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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of John Corwell, Sailor And Miner; and,
+Poisonous Fish, by Louis Becke
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: John Corwell, Sailor And Miner; and, Poisonous Fish
+       1901
+
+Author: Louis Becke
+
+Release Date: January 28, 2008 [EBook #24446]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN CORWELL, SAILOR AND ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+JOHN CORWELL, SAILOR AND MINER; and POISONOUS FISH
+
+By Louis Becke
+
+T. Fisher Unwin, 1901
+
+
+
+
+JOHN CORWELL, SAILOR AND MINER
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+"Am I to have no privacy at all?" demanded the Governor irritably as
+the orderly again tapped at the open door and announced another visitor.
+"Who is he and what does he want?"
+
+"Mr. John Corwell, your Excellency, master of the cutter _Ceres_, from
+the South Seas."
+
+The Governor's brows relaxed somewhat. "Let him come in in ten minutes,
+Cleary, but tell him at the same time that I am very tired--too tired to
+listen unless he has something of importance to say."
+
+The day had indeed been a most tiring one to the worthy Governor of the
+colony of New South Wales, just then struggling weakly in its infancy,
+and only emerging from the horrors of actual starvation, caused by the
+utter neglect of the Home authorities to send out further supplies of
+provisions. Prisoners of both sexes came in plenty, but brought nothing
+to eat with them; the military officers who should have helped him in
+his arduous labours were secretly plotting against him, and their
+spare time--and they had plenty--was devoted to writing letters home
+to highly-placed personages imploring them to induce the Government
+to break up the settlement and not "waste the health and lives of even
+these abandoned convicts in trying to found a colony in the most awful
+and hideous desert the eye of man had ever seen, a place which can never
+be useful to man and is accursed by God." But the Governor took no heed.
+Mutiny and discontent he had fought in his silent, determined way as
+he fought grim famine, sparing himself nothing, toiling from dawn till
+dark, listening to complaints, remedying abuses, punishing with swift
+severity those who deserved it, and yet always preserving the same cold,
+unbending dignity of manner which covered a highly-sensitive and deeply
+sympathetic nature.
+
+But on this particular day, fatigue, the intense heat, which had
+prevailed, a violent quarrel between the intriguing major commanding
+the marines, and many other lesser worries, had been almost more than
+he could bear, so it may well be imagined that he was more inclined for
+rest than talk.
+
+Ten, twenty minutes, and then the thin, spare figure raised itself
+wearily from the rude sofa. He must see his visitor. He had promised to
+do so, and the sooner it was over the better. He called to the orderly.
+
+"Tell Mr.--Corwell you said?--to come in."
+
+A heavy step sounded on the bare floor, and one ot the finest specimens
+of manhood Governor Arthur Phillip had ever seen in all his long naval
+career stood before him and saluted. There was something so pleasant and
+yet so manly in the handsome, cleanshaven and deeply-bronzed face, that
+the Governor was at once attracted to him.
+
+"Be seated, Mr. Corwell," he said in his low, yet clear tones. "I am
+very tired, so you must not keep me long."
+
+"Certainly not, your Excellency. But I thought, sir, that you would
+prefer to hear the report of my voyage personally. I have discovered a
+magnificent harbour north of the Solomon Islands, and----"
+
+"Ha! And so you came to me. Very sensible, very sensible of you. I am
+obliged to you, sir. Tell me all about it."
+
+"Certainly, your Excellency; but I regret I have intruded on you this
+evening. Perhaps, sir, you will permit me to call again to-morrow?"
+
+"No, no, not at all," was the energetic reply. I am always ready to hear
+anything of this nature.
+
+"I knew that, sir, for the masters of the _Breckenbridge_ and another
+transport told me that you were most anxious to learn of any discoveries
+in the Pacific Islands."
+
+"Very true, sir. I am looking forward to hear from them and from the
+masters of other transports which I am inducing to follow the whale
+fishery on their return voyage to England _via_ Batavia. But so far I
+have heard nothing from any one of them."
+
+Encouraged and pleased at the Governor's manner, the master of the
+_Ceres_ at once produced a roughly executed plan and a detailed written
+description of the harbour, which, he asserted with confidence, was one
+of the finest in that part of the Pacific. A broad, deep stream of water
+ran from the lofty range of mountains which traversed the island north
+and south and fell into a spacious bay, on the shores of which was a
+large and populous native village, whose inhabitants had treated Cornell
+and the few men of his ship's company with considerable kindness,
+furnishing them not only with wood and water, but an ample supply of
+fresh provisions as well.
+
+During the two weeks that the _Ceres_ lay at anchor, Corwell and two or
+three of his hands unhesitatingly trusted themselves among the natives,
+who escorted them inland and around the coast. Everywhere was evidence
+of the extraordinary fertility of the island, which, in the vicinity
+of the seashore, was highly cultivated, each family's plantation being
+enclosed by stone fences, while their houses were strongly built and
+neatly constructed. The broad belt of the slopes of the mountains were
+covered with magnificent timber, which Corwell believed to be teak,
+equal in quality to any he had seen in the East Indies, and which he
+said could be easily brought down to the seashore for shipment owing to
+there being several other large streams beside the one on whose banks
+the principal village was built.
+
+The Governor was much interested, and complimented the young seaman on
+the manner in which he had written out his description of the place and
+his observations on the character and customs of the inhabitants.
+
+"Such information as you have given me, Mr. Corwell, is always valuable,
+and I give you my best thanks. I wish I could do more; and had I the
+means, men, and money to spare I should send a vessel there and to other
+islands in the vicinity to make further examination, for I believe
+that from those islands to the northward we can obtain invaluable food
+supplies in the future. The winds are more favourable for making a quick
+voyage there and back than they are to those groups to the eastward;
+but," and here he sighed, "our condition is such that I fear it will be
+many years ere His Majesty will consent to such an undertaking. But much
+may be done at private cost--perhaps in the near future."
+
+The young man remained silent for a moment or two; then with some
+hesitation he said, as he took a small paper packet from his coat pocket
+and handed it to the Governor, "Will your Excellency look at this and
+tell me what it is. I--I imagine it is pure gold, sir."
+
+"Gold, gold!" and something like a frown contracted the Governor's pale
+brows; "ever since the settlement was formed I've been pestered with
+tales of gold, and a pretty expense it has run me into sending parties
+out to search for it. Why, only six months ago a rascally prisoner
+gulled one of my officers into letting him lead an expedition into the
+bush--the fellow had filed down a brass bolt--" he looked up and caught
+sight of the dark flush which had suddenly suffused his visitor's
+face--"but I do not for a moment imagine you are playing upon my
+credulity, Mr. Corwell."
+
+He untied the string and opened the packet, and in an instant an
+exclamation of astonishment and pleasure escaped as he saw that the
+folds of paper held quite three ounces of bright and flaky water-worn
+gold.
+
+"This certainly _is_ gold, sir. May I ask where you obtained it?"
+
+"I made the voyage to Sydney Cove to tell your Excellency of two
+discoveries--one was of the fine harbour, the other was of this gold,
+which my wife (who is a native of Ternate) and myself ourselves washed
+out of the bed of a small stream; the natives helped us, but attached
+not the slightest value to our discovery. In fact, sir, they assured us
+as well as they could that much more was to be had in every river on the
+island."
+
+"Your wife was it, then, or yourself, who first recognised what it was?"
+
+"She did, sir. She has seen much of it in the hands of the Bugis and
+Arab traders in her native country."
+
+The Governor moved his slender forefinger to and fro amid the shining,
+heavy particles, then he pondered deeply for some minutes.
+
+"Tell me frankly, Mr. Corwell--why did you make a long voyage to this
+settlement to tell _me_ of your discovery?"
+
+"In the hope, sir, that you would advise and perhaps assist me. My crew
+are Malays and Chinese and would have murdered me if they knew what I
+knew. Will your Excellency tell me the proper course to pursue so that I
+may be protected in my discovery? I am a poor man, though my ship is my
+own, but she is old and leaky and must undergo heavy repairs before she
+leaves Sydney Cove again; my present crew I wish to replace by half a
+dozen respectable Englishmen, and----"
+
+The Governor shook his head. "I will do all I can to help you, but I
+cannot provide you with men. The island which you have visited may
+have been discovered and taken possession of by France, two of whose
+exploring ships were in these seas a few years ago, and even if that is
+not the case I could not take possession of them for His Majesty, as I
+have no commissioned officer to spare to undertake such a duty. Yet, if
+such an officer were available, Mr. Corwell, I would be strongly tempted
+to send him with you, hoist the British flag, and then urge the Home
+Government to confirm my action and secure to you the right, subject
+to the King's royalties, to work these gold deposits. But I am
+powerless--much as I wish to aid you."
+
+A look of disappointment clouded the young captain's handsome features.
+
+"Would your Excellency permit me to endeavour to find three or four
+seamen myself? There is a transport ready to sail for England, and I may
+be able to get some men from her."
+
+"I doubt it. Unless you revealed the object of your voyage--which would
+be exceedingly foolish of you--you could not induce them to make a
+voyage in such a small vessel as yours to islands inhabited mostly
+by ferocious savages. But this much I can and will do for you. I will
+direct Captain Hunter of the _Sirius_, the only King's ship I have here,
+to set his carpenters to work on your vessel as soon as ever you careen
+her; I will supply you at my own private cost with arms and ammunition
+and a new suit of sails. Provisions I cannot give you--God knows we
+want them badly enough ourselves, although we are not now in such a bad
+plight as we were ten months ago. Yet for all that I may be able to get
+you a cask or two of beef."
+
+"That is most generous of you, sir. I will not, however, take the beef,
+your Excellency. But for the sails and the repairs to my poor little
+vessel I thank you, sir, most heartily and sincerely. And I pledge you
+my word of honour, as well as giving you my written bond, that I will
+redeem my obligations to you."
+
+"And if you fail I shall be content, for I well know that it will be no
+fault of yours. But stay, Mr. Corwell; I must have one condition."
+
+"Name it, sir."
+
+"You too must pledge me your honour that you will not reveal the secret
+of your discovery of gold to any one in the settlement. This I do not
+demand--I ask it as a favour."
+
+Then the Governor took him, guardedly enough, into his confidence. With
+a thousand convicts, most of them utter ruffians, guarded by a scanty
+force or marines, the news of gold having been found would, he was
+sure, have a disastrous effect, and lead to open revolt. The few small
+merchant ships which were in port were partly manned by convict
+seamen, and there was every likelihood of them being seized by gangs of
+desperate criminals, fired with the idea of reaching the golden island.
+Already a party of convicts had escaped with the mad idea of walking to
+China, which they believed was only separated from Australia by a
+large river which existed a few hundred miles to the northward of the
+settlement. Some of them died of thirst, others were slaughtered by the
+blacks, and the wounded and exhausted survivors were glad to make their
+way back again to their gaolers.
+
+Cornell listened intently, and gave his promise readily. Then he rose to
+go, and the Governor held out his hand.
+
+"Good evening, Mr. Cornell. I must see you again before you sail."
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+One evening, three weeks later--so vigorously had the carpenter's mates
+from the old frigate _Sirius_ got through their work--the _Ceres_ was
+ready for sea. She was to sail on the following morning, and Corwell,
+having just returned from the shore, where he had been to say goodbye
+to the kind-hearted Governor, was pacing the deck with his wife, his
+smiling face and eager tones showing that he was well pleased.
+
+He had reason to be pleased, for unusual luck had attended him. Not
+only had his ship been thoroughly and efficiently repaired, but he had
+replaced six of his untrustworthy Malays by four good, sturdy British
+seamen, one of whom he had appointed mate. These men had arrived at
+Sydney Cove in a transport a few days after his interview with the
+Governor; the transport had been condemned, and Corwell, much to his
+delight, found that out of her crew of thirty, four were willing to come
+with him on what he cautiously described as a "voyage of venture to the
+South Seas." All of them had served in the navy, and the captain of the
+transport and his officers gave them excellent characters for sobriety
+and seamanship. Out of the sixty or seventy pounds which still remained
+to him he had given them a substantial advance, and the cheerful manner
+in which they turned to and helped the carpenters from the frigate
+convinced him that he had secured decent, reliable men, to whom he
+thought he could reveal the real object of his voyage later on.
+
+*****
+
+Two years before Cornell had been mate of a "country" ship employed
+in trading between Calcutta and the Moluccas. The Ternate agent of the
+owners of the ship was an Englishman named Leighton, a widower with one
+daughter, whose mother had died when the girl was fifteen. With this
+man the young officer struck up a friendship, and before six months had
+passed he was the acknowledged suitor of Mary Leighton, with whom he
+had fallen in love at first sight, and who quickly responded to his
+affection. She was then twenty-two years of age, tall and fair,
+with dark hazel eyes, like her English mother, and possessed of such
+indomitable spirit and courage that her father often laughingly declared
+it was she, and not he, who really managed the business which he
+controlled.
+
+And she really did much to help him; she knew his weak, vacillating, and
+speculative nature would long since have left them penniless had he
+not yielded to her advice and protests on many occasions, Generous
+and extravagantly hospitable, he spent his money lavishly, and had
+squandered two or three fortunes in wild business ventures in the Indian
+Seas instead of saving one. Latterly, however, he had been more careful,
+and when Corwell had made his acquaintance he had two vessels--a
+barque and a brig--both of which were very profitably engaged in the
+Manila-China trade, and he was now sanguine or mending his broken
+fortunes.
+
+Isolated as were father and daughter from the advantages of constant
+intercourse with European society, the duty of educating the girl was
+a task of love to her remaining parent, who, before he entered "John
+Company's" service, had travelled much in Europe. Yet, devoted as he was
+to her, and looking forward with some dread to the coming loneliness of
+life which would be his when she married, he cheerfully gave his consent
+to her union with John Cornell, for whom he had conceived a strong
+liking, and who, he knew, would make her a good husband.
+
+They were married at Batavia, to which port they were accompanied by Mr.
+Leighton, who, during the voyage, had pressed Corwell to leave his then
+employment and join him in a venture which had occupied his mind for the
+past year. This was to despatch either the barque or brig, laden with
+trade goods, to the Society Islands in the South Pacific, to barter for
+coconut oil and pearl shell.
+
+Leighton was certain that there was a fortune awaiting the man who
+entered upon the venture, and his arguments so convinced the young man
+that he consented.
+
+On arrival at Batavia they found there the officers and crew of a
+shipwrecked English vessel, and one of the former eagerly took Corwell's
+place as chief mate, his captain offering no objection. A few weeks
+after Mr. Leighton hired the _Ceres_ to take himself, his daughter, and
+her husband back to Ternate, eager to begin the work of fitting out one
+of his vessels for the voyage that was to bring them fortune. He, it was
+arranged, was to remain at Ternate, Mary was to sail with her husband to
+the South Seas.
+
+But a terrible shock awaited them. As the _Ceres_ sailed up to her
+anchorage before Mr. Leighton's house, his Chinese clerk came on board
+with the news that the barque had foundered in a typhoon, and the brig
+had been plundered and burnt by pirates within a few miles of Canton.
+The unfortunate man gave one last appealing look at his daughter and
+then fell on the deck at her feet He never spoke again, and died in a
+few hours. When his affairs came to be settled up, it was found that,
+after paying his debts, there was less than four hundred pounds left--a
+sum little more than that which Corwell had managed to save out of his
+own wages.
+
+"Never mind, Jack," said Mary. "'Tis little enough, but yet 'tis enough.
+And, Jack, let us go away from here. I should not care now to meet any
+of the people father knew in his prosperity."
+
+Cornell kissed his wife, and then they at once discussed the future.
+Half an hour later he had bought the _Ceres_ from her captain (who was
+also the owner), paid him his money and taken possession. Before the
+week was out he had bought all the trade goods he could afford to pay
+for, shipped a crew of Malays and Chinese, and, with Mary by his side,
+watched Ternate sink astern as the _Ceres_ began her long voyage to the
+South Seas.
+
+After a three weeks' voyage along the northern and eastern shores of New
+Guinea the _Ceres_ came to an anchor in the harbour which Cornell had
+described to the Governor. The rest of his story, up to the time of his
+arrival in Sydney Cove, the reader knows. *****
+
+Steadily northward under cloudless skies the high-pooped, bluff-bowed
+little vessel had sailed, favoured by leading winds nearly all the way,
+for four-and-twenty days, when, on the morning of the twenty-fifth,
+Corwell, who had been up aloft scanning the blue loom of a lofty island
+which lay right ahead, descended to the deck with a smiling face.
+
+"That is not only the island itself, Mary, but with this breeze we have
+a clear run for the big village in the bay; I can see the spur on the
+southern side quite clearly."
+
+"I'm so glad, Jack, dear. And how you have worried and fumed for the
+past three days!"
+
+"I feared we had got too far to the westward, my girl," he said. Then
+telling the mate to keep away a couple of points, he went below to pore
+over the plan of the harbour, a copy of which had been taken by the
+Governor, As he studied it his wife's fingers passed lovingly through
+and through his curly locks. He looked up, put his arm around her waist,
+and swung her to a seat on his knees.
+
+"I think, Mary, I can tell the men now."
+
+"I'm sure you can! The sooner you take them into your confidence the
+better."
+
+Corwell nodded. During the voyage he had watched the mate and three
+white seamen keenly, and was thoroughly satisfied with them. The
+remainder of the crew--three Manila men and two Penang Malays--did their
+duty well enough, but both he and his wife knew from long experience
+that such people were not to be trusted when their avarice was aroused.
+He resolved, therefore, to rely entirely upon his white crew and the
+natives of the island to help him in obtaining the gold. Yet, as he
+could not possibly keep the operations a secret from the five men
+he distrusted, he decided, as a safeguard against their possible and
+dangerous ill-will, to promise them double wages from the day he found
+that gold was to be obtained in payable quantities. As for the mate and
+three other white men, they should have one-fifth of all the gold won
+between them, he keeping the remaining four-fifths for himself and wife.
+
+He put his head up the companion-way and called to the man whom he had
+appointed mate.
+
+"Come below, Mallett, and bring Totten, Harris, and Sam with you."
+
+Wondering what was the matter the four men came into the cabin. As soon
+as they were standing together at the head of the little table, the
+captain's wife went quietly on deck to see that none of the coloured
+crew came aft to listen.
+
+"Now, men," said Corwell, "I have something important to tell you. I
+believe I can trust you."
+
+Then in as few words as possible he told them the object of the
+voyage and his intentions towards them. At first they seemed somewhat
+incredulous, but when they were shown some of the gold their doubts
+vanished, and they one and all swore to be honest and true to him and to
+obey him faithfully whether afloat or ashore, in fair or evil fortune.
+
+From his scanty store of liquor the captain took a bottle of rum, and
+they drank to their future success; then Corwell shook each man's hand
+and sent him on deck.
+
+Just before dusk the _Ceres_ ran in and dropped her clumsy,
+wooden-stocked anchor in the crystal-clear water, a few cables' length
+away from the village. As the natives recognised her a chorus of
+welcoming shouts and cries pealed from the shore from five hundred
+dusky-hued throats.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+A blazing, tropic sun shone in mid-heaven upon the motionless waters of
+the deep, land-locked bay in which the Ceres lay, with top-mast struck
+and awnings spread fore and aft. A quarter of a mile away was the beach,
+girdled with its thick belt of coco-palms whose fronds hung limp and hot
+in the windless air as if gasping for breath. Here and there, among
+the long line of white, lime-washed canoes, drawn up on the sand,
+snowy white and blue cranes stalked to and fro seeking for the small
+thin-shelled soldier crabs burrowing under the loose _débris_ of leaves
+and fallen palm-branches to escape the heat.
+
+A few yards back from the level of high-water mark clustered the houses
+of the native village, built on both sides of the bright, fast-flowing
+stream which here, as it debouched into the sea, was wide and shallow,
+showing a bottom composed of rounded black stones alternating with rocky
+bars. Along the grassless banks, worn smooth by the constant tread of
+naked feet, grew tall many-hued crotons, planted and carefully tended
+by their native owners, and shielded from the rays of the sun by the
+ever-present coco-palms. From either side of the bank, looking westward
+towards the forest, there was a clear stretch of water half a mile in
+length, then the river was hidden from view, for in its course from the
+mountains through the heavily-jungled littoral it took many bends and
+twists, sometimes running swiftly over rocky, gravelly beds, sometimes
+flowing noiselessly through deep, muddy-bottomed pools and dank, steamy
+swamps, the haunt of the silent, dreaded alligator.
+
+At the head of the straight stretch of water of which I have spoken
+there was on the left-hand bank of the river an open grassy sward,
+surrounded by clumps of areca and coco-palms, and in the centre stood
+a large house, built by native hands, but showing by various external
+signs that it was tenanted by people other than the wild inhabitants of
+the island. Just in front of the house, and surrounded by a number of
+canoes, the boat belonging to the _Ceres_ was moored to the bank,
+and under a long open-sided, palm-thatched shed, were a number of
+brown-skinned naked savages, some lying sleeping, others squatting on
+their hams, energetically chewing betel nut.
+
+As they talked and chewed and spat out the scarlet juice through their
+hideous red lips and coaly black teeth, a canoe, paddled by two natives
+and steered by Mallet, the mate of the _Ceres_, came up the river. The
+instant it was seen a chorus of yells arose from the natives in the long
+hut, and Mary Corwell came to the open doorway of the house and looked
+out.
+
+"Wake up, wake up, Jack!" she cried, turning her face inwards over her
+graceful shoulder, "here is Mallet."
+
+Her voice awoke her husband, who in an instant sprang from his couch and
+joined her, just as Mallet--a short, square-built man of fifty--stepped
+out of the canoe and walked briskly towards them, wiping his broad,
+honest face with a blue cotton handkerchief.
+
+"Come inside, Mallet. 'Tis a bit cooler in here. I'm sorry I sent you
+down to the ship on such a day as this."
+
+Mallet laughed good-naturedly. "I didn't mind it, sir, though 'tis a
+powerful hot day, and the natives are all lying asleep in their huts;
+they can't understand why us works as we do in the sun. Lord, sir! How
+I should like to see old Kingsdown and Walmer Castle to-day, all a-white
+with snow. I was born at Deal."
+
+Mary Cornell brought the old seaman a young coconut to drink, and her
+husband added a little rum; Mallet tossed it off and then sat down.
+
+"Well, sir, the ship is all right, and those chaps aboard seem content
+enough. But I'm afeared that the worms are a-getting into her although
+she is moored right abreast of the river. So I took it on me to tell
+Totten and Harris to stay aboard whilst I came back to ask you if it
+wouldn't be best for us to bring her right in to the fresh water, and
+moor her here, right abreast o' the house. That'll kill any worms as
+has got into her timbers. And we can tow her in the day after to-morrow,
+when there will be a big tide."
+
+"You did quite right, Mallet. Very likely the worms have got into her
+timbers in spite of her being abreast of the river's mouth. I should
+have thought of this before."
+
+"Ah, Jack," said his wife, with a smile, "we have thought too much of
+our gold-getting and too little of the poor old _Ceres_."
+
+"Well, I shall think more of her now, Mary. And as the rains will be
+on us in a few days--so the natives say--and we can do no more work for
+three months, I think it will be as well for us to sail the _Ceres_ over
+to that chain of lagoon islands about thirty miles from here. I fear to
+remain here during the wet season, on account of the fever."
+
+After further discussion it was decided that Jack and Mallet, with some
+natives, should make an early start in the morning for their mining
+camp, six miles away, at the foot of the range, and do a long, last
+day's work, returning to the house on the following day. Meanwhile a
+message was to be sent to Harris and Totten to bring the vessel into the
+creek as soon as the tide served, which would be in forty-eight hours.
+Then, whilst she lay for a week in the fresh water, so as to kill the
+suspected _teredo navalis_ worms, which Mallet feared had attacked her,
+she was to be made ready for the short voyage of thirty miles over to a
+cluster of islands enclosing a spacious lagoon, where Corwell intended
+to beach her till the rainy season was over, when he would return to
+work a very promising stream in another locality. Already he and his
+men, aided by the natives, had, in the four months that had passed since
+they arrived, won nearly five hundred ounces of gold, crude as were
+their appliances.
+
+"Jack," said his wife, "I think that, as you will be away all day and
+night, to-morrow I shall go on board and see what I can do. I'll make
+the men turn to and give the cabin a thorough overhauling. Marawa, the
+chiefs wife, has given me a lot of sleeping-mats, and I shall throw
+those old horrible flock mattresses overboard, and we shall have nice
+clean mats instead to lie on."
+
+* * * * *
+
+At daylight Mallet aroused the natives who were to accompany him and the
+captain, and then told off two of them to make the boat ready for Mrs.
+Corwell. Then he returned to the house and called out--
+
+"The boat is ready, sir."
+
+"So am I, Mallet," replied Mary, tying on her old-fashioned sun-hood.
+Then she turned to her husband. "Jack, darling, this will be the very
+first time in our married life that I have ever slept away from you, and
+it shall be the last, too. But I _do_ want to surprise you when you see
+our cabin again."
+
+She put her lips up to him and kissed him half a dozen times. "There,
+that's a good-night and good morning three times over. Now I'm ready."
+
+Corwell and Mallet walked down to the boat with her and saw her get in.
+She kissed her hand to them and in a few minutes was out of sight.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+A light, cool breeze, which had set in at daylight, was blowing when
+Mary Corwell boarded the _Ceres_. Totten and Harris met her at the
+gangway, caps in hand. Poor Sam, their former shipmate, had died of
+fever a month before. They were delighted to hear that she intended to
+remain on board, and Harris at once told Miguel, the scoundrelly-faced
+Manila cook, to get breakfast ready.
+
+"And you must have your breakfast with me," said Mary, "and after that
+you must obey _my_ orders. I am to be captain to-day."
+
+* * * * *
+
+As she and the two seamen sat aft under the awning, at their breakfast,
+Selak, the leading Malay, and his fellows squatted on the fore-hatch and
+talked in whispers.
+
+"I tell thee," said Selak, "that I have seen it. On the evening of the
+day when the man Sam died and was buried, I was sitting outside the
+house. It was dark, and the Tuan Korwal thought I had returned to the
+ship. I crept near and listened. They were speaking of what should be
+done with the dead man's share of the gold. Then I looked through the
+cave side of the house, and--dost remember that white basin of thine,
+Miguel?"
+
+The Manila man nodded.
+
+"The white woman, at a sign from her husband, went into the inner room
+and brought it out and placed it on the table. It was full to the brim
+with gold! and there was more in a bag!"
+
+His listeners drew nearer to him, their dark eyes gleaming with avarice.
+
+"Then the Tuan said, 'None of Sam's gold will I or my wife touch. Let it
+be divided among you three. It is but fair.'
+
+"They talked again, and then Mallet said to the Tuan, 'Captain, it shall
+be as you wish. But let it all go together till the time comes for thee
+to give us our share.'
+
+"I watched the white woman take the basin and the bag, put them into
+a box, and place the box in a hole in the ground in her sleeping-room.
+Then I came away, for my heart was on fire with the wrong that hath been
+done to us."
+
+He rose to his feet and peered round the corner of the galley. Mary and
+the two seamen were eating very leisurely.
+
+"Three of them are here now and will sleep aboard to-night. God hath
+given them into our hands!"
+
+"And what of the other two?--they are strong men," asked a wizen,
+monkey-faced Malay, nicknamed Nakoda (the captain).
+
+"Bah! What is a giant if he sleeps and a kriss is swept across his
+throat, or a spear is thrust into his back from behind? They, too, shall
+die as quickly as these who sit near us. Now listen. But sit thou out on
+the deck, Miguel, so that thou canst warn us if either of those accursed
+dogs approach."
+
+The cook obeyed him silently.
+
+"_This_ it is to be. To-night these three here shall die in their sleep,
+silently and without a sound. Then we, all but thou, Nakoda, shall take
+the boat and go to the house. Both the Tuan and Mallet sleep heavily,
+and"--he drew his hand swiftly across his tawny throat.
+
+"And then?" queried Nakoda.
+
+"And then the gold--the gold, or our share of which we have been
+robbed--is ours, and the ship is ours, and I, Selak, will guide ye all
+to Dobbo in the Aru Islands, where we shall be safe, and become great
+men."
+
+"But," muttered another man, "what if these black sons of Shaitan here
+of the Island turn upon us after we have slain the white men?"
+
+Selak laughed scornfully. "The sound of a gun terrifies them. They are
+cowards, and will not seek to interfere with us."
+
+*****
+
+Night had fallen. The two white seamen, tired out with their day's work,
+had spread their mats on the poop, and were sound in slumber. Below in
+the cabin, the captain's wife lay reading by the light of a lamp; and
+Selak, standing in the waist, could see its faint reflection shining
+through the cabin door, which opened on to the main deck. Sitting on
+the fore-deck, with their hands clutching their knives, his companions
+watched him.
+
+At last the light was lowered, and Mary closed her eyes and slept.
+
+The Malay waited patiently. One by one the remaining native fires on the
+shore went out; and, presently, a chill gust of air swept down from the
+mountains, and looking shoreward he saw that the sky to the eastward
+was quickly darkening and hiding the stars--a heavy downpour of rain was
+near.
+
+He drew his kriss from its tortoiseshell sheath and felt the edge, made
+a gesture to the crouching tigers for'ard, and then stepped lightly
+along the deck to the open cabin door; the other four crept after him,
+then stopped and waited--for less than a minute.
+
+A faint, choking cry came from the cabin, and then Selak came out, his
+kriss streaming with blood.
+
+"It is done," he whispered, and pointing to the poop he sprang up.
+
+"Hi, there! what's the matter?" cried Totten, who had heard the feint
+cry; and then, too late, he drew his pistol from his belt and fired--as
+Selak's kriss plunged into his chest. Poor Harris was slaughtered ere he
+had opened his eyes.
+
+Spurning Totten's body with his naked foot, Selak cursed it. "Accursed
+Christian dog! Would I could bring thee to life so that I might kill
+thee again!" Then, as he heard the rushing hum of the coming rain
+squall, and saw that the shore was hidden from view, as if a solid wall
+of white stone had suddenly arisen between it and the ship, he grinned.
+
+"Bah! what does it matter? Had it been a cannon instead of a pistol it
+could scarce have been heard on the shore in such a din."
+
+Ordering the bodies of the two seamen to be thrown overboard, Selak, the
+most courageous, entered the cabin, took a couple of muskets from the
+rack, and some powder and ball from the mate's berth, and returning to
+his followers, bade them bring the boat alongside.
+
+"Throw the woman after them," he cried to Nakoda, as the boat pushed off
+into the darkness, just as the hissing rain began. "We shall return ere
+it is dawn."
+
+Nakoda would have sprung over the side after the boat, but he feared the
+sharks even more than Selak's kriss; so running for'ard, he crept into
+his bunk and lay there, too terrified to move.
+
+* * * * *
+
+Mallet and Corwell, with the natives, worked hard till near sunset, and
+then ceased.
+
+"There's nearly five ounces in that lot, Mallet," said the captain,
+pointing to two buckets of wash-dirt. "Let us have a bathe, and then get
+something to eat before it is too dark."
+
+"The natives say we ought to get back to the house, sir, instead of
+sleeping here tonight. They say a heavy storm is coming on, and we'll be
+washed out of the camp."
+
+"Very well, Mallet I don't want to stay here, I can assure you. Tell
+them to hurry up, then. Get the shovels and other gear, and let us start
+as quickly as possible. It will take us a good three hours to get back
+to the house."
+
+By sunset they started, walking in single file along the narrow,
+dangerous mountain-path, a false step on which meant a fall of hundreds
+of feet.
+
+Half-way down, the storm overtook them, but guided by the surefooted
+natives they pressed steadily on, gained the level ground, and at last
+reached the house about ten o'clock.
+
+"Now that we have come so far we might as well go on board and give
+my wife a surprise," said Corwell to Mallet. "Look, the rain is taking
+off."
+
+"Not for long, sir. But if we start at once we may get aboard afore it
+starts again."
+
+Two willing natives, wet and shivering as they were, quickly baled out
+a canoe, and in a few minutes they were off, paddling down towards the
+sea. But scarce had they gone a few hundred yards when another sudden
+downpour of rain blotted out everything around them. But the natives
+paddled steadily on amid the deafening roar; the river was wide, and
+there was no danger of striking anything harder than the hanging branch
+of a tree or the soft banks.
+
+"I thought I heard voices just now," shouted Mallet.
+
+"Natives been out fishing," replied Corwell.
+
+As the canoe shot out through the mouth of the river into the open bay
+the rain ceased as suddenly as it began, and the _Ceres_ loomed up right
+ahead.
+
+"Don't hail them, Mallet. Let us go aboard quietly."
+
+They clambered up the side, the two natives following, and, wet and
+dripping, entered the cabin.
+
+Corwell stepped to the swinging lamp, which burnt dimly, and pricked up
+the wick. His wife seemed to be sound asleep on the cushioned transom
+locker.
+
+"Mary," he cried, "wake up, dearest. We---- ... Oh my God,Mallet!"
+
+He sprang to her side, and kneeling beside the still figure, placed his
+hand on the blood-stained bosom.
+
+"Dead! Dead! Murdered!" He rose to his feet, and stared wildly at
+Mallet, swayed to and fro, and then fell heavily forward.
+
+As the two natives stood at the cabin door, gazing in wondering horror
+at the scene, they heard a splash. Nakoda had jumped overboard and was
+swimming ashore.
+
+*****
+
+Long before dawn the native war-drums began to beat, and when Selak
+and his fellow-murderers reached the mouth of the river they ran into a
+fleet of canoes which waited for them. They fought like the tigers they
+were, but were soon overcome and made prisoners, tied hand and foot, and
+carried ashore to the "House of the Young Men." The gold was taken care
+of by the chief, who brought it on board to Corwell.
+
+"When do these men die?" he asked,
+
+"To-day," replied Corwell huskily; "to-day, after I have buried my
+wife."
+
+On a little island just within the barrier reef, she was laid to rest,
+with the never-ending cry of the surf for her requiem.
+
+At sunset, Corwell and Mallet left the ship and landed at the village,
+and as their feet touched the sand the war-drums broke out with
+deafening clamour. They each carried a cutlass, and walked quickly
+through the thronging natives to the "House of the Young Men."
+
+"Bring them out," said Corwell hoarsely to the chief.
+
+One by one Selak and his fellow-prisoners were brought out and placed
+on their feet, the bonds that held them were cut, and their hands
+seized and held widely apart. And then Corwell and Mallet thrust their
+cutlasses through the cruel hearts.
+
+*****
+
+
+
+
+POISONOUS FISH OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS
+
+Many years ago I was sent with a wrecking party of native seamen to take
+possession of a Swedish barque which had gone ashore on the reef of one
+of the Marshall Islands, in the North Pacific. My employers, who had
+bought the vessel for £100, were in hopes that she might possibly be
+floated, patched up, and brought to Sydney. However, on arriving at the
+island I found that she was hopelessly bilged, so we at once set to work
+to strip her of everything of value, especially her copper, which was
+new. It was during these operations that I made acquaintance with both
+poisonous and stinging fish. There were not more than sixty or seventy
+natives living on the island, and some of these, as soon as we anchored
+in the lagoon, asked me to caution my own natives--who came from various
+other Pacific islands--not to eat any fish they might catch in the
+lagoon until each one had been examined by a local man. I followed their
+injunction, and for two or three weeks all went well; then came trouble.
+
+I had brought down with me from Sydney a white carpenter--one of the
+most obstinate, cross-grained old fellows that ever trod a deck, but an
+excellent workman if humoured a little. At his own request he lived on
+board the wrecked barque, instead of taking up his quarters on shore in
+the native village with the rest of the wrecking party. One evening as I
+was returning from the shore to the schooner--I always slept on board--I
+saw the old man fishing from the waist of the wreck, for it was high
+tide, and there was ten feet of water around the ship. I saw him
+excitedly haul in a good-sized fish, and, hailing him, inquired how many
+he had caught, and if he were sure they were not poisonous? He replied
+that he had caught five, and that "there was nothin' the matter with
+them." Knowing what a self-willed, ignorant man he was, I thought I
+should have a look at the fish and satisfy myself; so I ran the boat
+alongside and clambered on board, followed by two of my native crew. The
+moment we opened the fishes' mouths and looked down their throats we saw
+the infallible sign which denoted their highly poisonous condition--a
+colouring of bright orange with thin reddish-brown streaks. The old
+fellow grumbled excessively when I told him to throw them overboard, and
+then somewhat annoyed me by saying that all the talk about them being
+unsafe was bunkum. He had, he said, caught and eaten just the same kind
+of fish at Vavau, in the Tonga Islands, time and time again. It was no
+use arguing with such a creature, so, after again warning him not to eat
+any fish of any kind unless the natives "passed" them as non-poisonous,
+I left him and went on board my own vessel.
+
+We had supper rather later than usual that evening, and, as the mate and
+myself were smoking on deck about nine o'clock, we heard four shots in
+rapid succession fired from the wreck. Knowing that something was wrong,
+I called a couple of hands, and in a few minutes was pulled on board,
+where I found the old carpenter lying writhing in agony, his features
+presenting a truly shocking and terrifying appearance. His revolver lay
+on the deck near him--he had fired it to bring assistance. I need not
+here describe the peculiarly drastic remedies adopted by the natives to
+save the man's life. They at first thought the case was a hopeless one,
+but by daylight the patient was out of danger. He was never able to turn
+to again as long as we were on the island, and suffered from the effects
+of the fish for quite two or three years. He had, he afterwards told me,
+made up his mind to eat some of the fish that evening to show me that he
+was right and I was wrong.
+
+A few weeks after this incident myself and a native lad named Viri,
+who was one of our crew and always my companion in fishing or shooting
+excursions, went across the lagoon to some low sandy islets, where we
+were pretty sure of getting a turtle or two. Viri's father and mother
+were Samoans, but he had been born on Nassau Island, a lonely spot in
+the South Pacific, where he had lived till he was thirteen years of
+age. He was now fifteen, and a smarter, more cheerful, more intelligent
+native boy I had never met.
+
+His knowledge of bird and fish life was a never-ending source of
+pleasure and instruction to me, and the late Earl of Pembroke and Sir
+William Flower would have delighted in him.
+
+It was dead low tide when we reached the islets, so taking our spears
+with us we set out along the reef to look for turtle in the many
+deep and winding pools which broke up the surface of the reef. After
+searching for some time together without success, Viri left me and
+went off towards the sea, I keeping to the inner side of the lagoon.
+Presently in a shallow pool about ten feet in circumference I espied
+a small but exceedingly beautiful fish. It was about four inches in
+length, and two and a half inches in depth, and as it kept perfectly
+still I had time to admire its brilliant hues--blue and yellow-banded
+sides with fins and tail tipped with vivid crimson spots. Around the
+eyes were a number of dark yellowish or orange-coloured rings, and the
+eyes themselves were large, bright, and staring. It displayed no alarm
+at my presence, but presently swam slowly to the side of the pool and
+disappeared under the coral ledge. I determined to catch and examine
+the creature, and in a few minutes I discovered it resting in such a
+position that I could grasp it with my hand. I did so, and seizing it
+firmly by the back and belly, whipped it up out of the water, but not
+before I felt several sharp pricks from its fins. Holding it so as to
+study it closely, I suddenly dropped it in disgust, as strange violent
+pains shot through my hand. In another two minutes they had so increased
+in their intensity that I became alarmed and shouted to Viri to come
+back. Certainly not more than five or ten minutes elapsed before he
+was with me; to me it seemed ages, for by this time the pain was
+excruciating. A look at the fish told him nothing; he had never seen
+one like it before. How I managed to get back to the schooner and live
+through the next five or six hours of agony I cannot tell. Twice I
+fainted, and at times became delirious. The natives could do nothing for
+me, but said that the pain would moderate before morning, especially if
+the fish was dead. Had its fins struck into my foot instead of my hand I
+should have died, they asserted; and then they told the mate and myself
+that one day a mischievous boy who had speared one of these abominable
+fish threw it at a young woman who was standing some distance away. It
+struck her on the foot, the spines penetrating a vein, and the poor girl
+died in terrible agony on the following day. By midnight the pain I
+was enduring began to moderate, though my hand and arm were swollen
+to double the proper size, and a splitting headache kept me awake
+till daylight. The shock to the system affected me for quite a week
+afterward.
+
+During many subsequent visits to the Marshall Group our crews were
+always cautioned by the people of the various islands about eating
+fish or shell-fish without submitting them to local examination. In the
+Radack chain of this widely spread out archipelago we found that the
+lagoons were comparatively free from poisonous fish, while the Ralick
+lagoons were infested with them, quite 30 per cent, being highly
+dangerous at all times of the year, and nearly 50 per cent at other
+seasons. Jaluit Lagoon was, and is now, notorious for its poisonous
+fish. It is a curious fact that fish of a species which you may eat with
+perfect safety, say, in the middle of the month, will be pronounced by
+the expert natives to be dangerous a couple of weeks later, and that
+in a "school" of pink rock bream numbering many hundreds some may have
+their poison highly developed, others in but a minor degree, whilst many
+may be absolutely free from the taint. In the year 1889 the crew of a
+large German ship anchored in one of the Marshall Islands caught some
+very large and handsome fish of the bream kind, and the resident natives
+pronounced them "good." Three or four days later some more were taken,
+and the cook did not trouble to ask native opinion. The result was that
+eight or nine men were taken seriously ill, and for some time the lives
+of several were despaired of. Two of them had not recovered the use
+of their hands and feet at the end of ten weeks, and their faces,
+especially the eyes and mouth, seemed to be permanently, though slightly
+distorted. All the men agreed in one particular, that at midday they
+suffered most--agonising cramps, accompanied by shooting pains in the
+head and continuous vomiting to the point of exhaustion, these symptoms
+being very pronounced during the first week or eight days after the fish
+had been eaten.
+
+That kind-hearted and unfortunate officer, Commodore J. G. Goodenough,
+took an interest in the poisonous and stinging fish of the Pacific
+Islands, and one day showed me, preserved in spirits of wine, a
+specimen of the dreaded _no'u_ fish of the Hervey Group--one of the most
+repulsive-looking creatures it is possible to imagine out of a child's
+fairy book. The deadly poison which this fish ejects is contained in a
+series of sacs at the base of the spines, and the commodore intended to
+submit it to an analyist. By a strange coincidence this gallant seaman
+a few months afterwards died from the effects of a poisoned arrow shot
+into his side by the natives of Nukapu, one of the Santa Cruz group of
+islands.
+
+This _no'u_ however, which is the _nofu_ of the Samoans, and is widely
+known throughout Polynesia, and Melanesia under different names, does
+not disguise its deadly character under a beautiful exterior like the
+stinging fish of Micronesia, which I have described above. The
+_nofu_ which is also met with on the coasts of Australia, is a devil
+undisguised, and belongs to the angler family. Like the octopus or the
+death-adder (_Acanthopis antarctica_) of Australia, he can assimilate
+his colour to his environment. His hideous wrinkled head, with his
+staring goggle eyes, are often covered with fine wavy seaweed, which in
+full-grown specimens sometimes extends right down the back to the tail.
+From the top of the upper jaw, along the back and sides, are scores of
+needle-pointed spines, every one of which is a machine for the ejection
+of the venom contained at the root. As the creature lies hidden in a
+niche of coral awaiting its prey--it is a voracious feeder--it cannot be
+distinguished except by the most careful scrutiny; then you may see that
+under the softly waving and suspended piece of seaweed (as you imagine
+it to be) there are fins and a tail. And, as the _nofu_ has a huge
+mouth, which is carefully concealed by a fringe of apparently harmless
+seaweed or other marine growth, he snaps up every unfortunate small fish
+which comes near him. In the Pacific Islands the _nofu_ (_i.e._, "the
+waiting one ") is generally a dark brown, inclining to black, with
+splashes or blotches of orange, or marbled red and grey. In Australian
+waters--I have caught them in the Parramatta river, Port Jackson--they
+are invariably either a dark brown or a horrid, dulled yellow.
+
+Despite its poison-injecting apparatus this fish is eaten by the natives
+of the Society, Hervey, and Paumotu groups of islands, in the South
+Pacific, where its flesh is considered a delicacy. It is prepared for
+cookery by being skinned, in which operation the venomous sacks are
+removed. In 1882, when I was living on the island of Peru in the Gilbert
+Group (the Francis Island of the Admiralty charts), a Chinese trader
+there constantly caught them in the lagoon and ate them in preference
+to any other fish. Here in Peru the _nofu_ would bury itself in the soft
+sand and watch for its prey, and could always be taken with a hook. And
+yet in Eastern Polynesia and in the Equatorial Islands of the Pacific
+many deaths have occurred through the sting of this fish, children
+invariably succumbing to tetanus within twenty-four hours of being
+stung.
+
+A little more about poisonous fish, _i.e._, fish which at one time of
+the year are good and palatable food and at others deadly. In the lagoon
+island of Nukufetau (the "De Peyster Island" of the charts), where the
+writer lived for twelve months, the fish both within the lagoon and
+outside the barrier reef became highly poisonous at certain times of the
+year. Flying-fish (which were never caught inside the lagoon) would be
+safe to eat if taken on the lee side of the island, dangerous, or at
+least doubtful, if taken on the weather side; _manini_, a small striped
+fish much relished by the natives, would be safe to eat if caught on the
+reef on the western side of the island, slightly poisonous if taken four
+miles away on the inside shore of the eastern islets encompassing
+the lagoon. Sharks captured outside the reef, if eaten, would produce
+symptoms of poisoning--vomiting, excessive purging, and tetanus in a
+modified form; if caught inside the reef and eaten no ill effects would
+follow. Crayfish on one side of the lagoon were safe; three miles away
+they were highly impregnated with this mysterious poison, the origin of
+which has not yet been well defined by scientists.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of John Corwell, Sailor And Miner; and,
+Poisonous Fish, by Louis Becke
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