CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
The weather was glorious, and the days glided by in what would have beena luxurious life had it not been for the busy, investigating spiritwhich kept them active.
For they were in the midst of abundance. The well-stored ship,victualled for a couple of hundred people, offered plenty for three,while from sea and land there was an ample supply in the form of fish,fowl, and eggs, both birds' and turtles', places being discovered whichwere affected by these peculiar reptiles, and where they crawled out todeposit their round ova in the sand, while a fine specimen could beobtained by careful watching.
Then, too, there was an abundant supply of fresh water easily to beobtained by taking a water cask up the river on the raft.
As Carey's injury mended he was restlessly busy either superintendingthe pearl fishing, whose results were visible in half-a-dozen casks sunkin the sands and an ever-increasing stack of the great shells carefullyranged in solid layers by Bostock, to whom fell the lot of pouring waterin the casks and giving their contents a stir-up from time to time.
"Smell, sir?" he said, in answer to a remark from Carey, who always wentcarefully to windward. "Oh, I s'pose they do; so does fish if you keepit too long, but I don't mind."
"But it's horrid sometimes," said Carey; "and if it wasn't for thepearls I wouldn't have anything to do with the mess."
"Dirty work brings clean money, my lad; and if you come to that, thefresh lots of shells I piles up don't smell like pots of musk. But it'sall a matter o' taste. Some likes one smell, and some likes another,and then they calls it scent. Why, I remember once as people used toput drops on their hankychies as they called--now, what did they callthat there scent, my lad?"
"Eau de Cologne."
"No, nothing like that."
"Lavender water?"
"Nay, nay."
"Millefleurs?"
"Nay, nothing like it. Here, I've got it; something like Paddy Chooly."
"Patchouli?"
"That's it. I knew it was something about Paddy. Well, sir, if you'llbelieve me, that stuff smelt just like black beetles in a kitchencupboard near the fire. I don't mind the smell o' pearl soup."
"But I want to see number one emptied. When is it to be?"
"When it's quite ripe, and it aren't ripe yet."
"Takes a long time, doesn't it?" said Carey.
"And no mistake. So much the better. You've been expecting andexpecting, and thinking about emptying that tub, and getting shovelsfull o' pearls out o' the bottom, and it's made you forget all aboutyour sore chesty and give it time to get well. 'Tis quite well now,aren't it?"
"I think so, Bob; only the doctor says I'm to be very careful."
"Of course you have to be, my lad. But don't you fidget; I'll tell youwhen number one cask's ripe, and then don't you expect too much, forit's like lots o' things in this here world; it may turn out werrydisappointing. You puts in pounds o' trouble, and don't get out anounce o' good. P'raps there won't be a teaspoonful o' pearls, and themonly as small as dust."
"Oh!" ejaculated Carey.
"No use to reckon on them, sir, but all the same, sometimes when a tub'semptied it turns out wonderful."
But the time wore on; tub after tub was filled, and the contents grewmore and more liquid, and the testing was still kept in abeyance.
"Never mind," said the doctor, laughing, when Carey protested; "there isno harm in waiting."
And day by day Carey grew stronger, gradually taking his part in thedaily avocations, fishing and shooting; and it was a grand day for himwhen one day the doctor thought that he might join him on an expeditionto the lake.
"I'm all right now, Bob," he said, hurrying to the old sailor afterthis.
"Well, yes, you seem to be, sir," said Bostock; "what with the doctor'slooking you up and down and me feeding you, we've pretty well made a manof you, and you're nearly all right; but I don't quite take what youmean."
"I've passed my last examination now, and Doctor Kingsmead seems tothink he can give me up."
"I'm glad of it, my lad. Hearty, my lad."
"And we're going to explore a bit, going right up to the lake."
"Am I coming too?"
"Of course. You'd like to, wouldn't you?"
"Course I should, sir. Going to take the guns?"
"Oh, yes, and I mean to shoot. I want to see that lake too. It hasbeen so tiresome only keeping along the shore and about the sands."
"You've had some tidy sails about the lagoon, and some good fishing, mylad."
"Of course I have, but I want to shoot."
"Well, I s'pose it's natural, sir," said Bostock. "I know when I was aboy I always wanted to do something else. If I was in a garden it allusseemed as if the next garden must be better, and I wanted to look overthe wall. One allus wants to be doing something fresh. It's Natur, Is'pose. Do we start soon?"
"Oh, yes, as soon as we can get off."
The early breakfast was over, and the satchel of provisions beingprepared they were soon over the side, each bearing a double gun and afair supply of ammunition, Bostock carrying, in addition, a small axeready for use, and Carey hanging a billhook to his belt--a handyimplement for getting through cane or tangled thorn.
It was another lovely morning, with the submarine gardens more beautifulthan ever; but there was very little wind, and their progress across totheir regular landing place was very slow, but not wearisome, for therewas always something fresh to see in the sunlit waters. On thisparticular morning they sailed over sandy openings among the rocks,where Bostock drew attention to the abundance of those peculiarsea-slugs known in commerce as sea-cucumbers.
"Why not try some o' them cooked one of these days, Master Carey?" saidthe old sailor.
"Pah! Horrid! You never ate one, did you?"
"No, sir, but the Chinese think a deal of 'em, and give no end of moneyfor a hundredweight salted and dried. We shall have to take tocollecting them when we've got all the pearl hysters."
"Why, that will never be, Bob. There's all round the island to go, andeven if we finished them we could sail to first one and then anotherreef."
"Yes, that's so, sir. Strikes me that when we do go away from here,what with pearl shells, pearls, and dried cocoanuts, we ought to be ableto lade a ship with a valuable cargo."
"Look at the fish," said Carey.
"Yes, sir, there's plenty; but we're not going to fish to-day, ofcourse?"
"Oh, no. Get ashore as soon as we can, and follow the stream right upto the lake."
"It's going to be a hot walk, my lad, and--"
"Hist! Look, Bob. Here, doctor, look! look!"
Both looked in the indicated direction, to see that the raft was on itsway to glide by a turtle basking in the hot sunshine and apparently fastasleep.
"We're not going to fish," whispered Carey, "but we ought to have that."
"Yes," said the doctor, and Bostock was evidently of the same opinion,for he bent down softly to pick up a little coil of fine rope to make anoose at one end.
"You just make the other end fast to one of the planks, sir," hewhispered. "He'll make a big rush as soon as he feels the rope."
Bostock crept forward softly and knelt down ready, with the raft glidingright for the sleeping reptile.
Then both the doctor and Carey held their breath with excitement, as theold sailor reached out, slipped the noose over one of the fins, and thenstarted back deluged with water dashed up by the startled creature,which rushed off with all its might till it was brought up short by theline coming to an end.
At this there was a violent jerk, the raft was drawn out of its courseand began to move at increased speed in the direction of the opening inthe great reef, the prisoner making for the open sea.
"Better come and give a hand here, Mr Carey, sir," cried Bostock. "Iought to guide him a bit and make, him tow us our way so as to get himashore. What do you say to the mouth of the river? If we could get himto run up there it would be splendid."
"And what about the crocodiles, Bob?"
"Eh? Ah! I forgot all about them, sir. Never mind; anywhere 'll do.That's right, sir; lay hold. Strong a'most as a helephant, aren't he?Wo ho! my lad. Don't be in a flurry. Well, I _am_ blest!"
One minute they were gliding steadily over the lagoon; the next the ropehung loosely in their hands.
"Lost him?" said the doctor.
"Yes, sir. We must have pulled one of his fins out. Dessay we've gotit here."
"The rope slipped over it, Bob," said Carey, in disappointed tones, asthe noose was hauled aboard. "Oh, we ought to have had that. It was abeauty."
"Never mind," said the doctor. "Steer for the shore, and let's get offon our trip."
Bostock turned to his steering oar and shook his head in a verydiscontented way.
"It's just as I said about the pearls, Master Carey; it don't do toreckon on anything till you get it. But I ought to have had that chap."
They made fast the raft and landed soon after, a little chipping with acrowbar having turned a rough mass into a pier which ran right up to thesand and sort of put an end to the necessity for wading.
Then kits and guns were shouldered, and, light-hearted and eager, Careyfollowed the doctor, who struck in at once through the great belt ofcocoanut palms, and, pushing upwards through beautifully wooded ground,soon took them beyond the parts heretofore traversed by Carey, who nowbegan to long to stop at every hundred yards to investigate a floweringtree where insects swarmed, or some clump of bushes noisy with cockatoosor screaming parrots. But the doctor kept steadily on till a dullhumming roar away to the right began to grow louder, and at the end ofabout a mile of climbing there was a soft moist feeling in the air,which increased till all at once their guide halted upon the brink of aprecipice.
"Now then," he said, speaking loudly, for the roar of the hidden fallsnearly drowned his voice; "come forward cautiously and look down."
Carey and the old sailor approached, parting the mass of ferns andcreepers, which flourished wonderfully in the soft moist air; and thenthey found themselves on a level with the top of the hills which theyhad seen from the lagoon, where the little river suddenly plunged downinto a deep hollow a couple of hundred feet below, and from which afaint cloud of mist floated, now arched by an iridescent bow. It was abeautiful sight, but the doctor gave them little time to admire it.
"You can come up here any time now," he said. "Let's push forward andget to the lake and the peak which we have to climb, so that you canhave the view."
"But where was it you saw the crocodiles?" asked Carey.
"Oh, half a mile lower down, nearer the sea. I came straight acrossto-day, so as to take the nearest cut. The little river runs up througha winding valley right away from here."
"But we shall be missing all the beauties," said Carey.
The doctor laughed.
"There'll be more beauties and wonders than you can grasp in oneexcursion," he said. "I suppose you mean to come again, and to use yourgun."
The boy was silenced, and followed the doctor as he pressed on for somedistance farther, till the valley opened out a little and there wasample room to walk on the same level as the river, here gliding gentlyin the full sunshine, with its banks beautiful with flower, insect, andbird.
Every here and there, though, there were hot sandy patches dotted withpeculiar-looking black stone lying in masses, cracked and riven as if byfire, while parts were cindery and vesicular, others glistening in thesunshine like black glass.
"You take the lead now, Carey," said the doctor. "You can't go wrong;only follow the river; it will lead you right up to the lake."
"Wouldn't you rather lead, sir?"
"No, my lad; I want you to have the first chance at anything worthshooting. Keep your eyes well open, and you may catch sight of thegreat crowned pigeons. There, forward."
Carey needed no further orders, and full of excitement he stepped on infront, looking keenly to right and left, and scanning every bush andtree. For the first mile he saw nothing larger than parrots, butturning into a stony part where the sand and pebbles reflected the sunwith a glowing heat, something suddenly darted up from before him andran rapidly in amongst a rugged pile of scattered stones.
"Here! a young crocodile," he cried.
"Nonsense, boy. There are no crocodiles here," cried the doctor. "Oneof the great mountain lizards."
"Too big! Six feet long," said Carey, excitedly.
"Well, they grow seven or eight. Go on."
Carey went on, but so as to follow the glistening creature he had seendisappear, cocking his gun for a shot if he had a chance.
The chance came the next minute, but he was not able to take advantageof it, for on turning one of the black masses of slag which looked as ifit had lately come from a furnace, the great lizard was started again,and what followed was over in a few seconds, for the lithe, activecreature turned threateningly upon its pursuer with jaws thrown open,and it looked startling enough in its grey, glistening armour as itmenaced the lad, who stood aghast--but only to be brought to a knowledgeof his position by the attack which followed.
It was no snapping or seizing, but there was a sharp whistling soundand, quick as lightning, the long, tapering thin tail crooked twiceround Carey's legs, making him utter a cry of pain, for it was as if hehad been flogged sharply with a whip of wire.
The next minute the great lizard had disappeared.
"Why didn't you shoot?" said the doctor.
"Hadn't time. Oh, how it did hurt! Why, it was like steel."
"Never mind; you must be quicker next time, but I daresay there will bemarks left."
"And Bob's laughing at it," said the boy, in an ill-used tone. "Here,you had better lead."
"Never mind, lead on," said the doctor; "the smarting will soon passoff. It is not like a poisonous bite."
All the same the whip-like strokes stung and smarted terribly, as theboy went on again, vowing vengeance mentally against the very nextlizard he saw.
But he did not take his revenge, though he started two more at differenttimes from among the sun-baked stones, and Bostock bantered him aboutit.
"Why don't you shoot, sir?" he said, in a low voice so that the doctor,who was a little behind, examining plants, did not hear.
"Who's to shoot at a thin whip-lash of a tail?" said Carey, angrily."They're here one moment and gone the next. They dart out of sight likea flash."
As they went higher the doctor pointed out various tokens of someancient eruption, it being plain that there must have been a time whenthe bed of the river formed that of a flow of volcanic mud, mingled withblocks of lava and scoria. Then the lake must in the course of ageshave formed, and its overflowings have swept away all soft and loosedebris.
"Yes, it's all very interesting," said Carey, "but it's precious hot,"and he gave himself a sort of writhe to make his clothes rub over hisskin. But the attempt was in vain, for his shirt stuck, and apeculiarly irritable look came over his countenance.
"Do the weals sting?" asked the doctor.
"Horribly. That lizard's tail must be all bone. Oh, it does hurtstill."
"It will soon go off. Think of it from a natural history point of view,my boy, and how singular it is that the creature should be endowed withsuch a wonderful power of defence. It regularly flogged and lashed atyou."
"Yes; cracked its tail like a whip."
"No, no; the sound you heard was caused by the blows. It seems as ifthe saurian tribe make special use of their tails for offence anddefence."
"Why, what else does?" said Carey, rubbing himself softly.
"Crocodiles and alligators strike with tremendous force; the former willsweep cattle or human beings off a river bank into the water; and Idaresay those monster lizards attack small animals in the same way."
"But I'm not a small animal, sir," said the boy, shortly. "Yes, it'sall very well to laugh, Doctor Kingsmead, and talk about studying awhopping from a natural history po
int of view, but one couldn't studywasps comfortably sitting on their nest."
"No, and I daresay the cuts were very painful, but the sting will soonpass off."
"Yes, it's getting better now," said Carey, looking a little morecheerful; "but old Bob keeps on grinning about it. He doesn't look atme, but he keeps on chuckling to himself every minute, and that's whatit means. I wish he'd get stung, or something. Hi! look out. Snake!"
His shout aroused a sleeping boa--not one of the giants of its kind, buta good-sized serpent of the sort known among Australian settlers as thecarpet snake.
The reptile had been sleeping in the sunshine and, startled intoactivity, made for its lair, a dense patch of woodland, escaping beforeanyone could get a shot.
"That's a pretty good proof that this isle was at one time joined to themainland, Carey," said the doctor, "and this would account for thevolcano we are ascending being so dwarfed. There must have been agradual sinking, and so it is that we find creatures that would notinhabit an ordinary island. For instance, we should not find monitorsand carpet snakes in a coral island. Look at the birds too; thosekingfishers. Do you see, Bostock, there's an old friend of ours, thegreat laughing jackass?"
"Nay," said the old sailor, shading his eyes; "that's not the same.He's a deal like him, but our old laughing jackasses down south haven'tgot all that bright blue in their jackets. Going to shoot him, MasterCarey?"
"No," said the boy; "I don't want it. 'Tisn't good to eat."
"There's a lovely bird there," said the doctor, pointing to where therewas a flash of dark purply orange, as the sun played upon the head andback of a bird nearly the size of a jay. "A regular Queensland bird.I've seen it there."
"What is it?" said Carey.
"The rifle bird; a near relative, I believe, to the birds of paradise."
"But it's nearly black," protested Carey. "Birds of paradise are allfluffy buff feathers."
"Some of them," said the doctor, "but there are many kinds, some muchmore ornamental than the kind you mean."
He raised his gun to shoot the rifle bird, but lowered it again.
"I couldn't preserve it if I shot it," he said. "Come along."
They continued the ascent, finding the heat in the sheltered valleyrather more than they could bear, and Carey looked longingly down to hisright at the placidly flowing river, thinking how pleasant a dip wouldbe.
"I say," he said at last, "what a little shade there is."
"And unfortunately," said the doctor, "it grows less the higher we get--a way with the growth on mountains; but we shall soon be high enough tofeel the sea breeze, and after all it's a wonderfully interestingtramp."
Carey agreed that it was, for the bird life now was most attractive--gaily dressed parroquets, green, and with breasts like gorgeous sunsets,were plentiful.
There were the lovely little zebra parrots, too, in abundance, blackcockatoos, white with sulphur crest, beauties in pink and grey, andfinches with black or scarlet heads and breasts shot with topaz,amethyst, and vivid blue.
Then every rock had its occupants in the shape of silvery-grey,golden-green, or black and orange lizards, some looking as if they werebearded, others bearing a singular frill, while again others were dottedwith hideous spikes and prickles, all being given to turn defiantly uponthe intruders to their domain, and menacingly open their gaping mouths,lined with orange, yellow, or rich blue; but ready to take flight allthe same and plunge into the rock rift or hole which made their home.
At last there was a rocky slope to climb, up to the left of which asugar-loaf peak rose, which Carey at once concluded was the one whichthe doctor had climbed; so, feeling that their task was pretty wellachieved, he manfully breasted the rock-strewn slope, ignored thelizards basking in the sun, and directly after gave a shout ofsatisfaction, for on one side there came a deliciously cool breeze,while on the other he was looking down at a vividly blue lake lying in ahollow a couple of hundred feet below where he stood, and quitesheltered from the wind, so that its surface was like a mirror andreflected the hills all round.
"Lovely, eh, Carey?"
"It is glorious," panted the boy. "Isn't it fine, Bob?"
Bostock grunted, laid down his gun, swung round the satchel containingthe food, and passed the strap over his head, setting it afterwards onthe ground in a very significant manner.
"Yes," said the doctor; "we may as well have our lunch."
"But I say," said Carey, "do you really think this was once a volcano,doctor?"
"Certainly, and the blue water we look down upon was preceded by a lakeof fire."
"But how was that? Where did the water come from? Not from the sea."
"No, from the draining of these hills or mountains all round, upon whichyou have seen the clouds gather and melt into rain."
"And that put out the volcanic fire?" said Carey, quickly.
"Oh, no," replied the doctor, smiling. "If those trickling streams hadrun down into a lake of fire they would have flown up again in steamwith tremendous explosions. This lake of water did not form until thevolcano was quite extinct, and--"
"Shall I cut up the wittles, sir?" said Bostock, who had beenimpatiently waiting for the doctor to end his lecture.
"Here, fall to, Carey; Bostock is getting ravenous." And they ate theirlunch, with Carey longing to go down the inner slope to examine the lakefor fish and try to find out how deep it was.
It was a double feast, one for the body and one for the brain, the longwalk and exertion having made all hungry, and as soon as this wasappeased the doctor led the way for the final cone to be climbed.
Here Carey feasted indeed--the glass showing him through the limpid airreef after reef silvered with spray, and what were evidently islands,looking like faint amethystine clouds floating between sea and sky.
These islands lay to the north-east, but though they all looked long andcarefully there was no sign of any great tract of land or continent.
"These are the times, Carey, when one feels one's ignorance," observedthe doctor.
"Ignorance? I thought you knew nearly every thing."
"Nearly nothing," said the doctor, laughing. "I mean as compared towhat there is to know. Now, for instance, there are charts in thecaptain's cabin, and the proper instruments for taking observations--sextants and chronometer. I ought to be able to tell exactly where weare, Carey, and mark it upon a chart, but I can't."
"Never mind, sir, it's very beautiful," said the boy. "I say, though,we can't see the _Chusan_ from here."
"No, it is cut off by the projecting part of the mountain."
"Yes, and the lower parts and mouth of the river too. But we can seeall round the other side of the island."
"Yes, and see what prisoners we are and shall be till some ship comes ona voyage of discovery and sees the great wreck."
"Well," said Carey, thoughtfully, "if it wasn't for one thing I like it,and don't feel in a bit of a hurry to go away."
"And what is the one thing?" asked the doctor.
"Mother and father's trouble. They must think I'm dead."
King o' the Beach: A Tropic Tale Page 14