CHAPTER NINETEEN.
THE FIRST RUN ASHORE.
Jack dropped down into the boat with a feeling of pity for the men who had to stay on board with the mate. Sir John, the doctor, and Captain Bradleigh were of the party, all well-armed, and, to Jack's excitement and satisfaction, he found that the crew of the boat all wore cutlasses, with the peculiar hilt which enables the wearers to fix them bayonet-fashion to the muzzles of their rifles.
"Just as well to be prepared, Mr Jack," said the captain, smiling, as he saw the interest the boy took in the men's appearance. "I don't think we shall find a soul in the island. If there had been, they must have caught sight of us, and would have shown themselves, even if they had gone off into the woods when they saw us coming ashore. Well, what do you say to this for a treat? Think it's as good as Doctor Instow described?"
"Better, ever so much," said Jack excitedly; "but please don't talk to me now. There is so much to see, I want to look about me. It is all so fresh and beautiful. But are there cocoa-nut trees?"
"Yes, of all sizes, from little ones a year old, to old ones in full bearing. There they are."
"But I thought cocoanuts grew on a sort of palm-tree which went up from the ground as straight as an arrow."
"No: never. The cocoa-nut sapling springs up with a beautiful curve like you see yonder, all alike, and no matter how the wind blows they keep to it, bending down and springing up again as if they were made of whalebone. They get it badly though when there is a hurricane; scarcely anything can stand that. But look down."
"Look down?"
"Yes, into the sea. You must not pass that over."
The boy glanced over the side of the boat, as the men rowed gently across the lagoon, to find that they had gradually come into a shallow part, whose waters, save for the disturbance made by the boat's passing, were perfectly calm and of crystal clearness. As they neared the sandy shore, the bottom, by the refraction, seemed to come nearer and nearer to the surface, through which he sat gazing into one of Nature's loveliest aquaria, strewn with the most wondrous corals and madrepores, not dry, harsh, and stony, but glowing in colours imparted by the many creatures which covered them. The seaweeds were exquisite, and the flowers of this submarine garden were sea anemones of wondrous tints, some closed like buds, others open wide, aster-like, and as bright in tint, but with a slow, creeping movement of their petal-like arms, as some unfortunate water creature touched them and was drawn into the central mouth.
Shell-fish too of wondrous forms lay or crept about in the grottoes of coral rock. Some were anchored oyster-like, and of gigantic size, lying as traps with shells apart, like the mouth of some terrible monster lying hidden among the weeds; others with strange, striped shells crawled snail-like over the bottom, amidst many so small that they were mere specks. And all the while, as the boat glided on over the surface, there were flashes of gold, silver, ruby, topaz, sapphire, and amethyst, for shoals of fish, startled by their coming, darted through the sunlit water, to hide in the waving groves of sea-weed, or nestle down among the coral stones.
"Stop rowing, please," said Sir John suddenly; and Jack turned to see that his father and the doctor had been gazing down into the water from the other side of the boat. "Only for a few minutes, captain: we must not pass over this too quickly."
"You have only to give your orders, sir," said the captain, smiling with satisfaction; and as the men sat with their oars balanced, the boat glided slowly on, hardly disturbing the surface; but her shadow was sufficient as it darkened the water to still startle the fish from their homes.
"Here's work, Meadows--here's collecting. Jack, boy, what do you think of it?"
"Oh!" ejaculated the lad, without raising his eyes from the wondrous scene he was watching once more.
There does not seem much in that simple little interjection; but the meaning put into it by the tone and the face of the lad who uttered it spoke volumes.
"Ah, it is oh!" cried the doctor. "Here, Jack, it's all nonsense, I can't be thirty-six; I feel only sixteen, and I want to begin wading in here."
"I'd advise you to wear very thick boats then," said the captain. "Some of these things are knife-edged, some sharp as thorns. You'll have to take care."
"Oh, we will; eh, Jack?"
"Yes; but we must get a lot of these as specimens. Here, look--look!"
"Ah, one of those snakes," said Sir John. "One? Look--look! there are dozens of them gliding about."
"Then I shan't wade," said the doctor decisively. "I don't want any patients this trip, and there wouldn't be much fun in laying myself up with a bad leg, and having myself to attend. I shall do my wading in a boat."
"Yes; and we must fish for and catch some of these little fellows. Do, father, look at that one gliding along by that clump of branched stuff, plant or coral, or whatever it calls itself. Why it's like a gold-fish with a great, broad bar of glittering blue across it."
"Lovely!" cried the doctor.
A discordant burst of shrill, whistling screams came from the cocoa-nut grove ashore, and Jack looked up sharply.
"Paroquets," said the captain. "There they are, quite a flock of them."
Jack's hand stole behind him toward the guns and just then there was a fluttering of wings, and a little cloud of green, shot with orange yellow and blue, glided out of the grove and flew inland.
"Let's land," said Sir John. "There is so much to see, that we had better content ourselves with a preliminary look round."
"Yes," said the doctor, "and devote separate days after to some particular branch. Pull away, my lads."
"Yes; but very gently," cried Jack; and they glided on, the men guessing the wishes of those on board by swinging together with a slow, steady motion, and just lightly dipping their oars without a splash, so that, as they glided on toward a patch of sand some four hundred yards away, where the grove of palms was the highest, and the shade from the glowing sun the deepest, a glorious view of the submarine treasures was enjoyed.
Jack sighed as the boat's prow touched the sands, the men sprang out on either side in the shallow water, and ran her right up on the shore, close to a great cocoa-nut tree, ready for the painter to be attached in case the tide should rise as high.
Two men were left as keepers, and the party, shouldering their arms, prepared to start inland.
"It will be best, gentlemen," said the captain, "to make our way along the open ground between the lagoon and the forest to-day, and to keep well together. I don't think there is a soul but ourselves on the island, but it is as well to take every step as if we were in face of enemies. For no doubt once upon a time the people who live among these tropical islands were fairly amiable when not provoked; but I'm sorry to say that they have been so ill-used by the sailors and traders of all nations, that whatever they may have been, they are often now ready to behave in a very treacherous manner to white people."
"Quite right," said Sir John; "and it is hard to make them understand that we are perfectly peaceable. I quite agree with Doctor Instow that our pleasant voyage ought not to be made arduous to him and painful to us all by any sad accident. We do not want any patients suffering from spear-thrust, or poisoned arrow sent from blow-pipe or bow, and I beg that every one will understand that I should look upon it as a calamity if, in defence of our lives, we were forced to fire upon a set of ignorant savages. Captain Bradleigh, we trust to your guidance on board, we will continue to do so, please, on shore."
"Thank you, Sir John," said the gentleman addressed; "you have uttered my sentiments exactly, and I am glad to say that I can trust my lads thoroughly. So now, then, we'll go west slowly and easily, so that you can take a look at anything which takes your fancy, and we will just skirt the woodland patches while we go as far as seems reasonable in this direction, our main object being to find out whether we have the island to ourselves."
"But we shall only be examining the narrow band by the water side. What about inland?" said the doctor.
"If we go partly to-day and partly to-morrow round the island, I fancy we shall learn all we want," replied the captain. "If there are any of the black fuzzy-headed Papuans here, or the browner South Sea Islands type of men, more like the Maoris, or lastly the Malay flat-nosed fellows, we are sure to find traces of them by the shore or up the little rivers. They don't care for the inland parts of an island like this, where there is a volcano still more or less active. They generally give these mountains a wide berth, unless there happens to be a tribe of the original people who have been driven inland by the more warlike folk, who go filibustering about searching for new lands in their great outrigger war canoes."
"Hang their war canoes!" said the doctor gruffly, "we don't want them here."
"You, my lads," said the captain to the two men by the boat, "will not leave your posts, and you will keep the cutter just afloat, so that you can leap aboard and keep her off at the first sign of danger. If there is anything you will fire two shots sharply, as a warning to Mr Bartlett, though probably he will see it first and send help to you.
Then keep on firing a shot every minute till you get an answer from us, followed by one shot, and then two more, which mean that we have heard you and are coming back. Now I don't expect anything of the kind, but we must be on the look-out till we have examined the place. You understand?"
"Yes, sir."
"That's right. Don't leave your rifles, and don't go to sleep."
"Right, sir."
"Then now, gentlemen, we'll advance in a line. No straggling, mind.
When one halts, all will stand fast. Forward!"
Jack shouldered his perfectly new double gun and stepped out, not feeling the weight of either that or the satchel and cartridge pouch slung by cross-belts, while from that at his waist hung a leather holster containing a revolver and a strong, handy sheath knife, suitable for a weapon, for skinning a specimen, or for hacking a way through tangled scrub. A feeling of subdued excitement set his heart beating steadily, and a thrill of returning health made his muscles feel tense, while his eyes flashed with eagerness, and there was an elasticity in his step that sent a feeling of satisfaction home to his father.
He was between Sir John and the doctor as they stepped off in a line over the soft sand, and the latter turned for a moment, looking serious.
"One word to you two," he said,--"medical adviser's word. This is a new country, and you are new to it. Just mind this: with quiet steady going you can do a great deal; but there must be no over-exertion so as to get too much heated. Chills are easily taken in these tropic lands, and they mean fever and weakness, so let there be no false delicacy or shame, and fighting to keep up with men better fit for the work than we are. If either of you feels tired, stop at once and rest."
"That's all meant for me," said Jack, smiling.
"No, it isn't," cried the doctor sharply. "It's meant as much for your father, who has a deal more weight to carry than you have, and if I am not much mistaken, Jack Meadows, Esquire, he is a good deal older. Now you understand. No over-exertion, no drinking cold water while you're hot. As I told you before, I don't want patients till I get back home.