CHAPTER IX.
Exploration of the island: First day. Fresh water at Rapid River. Wild goats, quail, tortoise, tobacco, wild ducks, trout, sweet potatoes, mussels. Name the island and principal points, etc.
I arose very early in the morning and saw that I was to be favored witha very pleasant day. I went to the seaside and took my usual bath;thence to my lamp-tower and arranged all the wicks and reservoirs for along burning; then to breakfast, which I quickly dispatched, and thenmy preparation to start, which consisted of the following: I firstfilled my powder canister with nice, pure rain-water, and fitted itwith sennit straps of manilla to hang on my back, taking care to putthe screw in the head solidly home, so that it would not leak. In mybag made of sedges I stowed my boiled eggs and turtle-steaks, alreadycooked, also several other articles of value rolled up in differentparcels of birch-bark, including my fishing-line and hooks, and somespare manilla strands, and bradawl, and carefully wrapped up my compassand several large pieces of birch-bark and charcoal, intending to makea sketch of the island as I explored it, being in my younger daysquite a good draughtsman. In my trousers pocket I placed my pipe andtobacco, my flint and steel, and my tinder, tied up in my milkweed pod.I then slung over my back my bow and arrows, the latter in a lightquiver of birch-bark that I had made for them; secured my knife in itsshark-skin sheath about my waist, and took my harpoon in my hand, and,thus accoutred, started forth.
Before I advanced in any direction I bethought myself that I wouldcommence by naming the island and all prominent parts that my eyecould take in, and to continue this during my exploration. AccordinglyI walked down and faced the breakwater, and, drawing forth a pieceof birch-bark and charcoal, sketched rudely the outline before me.Determined as I was to succeed, and remembering that I had overcome thewant of water and fire, I deliberately named the island _PerseveranceIsland_. The point that ended the breakwater slightly to the westwardof me I named _Point Deliverance_; the reef in front of me, the_Breakwater_, the water between me and the Breakwater, _StillwaterCove_, on account of its uniform quietness, being almost land-locked.
Having finished this I gave one long look of affection upon mymiserable hut, and, with a mental prayer for aid and assistance, struckout on the pure, white, sandy beach towards the eastward part of theisland. I went naturally in this direction first, for I was too gooda sailor to walk around the island left-handed, or, as we say at sea,"against the sun." I had just enough superstition to believe that sucha course would have brought me bad luck. I followed my beach aboutone mile and a half, having on my left hand Stillwater Cove, and onmy right hand small groves of tree with long vistas between them,giving me a view into the interior of the island, and over fieldsof natural grass. I often left the beach to inspect these openings,which I approached with perfect awe, expecting every moment to chanceupon some native village, or other sign of the presence of man. Butnothing of the kind occurred. And yet before I reached the end of mybeach I met with so startling an adventure that I was unmanned forover an hour, and had to sit down and rest before proceeding on myjourney. Approaching one of these openings or glades I peered in asusual, keeping myself on my hands and knees, to see if I could find anysigns of my dreaded enemies. But the place was as peaceful as any ofthe others, and, standing up to my full height, I gave vent to a sighof relief, when, without a moment's notice or warning, some three orfour forms jumped from the long grass where they had been concealedand made for the thickets further inland. I was so frightened that Isank to the earth nearly senseless. But as my mind was just about toleave me I had force of character enough to observe that they were notsavages, but animals. The revulsion, however, was too great, and I satdown in a faint and sick state, as I have related. When I could collectmy mind I easily recognized the shapes I had seen as some species ofgoats, and delighted indeed was I at the discovery. But it immediatelyset me thinking, How could there be goats on this island? I well knewthat they would not be here naturally; that they must have been puthere, and probably by some whaler, for those vessels I well knew oftencarry several of these animals with them. But if they had been placedupon the island thus, why was it not reported, why was it not known? Icould conceive of only one reason, and that was that the unfortunatevessel that had discovered it had afterwards been lost, and thereforeits existence had again become unknown. But this was only theory on mypart. The quickness with which they left me showed that they were wild,and probably had been many years upon the island. If I should see onlythis flock of four or five I should feel as if some of the human racehad, within a comparatively short time, visited the island. But if inmy explorations I should fall upon more of these creatures, I shouldknow that they had propagated and increased through untold years, andfrom a commencement that would never be revealed.
Having completely overcome my faintness, and rejoiced at my discovery,I passed back to the beach, and in a few moments came to a place whereit turned abruptly to the right. The land also, being quite rockyand of some elevation, obstructed my view, and, preparing my bow andarrow in one hand and my harpoon in the other, I crept round the bendcautiously on my hands and knees. A beautiful sight struck my eyes. Tomy right hand, and within a hundred yards of me, a dashing, sparklingwaterfall of some eight or ten feet in height, and fifteen or twentywide, poured its waters into Stillwater Cove; and beyond and inland asfar as my eye could reach, till the river mixed with the foliage oneither bank, and was undistinguishable, I saw smaller and less abruptfalls of water coming down the gorge between the hillsides; in short, alarge mountain brook or small river, bubbling and gurgling its way todash itself at last over a fall into Stillwater Cove.
I forgot all about savages and natives, and, dashing down my weapons,I rushed towards the fall, where it fell into the cove, and, holdingmy hands under it, filled them with what my mouth proved to me to besoft, pure, fresh river water. I danced, I sung; I was for a littletime as crazy as a loon, and here had I been distilling water andracking my brains for days to provide, and a bubbling, running brook,almost a river, within at least two miles of me all the time. But inmy happiness I soon forgot my past labors and distress, all that wasgone by. Here was a supply of water that kind Heaven had granted me,inexhaustible, and of delicious coolness and taste. Having returneda little to my senses, I went back for my weapons, and sat down andenjoyed the scene before me. It was indeed beautiful. I saw that I wasat the head of Stillwater Cove, and that by crossing upon the stonesbelow the fall I should be on the side of the Breakwater, which I nowsaw was part of the mainland, being a narrow peninsula running nearlyeast and west, and enclosing Stillwater Cove, and joining the mainlandat the spot where I now was seated.
Oh, what a lovely spot I found myself sitting in. I named the beautifulstream _Rapid River_, and drew out my birch-bark chart and sketchedand located it. I felt that this would be my home; and could anythingbe more beautiful. As I sat upon a large stone near the river this iswhat I saw round about me. To the westward, I knew that just aroundthe bend, but concealed from my eyes as I sat, was the long, beautifulbeach of Stillwater Cove, with its inland glades that I had just passedover; to the northward and eastward, a gradually ascending grade ofland, covered with lovely groves of trees in full foliage; on bothsides of the river a beautiful valley of some quarter of a mile inextent, covered with a natural turf and fringed at its circumferencewith these beautiful groves; farther to the right a mountain thatseemed of considerable magnitude. Birds passed me in their flight fromone portion of the grove to the other, and I distinguished the wildpigeon and wood-dove and several others that were familiar to my eye. Iobserved that they came to one of the upper falls to drink, and afterenjoying to the full the beautiful scenery round about me, I followedthem there and tried to get a shot with my bow. I found that I couldget quite near to them, say within twelve or fourteen yards, but Ifired many times before I was successful enough to kill one, and eventhen I should not have been able to have succeeded if it were not forthe innumerable number that came to drink and replace those whom Ifrighten
ed away by my repeated bad marksmanship. Each shot, however,improved me, and I had also a determination to become skilled, andtherefore studied and discovered the error of each shot, and improvedupon it by the next. Looking down upon the terminus of Stillwater Covefrom this upper fall was superb; there it lay, a pure basin of whitesand, with this mountain stream dashing into it. Having feasted myeyes, I got out my flint and steel and built me a nice fire in a shorttime without any difficulty, and soon had my pigeon roasting at the endof a long stick over the blaze. He eat so very nicely that I took to mybow again, and after a few shots killed another, which I devoured inthe same way. I found that the air and exercise and my wanderings hereand there had made me very hungry, and I added to the roast pigeonsseveral of the boiled eggs and a long draught of pure water from therunning river at my feet. Having feasted abundantly, I arose, andleaving my heavy powder canister of water behind me, I crossed RapidRiver just below the lower falls, and found myself on the furtherside of Stillwater Cove. I turned to the left and walked towards theBreakwater, and soon found myself heading for the place where theboat had first struck on the reef, and opposite to my late residence.Upon arrival there I could look across to my little hut, but I kepton till I came to the end of the Breakwater and to Point Deliverance.As I walked along the Breakwater I noticed on the inner side largemasses of mussels nearly a foot in length, larger than anything of thekind I had ever seen before, the shells of which would make capitaldishes. I stored the fact in my memory for use hereafter. I stood atlast upon Point Deliverance and looked out to sea, but no sign of anyfriendly vessel met my eyes. I turned to the westward and saw a largebay, formed by my island, at least three miles across and three orfour deep, bounded on the northwestern side by a slight promontory,which I concluded not to name, from the distance at which I now stood,and on account of the uncertainty of what lay behind it, now not tobe seen from my present position; and as I was determined to passround the whole island I knew that I should come to it in due season.The bay before me, into which Stillwater Cove poured its waters, Inamed _Perseverance Bay_, and marked the same upon my birch-barkchart. Having gazed about me and seen nothing to examine further, Iretraced my steps to Rapid River, and again sat down at the upper fall,refreshing myself with a good long pull at the pure water. I startedup the gorge and penetrated for about a mile into the interior of theisland, and found that the river became smoother and more level asI advanced, and that the groves of trees in places receded, leavingmeadows of grass, and long vistas often, on each bank. I made on thistrip of a mile or so several discoveries, the most important of whichwas that there were plenty of goats upon the island, for I startedseveral herds, one numbering as large as ten or twelve, from the longgrass of the bottom land. This convinced me that years must have passedsince they had been put upon the island, as they were evidently verynumerous. I saw also a great many terrapin, or land tortoises, and sawin them a luxury for the future. I felt convinced that sea turtle wouldnot often come to my island on account of its southerly position andclimate, and I looked upon the one I had captured as an exceptionalcase; still, further in the summer they might be more plenty, theirpresence would prove my theory correct about the mildness of theclimate, and I hoped it might prove true on every account.
ROAST PIGEON.--PAGE 91.]
In the pure limpid waters of Rapid River I saw several fish dartingabout, some of which I was convinced were similar to brook trout, but Ihad not fine enough fishing gear to try for them. In the long grass ofthe meadow, near the bushes on the border, I started a veritable bevyof quail,--or such I took them to be, and I had known the bird wellin boyhood,--and when they flushed and whirled into the air a featherwould have knocked me down. My nerves were, however, getting strongerand stronger, for I reasoned that no human being could be on the islandand allow such a paradise as this to remain uninhabited. I recognizedamongst the trees, pines, hemlocks, maples, elms, oaks, etc.; andamongst the bushes and plants several with which I was familiar. On oneof the smooth reaches of the river, passing from the meadow to higherand firmer ground, I disturbed a large flock of ducks. On the leftbank of the river, which was not wooded, I came upon what I believedto be a joyful discovery for me, namely, the tobacco plant. I was notsure, but I had seen the weed growing in Virginia, and I felt surethat, although stunted, and dispersed here and there, this was theveritable article. I determined at my earliest opportunity to test someof it by curing it, and in fact plucked a small portion of the leavesfor that purpose and thrust it into my bag. The taste in the greenstate confirmed me in my opinion, and I felt sure I was right. Thisdiscovery would be a great solace to me in my loneliness, and I feltvery thankful for it.
I crossed the river by wading and jumping from stone to stone, anddescended it on the other side, still seeking for new discoveries. Myfriends the goats were often disturbed by me, and I saw with pleasurethat they were very numerous. They were, however, very shy, and ranaway with great speed and evident fright, and gave me no opportunityto shoot at them. It was on this side of the river that I made thediscovery that gave me bread, or rather something in lieu of it. Inoticed a running vine upon the ground, and my memory told me that itresembled that of the sweet potato. I pounced upon it, and, pluckingup the root, held in my hand the evidently half-grown bulb that I wasin search of. It had not yet matured, but it was bread for all futuretime. I felt that I held in my hand the sweet potato of Virginia andthe Carolinas. This set me to thinking again, Was this nature or man?Who had planted these two things, tobacco and potatoes, that I so muchdesired, God or man! I felt that I should never know. The shades ofevening were by this time beginning to fall around me, and I made myway back to the second fall on Rapid River and arranged for the night,gathered wood for my fire, and grass for my couch, which I placedunder the overhanging and low branches of a cedar, similar to the onenear my hut, which I concluded to call the _Landing Place_, and somarked it upon my chart. I was pleased with my explorations so far, andforesaw that I could gather everything about me in the way of comfortthat a man could desire, except that one great instinct of our nature,companionship with our fellow men. I ate my supper of turtle steaks andeggs with great satisfaction, and by the light of my fire sought myhumble couch and slumber.