The Castaways

by Mayne Reid

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

  SITTING BY THE SPIT.

  Saloo had by this time climbed to the topmost rounds of the ladder; andwas able to assist Henry in descending, which he did without furtherdifficulty or danger.

  No great harm had happened to him; he had received only a few scratchesand skin-wounds, that would soon yield to careful treatment and thesurgical skill which his father possessed, along with certain herbalremedies known to Saloo.

  They were soon restored to their former state of equanimity, and thoughtnothing more of the little incident that had just flurried them, exceptto congratulate themselves on having so unexpectedly added to theirstock of provisions the bodies of two great birds, each of respectablesize; to say nothing of the fat featherless chick, which appeared as ifit would make a very _bonne bouche_ for a gourmand.

  As we have said, Saloo did not think any more of ascending thedurion-tree, nor they of asking him to do so. Its fruits might haveserved them for dessert, to come after the game upon which they were nowgoing to dine.

  But they were not in condition to care for following the usual fashionof dining, and least of all did they desire a dinner of differentcourses, so long as they had one sufficiently substantial to satisfy thesimple demands of hunger. The two hornbills promised, each of them, afair _piece-de-resistance_, while the fat pult was plainly a titbit, tobe taken either _hors d'oeuvres_, or as an _entree_.

  They were not slow in deciding what should be done with the stock sounexpectedly added to their larder. In a trice the cock bird wasdespoiled of his plumage; the hen having been well-nigh dismantled ofhers already. The former was trussed and made ready for the spit, thelatter being intended for the pot, on the supposition that boiling mightbe better for her toughness. Murtagh had taken to finishing theplucking of the hen, while Saloo set about divesting the old cock of hisfeathers.

  The chick needed no plucking, nor even to be singed. Its skin was asfree of covering as the shell of the egg lately containing it. It wastender enough to be cooked in any way. It could be boiled over theembers, and would make a nice meal for the two young people, anddoubtless greatly benefit their strength.

  When the bodies of the old birds were unmasked of their featheryenvelopment, it was seen that they were much smaller than supposed; and,moreover, that the hen was by many degrees larger in size and fatterthan the cock. It was but natural, and was due to her sex, as well asto her long confinement in a dark cell of but limited dimensions, whereshe had nothing to do but to rest.

  But as the cock bird, after all, was quite as large as a Cochin-Chinafowl, and, moreover, in good condition, there would be enough of him tosupply a full repast, without touching either the hen or chick. So itwas determined that both should be reserved till the following morning,when no doubt all hands would be again hungry enough for the toughest offowls.

  This point settled, the old cock was staked upon a bamboo spit, and setover the fire, where he soon began to sputter, sending out a savouryodour that was charmingly appetising.

  The hen was at the same time chopped into small pieces, which werethrown into one of the great shells, along with some seasoning herbsSaloo had discovered in the neighbouring woods; and as they could nowgive the stew plenty of time to simmer, it was expected that before nextday the toughness would be taken out of the meat, and after all it mightprove a palatable dish to people distressed as they had been, and notcaring much for mere dainties.

  As they had nothing else to do but watch the spit, now and then turn it,and wait till the roast should be done, they fell into conversation,which naturally turned upon hornbills and their habits, Saloo furnishingmost of the information concerning these curious birds.

  Captain Redwood had not only seen them before, in the course of hisvoyages among the Malayan Archipelago, but he had read about theirhabits, and knew that they were found in various parts of the Africancontinent.

  They are there called _Korwe (Tockus erythrorhynchus_), and DrLivingstone gives an interesting account of them.

  He says,--"We passed the nest of a korwe, just ready for the female toenter; the orifice was plastered on both sides, but a space left of aheart shape, and exactly the size of the bird's body. The hole in thetree was in every case found to be prolonged some distance above theopening, and thither the korwe always fled to escape being caught."

  The first time that Dr Livingstone himself saw the bird, it was caughtby a native, who informed him that when the female hornbill enters hernest, she submits to a positive confinement. The male plasters up theentrance, leaving only a narrow slit by which to feed his mate, andwhich exactly suits the form of his beak. The female makes a nest ofher own feathers, lays her eggs, hatches them, and remains with theyoung till they are fully fledged. During all this time, which isstated to be two or three months, the male continues to feed her and heryoung family.

  Strange to say, the prisoner generally becomes fat, and is esteemed avery dainty morsel by the natives, while the poor slave of a husbandgets so lean that, on the sudden lowering of the temperature, whichsometimes happens after a fall of rain, he is benumbed, falls down, anddies.

  It is somewhat unusual, as Captain Redwood remarked, for the prisoner tofatten, while the keeper pines!

  The toucan of South America also forms her nest in the cavity of a tree,and, like the hornbill, plasters up the aperture with mud.

  The hornbill's beak, added Captain Redwood, is slightly curved,sharp-pointed, and about two inches long.

  While the body of the rooster was sputtering away in the bright blaze,Saloo entertained the party by telling them what _he_ knew about thehabits of the hornbills; and this was a good deal, for he had oftencaught them in the forests of Sumatra. It may be remarked here, thatmany of the natives of the Malayan Archipelago possess a considerableknowledge of natural history, at least of its practical part. Thereason is, that the Dutch, who own numerous settlements throughout theseislands, have always been great taxidermists and skin-preservers, and toprocure specimens for them and obtain the reward, has naturallyoriginated a race of collectors among the native people. Saloo himselfhad been one of these bird-hunters, in early life, before taking to thesea, which last, as a general thing, is the favourite element andprofession of a Malay.

  He told them that he knew of two kinds of hornbill in his native islandof Sumatra, but that he had seen the skins of several other species inthe hands of the taxidermists, brought from various islands, as well asfrom the mainland of India, Malacca, and Cochin-China. They were alllarge birds, though some were smaller than the others; mostly black,with white markings about the throat and breast. He said that theirnests are always built in the hollow of a tree, in the same way as theone he had robbed, and the entrance to them invariably plastered up withmud in a similar fashion, leaving a hole just big enough to allow thebeak of the hen to be passed out, and opened a little for the receptionof the food brought to her by her mate. It is the cock that does the"bricking up," Saloo said, bringing the "mortar" from the banks of someneighbouring pool or stream and laying it on with his beak. He beginsthe task as soon as the hen takes her seat upon her solitary egg. Thehen is kept in her prison not only during the full period of incubation,but long after; in fact, until the young chick becomes a full fledgling,and can fly out of itself. During all this time the imprisoned bird isentirely dependent on her mate for every morsel of food required, eitherby herself or for the sustenance of the nursling, and, of course, has totrust to his fidelity, in which he never fails. The hornbills, however,like the eagles, and many other rapacious birds, though not otherwise ofa very amiable disposition, are true to the sacred ties of matrimony.So said Saloo, though not in this exact phraseology.

  "But what if the ould cock shud get killed?" suggested Murtagh."Supposin' any accident was to prevint him from returnin' to the nest?Wud the hen have to stay there an' starve?"

  Saloo could not answer this question. It was a theory he had neverthought of, or a problem that had not come under his experience.Poss
ibly it might be so; but it was more likely that her imprisonmentwithin the tree cave, being an act agreed to on her part, was moreapparent than real, and that she could break through the mud barricade,and set herself free whenever she had a mind to do so.

  This was the more probable view of the case, and terminated thediscussion on natural history; or rather, it was brought to a close bytheir perceiving that the bird upon the bamboo stake was done to a turn,and they were by this time too hungry to think of anything else thaneating it.

  So off it came from the spit, and at it they went with a will, Salooacting as carver, and distributing the roast joints all around, takingcare to give the tenderest bits of breast to the children, and to Helenthe liver wing.

  They were all very cheerful in commencing their supper, but their strainwas changed to sadness even before they had finished it.