Part 8 (2/2)
”I suppose then,” said Morton, ”that we can do nothing better, than to trust ourselves entirely to this current which must in fact be a pretty powerful one--at least as rapid as the Gulf Stream.”
”We can do nothing better until the wind changes,” replied Arthur, cheerfully; ”at present I am disposed to think we are doing very well, and fast approaching land.”
But there was no change of the wind, and we continued hour after hour, apparently making no progress, but in reality, as we believed, drifting steadily westward. All through the day we maintained a vigilant watch, lest by any possibility we should miss sight of the island which Arthur was so confident we were approaching. Late in the afternoon we saw a flock of gannets, and some sooty tern; the gannets pa.s.sing so near that we could hear the motion of their long twisted wings. Later still, a number of small reef-birds pa.s.sed over head; all were flying westward.
This confirmed Arthur in his belief of the proximity of land. ”See,”
said he, ”these little reef-birds are bound in the same direction with the others, and with ourselves; you may depend upon it, that the sea-fowl we have seen, are hastening homeward to their nests, on some not far distant sh.o.r.e.”
So fully did I share this confidence, that I commenced a calculation as to the time at which we might expect to reach land. a.s.suming it to have been thirty miles distant at the time when we had seen its spectrum, by means of the refraction, arising from a peculiar state of the atmosphere; and estimating the rate of the current at three miles an hour, I came to the conclusion that we could not even come in sight of it until late at night; and it was therefore without any strong feeling of disappointment, that I saw the day fast drawing to a close, and nothing but sky and ocean yet visible.
The sun had already set, but the long tract of crimson and flame-coloured clouds that glowed in the horizon where he had disappeared, still reflected light enough to render it easy to distinguish objects in that quarter, when I was startled by a cry of joyful surprise from the native boy, who, shading his eyes with his hands, was looking intently westward. After a long and earnest gaze, he spoke eagerly to Arthur, who told us that the boy thought he saw his native island. Looking in the same direction, I could make out nothing.
Arthur and Browne spoke of a brilliantly white line, narrow, but well-defined against the horizon, as being all that they could see.
Morton, who was very keen-sighted, thought that he distinguished some dark object beyond the low white band seen by the others. As the light gradually failed, we lost sight of this appearance. It was some hours before the rising of the moon, which we awaited with anxiety. She was now at her full, and when at length she came up out of the sea, her disc, broad and red like a beamless sun, seemed to rest, dilated to preternatural size, upon the edge of the last wave that swelled against the horizon. As she ascended the sky, she shed over the ocean a flood of silvery light, less glaring, but almost as bright as that of day.
The wonderful brilliancy of the moon and stars within the tropics, is one of the first things noted by the voyager. It may be owing to the great clearness and transparency of the atmosphere: but whatever the cause, their light is much more powerful than in higher lat.i.tudes, and they seem actually nearer, and of greater magnitude.
We now looked eagerly westward again; the snow-white line, of which the others had spoken, was by this time distinctly visible to me also, and beyond it, too plainly relieved against the clear blue of the sky, to admit of doubt or illusion, were the high outlines of a tropical island, clothed with verdure to its summit.
Again the little islander shouted joyously, and clasped his hands, while the tears streamed down his olive cheeks.
He recognised his native island, the smallest and most easterly of the three, of which his father was the chief. We should soon come in sight of the remaining two, he said, which were lower, and lay to the north and south of it; he explained that the appearance, like a low white line running along the base of the island, was caused by the surf, bursting upon a coral reef about a mile from the sh.o.r.e.
Here then, at last, was the land which we had at one time despaired of ever beholding again, and now we were well a.s.sured that it was no airy phantasm; yet strange as it may seem, our feelings were not those of unmingled joy.
A thousand vague apprehensions and surmises of evil, began to suggest themselves, as we approached this unknown sh.o.r.e, inhabited by savages, and under the dominion of a savage. We doubted not that we might depend upon the good-will, and friendly offices of the little native, but we felt at the same time, that the influence of one so young, might prove insufficient for our protection.
We were in some measure acquainted with the savage customs, the dark and cruel rites, that prevailed among the Polynesian races generally, and had often listened with horror, to the recital of what Arthur and his uncle had themselves seen, of their b.l.o.o.d.y superst.i.tions, and abominable practices. As I looked into the faces of my companions, it was easy to perceive that they were possessed by anxious and gloomy thoughts.
Meanwhile, the current continued to sweep us steadily onward toward the sh.o.r.e, the outlines of which became every moment more distinct.
Occasionally a cloud drifted athwart the moon, and cast a soft shade upon the sea, obscuring the view for a time; but when it had pa.s.sed, the land seemed to have drawn perceptibly nearer during the interval. At length, when the night was far advanced, and the island was right before us, at the distance of scarcely a mile, the native lad, who had been gazing wistfully toward it for the last half-hour, uttered a plaintive cry of disappointment. He had looked long and anxiously, for the appearance of the two remaining islands of his father's group, but in vain; and now he yielded reluctantly to the conviction, that he had been deceived by the white line of surf, similar to that which bounded on one side his native island, and that he had never before seen the one which we were approaching. This discovery was a relief to me, and removed a weight of apprehension from my mind. The thought of being cast upon a desert and uninhabited sh.o.r.e, seemed less dreadful, than that of falling into the power of a tribe of savage islanders, even under circ.u.mstances which would probably secure us a friendly reception.
But now a strange and unforeseen difficulty presented itself. Between us and the island, stretched a barrier reef, running north and south, and curving westward; and appearing, as far as we could see, completely to surround it. Along the whole line of this reef the sea was breaking with such violence as to render all approach dangerous; neither could we espy any break or opening in it, through which to reach the sh.o.r.e.
Towards this foaming barrier the current was rapidly bearing us, and we were too feeble to struggle long against its force. To permit ourselves to be carried upon the reef would be certain destruction, and our only hope of safety seemed to lie in discovering some inlet through it. Our true situation flashed upon me all at once; I had not before thought of the impossibility of receding. Glancing at Arthur, I caught his eye, and saw that he comprehended the full extent of the danger. ”We are near enough to see any break in the reef,” said he, ”let us now take to the oars, and coast along it in search of one.”
This was accordingly done. But it was not until we had pulled along the sh.o.r.e for some time, and found that in spite of our endeavours to preserve our distance from it, we were steadily forced nearer, that the rest seemed aware of the imminence of the danger.
”The current is carrying us among the breakers,” exclaimed Morton, at length, ”though we are heading rather away from the sh.o.r.e, we are getting closer every moment.” This appalling fact was now apparent to all.
”The wind seems to have died away,” said Browne, ”at any rate there is not enough of it to help us: we must put about and pull out of the reach of this surf, or we are lost.”
”How long do you suppose we can continue that?” said Arthur. ”No, our only hope is in finding an entrance through the reef, and that speedily.”
We now steered a little farther away, and strained at the oars, as those who struggle for life. Occasionally, when lifted on the crest of a wave, we caught a transient glimpse of a smooth expanse of water beyond the foaming line of surf, and extending from the inner edge of the reef, to the sh.o.r.e of the island. The tall tops of the palms bordering the beach, seemed scarcely a stone's throw distant and you could fancy that, but for the roar of the breakers, you might hear the rustling of their long, drooping leaves; but it only added to the horror of our situation, to see that safe and peaceful haven, so near, yet so inaccessible.
In some places the reef rose quite out of the water; in others, it was, in nautical phrase, ”all awash;” but nowhere could we attempt a landing with safety. All the while, too, it was evident that in spite of our desperate exertions, we were being driven nearer and nearer the breakers. This kind of work had continued almost an hour, when our strength began to fail.
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