Chapter 5

DAYLIGHT--I MAKE THE LAND--DICK RECOVERS--CAPTURED BY A NATIVE CANOE-- TAKEN ON SHORE--COMPELLED TO WORK AS SLAVES--OUR HOPES OF ESCAPE DISAPPOINTED--DICK AGAIN ILL--HIS DEATH--I BURY HIM--THREATENING OF WAR--HARRY JOINS ME--WE WITNESS A SINGLE COMBAT--OUR CHAMPION DEFEATED-- CAPTURED BY THE ENEMY--ILL-TREATED--HARRY DISAPPEARS--I ESCAPE TO THE BEACH--SEE A BOAT--THE SAVAGES PURSUE ME--RESCUED BY MUDGE.

Anxiously I looked out ahead for land--now on one bow, now on the other; for I could not tell how far to the westward I had been driven, or on which side it might appear. It was possible, indeed, that I might have got so far to the west as to pass the island altogether should I continue to steer due south; and yet in the uncertainty I hesitated to take another course.

As I sat in the stern-sheets, I watched Tillard's countenance. He seemed at length to have fallen into a quiet sleep, and I trusted that when he awoke he would feel himself much better. I bored a hole in the end of a cocoa-nut, and also got some fish ready, that I might give him some food as soon as he awoke. But still he slept on; and the fear came over me that it might prove the sleep preceding death. Under other circumstances, I should not probably have thought so; but I was weary and anxious, and my spirits sank to the lowest ebb. As I sat in the boat, gliding over the now tranquil sea, glittering with the rays of the sun, I might have been regarded as a picture of perfect contentment,-- very different, indeed, from what was really the case.

Every now and then I stood up to look out for the wished-for land; till at length a light mist which had hung over the water was dissipated by the increasing heat of the sun, and to my joy I caught sight of the lofty headland we had hoped to double the day before, rising out of the blue water much nearer than I had expected to find it. My spirits rose; and I began to hope that, should Dick recover, my troubles and anxieties would be at an end. I could not help shouting out "Land! land!" though I was not aware that I had done so till I heard the sound of my own voice. It had the effect of arousing Dick, however.

"Land, Mr Rayner!" he exclaimed. "I thought we were about to enter the harbour to meet Mr Mudge and the rest."

I tried to explain what had happened, but his senses were too confused to allow him for some time to understand me.

"What! have you been at the helm all night? You must be pretty well knocked up, sir," he said. "Let me take it while you lie down. You need rest."

I observed, from the way he spoke, that his senses were still confused; so I told him that I had already had some sleep, and that I was able to keep at the helm very well for the present.

I now gave him some cocoa-nut milk and a little fish, which he took very readily; and after eating some of the solid food he appeared much better, and was soon able to sit up and talk rationally.

Calculating by the time we had taken to reach the headland, he judged that we should not get into the harbour at soonest till sunset; and he advised that we should economise our food, in case we should be kept out still longer, as would certainly be the case did it again fall calm.

We at length got up with the island. On the western side it presented a succession of high cliffs, along which we coasted. As the day advanced the breeze freshened, and we ran briskly through the water. We had gone half a mile or so along the coast, when I caught sight of a sail ahead.

"Hurrah!" I cried out. "Perhaps that is a ship. Yonder craft may be able to take us and our companions on board."

"She is only a native canoe," observed Dick; "and it is questionable whether she has friends or enemies on board. If the latter, and she catches us, we may have our voyage put a stop to in a way we didn't bargain for."

The craft at which we were looking was one of the large double canoes of these seas, with a single triangular sail of white matting, which I, in the first instance, had taken for canvas. On she came towards us, close-hauled, at a rate which would have made it useless to attempt escaping her. The two canoes which formed the lower part of her structure were of great length, and very narrow, supporting a large platform of some height, which served to keep them some distance apart.

We could only distinguish three men on her deck; and had Dick been well, we might easily have resisted them in the event of their exhibiting any hostile intentions. But he felt himself too weak to show fight, and we agreed that our best course was to put a bold face on the matter, and to bid them go on their way, while we continued our course to the southward. As we drew nearer, however, three more men appeared from below, holding bows and spears in their hands. Placing the spears on the deck, each fixed an arrow to his bow; on seeing which--believing that they were going to shoot--I hauled down the sail, and, holding up my hands, tried to make them understand that I surrendered. On this they withdrew their arrows, and the canoe was steered up alongside the boat. I then pointed to Dick, wishing to explain to them that he was