Kidnapping in the Pacific; Or, The Adventures of Boas Ringdon Read online

length of where we floated on the spar. We shouted together,she immediately hove-to, and a boat being lowered we were picked up andtaken on board. She was an English frigate bound out to the EastIndies. We had not thought of agreeing to any story, and therefore whenwe were questioned as to the character of the craft ahead of us, we hadnothing to do but to tell the truth. I could not help hoping that theschooner would be overtaken, when we should be amply revenged, butbefore we could get up with her night came on. The next morning she wasnowhere to be seen.

  "I had heard enough about men-of-war to make me expect pretty roughtreatment. Things, I must own, were not so bad as I thought. I had nochoice but to enter as one of her crew. Sambo did the same, and wasrated as cook's mate. He seemed much happier than before, and told meit was the luckiest thing that ever happened to him in his life. Whenwe got out to Bombay, the first place we touched at, I asked him aboutrunning from the ship. `Don't be a fool, Boas,' he answered; `you staywhere you are; you only fall from de frying-pan into de fire if youattempt to run.'

  "I still, however, thought that I would try it some day, but so sharp alook-out was kept whenever we were in port, that I gave it up ashopeless.

  "Four years passed away. We had a few brushes with the Chinese and someboat service in looking after pirates, and at length the frigate wasordered home. I had had a taste of the lash more than once for gettingdrunk, and had been put in irons for insubordination, and had no mind tojoin another man-of-war if I could help it.

  "As soon as the frigate was paid off, after I had had a spree on shore,I determined to make my way to Liverpool and ship on board anothertrader. I tried to persuade Sambo to accompany me. `No, no, Boas, Iknow when I well off; I serve my time, den bear up for Greenwich, getpension and live like a gentlemen to the end of my days. You knockabout de world, get kicked and cuffed and die like a dog.'

  "I felt very angry and parted from him, though I could not help thinkingthat perhaps he was right.

  "Well, after that I served on board several merchantmen, now sailing tothe West Indies, now to the East, once in a fruit vessel to the Azores,and two or three times up the Mediterranean. I was wrecked more thanonce, and another time the ship I was on board was burnt, and I andthree or four others of the crew escaped in one of the boats. I couldnot help thinking sometimes of what Sambo had said to me, but it was toolate now, and as I had not saved a farthing and had no pension to fallback on, I was obliged to continue at sea.

  "I had found my way once more back to Liverpool, when the crimps, whohad got hold of me, shipped me on board a vessel while I was drunk, andI was hoisted up the side not knowing where I was nor where I was goingto till next day, when the pilot having left us, we were standing downthe Irish Channel. I then found that I was on board a large armed brig,the `Seagull,' bound out round Cape Horn to trade along the coast ofChili and Peru.

  "I had sailed with a good many hard-fisted skippers and rough shipmates,but the captain and mates and crew of the `Seagull' beat them all. Themates had ropes' ends in their hands from morning to night, and to havemarling-spikes hove at our heads was nothing uncommon. I had been atsea, however, too long not to know how to hold my own. My fists werealways ready, and I kept my sheath-knife pretty sharp as a sign to theothers that I would have no tricks played with me. But the boys amongus did have a cruel life of it; one of them jumped overboard and drownedhimself, and so would another, but the captain had him triced up andgave him two dozen, and swore he should have three the next time he madethe attempt.

  "We had a long passage. I have a notion that the skipper was no greatnavigator. I have seen tall large-whiskered fellows like him who couldtalk big on shore prove but sorry seamen after all.

  "After trying for a couple of weeks to get round Cape Horn we weredriven back, and being short of water, the captain, by the advice of thesecond mate, who had been there before, determined to run through theStraits of Magellan. We had been two days without a drop of water onboard when we managed to get into a harbour in Terra del Fuego. We lostno time in going on shore in search of water to pour down our thirstythroats. Scarcely had we landed than we caught sight of a party of thestrangest-looking black fellows I ever set eyes on. Talk of savages,they were indeed savages by their looks and manners--hideous lookinglittle chaps with long black hair and scarcely a stitch of clothing ontheir bodies. We had muskets in our hands, the use of which they, Isuppose, knew, for they behaved in a friendly manner, and when we madethem understand that we wanted water, they took us to a pool into whicha stream fell coming down from the mountain, where we could fill ourcasks and roll them back to the boats. As soon as we caught sight of itwe rushed forward, and dipping down our heads drank till we were nighready to burst. I thought that I had never tasted such water before.Had the savages been inclined they might have taken the opportunity ofknocking us on the head, but they didn't. After we had loaded the boat,some of us walked on with them to their village, which was not far off.I cannot say much for their style of building. Their huts were just anumber of sticks run into the ground, and tied at the top in the shapeof a sugar-loaf--branches were interwoven between the sticks, and thewhole was covered with dry grass. A few bundles of grass scatteredabout on the ground was their only furniture. These people, as far asyou could see the colour of their skin through the dirt, were of a dark,coppery brown. The women were as dark and ill-looking as the men, butthey were strong little creatures, and, as well as we could judge, didall the work.

  "The men had bows and arrows and spears and slings. They had among thema number of little fox-like looking dogs, savage, surly brutes, whichbarked and yelped as we came near them. They were almost as ugly astheir masters, but ugly as they were, they were clever creatures, for wesaw them assist to catch fish in a curious fashion. A number of thelittle brutes swam out to a distance, and then, forming a circle, turnedtowards the shore, splashing the water and yelping as they came on.They were driving before them a whole shoal of fish towards the netwhich the Fuegeans had spread at the mouth of, a creek. As soon as thefish got into shallow water, where they were kept by the dogs, thesavages rushed in with their spears, and stuck them through, or shotthem with their arrows. In this way, by the help of the dogs, a numberwere caught. The dogs also are used to catch birds. This they do whilethe birds are sleeping, and so noiselessly do they spring upon them,that they can carry off one after the other without disturbing the rest,when they bring them to their masters. Useful as they are, the dogs gethardly treated, being constantly cuffed and beaten, and never gettingeven a mouthful of food thrown to them. They know, however, how toforage for themselves, and will take to the water and catch fish orpounce down upon birds whenever they are hungry.

  "Savage as these people are, they can build canoes for themselves,sometimes of birch bark, and sometimes they hollow out the trunks oftrees by fire. They make them in different parts, which they sewtogether with thongs of raw hide, so that when they wish to shift theirquarters, they can carry their canoes overland.

  "They have got some stones in their country which give out sparks, andthey use a dry fungus as tinder, so that they can quickly make a fire.

  "As to cooking, their only notion is to make a fire, heat some stones,and put their food in among them.

  "They are about the dirtiest people I ever fell in with; and all thetime we were among them we never saw any of them washing themselves.

  "In summer, when they can get fish and seals, which they catch withtheir spears, they have plenty of food. In winter, they are often onshort commons. We heard it said that when it has been blowing too hardfor them to go on the water, and they can catch neither fish nor seals,they are given to eat their old women, who they say can be of no furtheruse, instead of killing their dogs, which they know will be of serviceto them when the summer again comes round.

  "While we were on their coast, a whale was stranded near the mouth ofthe harbour. The news spread, and canoes were seen coming from alldirections. In a short time the canoes gathered roun
d the body of themonster, and the little coppery-coloured chaps were soon hard at workcutting off the blubber with their shell knives. The water was shallowbetween where the whale lay and the shore, and when one of the littlefellows had cut off a large piece of blubber, he made a hole in themiddle, through which he put his head, and thus brought his cargo toland, generally munching a piece of the raw fat on his way.

  "The most curious things we saw were masses of stuff growing on thebeech trees, of a red colour, something like mushrooms. Though thisstuff has no taste, the people were very fond of it, and, for my part, Ipreferred it to raw whale-blubber.

  "Having replenished our stock of water and wood, we made our waywestward, sailing only during the day, and keeping the lead going. Wewere glad, however, to get clear of those high rocky shores, and thesnow-storms which frequently came down on us. We kept away from