CHAPTER 22

Our situation, as it now appeared, was scarcely less dreadful

than when we had conceived ourselves entombed forever. We saw

before us no prospect but that of being put to death by the

savages, or of dragging out a miserable existence in captivity

among them. We might, to be sure, conceal ourselves for a time

from their observation among the fastnesses of the hills, and, as

a final resort, in the chasm from which we had just issued; but

we must either perish in the long polar winter through cold and

famine, or be ultimately discovered in our efforts to obtain

relief.

The whole country around us seemed to be swarming with savages,

crowds of whom, we now perceived, had come over from the islands

to the southward on flat rafts, doubtless with a view of lending

their aid in the capture and plunder of the Jane. The vessel

still lay calmly at anchor in the bay, those on board being

apparently quite unconscious of any danger awaiting them. How we

longed at that moment to be with them! either to aid in effecting

their escape, or to perish with them in attempting a defence. We

saw no chance even of warning them of their danger without

bringing immediate destruction upon our own heads, with but a

remote hope of benefit to them. A pistol fired might suffice to

apprise them that something wrong had occurred; but the report

could not possibly inform them that their only prospect of safety

lay in getting out of the harbour forthwith—it could not tell

them that no principles of honour now bound them to remain, that

their companions were no longer among the living. Upon hearing

the discharge they could not be more thoroughly prepared to meet

the foe, who were now getting ready to attack, than they already

were, and always had been. No good, therefore, and infinite harm,

would result from our firing, and after mature deliberation, we

forbore.

Our next thought was to attempt to rush toward the vessel, to

seize one of the four canoes which lay at the head of the bay,

and endeavour to force a passage on board. But the utter

impossibility of succeeding in this desperate task soon became

evident. The country, as I said before, was literally swarming

with the natives, skulking among the bushes and recesses of the

hills, so as not to be observed from the schooner. In our

immediate vicinity especially, and blockading the sole path by

which we could hope to attain the shore at the proper point were

stationed the whole party of the black skin warriors, with

Too-wit at their head, and apparently only waiting for some

re-enforcement to commence his onset upon the Jane. The canoes,

too, which lay at the head of the bay, were manned with savages,

unarmed, it is true, but who undoubtedly had arms within reach.

We were forced, therefore, however unwillingly, to remain in our

place of concealment, mere spectators of the conflict which

presently ensued.

In about half an hour we saw some sixty or seventy rafts, or

flatboats, without riggers, filled with savages, and coming round

the southern bight of the harbor. They appeared to have no arms

except short clubs, and stones which lay in the bottom of the

rafts. Immediately afterward another detachment, still larger,

appeared in an opposite direction, and with similar weapons. The

four canoes, too, were now quickly filled with natives, starting

up from the bushes at the head of the bay, and put off swiftly to

join the other parties. Thus, in less time than I have taken to

tell it, and as if by magic, the Jane saw herself surrounded by

an immense multitude of desperadoes evidently bent upon capturing

her at all hazards.

That they would succeed in so doing could not be doubted for an

instant. The six men left in the vessel, however resolutely they

might engage in her defence, were altogether unequal to the

proper management of the guns, or in any manner to sustain a

contest at such odds. I could hardly imagine that they would make

resistance at all, but in this was deceived; for presently I saw

them get springs upon the cable, and bring the vessel’s starboard

broadside to bear upon the canoes, which by this time were within

pistol range, the rafts being nearly a quarter of a mile to

windward. Owing to some cause unknown, but most probably to the

agitation of our poor friends at seeing themselves in so hopeless

a situation, the discharge was an entire failure. Not a canoe was

hit or a single savage injured, the shots striking short and

ricocheting over their heads. The only effect produced upon them

was astonishment at the unexpected report and smoke, which was so

excessive that for some moments I almost thought they would

abandon their design entirely, and return to the shore. And this

they would most likely have done had our men followed up their

broadside by a discharge of small arms, in which, as the canoes

were now so near at hand, they could not have failed in doing

some execution, sufficient, at least, to deter this party from a

farther advance, until they could have given the rafts also a

broadside. But, in place of this, they left the canoe party to

recover from their panic, and, by looking about them, to see that

no injury had been sustained, while they flew to the larboard to

get ready for the rafts.

The discharge to larboard produced the most terrible effect. The

star and double-headed shot of the large guns cut seven or eight

of the rafts completely asunder, and killed, perhaps, thirty or

forty of the savages outright, while a hundred of them, at least,

were thrown into the water, the most of them dreadfully wounded.

The remainder, frightened out of their senses, commenced at once

a precipitate retreat, not even waiting to pick up their maimed

companions, who were swimming about in every direction, screaming

and yelling for aid. This great success, however, came too late

for the salvation of our devoted people. The canoe party were

already on board the schooner to the number of more than a

hundred and fifty, the most of them having succeeded in

scrambling up the chains and over the boarding-netting even

before the matches had been applied to the larboard guns. Nothing

now could withstand their brute rage. Our men were borne down at

once, overwhelmed, trodden under foot, and absolutely torn to

pieces in an instant.

Seeing this, the savages on the rafts got the better of their

fears, and came up in shoals to the plunder. In five minutes the

Jane was a pitiable scene indeed of havoc and tumultuous outrage.

The decks were split open and ripped up; the cordage, sails, and

everything movable on deck demolished as if by magic, while, by

dint of pushing at the stern, towing with the canoes, and hauling

at the sides, as they swam in thousands around the vessel, the

wretches finally forced her on shore (the cable having been

slipped), and delivered her over to the good offices of Too-wit,

who, during the whole of the engagement, had maintained, like a

skilful general, his post of security and reconnaissance among

the hills, but, now that the victory was completed to his

satisfaction, condescended to scamper down with his warriors of

the black skin, and become a partaker in the spoils.

Too-wit’s descent left us at liberty to quit our hiding place and

reconnoitre the hill in the vicinity of the chasm. At about fifty

yards from the mouth of it we saw a small spring of water, at

which we slaked the burning thirst that now consumed us. Not far

from the spring we discovered several of the filbert-bushes which

I mentioned before. Upon tasting the nuts we found them

palatable, and very nearly resembling in flavour the common

English filbert. We collected our hats full immediately,

deposited them within the ravine, and returned for more. While we

were busily employed in gathering these, a rustling in the bushes

alarmed us, and we were upon the point of stealing back to our

covert, when a large black bird of the bittern species

strugglingly and slowly arose above the shrubs. I was so much

startled that I could do nothing, but Peters had sufficient

presence of mind to run up to it before it could make its escape,

and seize it by the neck. Its struggles and screams were

tremendous, and we had thoughts of letting it go, lest the noise

should alarm some of the savages who might be still lurking in

the neighbourhood. A stab with a bowie knife, however, at length

brought it to the ground, and we dragged it into the ravine,

congratulating ourselves that, at all events, we had thus

obtained a supply of food enough to last us for a week.

We now went out again to look about us, and ventured a

considerable distance down the southern declivity of the hill,

but met with nothing else which could serve us for food. We

therefore collected a quantity of dry wood and returned, seeing

one or two large parties of the natives on their way to the

village, laden with the plunder of the vessel, and who, we were

apprehensive, might discover us in passing beneath the hill.

Our next care was to render our place of concealment as secure as

possible, and with this object, we arranged some brushwood over

the aperture which I have before spoken of as the one through

which we saw the patch of blue sky, on reaching the platform from

the interior of the chasm. We left only a very small opening just

wide enough to admit of our seeing the bay, without the risk of

being discovered from below. Having done this, we congratulated

ourselves upon the security of the position; for we were now

completely excluded from observation, as long as we chose to

remain within the ravine itself, and not venture out upon the

hill, We could perceive no traces of the savages having ever been

within this hollow; but, indeed, when we came to reflect upon the

probability that the fissure through which we attained it had

been only just now created by the fall of the cliff opposite, and

that no other way of attaining it could be perceived, we were not

so much rejoiced at the thought of being secure from molestation

as fearful lest there should be absolutely no means left us for

descent. We resolved to explore the summit of the hill

thoroughly, when a good opportunity should offer. In the meantime

we watched the motions of the savages through our loophole.

They had already made a complete wreck of the vessel, and were

now preparing to set her on fire. In a little while we saw the

smoke ascending in huge volumes from her main hatchway, and,

shortly afterward, a dense mass of flame burst up from the

forecastle. The rigging, masts and what remained of the sails

caught immediately, and the fire spread rapidly along the decks.

Still a great many of the savages retained their stations about

her, hammering with large stones, axes, and cannon balls at the

bolts and other iron and copper work. On the beach, and in canoes

and rafts, there were not less, altogether, in the immediate

vicinity of the schooner, than ten thousand natives, besides the

shoals of them who, laden with booty, were making their way

inland and over to the neighbouring islands. We now anticipated a

catastrophe, and were not disappointed. First of all there came a

smart shock (which we felt as distinctly where we were as if we

had been slightly galvanized), but unattended with any visible

signs of an explosion. The savages were evidently startled, and

paused for an instant from their labours and yellings. They were

upon the point of recommencing, when suddenly a mass of smoke

puffed up from the decks, resembling a black and heavy

thundercloud—then, as if from its bowels, arose a tall stream of

vivid fire to the height, apparently, of a quarter of a mile—then

there came a sudden circular expansion of the flame—then the

whole atmosphere was magically crowded, in a single instant, with

a wild chaos of wood, and metal, and human limbs—and, lastly,

came the concussion in its fullest fury, which hurled us

impetuously from our feet, while the hills echoed and re-echoed

the tumult, and a dense shower of the minutest fragments of the

ruins tumbled headlong in every direction around us.

The havoc among the savages far exceeded our utmost expectation,

and they had now, indeed, reaped the full and perfect fruits of

their treachery. Perhaps a thousand perished by the explosion,

while at least an equal number were desperately mangled. The

whole surface of the bay was literally strewn with the struggling

and drowning wretches, and on shore matters were even worse. They

seemed utterly appalled by the suddenness and completeness of

their discomfiture, and made no efforts at assisting one another.

At length we observed a total change in their demeanour. From

absolute stupor, they appeared to be, all at once, aroused to the

highest pitch of excitement, and rushed wildly about, going to

and from a certain point on the beach, with the strangest

expressions of mingled horror, rage, and intense curiosity

depicted on their countenances, and shouting, at the top of their

voices, “Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!”

Presently we saw a large body go off into the hills, whence they

returned in a short time, carrying stakes of wood. These they

brought to the station where the crowd was the thickest, which

now separated so as to afford us a view of the object of all this

excitement. We perceived something white lying upon the ground,

but could not immediately make out what it was. At length we saw

that it was the carcass of the strange animal with the scarlet

teeth and claws which the schooner had picked up at sea on the

eighteenth of January. Captain Guy had had the body preserved for

the purpose of stuffing the skin and taking it to England. I

remember he had given some directions about it just before our

making the island, and it had been brought into the cabin and

stowed away in one of the lockers. It had now been thrown on

shore by the explosion; but why it had occasioned so much concern

among the savages was more than we could comprehend. Although

they crowded around the carcass at a little distance, none of

them seemed willing to approach it closely. By-and-by the men

with the stakes drove them in a circle around it, and no sooner

was this arrangement completed, than the whole of the vast

assemblage rushed into the interior of the island, with loud

screams of “Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!”