The Castaways | Page 7

them--to all giving joy. It came swelling over the dark surface of the
deep, louder than the rush of the water or the whistling of the wind. It
resembled a human voice; and although like one speaking in agony,
they heard it with joy. There was hope in the proximity of human
beings, for though these might be in trouble like themselves, they could
not be in so bad a state. They might be in danger from the storm; but
they would be strong and healthy--not thirsting skeletons like the
occupants of the pinnace.
"What do you think it is, captin?" asked the Irishman. "Moight it be
some ship in disthriss?"

Before the captain could reply, the sound came a second time over the
waters, with a prolonged wail, like the cry of a suffering sinner on his
death-bed.
"The dugong!" exclaimed Saloo, this time recognising the melancholy
note, so like to the voice of a human being.
"It is," rejoined Captain Redwood. "It's that, and nothing more."
He said this in a despairing tone, for the dugong, which is the manatee,
or sea-cow of the Eastern seas, could be of no service to them; on the
contrary, its loud wailings spoke of danger--these being the sure
precursors of a storm. [Note 1.]
To him and Murtagh, the presence of this strange cetaceous animal
gave no relief; and, after hearing its call, they sank back to their seats,
relapsing into the state of half despondency, half hopefulness, from
which it had startled them.
Not so with Saloo, who better understood its habits. He knew they were
amphibious, and that, where the dugong was found, land could not be a
long way off. He said this, once more arousing his companions by his
words to renewed expectancy.
The morning soon after broke, and they beheld boldly outlined against
the fast-clearing sky the blue mountains of Borneo.
"Land!" was the cry that came simultaneously from their lips.
"Land--thank the Lord!" continued the American skipper, in a tone of
pious gratitude; and as his pinnace, still obedient to the breeze and
spread tarpaulin, forged on toward it, he once more knelt down in the
bottom of the boat, caused his children to do the same, and offered up a
prayer--a fervent thanksgiving to the God alike of land and sea, who
was about to deliver him and his from the "dangers of the deep."
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Note 1. We are unwilling to interrupt the course of our narrative by
disquisitions on subjects of natural history, and, therefore, relegate to a
note the following particulars about the dugong. This strange mammal
belongs to a genus of the family Manatidae, or Herbivorous Cetacea.
The species of which a member was discovered by our castaways, is
the Halicore Indicus, or dugong of the Indian Archipelago; and, as we
have said, is never found very far from land. Its dentition resembles, in
some respects, that of the elephant; and from the structure of its
digestible organs it can eat only vegetable food; that is, the algae, or
weeds, growing on submarine rocks in shallow water. When it comes
to the surface to breathe, it utters a peculiar cry, like the lowing of a
cow. Its length, when full-grown, is said to be twenty feet, but few
individuals seem to exceed twelve feet. In its general appearance it is
very much like the manatee, or manatus, which haunts the mouths of
the great South American rivers.
CHAPTER FIVE.
RUNNING THE BREAKERS.
The Almighty Hand that had thus far helped the castaways on their
course, with a favouring wind bringing them in sight of Borneo's isle,
was not going to crush the sweet hopes thus raised by wrecking their
boat upon its shores.
And yet for a time it seemed as if this were to be their fate. As they
drew near enough to the land to distinguish its configuration, they saw
a white line like a snow-wreath running between it and them, for miles
to right and left, far as the eye could reach. They knew it to be a barrier
of coral breakers, such as usually encircle the islands of the Indian
seas--strong ramparts raised by tiny insect creatures, to guard these fair
gardens of God against the assaults of an ocean that, although
customarily calm, is at times aroused by the typhoon, until it rages
around them with dark scowling waves, like battalions of demons.
On drawing near these reefs, Captain Redwood, with the eye of an
experienced seaman, saw that while the wind kept up there was no

chance for the pinnace to pass them; and to run head on to them would
be simply to dash upon destruction. Sail was at once taken in, by letting
go the sheet, and dropping the tarpaulin back into the bottom of