CHAPTER 24

On the twentieth of the month, finding it altogether impossible

to subsist any longer upon the filberts, the use of which

occasioned us the most excruciating torment, we resolved to make

a desperate attempt at descending the southern declivity of the

hill. The face of the precipice was here of the softest species

of soapstone, although nearly perpendicular throughout its whole

extent (a depth of a hundred and fifty feet at the least), and in

many places even overarching. After a long search we discovered a

narrow ledge about twenty feet below the brink of the gulf; upon

this Peters contrived to leap, with what assistance I could

render him by means of our pocket-handkerchiefs tied together.

With somewhat more difficulty I also got down; and we then saw

the possibility of descending the whole way by the process in

which we had clambered up from the chasm when we had been buried

by the fall of the hill—that is, by cutting steps in the face of

the soapstone with our knives. The extreme hazard of the attempt

can scarcely be conceived; but, as there was no other resource,

we determined to undertake it.

Upon the ledge where we stood there grew some filbert-bushes; and

to one of these we made fast an end of our rope of handkerchiefs.

The other end being tied round Peters’ waist, I lowered him down

over the edge of the precipice until the handkerchiefs were

stretched tight. He now proceeded to dig a deep hole in the

soapstone (as far in as eight or ten inches), sloping away the

rock above to the height of a foot, or thereabout, so as to allow

of his driving, with the butt of a pistol, a tolerably strong peg

into the levelled surface. I then drew him up for about four

feet, when he made a hole similar to the one below, driving in a

peg as before, and having thus a resting-place for both feet and

hands. I now unfastened the handkerchiefs from the bush, throwing

him the end, which he tied to the peg in the uppermost hole,

letting himself down gently to a station about three feet lower

than he had yet been that is, to the full extent of the

handkerchiefs. Here he dug another hole, and drove another peg.

He then drew himself up, so as to rest his feet in the hole just

cut, taking hold with his hands upon the peg in the one above. It

was now necessary to untie the handkerchiefs from the topmost

peg, with the view of fastening them to the second; and here he

found that an error had been committed in cutting the holes at so

great a distance apart. However, after one or two unsuccessful

and dangerous attempts at reaching the knot (having to hold on

with his left hand while he labored to undo the fastening with

his right), he at length cut the string, leaving six inches of it

affixed to the peg. Tying the handkerchiefs now to the second

peg, he descended to a station below the third, taking care not

to go too far down. By these means (means which I should never

have conceived of myself, and for which we were indebted

altogether to Peters’ ingenuity and resolution) my companion

finally succeeded, with the occasional aid of projections in the

cliff, in reaching the bottom without accident.

It was some time before I could summon sufficient resolution to

follow him; but I did at length attempt it. Peters had taken off

his shirt before descending, and this, with my own, formed the

rope necessary for the adventure. After throwing down the musket

found in the chasm, I fastened this rope to the bushes, and let

myself down rapidly, striving, by the vigor of my movements, to

banish the trepidation which I could overcome in no other manner.

This answered sufficiently well for the first four or five steps;

but presently I found my imagination growing terribly excited by

thoughts of the vast depths yet to be descended, and the

precarious nature of the pegs and soapstone holes which were my

only support. It was in vain I endeavored to banish these

reflections, and to keep my eyes steadily bent upon the flat

surface of the cliff before me. The more earnestly I struggled

_not to think,_the more intensely vivid became my conceptions,

and the more horribly distinct. At length arrived that crisis of

fancy, so fearful in all similar cases, the crisis in which we

began to anticipate the feelings with which we _shall_fall—to

picture to ourselves the sickness, and dizziness, and the last

struggle, and the half swoon, and the final bitterness of the

rushing and headlong descent. And now I found these fancies

creating their own realities, and all imagined horrors crowding

upon me in fact. I felt my knees strike violently together, while

my fingers were gradually but certainly relaxing their grasp.

There was a ringing in my ears, and I said, “This is my knell of

death!” And now I was consumed with the irrepressible desire of

looking below. I could not, I would not, confine my glances to

the cliff; and, with a wild, indefinable emotion, half of horror,

half of a relieved oppression, I threw my vision far down into

the abyss. For one moment my fingers clutched convulsively upon

their hold, while, with the movement, the faintest possible idea

of ultimate escape wandered, like a shadow, through my mind—in

the next my whole soul was pervaded with a longing to fall; a

desire, a yearning, a passion utterly uncontrollable. I let go at

once my grasp upon the peg, and, turning half round from the

precipice, remained tottering for an instant against its naked

face. But now there came a spinning of the brain; a

shrill-sounding and phantom voice screamed within my ears; a

dusky, fiendish, and filmy figure stood immediately beneath me;

and, sighing, I sunk down with a bursting heart, and plunged

within its arms.

I had swooned, and Peters had caught me as I fell. He had

observed my proceedings from his station at the bottom of the

cliff; and perceiving my imminent danger, had endeavored to

inspire me with courage by every suggestion he could devise;

although my confusion of mind had been so great as to prevent my

hearing what he said, or being conscious that he had even spoken

to me at all. At length, seeing me totter, he hastened to ascend

to my rescue, and arrived just in time for my preservation. Had I

fallen with my full weight, the rope of linen would inevitably

have snapped, and I should have been precipitated into the abyss;

as it was, he contrived to let me down gently, so as to remain

suspended without danger until animation returned. This was in

about fifteen minutes. On recovery, my trepidation had entirely

vanished; I felt a new being, and, with some little further aid

from my companion, reached the bottom also in safety.

We now found ourselves not far from the ravine which had proved

the tomb of our friends, and to the southward of the spot where

the hill had fallen. The place was one of singular wildness, and

its aspect brought to my mind the descriptions given by

travellers of those dreary regions marking the site of degraded

Babylon. Not to speak of the ruins of the disrupted cliff, which

formed a chaotic barrier in the vista to the northward, the

surface of the ground in every other direction was strewn with

huge tumuli, apparently the wreck of some gigantic structures of

art; although, in detail, no semblance of art could be detected.

Scoria were abundant, and large shapeless blocks of the black

granite, intermingled with others of marl, {*6} and both

granulated with metal. Of vegetation there were no traces

whatsoever throughout the whole of the desolate area within

sight. Several immense scorpions were seen, and various reptiles

not elsewhere to be found in the high latitudes. As food was our

most immediate object, we resolved to make our way to the

seacoast, distant not more than half a mile, with a view of

catching turtle, several of which we had observed from our place

of concealment on the hill. We had proceeded some hundred yards,

threading our route cautiously between the huge rocks and tumuli,

when, upon turning a corner, five savages sprung upon us from a

small cavern, felling Peters to the ground with a blow from a

club. As he fell the whole party rushed upon him to secure their

victim, leaving me time to recover from my astonishment. I still

had the musket, but the barrel had received so much injury in

being thrown from the precipice that I cast it aside as useless,

preferring to trust my pistols, which had been carefully

preserved in order. With these I advanced upon the assailants,

firing one after the other in quick succession. Two savages fell,

and one, who was in the act of thrusting a spear into Peters,

sprung to his feet without accomplishing his purpose. My

companion being thus released, we had no further difficulty. He

had his pistols also, but prudently declined using them,

confiding in his great personal strength, which far exceeded that

of any person I have ever known. Seizing a club from one of the

savages who had fallen, he dashed out the brains of the three who

remained, killing each instantaneously with a single blow of the

weapon, and leaving us completely masters of the field.

So rapidly had these events passed, that we could scarcely

believe in their reality, and were standing over the bodies of

the dead in a species of stupid contemplation, when we were

brought to recollection by the sound of shouts in the distance.

It was clear that the savages had been alarmed by the firing, and

that we had little chance of avoiding discovery. To regain the

cliff, it would be necessary to proceed in the direction of the

shouts, and even should we succeed in arriving at its base, we

should never be able to ascend it without being seen. Our

situation was one of the greatest peril, and we were hesitating

in which path to commence a flight, when one of the savages

_whom_I had shot, and supposed dead, sprang briskly to his feet,

and attempted to make his escape. We overtook _him,_however,

before he had advanced many paces, and were about to put him to

death, when Peters suggested that we might derive some benefit

from forcing him to accompany us in our attempt to escape. We

therefore dragged him with us, making him understand that we

would shoot him if he offered resistance. In a few minutes he was

perfectly submissive, and ran by our sides as we pushed in among

the rocks, making for the seashore.

So far, the irregularities of the ground we had been traversing

hid the sea, except at intervals, from our sight, and, when we

first had it fairly in view, it was perhaps two hundred yards

distant. As we emerged into the open beach we saw, to our great

dismay, an immense crowd of the natives pouring from the village,

and from all visible quarters of the island, making toward us

with gesticulations of extreme fury, and howling like wild

beasts. We were upon the point of turning upon our steps, and

trying to secure a retreat among the fastnesses of the rougher

ground, when I discovered the bows of two canoes projecting from

behind a large rock which ran out into the water. Toward these we

now ran with all speed, and, reaching them, found them unguarded,

and without any other freight than three of the large Gallipago

turtles and the usual supply of paddles for sixty rowers. We

instantly took possession of one of them, and, forcing our

captive on board, pushed out to sea with all the strength we

could command.

We had not made, however, more than fifty yards from the shore

before we became sufficiently calm to perceive the great

oversight of which we had been guilty in leaving the other canoe

in the power of the savages, who, by this time, were not more

than twice as far from the beach as ourselves, and were rapidly

advancing to the pursuit. No time was now to be lost. Our hope

was, at best, a forlorn one, but we had none other. It was very

doubtful whether, with the utmost exertion, we could get back in

time to anticipate them in taking possession of the canoe; but

yet there was a chance that we could. We might save ourselves if

we succeeded, while not to make the attempt was to resign

ourselves to inevitable butchery.

The canoe was modelled with the bow and stern alike, and, in

place of turning it around, we merely changed our position in

paddling. As soon as the savages perceived this they redoubled

their yells, as well as their speed, and approached with

inconceivable rapidity. We pulled, however, with all the energy

of desperation, and arrived at the contested point before more

than one of the natives had attained it. This man paid dearly for

his superior agility, Peters shooting him through the head with a

pistol as he approached the shore. The foremost among the rest of

his party were probably some twenty or thirty paces distant as we

seized upon the canoe. We at first endeavored to pull her into

the deep water, beyond the reach of the savages, but, finding her

too firmly aground, and there being no time to spare, Peters,

with one or two heavy strokes from the butt of the musket,

succeeded in dashing out a large portion of the bow and of one

side. We then pushed off. Two of the natives by this time had got

hold of our boat, obstinately refusing to let go, until we were

forced to despatch them with our knives. We were now clear off,

and making great way out to sea. The main body of the savages,

upon reaching the broken canoe, set up the most tremendous yell

of rage and disappointment conceivable. In truth, from everything

I could see of these wretches, they appeared to be the most

wicked, hypocritical, vindictive, bloodthirsty, and altogether

fiendish race of men upon the face of the globe. It is clear we

should have had no mercy had we fallen into their hands. They

made a mad attempt at following us in the fractured canoe, but,

finding it useless, again vented their rage in a series of

hideous vociferations, and rushed up into the hills.

We were thus relieved from immediate danger, but our situation

was still sufficiently gloomy. We knew that four canoes of the

kind we had were at one time in the possession of the savages,

and were not aware of the fact (afterward ascertained from our

captive) that two of these had been blown to pieces in the

explosion of the _Jane Guy._We calculated, therefore, upon being

yet pursued, as soon as our enemies could get round to the bay

(distant about three miles) where the boats were usually laid up.

Fearing this, we made every exertion to leave the island behind

us, and went rapidly through the water, forcing the prisoner to

take a paddle. In about half an hour, when we had gained probably

five or six miles to the southward, a large fleet of the

flat-bottomed canoes or rafts were seen to emerge from the bay

evidently with the design of pursuit. Presently they put back,

despairing to overtake us.