VII
THE ISLAND IN THE WEED
IT WAS as we were all discussing the matter of the devil face that had
peered up at me out of the water, that Job, the ordinary seaman,
discovered the island in the light of the growing dawn, and, seeing
it, sprang to his feet, with so loud a cry that we were like for the
moment to have thoughthe had seen a second demon. Yet when we made
discovery of that which he had already perceived, we checked our blame
at his sudden shout; for the sight of land, after so much desolation,
made us verywarm in our hearts.
Now at first the island seemed but a very small matter; for we did not
know at that time that we viewed it from its end; yet despite this, we
took to our oars and rowed with all haste towards it, and so, coming
nearer, were able to see that it had a greater size than we
hadimagined. Presently, having cleared the end of it, and keeping to
thatside which was further from the great mass of the weed-continent,
we opened out a bay that curved inward to a sandy beach, most
seductive to our tired eyes. Here, for the space of a minute, we
paused to survey the prospect, and I saw that the island was of a very
strange shape, having a great hump of black rock at either end, and
dipping down into a steep valley between them. In this valley there
seemed to be a deal of a strange vegetation that had the appearance of
mighty toadstools; and down nearer the beach there was a thick grove
of a kind of very tall reed, and these we discoveredafterwards to be
exceeding tough and light, having something of the qualities of the
bamboo.
Regarding the beach, it might have been most reasonably supposed that
it would be very thick with the driftweed;but this was not so, at
least, not at that time; though a projecting horn of the black rock
which ran out into the sea from the upper end of the island, was thick
with it.
And now, the bo'sun having assured himself that there was no
appearance of any danger, we bent to our oars, and presently had the
boat aground upon the beach, and here, finding it convenient, wemade
our breakfast. During this meal, the bo'sun discussed with us the most
proper thing to do, and it was decided topush the boat off from the
shore, leaving Job in her, whilst the remainder of us made some
exploration of the island.
And so, having made an end of eating, we proceeded as we had
determined, leaving Job in the boat, ready to scullashore for us if we
were pursued by any savage creature, while the rest of us made our way
towards the nearer hump, from which, as it stood some hundred
feetabove the sea, we hopedto get a very good idea of the remainder of
the island. First, however, the bo'sun handed out to us the two
cutlasses and the cut-and-thrust (the other two cutlasses being in
Josh's boat), and, taking one himself, he passed me the
cut-and-thrust, and gave the other cutlass to the biggest of the men.
Thenhe bade the others keep their sheath-knives handy, and was
proceeding to lead the way, when one of them called out to us to wait
a moment, and, with that, ran quickly to the clump of reeds. Here, he
took one with both his hands and bent upon it; but it would not break,
so that he had to notch it about with his knife, and thus, in a
little, he had it clear. After this, he cut off the upper part, which
was too thin and lissom for his purpose, and then thrust the handle of
his knife into the end of the portion which he had retained, and in
this wise he had a most serviceable lance or spear. For the reeds were
very strong, and hollow after the fashion of bamboo, and when hehad
bound some yarn about the end into which he had thrust his knife, so
as to prevent it splitting, it was a fit enough weapon for any man.
Now the bo'sun, perceiving the happinessof the fellow's idea, badethe
rest make to themselves similar weapons, and whilst they were busy
thus, he commended the man very warmly. And so, in alittle, being now
most comfortably armed, we made inland towards thenearer black hill,
in very good spirits. Presently, we were come to the rock which formed
the hill, and found that it came up out of the sand with great
abruptness, so that we could not climb it on the seaward side. At
that, the bo'sun led us round a space towards that side where lay the
valley, and here there was under-foot neither sand nor rock; but
ground of strange and spongy texture, and then suddenly, rounding a
jutting spur of the rock, we came upon the first of the vegetation--an
incredible mushroom;nay, I should say toadstool; for it had no healthy
look about it, and gave out a heavy, mouldy odor. And now we perceived
that the valley was filled with them, all, that is, save a great
circular patch where nothing appearedto be growing; though we were not
yet at a sufficient height to ascertain the reason of this.
Presently, we came to a place where the rock was split by a great
fissure running up to thetop, and showing many ledges and convenient
shelves upon which we might obtain hold and footing. And so we
set-toabout climbing, helping one another so far as wehad ability,
until, in about the space of some ten minutes, we reached the top, and
from thencehad a very fine view. We perceived now that there was a
beach upon that side of the island which was opposed to the weed;
though, unlikethat upon which we had landed, it was greatly choked
with weed which had drifted ashore. After that, I gave notice to see
what space of water lay between theisland and the edge of the great
weed-continent, and guessed it to be no morethan maybe some ninety
yards, at which I fell to wishing that it had been greater, for I was
grown much in awe of the weed and the strange things which I
conceivedit to contain.
Abruptly, the bo'sun clapped me upon the shoulder, and pointed tosome
object that lay out in the weed at a distanceof not much less than
thehalf of a mile from where we stood. Now, atfirst, I could not
conceivewhat manner of thing it was at which I stared, until the
bo'sun, remarking my bewilderment, informed me that it was a vessel
allcovered in, no doubt as aprotection against the devil-fish and
other strange creatures in the weed. And now I began to trace the hull
of her amid all that hideous growth; but of her masts,I could discern
nothing; and I doubted not but that they had been carried away by some
storm ere she was caught by the weed; andthen the thought came to me
of the end of thosewho had built up that protection against the
horrors which the weed-world held hiddenamid its slime.
Presently, I turned my gaze once more upon the island, which was very
plain to see from where we stood. I conceived, now that I could see so
much of it, that its length would be near to half a mile, though its
breadth was something under four hundred yards; thus it was very long
in proportion to its width. In the middle part it had less breadth
than at the ends, being perhaps three hundred yards at its narrowest,
and a hundred yards wider at its broadest.
Upon both sides of the island, as I have made already a mention, there
was a beach, though thisextended no great distance along the shore,the
remainder being composed of the black rock of which the hills were
formed. And now, having a closer regard tothe beach upon the weed-side
of the island, Idiscovered amid the wrack that had been castashore, a
portion of the lower mast and topmast of some great ship, with rigging
attached; but theyards were all gone. This find, I pointed out to the
bo'sun, remarking that itmight prove of use for firing; but he smiled
at me, telling me that the dried weed would make a very abundant fire,
and this without going to the labor of cutting the mast into suitable
logs.
And now, he, in turn, called my attention to the place where the huge
fungi had come to a stop in their growing, and I saw that in the
centre of the valley therewas a great circular opening in the earth,
like to the mouth of a prodigious pit, and it appeared to be filled to
within a few feet of the mouth with water, over which spread a brown
and horrid scum. Now, asmay be supposed, I stared with some intentness
at this; for it had the look of having been made with labor, being
very symmetrical, yet I could not conceive but that I was deluded by
the distance, and that it would have a rougher appearance when viewed
from a nearer standpoint.
From contemplating this,I looked down upon the little bay in which our
boat floated. Job was sitting in the stern, sculling gently with the
steering oar and watching us. At that, I waved my hand to him in
friendly fashion, and he waved back, and then, even as I looked, I saw
something in the water under the boat--something dark colored that was
all of a-move. The boat appeared to be floating over it as over a mass
of sunk weed, and then I saw that, whatever it was, it was rising to
the surface. At this a sudden horror came over me, and I clutched the
bo'sun by the arm, and pointed, crying out that there wassomething
under the boat. Now the bo'sun, so soon as he saw the thing, ran
forward to thebrow of the hill and, placing his hands to his mouth
after the fashion of a trumpet, sang out tothe boy to bring the boatto
the shore and make fast the painter to a large piece of rock. At the
bo'sun's hail, the lad called out "I, I," and, standing up, gave a
sweep with his oar that brought the boat's head round towards the
beach. Fortunately for him he was no more than some thirty yards from
the shore at this time, else he had never come to it in this life; for
the next moment the moving brown mass beneath the boat shot out a
great tentacle and the oar was torn out of Job's hands with such power
as to throw him right over on to the starboard gunnel of the boat. The
oar itself was drawn down out of sight, and for the minutethe boat was
left untouched. Now the bo'sun cried out to the boy to take another
oar, and get ashore while stillhe had chance, and at that we all
called out various things, one advising one thing, and another
recommending some other; yet our advice was vain, for the boy moved
not, at whichsome cried out that he was stunned. I looked now to where
the brownthing had been, for the boat had moved a few fathoms from the
spot, having got some way upon her before the oar was snatched, and
thus I discovered that the monster had disappeared, having, I
conceived, sunk again into the depths from which it had risen; yet it
might re-appear at any moment, and in that casethe boy would be taken
before our eyes.
At this juncture, the bo'sun called to us to follow him, and led the
way to the great fissure up which we had climbed, and so, in a minute,
we were, each of us, scrambling down with what haste we could make
towards the valley. And all the while as I dropped from ledge to
ledge, I was full of torment to know whether the monster had returned.
The bo'sun was the first man to reach the bottomof the cleft, and he
set off immediately round the base of the rock to the beach, the rest
of us following him as we made safe our footing inthe valley. I was
the thirdman down; but, being light and fleet of foot, I passed the
second man and caught up with the bo'sun just as he came upon the
sand. Here, I found that the boat was within some five fathoms of the
beach, and I could see Job still lying insensible; but of the monster
there was no sign.
And so matters were, theboat nearly a dozen yards from the shore, and
Job lying insensible in her; with, somewhere near under her keel (for
all that we knew) a greatmonster, and we helplessupon the beach.
Now I could not imagine how to save the lad, and indeed I fear he had
been left to destruction--for I had deemed it madness to try to reach
the boat by swimming--but for the extraordinarybravery of the bo'sun,
who, without hesitating,dashed into the water and swam boldly out to
the boat, which, by the grace of God, he reachedwithout mishap, and
climbed in over the bows. Immediately, he took the painter and hove it
to us, bidding us tail on to it and bring theboat to shore without
delay, and by this method of gaining the beach he showed wisdom; for
in this wise he escaped attracting the attention of the monster by
unneedful stirring of the water, as he would surely have done had he
made use of an oar.
Yet, despite his care, we had not finished with the creature; for,
just as the boat grounded, I sawthe lost steering oar shoot up half
its length out of the sea, and immediately there was a mighty splather
in the water astern, and the next instant the air seemed full of huge,
whirling arms. At that, the bo'sun gave one lookbehind, and, seeing
the thing upon him, snatched the boy into hisarms, and sprang over the
bows on to the sand. Now, at sight of the devil-fish, we had all made
for the back of the beach at a run, none troubling even to retain the
painter, and becauseof this, we were like to have lost the boat; for
the great cuttle-fish had its arms all splayed aboutit, seeming to
have a mind to drag it down into the deep water from whence it had
risen, and it had possiblysucceeded, but that the bo'sun brought us
all to our senses; for, having laid Job out of harm's way, he was the
first to seize the painter, which lay trailed upon the sand, and, at
that, we got back our courage and ran to assist him.
Now there happened to be convenient a great spike of rock, the same,
indeed, to which the bo'sun had bidden Job tie the boat, and to this
we ran the painter, taking a couple of turns about it and two
half-hitches, and now, unless the rope carried away, we had no reason
to fear the loss of the boat; though there seemed to us to be a danger
of the creature's crushing it. Because of this, and because of a
feeling of natural anger against the thing, the bo'sun took up from
the sand one of the spears which had been cast down when we hauled the
boat ashore. With this, he went down so far as seemed safe, and
prodded the creature in one of its tentacles--the weapon entering
easily, at which I was surprised,for I had understood that these
monsters were near to invulnerable in all parts save their eyes. At
receiving this stab, the great fish appeared to feel no hurt for it
showed no signs of pain,and, at that, the bo'sun was further
emboldenedto go nearer, so that he might deliver a more deadly wound;
yet scarcehad he taken two steps before the hideous thingwas upon him,
and, but for an agility wonderful in so great a man, he had been
destroyed. Yet, spite of so narrow an escape from death, he was not
the less determined to wound ordestroy the creature, and, to this end,
he despatched some of us to the grove of reeds to get half a dozen of
the strongest, and when we returned with these, he bade two of the men
lash their spears securelyto them, and by this means they had now
spears of a length of between thirty and forty feet. With these, it
was possible to attack the devil-fish without coming within reach of
its tentacles. And now being ready, he took oneof the spears, telling
the biggest of the men to take the other. Then he directed him to aim
for the right eye of the hugefish whilst he would attack the left.
Now since the creature had so nearly captured the bo'sun, it had
ceasedto tug at the boat, and lay silent, with its tentacles spread
all about it, and its great eyes appearing just over the stern, so
that it presented an appearance of watching our movements; though
Idoubt if it saw us with any clearness; for it must have been dazed
with the brightness of the sunshine.
And now the bo'sun gave the signal to attack,at which he and the
manran down upon the creature with their lances, as it were, in
rest.The bo'sun's spear took the monster truly in its left eye; but
the one wielded by the man was too bendable, and sagged so much that
it struck the stern-post of the boat, the knifeblade snapping off
short. Yet it mattered not; for the wound inflicted by the bo'sun's
weapon was so frightful, that the giant cuttle-fish released the boat,
and slid back into deep water, churning it into foam, and gouting
blood.
For some minutes we waited to make sure thatthe monster had indeed
gone, and after that, we hastened to the boat, and drew her up so far
as we were able; after which we unloaded the heaviest of her contents,
and so were able to get her right clear of the water.
And for an hour afterwards the sea all about the little beach was
stained black, and inplaces red. [ tobe continued....]
