The Coral Island | Page 8

thick
bushes which almost hid the country from our view. As we now
emerged from among these and walked down the sandy beach together,
I cast my eyes about, and, truly, my heart glowed within me and my
spirits rose at the beautiful prospect which I beheld on every side. The
gale had suddenly died away, just as if it had blown furiously till it
dashed our ship upon the rocks, and had nothing more to do after

accomplishing that. The island on which we stood was hilly, and
covered almost everywhere with the most beautiful and richly coloured
trees, bushes, and shrubs, none of which I knew the names of at that
time, except, indeed, the cocoa-nut palms, which I recognised at once
from the many pictures that I had seen of them before I left home. A
sandy beach of dazzling whiteness lined this bright green shore, and
upon it there fell a gentle ripple of the sea. This last astonished me
much, for I recollected that at home the sea used to fall in huge billows
on the shore long after a storm had subsided. But on casting my glance
out to sea the cause became apparent. About a mile distant from the
shore I saw the great billows of the ocean rolling like a green wall, and
falling with a long, loud roar, upon a low coral reef, where they were
dashed into white foam and flung up in clouds of spray. This spray
sometimes flew exceedingly high, and, every here and there, a beautiful
rainbow was formed for a moment among the falling drops. We
afterwards found that this coral reef extended quite round the island,
and formed a natural breakwater to it. Beyond this the sea rose and
tossed violently from the effects of the storm; but between the reef and
the shore it was as calm and as smooth as a pond.
My heart was filled with more delight than I can express at sight of so
many glorious objects, and my thoughts turned suddenly to the
contemplation of the Creator of them all. I mention this the more gladly,
because at that time, I am ashamed to say, I very seldom thought of my
Creator, although I was constantly surrounded by the most beautiful
and wonderful of His works. I observed from the expression of my
companion's countenance that he too derived much joy from the
splendid scenery, which was all the more agreeable to us after our long
voyage on the salt sea. There, the breeze was fresh and cold, but here it
was delightfully mild; and, when a puff blew off the land, it came laden
with the most exquisite perfume that can be imagined. While we thus
gazed, we were startled by a loud "Huzza!" from Peterkin, and, on
looking towards the edge of the sea, we saw him capering and jumping
about like a monkey, and ever and anon tugging with all his might at
something that lay upon the shore.
"What an odd fellow he is, to be sure," said Jack, taking me by the arm

and hurrying forward; "come, let us hasten to see what it is."
"Here it is, boys, hurrah! come along. Just what we want," cried
Peterkin, as we drew near, still tugging with all his power. "First rate;
just the very ticket!"
I need scarcely say to my readers that my companion Peterkin was in
the habit of using very remarkable and peculiar phrases. And I am free
to confess that I did not well understand the meaning of some of them,
- such, for instance, as "the very ticket;" but I think it my duty to
recount everything relating to my adventures with a strict regard to
truthfulness in as far as my memory serves me; so I write, as nearly as
possible, the exact words that my companions spoke. I often asked
Peterkin to explain what he meant by "ticket," but he always answered
me by going into fits of laughter. However, by observing the occasions
on which he used it, I came to understand that it meant to show that
something was remarkably good, or fortunate.
On coming up we found that Peterkin was vainly endeavouring to pull
the axe out of the oar, into which, it will be remembered, Jack struck it
while endeavouring to cut away the cordage among which it had
become entangled at the bow of the ship. Fortunately for us the axe had
remained fast in the oar, and even now, all Peterkin's strength could not
draw it out of the cut.
"Ah! that is capital indeed," cried Jack, at the same time giving the axe
a wrench that plucked it out of the tough wood. "How fortunate this is!
It will be of more value