CHAPTER XVI.

CHAPTER XVI.THE COOPER "ROMANCES."—INCIDENTS.—BYRON'S ISLAND."What did you value your life at, when the cannibals were holding their powwow over you, the other day to Dominica?" asked the cooper, who was whittling a charge for his pipe from a long twist of "nigger-head.""At a very low figure," said I. "At one time I'd have been glad to sell out at a nominal price. But do you really suppose theyarecannibals?""Of course they are," returned the cooper. "Probably one of the points they were disputing about was, how it was best to cook and dress you.""But Peter says they had no intention of killing us at all, and as he understands the language, I suppose he knows best. But I confess, that in spite of his assurances, I felt anything but safe; for at any moment some impulsive child of nature might have driven a lance through me, just to end the controversy.""And don't you see," said Fisher, "that Peter's view of the matter would partially spoil the poetry of Cooper's yarn, that he means to found on the facts?""Of course," said the cooper. "There's not half as much romance in knowing that you are to be coopedup in a bamboo calaboose, and ransomed for old Revolutionary muskets, as there is in the other view of the matter.""And what may be your other view of the matter?" I asked."Why, in the absence of any positive knowledge, you can let the imagination run free," said the cooper, rising to light his pipe at the hanging lamp, and striking an attitude. "You may just suppose yourself neatly transfixed by the javelin of a barbaric chieftain, and your spirit passing gently away to the music of tomtoms, blending with melodious voices chanting the wild 'hula-hula.' Then," he continued, shaking his immense beard, as he warmed with his subject, "you are laid out in state in the halls of the Marquesan Cæsars (or Montezumas, if you prefer that), to grace a 'Kava feast' of princes of the blood; you are done to a turn at the hands of the chief doctor of the palace; and served up in curry as the leading dish at a right royal banquet, flanked by immense bunches of the golden banana at one end, and pyramids of bread-fruit at the other.""Delightful!" said I. "There's nothing in Fox's Book of Martyrs half as satisfactory—to the narrator. But, being the hero of the adventure myself, I should vote for the calaboose and the ransom. Besides, it would be some satisfaction to know one's precise value in this market; just how many old flint-locks you are worth, or whether you could be quoted at par, with old nigger-head tobacco, pound for pound.""But, joking aside," said the cooper, "I don't, ofcourse, know whether that particular tribe are cannibals or not, but it is pretty well established that there are tribes on this Marquesan group, who deserve that name. The tribe of Taipi, in the island of Nukahiva, are somewhat notorious in that line.""That is the island where the French are planting a colony now, or trying to, isn't it?" said I."Yes," answered the cooper. "Jim, the white man, told me they had quite a force of troops there, and a frigate or two on this station. But I think they will have their hands full, for these islanders are a naturally savage race, particularly so, and warlike, too. It will not be an easy thing to civilize them, or to subdue them either, in their native mountains.""Did you ever, in your own experience, have any proofs that they really eat men at any of this group?" I asked."No," he replied, "I can't say that I ever did, I only give the reports at second-hand.""Well, Cooper," said I, "I am disappointed in you this time. I had made up my mind to listen to marvellous tales of'Anthropophagi, and men whose headsDo grow beneath their shoulders,'""No," said the cooper conscientiously, "I cannot swear to the cannibals, and I have never seen men with their heads under their shoulders; but I've seen a tribe in New Holland with their faces looking behind them, or the spinal column in front of them, which ever you choose to have it.""Which way did they walk?" I asked."Both ways, equally well. Like these canoes down at the groups, they just shift their sail, and the stern becomes the bow. You should see those Yohos out in the bush, hunting with the face turned over one shoulder, prepared to run either way, at the shortest notice. But I think the most diverting thing was a grand war-dance that I saw there, a sort of forward-and-back movement that displayed their double-ender qualities to the best advantage.""There, that'll do, Cooper," said Fisher. "Dry up now, and turn in.""Fact!" replied the cooper, with the utmost gravity. "You may laugh and you may doubt, but what I've seen, I know."The next landfall after leaving the Marquesas, was Starbuck's Island, low and dangerous, where the captain lowered his boat and went ashore, but found nothing of interest but an old trypot, some staves and hoops of decayed casks, and a few other mementoes of the wreck of the Independence, of Nantucket, which ran ashore here in the night under full headway a few years before. The crew lived some time on this island, being obliged to construct a substitute for a still and make water for use from sea-water. A part of them finally made their way to Otaheite in boats, and the rest were taken off the island by a passing ship.Nearly on the meridian we saw a "school of cows and calves," and here, for the first time, I had an opportunity of seeing sperm whales "bring to" handsomely.The second mate struck first, and his whale, after running a short distance, stopped, and all the rest came up around him, and lay for some time, blowing, "heads and points," while we in the other two boats pulled on and fastened at our leisure, selecting the largest cows. After we were well fast, instead of immediately killing our whales, we lanced loose ones, and the sport was very exciting, as the whales were up and down in all directions among the boats, and some difficulty was met with from the fast whales crossing each other's course, and thus fouling the lines. Of course many of the loose whales which we killed were lost, as it was quite impossible to keep the run of them all, and a freshly-killed whale cannot be seen at any considerable distance, without a waif to indicate his whereabouts. And here for the first time I saw the use of a contrivance called a "waif-drug," for attaching the tell-tale flag to a whale while still alive. A short toggle of oak is fitted firmly in the centre of a square piece of plank, one end of the toggle is bored to step the waif-pole in, and the other is loaded with iron sufficiently to balance but not to sink it. This is attached by a few fathoms of line to a harpoon, which being darted into a whale after he has been mortally wounded with the lance, the plank drug rests flat on the surface, and the pole and waif are kept in an upright position. Eight whales were collected and secured as the reward of our exertions, though the whole eight yielded but little more oil than the one taken off Juan Fernandez.Not wishing to run too fast over the ground, wehauled on a wind while boiling these whales; and the next day after "cooling down," we ran to the westward and made an island, low but well wooded; the top-branches of the beautiful cocoanut-tree being the first object to break the horizon line. This, the mate informed me, was Byron's Island, the weathermost of Kingsmill's Group. Very soon the sails of numerous canoes were to be seen approaching, for a ship can be discovered almost as soon as she makes the land, all the islands of this group being low. The fleet of canoes was constantly receiving fresh accessions as we drew nearer the land, the number increasing till more than a hundred could be counted from the deck. They worked to windward rapidly, having immense triangular sails of matting. The first canoe that neared us came boldly alongside, throwing a line which was caught by eager hands on deck, for we were all on the tiptoe of curiosity to cultivate closer acquaintance with this singular people."Here he comes, stem on for Dover Castle!" said the second mate, as the canoe's bow struck in the waist with considerable force, and then, snubbed by her warp, she swung fore and aft, while the savages, taking the line in to one of the thwart timbers, "bowed her off" with much skill, for the ship was going at a smart rate through the water. By this time other canoes were crowding upon the first one, all anxious to be the first to make a trade with us; each with a line of its own ready to throw to us, or else clamoring for a rope's end to be thrown from the ship. Some fell short, and the ship flew past them; but, nothing daunted, theyfell into her wake, knowing that she would heave to soon. Some ran into others, doing considerable damage to their frail structures and increasing the clamor and confusion. I noticed one strapping fellow in the first canoe, who, with both hands full of "truck," was making the most urgent signs and cries for a rope to be thrown to him. Curious to see how he would manage, I flung him one which he seized with his teeth, and without hesitation threw himself overboard, still holding his wares in both hands and five or six "sennit" hats upon his head. He swung alongside towing by the vice-like grip of his teeth upon the rope, the ship moving at a rate that I should suppose would have torn any white man's jaws out of his head, unless he opened them and let go his hold. I jumped into the chains and reaching down, managed to relieve one of his hands of its load, so that he could have one arm and his teeth to tow by, for it was hardly possible to get him on board until the ship's way was stopped. A canoe was now driving right upon him, having swung in against the ship in consequence of collision with another, but he paid little heed to her, simply diving under and rising again the other side of her, seemingly as much at home in the water as a porpoise.Faster and faster the reinforcements of canoes gather, and the Babel of guttural shouts and yells exceeds all descriptive powers. Each canoe contains at least one representative of the gentler sex; some of them two or three; but the women, contrary to all rules among civilized communities, have but little tosay. Crash! I run to the other side of the deck to see what has happened; an unfortunate canoe has filled and swamped alongside, torn her thwart out by the strain upon the warp, and the apparent wreck is drifting into our wake, the crew swimming off with her, for the women are as amphibious as the men, their yells rise louder than ever, while screams of derisive laughter greet them on every side from their unsympathizing consorts. As Manoel the Portuguese expressively says, it is "every man for myself" in this crowd. Anxious to know how they will conduct under these circumstances, I jump up on the shearpole and follow them with my eye. As soon as they wind their way out of the thickest crowd of the pursuing canoes, they seize their own by the head and stern, and shooting her violently fore and aft a few times, she slops about half the water out over the two ends; a man then jumps lightly into her, and commences baling; soon she will bear another man; and it is not many minutes ere she takes her place in the fleet, though now occupying a rear position, a bit of seizing stuff completes her repairs, and they are after us again, joining in the general laugh, and eager as ever."Haul the mainsail up! and square the main yard!" cries the old man with a desperate effort to make himself heard above the clamor and din.The orders are repeated by the mates, and the ship is soon hove to, the canoes closing up around us. Everything of a portable nature has been picked up about the decks, and stowed away out of reach, for all savages are known to be adepts at thieving; indeedtheir exploits in this way would do honor to the most expert "professionals" in England or America.Some caution against treachery is also necessary at all times in dealing with these people, though, as a general rule, where they come without arms, and accompanied by women and children, no danger is to be apprehended.As soon as the ship's way was stopped, the islanders poured in over the rail in vast numbers, and a brisk traffic was carried on for cocoanut, mats, hats, shells, etc. Tobacco was the precious metal and root of all evil with this people. Iron they seemed to care very little for, unless an opportunity offered to steal it, but "tabahky" was the very goal of their desires, and for this they would barter soul and body. Articles of clothing were in no request; indeed they offered some for sale for bits of tobacco, having probably stolen them from previous visitors. The costumes of these natives are exceedingly light and airy, the men having absolutely no covering beyond what Nature has provided; while the females were restricted to a single garment not unlike the Highland philibeg, the material being grass or seaweed.More canoes kept paddling up alongside, and attaching themselves to the offside of the first comers, till the ship was surrounded with them several tiers deep, extending to a considerable distance; for these crafts occupy much space in beam, not so much from the size of the boat itself, as of the bulky "outrigger" built out one side to balance her when carrying sail. These islands produce no trees suitable for making"dug-outs" of any considerable size, and the canoes are built of little pieces of wood, hundreds of pieces in a single craft, holes being made near the edges, and the pieces lashed together with innumerable little "seizings," a sort of mortar or white cement is plastered on to fill up the numerous joints, and the still more numerous little holes for the lashings. This only partially answers the purpose; for though the boats are not deficient in the qualities of speed and buoyancy, they are never tight, and one man is kept almost constantly baling. The lashings, as well as all their ropes, some of considerable size, are ingeniously twisted from the fibrous outside or husk of the cocoanut.Two white men came on board, one of whom had been here several years, and had become quite domesticated. He seemed to have considerable influence among the natives, and doubtless was as arrant a savage as any of them when on shore. This man told me that the work of building canoes was constantly going on at their naval dockyard, and that he could hardly perceive the progress made from day to day; several months being consumed in finishing one of them. And no more work is done to them than is absolutely necessary to fit them for service, for the people evince none of the artistic skill and taste in ornamenting their vessels, for which many other of the Polynesian tribes are noted.The man whom I had assisted by throwing him a rope, and relieving him of a part of his load, attached himself particularly to me, and we drove a smart barter trade, highly satisfactory to both parties. Hesoon gave me further evidence of his powers of jaw, as, laughing at my bungling attempts to husk a cocoanut with an axe, he seized the whole bunch of nuts, and jerked the husks all off with his teeth, in less time than I should have taken to finish one, considering his services amply rewarded with a morsel of "tabahky." I bought all his stock of mats, and as many of the hats as I could adapt to my very accommodating head, in other words, all which were not more than eleven sizes too big for me. The next thing produced for my inspection was a cocoanut shell, filled with a sort of syrup, into which he run his finger and sucked it with infinite gusto, at the same time tempting me to do likewise."Id-id-ee tikee-moee-moee!" he yelled."What the devil is that?" said I."Tikee-moee-moee?" he repeated. "Tabahky!"I found this a very nice article, light in color, clear and thick, not unlike honey. I bought it eagerly, and gave my friend to understand I would like to have more. In less than ten minutes he had brought me more than a dozen, which I purchased at sight of the shells, and carried below. I discovered the next day when too late, that only the first one was worth eating, the rest appearing to be about equally compounded of very black molasses and sea-water.I made my out-door agent understand that I wanted to collect shells, showing him one as a specimen. He rushed to the side, shouting to his comrade in the canoe, "Teroot!" and returned with a few which were not worth much. My "wants" having beenthus advertised, I was beset with cries of "Teroot!" for the next half-hour; for every barbarian pedler who had a beech-worn shell or fragment of a shell to dispose of, pushed it into my face with the same war-cry. I selected a few, which I thought worthy to be added to my collection. But I was by no means rid of the rest, after so doing; for I was pursued from post to pillar, and the same specimens, transferred to different hands, loomed before my eyes dozens of times, with the savage cry "Teroot! Tabahky!""I'm sayin', ould chap, what's the matter wid y'er leg?" said the voice of Farrell near me.I turned and saw an elderly, grave looking man climbing in over the rail. As he landed on deck, he presented a singular phenomenon; having one well-proportioned leg of the natural size, while the other one at the calf would have filled a deck-bucket."Say, ould chap, what ails y'er leg?" repeated the Irishman."Ididee tikee-nut!" shouted the old man, holding up over his head a bunch of nuts, knotted together by strips of the husk."Ah! the divil take your tikeenuts, it's your leg I'm looking at. Who ever saw the likes?""Tabahky!" roared the venerable savage, keeping an eye to business."What made y'er leg swell that big?" pursued Farrell."Tikee moee moee!" was the answer, in a voice of thunder."An' sure, I'll ate none of it, if it has that effect.""Why," said the cooper, "don't you see, he's got the 'fay-fay.' There's plenty of that disease on these islands. There's a man in that canoe under the quarter there with one of his arms puffed up bigger than my body; you can see it wobble every time he moves. Now, twig this old gentleman when he walks.""Isn't it painful, do you think?" I asked."No, they say not, after it's swelled, and set to its full size, for I believe it's never cured. It is common on many islands in the Pacific, and at Rotumah, particularly so. Most of the white men have it there, that is, those who have lived there any length of time. It is caused by the diet, I suppose.""Yes, that's what the ould chap tould me, 'twas the tikeenuts and that swate tracle stuff made it swell," said Farrell."Mr. Grafton, we must get rid of these canoes now as fast as possible. We can't afford to drift any more. Brace full the mainyard and down tacks!" said the captain. "They must take care of their own canoes."This manœuvre produced some commotion among the visitors, and scattered the greater part of them. Some who had not been fortunate enough to dispose of all their wares, still hung on, offering goods at very low prices to close out the stock."Keep cool, don't drive them," said the mate. "I'll get clear of them all, in a minute."He went down below, and soon returned with a musket, which he pointed in the air over their heads, and pulled the trigger. A stampede ensued, and arapid succession of plunges overboard as well as into the canoes, soon cleared the deck of all the frightened savages; and the fleet were soon standing in for the land, presenting a picturesque and beautiful view, as the declining sun shone upon the numerous triangular sails and flashing paddles; while we hugged the wind under all sail to hold our weather position.CHAPTER XVII.KINGSMILL's GROUP.—SINGULAR WHALING INCIDENT.—HARD AND FAST.—A PERILOUS POSITION.We now made our cruising-ground for a time among the islands of Kingsmill's group, setting the starboard and larboard watches again, as it was necessary to keep sail on the ship day and night, to avoid drifting off the ground altogether. This necessity is owing not only to the prevalence of the trade wind which blows in the same general direction at all times, except when replaced for very short periods by the "westerly monsoons," so called; but also to a current, varying more or less in force, which sets to the westward all through this chain of islands. These circumstances, in connection with the low and dangerous character of some of the islets, as well as their uncertain position on the charts, demanded great vigilance in the night watches, and the strictest orders were given to the officers in this particular.The scenes at Byron's Island were repeated at others with little variation in general outline; for, almost as soon as land was seen, the triangular sails would also make their appearance; and but few days passed without communication and traffic with some of them. I soon learned to judge of the age of acocoanut before buying it, for, as there is but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous, so it requires but a short stage in the growth of the nut to change the milk from Olympian nectar into the most insipid slops; while I was careful not to rush blindly intotikee moee-moeespeculations without investigating the matter to the very bottom. My little stock of rarities in conchology was much augmented by small additions made at various times; and I had rather more hats, as well as bigger ones, hung up in my bunk, than the Arethusa had in her slopchest; for some of my first purchases in this line would have set loosely on Daniel Lambert.These little episodes, interspersed with the excitement of whaling adventures, served effectually to break the monotony of a long cruise at sea, and to make the time pass quickly and pleasantly. Sperm whales are frequently seen, and we were successful, as a general thing, in taking them. The whales here ran small in size; the cows seldom yielding above twenty barrels, oftener fifteen or sixteen. Now and then a school would be met with, accompanied by one old eighty-barrel patriarch, orschoolmaster, as he might be not inaptly termed. Of course, our principal efforts were directed to capturing this fellow, if possible. In one instance, we succeeded quite unexpectedly, and in a very singular manner.We lowered in pursuit of a school of small whales, no large one having been seen among them before we left the ship. The whales in some way took the alarm before we got up to them, and when the matecalled me up, they had all gone down but one cow with a small calf. I drew back my iron for a dart, but the cow had already pitched, and was too far from me to make a safe thing of it. "Strike the calf!" said Mr. Grafton; and, with a twinge of conscience at the cruelty of the deed, I threw an iron at the infant whale, who seemed hardly able to carry it off in his back. However, down he went, and we gave him line freely, as we were fearful of drawing the iron. We felt pretty sure that when he rose again, we should have a chance at the mother; and that chance was good of the rest of the school "bringing to." In such a case, we might get a good "cut" of oil, by striking a whale which, alone, was of little or no value. He had "sounded out" forty or fifty fathoms of line, when the strain suddenly relaxed, and the line hung slack. "We are loose!" cried the mate, "haul in line!" then shouted to the other two boats, who were hovering near us, to "Pull ahead!" They sprang to their oars to take the next chance at the school when they should rise, while we gathered in our stray line quite leisurely. Presently our line seemed to be foul of something, which offered a strange kind of resistance to our efforts; it did not bring up firmly, but seemed to be grating or chafing against something, so that we still gained on it, though making slow progress."What can be the matter?" I asked."I don't know," said Father Grafton. "I can't account for the line acting this way." Just then there was another heavy surge upon it, then that peculiargrating and slipping, and we got in two or three more fathoms of it. "Something is under us," said he. "Slack line and stand by your oars!"We slacked away and sterned off a little. Presently there was a commotion and lifting of the sea as it were, close ahead of us, and with a roar as he broke water, the ponderous "junk" of a "ninety-barreller" was forced up into view; he straightened, showing us his vast breadth of beam, and then with a thundering flap of his immense flukes upon the water, which half-drowned us all in the spray, he started to windward, towing us after him! Astonishment held us all mute for a moment, but the mate, seeing that he was fairly "harnessed," soon recovered his usual coolness."Clear away my lance!" said he to the bowman, as he placed the second iron in the crotch ready for darting. "We're fast to him, Blacksmith, buthow, the Lord knows,Idon't. If that's the whale that you struck, he hasgrownout of all knowledge within a quarter of an hour!"The old man and second mate were coming to the rescue, having soon perceived the state of affairs. They were as much puzzled, of course, as we were; but, if we had hooked to the schoolmaster, that was enough for the present. The second boat was soon fast, and when we hauled up to lance, the mystery was explained. The large whale had fouled the line with his lower jaw, and the strain had drawn the iron from the little one. The monster in his struggles had rolled over and we had been hauling the line across hisjaw, till we had got the slack all in, and the harpoon and pole had formed a toggil across his "jole" at the corner of his mouth. In an hour's time we hauled him alongside the ship, well pleased with the exchange we had involuntarily made of a calf for a full-grown bull.We had cruised this ground over, working down to leeward of Ocean and Pleasant Islands, which lie somewhat detached from the main cluster of the group, and, then taking the advantage of a westerly monsoon, which brought us back to Byron's Island, we cruised it all over again. We had taken about six hundred barrels of sperm oil, and it was nearly time for us to be making a port, as we intended to take the next season "on Japan."We had been in sight of one of the islands one afternoon, and several canoes came off for a short time, but the weather had been overcast and rainy, and we had no observations of the sun; and as we had but an indifferent one the day before, we were in doubt from what island the canoes came. We knew we must be somewhere in the vicinity of Simpson's and Henderville's Islands. The wind was light the first part of the night, and we stood on the southern tack till midnight, when we wore ship, and headed back to the northward. This was done in our watch, and when we went below at three in the morning, it was cloudy weather with light rain squalls. Nothing had been seen; the wind was light and the sea unusually smooth, as it seemed to us, indicating that we were under the lea of one of the islands. The secondmate was cautioned to keep a good lookout ahead and off the lee bow, and we went below, feeling no uneasiness as it would be daylight in an hour. The captain had been on deck at about two, and he thought from appearances and from the strength of the current, that we must be to the westward of our reckoning, and now under the lee of Woodle's Island, and, if so, we had sea-room enough for the present.The heat kept me awake for some time after I turned in, or rather lay down on my chest-lid, for I could not endure the temperature in the bunk, and the weather was too damp to take my jacket and pillow on deck, or into one of the quarter-boats as I was in the habit of doing when it was fine and dry. I could hear Mr. Dunham and Fisher moving about and talking over me, for a short time; then all was still, and overcome by drowsiness I fell asleep.A trembling movement of the ship with a grinding sound beneath me brought my feet to the floor with a bound; my trousers and hat were seized at the same instant, and the mate, Mr. Bunker, and myself reached the deck all at once, crowding each other on the stairs. The captain was already there. None of us asked another what was the matter; we seemed to wake with an instinctive understanding of the whole truth in its painful aggregate; and our first glances around were merely to take in the details of the situation.Cocoanut trees were looming on the starboard bow, seeming in the gray light to overhang the ship, and gradually receding along the beam and quarter, as the land trended to the south-east. All was clear bluewater off the lee bow, but day had broken, and a line of cocoanut trees against the western skies indicated another island within a few miles off the lee beam. We had run on the lee end of one of the islands, for the line of the reef, as marked by the color of the water, was only one point off the port bow. A quarter of a mile more off would have carried us all clear, and into the channel between the two. The wind was very light, and partially embayed as we were it was so smooth that there was little or no breaker near the ship, and she scarcely moved after the first shock of running on the reef.I had taken these few hasty notes while we were hauling everything in aback, with the hope of forcing her astern, but the power of her sails was not sufficient with so light a breeze. The pumps were tried, but showed no leak, and the hand lead was passed along for sounding. No questions were asked, no fault found, though we all understood well enough how it happened. As I have before intimated, the second mate, though so good an officer in all other respects, had the fatal weakness of falling to sleep at his post. I knew as well as if I had seen it myself, that after stirring about a short time and setting a lookout, he had sat down and dropped off into the land of Nod. Of course, if the officer of the deck sleeps, all the rest will be likely to follow his example; Jack not being disposed to take upon himself any cares for which an other is better paid. I have no doubt to this day, that, at the moment the ship struck, every man was asleep, both above and below deck, but the captain, who was just coming up the stairs.The hand lead gave eight feet of water under the bow on the starboard side. From this depth it was evident the reef rose abruptly; as, ten feet ahead of us the rock was dry and our martingale was almost touching it. Under the larboard bow we got ten feet, and a boat's length from the ship the lead indicated five fathoms. The kedge anchor was being prepared for service, for we could hear the voices of natives on the beach, and doubtless the canoes would surround us as soon as daylight should arrive, and the alarm be spread; so that whatever was to be done must be done soon or we should have to fight an army of hostile savages. But soundings taken thirty yards from the ship gave sixty fathoms off the port bow, and at fifty yards distance no bottom was reached with a hundred and fifty fathoms. No kedging could be done in that direction to swing her bow off. We sent the boat astern with no better success. The deep sea line failed to find any bottom, and it was evident the ship hung by her bow only, on the very angle of a reef which rose boldly from the depths of the ocean. Under the fore-chains we had fourteen feet, which was enough to have floated the ship. We had the satisfaction of knowing that a pull of a couple of fathoms in either of two directions would place her in her native element, but how were we to get it? Our kedge anchor was useless, owing to the great depth of water on the off side and astern of us. A strong breeze acting upon the head sails thrown aback would probably have done the work for us.Daylight, while it gave us a clear view of our position,also brought new dangers, for several canoes were already hovering near, and others could be seen shoving out all along the beach. We could see that the men were all armed, and that no women were in any of the canoes. This was sufficient evidence that they meant mischief, and would venture an attack upon us in our crippled position, which they would not dare make if we were under way. However, we knew their wholesome dread of fire-arms, and trusted to be able to keep them at bay, if we could contrive any purchase to haul the ship off the ledge. But one way of doing this presented itself; and we at once set about the necessary preparations for availing ourselves of it.About two hundred yards from us, in a line nearly astern, a point or projection of the coral reef made out in a south-west direction, the rock being but little more than dry at high water; and in the scanty soil on this point, three cocoanut trees had firmly rooted themselves, one of them inclining so much seaward, that its lofty tuft of branches must have almost brushed the sails of the ship as she passed in by it. If a line could be carried to these trees, and brought in at the taffrail to the capstan or windlass, we could heave the ship off, without doubt; but the undertaking involved considerable risk. The two cutting falls were unrove from the blocks and connected by a bend, which formed a rope long enough for our purpose, and of sufficient strength to bear all the strain that we should want to heave. This was all placed in one boat, in two large coils well spread out on top of thethwarts. Only one man was to go in this boat, at the steering oar, and the position was assigned to me. The other two boats were lowered, and manned with full crews, the second and third mates being placed in command. All the fire-arms had in the mean time been loaded, six-pounder and all; and most of the muskets were distributed in the boats, as there was no fear of the savages making an attack on the ship at present. They would wait to concentrate all their fighting force before doing so.When we had completed our preparations there were not more than twenty canoes assembled, averaging about five men to each; and these were, thus far, acting only as a squadron of observation; but two had made their appearance ahead of the ship coming round the end of the reef, being the advance guard of another fleet from the north side of the island, while the number of triangular sails momentarily increasing off the lee beam and quarter promised large reinforcements from the other island. It was low tide when the ship ran ashore, and the flood was now beginning to make; a couple of hours would, doubtless, give us water enough to haul her off.The second mate's boat, pulled in advance, towing the boat in which I was steering, loaded with the hawser. Mr. Bunker, with the third boat, followed close in my wake, as rear guard, carrying the end of a light whale line which was paid out from the ship. The six-pounder was trained for a covering fire, but no fire-arms were to be used, nor any violence offered, except in case of the last necessity. The natives inthe canoes intently watched our movements, paddling a little towards us, but resting again, as they saw the number of muskets in the two boats. They, of course, understood our manœuvre, but to oppose our landing would involve more risk from the guns than they cared to run. Thus holding them in awe, the operation was performed without a shot, the first boat only being beached. The crew jumped out, pulled the end of the hawser ashore by a piece of small line, hitched it securely round two trees which grew close together, while the end of the whale line was being bent to the other end of the coil; a wave of my hat gave the signal to "haul away!" I laid the boat round, was taken in tow by the third mate, and we returned to the ship paying out the hawser from both coils at once.When about midway between the shore and the ship, having paid all out and thrown the bight clear of the boat, I was startled by a man under water swimming towards the hawser. I called to Mr. Bunker to "heave up," for it instantly occurred to me what his purpose was. He was nearly under the head of my boat, and gradually rising towards the surface as he approached his object. My boat-spade, keen as a razor, with a light warp attached to it, lay convenient to my hand. I seized it with a nervous grasp, feeling that it had fallen to my duty to shed the first blood in this affair. The savage was coming up; already his arm was outstretched to grasp the hawser. I could see a knife gleaming in his other hand. My spade descended with careful aim upon his right arm, his ugly head rose to the surface in a pool of blood, and with anunearthly yell he struck out with one arm towards the canoes, holding aloft the stump of the other, cut clear off between the shoulder and the elbow!The hawser was safe for the present; another minute and it was hauled taut and taken to the windlass, the tension bringing it above the surface. A boat's crew, well armed, remained on the point to protect that end; and in order to divide it at any point, the person attempting it must raise his head out of water and expose himself to almost certain death; for keen eyes were sighting loaded muskets both from the taffrail and the beach. We hove a severe strain at the windlass, but it was evident we could not start her yet; we must wait the rise of the tide, and, in the mean time, our chief attention must be devoted to the protection of our hawser. If our enemies could divide this, they would gain time and assemble a large force so as to overpower and massacre the whole of us. The division from the north side of the island were apparently all in sight now, and were forming a junction with their comrades, the whole force amounting to about forty canoes with two hundred fighting men, their arms being clubs and spears of wood, set thickly with rows of shark's teeth. We made no attempt to prevent the junction of the two fleets, for we did not mean to waste a charge of powder, but reserve it for an emergency. If we could protect our hawser and get another hour or two of flood tide, we did not fear a legion of them when under way; and this we hoped to effect before the arrival of the fleet from Woodle's island, which numbered some thirty canoes more.The women and children of the island, with a few old men whose fighting days were gone by, had all assembled on the beach at a short distance from the ship, anxiously waiting the progress of events. They kept up a terrible yelling and shouting to the warriors in the canoes, apparently urging them on to attack us. After a time, becoming emboldened by impunity, a party of them ran down on the rocks ahead of the ship, and saluted us with a volley of stones, some of which came in over the bows, falling among us. To get rid of this annoyance the six-pounder, with only a charge of powder and wad was now trained in that direction and fired over their heads. The effect was all we could have desired; the rabble retreated to what they considered a safe distance, and ventured no more within range.From time to time we tried a little additional strain on the hawser, and at length had the satisfaction of feeling the ship tremble and waver a little under our efforts. On sounding now we found thirteen feet as far forward as the fore-swifter, and it was evident we hung by only a few feet of the keel from the cutwater aft."The hawser does not pull in the direction that we could wish it did," said the old man, now in consultation with the mate at the taffrail. "It'll pull her off without doubt if we can wait half an hour or more. But in that time, those devils will get here from Woodle's, and we shall be surrounded with enemies. Besides, I am getting anxious about Mr. Dunham and his crew, who are held at bay there on the point. You see, thehawser pulls rather too much to seaward and grinds her starboard bow hard against the ledge. I think by the feeling of her, that if that could be slacked up suddenly her stern would swing in, and perhaps she might slide off sideways.""I think so too," said Mr. Grafton. "But it's a ticklish thing, because, as soon as that hawser is slacked into the water, they'll make an attempt to cut it, if they've got another knife among them, which is doubtful. It would be bungling work cutting it with any of their own instruments.""We must risk it, at any rate," said the old man, after considering a moment. "Those canoes will be here in a few minutes, and then we shall have a general attack. We'll try it, and if she does not swing as we expect we'll heave right in again, and wait the tide as we have been doing. Stand by to come up that hawser at the windlass! Sharp eyes out now at the taffrail! Keep your guns ready, and if you see a head come up near that hawser,don't miss him!"He waved his hand to the windlass bits; the fall "rendered" round the barrel with a heavy surge, and the ship swung, as he had expected. Her stern trended in shore till she was about half broadside on; and her bow, sliding and grinding on the rocks, forced itself partly off, but hung again, now without motion.CHAPTER XVIII.OFF THE ROCKS AGAIN.—A BAD LEAK.—ANECDOTES.—THE RUN TO THE CAROLINE ISLANDS."We shall have to heave taut again, Mr. Grafton, and give her another swing," said the old man. "O, if we only had another hawser to hold her stern where it is, and take this one in on the port bow! But I don't like to risk her to swing broadside on."At this moment a hand grasping a knife emerged from the water, near the middle of the hawser, and a shaggy head rose partly above the surface. Five or six muskets cracked simultaneously both from the ship and shore. The head and arm disappeared, and the water was discolored where they went down. Another savage had met the reward of his rashness and the hawser was saved again."They wont try that move again right away," said the old man, coolly. "But those canoes are almost here and I am fearful for those men who are on the point, guarding the shore end of the hawser. There she slips a little! Do you feel that, Mr. Grafton? We must risk it. Come up the hawser all together! Lay aft here, every man! Take the bight round outside and lead in on the port bow! Lively, men! You're working for your lives!"We knew it, and needed no urging; the heavy ropewas passed swiftly from hand to hand, and brought in forward to the fore-rigging; a turn was thrown round the windlass and the brakes were instantly in motion. As she lay now, this was the very pull she wanted. Hardly had we brought a strain when she began to slide and rumble under us, and a wild hurrah burst from all our lips as she settled into her element, and her head paid briskly off, under the power of her foretopsail. But as she did so, her stern swung in violently, and a projecting spur of the rock beneath the water met her under the counter, with a kind of dull, cracking sound that came ominously to our ears.We could not stop to think of this now. We looked astern; Mr. Dunham was coming! He had already cut the hawser at the shore end, and his crew were pulling the boat off by it, hand over hand, while he and Fisher stood with muskets keeping their foes at bay; for, maddened with rage and disappointment, they were now beginning to close in upon him."Brace round the yards!" roared the captain. "Steady! meet her with the helm! Keep her right in the channel! All the muskets here now, and open a covering fire for this boat! Pull boys! pull! We'll have you all safe in another minute!"We no longer thought of saving powder, but fired away among the thickest of them. A dozen of them were killed or wounded and they soon found the work too hot. They hauled off with hideous yells, and we took all our men safely on board, though Fisher had a bad cut from one of the serrated spears, and thesecond mate and young Black Hawk were both severely wounded by stones, which had been hurled in great numbers from the canoes, when they closed up around the boat."Is that gun loaded with ball?" asked the old man."Ay, ay, sir!" responded Mr. Grafton. "Say the word!""Luff hard, there!" said the captain. "Let her come up and shiver! Stand by, now, when she bears right—fire! Hard up, and keep full!"The old "persuader" did her work as effectually as at Dominica. Two canoes were struck by the discharge, and the yells that rose from the terrified barbarians, now joined by the advance division of the Woodle's Island fleet, rang in our ears, but with no terrors for us, now that we were fairly standing seaward."Try the pumps, now, Mr. Grafton, while I look after these wounded men," said the captain. "I'm afraid we may have started a leak, under the counter, but I hope not a very bad one."The first strokes of the pump told us that his fears were not without good foundation. The water gushed from the scuppers bright and clean!"Get me a dry ropeyarn," said Father Grafton, quietly. "Draw the boxes, and let's sound the well."A plummet was soon extemporized, and lowered into the pump-well. It was drawn carefully up again. O, how anxiously all eyes were riveted upon it, as with suspended breath we awaited the mate's words. "Twenty-five inches.""That's not so bad as it might be," he said cheerfully. "It's some time since she struck there. Rig the other pump and man them both!"We kept both pumps going fast and strong till they sucked. We then timed her, and when we pumped her again, we made the leak about fifteen hundred strokes an hour."That will keep us pretty busy pumping," said the old man, "until we get in somewhere where we can stop it. However, we may thank God we came off as well as we did. We can keep the leak under till we reach one of the Carolines, and as for the three men, I don't consider either of them wounded seriously, though they may be disabled from duty for some days. We'll break out in the starboard side of the run this afternoon, and see if we can make any discoveries."We broke out, accordingly, and judging by the sound, where the leak was, we cut out a piece of the ceiling. We found a place crushed in two planks in width, the broken wood still remaining, though much shattered, and forced out of its place. With a "fothering" of canvas and oakum, and some boards nailed to the timbers to hold all in place, we reduced the leak considerably. This was all that could be done to it from the inside, but we were satisfied that we could get at it, by careening the ship in a smooth harbor, and repair it, as we did the former leak at Hanayapa; as the timbers did not appear to be materially injured. We timed her again in our watch that night, and found we pumped only about nine hundred strokes an hour.Off the Rocks again.Page227."Well," said Father Grafton, "that's much better than fifteen hundred, for it's a kind of labor that seamen abominate, and no wonder at it. There's a sameness about it that is not at all agreeable. I must say that I dislike such jobs as pumping, sawing wood, and turning grindstones."Of course I agreed with him entirely in this antipathy."I don't think," continued the mate, "that there is any other leak in her beside that one under the counter. It's likely that the copper and sheathing are much torn up under the bows, but the ledge appeared to be pretty smooth, and the pumps threw no water, up to just before the time we hauled her afloat.""I suppose," said I, "the cooper will admit now that she leaks enough to keep her sweet. Ah! here he is, on deck, and his pipe loaded, too. Say, Cooper, have you seen any flying fish come from the pump yet?""No," answered the cooper, gruffly. "She don't leak much, now, that is, comparatively speaking. She'stight, compared to the old Harbinger. But we didn't mind it so much in those days, as we should now.""No, that's true," said the mate, "and, to go twenty or thirty years still further back, they minded it still less, and seemed to look upon pumping as a matter of course, a part of the regular routine of ship's duty. I recollect a case in point. When I was a young fellow, I happened to be present in court when a casewas being tried involving the insurance on the ship Tarquin, sunk at sea on her homeward passage. It appeared that the Tarquin, when off Cape Horn, leaked a smart thousand strokes an hour; that after getting down into the trades on the Atlantic side, they had tinkered some of their leaks, and also, being in lighter weather, she made less water, so that they pumped only three or four hundred strokes an hour when off Cape St. Augustine. Well, they held on their course, and, between there and home, she gave out entirely, and sunk from under 'em. The underwriters refused to pay, and the ground taken by them was, that the captain ought to have gone into a port in Brazil, and overhauled his ship. Well, several old sea-captains were called on the stand to give their opinions. I remember one in particular, who is still living. The question was put to him, whether, in his judgment, it was prudent for the captain of the Tarquin, with his ship leaking some three or four hundred strokes, and Pernambuco under his lee, to continue on towards home? 'Prudent!' said the old gentleman. 'Yes, why not? Why,' said he, proudly, 'I sailed out of New Bedford in a ship leaking five hundred strokes an hour to start on a voyage!'""Yes, that was in what they call, 'the good old times,'" said the cooper. "And that reminds me of a circumstance that happened many years ago in which an uncle of mine was one of the parties concerned. He was homeward bound in an old ship, I think it was the Criterion. They got in on the coast, made Block Island, and took a pilot. It came on to blowvery heavily from the northward, and they were blown off the coast and the ship leaked so that they found it impossible to free her, and decided that the only safety for them was to put her off before it and run her—somewhat. Well, they let her slide to leeward with both pumps going, and when the weather moderated, they found themselves so far to the southward that they kept on, and made a port at the French island of Martinique. Here they discharged the oil, hove the ship out, stopped the leaks, and took in their cargo again. In those days, you will remember, communications with the West Indies was not an every-day thing as it is now, and nothing was heard from that particular island for a long time. Well, in the mean time the pilot-boat reported putting a pilot on board ship Criterion, off Block island, such a date. Of course, it was supposed she had foundered in the gale, and all had perished. Well, four months afterwards, away along in the summer, the Criterion came down to the bar, and when my uncle went ashore he found his wife in mourning, having given him up for dead long before.""I believe that's a true yarn, Cooper, if youdidtell it," said the mate—"This way the watch!Pump ship!"We still held on our course to the westward, to make a port at one of the Carolines or Ladrones, and made good progress with the trade winds in our favor. Our men soon recovered from their injuries, and resumed their duties, rather priding themselves upon the ugly scars received in the conflict. Whether the old manever said anything in the way of reprimand to the second mate, I never knew. If he did, the whole matter was kept to themselves; and, indeed, it was not his habit to find fault with an officer in the presence or hearing of any subordinate. Perhaps he thought it best to overlook his almost fatal want of vigilance, in view of his gallant conduct afterwards in charge of the forlorn hope on the point, and trusted that the peril through which he had just passed would prove a salutary lesson to him for the future. If so, he judged correctly, for the young officer's eyes were opened to his own carelessness; and, in a literal sense, he kept them open the remainder of the voyage. As I learned from others in his watch, he never was known, after this affair, to sit down during his hours of duty at night."We are drawing down near to the Carolines," said the mate to me one evening, about a week after the accident. "I think we shall make Strong's Island to-morrow.""Have you ever been there, sir?" I asked."Not to go ashore," said Mr. Grafton. "I have passed in sight of it, and I have been in and anchored at Ascension, which is beyond it to the northward and westward. I hear that ships visit Strong's Island quite frequently of late. I suppose the people are similar in appearance and character to those of Ascension. We shall reconnoitre there a little, and perhaps the old man will decide to go in, if he finds it a good harbor to stay our leak in; if not, we shall keep on to Ascension or Guam.""Are these people anything like those at Kingsmill's Group?""Not at all," replied the mate. "Neither in appearance, language nor general character. There is something very interesting about them; at least, those that I have seen at Ascension. They are handsomer, and lighter in color than those islanders we have left behind; and they are also more intelligent and ingenious. The women, especially, are more delicate, with good figures; some of them are really pretty. Then, in place of the gibberish of uncouth sounds spoken in most parts of Polynesia, these people have a musical language, full of soft liquids and ringing consonants, that seems more like Chinese than like anything we are accustomed to recognize as a 'Kanaka language.'""Are they safe people to deal with?" I asked."Well, no more so than the generality of savages. Indeed I think they are quite as treacherous, though not as hardy and warlike as Marquesans or New Zealanders. None of these races are to be trusted, and we must be always on our guard in our intercourse with them; treating them well, but never placing ourselves entirely in their power.""Power makes right, with them, as it does with civilized nations," I answered, "and the same rule of diplomacy which you have mentioned will apply to our dealings with the best of them, I think.""That's true," said Father Grafton, reflectively. "I suppose, after all, we are no better than they are, only we have a more genteel way of doing thingsand do them on a larger scale. We should not kill and eat a man or two whom we caught on board our ship; but if it suited our purposes, we should very likely take possession of a whole island or group of islands, and kill the people in a legal way, if they resisted; as is being done even now, by enlightened France, at the Marquesas and Society Islands.""And if they don't take possession of all Oceanica," said I, "it is only because it is not worth their while, or as we Yankees would say, 'it wont pay.'""Just so," assented the mate. "And if, as some think, England will protest against this occupation by the French, it will not be because of any injustice done to the natives but because it might be thought dangerous to her interests to permit France to have these naval stations in the Pacific.""It is a delicate matter, any way," he resumed, "to do justice in dealing with these savages. We must secure the safety of our own lives, if possible, and of our property, too. Of course I am speaking, now, of the case of isolated ships, like our own. It seems cruel to kill or wound a savage for pilfering, especially when we remember that a plug of tobacco or a knife may appear as great a treasure to his simple mind, as a mine of gold or a fertile province to our more enlightened capacities. And yet how else are we to prevent the annoyance, and secure our property? We cannot reason with them, nor can we punish them according to any civilized form of law. And if we kill or maltreat them, it's ten to one they will retaliate upon some other white men who may be thrown intheir way at a future time. It's a difficult subject, to make the best of it," said the mate, dismissing the matter in an unsatisfied way, as hundreds of others have done; and taking up another."There is evidence to prove," said he, "that the Caroline Islands were once inhabited by a race of people far superior to those now found here. The ruins of a large stone building, apparently a religious temple of some sort, still stand on the island of Ascension, away up in the interior, showing beyond all question that those who reared it possessed a knowledge of arts and of mechanical powers far beyond the capacity of the present owners of the soil. I am told that similar evidences are to be found at Strong's Island, in the form of stone walls, running in various directions about the island, which never could have been built by the present inhabitants.""What account do they give of them?" I asked."So far as I can learn, it is as great a mystery to the present generation of them as it is to us; and I have never heard that they have even any traditions to account for them. But there they are," said he, dismissing this subject, like the other, unsatisfied."But it is time to set these faithful pumps going again; that's a practical matter, with not much of interesting speculation about it.Pump ship!"We made Strong's Island the next day, as expected, and running down for it, saw two ships lying at anchor in a bay on the weather side of it, making in from the south-east. The old man lowered his boat and went in, leaving us to lie off and on for his return. Soonafterwards a canoe was seen coming out with three men. They paddled alongside very quietly, in marked contrast with the jabbering barbarians whom I had been accustomed to hear at the other group, or even to the Portuguese boatmen at the Azores. I was looking at them over the rail in the waist, and wondering how the first words of their language would sound in my ears, when the man in the head of the canoe spoke up, in clear and distinct English, "Give us a rope, if you please." The crew of the Topez could hardly have been more surprised when they discovered Pitcairn's Island, and were addressed in their own language by the descendants of the Bounty mutineers, than were we at hearing this polite request.The men came on board, and it appeared that they all spoke a good smattering of English, though the first speaker took the lead, he having made a short cruise in a whaler. He told us one of the ships in the bay was American and the other English. The mate asked him if he knew the name of either of the ships, thinking at most, that he might get some clew to guess from; but, to our further astonishment, he replied, "Ship Leonidas, of New Bedford, Captain Taber, and Ship Seringapatam, of London, Captain Courtenay," pronouncing all the names with the greatest care and distinctness. He already knew the name of our ship and captain, having spoken the boat going into the bay."Well," said Mr. Grafton, "they ought to establish a newspaper here, and secure this man as marine news reporter. It's not one white man in twenty couldhave given us these particulars, and done it in as good shape;" for we had learned how much oil these ships has taken, where they were bound, and many other things of interest concerning them."Why, either of these men talk better English than any ordinary Kanaka who has made a four years' voyage in a whaler."Our boat was seen returning, and the old man came on board with a favorable report. He gave orders to get the chains up and the anchors off the bow at once, having made up his mind to go in."It's a snug harbor," I heard him telling the mate, "and it's easy getting into it. I have some doubts about getting out again as easy, but I guess we shall have a slant of wind. Taber went in only yesterday and is bound on Japan too. He wants a consort, and will stay as long as we do, in case our job of stopping the leak should detain us. The Englishman is all ready for sea, now, but he can't get out with this wind."Within an hour we were riding quietly at anchor in six fathoms, but a short distance from the beach, and in a convenient place for heeling the ship to repair the injury which had caused us so much monotonous and fatiguing labor at the pumps.

CHAPTER XVI.THE COOPER "ROMANCES."—INCIDENTS.—BYRON'S ISLAND."What did you value your life at, when the cannibals were holding their powwow over you, the other day to Dominica?" asked the cooper, who was whittling a charge for his pipe from a long twist of "nigger-head.""At a very low figure," said I. "At one time I'd have been glad to sell out at a nominal price. But do you really suppose theyarecannibals?""Of course they are," returned the cooper. "Probably one of the points they were disputing about was, how it was best to cook and dress you.""But Peter says they had no intention of killing us at all, and as he understands the language, I suppose he knows best. But I confess, that in spite of his assurances, I felt anything but safe; for at any moment some impulsive child of nature might have driven a lance through me, just to end the controversy.""And don't you see," said Fisher, "that Peter's view of the matter would partially spoil the poetry of Cooper's yarn, that he means to found on the facts?""Of course," said the cooper. "There's not half as much romance in knowing that you are to be coopedup in a bamboo calaboose, and ransomed for old Revolutionary muskets, as there is in the other view of the matter.""And what may be your other view of the matter?" I asked."Why, in the absence of any positive knowledge, you can let the imagination run free," said the cooper, rising to light his pipe at the hanging lamp, and striking an attitude. "You may just suppose yourself neatly transfixed by the javelin of a barbaric chieftain, and your spirit passing gently away to the music of tomtoms, blending with melodious voices chanting the wild 'hula-hula.' Then," he continued, shaking his immense beard, as he warmed with his subject, "you are laid out in state in the halls of the Marquesan Cæsars (or Montezumas, if you prefer that), to grace a 'Kava feast' of princes of the blood; you are done to a turn at the hands of the chief doctor of the palace; and served up in curry as the leading dish at a right royal banquet, flanked by immense bunches of the golden banana at one end, and pyramids of bread-fruit at the other.""Delightful!" said I. "There's nothing in Fox's Book of Martyrs half as satisfactory—to the narrator. But, being the hero of the adventure myself, I should vote for the calaboose and the ransom. Besides, it would be some satisfaction to know one's precise value in this market; just how many old flint-locks you are worth, or whether you could be quoted at par, with old nigger-head tobacco, pound for pound.""But, joking aside," said the cooper, "I don't, ofcourse, know whether that particular tribe are cannibals or not, but it is pretty well established that there are tribes on this Marquesan group, who deserve that name. The tribe of Taipi, in the island of Nukahiva, are somewhat notorious in that line.""That is the island where the French are planting a colony now, or trying to, isn't it?" said I."Yes," answered the cooper. "Jim, the white man, told me they had quite a force of troops there, and a frigate or two on this station. But I think they will have their hands full, for these islanders are a naturally savage race, particularly so, and warlike, too. It will not be an easy thing to civilize them, or to subdue them either, in their native mountains.""Did you ever, in your own experience, have any proofs that they really eat men at any of this group?" I asked."No," he replied, "I can't say that I ever did, I only give the reports at second-hand.""Well, Cooper," said I, "I am disappointed in you this time. I had made up my mind to listen to marvellous tales of'Anthropophagi, and men whose headsDo grow beneath their shoulders,'""No," said the cooper conscientiously, "I cannot swear to the cannibals, and I have never seen men with their heads under their shoulders; but I've seen a tribe in New Holland with their faces looking behind them, or the spinal column in front of them, which ever you choose to have it.""Which way did they walk?" I asked."Both ways, equally well. Like these canoes down at the groups, they just shift their sail, and the stern becomes the bow. You should see those Yohos out in the bush, hunting with the face turned over one shoulder, prepared to run either way, at the shortest notice. But I think the most diverting thing was a grand war-dance that I saw there, a sort of forward-and-back movement that displayed their double-ender qualities to the best advantage.""There, that'll do, Cooper," said Fisher. "Dry up now, and turn in.""Fact!" replied the cooper, with the utmost gravity. "You may laugh and you may doubt, but what I've seen, I know."The next landfall after leaving the Marquesas, was Starbuck's Island, low and dangerous, where the captain lowered his boat and went ashore, but found nothing of interest but an old trypot, some staves and hoops of decayed casks, and a few other mementoes of the wreck of the Independence, of Nantucket, which ran ashore here in the night under full headway a few years before. The crew lived some time on this island, being obliged to construct a substitute for a still and make water for use from sea-water. A part of them finally made their way to Otaheite in boats, and the rest were taken off the island by a passing ship.Nearly on the meridian we saw a "school of cows and calves," and here, for the first time, I had an opportunity of seeing sperm whales "bring to" handsomely.The second mate struck first, and his whale, after running a short distance, stopped, and all the rest came up around him, and lay for some time, blowing, "heads and points," while we in the other two boats pulled on and fastened at our leisure, selecting the largest cows. After we were well fast, instead of immediately killing our whales, we lanced loose ones, and the sport was very exciting, as the whales were up and down in all directions among the boats, and some difficulty was met with from the fast whales crossing each other's course, and thus fouling the lines. Of course many of the loose whales which we killed were lost, as it was quite impossible to keep the run of them all, and a freshly-killed whale cannot be seen at any considerable distance, without a waif to indicate his whereabouts. And here for the first time I saw the use of a contrivance called a "waif-drug," for attaching the tell-tale flag to a whale while still alive. A short toggle of oak is fitted firmly in the centre of a square piece of plank, one end of the toggle is bored to step the waif-pole in, and the other is loaded with iron sufficiently to balance but not to sink it. This is attached by a few fathoms of line to a harpoon, which being darted into a whale after he has been mortally wounded with the lance, the plank drug rests flat on the surface, and the pole and waif are kept in an upright position. Eight whales were collected and secured as the reward of our exertions, though the whole eight yielded but little more oil than the one taken off Juan Fernandez.Not wishing to run too fast over the ground, wehauled on a wind while boiling these whales; and the next day after "cooling down," we ran to the westward and made an island, low but well wooded; the top-branches of the beautiful cocoanut-tree being the first object to break the horizon line. This, the mate informed me, was Byron's Island, the weathermost of Kingsmill's Group. Very soon the sails of numerous canoes were to be seen approaching, for a ship can be discovered almost as soon as she makes the land, all the islands of this group being low. The fleet of canoes was constantly receiving fresh accessions as we drew nearer the land, the number increasing till more than a hundred could be counted from the deck. They worked to windward rapidly, having immense triangular sails of matting. The first canoe that neared us came boldly alongside, throwing a line which was caught by eager hands on deck, for we were all on the tiptoe of curiosity to cultivate closer acquaintance with this singular people."Here he comes, stem on for Dover Castle!" said the second mate, as the canoe's bow struck in the waist with considerable force, and then, snubbed by her warp, she swung fore and aft, while the savages, taking the line in to one of the thwart timbers, "bowed her off" with much skill, for the ship was going at a smart rate through the water. By this time other canoes were crowding upon the first one, all anxious to be the first to make a trade with us; each with a line of its own ready to throw to us, or else clamoring for a rope's end to be thrown from the ship. Some fell short, and the ship flew past them; but, nothing daunted, theyfell into her wake, knowing that she would heave to soon. Some ran into others, doing considerable damage to their frail structures and increasing the clamor and confusion. I noticed one strapping fellow in the first canoe, who, with both hands full of "truck," was making the most urgent signs and cries for a rope to be thrown to him. Curious to see how he would manage, I flung him one which he seized with his teeth, and without hesitation threw himself overboard, still holding his wares in both hands and five or six "sennit" hats upon his head. He swung alongside towing by the vice-like grip of his teeth upon the rope, the ship moving at a rate that I should suppose would have torn any white man's jaws out of his head, unless he opened them and let go his hold. I jumped into the chains and reaching down, managed to relieve one of his hands of its load, so that he could have one arm and his teeth to tow by, for it was hardly possible to get him on board until the ship's way was stopped. A canoe was now driving right upon him, having swung in against the ship in consequence of collision with another, but he paid little heed to her, simply diving under and rising again the other side of her, seemingly as much at home in the water as a porpoise.Faster and faster the reinforcements of canoes gather, and the Babel of guttural shouts and yells exceeds all descriptive powers. Each canoe contains at least one representative of the gentler sex; some of them two or three; but the women, contrary to all rules among civilized communities, have but little tosay. Crash! I run to the other side of the deck to see what has happened; an unfortunate canoe has filled and swamped alongside, torn her thwart out by the strain upon the warp, and the apparent wreck is drifting into our wake, the crew swimming off with her, for the women are as amphibious as the men, their yells rise louder than ever, while screams of derisive laughter greet them on every side from their unsympathizing consorts. As Manoel the Portuguese expressively says, it is "every man for myself" in this crowd. Anxious to know how they will conduct under these circumstances, I jump up on the shearpole and follow them with my eye. As soon as they wind their way out of the thickest crowd of the pursuing canoes, they seize their own by the head and stern, and shooting her violently fore and aft a few times, she slops about half the water out over the two ends; a man then jumps lightly into her, and commences baling; soon she will bear another man; and it is not many minutes ere she takes her place in the fleet, though now occupying a rear position, a bit of seizing stuff completes her repairs, and they are after us again, joining in the general laugh, and eager as ever."Haul the mainsail up! and square the main yard!" cries the old man with a desperate effort to make himself heard above the clamor and din.The orders are repeated by the mates, and the ship is soon hove to, the canoes closing up around us. Everything of a portable nature has been picked up about the decks, and stowed away out of reach, for all savages are known to be adepts at thieving; indeedtheir exploits in this way would do honor to the most expert "professionals" in England or America.Some caution against treachery is also necessary at all times in dealing with these people, though, as a general rule, where they come without arms, and accompanied by women and children, no danger is to be apprehended.As soon as the ship's way was stopped, the islanders poured in over the rail in vast numbers, and a brisk traffic was carried on for cocoanut, mats, hats, shells, etc. Tobacco was the precious metal and root of all evil with this people. Iron they seemed to care very little for, unless an opportunity offered to steal it, but "tabahky" was the very goal of their desires, and for this they would barter soul and body. Articles of clothing were in no request; indeed they offered some for sale for bits of tobacco, having probably stolen them from previous visitors. The costumes of these natives are exceedingly light and airy, the men having absolutely no covering beyond what Nature has provided; while the females were restricted to a single garment not unlike the Highland philibeg, the material being grass or seaweed.More canoes kept paddling up alongside, and attaching themselves to the offside of the first comers, till the ship was surrounded with them several tiers deep, extending to a considerable distance; for these crafts occupy much space in beam, not so much from the size of the boat itself, as of the bulky "outrigger" built out one side to balance her when carrying sail. These islands produce no trees suitable for making"dug-outs" of any considerable size, and the canoes are built of little pieces of wood, hundreds of pieces in a single craft, holes being made near the edges, and the pieces lashed together with innumerable little "seizings," a sort of mortar or white cement is plastered on to fill up the numerous joints, and the still more numerous little holes for the lashings. This only partially answers the purpose; for though the boats are not deficient in the qualities of speed and buoyancy, they are never tight, and one man is kept almost constantly baling. The lashings, as well as all their ropes, some of considerable size, are ingeniously twisted from the fibrous outside or husk of the cocoanut.Two white men came on board, one of whom had been here several years, and had become quite domesticated. He seemed to have considerable influence among the natives, and doubtless was as arrant a savage as any of them when on shore. This man told me that the work of building canoes was constantly going on at their naval dockyard, and that he could hardly perceive the progress made from day to day; several months being consumed in finishing one of them. And no more work is done to them than is absolutely necessary to fit them for service, for the people evince none of the artistic skill and taste in ornamenting their vessels, for which many other of the Polynesian tribes are noted.The man whom I had assisted by throwing him a rope, and relieving him of a part of his load, attached himself particularly to me, and we drove a smart barter trade, highly satisfactory to both parties. Hesoon gave me further evidence of his powers of jaw, as, laughing at my bungling attempts to husk a cocoanut with an axe, he seized the whole bunch of nuts, and jerked the husks all off with his teeth, in less time than I should have taken to finish one, considering his services amply rewarded with a morsel of "tabahky." I bought all his stock of mats, and as many of the hats as I could adapt to my very accommodating head, in other words, all which were not more than eleven sizes too big for me. The next thing produced for my inspection was a cocoanut shell, filled with a sort of syrup, into which he run his finger and sucked it with infinite gusto, at the same time tempting me to do likewise."Id-id-ee tikee-moee-moee!" he yelled."What the devil is that?" said I."Tikee-moee-moee?" he repeated. "Tabahky!"I found this a very nice article, light in color, clear and thick, not unlike honey. I bought it eagerly, and gave my friend to understand I would like to have more. In less than ten minutes he had brought me more than a dozen, which I purchased at sight of the shells, and carried below. I discovered the next day when too late, that only the first one was worth eating, the rest appearing to be about equally compounded of very black molasses and sea-water.I made my out-door agent understand that I wanted to collect shells, showing him one as a specimen. He rushed to the side, shouting to his comrade in the canoe, "Teroot!" and returned with a few which were not worth much. My "wants" having beenthus advertised, I was beset with cries of "Teroot!" for the next half-hour; for every barbarian pedler who had a beech-worn shell or fragment of a shell to dispose of, pushed it into my face with the same war-cry. I selected a few, which I thought worthy to be added to my collection. But I was by no means rid of the rest, after so doing; for I was pursued from post to pillar, and the same specimens, transferred to different hands, loomed before my eyes dozens of times, with the savage cry "Teroot! Tabahky!""I'm sayin', ould chap, what's the matter wid y'er leg?" said the voice of Farrell near me.I turned and saw an elderly, grave looking man climbing in over the rail. As he landed on deck, he presented a singular phenomenon; having one well-proportioned leg of the natural size, while the other one at the calf would have filled a deck-bucket."Say, ould chap, what ails y'er leg?" repeated the Irishman."Ididee tikee-nut!" shouted the old man, holding up over his head a bunch of nuts, knotted together by strips of the husk."Ah! the divil take your tikeenuts, it's your leg I'm looking at. Who ever saw the likes?""Tabahky!" roared the venerable savage, keeping an eye to business."What made y'er leg swell that big?" pursued Farrell."Tikee moee moee!" was the answer, in a voice of thunder."An' sure, I'll ate none of it, if it has that effect.""Why," said the cooper, "don't you see, he's got the 'fay-fay.' There's plenty of that disease on these islands. There's a man in that canoe under the quarter there with one of his arms puffed up bigger than my body; you can see it wobble every time he moves. Now, twig this old gentleman when he walks.""Isn't it painful, do you think?" I asked."No, they say not, after it's swelled, and set to its full size, for I believe it's never cured. It is common on many islands in the Pacific, and at Rotumah, particularly so. Most of the white men have it there, that is, those who have lived there any length of time. It is caused by the diet, I suppose.""Yes, that's what the ould chap tould me, 'twas the tikeenuts and that swate tracle stuff made it swell," said Farrell."Mr. Grafton, we must get rid of these canoes now as fast as possible. We can't afford to drift any more. Brace full the mainyard and down tacks!" said the captain. "They must take care of their own canoes."This manœuvre produced some commotion among the visitors, and scattered the greater part of them. Some who had not been fortunate enough to dispose of all their wares, still hung on, offering goods at very low prices to close out the stock."Keep cool, don't drive them," said the mate. "I'll get clear of them all, in a minute."He went down below, and soon returned with a musket, which he pointed in the air over their heads, and pulled the trigger. A stampede ensued, and arapid succession of plunges overboard as well as into the canoes, soon cleared the deck of all the frightened savages; and the fleet were soon standing in for the land, presenting a picturesque and beautiful view, as the declining sun shone upon the numerous triangular sails and flashing paddles; while we hugged the wind under all sail to hold our weather position.

THE COOPER "ROMANCES."—INCIDENTS.—BYRON'S ISLAND.

"What did you value your life at, when the cannibals were holding their powwow over you, the other day to Dominica?" asked the cooper, who was whittling a charge for his pipe from a long twist of "nigger-head."

"At a very low figure," said I. "At one time I'd have been glad to sell out at a nominal price. But do you really suppose theyarecannibals?"

"Of course they are," returned the cooper. "Probably one of the points they were disputing about was, how it was best to cook and dress you."

"But Peter says they had no intention of killing us at all, and as he understands the language, I suppose he knows best. But I confess, that in spite of his assurances, I felt anything but safe; for at any moment some impulsive child of nature might have driven a lance through me, just to end the controversy."

"And don't you see," said Fisher, "that Peter's view of the matter would partially spoil the poetry of Cooper's yarn, that he means to found on the facts?"

"Of course," said the cooper. "There's not half as much romance in knowing that you are to be coopedup in a bamboo calaboose, and ransomed for old Revolutionary muskets, as there is in the other view of the matter."

"And what may be your other view of the matter?" I asked.

"Why, in the absence of any positive knowledge, you can let the imagination run free," said the cooper, rising to light his pipe at the hanging lamp, and striking an attitude. "You may just suppose yourself neatly transfixed by the javelin of a barbaric chieftain, and your spirit passing gently away to the music of tomtoms, blending with melodious voices chanting the wild 'hula-hula.' Then," he continued, shaking his immense beard, as he warmed with his subject, "you are laid out in state in the halls of the Marquesan Cæsars (or Montezumas, if you prefer that), to grace a 'Kava feast' of princes of the blood; you are done to a turn at the hands of the chief doctor of the palace; and served up in curry as the leading dish at a right royal banquet, flanked by immense bunches of the golden banana at one end, and pyramids of bread-fruit at the other."

"Delightful!" said I. "There's nothing in Fox's Book of Martyrs half as satisfactory—to the narrator. But, being the hero of the adventure myself, I should vote for the calaboose and the ransom. Besides, it would be some satisfaction to know one's precise value in this market; just how many old flint-locks you are worth, or whether you could be quoted at par, with old nigger-head tobacco, pound for pound."

"But, joking aside," said the cooper, "I don't, ofcourse, know whether that particular tribe are cannibals or not, but it is pretty well established that there are tribes on this Marquesan group, who deserve that name. The tribe of Taipi, in the island of Nukahiva, are somewhat notorious in that line."

"That is the island where the French are planting a colony now, or trying to, isn't it?" said I.

"Yes," answered the cooper. "Jim, the white man, told me they had quite a force of troops there, and a frigate or two on this station. But I think they will have their hands full, for these islanders are a naturally savage race, particularly so, and warlike, too. It will not be an easy thing to civilize them, or to subdue them either, in their native mountains."

"Did you ever, in your own experience, have any proofs that they really eat men at any of this group?" I asked.

"No," he replied, "I can't say that I ever did, I only give the reports at second-hand."

"Well, Cooper," said I, "I am disappointed in you this time. I had made up my mind to listen to marvellous tales of

'Anthropophagi, and men whose headsDo grow beneath their shoulders,'"

"No," said the cooper conscientiously, "I cannot swear to the cannibals, and I have never seen men with their heads under their shoulders; but I've seen a tribe in New Holland with their faces looking behind them, or the spinal column in front of them, which ever you choose to have it."

"Which way did they walk?" I asked.

"Both ways, equally well. Like these canoes down at the groups, they just shift their sail, and the stern becomes the bow. You should see those Yohos out in the bush, hunting with the face turned over one shoulder, prepared to run either way, at the shortest notice. But I think the most diverting thing was a grand war-dance that I saw there, a sort of forward-and-back movement that displayed their double-ender qualities to the best advantage."

"There, that'll do, Cooper," said Fisher. "Dry up now, and turn in."

"Fact!" replied the cooper, with the utmost gravity. "You may laugh and you may doubt, but what I've seen, I know."

The next landfall after leaving the Marquesas, was Starbuck's Island, low and dangerous, where the captain lowered his boat and went ashore, but found nothing of interest but an old trypot, some staves and hoops of decayed casks, and a few other mementoes of the wreck of the Independence, of Nantucket, which ran ashore here in the night under full headway a few years before. The crew lived some time on this island, being obliged to construct a substitute for a still and make water for use from sea-water. A part of them finally made their way to Otaheite in boats, and the rest were taken off the island by a passing ship.

Nearly on the meridian we saw a "school of cows and calves," and here, for the first time, I had an opportunity of seeing sperm whales "bring to" handsomely.The second mate struck first, and his whale, after running a short distance, stopped, and all the rest came up around him, and lay for some time, blowing, "heads and points," while we in the other two boats pulled on and fastened at our leisure, selecting the largest cows. After we were well fast, instead of immediately killing our whales, we lanced loose ones, and the sport was very exciting, as the whales were up and down in all directions among the boats, and some difficulty was met with from the fast whales crossing each other's course, and thus fouling the lines. Of course many of the loose whales which we killed were lost, as it was quite impossible to keep the run of them all, and a freshly-killed whale cannot be seen at any considerable distance, without a waif to indicate his whereabouts. And here for the first time I saw the use of a contrivance called a "waif-drug," for attaching the tell-tale flag to a whale while still alive. A short toggle of oak is fitted firmly in the centre of a square piece of plank, one end of the toggle is bored to step the waif-pole in, and the other is loaded with iron sufficiently to balance but not to sink it. This is attached by a few fathoms of line to a harpoon, which being darted into a whale after he has been mortally wounded with the lance, the plank drug rests flat on the surface, and the pole and waif are kept in an upright position. Eight whales were collected and secured as the reward of our exertions, though the whole eight yielded but little more oil than the one taken off Juan Fernandez.

Not wishing to run too fast over the ground, wehauled on a wind while boiling these whales; and the next day after "cooling down," we ran to the westward and made an island, low but well wooded; the top-branches of the beautiful cocoanut-tree being the first object to break the horizon line. This, the mate informed me, was Byron's Island, the weathermost of Kingsmill's Group. Very soon the sails of numerous canoes were to be seen approaching, for a ship can be discovered almost as soon as she makes the land, all the islands of this group being low. The fleet of canoes was constantly receiving fresh accessions as we drew nearer the land, the number increasing till more than a hundred could be counted from the deck. They worked to windward rapidly, having immense triangular sails of matting. The first canoe that neared us came boldly alongside, throwing a line which was caught by eager hands on deck, for we were all on the tiptoe of curiosity to cultivate closer acquaintance with this singular people.

"Here he comes, stem on for Dover Castle!" said the second mate, as the canoe's bow struck in the waist with considerable force, and then, snubbed by her warp, she swung fore and aft, while the savages, taking the line in to one of the thwart timbers, "bowed her off" with much skill, for the ship was going at a smart rate through the water. By this time other canoes were crowding upon the first one, all anxious to be the first to make a trade with us; each with a line of its own ready to throw to us, or else clamoring for a rope's end to be thrown from the ship. Some fell short, and the ship flew past them; but, nothing daunted, theyfell into her wake, knowing that she would heave to soon. Some ran into others, doing considerable damage to their frail structures and increasing the clamor and confusion. I noticed one strapping fellow in the first canoe, who, with both hands full of "truck," was making the most urgent signs and cries for a rope to be thrown to him. Curious to see how he would manage, I flung him one which he seized with his teeth, and without hesitation threw himself overboard, still holding his wares in both hands and five or six "sennit" hats upon his head. He swung alongside towing by the vice-like grip of his teeth upon the rope, the ship moving at a rate that I should suppose would have torn any white man's jaws out of his head, unless he opened them and let go his hold. I jumped into the chains and reaching down, managed to relieve one of his hands of its load, so that he could have one arm and his teeth to tow by, for it was hardly possible to get him on board until the ship's way was stopped. A canoe was now driving right upon him, having swung in against the ship in consequence of collision with another, but he paid little heed to her, simply diving under and rising again the other side of her, seemingly as much at home in the water as a porpoise.

Faster and faster the reinforcements of canoes gather, and the Babel of guttural shouts and yells exceeds all descriptive powers. Each canoe contains at least one representative of the gentler sex; some of them two or three; but the women, contrary to all rules among civilized communities, have but little tosay. Crash! I run to the other side of the deck to see what has happened; an unfortunate canoe has filled and swamped alongside, torn her thwart out by the strain upon the warp, and the apparent wreck is drifting into our wake, the crew swimming off with her, for the women are as amphibious as the men, their yells rise louder than ever, while screams of derisive laughter greet them on every side from their unsympathizing consorts. As Manoel the Portuguese expressively says, it is "every man for myself" in this crowd. Anxious to know how they will conduct under these circumstances, I jump up on the shearpole and follow them with my eye. As soon as they wind their way out of the thickest crowd of the pursuing canoes, they seize their own by the head and stern, and shooting her violently fore and aft a few times, she slops about half the water out over the two ends; a man then jumps lightly into her, and commences baling; soon she will bear another man; and it is not many minutes ere she takes her place in the fleet, though now occupying a rear position, a bit of seizing stuff completes her repairs, and they are after us again, joining in the general laugh, and eager as ever.

"Haul the mainsail up! and square the main yard!" cries the old man with a desperate effort to make himself heard above the clamor and din.

The orders are repeated by the mates, and the ship is soon hove to, the canoes closing up around us. Everything of a portable nature has been picked up about the decks, and stowed away out of reach, for all savages are known to be adepts at thieving; indeedtheir exploits in this way would do honor to the most expert "professionals" in England or America.

Some caution against treachery is also necessary at all times in dealing with these people, though, as a general rule, where they come without arms, and accompanied by women and children, no danger is to be apprehended.

As soon as the ship's way was stopped, the islanders poured in over the rail in vast numbers, and a brisk traffic was carried on for cocoanut, mats, hats, shells, etc. Tobacco was the precious metal and root of all evil with this people. Iron they seemed to care very little for, unless an opportunity offered to steal it, but "tabahky" was the very goal of their desires, and for this they would barter soul and body. Articles of clothing were in no request; indeed they offered some for sale for bits of tobacco, having probably stolen them from previous visitors. The costumes of these natives are exceedingly light and airy, the men having absolutely no covering beyond what Nature has provided; while the females were restricted to a single garment not unlike the Highland philibeg, the material being grass or seaweed.

More canoes kept paddling up alongside, and attaching themselves to the offside of the first comers, till the ship was surrounded with them several tiers deep, extending to a considerable distance; for these crafts occupy much space in beam, not so much from the size of the boat itself, as of the bulky "outrigger" built out one side to balance her when carrying sail. These islands produce no trees suitable for making"dug-outs" of any considerable size, and the canoes are built of little pieces of wood, hundreds of pieces in a single craft, holes being made near the edges, and the pieces lashed together with innumerable little "seizings," a sort of mortar or white cement is plastered on to fill up the numerous joints, and the still more numerous little holes for the lashings. This only partially answers the purpose; for though the boats are not deficient in the qualities of speed and buoyancy, they are never tight, and one man is kept almost constantly baling. The lashings, as well as all their ropes, some of considerable size, are ingeniously twisted from the fibrous outside or husk of the cocoanut.

Two white men came on board, one of whom had been here several years, and had become quite domesticated. He seemed to have considerable influence among the natives, and doubtless was as arrant a savage as any of them when on shore. This man told me that the work of building canoes was constantly going on at their naval dockyard, and that he could hardly perceive the progress made from day to day; several months being consumed in finishing one of them. And no more work is done to them than is absolutely necessary to fit them for service, for the people evince none of the artistic skill and taste in ornamenting their vessels, for which many other of the Polynesian tribes are noted.

The man whom I had assisted by throwing him a rope, and relieving him of a part of his load, attached himself particularly to me, and we drove a smart barter trade, highly satisfactory to both parties. Hesoon gave me further evidence of his powers of jaw, as, laughing at my bungling attempts to husk a cocoanut with an axe, he seized the whole bunch of nuts, and jerked the husks all off with his teeth, in less time than I should have taken to finish one, considering his services amply rewarded with a morsel of "tabahky." I bought all his stock of mats, and as many of the hats as I could adapt to my very accommodating head, in other words, all which were not more than eleven sizes too big for me. The next thing produced for my inspection was a cocoanut shell, filled with a sort of syrup, into which he run his finger and sucked it with infinite gusto, at the same time tempting me to do likewise.

"Id-id-ee tikee-moee-moee!" he yelled.

"What the devil is that?" said I.

"Tikee-moee-moee?" he repeated. "Tabahky!"

I found this a very nice article, light in color, clear and thick, not unlike honey. I bought it eagerly, and gave my friend to understand I would like to have more. In less than ten minutes he had brought me more than a dozen, which I purchased at sight of the shells, and carried below. I discovered the next day when too late, that only the first one was worth eating, the rest appearing to be about equally compounded of very black molasses and sea-water.

I made my out-door agent understand that I wanted to collect shells, showing him one as a specimen. He rushed to the side, shouting to his comrade in the canoe, "Teroot!" and returned with a few which were not worth much. My "wants" having beenthus advertised, I was beset with cries of "Teroot!" for the next half-hour; for every barbarian pedler who had a beech-worn shell or fragment of a shell to dispose of, pushed it into my face with the same war-cry. I selected a few, which I thought worthy to be added to my collection. But I was by no means rid of the rest, after so doing; for I was pursued from post to pillar, and the same specimens, transferred to different hands, loomed before my eyes dozens of times, with the savage cry "Teroot! Tabahky!"

"I'm sayin', ould chap, what's the matter wid y'er leg?" said the voice of Farrell near me.

I turned and saw an elderly, grave looking man climbing in over the rail. As he landed on deck, he presented a singular phenomenon; having one well-proportioned leg of the natural size, while the other one at the calf would have filled a deck-bucket.

"Say, ould chap, what ails y'er leg?" repeated the Irishman.

"Ididee tikee-nut!" shouted the old man, holding up over his head a bunch of nuts, knotted together by strips of the husk.

"Ah! the divil take your tikeenuts, it's your leg I'm looking at. Who ever saw the likes?"

"Tabahky!" roared the venerable savage, keeping an eye to business.

"What made y'er leg swell that big?" pursued Farrell.

"Tikee moee moee!" was the answer, in a voice of thunder.

"An' sure, I'll ate none of it, if it has that effect."

"Why," said the cooper, "don't you see, he's got the 'fay-fay.' There's plenty of that disease on these islands. There's a man in that canoe under the quarter there with one of his arms puffed up bigger than my body; you can see it wobble every time he moves. Now, twig this old gentleman when he walks."

"Isn't it painful, do you think?" I asked.

"No, they say not, after it's swelled, and set to its full size, for I believe it's never cured. It is common on many islands in the Pacific, and at Rotumah, particularly so. Most of the white men have it there, that is, those who have lived there any length of time. It is caused by the diet, I suppose."

"Yes, that's what the ould chap tould me, 'twas the tikeenuts and that swate tracle stuff made it swell," said Farrell.

"Mr. Grafton, we must get rid of these canoes now as fast as possible. We can't afford to drift any more. Brace full the mainyard and down tacks!" said the captain. "They must take care of their own canoes."

This manœuvre produced some commotion among the visitors, and scattered the greater part of them. Some who had not been fortunate enough to dispose of all their wares, still hung on, offering goods at very low prices to close out the stock.

"Keep cool, don't drive them," said the mate. "I'll get clear of them all, in a minute."

He went down below, and soon returned with a musket, which he pointed in the air over their heads, and pulled the trigger. A stampede ensued, and arapid succession of plunges overboard as well as into the canoes, soon cleared the deck of all the frightened savages; and the fleet were soon standing in for the land, presenting a picturesque and beautiful view, as the declining sun shone upon the numerous triangular sails and flashing paddles; while we hugged the wind under all sail to hold our weather position.

CHAPTER XVII.KINGSMILL's GROUP.—SINGULAR WHALING INCIDENT.—HARD AND FAST.—A PERILOUS POSITION.We now made our cruising-ground for a time among the islands of Kingsmill's group, setting the starboard and larboard watches again, as it was necessary to keep sail on the ship day and night, to avoid drifting off the ground altogether. This necessity is owing not only to the prevalence of the trade wind which blows in the same general direction at all times, except when replaced for very short periods by the "westerly monsoons," so called; but also to a current, varying more or less in force, which sets to the westward all through this chain of islands. These circumstances, in connection with the low and dangerous character of some of the islets, as well as their uncertain position on the charts, demanded great vigilance in the night watches, and the strictest orders were given to the officers in this particular.The scenes at Byron's Island were repeated at others with little variation in general outline; for, almost as soon as land was seen, the triangular sails would also make their appearance; and but few days passed without communication and traffic with some of them. I soon learned to judge of the age of acocoanut before buying it, for, as there is but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous, so it requires but a short stage in the growth of the nut to change the milk from Olympian nectar into the most insipid slops; while I was careful not to rush blindly intotikee moee-moeespeculations without investigating the matter to the very bottom. My little stock of rarities in conchology was much augmented by small additions made at various times; and I had rather more hats, as well as bigger ones, hung up in my bunk, than the Arethusa had in her slopchest; for some of my first purchases in this line would have set loosely on Daniel Lambert.These little episodes, interspersed with the excitement of whaling adventures, served effectually to break the monotony of a long cruise at sea, and to make the time pass quickly and pleasantly. Sperm whales are frequently seen, and we were successful, as a general thing, in taking them. The whales here ran small in size; the cows seldom yielding above twenty barrels, oftener fifteen or sixteen. Now and then a school would be met with, accompanied by one old eighty-barrel patriarch, orschoolmaster, as he might be not inaptly termed. Of course, our principal efforts were directed to capturing this fellow, if possible. In one instance, we succeeded quite unexpectedly, and in a very singular manner.We lowered in pursuit of a school of small whales, no large one having been seen among them before we left the ship. The whales in some way took the alarm before we got up to them, and when the matecalled me up, they had all gone down but one cow with a small calf. I drew back my iron for a dart, but the cow had already pitched, and was too far from me to make a safe thing of it. "Strike the calf!" said Mr. Grafton; and, with a twinge of conscience at the cruelty of the deed, I threw an iron at the infant whale, who seemed hardly able to carry it off in his back. However, down he went, and we gave him line freely, as we were fearful of drawing the iron. We felt pretty sure that when he rose again, we should have a chance at the mother; and that chance was good of the rest of the school "bringing to." In such a case, we might get a good "cut" of oil, by striking a whale which, alone, was of little or no value. He had "sounded out" forty or fifty fathoms of line, when the strain suddenly relaxed, and the line hung slack. "We are loose!" cried the mate, "haul in line!" then shouted to the other two boats, who were hovering near us, to "Pull ahead!" They sprang to their oars to take the next chance at the school when they should rise, while we gathered in our stray line quite leisurely. Presently our line seemed to be foul of something, which offered a strange kind of resistance to our efforts; it did not bring up firmly, but seemed to be grating or chafing against something, so that we still gained on it, though making slow progress."What can be the matter?" I asked."I don't know," said Father Grafton. "I can't account for the line acting this way." Just then there was another heavy surge upon it, then that peculiargrating and slipping, and we got in two or three more fathoms of it. "Something is under us," said he. "Slack line and stand by your oars!"We slacked away and sterned off a little. Presently there was a commotion and lifting of the sea as it were, close ahead of us, and with a roar as he broke water, the ponderous "junk" of a "ninety-barreller" was forced up into view; he straightened, showing us his vast breadth of beam, and then with a thundering flap of his immense flukes upon the water, which half-drowned us all in the spray, he started to windward, towing us after him! Astonishment held us all mute for a moment, but the mate, seeing that he was fairly "harnessed," soon recovered his usual coolness."Clear away my lance!" said he to the bowman, as he placed the second iron in the crotch ready for darting. "We're fast to him, Blacksmith, buthow, the Lord knows,Idon't. If that's the whale that you struck, he hasgrownout of all knowledge within a quarter of an hour!"The old man and second mate were coming to the rescue, having soon perceived the state of affairs. They were as much puzzled, of course, as we were; but, if we had hooked to the schoolmaster, that was enough for the present. The second boat was soon fast, and when we hauled up to lance, the mystery was explained. The large whale had fouled the line with his lower jaw, and the strain had drawn the iron from the little one. The monster in his struggles had rolled over and we had been hauling the line across hisjaw, till we had got the slack all in, and the harpoon and pole had formed a toggil across his "jole" at the corner of his mouth. In an hour's time we hauled him alongside the ship, well pleased with the exchange we had involuntarily made of a calf for a full-grown bull.We had cruised this ground over, working down to leeward of Ocean and Pleasant Islands, which lie somewhat detached from the main cluster of the group, and, then taking the advantage of a westerly monsoon, which brought us back to Byron's Island, we cruised it all over again. We had taken about six hundred barrels of sperm oil, and it was nearly time for us to be making a port, as we intended to take the next season "on Japan."We had been in sight of one of the islands one afternoon, and several canoes came off for a short time, but the weather had been overcast and rainy, and we had no observations of the sun; and as we had but an indifferent one the day before, we were in doubt from what island the canoes came. We knew we must be somewhere in the vicinity of Simpson's and Henderville's Islands. The wind was light the first part of the night, and we stood on the southern tack till midnight, when we wore ship, and headed back to the northward. This was done in our watch, and when we went below at three in the morning, it was cloudy weather with light rain squalls. Nothing had been seen; the wind was light and the sea unusually smooth, as it seemed to us, indicating that we were under the lea of one of the islands. The secondmate was cautioned to keep a good lookout ahead and off the lee bow, and we went below, feeling no uneasiness as it would be daylight in an hour. The captain had been on deck at about two, and he thought from appearances and from the strength of the current, that we must be to the westward of our reckoning, and now under the lee of Woodle's Island, and, if so, we had sea-room enough for the present.The heat kept me awake for some time after I turned in, or rather lay down on my chest-lid, for I could not endure the temperature in the bunk, and the weather was too damp to take my jacket and pillow on deck, or into one of the quarter-boats as I was in the habit of doing when it was fine and dry. I could hear Mr. Dunham and Fisher moving about and talking over me, for a short time; then all was still, and overcome by drowsiness I fell asleep.A trembling movement of the ship with a grinding sound beneath me brought my feet to the floor with a bound; my trousers and hat were seized at the same instant, and the mate, Mr. Bunker, and myself reached the deck all at once, crowding each other on the stairs. The captain was already there. None of us asked another what was the matter; we seemed to wake with an instinctive understanding of the whole truth in its painful aggregate; and our first glances around were merely to take in the details of the situation.Cocoanut trees were looming on the starboard bow, seeming in the gray light to overhang the ship, and gradually receding along the beam and quarter, as the land trended to the south-east. All was clear bluewater off the lee bow, but day had broken, and a line of cocoanut trees against the western skies indicated another island within a few miles off the lee beam. We had run on the lee end of one of the islands, for the line of the reef, as marked by the color of the water, was only one point off the port bow. A quarter of a mile more off would have carried us all clear, and into the channel between the two. The wind was very light, and partially embayed as we were it was so smooth that there was little or no breaker near the ship, and she scarcely moved after the first shock of running on the reef.I had taken these few hasty notes while we were hauling everything in aback, with the hope of forcing her astern, but the power of her sails was not sufficient with so light a breeze. The pumps were tried, but showed no leak, and the hand lead was passed along for sounding. No questions were asked, no fault found, though we all understood well enough how it happened. As I have before intimated, the second mate, though so good an officer in all other respects, had the fatal weakness of falling to sleep at his post. I knew as well as if I had seen it myself, that after stirring about a short time and setting a lookout, he had sat down and dropped off into the land of Nod. Of course, if the officer of the deck sleeps, all the rest will be likely to follow his example; Jack not being disposed to take upon himself any cares for which an other is better paid. I have no doubt to this day, that, at the moment the ship struck, every man was asleep, both above and below deck, but the captain, who was just coming up the stairs.The hand lead gave eight feet of water under the bow on the starboard side. From this depth it was evident the reef rose abruptly; as, ten feet ahead of us the rock was dry and our martingale was almost touching it. Under the larboard bow we got ten feet, and a boat's length from the ship the lead indicated five fathoms. The kedge anchor was being prepared for service, for we could hear the voices of natives on the beach, and doubtless the canoes would surround us as soon as daylight should arrive, and the alarm be spread; so that whatever was to be done must be done soon or we should have to fight an army of hostile savages. But soundings taken thirty yards from the ship gave sixty fathoms off the port bow, and at fifty yards distance no bottom was reached with a hundred and fifty fathoms. No kedging could be done in that direction to swing her bow off. We sent the boat astern with no better success. The deep sea line failed to find any bottom, and it was evident the ship hung by her bow only, on the very angle of a reef which rose boldly from the depths of the ocean. Under the fore-chains we had fourteen feet, which was enough to have floated the ship. We had the satisfaction of knowing that a pull of a couple of fathoms in either of two directions would place her in her native element, but how were we to get it? Our kedge anchor was useless, owing to the great depth of water on the off side and astern of us. A strong breeze acting upon the head sails thrown aback would probably have done the work for us.Daylight, while it gave us a clear view of our position,also brought new dangers, for several canoes were already hovering near, and others could be seen shoving out all along the beach. We could see that the men were all armed, and that no women were in any of the canoes. This was sufficient evidence that they meant mischief, and would venture an attack upon us in our crippled position, which they would not dare make if we were under way. However, we knew their wholesome dread of fire-arms, and trusted to be able to keep them at bay, if we could contrive any purchase to haul the ship off the ledge. But one way of doing this presented itself; and we at once set about the necessary preparations for availing ourselves of it.About two hundred yards from us, in a line nearly astern, a point or projection of the coral reef made out in a south-west direction, the rock being but little more than dry at high water; and in the scanty soil on this point, three cocoanut trees had firmly rooted themselves, one of them inclining so much seaward, that its lofty tuft of branches must have almost brushed the sails of the ship as she passed in by it. If a line could be carried to these trees, and brought in at the taffrail to the capstan or windlass, we could heave the ship off, without doubt; but the undertaking involved considerable risk. The two cutting falls were unrove from the blocks and connected by a bend, which formed a rope long enough for our purpose, and of sufficient strength to bear all the strain that we should want to heave. This was all placed in one boat, in two large coils well spread out on top of thethwarts. Only one man was to go in this boat, at the steering oar, and the position was assigned to me. The other two boats were lowered, and manned with full crews, the second and third mates being placed in command. All the fire-arms had in the mean time been loaded, six-pounder and all; and most of the muskets were distributed in the boats, as there was no fear of the savages making an attack on the ship at present. They would wait to concentrate all their fighting force before doing so.When we had completed our preparations there were not more than twenty canoes assembled, averaging about five men to each; and these were, thus far, acting only as a squadron of observation; but two had made their appearance ahead of the ship coming round the end of the reef, being the advance guard of another fleet from the north side of the island, while the number of triangular sails momentarily increasing off the lee beam and quarter promised large reinforcements from the other island. It was low tide when the ship ran ashore, and the flood was now beginning to make; a couple of hours would, doubtless, give us water enough to haul her off.The second mate's boat, pulled in advance, towing the boat in which I was steering, loaded with the hawser. Mr. Bunker, with the third boat, followed close in my wake, as rear guard, carrying the end of a light whale line which was paid out from the ship. The six-pounder was trained for a covering fire, but no fire-arms were to be used, nor any violence offered, except in case of the last necessity. The natives inthe canoes intently watched our movements, paddling a little towards us, but resting again, as they saw the number of muskets in the two boats. They, of course, understood our manœuvre, but to oppose our landing would involve more risk from the guns than they cared to run. Thus holding them in awe, the operation was performed without a shot, the first boat only being beached. The crew jumped out, pulled the end of the hawser ashore by a piece of small line, hitched it securely round two trees which grew close together, while the end of the whale line was being bent to the other end of the coil; a wave of my hat gave the signal to "haul away!" I laid the boat round, was taken in tow by the third mate, and we returned to the ship paying out the hawser from both coils at once.When about midway between the shore and the ship, having paid all out and thrown the bight clear of the boat, I was startled by a man under water swimming towards the hawser. I called to Mr. Bunker to "heave up," for it instantly occurred to me what his purpose was. He was nearly under the head of my boat, and gradually rising towards the surface as he approached his object. My boat-spade, keen as a razor, with a light warp attached to it, lay convenient to my hand. I seized it with a nervous grasp, feeling that it had fallen to my duty to shed the first blood in this affair. The savage was coming up; already his arm was outstretched to grasp the hawser. I could see a knife gleaming in his other hand. My spade descended with careful aim upon his right arm, his ugly head rose to the surface in a pool of blood, and with anunearthly yell he struck out with one arm towards the canoes, holding aloft the stump of the other, cut clear off between the shoulder and the elbow!The hawser was safe for the present; another minute and it was hauled taut and taken to the windlass, the tension bringing it above the surface. A boat's crew, well armed, remained on the point to protect that end; and in order to divide it at any point, the person attempting it must raise his head out of water and expose himself to almost certain death; for keen eyes were sighting loaded muskets both from the taffrail and the beach. We hove a severe strain at the windlass, but it was evident we could not start her yet; we must wait the rise of the tide, and, in the mean time, our chief attention must be devoted to the protection of our hawser. If our enemies could divide this, they would gain time and assemble a large force so as to overpower and massacre the whole of us. The division from the north side of the island were apparently all in sight now, and were forming a junction with their comrades, the whole force amounting to about forty canoes with two hundred fighting men, their arms being clubs and spears of wood, set thickly with rows of shark's teeth. We made no attempt to prevent the junction of the two fleets, for we did not mean to waste a charge of powder, but reserve it for an emergency. If we could protect our hawser and get another hour or two of flood tide, we did not fear a legion of them when under way; and this we hoped to effect before the arrival of the fleet from Woodle's island, which numbered some thirty canoes more.The women and children of the island, with a few old men whose fighting days were gone by, had all assembled on the beach at a short distance from the ship, anxiously waiting the progress of events. They kept up a terrible yelling and shouting to the warriors in the canoes, apparently urging them on to attack us. After a time, becoming emboldened by impunity, a party of them ran down on the rocks ahead of the ship, and saluted us with a volley of stones, some of which came in over the bows, falling among us. To get rid of this annoyance the six-pounder, with only a charge of powder and wad was now trained in that direction and fired over their heads. The effect was all we could have desired; the rabble retreated to what they considered a safe distance, and ventured no more within range.From time to time we tried a little additional strain on the hawser, and at length had the satisfaction of feeling the ship tremble and waver a little under our efforts. On sounding now we found thirteen feet as far forward as the fore-swifter, and it was evident we hung by only a few feet of the keel from the cutwater aft."The hawser does not pull in the direction that we could wish it did," said the old man, now in consultation with the mate at the taffrail. "It'll pull her off without doubt if we can wait half an hour or more. But in that time, those devils will get here from Woodle's, and we shall be surrounded with enemies. Besides, I am getting anxious about Mr. Dunham and his crew, who are held at bay there on the point. You see, thehawser pulls rather too much to seaward and grinds her starboard bow hard against the ledge. I think by the feeling of her, that if that could be slacked up suddenly her stern would swing in, and perhaps she might slide off sideways.""I think so too," said Mr. Grafton. "But it's a ticklish thing, because, as soon as that hawser is slacked into the water, they'll make an attempt to cut it, if they've got another knife among them, which is doubtful. It would be bungling work cutting it with any of their own instruments.""We must risk it, at any rate," said the old man, after considering a moment. "Those canoes will be here in a few minutes, and then we shall have a general attack. We'll try it, and if she does not swing as we expect we'll heave right in again, and wait the tide as we have been doing. Stand by to come up that hawser at the windlass! Sharp eyes out now at the taffrail! Keep your guns ready, and if you see a head come up near that hawser,don't miss him!"He waved his hand to the windlass bits; the fall "rendered" round the barrel with a heavy surge, and the ship swung, as he had expected. Her stern trended in shore till she was about half broadside on; and her bow, sliding and grinding on the rocks, forced itself partly off, but hung again, now without motion.

KINGSMILL's GROUP.—SINGULAR WHALING INCIDENT.—HARD AND FAST.—A PERILOUS POSITION.

We now made our cruising-ground for a time among the islands of Kingsmill's group, setting the starboard and larboard watches again, as it was necessary to keep sail on the ship day and night, to avoid drifting off the ground altogether. This necessity is owing not only to the prevalence of the trade wind which blows in the same general direction at all times, except when replaced for very short periods by the "westerly monsoons," so called; but also to a current, varying more or less in force, which sets to the westward all through this chain of islands. These circumstances, in connection with the low and dangerous character of some of the islets, as well as their uncertain position on the charts, demanded great vigilance in the night watches, and the strictest orders were given to the officers in this particular.

The scenes at Byron's Island were repeated at others with little variation in general outline; for, almost as soon as land was seen, the triangular sails would also make their appearance; and but few days passed without communication and traffic with some of them. I soon learned to judge of the age of acocoanut before buying it, for, as there is but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous, so it requires but a short stage in the growth of the nut to change the milk from Olympian nectar into the most insipid slops; while I was careful not to rush blindly intotikee moee-moeespeculations without investigating the matter to the very bottom. My little stock of rarities in conchology was much augmented by small additions made at various times; and I had rather more hats, as well as bigger ones, hung up in my bunk, than the Arethusa had in her slopchest; for some of my first purchases in this line would have set loosely on Daniel Lambert.

These little episodes, interspersed with the excitement of whaling adventures, served effectually to break the monotony of a long cruise at sea, and to make the time pass quickly and pleasantly. Sperm whales are frequently seen, and we were successful, as a general thing, in taking them. The whales here ran small in size; the cows seldom yielding above twenty barrels, oftener fifteen or sixteen. Now and then a school would be met with, accompanied by one old eighty-barrel patriarch, orschoolmaster, as he might be not inaptly termed. Of course, our principal efforts were directed to capturing this fellow, if possible. In one instance, we succeeded quite unexpectedly, and in a very singular manner.

We lowered in pursuit of a school of small whales, no large one having been seen among them before we left the ship. The whales in some way took the alarm before we got up to them, and when the matecalled me up, they had all gone down but one cow with a small calf. I drew back my iron for a dart, but the cow had already pitched, and was too far from me to make a safe thing of it. "Strike the calf!" said Mr. Grafton; and, with a twinge of conscience at the cruelty of the deed, I threw an iron at the infant whale, who seemed hardly able to carry it off in his back. However, down he went, and we gave him line freely, as we were fearful of drawing the iron. We felt pretty sure that when he rose again, we should have a chance at the mother; and that chance was good of the rest of the school "bringing to." In such a case, we might get a good "cut" of oil, by striking a whale which, alone, was of little or no value. He had "sounded out" forty or fifty fathoms of line, when the strain suddenly relaxed, and the line hung slack. "We are loose!" cried the mate, "haul in line!" then shouted to the other two boats, who were hovering near us, to "Pull ahead!" They sprang to their oars to take the next chance at the school when they should rise, while we gathered in our stray line quite leisurely. Presently our line seemed to be foul of something, which offered a strange kind of resistance to our efforts; it did not bring up firmly, but seemed to be grating or chafing against something, so that we still gained on it, though making slow progress.

"What can be the matter?" I asked.

"I don't know," said Father Grafton. "I can't account for the line acting this way." Just then there was another heavy surge upon it, then that peculiargrating and slipping, and we got in two or three more fathoms of it. "Something is under us," said he. "Slack line and stand by your oars!"

We slacked away and sterned off a little. Presently there was a commotion and lifting of the sea as it were, close ahead of us, and with a roar as he broke water, the ponderous "junk" of a "ninety-barreller" was forced up into view; he straightened, showing us his vast breadth of beam, and then with a thundering flap of his immense flukes upon the water, which half-drowned us all in the spray, he started to windward, towing us after him! Astonishment held us all mute for a moment, but the mate, seeing that he was fairly "harnessed," soon recovered his usual coolness.

"Clear away my lance!" said he to the bowman, as he placed the second iron in the crotch ready for darting. "We're fast to him, Blacksmith, buthow, the Lord knows,Idon't. If that's the whale that you struck, he hasgrownout of all knowledge within a quarter of an hour!"

The old man and second mate were coming to the rescue, having soon perceived the state of affairs. They were as much puzzled, of course, as we were; but, if we had hooked to the schoolmaster, that was enough for the present. The second boat was soon fast, and when we hauled up to lance, the mystery was explained. The large whale had fouled the line with his lower jaw, and the strain had drawn the iron from the little one. The monster in his struggles had rolled over and we had been hauling the line across hisjaw, till we had got the slack all in, and the harpoon and pole had formed a toggil across his "jole" at the corner of his mouth. In an hour's time we hauled him alongside the ship, well pleased with the exchange we had involuntarily made of a calf for a full-grown bull.

We had cruised this ground over, working down to leeward of Ocean and Pleasant Islands, which lie somewhat detached from the main cluster of the group, and, then taking the advantage of a westerly monsoon, which brought us back to Byron's Island, we cruised it all over again. We had taken about six hundred barrels of sperm oil, and it was nearly time for us to be making a port, as we intended to take the next season "on Japan."

We had been in sight of one of the islands one afternoon, and several canoes came off for a short time, but the weather had been overcast and rainy, and we had no observations of the sun; and as we had but an indifferent one the day before, we were in doubt from what island the canoes came. We knew we must be somewhere in the vicinity of Simpson's and Henderville's Islands. The wind was light the first part of the night, and we stood on the southern tack till midnight, when we wore ship, and headed back to the northward. This was done in our watch, and when we went below at three in the morning, it was cloudy weather with light rain squalls. Nothing had been seen; the wind was light and the sea unusually smooth, as it seemed to us, indicating that we were under the lea of one of the islands. The secondmate was cautioned to keep a good lookout ahead and off the lee bow, and we went below, feeling no uneasiness as it would be daylight in an hour. The captain had been on deck at about two, and he thought from appearances and from the strength of the current, that we must be to the westward of our reckoning, and now under the lee of Woodle's Island, and, if so, we had sea-room enough for the present.

The heat kept me awake for some time after I turned in, or rather lay down on my chest-lid, for I could not endure the temperature in the bunk, and the weather was too damp to take my jacket and pillow on deck, or into one of the quarter-boats as I was in the habit of doing when it was fine and dry. I could hear Mr. Dunham and Fisher moving about and talking over me, for a short time; then all was still, and overcome by drowsiness I fell asleep.

A trembling movement of the ship with a grinding sound beneath me brought my feet to the floor with a bound; my trousers and hat were seized at the same instant, and the mate, Mr. Bunker, and myself reached the deck all at once, crowding each other on the stairs. The captain was already there. None of us asked another what was the matter; we seemed to wake with an instinctive understanding of the whole truth in its painful aggregate; and our first glances around were merely to take in the details of the situation.

Cocoanut trees were looming on the starboard bow, seeming in the gray light to overhang the ship, and gradually receding along the beam and quarter, as the land trended to the south-east. All was clear bluewater off the lee bow, but day had broken, and a line of cocoanut trees against the western skies indicated another island within a few miles off the lee beam. We had run on the lee end of one of the islands, for the line of the reef, as marked by the color of the water, was only one point off the port bow. A quarter of a mile more off would have carried us all clear, and into the channel between the two. The wind was very light, and partially embayed as we were it was so smooth that there was little or no breaker near the ship, and she scarcely moved after the first shock of running on the reef.

I had taken these few hasty notes while we were hauling everything in aback, with the hope of forcing her astern, but the power of her sails was not sufficient with so light a breeze. The pumps were tried, but showed no leak, and the hand lead was passed along for sounding. No questions were asked, no fault found, though we all understood well enough how it happened. As I have before intimated, the second mate, though so good an officer in all other respects, had the fatal weakness of falling to sleep at his post. I knew as well as if I had seen it myself, that after stirring about a short time and setting a lookout, he had sat down and dropped off into the land of Nod. Of course, if the officer of the deck sleeps, all the rest will be likely to follow his example; Jack not being disposed to take upon himself any cares for which an other is better paid. I have no doubt to this day, that, at the moment the ship struck, every man was asleep, both above and below deck, but the captain, who was just coming up the stairs.

The hand lead gave eight feet of water under the bow on the starboard side. From this depth it was evident the reef rose abruptly; as, ten feet ahead of us the rock was dry and our martingale was almost touching it. Under the larboard bow we got ten feet, and a boat's length from the ship the lead indicated five fathoms. The kedge anchor was being prepared for service, for we could hear the voices of natives on the beach, and doubtless the canoes would surround us as soon as daylight should arrive, and the alarm be spread; so that whatever was to be done must be done soon or we should have to fight an army of hostile savages. But soundings taken thirty yards from the ship gave sixty fathoms off the port bow, and at fifty yards distance no bottom was reached with a hundred and fifty fathoms. No kedging could be done in that direction to swing her bow off. We sent the boat astern with no better success. The deep sea line failed to find any bottom, and it was evident the ship hung by her bow only, on the very angle of a reef which rose boldly from the depths of the ocean. Under the fore-chains we had fourteen feet, which was enough to have floated the ship. We had the satisfaction of knowing that a pull of a couple of fathoms in either of two directions would place her in her native element, but how were we to get it? Our kedge anchor was useless, owing to the great depth of water on the off side and astern of us. A strong breeze acting upon the head sails thrown aback would probably have done the work for us.

Daylight, while it gave us a clear view of our position,also brought new dangers, for several canoes were already hovering near, and others could be seen shoving out all along the beach. We could see that the men were all armed, and that no women were in any of the canoes. This was sufficient evidence that they meant mischief, and would venture an attack upon us in our crippled position, which they would not dare make if we were under way. However, we knew their wholesome dread of fire-arms, and trusted to be able to keep them at bay, if we could contrive any purchase to haul the ship off the ledge. But one way of doing this presented itself; and we at once set about the necessary preparations for availing ourselves of it.

About two hundred yards from us, in a line nearly astern, a point or projection of the coral reef made out in a south-west direction, the rock being but little more than dry at high water; and in the scanty soil on this point, three cocoanut trees had firmly rooted themselves, one of them inclining so much seaward, that its lofty tuft of branches must have almost brushed the sails of the ship as she passed in by it. If a line could be carried to these trees, and brought in at the taffrail to the capstan or windlass, we could heave the ship off, without doubt; but the undertaking involved considerable risk. The two cutting falls were unrove from the blocks and connected by a bend, which formed a rope long enough for our purpose, and of sufficient strength to bear all the strain that we should want to heave. This was all placed in one boat, in two large coils well spread out on top of thethwarts. Only one man was to go in this boat, at the steering oar, and the position was assigned to me. The other two boats were lowered, and manned with full crews, the second and third mates being placed in command. All the fire-arms had in the mean time been loaded, six-pounder and all; and most of the muskets were distributed in the boats, as there was no fear of the savages making an attack on the ship at present. They would wait to concentrate all their fighting force before doing so.

When we had completed our preparations there were not more than twenty canoes assembled, averaging about five men to each; and these were, thus far, acting only as a squadron of observation; but two had made their appearance ahead of the ship coming round the end of the reef, being the advance guard of another fleet from the north side of the island, while the number of triangular sails momentarily increasing off the lee beam and quarter promised large reinforcements from the other island. It was low tide when the ship ran ashore, and the flood was now beginning to make; a couple of hours would, doubtless, give us water enough to haul her off.

The second mate's boat, pulled in advance, towing the boat in which I was steering, loaded with the hawser. Mr. Bunker, with the third boat, followed close in my wake, as rear guard, carrying the end of a light whale line which was paid out from the ship. The six-pounder was trained for a covering fire, but no fire-arms were to be used, nor any violence offered, except in case of the last necessity. The natives inthe canoes intently watched our movements, paddling a little towards us, but resting again, as they saw the number of muskets in the two boats. They, of course, understood our manœuvre, but to oppose our landing would involve more risk from the guns than they cared to run. Thus holding them in awe, the operation was performed without a shot, the first boat only being beached. The crew jumped out, pulled the end of the hawser ashore by a piece of small line, hitched it securely round two trees which grew close together, while the end of the whale line was being bent to the other end of the coil; a wave of my hat gave the signal to "haul away!" I laid the boat round, was taken in tow by the third mate, and we returned to the ship paying out the hawser from both coils at once.

When about midway between the shore and the ship, having paid all out and thrown the bight clear of the boat, I was startled by a man under water swimming towards the hawser. I called to Mr. Bunker to "heave up," for it instantly occurred to me what his purpose was. He was nearly under the head of my boat, and gradually rising towards the surface as he approached his object. My boat-spade, keen as a razor, with a light warp attached to it, lay convenient to my hand. I seized it with a nervous grasp, feeling that it had fallen to my duty to shed the first blood in this affair. The savage was coming up; already his arm was outstretched to grasp the hawser. I could see a knife gleaming in his other hand. My spade descended with careful aim upon his right arm, his ugly head rose to the surface in a pool of blood, and with anunearthly yell he struck out with one arm towards the canoes, holding aloft the stump of the other, cut clear off between the shoulder and the elbow!

The hawser was safe for the present; another minute and it was hauled taut and taken to the windlass, the tension bringing it above the surface. A boat's crew, well armed, remained on the point to protect that end; and in order to divide it at any point, the person attempting it must raise his head out of water and expose himself to almost certain death; for keen eyes were sighting loaded muskets both from the taffrail and the beach. We hove a severe strain at the windlass, but it was evident we could not start her yet; we must wait the rise of the tide, and, in the mean time, our chief attention must be devoted to the protection of our hawser. If our enemies could divide this, they would gain time and assemble a large force so as to overpower and massacre the whole of us. The division from the north side of the island were apparently all in sight now, and were forming a junction with their comrades, the whole force amounting to about forty canoes with two hundred fighting men, their arms being clubs and spears of wood, set thickly with rows of shark's teeth. We made no attempt to prevent the junction of the two fleets, for we did not mean to waste a charge of powder, but reserve it for an emergency. If we could protect our hawser and get another hour or two of flood tide, we did not fear a legion of them when under way; and this we hoped to effect before the arrival of the fleet from Woodle's island, which numbered some thirty canoes more.

The women and children of the island, with a few old men whose fighting days were gone by, had all assembled on the beach at a short distance from the ship, anxiously waiting the progress of events. They kept up a terrible yelling and shouting to the warriors in the canoes, apparently urging them on to attack us. After a time, becoming emboldened by impunity, a party of them ran down on the rocks ahead of the ship, and saluted us with a volley of stones, some of which came in over the bows, falling among us. To get rid of this annoyance the six-pounder, with only a charge of powder and wad was now trained in that direction and fired over their heads. The effect was all we could have desired; the rabble retreated to what they considered a safe distance, and ventured no more within range.

From time to time we tried a little additional strain on the hawser, and at length had the satisfaction of feeling the ship tremble and waver a little under our efforts. On sounding now we found thirteen feet as far forward as the fore-swifter, and it was evident we hung by only a few feet of the keel from the cutwater aft.

"The hawser does not pull in the direction that we could wish it did," said the old man, now in consultation with the mate at the taffrail. "It'll pull her off without doubt if we can wait half an hour or more. But in that time, those devils will get here from Woodle's, and we shall be surrounded with enemies. Besides, I am getting anxious about Mr. Dunham and his crew, who are held at bay there on the point. You see, thehawser pulls rather too much to seaward and grinds her starboard bow hard against the ledge. I think by the feeling of her, that if that could be slacked up suddenly her stern would swing in, and perhaps she might slide off sideways."

"I think so too," said Mr. Grafton. "But it's a ticklish thing, because, as soon as that hawser is slacked into the water, they'll make an attempt to cut it, if they've got another knife among them, which is doubtful. It would be bungling work cutting it with any of their own instruments."

"We must risk it, at any rate," said the old man, after considering a moment. "Those canoes will be here in a few minutes, and then we shall have a general attack. We'll try it, and if she does not swing as we expect we'll heave right in again, and wait the tide as we have been doing. Stand by to come up that hawser at the windlass! Sharp eyes out now at the taffrail! Keep your guns ready, and if you see a head come up near that hawser,don't miss him!"

He waved his hand to the windlass bits; the fall "rendered" round the barrel with a heavy surge, and the ship swung, as he had expected. Her stern trended in shore till she was about half broadside on; and her bow, sliding and grinding on the rocks, forced itself partly off, but hung again, now without motion.

CHAPTER XVIII.OFF THE ROCKS AGAIN.—A BAD LEAK.—ANECDOTES.—THE RUN TO THE CAROLINE ISLANDS."We shall have to heave taut again, Mr. Grafton, and give her another swing," said the old man. "O, if we only had another hawser to hold her stern where it is, and take this one in on the port bow! But I don't like to risk her to swing broadside on."At this moment a hand grasping a knife emerged from the water, near the middle of the hawser, and a shaggy head rose partly above the surface. Five or six muskets cracked simultaneously both from the ship and shore. The head and arm disappeared, and the water was discolored where they went down. Another savage had met the reward of his rashness and the hawser was saved again."They wont try that move again right away," said the old man, coolly. "But those canoes are almost here and I am fearful for those men who are on the point, guarding the shore end of the hawser. There she slips a little! Do you feel that, Mr. Grafton? We must risk it. Come up the hawser all together! Lay aft here, every man! Take the bight round outside and lead in on the port bow! Lively, men! You're working for your lives!"We knew it, and needed no urging; the heavy ropewas passed swiftly from hand to hand, and brought in forward to the fore-rigging; a turn was thrown round the windlass and the brakes were instantly in motion. As she lay now, this was the very pull she wanted. Hardly had we brought a strain when she began to slide and rumble under us, and a wild hurrah burst from all our lips as she settled into her element, and her head paid briskly off, under the power of her foretopsail. But as she did so, her stern swung in violently, and a projecting spur of the rock beneath the water met her under the counter, with a kind of dull, cracking sound that came ominously to our ears.We could not stop to think of this now. We looked astern; Mr. Dunham was coming! He had already cut the hawser at the shore end, and his crew were pulling the boat off by it, hand over hand, while he and Fisher stood with muskets keeping their foes at bay; for, maddened with rage and disappointment, they were now beginning to close in upon him."Brace round the yards!" roared the captain. "Steady! meet her with the helm! Keep her right in the channel! All the muskets here now, and open a covering fire for this boat! Pull boys! pull! We'll have you all safe in another minute!"We no longer thought of saving powder, but fired away among the thickest of them. A dozen of them were killed or wounded and they soon found the work too hot. They hauled off with hideous yells, and we took all our men safely on board, though Fisher had a bad cut from one of the serrated spears, and thesecond mate and young Black Hawk were both severely wounded by stones, which had been hurled in great numbers from the canoes, when they closed up around the boat."Is that gun loaded with ball?" asked the old man."Ay, ay, sir!" responded Mr. Grafton. "Say the word!""Luff hard, there!" said the captain. "Let her come up and shiver! Stand by, now, when she bears right—fire! Hard up, and keep full!"The old "persuader" did her work as effectually as at Dominica. Two canoes were struck by the discharge, and the yells that rose from the terrified barbarians, now joined by the advance division of the Woodle's Island fleet, rang in our ears, but with no terrors for us, now that we were fairly standing seaward."Try the pumps, now, Mr. Grafton, while I look after these wounded men," said the captain. "I'm afraid we may have started a leak, under the counter, but I hope not a very bad one."The first strokes of the pump told us that his fears were not without good foundation. The water gushed from the scuppers bright and clean!"Get me a dry ropeyarn," said Father Grafton, quietly. "Draw the boxes, and let's sound the well."A plummet was soon extemporized, and lowered into the pump-well. It was drawn carefully up again. O, how anxiously all eyes were riveted upon it, as with suspended breath we awaited the mate's words. "Twenty-five inches.""That's not so bad as it might be," he said cheerfully. "It's some time since she struck there. Rig the other pump and man them both!"We kept both pumps going fast and strong till they sucked. We then timed her, and when we pumped her again, we made the leak about fifteen hundred strokes an hour."That will keep us pretty busy pumping," said the old man, "until we get in somewhere where we can stop it. However, we may thank God we came off as well as we did. We can keep the leak under till we reach one of the Carolines, and as for the three men, I don't consider either of them wounded seriously, though they may be disabled from duty for some days. We'll break out in the starboard side of the run this afternoon, and see if we can make any discoveries."We broke out, accordingly, and judging by the sound, where the leak was, we cut out a piece of the ceiling. We found a place crushed in two planks in width, the broken wood still remaining, though much shattered, and forced out of its place. With a "fothering" of canvas and oakum, and some boards nailed to the timbers to hold all in place, we reduced the leak considerably. This was all that could be done to it from the inside, but we were satisfied that we could get at it, by careening the ship in a smooth harbor, and repair it, as we did the former leak at Hanayapa; as the timbers did not appear to be materially injured. We timed her again in our watch that night, and found we pumped only about nine hundred strokes an hour.Off the Rocks again.Page227."Well," said Father Grafton, "that's much better than fifteen hundred, for it's a kind of labor that seamen abominate, and no wonder at it. There's a sameness about it that is not at all agreeable. I must say that I dislike such jobs as pumping, sawing wood, and turning grindstones."Of course I agreed with him entirely in this antipathy."I don't think," continued the mate, "that there is any other leak in her beside that one under the counter. It's likely that the copper and sheathing are much torn up under the bows, but the ledge appeared to be pretty smooth, and the pumps threw no water, up to just before the time we hauled her afloat.""I suppose," said I, "the cooper will admit now that she leaks enough to keep her sweet. Ah! here he is, on deck, and his pipe loaded, too. Say, Cooper, have you seen any flying fish come from the pump yet?""No," answered the cooper, gruffly. "She don't leak much, now, that is, comparatively speaking. She'stight, compared to the old Harbinger. But we didn't mind it so much in those days, as we should now.""No, that's true," said the mate, "and, to go twenty or thirty years still further back, they minded it still less, and seemed to look upon pumping as a matter of course, a part of the regular routine of ship's duty. I recollect a case in point. When I was a young fellow, I happened to be present in court when a casewas being tried involving the insurance on the ship Tarquin, sunk at sea on her homeward passage. It appeared that the Tarquin, when off Cape Horn, leaked a smart thousand strokes an hour; that after getting down into the trades on the Atlantic side, they had tinkered some of their leaks, and also, being in lighter weather, she made less water, so that they pumped only three or four hundred strokes an hour when off Cape St. Augustine. Well, they held on their course, and, between there and home, she gave out entirely, and sunk from under 'em. The underwriters refused to pay, and the ground taken by them was, that the captain ought to have gone into a port in Brazil, and overhauled his ship. Well, several old sea-captains were called on the stand to give their opinions. I remember one in particular, who is still living. The question was put to him, whether, in his judgment, it was prudent for the captain of the Tarquin, with his ship leaking some three or four hundred strokes, and Pernambuco under his lee, to continue on towards home? 'Prudent!' said the old gentleman. 'Yes, why not? Why,' said he, proudly, 'I sailed out of New Bedford in a ship leaking five hundred strokes an hour to start on a voyage!'""Yes, that was in what they call, 'the good old times,'" said the cooper. "And that reminds me of a circumstance that happened many years ago in which an uncle of mine was one of the parties concerned. He was homeward bound in an old ship, I think it was the Criterion. They got in on the coast, made Block Island, and took a pilot. It came on to blowvery heavily from the northward, and they were blown off the coast and the ship leaked so that they found it impossible to free her, and decided that the only safety for them was to put her off before it and run her—somewhat. Well, they let her slide to leeward with both pumps going, and when the weather moderated, they found themselves so far to the southward that they kept on, and made a port at the French island of Martinique. Here they discharged the oil, hove the ship out, stopped the leaks, and took in their cargo again. In those days, you will remember, communications with the West Indies was not an every-day thing as it is now, and nothing was heard from that particular island for a long time. Well, in the mean time the pilot-boat reported putting a pilot on board ship Criterion, off Block island, such a date. Of course, it was supposed she had foundered in the gale, and all had perished. Well, four months afterwards, away along in the summer, the Criterion came down to the bar, and when my uncle went ashore he found his wife in mourning, having given him up for dead long before.""I believe that's a true yarn, Cooper, if youdidtell it," said the mate—"This way the watch!Pump ship!"We still held on our course to the westward, to make a port at one of the Carolines or Ladrones, and made good progress with the trade winds in our favor. Our men soon recovered from their injuries, and resumed their duties, rather priding themselves upon the ugly scars received in the conflict. Whether the old manever said anything in the way of reprimand to the second mate, I never knew. If he did, the whole matter was kept to themselves; and, indeed, it was not his habit to find fault with an officer in the presence or hearing of any subordinate. Perhaps he thought it best to overlook his almost fatal want of vigilance, in view of his gallant conduct afterwards in charge of the forlorn hope on the point, and trusted that the peril through which he had just passed would prove a salutary lesson to him for the future. If so, he judged correctly, for the young officer's eyes were opened to his own carelessness; and, in a literal sense, he kept them open the remainder of the voyage. As I learned from others in his watch, he never was known, after this affair, to sit down during his hours of duty at night."We are drawing down near to the Carolines," said the mate to me one evening, about a week after the accident. "I think we shall make Strong's Island to-morrow.""Have you ever been there, sir?" I asked."Not to go ashore," said Mr. Grafton. "I have passed in sight of it, and I have been in and anchored at Ascension, which is beyond it to the northward and westward. I hear that ships visit Strong's Island quite frequently of late. I suppose the people are similar in appearance and character to those of Ascension. We shall reconnoitre there a little, and perhaps the old man will decide to go in, if he finds it a good harbor to stay our leak in; if not, we shall keep on to Ascension or Guam.""Are these people anything like those at Kingsmill's Group?""Not at all," replied the mate. "Neither in appearance, language nor general character. There is something very interesting about them; at least, those that I have seen at Ascension. They are handsomer, and lighter in color than those islanders we have left behind; and they are also more intelligent and ingenious. The women, especially, are more delicate, with good figures; some of them are really pretty. Then, in place of the gibberish of uncouth sounds spoken in most parts of Polynesia, these people have a musical language, full of soft liquids and ringing consonants, that seems more like Chinese than like anything we are accustomed to recognize as a 'Kanaka language.'""Are they safe people to deal with?" I asked."Well, no more so than the generality of savages. Indeed I think they are quite as treacherous, though not as hardy and warlike as Marquesans or New Zealanders. None of these races are to be trusted, and we must be always on our guard in our intercourse with them; treating them well, but never placing ourselves entirely in their power.""Power makes right, with them, as it does with civilized nations," I answered, "and the same rule of diplomacy which you have mentioned will apply to our dealings with the best of them, I think.""That's true," said Father Grafton, reflectively. "I suppose, after all, we are no better than they are, only we have a more genteel way of doing thingsand do them on a larger scale. We should not kill and eat a man or two whom we caught on board our ship; but if it suited our purposes, we should very likely take possession of a whole island or group of islands, and kill the people in a legal way, if they resisted; as is being done even now, by enlightened France, at the Marquesas and Society Islands.""And if they don't take possession of all Oceanica," said I, "it is only because it is not worth their while, or as we Yankees would say, 'it wont pay.'""Just so," assented the mate. "And if, as some think, England will protest against this occupation by the French, it will not be because of any injustice done to the natives but because it might be thought dangerous to her interests to permit France to have these naval stations in the Pacific.""It is a delicate matter, any way," he resumed, "to do justice in dealing with these savages. We must secure the safety of our own lives, if possible, and of our property, too. Of course I am speaking, now, of the case of isolated ships, like our own. It seems cruel to kill or wound a savage for pilfering, especially when we remember that a plug of tobacco or a knife may appear as great a treasure to his simple mind, as a mine of gold or a fertile province to our more enlightened capacities. And yet how else are we to prevent the annoyance, and secure our property? We cannot reason with them, nor can we punish them according to any civilized form of law. And if we kill or maltreat them, it's ten to one they will retaliate upon some other white men who may be thrown intheir way at a future time. It's a difficult subject, to make the best of it," said the mate, dismissing the matter in an unsatisfied way, as hundreds of others have done; and taking up another."There is evidence to prove," said he, "that the Caroline Islands were once inhabited by a race of people far superior to those now found here. The ruins of a large stone building, apparently a religious temple of some sort, still stand on the island of Ascension, away up in the interior, showing beyond all question that those who reared it possessed a knowledge of arts and of mechanical powers far beyond the capacity of the present owners of the soil. I am told that similar evidences are to be found at Strong's Island, in the form of stone walls, running in various directions about the island, which never could have been built by the present inhabitants.""What account do they give of them?" I asked."So far as I can learn, it is as great a mystery to the present generation of them as it is to us; and I have never heard that they have even any traditions to account for them. But there they are," said he, dismissing this subject, like the other, unsatisfied."But it is time to set these faithful pumps going again; that's a practical matter, with not much of interesting speculation about it.Pump ship!"We made Strong's Island the next day, as expected, and running down for it, saw two ships lying at anchor in a bay on the weather side of it, making in from the south-east. The old man lowered his boat and went in, leaving us to lie off and on for his return. Soonafterwards a canoe was seen coming out with three men. They paddled alongside very quietly, in marked contrast with the jabbering barbarians whom I had been accustomed to hear at the other group, or even to the Portuguese boatmen at the Azores. I was looking at them over the rail in the waist, and wondering how the first words of their language would sound in my ears, when the man in the head of the canoe spoke up, in clear and distinct English, "Give us a rope, if you please." The crew of the Topez could hardly have been more surprised when they discovered Pitcairn's Island, and were addressed in their own language by the descendants of the Bounty mutineers, than were we at hearing this polite request.The men came on board, and it appeared that they all spoke a good smattering of English, though the first speaker took the lead, he having made a short cruise in a whaler. He told us one of the ships in the bay was American and the other English. The mate asked him if he knew the name of either of the ships, thinking at most, that he might get some clew to guess from; but, to our further astonishment, he replied, "Ship Leonidas, of New Bedford, Captain Taber, and Ship Seringapatam, of London, Captain Courtenay," pronouncing all the names with the greatest care and distinctness. He already knew the name of our ship and captain, having spoken the boat going into the bay."Well," said Mr. Grafton, "they ought to establish a newspaper here, and secure this man as marine news reporter. It's not one white man in twenty couldhave given us these particulars, and done it in as good shape;" for we had learned how much oil these ships has taken, where they were bound, and many other things of interest concerning them."Why, either of these men talk better English than any ordinary Kanaka who has made a four years' voyage in a whaler."Our boat was seen returning, and the old man came on board with a favorable report. He gave orders to get the chains up and the anchors off the bow at once, having made up his mind to go in."It's a snug harbor," I heard him telling the mate, "and it's easy getting into it. I have some doubts about getting out again as easy, but I guess we shall have a slant of wind. Taber went in only yesterday and is bound on Japan too. He wants a consort, and will stay as long as we do, in case our job of stopping the leak should detain us. The Englishman is all ready for sea, now, but he can't get out with this wind."Within an hour we were riding quietly at anchor in six fathoms, but a short distance from the beach, and in a convenient place for heeling the ship to repair the injury which had caused us so much monotonous and fatiguing labor at the pumps.

OFF THE ROCKS AGAIN.—A BAD LEAK.—ANECDOTES.—THE RUN TO THE CAROLINE ISLANDS.

"We shall have to heave taut again, Mr. Grafton, and give her another swing," said the old man. "O, if we only had another hawser to hold her stern where it is, and take this one in on the port bow! But I don't like to risk her to swing broadside on."

At this moment a hand grasping a knife emerged from the water, near the middle of the hawser, and a shaggy head rose partly above the surface. Five or six muskets cracked simultaneously both from the ship and shore. The head and arm disappeared, and the water was discolored where they went down. Another savage had met the reward of his rashness and the hawser was saved again.

"They wont try that move again right away," said the old man, coolly. "But those canoes are almost here and I am fearful for those men who are on the point, guarding the shore end of the hawser. There she slips a little! Do you feel that, Mr. Grafton? We must risk it. Come up the hawser all together! Lay aft here, every man! Take the bight round outside and lead in on the port bow! Lively, men! You're working for your lives!"

We knew it, and needed no urging; the heavy ropewas passed swiftly from hand to hand, and brought in forward to the fore-rigging; a turn was thrown round the windlass and the brakes were instantly in motion. As she lay now, this was the very pull she wanted. Hardly had we brought a strain when she began to slide and rumble under us, and a wild hurrah burst from all our lips as she settled into her element, and her head paid briskly off, under the power of her foretopsail. But as she did so, her stern swung in violently, and a projecting spur of the rock beneath the water met her under the counter, with a kind of dull, cracking sound that came ominously to our ears.

We could not stop to think of this now. We looked astern; Mr. Dunham was coming! He had already cut the hawser at the shore end, and his crew were pulling the boat off by it, hand over hand, while he and Fisher stood with muskets keeping their foes at bay; for, maddened with rage and disappointment, they were now beginning to close in upon him.

"Brace round the yards!" roared the captain. "Steady! meet her with the helm! Keep her right in the channel! All the muskets here now, and open a covering fire for this boat! Pull boys! pull! We'll have you all safe in another minute!"

We no longer thought of saving powder, but fired away among the thickest of them. A dozen of them were killed or wounded and they soon found the work too hot. They hauled off with hideous yells, and we took all our men safely on board, though Fisher had a bad cut from one of the serrated spears, and thesecond mate and young Black Hawk were both severely wounded by stones, which had been hurled in great numbers from the canoes, when they closed up around the boat.

"Is that gun loaded with ball?" asked the old man.

"Ay, ay, sir!" responded Mr. Grafton. "Say the word!"

"Luff hard, there!" said the captain. "Let her come up and shiver! Stand by, now, when she bears right—fire! Hard up, and keep full!"

The old "persuader" did her work as effectually as at Dominica. Two canoes were struck by the discharge, and the yells that rose from the terrified barbarians, now joined by the advance division of the Woodle's Island fleet, rang in our ears, but with no terrors for us, now that we were fairly standing seaward.

"Try the pumps, now, Mr. Grafton, while I look after these wounded men," said the captain. "I'm afraid we may have started a leak, under the counter, but I hope not a very bad one."

The first strokes of the pump told us that his fears were not without good foundation. The water gushed from the scuppers bright and clean!

"Get me a dry ropeyarn," said Father Grafton, quietly. "Draw the boxes, and let's sound the well."

A plummet was soon extemporized, and lowered into the pump-well. It was drawn carefully up again. O, how anxiously all eyes were riveted upon it, as with suspended breath we awaited the mate's words. "Twenty-five inches."

"That's not so bad as it might be," he said cheerfully. "It's some time since she struck there. Rig the other pump and man them both!"

We kept both pumps going fast and strong till they sucked. We then timed her, and when we pumped her again, we made the leak about fifteen hundred strokes an hour.

"That will keep us pretty busy pumping," said the old man, "until we get in somewhere where we can stop it. However, we may thank God we came off as well as we did. We can keep the leak under till we reach one of the Carolines, and as for the three men, I don't consider either of them wounded seriously, though they may be disabled from duty for some days. We'll break out in the starboard side of the run this afternoon, and see if we can make any discoveries."

We broke out, accordingly, and judging by the sound, where the leak was, we cut out a piece of the ceiling. We found a place crushed in two planks in width, the broken wood still remaining, though much shattered, and forced out of its place. With a "fothering" of canvas and oakum, and some boards nailed to the timbers to hold all in place, we reduced the leak considerably. This was all that could be done to it from the inside, but we were satisfied that we could get at it, by careening the ship in a smooth harbor, and repair it, as we did the former leak at Hanayapa; as the timbers did not appear to be materially injured. We timed her again in our watch that night, and found we pumped only about nine hundred strokes an hour.

Off the Rocks again.Page227.

Off the Rocks again.Page227.

Off the Rocks again.Page227.

"Well," said Father Grafton, "that's much better than fifteen hundred, for it's a kind of labor that seamen abominate, and no wonder at it. There's a sameness about it that is not at all agreeable. I must say that I dislike such jobs as pumping, sawing wood, and turning grindstones."

Of course I agreed with him entirely in this antipathy.

"I don't think," continued the mate, "that there is any other leak in her beside that one under the counter. It's likely that the copper and sheathing are much torn up under the bows, but the ledge appeared to be pretty smooth, and the pumps threw no water, up to just before the time we hauled her afloat."

"I suppose," said I, "the cooper will admit now that she leaks enough to keep her sweet. Ah! here he is, on deck, and his pipe loaded, too. Say, Cooper, have you seen any flying fish come from the pump yet?"

"No," answered the cooper, gruffly. "She don't leak much, now, that is, comparatively speaking. She'stight, compared to the old Harbinger. But we didn't mind it so much in those days, as we should now."

"No, that's true," said the mate, "and, to go twenty or thirty years still further back, they minded it still less, and seemed to look upon pumping as a matter of course, a part of the regular routine of ship's duty. I recollect a case in point. When I was a young fellow, I happened to be present in court when a casewas being tried involving the insurance on the ship Tarquin, sunk at sea on her homeward passage. It appeared that the Tarquin, when off Cape Horn, leaked a smart thousand strokes an hour; that after getting down into the trades on the Atlantic side, they had tinkered some of their leaks, and also, being in lighter weather, she made less water, so that they pumped only three or four hundred strokes an hour when off Cape St. Augustine. Well, they held on their course, and, between there and home, she gave out entirely, and sunk from under 'em. The underwriters refused to pay, and the ground taken by them was, that the captain ought to have gone into a port in Brazil, and overhauled his ship. Well, several old sea-captains were called on the stand to give their opinions. I remember one in particular, who is still living. The question was put to him, whether, in his judgment, it was prudent for the captain of the Tarquin, with his ship leaking some three or four hundred strokes, and Pernambuco under his lee, to continue on towards home? 'Prudent!' said the old gentleman. 'Yes, why not? Why,' said he, proudly, 'I sailed out of New Bedford in a ship leaking five hundred strokes an hour to start on a voyage!'"

"Yes, that was in what they call, 'the good old times,'" said the cooper. "And that reminds me of a circumstance that happened many years ago in which an uncle of mine was one of the parties concerned. He was homeward bound in an old ship, I think it was the Criterion. They got in on the coast, made Block Island, and took a pilot. It came on to blowvery heavily from the northward, and they were blown off the coast and the ship leaked so that they found it impossible to free her, and decided that the only safety for them was to put her off before it and run her—somewhat. Well, they let her slide to leeward with both pumps going, and when the weather moderated, they found themselves so far to the southward that they kept on, and made a port at the French island of Martinique. Here they discharged the oil, hove the ship out, stopped the leaks, and took in their cargo again. In those days, you will remember, communications with the West Indies was not an every-day thing as it is now, and nothing was heard from that particular island for a long time. Well, in the mean time the pilot-boat reported putting a pilot on board ship Criterion, off Block island, such a date. Of course, it was supposed she had foundered in the gale, and all had perished. Well, four months afterwards, away along in the summer, the Criterion came down to the bar, and when my uncle went ashore he found his wife in mourning, having given him up for dead long before."

"I believe that's a true yarn, Cooper, if youdidtell it," said the mate—"This way the watch!Pump ship!"

We still held on our course to the westward, to make a port at one of the Carolines or Ladrones, and made good progress with the trade winds in our favor. Our men soon recovered from their injuries, and resumed their duties, rather priding themselves upon the ugly scars received in the conflict. Whether the old manever said anything in the way of reprimand to the second mate, I never knew. If he did, the whole matter was kept to themselves; and, indeed, it was not his habit to find fault with an officer in the presence or hearing of any subordinate. Perhaps he thought it best to overlook his almost fatal want of vigilance, in view of his gallant conduct afterwards in charge of the forlorn hope on the point, and trusted that the peril through which he had just passed would prove a salutary lesson to him for the future. If so, he judged correctly, for the young officer's eyes were opened to his own carelessness; and, in a literal sense, he kept them open the remainder of the voyage. As I learned from others in his watch, he never was known, after this affair, to sit down during his hours of duty at night.

"We are drawing down near to the Carolines," said the mate to me one evening, about a week after the accident. "I think we shall make Strong's Island to-morrow."

"Have you ever been there, sir?" I asked.

"Not to go ashore," said Mr. Grafton. "I have passed in sight of it, and I have been in and anchored at Ascension, which is beyond it to the northward and westward. I hear that ships visit Strong's Island quite frequently of late. I suppose the people are similar in appearance and character to those of Ascension. We shall reconnoitre there a little, and perhaps the old man will decide to go in, if he finds it a good harbor to stay our leak in; if not, we shall keep on to Ascension or Guam."

"Are these people anything like those at Kingsmill's Group?"

"Not at all," replied the mate. "Neither in appearance, language nor general character. There is something very interesting about them; at least, those that I have seen at Ascension. They are handsomer, and lighter in color than those islanders we have left behind; and they are also more intelligent and ingenious. The women, especially, are more delicate, with good figures; some of them are really pretty. Then, in place of the gibberish of uncouth sounds spoken in most parts of Polynesia, these people have a musical language, full of soft liquids and ringing consonants, that seems more like Chinese than like anything we are accustomed to recognize as a 'Kanaka language.'"

"Are they safe people to deal with?" I asked.

"Well, no more so than the generality of savages. Indeed I think they are quite as treacherous, though not as hardy and warlike as Marquesans or New Zealanders. None of these races are to be trusted, and we must be always on our guard in our intercourse with them; treating them well, but never placing ourselves entirely in their power."

"Power makes right, with them, as it does with civilized nations," I answered, "and the same rule of diplomacy which you have mentioned will apply to our dealings with the best of them, I think."

"That's true," said Father Grafton, reflectively. "I suppose, after all, we are no better than they are, only we have a more genteel way of doing thingsand do them on a larger scale. We should not kill and eat a man or two whom we caught on board our ship; but if it suited our purposes, we should very likely take possession of a whole island or group of islands, and kill the people in a legal way, if they resisted; as is being done even now, by enlightened France, at the Marquesas and Society Islands."

"And if they don't take possession of all Oceanica," said I, "it is only because it is not worth their while, or as we Yankees would say, 'it wont pay.'"

"Just so," assented the mate. "And if, as some think, England will protest against this occupation by the French, it will not be because of any injustice done to the natives but because it might be thought dangerous to her interests to permit France to have these naval stations in the Pacific."

"It is a delicate matter, any way," he resumed, "to do justice in dealing with these savages. We must secure the safety of our own lives, if possible, and of our property, too. Of course I am speaking, now, of the case of isolated ships, like our own. It seems cruel to kill or wound a savage for pilfering, especially when we remember that a plug of tobacco or a knife may appear as great a treasure to his simple mind, as a mine of gold or a fertile province to our more enlightened capacities. And yet how else are we to prevent the annoyance, and secure our property? We cannot reason with them, nor can we punish them according to any civilized form of law. And if we kill or maltreat them, it's ten to one they will retaliate upon some other white men who may be thrown intheir way at a future time. It's a difficult subject, to make the best of it," said the mate, dismissing the matter in an unsatisfied way, as hundreds of others have done; and taking up another.

"There is evidence to prove," said he, "that the Caroline Islands were once inhabited by a race of people far superior to those now found here. The ruins of a large stone building, apparently a religious temple of some sort, still stand on the island of Ascension, away up in the interior, showing beyond all question that those who reared it possessed a knowledge of arts and of mechanical powers far beyond the capacity of the present owners of the soil. I am told that similar evidences are to be found at Strong's Island, in the form of stone walls, running in various directions about the island, which never could have been built by the present inhabitants."

"What account do they give of them?" I asked.

"So far as I can learn, it is as great a mystery to the present generation of them as it is to us; and I have never heard that they have even any traditions to account for them. But there they are," said he, dismissing this subject, like the other, unsatisfied.

"But it is time to set these faithful pumps going again; that's a practical matter, with not much of interesting speculation about it.Pump ship!"

We made Strong's Island the next day, as expected, and running down for it, saw two ships lying at anchor in a bay on the weather side of it, making in from the south-east. The old man lowered his boat and went in, leaving us to lie off and on for his return. Soonafterwards a canoe was seen coming out with three men. They paddled alongside very quietly, in marked contrast with the jabbering barbarians whom I had been accustomed to hear at the other group, or even to the Portuguese boatmen at the Azores. I was looking at them over the rail in the waist, and wondering how the first words of their language would sound in my ears, when the man in the head of the canoe spoke up, in clear and distinct English, "Give us a rope, if you please." The crew of the Topez could hardly have been more surprised when they discovered Pitcairn's Island, and were addressed in their own language by the descendants of the Bounty mutineers, than were we at hearing this polite request.

The men came on board, and it appeared that they all spoke a good smattering of English, though the first speaker took the lead, he having made a short cruise in a whaler. He told us one of the ships in the bay was American and the other English. The mate asked him if he knew the name of either of the ships, thinking at most, that he might get some clew to guess from; but, to our further astonishment, he replied, "Ship Leonidas, of New Bedford, Captain Taber, and Ship Seringapatam, of London, Captain Courtenay," pronouncing all the names with the greatest care and distinctness. He already knew the name of our ship and captain, having spoken the boat going into the bay.

"Well," said Mr. Grafton, "they ought to establish a newspaper here, and secure this man as marine news reporter. It's not one white man in twenty couldhave given us these particulars, and done it in as good shape;" for we had learned how much oil these ships has taken, where they were bound, and many other things of interest concerning them.

"Why, either of these men talk better English than any ordinary Kanaka who has made a four years' voyage in a whaler."

Our boat was seen returning, and the old man came on board with a favorable report. He gave orders to get the chains up and the anchors off the bow at once, having made up his mind to go in.

"It's a snug harbor," I heard him telling the mate, "and it's easy getting into it. I have some doubts about getting out again as easy, but I guess we shall have a slant of wind. Taber went in only yesterday and is bound on Japan too. He wants a consort, and will stay as long as we do, in case our job of stopping the leak should detain us. The Englishman is all ready for sea, now, but he can't get out with this wind."

Within an hour we were riding quietly at anchor in six fathoms, but a short distance from the beach, and in a convenient place for heeling the ship to repair the injury which had caused us so much monotonous and fatiguing labor at the pumps.

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