Old Jack Part 35

We, meantime, made all haste back to the boat, picking up whatever we could lay hands on in our way. We were not a little hurried in our movements by seeing two or more sharks, which had been attracted to the spot by the blood flowing from the monster; and they would just as soon have taken a meal off us as a nibble at him, which is all they would have got for some time, probably.

"Never fear, my lads!" shouted Mr Trevett, the mate. "Strike out with your feet, and heave over the boat. Quick now!--so!--over she comes!

We'll soon have her baled out."

Baling with hats and caps, as we hung round the gunwale, and striking out with a will, to keep the sharks at a distance, we were enabled to clear the boat sufficiently of water to allow us to get in, just as a big shark, impatient of delay, made a dart at the mate's leg--for he was the last in--and very nearly caught his foot. We quickly had the boat to rights, but we found that we had lost two very valuable articles--our tinder-box and compa.s.s; so that we could neither make a signal to the s.h.i.+p nor tell in what direction to steer should thick or cloudy weather come on. We had, however, no time to meditate on our misfortune, for scarcely were we once more seated on the thwarts, oars in hand, than the whale, as if waiting the signal, started off again, head out, just as he had done before. His speed, however, was very much slackened; and though, after we had hauled in the line a little, he made an attempt to sound, he quickly returned to the surface, still more exhausted by the effort.

At length we managed to get near enough to him to enable Mr Trevett to give him a thrust with his lance. Deep in it went, the monster almost leaping out of the water with the agony of the wound. A vital part had been pierced. "He's in his flurry! Stern all--stern all!" was shouted.

It was time that we were out of his way; for, swimming round and round, he beat the water with his flukes with terrific force, sufficient to have dashed us to atoms had he touched us, throwing the life-blood over us from his spout, and das.h.i.+ng the surrounding ocean, ensanguined with the ruddy stream, into a ma.s.s of foam. This mighty convulsion was his last effort. Over he rolled, and he was our well-earned prize.

But now we had killed him, it became a serious question how we were to get back to the s.h.i.+p. In what direction was she to be found? As we looked about, we saw that the weather, which had hitherto been so fine, was evidently about to change. The sky was full of the unmistakable signs of a heavy gale. Long fleecy clouds with curling ends lay scattered over it, and darker ma.s.ses were banking up rapidly in the southward. We had now ample time to consider our position, as we lay on to the dead whale. We had neither light nor compa.s.s, and all our provisions were spoiled or lost. One keg of water alone had been recovered, and we found among us a few quids of tobacco. The nearest islands to the northward were, we knew, inhabited by the very worst description of cannibals, and, though white men occasionally traded with them for provisions, it was necessary to be constantly watchful to prevent surprise. The crews of several vessels not having taken the proper precautions, had been cut off and murdered. Night also was rapidly approaching, and we could not possibly reach the s.h.i.+p, even did we know where to find her, before dark, probably not for several hours.

However, the mate, feeling that the first object was to try and save our lives, resolved to pull for the s.h.i.+p, leaving the whale with flags stuck on its side, in the hope that we might again find it. With much regret, therefore, we quitted our hard-earned prize, and pulled away, as we believed, to the northward, in the direction where we had left the s.h.i.+p.

We had not pulled long, however, when the gloom of night came on, and the gale which we had seen brewing burst over the ocean, quickly tearing up its sleeping bosom into foam-crested, tumbling seas, which every instant rose higher and higher. We soon also discovered that we could make no head against them, and that, by attempting to do so, we should only weary ourselves in vain.

"We must put the boat about, and run before it," said Mr Trevett.

"Hoist the lug--haul aft the sheet!" It was done, and away we flew, careering over the fast-rising seas through the pitchy darkness of night!

"Where are we going to?" was the question. Still no other course remained for us to follow. To attempt to head the heavy seas now rising was impossible. No one spoke--a fear of coming evil settled down on our hearts. Darker and darker grew the night--the clouds seemed to come down from the sky and settle close over our heads, meeting the troubled wildly-leaping waves.

On we flew--the seas, as they curled and hissed up alongside of us, tumbling over the gunwale, and making it necessary for all hands to continue baling. Our only hope was that the s.h.i.+p might run before the gale and overtake us; but then we remembered that she probably had a whale alongside, and that the captain would not like to desert it as long as he could hold on. All hope, therefore, of help from man deserted us.

On we went--death every instant threatening us--a death amid that dark, wild, troubled, storm-tossed ocean! At length the fierce roar of the wind and sea seemed to increase. We looked out before us into the darkness. "Breakers!--breakers ahead!" we shouted. A thrill of horror ran through our veins. In another moment we should be dashed to a thousand fragments among the wild rocks over which they so fiercely broke. To attempt to haul off in such a sea would have consigned us to an equally certain fate. The imminence of the danger seemed to sharpen our vision. A ma.s.s of foam, which seemed to leap high up into the dark sky, lay before us. Not a moment could a boat live attempting to pa.s.s through it. On both sides we turned our anxious gaze, to discover if any spot existed where the sea broke with less violence. Almost simultaneously we shouted, "A pa.s.sage on the starboard-bow!"

There appeared, if our eyes deceived us not, a dark s.p.a.ce where the line of huge breakers was divided. We were rus.h.i.+ng headlong to destruction.

Not an instant was to be lost. The helm was put to port. We rose on the crest of a vast rolling sea. Down it came, thundering on the rocks on either side of us, throwing over them heavy showers of spray, sufficient almost to swamp us. Still we floated unharmed. The sea rolled on between what, in the darkness, appeared like walls of foam, and in another instant we found ourselves floating beyond the fierce turmoil of waters, just tossed gently by the waves, which found their way over the reef into a large lagoon within it!

A sh.o.r.e fringed with trees lay before us. In five minutes we were landed safely on it, and the boat was secured to the stump of a fallen tree. It was too dark to allow us to attempt to penetrate into the interior, to ascertain the sort of place on which we had been thrown; so, returning to the boat and baling her out, we wrung our wet clothes and lay down to seek that rest we all, after our violent exertions and anxiety, so much needed.

It must have been nearly daylight when we went to sleep. I know not how long we had slept. It would have been better for us had we driven sleep far from our eyelids, and been ready to pull out and wander over the inhospitable ocean the moment the gale abated, rather than have remained where we were. I was the first to open my eyes, and, looking up, I saw to my horror a nearly naked savage looking down into the boat with prying eyes from the bank above us. He was almost jet-black, with negro features and a full beard and moustache. His hair was frizzled out to a great size and covered by a brownish turban. Round his waist he wore the usual maro or kilt, with something like a shawl or plaid over his shoulders; and in his hand he held a long formidable-looking spear.

From the turban on his head, I afterwards discovered that he was a chief.

"Eugh! eugh!" he cried, as he saw me opening my eyes to look at him, and his menacing att.i.tude and ferocious aspect made a most uncomfortable feeling creep over me.

"Up, lads, up! and shove off!" I shouted to my companions, jumping forward myself to cut the painter. They started to their feet at my summons, looking up with a bewildered stare at the sh.o.r.e; and well they might so have done, for there stood some twenty or more fierce-looking savages, whom the exclamation of their chief had called to his side, and before we could get the oars out, a shower of spears came rattling down among us. Poor Mr Trevett was pierced through, and fell with a deep groan to the bottom of the boat; another of my companions sprung up as he was struck, and went headlong overboard; others were badly wounded; and one man only besides me was unhurt by the first shower of missiles.

Seeing that we still persevered in trying to get the boat off, the savages came rus.h.i.+ng down the bank; and though I had cut the painter, before I could give the boat sufficient impetus to get out of their way, they had seized the gunwale and hauled her up on the beach.

All hope of escape was now at an end. We were each of us seized by three or four of the savages, while, by the chief's directions, two others plunged into the water, and soon returned with the body of the man who had fallen overboard. To my horror, our poor wounded companions were instantly stabbed by these wretches, apparently for no other reason than because they offered some resistance to being dragged roughly along; and thus Brian and I were the only two who remained alive of those who had so lately escaped from the stormy ocean. Some of the savages, I saw, were left to take care of the boat in which the bodies of those who had been killed were placed.

As we climbed to the top of a hill, and I looked back over the blue ocean, now s.h.i.+ning brightly in the morning sun, I saw that the storm had ceased; and--I am certain my eyes did not deceive me--I saw in the offing the white canvas of a s.h.i.+p, which I felt sure must be the _Drake_, probably searching for those who were never to be found.

From the appearance of the people and their cruel proceedings, I had no doubt but that we had fallen on one of the Feejee islands; and, from their well-known character, I knew what our fate would probably be. I myself had little, it might seem, to live for; but still life is _dear_ to all of us, and I considered what I could do to preserve mine. I knew that most savages, as well as eastern nations, look upon a person deprived of his intellect as sacred, so I at once resolved to act the madman. On this, summoning all my strength, I gave vent to the loudest roar I could utter, finis.h.i.+ng with a burst of laughter; and when my guards, in their surprise, let me go, I started forward, leaping, and singing, and dancing, with the greatest extravagance, pointing to the way I saw the chief was going, and pretending to conduct him with many bows and flourishes worthy of a French dancing-master. Desperate as the device was, it appeared to have its effect, for neither the chief nor any of his companions again attempted to interfere with me, though they dragged poor Brian on as before. He, of course, could not make out what had happened to me, and I could not venture to advise him to imitate my conduct, as I thought, very probably, should I do so, that both of us would fail in saving our lives by it. He, however, seeing the fate which had befallen our companions by refusing to walk on willingly, proceeded wherever his guards chose to lead him.

After pa.s.sing through woods and large patches of cultivated ground, we reached a village of considerable size, and were led to what I supposed was the house of the princ.i.p.al chief, the father of the young man who had captured us. It stood on a raised platform of stone, and was built entirely of wood, with elliptical ends, the beams ornamented with coloured cocoa-nut plait. The side walls were solid, with windows, the frames of which were bound together to represent a kind of fluting, and which had a very ornamented appearance. The interior was divided into several compartments by screens of native cloth dyed with turmeric; and as the children and several of the people were painted with the same pigment, the whole had a very yellow appearance. The front and back of the edifice were formed of long laths, bent like a bow, and thatched with cocoa-nut leaves, something like the front of some bathing-machines in England. Under the roof, supported by beams, was a floor of lattice-work, which seemed to be the store-room of the house, as bundles of cloth and articles of various sorts were piled up there; while on the ground were scattered different utensils for cooking or eating from-- such as bowls of glazed crockery of native manufacture, and plenty of well-made mats. On one of the walls were hung up some strings of whale teeth--articles which pa.s.s for money among those people.

At one end of the chief hall, on a pile of mats, sat a stout old man, with a huge turban and large beard and moustache, and wrapped in thick folds of native cloth. Savage as he looked, there was a good deal of dignity and intelligence about him. Keeping up the character I had a.s.sumed, I instantly began to salaam, as I had seen the Moors do, and to turn about on one leg, and then to leap and spring up, and clap my hands, singing out "Whallop-ado-ahoo!--Erin-go-bragh!" at the top of my voice, in a way to astonish the natives, if it did not gain their respect. My heart all the time felt as if it would break with shame and terror--with shame, at having to behave so, and with terror, lest I should, after all, not succeed.

The old chief and the young one, with the people who accompanied him, had a great deal of conversation about us, I found--the old one remarking that we had both of us "salt water in our eye," and must submit to the law. Now, by the law, or rather custom, of the Feejees, every person cast on sh.o.r.e on their coasts is killed and eaten! I had numberless proofs of the truth of this.

The result of the conversation about me was, that I was tabooed--to be held sacred, as it were--and that my life was to be spared. They tried to make me understand this at the time, and I partly comprehended their meaning. To prove their sincerity, the old chief had a number of dishes of various sorts of vegetables and fruit brought in, with a young pig baked whole, of which he made me partake. This I did very willingly, for I was very hungry, and the viands looked very tempting. When I had eaten a good meal, I jumped up and shook the old chief and his son very heartily by the hand; and then sitting down on a mat, I threw myself back, and began singing away at the top of my voice, as if I had been perfectly contented with my lot. When, however, I got up to leave the house, signs were made to me that I was to stay where I was. This, I concluded, was that notice might be given to the people that I was tabooed, and that they were not to interfere with me, or I should in all probability have been clubbed by the first native I met, who might have suspected that I had been cast upon their sh.o.r.e by the late gale.

I felt very anxious to ascertain what had become of Brian. He had not been allowed to enter the chief's house with me, but, as we approached the village, had been led off in a different direction. Suspecting the horrible practice of the savages, and hearing nothing of him as the day grew on, I became very much alarmed for his safety.

At night a mat was pointed out to me on which I was to sleep; but it was long before I could close my eyes, and every instant I expected to find myself seized and carried off by the savages. I did sleep, however, at last, and the next morning I found myself at liberty to wander out where I pleased. Food was first brought to me, and then, having performed various curious antics to keep up the belief of my insanity, I left the house and took the way up a neighbouring hill.

I had not gone far before I came to what was evidently a native temple, shaded by tall and graceful trees. It was a high-pointed building, formed of bamboos, and hung with strings of bones and screens of native cloth. I saw arms of various sorts, and an altar with two human skulls on it, made into drinking cups. I was considering how I could find my poor companion, when, near the temple, I entered an open s.p.a.ce with several small erections of stone, which I discovered on examination were ovens. In the centre of the s.p.a.ce was what I took at first to be the figure of a man cut out of wood, and painted over in a curious way with many colours. I went up to it. Horror almost overcame me--I recognised the countenance of my lost companion Brian! while some clothes hung up on poles hard by, and some human bones scattered under them, showed me what had been the fate of the rest of our boat's crew. I rushed shrieking from the spot, and for many a day I had no occasion to feign madness--I really was, I believe, out of my mind.

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.

LIFE AMONG THE SAVAGES--JACK'S ESCAPE AND RETURN HOME.

Drearily pa.s.sed the time of my sojourn in that benighted region. Day after day I sought in vain for the means of escape. Vessels often touched at the island; but directly they appeared, a strict watch was kept on me, and if I went towards the sh.o.r.e, I was told to go back and remain in the chief's house till they had sailed. Under some circ.u.mstances I might have been tolerably happy. The climate was delightful and healthy; there were provisions in abundance--yams and bananas and plantains, cocoa-nuts and shaddocks, pumpkins and pine-apples, guavas and water-melons--indeed, all the tropical fruits and vegetables, with a good supply of pigs for meat. The chiefs treated me with kindness and consideration; the people with respect, barbarous and savage though they were; but the scenes of horror I was constantly witnessing, and could not prevent, had so powerful an effect on my mind that time rolled on with me in a dreamy sort of existence. I scarcely knew how the months pa.s.sed by--whether, indeed, as it seemed to me, years had elapsed since I landed on that fatal spot.

I had not believed beings so bloodthirsty and savage existed on the face of the earth, possessing, at the same time, so much intelligence and talent. Their houses and temples are very neatly built; the tapa-cloth, which they make from the paper-mulberry by beating it out, is of a fine texture, of great length, and often ingeniously ornamented; they cultivate a large number of the fruits of the earth with much attention; the way in which they fortify their villages appears almost scientific.

The town in which I lived was surrounded by several deep moats, or ditches, one within the other, arranged with so much intricacy, that it was at first difficult to find my way out of it; then there were several walls, and in the centre a sort of citadel on a hill surmounted by a rock. On the summit of the rock stood a flagstaff, on which was hoisted, in war-time, the flag of defiance.

I had been many months there in the condition of a prisoner, if not a slave, before I was allowed to go beyond the fortifications. At last the young chief invited me to accompany him. He did not explain where he was going. He and all those with him were painted in their gayest colours. We reached the sea-sh.o.r.e, and embarked in a large double canoe, with an out-rigger to prevent her capsizing. Several other canoes accompanied us.

We sailed on till we came to an island. At no great distance from the water rose a high hill with a fort on the top of it. I remained on board the canoe, while the chief and his followers landed. As soon as they had done so, they began to shout out and to abuse the people in the fort, daring them to come down. After a time, about a dozen left the fort, and descended the hill to meet the invaders. Our chief had stationed some of his people behind an embankment, and as soon as these incautious warriors appeared, they drew their bows and shot three of them. Then the people in the fort rushed down in great numbers to secure their fallen companions; but in doing so, more were shot, and others clubbed by our party, who carried off the bodies of the three first killed, as well as most of the others, and then, with loud shouts of triumph, retired to their canoes. With these spoils we sailed back.

We were received in the village with every demonstration of joy. In the evening of the same day, when I went out, I found that all the slain had been carried to the grove before the temple, and were placed in rows, with their bodies covered over with paint. The chiefs and all the princ.i.p.al men of the tribe were a.s.sembling from far and near. The priest of the town was standing near the temple, and the butcher, as he was called, a bloodthirsty monster, was ready with the implements of his horrid trade, while his a.s.sistants were employed in heating the ovens.

I rushed from the spot; but, instigated by a curiosity I could not repress, I again returned, and witnessed a scene of the most disgusting cannibalism the mind could imagine. The bodies of the slain were baked, and then cut up by the priest or butcher, and distributed among the chiefs and princ.i.p.al men, none of the women or lower orders being allowed to partake of the horrible banquet. What struck me was the avidity with which the savages seized the fragments and devoured them.

I would have avoided giving the dreadful account, were it not to show the depth of wickedness into which human nature, when left to itself, will inevitably sink. Often have I seen parties of men set out for the express purpose of capturing and murdering their fellow-creatures-- people of the same colour and race, and chiefly helpless women and children--to satisfy their disgusting propensities--frequently to furnish a banquet on the visit of some neighbouring and friendly chiefs.

Some people have pretended to doubt the existence of cannibalism as a regular custom, though unable to deny that it has been resorted to under the pressure of hunger; but the Feejee islands afford numberless undoubted proofs that hundreds of people were yearly slaughtered to gratify the unnatural taste of their ferocious chiefs. Wars were undertaken for the express purpose of obtaining victims; all persons, friends or strangers, thrown by the stormy ocean on their inhospitable sh.o.r.es, were destroyed; their own slaves were often killed; and men, women, and children among the lower orders, even of friendly tribes, were frequently kidnapped and carried off for the same purpose.

But, praise be to G.o.d! heart-rending as are the scenes I have witnessed and the accounts I have heard, all-powerful means exist to overcome this and other horrible, though long established customs. The Christian faith, when carried to those benighted lands by devoted men, who go forth in love and obedience to Him who died for them, and in firm confidence that He is all-powerful to preserve them, and to make His name known among the heathen, is the sure and effectual means to conquer the giant evil. Before its bright beams, the dark gloom of savage barbarism and superst.i.tion has been put to flight, by the untiring efforts of Christian missionaries; and I am told, that among even the Feejee islands, wherever they have planted the Cross, numbers have flocked round it, and in many places the whole character of the people has been changed. I am describing simply barbarism as it existed, and as it still does exist, in numberless places in those beautiful regions of the earth's fair surface; and I would point out to those who read my history, how much it is their duty to inquire into the truth of the statements I make, and to support by all the means at their disposal those who are engaged in our Lord's service in overcoming the evil, by teaching the pure, simple, evangelical faith as it is in Christ Jesus-- His incarnation--His sufferings--His atonement--His propitiation offered once--His intercession ever making--the cleansing power of His blood-- our acceptance by an all-holy G.o.d through Him. Let these great truths be made known to the heathen, and, by the divine blessing, their minds, dark as they may have been, will accept them with joy and thankfulness.

But to return to my life on the island. My master, the old chief, was said to be a very civil and polite man; but I have seen him, when the inhabitants of the tributary or slave states were bringing him their quota of provisions, if he did not think that they were approaching his abode in a sufficiently humble posture by stooping almost to the ground, deliberately take his bow and shoot one of them through the heart. The rest, not daring to interfere, or to run away, would continue their progress as if nothing had happened, while the body of the unfortunate wretch would be carried off to the bake-house. To approach his house on one side, a river had to be crossed, swarming with sharks; and often he would make the slaves swim across, and if one of them were bitten by a shark, and still managed to get across, he was instantly on landing killed for the same dreadful purpose.

Some months after my arrival, the chief's house was burned down--though the rolls of cloth, and much of his more valuable property, were saved.

He at once issued his commands to the people of all the tributary villages to bring in materials for the erection of another on a much larger scale. Meantime we lived in huts, quickly erected on his property. When the day arrived to commence the building, I saw that four very deep and large holes had been dug to receive the corner posts.

These posts were brought up with great ceremony to the spot. At the same time, four slaves, strong, muscular young men, were brought up, and when the posts were placed upright in the holes, a slave was made to descend into each of them, and as I looked in, I saw them clinging tightly round the posts. I concluded that they were to remain there to hold the posts upright till the earth was shovelled in; but what was my horror to find that they were to remain for ever in that position!

While they stood in all their health and strength, looking up with longing eyes into the blue sky, others threw in the earth, and beat it down with heavy mallets over their heads. I shuddered at the spectacle, but heart-broken as I was I dared not interfere.

Our old chief had resolved to build a fleet of large double canoes, with which to bring the inhabitants of another island under subjection. It had been his chief care and attention for some years past. At length a portion was finished and ready for launching. Before this ceremony could be performed, it was necessary to attack a village at some distance, to obtain victims to offer in sacrifice to the evil spirits they wors.h.i.+pped, in order that success might attend their operations.

The young chief and his party set out with his warriors, and attacking a village in the dead of night, carried off fifty of its unfortunate inhabitants.

The next day, the shrieking wretches were brought to the dockyard. That they might be kept in a proper position to serve as ways or rollers over which the canoes might pa.s.s, each person was securely lashed to two banana-trees, lengthways--one in front, and the other behind him. Thus utterly unable to move, with their faces upwards, they were placed in rows between the canoes and the water. Ropes were then attached to the canoes, which, it must be understood, are very heavy, and numbers hauling away on them, they were dragged over the yet breathing, living ma.s.s of human beings, whose shrieks and groans of agony rent the air, mingled with the wild shouts and songs of their inhuman murderers, till the former were silenced in death. I need not say what became of the bodies of the victims thus horribly immolated. The ceremony ended with a great feast, at which all the chiefs and princ.i.p.al men a.s.sembled from far and near, and which lasted several days.

With the young chief I was on intimate terms, and I believe that he had formed an attachment to me, and was anxious to preserve me from injury.

In our excursions about the country, we visited one day a temple at the end of a small pond, and I saw him throw into it some bread-fruit and other provisions. Looking into the pond, and wondering what this was for, I observed a large monster with a body as thick as a man's leg, and a hideous head, which I took to be a great snake, but which he told me was an eel of vast age, showing me some eels to explain his meaning, and also that it was a spirit which he wors.h.i.+pped. This was the only wors.h.i.+p I ever saw him engaged in.

I had spent upwards of a year on the island, or it may have been two, when the old chief fell ill. He sat moping by himself in the corner of his house, and no one could tell what was the matter with him. One day his son came in, and taking his hand, just as if he had been going to say something very affectionately to him, told him that the time had arrived when it would be better for him to die! The old man bowed his head, and replied that he was of the same opinion! The son mentioned a day for the burial, to which the old man willingly consented; and till the time arrived, as if a weight had been taken off his mind, he seemed very much the better that everything had been so satisfactorily arranged. I could discover no compunction on the part of the son, nor regret on that of the father, who was cheerful and contented, and ate his meals with far more relish than he had before done. As the fatal day approached I attempted to remonstrate with the young chief on so unnatural a proceeding; but he sternly rebuked me, and told me not to interfere with the immemorial customs of the people. His father had been chief long enough--he was worn-out and weary of life--and he himself wished to be chief. When he should become old, his son would probably wish to finish him in the same honourable way, and that he should be content to submit to the usage of his nation.

The day arrived, and all the relatives and friends and neighbouring chiefs a.s.sembled. The old chief got up, and was followed by a procession of all his people, some bearing spades, and others cloths with which to wrap him up in the grave. The grave was about four feet deep. A cloth having been spread at the bottom, the old man was conducted to it. He stepped down with as little unwillingness as if he had been entering a bath, and having been placed on his back, the cloth was folded over him. Instantly others began shovelling in the earth, and then his son and nearest relatives came and stamped it down, exerting all their force with their feet. Not a sound was uttered by the old man. Leaves were scattered on the grave, and then all engaged in the ceremony went and washed at a neighbouring stream.