Palm Tree Island Page 5

  CHAPTER THE SECOND

  OF THE VOYAGE OF THE _LOVEY SUSAN_ AND OF MY CONCERN THEREIN; ALSO THEDISTRESSFUL CASE OF WILLIAM BOBBIN

  The _Lovey Susan_--for so my uncle had named his vessel--lay atDeptford, and as we walked from our inn, the _Cod and Lobster_ in GreatTower Street, to see how her fitting out was proceeding, I was amazed(this being the first time I had come to London) at the smells and thenoises of the narrow streets, and at the number of rough seamen whom wemet. How much greater was my amazement when we came to the docks, andI saw the multitude of shipping--the forests of masts, the great blackhulls, the crowds of lighters that moved in and out among them. Iremember the fond air of pride with which my uncle pointed to hisvessel, and the smile upon his face when the captain spied him andtouched his hat. Captain Corke did not in the least resemble the ideaI had formed of a sea-captain. He was a little man, with lean cheeks,and a brown wig a world too small for his head, so that I could see thegrey stubble of his own hair showing beneath it. My uncle presented meto him and to the first mate, Mr. Lummis, whose hand, when I shook it,left a strange pattern of tar on mine. Mr. Lummis was a rough-lookingman, with a square face and a tight mouth, who broke off his talk withus very frequently to roar at one or other of the crew as they went toand fro about their duties. The captain took us over the vessel, whichwas all very strange to a landsman, and showed me his own quarters inthe round house, and when we came to my uncle's cabin, which wascertainly not so big as Aunt Susan's larder, nor half so sweet, Ithought of what she had said, and for the first time I felt some pityfor my uncle, and wondered how he would endure the being cooped up inso narrow a compass. I was presented also to Mr. Bodger, the secondmate, who seemed a very shy and timid fellow, always looking away whenhe spoke. I did not see either Wabberley or Chick, but learnt by andby that they were on shore beating up for a few men to make up theship's full complement.

  Things were in a very forward state, and the captain said that the_Lovey Susan_ would be ready to set sail in a week's time. We spentthat week in going to and fro between the ship and our inn. I own Ishould have liked to see the sights of London, but my uncle was so muchin love with his vessel that he could not bear to be away from her, andhe would not let me go sight-seeing alone, saying that London was aterrible wicked place for a boy. The utmost he would consent to was toride out to Tilbury and ride in again, which was a very paltryexpedition. When the end of the week came, there were still someberths vacant, a number of the men having been seized for the king'sships, the press being then very active. This put my uncle in adesperate state of annoyance. He declared it was monstrous that hismen should be stolen when he was embarking on an adventure which mightbring great honour to the country. Since it was plain that hisdeparture must be delayed, he said it was sinful for me to waste anymore time in London when I might be useful at the works, and so tookpassage for me in the coach and dispatched me home. Knowing that thebusiness would not suffer a jot by my absence, I wondered whether myuncle dreaded a scene of parting; and for my part I was so sore at notbeing allowed to accompany him that I thought it would save me an extrapang if I did not take my farewell of him at the ship's side.

  I found my aunt wonderfully cheerful. She smiled when I told her ofthe hindrances my uncle had met with, and declared that we should evenyet see him give up his whimsy and return to his proper business. Thisopinion, however, I scouted, and when, after about a week, we receiveda letter from him, I felt sure as I broke the seal that it was a lastmessage penned on the eve of sailing. It proved otherwise, being abrief note to say that the crew was complete, through the good officesof the obliging Chick, but that the departure was once more delayed, myuncle being confined to his room at the _Cod and Lobster_ by a slightattack of the gout. My aunt was for starting at once to attend uponher husband, but this I dissuaded her from, saying that by the time shearrived in London the attack might have passed and the ship sailed, andshe would have made the long journey for nothing, besides wastingmoney. However, within three days comes another letter, in which myuncle wrote that he was much worse, and desired me to come to him posthaste. This letter gave my aunt much concern, but on the whole pleasedher mightily, for she was sure I had been sent for to bring my unclehome, and she went about with that triumphant look which a good ladywears when she sees events answer to her predictions.

  I set off by the coach next morning. When I opened the door of myuncle's room he fairly screamed at me: "Take care! for mercy's saketake care!" I stepped back and looked about me in alarm, seeking forsome great peril against which I must be on my guard. But I sawnothing but my uncle sitting in a big chair, with one leg propped on astool, and his foot swathed in huge wrappings of flannel. "Take care!"he cried again with a groan as I approached. "Mind my toe! Keep ayard away; not an inch nearer, or I shall yell the house down." Atthat time I was astonished beyond measure at my uncle's vehemence; buthaving since then suffered from the gout myself--'tis in our family: mygrandfather was a martyr to it, I have been told--I know the terrorwhich a movement, even a gust of air, inspires in the sufferer.

  My uncle told me, amid groans, that his heart was broken. The _LoveySusan_ was ready; he had as good a captain and crew as any man couldwish to have, but he himself would never make the voyage. Threephysicians, the best in London, were attending him, and their opinionwas that not only might he be some considerable time in recovering ofit, but that, being of a gouty habit of body, a new attack might seizehim at any moment and without warning. "Suppose it took me on thevoyage, Harry!" he said, groaning deeply. "Suppose I was like this onboard! You saw my cabin; no room to swing a kitten. What if a stormblew up! What if I was tossed about!" Here he groaned again. "Nodoctors! No comforts! I must go home to Susan, my boy--if I can everstand the journey---- Oh!" he shouted, as a twinge took him. "Athousand plagues! Give me my draught, Harry; take care! Mind my toe!"

  I was distressed at my uncle's pitiful plight. 'Twas plain that hisagony of mind was as great as that of his body, because of hisdisappointment in the check to his cherished design. For some while hedid nothing but groan; presently, when he was a little easier, heannounced the resolution he had come to, which was a great surprise tome, but a still greater joy. 'Twas nothing less than that I shouldtake his place. He could not abide that his plans should be brought tonought. He had weighed the matter carefully as he lay awake o' nights;I was seventeen and nearly a man, and though no doubt I had gout in myblood, I need not fear that enemy for some years to come. Beingsober-minded (he was pleased to say), and well acquainted with hispurposes, I could very well represent him, and though thisresponsibility was great for one of my years, yet it would teach meself-reliance and strengthen my character. He spoke to me long andearnestly of the manner in which I should bear myself, with respect tothe captain and kindliness to the seamen; and I must never lose sightof the object of the expedition, which was to discover the southerncontinent, if it were the will of Providence, and so forestall theFrench.

  I fear I paid less heed than I ought to my uncle's solemn admonitions,so overjoyed was I at the wonderful prospect opening before me. Havingtaken his resolution, my uncle was not the man to delay in executingit. He sent for Captain Corke, and acquainted him with his design,adjuring him to regard me in all things as his deputy, and to take mefully into his counsels. He summoned before him Mr. Lummis and Mr.Bodger, and Chick, who was made boatswain of the vessel, and addressedthem in my presence very solemnly, enlarging on the service they woulddo their country if they assisted Captain Corke and me to bring theexpedition to a successful issue. And then, having dismissed them, hebade me fall on my knees (at a yard's distance from his toe), andbesought the blessing of the Almighty on the voyage. A lump came intomy throat as I listened to his prayer, and when at its conclusion Imuttered my "Amen!" it expressed my earnest desire to do all that in melay to fulfil my uncle's behests, and, in God's good time, to give himan account of my stewardship which should bring him comfort andhappiness.

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p; Next day, it being Friday the 22nd of August and a fair day, we loosedour moorings at four o'clock in the morning and fell down with thetide. We were lucky in encountering a favouring breeze when we cameout into the broad estuary of the river, and rounding the Foreland, weset our course down channel. The movements of the sailors in workingthe ship gave me much entertainment, and the gentle motion of thevessel, the sea being calm, caused not the least discomfort, though itwas the first time I had sailed upon the deep.

  About eight o'clock in the evening, the time which mariners calleight-bells, I was standing beside the captain on the main deck, and hewas pointing out a cluster of houses on the shore which he told me wasthe fishing village of Margate, when we were aware of a commotion inthe fore-part of the vessel. I distinguished the rough voice of Mr.Lummis, shouting abuse with many oaths that were new and shocking to myears. Presently the first mate comes up, hauling by the neck a boy ofsome fifteen years, a short and sturdy fellow in dirty and raggedgarments, and with the grimiest face I ever did see. Up comes Mr.Lummis, I say, lugging this boy along, cuffing him about the head, andstill rating him with the utmost vehemence. He hauls him in front ofthe captain, and, shaking him as a terrier shakes a rat, says, "Here'sa young devil, sir, a ---- stowaway. Found him on the strakes in thebilge, sir, the ---- little swipe."

  The captain looked at the boy, who stood with his shoulders hunched todefend his head from the mate's blows, and then bidding Mr. Lummisloose him, he asked him in a mild voice what he did aboard the vessel.The boy rubbed his hand across his eyes, thereby spreading a blacksmudge, and then answered in a tearful mumble that he didn't know.

  "What's your name?" says the captain.

  "Bobbin, sir," says the boy.

  "Bobbin what?" says the captain.

  "William, sir," says the boy.

  "Bobbin William?" says the captain.

  "William Bobbin," says the boy.

  The captain looked sternly on William Bobbin for the space of a minuteor two, but I do not remember that he said anything more to him at thattime. Mr. Lummis lugged him away and set him to some task, the captaintelling me that he would either put him ashore at some port in theChannel or keep him if he gave promise of making himself useful. I mayas well say here that Billy Bobbin, as we called him, was not sentashore when contrary winds made us put in at Plymouth. It had come outthat his father was a blacksmith, of Limehouse, and the boy had runaway from the cruelties of his stepmother, and being strong of hisarms, and with some skill in smith's work, he proved a handy fellow. Ioften wondered whether his stepmother used him any worse than he wasused aboard our vessel. The crew, as I was not long in finding out,were a rough set of men, and seemed to look on Billy, being a stowaway,as fair game. He was a good deal knocked about among them, and theofficers, so far as I could see, did nothing to defend him from theirill-usage. When I spoke of it to the captain, he only said that wasthe way at sea; and, indeed, Mr. Lummis himself was very free incuffing any of the seamen who displeased him, and once I saw him fell aman to the deck with a marlin-spike, so that it was not to be wonderedat, when the men were thus treated, that they should deal in likemanner with the boy. I did speak of it once to Wabberley, thinking hemight perhaps put in a word for Billy, and he promised to speak toChick, who would do anything to oblige; but I never observed thatanything came of it.

  We had fair weather for a week or more, with light breezes, and I wasnot the least incommoded by the motion of the vessel, whereby I beganto think that I should escape the sea-sickness of which I had heardsome speak. But when we had passed the Lizard the wind freshened, andthe ship rolled so heavily that I turned very sick, and lay for severaldays in my bunk a prey to the most horrible sufferings I ever endured,so that I wished I was dead, and did nothing but groan. During thistime I was left much to myself, the captain coming now and then to seeme, and ordering Clums the cook to give me a little biscuit soaked inrum. However, the sickness passed, and when I went on deck again thecaptain told me that I had now found my sea-legs and should suffer nomore, a prediction which to my great thankfulness came true.

  We proceeded without any remarkable incident until the 14th ofSeptember, when we came to an anchor in Madeira road. The captain senta party of men on shore to replenish our water-casks, Mr. Lummis goingwith them carrying three pistols stuck in his belt. I supposed that hewent thus armed for fear of some opposition from the natives of thatisland, but the captain told me 'twas only to prevent the men fromdeserting, it being not uncommon for such incidents to happen. Wesailed again on the 17th, and for two months never saw land, until the6th of November, when we anchored off Cape Virgin Mary in the countrynamed Patagonia. There we perceived a great number of people on theshore, who ran up and down both on foot and on horseback, hallooing tous as if inviting us to land. This the captain was resolved not to do,somewhat to my disappointment, for I should have liked to see theIndians more nearly, especially as I had heard many things about themfrom Wabberley when he related his voyages to my uncle. I had tocontent myself with gazing at them through the captain's perspectiveglass, and observed that all were tall and swarthy, and had a circle ofwhite painted round one eye, and a black ring about the other, the restof the face being streaked with divers colours, and their bodies almostnaked. One man, who seemed to be a chief, was of a gigantic stature,and painted so as to make the most hideous appearance I ever beheld,with the skin of some wild beast thrown over his shoulders.

  The captain questioned whether we should proceed through the Straits ofMagellan or attempt to double Cape Horn. He decided for the lattercourse, and having heard somewhat of the violent storms that were to beencountered in that latitude, I was not a little apprehensive of oursafety. However, having taken in water at a retired part of the coast,we doubled the Cape after a voyage of rather more than two months,having sustained no damage, and the _Lovey Susan_ sailed into the SouthSea. Here the calm weather which had favoured us broke up, and forseveral weeks we had strong gales and heavy seas, so that we werefrequently brought under our courses, and there was not a dry place inthe ship for weeks together. Our upper works being open, and ourclothes and beds continually wet, as well from the heavy mists andrains as from the washing of the seas, many of the crew sickened withfever, and the captain kept his bed for several days. On the firstfair day our clothes were spread on the rigging to dry, and the sickwere taken on deck and dosed with salop, which, with portable soupboiled in their pease and oatmeal, and as much vinegar and mustard asthey could use, brought them in a fair way to recovery.

  We proceeded on our voyage, the weather being variable, and I observedthat many strange birds came about the ship on squally days, which thecaptain took for a sign that land was not far off. He was anxious nowto make land, for the men began to fall with the scurvy, and even thosewho were not seized by that plague looked pale and sickly. We weregreatly rejoiced one day when the man at the masthead called out thathe saw land in the N.N.W., and within a little we sighted an island,which approaching, we brought to, and the captain sent Mr. Lummis witha boat fully manned and armed to the shore. After some hours the boatreturned, bearing a number of cocoa-nuts and a great quantity ofscurvy-grass, which proved an inestimable comfort to our sick. Mr.Lummis reported that he had seen none of the inhabitants, who had allfled away, it was plain, at the sight of our vessel. It being evening,we stood off all night, and in the morning the captain sent two boatsto find a place where the ship might come to an anchor. But this wasfound to be impossible, by reason of the reef surrounding the island.The captain marked it down on his chart, and called it Brent Islandafter my uncle; but I learnt many years afterward that it had alreadybeen named Whitsun Island by Captain Wallis, having discovered it onWhitsun Eve. We sailed away, hoping for better fortune. There wasnone of us but longed to stretch our legs on the solid earth again, andI think maybe it had been better for us if the captain had permittedthe men to stay for a while at Cape Virgin Mary or some other spot onthe coast of Patagonia, for the being cooped up for
so many monthswithin the compass of a vessel of no great size must needs be trying tothe spirits even of men accustomed to it.

  However, within a few days of our leaving Brent Island we made another,that afforded a safe anchorage. Here we went ashore by turns, and thenative people being very friendly, we stayed for upwards of a fortnightamong them. It was an inestimable blessing, after living so long onship's fare--salt junk and pease and hard sea-biscuit (much of itrotten and defiled by weevils)--to please our appetites with fresh meatand fruits, and these the natives very willingly provided in exchangefor knives and beads and looking-glasses and other such trifles. Itwas now I tasted for the first time many vegetable things of which Ihad known nothing save from the reports of Wabberley and Chick and thebooks I had heard my uncle read--yams (a great fibrous tuber thatsavoured of potatoes sweetened), bananas (a fruit shaped like a sausageand tasting like a pear, though not so sweet), and bread-fruit, amarvellous fruit that grows on a tree about the size of a middling oak,and is the nearest in flavour to good wheaten bread that ever I ate.As for flesh meat and poultry, we had that in plenty, the island beingperfectly overrun with pigs (rather boars than our English swine) andfowls no different from our own, except that they were more active onthe wing. In this place, I say, we stayed for a fortnight or more, andwere marvellously invigorated by the change of food, so that our menrecovered the ruddy look of health, and the scurvy wholly left us.

  During this time the captain and I lodged in a hut obligingly lent usby the chief of the island. We talked frequently of the main purposeof our adventure, the discovery of a southern continent, the captainintending, when we left the island, to sail southwards by west, intolatitudes to which his charts gave him very little guide. After we hadspent some time in diligent search, whether we made the discovery ornot, he proposed sailing north again, and visiting Otaheite and otherislands whereon Captain Cook had landed, for another part of my uncle'spurpose, though lesser, was to find what opportunities for tradingthere were in these seas. It was the first part that engaged my fancythe most, pleasing myself with the thought of my uncle's pride if weshould succeed where so many navigators before us had failed.

  When we left the island and sailed away, I remarked that the crew werevery loath to quit this land of ease and plenty. Indeed, when wemustered the crew before embarking, we found that Wabberley and Hoggettthe sailmaker were amissing, and the captain in a great rage sent Mr.Lummis with a party to find them. Chick offered to lead another party,so as to scour the whole island (which was only a few miles across)more expeditiously; but this the captain would not permit, for whatreason I knew not then, though I afterwards had cause to suspect it.Half-a-day was wasted before the truants were brought back, and thoughthey pretended that they had lost their way in the woods that coveredthe centre of the island, they looked so glum when they came that Iconceived a notion that Wabberley, a lazy fellow at all times, wouldnot have been much put about if we had sailed without him. It cameinto my head that in the play of _The Tempest_, when the sailors arecast upon an island, one of them proposes to make himself its king andthe other his minister, and I was amused to think how Wabberley andHoggett would have disputed about the allotment of those dignities,even as Stephano and Trinculo.

  We took on board a good store of the fruits of the island, and sailedfor many days without dropping our anchor, though we passed severalislands both large and small. Then on a sudden the wind failed us, oursails hung idle, and for many days we lay becalmed, the vessel being soclose wrapt about by mist that we could not see beyond a fathom line.This had a bad effect on the temper of the men, who, being perforceidle, had the more time for quarrelling, which is ever apt to breakout, even among good folk, when there is little to do. Some lay in akind of sullen stupor about the deck; others cast the dice and wrangledwith oaths and much foul talk; and when they tired even of this, theytook a cruel delight in tormenting poor Billy Bobbin in many ingeniousways. So long did the calm endure that our store of fresh provisiongave out, and the men were put on short allowance, at which, althoughthe need of it was plain, they murmured as much as they dared. Havingalways in mind my uncle's counsel to deal kindly with them, I had beentreated hitherto with respect; but I now observed that some of themlooked askance at me as I went about the ship, and once or twice afterI had passed I heard a muttering behind me, and then a burst of coarselaughter. To make matters worse, the captain again fell sick of a kindof calenture, and took to his bed. For all he was a quiet man, heexercised a considerable authority over the crew, much greater than Mr.Lummis, though the first mate was rougher, and sparing neither of oathsnor of blows. With the captain always in his cabin the men became themore unruly, and I longed very fervently for a breeze to spring up, sothat the need for work might effect a betterment in their tempers.

  One day when I was in the fore part of the ship, I heard a great hubbubin the forecastle, and looking down through the scuttle, I saw a bigruffian of a fellow--it was that same Hoggett whom I have mentionedbefore--I saw him, I say, very brutally thrashing Billy Bobbin, dealinghim such savage blows on the bare back with a rope-end that his fleshstood up in great livid weals, the rest of the men laughing andjeering. The boy was so willing and good-tempered that I knew therecould be no just cause for such heavy punishment, and he was withal ofa brave spirit, bearing the stripes with little outcry until one strokeof especial fierceness caused him to shriek with the pain. I had aliking for Billy, and when I saw him thus ill-used I could no longercontain myself, but springing down through the scuttle, I seizedHoggett's arm and so prevented the rope from falling. Hoggett held theboy with his left hand, but when I caught him and commanded him tocease, he loosed Billy and turned upon me, dealing me a blow with therope before I was aware of it, and demanding with a string of oathswhat I meant by interfering, and crying that I had no business in theforecastle. At this I got into a fury, and without thinking of theodds against me I smote him in the face with my fist, an exceedinglyfoolish thing to do with a man of his size. In a moment I laystretched on the deck, with the fellow above me, belabouring me withhis great fist so that I was like to be battered to a jelly, and Idoubt not would have been but that Mr. Lummis chanced to come by.Seeing what was afoot he sprang down after me and immediately felledHoggett with a hand-spike. I was very much bruised, and felt sore fora week after, and withal greatly distressed in mind, for none of themen, not even Wabberley, who was among them, had offered to help me,and I could not but look on this as a very clear proof that a dangerousspirit was growing up among the crew. True, I was not an officer ofthe ship, and was not in my rights in giving orders, as Hoggett saidwhen Mr. Lummis sentenced him to the loss of half his rum for the week.But being nephew of the owner of the vessel, I considered, and justly,that my position was as good as an officer's; and as for my strikingthe man, Mr. Lummis did as much every day.

  It was on the day after this that Billy Bobbin came to me with a talethat disturbed me mightily. He had been for some time uneasy in hismind, he said, but owned that he would still have kept silence but formy intervention in his behalf. He sought me after sunset (in thoselatitudes it falls dark about seven o'clock), when the men were attheir supper, and he might talk to me unobserved. He said that the menhad been grumbling ever since we left the island where we had stayed.They had a hearty dislike to the purpose of our expedition, and a greatscorn as well, deeming the search for a southern continent to be merelya fool's quest. I own it caused me vast surprise to learn thatWabberley was the most scornful of them all, saying that, having beenwith Captain Cook on his first voyage, he knew there was no suchcontinent, or the captain would have found it, and telling the othersdreadful particulars of the tribulations they suffered: how some ofthem spent a night of terror and freezing cold (though 'twas midsummer)on a hillside of Tierra del Fuego, and how, out of a company of eighty,the half died of fever or scurvy. And in contrast to these ills hetold us of the lovely island of Savu, and of Otaheite, where there waseverything that man could wish for--a genial climate
, the earthyielding its fruits without labour, or at least with the little labourthat a man might demand of his wives (for he could have as many wivesas he listed); in a word, a paradise where men might live at their easeand never do a hand's turn more. Furthermore, Billy told me (and thiswas the most serious part) that he had overheard the men talking, anight or two before, of deserting in a body when we next went ashore(provided the island was one of the fruitful sort, for there were somebarren), and leave the officers to navigate the vessel as best theymight. Great as my surprise had been to hear that Wabberley was one ofthe moving spirits of this conspiracy, still greater was it when Billytold me that this purpose of deserting was mooted by Joshua Chick theboatswain. I had never been drawn to that obliging person; nay, hisvery obligingness had annoyed me, just as sometimes I am nowadaysannoyed by a person over-officious in handing cups of tea; and when Icame to put two and two together, I could not doubt that this schemehad been in the man's mind from the first. In short, he and Wabberleyhad taken advantage of my uncle's hobby to beguile him upon settingthis expedition on foot, for no other reason than to find a means ofreturning to these southern islands, where they might live in sloth andluxurious ease.

  Bidding Billy to be silent on what he had told me, I went to thecaptain, who, as I have said, was ill in his bunk, and acquainted himwith this pretty plot that was a-hatching. He was in a mighty taking,I warrant you, and swore that he would hang the mutineers at theyard-arm, at the same time handing me a sixpence to give to BillyBobbin for his fidelity. He called Mr. Lummis and Mr. Bodger intocouncil, and could hardly prevail on the former not to fling theringleaders into irons at once. Mr. Bodger, whom I had always regardedas a man of mild disposition, suggested that they should be put ashoreamong cannibals, and so be disposed of in the cook-pot (the natives,for the most part, boiling their meat), which led Mr. Lummis todeclare, with a volley of oaths, that if the calm lasted much longerthey would want food aboard the vessel, and Wabberley would cut upwell. I own such talk as this seemed to me very ill-suited to theoccasion, though when it came to the point the officers were not barrenof practicable schemes for dealing with the mutineers, as will be seenhereafter.