After vainly searching the cabin for those articles we most needed,we proceeded to explore the hold, into which as yet we had notpenetrated. Here, we found a considerable quantity of pearl shells;cocoanuts; an abundance of fresh water in casks; spare sails andrigging; and some fifty barrels or more of salt beef and biscuit.Unromantic as these last mentioned objects were, I lingered over themlong, and in a revery. Branded upon each barrel head was the name ofa place in America, with which I was very familiar. It is fromAmerica chiefly, that ship's stores are originally procured for thefew vessels sailing out of the Hawaiian Islands.
Having now acquainted myself with all things respecting the Parki,which could in any way be learned, I repaired to the quarter-deck,and summoning round me Samoa, Annatoo, and Jarl, gravely addressedthem.
I said, that nothing would give me greater satisfaction thanforthwith to return to the scene of the massacre, and chastise itssurviving authors. But as there were only four of us in all; and theplace of those islands was wholly unknown to me; and even if known,would be altogether out of our reach, since we possessed noinstruments of navigation; it was quite plain that all thought ofreturning thither was entirely useless. The last mentioned reason,also, prevented our voyaging to the Hawaiian group, where the vesselbelonged; though that would have been the most advisable step,resulting, as it would, if successful, in restoring the ill-fatedcraft to her owners.
But all things considered, it seemed best, I added, cautiously tohold on our way to the westward. It was our easiest course; for wewould ever have the wind from astern; and though we could not so muchas hope to arrive at any one spot previously designated, there wasstill a positive certainty, if we floated long enough, of falling inwith islands whereat to refresh ourselves; and whence, if we thoughtfit, we might afterward embark for more agreeable climes. I thenreminded them of the fact, that so long as we kept the sea, there wasalways some prospect of encountering a friendly sail; in which event,our solicitude would be over.
All this I said in the mild, firm tone of a superior; being anxious,at once to assume the unquestioned supremacy. For, otherwise, Jarland I might better quit the vessel forthwith, than remain on boardsubject to the outlandish caprices of Annatoo, who through Samoawould then have the sway. But I was sure of my Viking; and if Samoaproved docile, had no fear of his dame.
And therefore during my address, I steadfastly eyed him; therebylearning enough to persuade me, that though he deferred to me atpresent, he was, notwithstanding, a man who, without preciselymeditating mischief, could upon occasion act an ugly part. But of hiscourage, and savage honor, such as it was, I had little doubt.Then, wild buffalo that he was, tamed down in the yoke matrimonial, Icould not but fancy, that if upon no other account, our society mustplease him, as rendering less afflictive the tyranny of his spouse.
For a hen-pecked husband, by the way, Samoa was a most terriblefellow to behold. And though, after all, I liked him; it was as youfancy a fiery steed with mane disheveled, as young Alexander fanciedBucephalus; which wild horse, when he patted, he preferred holding bythe bridle. But more of Samoa anon.
Our course determined, and the command of the vessel tacitly yieldedup to myself, the next thing done was to put every thing in order.The tattered sails were replaced by others, dragged up from the sail-room below; in several places, new running-rigging was rove; blocksrestrapped; and the slackened stays and shrouds set taught. For allof which, we were mostly indebted to my Viking's unwearied andskillful marling-spike, which he swayed like a scepter.
The little Parki's toilet being thus thoroughly made for the firsttime since the massacre, we gave her new raiment to the breeze, anddaintily squaring her yards, she gracefully glided away; honest oldJarl at the helm, watchfully guiding her path, like some devoted oldfoster-father.
As I stood by his side like a captain, or walked up and down on thequarter-deck, I felt no little importance upon thus assuming for thefirst time in my life, the command of a vessel at sea. The novelcircumstances of the case only augmented this feeling; the wild andremote seas where we were; the character of my crew, and theconsideration, that to all purposes, I was owner, as well ascommander of the craft I sailed.
CHAPTER XXXHints For A Full Length Of Samoa
My original intention to touch at the Kingsmill Chain, or thecountries adjacent, was greatly strengthened by thus encounteringSamoa; and the more I had to do with my Belisarius, the more I waspleased with him. Nor could I avoid congratulating myself, uponhaving fallen in with a hero, who in various ways, could not fail ofproving exceedingly useful.
Like any man of mark, Samoa best speaks for himself; but we may aswell convey some idea of his person. Though manly enough, nay, anobelisk in stature, the savage was far from being sentimentallyprepossessing. Be not alarmed; but he wore his knife in the lobe ofhis dexter ear, which, by constant elongation almost drooped upon hisshoulder. A mode of sheathing it exceedingly handy, and far lessbrigandish than the Highlander's dagger concealed in his leggins.
But it was the mother of Samoa, who at a still earlier day hadpunctured him through and through in still another direction. Themiddle cartilage of his nose was slightly pendent, peaked, andGothic, and perforated with a hole; in which, like a Newfoundland dogcarrying a cane, Samoa sported a trinket: a well polished nail.
In other respects he was equally a coxcomb. In his style oftattooing, for instance, which seemed rather incomplete; his marksembracing but a vertical half of his person, from crown to sole; theother side being free from the slightest stain. Thus clappedtogether, as it were, he looked like a union of the unmatchedmoieties of two distinct beings; and your fancy was lost inconjecturing, where roamed the absent ones. When he turned round uponyou suddenly, you thought you saw some one else, not him whom you hadbeen regarding before.
But there was one feature in Samoa beyond the reach of theinnovations of art:--his eye; which in civilized man or savage, evershines in the head, just as it shone at birth. Truly, our eyes aremiraculous things. But alas, that in so many instances, these divineorgans should be mere lenses inserted into the socket, as glasses inspectacle rims.
But my Islander had a soul in his eye; looking out upon you there,like somebody in him. What an eye, to be sure! At times, brilliantlychangeful as opal; in anger, glowing like steel at white heat.
Belisarius, be it remembered, had but very recently lost an arm. Butyou would have thought he had been born without it; so Lord Nelson-like and cavalierly did he sport the honorable stump.
But no more of Samoa; only this: that his name had been given him bya sea-captain; to whom it had been suggested by the nativedesignation of the islands to which he belonged; the Saviian orSamoan group, otherwise known as the Navigator Islands. The island ofUpolua, one of that cluster, claiming the special honor of his birth,as Corsica does Napoleon's, we shall occasionally hereafter speak ofSamoa as the Upoluan; by which title he most loved to be called.
It is ever ungallant to pass over a lady. But what shall be said ofAnnatoo? As I live, I can make no pleasing portrait of the dame; foras in most ugly subjects, flattering would but make the matter worse.Furthermore, unalleviated ugliness should ever go unpainted, assomething unnecessary to duplicate. But the only ugliness is that ofthe heart, seen through the face. And though beauty be obvious, theonly loveliness is invisible.
CHAPTER XXXIRovings Alow And Aloft
Every one knows what a fascination there is in wandering up and downin a deserted old tenement in some warm, dreamy country; where thevacant halls seem echoing of silence, and the doors creak open likethe footsteps of strangers; and into every window the old gardentrees thrust their dark boughs, like the arms of night-burglars; andever and anon the nails start from the wainscot; while behind it themice rattle like dice. Up and down in such old specter houses oneloves to wander; and so much the more, if the place be haunted bysome marvelous story.
And during the drowsy stillness of the tropical sea-day, very muchsuch a fancy had I, for prying about our little brigantine, whosetragic h
ull was haunted by the memory of the massacre, of which itstill bore innumerable traces.
And so far as the indulgence of quiet strolling and reverie wasconcerned, it was well nigh the same as if I were all by myself. ForSamoa, for a time, was rather reserved, being occupied with thoughtsof his own. And Annatoo seldom troubled me with her presence. She wastaken up with her calicoes and jewelry; which I had permitted her toretain, to keep her in good humor if possible. And as for My royalold Viking, he was one of those individuals who seldom speak, unlesspersonally addressed.
Besides, all that by day was necessary to navigating the Parki was,that--somebody should stand at the helm; the craft being so small,and the grating, whereon the steersman stood, so elevated,that he commanded a view far beyond the bowsprit; thus keeping Arguseyes on the sea, as he steered us along. In all other respects weleft the brigantine to the guardianship of the gentle winds.
My own turn at the helm--for though commander, I felt constrained todo duty with the rest--came but once in the twenty-four hours. Andnot only did Jarl and Samoa, officiate as helmsmen, but also DameAnnatoo, who had become quite expert at the business. Though Jarlalways maintained that there was a slight drawback upon herusefulness in this vocation. Too much taken up by her lovely imagepartially reflected in the glass of the binnacle before her, Annatoonow and then neglected her duty, and led us some devious dances. Norwas she, I ween, the first woman that ever led men into zigzags.
For the reasons above stated, I had many spare hours to myself. Attimes, I mounted aloft, and lounging in the slings of the topsailyard--one of the many snug nooks in a ship's rigging--I gazed broadoff upon the blue boundless sea, and wondered what they were doing inthat unknown land, toward which we were fated to be borne. Or feelingless meditative, I roved about hither and thither; slipping over, bythe stays, from one mast to the other; climbing up to the truck; orlounging out to the ends of the yards; exploring wherever there was afoothold. It was like climbing about in some mighty old oak, andresting in the crotches.
To a sailor, a ship's ropes are a study. And to me, every rope-yarnof the Parki's was invested with interest. The outlandish fashion ofher shrouds, the collars of her stays, the stirrups, seizings,Flemish-horses, gaskets,--all the wilderness of her rigging, boreunequivocal traces of her origin.
But, perhaps, my pleasantest hours were those which I spent,stretched out on a pile of old sails, in the fore-top; lazily dozingto the craft's light roll.
Frequently, I descended to the cabin: for the fiftieth time,exploring the lockers and state-rooms for some new object ofcuriosity. And often, with a glimmering light, I went into themidnight hold, as into old vaults and catacombs; and creeping betweendamp ranges of casks, penetrated into its farthest recesses.
Sometimes, in these under-ground burrowings, I lighted upon sundryout-of-the-way hiding places of Annatoo's; where were snugly secreteddivers articles, with which she had been smitten. In truth, no smallportion of the hull seemed a mine of stolen goods, stolen out of itsown bowels. I found a jaunty shore-cap of the captain's, hidden awayin the hollow heart of a coil of rigging; covered over in a mannermost touchingly natural, with a heap of old ropes; and near by, in abreaker, discovered several entire pieces of calico, heroically tiedtogether with cords almost strong enough to sustain the mainmast.
Near the stray light, which, when the hatch was removed, gleamed downinto this part of the hold, was a huge ground-tier butt, headless asCharles the First. And herein was a mat nicely spread for repose; adiscovery which accounted for what had often proved an enigma. Notseldom Annatoo had been among the missing; and though, from stem tostern, loudly invoked to come forth and relieve the poignant distressof her anxious friends, the dame remained perdu; silent and invisibleas a spirit. But in her own good time, she would mysteriously emerge;or be suddenly espied lounging quietly in the forecastle, as if shehad been there from all eternity.
Useless to inquire, "Where hast thou been, sweet Annatoo?" For nosweet rejoinder would she give.
But now the problem was solved. Here, in this silent cask in thehold, Annatoo was wont to coil herself away, like a garter-snakeunder a stone.
Whether-she-thus stood sentry over her goods secreted round about:whether she here performed penance like a nun in her cell; orwas moved to this unaccountable freak by the powers of the air; noone could tell. Can you?
Verily, her ways were as the ways of the inscrutable penguins inbuilding their inscrutable nests, which baffle all science, and makea fool of a sage.
Marvelous Annatoo! who shall expound thee?
CHAPTER XXXIIXiphius Platypterus
About this time, the loneliness of our voyage was relieved by anevent worth relating.
Ever since leaving the Pearl Shell Islands, the Parki had beenfollowed by shoals of small fish, pleasantly enlivening the sea, andsocially swimming by her side. But in vain did Jarl and I searchamong their ranks for the little, steel-blue Pilot fish, so longoutriders of the Chamois. But perhaps since the Chamois was now highand dry on the Parki's deck, our bright little avant-couriers werelurking out of sight, far down in the brine; racing along close tothe keel.
But it is not with the Pilot fish that we now have to do.
One morning our attention was attracted to a mighty commotion in thewater. The shoals of fish were darting hither and thither, andleaping into the air in the utmost affright. Samoa declared, thattheir deadly foe the Sword fish must be after them.
And here let me say, that, since of all the bullies, and braggarts,and bravoes, and free-booters, and Hectors, and fish-at-arms, andknight-errants, and moss-troopers, and assassins, and foot-pads, andgallant soldiers, and immortal heroes that swim the seas, the IndianSword fish is by far the most remarkable, I propose to dedicate thischapter to a special description of the warrior. In doing which, Ibut follow the example of all chroniclers and historians, myPeloponnesian friend Thucydides and others, who are ever mindful ofdevoting much space to accounts of eminent destroyers; for thepurpose, no doubt, of holding them up as ensamples to the world.
Now, the fish here treated of is a very different creature from theSword fish frequenting the Northern Atlantic; being much larger everyway, and a more dashing varlet to boot. Furthermore, he isdenominated the Indian Sword fish, in contradistinction from hisnamesake above mentioned. But by seamen in the Pacific, he is morecommonly known as the Bill fish; while for those who love science andhard names, be it known, that among the erudite naturalists he goethby the outlandish appellation of "_Xiphius Platypterus_."
But I waive for my hero all these his cognomens, and substitute amuch better one of my own: namely, the Chevalier. And a Chevalier heis, by good right and title. A true gentleman of Black PrinceEdward's bright day, when all gentlemen were known by their swords;whereas, in times present, the Sword fish excepted, they are mostlyknown by their high polished boots and rattans.
A right valiant and jaunty Chevalier is our hero; going about withhis long Toledo perpetually drawn. Rely upon it, he will fight you tothe hilt, for his bony blade has never a scabbard. He himself sprangfrom it at birth; yea, at the very moment he leaped into the Battleof Life; as we mortals ourselves spring all naked and scabbardlessinto the world. Yet, rather, are we scabbards to our souls. And thedrawn soul of genius is more glittering than the drawn cimeter ofSaladin. But how many let their steel sleep, till it eat up thescabbard itself, and both corrode to rust-chips. Saw you ever thehillocks of old Spanish anchors, and anchor-stocks of ancientgalleons, at the bottom of Callao Bay? The world is full of old Towerarmories, and dilapidated Venetian arsenals, and rusty old rapiers.But true warriors polish their good blades by the bright beams of themorning; and gird them on to their brave sirloins; and watch for rustspots as for foes; and by many stout thrusts and stoccadoeskeep their metal lustrous and keen, as the spears of theNorthern Lights charging over Greenland.
Fire from the flint is our Chevalier enraged. He takes umbrage at thecut of some ship's keel crossing his road; and straightway runs atilt at it; with one mad loun
ge thrusting his Andrea Ferrara cleanthrough and through; not seldom breaking it short off at the haft,like a bravo leaving his poignard in the vitals of his foe.
In the case of the English ship Foxhound, the blade penetratedthrough the most solid part of her hull, the bow; going completelythrough the copper plates and timbers, and showing for several inchesin the hold. On the return of the ship to London, it was carefullysawn out; and, imbedded in the original wood, like a fossil, is stillpreserved. But this was a comparatively harmless onslaught of thevaliant Chevalier. With the Rousseau, of Nantucket, it fared worse.She was almost mortally stabbed; her assailant withdrawing his blade.And it was only by keeping the pumps clanging, that she managed toswim into a Tahitian harbor, "heave down," and have her wound dressedby a ship-surgeon with tar and oakum. This ship I met with at sea,shortly after the disaster.
At what armory our Chevalier equips himself after one of his spitefultilting-matches, it would not be easy to say. But very hard for him,if ever after he goes about in the lists, swordless and disarmed, atthe mercy of any caitiff shark he may meet.
Now, seeing that our fellow-voyagers, the little fish along-side,were sorely tormented and thinned out by the incursions of apertinacious Chevalier, bent upon making a hearty breakfast out ofthem, I determined to interfere in their behalf, and capture theenemy.