Books: The Little Savage
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Captain Marryat >> The Little Savage
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I must own I began to draw my breath rather rapidly, and my heart
beat more quickly, as I came near the place where I had left my
terrible enemy. To my extreme surprise the python had disappeared.
There was a tree still standing, though its foliage and branches
strewed the ground, and a great portion of its bark was ground to
powder. At the base of the trunk was a pool of blood mingled with
fragments of bark, broken arrows, leaves, and mould. The reptile had
escaped. But where was he? Not altogether without anxiety I began to
look for traces of his retreat; and they were easily found. With my
arrow ready for immediate flight, I followed a stream of blood that
was still visible on the grass, and led from the tree, accompanied by
unmistakable marks of the great serpent's progress, in a direct line
to the sea. There it disappeared.
When I discovered this, I breathed again. There was no doubt if the
monster survived the conflict, he was hundreds of miles away, and was
not likely to return to a place where he had received so rough a
welcome. It may readily be believed I lost no time in taking the
agreeable news to my companion.
Chapter XLII
I had become tired of looking out for a ship. Though day after day,
and week after week, I made the most careful scrutiny with my glass,
as I have said, it brought no result. I sometimes fancied I saw a
vessel appearing in the line of the horizon, and I would pile up
faggots and light them, and throw on water to make them smoke, as
Jackson had done; but all without avail. Either my vision had
deceived me, or my signals had not been observed, or the ship's
course did not lie in the direction of the island.
We had had storms too on several occasions, but no wreck had been
left on our coast. I began to think we were doomed to live out our
lives on this rock, and frequently found myself striving very
manfully to be resigned to my fate, and for a few days I would
cheerfully endeavour to make the best of it. But the increasing
desire I felt to get to England, that I might seek out my
grandfather, and put him in possession of his diamonds, always
prevented this state of things enduring very long. I had obtained
from Mrs Reichardt an idea of the value of these stones, and of the
importance of their restoration to my relative, and I had often
thought of the satisfaction I should enjoy in presenting myself
before him, as the restorer of such valuable property, which, no
doubt, had long since been given up as lost.
But latterly, I thought less of these things; the chance of leaving
the island seemed so remote, and the prospect of ever seeing my
grandfather so very distant, that I had ceased to take any interest
in the contents of the belt. The diamonds seemed to become as
valueless as they were useless; a handful of wheat would have been
much more desirable. It was now some time since I had seen the belt,
or inquired about it.
Thus we lived without any incident occurring worth relating--when
one day the appearance of the atmosphere indicated a storm, and a
very violent hurricane, attended with peals of thunder and lurid
flashes of lightning, lasted during the whole of the day and evening.
The wind tore up the trees by the roots, blew down our outhouses,
made terrible havoc in our garden, and threatened to tumble our hut
over our heads.
We could not think of going to our beds whilst such a tempest was
raging around us, so we sat up, listening to the creaking of the
boards, and anticipating every moment that the whole fabric would be
blown to pieces. Fortunately, the bark with which I had covered the
roof, in a great measure protected us from the rain, which came down
in torrents; but every part was not equally impervious, and our
discomfort was increased by seeing the water drip through, and form
pools on the floor.
The thunder still continued at intervals, and was sometimes so loud
as to have a most startling effect upon us. My companion knelt down
and said her prayers with great fervour, and I joined in them with
scarcely less devotion. Indeed it was an awful night, and our
position, though under shelter, was not without danger. The incessant
flashes of lightning seemed to play round our edifice, as if
determined to set it in a blaze; and the dreadful peals of thunder
that followed, rolled over our heads, as if about to burst upon the
creaking boards that shut us from its fury.
I fancied once or twice that I heard during the storm bursts of
sound quite different in character from the peals of thunder. They
were not so loud, and did not reverberate so much; they seemed to
come nearer, and then the difference in sound became very perceptible.
"Great God!" exclaimed Mrs Reichardt, starting up from her kneeling
posture, "that is a gun from some ship."
The wind seemed less boisterous for a few seconds, and the thunder
ceased. We listened breathlessly for the loud boom we had just heard,
but it was not repeated. In a moment afterwards our ears were
startled by the most terrifying combination of screams, shrieks,
cries, and wailings I had ever heard. My blood seemed chilled in my
veins.
"A ship has just struck," whispered my companion, scarcely above her
breath. "The Lord have mercy on the crew!"
She sank on her knees again in prayer, as if for the poor souls who
were struggling in the jaws of death. The wind still howled, and the
thunder still roared, but in the fiercest war of the elements, I
fancied I could every now and then hear the piercing shrieks sent up
to heaven for assistance. I thought once or twice of venturing out,
but I remembered the safety of my companion was so completely bound
up with my own, that I could not reconcile myself to leaving her; and
I was also well aware, that till the terrible fury of the tempest
abated, it was impossible for me to be of the slightest service to
the people of the wrecked ship, even could I remain unharmed exposed
to the violence of the weather.
I however awaited with much impatience and intense anxiety till the
storm had in some measure spent itself; but this did not occur till
sunrise the next morning. The wind fell, the thunder and lightning
ceased, the rain was evidently diminishing, and the brightness of the
coming day began to burst through the darkest night that had ever
visited the island.
Mrs Reichardt would not be left behind; it was possible she might be
useful, and taking with her a small basket of such things as she
imagined might be required, she accompanied me to the rocks nearest
the sea.
On arriving there, the most extraordinary scene presented itself.
The sea was strewed with spars, masts, chests, boats stove in or
otherwise injured, casks, empty hen-coops, and innumerable pieces of
floating wreck that were continually dashed against the rocks, or
were washed ashore, wherever an opening for the sea presented itself.
At a little distance lay the remains of a fine ship, her masts gone
by the board, her decks open, in fact a complete wreck, over which
the sea had but lately been making a clean sweep, carrying overboard
everything that could not resist its fury.
I could see nothing resembling a human being, though both myself and
my companion looked carefully round in the hope of discovering some
poor creature, that might need assistance. It appeared, however, as
if the people of the ship had taken to their boats, which had been
swamped, and most probably all who had ventured into them had been
devoured by the sharks.
Had the crew remained on board, they would in all probability have
been saved; as the vessel had been thrown almost high and dry.
As soon as we had satisfied ourselves that no sharks were in the
neighbourhood, I launched my little boat, and each taking an oar, we
pulled in the direction of the wreck, which we reached in a few
minutes.
She had heeled over after striking, and the water was quite smooth
under her lee. I contrived to climb into the main chains, and from
thence on board, and was soon afterwards diligently exploring the
ship. I penetrated every place into which I could effect an entrance,
marvelling much at the variety of things I beheld. There seemed such
an abundance of everything, and of things too quite new to me, that I
was bewildered by their novelty and variety.
Having discovered a coil of new rope, I hauled it on deck, and soon
made fast my little boat to the ship. Then I made a hasty rope ladder
which I threw over, and Mrs Reichardt was in a very few minutes
standing by my side. Her knowledge was necessary to inform me of the
uses of the several strange things I saw, and to select for our own
use what was most desirable. She being well acquainted with the
interior of a ship, and having explained to me its numerous
conveniences, I could not but admire the ingenuity of man, in
creating such stupendous machines.
The ship having much water in the hold, I was forced to dive into
the armoury. It was the first time I had seen such things, and I
handled the muskets and pistols with a vast deal of curiosity; as my
companion explained to me how they were loaded and fired, I at once
saw their advantage over the bow and arrow, and was selecting two or
three to carry away, when I hesitated on being assured they would be
perfectly useless without ammunition. I might have remained content
with my own savage weapons that had already served me so well, had
not Mrs Reichardt, in the course of our survey, discovered several
tin canisters of powder perfectly uninjured, with abundance of shot
and bullets, of which I quickly took possession.
From other parts of the vessel we selected bags of grain, barrels of
flour, and provisions of various kinds; wearing apparel, boxes of
tools, with numerous bottles and jars, with the contents of which I
was perfectly unacquainted, though their discovery gave great
gratification to my companion. What most excited my wonder, were
various kinds of agricultural implements that we found in the hold,
and in a short time I was made aware of the proper employment of
spades, harrows, ploughs, thrashing-machines, and many other things,
of the existence of which I had never before dreamt.
We found also quantities of various kinds of seeds and roots, and
some sort of twigs growing in pots, which Mrs Reichardt particularly
begged me not to leave behind, as they would be of the greatest use
to us; and she added that, from various signs, she believed that the
ship had been an emigrant vessel going out with settlers, but to what
place she could not say.
We made no ceremony in breaking open lockers and chests, and every
where discovered a variety of things, which, could we transfer to our
island, would add greatly to our comfort; but how they were to be got
ashore, was a puzzle which neither of us seemed capable of solving.
Our little boat would only contain a few of the lighter articles; and
as many of these as we could conveniently put together were shortly
stowed in her.
With this cargo we were about returning, when my companion called my
attention to a noise that seemed to come from a distant corner of the
vessel, and she laughed and exhibited so much satisfaction that I
believed we were close upon some discovery far more important than
any we had yet hit upon.
We continued to make our way to what seemed to me a very out of the
way part of the vessel, led in a great measure by the noises that
proceeded from thence. It was so dark here, that we were obliged to
get a light, and my companion having procured a ship's lantern, and
lighted it by means of a tinderbox, led me to a place where I could
discern several animals, most of which were evidently dead. She
however ascertained that there were two young calves, three or four
sheep, and as many young pigs, still giving very noisy evidence of
their existence. She searched about and found some food for them,
which they ate with great avidity. The larger animals she told me
were cows and horses; but they had fallen down, and gave no signs of
life.
My companion and myself then entered into a long debate as to how we
were to remove the living animals from the dead; and she dwelt very
eloquently upon the great advantages that would accrue to us, if we
could succeed in transporting to the island the survivors.
After giving them a good feed, seeing we could not remove them at
present, we descended safely to our boat and gained the shore without
any accident. Then having housed our treasures, we were for putting
together a raft of the various planks and barrels that were knocking
against the rocks, but as I knew this would take a good deal of time,
I thought I would inspect the ship's boats, which, bottom upwards,
were drifting about within a few yards of us.
To our great satisfaction, one I ascertained to be but little
injured, and having forced her ashore, with our united exertions we
turned her over. In an hour we had made her water-tight, had picked
up her oars, and were pulling merrily for the wreck.
Chapter XLIII
Had the cows or horses been alive, they must have been left behind,
for we could not have removed them, but the smaller animals were with
comparatively little difficulty got on deck, and they descended with
me into the boat. We added a few things that lay handy, and in a few
minutes were laughingly driving our four-footed treasures on shore,
to the extreme astonishment of the gannets, which seemed as though
they would never cease to flap their wings, as their new associates
were driven by them.
In the same way we removed the most portable of the agricultural
implements, bed and bedding, cots, and hammocks, furniture, the
framework of a house, preserved provisions of all kinds, a medicine
chest, boxes of books, crates of china and glass, all sorts of useful
tools, and domestic utensils; in short, in the course of the next two
or three weeks, by repeated journeys, we filled every available place
we could find with what we had managed to rescue.
Then came another terrible storm that lasted two days, after which
the wreck having been broken up, was scattered in every direction. I
however managed to secure the drift wood, tubs, spars, and chests,
which were all got on shore, and proved of the greatest service to me
some time afterwards.
Numerous as our acquisitions had been in this way, both of us had
been infinitely better pleased had we been able to rescue some of the
ill-fated crew, to whom they had once belonged. But not one of them
could have escaped, and only one body was cast on shore, which was
that of a young woman, who lay with her face to the ground, and her
wet clothes clinging round her. We turned her carefully over, and I
beheld a face that seemed to me wonderfully fair and beautiful. She
had escaped the sharks, and had been dead several hours--most
probably she had been cast on shore by the waves soon after the ship
struck, for she had escaped also the rocks, which, had she been
dashed against, would have left fearful signs of their contact on her
delicate frame.
The sight of her corpse gave me many melancholy thoughts. I thought
of the delight she might have caused both of us, had she been saved.
What a pleasant companion she might have proved! Indeed, as I looked
on her pale cold features, I fancied that she might have reconciled
me to ending my existence on the island--ay, even to the abandonment
of my favourite scheme of seeking my grandfather to give him back his
diamonds.
We took her up with as much pity and affection as if she were our
nearest and dearest relative, and carried her home and placed her on
Mrs Reichardt's bed; and then I laid some planks together, in the
shape of what Mrs Reichardt called a coffin--and I dug her a deep
grave in the guano.
And all the while I found myself crying as I had never cried before, and
my heart seemed weary and faint. In solemn silence we carried her to her
grave, and read over her the funeral service out of the Prayer-book,
kneeling and praying for this nameless creature, whom we had never
seen alive, as though she had been our companion for many years; both
of us shedding tears for her hapless fate as if we had lost a beloved
sister. And when we had filled up her grave and departed, we went home,
and passed the most miserable day we had ever had to endure since we
had first been cast upon the island.
I had now numerous occupations that kept me actively employed. Still
I could not for a long time help recalling to mind that pale face
that looked so piteously upon me when I first beheld it; and then I
would leave off my work, and give myself up to my melancholy thoughts
till my attention was called off by some appeal from my companion. I
made a kind of monument over the place where she was buried, and
planted there the finest flowers we had; and I never passed the spot
without a prayer, as if I were approaching holy ground.
I must not forget to add, that a few days after the wreck we were
agreeably surprised by visitors that, though unexpected, were
extremely welcome. I had noticed strange birds wandering about in
various parts of the island. On their coming under the notice of my
companion, they were immediately recognised as fowls and ducks that
had no doubt escaped from the ship.
We might now, therefore, constitute ourselves a little colony, of
which Mrs Reichardt and myself were the immediate governors, the
settlers being a mingled community of calves, sheep, pigs, and
poultry, that lived on excellent terms with each other; the
quadrupeds having permission to roam where they pleased, and the
bipeds being kept within a certain distance of the government house.
The old hut had suffered so much from the storm that I determined
on building another in a better position, and had recourse to the
framework of the house I had taken from the wreck. I had some
difficulty in putting the several parts together, but at last
succeeded, and a small, but most commodious dwelling was the result.
Near it I laid out a new garden, wherein I planted all the orange-trees
we had reared, as well as many of the seeds and roots we had brought
from the wreck. A little beyond I enclosed a paddock, wherein I
planted the twigs we had found in pots, which proved to be fruit
trees.
When I had done this, I thought of my agricultural implements, and
very much desired to make use of a handy plough that was amongst
them, when I learned the advantages that might arise from it. At
first, I yoked myself to the plough, and Mrs Reichardt held it: this
proved such hard and awkward work that I kept projecting all sorts of
plans for lessening the labour--the best was that of yoking our
calves, and making them pull instead of myself. This was more easily
thought of than done. The animals did not prove very apt pupils, but
in course of time, with a good deal of patience, and some
manoeuvring, I succeeded in making them perform the work they were
expected to do.
Thus, in building, gardening, planting, and farming, the time flew
by quickly, and in the course of the next year the aspect of the
place had become quite changed. The guano that enriched the soil made
every kind of vegetation thrive with an almost marvellous rapidity
and luxuriance. We had a comfortable house, up which a vine was
creeping in one place, and a young pear-tree in another. We were
supplied with the choicest oranges, and had apples of several kinds.
We had abundance of furniture, and an inexhaustible stock of
provisions. We had a most gorgeous show of flowers of many different
species; our new kitchen garden was full of useful vegetables--young
fruit trees were yielding their produce wherever they had been
planted--the poultry had more than doubled their number--the calves
were taking upon themselves the full dignity of the state of cow and
bull--the ewes had numerous lambs--and the pigs had not only grown
into excellent pork, but had already produced more than one litter
that would be found equally desirable when provisions ran scarce. We
had two growing crops, of different kinds of grain, and a large
pasture-field fenced round.
The Little Savage, at seventeen, had been transformed into a farmer,
and the cultivation of the farm and the care of the live stock soon
left him no time for indulging in vain longings to leave the island,
or useless regrets for the fair creature who, even in death, I had
regarded as its greatest ornament.
Two years later, still greater improvements, and still greater
additions became visible. We were establishing a dairy farm on a
small scale, and as our herds and flocks, as well as the pigs and
poultry, increased rapidly, we promised in a few years to be the most
thriving farmers that had ever lived in that part of the world by the
cultivation of the land.
Chapter XLIV
Although my first experimental voyage had proved so hazardous, now
that I was better provided for meeting its perils, I became anxious
to make another attempt to circumnavigate the island. The boat that
had belonged to the wrecked ship, from the frequent trips I had made
in her to and from the shore, I could manage as well as if I had been
rowing boats all my life.
With the assistance of Mrs Reichardt, who pulled an oar almost as
well as myself, we could get her along in very good style, even when
heavily laden, and our labours together had taken from her all that
timidity which had deterred her from trusting herself with me, when I
first ventured from the island.
I was, however, very differently circumstanced now, to what I was
then. Instead of a frail cockle-shell, that threatened to be capsized
by every billow that approached it, and that would scarcely hold two
persons comfortably, I was master of a well-built ship's-boat, that
would hold half a dozen with ease, and except in very rough weather,
was as safe as any place ashore.
I had repaired the slight damage its timbers had received, and had
made an awning to protect us when rowing from the heat of the sun; I
had also raised a sail, which would relieve us of a good deal of
labour. When everything was prepared, I urged Mrs Reichardt to
accompany me in a voyage round the island; an excursion I hoped would
turn out equally pleasant and profitable.
I found her very averse to trusting herself farther from shore than
was absolutely necessary. She raised all kinds of objections--
prominent among which were my want of seamanship for managing a boat
in the open sea; the danger that might arise from a sudden squall
coming on; her fear of our getting amongst a shoal of sharks, and the
risk we ran of driving against a projecting rock; but I overruled
them all.
I showed her, by taking little trips out to sea, that I could manage
the boat either with the sail or the oars, and assured her that by
keeping close to the island, we could run ashore before danger could
reach us; and that nothing could be easier than our keeping out of
the reach of both rocks and sharks.
I do not think I quite convinced her that her fears were groundless,
but my repeated entreaties, the fineness of the weather, and her
dislike to be again left on the island, whilst I was risking my life
at sea, prevailed, and she promised to join me in this second
experiment.
Her forethought, however, was here as fully demonstrated as on other
occasions, for she did not suffer the boat to leave the shore till
she had provided for any accident that might prevent our return in
the anticipated time.
A finer day for such a voyage we could not have selected. The sky
was without a cloud, and there was just wind enough for the purpose I
wanted, without any apprehensions of this being increased. I got up
the awning, and spread the sail, and handing Mrs Reichardt to her
appointed seat, we bid farewell to our four-footed and two-footed
friends ashore, that were gazing at us as if they knew they were
parting from their only protectors. I then pushed the boat off, the
wind caught the sail, and she glided rapidly through the deep water.
I let her proceed in this way about a quarter of a mile from the
island, and then tacked; the boat, obedient to the position of the
sail, altered her course, and we proceeded at about the same rate for
a considerable distance.
Mrs Reichardt, notwithstanding her previous fears, could not help
feeling the exhilarating effect of this adventurous voyage. We were
floating, safely and gracefully, upon the billows, with nothing but
sea and sky in every direction but one, where the rugged shores of
our island home gave a bold, yet menacing feature to the view.
My heart seemed to expand with the majestic prospect before me.
Never had mariner, when discovering some prodigious continent, felt a
greater degree of exultation than I experienced, when directing my
little vessel over the immense wilderness of waters that spread out
before me, till it joined the line of the horizon.
I sat down by the side of Mrs Reichardt, and allowed the boat to
proceed on its course, either as if it required no directing hand, or
that its present direction was so agreeable, I felt no inclination to
alter it.
"I can easily imagine," said I, "the enthusiasm of such men as
Columbus, whose discovery of America you were relating to me the
other day. The vocation of these early navigators was a glorious one,
and, when they had tracked their way over so many thousand miles of
pathless water, and found themselves in strange seas, expecting the
appearance of land, hitherto unknown to the civilised world, they
must have felt the importance of their mission as discoverers."
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