Part 19 (1/2)
Not wishi+ng to engage these savages, Hartog stood out to sea, but so fearless were they that when they saw us they came in pursuit of us
Over twenty canoes croith natives put off froreeted them with shots from our brass cannon, which sent the observed to fall after each discharge of grapeshot and canister a named Staten Land, in honour of the States of Holland, with an unfavourable impression of its inhabitants, who appeared to be bloodthirsty savages, prone to hostility without provocation
CHAPTER XLIX
THE CANNIBAL ISLANDS
After leaving Staten Land we sailed west to between the fifteenth and twenty-first parallels of south latitude, e fell in with a number of islands, some of considerable extent, while others were mere islets of sand and rock, uninhabited except by sea-fowl and turtle A great barrier reef surrounds the group to the eastward, leaving the southern quarter open This barrier is broken by nuation is possible, but dangerous, except in fine weather In addition to the great barrier, every island has an encircling reef of its own The general appearance of these islands is bold and striking
They are perhaps the mountain tops of some sunken continent The island upon which we landed was one of the largest of the group, with a background of wooded hills, and a fringe of pale stood ae
We found the inhabitants of this island not nearly so friendly as other savages we had er, and bore a ferocious aspect The chief wore a necklace of whales' teeth, his hair frizzled into a mop, which stood out from his head, coloured to a reddish-brown
His skin was a light broith no tattoo marks upon it, but shi+ny, as if rubbed with oil He carried a club and spear of elaborate workmanshi+p, and wore a cloth petticoat made fron His folloere si feathers in their hair, and a peculiar leaf froether this race appeared to be possessed of a far higher state of civilization than the people in Terra Australis They were, however, openly addicted to cannibalism, and made no secret of this abominable practice
These natives did not display any hostility at our landing, nor did they express any surprise at the presents we h they accepted e gave them with avidity
We stayed at this island for nearly twoof the customs of the people, and I was able, after a while, to understand soes were continually at ith one another, and the boo soroup It was from prisoners taken in battle that men were provided for cannibal feasts, hence there was never lacking a cause for quarrel The prisoners were kept in a compound, where they were fattened for the pot and killed anted
These islanders were industrious in their oay They built comfortable houses, andthe heat of fire when used for cooking Their boat-builders constructed sea-going canoes capable of travelling long distances They also made a delicate cloth from the bark of the mulberry tree, upon which they printed froance Their spears and clubs also showed much taste in their construction and orna nets of coconut fibre, hich they captured an abundance of fish The tribes on the different islands kept up a syste co of which was their hereditary occupation A son followed the occupation of his father, and for hiarded as an offence against ancestors A son was expected to do exactly as his father did before him, and to do it in the sa outside the reef, I was startled by a cry, and looking tohence it ca for the reef with the black fin of a shark close upon her Going to her assistance Ithe girl into hted her with a present of printed calico hich to reign as a queen of fashi+on aratitude by takingit upon her forehead, whichof a compact between us that she would lay down her life for me if occasion should require It was to this that we subsequently owed our escape fro profitable to trade from these islands with the exception of sandal wood and tortoiseshell, of which we obtained a supply, but I noticed that the chief did not appear to grudge anything we took fro our crew that they could have anything for the asking, and the shi+p was soon a museum of island curiosities This aroused es, and how they always try to take all and give nothing in return
Toward the end of our visit, I also observed that nuan to arrive in canoes, and that preparations were being irl I had saved fro on the beach opposite to the shi+p, gazing at the vessel long and earnestly Thinking she wished to coain, I went in reat alar me to follow her, she led ht be free from observation Here she confided to uests ere
It appeared froirl's account of the matter that Vale Vulu's professed friendshi+p for us was only a blind in order that he ht attack us unawares To this end he had invited certain tribes from some of the adjacent islands, hom he happened to be on friendly terms, to a feast, the principal food of which was to consist of the dead bodies of our crew His own tribe, unaided, he did not consider strong enough for this enterprise, but with the assistance of the friendly cannibals, whom he invited to the banquet, he made no doubt that he would easily be able to overcome us, particularly as ere to be taken unawares The plan was to invite us to the feast, which ould be told was to consist only of fish, coconuts, and bananas, but, ere seated, at a given signal ould be massacred and eaten, after which Vale Vulu would take possession of our shi+p and all that belonged to us
The poor girl, when she had finished her story, confessed she would no doubt suffer death by torture for having betrayed the plot I tried to induce her to co that if she did so an attack would be made upon us at once, where our shi+p lay, helpless, in the lagoon I could not but see the force of her arguent to ad of what I had heard
Our plans were soon made All hands were told to be in readiness to oon during the night, ould depend upon a breeze to escape froes Arms and ammunition were served to the crew, and our brass cannon was loaded to thethe early part of the night we could see lights on the shore, whilst the beating of war drums and the sound of wooden horns continued to a late hour At last all was still, e slipped our anchor, and began the arduous task of towing the shi+p out of the lagoon through the opening in the reef which ht we laboured at the oars, and whenthe shi+p into the open sea for some distance from the land But our peril was by no means at an end An absolute calm prevailed, and unless a breeze caes would put off in their war canoes to attack us Nor in this eof drues crowding on to the reef, fro becal in the reef, each containing soes, and were paddled rapidly toward us
When the canoes cae our brass cannon accounted for one of them, on board of which I hoped was the traitor Vale Vulu, but the others came on, and there is little doubt that by force of numbers we must have been overpowered had not the breeze, which we could now see approaching, come in ties had already begun to swarm on to our decks, when the sails filled and the ”Golden Seahorse” began to gather way We were now incensed against the cannibals for their treacherous conduct, and e of our muskets With our cutlasses we soon drove those who had ventured upon the shi+p into the sea, and a second discharge fro canoes, when the others made off As our shi+p bowed to the waves of the ocean ere able oncea last look at the island, I fancied I saw a dark forhest cliffs upon the rocks below Was it the brave girl, I wondered, who had saved us, and who had thus escaped torture by destroying herself?
CHAPTER L
AGAIN AT THE MOLUCCAS
Hartog was anxious, before returning hoain at the Molucca Islands, and deether with a ranso treated us so scurvily on our former visit We knew that this treacherous chief depended for the success of his piratical sche by surprise those for whom he pretended friendshi+p, and for that reason we had arranged to y, pay Thedori back in his own coin, capture him, and hold him to ransom
Noe knew that if Thedori, or any of the people, caught but a glimpse of the ”Golden Seahorse”, they would make ready to attack her with all the force at their command, but the ”Speedwell” was unknown to the the Moluccas where our shi+p ht remain unnoticed while our plans were matured The plan we had formed was a simple one, and was therefore the more likely to succeed It was, shortly, as follows On reaching the Moluccas ould choose a convenient harbour as the base of our enterprise, when the ”Speedwell”
would set out alone for the island ruled over by Thedori, where we had no doubt the captain and creould be well received, as is the habit of this crafty king when dealing with strangers, in order that he e theo aboard his vessel to inspect the cargo of furs and other goods in which he proposed to trade Once on board the ”Speedwell”, the King of the Moluccas would be kidnapped, and brought away to where the ”Golden Seahorse” was at anchor, when Hartog undertook to deal with hi us at the Moluccas, was very ready to fall in with this plan e told hie pearls that were to be found at the island, so's ranso allowed to return to his people