In the Eastern Seas Part 11

We had time to look about us, and examine the strange craft we had got on board. She had no masts, but the sails were hoisted on huge triangles, which could be lowered at pleasure. Her anchor, too, was of curious construction: it consisted of a tough, hooked piece of timber, which served as the fluke or hook, being strengthened by twisted ratans, which bound it to the shank; while the stock was formed of a large flat stone, also secured by ratans to the shank. I observed that all the crew were armed; and on a small piece of timber in the bows a small swivel gun was placed, a similar piece being fixed in the after-part of the vessel. The cable also was formed of ratan, which, though strong, could easily, I suspected, be cut by rocks.

We found, on seeing Macco, that the vessel had made but little progress during the night, having anch.o.r.ed near a reef in order not to pa.s.s the spot where the wreck was supposed to have occurred. Little notice of us was taken by the chief or his men: they all seemed eagerly looking out for the expected wreck. We also kept our eyes about us in every direction, earnestly hoping that she might appear; but not a sign of her was visible. I thought I saw a sail in the far distance. I pointed it out to Oliver. He was of the same opinion; so was Macco: but whether the natives saw it or not, we could not tell.

We continued our course, the breeze being light. After a time the prow was steered first to the right, then to the left. Then she made a traverse to the south as near to the wind as she could lay (which, by-the-by, was not very near, even with the aid of her oars); but though several reefs were seen, on one of which probably the s.h.i.+p had struck, she was nowhere to be discovered. We saw, however, pieces of timber and various articles floating about. At length we caught sight of a long object in the water. We steered towards it. Yes; it was the very mast to which we had clung! So it seemed to me, and so Oliver thought. If so, what had become of our unfortunate companions? Shortly afterwards another mast was seen. A human form was entangled in the rigging. We eagerly looked down on it as we pa.s.sed. The dark skin showed that it was the body of one of the Lascars. The mast was undoubtedly the foremast to which they had clung. A light boat was launched from the deck of the prow, and three hands went into it to the mast. I saw that they were taking off the girdle of the dead man. As they lifted him up I distinguished the features--so I thought--of Ali Tomba, who had been the cause of the destruction of the _Bussorah Merchant_. Leaving the body, the men returned with the sash and clothes. They were examined, and found to contain a considerable number of coins, at which the natives gazed with eager eyes.

Their whole conduct now changed towards us. The chief had seated himself in his usual place on the deck, when we were dragged up to him, and he made signs to us to empty our pockets. Oliver and Macco had, of course, but a few small coins: I had rather more, but no great sum, in Dutch money, which Captain Davenport had given me to make some purchases in the town of Ternate. I suppose they had treated us with civility at first, not understanding that our s.h.i.+p was entirely lost, and perhaps expecting that our countrymen would have punished them had they behaved ill to us. The chief seemed very angry at finding we had so little of value about us. He now made us a sign that we were to be gone from his presence. We sat down in the shade before the house, in the centre of the deck, where Macco began to bewail our hard fate, observing that he was sure the natives would kill and eat us. I endeavoured to comfort him by saying, that as they were Mohammedans they certainly would not eat us, though I could not be answerable for their not taking our lives; and, as far as I could, I endeavoured to persuade him to be prepared for whatever might happen.

"The great thing, Macco," said Oliver, joining in the conversation, "is to be sure that He who lives up there,"--(and he pointed to the blue sky)--"who made this world, and all those stars we see, loves us, his creatures whom he has placed on the earth; and if we trust him, he will do everything that is best for us."

"But how I know he does love us?" asked Macco. "He let many people die; many be drowned; many be killed with blow up mountain or shake of earth; many die fever, plague; many kill each other."

"Very true," answered Oliver. "Sometimes he lets those who love him best die. He does not say that he will keep even his friends alive; but if he takes them out of a bad world and puts them into a good one, does not that show his love? Some of those who are killed in the terrible way you say, are not his friends; but we know he loves us, because he gave One he loves better than anything else, to die for us, to be punished instead of us. We deserve punishment; we all feel that. He has told us, too, that he loves us; and if we believe the Bible, we must believe that. If man had not sinned, but had always been good and obedient, we might have reason to doubt G.o.d's Word; but we are sure that man has sinned, and continues sinning, and it was sin which brought all this suffering on man. Besides, again, as I said, we must not look upon death--the mere death of the body--as a punishment. It may be a great blessing; it is indeed so to many. But then, again, Macco, we cannot pretend to understand all G.o.d's dealings with us."

I listened very attentively to these remarks made by Oliver. A new light seemed to break on me. G.o.d's love! G.o.d's love!--oh, how little do we understand that! It is only a knowledge of that which can enable us in any way to comprehend his dealings with man.

"You see, Macco," continued Oliver, "that G.o.d is just as well as loving.

He punishes those who continue to refuse his offers of mercy. With many he tries loving-kindness first. Sometimes his love makes him afflict people for the sake of bringing them to him, making them feel their own helplessness. The great thing of all, however, is to know for a certainty that he loves us, and that whatever he does is for the best.

When a man is sure of this, he trusts to G.o.d, whatever happens. I have a loving mother, who taught me this. I am very sure it is the most valuable knowledge she could have given me. Though we know that we are sinners, and deserve punishment, yet we also know that when G.o.d's Son became man and died on the cross, being sacrificed for our sins, he took away the sins of all those who trust to him; and so, instead of being sinners in G.o.d's sight, when we thus trust to him we are made pure and holy, and fit to go to heaven--nay, sure of going to heaven when we die.

If you believe this, Macco, you will not be afraid even though the people round us should suddenly jump up and kill us all, and throw us overboard."

Macco was silent for some time. At length he looked up, and said,--"Bless you, Oliver; you tell me great truth. I no fear to die now."

I felt indeed grateful to my young companion. His words had given me a courage I could scarcely have expected to possess; and though I did not feel indifferent as to our fate, yet I was prepared, at all events, far better than I should otherwise have been for whatever might happen.

The native seamen sat round in the bow of the vessel, eating from a huge dish of rice, with some dried fish of some sort, seasoned with red pepper. After they had eaten their fill, they put down the remains of the dish--into which they had all plunged their unclean fingers--before us, much in the way they would have put it before a hungry dog, and made us a sign to eat it if we chose. At first I could scarcely bring myself to touch the food; but Macco urged me to do so, and he and Oliver at length beginning their repast, I could no longer resist the desire to eat.

I could not make out exactly whether we were on board a trader or a pirate; perhaps a mixture of both. If she was a trader, I concluded she was bound to the coast of New Guinea for tripang, or sea-slug-- considered a great delicacy by the Chinese and other people to the north; perhaps for pearls to the Aru Islands, or for other productions of the southern part of the archipelago. We found, at all events, that they were steering to the south. For several days they stood on, not altering their course. We were treated in the same manner as we had been since they had failed to discover the wreck of which we had told them. They gave us but scanty food, and allowed us but little water.

The interpreter no longer came near us, while scowling looks were cast at us from every side. At length an island appeared on our port-bow, towards which the prow was steered. It was thickly wooded, down to the very water's edge. A variety of strange-looking shrubs were seen, with lofty and elegant palms rising above them. What they were going to do we could not surmise. Having got close in, the sails were lowered, and the anchor let go. A boat was then launched. As we were standing looking towards the sh.o.r.e, the chief touched me on the shoulder, and made signs that I was to get into the boat. I knew that resistance would be useless. Two men then stepped in. I also did as I was ordered. He then signed to Oliver and Macco to follow; Macco going forward, and Oliver and I sitting in the stern. We endeavoured to ascertain from the chief why we were to be carried to the island; but he did not answer, making only an impatient gesture to us to be off.

Without wasting further words, we took our seats, and the two men began to pull away towards the sh.o.r.e.

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

OUR ISLAND.

A ledge of rocks running out from the land formed a small natural harbour, into which the boat ran, and soon reached the sandy beach.

Here the crew made signs to us to land. We obeyed, for resistance, of course, was useless. I jumped on sh.o.r.e, followed by my two companions, and scarcely wetting our feet, we reached the dry beach. The men, then giving a shove with their oars, pulled away, leaving us on what appeared to be an uninhabited island. Why we were thus treated we could not comprehend.

"I do not see that we have any great reason to complain," observed Oliver. "We should have been very thankful had we reached this island on the raft, and we ought to be very much obliged to those people for carrying us here. They might have taken us to some place and sold us for slaves, or might have creesed us and thrown us overboard."

"You are right, Oliver," I answered; "and we must try to make the best of it. I only hope we may find food and water. Unless they were less than human, they could scarcely have placed us on an island which they knew was dest.i.tute of water." We made these remarks as we watched the boat rowing away toward the prow. She soon reached the vessel, was hoisted up, and the prow made sail to the southward. We now sat down on the beach, to see what was best to be done. Macco had his sailor's knife, fortunately, secured with a lanyard round his neck. I had a large clasp-knife in my pocket, which, though, like my clothes, somewhat the worse for having been wetted with salt water, was still serviceable and sharp.

The first thing was to survey our island, we agreed, and to try to find water. The sh.o.r.e was lined in many places with the curious panda.n.u.s, or screw-palm, which may well be described as a trunk with branches at both ends; or rather the roots seem to have lifted the trunk into the air and to have a.s.sumed the appearance of branches. Its woody fruit, about five inches in diameter, is in the form of a sphere, and is regularly divided by projections of a diamond shape.

The jungle was so thick that we could penetrate but a very little way through it, with great difficulty. Walking along the beach, we reached a small opening--a miniature gulf, as it were, into which apparently a stream of water had at some time flowed, though at present the bed was perfectly dry. Looking up it, we discovered a high hill some little distance inland; we agreed that if we could make our way to that, we might thence have a better view of the surrounding country. We had not gone far when we came to a grove of bamboos. We each of us cut down a couple: one we pointed to serve as a weapon of defence; and the other we formed into the shape of a gouge to serve as a spade, with which we intended to dig for water, should we not find any stream or pool.

Still, from the rich vegetation which appeared on every side, we had little doubt that water would be found. Proceeding up the dry water-course, we approached the hill; but it grew narrower and narrower, till at length the trees and underwood, with numberless creepers, so completely blocked up the way, that we could scarcely force a road through it. Still, to the top of the hill we had determined to go.

Making use of our knives, we cut away the creepers, sometimes crawling under the trees, sometimes climbing over the stems which bent across our course. Once more we saw the summit of the hill. It appeared much higher than we at first supposed it to be. At length we were rewarded for our exertions by finding that we were actually ascending the side.

On we went, the underwood becoming less dense as we rose higher and higher. We now had little difficulty in making our way, the trees and shrubs indeed a.s.sisting us in climbing the steep sides. When, however, we got to the top, we found that what we had supposed to be small shrubs were, in reality, large trees, covering it so thickly that the view on every side was shut out.

"I am afraid we have had all our toil for nothing," I observed.

"I am afraid so, too," said Oliver.

"Stay, Ma.s.sa Walter," observed Macco. "I climb to top of dis tree, and den see what I can see."

He pointed to the lofty palm under which we were standing. Descending a little way, he cut a quant.i.ty of creepers, which he soon twisted into a strong hoop round the tree and his own body. He now began, by placing the hoop a little way above him and leaning back, to climb upwards, and with wonderful rapidity reached the summit. We asked him what he saw.

"We on good big island!" he shouted out. "Plenty of wood; but no see water. Dere oder islands." And then pointing to the south-east, he cried out,--"Dere more land, long, long away dere!"

"Do you make out any vessel?" I asked.

"No; only prow go away to de south."

"That must be the coast of New Guinea," I observed to Oliver. "I only hope none of the inhabitants may come over to this island, for they are terrible savages."

"If they come, we must keep out of their way," said Oliver. "It would be better to remain here than to be carried off and eaten by them."

Macco, having ended his survey, descended the tree. I tried to get up the same way, wis.h.i.+ng to take a look round myself; but I found that, though not a bad climber, I could not manage it. Seeing no great use in persisting in the attempt, I gave it up. We could find no other way down to the sh.o.r.e, besides the one up which we had come. Having cleared away some impediments, we had less difficulty in returning than we had found in going upwards. Macco led; indeed, his knowledge of woodcraft in his native country was of great service to us, for I believe without him we should very easily have lost our way, even though we had left the marks of our knives on the creepers as we went up. As we were pus.h.i.+ng on, my eye caught sight of some trees in a hollow on one side, which I at once knew to be sago-trees, from the description Mr Hooker had given me of them.

"See!" I exclaimed to Oliver, "there is a supply of food sufficient to last us for months, or years, indeed, if we can manage to manufacture the sago; and I think we shall have little difficulty in doing that."

I pointed it out to Macco. He knew them at once.

"Yes, yes!" he said; "dey bery good. I make food from dem. Come to look for water dere."

Following him, we proceeded to the hollow I have mentioned. The ground was low and soft, and gave us some hopes of finding water. We instantly set to work, digging with our bamboo spades. We dug and dug in the soft earth; but though it was somewhat moist, not a thimbleful of water appeared. Still we did not despair. Oliver proposed that we should look for another spot at a lower level, where we might hope to be more successful. We accordingly set to work to force our way through the jungle towards the sh.o.r.e. Even with sharp axes we should have found some difficulty; but it was very heavy work with our knives. Still, it had to be done. Water was the first thing we required. We had progressed a hundred yards or less, though it had appeared to us upwards of a mile, when we heard close to us a peculiar cry, which sounded something like, "Wawk--wawk--wawk!--Wok--wok--wok!" loud and shrill above our heads. On looking up we caught sight of a magnificent bird, with rich crimson wings, and a long pendant tail like strips of satin.

The head, and back, and shoulders were covered with the richest yellow, while the throat was of a deep metallic-green. The end of the side plumes had white points. I had little difficulty in recognising the bird of paradise, and I remembered Mr Hooker speaking of one which he called the red bird of paradise. This, I had little doubt, was the bird before us. Away he flew, however, followed by a smaller bird of a sombre brown plumage, which I could scarcely have supposed was his mate, had I not known that the wives of these gay-plumaged gentlemen are nearly always robed in Quaker-like simplicity. As he went, he appeared to be pecking away at the fruit of various trees over which he pa.s.sed.

It seemed surprising, too, that his long ribbon-like tail should have escaped catching in the thick foliage through which he rapidly flew.

We, poor creatures, scrambling through the lower part of the forest, had a difficulty in making our way, without losing our close-fitting garments; indeed, as it was, they were sadly torn by the underwood. We were rewarded for our exertions, by reaching another hollow in which a number of the sago-palms grew.

The sago-palm has a creeping root-stem, like a nipa-palm, and Mr Hooker had told me that when it is nearly fifteen years old it sends up an immense terminal spike of flowers, after which it dies. It is not so tall as the cocoa-nut tree, but is thicker and larger. The mid-ribs of its immense leaves are twelve or fifteen feet long, and sometimes the lower part is as thick as a man's leg. They are excessively light, consisting of a firm pith, covered with a hard rind. They are frequently used instead of bamboo; entire houses, indeed, are built of them. They serve for the roofs of houses, as also for the floors; and when pegged together, side by side, they form the centre part of the panels of frame houses. As they do not shrink, but look clean and nice, without requiring varnish, they serve better for walls and part.i.tions than do ordinary boards. Boxes, also, are made of them; indeed, it would be difficult to describe the numberless uses to which they are put. The trunk, however, is the more valuable part, as the pith of the interior is the staple food of large numbers of the inhabitants of these regions. I will not stop here to describe how the sago is made; but I will do so shortly.

We again set to work with our bamboo spades, and dug away most energetically. Some moisture on the ground encouraged us to proceed, while the burning thirst from which we were suffering increased our anxiety for success. As we dug lower the ground became soft, and more and more moist, when Macco, putting down his hand, brought it up full of liquid mud. "Water come soon," he exclaimed, digging away more energetically than before.

"Hurrah!" I shouted. "A spring! a spring! We are indeed lucky!"

"Let us rather say that G.o.d is merciful," said Oliver, though in so low a voice that it seemed scarcely as if he intended me to hear him.

"You are right," I answered; "I do feel grateful." Some bamboos grew a short way off, and Macco, running to them, soon cut several pieces, leaving the knots at the ends to serve as bottoms; we thus in a few minutes were each supplied with a serviceable cup. By this time the thick mud had settled down, though the water was far from limpid. We each of us eagerly took a draught to quench our thirst. Thus, then, we were supplied with the first necessary of life. By this time we had all become very hungry; though we felt sure we could manufacture some sago out of the sago-palms, yet it would be a work of time. Our chief hope of obtaining food immediately was on the sea-sh.o.r.e--we might at all events find sh.e.l.l-fish. Macco told us he was sure he could manufacture some fis.h.i.+ng-lines and hooks; the latter out of the bones of birds, and the lines from some of the numerous creepers with which the island abounded. While this was being done, however, we should be starved; we therefore made the best of our way round through the path we had already made to the sh.o.r.e. I had often thought the matter over, and I was sure that many persons had lost their lives from not immediately setting to work to try and find the means of subsistence. I had read of two parties being cast away on the same island at a short distance from each other: the one peris.h.i.+ng; the other, from their energy and perseverance, existing for many months, and ultimately escaping.

Oliver needed no urging, and Macco especially seemed ready to exert his faculties in obtaining food. We looked along the beach, but the water was up, and no sh.e.l.ls with live creatures in them could we find. There was no lack of empty sh.e.l.ls, however, some of them of great size and beauty, such as would fetch a high price in England.

"They are of very little use to us," I observed.

Macco heard me. "Not so sure of dat, Ma.s.sa Walter," he said, for I should remark that, having learned his English from Potto Jumbo, he spoke very much in his way. "Here dis big sh.e.l.l make good cook-pot; here clean out dis, make good cup; here plates, and here dis make good spoon," and he picked up sh.e.l.ls of different shapes.

"I wish, however, we could find something to put into them and cook," I could not help saying.