Nat the Naturalist Part 42

"Hi, yi, yi--Hi, yi, yi--Hi, yi, yi!"

Then it kept on in a shrill tone till it seemed, as my head ached so badly, almost maddening.

At last I raised my heavy eyelids and saw that instead of lying on the sand surrounded by savages, I was some distance from the sh.o.r.e and in the boat. I could dimly see, as through a mist, the savages on the beach, and they were shouting, yelling, and threatening us with their war-clubs; but it was Ebo who was apparently about to dance the bottom out of the boat, and keeping up that abominable "Hi, yi, yi!" his song of triumph for the victory he had won.

"Hi, yi, yi--Hi, yi, yi--Hi, yi, yi! _hey_!"

The _Hey_! was accompanied by a tremendous jump, and a flourish of the spear at the savages on sh.o.r.e, whom the defiance seemed to madden as they rushed about furiously waving their clubs and yelling with all their might. Sometimes they dashed into the water right to their chests, some swam out with their war-clubs in their teeth, and some went through a pantomime in which we were all supposed to be beaten down and being pounded into jelly upon the sh.o.r.e.

All this delighted Ebo, who varied his war-song by making derisive gestures, showing his utter contempt for his cowardly enemies, all of which seemed to sting them to fury, and I began to wonder how we should get on if they had canoes.

For our boat was floating gently along about sixty yards from the sh.o.r.e with the sail flapping about, the current driving her away, but the rollers carrying her in.

At first I could do nothing but sit there and gaze, sometimes at Ebo, and sometimes at the savages. Then in a sleepy stupid way I looked at my uncle, who was lying in the bottom of the boat with his eyes closed and perfectly motionless.

Somehow my state then did not trouble me much, only that I wished my head would not ache quite so badly. I was quite aware that we were in danger, but that seemed to be quite natural; and at last I began to wonder why I did not begin doing something, and why my uncle did not get up.

At last it seemed to occur to Ebo that it was time for him to finish shouting, and he laid his spear down, came to me, and lifted me, so that my head was over the side of the boat, and he then scooped up the cool water and bathed my face, with such satisfactory effect that I was able to think clearly; and thanking him, I was about to perform a similar duty for my uncle, when, to my horror, I saw a crowd of savages running a couple of canoes over the sands, evidently to launch them, and finish the treacherous work that they had begun.

For a few moments I felt paralysed, but recovering myself I made a sign to Ebo, hoisted the great sail to its fullest height, and as the boat careened over I hurried aft to the tiller and the sail began slowly to fill, and our boat to move gently through the water.

But never had it moved so slowly before, for the breeze was very light, and it seemed as if the savages must get their canoes launched, and have paddled out to us before we could get up any speed.

They saw this, and kept on shouting and working with all their might, moving first one canoe and then the other to the edge of the water, launching them, springing in, and the next moment the air was black with paddles.

Again an instant and the sea was foaming with their vigorous strokes.

But for the fact that the canoes were very large and heavy and took time to get well in motion, we must have been overtaken, for the wind seemed to be playing with our sail, one moment filling it out, the next letting it flap idly as the boat rose and fell upon the waves.

Seeing that I could do no more I fastened the tiller with a piece of cord and rapidly reloaded the guns, Ebo picking up his spear, and, to my horror, beginning to shout at and deride the savages.

It would have made little difference, I suppose, for the blacks would have killed us without mercy had they overhauled us, and that they seemed certain to do, for they were paddling steadily and well, their blades being plunged into the water with the greatest regularity, making it foam and sparkle as they swept along.

So fast did they seem to come, uttering in chorus a sort of war-cry at each plunge of the paddles, that I wondered why they did not overhaul us, so slowly did we seem to move, and at last, as they got their canoes in full swing, they came on hand over hand, getting so near that the men in the bows made ready their spears to hurl, and I raised my gun, meaning to make as brave an end as I could.

I was too much excited to feel frightened now. I suppose there was not time, all my thoughts being turned upon the acts of the savages, one of whom now threw a spear, which fell short.

I took aim at him, but did not fire, thinking that I would reserve the shot till we were in greater danger, and hoping that a couple of well-directed charges might have the effect of deterring them from further pursuit. But still on they came just abreast, and it was evident that they meant to attack on each side of our poor little boat, which looked so small beside the long war-canoes, each of which contained about forty men.

They uttered a loud yell now, for the boat seemed to stand still and the sail began to flap, and, somehow, just then, as I felt what dreadful danger we were in, I began thinking about Clapham Common, and running there in the sunshine, while Uncle Joe looked blandly on, evidently enjoying my pursuits.

Just then half a dozen spears were thrown, and I nearly fell overboard, only saving myself by making a s.n.a.t.c.h at one of the stays.

It was not that I was struck by a spear, but that the boat had given a leap and bent down till it seemed as if she would capsize. In fact she would have gone down with her sail flat upon the water if I had not eased off the sheet as she went slipping through the waves at a tremendous rate.

It was a work of moments, and then when I turned my head it was to see that the canoes were double the distance behind, with the savages paddling furiously; but I saw that if the wind held, their case was like that of a pet spaniel running after a greyhound, for our boat kept careening over and literally racing through the sea.

In five minutes I found that the canoes were so far behind that we had no more cause for fear, and, altering our course so as to sail gently on about a mile from the sh.o.r.e, I gave Ebo the sheet to hold, knelt down, bathed Uncle d.i.c.k's face, and bound up a great cut that had laid open his head.

My work had its reward, for, partly from the freshness of the water, partly from the pain I must have caused him, my uncle revived, stared wildly about him for a few minutes, and then, as he realised our position, he muttered a little to himself, and ended by shaking hands with me and Ebo, holding the black palm of the latter in his own for some moments, as he looked our follower in the face.

"I was much to blame, Nat," he said at last.

"I ought to have been more guarded; but I could not think that these people were so treacherous."

CHAPTER FORTY.

WE SECURE FRESH TREASURES.

Our injuries soon grew better, but though we kept on sailing for days and days past the most tempting-looking spots, we never dared to land, for always as soon as we neared some gloriously-wooded track, all hill, dale, and mountain, and amidst whose trees the gla.s.ses showed us plenty of birds, the inhabitants began to cl.u.s.ter on the sh.o.r.e, and when once or twice my uncle said that we would go in nearer and see, the same custom was invariably observed: the people came shouting and dancing about the beach holding out birds and bunches of feathers and sh.e.l.ls, making signs for us to land.

There was no need for Ebo to grow excited and cry, "No--no! man-kill!

man-kill!" for my uncle laughed and shook his head.

"They must try another way of baiting their traps, Nat," he would cry laughing. "My head is too sore with blows and memories to be caught again."

It was always the same. No sooner did the treacherous savages find that we would not land than they rushed to their canoes, and began to pursue us howling and yelling; but the swift-sailed boat was always ready to leave them far behind, and we were only too glad to find that the pleasant brisk breezes stood our friends.

"I would not loiter here, Nat," he said, "amidst such a treacherous, bloodthirsty set, but the great island is so tempting that I long for a ramble amongst its forests. I know that there are plenty of wonderful specimens to be obtained here. New kinds of paradise birds, b.u.t.terflies, and beetles, and other attractions that it would be a sin not to obtain."

"Perhaps we shall find a place by and bye where there are no inhabitants, uncle," I said.

"That is what I have been hoping for days," he replied; and not long after we sailed round a headland into a beautiful bay with the whitest of sand, trees cl.u.s.tering amidst the lovely yellow stone cliffs, and a bright stream of water flowing through a gorge and tumbling over two or three little barriers of rocks before losing itself in the calm waters of the bay.

Some six or seven miles back was a high ridge of mountains, which seemed to touch the sea to east and west, cutting off as it were a narrow strip from the mainland, and this strip, some fifteen miles long and six wide at its greatest, was fertile in the extreme.

"Why, Nat," cried my uncle, "this should be as grand a place as our island. If it is free of savages it is the beau ideal of a naturalist's station. Look! what's that?"

"A deer come out of the wood to drink in the stream," I said.

"Poor deer," laughed my uncle, "I'm afraid it will have to come into our larder, for a bit of venison is the very thing we want."

As he spoke he cautiously took up a rifle, rested it upon the edge of the boat, waited a few moments, and then fired at fully five hundred yards' distance, and I saw the deer make one great bound and fall dead.

"Good! Eatum," said Ebo approvingly; but instead of indulging in a frantic dance he shaded his eyes and gazed about in every direction, carefully sweeping the sh.o.r.e, and paying no heed to us as the boat was sailed close in.

As the keel was checked by the sand Ebo leaped out, and I thought he was about to rush at the deer to skin it for food, but he ran off rapidly in one direction right along the sh.o.r.e, coming back at the end of a quarter of an hour, during which, after dragging our prize on board, we remained, gun in hand, upon the watch.

Ebo started again and went in the other direction, being away longer this time, but returning triumphant to indulge in a dance, and help drag the boat into a place of safety before proceeding to light a fire.

Venison steaks followed, and after another exploration we found that we were in so thoroughly uninhabited a part of the island that we built a hut and slept ash.o.r.e perfectly undisturbed.

The next morning we had another exploration, to find that, as my uncle had supposed, the ridge of mountains cut us off from the rest of the island, and finding nothing to fear we once more set to work.

Parrots were in profusion, and so were the great crowned pigeons; these latter becoming our poultry for the table. There was an abundance, though, of birds of large size, whose skins we did not care to preserve, but which, being fruit-eaters, were delicious roasted. Then we had another deer or two; caught fish in the bay; and literally revelled in the bounteous supply of fruit.

Meanwhile we were working industriously over our specimens, finding paroquets that were quite new to us, splendid c.o.c.katoos, and some that were as ugly as they were curious.