Chapter 20

The chief was as good as his word, and we were soon plentifully
supplied with fresh provisions. We found the tortoises as fine as
we had ever seen, and the ducks surpassed our best species of
wild fowl, being exceedingly tender, juicy, and well-flavoured.
Besides these, the savages brought us, upon our making them
comprehend our wishes, a vast quantity of brown celery and scurvy
grass, with a canoe-load of fresh fish and some dried. The celery
was a treat indeed, and the scurvy grass proved of incalculable
benefit in restoring those of our men who had shown symptoms of
disease. In a very short time we had not a single person on the
sick-list. We had also plenty of other kinds of fresh provisions,
among which may be mentioned a species of shellfish resembling
the mussel in shape, but with the taste of an oyster. Shrimps,
too, and prawns were abundant, and albatross and other birds’
eggs with dark shells. We took in, too, a plentiful stock of the
flesh of the hog which I have mentioned before. Most of the men
found it a palatable food, but I thought it fishy and otherwise
disagreeable. In return for these good things we presented the
natives with blue beads, brass trinkets, nails, knives, and
pieces of red cloth, they being fully delighted in the exchange.
We established a regular market on shore, just under the guns of
the schooner, where our barterings were carried on with every
appearance of good faith, and a degree of order which their
conduct at the village of _Klock-klock_ had not led us to expect
from the savages.

Matters went on thus very amicably for several days, during which
parties of the natives were frequently on board the schooner, and
parties of our men frequently on shore, making long excursions
into the interior, and receiving no molestation whatever. Finding
the ease with which the vessel might be loaded with _biche de
mer_, owing to the friendly disposition of the islanders, and the
readiness with which they would render us assistance in
collecting it, Captain Guy resolved to enter into negotiations
with Too-wit for the erection of suitable houses in which to cure
the article, and for the services of himself and tribe in
gathering as much as possible, while he himself took advantage of
the fine weather to prosecute his voyage to the southward. Upon
mentioning this project to the chief he seemed very willing to
enter into an agreement. A bargain was accordingly struck,
perfectly satisfactory to both parties, by which it was arranged
that, after making the necessary preparations, such as laying off
the proper grounds, erecting a portion of the buildings, and
doing some other work in which the whole of our crew would be
required, the schooner should proceed on her route, leaving three
of her men on the island to superintend the fulfilment of the
project, and instruct the natives in drying the _biche de mer_.
In regard to terms, these were made to depend upon the exertions
of the savages in our absence. They were to receive a stipulated
quantity of blue beads, knives, red cloth, and so forth, for
every certain number of piculs of the _biche de mer_ which should
be ready on our return.

A description of the nature of this important article of
commerce, and the method of preparing it, may prove of some
interest to my readers, and I can find no more suitable place
than this for introducing an account of it. The following
comprehensive notice of the substance is taken from a modern
history of a voyage to the South Seas.

“It is that _mollusca_ from the Indian Seas which is known to
commerce by the French name _bouche de mer_ (a nice morsel from
the sea). If I am not much mistaken, the celebrated Cuvier calls
it _gasteropeda pulmonifera_. It is abundantly gathered in the
coasts of the Pacific islands, and gathered especially for the
Chinese market, where it commands a great price, perhaps as much
as their much-talked-of edible birds’ nests, which are properly
made up of the gelatinous matter picked up by a species of
swallow from the body of these molluscae. They have no shell, no
legs, nor any prominent part, except an _absorbing_ and an
_excretory_, opposite organs; but, by their elastic wings, like
caterpillars or worms, they creep in shallow waters, in which,
when low, they can be seen by a kind of swallow, the sharp bill
of which, inserted in the soft animal, draws a gummy and
filamentous substance, which, by drying, can be wrought into the
solid walls of their nest. Hence the name of _gasteropeda
pulmonifera_.

“This mollusca is oblong, and of different sizes, from three to
eighteen inches in length; and I have seen a few that were not
less than two feet long. They were nearly round, a little
flattish on one side, which lies next to the bottom of the sea;
and they are from one to eight inches thick. They crawl up into
shallow water at particular seasons of the year, probably for the
purpose of gendering, as we often find them in pairs. It is when
the sun has the most power on the water, rendering it tepid, that
they approach the shore; and they often go up into places so
shallow that, on the tide’s receding, they are left dry, exposed
to the beat of the sun. But they do not bring forth their young
in shallow water, as we never see any of their progeny, and
full-grown ones are always observed coming in from deep water.
They feed principally on that class of zoophytes which produce
the coral.

“The _biche de mer_ is generally taken in three or four feet of
water; after which they are brought on shore, and split at one
end with a knife, the incision being one inch or more, according
to the size of the mollusca. Through this opening the entrails
are forced out by pressure, and they are much like those of any
other small tenant of the deep. The article is then washed, and
afterward boiled to a certain degree, which must not be too much
or too little. They are then buried in the ground for four hours,
then boiled again for a short time, after which they are dried,
either by the fire or the sun. Those cured by the sun are worth
the most; but where one picul (133 1/3 lbs.) can be cured that
way, I can cure thirty piculs by the fire. When once properly
cured, they can be kept in a dry place for two or three years
without any risk; but they should be examined once in every few
months, say four times a year, to see if any dampness is likely
to affect them.

“The Chinese, as before stated, consider _biche de mer_ a very
great luxury, believing that it wonderfully strengthens and
nourishes the system, and renews the exhausted system of the
immoderate voluptuary. The first quality commands a high price in
Canton, being worth ninety dollars a picul; the second quality,
seventy-five dollars; the third, fifty dollars; the fourth,
thirty dollars; the fifth, twenty dollars; the sixth, twelve
dollars; the seventh, eight dollars; and the eighth, four
dollars; small cargoes, however, will often bring more in
Manilla, Singapore, and Batavia.”

An agreement having been thus entered into, we proceeded
immediately to land everything necessary for preparing the
buildings and clearing the ground. A large flat space near the
eastern shore of the bay was selected, where there was plenty of
both wood and water, and within a convenient distance of the
principal reefs on which the _biche de mer_ was to be procured.
We now all set to work in good earnest, and soon, to the great
astonishment of the savages, had felled a sufficient number of
trees for our purpose, getting them quickly in order for the
framework of the houses, which in two or three days were so far
under way that we could safely trust the rest of the work to the
three men whom we intended to leave behind. These were John
Carson, Alfred Harris, and ___ Peterson (all natives of London, I
believe), who volunteered their services in this respect.

By the last of the month we had everything in readiness for
departure. We had agreed, however, to pay a formal visit of
leave-taking to the village, and Too-wit insisted so
pertinaciously upon our keeping the promise that we did not think
it advisable to run the risk of offending him by a final refusal.
I believe that not one of us had at this time the slightest
suspicion of the good faith of the savages. They had uniformly
behaved with the greatest decorum, aiding us with alacrity in our
work, offering us their commodities, frequently without price,
and never, in any instance, pilfering a single article, although
the high value they set upon the goods we had with us was evident
by the extravagant demonstrations of joy always manifested upon
our making them a present. The women especially were most
obliging in every respect, and, upon the whole, we should have
been the most suspicious of human beings had we entertained a
single thought of perfidy on the part of a people who treated us
so well. A very short while sufficed to prove that this apparent
kindness of disposition was only the result of a deeply laid plan
for our destruction, and that the islanders for whom we
entertained such inordinate feelings of esteem, were among the
most barbarous, subtle, and bloodthirsty wretches that ever
contaminated the face of the globe.

It was on the first of February that we went on shore for the
purpose of visiting the village. Although, as said before, we
entertained not the slightest suspicion, still no proper
precaution was neglected. Six men were left in the schooner, with
instructions to permit none of the savages to approach the vessel
during our absence, under any pretence whatever, and to remain
constantly on deck. The boarding-nettings were up, the guns
double-shotted with grape and canister, and the swivels loaded
with canisters of musket-balls. She lay, with her anchor apeak,
about a mile from the shore, and no canoe could approach her in
any direction without being distinctly seen and exposed to the
full fire of our swivels immediately.

The six men being left on board, our shore-party consisted of
thirty-two persons in all. We were armed to the teeth, having
with us muskets, pistols, and cutlasses; besides, each had a long
kind of seaman’s knife, somewhat resembling the bowie knife now
so much used throughout our western and southern country. A
hundred of the black skin warriors met us at the landing for the
purpose of accompanying us on our way. We noticed, however, with
some surprise, that they were now entirely without arms; and,
upon questioning Too-wit in relation to this circumstance, he
merely answered that _Mattee non we pa pa si_—meaning that there
was no need of arms where all were brothers. We took this in good
part, and proceeded.

We had passed the spring and rivulet of which I before spoke, and
were now entering upon a narrow gorge leading through the chain
of soapstone hills among which the village was situated. This
gorge was very rocky and uneven, so much so that it was with no
little difficulty we scrambled through it on our first visit to
Klock-klock. The whole length of the ravine might have been a
mile and a half, or probably two miles. It wound in every
possible direction through the hills (having apparently formed,
at some remote period, the bed of a torrent), in no instance
proceeding more than twenty yards without an abrupt turn. The
sides of this dell would have averaged, I am sure, seventy or
eighty feet in perpendicular altitude throughout the whole of
their extent, and in some portions they arose to an astonishing
height, overshadowing the pass so completely that but little of
the light of day could penetrate. The general width was about
forty feet, and occasionally it diminished so as not to allow the
passage of more than five or six persons abreast. In short, there
could be no place in the world better adapted for the
consummation of an ambuscade, and it was no more than natural
that we should look carefully to our arms as we entered upon it.
When I now think of our egregious folly, the chief subject of
astonishment seems to be, that we should have ever ventured,
under any circumstances, so completely into the power of unknown
savages as to permit them to march both before and behind us in
our progress through this ravine. Yet such was the order we
blindly took up, trusting foolishly to the force of our party,
the unarmed condition of Too-wit and his men, the certain
efficacy of our firearms (whose effect was yet a secret to the
natives), and, more than all, to the long-sustained pretension of
friendship kept up by these infamous wretches. Five or six of
them went on before, as if to lead the way, ostentatiously
busying themselves in removing the larger stones and rubbish from
the path. Next came our own party. We walked closely together,
taking care only to prevent separation. Behind followed the main
body of the savages, observing unusual order and decorum.

Dirk Peters, a man named Wilson Allen, and myself were on the
right of our companions, examining, as we went along, the
singular stratification of the precipice which overhung us. A
fissure in the soft rock attracted our attention. It was about
wide enough for one person to enter without squeezing, and
extended back into the hill some eighteen or twenty feet in a
straight course, sloping afterward to the left. The height of the
opening, is far as we could see into it from the main gorge, was
perhaps sixty or seventy feet. There were one or two stunted
shrubs growing from the crevices, bearing a species of filbert
which I felt some curiosity to examine, and pushed in briskly for
that purpose, gathering five or six of the nuts at a grasp, and
then hastily retreating. As I turned, I found that Peters and
Allen had followed me. I desired them to go back, as there was
not room for two persons to pass, saying they should have some of
my nuts. They accordingly turned, and were scrambling back, Allen
being close to the mouth of the fissure, when I was suddenly
aware of a concussion resembling nothing I had ever before
experienced, and which impressed me with a vague conception, if
indeed I then thought of anything, that the whole foundations of
the solid globe were suddenly rent asunder, and that the day of
universal dissolution was at hand.