The Coral Island by Robert Michael Ballantyne (top rated books of all time .txt) 📕

CHAPTER XXXI.

A strange and bloody battle - The lion bearded in his den -

Frightful scenes of cruelty, and fears for the future.

WE had ascertained from the teacher the direction to the spot on

which the battle was to be fought, and after a walk of two hours

reached it. The summit of a bare hill was the place chosen; for,

unlike most of the other islanders, who are addicted to bush-fighting, those of Mango are in the habit of meeting on open

ground. We arrived before the two parties had commenced the deadly

struggle, and, creeping as close up as we dared among the rocks, we

lay and watched them.

The combatants were drawn up face to face, each side ranged in rank

four deep. Those in the first row were armed with long spears; the

second, with clubs to defend the spearmen; the third row was

composed of young men with slings; and the fourth consisted of

women, who carried baskets of stones for the slingers, and clubs

and spears with which to supply the warriors. Soon after we

arrived, the attack was made with great fury. There was no science

displayed. The two bodies of savages rushed headlong upon each

other and engaged in a general MELEE, and a more dreadful set of

men I have never seen. They wore grotesque war-caps made of

various substances and decorated with feathers. Their faces and

bodies were painted so as to make them look as frightful as

possible; and as they brandished their massive clubs, leaped,

shouted, yelled, and dashed each other to the ground, I thought I

had never seen men look so like demons before.

We were much surprised at the conduct of the women, who seemed to

be perfect furies, and hung about the heels of their husbands in

order to defend them. One stout young women we saw, whose husband

was hard pressed and about to be overcome: she lifted a large

stone, and throwing it at his opponent’s head, felled him to the

earth. But the battle did not last long. The band most distant

from us gave way and were routed, leaving eighteen of their

comrades dead upon the field. These the victors brained as they

lay; and putting some of their brains on leaves went off with them,

we were afterwards informed, to their temples, to present them to

their gods as an earnest of the human victims who were soon to be

brought there.

We hastened back to the Christian village with feelings of the

deepest sadness at the sanguinary conflict which we had just

witnessed.

Next day, after breakfasting with our friend the teacher, we made

preparations for carrying out our plan. At first the teacher

endeavoured to dissuade us.

“You do not know,” said he, turning to Jack, “the danger you run in

venturing amongst these ferocious savages. I feel much pity for

poor Avatea; but you are not likely to succeed in saving her, and

you may die in the attempt.”

“Well,” said Jack, quietly, “I am not afraid to die in a good

cause.”

The teacher smiled approvingly at him as he said this, and after a

little further conversation agreed to accompany us as interpreter;

saying that, although Tararo was unfriendly to him, he had hitherto

treated him with respect.

We now went on board the schooner, having resolved to sail round

the island and drop anchor opposite the heathen village. We manned

her with natives, and hoped to overawe the savages by displaying

our brass gun to advantage. The teacher soon after came on board,

and setting our sails we put to sea. In two hours more we made the

cliffs reverberate with the crash of the big gun, which we fired by

way of salute, while we ran the British ensign up to the peak and

cast anchor. The commotion on shore showed us that we had struck

terror into the hearts of the natives; but seeing that we did not

offer to molest them, a canoe at length put off and paddled

cautiously towards us. The teacher showed himself, and explaining

that we were friends and wished to palaver with the chief, desired

the native to go and tell him to come on board.

We waited long and with much impatience for an answer. During this

time the native teacher conversed with us again, and told us many

things concerning the success of the gospel among those islands;

and perceiving that we were by no means so much gratified as we

ought to have been at the hearing of such good news, he pressed us

more closely in regard to our personal interest in religion, and

exhorted us to consider that our souls were certainly in as great

danger as those of the wretched heathen whom we pitied so much, if

we had not already found salvation in Jesus Christ. “Nay,

further,” he added, “if such be your unhappy case, you are, in the

sight of God, much worse than these savages (forgive me, my young

friends, for saying so); for they have no knowledge, no light, and

do not profess to believe; while you, on the contrary, have been

brought up in the light of the blessed gospel and call yourselves

Christians. These poor savages are indeed the enemies of our Lord;

but you, if ye be not true believers, are traitors!”

I must confess that my heart condemned me while the teacher spoke

in this earnest manner, and I knew not what to reply. Peterkin,

too, did not seem to like it, and I thought would willingly have

escaped; but Jack seemed deeply impressed, and wore an anxious

expression on his naturally grave countenance, while he assented to

the teacher’s remarks and put to him many earnest questions.

Meanwhile the natives who composed our crew, having nothing

particular to do, had squatted down on the deck and taken out their

little books containing the translated portions of the New

Testament, along with hymns and spelling-books, and were now busily

engaged, some vociferating the alphabet, others learning prayers

off by heart, while a few sang hymns, - all of them being utterly

unmindful of our presence. The teacher soon joined them, and soon

afterwards they all engaged in a prayer which was afterwards

translated to us, and proved to be a petition for the success of

our undertaking and for the conversion of the heathen.

While we were thus engaged a canoe put off from shore and several

savages leaped on deck, one of whom advanced to the teacher and

informed him that Tararo could not come on board that day, being

busy with some religious ceremonies before the gods, which could on

no account be postponed. He was also engaged with a friendly chief

who was about to take his departure from the island, and therefore

begged that the teacher and his friends would land and pay a visit

to him. To this the teacher returned answer that we would land

immediately.

“Now, lads,” said Jack, as we were about to step into our little

boat, “I’m not going to take any weapons with me, and I recommend

you to take none either. We are altogether in the power of these

savages, and the utmost we could do, if they were to attack us,

would be to kill a few of them before we were ourselves

overpowered. I think that our only chance of success lies in mild

measures. Don’t you think so?”

To this I assented gladly, and Peterkin replied by laying down a

huge bell-mouthed blunderbuss, and divesting himself of a pair of

enormous horse-pistols with which he had purposed to overawe the

natives! We then jumped into our boat and rowed ashore.

On reaching the beach we were received by a crowd of naked savages,

who shouted a rude welcome, and conducted us to a house or shed

where a baked pig and a variety of vegetables were prepared for us.

Having partaken of these, the teacher begged to be conducted to the

chief; but there seemed some hesitation, and after some

consultation among themselves, one of the men stood forward and

spoke to the teacher.

“What says he?” inquired Jack when the savage had concluded.

“He says that the chief is just going to the temple of his god and

cannot see us yet; so we must be patient, my friend.”

“Well,” cried Jack, rising; “if he won’t come to see me, I’ll e’en

go and see him. Besides, I have a great desire to witness their

proceedings at this temple of theirs. Will you go with me,

friend?”

“I cannot,” said the teacher, shaking his head; “I must not go to

the heathen temples and witness their inhuman rites, except for the

purpose of condemning their wickedness and folly.”

“Very good,” returned Jack; “then I’ll go alone, for I cannot

condemn their doings till I have seen them.”

Jack arose, and we, having determined to go also, followed him

through the banana groves to a rising ground immediately behind the

village, on the top of which stood the Bure, or temple, under the

dark shade of a group of iron-wood trees. As we went through the

village, I was again led to contrast the rude huts and sheds, and

their almost naked savage-looking inhabitants, with the natives of

the Christian village, who, to use the teacher’s scriptural

expression, were now “clothed and in their right mind.”

As we turned into a broad path leading towards the hill, we were

arrested by the shouts of an approaching multitude in the rear.

Drawing aside into the bushes we awaited their coming up, and as

they drew near we observed that it was a procession of the natives,

many of whom were dancing and gesticulating in the most frantic

manner. They had an exceedingly hideous aspect, owing to the

black, red, and yellow paints with which their faces and naked

bodies were bedaubed. In the midst of these came a band of men

carrying three or four planks, on which were seated in rows upwards

of a dozen men. I shuddered involuntarily as I recollected the

sacrifice of human victims at the island of Emo, and turned with a

look of fear to Jack as I said, -

“Oh, Jack! I have a terrible dread that they are going to commit

some of their cruel practices on these wretched men. We had better

not go to the temple. We shall only be horrified without being

able to do any good, for I fear they are going to kill them.”

Jack’s face wore an expression of deep compassion as he said, in a

low voice, “No fear, Ralph; the sufferings of these poor fellows

are over long ago.”

I turned with a start as he spoke, and, glancing at the men, who

were now quite near to the spot where we stood, saw that they were

all dead. They were tied firmly with ropes in a sitting posture on

the planks, and seemed, as they bent their sightless eyeballs and

grinning mouths over the dancing crew below, as if they were

laughing in ghastly mockery at the utter inability of their enemies

to hurt them now. These, we discovered afterwards, were the men

who had been slain in the battle of the previous day, and were now

on their way to be first presented to the gods, and then eaten.

Behind these came two men leading between them a third, whose hands

were pinioned behind his back. He walked with a firm step, and

wore a look of utter indifference on his face, as they led him

along; so that we concluded he must be a criminal who was about to

receive some slight