Three Years in Tristan da Cunha Part 14

CHAPTER XXII

_Tuesday, September 10_.--We had the pleasure of seeing a ship today. The weather was anything but good for going out, and after they reached the sh.o.r.e two or three of the men decided not to go. It was really hardly fit and got more squally as the day went on. The ship, it was evident, wanted to call. When the boats got fairly near a squall came on and they nearly missed her. Indeed, they turned to come home, but the captain saw them and brought his ship round. She was the _Loch Katrine_, which called here last year and took our second batch of letters. The men returned home in one boat, having left the other at the Penguin Rookery some way east. They had a hard pull up from there and they and their goods were wet through. When we were at supper Henry Green came in with presents from the captain: a tin of Danish b.u.t.ter, two packets of compressed hops, and an especial packet for myself containing some Brown Windsor soap and a sprig of heather--a charming thought. I had another parcel from the steward, who sent soap and a bottle of scent. Our kettle has begun to leak, so we asked Repetto to try for one from the ship; and the captain kindly gave him a good old copper one, which, though it has a hole, we think will do us good service, for our men are very clever at mending their pots and kettles.

Rob did a dreadful deed yesterday. Graham and I had taken him with us for a walk up the hill, sitting down several times to have a talk. As we got up to return we suddenly missed him, and whistled. Just then Johnny Green and Arthur Rogers came in sight and called out "Rob has killed a sheep."

We could not believe it for he had been gone only a minute or two, but he answered the whistle and then we saw the blood on his mouth and knew it was only too true. If only the boys had called out sooner we should have been in time to save the poor sheep's life. It is rather a blow to us, for if he does this sort of thing he will have to be shot, and that would be dreadful for he is such a faithful old fellow. Unfortunately, it is not the first time he has attacked a sheep; last week, when he was out with William, he ran after one; William, hearing a barking, ran to look and found his dog and Rob attacking. He gave Rob a whipping and sent him home and, although it was a long way, home he came. Since then we have been keeping an eye upon him. Mrs. Martha Green, the owner, was very nice about it and refused any compensation, but Graham left a sovereign on the table.

It so happened the sheep was a lame one, or "a little sick," as the expression is here.

To-day we left school early and soon after noon were on our way to the potato patches where Graham wanted to help Repetto. We found quite a party there, the whole Repetto family with Alfred Green and William. They had just brewed tea. Mrs. Repetto was sitting under the lee of the wall, where a stone with a sack on it was placed for me. She was knitting, so I brought out mine. I am always impressed by her rugged and strong character. Certainly her children do not "best" her, as she is fond of saying. Arthur refused to do his work, that of putting manure in the trench. She just got up and gave him a good "hammering," mostly on his head and arms. He soon set to work. She is fond and proud of her children, but they know what is in store for them if they do not obey. The chastis.e.m.e.nt, no doubt, is deserved, but I wish she would learn to give it calmly and moderately. This is her week for serving us and almost daily she sends something extra. She will not accept anything in return.

This evening Graham, as he sat in the chimney corner engrossed in reading, was unconsciously using the ham as a cushion, with the result that an impression of it in salt and grease has been left on the back of his coat.

_Sat.u.r.day, September 14_.--A steamer in sight. On the sh.o.r.e we found four of the young men preparing to embark. Repetto said the steamer had got too far for them to catch it, and so it proved.

_Monday, September 16_.--I have been much struck by the fact that when I have finished dressing Robert's leg a basin of warm water, soap and towel are always brought for my use. Today we set off for a walk along Big Beach, and overtook Mrs. Repetto and her five children. Her husband was out hunting birds and she was going to meet him with something hot to drink. We sat down and had a talk while the children scampered about.

After remarking they needed clothes of iron, she went on to say that the present generation of girls do not know what hard work is compared with what those of her generation used to do after the boat was lost. We left her to return home. As we ran down a steep sandy bank, I leading, I heard her parting salutation, "Well done, old girl."

_Thursday, September 19_.--I asked the women to come early this afternoon to have their voices tried with a view to their taking parts in the hymns.

A good many came and seemed to enjoy the novelty. Several will sing alto, which they very quickly picked up. I asked them because I thought they might feel a little out in the cold if the men learnt part-singing and they did not.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A PENGUIN ROOKERY]

About five o'clock the children ran in to say that Graham and the men, who had gone early in the morning to the Penguin Rookery, were returning. They always light a fire on the mountain side to show they are coming back. I started off immediately for Big Beach, Mrs, Repetto and Mrs. Swain coming behind with tea for their husbands. In front were the children leading a donkey to carry the eggs. Before long the men appeared, each with a big box of eggs on his back. The box is enclosed in a sack to which are attached arm-straps. Each box contains about one hundred and fifty eggs and is no light load. The two men gathered the three hundred eggs in about twenty minutes. Repetto thinks that at present about one thousand have been taken from the Rookery this season. When the birds are up for laying the pairs keep together, the hen on the nest and the male standing by.

They make a tremendous noise day and night. For our amus.e.m.e.nt Graham tried to imitate it; standing erect, putting his head up and violently shaking it from side to side, with mouth wide open he tried to utter their "_loha_." Mrs. Repetto was just then drinking a cup of tea and was very nearly choked.

_Tuesday, September 24_.--Little Lizzie Rogers is staying with us. She has an intelligent face of rather a gipsy type, with dark brown eyes, and straight hair. We are quite enjoying her company. She is most contented and happy, and has settled down far better than the others did. We have produced a doll for her, and it is delightful to see her mothering it and wrapping it up in her pinafore. She went to sleep with it clasped in her arms.

Martha Green came down this evening to return the sovereign, but of course we would not take it.

_Thursday, September 26_.--This morning the men pulled out about fifteen miles to a ship, but the captain would not stop for them to go on board.

He offered to take the letters, but they were nettled at his not stopping and would not give them to him. It was an Italian ship. As a rule foreign vessels carry very little surplus stock. The men do best on English and American ships. This is the second time our letters have been taken off in vain.

_Sat.u.r.day, September 28_.--Our little visitor has just returned home. She wept when her mother told her she must leave us, so we had her back to dinner and now she has finally departed.

_Monday, September 30_.--At midday a ship was sighted, causing the hasty closing of school and a hurried finishing of letters. It has been a most anxious day. When the men started for the ship there was a comparatively quiet sea, but towards two o'clock there was a squall, a breeze sprang up, and all the afternoon a gale has been blowing, with occasional hailstorms.

The sea is covered with white caps and the wind sweeping over it. Every now and then we can see a ring of spray being blown along which is called a "whilly" by the people and is thought to denote danger. The men must be having a very bad time of it. We are anxiously awaiting their return; it is now five o'clock and there is no sign of them.

_Wednesday, October 2_.--The men never reached the ship. Every one felt very anxious as Monday afternoon wore on. All the men were out but two.

Soon after six o'clock when it was beginning to get dark we went on to the cliff. The wind was blowing so hard we could scarcely stand. We met Fred Swain, who said that the two boats were coming round the point from the east. By straining our eyes we could just dimly discern one boat. Hagan now joined us and we stood for some time watching it. It was making for Big Beach, so he and Graham ran off to Little Beach to get pieces of wood for its landing. By the time we got down to the beach it was in and the crew were pulling it up. They were shivering with cold and soon went off home. About the other boat they could tell us nothing except that they believed it was a long way behind. After waiting some time for it Graham and Bob Green went off in search along the sh.o.r.e. At Thomas island they got an answer to their whistle, and came back to tell us the boat was coming. The women meanwhile sat under the lee of a big rock, where presently they lighted a fire and warmed the tea they had brought down. We all felt thankful when, an hour later, the last boat landed. As soon as they had drunk the hot tea we trooped up the cliffs home. The wind blew the lantern out and we had to grope along as best we could by the faint light of a brand. The men did not say much as to how they had got on. But Henry said it was the worst day he had been out in, much worse than the _Surrey_ day, and he is one of those who will go when others will not.

Another said he thought every minute they were going to be swamped. We heard later from Repetto that if one wave had broken a few feet nearer it would have done for them. Those in the last boat broke an oar and could make no headway. They tried in vain to put in at another point, and feared they would never get in, but happily the sea went down a little. It was the sweeping sea and the wind coming in gusts that made it so dangerous.

It was very cold, too, so that when not rowing the islanders were rendered almost incapable. The next day the sea was quite calm.

Yesterday Maria Green, who is thirteen, came to stay with us. She is the younger daughter of Mrs. H. Green, and is rather a nice-looking girl, with dark wavy hair and a fairish skin. She is always spick-and-span, never so much as a hair out of its place. Naturally she is very shy, and I think, though she wanted to visit us, the coming was a great effort to her. But now that the plunge has been made I hope she finds it less alarming than she expected. She helps Ellen a good deal, and this keeps her occupied and makes her less shy.

Nearly every man has been out on the mountain today in search of molly eggs. Only one egg is found in a nest, and yet Gla.s.s on Sat.u.r.day got one hundred and sixty-two. In time, I fear, these beautiful birds will be driven from the island.

_Sat.u.r.day, October 5_.--I spent the morning gardening and in the afternon went to meet Graham, who with John Gla.s.s and his wife, Johnny Lavarello, Maria Green and Mary Repetto had been to the ponds. They had thoroughly enjoyed the day, the children especially, as they had not been there before. All, except Graham, were laden with molly eggs stowed away in their shirt or blouse which is sewn into a pouch for the occasion, a mode of carrying which gave them a very comical appearance. The birds are quite tame, only giving a peck when pushed off the nest.

_Tuesday, October 8_.--We are having a week's holiday. Yesterday morning I said to little Ned Green, "Boys in England wash their neck, arms and chest every day. You come one morning and Mr. Barrow will show you how to do the same." He turned away his head and said, "I'm skeered." This morning before we were up he was waiting in the porch, and then came in and sat on the sofa until Graham was ready for him. As it was rather a wet morning the instructions were given indoors. I heard most lively conversation going on during the process. He was rewarded with a biscuit which he took home to his little sister.

Idioms are little used here. I said yesterday to Ned, who was minding some goslings, "You have got your hands full," when I saw him look down and open his hand. The goslings are as much trouble to raise here as turkeys are at home. They have, at first, to be watched all day long for fear of their getting wet, and then there is always the danger of their being carried away by the stream. If it rains they are often driven into the sitting-room. Geese and eggs are the women's chief contributions to trade.

Mrs. H. Green has not been so well again. I went up today to try to get her to come to dinner. She did not want to, but I said I was not going without her. This amused her and at last she got up and went to put her things on, though she said she was so weak she could hardly walk. When I was sitting alone with her she told me that a few months ago something had been said to her which she could not get off her mind. She has a strong superst.i.tion about it. The people here believe that a person has the power to will evil to others. A man who has been to the Cape told us one evening that he was quite sure that the Malays had the power to make a person lame by putting something on the doorstep, and that no one could effect a cure except a Malay doctor.

CHAPTER XXIII

_Wednesday, October 9_.--We were aroused from our slumbers this morning by Charlie Green hammering at the door, and on inquiry heard there was a ship in sight. It was a most beautiful day and the sea like a mill-pond. The men said before they started they were sure the ship was a whaler; and they were right. The people, expecting visitors, set to work to scrub their floors. In the course of the morning the first mate, a coloured man, landed with a mail from St. Helena. There were only three letters in it.

One was from the Bishop. There seems now no prospect of his coming while we are here. Our men only did fairly well on the whaler, which, however, was well supplied with potatoes, having taken in a supply at St. Helena only seventeen days ago. The captain and his wife kindly sent us a bunch of bananas and a large tin of grape-nuts.

_Thursday, October 10_.--This afternoon we took the Repetto girls, Maria and Sophy, who are staying with us, for a picnic. We made for a gra.s.sy slope near Bugsby Hole, the children gathering sticks for the fire as we went. They came upon a poor little lamb that had just been killed by a sea-hen. Near it was another which a sea-hen was just pouncing upon. They had been deserted by the mother, a thing which often happens here. The children picked up the lamb, which could hardly have been a day old, and we wrapped it in my jacket and gave it some warm milk. It was decided that Mary should be the happy possessor of it. As we were at tea three rats were unearthed. One, a big fellow, sprang down close to us. There were shrieks from the children and the tea was upset, but Rob soon caught him.

_Friday, October 11_.--The lamb died this morning. Repetto says it was famished before we found it.

_Monday, October 14_.--Quite a bitter day. Hail has been falling. Susan Repetto, who lives with her Aunt Betty Cotton, is with us this week. She has a wonderful crop of curly hair which, except on Sundays when her mother wets and curls it, is done up in a tight little k.n.o.b. She is quick and full of fun, laughing more than any child on the island.

_Wednesday, October 23_.--The Lavarellos are serving us this week, and insist upon bringing each morning a small bucket of milk and a jugful at night. We have been able to make some excellent b.u.t.ter, so yellow that the cows might have been feeding on b.u.t.tercups, of which, however, we have seen only one small patch. Milk puddings are our daily _regime_. There has been no shortness this year.

_Friday, October 25_.--A mollyhawk was brought in today, it weighed four pounds and measured from tip of beak to tip of tail thirty inches, from tip of wing to tip of wing seventy-eight, and in girth twenty. The bird cannot rise up from level ground, but must get to the edge of a cliff or hill, unless helped by the wind.

Cricket is being much played by the boys. Ben intensely enjoys a game, and it is wonderful how he manages to hold a bat and hit. He has to lie on the ground to pick up a ball.

_Sunday, October 27_.--We went to see Betty Cotton, who is laid up with a bad rheumatic attack. Reposing in a canvas chair she was holding quite a _levee_, and I think enjoyed being the centre of so much attention.

We find the north wind rather trying; it is enervating and brings with it much dampness; while it prevails food does not keep well.

_Monday, October 28_.--This has been a thoroughly wet day. The children think nothing of wet and will sit the whole day in damp clothes. Umbrellas are almost useless and so I have taken to the people's way of wearing a shawl over the head.

We went across to see Miss Cotton. Her room, which serves as sitting-room and bedroom, looked most comfortless. To add to the discomfort there were sixteen goslings hemmed in by boxes in a corner near the door. If they were allowed out on a day like this it would kill the greater part of them.

_Thursday, October 31_.--Another wet day, but people in and out notwithstanding. It cleared up in the evening and we went for a turn on the cliffs. The houses looked so picturesque silhouetted against a stormy sky.

_Sat.u.r.day, November 2_.--One of Henry's bullocks was operated on this afternoon with the help of five or six men. It was very wild and they had difficulty in getting it in. They threw it by means of a rope and then tied its legs. It had something growing inside its lower lip like a wart which prevented its eating, and this they have removed. They have successfully performed the same operation on other bullocks.

_Monday, November 4_.--This afternoon there was a cricket match between the boys and girls, the former playing left-handed. Needless to say, the girls were beaten. The men looked on with interest and later had a game themselves, and very lively cricket it was. They may go off any day now to Inaccessible, and are only waiting for the right wind. They generally visit it once or twice a year. Graham means to go with them as he is anxious to see the island.

CHAPTER XXIV

_Tuesday, November 5_.--About five o'clock this morning a gun was fired to signify that the men were going off to Inaccessible. Soon after Tom Rogers looked in to say they were starting in about an hour's time. We packed into a large tin flour, captain's biscuits, tea, coffee and sugar for Graham; Tom was taking meat, and Ellen ran down at the last moment with bread hot from the oven. They went off in three boats, cheering l.u.s.tily. I believe they hope to do some sealing. It depends entirely on the wind as to when they return; they might be kept a fortnight.

_Thursday, November 7_.--I am taking school in Graham's absence, the elder girls helping with the infants. If the scholars are tiresome or heedless I just make them hold out their hand, and with a slap from mine they are soon reduced to order. When they are reading they are not allowed to lift up their eyes from their books, and now it is rarely they lose their place.

_Sat.u.r.day, November 9_.--The men have not yet returned. They have had very wet weather since they left, and must have had a trying time. I hope they have enough to eat. On the occasion of a former visit there they were delayed so long that they ran short of food and were nearly starved. When at last they got back one young fellow fainted. Since then they have been careful to take more food with them and have put one or two sheep on the island and have sown potatoes.