“Yes; Wright was one of our crew. Don’t you remember him? He was the one shot down when the master of the vessel first attempted to take possession. I may be mistaken, but I think Walters was one of the men allied with the mutineers.”
“Won’t you tell us some of your experiences when the vessel struck the shore?” asked John.
“Wright, who was with us when you left to go to the pantry to get some food, and also Champney, all agreed that you had been washed overboard before the boat struck. When I recovered my senses, I found an indescribable mass of wreckage all about me, and food was the first thing I searched for.
“I found one of the guns, and later on a revolver, but I had no ammunition except that in the weapons. Some few tins of provisions, and a crushed box of biscuits, all soaked with sea water, were all I could recover, and various articles of clothing, which I gathered together.
“As soon as strength began to come back to me I searched the beach in both directions, and found four dead bodies, one being the mutinous master, who was lying near the shore, and all had their pockets drawn out. This was sufficient information to assure me that some had been saved, but the rifling of the pockets of the unfortunates was something I could not understand, and I concluded that it was done by some of the devils who were on our vessel, or it had been the work of people on the island.”
“I recovered from the blow,” said John, “and found myself lying by the side of the master, and found the pockets rifled, as you say, and I regained my senses before you did, as I now see.”
“Yes; I recognized the footprints of several; faint traces only. I then followed the seacoast, in the hope or belief that if the island was inhabited, they would be near the coast. I traveled for miles, and then noting traces of people went inland, and the first tribe I ran across was the Tuolos.
“I debated for hours whether or not to throw myself into their hands. But a sight the third day decided me. A party was taking a captive to the sacrifice. Whether or not he was one of our companions I do not know. The sight so unnerved me that it did not occur to me that it might have been one of them.
“I fled to the south, and struck the forest. There I found numerous wild beasts, and they were really my salvation for months, as I afterwards learned that the savages had never been known to go far into the dense portions. I found a recess or cove among the rocky sides of an elevation, which I converted into a home, and from that place I could see across the intervening country to the large river.
“It gave me a good scouting position, and I saw many tribes and parties pass and repass, some of them many miles off, and witnessed two battles between hostiles, but I do not know what tribes they were. I soon became expert in providing food, as it was all I had to do.