After London; Or, Wild England

by Richard Jefferies

  CHAPTER XXV

  THE SHEPHERDS

  For four days Felix remained on the island recovering his strength. Bydegrees the memory of the scenes he had witnessed grew less vivid, andhis nerves regained their tone. The fifth morning he sailed again,making due south with a gentle breeze from the west, which suited thecanoe very well. He considered that he was now at the eastern extremityof the Lake, and that by sailing south he should presently reach theplace where the shore turned to the east again. The sharp prow of thecanoe cut swiftly through the waves, a light spray flew occasionally inhis face, and the wind blew pleasantly. In the cloudless sky swallowsand swifts were wheeling, and on the water half a dozen mallards movedaside to let him pass.

  About two hours after he started he encountered a mist, which camesoftly over the surface of the water with the wind, and in an instantshut out all view. Even the sun was scarcely visible. It was very warm,and left no moisture. In five minutes he passed through and emergedagain in the bright sunlight. These dry, warm mists are frequently seenon the Lake in summer, and are believed to portend a continuance of fineweather.

  Felix kept a good distance from the mainland, which was hilly andwooded, and with few islands. Presently he observed in the extremedistance, on his right hand, a line of mountainous hills, which hesupposed to be the southern shore of the Lake, and that he was sailinginto a gulf or bay. He debated with himself whether he should alter hiscourse and work across to the mountains, or to continue to trace theshore. Unless he did trace the shore, he could scarcely say that he hadcircumnavigated the Lake, as he would leave this great bay unexplored.He continued, therefore, to sail directly south.

  The wind freshened towards noon, and the canoe flew at a great pace.Twice he passed through similar mists. There were now no islands at all,but a line of low chalk cliffs marked the shore. Considering that itmust be deep, and safe to do so, Felix bore in closer to look at theland. Woods ran along the hills right to the verge of the cliff, but hesaw no signs of inhabitants, no smoke, boat, or house. The sound of thesurf beating on the beach was audible, though the waves were not large.High over the cliff he noted a kite soaring, with forked tail, at agreat height.

  Immediately afterwards he ran into another mist or vapour, thicker, ifanything, and which quite obscured his view. It seemed like a greatcloud on the surface of the water, and broader than those he hadpreviously entered. Suddenly the canoe stopped with a tremendous jerk,which pitched him forward on his knees, the mast cracked, and there wasa noise of splitting wood. As soon as he could get up, Felix saw, to hisbitter sorrow, that the canoe had split longitudinally; the water cameup through the split, and the boat was held together only by the beamsof the outrigger. He had run aground on a large sharp flint embedded ina chalk floor, which had split the poplar wood of the canoe like an axe.The voyage was over, for the least strain would cause the canoe to partin two, and if she were washed off the ground she would be water-logged.In half a minute the mist passed, leaving him in the bright day,shipwrecked.

  Felix now saw that the waters were white with suspended chalk, andsounding with the paddle, found that the depth was but a few inches. Hehad driven at full speed on a reef. There was no danger, for thedistance to the shore was hardly two hundred yards, and judging by theappearance of the water, it was shallow all the way. But his canoe, theproduct of so much labour, and in which he had voyaged so far, his canoewas destroyed. He could not repair her; he doubted whether it could havebeen done successfully even at home with Oliver to help him. He couldsail no farther; there was nothing for it but to get ashore and travelon foot. If the wind rose higher, the waves would soon break clean overher, and she would go to pieces.

  With a heavy heart, Felix took his paddle and stepped overboard. Feelingwith the paddle, he plumbed the depth in front of him, and, as heexpected, walked all the way to the shore, no deeper than his knees.This was fortunate, as it enabled him to convey his things to landwithout loss. He wrapped up the tools and manuscripts in one of hishunter's hides. When the whole cargo was landed, he sat down sorrowfullyat the foot of the cliff, and looked out at the broken mast and sail,still flapping uselessly in the breeze.

  It was a long time before he recovered himself, and set to workmechanically to bury the crossbow, hunter's hides, tools, andmanuscripts, under a heap of pebbles. As the cliff, though low, wasperpendicular, he could not scale it, else he would have preferred toconceal them in the woods above. To pile pebbles over them was the besthe could do for the present; he intended to return for them when hediscovered a path up the cliff. He then started, taking only his bow andarrows.

  But no such path was to be found; he walked on and on till weary, andstill the cliff ran like a wall on his left hand. After an hour's rest,he started again; and, as the sun was declining, came suddenly to a gapin the cliff, where a grassy sward came down to the shore. It was nowtoo late, and he was too weary, to think of returning for his thingsthat evening. He made a scanty meal, and endeavoured to rest. But theexcitement of losing the canoe, the long march since, the lack of goodfood, all tended to render him restless. Weary, he could not rest, normove farther. The time passed slowly, the sun sank, the wind ceased;after an interminable time the stars appeared, and still he could notsleep. He had chosen a spot under an oak on the green slope. The nightwas warm, and even sultry, so that he did not miss his covering, butthere was no rest in him. Towards the dawn, which comes very early atthat season, he at last slept, with his back to the tree. He awoke witha start in broad daylight, to see a man standing in front of him armedwith a long spear.

  Felix sprang to his feet, instinctively feeling for his hunting-knife;but he saw in an instant that no injury was meant, for the man wasleaning on the shaft of his weapon, and, of course, could, if so he hadwished, have run him through while sleeping. They looked at each otherfor a moment. The stranger was clad in a tunic, and wore a hat ofplaited straw. He was very tall and strongly built; his single weapon, aspear of twice his own length. His beard came down on his chest. Hespoke to Felix in a dialect the latter did not understand. Felix heldout his hand as a token of amity, which the other took. He spoke again.Felix, on his part, tried to explain his shipwreck, when a word thestranger uttered recalled to Felix's memory the peculiar dialect used bythe shepherd race on the hills in the neighbourhood of his home.

  He spoke in this dialect, which the stranger in part at leastunderstood, and the sound of which at once rendered him more friendly.By degrees they comprehended each other's meaning the easier, as theshepherd had come the same way and had seen the wreck of the canoe.Felix learned that the shepherd was a scout sent on ahead to see thatthe road was clear of enemies. His tribe were on the march with theirflocks, and to avoid the steep woods and hills which there blocked theircourse, they had followed the level and open beach at the foot of thecliff, aware, of course, of the gap which Felix had found. While theywere talking, Felix saw the cloud of dust raised by the sheep as theflocks wound round a jutting buttress of cliff.

  His friend explained that they marched in the night and early morning toavoid the heat of the day. Their proposed halting-place was close athand; he must go on and see that all was clear. Felix accompanied him,and found within the wood at the summit a grassy coombe, where a springrose. The shepherd threw down his spear, and began to dam up the channelof the spring with stones, flints, and sods of earth, in order to form apool at which the sheep might drink. Felix assisted him, and the waterspeedily began to rise.

  The flocks were not allowed to rush tumultuously to the water; they camein about fifty at a time, each division with its shepherds and theirdogs, so that confusion was avoided and all had their share. There wereabout twenty of these divisions, besides eighty cows and a few goats.They had no horses; their baggage came on the backs of asses.

  After the whole of the flocks and herds had been watered several fireswere lit by the women, who in stature and hardihood scarcely differedfrom the men. Not till this work was over did the others gather aboutFelix to hear his story. Finding t
hat he was hungry they ran to thebaggage for food, and pressed on him a little dark bread, plentifulcheese and butter, dried tongue, and horns of mead. He could not devoura fiftieth part of what these hospitable people brought him. Havingnothing else to give them, he took from his pocket one of the gold coinshe had brought from the site of the ancient city, and offered it.

  They laughed, and made him understand that it was of no value to them;but they passed it from hand to hand, and he noticed that they began tolook at him curiously. From its blackened appearance they conjecturedwhence he had obtained it; one, too, pointed to his shoes, which werestill blackened, and appeared to have been scorched. The whole camp nowpressed on him, their wonder and interest rising to a great height. Withsome trouble Felix described his journey over the site of the ancientcity, interrupted with constant exclamations, questions, and excitedconversation. He told them everything, except about the diamond.

  Their manner towards him perceptibly altered. From the first they hadbeen hospitable; they now became respectful, and even reverent. Theelders and their chief, not to be distinguished by dress or ornamentfrom the rest, treated him with ceremony and marked deference. Thechildren were brought to see and even to touch him. So great was theiramazement that any one should have escaped from these pestilentialvapours, that they attributed it to divine interposition, and lookedupon him with some of the awe of superstition. He was asked to stay withthem altogether, and to take command of the tribe.

  The latter Felix declined; to stay with them for awhile, at least, hewas, of course, willing enough. He mentioned his hidden possessions, andgot up to return for them, but they would not permit him. Two menstarted at once. He gave them the bearings of the spot, and they had notthe least doubt but that they should find it, especially as, the windbeing still, the canoe would not yet have broken up, and would guidethem. The tribe remained in the green coombe the whole day, resting fromtheir long journey. They wearied Felix with questions, still he answeredthem as copiously as he could; he felt too grateful for their kindnessnot to satisfy them. His bow was handled, his arrows carried about sothat the quiver for the time was empty, and the arrows scattered intwenty hands. He astonished them by exhibiting his skill with theweapon, striking a tree with an arrow at nearly three hundred yards.

  Though familiar, of course, with the bow, they had never seen shootinglike that, nor, indeed, any archery except at short quarters. They hadno other arms themselves but spears and knives. Seeing one of the womencutting the boughs from a fallen tree, dead and dry, and, therefore,preferable for fuel, Felix naturally went to help her, and, taking theaxe, soon made a bundle, which he carried for her. It was his duty as anoble to see than no woman, not a slave, laboured; he had been bred inthat idea, and would have felt disgraced had he permitted it. The womenlooked on with astonishment, for in these rude tribes the labour of thewomen was considered valuable and appraised like that of a horse.

  Without any conscious design, Felix thus in one day conciliated and wonthe regard of the two most powerful parties in the camp, the chief andthe women. By his refusing the command the chief was flattered, and hispossible hostility prevented. The act of cutting the wood and carryingthe bundle gave him the hearts of the women. They did not, indeed, thinktheir labour in any degree oppressive; still, to be relieved of it waspleasing.

  The two men who had gone for Felix's buried treasure did not return tillbreakfast next morning. They stepped into the camp, each with his spearreddened and dripping with fresh blood. Felix no sooner saw the bloodthan he fainted. He quickly recovered, but he could not endure the sightof the spears, which were removed and hidden from his view. He had seenblood enough spilt at the siege of Iwis, but this came upon him in allits horror unrelieved by the excitement of war.

  The two shepherds had been dogged by gipsies, and had been obliged tomake a round to escape. They took their revenge by climbing into trees,and as their pursuers passed under thrust them through with their longspears. The shepherds, like all their related tribes, had been at feudwith the gipsies for many generations. The gipsies followed them to andfrom their pastures, cut off stragglers, destroyed or stole their sheepand cattle, and now and then overwhelmed a whole tribe. Of late thecontest had become more sanguinary and almost ceaseless.

  Mounted on swift, though small, horses, the gipsies had the advantage ofthe shepherds. On the other hand, the shepherds, being men of greatstature and strength, could not be carried away by a rush if they hadtime to form a circle, as was their custom of battle. They lost many menby the javelins thrown by the gipsies, who rode up to the edge of thecircle, cast their darts, and retreated. If the shepherds left theircircle they were easily ridden over; while they maintained formationthey lost individuals, but saved the mass. Battles were of rareoccurrence; the gipsies watched for opportunities and executed raids,the shepherds retaliated, and thus the endless war continued. Theshepherds invariably posted sentinels, and sent forward scouts toascertain if the way were clear. Accustomed to the horrid scenes of warfrom childhood, they could not understand Felix's sensitiveness.

  They laughed, and then petted him like a spoilt child. This galled himexceedingly; he felt humiliated, and eager to reassert his manhood. Hewas willing to stay with them there for awhile, nothing would haveinduced him to leave them now till he had vindicated himself in theirsight. The incident happened soon after sunrise, which is very early atthe end of June. The camp had only waited for the return of these men,and on their appearance began to move. The march that morning was not along one, as the sky was clear and the heat soon wearied the flocks.Felix accompanied the scout in advance, armed with his bow, eager toencounter the gipsies.