The South Sea Whaler Read online

  CHAPTER EIGHT.

  THE WHALE SINKS--ALICE SUPPORTED BY THE MATE--A HAMMER-HEADED SHARKAPPEARS--ALICE'S ALARM--NUB CONQUERS THE HAMMER-HEAD--VOYAGE ON ASEA-CHEST.

  The huge monster rolling over, slowly sank head foremost into the depthsof the ocean; possibly from the oil in the case by some means or otherhaving escaped, thereby depriving it of its buoyancy--an occurrencewhich occasionally takes place when, after a hard chase, a whale hasbeen captured, and the victors are about to tow it in triumph to theirship; losing in consequence several hundred pounds worth of oil.

  The mate and Nub found themselves dragged a considerable way underwater; but quickly coming up again, as they were striking out theycaught sight of the raft driving before the wind, and poor Alicestruggling in the water at some distance from them. Horror-struck atthe sight, they swam towards her, their hearts beating with anxiety lestthey should not be in time to reach the spot ere she sank beneath thesurface, or was seized by one of the ravenous sharks from which Nub hadjust before so narrowly escaped. Happily the savage creatures haddarted down after the whale, eager to seize the strips of blubber whichhad been cut off its back. So busily were they engaged, that they didnot take notice of the human beings thus left to their tender mercies.The mate had been on a part of the whale nearest Alice, and was thus thefirst to approach her. Seeing the impossibility of reaching the raft,he shouted to Nub and told him to swim after it; he himself intending toassist Alice, who was stretching out her arms and piteously calling tohim for help.

  Walter, who had gone off into a state of dreamy unconsciousness as helay stretched on the raft, on hearing Alice shriek out at the moment shewas dragged into the water, started up, his senses completelybewildered, and instead of lowering the sail, stood waving his hands,and incoherently shrieking out to her to come to him. The mate shoutedto him to lower the sail; but he did not understand the order, andcontinued leaping frantically about the raft, waving his hands andshrieking as before. The consequence was that the raft got further andfurther away, at a rate which gave but little hope that Nub wouldovertake it. The mate's brave heart almost died within him at thethought that not his life only, but that of the little girl and Nub,would be sacrificed. Nub was exerting himself to the utmost. Never hadhe swam so fast. But he soon saw that all his efforts would not enablehim to overtake the raft. Again and again he shouted to Walter to lowerthe sail: Walter only shrieked louder in return, calling him to come tohis help--and Nub expected every moment to see him leap into the water,when, in all probability, he would be drowned. Still the brave blackpersevered.

  "Lower de sail, Massa Walter, lower de sail!" he shouted; "you all rightif you do dat. De mate save Missie Alice, so no fear about her. Lowerde sail! Oh, de poor boy gone mad!"

  In vain Nub shouted; Walter only waved his hands more frantically, till,overcome by terror, he sank down exhausted on the raft, and Nub saw thatit would be impossible to overtake it while it continued running at itspresent speed. The only hope was that the wind might drop, or shift,and bring it back to them. This, however, was barely probable; thebreeze was blowing fresh, and the light raft, having now no longer theirweight on it, skimmed swiftly over the surface. Still Nub persevered inendeavouring to obey the mate's orders; he was ready to swim on till hesank exhausted. Happily he was as much at home in the water as onshore, and by turning on his back or treading water, or swimming in avariety of other ways, could keep up for several hours together.

  He turned his head round and saw that the mate had reached Alice and wassupporting her in his arms. "De mate swim well, I know, so he keep upde little girl while I go after de raft," he said to himself, and heagain made way; but though he swam rapidly, the raft skimmed along at astill faster rate, and had he not even yet trusted to the possibility ofeither a change of wind or a calm, he would have given up the attempt ashopeless. He thought, too, that Walter might perhaps regain his senses,and do what alone could preserve his own life and that of his friends.Left by himself on the raft, he must inevitably perish as well as they.Inspired by this hope, the gallant black pursued his course undaunted bythe recollection of the shoal of ravenous sharks which he knew were inthe neighbourhood, or by the want of any object, as far as he could seebefore him, on which to rest. Fearful as was his condition, it was tobecome still more terrible. He had just glanced round and shouted tothe mate and Alice to keep up their courage, when, as he again turnedhis face towards the raft, he saw, not twenty fathoms from him, ahideous head, such as the morbid imagination sometimes pictures during adreadful dream. The front was of immense width, with large, savage eyesglaring out at either side; while below appeared a large mouth, full offormidable teeth; the body, as Nub knew, being in proportion to the sizeof the head. It was indeed an enormous specimen of the hideous zygaena,or hammer-headed shark, so frequently observed about the coast of theSouth Sea islands, and scarcely less voracious and formidable than theterrible white shark, the sailor's hated foe. Its body wascomparatively slender, but its head was dilated on each side to aprodigious extent,--the form being that of a double-headed hammer, fromwhich it takes the name of "the hammer-headed shark."

  Nub gazed at the creature, but his courage did not fail him. It hadapparently only just come to the surface to gaze about it, and had notyet discovered the human beings floating near. The black had often seenthe shark bravely attacked by the natives of Otaheite and other islands,who encounter it fearlessly as they swim off through the raging surf,and never fail to return victorious to the shore. There was no time,however, for consideration, for with a few turns of its tail the monstermight be up to him. He had, fortunately, a large, sharp sheath-knifesticking in his girdle; he drew it, and keeping his eye on the shark, hestruck out so as to gain a position rather behind the creature's head,which was turned from him. At the same moment that Nub caught sight ofthe zygaena the mate also saw it; he fully expected that it would dashat the black and seize him in its dreadful jaws. The shark, however,was either of a sluggish nature, or perhaps gorged with food, for itshead remained above water without moving from the spot where it had atfirst appeared. The mate endeavoured to prevent Alice from seeing thehammer-head, but her eyes unfortunately fell on it.

  "Oh, Mr Shobbrok, what is that dreadful creature?" she cried out."Will it kill poor Nub? Oh, what can we do! what can we do!" She didnot appear to think so much of her own and the mate's danger as of thatof the black.

  The mate, for a moment, was almost unnerved, for he felt his utterinability to defend himself or the little girl should the monster attackthem; still, like a brave man, he summoned up all his courage, andconsidered how he could possibly tackle it and defend Alice. He lookedaround to see if there was any spar or other floating object near athand on which he could place her while he fought the shark. Could hefind a spar, he would push it in the shark's mouth as it swam towardshim; he had likewise his clasp-knife hung round his neck, but the blade,he feared, was too blunt to be of much service; he opened it, however,and held it in his teeth ready to use. As he glanced round he saw thechest which he had observed when on the back of the whale, but it wastoo far off to be of any avail in the present emergency. In themeantime he had kept a vigilant watch on the hideous hammer-head, to beready for an encounter should it dart towards him.

  He had also been watching the proceedings of Nub. He soon saw that theblack was manoeuvring to gain an advantage over the shark, which did notappear to observe him. Poor Alice, overcome with terror, had almostfainted in his arms; he urged her to keep up her courage.

  "Don't be afraid, Miss Alice; don't be afraid, my child," he saidsoothingly. "There is a big chest not far off, which will serve as araft for you, and it will support Nub and me while we swim alongside it.See--see! Nub is going to tackle the shark; and he well knows, dependon it, what he is about. I have heard that the natives in these partsdo not fear the creature, terrible as it looks, and I don't see why weshould. Come, we will swim towards the chest, and Nub will join us whenhe has finished off Jack Shark,-
-which he fully intends doing, depend onthat."

  The mate, as he spoke, began to swim in the direction of the chest; buthe soon found that, having Alice to support, he could make but slowprogress; he therefore recommenced treading the water, turning his facetowards the shark, that he might be the better able to encounter itshould it make a dash at him. He now saw that Nub, having got close tothe creature, his long knife in his hand, was swimming up alongside it.He expected, in another moment, that he would plunge his weapon into theshark's body; but instead of that, what was his surprise to see himsuddenly leap on its back and dig the fingers of one hand into its lefteye. If the hammer-head had been torpid before, it now made ampleamends by its sudden activity; off it darted along the surface, Nubholding up its head to prevent it from diving, while with his right handhe struck his knife with all his might sometimes before him andsometimes behind him, inflicting deep wounds in its back and sides. Itseemed surprising that the zygaena could endure them, but its wonderfulvitality is well-known--the terrific gashes which Nub inflicted in noway impeding its rapid progress. At first it seemed to be comingtowards the mate and Alice; and though it would not have been able tobite them, it might have inflicted a blow which would have stunned themboth. Nub, however, managed by hauling at its head to turn it, and itswept by, forming large circles round and round the spot where theyfloated. Its speed, however, from its loss of blood, began somewhat todiminish, and Nub could evidently guide it with greater ease than atfirst.

  Seeing this, the mate shouted to him, "Steer the brute, if you can, toyonder chest, and bring it up to us as soon as possible."

  "Ay, ay, massa," answered Nub; "I finish de brute off soon. It not gotmuch more go in him. Cheer up, Missie Alice; I no tink dis a steadyhorse for you, or I ask you to have a ride on it." [See Note 1.]

  This remark did more than anything else to restore Alice's courage, forshe knew that the black felt perfectly certain of gaining the victory.Nub, who had already deprived the monster of sight, continued to dig hisknife into its head, guiding it towards the chest, which he thus rapidlyreached. He then, turning half round while he held up its head, stuckhis knife as far back as he could reach behind him, persevering in hisefforts till all movement in its tail had ceased.

  "Dere, you go and feed your ugly cousins!" he exclaimed, giving it alast dig,--when, leaping from its back, he threw himself on the top ofthe chest; while the shark, its life almost extinct, rolled over on itsback with its head downwards.

  Taking off a lanyard attached to the chest, Nub secured it to the handleat one end, and after resting for a few seconds, again threw himselfinto the water and struck out for the mate and Alice.

  "There, my dear child, I told you so; the brave black has killed theshark, and he will soon have the chest up to us. It will serve as aboat for you," said Mr Shobbrok.

  "But where is Walter? What has become of the raft?" exclaimed Alice,who had hitherto been unaware of her brother's unhappy condition, andhad not noticed that the raft had glided far away from them.

  "We must try and overtake Walter as soon as we get you safe on thechest," answered the mate. "It will be a long swim; but we must hope toget something to support ourselves, for I fear that the chest will nothold us all."

  "Oh, what can have made Walter sail away again?" asked Alice; and thenanother thought seemed to strike her, as the mate did not immediatelyanswer. "Oh, tell me, Mr Shobbrok," she exclaimed,--"was the raftdrawn down by the whale, and has my dear brother been drowned?"

  "The raft is all right, and I hope Walter is on it," he answered, aftera minute's hesitation. "We may come up with it before long. Don'tthink any more about it just now. See Nub; he's bringing the chest tous,--and a fine large sea-chest it is too, and by-and-by we will openit, and ascertain what it contains. I suspect that it's a carpenter'schest; though, as it floats high out of the water, it cannot containmany tools, but it may possibly have some which will be useful to uswhen we get on shore."

  "When will that be, do you think?" asked Alice.

  "There's no saying exactly, but we will hope for the best," answered themate evasively. "See, here comes Nub. He will soon be up with us, andwe will then begin our voyage."

  The mate had no little difficulty in speaking; for, strong as he was,the exertion of treading the water so long was very considerable. Hewas very thankful when at length Nub got up to them.

  "Here is de chest," exclaimed the black. "Now de sooner Missie Alice onde top of it de better." Fortunately there were several turns of roperound the chest, by means of which Nub held to one side, and the matebalancing it, enabled Alice to climb up on the other. He then told herto lie down along it, exactly in the centre, so that it might be as wellbalanced as possible. "All right, Missie Alice?" asked Nub, looking upat her while he grasped the rope fastened to the chest; the mate, whorequired a few minutes' rest, supporting himself on the other.

  "Yes, I feel very secure," said Alice; "and I only wish that you and MrShobbrok could get up and sit on it also."

  "We should roll it over if we did, and tumble you into the water," saidthe mate. "It will afford us ample support if we merely hold on by eachside. Are you all right, Nub?"

  "Yes, yes, Massa Shobbrok; all right," answered Nub.

  "Then off we go," cried the mate; "and I hope that before long we maycome up with the raft, or that the captain's boat, or some stranger, maypick us up." Saying this, the mate took hold of one of the becketswhich Nub had secured for the purpose, and struck out boldly to thewestward.

  Only strong swimmers and very determined men could have kept up as theydid. It is true that the chest afforded them some support, but they hadthus only one hand to swim with; still they made considerable progress,shoving on with their feet and striking out with the hands left atliberty. The wind was fair and the water smooth, or they would havebeen unable to make any progress. On and on they swam. When the armthey were using for propelling themselves grew weary, they shiftedsides; by which they were able to continue their exertions much longerthan they would otherwise have done. Alice remained perfectly still,though she now and then spoke to the mate or Nub. The former found itvery difficult to answer her questions, as again and again she askedwhen they should overtake Walter, or how far off the land was likely tobe. "Oh, how I wish that we were near enough to see it!" she added.

  "It may cheer you to know that when I was on the top of the whale Ifancied that I caught sight of some high land away to the westward,"answered the mate. "It was very faint, and as I felt uncertain, I didnot like to run the risk of disappointing you; but I have been thinkingover the matter, and am persuaded that it was land. If it was, we shallhave a better chance than I had hoped for of reaching it before long."

  "You thought dat land, Massa Shobbrok; so did I. Hurrah! Swim away,boys! swim away! We soon get over de sea!" shouted Nub, endeavouring toraise his own spirits, as well as to encourage Alice. Thus they wenton, but the mate could not help secretly feeling that the probability oftheir escaping was small indeed.

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  Note 1. The author must express the surprise he felt when he met withthe account of Nub's wonderful ride on the zygaena. However, it was toogood to be omitted, though he must leave his readers to judge of itsprobability. He would advise any of them who may visit the new Britishpossession of the Fiji Islands, should they fall in with one of themonsters, not to attempt a similar exploit.