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Chapter X.
In Desperate Straits.

It was on August 24th that we saw that ship heading towards us, but though the sight had filled us with hopes, those hopes grew faint and more faint as the days passed away without anything happening.

It was possible that the ship itself might have encountered bad weather, and so have been prevented from either returning or making our helpless condition known to others, in which case we might still hope for the advent of a rescue party; but in the meantime, whilst we were waiting, we were also in dire peril of perishing from starvation.

We got to the last day of August, and there had not been any single day when the weather was calm enough to give us the least hope of getting across to Auckland Island. There were the boats all ready, and we had made our arrangements as to who should cross in them, but it would have been madness to make the attempt with such seas as were running all the time.

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All we could do was to wait; and it looked as if waiting meant starving.

The birds were very scarce now, and it would not be long before the rest of them were gone. They were quite strong on the wing, and even those which remained proved very difficult to catch; so that it was no uncommon thing for us to return home empty-handed when we went after them. The seals, too, as I have said, were very, very shy, and, moreover, it was very dangerous to attempt to get at them.

It was only in bright weather that they came out to sun themselves, and then we had some chance of cutting them off before they could get to the water. In cloudy weather they either did not come to land at all, or else they secreted themselves in great holes worn in the boulders, and to get at them was just taking one's life in one's hand.

For the beach where they gathered consisted of huge boulders which had fallen from the cliffs. Not little rocks like one may see on our own coast, but great masses of stone, weighing hundreds of tons. These huge masses of rock lay scattered in all directions, covered with weeds, and between them there were deep gaps and holes often quite hidden by the weed, into which a man might easily fall, and get seriously injured or jammed. Then there were smaller cracks into which a man might thrust his leg and break it, or, getting it fixed, have to wait until the water reached him, and so perish miserably.

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Moreover, at high tide, there was not a space of six feet between the water and the cliff, and big waves soon cleared that, making it almost impossible for anyone to stand there without getting washed away.

The seals would get into the holes beneath the rocks, and the only way to come at them was to go in after them head first—no very enviable task, when one remembers that a big seal could crack a man's skull with one scrunch of his powerful teeth.

Our method was to crawl in a little way, armed with a long stick, and keep watch on the seals until they came out; and, remember, that whilst doing this we had to keep one eye on the tide, since two or three waves would have finished us, had we been caught in such a position.

As time passed they became angry and wild, and one would come roaring and barking at his tormentors, showing a set of business-like teeth; and then the intruder had to get out quick, or things would have been lively for him. He would soon come out, the seal after him, and then, once the creature was in the open, it was practically at our mercy, and the battle was soon ended.

I am sure my readers will easily understand that hunting under such conditions was a thing which even a brave man might hesitate to do; but it was what we were compelled to face, unless the sun came out, and that was a thing which did not occur very often away there in our terrible island prison.

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I remember well the last time that I went down to the sealing-ground. It was a terrible day, blowing great guns. The road down was bad at the best, as I have already told you, but with a heavy gale and driving snow it was well-nigh madness to attempt it.

And yet we were driven to it by hunger, and hunger is a hard task-master. We were cleared out of food, and we sat dejectedly in our huts, or around the fire, discussing what was to be done. One after another declared that they would not attempt to visit the sealing ground in such weather.

"Better be hungry than get killed," was the general verdict. "It may be better tomorrow."

"That's what we've been saying every day," I answered. "And it seems that we shall go on saying it; and whilst we are waiting for the sun that does not shine, or the ship that does not come, we may starve. I am going to have a try for one."

"Don't do it, Charlie," was the advice I received from some, whilst others declared that if I was such a fool it was my look-out.

"It's dog's weather! Even if you get down, you would not find seals, and if you did, you could not get at them. And even if you killed one, you could not get it up the cliff."

"If I secure one I will soon see about getting it up," I answered. "I don't like sitting here doing nothing—it's not my way. It is just knuckling under to things, and owning up that we are beaten; and we have made too big a page 182fight to do that now. We have faced a whole lot of things that seemed impossible, but we have managed to do them somehow, and—— Well, if no one says they are coming with me, I go alone."

"Look here, Charlie," cried Bob Ellis. "I am not going to stand that. I don't put much faith in going, but if you are going to risk it, I will come with you. You would not stand much chance alone."

That was cheery, for Bob was a good mate, ready to take his share of peril, and not standing back whilst other fellows did the work, and I was right glad to have him with me.

"I wouldn't try it," advised the others. "Better a feed of root, or no feed at all, than getting killed; and that is what you two will be asking for."

"Don't you worry. You keep the fire up ready to do the cooking, and we'll go and get the seal."

"Then I am coming along with you," suddenly announced another man, Jack Stewart by name. "If you are in earnest, I am willing to lend a hand."

"The more the merrier," I said; and then a third man volunteered—John Puhze, the Russian. He was the man from whom I had taken that box of matches on the night of the wreck.

Well, no more volunteers seemed forthcoming, so we four set out. We took our line, for we needed that in getting up and down, and we page 183armed ourselves with sticks, and off we set; and didn't it blow as we crossed to the sealing-ground! We were glad of the rough-and-ready clothing which we had made then, for it is certain that unless we had been able to have some sort of better covering than the rags of our old clothes, we should have all perished of cold.

It was an awful job getting down the cliff; we had to hang on by our eyelids, as the saying is, the path was so slippery, and the wind tore at us and beat us, until it seemed that it would sweep up sheer from the narrow ledge down which we went.

And below, how the waves came thundering in, how they roared, how the spray went flying up in great clouds! It was a scene of wild desolation, and there was no trace of any seal to be seen.

But that did not trouble us. We knew that in such weather there would probably be several hidden away in their lairs—young ones especially. There was not a trace of the sun, but a dull, melancholy gloom hung over all, as, at last, we safely finished our perilous journey and stood together on the beach.

"Now we have got to hunt for them," I said; and so we went clambering amongst the mighty boulders, slipping on the treacherous weed, falling and bruising ourselves, and ever having to keep a wary eye on the sea, lest we ventured too near the waves and so got swept away.

But the seals seemed very scarce, and we began to think that our comrades were right page 184when they declared that we were taking all our trouble for nothing.

"Sea too rough. Seals won't come ashore," said John Puhze. But I objected to that.

"It's just the rough weather that will keep them in their holes, John. We have just to go on searching. We are bound to find some soon. And we must have some food somehow. It's no good giving up."

"But the tide is rising quickly," remarked Stewart, with an uneasy glance towards the waves.

"That looks a bit likely," I said, disregarding Jack's remark, as I paused before one big rock that had a long, narrow tunnel worn in it. And I stooped down and peered in. Grow—wow-wough !

A seal's bark and a pair of glowing eyes-two pairs. Why, fortune had favoured me! There in the dim distance I saw no less than four young seals all glaring at me, and telling me as plainly as they could that they preferred my room to my company.

But I had just the opposite opinion. I preferred their company to their room, and so I got up, and we consulted how we were to set to work.

Puhze and Stewart had gone off to some other rock, and Ellis and I were alone. Right opposite to the hole through which the seal would have to come was another rock, tunnelled through in the same way, and cutting off their retreat to the sea. If we could get them out they would be certain to make for page 185that hole, and so slip through and make for the water.

So Bob Ellis went round and took up his station on the other side of this hole nearest the sea, and I with my stick—fortunately it was a good long one—lay down and tried to reach the seals in their cave, whilst they growled to inform me that they did not like the game that I was playing, but preferred being left in peace. But we were hungry, and our mates were starving for want of food.

"Hurry up, Charlie, the tide is getting near!" came Bob's message.

But it was no good telling me to hurry, for the seals would not be hurried. They clustered together right at the end of their hiding-place, roaring out their anger and biting at the stick. But they would not budge for anything.

But the more they refused the harder I struggled, and they began to get very wild. I kept a wary eye on them, for I knew what would come in the end; and, though they were but youngsters, they would be able to inflict very severe bites.

I had a good half an hour of it, and all the time Bob waited round the other side of the rock, ready to knock them over as they came out, for it was plain that I should have all I could do to clear out of their way when the charge came. And come it did at last, for with one mighty roar of rage all four of them came at once towards the entrance, literally throwing themselves at me.

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I yelled out to Bob to stand by, and dodged aside, throwing myself out of their track. They did not turn to attack me, but passed on as we had thought they would, straight for the sea through that other hole, and there Bob was ready. Whack, whack went his stick, falling with unerring aim right on the vital spot over the nose. And then we raised a whoop of triumph, for we had three fine young ones before us. The peril of starvation was averted once more for the time, and we had to take the words of Scripture then, "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." The morrow always had to take care of itself.

Puhze and Stewart now joined us, and we dragged the bodies up close to the cliff, and skinned and flayed them, and put the skins safely aside for future handling. But though we had succeeded so far, it was a perilous and difficult job to get them up the cliff. It was hard work, but we did it, and at last, shouldering our booty, we set off to tramp back to the camp.

Now, the other fellows had not had much hope that we should succeed, and our advent was therefore hailed with a shout of satisfaction.

"They have got three!"

"Bully for you, chaps!"

"More power to you!"

Such were the shouts which greeted us upon our arrival, and we felt elated, I particularly so, for besides having a supply of food, our success had a moral value which was of considerable worth. It showed that it was worth page 187while having a try for things, and not sitting down and giving up whilst a chance remained.

That evening we had a good feast of seal meat, and we all felt more hopeful. Alas! our hopes were to be dashed to the ground, and the courage of all was to be tried, and the good spirits of even Mickey and myself were to fail ere we escaped the rocky confines of Disappointment Island.

I have to skip over a good deal, for if I were to tell the doings of each day, the hundred disappointments, perils and trials, I should never get through my yarn. And, after all, one day was like another, for there was the same hardship, the same hope, the same disappointment in each of them.

We got through September almost, and not one single day had been fair enough for us to put to sea. Rain and snow, wind and mist, it was one day after another the same story, and things were as bad as bad could be.

Now and again we got a capture of molly-hawk, or a chance seal; but most of the time we were living on seaweed, on root, and on grass itself—on anything that would stay the pangs of hunger and fill us, no matter how ill it made us feel afterwards. We were a gaunt, miserable-looking set, our faces all drawn and yellow, our hair and beards long, tangled masses, but our teeth as white and pearly as could be. That was a very strange thing. Many a lady might have envied us our white teeth, but they looked very strange when we page 188opened our mouths. I suppose it was something we ate; but at any rate, men whose teeth had formerly been quite black through smoking tobacco had now a set which might vie with the most dainty maiden's in whiteness, if not in size and regularity.

We had, of course, made all our arrangements for the voyage. It would not have done to leave them until fine weather arrived. First we had made a canvas bag in which to carry a supply of fresh water. Of course, we should lose some through its oozing, but not much; and though it was not the easiest thing in the world to drink out of, we were sure to be very glad of it.

Then there was the question of a fire. How were we to take a fire over with us. We dared not build one in our boat, for it would soon burn a hole through her, even if it was not swamped. I had thought that out before, and my plan was to get a piece of earth, and dig a little hole in it, line this hole with stones, and carry a little fire in that way, continually supplying it with fresh wood on the voyage. It seemed to work all right when we tried it, and so we had it kept in readiness for the long-looked-for fine day.

Then we had settled upon who should go. Our boats would carry eight. The first boat we were not going to use. That was to stop with the men who remained on the island, and they claimed the wooden oars also. We did not quarrel over that, for, after all, they were more clumsy than our paddles page 189as there were no rowlocks or thwarts in the boats.

Our two crews were made up as follows: Knudsen, Maclaghan, John Gratton and George Ivemey were in one boat; and John Judge, Harry Walters, Albert Roberts—the cabin-boy—and myself in the other.

Knudsen was not very pleased with this arrangement, for he considered that his crew were far too weak, as compared with ours. He did not like haying Mickey and Ivemey, who were neither of them strong enough, in his opinion, to be of any real service, and he feared that the brunt of the work would fall upon himself and Mr. Maclaghlan, who himself was fit for very little hard work.

He had complained of this several times, and he said plainly that he would never have consented to put to sea with such a crew had we not promised to stand by in the second canoe.

"I would never have gone without you two fellows," he said to Walters and I. "Those fellows are not up to it. They will be properly done before we are half-way over, and what will happen then ?"

In this Knudsen was right. This voyage was one of hardship. Six miles in a good boat is a mere nothing, but six miles in a crazy canvas boat, where there was the danger of smashing the whole thing up unless she was skilfully handled, was a serious business, and there was a big risk hanging on to it. Neither Mickey nor Ivemey were strong enough in my page 190estimation, and I agreed with Knudsen on that point.

Judge, Walters and myself were all pretty fit, and naturally we did not want to make any changes, unless it was to let Roberts go in place of one of the other crew. And, of course, that would not have satisfied Knudsen a bit, for the cabin-boy was only a stripling, and could hardly be expected to hold out very long.

Well, the days went one after another, and still we did not have an opportunity of making our attempt to reach the big island, and things looked as bad as they possibly could. And then one morning at the very end of September there came a lull, and we decided that it was a case of now or never with us.

"You will be sure to repent it," was the cheerful statement of the fellows who had been before. "You won't be there a day before you will want to be back here. You don't know what you are going to. We have had some, and we warn you that it is just waste of time to make the journey."

"May be, may be not. We mean to go, so don't try and put a damper on us," I answered. And Knudsen and I bustled about making our final preparations.

We went down to the landing-place, most of the other fellows coming to see us off; though some of them did not take the trouble to do even that, so certain they were that we were just madmen undertaking an impossible task.

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But then, they had thought much the same about that sealing expedition, and yet somehow we had managed to pull it off all right, so we paid little heed to their croaking. This was our deal. If we died, we died; if we got through, then so much the better for all the rest of them.

We had a good look at our boats, and in spite of the bad weather they seemed all right. We pulled off our clumsy coats, and, carrying Knudsen's boat down, we launched it, and he got in and by himself paddled out a little way to see that everything was right, and to wait until our boat was launched.

Now, though I have said that there was a lull in the weather, you must not imagine that the sea was calm. On the contrary, there was a swell which a landsman would call a rough sea, but which was calm in comparison to what we had been having— as calm as we hoped to have it. And we dared not wait any longer, things were so very serious.

Well, Knudsen was paddling there in his boat, and she rode well, and we launched our boat. Judge and Walters got in, and we handed them our things.

First of all the bottle of water and the clod with the fire going good in its centre, then all our skin coats. We had taken them off because we knew we could not paddle in them, and taking them off in the boat would have been too dangerous.

"It's a bit rough," I remarked, as I page 192watched the big swell come In. "I wonder how it will be over there ?"

It might have been all right if we had possessed any sort of breakwater or a quay; but to launch these frail craft from the beach whilst big swells kept them bumping in a smother of surf was no easy thing. But it had to be done; if we did not take this chance there was no telling when we should get another.

Some of the fellows who had come to see us off had got hold of the boat's painter, which we had fashioned of canvas, and the rest of us were handing in our properties to Walters and Judge. And then, just when everything was stowed, and Roberts and myself were going to get in, an extra big wave came right up the little creek from seaward.

"Look out !"

"Take care there !"

We yelled our warnings to the two in the boat, but it was too late. They had not noticed that swell, and, before they could drop the things they were handling and seize the paddles, it was upon them.

Up like a cork that great wave bore our poor little boat, and sent it smash, crash, on the rocks, so that the canvas ripped in every direction. Then as the water receded, the craft turned completely over and sank before our eyes.

Judge and Walters sprang from the boat as it struck the rocks, and were dragged by the page 193backwash into deep water, and they had a hard job to get back to shore.

For a few moments there was a scene of indescribable confusion. There were our two companions struggling in the surf, battling towards the land. There were some of us hanging to the painter of the boat, and striving to drag it up so that the canvas might be saved, and others standing by to aid Judge and Walters when they got near enough. And meantime, there were our precious coats floating out to sea !

Knudsen in his boat tried to snatch at them as they floated away, but he was unable to do so, for the craft was unwieldy, and he had to be careful that his boat did not suffer the same unhappy fate as ours had done.

"Come in! Come in!" we yelled to him. For at that moment our coats were our chief thought, our two comrades having got into safety. And he, not without some difficulty, brought his boat to the shore; for it was a difficult task for him to keep his canoe head to the wind, which seemed to be rising all the time.

However, he got it safely to the beach, and I scrambled in and seized a paddle.

"Give way, Knudsen!" I shouted. "We must get those coats back somehow," And we went paddling on, and sending her along in first-class style.

But it was a hunt, for the waves had separated the coats, and one was drifting here page 194and another there. Fortunately they floated, or we should have lost the lot; but as it was, after a good deal of hard work, and paddling this way and that, we managed to capture the whole of them, and then turned back towards the wreck and the shore.

Walters and Judge had been pulled safely out, but they were half-drowned before they got to shore. And the rest of them were hauling away at the canvas painter, trying to drag the sunken boat up, and fearing every moment that the canvas would part.

It was not the frame we wanted so much— we could make another of those—it was the canvas, for without that no new boat could be fashioned.

As soon as Knudsen and I had got safely to land, and had, with the aid of some of the others, carried the remaining boat to safety, we turned our attention to the salving of the damaged one; no easy matter, for the backwash of the waves almost pulled us over.

But at last, with infinite trouble, a good deal of danger, and a lot of patience, we managed to drag the wreck up on to the beach, and then, to our disappointment, we saw that all our trouble had been for nothing.

The frame was smashed—that we had expected —but the canvas was also ruined. It had been none too strong at the best, for it was the piece which we had stitched together again, after having used it for clothes. You can imagine what the task had been, piecing the thing together, and having nothing but birds' bones page 195for needles. It had taken us a long time, and now as we looked upon it, we saw that it would never be of use again.

It was torn and gashed all over; the rocks had ruined it, and now, after all our trouble, the whole was absolutely useless.

"Well, we still have one boat," we said, and we looked at Knudsen, not quite sure whether he would still make a start or not. We did not remain in uncertainty for long, for the third mate spoke, and spoke with such determination that there was no mistaking his sincerity.

"I am not going to-day, anyhow," he said; "and I won't go at all with the crew that is picked for me. I would not have done it at first if the other fellows had not been coming, and now their canoe is done for I am not going to take the risk."

"What will you do, then?" he was asked. And he answered:

"Nothing now. We have had quite enough for one day. We have lost one boat, we have ruined the canvas, and a couple of us are pretty nigh drowned. That's quite enough for one helping, so let us get back to the camp."

Well, we all felt pretty worn, we had spent so much thought and time upon our preparations, and this was the end of it!

However, it did not do to give way to despair, so as we wended our way back to the camp, I remarked to Gratton:

"Better luck next time!"

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Mickey nodded gravely, and pointed to the gathering clouds.

"True for you, Charlie," he answered. "But we have missed this chance, and when will the next one be coming?"

And that was a question which none of us could answer.