Page:Once a Week Dec 1861 to June 1862.pdf/708

698 S and I betook ourselves for the modest purpose of making our fortunes by the manufacture of barilla, an article then largely used and of considerable commercial value.

The modus operandi was primitive enough. The mangrove is a tree growing from eight to twelve feet high, with clumsy branches protruding at irregular intervals from a thick, crooked, gnarled stock. When burnt, the ashes of these trees become the barilla of commerce. Oh, that I had preserved the elaborate calculations which poor S and I made to convince each other that nothing short of death or the submersion of the island could prevent our becoming wealthy men before many years had passed over our heads! As I remember, our reasoning was in this wise. Here, we said, are unlimited supplies of the raw material, and turning it into money was simply a question of hard work and perseverance. The only doubt we had was whether we should retire upon forty, sixty, or one hundred thousand pounds. We settled at last that one hundred thousand pounds was the most convenient and respectable sum. S was to have pocketed one half, and I the other. I may as well state at once that a mistake must have crept into our calculations, for on my voyage back to England a few years afterwards, on leaving Rio Janeiro, where our ship touched for water, I found myself with a solitary Brazilian coin in my pocket. I think it was called a dump, and represented a thousand somethings, but I am quite sure it was of copper and not altogether unlike one of those fat pennies of George III., now happily nearly all withdrawn from circulation.

The manner in which we reached the island I will now relate. A settler on the main, named J, the proprietor of a large cattle station, kindly lent us one of his two boats. It is true she had a bad reputation, inasmuch as she had caused the death of more than one person, by reason of a knack she had, unless delicately handled, of turning bottom upwards. She bore the ominous name of "the Coffin." It was in this frail craft we ventured our lives and fortunes, and sailed from Tobinyallock creek on the evening of a cold July day.

The means at our disposal, with which we purposed combating all kinds of adverse circumstances, and erecting our fortunes in spite of them, were as follows:—Imprimis, two light hearts; the clothes in which we stood, six axes, a crosscut-saw, a spade, auger, hammer, six files, a bottle of brandy labelled "poison," in case it should fall into unscrupulous hands, a five-gallon water-keg, two pairs of blankets, a rifle, a double-barreled gun, powder and shot, a frying-pan, and a few nails. We also had a three months' supply of the usual bush provisions, viz., tea, sugar, flour, salt-beef, soap, &c., &c. Two shirts, and a portion of another, a night-cap, no socks, and no stockings comprised the whole of our spare wardrobe. S always slept in a nightcap, he said it reminded him so of Old England. By the bye, I must not forget to mention here a pair of canvas trousers, which we were eventually compelled to apply to a novel purpose, for the rats became so bold, as our stores diminished, that we had the greatest difficulty to preserve them from their attacks. We bothered them, however, at last, and I shall trust to my pencil to inform the reader by what expedient we did so.

Our literature consisted of a Bible, the complete works of one Mr. William Shakspere, "The Course of Time," a poem, and sundry wrappings of old colonial newspapers, the bulk of the intelligence they contained being conveyed in the form of advertisements. With this well-assorted cargo we found ourselves, at nightfall of a cold mid-winter day, under a bluff on the main land, opposite French Island, a sand-spit of which presented its nearest point. On the crown of the bluff, my friend, and every man's friend but his own, M had erected his hut. He was the best rider in the whole district, and truth compels me to add that whenever he could lay himself alongside a rum barrel, he drank even harder than he rode. His heart, poor fellow, until it ceased beating, was in the right place, though his elbow, whenever he was near liquor, never was. He would make nothing of riding fifteen miles or so to a neighbour's, on the chance of finding strong drink. Well, we hauled up our boat, presented ourselves at his hut, and met with the usual bush welcome. We talked over our plans, and devised a code of signals with our friend. In case anything happened to us of a really serious nature, such as our boat becoming disabled or lost, sudden illness, or the like, three fires were to be lit on the sand-spit opposite his hut, when he promised to reply to them, ride over to J's, nine miles off, and come across in his remaining boat. Two fires meant that we wanted help, but not so urgently; and one was to be regarded as a sort of general invitation, and that we should be glad of a visit when convenient. In case, however, any vessel put into the bay, and by some stroke of unexpected and improbable good fortune we obtained a supply of liquor, then there was to be no mistake at all about it, we were to set fire to the island, and if he could get hold of anything in the shape of a boat that would float, he would paddle across. So we all shook down for the night on the floor of the hut, kept quite dark about the brandy-bottle, enjoyed refreshing sleep, and awoke on the morning of a squally and disagreeable day. There was a nasty lop of a sea up, and "The Coffin" would not stand any nonsense; but the distance to Sandy Point was under three miles, and we thought to slip across between the squalls, and creep up under the shore to our intended location. We were not, however, allowed to leave until towards evening, when we took advantage of a lull, and stood for the Point. The boat had reached about mid-channel when the wind died away, and we got out the oars, leaving the sail standing. Presently a squall came sweeping up the bay, and we had just time to make everything snug, when with a shriek and a whistle, we found ourselves fizzing over the water on a sheet of foam. I use the word "fizzing" advisedly, for I know of no other which expresses my meaning so clearly. We were, as it seems to me now, on a sea of ginger-beer, and were nearly blinded with foam. Our boat, with her wonted crankiness, took