CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
CAMPING OUT.
A DESPERATE ENGAGEMENT--JOHNNY DISCOVERS AN "OYSTER TREE"--VAGRANTS, ORKINGS?--A SLEEPING PRESCRIPTION.
"Travellers ne'er did lie, Though fools at home condemn them: If in Naples, I should report this now, would they believe me?"
About sunset we went down to the beach to bathe. The trees along theshore were occupied by immense crowds of exemplary sea-fowl, whoseregular and primitive habits of life had sent them to roost at thisearly hour. Notwithstanding their webbed feet, they managed to perchsecurely among the branches, many of which were so heavily freighted,that they bent almost to the ground beneath their load.
Finding a spot where the beach shelved off gradually into deep water,with a smooth, firm bottom, free from shells and corallines, we had arefreshing swim. Afterwards, strolling along the shore by myself, Ifound a large fish, beautifully marked with alternate black and yellowbands, in a shallow, fenced off from the lagoon at low water, by a coralridge. The too eager pursuit of some of the smaller tribe of fishes,had probably beguiled him into this trap, where he had been left by thetide, to fall a victim, as I confidently reckoned, to his own rapacity.All escape into deep water seemed to be pretty effectually cut off and Ilooked upon him as already the captive of my bow and spear; but fearinglest some of the others should come up to share the glory of securing sosplendid a prize, I forthwith set about effecting his actual capture.Rolling my trowsers above my knees, I waded into the water to drive himashore; but I soon found that my task was not going to prove by anymeans as easy as I had anticipated. My intended victim was exceedinglyvigorous and active, and as ferocious as a pike. He obstinately refusedto be driven at all, and struggled and floundered as desperately as ifhe already had a vivid presentiment of the frying-pan, snappingviciously at my fingers whenever I undertook to lay hold of him. To addto the aggravating features of the case, he seemed to bristle all overwith an inordinate and unreasonable quantity of sharp-pointed fins andspines, which must have been designed by nature as weapons of defence,since there were certainly more of them than any fish could use toadvantage for swimming purposes. I began to suspect that I had caught aTartar; but I had now gone too far to back out with credit: myself-respect wouldn't admit of the thought. So, taking a shortbreathing spell, I again advanced to the attack, somewhat encouraged byperceiving that my scaly antagonist seemed exhausted and distressed byhis recent exertions. His mouth was wide open, and his gills quivered;but I was rather uncertain whether to regard this as a hostiledemonstration, or a sign of pain and fatigue. However, at it we went;and, after getting my hands badly cut by some of the aforesaid bristlingspines and fins, besides being drenched with water, and plastered allover with wet sand, which he splashed about in the struggle, I succeededin seizing him firmly by the tail, and throwing him high and dry uponthe beach. I then scooped out a hollow in the sand, a little above thetide-mark, and filling it with water, pushed him into it, thus securinghim for the present.
Max, Morton, and Browne, who had been practising climbing cocoa-nuttrees, at the edge of the wood, with very indifferent success, hadwitnessed, from a distance, the latter part of the "engagement," as Maxfacetiously called it; and they now came up to learn the particulars,and to inquire "whether it was a shark, or a young whale, that I hadbeen having such a terrible time with." While they were admiring mycaptive, and jocosely condoling with me on the hard usage which I hadreceived, the voice of Johnny, (who, accompanied by Eiulo, had venturedto stroll off in the direction of the point), was heard, raised to itshighest pitch, as he shouted for us to "come and see something strange."But it seemed that his impatience would not permit him to await theresult of his summons, for the next moment he came running towards us ina state of great excitement, and all out of breath, crying out that hehad "found a tree covered with oysters," and he had no doubt, there were"lots more of them."
"A tree covered with _what_?" inquired Browne, dubiously.
"With oysters--with fine, large oysters!" cried Johnny, "just come andsee for yourselves."
"Wonderful island! productive soil!" exclaimed Max, in mock admiration."If oysters will take root, and grow here, I suppose pretty much anything will: I believe I will plant my boots to-morrow: they may do forseed, and are good for nothing else any longer--don't you begin to thinkthis must be an enchanted island, Johnny?"
"O, you may make fun of it, if you please; but it's true: and if you'llcome with me, I'll shew you the trees."
"Well," said Browne, "I am ready for almost any thing in the way of themarvellous, since having seen a solid and substantial-looking islandturn into a vapour, and vanish away before my very eyes. I shall becareful about doubting any thing, until I get back to some Christiancountry, where things go on regularly. For the present, I am in stateof mind to believe in phoenixes and unicorns--and why not inoyster-trees? Who knows but we have happened upon a second Prospero'sisle? Lead on, Johnny, and bring us to this wonderful tree." AndJohnny started off accordingly, followed by Browne and Morton.
In a moment the latter was heard calling out, "I say, Max! do youunderstand conchology?"
"Yes, enough to tell a bivalve when I see one: should like to have a`dozen fried' before me now."
"If a `dozen raw' will answer, just step this way, and we'll accommodateyou equal to Florence."
On hastening to the spot, all scepticism as to the "oysters growing ontrees," was speedily removed. A row of mangroves lined the shore forsome distance, each elevated upon its white pile of protruding andintertwisted roots. Attached to the branches of these trees, whichoverhung the water and drooped into it at high tide, were abundance offair-sized oysters. Looking down into the water beneath the mangroves,I perceived the certain indications of an extensive and well-stockedoyster-bed. The bottom was thickly covered with them, in every stage ofgrowth multitudes being scarcely larger than a sixpence. I could alsosee, through the shallow water, an immense number of little whitespecks, like drops of spermaceti, scattered about among them. It wasevident, that here was an abundant and unfailing supply of thesedelicious shell-fish.
Browne broke off from one of the trees a large branch, having half adozen oysters attached to it, with which he hastened to confront theunbelieving Max, and flourishing it in his face, demanded to know if hewas "convinced now." Although constrained to admit that they _looked_very like oysters, Max seemed to consider the evidence of more than oneof the senses necessary to afford satisfactory proof of so extraordinarya phenomenon, and accordingly proceeded to see how they tasted.
After opening one of the largest, (using his cutlass as anoyster-knife), and making the experiment with due deliberation, heannounced himself perfectly satisfied.
By the time we had all sufficiently tasted the quality of the oysters,(which were really very good, and well-flavoured, notwithstanding theunusual position in which they were discovered), it had become quitedark. Though the evening was fine, there was not much light, the moonand stars glimmering faintly through a soft purple haze, which, as I hadobserved since we had been on the island, generally seemed to fill theatmosphere for a short time after sunset, and at a little later hourentirely disappeared. As we strolled back towards the foot of"Castle-Hill," Johnny suddenly looked up, and inquired, as if thethought had just occurred to him, where we were going to sleep.
"That's a pretty question to ask," said Browne, laughing, "it impliesthat we are common vagrants."
"So we are, strictly speaking," answered Max, "we have no regular meansof living, and no fixed place of abode, and that I believe, makes uscommon vagrants, according to Webster."
"I should think our means of living were `regular' enough to rescue usfrom the definition," replied Morton, "having been thus far, cocoa-nutsand mussels every day, and all day long, and nothing but cocoa-nuts andmussels. I am glad that there is now some prospect of a little moreirregularity in future."
"As to our having no fixed habitation or place of abode," said Browne,"that does not arise from
poverty, or lack of land--`the isle is allbefore us where to choose'--and we are now on a tour of observationthrough our extensive domains, in order to decide upon the finest spotfor our head-quarters. Meantime, for a night or two, we shall have tobe satisfied with `a tent in the green wood, a home in the grove,' inother words, we shall have to `camp out,' as the most renowned huntersand soldiers have frequently done before us. I'm sure there's novagrancy in that."
"Why," cried Johnny, forgetting for the moment his anxiety on the scoreof our quarters for the night, "we are no more vagrants than RobinsonCrusoe was:--
"`We are monarchs of all we survey, And our realm there is none to dispute,'
"As he says of himself so that we are much more like kings thanvagrants."
"And the sea-birds and fishes," said Max, "are to be considered as oursubjects, I presume, since we have no man Friday, and no goats orpoll-parrots to reign over."
"Yes," said Johnny, "I suppose so; there are enough of them too."
"And some very disloyal, rebellious, and stiff-necked ones among them,"added Max, "who ought to be dealt with as traitors forthwith--thatsturdy feathered rebel for instance, who, not regarding theinviolability of the royal person, no longer ago than this morning laidone of our royal majesties sprawling upon his royal back."
"And that other scaly traitor," added Browne, "who perversely refused tocome out of the water to be cooked, in accordance with the royal will,and who nearly bit off the sacred thumb of one of our majesties, inresisting the royal authority."
"Well, Johnny," said Max, "if we are not actually kings, we at any ratehave some royal blood upon the island. Not to speak of myself, who amdescended direct from `Kaiser Maximilien,' here is Eiulo, who is a realprince, his father being King of the Cannibal Islands, or some otherislands in these seas."
"I wish you wouldn't speak so of Eiulo's father," said Johnny, warmly,"he is not a cannibal, and I believe he is a very good man; I think hisislands are near here, and if we should one day get there, he wouldtreat us kindly, and let us go home whenever we should have anopportunity."
"Hilloa!" cried Max, "what has put all that into your head? What do youknow about Eiulo's father, or his islands, or where they are?"
This sudden outburst of Johnny's surprised us all, with perhaps theexception of Arthur, and we listened with some interest, as he repliedto Max's volley of questions.
"Oh, I have talked with Eiulo about it," he answered, "mostly by signs;and he has made me understand that he believes his home is not fardistant--off in that direction, (pointing north), and that shipssometimes stop there; and so I have been thinking that if we could onlyfind the way there, we should have some prospect of getting home atlast."
Upon this we became silent and thoughtful; nothing further was said,until Johnny recurred to the question which he had started a few momentsbefore, and again asked where we proposed to pass the night.
"Not in those gloomy woods, I hope," said he, "where it is so lonely,and the wind and the trees make such strange noises. I would rathersleep down here upon the shore; this nice dry, white sand, up where thewater never comes, will make a very good bed."
Thus far, we had passed every night upon the islet, to which we had nowbecome familiarised and accustomed. Its small extent, and separationfrom the mainland, gave it an air of security, which made us feel moreat our ease there at night, than we could among the sombre andunexplored forests of the larger island, about which we as yet knew solittle. Johnny's timidity was not therefore unnatural. Indeed, unlessI am mistaken, none of us was, on this first night of our exploration,entirely free from a vague spirit of insecurity, and of liability tosome unknown danger.
"That will hardly do, Johnny," said Browne, in answer to his suggestionabout taking up our quarters for the night upon the shore, "a heap ofdry pandanus leaves will make a much more comfortable bed than the hardsand. Thus I propose to arrange it--we will go up to the top of thehill where we rested to-day, and lodge there; our beds of leaves shallbe all in a circle, and Johnny's shall be in the middle; and then hewon't feel lonesome or afraid, for all the uncanny noises of the windand the trees; knowing that he has good friends and true all around him,and particularly one stout John Browne, who is worth all the resttogether, being a fair match for any thing in this part of theSouth-Seas!" and by way of raising Johnny's spirits, and inspiring himwith the greater confidence in the prowess of his protector, heflourished his cutlass, and went scientifically through the broad-swordexercise, slashing and carving away at his imaginary antagonist, with afierceness and vigour wonderful to behold, having lopped off anindefinite quantity of airy heads and limbs, be finished, by recitingwith a bold and warlike air--
"Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled! Scots wham Bruce has aften led!" etcetera.
This demonstration seemed to produce the desired effect and Johnny soonbecame reassured, and quite reconciled to "camping out" in the woods.
The evening was so fine, and the gentle breeze setting in from the oceanwas so cool and grateful, after the excessive heat of the day, that wecontinued for some time loitering along the shore. The sea was highlyphosphorescent; that is, during the earlier part of the evening, andbefore the mist or haze before spoken of cleared up. The tiny wavelets,as they rippled upon the beach in rapid succession, sparkled withphosphoric fire, and out in the lagoon, wherever a coral patch rose tothe surface, or the water was disturbed by any floating object, it gaveforth a clear and brilliant light, and was studded by myriads of fierydots and spangles.
At length Johnny began to complain of weariness, and we scaled theterraced hill, and gathering a large quantity of clean and well-driedleaves, arranged our beds as Browne had suggested, beneath the group ofnoble trees where we had taken our siesta at noon.
The novelty of our situation, long proved with me an effectual antidoteto fatigue and drowsiness, and I lay, looking up at the moon glimmeringthrough the foliage of the trees, an hour after the rest seemed to beasleep.
Just as I was at last sinking into unconsciousness, Johnny, sitting upamong the leaves in which he was half buried, inquired softly, "Max, areyou awake!" I spoke to him, to let him know that he was not alone. "Ican't get asleep," said he, "every thing looks so beautiful and sostrange. It seems to me I never saw the moon and the stars so big andso bright."
"You must keep your eyes shut, and not look at the moon, if you want toget asleep."
"But the trees keep rustling so; just as if they were whispering softlyto one another; and then the sound of the waves on the reef is so sadand mournful, that it sets me to thinking all sorts of strange things.I wonder whether there are any wild animals on the island!" I assuredhim that it was quite improbable, and that no dangerous animals of anykind were ever found on the islands of the Pacific. This, however, didnot seem to satisfy him entirely, and I began to suspect that his mindwas running on the jackalls, tiger-cats, and hyenas of the Swiss FamilyRobinson. A question or two which he presently asked, showed that I hadguessed correctly, and I hastened to meet the difficulty, by remindinghim that "their island, (if indeed it was an island at all, and not apart of the mainland), was situated near the coast of New Holland, fromwhich animals might pass over to it by swimming."
"Why, I thought," said Johnny, "that there were no wild animals in NewHolland, except kangaroos and opossums: my book of beasts, birds, andfishes, says so."
This was a fact in Natural History which I was not prepared to gainsay;especially when backed by so redoubtable an authority as "the book ofbeasts, birds, and fishes." For a moment I was taken all aback; butbeing loathe to give up my little companion a prey to imaginaryjackalls, tiger-cats, and hyenas, I rallied again, resolved upon onemore desperate effort for his deliverance.
"Well," said I, "the fact is, we don't know exactly where the SwissFamily Robinson's island really was--it is altogether uncertain. It mayhave been near Java, or Ceylon, or the coast of India, in which case,all those Asiatic beasts could easily have got there--that is, if thetwo places were close enou
gh together. Now we know that we aresomewhere in the middle of the Pacific, a vast distance from anycontinent, or any of the great Indian islands, so that large animalshere are out of the question, unless they have taken a swim of athousand miles or so."
This seemed to be pretty decisive; and I think it settled the jackalls,tiger-cats, and hyenas, effectually, for Johnny said no more on thesubject, except to remark, that, even if they _could_ swim thatdistance, they would stand a bad chance with the sharks and othersea-monsters; to which I added, as a final clincher, that in any eventthey would be sure to starve on the voyage, unless they should bring alarge supply of provisions along. "Well," said he, after a minute'ssilence, "I'm not afraid of anything; but somehow or other I feel verywide awake to-night, and not in the least sleepy."
"Shut your eyes," said I, "and think of a great wheel, whirling roundand round, with a regular and even motion, and never stopping, until youhave counted it go round a hundred times."
Johnny laughed softly to himself, as though pleased with this device,and was quite still for a minute or two; then he spoke again.
"It has gone round a hundred times, but towards the end it got a-goingdreadfully fast; it _would_ go fast in spite of all I could do."
"Never mind the wheel, then," said I, "but think of the huge lazy swellsin a calm, rising and falling, rising and falling, as they did when welay rocking in the boat, all those long days and nights, out on thesea."
"Well, I'll try--but I don't believe it will be of any use."
"Don't look at the moon, and don't speak to me again--unless forsomething very particular--and now good night."
"Good night!" and he nestled down among his leaves again. In a very fewminutes the deep and regular breathing of the little patient, proved theefficacy of my sleeping prescription, and announced that his troublesfor that night were over.
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