The Coral Island

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER EIGHT.

  THE BEAUTIES OF THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA TEMPT PETERKIN TO DIVE--HOW HE DIDIT--MORE DIFFICULTIES OVERCOME--THE WATER GARDEN--CURIOUS CREATURES OFTHE SEA--THE TANK--CANDLES MISSED VERY MUCH, AND THE CANDLE-NUT TREEDISCOVERED--WONDERFUL ACCOUNT OF PETERKIN'S FIRST VOYAGE--CLOTH FOUNDGROWING ON A TREE--A PLAN PROJECTED, AND ARMS PREPARED FOR OFFENCE ANDDEFENCE--A DREADFUL CRY.

  Our encounter with the shark was the first great danger that hadbefallen us since landing on this island; and we felt very seriouslyaffected by it, especially when we considered that we had so oftenunwittingly incurred the same danger before while bathing. We were nowforced to take to fishing again in the shallow water until we shouldsucceed in constructing a raft. What troubled us most, however, wasthat we were compelled to forego our morning swimming-excursions. Wedid, indeed, continue to enjoy our bathe in the shallow water; but Jackand I found that one great source of our enjoyment was gone when wecould no longer dive down among the beautiful coral groves at the bottomof the lagoon. We had come to be so fond of this exercise, and to takesuch an interest in watching the formations of coral and the gambols ofthe many beautiful fish amongst the forest of red and green seaweeds,that we had become quite familiar with the appearance of the fish andthe localities that they chiefly haunted. We had also become expertdivers. But we made it a rule never to stay long under water at a time.Jack told me that to do so often was bad for the lungs, and instead ofaffording us enjoyment, would ere long do us a serious injury. So wenever stayed at the bottom as long as we might have done, but came upfrequently to the top for fresh air, and dived down again immediately.Sometimes, when Jack happened to be in a humorous frame, he would seathimself at the bottom of the sea on one of the brain-corals, as if hewere seated on a large paddock-stool, and then make faces at me inorder, if possible, to make me laugh under water. At first, when hetook me unawares, he nearly succeeded, and I had to shoot to the surfacein order to laugh; but afterwards I became aware of his intentions, andbeing naturally of a grave disposition, I had no difficulty inrestraining myself. I used often to wonder how poor Peterkin would haveliked to be with us; and he sometimes expressed much regret at beingunable to join us. I used to do my best to gratify him, poor fellow, byrelating all the wonders that we saw; but this, instead of satisfying,seemed only to whet his curiosity the more, so one day we prevailed onhim to try to go down with us. But although a brave boy in every otherway, Peterkin was very nervous in the water; and it was with difficultywe got him to consent to be taken down, for he could never have managedto push himself down to the bottom without assistance. But no soonerhad we pulled him down a yard or so into the deep, clear water than hebegan to struggle and kick violently; so we were forced to let him go,when he rose out of the water like a cork, gave a loud gasp and afrightful roar, and struck out for the land with the utmost possiblehaste.

  Now all this pleasure we were to forego, and when we thought thereon,Jack and I felt very much depressed in our spirits. I could see, also,that Peterkin grieved and sympathised with us; for, when talking aboutthis matter, he refrained from jesting and bantering us upon it.

  As, however, a man's difficulties usually set him upon devising methodsto overcome them, whereby he often discovers better things than those hemay have lost, so this our difficulty induced us to think of searchingfor a large pool among the rocks, where the water should be deep enoughfor diving, yet so surrounded by rocks as to prevent sharks from gettingat us. And such a pool we afterwards found, which proved to be verymuch better than our most sanguine hopes anticipated. It was situatednot more than ten minutes' walk from our camp, and was in the form of asmall, deep bay or basin, the entrance to which, besides being narrow,was so shallow that no fish so large as a shark could get in--at least,not unless he should be a remarkably thin one.

  Inside of this basin, which we called our Water Garden, the coralformations were much more wonderful, and the seaweed plants far morelovely and vividly coloured, than in the lagoon itself. And the waterwas so clear and still that, although very deep, you could see theminutest object at the bottom. Besides this, there was a ledge of rockwhich overhung the basin at its deepest part, from which we could divepleasantly, and whereon Peterkin could sit and see not only all thewonders I had described to him, but also see Jack and me creepingamongst the marine shrubbery at the bottom, like--as he expressedit--"two great white sea-monsters." During these excursions of ours tothe bottom of the sea we began to get an insight into the manners andcustoms of its inhabitants, and to make discoveries of wonderful things,the like of which we never before conceived. Among other things, wewere deeply interested with the operations of the little coral insect,which, I was informed by Jack, is supposed to have entirely constructedmany of the numerous islands in the Pacific Ocean. And certainly, whenwe considered the great reef which these insects had formed round theisland on which we were cast, and observed their ceaseless activity inbuilding their myriad cells, it did at first seem as if this might betrue; but then, again, when I looked at the mountains of the island, andreflected that there were thousands of such (many of them much higher)in the South Seas, I doubted that there must be some mistake here. Butmore of this hereafter.

  I also became much taken up with the manners and appearance of theanemones, and starfish, and crabs, and sea-urchins, and such-likecreatures; and was not content with watching those I saw during my divesin the Water Garden, but I must needs scoop out a hole in the coral rockclose to it, which I filled with salt water, and stocked with sundryspecimens of anemones and shell-fish, in order to watch more closely howthey were in the habit of passing their time. Our burning-glass, also,now became a great treasure to me, as it enabled me to magnify, and soto perceive more clearly, the forms and actions of these curiouscreatures of the deep.

  Having now got ourselves into a very comfortable condition, we began totalk of a project which we had long had in contemplation--namely, totravel entirely round the island, in order, first, to ascertain whetherit contained any other productions which might be useful to us; and,second, to see whether there might be any place more convenient andsuitable for our permanent residence than that on which we were nowencamped. Not that we were in any degree dissatisfied with it. On thecontrary, we entertained quite a home-feeling to our bower and itsneighbourhood; but if a better place did exist, there was no reason whywe should not make use of it. At any rate, it would be well to know ofits existence.

  We had much earnest talk over this matter. But Jack proposed that,before undertaking such an excursion, we should supply ourselves withgood defensive arms; for, as we intended not only to go round all theshore, but to descend most of the valleys, before returning home, weshould be likely to meet in with--he would not say _dangers_--but atleast with everything that existed on the island, whatever that mightbe.

  "Besides," said Jack, "it won't do for us to live on cocoa-nuts andoysters always. No doubt they are very excellent in their way, but Ithink a little animal food now and then would be agreeable as well asgood for us; and as there are many small birds among the trees, some ofwhich are probably very good to eat, I think it would be a capital planto make bows and arrows, with which we could easily knock them over."

  "First-rate!" cried Peterkin. "You will make the bows, Jack, and I'lltry my hand at the arrows. The fact is, I'm quite tired of throwingstones at the birds. I began the very day we landed, I think, and havepersevered up to the present time, but I've never hit anything yet."

  "You forget," said I, "you hit me one day on the shin."

  "Ah, true!" replied Peterkin; "and a precious shindy you kicked up inconsequence. But you were at least four yards away from the impudentparoquet I aimed at, so you see what a horribly bad shot I am."

  "But, Jack," said I, "you cannot make three bows and arrows beforeto-morrow; and would it not be a pity to waste time, now that we havemade up our minds to go on this expedition?--Suppose that you make onebow and arrow for yourself, and we can take our clubs?"

  "T
hat's true, Ralph. The day is pretty far advanced, and I doubt if Ican make even one bow before dark. To be sure, I might work byfirelight after the sun goes down."

  We had, up to this time, been in the habit of going to bed with the sun,as we had no pressing call to work o' nights; and, indeed, our workduring the day was usually hard enough--what between fishing, andimproving our bower, and diving in the Water Garden, and rambling in thewoods--so that when night came we were usually very glad to retire toour beds. But now that we had a desire to work at night, we felt a wishfor candles.

  "Won't a good blazing fire give you light enough?" inquired Peterkin.

  "Yes," replied Jack, "quite enough; but then it will give us a greatdeal more than enough of heat in this warm climate of ours."

  "True," said Peterkin; "I forgot that. It would roast us."

  "Well, as you're always doing that at any rate," remarked Jack, "wecould scarcely call it a change. But the fact is, I've been thinkingover this subject before. There is a certain nut growing in theseislands which is called the candle-nut, because the natives use itinstead of candles; and I know all about it, and how to prepare it forburning--"

  "Then why don't you do it?" interrupted Peterkin. "Why have you kept usin the dark so long, you vile philosopher?"

  "Because," said Jack, "I have not seen the tree yet, and I'm not surethat I should know either the tree or the nuts if I did see them. Yousee, I forget the description."

  "Ah! that's just the way with me," said Peterkin with a deep sigh. "Inever could keep in my mind for half-an-hour the few descriptions I everattempted to remember. The very first voyage I ever made was caused bymy mistaking a description--or forgetting it, which is the same thing.And a horrible voyage it was. I had to fight with the captain the wholeway out, and made the homeward voyage by swimming!"

  "Come, Peterkin," said I, "you can't get even _me_ to believe that."

  "Perhaps not, but it's true notwithstanding," returned Peterkin,pretending to be hurt at my doubting his word.

  "Let us hear how it happened," said Jack, while a good-natured smileoverspread his face.

  "Well, you must know," began Peterkin, "that the very day before I wentto sea I was greatly taken up with a game at hockey, which I was playingwith my old school-fellows for the last time before leaving them.--Yousee I was young then, Ralph." Peterkin gazed, in an abstracted andmelancholy manner, out to sea.--"Well, in the midst of the game, myuncle, who had taken all the bother and trouble of getting me bound'prentice and rigged out, came and took me aside, and told me that hewas called suddenly away from home, and would not be able to see meaboard, as he had intended. `However,' said he, `the captain knows youare coming, so that's not of much consequence; but as you'll have tofind the ship yourself, you must remember her name and description.D'ye hear, boy?' I certainly did hear, but I'm afraid I did notunderstand; for my mind was so taken up with the game, which I saw myside was losing, that I began to grow impatient, and the moment my unclefinished his description of the ship and bade me good-bye I bolted backto my game, with only a confused idea of three masts, and agreen-painted taffrail, and a gilt figurehead of Hercules with his clubat the bow. Next day I was so much cast down with everybody sayinggood-bye, and a lot o' my female friends cryin' horribly over me, that Idid not start for the harbour, where the ship was lying among a thousandothers, till it was almost too late. So I had to run the whole way.When I reached the pier, there were so many masts, and so muchconfusion, that I felt quite humble-bumbled in my faculties. `Now,'said I to myself, `Peterkin, you're in a fix.' Then I fancied I saw agilt figurehead and three masts belonging to a ship just about to start;so I darted on board, but speedily jumped on shore again when I foundthat two of the masts belonged to another vessel and the figurehead to athird! At last I caught sight of what I made sure was it--a fine largevessel just casting off her moorings. The taffrail was green. Threemasts--yes, that must be it--and the gilt figurehead of Hercules. To besure, it had a three-pronged pitchfork in its hand instead of a club;but that might be my uncle's mistake, or perhaps Hercules sometimesvaried his weapons. `Cast off!' roared a voice from the quarter-deck.`Hold on!' cried I, rushing frantically through the crowd. `Hold on!hold on!' repeated some of the bystanders, while the men at the ropesdelayed for a minute. This threw the captain into a frightful rage; forsome of his friends had come down to see him off, and having his orderscontradicted so flatly was too much for him. However, the delay wassufficient. I took a race and a good leap; the ropes were cast off; thesteam-tug gave a puff, and we started. Suddenly the captain walks up tome: `Where did you come from, you scamp, and what do you want here?'

  "`Please, sir,' said I, touching my cap, `I'm your new 'prentice comeaboard.'

  "`New 'prentice!' said he, stamping; `I've got no new 'prentice. Myboys are all aboard already. This is a trick, you young blackguard!You've run away, you have!' And the captain stamped about the deck andswore dreadfully; for, you see, the thought of having to stop the shipand lower a boat and lose half-an-hour, all for the sake of sending asmall boy ashore, seemed to make him very angry. Besides, it wasblowin' fresh outside the harbour, so that to have let the steameralongside to put me into it was no easy job. Just as we were passingthe pier-head, where several boats were rowing into the harbour, thecaptain came up to me.

  "`You've run away, you blackguard!' he said, giving me a box on the ear.

  "`No, I haven't!' said I angrily, for the box was by no means a lightone.

  "`Hark'ee, boy, can you swim?'

  "`Yes,' said I.

  "`Then do it!' and seizing me by my trousers and the nape of my neck, hetossed me over the side into the sea. The fellows in the boats at theend of the pier backed their oars on seeing this; but observing that Icould swim, they allowed me to make the best of my way to thepier-head.--So you see, Ralph, that I really did swim my first homewardvoyage."

  Jack laughed, and patted Peterkin on the shoulder.

  "But tell us about the candle-nut tree," said I. "You were talkingabout it."

  "Very true," said Jack; "but I fear I can remember little about it. Ibelieve the nut is about the size of a walnut; and I think that theleaves are white, but I am not sure."

  "Eh! ha! hum!" exclaimed Peterkin; "I saw a tree answering to thatdescription this very day."

  "Did you?" cried Jack. "Is it far from this?"

  "No, not half-a-mile."

  "Then lead me to it," said Jack, seizing his axe.

  In a few minutes we were all three pushing through the underwood of theforest, headed by Peterkin.

  We soon came to the tree in question, which, after Jack had closelyexamined it, we concluded must be the candle-nut tree. Its leaves wereof a beautiful silvery white, and formed a fine contrast to thedark-green foliage of the surrounding trees. We immediately filled ourpockets with the nuts, after which Jack said:

  "Now, Peterkin, climb that cocoa-nut tree and cut me one of the longbranches."

  This was soon done; but it cost some trouble, for the stem was veryhigh, and as Peterkin usually pulled nuts from the younger trees, he wasnot much accustomed to climbing the high ones. The leaf or branch was avery large one, and we were surprised at its size and strength. Viewedfrom a little distance, the cocoa-nut tree seems to be a tall, straightstem, without a single branch except at the top, where there is a tuftof feathery-looking leaves that seem to wave like soft plumes in thewind. But when we saw one of these leaves or branches at our feet, wefound it to be a strong stalk, about fifteen feet long, with a number ofnarrow, pointed leaflets ranged alternately on each side. But whatseemed to us the most wonderful thing about it was a curious substanceresembling cloth, which was wrapped round the thick end of the stalkwhere it had been cut from the tree. Peterkin told us that he had thegreatest difficulty in separating the branch from the stem on account ofthis substance, as it was wrapped quite round the tree, and, heobserved, round all the other branches, thus forming a strong support tothe large leaves while exposed to hig
h winds. When I call thissubstance cloth I do not exaggerate. Indeed, with regard to all thethings I saw during my eventful career in the South Seas, I have beenexceedingly careful not to exaggerate, or in any way to mislead ordeceive my readers. This cloth, I say, was remarkably like to coarsebrown cotton cloth. It had a seam or fibre down the centre of it, fromwhich diverged other fibres, about the size of a bristle. There weretwo layers of these fibres, very long and tough, the one layer crossingthe other obliquely, and the whole was cemented together with a stillfiner fibrous and adhesive substance. When we regarded it attentively,we could with difficulty believe that it had not been woven by humanhands. This remarkable piece of cloth we stripped carefully off, andfound it to be above two feet long by a foot broad, and we carried ithome with us as a great prize.

  Jack now took one of the leaflets, and cutting out the central spine orstalk, hurried back with it to our camp. Having made a small fire, hebaked the nuts slightly and then peeled off the husks. After this hewished to bore a hole in them, which, not having anything better at handat the time, he did with the point of our useless pencil-case. Then hestrung them on the cocoa-nut spine, and on putting a light to thetopmost nut we found, to our joy, that it burned with a clear, beautifulflame, upon seeing which Peterkin sprang up and danced round the firefor at least five minutes in the excess of his satisfaction.

  "Now, lads," said Jack, extinguishing our candle, "the sun will set inan hour, so we have no time to lose. I shall go and cut a young tree tomake my bow out of, and you had better each of you go and select goodstrong sticks for clubs, and we'll set to work at them after dark."

  So saying, he shouldered his axe and went off; followed by Peterkin;while I took up the piece of newly discovered cloth, and fell toexamining its structure. So engrossed was I in this that I was stillsitting in the same attitude and occupation when my companions returned.

  "I told you so!" cried Peterkin with a loud laugh.--"Oh Ralph, you'reincorrigible! See, there's a club for you. I was sure, when we leftyou looking at that bit of stuff, that we would find you poring over itwhen we came back, so I just cut a club for you as well as for myself."

  "Thank you, Peterkin," said I. "It was kind of you to do that insteadof scolding me for a lazy fellow, as I confess I deserve."

  "Oh, as to that," returned Peterkin, "I'll blow you up yet if you wishit; only it would be of no use if I did, for you're a perfect mule!"

  As it was now getting dark we lighted our candle, and placing it in aholder made of two crossing branches inside of our bower, we seatedourselves on our leafy beds and began to work.

  "I intend to appropriate the bow for my own use," said Jack, chippingthe piece of wood he had brought with his axe. "I used to be a prettyfair shot once.--But what's that you're doing?" he added, looking atPeterkin, who had drawn the end of a long pole into the tent, and wasendeavouring to fit a small piece of the hoop-iron to the end of it.

  "I'm going to enlist into the Lancers," answered Peterkin. "You see,Jack, I find the club rather an unwieldy instrument for my delicatelyformed muscles, and I flatter myself I shall do more execution with aspear."

  "Well, if length constitutes power," said Jack, "you'll certainly beinvincible."

  The pole which Peterkin had cut was full twelve feet long, being a verystrong but light and tough young tree, which merely required thinning atthe butt to be a serviceable weapon.

  "That's a very good idea," said I.

  "Which--this?" inquired Peterkin, pointing to the spear.

  "Yes," I replied.

  "Humph!" said he; "you'd find it a pretty tough and matter-of-fact ideaif you had it stuck through your gizzard, old boy!"

  "I mean the idea of making it is a good one," said I, laughing. "And,now I think of it, I'll change my plan too. I don't think much of aclub, so I'll make me a sling out of this piece of cloth. I used to bevery fond of slinging, ever since I read of David slaying Goliath thePhilistine, and I was once thought to be expert at it."

  So I set to work to manufacture a sling. For a long time we all workedvery busily without speaking. At length Peterkin looked up. "I say,Jack, I'm sorry to say I must apply to you for another strip of yourhandkerchief to tie on this rascally head with. It's pretty well tornat any rate, so you won't miss it."

  Jack proceeded to comply with this request, when Peterkin suddenly laidhis hand on his arm and arrested him.

  "Hist, man!" said he; "be tender! You should never be needlessly cruelif you can help it. Do try to shave past Lord Nelson's mouth withouttearing it, if possible! Thanks. There are plenty more handkerchiefson the cocoa-nut trees."

  Poor Peterkin! with what pleasant feelings I recall and record his jestsand humorous sayings now!

  While we were thus engaged we were startled by a distant, but moststrange and horrible, cry. It seemed to come from the sea, but was sofar away that we could not clearly distinguish its precise direction.Rushing out of our bower, we hastened down to the beach and stayed tolisten. Again it came, quite loud and distinct on the night air--aprolonged, hideous cry, something like the braying of an ass. The moonhad risen, and we could see the islands in and beyond the lagoon quiteplainly; but there was no object visible to account for such a cry. Astrong gust of wind was blowing from the point whence the sound came,but this died away while we were gazing out to sea.

  "What can it be?" said Peterkin in a low whisper, while we allinvoluntarily crept closer to each other.

  "Do you know," said Jack, "I have heard that mysterious sound twicebefore, but never so loud as to-night. Indeed, it was so faint that Ithought I must have merely fancied it; so, as I did not wish to alarmyou, I said nothing about it."

  We listened for a long time for the sound again; but as it did not come,we returned to the bower and resumed our work.

  "Very strange!" said Peterkin quite gravely.--"Do you believe in ghosts,Ralph?"

  "No," I answered, "I do not. Nevertheless, I must confess that strange,unaccountable sounds, such as we have just heard, make me feel a littleuneasy."

  "What say you to it, Jack?"

  "I neither believe in ghosts nor feel uneasy," he replied. "I never sawa ghost myself, and I never met with any one who had; and I havegenerally found that strange and unaccountable things have almost alwaysbeen accounted for, and found to be quite simple, on close examination.I certainly can't imagine what _that_ sound is; but I'm quite sure Ishall find out before long, and if it's a ghost I'll--I'll--"

  "Eat it!" cried Peterkin.

  "Yes, I'll eat it!--Now, then, my bow and two arrows are finished; so,if you're ready, we had better turn in."

  By this time Peterkin had thinned down his spear, and tied an iron pointvery cleverly to the end of it; I had formed a sling, the lines of whichwere composed of thin strips of the cocoa-nut cloth, plaited; and Jackhad made a stout bow, nearly five feet long, with two arrows, featheredwith two or three large plumes which some bird had dropped. They had nobarbs; but Jack said that if arrows were well feathered they did notrequire iron points, but would fly quite well if merely sharpened at thepoint, which I did not know before.

  "A feathered arrow without a barb," said he, "is a good weapon, but abarbed arrow without feathers is utterly useless."

  The string of the bow was formed of our piece of whip-cord, part ofwhich, as he did not like to cut it, was rolled round the bow.

  Although thus prepared for a start on the morrow we thought it wise toexercise ourselves a little in the use of our weapons before starting,so we spent the whole of the next day in practising. And it was well wedid so, for we found that our arms were very imperfect, and that we werefar from perfect in the use of them. First, Jack found that the bow wasmuch too strong, and he had to thin it. Also the spear was much tooheavy, and so had to be reduced in thickness, although nothing wouldinduce Peterkin to have it shortened. My sling answered very well; butI had fallen so much out of practice that my first stone knocked offPeterkin's hat, and narrowly missed making a second Goliath of him
.However, after having spent the whole day in diligent practice, we beganto find some of our former expertness returning, at least Jack and Idid. As for Peterkin, being naturally a neat-handed boy, he soonhandled his spear well, and could run full tilt at a cocoa-nut, and hitit with great precision once out of every five times.

  But I feel satisfied that we owed much of our rapid success to theunflagging energy of Jack, who insisted that since we had made himcaptain, we should obey him; and he kept us at work from morning tillnight, perseveringly, at the same thing. Peterkin wished very much torun about and stick his spear into everything he passed; but Jack put upa cocoa-nut, and would not let him leave off running at that for amoment except when he wanted to rest. We laughed at Jack for this, butwe were both convinced that it did us much good.

  That night we examined and repaired our arms ere we lay down to rest,although we were much fatigued, in order that we might be in readinessto set out on our expedition at daylight on the following morning.