In the Eastern Seas

by William Henry Giles Kingston

The tide had, meantime, been going out, and here and there where the rocks were exposed we caught sight of shell-fish. I, however, knowing even in that climate the danger of sleeping entirely exposed to the night air without a roof over the head, advised my companions at once to set to work and build a hut. We accordingly went back to the sago-palm grove, and cut down as many of the leaves as we could carry. With these we returned to the beach, on the highest part of which, just under the trees, we proposed putting up a temporary hut, till we could get a more permanent building. We soon had an edifice erected, something like a North American Indian wigwam, into which we could all creep and lie conveniently at full length. By this time the tide had gone down, and by crawling along the rocks, Macco was able to capture a number of shell-fish. This he did by cutting them off the rock with the bamboo spear: our only fear was lest they should be poisonous. We asked him what he thought about the matter. “All right,” he answered; “dem good for eat.” He had brought an ample supply for our supper; some were roasted, but others were boiled as we had done the turtle’s eggs. After this, commending ourselves to One whom we knew would watch over us, we lay down in our small hut to sleep.

The sun was just rising out of the horizon when we awoke; the sea was calm and blue, and the sky was beautifully clear. Our first discussion while at breakfast on turtle’s eggs, was the best means of manufacturing the sago. If we could get a tree cut down, there would not be much difficulty; but how to fell it with our clasp-knives was the question.

“Perseverance conquers all difficulties,” observed Oliver. “I remember the story of the mouse letting the lion out of the net by nibbling away at the meshes. We can work away at the stem with our knives, and do a little every day, in the meantime subsisting on the eggs and the shell-fish.”

“Yes, yes,” said Macco; “we choose small tree, enough for us to live on for many days, and we soon have him down.”

Before starting, however, the tide being still low, we collected a further supply of shell-fish. As we were proceeding along the beach, we saw, just rising as it were out of the water, a small ridge. “What can that be?” I said, drawing nearer to it. I saw, as I got close to the water’s edge, that it was a huge bivalve. As far as I could judge, it was alive. I called my companions, and catching hold of it, we dragged it up, though our united strength could with difficulty accomplish our object.

“Take care no put hand inside,” said Macco, “or he bite bery hard!”

I am certain that I am right when I say that it could not have weighed much less than a hundredweight. It would afford us not only one, but several meals probably, if the creature inside bore any proportion to his house. I did not know the name at the time, but I afterwards learned that it must have been a specimen of the Tridacna gigas. I have since heard that the shells themselves, without the mollusc, weigh even more than that; indeed, I afterwards saw some in use of larger size. Having captured our prize, however, we found that there was some chance of our not being able to get at the mollusc inside; for when the difficulty of opening an ordinary oyster-shell is remembered, the force required to get at the inside of so large a shell as this would be no easy task. It was important, however, to get the creature out at once, for if it were exposed to the sun, it would, in all probability, not be fit to eat by the evening. Macco, ever fertile in resource, ran off, and soon returned with a supply of bamboos, which he split up into fine long wedges. He hunted about on every side till he found a small opening; into this he instantly inserted the fine point of a piece of bamboo, and going round the shell, placed another in a similar position. There was no lack of pieces of coral rock lying about which had been broken off by the sea, and thrown up on the beach; these served as hammers. “Now,” he cried out, “strike! strike altogether!” We did so, but Oliver’s instrument and mine made no impression; Macco’s, however, went right in, and seemed to cut some part of the creature; for directly afterwards, by using the wedges as levers, we lifted up one of the valves, and exposed to view a huge mass of blubber-like flesh. Macco seemed highly delighted. “Dat bery good, bery good!” he exclaimed, and soon cut the whole away from the shell, and held it up to let the water run out.

“I should be very hungry before I could eat that,” I observed.

“Ah, Massa Walter,” he answered, “you will be bery hungry if you no eat dis, and many oder curious t’ings. De great t’ing is, if good to eat. If good, no mind looks; better to eat dis dan starve.”

With some powerful blows, he separated the two shells, and now begged us to carry them up to the hut. “Dey hold water,” he observed; “and we soon have all we want to live well.” Having made up the fire, he cut three very long bamboo stakes, with which he made a triangle over it, so high that the flames could not reach the poles to burn them. From the centre he hung down the huge mollusc, so that the smoke might circle round it. “Dere,” he said, “dis now dry, and keep well till we want eat it.”