Part 2 (1/2)

CHAPTER III

On the wreck--Efforts to kindle a fire--My flagstaff--Clothing i corn in turtles' blood--My house of pearl shells--How the pelicans fished for -rae”--My ain to build a boat--An appalling blunder--Riding on turtles--Preaching to Bruno--Canine syes by the pelicans--A wonderful als at last

That s, but was unable to get anything to drink Between nine and ten o'clock, as the tide was then very loas delighted to find that it was possible to reach the wreck by walking along the rocks So, scras as I could possibly transfer ashore I had to take dangerous headers into the cabin, as the whole shi+p's interior was now full of water, but all I could e to secure were a toiven me by the Papuans I had always taken a keen interest in archery, by the way, and hadbefore I left Switzerland I also took out a cooking-kettle All these seely unimportant finds were of vital importance in the most literal sense of the phrase, particularly the tomahawk and the bohich were in after years hted when I secured my bow and arrows, for I knew that with the sea-fowl for food There was a stock of gunpowder on board and a nuuns, but as the former was hopelessly spoiled, I did not trouble about either

With my tomahawk I cut away some of the shi+p's ork, which I threw overboard and let drift to land to serve as fuel When I did eventually return to my little island, I unravelled a piece of rope, and then tried to produce fire by rubbing two pieces of wood sether amidst the inflammable material It was a hopeless business, however; a full half- hour's friction only made the sticks hot, and rub as hard as I would I could not produce the faintest suspicion of a spark I sat down helplessly, and wondered how the savages I had read of ever got fire in this way

Up to this tiht I simply slept in the open air on the sand, with only et out of the vessel sos of precious water, a small barrel of flour, and a quantity of tinned foods All these, together with soot safely ashore, and in the afternoon I riggedonly soht from the shi+p on a subsequent visit were a stiletto that had originally been given to me by my mother It was an old family relic with a black ebony handle and a finely teot a stone tomahawk--a mere curio, obtained from the Papuans; and a quantity of a special kind of wood, also taken on board at New Guinea This wood possessed the peculiar property of snited, without actually bursting into flaood fuel

As the an experiainst the stone one over a heap of fluffyout a piece of blanket Success attended my patient efforts this time, and to my inexpressible relief and joy I soon had a cheerful fire blazing alongside ood care _never to let it go out during the whole lime I remained a prisoner on the island_ The fire was always ht and day it was kept at least s by means of the New Guinea wood I have already e stock on board The shi+p itself, I should mention, provided me with all the fuel that was required in the ordinary way, and,the shore that had been gathered in by the restless waves Often--oh!

often--I reflected with a shudder what one down in deep water, leaving me safe, but deprived of all the stores she contained The long, lingering agony, the starvation, the madness of thirst, and finally a horrible death on that far-away strip of sand, and another skeleton added to that grisly pile!

The days passed slowly by In what part of the world I was located I had not the reether out of the beaten track of shi+ps because of the reefs that studded these seas, and therefore the prospect of ht that often caused ony, more terrible than any staff on the highest point of the island--(poor ”island,”--_that_ was not n _upside down_ frohted by some stray vessel, and indicate the presence of a castaway to those on board Every staff, and scanned the horizon for a possible sail, but I always had to come away disappointed

This became a habit; yet, so eternal is hope, that day by day, week by week, and month by month the bitter disappointment was always a keen torture By the way, the very reefs that erous served completely to protect my little island in stormy weather The fury of the billows lost itself upon them, so that even the surf very rarely reached me I was usually astir about sunrise I knew that the sun rose about 6 AM in those tropical seas and set at 6 PM; there was very little variation all the year round A heavy dew descended at night, which htfully hot that I could not bear the weight of ordinary clothes uponloosely round my waist

Another reason why I abandoned clothes was because I found that when a rent appeared the sun blazed down through it and raised a painful blister On the other hand, byconstant sea baths, I suffered scarcely at all froies to the wreck of the _Veielland_, lest anything should happen to it, and worked with feverish energy to get everything I possibly could out of the shi+p It took me some months to acco--even the greater part of the cargo of pearl shells The as rendered particularly arduous in consequence of the decks being so frequently under water; and I found it was only at the full and new moons that I could actually _walk_ round on the rocks to the wreck In course of tian to break up, and I materially assisted the operation with an axe I wanted her timbers to build a boat in which to escape

The casks of flour I floated ashore were very little the worse for their ih to the depth of a couple of inches, for the inner part perfectly dry and good Much of this flour, however, was afterwards spoiled by weevils; nor did ht on tarpaulins and sails save it fros of beans, rice, and etables, and innumerable other articles of food, besides some small casks of oil and ru, and at the end of nine months very little remained of her on the rocks but the bare skeleton of the hull Ito the tides

In a large chest that came ashore from the captain's cabin I found a stock of all kinds of seeds, and I resolved to see whether I could grow a little corn Jensen himself had put the seeds aboard in order to plant theht be coth of tirow plants on board for the aetables, flowers, and Indian corn, the last na in the cob The Malays are very fond of flowers, and the captain told theht try and cultivate some in boxes on board; but when he saw that this would mean an additional drain upon his supply of fresh water he withdrew the permission I knew that salt water would not nourish plants, and I was equally certain I could not spare fresh water from my own stock for this purpose

Nevertheless, I setexperie turtle shell with sand and a little clay, and thoroughly wetted thethe rain quickly sprouted, and flourished so rapidly, that within a very short time I was able to transplant it--always, however, nourishi+ng it with the blood of turtles This most satisfactory result induced me to extend my operation, and I soon had quaint little crops of e turtle shells; the wheat-plants, however, did not reachti I have described as a place of shelter, but when I began to recover the pearl shells froht use theether there were about thirty tons of pearl shells on board, and at first I took to diving for theetting enough shells ashore to build a couple of parallel walls, each about seven feet high, three feet thick, and ten feet in length The breeze blew gratefully through them I filled the interstices of these walls with a puddle of clayey sand and water, covered in the top with canvas, and -place out of it The walls at any rate had a high commercial value! When the wet season set in I built a third wall at one end, and erected a sort of double awning in front, under which I always keptI also put a straw thatch over the hut, proudly using roith blood

In course of ti a table, so at first consisted of sails, but afterwards I was able to have a mattress filled with straw from my corn patch The kettle I had saved fro utensil, so when I had anything to prepare I generally made an oven in the sand, after the manner of the natives I had met on the New Guinea main I could always catch plenty of fish--principally mullet; and as for sea-fowls, all that I had to do alk over to that part of the island where they were feeding and breeding, and knock theh-cakes from the flour whilst it lasted; and I had deputies to fish for me--I mean the hundreds of pelicans The birds who had little ones to feed went out in the , and returned in the afternoon, with from three to ten pounds of delicious fresh fish in their curious pouches

On alighting on the island they emptied their pouches on the sand--too often, I must confess, solely forwith full pouches jerked their catch into the air, and so sed it It used to aull, perched on their back, cleverly and neatly intercepting the fish as it ascended These fish, with broiled turtle meat and tinned fruits, made quite a sumptuous repast

After breakfast I would have a shen the tide was low and there was no likelihood of sharks being about A run along the beach in the sun until I was dry followed, and then I returned to lish, frolish-French Testa uist in those days, and spoke English particularly well long before I left Switzerland After breakfast, o out to catch a peculiar sort of fish called the ”sting-rae” These curious creatures have a sharp bony spike about two inches in length near the tail and this I found admirably adapted for arrow-heads The body of the fish rese They would come close in-shore, and I would spear the-spear The shed fifteen pounds, and I could never carry hoht They have the power of stinging, I believe, electrically, hence their na by one of these fish, and it was an experience I shall never forget It fortunately happened at a time when some friendly blacks were at hand, otherwise I question veryslowly along the beach in rather deep water, when I suddenly felt a h I had just received a paralysing shock from a powerful battery, and down I fell in a state of absolute collapse, unable to stir a finger to saveFortunately the blacks ith me came and pulled me ashore, where I slowly recovered

There was only a slight scratch ontiot to know of the sy-rae” The spike or stingto the size of the fish

But to return to - rae was not pleasant to eat, being rather tough and tasteless, so I used it as a bait for sharks Turtles visited the island in great nus in holes h-water h tide; and whenever I wanted a special delicacy, I turned one over on its back till , when I despatched it leisurely with my tomahawk The creatures' shells I always devoted to the extension of e, and eventually covered fully two-thirds of the island The enerally et three crops in the course of a year The straw ca purposes, but as I found the sand-flies and other insects becoround, I decided to try a ha it in my hut, when I found that it answeredwas to ward off the dull agony, the killing depression, and enerally Fortunately I was of a very active disposition, and as a pastiymnastics, even as I had at Montreux I became a most proficient tumbler and acrobat, and could turn two or three so roof of h ju I interested myself in was the construction of a sun-dial

Indeed, I spentsome means whereby I could fashi+on a reliable ”clock,” and at last I worked out the principle of the sun-dial on the sand I fixed a long stick perfectly upright in the ground, and then s and pearl shells I calculated the hours according to the length of the shadows cast by the sun

But, in spite of all that I could do to interest or amuse myself, I was frequently overwhelmed with fits of depression and despair, and more than once I feared I should lose ious craze took possession of ht, I could not keepupon certain apparent discrepancies in the various apostles' versions of the Gospel!

I foundover statements made in one form by St Matthew, and in another by St Luke; and I conjured up endless theological arguments and theories, until I was driven nearly frantic