Chapter 24

On the twentieth of the month, finding it altogether impossible
to subsist any longer upon the filberts, the use of which
occasioned us the most excruciating torment, we resolved to make
a desperate attempt at descending the southern declivity of the
hill. The face of the precipice was here of the softest species
of soapstone, although nearly perpendicular throughout its whole
extent (a depth of a hundred and fifty feet at the least), and in
many places even overarching. After a long search we discovered a
narrow ledge about twenty feet below the brink of the gulf; upon
this Peters contrived to leap, with what assistance I could
render him by means of our pocket-handkerchiefs tied together.
With somewhat more difficulty I also got down; and we then saw
the possibility of descending the whole way by the process in
which we had clambered up from the chasm when we had been buried
by the fall of the hill—that is, by cutting steps in the face of
the soapstone with our knives. The extreme hazard of the attempt
can scarcely be conceived; but, as there was no other resource,
we determined to undertake it.

Upon the ledge where we stood there grew some filbert-bushes; and
to one of these we made fast an end of our rope of handkerchiefs.
The other end being tied round Peters’ waist, I lowered him down
over the edge of the precipice until the handkerchiefs were
stretched tight. He now proceeded to dig a deep hole in the
soapstone (as far in as eight or ten inches), sloping away the
rock above to the height of a foot, or thereabout, so as to allow
of his driving, with the butt of a pistol, a tolerably strong peg
into the levelled surface. I then drew him up for about four
feet, when he made a hole similar to the one below, driving in a
peg as before, and having thus a resting-place for both feet and
hands. I now unfastened the handkerchiefs from the bush, throwing
him the end, which he tied to the peg in the uppermost hole,
letting himself down gently to a station about three feet lower
than he had yet been that is, to the full extent of the
handkerchiefs. Here he dug another hole, and drove another peg.
He then drew himself up, so as to rest his feet in the hole just
cut, taking hold with his hands upon the peg in the one above. It
was now necessary to untie the handkerchiefs from the topmost
peg, with the view of fastening them to the second; and here he
found that an error had been committed in cutting the holes at so
great a distance apart. However, after one or two unsuccessful
and dangerous attempts at reaching the knot (having to hold on
with his left hand while he labored to undo the fastening with
his right), he at length cut the string, leaving six inches of it
affixed to the peg. Tying the handkerchiefs now to the second
peg, he descended to a station below the third, taking care not
to go too far down. By these means (means which I should never
have conceived of myself, and for which we were indebted
altogether to Peters’ ingenuity and resolution) my companion
finally succeeded, with the occasional aid of projections in the
cliff, in reaching the bottom without accident.

It was some time before I could summon sufficient resolution to
follow him; but I did at length attempt it. Peters had taken off
his shirt before descending, and this, with my own, formed the
rope necessary for the adventure. After throwing down the musket
found in the chasm, I fastened this rope to the bushes, and let
myself down rapidly, striving, by the vigor of my movements, to
banish the trepidation which I could overcome in no other manner.
This answered sufficiently well for the first four or five steps;
but presently I found my imagination growing terribly excited by
thoughts of the vast depths yet to be descended, and the
precarious nature of the pegs and soapstone holes which were my
only support. It was in vain I endeavored to banish these
reflections, and to keep my eyes steadily bent upon the flat
surface of the cliff before me. The more earnestly I struggled
_not to think,_the more intensely vivid became my conceptions,
and the more horribly distinct. At length arrived that crisis of
fancy, so fearful in all similar cases, the crisis in which we
began to anticipate the feelings with which we _shall_fall—to
picture to ourselves the sickness, and dizziness, and the last
struggle, and the half swoon, and the final bitterness of the
rushing and headlong descent. And now I found these fancies
creating their own realities, and all imagined horrors crowding
upon me in fact. I felt my knees strike violently together, while
my fingers were gradually but certainly relaxing their grasp.
There was a ringing in my ears, and I said, “This is my knell of
death!” And now I was consumed with the irrepressible desire of
looking below. I could not, I would not, confine my glances to
the cliff; and, with a wild, indefinable emotion, half of horror,
half of a relieved oppression, I threw my vision far down into
the abyss. For one moment my fingers clutched convulsively upon
their hold, while, with the movement, the faintest possible idea
of ultimate escape wandered, like a shadow, through my mind—in
the next my whole soul was pervaded with a longing to fall; a
desire, a yearning, a passion utterly uncontrollable. I let go at
once my grasp upon the peg, and, turning half round from the
precipice, remained tottering for an instant against its naked
face. But now there came a spinning of the brain; a
shrill-sounding and phantom voice screamed within my ears; a
dusky, fiendish, and filmy figure stood immediately beneath me;
and, sighing, I sunk down with a bursting heart, and plunged
within its arms.

I had swooned, and Peters had caught me as I fell. He had
observed my proceedings from his station at the bottom of the
cliff; and perceiving my imminent danger, had endeavored to
inspire me with courage by every suggestion he could devise;
although my confusion of mind had been so great as to prevent my
hearing what he said, or being conscious that he had even spoken
to me at all. At length, seeing me totter, he hastened to ascend
to my rescue, and arrived just in time for my preservation. Had I
fallen with my full weight, the rope of linen would inevitably
have snapped, and I should have been precipitated into the abyss;
as it was, he contrived to let me down gently, so as to remain
suspended without danger until animation returned. This was in
about fifteen minutes. On recovery, my trepidation had entirely
vanished; I felt a new being, and, with some little further aid
from my companion, reached the bottom also in safety.

We now found ourselves not far from the ravine which had proved
the tomb of our friends, and to the southward of the spot where
the hill had fallen. The place was one of singular wildness, and
its aspect brought to my mind the descriptions given by
travellers of those dreary regions marking the site of degraded
Babylon. Not to speak of the ruins of the disrupted cliff, which
formed a chaotic barrier in the vista to the northward, the
surface of the ground in every other direction was strewn with
huge tumuli, apparently the wreck of some gigantic structures of
art; although, in detail, no semblance of art could be detected.
Scoria were abundant, and large shapeless blocks of the black
granite, intermingled with others of marl, {*6} and both
granulated with metal. Of vegetation there were no traces
whatsoever throughout the whole of the desolate area within
sight. Several immense scorpions were seen, and various reptiles
not elsewhere to be found in the high latitudes. As food was our
most immediate object, we resolved to make our way to the
seacoast, distant not more than half a mile, with a view of
catching turtle, several of which we had observed from our place
of concealment on the hill. We had proceeded some hundred yards,
threading our route cautiously between the huge rocks and tumuli,
when, upon turning a corner, five savages sprung upon us from a
small cavern, felling Peters to the ground with a blow from a
club. As he fell the whole party rushed upon him to secure their
victim, leaving me time to recover from my astonishment. I still
had the musket, but the barrel had received so much injury in
being thrown from the precipice that I cast it aside as useless,
preferring to trust my pistols, which had been carefully
preserved in order. With these I advanced upon the assailants,
firing one after the other in quick succession. Two savages fell,
and one, who was in the act of thrusting a spear into Peters,
sprung to his feet without accomplishing his purpose. My
companion being thus released, we had no further difficulty. He
had his pistols also, but prudently declined using them,
confiding in his great personal strength, which far exceeded that
of any person I have ever known. Seizing a club from one of the
savages who had fallen, he dashed out the brains of the three who
remained, killing each instantaneously with a single blow of the
weapon, and leaving us completely masters of the field.

So rapidly had these events passed, that we could scarcely
believe in their reality, and were standing over the bodies of
the dead in a species of stupid contemplation, when we were
brought to recollection by the sound of shouts in the distance.
It was clear that the savages had been alarmed by the firing, and
that we had little chance of avoiding discovery. To regain the
cliff, it would be necessary to proceed in the direction of the
shouts, and even should we succeed in arriving at its base, we
should never be able to ascend it without being seen. Our
situation was one of the greatest peril, and we were hesitating
in which path to commence a flight, when one of the savages
_whom_I had shot, and supposed dead, sprang briskly to his feet,
and attempted to make his escape. We overtook _him,_however,
before he had advanced many paces, and were about to put him to
death, when Peters suggested that we might derive some benefit
from forcing him to accompany us in our attempt to escape. We
therefore dragged him with us, making him understand that we
would shoot him if he offered resistance. In a few minutes he was
perfectly submissive, and ran by our sides as we pushed in among
the rocks, making for the seashore.

So far, the irregularities of the ground we had been traversing
hid the sea, except at intervals, from our sight, and, when we
first had it fairly in view, it was perhaps two hundred yards
distant. As we emerged into the open beach we saw, to our great
dismay, an immense crowd of the natives pouring from the village,
and from all visible quarters of the island, making toward us
with gesticulations of extreme fury, and howling like wild
beasts. We were upon the point of turning upon our steps, and
trying to secure a retreat among the fastnesses of the rougher
ground, when I discovered the bows of two canoes projecting from
behind a large rock which ran out into the water. Toward these we
now ran with all speed, and, reaching them, found them unguarded,
and without any other freight than three of the large Gallipago
turtles and the usual supply of paddles for sixty rowers. We
instantly took possession of one of them, and, forcing our
captive on board, pushed out to sea with all the strength we
could command.

We had not made, however, more than fifty yards from the shore
before we became sufficiently calm to perceive the great
oversight of which we had been guilty in leaving the other canoe
in the power of the savages, who, by this time, were not more
than twice as far from the beach as ourselves, and were rapidly
advancing to the pursuit. No time was now to be lost. Our hope
was, at best, a forlorn one, but we had none other. It was very
doubtful whether, with the utmost exertion, we could get back in
time to anticipate them in taking possession of the canoe; but
yet there was a chance that we could. We might save ourselves if
we succeeded, while not to make the attempt was to resign
ourselves to inevitable butchery.

The canoe was modelled with the bow and stern alike, and, in
place of turning it around, we merely changed our position in
paddling. As soon as the savages perceived this they redoubled
their yells, as well as their speed, and approached with
inconceivable rapidity. We pulled, however, with all the energy
of desperation, and arrived at the contested point before more
than one of the natives had attained it. This man paid dearly for
his superior agility, Peters shooting him through the head with a
pistol as he approached the shore. The foremost among the rest of
his party were probably some twenty or thirty paces distant as we
seized upon the canoe. We at first endeavored to pull her into
the deep water, beyond the reach of the savages, but, finding her
too firmly aground, and there being no time to spare, Peters,
with one or two heavy strokes from the butt of the musket,
succeeded in dashing out a large portion of the bow and of one
side. We then pushed off. Two of the natives by this time had got
hold of our boat, obstinately refusing to let go, until we were
forced to despatch them with our knives. We were now clear off,
and making great way out to sea. The main body of the savages,
upon reaching the broken canoe, set up the most tremendous yell
of rage and disappointment conceivable. In truth, from everything
I could see of these wretches, they appeared to be the most
wicked, hypocritical, vindictive, bloodthirsty, and altogether
fiendish race of men upon the face of the globe. It is clear we
should have had no mercy had we fallen into their hands. They
made a mad attempt at following us in the fractured canoe, but,
finding it useless, again vented their rage in a series of
hideous vociferations, and rushed up into the hills.

We were thus relieved from immediate danger, but our situation
was still sufficiently gloomy. We knew that four canoes of the
kind we had were at one time in the possession of the savages,
and were not aware of the fact (afterward ascertained from our
captive) that two of these had been blown to pieces in the
explosion of the _Jane Guy._We calculated, therefore, upon being
yet pursued, as soon as our enemies could get round to the bay
(distant about three miles) where the boats were usually laid up.
Fearing this, we made every exertion to leave the island behind
us, and went rapidly through the water, forcing the prisoner to
take a paddle. In about half an hour, when we had gained probably
five or six miles to the southward, a large fleet of the
flat-bottomed canoes or rafts were seen to emerge from the bay
evidently with the design of pursuit. Presently they put back,
despairing to overtake us.