William Henry Giles Kingston

“ As the ship stood on towards the harbour of Nagasaki, we were all eagerly looking out on the beautiful scenery which presented itself. In many parts the coast is bold, in other places it rises from the beach in gentle hills covered with apparently impenetrable forests. The narrow entrance to the harbour now appeared, between lofty overhanging hills covered with rich vegetation. As Captain Davenport had been there before, and the wind was fair, we stood boldly on till a pilot appeared, when sail was shortened to allow him to come on board. ”

“ I was awoke by the cry of “All hands, shorten sail.” Slipping on my clothes, I sprang on deck. The sea was running high, the ship was heeling over to a strong breeze. I flew to the rigging, and my station in the mizzen-top. It was daylight. The crew were swarming up the rigging, and I could distinguish the Lascars forward among the most active. Whatever might have been their intentions for evil, they seemed as eager as any one in taking in the reefs. ”

“ Still the ship lay as before. “It must be done, Thudicumb!” the captain cried, and this time the mate himself approached the mast, and stood with gleaming axe uplifted, ready to strike. The hurricane howled round us. Every instant the seas increased in height and fury, the spoon-drift from their summits driving in showers over our deck. The sea came rushing up every instant higher and higher over the lee bulwarks, up almost to the hatchways. ”

“ As we looked round our eyes could not pierce the thick gloom, nor ascertain whether any land was near. Oliver Farwell was clinging on next to me. The other men had secured themselves round the mast, others to the top. No one spoke; indeed it seemed to all of us that our last moments had arrived. Every instant we expected to be hurled off from our unstable resting-place, as the seas dashed with redoubled fury against the wreck. We could hear the vessel breaking up below us, and we all well knew that in a short time the mast itself must go for want of support. ”

“ When resting at night we quickly formed an impromptu hut of boughs. I could not help wishing that my sister and Grace had been with us, to admire the beautiful forests and magnificent birds we saw. Rising in the morning, we witnessed another dance of the birds of paradise in some trees close to us, and our native hunters shot several of them.
“It is strange,” said Mr Hooker, “that the only inhabitants of this region, where the most graceful of trees and the most beautiful of birds in the universe exist, should be inhabited by races utterly incapable of appreciating them.” ”

“ Nothing could exceed the beauty of the forest trees amid which we were making our way—lofty palms, and the wonderful screw-palm, tall cocoa-nut palms, and a number of trees of the same description. Here and there also were groups of bamboos; and in many places ratans grew, hanging from tree to tree. Now and then we met with beautiful flowers and flowering shrubs, but they were not so common as we expected. Their size and brilliancy, however, made amends for their scarcity. Among them were some creepers, having crimson and yellow flowers; others were of a rich purple colour. ”

“ Once more I rose, and was about to seize the oars, when I bethought me that it would be labour in vain. In what direction should I pull? Hunger reminded me of the provisions Ali had put on board the boat. I took a draught of water and ate some food. It restored my strength; and I now began to suspect that the ship I had seen had been but a phantom of the brain, and that I had been dreaming all the time. I sat at the helm, longing for a breeze. Then I stepped my mast and hoisted my sail, hoping that it might come, and I should be ready for it. ”

“ It is only a knowledge of that which can enable us in any way to comprehend his dealings with man.
“You see, Macco,” continued Oliver, “that God is just as well as loving. He punishes those who continue to refuse his offers of mercy. With many he tries loving-kindness first. Sometimes his love makes him afflict people for the sake of bringing them to him, making them feel their own helplessness. The great thing of all, however, is to know for a certainty that he loves us, and that whatever he does is for the best. When a man is sure of this, he trusts to God, whatever happens. ”

“ The two coloured men and Roger Trew came next, well armed; Mr Thudicumb and Dick Tarbox bringing up the rear, with Merlin, who seemed to consider that the post of danger and honour. Several of the tamer animals had been let loose, and now followed us, a buffalo and babirusa following behind, two deer keeping close to Emily and Grace, whose especial favourites they were. Several monkeys flung themselves along the branches over our heads, to the great astonishment of their kindred whom they met on the road. Several tame jungle cocks and hens ran in and out among our feet. ”

“ I asked Oliver what profession he purposed following, whether he wished again to go to sea.
“I should probably have done so,” he answered; “but Mr Hooker has proposed that I should go to college, and my tastes certainly lead me to adopt one of the learned professions. I delight in study, and should like to choose the one by which I might the most benefit my fellow-creatures. Had I my free choice, I should wish to become a minister of the gospel, for I am sure to no more honourable or important calling can man devote the energies and talents with which his Maker has endowed him.” ”

“ A day’s sail took us off Amboyna, the capital of the Moluccas. It is one of the oldest European settlements in the East. The island is divided into two parts by the sea, a narrow sandy isthmus alone joining them. We sailed up the western inlet, the shores of which were lined by groves of cocoa-nut palm-trees, furnishing food and shade to the natives who dwell in the rude huts beneath them. We came to an anchor off the town of Amboyna. In few places we visited was the forest vegetation more luxuriant or beautiful than on this island. Ferns and palms of graceful forms were seen everywhere ”

“ On this, instead of going straight forward, my uncle turned to the right towards the sea. I followed him, literally crawling on hands and feet, something in the fashion of the monkeys, from bough to bough amid the thick entanglement of the forest; sometimes close down to the ground, though not often more than a few feet above it. I could not help having a fear that in those places there often lurked the fearful python; while some dark pools over which we crawled might, I thought it more than possible, harbour a hermit alligator or some other monster. ”

“ Getting on it himself, he hauled up Oliver first at my request, and then assisted me, making fast the spar to one side. The deck, under which were some beams, floated well, and supported us completely. We were thankful that our lives had been thus far preserved; but yet here we were, out in mid-ocean as far as we could see, without land in sight, and with no provisions, not even a drop of water to support life. We all too well knew that unless help should come, our lives had only been preserved to suffer a more lingering death than the one we had escaped. ”

“ Presently I heard a noise as if some human being or beast was breaking through the underwood, and looking out I caught sight of a man running. I looked again and again. Could my eyes deceive me? If that was not Macco, it was a person wonderfully like him. And yet I felt sure I had seen Macco killed on the shore of Papua; but yet he was so unlike a Malay or a Dyak, or any of the inhabitants of New Guinea, that I could scarcely suppose he could be any other than Macco. ”

“ At the same instant Potto Jumbo sprang in and struck the tail, which instantly flew back and again encircled the tree. The monster now tried to lift up his head to make a spring towards us, but the pig prevented it from opening its jaws, though the force with which it projected its enormous head was sufficient to have knocked down the strongest man and killed him on the spot. Mr Hooker was on the watch, and received it on the point of his spear, which transfixed its throat, and must have gone through the pig’s body at the same time. ”

“ Earthquakes prevailing in this region, has prevented the people erecting any lofty edifices, while a bamboo hut will stand any amount of shaking without being brought to the ground. By a hurricane, however, they are easily overthrown. Over the wide expanse of water, which was blue and clear like that of the ocean, fish of various sorts were rising to the surface, as if to look out for the appearance of the glorious sun over the mountain tops. ”

“ Now was the time, therefore, to beat our retreat, and we hurried back to the fort with an account of what we had seen.
“We must prevent the creature from causing further mischief,” said Mr Hooker, seizing an axe. “When it has digested the pig, it may pay us a visit, and may be a more awkward enemy to deal with than even the pirates. Now, if we make haste, he is at our mercy.”
Potto Jumbo begged that he might accompany us, and Oliver and he and I, with the two gentlemen, each armed with an axe and a long bamboo spear, hurried back to where we had seen the python. ”

“ The sides were covered with the most beautiful and luxuriant vegetation. Jungle trees of every description jutted out from the crevices of the rocks, their trunks and branches bearing an endless variety of beautiful creepers in brilliant blossom, hanging down in festoons to the very water’s edge. Over our heads, disturbed at our appearance, flew a number of pigeons and other birds of beautiful plumage, backwards and forwards. ”

“ The lava poured forth and flowed down its sides into the sea, loud thunders were heard, smoke and ashes rose up, and hot stones fell like hail on every side, setting fire to the dead wood which, after so long a rest, had completely grown over the ground, and causing it at night to assume the appearance of one vast mountain of flame. ”

“ We could see the brig, through the thickening gloom, at her anchors.
“I trust she may hold her ground,” said my uncle, as we watched her, already rising and falling with quick jerks, as the seas rapidly passed under her. “What say you?” he said, turning to Roger Trew. “Do you think, if she made sail, she could beat out of this bay, for I fear greatly that with the sea that rolls in here, when there is wind like this, she will be unable to remain at anchor?”
“I am very sure Mr Thudicumb will do his best to beat out of the bay,” answered Roger Trew. ”

“ One man only was left in each canoe. I also remained, having now stronger fears than ever that my companions were bent on evil. Not a sound was heard except those I have before described proceeding from the forest. Suddenly I saw a bright light burst forth amid the branches of the trees. Loud shrieks and cries rent the night air. My companions seemed highly excited, and could scarcely restrain themselves from leaping on shore and deserting the canoes. The cries increased. Shouts of triumph rose above them. ”

“ I should have been anxious had I no one I cared for on board, but I dreaded the danger to which my dear sister Emily might be exposed, and I felt, too, for Mrs Davenport and Grace. Men can more easily escape from shipwreck, and if cast on a desert island are better able to rough it, than females; but what hope would there be of two young girls escaping with their lives, should we be cast on shore? I had not forgotten either the remarks Potto Jumbo had made about the Lascars. ”

“ Suddenly, when I thought that my friend’s life would be in an instant more taken from him, the creature fell back to the ground, where he lay struggling violently, biting the earth and tearing it up with his claws, while Merlin, evading his clutches, attacked him wherever he could get a gripe, without risk of being seized, and prevented him probably from again rising.
“Oh, he is killed! he is killed!” cried Emily, who had hitherto stood terror-stricken, running to Oliver and kneeling down by him. She heard the report, and probably thought that he had been wounded by the gun. ”

“ Though the human beings on board were oppressed with the beat, their caricatures and imitators, the monkeys, seemed thoroughly to enjoy themselves. Perhaps they were aware that nobody would take the trouble to go after them; so they had the rigging to themselves, and were now climbing and leaping about every part of it, now and then descending to the end of a rope to try to carry off a seaman’s hat, swinging themselves close to his head. Now two or three of them would make their way aft, and come and look down at Mr Hooker, whom most of them seemed to recognise as their master and owner. ”

“ The sago-palm has a creeping root-stem, like a nipa-palm, and Mr Hooker had told me that when it is nearly fifteen years old it sends up an immense terminal spike of flowers, after which it dies. It is not so tall as the cocoa-nut tree, but is thicker and larger. The mid-ribs of its immense leaves are twelve or fifteen feet long, and sometimes the lower part is as thick as a man’s leg. They are excessively light, consisting of a firm pith, covered with a hard rind. They are frequently used instead of bamboo; entire houses, indeed, are built of them. ”

“ From either side also came strange sounds—the shrill call of pea-hens, the cooing of pigeons, high above all of which was the pertinacious chattering of monkeys, while parrots and other gaily-coloured birds flew from bough to bough, and gigantic butterflies with brilliant wings skimmed over the surface of the stream. The monkeys followed us as we proceeded, or else the banks must have been thickly inhabited with them; some throwing themselves frantically from bough to bough, coming close down to our heads, others uttering hoarse cries, as if to frighten us away from their neighbourhood. ”

“ As it drew nearer, I discovered to my satisfaction that it was the empty shell of a nautilus. In my eagerness I was about to throw off my clothes and jump in to fetch it, when Potto Jumbo drew me back. “Take care, Massa Walter,” he said; “shark about here! Never swim out in open place like dis.” I, however, pointed out the shell to Ali, and tried to make him understand that it was that of which we were in search. ”

“ Day after day the ship remained in this calm region with a cloudy sky. People began to feel ill; and some fancied that as they were going further south the heat would increase, and could scarcely understand that as they proceeded the atmosphere would again become cold. Captain Davenport and the officers were on the watch to make use of every breath of air which would forward the ship on her course; and at length she once more got the breeze, and those who had before been complaining of lassitude and illness suddenly revived and came on deck to enjoy the renovating and refreshing breeze. ”

“ I entreated Grace to run to the house, and bring the Frau, with a shell of fresh water; and I thought that perhaps together we might carry Oliver back. Grace set off, followed by Merlin, who evidently seemed to understand that something had to be done. Oh, how anxious I felt for poor Oliver. I am sure that I would have given my own life to save his. He was dear Walter’s friend. I am sure Walter loved him as a brother; indeed, he is well worthy of such regard. No one also could be more attached to us. ”

“ Bits of timber came floating on shore; now a piece of a broken spar; now parts of the bulwarks. We were afraid that ere long the brig would begin to break up. Meantime Frau Ursula had been urging the girls to go back to the house; but they were too deeply interested in what was taking place to listen to her entreaties. They thought not of the pelting rain; they thought not of the driving spray or furious wind. Their hearts were with our friends on board—with Mr Hooker, kind Mr Thudicumb, honest Dick Tarbox, and the faithful Potto Jumbo. Presently we saw a round object floating towards us. ”

“ The seat of the fire was evidently far down.
“We must get at the cargo!” cried Mr Thudicumb, from below, to the captain, who was standing over the hatchway.
A crane was rigged, and whips rove, and bales and packages hauled up, several more men jumping below to assist. I was passing the buckets when Mr Tarbox came near me.
“Keep an eye on Ali and his people,” he said. “I have a notion this is their doing. For all they appear so active, they mean mischief, depend on it.” ”