A small quantity at a time, observed I, will always be best; for the juice, though so like to Champaign in flavour, and which would perhaps affect our heads as soon if we were to use it freely, would by to-morrow, like the cocoa-milk, be quite sour: as there are abundance of the trees, we can, as you say, procure the liquor at pleasure, only taking care to be moderate; for it is affirmed by writers on natural history, that if the cabbage at the top is cut off, the tree dies, and we should therefore in time destroy the species. There are other sorts of palm-trees besides those we have noticed; one in particular, which yields a kind of oil which burns whatever it is applied to; we shall perhaps meet with it. In the mean time, let us render thanks to Providence for the benefits he has bestowed.
It was now past noon; and as we had determined to pass the night in this enchanting spot, we began to think of forming some large branches of trees into a sort of hut, as is practised by the hunters in America, to shelter us from the dew and the coolness of the air, for we had dismissed our fears of the approach of wild-beasts, not having in so long a time been visited by any. I accordingly set to work; I had brought a piece of sail-cloth with me from Falcon’s Stream, and I drove some stakes into the ground, and covered them with it, filling the opening in the front with some branches I had cut for the purpose. While we were engaged in our work, which was nearly completed, we were suddenly roused by the loud braying of the ass, which we had left to graze at a distance but a short time before. As we approached nearer to the place, we saw him throwing his head in the air, and kicking and prancing about in a most extraordinary manner; and while we were thinking what could be the matter, he set off on a full gallop, leaving us in a state of astonishment at all we saw. Unfortunately, Turk and Porto, whom we sent after him, took the fancy of entering the plantation of the sugar-canes, while the ass had preferred the direction of the bamboos on the right. We began to fear the approach of some wild beast might have frightened the creature, and to think of assembling our fire-arms. In a little time the dogs returned, and showed no signs, by scenting the ground or otherwise, of any pursuit. I made a turn round the hut to see that all was well, and then sallied forth with Fritz and the two dogs in the direction the ass had taken, hoping the latter might be enabled to trace him by the scent; but the familiar creatures could not be made to understand our meaning; they lived habitually with the ass, and had no notion of the new reason for following him; so that they did no more than run from place to place for their amusement; and as night was coming on, I prudently gave up the pursuit and returned to my companions.
Fatigued, and vexed with the loss of the ass, which was so eminently useful to us, I entered the hut, which I found complete and provided with the necessary branches strewed on the ground for sleeping, and with some reeds for making a fire, which the freshness of the evening air rendered agreeable to all: it served us also for cooking our supper; and after it had been partaken by us all, we were glad to lie down upon the branches and enjoy the blessing of sleep. When all was safe, I watched and replenished the fire till midnight, rather from habit than the fear of wild beasts, and then took possession of the little corner assigned me near my slumbering companions.
CHAPTER XXVI.
A new country discovered.—The troop of buffalos; a precious acquisition.
The following morning found us all in good health, and thankful for the Divine protection we had enjoyed. We breakfasted on some milk from the cow, some boiled potatoes, and a small portion of Dutch cheese, and formed during our meal the plan of the business for the day: we had in vain hoped that night and our bright fire would bring back the fugitive; we had therefore no resource but to depend upon our own exertions for recovering him. It was accordingly decided that one of the boys and myself, attended by the two dogs, should seek him in every direction through the bamboo plantation; and if we should not succeed in finding him, I was to return to the hut, where I knew my wife and the other boys would have been employed in cutting sugar-canes and collecting a provision of the different articles we had met with, preparatory to our return the following day to Falcon’s Stream. As I was to take both the dogs, it seemed but reasonable that I should leave the two eldest boys to protect little Francis and his mother, and to take for my own escort the agile Jack, who was almost beside himself with joy at this determination.
We took then our hatchets, our fire-arms, a little saw for the cocoa-nuts we might happen to find, and began our course with the first dawn of the morning. We soon reached the bamboo plantation, which we entered, preceded by the dogs, and found means, though not without difficulty, to force ourselves along its intricate entanglements. After the most exhausting fatigue, and when we were on the point of relinquishing all further hope, we discovered the print of the ass’s hoofs on the soil, which inspired us with new ardour in the pursuit. After spending a whole hour in further endeavours, we at length, on reaching the skirts of the plantation, perceived the sea in the distance, and soon after found ourselves in an open space which bounded the great bay. A considerable river flowed into the bay at this place, and we perceived that the ridge of rocks which we had invariably observed to the right, extended to the shore, terminating in a perpendicular precipice, leaving only a narrow passage between the rocks and the river, which during every flux of the tide must necessarily be under water, but which at that moment was dry and passable. The probability that the ass would prefer passing by this narrow way, to the hazard of the water, determined us to follow in the same path: we had also some curiosity to ascertain what might be found on the other side of the rocks, for as yet we were ignorant whether they formed a boundary to our island, or divided it into two portions; whether we should see there, land, or water. We continued to advance, and at length reached a stream which issued foaming from a large mass of rock and fell in a cascade into the river; the bed of this stream was so deep, and its course so rapid, that we were a long time finding a part where it might be most practicable for us to cross. When we had got to the other side, we found the soil again sandy and mixed with a fertile kind of earth: in this place we no longer saw naked rock; and here we again discovered the print of the ass’s hoofs.
By observing with attention, we beheld with astonishment that there were the prints of the feet of other animals also, that they were somewhat different from those of the ass, and much larger. Our curiosity was so strongly excited by this appearance, that we resolved to follow the traces; and they conducted us to a plain at a great distance, which presented to our wondering eyes the exhilarating image of a terrestrial paradise. We ascended a hill which partly concealed from our view this delicious scene, and then with the assistance of the glass we looked down upon a range of country exhibiting every rural beauty that the mind could conceive, and where a profound tranquillity had seemed to take up its abode. To our right appeared the majestic wall of rocks which divided the island, some of which appeared to touch the heavens, others seemed to imprint the clouds with wild fantastic forms, while mists broken into pieces partially concealed their tops. To the left, a chain of gently rising hills, the long green verdure of which was tinged with blue, stretched as far as the eye could discern, and were interspersed at agreeable distances with little woods of palm-trees of every kind. The river we had crossed flowed in a serpentine course through this exquisite valley, presenting the idea of a broad floating silver ribbon, while its banks were adorned with reeds and various aquatic plants. I could with difficulty take my eyes from this enchanting spectacle, and I seated myself on the ground to contemplate and enjoy it at my leisure. Neither the plain nor on the hills was there the smallest trace of the abode of man, or of any kind of cultivation; it was every where a virgin soil in all its original purity; nothing endowed with life appeared to view, excepting a few birds which flew fearlessly around us, and a quantity of brilliantly coloured butterflies, which the eye frequently confounded with the different sorts of unknown flowers, which here and there diversified the surface of the soil.
By straining our eyes, however, as far as we could see, we thought we perceived at a great distance some specks upon the land, that seemed to be in motion. We hastened towards the spot; and as we drew nearer, to our inexpressible surprise discovered a group of animals, which in the assemblage presented something like the outline of a troop of horses or of cows; I observed them sometimes run up to each other, and then suddenly stoop to graze. Though we had not lately met with further traces of the ass, I was not entirely without hope of finding him among this group of animals. We accordingly drew near by a path we found in a plantation of reeds, that we might not give notice of our approach, being ignorant of the kind of animal we were about to meet. We had not gone far when the soil became so marshy, and the reeds entangled to such a degree, that we were obliged to get out of the plantation and wind along on the outside. We were soon near the animals, which we perceived consisted of rather a numerous troop of wild buffalos[14]. This animal is formed at first sight to inspire the beholder with terror; it is endowed with an extraordinary degree of strength, and two or three of them were capable of destroying us in a moment, should they feel the desire of attacking us. My alarm was so great, that I remained for a few moments fixed to the spot like a statue. By good luck the dogs were far behind us, and the buffalos having never beheld the face of man, gave no sign of fear or of displeasure at our approach; they stood perfectly still, with their large round eyes fixed upon us in astonishment; those which were lying down got up slowly, but not one among them seemed to have any hostile disposition towards us. The circumstance of the dogs’ absence was most likely, on this occasion, the means of our safety, for on the least demonstration from these, no doubt the fierce animals would instantly have fallen upon us. As it was, we had time to draw back quietly and prepare our fire-arms. It was not, however, my intention to make use of them in any way but for defence, being sensible that we were not strong enough for the encounter, and recollecting also to have read that the sound of a gun drives the buffalo to a state of desperation. I therefore thought only of retreating; and with my poor Jack, for whom I was more alarmed than for myself, was proceeding in this way, when unfortunately Turk and Ponto ran up to us, and we could see were noticed by the buffalos. The animals instantly, and altogether, set up such a roar, as to make our nerves tremble with the shock of so terrible a noise; they struck their horns and their hoofs upon the ground, which they tore up by pieces and scattered in the air. I with horror foresaw the moment when confounding us with the dogs, which no doubt they mistook for jackals, they would seize upon and tear us to pieces. Our brave Turk and Ponto, fearless of danger, ran among the troop in spite of all our efforts to detain them, and according to their manner of attacking, laid hold of the ears of a young buffalo which happened to be standing a few paces nearer to us than the rest; and though the creature began a tremendous roar and motion with his hoofs, they held him fast, and were dragging him towards us. Thus hostilities had commenced; and unless we could resolve to abandon the cause of our valiant defenders, we were now forced upon the measure of open war, which, considering the strength and number of the enemy, wore a face of the most pressing and inevitable danger. Our every hope seemed now to be in the chance of the terror the buffalos would feel at the noise of our musketry, which for the first time would assail their organs, and perhaps excite them to flight. With, I must confess, a palpitating heart and trembling hands, we fired both at the same moment: the buffalos, terrified by the sound and by the smoke, remained for an instant motionless, as if struck by a thunderbolt, and then one and all betook themselves to flight with such incredible rapidity that they were soon beyond the reach of our sight. We heard their loud roaring from a considerable distance, which by degrees subsided into silence, and we were left with only one of their terrific species near us; this one, a female, was no doubt the mother of the young buffalo which the dogs had seized and still kept a prisoner; she had drawn near on hearing its cries, and had been wounded by our guns, but not killed; the creature was in a furious state: after a moment’s pause, she took aim at the dogs, and with her head on the ground, as if to guide her by the scent, was advancing in her rage, and would have torn them to pieces, if I had not prevented her by firing upon her with my double-barrelled gun, and thus putting an end to her existence.
It was only now that we began to breathe. A few moments before, death, in the most horrible and inevitable form, seemed to stare us in the face! But now we might hope that every danger was over! I was enchanted with the behaviour of my boy, who, instead of giving way to fears and lamentations, as other lads of his age would probably have done, had stood all the time in a firm posture by my side, and had fired with a steady aim in silence. I bestowed freely on him the commendation he had so well deserved, and made him sensible how necessary it is in times of danger to preserve a presence of mind, which in many cases is of itself sufficient to effect the sought-for deliverance. But I had not time for a long discourse. The young buffalo still remained a prisoner with his ears in the mouths of the dogs, and the pain occasioned him to be so furious that I was fearful he might do them some injury.
I therefore determined to advance and give them what assistance I might find practicable. To say the truth, I scarcely knew in what way to effect this. The buffalo, though young, was strong enough to revenge himself, if I were to give the dogs a sign to let go his ears. I had the power of killing him with a pistol at a stroke; but I had a great desire to preserve him alive, and to tame him, that he might be a substitute for the ass, which we now had no hope of recovering.