In the morning the ocean was covered with tossing foam-crested waves, which as they rolled in broke with a continuous roar on the rocky sh.o.r.e.
They soon had evidence of the effect of the gale on the wreck.
Fragments of various sizes and casks of oil were seen floating in all directions, the larger portion drifting towards the northern end of the island. Some came right into the bay, and were at once secured; others struck the coral rocks, and were soon ground into small pieces. Jerry proposed going along the sh.o.r.e, accompanied by Tim and Pat, in order to pick up whatever they could find. They might save not only timber but casks and cases from the hold, which, from being under water, they had been unable to get up. The rest of the party in the mean time commenced building the hut. They first selected such timber and planking as would be of no use to the vessel. The discomfort they had endured the previous night made them anxious to secure sufficient shelter before the rain should come on, as in that exposed situation they could not trust to the protection of the tent. The roof, however, they intended to form with canvas, as they had enough for the purpose, and it would answer better than anything else they could obtain. Peter prepared dinner for all the party.
"But there is more here than we want," observed the doctor, looking into the pot; "we must be economical in the use of our provisions."
"Neber fear, ma.s.sa," answered Peter; "dey all come back in good time.
Dey smell dis at de oder end ob de island."
Peter was right in his conjectures. Just as he was about to serve out the stew, Jerry and his companions made their appearance. They reported that they had hauled up several good-sized pieces of wreck, three casks of oil, a barrel of flour, and two of beef or pork.
"Very good," observed the doctor; "we shall not run short of provisions; but I should have been glad to hear that you had found a case or two containing lime-juice. We must look out for vegetables of some sort, or we may not keep scurvy at bay."
"Shure, doesn"t this island grow taters?" asked Tim.
"I"m afraid not," answered the doctor.
"Thin it must be a poor place, and I"ll not wish to spend the remainder of me days here," answered Tim, with one of his inimitable grimaces.
"Though there are not potatoes, there may be roots of some sort, and we have not yet examined all the cases which we brought out of the cabin.
If I recollect rightly, some seeds were sent on board before we sailed, though fortunately we had no opportunity of making use of them,"
observed the doctor.
A search was at once inst.i.tuted, and the box the doctor spoke of discovered; it contained cabbage, lettuce, onion, carrot, turnip, and several other kinds of seeds.
"The onions, in our case, will prove the most valuable, as they will have grown to some size before the vessel has been completed, and we can carry them to sea with us. They are the most certain specific against scurvy," said the doctor.
These remarks were made while the officers and men sat together at breakfast. They were all in good spirits, thankful that they were so well supplied with everything they could possibly require. Had it not been for the doctor, however, how different would have been their condition! In a day or two they would have been suffering all the horrors of thirst, and must ultimately have perished miserably, but now they could obtain as much fresh water as they could require for drinking and cooking.
"One thing, however, we must remember, that our provisions will in time come to an end," observed Tom. "We must use the most perishable first and keep the best preserved for our voyage."
"But we shall be able to catch fish, and we need not go on short commons, I hope," said Billy.
"You shall have all you catch," said Desmond, laughing; "but have we any hooks?"
"Lashings, sir," answered Tim. "I found a bag full in the carpenter"s store-room, and threw them down among the other things."
The hooks and lines were soon discovered, but at present there was too much work to be done to allow any one to go fishing. The hut was very soon finished. It was placed with its back to the wind.
There were plenty of spars, which, without cutting, served for rafters, and over them were stretched a couple of sails, lashed securely down, so that no ordinary hurricane could have blown them away. In front, sheltered from the wind, were established the two fires, one for cooking, the other for the still. To give a sufficient supply of water, it was necessary to keep the latter always alight.
Gerald, who had been the first to propose building a vessel, was anxious to lay down the keel.
"I should be as eager as you are, did I not think that we may possibly be taken off by some pa.s.sing vessel," said Tom. "As soon as the gale is over we must set up a flag-staff, and a good tall one too, so that it may be seen at a long distance, as no vessel is likely, intentionally, to come near these reefs."
"But we"ve only got an American flag, and I should not like to be taken for a Yankee," exclaimed Desmond, without considering what he was saying.
"Young gentleman," exclaimed the doctor, bristling up, "you might sail under a less honoured flag, and fight under it too, let me tell you! It is one which has made itself respected in every sea, and will ever be found on the side of freedom and justice."
"I beg your pardon, doctor," answered Desmond. "If I was not an English midshipman, I should be perfectly ready to become an American commodore, and I fully believe your navy, for its size, is superior to that of any other nation under the sun."
"Well, well, my young friend, we all of us have our national prejudices, and it is right that we should, provided we do not bring them too prominently forward. You may think England the tallest country in the world, and I may consider the United States taller still, but it is as well not to be measuring heights, or we may both have to come down a peg or two."
"Come," said Tom, "let us set up the flag-staff and hoist the stars and stripes, and should one of Uncle Sam"s ships come by, we will hand over the island as a free gift in exchange for our pa.s.sage to any part of the world for which she may be bound."
It did not take long to form a flag-staff and to fit it with rigging: the chief difficulty was to dig a hole of sufficient depth in the coral rock in which to step it. This, however, was at last done, and the wind having fallen, before the evening the flag-staff was fixed, and with a hearty cheer, led by the doctor, the stars and stripes were run up to the top. The flag was, however, hauled down again at sunset. Tom also had a quant.i.ty of wood collected and piled up on the highest point near the flag-staff, so that should a ship at any time in the evening be seen in the offing, it might be lit to attract attention. One of the bra.s.s guns which had beer brought on sh.o.r.e was placed on its carriage near the flag-staff, so that it might be fired if necessary.
"We have had a good day"s work, and I propose that to-morrow we lay down the keel of our vessel," said Desmond.
To this Tom readily agreed; and the two midshipmen, with the doctor, sat up until a late hour, discussing the subject and drawing plans for their proposed craft. They had a couple of adzes, three axes, and two augers, but only five of the party could be engaged on the building; indeed, it would have been dangerous to have entrusted some of them with such tools. Billy to a certainty would have cut off his toes, and neither Tom nor Desmond were accustomed to their use, although they knew what it was necessary to do. To form the keel was simple work enough, to shape the timbers properly required the greatest skill.
Here the doctor was superior to the rest. He chose a level part of the sand, on which he drew the form of the timbers, and the rest of the party executed the plans he gave them. As the timbers had to be out in two, a saw-pit was dug, at which Billy was doomed to work as under-sawyer, a task which Desmond a.s.sured him he performed to perfection. By the end of the first day the keel was put down and the stem and stern-post set up.
"I have other work, which must not be neglected, my friends," said the doctor, when the party were collected at supper. "We must look after fresh provisions. Perhaps, Rogers, you or Desmond will take your guns and shoot some birds to-morrow; there are large numbers, I see, at the further end of the island. They may prove wholesome, if not palatable food. I don"t know who are the best fishermen among you, but I would advise that two should go out every day in the boat fishing, so that we may not trespa.s.s on our salt provisions."
"Pat Casey is the most skilful fisherman among us, and he with another of our party will do as you suggest, doctor," said Tom.
Tom and Desmond accordingly, who had wished to explore the end of the island not hitherto visited, set off with their guns the next morning.
They had not gone far when they found themselves among numbers of birds, a large portion of which had made their nests on the ground. It appeared that for some reason or other they had selected the southern end of the island. Most of them were so tame that they refused to move, and attacked the midshipmen"s legs with their beaks. Among them were gannets, sooty terns, and tropical birds in large numbers. The gannets sat on their eggs croaking hoa.r.s.ely, not moving even when the midshipmen attempted to catch them. There were also frigate birds which had built their nests, in the lower trees, of a few sticks roughly put together.
They sat for some time watching the trespa.s.sers on their domain, then spreading their wings flew off, inflating their blood-red bladders, which were of the size of the largest cocoa-nuts, to aid them in their ascent though the air.
"We need not expend any powder and shot on these fellows," observed Desmond; "and all we have to do is to wring the necks of as many as we want for our use, and take the eggs."
"Let us ascertain how long the eggs have been sat upon, or we may have the trouble of carrying them for nothing," answered Tom.
They went forward, expecting to get beyond the region of birds, but instead, the nests grew thicker and thicker; indeed, the midshipmen"s progress was almost stopped at times, as they had to dodge in and out and skip here and there to avoid the attacks made on their legs.
"We need have no fear of starving, although we might in time get tired of poultry," said Desmond.
At last they came to a lower part of the island, over which the sea occasionally washed. It had been avoided by the wise birds, but still had its inhabitants. Whole armies of soldier-crabs were marching about in every direction with their sh.e.l.ls on their backs, as well as common crabs on the watch for lizard or snake-like creatures which ventured among them. Sometimes, when a big crab had got hold of one of these, and its attention was occupied in carrying off its prey, a frigate bird would pounce down and seize it, carrying both it and its captive off to its nest.
The midshipmen were so amused that they could not tell how time pa.s.sed, until hunger and the hot sun reminded them that it was the time when dinner would be ready; and pa.s.sing through the "farm-yard," as Desmond called it, they secured as many birds as they could carry and also filled their pockets with the freshest-looking eggs they could find.
Desmond, giving a wink to Tom, put among them a couple from a nest over which the mother bird had fought stoutly, and which certainly did not look very fresh. "I can almost hear it croak," he said, placing an egg to his ear. "I intend these as a _bonne-bouche_ for Billy. We won"t show the others, and will make him suppose that we especially favour him by bringing these, knowing how fond he is of eggs."
Gerald kept to his intention. As n.o.body was in the hut when they got back, they hid away all the eggs with the exception of two, which Desmond so kindly selected for his messmate. Peter was engaged in cooking, and having his stew ready, he shouted to announce the fact.
They hurried in, for all were hungry and eager again to begin work. Tom and Desmond showed their birds, and described the numbers they had met with.
"Did you bring any eggs?" asked the doctor; "they can be cooked at once, and are likely to prove better flavoured than the birds themselves."
"Yes," said Desmond, "we brought as many as our pockets will hold, and we will hand them over to Peter directly, but I want to give Billy some first, as he is especially fond of eggs; he will value them the more if he thinks that n.o.body else has them."
Saying this, he handed them to Peter to put them under the ashes.
"There," he exclaimed when Billy appeared, "we know how you like eggs, and so we brought a couple, and whenever we go out again we will try and find some more."
Billy watched the eggs eagerly, until Peter declared that they were sufficiently cooked.
"Doctor, won"t you have one?" asked Billy, politely, when Peter handed them to him.