by G. A. Henty
The day broke bright and sunny. The first care of the boys was toexamine their canoe; and they found, as they had feared, that ahuge hole had been made, in her bottom, by the crash against therocks on landing. They looked for some time with ruefulcountenances at it; and then, as usual, turned to Ned, to ask himwhat he thought had best be done.
"There can be no doubt," he said, "that the natives make a sort ofglue out of some trees or shrubs growing in these islands, and weshall have to endeavor to discover the tree from which they obtainit. We can, of course, easily pull off the bark from some tree,which will do to cover the hole. The great point is to find somesubstance which will make it water tight."
The grove was a very large one, and appeared to extend along thewhole coast. Seaward, it was formed entirely of cocoa trees, butinland a large number of other trees were mingled with the palms.All day the boys attempted to find some semblance of gum oozingfrom these trees. With sharp pieces of shell they made incisions inthe bark of each variety that they met with, to see if any fluidexuded which might be useful for this purpose, but in vain.
"If we can kill some animal or other," Ned said, "we might boildown its sinews and skin and make glue; as Tom and myself did, tomend our bows with, among the Indians on the pampas. But even then,I question whether the glue would stand the action of the water."
As to their subsistence they had no uneasiness. Besides the cocoas,fruit of all sorts abounded. In the woods parrots and other birdsflew screaming among the branches at their approach, and althoughat present they had no means of shooting or snaring thesecreatures, they agreed that it would be easy to construct bows andarrows, should their stay be prolonged. This, however, they shrankfrom doing, as long as any possible method of escape presenteditself. Were it absolutely necessary, they agreed that they couldburn down a tree and construct a fresh canoe; but they were by nomeans sanguine as to their boat-building capabilities, and werereluctant to give up the idea of continuing their voyage in theirpresent craft, as long as a possibility of so doing remained.
So they passed four days; but succeeded in finding no gum, or othersubstance, which appeared likely to suit their purpose.
"I should think," Reuben said one day, "that it would be possibleto make the canoe so buoyant that she would not sink, even iffilled with water."
"How would you do that?" Tom asked. "There are many light woods, nodoubt, among the trees that we see; but they would have to remain along time to dry, to be light enough to be of any use."
"I was thinking," Reuben said, "that we might use coconuts. Thereare immense quantities upon the trees, and the ground is coveredwith them, from the effects of the late gale. If we strip off thewhole of the outside husk, and then make holes in the little eyesat the top and let out the milk, using young ones in which theflesh has not yet formed, and cutting sticks to fit tightly intothe holes, they would support a considerable weight in the water. Ishould think that if we treated several hundred nuts in this way,put them in the bottom of the canoe, and keep them in their placesby a sort of net, which we might easily make from the fibers of thecocoas, the boat would be buoyant enough to carry us."
The idea struck all as being feasible, and Reuben was muchcongratulated upon his inventive powers. Without delay, they set towork to carry out the plan. A piece of thin bark was first takenand, by means of a long thorn used as a needle, was sewn over thehole in the canoe, with the fibers of the cocoa. Then a large pileof nuts was collected, and the boys set to work at the task ofemptying them of their contents. It took them some hours' work tomake and fit the pegs. Another two days were spent in manufacturinga net, to stretch across the boat above them.
The nuts were then placed in the boat, the net put into shape and,choosing a calm night for their trial--for they feared, during thedaytime, to show themselves beyond the margin of the forest--theyplaced it in the water, and paddled a short distance out.
They found that their anticipations were justified, and that theflotation of the cocoas was amply sufficient to keep the boatafloat. She was, of course, far lower in the water than she hadbefore been, and her pace was greatly deteriorated. This, however,they had expected and, returning to shore, they watched for thenext night. Then, taking in a load of provisions, they started atonce upon their way.
It was weary work now, for the water-logged canoe was a verydifferent boat to the light bark, which had yielded so easily totheir strokes. Fortunately, however, they met with no misadventure.The weather continued calm. They were unseen, or at least notfollowed, from any of the islands that they passed on their way.But it was ten days after their final start before a large island,which they all recognized as Ternate, was seen rising above thewater.
"Easy all," Ned said. "We may be thankful, indeed, that we havearrived safely in sight of the island. But now that we are close,and there is no fear of tempests, had we not better talk overwhether, after all, we shall land at Ternate?"
"Not land at Ternate?" the others exclaimed in consternation; forindeed, the work during the last few days had been very heavy, andthey were rejoicing at the thought of an end to their labors "Why,we thought it was arranged, all along, we should stop at Ternate."
"Yes, but we arranged that because at Ternate, alone, there seemeda certainty of a welcome. But, as you know, Tidore only lies twelvemiles away from Ternate; and from the position we are now in, itwill not be more than five or six miles farther.
"You see, when we were there, the king was preparing for a war withthe Portuguese in Tidore, and he would certainly expect us toassist him, and probably to lead his fighting men."
"But we should have no objection to that," Reuben said.
"Not in the least," Ned replied. "But you see, if we are ever toget back to England, it must be through the Portuguese. Their shipsalone are to be found in these seas, and were we to join the Kingof Ternate in an attack upon them, whether successful or not, wecould never hope to be received in Portuguese ships; and shouldprobably, indeed, be taken to Goa, and perhaps burned there asheretics, if we were to seek an asylum on board.
"What do you think?"
Viewed in this light, it certainly appeared more prudent to go toTidore, and after some little discussion the boat's head was turnedmore to the west, and the lads continued their weary work inpaddling the water-logged canoe. So slowly did she move that it waslate at night before they approached the island. They determinednot to land till morning, as they might be mistaken for natives,and attacked. They therefore lay down in the canoe and went tosleep, when within about a mile of the island; and the next morningpaddled along its shore until they saw some canoes hauled up,together with an English boat, and supposed that they were at theprincipal landing place of the island.
On either side of the landing place the cliffs rose steeply up, ata short distance from the beach. But at this point a sort ofnatural gap existed, up which the road ascended into the interiorof the island. There were several natives moving about on the beachas the boys approached, and one of these was seen, at once, tostart at a run up the road. The lads had carefully removed allvestige of the paint from their faces and hands and, having put ontheir doublets, concealed the strange appearance presented beforeby their white shirts.
No resistance was opposed to their landing; but the nativesmotioned to them that they must not advance inland, until amessenger returned from the governor. The boys were only too gladto throw themselves down full length on the soft sand of the beach,and to dry their clothes in the sun; as for ten days they had beenconstantly wet, and were stiff and tired.
Presently a native came down at a run, and announced that thegovernor was at hand. Rising to their feet, and making the bestshow they could in their faded garments, the lads soon saw aPortuguese gentleman, attended by four soldiers, coming down theroad between the cliffs.
"Who are you?" he asked in Portuguese, as he reached them, "andwhence come you?"
"We are Englishmen," Ned said in Spanish. "We belong to the ship ofCaptain Drake, which passed by here in its voyage
of circumnavigation.By an accident, we in the canoe were separated from the ship and leftbehind. We have come to seek your hospitality, and protection."
"We heard of an English vessel at Ternate," the governor said,sternly, "some weeks since; and heard also that its captain wasmaking an alliance with the king there, against us."
"It was not so," Ned said. "The admiral stopped there for a fewdays to obtain supplies such as he needed; but we are not hereeither to make alliances or to trade. Captain Drake, on starting,intended to voyage round the coast of America; and to return, ifpossible, by the north. After coasting up the western shores ofthat continent, he found that it would be impossible to pass roundthe north, as the coast extended so rapidly toward the north ofAsia. He therefore started to return by the Cape, and on his waypassed through these islands.
"Had it been part of his plan to make alliances with the King ofTernate, or any other potentate, he would have stopped and done so;and would have given his armed assistance to the king. But hisobject was simply to return, as quickly as possible. Had there beenany alliance made, we should naturally have made for Ternate,instead of this island. But as we have no relations with the king,and seek only means of returning to Europe, we preferred, ofcourse, to come here, where we knew that we should find Christians;and, we hoped, friends."
There was palpable truth in what Ned said; and the governor,unbending, expressed his readiness to receive and help them. Hethen asked a few more questions about the manner in which they hadbecome separated from their friends; and seeing no advantage inconcealing the truth, and thinking perhaps that it would be well,if an opportunity should offer, that the governor should send avessel to search among the islands near where the wreck took place,and see if any of the crew had sought refuge there, they told himfrankly the circumstances under which they had left the GoldenHind.
"It would be sad, indeed," said the Portuguese, "if so grand anexpedition, under so noble a commander, should have been wreckedafter accomplishing such a work. We in these parts are not friendlyto any European meddling. His Holiness the pope granted us alldiscoveries on this side of the Cape, and we would fain trade inpeace and quiet, without interference. But we can admire the greatdeeds and enterprise of your countrymen; and indeed," he saidsmiling--for the Portuguese are, as a rule, a very small race--andlooking at the bulk of the four young men, which was, indeed,almost gigantic by the side of himself and his soldiers, "I amscarcely surprised, now I see you, at the almost legendary deedswhich I hear that your countrymen have performed on the Spanishmain.
"But now, follow me to my castle, and I will there provide you withproper appliances. What position did you hold in the ship?"
"We are gentlemen of Devonshire," Ned said, "and bore a share inthe enterprise, sailing as gentlemen adventurers under CaptainDrake. I myself held the rank of third officer in the ship."
"Then, senors," the Portuguese said, bowing, "I am happy to placemyself and my house at your disposal. It may be that you will beable to render me services which will far more than repay anyslight inconvenience or trouble to which I may be put, for we hearthat the King of Ternate is preparing a formidable expeditionagainst us; and as my garrison is a very small one, and the nativesare not to be relied upon to fight against those of the otherisland, the addition of four such experienced soldiers as yourselfwill, in no slight degree, strengthen us."
The boys replied that their swords were at the service of theirhost; and, well content with the turn things had taken, theyproceeded with him up the road into the interior of the island.
Upon gaining the higher land, they were surprised at the aspect ofthe island. In place of the almost unbroken forest which they hadbeheld, in other spots at which they had landed, here was faircultivated land. Large groves of spice trees grew here and there,and the natives were working in the fields with the regularity ofEuropeans. The Portuguese method of cultivating the islands whichthey took differed widely from that of the English. Their firststep was to compel the natives to embrace Christianity. Theirsecond to make of them docile and obedient laborers, raising spiceand other products, for which they received in payment calico,beads, and European goods.
The castle, which stood in the center of a small plain, was builtof stone roughly hewn; and was of no strength which would haveresisted any European attack, but was well calculated for thepurpose for which it was designed. It consisted of a pleasant housestanding in an enclosure, round which was a wall, some fifteen feetin height, with a platform running behind it, to enable itsgarrison to shoot over the top. A ditch of some ten feet in depthand fifteen feet wide surrounded it; so that, without scalingladders to ascend the walls, or cannon to batter holes in them, theplace could be well held against any attack that the natives mightmake upon it.
The garrison was not a formidable one, consisting only of somethirty Portuguese soldiers, whose appearance did not speak much forthe discipline maintained. Their uniforms were worn and rusty inthe extreme. They were slovenly in appearance, and wore a look ofdiscontent and hopelessness. A large portion of them, indeed, hadbeen criminals, and had been offered the choice of death or ofserving for ten years, which generally meant for life, in theeastern seas. Ned judged that no great reliance could be placedupon this army of scarecrows, in the event of an attack of aserious character.
"My men would scarcely show to advantage at home," the governorsaid, noting the glance of surprise with which the boys had viewedthem. "But in a country like this, with such great heat and no realoccasion for more than appearances, it is hopeless to expect themto keep up the smartness which would, at home, be necessary. Thenatives are very docile and quiet, and give us no trouble whatever;and were it not for interference from Ternate, where the people areof a much more warlike nature, the guard which I have would beample for any purposes. I am expecting a vessel which calls hereabout once in six months, very shortly, and anticipate that shewill bring me some twenty more soldiers, for whom I wrote to theviceroy at Goa when she last called here."
"What is your latest news from Ternate?" Ned asked.
"I have no direct news," he said. "What we know we gather from thenatives, who, by means of canoes and fishing boats, are often incommunication with those of the opposite island. They tell me thatgreat preparations are being made, that several of the largest-sizedcanoes have been built, and that they believe, when it is full moon,which is generally the era at which they commence their adventures,there will be a descent upon this island."
"Then you have seven days in which to prepare," Ned said. "Have youbeen doing anything to enable you to receive them hotly?"
"I have not," the governor said. "But now that you gentlemen havecome, I doubt not that your experience in warfare will enable youto advise me as to what steps I had better take. I stand at presentalone here. The officer who, under me, commanded the garrison diedtwo months since; and I myself, who was brought up in a civilrather than a military capacity, am, I own to you, strangealtogether to these matters."
Ned expressed the willingness of himself and his friends to do allin their power to advise and assist the governor; and with manymutual compliments they now entered the house, where a goodly roomwas assigned to them; some natives told off as their servants; andthe governor at once set two native seamsters to work, tomanufacture garments of a proper cut for them, from materials whichhe had in a storehouse for trading with the neighboring chiefs;who, like all savages, were greatly given to finery. Thus, by theend of the week, the boys were able once more to make a show whichwould have passed muster in a European capital.
At the governor's request, they had at once proceeded to drill thesoldiers, Ned and Gerald taking each the command of a company offifteen men, as they understood Spanish and could readily makethemselves understood in Portuguese, whereas Tom and Reuben knewbut little of the Spanish tongue.
"I think," Tom said the first morning to the governor, after thefriends had discussed the prospect together, "it would be well tothrow up some protection at the top of the road leading from the
shore. I should order some large trees to be cut down, and draggedby a strong force of natives to the spot, and there so arrangedthat their branches will point downward and form a chevaux de frisein the hollow way; leaving until the last moment a passage betweenthem, but having at hand a number of young saplings, to fill up thegap. There are, I suppose, other places at which the enemy couldland?"
"Oh, yes," the governor said. "On the other side of the island theland slopes gradually down to the shore, and indeed it is only fora few miles, at this point, that the cliffs rise so abruptly thatthey could not be ascended. Yet even here there are many pointswhich a native could easily scale; although we, in our accoutrements,would find it impossible."
While Ned and Gerald drilled their men with great assiduity,astonishing the Portuguese soldiers with their energy andauthoritative manner, Tom and Reuben occupied themselves insuperintending the felling of the trees; and their carriage, bymeans of a large number of natives, to the top of the road.Preparations were also made for blocking up the lower windows ofthe house so that, in case of the enemy succeeding in carrying theouter wall, a stout resistance could be made within. Large piles ofprovisions were stored in the building, and great jars of waterplaced there.
"Are you sure," Ned asked the governor one evening, "of the nativeshere? For I own that there appears to me to be a sullen defiance intheir manner, and I should not be surprised to see them turn uponus, immediately those from the other island arrive. If they did so,of course our position at the top of the road would be untenable,as they would take us in the rear. However, if they do so, I doubtnot that we shall be able to cut our way back to the castle,without difficulty.
"I think that it would be, in any case, advisable to leave at leastten men to hold the castle, while the rest of us oppose thelanding."
There were in store four small culverins and several light wallpieces. Two of the culverins were placed on the cliff, one at eachside of the path, so as to command the landing. Two others wereplaced on the roof of the castle, which was flat and terraced. Thewall pieces were also cleaned, and placed in position at thecorners of the walls; and the boys, having seen that the musketoonsand arquebuses of the garrison were in excellent order, and readyfor service, felt that all had been done that was possible toprepare for an attack.
The day before the full moon a sentinel was placed at the cliff,with orders to bring word instantly to the castle, in case anycraft were seen coming from Ternate, the distance from the cliff tothe house being about a mile. A short time after daybreak, nextmorning, the sentry arrived at full speed, saying that a greatfleet of canoes was visible.
Hurrying to the spot with the governor, the lads made out that theapproaching flotilla consisted of eighteen great war canoes, eachof which, crowded as it was, might contain a hundred men; and inaddition to these were a large number of smaller craft. Theinvading force, therefore, would considerably exceed two thousandmen.
Reuben had the command of a gun at one side, Tom at the other, andthese now loaded and sighted their pieces, so as to pour a volleyof case shot into the canoes when they arrived within a quarter ofa mile from shore.
The canoes came along in a dense body, as close together as theycould paddle, their rowers filling the air with defiant yells. Whenthey reached the spot upon which the guns had been trained Tomfired his piece, and its roar was answered by wild screams andyells from the crowded fleet. Reuben followed suit, and thedestruction wrought by the gnus was at once manifest. Three of thegreat canoes were broken to pieces, and their occupants swimming inthe water climbed into the others, among which also a great manymen had been wounded.
The effect of this reception upon the valor of the natives was veryspeedy. Without a moment's delay they backed off, and were soonseen making out of range of the guns, like a troop of wild fowlscattered by the shot of a fowler.
"They have a horror of cannon," the governor said, exultingly, ashe witnessed their departure. "If we had a few more pieces, Ishould have no fear of the result."
The dispersal of the canoes continued only until they thought thatthey were out of range; for although the lads now sent severalround shot at them, these did not produce any effect, the canoesbeing but small objects to hit at a distance, when on the move, andthe culverins being old pieces, and but little adapted for accurateshooting.
The fleet were soon seen to gather again, and after a little pausethey started in a body, as before, along the coast.
"They are going to make a landing elsewhere," Ned said, "and weshall have to meet them in the open. It is a pity that we have nobeasts of burden to which to harness our pieces; for as these areonly ships' guns, it is impossible for us to drag them at a speedwhich would enable us to oppose their landing. Where are all thenatives?"
At the first alarm a large body of the islanders had assembled uponthe cliff, but in the excitement of watching the approaching enemy,their movements had not been noticed. It was now seen that thewhole of them had left the spot, and not a single native was insight.
"I think," Ned said, "we had better fall back and take up aposition near the house, and repel their attack with the assistanceof the guns mounted there. With muskets only, we should not havemuch chance of preventing their landing; and indeed they will rowmuch faster along the coast than we could run to keep up withthem."
The governor agreed in the justice of Ned's view, and the wholeforce were now ordered to fall back towards the castle. As theyproceeded they saw large bodies of the natives. These, however,kept at a distance; but their exultant shouts showed that they mustbe considered to have gone over to the enemy.
"I will make you pay for this," the governor said, stamping hisfoot and shaking his fist angrily in their direction. "Each manshall have to furnish double the amount of spice for half theamount of calico, for the next five years. Ungrateful dogs! When wehave done so much for them!"
Ned could scarcely help smiling to himself, at the thought of themany benefits which the Portuguese had bestowed upon theseunfortunate islanders, whom they had reduced from a state of happyfreedom to one which, whatever it might be called, was but littleshort of slavery.
It was late in the evening before great numbers of the enemy wereseen approaching, and these, swelled as they were by the populationof the island, appeared a formidable body, indeed, by the side ofthe handful of white men who were drawn up to defend the place. Theenemy, numerous as he was, appeared indisposed to commence a fightat once, but began, to the fierce indignation of the governor, tocut down the groves of spice trees, and to build great fires withthem.
"I don't think that they will attack until tomorrow," Ned said,"and it would be well, therefore, to withdraw within the walls, toplant sentries, and to allow the men to rest. We shall want all ourstrength when the battle begins."
"Do you think," the governor asked, when they were seated in hisroom, and had finished the repast which had been prepared, "that itwill be well to sally out to meet them in the open? Thirty whitemen ought to be able to defeat almost any number of these nakedsavages."
"If we had horses I should say yes," Ned said, "because then, byour speed, we could make up for our lack of numbers; and, wheelingabout, could charge through and through them. But they are so lightand active in comparison to ourselves that we should find itdifficult, if not impossible, to bring them to a hand-to-handconflict. We have, indeed, the advantage of our musketoons; but Iobserved at Ternate that many of the men have muskets, and thesound of firearms would therefore in no way alarm them. With theirbows and arrows they can shoot more steadily at short distancesthan we can, and we should be overwhelmed with a cloud of missiles,while unable to bring to bear the strength of our arms and thekeenness of our swords against their clubs and rough spears. Ithink that we could hold the house for a year against them; but ifwe lost many men in a fight outside, it might go hard with usafterwards."
When morning dawned the garrison beheld, to their dismay, that theIndians had in the night erected a battery at a quarter of a milein front of the gate, and t
hat in this they had placed theculverins left on the cliff, and a score of the small piecescarried in their war canoes.
"This is the work of the two white men we saw at Ternate," Geraldexclaimed. "No Indian could have built a battery according to thisfashion."
As soon as it was fairly light the enemies' fire opened, and wasanswered by the culverins on the roof of the house. The latter weremuch more quickly and better directed than those of the Indians,but many of the balls of the latter crashed through the greatgates.
"Shall we make a sortie?" the governor asked Ned.
"I think that we had better wait for nightfall," he replied. "Inpassing across this open ground we should lose many men from thecannon shots, and with so small a force remaining, might not beable to resist the onrush of so great numbers. Let us prepare,however, to prop up the gates should they fall, and tonight we willsilence their guns."
At nightfall the gates, although sorely bruised and battered, andpierced in many places, still stood; being shored up with beamsfrom behind. At ten o'clock twenty of the garrison were let down byropes at the back of the castle, for Ned thought that scouts mightbe lurking near the gates, to give notice of any sortie. With greatprecaution and in perfect silence they made a way round, and werewithin a hundred yards of the battery before their approach wasdiscovered.
Then, headed by the governor, who was a valiant man by nature, andthe four English, they ran at great speed forward, and were insidethe battery before the enemy could gather to resist them. Thebattle was indeed a hard one; for the Indians, with their clubs,fought valorously. Reuben and Tom, having been furnished withhammer and long nails, proceeded to spike the guns; which they didwith great quickness, their doings being covered, alike, by theirfriends and by darkness. When they had finished their task theygave the signal, and the Portuguese, being sorely pressed, fellback fighting strongly to the castle, where the gates were openedto receive them. In this sortie they lost eight men.
The next morning at dawn the natives, being gathered in largenumbers, came on to the assault, uttering loud and fierce cries.The cannon on the roof, which were under the charge of Tom andReuben, at once opened fire upon them, while the soldiers upon thewalls shot briskly with their musketoons. The natives, however,appeared determined to succeed and, firing a cloud of arrows,pushed forward towards the gate. Among them were borne, each bysome thirty natives, long trees; and this party, surrounded by themain body, proceeded rapidly towards the gate, which, damaged as itwas, they hoped easily to overthrow.
The fire of the two culverins was, however, so deadly, and theconcentrated discharge of the musketoons upon them as they advancedso fatal that, after trying several times to approach close to thegate, the natives dropped the great logs and fled.
Chapter 21: Wholesale Conversion.