Part 3

During all this time I had suspended work on Sundays, but I had occupied the time in making short trips inland, and along the coast in either direction; but finding the forest very dense as I left the shore, I could not have gone more than four or five miles in any direction. My trips along the shore were without results, so far as enlightenment concerning the extent of the island was concerned, for every bend of the coast revealed only headlands and more coast-line stretching away beyond.

The results of my wandering in the bush had troubled me not a little, for I had found no new fruits and vegetables, and had discovered no animals, or birds that I could bring myself to think edible. There were only parrots and smaller birds, some of brilliant plumage; and even had I chosen to eat them I had no means of securing the game. I was somewhat surprised not to find more humming birds. I saw only one kind, a large, black species, having two tiny golden feathers each about six inches long at the sides of its tail. Of snakes, I had seen none, nor land turtles.

The sea-shore, too, seemed to be as devoid of food supplies, for I had seen no sea turtle, though I knew that they should be plentiful in this latitude.

But I refrained from attempting a systematic exploration, feeling it would be wise to first provide as secure a retreat as possible for my permanent headquarters.

*CHAPTER VIII.*

_*Thoughts of the Future; Making a Bow-Gun*_*.*

My house was now finished, and I began, with a light heart to think about starting on a long exploring trip. Before taking my departure, however, two questions of importance must be solved, if possible, namely, that of devising a weapon with which I could shoot game, if any was found; and some means of procuring fire.

The morning following the completion of the house and stockade, as I was walking toward the orange tree which continued to furnish me with an ample supply of fruit, an idea came to me, and so astonished was I that I had not thought of it before that I stopped short and gazed straight ahead of me for several minutes.

My knife!

Here was steel; now for a flint, and fire would be procurable at any moment. I understood the use of flint and steel, for many times, in our boyhood, my brother and I, on our excursions in the woods, had made fires with old gun-flints and our pocket-knives as steel, for cooking grey squirrels when we were fortunate enough to shoot any. We did this from choice, because of the novelty.

Without further thought of breakfast I turned toward the shore to search for a substitute for flint, for I did not expect to find the real article here, as I had only seen soft, calcareous rock which appeared to be the prevailing kind.

A long search up and down the beach failed to disclose any hard rock, not even a pebble of sufficient size. Shells were abundant, but they would not answer the purpose. I next turned my attention to the brook, and searched along the shallowest places for a hard stone. I found one at last, round and flat, about the size of a silver dollar. It was very dark, almost black, and appeared to be quite hard. Wiping it with my hand I laid it down in the sun and waited impatiently for it to dry. When perfectly free of moisture, I opened my knife, and holding the blade firmly in my left hand, I struck the stone sharply against the back of the blade, with a quick downward stroke. No spark appeared. Over and over again I tried but without success, but I saw that the stone scratched the steel, which gave me hope that the stone was sufficiently hard.

After several more trials, a tiny spark shot downward from the blade. My joy knew no bounds. Tinder must be procured. Like a flash came to my mind the feathery heads of the wild cane. If I could find one dry enough I thought it would do. I at once ran up stream to where the canes grew, and after a little search I found a plume that was dead and quite dry. Bending the cane down I gathered a handful of the floss from the head, and going to the foot of a cocoanut tree, I lay the cane floss down by the foot of the tree and once more tried to produce a spark. I was soon able to obtain a spark frequently, but they invariably failed to reach the floss, or to ignite when they touched it. But I saw that I had fire within reach, and it only required perseverance to procure it. Holding the knife blade closer to the floss, I struck again. This time a shower of tiny sparks descended to the floss, and, yes, it had caught! Quickly dropping the knife and stone I partially covered it with my hands and very gently blew upon it. A tiny wreath of smoke arose as the fire spread through the wad of floss. Blowing upon it still harder, in short quick puffs, a tiny flame leaped up; and quickly gathering such dry leaves and grass as I could reach, I heaped them upon the flame. These were followed by small dry sticks until I had a good fire going. I now only needed something to cook, and that I proposed to search for. But fire was desirable as company at night, and to ward off wild beasts should any be found; also in the future I might wish to make signals by the aid of smoke.

Not wishing to injure my faithful friend the cocoanut tree, I allowed the fire to go out, feeling full confidence in my ability to procure it any time I wished.

I now set about preparing for my journey of exploration, meanwhile carefully watering, several times each day, the creepers that I had set out along the walls of the stockade, until they showed no further signs of wilting during the greatest heat of the day. The water I brought, with much labor and many trips, from the brook, in cocoanut shells.

It occurred to me to plant vines in front of the door of the stockade, so that, should I be absent for a great length of time, they would grow up over the door and still further obscure my retreat. Acting on this idea, I searched about the bush for a vine less woody than those planted along the stockade. At length, on the further side of the clearing, I discovered a vine, not unlike a morning glory vine, only it had larger leaves, climbing up a tall, smooth tree, and this seemed to answer my purpose. So, getting down upon my knees I began to dig around the root in order to move it without disturbing the earth immediately surrounding it; when but a few inches below the top of the ground I came across a round, hard object which I at first thought to be a large root of the tree, but in digging still further around it I saw that the supposed root moved, until finally I lifted it out of the ground. As I did so I noticed that it had one end attached to the vine that I was after. The root was fully a foot and a half long, and about five inches in diameter, slightly rounded at the ends. I cut off the vine with my knife, and ran with the root to the brook and washed it clean. I now saw that I had found some kind of a tuber. With my knife I cut through the thin rough skin, disclosing a white substance beneath. Quickly cutting it in halves I found that the inside of the tuber was white and starchy. I wondered what it could be. It was not a sweet potato, for the latter is yellow. Then I began to think of the roots that I had read about in books of travel in the tropics, and the first that came to my mind was the yam. Yes, this must be the yam, though I did not know before that its foliage was in the form of a vine.

Here food was in plenty, healthful and nourishing, and sufficient to sustain life even if I found no other, it being only necessary to roast them in ashes.

I resolved to plant yam vines in front of the gate to the stockade, for, while the vines were growing up to conceal it, they would, in the meantime be storing away food for me against my return. This plan I put into immediate execution.

My next thought was of devising a weapon for offence and defence, also to be used in killing game. The idea of a bow and arrows at first suggested itself, but this was abandoned for the bow-gun, for, as boys, we were able to do good execution with the latter as it had a stock and breech, admitting of securing better aim.

Looking about for material from which to construct the bow-gun, the bamboo seemed to be the most available for the barrel; so I cut down one about two inches in diameter, from which I selected the longest and straightest section between the joints. Next I cut a deep notch about four inches from the larger end, and extending to the centre of the bamboo. From the lower end of the notch I split away the upper half of the tube, thus forming a spout about four feet long which was to carry the arrow. For a breech I selected a forked stick, the butt of which I carefully rounded and smoothed until it would fit tightly into the round socket at the larger end of the barrel, above the notch. This, though crude, furnished a very fair substitute for a breech to rest against my shoulder when taking aim, particularly as I had thought to select a forked stick which had the butt slightly bent so that, when fixed in the breech-end of the barrel, the proper elevation was given.

The next step was to make a bow and fix it firmly across the under side of the barrel, at right angles to it, I searched about in the bush a long time before I found a tree of the right size, straight and without branches; and, on bending it down toward the ground and cutting it, I found that it was elastic and quite hard. From the tree I cut a section about three feet long, which I squared for a distance of two inches in the middle, whittling what was to be the inner side down flat from either side of the squared part to either end, each half tapering slightly from the middle. I did not remove the bark from the back of the bow.

Next I cut a square slot about the width of the squared part in the centre of the bow, in the under side of the bamboo about a foot from what was to be the muzzle, being careful, however, not to cut through into the groove of the barrel. Into this I carefully fitted the squared portion of the bow, after which notches opening in opposite directions were cut on the lower side of the barrel, one on each side of the bow. With one of the supple vines I then lashed the bow firmly, drawing the vine over the notches. When the vine was thoroughly dry the bow would be held firmly and rigidly in place.

The question of arrows was quickly solved, for I could think of nothing that could serve the purpose better than the long smooth stem which supported the heads of the wild canes These were of just the right size and length. I cut several dozens of them, sharpening one end of each, and notching the other to receive the string. To give sufficient weight to the execution end of the arrow, I split a piece of the tough vine into fine strips, with which I closely wound the arrows near the ends, until the proper weight was secured to balance them during their flight and thus render them accurate. For the wings of the arrows I used sprays from the plumes of the wild cane, until I could find something more suitable, fastening them to the string end with fibres from the ever useful vine.

It now only remained to provide a string for the bow, before the weapon could be tested. Carefully separating the longest fibres of the cocoanut cloth. I braided them into a strong cord of uniform size, which I fastened to the bow.

And now for the test! Drawing the string back to the notch, I placed one of the arrows in the groove of the gun and, raising the gun to my shoulder, I released the string with an upward pressure of my right thumb, at the same time pointing the gun in the direction of the brook.

As straight as a line could be drawn, the arrow sped away over the brook and was lost in the thicket beyond. I felt confident of the success of my bow-gun, and after constructing a quiver for the arrows from a piece of the cocoanut cloth fastened together with thorns, and braiding a cord with which to sling it over my shoulder, I turned my attention to the final preparations for departure.

These consisted of providing a store of provisions in case I did not immediately find food on the way. I roasted several of the yams, and gathered two dozen oranges which were stored in a bag made of the cocoanut cloth. I did not include cocoanuts, for I was sure to find plenty as I went along.

I took the precaution to gather a quantity of the cane floss for tinder, which I placed in a short piece of bamboo, which I stopped up tightly at both ends with wooden plugs. This was to protect it from moisture in case of rain. I also took the cocoanut calendar.

The morning for departure arrived. Taking a farewell plunge in the brook, I made a hearty breakfast of yams and oranges, after which, closing the door of the stockade and fastening it with withes of the vine, I slung the quiver of arrows and the bag of provisions over my shoulder, took the bow-gun and started away along the shore, going in a southerly direction.

*CHAPTER IX.*

_*Starts to Explore the Island; Turtles' Eggs*_*.*

I followed the narrow line of sand, sometimes having to make a detour inland to get around a rocky point of land which jutted out into the water, or to avoid a dagger-like plant the spike-like leaves of which were armed with spines as sharp as needles. This, I concluded, must be the Spanish bayonet.

The sun shone brightly, and the sea, deep blue and calm, stretched away toward the west, the long, gentle swells causing but a ripple on the beach. As I progressed, the island along the shore became less attractive than it was in the near vicinity of my house; and in some places it had a parched appearance. Once I was obliged to cross a flat area of several acres in extent, bounded by a high bluff, where I had to make my way cautiously among cactus plants of various kinds; some low and spreading over the ground and bearing beautiful, yellow, wax-like blossoms, and others a great size, like trees denuded of the smaller branches and twigs.

The sun had reached the zenith when I came to a small stream and sat down beneath a wide-spreading tree to rest, and to refresh myself from the provisions that I carried. As I ate I gazed up among the branches of the great tree, whose broad leaves furnished such a grateful shade, when I saw that it bore fruit, round and green, five or six inches in diameter. This I believed to be bread-fruit, from the pictures I had seen, and I resolved to carry two or three along with me, only obtaining them by climbing the tree.

Although I did not intend to travel steadily in the heat of the day during my march, I felt anxious to make a good beginning on the first day out, so after getting cool and feeling well rested, I went on.

As I crossed the brook, scores of small brown crabs scudded away along the bank. They were the first I had seen during my sojourn on the island. Spiders, I had seen many of, some of great size with hairy bodies and long legs; but as they showed no ferocity, I had no fear of them. Indeed on account of their great size I did not believe them to be poisonous. As a rule, the natural histories said, poisonous spiders of the tropics are not of great size, and most of them have short legs.

Having made a long detour around a swampy place which extended to the sea, I came out of the bush upon a wide beach shaped like a semi-circle, or half-moon; and as I did so my attention was attracted to several large, glossy, blackish objects scattered over the beach. I approached one, and found it to be a monstrous turtle. There must have been hundreds of them, and, one by one, as I moved about, they started away toward the water. Some of them were very large, and must have weighed three or four hundred pounds. Had I been so disposed I had no means of dispatching one for food, but I felt sure that the turtles had been depositing their eggs in the sand, and I could easily roast the eggs in the fire, which would form a very acceptable adjunct to my larder.

Accordingly, digging into the sand where the turtles had been lying, I found plenty of round white eggs, a quantity of which I gathered to add to my stores.

It was now near the end of the afternoon, as I observed by the sun, and I decided to select a place to camp for the night. I selected a spot near a thicket of thorn bushes, which would form an effectual protection to the rear, and then began collecting dry branches for a fire. The sun was low in the sky, and the heat was greatly moderated, and, by the time I had collected a large pile of fire wood, a sea breeze sprang up, taking the place of the land breeze of the day, making it cool and comfortable.

I had no difficulty this time in starting a fire, and as soon as it had burned down sufficiently I buried a yam and some of the turtles' eggs in the ashes, and, while they were cooking I occupied the time cutting away a part of the smaller thorn bushes, making a cleared place in which I could sleep during the night, the thicket over me furnishing protection from the dampness of the air.

By the time this was accomplished, and a cocoanut shell of water was brought from the brook, I judged that the yam and eggs were sufficiently cooked, which they proved to be when I uncovered them, and I at once proceeded to eat my evening meal. The eggs proved to be of good flavor, but wanted salt. This reminded me that I must provide a supply of salt, which I could do by evaporating some sea-water as soon as I had the opportunity.

It was now past sunset and rapidly growing dark; so I replenished the pile of firewood, and piling a quantity of it upon the fire, I lay down with a bunch of grass for a pillow, and in a short time fell asleep.

*CHAPTER X.*

_*Under the Coils of a Snake*_*.*

When I awoke in the morning it was with a peculiar sense of oppression. In the first drowsiness I thought there was a great weight across my chest; and my arms were aching. I tried to move, but found that I could not lift my arms. They seemed to be pressed closely to my aides. Thoroughly awake now, I was terrified to find that I was lying beneath the folds of an enormous snake.

Frightened as I was beyond all expression, I maintained sufficient presence of mind to keep perfectly quiet until I could more fully realize my true situation--and, above all, locate the position of the great reptile's head.

As I gazed at the great scaly coils that enveloped me, I saw that the snake was of a pale yellow color. It was perfectly motionless. By tracing the taper of its body I saw that the head must be somewhere near my right shoulder.

I was in a great quandary what to do. Although still anxious for results, I was now quite calm, and my mind was full of plans for escaping from the terrible coils. I dared not move for fear that the snake would strike me with its fangs, or that it might encircle my body and squeeze me to death. Some snakes, like the boa-constrictor, kill their victims by this method; and while I felt sure that this snake was not a boa, on account of its color, I felt that it had the strength to crush me to death.

For a long time I lay in this position, how long I could not tell; but the sun had grown intensely hot as it beat down upon the thicket. I heard the cries of the birds, and looked up at the blue sky with the fleecy clouds floating across it, wondering whether it was to be my fate to die here in the folds of a huge serpent. I wondered too, if bye and bye my bones, bleached white, would be found in the thicket on the shore of this lonely island.

I was gasping for breath on account of the heat, my cramped position and the weight of the serpent's folds across my chest, when I felt it move a little. I wondered if it was preparing to strike me. I did not move, and in a moment it began to move again, and the coils slipped across my body. Slowly it continued to move, until my arms were free and its tail swept across my face.

I was now free, but I waited a few seconds to see if the snake was leaving me. Distinctly hearing it gliding from me, I arose quietly, feeling stiff and sore in my arms and chest. The snake was not in sight, but seeing the grass moving a little distance away, seizing a large stone I sprang after it, but it escaped into the bush.

I reasoned that the snake must have crawled under the thorn bushes after I lay down, and that it coiled upon my body for warmth, as the nights were frequently uncomfortably cool; and so soundly had I slept that its movements had not awakened me.

After this unpleasant adventure I felt anxious to be moving, and, making a fire, cooked some eggs which, with oranges from the stores, comprised my breakfast; after which I gathered a few more turtles' eggs, and resumed my march.

As I had done the day before I followed the coast, but instead of keeping along the sand I followed the edge of the forest, thinking it might prove more advantageous to do so as it would enable me to keep a look-out for game, and perhaps discover new fruits. My progress was necessarily much slower, but the walking was easier as the trees shielded me from the direct heat of the sun, which, on the beach was terrific, the white sand producing a fearful glare which caused no little pain in my eyes.

As I proceeded, the country became more open, and I frequently crossed quite large treeless tracts of tall grass, or stretches which, had it not been for the tropical vegetation surrounding might have been taken for New England pasture land.

One morning, just after resuming my march as I was crossing one of the latter grass tracts, a bird different from any I had before seen arose from the ground and flew into the thicket on the opposite side. Its color was light drab, and the wings and under tail feathers were white. I approached the edge of the bush cautiously, meantime, drawing back the string of my bow-gun and fixing an arrow in place. Laying aside the bag of provisions I crept softly along, until a sharp "coo-o-o" drew my attention to the branches of a tree, where I saw the bird stepping gingerly along one of the larger limbs. Apparently it had not seen me, so, carefully moving to one side until I had a low bush between me and the game, I worked up a little nearer in order to make sure of being within range of the arrow. Then, rising quietly to one knee, I took careful aim and released the string. The sharp "twang," much to my surprise was instantly followed by a flutter as the bird came tumbling to the ground. I hastened forward and picked it up. The arrow had passed entirely through the neck, so that it was quite dead in a few moments. I saw that it was a species of wild pigeon, and therefore edible; and I congratulated myself on securing such an acceptable change in my fare.

I saw no more pigeons after that, but during the succeeding days I found several orange trees from which I replenished my supply of this refreshing fruit.

I continued steadily on, making no important discoveries, following the edge of the brush, but always keeping the sea in sight. Almost every day I went to the beach to look for turtles' eggs, which I usually found in abundance.

The coast continued to loom up before me, head-land after head-land, stretches of beach and rocky bay shores. Allowing for the indentations of the coast that I followed, I concluded that the island was a large one; and, the fact that I was gradually turning toward the direction of the sun convinced me that its shape was nearly round.

I always camped just before sunset that I might have sufficient time to make a fire, cook and eat supper before dark.

I had not kept a fire after supper was cooked, as, having neither seen nor heard anything of wild animals of any kind, I did not feel the need of it; and, beside, I was becoming accustomed to being alone, and to sleeping in the open air, and the nervousness of the first few nights after I was cast ashore had entirely left me.