Part 7 (1/2)
WE GO EXPLORING, AND MEET WITH AN ADVENTURE
It cost Billy and me nearly three et her afloat; then, upon a certain day, the boy and I, provided with a rifle apiece, a brace of revolvers, and an abundant supply of cartridges for each kind of weapon, climbed down the side of the wreck into our completed craft, set her sails, and pushed off upon our first voyage of exploration
The as, as usual, blowing a moderate breeze from the easte started, consequently the island lay dead to ard, a ”beat” of twoan excellent opportunity to test the weatherly qualities of the boat; and I was agreeably surprised not only at the style in which she turned to ard, but also at the speed hich she slipped through the water, and the certainty and celerity hich she ”stayed” She made the distance in a fewthat as we drew in under the land the wind grew ever arded as a very creditable performance
As we shortened the distance between ourselves and the land the prospect grew ever ht froround now revealed itself as finely broken into a range of lofty hills of gracefully flowing outline, with suggestions of picturesque valleys winding between theht and soft shadohile the variegated and brilliant hues of the foliage completed a picture of indescribable beauty
But all this beauty by no means exhausted the charm of the place, for as we drew still closer to the beach ere able to distinguish that the woods were the habitat of countless thousands of birds of strange andwhich I identified what I believed to be three or four species of birds of paradise, as well as a great variety of sun birds flitting froems It is to be admitted that the cries of those birds were not always in accord with the splendour of their plu for the most part distinctly harsh and unmusical; but there was one exception that startled us not a little e first heard it Its cry was an exact reproduction of the sound of a sweet-toned bell, so exact, indeed, that for the moment I felt fully persuaded that, hidden soreenery, there must be a monastery, or some such institution; and it was not until we ular, intermittent character of the sounds, and the fact that they eth arrived at an explanation of the apparentthe ly white beach of coral sand, and we stepped out, securing the boat by ing the flukes of the for the weapons hich we had provided ourselves, set out to explore the new territory
The beach was of varying width, ranging fro at all; indeed many of the cocoa-nut trees were actually rooted in soil that was, at thelaved by the salt water, due to the fact that we happened to land about the time of full tide
It happened also that the fruit was at that season just ripening, so round with a thud, even as we stood staring about us, that ere able without difficulty to collect and place in the boat as many as we pleased This done, we atterowth at that point that ere soon co clearly evident that the only way in which we could penetrate would be by hewing a path for ourselves
But it did not follow that because we failed here we must necessarily fail everywhere We therefore re-e under way, headed northward, keeping close to the beach anda reasonable prospect of successful penetration Several ti, but on each occasion our hopes were speedily dashed, ourmerely in penetration for a distance of less than half a ated failures, for while our clothing suffered somewhat in our encounters with the thorns that persistently barred our passage, ere fortunate enough to secure a few bunches of delicious wild grapes, a large bunch of very delicately flavoured bananas, and six splendid pineapples Upon our return to the beach I took the precaution toit upright in the sand, so that it could easily be seen at soe of exploration, lunching luxuriously upon bananas,northward for a distance of so the western shore, we quite suddenly opened out the mouth of what I at first supposed to be an i in a south-easterly direction toward the interior of the island, but which subsequently proved to be one of several channels dividing what I originally iroup of no less than seven Naturally, I at once decided to abandon for the oon, in favour of a survey of this ay, and the boat was accordingly put about and headed into it At its entrance it radually widened out until, at a point about eight oon, it was quite two and a half miles wide Here the channel trended a point or two farther to the eastward; and so to the south-easthile the other trended away toward the north-east I decided to follow the latter
The land on both sides was still distinctly hilly, and densely covered with forest, but on our left the hills sloped rapidly doard until they died away in a plateau, the level of which was only two or three feet above the surface of the water As the boat glided slowly onward under the influence of a breeze that had steadily grown ressed, we subjected this plateau to a rigorous scrutiny through the shi+p's telescope, which we carried with us, but the place looked so uninviting that we decided against landing there Nor did the land to the southward look anyfro almost vertically from the water We therefore pushed on, all the more impelled thereto because the channel now ran aled to beat up through it; , and I wanted, if possible, to find soht in cohtaway to the north-east while the other trended off in a south-easterly direction As we reached this point the wind suddenly freshened, and there was a salt tang in it quite distinctive froetation that we had now been breathing for several hours; also there came to our ears, subdued by distance, the low, continuous boo thunder of surf, from which I surmised--correctly as it subsequently proved--that ere nearing the eastern extre the boat into the south-eastern channel, with the long range of vertical rocky cliffs still stretching away on our starboard boe presently ca some six miles frohly triangular in plan, the surface sloping upward on all sides froe to a peak which I esti close inshore, to get as near a view as possible of this island, we found its appearance most delectable Like much of e had already seen, the entire island was forest-clad, but the country was rew less thickly together; they were not rowth, although many of them were almost smothered in what appeared to be innumerable varieties of orchids, and the soil was clothed hat looked like short, grey-green grass down to the inner edge of the narrow beach, which was lined with cocoa-nut pally attractive an appearance that, finding ourselves rather unexpectedly standing into a nice, snug little bay, I headed straightway for the beach, determined to push our explorations no farther for that day
Securelythe boat as before, we landed and, fully armed, made our way inland over the southern shoulder of the hill, observing, as ent, that aiants that towered about us on every hand there were fruit-trees in abundance, ao, the custard-apple, the shaddock or grape-fruit, grape- vines twining about e clusters of richly flavoured fruit, while bananas and plantains were to be seen wherever one turned one's eyes Birds also see-place, for they were everywhere, their beautiful plu a further charm to the little island paradise
Fro, the distance was about awas coht detours here and there ere able to progress without the need to force our way through dense undergrowth; a gentle saunter of about half an hour's duration therefore took us to the point for which I was ai Arrived there, ere afforded a clear view eastward, e discovered, as I had suspected, that we had practically reached the eastern extreround sloped down to the eastern shore, its distance being about a oon, which was at this point solines of Pacific swell that eternally hurled themselves upon the barrier reef And midway between that reef and the island on which we stood there was a smaller island which, in all essentials, appeared to be a replica of the one ere on, for it, too, was park- like in the arrangerew upon it, while it also boasted a central peak, rising to a height of some six or seven hundred feet This small island, it was evident, was the easternroup, and I at once determined to pay it a visit early on the morrow; for if it should prove, upon inspection, to be as desirable as it looked, it would certainly be the place on which we ought to take up our abode, since froht heave in sight, and fro in the reef happened to be anywhere handy--we could slip out to sea in our boat and, if need be, intercept that shi+p South of us, and on the opposite side of a channel about three-quarters of a mile wide, lay the curious island of the vertical cliffs, already referred to From the view-point which we occupied we could see the entire length of this island, which I esti a low cliff soht miles south-east of us I resolved that on thethe san to speak of as ”ours”, I would pay a visit to this other island, which somehow seemed to have invested itself in ht enca a tent for for the purpose And we slept soundly, the night air on the eastern side of the group being, as we discovered, very much fresher and cooler than on the western side, where the wreck lay
We were astir by sunrise nextourselves to a swim in the bay, after which we proceeded to prepare breakfast When we had finished the meal we struck the tent, packed it away in the boat, and started upon another day's exploration
Our first call was at the sroup, which I had practically deterht keep us prisoners on the group; and we found it almost ideal for our purpose In the first place there was, on its south-western side, a snug little cove, just large enough to accoht ride safely in all weathers
Next, discharging into this cove there was a brook of deliciously cool, sater, springing fro us an ample supply for every purpose The island was rich in fruit-trees of great variety; and, finally, a rigorous examination of it failed to disclose the existence upon it of anything noxious or inih, like the other islands visited, the place swarmed with birds
To crown all, and coe through the reef ih which, in our boat, weon ”our” island, and partook of ourit, rather reluctantly, to continue our survey of the group The island which I next intended to visit was the one with the vertical cliffs, along which we had coasted on the previous day
Those rugged precipitous cliffs formed the northern coast-line of the island, but from certain observations which I had made from ”our own”
island I came to the conclusion that the southern side of the island would reveal very dissimilar characteristics And so it proved, for when, after a sail of some six miles in a southerly direction, we rounded its south-eastern extremity, we discovered that its southern shore rose only a few feet above the level of the water, being bounded, as seeroup, by a narrow beach of coral sand, liberally fringed with cocoa-nut trees, the ground sloping gently up fro froainst the southern face of the cliffs to which I have so frequently referred But this was by nocharacteristic to us explorers For, having thus far failed to discover any sign of inhabitants, I had, perhaps rather hastily, juroup was uninhabited, whereasthat the whole surface of this particular island, froe of northern cliffs, was under cultivation
Wide areas of Indian corn were interspersed with spacious fields of sugar-cane, varied here and there by great orchards of what I assumed to be fruit-trees of various kinds, and what appeared to be garden plots devoted to the cultivation of vegetables Occasionally we caught gliroups, in the fields, orchards, and gardens, and froestures of amazement, and fro when our boat sithin their range of vision, I conjectured that it was the first tiht They were alh the telescope showed them to be absolutely naked, wherefore I decided not to pay them a visit until soh, apart fro perfectly har there on that occasion was, however, broken doithin the next half-hour, and that, too, in a sufficiently re before the pleasant easterly breeze, Billy being at the helh the telescope at interesting objects in the landscape that see past us, when suddenly we heard, fro blown, the sound being taken up and repeated at various points both ahead and astern of us
”What do you think is theof that rumpus, Mr Blackburn?” asked Billy ”Do you think they're scared at the sight of us? It looks a bit like it, doesn't it; for, see, sir, they've all started to run”
I directed the telescope toward the shore It was as Billy had said; everybody within sight was running, and at remarkable speed too; but whether or not it was the apparition of the boat that had startled them I could not tell, for about half of the at breakneck speed toward a part of the beach about half a roup of soathered, close to the water's edge, and see stones, or luroups, which I believed to be co with equal speed toward the cliffs at the back of the island
Turningnatives on the beach, I saw that it could not be the boat that was causing their excite collected as many stones as could be conveniently held in the hollow of the left ar their companions' attention to so the telescope in the direction tohich they were pointing, I presently sighted three objects, that I believed to be the heads of anih the water toward that point on the beach where the still rapidly swelling crowd had collected, and, as I watched, little jets of water began to spout up round the fore it, with the evident object of driving it off, or at least of preventing its approach; and reood marksmen they appeared to be, too, for as I continued to watch I observed four or five direct hits, evoking froress through the water perceptibly speeded up That the three swinised by the blacks as eneh; and here, it appeared to ood relations between ourselves and the savages by taking a hand in the galy laid down the telescope and, as I reached for the rifles, directed Billy to luff and head the boat straight for the spot where the blacks were gathered As I rapidly threw open the breeches of the rifles, to assureswi to its feet, revealed itself as a gigantic anthropoid ape, probably a species of gorilla The creature towered a clear head and shoulders in stature above the natives; it had a co forehead, very wide nostrils, a long, enormously muscular body, immensely wide across its e arht its clenched fists reached to within a foot of the ground As it started to wade ashore its advance was momentarily checked by a terrific volley of stones, hurled with a a series of those dreadful, shrieking roars, it dashed forith outstretched arms, seized the nearest native and, without apparent effort, literally tore the unfortunate man's head from his body
It was evident that if I ood purpose there was not a moment to lose The boat was noithin a hundred yards of the spot where the battle between the ape and the natives was raging, but I dared not risk a shot in that quarter, for the great brute, still roaring horribly, was co the huge, hairy body with big lumps of coral, and the movements of the combatants were so quick that I was more likely to hit a black than the beast; but the second ape was now in shalloater and on the point of rising to its feet I therefore levelled the rifle I held, and pressed the trigger as the two sights of the weapon came into line with the centre of the head, just above the ear; a harrowing shriek pealed out on the hot air and, as the little puff of smoke fro the creature throw up its great hands and sink back into the water, dead