The Island Home

by Richard Archer

  Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England

  The Island Home, the Adventures of six Young Crusoes, by Richard Archer.

  ________________________________________________________________________This book should be a bit more of a classic than it actually is. It isthought that Ballantyne used it as the inspiration for his famous "TheCoral Island", for there is good evidence for it. In the 1830s theWashington left New York, the passengers including some of the youngmembers of the owners' families and some of their friends. DestinationCanton via the Straits of Magellan. Crossing the Pacific, they land onvarious of the islands, such as those in the Fiji and Kingsmill Groups.Sometimes they encountered particularly nasty inhabitants. One day theywere on the beach of an island, when it became necessary for theWashington to up anchors and away, leaving the shore party with theship's boat. Murders occur among the seamen. The boys set sail in theboat, hoping to regain contact with some vessel, but never do.

  The rest of the book is a story of survival, and of the good humour ofthe boys. The real problem with the book is the long paragraphs ofdescription which nowadays would be much shorter or omitted altogether,but it was written in the 1850s, and it was Ballantyne's luck that hewas able to write a book along the same lines but far easier to read.

  Still, it's worth a quick skim, if nothing more. Your reviewer haslistened to the book several times, and enjoyed it each time.

  ________________________________________________________________________THE ISLAND HOME, THE ADVENTURES OF SIX YOUNG CRUSOES, BY RICHARD ARCHER.

  CHAPTER ONE.

  INTRODUCTION.

  "A wet sheet and a flowing sea, A breeze that follows fast, That fills the white and rustling sail, And bends the gallant mast. And bends the gallant mast, my boys, Our good ship sound and free, The hollow oak our palace is, Our heritage the sea."

  It is now some twenty years ago, that the goodly ship Washington,commanded by Mr Erskine, left the port of New York, on a trading voyageto the East Indian archipelago. With a select few good seamen, theowners had also placed on board some youths of their own families andimmediate connections.

  Having passed through the Straits of Magellan in safety, they were thenon their way to Canton, where the young men were to be settled; andmeanwhile the ship was to visit any of the isles in the Pacific Oceanthat lay in their path. After some little delay on the part of thecaptain among the numerous groups of isles, the purpose of the voyagewas frustrated by the events narrated in the volume. The extreme beautyof the wild loveliness of nature that these islets exhibited, temptedthe young men, accompanied by Mr Frazer, one of the officers, to landon one that presented great charms of scenery, as well as having aconvenient and easily accessible landing-place, and from that point thenarrative commences.

  It is not necessary for the elucidation of the narrative, to name moreof the crew than those whose adventures are hereafter related by one ofthe party. The names of these castaways were John Browne, the son of aGlasgow merchant; William Morton, and Maximilian Adeler, of New York;Richard Archer, from Connecticut, the journalist; John Livingstone, fromMassachusetts; Arthur Hamilton, whose parents had settled at Tahiti; andto them was joined Eiulo, prince of Tewa, in the South-Seas.

  The narrative commences from the time of the party landing, and althoughin some parts prolix and unequal, being evidently from an unpractisedhand, it bears all the characteristics of a boyish mind, and thus to acertain extent confirms its genuineness. The sayings and doings of theyoung adventurers are recorded with the minuteness that to older headsseems tedious. This disposition to dwell upon, and to attach importanceto things comparatively trivial, is peculiar to the youthful mind, andmarks that period of freshness, joyousness, and inexperience, when everything is new, and possesses the power to surprise and to interest.

  What became of the ship and crew we are not informed; but we mayconclude, that insubordination would lead to neglect and carelessness,and that the vessel was wrecked and plundered by the native; and thewretched crew murdered or detained.

  The South Pacific Ocean abounds with thousands of islands, of a vastmany of which we have no account; but those mentioned in these pagesappear to be the _Samoas_, the _Kingsmill_, and the _Feejee Groups_ ofislands, which lie nearly under the equator, and they are described byCaptain Charles Wilkes, in his narrative of the United States ExploringExpedition between the years 1838 and 1842. These islands were allvisited by the different vessels engaged in the expedition; many of themappear to be of volcanic formation, others are of coral origin; they areall characterised as possessing an exceedingly fertile soil; they aboundwith a picturesque beauty of scenery, and luxuriant vegetation, whichexcites the most painful feelings when we learn, that where nature hasbestowed so much bounty, the inhabitants are, it is greatly to befeared, cannibals. In some two or three islands, a solitary white manwas found, one of whom, Paddy Connell, (an Irishman, of course), ashort, wrinkled old man, with a beard reaching to his middle, in a richMilesian brogue, related his adventures during a forty years' residenceat Ovolan, one of the Feejees. Paddy, with one hundred wives, andforty-eight children, and a vast quantity of other live stock, expressedhis content and happiness, and a determination to die on the island. Inother cases, the white men expressed an earnest desire to quit theisland, and were received on board the expedition, to the great grief oftheir wives and connections.

  The _Samoan Islands_ are of volcanic structure, with coral reefs, andthe harbours are generally within these reefs; and one of them wasdiscovered by Commodore Byron in 1765, who reported it as destitute ofinhabitants. Their character is variable, and during the winter monthsthey have long and heavy rains, and destructive hurricanes sometimesoccur. The air is generally moist, and light winds and calms during thesummer, render vegetation luxuriant.

  The woods in the interior of these islands are very thick, and arecomposed of large and fine trees; there are pandanus, palms, tree ferns,and a remarkable species of banyan, whose pendant branches take root tothe number of thousands, forming steps of all dimensions, uniting to themain trunk, more than eight feet above the ground, and supporting a vastsystem of horizontal branches, spreading like an umbrella over the topsof other trees. The bread-fruit is the most abundant of all the trees,and grows to a very large size; the cocoa-nut, the wild orange, and thelime, are all to be found. Bamboos, wild sugar-cane, wild nutmeg,besides many others, only require cultivation. Caoutchouc, gum arabic,castor beans, ginger, orris root, and coffee, will in time be added tothese productions. Lemons and sweet oranges have already been planted,and promise a large product.

  Swine are abundant and cattle rapidly increasing. Poultry of all kindsis very plentiful, and fish are taken in abundance.

  The beneficent effects of missionary labours are very evident amongstthe Samoans; they are not now subject to wars, and for crimes they havepunishment.

  Their habits are regular; they rise with the sun, and after a meal,bathe and oil themselves, and then go to their occupations for the day;they eat at one o'clock, and again at eight, retiring to rest aboutnine. The men do all the hard work, even to cookery. The women areheld in much consideration, and are treated with great kindness andattention. They take care of the house and children, prepare the foodfor cooking, and manufacture the mats, etcetera.

  Their houses are carefully constructed, generally occupying eighteenmonths in building; the floor is paved with small round stones, anddivisions or separate apartments formed. In some villages, broad walksand paths are kept in nice order. The females generally wear a kind ofrobe, similar to the poncho of the South Americans; and although notwhat may be termed pretty, they have some degree of bashfulness, whichrenders them interesting in appearance; when young, they are but littledarker than a brunette,
or South American Spaniard.

  The entire population of the group is estimated at 60,000, of whom morethan one-fourth have embraced Christianity, and it is understood thatmore than two-thirds of the population are favouring the progress of thegospel. Many thousands attend the schools of the missionaries, and thehabit of reading is fast obliterating the original religion andsuperstitions of the race.

  Of the _Kingsmill Group_, we possess a very sad account; one namedDrummond's Island, which is of coral formation, is about thirty mileslong, and about three-quarters of a mile in width. The island iscovered with cocoa-nut and pandanus trees, but not a patch of grass wasseen. The character of these islanders is of the most savage kind;their ferocity led to the belief that they are cannibals; one seaman ofthe expedition was carried off, and all attempts to rescue him wereunavailing. Clad in coats of mail, and helmets made of the skin of ahorny kind of fish, with weapons of the most frightful character, formedfrom the teeth of some of the voracious monsters of the deep, theyappeared to the number of more than five hundred, prepared forresistance; their numbers continuing to increase. The officer incommand, considered it both useless and dangerous to continue on theland. Failing to procure the desired end, prior to returning, thecommanding officer determined to show the power of their arms, andhaving shot the leader of the savages dead, by a rocket and a volley,set their town, which was close to the beach, in flames; and the housesbeing formed of easily combustible material, a very short time sufficedto reduce the whole to ashes. The number of houses was supposed to beabout three hundred.

  The people appear to be under no control whatever, and possess little ofthe characteristic hospitality usually found among other savage tribes.

  It was observed that their treatment of each other exhibited a greatwant of feeling; and in many instances their practices were indicativeof the lowest state of barbarism. Their young girls are freely offeredfor sale by their fathers and brothers, and without concealment; and todrive a bargain is the principal object of their visits to a ship.

  The _Kingsmill Group_, which consists of fifteen islands, are all ofcoral formation--every one appears a continuous grove of cocoa-nut andpandanus trees--they are all densely inhabited. From one of theseislands, John Kirby, a deserter from an English whaler, was taken, whohad resided there three years. He stated that the natives do sometimeseat human flesh; but their general food is fish. That these islandshave been peopled at a period not very remote is tolerably certain, asthe natives state that only a few generations back, the people werefewer than at present, and that then there were no wars.

  The islanders of this group differ from other Polynesians, and they morenearly resemble the Malays. They are of a dark copper colour, are ofmiddle size, well-made, and slender. Their hair is fine, black, andglossy--their beards and moustaches black, and fine as the hair of theirheads. The average height of the men is five feet eight inches. Thewomen are much smaller--they have delicate features, slight figures, andare generally pretty.

  The _Feejee Group_ excel all other islands of Polynesia in theirluxuriant and picturesque beauty--they produce all kinds of tropicalfruits and vegetables--the bread-fruit, of which there are nine kinds,flourishes in great perfection; the banana, cocoa-nut, and chestnut, theorange, the lemon, and the guava, the pine-apple, and the nutmeg, areall to be found; and the yam, which attains the length of above fourfeet, is the principal food of the inhabitants; besides these, thesugar-cane and turmeric are largely cultivated, and different varietiesare found growing wild. Although the Feejeeans have made considerableprogress in several useful arts, they are in many respects the mostbarbarous and savage race now existing upon the globe. Having hadconsiderable intercourse with white men, some effect has been producedin their political condition, but it has had no effect in mitigating theferocity of their character. Messrs. Lythe and Hunt, missionaries atVuna, one of the Feejees, have given a circumstantial account of acannibal feast, for the preparation of which they were eye-witnesses.The missionaries having heard rumours that the king had sent for somemen belonging to a refractory town not far from the capital, with theintention of killing them, and afterwards feasting on their bodies, theywent to the old king to urge him to desist from so horrid and barbarousa repast, and warned him that a time would come when he would bepunished for it. The king referred them to his son; but the savagepropensities of the latter rendered it impossible for them to turn thesavage from his barbarous purpose. They afterwards saw the bodies cutup and cooked. On two of these islands, however, the efforts ofmissionaries have been rewarded with some success; for the Reverend MrCalvert, belonging to the Wesleyan society, assured the officers of theexpedition, that in those islands heathenism was fast passing away, andthat cannibalism was there extinct; but it must be observed that many ofthe residents on those two islands were Tongese, among whom it is wellknown the light of the gospel of Christ has long prevailed.

  On one of those isles are five hot springs, the temperature of which is200 degrees; the rocks in the neighbourhood is of volcanic creation--there is no smell of sulphur unless the head is held close to the water;but the water has a very strong bitter saline taste. These springs areused by the natives to boil their yams, which it does simply by puttingthem into the springs, and covering them with grass and leaves, and,although the water had scarcely any appearance of boiling before, rapidebullition ensues. The yams are well done in fifteen minutes.

  The population of the Feejee Group is supposed to be about 130,000.Their towns are all on the sea-shore, as the chief food is fish. TheFeejeeans are very ingenious at canoe-building and carpentry, and,curious enough, the barber is a most important personage, as they takegreat pains and pride in dressing their hair. Their houses are fromtwenty to thirty feet in length, and about fifteen feet in height--allhave fireplaces, as they cook their food, which is done in jars, verylike an oil jar in form.

  All these isles are girt by white encircling reefs, which, standing outat some distance from the shore, forms a natural harbour, so that when avessel has once entered, it is as secure as in an artificial dock.There is generally but one entrance through the reef, and the difficultyof discovering it is well described by the Young Crusoes. Each one hasits own peculiar beauty; but Ovolan exceeds all others; it is thehighest, the most broken, and the most picturesque.

  Having thus introduced our readers to the scene of these adventures, weproceed to give the narrative in the words of the journalist of theYoung Castaways.