"It seems to me that daylight is breaking," I remarked.
"We shall soon know all about the matter, then; only I do wish we could get something to eat," said Halliday.
"So do I; but there is no use talking about it," I observed.
"I am not much afraid of starving," said Boxall. "We may hope to find oysters, or some other sh.e.l.l-fish, in the lagoon. I am more anxious about water; but even that we may possibly find by digging in the sand."
Ben, overcome with fatigue, still slept on, undisturbed by our voices.
I agreed with Boxall that he required rest even more than we did, and we therefore determined not to arouse him till daylight.
CHAPTER SEVEN.
BEN"S DREAM--AN UNPLEASANT DISCOVERY--A SEARCH FOR WATER--FRIENDS OR FOES?--BOXALL"S INGENIOUS MODE OF OBTAINING A LIGHT--OUR COMPANION SPIRITED AWAY.
We lay on the ground, watching the stars gradually disappearing in the sky overhead, and still unwilling to awake Ben, who slumbered on, completely overcome by the fatigue he had endured for the last few days.
At length the sun, like a huge ball of fire, rose above the region of sand-hills stretching out to the eastward. It was time therefore for us to get up and obtain a supply of pork from the store we had left on the beach, as also to commence a search for water. We called to Ben; who, starting to his feet, rubbed his eyes and looked wildly about him, as if not quite certain where he was.
"I mind all about it now," he said, slapping his leg. "But, bless me, how I should like to have snoozed on: for I was dreaming that I was away back in Old England, in my sister Susan"s cottage, with the youngsters playing about in front of the porch, and Betsy Dawson--who has promised to marry me when I next get back--just coming in at the door to have a cup of tea and a quiet chat; and I was putting out my hand to take hers, when I found myself clutching a heap of sand."
Poor Ben scarcely seemed to be aware that he was speaking aloud, for when he heard our voices he cast a bewildered look at us. We did not laugh at him, however,--that you may depend on.
"Well, well, Ben, we must be prepared for a good many trials and disappointments; but I hope that we shall all meet them like men," said Boxall.
"Yes, sir, that we will; and I am ready for anything that turns up,"
said Ben, giving himself a shake. "We want water and we want food, in the first place, I suspect."
"The water, I have a notion, we can get by digging, as we did on the sand-bank the other day; and as for food, it"s hard if the sea does not give us something to eat, besides the pork," observed Boxall.
The hot sun having quickly dried our wet clothes, we felt, as we began to move, in somewhat better spirits. We soon reached the spot where we had left the cask,--being guided to it by the remains of the raft on the beach. Halliday was the most hungry, and ran on first.
"Hallo, the cask has been overturned; and what has become of the pork?"
he exclaimed, as he began hunting about in the sand. "That monster of a hyena must have been here; and I am afraid the brute has not even left us enough for breakfast."
We hurried on, and speedily joined in the search.
"Here is a piece, fortunately, jammed between the staves," said Halliday, dragging forth the remnant of a joint of pork.
"We may be thankful to get even that," said Boxall.
We hunted round in every direction, but a couple of gnawed bones, with scarcely any flesh on them, were the miserable remains of the provision on which we had depended.
"There can be no doubt about the hyena being the thief," I observed.
"I am very sure of it," said Boxall. "Even had we buried the pork several feet deep, the creature would have dug it up; for the brutes are said sometimes to visit graveyards, and there to disinter human bodies unless carefully covered up with heavy stones."
I shuddered, and felt but little inclined to eat the meat which the animal had left us. However, Ben was not so particular, and offered to take the bones as his share--by which arrangement he got a larger amount than either of us. Hunger had compelled us to eat the pork raw; and this having the natural effect of increasing our thirst, we agreed to lose no time in looking for water.
The staves of the cask furnished us with tolerable implements for digging; and would serve us also for weapons of defence, in default of better. We fortunately had our knives, and as the wood was hard, we could shape them into wooden swords and sharpen the edges. So we at once began to search for a spot where a little verdure might tempt us to dig. For this purpose we scattered about, agreeing to keep in sight of each other, and the person who first found a likely spot was to wave his stave above his head.
The hot sun now getting high in the heavens, his rays beat down on our heads, and made us eager to discover the refreshing fluid. Boxall said he was sure it was to be found along the coast, although he acknowledged that such spots might be miles and miles apart. "However," he observed, "there is nothing like trying."
We agreed to go towards the south; one taking the beach, another on his left hand on the summit of the first line of sand-hills, the third further in, and the fourth in a like manner on his left. Ben took the beach, Boxall was next to him, but I was outside of all. It occurred to me that it would be wise not only to look for water, but occasionally to turn my spy-gla.s.s to the east in the chance of any natives appearing. I scarcely knew whether or not it would be desirable to fall in with our fellow-creatures, remembering what Boxall had said about the natives; but still I thought that we might trust to the generosity and hospitality of the Arabs, and therefore should have felt no apprehensions had any appeared. As far as my eye could reach, however, with the aid of my spy-gla.s.s, wide plains of arid sand, and sand-hills rising one beyond the other, were alone visible. It was a region in which it appeared impossible that human beings could exist. At last I shut up the gla.s.s, believing that we were not likely to be molested, and that we must depend on our own exertions for support. My mouth and throat were becoming dreadfully parched, and I would have given everything I possessed for a drop of pure water; but, from the appearance of the country, I now began to despair of finding any.
We had gone on for some miles, it seemed to me, when I heard Halliday give a shout, and turning my head I saw Boxall waving his stave. I hurried after Halliday, who was making towards him. There was a slight depression in the ground, with a little verdure. Boxall had already begun digging, and we all joined with an ardour inspired by the parched state of our tongues. We exchanged but few words; indeed, we could speak but with difficulty. The staves served very well the purpose of shovels; and remembering that by perseverance we had before reached water, we dug on and on, believing that our labour would not be in vain.
We had got down fully four feet, and yet no water appeared. "Dig away,"
cried Boxall; "even if we have to go two or three feet deeper, we need not despair."
At last our efforts were rewarded by the appearance of moisture, and after we had thrown out more of the sand a whitish fluid flowed into the hole. On tasting it we found that it was drinkable, though somewhat bitter and brackish.
"I have no doubt that it is wholesome, as the water which the Arabs dig for in their journeys is described in the books I have read as exactly like this," observed Boxall.
So thirsty were we that we did not allow it to settle, when it would probably have become more limpid. But we all felt greatly refreshed, and thankful that we had not been thrown on this desert region to perish with thirst.
Fatigued with our previous walk, we now sat down to rest. I turned my eyes in the direction of the reef,--which, however, was not visible,-- and saw Ben looking in the same quarter.
"I wonder if we could repair the raft, and make our way to one of the settlements to the southward," I said. "We might land if we saw bad weather coming on; and we should not, at all events, be worse off than we now are."
"That"s just what I have been thinking about, sir," observed Ben. "But then, do you see, we should not have fresh water, and we should have nothing to eat; and besides, I don"t know whether there is enough of the raft remaining to make it fit for use--though, to be sure, we might pick up some more pieces along the beach."
"We need not give the matter much thought," said Boxall. "We are several hundred miles from the nearest settlement, and the want of fresh water alone would make the voyage impossible, even should we succeed in putting our raft to rights. All we can do is to push boldly on to the southward; and if we can obtain oysters or anything else for food, and retain our health, we may hope, with G.o.d"s mercy, to succeed."
We were, it must be understood, seated on a sandy mound facing the sea, the light air coming from which enabled us to bear the heat of the sun.
As we were about to get up and proceed on our journey, I caught sight of some objects moving among the sand-hills in the far distance. I told my companions, who threw themselves down on the ground; while, unslinging my telescope, I turned it towards the moving objects, which I at once made out to be two camels with riders on their backs.
The strangers drew nearer, and stopping, looked about them. "I am afraid their quick eyes have caught sight of the gold on our caps or the bra.s.s on my spy-gla.s.s," I observed. "What are we to do?"
"Remain perfectly quiet," answered Boxall. "We might possibly improve our condition by joining them, but it might become very much worse. We can now calculate pretty well what we shall have to go through; but if we place ourselves in their power, we may be ill-treated, or compelled to labour for them, if we are not murdered."
"Well, by all means let us keep out of their power. I for one have no wish to be reduced to slavery," said Halliday.
"And I am sure _I_ don"t want to work for these blackamoors," observed Ben.
The general feeling, therefore, being against putting ourselves in the power of the Arabs, and thinking we could hold out, we remained perfectly still, completely concealed by the side of the bank. The strangers continued to approach, and it appeared very probable that we should be discovered. We lay quiet, however, and watched them; and at length, satisfied that they were mistaken, they continued their route to the southward, along the line of sand-hills which ran parallel with the coast. We watched them as long as they were in sight, and then descending to the sea-sh.o.r.e, the tide being out, continued our march over the hard sand. We had allowed the strangers to get so far ahead that we were not likely again to fall in with them.
"It strikes me, sir, that while the water is low we ought to be looking out for some oysters or mussels, or we shall have nothing to eat when dinner-time comes," observed Ben to Boxall. "I see some rocks on ahead where we are very likely to find them."
"You are right, Ben," answered Boxall. "I ought to have thought of that myself, but I was considering how we should meet the Arabs should we again fall in with them, or what bribe we could offer to induce them to conduct us either to Magador in Morocco, the nearest place where we shall find an English consul, or else to Saint Louis, a French settlement in the south, which is, I conceive, considerably nearer. It is a pretty long march either way,--half the width of the great Desert of Sahara, north and south."
"I can, at all events, make myself understood, and I will say whatever you advise," I observed.
"My opinion is, that on all occasions we should speak the truth,"
observed Boxall. "We must therefore say that we are British officers, wrecked on the coast, and that, if they will conduct us to any place from whence we can communicate with our friends, we will reward them handsomely." To all which, of course, Halliday and I agreed.
We had now reached the rocks where Ben had hoped to find some sh.e.l.l-fish. Taking off our shoes and socks, and tucking up our trousers, we commenced our search, armed with our knives and wooden swords. No oysters were to be found on the rocks, or in the shoal water in which we waded. However, we obtained as many mussels and some other sh.e.l.l-fish as we could carry in our pockets; and Ben captured a large crab, which was a prize, we agreed, worth having. And as by this time the tide was running in, we were now obliged to return to the sh.o.r.e.