CHAPTER SEVEN
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN--DISAPPOINTMENT--INVENTORY OF ARTICLESBROUGHT FROM THE SHIP--DIVISION OF THE STOCK OF BREAD--APPEARANCE OFTHE INTERIOR OF THE ISLAND--A DISCOVERY--A RAVINE AND WATERFALLS--ASLEEPLESS NIGHT--FURTHER DISCOVERIES--MY ILLNESS--A MARQUESAN LANDSCAPE
MY curiosity had been not a little raised with regard to the descriptionof country we should meet on the other side of the mountains; and I hadsupposed, with Toby, that immediately on gaining the heights we shouldbe enabled to view the large bays of Happar and Typee reposing at ourfeet on one side, in the same way that Nukuheva lay spread out belowon the other. But here we were disappointed. Instead of finding themountain we had ascended sweeping down in the opposite direction intobroad and capacious valleys, the land appeared to retain its generalelevation, only broken into a series of ridges and inter-vales whichso far as the eye could reach stretched away from us, with theirprecipitous sides covered with the brightest verdure, and waving hereand there with the foliage of clumps of woodland; among which, however,we perceived none of those trees upon whose fruit we had relied withsuch certainty.
This was a most unlooked-for discovery, and one that promised to defeatour plans altogether, for we could not think of descending the mountainon the Nukuheva side in quest of food. Should we for this purposebe induced to retrace our steps, we should run no small chance ofencountering the natives, who in that case, if they did nothing worse tous, would be certain to convey us back to the ship for the sake of thereward in calico and trinkets, which we had no doubt our skipper wouldhold out to them as an inducement to our capture.
What was to be done? The Dolly would not sail perhaps for ten days, andhow were we to sustain life during this period? I bitterly repented ourimprovidence in not providing ourselves, as we easily might have done,with a supply of biscuits. With a rueful visage I now bethought me ofthe scanty handful of bread I had stuffed into the bosom of my frock,and felt somewhat desirous to ascertain what part of it had weatheredthe rather rough usage it had experienced in ascending the mountain.I accordingly proposed to Toby that we should enter into a jointexamination of the various articles we had brought from the ship.
With this intent we seated ourselves upon the grass; and a littlecurious to see with what kind of judgement my companion had filledhis frock--which I remarked seemed about as well lined as my own--Irequested him to commence operations by spreading out its contents.
Thrusting his hand, then, into the bosom of this capacious receptacle,he first brought to light about a pound of tobacco, whose componentparts still adhered together, the whole outside being covered withsoft particles of sea-bread. Wet and dripping, it had the appearance ofhaving been just recovered from the bottom of the sea. But I paidslight attention to a substance of so little value to us in our presentsituation, as soon as I perceived the indications it gave of Toby'sforesight in laying in a supply of food for the expedition.
I eagerly inquired what quantity he had brought with him, when rummagingonce more beneath his garment, he produced a small handful of somethingso soft, pulpy, and discoloured, that for a few moments he was asmuch puzzled as myself to tell by what possible instrumentality sucha villainous compound had become engendered in his bosom. I can onlydescribe it as a hash of soaked bread and bits of tobacco, brought toa doughy consistency by the united agency of perspiration and rain.But repulsive as it might otherwise have been, I now regarded it asan invaluable treasure, and proceeded with great care to transfer thispaste-like mass to a large leaf which I had plucked from a bush besideme. Toby informed me that in the morning he had placed two wholebiscuits in his bosom, with a view of munching them, should he feel soinclined, during our flight. These were now reduced to the equivocalsubstance which I had just placed on the leaf.
Another dive into the frock brought to view some four or five yards ofcalico print, whose tasteful pattern was rather disfigured by the yellowstains of the tobacco with which it had been brought in contact. Indrawing this calico slowly from his bosom inch by inch, Toby remindedme of a juggler performing the feat of the endless ribbon. The nextcast was a small one, being a sailor's little 'ditty bag', containingneedles, thread, and other sewing utensils, then came a razor-case,followed by two or three separate plugs of negro-head, which were fishedup from the bottom of the now empty receptacle. These various matters,being inspected, I produced the few things which I had myself brought.
As might have been anticipated from the state of my companion's ediblesupplies, I found my own in a deplorable condition, and diminished to aquantity that would not have formed half a dozen mouthfuls for a hungryman who was partial enough to tobacco not to mind swallowing it. Afew morsels of bread, with a fathom or two of white cotton cloth, andseveral pounds of choice pigtail, composed the extent of my possessions.
Our joint stock of miscellaneous articles were now made up into acompact bundle, which it was agreed we should carry alternately. But thesorry remains of the biscuit were not to be disposed of so summarily:the precarious circumstances in which we were placed made us regard themas something on which very probably, depended the fate of our adventure.After a brief discussion, in which we both of us expressed ourresolution of not descending into the bay until the ship's departure,I suggested to my companion that little of it as there was, we shoulddivide the bread into six equal portions, each of which should be aday's allowance for both of us. This proposition he assented to; so Itook the silk kerchief from my neck, and cutting it with my knife intohalf a dozen equal pieces, proceeded to make an exact division.
At first, Toby with a degree of fastidiousness that seemed to meill-timed, was for picking out the minute particles of tobaccowith which the spongy mass was mixed; but against this proceeding Iprotested, as by such an operation we must have greatly diminished itsquantity.
When the division was accomplished, we found that a day's allowance forthe two was not a great deal more than what a table-spoon might hold.Each separate portion we immediately rolled up in the bit of silkprepared for it, and joining them all together into a small package, Icommitted them, with solemn injunctions of fidelity, to the custody ofToby. For the remainder of that day we resolved to fast, as we had beenfortified by a breakfast in the morning; and now starting again to ourfeet, we looked about us for a shelter during the night, which, from theappearance of the heavens, promised to be a dark and tempestuous one.
There was no place near us which would in any way answer our purpose,so turning our backs upon Nukuheva, we commenced exploring the unknownregions which lay upon the other side of the mountain.
In this direction, as far as our vision extended, not a sign of life,nor anything that denoted even the transient residence of man, could beseen. The whole landscape seemed one unbroken solitude, the interior ofthe island having apparently been untenanted since the morning of thecreation; and as we advanced through this wilderness, our voicessounded strangely in our ears, as though human accents had never beforedisturbed the fearful silence of the place, interrupted only by the lowmurmurings of distant waterfalls.
Our disappointment, however, in not finding the various fruits withwhich we had intended to regale ourselves during our stay in thesewilds, was a good deal lessened by the consideration that from this verycircumstance we should be much less exposed to a casual meeting with thesavage tribes about us, who we knew always dwelt beneath the shadows ofthose trees which supplied them with food.
We wandered along, casting eager glances into every bush we passed,until just as we had succeeded in mounting one of the many ridges thatintersected the ground, I saw in the grass before me something like anindistinctly traced footpath, which appeared to lead along the top ofthe ridge, and to descend--with it into a deep ravine about half a milein advance of us.
Robinson Crusoe could not have been more startled at the footprint inthe sand than we were at this unwelcome discovery. My first impulse wasto make as rapid a retreat as possible, and bend our steps in someother direction; but our curiosity to see whither this p
ath might lead,prompted us to pursue it. So on we went, the track becoming more andmore visible the farther we proceeded, until it conducted us to theverge of the ravine, where it abruptly terminated.
'And so,' said Toby, peering down into the chasm, 'everyone that travelsthis path takes a jump here, eh?'
'Not so,' said I, 'for I think they might manage to descend without it;what say you,--shall we attempt the feat?'
'And what, in the name of caves and coal-holes, do you expect to find atthe bottom of that gulf but a broken neck--why it looks blacker than ourship's hold, and the roar of those waterfalls down there would batterone's brains to pieces.'
'Oh, no, Toby,' I exclaimed, laughing; 'but there's something to be seenhere, that's plain, or there would have been no path, and I am resolvedto find out what it is.'
'I will tell you what, my pleasant fellow,' rejoined Toby quickly, 'ifyou are going to pry into everything you meet with here that excitesyour curiosity, you will marvellously soon get knocked on the head; toa dead certainty you will come bang upon a party of these savages in themidst of your discovery-makings, and I doubt whether such an event wouldparticularly delight you, just take my advice for once, and let us 'boutship and steer in some other direction; besides, it's getting late andwe ought to be mooring ourselves for the night.'
'That is just the thing I have been driving at,' replied I; 'and I amthinking that this ravine will exactly answer our purpose, for it isroomy, secluded, well watered, and may shelter us from the weather.'
'Aye, and from sleep too, and by the same token will give us sorethroats, and rheumatisms into the bargain,' cried Toby, with evidentdislike at the idea.
'Oh, very well then, my lad,' said I, 'since you will not accompany me,here I go alone. You will see me in the morning;' and advancing to theedge of the cliff upon which we had been standing, I proceeded to lowermyself down by the tangled roots which clustered about all the crevicesof the rock. As I had anticipated, Toby, in spite of his previousremonstrances, followed my example, and dropping himself with theactivity of a squirrel from point to point, he quickly outstrippedme and effected a landing at the bottom before I had accomplishedtwo-thirds of the descent.
The sight that now greeted us was one that will ever be vividlyimpressed upon my mind. Five foaming streams, rushing through as manygorges, and swelled and turbid by the recent rains, united together inone mad plunge of nearly eighty feet, and fell with wild uproar into adeep black pool scooped out of the gloomy looking rocks that lay piledaround, and thence in one collected body dashed down a narrow slopingchannel which seemed to penetrate into the very bowels of the earth.Overhead, vast roots of trees hung down from the sides of the ravinedripping with moisture, and trembling with the concussions produced bythe fall. It was now sunset, and the feeble uncertain light that foundits way into these caverns and woody depths heightened their strangeappearance, and reminded us that in a short time we should findourselves in utter darkness.
As soon as I had satisfied my curiosity by gazing at this scene, I fellto wondering how it was that what we had taken for a path should haveconducted us to so singular a place, and began to suspect that after allI might have been deceived in supposing it to have been a trickformed by the islanders. This was rather an agreeable reflection thanotherwise, for it diminished our dread of accidentally meeting with anyof them, and I came to the conclusion that perhaps we could not haveselected a more secure hiding-place than this very spot we had soaccidentally hit upon.
Toby agreed with me in this view of the matter, and we immediately begangathering together the limbs of trees which lay scattered about, withthe view of constructing a temporary hut for the night. This we wereobliged to build close to the foot of the cataract, for the current ofwater extended very nearly to the sides of the gorge. The few momentsof light that remained we employed in covering our hut with a species ofbroad-bladed grass that grew in every fissure of the ravine. Our hut,if it deserved to be called one, consisted of six or eight of thestraightest branches we could find laid obliquely against the steep wallof rock, with their lower ends within a foot of the stream. Into thespace thus covered over we managed to crawl, and dispose our weariedbodies as best we could.
Shall I ever forget that horrid night! As for poor Toby, I couldscarcely get a word out of him. It would have been some consolation tohave heard his voice, but he lay shivering the live-long night like aman afflicted with the palsy, with his knees drawn up to his head, whilehis back was supported against the dripping side of the rock. Duringthis wretched night there seemed nothing wanting to complete the perfectmisery of our condition. The rain descended in such torrents that ourpoor shelter proved a mere mockery. In vain did I try to elude theincessant streams that poured upon me; by protecting one part I onlyexposed another, and the water was continually finding some new openingthrough which to drench us.
I have had many a ducking in the course of my life, and in generalcared little about it; but the accumulated horrors of that night, thedeathlike coldness of the place, the appalling darkness and the dismalsense of our forlorn condition, almost unmanned me.
It will not be doubted that the next morning we were early risers, andas soon as I could catch the faintest glimpse of anything like daylightI shook my companion by the arm, and told him it was sunrise. Poor Tobylifted up his head, and after a moment's pause said, in a husky voice,'Then, shipmate, my toplights have gone out, for it appears darker nowwith my eyes open that it did when they were shut.'
'Nonsense!' exclaimed I; 'You are not awake yet.'
'Awake!' roared Toby in a rage, 'awake! You mean to insinuate I've beenasleep, do you? It is an insult to a man to suppose he could sleep insuch an infernal place as this.'
By the time I had apologized to my friend for having misconstrued hissilence, it had become somewhat more light, and we crawled out of ourlair. The rain had ceased, but everything around us was dripping withmoisture. We stripped off our saturated garments, and wrung them as dryas we could. We contrived to make the blood circulate in our benumbedlimbs by rubbing them vigorously with our hands; and after performingour ablutions in the stream, and putting on our still wet clothes,we began to think it advisable to break our long fast, it being nowtwenty-four hours since we had tasted food.
Accordingly our day's ration was brought out, and seating ourselves on adetached fragment of rock, we proceeded to discuss it. First we dividedit into two equal portions, and carefully rolling one of them up for ourevening's repast, divided the remainder again as equally as possible,and then drew lots for the first choice. I could have placed the morselthat fell to my share upon the tip of my finger; but notwithstandingthis I took care that it should be full ten minutes before I hadswallowed the last crumb. What a true saying it is that 'appetitefurnishes the best sauce.' There was a flavour and a relish to thissmall particle of food that under other circumstances it would havebeen impossible for the most delicate viands to have imparted. A copiousdraught of the pure water which flowed at our feet served to completethe meal, and after it we rose sensibly refreshed, and prepared forwhatever might befall us.
We now carefully examined the chasm in which we had passed the night.We crossed the stream, and gaining the further side of the pool I havementioned, discovered proofs that the spot must have been visited bysome one but a short time previous to our arrival. Further observationconvinced us that it had been regularly frequented, and, as weafterwards conjectured from particular indications, for the purposeof obtaining a certain root, from which the natives obtained a kind ofointment.
These discoveries immediately determined us to abandon a place whichhad presented no inducement for us to remain, except the promise ofsecurity; and as we looked about us for the means of ascending againinto the upper regions, we at last found a practicable part of the rock,and half an hour's toil carried us to the summit of the same cliff fromwhich the preceding evening we had descended.
I now proposed to Toby that instead of rambling about the island,exposing ourselves to discovery at eve
ry turn, we should select someplace as our fixed abode for as long a period as our food shouldhold out, build ourselves a comfortable hut, and be as prudent andcircumspect as possible. To all this my companion assented, and we atonce set about carrying the plan into execution.
With this view, after exploring without success a little glen near us,we crossed several of the ridges of which I have before spoken; andabout noon found ourselves ascending a long and gradually rising slope,but still without having discovered any place adapted to our purpose.Low and heavy clouds betokened an approaching storm, and we hurried onto gain a covert in a clump of thick bushes, which appeared to terminatethe long ascent. We threw ourselves under the lee of these bushes, andpulling up the long grass that grew around, covered ourselves completelywith it, and awaited the shower.
But it did not come as soon as we had expected, and before many minutesmy companion was fast asleep, and I was rapidly falling into the samestate of happy forgetfulness. Just at this juncture, however, down camethe rain with the violence that put all thoughts of slumber to flight.Although in some measure sheltered, our clothes soon became as wetas ever; this, after all the trouble we had taken to dry them, wasprovoking enough: but there was no help for it; and I recommend alladventurous youths who abandon vessels in romantic islands during therainy season to provide themselves with umbrellas.
After an hour or so the shower passed away. My companion slept throughit all, or at least appeared so to do; and now that it was over I hadnot the heart to awaken him. As I lay on my back completely shroudedwith verdure, the leafy branches drooping over me, my limbs buriedin grass, I could not avoid comparing our situation with that of theinteresting babes in the wood. Poor little sufferers!--no wonder theirconstitutions broke down under the hardships to which they were exposed.
During the hour or two spent under the shelter of these bushes, I beganto feel symptoms which I at once attributed to the exposure of thepreceding night. Cold shiverings and a burning fever succeeded oneanother at intervals, while one of my legs was swelled to such a degree,and pained me so acutely, that I half suspected I had been bitten bysome venomous reptile, the congenial inhabitant of the chasm from whichwe had lately emerged. I may here remark by the way--what I subsequentlygleamed--that all the islands of Polynesia enjoy the reputation, incommon with the Hibernian isle, of being free from the presence of anyvipers; though whether Saint Patrick ever visited them, is a question Ishall not attempt to decide.
As the feverish sensation increased upon me I tossed about, stillunwilling to disturb my slumbering companion, from whose side I removedtwo or three yards. I chanced to push aside a branch, and by so doingsuddenly disclosed to my view a scene which even now I can recall withall the vividness of the first impression. Had a glimpse of the gardensof Paradise been revealed to me, I could scarcely have been moreravished with the sight.
From the spot where I lay transfixed with surprise and delight, I lookedstraight down into the bosom of a valley, which swept away in long wavyundulations to the blue waters in the distance. Midway towards thesea, and peering here and there amidst the foliage, might be seen thepalmetto-thatched houses of its inhabitants glistening in the sun thathad bleached them to a dazzling whiteness. The vale was more than threeleagues in length, and about a mile across at its greatest width.
On either side it appeared hemmed in by steep and green acclivities,which, uniting near the spot where I lay, formed an abrupt andsemicircular termination of grassy cliffs and precipices hundreds offeet in height, over which flowed numberless small cascades. But thecrowning beauty of the prospect was its universal verdure; and in thisindeed consists, I believe, the peculiar charm of every Polynesianlandscape. Everywhere below me, from the base of the precipice uponwhose very verge I had been unconsciously reposing, the surface of thevale presented a mass of foliage, spread with such rich profusionthat it was impossible to determine of what description of trees itconsisted.
But perhaps there was nothing about the scenery I beheld more impressivethan those silent cascades, whose slender threads of water, afterleaping down the steep cliffs, were lost amidst the rich herbage of thevalley.
Over all the landscape there reigned the most hushed repose, which Ialmost feared to break, lest, like the enchanted gardens in the fairytale, a single syllable might dissolve the spell. For a long time,forgetful alike of my own situation, and the vicinity of my stillslumbering companion, I remained gazing around me, hardly able tocomprehend by what means I had thus suddenly been made a spectator ofsuch a scene.
Typee: A Romance of the South Seas Page 9