Adventures in Southern Seas | Page 4

to each
other in a jargon which I could not comprehend, and presently two of
them laid hold of me, one by each arm, and in spite of my protests and
such resistance as I made, forced me through the scrub inland. Some of

the tribe followed, others went on ahead, flitting like shadows among
the trees, the journey being performed at a rate which made it hard for
me to keep pace with them.
All day we continued to penetrate the bush toward the interior of the
country, and just before dark we came to a native village, where we
found the tribe assembled at their camp fires. There must have been
several hundred blacks in this camp, and many gathered round to look
at me, although they did not appear to regard me with as much curiosity
as might have been expected, from which I conjectured that white men
were not unknown to them.
After a meal of fish and wild duck, together with a pasty kind of bread
made from the bulrush root, which I found palatable, I was permitted to
lie down in one of their gunyahs upon a bed of freshly-picked leaves,
where, in spite of my anxieties, I soon fell asleep.
Toward morning I awoke to a full conviction of my sorry plight. The
camp was in darkness, save for the glow of the fires and the light of the
stars, which shine with a wonderful brilliancy in these southern skies.
The cry of some night bird came from the bush beyond the camp. All
else was still, but a crouching form at the entrance to the gunyah
warned me I was a prisoner. There was no need, however, to set a
guard upon me, for without a guide I knew I could never reach the
coast, so that even if I succeeded in making my escape from the
savages, I must perish miserably in the bush.
My thoughts now turned to home and friends whom it seemed unlikely
I would ever meet again. Dirk Hartog and the crew of the "Endraght",
though rough as became the hardy lives they led, had always shown a
kindly disposition toward me. They would miss me, and speak of me
perhaps, until, in the changing events of their adventurous career, I
would be forgotten. My parents also would mourn me as dead. But
there was one at Urk who would miss me more than friends or parents;
Anna Holstein, to whom I had plighted my troth, and to whom I looked
to be wed on my return. Anna was above me in station as the world
goes. Her father was the Governor of Urk, who would not willingly
give his daughter in marriage to a poor lad such its I. But who in love is

wise? Who reckons worldly wealth when love, the spirit and spring of
the universe, awakens in the soul? Like birds who call their mates with
love-learned songs, Anna and I loved each other, so that nothing bid,
death could part us. I had promised Anna I would return rich from my
voyage as others had done, when her father might be the more inclined
to look with favour upon my suit. Well--here was the and of my
promises, and my hopes--death, or, still worse, life among a savage and
barbarous people.
CHAPTER II
THE BLACK CANNIBALS OF NEW HOLLAND
On the morning after my capture by the black cannibals of New
Holland, at daybreak, I was driven, out of the gunyah in which I had
passed the night, to be looked at by the tribe, who had now collected in
great numbers, and who encircled me with a ring of hazel eyes. Their
complexion was black, their hair woolly, and many of them were quite
naked, as though they lived in a state of brute nature. There did not
appear to be anyone in recognized authority among them, for they all
talked their outlandish jargon at the same time, and, presently, they
began to search me for such small articles of personal property as I
possessed. My engraving tools and a sailor's sewing kit, given me by
Anna, were taken from me, but to my great good fortune they did not
rob me of my dagger-knife, or my flint and steel which lay concealed in
the inner pocket of my leathern belt, nor of a lock of Anna's hair which
I carried in a silken bag round my neck; and in the possession of which
I found much comfort in my present predicament. My clothes did not
interest my captors, and I was thankful not to be deprived of them.
I was now startled to observe that some of the natives carried at their
girdles a human skull, but I subsequently learned that these