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The South Sea Whaler, a fiction by William H. G. Kingston |
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Chapter 12. Encamped On The Island... |
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_ CHAPTER TWELVE. ENCAMPED ON THE ISLAND--BREAKFAST ON ROAST DUCK--SANDAL-WOOD--BOWS AND ARROWS MANUFACTURED--HORNBILLS CAPTURED--A HOUSE COMMENCED.
"We go to get fresh water, and be back soon wid it," said Nub as they passed. "Mr Shobbrok, him roast de duck ready for breakfast." The doctor and his young companions hurried on, for their morning's walk had made them very hungry. They found the mate employed in roasting the duck in the usual camp fashion, on a spit supported by two forked sticks. Near it was the large shell of the mollusc on another fire, where Nub had placed it to warm up its contents. "We have fish and fowl; but I wish that we had some farinaceous or other vegetable diet in addition--for the sake of our young lady, especially," observed the mate. "We have, at all events, brought something of the sort," said Walter, producing his handkerchief, full of the fruits he had picked up. "I am indeed thankful to see them," said the mate; "for I began to fear that we should all suffer from living so entirely on animal food." "I have little doubt that we shall find more fruits and probably various vegetables," said the doctor; "and I will undertake to go in search of them after breakfast." "I should like to accompany you," said Walter; "though, if the fruit in these regions only grows high up on the trees such as these do, we shall be puzzled to get them." "We must climb the trees, then, or find some other means of bringing it down," said the mate. "My idea is, that, before we do anything else, we should set about making some bows and arrows, as well as some spears, to defend ourselves against any savage animals, or to kill any we may be able to chase." The doctor agreed to the mate's proposal, though he believed, he said, that there were no savage animals of any size in the Pacific islands likely to annoy them. As the duck was not quite cooked, they sat themselves down under the shade of a lofty tree, to await the return of Nub and Dan. They very soon appeared; and while Nub went to have a look at the mollusc which he and Dan were to have for breakfast, the seaman came and threw himself down at the mate's side with a small branch of tree in his hand, which he was examining attentively. "What is that you have got there?" asked the mate, turning round to him. "Faith, your honour, it's something, I suppose; for Nub says that if we can cut enough of it, and can get a ship to carry it away, we shall all make our fortunes." Dan as he spoke handed the branch to the mate, who turned it about, evidently puzzled to know what it was. "Let us look at it," said the doctor, who then examined the branch carefully. After biting the thick end, he observed: "This is undoubtedly santulum, of the natural order _Santalaceae_. From it is produced santalin, with which certain tinctures are made. It is also used in India for colouring silk and cotton. Yes, this is indeed the valuable sandal-wood, which the Chinese burn as incense, and employ largely in the manufacture of fans, and of which in England the cases for lead pencils are formed. Nub is right; and as it is of great commercial value, if, as he suggests, we can cut down a quantity, and find a ship to carry it away, we may make enough to pay our expenses home and have something in our pockets at the end of the voyage. From what sort of a tree did you break this off?" inquired the doctor, turning to Dan. "A big shrub, or what they would call a good-sized tree in other parts; but those near it were so much larger, that I suppose they would be offended if we called it a shrub," answered Dan. "It is not far off, and we saw a good many like it in that part of the forest." "We will go and examine it presently," said the doctor, who was an enthusiastic naturalist. "We must see about getting food first," observed the mate. "We have many things to do before we can think of cutting down sandal-wood." "Yes; we must eat our duck first," said the doctor. "I tink de duck done now," observed Nub, who had been employed during the discussion in giving the roast a few more turns. Plucking some large leaves, he arranged them on the ground before the party, to serve the double purpose of table-cloth and plates; then, taking the duck up by the end of the spit, he placed it before the doctor, remarking, "You carve better than anyone of us, sir." The doctor scientifically cut up, the bird, a portion of which Nub presented to Alice and Walter. When the doctor offered some to him and Dan, they both declared that the stewed mollusc was quite enough for them. The voyagers' first breakfast on the island would have been more satisfying had they possessed some bread or biscuit, and, above all, some tea or coffee; but as they could finish it with a good supply of fruit and fresh water, they acknowledged that they had ample reason to be thankful. Their plans for the future were naturally brought under discussion. "Don't you think, Mr Shobbrok, that we could manage to enlarge our boat so that we might reach some civilised place?" asked Walter. "We might certainly improve her," answered the mate; "and if we could obtain a sufficient amount of provisions and water, we might make a long voyage in her, provided we were favoured with fine weather. But the risk, I warn you, would be very great. Occasionally the seas in these latitudes are excessively heavy and dangerous, and no improvement we could make would enable her to stand them. We should also, as I observed, have to carry a large supply of provisions and water, or we might be compelled to land on a part of the coast where we should have to encounter savages, who would probably attack and destroy us before we had time to convince them that we came upon a peaceable errand. Or, even should they be friendly, we have no goods with which to purchase provisions; and from what I have heard of them, they are not likely to supply us without payment. However, we will examine the boat, and consider how we can enlarge her. We must first ascertain if we can manage to cut out a sufficient number of planks and ribs; and then, if we enlarge the boat, we shall want more sails and spars and rigging. We shall also require casks to carry the water, and a stove for cooking; and as we have no compass or quadrant or chart we can only make a coasting voyage. We are also many hundred miles from Sydney in New South Wales, which is the nearest port where we can obtain assistance. It is my belief that we are now off the north-eastern end of New Guinea, either on the mainland or on an island; though I suspect the latter, or we should probably have fallen in with natives. This point we must ascertain as soon as possible, for we should do well to avoid them, as at the best they are a savage race, who are more likely to prove foes than friends. Now, the first thing we have to do is to provide food for ourselves. See, I was not idle during your absence." The mate on this showed several contrivances for catching game. The question was where to place them. It was first necessary to ascertain the places frequented by the birds or beasts in the neighbourhood. Dan had formed some traps composed of stones collected on the seashore, such as boys in England are accustomed to set for sparrows and robins; but the doctor very much doubted whether the birds of those regions were likely to hop into them, as they appeared, he observed, to take their food from the tops of the trees, and seldom descended to the ground. "Arrah, I hope they will be after changing their custom when they see the traps, and just come down to have a look into them," said Dan. "I will place them under the trees and give them the chance, at all event." "I would rather trust to bows and arrows," said Walter. "We must look out for the proper sort of trees to make the bows. Perhaps we may find some wood similar to the yew-tree of old England." The doctor and Nub set off with Walter for the object he had in view, while Alice remained with the mate and Dan, who were finishing their traps. They first proceeded towards the stream. On their way Nub showed them the sandal-wood trees which he had discovered. The doctor was satisfied that he was right. Many of them were of considerable size, really deserving the name of trees, though some could only be called large bushes. In general appearance they were something like myrtles, the trunk being about nine inches in diameter, the leaves very small, alternate or nearly opposite. The doctor, who had carried the axe, cut into the trunk of one of them, which was of a deep red colour. "At all events, though we cannot carry a cargo away with us, we may return here some day and obtain one," he said. "If there are no inhabitants, the trees cannot be claimed as the property of anyone; and we may load a vessel with great ease in the harbour." "I tink, Mr Lawrie, dat we better look out for food just now," said Nub, who thought the doctor was spending more time than necessary in speculating on the future. "You are right Nub," answered the surgeon, leading the way. They examined numerous saplings of small size, but none seemed likely to suit their purpose. On the banks of the stream they came to a magnificent grove of bamboos of all sizes, some being as thick as a man's leg. "Here we have the means of building a house ready to our hands," said the doctor. "Perhaps they will assist also in decking over the boat." "But I doubt if they would keep out the water," observed Walter. "I think, however, that the fine ends or some of the very small canes may serve for arrows." "Dey make very good cups for drinking out of," said Nub; and asking for the axe, he cut down a large bamboo cane, though not one of the thickest, and showed Walter that numerous divisions or knots filled up the centre of the cane, and that thus each knot would make the bottom of a cup. On passing near the tree where the doctor had seen the hornbills, they observed one of the birds poking its long beak out of its hole. "We pay you visit before long," said Nub, nodding his head. "Me tink I know how." Going up the stream, they found a tree which had fallen over it, by which they crossed to the opposite bank. Nub begged to go first. "I go see de way. We no want to pop into de middle of a village; if we do, de women begin to shriek, and de babies cry out, and tink dat white debils come among dem, and den de men come out and kill us." The doctor agreed to Nub's proposal, and they proceeded more cautiously than before. Walter pulled away at every young tree they met, and at last he found one which the doctor thought would suit their purpose. Nub, who came to examine it, was of the same opinion; and they quickly cut down several which grew near to the proper length, and returned with them the way they had come. As they passed under the tree in which they had seen the hornbills, Nub exclaimed, "I tink we come and get dese fellows at once, if de mate will please to accompany us." On passing under the tree where the fruit had been found, Walter looked about for some more; but the birds were not feeding, and none had fallen since they had been there. On their arrival at the camp, the mate and Dan had to confess that their traps had not as yet been successful; Nub then told them his plan for reaching the hornbills, which could not fail with regard to the hen, who was certain not to leave her nest, and might possibly either be sitting on her eggs or have some young ones. "How is that?" asked Walter. "When she sees you, if you succeed in reaching her, she will surely fly away." "No, Massa Walter," said Nub, "she not do dat, for de hole is shut up with clay, and she only got room to poke her head out." Nub's plan was to form a ladder up the tree with the bamboos they had seen. With a little patience, he assured them, the feat could be accomplished; so they all eagerly set out to commence operations, Alice accompanying them; while the doctor continued his search for the vegetable food they so much required. He first, however, cut a stick from the thick end of a bamboo, for the purpose of digging edible roots, which he thought it probable he might discover. Nub also suggested that they should forthwith set to work to build a house large enough to contain the whole party. A house would be far better for Alice than the tent, in which she had to lie close to the ground, with some risk of the intrusion of snakes or noxious insects; besides which, bad weather might come on, when they would all require shelter. "Nothing like bamboo-house," observed Nub. "If earthquake come, it no shake down; if storm come on, it no blow away." The mate assented to the black's proposal, and agreed at once to cut down a sufficient number of bamboos, not only for the ladder, but for the house. This was not quite so easy a task as it at first appeared, for though the canes were hollow they were excessively hard, and it was only by chopping downwards all round that they could be broken off. At length, however, a sufficient number for the proposed ladder were cut down and carried to the foot of the tree. Nub was not going to make a ladder of double poles; the tree being of soft wood, he intended to stick in the rounds horizontally, and to support them with a single pole. They had also to collect a quantity of tough and lithe vines, which would serve to bind the rounds to the outer pole; the thickest end of which was stuck deep into the ground. This done, the work went on rapidly, round after round being driven into the tree, about three feet apart. Nub, continuing his work, went on ascending step after step, Dan following him when he got too high up to reach the long poles from the ground. The height looked perilous in the extreme, and Alice, as she watched him, could not help dreading that he might miss his footing and fall down; but Nub was highly delighted with the success of undertaking, and seemed to have no fears on the subject. "Nub puts me in mind of 'Jack and the Bean Stalk,'" said Walter, laughing. "I only hope that he won't find an ogre at the top of the tree." "No fear about Nub," observed the mate. "I hope that he may soon wring the necks of the hornbills and send them down to us." Nub was now near the hole where the female hornbill had been seen. She had drawn in her head; and her mate was either absent from home or was concealed among the thick foliage at the top of the tree. The last round was in, and Nub was seen preparing to mount on it, that he might put in his hand and haul out Madam Hornbill. He was just about to do so, when she put out her long beak, and began pecking away furiously at his hand; while, at the same moment, down flew Mr Hornbill from a bough on which he had been snugly ensconced till a favourable opportunity arose of making an attack on the assailant of his fortress. That every man's home is his castle, is rightly held in England as an established law, and the hornbills naturally considered their nest their castle. With loud screams of rage the male bird attacked poor Nub, who slipped down to the next round, where he held on with might and main, trying to defend his head from the furious onslaught of his feathered foe. Fortunately, his curly head of hair was a good thick one, and prevented the bird from inflicting the injury it might otherwise have done. Keeping his head down, so as to defend his eyes, he rapidly descended the ladder, the hornbills cawing and screaming all the time. The male bird, however, did not attempt to descend beyond the upper rounds of the ladder. "I no tink we lose our dinner, though," said Nub, as he got to the bottom. "What say you, Massa Shobbrok?" "Certainly not, Nub," answered the mate. "I have got a notion which I am pretty sure will succeed." "Den, if you show me what it is, I go up again, pretty quick," said Nub, who was afraid that the mate would deprive him of the honour of catching the bird. The mate took a line from his pocket, forming a noose, which he secured to a light bamboo. "I see it," cried Nub, "I see it. I soon catch both of dem, one after de oder." Taking the bamboo, he quickly ascended the ladder till he got near enough to reach the hornbill, which was still standing screaming defiantly on the upper round; and before it was aware of what the black was about, the latter slipped the noose over the bird's head and drew it tight, and then with a violent jerk pulling it off its perch, down it came, with its huge bill first and its wings fluttering, to the ground, where Dan quickly despatched it. Nub immediately descended for the bamboo; and mounting again, slipped the noose over the head of the hen hornbill, which she had poked out to see what had become of her partner. He held her fast enough, but could not drag her out of her hole. By standing on the upper round, however, he was able to batter in her fortress with his fist, after which he speedily sent her to the ground. Then putting in his hand, he drew out a curious creature like a ball of down, bearing no resemblance whatever to its parents. Though scarcely fledged, it was not to be despised, being very fat, and about the size of, a young chicken. So Nub threw it down to join its parents, shouting out, "Dere, dat make a fine dinner for Missie Alice." Poor Alice was grieved when she saw the little creature come tumbling to the earth, and declared she could not touch it. "Bery sorry, Missie Alice," said Nub, when he came down again, putting on a penitent look. Then turning aside to Dan, he whispered, "She talk bery differently when she see it nicely roasted by-and-by." Their success in obtaining food encouraged the voyagers to hope that they were not doomed to starve on an inhospitable shore, but that with diligence and a due exertion of their wits they might obtain sufficient food to support life. The hornbills would, at all events, afford them an ample meal for that day, and they might reasonably expect to obtain a further supply of shell-fish from the seashore; though Nub might not succeed in finding another huge mollusc. "Shall we remove the ladder?" asked Walter. "It might help to build the house." "I tink not," answered Nub, looking up. "Perhaps anoder hornbill come and make her nest dere, den we catch her and her husband. Bery good chance of dat, I tink." As it was important to get their house built without delay, they all returned laden with as many bamboos as they could carry,--Alice taking charge of the birds, slung, Chinese fashion, at the end of a bamboo, which she balanced on her shoulder: the little one being hung behind her, that her tender heart might not be grieved at seeing it. "Shall we all assist in putting up the house, Mr Shobbrok, or might it not be as well to try and get one or two bows made first?" asked Walter. "We cannot obtain food without them, so, by all means, make two or three," answered the mate. "You and Nub can work at them, while Dan and I arrange the plan for the house, and begin to put in the uprights." Alice assisted the mate in holding the line. "We must try to get the opposite sides even, and the walls at right angles with each other, and the corner-posts perpendicular," he observed. "The sides of our house must depend very much, in the first instance, on the length of the bamboos; and we can so arrange it that we may increase it without difficulty." As it was not time to begin cooking, all hands set to work at the occupations they had settled to follow. While Walter and Nub were shaping the bows with their knives, the mate, with his two assistants, having selected a flat spot a considerable height above the water, marked out the plan for the house--in front of which they intended to add a broad verandah, facing the seashore. The ground-floor they divided into two rooms, with space for a staircase to lead to the upper floor. This floor was to be divided into three rooms,--one for Alice, another for Walter, and the third for the surgeon; while the mate and the two men were to occupy one of the lower rooms, the other being intended for a parlour. The kitchen, they agreed, it would be best to form at a little distance from the house, lest it might by any accident catch fire. While they were thus busily employed, the doctor came back with a large supply of two different kinds of fruit--one like a plum, the other having a hard rind but a delicious pulp--while his pockets were filled with some roots, which he considered were of even more value. He also reported that he had found a palm which he had no doubt would yield an abundance of sago; but it would take some time and labour to prepare it. He proposed forming a manufactory near the stream, as an abundant supply of water was required for the necessary operations: also that they should commence the work next morning; for he considered that no time should be lost, as it would afford them an abundant supply of nutritious food, on which they could depend under all circumstances. He would, however, require one hand to assist him. Nub at once volunteered his services. "I hope by that time to have one of the bows finished," said Walter, "and I will go and shoot game, while Mr Shobbrok, Dan, and Alice continue working away at the house." The mate agreed to this proposal, though he observed that he thought it would be advisable, as soon as a sufficient supply of sago was got, for all hands to set to work at the house, so that they might have shelter should bad weather come on. Nub had not forgotten to spit and put the hornbills before the fire in good time; and when evening came on, and they could no longer see to work, they sat down to the most ample meal they had yet enjoyed, aided by the roots and fruits the doctor had collected. "In a couple of days more, Miss Alice, I hope you will have a good roof over your head, and a room to yourself," observed the mate. "I shall not rest satisfied till I see you comfortably lodged." Alice declared that she was perfectly satisfied with her tent. "That's very well while the weather is calm and dry; but should the rain begin to fall, which, from the look of the foliage, I have no doubt is very heavy hereabouts, it would be a very different matter," he answered. "I was, selfishly, only thinking of myself," said Alice, "and forgetting that you, at all events, would be exposed to the rain; so I hope that you will set to work and get the house up as soon as possible. I only wish that I was a man, to be able to help you more than I have done." "You do help us, Miss Alice," said the mate; "and you encourage us by your patience and uncomplaining spirit, and your cheerful temper. Do not think that you are of little use, for I don't think that we could do without you." Alice, being assured that the mate spoke the truth, was well pleased to think that young as she was, she was of use to her companions. Not only on a desolate island, but in the quiet homes of England, many little girls like Alice have the power, by their cheerfulness and good spirits, and, we may add, by their piety and kindness, to be of inestimable use to all around them. _ |
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