The Coral Island: A Tale of the Pacific Ocean

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER XX.

  Intercourse with the savages--Cannibalism prevented--The slain are buriedand the survivors depart, leaving us again alone on our Coral Island.

  After the battle was over, the savages crowded round us and gazed at usin surprise, while they continued to pour upon us a flood of questions,which, being wholly unintelligible, of course we could not answer.However, by way of putting an end to it, Jack took the chief (who hadrecovered from the effects of his wound) by the hand and shook it warmly.No sooner did the blacks see that this was meant to express good-willthan they shook hands with us all round. After this ceremony was gonethrough Jack went up to the girl, who had never once moved from the rockwhere she had been left, but had continued an eager spectator of all thathad passed. He made signs to her to follow him and then, taking thechief by the hand, was about to conduct him to the bower when his eyefell on the poor infant which had been thrown into the sea and was stilllying on the shore. Dropping the chief's hand he hastened towards it,and, to his great joy, found it to be still alive. We also found thatthe mother was beginning to recover slowly.

  "Here, get out o' the way," said Jack, pushing us aside, as we stoopedover the poor woman and endeavoured to restore her, "I'll soon bring herround." So saying, he placed the infant on her bosom and laid its warmcheek on hers. The effect was wonderful. The woman opened her eyes,felt the child, looked at it, and with a cry of joy clasped it in herarms, at the same time endeavouring to rise, for the purpose, apparently,of rushing into the woods.

  "There, that's all right," said Jack, once more taking the chief by thehand. "Now Ralph and Peterkin, make the women and these fellows followme to the bower. Well entertain them as hospitably as we can."

  In a few minutes the savages were all seated on the ground in front ofthe bower making a hearty meal off a cold roast pig, several ducks, and avariety of cold fish, together with an unlimited supply of cocoa-nuts,bread-fruits, yams, taro, and plums; with all of which they seemed to bequite familiar and perfectly satisfied.

  Meanwhile, we three being thoroughly knocked up with our day's work, tooka good draught of cocoa-nut lemonade, and throwing ourselves on our bedsfell fast asleep. The savages it seems followed our example, and in half-an-hour the whole camp was buried in repose.

  How long we slept I cannot tell, but this I know, that when we lay downthe sun was setting and when we awoke it was high in the heavens. Iawoke Jack, who started up in surprise, being unable at first tocomprehend our situation. "Now, then," said he, springing up, "let's seeafter breakfast. Hallo! Peterkin, lazy fellow, how long do you mean tolie there?"

  Peterkin yawned heavily. "Well!" said he, opening his eyes and lookingup after some trouble, "if it isn't to-morrow morning, and me thinking itwas to-day all this time. Hallo! Venus, where did you come from? youseem tolerably at home, any how. Bah! might as well speak to the cat asto you--better, in fact, for it understands me, and you don't."

  This remark was called forth by the sight of one of the elderly females,who had seated herself on the rock in front of the bower, and, havingplaced her child at her feet, was busily engaged in devouring the remainsof a roast pig.

  By this time the natives outside were all astir, and breakfast in anadvanced state of preparation. During the course of it we made sundryattempts to converse with the natives by signs, but without effect. Atlast we hit upon a plan of discovering their names. Jack pointed to hisbreast and add "Jack," very distinctly; then he pointed to Peterkin andto me, repeating our names at the same time. Then he pointed to himselfagain, and said "Jack," and laying his finger on the breast of the chief,looked inquiringly into his face. The chief instantly understood him andsaid "Tararo," twice, distinctly. Jack repeated it after him, and thechief, nodding his head approvingly, said "Chuck." On hearing which,Peterkin exploded with laughter; but Jack turned and with a frown rebukedhim, saying, "I must look even more indignantly at you than I feel,Peterkin, you rascal, for these fellows don't like to be laughed at."Then turning towards the youngest of the women, who was seated at thedoor of the bower, he pointed to her; whereupon the chief said, "Avatea;"and pointing towards the sun, raised his finger slowly towards thezenith, where it remained steadily for a minute or two.

  "What can that mean, I wonder," said Jack, looking puzzled.

  "Perhaps," said Peterkin, "the chief means she is an angel come down tostay here for a while. If so, she's an uncommonly black one!"

  We did not feel quite satisfied with this explanation, so Jack went up toher and said, "Avatea." The woman smiled sadly, and nodded her head, atthe same time pointing to her breast and then to the sun, in the samemanner as the chief had done. We were much puzzled to know what thiscould signify, but as there was no way of solving our difficulty we wereobliged to rest content.

  Jack now made signs to the natives to follow him, and, taking up his axe,he led them to the place where the battle had been fought. Here we foundthe prisoners, who had passed the night on the beach having been totallyforgotten by us, as our minds had been full of our guests, and wereultimately overcome by sleep. They did not seem the worse for theirexposure, however, as we judged by the hearty appetite with which theydevoured the breakfast that was soon after given to them. Jack thenbegan to dig a hole in the sand, and, after working a few seconds, hepointed to it and to the dead bodies that lay exposed on the beach. Thenatives immediately perceived what he wanted, and, running for theirpaddles, dug a hole in the course of half an hour that was quite largeenough to contain all the bodies of the slain. When it was finished theytossed their dead enemies into it with so much indifference that we feltassured they would not have put themselves to this trouble had we notasked them to do so. The body of the yellow-haired chief was the lastthrown in. This wretched man would have recovered from the blow withwhich Jack felled him, and, indeed, he did endeavour to rise during themelee that followed his fall, but one of his enemies, happening to noticethe action, dealt him a blow with his club that killed him on the spot.

  While they were about to throw the sand over this chief, one of thesavages stooped over him, and with a knife, made apparently of stone, cuta large slice of flesh from his thigh. We knew at once that he intendedto make use of this for food, and could not repress a cry of horror anddisgust.

  "Come, come, you blackguard," cried Jack, starting up and seizing the manby the arm, "pitch that into the hole. Do you hear?"

  The savage of course did not understand the command, but he perfectlyunderstood the look of disgust with which Jack regarded the flesh, andhis fierce gaze as he pointed towards the hole. Nevertheless he did notobey. Jack instantly turned to Tararo and made signs to him to enforceobedience. The chief seemed to understand the appeal, for he steppedforward, raised his club, and was on the point of dashing out the brainsof his offending subject, when Jack sprang forward and caught hisuplifted arm.

  "Stop!" he shouted, "you blockhead, I don't want you to kill the man." Hethen pointed again to the flesh and to the hole. The chief uttered a fewwords, which had the desired effect; for the man threw the flesh into thehole, which was immediately filled up. This man was of a morose, sulkydisposition, and, during all the time he remained on the island, regardedus, especially Jack, with a scowling visage. His name, we found, wasMahine.

  The next three or four days were spent by the savages in mending theircanoe, which had been damaged by the violent shock it had sustained onstriking the shore. This canoe was a very curious structure. It wasabout thirty feet long, and had a high towering stern. The timbers, ofwhich it was partly composed, were fastened much in the same way as thoseof our little boat were put together; but the part that seemed mostcurious to us was a sort of out-rigger, or long plank, which was attachedto the body of the canoe by means of two stout cross beams. These beamskept the plank parallel with the canoe, but not in contact with it, forit floated in the water with an open space between; thus forming a sortof double canoe. This we found was intended to prevent the upsetting ofthe canoe, whic
h was so narrow that it could not have maintained anupright position without the out-rigger. We could not help wonderingboth at the ingenuity and the clumsiness of this contrivance.

  When the canoe was ready, we assisted the natives to carry the prisonersinto it, and helped them to load it with provisions and fruit. Peterkinalso went to the plum-tree for the purpose of making a special onslaughtupon the hogs, and killed no less than six of them. These we baked andpresented to our friends on the day of their departure. On that dayTararo made a great many energetic signs to us, which, after muchconsideration, we came to understand were proposals that we should goaway with him to his island; but, having no desire to do so, we shook ourheads very decidedly. However, we consoled him by presenting him withour rusty axe, which we thought we could spare, having the excellent onewhich had been so providentially washed ashore to us the day we werewrecked. We also gave him a piece of wood with our names carved on it,and a piece of string to hang it round his neck as an ornament.

  In a few minutes more we were all assembled on the beach. Being unableto speak to the savages, we went through the ceremony of shaking hands,and expected they would depart; but, before doing so, Tararo went up toJack and rubbed noses with him, after which he did the same with Peterkinand me! Seeing that this was their mode of salutation, we determined toconform to their custom, so we rubbed noses heartily with the wholeparty, women and all! The only disagreeable part of the process was,when we came to rub noses with Mahine, and Peterkin afterwards said, thatwhen he saw his wolfish eyes glaring so close to his face, he felt muchmore inclined to _bang_ than to _rub_ his nose. Avatea was the last totake leave of us, and we experienced a feeling of real sorrow when sheapproached to bid us farewell. Besides her modest air and gentle mannersshe was the only one of the party who exhibited the smallest sign ofregret at parting from us. Going up to Jack, she put out her flat littlenose to be rubbed, and thereafter paid the same compliment to Peterkinand me.

  An hour later the canoe was out of sight, and we, with an indefinablefeeling of sadness creeping round our hearts, were seated in silencebeneath the shadow of our bower, meditating on the wonderful events ofthe last few days.