I
resolved to fit up the _Fair Hope_ as a victualler, to follow our
larger vessel, as such vessels do the warships: we found that she had
room enough for a good many water-pots and a great quantity of
cocoa-nuts beside, the juice of which was both agreeable and wholesome,
if we did not drink it at night. We fitted up on each vessel a light
hoarding made of thin poles let into the gunwale, and carrying a canopy
of bread-bark cloth, which would not only defend us from the sun's
rays, but help to save the fresh water from evaporating. During the
period of waiting, moreover, the men made a good number of new arrows
and spears, and diligently practised themselves in their use. We kept
the muskets in good order, but there being scarcely any powder and shot
left we could not place much reliance on them if we should have to
fight, which I hoped very sincerely would not be the case.
[Sidenote: Retribution]
One thing I had resolutely determined on, and that was that Hoggett and
Wabberley and Chick should not accompany us. The two last I owed a
special grudge against, because it was they who had led my poor uncle
on to undertake his expedition, when they were all the time meditating
the treachery which they put in act when the opportunity came. And as
for Hoggett, he had built, so to speak, very well on their foundations,
and had been the controlling force in the mutiny and all that happened
after. Moreover, these three were the only men who did their work on
the island sullenly and unwillingly, for Chick's obligingness was
merely put on as a cloak. Though I had said nothing to make them
suppose they would be left on the island, so that they had as great an
incentive to further our preparations as any man, they did not in the
least change their usual behaviour, but performed all the tasks set
them ungraciously and with a grudge.
They were marched to the Red Rock every night at sunset, and this had
become so much a part of the order of things that they did not show any
surprise when it was done on the very night before we were to set sail.
I had said no word of my resolution to anybody as yet, but that night I
told it to Billy, and he was greatly delighted, saying that the only
thing he feared in the voyage was the presence of Hoggett. I told him
that if we could have kept the men prisoners I might have relented
towards them, but since that was impossible, I feared that if they were
let loose among the crew their bad influence would ruin any chance of
success we might have.
Accordingly, when they were brought over next morning, expecting to be
given places in the _Elizabeth Jane_, I had a parade of all the men
before me, and told these three plainly that they were to be left
behind. Hoggett went white to the lips, but said never a word, whereas
Wabberley and Chick whined and whimpered and behaved like the sorry
curs they were. They pled with me with the most abject entreaties and
promises, uttering the most piteous plaints of the horrors of solitude,
and so forth; whereupon I pointed out to them that they were in
infinitely better case than they had left us on the first day we came
to the island, having a house to live in, and arms and tools, as well
as animals and well-grown plantations. I told them that after their
many wickednesses they might be thankful that their lives were spared.
Finally I showed them, to the great amazement of all, the shaft below
the hut, and explained our device for getting water from the lake, and
the uses to which we put the cavern beneath, and told them also of the
passage to the shore; and then I thought Hoggett would die of rage and
mortification, especially when he saw Clums and the rest looking at him
with a kind of mocking pity. He broke through his silence now, and
poured out upon me such a torrent of invective and curses as I have
never heard before or since, foaming at the mouth in a manner that was
horrible to see. Then all of a sudden he ceased, as though his words
were choking him, and throwing upon me one last look full of hate and
malevolence he went away by himself, and I never saw him again.
We then embarked on the _Elizabeth Jane_, taking Little John with us.
Wabberley and Chick stood on the beach, very dejected, when we launched
the vessel, no doubt hoping to the last that I would relent. They
remained there until they looked but tiny specks, and we were far away
on the ocean. My heart was very full as I watched the island
diminishing in the distance, and thought of the years we had spent
there, and of all our trials and blessings, the latter outnumbering the
former, by the grace of God. Billy was very silent, telling me
afterwards that it gave him a queer feeling inside, to leave the island
which had been a proper home. We set our course due west, as near as
we could judge, and avoiding the island at which we had been so
inhospitably received, we made for a small group somewhat to the north,
where Mr. Bodger told me the men had settled for a time as mercenaries
of the native people. We put in at one of the islands, the people
running away at our approach, and filled up our water-vessels, and also
laid in a small stock of fresh cocoa-nuts, as well as fowls and other
things, in the room of those we had consumed. During their stay on the
island some of the men had picked up a smattering of the language of
the people, and they now confirmed, when the natives took courage and
came back, what they had before understood, that there was another
group of islands two days' paddling to the west. With the aid of a
favouring breeze on our quarter we came to these islands in a day and a
half, and ran for the outermost of the group, so as to be nearest to
the open sea if any attack were made upon us. But here we were
received in friendly wise, and we were fortunate again in getting news
of another group still farther to the west. However, when we got to
this, after two or three days' sail, we found that the people spoke a
tongue which none of our men understood, so that though we tried in
every possible manner to learn from them how we should sail to come to
other islands, we failed utterly, and saw ourselves forced to put to
sea again, having taken in fresh food and water, without any guidance
whatever. There we were, then, afloat on the wide ocean, without chart
or compass, the sport of chance, as some might think; but when I looked
up to the sky in the stillness of night, and thought that the birds
have no chart or compass, and not one so much as falls to the ground
but God knows, I felt perfectly contented and easy in mind, believing
that we should some day arrive at the haven where we would be.
[Sidenote: The Voyage]
It being very necessary that we should make land before our food and
water were all spent, the men took turns at the paddles, even while the
wind held, so that we should proceed with all possible speed. We were
five days without sighting land, and our water was all consumed when at
last we came to an island; but we could not land, because a great
multitude of savages in war-paint came to the shore brandishing clubs
and spears, and we had to wait till night, and then some of the men
went with me in the _Fair Hope_ to another part of the coast, and
landing there unseen, we were able to fill our vessels. I will not
tell all the incidents of that voyage, even if I could remember them;
but I may tell of one time, when we were chased by a fleet of
war-canoes, and should most certainly have been caught, only when the
first of the pursuing craft was but a biscuit's throw away, I fired a
musket shot, which terrified them so much that they turned their prows
and fled away shrieking.
After several weeks, the weather having been fair all the time, we were
caught by a storm in mid-ocean, out of sight of any land, and then for
the first time my heart sank, and I feared we should go to the bottom.
We had little rigging to make us top-heavy, and we managed to get that
down before the blast took us; but the waves swept over us with such
force that we had much ado to prevent ourselves from being washed out,
and had no thought of anything except to cling to the thwarts, and,
when each wave had passed, to bale for our lives. The rope by which we
towed the _Fair Hope_ was snapped, and she was carried away, and no
doubt before long submerged. In the merciful providence of God the
storm was quickly over, but then our case was dreadful in the extreme,
for all our provisions were ruined or else swept overboard, and the
most of our paddles were gone. To make matters worse, the wind
dropped, and we had nothing but light airs that scarcely moved the
vessel a yard a minute. For two days and nights we lay thus, the wide
waste of water all about us, the hot sun above, and neither land nor
ship in sight. On the first day not a man of us ate, and at night we
sought to moisten our parched lips by sucking the dew from our shirts;
but on the second day some of the men gnawed the sodden fish and flesh
that remained, which did but increase their thirst, so that in the
night they began to rave, and in the morning Pumfrey and Hoskin were
dead. We committed their bodies to the deep with great awe and
trembling, none knowing but he might be the next. But not long after a
strong breeze sprang up in the east, and carried our vessel along at so
round a pace that hope revived in our sad hearts, and Billy mounted the
gunwale and, clinging to the supports of the canopy I have mentioned,
he looked out eagerly for land. When he saw none after a while he came
down again, feeling very weak and dizzy, and had not the heart or the
strength to try again, and so we sped on almost blindly, having just
care enough to keep the vessel's head to the west. And then, when we
were again on the point of despairing, some one cried that he saw land
ahead, and when I looked, I saw a long dark shape upon the water, above
which a huge bank of clouds seemed to rest. We fixed our longing eyes
thereon, and as we drew nearer the clouds broke slowly apart, and we
saw the sides of stupendous mountains, ten times as lofty as the
mountain on Palm Tree Island, even in the part we saw, for their tops
were wrapped in mist. It was many hours, I am sure, before we drew
near to the coast, which we saw was very precipitous, so that we
despaired of finding a safe landing; but we steered north, skirting it,
and came by and by to a part where the cliffs fell away, and there,
being perfectly reckless now, for we could but die, we drove our vessel
ashore, and it struck on a ridge of rock very like the lava beach of
Palm Tree Island. By great good fortune there was no depth of water on
it, and we were able to wade ashore, which we reached more dead than
alive.
When we had rested somewhat we looked about for food, the inland parts
being very well wooded, and we were inexpressibly thankful when we
found both bread-fruit and bananas, and cocoa-nuts too, of which we
made a meal, some eating so ravenously that they were very ill, and I
feared Billy would die. But he and the others recovered, to my great
joy, and we camped there, and slept so heavily that if any savages had
come upon us we should have been killed without being able to lift a
hand to defend ourselves. However, we saw no savages during the week
we stayed there, and at the end of that time, being marvellously
refreshed and invigorated, we towed our vessel off the ridge (she had
suffered no hurt, the sea being calm) with ropes, some we had with us,
and others we made with creepers, swimming out into the sea with them.
Then we plaited baskets, and carried in them as much food as we could
load into the vessel, and once more set sail.
We found that our passage westward was barred by this island, which
extended in a north-westerly direction for many miles, at least a
hundred, I should think.[1] When we arrived at the northern extremity
of it, we drew in, so as to get more food, but perceiving a strange
black smoke arising from the earth, we were afraid to approach nearer,
nor indeed did the land appear very fertile; so we sailed past, hoping
to discover another island before our provisions, of which we had a
great store, were exhausted. But day after day went by without our
seeing any, and though we were very sparing with our food, it was at
last all gone, and we again suffered the torturing pangs of hunger and
thirst. And when we woke one morning after a terrible night, we did
not think we should live through the day, and the wild look in the eyes
of some of the men made me fear they would go mad, or even propose to
eat one another. I had already observed them gazing ravenously at
Little John, but I held him constantly at my side, being determined to
keep him as a memento of our sojourn on Palm Tree Island. I do not
know but I might have been prevailed on at last to consent to his
death, but towards evening Billy, using his little remnant of strength
to climb on to the gunwale, cried out that he saw a sail, and called to
me in a very hoarse voice to make a signal. I took up my musket at
once, and fired a shot, and then another, and then saw with great agony
that I could fire no more, for there was no more powder in my horn, and
the little that was in the others had been spoiled by the sea water.
But by and by we heard a shot, and Billy cried that the vessel was
clapping on more sail, and was coming towards us. We were in terrible
dread lest she should not come up with us before night, for she might
pass us in the dark, and then we must have died. But she came up
apace, and heaving to, hailed us in a tongue I did not understand,
though the vessel was of European make. Clums, however, told me she
was Dutch, and he answered the hail in that tongue, though his mouth
was so parched that his voice was nothing but a croak. He said we were
famishing, whereupon the skipper lowered a boat, sending food and water
to us. When we were somewhat revived, I told the officer in the boat,
by the interpretation of Clums, something of my story, at which he
marvelled greatly, especially at our strange vessel, and would have
heard more, only the skipper shouted for him to come back. I asked
whether the skipper would not take us aboard, assuring him that my
uncle would pay our charges very willingly, and when he returned to his
vessel the skipper consented to this, saying, as I heard afterwards,
that none but Englishmen, who were all mad, would have ventured to sea
in such a crazy craft.
Accordingly we went on board the Dutch vessel, some of us having to be
hauled up the side in slings, we were so weak. We left the poor
_Elizabeth Jane_ derelict, and Billy shed bitter tears, being still
very much of a child at heart, and taking this as a sad omen,
portending the death of the Elizabeth Jane he had known. As for me,
having nothing of this kind to be superstitious about, I was so joyful
at falling in with a friendly vessel, and at the hope this engendered
in me, that I did not spare a sigh upon the _Elizabeth Jane_, being
indeed much more sorrowful at the loss of the _Fair Hope_, much as a
father might feel the loss of his firstborn.
I said a "friendly vessel," but it was not so friendly neither. She
was a Dutch Indiaman bound for Java, and the skipper, though humane
enough to pick us up (after a promise of pay), never looked on us very
kindly, because we were English, and the Dutch were exceeding jealous
at the presence of English mariners in those waters, seeming to think
that the ocean was their highway by right. (I have observed that the
French and the Spanish, as well as ourselves, hold the same opinion, or
did hold it until that late gallant gentleman Lord Nelson taught them
better.) However, the Dutch skipper brought us to the island of Java,
whither he was bound, and handed us over to the Governor, who put me
through a very strict interrogation, with the aid of one of his
officers that knew English, a clerk sitting by and writing all I said.
He did the same afterwards with Billy and Mr. Bodger, each by himself,
and Billy was mightily indignant when the Governor, having had read out
some parts of my story, asked him if they were true.
I do not know what would have happened to me but that the Governor's
wife, who had lived in England and spoke English, was greatly
interested when she heard of our strange adventures: and it chancing
that I fell ill of a low fever, she had me brought to her house, and
tended me with great kindness, as much as Billy would let her, for he
was very jealous, and would not leave me. When I was recovered, and
this kind benefactress asked me what I would do, I said I must go home,
and though I had no money, my uncle would right willingly pay my
charges. Accordingly, by her kind interest I was provided with money,
and clothes of a Dutch cut, and took passage in a Dutch Indiaman that
was returning to Holland with a freight of sugar, in which Java is very
prolific, and Billy was to go with me as my servant, and Little John
too. I learnt that Mr. Bodger and Colam were dead, being carried off
by a fever like mine; but the rest of the men, all but two, had found
berths on the same Indiaman, she being short-handed owing to an
epidemic fever that had broken out aboard on her way out. The two last
of our party remained at Batavia for some time, being ill and unfit to
work; but afterwards they worked their way to Calcutta, and thence on a
British vessel to London, as they did not fail to inform me when they
arrived. As for me and Billy and the dog, we went on the Dutchman,
which touched at the Cape of Good Hope, and thence sailed direct for
Amsterdam, and from there we got a passage to London, where we arrived
on April 2, 1783, eight years and seven months after we departed on the
ill-fated _Lovey Susan_.
[Sidenote: Billy's Stepmother]
I wrote a letter to my uncle that same day, telling him of my return,
for I thought if I went home too suddenly the shock might do him an
injury, especially if he had the gout. Billy went to see his old dad,
promising to come back next day, since I had resolved to take him home
with me, and show my uncle the good companion of my solitude. He was
true to his word, and when I asked him how his people fared, he said
his father was the same as ever, only not quite so spry, and his
mother-in-law (as he called her) was fatter, but no less ill-tempered.
Her first words when she saw him were, "Back again like a bad penny!"
and after he had told her and his father somewhat of his strange life
since he left them, all she said was, "Well, you've growed a lot, and
big enough to work the smithy, and me and your father can take that
little public we've had our eyes on." "Not if I knows it," says Billy
to me; "I know what it 'ud be. She'd always be in the bar, a-taking a
little drop here and a little drop there, and she's a tartar when she's
had two glasses. Dad's a deal better off as he is, and he knows it."
I asked him whether he had made any inquiry for Elizabeth Jane, and he
looked at me very seriously, and said, "I knowed it meant something
when that there boat of ours went down. They don't know what's become
of her, but her dad was hanged for house-breaking a year or two ago, so
I reckon I've had a lucky escape. I'll go and see Clums when I get
back."
[Sidenote: Home Again]
We went down to Stafford next day. The news of my return had already
got abroad, and folk were expecting me, for there was a great crowd at
the door of the _Bell_, and when I clambered off the coach, there was
such a shouting and cheering as you never heard. I didn't know I had
so many friends. Two great youths pushed their way through the throng
and, gripping me by the arms, began lugging me into the inn, and one of
them cried, "Well done, old Harry!" and then I knew it was my cousin
Tom, and the other, who was James home from Cambridge, says, "Come on,
Harry, Mother's in there," and when I asked where was Father, they told
me he was crippled with the gout and couldn't come. My aunt, good
woman, round and rosy as ever, was all of a tremble when she saw me,
and burst into tears as she flung her arms around my neck; and then up
comes honest John King, the landlord, with a tumbler of rum shrub,
which he made her drink, saying it was the finest thing in the world
for the staggers; and the pot-boy was close behind him with four
foaming tankards of ale, and John lifts his and cries, "Welcome home!"
his honest face shining like the sun. And then I remembered Billy, and
called him in, and he came, rather red and uneasy, and the landlord
sent for another pot when I explained who he was, and there was such a
laughing and chattering that my head fairly buzzed.
When we had emptied our tankards (Billy whispered to me, "Master, did
you ever taste such beer?") my aunt said Father would be dying of
impatience, so we went out again among the crowd and found them looking
with curiosity and amazement at Little John, who sat on the door-step,
keeping guard. "Never seed a beast like that," says one; "what is he?"
Billy laughed, and said it was a dog, at which they scoffed: and I may
say here that it was a long time before the other dogs in our part
would own Little John as one of their kind. We got into a carriage
waiting for us, and nothing would satisfy some of the young 'prentices
but they must unyoke the horses, and drag us the two miles to my
uncle's house, and there were the maidservants at the gate (more of
them than when I went away), and they waved handkerchiefs or
dish-clouts, I don't know which, and Billy's face was redder than ever.