The Castaways
Page 23
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
TOUGH TRAVELLING.
Next morning they did not start so early, because the great plain beforethem was shrouded under a fog, and they waited for it to pass off.
It was not dispelled until the sun had risen in the heavens behind them,for their backs were still to the east, their route lying due westward.
During the night, and again in the morning, they had discussed thequestion of striking straight across the plain, or making a circuitousmarch around it. When the fog at length lifted, this point wasdefinitely settled by what they saw before and on each side of them,that the great valley plain extended both to right and left beyond thelimits of their vision. To go round it might add scores of miles andmany days to their journey. They could not think of taking such acircuitous route, even with the fear of the wild men before them; adanger Captain Redwood believed to be greatly exaggerated by the Malay,who in such matters was of a somewhat imaginative turn. Throwing asideall thought of such an encounter, they struck down the mountain slope,determined on crossing the plain.
It was sunset when they arrived at the mountain-foot, and another nightwas passed there.
On the following morning they commenced the passage of the plain; whichintroduced them to a very different and much more difficult kind oftravelling than any they had experienced since leaving the sea-coast.Some parts of their journey, both in the ascent and descent, had beentoilsome enough; but the slopes, as well as the summits, werecomparatively clear of underwood. On the low level it was quite anotheraffair. The huge forest-trees were loaded with parasitical creepers,which, stretching from trunk to trunk in all directions, formed here andthere an impenetrable net or trellis-work. In such places the kris ofSaloo, and the ship's axe carried by Murtagh, were called intorequisition, and much time was expended in cutting a way through thetangled growth.
Another kind of obstacle was also occasionally met with, in the brakesof bamboo, where these gigantic canes, four or five inches in diameter,and rising to a height of over fifty feet, grew so close together thateven a snake would have found difficulty in working its way throughthem. Fortunately, their stems being hollow, they are easily broughtdown, and a single stroke from the axe, or even Saloo's sharp kris,given slantingly, would send one of them crashing over, its leafy topbearing along with it the long ribbon-like leaves of many others.
One of these cane brakes proved to be upwards of a mile in width, andits passage delayed them at least three hours. They might haveattempted to get round it, but they did not know how far it extended.Possibly ten or twenty miles--for the bamboo thickets often run inbelts, their growth being due to the presence of some narrow watertrack, or the course of a stream. In the Indian Archipelago are severalspecies of these tall canes, usually known by the general name of_bamboo_, though differing from each other in size and other respects.They furnish to the inhabitants of these islands the material for almostevery article required for their domestic economy--as the variousspecies of palms do to the natives of South America--more especially thedenizens of the great Amazon valley. Not only are their housesconstructed of bamboo, but the greater portion of their praus; whileutensils of many kinds, cups, bottles, and water-casks of the best make,are obtained from its huge joints, cheaply and conveniently. A barecatalogue of bamboo tools and utensils would certainly occupy severalpages.
Notwithstanding its valuable properties, our travellers hated the sightof it; and more than once the Irishman, as he placed his axe upon thesilicious culms, was heard to speak disrespectfully about it, "weeshin'that there wasn't a stalk of the cane in all Burnayo."
But another kind of obstruction vexed Murtagh even more than the brakesof bamboo. This was the webs of huge spiders--ugly tarantula-lookinganimals--whose nets in places, extending from tree to tree, traversedthe forest in every direction, resembling the seines of afishing-village hung out to dry, or miles of musquito-curtain dependingfrom the horizontal branches. Through this strange festoonery they hadto make their way, often for hundreds of yards; the soft silky substanceclutching disagreeably around their throats and clinging to theirclothes till each looked as though clad in an integument of raggedcotton, or the long loose wool of a merino sheep yet unwoven into cloth.And as they forced their way through it--at times requiring strength toextricate them from its tough retentive hold--they could see the hideousforms of the huge spiders who had spun and woven these strangelypatterned webs scuttling off, and from their dark retreats in thecrevices of the trees looking defiant and angry at the intruders upontheir domain--perhaps never before trodden by man.
Yet another kind of obstruction our travellers had to encounter on theirway across the great plain. There were tracts of moist ground,sometimes covered with tall forest-trees, at others opening out into asedgy morass, with perhaps a small lake or water-patch in the centre.The first required them to make way through mud, or thick stagnant watercovered with scum, often reaching above their knees. These places wereespecially disagreeable to cross; for under the gloomy shadow of thetrees they would now and then catch a glimpse of huge newt-like lizardsof the genus _hydrosaurus_--almost as large as crocodiles--slowlyfloundering out of the way, as if reluctant to leave, andhalf-determined to dispute the passage.
Moreover, while thus occupied, they lived in the obscurity of an eternaltwilight, and could travel only by guess-work. They had no guide savethe sun, which in these shadows is never visible. Through the thickfoliage overhead its disc could not be seen; nor aught that would enablethem to determine its position in the sky, and along with it theirdirection upon the earth. It was, therefore, not only a relief to theirfeelings, but a positive necessity for their continuance in the rightdirection, that now and then a stretch of open swamp obstructed theirtrack. True, it caused them to make a detour, and so wasted their time;but then it afforded them a glimpse of the sun's orb, and enabled themto pursue their journey in the right course.
During the mid-day hours they were deprived of even this guidance: forthe meridian sun gives no clue to the points of the compass. They didnot much feel the disadvantage; as at noon-tide the hot tropicalatmosphere had become almost insupportable, and the heat, added to theirfatigue from incessant toiling through thicket and swamp, made itnecessary for them to take several hours of rest.
They resumed their journey in the evening, as the sun, declining towardthe western horizon, pointed out to them the way they were to go. Theyaimed to reach the sheet of water seen by them from the brow of themountain. They wished to strike it at its southern end, as this wasright in the direction westward. It appeared to lie about midwaybetween the two mountain-ranges; and, in such a case, would be a properhalting-place on their journey across the plain. On starting from thehigher ground, they expected to reach it in a few hours, or at thelatest by sunset of that same day. But it was twilight of the thirdday, when, with exhausted strength and wearied limbs, their clothingtorn and mud-stained, they stood upon its nearest shore! They did notstand there long, but dropping down upon the earth, forgetful ofeverything--even the necessity of keeping watch--they surrenderedthemselves over to sleep.