CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 Gift of 
 
 Ella Thompson Wright 
 
The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924074442884 
 
BOY CRUSOES; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE YOUI^G ISLANDERS. 
 
 A TALE OF THE LAST CENTURY. 
 
 BY 
 
 JEFFEEYS TAYLOR. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 INTERNATIONAL BOOK COMPANY 
 
 310-^18 SIXTH 4VENUE 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 D EADEB ! what .would you have said and done 
 if, instead of the present tidy little volume 
 the original manuscript had been submitted to 
 your inspection — a musty, worm-eaten coil of 
 papers, enveloped in dust and cobwebs ! 
 
 As for me, I had taken the powdery packet 
 out of doors, to give the Young Islanders the 
 threshing they long ago deseryed, when an enor- 
 mous black spider, not thinking himself entitled to 
 that discipline, issued, with all the speed of terror, 
 from the dark interior of the scroll, and sought, what 
 he conceived to be, the unappropriated and more 
 tranquil retirement of my coat sleeve. 
 
 What became of the intruder I know not ; but 
 down went the precious bundle in a twinkle, and 
 alighting on my boot-toe, it was projected thence, in 
 that equally immeasurable portion of duration, called 
 a tantivy ! But, alas ! the random records were 
 neither stitched nor tied, and, imitating the truant 
 subjects of their pages, they eschewed all control, 
 
 1* 
 
e INTEODUCTION. 
 
 and became like a flight of carrier pigeons, wheeling in 
 the blast. I snared and bagged the fluttering covey 
 as I could, which done, there remained to me the 
 delightful task of arranging, numbering, and decL 
 phering the multitudinous collection, scarcely a leaf 
 of which was not stained, obliterated, or partly con- 
 sumed, by rain, mildew, sea-water, or some such 
 casualty of time and travel. 
 
 Now^ whatever I may think, it is not for me 
 to say, that I could have written you a better tale 
 than this, crammed full of unheard-of incidents, with 
 half the trouble the editorship has cost me. The 
 reader may doubt my ability in that matter ; but he 
 will, at the same time, commend my frankness, in 
 attributing to the Islanders the entire value and 
 interest of their adventures ; for I might have played 
 the part of Daniel Defoe with him instead, who, if 
 the report of his day be true, plumed himself in 
 poor Selkirk's ill-spared feathers, and figured away 
 with the writings of that worthy single gentleman, as 
 his own. Eather, by far, would I reverse his plan, 
 and place magnanimously to the account of others, 
 *he very labours that I performed myselC 
 
THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 OE AWARD HOUSE, an ancient fbunda- 
 ^ tion-school, situated on an unfrequented 
 part of tlie eastern coast of England, was en- 
 dowed, in the reign of Edward VI., by Sir 
 Arthur Goodwyn, Alice Goodwyn, and Good- 
 wyn Joyce, of Haven Hall and Manor, for the 
 education and maintenance of a certain numbei 
 of boys, from twelve contiguous parishes, in- 
 cluding that of St. Runwald, in which it stood. 
 The large lone mansion had originally been 
 the residence of noble families: but it had 
 lapsed to the Crown, with several surrounding 
 estates, during the vicissitudes of property 
 attendant on the wars of the Eoses. The Sea- 
 ward houses and lands were, however, at length 
 assigned or restored, by Henry VII., to the 
 Goodwyns aforesaid, who claimed to have been 
 
8 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 descended, collaterally, from the first possessors 
 of the domain. 
 
 The house, which was built, or rather faced, 
 with split flints, and edged and buttressed with 
 cut grey stone, had a majestic but gloomy ap- 
 pearance, and it was, to some extent, in a ruin- 
 ous and unsafe condition. It had a lofty and 
 handsome front, looking towards the sea, and 
 this front was somewhat castellated in its style. 
 Two semicircular bows or half-towers, placed at 
 a suitable distance from each other, rose from 
 the base to the summit of the edifice, and these 
 were pierced at every floor with rows of stone- 
 mullioned windows, rising to the height of four 
 or five stories. The flat wall between had 
 larger windows, lighting the great hall, gallery, 
 and upper apartments. These windows were 
 abundantly ornamented with stained glass, rep- 
 resenting the arms, honours, and alms-deeds 
 of the founders' families. The towers, half 
 included in the building, were completely cir- 
 cular within, and contained the winding stairs 
 of the mansion; and whoso ascended them, 
 when the revolving breath of the tempest had 
 freely entered from below, seemed rising by a 
 \^-hirlwind to the clouds. Persons, too, might 
 be said to know something of Nature's music, 
 who had heard a November's gale playing a 
 gimiit through the loop-holes of these towers — 
 
SEAWARD HOUSE. 9 
 
 the deep roar of a tumbling sea forming a 
 thorough bass to the chorus. In the upper win- 
 dows, however, even the wildest screams of the 
 storm were drowned in the rattling clamour of 
 the assaulted casements. When a gale of wind 
 took the building in ftont, it rocked it to the 
 foundations, and at such times threatened its 
 instant demolition. 
 
 Midway between the towers there stood forth 
 a heavy stone porch, with a Gothic gateway, 
 fiurmounted by a battlemented parapet, made 
 gable fashion, the apex of which was garnished 
 by a pair of dolphins, rampant and antagonistic, 
 whose cork-screw tails seemed contorted by the 
 last agonies of baffled rage. The porch-doors 
 stood constantly open, except in tremendous 
 weather ; the inner ones were as regularly shut 
 and barred after all who entered. They led" 
 into a wide, vaulted, and lofty apartment, called 
 the ma.'^ter's hall. Here the managers and ap- 
 pointed visitors met and dined, and the exami- 
 nationa took place once a year. The boys were 
 glad when, on these occasions, it was a blowing 
 day ; for their answers were, in that case, often 
 lost, or even supplied by a seasonable gust.. 
 The walls of the hall were decorated with some 
 few remains of tapestry, and with grim portraits 
 of the Goodwyn family. On either side of 
 these pictures were marble tablets, with a 
 
10 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 carved framework, setting forth, in legal phrase, 
 the munificent benefactions of the founders. 
 
 One end of the hall was nearly occupied by 
 a fire-place, capacious enough, certainly, to have 
 allowed sitting-room for all the good boys that I 
 knew anything of at Seaward House. Over the 
 mantelpiece was displayed the most elaborate 
 specimen of chiselled architecture and wooden 
 sculpture that I ever beheld, representing, in 
 fact, the front of the edifice itself, as it appeared 
 on some occasion, when King Henry VII. made 
 a progress thither with his nobles, knights, and 
 squires. Then it was, probably, that the money- 
 making monarch transferred the whole Seaward 
 estates to the Goodwyns for some suitable con- 
 sideration. At the opposite end of the hall was 
 a raised floor, or dais, where were set the busi- 
 ness-table and benches of the managers; and 
 duly, in the midst, stood the magisterial oaken 
 chair of Goodwyn Joyce, who figured away in 
 timber, sculptured at full length, on its back, 
 which was not less than six feet high, whilst 
 the cunning tool had embossed its sides with 
 the pleasing device of birch-rods and wry faces, 
 forming the framework to a central panel of 
 split cane I The chair was usually called oalc- 
 nose, because the surmounting visage had a 
 nasal promontory of most portentous altitude 
 and dimensions. The countenance was alto- 
 
FURNITURE OF THE HOUSE. 11 
 
 getter grotesque and ludicrous in the extreme ; 
 but, on examination-days, when that high throne 
 was occupied by some strange and ruthless in- 
 quisitor, the whole figure rose into a sort of 
 stern dignity ; and the face, nose, and all, made 
 every face a long one that, beheld it. On the 
 wall, behind this chair, were mounted and let- 
 tered, in the old English character, the standing 
 orders and daily routine of the institution. 
 
 The general fittings and furniture, both of 
 the hall and house, were very much of a ma- 
 rine material and form ; exhibiting, in fact, the 
 casual salvage fi'om many a stranded vessel, 
 whose figure-heads, knee-timbers, and internal 
 wood-work, were liberally appropriated, in the 
 -truss-beams, corbels, and girders of the edifice. 
 This judgment-hall, lined with black panels or 
 dark tattered hangings, was gloomy indeed; 
 and so high and narrow were the windows, that 
 nothing was to be discerned through them but 
 cross-barred portions of the scudding-clouds. 
 
 From the hall proceeded doorways and pas- 
 sages, more than my memory can now particu- 
 larize. Of these portals one at each end con- 
 ducted to the tower stairs — others to the dining 
 and school apartments, and domestic ofiices. 
 One wing, or side of the building, was occupied 
 as the private residence of the master and his 
 household. The school -room (formerly, I should 
 
12 THE yoUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 think, the chapel to the mansion) formed the 
 extremity of the building westward, and was 
 approached by a long vaulted stone passage. 
 Here the voice, and even the footsteps, echoed 
 with a hollow, low response. The space be- 
 tween this range of rooms and those of the 
 master opposite was an open paved yard, used 
 as a play-ground by the school. There was a 
 well, and a well-remembered tall pump in the 
 middle. 
 
 Further on, joining this yard, and stretching 
 backward nearly a quarter of a mile, lay the 
 forlorn garden of Seaward House. It was a 
 narrow strip of ground, having one straight 
 path down the middle, and a summer-house, so 
 called, at the end, formed of an old boat, placed 
 bottom upwards, and boarded round below. 
 A smuggler's cabin was quite as picturesque. 
 The path conducting to this Arcadian bower 
 was edged, not with glossy green box, or tufted 
 thrift, or blushing double daisies, but with rows 
 of large white-coated flints, of grotesque forms, 
 set on end. The most characteristic of these, 
 we boys personified and honoured with our 
 own respected names ! The walk itself was 
 laid, not with glowing red gravel nor with ver- 
 dant turf from the meadow, but with sea-sand 
 and jjounded-shells. In this unrivalled garden 
 stood and starved such plants as a penurious 
 
Neptune's encroachments. 13 
 
 soil, and a bleak, briny atmosphere, just per 
 mitted to exist, and also such shrubs, veterana 
 in conflict, as could maintain their lot, notwith- 
 standing the implacable hostility of easterly 
 winds mingled with the salt spray of the sea, 
 which often drowned them in tears in the 
 month of June. 
 
 The house and grounds occupied the summit 
 of a chalky knoll, surmounting an abutment of 
 the cliff, which formed the termination of a 
 tongue of land about a mile in length. . This 
 knoll, accessible, as I remember, only from one 
 side, was rendered nearly insular by the constant 
 encroachment of the sea ; though, in the donors' 
 days, as appeared from ancient records, a fair 
 estate of corn and meadow land, comprising 
 some hundreds of acres, lay between. Neptune, 
 the most honest and considerate of all appro- 
 priators of charity lands, because he gives as 
 much as he takes, had certainly converted to 
 his own use, in my early time, the greater part 
 of this Seaward estate ; and I am not sure that 
 the donors did not contemplate such a result 
 when they planned the endowment; and, 
 perhaps, they thought that he of the trident 
 would show more mercy than, plunderers of 
 another sort, who might have been tempted, by 
 the superior value of a secure inland domain, 
 
 2 
 
14 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 to g wallow more in seven years than the ocean 
 would in a century.. 
 
 So threatening, indeed, was the approach of 
 the sea considered, many years before I knew 
 the spot, that an attempt had been made to 
 fence against the foe, by means of a sea-wall, or 
 breakwater, composed of stones, piles, and 
 masses of the chalky rock. This last material 
 had most unwisely been procured from a piece 
 of waste ground that lay almost under the very 
 walls it was intended to protect ; so that, as the 
 sea shortened and narrowed, and undermined 
 this tongue of land or ridge of chalk, it entered 
 the pits whence that material had been dug. 
 Very few vestiges of the feeble munition were 
 visible when I was an inhabitant of the house ; 
 but the gaping chasms into which the tide 
 flowed, continued, and bore faithful witness to 
 the folly of those who delved them. These 
 hollows became, of course, salt-water ponds, in 
 which, at ebb-tide, crabs, pungars, periwinkles, 
 and other shell-fish, might frequently be taken. 
 The spot lay immediately adjacent to the north 
 wall of the garden, and was honeycombed by 
 the combined operations of chalk-diggers, smug- 
 gling parties, and the waves, until it was in a 
 high degree dangerous to traverse even by the 
 active foot of youth. Caverned thus in all 
 directions, the surface cften fell in masses tc 
 
FORBIDDEN GBOtTND. 15 
 
 the depths below, so that nothing like a path- 
 way remained amongst the chalk-pits, except, 
 indeed, that which had been worn by the 
 urgent and prevailing sea, the booming of 
 whose crested waves, or their tranquU. lapping 
 on the shore, was heard through many a 
 vaulted channel, and impressed my youthful 
 imagination, as with the groans of deep voices, 
 sobbing murmurs of distress, or the half-sup- 
 pressed whispers of secret discourse. 
 
 The aforesaid north garden-wall was, like 
 every other building in the vicinity, composed 
 of flint. The lower part was very old, but it 
 had been raised from the height of six feet to 
 eight or nine, in order, if possible, to keep even 
 truant eyes from wandering there. Of the two 
 ancient gateways, which, in former times, had 
 opened on paths conducting to the nearest 
 village, one was built up entirely; the other 
 was occupied by a stout oaken door, gray 
 and weather-beaten. This memorable portal 
 I never saw unclosed in my life, but on one 
 FATAL occasion. By an express statute of the 
 school, all egress there, nay, the setting of a 
 footstep on the ground beyond, was peremp- 
 torily forbidden. "Will it be believed that, 
 became this law was made, although obviously 
 for the security of our own lives and limbs, 
 thither the perverse desires of most of us were 
 
16 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 most obstinately bent, and over tliat dismal 
 spot our -foolish fancies gambolled night and 
 day, until all other walks and grounds lost in- 
 terest in coniparison ? The dull aspect of the 
 play-ground and garden seemed still mojo 
 gloomy and forlorn, because of the ideal charms 
 of the romantic chalk-pits that lay beyond. 
 There we imagined the performance of un- 
 heard of achievements of agility and adventure, 
 might we but be let loose in the spot for one 
 half day. But no, we were absolutely denied 
 the privilege of buffeting live crabs and break- 
 ing our necks in that unexplored region at all. 
 There were, however, some six or eight timid 
 lads in the school, who sent few desires that 
 way, and who, especially at dusk-light, passed 
 along the grounds on the other side, and viewed 
 the old whistling door askance. This disturbed 
 feeling might have had its origin in the really 
 gloomy aspect of the spot, as seen from the 
 upper windows of the house, and was no doubt 
 enhanced by sundry traditions of deaths and 
 deadly doings there. But we were nearly all 
 of us quietly cured, at least for some time, of 
 our desires to trespass in that direction, when 
 we saw the sodden, attemxated body of an old 
 pedlar man, drawn out of a pit near the wall- 
 door, the cracks of which afforded us a glimpse 
 of his ghastly visage, half consumed by the 
 
THE OLD LEITEK-CARRIEB. 17 
 
 crabs we had longed for ! This old mai. was 
 named Giles Grimsby, and, when living, he 
 had by no means the most cheerful physiog- 
 nomy in the world. He had lost one eye, and 
 the extinct organ, or the cave it had occupied, 
 was veiled by a black leather patch, or flap, 
 proceeding from the lining of his hat. This 
 strange being, who rarely uttered a sentence 
 and was never seen to smile, was six feet high, 
 or thereabouts, and walked or stalked an erect 
 image, one might almost say, of posthumous 
 emaciation, with his single eye nearly closed 
 and his gaunt toothless mouth partly open, so 
 that his dropped j^w, collapsed cheeks, and 
 ashy pale complexion, were little changed by 
 the hand of death. Grimsby had been the let- 
 ter-carrier to Seaward House, which he also 
 supplied with sundry fruits and wares. By 
 some mishap, casual or designed, the poor crea- 
 ture had got amongst the chalk pits at night, 
 and there lost, his footing and his life. He was 
 brought to the house and laid out in the hall, 
 where the coroner's jury sat. We were not 
 permitted to see him there, but had letters dis- 
 tributed to us, which were found in his bag, 
 soaked in the sea- water, in which they had lain 
 some days. 
 
 I say that we were fofr a time nearly cured of 
 our disobedient longing to explore the laby 
 2* ' \ 
 
18 THE YOUNG ISLANIBES. 
 
 rinths of the pit-side, and I have kuown a 
 round dozen of the boys — your humble ser- 
 vant amongst them — scramble in doors at once, 
 when, at eventide, the hint went round that 
 Grimsby was whispering through the door, or 
 showing his white head and empty eye-socket 
 above the garden. Time, however, unfortu- 
 nately for us, effaced those impressions. Grims- 
 by became a joke in a year or two — by daylight 
 at least — and the old desire to transgress revived 
 and ripened in the minds of the worst of us, 
 from day to day, especially as crab-catching was 
 practised there continually with enviable suc- 
 cess by the lads of the village, who concurred 
 with us in opinion, that, after twelve months, 
 there was no danger of finding one that had 
 had a taste of the old pedlar. 
 
 Jacob Crawley, commonly called Grab Craw- 
 ley, was a proficient in this art, and in many 
 others of a strictly nefarious kind, for the 
 accomplishment of which, the passages and 
 recesses in the cliffs formed a suitable cover. 
 He was a lad of about fifteen years of age, and 
 had formerly been a scholar at Seaward House, 
 but was ignominiously expelled for a theft 
 practised on the basket of the above-named 
 Giles Grimsby. By the masters of the school 
 he had been long deemed an incurable profli- 
 gate, and his communication with smugglers 
 
CEAB CRAWLEY. 19 
 
 and the worst characters who infested the coast^ 
 was fully believed ; but so carefully crafty was 
 the boy, that the proof needful for conviction 
 was wanting, until, in an evil hour, nearly the 
 whole school became witnesses of that distinct 
 act of robbery on the pedlar's stores. As, how- 
 ever, we knew Crawley to be vindictive to the 
 last degree, we resolved to say nothing of what 
 we had seen, unless compelled. But this ne- 
 cessity soon arose, for Grimsby was in the habit 
 of taking stock, and re-arranging his wares, after 
 every deal at the house ; and, missing his pro- 
 perty, he muttered his wrongs at the village, 
 and indicated the culprit in a way not to be 
 mistaken, by pointing to him with the only 
 finger he had on his right hand. 
 
 Crawley knew now that he was marked for 
 trial ; but before the cause could come on for a 
 hearing by the proper authorities, the prompt 
 young malefactor contrived, at night, to thrust 
 the stolen goods through an open casement of 
 the school-room, on the floor of which, next 
 morning, the usher found trap-balls, marbles, 
 pippins, and other orbicular bodies, scattered 
 and rolled about • in all directions. This 
 manoeuvre might have so far succeeded as to 
 have implicated some of us in the robbery ; 
 but Grimsby himself, whose few words no one 
 ever doubted, and whose character was as up 
 
20 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 right as his body, wrought our complete deliv er- 
 ance and acquittal. He fixed the points of 
 time and place for the theft so accurately, that 
 we were enabled at once to prove an alibi: 
 Add to this, that Crawley's pockets, on being 
 searched, yielded one trap-ball, six marbles, 
 and an apple, of which, probably, he had not 
 time to empty them. When, therefore, we 
 added our testimony as witnesses, though the 
 evidence was given in our own behalf, it was 
 received, we were cleared, Crawley was con- 
 victed and expelled the school, and being taken 
 before a magistrate, was, according to the whole- 
 some discipline of those days, soundly whipped 
 at the parish post. The culprit vowed revenge, 
 and his threat was regarded with anxiety by 
 our governors, who strictly prohibited any in- 
 tercourse with him, by word or deed, from that 
 time. 
 
 "Will it be believed again, I ask, that many 
 of us were wicked enough to transgress in this 
 matter within one week of the above affair, and 
 that within that time Crawley appeared to have 
 forgiven and even forgotten both his punishment 
 and his threat? He lurked about in the neigh- 
 bourhood, however, and began to be called 
 "poor Crawley!" His nearest relation living 
 was an uncle, the master of a small vessel t)iat 
 traded on the coast. Grimsby's death happened 
 
SEAWAED HOUSE FROM THE SEA. 21 
 
 about six months after Crawley's expulsion. 
 Time passed on, and these affairs, at length, lost 
 their place in our common conversation, and 
 even in our thoughts. 
 
 > Seaward House, with its black castellated 
 front, and the jagged outline of its many- 
 gabled roof, formed a conspicuous object for 
 mariners in the adjacent seas. It was scarcely 
 less remarkable, and was seen from a great dis- 
 tance by land, and gave the idea of some dismal 
 edifice — half castle, half prison — erected or re- 
 served for the restraint and discipline of some 
 sad delinquents within. As you approached, 
 the stern features of this edifice opened, indeed, 
 but not with smiles, for the flint walls, accord- 
 ing to the usual fate of that kind of building, 
 though of great thickness, had parted fright- 
 fully in many places. Here new flint-work was 
 introduced, assisted by fresh buttresses, from 
 time to time; but their united aid could not 
 restore the straight line, or the perpendicular, 
 to the bulging and leaning pile, crippled as it 
 was to its very foundations by the storms of 
 ages. There was, I remember, a great crack in 
 one of the towers, reaching from a window on 
 the staircase to the next above it, and so on to 
 the top. In. high winds, this crevice would 
 alternately gape and close like the lips of the 
 dving, and we boys have got our candles blown 
 
 17* 
 
22 THE-TOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 out, our nuts cracked, and our fingers pinched 
 there, many a time in a gale. 
 
 Such was the free-school at St. Eunwald's, in 
 the year 1754. "What do you think of it?— 
 of the darksome, weather-beaten, ruinous old 
 mansion, with its cheerful paved yard, pic- 
 turesque garden and the romantic chalk-pits at 
 the side ? We boys strung together above a 
 hundred sorry rhymes about them, with which 
 I shall not, at this time, trouble the reader. I' 
 remember, however, that we broke half the 
 penknives in the school by the persevering 
 effort to carve this metrical record of our trou- 
 bles on the oak panels of the chief sleeping 
 apartment, and we had just engraved the 
 couplet, 
 
 " The wind cuts like swords 
 Through the cracks in the boards," 
 
 when, to our dismay, we were detected in the 
 very act by the ubiquitous Mrs. Whiskin, the 
 grim, gliding housekeeper of the establishment. 
 In vain did Mark Mummery, the too busy 
 sculptor, endeavour to push a high-backed chair 
 before the wainscot. The delinquent operative, 
 with a brace of accomplices, of whom your 
 humble servant, Miles Selwyn, was one, was 
 hurried along, by this most active limb of the 
 executive, to the seat of judgment, she flourish- 
 
DISCIPLINE AND DE. POYNDEBS. 28 
 
 ing aloft the original foolscap as we entered the 
 breakfast-parlour of Dr. Poynders. " Here, sir," 
 screamed the almost breathless Mrs. Whiskin ; 
 " here's a pretty rigmarole these young gentle- 
 men are cutting into the beautiful oak panel* 
 by their bedside !" The doctor took the paper, 
 read it with, expressions of gravity relaxed by 
 many a smile, and dismissed the accuser and 
 the accused with this general assurance, that 
 "he would do what was proper." The only 
 result, however, was a decided improvement in 
 the domestic management from that time : our 
 cabbage broth was exalted into pea-soup ; mat- 
 ting was laid in our bed-rooms ; we were never 
 pumped upon again ; and Mrs. Whiskin disap- 
 peared altogether from Seaward House. 
 
 Had it, indeed, rested entirely with the amia- 
 ble Dr. Poynders, so much of the routine^ and 
 regimen of the school as was harsh, and mani- 
 festly injurious, would have been remodelled on 
 a plan dictated by his own kindness and wis- 
 dom. But the general rules of Seaward House 
 were laid down a century or two before, by the 
 well-intentioned, perhaps, but morose and stu- 
 pid old founders, whose crabbed notions of 
 school-thrift, the Doctor, I know, always con- 
 demned, and we never learned to bless them. 
 Their rough and peremptory discipline, it ia 
 true, was mitigated greatly in its (application by 
 
24 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 the good and discreet masters under whom we 
 lived at the house. But the statutes, blended 
 as they were with the terms of the foundation, 
 could not be substantially set aside by their 
 authority. The Rev. Dr. Poynders, who, as 
 head-master, presided in my time and for thirty 
 years before, made various attempts to melio- 
 rate and modernise the whole economy of the 
 school, but the trustees reminded him that the 
 tenure of the entire endowments would be 
 thereby endangered. All he could do was to 
 sway the iron sceptre with a gentle hand, con- 
 cealing its very form as much as possible. 
 
 Still, therefore, the system was rigid, and we 
 dreaded the school, so that the inky-blue or 
 slate-coloured complexion and hard features of 
 the heavy old mansion, as we caught sight of it 
 un4er black, lowering or cold scudding clouds, 
 when we returned from our Christmas holidays, 
 struck us with a sickening qualm — an undefined 
 feeling of dismay, arising from the consciousness 
 of a penal state of things then and there exist- 
 ing; nor could the bland, urbane smile of the 
 Doctor, who always received jis with careful 
 and paternal kindness in the hall, nor the duly 
 and truly reflected complacency of his demure, 
 melancholic assistant, Mr. Baldrey, banish the 
 pervading sensation of punishment, toil, and 
 
RETEOSPECTIVE HAPPINESS. 25 
 
 privation, wMch tte very shade and atmosphere 
 of the place occasioned. 
 
 And yet, what bliss to us would the worst 
 day ever known or heard of at Seaward House 
 have been considered in subsequent periods of 
 our lives ! Compared with what we afterwards 
 endured, all that we knew there was joy : when, 
 not a chance breeze of home discomfort, but a 
 bitter and 'continued, storm of calamity, biirst 
 upon us, unsheltered and unpitied; when de- 
 spair found a throne even in our youthful 
 bosonts; then we wondered tliat anything we 
 had known before could have afflicted us for a 
 moment. Hear it! believe it I and profit by 
 our costly experience, gentle reader. The time 
 came swiftly upon us, when, though released 
 from all government, from every prescribed 
 task and duty, misery settled down upon our 
 minds, relieved only by the cherished recollec- 
 tions of former tranquil days ; yes, some of our 
 fondest thoughts and remembrances — our hap- 
 piest dreams, transported us to the dark towers, 
 the dusky hall, and even the long school-room of 
 Seaward House, but not to the chalk-pits of the 
 waste adjoining. You may know, if you please, 
 from me, that which we did not find out time 
 enough for our safety, the cruel difference be- 
 tween the transient troubles and petty hardships 
 of home or school discipline, and the rude onset 
 
 B 8 
 
26 THE YOUNG ISLANDEES. 
 
 of wild adversity, that cares no more for the 
 cry of its victim than does a tiger for the scream 
 of a child. But, as I said, the dire experience 
 came swiftly upon us. Tempests of distress 
 overtook us, when the friends who would have 
 flown through tempests to our relief, could not 
 hear our wail. 
 
 Dr. Poynders and his chief assistant, Mr. Bal- 
 drey, were not only accomplished scholars, but 
 they were men of the most exemplary temper 
 and conduct in the management of their per- 
 verse and ungrateful charge. Official firmness 
 was not only guided by sound discretion, but it 
 was, as it were, invested by a habit of tender- 
 ness that ought to have won all our hearts. Of 
 this, our wakeful memories and our ripened 
 judgment convinced us when it was too late — 
 yes, TOO LATE to make them amends, or for ua 
 to escape the well-earned consequences of our 
 disobedience. I am aflicted at the thought 
 that those amiable men were not rewarded by 
 us with anything like the regard that was their 
 due. There was, undoubtedly, much that was 
 unfavourable in the forlorn spot occupied by 
 this free-school, and more in the obsolete rigour 
 of its discipline. But the wicked example and 
 corrupt influences of three or four profligate 
 youths, and other bad persons at hand, con- 
 stantly fomented our discontent, encouraging a 
 
ANGUISH AND EEMOKSE. 27 
 
 spirit of disobedience and of plotting that was 
 never really at rest. The Doctor's natural- 
 equanimity was seldom apparently disturbed, 
 though disappointment often sat upon his brow ; 
 but the desperate melancholy of Mr. Baldrey 
 acquired a depth of shadow daily, from the try- 
 ing position he occupied amongst us, and his 
 drooping raind, on one or two occasions, as I 
 remember, lost its balance entirely. Do not my 
 aged eyes, even now, fill with tears of affection 
 for their memory — tears of agony, too, for the 
 bitter end we procured them in return for all 
 their tenderness and their toil ! To think hovs 
 that hoary and venerable head, radiant witii 
 Christian goodness, was brought to the grave in 
 unexampled sorrow, whilst the consuming sad- 
 ness of Mr. Baldrey was suddenly driven on to 
 insanity and suicide by our fatal folly — ^my 
 heart, first rent by this aiiguish fifty years ago, 
 bursts again as I write ; but the dreadful truth 
 shall be written to the fiill. 
 
28 THE YOUNG 1SLANDEB3. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 T CAN distinctly call to mind the 5tli day of 
 -*- November, 1754. Scarcely a breath of air 
 sighed through the casements of Seaward 
 House. The unwilling- dawn slowly crept 
 forth, and very languidly pervaded a cold fog, 
 which .had hung, in silent discomfort, over sea 
 and land for many days. At six in the morn- 
 ing the school-bell rang as usual. Not at any 
 time content with simply waking us, and thereby 
 committing an undeniable breach of the peace 
 towards us, his Majesty's most quiet subjects, 
 then and there reposing; the said invidious, 
 querulous, and irritating tocsin always pelted' 
 our inner ears with its outrageous clamour for 
 fifteen minutes, yelling out its shrill "Get upl 
 get up ! get up !" until discontent ripened into 
 resentment at this barbarous state of desk and 
 satchel law, which, hearing no reason, observed 
 and knew no difference between 
 
 " Summer mornings, fair and bland. 
 And winter's — ^raw and dismal ;" 
 
 and compelled us, without either consent or 
 
A moening's routine. 29 
 
 compensation, to exchange the bliss of warm 
 blankets and sunny dreams, for the inclement 
 realities of outward circumstances. 
 
 Prayers ended, our usual fasting lessons were 
 recited, much in the tone, I fancy, of some 
 solemn recantation, or heavily laden confession. 
 Then we paced along three or four passages to 
 the eating-room, where milk-porridge and half- 
 bushel brown loaves awaited us. Breakfast 
 over, we had the luxury of a turn-out to the 
 play-ground, in which we could neither see nor 
 be seen, for the whelming fog. At eight o'clock 
 the same yapping tormentor summoned us to 
 our benches, when Greek and grief, slates and 
 sorrow, occupied us until tVelve. It happened, 
 however, that the morning I am now speaking 
 of passed away tranquilly, that is, without the 
 usual default on our parts, and consequent re- 
 proof or punishment on that of the tutors. 
 When the clock struck, and our accustomed 
 morning's business was completed, the worthy 
 Doctor stepped down from his desk, and whis- 
 pered with Mr. Baldrey, turning his mild gray 
 eye with much benignity upon us. There wfis 
 a momentary gleam upon the shadowy counte- 
 nance of Mr. Baldrey, as he received the com- 
 munication, and, with kindly acquiescence, he 
 elevated his lank, bony hand, to bespeak our 
 attention. We were in an instant as mute as a 
 
30 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 catacomb of mummies. The Doctor, now rais- 
 ing his glasses above his eyes, surveyed the 
 lads from class to class, with an amicable glance 
 carefully bestowed on each. " Boys 1" said the 
 venerable man, " you have not vexed us this 
 morning; you' have considered our cares and 
 feelings, and we thank you for it." "We looked 
 at each other. "Yes," he said, " Mr. Baldrey 
 and I thank you, at this time, and at all times 
 when you appear to regard our happiness by 
 remembering and performing your own duties ■ 
 when you do not punish vs, by requiring correc 
 tion from us. You have been true to your 
 selves, and just and kind to your tutors. The 
 rest of the day is your own ; but as I fear you 
 will find little amusement in the grounds, be- 
 cause of the weather, and as you must on no 
 account walk on the sands to-day, or leave the 
 premises at all, I have made some little prepara- 
 tion for an entertainment in the evening, which 
 indulgence has, I confess, for some time been in 
 reserve for an occasion like the present. I shall 
 not see you till seven, as I shall have friends 
 dining with ine to-day ; so good-bye till then : 
 make yourselves as happy as you can." 
 
 0, how our hearts leaped I There was but a 
 
 ^moment of silence. The next instant there was 
 
 a general buzz of thanks, with clapping of hands. 
 
 [ noticed — ah ! how have I tortured my memory 
 
MR. BALDEEY IN A NEGATIVE STATE. 31 
 
 to renew that image ! — I noticed that, as the 
 Doctox opened the door to depart, he lingered, 
 as if to prolong the satisfaction of perusing our 
 glad faces ; and, before he withdrew, he leaned 
 his head aside whilst the door was in his hand, 
 Eeader, it was the venerable master of Seaward 
 House, Dr. Emanuel Poynders, who thus bene 
 volently, yet thoughtfully, gazed upon us : we 
 never saw him more. O that the sad and soiled 
 tablet of my memory could be for once cleared, 
 and so far renewed, that that faint but precious 
 delineation might be restored ! 
 
 The lads now clustered round Mr. Baldrej^, 
 and endeavoured to procure from him a spark 
 of light as to the nature and materials of the 
 proposed treat. But he was a perfect non-con- 
 ductor, arid remained amicably deaf alike to our 
 c[uestions and conjectures. He laid his long 
 finger by the side of his longer nose, and looked 
 negatively oracular; that was all. The faint 
 smile occasioned by our excitement passed 
 away, and gave place immediately to his 
 habitual expression of patient suffering; he 
 heaved his accustomed deep-drawn sigh, which 
 was answered by a slight one from the tall win- 
 dow, as he opened the door to withdraw. I did 
 not observe him more particularly. There was 
 no reason, that I then knew ofj for so doing ; but 
 [ do remember the sound of his feet, anil bi? 
 
S2 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 slow, measured step, as Ue paced the echoiug 
 stone passage. That, too, was the last that we 
 ever saw or heard of Mr. Daniel Baldreyl We 
 passed the hour till one, in uproarious merri- 
 ment, in the school-room : our dinner was served 
 by the housekeeper and junior assistants. 
 
 My dear young reader, take a word of ad- 
 monition in passing, from the stranger who 
 pens this tale for your benefit. ! do any 
 thing, endure anything, rather than plant the 
 envenomed thorn of self-reproach in your bo- 
 soms. Be assured that there is no accuser so 
 implacable as conscience, which, indeed, can 
 know nothing of forgiveness ; for how can you 
 ask yourself to forgive yourself the wrong done 
 to others? and especially should the charge of 
 this merciless witness include that of ingratitude 
 to persons whose hearts, broken by your ill- 
 usage, have sunk unsolaced into the grave- 
 should your secret thoughts, over-ruling all 
 excuses, convict you of returning evil for good, 
 of repaying toil and tenderness by neglect or 
 injury, then you may be glad to exchange those 
 pangs of the mind for the writhing limbs of any 
 mere bodily sufferer. Mind this, that the sen- 
 tence of self-condemnation, slowly and reluctantly 
 but irrevocably pronounced from within, will, 
 as long as you have any moral life in you, ring 
 n Your ears : it is a sentence that admits of no 
 
A COSY CORNER. 33 
 
 reversal, remission, or commutatiou Wlieu God 
 has forgiven you, repentance must still go on. 
 Many a strong mind, that could have set bodily 
 pain at defiance — ^that could have stretched 
 forth a limb to be consumed in the flames — has 
 sunk under the perpetual agony of one barbed 
 wound, inflicted by memory on the soull 
 Hasten, then, with generous promptitude, to 
 surprise with joy those who may be weeping in 
 despair of you. They have often forborne to 
 chide ; they will never forbear to pardon you. 
 To-morrow it may be too late. Death may have 
 closed their lips. Your conscience, then, will 
 find them a tongue of fire ! 
 
 We had dined as usual. When the tables 
 were drawn, we crowded to the hearth, on 
 which was erected a genial pile of embers, com- 
 posed of old ship timber, of which there was 
 seldom any lack at Seaward House. We 
 warmed ourselves, and capered round the room 
 by turns — ^reasonably riotous — as soon as the 
 under teachers, Messrs. Twig and Slater, had 
 left us. We listened once and again for any 
 distant pulsations of their footsteps. All was 
 silent ; so we ransacked the wood-place, and re- 
 built the fire at our discretion : I don't know 
 that the Doctor would have rebuked us for do- 
 ing so, but certainly the ushers would. There 
 was soon a glorious blaze. The old windows 
 
34 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 glistened and reflected cheerily the tall, dancing 
 flame : we were warm ; there was to be no 
 school ; unknown joys were promised for the 
 evening; we were our own masters in the 
 mean time, and we almost forgot it was Sea- 
 ward House 1 
 
 In the course of an hour or two, our energies, 
 corresponding with those of the fire, subsided 
 a little. Clamorous hilarity was succeeded by 
 the moderate buzz and hum. of our fifty voices, 
 now reduced to a low conversation tone. The 
 red light of the glowing fire was reflected from 
 pur sapient face's, and some of us began to muse 
 or to doze. 
 
 We now began to be in that state of inoccu- 
 pation that is often the chosen moment of the 
 tempter, who lost not his opportunity on this 
 occasion. Something like silence amOngst us 
 had ensued, when we thpught we heard the 
 sound as of a stick or a stone, lightly striking 
 a pane of the great western window. "We held 
 our very breath, and a low, significant whistle 
 was three times repeated. We all turned our 
 eyes to the windows, and perceived, not witnout 
 a shrug of alarm, the form as of some one's 
 head, bobbing up and down at the high case- 
 ment. It seemed like the effort of a person 
 jumping up from the ground to look in. The 
 name of Grimsby at first went round in a whis- 
 
CBAB CRAWLBT'S BAIT. 35 
 
 per, and this sent half the boys to the opposite 
 end of the room. But the most courageous of 
 us kept looking, and presently beheld a fixed 
 visage at one of the lowest panes, whose snig- 
 gering, grinning mouth and imperfect teeth 
 were soon recognised as Crab Crawley's. 
 " What can he want — what can Crab' Crawley 
 want?" some of us now asked of each other, 
 with feelings not destitute of anxiety. Seeing 
 that he had gained our attention, the boy let go 
 his hold, probably a difficult one, and disap 
 peared. At the same tii&e a shred of papei 
 drifted through the casement, on which was 
 scrawled — " Go into the garden, and you will see 
 what you never saw before P'' We once more 
 heard his whistle, and a snuf&ing, chuckling, 
 but half-suppressed laugh, peculiar to hijjj.self. 
 
 As this wicked boy, notwithstanding the 
 peremptory orders of Dr. Poynders to the con- 
 trary, clandestinely supplied many of the lada 
 with fruit and toys, and was the bearer of vari- 
 ous unlawful notes and messages besides, his 
 customers, who were more than half the school, 
 immediately sallied, forth ; and the remainder, 
 urged by curiosity, or not liking to be left be- 
 hind, soon followed. They crept down the 
 garden-path, with little noise, towards the old 
 hole in ihe wall, at the farther end, where the 
 business of transgression was commonly carried 
 
66 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 on. Those of us who were not of this first 
 party, contented ourselves with looking about 
 to discover the something remarkable that had 
 b^en hinted at ; but nothing could we see but 
 the fog. We all now found ourselves at the 
 old summer-house, but there was nothing more 
 than usual discernible within or without ; nor 
 could Crab Crawley be found, and we supposed 
 that the mist had baffled us, and perhaps him. 
 "We therefore stood and listened, but we heard 
 nothing but the murmur of the gently rising 
 tide. "Whilst the lads were discussing their 
 wonder, and some of them suggested that it was 
 only a gamesome trick of Crawley's, though we 
 never knew him turn his mind to fun before, 
 we heard his whistle again, coming from the 
 north side. We crossed over, and now pro- 
 ceeded, though with diminished eagerness, up 
 by that north wall, expecting to find the boy 
 concealed among the shrubs; but though we 
 looked with all our eyes, and some ventured to 
 whisper his name. Crab Crawley could not be 
 found; but as we continued our comfortless 
 walk, and were making up our minds to return 
 to the house, we did indeed perceive, on look- 
 ing towards the wall, that which we never saw 
 before — the old gate standing wide open 1 And 
 what of that ? you may ask : what was there to 
 see? — an open doorway in an old wall, and n 
 
A DILEMMA. 37 
 
 vacant view out of the fog in the garden, into 
 the fog in the waste ground beyond — yes, that 
 was all ! 
 
 B\it, alas ! we had two or three hours on our 
 hands, and the temptation was irresistible, on 
 the part of some of the boys, to peep and step 
 forth, and on our parts to follow, and with 
 them to transgress! "Who could have opened 
 the gate ? I dare say Crawley knows : well, 
 we all know we did not. Dear me, the ground 
 is not nearly so bad as they say." So we talked 
 and crept along, huddling together like other 
 sinners, afraid, though no one pursued; and 
 like fools also, transgressing without an object. 
 Where were we? We could not have pro- 
 ceeded more than thii-ty or forty yards from the 
 garden-wall outwards; yet, when we looked, 
 we could see nothing of it, and could barely 
 discern the ghostly form of the old house, 
 whose five peaks were faintly outlined against 
 the gray mist. The sensible question now Went 
 round — what did we want, and what were we 
 going to do ? Do you know that fifty -two per- 
 sons, none of whom, I believe, thought them- 
 selves stupid, could not supply an answer; nor 
 had those fifty-two persons sense enough to 
 oause for one, or to turn back for want of it 1 
 Conscience, reason, and even comfort said — 
 Return! return! return! But no; John Bouse 
 
 4 
 
38 THE YOlTNa ISLANDERS. 
 
 would see where that path, or ridge of chalk, 
 led to, crooked as it was; and the rest were 
 pc[ually disposed to gain information. It was 
 soon afforded ; for, at the next step, half the 
 lads lost their footing, and were duly flounder- 
 ing in one of the pits, of which we had heard so 
 much, and, but the moment before, thought so 
 little I 
 
 No bones were broken, to be sure ; but such 
 a splash in whitewash, and such a scramble in 
 a soapy basin, we had never known before. 
 We rolled, and tumbled, and drew in after us 
 our companions, who extended their arms for 
 our aid. It must be confessed that we all be- 
 haved with the utmost coolness during this . 
 affair; but, notwithstanding all that was ludi- 
 ■ crous in our situation, we laughed scarcely at 
 all, not even when we had succeeded in gaining 
 the other side of the bank, which was somewhat 
 less precipitous than that which had betrayed 
 us. There we stood — white enough to be seen 
 even in a fog — our faces pale with consterna- 
 tion to correspond. Then we found some strains 
 and bruises, to give variety to our condition, 
 ind a few of the lads were yet in a sitting pos- 
 ture, condoling with knees and elbows. We 
 aow fell to, with handkerchiefs and tufts of 
 .grass, to wipe and rub each other down, in 
 neighbourly fashion, in doing which, I believe, 
 
THE END NOT YET. 39 
 
 we made tlie matter worse ; for we seemed to 
 grow whiter and whiter as we continued the 
 process. Well, we could not help it ; and now 
 all our thoughts were bent on making good our 
 retreat. With fear and difficulty we edged our 
 way round the pit, and regained the ridge by 
 which we came — a quivering, panting, discom- 
 fited crew, we re-trod our tniant steps, wishing 
 the old door had been as fixed as the wall, be- 
 fore we had ever passed it. Alas ! the ruefiil 
 thought had scarcely found utterance, when we 
 found it so, to our dismay. The heavy door 
 had, by some means, been shut to, close to the 
 woodwork round it, which held it immovably 
 whilst there was neither hasp nor handle 
 wherewith to attempt the task of pulling it 
 towards us! 
 
 We called, with the utmost energy consistent 
 with discretion, on Tom Tideyman, a good- 
 tempered old jobber, who was always some- 
 where on the premises, but no one answered. 
 Braving all consequences, the worst of which 
 we deemed to be the dusting of all our jackets 
 by the canes of the ushers, we now set up a 
 unanimous shout; but being close under the 
 wall, which here was some considerable dis- 
 tance from the house, and the family and ser- 
 vants occupying the farther.side of the mansion, 
 a faint echo, only, was returned from therica 
 
40 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 We felt now a thrill of despair, and were paid 
 thereby the first instalment of suffering earned 
 by our disobedience. We repeated the cry, but 
 were only answered as before, and by the 
 rustling of the contented old fig-tree against the 
 wall on the other side; we envied that same 
 fig-tree its home privileges just then ; yes, and 
 we longed, for the first time, to be safe and sound 
 in the school-room at Seaward House: we 
 longed in vain; but to gain our object if 
 possible, we determined to try the ruined wall 
 at the end of the garden, and glided like gob- 
 lins thither. But when we had, with much 
 difficulty, turned the corner, and scaled the 
 sprawling old buttress that supported it, we 
 found that the ground was a steep declivity 
 from its foundations, and this rendered the wall, 
 as it was intended to be, quite inaccessible. 
 
 Our first hope, when we began to retreat, that 
 we should regain our school-hearth unobserved, 
 and there be able to dry, rub, and brush our 
 clothes, so as to pass muster by candlelight in 
 the evening, was now at an end, and our next 
 and solemn concern was for our actual safety 
 during the night. To be sure it was then only 
 about three o'clock in the afternoon, and, 
 though the fog became more and more con- 
 founding, it was not yet dark. Was there, you 
 will ask, no way round to the front or side 
 
A COUNCIL CONVENED. 41 
 
 entrances of the. house or grounds? None 
 whatever, that we were aware of; and we all 
 now reproached Crawley in the bitterest terms 
 of sorrow and anger : and we also, -calling to 
 mind the threat he had uttered, agreed that he 
 had now accomplished the revenge he studied. 
 We were wrong there. A night in the chalk- 
 pits was not the requital the spiteful wretxih 
 intended us, the involuntary spectators of his 
 depredations on the pedlar's basket. 
 
 We now called a council under the walls, and 
 at length came to the prudent decision — ^the 
 best, perhaps, that could be adopted under the 
 circumstances — that it would be most expedient 
 to regain our situation by the closed gate, and 
 there wait till called for, like other commodities 
 of little value. This awkward period,' we were 
 aware, might last two hours, or more; for we 
 were, no doubt, considered all safe by our tu- 
 tors ; or if missed from the school-room by the 
 teachers, should not, at all as a matter of course, 
 be followed by them into the grounds, which 
 were known to be well fenced in on every side. 
 So there we stood, crowding under the wall, 
 and exactly on that side of it which we had so 
 often wished to see. There was muttering, 
 sparring, sobbing, and consultation, all^oing on 
 at once amongst us. I observed that two oi 
 
 three of the lads, who generally companionized 
 
 4* 
 
42- THE YOUNG ISI ANDERS. 
 
 together, expressed no surprise •when the gate 
 was found open ; but they were evidently discon- 
 certed at finding it closed. We could hear the 
 name of Crawley most frequently on the lips 
 of these lads. 
 
 It now went round pretty freely amongst us, 
 that the door had been both opened ai^ shut by 
 that crafty delinquent, and we resolved that he 
 should have his turn in the chalk-pits, if we 
 could accomplish it. Scarcely was this idle 
 threat uttered, when a sniggering chuckle was 
 heard close at hand, and the creeping, spidery, 
 splayfooted fellow, hopped up from an unper- 
 ceived hole, almost at our very feet. We 
 started back, with bristling scalps; for there 
 was always something in the sudden appearance 
 of this forbidding boy that induced the sort of 
 feeling that a reptile in our path might have 
 occasioned. Besides, some of us thought more 
 than was pleasant of Grimsby, who had been 
 known to emerge from about the same locality. 
 Crawley, however, when recognised, was soon 
 in communication with his party, who clustered 
 around him. The others fell back, at first ; but 
 we were soon beckoned to join the knot with 
 whom the management of our affairs seemed to 
 lie. "What does Crawley say?" we inquired. 
 "He wants to know what we are all standing 
 here for ; and why you don't knock him into 
 
CKAB CRAWLEY 3ETTING FORWARD. 4S 
 
 Grrimsby's-^grip ?'' Our hair stood on end. 
 " Come on, come on," said the wretch, standing 
 up to us akimbo ; " knock Crawley in, and then 
 come and see whether the crabs have got him !" 
 
 The best and the worst of us were then 
 nearly enough subdued for his purpose, and he 
 saw it ; but now adopting a tone of voice that 
 seemed placated and reasonable, and so differ- 
 ent as to sound like that of another individual, 
 he said, " Come, now, what will you say to Crab 
 Crawley if he shows you the way out?" "] 
 will tell you when we are out," said Wathan 
 Prout. " Show us the way m, and I will say 
 something to you," said Charles Melton. Philip 
 Aylmer, a little lad, of whom I shall tell you 
 more presently, grasped me tight, and whis- 
 pered, " Miles, Miles Selwyn, don't go with 
 him ; I am sure Jacob Crawley looks dreadfully 
 wicked — ^the Doctor will certainly send for us ; 
 and I am sure he will forgive us ; you know he 
 always does, when we ask him." I thought the 
 dear lad's words were wise and good, and wish 
 that, at least, he and I together could have mus 
 tered resolution to act accordingly. 
 
 Some others of the boys who were of oui 
 usual way of thinking about Crawley, now 
 joined us, but they did not aid our councils ; 
 they rather waited, till the Crawleyites had set- 
 tled the matter, before they resolved what to 
 
44 THE YOUNG ISLANDEES. 
 
 do. At length Sam Coble stepped forward from 
 their party, and said, " Crawley knows twenty 
 ways of getting out ; yes, and of getting in too, 
 if you don't mind going under-ground a step or 
 two." " Under-ground ! under-grou.ud 1" 
 said Aylmer, clasping me tight again. "I 
 don't much like to go under-ground yet," said 
 John Upjohn. "Nor I neither," said Tim 
 Tayspill. "Well then, keep where you are, 
 and we are off," said Mark Mummery. " Yes," 
 said John Eouse, " and mind, in ten minutes we 
 shall be round at the house, and give informa- 
 tion that you are off; they will never look for 
 you at the pit-side, you know." 
 
 Crawley, who had before disappeared from 
 our view, now whistled, and the boys moved 
 after him in a body, leaving only four of us 
 under the wall. The natural gregarious in- 
 stinct of human nature indnced us to spring af- 
 ter them ; and it was not without a great effort 
 that we got and kept within the yard or two 
 needful to have an eye on them in the fog. If 
 we had had more time for reflection, we should 
 have felt more dread and suspicion at the course 
 we were taking ; but as it was, we pushed on 
 aller them, and "follow my leader" was the 
 game of the hour. 
 
 We soon gained, by Crawley's guidance, 
 sort of beiten t^ack. We traversed it rapidly 
 
A KAY OF HOPE. 45 
 
 and found that it descended to a narrow fissure 
 or cut, in the chalky soil, which deepened so 
 fast, that we had soon high impending walls on 
 each side overhead, and the gloom increased 
 unpleasantly. We ran down with impatience 
 and impetuosity, though we could scarcely see 
 a yard before us ; and how were we relieved 
 to find ourselves, in five minutes, emerging in- 
 to comparative daylight again, and on the open 
 sands under the cliff I Here we had often walked 
 with our tutors, but never knew before of that 
 curious and near access to the shore, ^e knew, 
 now, every inch of our way, and were aware 
 that we had nothing to do but to turn a corner 
 of the cliff, at less than a quarter of a mile dis- 
 tance, and proceeding by the wharf and the 
 village, make our way into the road leading to 
 Seaward House, by a side-door of which we 
 thought it again possible that we might regain 
 our school-room unobserved. 
 
 We did not find the run on the sands quite so 
 agreeable as usual, on account of the mist ; but 
 we could' just see the tall cliffs close on our 
 right hand, whilst we heard the sea distinctly 
 enough on our left. " Now what do you think 
 of Crawley, poor fellow?" said Sam Coble; 
 "if it had not been for him, we should have 
 been moping still under that garden-wall." "I 
 suppose so," said Nat Prout; ''and if it had 
 
i6 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 not been for him, we should have sung Iry oai 
 wood fire all the time." " Ah, that is just what 
 I think," said Aylmer. " Well, you know you 
 are safe now, don't you ?" said Johnny Eouse. 
 "Safe for a good caning, depend on that," 
 added Jerry Dolman. 
 
 Meantime the sea rolled nearer, as we could 
 tell by the sounds ; and I began to suspect that 
 some trick was intended by means of the rising 
 tide. But Crawley kept pushing on ahead of 
 us ; so there I was wrong again, to be sure. He 
 whistled and beckoned us forward, and we 
 mended our pace, so that we soon arrived at 
 the wharf, or pier, which helped to form a little 
 harbour, near the village. On the opposite side 
 of this harboxir stood a solitary public-house, 
 called "The Eoy-boat," whence proceeded the 
 mingled sounds of sailors' revelry and songs. 
 At the pier steps there lay to, moored by a 
 rope, a small trading-vessel, which, though very 
 near ua, was only just discernible by the eye ; 
 but w- could hear the ripple of the water at her 
 bow», und the slight flapping in the wind of the 
 pennon at her mast-head. And now the wild 
 f-'iorus from "The Foy-boat" swelled amain— 
 
 non it sank to the lowest cadence of exhauste(? 
 
 ungs, and was followed by the thundering 
 clamour of applause by hands and feet. " What 
 ■1 noise they make !— what is it all about?" some 
 
CRAB CRAWLEY STILL PROGRESSING. 47 
 
 of US inquired. "They are the crew of thai 
 vessel, " The Qolightly, of London," whispered 
 Crawley ; " they are at their fifth-of-Noveinbers, 
 and have left their ship without a soul on board." 
 
 There was a significant emphasis on the sen- 
 tence containing this last particular; and the 
 words were repeated by Crawley, until he saw 
 that a new temptation had begun to operate 
 with some of us. He paused, and then added, 
 with the apparent animation of a sudden 
 thought, " Let us step over the plank, and have 
 a prance round the deck ; run below, and have 
 a warm by the cabin fire; then, up and begone; 
 and you may be home and at your Greek again, 
 if you like, all in half-an-hour." " To be sure, 
 to be sure ; certainly we may ; it is not late ; 
 the Doctor has only just sat down to dinner." 
 "Yes, come aboard," added Crawley; "and I 
 will mop the chalk off your clothes, if you 
 like." 
 
 " Capital thought that ! — was not this unfor- 
 tunate youth both clever and kind, after all ?"^- 
 " Why should we not do as Crawley said ?" — 
 was the inquiry of more tongues than a few. 
 The conscience of each of us, but the lips of one 
 only, Nathan Prout, supplied the obvious an- 
 swer ; " We ought not to do so ;" because, in the 
 first place, there was an express statute, enacted 
 for our own safety and welfare, forbidding the 
 
48 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 scholars to go, at all, on board of any boat, or 
 other vessel ; and because, again, Dr. Poynders, 
 the head master, had, but an hour before, with 
 the breath of kindness, as well as of authority, 
 required us to remain at home that day. But 
 before these excellent reasons could have been 
 given in words, the wretched tempter, with his 
 miserable temptation, had drawn the chief of 
 the party across the plank — ^followed, alas ! by 
 those of us who, in general, were better disposed, 
 and who would have done no such thing, had 
 they been left to themselves. 
 
 It is amazing that persons who would think 
 it a most grievous hardship to work for nothing, 
 will toil in their disobedience without pay, and 
 be contented enough. If the most forward lads 
 in this day's transgression had been sent, as a 
 matter of duty and business, from the comforts 
 of a blazing hearth, to wade through the mire 
 and the fog, to traverse the chalk-pits, to pro- 
 ceed along the sands, in danger from the tide, 
 and to deliver some needful message on board 
 that vessel — there would have been complaints, 
 dismay, and, perhaps, neglect also. All this, 
 however, we did, against command, just to 
 please ourselves. The jettee steps were wet and 
 slippery, and the board that bridged our path 
 was weak and deceitful ; for, by its unexpected 
 elasticity, it nearly tossed Philip Aylmer and 
 
\ THE CATASTROPHE IMPENDING. 49 
 
 me into the water, when relieved of those going 
 before. The Qolightly received her uninvited 
 visitors with scarcely a flutter of the streamers 
 at her top. We ran to and fro about the deck, 
 and tumbled over sundry wares and tackle in 
 so doing. That we did not mind ; but bustled 
 about in search of an object for our visit ; we 
 clung to the wet and tarry ropes — climbed up a 
 yard or two — got astride of the casks, and so 
 on. Then some of us looked down, and, seeing 
 the dull red light of the cabin fire, went below, 
 rather creepiiigly to be sure, for we had the true 
 fears of malefactors about us. But Crawley 
 was right ; there was not a soul to be seen. 
 
 The little stifled place smelt most offensively 
 of fish-oil, liquor, "and tobacco. There wero 
 sailors' wet garments, too, drying before the 
 stove. Young Ibbotson now thought he should 
 like to see ' himself in one of those rough blue 
 jackets which he and others of us tried on in 
 succession. On deck there was an open tub of 
 various fish, into which Isaac Inman had nearly 
 fallen. That afforded a little momentary amuse- 
 ment, which seemed to complete the whole en 
 tertainment of the evening. So, as time and 
 daylight were going, and as the worst of us were 
 now content with having accomplished a com 
 pound fracture of the laws of Seaward House, we 
 contented ourselves with warming our fingers 
 c 6 
 
60 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 once more at the declining fire, whilst those 
 above capered again round the deck. "And 
 now we are off," was the hurried cry of the 
 party. " Crawley 1 Crawley I where are you, 
 Crawley ? Let us be going — where can he be ? 
 I dare say he is on the pier, looking out. Never 
 mind, let us go." So we crowded up the ladder ; 
 but, in so doing, five or six of us most unac- 
 countably lost our balance, all at once, and fell 
 aside against the rail I There was a sort of ex- 
 clamation on deck, at the same time, and a mu- 
 tual chiding for that which none could help. 
 The next instant we were all thrown with some 
 violence in the opposite direction, and we rent 
 the air, whilst we screamed — "We are at 
 
 SEAI we ABE AT SEA'i" 
 
THE CATASTROPHE. 61 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 WHAT do you think of that, young gentle- 
 men? The fact was, as I afterwards 
 learned, that Crawley had no sooner succeeded 
 in getting all his victims on board The Oolightly, 
 than he leaped out unobserved, and, according 
 to the plan long laid, he cast loose the rope by 
 which she was moored to the wharf, and thus 
 set the vessel adrift under a slight land breeze, 
 which insensibly bore her into open water. The 
 wind then rather freshened, and hummered 
 amongst the rigging. The Oolightly, as much 
 her own manager, now, as her wild young crew 
 ever desired to be, wheeled about as she turned 
 the pier-head, and making her last courtesy to 
 the land, swung again round to the wind ; and 
 now, being without the stay orguidance of sails 
 and helm, she pitched and rolled, and got into 
 the trough of the sea. Her keel then caught 
 "The Hook," as it was called — an angle of rock 
 that was always visible at low water; and a? 
 The -Oolightly struggled with this entanglement, 
 she shook from her sides thirteen of her fated young 
 intruders f Their shriek rings in my ear even 
 
52 THE TOUSG ISLANDERS. 
 
 now ; yet it was soon hushed, and nothing was 
 heard but the hissing of the recumbent wave, 
 which crouched for an instant, ere with renewed _ 
 fury it mounted the ship's side for its fur thei 
 prey, and sweeping over the deck, carried away 
 nine more of our number, without time for a 
 prayer, or even for a cry 1 
 
 Had the vessel remained there a few minutes 
 longer, we should all have shared the same fate, 
 and the tale of Miles Selwyn would never have 
 seen the light ; but the still rising tide, and the 
 force of the wave, presently lifted the vessel 
 from the rock; then again she wheeled and 
 rolled, but was no longer broken over by the 
 sea, and she drifted away gaily, under the di- 
 rection of the wind, with her wretched company 
 of helpless youths on board ! 
 
 The surge, that had swept away our compan- 
 ions,, left us prostrate, and almost senseless, on 
 the deck. With the mere instinct of life, we 
 huddled together, and grasped whatever was at 
 hand. Drenched, and gasping for breath, our 
 cries were nearly silenced, and we felt as if all 
 was over with us. I suppose a kind of stupor 
 succeeded the giddiness and the nausea, in- 
 creased, no doubt, by the cold of that dreadful 
 night. I am sure it was the case with me. I 
 had, I think, fallen down the hatchway ; for, m 
 the morning, when I woke, I found myself in 
 
THE SEQUEL. 58 
 
 the hold of the vessel, with my head wedged 
 between two casks, which, but for a cheese thai 
 had also rolled between them, would probably 
 have ended my sufferings then. At first I was 
 by no means persuaded that my situation was 
 not a desperate dream. I rubbed my eyes, and 
 attempted to get on my feet, but was soon down 
 again ; the see-saw and the roll soon undeceived 
 me. I was not — no, I was not in my snug bed 
 at Seaward House. I was far away from school, 
 from England, and from aid: doomed, in all 
 probability, to a speedy or, if not, t& a lingering 
 and more dreadful death. I called the names 
 of several of my companions. At length a feeble 
 cry proceeded from a corner of the hold where 
 I lay ; it was the voice of poor Philip Aylmer, 
 a very weakly child, and a cripple. He called 
 his parents amid broken sobs, then his brothers, 
 and his sister Amy. I spoke to him : " 0, 
 Philip, do you know where we are ?" He nur- 
 mured some reply that was inarticulate. 
 I Again I attempted to rise, but my brain 
 whirled, .and my limbs, cramped and cold, failed 
 strangely under me. Never till then had I risen 
 with anxiety, pain, or any real trouble. There 
 had always been a broad shield between me and 
 any storm before. Now a tempest of horror beat 
 upon me, without protection, mercy, or hope, that 
 I could discern I Pardon me, gentle reader, that 
 
54 THE YOUNG ISLANDEE3. 
 
 my own tears of agony have filled my pen for a 
 moment I crawled upon deck, and thought, as 
 I first raised my head above it, that all my com- 
 panions had perished ; but that was not the 
 case. It was a breezy morning, and there was 
 only a thin mist on the surface of the sea; The 
 stars shone brightly, where they were not ex- 
 tinguished by the dawn. The dark shadowy 
 wave was crested sparingly with tufts of foam ; 
 and the vessel, with her side to the wind, sur- 
 mounted the watery ridges with a corresponding 
 undulatory motion; not, however, at present of 
 a violent kind. 
 
 Half dead with cold and sea -sickness, the lads 
 lay some here and there on the deck ; others 
 were heaped on each other in the cabin, which 
 had shipped a quantit3r_of water, and afforded 
 lodging scarcely less inclement than that above. 
 In attempting to descend, I was not yet sailor 
 enough to keep my footing, and fell heavily upon 
 some of them. The first voice that accosted me 
 was that of Nat Prout, a lad of whose singularly 
 3xcellent qualities of mind I knew little before. 
 He had no relations to fret after, or to fret after 
 him, and if he had, I believe he would have 
 made short work of a whimpering-bout that 
 could have done no good. " Ah ! Selwyn," said 
 the lad, getting briskly on his feet, " is that 
 ^ou ? — where have you been all night ?" 
 
51 
 
 " Down among the tubs," said I ; " but how 1 
 got there I don't know." 
 
 "Then I can tell you," said Prout; "for you 
 and I tumbled down together ; and I think we 
 dragged young Aylmer in after us. I did not 
 know what business you had there, but I knew 
 *hat I had none ; and I directly scrambled out. 
 Where is poor Aylmer now ?" " Where I left 
 him, and dead by this time, I fear," said I. 
 
 Prout reproached me with a look more severe, 
 and even contemptuous, than I thought I de- 
 served, or than I supposed his pale, genteel, 
 oval face was equal to. " Come," said he, " you 
 once took the crippled fellow's part, and knocked 
 a boy down that insulted him ; that was the only 
 good thing I ever saw you do. Do another 
 now, and help him out, with me. He is the 
 only one that cannot help himself if he likes. Sel- 
 wyn," added Prout, in a lowej tone, " this is all 
 Crawley's doing. At the same time, there are 
 five or six fellows down in that cabin that have 
 got no more than they deserve." 
 
 I had not Prout's nerve and self-possession. 
 He had, too, the advantage of me in that hour 
 of misery, by being free from sea-sickness, and 
 having no lacerated affections to subdue him. 
 Besides this, he was nearly two years older, or 
 about sixteen years of age, and had a lithesome, 
 elastic frame, with a steady buoyancy of spirit. 
 
56 THE YOUNG ISLANDEKS. 
 
 fitted foi any casualty in life. I felt that Front 
 
 was my superior, and I readily obeyed him as 
 
 Buch. 
 
 - " Where do you think we are ?" said I, as we 
 
 gained the deck. 
 
 " At aea, to be sure ; can't you see the water? 
 — Selwyn," added Prout, fixing his eye on one 
 dark corner of the hold, " there lies your little 
 friend, Philip Aylmer, and he is dead enough I" 
 
 I now pushed before Prout, and dropped 
 down among the barrels and bales of goods. 
 Nathan was quite right ; Aylmer was stiff and 
 cold. In justice to Miles Selwyn, though he 
 writes it himself, let it be added that, at the 
 time I heard his voice, I was as nearly as possi- 
 ble un-sensed myself, and was wholly incapable 
 of thought and activity. Prout now acknowl- 
 edged this, and generously shared the blame, 
 whatever it was, by saying — " Well, I left him 
 before you did ; but what could we do for one 
 - another, when we could not help ourselves ?" 
 
 Philip Aylmer was a most interesting and 
 amiable lad, above twelve years of age. He 
 was very small, and was always pallid, weak, 
 and ailing — maladies occasioned by a bulging 
 -^spine, that rapidly increased upon him. His 
 hands and arms were long, and his lower limbs 
 were very diminutive. He had a face partaking 
 of the expression common to deformed persons; 
 
PHILIP AYliMEE. 67 
 
 a mouth somewhat large, with full and promi- 
 nent teeth ; but eyes of uncommon intelligence 
 lit up his countenance, and gave it a more than 
 compensaljing degree of interest. He was habit- 
 ually pensive and reserved ; but his mental and 
 moral sensibilities were exceedingly active^ del- 
 icate, and acute. When kindness, justice, or 
 honour were concerned, he would, at times, dis- 
 play sudden bursts of energy that surprised us 
 all. Poor little Philip was, of course, the butt 
 of the ill-disposed portion of the school, and had 
 learned with dumb fortitude to endure excruci 
 ation of mind, when the cruel jibe went round. 
 His sufferings, at these times, would be signified 
 only by a twitching up of one corner of his 
 mouth. I knocked down two boys on his be ■ 
 half, at different times ; and Prout broke out 
 two front teeth of a third, during a momentary 
 paroxysm . of indignant feeling at the insults 
 offered to the lad. On one occasion Philip him- 
 self floored a mumming fool so instantaneously 
 as to electrify us all. He twitched up both cor- 
 ners of his mouth at the instant, but the minute 
 after, he asked the lubber's pardon, with tears in 
 his eyes 1 
 
 His- gratitude for the championship of his 
 
 more athletic defenders was boundless; not that 
 
 he much liked seeing even his persecutors pun- 
 
 isted; but the very idea of protection, arising 
 
 c* 
 
58 THE TOtJNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 from the sympatiiy of others, filled his gcDeroua 
 little heart with emotion. He would follow me 
 like my shadow; and to this circumstance alone ia 
 to be attributed his fatal movement from the Sea- 
 ward garden. Dear fellow, his ready wit served 
 the turn of my unreadiness many a time, and thus 
 ne fully repaid my small services. Yet his re- 
 partee was seldom exercised on his own account. 
 Sometimes, even now, his expressive upturned 
 face will glide across the shadowed scenery of 
 a dream, but I scarcely can recall it, otherwise, 
 by any effort. 
 
 Prout and I, with much difficulty, drew the 
 body out "from between the packages in the 
 hold, where it was bent almost double. His 
 little hands were clenched, and his teeth set, as 
 if he had perished from cold. We stood some 
 time fixed like statues over the corpse, which 
 was the first Prout had ever seen. " Let us 
 go," said he, at length, rather abruptly ; and we 
 regained the deck at a spring. There a new 
 scene awaited us. It was nothing less than the 
 sudden discharge upwards of the cabin inmates, 
 with a velocity as great, apparently, as if they 
 had been shot out of a volcano. The boys 
 seemed not to touch the rail, the ladder, or even 
 the deck itself; but to be borne above on the 
 mere wings of terror, which, in fact, urged 
 them to the very brink of the vessel at the far- 
 
AN APPARITION. 59 
 
 tlier end. There, when they found breath, they 
 kept pointing to the cabin, and screaming, 
 " There he is ! There he is !" 
 
 The general impression below stairs, no 
 doubt, was that of supernatural beings, and a 
 supernatural state of things about them. The 
 actual cause of the fright was, himself, not less 
 in an agony of terror than the flight bf young 
 bird's so suddenly unroosted. On directing our 
 optics downward) Prout and I saw the distended 
 glowing orbs, the gasping mouth, and palpita- 
 ting cheeks, of a thickly clothed, broad and 
 short man, who, down on his knees on the cabin 
 floor, still glared upwards after the flying squad- 
 ron, and in a voice between a snarl and a growl, 
 but much broken for want of breath, he poured 
 forth his deprecatory oration. As soon as he 
 saw our pale faces, he again shrunk bac'k into 
 the shades of his den ; but when we withdrew, 
 he also sought the upper regions, and gaining 
 tbe deck, was saluted by such a yell of fright 
 from twenty throats, at least, as sent him down 
 again in a moment, without a word of explana- 
 tion or apology passing on either side. 
 
 To be short, for I have a good way to go with 
 ray readers yet, this was a Dutch sailor, or fish- 
 erman, who had — whether with or without leave 
 ind business I know not — obtained a berth, or 
 pii.ssa»e, on board the Golightly, and had retired 
 
60 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 to the nook behind the cabin-stove to sleep off 
 an over dose of his country's celebrated cordial. 
 So deep had been his potations, and the conse- 
 quent repose of intoxication, that nothing that 
 had occurred had roused him, until" some of the 
 recumbent lads accidentally kicked his face with 
 their heels. Our first alarm was succeeded by 
 some faint hopes that this robust mariner mighl 
 save us from our apparent fate ; and with a view 
 to this, Prout and I ventured down to him in 
 the cabin. But, under the combined influence 
 of liquor and alarm, the Dutchman's brains still 
 continued to bubble most furiously. His face 
 turned all the colours of the rainbow as we ap- 
 proached, and we made all the signs of the zo- 
 diac to him in vain. So again we sought the 
 deck, where a new and leading incident of our 
 strange destiny arose, and fixed nearly every 
 eye, and every thought, amongst us. A dark 
 speck began to urge its way through the thin 
 haze of the morning to windward ; and this our 
 young, strong, and eager vision soon discovered 
 to be a boat full of people. They were evidently 
 directing their course to out vessel ; and, by the 
 aid of oars and a small sail, they gained very 
 fast on the scarcely perceptible motion of the 
 Golightly, which for a long time had seemed to 
 deserve little the name even of a moveable, so 
 lumpishly she hung upon the water. And now, 
 
"ship ahoy I" 61 
 
 as if the ocean's tosom could be occupied by 
 nothing but us and our affairs, the shout of our 
 inexperienced company was, " 0, they are come 
 for us I They are come for us at last ;" and there 
 was clapping of hands and dancing on the deck ! 
 We shouted jiow with vehemence, but much 
 too soon to make the boatmen hear us. A very 
 slight wind will baf&e human voices, or assist 
 them strangely, for when we had thought it 
 useless to call again, the halloo of the coming 
 party came down upon us, as if they had been 
 close at hand. We could soon hear the voice 
 of their leader addressing us, and thought the 
 words were, "Put her about— put her about/" by 
 which, I suppose, they meant, that our crew was 
 to place the vessel in a position to take them 
 aboard. Of this, of course, we could take no 
 heed ; and so, after a pause of a second or two, 
 a flash and a puff of smoke were seen, a rolling, 
 deep echo was heard, and also a whistle, like 
 some one drawing in his breath. Harry Boyce 
 put his hand to his face, which was bloody, and 
 a bullet, as big as a small marble, was seen 
 rolling about the deck, having rebounded from 
 some iron-work on the mast. Boyce had lost a 
 portion of his ear, and was glad to learn from us 
 that ne was not killed outright. By Front's 
 advice we now threw ourselves on our faces, 
 and thus we awaited the event. 
 
 6 
 
62 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 Soon we lieard English voices, nauticaJ 
 phrases, and the dip and splash of the oars, 
 which, with the thunder of a dozen muskets at 
 once, informed us that an armed party were at 
 hand. 
 
 In less than five minutes, that party were on 
 board the Golightly, of which, having hauled 
 up their boat, they now took eager possession. 
 I have not time or space to describe the scene 
 that ensued : the disbelief of their eyes and ears 
 expressed by the men ; the protestations, tears, 
 and entreaties of our companions. ,Prout at last 
 gained their attention^explained ihef real fact 
 to the captain, that he had nothing but a truant 
 school before him, and begged-, with all the 
 simple pathos of youthful distress, that he would 
 put back and take them ashore, to save all theii 
 lives, and to end the agonies of their friends. 
 
 The captain exchanged looks merely with his 
 party for an instant ; and, without answering us 
 a word, gave orders for the management of the 
 vessel. In a very few minutes the broken tiller 
 was spliced, the sails were shaken down, and the 
 Golightly expanded, like some ephemeral flower 
 of the tropics, in the sun. Meantime the hold 
 and the cabin were rummaged, when presently 
 appeared, once more, the flying Dutchman, who 
 made Captain Blank understand, and aid him so 
 far, as to put him adrift in the Golightly's little 
 
COURTESY OF CAPTAIN BLANK. 63 
 
 boat, with a keg of water, and a bag of bread. 
 We saw the burly mariner shove off with a 
 oomparatively cheerful face, as though he knew 
 the bearings and the distance of his port. We 
 ^)bserved thg,t he steered in a contrary direction 
 to that of the Golightly, and watched him till 
 he was nearly out of sight. 
 
 Again we ventured to represent our distress 
 to the captain and his men, and asked how long 
 it would take to get back to England — " will it 
 be before night ?" 
 
 "Toss these young imps a bag of bread," said 
 the captain ; and then leaving us, as before, 
 without an answer, he paced the deck with all 
 the apparent satisfaction of one who has newly 
 obtained some great and unexpected benefit. 
 Bread and water, and a small allowance of eggs 
 and cheese, were supplied us, with the comfort 
 of a tarpaulin at night, which favours we owed 
 entirely to the authority and the humanity of 
 this Captain Blank, who, as we could see, herein 
 strenuously resisted advice, of a contrary char- 
 acter, from one or two of his party. 
 
 Eeader, do you know what it is to strain your 
 eyes for an hour or two towards the quarter 
 where you expect some much wished-for object 
 to make its appearance ? And have you ever 
 retired to rest disappointed, and with the heart 
 nickened by the hope deferred ? Know then, 
 
64 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 that we poor, shivering, half-famished fellows, 
 for eleven days and nights, endured the inward 
 contention of hopes and fears I By day, the ho- 
 rizon, now perfectly clear, was the sole resting- 
 place of our aching sight. By night, we listened 
 for some sudden command to rise and jump 
 ashore. Oh 1 the agonizing suspense, more 
 dreadful to bear it was than the subsequent 
 knowledge of our fate ! 
 
 I should mention that the body of Philip - 
 Aylmer was quickly discovered by one of the 
 sailors, who would have instantly heaved it 
 overboard, but the captain interfered : " Hold," 
 said he, " let us jurify a bit." Convinced that 
 the child had perished from the inclemency of 
 his situation, Blank gave over the inquest, and 
 ordered a rough coffin to be knocked together, 
 for which there were plentiful materials of one 
 sort or another on board. We crowded together 
 to see the little box slung over the ship's side. 
 We heard the splash, and new tears were shed. 
 The coffin bobbed against the vessel several 
 times before it left us, and we thought we heard 
 it do so again during the night; but we must 
 have been mistaken, I suppose. 
 
 And now I ventured my sapient face amongst 
 the cabin company, where sat the captain, and 
 five or six of his party, taking their grog after 
 dinner. " Would they have compassion on uSj 
 
APPEAL TO THE CAPTAIN. 65 
 
 and say where we were going, and -whether we 
 should ever see England again? — would they 
 take us there ? Our friends were able and will- 
 ing to give them anything they asked for their 
 trouble." 
 
 " Not a bad bait on the hook that," said one 
 of the fellows, setting down his glass. — " I say, 
 captain, shall we try it, and see who oan open 
 his mouth the widest?" 
 
 I began to think I had made an impression, 
 and that I was a clever young fellow indeed. 
 
 "Ah, captain, cornel that may be the best 
 game we ever played ashore." 
 
 " It would be the last, too," said the captain, 
 putting his head on one side, and gathering up 
 his shirt-collar under his left ear in a, significant 
 way indeed, but which I did not then under- 
 stand. 
 
 " Will you, sir ?— -will you ?" said I dropping 
 on my knees before him. " Will you save our 
 poor lives ? — ^I have no father nor mother, but 
 I have twp dear little sisters that my mother 
 told me, when she was dying, I was to take care 
 of when I became a man." 
 
 " And you promised her, did you ?" 
 
 " yea, sir, I promised that I w^ould ; but 
 now dear little Sally and Lucy Selwyn haVe no 
 relations in England at all!" 
 
 «* 
 
66 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 " Give him a taste of the grog," said, Captain 
 Blank, and he looked thoughtful indeed. 
 
 "Will you — will you?" I quickly added, 
 pushing the nauseous liquor aside. 
 
 " Ay. ay, yoking gentleman," said one of the 
 company, getting before the captain, as if to pre- 
 vent his answer, " we'll put you ashore, depend 
 on it, and now sheer off, there's a smart little 
 fellow !" 
 
 I repeated all this to Prout. "Yes," said he, 
 " they will put us ashore somewhere, I think, — 
 I don't think they will send us overboard now, 
 if they can help it." 
 
 I may as well explain that this captain, and 
 his men, were nothing more nor less than water 
 thieves — malefactors of the species either of 
 smugglers, pirates, or mutineers, who had left 
 or lost their vessel, and to whom the' finding the 
 Golightly ready to their hands, was like a sudden 
 reprieve to a condemned criminal. Their reasons 
 .for not going back to England, where they would 
 have been sure to be hanged, were the most 
 cogent, nearly, that can actuate human nature ; 
 and the love of life was of course stronger in 
 these men, than that of compassion for us : so 
 that all we got for our importunities, during 
 several days, was the — ■" Ay, ay, young gentle- 
 men." To this, however, the captain at length 
 added in a tone that ended the argument at 
 
THE GOLIGHTLY'S PROVISIONS. 67 
 
 anoe — " Young fellows, I tell you it is impossi- 
 ble to take you back to England, or indeed to 
 Europe. There are other places in the world 
 where you can play truant well enough !" 
 
 Soon after this we began to perceive that the 
 anxieties of these men even surpassed our own. 
 Their "look-out" now amounted to a painful in- 
 tensity of observation and watchfulness, that ad- 
 'raitted but of little rest night or day. 'We stood 
 out to sea, after they had made a very careful 
 examination of the stores in the hold, which 
 consisted mainly of country goods and provi- 
 sions intended for London use : — flour, cheese, 
 butter, pork, bacon, fruit, and corn, with some 
 hampers of eggs and poultry, formed the chief 
 eatables on board ; whilst a few casks of spirits, 
 with which I suspect the Dutchman had some 
 thing to do, lurked in the corners, at the same 
 time that the lockers of the cabin contained 
 wine, bottled ale, and tobacco, in reasonable 
 abundance. 
 
 But the supply of nearly forty mouths, and 
 their total uncertainty, apparently, as to the ter- 
 mination of the voyage, placed the whole ship's 
 company on short allowance after the fourteenth 
 day. Gentle reader, think for a moment of 
 dinner-time, and no dinner; evening, and no 
 supper ; and breakfast, with a single biscuit, and 
 a quarter of a pound of raw salt pork, with a 
 
68 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 small glass of water only 1 Ttink of days and 
 weeks passed without bed or real shelter — with- 
 out change of clothes, or the comforts usual to 
 a hut in England ; and say, were we not now 
 punished for our disobedience? Then the ag- 
 ony of thought, when our parents, our brothers 
 and sisters — yes, and the excellent Dr. Poyn- 
 ders, and Mr. Baldrey, forced themselves to the 
 inner chambers of our minds I Oh, adhere with 
 eager joy to any regulations, however severe, or 
 even stupid, you may think them ; make a feast 
 of a crust under any roof you can call your 
 HOME, rather than take matters into your own 
 hands, as we did, and be compelled to take also 
 the consequences ; in the train of which, death 
 followed, destroying 'luch more than one-third 
 of our unhappy number 1 
 
 Two of the lads. Grant and Wyatt, all this 
 time remained in a kind of stupor, remedilessly 
 stunned by the shock of our common calamity 
 If they signified any cognizance at all of the ef 
 forts made to rouse them, it was by a petulant 
 whine and impatient twisting of their bodies as 
 in aversion to all observers. A portion of food 
 was thrown them, very little of which thej'' con 
 sumed, and the sailors said, they would be oS" 
 after the sharks some day, before we were 
 aware. - Some few others seemed to have lost 
 their recollections to a great extent, and laughed 
 
NAT prout's kindness. 69 
 
 and talked like half idiots. Indeed, our vari- 
 ous sufferings and privations had reduced the 
 mental as well as the bodily strength of nearly 
 all our party, and threatened a fatal termination 
 to three or four. 
 
 Amongst those who sank the lowest in health 
 and spirits during this dreadful period, was 
 your faithful scribe, Miles Selwyn. I remained 
 scarcely conscious of what was passing around 
 me for several weeks, during which time, I cer- 
 tainly owed my existence to the untiring atten-, 
 tions of Nathan Prout. Though inferior to him 
 in all respects, he had generously sought my 
 society and friendship, — ^yes, to him I owed my 
 /ife, and from him I learned the chief incidents 
 of our history during the remainder of our 
 voyage. 
 
 He said that the straitness of provisions, and 
 the dread of capture, had increased so much, 
 that the captain and his men determined to rid 
 themselves of us at any rate when the stores 
 were again called over; and that he, Nat 
 Prout, thinking himself fully excused by the 
 circumstances, placed himself within earshot of 
 the council which deliberated on our fate. The 
 first proposal was, to drop us one a-day over the 
 ship's side, whilst under the influence of a 
 ileeping dose ; the next, to stint our allowance 
 to the starving point. But it was contended, 
 
70 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 that to start us overboard at once some night, 
 would be more considerate and kind. Captain 
 Blank reserved his opinion to the last, and then 
 said that he would knock any man down that 
 made the like proposals again ; that our right 
 to the ship's stores was fully as good as theirs ; 
 and that, whilst at sea with them, our equal 
 portions should be daily served out to us ; but 
 that, to preserve all our lives, it would be need- 
 ful to put us ashore on the first land at which 
 they could touch with safety. 
 
 I must sum up what I have to say of the pe- 
 riod that elapsed till we were actually landed, 
 in a very few words, because it was an interval 
 of bewilderment, and confusion of thought, as 
 well as of weakness, and almost forgetful ness, 
 to many of us, that left very few traces on our 
 memories. The chief event of it was the sudden 
 approach of a' sail, notwithstanding the efforts 
 of our people to elude their pursuers, and the 
 discovery, when it bore down upon us, as their 
 assured prey, that it was a piratical vessel, be- 
 longing to the bucaniers of Tortuga, who hailed 
 their brethren of the same craft with three dis- 
 tinct rounds of cheers. Now it was that our 
 departure was finally arranged. We were trans- 
 ferred, the same day, to the piratical boat, the 
 chief of whose men now joined the crew of the 
 Golightly, and, before the sun went down, wu 
 
OUR DESTINATION. ?1 
 
 saw an islet floating on the western wave as on 
 a sea of molten gold. 
 
 I trust my readers will not be too curious and 
 pressing, in demanding of me what island this 
 was, and in what sea ? For consider first, that 
 the most accomplished geographers in the world 
 would be puzz.led, were they set adrift on the 
 ocean for two or three months, to give the 
 proper name to any land on which they might 
 be cast ashore. I will be bound for it, that, if 
 conveyed away, and hoisted from a boatjs side, 
 as we were, they would not be able to tell 
 whether the Atlantic contained them, or rather, 
 some one of the vast South American rivers, 
 whose ample bosoms are to the eye the same as 
 the ocean in expanse, and between whose view 
 less shores lie chains and clusters of green islets, 
 which have never yet had a name at all from 
 the mouth of man. 
 
 Will, then, my readers aforesaid, be content 
 to hear, on this occcasion, of Prouis Land, and 
 the Eden Islands, as the places of transporta'iion 
 to which our strange destiny had sentenced us, 
 the hapless scholars of Seaward House? And 
 wilLthey take my suggestion, for it is anything 
 but certain, that these might be situated some 
 way up the arm of the sea leading to the Eivei 
 Oronoco, at the mouth of which is found the 
 celebrated bucaniers' island of Tortuga ? 
 
72 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ''I^HAT there is honour among thieves, ia as 
 -*- certain as that there is roguery among folks 
 not so called. To this principle, such as it was 
 in Captain Blank and his associates, we owed 
 our continuance on board the Golightly for many 
 weeks, and our safe transport, not indeed to the 
 land in view, already alluded to, which might 
 have been Tortuga, but to islands at the distance 
 of two or three hundred miles up a mighty 
 river, as it should seem. 
 
 We all thought that the land we first saw in 
 the horizon, was our destination ; but to the 
 question we put to the -boatmen, " What shall 
 we do there ?" they replied, " Nothing at all." 
 We neared the spot, however, and at length a 
 sea-beach appeared ; a grapnel was thrown out, 
 and two of the boatmen leaped ashore. We 
 prepared to do the same, urged by a longing 
 desire to place our weary feet on land, and 
 making no doubt that this spot was intended 
 for us. We were quickly undeceived, and were 
 pushed roughly back to our seats in the boat. 
 A set of people now came down to the beacli, 
 
NEW ACQUAINTANCES. 73 
 
 such as we had never seen or even heard of be- 
 fore, because civilized savages had not been de- 
 scribed in any of our books. Many of these 
 spoke French, and some the English language. 
 Every variety of phrase, and exclamation, and 
 intonation, was made use of, to express their 
 amazement at the boat's company before them. 
 I have no doubt that our squalid, ragged, and 
 very wild appearance, exceeded" anything that 
 their memories or their imagination could con- 
 jure up ; we, indeed, disturbed the equanimity 
 of their dogs to such a degree, that they, to the 
 number of twenty or thirty, set up their noses 
 and barked without ceasing, at our party. 
 
 The islanders were indeed bucariiers — marau- 
 ders, so called from their custom of boucaning or 
 curing their beef and pork in order to preserve 
 it for sale ; but they beiiig, at the same time, a 
 colony of professed thieves, the name of buca- 
 neers, or bucaniers, came to be generally applied 
 to freebooters, or pirates by sea and land. The 
 bucaniers before us were the most awfully 
 frightful and savage looking men it is possible 
 to conceive of. Their dress consisted of linen 
 dyed in the blood of the animals they had 
 killed; thejr outer clothing also .soiled and 
 soaked in the blood and fat : round their bodies 
 was a leathern belt, to which hung a case, con- 
 taining the implements of their butchery, and also 
 
74 THE YOUNG ISLANDEES. 
 
 their weapons for war or murder. They had 
 skull-caps without any brim, and shoes made of 
 hogs' hides, all in a piece. They carried guns a 
 yard and a half long, and were attended, as 1 
 have mentioned, by a great number of dogs used 
 in hunting. 
 
 We perceived that the object of touching 
 here was to procure provisions and water, and 
 also to obtain directions for our farther voyage, 
 all which business was transacted in a very 
 short time. An islander stepped into our boat 
 to accompany our men as a guide or steersman, 
 and a quantity of dried flesh was also conveyed 
 thither. So our little bark was now manned 
 with five of these friendly pirates, and freighted; 
 with seven-and-twenty unfortunates, making al- 
 together a crew of a somewhat unusual kind. 
 I forgot to mention that, before we were trans- 
 ferred from the Golightly to the pirates' long- 
 boat, some time was spent in hunting five or six 
 of the lads up and down in the vessel. I be- 
 lieve they thought that "overboard" was the 
 order of the day, and the real word of command, 
 and certainly they were taking the likeliest 
 method to bring about such a result. The in- 
 fatuated lads resisted by tooth and nail, and 
 clung screaming to the spars and rigging, until 
 the patience of the men was very nearly ex- 
 hausted. They were roughly plucked away 
 
GRANT AND WYATT. 75 
 
 however, by hands stronger than their emacia- 
 ted bodies, and were tumbled over the side 
 with little ceremony, or care to see whether the 
 boat or the water received them. I was much 
 alarmed for Grant and Wyatt, although their 
 contumacy was entirely of a passive kind. 
 They resolutely declined all speech or motion, 
 and were hoisted over like dead pigs, and by a 
 very narrow chance they rolled into the boat 
 below. If this resistance had gone but a little 
 farther, I quite believe it would have been fatal 
 to our whole party ; for the dancing little craft 
 in which we sat was nearly upset in the scuffle, 
 which occasioned angry words from the men, 
 and a significant pointing of thumbs over their 
 shoulders to the waves, whose tumbling ridges 
 we might have mounted at our discretion, or 
 have found the nearest way to the bottom, had 
 Captain Blank given but the nod desired. 
 
 And now I return to our situation at the 
 bucaniers' island. — Having received our men 
 and stores, we were pushed off from the shore, 
 and our boat breasted and buffeted the waves 
 in gallant style, under a three-cornered sail, as- 
 sisted occasionally by the oars. Our distress and 
 disappointment were extreme at this renewed 
 voyage, for our souls longed for land and liberty , 
 at all hazards, and our want's, through the hurry 
 of our movement, had been very imperfectly 
 
76 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 supplied, whilst our hearts were sickened bj 
 doubt and dread. And now muttered miseries, 
 and whining sobs, proceeded from many a des- 
 ponding little fellow. Prout and the biggest of 
 us, however, retained our composure, and, 
 whilst we submitted to our fate, we discussed its 
 probable nature ; but I know not that our con- 
 jectures are worth recording. 
 
 We turned our eyes pensively to the land we 
 had left, whose form was quickly blended with 
 the shadows of the evening, and in a short time, 
 night settled down upon us, — a cold, drenching, 
 dewy night it was, which we passed on the roll- 
 ing wave, whose surface, however, gleamed, at 
 times, with phosphorescent fires, whilst light- 
 ning glowed from point to point of the horizon. 
 
 Accustomed to endure the extremity of peril 
 on the "water, our experienced crew regarded 
 this night trip as recreation merely, and passed 
 the hours in revelry and song. Prout hinted, 
 not unseasonably, that the boat's company might 
 be happy to join- in the chorus, if they had the 
 inducement of food and drink. " On the faith 
 of a freebooter, ye shall have both," said the 
 leader of the party ; " but forbear your pipes, if 
 you please, for we do not want a squall." A 
 thong of flesh was now served out to each of 
 those who cared to take it, nor was a turn at the 
 leather bottle denied us. But the rum, good as 
 
LAND IS SIGHT. 77 
 
 it might have beeu, had not cured the vile fla- 
 vour of the raw hide containing it, and we 
 called for water, which, however, was delivered 
 to us from a like unsavoury source. 
 
 I believe we gained an hour or two of uneasy 
 repose. When I awoke, our party had not ap- 
 parently roused, and all the sailors but the 
 helmsman lay, in profound oblivion, in the bot- 
 tom of the boat. Dawn and daylight are nearly 
 the same things in tropical latitudes ; and when 
 we all roused, the sun had also risen and the 
 colour of the water surprised us by its muddy 
 tinge. Still, our unpractised eyes could discern 
 no land, and we almost inclined to close them 
 again on our distress. But the men suddenly 
 took down their sail ; and that which had ap- 
 peared as a streaky cloud on the horizon, whose 
 upper edge was gilded by the morning sun, as- 
 sumed a defined outline, and displayed an under 
 edging of white, variegated with patches and 
 tufts of a greenish hue. i " Now be smart, my 
 lads, for we are in sight of port," said the steers- 
 man. We looked out ahead, and the cry was, 
 "0, there is land J see the fields and woods!" 
 
 There was a transient gleam of joy on all 
 faces, excepting those of the stricken youths 
 before-mentioned : they stared wildly when we 
 addressed them, but made no reply. Well, the 
 land "neared," as the sailors say; or, as they 
 
 7* 
 
78 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 Otherwise word it, "we made the land" vei} 
 fast. A bright yellow sea-beach, white rocks, 
 skirting woods, and the tops of blue mountains, 
 expanded in our view, and began to form rather 
 a pretty landscape, finely relieved as it was, by 
 the sparkling wave in front, and the deep blue 
 sky above. Do you not wish you had been 
 born long before you were, that you might have 
 been amongst us? A sail in a boat, on a fine 
 warm morning, was the very thing we had often 
 longed for in vain, and now we had our wish I 
 Here we had no fears of books, slates, and les- 
 sons — we had a very long holiday before us — 
 were we happy then ? Did the thought of be- 
 ing our own masters console us ? — No ; the feel- 
 ing of desertion dismayed us — a wild dread 
 came over us — weakness and giddiness distressed 
 us — we wished, oh, how we wished ourselves at 
 Seaward House! Ah ! how a few weeks of real suf- 
 fering had changed our opinions in that matter 1 
 The rowers now steered for a particular spot 
 of the land, and commanded us to sit down qui- 
 etly in the boat. The foam, that looked so 
 beautiful at a distance, proved to be a dreadful 
 Burf, that threatened our destruction. Again were 
 we almost smothered in the wave, and the boat 
 required constant bailing to keep her afloat. 
 The whole sea-line of the land was apparently 
 fringed by the white wreath that surmounted 
 
APPEOACH TO PORT. 79 
 
 the boiling billows, for here the tide rushed over 
 a bed of rugged rocks and boulders. In fact, 
 the spot that had been first selected for a land- 
 ing place, was abandoned by our men, much to 
 their disappointment ; and it was evident that 
 impatience now greatly disturbed their minds 
 aga,inst us, for they muttered their discontent in 
 phrases that alarmed us much ; but they pushed 
 on, in order to round a headland just in sight. 
 Here, to our great relief, we were under the 
 wind, and in still water. Again we stobd in for 
 the land, and could discern the gambols of vari- 
 ous wild animals on the hills. Eeally, the scene 
 was so pretty, and we were skimming the now 
 gentle bosom of the deep so charmingly, that we 
 did feel a pulsation or two of joy within us, es- 
 pecially as we did not, at this moment, so much 
 fear the sudden incivility of a heave overboard 
 to lighten the pirates' boat. 
 
 At length a small creek appeared, into which 
 the men hastily thrust our little bark,~one side 
 of which creek, at the distance of about a mile 
 from the entrance, had a narrow ledge of rock, 
 very much resembling a quay, and certainly 
 better in point of stability than that at St. Run- 
 wald's. Here the space between the rocks was 
 BO narrow that the water was as tranquil, near- 
 ly, as a fishpond ; and it was, at the same time, 
 deep and clear. One of the seamen now leaped 
 
80 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 on^the rock, and grasped an oar, one end of 
 which was held by a comrade in the boat, which 
 thus was drawn close to. Those of us who could 
 spring ashore as the sailor had done, required 
 neither threats nor persuasions to induce them 
 to do so ; but they who hesitated were landed 
 in a rougher fashion. They were seized, under 
 the arms, by the athletic and determined men, 
 and were — I must not say hoisted, but hurled on 
 to the jagged rocks, so that many of us em- 
 braced our adopted country on our hands and 
 knees, with tears and blood. None of ns had 
 ever been so handled before, even when under 
 punishment at school : none of us had ever been 
 touched by human beings so ensanguined and 
 revolting. 
 
 But a more dreadful result than all must now 
 be stated. The two unfortiinate, and, as I 
 think, almost unconscious youths. Grant and 
 Wyatt, who lay at the bottom of the boat, firm- 
 ly folded their arms when accosted by the men, 
 and implored by some of us, to rise and step 
 ashore. They remainfed motionless and silent, 
 and I feared the consequences; but the men, 
 with more consideration than I expected, re- 
 garded them apparently as of unsound mind, 
 and got them safely on the edge of the boat, 
 when the lads suddenly clasped each other con- 
 vulsively, ar.d, without uttering a word, writhed 
 
jack's hide's oration. 81 
 
 themselves out of the pirates' grasp, aad plunged, 
 head-foremost, into the wafer! We saw — yes, 
 BO clear was the lucid wave — we saw them 
 slowly descend, still embracing each other, and 
 revolving as they went down. The bucaniers 
 gave one look after them, showed their white 
 teeth, shrugged their shoulders, and reminded 
 us that it was no fault of theirs. Certainly it . 
 was not. The lads were bereft of reason, that 
 was plain, and their destruction, I believe, was 
 inevitable. 
 
 The concern of the freebooters for our twt 
 companions, was a momentary affair indeed; 
 but their departure was delayed until they had 
 cleared their boat of nearly all the provisions in 
 it, which they, with more good-will than cere- 
 mony, tossed among us ; and then one of their 
 number, Jack Hide, as he was called, breaking 
 the resolute sUence they had hitherto observed 
 towards us, delivered an oration, very nearly as 
 follows, -standing in the boat : — " Young uns, I 
 say, young uns, stand to windward of me a bit. 
 Never close your eyes at night without thank 
 ing God, and Captain Blank, that ye did not 
 find a berth in a shark's breakfast parlour, the 
 moment he came aboard your cranky little ves- 
 sel. I know a score of jolly tars, of our craft- 
 aye, and some that call themselves honest, too, 
 — :that would have had a clear deck in five min- 
 
82 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 utes, and have served you out then your last 
 allowance of salt and water. I suppose he be- 
 lieved your tale, which for my part I can't stow 
 away, for the life of me, and yet it is as likely 
 as anything else I can think of. And then, as 
 if you would have been less happy at the bot- 
 tom of the sea than hundreds he has sent there 
 in his time, he must needs turn kind, keep you 
 all afloat, and make us freebooters become 
 school -keepers for the first time, and the last. 
 And here you are sent for your own safety, it 
 may be, or more likely for his. The island you 
 see is all your own, and is called No-man's land 
 by our craft, and nothing at all by the whole 
 world besides. A brig once ran ashore here, many 
 years ago, they say ; but her crew and lading, if 
 landed, have never been heard of since. You 
 will find turtles that only want turning, and 
 their eggs that only want sucking,' and there are 
 sheep and goats, fowls, fruit, and forage, all foi 
 the taking I believe. So now I have spun out 
 my yarn, and you will be so kind as to 'scribe 
 your names and satisfaction on this rigmarole, 
 if you please." The fellow now pulled a folded 
 paper from his dress, and produced writing ma- 
 terials. The document was headed, " All right," 
 in large, staggering letters. We added our 
 names as desired, and- also aji exculpation re 
 garding the fate of Grant and Wyatt. This 
 
THE truant's names. 83 
 
 being arranged, the bucaniers pushed off imme 
 diately, and we saw them no naore at all. 
 
 We stared wildly after them for some time, 
 speechless and stunned by what had befallen us. 
 At length we roused, and called each other by 
 name, as if to persuade ourselves that we were 
 not dreaming what had occurred, or merely im- 
 agining the scene around us. Wounds and 
 blood, ghastliness and anguish, marked our 
 care-worn faces. A burst of tears, and heart- 
 rending lamentations, now broke from many ^f 
 our party. Ah 1 there were no answers to our 
 cries but the sighing of the breeze, and the mur- 
 murs of the wave that had entombed our un- 
 happy fellows! — sounds of a kind that had 
 lulled us to repose on many a suranrer's evening 
 at Seaward House. Seaward House ! should we 
 not wake and find ourselves there ? No, it was 
 a noon-day reality. Thousands of miles of roll- 
 ing sea lay between us and our native land ; 
 and the old free-school towers we could hence- 
 forth only look for in a vision of the night ! 
 
 Out of the fifty -two lads who strayed on board 
 the Golightly, only twenty-five reached this dis- 
 tant unknown shore alive. I will now give you 
 our names : ITathan Prout, George Holt, Charlea 
 Melton, Edward Mansfield, John Eouse, An- 
 drew Bosworth, John Upjohn, Harry Boyce, 
 Leonard F'^'mpton, Arthur Murdoch, Jeremiah 
 
84 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 Dolman, Decimus Ibbotson, Cornelius Jermyn; 
 Luke Moseley, Michael Jennings, Solomon John- 
 son,. Philip Barnard, Samuel Settle, Eichard 
 Coble, Thomas Inman, James Moody, Timothy 
 Tayspill, Matthew Bjett, William Hackett, 
 Miles Selwyn. 
 
 Yes, and you shall have the names of those 
 that perished : Joseph Powell, Walter Strahan, 
 Samuel Taylor, Anthony Forest, Stephen Spen- 
 cer, Alfred Boynford, Henry Manning, Ealph 
 Bosworth, Thomas Thursby, Amos Cooling, 
 Nicholas Cooling, Elim Jervis, Frederick Town- 
 send, Abel Gilson, James Fordiag, Peter Bell, 
 Mark Mummery, Paul Eobinson, Hugh Mon- 
 tague, David Morgan, Eichard Mills, William 
 Eoberts, Francis Smith, Henry Sutton, Philip 
 Aylmer, Oliver Grant, Christopher Wyatt. 
 
 Twenty-seven of our unhappy company found 
 death the wages of disobedience. Twenty-five 
 remained, and had a little more time and space 
 for repentance. Do you think I mean to make 
 this single truant act deeper in guilt than other 
 transgressions of youth, because it was so pun- 
 ished? Certainly not; but the fact is, that all 
 transgression is dangerous, and it may be so to 
 any extent ; nor can sinners, young or old, tell, 
 beforehand, to what end the pleasantest, the 
 least crooked paths of error may, against theii 
 will, at last conduct them. Sometimes it is by 
 
KEPENTANOB AT LAST. 85 
 
 an easy and insensible descent, that the enemy 
 accommodates his victims to the depths of their 
 ruin and abasement ; at other times it- shall be 
 the edge of an unseen precipice, that makes their 
 destruction the work of a single moment. 
 
 Twenty-five of us had escaped the dreadful 
 end of our former companions, who were not 
 all of them as guilty as ourselves. Our hearts 
 were now, I think, for the first time, sensibly, 
 touched. Sorrow had subsided into sobs, and 
 an occasional word or two escaped from our 
 desponding hearts, when one of the lads, I think 
 it was Arthur Murdoch, suddenly started up, 
 and as soon as he could gasp out the words, he 
 said, "Let us thank God — ^I — I — I think we 
 have quite forgotten that — let us pray him to 
 forgive us, and to comfort our dear — dear fath- 
 ers and mothers, ajid brothers and sisters — and 
 the dear and good and kind Dr. Poynders, and 
 poor Mr. Baldrey." Before he had ceased, we 
 all dropped on our knees, regardless of smarting 
 wounds, and sobbed out such a confession, 
 thanksgiving and prayer, as can scarcely arise 
 from the halls of affluence and ease, nor from 
 humbler abodes of comfort and abundance ; but 
 such a supplication as has often reached heaven, 
 mingled with the wildest breath of the tempest, 
 from many a rocky shore and barren strand. 
 
 Under the shadow of death, by the brink of 
 8 
 
86 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 destruction, is " the place where prayer is woni 
 to be made." 
 
 I think every heart, for the moment at least, 
 was subdued and softened. We told ott? faults 
 and our calamities to God, who, indeed, knew 
 them already better than we did; yet we felt 
 relieved and calmed directly, and hope, though 
 languidly, revived in our bosoms. We should 
 have thanked God, and besought his mercy be- 
 fore. We ought, in our first distress, to have 
 begged all our lives at his hands: then, per- 
 haps, we might all have been spared. To so 
 dreadful an extremity of suffering was it needful 
 to punish us all, before any of us truly re- 
 pented ! 
 
 And now, young gentlemen, ay, and young 
 ladies too — if they honour this narrative by 
 their perusal — I beg a friendly word with you, 
 before I attend further to the unfortunate party 
 just landed. You, I may well be assured, have 
 never known real want in all your lives; by 
 want in this sense, I mean, the need, without tlie 
 supply, of things requisite for the body — food, 
 clothing, and shelter. Your meals, like those at 
 Seaward House, may have been plain, but they 
 have been wholesome and abundant. You have 
 always had apparel clean, warm, and sightly, to 
 put on, and more in reserve ; and, as for home, 
 you know of, perhaps, a dozen houses, whose 
 
APPEAL FOR SYMPATSY. 8? 
 
 hospitable doors would fly open to the wall' — 
 whose inmates would receive you with instant 
 kindness rather than that the child of a friend 
 should spend an hour of discomfort in the dewy 
 air of a summer's night. 
 
 Having, then, no experience of your own in 
 the matter of real suffering, arising from the pri- 
 vation of necessaries, it may do you good to ex- 
 ercise your imagination for once — not in the 
 amusement of castle-building, but in the endeav- 
 our to realize the condition of destitute outcasts 
 of whom there are, at all times, thousands to 
 think and pray for, and to relieve, if you feel 
 disposed. Eemember that sympathy is better 
 than sentiment ; and that help, when you can 
 bestow it, is better than either. 
 
 Let us, then, weep with those that weep ; and, 
 at the same time, cherish the wholesome reflec- 
 tion, that if we hfid our deserts, we should la 
 ment on our own account. As to sufferings, 
 such as here described, they are happening 
 every day; not to courageous captains and 
 hardy sailors only, but to men, women, and 
 children, no more' prepared than yourselves to, 
 endure them. Helpless families have clung to 
 a naked raft upon the billows, and have spent 
 days and nights on a barren rock without food, 
 and, .after enduring the extremities of anguish, 
 
88 ^ THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 have sunk to rise no more : I will give you an 
 instance. 
 
 The Halsewell Bast Indiaman was reckoned 
 the finest ship in the service. The crew con- 
 sisted of officers, soldiers, and sailors, besides 
 passengers, amongst whom were seven ladies. 
 When a short distance from shore a thick fog 
 came on, and, the next morning, a strong gale 
 of wind arose, which obliged the sailors to cut 
 the cables, and let the ship drive out to sea ; but 
 the wind changed, and presently drove them 
 towards land again, which caused the vessel to 
 spring a leak, and let in a large quantity of 
 water. 
 
 The pumps were then set to work, but they 
 had very little effect ; and the captain and his 
 officers now consulted as to the means of saving 
 all their lives — at the same time they expressed 
 their opinion,'' that there was very little hope of 
 it, as the ship was driving fast on shore, and 
 might be expected every minute to strike, and 
 go to pieces. The boats were then mentioned, 
 but could not, at that moment, be available. 
 Whilst the captain was talking on this subject 
 to, an officer, and was arranging a plan for sav- 
 ing the ladies, two of whom were his own 
 daughters, the ship struck on a rock with such 
 violence as to dash the heads of those standing 
 in the cabin, against the deck above them. The 
 
WEEOK OF THE HALSEWELL. 89 
 
 shock was acoampanied by a shriek of horror 
 that burst from th^ helpless company on board, 
 and even some of the sailors shared in the panic, 
 and added to the confusion of the awful mo- 
 ment. 
 
 The ship continued beating on the rocks, and, 
 soon bilging— that is, partially bursting — ^fell 
 with her broadside towards the shore. It was 
 now night, and the best hope the ofScers could 
 administer to the women was, that the ship 
 might hold together until morning 1 and what 
 then? The Halsewell had struck on rocks near 
 Seacombe, on the island of Purbeck, coast of 
 Dorsetshire. At this part the cliff is of vast 
 height, and rises almost perpendicularly from~ 
 its base : but here, the foot of the rock is hol- 
 lowed into a cavern of ten or twelve yards in 
 depth, and in breadth equal to the largest ship. 
 
 The walls of the cavern next the sea are 
 nearly upright, and extremely dif&cult of access- 
 whilst the bottom is strewed by sharp and une- 
 ven rocks. 
 
 The ship lay with her side towards this cav- 
 ern ; but when she struck, it was too dark for 
 the crew to discover its nature, and the true 
 horror of their situation. During this time, the 
 cabin, crowded with persons, frantic with terror, 
 was a scene of tumult and confusion that can- 
 not be described. The captain sat, with a 
 
 8* 
 
90 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 daughter on each arm, whom he pressed, with 
 agony, to his bosom. Many of the ladies were 
 in fits, or insensible, on the floor. At this time, 
 as the sides of the ship were giving way, and 
 she had nearly parted in the middle, many of 
 the crew determined to make their way to the 
 shore, though quite ignorant of its real nature. 
 
 The sea was now breaking in apace, and the 
 captain once more asked what could be done to 
 save the girls? The officer he applied to de- 
 clared that he could see no possibility of it ; 
 for they could only discover the black face of 
 thg perpendicular rock, and not the cavern, to 
 which some had escaped. The sea continued 
 to break over and through the ship, and the 
 cries of the sufferers were at times lost amidst 
 the roaring of the storm. At length, a tremen- 
 dous wave carried away most of the unfortu- 
 nate persons on deck, and part of the vessel it- 
 self Some of these were found on the rocks, 
 and thus, for a time, preserved; but of the 
 twenty-seven thus landed, only about half a 
 dozen succeeded in reaching the cavern; the 
 rest were washed away by the rising tide. 
 
 The survivors could now just distinguish 
 Bome part of the ship, and were comforting, 
 themselves with the hope that she would per- 
 haps hold together until aid arrived from 
 shore, when a long, Icud, and dreadful shriek, 
 
A LESSON TO BE LEARNED. 91 
 
 la which the female voice of despair was dis- 
 tinfjuished, announced the dreadful fact that al) 
 was over there. In a few moments nothing 
 was heard but the roaring of the wind and the 
 dashing of the waves. The wrecls was buried 
 in the deep, and not an atom of it was ever 
 seen again. By this dreadful disaster all the 
 passengers perished. Some of the crew, how- 
 ever, succeeded in climbing up the cliffs next 
 morning, and so found deliverance. 
 
 Think of this kind of distress when your 
 house rocks you in your bed, during what 
 landsmen call a high wind, and mariners a -gale. 
 Remember, that the tearing gusts that make 
 your inner doors rattle, and cause your cham- 
 ber-bell to ring, lift hundreds of poor sailors to 
 the giddy top of the mountain wave, plunge 
 them, at the next instant, into the shadowy 
 channels of the deep ; or, driving the vessel 
 over a rocky shore, dash the frail bark in 
 pieces there, like a potter's vessel. 
 
 You may, indeed, peruse almost any account 
 of- human suffering that can be invented, with 
 the confident persuasion that the like, or worse, 
 has really happened many times. There is lit- 
 tle but sorrow in the thought; yet if, whilst 
 getting hy heart a sad chapter or two of human 
 anguish, we learn to feel for others and lose the 
 hahit of cherishing our selfishness and discon- 
 
92 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS, 
 
 tent^ we shall have learned our lessons to some 
 useful purpose, and have obtained something 
 better than mere entertainment from our stud- 
 ies. 
 
 Nature generally dictates whas is best for 
 herself, when the mind is stunned or impaired 
 by calamity. She first demands repose, and, 
 during the tranquil hours thus gained, she gen- 
 erally finds time to recruit her wasted strength. 
 We sank down, oppressed with our various 
 sufferings, and slept on the stony rock, where 
 the boat had landed us, and here we escaped 
 only by an inch or two, being lifted from our 
 rugged couch by the rising tide. We should - 
 have made feeble fight against the wave had it 
 taken us during our helpless time of slumber. 
 
 Yes, we slept and dreamed — not of fu- 
 ture joys and adventures, but of the past. 
 Then I saw Seaward House, the hall, the school- 
 room, and the venerable form of Dr. Poynders 
 at the door. We dreamed of school, as hap- 
 piness restored I These visions of the night, 
 whilst they lasted, seemed indeed a blissful re- 
 ality; but when we opened our eyes, the actual 
 scene before us appeared a troubled dream, 
 " Charles, did you hear the bell ? — Arthur, ia 
 that you ? — 1 where are we ? — Is this the ship 
 again? — dear, no, we are on the dreadful 
 rock 1" 'I thought," said another, " that I had 
 
A CONTEAST. 95 
 
 been all day on my knees before Dr. Poynders, 
 and he wept and p:pmised to forgive me; and 
 held out his hand to raise me up, and yet I 
 could not rise, nor get near enough to touch 
 him ; for the floor seemed to move under me 
 all the time, and then he sank down out of 
 sight I" "Yes," said Prout, "/ dreamed he 
 was dead, and there I saw the white face 
 of Crab Crawley grinning just over his cof&n." 
 
 We started up, now thoroughly aroused; 
 but our limbs cold, cramped, and bruised, re- 
 minded us, as did the exhaustion of hunger, of 
 our situation. Here were no lessons to be 
 learned but one, and that was the hardest in 
 the sad book of human experiepce. Here 
 were no breakfast bell, no peck loaves and 
 milk porridge, no messenger of whom to_ in- 
 quire for letters. Oh ! what would have been 
 their contents, could we have received them ! 
 No, we were rent from our homes and our na- 
 tive land, and were transported, like criminals, 
 to the wilds of a foreign shore, not knowing 
 how soon even that dreadful sentence would be 
 commuted to the doom of death. 
 
 But nature again prevailed over useless de- 
 spondency, and peremptorily demanded' her 
 supplies. For nearly two days we had par- 
 taken of very little food, and now the dried 
 meatx^f the bucaniers occurred to our memory 
 
94 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 wfith sudden joy. This article was the flesh of 
 buffaloes, bullocks, and hogs, cut in very long and 
 thin pieces, and cured with very little salt, by 
 means of stoves. When thus dried, the buc 
 caned meat will keep perfectly well for twelve 
 months, and if soaked in fresh water, it will swell 
 and have the flavour of fresh meat, and with a 
 higher relish. But the salt water had entered 
 our boat too freely to leave our needful provi- 
 sions in this good order. The thongs were sod- 
 dened, soiled, and briny, and besides were to be 
 eaten, of course, unboiled. We made a very 
 indifferent breakfast indeed, and soon found the 
 calls of hunger exchanged for those of raging 
 thirst. Our mouths were clammy, and our lips 
 parched and cracked. 
 
 My young readers, T know, are impatient 
 until we move and explore our island, if such it 
 was. If we could have been conveyed there 
 by magic, from Seaward House, one sunny after- 
 noon, with the promise of a speedy return, I 
 dare say we should have bounded away, like 
 young roes, over hill and dale — threaded the 
 woods, sought the mountain top, tripped from 
 glade to glade, and would have poured 'forth 
 volumes of description on reaching home. All 
 his is easy to the imagination, which knows 
 not what it is to proceed by footsteps, but 
 makes her way, borne as on the wings of the 
 
SEARCH FOR WATER. 95 
 
 wind, from clime to clime, or gliding on a sun- 
 beam, from world to world. But when a sick 
 ening, emaciated body is to crawl at the bidding 
 of a mind half paralysed by fear and suffering, 
 necessity alone will move either the one or the 
 other; and I believe that we should, in fact, 
 have spent the whole day, and another night, 
 on the ledge of rocks that had first received us, 
 if thirst had not driven us from our position. 
 
 With no other wish or thought, as far as I 
 know, than the desire of water, we got on oui 
 feet, and began to look about us. Perceiving 
 a kind of interval between the rocks, in one 
 direction, Prout recommended our proceeding 
 thither ; and, had not his forethought been ex- 
 ercised, we should have left our indispensable 
 supply of provisions behind us. He advised 
 that each should take his own portion of the 
 food before-mentioned, and thus our shares and 
 our burdens were^equally allotted. We moved 
 slowly on — a long- faced, limping procession of 
 most sincere and genuine mourners. Hardly a 
 word passed amongst us, and this only when 
 some renewed complaint of weakness, pain, and 
 despondency, broke from our lips. Jagged 
 rocks they were to climb, before we could at- 
 tain the only outlet in view. It was a fissure 
 through which it was evident that floods had, 
 at pome time, burst and poured along. We 
 
96 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 traversed this dry bed of an extinct river in 
 the shade, which was some advantage, but no 
 remains of a stream could we there discover. 
 
 We ascended this natural roadway languidly; 
 and even whilst the view widened, and though 
 beautiful foliage appeared at no great distance, 
 we thought of nothing with interest, beyond the 
 idea of some clear pool, or gushing fountain, to 
 taste which, indeed, was the only object we 
 seemed to have in life. 
 
 We emerged into an open glade of some lit- 
 tle extent, bounded by a thick wood, whose 
 trees were, for the most part, of a kind we had 
 never seen before. The ground was much bro- 
 ken by glens and ravines, and our pilgrimage 
 was toflsome in the extrenje. We, at length, 
 got clear of the wood, and found ourselves at 
 the foot of a mountain, whose sides were rocky 
 and precipitous, and only scantUy clothed with 
 vegetation. We had proceeded but a little way 
 up the steeps before us, when a rushing noise ' 
 was heard, and, on turning an angle of the rook, 
 we saw, indeed, what we needed — afresh water, 
 but it was in the form of a tumbling, tumultu- 
 ous cataract, foaming over a frightful precipice, 
 and lost again in an abyss below, where the eye 
 almost feared to follow. 
 
 "We sat down, in the extremity of distress 
 from thirst and fatigue, with a boundless supply 
 
DISOOVBEY OP WATEB. 97 
 
 of water before us, to which we could see no 
 possible access. "With longing eyes we viewed 
 the sparkling spray of the fall above, and the 
 dark recesses of the thundering cavern at our 
 feet. Prout, Melton, and I, less helpless than 
 the rest, now ventured to scale some of the 
 rugged crags leading to the upper falls, and, in 
 so doing, narrowly escaped with life. On higher 
 ground, however, and nearer to the flood, we 
 perceived that the sides of the rock, bathed in 
 the foam, were running in copious streams. 
 Tracing these farther on, we found that a quiet 
 rivulet, derived only from this source, had made 
 itself a channel in another direction, which pre- 
 cious rill had found and occupied a natural basin 
 in the hill-side, where the flood reposed in 
 peace, and whilst it reflected the mountain crags 
 that overhung, it revealed every shining pebble . 
 that paved its bottom. 
 
 No one who has been resident only in Britain 
 can know or conceive what the thirst of a hot 
 climate really is; nor can any, but those who 
 have there experienced it, realize the rapture of 
 a supply of water cool and bright from the 
 mountain's side ! Our first attempt was, to set 
 up a shout to apprise our companions ; but our 
 throats, till moistened, refused their duty in that 
 respect. We drank and we bathed our faces, 
 and drank again, and, catching a momentarv 
 G 9 
 
98 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 glimpse of our own scare-crow visages in the 
 -glassy pool, we stared and started back, and 
 wondered that we had not told each other how 
 we looked before. Prout laughed, but re- 
 strained himself until, as he said, "all could 
 laugh together." He skipped down, like a 
 young roe, to the poor fellows at the crag's foot, 
 and they gazed with surprise at the brightness 
 exhibited by the now unclouded disc of his open 
 countenance. " Ah, Prout, you might have 
 come to tell us before I" "You may drink and 
 wash as I did, if you please," said Prout ; " there 
 is a basin, water, looking-glass, and all I" 
 
 Slowly the poor fellows followed their lead^ 
 to this place of refreshment ; w6 seemed to take 
 hold on life again, and most of us, I think, gave 
 thanks to God, but some, I fear, did not. Poor 
 Settle overreached hirnself, and fell head-fore- 
 most into the water : we got him out with difS 
 culty. 
 
 There, by the craggy steep we sal^ 
 
 Close by the gushing stream : 
 We found no sorrows to relate — 
 
 Joy was our only theme ! 
 
 Satiety and repose succeed a needful supply 
 of food, but exhilaration of spirits results from 
 thirst allayed. We talked over our rather pe- - 
 culiar affairs with cheerfulness, for the first time 
 
HARD PARE. 99 
 
 since we left England, and our fertile brains 
 teemed with the most sapient conjectures as to 
 the spot we then occupied, and the interesting 
 probabilities or uncertainties with regard to fu- 
 ture food. It wa& curious that not one of us 
 could really tell how many days or weeks had 
 passed since the first night or two on boai-d 
 ship. There was great confusion in our memo- 
 ries, especially with regard to the whole' period 
 that elapsed after the bucaniers boarded the 
 Golightly, and, this being the case, we could not 
 have very clear ideas as to the distance or di- 
 rection of our present home from England. ^ To 
 the final assertion of Johnny Eouse, that we had 
 really arrived at the celebrated territory called 
 Moco, we had no convincing contradictions to 
 offer. 
 
 Thoroughly refreshed by the limpid pool, and 
 by the rest which its mossy banks afforded, we 
 felt by no means indisposed to the further bles- 
 sings of a well-spread table, had such a deside- 
 ratum been at hand. Our buccaned meat, 
 soaked in salt water, as it had been, and un- 
 boiled, as it continued to be, possessed little fla- 
 vour or relish beyond that of a ham peeling, or 
 a leathern strap ; and it required , more resolu- 
 tion to load ourselves with the portions remain- 
 ing, than forbearance to refrain from lessening 
 them by our mouths. However, as the wisest 
 
100 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 of US could not tell where any other food was to 
 come fi'om, the most stupid saw the propriety oi 
 keeping hold of this. It was evident that the 
 mountain's side could produce us no supply but 
 that of water, and, having regaled plentifully 
 with this, and felt our strength renewed, we 
 proceeded on our noon-day ramble. 
 
 Descending to the plain again, with increased 
 activity, we pushed our discoveries to its far- 
 ther edge, until a new grove presented itself. 
 Here, as we advanced, it appeared that we were 
 not the only inhabitants of the land; but that its 
 soil was shared by individuals of a species, who 
 did not consider us such fit company as may 
 some of my honoured readers. This was a 
 troop of wild asses, who, alarmed beyond meas- 
 ure at our appearance, scoured the adjacent 
 plain with rattling hoofs — their ears and tails 
 flying in the wind ! A cloud of dust accompa- 
 nied them as far as our eyes could reach, and 
 the startling effect of their sudden movement 
 gave place to merriment, until they were fairly 
 out of sight. 
 
 " I wish we had been on their backs," said 
 Prout — "they might have shown us the way 
 round this wild garden." 
 
 "We next heard the vernacular gruuting of a 
 herd of hogs, which we soon perceived under 
 the shade of the trees before us, tilling the 
 
A CHEERING SIGHT. 101 
 
 gi-ound with their noses, after their usual fash- 
 ion elsewhere. It was sagaciously suggested, b/ 
 one of our party, that what was a luxury to 
 pigs might be welcome food to hungry lads. 
 We proceeaed towards the herd, which also re- 
 treated as we advanced, and leaving their busi- 
 ness, or their dinner, half done. The roots they 
 had turned out, were of the kind called yams ; 
 they are as big as a man's leg, of an irregular; 
 form, and a brownish colour outside, but they 
 are white and mealy within, when cooked. We 
 pulled one, half-a-yard long, out of the ground 
 by main force ; but as, strange to relate, it was 
 neither boiled nor roasted, it had no more natu- 
 ral charms than a raw potato : — it would not do 
 at all ; so at least we thought then. 
 
 We were, however, cheered by the sight even 
 of those humble classes of ouj; fellow-creatures 
 — ^pigs and donkeys, and regretted that, for the 
 present, our acquaintance seemed to be avoided. 
 Fowls, of a familiar kind, and some birds, of an 
 unknown and splendid species, winged their 
 way above us ; hares and rabbits bounded from 
 our feet, and sheep and goats stared wildly, and 
 start 6d off; whilst the hump-backed little bul- 
 locks called buffaloes, grazed in the valleys un- 
 , disturbed. It was evident that there was food 
 enough here for man or beast, but, unfortunately, 
 
 9* 
 
102 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 we were neither the one nor the other, though 
 we had the appetite of both. 
 
 And so being again really hungry, and some- 
 what fatigued, and having no express business 
 in any particular direction — to the right hand or 
 the left, or straight forward, and there being no 
 reason that we knew of why we should return 
 the way that we came, we sat down under the 
 
 .shade of a large and beautiful tree resembling 
 an oak, and there we again fell to, — dining on 
 the dried meat aforesaid, which again we dis- 
 
 .velished exceedingly. After this we rose, and 
 wandered a little farther, being as before much 
 in need of water. Here we found tall, straight 
 trees, with large bunches of leaves at the top — 
 others, of ^ess altitude, with clusters of green 
 fruit as large as cucumbers. And now, before 
 we were aware it was evening, night settled 
 down upon us. The beautiful season of twilight 
 ja little known in these latitudes. 
 
HORRORS OF THE NIGHT. 103 
 
 CHAPTER v.. 
 
 T^HE previous night — the first that we spent 
 -■- on the island — was passed in the torpor of 
 exhaustion: as we were, when the sun weni 
 down, so we continued until he had risen, little 
 sensible of our situation, and of the real pros- 
 pect before us. But the day following had been 
 occupied, to a certain extent, with the cares of 
 existence, and had allowed time to recall the 
 past, and to confer on the future. This day 
 now closed, as I said, rather suddenly, ^nd night 
 overtook us without the least possibility of our 
 obtaining any other shelter than that which the 
 forest afforded. It was a night of great mental 
 annoyance to most of us. Nat Prout, John 
 Rouse, and I, agreed to keep watch round our 
 gipsy camp, and manful efforts we made by 
 whistling, talking, and even sorry laughter, to 
 keep off the horrors. The great, tall, gawky 
 trees, that were as high as the mast of a ship, 
 and had a thick, shadowy head, looked uncouth 
 against the sky as long as any light lasted, and 
 then they kept flapping their immense leaves 
 on high all night long, just like wings, and very 
 
104 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 disagreeably. But the outlandish whoops and 
 yells of the beasts around us, so unlike any- 
 thing we had ever heard before ; the whisking 
 wings 01 enormous bats, who chirruped as they 
 flitted over us ; and, worse than all, the mete- 
 oric flare of certain insects who cut the veil of 
 midnight for an instant with a chain of fire, al- 
 most unsensed the most sensible of our distin- 
 guished company. The more fearful buried 
 their faces in the herbage, and, huddling togeth- 
 er, spoke or sobbed with fluttered breath. 
 
 " 0, ISTat Prout," said I, " this is dreadful !" 
 
 " Don't talk about it then, Selwyn, there's a 
 good fellow. Oome, Johnny Eouse, keep awake, 
 man." 
 
 "Oil think I shall never go to sleep any 
 more," said he ; " Prout, this is worse than the - 
 first night on board the ship I — There I did you 
 ever hear trees shake their leavaf". so, and did 
 you ever know it so awfully dark '/" 
 
 There was a rustling of the thickets continu- 
 ally, a padding of feet, noises near and distant, 
 and a fitful murmuring of the wind through the 
 unknown forest, that kept our imagination in 
 constant exercise ; and we strained our eyes to 
 see things which we did not see, and listened 
 for sounds which we did not hear. My hair 
 stood on end, T know. I hid my face in my 
 hands between my knees, and the upturned 
 
EEFLECTIONS ON THE NIGHT. 105 
 
 white visage of Philip Aylmer seemed to pass 
 before my eyelids. I involantarily muttered 
 his name, and was sharply rebuked by Prout ; 
 who, however, soon after, in the same mood I 
 fancy^ talked to himself of Grant and Wyatt. 
 
 Reader, I do not dwell on this subject for the 
 sake of disturbing your brain by night or day ; 
 but it is as well to understand that the mind 
 suffers more than the body on many occasions : 
 and that the great enemy of man has the con- 
 stant will, though, perhaps, in this life, never 
 the power, to do his worst with us. Our young 
 and feeble minds were excruciated by this one 
 night, in which we were exposed to the mere 
 shadow of his influence — for such probably it 
 was, during the hours between night and morn 
 ing. Nothing worse than this degree ami kind 
 of ideal disturbance happened that night. Nei- 
 ther foot nor wing had touched us — nor had we 
 ,seen or heard anything supernatural ; but our 
 impressions of these things, nevertheless, were 
 agonising at times, even without causes as far as 
 we knew ; and I wish you to bear in mind, that 
 He who can kill the body by his word, can also 
 condemn the soul to torment, of which mere hor- 
 ror may be the sole ingredient. 
 
 As the morning dawned, the busy and noisy 
 tenants of the forest retired to their repose, with 
 but .disturbance to themselves of a similar kind, 
 
106 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 I dare say. The first thing thatTevived us waa 
 the familiar voice of chanticleer, who crowed in 
 an adjoining thicket as lustily, and in as good 
 English, as if he had been in an Essex barn: 
 yard. There was music in the sound; and I 
 know not whether, if we could have heard the 
 bell of Seaward House, it would at the moment' 
 have gratified us more. We felt we were yet 
 in the natural world, and that there was one 
 language which was the same here as at home. 
 Besides, it was the new-born day that was thus 
 commenced ; and when the chorus of the grove 
 spread from spray to spray, and the pervading 
 beams of the sun threw a chequered robe of 
 light on the sparkling herbage at our feet, we 
 saw that we were in God's world still, and that 
 he made the wilderness and the solitary place to 
 rejoice in their season, under the glowing beams 
 of his light and favour. Why, then, might we 
 not hope that he would in mercy remember us? 
 We were the work of his hands, and the sheep 
 of his pasture. Widely, indeed, had we strayed, 
 but we had not wandered from his presence, nor 
 from under his watchful eye. Eeflections of 
 this sort formed the best consolations we could 
 think of, in combating the remembered horrors 
 of the night. We, however, resolved to provide 
 better against the night ensuing, if possible ; 
 outjhe day was to be provided for beforehand. 
 
A OISCOVERY. 107 
 
 Prout, who was tongue and brains for us all, 
 now proposed that we should again seek the 
 water-side, and explore the coast of the island, 
 for this was the only way of obtaining any real 
 knowledge of our situation. Before we set out, 
 we refreshed our mouths by drawing the iewy 
 herbage through them, and obtained thereby a 
 very sensible mitigation of our returning and in- 
 creasing thirst. Above a dozen of the party, 
 though still fasting, threw away the remains of 
 their now unsavoury meat. We tried persua- 
 sions to induce them to take it, but they were 
 too indolent and improvident to be influenced 
 by our advice in that matter. 
 
 We followed the sun, as our only guide 
 through the wood, and I believe that, in so 
 doing, we turned our backs on a coast that was 
 very near us, and sought one that was distant 
 Sve miles. Eesting under one of the tall trees 
 again, the fruit, well known now as the cocoa- 
 nut, lay scattered round. We knew not the 
 method of opening them, and, perhaps, should 
 not have been the better if we had ; for as yet 
 we had not learned to look on any substances 
 as food, with which we were unacquainted. On 
 one of these trees two gashes with an axe were 
 very apparent, and other incisions looking like 
 a date, but they were nearly overgrown, and 
 quite illegible. " If I could find the axe that 
 
108 IHE YODJSIG ISLANDERS. 
 
 cut that tree," said Prout, " we would sleep un- 
 der a roof to-night." A sort of search was 
 made in the grass and thickets hard by, but this 
 was not successful. 
 
 We left the spot, and were proceeding on our 
 way, little thinking of an ambush or an enemy, 
 when we found ourselves suddenly pelted, with 
 the utmost force and accuracy of aim. by foes 
 aboye us. The missiles rang and rattled about 
 our unhelmeted crowns (for our hats were 
 washed off on board the Golightly) ; and al- 
 though our matted locks had endured the tem- 
 pest and the surge, and our skulls were fully 
 of an average scantling, they were not seasoned 
 to a storm of shells, and we suffered severely 
 before we dared raise an eye towards the masked 
 battery that commanded our position. There 
 at last, sitting aloft, and clinging to the upper- 
 most branches, or rather leaves, of the cocoa- 
 tree, sat a couple of monkeys, who looked no 
 bigger than squirrels at that height, but who, 
 cracking these nuts, and regaling themselves 
 with the fruit, discharged the fragments with 
 unerring aim at us, to our great discomfiture 
 and pain. Our poor heads and faces streamed 
 with blood, for not a nose was pointed upwards 
 towards the enemy, but it was cracked by a 
 shell the next instant : I think only two of 
 our whole party pretended to laugh as we ran 
 
OUR HELPLESS STATE. 109 
 
 off holding our broken heads in our hands. 
 We entered a thicket, and reckoned up the 
 damage, which was at the rate of a thump and 
 a bump apiece for all of us, with many a gush- 
 ing, wound besides. Whether this was enter 
 tainment or enmity, on the part of the ring-tails, 
 I know not ; but I suspect it was the former. I 
 know what it was to us, full well. As soon aa 
 we had passed, we saw the gibbering beasts gli- 
 iing down the trees like lightning, and suppo- 
 sing that we should now come to close quarters, 
 we set up a deprecatory shout accordingly. 
 Whether the creatures changed their purpose 
 in consequence, I cannot tell; but I suppose 
 we were no sooner out of sight than oiit of 
 mind, as they immediately ascended another 
 tree at a little distance, where they cracked a 
 new supply of nuts in more pacific enjoyment, 
 and dropped the shells quietly beneath them. 
 
 We certainly had the worst of it in this en- 
 gagement, and were the most helpless and un- 
 fortunate of four celebrated classes of creatures 
 now inhabiting the island — I mean donkeys, 
 pigs, monkeys and boys. So little desirous 
 were these respectable communities of our ac- 
 quaintance, that they constantly retired at our 
 approach, so that we never could get near 
 enough to exchange a bray, a grunt, or a grim- 
 ace. It was evident, too, that the natives just 
 
 10 
 
no THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 mentioned, lived in joyous plenty — their natu 
 ral abilities being fully adequate to their neces 
 sities; whilst we witless wights, in squalid 
 misery, crawled about and starved, with cheeka 
 ooLapsedj and visages not yet quite a yard long 
 to be sure. 
 
 The fact is, that man, and the young of his 
 race especially, suddenly thrown for support 
 on mere natural instinct, and animal efforts, are 
 the most destitute and helpless creatures in the 
 world. And with regard to ourselves, it re- 
 quired the experience of months, of misery, in 
 which some of our present party perished, to 
 bring us to our senses in the matter of person- 
 al exertion, and to create in us the appetite, 
 which any mere animal would have had imme- 
 diately for the supplies around him. 
 
 Determined not to spend this night in the 
 wood, if we could help it, we pursued our way, 
 and towards evening we reached an oj)en plain, 
 skirted by a line of sands. The prospect 
 opened on an unbounded sea view, as we sup- 
 posed. The waves were crested plentifully 
 with tufts of foam, but there was a brownish 
 tinge in the mass of waters, which we had not 
 observed before. We sat down, and had one 
 tug more at our now disgusting thongs of meat, 
 whose odour had increased greatly, and rtsem 
 bled anything but that of ham, tongue, or hung 
 
AN ENOKMO0S TUETLE. Ill 
 
 beef, in England. The ground here was moist 
 and boggy, and we soon found drink and drink- 
 ing cups in plenty, on the spots our feet had 
 pressed. It was, indeed, impossible to approach 
 the shore in this direction ; and pursuing the 
 external bounds of the woods on firmer ground, 
 we at length gained the shelter of a rocky 
 cliff jetting from the land. Here, undisturbed 
 by the shades or whispers of the forest, we rest- 
 ed vill the sun reached us in our nearly roofless 
 chamber. 
 
 As, however, we had no urgent business on 
 our minds, but that of obtaining a breakfast, 
 which we knew not where to apply for, I know 
 not that we should have left out lodging for ar 
 hour or two, had it not been for a startling in- 
 cident that soon cleared the den of us, its in- 
 trusive tenants. James Moody, not much 
 liking the jagged inequalities of the stony floor 
 with which we thought ourselves bound to be 
 satisfied, curled himself round on - a much 
 smoother surface, which he found in one cor- 
 ner. He said the stone joggled a little as he 
 got on it, but it seemed as it it had been placed 
 there on purpose for him to lie on. Perhaps it 
 was, but there is a time for everything under 
 the sun; and when the warm rays of that lu- 
 minary had fallen for a few minutes in that cor- 
 ner, a new joggling of Moody's sleeping-stock 
 
112 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 was heard, with a rustling amongst the dry sea 
 weed, and, at length, Moody found himself 
 turning, couch and all, which, with him upon 
 it, now proceeded outwards at an easy pace. 
 
 The den rang with our yells, when we per- 
 ceive a toad-like physiognomy protrude from 
 the moving mass. The lad rolled off in a tan- 
 tivy, and started, as we all did, on foot in an 
 instant. The locomotive, neither hastened nor 
 hindered by the din, winked, and shook his 
 tail, and padded slowly out. It was an enor- 
 mous turtle, who, not being in the company of 
 a set of aldermen was suffered to depart with- 
 out so much as a hiccup in the way of eulo- 
 gium on his merits. The creature crawled, and 
 our flesh crawled, and Harry Boyce called it 
 Crab Crawley himself! In our haste to intrude 
 no further on the privacy of his mightiness, 
 , two or three of us tumbled over him before jife 
 UQuld get out. He instantly withdrew his coun- 
 tenance,* but not his support; his head disap- 
 peared in a twinkling within his shell ; but he 
 allowed us to regain our own legs at our leis- 
 ure. 
 
 Here was a dinner for fifty men at least, all 
 ander one cover, from which a score of famish- 
 jng wretches ran away as if it had been from a 
 reckoning.^ Was there ever such a thing heard 
 of before ? Men of more experience in suffer- 
 
TURTLE ESQAPES. 113 
 
 ing would have said we were not come to our 
 appetites yet; and those on Wager Island 
 would have scooped that corpulent reptile out 
 of his shell, and his " apartm'ent " would have 
 been "to- let" in less than half an hour after 
 they had clapped eyes on him. So much the 
 better for the turtle that we did not thus at- 
 tempt to "scrape an acquaintance !" My read- 
 ers may, perhaps, not feel surprised that we did 
 not feel inclined to breakfast on the raw vitals 
 of this apparently loathsome creature ; and, if 
 we had been so disposed, we, had neither 
 strength nor weapons to attack him. But, per- 
 haps, it may be thought strange that we did not 
 yet try the fruits of the roots of the woods. It 
 should be remembered, however, that we had 
 been but a short time landed, and had been par- 
 tially fed by the provision supplied by the buc- 
 aniers ; and I think it would be some weeks 
 before a regular train-oil Laplander could ac- 
 commodate his delicate stomach to beef-steaks, 
 oyster-sauce, or cucumbers, in England, to say 
 nothing of goose-liver pie, and frog-broth, in 
 France. We had, indeed, tasted the wood pro- 
 ducts within our reach, which were but few, and 
 made a valiant attempt on the raw yams 
 of the soil ; but our uninstructed appetites 
 rejected the flavour and the grit, and we 
 
 10* 
 
114 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 famished on, having yet much to suffer and to , 
 learn. 
 
 We waited a little, within sight of the turtle, 
 to see what it was his pleasure to do with him- 
 self. He crept into the nearest water, and there 
 disappeared, but we soon observed half a hun- 
 dred of bis species lying on the sands, and bask- 
 ing in the sun. "We saw several nests of their 
 soft, membraneous eggs, but we could not pre- 
 vail upon ourselves to touch them. " Not like 
 eggs for breakfast!— Dainty stomachs still," you 
 say. Ah, do not chide us — the food of dogs or 
 swine in England would have been joyfully re- 
 ceived ! 
 
 We coasted along the frontiers of our strange 
 domain, subsisting miserably, on such shell-fish 
 as the sun had opened, and occasionally betak- 
 mg ourselves to the woods for food. In about 
 eight days we found ourselves at the spot where 
 we had first landed ; and as the tide was now 
 out, the spot where Grant and Wyatt had dis 
 appeared was nearly dry. Happily for us, noth- 
 ing was to be seen of their bodies ; but the sight 
 of the place was dreadful, and we pursued our 
 path till the stream, proceeding from the water- 
 fall before-mentioned, interrupted it. We fol- 
 lowed its downward course, between the hills, 
 through a valley of romantic beauty, where 
 trees of the most majestic altitude pillared its 
 
RESIGNATION. 115 
 
 Verdant banks, whilst others, with outstretched 
 arms, extended from Tide to side. At length 
 the forest opened, the trees gave place to thick- 
 ets of aquatic shrubs, and .these at length, to 
 herbaceous plants, occupying a wide space of 
 swampy ground. 
 
 Here our truant feet sank nn, and we were 
 very nearly betrayed to our destruction. With 
 difficulty we retreated to a spot that would sus 
 tain us, and there wearied, woe-begone, and al 
 most in despair, we threw ourselves down fot 
 the night. We had become somewhat seasoned 
 to this sort of lodging, and had not since been 
 annoyed as we were on the second night we 
 spent on the island, but we avoided the woods 
 in the evening as much as possible ; and with 
 an open, ^starry sky above us, and with a trust 
 in God, which was positive comfort to those who 
 committed themselves to him on their knees, 
 before an eye was closed, we reposed better per- 
 haps than many on beds of down 
 
 We always, however appointed a watchmau 
 to our camp, but I am sorry to say that this duty 
 was performed with little fidelity by the greater 
 number of our party ; so that, in fact, the task 
 devolved on about half a dozen of us who had 
 strength of mind and principle enough thus to 
 act, out of turn, for our common safety. This 
 night, as I have said, we encamped on the outer 
 
116 THE YOUNil ISLANDERS. 
 
 skirts of the wood, and on the borders of tho 
 swampy ground ; and it was always arranged 
 that if our sentinels saw or heard anything par- 
 ticular, they should rouse the party. Eouse, 
 Frampton, and I, were the watchmen this time. 
 Our companions were soon occupied by the 
 only visions that really blessed our thoughts 
 — those of happy dreams, that transported us 
 to the cliflPs of England, to our homes, and the 
 dear towers of St. Runwald's school. The wakers 
 knew by the sleeper's mijttered breath what 
 scenes were occupying their brains, and longed 
 to share their imagined joys. On these occasions, 
 when the eye was closed on outward objects, oiir 
 memories were vivified and active — every inci- 
 dent of our former lives was fresh, and ready to - 
 occupy its proper place in the drama of our 
 dreams; but, by day, a confusion of thought, 
 almost amounting to oblivion, shut out the past, 
 and we rarely conversed about it. 
 
 The poor fellows were in thought, at home as 
 usual, and were mumbling their impressions 
 aloud in broken but complacent sentences, when 
 Frampton touched my arm and said — " Selwyn, 
 do you see that light ? — See ! see 1 there are — 
 one, two, three, four 1" It was no mistake — our 
 blood, not too warm before, ran colder, as we 
 confirmed each other's eyes, and counted tho 
 ligh'ts, now augmented to seven or eight, ansJ 
 
A PHENOMENON. 117 
 
 proceeding at a walking pace at some distance. 
 "Prout, get up !" was the cry, and this was the 
 signal' to the rest to rise. " What is the matter? 
 0, what? what?" was the question of many a 
 tongue. " Only the lights down yondpr— don't 
 you see them ?" Our regiment was on foot di- 
 rectly, but not in marching order. The lambent 
 flames, in reality little exceeding half-a-dozen, 
 were nlultiplied, by the imagination of the fear- 
 ■fiil, to hundreds, and the prevailing opinion be- 
 gan to be, that this was a party from England 
 come in quest of us ! nor was this notion a 
 comfortable one to all. "I hope^— 0, I hope 
 it's Slothing about Grimsby," said one ; "I only 
 saw it done, hohing through the pit's doorT " Do 
 -you Tiear that?" whispered Prout to me. I 
 shuddered, and was certainly altogether in a shiv- 
 ery mood. 
 
 " That's my grandmother's lantern, I know it, 
 said Harry Boyce ; "I can see the cross-bars of 
 it as plain — " " Then I hope she has got her 
 pattens oh," said Prout, " for I can see theore- 
 flection in the water more plainly still." " 0, 
 seel seel they are dancing!'' said one, with 2 
 half laugh, who just now was all fear: "seel 
 they are going round and round 1" 
 
 The thin, hovering flames did indeed wheei 
 about now on a sudden, and then mounting into 
 
118 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 the air, shot off like a chain of fire, and disap 
 peared in the gloom. 
 
 "We clasped each other as the ivy binds the 
 oak, and our breathing was agitated like its 
 fluttered leaves. Not a soul of us had the 
 shadow of an idea as to the cause of the phe- 
 nomenon ; all we knew was, that it had appeared 
 and was gone! Not an eye was closed more 
 that night, and we remained in possession of oui 
 wonder, when our terrors were dispelled by the 
 rising sun. My readers, however, being better 
 Informed than we then were, have no doubt an- 
 ticipated my explanation, by attributing this 
 vision to the ignis-fatuus, or Jack-with-a-lantern, 
 commonly called. The gases that arise from 
 animal and vegetable bodies in a state of watery 
 dissolution, are often inflammable or luminous, 
 and, in warm countries, the meteors thus occa- 
 sioned are frequent, and of a very startling 
 kind. 
 
 Our colloquy on this subject ended in tht 
 morning, by this bright idea of Johny Eouse — 
 that he wished they had left one candle alight,! 
 to enable us to make a fire and roast the wood- 
 nuts and roots, which he was sure would be 
 good if so cooked. We vainly endeavoured to 
 approa,ch the supposed place of the illumination; 
 and we got up to our knees in the swamp, 
 whereby our active curiosity about the mattei 
 
FOOLISH IDEAS. 11& 
 
 was effectually damped and cooled. There was 
 no appearance of any footsteps but. our own, and 
 the hope of Jerry Dolman, that the visitors 
 might have left some supper or breakfast with- 
 in our reach, was never realised. As for Prout, 
 he combated our fears by representing how ab- 
 surd it was to be frightened by light and dark- 
 ness too. . For his part he wished they would 
 always light him to bed, but not trouble them- 
 selves to snuff out the candles. 
 
 A perfectly undigested wonder in the mind 
 always produces uneasiness, and sometimes dis- 
 ease. The idea that those torch-bearers were 
 savages, come to make a supper of us, was al- 
 most as tolerable as the next conjecture, that 
 supernatural agencies sojourned ia the island, 
 and that they had some fearful purpose against 
 us, the intruders on their lone domain. The 
 strong sense of Prout, and a few others, whilst 
 it rejected this fancy of the timid, was compelled 
 to silence by the simple question: — "Where, 
 then, could the lights come from ?" — I say the 
 best of us felt bafEled and annoyed by the cir- 
 cumstance ; but we bore our discomfort as well 
 as we could. The nature of the ground forbade 
 our wandering farther in that direction, and 
 again we threaded the tangled thicKets of the 
 wood. 
 
 Weeks passed away, and our distress was in- 
 
120 THfi VOUJ^Q ISLANDEHS. 
 
 deed extreme. Strange fruits, and raw root^ 
 and long intervtfls of absolute want ; the expo- 
 sure to an ardent sun by day, and drencliing 
 dews by night; alarms and watchings, and a 
 fixed despondency, brought down our strength 
 of mind and body, ui\til many of us could 
 scarcely crawl along the grass ; whilst three of 
 our unhappy party, Mansfield, Settle, and Tays- 
 pill, no longer able to walk or stand, occupied a 
 little hut of boughs we hastily constructed for 
 them, and appeared sinking fast. The best food 
 we could gather for their use remained untouched 
 by their side. " Water 1 water !" was their fee- 
 ble cry : of this, for want of a vessel, we were 
 totally unable to collect any considerable supply, 
 the fragments of cocoa-nut shells, left by animals 
 about the woods, being our largest utensils for 
 the purpose. 
 
 But we were not only sinking in health, but 
 in intellect: we were literally becoming wild 
 animals, burrowing and grovelling in the soil 
 for shelter, and using our hands very much as 
 feet, through the weakness of our legs. Our 
 speech was reduced, generally, to a few mono- 
 syllables ; and we often stared and gibbered at 
 .each other like apes ; and snuffled like pigs 
 when we ate our food, scarcely ever uttering a 
 word at those times. I do not believe that, at 
 this period, there were half-a-dozen of us who 
 
SERIOUS ILLNESS OF TAYSPILL. 121 
 
 • 
 
 could have given any account of our past his 
 tory that could have been understood. Prout and 
 Holt, Eouse and Selwyn, never so far lost sense 
 and memory, yet we felt that we were not what 
 we had been in the scale of humanity ; and, in 
 deed, the chief complaint we uttered was, thai 
 our reason and memory were forsaking us. It 
 is certain, however, that whilst the mind retains 
 a consciousness of its own impaired condition in 
 these respects, it is still sane, though weak ; and 
 recoverable, though greatly disordered. 
 
 On the fifth day after tie three lads had taken 
 to their hut, we found Tayspill with his face 
 turned to the earth, and uttering feeble moans. 
 From his two companions we could get no in- 
 telligible account of any change that had oc- 
 curred. Prout advanced, and, kindly address- 
 ing him, endeavoured to turn him, and set him 
 up; but, with more strength than we thought 
 he had possessed, Tayspill struggled from him, 
 and buried his face again in the dry leaves of 
 his couch. We thought we now distinguished 
 words ; and, on making a new attempt to raise 
 him, the poor lad gathered up his powers, and 
 screamed out, " Take him away — take Crawley 
 away 1" 
 
 Our blood curdled, and the two recumbent 
 lads started up, and looked wildly about them, 
 
 T 11 
 
122 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 " Yes,'' they said, " he has been talking so all 
 night ; but who is Crawley ?" 
 
 A gleam of light swept over a distant portion 
 of our memories — the towers of Seaward House 
 occupied the scene: Crawley, Grimsby, Dr. 
 Poynders, and Mr. Baldrey, glided before it. 
 " Now, Crawley, I will tell them all about it, il 
 you don't let me alone," repeated Ta_^spill — 
 "yes, and I know about Grimsby." 
 
 "Come away, come away," .said Coble, "he 
 must be mad!" 
 
 " No, I am not mad," said Tayspill, with the 
 due accent of returning sense. Then perusing 
 ' separately the faces of those around him, " Craw- 
 ley," he said, "is gone now, and I am glad of it. 
 Prout, dear Nat Prout, raise me up a little, and 
 give me some water. No, not you, Hackett — 
 Prout, I say." Prout gave him drink, and 
 bathed his temples. The eye of Tayspill had 
 become clouded and fixed, but again it recovered 
 a momentary brightness and expression. " Yes, 
 I know you all now," he said, "and I can think 
 of things again for a little while. Don't let 
 Crawley come to me when I am dead; I am 
 glad he is not here now, because he would not 
 let me tell you anything — Prout, is it right to 
 tell other people's sins ?" 
 
 Prout made no reply. 
 
 " I may confess my own," said the dying boy. 
 
DEATH OF TAYSPILL. l23 
 
 "I knew that Crawley had pushed Grimsby 
 into the pit, for I saw him through the door one 
 moonlight night. After he had done it, he 
 climbed up, and looked over the wall into the 
 garden, and saw me. He said he would serve 
 me the same if ever I told. He frightened me 
 almost into fits, and in my terror I promised 
 anything he asked. He and I, together, broke 
 open that wall door. I thought that he wanted 
 to get the school on board ship for some mis- 
 chief, but did not know what. I think, now, 
 that he did it chiefly to get rid of me. I saw 
 him leave the ship, and heard the splash of the 
 plank falling into the water; but even then I 
 did not think there would be much harm done. 
 I know that he cut the rope. Once he tried to 
 make me set the house on fire, but I did not 
 like." The lad now clasped his hands together, 
 and his lips only moved ; then once more open- 
 ing his eyes, " Yes — ^yes — 1 say good-bye to you 
 all," said he, and, sinking back, he immediately 
 expired. 
 
 We rushed out of the hut with one consent, 
 but our party presently divided. Coble, Innian, 
 Ibbotson, Brett, and Hackett, took to their 
 heels in company, and soon disappeared among 
 the thickets : the rest of us sat down just where 
 we were out of sight of the hut — our memories 
 and' sense restored, our feelings excited, and our 
 
124 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 hearts panting with agitation. The confession 
 of Tayspill only confirmed our previous impres- 
 sions, though we had not, like him, and some 
 others, been in the dreadful secret of the crimi- 
 nal. But the peculiar emphasis of dying lips 
 we had never known before ; it still seemed to 
 jccupy our ears with the name of Crawley I 
 
 In our haste and perturbation, we had forgot- 
 ten that by the side of the dead lay the living, 
 when we left the hut; for Settle and Mansfield 
 had sunk down during Tayspill's confession, and 
 turned their faces convulsively aside. Prout 
 now started up, and, observing that we had for- 
 gotten those lads, reminded us of our neglected 
 duty. Several of our party hesitated to accom- 
 pany him, but when he asked whether we really 
 meant hirn to go alone, three or four of us rose 
 and joined him. All was quite over at the hut! 
 The three emaciated youths lay stretched out, 
 and were added to the number of our dead com- 
 panions, making thirty, altogether, who had lost 
 their lives. 
 
 Do you think that this was a most dispropor- 
 tioned punishment for their fault, and that it is 
 too hard and horrid to believe ? But do you 
 not know that thousands have perished by fire, 
 by flood, or by famine, of whom it: was never 
 said that tbey rushed, as we did, into danger, or 
 that they transgressed, as we did, at all? A 
 
BUEIAL OF THE DEAD. 125 
 
 thousand boys may rob orchards, and one only 
 in the thousand may be choked with a plum- 
 Btone, or break bis neck by falling from a tree. 
 They who survived of our company were as 
 guilty as those who perished. All did wrong, 
 and all suffered, though a few were, in a sort, of 
 way, delivered ; that was the mercy of God 
 and if my readers are not now enduring the last 
 extremity of suffering themselves, that is the 
 miercy of God too. 
 
 We tore sods from the ground, and piled over 
 their bodies : we heaped leaves and branches of 
 trees above them : we closed up the entrance of 
 the hut with stakes and boughs — it wa? all that 
 we could do.. We then took to our heels, and 
 with an energy, of which in the morning we 
 should have thought ourselves incapable, we ran 
 and walked and ran again, without looking 
 back or speaking a word, until we had left 
 woods and hills far»behind us, and found our- 
 selves approaching the watery barriers of oui 
 domain. 
 
 11* 
 
126 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 CHAPTEIL VI. 
 
 OuB present party was now reduced to six 
 teen or seventeen, and consisted of those indi- 
 viduals of our number who had always agreed 
 the best, and understood each other's views and 
 feelings the most readily. We never were 
 Crawkyites, and that, perhaps, is the best thing 
 that it is prudent to say in our own praise. 
 "We supposed that the missing party, having 
 fled, as we did, with the instinct of dread, from 
 the abode of death, had taken, by mistake, a 
 different path from ours, and that, bewildered 
 in the labyrinths of the forest, they had been 
 unable to rejoin us. 
 
 When the crew of a wreck, having only a 
 limited and known supply of provisions, are re- 
 duced in numbers, there is a direct and propor- 
 tionate advantage, in the matter of food^to those 
 vho remain, and consolation, for this reason, 
 must mix itself with sorrow for departed com- 
 rades. But in our case, where the scanty pit- 
 tance of subsistence was, as it were, picked up 
 and earned by each according to his strength 
 and industry, there was no corresponding bene- 
 
A NEW EXPERIMENT. 127 
 
 fit: we had neither more or less than before; 
 and our real anxiety for the fate of the poor fel- 
 lows was not compensated by any share or 
 shares falling to our lot. 
 
 We lodged generally in the woods by day, 
 and under crags by the shore at night. In the 
 morning, the most lively of us related our 
 dreams, if any, and these were the chief solace 
 we had. At length a dull brain produced a 
 spark, whilst slumbering, that the wittiest of us, 
 I believe, would never have struck out, when 
 wide awake. Solomon Johnson, who had never 
 before accommodated us with a thought from 
 his couch, one morning started up and said: — "I 
 have been dreaming that my father's haystacks' 
 were on fire !" 
 
 " I wish we had such a haystack here," said 
 Prout. 
 
 " Well," replied Johnson, " so you may if you 
 heap the grass together green !" 
 
 Our minds were instantly in a blaze at the 
 thought. Prout bounded over half-a-dozen of 
 his less electrified companions, and led the way 
 to the woods. We thought of nothing less than 
 roasted yams for dinner; and we generally 
 agreed that, if once we got a roaring fire, it 
 should not be long before a hare or a bird fig- 
 ured away in due rotation there. The exhila- 
 ration arising from this kind of excitement — 
 
128 THE TOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 that of a joyful object to be obtained by exer- 
 tion, had not been known by any of us since our 
 calamity befel us. Our minds had withered in 
 the shades of despondency and inactivity : and 
 now hunger and weakness were forgotten, and 
 we sallied forth to set we knew not what on 
 firel 
 
 A stack of hay, or of any other herbs, collect- 
 ed in a sappy condition, and heaped in a mass 
 amounting to a dozen or twenty loads, and ma- 
 king an appearance equal to that of a little 
 house in size, — will certainly heat, probably 
 smoke, and, possibly, ignite in a few days or 
 weeks. But many a stack too hot for the hand 
 to bear, has never flamed, smoked, or even 
 been discoloured at its centre ; and with regard 
 to very small stacks, they are in little dan- 
 ger of a heat at all. But never mind, we were 
 pleased, and that was something. To be sure 
 there were neither scythes to mow with, nor 
 meadows to be mown ; but there was a regular 
 set of young vagabonds ready to claw up the 
 tufts of grass and sedges from amongst the 
 thickets with their hands. 
 
 The sun was darting his horizontal beams 
 through the wood, which otherwise he scarcely 
 entered, and- was gilding many a stately column 
 of our sylvan temple, before we had accom- 
 plished the accumulation of a heap of weeds 
 
LABOR AND DISAPPOINTMENT. 129 
 
 equal to that of a respectable dunghill, by our 
 united toil. Understanding that it was the 
 moisture that caused the heat, we took care that 
 there should be no lack of water to feed the 
 flames ! — and, therefore, we dipped every bunch 
 of herbage, every wisp of grass, in a pool by the 
 marshes, and, with a due mixture of hope and 
 doubt, and wonder, we watched the result that 
 night. " Ah !" said we, " never mind the dark 
 for an hour or two, we shall soon have a cheer- 
 ful blaze. Let u& hope it will not set the whole ■ 
 island in a conflagration, and, perhaps, make 
 the ocean boil around it." Eeally, we were ven- 
 turous young people ! 
 
 No such result occurred, or it would have 
 been told by another pen than that of Miles 
 Selwyn. Nothing was to be seen or felt in the 
 morning but the cold and squashy heap we 
 had piled up the day before 1 
 
 There was some mistake, of course ; but I 
 will not weary my readers with a recital of our 
 continued labour and disappointment during 
 a period of three or four weeks, in which time 
 our pitiful bank of soddened herbage subsided 
 into a flattened mass of vegetable matter, pass- 
 ing into a state of the coldest decomposition. 
 Solomon Johnson, it was plain, could claim no 
 kindred with his illustrious namesake on the 
 wore of wisdom At last Prout suggested that, 
 
130 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 perhaps, water was not the best thing to make 
 a fire burn, after all, and he proposed that we 
 should commence another stack composed oi 
 grass as nearly in the condition of hay but lit- 
 tle dried, as we could find. . So we rambled 
 forth hay-making in another quarter, and in 
 the course of three weeks more, we had erec- 
 ted a pile much more like a farm-stack than the 
 former. We clambered up it and trod it down 
 in all directions ; we topped it up, gable fashion, 
 and left the affair to faith and patience 
 
 Whilst we were scratching about amongst 
 the grass and weeds, we found something that 
 we did not look for, and that again set our cog- 
 itations going : it was the skeleton of a little 
 dog, with a chain collar round its neck ; and, a 
 little further on, young Boyce picked up the 
 rusty remains of a short gun, of the sort called 
 a carbine or a carabine, and much used by the 
 Spaniards in former days. We felt a mixture 
 of hope, curiosity, and fear, not knowing what 
 we might come to next. The gun had not seen 
 service for many a day ; for the stock dropped 
 from the barrel, out of which crawled a centi- 
 pede of almost interminable length, as it seemed 
 to us, and we threw down the barrel in a mo- 
 ment. It was evident that men had been here 
 before us, and those not savages so called. Our 
 researhces now had a new object, and we pe- 
 
TRACE OF EUKOPEANS. 131 
 
 rused the very soil, step by step, as wo crept 
 along. 
 
 As I have before stated, there were plenty 
 of animals of the European species on the isl- 
 and ; but not an inch of humanity, except the 
 persons of our. precious selves, had we seen, 
 nor any vestiges of human works or doings, 
 but the nearly effaced inscription on the tree 
 before mentioned, up to the time of finding the 
 dog and gun. A day or two after this, how- 
 ever, we traced along the ground the partly 
 decayed and partly sprouting remains of a pal- 
 isade or stockade fence, overgrown with the 
 luxuriant vegetation of the spot, and interlaced 
 with shoots from the adjoining thicket. Here 
 were the wildly wooded bowers of an evident 
 plantation, and the mossy traces of forsaken 
 footpaths disclosed a garden that once was 
 there. The selected flowers and shrubs^ aban- 
 doned by art, had been adopted readily by na- 
 ture ; the dependent vine hung her clusters on 
 the apple bough; and the lily and the rose 
 surmounted boldly the weedy associates at their 
 foot. 
 
 "We explored the spot with all the diligence 
 and animation of young minds bent on discov- 
 ery, and lured forward by a thousand beckon- 
 ing hopes. We ate with avidity the wild pro- 
 ducts of. the- spot, chiefly relished because thej 
 
132 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 were of a sort that had place- in our niemoriee 
 at home. The apples and the grapes were nei- 
 ther ripe nor good, but we devoured them with 
 a relish long unknown ; and, breaking through 
 the boughs and recesses of the garden, we 
 came to an expanse of ground once also en- 
 closed ; it was without trees, but covered with 
 a thick mantle of various vegetation, in which 
 wheat-ears, Indian corn, and potato stalks were 
 freely scattered. 
 
 We traced the bounds of the field, in the 
 form of something like a stake fence, and, in 
 other places of a hedge and a ditch, for a con- 
 siderable distance, and picked up a few rusted 
 implements of tillage. Here, then, was a spot 
 where human toil had been expeoded : the lit- 
 tle farm and garden must have been in the oc- 
 cupation of Europeans, who had considered 
 themselves as residents in this remote islet; 
 but where were they now, and where had been 
 their habitation ? Not the least sign of a roof 
 or walls ; not a hut, or the ruins of one, could 
 we discover; and yet it was evident, that the 
 dwelling of the former occupants of this place 
 was not far distant. On one side, the enclo- 
 sure was bounded by a chasm or glen, in which 
 tumbled a stream leading from the rocky "basin 
 we had before visited, and the space was termi- 
 nated, on another side, by the rude crags and 
 
NOT ENVIOUS OBJECTS. 13S 
 
 precipitous sides of the mountain, that soared 
 into the clouds above. The cataract, bellowing 
 from its caverns, had evidently carried masses 
 of the rock before it, the fabric of material of 
 which was of too loose a nature, in many pla- 
 ces, to enable us to climb with safety. Frag- 
 ments of this rock, great and small, lay scat- 
 tered about the field at this part ; and it seemed 
 as if some of them had fallen, since any efforts 
 at cultivation had been made. 
 
 Though as houseless as ever on this spot, we 
 determined to make it our home at once, and 
 reposed more tranquilly under the trees of the 
 garden than beneath the deeper shades of the 
 giants of the forest. We scarcely knew whether 
 we most wished or feared that any of the for- 
 mer tenants of the soil might revisit the place, 
 and discover our intrusion. There was, how- 
 ever, little expectation of such an event. The 
 retreat had plainly been long abandoned ; and 
 whatever advantage we could derive from it, 
 we resolved to make use of without scruple. 
 We were not fit objects of envy yet, even to 
 the most romantic of my readers. There was 
 more disappointment than relief in the results 
 of our researches from day to day. When we 
 had eaten all that we could find of produce 
 here, we were more than half starved; and our 
 health and strength, which had at first revived, 
 
 12 
 
134 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 DOW declined from day to day. A new inji 
 dent roused us once again. 
 
 Amongst our chief fears especially at night, 
 when our imaginations were most excitable, waa 
 this — that the savages from some adjacent 
 country would, at an unthought-of time, visit 
 our island, smell out our retreat, roast us alive, 
 and eat us up. Of cannibalism we had read 
 something and talked a great deal ; and one 
 object of our nightly watch was this, to give us 
 timely notice of an invasion ; of which we 
 doubted not the reality, when our watchman 
 suddenly roused us from deep sleep in the gar- 
 den with the scream of "Fire!" We started 
 up, and in agony of horror, we beheld a ruddy 
 blaze gleaming through the woods at no great 
 distance, and at length, surmounting their top- 
 most boughs, bursting upwards in a pyramid of 
 flames ! 
 
 " There is more than fire enough to roast such 
 lean pigs as we are," said Prout. 
 
 " I think the cook has set the kitchen in a 
 blaze," said Eouse ; " I am certain that the trees 
 are on fire !" 
 
 Our fears now took a new direction, and no- 
 thing less than a universal conflagration was 
 talked of by some. " dear," said Jerry Dol- 
 man, " this is worse than all the bog lanterns 
 
FIRE AT LAST. 135 
 
 There 1 did you hear that scream ? Oh ! it 
 must be savages roasting somebody !" 
 
 There was, indeed, a yell scarcely human, as 
 I thought. The forest seemed roused, and its 
 tenants, withr various cries, were escaping, and 
 traversing the glades, as we could plainly hear. 
 Another and another yell, evidently proceeding 
 from actual suffering, echoed through the 
 woods, and I can say for one, that my horror 
 was extreme. The flame, however, had now 
 greatly subsided, and we could see little more 
 than volumes of smoke, strongly tinged with 
 the red glow of the fire beneath them. , 
 
 We rather wondered, and not without a mix- 
 ture of complacency, that we were not yet sent 
 for, to the supposed entertainment. The fire 
 appeared to be going out, and we were anything 
 but warmed by it as yet. Our wonder, our 
 terrors, and our conjectures might have last-' 
 ed days and weeks, for aught I know, had 
 not Front's "fertile brain in an instant dissolved 
 them all. Leaping from the ground, and clap- 
 ping his hands, he exclaimed, " 0, it's the hay- 
 stack ! it is our own haystack that has obliged 
 us at last !" 
 
 We set up a shout of joy that made rocks 
 
 and woods ring again, but our voices sank in 
 
 consternation when again we called to mind the 
 
 -horrid screams we had heard. "Can't help 
 
136 THE YOUNG IBLANDEES. 
 
 that," said Prout, who confident of the fact, was 
 not again to be daunted; "if a monkey has 
 got a warming, I hope it was the one that broke 
 my nose the other day I" 
 
 There was sense and justice in this conjecture, 
 and we resolved, by break of day, to proceed 
 to the smoking spot, and end all doubts. We 
 watched with impatience for the sun to light us 
 -to the fire, which, just before, we thought was 
 to consume the world, ourselves included ! Be- 
 fore, however, we could well see our way, we 
 crept forth, now guided only by the smoke. 
 We soon recognized the scene of our former 
 labours : here were no signs of a banquet, nor 
 of the recent presence there of any parties but 
 ourselves ; but we were surprised, and almost 
 alarmed, at first, to see our stack somewhat 
 sunken indeed, but retaining nearly its exter- 
 nal form as before. It was not till we plainly 
 saw smoke issuing from ,the centre, and wit- 
 nessed the blackened skeleton of the tree un- 
 der whose very arms we had placed our intend- 
 ed mass of fuel, that we were fully satisfied as 
 to this being the cause of the flames we had 
 witnessed. 
 
 Prout, indeed, was right enough .,n both hia 
 conjectures. On climbing to the top of the 
 smouldering heap, we perceived that the fire had 
 made itself a capacious chimney in the middle, 
 
BRIGHTER PROSPECTS. 137 
 
 at the bottom^of which dark fannel, there lay 
 the reeking and odorous remains of a small 
 monkey. The poor wretch, if we may honour 
 him with the title, to which so many of our spe- 
 cies lay claim, had evidently been surprised, in 
 the tree, by the smoke and flames, and had fall- 
 en into the midst of them so quickly, that hia 
 usual agility profited him nothing. Not having, 
 even at this time, any hankering or appetite for 
 a roasted ring-tail, we dropped from our posi- 
 tion, and began to oast about in our minds what 
 other materials for a hot breakfast we could 
 find, and how our cookery was to be arranged; 
 Happily, there was little difiiculty in all this. 
 We knew from the bucaniers that the woods 
 yielded roots that only required roasting ; and 
 we had discovered in the wild, but once cul- 
 tured field, genuine potatoes, of whose good 
 qualities, when dressed, we had no doubt at all : 
 fuel, I need not say, was abundant, and ready to 
 our hands. We selected a dead, hollow tree for 
 our first fireplace, which, as it had a clear* fun- 
 nel to the top, answered exceedingly well, and, 
 being very capacious, it was but little touched 
 by our potatoe farnace. We drew the smoking 
 ashes from our stack, and soon blew the fuel we 
 had provided to a flame ; but, as the yams and 
 potatoes were to be sought for, and then delved 
 
 from the soil with our hands, it was near noon 
 
 12* 
 
138 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 before our victuals could be placed before the 
 fire. 
 
 It may be remarked, here, that there is no 
 country, however cold or warm, nor people, 
 however ignorant, rude, or simple in their minds 
 and habits, but that fire is known, and the ma- 
 terials for it are somehow collected. Where 
 there is literally neither wood nor coal, then the 
 skin and bones, fat and intestines of animals, 
 and the moss that mantles the rocky soil, or the 
 sea-weed that lines the coast of the arctic re- 
 gions, serve to feed the needful though penuri- 
 ous flame that ministers to the necessities and 
 comfort of mankind. They who have always 
 been used to an abundance of material for the 
 supply of every want, may sometimes think 
 certain things not essential, only because they 
 know not what want is in any form or degree. 
 
 We had suffered enough to remedy any mis- 
 taken opinion of this sort. Fire was food, com- 
 pany and protection to us. This one alleviation 
 of our wretchedness we had prayed and striven- 
 for, and had really despaired of, until our eyes 
 beheld it ; and then we ignorantly feared a foe 
 in this best of friends ! 
 
 The mealy fumes of the puifing and blister- 
 ing yams and potatoes, embrowned by the em- 
 bers, regaled our sense with all the odours of a 
 varied banquet. We made a ring round the 
 
THE FIRST MOUTHFUL. 139 
 
 fopt of the hospitable old tree, whose top uow 
 poured forth a stream of' curling smoke that 
 eddied round its summit i-n the unwonted form 
 of a growing and hoary headpiece to its disman- 
 tled trunk.' There were many cooks, but there 
 was no broth to spoil. We built up the fuel, and 
 piled the heap of roots before it, and we turned 
 them about, and stirred the glowing fire more 
 than enough for the early completion of the pro- 
 cess we had to manage. The watery roots sang 
 and bubbled under our hands for some hours; 
 but the potatoes in one hour were nearly eata- 
 ble. We vote'd Solomon Johnson the first 
 mouthful, which he accepted with an eagerness 
 that cost him dear. Great was his affection for 
 the warm root we rolled towards him, but jt was 
 too hot to hold ; and when — placed on the end 
 -ef a forked stick — he pressed it to his lips, long 
 unused to culinary heat, the contact produced a 
 scream, and the smoking potato was projected 
 towards its native woods. 
 
 It required, indeed, caution, of which we were 
 not aware, to apply this warm food to our long 
 unpractised mouths ; but this lesson being 
 learned, we made a hearty meal with joy and 
 thankfulness. We had found a rusty hatchet in 
 the field, and, having now obtained fire, Prout 
 made a speech, which he concluded by moving 
 that we sliould consider ourselves, and be eon- 
 
140 THE YOUNG ISLANDEES. ' 
 
 sidered, savages no longer. The motion waa 
 duly seconded, and agreed to nem. con., and we 
 rose with a laudable determination to be a civil- 
 ized community from that time. This, not ex- 
 cepting Solomon's dream, was really the best 
 thought that had occurred to any of us, asleep 
 or awake, since we had inhabited the isl- 
 and. We roused our energies; and seeing 
 that we could have food and might have shel- 
 ter, and, perhaps, other comforts, by our own 
 exertions, we no longer wasted our days and 
 our strength, as we had done, in a state of mere 
 crawling existence, not so happy as that of 
 many a reptile basking on the sands. 
 
 The hatchet we had found needed not only a 
 handle but an edge, and we were stupid enough 
 to attempt to supply the first defect before we 
 attended to the second. It was more than one 
 day's work to hack, I will not say to cut, a sap- 
 ling from its root, and to bruise, I will not say 
 lo chop, it into the form desired ; and when we 
 were thus fully instructed as to the necessity of 
 a grinding process, we occupied many days in 
 the search after, and in the use of, sundry stones, 
 wherewithal we rubbed its rusted sides, before 
 the axe again deserved the name of a cutting 
 tool. I suppose we wanted the skill, as well as 
 the diligence of Alexander Selkirk, who, it is 
 said — and I never heard that it was disbelieved 
 
EEGULAEITT OF PLAN. 141 
 
 — reduced his gun-barrel into wires and nails 
 by filing it with an oyster shell, or some such 
 thing ! This I know, that the labour of our 
 whole fraternity was expended on that memora- 
 ble bit of iron for a week at least, before we 
 could cut a stick in two therewith. 
 
 We now resolved to build ourselves a house, 
 to maintain our fire night and day, and to pro- 
 cure animal food if possible ; but we made small 
 progress in any of these undertakings, until ex- 
 perience had taught us the utility, I may say, 
 the necessity, of a regular plan : of order or 
 method, of determined perseverance,' and of the 
 division of labour; that is, the apportioning of 
 certain operations to certain parties, according 
 to their individual abilities. We found out be- 
 fore lo'ng that Prout was the man — no, no, he 
 was but a boy — well, then, say Nat Prout was 
 the lad to lay plans, to give orders, to infuse cour- 
 age, decide disputes, lend the needful hitch or 
 hint to any, and to endure privation, face dan- 
 gers, and to make- himself nothing at last, to 
 prevent the impatience or jealousy of some from 
 spreading disunion among us. Holt, Melton, 
 and Bosworth, were also good and clever fel- 
 lows, and the most able-bodied of our party ; 
 they would have a middling tree down, before 
 others I could name would have decided whion 
 was the safest way for it to fall. Then 'there 
 
142 THE YOUNG ISLANDEKS. 
 
 was John Upjohn, and Arthur Murdoch, they 
 were the Nimrods of the wood, and hunted 
 down the sheep and pigs to a complete state of 
 prostration ; but as these animals chose always 
 to revive before any soul of us could summon 
 resolution to become their butchers, the chase 
 was of little avail at first, as regarded them ; 
 but hares and rabbits the boys also pursued 
 with some success, and did not scruple to twist 
 their necks for our common benefit. For the 
 meditative office of keeping the fire alight, and 
 the axe in cutting order, Solomon Johnson 
 seemed formed by nature. As for the remain- 
 der of the party, their special talents, if any, 
 were not called out at present ; they, with Miles 
 Selwyn, were content to collect fruits, roots, and 
 fuel, and to fetch water from the fountain, for 
 which purpose the skins now obtained formed 
 convenient buckets. 
 
 The greater part of our unhappiness was re- 
 moved by the mere motion of occupation : the 
 nervous fears at night, which had punished us 
 so severely, were now either dispelled, or had 
 little power to disturb the sound repose which 
 succeeded a day of toil so that we neither 
 thought nor cared about; the bog lights, and 
 -had no time to watch for the footmarks of sava- 
 ges on the soil ; but we did still remember our 
 lost companions. It was a rule, however, not 
 
AXE LOST AND FOUND. 143 
 
 to mention them but when we were at workj 
 and could rot have our minds too intent on so 
 distressing a subject. As for those who had 
 parted from us, at the death of the lads in the 
 hut, we fully expected and hoped to meet with 
 them again, that they might share our comforts, 
 and our labours too. 
 
 We had, from the first day on which we dis- 
 covered it, considered the wild garden and its 
 adjacent field as our home estate, and there we 
 cleared a spot for the erection of our covered 
 dwelling. The bit of an axe we had found, sev- 
 eral times flew off and sought the retirement it 
 had long known amongst the bushes, leaving 
 the ill-fated handle in our hands. On one oc- 
 casion, poor Dolman received a flying visit from 
 the iron, the marks of which he carried on his 
 brow thenceforth. Two w(iole weeks we sought 
 the fugitive tool in vain, and were fast relapsing 
 into our former condition of listlessness, despon- 
 dency, and vacuity of mind, for want of the 
 occupation it afforded, and the objects of which 
 it enabled us to seek the attainment. Sink the 
 iron, and you bury the brains of any commu- 
 nity; put out their fires, and you will extin- 
 guish thought, and life iteelf at last. However, 
 whilst gathering fuel amongst the branches wo 
 had lopped, one of us grasped the treasure be- 
 fore he saw it, amongst the leaves. We bad a 
 
144 THE YOUNG ISLANDEES. 
 
 day of real rejoicing; and resolving to make the 
 possession more secure, we procured a knobbed 
 cudgel from the woods, and pared it down 
 smaller by degrees ; we then introduced the di- 
 minished end of the truncheon into the loop of^ 
 the iron, and, driving it through as far as we 
 could, there remained a projecting knob of wood 
 beyond it, forbidding any truant wanderings of 
 the axe again. 
 
 Our ambition was, to make a house, hut, or 
 shed, capable of containing a sleeping apartment 
 divided into wards or berths for each of us, and 
 an eating room for use when we might require 
 it ; for we supposed, not without reason, that it 
 would rain here some day, as at other places. 
 But, like folks of our sort elsewhere, we over- 
 built ourselves; or rather, our plans, founda- 
 tions, and the framework of our edifice were in 
 extent far beyond our means to finish, or to 
 make secure, and so Prout told us frota day to 
 day. We had not such a thing in our posses- 
 sion as a spade to dig a hole for our posts, nor 
 a nail, or a hammer wherewith to drive one : 
 with industry, however, which did us much 
 good, and renewed our strength of mind and 
 body, we sharpened the ends of long poles, and 
 drove them into the ground with the axe-head. 
 On the crutched tops of these we laid other 
 polas, forming an oblong frame, and these hori- 
 
EXPERIENCE IN HOUSE-BUILDING. 145 
 
 jsontal beams again received the forked ends of 
 the rafter-poles, which, at the upper end, met 
 each other, something after the manner of a 
 roof We were not aware of the use and neces' 
 sity of a ridge-board, or pole, to receive these 
 rafters, so that when we had made them as fast 
 as we -could with dogwood and willow withes 
 from the bog,' our skeleton of a house creaked 
 and vibrated with every breath of wind, and 
 was all found prostrate one day when we re- 
 turned to it from the wood with fresh timbers 1 
 
 " Now," said Eouse, as we approached the 
 ruins, " I say that we, are lucky fellows. 0, 
 Prout, if we had been underijieath, it would , 
 have been worse for our precious skulls than 
 if a hundred monkeys had pelted us with 
 stones 1" 
 
 " Our skulls might have thanked them- 
 selves," said Prout, " for it was their own stupid- 
 ity that brought this down; — yes, indeed, we 
 are' rather lucky." 
 
 But this misfortune produced somewhat more 
 vexation than resignation among us ; and one 
 or two declared that they would never try 
 again, and that they would rather sleep in the 
 open air all their lives, than lie under that heap 
 of poles; however, Prout, and two or three 
 more, resolved to persevere, and endeavour to 
 repair the damage. 
 
 G 18 
 
146 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 Hitlierto tlie skies had "favoured us, without 
 one day's exception : ag the sun rose, so he set 
 and rose again, and the firmament, down to the 
 very sea-line, was of a deep and clear blue, 
 which at night revealed a sight never known in 
 England — the stars emerging from the very 
 horizon. 
 
 It was while the edifice was proceeding slow- 
 ly, and before anything like a covering had 
 been placed upon it, that the first gleams of 
 lightning played about the sky, and distant 
 thunder rolled in soft echoes from shore- to 
 shore. A few fine days succeeded, but at 
 length the sun became obscured some time be- 
 fore his going down: fitful gusts moaned in 
 the recesses of the forest, and its varied herds 
 sought those recesses in haste and perturbation. 
 Still the tempest had not arisen, and we took 
 our usual shelter in the garden bower without 
 much alarm ; but scarcely had we closed our 
 eyes, when the storm, announced but a mo- 
 ment before by a smart peal of thunder, poured 
 its utmost vengeance on our little isle, and 
 wheeling round the craggy heights above us, 
 seemed destined to demolish even that fortress 
 reared by nature's own hand, and ancient as 
 the world. The tall peaks of the mountain 
 now darkened, now glowed 'mid confluent seas 
 of fire; whilst the woods had all the a'-./jar- 
 
TERRIFIC THUNDER-STORM. 147 
 
 ance of being in one mass of conflagration. 
 The roar of the hurricane, which raved and 
 rent through them, and bowed their stately 
 pillars to the ground, exceeded anything that 
 we had ever heard before. It was only silenced 
 for those instants when explosions of thunder 
 burst over out heads, and renewed their artil- 
 lery amongst the rocks. Then came the ocean 
 of waters from above! 0, my dear readers, 
 they who have witnessed a tropical tempest, in 
 troducing the rainy season, tell you truly that 
 neither words nor imagination can represent the 
 thing at all. A thunder-storm in England is 
 the annoyance or the amusement of an hour, 
 with, perhaps, the casualty of a blazing barn, 
 a flooded meadow, and a sear branch or two, 
 scattered by the wind. On those occasions you 
 do but see nature playing with, her powers ; but 
 here the great battle of the elements is really 
 fought out^fire, and floods, and tearing blasts, 
 struggle like maniacs together. — And man I 
 what is man? — yes, even then, though melt- 
 ing into the earth like a crushed worm, he 
 may say to the Lord of nature — Thou art mind- 
 ful of me ! 
 
 There is a point, beyond which terror and 
 calamity cannot take effect in prostrating the 
 mind.- I believe that the first hour of this tem- 
 pest nearly confounded the senses of all but 
 
118 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 one or two of our party. Nothing could vv8 
 have done, for whither could we have fled, if 
 our limbs would have sustained us ? We shrunk 
 under the thickets of the garden, almost into the 
 very sods, and there endured the dreadful rage 
 of the storm. Deafened by its bursting thun- 
 ders, our brains were almost kindled by its 
 fires, until nature could sustain no more. We 
 were awoke at break of day by the kind 
 voice of Prout, who anxiously addressed each 
 by his name, saying, "The tempest is over 
 now — are you hurt?" 
 
 More frightened than hurt we certainly were, 
 yet the eyes of some of us had suffered damage ; 
 nor did we recover our spirits for some time. 
 The morning opened its mildest eye upon us; 
 the elements, appeased, scarcely muttered their 
 differences now, except the sea, which tumbled 
 on the rocks with a continued roar. The forest, 
 indeed, presented a scene of recent conflict and 
 wide-spread ruin ; its mightiest giants lay pros- 
 trate, knd others, riven by the tempest, pointed 
 only the blackened peak of a branchless and, 
 denuded trunk to the skies. The woods were 
 burning in many places ; nor had the very 
 rocks escaped; a new fissure appeared in that 
 forming the base of the crags that bounded the 
 enclosures, and thence issued a stream of water 
 
OUR PICTUKESQUE APPBABANCB. 149 
 
 which found a ready channel in the ravine on 
 the other side. 
 
 Our fire had been extinguished, and our tina- 
 ber-chimney was thrown down, but as other 
 fires were kindled, this was no great misfortune. 
 We scarcely recovered courage and spirits 
 sufficient to seek our food that day; and the 
 tempest seemed to say that all attempts at a 
 dwelling of the kind we were constructing, 
 must be labour lost; yet our need of shelter 
 was greater than ever. Frequent rains and 
 chilly nights had succeeded the period of splen- 
 did weather we had first enjoyed, and continued- 
 exposure now seriously impaired our health, 
 and renewed the dread of that fate which had 
 destroyed our late companions. 
 
 We moped about disconsolately from day to^ 
 day, again finding the want of an object and 
 occupation for our tedious hours. The woods 
 were no longer the sufficient and comfortable 
 habitation they had been ; nor were their sup- 
 plies as readily obtained as before. 
 
 As to our personal appearance at this time, — 
 so much of it as depended on our apparel, and 
 the adjustment of the covering of matted hair 
 that roofed our heads, and veiled our furrowed 
 brows, was certainly of the most picturesque 
 kind imaginable; indeed I doubt whether the 
 few rags that hung about us would have entitled 
 
 \3* 
 
150 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 US to the name of human beings, could we so 
 have appeared in England. We should pro- 
 bably have occupied the monkey's ward in any 
 menagerie in London: and one or two of us 
 might have enjoyed the distinction of being 
 presented to royalty as new species of the tribe, 
 like apes imported by the East India Company. 
 This squalid condition of our persons, comical 
 and risible as it might have been to mere specta- 
 tors, produced far less mirth than misery amongst 
 ourselves. We really thought that our scare- 
 crow^ appearance took effect on the animals we 
 sought as food, for our difficulties in- that matter 
 daily increased. Again we sought the sea shore, 
 and strained our eyes to detect a sail. We made 
 fires on the rocks, according to the practice of 
 the bucaniers, but every effisrt of the kind was in 
 vain. The turtles had now left the strand ; and 
 the heavy seas that broke upon the beach, ren- 
 dered our wanderings there in quest of food im- 
 practicable. We returned despondingly to the 
 woods, and I know one, at least, who thought 
 that our destiny was to perish on the island either 
 by disease or want. Prout always said that he 
 did not believe, and would not think of, any such 
 thing ; what it was that gave him better hopes 
 than mine, I cannot tell exactly ; but this I know, 
 that he was a pious lad, and, therefore, he had 
 faith in God. 0, Nathan Prout, what an un- 
 
TRUST IN PROVIDENCE. 151 
 
 believing, hardened ■wretcli should I have been, 
 but for thee I 
 
 The sagacity and sense of this youth were 
 indeed surprising in the discovery, and in the 
 use he made, of the means of existence on the 
 island; and when these failed for a time, he 
 always expressed his confidence that other sup- 
 plies would be at hand before it was quite too 
 late to do us good. He stated, also, his constant 
 impression that some great deliverance or relief 
 would be afforded us, because he seemed re- 
 minded to pray for it, night and morning — yes, 
 he prayed indeed, and there was One that heard 
 him I 
 
152 THE YOUNG ISLiiNDESS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII, 
 
 TTTE had long given up the hope of finding 
 ^ ' the habitation in which the former ten- 
 ants of this island had resided, being now ^ully 
 convinced that any one of their construction 
 must have been destroyed by tempests like that 
 we had witnessed. Our disappointment and 
 dejection were great at the thought that we 
 were apparently doomed to remain unhoused 
 all the rest of our lives : in this despondency,^ 
 however, Prout did not take his share, though 
 to the question, what else could await us ? he 
 could return no answer. 
 
 - One day, when we were climbing about the 
 rocks in search of eggs, which were a staple arti- 
 cle of our diet, John Upjohn, of all persons in 
 the world, lost his footing and suddenly dis- 
 appeared. We knew not in the least where to 
 look for him, until we heard him shouting for , 
 deliverance in a voice beneath our feet, that 
 echoed in plaintive moans, and died away in 
 sepulchral whispers, as if borne from the distant 
 walls of some vast subterranean chamber. His 
 cries soon became yells of agony and horror 
 
BISCOVEE A OA^EEK. 15.3 
 
 and yet, when he had regained his feet, and 
 stood close under the chasm that had admitted 
 him, he did not seem much beyond our reach, 
 and his uplifted hands nearly touched ours, 
 which we stretched downwards to him. This 
 distant sort of civility, however, might have 
 lasted all day, without aiding him in the least, 
 if the crumbling soil, on which we also stood, 
 had not given away in like manner ; but, luck- 
 ily for him, in a direction not quite over his 
 head, yet in a mass sufficient to carry three or 
 four of us with it in its descent, so that, in an 
 instant, we rolled at Mr. Upjohn's feet, and 
 shared his destiny ! Our superior companions 
 retired from the treacherous brink with all the 
 promptness suitable to the occasion, leaving us 
 the undisputed possession of our new lodging. 
 The aperture was now of sufficient size-Jo 
 admit light and air, which were just those iden- 
 tical blessings of the upper world of which we 
 stood in need, and which before all things, we 
 desired. Our whole activities, therefore, were 
 centered in the endeavour to return by the way 
 we came, leaving the curious, of any place or 
 age, to explore the recesses we had discovered, 
 and to appropriate all the honours of the in- 
 quiry. We called loudly on Prout, whose name 
 was always the first on our lips in any case of 
 emergency. He was not immediately at hand 
 
154 THE YOUNG ISLAJSDERH. 
 
 when the accident happened, but soon drew near 
 at the alarm given, and we were glad indeed to 
 see his trusty, hpnest face peeping above the 
 edge of our difficulties, for we knew his faith- 
 fulness and efficiency full well. " Prout, is thai 
 you ?" said one ; " Prout, here we are, you see," 
 said Jerry Dolman. John Upjohn skipped up- 
 wards at the sight of him. " 0, Prout, tell 
 them what to do, and don't go away." Go 
 away ! certainly not," said he ; "I am coming 
 to you." 
 
 The active and quick-eyed youth had cast 
 his eye about, and found, by proceeding a few 
 steps from the orifice under which we crowded, 
 that one portion of the chasm was within drop- 
 ping distance of a ledge of the rook that would 
 conduct him to our company. In two minutes 
 he was at our side ; " There," said he, " we are 
 all safe enough — who found this place out?" 
 
 " I found myself m," said Upjohn, " that's all 
 r know. 0, Prout, can we crawl up there?" 
 
 "You may all try," said Prout; "but I 
 should like to see more of the place — ■' more of 
 Hie place r Did you hear that whisper mocking 
 me? What an echo!" ~ 
 
 The timid lads shuddered and crouched,-- 
 ' 0, Prout, you are not wishing to stop— let us 
 ill go !" 
 
 " You may all go," said the stout-hearted 
 
A seaman's chest! 155 
 
 young fellow ; " but I will have a creep and a 
 peep ; pray what do you call that thing down 
 there?" 
 
 He pointed to a dusky object in the nearer 
 shades of the den : — " It is a chest," said he, 
 " a seaman's chest !" 
 
 " 0, Prout, I hope it is not a coffin !" 
 
 "No, no, it is a seaman's chest — see, and 
 there stand tubs, packages, and barrels !" 
 
 But Prout addresssed himself now to the 
 mere echoes of the den, for every one of his 
 hearers had crept out, not liking the train of 
 new discoveries ; yes, and — I must tell the 
 truth — Miles Selwyn also sought and found the 
 upper regions ; but he quickly returned at the 
 ironical "good-bye!" of Prout. "Selwyn," 
 said he, when I rejoined him, "I want some- 
 body to be with me only to tell me that I am 
 not dreaming 1" ' 
 
 " And how do I know that / am not ?" said 
 I. Prout had by this time groped his way to- 
 wards one of the chests that was just visible, 
 and which was but a few steps from the spot 
 where we stood. Scarcely had he reached it, 
 when the words, " Oh, Selwyn !" escaped him, 
 and he fell heavily on the box. I darted to- 
 wards him ; but, though I called his name with 
 vehemence, lie made no reply. I felt my own 
 strength failing me as I tugged at him to get 
 
156 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 him away, and regained the open air only just 
 in time to save myself from fainting. 
 
 Here was no miracle, nor anything unusual; 
 for the foul air of the cavern had overcome 
 Prout, who ventured farthest into it. There 
 was just sense enough among our companions 
 to conjecture this, and I am happy to add there 
 was courage and resolution enough, also, to 
 make the proper effort for the lad. One of them 
 had seen a man taken out of a well and recov- 
 ered ; and I do not think there was an individ- 
 ual of our party who would not have done his 
 utmost to save Prout. Bravely forgetting our 
 fears, three or four of the stoutest of us rushed 
 through the aperture, drew the lad by his heels 
 underneath it, and then, taking a good breath, 
 we bore him up in our arms, laid him on the 
 earth, and fanned his face with boughs, bathing 
 his pallid face with water from the brook. 
 Never were more anxious or ala,rmed physicians 
 seen. A deeply-drawn sigh, and the return of 
 colour to, the lips, apprised us, at length, that 
 pur patient still survived. He opened his eyes, 
 gazed about him, and asked for Dr. Poynders. 
 
 "0, Nat Prout! dear Prout! then you are 
 come back to us ? There, be alive and well di- 
 rectly : that is right ; look at us, do now." 
 
 He stared with a momentary look of doubt 
 and wonder, but returning reason soon com- 
 
NAT PKOUT BEOOVEES. 157 
 
 manded his eye. " Where have I been?" said' 
 he ; " ah, I recollect all about it now : there is 
 the mouth of the cave ; it is not a chalk pit, is 
 it ? let us go again and explore it." 
 
 But we explained the danger of the place, and 
 related his own late condition there : the tears 
 stood in his eyes when he found that he owed 
 his life to our exertions. He soon regained his 
 strength and activity, and suggested that we 
 should enlarge the opening as much as we could, 
 and wait a day or two before we entered it 
 again ; and he proposed that we should make a 
 minute inspection of the outside of this mass of 
 tumbled crags, to discover, if possible, the place 
 through which the chests had been conveyed. 
 This was a task much more agreeable to our 
 present feelings than another view of the inte- 
 rior, which we rather feared might prove to be 
 the tomb of the former inhabitants of this island, 
 and, perhaps, also of our precious selves. 
 
 So we set out on our creeping and climbing 
 march, to explore the base of the rocky moun- 
 tain that occupied this portion of the island, and 
 which, I may here remark, greatly resembled 
 the parts of Derbyshire, about Matlock and the 
 Peak. As we were not naturalists, philoso- 
 phers, or artists, there was little in this journey, 
 to compensate for the excessive fatigue of it. It 
 is true, we had an object in view of considerable 
 
 14 
 
158 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 importance to ourselves, because we m.ght find 
 much that we stood in need of, if we could get 
 ready access to the storehouse and dwelling of 
 our predecessors; but we might also, without 
 the exercise of extreme caution, find that which 
 we did not want, a close prison in the labyrinths 
 of the caverned rock. 
 
 We spent the day fruitlessly in this toil, and 
 lay, faint and fatigued, under the" shelter of the 
 crags till morning. We were compelled to 
 make a breakfast on the samphire and limpets 
 of the cliffs facing the sea at this part, and then 
 continued our course, examining every crevice 
 we could find, until we arrived at, the corner 
 abutting on the once cultivated field before- 
 mentioned, and which was within a very short 
 distance of the spot whence we set out. Look- 
 ing now with more enquiring eyes at the masses 
 that lay scattered here at the foot of the moun- 
 tain, a,nd which evidently had been borne from 
 its side by the torrents of former tempests, we 
 perceived a tree sprouting from beneath a rock 
 that had evidently, at no remote period, fallen 
 upon it, and crushed it to the earth. The pros- 
 trate tree had the stumps of arms that had been 
 sawn off, apparently not mor-e that three or four 
 years before, and it had nails remaining in its 
 trunk. 
 
 We needed not these signs to convince iia 
 
MORE DISCOVERIES. 159 
 
 that we were "not the first occupiers here ; but I 
 am not sure that we should have learned much 
 more from that which we beheld, if one of the 
 lads, in wading through the tangled herbage 
 close by, had not tumbled over an unseen spar 
 of cut timber, one end of which lay buried be- 
 neath the rock. We cleared the weeds away 
 by pulling them up by the roots, and then found 
 a corresponding piece of timber at three or four 
 feet distance, the two being joined at the out- 
 ward ends by a cross beam like that forming the 
 lintel of a door. Yes, this indeed had been a 
 door-way, but it was not a way of escape to the 
 inhabitants here, on the awful occasion when it 
 fell ; for, as we were pulling with all our 
 might at the vegetation which grew from under 
 the block of sandstone, and between the beams, 
 a skeleton hand came away, on the little finger 
 of which was a silver ring of the kind worn by 
 mariners at present 1 
 
 We started back, and thought for the time 
 that we had discovered enough. " This was the 
 door to the cave," said Prout ; " but as it would 
 not let that man out, it will not let us in, I 
 should think ; now what shall we do ?" 
 
 " 0, let us go quite away — ^yes, quite away," 
 Baid more than one timid voice; " we shall have 
 the mountain tumble down upon us; let us 
 run.' 
 
160 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 "Will npt the mountain run after us?" said 
 Prout. " Now don't you think it as likely tc 
 do that, and to get up and dance, as to stir an 
 inch this still day ? Eocks never move without 
 a cause, and not then if they can help it." 
 
 Nevertheless we retreated, and kept at a re- 
 respectful distance from "these regions of adven- 
 ture for several days. We again sought the 
 woods, and occupied ourselves with procuring 
 and dressing our food, during which time we 
 abundantly discussed the affairs of the moun- 
 tain, and we all agreed in the opinion, that our 
 predecessors had inhabited its recesses, and that 
 their entrance had been accidentally closed up 
 by the falling of the crag that overhung it. 'It 
 was evident, also, that the aperture we had dis- 
 covered, or made, had been only loosely closed 
 by earth and roots, borne down the sides of the 
 kill by some former thunder-storm, and there 
 was little doubt that we were the first who had 
 been introduced that way. So, ofter we had 
 combated one another's hopes and fears a suifi- 
 cient time, we resolved to have another peep at ■ 
 the newly-made entrance, and repaired to it in 
 a body about ten days after we had left it. 
 
 There was room enough now for an army to 
 have walked in, and when there, they might 
 have hid themselves like rats in a castle. The 
 remaining loose earth had fallen down, and as 
 
A COLONIAL STOREHOUSE. 161 
 
 It were, unroofed a great portion of the fissure, 
 or rent in the rock, leading to the vast central 
 cavern of the mountain. There was light 
 enough, too, to show us a sight the most extra- 
 ordinary that we could have conceived of in a 
 dream — a colonial storehouse, filled with every 
 article that could be thought of for the use of a 
 distant settlement. Bales upon bales, barrels 
 upon barrels, chests upon chests, arms, agricul- 
 tural implements, machinery, marine stores of 
 all kinds, and materials for ship-building, tools 
 and iron, nails, knives, domestic and culinary 
 implements — ^yes, and trinkets, clothings and 
 cloth, shoes and leather, books, writing appara- 
 tus, nautical instruments, nledicine ^chests — in 
 fact, here seemed to be deposited a large ship 
 load of goods intended for some important en- 
 terprise, scarcely that of occupying a romantic 
 islet like the present. We never, however, got 
 further than conjectures as to the manner in 
 which these stores had got here, or their real 
 destination: the records of the adventurers, 
 wherever they were, had been buried with them 
 in the chambers of the rock that had been 
 closed upon them, and to which there was no 
 access, that we could discover, without or with- 
 in. Of the wreck, if such there had been, we 
 aever saw a splinter, either on the coast, or else- 
 where. It was evident that the crew, if they 
 
 14* 
 
162 THE YOUNG ISLANDEKS. 
 
 had unfortunately got tbeir vessel ashore here, 
 had time and opportunity to save their cargo, or 
 at least, the most important part of it. 
 
 "We dropped down by our hands very easily, 
 and found ourselves on the rocky floor of the 
 cavern, surrounded by the goodly piles of mer- 
 chandise and wares, on which, as yet, however, 
 we felt that we dared not lay a finger. The sir 
 lence; the gloom, ending in darkness, of the 
 remote chambers of the vault ; the dusty mould 
 that invested the chests, and the damp, earthy 
 odour of the place, chilled our blood, and fixed 
 us like statues to the spot. We spoke but in 
 whispers ; for, when one coughed, a responsive 
 cough was returned, which again and again re- 
 verberated, and died in hollow echoes. We were 
 more than half inclined again to retreat, and 
 leave these matters as we had found them ; and 
 some slight, though evaporating, doubts as to 
 our right to meddle, together with an undefined 
 dread of some one pouncing on us, if we touched 
 the goods, kept us honest for a space ; and many 
 an anxious eye was turned the while, to the su- 
 perincumbent mass which arched the cav^ we 
 Btood in, and spanned the gulf beyond. 
 
 Reader, what would you have done? Is 
 there any harm in finding a lost treasure, and 
 in using it, if the owners, and all who could 
 fiartake of their original rights, are dead ? — Cer 
 
CURIOUS ECHO. 168 
 
 tainly not. The thing is done every day ; and 
 there is not an estate in Britain that has not, in 
 this way, at some time, been lost and found : no, 
 Dor a jewel, nor an ounce of gold and silver, 
 that is not the result of some chance discovery ; 
 for nature, we know, was the first proprietor. 
 So we may begin and help ourselves, may we 
 not? 
 
 We looked to Prout, whose eyes had been 
 rivetted on a chest before him. He gave a nod, 
 leaped from the ground with a sudden impulse, 
 and, striking his thighs with his hands, he said, 
 " Come on, we may be gentlemen now, if we 
 like. What's that noise? only the echo again.' 
 0, give it a good call — ^let us all shout at once, 
 and, if the owners are within hearing, let them 
 speak now, or for ever after hold their peace !" 
 Prout uttered a wild " hurrah !" in which we all 
 joined with a voice that had much of a yell in it 
 at last, which was continued as long and as 
 loudly as our utmost powers of lungs would per- 
 mit, as if to postpone or drown the response wh 
 dreaded from the vaults beyond. Echo waited 
 not until we had fairly done, but returned us 
 our own with every variety of tone and cadence, 
 ending in a strange whooping cachination that 
 rang like the laugh of demons through the vault. 
 It seemed, indeed, as if the spirits from beneath 
 were roused ; and I know that our young scalps 
 
164 THE 'YOUiSTG ISLANDERS. 
 
 bristled up, our mouths stood agape, and oui 
 eyes rolled, whilst our blanched cheeks col- 
 lapsed, until we might have scared even the su- 
 pernaturals themselves, could they have beheld ' 
 us; for, on ordinary occasions, our appearance 
 wasdirefully picturesque, to say the best of it. 
 
 "/"Well," said Rouse, finding breath at last, 
 " I suppose they have done laughing now : I 
 will take care how I shout to the echoes again." 
 
 "I dare say there is as much to see as to 
 hear in these caverns, if we had a light," said 
 another. 
 
 " I tell you we shall find everything here," 
 said Prout, who had now recovered his usual 
 complexion. He had listened as intently aa 
 any of us, and even held up his finger when 
 Rouse attempted to speak, that he might hear 
 the last moan and whisper of the responsive re- 
 gions. 
 
 With the hesitancy — I will not say of thieves, 
 for they would not have lost a moment of an 
 opportunity such as this — we ventured to try 
 the lid of one of the chests. It was closed fast, 
 but the grey mould that covered it came off 
 plentifully on our hands. By its side stood a 
 tall cask, on the top of which lay a cooper's 
 tools. Prout seized the hammer, and thundered 
 on the box with all his might, but in vain. I 
 will not trouble my readers with much more of 
 
EXPLORATION OF THE CAVERN. 165 
 
 the echo, but must remark here, that it wholly 
 disconcerted us ; every word or movement pro- 
 duced a reply which the timid spirits amongst 
 us interpreted as a rebuke or prohibition, and 
 again we should have skulked away like detected 
 plunderers,' had not one of us discovered a box, 
 with a movable lid, containing candles. They 
 were covered with loose papers, on one of which 
 was a name and date — " John Berenger, steward 
 of the ship Kover, 1751 ;" so that little more 
 than three years could have elapsed since these 
 stores were abandoned by their owners. The 
 candles were sound and good, and we deter 
 mined immediately to avail ' ourselves of them 
 for the purpose of exploring the mysterious re- 
 cesses of the place. 
 
 There was a run of a mile or two before we 
 could reach our smoldering fire, and we re- 
 turned once or twice for a fresh brand. Wot 
 to dwell on minute particulars, in the course 
 of the morning we persuaded the candles' ends 
 to receive a flame from the embers, and, like 
 wasteful young runaways as we were, we each 
 took one in hand alight, and moved forward, 
 through the winding way before lis, towards 
 the parts whence the echoes came. We crept 
 along with due circumspection, only whisperi:ig 
 as we went ; and, as we crouched beneath im- 
 pending masses, we perceived that we were not 
 
166 THE yOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 the first who had travelled in that direction ; 
 candle droppings, which appeared almost fresh, 
 were freely strewed over the rugged path we 
 traversed, and initials were scratched on the 
 lace of the rock in several places. 
 
 The cavern now increased rapidly in width 
 and altitude, and the walls and roof appeared 
 garnished occasionally with resplendent spars ; 
 but scarcely had we proceeded a dozen more 
 steps in this direction, when a scene suddenly 
 opened, that fixed us motionless with amaze- 
 ment. As our voices had been multiplied be- 
 fore, so now our tapers were answered by ten 
 thousand starry beams, glancing from afar, and 
 from on high, in a vast cavity of the mountain, 
 whose limits were totally invisible to our eyes • 
 for the space between the radiant points of 
 light, was darker than night itself. Never were 
 candles more effective, or more needful. Three 
 steps farther, and the rocky floor would have 
 failed us, and we must have plunged headlong 
 to an abyss, of whose profound depth we could 
 form no idea until we cast in a fragment of the 
 rock. We could not hold our breath du- 
 ring the time that it silently descended. At 
 length we heard it strike the rock, and, after 
 another long interval, a distant splashing sound 
 announced the water that received it. 
 
 We sent in another splinter of the rock, and, 
 
MOEE HASTE TtiAN GOOD SPEED. 167 
 
 whilst we again held our breath in silence for 
 the result, sounds of another kind naurmured 
 round the vault, and were returned in faint 
 whispers by the unseen boundaries of the cav- 
 ern. Two or three candles were dropped from 
 timid hands at the instant, and one of these de- 
 scending to the depths beneath, retained its spark 
 until it diminished to the tiniest star of light, 
 when it became extinguished in the subterra- 
 nean waters. 
 
 The sounds were those of human voices, as 
 we could not but suppose, although the proba- 
 bility of such a circumstance, as the presence 
 of persons there, was small indeed. We did " 
 not wait a second proof of the matter, but 
 scrambled back with more haste than good 
 speed, for we received several falls, cuts, and 
 bruises in our way. We now feared that the 
 sounds we had heard were the voices of the 
 persons whose stores we had broken in upon, 
 or that some, at least, of the party were living, 
 and might reclaim their goods, and punish the 
 plunderers. So we left the rocks altogether, for 
 a month, and discussed the affairs of the cavern, 
 until we were wearied of the subject, and be- 
 gan to think we were mistaken in. the fact. It 
 was long before the mystery was explained. 
 
 But curiosity and necessity together over- 
 came objections, and also fears, even in the 
 
168 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 most timid ; and weeks having passed without 
 hearing or seeing an individual but ourselves, 
 we resolved on a new expedition to the mari- 
 ner's cave, and betook ourselves thither in a 
 body one bright morning. I will not trouble the 
 reader further with our diffidence and scruples 
 in the work of appropriation ; suffice it to say, 
 that all these gave place at length, and regard- 
 less of echoes now, we made the abyss resound 
 with our attacks upon chests and tubs, crateb 
 and cases of ironmongery and useful wares. 
 There were guns and pisjols, fowling-pieces and 
 tubs of ammunition, with which I suppose we 
 could have waked the caverns of the mountain 
 to its centre, and have stunned our own senses 
 till we had swooned, but these we wisely let 
 alone at present. 
 
 When we were surrounded, nearly up to our 
 chins, by the unpacked goods, the question be- 
 gan to arise, what should we do with the 
 mighty mass of stores, and how we should be- 
 stow, arrange, and appropriate them for the fu- 
 ' ture ? We had fairly blocked ourselves in, and 
 had darkened the rocky chamber with the pile 
 of goodly merchandize we had heaped at its en- 
 trance. Many sage projects, and modes, and 
 [ilaces of stowage and removal, were proposed, 
 but Prout, as usual, excelled us all in brains, 
 and hit the difficulty exactly, by suggesting, in 
 
Nat's wise arrangement. Ifi9 
 
 sinjple wisdom, that we should pack all up 
 again as we had found them, and merely take 
 what we wanted, when we wanted it, returning 
 all implements to their place in the cave when 
 done, with. 
 
 Matters being thus re-arranged, we contented 
 ourselves with taking that for which we had an 
 immediate use, and soon we were metamor- 
 phosed from the condition of scarecrow tatterde- 
 malions, to the imposing appearance of civilized* 
 personages, clean, clipped, and clothed, stalking 
 about with a novel air of consequence, being 
 invested in the somewhat roomy habiliments of 
 full-grown men. We made Prout assume the 
 blue and bright honours of a naval uniform, 
 complete, with epauletted honours, and we 
 dubbed him captain, on the spot. 
 
 Of the provisions, a considerable portion was 
 quite unfit for use. There were rolling mag- 
 gots in the beef and biscuit, from the fifth gen- 
 eration upwards ; but these were found chiefly 
 in those tubs that had been opened and partly 
 used. There were, however, in casks, heavy 
 jumps of salt meat, safe and sound, of which 
 we had the first taste, and which, in bulk and 
 flavour were w,orthy of their rightful owners, 
 and of a far more deserving company t^an our 
 own. We practiced the bucaniers' plan with 
 their ov»r-cured meat, which was, to place it 
 H 15 
 
170 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 for twenty-four hours in the current of a run- 
 ning stream. It is true, that we lost in this 
 way, a noble round of beef, and a ham or two, 
 which broke from their moorings like the Go- 
 lightly, and disappeared ; but those which held 
 to their anchors were so far freshened, purified, 
 and changed, as to resemble salt meat scarcely 
 at all. 
 
 And now we had not only victuals, but ves- 
 sels. We had pots and pans, kettles and caul- 
 drons, knives and forks, dishes, cups, and mugs, 
 and glasses — ^yes, and we found linen chests 
 containing towels, and tablecloths, in abun- 
 dance. We broke up a packing case or two, 
 and knocked together a table, whilst our first 
 dinner was boiling, and spreading a cloth upon 
 it, we duly' laid it with sixteen plates, two 
 dishes, and knives and forks accordingly ! And 
 when we lugged the reeking, steaming, mass 
 from the boiler, an3 landed it safely on the 
 board, we gave three hearty " hurrahs !" al- 
 though half-a-dozen of the roarers at^least had 
 wry faces, who had got scorched and scalded 
 iii the exercise of their new vocation as busy 
 cooks. We had boiled yams too, and potatoes, 
 but the latter were better roasted. After din- 
 ner we regaled moderately on the wine, of 
 which there were many cases, and attempted a 
 
AN ORATION. 171. 
 
 "dessert of the wood fruits, bat these were no 
 rarity, and had little relish. 
 
 We were reasonably merry and excited, and 
 resolved to build a city, and set up an empire, 
 and enact Eomulus and Remus without delay. 
 We got a cooked hat from the clothes chest, and 
 unanimously elected Prout for our sovereign, 
 under the style and title of " King Nat ;" and 
 it is certain that we could not have done better 
 had we quaffed water instead of the mouthful 
 of wine apiece, which I think had mounted an 
 inch or so into our unaccustomed brains. Prout, 
 dressed in the uniform before mentioned, took 
 the laced and tasseled hat from our hands, and, 
 mounting the table, when the cloth was re- 
 moved, waved it with a dignified, grave, and 
 condescending air. Then, placing the hat upon 
 his head, and raising his hand to bespeak our 
 attention, he made an oration suitable to the 
 occasion, and to himself; it began jocosely, 
 proceeded reasonably, and ended seriously iii- 
 deed. He agreed that we should build a city 
 immediately, not larger, however, than we re- 
 quired ; and that in consideration of the build- 
 ers and first inhabitants, and also in remem- 
 brance of the well stored hutches we had found, 
 it should be called Schoohhester, " which," said 
 he, " all the world will be sure to call Colchester 
 when we are dead and gone." He said that he 
 
172 IHE YOUN'G ISLANDERS. 
 
 would be _ our sovereign, or pur servant; he 
 would rule or obey, just which we pleased, pro- 
 vided we no longer continued savages in ap- 
 pearance, manners, conduct, and disposition ; for 
 he declared he would sooner go and head the 
 wild asses at once, than join or remain with a 
 people so awful as barbarians. He reminded 
 us that all the implements and materials we had 
 found, would be of no permanent advantage to 
 us without industry, skill, and economy in their 
 application : that the provisions would serve us 
 but a ver}' little while ; and, unless we would 
 dig, sow, and reap, we should all become wild 
 hunting butchers like the bucaniers, or perish 
 from want. 
 
 Prout then took the comical hat from his 
 head, and laying it down, suppressed every smile 
 when he said, " I have something else to men- 
 tion of more consequence than all the rest ; you 
 must no longer be the godless lads you have 
 been ever since you rose from ,your knees on 
 the rugged rock, and put up that one, but long- 
 forgotten prayer and thanksgiving ; we must 
 liye like Christians, or we cannot live together. 
 Nathan Prout is not afraid of a solitary life, nor 
 of the darke.st den or thicket for himself; and 
 there he will go and live or die in loneliness, 
 as it shall please God, rather than remain with 
 his dearest companions, if they determine to coa- 
 
NAT pbout's calendar. 173 
 
 tinue wild, wicked, and irreligious. I have 
 found bibles, prayers, and other good books in 
 the boxes of the poor men who have been de- 
 stroyed ; whether they used them I don't know ; 
 but if we neglect them, I shall quite expect as 
 dreadful an end as theirs." 
 
 Most of our party grew grave as Prout grew 
 serious; but there were two or three, I am 
 sorry to say, who eyed each other askance, and 
 leered and sneered as he proceeded. Prout then 
 produced a stick about a yard long, closely 
 notched, on which he said he had marked every 
 day since we inhabited the island. Every 
 seventh notch was deeper, which he said was 
 meant for Sunday, and every fourth Sunday 
 had a cut completely round the stick, to denote 
 the month. He said he knew he was right, an(J 
 that he had kept account of the time, ever since 
 the day we had drifted off. According to his 
 reckoning, the present day was Saturday, and 
 he recommended that we should observe the 
 next as Sunday, by refraining from our intend' 
 ed works, and employing the hours in reading, 
 or hearing read, the religious books he had men 
 tioned. All but two or three consented to this, 
 and joined this excellent youth in his devO' 
 tions. 
 
 On that beautiful and tranquil evening, how 
 pleasantly we conversed, seated under the ma* 
 
 15' 
 
174 THE YOUNG ISLANDEES. 
 
 jestic shade of a noble oak I Then, for the first 
 time, did we solicitously recall the past, taxing 
 our separate memories to the utmost, for inci- 
 dents and particular? of our lives at home and 
 at school. Our conversation ended in showers 
 of tears, when the names of the friends, from 
 whona our own act had torn us, were mentioned 
 in succession. How many of them that act had 
 brought to the grave in sorrow, we could not 
 tell I Had Dr. Poynders and Mr. Baldrey sur- 
 vived it? Prout always named them with great 
 emotion ; they were the only friends he had. 
 
 And then our lost companions were called up 
 from the shades, as it were, to occupy their pla- 
 ces amongst us. We reckoned them by their 
 names, and told all that could be recollected of 
 what they last said and did. Whilst on this 
 subject, Prout startled us not a little ; said he, 
 " I dreamed that we were again in the great 
 cavern of the mountain. I thought we heard 
 voices as before, and that they were those of our 
 companions who have strayed away. It is not 
 strange that I should dream this, for I have 
 thought the same many a time, and I think it 
 is our duty to try and find them if we can." 
 We shuddered at the thought of exploring again 
 that yawning void ; but he explained that all 
 he meant, and all we could do^ was to go and 
 listen as before, and, if we heard them again, to 
 
FRUITLESS EFFORTS. 175 
 
 shout till they heard us, and answered ia return. 
 We did so from time to time, but no othei 
 sounds than the reverberations of our own 
 voices met oiir ears. 
 
176 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 npHE next morning we rose like larks from 
 -^ our lowly couches of leaves and grass, and 
 determined to do incredible things in no time at 
 all. We resolved to build, to fortify, to plant,_ 
 to dig, to reclaim the wild herds of animals to 
 their forgotten enclosures, and to take full pos- 
 session of the soil, and all things thereon, iu 
 our own names. 
 
 We repaired to the cave, and opened a large 
 chest, containing heavy woodland axes with long 
 handles, intended for the use of more athletic 
 colonists than we ; but taking one apiece, with 
 these we marched out, shouldering our arms, 
 and determined to lay about us in gallant style. 
 The forest might have trembled at our approach, 
 could it have known our vast intentions. How- 
 ever, it merely whispered to the breeze as we 
 entered its leafy shades, whilst our various 
 voices were exalted into clamour by the anima- 
 tion that possessed us. There were trees enough, 
 bigger than our bodies, but these were not suffi- 
 ciently important in bulk and stature to occupy 
 our energies just then. Without thinking of 
 
GIGANTIC UNDEETAKING. 177 
 
 the precise use to which any timber was to be 
 that day applied, we must needs roam through 
 the stately woods in quest of a tree of the larg- 
 est size, of whose trunk, when fallen, it was 
 certain that we could make no use at all. Many 
 a stem and stump got a swinging blow as we 
 went along, and many an unwieldy axe escaped 
 from the feeble hand that held it, and buried it- 
 self in the adjoining thickets. 
 
 At last our ambition was satisfied by the se- 
 lection of an immense towering and tufted tree, 
 called, I believe, the cabbage palm, and we, like 
 emmets at its foot, began to cut away. How 
 much less effective would have been an argu- 
 ment from the dissuading lips of reason, than 
 the half-hour's experience of our folly! Swel 
 tering brows, aching loins, and blistered hands, 
 reminded us very soon that we were unequal to 
 the task, and that the stately form on high would 
 never bow to us. Scarcely, indeed, did we con- 
 trive to leave a clear notch behind us : gashes 
 there were, the result of random hits, some of 
 which had menaced our own, limbs with ampu 
 tation ; but we found, not only in the case of 
 this enormous tree, but with all others, that 
 skill and method, as well as strength, were 
 needful even to the woodman's toil. 
 
 We soon decided that it was not necessary at 
 all tc cut down a tree before breakfast, and that 
 
178 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 it might be best to lay our plans before we 
 spent our strength. " I have been thinking 
 some time," said Prout, " that if these trees were 
 down, we should be exceedingly glad of a ma- 
 chine to set them, up again till we want them. 
 Who could walk in a wood if they lay on their 
 sides ?" " That's a capital thought !" said Eouse, 
 " and it is so little trouble to let them alone." 
 So we drew out a dish of cold beef from a cleft 
 in the rock, and despatched that part of our 
 early duties called breakfast without an idle 
 moment. 
 
 But our appetites yearned for other food. 
 We would have given all our beef for bread, 
 and we knew it was vain to rumage the stores 
 for this. There was, indeed, a small quantity 
 of corn, such as wheat, oats, and maize, in bags, 
 and some of us proposed to hammer this to 
 powder, of which cakes might be made and 
 baked. But there was better wisdom than this 
 amongst us, though it was somewhat scarce, and 
 it was proposed by Prout that we should re- 
 serve this for seed, and make it our present busi- 
 ness to get it in the ground. To this some 
 agreed, but others contended that a house to 
 live in was the thing we most required. There 
 was reason in both arguments, and each had ita 
 adherents, so we divided ourselves into two 
 classes <)f workmen — farmers and builders, and. 
 
DIVISION OF LABOUB. 179 
 
 thus we discovered the first great priaoiple of 
 eflfective operations in an industrious commu- 
 nity ; I mean the division of labour, or the dis- 
 tribution of its various kinds to the different 
 qualifloations of the labourers. 
 
 It happened, too, that amongst us we had 
 «ome lads who had been used to agricultural 
 pursuits, and others rather more to the line and 
 rule of the workman ; but, before any of U3 
 could proceed to advantage in our undertakings, 
 it became needful to lay plans, and to survey 
 the ground intended for our town and farm. 
 We felt little inclination now to the spot once 
 selected, the wild field and garden of our pre 
 deoessors ; though it had its advantages of situ- 
 ation and soil, and was near the entrance to our 
 colonial stores. This aperture we roughly closed 
 with boughs ; and, leaving the rocky and pre- 
 cipitous angle of the mountain, we retired to its 
 opposite side, where; by a gentle and verdant 
 slope, it descended to the plain leading to the 
 shore. Here we all agreed it would be best to 
 fix our encampment, or our permanent dwelling, 
 having an eye to the wave, whose crested forms 
 and ceaseless murmurs recalled former days of 
 comparative peace and joy, and on whose bo- 
 som w-e still hoped that some bright messenger 
 of deliverance might one day be espied. 
 
 [ might occupy a volume by relating our va- 
 
180 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 rious uasuccessful efforts at agriculture and 
 building. For the first, it may be sufficient tc 
 say herfe, that we mistook the season, and sowed 
 when we should have reaped. As to buildirg, 
 after many weeks we had not a roof to shelter 
 us at all ; for, although we had tools and mate- 
 rials in abundance, we wanted experience and 
 perseverance, and, contrary to the advice of 
 Prout, who nevertheless aided us by his labour 
 even when we rejected his opinion, we com- 
 menced operations, as before, on much too large 
 a scale, and attempted castles, when we should 
 have been contented with lowly huts Oar pre- 
 cious stores of nails, and tools also, were griev- 
 ously wasted by our obstinate folly in this mat- 
 ter ; but the worst of it was, that many became 
 discouraged, listless, idle, and unreasonable, in 
 consequence of their disappointment, and the in- 
 terests of our whole community began to suffer. 
 The labours of the industrious were frustrated 
 by the perverse and mischievous dispositions of 
 the others, who would sometimes act the part 
 of Remus, by deriding and even demolishing 
 the builders' work. These lads, too, whilst they 
 consumed wastefully the food procured and 
 dressed by their more reasonable companions, 
 returned no thanks, and they expressed no con- 
 tentment with what was done without theil 
 aid. 
 
THE MALOONTENa'S THREATENED. 181 
 
 But, happily for us, right and reason were 
 stronger in our party than the contrary dispo- 
 sitions of those who were malcontents ; there 
 were twelve trusty and good, to five of an oppo- 
 site character, and we determined to defend our 
 common interests by something like laws and 
 government. Prout declared, one morning, that 
 he would tie Moody and Dolman to a tree, and 
 put them on short allowance, if they molested 
 our work again, or refused their share of la- 
 bour. 
 
 " And w.hy should not I tie you to a tree first, 
 Mr. Prout?" 
 
 " Because I don't deserve it — that is one rea- 
 son," said Prout ; " and because you cannot do 
 it — that is another." 
 
 "And because you shall not try, that is a 
 third reason," said I, who spoke the feelings of 
 a round dozen of us. Moody and his four 
 friends leered round at the majority, and found 
 it would not do. 
 
 " Now don't you all see," said Prout, in a per- 
 suasive and perfectly amicable tone, " we cannot 
 get on in this way ? We all thought, when we 
 fouud these stores in the cave, that we should 
 have comfort and prosperity directly, and yet 
 we have done nothing better, with all these 
 good and useful things, than eat up the remaina 
 of stale provisions that belonged to the poor men 
 
 16 
 
182 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 who lie crushed under tlie-rock. If dogs, wolves, 
 or monkeys had slipped in there, they would 
 have done as well : we have not surpassed them 
 in anything but in breaking the tubs open ; for 
 it might have taken them a little longer to gnaw 
 through the wood. But now, if we really wish 
 to improve our condition, and even to preserve 
 our lives, we must act on quite, another plan 
 however, as one has as much right as another 
 here, I propose two ways of giving all their 
 choice and liberty : one is, that we live together 
 and agree on certain rules for our common 
 good : and another is, that we divide the tools 
 and stores amongst us, that each may provide 
 for himself, as well as he can, living alone." 
 
 " I should like that best," said Moody. 
 
 " No, no ; I think we five could live very 
 well together," said Moseley. 
 
 " And we twelve by ourselves," said I. 
 
 " Then so let it be," said Prout. 
 
 The next difficulty was, the division of the 
 common stock, which we only arranged, at last, 
 by giving the dissatisfied party a great deal, 
 more than their share of some things. To our 
 great satisfaction they determined on removing 
 their portion from the rocks, of whose dark 
 chambers they always had a peculiar dread ; so 
 they walked off bag and baggage early one 
 morning. Prout shook hands with them all, 
 
DEPARTURE OF THE MALCONTENTS. 188 
 
 and so would we have done, but they were more 
 ^han indifferent to the matter, and departed be- 
 fore we had half gone through that ceremony. 
 The five lads took to the woods; but, before 
 they were out of sight, at Prout's suggestion, we 
 gave them three cheers, which only one of them, 
 Moseley, returned; he appeared to get a cuff on 
 the head from Moody for his civility. 
 
 We were now a small, but united band, tol- 
 erably well-disposed to the line of conduct need- 
 ful for the improvement of our condition. The 
 disaffected individuals were gone, and we felt 
 greatly relieved by the absence of that discon- 
 tent and contention which had so long damped 
 and hindered our exertions. Prout naturally 
 became our leader; his abilities and merits, not 
 his ambition, made him such. There waS not 
 an individual among us now who was jealous 
 of his management, or who did not feel the ad- 
 vantage of it. 
 
 Under his direction, and aided, too, by his 
 executive powers as a clever contriver and ready 
 workman, we made a strong door, or, rather, we 
 conveyed to the rocks a portion of the poles 
 collected for our building, and there nailed to- 
 gether a gate, which we placed and hung in the 
 entrance to our store chambers. We drove 
 stakes on each side, and fastened all securely, 
 
18'i THE YQUNG ISLAJSTDERS. 
 
 not being assured, otherwise, of safety from de- 
 predations. 
 
 This done, we returned to the spot which wa 
 still considered most eligible for our permanent 
 residence ; and, as our various attempts at castle- 
 building had failed, it was proposed and seconded, 
 that, for the present, we should content ourselves 
 with huts sufi&cient to accommodate us separately 
 for the night, and whose lowly roofs could 
 scarcely fear the storm 
 
 " That makes the high elm couch, and rends the oak." 
 
 Of shelter we now stood much in need, for the 
 rains were frequent, cold, and violent, and we 
 were tired of dens and thickets, and afraid of 
 caves as dwellings, of whose insecurity, knowing 
 the fact that one crag had tumbled, we felt more 
 than sufficient dread. 
 
 Front's plan for our little town we thought a 
 good one. On a level and open space he planted 
 a central pillar, and taking a cord about a dozen 
 yards long, he drew a circle round it, which, of 
 course, was more than seventy feet in diameter; 
 on this circle we placed a stout fence, composed 
 of poles from the wood, which we sharpened as 
 stakes, atad drove into the ground within a few 
 inches of each other. I know we planted about 
 five hundred of these stakes, driving them intc 
 the ground three fee* and leaving them out of 
 
OUR ENCLOSURE. 185 
 
 the ground nearly seven. To accomplish this, 
 ..we made ladders, and a movable form or scaffold, 
 on -which we mounted, and pelted away with our 
 axe-heads, until we got them down as required, 
 r will not affirm that these stakes were perfectly 
 upright or level at the top, but I know that they 
 were strong ; and so great was our zeal and deter- 
 mination in making our fence complete, that we 
 closed up the entrance, and excluded ourselves, 
 before we were aware. 
 
 "We had taken the hint for this fence from the 
 remains we had seen forming the enclosure 
 before described; and we judged it not impos- 
 sible, that some of our ten prowling companions 
 might find us out, and annoy us, if they had the 
 opportunity. I cannot describe the animation 
 and interest we experienced whilst thoroughly 
 engaged in our very laborious employment. It 
 did us much good, and we improved in bodily 
 and mental health, as well as in skill and readi- 
 ness in the use of tools from day to day. No- 
 thing seemed impossible to us, and we reflected 
 with astonishment on the listless and melancholy 
 days we had spent, even since we discovered the 
 abounding materials for occupation in the rock. 
 
 Within this roofless enclosure we placed many 
 articles required for daily use, and there, having 
 duly closed the gate, we reposed at night under 
 Buch shelter as the cloth am' canvass, found 
 
 16* 
 
186 THE -YOUNG ISLANDEES. 
 
 amongst Ihe stores, would aiford us. Here, too, 
 we made our culinary fire, and filled our cauldron 
 with such food as remained, or as we could col- 
 lect ; but our supplies of provisions grew scanty, 
 and we were obliged not only to work hard, but 
 to live indifferently during many months of that 
 period ; but this we did not mind. We main- 
 tained our cheerfulness, and our peace, during a 
 long season of toil and privation, and notwith- 
 standing grave anxieties, which were always to 
 be contemplated, if we chose to direct our 
 thoughts that way. 
 
 We dug up a piece of ground hastily and im- 
 perfectly, on which we sowed a little of every 
 kind of seed we could procure that was fit for 
 food ; namely, wheat, Indian corn or maize, and 
 potatoes ; and, having done this, we set to work 
 to construct our little town within the fortifica- 
 tions we had prepared. We were obliged to 
 content ourselves with the simplest form of build- 
 ing adopted by man in savage life — a round hut, 
 with a pointed, funnel-shaped, or sugar-loaf roof, 
 resembling the round haystacks seen in many 
 farm-yards in England, but very much smaller, 
 for we found it convenient to make them little 
 bigger than a -tent-bedstead, ~whose hangings 
 were composed of the straw or reeds of the thatch. 
 We were so good as to mark out ground fqi 
 twenty of these dormitories, one apiece for each 
 
A GREAT ACQUISITION. 187 
 
 of US, if our wandering fellows should ever re 
 join us in friendship. 
 
 We ranged these little thatched tents in a cir- 
 cle parallel with that of the fence, leaving, how 
 ever, a space of about three feet for a walk be- 
 tween, and extending completely round the cir- 
 cuit, for our watchmen to parade in at night. 
 This was a precaution we had many reasons for 
 adopting. The entrances to our huts were all to- 
 wards the centre of the enclosure, in which we 
 determined on erecting a larger structure for 
 common and general purposes, if we could accom- 
 plish it. We rather thinned the adjacent wood of 
 poles and sticks ; and, in our excursions for these 
 materials, thought it not unlikely that we should 
 meet with some of our departed company, but we 
 did not. We met, however, with those who were 
 more useful to us than the youths would prob- 
 ably have been, — a herd of wild swine, some 
 of whom we succeeded in hunting into our en- 
 closure, where we parted them off a sty-yard, 
 fed them with fruits and roots, which we had 
 not yet learned to fatten upon, and in due time, 
 we took the liberty of repaying ourselves for 
 the food we "had supplied, by feeding on the 
 feeders in return. Prout, the kindest and most 
 humane person I ever knew, had also the most 
 sense and resolution. He killed the first pig, 
 and very adroitly indeed. The mystery of 
 
188 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 scalding we dispensed with, because we did not 
 understand it. 
 
 Now do my readers make wrj faces at ma 
 because I talk of killing pigs ? Do they think 
 this savage, vulgar, and unromantic, and that 
 they would have starved themselves to fiddle- 
 strings before they would have touched so ob- 
 jectionable thing as a living porker? If they 
 say, or mean anything of this sort, it is because 
 they have never been young islanders, in debt 
 for days together to their stomachs, as we were. 
 I trust my readers may never be schooled thus 
 severely out of their whims and scruples ; and 
 I should be sorry to be the fat pig to come in 
 their way in that case. Besides, there is no- 
 thing really detestable in that which is not in 
 the least wrong ; and is it not, at all events, as 
 sad an act to kill an oyster between our teeth, 
 as to slay an animal for food with a knife ? 1 
 have admitted, however, that we all felt reluc- 
 tant at first, and that Prout performed the task 
 because he had the most nerve and good sense 
 of any of us. We enjoyed our roast pork ex- 
 ceedingly. The fresh and wholesome food re- 
 newed our strength, and improved our health, 
 and we were thankful for it, as it was our duty 
 to be — was it not ?" 
 
 But I must tell you more particularly how wa 
 managed the construction of our little bedstead 
 
HOW WE WORKED. 189 
 
 huts ; they really were very snug. We first 
 marked a circle on the ground about six feet in 
 diameter, and in the line so made, we drove 
 short stakes or stumps, whose tops remained 
 not more than a foot above the surface. We 
 then planted a tall pole in the middle, for the 
 temporary purpose of receiving the ends of our 
 rafters, which, like the ribs of an umbrella, met 
 at the top, but were fixed below, each on the 
 head of a stump notched to hold it. When 
 once we had completed the circle of rafters, we 
 cut away the central pole, and all stood perfect- 
 ly secure, for we had still a supply of spike 
 nails, hammers, and gimlets, in our stores — 
 thanks to the foresight and liberality of those 
 who had provided them. 
 
 Well, 'when we had thus placed the chief 
 beams of our roof, we nailed on lesser horrizon- 
 tal sticks in parallel lines, like laths, to receive 
 the thatch, which we made of the most excel- 
 lent material known — I mean reeds, which grew 
 abundantly on the borders of the swamp be- 
 fore mentioned, where, by-the-by, we found nei- 
 ther the pattens nor the footmarks of the 
 lantern-bearers, whoever they were. We ac- 
 quired the art, after many trials, of tying on 
 the yehns* or bundles of thatch, so as to re- 
 
 • Helms, or haulms, a country word. 
 
190 THE YOUNG ISLANDEES. 
 
 main securely^ and to be susceptible of that fair 
 and decent combing which was necessary to 
 give the covering a good-boy appearance. I 
 should have mentioned that the doorway had a 
 frame made for it, whose upper part was sur- 
 mounted by a little peaked roof of ite own, like 
 garret windows, and this was worked into the 
 round roof with the best skill we had. 
 
 The doors were in two compartments ; the 
 lower half was covered by the pliant bark of 
 young trees, opened and nailed on flat ; the up- 
 per part was occupied by a square of new and 
 white linen, of which we had bales on bales to 
 go to. Hinges, too, we had in abundance, and 
 bolts and bars ; but the doors opened outwards 
 to save our room. As for bedding, we collec- 
 ted sweet grass and herbage, dried it in the sun, 
 and filled up the space within to our mind, and 
 covered all with cloth and canvass, of which, 
 as you know, we had plenty ; nor did we lack 
 blankets, when their warmth was needful. J 
 think that making the ring-fence, and building 
 these twelve huts, occupied us three or foui 
 months ; and we proceeded with such regular 
 ity, that they were all in the same stage of for 
 wardness at the same tinie, and were finished 
 for use the same evening. I confess we enjoyed 
 the thoughts and experience of our repose that 
 night very highly, and positively loriged for 
 
THE COMFOBT OF SECURITY. 191 
 
 rain, notwithstanding that Prout and Melton, 
 dear good fellows, were our watchmen, who 
 would have found small entertainment )in a 
 thunder-storm. We had the satisfaction, how- 
 ever, in the morning, of seeeing the eaves of our 
 thatch dropping freely with the copious dew 
 that had fallen on them, and which had soaked 
 us through under our rocks and thickets, many 
 a time, to our cost. 
 
 We felt, too, all the comfort of security from 
 the intrusion of man or beast, owing to the pali 
 s?ide wall we had erected around our little town ; 
 and we had the further gratification to observe 
 that these stakes, formed chiefly of a species of 
 willow, were sprouting freely in all directions, 
 so that our wall thickened and strengthened 
 daily under the genial skies of this luxuriant 
 climate. We wattled these twigs in and out 
 like basket work, and in twelve months' time, 
 we could hardly find a peeping point, and 
 were obliged to make loop-holes for our watch- 
 men to survey the approaches to our citadel. 
 
 The huts we had erected for ourselves, did 
 not extend more than round two-thirds of the 
 enclosure, so that, for the present, we permitted 
 pigs and poultry, with which the island abound- 
 ed, to occupy sheds we made for them in the 
 vacant part. 
 
 But as yet we had no covered space in which 
 
192 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 we could assemble by day, so that, wben a 
 shower occurred, we were obliged to run each 
 to his separate lodging, and mope it out in si- 
 lence. Prout now, therefore, drew out a plan 
 of an intended central building, very much re 
 sembling, in form and structure, our little huts, 
 but greatly exceeding them in capacity and 
 height. For this we planted a middle pole or 
 standard, about twenty feet high, and dreiW a 
 circle round it, about as many feet in diameter. 
 In this circle we also drove strong stakes, as we 
 did before in the fence, and rising about five 
 feet from the ground. These were at the distance 
 of about three, feet from each other, and were 
 united at top by what builders would call a 
 plate beam, which, indeed, was made of as 
 many pieces as there were posts, but spiked 
 very firmly together on the top of each. 
 
 And now to find long and straight rafters, 
 seventy-two in number, to reach from this hori- 
 zontal beam to the top nearly of the middle 
 pole, was a task of time and difficulty. We 
 prowled far and wide, and were in straits for 
 viant of straights, many a time. I think it 
 was full six months before we had obtained 
 this timber to the amount required ; and it was 
 a month or two more before it was fixed up ; 
 for our strength and skill were nearly baffled, 
 
HAPS AND MISHAPS. 193 
 
 at times, by the weight and awkwardness of 
 the poles. 
 
 We gave three heartj cheers, I remember, 
 when we got the last of these rafters in , its 
 place, and retired far beyond the limits of our 
 enclosure to observe its appearance. At a dis- 
 tance, it looked like a great spider, that was all, 
 whose feet, however, we could not see. "We 
 made the ends of these poles project over a foot or 
 two, to carry the water clear off; and having 
 convinced ourselves that all was firm and secure, 
 we proceeded to the lathing department of our 
 business. The number of straightish sticks we 
 had to find for this, far exceeded our calcula- 
 tions, but we got the needful quantity at last. 
 
 And what next? The thatching taxed our 
 skill, energies, and perseverance, to the very ut' 
 most. Many a poor fellow clambering up with 
 his bundle of reeds under his arm, fell through 
 the laths, and got a hard buffet from mother 
 earth, though she did not fail to receive him. 1 
 wonder we had no broken heads and limbs — 
 bruised and bleeding ones we had in plenty , 
 but we were determined on completing this 
 town hall, and of course, that being the case, 
 bumps and bruises, and cuts and pinches, were 
 to be taken as they came, at prime cost. 
 
 So now we had a spreading, conical, thatched 
 roof surmounted by a pinnacle of wood, on 
 I 17 
 
194 THE YOUNG ISLai-iDKKS. 
 
 which we fixed a vane , below this, as yet, we 
 had but the bare post, a yard asunder,' on 
 which it stood ; the next question was, how to 
 fill up the spaces between, so as to make a con- 
 tinuous wall. Our method was this, and it is a 
 mode that may very readily be adopted, even 
 by unskilful workmen, and where there are no 
 other materials at hand than small poles, nails, 
 and straw. "We cut these stout sticks to a yard 
 in length, and nailed them horizontally from 
 post to post, on the outside, at about a foot dis- 
 tance from the eaves ; and having completed 
 one circle thus, we commenced and finished an- 
 other at the same distance below it, and thus we 
 kept on to the ground. Then tve went inside 
 and did the same, taking care that the inner 
 rails should face the outer ones exactly, but 
 leaving two or three inches from one to the 
 other. We then procured the best dried reeds 
 and straw we could find, which we drew up 
 carefully, in straight and convenient bundles, 
 side by side. We combed and raked it down 
 as close and smoothly as we could, and found 
 that our perseverance was rewarded by a flat 
 and firm reed fence, or wall, so compact, in- 
 deed, that by the, time we had got round to the 
 entrance doorway, we were very nearly in the 
 dark. We forgot — Prout and all— to leave 
 any openings for windows 1 
 
COMPLETION OF THE TOWN-HALL. 195 
 
 We had, therefore the amusement of remov- 
 ing the reeds and poles from eighteen spaces 
 betweeu the pillars, making a window thus at 
 every fourth side of our many-angled building. 
 You know we had no glass, but, as I have said 
 before, we had plenty of coarse white linen, and 
 this we tacked up instead, pretty neatly. ' Of 
 course, we could not see out, except at those 
 windows which we made to open, and here our 
 palisade fence, of course, bounded the view. 
 The door we constructed of packing-case boards, 
 as well as we could ; it was not a very smart 
 affair. 
 
 There was now, within our circular fence of 
 seventy feet diameter — first, a path, about three 
 feet wide, all round ; next, our huts, occupying 
 another circular space about six feet in width ; 
 then another circular path, broad enough foi 
 games and exercise; and, in the centre, our 
 public hall, twenty feet in diameter, as I have 
 said. We dared not take away the standard 
 pillar in the middle, so we let ifc remain, and 
 nailed together a circular table enclosing it, and 
 also sitting benches for our use, when there as- 
 sembled. 
 
 But here is no mention of a fire-place. It 
 must be observed, first, that its warmth we 
 hardly ever needed ; on the contrary, they who 
 took their turn in cooking, generally found the 
 
196 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 heat oppressive. Then, again, we had no mate- 
 rials whatever for building anything in the 
 shape of a chimney, that would not itself become 
 fuel, and burn all down. Our whole edifice 
 was of wood and straw, and we could not with 
 safety or-ing fire near it, nor within our enclo- 
 sure at all, except as candles, of which we had 
 now a very small store, and whose light we sel- 
 dom required. We were, therefore, compelled 
 to make our kitchen out of doors as before. 
 At the distance of a few steps from all our build- 
 ings, we dug a shallow hole in the earth, filled 
 and heaped it with fuel, and obtained a glowing 
 mass of embers, over which we placed our three- 
 legged cauldrons, conducting, at the same time, 
 the processes of roasting and broiling, when we 
 pleased. / 
 
 And now for the use of this rustic dome, form- 
 ing our town hall, as we resolved to call it. In 
 the first place, we took our meals here in de- 
 cency and comfort; laying a cloth, setting our 
 dishes and plates, and feeding no longer like 
 savages or brutes, but dining like young gentle- 
 men, if you will allow me to appropriate again 
 that long lost designation. These renewed usa- 
 ges of domestic life were of inestimable benefit 
 , to us. We became civilised again in manners ; 
 addressed each other, and conversed with pro 
 priety, and found that our minds, in time, re- 
 
PURSUIT OF- NEW OBJECTS. 197 
 
 ga.ned their powers, and found an interest in 
 the consideration of other objects than the sup- 
 ply of our bodily wants. 
 
 It is indeed a desperate thing to stand down 
 among the brutes — innocent as they are in their 
 vegetative life, or in their appointed occupation 
 as beasts of prey. To eat, drink, sleep, and 
 lead useless lives, is to make ourselves machines 
 of a kind that no artificer would think of con- 
 structing : — like a clock without face or hands 
 — a mill without motion — a ship without crew 
 or freight, having the sails clewed up, and rot- 
 ting out at anchor, or in port. It is the chief 
 misfortune of great bodily peril and privation, 
 that it causes the whole mental energies to be 
 centered and expended on matters for ^hich, in 
 general, the intellect of a monkey, or a calf, are 
 quite suf&cient — the cares of the body; and 
 when this wretched condition of the individual 
 is enhanced in severity, to a great degree, and 
 continues long, the mind becomes prostrate be- 
 fore these necessities, and, in sordid abjectness, 
 crawls like a worm, content to seek and find 
 food and shelter even in the mire. 
 
 It seemed, indeed, as if our dreadful calamity 
 had, at one time, nearly destroyed the best in- 
 tellectual and moral faculties of several of our 
 late companions. In fact, there did not survive 
 enough of sense or instinct, to say nothing of 
 
 17* 
 
198 THU IfOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 reason, to enable them to supply and feed them- 
 selves even as animals. And I am not sure 
 that as many as twelve would have been found 
 able to provide food and a dwelling, as we did, 
 if we had not been constantly stimulated to ac- 
 tivity by one mind of uncommon vigour ; and, 
 notwithstanding this advantage, we had lived 
 the wild life of savages for many months, and 
 should probably have sunk at last, had not the 
 means and objects of civilized occupation been 
 seasonably afforded us in the cave. 
 
 But, after all, the chief benefit that we derived 
 from our common room was the opportunity it 
 afforded us of observing Sunday duties; of 
 which, however, I fear that we should not have 
 thought, but for him who in everything was 
 our leader and example ; and this I know, that 
 our health, comforts and happiness daily im- 
 proved from the time that we lived again like 
 Christians ; and we still indulged the hope that 
 the ten who had separated from us might one 
 day rejoin us, and partake of these blessings 
 with us. 
 
AGEieULTUEAL EXPEEIENCE. 199 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A ND now for our farm and garden. The 
 ^-^ corn we had sown, not being protected by 
 hedge or fence, and being besides committed to 
 ground very inadequately tilled, produced scarce-' 
 ly its equivalent in return. The blade that came 
 up was at the mercy of the herds that traversed 
 the plains, and the few ears that arrived at ma- 
 turity were selected by the- birds for their early 
 breakfast. It was evident, therefore, that we 
 must again set to work, and, regardless of toil, 
 enclose our field, as we had our town, with 
 stakes or rails, and then carry through the pro- 
 cess of digging, as business on which our sub- 
 sistence might probably depend. 
 
 We had learned something from our former 
 ill-success, and calculated the seasons better. 
 Thanks to the precious treasures we had discov- 
 ered, agricultural and garden implements we had 
 in abundance. Of these, however, the only 
 kinds we could make much use of were spades 
 and rakes, but, thus supplied, we put our whole 
 strength to the work, and turned a broad piece 
 of ground handsomely upside down before sow- 
 
200 THE YOUNG ISLAiJDEES. 
 
 ing time was come. This we fenced with stakes 
 and rails, and afterwards by a ditch and bank, 
 which certainly did credit to our perseverance, 
 if not to our skill, in rural arts. By great exer- 
 tions we contrived to complete our fences before 
 the crops came up. 
 
 There stood amongst the Jumber of the mari- 
 ners' cave a machine, of which for a long time 
 we were unable to find out the use, but, when 
 known, it increased wonderfully our desires for 
 a crop of wheat : this was a hand corn-mill, of 
 whoSe proper functions we were at length made 
 aware, by observing the remains of flour dust 
 that hung about it. We had not, however, at 
 present a handful of grain left, to test its powers, 
 or our own capabilities in the art of pudding- 
 making. I am persuaded that a bag of bran 
 would at this time have been devoured with 
 avidity, if made into a dough, and baked or 
 boiled. 
 
 Our next care, after the farm, was a garden ; 
 for which purpose we prepared a piece of ground 
 near our village, and removed to it such shrubs 
 and trees as we could transplant from that occu- 
 pied by our predecessors. But the trees were 
 not benefitted by the change ; they scarcely, in- 
 deed, survived it, excepting the vines, and a 
 kind of prickly pear ; but the seeds of peas and 
 beans, and other -gardei. vegetables, richly re- 
 
A BAINFOL DISCOVERY. 201 
 
 paid our trouble, and supplied the place of bread 
 with our meat. We now seldom visited the old 
 spot, whose former tenants we knew lay buried 
 benea,th the rock that had once sheltered them 
 
 It was, I think, after an absence of a month, 
 that, having wandered thither one morning, in 
 quest of herbs, one of us stumbled on something 
 hidden amongst the weeds, when our attention 
 was attracted by a feeble cry ! Our instant con 
 jecture was verified — here were two of our lost 
 companions ! Such we knew they must be, be 
 cause they were clad in some of the well-known 
 garments in which they had left us ; but so 
 frightful was the state of emaciation in which 
 they appeared, that it was scarcely possible to 
 recognise thpm by their faces ; in fact they did 
 not know us ; for they were too far gone to take 
 notice of our presence,, or to utter other sounds 
 than moans so weak as scarcely to be audible at 
 times. The lads were Moseley and Johnson. 
 Poor fellows ! misery had nearly done its utmost 
 with them. Blackened, distorted, and wasted 
 by want and suffering, their countenances 
 seemed to resemble nothing that we had seen 
 before. We drew them from their lair ; but the 
 (ittempt to place them on their feet was vain. 
 We, therefore, made a litter of boughs, and con- 
 veyed them, without delay, to our abode. 
 
 Weak and frail as we are at the best, it is 
 
202 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 wonderful how long the spark of life will linger 
 in a frame crushed by the pressure of calamity, 
 and deprived of food and shelter! The grass 
 had grown through the hair of these lads, and 
 the worm had almost claimed them for his own ! 
 We made up couches for them in the middle 
 house ; divested them of the annoying appurte- 
 iiances of their condition, and administered cor- 
 dials, plentifully supplied by the stores in the 
 Jtariners' cave. 
 
 We were now doctors, nurses, and servants of 
 all work, and enjoyed the refreshing change of 
 an interesting and arduous employment, exer- 
 cised not for ourselves, but on the account of 
 others. Hitherto, it had been with us the chief 
 concern to provide for our own existence ; now 
 we almost neglected our own wants, in the en- 
 grossing anxiety to preserve the lives of these 
 dear lads, whose faults were all forgotten, or 
 lost sight of, in their distress and danger. We 
 almost killed them with our kindness, and poor 
 Moseley, in particular, was very nearly suffocated 
 with wine, which one of us poured into his 
 mouth, and which he was quite unable to swal- 
 low. The quick eye of Prout saw the mischief, 
 and in a moment he set the boy up, and thus re- 
 lieved him. He, however, sank down again, 
 and slept for some hours so heavily, that we 
 were afraid he would thus depart. Johnson had 
 
RECOVERY OF OUR FRIENDS. 203 
 
 duly swallowed the wine given him, and ho 
 rolled in delirium, accordingly, for a day and a 
 night. 
 
 Nature, and not the physicians, must, in this 
 case, as in many others, have the merit of their 
 restoration. Notwithstanding our choking doses, 
 the lads lived, and gradually regained their 
 strength and recollections. They had repeat- 
 edly called on their friends by name, entreat- 
 ing them to come and hear their horrid dreams; 
 but, at length, these wanderings ceased, and 
 they gazed in silent astonishment about them. 
 Their bed-chamber was certainly a remarkable 
 one, with its hollow funnel roof, circular straw 
 walls, and the eighteen white windows round 
 about. At length they recognised us, and 
 became aware of their situation ; but scarcely 
 could we induce them to believe that wa had 
 erected the building in which they lay. We 
 led them out, when their limbs would permit, 
 and showed them our range of huts, and the 
 comfortable couches with which we had fur- 
 nished them. We pointed theri, also, to the 
 places we had reserved for them and the others, 
 in case they should rejoin us, and promised to 
 build their huts if they would stay. The poor 
 fellows had lef>, I believe, all their discontent 
 and contrariness behind them ; they looked on 
 us as their preservers and only protectors, and, 
 
204 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 with tears of gratitude, they thanked us, and 
 promised to do anything we told them. 
 
 We perceived that they had undergone great 
 bodily and mental suffering since they left us, 
 the recollection of which made them shudder, 
 and it was long before we hinted our desire to 
 hear au account of their adventures. At length 
 Front asked them if they had regretted leaving 
 us ? "0 Prout," said Moseley, covering his 
 face with his hands, " it has been dreadful !" 
 
 " What has been dreadful ? Where have you 
 all been? and where are Dolman, Jermyn, and 
 Moody?" 
 
 " 0, Moseley, are you going to tell it now ?" 
 said Johnson, hiding his face between his arms 
 on the table. 
 
 "I should like to wait till morning," said 
 Moseley, " I am so low and melancholy to-night." 
 
 We waited nearly a month before the truth 
 came out. 
 
 " You will never see those boys any more," 
 said Moueley, at length; "do you remember 
 the great cavern, with water at the bottom ?" 
 
 "Yes! yes!— 0, what about it?" 
 
 " That place is a grand temple of the savages, 
 who live on another island, a good way off by 
 the sea. They have feathers stuck in their 
 noses, and holes cut in their cheeks that you 
 can see through. They wear dead men's teeth 
 
THEIR NARRATIVE. 205 
 
 rattling on a string round their throats, and 
 jaw-bones hanging over their stomachs, and 
 they drink blood out of skulls.", 
 
 " Now, Moseley, give over, do." 
 
 "It is all true, John Eouse, and you ought 
 all to know it, or you may be served the same " 
 
 " The same as whom ?" 
 
 " The same as Dolman, Jermyn, and Moody 
 There is another way to that awful place, quite 
 different from that we found out, and there is a 
 great hollow place in the rock where they go 
 in, that is as black as a chimney with soot. 
 There the savages make their fires." 
 
 " Ah !" said Prout, " I suppose they roast 
 and eat people there ; I have 'heard of canni- 
 bals. 0, Moseley, did they destroy'those poor 
 fellows so ?" 
 
 " No," said Moseley, "I don't think they are 
 cannibals ; but whenever they have lost a battle, 
 and want to please their gods, they come and 
 drop somebody into that vault, and, when they 
 hear the splash, they set up such a laugh: — but 
 they look as if they were afraid of their gods all 
 the while." 
 
 " And did you see them serve our poor fel- 
 lows so ?" demanded Prout, and a flush passed 
 over his face, as he started up on his feet. 
 
 " It's of no use, Prout ; you can't help it," 
 said Moseley ; " I did not see the boys dropped 
 
 18 
 
206 THE YOUNG ISLAHUEES. 
 
 in, but I saw them hurried along through a 
 crevice in the rock, the savages having theii 
 hands on their throats, so they could not cry, 
 whilst we lay bound, ready to be served the 
 same." 
 
 " And who saved you ? — 0, who saved you ?" 
 "The bucaniers ! they landed just -at the 
 right moment — coming for turtles and water; 
 they saw the savages, and, I suppose, knew 
 what they were about, for some of their own 
 men had been destroyed in that way. So they 
 climbed up the rocks, with their long guns in 
 their hands, and the savages, seeing them, ran 
 away to the beach, almost into the sea ; but the 
 bucaniers fired, and killed fourteen of them, and 
 they took three prisoners and brought them to 
 the cavern to throw them into that sarrie gulf, 
 and there they saw us. When they had thus 
 got rid of these poor wretches, which was 
 very soon, for they came grinning back almost 
 directly, they stared, and asked, in French and 
 English, who we were ; we told them as well 
 as we could for fright, but they seemed not to 
 believe us, though one of them said, he thought 
 he had heard such a tale before. They undid 
 our bandages, and advised us not to come in 
 the way of the savages again ; and one of the 
 imen told us all about them, and how they 
 endeavoured to appoase their gods. We begged 
 
THEIR NARRATIVE. 201 
 
 they would take us a\iay with them, but they 
 said they had not time. So they loaded their 
 guns, and got into their boats in a moment. 
 We watched them till they were out of sight, 
 and by that time, the tide had risen and washed 
 the dead bodies away. Then we crawled about, 
 and got, I don't know where, and sunk down 
 and went to sleep I think : — 0, Prout, is it not 
 dreadful?" 
 
 Prout was deep in thought, and made no 
 answer at the moment. " Yes, it is dreadful," 
 said he at length, " and we must take more care 
 of ourselves than we have done. Did none of 
 the savages escape?" 
 
 ' " 0, 1 forgot that," said Moseley, " five or six 
 of them got away in their little white boats, but 
 the bucaniers said we need not be afraid of them 
 again for some time to come. He said the 
 savages were great cowards, and were dread- 
 fully afraid of a gun." 
 
 " Thank God for that," said Prout, " we can 
 frighten them then. Now, I begin to think 
 that we heard something more than echoes in 
 tlie vault : do you remember the kind of laugh 
 we heard, and the voices?" 
 
 " Ah, indeed we do," said many of us at once. 
 "0, that horrid hollow mountain! I wish we 
 Vad never seen it." 
 
 " It would be harmless if it were not fo/ 
 
208 THE YOUNG ISLANDEES. 
 
 horrid men," said Prout. "I fear the othei 
 poor lads are also destroyed. Moseley, did the 
 bucaniers say when they should come again ?" 
 
 " Not for seven years, perhaps — ^so they tojil 
 us. It is quite out of their usual way ; and 
 they said it was all in vain looking for a ship in 
 these waters : we might stare our eyes out before 
 we saw a sail." 
 
 " They knew where to set us down then, to 
 be out of their way, and almost out of the 
 world," said I; "but we must be thankful as 
 long as we live, that they took this trouble 
 with us, and did not hoist us overboard." 
 
 "Or into that dreadful gulf," added Prout. 
 " I am thinking that we ought to go there, and 
 see if our poor fellows are dead or alive." 
 
 There was a general shudder and huddling 
 together, and ipore tongues than one declared 
 that they could not. 
 
 "What cannot you do?" said Prout. 
 
 "Can't go inside the mountain to look for 
 anybody at all." 
 
 "And I will tell you what :Z" cannot do," said 
 Prout ; " I can't go to sleep till I know whether 
 my schoolfellows are dead or alive. Moseley 
 ftnd Johnson did not see the lads pushed into the 
 gulf; did you, Johnson? — did you, Moseley?" 
 
 " No, but we saw them hurried away almost 
 strangled. — Prout, we cannot go there, indeed," 
 
prout's courage. ' 20y 
 
 said the two lads, still hiding their faces in their 
 hands. 
 
 " I know that," said Prout kindly ; " you 
 have had enough of the place certainly. Come, 
 now," said he, addressing us, " will three of yov 
 accompany me to the rocks ? if not, Prout will 
 go alone." 
 
 His face glowed with the commotion within, 
 and his lip curled with rising feelings of con 
 tempt, whilst a moment of silence told oui 
 timidity and hesitation, 
 
 "Then Prout will go alone!" repeated he, 
 springing on his feet, and his eye flashed with 
 indignation ; then, in a suppressed tone, in 
 which agitation was nearly conquered, he added, 
 " If you see no more of me, don't trouble your- 
 selves at all — I — " 
 
 Half-a-dozen of us were at his side at once ; 
 the other six rose, but stood shuffling with their 
 feet. 
 
 " We cannot all go," said Prout, anticipating 
 their excuse; "you stop and take care of the 
 two that are ill ; remain within your walls, and 
 keep your gates shut ; many good soldiers do 
 that.'' With one more look, which was miti- 
 gated to a merely ironical smile, Prout led the 
 way to the spot which he judged it would be 
 best for us to visit first : this was the mariners' 
 cave, which lay at the distance of an hour's 
 
 18* 
 
210 THE YOUNG ISLANDEES. 
 
 walk for us. As we went along, he said, "1 
 don't much wonder that tliose lads dislike such - 
 an errand, -which I dare say we none of us 
 enjoy very much : we would all rather fight for 
 our lives in open daylight than grope there for 
 bodies, dead or alive, in the verv darkest 
 chamber of death itself; but then, again, we 
 would rather do that, and run all hazards, than 
 wake in the night, after dreaming that our fel- 
 lows called for help, and we would not answer. 
 Selwyn, I would sooner be a cripple like poor 
 Philip Aylmer, so that I might but lay hold 
 with my teeth, than be a coward — sooner than 
 bear the guilt and the sufferings of the selfish, 
 trembling wretch, that will let danger drive 
 him from his duty." 
 
 "That's right, Nat Prout," said John Eouse; 
 "but where are we to jump to when we get 
 there, and how long will it take us to fall to the 
 bottom ; and may we have candles in our hands 
 while we fl.y, that we may see our way to the 
 water ?" 
 
 " Nat Prout will not accompany you, if you 
 resolve on that leap," said he ; " which would 
 not be courage, but madness. Now hear ex- 
 actly what I mean. From what I can under- 
 stand of Moseley's account, the savages were 
 disturbed too soon to complete their sacrifice, 
 which the bucaniers told them has a hundred 
 
DARKNESS AND HOREORS. 211 
 
 uereraouies. Our companions may, therefore, be 
 lying dead, or not quite dead, on the brink of the 
 gul,f ; so let us seek the cavern by the way we 
 first discovered it, with as many candles as we 
 can find ; there let us pause and listen, and sub- 
 due every breath, that we may-hear theirs, if 
 possible ; even if we hear nothing, we must not 
 conclude that all is over; but if we hear a cry, 
 we shall be directed to the spot." 
 
 Our blood curdled a little, and our hair stood 
 on an end, as they say — at least mine did, as 
 far as I know — when we arrived at the fissure 
 in the r(3ck, and unbarred the long closed door 
 with which we had shut it in. The rumnaaged 
 stores, and empty tubs and boxes, lay as we had 
 left them, and there stood the cases of arms, and 
 barrels of powder and shot, which we had not 
 yet disturbed. We speedily procured a light, 
 and found candles enow to provide us one 
 apiece, and a few over. That this vestibule of 
 the great cavern communicated, by some pas- 
 sages in an opposite direction, with openings 
 leading outwards, we judged by a sudden gust of 
 air, by which our candles were, in a moment, 
 extinguished, and the door behind us blown to. 
 We were in total darkness, and the cool blast 
 hurried past us with a hollow sound. We held 
 by each other, and were ready to sink-: only 
 one of us, whose name you may guess, had sense 
 
212 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 enough to make his way to the entrance, anJ 
 open the door. With the light our senses re- 
 turned, and Prout, having propped it open, 
 remarked that it was a more civil door than 
 one that closed upon us on a former occasion ! 
 
 We renewed the lights, which flickered 
 within our hands, as we crept forward. The 
 double sound of our footsteps reminded us that 
 we were drawing near the great vaulted cham- 
 ber of the mountain. It glittered as before; 
 and the stones cast from our hands to the abyss 
 beneath, did not, whilst we could hold our 
 breath, announce their arrival at th*e flood, 
 which, in utter darkness, pursued its way 
 through the deep foundations of this vast pile 
 of caverned rocks. "Now, Prout; now, Prout, 
 what are we to do?" we demanded in impatient 
 whispers. 
 
 " Wait — wait ! Listen — listen !" said he. We 
 did sOj^ and the slight wind, which swept round 
 the craggy walls and spangled dome, seemed 
 also suppressing its breath, that we might explain 
 our strange intrusion. Again we breathed and 
 listened, but now the breeze seemed to have 
 died away ; but we could hear the faint murmur 
 as of a slow current of the waters in the abyss 
 below. We summoned new courage, and uni- 
 ting our voices, called on our absent compan- 
 ions three times by their names, in cries exalted 
 
^ THE cayeen's hokkors. 213 
 
 almost into screams. The sounds rang wildly 
 ill our ears: deep answered to deep, and the 
 words we had uttered at length died into whis- 
 pers, and silence reigned undisputed, save by a 
 broken moan, which we thought might have 
 been the fitful gust again ; but, in a moment, a 
 thundering plunge was heard in the nether 
 flood, and soota after, a sound resembling the at- 
 tempt at a shrill laugh by one gasping at the 
 time for breath I 
 
 In less time considerably than is commonly 
 occupied by persons retracing their steps in a 
 dark and rugged path, we found ourselves clean 
 emerged from these dens, and swallowing, with 
 deep inspirations, the breezy air, whilst our eyes 
 drank the light amidst the blaze of day. 
 
 When we found our voices, "The savages! 
 the savages !" were nearly all the words we could 
 utter. " 0, did you hear their dreadful laugh ?" 
 
 " That was not the laugh of a savage, or of a 
 man," said Prout ; " it was Jermyn's voice ! - I 
 am as sure of it as if I had been present with 
 him : did not you hear his whooping catch at 
 the end?" 
 
 " 0, Prout, if he can laugh, we certainly may 
 let him alone," said Eouse, 
 
 " But what do you think of the plunge, Mr. 
 Rouse?" 
 
 " A piece of the rock, I dare say ; it la aiways 
 
214 THE YOUNG ISLANDEE8. 
 
 tutnljling about ; it must be alive, I think. 
 Prout, ?rout, now do let us come away: — tke 
 horrid hollow mountain ! I say again, let us 
 come away !" these were the exclamations of 
 several mouths. 
 
 " But why should we interrupt his laughing?" 
 said Rouse again ; " perhaps he peeped, and saw 
 us each with a candle, gaping and staring at 
 'nothing ; if he laughs, he must be merry at some- 
 thing." 
 
 " I have heard of people laughing when driven 
 perfectly mad with terror," said Prout. " I shall 
 take a walk round the crags before I have my 
 supper." 
 
 We dared not venture the rebuke of his eye 
 again, and we followed, as well as we could, his 
 very quick step. He seemed to have gained a 
 sudden idea of the direction in which to seek the 
 objects he had in view. We took a circuit of 
 the rocks, and in half-an-hour arrived at an an- 
 gle looking towards the sea : the blackened cave 
 was now' before us. Prout entered, and we fol- 
 lowed; he raised his finger, and we held our 
 breath. There were no wild yells of savages ; 
 but the channels of the rock conveyed the fee- 
 ble chuckle and chatter of idiocy plainly to our 
 ears. The forethought of our leader had provi- 
 ded the means of procuring "a light, and crawling 
 on hands and knees with this, in the direction 
 
END OF POOR JEKMYN. 215 
 
 whence the sounds came, we reached -t.n inner 
 chamber of the labyrinth. The taper gleamed 
 from the pendant stalactites of the grotto ; but 
 no sooner had the light reached them, than a 
 wild but weak cry was heard, succeeded by an- 
 other wild and weak laugh, in the midst of 
 which I thought I perceived the motion of a 
 dusky object on a ledge of rock that was nearly 
 invisible to most of us. " There he is !" said 
 Prout ; " that's Jermyn! — Jermyn, is that you?" 
 " Yes, yes, mother ! I am running down stairs 
 so fast !" 0, my dear readers, think of it ; we 
 heard a rattling scramble, a tumble, a scream, 
 and a plunge, and all was over ! 
 
 We could hear the water that had splashed 
 up, dropping down again into the placid deep 
 with a plaintive sound; yes, the stony rock 
 found tears for the misfortunes of the young 
 islanders 1 
 
 There is no doubt that these poor fellows,, 
 when liberated by the friendly buoaniers, had, 
 in the agony of their terror, taken the wrong 
 course, fled into the recesses of the rocks, and 
 there, immured in its labyrinths, had lost theii 
 reason, and tumbling over the interior preci- 
 pices, had thus miserably perished. We were a 
 long time before we recovered this fresh shock, 
 and a feeliag of horror crept over us at the very 
 mention of the mariners' cave, and the awfal 
 
216 THK YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 range of vaults that lay beyond. I never sav» 
 Prout so subdued in spirit as he was for some 
 months after this. It becarne the duty of some 
 of us to combat the melancholy that oppressed 
 him; whilst this lasted, we all drooped, and 
 f.his was a sad and memorable season to us, 
 which I shall always remember with peculiar 
 sorrow. 
 
 We had full proof, both of the comfort and 
 the imperfection of the weedy roofs we had con- 
 structed, before they had been finished many 
 weeks. The first shower they received, as I 
 well remember, happened whilst we were at our 
 noonday meal, and very great was the gratifica- 
 tion we experienced in sitting with dry heads 
 and shoulders, looking at the water that streamed 
 from the eaves, all round our many-windowed 
 pavilion. We were much more pleased with 
 this, than with the simultaneous drumming, on 
 our central table, of twenty other streams that 
 poured through the ill-laid heap of straw, reeds, 
 flags, and other herbage, on the top. But this 
 was not the worst, for the wind now lifted bun- 
 dle after bundle of this frail covering from the 
 rafters, until the roof resembled nothing so 
 much as the sticks of an umbrella from which 
 the cloth had been suddenly blown. There was 
 nothing for it but to betake ourselves to the 
 huts, which fared much better, being more man- 
 
PBOMPT VEGETATION. 2^7 
 
 ageable when we thatched them, and therefore 
 naore securely done. 
 
 There lay the young islanders, each in his 
 separate lodging, not able to make a neighbour 
 hear for the thundering rain and tearing wind ; 
 sometimes tickled by a stream or so, that found 
 its w^ay to our bodies. Occasionally, indeed, we 
 rose, and had the amusement of peeping through 
 holes in our cloth windows, at the ruins of the 
 building, which had sheltered us, if not from 
 storms, from the scorching rays of an ardent 
 sun, on many a broiling day. 
 
 There was another circumstance, on which we 
 had not calculated when we set the ground thick 
 with the green stakes of our walls and furniture : 
 they had nearly all sprouted, so that not only 
 did our town hall and town wall want clipping, 
 but our very bedsteads needed pruning, both 
 outside and in, with a free and active hand ! So 
 prompt is nature in these warm and watered 
 islands, and so eager and powerful ia vegetable 
 life, that a stick, casually thrust in the ground, 
 becomes a tree, grasping the soil, and waving 
 an umbrageous head in a single season. Noth- 
 ing could be better for the strength and solidity 
 of our external wall than the forest of shoots that 
 burst from it in all directions. Of these, the lat- 
 eral ones, we wove and wattled, and twined and 
 interlayed such a number as to make a surface 
 
 K 19 
 
218 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 impervious to the' keenest eye; whilst the out 
 ward twigs, left to their own course, formed an 
 embowered wall of impenetrable depth and 
 thickness. The inside we clipped and sheared 
 to a plain surface, to preserve a clear path for 
 the sentinels of the night. 
 
 The rainy season continues here, with little 
 intermission, for about two months, which was 
 a very dull and disagreeable time indeed, for 
 we could not have much of each other's society. 
 Our occupations were almost suspended, and our 
 supply of food was very inadequate, and scarcely 
 dressed at all. Happily, the water that ran in- 
 to our huts, ran out again with as little difficulty, 
 or we must have been floated with our beds; 
 but, before the end of the winter, as we called 
 it, our dwellings became exceedingly uncomfort- 
 able abodes, and we determined to repair all de- 
 fects and damages with our best skill and ener- 
 gies, as soon as the weather would permit. 
 
 The object and employment thus created, 
 were of great use to us, and helped to dispel the 
 gloom that had settled down upon our minda 
 after the catastrophe in the rocks. Prout was 
 himself again, and eyed the skies daily for the 
 opening of the fine season. In due time it 
 came, and we determined to commence our re- 
 pairs with as much spirit as we felt when we 
 began to build. We surveyed our hall with 
 
NAT prout's kegeets. 219 
 
 oomplaQencj when we found that not a pole or 
 rail had given way : we had a new covering to 
 find — that was all. > 
 
 We had a hundred things to attend to all at 
 once, but then we had fourteen wise heads, and 
 as many pairs of hands, to take charge of them; 
 and we had one head, and one pair of hands, ay, 
 and one heart amongst us, worth them all put 
 together. Dear Nat Prout, we could not per- 
 suade him to acquit or forgive himself for want 
 of consideration and management, of which he 
 said he had been guilty, when seeking out the 
 poor lads in the rock. " I ought not to have 
 spoken a word," he said, "till I had hold of 
 Jermyn ; we frightened him over the brink of 
 the gulf, and T think the other poor fellow lost 
 his life in the same way. 0, Selwyn, let us ask 
 God to forgive us ' all our sins, negligences, and 
 ignorances,' " and he went down on his knees, 
 and I too. i His prayer was only composed of 
 sobs, that I could hear ; but if his tongue could 
 not speak, his spirit prayed, and his prayer was 
 heard. He rose cheerfully, and said, " Now I 
 am better : let us exert ourselves, and we shall 
 be happy again. No — you cannot be happy 
 here; you have friends in England to mourn for 
 you. I have none now, not even Dr. Poynders. 
 Selwyn,"^aid he, whispering, "lam almost cer- 
 tain he is dead ; I am sure — ^yes, I am sure he 
 
220 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 would not survive it. But come, this will not 
 do any good ; let us be busy." 
 
 Our first business was, to restore the roof of 
 our middle house ; and, to ensure better success 
 this time, a council was called of our whole fra- 
 ternity. Prout said he had never seen a house 
 thatched in his life, and that he could not pre- 
 tend to decide as to the projaer way of doing it, 
 but he thought that the straw should be fastened 
 at one end at least, like the hair of our heads. 
 
 "Yes," said another; '' and when my father's 
 barn was thatched, I remember they began not 
 at the top, but at the bottom of the roof." 
 
 " Capital !" said Prout ; " then they thatched 
 the eaves first ?" 
 
 " To be sure — certainly." 
 
 "I see I I see !" said Prout ; indeed we could 
 all see now, that laying the bundles over each 
 other, instead of shoving them under, was inuch 
 the smoothest way of proceeding ; besides, this 
 allowed every yelm, or bundle, to be tied se- 
 curely down. Then, as to the material used, we 
 had got together a mass more fit for a dunghill 
 than a roof, composed of any kind of herbage 
 we could find. Ileed§*, it -nas evident, were the 
 best : these, however, were scarce, but might be 
 obtained, in a~ sufficient quantity, by diligence 
 and persevering efforts to collect them. For 
 these we had to wade into the swamps with res 
 
EXPERTS AT THATCHING. 221 
 
 olute contempt of inconvenience. There we 
 3ut, and hacked, and pulled by the roots, and 
 got ourselves embogged, often laughably, some- 
 times seriously, and once almost fatally. One 
 poor fellow, who had an alacrity at sinking, got 
 up to his arm-pits, and drew another after him, 
 who also entangled a third ; and it was not till 
 the chain of unfortunates got hold, by the last 
 link, of a plantain bough, that their liberation 
 was effected. 
 
 We procured the needful quantity of reeds at 
 last, and had the forbearance to wait some days 
 till the sun had dried them, before we placed 
 them on the roof We found out, now, that 
 there were only two real geniuses at th&,tching 
 amongst us; these were Holt and Frampton, 
 whose, work was so fair, firm, and tidy, com- 
 pared with that of others, that it was determined 
 to yield this business entirely to them ; the rest 
 of our party acting as their labourers merely in 
 handing up the materials. We exulted greatly 
 as the covering spread over the skeleton ribs of 
 the building, and darkened its interior. There 
 we had enjoyed converse, counsel, and mutual 
 comfort and encouragement : there we talked 
 over the past, and laid plans for the future, but 
 all these advantages were removed with the roof 
 that had sheltered us; and the day and hour 
 
 19* 
 
222 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS, 
 
 when it was completely restored,, were among 
 the happiest we knew in the island. 
 
 The floor of this place had become covered, in 
 a few weeks, with rampant vegetation, which, 
 with the sprouting pillars that upheld it, made a 
 thicket of the whole enclosed space. All this we 
 diligently cleared, and eradicated every fibre of 
 a weed that we could see. We now called to 
 mind the garden-walk at Seaward House, covered' 
 with bright sea-sand and powdered shells. We 
 had little difficulty in procuring a similar ma- 
 terial, and laid the whole ground within our 
 building with a covering of this sort, six inches 
 deep ; it was a vast improvement ; being a dry 
 and clean sanded floor, instead of the grass and 
 weeds that previously invested it. 
 
 Our next operation was the building of two 
 more huts for the new comers, Moseley and 
 Johnson. They were still too melancholy and 
 feeble to manage this themselves, and, in a 
 day or two, we managed to thatch them in com- 
 fortably. But now the want of regular supplies 
 of food, put other thoughts than those of build- 
 ing in our heads: the swine we had hunted 
 within the enclosure of a very imperfect fence, 
 had absconded simultaneously one night, leaving 
 us no consideration whatever for our pains in 
 feeding them, which had, indeed, been intermit- 
 
DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. 223 
 
 ted, during our privations, on more than one oc- 
 casion. 
 
 We had observed on the island most of the 
 European domesticated animals, which had evi- 
 dently increased from the stock brought here by 
 the poor settlers who had perished ; but these 
 creatures were as wild as any in Nature's family. 
 Swine and poultry, sheep and goats, horses and 
 kine, herded in tKeir respective companies, 
 grazed or browsed on the hills and plains, and 
 ecoured the country at their pleasure ; but they 
 avoided us at all times, regardless of any advan- 
 tages we could offer them in exchange for their 
 lives and liberty. There were only three ways 
 of proceeding that we could think of. First, a 
 chase, or regular leg-contest, in which it did not 
 appear that we could prevail over any other 
 competitors than swine : secondly, by watching 
 the retreats of these animals we might, perhaps, 
 succeed in kidnapping their young: thirdly, 
 there were the guns, and powder, and shot, yet 
 untouched in the cave. Could we manage to 
 shoot a bird, a bullock, or a pig ? 
 
 We -tried all three methods in succession. — I 
 shall not forget our first day's chase, when our ob- 
 ject was any herd or solitary animal of the kinds 
 I have mentioned, many of which we could cer- 
 tainly have run down in a plain, but all of which 
 baffled us in the woods; yes, even the sheep, 
 
224 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 Bhaggy and encumbered as they were, threaded 
 the mazes of the forest more rapidly than we, so 
 that our nearest approach to a capture procured 
 us nothing better than a bunch of wool in our 
 hands, by which the fugitive mutton compounded 
 for its escape. We were, indeed, very indifler- 
 eiitly shod ; our own shoes were long ago worn 
 out, and those in the stores were so much too 
 large as to render swift running in them im- 
 possible. An attempt to go bare-footed did not 
 do at all ; it seemed as if there was a general 
 sympathy amongst the four-footed tribes ; and it 
 was ludicrous, as well as provoking, to see the 
 wild asses, whom we had not the most distant in- 
 tention of disturbing, joining in the flight of 
 other herds, crossing our path, and, in facl^ driv- 
 ing the tribes we sought before them. Our only 
 supper that night was roasted yams, of whose 
 sweetish flavour we were by no means fond. 
 
 So we called a council in the round-house, in 
 which the expressions of fatigue and chagrin 
 formed a great portion of our discourse. Prout 
 suggested that a herd of bullocks, or a flock of 
 sheep, if enclosed, would be of but little service 
 to us without an abundant supply of such food 
 as would maintain them. Our crops, though 
 promising, would not be ready for some weeks, 
 and he recomnended shooting and fishing in the 
 mean time. 
 
OUR HUNTING EXPERIENCE. 225 
 
 There were only two of our number, Prout and 
 Boyce, who h^d ever fired a gun in their lives ; 
 and there appeared much danger from the use of 
 fire-arms in such inexperienced hands : indeed, 
 it seemed likely that the guns would take most 
 efiect on those that used them. But necessity 
 is the mother not only of invention, but of 
 courage, skill, and success, in the management 
 of tools, materials, and weapons. We made a 
 party, consisting of about half our number, to 
 the magazine in the rocks, where we stopped no 
 longer than was sufficient to open a chest of arms, 
 a barrel of powder, and two or three bags of shot : 
 the powder was in pitched tubs, very well secured 
 against damp. ■ We felt more like thieves in 
 danger, than we had done before, when we took 
 the head out of one of these barrels filled to the 
 brim with the shadowy mass, which lay in silent 
 readiness to blow us and the rocks themselves to 
 atoms, had the spark been added. We took 
 grog-cans, of which plenty were at hand, and 
 filled with the ammunition, and, opening a case 
 of fowling-pieces, shouldered one apiece; we 
 then fastened the door after us, and soon re- 
 gained our town. 
 
 It was not, however, at all a matter of course 
 that powder and shot should instantly become 
 acquainted with the shy bodies we had pursued 
 on foot. The first piece fired by Prout waa 
 
226 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 probably somewhat overcharged ; the lad stag- 
 gered almost to a fall, and the^ky was dark- 
 ened, and the air filled with the murmurs 
 of the flying squadrons. Even one solitary 
 pig we had in coop, surmounting all inferior 
 considerations, leaped his barriers like a roe, 
 screaming forth his terrors at the report, aa 
 he sought the woods. There was. plenty of 
 song, but there was no supper, save the earthy 
 roots we had before. It was some months be- 
 fore we had practised sufficiently to bring home 
 a meal after a day's toil. Birds, hares, and rab- 
 bits were our chief game. Once we shot an ass 
 by mistake, but we made no use of any part 
 of his substance, not even of his brains, having 
 already more than enough of that kind of com- 
 modity amongst us. 
 
OUR WARDROBE. 227 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 TITY readers may, perhaps, have -wondered 
 -^"- how our -wardrobe was supplied, and -what 
 was the common costume of the young island- 
 ers. Before we discovered the emigrants' 
 stores, our condition was deplorable in the ex- 
 treme; for our clothes, which, under ordinary 
 circumstances, might have lasted another year, 
 were nearly rotted from our backs by constant 
 exposure to weather, especially the dews of 
 night ; add to which, our wild life in the -woods, 
 threading thickets and climbing trees, reduced 
 them to tatters long before their time. 
 
 There were bales of goods amongst the stores, 
 evidently intended for the use of some colony 
 in a colder latitude than this. There was a 
 great quantity of coarse and heavy blue cloth, 
 of the kind chiefly worn by sailors, and pack- 
 ages of blankets, which might have solaced the 
 shivering bones of a tribe of Laplanders or Es- 
 quimaux, but which savoured of nothing but 
 suffocation under the tropics. But there was, 
 too, a very large supply of rough linen goods, 
 
228 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS 
 
 and hempen sheeting, with a quantity, also, ot 
 the checked and striped shirting used by sea- 
 men. But it will be easily understood, that 
 until we had the shelter of a roof, we could ex- 
 pect little comfort from new suits of apparel ; 
 nor did we even then feel much disposed to be- 
 deck ourselves afresh, whilst such things as 
 breakfasts and suppers were hunted for in vain. 
 But when we found we could sit in our 
 house, and lie in our huts clean and dry, and 
 that food was not the most uncertain thing in 
 life, the idea of new clothes began to be enter- 
 tained with eagerness. Here again we found the 
 advantage of a community ; and that what one 
 blundered at, or failed in, another accomplished 
 with readiness and skill. Jennings and Boyce 
 were soon enthroned as tailors, one having the 
 luckiest thumb for scissors, and the other the 
 best eye for a needle, of the whole party. ' So 
 we applied to the caverned store-chambers 
 again, and brought thence each a piece of some- 
 thing under his arm, according to his fancy, and 
 suited to our wants. The uniforms and thick 
 mariners' clothing, which we prized at first, 
 were found to be insupportably hot and burden- 
 some to every one of us, and we resolved now 
 to astonish the natives, by dresses complete of 
 blue check, or striped linen, fitted to our stat 
 are. 
 
EMBEYONIC TAILORS. 22S 
 
 I must confess that we" wasted more than a 
 little stuff, before we found who were real 
 masters in the art of rigging ragamuffins 
 Whilst each one thought he must cut and cob- 
 ble for himself, the result was the most unsatis 
 factory and grotesque imaginable ; and there 
 were more stripes designed for our backs than 
 were ever ordered for us at Seaward House, 
 Tailoring implements were, of course, provided 
 by the emigrants, with their other materials ; 
 and I do assure you, that the two geniuses 
 aforesaid, measured and fitted us, the first time, 
 far within half-a-yard of too big, or too little. 
 They failed not to remember that arms were 
 not legs, when they put their garments to- 
 gether; and, in fact, turned out, at last, a set 
 of as tidy suits as we desired, and such as made 
 a sudden and decided distinction between us 
 and the grinning young aboriginal islanders 
 who had pelted us from the trees. 
 
 Now you will say, how exceedingly kind it 
 was of these two lads to take all this trouble for 
 us ; of course it was, and we thanked and 
 praised them, and thanked them again and 
 again ; but they, in turn, were under equal 
 obligations to others ; for if they had never - 
 put their heads under shelter till them- 
 selves had raised a roof, they would have re- 
 mained unhoused to their lives' end ; and if 
 
 20 
 
230 THE TOUNfi ISLANDERS. 
 
 they had tasted no meat but what tbey had 
 hunted and dressed, they would have remained, 
 in that respect, unfed for the same period. In 
 the use of the gun, Prout, Bosworth, and, may 
 I add, Selwyn, so far excelled the others, as to 
 take the business of shooting entirely on them- 
 selves ; and so expert did we get, that we could, 
 in general, provide for the day by a couple of 
 hours in the woods before breakfast. 
 
 As to agricultural pursuits, it required the 
 strength and diligence of our whole party — and 
 rather more of both than some possessed, to 
 clear, cleanse, and turn the ground, and to get in 
 our various crops in time. It was not till tho 
 third year of our residence on the island, that 
 we succeeded in reaping and housing a sufficient 
 quantity of corn for our use : for this a barn was 
 to be built, but that we managed pretty well, 
 being tolerably handy now with the saw, the 
 axe, and the hammer. This we placed within 
 a short distance of our circular enclosure, and 
 fenced off the ground between with a close pal- 
 isading, to form a sort of farm-yard, which, at 
 length, we succeeded in colonizing with pigs 
 and poultry. 
 
 Our supplies of corn would, I think, have 
 availed little for our own use, had we not dis- 
 covered the hand-mill before mentioned. It 
 required our united sagacity and ingenuity to 
 
JOHNNY UPJOHN DOWN. 231 
 
 get this in working order; and then it took the 
 labour of one pair of hands to provide for the 
 use of one set of teeth for a day. This was a great 
 drawback on the utility of the engine, which, 
 perhaps, was not constructed on the best plan 
 in the world, and might not act to the best ad- 
 vantage in our hands, A sublime thought sud- 
 denly fired the brain of John Upjohn in this 
 matter ; it was to place the mill at the top 
 of our round-house in place of the useless 
 vane, to fit it with sails, and catch the meal 
 within through a trough inserted in the roof I 
 Did we not work hard at this ? Did we not 
 swelter three months at the sails, scaffolding, 
 and other apparatus ; and did we not shoulder 
 the cumbrous machine to the summit, to the 
 great damage of our thatch ; and was there not 
 wind enough ? Yes, true — true indeed ; but 
 alas! such is the uncertainty of all human af- 
 fairs, whether planned by ordinary minds, or 
 by the superior intellects of young islanders, 
 that the first turn of the sails knocked poor 
 Johnny head undermost, and rolled him, by 
 many gyrations, to the ground ; and scarcely 
 had he regained his feet and limped to th6 seats 
 within, when another gust took the sails behind, 
 and sent the mill itself to the earth in the same 
 direction. If the lad, instead of hobbling in, 
 had stayed to lift an eye to the cause of his 
 
232 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 tumble, he would have been crushed to at- 
 oms! 
 
 The poor fellow was abundantly bruised, yet 
 not seriously hurt ; but he was cross with all 
 of us, and peevish in the extreme, and declared 
 he would never scheme anything for. us again. 
 We all agreed that he had better keep his bright 
 thoughts to himself for the future. It was a 
 great misfortune ; our thatch was torn, and 
 pressed into holes; two of the rafters were 
 broken, and the mill lay in total ruin at the 
 bottom. What a hasty, spiteful gust of wind ! 
 It is the misfortune of youthful inexperience to 
 attribute failures generally to outward circum- 
 stances, over which we have no control — not to 
 the ignorance, or the mistakes, which it lies with 
 ourselves to remedy. 
 
 We heaved the awkward engine out of the 
 way with many a sigh, and surveyed the dam- 
 age it had occasioned with sighs additional, and 
 deeper still ; there sat Johnny whimpering with- 
 in, not disposed yet either to receive comfort 
 himself, or to acquit us from blame. We knew 
 the infirm temper of the lad, so we let him 
 alone for a day or two, till he forgot the mat- 
 ter. Our corn was now indifferently milled in- 
 deed : all we could do was to pound it in an 
 iron cauldron with a large round pebble, and 
 work it up into dough — grains, and grout, and 
 
THE HOUSE REPAIRED. 233 
 
 grit, together. But even this coarse substitute 
 for bread and pudding we preferred with our 
 meat to all the yams and potatoes we could 
 grow : the latter were not relished even by our 
 hos;s. 
 
 The repair of our middle house now occu- 
 pied our chief attention. It was an awkward 
 affair, for mending is worse than making, to 
 unskilful hands, in general. It was done and 
 undone half-a-dozen times at least, and the roof 
 was not a very sightly object at last. The hole 
 made at the top to receive the machine was a 
 long and insuperable difficulty ; but it was, at 
 length surmounted by a taking very large bundle 
 of the longest reeds we could find, tying them 
 tfigether at one end, and spreading them open 
 like an umbrella at the other ; 'this we placed 
 over the aperture, and binding it down firmly, 
 it made a tolerable fool's cap to our edifice. 
 
 We had now some unoccupied time on our 
 hands towards the close of the day, and we deter- 
 mined to see whether the former colonists here 
 had made any provision for such a contingency. 
 I have before mentioned that books, papers, 
 and instruments were found, and these we now, 
 for the first time, felt disposed to examine. 
 There was a large sea-chest amongst the stores, 
 made of oak, and brass bound, and evidently 
 deemed of peculiar importance, by the way in 
 
 20* 
 
234 THE YOUNG ISLAKDEKS. 
 
 which it was fenced in with other packages in 
 the cave. The lock resisted all our efforts, and 
 the lid only gave way at last when riven to 
 pieces by axes and wedges; this operation, 
 however, we had performed long before, so as 
 to perceive that the contents were apparently 
 books and reams of paper, with various nautical 
 instruments- articles for which we had little 
 use or liking, when we were in want of every 
 bodily comfort. 
 
 But now that we were housed, fed, and clothed, 
 we wondered that we could have been so long 
 indifferent to this chest, and, by great exertions, 
 we got it out of the damp vault into the open 
 air. Here were layers of paper in quires, pens, 
 and bottles of ink, sextants, quadrants, tele- 
 scopes, two mariner's compasses, and a chrono- 
 meter' duly enclosed and swung in a mahogany 
 box. The sight of this time-piece seemed to 
 bring us back to the period when our days and 
 hours were known a"nd numbered, and we knew 
 how life was going. There was a clutching 
 pull between two parties to possess this; but 
 Prout suggested, and was supported in his 
 opinion by a large majority, that all things 
 that were found should be common property 
 whilst we remained together, and that all things 
 laboured for, should be personal, if desired; "but 
 even this, if insisted upon," he said, " would 
 
LITERARY TREASURES. 285 
 
 Uave the effect of depriving us of each other's 
 services, so that one niust give up his clothes, 
 another his food, others the huts that sheltered 
 tnem, and so on. Now, Mr. Frampton," con- 
 tinued he, " are you willing to return your 
 jacket to Jennings, and to forsake the roofr 
 that others have thatched, and to take your 
 gun, which you never yet could use, and retire 
 to the woods again ? If so, you may take your 
 time-piece with you." 
 
 This settled the dispute ; Frampton simpered, 
 and let the watch alone. The chest being 
 heavy, and packed full, we determined to get 
 it home, and for this purpose we provided our- 
 selves long poles, and laid it across them ; but 
 it nearly exhausted the strength of our whole 
 party, before we got to our journey's end with 
 it. We unpacked it, and covered our round 
 table with the contents mentioned. The books 
 comprised, chiefly, treatises on geography, navi- 
 gation, and astronomy ; histories of the Euro- 
 pean settlements in America ; works on colonial 
 agriculture, and the cares and labours of emi- 
 grants in general. There were, besides, maps 
 and charts of the western world in great abun- 
 dance ; but from none of them could we learn 
 what the original destination of these emigrants 
 was, nor what accident had driven them to ac- 
 oept the shelter of this lone, mountainous islet 
 
236 THE YOUNG ISLANDEES. 
 
 There was, indeed, amongst the books a mana- 
 script volume, containing the details, in nauti- 
 cal language, of a ship's course up to a certain 
 point, when it abruptly ceased ; but there were 
 no names or descriptions, that gave us any light 
 as to their own situation afterwards ; but in one 
 of the printed books, " Moore's Navigation," 
 was a name written which startlpd us all; it 
 was, " Augmtus ProutI" "0, Nat, see !" said 
 I ; " here is your own surname I" 
 
 Prout took the book, gazed at it with a fixed 
 eye for a moment, turned deadly pale, and 
 crying out, " My father !" fell senseless from his 
 seat. 
 
 We clustered round him in amazement and 
 alarm; it seemed as if the spirit had indeed 
 fled. We tried the restoratives at hand, and 
 bathed his ashy cheek and cold hands with our 
 utmost solicitude, and took care in the mean 
 time to place the book out of sight, and re- 
 frained from mentioning it in his hearing. 'W'e 
 knew not what more to do. He would have 
 thought and done many things in our case ; but 
 we were bafQed. We had restored him before ; 
 but the same means seemed now to fail. We 
 drew the dear fellow into the air, and fanned 
 and bathed his face ; but as the cause was dif- 
 ferent, so was the result, until we separately 
 called hiri by his name, placing our mouths to 
 
PROUT EBCOYERS, 237 
 
 his ear, and speaking with a voice not loud, but 
 distinct and emphatic. He opened his eyes at 
 last, stared wildly around him, and then said, 
 in his usual mild and quiet tone, " Yes, Selywn, 
 I am here ; let us go and take that stone off my 
 father." He made an effort to rise accordingly, 
 but fell back immediately, and again sank away 
 into insensibility. He passed from fainting into 
 sleep, of a disturbed and delirious kind, during 
 which I learned particulars of his father's his- 
 tory, and of his own, which otherwise would, I 
 know, have been buried with him in the grave ; 
 and they shall be buried in mine. I sat up 
 with him by the couch we had prepared, and 
 dismissing all others to their huts, I watched, 
 by the light of a candle, his countenance as it 
 flushed and faded by turns. The morning re- 
 stored him his senses, but it renewed the deep 
 impressions of his distress. He looked round, 
 and seeing me only by his side, he said, " Selwyn, 
 I have been with my father all night ; what 
 have I been talking about ?" 
 
 "Very little that could be understood," I 
 replied, " and that little is as safe in my keep- 
 ing as in your own. Prout, you know it is." 
 
 " I do know and believe it," he said, " and I 
 should have told you before some of our sad 
 family history, if it could have done any good. 
 Selwyn," added he, " I have been surrounded 
 
238 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 and followed by calamity from my birth, and, 
 as far as I know, it has been the lot of our race 
 to be hunted into the grave — no, I must not 
 say that, for several of our family never occu- 
 pied a tomb delved by human hands — I say, 
 then, we have been chased out of the world by 
 misfortune, one after another ; and because a 
 fatal history must have a signal close, I, the 
 last of my race, have been borne hither, that I 
 might lay my bones beside my father's. Moun- 
 tains must fall, that he might be crushed ; and 
 families must be torn with anguish, that I might 
 perish still more wonderfully than he I" 
 
 " Prout," said I,- "your mind has sustained a 
 great shock, or you would not thus express 
 yourself Religion knows nothing of this sort 
 of inevitable fate : faith and prayer can move 
 mountains, we are told." 
 
 " I know all is right," he replied ; " and I. 
 don't forget how wilfully, how resolutely I 
 sinned against God, against man, against my 
 own protesting conscience, when I left the Sea- 
 ward gardens, stepped aboard the vessel, and 
 stayed, for no reason at all but that my evil 
 heart would have it so, until the dark wave 
 forbade our return. At other times I have 
 called you off from mischief, but then, I believe, 
 I led you on." 
 
 I interposed here, and said that I had a con 
 
pbout's bequest. 239 
 
 science, too, whicli condemned me distinctly 
 for my own determined disobedience, from 
 which not even the fears and tears of poor 
 little Aylmer could divert me. 
 
 "Well," said he, "we were all left to oui 
 own course but for an hour, and ruin was the 
 direct result. Selwyn, when I die, will you try 
 and bury me as near to that crag as you can, 
 just where we pulled the roots from beneath it, 
 and then — put this ring on my finger!" 
 
 He pulled the silver ring from his pocket. 
 "I thought it worth preserving at the time," 
 added he, "but never imagined what the letters 
 A. P. meant on its signet, till you showed me 
 the name in the book." 
 
 Again his eye began to roll, and. I stopped 
 the conversation by a kind of authority which 
 he would allow me to assume with him at times. 
 I called our party up, and hinted to them the 
 propriety and kindness of refraining entirely 
 from alluding to the discovery that had been 
 made. Dear fellows! they would have eaten 
 the book if that could have removed the subject 
 from the mind of Prout. We arranged our 
 morning meal, and he joined us with more 
 equanimity than I expected. 
 
 I now suggested a change of scene, as likely 
 to be beneficial to all of us ;_ and, for this pur- 
 pose, procured from the stores, with the help of 
 
240 THE Yovrsa klandees. 
 
 some of the lads, and without letting Prout 
 know, canvass and coarse cloth sufficient to 
 make a tent on the liveliest part of the sea- 
 shote. We wrought at this when he thought 
 we were in the woods after game, until we com- 
 pleted it for use. Here, and on the adjaceui 
 rocks, we spent many weeks with much ad van -i 
 tage to us all; retiring to our town at night, 
 where we always shut ourselves in for safety. 
 On the heights of the tall cliffs we found a good 
 observatory, where, with a very good telescope, 
 we could scan the crested wave nearly in a cir- 
 cle round us, and, in one direction, we thought 
 we discerned a dark streak in the horizon, 
 which some of us took to be land. 
 
 Here, too, we practised the art of fishing, 
 which, for want of tackle, we had long neglected. 
 There was, however, plenty of this in the stores, 
 intended, probably, for cod-fishing. Of that 
 kind, however, we saw not one, but caught and 
 landed many a dashing monster besides, of 
 whose names and species we knew nothing, but 
 of whose esculent qualities we made abundant 
 proof after the billows of the cauldron had sur- 
 rendered them to our use. As we had no boats 
 fromr which to angle, we laid night-lines at low 
 water, duly baited, which we made fast to stakes 
 driven in the sand. Very often we were losern 
 of line and bait, stake and all, with which, 
 
PKOUT'S CEJECTIOK. 24:1 
 
 little -to his advantage, tlie finny fugitive had 
 absconded; but generally we found fish enough 
 detained for our occasions. As for the turtles, 
 we could not overcome the disgust first excited 
 by their reptile appearance ; they crawled about 
 the sands in prodigious numbers, we being the 
 only molested parties. 
 
 Prout was now no longer the lad he had been, 
 in cheerfulness and activity. He took, indeed, 
 more than his full share of the various thoughts 
 and labours connected with our situation, but 
 the lively interest, the bright intelligence, which 
 used to point and actuate his suggestions, were 
 wanting, and the gloom which hung about him, 
 overshadowed our whole party, more or less. 
 
 We learned from Moseley and Johnson at 
 length, and somewhat reluctantly, the particu- 
 lars of their discovery and capture by the 
 Indians of the Skulkyl tribe. The lads, as I 
 have mentioned^ had departed, bag and bag- 
 gage, with three others, at their own discretion 
 — namely. Dolman, Moody, and Jermyn. Not 
 one of the five lads was naturally disposed to | 
 exertion, nor did they readily submit to any 
 rules or duties that infringed on their caprice 
 or their repose. They soon flung away the 
 implements, and even the uncooked provisions 
 with which they had burdened themselves, and, 
 in a few days, they were in the extremity of 
 L 21 
 
242 THE YOUKG ISLANDERS. 
 
 distress, wanting food. They subsisted misera- 
 bly on the wood fruits not then ripe, and were, 
 in, consequence, reduced in strength, and, at 
 length, afflicted by disease. They would gladly 
 have returned to our company, but were unable 
 to find their way through the woods, or even 
 to perform the journey ; and, to add to their 
 discomfort, they were continually at variance, 
 blaming each other for their sufferings, and. 
 refusing to bestow mutual aid ; at least Moseley 
 asserted this, and was uncontradicted by John- 
 son, who, when appealed to, made no reply. 
 They kept together, I take it, more out of fear 
 than anything else, for they quarrelled for the 
 best den, or thicket, to repose in. At length 
 they sought the sea-shore, and, wandering along 
 the sands, or climbing amongst the rocks, they 
 came to the very cave, as they supposed, in 
 which we had first lodged, and where the turtle 
 had walked away with Moody. Here they in- 
 tended to remain till morning, but, to their 
 horror, they found themselves r'iscovered and 
 set upon by a party of the savages, who, not 
 without reason perhaps, considered all Euro- 
 peans, or whites, as their most deadly enemies, 
 and regarded the capture, by chance, of any of 
 our complexion, as the greatest favour of their 
 gods. That their present victims were youths 
 unarmed and inoffensive, made no difference. 
 
MORE PAETIOULAES OF THE FLIGHT. 243 
 
 Their cries were answered by yells of exulta- 
 tion ; whilst two of the barbarians bound the 
 poor creatures with twisted thongs of sea-weed, 
 their usual ligatures, which they had a wonder- 
 ful art of braiding with great rapidity and 
 strength. They were then carried out along the 
 rocks till they arrived at the blackened cavern 
 before-mentioned ; here they lighted a fire in 
 the midst, before which they placed a hideous 
 , black idol, to whom they showed their victims 
 one by one. The lads, it seems, nearly un- 
 sensed by fright, knew little more that passed, 
 until the discharge of fire-arms was heard, and 
 the bucaniers appeared, who were as eager to 
 glut their revenge by prey, as the savages had 
 been: these, yelling now with despair and fright, 
 left their prey to attempt an escape, which, as 
 we have seen, was unsuccessful. 
 
 But still the great mystery remained totally 
 unexplained regarding the disappearance and 
 fate of five more of our number, of whom we 
 had seen and heard nothing whatever, since the 
 day of their flight, three years before. They, 
 as well as we, were approaching the age of 
 manhood, and might be supposed to possess a 
 little more experience, conduct, and discretion, 
 than when first landed on these lonely rocks. 
 Their dispositions were very different. Coble 
 was a mere animal, but with the gift of speech ; 
 
244 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 Inman and Ibbotson were timid, yet rather 
 clever youths, but helpless and desponding, 
 and they had kept up the cry for home and 
 their absent friends with little intermission ; 
 Brett had energy and spirit, but he was over- 
 bearing, and impatient of control, and always 
 said that he should be a great man some day ; 
 Hackett — more of him by-and-bye. 
 
 The season now returned in which our har^ 
 vest was to be gathered in, and, during this 
 occupation, Prout's spirits, and powers of mind 
 and body, revived a good deal, to our great 
 delight. Our fields of wheat, maize, and pease, 
 yielded a very abundant return for our care 
 and toil, which had, perhaps, been exerted with 
 a little more skill than at first. "We reaped, 
 and cut our fingers, and reaped on, nothing 
 daunted, until we left not an ear standing, and 
 had double the corn needful for our own use 
 for twelve months. We had no very good 
 barn-floor, and could not manage the flail well 
 at all, so we rubbed out the whole of it in our 
 hands, and had plenty of beautiful yellow straw,! 
 straight and clean, with which we stuffed our 
 souches, in the room of leaves and weeds. 
 
 There was one thing that we had not calcu- 
 lated on when we fixed the boundaries of our 
 huts, and that Avas, our increase of stature from 
 about five feet, to five feet eight or more ; the 
 
OUK GROWTH AND PROSPERITY. 245 
 
 3onsequeace was, that we often left the wicketa 
 open, so that our feet lay not only out of bed, 
 but out of doors , at times. To remedy any 
 future complaints of our inferiors on this score, 
 we enlarged our huts by making them oval 
 instead of circular, and thatched them all afresh 
 with the new straw. Our outer fence, or stock- 
 ade, no longer showed anything of its original 
 structure from without. It had formed a com- 
 plete thicket before it to the depth of three or 
 four yards, and shot upwards in proportion, so 
 that the whole, at a distance, looked like a 
 grove, or a round clump of trees. We regarded 
 this natural blind, or cover to our town, as a 
 great advantage, and only clipped the shoots 
 within, to preserve our walking space clear and 
 convenient. 
 
 Our live-stock increased, and began to be use- 
 ful now. Our pigs and poultry accepted our 
 corn and yams without hesitation, and we, in 
 turn, graciously condescended to receive such 
 poor returns as they could make by surrender- 
 ing their carcasses to our teeth. Salt was scarce^ 
 and only to be obtained by evaporating great 
 quantities of sea-water, which here was much di- 
 luted, at certain times, by a fresh-water current 
 that rolled in a brown deluge from the west ; 
 we, therefore, cured our spare meat in the buca- 
 niers' fashion, which was an excellent one in 
 
 21* 
 
246 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 deed, and worthy of imitation in other coun 
 tries. 
 
 The corn-mill! There lay the corn-mill in 
 disuse and disgrace,- not being disposed to work 
 contrary to its nature and the functions origi- 
 nally designed for it. We were sick and tired 
 of pounding our grain. The ting-tong of the 
 sweltering operators might be heard a mile off, 
 or nearly ; and the quantity thus obtained, as I 
 have before stated, was a sorry mixture of grain 
 husks, flakes of iron, and chips of stone ; and 
 then we broke two capital iron tripod boilers 
 with the hammering process, for which they 
 were never intended; and all the while, as I 
 have said, there lay the mill. It was, therefore, 
 proposed and seconded, one morning when we 
 had nothing but dried meat for breakfast, that 
 the whole energies of our conimunity should be 
 put in requisition to restore this useful engine, 
 not, indeed, to its throne on high, but to its for- 
 mer condition as a hand-mill on the ground. 
 May I write it — that Miles Selwyn received the 
 thanks of the young islanders, in hall assembled, 
 for his successful tinkering of this mill ; by ap- 
 plying, and, of course, making an additional 
 winch, two could work this with facility ; but, 
 by anointing the teeth and pinions, a thought 
 that afterwards suddenly occurred, it was found 
 that one could do it witli as much ease, so thai 
 
"miley thb miller." 247 
 
 the new winder was unnecessary. This same 
 new winder, by-the-bye, was a month's vfork, 
 but never mind that : the grain rattled, and the 
 dust flew, and the meal poured through in a 
 warm stream. 
 
 The next grand improvement was a dressing - 
 fan or sieve, which we made of thin canvass, 
 and agitated in various ways, until a tolerably 
 fine flour was riddled through, whilst a not un- 
 eatable mixture remained behind. "We thus 
 made two qualities of bread or cakes, to suit our 
 fancies, which we baked in the iron-pots afore- 
 said, and enjoyed very much indeed. Excuse 
 this dry page about the corn-mill ; Miles Sel- 
 wyn felt irresistibly disposed to boast of it, as 
 its restoration was the best service he ever did 
 to the young islanders. He got the name of 
 " Miley the Miller," after this. 
 
 And now again, after harvest, we had time 
 on our hands, and we took delight, which we 
 did not do at first, in talking over our adven- 
 tures, and in reviewing the dear, distant shad- 
 owy scenes of our early youth in England. We 
 reckoned up fathers and mothers, brothers and 
 sisters, whom our departure had torn with hope- 
 less agony; and we recalled, more frequently 
 than we used to do, the names and mental im- 
 ages of our former jocund companions who had 
 perished from among us. I have said before, 
 
248 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 that our fondest thoughts by day, and dreams 
 by night, led us to the homes 'we had, at times, 
 little valued, and to the towers of Seaward 
 House, whose very shadows we once both 
 dreaded and hated. We tasked our memories, 
 ill particular, to renew our impressions of- the 
 ancient school-house, by reproducing, line by 
 line, as they bccurred to us, the curious rhymes 
 we had strung together there, embodying, as 
 they did, our various grievances, in verses as 
 sad, in every respect, as the subject. Seated in 
 our middle-house one evening, we took writing 
 materials, and, by dint of perseverance, and 
 help from each other's recollections, we recov- 
 ered, I think, the whole of the inimitable ditty 
 witb which we had designed to be-letter the 
 panels of our chief sleeping apartment. The 
 recovery of this precious relic, the result and ex- 
 pression of our boyish discontent, occupied our 
 brains nearly as much as its original composi- 
 tion. Many of the contributors to it were gone ; 
 but I think I can vouch for the accuracy of the 
 following copy, which, my readers will readily 
 admit, bears all the marks of original juvenility 
 and absurdity. The first six lines were poor 
 Philip Aylmer's : the next were hammered out 
 between him and me : the third stanza was Nat 
 Front's : the fourth, Johnny Eouse's, who, with 
 Prout again, managed the next : I think I had 
 
LUGUBRIOUS EHYME. 249 
 
 some hand in winding the matter up, not much 
 to Aylmer's satisfaction — ^biit I am keeping my 
 readers from their treat. The whole might be 
 suitably set to music by a dying donkey. 
 
 SEAWAED-HOUSE SORROWS. 
 
 We sing the lone towers, 
 
 O'er which the storm lowers ; 
 At their foot rolls the white crested billow ; 
 
 There we hear, through the gale, 
 
 The wreck'd mariner's wail, 
 When the surge is the dying man's, pillow I 
 
 As the blast takes the pile. 
 
 How it trembles the while, 
 And the wall leans away from the girder ; 
 
 Then the wind- cuts like swords. 
 
 Through the cracks in the boards. 
 And screams through the caBemeuts like murder I 
 
 Had you seen the dull room. 
 
 Where we sit all in gloom. 
 Commanded thin porridge to quaff in. 
 
 Whilst the north-eastern squall 
 
 Makes the doors rattle all, 
 Just like bones dancing jigs in a coffin I 
 
 And the murky great hall, 
 
 Where we stood in sad thrall 
 On the day that the governors met, sir — 
 
 That cross, scowling throng,. — 
 
 With each face a yard long ; 
 You would not have forgotten them yet, air. 
 
250 THE^ YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 Why, the chair the judge sat in, 
 
 Who proved ns in Latin, 
 Is ca.'ved full of rods and wry faces; , 
 
 With a back of split catie, ^ 
 
 To remind ua again. 
 Of the switch, that can ent in two places 
 
 But we take the most bard 
 
 That tall pump in the yard. 
 Where, as soon as the first bell is rung, sir 
 
 Though the thing is abhorrent, 
 
 We are soused in a torrent^ 
 Till our teeth chatter more than our tongues, sir 
 
 And, alas I the drear ground 
 
 Where old Grimsby was drown'd 
 With letters for us in his pocket ; 
 
 There, to add to his woes. 
 
 The crabs ate his nose^ 
 And the only eye left in its socket 1 
 
 We sing the lone towers, 
 
 O'er which the storm lowers ; 
 At their foot rolls the white-crested billow: 
 
 There we hear, through the gale^ 
 
 The wreck'd mariner's wail. 
 When the surge is the dying man's pillow I 
 
 These astonishing lines, the production of a 
 confederacy of poets, were not struck out at one 
 heat, nor in one day, week, or month. During 
 six months, or more, all the brains in the school 
 weje baffled to find rliymes to the awkward 
 words, murder and coffin^ which yet, considering 
 
DREAMS OF HOME. 251 
 
 our mortal sorrows, we thought too appropriate 
 to be dismissed. The opportune term, girder, 
 we owed to a builder who came, after a gale of 
 wind, and introduced an immense piece of tim- 
 ber, by that name, to support the sinking floor 
 over the great hall. As for quaff, we got that, 
 by another lucky chance, from an open diction- 
 ary, which displayed to us the word needful for 
 our unmarried rhyme. 
 
 " Well," said Prout, after this had been duly 
 written and read, " we know better now : there 
 is not one of us that would not leap for joy, if 
 we thought we should ever set foot in Seaward 
 House again ; — but that we shall never do !" 
 
 No one replied. There was a misgiving im- 
 pression that our exile was for life, and we re- 
 tired, to see the shores of England only in our 
 dreams. 
 
252 THE YOUNG ISLANDEBS. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 npUE chronometer, which was a very beauti- 
 -*- ful time-piece, bearing Ihe name of "Button, 
 London," was, to be sure, considered common 
 property, as has been stated ; but it was utterly 
 useless whilst we knew not the time to set it 
 by, although we wound it up, and had the sat- 
 isfaction of its ticking, which reminded us of 
 home, and seemed another individual added to 
 our party, talking in a language we understood. 
 But it was evident that, unless set to the hour, 
 it had not, whilst going, the merit which every 
 clock has whilst stopping, of being exactly right 
 once a-day. But Prout, who thought more of 
 time than any of us, and who had kept a sort 
 of journal ever since we possessed the writing 
 materials, at length hit upon the method, ob- 
 vious enough when mentioned, of fixing the 
 starting point at which to adjust the hands. He 
 placed an upright pole on the level sands, and, 
 by a strip of wood laid horizontally at its foot, 
 marked the point at which it cast the shortest 
 shadow by the sun ; this, of course, was twelve 
 at noon with us, to whom it mattered little that 
 
OtTB DIVISION OF TIME. 253 
 
 Greenwich time might be some hours latei. 
 
 The knowing "What's o'clock?" regulates a 
 hundred things that otherwise rove at random 
 in the mind. We seemed to form a new ac- 
 quaintance with ourselves, and the affairs of 
 life. Such a thing was 'done or thought o:^ at 
 ten this morning, oris to be attended to at three; 
 this is keeping a rational account with the 
 memory, and preserves needful distances 
 amongst the -thoughts. Our ^sentinel had now 
 orders to wake the whole garrison at six : break- 
 fast, if forthcoming, at seven ; dinner, if the 
 hunters and cook were prosperous, at twelve ; 
 supper at six. These were the school hours at 
 Seaward House, and, for that reason, they were 
 the times selected by the young islanders ! 
 
 I have said that Prout kept a regular journal ; 
 and it was at his suggestion, that I began, about 
 this time, to pen the present history of our ad- 
 ventures, which, in all probability, will never 
 see the light in old England ; for, shut in as we 
 are by unknown waters, it is little likely: that 
 any other land than this lone, romantic islet 
 will find us graves. Indeed, the idea of ever 
 seeing again' our native shores, scarcely hovers 
 round the horizon of our hopes ; besides this, 
 I am fixed in my determination never to desert 
 Prout: and his melancholy, isolated affections 
 seem now to have centred and rooted here, be 
 
 22 
 
254 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 yond the control of his better jadgment. i 
 scarcely think that he would voluntarily step 
 aboard a vessel that would take him away. 
 
 Amongst the few amusements that our leisure 
 now afforded us, was one that my readers — so I 
 keep addressing them you see — would scarcely 
 guess: we established a post-office! — a, post, as 
 nearly as possible, it certainly was, being the 
 stump remainder of a certain hollow tree, into 
 which we thrust our letters. By means of this 
 we kept up an animated correspondence, as if 
 with our friends in England. The thought was 
 Prout's of course. Poor fellow ! he had no rela- 
 tives to write to ; but he chiefly undertook the 
 task of personating our various friends, and, of 
 course, therefore, he was the receiver-general 
 of the epistles. We wrote and posted them as 
 isuited our inclinations ; they were duly sealed 
 and addressed ; and we found, after a season, 
 answers directed to the writers ; and, altogether, 
 the occupation was beneficial. It created an in- 
 terest very much like that of real communica- 
 tions, and drew forth many good but dormant 
 feelings, and sometimes produced a little mirth. 
 AH the letters to and fro were read in public once 
 a month, generally, amidst smiles or tears. Often, 
 however, we went to the post in vain — no let- 
 ters ! no letters ! at another time there would 
 be a shout of joy — six, eight, a dozen letters 
 
JOHNNY rouse's LETTER. 255 
 
 all at once ! and we tore them open with eager- 
 ness, and often read them with surprise. 
 
 I have liberty from all the correspondents to 
 transcribe one of these letters for my history. 
 The first that comes to hand is anything but 
 prolix. It is from Johnny Rouse to his uncle, 
 he having no parents living. The reply, it ia 
 hoped, will not prove tedious. 
 
 " August (I suppose), Moco (I think), 
 " Dear Unkey Eob, 
 
 " Here I am, and I can't help it. 
 " Your nephew, 
 "John Eouse." 
 To which was replied — 
 " Nephew John Eouse, 
 " There you may keep, and I don't care. 
 " Your unkey, 
 " Eob Eouse." 
 But I believe that many wrote under an im- 
 pression that some day or another, and by some 
 means or another, their letters, or copies of 
 them, might get despatched for England ; and 
 this accounts for the serious strain in which 
 many of them are written. George Holt began 
 several joking epistles, but tore them up, and 
 became earnest enough at last. 
 
 " The unknown Land, August, 1768. 
 " Are my father and mother yet alive, and 
 
256 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 little Sally; and do they ever dream about pooi 
 George ? Did the people put on mourning for 
 us ; and do they feel certain we are all dead ? 
 Did you send a ship to look for us ? — oh ! no, 
 we were not worth that trouble. How we got 
 here, I can scarcely tell, and where we really 
 are, I cannot find out. It is a hot, woody 
 island, with a hollow rocky mountain on one. 
 side of it. We "have been wild boys, and al- 
 most savages, living out in the woods, and eat- 
 ing raw roots, which tlie pigs had left. I think 
 we are thousands of nniles from England, across 
 the Atlantic ocean ; but, do you know, that as 
 soon as I close my eyes at night, I am at Harold 
 Grange ;-^last night, when it was dark, I really 
 seemed to be crossing Hutton village by the 
 Chequers ; then I was over the style like a bird, 
 a,nd gliding up the Chase-lane, and flitting across 
 the Home-meadow, and I entered the farm-yard 
 at the Bridle-gate, and it creaked and banged 
 after me as it used to do ; and the old dog stood 
 up on his hind legs, but he did not know me ; 
 his eyes flashed fire, and be had the mouth and 
 mane of a lion ! Then I wanted to pull the 
 bell, but could not find the handle ; and I tried 
 to call, but my voice and breath seemed to be 
 gone, and I could only mutter ; but, in an6ther 
 moment, I was in doors, in a small parlour* 
 the shutters weye closed, and I could find no 
 
AN EPISTLE FOE CRAB- CRAWLEY. 257 
 
 Dody. Then I was back here again, and 
 dreamed that you all stood before me in black, 
 and mother beckoned me, but nobody spoke a 
 word ; then I tried to go to her, and fell into a 
 pit, and that woke me. It is of no use writing 
 any more : sometimes in the daytime I think I 
 am dreaming, and wish the morning would 
 come. I think there are only fourteen of ua 
 now alive ; it is strange that one of the number 
 saved should be " George Holt." 
 
 The account the writers gave of our adven- 
 tures and mode of life, formed of course, a con- 
 siderable portion of all their letters, which need 
 not be repeated. Arthur Murdoch, at the close 
 of a long letter, sent a message to an acquaint- 
 ance, which showed that separation had not pro- 
 duced forgetfulness in the least degree. 
 
 " Tell Jacob Crawley that we want him here 
 very much indeed ; we wish to show him a door, 
 and a wild place beyond, and a pit, and some water, 
 and plenty of ship goods, and a hearty welcome; 
 and we would thank him for- having favoured 
 MS with such romantic and useful things, and 
 would beg him to accept of the same in return. 
 He should have all to himself, for we can promise 
 him that there is not a single Datchman to dis- 
 turb him ; and he might go below at one step, 
 without a finger raised ti hinder him. It is the 
 
 22* 
 
258 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 very place for Crab Crawley ; and, if once there, 
 I am sure he could not find fault with it, nor so 
 much as ask to return for one moment 1" 
 
 The last piece that I shall copy is the follow- 
 ing. I suspect the lines are Prout's, though they 
 were enclosed, without name, in a letter to Dr. 
 Poynders. I think there is not another lad 
 amongst us, who could have piped in such a 
 melancholy strain so long. As it embodies the 
 , chief incidents of my tale as already told, its 
 allusions will be understood by those, if any 
 there should be, whom I may call my readers : 
 
 TEffi TEUAlfTS" TALI; 
 
 The dying year sent forth his chilly breath ; 
 
 I^ovember clothed in mists the sea and land ; 
 Our ancient towers scarce pierced the shadowy wreath, 
 
 When issued thence a stealthy truant band. 
 
 The door of death, unbarr'd, stood open wide ; 
 
 It seem'd the portal, too, of realms unknown : 
 We paused, we pass'd, the treacherous ground w u-ied, 
 
 And fotmd a tempter prompt to lead us on. 
 
 "Onol we 'd best return." Alas! too late 
 
 The voice of Duty fell on listening ears : 
 The door was closed^I — ^in vain we mourn'd our <btft 
 
 And sought to more our destiny with tears. 
 
 The wretch suppress'd his joys and growing smile, 
 
 And mingled pity now with 'suasive calls : 
 ■Cornel tread with me this deep-delved road awhu.^ 
 
 T will lead vm quickly to your master's halls I ' 
 
THE truants' tale. 256 
 
 And soon we found us on the irell-known shore, 
 Escaped, the cavern'd path, the rooks, the tide ; 
 
 How atraTigely soon our dangers all were o'er I 
 We bless'd our fortune, and we thank'd our guide. 
 
 " Ten minutes more, and we shall gain our home ; 
 
 A mild reproof our worst misfortune then : — 
 Stay I what is this that dai'kens in the gloom t 
 
 A vessel moor'd to shore, without her men I" 
 
 The tranquil flood scarce raurmur'd at her bows, 
 
 Her pennon drooping in the foggy air ; 
 Afar, the din of jocund Toices rose — 
 
 The ship Golightly's crew were drinking there. 
 
 " Come ! foot the ready plank ; let's dance aboard ; 
 
 Now mount her rigging, then descend below :" 
 The tempter reason'd, promised, and implored ; 
 
 We listen'd, parle/d, and agreed to go I 
 
 ! it was slender payment for our pains. 
 To gaze on misty wares with outstretoh'd neck ; 
 
 To grasp the tarry ropes, and rusty chains. 
 And crouch and creep like thieves along the deck I 
 
 " Yes, we had best return 1" Too late again 
 The voice of Conscience cried, and bade us flee ; 
 
 Alas, each staggering step, and reeling brain, 
 Proclaim'd the awfiil truth — ^WE wekb at sea I 
 
 The ship Golightly lean'd upon the wave, 
 And wheel'd her trackless way 'mid eddying clouda 
 
 In vain we call'd on every friend to save ; 
 We were but answer'd by the bellowing shrouds. 
 
260 THE YOUNG ISLANDEES. 
 
 The boiling surge — of old the pilot's dread, 
 That mark'd the latent shoal o'er whioh it rush'd, 
 
 Now caught the unhelm'd vessel as. it sped : 
 She struck I and many a scream was heard, — and hosh'd 
 
 Thirteen had perish'd from her cluster'd prow I 
 Then cou^h'd the wave, and growl'd o'er half her prey • 
 
 &gain it rose, a madden'd monster now. 
 And swept another huddled crowd away I 
 
 Now plunged the skif^ in watery valleys lost ; 
 
 But no 1 the bark was destined to emerge ; 
 Now high on billowy mountains she was toss'd. 
 
 And wing'd her airy way from surge to surge. 
 
 I 
 How shall I tell the tale of woe and death ; 
 
 How tune my verse to bitter cries and moans I 
 When Horror here was silenced — wanting breath. 
 
 And gasping Nature was denied her groans. 
 
 How tell the tale that knows no happy end 
 Of those, the feeble few that lived awhile. 
 
 And found alone, 'mid pirate bands, a friend 
 To land, and leave them, on an unknown isle I 
 
 The rock received us on its rugged breast, — 
 We oouch'd beneath the crag, or starry dome — 
 
 We slept and dream'd that we were thrust — ^to rest^ 
 Outcasts, beside the thresholds of our home I 
 
 Yea, I have found in verse the sigh and tear; 
 
 And wailing numbers have supplied the moan : 
 Dear youths I should these sad lines attract your ear, 
 
 Our sorrows have been sung to spare your own f 
 
A NEW EXPEDITION. 261 
 
 So much for the scribbliog department. "We 
 determined now tp take a tour, and make a 
 more regular survey of our territory than we 
 had hitherto done, and for this purpose we pro- 
 vided ourselves with an entirely new equipment 
 of woodland boots. These we niade of hogs' 
 hides, the best kind of leather that can be used 
 without tanning. If dried in the shade, it be- 
 comes durable and tolerably pliant. Of this 
 material we made boots reaching above the 
 knees, having soles of the same, doubled and 
 sown as strongly together as we could with 
 rather a slender, supply of thread. We were, 
 indeed, obliged to pull a great deal of canvass 
 to pieces, to procure this commodity at all. 
 We took no provisions with us, bu> trusted to 
 the guns of the two or three lads who could use 
 them effectively ; and, being in no want c f the 
 means of fire or fuel, we had little anxiety as to 
 the obtaining a meal whenever needful. 
 
 I planned this expedition myself, chiefly on 
 Front's account, whose spirits drooped very 
 much, whilst his health also evidently suffered. 
 He would give his advice and assistance, when- 
 ever required, with as much earnestness aa 
 ever, but without that lively interest in our 
 affairs which used to animate his eye, his hand, 
 and all his powers. I stated, as one sufficient 
 reason for this journey, the duty that lay apon 
 
262 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 US, now that we had something in the shape of 
 comforts about us, to make some effort to dis- 
 cover our absent companions, who might be 
 wandering or perishing for the want of things 
 with whicE we were abundantly supphed. 
 
 The thought of this I knew was enough for 
 Prout, and his countenance glowed again with 
 newly infused hopes: his own expectations of 
 ever seeing the lads again, had died away long 
 before, and I confess that mine were even now 
 very slender ; for we had traversed the woods, 
 and scanned the rocks and plains in almost all 
 directions, during our search after game, and, 
 as yet, we had not seen the least sign of them, 
 or of any spot they had apparently occupied. 
 
 "We calculated on being gone a week, and 
 closed the wicket-gates of our town by a withe, 
 merely twisted through and through. So now 
 you may imagine our appearance if you please ; 
 fourteen youths, varying from fourteen to eight- 
 een or nineteen years of age, dressed in blue- 
 striped jackets and trowsers, and broad-brimmed 
 straw hats, woven by ourselves. Our boots 
 were certainly the most awkward-looking por- 
 tions of our costume ; but they were indispen- 
 sable to our comfort, and even our safety, in 
 threading the tangled thickets where poisonous 
 snakes, though not numerous, were occaaion- 
 ally found. 
 
DESCEIPTION OF THE ISLAND. 263 
 
 It was early on a breezy morning when wa 
 sallied forth; the hum of our voices reminding 
 me of former times, and happier scenes indeed. 
 I do not deny that, at this moment, we felt 
 more exhilaration and cheerfulness than we 
 often used to do whilst parading the sands, 
 in company with our teachers, near Seaward- 
 house.; but I do declare, for myself at least, 
 that if I could have exchanged my situation as 
 a young islander, with all our present advan- 
 tages, including, as far as I knew, the absolute 
 ownership of a country some miles in extent ; 
 I say, if I could have exchanged all these things, 
 and my liberty to boot, for a quiet seat at the 
 school-room forms, I should have felt joy such 
 as I never knew before nor since. 
 
 The circumference of the island, I should say, 
 taking the general forms of the land, would 
 measure thirty miles, or rather more. A moun- 
 tain of rocks, chambered in places, probably, by 
 volcanic heat, occupied the southern side, and 
 the same rugged material formed a bold sea-line 
 thence, for a mile or two, to the east and west. 
 The romantic Alpine pile rose in a confused 
 mass of tumbled crags, mingled with veins and 
 patches of earth, and fringed with trees and 
 herbage, to a height which made it conspicuous 
 in all directions ; and, at sea, it was visible, as 
 were the grassy slopes and mantling woods, foi 
 
264 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 many miles : and a very beautiful spot it was 
 for the eye to dwell on ; yes, and a lovely isle 
 to dwell in, for those whose affections were not 
 rooted in another and distant land, and not torn, 
 as ours had been, by the wildest tempests of 
 calamity. Where the rocks ended, a bright 
 sea-beach of yellow sand commenced, on which 
 we gambolled with each other, and tormented 
 the turtles by chasing them for three or four 
 miles at our discretion. 
 
 We resolved on making a complete circuit 
 of the island this time, with more knowledge of 
 its nature, and better opportunities of observa- 
 tion than we had before. We, therefore, struck 
 immediately into the woods lying between our 
 encampment and the sea, and reached the sands 
 by the time we had an appetite for the shell-fish 
 we there obtained. These sands ended in a 
 muddy shore, whose soft and tenacious soil 
 reached far inland, and formed the spreading 
 swamp before-mentioned. We tooji the liberty 
 here, of making stepping-stones of the aforesaid 
 sea tortoises, which we carried between two or 
 three of us, and placed politely down in the 
 places where we needed them. A row of 
 twenty-eight of these perfect examples of pas- 
 sive obedience, bridged the swamp completely, 
 and we had the satisfaction, as we sat down on 
 the opposite grassy banks, to see the creatures 
 
PRIMEVAL FOEESTS. 265 
 
 extricate themselves nearly in the order, as to 
 time, in which we had put them there: they 
 explored these swamps on their own account 
 sometimes. 
 
 Proceeding onwards by the shore, as near as 
 wo could obtain a footing, we came to a narrow 
 tieck of water, which, but that the stream ran 
 inwards, we might have supposed the mouth of 
 a river. As we had no turtles here to serve 
 our turn, we were compelled to edge the banks 
 of this stream,, towards the interior, until we 
 found its termination. The current, which waa 
 a powerful one, disappeared, at length, in a 
 fissure of the land, or rather rock, at a point 
 where overhanging foliage would have con- 
 cealed entirely its farther progress had it not 
 been subterranean, which it was. I have no 
 doubt that this stream found its way amid the 
 foundations of the mountains, and that the flood 
 that glided through the abyss of the great 
 cavern, was this same stream, which issued at 
 some inaccessible point, and lost itself in the 
 marshes just mentioned. 
 
 Now, again, we entered the woods, which 
 reached down nearly to the water's edge, or 
 nodded above the crags that formed the shore. 
 We were here fairly roofed in by impervious 
 masses of the thickest foliage that I had evei 
 Been, and the gloom of this primeval forest, at 
 
266 THE yOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 higli noon, was like that of a vast temple with- 
 out windows, dimly lighted from some unseen 
 source. The forest here consisted chiefly of 
 enormous trees of the kind called scarlet oaks, 
 whose boughs in autumn seemed as if dipped 
 in blood. The girth of one of these trees was- 
 nearly as much as eight of our party could com- 
 pass: its giant arms, which were outstretched 
 horizontally in all directions, seemed like the 
 mighty timbering of some vast superincumbent 
 fabric. They thrust their leafy honours far into 
 the shades around ; whilst the splintered sum- 
 mit of its central pillar pierced the gloom above, 
 and told of the storm that had scorched and 
 riven the proud crest that once waved, in royal 
 pre-eminence, on high. 
 
 There is something as sublime in the occa- 
 sional stillness of these ancient shades, as in the 
 roar of the tempest that bends their sturdiest 
 pillar^ to the earth. The leaves of this majestic 
 oak now scarce whispered to the passing breeze 
 as we stood beneath it. We suppressed our 
 very breath to listen, and even that whisper 
 ceased! The grandeur of the scene was en- 
 hanced by its undefined extent on every side ; 
 for the eye was lost in the dusky distance, 
 where shade joined to shade, until every direct 
 ray of light was excluded. Here we had never 
 been before, nor had we ever, until now, wit 
 
DISCOVERY OF HACKETT. 267 
 
 nessed forest scenery of the kind. We sat on 
 the gnarled root awhile, and scarcely spoke. 
 
 But at length our attention was taken by a 
 quick rustling in a neighbouring thicket, and 
 we just perceived two forms glide through a 
 slight opening, and ascend a tree with the ap- 
 parent celerity of flight and pursuit. They 
 were, for an instant, hidden by the boughs; 
 and anon they appeared, a darkish couple, in 
 the upper branches ; but one of them was much 
 larger than the other. John Eouse was per- 
 suaded it was two monkeys, and began to feel 
 his cranium with his hands most sympatheti- 
 cally. The telescope was applied to every eye, 
 but waving leaves fluttered before our faces, 
 and we were baffled in the endeavour to decide 
 as to who or what these objects were. 
 
 " 0, see 1" said one, holding the glass in 
 another direction ; " the big one has given the 
 other a pat on the head, and is taking .his 
 cocoa-nut away. What a grimace the little one 
 makes about it 1" 
 
 We all took the glass again by turns. The 
 little one, a monkey sure enough, was now 
 squatting on the branch of a tree — not a cocoa- 
 tree — and had his hands on his knees, looking 
 impatiently submissive, whilst the other held 
 the fruit, and munched away. 
 
268 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 " Prout," said Melton, " let us have a shot at 
 them." 
 
 "What for?" said Prout. 
 
 " To bring them down, that we may see them 
 better." 
 
 " Stay," said Prout, holding down the gun, 
 "will you engage to eat the loathsome beast, 
 or to wear his skin ?" 
 
 But before an answer could be returned, 
 another of our eager sportsmen broke away 
 under the bushes, and, from a spot invisible to 
 us, he fired! 
 
 There was a brutal yell, and also a scream 
 of another kind. We rushed through the 
 thickets: whilst the creatures tumbled, crash- 
 ing from branch to branch, and now they lay 
 gasping on the ground, the lesser, spouting 
 blood from his mouth and throat; the other, 
 also bleeding, lay with his face downward, 
 moaning: we turned him over; it was Hackett! 
 
 A few shreds of clothing still hung about 
 him ; but his thin, gaunt visage, nearly covered 
 by a thicket of matted hair, his skin blackened 
 by the sun, his unshorn nails and wild looks, 
 would scarcely have allowed the belief that 
 here we beheld a former companion, but for 
 those tatters of a well-known dress, and one 
 joint short on the little finger, which he lost in 
 infancy. I suppress the name )f the poor fel- 
 
hackeit's wounds. 269 
 
 low who, in a moment of mere thoughtlessness, 
 had discharged his piece. He uttered a wild 
 cry of horror when he saw what he, had done, 
 and flinging his gun from him, woTild, in his 
 grief, have taken flight, but for Prout, who 
 stopped him. " We all know you did not mean 
 this" said he ; " but one thing I am sure you do 
 mean, and that is — to help to bind his wounds !" 
 
 In an instant the lad was at the poor suffer- 
 er's side. The wounds were not mortal, but 
 some of the large shot had lacerated his face se- 
 verely, and one eye was quite extinguished. 
 We tore sleeves from our jackets, and bound up 
 his head as well as we could ; water there was 
 none at hand ; and we resolved to move to our 
 homes without delay. 
 
 Not having the tools needful for cutting poles 
 and branches to form a litter for our comrade, 
 six of us crossed arms, whilst the others lifted 
 this dire object upon them. But the diflBculty 
 of thus proceeding through the thickest part of 
 a pathless wood,-was great and dreadful ; our 
 fatigue, often compelled us to halt, though our 
 moaning charge still bled, and kept growing 
 weaker every hour. We tried in vain, hitherto, 
 to get a word from him, and^^ now proceeded a 
 nearly silent party. Had chance, or our own 
 knowledge of the direction needful, been our only 
 guide through the wood, we must, in all prob-, 
 
 23* 
 
270 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 ability, have wandered there until our patient 
 had expired; but we never travelled now in 
 the forests without a compass, in the use of 
 which we became so expert, as to make no m.is- 
 takes in traversing the closest entanglements of 
 the woods. 
 
 We did not arrive at our camp before the 
 evening. We found all things as we left them, 
 and soon made up a couch as before, in the 
 middle of the house, where we laid our bleed- 
 ing charge. We bathed and bound up his 
 wounds, and refreshed and supplied him in 
 every possible way that our means would permit, 
 and our ingenuity devise. It was some weeks 
 before he began to recover the semblance of a 
 human being, belonging to a civilized race : 
 and, when he did so, he seemed to have almost 
 lost the use of speech, and uttered the few 
 words we could get from him, as it were, by 
 halves. It was several months before we 
 learned the following incidents, which were 
 rather hinted at than related, in sentences short 
 and incoherent. By frequent questions, and 
 comparing what we gleaned at various times to- 
 gether, we understood, first, that a set of friend- 
 ly Indians, whom he always called Kimboes, 
 touched at the island one day, and, when they 
 first saw Hack'itt and his Companions, they ran 
 away and took to their bc^ats again, but after- 
 
hackett's account of himself. 271 
 
 wards retiimed, waving branches in their hands. 
 They brought an abundance of delicious fruits 
 with them, on which, with broiled fish, they all 
 regaled on the shore. "When they had done, 
 they went into the woods, and with wonderful 
 despatch procured game with their bows and 
 arrows. They then put all they had taken in 
 their canoes, and made signs to Hackett and his 
 companions to accompany them. It appeared 
 that four of them did so, but Hackett was afraid, 
 and remained behind. The boats pushed off, 
 and he saw them no more. 
 
 "We could get from him no account of the pe- 
 riod that had elapsed from their leaving the hut 
 of their dying companions in the wood, to the 
 landing of the Indians. Indeed, in all ques- 
 tions regarding time, Hackett was completely 
 lost, and I know that we were the same at first. 
 As to himself, it appeared that he had tried in 
 vain to find us out, and was reduced almost 
 to the last extremity for want of food; at 
 length observing how well the monkeys lived, 
 he caught one of them, a very young individual, 
 and trained him to obedience so far as to make 
 him ascend the trees, and bring him down fruit 
 from the highest in the wood. Sometimes the 
 creature would become froward and selfish, and, 
 having brought the fruit down to his master, 
 would suddenly snatch it from him,. and ascend 
 
272 THE YOUNG ISLANDEES. 
 
 a tree to consume it himself; he had so done 
 when we saw them together as related. Hack- 
 ett, who had learned almost to equal the mon- 
 key in climbing agility, pursued him on that 
 occasion, and had just resumed his nut, when 
 the unfortunate gun was fired Poor Hackett 
 often sat under a bush, and wept for his friend 
 Eingle. 
 
 Having thus obtained intelligence of our ab- 
 sent companions, the object we had in view, 
 when we set out on our expedition of discov- 
 ery, no longer existed. They were gone, and 
 the facts thus gathered gave a new turn to the 
 views and feelings of many of our party. As 
 Haokett's reasoning powers and faculties of 
 speech returned, he expressed his constant re- 
 gret that he had not accompanied his fellows. 
 He said the Kimboes were the most kind and 
 smiling people he had ever seen, only they had 
 feathers through their noses, and that fright- 
 ened him. He then thought that they would 
 feather his own proboscis in the same way, and 
 so he declined their acquaintance; but he said 
 now he would be stuck full of feathers, like a 
 shuttlecock, sooner than suffer what he had 
 done alone in the woods. 
 
 It seemed, therefore, from all that we had 
 learned of Hackett, and from what we knew 
 before, that our island was by no means un- 
 
FEARS FOR THE FUTURE. 273 
 
 known to others, though its name and situation 
 were so to ourselves ; and that the romantic 
 idea of our having the sole property and undis- 
 puted possession here, was not likely to be en- 
 tertained much longer. For, first, the buca- 
 niers knew it -well enough, and, as we well 
 knew also, an extinct colony had migrated 
 here but a few years before we landed on the 
 island. Then the Skulkyl Indians had here a 
 temple to their infernal deity, which they visited 
 on set occasions ; nor did their known errand 
 to the great cavern render the expectation of 
 another visit a very cheerful subject of medita- 
 tion. We were, however, comforted by the 
 thought that the bucaniers sometimes landed, 
 and that they were the masters of the ruthless 
 horde. As for the Kimboes, the best that we 
 could make of them was, that they had offered 
 no mischief to the lads, and had taken them 
 away with their own consent. 
 
 Whether or not, therefore, any of these par- 
 ties might some day come, with hostile, or 
 merely selfish objects, to dispossess or destroy 
 us, it was impossible to say. So it was, how- 
 ever, between the fears of some, and the hopes 
 of others, our community became unsettled in 
 purpose ; neglected to a great extent, the la- 
 bours of the field and the chase ; and remained 
 listless wanderers, relapsing fast into their for- 
 
274 '" THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 mer condition of vagabonds wanting necessa- 
 ries. 
 
 Prout saw this state of things approaching, 
 and besought me to take care of myself. " If 
 enemies come," said he, " we will defend one 
 another to the last ; but if any friendly tribe 
 should arrive, and you should feel the least hope, 
 by their means, of escaping from this exile, do 
 BO, and never mind me. You may get in the 
 way of some European vessel, or take your 
 course overland from another shore, and so find 
 a known coast having a name, whence you may 
 get shipped to England. " I can see plainly," 
 added'he, " that the comparatively tranquil and 
 happy life we have lately led, will not last 
 much longer ; indeed, if no one should come 
 near to disturb us, we shall soon be hungry and 
 houseless again, unless the good sense of these 
 young men should return to thern." 
 
 I gazed on the hollowed cheeks and tearful 
 eye of this gifted and most excellent youth, 
 with new feelings of alarm. " Selwyn," said 
 he, " what is the matter ; do I look ill ?" 
 
 " Prout, you are ill," said I ; " sad desponden- 
 cy, and more sad thoughts of us, have made you 
 60. Do you really think there is one of our 
 number who would consent to abandon the 
 island, and leave you here alone ; and do you 
 believe, too, that Miles Selwyn is that one ?" 
 
PKOUT TAKEN ILL. 275 
 
 " Selwyn," said he, "I want you to save your 
 lives ; mine cannot be saved. The climate, and 
 grief of mind, are consuming me, and I shall 
 consume the faster if I think I am detaining 
 you to share my fate. I know that you, Miles 
 Selwyn, would pass through fire and flood to 
 save me, and I do not doubt that the other poor 
 fellows would do what they could for Nathan 
 Prout, but I tell you I shall die here ; and soon- 
 er than you should lose any opportunity that 
 may arise of saving yourselves, whilst waiting 
 to see the last of me, I would retire at once, 
 and await God's time alone." 
 
 " You have not that opinion," said I, " and 
 whilst it is clearly our duty to take care of you, 
 it must be God's will that you should be taken 
 care of by us. Prout, you shall not leave us. 
 You can do us good yet by your adrtionitions 
 and counsel ; but any kind of exertion is out 
 of the question for you. — Come ; we will make 
 up a couch for you in the house, and I will be 
 your nurse and doctor. There is a medicine 
 chest, and a dispensary book belonging to it, 
 and a case of cordials that has not yet been 
 touched. We will muster in the house this 
 evening, as we used to do, and talk matters 
 over ; or if that should not suit, we will try the 
 books, and one shall read. I have found a his 
 tory of the bucaniers." 
 
276 THE YOUNG ISLANDEES. 
 
 " Have you an account of them ?" said Prout, 
 with sudden animation. 
 
 • " Yes," said I ; "in an old book of voyages, at 
 the bottom of one of the officer's chests, I found 
 it. We will have a cheerful meal, and then 
 read it." 
 
 Oar sportsmen were despatched to the woods, 
 and our fishermen snared a flapping monster, 
 of the turbot kind I think. Prout revived a 
 little, and partook with somewhat more relish 
 than had been usual with him of late. He 
 threw into the conversation a little of his in- 
 structive sense and liveliness, but becoming 
 mute again, I produced my book ai d read the 
 following account. 
 
OBIGrN OF THE NAME " BUOANIER." 277 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 BISTORT OF THE BUCANIEBS. 
 
 " TT is a pleasant conceit, or something worse," 
 -■- writes Alexander Oliver Oexemelia, " giv- 
 ing the name of bucaniers to any set of human 
 people ; for, let it now be known, that the word 
 coraeth of the ancient Caribbean savages in the 
 Indies Occidental — monstrous wretches, whose 
 barbarous and dainty sport it was, to cut their 
 prisoners of war in pieces, and lay them on a 
 hurdle, with fire underneath, which doings they 
 call boucaning; that is, roasting and smoking 
 together. And thus the trusty and veritable 
 author, .Alonzo Choco Quito, describeth the 
 practice: 'Truly,' quoth he, 'he (the enemy) 
 must be fairly caught a,nd vanquished before 
 process of partition begins ; albeit, this being so, 
 to his sad discomfort, one beateth out said ene- 
 my's brains with a proper bludgeon, whereupon 
 certain others presently kneel about him, and 
 have off said dead man's hide, and win his flesh 
 in bundles from' his bones, with small mystery 
 of chirurgery. This done, said flesh is salted. 
 
 24 
 
278 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 and the next day laid over the fire on the 
 boucan, or hurdle, the same being made lattice 
 fashion, of bars, some half a foot asunder.' Thus 
 far Alonzo Choco Quito. 
 
 " ]5ut of the men more lately called bucaniers, 
 take it, then, as certain, that they be true water- 
 thieves, of the French, Dutch, or English breed, 
 chiefly, of whom there are four ranks, sorts, or 
 degrees : that is to say, first, bucaniers proper, 
 whose true craft and following is the chase of 
 the wild bulls and boars, and who scour the 
 woods therefor ; secondly, freebooters, or blun- 
 derbuss traders, who scour the sea as pirates ; 
 thirdly, tillers, who swelter at the plough ; and 
 lastly, slaves, who perform and do all sorry acts 
 of the menial sort ; in this lowest condition be 
 found many of the best family blood of Old 
 Spain." Thus far Alexander Oexemelia. A 
 later writer relates as follows : — " The first ob- 
 ject of the French and English bucaniers was 
 to make depredations on the Spanish settlements 
 in America, in revenge for the horrid cruelties 
 practised by thdse Spaniards in endeavouring to 
 exterminate them, and all other colonists within 
 their reach, but those of their own nation. These 
 fugitives, driven to desperation, became buca- 
 niers, and soon possessed themselves of the north- 
 ern parts of Hispaniola, or St. Domingo, which 
 countries were then uninhabited, and full of 
 
THEIK MODE OF LIFE. 279 
 
 wild swine and black cattle. The Dutcli prom- 
 ised to supply them with all necessaries they 
 might require, in exchange for the boucaned 
 meat, hides, and tallow, they might procure in 
 hunting. 
 
 " But some of these bucaniers became tired 
 of this way of life, and took to planting ; whilst 
 many more chose to turn pirates, trusting to find 
 a ready sale for their plunder made at sea. 
 This new body of adventurers were called free- 
 booters, from their making free prey, or booty, 
 of whatever came in their way. 
 
 " And thus the colony began to thrive apace, 
 for riches, obtained by the sword and pistol, turn 
 in faster, sometimes, than those paid or worked 
 for. The freebooters distributed their spoil with 
 the greatest profusion amongst their old com- 
 panions, receiving in exchange the merest tri- 
 fles. This brought numbers of adventurers 
 about them from Europe, who at first joined 
 them as articled servants, but who, at length, 
 gained an equality of rights as members of the 
 republic. The bucaniers lived in little huts, 
 called ajoicpas, a word borrowed from the na- 
 tives. These huts consisted merely of a roof 
 and were open at the sides, which mode of stru& 
 ture was more heilthy and agreeable in a cli 
 mate where the heats were intolerable, and 
 
280 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 fresh air was the greatest benefit and luxury 
 conceivable." 
 
 " True, indeed," said Prout ; " and wny 
 should not we take the hint? we haye fenced 
 ours in like Laplanders ; I must either have the 
 sides down, or the top off my hut ; I am almost 
 suffocated in it ; and I think if our willows were 
 pruned and thinned, it would be all the better." 
 
 We were immediately struck with the value 
 of this suggestion ; for our habitations had be- 
 come most uncomfortably hot and unwholesome, 
 especially during the midsummer heats. We 
 had copied the plan of a l^Jucaniers' town, as we 
 had understood it, but had shut ourselves up 
 in it much too closely for the high temperature 
 that generally prevailed. I proceeded : 
 
 "As to laws, the bucaniers acknowledged 
 none but an odd jumble of agreements made be- 
 tween themselves, which, however, they under- 
 stood without the aid of a lord chancellor, and 
 obeyed, as the sovereign rule, without so much 
 as a constable to enforce them. They silenced 
 all objections by coolly answering, ' It is not the 
 custom of the coast.' It is not to be expected 
 that men, leading the wild, predatory life which 
 these did, should retain anything like the prac- 
 tice of religious worship among them; they 
 Rtill, however, chose to call themselves Chris- 
 
THEIR MODE OF HUKTING. 281 
 
 rians, though their reason for so doing is anything 
 but plain. 
 
 "The bucaniera even laid aside their sur- 
 names, and assumed martial or nicknames to 
 suit their fancy. When, however, they turned 
 planters, and married, they took care to resume 
 their proper surnames again. In hunting they set 
 out at day-break with their dogs, of which they, 
 had very numerous packs of the kind most suited 
 to their sport. These hounds were always, led 
 on by beagles of the boldest spirit ; and as the 
 men made it a point never to balk them, they 
 were often led over the most frightful preci- 
 pices, and through places which other men 
 would have deemed absolutely impassable. As 
 soon as the beagles had roused the game, the 
 rest of the dogs came up, and surrounded the 
 beast, preventing thus his escape, and constantly 
 barking till their masters got near enough to 
 shoot it. It has sometimes happened that the" 
 creature, wounded, but not mortally, has run fu- 
 riously at its pursuer, and ripped him open ; but 
 this is seldom the- case, as there are no better 
 marksmen in the world than the bucaniers. 
 
 "On their return, they found their tables 
 ready prepared by their servants, and each buc- 
 anier had a hut and table to himself. No table- 
 sloth, no napkin, no bread or wine graced their 
 board, not even potatoes, or bananas, unless by 
 
 24* 
 
282 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 chance : the fat and lean of the meat, taken al- 
 ternately, supplied the only change ; a little pi- 
 mento, and the squeeze of a citron, were their 
 only sauce ; and this, with a good appetite, was 
 all they required. Thus they lived and spent 
 *heir time, till they had completed the quantity 
 of boucaned meat, and the number of hides 
 agreed on with the merchants. 
 
 "Before the English had made any settle- 
 ment at Jamaica, and the French at St. Domingo, 
 some pirates of both nations, who have been 
 since so much distinguished by the name of 
 bucaniers, had driven the Spaniards out of the 
 small island of Tortuga; and, fortifying them- 
 selves there, had, with amazing intrepidity, 
 made excursions against the cofhmon enemy. 
 They formed themselves into companies of fifty 
 or a hundred, a boat being their only vessel; 
 here they were exposed, night and day, to all 
 the inclemencies of the weather, having scarcely 
 room to lie down. Deriving, even from their 
 distresses, a courage superior to every danger, 
 the^mere sight of a ship transported them to a 
 degree of frenzy. They never deliberated on 
 the attack, but boarded the ship as soon as pos- 
 sible. The largest vessels seldom escaped them. 
 
 " In cases of necessity, they attacked the 
 people of every nation, but fell upon the Span- 
 iards at all times; for they thought that the 
 
NOTED BUCANIER3. 283 
 
 cruelties the latter had practised on the native 
 Americans, justified every violence in return; 
 and they no longer confined their operations to 
 the sea, but they laid waste the richest and most 
 populous countries inhabited by the Spaniards. 
 They took the opulent cities of Panama, Vera 
 Cruz, Guayaquil, and Carthagena, drawing 
 thence immense booty, and compelling the in- 
 habitants to purchase their lives by vast suma 
 of money. The most noted names among these 
 conquerors are — Montbar, Michael de Basco, 
 Morgan Van .Horn, and Gramont. The power 
 of the bucanier.s, however, gradually declined; 
 and they were almost all hunted out of the land 
 and the' water, when the Epglish, Dutch, and 
 Spaniards were at peace, and jointly pursued 
 them. Their piratical trade, however, has al- 
 ways had men of their sort to conduct it, though 
 they may be now more frequently called pirates, 
 than freebooters or bucaniers." 
 
 " Well," said Prout, when I closed the book, 
 " whatever these men may be, we have to thank 
 them for many things." 
 
 "Thank them! — ^for what?" asked John 
 Rouse. 
 
 " For not heaving us overboard, in the first 
 place," said -Prout. 
 
 " ^nd for bringing us here, in the second 
 plg,ce," said Melton. 
 
284 THE yOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 " I would thank them still more to take ua 
 away again," said I ; " but I freely admit that il 
 it had not been for them, we must all have per- 
 ished; for the ship they took us from would 
 never have saved us without their guidance." 
 
 " Besides," said Prout, " they might hava 
 landed us on a rock where there was nothing 
 but wind and water to swallow. They placed 
 us, however, on a fertile island, abounding with 
 animals fit for food, and it is our own faults that 
 we have not made a better use of them, and that 
 we did not make our huts like theirs at first." 
 
 The hint was not lost upon us. We remod- 
 elled the dwellings of our town on the buca- 
 niers' plan, admitted the welcome breezes from 
 without, and boucaned our meat so well, that 
 we ventured to shoot one or two of the small 
 black cattle that browsed about, and thus laid 
 up palatable provision for the period of the year 
 when game and fruits were scarce. We took 
 down the straw with which we had formed the 
 walls of all our buildings, and now we had a 
 bucaniers' village complete. We had, like them, 
 a hut apiece, consisting only of a roof, and had 
 a stockade fence environing us, strong enough 
 to detain an enemy at least until we could rise 
 from our couches to defend ourselves. 
 
 Some months passed away, and we began to 
 feel the want of more occupation for mind and 
 
HOPES OF DELIVERANCE. 285 
 
 body, than we had. We made frequent visits 
 to the shore, and especially to the rooks whose 
 heights commanded the widest view of the dis- 
 tant wave. The water line of the horizon was 
 a clear blue, distinguished from that of the sky 
 by its darker tinge. Thither our eyes involun- 
 tarily wandered, and the highest hopes and in- 
 terest of the party generally were connected with 
 the possible image of a sail skimming the bright 
 surface of the deep ; — I said " the party gene- 
 rally," for there were two exceptions to this 
 outward direction of "the constant wish." Poor 
 Prout, as I have often stated before, looked upon 
 this islet as his grave, from the moment that 
 he knew his father's bones lay here; and for 
 myself, it cannot be thought by those who may 
 have read this history so far, that the idea of 
 leaving him to live or die alone, or with the 
 possibility of it, ever had place in my mind for 
 a moment. 
 
 No ship, therefore, that might have touched, 
 and offered passage to England, would have 
 been entered by me, unless Prout would have 
 embarked also. However, we were not put to 
 the trial of making up our minds on that sub- 
 ject: the timber was not grown for any vessel 
 that was to convey Prout from his exile 1 
 
 But one morning, after we had, as usual, 
 mounted the heights, and had wearied our eyes, 
 
286 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 in vain, for some object on the wave to vary its 
 uniformity, we sat down there to our noon re- 
 past, and withdraw our gaze from the water, 
 perhaps for an hour, turning our backs upon it 
 nearly. We cut grass stalks of different lengths 
 and drew lots with them between our hands, to 
 give the result of probabilities in favour, or 
 against the chance of seeing our native land 
 again ; and when disappointed thus, we cut the 
 straws shorter, and drew for the secondary wish 
 of merely leaving the island for some place kss 
 lonely. " There, Frampton," said Boyce, " I 
 have nine short straws to four long ones ; — we 
 shall see the Kimboes !" 
 
 " And what if you do, Boyce ?" said I. 
 
 " "What if I do 1 — why I will ask them to take 
 me away with them^f I can make them un- 
 derstand, that is." 
 
 " Study the Kimbo grammar quickly, then," 
 said Prout, who had just cast his eye over his 
 shoulder, " for here they are ! I think, Hackett," 
 added he, placing the glass to his eye, " they are 
 rightly called Kimboes, indeed. They are float- 
 ing before the wind, quite at their ease, with 
 their hands upon their sides: what is that 
 for?" 
 
 " I think they always do so before their king," 
 said Hackett ; " and you will see them stand 
 round him cross-legged, when they land." 
 
ARRIVAL OF VISITORS. 287 
 
 There was now a fair sprinkling of white 
 boats, pretty plainly visible to the naked eye. 
 With the telescope we could see that branches 
 were waving at their prows ; it had a very pretty 
 effect, the white boats and green boughs dancing 
 gaily on the wave. 
 
 " Oh ! I hope— I hope it is not the Skulkylsl" 
 said a timid youth, and his speech was echoed 
 by several others. 
 
 "And if it should be," said Prout, "we must 
 not be afraid of them : nothing is more danger- 
 ous than cowardice ; — no, make yourselves easy ; 
 I know the green branches mean peace, amongst 
 all these wild people." 
 
 But the idea of the Skulkyls had subdued the 
 spirit of more than half our party, who now 
 threw themselves prostrate, and merely gazed 
 on the approaching squadron with faces lifted an 
 inch or two, resting the telescope, occasionally, 
 on the ground before them. 
 
 " Oh, I can see them and their kimbo arms 
 very well, now," said Eouse ; " but their faces 
 seem cut in two 1" 
 
 "So they do," said Hackett; "but I think 
 that is by the feathers in their noses." 
 
 The lads placed their hands over their own 
 probosces instinctively, as if each meant to pro- 
 tect that organ from coming mischief, so they 
 snuffled out their fears between their fingers' 
 
288 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 "Oh, Prout, Prout, wBat shall we all do?" 
 
 " Keep quiet, and see what they will do, and 
 where they will go," said Prout ; " they seem to 
 be making for another part of the shore, and do 
 not see us, I dare say." 
 
 " Oh, I am so glad I" was the reply of one or 
 two. 
 
 " Why, just now you were all for these Kim- 
 boes, and now are frightened at a feather," said 
 Prout ; " what do you say now, Hackett ?" 
 
 " I say," said he, " that they may stfok me all 
 over with quills as thick as a porcupine, if they 
 will but take me with them, and make me com- 
 fortable." 
 
 By this time the flotilla had considerably 
 tjhanged its direction, and the people were evi- 
 dently steering for the sands at some distance 
 from these rocks, where, indeed, it was impossi- 
 ble they could have landed. We, therefore, 
 left the heights we had occupied, and sought a 
 spot near the sands, but not destitute of bushes, 
 where we could observe the strangers unper- 
 ieived. They drew near, and, with wonderful 
 precision, and sudden force, they pushed their 
 canoes to shore in a straight line, so that their 
 keels ploughed a sort of furrow on the beach ; 
 in another instant every boat was cleared but 
 one, which had a sort of canopy over it, covered 
 with a variety of beautiful feathers. This boat 
 
OBSERVATION OF TflE VISITOBS. 289 
 
 was managed by two rowers, who carefully 
 brouglit it just to touch the land. Six of the 
 people from the other boats, now waded into 
 the water, and pulled this canoe fairly on to 
 the beach, when the others of their party ap- 
 proached, and lifted from it a sort of palanquin, 
 with its canopy, and occupant and all, and bore 
 the same, on the shouldersof twelve -of them, to 
 a situation higher up on the land ; at the same 
 time those not thus engaged took care of the 
 canoes, near fifty in number, by placing them 
 quite out of the reach of the wave. 
 
 The palanquin-bearers, with their burden, 
 now proceeded towards the woods, flanked on 
 eagh side by a procession of their whole party, 
 marching with their arms and elbows trussed in ~ 
 the fashion before-mentioned: We now found 
 it needful to change our position, in order to 
 watch their motions, and therefore crept, like 
 snakes, amongst the grass and bushes, until we 
 arrived at thickets which would better conceal 
 us. We lost sight of the procession for a time, 
 but gained upon it again, and at length saw the 
 bearers enter an open glade, where they set 
 down their .burden, raised the canopy of the car, 
 and made its occupant an obeisance on their 
 knees, still retaining their hands on their ribs, 
 and leaning their bodies backwards, whilst the 
 whites only of their eyes were visible, as if struck 
 
290 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 with the effulgence of some descended doitj. 
 The object of this reverence sat, or rather 
 Bquatted, cross-legged, upon his litter, his arms 
 folded on his chest, and received the homage 
 with royal and silent dignity. At length he 
 blew out his cheeks, and drew the feather fron: 
 his nose, at which sign his assembled host roso 
 from their knees, and made a ring round him, 
 standing cross-legged and kimboed, as before- 
 mentioned. They were abundantly daubed and 
 gashed, and were bespangled with little plates 
 of gold and silver. Their complexions were the 
 colour of tarnished copper, which made their 
 slight and white dress, and their ornaments, ap- 
 pear the brighter. There were, however, three 
 or four of the party, whose skins appeared of a 
 lighter and very different hue, and this was the 
 case with the king himself, on whose counte- 
 nance chiefly our eyes were fixed when his 
 feather was withdrawn ; but this, after a pause, 
 and some mutterings, which we did not under- 
 stand, was duly returned to its place, when some 
 of the party seemed ,now about to move in dif- 
 ferent directions, as if by orders received. 
 
 We were presently convinced that we could 
 not remain much longer concealed, for some of 
 the party kept their eyes continually directed to 
 the thicket we occupied, which, I suppose, indi- 
 cated some signs of life and motion, from our 
 
A SUEPEISE. 291 
 
 piesence. In fact, two or three of the lighter 
 complexioned Kimboes were pointing their 
 monarch towards our very ambush, when Prout 
 and I, at his suggestion, stepped forth boldly in- 
 to the presence of his squatting majesty. 
 
 It appeared to us that, but for the transverse 
 curling feather, as big a one as could be pulled 
 from a cock's tail, we should have seen a very 
 lengthened smile on the royal visage ; and cer- 
 tain it was, that his brow was suddenly man- 
 tled with a crimson glow that, however, soon 
 passed away. We were beckoned near, and 
 expected now the dumb show of signs, or the 
 gurgling sounds of speech of which we knew 
 nothing. What was our amazement, then, to 
 hear our own names pronounced in a clear, am- 
 icable, and old-acquaintance tone from the very 
 throne of majesty! "Nat Prout! — Miles Sel- 
 wyn ! where are the rest of you ? — come, it is 
 all right : beat the bush there, or else my chief 
 vizier will quickly do it ;" and he leered out of 
 one corner of his eye to an athletic minister of 
 state, who glanced most ominously at us in con- 
 sequence. 
 
 The lads by the bush, who could hear every 
 word, but could not so readily distinguish even 
 well-known features, crept crouchingly from 
 their skulking place, with distended eyeballs 
 and gaping mouths, little liking their summons. 
 
292 THE YOUNG ISLANDEES, 
 
 Prout eyed them with a seasonable smile, and, 
 thus encouraged, they proceeded to the place oi 
 audience, when much of the mystery was pres- 
 ently cleared up, though wonder, to a great ex 
 tent, remained. 
 
 " Do you know me now ?" said the king, " or 
 shall Matthew Brett jump down your gaping 
 throat, Johnny Rouse, to let you know who he 
 is by the ,taste? Did not I tell you all, long ago, 
 that I should be a great man some day ; and am 
 I not pretty right? I could make half these 
 simple savages kneel down to have their heads 
 chopped off by the other half, if I were to give 
 a nodi" — Our lads shrugged their shoulders.— 
 " Yes, and they would serve you the same :" — 
 Prout handled his gun : — " yes, and we would 
 not mind that, Master Prout; — but come, as I 
 said before, it is all right, and we came here on 
 purpose to find you out, and do you good. > You 
 thought we were lost, or dead, I dare say ;■> but 
 see, here we are, all safe and sounds and sonae- 
 thing better; for I am Thewma, king of the 
 Kimboes, and these three are great Kimbo lords. 
 — Dickob, Thasin, and Musibbo, stand forth !" 
 
 The lads, tall, slim, and stark young savages, 
 apparently, as any in their company, now 
 stepped from the side of the royal palanquih, 
 and, duly trussing their limbs in the court 
 fashion, they made a profound obeisance, and 
 
CONFERENCE WITH HIS MAJESTY. 293 
 
 then, at command, stood erect. At the same 
 time they rolled their eyes towards our party, 
 and there were the remains of a suppressed 
 grin under their nasal feathers. 
 
 "You have guns, I see," said Thewma, "and 
 have found out one of the things we came to 
 tell you of — a magazine of stores in your island. 
 We took some of them in the boats to Kim- 
 boja, and, in a battle with the Skulkyls, we 
 drove their whole army away with three pops. 
 of one gun, loaded only with sparrow-shot. 
 The Kimboes made us all princes directly, and 
 they will make you the same if you will come 
 and dwell among them." 
 
 " May it please your majesty," said ISTat Prout, 
 " what do you want us for ?" 
 
 " To make you great folks, that is one thing," 
 replied Thewma, "and to help these friendly 
 Kimboes to make war on the horrid Skulkyls." 
 
 " I thought you had driven them away with 
 three pops of your gun ?" 
 
 " Yes, so we did ; but we want now to pay 
 them for their trouble in coming so often to 
 Kimboja." 
 
 "And what do you do with youi- prisoners 
 of war ?" 
 
 " 0, the Kimboes have not told us that. I 
 think they only put them in cages, for we see 
 great cross-barred wooden frames, like hurdle-ss, 
 
 25* 
 
294 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 whicli they say are for their enemies wheu they 
 catch them." 
 
 " I think I understand their use," said Prout, 
 eyeing our party significantly. " King Thewma, 
 I will not go ; but that need not part us : come 
 and live with us instead — you and your lords ; 
 you shall be king, and they shall be lords here, 
 for what I care." 
 
 But the Kimboes appeared to be impatient at 
 the duration of the conference, which continued 
 altogether two or three hours, and of which 
 they did not understand one word: in fact, 
 they ranged themselves at the sides of the 
 palanquin, and awaited the nod to depart; 
 but Hackett now joined his former comrades, 
 and said he would go for one. Prout and I 
 used every argument and entreaty to dissuade 
 him, but he was resolute. The other lads made 
 no reply to our arguments, but whispered much 
 amongst themselves, and with the other party. 
 At length Thewma rose and shook hands with 
 all our company, and, nodding to some of them 
 in a way that he did not do to Prout and me, 
 he took his seat on his litter, and the Kimboes, 
 wheeling about, disappeared quickly in the 
 wood, apparently retracing their steps. 
 
 Our party, after a moment's hesitation, pro- 
 ceeded in the same direction to see them off; 
 but the course the Kimboes had now really 
 
OUR KETUEN HOME AND DEJECTION 295 
 
 taken was not the path by which they came. 
 It led, perhaps, by a shorter cut, ta the coast, 
 but it was too rugged and difficult for Prout to 
 follow. He sat down, agitated and overcome, 
 and I remained with him, apprehensive that he 
 would again faint on the spot. The rest of the 
 lads burst their way through the thickets, and- 
 were soon out ,of sight : we heard them rustling 
 on, the boughs crashing before them, until those 
 sounds, and the hum of their voices, were heard 
 no more ! Prout cast a dejected and anxious 
 eye that way, and listened as long as there was 
 anything to hear. "Selwyn," he said, "can we 
 find the way to our huts ?" We managed this 
 better than I expected ; yet my companion was 
 very much fatigued, and threw himself on his 
 couch as soon as he reached it. " They might 
 have returned by this time," said he; "but 
 they w«re not bound to mind any time but 
 their own." 
 
 It was evident that we were both suffering 
 under a degree of anxiety arising out of the 
 events of the day, with which we neither of us 
 chose to afflict the other at that hour of gloom. 
 We made an effort to partake of our evening 
 repast as usual ; but suspense and watching, the 
 listening for footsteps, and the silent melancholy 
 that prevailed, destroyed all appetite for food. 
 I implored Prout to consider his own feeble 
 
296 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 health, and seek repose, whilst I took the duty 
 of sentinel, and looked out for our absent com- 
 panions, but he said that sleep was not for 
 him, and that he would not, for the sake of 
 ease, or even health, on that occasion, lose the 
 possible joy of hearing the first hum of the dear 
 lads' voices in returning. 
 
 At length I reached a book, and tried thereby 
 to force other thoughts on our minds than those 
 that then occupied them. But how vain is the 
 effort to deal with the mind as with the body ! 
 The drunkard can dash the bowl from his -lips 
 if he will — the miser can unclutch his fists, and 
 drop his gold — how, then, would they act if the, 
 draught were poison, or the gold were molten 
 metal? But the mind, with all its boasted 
 powers, sits and writhes under corroding miser- 
 ies, which it can scarcely dismiss for an instant: 
 the consuming thought burns its way into the 
 soul, and we cannot help it 1 
 
 The night came, and also the morning I but 
 the empty huts and cold embers remained as 
 when we left them the previous day. None of 
 our companions had returned, and a feeling 
 amounting nearly to horroF, at our situation, 
 fixed on our countenances a wild expression of 
 Buffering which we had not exhibited for years. 
 Prout summoned all his powers of mind and 
 body to put a better face upon it. The fact, of 
 
THINGS WEAR A DIFFERENT ASPECT. 297 
 
 irhich neither lie nor I had more than a shade of 
 doubt, he would not then allude to, but, advis 
 ing some attempt ot a breakfast, we sat down, 
 and he discussed calmly the possibility that the 
 young men had mistaken their way, and had 
 lost themselves in the woods or wildernesses of 
 the island. He, however, proposed that we 
 should proceed together to the sands where the 
 people had landed, and see if any vestiges could 
 be discovered, or a clue to the absent parties 
 obtained. 
 
 How totally different do the same scenes 
 appear to the eye of joy and that of anguish ! 
 We gazed on our deserted village as we made 
 fast the wicket-gate ; but all was silent and 
 melancholy. There we had spent, with our 
 brother adventurers, many comparatively happy 
 hours, and now we turned from it, not, as on 
 former occasions, amidst the buzz of a dozen 
 tongues talking over cheerily the plans and 
 supposed results of some new enterprise, but 
 with heavy hearts and foreboding minds, whose^ 
 agitation had not yet found expression. And 
 soon we gained the accustomed footway leading 
 to the coast. It was now a path well beaten 
 by the daily tread of our active feet, conduct 
 ing, as it did, to the breezy heights of a most 
 romantic shore : but now we seemed approacli- 
 ingj by every step, to some frowning precipice 
 
298 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 of our fate, a feeling that was enhanced when 
 the first blue line of sea caught our eyes. Then 
 we were reminded that the wave had been the 
 constant minister of calamity to our devoted 
 company, whose entire destruction it probably 
 involved; in short, we could turn to neither 
 sea nor land for comfort now. 
 
 The strand bore evident marks of the recent 
 landing and embarkation that had taken place 
 thereon. The ruts, or channels, made by the 
 boats, when drawn to and fro, and the busy 
 footmarks, many of which we recognised as 
 those of our companions, witnessed plainly 
 enough to the truth, and realized the worst 
 fears we had entertained. Our twelve com- 
 panions had departed, leaving two of their 
 number, one of whom was rapidly declining 
 in health, to live or die in solitude and neglect! 
 
 Prout, having satisfied himself of this, now 
 mended his pace for the purpose of gaining a 
 resting-place on a ledge of the rocks before us ; 
 but he was compelled to stop several times, 
 when he leaned on my shoulder, and could 
 only pronounce my name for emotion. At 
 length we gained the needed seat, where he 
 continued silent some time, and when he did 
 Bpeak, I was much alarmed at the alteration of 
 his voice, which was low and hollow, whilst 
 his utterance was thickened and interrupted. 
 
PRO0T GBADtJALLT SINKING. 299 
 
 "Prout," said I, "you are faint I" 
 
 But he made one of those sudden efforts with 
 which a strong mind will sometimes command 
 a sinking frame to the very last. " Never 
 mind," said he, " I have got my speech again, I 
 think." Then, looking earnestly at me, he said, 
 "Selwyn, can you at all tell why these lada 
 have left us in this manner ?" 
 
 "I said that I was sure Brett and Hackett 
 had made an impression upon them, and that I 
 was anxious when I observed their secret con- 
 ference." 
 
 "But still," said he, "you don't tell me why 
 they did not declare their wishes openly ; why 
 did they not state their reasons, and take leave?" 
 
 "Prout," said I, "you must forgive them 
 this, for it was, I doubt not, the fear of distress- 
 ing you that made them hesitate at all about 
 the matter; and I am by no means sure that 
 they had made up their minds to go for good, 
 when they left us. I think their purpose, then, 
 was merely to accompany the savages to the 
 shore, with the view, perhaps, of arranging the 
 matter for some future time. Their actual 
 departure was, probably, the thought of the 
 moment ; or, perhaps, they went, at last, some- 
 what against their will. Yet I own I do not 
 yet understand what use the savages can make 
 of their services." 
 
300 THE YOUNG ISLANDEES 
 
 " The Indians are glad of the help of Euro- 
 peans in their wars," replied Prout, languidly; 
 " so the bucaniers told me ; but let us drop the 
 subject. Here we are, and I think there can 
 remain but a stroke or two more of our ap- 
 pointed punishment in this world." 
 
 "May we not pray," said I, "that one stroke 
 may suffice for us both ?" 
 
 "No," said Prout, "I think not: we are Hot 
 j ustified in praying for death ; which will arrive 
 unasked. 0, Selwyn, my temples throb; my 
 very brain seems on fire. He comes ! He 
 comes 1 yes, this is Death !" 
 
 He sank back; moved his hand half way 
 towards mine, and was a corpse at my side I 
 
 I buried Prout deep in the bright sands under 
 the rock whfere he died. I thought I must have 
 sunk into the same grave ; but I must pass that 
 scene over, and the year of wild distraction that 
 I spent in solitude on the island. Beason 
 threatens to forsake me when I rouse memory 
 on that subject. I was at length discovered, 
 and brought off the island by tie bucaniers, 
 who, as they did before, followed a party of 
 Indians thither, and blew up the rocks, I be- 
 lieve, whilst the savages were engaged in their 
 horrid rites of immolation iu the cavern. "We 
 barely escaped the effects of the explosion, 
 which occurred just as we were pushing from 
 
Bt'PES OF SEEING ENGLAND. 301 
 
 the »hote. The earthquake on land was an- 
 uwered bv a tempest on the sea, caused by the 
 falling masses. 
 
 I have never heard, nor expect to hear, any 
 tidings of the lads who deserted us. As for me, 
 I have been an indentured servant to the buca- 
 niers of Tortuga; but have had nothing what- 
 ever to do with their marauding profession. I 
 have tilled the ground of the planters, and have 
 toiled in the boucans of the hunters; I have 
 spread their tables, heard their histories, and 
 have told and read my own to them. To these 
 misguided men I must declare my obligations 
 for the life they have preserved, and for their 
 general good conduct towards me. They still 
 encourage me to hope that, by some means, 
 I may be enabled to accomplish my return to 
 Europe; but as their occupation raises their 
 hand against every man, so every man's hand 
 is against them. Their piracies shut them out 
 of communication, except of a predatory kind, 
 with passing shipping; and their fears shut 
 them in, when armed fleets are on their seas. 
 Y"et I will not despair, nor cease to pray that 
 the strange dream of my life may at last include 
 one more view of the shores of England ; and, 
 if so favoured, the tale of Miles Selwyn may 
 one day see the light. 
 
 26 
 
«02 THE YOUNG ISLANDEBS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 nnOWAEDS the close of the last century, an 
 -■- aged stranger, very infirm, and of a rather 
 remarkable appearance, was seen making hia 
 way up the steep street of an obscure fishing 
 village on our English coast. The individual 
 had a thin, weather-worn visage, deeply fur- 
 rowed with the marks of care and suffering. 
 He employed a stick to aid him in ascending 
 the indifferent footway of the acclivity, and 
 made frequent halts, either to recruit his strength, 
 and regain his breath, or to satisfy his eye that 
 he was really pursuing the road he had intended. 
 There was evident agitation and mental dis- 
 tress of some kind in his manner, as he thus 
 stopped and gazed up and down on the village, 
 and the little harbour at its foot, where now 
 only a couple of boats were drawn up on the 
 sands. At length he attained the top of the 
 street, where was an open space, affording a 
 better view both of sea and land ; and, just be- 
 fore he passed the last house or two that shut 
 out the prospect, he was heard to mutter, in a 
 voice very tremulous with exhaustion or emo- 
 
A STBAITQEB. 303 
 
 tion, " Now I shall soon know — shall soon 
 know ! — what will my old eyes tell me in one 
 moment ?" 
 
 Curiosity, which prevails in no place more 
 than at the sea-side, and which, in these 
 small neighbourhoods and secluded spots, 
 would scarcely permit a strange dog to pass 
 up or down without scrutiny and remark, was, 
 by this time, agape and akimbo at a dozen 
 doors, to gain intelligence respecting the name 
 and business of this odd visitor ; for, as yet, the 
 good people were not aware of the charms and 
 the benefits of salt-water and sea-sickness for ail- 
 ing landsmen. They watched the stranger until 
 he had reached the spot where he could look 
 about him. There he was seen, leaning on his 
 staff, and looking to the right hand and to the 
 left, alternately, with much amazement, and 
 now he had the fixed attitude of one stricken 
 to the spot by dismay and wonder. 
 
 The traveller sought the support of a wall, 
 and, gazing still, with fixed eyes, on the scene 
 before him, seemed lost, or overcome, to a degree 
 that justified the spectators in accosting him. 
 A publican stepped across, and begged to know 
 if the gentleman was taken ill ? 
 
 " I think I am — I dare say I am," murmured 
 be ; ■ " it is all gone, I see, — gone ! gone ! Have 
 act I dreamed of its fall a hundred times ?" 
 
804 THE yoUNQ ISLANDERS. 
 
 " Hadn't you better walk in, sir ? Wc have 
 a quiet parlour, and a most excellent doctor, 
 and all the ship news once a-week." 
 
 " Tell me one thing," said the stranger ; " do 
 you remember a great old house that used to 
 stand out yonder ?" 
 
 " Out where, sir ?" 
 
 " About a quarter of a mile from this spot, I 
 think, just fronting us." 
 
 " Bless me, sir, you must be wrong ; it is not 
 fifty yards to the edge of the cliff — step to it, 
 and satisfy yourself." 
 
 But the old gentleman still leaned against 
 the wall, accepting its aid from weakness, and 
 seemed disinclined to move at all in the direc- 
 tion indicated. Other inhabitants now drew 
 near. 
 
 " The stranger," said the publican, in expla- 
 nation, " wants to know about some great house, 
 that he'says stood there once, over the cliff, in a 
 place where the sea, at high water, would float 
 a frigate!" 
 
 The neighbors shook their heads slightly, as 
 implying a negative too obvious to need utter- 
 ance; and their countenances, which, just be- 
 fore, were animated by rising curiosity, fell at 
 once, under the impression that this stranger 
 was some superannuated pers/m, whose sense 
 and memory had failed hjm. Just, however, 
 
FATE OF SEAWAED HOUSE. 805 
 
 before these inquirers dispersed, an old man, 
 who was accidentally passing, learned the drift 
 of their discourse : " Yes, yes," said he, " the 
 gentleman is right enough — a house did stand 
 there, and we called it Boys'-haU." 
 
 " No," said the stranger, " that was not the 
 name in my young time." 
 
 "Eight again," said the old man; "'twas 
 called something else ; but what's come to my 
 crazy head, that I cannot think on't ?" 
 
 The old gentleman's lips moved, but his flut- 
 tered whisper was with difficulty caught : " Sea — 
 Sea — Seaward House !" 
 
 " Yes, that is the name ; it's been all gone 
 these forty years — tumbled down one March 
 gale ; and the sea had it, and the ground it 
 stood on, all in twelve months. We used to 
 get crabs in the cellars at low water ; but now 
 there's not a brick of it to be seen, I think." 
 
 " And who was in it when it'fell ?" 
 
 " Not a soul : it had been shut up ever since 
 the school went off; but, howsomever, there's 
 the whole peramble about it up in the church, 
 and poor old Dr. Poyney's monument : people 
 used td go miles to see it." 
 
 All this, of course, was no news to the inhabi 
 tants of the village, although they had not been 
 ftware of the exact locality of the missing man- 
 sion, as indicated by the traveller. They now 
 
 26* 
 
806 THE YOUNG ISLANDEES. 
 
 sauntered back to their dwellings, with scarcely 
 a mouthfal of gossip for their inmates. 
 
 The stranger having learned that it was but 
 a few steps to the house of Mr. Cannaby, the 
 worthy publican, desired that ready personage 
 to conduct him thither, who continued in broken 
 sentences, to ■ chat away the time to his weary 
 companion. " Why, yes, to be sure," said he, 
 " though I say it, that shouldn't say it, because 
 it's my own place — The Foy-loat is as snug a 
 berth as you can light on in the village, partiklar 
 as you are a little afflicted ; as quiet it is as a 
 church at midnight. We've none o' them roar- 
 ing collier Jacks, only two or three nice Dutch 
 people in the still line, and it's none o' their 
 business to make a row : — we are all as steady 
 there as kegs under water." 
 
 The few steps to The Foy-hoat, in fact, ex- 
 tended to the extremity of the village, and be- 
 yond ; so that its zealous landlord had oppor- 
 tunity and occasion to vary the theme of his 
 unanswered monologue, and thought it tim.^ 
 now, to point his remarks in another direction. 
 " Seen service, sir, I'll warrant," said he, looking 
 ap in the weather-beaten and sorrow-stricken 
 (risage of the stranger ; " a king's ship, I hope ; 
 a merchant vessel gives but a poor look-out for 
 old age. Well, yes, that was a downright 
 strange predicament, them young uns making 
 
SELWITN AT THE FOY-.BOAr INN. 307 
 
 off SO ; and to think o' the old house going after 
 them — all gone to the bottom together, safe 
 enough, there can't be no fear. That old man's 
 father was one of them that went out to, look 
 after the hoy that had started ; but, la ! there's 
 a book all about it, somewhere ; howsomever, 
 there was a party went out in a cutter to see if 
 the trader was lost, and they were gone some 
 days, and they brought home word, that they 
 had seen the hoy, bottom upwards, or else all 
 to pieces, on the Good'n, and every soul on 
 board was perished, and all her cargo was 
 washed out on her, as clean as a dish I" 
 
 By this time, Mr. Cannaby had brought~his 
 intended guest to the door of the little, low ale- 
 house, which called him master. It commanded 
 a view of the small harbour, which, indeed, was 
 so inconsiderable that, with the aid of its rude 
 timber pier, it could only accommodate five or 
 six coasting vessels at a time. The stranger, 
 whom the reader must have quickly recognised 
 as Mr. Miles Selwyn, followed his host, and 
 stepped down into the tap-room of the house, 
 and was conducted thence, through a narrow 
 passage, to the right-hand parlour of The Foy- 
 boat Inn. It was fitted up_ very much in the 
 marine manner, with oaken linings and lockers 
 from the cabins of vessels, broken up, or 
 wrecked The floor was duly dredged wHh 
 
308 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 white sand, and the furniture consisted of five 
 or six polished cherry-tree and leather-seated 
 chairs, one of which, a capacious, high-backed 
 throne of Bacchus, enjoyed the tropical radiance 
 of the glowing grate. The liquor-stained table 
 in the midst, though supplied with both legs 
 and wings, contented itself with the casual mo- 
 tion of the former, to aid the expansion of .the 
 latter, without any correspondent progression 
 of its body. Mr. Selwyn was placed in the 
 chief seat aforesaid, by the kind determination 
 of his host, who, after making up the fire, and 
 placing a small bell on the tabe, retired to wait 
 the stranger's orders. 
 
 Mr. Selwyn was altogether overcome, and 
 required a few moments of tranquillity. He 
 placed his hands over his face, and, leaning on 
 the table, sought thus to recover his memory, 
 and his self-possession. Confused images of the 
 past still danced before his mental vision, and 
 it required an eifort to range these mingling 
 shadows in the order of time, so as to make 
 them fall into their due places in his thoughts. 
 Perhaps his meditations, which, however profit- 
 able they might have been to himself, were not 
 80 to his landlord, had continued longer than 
 he was aware of, for the glass door of the room 
 was now partly opened, when the brisk visage 
 pf the landlady was thrust in sight, with the 
 
MES. cannaby's information. 809 
 
 civil interrogatory — "Did you ring, sir?" 
 "Eing? — no — yes— very right, Mrs. Foy- 
 boat, I think your name is — ^let me have some 
 dinner." 
 
 The ruddy dame received her orders, and 
 withdrew to arrange them with her maid, who 
 responded to some remark of her mistress with 
 a shrill laugh, and the words — " Mrs. Foyhoat, 
 indeed 1 what next, I wonder ?" 
 
 The jolly dame's countenance exhibited the 
 remains of mirth, when she returned to renew 
 Mr. Selwyn's fire, to ratse the leaf of the table, 
 and to lay the cloth upon it, for the reception 
 of the coming viands. But Mrs. Oannaby had, 
 evidently something in her head more than the 
 fish and steaks of the old gentleman's dinner, 
 and she dawdled about until she had fairly 
 opened the intended vein of discourse. 
 
 " Talk o' that school, sir," said she, " there's 
 an old crittur lives under the cliffj that knows 
 the whole yarn, and more, I count, than she 
 likes to "tell ; though she'll spin a good long 
 un for money at any time." 
 
 " Pray what is her name, Mrs. Can-o'-beer ?" 
 " Gannahy, will do for me, sir. Why, sir, 
 she's always called Mother Wixen, but her right 
 name is Whiskin, I think. She has the care of 
 a poor mad thing, that she keeps in hold, some- 
 where in the rooks, just like any haniraal, for 
 
310 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 all the world — Sally, turn them fish, and don't 
 stand gaping there, like a cod's head and 
 shoulders — ^yes, sir, like any hanimal he looks, 
 and the old woman an't much better. Howso- 
 ever, Mother Wixen always says that somebody 
 will turn up, one o' these days, as will tell more 
 than ever the parson knowed, that drawed up 
 that moneymint in the church ; and I'm blessed 
 if I don't think you're the very 'dentical gentle- 
 man she's had in her head for years !" 
 
 " I certainly am not aware of it," said Mr. 
 Selwyn, " though I know what it is to have in- 
 different lodging well enough." But the travellei 
 rather wished to turn off these surmisings, and, 
 shrugging his shoulders, observed that there 
 was too much draught when the door was open, 
 and that he was now ready for his dinner. 
 
 The landlady withdrew, and quickly sent in 
 the refreshments ordered ; and, having opened 
 the pictured leaves of an ample folding screen, 
 until it almost encircled the old gentleman, the 
 maid also retired. 
 
 When Mr. Selwyn had dined, he amused 
 himself with examining the picturesque pano- 
 rama of comicalities by which he was environed. 
 There were ships and songs, and wrecks and 
 rigging, in abundance, and seafights, all smoke 
 and water, as far as he could judje. Theo 
 there was a skating scene in Holh.id, at the 
 
THE GOLIGJITLY TUBNED UP. 311 
 
 foot of which print was scribbled, in high 
 Dutch, the running reckoning of some smug- 
 gling company, apparently. 
 
 But what was the subject of the old print at 
 the top of this leaf of the screen ? It was a 
 wood-engraving, executed after the manner of 
 the day, with that happy blending of elements, 
 or generalization of all lights and shades, forms 
 and features, that leaves so much to the imagi- 
 nation, and imparts so little to the understand- 
 ing, of the spectator. 
 
 Mr. Selwyn adjusted his glasses at various 
 distances, in vain, for the purpose of getting the 
 clear view he desired, and, in despair, he lifted 
 his hand to take them from his face, when the 
 sight of one word and a date fixed, in a moment, 
 his whole attention ; these were — " Oolightly, 
 1754 1" 
 
 And now the traveller eagerly renewed his 
 endeavours to discern, and to peruse, when, 
 with the assistance of a candle, he could just 
 perceive a kind of whirlpool represented, whose 
 basin was occupied by a crowd of innocents 
 kneeling on the circling billows I Their hands 
 were clasped, and their faces turned up towards 
 a flying squadron of full-blown cherubs, who 
 wheeled above ready to receive them. In the 
 very central vortex, a few cross lines seemed to 
 indicate the masts and yards of a sinking ves 
 
S12 THE YObNG ISLANDEBS. 
 
 sel. The paper then set forth nearly every 
 falsehood that could be deyised under the cir- 
 cumstances; the intention of which probably 
 was, to screen some suspected, or self-convicted 
 parties. . It stated that the school were parading 
 on the sands, and, being overtaken by the tide, 
 they climbed into the vessel, and set her adrift 
 themselves, in sport or ignorance ; that the Go- 
 lightly's people manned three boats, and went 
 in search ; that they were gone all night, and 
 that, in the morning, the vessel was found 
 stranded on a sand-bank on the coast of Hol- 
 land, without a soul on board ; and that it was 
 supposed the lads had got on the shoals at low 
 water, and, being again caught by the tide, had 
 perished. 
 
 Then followed a most doleful chant, of the 
 true Tyburn cadence, commencing — 
 
 " Let those now weep, who never wept before : 
 Let those who always weipt, now weep the more I" 
 
 The names were, for the most part, very in- 
 correctly given ; but Mr, Selwyn ha'd the satis- 
 faction of seeing his own, at full length, in the 
 list of the lost ! 
 
 The traveller, having no wish to make a dis- 
 turbance in the neighbourhood, by proclaiming 
 what he knew of events that had taken place 
 half a century ago, reserved what he had to say 
 
KES. WHISKIlSr AND HEK CHARGE. 31b 
 
 for his manuscript, and determimed to visit Mrs. 
 Whiskin and her insane charge, without stating 
 who he was. He, therefore, being greatly re- 
 freshed by his night's rest, proceeded to her res- 
 idence alone, the next morning, as directed. 
 
 The old woman, who, with her inmate, were 
 pensioners on the parish, occupied a wretched 
 tenement, under the chalk cliffs, at the back of 
 the village, and these, indeed, formed more than 
 one chamber of her secluded dwelling. She 
 gathered shells, shell-fish, and samphire, from 
 the rocks, aged as she was ; and, as there was a 
 footway past her door, leading from the har- 
 bour to the next gate, or roadway, cut in the 
 olifif, she obtained some small custom from pas- 
 sengers, and her commodities were spread on a 
 three-legged table before her window. 
 
 Before Mr. Selwyn reached this hovel, for ho 
 walked very slowly, he could hear voices with- 
 in: 
 
 " Ay, ay, Crab, I know, I know 1 You tell 
 me that a hundred times a day : school — school 
 — I wish I'd never heard of a_ school !" 
 
 There was a low mutter in reply, too inartic- ~ 
 ulate to be understood, and then a shrill laugh, 
 unlike that of man, woman, or child ; this was 
 succeeded by blows, and then feeble cries, re- 
 sponded to again by tones the most passionate 
 that agea lungs could command. " Will you, 
 o 27 
 
314 THE YOUNG ISLANDEES. 
 
 will you, will you tell rae that again, ycu 7 
 
 Look at this, then 1" The dreadful words rang 
 through the hut, as Mr. Selwyn presented hihi- 
 Belf at the door. She had a rope in her hand, 
 one end of which evidently served the purpose 
 of flagellatiDn, and the other, formed into a 
 noose, enforced the more effective discipline of 
 terror. The hag drew back, somewhat startled, 
 as the door was darkened by the stranger ; but, 
 recovering herself, begged to know if he pleased 
 to want anything ? 
 
 Mr. Selwyn presented her a shilling, and 
 asked to sit down ; he was very tired. The 
 seat offered him formed the broken remainder 
 of an ancient high-backed chair, which he 
 thought he remembered of old. " A curious 
 piece of workmanship," said he, as he placed 
 himself within its ample circling arms. 
 
 " Dare say 't is ; dare say 't is," said the old 
 woman, coughing dryly ; and she passed direct- 
 ly to another subject. " "Wonderful high tides 
 lately, mister; thought I should have been 
 clean washed away 1 — Will you hold your 
 rattling tongue, once more?" (to the inmate 
 of the cave); "can't hear the gentleman 
 siieaki" 
 
 Mr. Selwyn now directed his eye to the dusky 
 chamber, or rather den, scooped out of the chalk 
 wall adjoining. He thought he perceived a 
 
selwyn's suspicion confikmed. 315 
 
 whitish head moving therein, backwards and 
 forwards. 
 
 " A poor afflicted creatur, sir, the parish has 
 put upon me ; a fine time I have of him I" 
 The shadowy and gaunt being now endeav- 
 oured to raise himself, and as he came rather 
 nearer the light, Mr. Selwyn beheld the shock- 
 ing form and visage of this dire maniac. The 
 apparition seemed like that presented by a wild 
 dream. 
 
 " Down ! down ! this minute 1" said the old 
 woman, again exhibiting the rope, and the spec- 
 tral form immediately sank away and disap- 
 peared, with a peevish mutter, as he rustled in 
 his straw. 
 
 The creature remained invisible; and Mr. 
 Selwyn, who doubted the willingness of the old 
 woman to allow further inspection, determined 
 to depart, having seen and heard just enough 
 to convince him that the two occupants of this 
 den were the ancient housekeeper of the free- 
 school, and the wretch Jacob Crawley; of 
 whose crime it was evident that the " woman 
 knew more than it suited her to confess. 
 
 Indeed, she was constantly deaf, stupid, or 
 had a fit of coughing, when the subject of the 
 school was touched upon ; and Mr. Selwyn, 
 finding it impossible to elicit from her a sylla- 
 ble of intelligence orf the business, left the hov 
 
316 THE YOUNG ISLANDtES. 
 
 el, with a shudder at the wickedness it covBred. 
 He departed by the way he came, an unusual 
 circumstance with travellers there, which did 
 not fail to excite the old creature's surprise, per- 
 haps alarm; she hobbled out of the hut, and 
 eyed him, as he feebly trod the sands with hia 
 staff, until he turned a corner and was out of 
 sight. 
 
 Mr. Selwyn now inquired for lodgiugs in the 
 village, and, having obtained them, lie trans- 
 ferred his packages, including a good supply of 
 gold found in the island cave, to his aew dwell 
 ing. Here, too, in a strong chest, he deposited 
 his manuscript, and reserved one page to be oc- 
 cupied by the inscriptions on the cenotaph, of 
 which he had heard repeatedly. 
 
 But that visit to the church he yet dreaded, 
 fearing that its marble records would overcome 
 him. It was some days before his health and 
 spirits permitted him to undertake it, and he 
 set out with faltering steps. 
 
 St. Eunwald's was a small, storm-beaten edi- 
 fice, with a low square tower, and it occupied 
 the summit of a hill overlooking the village 
 and the sea. The sexton being from home, hia 
 child accompanied the traveller with the key, 
 and skipped up the hill, as Miles Selwyn had 
 done, but could not do now. He attained to 
 the church-gate with difficulty, and was com 
 
317 
 
 pelled to rest on the seat in the porch, before 
 he could enter. How the scenes of memory 
 danced before him at that moment ! There was 
 the venerable portal at which he had entered 
 with the humming throng, almost fifty years 
 before 1 Where were they now ; where was 
 he,' and where had he been ; was his present 
 situation and condition itself a dream ? 
 
 The little girl's hand was not strong enough 
 to turn the key ; Mr. Selwyn assisted ; the mas- 
 sive bolt flew back with a hollow sound, and 
 the black door opened to the wall. Full before 
 him now was the oaken pulpit, once occupied by 
 the reverend master of Seaward House I But 
 what did he see on entering ? Turning up the 
 middle aisle, the object of his inquiry formed the 
 most conspicuous monument in the church. It 
 was an elaborate and very beautiful pile of 
 sculpture, representing a vessel sinking in the 
 billows, and crowded with children in the atti- 
 tude of prayer ! The four sides of the plinth 
 below were filled with columns of their names 
 and ages ; and there Mr. Selwyn had again the 
 rare lot of witnessing his own in the dark regis- 
 ter of death ! On the face of the monument 
 next the altar, he read as follows : — 
 
 27* 
 
818 THE TOTJNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 SSeneatii 
 
 LIE THE PERISHABLE REMAINS 
 
 or THB 
 
 REV. EMMANUEL POTNDBRS, D. D., 
 
 LATS BBOTOB OF THIS PARISH, AJfD HEAD UASTEB or 
 THB FKEE SCHOOL AT SEAWARD HOUSE. 
 
 mg EZSMFLARY FIETT, HIS TALENTS AND LEABNINO, HU 
 UKFAILINQ KINDNESS, DICTATE A EULOQT WHICH 
 WOCU) HATE ADOKNED THE MABBLE ; BUT MIN- 
 GLED, AS rrlS, WITH GBISF AT THE UNPABAL- 
 LELED OAIAMITY THAT ERODQHT HIM TO 
 HIS END, IT IS BEST WBHTEN IN THE 
 HEABTS OF THOSE WHO KNEW 
 HIM. 
 
 THE FATAL TIDINGS OF THE LOSS OF HIS WBOLK 
 
 SCHOOL, AT SEA, STRUCK HIM SPEECHLESS, 
 
 IN WHICH STATE HE REMAINED UNTIL 
 
 HIS DEATH, WHICH TOOK PLACE 
 
 JfAiruABT 2nd, 1766, in the sixtt-thibd tkab 
 
 OF his age. 
 
 AUO, 
 
 TO THE RESPECTED MEMORY 
 or 
 
 MR. DANIEL BALDREY, 
 
 OHIKF UBBBB IN THE SAME SCHOOL. 
 
 OB HIND, NATUBALLY STRONG, BUT MUCH SBATTEBKL 
 
 BY SUFFERING, FINALLY GAVE WAY UNDEE TH« 
 
 SHOOK OCCASIONED BY THE EVENT 
 
 ABOVE NAMED. 
 
 He DIED April 8th, 1755, aged thiett-foub yeabiil 
 
THE EPITAPH. 319 
 
 On tlie side fronting the nave, was the fol- 
 lowing : — 
 
 TO THE DEAB MEUOBT 
 OF 
 
 FIFTY-TWO UNFORTUNATE YOUTHS, 
 
 SCHOLARS AT SEAWARD HOUSE, IN THIS PARISH, 
 WHO, IN AN HOUR OF FATAL THOUGHTLESSNESS, STRAYED 
 ON BOARD A SMALL TRADINQ VESSEL, LTINO TO IN 
 THIS FORT, IN THE ABSENCE OF HER CREW, 
 NOVEMBER 5TH, 1764. BY SOME MEANS, 
 QUITE UNKNOWN, THE SHIP DRIFT- 
 ED OUT TO SEA, AND NEVER 
 WAS HEARD OF MORE I 
 
 " Tn Bama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and 
 great motirnvng ; Rochet weeping for her ohdldren, and woiUd not 
 be contorted, because th&y are not^ 
 
 Poor Mr. Selwyn witn difficulty read the 
 dreaded record through; but he had soon the 
 advantage of other eyes to assist in copying ac- 
 curately the chiselled chronicle before him — 
 eyes they were, only a few years younger, in- 
 deed, but far more familiar with this celebrated 
 monument than his own. 
 
 He had retraced his steps down the aisle, and 
 had nearly regained the porch, when its door- 
 way was suddenly darkened by the figure of a 
 lady, in deep mourning. She had an open let- 
 ter in her hand ; and with eager steps, and flut- 
 tered breath, she entered the church, and passing 
 the infirm traveller unheeded, inquired For the 
 
320 THE YOUNG ISLANDERS. 
 
 gentleman who had just been there. The child 
 pointed to Mr. Selwyn, but the lady, scarcely 
 regarding him, shook her head impatiently, 
 paced the church with perturbation, and now 
 again accosted the little girl so passionately on 
 the subject, that she began to cry. 
 
 Mr. Selwyn, in the mean time, had taken hia 
 seat in the porch, waiting till the visitor re- 
 turned, that he might turn the key. The gen- 
 tlewoman soon came out, and now addressed 
 her inquiries despairingly to him, begging to 
 know whether he had seen any one that morn- 
 ing examining the monuments? — "because — 
 because," added she, in a voice almost breath- 
 less with agitation, " I have received a-letter — " 
 
 " Your name ! your name !" demanded the 
 traveller, with instant vehemence — yet he wait- 
 ed not the reply, but springing on his feet, as 
 with renewed energy of youth, in a moment hia 
 sister Lucy was in his arms 1 
 
 I have little more to add. The abiding wish, 
 and daily prayer, of both, for nearly fifty years, 
 had now boen answered. Mr. Selwyn presently 
 quitted his lodgings, and took up his abode at 
 the residence of his sister — a very wealthy lady ; 
 and he had the inconceivable happiness of read- 
 ing and relating, in her ears, the adventures, as 
 now published, of The Young Islanders.