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PETERKIN CAUGHT CONVERSING WITH THE CAT.








THE CORAL ISLAND:
A TALE OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
BY
ROBERT MICHAEL BALLANTYNE,
AUTHOR or “uunsou’s BAY; on, EVERY-DAY mu: in THE wuns or norm:
AMERICA; ” “ SNOW-FLAKES AND SUN-BEAMS; on, THE YOUNG m
TRADERSI” “ UNGAVA; A mu; 0}? ms
ssaummx," 8:0. 8:0.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR.
BOSTON:
PHILLIPS, SAMPSON AND COMPANY.
1859.


RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE!
PRINTED BY H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY.


'r l
06:
PREFACE.
I WAS a boy when I went through the won-
derful adventures herein set down. With
the memory of my boyish feelings strong upon
me, I present my book specially to boys, in the
earnest hope that they may derive valuable
information, much pleasure, great profit, and
unbounded amusement from its pages.
One word more. If there is any boy or man
who loves to be melancholy and morose, and
who cannot enter with kindly sympathy into
the regions of fun, let me seriously advise him
to shut my book and put it away. It is not
meant for him.
RALPH ROVER.
EDINBURGH, 1857.
758 1150


CONTENTS.
Page
CHAPTER I.
The beginning— My earlylife and character —I thirst for adven-
ture in foreign lands and go to sea, .' .
CHAPTER II.
The departure — The sea — My companions — Some account of
the wonderful sights we saw on the great deep — A dreadful
storm and a frightful wreck, . . . . . . .
CHAPTER III.
The Coral Island — Our first cogitations after landing, and the re-
sult of them — We conclude that the island is uninhabited,
CHAPTER IV.
We examine into our personal property, and make a happy dis-
covery — Our island described —Jack proves himself to be
learned and sagacious above his fellows— Curious discoveries
— Natural lemonade! . . . . . . .
CHAPTER V.
Morning, and cogitations connected therewith — We luxuriate in
the sea, try our diving powers, and make enchanting excursions
among the coral groves at the bottom of the ocean -— The won-
ders of the deep enlarged upon, .
CHAPTER VI.
An excursion into the interior, in which we make many valuable
and interesting discoveries — We get a dreadful fright— The
bread-fruit tree - Wonderful peculiarity of some of the fruit-
trees— Signs of former inhabitants, .
CHAPTER VII.
Jack's ingenuity — We get into difficulties about fishing, and get
out of them by a method which gives us a cold bath —Horrible
encounter with a shark, . . .
CHAPTER VIII.
The beauties of the bottom of the sea tempt Peterkin to dive —
How he did it— More ifficulties overcome— The water garden
— Curious creatures o the sea — The tank - Candles missed
14
20
26
39
46
57


\‘i CONTENTS.
Page
very much, and the candle-nut tree discovered— Wonderful
account of Peterkin‘s first voyage—Cloth found growing on
a tree—A plan projected, and arms prepared for offence and
defence — A dreadful cry, . . . k . . . . 65
CHAPTER IX.
Prepare for a journey round the island — Sagacious reflections —
Mysterious appearances and startling occurrences, . . . 82
CHAPTER X.
Make discovery of many excellent roots and fruits — The re
sources of the Coral Island gradually unfolded—The banian-
tree— Another tree which is supported by natural planks —
Water-fowl found — A very remarkable discovery, and a. very
peculiar murder— We luxuriate on the fat of the land, . . 90
CHAPTER XI.
Effects of over-eating, and reflections thereon — Humble advice
regarding coir] water—The “horrible cry" accounted for—
The curious birds called penguins —- Peculiarity of the cocoa-
nut palm— Questions on the formation of coral islands —Mys-
terious footsteps— Strange discoveries and sad sights, . . 100
' CHAPTER XII.
Something wrong with the tank —Jack's wisdom and Peterkin‘s
impertiuence — Wonderful behavior of :1 crab — Good wishes
for those who dwell far from the sea —Jack commences to build
a little boat, . . . . . . . . . . 118
CHAPTER XIII.
Notable discovery at the spouting clifi‘s — The mysterious green
monster explained — We are thrown into unutterable terror by
the idea that Jack is drowned — The Diamond Cave, . . 120
CHAPTER XIV.
Strange peculiarity of the tides— Also of the twilight—Peter-
kin's remarkable conduct in embracing a little pig and killing a
big sow — Sage remarks on jesfing — Also on love, . . . 131
CHAPTER XV.
Boat-building extraordinary— Peterkin tries his hand at cookery
and fails most signally -— The boat finished -- Curious con-
versation with the cat, and other matters, . . . . . 138
CHAPTER XVI.
The boat launched - We visit the coral reef — The great breaker
that never goes down — Coral insects -- The way in which coral


CONTENTS.
vii
Page
islands are made — The boat’s sail — We tax our ingenuity to
form fish-hooks — Some'of the fish we saw— And a monstrous
whale — Wonderful shower of little fish — Water-spouts, . . 147
CHAPTER XVII.
A monster wave and its consequences —- The boat lost and found
— Peterkin’s terrible accident — Supplies of food for a voyage
in the boat — We visit Penguin Island, and are amazed beyond
measure — Account of the penguins, . . . . . 166
CHAPTER XVIII.
An awful storm and its consequences —- Narrow escape —- A rock
proves a sure foundation — A fearful night and a bright morn-
ing— Deliverance from danger, . . . . . , 170
CHAPTER XIX.
Shoemaking — The even tenor of our way suddenly interrupted —
An unexpected visit and an appalling battle — We all become
warriors, and Jack proves himself to be a hero, . 177
, CHAPTER XX.
Intercourse with the savages -— Cannibalism prevented —- The
slain are buried and the survivors depart, leaving us again alone
on our Coral Island, . . 189
CHAPTER XXI.
Sagacious and moral remarks in regard to life —- A sail! — An
unexpected salute — The end of the black cat — A terrible dive
--an incautious proceeding and a frightful catastrophe, . . 196
CHAPTER XXII.
I fall into the hands of pirates — How they treated me, and
what I said to them — The result of the whole ending in a
melancholy separation and in a most Unexpected gift, . 205
CHAPTER XXIII.
Bloody Bill — Dark surmises— A strange sail, and a strange crew,
and a still stranger cargo — New reasons for favoring mission-
aries— A murderous massacre, and thoughts thereon, . 216
CHAPTER XXIV.
Bloody Bill is communicative and sagacious—Unpleasant pro-
spects — Retrospective meditations interrupted by volcanic
agency — The pirates negotiate with a Feejee chief — Various
etceteras that are calculated to surprise and horrify,
CHAPTER XXV.
The sandal—wood party—Native children’s games, somewhat
. 227


viii CONTENTS.
Page
surprising -— Desperate amusements suddenly and fatally
brought to a close—An old friend recognized—News — Ro-
mata’s mad conduct, . . . . . . . . . 242
CHAPTER XXVI.
Mischief brewing — My blood is made to run cold — Evil consul-
tations and wicked resolves -— Bloody Bill attempts to do good
and fails — The attack — Wholsale murder— The flight —
The escape, . . . . . . . . . . 253
CHAPTER XXVII.
Reflections— The wounded man— The squall — True consolation
— Death, . . . ‘. . . . . . . . 264
CHAPTER XXVIH.
Alone on the deep -— Necessity the mother of invention — A valu-
able book discovered — Natural phenomenon — A bright day
in my history, . . . . . . . . . . 274
CHAPTER XXIX.
The effect of a cannon-shot —A happy reunion of a somewhat
moist nature — Retrospects and explanations — An awful dive
-— New plans — The last of the Coral Island, . . . . 279
CHAPTER XXX.
The voyage—The island, and consultation in which danger is
scouted as a thing unworthy of consideration— Rats and cats—
T he native teacher — Awful revelations -- Wonderful efi'eets
of Christianity, . . . . . . . . . . 291
CHAPTER XXX].
A strange and bloody battle -— The lion bearded in his den —
Frightful scenes of cruelty, and fears for the future, . . . 308
_ CHAPTER XXXII.
An unexpected discovery, and a bold, reckless defiance, with its
consequences — Plans of escape, and heroic resolves, . . 317
CHAPTER XXXIII.
The flight -— The pursuit— Despair and its results — The lion
bearded in his den again — Awful danger threatened and won-
derfully averted — A terrific storm, . . . . . . 325
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Imprisonment — Sinking hopes -- Unexpected freedom to more
than one, and in more senses than one, . . . . . 337
CHAPTER XXXV.
Conclusion, . . . . . . . . . . . 844


THE CORAL ISLAND. I
CHAPTER I.
THEBEGINNING—MY EARLY LIFE AND CHARACTER—I THIRST
FOR ADVENTURE IN FOREIGN LANDS AND GO TO SEA.
OVING has always been, and still is, my ruling
passion, the joy of my heart, the very sunshine of
my existence. In childhood, in boyhood, and in man’s
estate, I have been a rover; not a mere rambler among
the woody glens and upon the hill-tops of my own native
land, but an enthusiastic rover throughout the length
and breadth of the wide wide world.
It was a wild, black night of howling storm, the night
in which I was born on the foaming bosom of the broad
Atlantic Ocean. _ My father was a. sea-captain; my
grandfather was a sea-captain ; my great-grandfather
had been a marine. Nobody could tell positively what
occupation his father had followed; but my dear mother
used to assert that he had been a midshipman, whose
grandfather on the mother’s side had been an admiral in
the royal navy. At any rate we knew that, as far back


10 THE CORAL ISLAND.
as our family could be traced, it had been intimately con-
nected with the great watery waste. Indeed this was the
case on both sides of the house; for my mother always
went to sea with my father on his long voyages, and so
spent the greater part of her life upon the water.
Thus it was, I suppose, that I came to inherit a roving
disposition. Soon after I was born, my father, being old,
retired from a seafaring life, purchased a small cottage
in a fishing village on the west coast of England, and set-
tled down to spend the evening of his life on the shores
of that sea which had for so many years been his home.
It was not long after this that I began to show the rov-
ing spirit that dwelt within me. For some time past
my infant legs had been gaining strength, so that I came
to be dissatisfied with rubbing the skin off my chubby
knees by walking on them, and made many attempts to
stand up and walk like a man; all of which attempts,
however, resulted in my sitting down violently and in
sudden surprise. One day I took advantage of my dear
mother’s absence to make another effort; and, to my joy,
I- actually succeeded in reaching the door-step, over
which I tumbled into a pool of muddy water that lay
before my father’s cottage door. Ah, how vividly I re-
member the horror of my poor mother when she found
me sweltering in the mud amongst a group of cackling
ducks, and the tenderness with which she stripped off my
dripping clothes and washed my dirty little body! From
this time forth my rambles became more frequent, and,
as I grew older, more distant, until at last I had wan-
dered far and near on the shore and in the woods around
our humble dwelling, and did not rest content until my
father bound me apprentice to a coasting vessel, and let
me go to sea.


THE CORAL ISLAND. 11
For some years I was happy in visiting the seaports,
and in coasting along the shores of my native land. My
Christian name was Ralph, and my comrades added to
this the name of Rover, in consequence of the passion
which I always evinced for travelling. Rover was not
my real name, but as I never received any other I came
at last to answer to it as naturally as to my proper name;
and, as it is not a bad one, I see no good reason why I
shOuld not introduce myself to the reader as Ralph
Rover. My shipmates were kind, good-natured fellows,
and they and I got on very well together. They did, in-
deed, very frequently make game of and banter me, but
not unkindly; and I overheard them sometimes saying
that Ralph Rover was a “queer, old-fashioned fellow.”
This, I must confess, surprised me much, and I pondered
the saying long, but could come at no satisfactory conclu-
sion as to that wherein my old-fashionedness lay. It is. I
true I was a quiet lad, and seldom spoke except when
spoken to. Moreover, I never could understand the
jokes of my companions even when they were explained
to me ; which dulness in apprehension occasioned me
much grief; however, I tried to make up for it by smil-
ing and looking pleased when I observed that they were
laughing at some witticism which I had failed to detect-
I was also very fond of inquiring into the nature of things
and their causes, and often fell into fits of abstraction.
while thus engaged in my mind. But in all this I saw
nothing that did not seem to be exceedingly natural, and
could by no means understand why my comrades should
call me “ an old-fashioned fellow.”
Now, while engaged in the coasting trade, I fell in with
many seamen who had travelled to alm0st every quarter
of the globe; and I freely confess that my heart glowed


12 THE CORAL ISLAND.
ardently within me as they recounted their wild advent-
ures in foreign lands, — the dreadful storms they had
weathered, the appalling dangers they had escaped, the
wonderful creatures they had seen both on the land and
in the sea, and the interesting lands and strange people
they had visited. But of all the places of which they
told me, none captivated and charmed my imagination so
much as the Coral Islands of the Southern Seas. They
told me of thousands of beautiful fertile islands that had
been formed by a small creature called the coral insect,
where summer reigned nearly all the year round, —Where
the trees were laden with a constant harvest of luxuriant
fruit, — where the climate was almost perpetually delight-
ful,—-yet where, strange to say, men were wild, blood-
thirsty savages, excepting in those favored isles to which
the gospel of our Saviour had been conveyed. These
exciting accounts had so great an effect upon my mind,
that when I reached the age of fifteen, I resolved to
make a voyage to the South Seas.
I had no little difficulty at first in prevailing on my
dear parents to let me go; but when I urged on my
father that he would never have become a great captain
had he remained in the coasting trade, he saw the truth
of what I said, and gave his consent. My dear mother,
seeing that my father had made up his mind, no longer
offered opposition to my Wishes. “ But oh, Ralph,” she
said, on the day I bade her adieu, “ come back soon to
us, my dear boy, for we are getting old now, Ralph, and
may not have many years to live.”
I will not take up my reader’s time with a. minute ac-
count of all that occurred before I took my final leave of
my dear parents. Suffice it to say, that my father placed
me under the charge of an old messmate of his own, a


THE CORAL ISLAND. 13
merchant captain, who was on the point of sailing to the
South Seas in his own ship, the Arrow. My mother
gave me her blessing and a small Bible; and her last re-
quest was,-that I would never forget to read a chapter
every day, and say my prayers; which I promised, with
tears in my eyes, that I would certainly do. '
Soon afterwards I went on board the Arrow, which
was a fine large ship, and set sail for the islands of the
Pacific Ocean. _ ,


14 THE CORAL ISLAND.
CHAPTER II. v
THE DEPARTURE - THE SEA — MY COMPANIONS —- SOME ACCOUNT OF
THE WONDERFUL SIGHTS WE SAW ON THE GREAT DEEP-—A
DREADFUL STORM AND A FRIGHTFUL WRECK.
T was a bright, beautiful, warm day when our ship
spread her canvas to the breeze, and sailed for the
regions of the south. Oh, how my heart bounded with
delight as I listened to the merry chorus of the sailors,
while they hauled at the ropes and got in the anchor!
The captain shouted —the men ran to obey —the noble
ship bent over to the breeze, and the shore gradually
faded from my view, while I stood looking on with a
kind of feeling that the whole was a delightful dream.
The first thing that struck me as being different from
anything I had yet seen during my short career on the
sea, was the hoisting of the anchor on deck, and lashing
it firmly down with ropes, as if we had now bid adieu
to the land forever, and would require its services no
more.
“There, lass,” cried a broad-shouldered jack-tar, giv-
ing the fluke of the anchor a hearty slap with his hand
after the housing was completed—“there, lass, take a
good nap now, for we shan’t ask you to kiss the mud
again for many a long day to come I ”
And so it was. That anchor did not “ kiss the mud ”
for many long days afterwards; and when at last it did,
it was for the last time!
There were a number of boys in the ship, but two or


THE CORAL ISLAND. 15 I:
\_-//“
them were my special Favorites. Jack Martin was
tall, strapping, broad-shouldered youth of eighteen, with
a handsome, good-humored, firm face. He had had a 1
good education, was clever and hearty and lion-like in
his actions, but mild and quiet in disposition. Jack was
a general favorite, and had a peculiar fondness for me. ,‘
My other companion was Peterkin Gay. He was little,
quick, funny, decidedly mischievous, and about fourteen
years old. But Peterkin’s mischief was almost always
harmless, else he could not have been so much beloved
as he was.
“ Hallo! youngster,” cried Jack Martin, giving me a
slap on the shoulder, the day I joined the ship, “come
below and I’ll show you your berth. You and I are to
be messmates, and I think we shall be good friends, for
I like IhElQQlUlLYQQa”
Jack was right. He and I and Peterkin afterwards
became the best and stanchest friends that ever tossed
together on the stormy waves.
I shall say little about the first part of our voyage.
We had the usual amount of rough weather and calm;
also we saw many strange fish rolling in the sea, and I
was greatly delighted one day by seeing a shoal of flying-
fish dart out of the water and skim through the air about
a foot above the surface. They were pursued by dol-
phins, which feed on them, and one flying-fish in its
terror flew over the ship, struck on the rigging, and fell
upon the deck. Its wings were just fins elongated, and
we found that they could never fly far at a time, and
never mounted into the air like birds, but skimmed along
the surface of the sea. Jack and I had it for dinner, and
found it remarkably good.
When we approached Cape Horn, at the southern ex-


16 THE CORAL ISLAND.
tremity of America, the weather became very cold and
stormy, and the sailors began to tell stories about the
furious gales and the dangers. of that terrible cape.
“Cape Horn,” said one, “is the most horrible head-
land I ever doubled. I’ve sailed round it twice already,
and both times the ship was a’most blow’d out 0’ the
water.”
“An’ I’ve been round it once,” said another, “ an’ that
time the sails were split, and the ropes frozen in the
blocks, so that they wouldn’t work, and we wos all but
lost.”
- “An’ I’ve been round it five times,” cried a third, “ an’
every time wos wuss than another, the gales wos so tree-
mendous ! ”
“And I’ve been round it no times at all,” cried Peter-
kin, with an impudent wink of his eye, “ an’ that time I
was blow’d inside out I ”
Nevertheless, we passed the dreaded cape without
much rough weather, and, in the' course of a few weeks
afterwards, were sailing gently, before a warm tropical
breeze, over the Pacific Ocean. Thus we proceeded on
our voyage, sometimes bounding merrily before a fair
breeze, at other times floating calmly on the glassy wave
and fishing for the curious inhabitants of the deep,—all
of which, although the sailors thought little of them,
were strange, and interesting, and very wonderful to me.
At last we came among the Coral Islands of the Pa-
cific, and I shall never forget the delight with which I
gazed,—when we chanced to pass one,-—at the pure,
white, dazzling shores, and the verdant palm-trees, which
looked bright and beautiful in the sunshine. And often
did we three long to be landed on one, imagining that we
should certainly find perfect happiness there! Our wish
was granted sooner than we expected. ‘


THE CORAL ISLAND. 17
One night, soon after we entered the tropics, an awful
storm burst upon our ship. The first squall of wind
carried away two of our masts; and left only the fore,
mast standing. Even this, however, was more than
enough, for we did not dare to hoist arag of sail on it.
For five days the tempest raged in all its fury. Every-
thing was swept ofi' the decks except one small boat.
The steersman was lashed to the wheel, lest he should be
' washed away, and we all gave ourselves up for lost.
The captain said that he had no idea where we were, as
we had been blown far out of our course ; and we feared
much that we might get among the dangerous coral reefs
which are so numerous in the Pacific. At daybreak on
the sixth morning of the gale we saw land ahead. It
was an island encircled by a reef of coral on which the
waves broke in fury. There was calm water within this
reef, but we could only see one narrow opening into it.
For this opening we steered, but, ere we reached it, a
tremendous wave broke on our stern, tore the rudder
completely off, and left us at the mercy of the winds and
waves. ' .
“It’s all over with us now, lads,” said the captain to
the men; “ get the boat ready to launch; we shall be on
the rocks in less than half an hour.”
The men obeyed in gloomy silence, for they felt that
there was little hope of so small a boat living in such a
sea.
“ Come boys,” said Jack Martin, in a grave tone, to
me and Peterkin, as we stood on the quarter-deck await-
ing our fate ; — “ Come boys, we three shall stick to-
gether. You see it is impossible that the little boat can
reach the shore, crowded with men. It will be sure to
upset, so I mean rather'to trust myself to a large oar. I
2


18 THE CORAL ISLAND.
see through the telescope that the ship will strike at the
tail of the reef, where the waves break into the quiet
water inside ; so, if we manage to cling to the oar till it
is driven over the breakers, we may perhaps gain the
shore. W'hat say you ; will you join me?”
We gladly agreed to follow Jack, for he inspired us,
with confidence, although I could perceive, by the sad
tone of his voice, that'he had little hope; and, indeed,
when I looked at the white waves that lashed the reef
and boiled against the rocks as if in fury, I felt that
there was but a step between us and death. My heart
sank within me; but at that moment my thoughts turned
to my beloved mother, and I remembered those words,
which were among the last that she said to me — “ Ralph,
my dearest child, always remember in the hour of danger
to look to your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He alone
is both able and willing to save your body and your
soul.” So I felt much comforted when I thought
thereon.
The ship was now very near the rocks. The men
were ready with the boat, and the captain beside them
giving orders, when a tremendous wave came towards us.
We three ran towards the bow to lay hold of our ear,
and had barely reached it when the wave fell on the deck
with a crash like thunder. At the same moment the ship
struck, the foremast broke off close to the deck and went
over the side, carrying the boat and men along with it.
Our oar got entangled with the wreck, and Jack seized
an axe to cut it free,but, owing to the motion of the ship,
he missed the cordage and struck the axe deep into the
oar. Another wave, however, washed it clear of the
wreck. IVe all seized hold of it, and the next instant we
were struggling in the wild sea. The last thing I saw


THE CORAL ISLAND. 19
was the boat whirling in the surf, and all the sailors tossed
into the foaming waves. Then I became insensible.
On recovering from my swoon, I found myself lying
on a bank of soft grass, under the shelter of an over-
hanging rock, with Peterkin on his knees by my side, '
tenderly bathing my temples with water, and endeavor-
ing to stop the blood that flowed from a wound in my
forehead.


20 THE CORAL ISLAND.
CHAPTER III.
THE CORAL ISLAND — OUR FIRST COGITATIONS AFTER LANDING,
AND THE RESULT OF THEM— WE CONCLUDE THAT THE ISLAND
IS UNINHABITED.-
HERE is a strange and peculiar sensation experi-
enced in recovering from a state of insensibility,
which is almost indescribable; a sort of dreamy, confused
consciousness; a half-waking, half-sleeping condition, ac-
companied with a feeling of weariness, which, however,
is by no means disagreeable. As I slowly recovered
and heard the voice of Peterkin inquiring whether I felt
better, I thought that I must have overslept myself, and
should be sent to the masthead for being lazy; but be-
fore I could leap up in haste, the thought seemed to van- “
ish suddenly away, and I fancied that I must have been
ill. Then a balmy breeze fanned my cheek, and I
thought of home, and the garden at the back of my
father’s cottage, with its luxuriant flowers, and the sweet-
scented honeysuckle that my dear mother trained so
carefully upon the trellised porch. But the roaring of
the surf put these delightful thoughts to flight, and I was
back again at sea, watching the dolphins and the flying-
fish, and reefing topsails off the wild and stormy Cape
Horn. Gradually the roar of the surf beca e louder
and more distinct. I thought of being wrecked far, far
away from my native land, and slowly opened my eyes
to meet those of my companion Jack, who, with a look
of intense anxiety, was gazing into my face.


THE CORAL ISLAND.
21,
‘\__/ .
“ Speak to us, my dear Ralph,” whispered Jack, ten-
derly, “ are you better now? ”
I smiled and looked up, saying, “Better; why, what
do you mean, Jack? I’m quite well.” _
“Then what are you shamming for, and frightening
us in this way ? ” said Peterkin, smiling through his
tears; for the poor boy had been really under the im-
pression that I was dying.
' I now raised myself on my elbow, and putting my
hand t6 my forehead, found that it had been cut pretty
severely, and that I had lost a good deal of blood.
“ Come, come, Ralph,” said Jack, pressing me gently
backward, “ lie down, my boy ; you’re not right yet.
Wet your lips with this water, it’s cool and clear as crys-
tal. I got it from a spring close at hand. There, now,
don’t say a word, hold your tongue,” said he, seeing me
about to speak. “I’ll tell you all about it, but you must
not utter a syllable till you have rested well.”
“Oh! don’t stop him from speaking, Jac ,” said Pe-
terkin, who, now that his fears for my safety were re-1v
moved, busied himself in erecting a. shelter of broken
branches in order to protect me from the wind; which,
however, was almost unnecessary, for the rock beside §
which I had been laid completely broke the force of the ’
gale. “ Let him speak, Jack ; it’s a comfort to hear that
he’s alive, after lying there stiff, and white, and sulky for
a whole hour, just like an Egyptian mummy. Never
saw such a fellow as you are, Ralph; always up to mis-
chief. You’ve almost knocked out all my teeth and
more tha half choked me, and now you' go shamming
dead! Its very wicked of you, indeed it is.”
While Peterkin ran on in this style, my faculties be-
came quite clear again, and I began to understand my
( ,


'pgg‘ THE CORAL ISLAND.
position. “ What do you mean by saying I half choked
you, Peterkin ? ” said I.
“What do I mean? Is English not your mother
tongue, or do .you want me to repeat it in French, by
way of making it clearer? Don’t you remember — ”
“ I remember nothing,” said I, interrupting him, “ after
we were thrown into the sea.”
“ Hush, Peterkin,” said Jack, “you’re exciting Ralph
with your nonsense. I’ll explain it to you. You recol-
lect that after the ship struck, we three sprang over the
bow into the sea; well, I noticed that the car struck
your head and gave you that cut on the brow, which
nearly stunned you, so that you grasped Peterkin round
the neck without knowing apparently what you were
about. In doing so you pushed the telescope — which
you clung to as if it had been your life ——against Peter-
kin’s mouth — ”
“ Pushed it against his mouth! ” interrupted Peterkin,
“say crammed it down his throat. \Vhy, there’s a dis-
tinct mark of the brass rim on the back of my gullet at
this moment ! ”
“ Well, well, be that as it may,” continued Jack, “you
clung to him, Ralph, till I feared you really would choke
him ; but I saw that he had a good hold of the oar, so I
exerted myself to the‘utmost to push you towards the
shore, which we luckily reached without much trouble,
for the water inside the reef is quite calm.”
“But the captain and crew, what of them?” I in-
quired anxiously.
Jack shook his head.
“Are they lost?”
“ No, they are not lost, I hope, but I fear there is not
much chance of their being saved. The ship struck at


THE CORAL ISLAND. 23
the very tail of the island on which we are cast. When
the boat was tossed into the sea it fortunately did not up-
set, although it shipped a good deal of water, and all the
men managed to scramble into it; but before they could
get the oars out the gale carried them past the point
and aw‘y to leeward of the island. After we landed I
saw them endeavoring to pull towards us, but as they
had only one pair of oars out of the eight. that belong to
the boat, and as the wind was blowing right in their
teeth; they gradually lost ground. Then I saw them put
about and hoist some sort of sail, — a blanket, I fancy, for
it was too small for the boat, - and in half an hour they
were out of sight.”
“ Poor fellows,” I murmured sorrowfully.
“But the more I think about it, I’ve better hope of
them,” continued Jack, in a more cheerful tone. “ You
see, Ralph, I’Ye read a great deal about these South Sea
Islands, and I know that in many places they are scat-
tered about in thousands over the sea, so they’re almost
sure to fall in with one of them before long.” '
“I’m sure I hope so,” said Peterkin, earnestly. “But
what has become of the wreck, Jack? I saw you clam-
bering up the rocks there while I was watching Ralph.
Did you say she had gone to pieces P”
“ No, she has not gone to pieces, but she has gone to
the bottom,” replied Jack. “ As I said before, she struck
on the tail of the island and stove in her bow, but the
next breaker swung her clear, and she floated away to
leeward. The poor fellows in the boat made a hard
struggle to reach her, but long before they came near
her she filled and went down. It was after she foun-
dered that I saw them trying to pull to the island.”
There was a long silence after Jack ceased speaking,


'24“ THE CORAL ISLAND.
and I have no doubt that each was revolving in his
mind our extraordinary position. For my part I cannot
say that my reflections were very agreeable. I knew
that we were on an island, for Jack had said so, but
whether it was inhabited or not I did not know. If it
should be inhabited, I felt certain, from all I had heard
of South Sea Islanders, that we should be roasted alive
and eaten. If it should turn out to be uninhabited, I
fanc'ied that we should be starved to death. “ Oh i ”
thought I, “if the ship had only struck on the rocks we
might have done pretty well, for we could have ob-
tained provisions from her, and tools to enable us to build
a shelter, but now—alas! alas! we are lost!” These
last words I uttered aloud in my distress.
' “ Lost! Ralph? ” exclaimed Jack, While a smile over-
spread his hearty countenance. “ Saved, you should have
said. Your cogitations seem to have taken a wrong road,
and led you to a wrong conclusion.”
“ Do you know what conclusion I have come to? ” said
. Peterkin. “ I have made up my mind that it’s capital,—
" first rate,— the best thing that ever happened to us, and
the most splendid prospect that ever lay before three
, jolly young tars. We’ve got an 'island all to ourselves.
i We’ll take possession in the name of the king; we’ll go
i and enter the service of its black inhabitants. Of course
1 \~We’ll rise, naturally, to the top of affairs. White men
always‘do in savage countries. You shall be king, Jack;
Ralph, prime minister, and I shall be —”
“The court jester,” interrupted Jack. .
“ N0,” retorted Peter-kin, “I’ll have no title at all. I
shall merely accept a highly responsible situation under
government, for you see, Jack, I’m fond of having an
enormous salary and nothing to do.”


THE CORAL ISLAND. 25
“ But suppose there are no natives?”
“ Then we’ll build a charming villa, and plant a lovely
garden round it, stuck all full of the most splendiferous
tropical flowers, and we’ll farm the land, plant, sow, reap,
eat, sleep, and be merry.”
“ But to be serious,” said Jack, assuming a grave ex-
pression of countenance, which I observed always had the
effect of checking Peterkin’s disposition to make fun of
everything, “we are really in rather an uncomfortable
position. If this is a desert island, we shall have to live
very much like the wild beasts, for we have not a tool of
any kind, not even a knife.”
“Yes, we have that,” said Peterkin, fumbling in his
trousers pocket, from which he drew forth a small pen-
knife with only one blade, and that was broken.
“ Well, that’s better than nothing; but come,” said
Jack, rising, “we are wasting our time in talking instead
of doing. You seem well enough to walk now, Ralph,
let us see what we have got in our pockets, and then let
us climb some hill and ascertain what sort of island we
have been cast upon, for, whether good or bad, it seems
likely to be our home for sometime to come.”


26 THE CORAL ISLAND.
CHAPTER IV.
WE EXAMINE INTO OUR PERSONAL PROPERTY, AND MAKE A
HAPPY DISCOVERY—OUR ISLAND DESCRIBED—JACK PROVES
HIMSELF TO BE LEARNED AND SAGACIOUS ABOVE HIS FEL-
LO W5 -— CURIOUS DISCOVERIES —NATURAL LEMONADE !
E now seated ourselves upon a rock and began to
I examine into our personal property. When we
reached the shore, after being wrecked, my companions
had taken off part of their clothes and spread them out
in the sun to dry, for, although the gale was raging
fiercely, there was not a single cloud in the bright sky.
They had also stripped off most part of my wet clothes
and spread them also on the rocks. Having resumed our
garments, we now searched all our pockets with the ut-
most care, and laid their contents out on a flat stone be-
fore us; and, now that our minds were fully alive to our
condition, it was with no little anxiety that we turned
our several pockets inside out, in order that nothing
might escape us. When all was collected together we
found that our worldly goods consisted of the following
articles :—
First, A small penknife with a single blade broken off
about the middle and very rusty, besides having two or
three notches on its edge. (Peterkin said of this, with
his usual pleasantry, that it would do for a saw as well
as a knife, which was a great advantage.) Second, An
old German-silver pencil-case without any lead in it.


THE CORAL ISLAND. 27
Third, A piece of whipcord about six yards long.
Fourth, A sail-maker's needle of a small size. Fifth, A
ship’s telescope, which I happened to have in my hand
at the time the ship struck, and which I had clung to
firmly all the time I was in the water. Indeed it was
with difficulty that Jack got it out of my grasp when I
was lying insensible on the shore. I cannot understand
why I kept such a firm hold of this telescope. They say
that a drowning man will clutch at a straw. Perhaps it
may have been some such feeling in me, for I did not
know that it was in my hand at the time we were wrecked.
However, we felt some pleasure in having it with us now,
although we did not see that it could be of much use to
us, as the glass at the small end was broken to pieces.
Our sixth article was a brass ring which Jack always
wore on his little finger. I never understood why he
wore it, for Jack was not vain of his appearance, and did
not seem to care for ornaments of any kind. Peterkin
said “it was in memory of the girl he left behind him I ”
But as he never spoke of this girl to either of us, I am
inclined to think that Peterkin was either jesting or mis-
taken. In addition to these articles we had a little bit of
tinder, and the clothes on our backs. These last were as
follows : —
Each of us had on a pair of stout canvas trousers, and
a pair of sailors’ thick shoes. Jack wore a red flannel
shirt, a blue jacket, and a red Kilmarnock bonnet or
nightcap, besides a pair of worsted socks, and a cotton
pocket-handkerchief, with sixteen portraits of Lord Nel-
son printed on it, and a Union Jack in the middle.
Peterkin had on a striped flannel shirt, —which he wore
outside his trousers, and belted round his waist, after the
manner of a tunic, —-and a round black straw hat. He


28 THE CORAL ISLAND.
had no jacket, having thrown it off just before we were
cast into the sea; but this was not of much consequence,
as the climate of the island proved to be extremely mild;
so much so, indeed, that Jack and I often preferred to go
about without our jackets. Peterkin had also a pair of
white cotton socks, and a blue handkerchief with white
spots all over it. My own costume consisted of a blue flan-
nel shirt, a blue jacket, ablack cap, and a pair of worsted
socks, besides the shoes and canvas trousers already
mentioned. This was all we had, and besides these
things we had nothing else; but, when we thought of
the danger from which we had escaped, and how much
worse off we might have been had the ship struck on the
reef during the night, we felt very thankful that we were
possessed of \ so much, although, I must confess, we some-
times wished that we had had a little more.
While we were examining these things, and talking
about them, Jack suddenly started and exclaimed—
“The oar! we have forgotten the oar.”
“ What good will that do us?” said Peterkin ; “there’s
wood enough on the island to make a thousand oars.”
“ Ay, lad,” replied Jack, “ but there’s a bit of hoop
iron at the end of it, and that may be of much use to us.”
“Very true,” said I, “let us go fetch it;” and with
that we all three rose and hastened down to the beach.
I still felt a little weak from loss of blood, so that my
companions soon began to leave me behind; but Jack
perceived this, and, with his usual considerate good-na-
ture, turned back to help me. This was now the first
time that I had looked well about me since landing, as
the spot where I had been laid was covered with thick
bushes which almost hid the country from our view. As
we now emerged from among these and walked down


THE CORAL ISLAND. I 29
the sandy beach together, I cast my eyes about, and,
truly, my heart glowed within me and my spirits rose at
the beautiful prospect which I beheld on every side. The
gale had suddenly died away, just as if it had blown
furiously till it dashed our ship upon the rocks, and had
nothing more to do after accomplishing that. The island
on which we stood was hilly, and covered almost every-
where with the most beautiful and richly colored trees,
bushes, and shrubs, none of which I knew the names of
at that time, except, indeed, the cocoa-nut palms, which
I recognized at once from the many pictures that I had
seen of them before I left home. A-sandy beach of
dazzling whiteness lined this bright green shore, and
upon it there fell a gentle ripple of the sea. This last
astonished me much, for I recollected that at home the
sea used to fall in huge billows on the shore long after a
storm had subsided. But on casting my glance out to
sea the cause became apparent. About a ’mile distant
from the shore I saw the great billows of the ocean roll-
ing like a green wall, and falling with a long, loud roar,
upon a low coral reef, where they were dashed into white
foam and flung up in clouds of spray. This spray some-
times flew exceedingly high, and, every here and there,
a beautiful rainbow was formed for a moment among the
falling drops. We afterwards found that this coral reef
extended quite round the island, and formed a natural
breakwater to it. Beyond this the sea rose and tossed
violently from the effects of the storm; but between the
reef and the shore it was as calm and as smooth as a
pond.
My heart was filled with morerfighi can
eXpress at sight of so many glorious objects, and my
thoughts turned suddenly to the contemplation of the


30 THE CORAL ISLAND.
Creator of them all. I mention this the more gladly,
because at that time, I am ashamed to say, I very seldom
thought of my Creator, although I was constantly sur-
rounded by the most beautiful and wonderful of His
works. I observed from the expression of my com-
panion’s countenance that he too derived much joy from
the splendid scenery, which was all the more agreeable
to us after our long voyage on the salt sea. There, the
breeze was fresh and cold, but here it was delightfully
mild ; and, when a puff blew off the land, it came laden
with the most exquisite perfume that can be imagined.
While we thus gazed, we were startled by a loud “ Huz-
zal” from Peterkin, and, on looking towards the edge
of the sea, we saw him capering and jumping about like
a monkey, and ever and anon tugging with all his might
at something that lay upon the shore.
“What an odd fellow he is, to be sure,” said Jack,
taking me by the arm and hurrying forward ; “ come, let
us hasten to see what it is.”
“Here it is, boys, hurrah! come along. Just what
we want,” cried Peterkin, as we drew near, still tug-
ging with all his power. “First rate; just the very
ticket!” >
I need scarcely say to my readers that my companion
Peterkin was in the habit of using very remarkable
and peculiar phrases. And I am free to confess that I
did not well understand the meaning of some of them,
—such, for instance, as “the very ticket ; ” but I think
it my duty to recount everything relating to my adven-
tures with a strict regard to truthfulness in as far as my
memory serves me; so I write, as nearly as possible, the
exact words that my companions spoke. I often asked
Peterkin to explain what he meant by “ticket,” but he


THE CORAL ISLAND. 31
always answered me by going into fits of laughter.
However, by observing the occasions on which he used
it, I came to understand that it meant to show that some-
thing was remarkably good, or fortunate.
On coming up we found that Peterkin was vainly
endeavoring'to pull the axe out of the oar, into which,
it will be remembered, Jack struck it while endeavor-
ing to cut away the cordage among which it had be-
come entangled at the bow of the ship. Fortunately
for us the axe had remained fast in the oar, and even
now, all Peterkin’s strength could not draw it out of
the cut.
“ Ah ! that is capital indeed,” cried Jack, at the same
time giving the axe a wrench that plucked it out of
the tough wood. “ How fortunate this is! It will'be of
more value to us than a hundred knives, and the edge is
quite new and sharp.”
“I’ll answer for the toughness of the handle at any
rate,” cried Peterkin; “my arms are nearly pulled out
of the sockets. ' But see here, our luck is great. There
is iron on the blade.” He pointed to a piece of hoop
iron, as he spoke, which had been nailed round the blad
of the oar to prevent it from splitting. ‘
This also was a fortunate discovery. Jack went down
on his knees, and with the edge of the axe began care-
fully to force out the nails. But as they were firmly
fixed in, and the operation blunted our axe, we carried
the oar up with us to the place where we had left the
rest of our things, intending to burn the wood away from
the iron at a more convenient time.
“ Now, lads,” said Jack, after we had laid it on the
stone which contained our little all, “I propose that we
should go to the tail of the island, where the ship struck,


32 THE CORAL ISLAND.
which is only a quarter of a mile off, and see if anything
else has been thrown ashore. I don’t expect anything,
but it is well to see. When we get back here it will be
time to have our supper and prepare our beds.”
“ Agreed I ” cried Peterkin and I together, as, indeed,
we would have agreed to any proposal that Jack made ;
for, besides his being older and much stronger and taller
than either of us, he was a very clever fellow, and I
think would have induced people much older than him-
self to choose him for their leader, especially if they re-
quired to be led on a bold enterprise.
Now, as we hastened along the white beach, which
shone S0 brightly in the rays of the setting sun that our
eyes were quite dazzled by its glare, it suddenly came
into Peterkin’s head that we had nothing to eat except
the'wild berries which grew in profusion at our feet.
“What shall we do, Jack?” said he, with a rueful
look ; “ perhaps they may be poisonous! ”
“ No fear,” replied Jack, confidently; “ I have ob-
served that a few of them are not unlike some of the
berries that grow wild on our own native hills. Besides,
I saw one or two strange birds eating them just a few
minutes ago, and what won’t kill the birds won’t kill us.
But look up there, Peterkin,” continued Jack, pointing
to the branched head of a cocoa-nut palm. “ There are
nuts for us in all stages.”
“ So there are l ” cried Peterkin, who being of a. very
unobservant nature had been too much taken up with
other things to notice anything so high above his head
as the fruit of a palm-tree. But, whatever faults my
young comrade had, he could not be blamed for want of
activity or animal spirits. Indeed, the nuts had scarcely
been pointed out to him when he bounded up the tall-


THE CORAL ISLAND. 33
stem of the tree like a. squirrel, and, in a few minutes,
returned with three nuts, each as large as a man’s fist.
“ You had better keep them till we return,” said Jack.
“ Let us finish our work before eating.”
“ So be it, captain, go ahead,” cried Peterkin, thrusting
the nuts into his trousers pocket. “ In fact I don’t want
to eat just now, but I would give a good deal for a drink.
Oh that I could find a spring! but I don’t see the smallest
sign of one hereabouts. I say, Jack, how does it happen
that you seem to be up to everything? You have told
us the names of half a dozen trees already, and yet you
say that you were never in the South Seas before.”
“ I’m not up to everything, Peterkin, as you’ll find out
ere long,” replied Jack, with a smile; “but I have been
a great reader of books of travel and adventure all my
life, and that has put me up to a good many things that
you are, perhaps, not acquainted with.”
“Oh, Jack, that’s all humbug. If you begin to lay
everything to the credit of books, I’ll quite lose my
opinion of you,” cried Peterkin, with a look of contempt.
“I’ve seen a lot 0’ fellows that were always poring over
books, and when they came to try to do anything, they
were no better than baboons! ”
“ You are quite right,” retorted Jack; “and I have
seen a lot of fellows who never looked into books at all,
who knew nothing about anything except the things they
had actually seen, and very little they knew even about
these. Indeed, some were so ignorant that they did not
know that cocoa-nuts grew on cocoa-nut trees I ”
I could not refrain from laughing at this rebuke, for
there was much truth in it, as to Pete-rkin’s ignorance.
“ Humph! may be you’re right,” answered Peterkin;
“but I would not give tuppence for a man of books, if he
had nothing else in him.”
a


34 THE CORAL ISLAND.
“Neither would I,” said Jack; “ but that’s no reason
why you should run books down, or think less of me for
having read them. Suppose, now, Peterkin, that you
wanted to build a ship, and I were to give you a long
and particular account of the way to do it, would not that
be very useful? ”
“ No doubt of it,” said Peterkin, laughing.
“And suppose I were to write the account in a letter
instead of telling you in words, would that be less use-
ful ? ”
“ Well—n0, perhaps not.”
“ Well, suppose I were to print it, and send it to you
in the form of a book, would it not be as good and useful
as ever ? "
“Oh, bother! Jack, you’re a philosopher, and that’s
worse than anything!” cried Peterkin, with a look of
pretended horror.
“Very well, Peterkin, we shall see,” returned Jack,
halting under the shade of a cocoa-nut tree. “ You said
you were thirsty just a minute ago; now, jump up that
tree and bring down a nut,—not a ripe one, bring a
green, unripe one.” ’
Peterkin looked surprised, but, seeing that Jack was
in earnest, he obeyed. ‘
“ Now, cut a hole in it with your penknife, and clap it
to your mouth, old fellow,” said Jack.
Peterkin did as he was directed, and we both burst
into uncontrollable laughter at the changes that instantly
passed over his expressive countenance. .No sooner had
he put the nut to his mouth, and thrown back his head in
order to catch what came out of it, than his eyes opened
to twice their ordinary size with astonishment, while his
throat moved vigorously in the act of swallowing. Then


THE CORAL ISLAND. 85
a smile and look of intense delight overspread his face,
except, indeed, the mouth, which, being firmly fixed to
the file in the nut, could not take part in the expression;
but he endeavored to make up for this by winking at us
excessively with his right eye. At length he stopped,
and, drawing a long breath, exclaimed —
“ Nectar ! perfect nectar! I say, Jack, you’re a Briton
V
-—the best fellow I ever met in m ' Only taste
that! ” said be, turning to me and holding the nut to my
mouth. I immediately drank, and certainly I was much
surprised at the delightful liquid that flowed copiously
down my throat. It was extremely cool, and had a
sweet taste, mingled with acid; in fact, it was the likest
thing to lemonade I ever tasted, and was. most grateful
and refreshing. I handed the nut to Jack, who, after
tasting it, said, “ Now, Peterkin, you unbeliever, I never
saw or tasted a cocoa-nut in my life before, except those
sold in shops at home; but I once read that the green
nuts contain that stuff, and you see it is true ! ”
“ And pray,” asked Peterkin, “ whatisort of ‘ stuif’
does the ripe nut contain ? ”
“ A hollow kernel,” answered Jac , “ with a liquid like
milk in it; but it does not satisfy thirst so well as hunger.
It is very wholesome food I believe.”
“ Meat and drink on the same tree! ” cried Peterkin;
“ washing in the sea, lodging on the ground,-—and all
for nothing! My dear boys, we’re set up for life; it
must be theancient Paradise, - hurrah!” and Peterkin
tossed his straw hat in the air, and ran along the beach
hallooing like a. madman with delight.
We afterwards found, however, that these lovely
islands were very unlike Paradise in many things. But
more of this in its proper place.


36 THE CORAL ISLAND.
We had now come to the point of rocks on which the
ship had struck, but did not find a single article, although
we searched carefully among the coral rocks, Wh~1 at
this place jutted out so far as nearly to join the reef that
encircled the island. Just as we were about to return,
however, we saw something black floating in a little cove
that had escaped our observation. Running forward, we
drew it from the water, and found it to be a long thick
leather boot,.such as fishermen at home wear; and a few
paces farther on we picked up its fellow. We at once
recognized these as having belonged to our captain, for
he had worn them during the whole of the storm, in
order to guard his legs from the waves and spray that
constantly washed over our decks. My first thought on
seeing them was that our dear captain had been drown-
ed; but Jack soon put my mind more at rest on that
point, by saying that if the captain had been drowned
with the boots on, he would certainly have been washed
ashore along with them, and that he had no doubt what- I
ever he had licked them off while in the sea, that he
might swim more easily.
Peterkin immediately put them on, but they were so
large that, as Jack said, they would have done for boots,
trousers, and vest too. I also tried them, but, although
I was long enough in the legs for them, they were much
too large in the feet for me; so we handed them to Jack,
who was anxious to make me keep them, but as they
fitted his large limbs and feet as if they had been made
for him, I would not hear of it, so he consented at last
'to use them. I may remark, however, that Jack did not
use them often, as they were extremely heavy.
It was beginning to grow dark when we returned to
our encampment; so we put off our visit to the top of


THE CORAL ISLAND. 37'
a hill till next day, and employed the light that yet re-
mained to us in cutting down a quantity of boughs and
the broad leaves of a tree, of which none of us knew the
name. With these we erected a sort of rustic bower, in
which we meant to pass the night. There was no abso-
lute necessity for this, because the air of our island was
so genial and balmy that we could have slept quite well
without any shelter; but we were so little used to sleep-
ing in the open air, that we did not quite ’relish the idea
of lying down without any covering over us; besides,
our bower would shelter us from the night detvs or rain,
if any should happen to fall. Having strewed the floor
with leaves and dry grass, we bethought ourselves of
supper. - I
But it now occurred to us, for the first time, that we
had no means of making a fire.
“Now, there’s a fix 1 — what shall we do? ” said Peter-
kin, while we both turned our eyes to Jack, to whom we
always looked in our difficulties. Jack seemed not a
little perplexed.
“ There are flints enough, no doubt, on the beach,” said
he, “ but they are of no use at all without a steel. How-
ever, we must try.” So saying, he went to the beach,
and soon returned with two flints. On one of these he
placed the tinder, and endeavored to ignite it; but it
was with great difficulty that a very small spark was
struck out of the flints, and the tinder, being a bad, hard
piece, would not catch. He then tried the bit of hoop
iron, which would not strike fire at all; and after that the
back of the axe, with no better success. During all
these trials Peterkin sat with his hands in his pockets,
gazing with a most melancholy visage at our comrade,
his face growing longer and more miserable at each suc-
cessive failure.


38 THE CORAL ISLAND.
“ Oh dear I ” he sighed, “ I would not care a button for
the cooking of our victuals,—~perhaps they don’t need
it, —-but it’s so dismal to eat one’s supper in the dark, and
we have had such a capital day, that it’s a pity to finish
otf in this glum style. Oh, I have it l” he cried, starting
up ; “ the spy-glass,— the big glass at the end is a burn-
ing-glass l ”
“ You forget that we have no sun,” said I.
Peterkin was silent. In his sudden recollection of the
telescope he had quite overlooked the absence of the
sun.
“ Ah, boys, I’ve got it now l” exclaimed Jack, rising
and cutting a branch from_a neighboring bush, which he
stripped of its leaves. “I recollect seeing this done once at
home. Hand me the bit of whip-cord.” With the cord
and branch Jack soon formed a bow. Then he cut a.
piece, about three inches long, of the end of a dead
branch, which he pointed at the two ends. Round this
he passed the cord of the bow, and placed one end against
his chest, which was protected from its point by a chip of
wood; the other point he placed against the bit of tinder,
and then began to saw vigorously with the bow, just as a
blacksmith does with his drill while boring a hole in a
piece of iron. In a few seconds the tinder began to
smoke; in less than a minute it caught fire ; and in less
than a quarter of an hour we were drinking our lemon-
ade and eating cocoa-nuts round a fire that would have
roasted an entire sheep, while the smoke, flames, and ‘
sparks, flew up among the broad leaves of the overhang-
ing palm-trees, and cast a warm glow upon our leafy
bower.
That night the starry sky looked down through the
gently rustling trees upon our slumbers, and the distant
roaring of the surf upon the coral reef was our lullaby.


THE CORAL ISLAND. 39
CHAPTER V.
MORNING, AND COGITATIONS CONNECTED THERE‘VITH—WE LUX-
URIATE IN THE SEA. TRY OUR DIVING POWERS, AND MAKE
ENCHANTING EXCURSIONS AMONG THE CORAL GROVES AT
THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN—THE WONDERS OF THE DEEP
ENLARGED UPON.
HAT a joyful thing it is to awaken, on a fresh
glorious morning, and find the rising sun staring
into your face with dazzling brilliancy !—-to see the birds
twittering in the bushes, and to hear the murmuring of a
rill, or the soft hissing ripples as they fall upon the sea-
shore! At any time and in any place such sights and,
sounds are most charming, but more especially are they
so when one awakens to them, for the first time, in a.
novel and romantic situation, with the soft sweet air of a
tropical climate mingling with the fresh smell of the sea,
and stirring the strange leaves that flutter overhead
and around one, or rufliing the plumage of the stranger-
birds that fly inquirineg around, as if to demand what
business we have to intrude uninvited on their domains-
When I awoke on the morning after the shipwreck, I
found myself in this most delightful condition ; and, as I
lay on my back upon my bed of leaves, gazing up-
through the branches of the cocoa-nut trees into the clear-
blue sky, and watched the few fieecy clouds that passed!
slowly across it, my heart expanded more and more with,
an exulting gladness, the like of which I had .never felt;


THE CORAL ISLAND. 41
former he must certainly have been wrong. for this bird
seemed to me to be extremely funny; and I could not
help thinking that, if it should happen to faint, or slip its
foot, and fall off the twig into Peterkin’s mouth, he would
perhaps think it funny too! Suddenly the paroquet bent
down its head and, uttered a loud scream in his face.
This awoke him, and, with a cry of surprise, he started
up, while the foolish bird flew precipitately away.
“ Oh you monster!” cried Peterkin, shaking his fist
at the bird. Then he yawned and rubbed his eyes, and
asked what o’clock it was.
I smiled at this question, and answered that, as our
watches were at the bottom of the sea, I could not tell, '
but it was a little past sunrise.
Peterkin now began to remember where we were. As
he looked up into the bright sky, and snuffed the scented
air, his eyes glistened with delight, and he uttered a faint
“hurrah!” and yawned again. Then he gazed slowly
round, till, observing the calm sea through an opening in
the bushes, he startedwsuddenlLuw if he had received
an electri_c_shock, uttered a vehement shout, flung off his
garments, and }6§Hfsg'6¥€r'it'é'v?i1ite sands, plunged into
the water. The cry awoke Jack, who rose on his elbow
with a look of grave surprise ; but this was followed by
a quiet smile of intelligence on seeing Peterkin in the
water. With an energy that he only gave way to in m0-
ments of excitement, Jack bounded to his feet, threw
ofl‘ his clothes, shook back his hair, and, with a lion-
like spring, dashed over the sands and plunged into the
sea with such force as quite to envelop Peterkin in a
shower of spray. Jack was a remarkably good swimmer
and diver, so that after his plunge we saw no sign of
him for nearly a minute ; after which he suddenly


42 THE CORAL ISLAND.
emerged, with a cry of joy,‘ a good many yards out from
the shore. My spirits were so much raised by seeing
all this that I, too, hastily -threw off my garments and
endeavored to imitate Jack’s vigorous bound; but I was
so awkward that my foot caught on a stump, and I fell to
the grOund; then I slipped on a stone while running over
the sand, and nearly fell again, much to the amusement
of Peterkin, who laughed heartily, and called me a “ slow
coach,” while Jack cried out, “ Come along, Ralph, and
I’ll help you.” However, when I got into the water I
managed very well, for I was really a good swimmer,
and diver too. I could not, indeed, equal Jack, who was
superior to any Englishman I ever saw, but I infinitely
surpassed Peterkin, who could only swim a little, and
could not dive at all.
While Peterkin enjoyed himself in the shallow water
and in running along the beach, Jack and I swam out
into the deep water, and occasionally dived for stones. I
shall never forget my surprise and delight on first behold-
ing the bottom of the sea. As I have before stated, the
water within the reef was as calm as a pond; and, as
there was no wind, it was quite clear, from the surface to
the bottom, so that we could see down easily even at a.
depth of twenty or thirty yards. When Jack and I
dived in shallower water, we expected to have found
sand and stones, instead of which we found ourselves in
what appeared really to be an enchanted garden. The
whole of the bottom of the lagoon, as we called the calm
water within the reef, was covered with coral of every
shape, size, and hue. Some portions were formed like
large mushrooms; others appeared like the brain of a
man, having stalks or necks attached to them; but‘ the
most common kind was a species of branching coral, and


THE CORAL ISLAND. 43 '
/
some portions were of a lovely pale pink color, others
pure white. Among this there grew large quantities of
sea-weed of'the richest hues imaginable, and of. the most
graceful forms ; while innumerable fishes — blue, red, yel-
low, green, and striped -— sported in and out amongst the
flower-beds of this submarine garden, and did not appear
to be at all afraid of our approaching them.
On darting to the surface for breath, after our first
dive, Jack and I rose close to each other.
“Did you ever in your life, Ralph, see anything so
lovely?” said Jack, as he flung the spray from his hair.
“Never,” I replied. “It appears to me like fairy
realms. I can scarcely believe that we are not dream-
ing.”
“ Dreaming!” cried Jack, “do you know, Ralph, I’m
half tempted to think that we really are dreaming.
But if so, I am resolved to make the most of it, and
dream another dive; so here goes,— down again, my
boy!”
We took the second dive together, and kept beside each
other while under water ; and I was greatly surprised to
find that we could keep down much longer than I ever
recollect having done in our own seas at home. I be-
lieve that this was owing to the heat of the water, which
was so warm that we afterwards found we could remain
in it for two and three hours at a time without feeling
any unpleasant effects such as we used to experience in
the sea at home. When Jack reached the bottom, he
grasped the coral stems, and crept along on his hands
and knees, peeping under the sea-weed and among the
rocks. I observed him also pick up one or two large
oysters, and retain them in his grasP, as if he meant to
take them up with him, so I also gathered a few. Sud-


44 THE CORAL ISLAND.
denly he made a grasp at a fish with blue and yellow
stripes on its back, and actually touched its tail but did
not catch it. At this he turned towards me and at-
tempted to smile; but no sooner had he done so than
he sprang like an arrow to the surface, where, on fol-
lowing him, I found him gasping and coughing, and
spitting water from his mouth. In a few minutes he
recovered, and we both turned to swim ashore.
“I declare, Ralph,” said he, “that I actually tried to
laugh under water.”
“ So I saw,” I replied; “ and I observed that you very
nearly caught that fish by the tail. It would have done
capitally for breakfast if you had.”
“Breakfast enough here,” said he, holding up the oys-
ters, as we landed and ran up the beach. “Hallo!
Peterkin, here you are, boy. Split open these fellows
while Ralph and I put on our clothes. They’ll agree
with the cocoa-nuts excellently, I have no doubt.”
Peterkin, who was already dressed, took the oysters,
and opened them with the edge of our axe, exclaim-
ing, “ Now, that is capital. There’s nothing I’m so fond
of.”
“ Ah! that’s lucky,” remarked Jack. “ I’ll be able to
keep you in good order now, Master Peterkin. You
know you can’t dive any better than a cat. So, sir,
whenever you behave ill, you shall have no oysters for
breakfast.” '
“I’m very glad that our prospect of breakfast is so
good,” said I, “for I’m very hungry.” ,
“ Here, then, stop your mouth with that, Ralph,” said
Peterkin, holding a large oyster to my lips. I opened
my mouth and swallowed it in silence, and really it was
remarkably good.
b


THE CORAL ISLAND. 45
We now set ourselves earnestly about our preparations
for spending the day. We had no difficulty with the fire
this morning, as our burning-glass was an admirable one;
and while we roasted a few oysters and ate our cocoa-
nuts, we held a long, animated conversation about our
plans for the future. What those plans were, and how
we carried them into effect, the reader shall see hereafter.


46 THE CORAL ISLAND.
CHAPTER VI.
AN EXCURSION INTO THE INTERIOR, IN WHICH ‘VE MAKE
MANY VALUABLE AND INTERESTING DISCOVERLES—WE GET
A DREADFUL FRIGHT—THE BREAD-FRUIT TREE—WONDERFUL
PECULIARITY OF SOME OF THE‘ FRUIT TREES—SIGNS 0]? FOR-
MER INHABITANTS.
UR first care, after breakfast, was to place the few
articles we possessed in the crevice of a rock at the
farther end of a small cave which we discovered near our
encampment. This cave, we hoped, might be useful to
us afterwards as a storehouse. Then we cut two large
clubs off a species of very hard tree which grew near at
hand. One of these was given to Peterkin, the other
to me, and Jack armed himself with the axe. We took
these precautions because we purposed to make an ex-
cursion to the top of the mountains of the interior, in
order to obtain a better view of our island. Of course
we knew not what dangers might befall us by the way, so
thought it best to be prepared.
Having completed our arrangements and carefully ex-
tinguished our fire, we sallied forth and walked a short
distance along the sea-beach, till we came to the entrance
of a valley, through which flowed the rivulet before
mentioned. Here we turned our backs on the sea and
struck into the interior.
The prospect that burst upon our view on entering the
valley was truly splendid. On either side of us there was


THE CORAL ISLAND. 47
a gentle rise in the land, which thus formed two ridges
about a mile apart on each side of the valley. These
ridges,—which, as well as the low grounds between
them, were covered with trees and shrubs of the most
luxuriant kind, —— continued to recede inland for about two
miles, when they joined the foot of a small mountain.
This hill rose rather abruptly from the head of the val-
ley, and was likewise entirely covered even to the top
with trees, except on one particular spot near the left
shoulder, whererwwas shat-{and rocky-place of a broken
and savage character. Beyond this hilI'we co'uld‘not see,
andmefore directed our course up the banks of the
rivulet towards the foot of it, intending to climb to the
top, should that be possible, as, indeed, we had no doubt
it was.
Jack, being the wisest and boldest among us, took the
lead, carrying the axe on his shoulder. Peterkin, with
his enormous club, came second, as he said he should like
to be in a position to defend me if any danger should
threaten. I brought up the rear, but, having been more
taken up with the wonderful and curious things I saw at
starting than with thoughts of possible danger, I had
very foolishly left my club behind me. Although, as I
have said, the trees and bushes were very luxuriant,
they were not so thickly crowded together as to hinder
our progress among them. We were able to wind in and
out, and to follow the banks of the stream quite easily,
although, it is true, the height and thickness of the foliage
prevented us from seeing far ahead. But sometimes-a
jutting-out rock on the hill-side afforded us a position
whence we could enjoy the romantic, view and mark
our progress towards' the foot of the hill. I was par-
ticularly struck, during the walk, with the richness of


48 ' THE CORAL ISLAND.
the undergrowth in most places, and recognized many
berries and plants that resembled those of my native
land, especially a tall, elegantly formed fern, which
emitted an agreeable perfume. There were several
kinds of flowers, too, but I did not see so many of these
as I should have expected in such a climate. \Ve also
saw a great variety of small birds of bright plumage, and
many paroquets similar to the one that awoke Peterkin
s0 rudely in the morning.
Thus we advanced to the foot of the hill without en-
countering anything to alarm us, except, indeed, once,
when we were passing close under a part of the hill
which was hidden from our view by the broad leaves of
the banana trees, which grew in great luxuriance in that
part. Jack was just preparing to force his way through
this thicket, when we were startled and arrested by a
strange pattering or rumbling sound, which appeared to
us qu'ite difl'erent from any of the sounds we had heard
during the previous part of our walk.
“ Hallo I ” cried Peterkin, stopping short and grasping
his club with both hands, “ what’s that?”
Neither of us replied; but Jack seized his axe in his
right hand, while with the other he pushed aside the
broad leaves and endeavored to peer amongst them.
“ I can see nothing,” he said, after a short pause. “ I
think it—”
Again the rumbling sound came, louder than before,
and we all sprang back and stood on the defensive. For
myself, having forgotten my club, and not having taken
the precaution to cut another, I buttoned my jacket,
doubled my fists, and threw myself into a boxing atti-
tude. I must say, however, that I felt somewhat un-
easy; and my. companions afterwards confessed that


THE CORAL ISLAND. ' 49
their thoughts at this moment had been instantly filled
with all they had ever heard or read of wild beasts and
savages, torturings at the stake, roastings alive, and such
like horrible things. Suddenly the pattering noise in-
creased with tenfold violence. It was followed by a fear-
ful crash among the bushes, which was rapidly repeated
as if some gigantic animal were bounding towards us.
In another moment an enormous rock came crashing
through the shrubbery, followed by a cloud of dust and
small stones, and flew close past the spot where we stood,
carrying bushes and young trees along with it.
“ Pooh! is that all P ” exclaimed Peterkin, wiping the
perspiration off his forehead. “ Why, I thought it was
all the wild men and beasts in the South Sea Islands
galloping on in one grand charge to sweep us off the face ,
of the earth, instead of a mere stone tumbling down the
mountain side.”
“Nevertheless,” remarked Jack, “if that same stone
had hit any of us, it would have rendered the charge
you speak of quite unnecessary, Peterkin.”
This was true, and I felt very thankful for our escape.
On examining the spot more narrowly, we found that it
lay close to the foot of a very rugged precipice, from
which stones of various sizes were always tumbling at
intervals. Indeed, the numerous fragments lying scat-
tered all around might have suggested the cause of the
sound, had we not been too suddenly alarmed to think of
anything.
We now resumed our journey, resolving that, in our
future excursions into the interior, we would be careful
to avoid this dangerous precipice.
Soon afterwards we arrived at the foot of the hill and
prepared to ascend it. Here Jack made a discovery
4


50 ' THE CORAL ISLAND.
which caused us all very great joy. This was a tree of
a remarkably beautiful appearance, which Jack confi-
dently declared to be the celebrated bread-fruit tree.
“Is it celebrated?” inquired Peterkin, with a look of
great simplicity.
“ It is,” replied Jack.
“ That’s odd, now,” rejoined Peterkin ; “ I never
heard of it before.”
“Then it’s not so celebrated as I thought it was,” re-
turned Jack, quietly squeezing Peterkin’s hat over his
eyes; “ but listen, you ignorant booby, and hear of it
now! ”
Peterkin readjusted his hat, and was soon listening
with as much interest as myself, while Jack told us that
this tree is one of the most valuable in the islands of the
south; that it bears two, sometimes three, crops of fruit
in the year; that the fruit is very like Wheaten bread in
appearance, and that it constitutes the principal food of
many of the islanders.
“ So,” said Peterkin, “we seem to have everything
ready prepared to our hands in this wonderful island—
lemonade ready bottled in nuts, and loaf-bread growing
on the trees I” -
Peterkin, as usual, was jesting; nevertheless, it is a
curious fact that he spoke almost the literal truth.
“ Moreover,” continued Jack, “ the bread-fruit tree af-
fords a capital gum, which serves the natives for pitching
their canoes; the bark of the young branches is made
by them into cloth; and of the wood, which is durable
and of a good color, they build their houses. So you
see, lads, that we have no lack of material here to make
us comfortable, if we are only clever enough to use it.”
“ But are you sure that that’s it?” asked Peterkin.


THE CORAL ISLAND. 51
“ Quite sure,” replied Jack; “ for I was particularly
interested in the account I once read of it, and I remem-
ber the description well. I am sorry, however, that I
have forgotten the descriptions of many other trees
which I am sure we have seen to-day, if we could but
recognize them. So you see, Peterkin, I’m not up to
everything yet.”
“Never mind, Jack,” said Peterkin, with a grave,
patronizing expression of countenance, patting his tall
companion on the shoulder,—“ never mind, Jack; 'you
know a good deal for your age. You’re a. clever boy,
sir,— a promising young man ; and if you only go on as
you have begun, sir, you will -—”
The end of this speech was suddenly cut short by
Jack tripping up Peierkin’s heels and tumbling him into
a mass of thick shrubs, where, finding himself comforta-
ble, he lay still, basking in the sunshine, while Jack and
I examined the bread-fruit tree.
We were much struck with the deep, rich green color
of its broad leaves, which were twelve or eighteen inches
long, deeply indented, and of a glossy smoothness, like
the laurel. The fruit, with which it was loaded, was
nearly round, and appeared to be about six inches in di-
ameter, with a rough rind, marked with lozenge-shaped
divisions. It was of various colors, from light pea-green
to-brown and rich yellow. Jack said that the yellow
was the ripe fruit. We afterwards found that most of
the fruit-trees on the island were evergreens, and that
we might, when we wished, pluck the blossom and the
ripe fruit from the same tree. Such a wonderful differ-
ence from the trees of our own country surprised us not
a little. The bark of the tree was rough and light col-
ored; the trunk was about two feet in diameter, and it
I}


52 THE CORAL ISLAND.
appeared to be twenty feet high, being quite destitute of
branches up to that height, where it branched 011' into a
beautiful and umbrageous head. We noticed that the
fruit hung in clusters of twos and threes on the branches;
but as we were anxious to get to the top of the hill, we
refrained from attempting to pluck any at that time.
Our hearts were now very much cheered by our good
fortune, and it was with light and active steps that we
clambered up the steep sides of the hill. On reaching
the summit, a new, and if possible, a grander prospect met
our gaze. We found that this was not the highest part
of the island, but that another hill lay beyond, with a.
wide valley between it and the one on which we stood.
This valley, like the first, was also full of rich trees,
some dark and some light green, some heavy and thick
in foliage, and others light, feathery, and graceful, while
the beautiful blossoms on many of them threw a sort of
rainbow tint over all, and gave to the valley the appear-
ance of a garden of flowers. Among these we recog-
nized many of the bread-fruit trees, laden with yellow
fruit, and also a great many cocoa-nut palms. After
gazing our fill we pushed down the hill-side, crossed the
valley, and soon began to ascend the second mountain.
It was clothed with trees nearly to the top, but the sum-
mit was bare, and in some places broken.
While on our way up we came to an object which
filled us with much interest. This was the stump of a.
tree that had evidently been cut down with an axe l So,
then, we were not the first who had viewed this beauti-
ful isle. The hand of man had been at work there be-
fore us. It now began to recur to us again that perhaps
the island was inhabited, although we had not seen any
traces of man until now; but a second glance at the


THE CORAL ISLAND. 53
I
stump convinced us that we had not more reason to think
so now than formerly; for the surface of the wood was
quite decayed, and partly covered with fungus and green
matter, so that it must have been out many years ago.
“Perhaps,” said Peterkin, “some ship or other has
touched here long ago for wood, and only taken one tree.”
We did not think this likely, however, because, in
such circumstances, the crew, of a ship would cut wood
of small size, and near the shore, whereas this was a
large tree and stood near the top of the mountain. In
fact it was the highest large tree on the mountain, all
above it being wood of very recent growth.
“I can’t understand it,” said Jack, scratching the sur-
face of the stump with his axe. “I can only suppose
that the savages have been here and cut it for some
purpose known only to themselves. But, hallo! what
have we here?”
As he spoke, Jack began carefully to scrape away the
moss and fungus from the stump, and soon laid bare
three distinct traces of marks, as if some inscription or
initials had'been cut thereon. But although the traces
were distinct, beyond all doubt, the exact form of the
letters could not be made out. Jack thought they looked
like J. S. but we could not be certain. They had ap-
parently been carelessly cut, and long exposure to the
weather had so broken them up that we could not make
out what they were. We were exceedingly perplexed
at this discovery, and stayed a long time at the place
conjecturing what these marks could have been, but
without avail; so, as the day was advancing, we left it
and quickly reached the top of the mountain.
We found this to be the highest point of the island,
and from it we saw our kingdom lying, as it were, like a


54 THE CORAL ISLAND.
map around us. As I have always thought it impossible
to get a thing properly into one’s understanding without
comprehending it, I shall beg the reader’s patience for a
little while I describe our island, thus, shortly :—
It consisted of two mountains: the one we guessed at
500 feet; the other, on which we stood, at 1000. Be-
tween these lay a rich, beautiful valley, as already said.
This valley crossed the island from one end to the other,
being high in the middle and sloping on each side towards
the sea. The large mountain sloped, on the side farthest
from where we had been wrecked, gradually towards the
sea; but although, when viewed at a glance, it had thus
a regular sloping appearance, a more careful observation
showed that it was broken up into a multitude of very
small vales, or rather dells and glens, intermingled with‘
little rugged spots and small but abrupt precipices here
and there, with rivulets tumbling over their edges and
wandering down the slopes in little white streams, some-
" times glistening among the broad leaves of the bread-fruit
and cocoa-nut trees, or hiding altogether beneath the rich
underwood. At the base of this mountain lay a narrow
bright green plain or meadow, which terminated abruptly
at the shore. On the other side of the island, whence
we had come, stood the smaller hill, at the foot of which
diverged three valleys; one being that which we had
ascended, with a smaller vale on each side of it, and
separated from it by the two ridges before mentioned.
In these smaller valleys there were no streams, but they
were clothed with the same luxuriant vegetation.
The diameter of the island seemed to be about ten
miles, and, as it was almost circular in form, its circum-
ference must have been thirty miles;i- perhaps a little
more, if allowance be made for the numerous bays and
0‘


THE CORAL ISLAND. 5
indentations of the shore. The entire island was belted
by a beach of pure white sand, on which laved the
gentle ripples of the lagoon. We now also observed
that the coral reef completely encircled the island; but
it varied its distance from it here and there, in some
places being a mile from the beach, in others, a few
hundred yards, but the average distance was half a mile.
The reef lay very low, and the spray of the surf broke
quite over it in many places. This surf never ceased
its roar, for, however calm the weather might be, there
is always a gentle swaying motion in the great Pacific,
which, although scarce noticeable out at sea, reaches the
shore at last in a huge billow. The water within the la-
goon, as before said, was perfectly still. There were three
narrow openings in the reef: one opposite each end of
the valley which I have described as crossing the island;
the other opposite our own valley, which we afterwards
named the Valley of the Wreck. At each of these open-
ings the reef rose into two small green islets, covered
with bushes and having one or two cocoa-nut pahns on
each. These islets were very singular, and appeared as
if planted expressly for the purpose of marking the chan-
nel into the lagoon. Our captain was making for one of
these openings the day we were wrecked, and would
have reached it too, I doubt not, had not the rudder been
torn away. Within the lagoon were several pretty, low
coral islands, just opposite our encampment; and, im-
mediately beyond these, out at sea, lay about a dozen
other islands, at various distances, from half a mile to
ten miles; all of them, as far as we could discern,
smaller than ours and apparently uninhabited. They
seemed to be low coral islands, raised but little above
the sea, yet covered with cocoa-nut trees.


56 THE CORAL ISLAND.
All this we noted, and a great deal more, while we
sat on the top of the mountain. After we had satisfied
ourselves we prepared to return; but here again we
discovered traces of the presence of man. These were
a pole or staff and one or two pieces of wood which had
been squared with an axe. All of these were, however,
very much decayed, and they had evidently not been
touched for many years.
Full of these discoveries we returned to our encamp-
ment. On the way we fell in with the traces of some
four-footed animal, but whether old or of recent date
none of us were able to guess. This also tended to raise
our hopes of obtaining some animal food on the island,
so we reached home in good spirits, quite prepared for
supper, and highly satisfied with our excursion.
After much discussion, in which Peterkin took the
lead, we came to the conclusion that the island was un-
inhabited, and went to bed.


‘ THE CORAL ISLAND. 57
CHAPTER VII.
JACK‘S INGENUITY — WE GET INTO DIFFICULTIES ABOUT FISHING,
AND GET OUT OF THEM BY A METHOD WHICH GIVES US A
COLD BATH—HORRIBLE ENCOUNTER WITH A SHARK.
OR several days after the excursion related in the
last chapter we did not wander far from our en-
campment, but gave ourselves up to forming plans for the
future and making our present abode comfortable.
There were various causes that induced this state of
comparative inaction. In the first place, although every-
thing around us was so delightful, and we could without
difliculty obtain all that we required for our bodily com-
fort, we did not quite like the idea of settling down here
for the rest of our lives, far away from our friends and
our native land. To set energetically about preparations
for a permanent residence seemed so like making up our
minds to saying adieu to home and friends forever, that
we tacitly shrank from it and put off our preparations,
for one reason and another, as long as we could. Then
there was a little uncertainty still as to there being na-
tives on the island, and we entertained a kind of faint
hope that a ship might come and take us off. But as
day after day passed, and neither savages nor ships ap-
peared, we gave up all hope of an early deliverance and
set diligently to work at our homestead.
During this time, however, we had not been altogether
idle. We made several experiments in cooking the cocoa-
nut, most of which did not improve it. Then we re-


58 THE CORAL ISLAND. .
moved our goods, and took up our abode in the cave,
but found the change so bad that we returned gladly to
the bower. Besides this, we bathed very frequently, and
talked a great deal; at least Jack and Peterkin did, —
I listened. Among other useful things, Jack, who was
ever the most active and diligent, converted about three
inches of the hoop-iron into an excellent knife. First he
beat it quite flat with the axe. Then he made a rude
handle, and tied the hoop-iron to it with our piece of
whipcord, and ground it to an edge on a piece of sand-
stone. When it was finished he used it to shape a better
. handle, to which he fixed it with a strip of his cotton
handkerchief; -—in which- operation he had, as Peterkin
pointed out, torn off one of Lord Nelson’s noses. How-
ever, the whipcord, thus set free, was used by Peterkin
as a fishing line. He merely tied a piece of oyster to
the end of it. This the fish were allowed to swallow,
and then they were pulled quickly ashore. But‘as the
line was very short and we had no boat, the fish we caught
were exceedingly small.
One day Peterkin came up from the beach, where he
had been angling, and said in a very cross tone, “ I’ll tell
you what, Jack, I’m not going to be humbugged with
catching such contemptible things any longer. I want
you to swim out with me on your back, and let the fish
in deep water ! ”
“Dear me, Peterkin,” replied Jack, “I had no idea
you were taking the thing so much to heart, else I would
have got you out of that difficulty long ago. Let me
see,”—and Jack looked down at a piece of timber on
which he'had been laboring, with a peculiar gaze of
abstraction, which he always assumed when trying to in-
vent or discover anything.


THE CORAL ISLAND. 59
“ What say you to building a boat?” he inquired, look-
ing up hastily. ‘
“ Take far too long,” was the reply; “ can’t be both-
ered waiting. I want to begin at once ! ”
Again Jack considered. “ I have it I ” he cried.
“ We’ll fell a large tree and launch the trunk of it in
the water, so that when you want to fish you’ve nothing
to do but to swim out to it.”
“ Would not a small raft do better? ” said I.
“ Much better; but we have no ropes to bind it to-
gether with. Perhaps we may find something hereafter
that will do as well, but, in the mean time, let us try the
tree.” _
This was agreed on, so we started off to a spot not far
distant, where we knew of a tree that would suit us,
which grew near the water’s edge. As soon as we reached
it Jack threw off his coat, and, wielding the axe with his
sturdy arms, hacked and hewed at it for a quarter of an
hour without stopping. Then he paused, and, while he
sat down to rest, I continued the work. Then Peterkin
made a vigorous attack on it, so that when Jack renewed
his powerful blows, a few minutes cutting brought it
down with a terrible crash.
“ Hurrah I now for it,” cried Jack; “let us off with its
head.”
So. saying he began to cut through the stem again, at
about six yards from the, thick end. This done, he cut
three strong, short poles or levers from the stout branches,
with which to roll the log down the beach into the sea ;
for, as it was nearly two feet thick at the large end, we
could not move it without such helps. With the levers,
however, we rolled it slowly into the sea.
Having been thus successful in launching our vessel,


60 THE CORAL ISLAND.
we next shaped the levers into rude oars or paddles, and
then attempted to embark. This was easy enough to do ;
but, after seating ourselves astride the log, it was with
the utmost difficulty we kept it from rolling round and
plunging us into the water. Not that we minded that
much; but we preferred, if possible, to fish in dry clothes.
To be sure, our trousers were necessarily wet, as our
legs were dangling in the water on each side of the log ;
but, as they could be easily dried, we did not care. After
half an hour’s practice, we became expert enough to keep
our balance pretty steadily. Then Peterkin laid down
his paddle, and having baited his line with a. whole oys-
ter, dropt it into deep water.
“ Now, then, Jac ,” said he, “ be cautious ; steer clear
0’ that sea-weed. There; that’s it; gently, now gently.
I see a fellow at least a foot long down there, coming to
-—ha! that’s it! Oh! bother, he’s off.”
“ Did he bite?” said Jack, urging the log onwards a
little with his paddle.
“ Bite? ay! He took it into his mouth, but the mo-
ment I began to haul he opened his jaws and let it out
again.”
“ Let him swallow it next time,” said Jack, laughing
at the melancholy expression of Peterkin’s visage.
“ There he’s again,” cried Peterkin, his eyes flashing
with excitement. “ Look out ! Now then ! No ! 'Yes !
No! Why, the brute won’t swallow it!”
“ Try to haul him up by the month, then,” cried Jack.
“ Do it gently.”
A heavy sigh and a blank look of despair showed that
poor Peterkin had tried and failed again.
“ Never mind, lad,” said Jack, in a voice of sympathy ;
“ we’ll move on, and offer it to some other fish.” So say-


THE CORAL ISLAND. 61
\
ing, Jack plied his paddle ;- but scarcely had he moved
from the spot, when a fish with an enormous head and a
little body darted from under a rock and swallowed the
bait at once.
“ Got him this time,—that’s a fact I ” cried Peterkin,
hauling in the line. “ He’s swallowed the bait right
down to his tail, I declare. Oh what a thumper l ”
As the fish came struggling to the surface, we leaned
forward to see it, and overbalanced the log. Peterkin
threw his arms round the fish’s neck; and, in another in-
stant, we were all floundering in the water I
A shout of laughter burst from us as we rose to the
surface like three drowned rats, and seized hold of the
log. We soon Vrecovered our position, and sat more
warily, while Peterkin secured the fish, which had well-
nigh escaped in the midst of our struggles. It was little
worth having, however; but as Peterkin remarked, it
was better than the smouts he had been catching for the
last two or three days; so we laid it on the log before us,
and having rebaited the line, dropt it in again for another.
Now, while we were thus intent upon our sport, our
attention was suddenly attracted by a ripple on the sea,
just a few yards away from us. Peterkin shouted to us
to paddle in that direction, as he thought it was a big
fish, and we might have a chance of catching it. ‘But
Jack, instead of complying, said in a deep, earnest tone
of voice, which I never before heard him use, —
“ Haul up your line, Peterkin ; seize your paddle ;
quick, — it’s a shark l ”
The horror with which we heard this may well be im-
agined, for it must be remembered that our legs were
hanging down in the water, and we could not venture to
pull them up without upsetting the log. Peterkiu in-


62 THE CORAL ISLAND.
stantly hauled up the line; and, grasping his paddle, ex-
erted himself to the utmost, while we also did our best
to make for shore. But we were a good way off, and
the log being, as I have before said, very heavy, moved
but slowly through the water. We now saw the shark
quite distinctly swimming round and round us, its sharp
fin every now and then protruding above the water.
From its active and unsteady motions, Jack knew it was
making up its mind to attack us, so he urged us vehe-
mently to paddle for our lives, while he himself set us
the example. Suddenly he shouted “Look out! -—-there
he comes I” and in a second we saw the monstrous fish
dive close under us, and turn half over on his side. But
we all made a great commotion with our paddles, which
-no doubt frightened it away for that time, as we saw it
immediately after circling round us as before.
“ Throw the fish to him,” cried Jack, in a quick, sup-
pressed voice; “ we’ll make the shore in time yet if we
can keep him off for a few minutes.”
Peterkin stopped one instant to obey the command,
and then plied his paddle again with all his might. N o
sooner had the fish fallen on the water than we ob-
served the shark to sink. In another second we saw ‘
its white, breast rising; for sharks always turn over on
their sides when about to seize their prey, their mouths
being not at the point of their heads, like those of other
fish, but, as it were, under their chins. In another mo-
ment his snout rose above the water,—his wide jaws,
armed with a terrific double row of teeth, appeared.
The dead fish was engulfed, and the shark sank out of
sight. But Jack was mistaken in supposing that it would
be satisfied. In a. very few minutes it returned to us,
and its quick motions led us to fear that it would attack
us at once.
























L \If M: \


Page 63.
NCOUNTER “’ITII A SHARK.
‘
l
TERRIBLE





THE CORAL ISLAND. 63
“Stop paddling,” cried Jack suddenly. “I see it
coming up behind us. Now, obey my orders quickly.
Our lives may depend on it. Ralph, Peterkin, do your
best. to balance the log. Don’t look out for the shark.
Don’t glance behind you. Do nothing but balance the
log.”
Peterkin and I instantly did as we were ordered, be-
ing only too glad to do anything that afl'orded us a chance
or a hope of escape, for we had implicit confidence in
Jack’s courage and wisdom. For a few seconds, that
seemed long minutes to my mind, we sat thus silently;
but I could not‘ resist glancing backward, despite the
orders to the contrary. On doing so, I saw Jack sitting
rigid like a statue, with his paddle raised, his lips com-
pressed, and his eyebrows bent over his eyes, which
glared savagely from beneath them down into the water.
I also saw the shark, to my horror, quite close under the
log, in the act of darting toward’s Jack’s foot. I could
scarce suppress a cry on beholding this. In another mo-
ment the shark rose. Jack dreWJlis leg suddenly from
the water, and threw it over the log. The monster’s
snout rubbed against the log as it passed, and revealed
its hideous jaws, into which Jack instantly plunged the
paddle, and thrust it down its throat. So violent was
this act that_Jack rose to his feet in performing it; the
log was thereby rolled completely over, and we were once
more plunged into the water. We all rose, spluttering
and gasping, in a moment.
“ Now, then, strike out for shore,” cried Jack. “ Here,
Peterkin, catch hold of my collar, and kick out with a
will.”
Peterkin did as he was desired, and Jack struck out
with such force that he cut through the water like a


64 THE CORAL ISLAND.
boat; while I, being free from all encumbrance, suc-
ceeded in keeping up with him. As we had by this
time drawn pretty near to the shore, a few minutes more
sufficed to carry us into shallow water; and, finally, we
landed in safety, though very much exhausted, and not a
little frightened by our terrible adventure.
bQ


THE CORAL ISLAND. 65
CHAPTER VIII.
THE BEAUTIES OF THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA TEMPT PETER-KIN TO
DIVE — HOW HE DID IT -—MORE DIFFICULTIES OVERCOME—THE
WATER GARDEN—CURIOUS CREATURES OF THE SEA—THE TANK
—CANDLES MISSED VERY MUCH, AND THE CANDLE-NUT TREE
DISCOVERED—WONDERFUL ACCOUNT OF l'ETEItKIN‘S FIRST VOY-
AGE -- CLOTH FOUND GROWING ON A TREE—A PLAN PROJECTED,
AND ARMS PREPARED FOR. OFFENCE AND DEFENCE—A DREAD-
FUL CRY. '
UR encounter with the- shark was the first great
danger that had befallen us since landing on this
island, and we felt very seriously affected by it, especially
when we considered that we had so often unwittingly
incurred the same danger before while bathing. We
were now forced to take to fishing again in the shal-
low water, until we should succeed in constructing a raft.
‘What troubled us most, however, was, that we were com-
pelled to forego our morning swimming excursions. we
did, indeed, continue to enjoy our bathe in the shallow
water, but Jack and I found that one great source of our
enjoyment was gone, when we could no longer dive down
among the beautiful coral groves at the bottom of the
lagoon. We had come to be so fond of this exercise, and
to take such an interest in watching the formations of
coral and the gambols of the many beautiful fish amongst
the forests of red and green sea-weeds, that we had be-
come quite familiar with the appearance of the fish and
the localities that they chiefly haunted. We had also be-
come expert divers. But we made it a rule never to
6


66 THE CORAL ISLAND.
stay long under water at a time. Jack told me that to
do so often was bad for the lungs, and, instead of af-
fording us enjoyment, would ere long do us a serious
injury. So we never stayed at the bottom as long as we
might have done, but came up frequently to the top for
fresh air, and dived down again immediately. Some-
times, when Jack happened to be in a humorous frame,
he would seat himself at the bottom of the sea on one of
the brain corals, as if he were seated on a large paddock-
stool, and then make faces at me, in order, if possible, to
make me laugh under water. At first, when he took me
unawares, be nearly succeeded, and I had to shoot to the
surface in order to laugh; but afterwards I became
aware of his intentions, and, being naturally of a grave
disposition, I had no difficulty in restraining myself. I
used often to wonder how poor Peterkin would have liked
to be with us; and he sometimes expressed much regret
at being unable to join us. I used to do my best to
gratify him, poor fellow, by relating all the wonders that
we saw; but this, instead of satisfying, seemed only to
whet his curiosity the more, some day we prevailed on
him to try to go down with us. But, although a brave
boy in every other way, Peterkin was very nervous in
the water, and it was with difficulty we got him to con-
sent to be taken down, for he could never have man-
aged to push himself down to the bottom without assist-
ance. But no sooner had we pulled him down a yard
or so into the deep clear water, than he began to strug-
gle and kick violently, so we were forced to let him go,
when he rose out of the water like a cork, gave a loud
gasp and a frightful roar, and struck out for the land with
the utmost possible haste.
Now, all this pleasure we were to ,forego, and when


THE CORAL ISLAND. 67
we thought thereon, Jack and I felt very much depressed
in our spirits. I could see, also, that Peterkin grieved
and sympathized with us, for, when talking about this
matter, he refrained from jesting and bantering us upon it.
however, a man’s difficulties usually set him upon
devising methods to overcome them, whereby hetoften
discovers better things than those he may have lost, so
this our difficulty induced us to think of searching for a.
large pool among the rocks, where the water should be
deep enough for diving, yet so surrounded by rocks as to
prevent sharks from getting at us. And such a pool we
afterwards found, which proved to be very much better
than our most sanguine hopes anticipated. It was situ-
ated not more than ten minutes’ walk from our camp,
and was in the form of a small, deep bay or basin, the
entrance to which, besides being narrow, was so shallow
that no fish so large as a shark could get in, at least not
unless he should be a remarkably thin one.
Inside of this basin, which we called our Water Gar-
den, the coral formations were much more wonderful,
and the sea-weed plants far more lovely and vividly col-
ored, than in the lagoon itself. And the water was so
clear and still, that, although very deep, you could see
the minutest object at the bottom. Besides this, there
Was a ledge of rock which overhung the basin at its
deepest part, from which we could dive pleasantly, and
whereon Peterkin could sit and see not only all the won-
ders I had described to him, but also see Jack and me
creeping amongst the marine shrubbery at the bottom,
like, -- as he expressed it,— “ two great white sea-mon-
sters.” During these excursions of ours to the bottom
of the sea, we began to get an insight into the manners
and customs of its inhabitants, and to make discoveries


68 THE CORAL ISLAND.
of wonderful things, the like of which we never before
conceived. Among other things, we were deeply inter-
ested with the operations of the little coral insect, which,
Iwas informed by Jack, is supposed to have entirely
constructed many of the numerous islands in the Pacific
Ocean. And, certainly, when we considered the great
reef which these insects had formed round the island on
which we were cast, and observed their ceaseless activity
in building their myriad cells, it did at first seem as if
this might be true; but then, again, when I looked at
the mountains of the island, and reflected that there
were thousands of such, many of them much higher, in
the South Seas, I doubted that there must be some mis-
take here. But more of this hereafter.
I also became much taken up with the manners and
appearance of the anemones and star-fish, and crabs, and
sea-urchins, and such like creatures; and was not con-
tent with watching those I saw during my dives in the
Water Garden, but I must needs scoop out a hole in
the coral rock close to it, which I filled with salt water,
and stocked with sundry specimens of anemones and
shell-fish, in order to watch more closely how they were
in the habit of passing their time. Our burning-glass
also now became a great treasure to me, as it enabled me
to magnify, and so to perceive more clearly the forms
and actions of these curious creatures of the deep.
Having now got ourselves into a very comfortable con-
dition, we began to talk of a project which we had long
had in c0ntemplation,—namely, to travel entirely round
the island; in order, first, to ascertain whether it c0n-
taincd any other productions which might be useful to
us; and, second, to see whether there might be any
place more convenient and suitable for our permanent



THE CORAL ISLAND. 69
residence than that on which we were now encamped.
Not that we were in any degree dissatisfied with it; on
the contrary, we entertained quite a home feeling to our
bower and its neighborhood; but if a better place did
exist, there was no reason why we should not make use
of it. At any rate, it would be well to know of its ex-
istence.
We had much earnest talk over this matter. But Jack
proposed that, before undertaking such an excursion, we
should supply ourselves with good defensive arms, for, as
we intended not only to go round all the shore, but to _
ascend most of the valleys, before returning home, we
should be likely to meet with, he would not say dan-'
gers, but, at least, with everything that existed on the
island, whatever that might be.
“Besides,” said Jack, “it won’t do for us to live on
cocoa-nuts and oysters always. No doubt they are very
excellent in their way, but I think a little animal food,
now and then, would be agreeable as well as good for us;
and as there are many small birds among the trees, some
of which are probably very good to eat, I think it would
be a capital plan to make bows and arrows, with which
we could easily knock them over.”
“ First rate I” cried Peterkin. “ You will make the
bows, Jack, and I’ll try my hand at the arrows. The
fact is, I’m quite tired of throwing stones at the birds.
I began the very day we landed, I think, and have per-
severed up to the present time, but I’ve never hit any-
thing yet.”
“You forget,” said I, “you hit me one day on the
shin.”
V“Ah, true,”- replied Peterkin, “ and a precious shindy
you kicked up in consequence. But you were at least


70 THE CORAL ISLAND.
four yards away from the impudent paroquet I aimed at;
so you see what a horribly bad shot I am.”
“But,” said I, “Jack, you cannot make three bows
and arrows before to-morrow, and would it not be a pity
to waste time, now that we have made up our minds to
go on this expedition? Suppose that you make one bow
and arrow for yourself, and we can take our clubs?”
‘_‘ That’s true, Ralph. The day is pretty far advanced,
and I doubt if I can make even one bow before dark.
To be sure, I might work by firelight, after the sun goes
down.”
We had, up to this time, been in the habit of going to
bed with the sun, as we had no pressing call to work
0’ nights; and, indeed, our work during the day was
usually hard enough,—what between fishing, and im-
proving our bower, and diving in the Water Garden, and
rambling in the woods ; so that, when night came, we
were usually very glad to retire to our beds. But now
that we had a desire to work at night, we felt a wish for
candles.
“ Won’t a good blazing fire give you light enough?”
inquired Peterkin.
“Yes,” replied Jack, “ quite enough; but then it will
give us a great deal more than enough of heat in this
warm climate of ours.”
“ True,” said Peterkin ; “ I forgot that. It would
roast us.”
“Well, as you’re always doing that at any rate,” re-
marked Jack, “ we could scarcely call it a change. But
the fact is, I’ve been thinking over this subject before.
There is a certain nut growing in these islands which is
called the candle-nut, because the natives use it instead
of candles, and I know all about it, and how to prepare
it for burning —”


THE CORAL ISLAND. 71
“Then why don’t you do it?” interrupted Peterkin.
“Why have you kept us in the dark so long, you vile
philosopher ? ”
“ Because,” said Jack, “ I have not seen the tree yet,
and I’m not sure that I should know either the tree or
the nuts if I did see them. You see, I forget the de-
scription.”
“Ah! that’s just the way with me,” said Peterkin
with a deep sigh. “ I never could keep in my mind for
half an hour the few descriptions I ever attempted to re-
member. The very first voyage I ever made was caused
by my mistaking a description, or forgetting it, which is
the same thing. And a horrible voyage it was. I had
to fight with the captain the whole way out, and made
the homeward voyage by swimming! ”
“ Come, Peterkin,” said I, “you can’t get even me to
believe that.”
“ Perhaps not, but it’s true, notwithstanding,” returned
Peterkin, pretending to be hurt at my doubting his
word. '
“Let us hear how it happened,” said Jack, while a
good-natured smile overspread his face.
“Well, you must know,” began Peterkin, “that the
very day before I went to sea, I was greatly taken up
with a game at hockey, which I was playing with my old
school-fellows for the last time before leaving them. You
see I was young then, Ralph.” Peterkin gazed in an
abstracted and melancholy manner, out to seal “ Well,
in the midst of the game, my uncle, who had taken all
the bother and trouble of getting me bound ’prentice and
rigged out, came and took me aside, and told me that he
was called suddenly away from home, and would not be
able to see me aboard, as he had intended. ‘ However,‘


72 V THE CORAL ISLAND.
said he, ‘the captain knows you are coming, so that’s not
of much consequence; but as you’ll have to find the ship
yourself, you must remember her name and description.
D’ye hear, boy?’ I certainly did bear, but I’m afraid I
did not understand, for my mind was so taken up with
the game, which I saw my side was losing, that I began
to grow impatient, and the moment my uncle finished his
description of the ship, and bade me good-bye, I bolted
back to my game, with only a confused idea of three
masts, and-a green painted tatfrail, and a gilt figure-head
of Hercules with his club at the bow. Next day I was
so much cast down with everybody saying good-bye, and
a lot 0’ my female friends cryin’ horribly over me, that I
did not start for the harbor, where the ship was lying
among a. thousand others, till it was almost too late. So I
had to run the whole way. \Vhen I reached the pier, there
were so many masts, and so much confusion, that I felt
quite humblebumbled in my faculties. ‘Now,’ said I to
myself, ‘Peterkin, you’re in a fix.’ Then I fancied I saw
a gilt figure-head and three masts, belonging to a ship
just about to start; so I darted on board, but speedily
jumped on shore again, when I found that two of the
masts belonged to another vessel, and the figure-head to
a third! At last I caught sight of what I made sure was
it, —— a fine large vessel just casting off her moorings. The
tafi'rail was green. Three masts,-— yes, that must be it,
—and the gilt figure-head of Hercules. To be sure it
had a three-pronged pitchforkjn its hand instead of a
club ; but that might be my uncle’s mistake ; or perhaps
Hercules sometimes varied his weapons. ‘ Cast ofi‘ ! ’
roared a voice from the quarter-deck. ‘ Hold on I ’ cried
I, rushing frantically through the crowd. ‘ Hold on !
hold on 1’ repeated some of the bystanders, while the men


THE CORAL ISLAND. 73
at the ropes delayed for a minute. This threw the cap-
tain into a frightful rage; for some of his friends had
come down to see him off, and having his orders contra-
dicted so flatly was too much’for him. However, the
delay was suflicient. I took a race and a good leap ; the
ropes were cast off; the steam-tug gave a puff, and we
started. Suddenly the captain walks up to me: ‘ Where
did you come from, you scamp, and what do you want
here ?’ '
“‘Please, sir,’ said I, touching my cap, ‘I’m you’re
new ’prentice come aboard.’
“‘New ’prentice,’ said he, stamping, ‘ I've got no new
’prentice. My boys are all aboard already. This is a
trick, you young blackguard. You’ve run away, you
have ;’ and the captain stamped about the deck and swore
dreadfully; for, you see, the thought of having to stop
the ship and lower a boat and lose half an hour, all for
the sake of sending a small boyashore, seemed to make
him very angry. Besides, it was blowin’ fresh outside
the harbor, so that, to have let the steamer alongside to
put me into it was no easy job. Just as we were passing
the pier-head, where several boats were rowing into har-
bor, the captain came up to me,—
“ ‘You’ve run away, you blackguard,’ he said, giving
me a box on the ear.
“ ‘No I haven’t,’ said I, angrily; for the box was by
no means a light one.
“ ‘ Hark’ee, boy, can you swim ?’
“ ‘ Yes,’ said I.
“ ‘ Then do it,’ and, seizing me by my trousers and the
nape of my neck, he tossed me over the side into the sea.
The fellows in the boats at the end of the pier, backed
their cars on seeing this ; but observing that I could


74 THE CORAL ISLAND.
swim, they allowed me to make the best of my way to
the pier-head. So, you see, Ralph, that I really did swim
my first homeward voyage.”
Jack laughed and patted Peterkin on the shoulder.
“But tell us about the candle-nut tree,” said I ; “ you
were talking about it.”
" Very true,” said Jack, “ but I fear I can remember
little about it. I believe the nut is about the size of a
' walnut; and I think that the leaves are white, but I am
not sure.”
“ Eh! ha! huin ! ” exclaimed Peterkin, “ I saw a tree
answering to that description this very day.”
“Did you ?” cried Jack. “ Is it far from this ? ”
“ No, not half a mile.”
“ Then lead me to it,” said Jack, seizing his axe.
In a few minutes we were all three pushing through
the underwood of the forest, headed by Peterkin.
We soon came to the tree in question, which, after
Jack had closely examined it, we concluded must be the
candle-nut tree. Its leaves were of a beautiful silvery
white, and formed a fine contrast to the dark green foliage
of the surrounding trees. We immediately filled our
pockets with the nuts, after which Jack said, —
“ Now, Peterkin, climb that cocoa-nut tree and cut me
one of the long branches.”
This was soon done, but it cost some trouble, for the
stem was very high, and as Peterkin usually pulled nuts
from the younger trees, he was not much accustomed to
climbing the high ones. The leaf or branch was a very
large one, and we were surprised at its size and strength.
Viewed from a little distance, the cocoa-nut tree seems to
be a tall, straight stem, without a single branch except at
the top, where there is a tuft of feathery-looking leaves,


THE CORAL ISLAND. , 75
that seem to wave like soft plumes in the wind. But
when we saw one of these leaves or branches at our feet,
we found it to be a strong stalk, about fifteen feet long,
with a number of narrow, pointed leaflets ranged alter-
nately on each side. But what seemed to us the most
wonderful thing about it was a curious substance resem-
bling cloth, which was wrapped round the thick end of
the stalk, where it had been cut from the tree. Peter-
kin told us that he had the greatest difficulty in separat-
ing the branch from the stem, on account of this sub-
stance, as it was wrapped quite round'the tree, and, he
observed, round all the other branches, thus forming a
strong support to the large leaves while exposed to high
I winds. When I call this substance cloth, I do not exag-
gerate. Indeed, with regard to all the things I saw dur-
ing my eventful career in the South Seas, I have been
exceedingly careful not to exaggerate, or in any way
to mislead or deceive my readers. This cloth, I say, was
remarkably like to coarse, brown cotton cloth. It had a.
seam or fibre down the centre of it, from which diverged
other fibres, about the size of a bristle. There were two
layers of these fibres, very long and tough, the one layer
crossing the other obliquely, and the whole was cemented
together with a still finer fibrous and adhesive substance.
When we regarded it attentively, we could with difficulty
believe that it had not been woven by human hands.
This remarkable piece of cloth we stripped carefully off,
and found it to be above two feet long, by a foot broad,
and we carried it home with us as a great prize.
Jack now took one of the leaflets, and, cutting out
the central spine or stalk, hurried back with it to our
camp. Having made a small fire, he baked the nuts
slightly, and then. pealed off the husks. After this he


76 THE CORAL ISLAND.
wished to bore a hole in them, which, not having any-
thing better at hand at the time, he did with the point of
our useless pencil-case. Then he strung them on the
cocoa-nut spine, and on putting a light to the topmost
nut, we found to our joy that it burned with a clear,
beautiful flame; upon seeing which, Peterkin sprang
up and danced round the fire for at least five minutes in
the excess of his satisfaction.
“ Now, lads,” said Jack, extinguishing our candle, the
sun will set in an 'hour, so we have no time to lose. I
shall go and cut a young tree to make my bow out of,
and you had better each of you go and select good strong
sticks for clubs, and we’ll set to work at them after
dar .”
So saying he shouldered his axe and went ofi', fol-
lowed by Peterkin, while I took up the piece of newly-
discovered cloth, and fell to examining its structure. So
engrossed was I in this that I was still sitting in the
same attitude and occupation when my companions re-
turned.
“I told you so I ” cried Peterkin, with a loud laugh.
“ Oh, Ralph, you’re incorrigible. See, there’s a club for
you. I was sure, when we left you looking at that bit
of stuff, that we would find you poring over it when we
came back, so I just cut a club for you as well as for
myself.”
“Thank you, Peterkin,” said I. “It was kind of you
to do that, instead of scolding me for a lazy fellow, as I
confess I deserve.”
“Oh! as to that,” returned Peterkin, “ I’ll blow you
up yet, if you wish it—Only it would be of no use if I
did, for you’re a perfect mule ! ”
As it was now getting dark we lighted our candle, and


78 THE CORAL ISLAND.
So I set to work to manufacture a sling. For a long
time we all worked very busily without speaking. At
length Peterkin looked up: “I say, Jack, I’m sorry to
say I must apply to you for another strip of your hand-
kerchief, to tie on this rascally head with. It’s pretty
well torn at any rate, so you won’t miss it.”
Jack proceeded to cpmply with this request, when Pe-
terkin suddenly laid his hand on .his arm and arrested
him. I
“Hist, man,” said he, “be tender; you should never
be needlessly cruel if you can help it. Do try to shave
past Lord Nelson’s mouth without tearing it, if possible!
Thanks: There are plenty more handkerchiefs on the
cocoa-nut trees.”
Poor Peterkin! with what pleasant feelings I recall
and record his jests and humorous sayings now !
While we were	hus engaged, we were startled by a
distant but most strange‘and horrible cry. It seemed
to come from the sea, but was so far away that we could
not clearly distinguish its precise direction. Rushing
out of our bower, we hastened down to the beach and
stayed to listen. Again it came quite loud and distinct
on the night air,—a prolonged, hideous cry, something
like the braying of an ass. The moon had risen, and
we could see the islands in and beyond the lagoon quite
plainly, but there was no object visible to account for
such a cry. A strong. gust of wind was blowing from
the point whence the sound came, but this died away
while we were gazing out to sea.
“What can it be ?” said Peterkin, in a low whisper,
while we all involuntarily crept closer to each other.
“ Do you know,” said Jack, “ I have heard that mys-
terious sound twice before, but never so loud as to-night.


THE CORAL ISLAND. 79
Indeed, it was so faint that I thought I must have merely
fancied it, so, as I did not wish to alarm you, I said noth-
ing about it.” , '
We listened for a long time for the sound again, but
as it did not come, we returned to the bower and resumed
our work.
“Very strange,” said Peterkin, quite gravely. “ Do
you believe in ghosts, Ralph?”
“ N o,” I answered, “ I do not. Nevertheless I must
confess that strange, unaccountable sounds, such as we
have just heard, make me feel a little uneasy.”
“ What say you to it, Jack ? ”
“ I neither believe in ghosts nor feel uneasy,’-’ he re-
plied. “I never saw a ghost myself, and I never met
with any one who had; and I have generally found that
strange and unaccountable things have almost always
been accounted for, and found to be quite simple, on
close examination. I certainly can’t imagine what that.
sound is; but I’m quite sure_I shall find out before long,
— and if it’s a ghost I’ll—I’ll—”
“ Eat it,” cried Peterkin.
“Yes, I’ll eat it! Now, then, my bow and two ar-
rows are finished ; so if you’re ready we had better turn
m.”
By this time Peterkin had thinned down his spear and
tied an iron point very cleverly to the end of it; I had
formed a sling, the lines of which were composed of thin
strips of the cocoa-nut cloth, plaited; and Jack had made
a stout bow, nearly five feet long, with two arrows, feath-
ered with two or three large plumes which some bird
had dropt. They had no barbs, but Jack said that if
arrows were well feathered, they did not require iron
points, but would fly quite well if merely sharpened at
_the point ; which I did not know before.


80 THE CORAL ISLAND.
“A feathered arrow without a barb,” said he, “is a
good weapon, but a. barbed arrow without feathers is
utterly useless.”
The string of the how was formed of our piece of
whip-cord, part of which, as he did not like to cut it, was
rolled round the bow.
Although thus prepared for a start on the morrow, we
thought it wise to exercise ourselves a little in the use of
our weapons before starting, so we spent the whole of the
next day in practising. And it was well we did so, for
we found that our arms were very imperfect, and that
we were far from perfect in the use of them. First,
Jack found that the how was much too strong, and he
_ had to thin it. Also, the spear was much too heavy,
' and so had to be reduced in thickness, although nothing
would induce Peterkin to have it shortened. My sling
answered very well, but I had fallen so much out of
practice that my first stone knocked off Peterkin’s hat,
and narrowly missed making a second Goliath of him.
However, after having spent the whole day in diligent
practice, we began to find some of our former expertness
returning—at least, Jack and I did. As for Peterkin,
being naturally a neat-handed boy, he soon handled his
spear well, and could run full tilt at a cocoa-nut, and hit
it with great precision once out of every five times.
But I feel satisfied that we owed much of our rapid
success to the unflagging energy of Jack, who insisted
that,_since we had made him Captain, we should obey
him; and herik'ept us ‘at work from morning till night,
perseveringly, at the same thing. Peterkin wished very
much to run about and stick his spear into everything he
passed; but Jack put up a cocoa-nut, and would not let
him leave 01? running at that for a moment, except when


THE CORAL ISLAND. 81
he wanted to rest. We laughed at Jack for this, but we
were both convinced that it did us much good.
That night we examined and repaired our arms ere
we lay down to rest, although we were much fatigued, in
order that we might be in readiness to set out on our ex-
pedition at daylight on the following morning.


82 THE CORAL ISLAND
CHAPTER IX.
PREPARE FOR A JOURNEY ROUND THE ISLAND—SAGACIOUS' RE-
FLECTIONS—MYSTERIOUS APPEARANCES AND STARTLING OO-
CURRENOES.
CARCELY had the sun shot its first ray across the
bosom of the broad Pacific, when Jack sprang to
his feet, and, hallooing in Peterkin’s ear to awaken him,
ran down the beach to take his customary dip in the sea.
We did not, as was our wont, bathe that morning in our
Water Garden, but, in order to save time, refreshed our-
selves in the shallow water' just opposite the bower. Our
breakfast was also despatched without loss of time, and
in less than an hour afterwards all our preparations for
the journey were completed.
In addition to his ordinary dress, Jack tied a belt of
cocoa-nut cloth round his waist, into which he thrust the
axe. I was also advised to put on a belt and carry a
short cudgel or bludgeon in it; for, as Jack truly re-
marked, the sling would be of little use if we should
chance vto come to close quarters with any wild animal.
As for Peterkin, notwithstanding that he carried such a
long, and I must add, frightful-looking spear over his
shoulder, we could not prevail on him to leave his club
behind; “ for,” said he, “a spear at close quarters is not
worth a button.” I must say that it seemed to me that
the club was, to use his own style of language, not worth
. a button-hole; for it was all knotted over at the head,


THE CORAL ISLAND. 83
something like the club which I remember to have ob-
served in picture-books of Jack the Giant-Killer, besides
being so heavy that he required to grasp it with both
hands in order to wield it at all. However, he 'took
it with him, and, in this manner, we set out upon our
travels.
We did not consider it necessary to carry any food
with us, as we knew that wherever we went we should
be certain to fall in with cocoa-nut trees; having which,
we were amply supplied, as Peterkin said, with meat and
drink and pocket-handkerchiest I took the precaution,
however, to put the burningpglass into my pocket, lest we
should want fire.
The morning was exceeding lovely. It was one of
that very still and peaceful sort which made the few
noises that we heard seem to be quiet noises. I know
no other way of expressing this idea. Noises which——
so far from interrupting the universal tranquillity of
earth, sea, and sky— rather tended to reveal to us how
quiet the world around us really was. Such sounds as
I refer to were, the peculiarly melancholy—yet, it
seemed to me, cheerful— plaint of sea-birds floating on
the glassy water, or sailing in the sky, also the subdued
twittering of little birds among the bushes, the faint
ripples, on the beach, and the solemn boom of the surf
upon the distant coralireef. We felt very glad in our
hearts as we walked along the sands side by side. For
my part, I felt so deeply overjoyed, that I was surprised
at my own sensations, and fell into a reverie upon the
Eauses of happiness. I came to the conclusion that a
state of profound peace and repose, both in regard to
outward ‘objects and within the soul, is the happiest con-
dition in which man can be placed ; for, although I had '


THE CORAL ISLAND. 85
us could talk to him or he to us, while if Jack and I
happened to wish to converse together, we could con-
veniently donso over Peterkin’s head. Peterkin used to
say, in reference to this arrangement, that had he been
as tall as either of us, our order of march might have
been the same, for, as Jack often used to scold him for
letting everything we said to him pass in at one ear and
out at the other, his head could of course form no in-
terruption to our discourse.
We were now fairly started. Half a mile’s walk con-
veyed us round a bend in the land which shut out our
bower from view, and for some time we advanced at a
brisk pace without speaking, though our eyes were not
idle, but noted everything, in the woods, on the shore, or
in the sea, that was interesting. After passing the ridge
of land that formed one side of our valley — the Valley
of the VVreck—we beheld another small vale lying
before us in all the luxuriant loveliness of tropical veg-
etation. We had, indeed, seen it before from the moun-
taintop, but we had no idea that it would turn out to
' be so much more lovely when we were close to it. We
were about to commence the exploration of this valley,
when Peterkin stopped us, and directed our attention
to a very remarkable appearance in advance along the
shore.
“\Vhat’s you, think you?” said he, levelling his
spear, as if he expected an immediate attack from
the object in question, though it was full half a mile
distant.
As he spoke, there appeared a white column above'the
rocks, as if of steam or spray. It rose upwards to a
height of several feet, and then disappeared. Had this
been near the sea, we would not have been so greatly


86 THE CORAL ISLAND.
surprised, as it might in that case have been the surf, for
at this part of the coast the coral reef approached so
near to the island that in some parts it almost joined it.
There was therefore no lagoon between, and the heavy
surf of the ocean beat almost up to the rocks. But this
white column appeared about fifty yards inland. The
rocks at the place were rugged, and'they stretched across
the sandy beach into the sea. Scarce had we ceased ex-
pressing our surprise at this sight, when another column
flew upwards for a few seconds, not far from the spot
where the first had been seen, and disappeared ; and so,
at long irregular intervals, these strange sights recurred.
We were now quite sure that the columns were watery
or composed of spray, but what caused them we could
not guess, so we determined to go and see.
In a few minutes we gained the spot, which was very
rugged and precipitous, and, moreover, quite damp with
the falling of the spray. We had much ado to pass
over dry-shod. The ground also was full of holes here
and there. Now, while we stood anxiously waiting for
the reappearance of these water-spouts, we heard a low,
rumbling sound near us, which quickly increased to a
gurgling and hissing noise, and a moment afterwards a
thick spout of water burst upwards from a hole in the
rock, and spouted into the air with much violence, and
so close to where Jack and I were standing that it nearly
touched us. We sprang to one side, but not before a
cloud of spray descended, and drenched us both to the
skin. 7
Peterkin, who was standing farther off, escaped with a
few drops, and burst into an uncontrollable fit of laugh-
ter on beholding our miserable plight.
“Mind your eye!” he shouted eagerly, “there goes


THE CORAL ISLAND. 87
another I” The words were scarcely out of his mouth
when there came up a spout from another hole, which
served us exactly in the same manner as before.
Peterkin now shrieked with laughter; but his merri-
ment was abruptly put a stop to by the gurgling noise
occurring close to where he stood.
“ Where’ll it spout this time, I wonder?” he said, look-
ing about with some anxiety, and preparing to run.
Suddenly there came a loud hiss or snort ; a fierce spout
of water burst up between Peterkin’s legs, blew him off
his feet, enveloped him in its spray, and hurled him to
the ground. . He fell with so much violence that we
feared he must have broken some of his bones, and ran
anxiously to his assistance; but fortunately he had fallen
on a clump Of tangled herbage, in which he lay sprawl-
ing in a most deplorable condition.
It was now our turn to laugh; but as we were not
yet quite sure that he was unhurt, and as we knew not
when or where the next spout might arise, we assisted
him hastily to jump up and hurry from the spot.
I may here add, that although I am quite certain that
the spout of water was very strong, and that it blew Pe-
terkin completely ofi' his legs, I am not quite certain of
the exact height to which it lifted him, being somewhat
startled by the event, and blinded partially by the spray,
so that my power of observation was somewhat impaired
for the moment.
“What’s to be. done now?” inquired Peterkin rue-
fully.
“Make a fire, lad, and dry ourselves,” replied Jack.
“And here is material ready to our hand,”‘ said I,
picking up a dried branch of a tree, as we hurried up to
the woods.


88 THE CORAL ISLAND.
In about an hour after this mishap our clothes were
again dried. While they were hanging up before the
fire, we walked down to the beach, and soon observed
that these curious spouts took place immediately after
the fall of a huge wave, never before it ; and, moreover,
that the spouts did not take place excepting when the
billow was an extremely large one. From this we con-
cluded that there must be a subterraneous channel in the
rock into which the water was driven by the larger
waves, and finding no way of escape except through
these small holes, was thus forced up violently through
them. At any rate, we could not conceive any other
reason for these strange water-spouts, and as this seemed
a very simple and probable one, we forthwith adopted it.
“I say, Ralph, what’s that in the water? Is it a
shark?” said Jack, just as we were about to quit the
place. -
I immediately ran to the overhanging ledge of rock,
from which he was looking down into the sea, and bent
over it. There I saw a very faint pale object of a
greenish color, which seemed to move slightly while I
looked at it.
“ It’s like a fish of some sort,” said I.
“Hallo, Peterkin!” cried Jack, “ fetch your spear;
here’s work for it.”
But when we tried to reach the object, the spear
proved to be too short.
“ There, now,” said Peterkin with a sneer, “ you were
always telling me it was too long.”
Jack now drove the spear forcibly towards the object,
and let go his hold ; but, although it seemed to be well
aimed, he must have missed, for the handle soon rose
again; and when the spear was drawn up, there was the .


THE CORAL ISLAND. 89
pale green object in exactly the same spot, slowly mov-
ing its tail.
“ Very odd,” said Jack.
But although it was undoubtedly very odd, and al-
though Jack and all of us plunged the spear at it repeat-
edly, we could neither hit it nor drive it away, so we
were compelled to continue our journey without discov-
ering what it was. I was very much perplexed at this
strange appearance in the water, and could not get it out
of my mind for a long time afterwards. However, I
quieted myself by resolving that I would pay a visit to
it again at some more convenient season.


90 THE CORAL ISLAND.

CHAPTER X.
MAKE DISCOVERY OF MANY EXCELLENT ROOTS AND FRUITS-THE
RESOURCES OF THE CORAL ISLAND GRADUALLY UNFOLDED—THE
BANIAN-TREE—-ANOTHER TREE WHICH I$ SUPPORTED BY NATU-
RAL PLANKS—WATER—FOWL FOUND —A VERY REMARKADLE DIS—
COVERY, AND A VERY PECULIAR MURDER—WE LUXURIATE ON
THE FAT OF THE LAND.
UR examination of the little valley proved to be
altogether most satisfactory. We found in it not
only similar trees to those we had already seen in our
own valley, but also one or two others of a different spe-
cies. We had also the satisfaction of discovering a pc-
culiar vegetable, which Jack concluded must certainly be
that of which he had read as being very common among
the South Sea islanders, and which was named taro.
Also we found a large supply of yams, and another root
like a potato in appearance. As these were all quite
new to us, we regarded our lot as a most fortunate one,
in being thus cast on an island which was so prolific and
so well stored with all the necessaries of life. Long af-
terwards we found out that this island of ours was no
better in these respects than thousands of other islands
in those seas. Indeed, many of them were much richer
and more productive; but that did not render us the less
grateful for our present good fortune. We each but one
of these roots in our pocket, intending to use them for
our supper; of which more hereafter. We also -saw.
many beautiful birds here, and traces of some four-footed
'fuhl._ 4". i... __


THE CORAL ISLAND. 91
animal again. Meanwhile the sun began to descend, so
we returned to the shore, and pushed on round the spout-
ing rocks into the next valley. This was that valley of I
which I have spoken as running across the entire island.
It was by far the largest and most beautiful that we had
yet looked upon. Here were trees of every shape, and
size and hue which it is possible to conceive of, many of
which we had not seen. in the other valleys; for, the
stream in this valley being larger, and the mould much
richer than in the Valley of the WVreck, it was clothed
with a more luxuriant growth of trees and plants. Some
trees were dark glossy green, others of a rich and warm
hue, contrasting well with those of a pale light green,
which were everywhere abundant. Among these we
recognized the broad dark heads of the bread-fruit, with
its golden fruit; the pure, silvery foliage of the candle-
nut, and several species which bore a strong resemblance
to the pine ; while here and there, in groups‘and in sin-
gle trees, rose the tall- forms of the cocoa-nut palms,
spreading abroad, and waving their graceful plumes high
above all the rest, as if they were a superior race of
stately giants keeping guard over these luxuriant forests.
Oh ! it was a most enchanting scene, andltharllgedfiod
for having created such drelightfiglgspuqtgfgrwse of
man. i 7
'Now, while we were gazing around us in silent ad-
miration, Jack uttered an exclamation of surprise, and,
pointing to an object a little to one side of us, said,—
“ That’s a 'banian-tree.”
“ And what’s a banian-tree?” inquired Peterkin, as
we walked towards it.
“ A very curious one, as you shall see presently,”
replied Jack. “ It is called the aoa here, if I recollect


92 THE CORAL ISLAND.
rightly, and has a wonderful peculiarity aboutit. What
an enormous one it is, to be sure.”
“ It! ” repeated Peterkin ; “ why, there are dozens of
banians here i What do you mean by talking bad gram-
mar? Is your philosophy deserting you, Jack ?”
“There is but one tree here of this kind,” returned
Jack, “ as you will perceive if you will examine it.”
And, sure enough, we did find that what we had sup-
posed was a forest of trees was in reality only one. Its
bark was of a light color, and had a shining appearance,
the leaves being lance-shaped, small, and of a beautiful
pea-green. But the wonderful thing about it was, that
the branches, which grew out from the stem horizontally,
sent down long shoots or fibres to the ground, which, tak-
ing root, had themselves become trees, and were covered
with bark like the tree itself. Many of these fibres had
descended from the branches at various distances, and
thus supported them on- natural pillars some of which
were so large and strong, that it was not easy at first to
distinguish the offspring from the parent stem. The
fibres were of all sizes and in all states of advancement,
from the pillars we have just mentioned to small cords
which hung down and were about to take root, and thin
brown threads still far from the ground, which swayed
about with every motion of wind. Inshort, it seemed to
us that, if there were only space afforded .to it, this single
tree would at length cover the whole island.
Shortly after this we came upon another remarkable
tree, which, as its peculiar formation afterwards proved
extremely useful to us, merits description. It was a
splendid chestnut, but its proper name Jack did not
know. However, there were quantities of fine nuts upon
it,~some of which we put in our pockets. But its stem


THE CORAL ISLAND. 93
was the wonderful part of it. It rose to about twelve feet
without abranch, and was not of great thickness; on the
contrary, it was remarkably slender for the size of the
tree; but, to make up for this, there were four or five
wonderful projections in this stem, which I cannot better
describe than by asking the reader to suppose that five
planks of two inches thick and three feet broad had
been placed round the trunk of the tree, with their edges
closely fixed to it, from the ground up to the branches,
and that these planks had been covered over with the
bark of the tree and incorporated with it. In short, they
were just natural buttresses, without which the stem
could not have supported its heavy and umbrageous top.
We found these chesnuts to be very numerous. They
grew chiefly on the banks of the stream, and were of all
sizes.
\Vhile we were examining a small tree of this kind,
Jack chipped a piece off a buttress with his axe, and
found the wood to be firm and easily cut. He then-
struck the axe into it with all his force, and very soon
split it off close to the tree, first, however, having cut
it across transversely above and below. By this means
be satisfied himself that we could now obtain short
planks, as it were all ready sawn, of any size and thick-
ness that we desired; which was a very great discov-
ery indeed, perhaps the most important we had yet
made.
We now wended our way back to the coast, intending
to encamp near the beach, as we found that the mosqui-
toes were troublesome in the forest. On our way we
could not help admiring the birds which flew and chirped
around us. Among them we observed a'pretty kind of
paroquet, with a green body, a blue head, and a red


94 THE CORAL ISLAND.
breast; also a few beautiful turtle-doves, and several
flocks of wood-pigeons. The hues of many of these birds
Were extremely vivid,—bright green, blue, and scarlet,
being the prevailing tints. We made several attempts
throughout the day to bring down one of these, both
with the 'bow and the sling, —not for more sport, but to
ascertain whether they were good for food. But we in-
variably missed, although once or twice we were very
near hitting. As evening drew on, however, a flock of
pigeons flew past. I slung a stone into the midst'of
them at a venture, and had the good fortune to kill one.
We were startled, soon after, by a loud, whistling noise
above our heads ; and on looking up, saw a flock of wild
ducks making for the coast. We watched these, and,
observing where they alighted, followed them up until we
came upon a most lovely blue lake, not more than two
hundred yards long, embosomed in verdant trees. Its
placid surface, which reflected every leaf and stem, as if
in a mirror, was covered with various species of wild
ducks, feeding among the sedges and broad-leaved water-
plants which floated on it, while numerous birds like
water-hens ran to and fro most busily on its margin.
These all with one accord flew tumultuously away the
instant we made our appearance. .While walking along
the margin we observed fish in the water, but of what sort
we could not tell.
Now, as we neared the shore, Jack and I said we
would go a little_0ut of our way to see if we could pro-
cure one of those ducks; so, directing Peterkin to go
straight to the shore and kindle a fire, we separated,
promising to rejoin him speedily. But we did not find
the ducks, although we made a diligent search for half
an hour. We were about to retrace our steps, when we


THE CORAL ISLAND. ' 95
were arrested by one of the strangest sights that we had
yet beheld.
Just in front of us, at the distance of about ten yards,
grew a superb tree, which certainly was the largest we
had seen on the island. Its trunk was at least five feet
in diameter, with a smooth, gray bark; above‘ this the
spreading branches were clothed with light green leaves,
amid which were clusters of bright yellow fruit, so nu-
merous as to weigh down the boughs with their great
weight. This fruit seemed to be of the plum species, of
an oblong form, and a good deal larger than the magnum
bonum plum. The ground at the foot of this tree was
thickly strewn with the fallen fruit, in the midst of which
lay sleeping, in every possible attitude, at least twenty
hogs of all ages and sizes, apparently quite surfeited with
a recent banquet.
Jack and I could scarce restrain our laughter as we
gazed at these coarse, fat, ill-looking animals, while they
lay groaning and.snoring heavily amid the remains of
their supper. ' I
“Now, Ralph,” said Jack, in a low whisper, “put a
stone in your sling,—a good big one,-——and let fly at
that fat fellow with his back toward you. I’ll try to put
an arrow into yon little pig.”
“ Don’t you think we had better put them. up first?” I
whispered; “it seems cruel to kill them while asleep.”
“ If I wanted sport, Ralph, I would certainly set
them up; but as we only want pork, we’ll let them
lie. Besides, we’re not sure of killing them; so, fire
away.”
Thus admonished, I slung my stone with so good aim
'that it went bang against the hog’s fiank as if against
the head of a drum ; but it had no other effect than that


96 THE CORAL ISLAND.
of causing the animal to start to its feet, with a frightful
yell of surprise, and scamper away. At the same in-
stant Jack’s bow twangcd, and the arrow pinned the lit-
tle pig to the ground by the ear.
“I’ve missed, after all,” cried Jack, darting forward
with uplifted axe, while the little pig uttered a loud
squeal, tore the arrow from the ground, and_ ran away
with it, along with the whole drove into the bushes, and
disappeared, though we heard them screaming long after-
wards in the distance.
“ That’s very provoking, now,” said Jack, rubbing the
point of his nose.
“ Very,” I replied, stroking my chin.
“Well, we must make haste and rejoin Peterkin,” said
Jack. “It’s getting late.” And, without further remark,
we threaded our way quickly through the woods towards
the shore. _ p
_ When we reached it, we found wood laid out, the fire
lighted and beginning to kindle up, with other signs of
preparation f0_r our encampment, but Peterkin was no-
where to be found. We wondered very much at this;
but Jack suggested that he might have gone to fetch
water ; so he gave a- shout to let him know that we had
arrived, and sat down upon a rock, while I threw of my
jacket and seized the axe, intending to split up one or
two billets of wood. But I had scarce moved from the
spot when, in the distance, we heard a most appalling
shriek, which was followed up by a chorus of yells from
the hogs, and a loud “ hurrah l”
“ I do believe,” said I, “that Peterkin has met with the
hogs.”
“ When Greek meets Greek,” said Jack, soliloquizing,
“ then comes the tug of — ” '


THE. CORAL ISLAND. 97
“ Hurrah!” shouted Peterkin in the distance.
We turned hastily towards the direction whence the
sound came, and soon descried Peterkin walking along the‘
beach towards us with a little pig transfixed on the end
of his long spear l
“ Well done, my boy I ” exclaimed Jack, slapping him
on the shoulder when he came up, “ you’re the best shot
amongst us.”
“ Look here, Jack ! ” cried Peterkin, as he disengaged
the animal from his spear. “ Do you recognize that hole?”
said he, pointing to the pig’s ear; “ and are you familiar
with this arrow, eh?” '
“ Well, I declare I” said Jack.
“ Of course you do,” interrupted Peterkin ; “ but, pray,
restrain your declarations at this time, and let’s have
supper, for I’m uncommonly hungry, I can tell you ; and
it’s no joke to charge a whole herd of swine with their
great-grandmother bristling like a giant porcupine at the
head of them 1”
We now set about preparing supper ; and, truly, a
good display of viands we made, when all was laid out
on a flat rock in the light of the blazing fire. There was,
first of all, the little pig; then there was the taro-root,
and the yam, and the potato, and six plums ; and, lastly,
the wood-pigeon. To these Peterkin added a bit of
sugar-cane, which he had cut from a little patch of that
plant which he had found not long after separating from
us; “and,” said he, “the patch was somewhat in a square
form, which convinces me it must have been planted by
man.”
“ Very likely,” replied Jack. “ From all we have
seen, I’m inclined to think that some of the savages must
have dwelt here long ago.”
7


98 THE CORAL ISLAND.
We found no small difficulty in making up our minds
how we were to cook the pig. None of us had ever cut
up one before, and we did not know exactly how to be-
gin; besides, we had nothing but the axe to do it with,
our knife having been forgotten. At last Jack started
up and said,—
“ Don’t let us waste more time talking about it, boys.
Hold it up, Peterkin. There, lay the hind leg on this
block of wood,—so;” and he cut it off, with a large
portion of the haunch, at a single blow of the axe.
“Now the other,—that’s it.” And havingthus cut off
the two hind legs, he made several deep gashes in them,
thrust a sharp-pointed stick through each, and stuck
them up before the blaze to roast. The wood-pigeon was
then split open, quite fiat, washed clean in salt water,
and treated in a similar manner. While these were
cooking, we scraped a hole in the sand and ashes under
the fire, into which we put our vegetables and covered
them up.
The taro-root was of an oval shape, about ten inches
long and four or five thick. It was of a mottled-gray
color, and had a thick rind. We found it somewhat like
an Irish potato, and exceedingly good. The yam was
roundish, and had a rough, brown skin. It was very
sweet and well-flavored. The potato, we were surprised
to find, was quite sweet and exceedingly palatable, as
'also were the plums; and, indeed, the \pork and pigeon
too, when we came to taste them. Altogether this was
decidedly the most luxurious supper we had enjoyed for
many a day; and Jack said it was out-of-sight better than
we ever got on board ship ; and Peterkin said he feared
-that if we should remain long on the island he would
infallibly become a glutton or an epicure; whereat Jack


THE CORAL ISLAND. 99
remarked that he need not fear that, for he was both
already! And so, having eaten our fill, not forgetting
to finish off with a plum, we laid ourselves comfortably
down to sleep upon a couch of branches, under the over-
hanging ledge of a coral rock.


100 THE CORAL ISLAND.
CHAPTER 'XI.
EFFECTS OF OVER-EATING, AND REFLECTIONS THEREON—HUMBLE
ADVICE REGARDING COLD WATER—THE “ HORRIBLE CRY 7’ ~
ACCOUNTED FOR—THE CURIOUS BIRDS CALLED PENGUINS—
PECULIARITY OF THE COCOA-NUT PALM—QUESTIONS ON THE
FORMATION OF CORAL ISLANDS— MYSTERIOUS FOOTSTEPS—
STRANGE DISCOVERIES AND SAD SIGHTS.
HEN we awoke on the following morning, we
found that the sun was already a good way above
the horizon, so I came to the conclusion that a heavy
supper is not conducive to early risino'. Nevertheless,
we felt remarkably strong and well, and much disposed to
have our breakfast. First, however, we had our custom-
ary morning bathe, which refreshed us greatly.
I have often wondered very much in after years that
the inhabitants of my own dear land did not make more
frequent use of this most charming element,— water. I
mean in the way of cold bathing. Of course, I have per-
ceived that it is not convenient for them to go into the
sea or the rivers in winter, as we used to do on the Coral
Island; but then, I knew from experience that a large
washing-tub and a sponge do form a most‘pleasant sub-
stitute. The feelings of freshness, of cleanliness, of vigor,
and extreme hilarity, that always followed my bathes
inathe sea, and even, when in England, my ablutions
in the wash-tub, were so delightful, that I would sooner
have gone without my breakfast than without my bathe
in cold water. My readers will forgive me for asking


THE CORAL ISLAND. 101
whether they are in the habit of bathing thus every
morning; and if they answer “ No,” they will pardon me
for recommending them to begin at once. Of late years,
since retiring from the stirring life of adventure which
I have led so long in foreign climes, I have heard of a
system called thecold-water cure. Now, I do not know
much about that system, so I do not mean to uphold it,
neither do I intend to run it down. Perhaps, in refer-
. ence to it, I may just hint that there may be too much of
a good thing. I know not; but of this I am quite cer-
tain, that there may also be too little of a good thing;
and the great delight I have had in cold bathing during
the course of my adventurous career inclines me to think
that it is better to risk taking too much than to content
one’s self with too little. Such is my opinion, derived
from much experience; but I put it before my readers
with the utmost diflidence and with profound modesty,
knowing that it may possibly jar with their feelings of
confidence in their own ability to know and judge as to
what is best and fittest in reference to their own affairs.
But, to return from this digression, .for which I humbly
crave forgiveness :
We had not advanced on our journey much above a
mile or so, and were just beginning to feel the pleasant
glow that usually accompanies vigorous exercise, when,
on turning a point that revealed to us a new and beauti--
.ful cluster of islands, we were suddenly arrested by the-
appalling cry which had so alarmed us a few nights
before. But this time we were by no means so much:
alarmed as on the previous occasion, because, whereas
at that time it was night, now it was day; and I have
always found, though I am unable to account for it, that


102 THE CORAL ISLAND.
daylight banishes many of the fears that are apt to assail
us in the dark.
On hearing the sound, Peterkin instantly threw for-
ward his spear.
“ Now, what can it be?” said he, looking round at
Jack. “I tell you what it is, if we are to go on being
pulled up in a constant state of horror and astonish-
ment, as we have been for the last week, the sooner
we’re out 0’ this island the better, notwithstanding the
yams and lemonade, and pork and plums ! ”
Peterkin’s remark was followed by a repetition of the
cry, louder than before.
“It comes from one of these islands,” said Jack.
“ It must be the ghost of a jackass, then,” said Peter-
kin, “ for I never heard anything so like.”
We all turned our eyes towards the cluster of islands,
where, on the largest, we observed curious objects mov-
ing on the shore.
“ Soldiers they are,—that’s flat!” cried Peterkin,
gazing at them in the utmost amazement.
And, in truth, Peterkin’s remark seemed to me to be
correct; for, at the distance from which we saw them,
they appeared to be an army of soldiers. There they
stood, rank and file, in lines and in squares, marching
:and countermarching, with blue coats and white trousers.
While we were looking at them, the dreadful cry came
again over the water, and Peterkin suggested that it
must be a regiment sent out to massacre the natives in
cold blood. At this remark Jack laughed and said, --
“ WVhy, Peterkin, they are penguins l”
“ Penguins?” repeated Peterkin.
“Ay, penguins, Peterkin, penguins,—nothing more
or less than big sea-birds, as you shall see one of 7 these


THE CORAL ISLAND. 103
days, when we pay them a visit in our boat, which I ‘
mean to set about building the moment we return to our
bower.”
“ So, then, our dreadful yelling ghosts and our mur-
dering army of soldiers,” remarked Peterkin, “have
dwindled down to penguins, -— big sea-birds ! Very good.
Then I propose that we continue our journey as fast as
possible, lest our island should be converted into a dream
I before we get completely round it.”
Now, as we continued on our way. I. pondered much
over this new discovery, and the singular appearance
of these birds, of which Jack could only give us a very
slight and vague account; and I began to long to com-
mence on our boat, in order that we might go and inspect
them more narrowly. But by degrees these thoughts
left me, and I began to be much taken up again with the
interesting peculiarities of the country which we were
passing through.
The second night we passed in a manner somewhat
similar to the first, at about two thirds of the way round
the island, as we calculated, and we hoped to sleep on
the night following at our bower: I will not here note
so particularly all that we said and saw during the, course
of this second day~ as we did not make any further dis-
coveries of great importance. The shore along which
we travelled, and the various parts of the woods through
which we passed, were similar to those which have been
already treated of. There were one or two observations
that we made, however, and these were as follows : —
We saw that, while many of the large fruit-bearing
trees grew only in the valleys, and some of them only
near the banks of the streams, where the soil _was pecu-
liarly rich, the cocoa-nut palm grew in every place what-


104 THE CORAL ISLAND.
soever, --not only on the hill-sides, but also on the sea-
shore, and even, as has been already stated, on the coral
reef itself, where the soil, if we may use the name, was
nothing better than loose sand mingled with broken shells
and coral rock. So near to the sea, too, did this useful
tree grow, that in many places its roots were washed by
the spray from the breakers. Yet we found the trees
growing thus on the sands to be quite as luxuriant as
those growing in the valleys, and the fruit as good and
refreshing also. Besides this, I noticed that, on the sum-
mit of the high mountain, which we once more ascended
at a different point from our first ascent, were found
abundance of shells and broken coral formations, which
Jack and I agreed proved either that this island must
have once been under the sea, or that the sea must once
have been above the island. In other words, that as
shells and coral could not possibly climb to the mountain
top, they must have been washed upon it while the
mountain top was on a level with the sea. We pondered
this very much; and we put to ourselves the Question,
“ What raised the island to its present height above the
sea?” But to this we could by no means give to our-
selves a satisfactory reply. Jack thought it might have
been blown up by a volcano: and Peterkinraid he
thought it must have jumped up of its own accord! We
also noticed what had escaped us before, that the solid
rocks of which the island was formed were quite differ-
ent from the live coral rocks on the shore, where the
wonderful little insects were continually working. They
seemed, indeed, to be of the same material,-—a sub-
stance like limestone; but, while the coral rocks were
quite full of minute cells in which the insects lived, the
other rocks inland were hard and solid, without the ap-


THE CORAL ISLAND. 105
pearance of cells at all. Our thoughts and conversations
on this subject were sometimes so profound that Peterkin
said we should certainly get ' drowned in them at last,
even although we were such good divers 1 Nevertheless
we did not allow his pleasantry on this and similar points
to deter us from making our notes and observations as
we went along.
We found several more droves of hogs in the woods,
but abstained from killing any of them, having more
than sufficient for our present necessities. We saw also
many of their foot-prints in this neighborhood. Among
these we also observed the foot-prints of a smaller ani-
mal, which we examined with much care, but could form
no certain opinion as to them. Peterkin thought they
were those of a little dog, but Jack and I thought differ-
ently. We became very curious on this matter, the more
so that we observed these foot-prints to lie scattered
about in one locality, as if the animal which had made
them was wandering round about in a very irregular
manner, and without any object in yiew. Early in the
forenoon of our third day we observed these foot-prints
to be much more numerous than ever, and in one par-
ticular spot they diverged off into the woods in a regular
beaten track, which was, however, so closely beset with
bushes, that we pushed through it with difficulty. We
had now become so anxious to find out what animal this
was, and where it went to, that we determined to follow _
the track, and, if possible, clear up the mystery. Peter-
kin said, in a bantering tone, that he was sure it would
be cleared up as usual in some frightfully simple way,
and prove to be no mystery at all!
The beaten track seemed much too large to have been
formed by the animal itself, and we concluded that some


106 THE CORAL ISLAND.
larger animal had made it, and that the smaller one
made use of it. But everywhere the creeping plants
and tangled bushes crossed our path, so that we forced
our way along with some difficulty. Suddenly, as we
came upon an open space, we heard a faint cry, and
observed a black animal standing in the track before us.
“A wild-cat ! ” cried Jack, fitting an arrow to his bow,
and discharging it so hastily that he missed the animal,
and hit the earth about half a foot to one side of it. To
our surprise the wild-cat did not fly, but walked slowly
towards the arrow, and snuffed at it.
“ That’s the most comical wild-cat I ever saw
Jack.
“ It’s a tame wild-cat, I think,” said Peterkin, levelling
his spear to make a charge.
“ Stop!” cried I, laying my hand on his shoulder; “ I
do believe the poor beast is blind. See, it strikes against
the branches as it walks along. It must be a very old ~
one ;” and I hastened towards it.
“ Only think,” said Peterkin, with a suppressed laugh,
“ of a superannuated wild-cat 1 ”
\Ve now found that the poor cat was not only blind,
or nearly so, but extremely deaf, as it did not hear our
footsteps until we were quite close behind it. Then it
sprang round, and, putting up its back and tail, while the
black hair stood all on end, uttered arhoarse mew and
a fuff.
“ Poor thing,” said Peterkin, gently extending his
hand, auli endeavoring to pat the cat’s head. “ Poor
pussy; chee, chee, chee ; puss, puss, puss ; cheetie
pussy! ”
No sooner did the cat hear these sounds thanall signs
of anger fled, and, advancing eagerly to Peterkin, it
'77
cried


THE CORAL ISLAND. 107
\
allowed itself to be stroked, and rubbed itself against
his legs, purring loudly all the time, and showing every
symptom of the most extreme delight.
“It’s no more a wild-cat than I am I ” cried Peterkin,
taking it in his arms. “It’s quite tame. Poor pussy,
cheetie pussy ! ”
We now crowded around Peterkin, and were not a
little surprised, and, to say truth, a good deal afiected, by
the sight of the poor animal’s excessive joy. It rubbed
its head against Peterkin’s cheek, licked his chin, and
thrust its head almost violently into his neck, while it
purred more loudly than I ever heard a cat purr before,
and appeared to be so much overpowered by its feelings,
that it occasionally mewed and purred almost in the same
breath. Such demonstrations of joy and affection led us
at once to conclude that this poor cat must have known
man before, and we conjectured that it had been left
either accidentally or by design on the island many years .
ago, and was now evincing its extreme joy at meeting
once more with human beings. While we were fondling
the cat and talking about it,. Jack glanced round the open
space in the midst of which we stood.
“ Hallo!” exclaimed he; “this looks something like
a. clearing. The axe has been at work here. Just look
at these tree-stumps.”
we now turned to examine these, and, without doubt,
we found trees that had been cut down here and there,
also stumps and broken branches ;.all of which, how-
ever, were completely covered over with moss, and bore
evidence of having been in this condition for some years.
No human foot-prints were to' be seen, either on the
track or among the bushes; but those'of the cat were
found everywhere. We now determined to follow up


108 THE CORAL ISLAND.
the track as far as it went, and Peterkin put the cat
down; but it seemed to be so weak, and mewed so very
pitifully, that he took it up‘ again and carried it in his
arms, where, in a few minutes, it fell sound asleep.
About ten yards farther on, the felled trees became
more numerous, and the track, diverging to the right,
followed for a short space the banks of a stream. Sud-
denly we came to a spot where once must have been a
rude bridge, the stones of which were scattered in the
stream, and those on each bank entirely covered over
with moss. In silent surprise and expectancy we con-
tinued to advance, and, a few yards farther on, beheld,
under the shelter of some breadfruit-trees, a small but
or cottage. I cannot hope to convey to my readers a
very correct idea of the feelings that affected us on
witnessing this unexpected sight. We stood for a long
time in silent wonder, for there was a deep and most
melancholy stillness about the place that quite over-
powered us; and when we did at length speak, it'was
in subdued whispers, as if we were surrounded by some
awful or supernatural influence. Even Peterkin’s voice,
usuallyso quick and lively on all occasions, was hushed
now; for'there was a dreariness about this silent, lonely,
uninhabited cottage, so strange in its appearance, so
far away from the usual dwellings of man, so old, de-
cayed, and deserted in its aspect,—that fell upon our
spirits like a thick cloud, and blotted out as with a pall
the cheerful sunshine that had filled us since the com-
mencement of our tour round the island.
The but or cottage was rude and simple in its con-
struction. It was not more than twelve feet long by ten
feet broad, and about seven or eight feet. high. It had
one window, or rather a small frame in which a window


THE CORAL ISLAND. 109
might, perhaps, once have been, but which was now
empty. The door was exceedingly low, and formed of
rough boards, and _the roof was covered with broad
cocoa-nut and plantain leaves. But every' part of it
was in a state of the utmost decay. Moss and green
matter grew in spots all over it. The wood-work was
quite perforated with holes; the roof had nearly fallen
in, and appeared to be prevented from doing so al-
together by the thick matting of creeping-plants and the
interlaced branches which years of neglect had allowed
to cover it almost entirely; while the thick, luxuriant
branches of the breadfruit and other trees spread above
it, and flung a deep, sombre shadow over the spot, as
if to guard it from the heat and the light of day. We
conversed long and in whispers about this strange habita-
tion ere we ventured to approach it; and when at length
we did so, it was, at least on my part, with feelings of
awe.
At first Jack endeavored to peep in at the window,
but from the deep shadow of the trees already mentioned,
and the gloom within, he could not clearly discern ob-
jects; so we lifted the latch and pushed open the door.
We observed that the latch was made of iron,- and almost
eaten away with rust. In the like condition were also
the hinges, which creaked as the door swung back. On
entering, we stood still and gazed around us, while we
were much impressed with the dreary stillness of the
room. But what we saw there surprised and shocked
us not a little. There was no furniture in the apartment
save a little wooden stool and an’ iron pot, the latter
almost eaten through with rust. In the corner farthest
from the door was a low bedstead, on which lay two
skeletons, imbedded in a little heap of dry dust. With


110 THE CORAL ISLAND.
beating hearts we went forward to examine them. One
was the skeleton of a man, the other that of a dog, which
was extended close beside that of the man, with its head
resting on his bosom.
Now we were very much concerned about this dis-
covery, and could scarce refrain from tears on beholding
these sad remains. After some time, we began to talk
about what we had seen, and to examine in and around
the hut, in order to discover some clue to the name or
history of this poor man, who had thus died in solitude,
with none to mourn his loss save his cat and his faithful
dog. But we found nothing,-—neither a book nor a
scrap of paper. We found, however, the decayed rem-
nants of what appeared to have been clothing, and an
old axe. But none of these things bore marks of any
kind; and, indeed, they were so much decayed as to con-
vince us that they had lain in the condition in which we
found them for many years.
This discovery now accounted to us for the tree stump
at the top of the mountain with the initials cut on it; also
for the patch of sugar-cane and other traces of man which
we had met with in the course of our rambles over the
island. And we were much saddened by the reflection
that the lot of this poor wanderer might possibly be our
own, after many years’ residence on the island, unless we
should be rescued' by the visit of some vessel or the
arrival of natives. Having no clue whatever to account
for the presence of this poor human being in such a
lonely spot, we fell to conjecturing what could have
brought him there. I was inclined to think that he must
have been a shipwrecked sailor, whose vessel had been
lost here, and all the crew been drowned except himself
and his dog and cat. But Jack thought it more likely


. THE CORAL ISLAND. 111
that he had run away from his vessel, and taken the dog
and cat to keep him company. We were also much
occupied in our minds with the wonderful difference be-
tween the cat and the dog. For here we saw that while
the one perished, like a loving friend, by its master’s side,
with its head resting on his bosom, the other had sought
to sustain itself by prowling abroad in the forest, and had
lived in solitude to a good old age. However, we did
not conclude from this that the cat was destitute of ati‘ec-
tion, for we could not forget its emotions on first meeting
with us ; but we saw from this, that the dog had a great
deal more of generous love in its nature than the cat,
because it not only found it impossible to live after the
death of its master, but it must needs, when it came to
die, crawl to his side and rest its head upon his lifeless
breast.
While we were thinking on these things, and examin-
ing into everything about the room, we were attracted _
by an exclamation from Peterkin.
“ I say, Jack,” said he, “ here is something that will be
of use to us.”
“ What is it,” said Jack, hastening across the room.
“ An old pistol,” replied Peterkin, holding up the
weapon, which he had just pulled from under a heap of
broken wood and rubbish that lay in a corner.
“That, indeed, might have been useful,” said Jack,
examining it, “if we had any powder; but I suspect the
bow and the sling will prove more serviceable.”
“ True, I forgot that,” said Peterkin ; “but we may as
well take it with us, for the flint will serve to strike fire
, with when the sun does not shine.”
After having spent more than an hour at this place
without discovering anything of further interest, Peterkin
_
I


112 THE CORAL ISLAND.
took up the old cat, which had lain very contentedly
asleep on the stool whereon he had placed it, and we pre-
pared to take our departure. In leaving the hut, Jack
stumbled heavily against the door-post, which was so
much decayed as to break across, and the whole fabric of -
the but seemed ready to tumble about our cars. This
put into our heads that we might as well pull it down,
and so form a mound over the skeleton. Jack, therefore,
with his axe, cut down the other door-post, which, when
it was done, brought the whole hut in ruins to the ground,
and thus formed a grave to the bones of the poor recluse
and his dog. Then we left the spot, having brought
away the iron pot, the pistol, and the old axe, as they
might be of much use to us hereafter.
During the rest of this day we pursued our journey,
and examined the other end of the large valley, which
we found to be so much alike to the parts already de-
scribed, that I shall not recount the particulars of what
we saw in this place. I may, however, remark, that we
did not quite recover our former cheerful spirits until we
arrived at our bower, which we did late in the evening,
and found everything just in the same condition as we
had left it three days before.



THE CORAL ISLAND. 113
\
CHAPTER XII.
SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE TANK—JACK’S WISDOM AND PETER-
KIN’S IMPERTINENCE—WONDERFUL BEHAVIOR OF A CRAB-—
GOOD WISHES FOR THOSE 'WHO DIVELL FAR FROM THE SEA—-
JACK COMMENCES TO BUILD A LITTLE BOAT. I
EST is sweet as well for the body as for the mind..
During my long experience, amid the vicissitudes
of a checkered life, I have found that periods of profound
rest at certain intervals, in addition to the ordinary hours
of repose, are necessary to the well-being of man. And the-
nature as well as the period of this rest varies, according
to the different temperaments of individuals, and the pecu-
liar circumstances in which they may chance to be placed.
To those who work with their minds, bodily labor is rest.
To those who labor with the body, deep sleep is rest.
To the downcast, the weary, and the sorrowful, joy and
peace are rest. Nay, further, I think that to the gay,
the frivolous, the reckless, when sated with pleasures that
cannot last, even sorrow proves to be rest of a kind,
although, perchanceLit were better that I Should call it
relief than rest. [There is, indeed, but one class of men
to whom rest is denied. There is no rest to the wicked.
At this I do but hint, however, as I treat not of that rest
which is spiritual, but more particularly, of that which
applies to the mind and to the body:
Of this rest we stood much in need on our return home,
and we found it exceedingly sweet, when we indulged in
8


114 THE CORAL ISLAND.
it, after completing the journey just related. It had not,
indeed, been a very long journey, nevertheless we had
pursued it so diligently that our frames were not a. little
prostrated. Our minds were also very much exhausted
in consequence of the many surprises, frequent alarms,
and much profound thought, to which they had been sub-
jected; so that when we lay down on the night of our
return under the shelter of the bower, we fell immediately
into very deep repose. I can state this with much cer-
tainty, for Jack afterwards admitted the fact, and Peter-
kin, although he stoutly denied it, I heard snoring loudly
at least two minutes after lying down. In this condition
we remained all night and the whole of the following day
without awaking once, or so much as moving our posi-
tions. When we did awake it was near sunset, and we
were all in such a state of lassitude that we merely rose
to swallow a mouthful of food. As Peterkin remarked,
in the midst of a yawn, we took breakfast at tea-time,
and then went to bed again, where we lay till the follow-
ing forenoon.
After this we arose very greatly refreshed, but much
alarmed lest we had lost count of a day. I say we were
much alarmed on this head, for we had carefully kept
count of the days since we were cast upon our island, in
order that we might remember the Sabbath-day, which
day we had hitherto with one accord kept as a day of
rest, and refrained from all work whatsoever. However,
on considering the subject, we all three entertained the
same opinion as to how long we had slept, and so our
minds were put at case.
We now hastened to our Water Garden to enjoy a
bathe, and to see how did the animals which I had placed
in the tank. We found the garden more charming, pellu-


THE CORAL ISLAND. 115
cid, and inviting than ever, and Jack and I plunged into
its depth, and gambolled among its radiant coral groves ;
while Peterkin wallowed at the surface, and tried occa-
sionally to kick us as we passed below. Having dressed,
I then hastened to the tank; but what was my surprise
and grief to find nearly all the animals dead, and the
water in a putrid condition ! I was greatly distressed at
this, and wondered what could be the cause of it.
“ Why, you precious humbug,” said Peterkin, coming
up to me, “how could you expect it to be otherwise?
When fishes are accustomed to live in the Pacific 'Ocean,
how can you expect them to exist in a hole like that?”
“Indeed, Peterkin,” I replied, “ there seems to be truth
in what you say. Nevertheless, now I think of it, there
must be some error in your reasoning; for, if I put in
but a few very small animals, they will bear the same
proportion to this pond that themillions of fish bear to
the ocean.” .
“ I say, Jack,” cried Peterkin, waving his hand, “come
here, like a good fellow. Ralph is actually talking phi-
losophy. Do come to our assistance, for he’s out 0’ sight
beyond me already I ”
“ What’s the matter?” inquired Jack, coming up, while
he endeavored to scrub his long hair dry with a towel of
cocoa-nut cloth.
I repeated my thoughts to Jack, who I was happy to
find, quite agreed with me. “Your best plan,” he said,
“ will be to put very few animals at first into your tank,
and add more as you find it will hear them. And look
here,” he added, pointing to the sides of the tank, which,
for the space of two inches above the water-level, were
incrusted with salt, “you must carry your philosophy 9.
little farther, Ralph. That water has evaporated so much


116 THE CORAL ISLAND.
that it is too salt for anything to live in. .You will re-
quire to add fresh water now and then, in order to keep
it at the same degree of saltness as the sea.”
“ Very true, Jack, that never struck me before,”
said I.
“ And, now I think of it,” continued Jack, “ it seems
to me that the surest way of arranging your tank so as
to get it to keep pure and in good condition, will be to
imitate the ocean in it. In fact make it a miniature Pa-
cific. I don’t see how you can hope to succeed unless
you do that.”
“Most true,” said I, pondering what my companion
said. “ But I fear that that will be very difficult.”
“Not at all,” cried Jack, rolling his towel up into a
ball, and throwing it into the face of Peterkin, who had
been grinning and winking at him during the last five
minutes. “ Not at all. Look here. There is water of
a certain saltness in the sea; well, fill your tank with
sea-water,'and keep it at that saltness by marking the
height at which the water stands on the sides. ' When it
evaporates a little, pour in fresh water from the brook
till it comes up to the mark, and then it will be right, for
the salt does not evaporate with the water. Then, there’s
lots of sea-weed in the sea;———well, go and get one or
two bits of sea-weed, and put them into your tank. Of
course the weed must be alive, and growing to little
stones; or you can chip a bit off the rocks with the
weed sticking to it. Then, if you like, you can throw a
little sand and gravel into your tank, and the thing’s
complete.” '
“ Nay, not quite,” said Peterkin, who had been gravely
attentive to this off-hand advice, “not quite; you must
first make three little men to dive in it before it can be


THE CORAL ISLAND. 117
said to be perfect, and that would be rather difficult, I
fear, for two of them would require to be philosophers.
But hallo! what’s this? I say, Ralph, look here. There’s
one 0’ your crabs up to something uncommon. It’s per-
forming the most remarkable operation for a crab I ever
saw,—taking off its coat, I do believe, before going to
bed 1 ”
We hastily stooped over the tank, and certainly were
not a little amused at the conduct of one of the crabs
which still survived its companions. It was one of the
common small crabs, like to those that are found running
about everywhere on the coasts of England. Whilev we
gazed at it, we Observed its back to split away from the
lower part of its body, and out of the gap thus formed
came a soft lump which moved and writhed unceasingly.
This lump continued to increase in size until it appeared
like a bunch of crab’s legs ; and, indeed, such it proved
in a very few minutes to be; for the points of the toes
were at length extricated from this hole in its back, the
legs spread out, the body followed, and the crab walked
away quite entire, even to the points of its nipper-claws,
leaving a perfectly entire shell behind it, so that, when
we looked, it seemed as though there were two complete
crabs instead of one 1
“Well ! ” exclaimed Peterkin, drawing a long breath,
“ I’ve heard of a man jumping out of his skin and sitting
down in his skeleton in order to cool himself, but I never
expected to see a crab do it ! ”
' We were, in truth, much amazed at this spectacle, and
the more so when we observed that the new crab was
larger than the crab that it came out of. It was also
quite soft, but by next morning its skin had hardened
into a good. shell. We came thus to know that crabs


THE CORAL ISLAND. 119
forth, as it were, a multitude of arms and wait till little
fish or other small animalcules unwarily touched them,
when they would instantly seize them, fold arm after arm
around their victims, and so engulf them in their stom-
achs. Here I saw the ceaseless working of those little
coral insects whose efforts have incrusted the islands of
the Pacific with vast rocks, and surrounded them with
enormous reefs. And I observed that‘many of these
insects, though extremely minute, were very beautiful,
coming. out of their holes in a circle of fine threads, and
having the form of a shuttlecock. Here I saw curious
little barnacles opening a hole in their backs and con-
stantly putting out a thin, feathery hand, with which, I
doubt not, they dragged their food into their mouths.
Here also, I saw those crabs which have shells only 'on
the front of their bodies, but no shell whatever on their
remarkably tender tails, so that, in order to find a pro-
tection to them, they thrust them into the empty shells
of wilks, or some such fish, and when they grow too big
for one, change into another. But most curious of all, I
saw an animal which had the wonderful power, when it
became ill, of casting its stomach and its teeth away from
it, and getting an entirely new set in the course of a few
months! All this I saw, and a great deal more, by means
of my tank and my burning-glass, but I refrain from set-
ting down more particulars here, as I have still much to-
tell of the adventures that befell us while we remainedl
on this island.


122 THE CORAL ISLAND.
vise you to let me try it. If it has got a heart at all, I’ll
engage to send my spear right through the core of it;
if it hasn’t got a heart, I’ll send it through the spot where
its heart ought to be.”
“ Fire away, then, my boy,” replied Jack with a
laugh.
Peterkin immediately took the spear, poised it for a
second or two above his head, then darted it like an
arrow into the sea. Down it went straight into the
centre of the green object, passed quite through it,
and came up immediately afterwards, pure and un-
sullied, while the mysterious tail moved quietly as be-
fore !
“ Now,” said Peterkin, gravely, “ that brute is a heart-
less monster; I’ll have nothing more to do with it.”
“I’m pretty sure now,” said Jack, “that it is merely
a phosphoric light; but I must say I’m puzzled at its
staying always in that exact spot.”
I also was much puzzled, and inclined to think with
Jack that it must be phosphoric light; of which lumin-
ous appearance we had seen much while on our voyage
to these seas. “ But,” said I, “ there is nothing to hinder
us from diving down to it, now that we are sure it is not
a shark.”
“ True,” returned J aek, stripping of his clothes ; “ I’ll
go down, Ralph, as I’m better at diving than you are.
Now then, Peterkin, out o’ the road!” Jack stepped
forward, joined his hands above his head, bent over the
rocks, and plunged into the sea. For a second or two
the spray caused by his dive hid him from view, then‘
the water became still, and we saw him swimming far
down in the midst of the green object. Suddenly he
\ sank below it, and vanished altogether from our sight!


THE CORAL ISLAND. 123
We gazed anxiously down at the spot where he had
disappeared, for nearly a minute, expecting every mo-
ment to see him rise again for breath; but fully a
minute passed, and still he did not reappear. Two
minutes passed! and then a flood of alarm rushed in
upon my soul, when I considered that, during all my
acquaintance with him, Jack had never stayed under
water more than a minute at a time; indeed seldom
so long.
“ Oh, Peterkin ! ” I said, in a voice that trembled with
increasing anxiety, “something has happened. It is,
more than three minutes now 1” But Peterkin did not
answer, and I observed that he was gazing down into
the water with a look of intense fear mingled with
anxiety, while his face was overspread with a deadly
paleness. Suddenly he sprang to his feet and rushed
about in a frantic state, wringing his hands, and exclaim-
ing, “ Oh, Jack, Jack 1 he is gone ! It must have been
a shark, and he is gone forever I ”
For the next five minutes I know not what I did.
The intensity of my feelings almost bereft me of my
senses. But I was recalled to myself by Peterkin seiz-
ing me by the shoulder and staring wildly into my face,
while he exclaimed, “Ralph! Ralph! perhaps he has
only fainted. Dive for him, Ralph l”
It seemed strange that this did not occur ‘to me sooner.
In a moment I rushed to the edge of the rocks, and,
without waiting to throw 'ofl' my garments, was on the
point to spring into the waves, when I observed some-
thing black rising up through the green object. In an-
other moment Jack's head rose to the surface, and he
gave a wild shout, flinging back the spray from his locks,
as was his wont after a dive. Now we were almost as


124 THE CORAL ISLAND.
much amazed at seeing him reappear, well and strong,
as we had been at first at his non-appearance ; for, to the
best of our judgment, he had been nearly ten minutes
under water, perhaps longer, and it required no exertion
of our reason to convince us that this was utterly impos-
sible for mortal man to do and retain his strength and
faculties. It was therefore with a feeling akin to super-
stitious awe that I held down my hand and assisted him
to_ clamber up the steep rocks. But no such feeling
afiected Peterkin. No sooner did Jack gain the rocks
and seat himself on one, panting for breath, than he
threw his arms round his neck, and burst into a flood of
tears. “ Oh, Jack, Jack 1 ” said he, “ where were you?
What kept you so long ? ”
After a few moments Peterkin became composed
enough to sit still and listen to Jack’s explanation, al-
though he could not restrain himself from attempting to
wink every two~ minutes at me, in order to express his
joy at Jack’s safety. I say he attempted to wink, but I
am bound to add that he did not succeed, for his eyes
were so much swollen with weeping, that his frequent
attempts only'resulted in a series of violent and al-
together idiotical ‘contortions of the face, that were very
far-from expressing what he intended. However, I knew
what the poor fellow meant by it, so I smiled to him in
return, and endeavoured to make believe that he was
winking. '
“Now, lads,” said Jack, when we were composed
enough to listen to him, “yon green object is not a
shark; it is a stream of light issuing from a cave in the
rocks. Just after I made my dive, I observed that this
light came from the side of the rock above which we are
now sitting; so I struck out for it, and saw an opening


THE CORAL ISLAND. 125
into some place or other that appeared to be luminous
within. For one instant I paused to think whether I
ought to venture. Then I made up my mind, and dashed
into it. For you see, Peterkin, although I take some
time to tell this, it happened in the space of a few sec-
onds, so that I knew I had wind enough in me to serve
to bring me out o’ the hole and up to the surface again.
Well, I was just on the point of turning, — for I began
to feel a little uncomfortable in such a place, — when it
seemed to me as if there was a faint light right above
me. I darted upwards, and found my head out of water.
This relieved me greatly, for _I now felt that I could take
in air enough to enable me to return the way I came.
Then it all at once occurred to me that I might not be
able to find the way out again; but, on glancing down-
wards, my mind was put quite at rest by, seeing the
green light below me streaming into the cave, just like
the light that we had seen streaming out of it, only
what I' now saw was much brighter.
“At first I could scarcely see anything as I gazed
around me, it was so dark; but gradually my eyes be-
came accustomed to it, and I found that I was in 'a
huge cave, part of the walls of which I observed on each
side of me. The ceiling just above me was also visible,
and I fancied that I could perceive beautiful glittering
objects there, but the farther end of the cave was
shrouded in darkness. While I was looking around me
in great wonder, it came into my head that you two
would think I was drowned; so I plunged down through
the passage again in a great hurry, rose to the surface,
and— here I am 1 ”
When Jack concluded his recital of what he had seen
in this remarkable cave, I could not rest satisfied till I


126 THE CORAL ISLAND.
had dived down to see it; which I did, but found it so
dark, as Jack had said, that I could scarcely see any-
thing. When I returned, we had a long conversation
about it, during which I observed that Peterkin had a
most lugubrious expression on his countenance.
“ What’s the matter, Peterkin?” said I.
“The matter?” he replied. “It’s all very well for
you two to be talking away like mermaids about the
wonders of this cave, but you know I must be content to
hear about it, while you are enjoying yourselves down
there like mad dolphins. It’s really too bad.”
“ I’m very sorry for you, Peterkin, indeed I am,” said
Jack, “but we cannot help you. If you would only
learn to dive—”
“Learn to fly, you might as well say l ” retorted Peter-
kin, in a very sulky tone.
“ If you would only consent to keep still,” said I, “ we
would take you down with us in ten seconds.”
“Hum l ” returned Peterkin; “ suppose a salamander
was to propose to you ‘only to keep still,’ and he would
carry you through a blazing fire in a few seconds, what
would you say?”
We both laughed and shook our heads, for it was evi-
dent that nothing was to be made of Peterkin in the
water. But we could not rest satisfied till we had seen
more of this cave; so, after further consultation, Jack
and I determined to try if we could take down a torch
with us, and set fire to it in the cavern. This we found
to be an undertaking of no small difficulty; but we ac-
complished it at last by the following means:—— First,
we made a torch of a very inflammable nature out of the
bark of a certain tree, which we cut into strips, and,
after twisting, cemented together with a kind of resin or


THE CORAL ISLAND. 127
gum, which we also obtained from another tree; neither
of which trees, however, was known by name to Jack.
' This, when prepared, we wrapped up in a great number
of plies of cocoa-nut cloth, so that we were confident it
could not get wet during the short time it should be under
water. Then we took a small piece of the tinder, which
we had carefully treasured up lest we should require it,
as before said, when the sun should fail us; also, we
rolled up some dry grass and a few chips, which, with a
little bow and drill, like those described before, we made
into another bundle, and wrapped it up in cocoa-nut
cloth. When all was ready we laid aside our garments,
with the exception of our trousers, which, as we did not
know what rough scraping against the rocks we might be
subjected to, we kept on.
Then we advanced to the edge of the rocks, Jack
carrying one bundle, with the torch; II the other, with
the things for producing fire.
“ Now don’t weary for us, Peterkin, should we be gone
some time,” said Jack ; “we’ll be sure to return in half-
an-hour at the very latest, however interesting the cave
should be, that we may relieve your mind.”
“Farewell!” said Peterkin, coming up to us with a
- look of deep but pretended solemnity, while he shook
hands and kissed each of us on the cheek. “ Farewell!
and while you are gone I shall repose my weary limbs
under the shelter of this bush, and meditate on the
changefulness of all things earthly, with special reference
to the forsaken condition of a poor ship-wrecked sailor
boy ! ” S0 saying, Peterkin waved his hand, turned from
us, and cast himself upon the ground with a look of mel-
vancholy resignation, which was so well feigned, that I
would have thought it genuine had he not accompanied


128 THE CORAL ISLAND.
it with a gentle wink. We both laughed, and, springing
from the rocks together, plunged head first into the sea.
We gained the interior of the submarine cave with-
out difliculty, and, on emerging from the waves, supported
ourselves for some time by treading-water, while we held
the two bundles above our heads. This we did in order
to let our eyes become accustomed to the obscurity.
Then, when we could see sufliciently, we swam to a
shelving rock, and landed in safety. Having wrung the '
water from our trousers, and dried ourselves as well as
we could under the circumstances, we proceeded to ignite
the torch. This we accomplished without difficulty in a
few minutes; and no sooner did it flare up than we were
struck dumb with the wonderful objects that were re-
vealed to our gaze. The roof of the cavern just above
us seemed to be about ten feet high, but grew higher as
it receded into the distance, until it was lost in darkness.
It seemed to be made of coral, and was supported by
massive columns of the same material. Immense icicles
(as they appeared to us) hung from it in various places.
These, however, were formed, not of ice, but of a species
of limestone, which seemed to flow in a liquid form to-
wards the point of each, where it became solid. A good
many drops fell, however, to the rock below, and these
formed little cones, which rose to meet the points above.
Some of them had already met, and thus we saw how
the pillars were formed, which at first seemed to us as if
they had been placed there by some human architect to
support the roof. As we advanced farther in, we saw
that the floor was composed of the same material as
the pillars; and it presented the curious appearance of
ripples, such as are formed on water when gently ruffled
by the wind. There were several openings on either


THE CORAL ISLAND. 129
hand in the walls, that seemed to lead into other scav-
erns; but these we did not explore at this time. We
also observed that the ceiling was curiously marked in
many places, as if it were the fretwork of a noble cathe-
dral; and the walls, as well as the roof, sparkled in the
light of our torch, and threw back gleams and flashes,
as if they were covered with precious stones. Although
we proceeded far into this cavern, we did not come to the
end of it; and we were obliged to return more speedily
than we would otherwise have done, as our torch was
nearly expended. We did not observe any openings in
the roof, or any indications of places whereby light might
enter; but near the entrance to the cavern stood an
immense mass of pure white coral rock, which caught
and threw back the little light that found an entrance
through the cave’s mouth, and thus produced, we con-
jectured, the pale-green object which had first attracted
our attention. We concluded, also, that the reflecting
power of this rock was that which gave forth the dim
light that faintly illumined the first part of the cave.
Before diving through the passage again we extin-
guished the small piece of our torch that remained, and ,
left it in a dry spot; conceiving that we might possibly
stand in need of it, if at any future time we should chance
to wet our torch while diving into the cavern. As we
stood for a few minutes after it was out, waiting till our
eyes became accustomed to the gloom, we could not help
remarking the deep, intense stillness and the unutterable
gloom of all around us; and, as I thought of the stu-
pendous dome above, and the countless gems that had
sparkled in the torchlight a few minutes before, it came
into my mind to consider how strange it is that God
should make such wonderfulrand. exquisitely-beautiful
9


130 THE CORAL ISLAND.
works never to be seen at all, except, indeed, by chance
visitors such as ourselves.
I afterwards found that there were many such caverns
among the islands of the South Seas, some of them
larger and more beautiful than the one I have just
described.
“ Now, Ralph, are you ready?” said Jack, in a low
voice, that seemed to echo up into the dome above.
"‘ Quite ready.” ‘
“Come along, then,” said he; and, plunging off the
ledge of the rock into the water, we dived through the
‘ narrow entrance. In a few seconds we were panting
on the rocks above, and receiving the congratulations of
our friend Peterkin.


THE CORAL ISLAND. 131
CHAPTER XIV.
STRANGE PECULIARITY OF THE TIDES—ALSO OF THE TWILIGHT
~PETERKIN’S REMARKABLE CONDUCT IN EMBRACING A LIT-
TLE PIG—AND KILLING A BIG SOW—SAGE REMARKS ON JEST-
ING — ALSO ON LOVE.
T was quite a relief to us to breathe the pure air
and to enjoy the glad sunshine after our long ramble
in the Diamond Cave, as we named it; for, although we
did not stay more than half an hour away, it seemed to
us much longer. While we were dressing, and during
our walk home, we did our best to satisfy the curiosity
of poor Peterkin, who seemed to regret, with lively sin-
cerity, his inability to dive.
There was no help for it, however, so we condoled
with him as we best could. Had there been any great
rise or fall in the tide of these seas, we might perhaps
have found it possible to take him down with us at low
water ; but as the-tide never lose or fell more than eigh-
teen inches or two feet, this was impossible.
This peculiarity of the tide—its slight rise and fall
-- had not attracted our observation till some time after
our residence on the island. Neither had we observed
another curious circumstance until we had been some
time there. This was the fact, that the tide rose and fell
with constant regularity, instead of being affected by the
changes of the moon as in our own country, and as it is
in most other parts of the world, -— at least in all those
parts with which I am acquainted. Every day and every


132 THE CORAL ISLAND.
night, at twelve o’clock precisely, the tide is at the full;
and at six o’clock every morning and evening it is ebb.
I can speak with much confidence on this singular cir-
cumstance, as we took particular note of it, and never
found it to alter. Of course I must admit we had to
guess the hour of twelve midnight, and I think we could
do this pretty correctly; but in regard to twelve noon we
are quite positive, because we easily found the highest
point that the sun reached in the sky by placing ourselves
at a certain spot whence we observed the sharp summit
of a cliff resting against the sky, just where the sun
passed.
Jack and I were surprised that we had not noticed this
the first few days of our residence here, and could only
account for it by our being so much taken up with the
more obvious wonders of our novel situation. I have
since learned, however, that this want of observation is a
sad and very common infirmity of human nature, there
being hundreds of persons before whose eyes the most
wonderful things are passing every day, who nevertheless
are totally ignorant of them. I therefore have to record
my sympathy with such persons, and to recommend to
them a course of conduct which I have now for a long
time myself adopted, -- namely, the habit of forcing my
attention upon all things that go on around me, and of
taking some degree of interest in them, whether I feel
it naturally or not. I suggest this the more earnestly,
though humbly, because I have very frequently come to
know that ley indifference to a thing has generally been
caused by my ignorance in regard to its
We had much serious conversation on this subject of
the tides; and Jack told us, in his own quiet, philosophi-
cal way, that these tides did great good to the world in


THE CORAL ISLAND. 133
many ways, particularly in the way of cleansing the
shores of the land, and carrying off the filth that was con-
stanth poured into the sea therefrom; which, Peterkin
suggested, was remarkably tidy of it to do. Poor Peter-
kin could never let slip an opportunity to joke, however
'inopportune it might be ; which at first we found rather
a disagreeable propensity, as it often interrupted the flow
of very agreeable conversation; and, indeed, I cannot
too strongly record my disapprobation of this tendency
in general; but we became so used to it at last that we
found it no interruption whatever; indeed, strange to
say, we came to feel that it was a necessary part of our
enjoyment, (such is the force of habit,) and found the
sudden outbursts of mirth, resulting from his humorous
disposition, quite natural and refreshing to us in the midst
of our more serious conversations. But I must not mis-
represent Peterkin. We often found, to our surprise,
that he knew many things which we did not ; and I also
observed that those things which he learned from ex-
perience were never forgotten. From all these things I
came at length to understand that things very opposite
and dissimilar in themselves, when united, do make an
agreeable whole; as, for example, we three on this our,
island, although most_un]ik_e_in_many_things, whgrignitedg
made a_trio so harmoniogsjhatlguestion if ,there ever
mEt before such an agreeable triumvirate. There was,
indeed, no sure ofndi’scord—whatever inq'the symphony we
played together on that sweet Coral Island; and I am
now persuaded that this was owing to our having been
all tuned to the sammeulgethnamely, that of love! Yes,
we loved one’ another with much fervency while we
lived on that island; and, for the matter of that, we love
each other still.


134 THE CORAL ISLAND.
And while I am on this subject, or rather the subject
that just preceded it—namely, the tides—I may here
remark on another curious natural phenomenon. \Ve
found that there was little or no twilight in this island.
We had a distinct remembrance of the charming long
twilight at home, which some people think the most
delightful part of the day, though for my part I have
always preferred sunrise ; and when we first landed, we
used to sit down on some rocky point or eminence at the
close of our day’s work, to enjoy the evening breeze ; but
no sooner had the sun sunk below the horizon than all
became suddenly dark. This rendered it necessary that
we should watch the sun when we happened to be out
hunting, for to be suddenly left in the dark while in the
woods was very perplexing, as, although the stars shone
with great beauty and brilliancy, they could not pierce
through the thick, umbrageous boughs that interlaced
above our heads.
But to return: After having told all we could to Pe-
terkin about the Diamond Cave under Spouting Cliff, as
we named the locality, We were wending our way rapidly
homewards, when a grunt and a squeal were borne down
by the land breeze to our ears.
“ That’s the ticket!” was Peterkin’s remarkable ex-
clamation, as he started convulsively, and levelled his
spear.
“ Hist i” cried Jack; “these are your friends, Peter-
kin. They must have dome over expressly to pay you a
friendly visit, for it is the first time we have seen them
on this side the island.”
“ Come along I ” cried Peterkin, hurrying towards the
wood, while Jack and I followed, smiling at his im-
patience.


I 136 . THE CORAL ISLAND.
it, which, being fortunately well aimed, hit it behind the
ear, and felled it to the earth.
“Capital, Ralph! that’s your sort!” cried Peterkin,
who, to my surprise and great relief, had risen to his
feet. Apparently unhurt, though much dishevelled, he
rushed franticly towards the gorge, which the yells of the
hogs told us they were now approaching. I had made
up my mind that I would abstain from killing another,
as, if Peterkin should be successful, two were more than
sufficient for our wants at the present time. Suddenly
they all burst forth,—two or three little round ones in
advance, and an enormous old sow with a drove of hogs
at her heels.
“ Now, Peterkin,” said I, “there’s a nice little fat one;
just spear it.”
But Peterkin did not move; he allowed it to pass un-
harmed. I looked at him in surprise, and saw that his
lips were compressed and his eyebrows knitted, as if he
were about to fight with some awful enemy.
“ What is it?” I inquired, with some trepidation.
Suddenly he levelled his spear, darted forward, and,
with a yell that nearly froze the blood in'my veins, stab-
bed the old sow to the heart. Nay, so vigorously was it
done that the spear went in at one side and came out at
the other I
“ Oh, Peterkin ! ” said I, going up to him, “ what have
you done ?”
“ Done? I’ve killed their great-great-grandmother,
that’s all,” said be, looking with a somewhat awe-struck
expression at the transfixed animal.
“ Hallo ! what’s this P ” said Jack, as he came up.
“ Why, Peterkin, you must be fond of a tough chop. If
you mean to eat this old hog, she’ll try your jaws, I war-
rant. What possessed you to stick her, Peterkin P ”


, THE CORAL ISLAND. 137
“ Why, the fact is, I want a pair of shoes.”
“ What have your shoes to do with the old hog?” said
I, smiling.
“ My present shoes have certainly nothing to do with
her,” replied Peterkin; “nevertheless she will have a
good deal to do with my future shoes. The fact is, when
I saw you floor that pig so neatly, Ralph, it struck me
that there was little use in killing another. Then I
remembered all at once that I had long wanted some
leather or tough substance to make shoes of, and this old
grandmother seemed so tough that I just made up my
mind to stick her, and you see I’ve done it ! ”
“ That you certainly have, Peterkin,” said Jack, as he
was examining the transfixed animal.
We now considered how we were to carry our game
home, for although the distance was short, the hog was
very heavy. At length we hit on the plan of tying its
four feet together, and passing the spear handle between
them. Jack took one end on his shoulder, I took the
other on mine, and Peterkin carried the small pig.
Thus we returned in triumph tovour bower, laden, as
Peterkin remarked, with the glorious spoils of a noble
hunt. As he afterwards spoke in similarly glowing terms
in reference to the supper that followed, there is every
reason to believe that we retired that night to our leafy
beds in a high state of satisfaction. _


138 THE CORAL ISLAND.
C H APTE R XV.
BOAT-BUILDING EXTRAORDINARY — PETERKIN TRIES HIS HAND
AT COOKEltY AND FAILS. MOST SIGNALLY—TIIE BOAT FIN-
ISHED—CURIOUS CONVERSATION WITH THE CAT, AND OTHER
MATTERS.
OR many days after this Jack applied himself with
unremitting assiduity to the construction of our boat,
which at length began to look somewhat like one. But
those only who have had the thing to do-can entertain a
right idea of the difficulty involved in such an undertak-
ing, with no other implements than an axe, a bit of hoop-
iron, a sail-needle, and a broken penknife. But Jack
did it. He was of that disposition which will not be con-
quered. When he believed himself to be acting rightly,
he overcame all obstacles. I have seen Jack, when
doubtful whetherth he was about to do were right or
wrong, as timid and vacillating as a little girl, — and I
honor him for it 1
As this boat was a curiosity in its way, a few words
here relative to the manner of its construction may not
be amiss.
I have already mentioned the chestnut-tree with its
wonderful buttresses or planks. This tree, then, fur—
nished us with the chief part of our material. First of
all Jack sought out a limb of a tree of such a form and
size as, while it should form the keel, a bend at either
end should form the stem and stern posts. Such a piece,
hOWever, was not easy to obtain, but at last he procured


THE CORAL ISLAND. 139
it, by rooting up a small tree which had a branch grow-
ing at the proper angle about ten feet up its stem, with
two strong roots growing in such a form as enabled him
to make a flat-sterned boat. This placed, he procured
three branching roots of suitable size, which he fitted to
the keel at. equal distances, thus forming three strong
ribs. Now, the squaring and shaping of these, and the
cutting of the grooves in the keel, was an easy enough
matter, as it was all work for the axe, in the use of which
Jack was become wonderfully expert ; but it was quite a
difi'erent affair when he came to nailing the ribs to the
keel, for we had _no instrument capable of boring a large
hole, and no nails to fasten them with. We were, in-
deed, much perplexed here ; but Jack at length devised
an instrument that served very well. He took the re-
mainder of our hoop-iron and beat it into the form of a
pipe or cylinder, about as thick as a man’s finger. This
he did by means of our axe and the old rusty axe we
had found at the house of the poor man at the other side
of the island. This, when made red-hot, bored slowly
through the timbers; and, the better to retain the heat,
Jack shut up one end of it and filled it with sand. True,
the work was very slowly done, but it mattered not—-
we had little else to do. Two holes were bored in each
timber, about an inch and a half apart, and also down
into the keel, but not quite through. Into these were
placed stout pegs made of a tree called iron-wood; and,
when they were hammered well home, the timbers were
as firmly fixed as if they had been nailed with iron. The
gunwales, which were very stout, were fixed in a similar
manner. But, besides the wooden nails, they were firmly
lashed to the stem and stern posts and ribs by means of
a species of cordage which we 'had contrived to make out
I


140 THE CORAL ISLAND.
of the fibrous husk of the cocoa-nut. This husk was
very tough, and when a number of the threads were
joined together they formed excellent cordage. At first
we tied the different lengths together, but this was such
a clumsy and awkward complication of knots, that we
contrived, by careful interlacing of the ends together
before twisting, to make good cordage of any size or
length we chose. Of course it cost us much time and
infinite labor, but Jack kept up our spirits when we
grew weary, and so all that we reduired was at last
constructed.
Planks were now out 011' the chestnut-trees of about
an inch thick. These were dressed with the axe,—but
clumsily, for an axe is ill adapted for such work. Five
of these planks on each side were sufiicient, and we
formed the boat in a very rounded, barrel-like shape, in
order to have as little twisting of the planks as possible ;
for, although we could easily bend them, we could not.
easily twist them. Having no nails to rivet the planks
with, we threw aside the ordinary fashion of boat-build-
ing, and adopted one of our own. The planks were,
therefore, placed on each other’s edges, and sewed, to-
gether with the tough cordage already mentioned. They
were also thus sewed to the stem, the stern, and the keel.
Each stitch or tie was six inches apart, and was formed
thus: Three holes were bored in the upper plank, and
three in the lower,-—the holes being above each other,
that is, in a vertical line. Through these holes the cord
was passed, and, when tied, formed a powerful stitch of
three ply. Besides this, we placed between the edges of
the planks, layers of cocoa-nut fibre, which, as it swelled
when wetted, would, we hoped, make our little vessel
water-tight. But in order further to secure this end, we


THE CORAL ISLAND. 141
collected a large quantity of pitch from the bread-fruit
tree, with which when boiled in our old iron pot, we
payed the whole of the inside of the boat, and, while it
was yet hot, placed large pieces of cocoa-nut cloth on it,
and then gave it another coat above that. Thus the in-
terior was covered with a tough water-tight material;
while the exterior, being uncovered, and so exposed to
the swelling action of the water, was, we hoped, likely to
keep the boat quite dry. I may add that our hopes were
not disappointed.
_ While Jack was thus engaged, Peterkin and I some-
times assisted him, but, as our assistance was not much
required, we more frequently went a-hunting on the ex-
tensive mud-flats at the entrance of the long valley which
lay nearest to our bower. Here we found large flocks
of ducks of various kinds, some of them bearing so much
resemblance to the wild ducks of our own country that I
think they must have been the same. On these occa-
sions, we took the bow and the sling, with both of which
we were often successful, though I must confess I was
the least so. Our suppers were thus pleasantly varied,
and sometimes we had such a profusion spread out be-
fore us that we frequently knew not with which of the
dainties to begin.
I must also add that the poor old cat which we had
brought home had always a liberal share of our good
things, and so well was it looked after, especially by Pe-
terkin, that it recovered much of its former strength, and
seemed to improve in sight, as well as hearing.
The large flat stone, or rock of coral, which stood just
in front of the entrance to our bower, was our table. On
this rock we had spread out the few articles we possessed
the day we were shipwrecked; and on the same rock,
a


142 THE CORAL ISLAND.
during many a day afterwards, we spread out the bounti-
ful supply with which we had been blessed on our Coral
Island. Sometimes we sat down at this table to a feast
consisting of hot rolls,—as Peterkin called the newly-
baked bread-fruit,—a roast pig, roast duck, boiled and
roasted yams, cocoa-nuts, taro, and sweet potatoes; which
we followed up with a dessert of plums, apples, and plan-
tains, — the last being a large-sized and delightful fruit,
which grew on a large shrub or tree not more than
twelve feet high, with light-green leaves of enormous
length and breadth. These luxurious feasts were usually
washed down with cocoa-nut lemonade.
Occasionally Peterkin tried to devise some new dish,
—“ a conglomerate,” as he used to say; but these gen-
erally turned out such atrocious compounds that he was
ultimately induced to give up his attempts in extreme
disgust. Not forgetting, however, to point out to Jack
that his failure was a direct contradiction'to the proverb
which he, Jack, was constantly thrusting down his thr'oat,
namely, that “ where there’s a will there’s a way.” For
he had a great will to become a cook, but could by no
means find a way to accomplish that end. _
One day, while Peterkin and I were seated beside our
table, on which dinner was spread, Jack came up from
the beach, and, flinging down his axe, exclaimed:
“ There, lads, the boat’s finished at last! so we’ve noth-
ing to do now but shape two pair of oars, and then we
may put to sea as soon as we like.”
This piece of news threw us into a state of great joy;
for although we were aware that the boat had been grad-
ually getting near its completion, it had taken so long
that we did not expect it to be quite ready for at least
two or three weeks. But Jack had wrought hard and
said nothing, in order to surprise us.


THE CORAL ISLAND. _ 143
“ My dear fellow,” cried Peterkin, “you’re a perfect
trump. But why did you not tell us it was so nearly
ready? won’t we have a jolly sail to-morrow ? 'eh ? ” '
“ Don’t talk so much, Peterkin,” said Jack ; “ and,
pray, hand me a bit of that pig."
“ Certainly, my dear,” cried Peterkin, seizing the axe;
“ what part will you have? a leg, or a wing, or a piece
of the breast; which ?”
“A hind leg, if you please,” answered Jack; “and,
pray, be so good as to include the tail.”
“With all my heart,” said Peterkin, exchanging the
axe for his hoop-iron knife, with which he cut off the
desired portion. “I’m only too glad, my dear boy, to
see that your appetite is so wholesale; and there’s no
chance whatever of its dwindling down into re-tail again,
at least in so far as this pig is concerned. Ralph, lad,
- why don’t you laughP—eh?” he added, turning sud-
denly to me with a severe look of inquiry.
“ Laugh?” said I ; “ what at, Peterkin? why should I
laugh ?” 7
Both Jack and Peterkin answered this inquiry by
themselves laughing so immoderately that I was induced
to believe I had missed noticing some good joke, so I
begged that it might be explained to me; but as this only
produced repeated roars of laughter, I smiled and helped
myself to another slice of plantain.
“ Well, but,” continued Peterkin, “I was talking of a
sail to-morrow. Can’t we have one, Jack ? ”
“ No,” replied Jack, “we can’t have a sail, but I hope
we shall have a row, as I intend to work hard at the oars
this afternoon, and if we can’t get them finished by sdn-
set we’ll.light our candle-nuts, and turn them out of hands
before we turn into bed.”


144 THE CORAL ISLAND.
“ Very good,” said Peterkin, tossing a lump of pork to
the cat, who received it with a mew of satisfaction. “ I’ll
help you, if I can.” ’
“Afterwards,” continued Jack, “we will make a sail
out of the cocoa-nut cloth, and rig up a mast, and then
we shall be able to sail to some of the other islands, and.
visit our old friends the penguins.”
The prospect of being so soon in a position to extend
our observations to the other islands, and enjoy a sail
over the beautiful sea, afforded us much delight, and,
after dinner, we set about making the oars in good earnest.
Jack went into the woods and blocked them roughly out
with the axe, and I smoothed them down with the knife,
while Peterkin remained in the bower, spinning, or,
rather, twisting some strong, thick cordage with which to
fasten them to the boat.
We worked hard and rapidly, so that when the sun
went down, Jack and I returned to the bower with four
stout oars, which required little to be done to them save
a slight degree of polishing with the knife. As we drew
near we were suddenly arrested by the sound of a voice I
We were not a little surprised at this—indeed, I may
almost say alarmed —- for, although Peterkin was un—
doubtedly fond of talking, we had never, up to this time,
found him talking to himself. We listened intently, and
still heard the sound of a voice as if in conversation.
Jack motioned me to be silent, and, advancing to the
bower on tiptoe, we peeped in.
The sight that met our gaze was certainly not a little
amusing. On the top of a log which we sometimes used
as‘a table, sat the black cat, with a very demure express-
ion on its countenance ; and in front of it, sitting on the
ground, with his legs extended on either side of the log,


THE CORAL ISLAND. 145
was Peterkin. At the moment we saw him he was gaz-
ing intently into the cat’s face, with his nose about four
inches from it,-—his hands being thrust into his breeches
pockets.
“ Cat,” said Peterkin, turning his head a little on one
side, “ I love you I ”
There was a pause, as if Peterkin awaited a reply to
this affectionate declaration. But the cat said nothing.
“ Do you hear me P ” cried Peterkin sharply. “ I love
you-- I do. Don’t you love me P” -
I To this touching appeal the cat said “ Mew,” faintly.
“Ah! that’s right. You’re a jolly old rascal. Why
did you not speak at once? eh?” and Peterkin put for-
ward his mouth and kissed the cat on the nose l
“Yes,” continued Peterkin, after a pause, “I love you.
D’you think I’d say so if I didn’t, you black villain? I
love you because I’ve got to take care of you, and to look
after you, and to think about you, and to see that you
don’t die -- ”
“ Mew, me-a-w 1” said the cat.
“ Very good,” continued Peterkin, “ quite true, I have
no doubt; but you’ve no right to interrupt me, sir. Hold
your tongue till I have done speaking. Moreover, cat, I
love you because you came to me the first time you ever
saw me, and didn’t seem to be afraid, and appeared to be
fond of me, though you didn’t know that I wasn’t going
to kill you. Now, that was brave, that was bold, and
very jolly, old boy, and I love you for it — I do I ”
Again there was a pause of a few minutes, during
which the cat looked placid, and Peterkin dropped his
eyes upon its toes as if in contemplation. Suddenly he
looked up.
“Well, eat, what are you thinking about now? won’t
10


146 THE CORAL ISLAND.
speak? eh? Now, tell me ; don’t you think it’s a mon-
strous shame that these two scoundrels, Jack and Ralph,
should keep us waiting for our supper so long?”
Here the cat arose, put up its back and stretched
itself; yawned slightly, and licked the point of Peter-
kin’s nose!
“ Just so, old boy, you’re a clever fellow,—I really do
believe the brute understands me l” said Peterkin, while
a broad grin overspread his face, as he drew back and
surveyed the cat.
At this point Jack burst into a loud fit of laughter.
The cat uttered an angry fuff and fled, while Peterkin
sprang up and exclaimed,—
“ Bad luck to you, Jack ! you’ve nearly made the heart
jump out of my body, you have.”
“ Perhaps I have,” replied Jack, laughing, as we en-
tered the bower, “ but, as I don’t intend to keep you or
the eat any longer from your supper, I hope that you’ll
both forgive me.”
Peterkin endeavored to turn this affair of with a
laugh, but I observed that he blushed very deeply at the
time we discovered ourselves, and he did not seem to
relish any allusion to the subject afterwards ; so we
refrained from remarking on it ever after,——though it
tickled us not a little at the time.
After supper we retired to rest and to dream of won- .
derful adventures in our little boat, and distant voyages
upon the sea.


THE \CORAL ISLAND. 147
CHAPTER XVI.
THE BOAT LAUNCHED — WE VISIT THE CORAL REEF -—THE GREAT
BREAKER THAT NEVER, GOES DOWN—CORAL INSECTS-THE
WAY IN WHICH CORAL ISLANDS ARE MADE— THE BOAT‘S SAIL
—WE TAX OUR INGENUITY TO FORM FlSII-HOOKS—SOME OF
THE FISH WE SAW—AND A MONSTROUS WIIALE—WONDER‘
FUL SHOWER OF LITTLE FISH — WATER-SPOUTS.
T was a bright, clear, beautiful morning, when we
first launched our little boat and rowed out upon
the placid waters of the lagoon. Not a breath of wind
rufiled the surface of the deep. Not a cloud spotted the
deep blue sky: Not a sound that was discordant broke
the stillness of the morning, although there were many
sounds, sweet, tiny, and melodious, that mingled in the
universal harmony of nature. The sun was just rising
from the Pacific’s ample bosom and tipping‘ the mountain
tops with a red glow. The sea was shining like a sheet
of glass, yet heaving with the long deep swell that, all
the world round, indicates the life of ocean; and the
bright sea-weeds and the brilliant corals shone in the
depths of that pellucid water, as we rowed over it, like
rare and-precious gems. Oh! it was a sight fitted to
stir the soul of man to its profoundest depths, and, if he
owned a heart at all, to lift that heart in adoration and
gratitude to the great Creator of this magnificent and
glorious universe.
At first, in the strength of our delight, we rowed hither
and thither without aim or object. But after the efi'er-


148 THE CORAL ISLAND.
vescence of our spirits was abated, we began to look
about us and to consider what we should do.
“ I vote that we row to the reef,” cried Peterkin.
“And I vote that we visit the islands within the la-
goon,” said I. v
“ And I vote we do both,” cried Jack, “ so pull away,
boys.”
As I have already said, we had made four oars, but
our boat was so small that only two were necessary.
The extra pair were reserved in case any accident should
happen to the others. It was therefore only needful that
two of us should row, while the third steered, by means
of an oar, and relieved the rowers occasionally.
First we landed on one of the small islands and ran
all over it, but saw nothing worthy of particular notice.
Then we landed on a larger island, on which were grow-
ing 'a few cocoa-nut trees. Not having eaten anything
that morning, we gathered a few of the nuts and break-
fasted. After this we pulled straight out to sea and
landed on the coral reef.
This was indeed a novel and interesting sight to us.
We had now been so long on shore that we had almost
forgotten the appearance of breakers, for there were
none within the lagoon; but now, as we stood beside the
foam-crested billow 0f the open sea, all the enthusiasm
of the sailor was awakened in our breasts; and, as we
gazed on the wide-spread ruin of that single magnificent
breaker that .burst in thunder at our feet, we forgot the
Coral Island behind us; we forgot our bower and the
calm repose of the scented woods; we forgot all that
had passed during the last few months, and remembered
nothing but the storms, the calms, the fresh breezes, and
the surging billows of the open sea.


THE CORAL ISLAND. 149
This huge, ceaseless breaker, to which I have so often
alluded, was a much larger and more sublime object than
we had at all imagined it to be. It rose many yards
above the level of the sea, and could be seen approach-
ing at some distance from the reef. Slowly and majes-
tically it came on, acquiring greater volume and velocity
as it advanced, until it assumed the form of a clear
watery arch, which sparkled in the bright sun. On it
came with resistless and solemn majesty,—the upper
edge lipped gently over, and it fell with a roar that
seemed as though the heart of Ocean were broken in
the crash of tumultuous water, while the foam-clad coral
reef appeared to tremble beneath the mighty shock I
We gazed long and wonderingly at this great sight,
and it was with difficulty we could tear ourselves away
from it. As I have once before mentioned, this wave
broke in many places over the reef and scattered some
of its spray into the lagoon, but in most places the reef
was sufficiently broad and elevated to receive and check
its entire force. In many places the coral rocks were
covered with vegetation, _the beginning, as it appeared
to us, of future islands. Thus, on this reef, we came
to perceive how most of the small islands of those seas
are formed. On one part we saw the spray of the-
breaker washing over the rocks, and millions of little,
active, busy creatures continuing the work of building up
this living rampart. At another place, which was just a
little too high for the waves to wash over it, the coral
insects were all dead; for we found that they never did‘
their work above water. They had faithfully completed
the mighty work which their Creator had given them to
do, and they were now all dead. Again, in other spots
the ceaseless lashing of the sea had broken the dead


150 THE CORAL ISLAND.
\
coral in pieces, and cast it up in the form Of sand.
Here sea-birds had alighted, little pieces of sea-weed and
stray bits of wood had been washed up, seeds of plants
had been carried by the wind, and a few lovely blades
of bright green had already sprung up, which, when they
died, would increase the size and fertility of these emer-
alds of Ocean. At other places these islets had grown
space, and were shaded by one or two cocoa-nut trees,
which grew, literally, in the sand, and were constantly
washed by the ocean spray; yet, as I have before re-
marked, their t'ruit was most refreshing and sweet to
our taste.
Again at this time Jack and I pondered the formation
of the large coral islands. we could now understand
how the low ones were formed, but the larger islands
cost us much consideration, yet we could arrive at no
certain conclusion on the subject.
Having satisfied our curiosity and enjoyed ourselves
during the whole day, in our little boat, we returned,
somewhat wearied, and, withal, rather hungry,‘to our
bower.
“Now,” said Jack, “as our boat answers so well, we
will get a mast and sail made immediately.”
“So we' will,” cried Peterkin, as we all assisted to drag
the boat above high-water mark; “we’ll light our candle
and set about it this very night. Hurrah, my boys, pull
:away ! ”
As we dragged our boat, we observed that she grated
‘heavily on her keel; and, as the sands were in this place
mingled with broken coral rocks, we saw portions of the
‘wood being scraped off. -
“ Hallo l” cried Jack, on seeing this. “That won’t do.
Our keel will be worn off in no time at this rate.”


THE CORAL ISLAND. 151
“ So it will,” said I, pondering deeply as to how this
might be prevented. But I am not of a mechanical turn,
naturally, so I could conceive no remedy save that of
putting a plate of iron on the keel, but as we had no iron
I knew not what was to be done. “ It seems to me, Jac ,”
I added, ‘5 that it is impossible to prevent the keel being
worn off thus.”
“Impossible!” cried Peterkin, “my dear Ralph you
are mistaken, there is nothing so easy.”
“ How?” I inquired, in some surprise.
“Why, by not using the boat at all l ” replied Pe-
terkin. ‘ -
“ Hold your impudent tongue, Peterkin,” said Jack,
as he shouldered the oars, “ come along with me and I’ll
give you work to do. In the first place, you will go and
collect cocoa-nut fibre, and set to work to make sewing
twine with it — ”
“ Please, captain,” interrupted Peterkin, “ I’ve got lots
of it made already, —more than enough, as a little friend
of mine used to be in the habit of saying every day after
dinner.” ,
“ Very well,” continued Jack ; “then you’ll help Ralph
to collect cocoa-nut cloth, and cut it into shape, after
which we’ll make a sail of it. I’ll see to getting the mast
and the gearing; so let’s to work.”
And to work we went right busily, so that in three
days from that time we had set up a mast and sail, with
the necessary rigging, in our little boat. The sail was
not, indeed, very handsome to look at, as it was formed
of a. number of oblong patches of cloth; but we had
sewed it well by means of our sail-needle, so that it was
strong, which was the chief point. Jack had also over-
come the difficulty about the keel, by pinning to it a false


152 THE CORAL ISLAND.
keel. This was a piece of tough wood, of the same
length and width as the real keel, and about five inches
deep. He made it of this depth because the boat would
be thereby rendered not only much more safe, but more
able to beat against the wind; which, in a sea where the
trade-winds blow so long and so steadily in one direction,
was a matter of great importance. This piece of wood
was pegged very firmly to the keel; and we now launched
our boat with the satisfaction of knowing that when the
false keel should be scraped off we could easily put on
another; whereas, should the real keel have been scraped
away, we could not have renewed it without taking our
boat to pieces, which Peterkin said made his “marrow
quake to think upon.”
The mast and sail answered excellently ; and we now
sailed about in the lagoon with great delight, and exam-
ined with much interest the appearance of our island
from a distance. Also, we gazed into the depths of the
water, and watched for hours the gambols of the curious
and bright-colored fish among the corals and sea-weed.
Peterkin also made a fishing line, and Jack constructed a
number of hooks, some of which were very good, others
remarkably bad. Some of these hooks were made of
iron-wood, which did pretty well, the wood being ex-
tremely hard, and Jack made them very thick and large.
Fish there are not particular. Some of the crooked bones
in fish-heads also answered for this purpose pretty well.
But that which formed our best and most serviceable
book was the brass finger-ring belonging to Jack. It
gave him not a little trouble to manufacture it. First he
cut it with the axe; then twisted it into the form of a
book. The barb took him several hours to out. He did
it by means of constant sawing with the broken penknife.


THE CORAL ISLAND. 153
As for the point, an hour’s rubbing on a piece of sand-
stone made an excellent one.
It would be a matter of much time and labor to de-
scribe the appearance of the multitudes of fish that
were day after day drawn into our boat by means of the
brass hook. Peterkin always caught them, — for we ob-
served that he derived much pleasure from fishing,—
while Jack and I found ample amusement in looking on,
also in gazing down at the coral groves, and in baiting the
hook. Among the fish that we saw, but did not catch,
were porpoises and sword-fish, whales and sharks. The
porpoises came frequently into our lagoon in shoals, and
amused us not a little by their bold leaps into the air, and
their playful gambols in the sea. The sword-fish were
wonderful creatures; some of them apparently ten feet
in length, with an ivory spear, six or eight feet long, pro-
jecting from their noses. We often saw them darting
after other fish, and no doubt they sometimes killed them
with their ivory swords. Jack remembered having heard
once of a sword-fish attacking a ship,—which seemed
strange indeed; but, as they are often in the habit of at-
tacking whales, perhaps it mistook the ship for one. This
sword-fish ran against the vessel with such force, that it
drove its sword quite through the thick planks; and
when the ship arrived in the harbor, long afterwards, the
sword was found still sticking in it!
Sharks did not often appear; but we took care never
again to bathe in deep water without leaving one of our
number in the boat to give us warning, if he should seea
shark approaching. As for the Whales, they never came
into our lagoon, but we frequently saw them spouting in
the deep water beyond the reef. I shall never forget my
surprise the first day I saw one of these huge monsters close


154 THE CORAL ISLAND.
tome. We had been ramblingabout on the reef during
the morning, and were about to re-embark in our little
boat, to return home, when a loud blowing sound caused
us to wheel rapidly round. We were just in time to see
a shower of spray falling, and the fiukes or tail of some
monstrous fish disappear in the sea a few hundred yards
off. We waited some time to see if he would rise again.
As we stood, the sea seemed to open up at our very feet;
an immense spout of water was sent with a snort high
into the air, and the huge blunt head of a sperm whale
arose before us. It was so large that it could easily have
taken our little boat, along with ourselves, into its mouth!
It plunged slowly back into the sea, like a large ship
founder-ing, and struck the water with its tail so forcibly
as to cause a sound like a cannon shot. I
We also saw a great number of flying-fish, although
we caught none; and we noticed that they never flew out
of the water except when followed by their bitter foe, the
dolphin, from whom they thus endeavored to escape. But
of all the fish that we saw, none surprised us so much as
those that we used to find in shallow pools after a shower
of rain ; and this not on account of their appearance, for
they were ordinary-looking and very small, but on account
of their having descended in a shower of rain! We
could account for them in no other way, because the pools
in which we found these fish were quite dry before the
shower, and at some distance above high-water mark.
Jack, however, suggested a cause which seemed to me
very probable. We used often to see water-spouts in the
sea. A water-spout is a whirling body of water, which
rises from the sea like a sharp-pointed pillar. After ris-
ing a good way, it is met by a long tongue, which comes
down from the clouds; and when the two have joined,


THE CORAL ISLAND. 155
they look something like an hour-glass. The water-spout
is then carried by the wind, sometimes gently, sometimes
with violence, over the sea, sometimes upinto the clouds,
and then, bursting asunder, it descends in a deluge. This
often happens over the land as well as over the sea; and
it sometimes does much ‘damage, but frequently it passes
gently away. Now, imk thought that the little fish
might perhaps have been carried up in a water-spout, and
so sent down again in a shower of rain. But we could
not be certain as to this point; yet we thought it likely.
During these delightful fishing and boating excursions
we caught a good many eels, which we found to be very
good to eat. We also found turtles among the coral rocks,
and made excellent soup in our iron kettle. Moreover,
we discovered many shrimps and prawns, so that we had
no lack of variety in our food; and, indeed, we never
passed a week without making some new and interesting
discovery of some sort or other, either on the land or in
the sea.


156 THE CORAL ISLAND.
CHAPTER XVII.
A MONSTER WAVE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES — THE BOAT LOST AND
FOUND —- PETERKIN’S TERRIBLE ACCIDENT—SUPPLIES OF vFOOD
FOR A VOYAGE IN THE BOAT—WE VISIT PENGUIN ISLAND. AND
ARE AMAZED BEYOND MEASURE—ACCOUNT OF THE PENGUINS.
NE day, not long after our little boat was finished,
we were sitting on the rocks at Spouting Clifl“, and
talking of an excursion which we intended to make to
Penguin Island the next day.
“ You see,” said Peterkin, “it might be all very well
for a stupid fellow like me to remain here and leave the v
penguins alone, but it would be quite inconsistent with
your characters as philosophers to remain any longer in
ignorance of the habits and customs of these birds; so
the sooner we go the better.”
“Very true,” said I; “there is nothing I desire so
much as to have a closer inspection of them.”
“ And I think,” said Jack, “that you had better remain
at home, Peterkin, to take care of the cat; for I’m
sure the hogs will be at. it in your absence, out of re-
venge for your killing their great-grandmother so reck-
lessly.”
“ Stay at home?” cried Peterkin; “ my dear fellow,
you would certainly lose your way, or get upset, if I were
not there to take care of you.”
“ Ah, true,” said Jack, gravely, “ that did not occur to
me; no doubt you must go. Our boat does require a


THE CORAL ISLAND. 157
good deal of ballast; and all that you say, Peterkin,‘car-
ries so much weight with it, that we won’t need stones if
you go.” _
Now, while my companions were talking, a notable
event occurred, which, as it is not generally known, I
shall be particular in recording here.
While we were talking, as I have said, we noticed a
dark line, like a low cloud or fog-bank, on the seaward
horizon. The day was a fine one, though cloudy, and a
gentle breeze was blowing, but the sea was not rougher,
or the breaker on the reef higher than usual. At first,
we thought that this looked like a thunder-cloud ; and, as
we had had a good deal of broken weather of late, ac-
companied by occasional peals of thunder, we supposed
that a storm must be approaching. Gradually, however,
this line seemed to draw nearer, without spreading up
over the Sky, as would certainly have been the case if it
had been a storm-cloud. Still nearer it came, and soon
we saw that it was moving swiftly towards the island;
but there was no sound till it reached the islands out at
sea. As it passed these islands, we observed, with no
little anxiety that a cloud of white foam encircled them,
and burst in spray into the airg—it was accompanied
by a loud roar. This led us to conjecture that the ap-
proaching object was an enormous wave of the sea; but
we had no idea how large it was till it came near to our-
selves. When it approached the outer reef, however, we
were awe-struck with its unusual magnitude; and we
sprang to our feet, and clambered hastily up to the high-
est point of the precipice, under an indefinable feeling of
fear.
I have said, before that the reef opposite Spouting
Cliff was very near to the shore, while, just in front of


158 THE CORAL ISLAND.
the bower, it was at a considerable distance out to sea.
Owing to this formation, the wave reached the reef at
the latter point before it struck at the foot of Spouting
Clifi‘. The instant it touched the reef we became aware,
for the first time, of its awful magnitude. It burst com-
pletely over the reef at all points, with a roar that seemed
louder to me than thunder; and this roar continued
for some seconds, while the wave rolled gradually along
towards the cliff on which we stood. As its crest reared
before us, we felt that we were in great danger, and
turned to flee; but we were too late. lVith a crash that
seemed to shake the solid rocks, the gigantic billow fell,
and instantly the spouting-holes sent up a gush of water-
spouts with such force that they shrieked on issuing from
their narrow vents. It seemed to us as if the earth had
been blown up with water. We were stunned and con-
fused by the shock, and so drenched and blinded with
spray, that we knew not for a few moments whither to
flee for shelter. At length we all three gained an emi-
nence beyond the reach of the water; but what a scene
of devastation met our gaze, as- we looked along the
shore! This enormous wave not only burst over the
reef, but continued its way across the lagoon, and fell on
the sandy beach of the island with such force that it
passed completely over it and dashed into the woods, lev-
elling the smaller trees and bushes in its headlong course!
On seeing this, Jack said he feared our bower must
have been swept away, and that the boat, which was on
the beach, must have been utterly destroyed. Our hearts
sank within us as we thought of this, and we hastened
round through the woods towards our home. On reach-
ing it we found to our great relief of mind, that the force
of the wave had been expended just before reaching the


THE CORAL’ ISLAND. 161
ious about him, and at length sallied forth to search the
woods. For a long time we sought in vain, but a little
before dark we came upon the tracks of the hogs, which
we followed up until we came to the brow of a rather
steep bank or precipice. Looking over this we beheld
Peterkin lying in a state of insensibility at the foot, with
his cheek resting on the snout of a little pig, which was
pinned to the earth by the spear! We were dreadfully
alarmed, but hastened to bathe his forehead with water,
and had soon the satisfaction of seeing him revive. Af-
ter we had carried him home, he related to us how the
thing had happened.
“You must know,” said he, “I walked aboiit all the
forenoon, till I was as tired as an old donkey, without see-
ing a single grunter, not so much as a track of one; but,
as I was determined not to return empty-handed, I re-
solved to go without my dinner, and—”
“ \Vhat l ” exclaimed Jack, “ did you really resolve to
do that ?”
“Now, Jack, hold your tongue,” returned Peterkin;
“I say that I resolved to forego my dinner and to push
to the head of the small valley, where I felt pretty sure of
discovering the hogs. I soon found that I was on the-
right scent, for I had scarcely walked half a mile in the
direction of the small plum-tree we found there the other
day, when a squeak fell on my ear. ‘ Ho, ho,’ said I,
‘there you go, my boys ;’ and I hurried up the glen. I
soon started them, and singling out a fat pig, ran tilt at
him. In a few seconds I was up with him, and stuck
my spear right through his dumpy body. Just as I did so,
I saw that we were on the edge of a precipice, whether
high or low I knew not, but I had been running at such
a pace that I could not stop, so. the pigaud I gave a bowl
' 11


162 THE CORAL ISLAND.
in concert and went plunging over together. I remem-
bered nothing more after that, till I came to my senses
and found you bathing my temples, and Ralph wringing
his hands over me.”
But although Peterkin was often unfortunate, in the
way of getting tumbles, he was successful on the present
occasion in hunting, and returned before evening with
three very nice little hogs. I, also, was successful in my
visit to the mud-flats, where I killed several ducks. So
that when we launched and loaded our boat at sunrise
the following morning, we found our store of provisions
to be more than sufficient. Part had been cooked the
night before, and, on taking note of the different items,
we found the account to stand thus : —
10 Breadfruits, (two baked, eight unbaked.)
20 Yams, (six roasted, the rest raw.)
6 Taro roots.
50 Fine large plums. ‘
6 Cocoa-nuts, ripe.
6 Ditto green, (for drinking.)
4 Large ducks and two small ones, raw.
3 Cold roast pigs, with stuffing.
I may here remark that the stufling had been devised
by Peterkin specially for the occasion. He kept the man-
ner of its compounding a profound secret, so I cannot tell'
what it was; but I can say, with much confidence, that
we found it to be atrociously bad, and after the first	ast-
ing, scraped it carefully out and threw it overboard. we
calculated that this supply would last us for several days,
but we afterwards found that it was much more than we
required, especially in regard to the cocoa-nuts, of which
we found large supplies wherever, we went. However,
as Peterkin remarked, it was better to have too much v


164 THE CORAL ISLAND.
' This last speech was caused by the sudden appearance
of a dark blue line on the horizon, which in an incredibly
short space of time, swept down on us, lashing up the sea
in white foam as it went. We presented the stern of the
boat to its first violence, and, in a few seconds, it moder-
ated into a steady breeze, to which we spread our sail
and flew merrily over the waves. Although the breeze
died away soon afterwards, it had been so stiff while it
lasted, that we were carried over the greater part of our
way before it fell calm again; so that, when the flapping
of the sail against the mast told us that it was time to
resume the oars, we were not much more than a mile
from Penguin Island. >
“ There go the soldiers l ” cried Peterkin, as we came
in sight of it ; “how spruce their white trousers look, this
morning! I wonder if they will receive us kindly. D’you
think they are hospitable, Jack?”
“ Don’t talk, Peterkin, but pull away, and you shall see
shortly.” I
As we drew near to the island we were much amused
by the manoeuvres and appearatice of these strange birds.
They seemed to be of different ‘species, for some had
crests on their heads while others had none, and while
some were about the size of a goose others appeared
nearly as large as a swan. We also saw a huge albatross
soaring above the heads of the penguins. It was followed
and surrounded by numerous flocks of sea-gulls. Having
approached to within a few yards of the island, which
- was a 10w rock, with no other vegetation on it than a few
bushes, we lay on our oars and gazed at the birds with
surprise and pleasure, they returning our gaze with in-
terest. We now saw that their soldierlike appearance
was owing to the stiff, erect manner in which they sat


166 THE CORAL ISLAND.
l
nose, and screwing up his face with an expression of
exasperated amazement. “ I’ve heard of a thing being
neither fish, flesh nor fowl, but I never did expect to live
to see a brute that was all three together, —at once,—-in
one! But look there!” he continued, pointing with a
look of resignation to the shore; “look there! there’s no
end to it. What has that brute got under its tail?”
We turned to look in the direction pointed out, and
there saw a penguin walking slowly and very sedately
along the Shore with an egg under its tail. There were
several others, we observed, burdened in the same way;
and we found afterwards that these were a species of
penguins that always carried their eggs so. Indeed, they
had a most convenient cavity for the purpose, just be-
tween the tail and the legs. We were very much im-
pressed with the regularity and order of this colony.
The island seemed to be apportioned out into squares, of
which each penguin possessed one, and sat in stifi' solem-
nity in the middle of it, or took a slow march up and
down the spaces between. Some were hatching their
eggs, but others were feeding their young ones in a man-
ner that caused us to laugh not a little. The mother
stood on a mound or raised rock, while the young one
stood patiently below her on the ground. Suddenly the
mother raised her head and uttered a series of the most
discordant cackling sounds.
“ She’s going to choke,” cried Peterkin.
But this was not the case, although, I confess, she
looked like it. In a few seconds she put down her head
and opened her mouth, into which the young one thrust
its beak and seemed to suck something from her throat.
Then the cackling was renewed, the sucking continued,
and so the operation of feeding was carried on till the


THE CORAL ISLAND. 167
young one was satisfied; but what she fed her little one
with, we could not tell.
“Now, just look yonder! ” said Peterkin, in an ex-
cited tone; “if that isn’t the most abominable piece of
maternal deception I ever saw. That rasdally old lady
penguin has just pitched her young one into the sea, and
there’s another about to follow her example.”
This indeed seemed to be the case, for, on the top of a
steep rock close to the edge of the sea, we observed an
old penguin endeavoring to entice her young one into the
water; but the young one seemed very unwilling to go,
and, notwithstanding the enticements of its mother, moved
very slowly towards her. At last she went gently behind
the young bird and pushed it a little towards the water,
but with great tenderness, as much as to say, “ Don’t be
afraid, darling ! I won’t hurt you, my pet I ” but no
sooner did she get it to the edge of the rock, where it stood
looking pensively down at the sea, than she gave it a sud-
den and violent push, sending it headlong down the slope-
into the water, where its mother left it to scramble ashore
as it best could. \Ve observed many of them employed
in doing this, and we came to the conclusion that this
is the way in which old penguins teach their children to.
swim.
Scarcely had we finished making our remarks on this,
wlfen we were startled by about a dozen of the old birds
hopping in the most clumsy and ludicrous manner towards
the sea. The beach, here, was a sloping rock, and when
they came to it, some of them succeeded in hopping down
in safety, but others lost their balance and rolled and
scrambled down the slope in the most helpless manner.
The instant they reached the water, however, they seemed _
to be in their proper element. They dived and bounded


168 THE CORAL ISLAND.
out of it and into it again with the utmost agility; and so,
diving and bounding and spluttering, for they could not
fly, they went rapidly out to sea.
On seeing this, Peterkin turned with a grave face to
us and said, “It’s my opinion that these birds are all
stark, staring mad, and that this is an enchanted island.
I therefore propose that we should either put about
ship and fly in terror from the spot, or land valor-
ously on the island, and sell our lives as dearly as we
can.”
“I vote for landing, so pull in, lads,” said Jack, giving
a stroke with his oar that made the boat spin. In a few
seconds we ran the boat into a little creek, where we
made her fast to a projecting piece of coral, and, running
up the beach, entered the ranks of the penguins armed
with our cudgels and our spear. We were greatly sur-
prised to find that, instead of attacking us or showing
signs of fear at our approach, these curious birds did not
move from their places until we laid hands on them, and
merely turned their eyes on us in solemn, stupid wonder
as we passed. There was one old penguin, however, that
'began to walk slowly towards the sea, and Peterkin took
it into his head that he would try to interrupt its progress,
so he ran between it and the sea and brandished his
cudgel in its face: ' But this proved to be a resolute old
bird. It would not retreat; nay, more, it would not case
to advance, but battled with Peterkin bravely and drove
him before it until it reached the sea. [Had Peterkin
used his club he could easily have felled it, no doubt; but,
as he had no wish to do so cruel an act merely out of
.sport, he let the bird escape;
We spent fully three hours on this island in watching


170 THE CORAL ISLAND.
CHAPTER XVIII.
AN AWFUL STORM AND ITS CONSEQUENCES —NARROW ESCAPE— A
ROCK PROVES A SURE FOUNDATION—A FEARFUL NIGHT AND A
BRIGHT MORNING—DELIVERANCE FROM DANGER.
_ T was evening before we left the island of the penguins.
As we had made up our minds to encamp for the
night on a small island, whereon grew a few cocoa-nut
trees, which was about two miles off, we lay to our oars
with some energy. But a danger was in store for us
which we had not anticipated. Thewind, which had
carried us so quickly to Penguin Island, freshened as
evening drew on, to a stiff breeze, and, before we had
made half the distance to the small island, it became a
regular gale. Although it was not so directly against us
as to prevent our rowing in the course we wished to go, yet;
it checked us very much ; and although the force of the
sea was somewhat broken by the island, the waves soon
began to rise, and to roll their broken crests against bur
small craft, so that she Egan to take in water, and we
had much ado to keep ourselves afloat. At last the wind
and sea together became so violent that we found it im-
possible to make the island, so Jack suddenly put the
head of the boat round and ordered Peterkin and me to
hoist a corner of the sail, intending to run back to Pen-
guin Island.


THE CORAL ISLAND. 171
“ We shall at least have the shelter of the bushes,” he
said, as the boat flew before the wind, “ and the penguins
will keep us company.”
As Jack spoke, the wind suddenly shifted, and blew so
much against us that we were forced to hoist more of the
sail in order to beat up for the island, being by this change
thrown much to leeward of it. What made matters worse
was, that the gale came in squalls, so that we were more
than once nearly upset.
“ Stand by, both of you,” cried Jack, in a quick, ear-
nest tone; “be ready to dowse the sail. I very much
fear we won’t make the island after all.”
Peterkin and Iwere so much in the habit of trusting
everything to Jack that we had fallen into the way of not
considering things, especially such things as were under
Jack’s care. We had, therefore, never doubted for a mo-
ment that all was going well, so that it was with no little
anxiety that we heard him make the above remark.
However, we had no time for question or surmise, for, at
the moment he spoke a heavy squall was hearing down
upon us, and, as we were then flying with our lee gunwale
dipping occasionally under the waves, it was evident that
we Should have to lower our sail altogether. In a few
seconds the squall struck the boat, but Peterkin and I
had the sail down in a moment, so that it did not upset
us; but when it was past, we were more than half full
of water. This I soon baled but, while Peterkin again
hoisted a corner of the sail ; but the evil which Ja k had
feared came upon us. We found it quite impossible
to make Penguin Island. The gale carried us quickly
past it towards the open sea, and the terrible truth flashed
upon us that we should be swept out and left to perish


172 THE CORAL ISLAND.
miserably in a small boat in the midst of the wide
ocean.
This idea was forced very strongly upon us because
we saw nothing in the direction whither the wind was
blowing us save the raging billows of the sea; and, in-
deed, we trembled as we gazed around us, for we were
now beyond the shelter of the islands, and it seemed as
though any of the huge billows, which curled over in
masses of foam, might swallow us up in a moment. The
water, also, began to wash in over our sides, and I had
to keep constantly baling, for Jack could not quit the
helm nor Peterkin the sail for an instant, without en-
dangering our lives. In the midst of this distress Jack
uttered an exclamation of hope, and pointed towards a
low island or rock which lay directly ahead. It had been
hitherto unobserved, owing to the dark clouds that 0b-
scured the sky and the blinding spray that seemed to fill
the whole atmosphere.
As we neared this rock we observed that it was quite
destitute of trees and verdure, and so low that the sea.
broke completely over it. In fact it was nothing more
than the summit of one of the coral formations, which
rose only a few feet above the level of the water, and
was, in stormy weather, all but invisible. Over this
island the waves were breaking in the utmost fury, and
our hearts sank within us as we saw that there was not
a spot where we could thrust our little boat without its
being‘dashed to pieces. _ '
“ Show a little bit more sail,” cried Jack, as we swept
past the weather side of the rock with fearful speed.
“Ay, ay,” answered Peterkin, hoisting about a foot
more of our sail.
Little though the addition was it caused the boat to lie


‘1
i
‘Y
THE STORM.

















Page 173.





THE CORAL ISLAND. 173
over and creak so loudly, as we cleft the foaming waves,
that I expected to be upset every instant; and I blamed
Jack in my heart for his rashness. But I did him in-
justice, for, although during two seconds the water rushed
in-board in a torrent, he succeeded in steering us sharply
round to the leeward side of the rock, where the water
was comparatively calm, and the force of the breeze
broken.
“Out your oars now, lads; that’s well done. Give
way I ” \Ve obeyed instantly. The oars splashed into
the waves together. One good hearty pull, and we were
floating in a comparatively calm creek that was so nar-
row as to be barely able to admit our boat. Here we
were in perfect safety, and, as we leaped on shore and
fastened our cable to the rocks, I thanked God in my heart
for our deliverance from so great danger. But, although
I have said we were now in safety, I suspect that few of
my readers would have envied our position. It is true
we had no lack of food, but we were drenched to the
skin; the sea was foaming round us and the spray flying
over our heads, so that we were completely enveloped,
as it were, in water; the spot on which we had landed
was not more than twelve yards in diameter, and from
this spot we could not move without the risk of being
'swept away by the storm. At the upper end of the creek
was a small hollow or cave in the rock, which sheltered
us from the fury of the winds and waves; and as the
rock extended in a sort of ledge over our heads, it pre-
vented the spray from falling upon us.
“ Why,” said Peterkin, beginning to feel cheery again,
“it seems to me that we have got into a mermaid’s cave,
for there is nothing but water all round us; and as for
earth or sky, they are things of the past.”


THE CORAL ISLAND. 175
away our boat. In order to prevent this latter calamity,
we hauled the boat farther up and held the cable in our
hands. Occasional flashes of lightning shone with a
ghastly glare through the watery curtains around us,
and lent additional horror to the scene. Yet we longed
for those dismal flashes, for they were less appalling than
the thick blackness that succeeded them. Crashing peals
of thunder seemed to tear the skies in twain, and fell
upon our ears through the wild yelling of the hurricane
as if it had been but a gentle summer breeze; while the
billows burst upon the weather side of the island until
we fancied that the solid rock was giving way, and, in
our agony, we clung to the bare ground, expecting every
moment to be whirled away and whelmed in the black
howling seal Oh! it was a night of terrible anxiety,
and no one can conceive the feelings of intense grati-
tude and relief with which we at last saw the dawn of
day break through the vapory mists around us.
For three days and three nights we remained on this
rock, while the storm continued to rage with unabated
fury. On the morning of the fourth day it suddenly
ceased, and the wind fell altogether; but the waves still
ran so high that we did not dare to put off in our boat.
During the greater part of this period we scarcely slept
above a few minutes at a time, but on the third night we
slept soundly and awoke early on the fourth morning
to find the see, very much down, and the sun shining
brightly again in the clear blue sky.
It was with light hearts that we launched forth once
more in our little boat and steered away for our island
home, which, we were overjoyed to find, was quite visible
on the horizon, for we had feared that we had been
blown out of sight of it altogether. As it was a dead


178 THE CORAL ISLAND.
tioned, where we always found a large family of them
asleep under its branches.
We employed ourselves very busily during this time
in making various garments of cocoa-nut cloth, as those
with which we had landed were beginning to be very
ragged. Peterkin also succeeded in making excellent
shoes out of the skin of the old hog, in the following
manner: He first cut a piece of the hide, of an oblong
form, a few inches longer than his foot. This he soaked
' in water, and, while it was wet, he sewed up one end of
it, so as to form arough imitation of that part of the heel
of a shoe where the seam is. This done, he bored a row
of holes all round the edge of the piece of skin, through
which a tough line was passed. Into the sewed-up part
of this shoe he thrust his heel, then drawing the string
tight, the edges rose up and overlapped his foot all round.
It is true, there were a great many ill-looking puckers in
these shoes, but we found them very serviceable notwith-'
standing, and Jack came at last to prefer them to his long
boots. We also made various other useful articles, which
added to our comfort, and once or twice spoke of build-
ing us a house, but we had so great an affection for the
bower, and, withal, found it so serviceable, that we de-
termined not to leave it, nor to attempt the building of a
house, which, in such a climate, might turn out to be
rather disagreeable than useful.
We often examined the pistol that we had found in the
house on the other side of the island, and Peterkin
wished much that we had powder and shot, as it would
render pig-killing much easier; but, after all, we had be-
come so expert in the use of our sling, and bow, and
spear, that we were independent of more deadly wea-
pons.


180 THE CORAL ISLAND.
“ What are yon, think you ?” I said, addressing Jack.
“I can’t imagine,” answered he; “I’ve noticed them
for some time, and fancied they were black sea-gulls, but
the more I look at them the more I feel convinced they
are much larger than gulls.”
“They seem to be coming towards us,” said I.
“Hallo! what’s wrong?” inquired Peterkin, coming
up.
“ Look there,” said Jack.
“ Whales! ” cried Peterkin, shading his eyes with his
hand. “No! eh ! can they be boats, Jack?”
Our hearts beat with excitement at the very thought
of seeing human faces again.
“I think you are about right, Peterkin;—but they
seem to me to move strangely for boats,” said Jack, in a
low tone, as if he were-talking to himself.
I noticed that a shade of anxiety crossed Jack’s coun-
tenance as he gazed long and intently at the two objects,
which were now nearing us fast. At last he sprang to
his feet. “ They are canoes, Ralph ; whether war-canoes
or not I cannot tell; but this I know, that all the natives
of the South Sea Islands are fierce cannibals, and they
have little respect for strangers. We must hide if they
land here, which I earnestly hope they will not do.”
I was greatly alarmed at Jack’s speech, but I confess I
thought less of what he said than of the earnest, anxious
manner in which he said it, and it was with very uncom-_
fortable feelings that Peterkin and I followed him quickly
into the woods.
“ How unfortunate,” said I, as we gained the shelter
of the bushes, “that we have forgotten our arms.”
“It matters not,” said Jack; “ here are clubs enough
and to spare.” As he spoke, he laid his hand on a bun-


' 184 THE CORAL ISLAND.
Jack and Peterkin and I now looked at each other, and
whispered our fears that the savages might clamber up
the rocks to search for fresh water, and so discover our
place of concealment; but we were so much interested
in watching their movements that we agreed to remain
where we were; and, indeed, we could not easily have
risen without exposing ourselves to detection. One of
the savages now went up to the wood and soon returned
with a bundle of firewood, and we were not a little sur-
prised to see him set fire to it‘ by the very same means
used by Jack the time we made our first fire — namely,
with the bow and drill. When the fire was kindled, two
of the party went again to the woods and returned with
one of the bound men. A dreadful feeling of horror
crept over my heart, as the thought flashed upon me that
they were going to burn their enemies. As they bore
him to the fire my feelings almost overpowered me. I
gasped for breath, and seizing my club, endeavored to
_spring to my feet ; but Jack’s powerful arm pinned me to
the earth. Next moment one of the savages raised his
club, and fractured the wretched creature’s skull. He
must have died instantly, and, strange though it may
seem, I confess to a feeling of relief when the deed was
done, because I now knew that the poor savage could not
be burned alive. Scarcely had his limbs ceased to quiver
when the monsters cut slices of flesh from his body,
and, after roasting them slightly over the fire, devoured
them.\ ‘
Suddenly there arose a cry from the woods, and, in a
few seconds, the two savages hastened towards the fire
dragging the three women and their two infants along
with them. One of those women was much younger than
her companions, and we were struck with the modesty of


THE cORAL ISLAND. 185
her demeanor and the gentle expression of her face,
which, although she had the flattish nose and thick lips of
the others, was of a light-brown color, and we conjectured
that she must be of a different race. _ She and her com-
panions wore short petticoats and a kind of tippet on their
shoulders. Their hair was jet black, but instead of being
long, was short and curly,-—though not woolly — some-
what like the hair of a young boy. While we gazed with
interest and some anxiety at these poor creatures, the big
chief advanced to one of the elder females and laid his
hand upon the child. But the mother shrank from him,
and clasping the little one to -her bosom, uttered a wail of ~
fear. With a savage laugh, the chief tore the child from
her arms and tossed it into the sea. A low groan burst
from Jack’s lips as we witnessed this atrocious act and
heard the mother’s shriek, as she fell insensible 0n the
sand. The rippling waves rolled the child on the
beach, as if they refused to be a party in such a foul
murder, and we could observe that the little one still
lived. I
The young girl was now brought forward, and the
chief addressed her; but although we heard his voice,
and even the words distinctly, of course we could not
understand what he said. The girl made no answer to
his fierce questions, and we saw by the way in which he
pointed to the fire that he threatened her life.
“ Peterkin,” said Jack in a hoarse whisper, “have you
got your knife?”
“ Yes,” replied Peterkin, whose face was pale as death.
“ That will do. Listen to me, and do my bidding
quick. Here is the small knife, Ralph. Fly both of
you through the bush, cut the cords that bind the prison-
ers and set them free. There 1 quick, ere it be too late.


THE CORAL ISLAND. 187
doubted it, they would have probably ended the matter
at once by felling him. But they contented themselves
with awaiting the issue.
The force which the chief expended in wielding his
club now began to be apparent. His movements became
slower, his breath hissed through his clenched teeth, and
the surprised savages drew nearer in order to render,
assistance. Jack observed this movement. He felt that
his fate was sealed, and resolved to cast his life upon the
next blow. The chief’s club was again about to descend
on his head. He might have evaded it easily, but instead
of doing so, he suddenly shortened his grasp of his own
club, rushed in under the blow, struck his adversary right
between the eyes with all his force and fell to the earth,
crushed beneath the senseless body of the chief. A dozen
clubs flew high in the air ready to descend on the head
of Jack, but they hesitated a moment, for the massive
body of the chief completely covered him. That mo-
ment saved his life. Ere the savages could tear the
chief’s body away, seven of their number fell prostrate
beneath the clubs of the prisoners whom Peterkin and I
had set free, and two others fell under our own hand.
We could never have accomplished this had not our ene-
emies been so engrossed with the fight between Jack and.
their chief that they had failed to observe us until we
were upon them. They still outnumbered our party by
three, but we were flushed With victory while they were
taken by surprise and dispirited by the fall of their chief.
Moreover, they were awe-struck by the sweeping fury
of Jack, who seemed to have lost his senses altogether,
and had no sooner shaken himself free of the chief’s
body than be rushed into the midst of them, and in three


188 THE CORAL ISLAND.
blows equalized our numbers. Peterkin and I flew to
the rescue, the savages followed us, and, in less than ten
minutes, the whole of our opponents were knocked down
or made prisoners, bound hand and foot, and extended
side by side upon the sea-shore.


Tl-IE CORAL ISLAND. 189
CHAPTER
INTERCOURSE WITH THE SAVAGES—CANNIBALISM PREVENTED —
THE SLAIN ARE BURIED AND THE SURVIVORS DEPART, LEAVING
US AGAHI ALONE ON OUR CORAL ISLAND.
FTER the battle was over, the savages crowded
round us and gazed at us in surprise, while they
continued to pour upon us a flood of questions, which,
being wholly unintelligible, of course we could not answer.
However, by way of putting an end to it, Jack took the
chief (who had recovered from the effects of his wound)
by the hand and shook it warmly. No sooner did the
blacks see that this was meant to express good-will than
they shook hands with us all round. After this cere-
mony was gone through Jack went up to the girl, who
had never once moved from the rock where she had been
left, but had continued an eager spectator of all that had
passed. He made signs to her to follow him, and then,
taking the chief by the hand, was about to conduct him
to the bower when his eye fell on the poor infant which
had been thrown into the sea and was still lying on the
shore. Dropping the chief’s hand he hastened towards
it, and to his great joy, found it to be still alive. We
also foundthat the mother was beginning to recover
slowly.
“ Here, get out 0’ the way,” said Jack, pushing us
aside, as we stooped OVer the poor woman and endeav-
ored to restore her, “ I’ll soon bring her round.” So say-


190 THE CORAL ISLAND.
ing, he placed the infant on her bosom and laid its warm
cheek on hers. The effect was wonderful. The woman
opened her eyes, felt the child, looked at it, and with a
cry of joy clasped it _in her arms, at the same time
endeavoring to rise, for the purpose, apparently, of rush-
ing into the woods.
“ There, that’s all right,” said Jack, once more taking
the chief by the hand. “ Now Ralph and Peterkin, make
the women and these fellows follow me to the bower.
We’ll entertain them as hospitably as we can.” I
In a few minutes the savages were all seated on the
ground in front of the bower making a hearty meal off a
cold roast pig, several ducks, and a variety of cold fish,
together with an unlimited supply of cocoa-nuts, bread-
fruits, yams, taro, and plums; with all of which they
seemed to be quite familiar and perfectly satisfied.
Meanwhile, we three being thoroughly knocked up
with our day’s work, took a good draught of cocoa-nut
lemonade, and throwing ourselves on our beds fell fast
asleep. The savages it seems followed our example, and
in half an hour the whole camp was buried in repose.
How long we slept I cannot tell, but this I know, that
when we lay down the sun was setting, and when we
awoke it was high in the heavens. I awoke Jack, who
started up‘in surprise, being unable at first to compre-
hend our situation. “ Now, then,” said he, springing up,
“let’s see after breakfast. Hallo ! Peterkin, lazy fellow,
how long do you mean to lie there ? ”
Peterkin yawned heavily. “ Well!” said he, opening
his eyes and looking up after some trouble, “if it isn’t
to-morrow morning, and me thinking it was to-day all
this time. Hallo! Venus, where did you come from?
you seem tolerably at home, any how. Bah! might as


192 THE CORAL ISLAND.
We did not feel quite satisfied with this explanation,
so Jack went up to her and said, “ Avatea.” The woman
smiled sadly, and nodded her head, at the same time
pointing to her breast and then to the sun, in the same
manner as the chief had done. We were much puzzled
to know what this could signify, but as there was no way
of solving our difficulty we were obliged to rest content.
Jack now made signs to the natives to follow him, and,
taking up his axe, he led them to the place where the
battle had been fought. Here we found the prisoners,
who had passed the night on the beach, having been to-
tally forgotten by us, as our minds had been full of our
guests, and were ultimately overcome by sleep. They
did not seem the worse for their exposure, however, as
we judged by the hearty appetite with which they de-
voured the breakfast that was soon after given to them.
Jack then began to dig a hole in the sand, and after -
working a few seconds, he pointed to it and to the dead
bodies that lay exposed on the beach. The natives im-
mediately perceived what he wanted, and, running for
their paddles, dug a hole in the course of half an hour
that was quite large enough to contain all the bodies of'
the slain. When it was finished they tossed their dead
enemies into it with so much indifference that we felt as-
sured they would not have put themselves to this trouble
had we not asked them to do so. The body of the yel-
low haired chief was the last thrown in. This wretched
man would have recovered from the blow with which
Jack felled him, and, indeed, he did endeavor to rise dur-
ing the melee that followed his fall, but one of his ene-
mies, happening to notice the action, dealt him a blow
with his club that killed him on the spot.
While they were about to throw the sand over this


THE CORAL ISLAND. 193
chief, one of the savages stooped over him, and with a.
knife, made apparently of stone, cut a large slice of flesh
from his thigh. We knew at once that he intended to
make use of this for food, and could not repress a cry of
horror and disgust.
“ Come, come, you blackguard,” cried Jack, starting
up and seizing the man by the arm, “pitch that into the
hole. Do you hear?”
The savage of course did not understand the command,
but he perfectly understood the look of disgust with
which Jack regarded the flesh, and his fierce gaze as he
pointed towards the hole. Nevertheless he did not obey.
Jack instantly turned to Tararo and made signs to him
to enforce obedience. The chief seemed to understand
the appeal, for he stepped forward, raised his club, and
was on the point of dashing out the brains of his ofi‘end-
ing subject, when Jack sprang forward and caught his
uplifted arm.
“ Stop ! ” he shouted, “ you blockhead, I don’t want you
to kill the man.” He then pointed again to the flesh and
to the hole. The chief uttered a few words, which had
the desired effect; for the man threw the flesh into the
hole which was immediately filled up. This man was of
a morose, sulky disposition, and during all the time he re-
mained on the island, regarded us, especially Jack, with
a scowling visage. His name, we found, was Mahine.‘
The next three or four days were spent by the savages
in mending their canoe, which had been damaged by the
violent shock it had sustained on striking the shore.
This canoe was a very curious structure. It was about
thirty feet long, and had a high towering stern. The tim-
bers of which it was partly composed, were fastened much
in the same way as those of our little boat were put to-
13


‘ 194 THE CORAL ISLAND.
gether; but the part that seemed most curious to 65 was
a sort of outrigger, or long plank, which was attached to
the body of the canoe by means of two stout cross
beams. These beams kept the plank parallel with the
canoe, but not in contact with it, for it floated in the
water, with an open space between ; thus forming a sort
of double canoe. This we found was intended to prevent
the upsetting of the canoe, which was so narrow that it
could not have maintained an upright position without
the outrigger. We could not help wondering both at
the ingenuity and the clumsiness of this contrivance.
When the canoe was ready, we assisted the natives to
carry the prisoners into it, and helped them to load it
with provisions and fruit. Peterkin also went to the
plum-tree for the purpose of making a special onslaught
upon the hogs, and killed no less than six of them.
These we baked and presented to our friends on the day
of their departure. On that day, Tararo made a great
many energetic signs to us, which, after much considera-
tion, we came to understand were proposals that we
should go away with him to his island; but having no
desire to do so, we shook our heads very decidedly.
However, we consoled him by presenting him with our
rusty axe, which we thought we could spare, having the
excellent one which had been so providentially washed
ashore to us the day we were wrecked. We also gave
him a piece of wood with our names carved on it, and a
piece of string to hang it round his neck as an ornament.
‘ In a few minutes more we were all assembled on the
beach. Being unable to speak to the savages, we went
through the ceremony of shaking hands, and expected
they would depart; but, before doing so, Tararo went up
to Jack and rubbed noses with him, after which he did


THE CORAL ISLAND. 195
the same with Peterkin and me! Seeing that this was
their mode of salutation, we determined to conform to_
their custom, so we rubbed noses heartily with the whole
party, women and all! The only disagreeable part of
the process was when we came to rub noses with Ma-
hine; and Peterkin afterwards said, that when he saw
his wolfish eyes glaring so close to his face, he felt much
more inclined to bang than to rub his nose. Avatea was
the last to take leave of us, and we experienced a feel-
ing of real sorrow when she approached to bid us fare-
well. Besides her modest air and gentle manners, she
was the only one of the party who exhibited the smallest
sign of regret at parting from us. Going up to Jack,
she put out her flat little nose to be rubbed, and thereaf-
ter paid the same compliment to Peterkin and me.
An hour later the canoe was out of sight, and we, with
an indefinable feeling of sadness creeping round our
hearts, were seated in silence beneath the shadow of our
bower, meditating on the wonderful events of the last
few days.


196 THE CORAL ISLAND.
'QF—Ms _ w .___ /
J/
CHAPTER XXI.
\SAGACIOUS AND MORAL REMARKS IN REGARD TO LIFE—A SAIL!—
AN UNEXPECTED SALUTE—THE END OF THE BLACK CAT—A
TERRIBLE DIVE—AN INCAUTIOUS PROCEEDING AND A FRIGHT-
FUL CATASTROPHE.
1F E is a strange compound. Peterkin used to say
of it, that it beat a druggist’s shop all to sticks;
for whereas. the first is a compound of good and bad, the
other is a. horrible compound of all that is utterly detest-
able. And indeed thewrn'ore I, consider it the more I am
struck/MW» strange cmixtullm I goodfi evil“ that
exists not only in_the material earth but i1; buirbwn
natures. In our own Coral Island we had‘experie'need
every variety of good that a bountiful Creator could
heap on us. Yet on the night of the storm we had seen
how>alm0st, in our case, —- and altogether, no doubt, in
the case of others less fortunate —all this good might be
swept away forever. We had seen the rich fruit-trees
waving in the soft air, the tender herbs shooting up-
wards under the benign influence of the bright sun ; and,
the next day, we had seen these good and beautiful trees
and plants uprooted by the hurricane, crushed and hurled
to the ground in destructive devastation. \Ve had lived
for many months in a clime for the most part so beauti~
ful, that we had often wondered whether Adam and Eve
had found Eden more sweet ; and we had seen the quiet
solitudes of our paradise suddenly broken in upon by


THE CORAL ISLAND. 197
ferocious savages, and the white sands stained with blood
and strewed with lifeless forms ; yet, among these can-
nibals, we had seen many symptoms of a kindly nature.
I pondered these things much, and, while I considered
them, there recurred to my memory those words which I
had read in my Bible, — the works of God are wonder-
ful, and his ways past finding out.
After these poor savages had left us, we used to hold
long and frequent conversations about them, and I no-
ticed that Peterkin's manner was now much altered. He
did not, indeed, jest less heartily than before, but he did
so less frequently, and often there was a tone of deep
seriousness in his manner, if not in his words, which
made him seem to Jack and me as if he had grown
two years older within a few days. But indeed I was
not surprised at this, when I reflected on the awful
realities which we had witnessed so lately. We could
by no means shake off a tendency to gloom for several
weeks afterwards; but, as time wore away, our usual
good spirits returned somewhat, and we began to think
of the visit of the savages with feelings akin to those
with which we recall a terrible dream.
One day we were all enjoying ourselves in the Water
Garden, preparatory to going on a fishing excursion; for
Peterkin had kept us in such constant supply of hogs
that we had become quite tired of pork, and desired a
change. Peterkin was sunning himself on the ledge of
rock, while we were creeping among the rocks below.
Happening to look up, I observed Peterkin cutting the-
most extraordinary capers and making violent gesticula-
tions for us to come up ; so I gave Jack a push, and rose
immediately.
“ A sail ! a sail! Ralph, look! Jack, away on the ho-


198 THE CORAL ISLAND.
rizon there, just over the entrance to the lagoon ! ” cried
Peterkin, as we scrambled up the rocks.
“ So it is, and a schooner, too ! ” said Jack, as he pro-
ceeded hastily to dress.
Our hearts were thrown into a terrible flutter by this
discovery, for if it should. touch at our island we had no
doubt the captain would be happy to give us a passage
to some of the civilized islands, where we could find a.
ship sailing for England, or some other part of Europe.
Home, with all its associations, rushed in upon my heart
like a. flood, and, much though I loved the Coral Island
and the bower which had now been our home so long, I
felt that I could have quitted all at that moment with-
out a sigh. With joyful anticipations we hastened to
the highest point of rock near our dwelling, and awaited
the arrival of the vessel, for we now perceived that she
was making straight for the island, under a steady
breeze.
In less than an hour She was close to the reef, where
she rounded to, and backed her topsails in order to sur-
vey the coast. Seeing this, and fearing that they might
not perceive us, we all three waved pieces of cocoa-nut
cloth in the air, and soon had the satisfaction of seeing
them beginning to lower a boat and bustle about the
decks as if they meant to land. Suddenly a flag was
run'up to the peak, a little cloud of white smoke rose
from the schooner’s Side, and, before we could guess
their intentions, a cannon-shot came crashing through the
bushes, carried away several cocoa-nut trees in its pas-
sage, and burst in atoms against the cliff a few yards
below the spot on which we stood.
With feelings of terror we now observed that the flag
at the schooner’s peak was black, with a Death’s head


200 THE CORAL ISLAND.
“ The Diamond Cave l ” cried Peterkin, “then my
chance is a poor one, for-I could not dive into it if all
the pirates on the Pacific were at my heels.”
“Nay, but,” said I, “ we will take you down, Peterkin,
if you will only trust us.”
As I spoke, we observed the pirates scatter over the
beach, and radiate, as if from a centre, towards the woods
and along shore.
“Now, Peterkin,” said Jack, in a solemn tone, “you
must make up 'your mind to do it, or we must make up
our minds to die in your company.” I
“Oh, Jack, my dear friend,” cried Peterkin, turning
pale, “leave me; I don’t believe they’ll think it worth
while to kill me. Go, you and Ralph, and dive into the
cave.” .
“That will not I," answered Jack quietly, while he
picked up a stout cudgel from the ground. “ So now,
Ralph, we must prepare to meet these fellows. Their
motto is ‘ No quarter.’ If we can manage to floor those

THE CORAL ISLAND. 201
dragged dOWn to a depth of ten feet, and then, through a.
narrow tunnel, into an almost pitch-dark cavern. But
there was no alternative. The pirates had already caught
sight of us, and were now within a short distance of the
rocks.
Jack and I seized Peterkin by the arms. _
“ Now, keep quite still, no struggling,” said Jack, “ or
we are lost.”
Peterkin made no reply, but the stern gravity of his
marble features, and the tension of his muscles, satisfied
us that he had fully made up his mind to go through with
it. Just as the pirates gained the foot of the rocks,
“which hid us for a moment from their view, we bent over
the sea, and plunged down together head foremost.
Peterkin behaved like a hero. He floated passively be-
tween us like a log of wood, and we passed the tunnel
and rose into the cave in a shorter space of time than I
had ever done it before.
Peterkin drew a long, deep breath on reaching the sur-
face; and in a few seconds we were all standing on the
ledge of rock in safety. Jack now searched for the tinder
and torch, which always lay in the cave. He soon found
them, and, lighting the torch, revealed to Peterkin’s won-
dering gaze the marvels of the place. But we were
too wet to waste much time in looking about us. Our
first care was to take off our clothes, and wring them as
dry as we could. This done, we proceeded to examine
into the state of our larder, for, as Jack truly remarked,
there was no knowing how long the pirates might remain
on the island.
“ Perhaps,” said Peterkin, “ they may take it into their
heads to stop here altogether, and so we shall be buried
alive in this place.”


THE CORAL ISLAND.
.- \
“ Don’t you think, Peterkin, that it’s the nearest thing
to being drowned alive that you ever felt?” said Jack
withla smile. “ But I’ve no fear of that. These villains
never stay long on shore. The sea is their home, so you
may depend upon it that they won’t stay more than a day
or, two at the furthest.”
We now began to make arrangements for spending
the night in the cavern. At various periods Jack and
I had conveyed cocoa-nuts and other fruits, besides
rolls of cocoa-nut cloth, to this submarine cave, partly
for amusement, and partly from a feeling that we
might possibly be driven one day to take shelter here
from the savages. Littlewdvid we_im3§EMfirst
savages who would drive us into it_wouldnbe white sav-
ages, perhapswomntrymehl.pje fodrld the cocoa- ’
nuts in good condition, and the cooked yams, but the
breadfruits were spoiled. We also found the cloth where
we had left it; and, on opening it out, there proved to be
suflicient to make a bed; which was important, as the
rock was damp. Having collected it all together, we
spread out our bed, placed our torch in the midst of us,
and ate our supper. It was indeed a strange chamber to
feast in; and we could not help remarking on the cold,
ghastly appearance of the walls, and the black water at
our side, with the thick darkness beyond, and the sullen
sound of the drops that fell at long intervals from the
roof of the cavern into the still water; and the strong
contrast between all this and our bed and supper, which,
with our faces, were lit up with the deep red flame of
the torch.
\Ve sat long over our meal, talking together in sub-
dued voices, for we did not like the dismal echoes that
rang through the vault above when we happened to raise


THE CORAL ISLAND. 203
them. At last the faint light that came through the
opening died away, warning us that it was night and time
for rest. We therefore put out our torch and lay down
to sleep.
On awaking, it was some time ere we could collect
our faculties so as to remember where we were, and we
were'in much uncertainty as to whether it was early or
late. We saw by the faint light that it was day, but could
not guess at the hour; so Jack proposed that he should
dive out and reconnoitre.
“ N0, Jack,” said I, “ do you rest here. You’ve had
enough to do during the last few days. Rest yourself
now, and take care of Peterkin, while I go out to see
what the pirates are about. I’ll be very careful not to
expose myself, and I’ll bring you word again in a short
time.”
“ Very well, Ralph,” answered Jack, “please yourself,
but don’t be long; and if you’ll take my advice you’ll go
in your clothes, for I would like to have some fresh cocoa-
nuts, and climbing trees withthclothes is uncomfortable,
to say the least of it.”
“The pirates will be sure to keep a sharp look-out,”
said Peterkin, “so, pray, be careful.”
“ No fear,” said I ; “ good-bye.”
“ Good-bye,” answered my comrades.
And while the words were yet sounding in my ears, I
plunged into the water, and in a few seconds found my-
self in the open air. On rising, I was careful to come up
gently and to breathe softly, while I kept close in beside
the rocks; but, as I observed no one near me, I'crept
slowly out, and ascended the cliff a step at a time, till I
obtained a full view of the shore. No pirates were to be
seen, —— even their boat was gone; but as it was possible


204 THE CORAL ISLAND.
they might have hidden themselves, I did not venture too
boldly forward. Then it occurred to me to look out to
sea, when, to my surprise, I saw the pirate schooner sail-
ing away almost hull-down on the horizon! On seeing _
this I uttered a shout of joy. Then my first impulse was
to dive back to tell my companions the good news; but I
checked myself,.and ran to the t0p of the clifl', in order to
make sure that the vessel I saw was indeed the pirate
schooner. I looked long and anxiously at her. and. giving
vent to a deep sigh of relief, said aloud, “ Yes, there she
goes; the villains have been balked of their prey this
time at least.”
‘ “ Not so sure of that said a deep voice at my side ;
while at the same moment, a heavy hand grasped my
shoulder, and held it as if in a vice.
'”


THE CORAL ISLAND. 205
CHAPTER XXII.
I FALL INTO THE HANDS 0F PIRATES—HOW THEY TREATED ME,
AND WHAT I SAID TO THEM—THE RESULT OF THE WHOLE END—
ING IN A MELANCHOLY SEPARATION, AND IN A MOST UNEX—
PECTED GIFT.
Y heart seemed to leap into my throat at the words;
and turning round, I beheld a man of immense
stature and fierce aspect regarding me with a smile of
contempt. He was a white man,—that is to say, he
was a man of European blood, though his face from long
exposure to the weather, was deeply bronzed. His 'dress
was that of a common seaman, except that he had on a
Greek skullcap, and wore a broad shawl of the richest
silk round his waist. In this shawl were placed two pair
of pistols, and a heavy cutlass. He wore a beard and
mustache, which, like the locks on his head, were short,
curly, and sprinkled with gray hairs.
“ So, youngster,” he said, with a sardonic smile, while I
felt his grasp tighten on my shoulder, “the villains have
been balked of their prey, have they? ,W' e shall see,
we shall see. Now, you whelp, look yonder.” As he
spoke, the pirate uttered a shrill whistle. In a second or
two it was answered, and the pirate-boat rowed round
the point at the Water Garden, and came rapidly. towards
us. “ Now, go, make a fire on that point; and hark’ee,
youngster, if you try to run away, I’ll send a quick and
sure messenger after you ; ” and he pointed significantly
at his pistols.


206 THE CORAL ISLAND.
I obeyed in silence, and as I happened to have the
burning-glass in my pocket, a fire was speedily kindled,
and a thick smoke ascended into the air. It had scarce-
ly appeared for two minutes when the boom of a gun
rolled over the sea, and, looking up, I saw that the
schooner was making for the island again. It now
flashed across me that this was a ruse on the part of the
pirates, and that they had sent their vessel away, know-
ing that it would lead us to suppose that they had left
altogether. But there was no use of regret now. I was
completely in their power, so I stood helplessly beside
the pirate watching the crew of the boat as they landed
on the beach. For an instant I contemplatedg-ushing
over the cliff into the sea, but this I saw I could not now
accomplish, as some of the men were already between
me and the water.
There was a good deal of jesting at the success of
their scheme, as the crew ascended the rocks and ad-
dressed the man who had captured me by the title of
captain. They were a ferocious set of men, with shaggy
beards and scowling brows. All of them were armed
with cutlasses and pistols, and their costumes were, with
trifling variations, similar to that of the captain. As I
looked from one to the other, and observed the low,
scowling brows, that never unbent, even when the men
laughed, and the mean, rascally expression that sat on -
each face, I felt that my life hung by a hair.
“But where are the other cubs?” cried one of the
men, with an oath that made me shudder. “I’ll swear
to it there were three, at least, if not more.”
“You hear what he says, whelp; where are the other
dogs?” said the captain.
“If you mean my companions,” said I, in a low voice,
“ I won’t tell you.”


THE CORAL ISLAND. 207
A loud laugh burst from the crew at this answer.
The pirate captain looked at me in surprise. Then
drawing a pistol from his belt, he cocked it and said,‘
“Now, youngster, listen to me. I’ve no time to waste
here. If you don’t tell me all you know, I’ll blow your
brains out! Where are your comrades ?”
For an instant I hesitated, not knowing what to do in
this extremity. Suddenly a thought occurred to me.
“ Villain,” said I, shaking my clenched fist in his face,
“to blow my brains out would make short work of me,
and be soon‘over. Death by drowning is as sure, and
the agony prolonged, yet, I tell you to your face, if you
were to toss me over yonder cliff into the sea, I would
not tell you where my companions are, and I dare you to
try me i ”
The pirate captain grew white with rage as I spoke.
“Say you so?” cried he, uttering a fierce oath. “ Here,
lads, take him by the legs and heave him in,—quick l ”
The men, who were utterly silenced with surprise at
my audacity, advanced and seized me, and as they car-
ried me towards the cliff, I congratulated myself not a
little on the success of my scheme, for I knew that once
in the water, I should be safe, and could rejoin Jack and
Peterkin in the cave. But my hopes were suddenly
blasted by the captain crying out,“ Hold .on, lads, hold
on. We’ll give him a taste of the thumb-screws before
throwing him to the sharks. Away with him into the
boat. Look alive! the breeze is freshening.”
The men instantly raised me shoulder high, and, hur-
rying down the rocks, tossed me into the bottom of the
boat, where I lay for some time stunned with the vio-
lence of my fall.
On recovering sufficiently to raise myself on my e1-


.298“
THE CORAL ISLAND.
how, I perceived that we were already outside the coral
reef, and close alongside the schooner, which was of
small size and clipper built. I had only time to observe
this much, when I received a severe kick on the side
from one of the men, who ordered me, in a rough voice,
to , jump aboard. Rising hastily, I clambered up the
side. In a few minutes the boat was hoisted on deck,
the vessel’s head put close to the wind, and the Coral
Island dropped slowly astern as we beat up against a
head sea.
Immediately after coming aboard, the crew were too
busily engaged in working the ship and‘getting in the
boat to attend to me, so I remained leaning against the
bulwarks close to the gangway, watching their opera-
tions. I was surprised to find that there were no guns
or carronades of any kind in the vessel, which had more
of the appearance of a fast-sailing trader than a pirate.
But I was struck with the neatness of everything. The
brass work of the binnacle and about the tiller, as well
as the copper belaying-pins, were as brightly polished as
if they had just come from the foundry. The decks
were pure white, and smooth. The masts were clean-
scraped, and varnished, except at the cross-trees and
truck, which were painted black. The standing and run-
ning rigging was in the most perfect order, and the sails
white as snow. In short, everything, from the single
narrow red stripe on her low black hull, to the trucks on .
her tapering masts, evinced an amount of care and strict
discipline that would have done credit to a ship of the
Royal Navy. There was nothing lumbering or unseem-,
1y about the vessel, excepting, perhaps, a boat, which
lay on the deck with its keel up, between the fore and
main masts. It seemed disproportionately large for the


THE CORAL ISLAND. 209 ,
schooner; but, when I saw that the crew amounted to
between thirty and forty men, I concluded that this boat
was held in reserve, in case of any accident compelling
the crew to desert the vessel.
As I have before said, the costumes of the men were
similar to that of the captain. But in headgear they
differed not only from him but from each other, some
wearing the ordinary straw hat of the. merchant service,
, while others wore cloth caps and red worsted nightcaps.
I observed that all their arms were sent below; the
captain only retaining his cutlass and a single pistol in
the folds of his shawl. Although the captain was the
tallest and most powerful man in the ship, he did not
strikingly excel many of his men in this respect, and the
only difference that an ordinary observer would have
noticed was, a certain degree of open candor, straightfor-
ward daring, in the bold, ferocious expression of his face,
which rendered him less repulsive than his low-brewed
associates, but did not by any means induce the belief
that he was a hero. This look was, however, the indica-
tion of that spirit which gave him the preeminence among
the crew of desperadoes who called hini captain. He
was a lion-like villain; totally devoid of personal fear,
and utterly reckless of consequences, and therefore a
terror to his men, who individually hated him, but unit-
edly felt it to be their advantage to have him at their
head.
But my thoughts soon reverted to the dear- companions
whom I had left on shore, and as I turned towards
the Coral Island, which was now far away to lee-
ward, I sighed deeply, and the tears rolled' slowly down
my cheeks as I thought that I might never see them
more.
' 14


210 THE CORAL ISLAND. '
“ So you’re blubbering, are you, you obstinate whelp P”
said the deep voice of the captain, as he came up and
gave me a box on the ear that nearly felled me to the
deck. “ I don’t allow any such Weakness aboard 0’ this
ship. So clap a. stopper on your eyes or I’ll give you
something to cry for.”
I flushed with indignation at this rough and cruel treat-
ment, but felt that giving way to anger would only make
matters worse, so I made no reply, but took out my hand-
kerchief and dried my eyes.
“ I thought you were made of better stuff,” continued
the captain, angrily; “I’d rather have a mad bull-dog
aboard than a water-eyed puppy. But I’ll cure you, lad,
or introduce you to the sharks before long. Now go
below, and stay there till I call you.”
As I walked forward to obey, my eye fell on a small
‘ keg standing by the side of the mainmast, on which the
word gunpowder was written in pencil. It immediately
flashed across me that, as we were beating up against the
wind, anything floating in the sea would be driven on the
reef encircling the Coral Island. I also recollected—
for thought is more rapid than the lightning— that my
old companions had a pistol. Without a moment’s hes-
itation, therefore, I lifted the keg from the deck and
tossed it into the seal An exclamation of surprise burst
from the captain and some of the men who witnessed this
act of mine.
Striding up to me, and uttering fearful imprecations,
the captain raised his hand to strike me, while he shouted,
“ Boy! whelp ! what mean you by that?”
“If you lower your hand,” said I, in a loud voice,
while I felt the blood rush to my temples, “I’ll tell you.
Until you do so I’m dumbl ” ‘


THE CORAL ISLAND. 213
you. Look alive,” said Bloody Bill, raising his huge frame
. from the locker on which he had been asleep for the last
two hours. He sprang' up the ladder and I instantly
followed him, and, going aft, was shown into the cabin by
one of the men, who closed the door after me.
A small silver lamp which hung from a beam threw
a dim soft light over the cabin, which was a small apart-
ment, and comfortably but plainly furnished. Seated on
a camp-stool at the table, and busily engaged in examin-
ing a chart of the Pacific, was the captain, who looked
up as I entered, and, in a quiet voice, bade me be seated,
while he threw down his pencil, and, rising from the
table, stretched himself on a sofa. at the upper end of
the cabin.
“ Boy,” said he, looking me full in the face, “ what is
your name?”
“ Ralph Rover,” I replied.
“ Where did you come from, and how came you to be
on that island? How many companions had you on it?
Answer me, now, and mind you tell no lies.”
“I never tell lies,” said I, firmly.
The captain received this reply with, a cold sarcastic
smile, and bade me answer his questions.
I. then told him the history of myself and my com-
panions from the time we sailed till the day of his visit
to the island, taking care, however, to make no mention
of the Diamond Cave. After I had concluded, he was
silent for a few minutes; then, looking up, he said-—
“ Boy, I believe you.”
I was surprised at this remark, for I could not imagine
why he should not believe me. However, I made no
reply.
“ And what,” continued the captain, “makes you think
that this schooner is a pirate?” s


214 THE CORAL ISLAND.
“ The black flag,” said I, “ showed me what you are;
and if any further proof were wanting I have had it in
the brutal treatment I have received at your hands.”
The captain frowned as I spoke, but subduing his
anger he continued—“ Boy, you are too hold. I ad-
mit that we treated you roughly, but that was because
you made us lose time and gave us a good deal of
trouble. As to the black flag, that is merely a joke
that my fellows play off upon people sometimes in order
to frighten them. It is their humor, and does no harm.
I am no pirate, boy, but a lawful trader, — a rough one,
I grant you, but one can’t help that in these seas, where
there are so many pirates on the water and such mur-
derous blackguards on the land. I carry on a trade in
sandal-wood with the Feejee Islands ; and if you choose
Ralph, to behave yourself and be a good boy, I’ll take
you along with me and give you a good share of the
profits. You see I’m in want of an honest boy like you,
to look after the cabin and keep the log, and superintend
the traffic on shore sometimes. What say you, Ralph,
would you like to become a sandal-wood trader?”
I was much surprised by this explanation, and a good
deal relieved to find that the vessel, after all, was not a
pirate; but instead of replying I said, “If it be as on
state, then why did you take me from my island, and why
do you not now take me back ? ” '
The captain smiled as he replied, “I took you off in
anger, boy, and I’m sorry for it. I would even now take
you back, but we are too far away from it. See, there
it is,” he added, laying his finger on the chart, “ and we
are now here,—-fifty miles at least. It would not be fair
to my men to put about now, for they have all an inter-
est in the trade.”


THE CORAL ISLAND. 215
I could make no reply to this ; so, after a little more
conversation, I agreed to become one of the crew, at least
until we could reach some civilized island where I might
be put ashore. The captain assented to this proposition,
and after thanking him for the promise, I left the cabin
and went on deck with feelings that ought to have been
lighter, but which were, I could not tell why, marvel-
lously heavy and uncomfortable still.


THE CORAL ISLAND. 217
which the men composing the watch on deck lolled in
sleepy indolence, overcome with excessive heat. Bloody
Bill, as the men invariably called him, was standing at
the tiller, but his post for the present was a sinecure, and
he whiled away the time by alternately gazing in dreamy
abstraction at .the compass in the binnacle, and by walk-
ing to the tafi'rail in order to spit into the sea. In one of
these turns he came near to where I was standing, and,
leaning over the side, looked long and earnestly down
into the blue wave.
This man, although he was always taciturn and often
surly, was theonly human being on board with whom
I had the slightest desire to become better acquainted.
The other men, seeing that I did not relish their com-
pany, and knowing that I was a protégé of the captain,
treated me with total indifference. Bloody Bill, it is true,
did the same ; but as this was his conduct towards every
one else, it was not peculiar in reference to me. Once or
twice I tried to draw him into conversation, but he
always turned away after a few cold monosyllables. As
he now leaned over the tafi'rail close beside me, I said to
him, —-
“Bill, why is it that you are so gloomy? Why do
you never speak to any one P ”
Bill smiled slightly as he replied, “ Why, I s’pose it’s
because I haint got nothin’ to say 1”
“That’s strange,” said I, musingly; “ you look like a
man that could think, and such men can usually speak.”
“ So they can, youngster,” rejoined Bill, somewhat
sternly; “and I could speak too if I had a mind to, but
what’s the use 0’ speakin’ here? The men only open
their mouths to curse and swear, an’ they seem to find it
entertainin’ ; but I don’t, so I hold my tongue.”


THE CORAL ISLAND. 219
he would give me a good share of the profits or put me
on shore in some civilized island if I chose.”
Bill’s brows lowered savagely as he muttered, “Ay,
he said truth when he told you he'was a sandal-wood
trader, but he lied when— ”
“ Sail ho!” shouted the look-out at the mast-head.
“Where, away?” cried Bill, springing to the tiller;
while the men, startled by the sudden cry, jumped up and
gazed round the horizon.
“On the starboard quarter, hull down, sir,” answered
the look-out. '
At this moment the captain came on deck, and mount-
ing into the rigging, surveyed the sail through the glass.
Then sweeping his eye round the horizon he gazed stead-
‘ ily at a particular point.
“Take in topsails,” shouted the captain, swinging him-
self down on the deck by the main backstay.
“ Take in topsails,” roared the first mate.
“ Ay, ay, sir-r-r,” answered the men as they sprang into
the rigging and went aloft like cats.
Instantly all was bustle on board the hitherto quiet
schooner. The topsails were taken in and stowed, the
men stood by thesheets and halyards, and the captain
gazed anxiously at the breeze which was now rushing to-
wards us like a sheet of dark blue. In a few seconds it
struck us. The schooner trembled as if in surprise at
the sudden onset, while she fell away, then bending grace-
fully to the wind, as though in acknowledgment of her sub-
jection, she cut through the waves with her sharp prow
like a dolphin, while Bill directed her course towards the
strange sail.
In half an hour we neared her sufficiently to make out
that she was a schooner, and, from the clumsy appear-


220 THE CORAL ISLAND.
ance of her masts and sails we judged her to be a trader.
'She evidently did not like our appearance, for, the in-
stant the breeze reached her, she crowded all sail and
showed us her»stern. As the breeze had moderated a.
little our topsails were again shaken out, and it soon be-
Came evident,—despite the proverb, “ A stern chase is a.
long one,” that we doubled her speed and would overhaul
her speedily. When within a mile we hoisted British
colors, but receiving no acknowledgment, the captain or-
dered a shot to be fired across her bows. In a moment,
to my surprise, a large portion of the bottom of the boat
amidships was removed, and in the hole thus exposed
appeared an immense brass gun. It worked on a swivel,
and was elevated by means of machinery. It was quickly
loaded and fired. The heavy ball struck the water a few
yards ahead of the chase, and, ricochetting into the air,
plunged into the sea a mile beyond it.
This produced the desired effect. The strange vessel
backed her topsails and hove-to, while we ranged up and
lay-to, about a hundred yards off. ‘
“ Lower the boat,” cried the captain.
In a second the boat was lowered and manned by a part
of the crew, who were all armed with cutlasses and pistols.
As the captain passed me to get into it, he said, “Jump
into the stern sheets, Ralph, I may want you.” I obeyed,
and in ten minutes more we were standing on the stran-
ger’s deck. We were all much surprised at the sight that
met our eyes. Instead of a crew of such sailors as we
were accustomed to see, there were only fifteen blacks
standing on the quarter-deck and regarding us with looks
of undisguised alarm. They were totally unarmed, and
most of them unclothed; one or two, however, wore por-
tions of European attire. One had on a pair of duck


THE CORAL ISLAND. 221
trousers which were much too large for him and stuck out
in a most ungainly manner. Another wore nothing but
the common scanty native garment round the loins, and a
black beaver hat. But the m05t ludicrous personage of
all, and one who seemed to be chief, was a tall middle-
aged man, of a mild, simple expression of countenance,
who wore a white cotton shirt, a swallow-tailed coat,,and
a straw hat, while his black brawny legs were totally un-
covered below the knees.
“ \Vhere’s the commander of this ship?” inquired our
captain, stepping up to this individual.
“ I is capin,” he answered, taking ofl“ his straw hat and
making a low bow.
“ You l ” said our captain, in surprise. “ Where do
you come from, and where are you bound? What cargo
have you aboard?”
“We is come,” answered the man with the swallow-
tail, “ from Aitutaki; we was go for Rarotonga. We is
native miss’nary ship; our name is de Olive Branch ,-
an’ our cargo is two tons cocoa-nuts, seventy pigs, twenty
cats, and de Gosp’l.”
This announcement was received by the crew of our
vessel with a shout of laughter, which, however, was per-
emptorily checked by the captain, whose expression in-
stantly changed from one of severity to that of frank
urbanity as be advanced towards the missionary and
shook him warmly by the hand.
“ I am very glad to have fallen in with you,” said he,
“and I wish you much success in your missionary labors.
Pray take me to your cabin, as I wish to converse with
you privately.”
The missionary immediately took him by the hand, and
as he led him away I heard him saying, “ Me most glad


222 THE CORAL ISLAND.
to find you trader; we t’ought you be pirate. You very
like one ’bout the masts.”
What conversation the captain had with this man I
never heard, but he came on deck again in a quarter of
an hour, and, shaking hands cordially with the missionary,
ordered us into our boat and returned to the schooner,
which was immediately put before the wind. In a few
minutes the Olive Branch was left far behind us.
That afternoon, as I was down below at dinner, I heard
the men talking about this curious ship.
“ I wonder,” said one, “ why our captain looked so
sweet on you swallow-tailed supercargo 0’ pigs and
Gospels. If it had been an ordinary trader, now, he
would have taken as many 0’ the pigs as he required
and sent the ship with all on board to the bottom.”
“Why, Dick, you must be new to these seas if you
don’t know that,” cried another. “The captain cares as
much for the gospel as you do (an’ that’s precious little),
but he knows, and everybody knows, that the only place
among the southern islands where a ship can put in and
get what she wants in comfort, is where the gospel has
been sent to. There are hundreds 0’ islands, at this
blessed moment, where you might as well jump straight
into a shark’s maw as land without a band 0’ thirty com-
rades armed to the teeth to back you.”
“ Ay,” said a man with a deep scar over his right eye,
“ Dick’s new to the work. But if the captain takes us
for a cargo o’ sandal-wood to the Feejees he’ll get a taste
0’ these black gentry in their native condition. For my
part I don’t know, an' I don’t care, what the gospel does
to them; but I know that when any 0’ the islands chance
to get it, trade goes all smooth an’ easy; but where they
ha'nt got it, Beelzebub himself could hardly desire better
company.”


0 THE CORAL ISLAND. 223
“Well, you ought to be a good judge,” cried another,
laughing, “for you’ve never kept any company but the
worst all your life!”
“ Ralph Rover!” shouted a voice down the hatchway.
“ Captain wants you, aft.”
Springing up the ladder I hastened to the cabin, pon-
dering as I went the strange testimony borne by these
men to the effect of the gospel on savage natures;—
testimony which, as it was perfectly disinterested, I had
no doubt whatever was strictly true.
On coming again on deck I found Bloody Bill at
the helm, and as we were alone together I tried to
draw him into conversation. After repeating to him the
conversation in the forecastle about the missionaries, I
said, —
“ Tell me, Bill, is this schooner really a trader in sandal-
wood ?”
“Yes, Ralph, she is; but she’s just as really a pirate.
The black flag you saw flying at the peak was no de-
ception.”
“Then how can you say she’s a trader? ” asked I.
“ Why, as to that, she trades when she can’t take by
force, but she takes by force, when she can, in preference.
Ralph,” he added, lowering his voice, “if you had seen
the bloody deeds that I have witnessed done on these
decks you would not need to ask if we were pirates.
But you’ll find it out soon enough. As for the missionaries,
the captain favors them because they are useful to him.
The South Sea islanders are such incarnate fiends that
they Are the better of being tamed, and the missionaries
are the only men who can do it.”
Our track after this lay through several clusters of
small islets, among which we were becalmed more than


226 THE CORAL ISLAND.
l
'\u
on the banks of the stream, a short way above its mouth.
Many of the wretched creatures had fallen into it, and
we found one body, which had been carried down, jam-
med between two rocks, with the staring eyeballs turned
towards us and his black hair waving in the ripples of
the blood-red stream. No one dared to oppose our land-
ing now, so we carried our casks to a pool above the
murdered group, and having filled them, returned on
board. Fortunately a breeze sprang up soon afterwards
and carried us away from the dreadful spot; but it could
not waft me away from the memory of what I had seen.
“And this,” thought I, gazing in horror at the captain,
who, with a quiet look of indifference, leaned upon the
taffrail smoking a cigar and contemplating the fertile
green islets as they passed like a lovely picture before
our eyes —-“ this is the man who favors the missionaries
because they are useful to him and can tame the savages
better than any one elsefiaudo it l'” Thenin
in my mind whether it were possible for any missionary
to tame him ./


THE CORAL ISLAND. 227
CHAPTER XXIV.
BLOODY BILL IS COMMUNICATIVE AND SAGACIOUS—UNPLEASANT
PROSPECTS ~RETROSPECTIVE MEDITATIONS INTERRUPTED BY
VOLCANIC AGENCY—THE PIRATES NEGOTIATE WITH AFEEJEE
CHIEF —VARIOUS ETCETERAS THAT ARE CALCULATED TO SUR-
PRISE AND HORRIFY. '
T was many days after the events just narrated ere
I recovered a little of my wonted spirits. I could
not shake off the feeling for a long time that I was in a
frightful dream, and the sight of our captain filled me
with so much horror that I kept out of his way as much
as my duties about the cabin would permit. Fortunately
he took so little notice of me that he did not observe my
changed feelings towards him, otherwise it might have
been worse for me.
But I was now resolved that I would run away the
very first island we should land at, and commit myself
to the hospitality of the natives rather than remain an
hour longer than I could help in the pirate schooner. I
pondered this subject a good deal, and at last made up
my mind to communicate my intention to Bloody Bill;
for, during several talks I had had with him of late, I
felt assured that he too would willingly escape if possible.
' When I told him of my design he shook his head. “No,
no, Ralph,” said be, “you must not think of running
away here. Among some of the groups of islands you
might do so with safety, but if you tried it here you
would find that you had jumped out of the fryin’ pan
into the fire.”


/
'228 THE CORAL ISLAND.
\_
“ How so, Bill?” said I, “would the natives not re-
ceive me?”
“That they would, lad; but they would eat you
too.”
“Eat me l ” said I in surprise, “I thought the South
Sea islanders never ate anybody except their enemies.”
“ Humph I ” ejaculated Bill. “I s’pose t’was yer tender-
hearted friends in England that put that notion into your
head. There’s a set 0’ soft-hearted folk at home that I
knows on, who don’t like to have their feelin’s ruflled,
and when you tell them anything they don’t like— that
shocks them, as they call it ——no matter how true it be,
they stop their ears and cry out, ‘Oh, that is too hor-
rible! We can’t believe that!’ An’ they say truth.
They can’t believe it ’cause they won’t believe it, Now,
I believe there’s thousands 0’ the peoplewin England who
are sich'boiidriyllih"tvonjflelqurs thattlgey think the
black fellows hereaway, at the worst, eat an enemy only
nowmhrbut o’-spite ; whereas, I know for certain,
and many captains of the British and American navies
know as well as me, that the F eejee islanders eat not
only their enemies but one another; and they do it not
for spite, but for pleasure. It’s a fact that they prefer
human flesh to any other. But they don’t like white
men’s flesh so well as black. They say it makes them
sick.”
“Why, Bill,” said I, “ you told me just now that they
would eat me if they caught me.” ~
“ So I did ; and so I think they would. I’ve only heard
some 0’ them say they don’t like white men so well as
black ; but if they was hungry they wouldn’t be particular.
Anyhow, I’m sure they would kill you. You see, Ralph,
I’ve been a good while in them parts, and I’ve visited the


THE CORAL ISLAND. 229
difi'erent groups of islands often times as a trader. And
thorough goin’ blaekguards some 0’ them traders are.
No better than pirates, I can tell you. One captain that
I sailed with was not a chip better than the one we’re
with now. He was tradin’ with a friendly chief one day,
aboard his vessel. The chief had swam off to us with
the things for trade tied a-top of his head, for them chaps
are like otters in the water. Well, the chief was hard on
the captain, and would not part with some 0’ his things.
When their bargainin’ was over they shook hands, and
the chief jumped overboard to swim ashore; but before
he got forty yards from the ship the captain seized a mus-
ket and Shot him dead. He then hove up anchor and put
to sea, and as we sailed along shore, he dropped six
black fellows with his rifle, remarkin’ that ‘that would
spoil the trade for the next comers.’ But, as I was
sayin’, I’m up to the ways 0’ these fellows. One 0’ the
laws 0’ the country is, that every shipwrecked person who
happens to be cast ashore, be he dead or alive, is doomed
to be roasted and eaten. There was a small tradin’
schooner wrecked off one of these islands when we
were lyin’ there in harbor during a storm. The crew
was lost, all but three men, who swam ashore. The
moment they landed they were seized by the natives and
carried up into the woods. We knewv pretty well what
their fate would be, but we could not help them, for our
crew was small, and if we had gone ashore they would
likely have killed us all. We never saw the three men
again; but we heard frightful yelling, and dancing, and
merry-making that night; and one of the natives, ‘w'ho
came aboard to trade with us next day, told us that
the long pigs, as he called the men, had been roasted
and eaten, and their bones were to be converted into


230 THE CORAL ISLAND.
sail needles. He also said that white men were bad
to eat, and that most 0’ the people on shore were sick.”
I was very much shocked and cast down in my mind
at this terrible account of the natives, and asked Bill
what he would advise me to (10. Looking round the
deck to make sure that we were not overheard, be
lowered his voice and said, “ There are two or
three ways that we might escape, Ralph, but none 0’
them’s easy. If the captain would only sail for some
0’ the islands near Tahiti, we might run away there
well enough, because the natives are all Christians; an’
we find that wherever’the savages take up with Chris-
tianity they always give over their bloody ways, and are
safe to be trusted. I never cared for Christianity my-
self,” he continued, in a soliloquizing voice, “and I don’t
well know what it means; but a man with half an eye
can see what it does for these black critters. How-
ever, the captain always keeps a sharp look-out after
us when we get to these islands, for be half suspects
that one or two 0’ us are tired of his company. Then,
we might manage to out the boat adrift some fine night
when it’s our watch on deck, and clear off before they
discovered that we were gone. But we would run the
risk 0’ bein’ caught by the blacks. I wouldn’t like to
try that plan. But you and I will think over it, Ralph,
and see what’s to be done. In the mean time it’s our
watch below, so I’ll go and turn in.”
Bill then bade me good-night, and went below, while
a comrade took his place at the helm; but, feeling no
desire to enter into conversation with him I walked aft,
and, leaning over the stern, looked down into the phos—
phorescent waves that gurgled around the rudder, and
streamed out like a flame of blue light in the vessel’s


THE CORAL ISLAND. 231
wake. My thoughts were very sad, and I could scarce
refrain from tears as I contrasted my present wretched
position with the happy, peaceful time, I had spent on
the Coral Island with my dear companions. As I
thought upon Jack and .Peterkin anxious forebodings
crossed my mind, and I pictured to myself the grief
and dismay with which they would search every nook
and corner of the island, in a vain attempt to discover
my dead body; for I felt assured that if they did not see
any sign of the pirate schooner or boat, when they came
out of the cave to look for me, they would never im-
agine that I had been carried away. I wondered, too,.
how Jack would succeed in getting Peterkin out of the
cave without my assistance; and I trembled when I
thought that he might lose presence of mind, and be~
gin to kick when he was in the tunnel l These thoughts
were suddenly interrupted and put to flight by a. bright-
red blaze which lighted up the horizon to the south-
ward, and cast a crimson glow far over the sea. This
appearance was accompanied by a low growling sound, as
of distant thunder, and, at the same time, the sky above
. us became black', while a hot stifling wind blew around.
us in fitful gusts.
The crew assembled hastily on deck, and: most of them
were under the belief that a frightful hurricane was
pending; but the captain coming on deck, soon explained
the phenomena.
“It’s only a volcano,” said he. “ I knew there was one
hereabouts, but thought it was extinct- Up there and.
furl top-gallant-sails; we’ll likely have a breeze, and its.
well to be ready.”
As he spoke, a shower began to fall, which we quickly
observed was not rain, but fine ashes. As we were many:


232 THE CORAL ISLAND.
I.
miles distant from the volcano, these must have been car-
ried to us from it by the wind. As the captain had pre-
dicted, a stiff breeze soon afterwards sprang up, under
the influence of which we speedily left the volcano far
behind us; but during the greater part of the night we
could see its lurid glare and hear its distant thunder.
The shower did not cease to fall for several hours, and
we must have sailed under it for nearly forty miles,
perhaps farther. When we emerged from the cloud, our
decks and every part of the rigging were completely
covered with a thick coat of ashes. I was much inter-
ested in this, and recollected that Jack had often spoken
of many of the islands of the Pacific as being volcanoes,
either active or extinct, and had said that the whole re-
gion was more or less volcanic, and that some scientific
men were of opinion that the islands of the Pacific were
nothing more or less than the mountain tops of a huge
continent which had sunk under the influence of volcanic
gency.
Three days after passing the volcano, we found our-
selves a few miles to windward of an island of consider-
able size and luxuriant aspect. It consisted of two
mountains, which seemed to be nearly four thousand
feet high. They were separated from each other by a
broad valley, whose thick-growing trees ascended a con-
siderable distance upon the mountain sides ; and rich level
plains, or meadow-land, spread round the base of the
mountains, except at the point immediately opposite the
large valley, where a river seemed to carry the trees, as
it were, along with it down to the white sandy shore.
The mountain tops, unlike those of our Coral Island,
were sharp, needle-shaped, and bare, while their sides
were more rugged and grand in outline than anything I


THE CORAL ISLAND. 233
had yet seen in those seas. Bloody Bill was beside me
when the island first hove in sight.
“ Ha ! ”'he exclaimed, “ I know that island well. They
call it Emo.”
“ Have you been here before, then?” I inquired.
“ Ay, that I have, often, and so has this schooner. ’Tis
a famous island for sandal-wood. We have taken many
cargoes off it’ already, and have paid for them too; for
the savages are so numerous that we dared not try to
take it by force. But our captain has tried to cheat them
so often, that they’re beginnin’ not to like us overmuch
now. Besides, the men behaved ill the last time we
were here; and I wonder the captain is not afraid to
venture. But he’s afraid 0’ nothing earthly, I believe.”
We soon ran inside the barrier coral-reef, and let go
our anchor in six t'athoms water, just opposite the mouth
of a small creek,,whose shores were densely covered with
mangroves and tall umbrageous trees. The principal
village of the natives lay about half a mile from this
point. Ordering the boat out, the captain jumped into
it, and ordered me to follow him. The men, fifteen in
number, were well armed; and the mate was directed to
have Long Tom ready for emergencies.
“ Give way, lads,” cried the captain.
The cars fell into the water at the word, the boat shot
from the schooner’s side, and in a few minutes reached
the shore. Here, contrary to our expectation, we were
met with the utmost cordiality by Romata, the principal
chief of the island, who conducted us to his house, and
gave us mats to sit upon. I observed in passing that the
natives, of whom there were two or three thousand, were
totally unarmed.
After a short preliminary palaver, a feast of baked


234 THE CORAL ISLAND.
pigs and various roots was spread before us; of which
We partook sparingly, and then proceeded to business.
The captain stated his object in visiting the island, re-
gretted that there had been a slight misunderstanding
during the last visit, and hoped that no ill-will was borne
by either party, and that a satisfactory trade would be
accomplished.
Romata answered that he had forgotten there had been
any differences between them, protested that he was de-
lighted to see his friends again, and assured them they
should have every assistance in cutting and embarking the
wood. The terms were afterwards agreed on, and we rose
to depart. All this conversation was afterwards explained
to me by Bill, who understood the language pretty well.
Romata accompanied us on board, and explained that
a great chief from another island was then on a visit to
him, and that he was to be ceremoniously entertained
on the following day. After begging to be allowed to
introduce him to us, and receiving permission, he sent
his canoe ashore to bring him off. At the same time
he gave orders to bring on board his two favorites, a.
cock and a paroquet. While the canoe was gone on
this errand, I had time to regard the savage chief at-
tentiVely. He was a man of immense size, with massiVe
but beautifully moulded limbs and figure, only parts
of which, the broad chest and muscular arms, were un-
covered; for, although the'lower orders generally wore
no other clothing than a strip of cloth called maro
round their loins, the chief, on particular occasions,
wrapped his person in voluminous folds of a species of
native cloth made from the bark of the Chinese paper-
inulberry. Romata wore a magnificent black beard and
mustache, and his hair was frizzed out to such an extent


236 THE CORAL ISLAND.
before, as it had not been uncovered on previous visits,
and the astonishment with which he viewed it was very
amusing. Being desirous of knowing its power, he begged
that the captain would fire it. So a shot was put into
it. The chiefs were then directed to look at a rock about
two miles out at sea, and the gun was fired. In a second
the top of the rock was seen to burst asunder, and to fall
in fragments'into the sea. ,
Romata was so delighted with the success of this shot,
that he pointed to a man who was walking on the shore,
and begged the captain to fire at him, evidently suppos-
ing that his permission was quite sufficient to justify the
captain in such an act. He was therefore surprised, and
not a little annoyed, when the captain refused to fire at
the native, and ordered the gun to be housed.
Of all the things, however, that afforded matter of
amusement to these savages, that which pleased Romata’s
visitor most was the ship’s pump. He never tired of
examining it, and pumping up the water. Indeed, so
much was he taken up with this pump, that he could
not be prevailed on to return on shore, but sent 2. ca-
noe to fetch his favorite stool, on which he seated him-
self, and spent the remainder of the day in pumping the
bilge-water out of the ship!
Next day the crew went ashore to cut sandal-wood,
while the captain, with one or two men, remained on
board, in order to be ready, if need be, with the brass
gun, which was unhoused and conspicuously elevated,
with its capacious muzzle directed point-blank at the
chief’s house. The men were fully armed as usual;
and the captain ordered me to go with them, to assist
in the work. I was much pleased with this order, for
it freed me from the captain’s company, which I could


THE CORAL ISLAND. 237
not now endure, and it gave me an opportunity of see-
ing the natives.
As we wound along in single file through the rich
fragrant groves of banana, cocoa-nut, breadfruit, and other
trees, I observed that there were many of the plum and
banian trees, with which I had become familiar on the
Coral Island. I noticed‘ also large quantities of taro-
roots, yams, and sweet potatoes, growing in enclosures.
On turning into an open glade of the woods, we came
abruptly upon a cluster of native houses. They were
built chiefly of bamboos, and were thatched with the large
thick leaves of the pandanus; but many of them had
little more than a sloping roof and three sides with an
open front, being the most simple shelter from the weather
that could well be imagined. Within these, and around
them, were groups of natives—men, women, and chil-
dren —-who all stood up to gaze at us as we marched along,
followed by the party of men whom the chief had sent
to escort us. About half a mile inland we arrived at
the spot where the sandal-wood grew, and, while the
men set to work, I clambered up an adjoining hill to
Observe the country.
About mid-day, the chief arrived with several fol-
lowers, one of whom carried a baked pig on a wooden
platter, with yams and potatoes on several plantain leaves,
which he presented to the men, whdsat down under the
shade of a tree to dine. The chief sat down to dine
also; but, to my surprise, instead of feeding himself,
one of his wives performed that office. for him! Iwas
seated beside Bill, and asked him the reason of this.
“It is beneath his dignity, I believe, to feed himself,”
answered Bill; “but I daresay he’s not particular, except
on great occasions. They’ve a strange custom among


THE CORAL ISLAND. 239
men still busy with the baked pig, led me into the forest.
After proceeding a short distance we came upon a small
pond of stagnant water. A native lad had followed us. to
whom we called and beckoned him to come to us. On
Bill saying a few words to him, which I did not. under-
stand, the boy advanced to the edge of the pond, and
gave a low, peculiar whistle. Immediately the water
became agitated and an enormous eel thrust its head
above_the surface and allowed the youth to touch it. It
was about twelve feet long, and as thick round the body
as a man’s thigh. > i
“There,” said Bill, his lip curling with contempt,
“what do you think of that for a god, Ralph? This is
one 0’ their gods, and it has been fed with dozens 0’ liv-
in’ babies already. How many more it’ll get afore it
dies is hard to say.” ' ‘
“ Babies?” said I with an incredulous look.
“ Ay, babies,” returned Bill. “ Your soft-hearted folk
at horne would say, ‘ Oh, horrible! impossible 1’ to that,
and then go away as comfortable and unconcerned as if
their sayin’ ‘horrible! impossible!’ had made it a lie.
But I tell you, Ralph, it’s a fact. I’ve seed it with
my~ own eyes the last time I was here, an’ mayhap
if you stop awhile at this accursed place, and keep a
sharp look-out, you’ll see it too. They don’t feed it reg-
ularly with livin’ babies, but they give it one now and
then as a treat. Bah! you brute!” cried Bill, in disgust,
giving the reptile a kick on the snout with his heavy
boot, that sent it sweltering back in agony into its loath--
some pool. I thought it lucky for Bill, indeed for all of
us, that the native youth’s back happened to be turned
at the time, for I am certain that if the poor savages had
come to know that we had so rudely handled their god,


240 THE CORAL ISLAND.
we should have to fight our way back to the ship. As
we retraced our steps I questioned my companion further
on this subject.
“How comes it, Bill, that the mothers allow such a
dreadful thing to be done ? ”
“Allow it? the mothers do it! It seems to me that
there’s nothing too fiendish or diabolical for these people
to do. Why, in some of the islands they have an insti-
tution called the Areoi, and the persons connected with
that body are ready for any wickedness that mortal man
can devise. In fact they stick at nothing; and one 0’
their customs is to murder their infants the moment they
are born. The mothers agree to it, and the fathers do it.
And the mildest ways they have of murdering them is by
sticking them through the body with sharp splinters of
bamboo, strangling‘them with their thumbs, or burying
them alive and stamping them to death while under the
sod.” '
I felt sick at heart while my companion recited these
horrors. ‘
“ But it’s a curious fact,” he continued, after a pause,
during which we walked in silence towards the spot
where we had left our comrades,-—“ it’s a curious fact,
that wherever the missionaries get a footin’, all these
things come to an end at once, an’ the savages take to
doin’ each other good, and singin’ psalms, just like Meth—
0dists.”
“ God bless the missionaries!” said I, while a feeling
I of enthusiasm filled my heart, so that I could speak with
difficulty. “ God bless and prosper the missionaries till
they get a footing in every island of the seal”
“ I would say Amen to that prayer, Ralph, if I could,” _
said Bill, in a deep, sad voice ; “ but it would be a mere


THE CORAL ISLAND. 241
mockery for a man to ask a blessing for others who dare
not ask one for himself. But, Ralph,” he continued,
“ I’ve not told you half 0’ the abominations I have seen
durin’ my life in these seas. If we pull long together,
lad, I’ll tell you more; and if times have not changed
very much since I was here last, it’s like that you’ll have
a chance 0’ seeing a little for yourself before long.”
16


242 THE 001w. ISLAND.
CHAPTER XXV.
THE SANDAL-WOOD PARTY—NATIVE CHILDREN’S GAMES, SOME-
WHAT SURPRISING— DESPERATE AMUSEMENTS SUDDENLY AND
FATALLY BROUGHT TO A CLOSE— AN OLD FRIEND RECOGNIZED
— NEWS — ROMATA‘S MAD CONDUCT.
EXT day the wood-cutting party went ashore again,
and I accompanied them as before. During the
dinner hour I wandered into the woods alone, being dis-
inclined for food that day. I had not rambled far when
I found myself unexpectedly on the sea-shore, having
crossed a narrow neck of land which separated the native
village from a large bay. Here I found a party of the
islanders busy with one of their war-canoes, which was
almost ready for launching. I stood for a long time
watching this party with great interest, and observed that
they fastened the timbers and planks to each other very
much in the same way in which I had seen Jack fasten
those of our little boat. But what surprised me most
was its immense length, which I measured very carefully,
and found to be a hundred feet long; and it was so capa-
cious that it Could have held three hundred men. It had
the unwieldy outrigger' and enormously high sternposts
which I had remarked on the canoe that came to us
while I was on the Coral Island. Observing some boys
playing at games a short way along the beach, I resolved
to go and watch them ; but as I turned from the natives
who were engaged so busily and cheerfully at their work, 


THE CORAL ISLAND. 243
“I little thought of the terrible event that hung on the com-
pletion of that war-canoe.
Advancing towards the children, who were so numer-
ous that I began to think this must be the general play-
ground of the village, I sat down on a grassy bank un-
der the shade of a plantain-tree, to watch them. And a
happier or more noisy crew I have never seen.- There
were at least two hundred of them, both boys and girls,
all of whom were clad in no other garments than their
own glossy little black skins, except the maro, or strip of
cloth round the loins of the boys, and a very short petti-
coat or kilt on the girls. They did not all play at the
same game, but amused themselves in different groups.
One hand was busily engaged in a game exactly simi-
lar to our blind-man’s-butf. Another set were walking
on stilts, which raised the children three feet from the
ground. They were very expert at this amusement, and
seldom tumbled. In another place I observed a group
of girls standing together, and apparently enjoying them-
selves very much; so I went up to 'see what they were
doing, and found that they were opening their eyelids
with their fingers till their eyes appeared of an enormous
size, and then thrusting pieces of straw between the up-
per and lower lids, across the eyeball, to keep them in
that position! This seemed to me, I must confess, a
very foolish as well as dangerous amusement. Never-
theless the children seemed to be greatly delighted with
the hideous faces they made. I pondered this subject a
good deal, and thought that if little children knew how
silly they seem to grown-up people when they make
faces, they would not be so fond of doing it. In another
place were a number of boys engaged in flying kites,
and I could not help wondering that some of the games


244 THE CORAL ISLAND.
of those little savages should be so like to our own, al-
though they had never seen us at play. But the kites
were different from ours in many respects, being of every
variety of shape. They were made of very thin cloth,
and the boys raised them to a wonderful height in the
air by means of twine made from the cocoa-nut husk.
Other games there were, some of which showed the nat-
ural depravity of the hearts of these poor savages, and
made me wish fervently that missionaries might be sent
out to them. But the amusement which the greatest
number of the children of both sexes seemed to take
chief delight in, was swimming and diving in the sea;
and the expertness which they exhibited was truly amaz-
ing. They seemed to have two principal games in the
water, one of which was to dive off a sort of stage which
had been erected near a deep part of the sea, and chase
each other in the water. Some of them went down to
an extraordinary depth; others skimmed along the sur-
face, or rolled over and over like porpoises, or diving
under each other, came up unexpectedly and pulled each
other down by a leg or an arm. They never seemed to
tire of this sport, and, from the great heat of the water
in the South Seas, they could remain in it nearly all day
without feeling chilled. Many of these children were
almost infants, scarcely able to walk ; yet they staggered
down the beach, flung their round, fat little black bodies
fearlessly into deep water, and struck out to sea with as
much confidence as ducklings.
The other game to which I have referred was swim-
ming in the surf. But as this is an amusement in-which
all engage, from children of ten to gray-headed men of
sixty, and'as I had an opportunity of witnessing it in
perfection the day following, I_shall describe it more
minutely.


THE CORAL ISLAND. 245

I suppose it was in honor of their guest that this
grand swimming-match was got up, for Romata came
and told the captain that they were going to engage in it,
and begged him to “ come and see.”
“What sort of amusement is this surf-swimming?” I
inquired of Bill, as we walked together to a part of the
shore on which several thousands of the natives were
assembled. a I
“ It’s a very favorite lark with these ’xtr’or’nary crit-
ters,” replied Bill, giving a turn to the quid of tobacco
that invariably bulged out his left cheek. “ Ye see,
Ralph, them fellows take to the water as soon a’most as
they can walk, an’ long before they can do that or anything
respectably, so that they are as much at home in the sea
as on the land. Well, ye see, I s’pose they found swim-
min’ for miles out to sea, and divin’ fathoms deep, wasn’t
exciting enough, so they invented this game 0’ swimmin’
on the surf. Each man and boy, as you see, has got a
short board or plank, with which he swims out for a mile
or more to sea, and then, gettin’ on the top 0’ yon thun-
derin’ breaker, they come to shore on the top of it, yel-
lin’ and screechin’ like fiends. It’s a marvel to me that
they’re not dashed to shivers on the coral reef, for sure
an’ sartin am I that if any 0’ us tried it, we wouldn’t be
worth the fluke of a broken anchor after the wave fell.
But there they go ! ”
As he spoke, several hundreds of the natives, amongst
whom we were now standing, uttered a loud yell, rushed
down the beach, plunged into the surf, and were carried
off by the seething foam of the retreating wave.
At the point where we stood, the encircling coral reef
joined the shore, so that the magnificent breakers, which
a recent stifi' breeze had rendered larger than usual, fell


246 THE CORAL ISLAND.
in thunder at the feet of the multitudes who lined the
beach. For some time the swimmers continued to strike
out to sea, breasting over the swell like hundreds of
black seals. Then they all turned, and, watching an
approaching billow, mounted its white crest, and each
laying his breast on the short, flat board, come rolling
towards the shore, careering on the summit of the mighty
wave, while they and the onlookers shouted and yelled
with excitement. Just as the monster wave curled in
solemn majesty to fling its bulky length upon the beach,
most of the swimmers slid back into the trough behind;
others, slipping off their boards, seized them in their
hands, and, plunging through the watery waste, swam out
to repeat the amusement ; but a few, who seemed to me
the most reckless, continued their career until they were
launched upon the beach, and enveloped in the churning
foam and spray. One of these last came in on the crest
of the' wave most manfully, and landed with a violent
bound almost on the spot where Bill and I stood. I saw
by his peculiar head-dress that he was the chief whom
the tribe entertained as their guest. The sea-water had
removed nearly all the paint with which his face had
been covered; and as he rose panting to his feet, I re-
cognized, to‘my surprise, the features of Tararo, my old
friend of the Coral Island!
Tararo at the same moment recognized me, and, ad-
vancing quickly, took me round the neck and rubbed
noses; which had the effect of transferring a good deal
of the moist paint from his nose to mine. Then, recol-
lecting that this was not the white man’s mode of saluta-
tion, he grasped me by the hand and shook it violently.
“ Hallo, Ralph!” cried Bill, in surprise, “that chap
seems to have taken a sudden fancy to you, or he must
be an old acquaintance.”


248 THE CORAL ISLAND.
she wouldn’t he so obstropolous. This happened just
a week ago; an’ Tararo says that if she’s not ready to
go, when the chief returns, as his bride, she’ll be sent to
him as a long pig.”
“ As a long pig 1 ” I exclaimed in surprise ; “ why, what
does he mean by that?”
“ He means somethin’ very unpleasant,” answered Bill,
with a frown. “ You see these blackguards eat men an’
women just as readily as they eat pigs; and, as baked
pigs and baked men are very like each other in ap-
pearance, they call men long pigs. If Avatea goes to
this fellow as a long pig, it’s all up with her, poor thing.”
“ Is she on the island now ? ” I asked eagerly.
“ N 0, she’s at Tararo’s island.”
“ And where does it lie?”
“About fifty or sixty miles to the south’ard 0’ this,”
returned Bill; “ but I —- ”
At this moment we were startled by the cry of “ Mao!
mao ! -— a shark! a shark ! ” which was immediately fol~
lowed by a shriek that rang clear and fearfully loud above
the tumult of cries that arose from the savages in the
water and on the land. We turned hastily towards the
direction whence the cry came, and had just- time to
observe the glaring eyeballs of one of the swimmers.
as he tossed his arms in the air. Next instant he was
pulled under the waves. A canoe was instantly launched,
and the hand of the drowning man was caught, but
only half of his body was dragged fromthe maw of the
monster, which followed the canoe until the water be-
came so shallow that it could scarcely swim. The crest
of the next billow was tinged with red as it rolled
towards the shore.
In most countries of the world this would have made


THE CORAL ISLAND. 249
a deep impression on the spectators, but the only effect
it had upon these islanders was to make them hurry with
all speed out of the sea, lest a similar fate should befall
some of the others; but, so utterly reckless were they of
human life, that it did not for a moment suspend the pro-
gress of their amusements. It is true the surf-swimming
ended for that time somewhat‘ abruptly, but they immedi-
ately proceeded with other games. Bill told me that
sharks do not often attack the surf-swimmers, being
frightened away by the immense numbers of men and
boys in the water, and by the shouting and splashing
that they make. “ But,” said he, “ such a thing as you
have seen just now don’t frighten them much. They’ll
be at it again to-morrow or next day, just as if there
wasn’t a single shark between Feejee and Nova Zembla.”
After this the natives had a series of wrestling and
boxing matches; and being men of immense size and
muscle, they did a good deal of injury to each other, es-
pecially in boxing, in which not only the lower orders,
but several of the chiefs and priests engaged. Each
bout was very quickly terminated, for they did not pre-
tend to a scientific knowledge of the art, and wasted no
time in sparring, but hit straight out at-each other’s
heads, and their blows were delivered with great force.
Frequently one of the combatants was knocked down with
a single blow; and one gigantic fellow hit his adversary
so severely that he drove the skin entirely of his fore-
head. This feat was hailed with immense applause by
the spectators. \ '
During these exhibitions, which were very painful to
me, though I' confess I could not refrain from beholding
them, I was struck with the beauty of many of the fig-
ures and designs that were tattooed on the persons of


252 THE CORAL ISLAND.
t
i
This ferocious deed took place within sight of our
party as we wended our way to the beach, but I could
not observe any other expression on the faces of the men
than that of total indifference or contempt. It seemed to
me a very awful thing that it should be possible for men
to come to such hardness of heart and callousness to the
sight of bloodshed and violence ; but, indeed, I began to
find that such constant exposure to scenes of blood was
having a slight effect upon myself, and I shuddered when
I came to think that I, too, was becoming callous.
I thought upon this subject much that night whiTe I
walked up and down the deck during my hours of watch;
and I came to the conclusion that if I who hated, abhor-
red, and detested such bloody deeds as I had witnessed
within the last few weeks, could so soon come to be less
sensitive about them, how little wonder that these poor'
ignorant savages, who were born and bred in familiarity
	herewith, should think nothing of them at all, and should
hold human life in so very slight esteem.


THE CORAL ISLAND. 253 ‘
"7 ractices were so horrible that I could not think of them
s
CHA PTEB. XXVI.
.MISCIIIEF BREWING—MY_ BLOOD IS MADE TO RUN COLD—EVIL
CONSULTATIONS AND WICKED RESOLVES ~BLOODY BILL AT-
TEMPTS TO DO GOOD AND FAILS—THE ATTACK—WHOLESALE
MURDER— THE FLIGHT —-'I'HE ESCAPE. i
EXT morning I awoke with a feverish brow and
a feeling of deep depression at my heart; and the
more I thought on my unhappy fate, the more wretched
and miserable did I feel.
I was surrounded on all sides by human beings of the
most dreadful character, to whom the shedding of blood
'was mere pastime. On shore were the natives, whose
ithout shuddering. On board were none but pirates of
he blackest dye, who, although not cannibals, were foul
urderers, and more blameworthy even than the savages,
inasmuch as they knew better. Even Bill, with whom I
had, under the strange circumstances of my lot,ormed a
kind of intimacy, was so fierce in his nature as to have
acquired the title of “ Bloody ” from his vile companions.
I felt very much cast down the more I considered the sub-
ject and the impossibility of delivery, as it seemed to“ me;
at least for a long time to come. At last, in my feeling
of utter helplessness,'I prayed fervently to the Almighty
that he would deliver me out of my miserable condition;
and when I had done so I felt some degree of comfort.
When the captain came on deck, before the hour at
which the men usually started for the woods, I begged of


254 THE CORAL ISLAND.
;
him to permit me to remain aboard that day, as I did
not feel well; but he looked at me angrily, and ordered
me, in a surly tone, to get ready to go on shore as usual.
The fact was that the captain had been out of humor for
some time past. Romata and he had had some differ-
ences, and high words had passed between them, during
which the chief had threatened to send a fleet of his war-
canoes, with a thousand men, to break up and burn the
schooner; whereupon the captain smiled sarcastic-ally, and
going up to the chief gazed sternly in his face, while he
said, “ I have only to raise my little finger just now, and
my big gun will blow your whole village to atoms in five
minutes !” Although the chief was a bold man, he quailed
before the pirate’s glance and threat, and made no reply;
but a bad feeling had been raised and old sores had been
opened.
I had, therefore, to go with the wood-cutters that day.
Before starting, however, the captain called me into the
cabin, and said,—
“ Here, Ralph, I’ve got a mission for you, lad. That
blackguard Romata is in the dumps, and nothing will
mollify him but a gift; so do you go up to his house
and give him these whales’ teeth, with my compliments.
Take with you one of the men who can speak the lan-
guage.”
I looked at the gift in some surprise, for it consisted of
six white whales’ teeth, and two of the same dyed bright
red, which seemed to me very paltry things. However,
I did not dare to hesitate or ask any questions ; so, gath-
ering them up, I left the cabin and was soon on my way
to the chiefs house, accompanied by Bill. On express-
ing my surprise at the gift, he said, —-
“ They’re paltry enough to you or me, Ralph, but


THE CORAL ISLAND. 255
they’re considered of great value by them chaps. They’re
a sort 0’ cash among them. The red ones are the most
prized, one of them bein’ equal to twenty o’ the white
ones. I suppose the only reason for their bein’ valuable.
is that there ain’t many of them, and they’re hard to
be got.”
On arriving at the house we found Romata sitting on
a mat, in the midst of a number of large bales of native
cloth and other articles, which had been brought to him
as presents from time to time by inferior chiefs. He
received us rather haughtily, but on Bill explaining the
nature of our errand he became very condescending, and
his eyes glistened with satisfaction when he received the
whales’ teeth, although he laid them aside with an as-
sumption of kingly indifference.
“ Go,” said he, with a wave of the hand,-—“ go, tell
your captain that he may cut wood to-day, but not to-
morrow. He must come ashore,--I want to have a
palaver with him.”
As we left the house to return to the woods, Bill shook
his head : --
“ There’s mischief brewin’ in that black rascal’s head.
I know him of old. But what comes here ?”
As he spoke, we heard the sound of laughter and
shouting in the wood, and presently there issued from it
a band of savages, in the midst of whom were a number
of men bearing burdens on their shoulders. At- first I
' thought that these burdens were poles with something
rolled round them, the end of each pole resting on a
man’s shoulder. But on a nearer approach I saw that
they were human beings, tied hand and foot, and so
lashed to the poles that they could not move. I counted
twenty of them as they passed.


256/ THE CORAL ISLAND.
'K x
“More murder!” said Bill, in 'a voice that sounded
between a hoarse laugh and a groan.
“ Surely they are not going to murder them?” said I,
looking anxiously into Bill’s face.
“ I don't know, Ralph,” replied Bill, “ what they’re
goin’ to do with them; but I fear they mean no good
when they tie fellows up in that way.”
As we continued our way towards the wood-cutters, I
observed that Bill looked anxiously over his shoulder, in
the direction where the procession had disappeared. At
last he stopped, and turning abruptly on his heel, said,—
“I tell ye what it is, Ralph, I must be at the bottom 0’
that affair. Let us follow these black scoundrels and see
what they’re goin’ to do.”
I must say I had no wish to pry further into their
bloody practices; but Bill seemed bent on it, so I turned
and went. We passed rapidly through the bush, being
guided in the right direction by the shouts of the sav-
ages. Suddenly there was a dead silence, which contin-
ued for some time, while Bill and I _involuntarily quick-
ened our pace until we were running at the top of our
speed across the narrow neck of land previously men-
tioned. As we reached the verge of the wood, we dis-
covered the savages surrounding the large war-canoe, _
which they were apparently on the point of launching.
Suddenly the multitude put their united strengthto the
canoe ;. but scarcely had the huge machine begun to move,
when a yell, the most appalling that ever fell u my '
_ea_r, rose high above the shouting of the savages. 1: had
‘ not died away when another and another smote upon my
throbbing ear; and then I saw that these inhuman mon-
sters were actually launching their canoe over the living
bodies of their victims. But there was no pity in the


THE CORAL ISLAND. g I 257
breasts of these men. ' Forward they went in ruthless
indifference, shouting as they went, while high above
their voices-rang the dying shrieks of those wretched
creatures, as one after another, the ponderous canoe'
passed over them, burst the eyeballs from their sockets,
and sent the life’s blood gushing from their mouths. Oh,
reader, this is no fiction. I would not, for the sake of
thrilling you with horror, invent so terrible a scene. It
was witnessed. W~~~sin
which has rendered the human heart capable of such
diabolicalefi'tiiifiitiés'!“ ' "
When it was over I turned round and fell upon the-
grass with a deep groan; but Bill seized me by the arm,
and lifting me up as if I had been a child, cried, —-
“Come along, lad; let’s away!”—and so, staggering,
and stumbling over the tangled underwood, we fled from.
the fatal spot.
During the remainder of that day I felt as if I were
in a horrible dream. I scarce knew what was said to me,
and Was more than once blamed by the men for idling
my time. At last the hour to return aboard came..
We marched down to the beach, and I felt relief for
the first time when my feet rested on the schooner’s-
deck.
In the course of the evening I overheard part of a
conversation between the captain and the first mate,
which startled me not a little. They were down in. _
the cabin, and conversed in an undertone, but the
skylight being off, I overheard every word that was
said. I
“I don’t half like it,” said the mate. “It seems to.
me that we’ll only have hard fightin’ and no pay.”
“N0 pay!” repeated the captain, in a voice of sup--
17


258 THE CORAL ISLAND.
pressed anger. “ Do you call a good cargo all for nothing
no pay?”
“Very true,” returned the mate; “ but we’ve got
the cargo aboard. \Vhy not cut your cable and take
French leave 0’ them? What’s the use o’ tryin’ to lick
the blackguards when it’ll do us no manner 0’ good? ”
“Mate,” said the captain, in a low voice, “you talk
like a freshwater sailor. I can only attribute this shy-
ness to some strange delusion; for surely,” (his voice as-
sumed a slightly sneering tone-as he said this,) “ surely
I am not to suppose that you have become soft-hearted!
Besides, you are wrong in regard to the cargo being
aboard; there’s a good quarter of it lying in the woods,
and that blackguard chief knows it and wont let me
take it off. He defied us to do our worst, yesterday.”
“Defied us! did he ? ” cried the mate, with a bitter
laugh. “ Poor contemptible thing 1 ” p
“ And yet he seems not so contemptible but that you
are afraid to attack him.” ‘ I
“Who said I was afraid ? ” growled the mate, sulkily.
“I’m as ready as any man in the ship. But, captain,
what is it that you intend to do? ”
“ I intend to muflie the sweeps and row the schooner
up to the head of the creek there, from which point we
can command the pile of sandal-wood with our gun.
Then I shall land with all the men except two, who shall
take care of the schooner and be ready with the boat to
take us off. We can creep through the woods to the
head of the village, where these cannibals are always
dancing round their suppers of human flesh, and if the
carbines of the men are loaded with a heavy charge of
buck-shot, we can drop forty or fifty at the first volley.
After that the thing will be easy enough. The savages


THE CORAL ISLAND. 259 .
will take to the mountains in a body, and we shall take
what we require, up anchor, and away.”
To this plan the mate at length agreed. As he left‘
the cabin I heard the captain say,--
“ Give the men an extra glass of grog, and don’t forget
the buck-shot.”
The reader may conceive the horror with which I
heard this mBrderous conversation. I immediately re-
peated it to Bill, who seemed much perplexed about it.
At length he said,—— ‘
“I’ll tell you what I’ll do, Ralph; I’ll swim ashore
after dark and fix a musket to a tree not far from the
place where'we’ll have to land, and I’ll tie a long string
to the trigger, so that when our fellows cross it they’ll let
it off, and so alarm the village in time to prevent an
attack, but not in time to prevent us gettin’ back to the
boat; so, master captain,” added Bill with a smile that
for the first time seemed to me to be mingled with good-
natured cheerfulness, “ you’ll be balked at least for once
in your life by Bloody Bill.”
After it grew dark, Bill put this resolve in practice.
He slipped over the side with a musket in his left hand,
while with his right he swam ashore and entered the
woods. He soon returned, having accomplished his pur-
pose, and got on board without being seen,—I being the
only one on deck.
When the hour of midnight approached, the men were
mustered on deck, the cable was cut, and the muflled
sweeps got out. These sweeps were immensely large
oars, each requiring a couple of men to work it. In a
few minutes we entered the mouth of the creek, which
was indeed the mouthof a small river, and took about
half an hour to ascend it, although the spot where we
I


260 THE CORAL ISLAND.
intended to land was not more than six hundred yards
from the mouth, because there was a slight current
against us, and the mangroves which narrowed the creek,
impeded the rowers in some places. Having reached
the spot, which was so darkened by overhanging trees
that we could see with difficulty, a small kedge anchor
attached to a thin line was let softly down over the
stern.
“ Now, lads,” whispered the captain, as he walked
along the line of men, who were all armed to the teeth,
“don’t be in a hurry, aim low, and don’t waste your
first shots.”
He then pointed to the boat, into which, the men
crowded in silence. There was no room to row, but oars
were not needed, as a slight push against the side of the
schooner sent the boat gliding to the shore.
“There’s no need of leaving two in the boat,” whis-
pered the mate, as the men stepped out; “ we shall want
all our hands. Let Ralph stay.”
The captain assented, and ordered me to stand in read-
iness with the boat-hook, to shove ashore at a moment’s
notice if they should return, or to shove off if any of
the savages should happen to approach. He then threw
his carbine into the hollow of his arm and glided through
the bushes followed by his men. With a throbbing heart
I awaited the result of our plan. I knew the exact
locality where the musket was placed, for Bill had de-
scribed it to me, and I kept my straining eyes fixed upon
the spot. But no sound came, and I began to fear that
either they had gone in another direction or that Bill had
not fixed the string properly. Suddenly I heard a faint
click, and observed one or two bright sparks among the
bushes. My heart immediately sank within me, for I


THE CORAL ISLAND. 261
knew at once that the trigger had indeed been pulled but
that the priming had not caught. The plan, therefore,
had utterly failed. A feeling of dread now began to
creep over me as I stood in the boat, in that dark, silent
spot, awaiting the issue of this murderous expedition. I
shuddered as I glanced at the water that glided past like
a dark reptile. I looked back at the schooner, but her
hull was just barely visible, while her tapering masts
were lost among the trees which overshadowed her. Her
lower sails were set, but so thick was the gloom that they
were quite invisible.
Suddenly I heard a shot. In a moment a thousand
voices raised a yell in the village ; again the cry rose on
the night air, and was followed by broken shouts as of
scattered parties of men bounding into the woods. Then
I heard another shout loud and close at hand. It was
the voice of the captain cursing the man who had fired
the premature shot. Then came the order, “ Forward,”
followed by the wild hurrah of our men, as they charged
the savages. Shots now rang in quick succession, and at
last a loud volley startled the echoes of the woods. It
was followed by a multitude of wild shrieks, which were
immediately drowned in another “hurrah ” from the men;
the distance of the sound proving that they were driving
their enemies before them towards the sea.
While I was listening intently to these sounds, which
were now mingled in confusion, I was startled by the
rustling of the leaves not far from me. At first I
thought it was a party of savages who had observed the
schooner, but I was speedily undeceived by observing a.
body of natives—apparently several hundreds, as far as
I could guess in the uncertain light—bounding through
the woods towards the scene of battle. I saw at once


262 THE CORAL ISLAND.
that this was a party who had outfianked our men, and
would speedily attack them in the rear. And so it turned
out, for, in a short time, the shouts increased tenfold, and
among them I thought I heard a death-cry uttered by
voices familiar to my ear.
At length the tumult of battle ceased, and, from the
cries of exultation that nowarose from the savages, I
felt assured that our men had been conquered. I was
immediately thrown into dreadful consternation. \Vhat
was I now to do? To be taken by the savages was too
horrible to be thought of ; to flee to the mountains was
hopeless, as I should soon be discovered; and to take the -
schooner out of the creek without assistance was impos-
sible. I resolved, however, to make the attempt, as be-
ing my only hope, and was on the point of pushing off,
when my hand was stayed and my blood chilled by an
appalling shriek in which I recognized the voice of one
of the crew. It was succeeded by a shout from the sav-
ages. Then came another and another shriek of agony,
making my ears to tingle, as I felt convinced they were
murdering the pirate crew in cold blood. With a burst-
ing heart and my brain whirling as if on fire, I seized
the boat-hook to push from shore when a man sprang
from the bushes.
“Stop! Ralph, stopl—there now, push 05',” he cried,
and bounded into the boat so violently as nearly to upset
her. It was Bill’s voice. In another moment we were
on board,—the boat made fast, the line of the anchor
cut, and the sweeps run out. At the first stroke of Bill’s
giant arm the schooner was nearly pulled ashore, for in
his haste he forgot that I could scarcely move the un-
wieldy oar. Springing to the stern he lashed the rudder
in such a position as that while it aided me, it acted


THE CORAL ISLAND. 263
against him, and so rendered the force of our strokes
nearly equal. - The schooner now began to glide quickly
down the creek, but before we reached its mouth, a yell
from a thousand voices on the bank told that we were
discovered. Instantly a_number of the savages plunged
into the water and swam towards us; but we were mak-
ing so much way that they could not overtake us. One,
however, an immensely powerful man, succeeded in lay-
ing hold of the cut rope that hung from the stern, and
clambered quickly upon deck. Bill caught sight of him
the instant his head appeared above the taffrail. But
he did not cease' to row, and did not appear even to no-
tice the savage until he was within a yard of him; then,
dropping the sweep, he struck him a blow on the fore-
head with his clenched fist that felled him to the deck.
Lifting him up, he hurled him overboard, and resumed
the oar. But now a greater danger awaited us, for the
O savages had outrun us on the bank and were about to
plunge into the water ahead of the schooner. If they
succeeded in doing so, our fate was sealed. For one mo-
ment Bill stood irresolute. Then, drawing a pistol from
his belt, he sprang to the brass gun, held the pan of his
pistol over the touch-hole, and fired. The shot was suc-
ceeded by the hiss of the cannon’s priming, then the
blaze and the crashing thunder of the monstrous gun
burst upon the savages with such deafening roar that it
seemed as if their very mountains had been rent asunder,
This was enough. The moment of surprise and hesi-w
tation caused by the unwonted sound, gave us time to
pass the point; a gentle breeze, which the dense foliage
had hitherto prevented us from feeling, bulged out our
sails; the schooner bent before it, and the shouts of the
disappointed savages grew fainter and fainter in the dis-
tance as we were slowly wafted out to sea. '


'\ 264 THE CORAL ISLAND.
\
‘\_/
CHAPTER XXVII.
REFLECTIONS — THE WOUNDED MAN — THE SQUALL — TRUE CQNSO~
LATION — DEATH.
HERE is a power of endurance in human beings,
both in their bodies and in their minds, which, I
have often thought, seems to be wonderfully adapted and
exactly proportioned to the circumstances in which indi-
viduals may happen to be placed,—-a power which, in
most cases, is sufficient to carry a man through and over
every obstacle that may happen to be thrown in his path
through life, no matter how high or how steep the moun-
tain may be, but which often forsakes him the moment‘
the summit is gained, the point of difiiculty passed; and
leaves him prostrated, with energies gone, nerves un-
strung, and a feeling of incapacity pervading the entire
frame that renders the most trifling efl'ort almost impossi-
ble.
During the greater part of that day I had been sub- -
jeoted to severe mental and much physical excitement,
which had almost crushed me down by the time I was
.relieved from duty in the course of the evening.‘ But
when the expedition, whose failure has just been nar-
.rated was planned, my anxieties and energies had been
.so powerfully aroused that I went through the protracted
scenes of that terrible night without a feeling of the
slightest fatigue. My mind and body were alike active
.and full of energy. No sooner was the last thrilling fear


266 THE CORAL ISLAND.
which rested on the tiller. As he seemed to rest peace-
fully, I did not mean to disturb him, but the slight noise
I made in raising myself on my elbow, caused him to
start and look round.
“Well, Ralph, awake at last, my boy; you have slept
long and soundly,” he said, turning towards me.
On beholding his countenance I sprang up in anxiety.
He was deadly pale, and his hair, which hung in di-
shevclled locks over his face, was clotted with blood.
Blood also stained his hollow cheeks and covered the
front of his shirt, which, with the greater part of his dress,
was torn and soiled with mud.
“Oh, Bill!” said I with deep anxiety, “what is the
matter with you? You are ill. You must have been
wounded.”
“ Even so, lad,” said Bill, in a deep soft voice, while he
extended his huge frame on the couch from which I
had just risen. “I’ve got an ugly wound, I fear, and
I’ve been waiting for you to waken, to ask you to get
me a drop 0’ brandy and a mouthful 0’ bread from the
cabin lockers. You seemed to sleep so sweetly, Ralph,
that I didn’t like to disturb you. But I don’t feel up
to much just now.” -
I did not wait till he had done talking, but ran below
immediately, and returned in a few seconds with a bottle
of brandy and some broken biscuit. He seemed much
refreshed after eating a few morsels and drinking a long
draught of water mingled with a little spirits. Immedi-
ately afterwards he fell asleep, and I watched him anx-
iously until he awoke, being desirous of knowing the na-
ture and extent of'his wound.
“ Hal” he exclaimed, on awaking suddenly, after a
slumber of an hour, “I’m the better of that n'ap, Ralph;


THE CORAL ISLAND. 267
’7
I feel twice the man I was; and he attempted to rise,
but sank back again immediately with a deep groan.
“Nay, Bill, you must not move, but lie still while I
look at your wound. I’ll make a comfortable bed for
you here on deck, and get you some breakfast. After
that you shall tell me how you got it. Cheer up, Bill,” I
added, seeing that he turned his head away; “you’ll be
all right in a little, and I’ll be a capital nurse to you
though I’m no doctor.”
I then left him, and lighted a fire in the caboose.
While it was kindling, I went to the steward’s pantry and
procured the materials for a good breakfast, with which,
in little more than half an hour, I returned to my com-
panion. He seemed much better, and smiled kindly on
me as I set before him a cup of coffee and a tray with
several eggs and some bread on it.
“Now then, Bill,” said I, cheerfully, sitting down be-
side him on the deck, “let’s fall to. I’m very hungry
myself, I can tell you; but—I forgot — your wound,”
- I added, rising; “let me look at it.”
I found that the wonnd was caused by a pistol shot
in the chest. It did not bleed much, and, as it was on
the right side, I was in hopes that it might not be very '
serious. But Bill shook his head. “However,” said he,
“ sit down, Ilialph, and I’ll tell you all about it.”
“ You see, after we left the boat an’ began to push
through the bushes, we went straight for the line of my
musket, as I had expected ; but by some unlucky chance
it didn’t explode, for I saw the line torn away by the
men’s legs, and heard the click 0’ the lock; so I fancy
the priming had got damp and didn’t catch. I was in a
great quandary now what to do, for I couldn’t concoct in my
mind, in the hurry, any good reason for firin’ off my piece.


268 THE CORAL ISLAND.
But they say necessity’s the mother of invention ; so, just
as I was givin’ it up and clinchin’ my teeth to hide the
worst o’t, and take what should come, a sudden thought
came into my head. I stepped out before the rest,
seemin’ to be awful anxious to be at the savages, tripped
my foot on a fallen tree, plunged head foremost into a
bush, an’, ov coorse, my carbine exploded! Then came
such a screechin’ from the camp as I never heard in all
my life. I rose at once, and was rushin’ on with the rest
when the captain called a halt.
“ ‘ You did that a-purpose, you villain ! ’ he said, with
a tremendous oath, and, drawin’ a pistol from his belt, let
fly right into my breast. I fell at once; and remembered
no more till I was startled and brought round by the most
awful yell I ever heard in my life, — except, maybe, the
shrieks 0’ them poor critters that were crushed to death
under yon big canoe. Jumpin’ up, I looked round, and,
through the trees, saw a fire gleamin’ not far off, the light
0’ which showed me the captain and men tied hand and
foot, each to a p0st, and the savages dancin’ round them
like demons. I had scarce looked for a second, when I
saw one 0’ them go up to the captain flourishing a knife,
and, before I could wink, he plunged it into his breast,
while another yell, like the one that roused me, rang upon
my ear. I didn’t wait for more, but, bounding up, went
crashing through the bushes into the woods. The
black fellows caught sight of me, however, but not in
time to prevent me jumpin’ into the boat, as you
know.”
Bill seemed to be much exhausted after this recital,
and shuddered frequently during the narrative, so I re-
frained from continuing the subject at that time, and en-
deavored to draw his mind to other things.


270 THE CORAL ISLAND.
your breakfasts and dinners; and so we’ll manage fa-
mously, and soon reach the Coral Island.”
Bill smiled faintly as I ran on in this strain.
“ And what will you do,” said he, “if it comes on to
blow a storm?”
This question silenced me, while I considered what I
should do in such a case. At length I laid my hand on
\_ his arm, and said, “Bill, when a man has done all that
\h/e‘can do, he ought to leave the rest to God.”
Oh, Ralph,” said my companion, in a faint voice,
looking anxiously into my face, “ I wish that I had the
feelin's about God that you seem to have, at this hour.
I’m dyin’, Ralph; yet I, who have braved death a
hundred times, am afraid to die. I’m afraid to enter the
next world. Something within tells me there will be a
reckoning when I go there. But it’s all over with me,
Ralph. I feel that there’s no chance 0’ my bein’ saved.”
“Don’t say that, Bill,” said I, in deep compassion,
“don’t say that. I’m quite sure there’s hope even for
you, but I can’t remember the words of the Bible that
make me think so. Is there not a Bible on board,
Bill?”
“No; the last that was in the ship belonged to a
poor boy that was taken aboard against his will. He
died, poor lad, I think, through ill treatment and fear.
After he was gone the captain found his Bible and flung
it overboard.” ,
I now reflected, with great sadness and self-reproach,
0n the way in which I had neglected my Bible; and it
flashed across me that I was actually in the sight of
God a greater sinner than this blood-stained pirate; for,
thought I, he tells me that he never read the Bible, and
was never brought up to care for it; whereas I was care-


THE CORAL ISLAND. i271
\.
fully taught to read it by my own mother, and had read
it daily as long as I possessed one, yet to so little purpose
that I could not now call to mind a single text that would
meet this poor man’s case, and afford him the consolation
he so much required. I was much distressed, and taxed
my memory for a long time. At last a text did flash
into my mind, and I wondered much that I had not
thought of it before.
“ Bill,” said I, in a low voice, “ ‘ Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.’ ”
“ Ay, Ralph, I’ve heard the missionaries say that be-
fore now, but what good can it do me? It’s not for me
that. It’s not for the likes 0’ me.”
I knew not now what to say, for although I felt sure
that that word was for him as well as for me, I could not
remember any other word whereby I could prove it.
After a short pause, Bill raised his eyes to mine and
said, “ Ralph, I’ve led a terrible life. I’ve been a sailor
since I was a boy, and I’ve gone from bad to worse ever
since I left my father’s roof. I’ve been a pirate three
years now. It is true I did not choose the trade, but
I was inveigled aboard this schooner and kept here by
force till I became reckless and at last joined them.
Since that time my hand has been steeped in human
blood again and again. Your young heart would grow
cold if I—; but why should I go on? ’Tis of no use,
Ralph; my doom is fixed.”
“ Bill,” said I, “ ‘ Though your sins be red like crim-
son, they shall be white as snow.’ ‘ Only believe.’ ”
“ Only believe ! ” cried Bill, starting up on his elbow;
“ I’ve heard men talk 0’ believing as if it was easy.
Ha! ’tis easy enough for a man to point to a rope and
say, ‘I believe that would hear my weight;’ but ’tis


272 THE CORAL ISLAND.
another thing for a man to catch hold 0’ that rope, and
swing himself by it over the edge of a precipice I ”
The energy with which he said this, and the action
with which it was accompanied, were too much for Bill.
He sank back with a deep groan. As if the very ele-
ments sympathized with this man’s sufferings, a low
moan came sweeping over the sea.
“ Hist! Ralph,” said Bill, opening his eyes; “there’s
a squall coming, lad. Look alive, boy. Clew up the
foresail. Drop the mainsail peak. Them squalls come
quick sometimes.”
I had already started to my feet, and saw that a heavy
squall was indeed bearing down on us. It had hitherto
escaped; my notice, owing to my being so much engrossed
by our conversation. ~ I instantly did as Bill desiredJ for
the schooner was still lying motionless on the glassy sea.
I observed with some satisfaction that the squall was
bearing down on the larboard how, so that it would strike
the vessel in the position in which she would be best able
to stand the shock. Having done my best to shorten sail,
I returned aft, and took my stand at the helm.
“ Now, boy,” said Bill, in a faint voice, “ keep her close
to the wind.”
A few seconds afterwards he said, “ Ralph, let me hear
those two texts again.”
I repeated them.
“Are ye sure, lad, ye saw them in the Bible?”
“Quite sure,” I replied.
Almost before the words had left my lips the wind
burst upon us, and the spray dashed over our decks. For
a time the schooner stood it bravely, and sprang forward
against the rising sea like a war-horse. Meanwhile clouds
darkened the sky, and the sea began to rise in huge bil-


THE CORAL ISLAND. 273
lows. There was still too much sail on the schooner, and,
as the gale increased, I feared that the masts would be
torn out of her or carried away, while the wind whistled
apd shrieked through the strained rigging. Suddenly the
wind shifted a point, a heavy sea struck us on the bow, and
the schooner was ahnost laid on her beam-ends, so that I
could scarcely keep my legs. At the same moment Bill
lost his hold of the belaying-pin which had served to
steady him, and he slid with stunning violence against the
skylight. “As he lay on the deck close beside me, I could
see that the shock had rendered him insensible, but I did
not dare to quit the tiller for an instant, as it required all ‘
my faculties, bodily and mental, to manage the schooner.
For an hour the blast drove us along, while, owing to
the sharpness of the vessel’s bow and the press of can-
vas, she dashed through the waves instead of breasting
over them, thereby drenching the decks with water fore
and aft. At the end of that time the squall passed away,
and left us rocking on the bosom of the agitated sea.
My first care, the instant I could quit the helm, was to
raise Bill from the deck and place hini on the couch. I
then ran below for the brandy bottle and rubbed his face
and hands with it, andendeavored to pour a little down
his throat. But my efforts, although I continued them.
long and assiduously, were of no avail; as I let go the
hand which I had been chafing it fell heavily on the deck. '
I laid my hand over his heart, and sat for some time
quite motionless, but there was no flutter there _the
pirate was dead!
18


274 THE CORAL ISLAND.
CHAPTER XXVlII.
ALONE ON THE DEEP - NECESSITY THE MOTHER OF INVENTION—
A VALUABLE BOOK DISCOVERED — NATURAL PIIENOMENON — A
BRIGHT DAY IN MY HISTORY.
T was with feelings of awe, not unmingled with fear,
0 that I now seated myself on the cabin skylight
and gazed upon the rigid features of my late comrade,
while my mind wandered over his past history and con-
templated with anxiety my present position. Alone! in
the midst of the wide Pacific, having a most imperfect
knowledge of navigation, and in a schooner requiring at
least eight men as her proper crew. But I will not tax
the reader’s patience with a minute detail of my feelings
and doings during the first few days that followed the
death of my companion. I will merely mention that I
tied a cannon ball to his feet, and, with feelings of the
deepest sorrow, consigned him to the deep.
For fully a week after that a steady breeze blew from
the east, and, as my course lay west-and-by-north, I
made rapid progress towards my destination. I could
not take an observation, which I very much regretted,
as the captain’s quadrant was in the cabin; but, from
the day of setting sail from the island of the savages,
I had kept a. dead reckoning, and as I knew pretty well
now how much leeway the schooner made, I hoped to
hit the Coral Island without much difiiculty. Inthis I
was the more confident that I knew its position on the


THE CORAL ISLAND. ,1 '277
t
\
hadjimany of my own opinions, derived from experience,
corroborated; and not a few of them corrected. Besides
the reading of this charming book, and the daily routine of
occupations, nothing of particular note happened to me
during this voyage, except once, when on rising one
night, after my three hours’ nap, while it was yet dark, I
was amazed and a little alarmed to find myself floating
in what appeared to be a sea of blue fire! I had often
noticed the beautiful appearance of phosphorescent light,
but this far exceeded anything of the sort I ever saw be-’
fore. The whole sea appeared somewhat like milk, and}
was remarkably luminous. ._
I rose in haste, and letting down a bucket into the sea,
brought some of the water on board and took it down to
the cabin to examine it; but no sooner did I approach
the light than the strange appearance disappeared, and
when I removed the cabin lamp the luminous light ap-
peared again. I was much puzzled with this, and took
up a little of the water in the hollow of my hand and then
let it run off, when I found that the luminous substance
was left behind on my palm. I ran with it to the lamp;
but when I got there it was gone. I found, however, that
when I went into the dark my hand shone again; so I
took the large glass of the ship’s telescope and examined
my hand minutely, when I found that there were on it one
or two small patches of a clear transparent substance like
jelly, which were so thin as to be almost invisible to the
naked eye. Thus I came to know that the beautiful
phosphoric light, which I had so often admired before, a
was caused by animals, for I had no doubt that these \
were of the same kind as the medusae or jelly-fish which
are seen in all parts of the world.
On the evening of my fourteenth day, I was awakened
/


278 THE CORAL ISLAND.
out of a nap into which I had fallen, by a-loud cry, and
starting up, I gazed around me. I was surprised and
delighted to see a large albatross soaring majestically
over the ship. I immediately took it into my head that
this was the albatross I had seen at Penguin Island. I
had, of course, no good reason for supposing this, but the
idea occurred to me, I know not why, and I cherished it,
and regarded the bird with as much affection as if he
had been an old friend. He kept me company all that
day and left me as night fell.
Next morning as I stood motionless and with heavy
eyes at the helm, for I had not slept well, I began to
weary anxiously for daylight, and peered towards the
horizon, where I thought I observed something like a
black cloud against the dark sky. Being always on the
alert for squalls, I ran to the bow. There could be no
doubt it was a squall, and as I listened I thought I heard
the murmur of the coming gale. Instantly I began to
work might and main at my cumbrous tackle for shorten-
ing sail, and in the course of an hour and a half had the
most of it reduced, _the topsail yards down on the caps,
the topsails clewed up, the sheets hauled in, the main
and fore peaks lowered, and the flying-jib down. While
thus engaged the dawn advanced, and I cast an occa-
sional furtive glance ahead in the midst of my labor. But
now that things were prepared for the worst, I ran for-
ward again and looked anxiously over the how. I now
heard the roar of the waves distinctly, and as a single
ray of the rising sun gleamed over the ocean I saw—
what! could it be that I was dreamingP—that magnifi-
cent breaker with its ceaseless roarl—that mountain
top l—yes, once more I beheld the Coral Island!


l.‘\
W”
THE CORAL ISLAND. 281-,
the mountains with a bang, such as had only once before
broke their slumber-ing echoes!
Effective although it was, however, it was scarcely
equal to the hang with which, instantly after, Peterkin
bounded from the bower, in scanty costume, his eyeballs
starting from his head with surprise and terror. One
gaze he gave, one yell, and then fled into the bushes like
a'wild cat. The next moment Jack went through ex-
actly the same performance, the only difference being,
that his movements were less like those of Jack-in-the-
box, though not less vigorous and rapid than those of
Peterkin.
“ Hallo !” I shouted, almost mad with joy, “ what, ho!
.Peterkin! Jack! hallo! it’s me!”
My shout was ust in time to arrest them. They halted
and turned round, and, the instant I repeated the cry, I
saw that they recognized my voice, by both of“ them run-
ning at full speed towards the beach. I could no longer
contain myself. Throwing off my jacket, I jumped over-
board at the same moment that Jack bounded into the sea.
In another moment we met in deep water, clasped each
other round the neck, and sank, as a matter of course, to
the bottom! We were well-nigh choked, and instantly
struggled to the surface, where Peterkin was spluttering
about like a wounded duck, laughing and crying by turns,
and choking himself with salt water!
It would be impossible to convey to my reader, by de-
scription, an adequate conception of the scene that fol-
lowed my landing on the beach, as we stood embracing
each other indiscriminately in our dripping garments, and
giving utterance to incoherent rhapsodies, mingled with
wild shouts. It can be more easily imagined than de-
scribed, so I will draw a curtain over this part of my his-


282 THE CORAL ISLAND.
tory, and carry the reader forward over an interval of
three days.
During the greater part of that period Peterkin did
nothing but roast pigs, taro, and breadfruit, and ply me
with plantains, plums, potatoes, and cocoa-nuts, while I
related to him and Jack the terrible and wonderful ad-
ventures I had gone through since we last met. After I
had finished the account, they made me go all over it
again ; and, when I had concluded the second recital, I
had to go over it again, while they commented upon it
piecemeal. They were much affected by what I told
them of the probable fate of Avatea, and Peterkin could
by no means brook the idea of the poor girl being con-
verted into a long pig! As for Jack, he clenched big
teeth, and shook his fist towards the sea, saying at the
same time, that he was sorry he had not broken Tararo’s
head, and he only hoped that one day he should be able
to plant his knuckles on the bridge of that chief's nose!
After they had “pumped me dry,” as Peterkin said, I
begged to be-informed of what had happened to them
during my long absence, and particularly as to how they
got out of the Diamond Cave.
“ Well, you must know,” began Jack, “after you had
dived out of the cave, on the day you were taken away
from us, we waited very patiently for half an hour, not
expecting you to return before the end of that time.
Then we began to upbraid you for staying so long, when
you knew we would be anxious; but when an hour
passed, we became alarmed, and I resolved at all hazards
to dive out, and see what had become of you, although I
felt for poor Peterkin, because, as he truly said, ‘ If you
never come back, I’m shut up here for life.’ However, I
promised not to run any risk, and he let me go; which,
to say truth, I thought very courageous of him! ”


THE CORAL ISLAND. 283
“I should just think it was!” interrupted Peterkin,
looking at Jack over the edge of a monstrous potato which
he happened to be devouring at the time.
“Well,” continued Jack,“ you may guess my conster-
nation when you did not answer to my halloo. At first I
imagined that the pirates must have killed you, and left
you in the bush, or thrown you into the sea ; then it oc-
curred to me that this would have served no end of theirs,
so I came to the conclusion that they must have carried
you away with them. As this thought struck me, I ob-
served the pirate schooner standing away to the nor’ard,
almost hull-down on the horizon, and I sat down on the
rocks to watch her as she slowly sank from my sight.
',And I tell you, Ralph, my boy, that I shed more tears
that time, at 10sing you, than I have done, I verily be-
lieve, all my life before —— ”
“Pardon me, Jack, for interrupting,” said Peterkin;
“s rely you must be mistaken in that; you’ve often told
me‘miat when you were a baby, you used to howl and roar
from morning to -— ”
“ Hold your tongue, Peterkin,” cried Jack. “Well,
after the schooner had disappeared, I dived back into the
cave, much to Peterkin’s relief, and told him what I had
seen. “We sat down and had a long talk over this matter,
and then we agreed to make a regular, systematic search
through the woods, so as to make sure, at least, that you
had not been killed. But now we thought of the diffi-
culty of getting out of the cave without your help. Pe-
terkin became dreadfully nervous when he thought of
this; and I must confess that I felt some alarm, for, of
course, I could not hope alone to take him out so quickly
as we two together had brought him in; and he himself
vowed that, if we had been a moment longer with him


284 THE CORAL ISLAND.
that time, he would have had to take a breath of salt
water. However, there was no help for it, and I en-
deavored to calm his fears as well as I could ; ‘for,’ said
I, ‘you can’t live here, Peterkin ; ’ to which he replied,
‘Of course not, Jack, I can only die here, and, as that’s
not at all desirable, you had better propose something.’
So I suggested that he should take a good long breath,
and trust himself to me.
“‘ Might we not make a large bag of cocoa-nut cloth,
into which I could shove my head, and tie it tight round
my neck?’ he asked, with a haggard smile. ‘It might
let me get one breath under water 1 ’
“‘ No use,’ said I; ‘it would fill in a moment and suf-
focate you. I see nothing for it, Peterkin, if you really'
can’t keep your breath so long, but to let me knock you
down, and carry you out while in a state of insensibility.’ ’
“But Peterkin didn’t relish this idea. He seemed to
fear that I could not be able to measure the exact force
of the blow, and might, on the one hand, hit him so softly
as to render a second or third blow necessary, which
would be very uncomfortable; or, on the other hand,
give him such a smash as would entirely spoil his figure-
head, or, mayhap, knock the life out of him altogether!
At last I got him persuaded to try to hold his breath,
and commit himself to me; so he agreed, and down we
went. But I had not got him half way through, when
he began to struggle and kick like a wild bull, burst
from my grasp, and hit against the roof of the tunnel.
I was, therefore obliged to force him violently back into
the cave again, where he rose panting to the surface.
In short, he had lost his presence of mind, and— ”
“ Nothing of the sort,” cried Peterkin, indignantly, “ I
had only lost my wind; and if I had not had presence


THE CORAL ISLAND. 285
of mind enough to kick as I did, I should have bu’st in
your arms I ”
“WVell, well, so be it,” resumed Jack, with a smile,
“ but the upshot of it was, that we had to hold another
consultation on the point, and I really believe that, had it
not been for a happy thought of mine, we should have
been consulting there yet.”
“I wish we had,” again interrupted Peterkin, with a
sigh. “ I’m sure, Ralph, if I had thought that you were
coming back again, I would willingly have awaited your
return for months, rather than have endured the mental
agony which I went through! But proceed.”
“ The thought was this,” continued Jack, “ that I
should tie Peterkin’s hands and feet with cords, and then
lash him firmly to a stout pole about five feet long, in
order to render him quite powerless, and keep him
straight and stiff. You should have seen his face of hor-
ror, Ralph, when I suggested this; but he came to see
that it was his only chance, and told me to set about it as
fast as I could ; ‘for,’ said be, ‘this is no jokin’, Jack, I _
can tell you, and the sooner it’s done the better.’ I soon
procured the cordage, and a suitable pole, with which I
returned to the cave. and lashed him as stiff and straight
as an Egyptian mummy; and to say truth, he was no
bad representation of what an English mummy would
be, if there were such things, for he was as white as a
dead man.”
“‘Now,’ said Peterkin, in a tremulous voice, ‘swim
with me as near to the edge of the hole as you can be-
fore you dive,itheln let me take a long breath, and, as I
shan’t be able to speak after I’ve taken it, you’ll watch
my face, and the moment you see me wink—dive!
And oh 1 ’ he added, earnestly, ‘pray don’t be long! ’


THE CORAL ISLAND. 287
tened towards the spot, and found it to be a small keg.
On knocking out the head we discovered that it was gun-
powder.” '
“It was I who sent you that, Jack,” said I with a
smile. ’
“Fork out! ” cried Peterkin, energetically, starting to
his feet and extending his open hand to Jack. “ Down
with the money, sir, else I’ll have you shut up for life in
a debtor’s prison the moment we return to England I”
“I’ll give you an 1.0.1]. in the mean time,” returned
Jack, laughing, “ so sit down and be quiet. The fact is,
Ralph, when we discovered this keg of powder, Peterkin
immediately took me a bet of a thousand pounds that
you had something to do with it, and-I took him a bet of
ten thousand that you had not.” '
“ Peterkin was right then,” said I, explaining how the
thing had occurred.
“ 'Well, we found it very useful,” continued Jack; “al-
though some of it had got a little damp; and we fur-
bished up the old pistol, with which Peterkin is a crack
shot now. But, to continue. We did not find any other
vestige of you on the reef, and, finally, gave up all hope
of ever seeing you again. After this the island became.
a dreary place to us, and we began to long for a ship to
heave in sight, and take us off. But now that you’re
back again, my dear fellow, it looks as bright and cheer-
ful as it used to do, and I love it as much as ever.”
“ And now,” continued Jack, “ I have a great desire to
visit some of the other islands of the South Seas. Here
we have a first-rate schooner at our disposal,‘ so I don’t
see what should hinder us.”
“Just the very thing I was going to propose,” cried
Peterkin; “I vote for starting at once.”


THE CORAL ISLAND. 289
When all was ready, we paid a farewell visit to the
different familiar spots where most of our time had been
spent. We ascendedthe mountain top, and gazed for
the last time at the rich green foliage in the valleys,
the white sandy beach, the placid lagoon, and the bar-
rier coral reef with its crested breakers. Then we de-
scended to Spouting Clifi', and looked down at the pale-
green monster which we had made such fruitless efforts
to spear in days gone by. From this we hurried to the
\Vater Garden and took a last dive into its clear waters,
and a last gambol amongst its coral groves. I hurried
out before my companions, and dressed in haste, in order
to have a long examination of my tank, which Peterkin,
in the fulness of his heart, had tended with the utmost
care, as being a vivid remembrancer of me, rather that»
out of love for natural history. It was in superb con~-
dition; — the water as clear and pellucid as crystal ;-
the red and green sea-weed of the most brilliant hues;.
the red, purple, yellow, green, and striped anemones fully
expanded, and stretching out their arms as if to welcome-
and embrace their former master; the star-fish, zoophy-v
tes, sea-pens, and other innumerable marine insects, look»
ing fresh and beautiful; and the crabs, as Peterkin said,
looking as wide awake, impertinent, rampant, and pug~
nacious as ever. It was indeed so lovely and so interest~
ing that I would scarcely allow myself to be torn away
from it.
Last of all, we returned to the bower and collected!
the few articles we possessed, such as the axe, the pencil--
case, the broken telescope, the penknife, the hook made-
from the brass ring, and the sail-needle, with which we
had landed on the island ;— also, the long, boots and the-
19


290 THE CORAL ISLAND.
pistol, besides several curious articles of costume which
we had manufactured from time to time.
These we conveyed on board in our little boat, after
having carved our names on a chip of iron-wood, thus:—
JACK MARTIN,
RALPH ROVER,
PETERKIN GAY,
which we fixed up inside of the bower. The boat was then
hoisted on board and the anchor weighed; which latter
operation cost us great labor and much time, as the anchor
was so heavy that we could not move it without the aid
of my complex machinery of blocks and pulleys. A steady
breeze was blowing off shore when we set sail, at a little
before sunset. It swept us quickly past the reef nd out
to sea. The shore grew rapidly more indistinct as the
shades of evening fell, while our clipper bark bounded
lightly over the waves. Slowly the mountain top sank
on the horizon, until it became a mere speck. In an-
other moment the sun and the Coral Island sank together
into the broad bosom of the Pacific.


THE CORAL ISLAND.
CHAPTER XXX.
THE VOYAGE—THE ISLAND, AND A CONSULTATION IN WHICH
DANGER IS SCOUTED AS A THING UNWORTHY OF CONSIDERA-
TION— RATS AND CATS —-THE NATIVE TEACHER—AWFUL REV-
- ELATIONS—WONDERFUL EFFECTS OF CHRISTIANITY.
UR voyage during the next two weeks was most
interesting and prosperous. The breeze continued
generally fair, and at all times enabled us to lie our
course; for being, as I have said before, clipper-built,
the pirate schooner could lie very close to the wind, and
made little lee way. We had no difficulty now in manag-
ing our sails, for Jack was heavy and powerful, while
Peterkin was active as a kitten. Still, however, we
were a very insuflicient crew for such a vessel, and if
any one had proposed to us to make such a voyage in it
before we had been forced to go thrbugb so many hard-
ships from necessity, we would have turned away with
pity from the individual making such proposal as from a
madman. I pondered this a good deal, and at last con-
cluded that men do not know how much they are capable
of doing till they try, and that we should never give way
to despair in any undertaking, however difficult it may
seem:— always supposing, however, that our cause is
a good one, and that we can ask the divine blessing.
on it. *
WAlthough, therefore, we could now manage our sails
easily, we nevertheless found that my pulleys were of
much service to us in some things; though Jack did-



\
THE CORAL ISLAND. 293
“Yes,” said I, “so Bill gave me to understand. He
told me, however, that, at the southern side of it, the mis-
sionaries had obtained a footing amongst an insignificant
tribe. A native teacher had been sent there by the Wes-
leyans, who had succeeded in persuading the chief at that
part to embrace Christianity. But instead of that being
of any advantage to our enterprise, it seems the very
reverse; for the chief Tararo is a determined heathen,
and persecutes the Christians, — who are far too weak in
numbers to offer any resistance, — and looks with dislike
upon all white men, whom he regards as propagators of
the new faith.”
“’Tis a pity,” said Jack, “that the Christian tribe is
so small, for we shall scarcely be safe under their protec-
tion, I fear. lf Tararo takes it into his head to wish for
our vessel, or to kill ourselves, he could take us from
them by force. You say that the native missionary talks
English?”
“ So I believe.”
“ Then, what I propose is this,” said Jack: “ We will
run round to the south side of the island, and cast anchor
off the Christian village. We are too far away just now
to have been descried by any of the savages, so we shall
get there unobserved, and have time to arrange our
plans before the heathen tribes know of our presence.
But, in doing this, we run the risk of being captured
by the ill-disposed tribes, and being very ill-used, if not
,I
_- a _—
“ Roasted alive and eaten,” cried Peterkin. “Come,
outwith it, Jack; according to your own showing, it’s
well to look the danger straight in the face 1 ”
“ Well, that is the worst of it, certainly. Are you
prepared, then, to take your chance of that P ”


I \s.
Kw (W
HE oofiAL ISL'AND. _.\ -
to the cabin, “I do not drink wine or any
drink.”
“Oh! then, there’s lots of water, and you can have
biscuit.”
“Now, ’pon my word, that’s cool!” said Peterkin;
“his men, forsooth! Well, since we are to be men, we
may as well come it as strong over these black chaps as
we ‘can. Hallo, there!” he cried to the half dozen of
natives who stood upon the deck, gazing in wonder at all
they saw, “here’s for you,” and he handed them a
tray of broken biscuit and a can of water. Then, ‘
thrusting his hands into his pockets, he walked up and
down the deck with an enormous swagger, whistling vo-
ciferously.


In about half an hour Jack and the teacher came on
deck, And the latter, bidding us a cheerful good evening,
entered his canoe and paddled to the shore. When he
was gone, Peterkin stepped up to Jack, and, touching his
cap, said, —
“ W'ell, captain, have you any communications to make
to your men ? " \
“ Yes,” cried Jack; “ready about, mind the helm and
clew up your tongue, while I con the schooner through
the passage in the reef. The teacher, who seems a first-
rate fellow, says it’s quite deep, and good anchorage with--
'in the lagoon close to the shore.”
While the vessel was slowly advancing to her anchor-
age, under a light breeze, Jack explained to us that Avas
tea was still on the island, living amongst the heathens ;;
that she had expressed a strong desire to join the Chris-
tians, but Tararo would not let her, and kept her con-4
stantly in close confinement.
“ Moreover,” continued Jack, “ I find that she belongs.


298 THE CORAL ISLAND.
being also a native, clothed in a simple European gown
and straw bonnet. The shore was lined with hundreds
of natives, whose persons were all more or less clothed
with native cloth. Some of the men had on a kind of
poncho formed of this cloth, their legs being uncovered.
Others wore clumsily-fashioned trousers, and no upper
garment except hats made of straw and cloth. Many of
the dreSses, both of women and men, were grotesque
enough, being very bad imitations of the European garb;
but all wore a dress of some sort or other. They seemed
very glad to see us, and crowded round us as the teacher
led the way to his dwelling, where we were entertained, in
the most sumptuous manner, on baked pig and all the va-
rieties of fruits and vegetables that the island produced.
We were much annoyed, however, by the rats: they
seemed to run about the house like domestic animals.
As we sat at table, one of them peeped up at us over the
edge of the cloth, close to Peterkin’s elbow, who floored
it with a blow on the snout from his knife, exclaiming as
he did so—
“I say, Mister teacher, why don’t you set traps for
these brutes ?—- surely you are not fond of them I ”
“ No,” replied the teacher, with a smile; “ we would-
be glad to get rid of them if we could; but if we were
to trap all the rats on the island, it would occupy our
whole time.”
“ Are they then so numerous ?” inquired Jack.
“ They swarm everywhere. The poor heathens on the
north side eat them, and think them very sweet. So did
my people formerly; but they do not eat so many now,
because the missionary who was last here expressed dis-V
gust at it. The poor people asked if it was wrong to eat
rats ; and he told them that it was certainly not wrong,


THE CORAL ISLAND.
any goods whatever; begging that my wife might be
brought to me the following year,—that is, this year;
and as you see, she is with me. But the surf was so
high that the boat could not land me; so with nothing on
but my trousers and shirt, and with a few catechisms and
a Bible, besides some portions of the Scripture trans-
lated into the Mango tongue, I sprang into the sea, and
swam ashore on the crest of a breaker. I was instantly
dragged up the beach by the natives; who, on finding
I had nothing worth having upon me, let me alone. I
- then made signs to my friends in the ship to leave me ;
which they did. At first the natives listened to me in
silence, but laughed at what I said while 1 preached the
gospel of our blessed Saviour Jesus Christ to them. Af-
terwards they treated me ill sometimes ; but I perse-
vered, and continued to dwell among them, and dispute,
and exhort them to give up their sinful ways of life, burn
their idols, and come to Jesus.
“ About a month after I landed, I heard that the chief
was dead. He was the father of the present chief, who
is now a most consistent member of the church. It is a
custom here that, when a chief dies, his wives are stran-
gled and buried with him. Knowing this, I hastened to
his house to endeavor to prevent such cruelty if possible.
When I arrived, I found two of the wives had already'
been killed, while another was in the act of being stran-
gled. I pleaded hard for her, but it was too late; she
was already dead. I then entreated the son to spare the
fourth wife; and, after much hesitation, my prayer was
granted; but, in half an hour afterwards, this poor woman
repented of being unfaithful, as she termed it, to her hus-
band, and insisted on being strangled ; which was accord-
ingly done.


THE CORAL ISLAND. 305
taken upon us; but seeing that nothing happened, they
changed their minds, and thought that our God must be
the true one after all. From that time the mission pros-
pered Isteadily, and now, while there is not a single man
, in the tribe who has not burned his household gods, and
become a convert to Christianity, there are not a few, I
hope, who are true followers of the Lainb, having been
plucked as brands from the burning by Him who can
save unto the uttermost. I will not tell you more of our
progress at this time, but you see,” he said, waving his
hand around him, “the village and the church did not ex-
ist a year ago l ”
We were indeed much interested in this account, and
I could not help again in my heart praying God to pros-
per those missionary societies that send such inestimable
blessings to these islands of dark and bloody idolatry.
The teacher also added that the other tribes were very
indignant at this one for having burned its gods, and
threatened to destroy it altogether, but they had done
nothing yet; “and if they should,” said the teacher, “the
Lord is on our side ; of whom shall we be afraid?”
“Have the missionaries many stations in these seas? ”
inquired Jack.
“Oh, yes. The London Missionary Society have a
great many in the Tahiti group, and other islands in that
quarter. Then the Wesleyans have the Feejee Islands
all to themselves, and the Americans have many stations
in other groups. But still, my friend, there are hun-
dreds of islands here the natives of which have never
heard of Jesus, or the good word of God, or the Holy
Spirit; and thousands are living and dying in the prac-
tice of those terrible sins and bloody murders of which
you have already heard. I trust, my friends,” he added
20


306 THE CORAL ISLAND.
looking earnestly into our faces, “ I trust that if you ever
return to England, you will tell your Christian friends
that the horrors 'which they hear of in regard to these
islands are literally true, and that when they have heard
the worst, the ‘kalf has not been told them,” for there
are perpetrated here foul deeds of darkness of which
man may not speak. You may also tell them,” he said,
looking around with a smile, while a tear of gratitude
trembled in his eye, and rolled down his coal-black
cheek,—-“ tell them of the blessings that the gospel has
wrought here! ”
We assured our friend that we would certainly not
forget his request. On returning towards the village,
about noon, we remarked on the beautiful whiteness of
the cottages.
“ That is owing to the lime with which they are plas-
tered,” said the teacher. “ “Then the natives were con-
verted, as I have described, I set them to work to build
cottages for themselves, and also this handsome church
which you see. When the framework and other parts of
the houses were up, I.sent the people to fetch coral from
the sea. 'They brought immense quantities. Then I
made them cut wood, and, piling the coral above it, set it
on fire.
“‘Lookl lookl’ cried the poor people in amazement;
‘ what wonderful people the Christians are! He is roast-
ing stones. We shall not need taro or bread-fruit any
more; we may eat stones 1 ’
“But their surprise was still greater when the coral
was reduced to a fine, soft, white powder. They imme-
diately set up a great shout, and, mingling the lime with
water, rubbed their faces and their bodies all over with
it, and ran though the village screaming with delight.


THE CORAL ISLAND. 307
They were also much surprised at another thing they
saw me do. I wished to make some household furniture,
and constructed a turning-lathe to assist me. The first
thing that I turned was the leg of a sofa; which was no
sooner finished than the chief seized it with wonder and
delight, and” ran through the village exhibiting it to the
people, who looked upon it with great admiration. The
chief then, tying a string to it, hung it round his neck as
an ornament! He afterwards told me that if he had
seen it before he became a, Christian, he would have
made it his god i”
As the teacher concluded this anecdote we reached his
door. Saying that he had business to attend to, he left
us to amuse ourselves as we best could.
“Now, lads,” said Jack, turning abruptly towards us,
and buttoning up his jacket as he spoke, “ I’m off to see
the battle. I’ve no particular fondness for seein’ blood-
shed, but I must find out the nature 0’ these fellows and
see their customs with my own eyes, so that I maybe
able to speak of it again, if need be, authoritatively. It’s-
only six miles off, and we don’t run much more risk thaw
that of getting a rap with a stray stone or an overshot
arrow. Will you gb?”
“ To be sure we will,” said Peterkin. ,
“If they chance to see us we’ll cut and run for it,?”
added Jack.
“ Dear me I ” cried Peterkin,— “you run !' I thought:
you would scorn to run from any one.”
“So I would, if it were my duty to fight,” returned
Jack, coolly;"‘ but as I don’t want to fight, and don’t
intend to fight, if they offer to attack us I’ll run away
like the veriest coward that ever went by the name of
Peterkin. So come along.”


308 THE CORAL ISLAND.
CHAPTER XXXI.
A STRANGE AND BLOODY BATTLE—THE LION BEARDED IN HIS
DEN—FRIGIITFUL SCENES OF CRUELTY, AND FEARS FOR THE ‘
FUTURE.
E had ascertained from the teacher the direction
to the spot on which the battle was to be fought,
and after a walk of two hours reached it. The summit
of a bare hill was the place chosen; for, unlike most
of the other islanders, who are addicted to bush-fighting,
those of Mango are in the habit of meeting on open
ground. We arrived before the two parties had com-
menced the deadly struggle, and, creeping as close up
as we dared among the rocks, we lay and watched
them.
The combatants were drawn up face to face, each side
ranged in rank four deep. Those in the first row were
armed with long spears; the second, with clubs to defend
the spearmen; the third row was composed of young
men with slings; and the fourth consisted of women,
who carried baskets of stones for the slingers, and clubs
and spears with which to supply the warriors. Soon
after we arrived, the attack was made with great fury.
There was no science displayed. The two bodies of sav-
ages rushed headlong upon each other and engaged in a
general mele'e, and a more dreadful set of men I have
never seen. They wore grotesque war-caps made of
various substances and decorated with feathers. Their
faces and bodies were painted so as to make them look


310 THE CORAL ISLAND.
pany us as interpreter; saying that, although Tararo was
unfriendly to him, he had hitherto treated him with
respect.
We now went on board the schooner, having resolved
to sail round the island and drop anchor opposite the
heathen village. We manned her with natives, and
hoped to overawe the savages by displaying our brass
gun to advantage. The teacher soon after came on board,
and setting our sails we put to sea. In two hours more
we made the clifl's reverberate with the crash of the big
gun, which we fired by way of salute', while we ran the
British ensign up to the peak and cast anchor. The
commotion on shore showed us that we had struck terror
into the hearts of the natives ; but seeing that we did not
offer to molest them, a canoe at length put off and pad-
dled cautiously towards us. The teacher showed him-
self, and explaining that we were friends and wished to
palaver with the chief, desired the native to go and tell
him to come on board.
We waited long and with much impatience for an an-
swer. Puring this time the native teacher conversed
with us again, and told us many things concerning the
success of the gospel among those islands; and perceiv-
ing that we were by no means so much gratified as we
ought to have been at the hearing of such good news, he
pressed us more closely in regard to our personal interest
in religion, and exhorted us to consider that our souls
were certainly in as great danger as those of the wretch-
ed heathen whom we pitied so much, if we had not al-
ready found salvation in Jesus Christ. “ Nay, further,”
he added, ‘.‘ if such be your unhappy case, you are, in
the sight of God, much worse than these savages (forgive '
me, my young friends, for saying so) ; for they have no


THE CORAL ISLAND. (31/
1‘
knowledge, no light, and do not profess to believe ; while
you, on the contrary, have been brought up in the light
of the blessed gospel and call yourselves Christians.
These poor savages are indeed the enemies of our Lory ;
but you, if ye be not true believers, are traitors l ”
I must confess that my heart condemned me while the
teacher spoke in this earnest manner, and I knew not
what to reply. Peterkin, too, did not seem to like it,
and I thought would willingly have‘escaped; but Jack
seemed deeply impressed, and wore an anxious expres-
sion on his naturally grave countenance, while he as-
sented to the teacher’s remarks and put to him many
earnest questions. Meanwhile the natives who composed
our crew, having nothing particular to do, had squatted
down on the deck and taken out their little books con-
taining the translated portions of the New Testament,
along with hymns and spelling-books, and were now
busily engaged, some vociferating the alphabet, others
learning prayers off by heart, while a few sang hymns, -
all of them being utterly unmindful of our presence.
The teacher soon joined them, and soon afterwards they
all engaged in a prayer which was afterwards trans-
lated to us, and proved to be a petition for the suc-
cess of our undertaking and for the conversion of the
heathen.
While we were thus engaged a canoe put off from
shore and several savages leaped on deck, one of whom
advanced to the teacher and informed him that Tararo
could not come on board that day, being busy with some
religious ceremonies before the gods, which could on no
account be postponed. He was also engaged with a
friendly chief who was about to take his departure from
the island, and therefore begged that the teacher and


THE CORAL ISLAND. ' 315
spears and clubs. I observed among the latter some with
human teeth sticking'in them, where the victims had been
clubbed in their mouths.
Before this temple the bodies, which were painted with
vermilion and soot, were arranged in a sitting posture;
and a man, called a “ dan-vosa ” (orator), advanced, and,
laying his hands on their heads, began to chide them,
apparently, in a low bantering tone. What he said we
knew not, but, as he went on, he waxed warm, and at last
shouted to them at the top of his lungs, and finally finished
by kicking the bodies over and running away, amid the
shouts and laughter of the people, who now rushed for-
ward. Seizing the bodies by a leg, or an arm, or by the
hair of the head, they dragged them over stumps and
stones and through sloughs, until they were exhausted.
The bodies were then brought back to the temple and
dissected by the priest, after which they were taken out
to be baked.
Close to the temple a large fire was kindled, in which
stones were heated red hot. When ready these were
spread out on the ground, and a thick coating of leaves
strewn over them to slack the heat. On this “ lovo,” or
oven, the bodies were then placed, covered over, and left
to bake. '4
The crowd now ran, with terrible yells, towards a
neighboring hill or pound, on which we observed the
framework of a house lying ready to be erected. Sick"?
with horror, yet fascinated by curiosity, we staggered after
them mechanically, scarce knowing where we were going
or what we did, and feeling a sort of impression that all
we saw was a dreadful dream.
Arrived at the place, we saw the multitude crowding
round a certain spot. We pressed forward and obtained


THE CORAL ISLAND. 317
CHAPTER XXXII.
AN UNEXPECTED DISCOVERY, AND A BOLD, RECKLESS DEFIANCE,
MTII ITS CONSEQUENCES—PLANS OF ESCAPE, AND HEROIC RE-
SOLVES.
HEN we returned to the shore, and related to our
friend what had passed, he was greatly distressed,
and groaned in spirit; but we had not sat long in conver-
sation, when wevwere interrupted by the arrival of Ta-
raro on the beach, accompanied by a number of follow-
ers, bearing baskets of vegetables and fruits on their heads.
We advanced to meet him, and he expressed, through
our interpreter, much pleasure in seeing us.
“ And what is it that my friends wish to say to me? ”
he inquired. '
The teacher explained that we came to beg that Ava-
tea might be spared.
“ Tell him,” said Jack, “that I consider that I have a
right to ask this of him, having not only saved the girl’s
life, but the lives of his own people also; and say that I
wish her to be allowed to follow her own wishes, and
join the Christians.”
While this was being translated, the chief’s brow low-
ered, and we could see plainly that our request met with
no favorable reception. He replied with considerable
energy, and at some length.
" What says he?” inquired Jack.
“ I regret to say that he will not listen to the proposal.


320 THE CORAL ISLAND.
teacher, entreatingly. If you persist in this mad defi-i
ance, you will be slain, and Avatea will be lost. Three
days are worth having.”
Jack hesitated a moment, then lowered his club, and
throwing it moodin to the ground, crossed his arms on
his breast, and hung down his head in silence.
Tararo seemed pleased by his submission, and told the
teacher to say that he did not forget his former services,
and, therefore, would leave him free as to his person, but
that the schooner would be detained till he had further
considered the matter.
While the teacher translated this, he approached as
near to where Avatea was standing as possible, without
creating suspicion, and whispered to her a few words in
the native language. Avatea, who, during the whole of
the foregoing scene, had stood leaning against the tree
perfectly passive, and seemingly quite uninterested in all
that was going on, replied by a single rapid glance of
her dark eye, 'which was instantly cast down again on
the ground at her feet.
Tararo now advanced, and taking the girl by the hand,
led her unresistingly away, while Jack, Peterkin, and I
returned with the teacher on board the schooner.
On reaching the deck, we went down to the cabin,
where Jack threw himself, in a state of great dejection,
on a couch; but the teacher seated himself by his side,
and, laying his hand upon his shoulder, said,—
“ Do not give way to anger, my young friend. God
has given us three days, and we must use the means
that are in our power; to free this poor girl from slavery.
We must not sit in idle disappointment, we must act.”—
“Act l” cried. Jack, raising himself, and tossing back
his hair wildly; “it is mockery to talk of acting when


- THE CORAL ISLAND. 321
one is bound hand and foot. How can I act? I cannot
fight a wholevnation of savages single-handed. Yes,” he
said, with a bitter smile, “ I can fight them, but I cannot
conquer them, or save Avatea.” '
“ Patience, my friend; your spirit is not a good one
just now. You cannot expect that blessing which alone
can insure success, unless you are more submissive. I
will tell you my plans if you will listen."
“Listen l” cried Jack, eagerly, “ of course I will, my
good fellow; I did not know you had any plans. Out
with them. I only hope you will show me how I can get
the girl on board of this schooner, and I’d up anchor and
away in no time. But proceed with your plans.”
The teacher smiled sadly: “Ah! my friend, if one
fathom of your anchor chain were to rattle, as you drew
it in, a thousand warriors would be standing on your
deck. No, no, that could not be done. Even now, your
ship would be taken from you were it not that Tararo
has some feeling of gratitude toward you. But I know
Tararo well. He is a man of falsehood, as all the uncon-
verted savages are. The chief to whom he has prom-
ised. this girl is very powerful, and Tararo must fulfil his
promise. He has told you that he would do nothing to
the girl for three days; but that is because the party
whoare to take her away will not be ready to start for
three days. Still, as he might have made you a prisoner
during those three days, I say that God has given them-
to us.”
“Well, but what do you propose to do?” said Jack,
impatiently.
“ My plan involves much danger, but I see no other,
and I think you have courage to-brave'it. It is this:
There is an island about fifty miles to- the south of this,
21


THE CORAL ISLAND. 323
ing it impossible that she could escape from the island.
Indeed, I am sure that such an idea will never enter
their heads. But, as I have said, you run great danger.
Fifty miles in a small canoe, on the open sea, is a great
voyage to make. You may miss the island, too, in which
case there is no other in that direction for a. hundred
miles or more; and if you lose your way and fall among
other heathens, you know the law of Feejee—a cast-
away who gains the shore is doomed to die. You must
count the cost, my young friend.”
“ I have counted it,” replied Jack. “If Avatea con-
sents to run the risk, most certainly I will; and so will
my comrades also. Besides,” added Jack, looking seri-
ously into the teacher’s face,“ your Bible, — our Bible,
tells of ONE who delivers those who call on him in the
time of trouble ; who holds the winds in his fists and the
waters in the hollow of his hand.”
We now set about active preparations for the intended
voyage; collected together such things as we should
require, and laid out on the deck provisions sufficient to
maintain us for several weeks, purposing to load the
canoe with as much as she could hold consistently with
speed and safety. These we covered with a tarpaulin,
intending to convey them to the canoe only a few hours
before starting. When night spread her sable curtain
over the scene, we prepared to land ; but, first, kneeling
along with the natives and the teacher, the latter im-
plored a blessing on our enterprise. Then we rowed
quietly to the shore and followed our sable guide, who
led us by a long détour, in order to avoid the village, to
the place of rendezvous. We had not stood more than
five minutes under the gloomy shade of the thick foliage
when a dark figure glided noiselessly up to us.


324 THE CORAL ISLAND.
“ Ah! here you are,” said Jack, as Avatea approached.
“Now, then, tell her what we’ve come about, and don’t
waste time.”
“I understan’ leetl English,” said Avatea, in a low
voice.
“ Why, where did you pick up English?” exclaimed
Jack, in amazement; “ you Were dumb as a stone when I
saw you last.”
“ She has learned all she knows of it from me,” said
the teacher, “ since she came to the island.”
We now gave Avatea a full explanation of our plans,-
entering into all the details, and concealing none of the
danger, so that she might be fully aware of the risk she
'ran. As we had anticipated, she was'too glad of the
opportunity thus afforded her to escape from her perse-
cutors to think of the danger or risk.
“ Then you’re willing to go with us, are you P” said
Jack.
“ Yis, I willing to go.”
“ And you’re not afraid to trust yourself out on the
deep sea so far?”
“ No, I not ’fraid to go. Safe with Christian.”
After some further consultation, the teacher suggested
that it was time to return, so we bade Avatea good
night, and having appointed to meet at the cliff where
the canoe lay, on the following night, just after dark, we
hastened away— we to row on board the schooner with
mufiled oars—Avatea to glide back to her prison-hut
among the Mango savages. -


326 THE CORAL ISLAND.
phantom-boat or a shadow on the dark water. Not a
breath of air was stirring; but fortunately the gentle rip-
ple of the sea upon the shore, mingled with the soft roar
’of the breaker on the distant reef, effectually drowned
the slight plash that we unavoidably made in the water
by the dipping of our oars.
Quarter of an hour sufficed to bring us to the over-
hanging clitf under whose black shadow our little canoe
lay, with her bow in the water ready to be launched, and
most of her cargo already stowed away. As the keel of
our little boat grated on the sand, 9. hand was laid upon
the bow, and a dim form was seen.
“ Ha ! ” said Peterkin in a whisper, as he stepped upon
the beach, “is that you, Avatea ? ”
“ Yis, it am me,” was the reply.
“ All right! Now, then, gently. Help me to shove
off the canoe,” whispered Jack to the teacher; “and
Peterkin, do you shove these blankets aboard, we may
want them before long. Avatea, step into the middle ;—
that’s right.”
“ Is all ready?” whispered the teacher.
“ Not quite,” replied Peterkin. “Here, Ralph, lay
hold 0’ this pair of oars, and stow them away if you can.
I don’t like paddles. After we’re safe away I’ll try to rig
up rollicks for them.”
“ Now, then, in'with you and shove off.”
One more earnest squeeze of the kind teacher’s hand,_
and, with his whispered blessing yet sounding in our ears,
we shot like an arrow from the shore, sped over the still
waters of the lagoon, and paddled as swiftly as strong
arms and willing hearts could urge us over the long swell
of the open sea.
All that night and the whole of the following day we


THE CORAL ISLAND. 327
plied our paddles in almost total silence and without
halt, save twice to recruit our failing energies with a
mouthful of - food and a draught of water. Jack had
taken the bearing of the island just after starting, and
laying a small pocket-compass before him, kept the head
of the canoe due south, for our chance of hitting the
island depended very much on the faithfulness of our
steersman in keeping our tiny bark exactly and con-
stantly on its proper course. Peterkin and I paddled
in the bow, and Avatea worked untiringly in the middle.
As the sun’s lower limb dipped on the gilded edge of
the sea Jack ceased working, threw down his paddle,
and called a halt.
“There,” he cried, heaving a deep, long-drawn sigh,
“ we’ve put a considerable breadth of water between us
and these black rascals, so now we’ll have a hearty sup-
per and a sound sleep.”
“ Hear, hear,” cried Peterkin. “ Nobly spoken, Jack.
Hand me a drop of water, Ralph. Why, girl, what’s
wrong with you? You look just like a black owl blink-
ing in the sunshine.” ,
Avatea smiled. “I sleepy,” she said; and as if to
prove the truth of this, she laid her head on the edge of
the canoe and fell fast asleep. \
“That’s uncommon sharp practice,” said Peterkin,
with a. broad grin. “ Don’t you think we should awake-
her to make her eat something first? or, perhaps,” he
added, with a grave, meditative look, “perhaps we
might put some food in her mouth, which is so elegantly
open at the present moment, and see if she’d swallow it
while asleep. If so, Ralph, you might come round to the-
front here and feed her quietly, while Jack and I are-
tucking into the vietuals. It would be a monstrous econ-
omy of time.”


328 THE CORAL ISLAND.
/ I could not help smiling at Peterkin’s idea, which,
indeed, when I pondered it, seemed remarkably good
in theory; nevertheless I declined to put it in practice,
being fearful of the result should the victual chance to
go down the wrong throat. But, on suggesting this to
Peterkin, he exclaimed,—
“ Down the wrong throat, man! why, a fellow with
half an eye might see that if it went down Avatea’s
throat it could not go down the wrong throatl—un-
less, indeed, you have all of a. sudden become inordi-
nately selfish, and think that all the throats in the world
are wrong ones except your own. However, don’t talk so
much, and hand me the pork before Jack finishes it.
I feel myself entitled to at least one minute morsel.”
“ Peterkin, you’re a villain. A paltry little villain,”
said Jack, quietly, as he tossed the hind legs (including
the tail) of a cold roast pig to his comrade; “and Imust
. again express my regret that unavoidable circumstances
L have thrust your society upon me, and that necessity has
compelled me to cultivate your acquaintance. Were it
not that you are incapable of walking upon the water, I
‘would order you, sir, out of the canoe.” .
“There! you’ve wakened Avatea with your long
tongue,” retorted Peterkin, with a frown, as the girl gave
vent to a deep sigh. “No,” he continued, “it was only
.a snore. Perchance she dreameth of her black Apollo.
I say, Ralph, do leave just one little slice of that yam.
’ Between you and Jack I run a chance of being put on
short allowance, if not —- yei— a—a — ow I ”
Peterkin’s concluding remark was a yawn of so great
energy that J aek recommended him to postpone the con-
clusion of his meal till next morning, —-a piece of advice
which he followed so quickly, that I was forcibly re-


THE CORAL ISLAND. I 329
minded of his remark, a few minutes before, in regard to
the sharp 'practice of Avatea.
My readers will have observed, probably, by this time,
that I am much given to meditation; they will not,
therefore, be surprised to learn that I fell into a deep
revery on the subject of sleep, which was continued
without intermission into the night, and prolonged with-
out interruption into the following morning. But-I can-
not feel assured that I actually slept during that time,
although I am tolerany certain that I was not awake.
Thus we lay like a shadow on the still bosom of the
ocean, while the night closed in, and all around was calm,
dark, and silent.
A thrilling cry of alarm from Peterkin startled us in
the morning, just as the gray dawn began to glimmer in
the east. '
“ What’s wrong ? ” cried Jack, starting up.
Peterkin replied by pointing with a look of anxious
dread towards the horizon; and a glance sufliced to show
us that one of the largest sized war-canoes was approach-
ing us!
With a groan of mingled despair and anger Jack seized
his paddle, glanced at the compass, and, in a suppressed
voice, commanded us to “give way.” But we did not
require to be urged. Already our four paddles were
glancing in the water, and the canoe bounded over the
glassy sea like a dolphin, while a shout from our pursuers
told that they had observed our motions.
“I see something like land ahea ,” said Jack, in a
hopeful tone. “ It seems impossible that we could have
made the island yet; still, if it is so, we may reach it be-
fore these fellows can catch us, for our canoe is light and
our muscles are fresh.”


330 _ THE CORAL ISLAND.
No one replied; for, to say truth, we felt that, in a
long chase, we had no chance whatever with a canoe
which held nearly a hundred warriors. Nevertheless,
we resolved to do our utmost to escape, and paddled
with a degree of vigor that kept us well in advance of
our pursuers. The war-canoe was so far behind us that
it seemed but a little speck on the sea, and the shouts, to
which the crew occasionally gave vent, came faintly to-
wards us on the morning breeze. We therefore hoped
that we should be able to keep in advance for an hour or
two, when we might, perhaps, reach the land ahead. But
this hope was suddenly crushed by the supposed land, not
long after, rising up into the sky, thus proving itself to
be a fog-bank !
A bitter feeling of disappointment filled each heart,
and was expressed on each countenance, as we beheld
this termination to our hopes. But we had little time to
think of regret. Our danger was too great and imminent
to permit of a moment’s relaxation from our exertions.
No hope now animated our b'osoms; but a feeling of
despair, strange to say, lent us power to work, and nerved
our arms with such energ , that it was several hours ere
the savages overtook us. When we saw that there was
indeed no chance of escape, and that paddling any longer
would only serve to exhaust our strength, without doing
any good, we turned the side of our canoe towards the
approaching enemy, and laid down our paddles.
Silently, and with a look of bitter determination on his
face, Jack lifted one of the light boat-oars that we had
brought with us, and, resting it on his shoulder, stood up
in an attitude of bold defiance. Peterkin took the other
oar and also stood up, but there was no anger visible on
his couptenance. When not sparkling with fun, it usually


THE CORAL ISLAND. 331
wore a mild, sad expression, which was deepened on the
present occasion, as he glanced at Avatea, who sat with
her face resting in her hands upon her knees. Without
knowing very well what I intended to do, I also arose
and grasped my paddle with both hands.
On came the large canoe like a war-horse of the deep,
with the foam curling from its sharp bow, and the spear-
heads of the savages glancing in the beams of the rising
sun. Perfect silence was maintained on both sides, and
we could hear the hissing water, and see the frowning
eyes of the warriors, as they came rushing on. When
about twenty yards distant, five or six of the savages in
the bow rose, and, laying aside their paddles, took up
their spears. Jack and Peterkin raised their cars, while,
with a feeling of madness whirling in my brain, I grasped
my paddle and prepared for the onset.’ But, before any
of us could strike a blow, the sharp prow of the war~
canoe struck us like a thunderbolt on the side, and hurled
us into the sea!
What occurred after this I cannot tell, for I was nearly
drowned; but when I recovered from the state of in-
sensibility into which I had been thrown, I found myself
stretched on my back, bound hand and foot between Jack
and Peterkin, in the bottom of the large canoe.
In this condition we lay the whole day, during which
time the savages only rested one hour. When night
came, they rested again for another hour, and appeared
to sleep just as they sat. But we were neither unbound
nor allowed to speak to each other during the voyage,
nor was a morsel of food or a draught of water given to
us. For food, however, we cared little; but we would
have given much for a drop of water to cool our parched
lips, and we would have been glad, too, had they loosened



334 THE CORAL ISLAND.
/ x
at first we thought that our'guards were conducting us to
the but of Tararo again. But in this we were mistaken.
The heating of drums gradually increased, and soon after
we observed a procession of the natives coming towards
us. At the head of this procession we were placed, and
then we all advanced together towards the temple where
human victims were wont to be sacrificed !
A thrill of horror ran through my heart as I recalled to
mind the awful scenes that I had before witnessed at that
dreadful spot. But deliverance came suddenly from a
quarter whence we little expected it. During the whole
of that day there had been an unusual degree of heat in
the atmosphere, and the sky assumed that lurid aspect
which portends a thunder-storm. Just as we were ap-
proaching the horrid temple, a growl of thunder burst
overhead and heavy drops of rain began to fall.
Those who have not witnessed gales and storms in
tropical regions can form but a. faint conception of the
fearful hurricane that burst upon the island of Mango at
this time. Before we reached the temple, the storm burst
upon us with a deafening roar, and the natives, who
knew too well the devastation that was to follow, fled
right and left through the woods in order to save their
property, leaving us alone in the midst of the howling
storm. The trees around us bent before the blast like
willows, and we were about to flee in order to seek shel-
ter, when the teacher ran toward us with a knife .in his
hand.
“ Thank the Lord,” he said, cutting our bonds, “ I am
in time! Now, seek the shelter of the nearest rock.”
This we did without a moment’s hesitation, for the
whistling wind burst, ever and anon, like thunderclaps
among the trees, and tearing them from their roots,


THE CORAL ISLAND. 335
hurled them with violence to the ground. Rain cut
across the land in sheets, and lightning played like forked
serpents in the air; while, high above the roar of the
hissing tempest, the thunder crashed, and burst, and
rolled in awful majesty.
In the village the scene was absolutely appalling.
Roofs were blown completely off the houses in many
cases; and in others, the houses themselves were levelled
with the ground. In the midst of this, the natives were
darting to and fro, in some instances saving their goods,
but in many others seeking to save themselves from the
storm of destruction that whirled around them. But,
terrific although the tempest was on land, it was still
more tremendous on the mighty ocean. Billows sprang,
as it were, from the great deep, and while their crests
were absolutely scattered into white mist, they fell upon
the beach with a crash that seemed to shake the solid
land. ~ 'But they did not end there. Each successive
wave swept higher and higher on the beach, until the
ocean lashed its angry waters among the trees and bushes,
and at length, in a sheet of white curdled foam, swept
into the village and upset and carried off, or dashed into
wreck, whole rows of the native dwellings! It was a
sublime, an awful scene, calculated, in some degree at
least, to impress the mind of beholders with the might
and the majesty of God.
We found shelter in a cave that night and all the next
day, during which time the storm raged in fury; but on
the night following it abated somewhat, and in the morn-
ing we went to the village to seek for food, being so fam-
ished with hunger that we lost all feeling of danger, and
all wish to escape in our desire to satisfy the cravings of
nature. But no sooner had we obtained food than we


336 THE CORAL ISLAND.
began to wish that we had rather endeavored to make
our escape into the mountains. This we attempted to do
soon afterwards, but the natives were now able to look
after us, and on our showing a disposition to avoid ob-
servation and make towards the mountains, we were-
seized by three warriors, who once more bound our
wrists and thrust us into our former prison.
It is true Jack made a vigorous resistance, and
knocked down the first savage who seized him, with a
well-directed blow of his fist, but he was speedily over-
powered by others. Thus we were again prisoners, with
the prospect of torture and a violent death before us.


THE CORAL ISLAND. 337
CHAPTER XXXIV.
IMPRISONMENT—SINKING HOPES —-UNEXPEGTED FREEDOM TO
MORE THAN ONE, AND IN MORE SENSES THAN ONE.
OR a long long month we remained in our dark and
dreary prison, during which dismal time we did not
see the face of a human being, except that of the silent
savage who brought us our daily food.
There have been one or two seasons in my life during
which I have felt as if the darkness of sorrow and deso-
lation that crushed my inmost heart could never pass
away, until death should make me cease to feel. The
present was such a season.
During the first part of our confinement we felt a cold
chill at our hearts every time we heard a footfall near
the cave— dreading lest it should prove to be that of our
executioner. But as time dragged heavily on, we ceased
to feel this alarm, and began to experience such a deep,
irrepressible longing for freedom, that we chafed and
fretted in our confinement like tigers. Then a feeling
of despair came over us, and we actually longed for the-
time when the savages would take us forth to die! But
these changes took place very gradually, and were min-
gled sometimes with brighter thoughts; for there were
times when we sat in that dark cavern on our ledge of
rock, and conversed almost pleasantly about the past,
until we well-nigh forgot the dreary present. But we
seldom ventured to touch upon the future.
22


THE CORAL ISLAND. 339
hands, he bent down his head and wept. It was an unu-
sual sight for me to see our once joyous companion in
tears, and I felt a burning desire to comfort him; but,
alas! what could I say? I could hold out no hope ; and
although I essayed twice to speak, the words refused to
pass my lips. While I hesitated, Jack sat down beside
him, and whispered a few words in his ear, while Peter—
kin threw himself on his friend’s breast, and rested his
head on his shoulder.
Thus we sat for some time in deep silence. Soon af-
ter, we heard footsteps at the entrance of the cave, and
immediately our jailer entered. We were so. much ac-
customed to his regular visits, however, that we paid lit-
tle attention to him, expecting that he would set down
our meagre fare, as usual, and depart. But, to our sur-
prise, instead of doing so, be advanced towards us with a
knife in his hand, and, going up to Jack, he cut the
thongs that bound his wrists, then he did the same to
Peterkin and me! For‘fully five minutes we stood in
speechless amazement, 'with our freed hands hanging
idly by our sides. The first thought that rushed into my
mind was, that the time had come to put us to death;
and, although, asII have said before, we actually wished
for death in the strength of our despair, now that we
thought it drew really near I felt all the natural love of
life revive in my heart, mingled with a chill of horror at
the suddenness of our call.
But I was mistaken. After cutting our bonds, the
savage pointed to the cave’s mouth, and we marched,
almost mechanically, into the open air. Here, to our sur- ‘
prise, we found the teacher standing under a tree, with
his hands clasped before him, and the tears trickling
down his dark cheeks. On seeing Jack, who came out


THE CORAL ISLAND. Q41;
,"'\
The scene that met our eyes here was one that I shall
never forget. On a rude bench in front of his house sat
the chief. A native stood on his left hand, who, from his
dress, seemed to be a teacher. On his right stood an
English gentleman, who, I at once and rightly concluded,
'w‘as a missionary. He was tall, thin, and apparently
past forty, with a bald forehead, and thin gray hair. The
expression of his countenance was the most winning I
ever saw, and his clear gray eye beamed with a look that
was frank, fearless, loving, and truthful. In front of the
chief was an open space, in the centre of which lay a pile
of wooden idols, ready to be set on fire; and around these
were assembled thousands of natives, who had come to
join in or to witness the unusual sight. A bright smile
overspread the missionary’s face as he advanced quickly
to meet us, and he shook us warmly by the hands.
“ I am overjoyed to meet you, my dear young friends,”
he said. “My friend, and your friend, the teacher, has
told me your history; and I thank our Father in heaven,
with all my heart, that he has guided me to this island,
and made me the instrument of saving you.”
We thanked the missionary most heartily, and asked
him in some surprise how he had succeeded in turning
the heart of Tararo in our favor.
“ I will tell you that at a more convenient time,” he
answered, “ meanwhile we must not forget the respect due
to the chief. He waits to receive you.”
In the conversation that immediately followed between
us and Tararo, the latter said that the light of the gospel
of Jesus Christ had been sent to the island, and that to
it we were indebted for our freedom. Moreover, he told
us that we were at liberty to depart in our schooner
whenever we pleased, and that we should be supplied
22 *


344 THE CORAL ISLAND.
CHAPTER XXXV.
CONCLUSION.
0 part is the lot of all mankind. The world is a
scene of constant leave-taking, and the hands that
grasp in cordial greeting to-day, are doomed ere long to
unite for the last time, when the quivering lips pro-
nounce the word—“ Farewell.” It is a sad thought, but
should we on that account exclude it from our minds?
May not a lesson worth learning be gathered in the con-
templation of it? May it not, perchance, teach us to de-
i vote our thoughts more frequently and attentively to that
land where we meet, but part no more? .
- How many do we part from in this world with a light
“Good-bye,” whom we never see again! Often do I
think, in my meditations on this subject, that if we real-
ized more fully the shortness of the fleeting intercourse
that we have in this world with many of our fellow-men,
we would try more earnestly to do them good, to give
__ them a friendly smile, as it were, in passing (for the long-
" est intercourse on earth is little more than a passing word
\ and glance), and show that we have sympathy with them
in the short quick struggle of life, by our kindly words
nd looks and actions.
The time soon drew near when we were to quit the
islands of the South Seas; and, strange though it may
appear, we felt deep regret at parting with the natives
of the island of Mango; for after they embraced the
Christian faith, they sought, by showing us the utmost
kindness, to compensate for the harsh treatment we had


346 THE CORAL ISLAND.
0-,..- - s
As the missionary intended to remain for several
weeks longer in order to encourage and confirm his new
converts, Jack and Peterkin and I held a consultation in
the cabin of our schooner, — which we found just as we
had left her, for everything that had been taken out of
her was restored. We now resolved to delay our de-
parture no longer. The desire to see our beloved native
land was strong upon us, and we could not wait.
Three natives volunteered to go with us to Tahiti,
where we thought it likely that we should be able to pro-
cure a sufficient crew of sailors to man our vessel; so
we accepted their offer gladly.
It was a. bright clear morning when we hoisted the
snow-white sails of the pirate schooner and left the shores
of Mango. The missionary, and thousands of the natives,
came down to bid us God-speed, and to see us sail away.
As the vessel bent before a light fair wind, we glided
quickly over the lagoon under a cloud of canvas.
Just as we passed through the channel in the reef, the
natives gave us a loud cheer; and as the missionary
waved his hat while he stood on a coral rock with his
gray hairs floating in the wind, we heard the single word
“Farewell” borne faintly over the sea.
/ That night, as we sat on the tafi‘rail, gazing out upon
the wide sea, and up into the starry firmament, a thrill
of joy, strangely mixed with sadness, passed through
our hearts,—for we were at length “ homeward bound,”
and were gradually leaving far behind us the beautiful,
bright, green cqral islands of the Pacific Ocean.
THE END.