CHAPTER IX.
I barricade myself in.—I am besieged.—The verandah becomes a fort.—What I discover at the end of a forgotten room.—Lord Campbell’s journal.—What this journal says.—The Malay pirates and the Sultan of Sooloo.—Three hundred junks.—A formidable hunt.—Death of a mysterious and colossal mandrill.—Explanation of the white skeleton.—Torture of a man compelled to drink nothing but excellent old wine.—A poignard stuck in the sand.—The last fête at the station.—How it terminates.—End of an unfinished journal.
I have already remarked that the destruction, which was in other respects general, had not extended to the range of apartments which opened to the cool air of the verandah, and the vast kitchens where I had discovered such a large stock of provisions. As soon as I found myself alone I hastened to shut the three doors of the arcades of the reception-room, and I moreover barricaded them securely. This was a good thing done. In less than ten minutes after the miraculous departure of these cruel wretches I was securely fortified against all their attacks. Firearms, and perhaps cannon even, were necessary to dislodge me. And I had plenty of provisions!
I passed the rest of the night as tranquilly as I was accustomed to do in my house at Macao—so tranquilly, in fact, that I believe I must have slept several days.
At the end of this indeterminable time, during which I was absorbed, as it were, by a sleep of lead, my first thought on awaking in a calmer frame of mind than I had known for some time past was to make myself perfectly conversant with my situation. I had no difficulty in coming to the conclusion that so long as I was destined to remain on this island I should be exposed to a perpetual vengeance worse than death at the hands of my tormentors. At present I believed myself to be perfectly secure, but if I dared to venture forth I should, of course, become the object of renewed attacks.
Occupied with these thoughts, I proceeded to examine the retreat in which I had intrenched myself, to see whether I had left any point of attack accessible to my crafty foes. First of all I assured myself that the three doors of the saloon and the door of the kitchen would resist their united malice. They were of heart of oak and teak, the hardest of all woods; and the locks, admirable examples of English manufacture, added much to the security of my defence. The lower portion of the fortress might, therefore, be considered impregnable.
But these doors once closed, light penetrated to the ground-floor only by a little Moorish bell-tower belonging to the upper story. It was necessary, therefore, for me, as I dared not open the doors, to pass my days in the second story; at night I could descend, if I pleased, to the lower rooms.
Not having the slightest idea of the arrangement of this upper story, I proceeded there at once; a spiral staircase, constructed in the thickness of the wall, led to it. Once arrived there, I could see that the apartments composing it had been kept in remarkable order by the former occupiers. One was unquestionably Vice-Admiral Campbell’s study. The walls were hidden behind a row of boxes which assuredly contained papers of great importance. I thought as much simply because I had no knowledge whatever of the matter.
Before proceeding any farther in my researches I approached the windows of the bell-tower, which were filled with transparent horn from China, through which one can see without being seen. I at once directed my eyes to the courtyard of the verandah. The reader will understand this was overlooked by the Moorish belfry, from which I moreover had a view of the woods and garden plots outside the courtyard. But what did I see on glancing around? Why, my indefatigable enemies all posted on guard from one point to another, on all the heights, on the branches of the trees, on every knoll of ground, watching to see whether I would venture to leave my retreat, or even if I would show myself at some opening where, on signalling me, they could commence their attack in a regular manner.
All were armed with bamboos and sticks of an enormous size. It was a silent siege of an enemy, invisible behind his lines of defence. To climb up to that story, the loftiness of which defied their malice, was to them a real impossibility, and it was none the less an impossibility for them to burst open the barricaded doors, which were placed between their rage and me.
Thus reassured on all sides, I proceeded to resume my investigations of the Vice-Admiral Campbell’s apartments.
I was delighted to find in the remotest room—that in which I commenced my inspection—a small collection of books on travels, consisting of the most esteemed works on Japan, Tartary, China, New Guinea, New South Wales, and the islands of Oceania, from Marco Polo to Dumont d’Urville. Most of these useful works had the admiral’s crest and initials on the corner. I felt certain that they had been removed from the library of the frigate Halcyon, and had evidently been placed temporarily in this room that the officers might have recourse to them during their sojourn on land. It is scarcely possible to imagine what an inestimable treasure these books were to me. I was seized with a most impatient desire to consult these works. Perhaps by reading them and consulting the valuable maps which they contained I might learn on what island I had been thrown by my shipwreck. I had already placed my hand on the travels of the celebrated Spanish navigator who gave his glorious name to the group of islands called Mindanao, which are mostly peopled by Malay pirates, even to the present day, when my attention was diverted by a volume lying on the study table. I opened it and found it was a manuscript. A sense of discretion warned me to close it, but having read in large letters on the first page, “Personal and private journal of Vice-Admiral Campbell, commanding the English forces in Oceania,” I opened it anew with an irresistible curiosity, and I may add with a very good reason, since I foresaw all the information I was going to derive from it.
“Having left Macao towards the end of the month of July, 1849,” observed the admiral in the opening lines of his journal, “I established my station during the following six months—that is to say, till the month of January, 1850—at times among the Luzon islands and at others among the group of Philippines, taking care, however, not to neglect some precautionary visits to the archipelago of Sooloo, that seemingly imperishable nest of pirates.
“The purely nautical events which have taken place during these six months of my cruise among the different islets having been noted day by day and nearly hour by hour in the ship’s log-book, I propose to insert in this private journal a few notes which it is my intention to transmit to the Admiralty on the first opportunity that offers.
“The notes to which I refer are as follows,” was the next line in the journal which I had under my eyes.
My attention increased—I continued to read without missing a single letter.
“It is demonstrated to me as clear as a geometrical theorem that at this moment the naval forces of England, Holland, and Spain assembled in Oceania are insufficient, each for a different reason, to resist the ever-increasing audacity of the pirates spread over the seas of this part of the world.
“The Spanish forces are a derision, and they would really be exterminated in a few months by the pirates but for the assistance which they never cease to ask from those of England.
“The naval forces of Holland, which are in truth much more considerable, scarcely ever leave the shores of Sumatra, Java, and some points of Borneo, under the pretext, plausible enough but not on that account the less selfish, that their duty above all things is to watch the safety of their own colonies.
“There remain our English naval forces.
“As we also are under the necessity of displaying great vigilance with respect to our own colonies, and as we have, moreover, as I have already mentioned, to render constant assistance to the secondary maritime powers, such as Holland, Spain, and Portugal, it becomes more and more evident that we contend but indifferently at present against the depredations, pillagings, and descents, incendiary fires and barbarous murders, of which the incorrigible Malay pirates are constantly guilty.
“On the other hand, the power of these unconquerable corsairs increasing from year to year, their flotillas have become fleets; their barques, prahs, and junks are now almost frigates; their sailors have never ceased to be the most energetic on the face of the earth.
“In view of this state of things I conceive it is of the utmost importance that the number of our war-vessels in these unceasingly-threatened seas should be largely increased, or we shall very shortly be placed in a position of serious peril.
“It is my duty to warn the Admiralty of all these things, which concern in the highest degree the security of the various fine colonies which England possesses in Australia and Oceania in general.
“Whilst awaiting the reinforcements which the Admiralty will, without doubt, consider it necessary to send me, I have thought the best course for me to follow was to establish myself in the very centre of the Malayan piracy, in order to watch its progress and to study its resources, that I may be enabled to annihilate it by some sure blow when I should have at my command the means of action, which are at present wanting.
“I have chosen for my post of observation an island situated among the hundred and fifty or two hundred isles of which the well-known archipelago of Sooloo is composed.”
Sooloo! Surprise and fright made me stop. Sooloo, the nest of sea-sharks, birds of prey hovering unceasingly over the vessels of all nations! I was on an island of the archipelago of Sooloo!
It took me nearly a quarter of an hour to recover from the agitation into which this discovery had thrown me.
And it was under the influence of the henceforth unconquerable idea that I was living in the very midst of this nest of savage bandits that I recommenced the reading of the journal.
“Having referred above,” continued Vice-Admiral Campbell, “to my log-book for the purely nautical circumstances of the first six months of my cruise, I intend to confine myself to such incidents as may arise from the present time up to the day of my leaving this island, where I have now been nearly a fortnight. It is now the 15th of January, 1850.
“After having brought the Halcyon to an anchorage, so well sheltered by the woody shores of the island that it is impossible to perceive the frigate a hundred fathoms from the beach, and having given it in charge to a sufficient number of sailors commanded by one of my best officers, I landed on the island with the larger portion of the crew and immediately took possession of it.
“This island is called by the small number of aborigines that I found upon it Kouparou, which signifies in the Malay tongue the island of sleeping fire or of the dead volcano.
“These aborigines are Tagals, the most ancient inhabitants of Malaya, but they have been driven from every part by the Malays. They are a mild race, devoted to Europeans, and possessing some of the instincts of our advanced civilisation.
“By means of these Tagals, who have the same customs as the Malays, although they do not like one another in the least, and whom I think of sending as spies into all the islands of the archipelago of Sooloo, I should become acquainted with all that was being done and meditated in these arsenals of piracy.
“From six months of such study on the spot more would be learnt than could possibly be acquired during any number of years engaged in sailing in and out the islands of the archipelago.
“I gave orders to have all the portable houses which I had had constructed at Calcutta unshipped and placed in position.
“Ten or fifteen days were occupied in this work, at the expiration of which time we installed ourselves in the houses, which for all the world resembled a village of Sumatra.
“The aborigines seemed very pleased at our arrival, and I have considered the moment a favourable one for the execution of my project. I therefore chose from the Tagals those on whom I thought I could most rely, and sent them in their fishing-boats to the neighbouring isles, in order that on their return they might furnish me with conscientious reports concerning the prospects and projects of piracy.
“This expedition, which required twenty days’ preparation, set sail on the 21st of February. The aborigines whom I have retained are indispensable for the cultivation of the island. From them we look to learn all about its topography and natural resources.
“The soil of Kouparou is evidently very fertile; flowers and fruit are seen in abundance, and the covers positively swarm with game! Save for the apes, with which the island swarms, Kouparou would be a garden in the midst of the ocean. But those apes utterly destroy the charm of the spot. They increase, too, like flies.”
“Hallo!” I exclaimed to myself, “why the vice-admiral has also been in contact with these terrible animals. But how did this happen? If he has been assailed, beaten, and almost murdered like I have been, what, in goodness’ name, did he do?” But let us continue.
“My Tagals returned after a month’s absence, and the information which they brought back with them concerning the contemplated proceedings of the pirates was of the highest importance, and likely to be of very great service to me. All their reports, without exception, announce that a vast expedition of Malay pirates is preparing in the isle of Brassilan, the capital of the archipelago of Sooloo, and where the Sultan of Sooloo himself resided.
“The pirates proposed to leave this port, and the ports of Besvan, Taouitaoui, and Palawan, with a fleet of at least three hundred junks, to cross the straits of Mindanao and Celebes, in order to seize all the English, Dutch, Spanish, or Portuguese merchant ships proceeding to China during the year. The time of their departure is kept so secret that none of my faithful Tagals have been able to discover it for me. But from the knowledge which I possess of the particular winds which are required to allow of their leaving the archipelago of Sooloo to proceed in the course they have planned to the sea-coast of Asia, I think that my pirates will not set sail until the end of June—that is to say, in three months from the present time. At this period the Halcyon will leave her hidden anchorage, and joining with the other vessels on the station, will proceed in search of the pirate fleet which if we are fortunate enough to encounter we will lose no time in measuring our strength with these myriads of bold and unscrupulous robbers. The struggle will be a warm one; but I am aware that I can only count on my own forces. At the period to which I refer the reinforcements which I have asked from England will, in all probability, not have arrived. In this case we must try alone! God, I know, will be with us, and we shall do very well with His aid.
“In the meanwhile my Tagals are about to return to Sooloo, Besvan, and the other points of rendezvous, so as to keep me well informed with reference to the forthcoming great event.
“But here we are installed in Kouparou. My officers and their families are enjoying the best of health in the wooden houses surrounded with palm-trees. My verandah would compare for elegance with those of Madras and Cananor.
“We want for nothing, and our amusements are numerous. The weather is delicious; I have never seen a finer April, even in Australia.
“I am about to set out on a swan-hunt; but I am very much afraid of only bringing back apes instead of swans, as I did on the last occasion. They are everywhere! They are so numerous, in fact, that I am almost certain in firing off a gun at hazard, above my head, to bring down an ape.
“I have never seen them so savage before; those which I brought with me from Macao are perfectly civilised beings compared with the apes which we encounter here.”
“Worthy admiral!” I exclaimed, “he remembers the purchases which he made of me at Macao. What a remembrance! Macao! Macao! Shall I ever see you again?”
Let us continue his interesting journal.
“I have returned from the chase, bringing back with me my baboon Karabouffi. Wishing to amuse this big stupid ape, who is dying of ennui, although he has numbers of his compatriots around him, I let him accompany me on my expedition. A foolish melancholy seems to have taken possession of him, because the beautiful chimpanzee Saïmira, who is passionately attached to her lover Mococo, refuses to receive his attentions.”
“Alas!” said I to myself—“alas! if the vice-admiral could only see Mococo now!”
“I may here note,” continues Admiral Campbell, “that there occurred during this chase an extraordinary incident which is deserving of a place in my journal.
“In the midst of a large wood of pandanus and mimosas, into which I had wandered with Karabouffi, I suddenly saw advancing towards me, stick in hand, which he carried like a sceptre, a gigantic mandrill, black as a Kaffir, and followed by a troop of apes, among which were numerous vervets, who seemed to form a kind of court for him, they were so respectful in their bearing towards him.
“Karabouffi, generally so proud and fearless, trembled with terror on beholding this gigantic mandrill. He had recognised in him a master, and consequently an enemy. He positively shuddered, then he came close up to me, as if to solicit my protection, all the time, however, showing in his eyes, which were lit up with rage, the pleasure he would feel in tearing him to pieces. As I was on the point of taking aim at the colossal mandrill he rushed upon Karabouffi, and the struggle which raged between the two animals was certainly a superb one. It was evident from the courage and ferocity which they both exhibited that they were the representatives of two profoundly antipathetic races. Karabouffi was visibly getting the worst of the encounter, for the mandrill was strong enough to tackle three baboons such as he. So at the risk of being slaughtered if I missed my mark, I profited by the moment when the mandrill retired a few paces to take a spring, and sent a bullet through his head. He fell, uttering the most frightful groans, which had in them something of a man’s plaintive cry. Karabouffi was triumphant. I believed that he would have strangled me in his excess of joy. As to the apes that accompanied the black mandrill, they immediately dispersed, which would not have been the case had they been of a more powerful species. I should assuredly have had to defend myself against their vindictive attacks, but the greater part of them were vervets, the most gentle and inoffensive of the quadrumanous family. Nevertheless, at the moment of their flight, they cast at Karabouffi looks which made him quiver. It would have been hard times for him if he had fallen under their claws. I shall have this monster mandrill skinned, and shall dry his skin and bones in the sun, and offer them to the British Museum.”
“Ah!” said I to myself, “this is the explanation of the skeleton which I found hanging to a tree during the first days of my sojourn in this island. It must have been that of the mandrill killed by Admiral Campbell.” My only regret—and it may well be believed this was sincere—was that he had not killed Karabouffi number one in preference to the mandrill.
“From what I have heard of the habits of these particular animals, coupled with my own observations of them,” continued the admiral in his journal, “I am of the opinion that the mandrill killed by me exercised authority over this island before the Tagals, who do not seem to have occupied it long, arrived here.
“On my return from this expedition, in accordance with my usual habit, I placed my gun in the armoury.”
His gun in the armoury! I rose precipitately from my seat on seeing this, and ran and opened several cupboards. At last I hit upon the right one, which I found contained not only some fine fowling-pieces, but also a large quantity of powder, and bullets of all sizes. Let my persecutors come now! I am ready for them; I have something to receive them with, thought I. In my transport I rushed to the window, so as to defy them face to face. They were still in the same places and in the same attitudes of hostility. Only they were far more numerous.
I did not proceed any further with the reading of the journal that day. I had ample materials for reflection; moreover, I still felt fatigued with the exertions of the preceding evening. After having promised myself to resume my perusal of the journal the first thing the next day, I resolved to go and have my dinner.
My second repast off the preserved meats of the station was one of the best I have ever partaken of. While choosing the things most agreeable to my taste, I had ample opportunity of noting the extent and variety of my stores, and saw that I had plenty to depend on whatever time I might be forced to live in the state of imprisonment in which circumstances had placed me. Hampers upon hampers of wine offered me a choice of the best vintages of Spain, Portugal, and the south of France. Vice-Admiral Campbell was evidently a connoisseur in wine. Perhaps the wines which he was in the habit of drinking were somewhat too alcoholic; still the English, as we all know, are fond of strong wines. I tasted several bottles, too many bottles in fact, since finding my throat parched by the fiery heat of these generous wines, I longed for a draught of water, but could discover none. They would surely have sunk a well, thought I, in the large apartment of which I have already spoken, for the admiral’s use; but I was mistaken—the admiral does not seem to have cared for so insipid a beverage.
I had no alternative, therefore, but to continue to drink, during my dinner, a fluid which was somewhat too heating. My sleep, although my tongue was rather dry, was sound and refreshing. No saddening dream disturbed my rest, and at some early hour in the morning, precisely as I had arranged in the projects of the preceding day, I found myself awake. I immediately mounted the narrow staircase leading to the admiral’s study. The staircase, I ought to have mentioned, was hidden in the wall, and so well hidden, indeed, that it was solely owing to this the barbarous devastators of the other houses of the station had not pillaged and ransacked this room.
Before sitting down to continue my perusal of the journal I betook myself to the bell-tower to see what was going on around the place. The examination was anything but a very reassuring one. Various changes had taken place, and these were among them. Every member of the besieging force had, in addition to his stick, a little heap of stones beside him, which he had piled up with as much care as is bestowed on the cannon-balls in our arsenals. What did they intend to do with these missiles? Stones are very rare things in an island where sand abounds. It is, indeed, a positive event to meet with a stone, except on the sea-shore, or on the banks of some lake, such as had furnished me with a handful when I was endeavouring to knock down some fruit. Time would, no doubt, teach me how my enemies proposed to apply these new engines of war; at present the affair was an enigma—an enigma, moreover, of bad augury.
At length I seated myself, and opening Admiral Campbell’s journal, read the following:—
“My Tagals departed anew ten days ago; I have desired them to endeavour to ascertain more exactly than they have yet been able to do the precise date of the departure of the Malay fleet for the north of Asia, and to discover, so far as they can, the part which the Sultan of Sooloo, himself our doubtful ally, takes in this expedition—whether he encourages it, tolerates it, or is not powerful enough to prevent it.
“While awaiting the return of my Tagals, I occupied myself with studying the geology of Kouparou. The island is evidently of recent formation. The extinct volcano is still working at a moderate depth, since streams of water of a high degree of temperature are constantly upheaving the bed of lava which surrounds its base.
“If I succeed in prevailing on the Admiralty to make a permanent station of Kouparou I shall ask, before all things, that the island may be purged of the intolerable herd of apes, with which it is now infested, by a regular hunt of several months’ duration; in the same way as our ancestors formerly got rid of wolves in England.”
“What an admirable project!” I exclaimed, “and if Admiral Campbell had only had time to put it into execution, I should not be where I am.”
“Here we are at the end of May,” pursued the journal, several dates of which I pass over as of no importance to my story; “nearly two months have elapsed since the second departure of my devoted Tagals, and I have had no news from them. They do not like, I suppose, to return to Kouparou without bringing with them certain information of the time fixed for the departure of the pirate fleet.
“I can only ascribe to a more than ordinarily lively imagination,” observed the vice-admiral, further on, “the remark made this morning by Mr. Dawson, my secretary, to the effect that he thought he saw last night some scattered fires burning on the sea-shore, such as are generally kindled by the fishermen and pirates of these coasts. After all, although Kouparou is very difficult to approach, and of course still more difficult to effect a landing upon, in the midst of the reefs which form a belt round it to a distance of eight leagues, it is not by any means impossible that fishermen, castaways, or even pirates, may have lighted some fires such as Mr. Dawson believed he saw. Should they have done so, they will most likely depart on the morrow, believing the island to be uninhabited, like the greater number of those which form the vast archipelago of Sooloo. All I have to say is, ‘Joy go with them.’
“To-day, Mr. Dawson, after having gone over to that part of the beach where he thought he saw the smoke ascending last evening, has been to tell me that he must have been deceived. He saw no footprints in the sand, nor any remains of burnt wood anywhere near the shore. He admits it must have been an illusion on his part; I felt sure of it.
“To-morrow, the first of June, I have arranged to give a grand fête here, in my cool verandah, to the officers of the Halcyon and their families. It will be an agreeable relief to the monotonous sort of lives we have been leading during the past two months.
“I have this moment had brought to me a long poignard, found by one of our sailors, plunged in the sand on the shore opposite that which Mr. Dawson examined this morning. What can it possibly portend?
“A saw-poignard, and with teeth of the Malay form; in other words, a crees, since this is the name which the brigands of Oceania give to this murderous and nearly always poisonous weapon. Dawson, who is as superstitious as an Irishman can be, indulged in a variety of comments. The sailor who found the crees could give us no additional information respecting it.”
“Yes”—I asked in my turn of the journal which I had beneath my questioning gaze—“yes, what did this poignard portend? Whence did it come? Why had it been stuck by its point in the sand?”
Admiral Campbell did not say another word respecting it, but passed from it to his fête, which was evidently the thing uppermost in his mind at this moment.
“As the weather is magnificently fine,” he went on to say, “I have arranged for us to dine in the verandah court, and we shall in this case remain at table till the time arrives for opening the ball; we shall then proceed to the great gallery, where dancing will commence. I certainly owe to my brave officers and their families such amusements as I am able to furnish them with, to repay them for the fatigues and annoyances they have experienced during the six months which have elapsed since we left Macao, although latterly our discomforts have certainly been fewer than usual. I trust that everything will go off satisfactorily, and that these gentlemen and their excellent helpmates will have cause to thank me to-morrow for the agreeable entertainment I have provided for them.
“But for the inquietude, becoming every day more serious, which the prolonged absence of my good Tagals causes me, I should be perfectly happy in this altogether unknown and nearly desert island. Can some misfortune have overtaken them? What if these Malays have suspected the motive of their visit? But no; my faithful envoys, a little slow, as all primitive people are, will arrive to-morrow, perhaps this evening.”
The page containing the foregoing was complete. I eagerly turned over a new leaf to commence the following one, but there was not another line to be seen, not a trace of writing on the page. The admiral’s journal, which I hoped would extend to another fifty pages at least, suddenly ended there. Eh! not a word respecting the fête! Not a word more on the poignard stuck by its point in the sand! Not a word about the return of the Tagals! Good Heaven, what sudden misfortune could have crushed the pen and the noble hand which held it? But what about the Malay pirates and their fleet? And what about the Halcyon? Nothing! absolutely nothing! A sinister blank followed the last line penned by the worthy vice-admiral. What had happened to the colony of Kouparou, and to the admiral himself, since this last entry in his journal? There was no one to answer me. When there was not silence there was desolation, houses partially destroyed, and their contents turned topsy-turvy; savage and vindictive animals wearing, as though with the raillery of a low vengeance, the habiliments of the gallant officers of a noble vessel belonging to the most powerful nation in the world.
