The South Sea Whaler

by William Henry Giles Kingston

  CHAPTER TWELVE.

  ENCAMPED ON THE ISLAND--BREAKFAST ON ROAST DUCK--SANDAL-WOOD--BOWS ANDARROWS MANUFACTURED--HORNBILLS CAPTURED--A HOUSE COMMENCED.

  The doctor, with Alice and Walter, had just left the side of the streamto return to the camp, when they met Dan and Nub carrying the cask,slung on a pole between them.

  "We go to get fresh water, and be back soon wid it," said Nub as theypassed. "Mr Shobbrok, him roast de duck ready for breakfast."

  The doctor and his young companions hurried on, for their morning's walkhad made them very hungry. They found the mate employed in roasting theduck in the usual camp fashion, on a spit supported by two forkedsticks. Near it was the large shell of the mollusc on another fire,where Nub had placed it to warm up its contents.

  "We have fish and fowl; but I wish that we had some farinaceous or othervegetable diet in addition--for the sake of our young lady, especially,"observed the mate.

  "We have, at all events, brought something of the sort," said Walter,producing his handkerchief, full of the fruits he had picked up.

  "I am indeed thankful to see them," said the mate; "for I began to fearthat we should all suffer from living so entirely on animal food."

  "I have little doubt that we shall find more fruits and probably variousvegetables," said the doctor; "and I will undertake to go in search ofthem after breakfast."

  "I should like to accompany you," said Walter; "though, if the fruit inthese regions only grows high up on the trees such as these do, we shallbe puzzled to get them."

  "We must climb the trees, then, or find some other means of bringing itdown," said the mate. "My idea is, that, before we do anything else, weshould set about making some bows and arrows, as well as some spears, todefend ourselves against any savage animals, or to kill any we may beable to chase."

  The doctor agreed to the mate's proposal, though he believed, he said,that there were no savage animals of any size in the Pacific islandslikely to annoy them. As the duck was not quite cooked, they satthemselves down under the shade of a lofty tree, to await the return ofNub and Dan. They very soon appeared; and while Nub went to have a lookat the mollusc which he and Dan were to have for breakfast, the seamancame and threw himself down at the mate's side with a small branch oftree in his hand, which he was examining attentively.

  "What is that you have got there?" asked the mate, turning round to him.

  "Faith, your honour, it's something, I suppose; for Nub says that if wecan cut enough of it, and can get a ship to carry it away, we shall allmake our fortunes." Dan as he spoke handed the branch to the mate, whoturned it about, evidently puzzled to know what it was.

  "Let us look at it," said the doctor, who then examined the branchcarefully. After biting the thick end, he observed: "This isundoubtedly santulum, of the natural order _Santalaceae_. From it isproduced santalin, with which certain tinctures are made. It is alsoused in India for colouring silk and cotton. Yes, this is indeed thevaluable sandal-wood, which the Chinese burn as incense, and employlargely in the manufacture of fans, and of which in England the casesfor lead pencils are formed. Nub is right; and as it is of greatcommercial value, if, as he suggests, we can cut down a quantity, andfind a ship to carry it away, we may make enough to pay our expenseshome and have something in our pockets at the end of the voyage. Fromwhat sort of a tree did you break this off?" inquired the doctor,turning to Dan.

  "A big shrub, or what they would call a good-sized tree in other parts;but those near it were so much larger, that I suppose they would beoffended if we called it a shrub," answered Dan. "It is not far off,and we saw a good many like it in that part of the forest."

  "We will go and examine it presently," said the doctor, who was anenthusiastic naturalist.

  "We must see about getting food first," observed the mate. "We havemany things to do before we can think of cutting down sandal-wood."

  "Yes; we must eat our duck first," said the doctor.

  "I tink de duck done now," observed Nub, who had been employed duringthe discussion in giving the roast a few more turns. Plucking somelarge leaves, he arranged them on the ground before the party, to servethe double purpose of table-cloth and plates; then, taking the duck upby the end of the spit, he placed it before the doctor, remarking, "Youcarve better than anyone of us, sir."

  The doctor scientifically cut up, the bird, a portion of which Nubpresented to Alice and Walter. When the doctor offered some to him andDan, they both declared that the stewed mollusc was quite enough forthem. The voyagers' first breakfast on the island would have been moresatisfying had they possessed some bread or biscuit, and, above all,some tea or coffee; but as they could finish it with a good supply offruit and fresh water, they acknowledged that they had ample reason tobe thankful.

  Their plans for the future were naturally brought under discussion."Don't you think, Mr Shobbrok, that we could manage to enlarge our boatso that we might reach some civilised place?" asked Walter.

  "We might certainly improve her," answered the mate; "and if we couldobtain a sufficient amount of provisions and water, we might make a longvoyage in her, provided we were favoured with fine weather. But therisk, I warn you, would be very great. Occasionally the seas in theselatitudes are excessively heavy and dangerous, and no improvement wecould make would enable her to stand them. We should also, as Iobserved, have to carry a large supply of provisions and water, or wemight be compelled to land on a part of the coast where we should haveto encounter savages, who would probably attack and destroy us before wehad time to convince them that we came upon a peaceable errand. Or,even should they be friendly, we have no goods with which to purchaseprovisions; and from what I have heard of them, they are not likely tosupply us without payment. However, we will examine the boat, andconsider how we can enlarge her. We must first ascertain if we canmanage to cut out a sufficient number of planks and ribs; and then, ifwe enlarge the boat, we shall want more sails and spars and rigging. Weshall also require casks to carry the water, and a stove for cooking;and as we have no compass or quadrant or chart we can only make acoasting voyage. We are also many hundred miles from Sydney in NewSouth Wales, which is the nearest port where we can obtain assistance.It is my belief that we are now off the north-eastern end of New Guinea,either on the mainland or on an island; though I suspect the latter, orwe should probably have fallen in with natives. This point we mustascertain as soon as possible, for we should do well to avoid them, asat the best they are a savage race, who are more likely to prove foesthan friends. Now, the first thing we have to do is to provide food forourselves. See, I was not idle during your absence."

  The mate on this showed several contrivances for catching game. Thequestion was where to place them. It was first necessary to ascertainthe places frequented by the birds or beasts in the neighbourhood. Danhad formed some traps composed of stones collected on the seashore, suchas boys in England are accustomed to set for sparrows and robins; butthe doctor very much doubted whether the birds of those regions werelikely to hop into them, as they appeared, he observed, to take theirfood from the tops of the trees, and seldom descended to the ground.

  "Arrah, I hope they will be after changing their custom when they seethe traps, and just come down to have a look into them," said Dan. "Iwill place them under the trees and give them the chance, at all event."

  "I would rather trust to bows and arrows," said Walter. "We must lookout for the proper sort of trees to make the bows. Perhaps we may findsome wood similar to the yew-tree of old England."

  The doctor and Nub set off with Walter for the object he had in view,while Alice remained with the mate and Dan, who were finishing theirtraps. They first proceeded towards the stream. On their way Nubshowed them the sandal-wood trees which he had discovered. The doctorwas satisfied that he was right. Many of them were of considerablesize, really deserving the name of trees, though some could only becalled large bushes. In general appearance they were something likemyrtles, the trunk being about
nine inches in diameter, the leaves verysmall, alternate or nearly opposite. The doctor, who had carried theaxe, cut into the trunk of one of them, which was of a deep red colour."At all events, though we cannot carry a cargo away with us, we mayreturn here some day and obtain one," he said. "If there are noinhabitants, the trees cannot be claimed as the property of anyone; andwe may load a vessel with great ease in the harbour."

  "I tink, Mr Lawrie, dat we better look out for food just now," saidNub, who thought the doctor was spending more time than necessary inspeculating on the future.

  "You are right Nub," answered the surgeon, leading the way. Theyexamined numerous saplings of small size, but none seemed likely to suittheir purpose. On the banks of the stream they came to a magnificentgrove of bamboos of all sizes, some being as thick as a man's leg.

  "Here we have the means of building a house ready to our hands," saidthe doctor. "Perhaps they will assist also in decking over the boat."

  "But I doubt if they would keep out the water," observed Walter. "Ithink, however, that the fine ends or some of the very small canes mayserve for arrows."

  "Dey make very good cups for drinking out of," said Nub; and asking forthe axe, he cut down a large bamboo cane, though not one of thethickest, and showed Walter that numerous divisions or knots filled upthe centre of the cane, and that thus each knot would make the bottom ofa cup.

  On passing near the tree where the doctor had seen the hornbills, theyobserved one of the birds poking its long beak out of its hole.

  "We pay you visit before long," said Nub, nodding his head. "Me tink Iknow how."

  Going up the stream, they found a tree which had fallen over it, bywhich they crossed to the opposite bank. Nub begged to go first. "I gosee de way. We no want to pop into de middle of a village; if we do, dewomen begin to shriek, and de babies cry out, and tink dat white debilscome among dem, and den de men come out and kill us."

  The doctor agreed to Nub's proposal, and they proceeded more cautiouslythan before. Walter pulled away at every young tree they met, and atlast he found one which the doctor thought would suit their purpose.Nub, who came to examine it, was of the same opinion; and they quicklycut down several which grew near to the proper length, and returned withthem the way they had come. As they passed under the tree in which theyhad seen the hornbills, Nub exclaimed, "I tink we come and get desefellows at once, if de mate will please to accompany us."

  On passing under the tree where the fruit had been found, Walter lookedabout for some more; but the birds were not feeding, and none had fallensince they had been there. On their arrival at the camp, the mate andDan had to confess that their traps had not as yet been successful; Nubthen told them his plan for reaching the hornbills, which could not failwith regard to the hen, who was certain not to leave her nest, and mightpossibly either be sitting on her eggs or have some young ones.

  "How is that?" asked Walter. "When she sees you, if you succeed inreaching her, she will surely fly away."

  "No, Massa Walter," said Nub, "she not do dat, for de hole is shut upwith clay, and she only got room to poke her head out."

  Nub's plan was to form a ladder up the tree with the bamboos they hadseen. With a little patience, he assured them, the feat could beaccomplished; so they all eagerly set out to commence operations, Aliceaccompanying them; while the doctor continued his search for thevegetable food they so much required. He first, however, cut a stickfrom the thick end of a bamboo, for the purpose of digging edible roots,which he thought it probable he might discover.

  Nub also suggested that they should forthwith set to work to build ahouse large enough to contain the whole party. A house would be farbetter for Alice than the tent, in which she had to lie close to theground, with some risk of the intrusion of snakes or noxious insects;besides which, bad weather might come on, when they would all requireshelter.

  "Nothing like bamboo-house," observed Nub. "If earthquake come, it noshake down; if storm come on, it no blow away."

  The mate assented to the black's proposal, and agreed at once to cutdown a sufficient number of bamboos, not only for the ladder, but forthe house. This was not quite so easy a task as it at first appeared,for though the canes were hollow they were excessively hard, and it wasonly by chopping downwards all round that they could be broken off. Atlength, however, a sufficient number for the proposed ladder were cutdown and carried to the foot of the tree.

  Nub was not going to make a ladder of double poles; the tree being ofsoft wood, he intended to stick in the rounds horizontally, and tosupport them with a single pole. They had also to collect a quantity oftough and lithe vines, which would serve to bind the rounds to the outerpole; the thickest end of which was stuck deep into the ground. Thisdone, the work went on rapidly, round after round being driven into thetree, about three feet apart. Nub, continuing his work, went onascending step after step, Dan following him when he got too high up toreach the long poles from the ground. The height looked perilous in theextreme, and Alice, as she watched him, could not help dreading that hemight miss his footing and fall down; but Nub was highly delighted withthe success of undertaking, and seemed to have no fears on the subject.

  "Nub puts me in mind of `Jack and the Bean Stalk,'" said Walter,laughing. "I only hope that he won't find an ogre at the top of thetree."

  "No fear about Nub," observed the mate. "I hope that he may soon wringthe necks of the hornbills and send them down to us."

  Nub was now near the hole where the female hornbill had been seen. Shehad drawn in her head; and her mate was either absent from home or wasconcealed among the thick foliage at the top of the tree. The lastround was in, and Nub was seen preparing to mount on it, that he mightput in his hand and haul out Madam Hornbill. He was just about to doso, when she put out her long beak, and began pecking away furiously athis hand; while, at the same moment, down flew Mr Hornbill from a boughon which he had been snugly ensconced till a favourable opportunityarose of making an attack on the assailant of his fortress. That everyman's home is his castle, is rightly held in England as an establishedlaw, and the hornbills naturally considered their nest their castle.With loud screams of rage the male bird attacked poor Nub, who slippeddown to the next round, where he held on with might and main, trying todefend his head from the furious onslaught of his feathered foe.Fortunately, his curly head of hair was a good thick one, and preventedthe bird from inflicting the injury it might otherwise have done.Keeping his head down, so as to defend his eyes, he rapidly descendedthe ladder, the hornbills cawing and screaming all the time. The malebird, however, did not attempt to descend beyond the upper rounds of theladder.

  "I no tink we lose our dinner, though," said Nub, as he got to thebottom. "What say you, Massa Shobbrok?"

  "Certainly not, Nub," answered the mate. "I have got a notion which Iam pretty sure will succeed."

  "Den, if you show me what it is, I go up again, pretty quick," said Nub,who was afraid that the mate would deprive him of the honour of catchingthe bird. The mate took a line from his pocket, forming a noose, whichhe secured to a light bamboo. "I see it," cried Nub, "I see it. I sooncatch both of dem, one after de oder."

  Taking the bamboo, he quickly ascended the ladder till he got nearenough to reach the hornbill, which was still standing screamingdefiantly on the upper round; and before it was aware of what the blackwas about, the latter slipped the noose over the bird's head and drew ittight, and then with a violent jerk pulling it off its perch, down itcame, with its huge bill first and its wings fluttering, to the ground,where Dan quickly despatched it. Nub immediately descended for thebamboo; and mounting again, slipped the noose over the head of the henhornbill, which she had poked out to see what had become of her partner.He held her fast enough, but could not drag her out of her hole. Bystanding on the upper round, however, he was able to batter in herfortress with his fist, after which he speedily sent her to the ground.Then putting in his hand, he drew out a curious creature like a ball ofdown, bearing no resem
blance whatever to its parents. Though scarcelyfledged, it was not to be despised, being very fat, and about the sizeof, a young chicken. So Nub threw it down to join its parents, shoutingout, "Dere, dat make a fine dinner for Missie Alice." Poor Alice wasgrieved when she saw the little creature come tumbling to the earth, anddeclared she could not touch it.

  "Bery sorry, Missie Alice," said Nub, when he came down again, puttingon a penitent look. Then turning aside to Dan, he whispered, "She talkbery differently when she see it nicely roasted by-and-by."

  Their success in obtaining food encouraged the voyagers to hope thatthey were not doomed to starve on an inhospitable shore, but that withdiligence and a due exertion of their wits they might obtain sufficientfood to support life. The hornbills would, at all events, afford theman ample meal for that day, and they might reasonably expect to obtain afurther supply of shell-fish from the seashore; though Nub might notsucceed in finding another huge mollusc.

  "Shall we remove the ladder?" asked Walter. "It might help to build thehouse."

  "I tink not," answered Nub, looking up. "Perhaps anoder hornbill comeand make her nest dere, den we catch her and her husband. Bery goodchance of dat, I tink."

  As it was important to get their house built without delay, they allreturned laden with as many bamboos as they could carry,--Alice takingcharge of the birds, slung, Chinese fashion, at the end of a bamboo,which she balanced on her shoulder: the little one being hung behindher, that her tender heart might not be grieved at seeing it.

  "Shall we all assist in putting up the house, Mr Shobbrok, or might itnot be as well to try and get one or two bows made first?" asked Walter.

  "We cannot obtain food without them, so, by all means, make two orthree," answered the mate. "You and Nub can work at them, while Dan andI arrange the plan for the house, and begin to put in the uprights."

  Alice assisted the mate in holding the line.

  "We must try to get the opposite sides even, and the walls at rightangles with each other, and the corner-posts perpendicular," heobserved. "The sides of our house must depend very much, in the firstinstance, on the length of the bamboos; and we can so arrange it that wemay increase it without difficulty."

  As it was not time to begin cooking, all hands set to work at theoccupations they had settled to follow. While Walter and Nub wereshaping the bows with their knives, the mate, with his two assistants,having selected a flat spot a considerable height above the water,marked out the plan for the house--in front of which they intended toadd a broad verandah, facing the seashore. The ground-floor theydivided into two rooms, with space for a staircase to lead to the upperfloor. This floor was to be divided into three rooms,--one for Alice,another for Walter, and the third for the surgeon; while the mate andthe two men were to occupy one of the lower rooms, the other beingintended for a parlour. The kitchen, they agreed, it would be best toform at a little distance from the house, lest it might by any accidentcatch fire.

  While they were thus busily employed, the doctor came back with a largesupply of two different kinds of fruit--one like a plum, the otherhaving a hard rind but a delicious pulp--while his pockets were filledwith some roots, which he considered were of even more value. He alsoreported that he had found a palm which he had no doubt would yield anabundance of sago; but it would take some time and labour to prepare it.He proposed forming a manufactory near the stream, as an abundantsupply of water was required for the necessary operations: also thatthey should commence the work next morning; for he considered that notime should be lost, as it would afford them an abundant supply ofnutritious food, on which they could depend under all circumstances. Hewould, however, require one hand to assist him. Nub at once volunteeredhis services. "I hope by that time to have one of the bows finished,"said Walter, "and I will go and shoot game, while Mr Shobbrok, Dan, andAlice continue working away at the house." The mate agreed to thisproposal, though he observed that he thought it would be advisable, assoon as a sufficient supply of sago was got, for all hands to set towork at the house, so that they might have shelter should bad weathercome on.

  Nub had not forgotten to spit and put the hornbills before the fire ingood time; and when evening came on, and they could no longer see towork, they sat down to the most ample meal they had yet enjoyed, aidedby the roots and fruits the doctor had collected.

  "In a couple of days more, Miss Alice, I hope you will have a good roofover your head, and a room to yourself," observed the mate. "I shallnot rest satisfied till I see you comfortably lodged."

  Alice declared that she was perfectly satisfied with her tent.

  "That's very well while the weather is calm and dry; but should the rainbegin to fall, which, from the look of the foliage, I have no doubt isvery heavy hereabouts, it would be a very different matter," heanswered.

  "I was, selfishly, only thinking of myself," said Alice, "and forgettingthat you, at all events, would be exposed to the rain; so I hope thatyou will set to work and get the house up as soon as possible. I onlywish that I was a man, to be able to help you more than I have done."

  "You do help us, Miss Alice," said the mate; "and you encourage us byyour patience and uncomplaining spirit, and your cheerful temper. Donot think that you are of little use, for I don't think that we could dowithout you." Alice, being assured that the mate spoke the truth, waswell pleased to think that young as she was, she was of use to hercompanions.

  Not only on a desolate island, but in the quiet homes of England, manylittle girls like Alice have the power, by their cheerfulness and goodspirits, and, we may add, by their piety and kindness, to be ofinestimable use to all around them.