University of Virginia Library

22. CHAPTER XXII.

Our situation, as it now appeared, was scarcely less
dreadful than when we had conceived ourselves entombed
for ever. We saw before us no prospect but
that of being put to death by the savages, or of dragging
out a miserable existence in captivity among them. We
might, to be sure, conceal ourselves for a time from their
observation among the fastnesses of the hills, and, as a
final resort, in the chasm from which we had just issued;
but we must either perish in the long Polar winter
through cold and famine, or be ultimately discovered in
our efforts to obtain relief.

The whole country around us seemed to be swarming
with savages, crowds of whom, we now perceived, had
come over from the islands to the southward on flat
rafts, doubtless with a view of lending their aid in the
capture and plunder of the Jane. The vessel still lay
calmly at anchor in the bay, those on board being apparently
quite unconscious of any danger awaiting them.
How we longed at that moment to be with them! either
to aid in effecting their escape, or to perish with them in
attempting a defence. We saw no chance even of
warning them of their danger without bringing immediate
destruction upon our own heads, with but a remote
hope of benefit to them. A pistol fired might suffice to
apprize them that something wrong had occurred; but
the report could not possibly inform them that their only
prospect of safety lay in getting out of the harbour forth-with—it
could not tell them that no principles of honour
now bound them to remain, that their companions were
no longer among the living. Upon hearing the discharge
they could not be more thoroughly prepared to meet the
foe, who were now getting ready to attack, than they already
were, and always had been. No good, therefore,
and infinite harm, would result from our firing, and, after
mature deliberation, we forbore.

Our next thought was to attempt a rush towards the
vessel, to seize one of the four canoes which lay at the
head of the bay, and endeavour to force a passage on
board. But the utter impossibility of succeeding in this
desperate task soon became evident. The country, as I
said before, was literally swarming with the natives,
skulking among the bushes and recesses of the hills, so
as not to be observed from the schooner. In our immediate
vicinity especially, and blockading the sole path
by which we could hope to attain the shore in the proper
point, were stationed the whole party of the black
skin warriors, with Too-wit at their head, and apparently
only waiting for some re-enforcement to commence his
onset upon the Jane. The canoes, too, which lay at
the head of the bay were manned with savages, unarmed,
it is true, but who undoubtedly had arms within reach.

We were forced, therefore, however unwillingly, to remain
in our place of concealment, mere spectators of the
conflict which presently ensued.

In about half an hour we saw some sixty or seventy
rafts, or flatboats, with outriggers, filled with savages,
and coming round the southern bight of the harbour.
They appeared to have no arms except short clubs, and
stones which lay in the bottom of the rafts. Immediately
afterward another detachment, still larger, approached in
an opposite direction, and with similar weapons. The
four canoes, too, were now quickly filled with natives,
starting up from the bushes at the head of the bay, and
put off swiftly to join the other parties. Thus, in less
time than I have taken to tell it, and as if by magic, the
Jane saw herself surrounded by an immense multitude
of desperadoes evidently bent upon capturing her at all
hazards.

That they would succeed in so doing could not be
doubted for an instant. The six men left in the vessel,
however resolutely they might engage in her defence,
were altogether unequal to the proper management of
the guns, or in any manner to sustain a contest at such
odds. I could hardly imagine that they would make resistance
at all, but in this was deceived; for presently
I saw them get springs upon the cable, and bring the
vessel's starboard broadside to bear upon the canoes,
which by this time were within pistol range, the rafts
being nearly a quarter of a mile to windward. Owing
to some cause unknown, but most probably to the agitation
of our poor friends at seeing themselves in so hopeless
a situation, the discharge was an entire failure.
Not a canoe was hit or a single savage injured, the
shots striking short and ricochêting over their heads.
The only effect produced upon them was astonishment
at the unexpected report and smoke, which was so excessive
that for some moments I almost thought they
would abandon their design entirely, and return to the
shore. And this they would most likely have done had
our men followed up their broadside by a discharge of
small arms, in which, as the canoes were now so near

at hand, they could not have failed in doing some execution,
sufficient, at least, to deter this party from a farther
advance, until they could have given the rafts also a
broadside. But, in place of this, they left the canoe
party to recover from their panic, and, by looking about
them, to see that no injury had been sustained, while
they flew to the larboard to get ready for the rafts.

The discharge to larboard produced the most terrible
effect. The star and double-headed shot of the large
guns cut seven or eight of the rafts completely asunder,
and killed, perhaps, thirty or forty of the savages outright,
while a hundred of them, at least, were thrown into the
water, the most of them dreadfully wounded. The remainder,
frightened out of their senses, commenced at
once a precipitate retreat, not even waiting to pick up
their maimed companions, who were swimming about in
every direction, screaming and yelling for aid. This
great success, however, came too late for the salvation
of our devoted people. The canoe party were already
on board the schooner to the number of more than a
hundred and fifty, the most of them having succeeded in
scrambling up the chains and over the boarding nettings
even before the matches had been applied to the
larboard guns. Nothing could now withstand their
brute rage. Our men were borne down at once, overwhelmed,
trodden under foot, and absolutely torn to
pieces in an instant.

Seeing this, the savages on the rafts got the better of
their fears, and came up in shoals to the plunder. In
five minutes the Jane was a pitiable scene indeed of
havoc and tumultuous outrage. The decks were split
open and ripped up; the cordage, sails, and everything
moveable on deck demolished as if by magic; while,
by dint of pushing at the stern, towing with the canoes,
and hauling at the sides, as they swam in thousands
around the vessel, the wretches finally forced her on shore
(the cable having been slipped), and delivered her over
to the good offices of Too-wit, who, during the whole
of the engagement, had maintained, like a skilful general,
his post of security and reconnoissance among the hills,

but, now that the victory was completed to his satisfaction,
condescended to scamper down with his warriors
of the black skin, and become a partaker in the spoils.

Too-wit's descent left us at liberty to quit our hiding-place
and reconnoitre the hill in the vicinity of the
chasm. At about fifty yards from the mouth of it we
saw a small spring of water, at which we slaked the
burning thirst that now consumed us. Not far from the
spring we discovered several of the filbert-bushes which
I mentioned before. Upon tasting the nuts we found
them palatable, and very nearly resembling in flavour
the common English filbert. We collected our hats full
immediately, deposited them within the ravine, and returned
for more. While we were busily employed in
gathering these, a rustling in the bushes alarmed us,
and we were upon the point of stealing back to our covert,
when a large black bird of the bittern species strugglingly
and slowly arose above the shrubs. I was so
much startled that I could do nothing, but Peters had
sufficient presence of mind to run up to it before it
could make its escape, and seize it by the neck. Its
struggles and screams were tremendous, and we had
thoughts of letting it go, lest the noise should alarm
some of the savages who might be still lurking in the
neighbourhood. A stab with a Bowie knife, however,
at length brought it to the ground, and we dragged it into
the ravine, congratulating ourselves that, at all events,
we had thus obtained a supply of food enough to last us
for a week.

We now went out again to look about us, and ventured
a considerable distance down the southern declivity of
the hill, but met with nothing else which could serve us
for food. We therefore collected a quantity of dry wood
and returned, seeing one or two large parties of the natives
on their way to the village, laden with the plunder
of the vessel, and who, we were apprehensive, might
discover us in passing beneath the hill.

Our next care was to render our place of concealment
as secure as possible, and, with this object, we arranged
some brushwood over the aperture which I have before

spoken of as the one through which we saw the patch
of blue sky, on reaching the platform from the interior
of the chasm. We left only a very small opening, just
wide enough to admit of our seeing the bay, without the
risk of being discovered from below. Having done this,
we congratulated ourselves upon the security of the position;
for we were now completely excluded from observation,
as long as we chose to remain within the ravine
itself, and not venture out upon the hill. We could
perceive no traces of the savages having ever been
within this hollow; but, indeed, when we came to reflect
upon the probability that the fissure through which
we attained it had been only just now created by the
fall of the cliff opposite, and that no other way of attaining
it could be perceived, we were not so much rejoiced
at the thought of being secure from molestation as fearful
lest there should be absolutely no means left us for
descent. We resolved to explore the summit of the hill
thoroughly, when a good opportunity should offer. In
the mean time we watched the motions of the savages
through our loophole.

They had already made a complete wreck of the vessel,
and were now preparing to set her on fire. In a
little while we saw the smoke ascending in huge volumes
from her main-hatchway, and, shortly afterward, a dense
mass of flame burst up from the forecastle. The rigging,
masts, and what remained of the sails caught immediately,
and the fire spread rapidly along the decks. Still
a great many of the savages retained their stations about
her, hammering with large stones, axes, and cannon balls
at the bolts and other copper and iron work. On the
beach, and in canoes and rafts, there were not less, altogether,
in the immediate vicinity of the schooner, than
ten thousand natives, besides the shoals of them who,
laden with booty, were making their way inland and
over to the neighbouring islands. We now anticipated
a catastrophe, and were not disappointed. First of all
there came a smart shock (which we felt distinctly where
we were as if we had been slightly galvanized), but unattended
with any visible signs of an explosion. The savages

were evidently startled, and paused for an instant
from their labours and yellings. They were upon the
point of recommencing, when suddenly a mass of smoke
puffed up from the decks, resembling a black and heavy
thunder-cloud—then, as if from its bowels, arose a tall
stream of vivid fire to the height, apparently, of a quarter
of a mile—then there came a sudden circular expansion
of the flame—then the whole atmosphere was magically
crowded, in a single instant, with a wild chaos of wood,
and metal, and human limbs—and, lastly, came the concussion
in its fullest fury, which hurled us impetuously
from our feet, while the hills echoed and re-echoed the
tumult, and a dense shower of the minutest fragments of
the ruins tumbled headlong in every direction around us.

The havoc among the savages far exceeded our utmost
expectation, and they had now, indeed, reaped the full
and perfect fruits of their treachery. Perhaps a thousand
perished by the explosion, while at least an equal
number were desperately mangled. The whole surface
of the bay was literally strewn with the struggling and
drowning wretches, and on shore matters were even
worse. They seemed utterly appalled by the suddenness
and completeness of their discomfiture, and made
no efforts at assisting one another. At length we observed
a total change in their demeanour. From absolute
stupor they appeared to be, all at once, aroused to
the highest pitch of excitement, and rushed wildly about,
going to and from a certain point on the beach, with the
strangest expressions of mingled horror, rage, and intense
curiosity depicted on their countenances, and shouting,
at the top of their voices, Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!

Presently we saw a large body go off into the hills,
whence they returned in a short time, carrying stakes of
wood. These they brought to the station where the
crowd was the thickest, which now separated so as to
afford us a view of the object of all this excitement.
We perceived something white lying on the ground, but
could not immediately make out what it was. At length
we saw that it was the carcass of the strange animal
with the scarlet teeth and claws which the schooner had

picked up at sea on the eighteenth of January. Captain
Guy had had the body preserved for the purpose of stuffing
the skin and taking it to England. I remember he
had given some directions about it just before our making
the island, and it had been brought into the cabin and
stowed away in one of the lockers. It had now been
thrown on shore by the explosion; but why it had occasioned
so much concern among the savages was more
than we could comprehend. Although they crowded
around the carcass at a little distance, none of them
seemed willing to approach it closely. By-and-by the
men with the stakes drove them in a circle around it,
and, no sooner was this arrangement completed, than the
whole of the vast assembly rushed into the interior of
the island, with loud screams of Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!