[page 162, continued:] |
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 OUR situation,
as it now
appeared,
was scarcely less dreadful than when we had conceived ourselves
entombed
for ever. 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 [page 163:] 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 apprize 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 harbor
forthwith
— it could not tell them that no principles of honor 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 towards
the
vessel, to seize one of the four canoes which lay at the head of the
bay,
and endeavor 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 in 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, with outriggers, 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, approached in an opposite
direction,
and with similar weapons. The four canoes, too, were now quickly filled
with natives, starting [page 164:] 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 ricochêting 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 [page 165:] 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 nettings even before the matches had been applied
to the larboard guns. Nothing could now 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 flavor 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 [page 166:] 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
neighborhood.
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 mean time we watched the motions of the savages through our
loophole. They had already made a complete
wreck of the
vessel,
and [page 167:] 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 copper and ironwork. 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
neighboring
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 labors 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 thunder-cloud —
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 [page
168:] in their
demeanor. 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 on 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! |
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