Part 20 (1/2)
”Well, all the same, captain, I shall be glad when a gale knocks the s.h.i.+p to pieces. Besides, as long as she is there she would be seen at once by any canoe coming along on this side of the island, and on going on board the natives would see that some of the crew must have survived, and that things have been brought up and taken ash.o.r.e; then there would be sure to be a search after us.”
”Yes, you are right there, senor; I had not thought of that. No doubt it is desirable that she should disappear.”
”Do you think that we could blow her up, captain? There is plenty of powder on board.”
The Peruvian shook his head. ”We could shatter her, but portions would still remain sticking up above water, and the explosion would be heard fifty miles round, and the cloud of smoke be seen from all the islands within that distance, and there would soon be canoes coming to see what had caused it. No; it will be best to let her remain as she is until she breaks up with the first gale.”
The next morning they started, taking Jacopo with them. The captain proposed leaving him behind, but Stephen pointed out that if left alone for a long day the man might not improbably swim off to the s.h.i.+p to a.s.sure himself that the gold was still in its position.
”He might do that,” the captain agreed; ”but, like most of his cla.s.s, he is superst.i.tious, and I doubt whether he would go on board the wreck alone. Still, it will be better to take him with us. It is certain that there is no fear of our hut being disturbed during our absence, and if we should come upon natives three of us are better than two.”
It took them four hours to reach the summit of the hill, the undergrowth of creepers being so dense that they were often compelled to cut a way through it. At last they reached the summit; as they did so they stopped in surprise. Before them was a cup-shaped depression some two hundred yards across, the centre being a hundred feet below the edges.
”It is the crater of an old volcano,” the Peruvian said; ”it is ages since it was active, so that we need have no fear or uneasiness on that score.”
The interior was clothed with verdure. Here and there black crags showed through the foliage, but elsewhere all was smooth and smiling. The slope was regular, and it was evident that, as the captain said, long ages had gone by since there had been any disturbance. Vegetation had grown up and died, until a soil thick enough to conceal all the rocks, that had at one time no doubt thickly strewn the bottom, had been buried.
”What is that down in the centre?” Stephen said. ”There seems to be a patch clear of trees, and there are some figures of some kind there. See, on the other side what looks like a regular path has been cut through the trees and bushes. Perhaps it is a burying-place; at any rate we will go and see.”
They walked round to the other side of the crater. From there they could obtain a view of the side of the island opposite to that on which they had landed. It was far less extensive than they had expected, the hill sloping steeply down, and the sea was but a quarter of a mile away. A great number of islands studded the ocean, and some of those at a distance appeared considerably larger than that upon which they had been cast.
”Thank goodness,” Stephen exclaimed, ”the island is evidently uninhabited; now we can wander about freely.”
”Yes; we might have saved ourselves all the trouble of fortifying that position,” the captain said.
”It gave us something to do, captain, and did us good in that way.
Besides, parties of natives from the other islands may land here sometimes. Now let us go down and explore the crater.”
They descended the path and soon stood in the bottom of the crater. This they saw was a veritable graveyard. In the centre was a rough structure built of large stones sloping inwards, and forming a rough representation of a hut. They had evidently been placed there centuries before, for they were green with age; lichens and mosses grew upon them, and here and there small shrubs sprang up in the crevices. What had once been an entrance was closed with a great flat slab of rock. Round this central cairn were some eight or ten smaller ones.
These were evidently of comparatively recent origin, and one of them was surrounded by a hedge of spears, on some of which hung pieces of tattered cloth of native manufacture. Round the central hut were arranged four figureheads of s.h.i.+ps; while in a circle stood a number of the hideous idols carried by many of the South Sea Islanders in their war-canoes.
”I should say that this accounts for the island being uninhabited,”
Stephen said. ”I suppose there are still traditions of this having been a volcano, and that the mountain and perhaps the whole island is sacred, and only used as a burial-place for some very great chiefs.”
He went across to the grave surrounded by spears.
”Here,” he said, ”are a dozen skeletons piled together-sacrifices, I suppose, on the tomb of a chief. If it had not been for these spears and skeletons, I should have said, from the appearance of the cairns, that they must all be at least a hundred years old, perhaps a great deal more.”
”All the better,” the Peruvian said. ”I hope it will be a hundred years before they come to bury anyone else here.”
”They must come here a good deal oftener than that,” Stephen said. ”These G.o.ds of theirs are all new, or at any rate freshly painted. Besides, the place is evidently kept with some care; and I should think very likely the people of the other islands make pilgrimages here once a year or so to offer sacrifices to the G.o.d supposed to reside in that central cairn, and to keep his house in order. I think that we cannot do better than follow this path back and sees where it goes to. It may not extend beyond the crater; but if it continues through the forest down to the sh.o.r.e it will be evident that it has recently been visited, for things grow so fast in a climate like this that in a year a path would be completely blocked up by vegetation. Where is Jacopo?”
”There he is at the top of the crater; he did not come down with us, and no doubt considered that the place was likely to be haunted by spirits.”
They ascended the path to the top of the crater. The ground here was bare for a short distance, and Stephen saw that two lines of stones marked the course of the path to the trees. It did not lead down towards the sea, but was carried obliquely round the top of the hill until it reached the edge of the forest on the side of the island on which they had landed. Two rude images marked the spot where it entered the forest. It now led down in a direct path six feet wide. This was completely clear of shrubs, and not the smallest shoot of brushwood showed above the soil. Wherever the ground descended steeply rude steps had been cut; the trees on each side of the path had been barked on the side facing it. Here and there sticks, some ten feet high, with pieces of coloured cloth hanging from them, stood along the side of the path. The path itself was almost like a trough, the centre being fully two feet lower than the general level.
”It must be used very frequently,” the Peruvian said, ”and has probably been used for ages. No doubt in the rainy season the water helps to hollow it out, but the work must have been begun by human feet.”
Jacopo kept closely behind the others, crossing himself frequently and muttering invocations to the saints. They followed the path until it came out at the head of a deep inlet.