f(mthefouindingifif.^oUeg4 th-'ffiif Colotgfp

Gift of
19^

_

THE CRUISE OF
THE 'ALERTE'

UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME.

THE GREAT BOER WAR. Arthur Conan Doyle.
COLLECTIONS AND RECOLLECTIONS. G. IV. E. Russell.
FROM THE CAPE TO CAIRO. E. S. Grogan.
LIFE OF LORD DUFFERIN. Sir A. Lya.ll.
SPURGEON'S SERMONS. Sir W. Robertson Nicoll, LL.D.
SIR FRANK LOCKWOOD. Augustine Birrell, K.C., M.P.
THE MAKING OF A FRONTIER. Colonel Durand.
LIFE OF RICHARD COBDEN. Lord Morley.
LIFE OF PARNELL. R. Barry O'Brien.
MEMORIES GRAVE AND GAY. Dr. John Kerr.
A BOOK ABOUT ROSES. .S. Reynolds Hole.
RANDOM REMINISCENCES. Charles Brookfield.
AT THE WORKS. Lady Bell.
MEXICO AS I SAW IT. Mrs. Alec T-weedie.
PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND. Harry de Windt.
LIFE OF LEWIS CARROLL. Stuart Dodgson Collingwood.
A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS. Engine Andre.
THE MANTLE OF THE EAST. Edmund Candler.
LETTERS OF DR. JOHN BROWN.
JUBILEE BOOK OF CRICKET. Prince Ranjitsinhji.
BY DESERT WAYS TO BAGHDAD. Louisa /ebb.
SOME OLD LOVE STORIES. T. P. O'Connor.
FIELDS, FACTORIES, & WORKSHOPS. Prince Kropotkin.
LIFE OF LORD LAWRENCE. R. Bosworth Smith.
PROBLEMS OF POVERTY. Dr. Chalmers.
THE BURDEN OF THE BALKANS. M. E. Durham.
LIFE AND LETTERS OF LORD MACAULAY.— I. & II.
Sir George O. Trevelyan, Bart.
WHAT I SAW IN RUSSIA. Hon. Maurice Baring.
WILD ENGLAND OF TO-DAY. C. /. Cornish.
THROUGH FINLAND IN CARTS. Mrs. Alec Tweedie.
THE VOYAGE OF THE "DISCOVERY."— I. & II.
Captain Scott.
FELICITY IN FRANCE. Constance E. Maud.
MY CLIMBS IN THE ALPS AND CAUCASUS. A .F.Mummery.
JOHN BRIGHT. R. Barry O'Brien.
POVERTY. B. Seebohm Rawntree.
SEA WOLVES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN.
Commander E. Hamilton Currey, R.N.
FAMOUS MODERN BATTLES. A. Hilliard Atteridge.
THE CRUISE OF THE' "FALCON." E. F. Knight.
A. K. H. B. (A Volume of Selections).
THE PEOPLE OF THE ABYSS. Jack London.
GRAIN OR CHAFF. A. Chichele Plowden.
LIFE AT THE ZOO. C. /. Cornish.
THE FOUR MEN. Hilaire Belloc.
Etc., etc.
Others to follow.

THE CRUISE
OF THE
'ALERTE'
THE NARRATIVE OF A SEARCH
FOR TREASURE ON THE
DESERT ISLAND OF
TRINIDAD BY
E. F. KNIGHT

.T

THOMAS NELSON AND SONS
LONDON, EDINBURGH, DUBLIN
AND NEW YORK

CONTENTS.

I The History of the Treasure . . 7
II. The sAlerte ' is fitted out . . 32
III. The Ship's Company  49
IV. A Romance of the Salvages . . 62
V. Our First Voyage  78
VI. On the Salvages . . .... 97
VII. Running down the Trades . „ . 121
VIII. Bahia  „ ... 141
IX. Treasure Island at Last . . . 158
X. The Summit of Trinidad .... 174
XI. On the R®ad to Treasure Bay . 190
XII. We explore, the Ravine .... 208
XIII. A Narrow Escape  226
XIV. We land the Stores in the Bay . 237
XV. Our Camp  252
XVI. Discoveries in South-west Bay . 269

vi Contents.
XVII. Pick and Shovel  282
XVIII. A Voyage to Market  300
XIX. Hove to  314
XX. The Adventures of the Shore-Party 329
XXI. We abandon the Search .... 355
XXII. Homeward Bound  366

THE
CRUISE OF THE 'ALERTE.'

CHAPTER I.
THE HISTORY OF THE TREASURE.
IN the course of a long cruise in the South
Atlantic and up the South American rivers,
in the years 1880 and 1881, with my little yacht
the ' Falcon,' I found myself, more by accident
than intention, in the neighbourhood of the
small desert island of Trinidad. We were bound
from Montevideo to Bahia, and, after running
before a heavy pampero off the River Plate,
we fell in with strong head winds, and had to
thrash our way to windward for upwards of a
thousand miles of choppy seas and boisterous
weather, while the rain poured down upon us
almost without cessation, as it not unfrequently
does during the season of the northerly Brazilian
monsoon. We steered a course away from the land to
10s

8 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
the eastward, hoping to meet with more favour
able winds when we had obtained an offing of
some four or five hundred miles. Vessels bound
north from the Plate during the season of the
northerly monsoon invariably pursue this plan,
sailing as much as seven hundred miles close
hauled on the port tack before they go about
and make their northering. Thus it was that
our course brought us in the vicinity of Trinidad,
which lies in latitude 20° 30' south and longitude
290 22' west, distant about seven hundred miles
from the coast of Brazil, and my curiosity being
aroused by the description of the islet in the
' South Atlantic Directory ' I decided to land
and explore it.
We came to an anchor off this desolate spot
on December 8, 1881, and we remained there
for nine days. Our adventures of various sorts,
the perils of landing, the attacks made on us by
the multitudes of hideous land-crabs and fero
cious sea-birds, our difficult climb over the
volcanic mountains, and finally our anything
but regretful departure from one of the most
uncanny and dispiriting spots on earth, are fully
set out in my book, ' The Cruise of the" Falcon." '
On turning to that book I find that I state there

The History of the Treasure. 9
that I had had more than enough of Trinidad,
and would on no account set foot on its barren
shores again — a rash resolution which I was
destined to break nearly ten years after my
first visit to the island.
The descriptions of Trinidad in the 'South
Atlantic Directory' are all of an old date, and
were supplied at different times by captains of
vessels in want of water or with crews stricken
with scurvy, who effected a landing in order to
procure water or the purslain and other greens
which abound on some portions of the shore.
Halley in 1700, Amaro Delano in 1803, and Com
modore Owen in 1822 visited the island, and it is
from their accounts that most of the information
concerning it has been gathered. All describe
the landing as extremely difficult, and often
quite impracticable, on account of the almost
perpetual surf which breaks on the iron-bound
coast. Consequently mariners avoided the
coral reefs and sea-worn crags, and, though the
masters of homeward-bound vessels from around
Cape Horn often sighted the island from a safe
distance in order to correct the rate of their
chronometers, it was rare indeed that the foot
of a human being trod its shores.

10 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
But now the land-crabs and sea-birds of
Trinidad must be becoming almost familiarised
with the sight of man, for the report of a vast
treasure that is supposed to have been buried
here some seventy years ago, has induced no
less than five different bands of adventurers in
the course of the last twelve years to fit out
vessels for the purpose of seeking their fortunes
among the volcanic ash.
This is an account of the most recent of these
ventures, and I think it will be the last of them ;
for whereas all the previous explorers — in con
sequence of mutiny, the difficulty of landing,
and other causes — failed to make any real
attempt at digging into the landslip which now
covers the spot where the treasure is supposed
to lie, and, losing heart in the presence of the
preliminary perils and discomforts, abandoned
the island after a few days' stay, we succeeded
in landing by degrees our tents, tools, and
stores, and established quite a comfortable little
settlement, while the digging was steadily carried
on for three months, and many thousands of
tons of earth and rock were removed.
We worked on until we were satisfied that
further search was useless. We failed to find

The History of the Treasure, n
the treasure, but we did what our predecessors
did not — we had a very good try for it; and
we have, I think, at any rate proved that it is
not worth the while of any other adventurers
to go in search of this too carefully concealed
hoard. When I visited Trinidad in 1881 I was not
aware that a treasure was supposed to be buried
there, else I should most probably have prose
cuted some prefiminary search with the small
crew — we were five all told — and the inade
quate tools I had on board, so as to ascertain
whether it would be worth while to organise a
properly equipped expedition on my return
home. It was not until the year 1885 that my
attention was directed to paragraphs in the
newspapers which spoke of the departure from
the Tyne of the barque ' Aurea ' with a con
siderable company, including navvies, and well
provided with the tools that were considered
necessary for the recovery of the treasure.
These adventurers started full of hope, but
were doomed to disappointment, as is shown
in the following extract which I cut from a
daily paper some months later : —
' Further information has been received regard-

12 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
ing the unfortunate expedition of the " Aurea,"
the vessel chartered by a number of Tyne-
siders for a voyage to the small island of Trinidad,
off the coast of Brazil, where it was reported a
large amount of treasure was concealed. The
last letter is from one of the seamen, a young
man named Russell, to his parents in North
Shields. Russell states that it is with "the
greatest pleasure" that he has an opportunity of
writing, and continues to say that the " Aurea "
left the island on April 29, and, he was sure, the
crew were not sorry at leaving. He states that
eight seamen were ashore fourteen days, and at
the end of that time they were so exhausted with
the want of water and provisions, and with the
scorching heat, that they had all to be carried on
board. As a consequence eight of them were laid
down with fever, and out of the eight two seamen
died. The expedition was thus unfortunate in
more than one respect. The " Aurea," according
to the writer of the letter, was at Trinidad in the
West Indies, and was expected to leave for Eng
land. Russell says nothing about treasure ; the
burden of his letter is that the crew left the island
with the greatest satisfaction.'
This ill-fated expedition of the ' Aurea ' was,

The History of the Treasure. 13
so far as my information goes, the last before
that of the ' Alerte.'
In the autumn of 1888, I happened to meet
some South Shields people who knew the history
of the treasure and of the previous expeditions.
They told me that there had been some talk lately
of fitting out another vessel to renew the quest,
and that many undeniably shrewd Tynesiders
had a complete faith in the existence of the trea
sure, and were willing, despite former failures, to
risk their money and lives in order to discover
it. My informant gave me an outline of the
evidence on which ^this faith was based, and I
heard enough to so interest me that I forth
with took train to South Shields and put myself
into communication with the heads of the
' Aurea ' expedition, with the view, in case I
should consider the prospects of securing the
treasure to be not too remote, of fitting out a
small yacht and sailing away once more to
Trinidad. The following is the substance of the story
as I heard it from Mr. A  , who was the
prime mover of the last venture, and who him
self sailed in the ' Aurea,' and passed fourteen
days on the island.

14 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
' There is now living, not far from Newcastle,
a retired sea captain, Captain P  , who was
in command of an East Indiaman engaged in the
opium trade in the years 1848 to 1850. At that
time the China seas were infested by pirates, so
that his vessel carried a few guns, and a larger
crew than is usual in these days. He had four
quartermasters, one of whom was a foreigner.
Captain P  is not sure of his nationality,
but thinks he was a Russian Finn. On board
the vessel the man went under the name of
the pirate, on account of a deep scar across his
cheek, which gave him a somewhat sinister
appearance. He was a reserved man, better
educated than the ordinary sailor, and possessing
a good knowledge of navigation.
' Captain P  took a liking to him, and
showed him kindness on various occasions. This
man was attacked by dysentery on the voyage
from China to Bombay, and by the time the
vessel reached Bombay he was so ill, in spite of
the captain's nursing, that he had to be taken
to the hospital. He gradually sank, and when
he found that he was dying, he told Captain
P  , who frequently visited him at the
hospital, that he felt very grateful for the kind

The History of the Treasure. 15
treatment he had received at his captain's hands,
and that he would prove his gratitude by reveal
ing a secret to him that might make him one of
the richest men in England. Captain P 
says that he appeared very uneasy about this
secret, and insisted on the door of the ward
being closed, so that there might be no listeners.
He then asked Captain P  to go to his chest
and take out from it a parcel. The parcel con
tained a piece of old tarpaulin with a plan of the
island of Trinidad on it.
' The man gave him this plan, and told him
that at the place indicated on it — that is, under
the mountain known as the Sugarloaf — there was
an immense treasure buried, consisting princi
pally of gold and silver plate and ornaments,
the plunder of Peruvian churches which certain
pirates had concealed there in the year 1821.
Much of this plate, he said, came from the
cathedral of Lima, having been carried away
from there during the war of independence
when the Spaniards were escaping the country,
and that among other riches there were several
massive golden candlesticks.
'He further stated that he was the only
survivor of the pirates, as all the others had

1 6 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
been captured by the Spaniards and executed
in Cuba some years before, and consequently it
was probable that no one but himself knew of this
secret. He then gave Captain P  instructions
as to the exact position of the treasure in the
bay under the Sugarloaf, and enjoined him to go
there and search for it, as it was almost certain
that it had not been removed. The quarter
master died shortly afterwards.'
Now this story, so far, bears a strong family
resemblance to many other stories of pirate
treasure, mythical or otherwise, and, though
there can be no doubt that great stores of
valuable plunder are still lying hidden away in
this fashion on manya West Indian cay and desert
ocean island, the dying quartermaster's deposi
tion was hardly enough by itself to warrant the
expense of fitting out an expedition for Trinidad.
But on making researches it was found that his
story was corroborated in many remarkable
ways. In the first place the archives of Cuba were
inspected, and a record was discovered which
showed that a gang of pirates who had plundered
Spanish vessels sailing from Lima had been
hanged at Havannah at the time mentioned.

The History of the Treasure. 17
The probability of the story is further strength
ened by the actual history of Peru during
the war of independence. It appears that the
Spanish population of Lima entertained a whole
some dread of the liberators of their country,
and deposited large sums of money and a vast
amount of plate in the forts for security. Lima
was then a city extremely rich in gold and silver
plate, and the value of the property lying in the
fortress alone was estimated by Lord Dundonald
as at least six millions sterling.
Lord Dundonald, who was at the time in
command of the Chilian fleet which had been
sent to the assistance of the liberators of Peru,
endeavoured to obtain possession of this for
tress by negotiations, and offered the Spanish
governor to permit his free departure with two-
thirds of this treasure on condition of the
remainder, together with the fortress, being
given up to the Chilian squadron. The admiral
hoped by means of this one-third to abate the
mutinous spirit of his men, who had received
no pay for a long period, and who were, moreover,
in a state of actual destitution. But, to Lord
Dundonald's disgust, the Peruvian Protector,
San Martin, for purposes of his own, allowed the

1 8 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
garrison to evacuate the fortress, carrying away
with them the whole of these riches. Later on,
however, Lord Dundonald took the responsibility
on himself of seizing the Protector's yacht at
Ancon, and discovered that it was entirely
ballasted with silver coin and uncoined gold.
With this he paid his sailors some of their arrears
of pay and prize-money.
During the first few years of their liberty the
unhappy Limenos must have occasionally re
gretted the old Spanish misrule, bad as it was ;
for their liberators plundered them in the most
shameless fashion, and most of the wealthy
citizens of Lima were reduced to a state of abject
poverty. The tyrannical Protector inflicted
great hardships on the Spanish inhabitants,
and among other of his decrees one was passed
confiscating to the public treasury one-half of
all their property. When some of these un
happy people, driven to desperation, took to sea
and endeavoured to escape with the remaining
half of their possessions, the Republican officers
boarded their vessels and, wholly regardless of
the decree, appropriated this half also.
The wealth of Lima, the richest city of Spanish
America, was soon scattered far and wide, and

The History of the Treasure. 19
disappeared for ever; but it is probable that
only a small proportion of it fell into the hands
of the liberators; for the executive was not
sufficiently well organised to carry out fully the
decrees of confiscation. I do not think that the
property to the value of six millions sterling
which was carried away by the Spanish garrison
has been all traced, but the records of the day
show that the Spaniards took every oppor
tunity of escaping to sea in any sort of vessel
they could procure, carrying with them all the
property they could collect, in the hope of
reaching the mother country or some neutral
port. It must have been a glorious time for adven
turous persons not overburdened with scruples ;
for it seems that all the gold and precious stones
'of Peru were travelling about recklessly by sea
and land without any proper protection. The
pirates who then swarmed in those seas were
not slow to avail themselves of this rare oppor
tunity, and carried on a flourishing business
until such time as they were caught and hanged
by that terrible English admiral.
Numbers of piratical craft hovered around the
Peruvian ports, and the badly equipped vessels

20 The Cruise of the * Alerte.'
of the Spanish fugitives fell an easy prey to
them. But Lord Dundonald, on the other hand,
was ever pursuing the pirates with great energy.
He captured many of them, and, later on, he
was able to boast that he had swept the West
Coast clean of these scourges of the sea.
It is known, however, that several of these
vessels escaped his vigilance, and that enormous
quantities of cathedral plate and specie were
never recovered from their hands.
The pirate vessel that succeeded in reaching
the islet of Trinidad is supposed to have been
one of these.
Captain P  , on leaving Bombay after the
death of his quartermaster, had intended to
land on Trinidad and examine the spot indicated
on the pirate's plan; but as he had a rather
unruly crew, and was himself crippled with a
broken arm, he thought it prudent not to
make the attempt then, and so passed the islet
and sailed home.
On his return to England he told the pirate's
story to many people, but of course preserved
the secret of the exact position of the hiding-
place. Nothing, however, seems to have been
done towards recovering the treasure until 1880,

The History of the Treasure. 21
when Captain P  persuaded a shipping firm
at Newcastle to allow one of their vessels trading
to the Brazils to visit the island. It was ar
ranged that the barquentine ' John ' should
call at Trinidad on her way from Santos to
Bull River, and that Captain P  's son should
go with the vessel so as to identify the spot and
act on his father's behalf.
The ' John ' reached the islet, but, after
beating about off it for a week, no landing-place
could be found, and the captain decided to give
up the attempt. But young P  was very
disinclined to return without having effected a
landing, and persuaded the captain to allow him
to, swim ashore from a boat. The ship's long
boat was therefore put out, and was pulled as
close to the long roll of furious breakers as was
considered safe. Then young P  plunged
into the sea, and contrived, after a narrow escape
from drowning, to reach the land. The surf
became more furious while he was on shore, so
that it was impossible for him to swim off again
that day. He had, consequently, to pass the
night on the sands without either clothes or
provisions, and was, moreover, in danger of
being eaten alive by the land-crabs.

22 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
On the following morning the captain suc
ceeded in casting the end of a line on shore, and
the young man was dragged through the surt
to the long-boat, and carried on board the vessel.
He reported to the captain that he had discovered
the spot described by the pirate ; but that a
great landslip of red debris had fallen on the
treasure, which could not be removed without
great labour. He said the place tallied exactly
with the description furnished by his father,
and that he firmly believed the story to be true
and that the treasure was still there ; but that
he would not spend such another night on the
island even if he could get the whole treasure
for himself by doing so. ,
The captain of the ' John,' on hearing the
young man's story, considered that any further
attempt to land would involve great danger,
which he would not be justified in risking, and,
declining to lend further assistance in the matter,
set sail at once for his destination.
The next expedition was organised by my
informant, Mr. A:  of South Shields. The
' Aurea,' a barque of 600 tons burthen, was
chartered. She was provided with lifeboats
suitable for surf work, and an ample supply of

The History of the Treasure. 23
picks, shovels, timber, blasting powder, and
other stores. She was partly ballasted with a
cargo of steam coal, which it was intended to
sell in some foreign port, so as to pay part of the
expenses of the expedition. The necessary funds
were subscribed by several gentlemen, most of
whom, I believe, accompanied the expedition.
Proper agreements were drawn up, and were
signed by the officers and members of the expedi
tion, setting forth the proportion of the treasure
each was to receive, should the search be successful.
This party also found the island to be almost
inaccessible, on account of the surrounding circle
of savage breakers, and experienced great diffi
culty in landing.
The following extract from the letter of one of
the expedition describes only the commence
ment of their perils and adventures : —
' We sighted the island on March 23, 1885,
but, as it was very squally weather, we could do
nothing until the next morning, when we got
out the lifeboat, fitted her with mast and sail,
and loaded her with provisions and baggage.
The ship towed us as near to the shore as was
deemed prudent, and then left us to make the
best of our way there, while she stood on her

24 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
course. The weather was very wet and squally,
and, with our deeply-laden boat, we found we
made no progress, either with the sails or oars,
and, after toiling until after sunset, we found
ourselves in a most deplorable position. We
were all wet to the skin, and exhausted with
pulling, and the seas were continually on the
point of swamping our boat. Darkness then
set in; our vessel was out of sight, and we
scarcely knew what to do. However, I took a
lantern from among the stores, and got one of
the men to light it and hoist it at our boat's
masthead as a signal to our vessel. It blew out
almost as soon as it was up, but we succeeded
at last in sighting the vessel's port light, and
got safely on board. The next day we deter
mined to take the ship's boat and small dinghy
with us, and tow the lifeboat ashore. We started
early in the morning, the ship towing the three
boats as close as possible to the Sugarloaf, and
as the weather was now fine we soon got into
South-west Bay, but found that the surf was
much worse than we anticipated. We anchored
the lifeboat with her cargo of stores close to
the edge of the surf, and then Mr. D  , the
mate, myself, and two hands, pulled along

The History of the Treasure. 25
the weather side of the island, seeking a landing-
place; but found a heavy surf at all points,
and the bottom sown with sunken rocks. We
then pulled back to South-west Bay, to consult
with the others as to the best course to pursue.
At last the mate volunteered to scull the dinghy
ashore through the surf, if one man would go
with him. One of the crew agreed to go, so
they partly undressed, and took their places in
the dinghy. A line was made fast to the stern,
and as they pulled towards the shore we paid
out, intending to haul the dinghy back again
when they had reached the shore. All went well
for a time, but when near the beach a tremendous
roller caught the stern of the dinghy, drove the
bow under, and turned her right over. The
two men managed to get clear of the boat, and
with some difficulty swam ashore.'
Eventually Mr. A  and seven other men
succeeded in landing, carrying with them a
limited quantity of provisions and some of the
tools. They remained on the island from March
25 to April 17, during which time the vessel had
been blown out of sight. Insufficient food and
exposure to rain dispirited the men, and their
imaginations were dismayed by the dismal

26 The Cruise of the * Alerte.'
aspect of these barren volcanic crags, and by the
loathsome appearance of the land-crabs, which
swarmed everywhere and continually attacked
them. They found what they considered to be the
spot described by the pirate, but do not appear
to have been quite so certain on this point as
was young P  . Very little digging was
actually done, ' for,' says Mr. A  , ' we had
few hands on shore capable of standing the
heavy work under such a burning sun.' They
had only dug a small trench four feet deep into
the landslip when the ' Aurea ' was sighted ;
then the sick and disheartened band refused
to stay any longer on this accursed island,
and insisted on being taken on board. So,
leaving all their tools behind them — for in their
anxiety to get away safely they would not be
burdened with these — they were carried off to
the vessel, so emaciated, weak, and ill that the
captain came to the conclusion that he would
lose most of his men if he landed them on so
uninhabitable a spot, and, abandoning the
search, he set sail for the West Indies.
This expedition, therefore, practically accom
plished nothing. The problem as to whether

The History of the Treasure. 27
the treasure was or was not lying under the
landslips in South-west Bay was as far from
solution as ever.
Before the departure of the ' Aurea ' expedi
tion from South Shields, a good deal had been
written concerning it in the English papers,
with the result that some other adventurous
spirits, having had their attention drawn to this
possible El Dorado, hurried away to Trinidad
in order to anticipate the Tynesiders. The
following letter appeared in an English paper
on May 14, 1885. The ' Aurea ' people, of
course, knew nothing of this rival expedition,
until they returned to England : —
TRINIDAD IN THE SOUTH ATLANTIC.
The Hidden Treasure Expedition.
[from a correspondent.]
Kiel, May n, 1885.
' Under this heading I have just now noticed
a paragraph sent to the editor of a Danish daily
paper, which, in its bearing on the well-known
search-for-treasure expedition, may prove of
interest to your readers, being in the shape of
a letter sent from New York : —

28 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
' New York, April 17, 1885.
' On my arrival in New York from Aracaju,
I read in your paper of January 14, 1885, about
an expedition to be started from Newcastle, to
proceed to the island of Trinidad in the South
Atlantic, with the object in view of finding a
treasure buried there some time ago by pirates ':
and I am in a position to furnish some particulars
which, in all probability, are connected with
this affair. On January 13, 1885, 1 was chartered
with my vessel in Rio de Janeiro to take over
to the above-mentioned island an American
captain and four Portuguese sailors, together
with a number of pickaxes, spades, &c, and a
whale-boat. I was told that these people in
tended to go to this island to investigate if any
" guano " was to be found. A voyage of eleven
days brought us there, but we had to keep off
the shore on account of breakers for over three
days. The men were then put ashore, and
remained on the island for four days, during
which time they were occupied with boring and
digging, whereupon we sailed back to Bahia,
and landed them there. I believe that these
men, either by telegram from England or by
other means, had heard of the existence of a

The History of the Treasure. 29
treasure on this island, and that they meant to
anticipate the English expedition. However,
they found nothing. I noticed very well that
the American captain, as well as his men, were
highly disappointed. Let me take this oppor
tunity to dissuade all masters of vessels to
search in this uninhabited island for fresh water.
It is a matter of great difficulty and danger to
put boats on shore, through coral reefs. The
indications on the charts for casting the lead
should be a good deal further from the shore.
During the time we were there the wind was
N.N.E., and the current to S.W., upon a speed
of from 12 to 15 quarter-miles in 24 hours.
In South-west Bay, two cable-lengths from the
shore, there is a reef not mentioned on the charts.
' H. N. Ankersen,
' Master of sailing vessel from Fanoe.'
I found that the correspondent who sent this
letter was correct in his information. When I
called at Bahia with the ' Alerte,' my ship-
chandler, Mr. Wilson, told me the whole of this
story as it was related to him by the American
adventurer on his arrival at Bahia from Trinidad.
It is somewhat strange that the excavations

30 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
made by this party were not seen by the ' Aurea '
people, who landed on the island within two
months of the . departure of the Americans ;
but this islet has been so shaken to its founda
tions by earthquake shock and volcanic action,
that it is brittle from its mountain tops to the
beach, and is in a state of perpetual change.
Gigantic landslips are frequent, and I should not
be surprised to find that all traces of our three
months' hard digging have by now been en
tirely obliterated.
There might have been some fun, by the way,
had the ' Aurea ' and the American arrived off
the island at the same time.
Since my return, I have heard of two other
expeditions which started from the other side
of the Atlantic in search of the hidden treasure
of Trinidad, but, as with the former expeditions,
nothing was accomplished. The loss of men and
boats in the surf, sickness, and the numerous
difficulties and dangers encountered, disheartened
the men, and the attempt was abandoned before
any serious work was done. It would seem as
if this was one of those forlorn islands of which
one reads in the old romances of the sea, on
which the bloody deeds of the pirates have left

The History of the Treasure. 31
a curse behind, so that the treasure is pro
tected by evil spirits ; and the great roaring
seas which roll up seemingly without any
natural cause, even after days of windless weather,
and the ever-tottering crags, and all the forces
and terrors of nature are made to keep man off
from the inviolate hoard ; while the loathsome
land-crabs might well be the restless spirits of
the pirates themselves, for they are indeed more
ugly and evil, and generally more diabolical-
looking, than the bloodiest pirate who ever
lived.

CHAPTER II.
THE ' ALERTE ' IS FITTED OUT.
SUCH is the story of the Trinidad treasure,
a story that seemed to me to bear the
stamp of truth, and it was difficult to conceive
that — allowing Captain P  's narrative to
be correct, and there is every reason to beheve
it as such — so many coincidences could have
collected round a mere fabrication.
It is highly improbable that the foreign
quartermaster evolved the whole matter from
an imaginative brain, especially on his death
bed, when he was professing to confide a valu
able secret to a friend as a token of his gratitude ;
neither can his statements be considered as being
the ravings of a sick man, for they were far too
circumstantial and compatible with facts.
In the first place, his carefully prepared plan
of the island, the minute directions he gave as
to the best landing, and his description of the
features of the bay on whose shores the treasure

The ' Alerte.' is fitted out. 33
was concealed, prove beyond doubt to myself
and others who know Trinidad that he, or if not
himseK some informant of his, had landed on
this so rarely visited islet ; and not only landed,
but passed some time on it, and carefully
surveyed the approaches to the bay, so as to be
able to point out the dangers and show the
safest passage through the reefs. This informa
tion could not have been obtained from any
pilot-book. The landing recommended by pre
vious visitors is at the other side of the island.
This bay is described by them as inaccessible,
and the indications on the Admiralty chart are
completely erroneous.
And, beyond this, the quartermaster must
have been acquainted with what was taking
place in two other distant portions of the world
during the year of his professed landing on the
desert island. He knew of the escape of pirates
with the cathedral plate of Lima. He was also
aware that, shortly afterwards, there were hanged
in Cuba the crew of a vessel that had com
mitted acts of piracy on the Peruvian coast.
It is scarcely credible that an ordinary seaman
— even allowing that he was superior in education
to the average of his fellows — could have pieced

34 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
these facts together so ingeniously into this
plausible story.
It is needless to say that one like myself—
who knew Trinidad, and who had personally
sifted the evidence, and was constantly coming
across numbers of incidents not mentioned here,
trifling in themselves, but, taken together,
strongly corroborative — would be more im
pressed by the coincidences, and consequently
be more inclined to give credence to the story
than one who merely reads the narrative in the
pages of this book.
Hence the result of my interview with Mr.
A  was that I decided to sail to Trinidad
and search for the treasure. I knew, of course,
that the chances were greatly against my
finding anything. I was quite prepared for
complete failure ; but I considered that there
was a sufficient possibility of success to make
the venture worth the undertaking.
I, of course, saw that the great impediment
was the landslip, which might have covered the
landmarks, and so altered the features of the
ravine as to render recognition of the exact
spot extremely difficult ; for it is quite possible
that young Mr. P  was somewhat over-

The ' Alerte ' is fitted out. 35
sanguine, and that the grounds for his so readily
identifying the pirate's hiding-place were in
adequate. The former adventurers seem to have con
sidered that the difficulties of landing con
stituted almost as great an obstacle to success
as the landslip itself ; but I was confident that
these difficulties were anything but insuperable,
and that, by taking proper precautions, it would
be quite possible to land a working party with
all necessary stores and tools, and even, if
necessary, heavy machinery as well. I had
myself, nine years previously, landed at three
different points of the island, and had passed
several days on shore, so I quite realised what
was before me.
There is no doubt that the former adven
turers failed from precipitancy. Patience is a
necessary quality for those who wish to land
on Trinidad. One must not expect to sail there
and forthwith disembark with one's baggage
as if it were on Southsea Pier. It appears, too,
that the captains of the square-rigged vessels
which carried the expeditions to the island
were largely responsible for the failure of the
former quests ; they would not approach the

36 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
islands within several miles ; they became
anxious as to the safety of their boats and men,
were fidgety to sail away again to the safety of
the broad ocean, and hurried the adventurers
off the shore before they had had scarce time
to look around them. The captains, no doubt,
were quite right from their point of view ; but
it is also certain that the treasure could never
be recovered by this way of going to work.
To dig away the landslip would involve many
months of labour, and during that time the
captain of the vessel must be prepared to stand
off and on, or heave-to off the island — for to
remain at anchor for any length of time would
be dangerous. And again, there must be no
hurry in landing : the working party may have
to remain on board the vessel for weeks at a
stretch gazing at that wild shore, before it be
possible for them to attain it. I have seen the
great rollers dashing on the beach with a dread
ful roar for days together, and the surf — as the
' South Atlantic Directory ' observes without
any exaggeration — ' is often incredibly great,
and has been seen to break over a bluff which
is two hundred feet high.'
Notwithstanding this, if one is patient and

The ' Alerte ' is fitted out. 37
bides one's opportunity, there are days when
landing can be accomplished without any
difficulty whatever.
When I visited Trinidad with the ' Falcon '
I discovered one especially safe landing-place
on the lee side of the island, where a natural
pier of coral projects into the sea beyond the
breakers. I knew that it was possible to effect
a landing here ten times to once that this could
be done on the more exposed beach of the bay
under the Sugarloaf, where the ' Aurea ' party
landed. A considerable and, I believe, perennial
stream of water runs down as a cascade into
the sea close to my landing-place, and I knew
that it would be easy to disembark here a
quantity of provisions, and establish a depot
to which the working party in Sugarloaf Bay
could repair in the case of their stores falling
short and their communication with the vessel
being cut off by bad weather. I had myself
crossed the lofty mountains which separate this
landing-place from the bay under the Sugarloaf,
and knew that, though difficult, they were not
inaccessible. My negotiations with Mr. A  terminated in
his furnishing me with the bearings of the hidden

38 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
treasure, and handing over to me the copy of
the pirate's plan of the island, which the ' Aurea '
people had taken with them. This plan merely
indicated the safest landing-place in the bay.
Mr. A  's account of his own experiences
were of great service to me in fitting out this
expedition. He told me that there was no
constant stream of fresh water on the shores
of this bay, or anywhere near it ; but that a
little water of an inferior quality could be
collected after rain. There was, however,
according to him, an abundance of dead wood
on the hill-sides, which served admirably as
fuel ; so I took note that a condensing apparatus
would be an indispensable addition to our
stores. He told me that I should find the ' Aurea '
tools lying on the beach, which if not too cor
roded, might be of use to us. We did eventually
find some of these, and employed them in our
operations: I have now in my possession an
' Aurea ' pick which I brought away with me.
I have to thank Mr. A  for a variety of
valuable hints, which I did not neglect.
Having decided to go, the first thing to be done
was to find a vessel, a fore-and-after which
could accommodate thirteen or fourteen men

The ' Alerte ' is fitted out. 39
on an ocean voyage, and which could yet be
easily handled by two or three while hove-to
Off the island.
I went down to my old head-quarters, South
ampton, and explained what I was in search of
to Mr. Picket, of West Quay, who had been
my shipwright from my earliest yachting days,
and who fitted out the old ' Falcon ' for her
long voyage. With his assistance I soon dis
covered a very suitable vessel, the cutter-yacht
' Alerte,' of fifty-six tons yacht measurement,
and thirty-three tons register. This was, there
fore, a considerably larger vessel than the
' Falcon,' with which I had made my first
voyage to Trinidad, for she was twenty-four
feet shorter than the ' Alerte,' and was only
of fifteen tons register.
The dimensions of the ' Alerte ' are as fol
lows : — length, 64.3 feet ; beam, 14.5 feet ;
depth, 9 feet. She was built by Ratsey of
Cowes in 1864, so she is rather an ancient
vessel ; but she was constructed in a much
stronger fashion than is usual in these days, of
thoroughly seasoned teak. There had been no
scamping of work in her case, and now, after
twenty-six years of service, she is as sound as

40 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
on the day she left the stocks ; there is not a
weak spot in her, and she is in fact a far more
reliable craft than a newer vessel would have
proved ; for, even as a human life is more
secure after it has safely passed through the
period of infantile disorders, so a vessel, if she
does not develop dry-rot within a few years of
her launching, is not likely to do so afterwards.
She has proved herself to have been honestly
put together of seasoned timber, and not of
sappy rubbish.
The ' Alerte,' moreover, was of the good old-
fashioned build, with ample beam, and not of
the modern plank-on-end style. She had only
two tons of lead outside, the remainder of her
ballast was in her hold — a great advantage for
real cruising ; for a vessel with a lead mine on
her keel cannot but strain herself in heavy
weather with the violent jerkiness of her action,
instead of rolling about with a leisurely motion
on the top of the water as if she were quite at
home there, Hke a vessel of the comfortable
' Alerte ' type.
This was not the first ocean cruise the gallant
old cutter had undertaken ; for she once
accomplished the vovage from Southampton

The ' Alerte ' is fitted out. 41
to Sydney in 103 days, which is very creditable
work. She was provided, I found, with new sails
by Lapthorn, and an excellent inventory
throughout, so little was required besides making
the alterations necessary for the particular
objects of our cruise. I accordingly purchased
the vessel, very pleased at having without
delay discovered a craft so suitable, and put
her into Mr. Picket's hands to be got ready
for sea. While this was being done I let it be
widely known that I was organising a treasure-
hunting expedition and was in search of volun
teers. Numbers applied, and I gradually selected
my crew, some of whom made themselves of use
in assisting me to fit out at Southampton.
A cruise of this description involves a good
deal of preparation. In the first place, seeing
that the ' Alerte ' was a somewhat heavily
sparred vessel, I resolved to convert her into a
yawl. So the main boom and gaff were short
ened, the area of the mainsail considerably
reduced, and a mizzen mast was stepped in the
counter, on which we set a snug jib-headed
sail. No other alterations of importance were
required on deck

42 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
Below we had to find room for, and con
struct, extra bunks, and extra water-tanks
occupied all available room, A condensing
apparatus intended for use on the island was
made for me by Mr. Hornsey of Southampton.
The boiler was a strong twenty-gallon drum,
and a forty-gallon tank contained the worm.
At sea these two were disconnected and lashed
in the saloon, serving as water tanks. We
carried in all 600 gallons of water. The precious
fluid was, of course, never used for washing pur
poses at sea. Salt-water-soap and the Atlantic
had to content us for our ablutions, and, where
possible, sea-water was employed for cooking
purposes as well.
The ' Alerte ' carried two boats, a dinghy
and a gig. We condemned the gig, as being
quite unfit for our work, and left her behind.
As a capacious lifeboat was necessary for land
ing men and stores on the island, Mr. White
of Cowes built one for us — a light yet strong
mahogany boat, double ended, with water-tight
compartments at either end. She was easy to
pull, considering her size, and sailed fairly well
under two sprit-sails. We carried this boat
on deck on the starboard side, as she was too

The ' Alerte ' is fitted out. 43
heavy for our davits. The dinghy, on the other
hand, was always swung on the port davits.
As the stores would put down the vessel a
good deal, we took out of her a corresponding
weight of ballast — about eight tons. Two tiers
of lead were removed from under the saloon
floor, and in the space thus gained we stowed
the greater part of our tools.
Among these was a complete set of boring
apparatus constructed for us by Messrs. Tilley,
by means of which we should be enabled to
explore through earth and rock to the depth of
fifty feet. We also carried a Tangye's hydraulic
jack, capable of lifting twelve tons, which we
found of service when large rocks had to be
removed from the trenches. Shovels, picks,
crowbars, iron wheelbarrows, carpenters' and
other tools ; a portable forge and anvil, dogs
and other materials for timbering a shaft if
necessary, and a variety of other useful imple
ments were on board. We took with us two of
Messrs. Piggot's large emigrant tents, wire-
fencing with which to surround our camp and
so keep off the land-crabs, a few gardener's tools
and seeds of quick-growing vegetables for the
kitchen-garden which we intended to plant on

44 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
the island — a horticultural, scheme which never
came off in consequence of the want of water
— taxidermic gear with view to the rare sea-
birds that breed on the island, medical stores
and surgical instruments, fishing-tackle ; and,
in short, we were well-equipped with all needful
things, a full inventory of which would nearly
fill this book.
Neither did we omit the precaution of arming
ourselves in case any one should choose to
molest us, a not altogether improbable event ;
for there was a talk of rival expeditions starting
for the island at the very time we were fitting
out ; our plans had been fully discussed in the
newspapers, despite our attempt to keep secret
our destination at least ; and I called to mind
the Yankee vessel that had endeavoured to
anticipate the ' Aurea.' Should some such vessel
appear on the scene just as we had come across
the treasure, it would be well for us to be pre
pared to defend it.
Each man, therefore, was provided with a
Colt's repeating-rifle, and in addition to these
there were other rifles and several revolvers on
board, and no lack of ammunition for every
weapon. The Duke of Sutherland kindly lent

The ' Alerte ' is fitted out. 45
us one of Bland's double-barrelled whaling-guns,
which was carried on his Grace's yacht, the
' Sans Peur,' during her foreign cruises. This
was a quick firing and formidable weapon,
discharging steel shot, grape, shell, and harpoons,
and capable of sending to the bottom any
wooden vessel. I think the sight of it inspired
some of my crew with ideas almost piratical. I
have heard them express the opinion that it
was a shame to have such a gun lying idle on
board, and that an opportunity ought to be
found of testing its powers.
Of the provisioning of the ' Alerte ' I need
say Httle, for aU foreign-going vessels are pro
visioned more or less in the same way ; but to
foresee all that would be necessary for thirteen
men for a period of at least six months, and to
stow away this great bulk of stores, was not the
least troublesome part of our fitting out.
Former experience had taught me that it
would not do to rely too much on tinned meats,
more especially in the tropics. I am confident
that a diet composed principally of these is
extremely unwholesome, and to this cause alone
can be attributed an illness that attacked the
whole crew of the ' Falcon ' during the latter

46 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
months of her South American voyage. The
old-fashioned sea-food is the best after all. Salt
beef and salt pork, even after it has travelled a
few times round the world, and is consequently
somewhat malodorous, forms a far more sustain
ing diet than the very best of tinned meats. The
instinct of the sailor teaches him this ; as a
rule he detests the flabby, overcooked stuff out
of the cans, and, even if he tolerates it, wfll
always prefer to it the commonest mess beef,
which in odour, taste, and appearance would be
horrible to a fastidious person. But let this same
person have been at sea for a few months, and
the chances are that he will look forward with
pleasure to the days on which the salt junk
appears on the ship's biU of fare.
So, though we took on board a large quantity
of tinned meats of various kinds, we also had
some 600 pounds of beef and pork salted down
for us, with which we filled the vessel's harness
casks and meat tanks. This meat was of the
very best quality, and for this very reason a great
deal of it was spoiled and had to be thrown over
board. It had been salted too recently. Barrels
of ancient mess beef soaked with saltpetre and
hardened into almost the consistency of a deal

The ' Alerte ' is fitted out. 47
board, though far from being so tasty as was
our meat before it was tainted, would have
answered our purpose far better, and would
have kept weU despite the high temperature of
a small vessel in the tropics.
In the same way a short-sighted love of
luxury mduced us to supply the vessel with
barrels of the best cabin biscuit. The result was
that our bread, long before the termination of
the cruise, was swarming with maggots and an
exceedingly unpleasant species of small beetle,
and was, in addition to this, attacked by mildew.
A commoner quality of ship's bread would not
have spoiled so readily, for it is known that
insects thrive best and multiply amazingly on
this tempting first-class flour.
All sorts of preserved food, jams, vegetables,
&c, were of course included in our store-list, as
was also the indispensable lime-juice — the vessel
was, in short, supplied with a sufficient quantity
of necessaries and luxuries.
We got our tobacco out of bond, also our
rum, which was the only alcoholic beverage on
board ; it certainly is the most wholesome spirit
for sea use, especially within the tropics.
During the first portion of the voyage small

48 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
rations of rum were served out daily to each
person on board. Later on, when it was clear
that none of the gentlemen-adventurers showed
any inclination to exceed in this respect at sea,
the first mate, Mr. Meredyth, petitioned me to
give up the ration system so far as they were
concerned, and to allow the bottle of spirit to be
put on the saloon table at dinner for their free
use. This was done, with no bad result. The
paid hands were, of course, always limited to
rations of spirit.

CHAPTER III.
THE SHIP'S COMPANY.
TO fit out and store a vessel for a lengthy
expedition may be a somewhat arduous
task, but it is an interesting and pleasant one,
which is more than can be said with regard to
that equally important work, the choice of
one's companions. One cannot make any very
serious mistake in the selection of one's pro
visions, but to take the wrong man with one
on a voyage that involves a complete severance
from all the influences of civiHsation for months
at a time may bring exceedingly unpleasant
consequences. I determined to ship as few paid hands as
possible, and to outnumber them with a chosen
body of what, in the parlance of the old pri
vateering days, may be termed gentlemen-
adventurers, volunteers who would contribute
to the cost of the expedition, would work as
sailors on board and as navvies on the island,
and who would each be entitled to receive a

50 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
^considerable share of the proceeds of the ven
ture, should anything be discovered. The
officers of the vessel would be selected from
this body, and I myself would act as captain.
In this way the causes which led to the failure
of some of the previous expeditions would be
wanting. The professional sailors would be
unable — in their disinclination to face the
difficulties of the island — to insist on the ad
venturers abandoning the project. There would
be no paid captain to lay down the law to hi3
employers. I knew that by the time we should reach
Trinidad even those gentlemen who had never
been to sea before would have learnt a good
deal, so that in the case of our paid hands
proving mutinous we could dispense with them
altogether. I was well aware that if I undertook
such an expedition with a paid crew of the
ordinary type, far outnumbering the gentlemen
aft, the value of the treasure, if discovered,
would not improbably tempt them to murder
their officers and employers and seize it for
themselves. With a majority of volunteers on
board, each entitled to a large share in the find,
aU risk of this description would be avoided.

The Ship's Company. 51
I decided that our complement should be
thirteen all told, consisting of nine gentlemen-
adventurers, myself included, and four paid
hands. The foUowing are extracts from some of the
clauses of the agreement which was entered
into between myself and the volunteers : —
' Mr. E. F. Knight undertakes to provide a
vessel, stores, etc., suitable for the expedition,
and to provide at least sufficient provisions for
the voyage out and home and six months
besides. ' Each member of the expedition will pay in
advance to Mr. Knight 100Z., and undertake to
work both on board and on shore under Mr.
Knight's directions. This 100/. wiU be the
extent of each member's liability.
' During the first six months from the time
of landing on the island, the enterprise can
only be abandoned with the consent of Mr.
Knight, and on decision by vote of three-
quarters of the members. After six months
have elapsed, a majority of three-quarters of
the members wiU determine whether the enter
prise is to be continued or abandoned.
' Each member, or, if he die in the course of

52 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
the expedition, his legal representative, will
receive one-twentieth of the gross proceeds of
the venture.
' If any member of the expedition mutiny or
incite to mutiny, he shall be tried by a court-
martial of the other members of the expedition,
and, if it be decided by a majority of three-
quarters that the offence be sufficiently grave,
he shaU forfeit all share in the proceeds of the
expedition, subject to an appeal to the English
Courts on his return.
' None of these rules apply to the paid hands
on the vessel.'
The paid hands received good wages and
were entitled to no share of the treasure, though
they, of course, knew weU that, should our
search prove successful and their conduct have
been satisfactory, they would receive a sub
stantial present.
It would, of course, have been very pleasant
for me to have selected my volunteers from
among my own friends, especiaUy those who
had been at sea with me before ; but this I
found to be impossible, at any rate at such
short notice. I knew dozens of men who would

The Ship's Company. 53
have liked nothing better than to have joined
me, but aU were engaged in some profession or
other which it would have been foUy to have
neglected for so problematic a gain. The type
of man who is willing to toil hard, endure dis
comfort and peril, and abandon every luxury for
nine months on the remote chance of discovering
treasure, and is, moreover, wiUing to pay 100I.
for the privileges of doing so, is not to be found
easily, either in the professional or wealthy
classes. There are, doubtless, thousands of Englishmen
wiUing to embark on a venture of this descrip
tion, but it is obvious that there is a likelihood
of a fair percentage of these volunteers being
adventurers in the unfavourable sense of the
term — men anxious to get away from England
for reasons not creditable to themselves, men,
too, of the rolHng-stone description and more
or less worthless in a variety of ways, and who
would be more likely than the paid sailors to
wax discontented and foment mutiny. I
realised that the selection of my men should
be made with great care.
Of volunteers I had no lack. An article in
the St. James's Gazette describing my project

54 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
brought me applications to join from somethmg
like 150 men.
Some of the letters I received were great
curiosities in their way, and would cause much
amusement could I publish them. I interviewed
some sixty of the applicants, and this was cer
tainly far the most arduous and difficult work
connected with the undertaking, so far as I was
concerned. I shall never forget how weary I
became of the repetition to each fresh visitor of
the conditions and object of the voyage, and
with what dread I looked forward to my visits
to the little club at which these interviews were
held. AH manner of men made appointments to
meet me — the sanguine young spirits eager for
adventure, the cautious and suspicious who
would not risk their 100I. unless they were
guaranteed a return of 50,000/. or so. There
were also those who wasted my time out of
mere curiosity, never having entertained any
intention of joining me, and others who hoped
to pump enough information out of me to
enable them to earn a few guineas by writing
an article for the newspapers.
But the maiority of my appHcants were in

The Ship's Company. 55
earnest, and I wiU here take the opportunity of
expressing my regret if, in the midst of all the
hurry and worry of that time, I omitted to
reply to some of my correspondents. All the
preparations for the voyage had to be carried
out in a very limited space of time, in order
that we should get away from England before
the autumnal equinox ; I was fitting out the
vessel and selecting gentlemen-adventurers
simultaneously, constantly traveUing backwards
and forwards between London and South
ampton, and by the time we were ready for
sea I was pretty well worn out with anxious
work. One by one I selected my men, and those
who saw them congratulated me on having got
together a most promising-looking crew. Some,
it is true, proved themselves to be quite un
suitable for the purpose ; but at the end of
the expedition, when we were at Port of Spain,
I had on board seven men at least who were
ready to go anywhere and do anything with me,
aU of them more cheerful, fit, and capable in every
respect that they were on leaving Southampton.
References were brought to me by each
volunteer for the expedition. I know how

56 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
worthless references generally are, but never
before did I so strongly realize this fact. The
most undesirable person can often produce ex-
ceHent testimonials from undoubtedly worthy
people, who have met him in London society,
for instance, but who know absolutely nothing
of the true nature of the man, least of aU of
how he would prove himself in such an under
taking as this was, when traits are revealed
that do not generaUy declare themselves in a
drawing-room. The volunteer whom I made first mate
turned out very badly. He was afraid himself,
and he did his best to scare the other gentlemen
and the paid hands. He came to the con
clusion that the ' Alerte ' was a bad sea-boat,
cranky, too heavfly sparred, and generaUy too
smaU and unsafe to be entrusted with his
valuable Hfe. I found out afterwards that a
little conspiracy was hatching to compel me to
seU the ' Alerte ' in the Cape Verde Islands for
what she would fetch, and charter a large
Yankee schooner. He endeavoured to dis
seminate discontent behind my back and to
undermine my authority, with the sole result
that he made himself detestable to his com-

The Ship's Company. 57
panions fore and aft, and ultimately, having
made the vessel too warm to hold him, packed
up his traps and deserted her at Bahia, without
giving me any reason for so doing.
Not content to desert himself, he did his
best to persuade others to do likewise. He suc-
seeded with one timid individual, who also
went off at Bahia — luckily for us, as we did
not want him. There was yet a third who
had half a mind to desert with them, but who
remained with us, a discontented young man
to the end. Being the one man of the sort
left on board, his opinions were a matter of
indifference to us ; but he was the sole cause
of those ' disagreements ' of which he has since
complained in print, and I have no doubt made
his own Hfe ' disagreeable ' enough. To do him
justice, he was the ablest swimmer and the best
judge of blue china on board.
I should not have alluded to our squabbles
in this book had not the men who caused them
spread all manner of false reports on their return,
which have appeared in the newspapers and
magazines. Therefore, instead of treating the
whole matter with the contempt it deserves, I
am justified, I think, in entering into this

58 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
explanation on behalf of myself and of my loyal
companions who stuck to the expedition to the
end. Only one other of my companions aft volun
tarily left me, a very good feUow, who had under
taken a job the nature of which he had not
fully realised ; for the sea, at any rate as
viewed from a yacht, had such terrors for him,
and his health suffered to such an extent, that,
under our doctor's, advice, he left us at St.
Vincent. I believe that a good deal of his
nervousness was due to the insinuations of the
first mate's evil tongue.
Having rid ourselves of these two people at
Bahia, everything went on much better, all work
was done more promptly and smoothly, the
old friction disappeared, a cloud seemed to
have been lifted from the vessel, cheerfulness
prevailed, and when we sailed to Trinidad and
the real business and difficulties commenced
aU was got through in a most satisfactory
fashion. Grumbling is the EngHshman's privilege on
land, stiU more so at sea, where some growling
is absolutely necessary to relieve the monotony
of ship-life ; aftar_j£ari~~ "p-/u;„ -,-r. "nUSliaiiy

The Ship's Company. 59
smaU amount of this privilege was enjoyed on
the ' Alerte.'-
As I was taking a fair number of paid hands
with me, I did not consider it necessary that aU
the gentlemen-adventurers should have a know
ledge of seamanship. Indeed, I believe that
only the first mate and the doctor had ever
before handled a fore-and-after. However, most
of the others were willing, and soon learnt to
take a trick at the tiUer and haul at a rope in
a satisfactory manner.
Some of the volunteers did not treat me
quite fairly, for, after deciding to join me and so
causing me to refuse other eligible candidates,
they discovered at the very last moment that
something prevented them from going. This
naturally put me to great inconvenience, and
obliged me to take others, to replace them, at
the shortest notice. Thus I had to ship my
last two men the day before we saUed.
Remembering how interesting was the
scenery of Trinidad, I had intended to acquire
some knowledge of photography and carry an
apparatus with me. But one of my volunteers
professed to be an exceUent amateur photog
rapher, and as he promised to take upon himself

60 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
that part of the work I relied upon him to do
so and left it to him. He was one of those who
failed to turn up on the day of sailing, and we
had to put to sea, to my great regret afterwards,
without a camera.
We were equally unfortunate with our taxi
dermist. One of the volunteers had undertaken
to take lessons in bird-skinning at my sugges
tion ; for I knew that Trinidad was the princi
pal breeding-place for sea-birds in the South
Atlantic, and that very rare specimens can be
coUected there. He, too, never reached the
desert island — more, I must allow, on account
of illness than through any fault of his own.
But it was very disappointing, for all that.
For such a voyage as the one contemplated
the presence of a surgeon was advisable. A
young doctor was therefore included among the
gentlemen-adventurers — Mr. Cloete Smith, who
also occupied the post of mate after the desertion
of the officers at Bahia.
Of the four paid hands one, the boatswain,
only accompanied us as far as Teneriffe.
Our cook, John Wright, had been with me
on three previous voyages as sole hand. One
of our A.B.'s was Arthur Cotton, who, as a boy

The Ship's Company. 61
nine years before, had been the only paid hand
on the ' Falcon ' when we sailed from South
ampton to South America. In the course of
that voyage he had visited Trinidad with me,
and was now able to spin to his shipmates long
and more or less fantastic yarns concerning the
place we were bound to. The strange island
had evidently made a great impression on his
imagination. Our other A.B. was Ted Milner,
a lad from the North Sea fishing-smacks.

CHAPTER IV.
A ROMANCE OF THE SALVAGES.
THE article in the St. James's Gazette
attracted a considerable amount of
attention, as was proved by the bewildering mass
of correspondence with reference to the expedi
tion which I received during the weeks pre
ceding our departure. Many of these letters
were prompted evidently by mere curiosity,
others contained suggestions — of which some
were sensible enough ; a few, whimsical in
the extreme. Cranks wrote to me who pro
fessed to be acquainted with certain methods
for discovering treasure by means of divining
rods, or charms, or other uncanny tricks.
Others had dreamt dreams, in which they
had seen the exact position of the wealth ;
but most curious of aU were the letters from
individuals in aU parts of Europe and America"
who were acquainted with the existence of other
treasures, which they proposed I should search
for in the course of my voyage. To have

A Romance of the Salvages. 63
sought them all would have meant to saU every
navigable sea on the face of the earth, and to
have traveUed into the heart of continents ;
in short, to have undertaken a voyage which
would have extended over a century or so.
To have found them all would have necessitated
my chartering all the merchant fleets of Europe
to carry them home ; and then gold would have
become a valueless drug on the markets, and
my labours would have been aU in vain.
One individual modestly asked for i,oooZ. down
before he would give the sHghtest hint as to the
nature of his treasure or its locality ; but,
according to him, there could not be the slightest
doubt as to my finding it, and as one item alone
of this pile consisted of ten miUion pounds' worth
of golden bars, it would be the height of foUy on
my part not to send him a cheque for the com
paratively ridiculous sum of 1,000/. in return
for such information.
Some of these treasure tales were very terrible,
and the most bloodthirsty viUains figured in the
ghastly narratives. Among my correspondence
I have materials that would supply aU our
writers of boys' stories for years.
But in addition to the numerous impossible

64 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
tales, there were some well authenticated, and
people who had taken an interest in these
matters, and had carefully coUected their data,
wrote to me concerning several promising
schemes. A few days before sailing, a retired naval
officer residing in Exeter came to see m at
Southampton ; he told me he had guessed that
our destination was the islet of Trinidad, and
that he was acquainted with the reco d of
another treasure which had been concealed on
a desert island lying on our route, distant
about 1,400 mues from Southampton and 3,400
from Trinidad ; and he thought it would be
worth our while to make a caU there, and
endeavour to identify the spot.
An outline of this story is given in the ' North
Atlantic Directory,' but the foUowing account
was copied by my informant from the Govern
ment documents relating to the matter.
Early in 1813 the then Secretary of the
Admiralty wrote to Sir Richard Bickerton, the
Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth, instructing
him to let a seaman who had given informa
tion respecting a hidden treasure be sent in the
first King's ship likely to touch at Madeira, so

A Romance of the Salvages. 65
that the truth of his story might be put to the

The- ' Prometheus,' Captain Hercules Robin
son, was then refitting at Portsmouth, and to this
officer was entrusted the carrying out of the
Admiralty orders. In his report Captain Robin
son states that ' after being introduced to the for
eign seaman referred to in the above letter, and
reading the notes which had been taken of his
information, he charged him to teU no person
what he knew or what was his business, that
he was to mess with the captain's coxswain, and
that no duty would be required of him. To this
the man repHed that that was aU he desired,
that He was wiUing to give his time, and would
ask no remuneration if nothing resulted from his
inteUigence. A few days afterwards the ship saUed, and in
a week anchored at Funchal, Madeira. During
the passage, Captain Robinson took occasion to
examine and cross-question the man, whose name
was Christian Cruise, and compare his verbal
with his written testimony.
The substance of both was that some years
before he was sent to the hospital in Santa Cruz,
with yeUow fever, with a Spanish saUor, who
3

66 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
had served for three or four voyages in the Danish
merchant ship in which Cruise was employed.
He was in a raging fever, but, notwithstanding,
recovered. The Spaniard, though less violently
ill, sank under a gradual decay, in which medical
aid was unavailing, and, a few days before his
death, told Cruise he had something to disclose
which troubled him, and accordingly made the
following statement.
He said that in 1804 he was returning in a
Spanish ship from South America to Cadiz, with
a cargo of produce and about two miUions of
dollars in chests, that when within a few days'
sail of Cadiz they boarded a neutral, who told
them that their four gaUeons had been taken by
a squadron of English frigates, war having been
declared, and that a cordon of cruisers from
Trafalgar to Cape Finisterre would make it im
possible for any vessel to reach Cadiz, or any
other, Spanish port. What was to be done ?
Returning to South America was out of the
question, and the captain resolved to try, back
for the West Indies, run for the north part of the
Spanish Main or some neutral island, and have a
chance thus of saving at least the treasure with
which he was intrusted. The crew, who pre-

. A Romance of the Salvages. 67
ferred the attempt of making Cadiz, were all but
in a state of mutiny. But they acquiesced in the
proceeding, ¦ and, keeping out of the probable
track of cruisers, reached a few degrees to the
southward of Madeira, where they hoped to meet
the trade-winds.
They had famUiarised their minds to plans
of resistance and outrage, but had not the heart
to carry them into effect, tUl, one daybreak, they
found themselves off a cluster of smaU unin
habited islands fifty leagues to the southward
of Madeira, and nearly in its longitude, the
name of which the narrator did not know. The
central island, about three miles round, was high,
flat and green at top, but clearly uninhabited ;
the temptation was irresistible : here was a
place where everything might be hidden ; why
run risks to avoid the English, in order to
benefit their captain and the owners ? why not
serve themselves ? The captain was accordingly
knocked on the head, or stabbed and carried
below, and the ship hauled in to what appeared
the anchorage on the south side of the island.
There they found a snug little bay, in which they
brought up, landed the chests of doUars, and cut
a deep trench in the white sand above high-water

68 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
mark, and buried the treasure and covered it
over, and, some feet above the chests, deposited
in a box the body of their murdered captain.
They then put to sea, resolving to keep well to the
southward, and try to make the Spanish Main,
or a neutral island, run the ship on shore and set
her on fire, agree on some plausible lie, and with
the portion of the money which they retained
and carried on their persons they were to purchase
a smaU vessel, and, under English or other safe
colours, to revisit their hoard, and carry it off
at once or in portions. In time, they passed
Tobago, and in their clumsy, ignorant navigation,
while it was blowing hard, ran on an uninhabited
cay on which the ship went to pieces, and only
two lives were saved. These got to Santa Cruz
or St. Thomas, one died, and the other was the
seaman who made the statement to Christian
Cruise. The name of the ship, the owners, the
port she saUed from, the exact date, or Various
other particulars by which the truth might be
discovered, were not told to Christian Cruise, or
not remembered.
Captain Robinson gave at length, and- in ''a
quaint old-fashioned way, his impressions as to
the bona fides of Cruise. He says : — ' May he riot

A Romance of the Salvages. 69
have some interested object in fabricating this
story ?. Why did he not teU it before ? Is not
the cold-blooded murder inconceivable barbarity,
and the- burying the body over the treasure too
dramatic and buccaneerlike ? or might not the
Spaniard have lied from love of lying and mysti
fying his simple shipmate, or might he not have
been raving ? ' Captain Robinson then thus satis
factorily replies to his own queries : ' As to the
first difficulty, I had the strongest conviction
of the honesty of Christian Cruise, and I think
I could hardly be grossly deceived as to his char
acter,, and his disclaiming any reward unless the
discovery was made went to confirm my belief
that he was an honest man. And then, as to his
withholding his information for four or five years,
be it remembered that the war with Denmark
might truly have shut him out from any possi
bility of intercourse with England. Next, as to
the wantonness and indifference with which the
murder was perpetrated : I am afraid there is no
great improbabUity in this ; with self-interest
in the scales, humanity is but as dust in the
balanee. I have witnessed a disregard of human
life in matters of promotion in our service, etc.,
even among men of gentle, blood, which makes

70 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
the conduct of these Spaniards under vehement
temptation, and when they could do as they
pleased, sufficiently intelligible. But, certainly,
the coffin over the treasure looked somewhat
theatrical, had given it the air of Sadler's WeUs
or a novel, rather than matter of fact. I inquired,
therefore, from Christian why the body was
thus buried, and he replied that he understood
the object was, that in case any person should
find the marks of their proceeding, and dig to
discover what they had been about, they might
come to the body and go no further. Then, as to
the supposition of the Spaniard lying from mere
m&chancete, this conduct would be utterly out of
keeping in an ignorant Spanish seaman. But,
lastly, he might have been raving, and on this
point I was particular in my inquiries. Cruise
said, ' Certainly not, he was quite clear in his
mind ; his conscience might be troubled, but his
head was not disturbed,' and it is conceivable
enough that this dying criminal might have been
able to bring into such correct review, as he was
stated to have done, these portions of his dark
history. The result of my inquiries and cogita
tions on the subject was, that the probabUity
was strongly in favour of the substantial truth

A Romance of the Salvages. 71
of this romance of real life, that I considered
would be stiU further substantiated if the locus
in quo, the Salvages (for to them alone the latitude
and longitude pointed), corresponded with the
account given of the tomb of the doUars.'
Captain Robinson goes on to state that he
inquired at Madeira whether anything had ever
been picked up at the Salvages, and was informed
that some years before the taffraU of a foreign
ship had been found there and two boxes of
doUars. Being unable to obtain any precise
information, he then proceeded for the islands.
On arriving off the Great Salvage, they found it
was about a league in circumference, flat at top,
and green with salsola or saltwort and other
alcalescent plants ; and on hauling round the
east point opened up a sandy bay with white
beach and the little level spot above high-water
mark just as they wanted to find it. Captain
Robinson asked Christian, ' WiU this do ? ' and
the man replied, ' No doubt, sir, it must be the
place.' The captain then sent for the officers,
and, pledging them to secrecy that others might
not interfere with them, told them all the story,
but desired them to announce only half the truth
to the men — namely, that they were in search of

72 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
a murdered man who was supposed to be buried
somewhere above high-water mark. Fifty or
sixty of the ship's crew were then landed, pro
vided with aU the shovels there were on board,
and boarding-pikes ; and to encourage them
they were told that the discoverer of the coffin
should have a reward of one hundred doUars.
Their embarrassment, however, was now extreme;
the white sand extended round the bay, and a
large area intervened between the high water and
the foot of the cliff, which a month would not
turn up. They selected the centre of the beach
and went beyond high-water mark to where
Captain Robinson thought the breaking of the
sea and the drainage through the sand might
terminate, and where a man would be likely to
drop his burden, and then they dug a deep hole,
but with no greater success than finding some
broken sheUs and rounded pebbles. The men in
the meanwhile were probing with their boarding-
pikes in aU directions, and digging in every prom
ising spot. This went on for several hours, and
finally the captain abandoned the search and
ordered the boats on board, and, as night was
approaching, and the ship's situation unsafe,
hoisted '; them in, weighed, and stood out;of the

A Romance of the Salvages. 73
bay and shaped course for Madeira. On arriving
at Eunchal they found other orders and occupa
tion, and had no opportunity of revisiting the
spot before their return to England. Nor did
the Admiralty of the day, on receiving Captain
Robinson's report, think it worth whfle to prose
cute the matter further.
In conclusion, Captain Robinson remarks that,
' In favour of the affirmative view, there is the
apparent honesty, fairness, candour, and clear
headedness of Christian Cruise, as weU as the
entire correspondence of the place with that
described ; and opposed to this are the many
motives to falsehood, deceit, and self-interest in
some obscure shape, or even mere love of lying ;
or it- may be the ravings of lunacy and the won
derful plausibUity of perverted reason. If I am
asked for my own opinion, I would say that my
judgment leans, as I have already declared, to
the probabUity of some transaction having taken
place, so .much so that I certainly think it worth
the while, of any yachtsman to try what this
might turn up.'
My informant from Exeter told me that he had
saUed by these islands close in shore while he was
serving in the navy, and he gave me an account

74 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
01 their appearance. He said he had per
ceived men on the Great Salvage, and under
stood that Portuguese or other fishermen visit
the island at one season of the year in order to
catch and salt down the fish that abound in the
surrounding sea. He did not consider that there
was ever a large body of these men on the island,
so that in the event of our digging there and dis
covering the treasure, our party would be strong
enough, well armed as we were, to protect and
carry it off in spite of any opposition that might
be offered.
As my informant pointed out, one curious
feature in this vague and not very encouraging
tale of hidden treasure was that the foreign sea
man, according to the report, stated that the
chests of doUars were landed on the middle
island, whereas Captain Robinson prosecuted
his search on the Great Salvage, or northernmost
island. The Salvages consist of three islands, of which
the middle one, known as the Great Piton, is
the largest ; and if the man's tale be true, it is
on this island that the treasure should be
sought. it would not be worth whUe to fit out an

A Romance of the Salvages. 75
expedition to the Salvages on such evidence as
this ; ' but,' argued my informant, ' as you
must pass near the group with your vessel, it
would not delay you much to discover whether
any bay answering to the man's description
exists on the south side of the Great Piton.'
I told this gentleman that I would put the
matter before my companions, and that in case
they agreed to this deviation from our original
scheme, we would, if possible, land on the Great
Piton and explore the likely portions of the sands
for the chests of doUars.
Seeing that the Salvages, adjacent as they
are to both Madeira and the Canaries, might
belong to either Spain or Portugal — though I
could find no record of such being the case —
I thought it prudent to keep this portion of our
programme a secret ; for the publication of our
intentions in the papers might attract the atten
tion of those who laid claim to the islets and
cause them to interfere with our operations.
Consequently, when we safled only three men
knew whither we were bound, and I said nothing
about the Salvages until we had been two days
at sea, when I repeated the whole story to my
companions after dinner. They were unanimously

76 The Cruise of the * Alerte;'
of opinion that we should visit the island" and
see what could be done there. Our course Was
accordingly shaped for it. We talked over the
possibility of our finding foreign fishermen on the
Salvages, and some of my companions proposed
that in this case we should take charge of their
boats for them during our stay, so that they
would have no means of communicating with
their countries and giving notice of our arrival.
Having thus, as it were, taken temporary posses
sion of the island, we were to compel the fisher
men to dig for us at a reasonable rate of pay —
a somewhat high-handed proceeding, but the
suggestion at any rate showed that there were
those among my crew who would not be deterred
by smaU difficulties, when impeUed by the pros
pect of discovering gold.
I was unable to take a biU of health for our
first port of caU, as I did not myself know what
it would be, our stoppages on the way out entirely
depending on our necessities, such as want of
water or repairs of any damage to the vessel.
If it had been possible to have done so I would
have caUed at no inhabited place untU the ter
mination of the expedition ; but I was weU aware
that the lack of something or other would sooner

A Romance of the Salvages. 77
or later drive us into port. I accordingly pro
cured a biU of health for Sydney ; not that I had
the shghtest intention of going there, but I knew
that this document would satisfy the authorities
of any place at which I was likely to caU for stores :
every harbour on either side of the Atlantic can
be considered as being more or less on the way
to Australia, and on entering a port a vise of our
bUl of health would be all that was necessary ;
for there is no law against zigzagging across the
world to one's destination in a leisurely fashion
if one chooses to do so.

CHAPTER V.
OUR FIRST VOYAGE.
OUR preparations were hurried on at South
ampton, and I was never left in peace, but
was in a condition of perpetual work and travel,
my sole relaxation being the frequent farewell
dinners given to myself and my companions by
our friends and sympathisers ; and very jolly as
these dinners were, they were relaxations in the
other sense of the term rather than reposeful
amusements for a weary man. Some of them
were arduous undertakings.
Our expedition interested the Southampton
people a good deal, and all wished us weU ; but
I do not think many thought that we should be
successful in realizing our fortunes on Trinidad.
At last aU was ready for our departure, when
to my considerable disgust, just as we were about
to put to sea, two of the volunteers suddenly
found themselves prevented from going with us.
I forthwith telegraphed to others on my Hst
of applicants, and at the very last moment re-

Our First Voyage. 79
ceived telegrams from two gentlemen who were
wiUing to join at this short notice. When their
messages arrived, aU my crew and other com
panions were on board, comfortably settled down,
having bidden their fareweUs and done with the
shore ; so I thought it prudent to send them
away from Southampton, where the ' Alerte ' was
perpetually , surrounded by boatf uls of visitors,
to the seclusion of the little bay under Calshot
Castle at the mouth of Southampton Water.
Here they would be out of the way of temptation,
as there are no buildings save the coastguard
station. Therefore, on the evening of August 28, 1889,
the ' Alerte ' saUed slowly down to Calshot, and
came to an anchor there, whUe I waited at South
ampton until the foUowing morning, with the ob
ject of securing my new volunteers as soon as
they should arrive, and carrying them down to
the yacht.
The said volunteers turned up early on August
29. Then, with a party of some of my old
Southampton friends, we steamed down the river
on a launch which had been very kindly placed
at our disposal for the purpose by the Isle of
Wight Steamboat Company. Mr. Picket, of

8o The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
course, would have nothing to do with work hi
his yard on that day; he took a hohday and
came down to see the last of us.
We were now aU on board ; but, finding that
some of the fresh stores, such as vegetables and
bread, had not yet arrived, we postponed our
departure until the foUowing day. In the mean-
whUe we were not idle ; we sent a boat to the
Hamble River to fiU up those breakers that had
been emptied, we got our whale-boat on deck and
secured it, and, in short, made aU ready for sea.
On the foUowing day the Isle of Wight boat,
while passing, left the missing stores with us ;
then Mr. Picket's sloop saued down with some
friends who had determined to bid us even yet
another last fareweU ; and, after dinner, we
weighed anchor and were off, whue the friends
on the sloop and the crew of a yacht which was
brought up near us gave us a hearty good-bye in
British cheers.
But our anchor had not yet had its last hold
of English mud, and we were not to lose sight
of the Solent that day ; for, in consequence of
some clumsiness, or possibly too much zeal on the
part of those who were catting the anchor, the
bowsprit whisker on the starboard side was

Our First Voyage. 8i-
doubled up ; so we had to proceed to Cowes, and
bring up there while we sent the iron on shore
to be put in the fire and straightened again.
However, this did not delay us much, for it fell
a flat calm, which lasted through the night ; we
were better off sleeping comfortably at anchor
than we should have been drifting helplessly up
and down with the tides.
At ii a.m. the next morning, it being high
water, we weighed anchor, and were reaUy off at
last, the weather glorious and hot, but the wind
Hght and variable.
For weeks, whUe we had been lying off South
ampton, the weather had been detestable — blus
terous north-west winds, accompanied by heavy
rains, prevaUing. But now, very opportunely
for us; a complete change set in just as we started,
and it was evident that we were at the commence
ment of a long speU of settled fine weather. I
had anticipated this luck ; for I knew by ex
perience that the last weeks of August and the
first weeks in September are the most favourable
for a voyage south across the bay, for then there
generaUy comes a period of moderate easterly
winds and warm weather, which precedes the
stormy season of the equinox. Thus, when I

82 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
sailed in the ' Falcon ' at this very time of the-
year, I was fortunate enough to carry a north
east wind all the way from Southampton into the
north-east trades, and I was confident that we
were destined to do something of the sort now ;
nor was I disappointed.
We got outside the Needles, and, the wind
being light from west to south-west, we tacked
very slowly down Channel, always in sight of the
English coast, untU nightfaU, when the wind
dropped altogether, and we lay becalmed in sight
of Portland lights. It was our first Saturday
night at sea (August 31), so we kept up the good
old fashion of drinking to our wives and sweet
hearts at eight o'clock. We never neglected this
sacred duty on any Saturday night during the
whole cruise. A light air from the east sprang
up at night, but, though we now had racing
spinnaker and topsail on the vessel, we made
little progress, and it seemed as if we could not
lose sight of the Hghts of Portland.
Throughout the foUowing day — September 1
— the same far too fine weather continued, with
Hght airs from various directions, alternating with
calms. But we did at last contrive to get out
of sight of land this day ; Portland, to our

Our First Voyage. 83
deHght, became invisible, and we saw no more of
the English coast.
This calm weather was trying to the patience ;
but it was perhaps weU for us to have this ex
perience at the commencement of the voyage ;
for it enabled the raw hands to settle down to
their work quickly, and there was but Httle sea
sickness on board.
At midday, September 2, we were off the chops
of the Channel, a fresh easterly wind that lasted
some hours having carried us so far. Then the
wind feU again, and we saUcd on in a , very
leisurely fashion until the morning of September 5,
when, being weU in the middle of the Bay of
Biscay, the wind, which was from the south-east,
began gradually to freshen. First we were going
five knots through the water, then seven, and by
midday we were travelHng between eight and
nine. In the afternoon the wind increased to
the force of a moderate gale and the sea began to
rise. During the night some rather high seas
roUed up after us occasionally, so that we had to
bear away and run before them, and only the old
hands could be entrusted with the tUler. We
passed Finisterre on this night, but were too far
off to see the Hghts ; and now we had done with

84 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
the Bay of Biscay, which had certainly treated
the ' Alerte ' with great consideration, and not
shown us any of its proverbial bad temper. The
wind had gone down by midday on the 6th, and
the run for the previous twenty-four hours was
found to have been 158 mues.
From this date we kept up a fair average speed;
though our voyage could not be termed a smart
one, for there was scarcely a day on which we
were not retarded by several hours of calm.
While going down Channel we had kept watch
and watch in the usual sea fashion, the first mate
taking one watch and myself the other. But
now that we were out at sea, clear of aU danger,
it became unnecessary to continue this some
what wearisome four hours up and four hours
down system ; so we divided ourselves into three
watches, the second mate taking the third watch.
This gave the men an eight hours' rest below ata
stretch, instead of only four. As we had three
paid hands in addition to the cook, one of these
was aUotted to each watch. But before reaching
the South American coast the second mate, re
signed his post, and we reverted to the watch-
and-watch system again, which was observed
untfl the termination of the cruise.

Our First Voyage. 85
A good deal of useless form was kept up at this
early stage of the voyage. A log-slate was
suspended in the saloon, and each officer as he
came below would write up a full account of aU
that had occurred in his watch. The most un
interesting detaUs were minutely chronicled —
only to be rubbed off the slate each midday,
and I think there was a little disappointment ex
pressed because I would not copy aU these down
in my log-book. Had I done so that log-book
would have been a dreadful volume to peruse.
To us, however, the log-slate was a source of
great amusement on account of its utter falla
ciousness. The patent log was, of course, put
overboard when we were making the land, but
when we were out on the ocean and no land was
near us we naturaUy did not take the trouble to
do this, neither did we make use of the common
log-ship or keep a strict dead reckoning. But,
despite this, the officer of a watch would reh-
giously jot down the exact number of knots and
furlongs he professed to have sailed during each
of his four hours on duty ; he did not even try
to guess the distance to the best of his abflity ;
he was fired with an ambition to show the best
record for his watch ; so he would first scan the

86 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
slate to see how many knots the officer just re
lieved boasted to have accomplished, and then he
would unblushingly write down a slightly greater
number of mUes as the result of his own watch,
quite regardless of any fall in the wind or other
retarding cause.
Thus : if five knots an hour had been made
in one watch, five and a quarter would probably
be logged for the next, and five and a half for
the next. Sometimes there was a flat calm
throughout a watch, and then the ingenious
officer, though he could not help himself and was
compeUed to write himself down a zero before
three of the hours, would compensate for this by
putting down a big number in front of that hour
during which he imagined that all the individ
uals of his rival watches were fast asleep below,
and would boldly assert in explanation that just
then he had been favoured with a strong squaU
to help him along.
No one put any confidence in this mendacious
slate, which soon became known on board as the
' Competition Log,' and inspired our wits with
many merry quips. The distance made in each
twenty-four hours as recorded by the Compe
tition Log was about fifty per cent, greater

uur Jbirst Voyage. 87
than that calculated from the observations of
the sun.
At last, on the morning of September 13,
having been fourteen days at sea, and having
accompHshed a voyage of somethmg under fifteen
hundred mUes, we knew that we were in the close
vicinity of the Salvages, and a sharp look
out for land was accordingly kept. We had seen
nothing but water round us since leaving Port
land BUI, and aU on board were excited at the
prospect of so soon discovering what manner of
place was this desert treasure-island of which we
had been talking so much.
The Salvages lie between Madeira and the
Canaries, being 160 mUes from the former and
about 85 from Teneriffe. Vessels avoid their
vicinity, especiaUy at night, on account of the
dangerous shoals that surround them. The
description of the group in the ' North Atlantic
Memoir ' is as f oUows : —
' The Salvages consist of an island named the
Ilha Grande, or the Great Salvage, a larger
island named Great Piton, and a smaUer one
called the Little Piton, together with several
rocks. The Great Salvage lies in lat. 300 8',
long. 150 55'. It is of very irregular shape, arid

88 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
has a number of rocks about it within the dis
tance of a nule. It is much intersected, and has
several deep inlets, the most accessible of which
is on the east side. It is covered with bushes,
amongst which the thousands of sea-fowl make
their nests. It is surrounded on aU sides with
dangers, most of which show, but many require
aU caution in approaching.
' The Great Piton Hes at the distance of 8£
mUes W.S.W. f W. from Ilha Grande. This islet
is 2§ miles long, and has a hiU or peak near its
centre. The Little Piton lies at a mile from the
western side of the former, and is three-quarters
of a nrile long ; both are comparatively narrow.
These isles are seated upon and surrounded by
one dangerous rocky bank, which extends from
the western side of the little isle half a league to
the westward.' . . . ' The southern part of the
Great Piton appears green, its northern part
barren. It may be seen 5 or 6 leagues off. The
Little Piton is very flat, and is connected to the
south point of the greater one by a continued ledge
of rocks. The whole of the eastern side of the
Great Piton is rocky and dangerous.'
A Hght north-east trade-wind was blowing,
and we were running before it at a fair rate

Our First Voyage. 89
through the smooth water, with topsaU and racing
spinnaker set. It was a glorious morning,
with but few clouds in the sky, and those were
of that fleecy, broken appearance that charac
terises the regions of the trade-winds.
At 8.30 a.m. the man on the look-out at the
cross-trees sang out : — ' Land right ahead, sir ! '
Yes — no doubt about it — there it was, stUl several
leagues off, a faint blue hiU of rugged form on
the horizon ; we had made an exceUent land-faU.
WhUe we were straining our eyes to make out the
features of our desert island, our attention was
attracted to a stiU nearer object which suddenly
gleamed out snowy white as the sun's rays feU
on it, triangular in form and appearing like a
smaU chalk rock, but too far off to be clearly dis
tinguished. Gradually we approached this, and,
after a little doubt, it proved to be no rock, but
a saUing-vessel of some kind. Then with the aid
of the binoculars we made her out ; she was a
smaU schooner of foreign rig, evidently haUing
from the Canaries or Madeiras, and she was
sailing as we were, shaping a course direct for the
island. We had seen no vessel for several days, and the
appeararice of this suspicious-lookhig craft caused

90 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
some excitement on the ' Alerte.' We called to
mind the foreign fishermen who, according to
rumour, occasionaUy visit this uninhabited
archipelago. Was this one of their vessels ?
If so, there might be trouble ahead for us.
We rapidly gained on the enemy, though we
were engaged in a stern chase. This adventure
put my crew in lively spirits, and I think that
some of them began half to imagine themselves
to be bold privateers of the olden days, after a
Spaniard or a Frenchman.
GraduaUy we approached the Great Salvage,
which, lying between us and the Pitons, concealed
the latter from our view. Its appearance was
very different from what we had expected. We
had come to the conclusion, I know not for
what reason, that we should find an island con
sisting for the most part of great sand-hiUs ; but
there was not the smallest patch of sandy beach
to be seen anywhere. Sheer from the sea rose
great rocks of volcanic formation, dark and
rugged ; and, though we were stiU several miles
off, we could perceive that the sea was breaking
heavUy on every part of the weather coast, for we
could hear the booming of the roUers and see
the frequent white flash of the foam against the

Uur First Voyage. 91
black cliff-sides. But above these precipices
towards the centre of the island there was a
plateau, or rather an undulating green down,
with one steep green dome dominating aU, look
ing very fresh and pleasant to eyes that for two
weeks had only gazed at the monotonous plains
of the sea.
As I have already explained, my informant
from Exeter was of opinion that the ' Prome
theus ' people were wrong in digging on the shores
of the Great Salvage, and that the treasure had
been concealed on the Great Piton or middle
island. We decided in the first place to come to
an anchor off the Great Salvage, and after having
explored that island, to sail for the Great Piton.
According to the Admiralty charts there are
two anchorages off the Great Salvage, one in the
East Bay and one in the South Bay. We
accordingly steered so as to coast down the east
side of the island, and thus open out both of these
inlets. At midday we were not quite a league astern
of the schooner. She was close under the north
point of the island, when suddenly she hauled her
wind and steered in a westerly direction, seem
ingly for the open sea ; so we came to the con-

92 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
elusion that our excitement had been groundless,
and that in aU probabUity we should not.be
troubled by inquisitive foreigners during our
exploration of the Salvages.
We soon found that it was necessary to
exercise considerable caution while approaching
this island. Nearly two miles away from it there
was a shoal over which the sea was breaking
heavily ; we passed between this and the island
as directed by the chart, and kept close under
the shore, where the dark violet of the deep sea
was changed for the transparent green of com
paratively shallow water. Here again we had to
pick our way through outlying rocks and shoals.
One of these shoals is particularly dangerous,
for, as there is some depth of water over it, the
sea only occasionaUy breaks, and for a, quarter
of an hour at a time there is nothing to indicate
the danger, so that a vessel might, through in
advertence, be taken right on to it.
When we were close to it the sea happened to
break, and the sight was a lovely, yet a terrible
one. A huge green roller, very high and steep,
suddenly rose as if by magic from the deep ;
then swept oyer the shoal, and, when it reached
the shallowest part, its crest hung over, forming

Our First Voyage. 93
a cavern underneath, through whose transparent
roof the sun shone with a beautiful green light ;
and lastly, the mass overtopping itself feU with a
great hoUow sound, and was dashed to pieces in a
whirl of hissing foam. Had the old ' Alerte '
been there at that moment her end would have
come swiftly, and perhaps ours too.
The chart seems to mark these rocks and
breakers very correctly, and there is smaU danger
of falling a victim to them if proper precautions
are observed. Besides which, the water is so
clear that one can see through it many fathoms
down, and a man in the cross-trees with an eye
experienced to the work could always detect a
danger in good time.
We rounded the north-east point and opened
East~Bay. We did not like the look of the
anchorage here, which is in ten fathoms, and
could see no good landing nor any signs of a sandy
beach ; so we saUed on and doubled the south
east point and the shoals that extend some way
from it, suddenly opening out South Bay, the one
in which it seems that the ' Prometheus ' came
to an anchor.
And then, to our astonishment, we beheld a
very unexpected sight. Rolling easily on the

94 The Cruise of the : Alerte.'
green ocean swell, a': some three cables' length
from the shore, lay a smaU schooner at anchor ;
her crew — a half-naked, bronzed, and savage-
looking lot — were engaged in stowing her main-
saU. She was evidently the same schooner we
had seen outside. WhUe we had been coasting
round the east side of the island, she had fol
lowed the west side, and here we had met again.
But she was not the only surprise in store for us.
There were no sandy dunes in this bay ; its shores
were steep and rocky, and on either side reefs,
on which the sea broke, protected the anchorage
to some extent. At the head of one picturesque
cove, wherein was evidently the best landing-
place, were two smaU huts, put together of rough
stones from the beach, and from these a footpath
wound up the bare volcanic cliffs to the green
plateau some four hundred feet above. A
quantity of barrels were being quickly landed
here from one of the schooner's boats, and
several other wUd-looking men were carrying
these up to a cavern a Httle way up the rocks
behind the huts. The whole formed a wild and
fantastic picture. It was just such a scene as
Salvator Rosa would have delighted to paint, it
would have suited the savage austerity of his

Our First Voyage. 95
style* The rugged cove might well have been
the haunt of smugglers or pirates. And who,
we wondered, were these people, and what were
they doing ; these were mysterious proceedings
for a desert island ! The evident labour of the
men whUe carrying the barrels proved to us that
they were very heavy. ' Perhaps,' suggested one
of us — ' perhaps we have just arrived at the
right moment to mterrupt another band of
pirates in the act of hiding another immense
treasure.' This would have been almost too great a
stroke for my band of adventurers. It would
have been very pleasant to have saved ourselves
aU the trouble of digging, and to have simply
carried off the eviUy-earned hoard of these wicked
men- and divided it among our virtuous selves.
We had sanguine men on board whom no faUure
disheartened, despite their invariable habit of
counting their chickens before they were hatched;
so I was not surprised to be now asked by the
sportsman of our party how long I thought it
would take us to get back to England. When I
had replied, he evinced great satisfaction. ' Oh,
that is aU right then ! ' he said. ' We can get
this stuff on board and be back home just in time

96 The Cruise ot tne ^illerte.'
for the pheasant-shooting ; and, after that, we
can fit out again and fetch our other treasures.'
We came to an anchor in seven fathoms of
water a short distance outside the schooner. It
was not the sort of roadstead I should Hke to
remain long in ; for an iron-bound shore was
before us, and around were numerous shoals
on which the roUers kept up a perpetual huUa-
baUoo — a nasty trap to be caught in should the
wind suddenly veer to the southward.
It was after one o'clock when we brought up,
so we decided to go below and dine before doing
anything else, and the conversation at table
became more piratical in its tone than ever.
After the detaUs of how we were to enrich
ourselves despite aU obstacles had been thor
oughly discussed, each of the adventurers ex
plained in what way he would spend his share
of the booty; how it should be invested was,
of course, far too prosaic a matter for his con
sideration.

CHAPTER VI.
ON THE SALVAGES.
AS soon as dinner was over the whale-boat
J~\. was put into the water, and I pulled off to
the landing-place with two of my companions.
The men on shore were stUl employed in
carrying the barrels up to the cavern, but when
we approached they ceased working, and stood
gazing at us, with a not unnatural curiosity.
We found the landing-place to be a queer one.
A little channel clove the rocks for sixty or
seventy feet inland. This inlet was so narrow
that there was scarce room within it to work a
boat with oars, and, as the ocean swell entered
it with sufficient force to render a coUision with
the rocks dangerous for any boat, an ingenious
arrangement had been placed there to faciHtate
the landing. Just outside the entrance of the
inlet a barrel floated, which was moored to a big
stone or anchor at the bottom ; a stout grass
rope was attached to this barrel, and the other
end of it was made fast to a rock on shore at the
4

98 The Cruise ot the 'Alerte.'
head of the inlet. By hauling along this rope,
which was sufficiently taut for the purpose, the
boat was kept well in the centre of the channel,
and aU risk of getting foul of the rocks on either
side was avoided. At the end of the inlet was a
rocky shelf, on to which we jumped, having first
made our boat fast to the rope in such a way
that she could not bump against the shore.
Then there came down to us a very brown
and amiable-looking old gentleman, whose dress
consisted solely of a short, ragged shirt, which
had once, I think, been of a vivid green, but
which had now been toned down to a more
aesthetic tint with age and dirt. He welcomed
us to the island by sUently shaking each of us
by the hand very cordially.
I addressed him in Spanish, but he shook his
head and commenced to speak in a language
which I recognised as a Portuguese patois of
some description. But we soon contrived to
understand each other fairly weU. He told me
that he was the padron of the wUd crew who stood
round listening to our conversation with grave
faces — a sort ol governor ol the islet, and chief
owner of the barrels of wealth which lay before
us. He was also captain of the schooner.

On the Salvages. 99
Then he beckoned us to follow him, and he led
us into one of the stone huts, the furniture of
which consisted of barrels like those that were
being landed from the schooner, an open hogs
head of black grapes, and a demijohn. The good
oid man pulled out a pannikin from between
the stones of the waU, and proceeded to serve
out to each of us a tot of exceUent aguardiente
from the demijohn. »
One of the half-naked men happened to be
bringing another of the mysterious barrels into
the hut ; so, without showing any impolite curi
osity, I contrived to hint that I should like to
know what it contained. The padron forthwith
dipped the pannikin into a barrel that had been
already broached, and poured the contents into
my hand. It was, as I had expected, not pirate
treasure, but coarse salt.
Then he explained to me that he and his com
panions were natives of Madeira, that they were
in the habit of coming here with their schooner
at this season of the year, and that they made
this bay their headquarters for salting down the
fish which they caught, but that for the remainder
of the year there were no human beings on these
islands. He further said that the Salvages were

ioo The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
claimed by the Portuguese, and not by the
Spanish. On being asked whether there was any
fresh water on the island, he said there was a
small fountain in a hoUow on the summit, and
that all the water they used had to be brought
down from there in small breakers on the heads
of his men. They were nimble enough in
scrambling down the cliffs under their burdens,
as we saw later "on ; but all Madeirans are ex
cellent mountaineers.
Then the padron, looking rather sly, inquired
in his turn : — ' What have you Englishmen come
here for ? It is rare that vessels come by here.'
' It is on our way to Teneriffe,' I replied, ' and
as this is a pleasure yacht we are not bound
to time.'
' Once before an Englishman came here. I
thought you might have come for the same reason
as he.'
' And why did he come ? '
' To look for hidden money.'
This was very interesting, but we tried to
assume a look of innocent surprise, as if we had
heard nothing of this before.
' There is a great treasure hidden on this
island somewhere,' he continued, ' and the En-

On the Salvages. 101
gHsh know of it. Some years ago this mUord
came with his yacht, a bigger one than yoursj
a steamer with three masts, and they dug for the
treasure. Oh ! it is a great treasure, more than
a thousand EngHsh pounds they say ; but the
Englishmen did not find it.'
' Where did they dig ? ' I asked.
' I do not know. I was not on the island at
the time. It was several years ago.'
That was all he seemed to know ; we could
elicit no further information on the subject from
him ; but it was evident that the ' Alerte ' was
not the first yacht that had come to the Sal
vages in search of the hidden chests of doUars.
We then set forth to explore the island. We
chmbed the narrow path that zigzagged up the
bare cliffs, and in the construction of which a con
siderable amount of labour must have been ex
pended, a proof in itself that the rare visitors to
the island were Portuguese, for these people alone
take the trouble to make roads on desert islands.
They seem to love for its own sake the arduous
work of cutting paths up difficult precipices, and
very cleverly they do it too. We came across the
remains of exceUent Portuguese roads even among
the apparently inaccessible crags of Trinidad.

102 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
We reached the green downs on the summit.
The sky was cloudless and a fresh breeze was
blowing over the sea, so the tramp was very
enjoyable to us after the cramped life on board
of a smaU vessel.
On every portion of these downs we found
walls roughly put together of piled-up stones,
which in some places formed long paraUel lines,
in others square enclosures. The object of these
had probably been to prevent the soU from being
washed into the sea ; but whatever cultivation
had formerly been carried on here had evidently
been abandoned long since, in consequence, no
doubt, of the insufficiency of the water-supply.
The fishermen appeared to be entirely ignorant
of the history of these old waUs. In one place
there were traces of an ancient vineyard.
Wherever the ground was not too stony a coarse
grass grew luxuriantly over the downs. There
were also wild tomatoes in profusion and alkaline
sea plants of various species.
We saw many rabbits dodging among the
rocks, and guUs and cormorants in quantities.
The cormorants dwelt with their famUies in fine
stone houses which they had constructed with
great ingenuity. Some of the stones were large

On the Salvages. 103
and heavy ; it would be interesting to observe
how the birds set to work to move these and how
they put their roofs on. I have been told that
they rake up a mound of stones with their power
ful wings in such a way that by removing some of
those underneath they leave the roof above them.
The gulls are not such good architects as the
cormorants, and for the most part live in the
natural crevices of the rocks, or in holes which
they steal from the rabbits. We, however, saw
one conscientious gull in the act of making his
own house. He had selected a large stone lying
on soft soU, and was burrowing a deep cavern
underneath it.
We walked round the downs, looking over the
cliffs into every bay ; but we could ste no ex
tensive sandy beach such as that described by
Captain Robinson. There were smaU patches of
sand here and there, and that was aU. The shore
was formed of rock and shingle. It is probable
that many changes have taken place on this
exposed islet since the visit of the ' Prometheus ';
the sands may have been washed away, and
there is no doubt that rocks and rocky land-
sHps are constantly failing from above.
We saw clearly that it would be useless for us

104 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
to dig in any of these bays ; for none of them
corresponded with the description given by the
Spanish saUor ; so we came to the conclusion
that our search must be undertaken, if anywhere,
on the middle island and not on the Great Salvage.
When on the summit of the island we looked
out towards ihe south for the famous Peak of
Teneriffe, which is said to be sometimes visible
at a distance of one hundred and fifty mUes.
We were not much more than eighty miles from
it here and the day was quite clear, but we
could see no signs of it ; neither was it visible
while we were on the Great Piton, which is eight
mUes nearer. I have been at sea in the neigh
bourhood of Teneriffe on several occasions, but
have never yet had a view of the great mountain,
so either I am very unlucky or it must be rare
indeed that it is to be distinguished at anything
like the distance aUeged.
Having explored the islet, we proceeded to
hunt rabbits. We had brought no guns with us,
so tried to kill them with stones, but failed
completely ; we were all out of practice at this
sort of sport. We then descended the path to
the huts, where the padron gave us a smUing
welcome, and, inviting us again into the hut,

On the Salvages. 105
produced for our benefit an unwonted luxury,
a bottle of rough Madeira. We purchased some
grapes from him and a bottle of aguardiente, and,
having bade fareweU to our Portuguese friends,
we puUed off to the yacht and recounted our
adventures to the others.
When we tasted the aguardiente we discovered
that the monarch of the desert island understood
how to trade in quite a civUised fashion ; it was
horrible stuff, not at all up to the exceUent sample
he had treated us to on our landing.
Shortly before sunset the schooner, having
discharged all her salt, weighed anchor and set
saU for Madeira, leaving about six men behind on
the island.
As some of my companions seemed rather keen
on taking their guns on shore and having a few
hours' rabbit-shooting, I decided that the yacht
should remain at anchor where she was during the
foUowing forenoon, so as to enable them to enjoy
their sport and stock our larder with fresh meat
— a very acceptable luxury — wlrile I would sail
with a few hands in the whale-boat at daybreak
to the Great Piton, effect a landing there if
possible, and discover whether there was any bay
which answered to the Spanish sailor's descrip-

106 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
tion. In the afternoon the yacht was to get
under weigh, and rejoin me at the other island.
So at 4 o'clock the next morning, September
14, we had coffee, put some provisions and two
breakers of water into the boat, together with a
few picks and shovels, a compass and other
necessaries, and then sailed away.
I left the first mate in charge of the yacht,
having first arranged a short code of signals with
him, so that I could communicate from the
shore when the yacht appeared off the Great
Piton. I took one of the signal code flags with me,
which when flying from a perpendicular staff
was to signify ' All Right,' two waves of the flag
indicated that we were coming off to the yacht
in the boat, four waves was an order to the
mate to send the dinghy off to us, and eight
or more waves meant that we had found a
likely-looking place and that I had decided to
carry on digging operations. We were to in
dicate the best anchorage by pointing the flag in
the direction we wished the yacht to be steered.
It was stUl dark when we got under weigh in the
whale-boat, so the binnacle light was lit, and we
shaped our course by compass towards the still

On the Salvages. 107
invisible island, which was about nine miles
distant. I had with me the doctor, the second mate,
and one of the paid hands — Arthur Cotton.
When we got clear of the protecting island we
found that a fresh wind was blowing nearly right
aft ; so we set the two sprit sails and ran fast
across a tumbling sea, the Atlantic sweU looking
formidable when our Httle boat was in the deep
hoUows be ween the lofty crests.
By-and-by a faint light appeared in the east,
and a red, rather stormy-looking dawn broadened
across the dark sky.
Shortly after sunrise, the mists clearing from
the islet, we perceived the Great Piton right
ahead of us ; but we only caught sight of it when
we were on the summits of the waves, losing it
again when we were in the deep valleys between.
We scudded on, and as we approached nearer,
the sea became more confused and a little water
tumbled on board occasionaUy. Outlying rocks
showed their black heads above the water here
and there, whUe curling breakers indicated the
presence of other invisible dangers.
We lowered our saUs and inspected the island
from a safe distance before venturing to land ;

108 The Cruise of the ' Alerte/
for if proper precautions are not exercised it is
a very easy matter to lose one's boat in a moment
while beaching on any of these small oceanic
islets. We saw that the Great Piton was much
lower than the Great Salvage, the shore was rocky
and indented, and there was a good deal of surf
in places. Above the shore was a green un
dulating plain, while towards the middle of it
rose a steep dome with dark rocks at the
summit. The average height of the plain above the sea
seemed to be about twenty feet, and the central
hiU, according to the chart, is only 140 feet high.
We observed that there were sandy beaches in
many of the little coves, and some of these taUied
weU with the spot described by the Spaniard.
The Great Piton is a long narrow island
extending from north-east to south-west mag
netic ; therefore the whole side facing the
south-east could be accurately described as
the south side. It was somewhere on this shore
that the mutineers must have landed with the
chests. Picking our way through the outer shoals we
made for what appeared to be the best landing-

On the Salvages. 109
place, a snug. Httle cove at the eastern extremity
of this south side. Here we landed without
any difficulty ; but, finding it impossible to haul
our heavy boat up the beach, we moored her
safely in the bay and waded on shore with our
stores. On a sandy slope above the rocks we found the
ruined walls of a stone hut. By placing our
saUs over these we made a snug little house.
And now,' cried our medical adviser, ' I
suggest that, before doing anything else, we
have breakfast.' Our early morning saU on
the ocean had given us all a hearty appetite ;
so a fire was lit, cocoa made, and the ship
biscuits and tinned beef were duly appreciated.
Then we enjoyed our pipes, and leaving
Arthur behind to make the camp as comfort
able as he could, we set forth to explore the
island. Our first discovery was that the cor
ner on which we had landed became a separate
islet at high water ; for it was divided from the
bulk of the Great Piton by a broad depression,
across which at about three-quarters flood the
sea rushed with a violent current. This de
pression was of rock and lava, and it had been
worn into a smooth and level floor by the action

no The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
of innumerable tides. At low water it was several
feet above the Sea, so that one could then walk
across dryshod.
We walked along the whole southern shore of
the island, and it appeared to us that there were
at least three coves to which the Spaniard's
description could apply equally weU, We found
no inhabitants, but there were frequent signs
of the Portuguese fishermen who occasionally
visit the islet. We saw many foot-prints on the
sands, showing that some men had been here very
recently. We came across their rough stone
huts full of fleas, some of their fishing-tackle,
mounds of coarse salt, the ashes of their fires,
and in one cavern there were stored the large
iron pots in which they cooked their food.
We found no rabbits on the island, and very
few birds. The sole creatures on shore were
beetles, flies, and fleas. The latter lively insects
were a great plague to us at night ; it was unwise
of us to pitch our camp in the hut of a Portuguese
fisherman. On the beach were great numbers
of very active little crabs. There was no fresh
water on the island.
We ascended the peak, which is named Hart
HiU. Its top is formed of rugged masses of

On the Salvages. hi
coal-black rock, evidently of volcanic forma
tion, and this is studded with large black
crystals, Hke plums in a plum-pudding. These
crystals attracted our attention at once. We
chipped off some and found them hard and heavy.
We began to speculate on the nature of this
substance, and, as none of us knew much of
mineralogy, we of course at once decided, in our
usual sanguine way, that this must be an oxide
of antimony, or manganese, or some other valu
able product. There were thousands of tons of
this stuff on the island, so we clearly saw our
way to another vast fortune of a different
description to that we were seeking. It was
settled that we would obtain a concession from
the Portuguese before- the value of our find
leaked out, then we would seU our rights to an
English company or syndicate for an immense
sum. We sat there on the top of our crystalline
treasure and arranged it aU, ' It might be
worth while,' suggested one humdrum individual,
' in the first place to send a specimen home to be
assayed, so that we may form some approximate
idea of the extent of our fortunes ; but we must
send it to some person whom we can rely upon
not to breathe a word of the secret and so stop

112 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.' /
our chances of making an advantageous bargain
with the Portuguese.' I
Later on, when we reached Teneriffe, we (did
send some of the crystals home, and when we
arrived at Bahia we were informed by letter of
the result of the assay and of the exact market
value per ton of the stuff.
But I wiU not keep any of my friends who may
read this book in suspense. They need not apply
to me for an early allotment of shares in the great
syndicate. We have not made our fortunes just
yet. I wUl anticipate by giving the assayist's
report. It ran thus : — ' Volcanic hornblende.
Commercial value — nU.'
But we did not waste much time in buUding
our castles in the air, and returned to business.
Looking from the summit of our hornblende
peak the whole island lay stretched out before us
like a map, and we could easUy distinguish aU
the features of the Little Piton, which seemed to
be about two miles away. On the Admiralty
chart the coast and shoals of the Great Salvage
are correctly drawn ; but this cannot be said of
the plan of the Great Piton : this is utterly un-
rehable. The survey does not profess to be
more than a superficial one, but great changes

On the Salvages. 113
must have occurred here since it was made.
There are not wanting signs that the sea has en
croached a great deal on the land, and that it is
stUl doing so. In the first place the island is not
three mUes long, as shown on the chart ; its length
cannot exceed one mile and a half. The shores,
again, are far more irregular in shape, the outer
islands and shoals more numerous, than the
chart indicates. Perhaps these last have been
cut off the island by the sea since the survey.
We perceived that the sea was breaking aU round
the island on far projecting promontories and
shaUow reefs ; but, strangely enough, where the
chart does mark one weU-defined continuous reef
joining the Great Piton to the Little Piton, there
appeared to be a broad open channel of deep
water. We saw one likely-looking bay to the south
ward of our camp, so, whUe we were waiting for
the yacht, we three of us set to with our shovels,
and dug parallel trenches in the sand at right
angles to the shore, working upwards from a
short distance above high-water mark. We did
not dig these trenches to a greater depth than
three feet, for we then came to a hard soU which
to aU appearance had never been disturbed. We

114 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
found it pretty hard work under that fiery
subtropical sun, unaccustomed as we were to' the
use of pick and shovel.
In the afternoon the yacht appeared off the
island ; so we signalled to her with the flag in
the preconcerted manner : ' Come to an anchor.'
' We wiU pass the night on shore.' And, whereas
eight or more waves of the flag were to signify
that we had found a likely place for the hidden
treasure, we waved most energeticaUy for quite
two minutes— a sanguine signal that must have
led my companions on board to conclude that
we had at least discovered the first of the chests
of doUars.
The yacht came to an anchor off the bay at
which we had first landed. The mate came off
to us in the dinghy, and I told him our plans
and instructed him to send other hands off to
us in the morning, together with aU necessary
Stores. He then returned to the yacht, while
we passed the night in our hut in the company
of the innumerable sleepless fleas.
Early on the following morning— -September
15— the boat came off with five more of my com
panions, which raised our shore party to nine.
We then shifted our camp from the torture

On the Salvages. 115
hut of fleas to a sandy spot further to the south
ward under Hart HiU, and here we pitched the
two emigrant tents which had been brought for
Trinidad. The boat returned to the yacht for
the stores, and brought back to us all the picks,
shovels, and crowbars, a forty-gallon tank of
water, and plenty of provisoins, including a
savoury stew of Salvagee rabbits, for our
sportsmen haa had good luck on the previous
day. After the camp had been put in order the
whole party set forth to survey the southern
shore, and each, having read the Spaniard's
narrative, gave his opinion as to the most
likely spot.
Then we arranged a methodical plan of action,
and his portion of work was allotted to each
man. We dug trenches in parallel lines in some
places, in others we drew them in A shapes,
gold prospector's fashion, generaUy working in
a sandy earth, but sometimes through shingle.
The surface of the island has, no doubt, under
gone many changes since 1804, the year in which
it is alleged that the treasure was buried. It
was therefore often difficult to decide to what
depth the trenches should be dug ; for we came

116 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
to a hard, darker soU, which some of us considered
to be of ancient formation, undisturbed for cen
turies, whUe others were of opinion that loose sand
mixing with vegetable matter could easUy have
consolidated into this in the course of eighty
years. When we had dug the trenches as far
down as we intended we sounded the earth to a
stUl greater depth by driving in the crowbars at
short intervals. At one time some excitement
was caused by the discovery of bones, but our
doctor pronounced them to be the bones of a
whale and not of a human being.
By dinner time we had dug a goodly array of
trenches ; for we were working energetically
despite the burning sun.
WhUe we were enjoying an interval of rest
after the midday meal and smoking our pipes,
I took those of the working party who had not
yet seen the black crystals to the summit of Hart
HiU, and asked their opinion of the mineral. None
of them had seen a rock of like formation before,
and they thought this might prove a valuable dis
covery. Our sportsman took in the value of the
hUl at a glance. ' WeU,' he said, ' I don't think
so much of this as of the other treasures. How
ever, it may be worth a quarter of a million or

On the Salvages. 117
so to us. I wUl put my share of it on " X " for
the Derby.' I may mention that the horse he
selected did not turn out to be this year's Derby
winner. We worked steadUy through the afternoon,
also for the whole of the next day, September
16. On this day the mate reported that the re
mainder of our salt beef, some 400 pounds, was
spoUed. It had, accordingly, to be thrown
overboard. It was just possible that the treasure had been
hidden on the Little Piton, and not on the island
on which we were working. The Little Piton
might be described as the middle island, for it
lies between the Great Piton and another small
islet or rock, apparently not marked in the
chart ; while the Great Salvage is as often as not
invisible from here.
So on the morning of September 17, leaving
the other hands to continue the trenches, I sailed
in the whale-boat with two of my companions to
the Little Piton. We found that this islet also
had a sandy down in its centre ; but after
several trials we saw that it was impossible to
effect a landing on any part of it. There was
no snug little cove, such as the one described by

118 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
Cruise. The sea was breaking in an ugly way
along the rocky coast, and the water round the
islet was so thickly studded with rocks and reefs
that it was dangerous to approach it.
After inspecting the shore as closely as we
dared we abandoned the attempt, and, setting
saU, hurried back to the Great Piton ; for the
sky looked s'tormy to windward, and a heavy
rain-Squall came up which for a time hid aU
land from our sight — not desirable weather for
cruising about the Atlantic in an open boat,
for should a strong wind rise we should be unable
to make any way against it, and might easily
be blown away from the islets out to sea.
We landed again safely on the Great Piton,
and after digging for some more hours, we sat
together in councU, and upon a little discussion
it was unanimously decided that it was not worth
our while to carry on any further operations on
the Salvages. We had already dug hard for four
days and might easily dig for forty more without
having explored more than a smaU fraction of
the sandy beaches on the south side of the island.
Besides this there existed a considerable doubt
whether this was the right island at all. The
information was of far too vague a nature, our

On the Salvages. 119
chance of success far too remote, to encourage us
to stay longer.. Moreover, the anchorage was a
very unsafe one should it come on to blow, and
even now the glass was falling rapidly and the
sky looked ominous.
I had originaUy intended to saU for St.
Vincent in the Cape Verde islands, and had indeed
directed letters to be forwarded to us there ;
but this island was stUl a thousand mUes distant,
and, seeing that we had lost aU our salt beef and
had consumed a good deal of our water — the digg
ing on the island under the sun had, of course,
produced great thirst — it became almost neces
sary to caU for provisions at some nearer port
than St. Vincent.
I accordingly decided to saU for Santa Cruz on
Teneriffe, which is less than a day's saU from
the Great Piton, if one have any luck in one's
winds. So we broke up our camp, struck the tents,
carried everybody and everything on board in
two journeys of the boat, then got both boats
on board, and made all ready for sea.
With the exception of the Salvages, I had
before visited every place at which we caUed with
the ' Alerte ' ; and even the Salvages" were not

120 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
entirely new to me, for I had seen them from the
deck of the steam-yacht ' Sans Peur ' in 1885,
when she was on her way from Madeira to
Teneriffe. This cruise consequently was not quite so fresh
and interesting to me as to my companions, and
would have seemed almost a duU one had it
not been for the excitement of treasure-hunting.

CHAPTER VII.
RUNNING DOWN THE TRADES.
AT four in the afternoon we hoisted the sails
and weighed the anchor. I was at the helm
at the time, and was very surprised at the extra
ordinary manner in which the vessel now behaved.
She seemed bewitched; a nice breeze was blowing,
her saUs were fuU, and yet she gathered no way
on her, forged not a foot ahead, but remained
where she was, tumbling about uneasily on the
long ground-sweU.
She was acting for all the world Hke an obsti
nate buckjumpmg horse. Never before had the
amiable old yawl evinced any signs of temper,
and this display grieved me very much, for I had
thought better of her.
This strange behaviour went on for quite a
minute, when suddenly she seemed to come to
her senses, gave herself a shake, and with a quick
leap darted ahead and was rushing through the
water in her usual steady style.
One of the crew now happened to look over

122 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
the. side, and called the attention of the others
to somethmg that he saw dangling there. There
was a roar of laughter. The good old vessel
had been crueUy wronged by our suspicions ;
she was entirely innocent of obstinacy or temper
of any sort. Our purser alone was to blame
for what had occurred. He was a most energetic
but unsuccessful fisherman, and had come on
board at Southampton weU provided with fish
ing tackle of all descriptions ; he was prepared for
every inhabitant of the deep, from the narwhal
and the whale to whelks and whitebait. So on
this afternoon, while we were getting ready for
sea, he had been vainly attempting to catch
sharks with a bit of our condemned beef as bait,
and had forgotten to take his line on board when
we got under weigh. The stout shark hook had
got hold of the rocks at the bottom and had
securely anchored us by the stern. The strong
line held weU, but something had to give way
before the increasing straining of the vessel as
the wind filled her sails ; on hauling in the line we
found that one arm of the hook had broken off
and so released us.
At sunset the desert islets faded out of sight,
and we saUed on through the night across a

Running down the Trades. 123
smooth sea with a light westerly breeze on our
beam. That we failed to discover the treasure on the
Salvages did not dishearten my companions in
the least. It is true that all had realised
beforehand how remote were our chances of suc
cess ; still, it was very encouraging to find that
there was no grumbling or expression of disap
pointment after those four days of hard digging
in vain under a hot sun : it argued weU for the
way in which these men would face the far greater
difficulties of Trinidad.
On the foUowing morning, September 18, we
caught sight of the Peak of Teneriffe, about
twenty mUes distant. We saUed past the north
point of the island, coasted by the volcanic
mountains that, with their barren inhospitable
crags, give so little indication of the fertUe vales
within, and came to an anchor at 2 p.m. off
Santa Cruz.
The Port doctor immediately came off to us,
and was quite satisfied with my biU of health
for Sydney, and my explanation that we had
called here for provisions and water ; so he gave
us pratique without demur.
Then land-clothes were donned, and some of

124 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
my companions went on shore to enjoy the
luxuries of civUisation once again.
SantaCruz is a pleasant little place, and seemed
to me to have improved a good deal since my
last visit. The hotels at any rate are far better"
than they were ; I remember that it was once
impossible to get a decent meal in the town, but
we were now quite satisfied with the Inter
national Hotel in the Plaza. It is under Engfish
management, and several of our countrymen and
countrywomen were passing the winter there.
Some of my companions dined at this hotel every
night during our stay, and expressed themselves
weU contented with the table ; like aU pirates, they
were, of course, great gourmets while on shore
and knew the difference between good and bad.
We remained a week at Santa Cruz, being
delayed by a variety of causes, so some of the
party were enabled to travel over the island on
donkeys and see its peculiar scenery.
A very sharp little ragged boy took a great
fancy to the ' Alerte ' crew. He insisted on pro
tecting the innocent foreigners and acting as their
cicerone when they walked about the town. He
drove aU other beggars and loafers away from
them, and even bulHed the sentries when they

Running down the Trades. 125
raised objections to a couple of my men tres
passing on the forbidden precincts of the citadel.
This urchin was afraid of no one, and was very
inteUigent ; as few of us understood his Spanish,
he communicated aU that he had to say by
means of a most expressive pantomime. It was
grand to observe his apologetic manner when he
took us into the cathedral and showed us the
flags that had been captured from Nelson during
his disastrous attack on Teneriffe in 1797. He
looked up into our faces with a solemn and sym
pathetic look. He would not hurt our feelings
for worlds.
The ragged urchins of Santa Cruz are as like
each other as so many John Chinamen ; so, when
our own particular boy was not by, some other
would come to us with a welcoming smile and
attempt to impersonate him. Therefore, in
order to distinguish our own from his pretenders,
we decorated him with an old brass button,, which
he wore proudly on his breast.
I wiU not attempt here a description of this so
often described island.* In my opinion it must
be a far pleasanter winter resort than that some
what melancholy island Madeira, where there is
a depressing sense of being imprisoned by the

126" The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
steep mountains. The mountains of Teneriffe
are stUl higher, but there are broad and beauti
ful plains beneath them that give an idea of free
dom and breathing-room. There are exceUent
hotels in other portions of Teneriffe, and in the
neighbourhood of Santa Cruz there are many
beautifully situated villas and chateaux be
longing to the native gentry that can be hired at
very moderate rates indeed, while provisions are
good and cheap.
The ship's complement was diminished by two
at Santa Cruz, the boatswain and one of the
volunteers leaving us.
Before sailing we took on board a large
quantity of stores, including barrels of salt beef
which proved to be of a very inferior quality to
that we had brought from Southampton, but
this was ancient, and, having arrived at a certain
stage of nastiness, was not likely to get any
worse, The paid hands quite approved of it,
for it was at any rate better than that served
out on the majority of merchant vessels. We
also procured some very fair native wine, like
a rovigh port, which, mixed with water, formed
a wholesome drink for the tropics. The high
temperature we experienced while crossing the

Running down the Trades. 127
equator nearly spoUed this, so that we had to
fortify it further with rum in order to preserve
it. On the last day of our stay we went to the
excellent fruit ndarket, and laid in a good
supply of grapes, bananas, and other fruits and
vegetables. We also purchased a quantity of the
cheap native cigars ; so for a whUe we lived
luxuriously on board ship.
I would have sailed from here direct for Bahia,
at which port"— as being the nearest to Trinidad
—it was my intention to fill up with water and
other necessaries before commencing our chief
operations , but as letters were awaiting
many of us at St. Vincent in the Cape Verdes
I decided to caU at that island on the
way. At 9 a.m., September 25, we weighed anchor
and saUed to St. Vincent. The distance is a
little under 900 miles, which we accomplished
in seven days.
For the first three days we encountered south
to south-east winds, with fine weather. On
September 28 the wind veered to the north-east,
being thus right aft. As the boom of our racing
spinnaker was a very heavy spar and formed a
considerable top weight whUe standing along

128 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
the mainmast in the usual way, we unshipped it
from its gooseneck and laid it on deck.
We had now come into a region of strong
trades. The wind was fresh arid squally and we
ran through the night with the tack of our
mainsail triced weU up and our mizzen stowed.
On the foUowing day, September 29, the glass
was still faUing, and the sea running up astern
of us was occasionaUy high and steep. There
were signs of worse weather coming, so we pre
pared for it by striking the topmast, lowering
our mainsaU, and setting our trysail. The day's
run was 174 miles.
The glass had given us a false alarm after all ;
for on the foUowing day the wind moderated,
and we were enabled to hoist our large baUoon
foresaU ; but a heavy sea was stUl roUing up
from the north-east. It was evident that a gale
had been recently blowing over the disturbed
tract of ocean which we were now crossing.
The Cape Verde islands are frequently en
veloped in clouds, so that they cannot be
distinguished until one is quite close to them.
This had been my former experience and the same
thing occurred now. In the night of October 1,
we knew that we were in the vicinity of the

Running down the Trades. 129
island of St. Antonio, the northernmost of the
archipelago, but right ahead of us there stretched
a great bank of cloud, concealing everything
behind. At last, however, a squaU partly cleared
the roUing vapour and we perceived, a few mUes
distant, the black mountainous mass of the
island, whose volcanic peaks rise to a height of
upwards of 7,000 feet above the sea. Then the
bright flash from the lighthouse on Bull Point
became visible.
The islands of St. Vincent and St. Antonio
are separated from each other by a channel
two leagues broad, so I decided to heave to in
sight of the St. Antonio light until daybreak.
We got under weigh again at dawn, October
2, and in a few hours were lying at anchor in
Porto Grande Bay, St. Vincent. This desolate
island, which is an important coaling station
and nothing else, inhabited by a robust but
ruffianly race of negroes, has been often de
scribed ; a mere cinder-heap, arid, bare of ver
dure, almost destitute of water, it is the most
dreary, inhospitable-looking place I know, and
the volcanic soU seems to soak in the rays of
the tropical sun and convert it into a veritable
oven at times. But the dismalness of nature is
5

130 The Cruise ot the 'Alerte.'
atoned for by the cheeriness and hospitality of
one section of the population. For the white
community here is almost entirely composed of
Englishmen, the staff of the Anglo-Brazilian
Telegraph Company— of which this is a very
important station — and the employes of the
two British coal-kings of the island. Though
there had sprung up a new generation of these
young fellows since I had visited the island in
the ' Falcon,' yet I met several old friends
whose acquaintance I had then made.
Porto Grande., miserable place as it still is,
had improved a good deal since I had seen it
last. There are hotels here now of a sort, and
at one of these on the beach, kept by a pleasant
Italian and his Provencal wife, we found it
possible to lunch and dine very decently. I
notice that I have a tendency in this book to
speak of little else save the gastronomic pos
sibilities of the- ports I caUed at in the course
of the voyage. But I had visited and described
aU these places before, and that is some excuse,
for the sights were not new to me, whereas a
good dinner seems always to have the freshness
of novelty. This may sound disgustingly
greedy to a sedentary and dyspeptic person ;

Running down the Trades. 131
but may I ask whether every sound Britisher
does not look upon the quality of his food
as one of his most important considerations
during his travels abroad. How natural, then,
was it that seafarers like ourselves, who were
seldom in port and whose diet for months con
sisted chiefly of tough salt junk and weevily
biscuit, should be more vividly impressed by a
luxurious meal on shore than by all the lions of
these foreign lands.
Here one of the volunteers, our poor old purser,
generally known on board as the bellman, left
us. and returned to England. The state of his
health rendered it unwise for him to proceed
further on a voyage of this description.
Suspecting that I might lose others of my
crew, I looked round Porto Grande for two
fresh paid hands. This is a very bad place to
pick up saUors in, but I was lucky in my search.
I shipped two young coloured men from the
West Indies—one a native of St. Kitt's, and,
therefore, an English subject, and the other a
Dutchman, hailing from St. Eustatius. These
two negroes, whose names were respectively
John Joseph Marshall and George Theodosius
Spanner, had been loafing about Porto Grande

132 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
for some time in search of a vessel. The poor
fellows had been jumped from a Yankee whaler
that had caUed here.
' Jumping,' I may explain, for the benefit of
those who do not know the term, is the process
by which an unprincipled skipper obtains a crew
for nothing. It is done in this way. Hands are
shipped, say for a whaling voyage. In time,
long arrears of pay are due to the men, as also
are their shares in the results of the fishery.
But the period for which they have signed
articles has not yet been completed, and so they
are at the captain's mercy for some time to
come. This tyrant, therefore, proceeds to ill-
treat them to such an extent that, as soon as
a port is reached, they escape on shore and
desert the vessel, thereby forfeiting aU claim to
the money due to them. Thereupon the skipper
pockets the earnings of his men, and saUs away
with a fresh crew, with whom he repeats the
process. Some whaling captains are great
adepts at jumping, and wUl even sometimes
bully the entire crew into desertion. But those
who are not masters of the art dare not risk
this, but content themselves with selecting a few
hands only, generally those who are weak or

Running down the Trades. 133
unpopular in the forecastle, as victims for their
brutality. John Joseph and Theodosius, as being inno
cent West Indian blacks, had been the victims
of this particular skipper, and nine months'
pay was due to them when they deserted.
John Joseph shipped with us as cook, Wright
being now rated as A.B., whUe Theodosius served
before the mast. They both proved to be
exceUent feUows.
We found fresh provisions very scarce and
dear at Porto Grande. As a rule, tropical
fruits and vegetables are plentiful and cheap
here, for though St. Vincent is barren, the
inner vaUeys of the neighbouring island of
St. Antonio are extremely fertile, and pro
visions of all sorts, and even fresh water, are
brought over from it in the native boats. But
smaU-pox happened now to be very prevalent
among the negro population of St. Antonio, so
that the island was strictly quarantined, and
St. Vincent was cut off from its usual source of
suppHes. Our racing spinnaker and its boom had
proved to be rather large and unmanageable
for the purposes of an ocean voyage ; but our

134 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
baUoon foresail was of about the right size for
a cruising spinnaker. I accordingly had a
smaU boom made for it here, and it was invari
ably used for the future in place of the un
wieldy racing sail.
From St. Vincent we sailed across the Atlantic
to Bahia in Brazil. I had followed exactly
the same route with the ' Falcon,' and found
the voyage a tedious one ; for, on leaving the
region of the north-east trades, a vessel en
counters the squally and rainy south-west Afri
can monsoons, blowing right in her teeth ;
and, when these are passed, there lies before
one the broad belt of the equatorial doldrums,
a region of steaming, debilitating calms, that
divides the north-east from the south-east
trades. Under the impression that the log of a
small vessel that had made this uncomfortable
passage might be of interest to yachting men,
I described this portion of the ' Falcon's '
voyage in my book with more minuteness than
usual, with the result that one reviewer char
acterised the perusal of that particular chapter
as being ' like eating sawdust.' I wUl profit by
this warning, and spare my readers too much

Running down the Trades. 135
log of calms and squalls, doldrums and mon
soons, and treat them to as little sawdust as
possible. With the ' Falcon ' we accomplished the
voyage from St. Vincent to Bahia in twenty-
two days ; but with the ' Alerte ' we were
twenty-six days doing this, for we were not
so lucky in our weather, and were delayed by
a much longer speU of calms on the line than
we had experienced in the ' Falcon.'
We weighed anchor in the afternoon of Octo
ber 9, and got out of the harbour under all
plain saU. For the first four days we did very
weU ; the wind was south-east and the sea
moderate, so that at midday of October 13 we
were well on our way, being in latitude 20 25'
north and longitude 280 52' west.
But now our troubles commenced. With a
squaU the wind shifted to the south-west, and we
knew that we had reached the dreaded monsoon
region. The log was now a record for days
of what saUors caU dusty weather, and I fear
that the reading of it would prove ' sawdusty '
in the extreme. The south-west monsoon is
accompanied by violent thunderstorms, rain,
and squaUs, and the sea in this portion of the

136 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
ocean is perpetually confused, so that a vessel
turning to windward can make but little pro
gress. Then we came into the abominable
region of calms, where we rolled helplessly on
the smooth, long sweU, whUe our ropes and
sails chafed themselves away with idleness,
suffering more wear and tear than they would
in a week of gales. Ours was indeed a very
unpleasant experience of the doldrums. For
some days we made no progress whatever, not
even an occasional squaU coming down to
help us along for a mile or so. In two weeks we
only travelled 400 miles, and we did not cross
the equator until October 27.
We saw few vessels on this voyage. We
spoke two : the French mail steamer " Parana,'
homeward-bound, and the British ship ' Meri
oneth,' of Liverpool, bound south.
We were not only unlucky with our winds
but also with our fishing. While crossing this
sea on the ' Falcon ' we had caught quantities
of dolphins, thrashers, and kingfish ; but on
this voyage we caught nothing untU we had
sighted Fernando Noronha, when we did man
age to secure a barracouta and a kingfish.
WhUe roUing about helplessly in the dreary

Running down the Trades. 1.37
doldrums in the atmosphere of a Turkish bath,
there was nothing to interest us save the. sun
rises and sunsets over the monotonous, oily-
looking sea. And these for several days in
succession were more magnificent than I think
I have ever seen before. Sometimes the whole
heaven seemed ablaze with flames, and at other
times sharply-defined, black, opaque masses of
cloud stood out in strange contrast to a back
ground of brUHant and transparent colour, and
behind the nearer atmosphere one caught
glimpses of vast spreads of the most delicate
and tender tints, pink, green, blue, and creamy
white, looking like a glorious placid ocean of
light infinitely far away, studded with ever-
changing fairy islands. With the exercise of a
very Httle imagination one could distinguish
on that wonderful equatorial sky oceans and
continents, mountains of snow and glowing
vqlcanoes, and immense plains of indescribable
beauty. One of the characteristics of the atmosphere
of the doldrums is the opaque appearance of
the lower banks of clouds. At night they
often look Hke solid black waUs close to one ;
so much so that I was twice called up by our

138 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
absurd second mate, who had been terrified by
the sudden discovery that a large, hitherto
unknown island was just under our lee.
We feU in with the south-east trades when
we were but two degrees north of the equator ;
but it was not untU we had crossed the line
that we were able to record anything like a good
run each midday. We were then sailing full
and by, on the port tack, and the trades were
so high that for three days we were under two
reefed mainsail and reefed foresaU, the vessel
occasionally plunging her bows into the short
seas. At dawn on October 29 we sighted the island
of Fernando Noronha on the port bow, and at
midday we were close under it. This island,
which is about six miles long, presents a beauti
ful appearance from the sea, with its lofty pin
nacles of bare rock towering above the dense
green vegetation that covers the hiUsides.
Fernando Noronha is used as a penal settlement
by the Brazilians, and is commanded by a
major who has a hundred black troops under
him. There are about 1,500 convicts on the
island, chiefly blacks and mulattoes; but
there is, or recently wa's, one Englishman

Running down the Trades. 139
among them. It is almost impossible for a prisoner
to escape, for there are no boats on the island,
and the regulations about landing are very
strict ; indeed, I believe that no foreign vessel
is allowed to hold any communication with the
shore, unless in want of water, or other urgent
necessity. On the morning of October 31 we sighted
the Brazilian coast near Pernambuco — a long
stretch of golden sands beaten by the surf,
fringed with waving cocoa-nuts, behind which,
far inland, were swelling ranges of forest-clad
mountains. It was a beautiful and very tropical-looking
shore, familiar to me, for I had sailed by it on
several previous occasions.
We now followed the coast for upwards of
400 mUes, observing a distance of five miles off
it, so as to be clear of the outlying coral reefs.
We passed many of the native fishing cata
marans manned by naked negroes, quaint rafts
with triangular sails and decks that were under
water with every wave.
For three days we coasted along this beautiful
land with a favouring wind. On Saturday
night, November 2, we opened out the entrance

140 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
of the Reconcavo or Gulf of Bahia, and, sailing
up, we let go our anchor at midnight off the city
of Bahia, close under Fort la Mar, where I had
anchored in the ' Falcon.'
All my companions were amazed at the
beautiful appearance of the city as seen from
the sea by night. The churches and houses of
the upper town gleaming like white marble in
the moonlight, with lofty cabbage palms and
rank tropical vegetation growing between, the
long lines of well-lit streets extending for miles
round the bay, gave them an idea of the mag
nificence of Bahia that a walk through the dirty
streets by daylight on the morrow did much to
modify. The old Portuguese city is picturesque
but scarcely magnificent.

CHAPTER VIII.
BAHIA.
ALL hands turned out early on the morn
ing after our arrival anxious for shore
leave, so that they might inspect the city that
rose before them so majesticaUy from the edge
of the green water. Now could they realise
better than by night what a magnificent har
bour is this Reconcavo — an extensive inland sea
ioo mUes in circumference, into which several
large rivers pour their waters, surrounded by a
country of prodigal fertUity, and studded with
beautiful islands !
The town was merry as usual with a sound
of beUs, crackers, and rockets. These are never
sUent in Bahia. It is a most religious city. It
is called Bahia de Todos os Santos, the Bay of
AU Saints, and every day of the year is the
saint's day of some parish or street or even famUy,
and it has to be celebrated by fireworks, which,
according to the custom of the country, are let
off by day quite as much as by night. If there

142 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
happened a sudden cessation of this noise of
beUs, crackers, and rockets, I believe the in
habitants would run out of their houses in con
sternation, under the impression that an earth
quake or a revolution had come upon them.
The Bahian custom-house is not open on
Sundays ; but the authorities were good enough
to break through their rule, and, coming off
to us in their launch at an early hour, gave
us pratique. They also gave us permission to
land with our boats at the arsenal, and to put
off from it at any hour of the day or night. This
important privilege is granted as a matter of
courtesy to every foreign man-of-war and
yacht. On the other hand, very inconvenient
restrictions are placed on merchantmen, origin-
aUy, I believe, for the purpose of preventing
slaves from escaping on board foreign vessels.
Slavery has been abolished quite recently, but
the old rules stiU remain in force. No one may
leave or board a merchantman after 8 p.m.,
and any one who is not on the ship's articles
cannot do so even in the daytime without a
special permit from the custom-house. We
were free to do what we pleased during our
stay, but I observed that the custom-house

Bahia. 143
boats hovered round the ' Alerte ' a good deal
at night, and that a sharp watch was evidently
kept on us. AU manual labour is left to the
negroes in the Brazils, and a yacht manned for
the most part with volunteer milords instead
of paid hands must have appeared to the natives
an incomprehensible, and consequently a highly
suspicious, phenomenon.
Even before we had obtained pratique the
energetic ship-chandlers were off to us in their
boats, soliciting our custom by shouting to us
from a distance. Pratique granted, they closed
in upon us. There is a tremendous competition
between these gentry at Bahia, as I had dis
covered whUe here in the ' Falcon.' But I was
soon recognised, and then aU retired from the
field save two, between whom the competition
waxed most furiously. It seemed that my old
ship-chandling firm had split itself into two
houses, so the two ex-partners and now bitter
rivals boarded the ' Alerte,' and each claimed
me as his own lawful prey.
This was embarrassing, for I had been satis
fied with both when they were as one at the
time of the ' Falcon's ' visit ; but, as a single
ship-chandler at a time is quite enough, I had

144 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
to make an invidious choice between my old
friends. One was an Englishman, the other a
Brazilian ; so I thought it right to surrender
myself into the hands of a feUow-countryman,
Mr. WUson, who carried us off in triumph in his
boat as soon as we had donned our shore-
going clothes.
We landed at the Praya, the ancient and
dirty stone quay which stretches along the shore
for four miles, a spot of great commercial
activity. Here are the great warehouses whence
the coffee, sugar, tobacco, cotton, logwood, and
the other produce of this rich tropical land,
are shipped to every quarter of the globe.
Here, too, are markets of strange fruits and
vegetables, and a bazaar where one can buy
gorgeous or voluble parrots, baboons and
monkeys of many species, pumas and jaguars
too, and indeed specimens of nearly all the
wUd beasts of South America. Grog shops,
where poisonous white rum is sold to British
seamen, are frequent. Along the quay are ranged
the quaint native Hghters with their half-naked
ebon crews. A jostling, jabbering crowd of
negroes and negresses with gaudy robes and
turbans throngs the Praya, and when one first

Bahia. 145
lands one is oppressed by a bewUdering sense of
confusion — a flashing of bright colours — a din
of negroes, parrots, and monkeys — a compound
smeU of pineapples and other fruit, of molasses,
Africans, bUgewater, tar, filth too of every
description ; not a monotonous smeU, however,
but ever varying, now a whiff of hot air sweet
with spice, then an odour that might well be
the breath of YeUow Jack himself.
There was no yeUow fever at the time in
Bahia, though it had been rather severe at Rio
not long before. We repaired to the ship-
chandler's, saw the latest papers and heard all
the news. I found that BrazUian politics
formed the chief topic of conversation. A
stranger visiting this country ten years back
would have almost imagined that this was a
happy land in which politics were unknown,
so Httle did he hear of them. Now all was
changed. Everybody was complaining of the
stagnation of business. The Creoles were
irritated at the recent abolition of slavery— -a
measure which, according to them, would ruin
the country, but which, in the opinion of some
was rendered necessary by the determined
resistance of the large bands of fugitive slaves

146 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
in the southern provinces. The troops were
unable to put them down, their success had
brought the country to the verge of a general
servile insurrection, so that it became merely
a question whether the Government should
submit quietly to their demands at once or be
compelled to do so later on after much blood
shed. I do not think the revolution that took
place a few days later was altogether unexpected.
There were rumours of it in the air and an un
easy feeling existed among the mercantUe classes.
This was my third visit to this port, so I had,
of course, plenty of friends in the city. These
soon found me out, and I noticed that, despite
the supposed unhealthiness of Bahia, none of
them looked much the worse for the eight years
they had spent here since I had seen them last.
There can be no doubt that BrazU enjoys a very
healthy climate considering its position within
the tropics.
We were elected honorary members of the
English Club during our stay at Bahia, and
there we found that the object of our voyage
had been much discussed. The English papers
had advertised us somewhat too well, and
though the name of the island we were bound

Bahia. 147
for was not exactly mentioned, my Bahian friends
had formed more than a suspicion as to our
destination. They, of course, knew that I had
visited Trinidad before, and they also were aware
that treasure was supposed to be concealed there,
for the American adventurer called here after
the unsuccessful search to which I have alluded,
' Tell me,' said Mr. Wilson, with a smile,
when he got me alone, * tell me in confidence,
Are you not going to Trinidad again from
here ? '
When I had replied in the affirmative, he
said, ' Three years after you sailed from here
with the ' Falcon ' an American came into my
office. He had just come from Trinidad, and
was very reserved about it. But two of the
crew told me that they had been on shore
digging for three days, they did not know what
for, but they supposed the captain had some
information about hidden treasure. At any
rate they found nothing, and while he was at
Bahia, the captain seemed to be very dis
appointed and would speak of his adventures
to no one.'
This tallied exactly with the letter of the
Danish captain which I have already quoted.

148 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
It was not altogether agreeable to us to find
that our plans were so generally canvassed,
for we kn w that the Portuguese had laid
claim to Trinidad somethmg like two hundred
years ago, and it was possible that the Brazilians,
as successors to the Portuguese in this quarter
of the globe, might consider the island as their
own, and assert their right to any valuables we
might find upon it. I need scarcely say that I
had made up my mind, should we find the
treasure, to sail directly to some British port.
I would not trust myself in any country of the
Spanish or Portuguese ; for once in their clutches
we should in all probability lose all the results
of our labour. The Roman Catholic Church of
Spain or Lima might, with a fair show of right,
demand the treasure as her own ; so might
the Governments of Peru, ChUe, BrazU, Spain,
or Portugal. But if we could once secure it,
get it safely home, and divide it, it would be
exceedingly difficult for any one to establish a
better right to it than we could — for should we
not have the right of possession, with nine-
tenths of the law on our side ?
Bahia is a dull place, but it is an interesting
old city, and contains some very picturesque

Bahia. 149
streets, especiaUy those which connect the
upper and the lower town, and which wind, in
flights of stone steps, up a precipitous waU of
rock 240 feet in height. This cliff, despite its
steepness, is green with bananas, palms, and
other tropical plants, which fill up aU the space
between the ancient stone-houses and tortuous
aUeys, producing a very pleasing effect from the
sea. The old Dutch and Portuguese houses are
very soHdly buUt of stone, and among them
are some of the most ancient buildings of the
New World. The Fort la Mar, under which
we were anchored, is a picturesque fortress
constructed by the Dutch 400 years ago on a
rocky islet in the harbour. The cathedral and
some other of the ecclesiastical buildings in
the upper town are buUt of marble that was
brought from Europe. In the olden days —
and to some extent this is the case even now
— everything needed by the Spanish and Portu
guese colonists of the New World, with the
exception of gold and jewels, was imported to
them from the mother-countries. Thus there
are cities in the heart of South America which
have quarries of marble in their immediate

150 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
vicinity, and whose churches are, notwith
standing, built of marble blocks carried from
Europe by sea and land at tremendous cost.
With its vast arable lands, that might supply
the granaries of the world, the River Plate
district, until quite recently, depended on foreign
countries for its supplies of grain. The old
theory of the Conquistadores, that it was be
neath their dignity to perform any labour save
that of extracting gold from the country and its
natives, seems never to have been quite eradi
cated from the Creole mind.
I could see few changes in Bahia since my
last visit. It seemed the same busy, dirty, old
place. A new broad carriage-road had been car
ried up the cliff, and this, together with the
hydraulic lift which connects the lower with
the upper town, has certainly diminished the
number of sedan chairs. Once these were a
quaint feature in a Bahian street scene. They
are almost of the same model as those in use
in London 200 years ago, and are carried by
stout negroes. Now they are only employed
by Creole ladies of the old school, who do not
care to sit in the trams by the side of their late
slaves.

Bahia. 151
The crew of the ' Alerte ' had now the oppor
tunity of relaxing themselves a little before
saUing away for the scene of their real work.
Some made expeditions up the rivers into the
beautiful country that surrounds Bahia, and the
frequent race-meetings afforded amusement to
others. I believe we were lucky, on the whole,
while matching ourselves against the local
bookmaker, and realised a few thousands — not
of pounds, but reis, of which a thousand are
equivalent to two shillings.
Our first and second mate left us after we
had been a few days at Bahia, packing up
their traps and getting ashore before they
ventured to announce their intention. From
this date things went smoother with us. The
cause of all the mischief on board had departed.
There was an alacrity and cheerfulness fore and
aft that had been wanting so far. Now when
reefing or other work had to be done it was
accomplished by a third of the number of hands,
in one third of the time, and with none of the
fuss that seemed to be necessary before. I do
not go so far as to say that a sort of miUennium
came to the ' Alerte ' — there was stUl, of
course, occasional discord, but on what vessel

152 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
are there not rows and growlings ? It can be
safely asserted, however, that from the time
we left Bahia the ' Alerte ' was far freer than the
average foreign-going vessel from troubles of
this description ; and this is very creditable
seeing that our crew was so unusuaUy con
stituted, half of the men being paying, instead
of paid, hands, and, therefore, possibly inclined
to imagine that they had a right to more voice
in the management of things than was quite
feasible. The crew of the ' Alerte ' now consisted of
ten aU told : — Dr. Cloete-Smith, Mr. PoUock,
Mr. PoweU, Mr. PurseU, and myself aft ; Ted
Milner, John Wright, Arthur Cotton, and the
two coloured men forward. Of the nine volun
teers who saUed from England five thus re
mained. None of the gentlemen above mentioned had
any practical knowledge of the sea when we
left Southampton ; but they picked up a good
deal in the course of the voyage to Bahia, and
now set to with a wUl to learn more. I was the
only navigator on board when we saUed from
Bahia, but before the cruise was over every
body aft could take his observations of the sun

Bahia. 153
and work out his latitude and longitude. I
now appointed Dr. Cloete-Smith as my mate,
he to take the port watch and myself the star
board. Mr PoUock and Mr. PurseU undertook
the posts of purser and carpenter.
We laid in a quantity of provisions at Bahia ;
these, in consequence partly of the heavy duties
and partly of the constant obstacles placed by
a corrupt administration in the way of aU com
merce, are excessively dear in this port. Among
other stores we procured two barrels of salt
beef, which proved to be somewhat better than
we got at Santa Cruz, a cask of rough and
strong Portuguese wine, cases of preserved
guavas, tamarinds, and figs ; and, of course, as
many pineapples, hands of bananas, oranges,
yams, sweet potatoes, and pumpkins as we
could carry.
Here, too, we purchased some tools, a large
iron cooking-pot for our camp on the island,
some blasting powder, and several stout bam
boos for the purpose of constructing rafts.
We had had enough of Bahia in a week, and
were aU ready for sea again on November 9 ;
but as several letters expected by members of
the expedition had not arrived, we put off our

154 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
departure untU the coming of the next maU
steamer from England. It was lucky for us
that we did this, for we thereby escaped some
rather tempestuous weather.
On November n the Royal MaU steamer
' La Plata ' arrived from the north, bringing
with her the missing letters. We had intended
to saU at daybreak on the following morning,
but the glass began to faU and the wind rose
in the night. In the morning the sky had a
very stormy appearance and a fresh south-west
gale was blowing. On the foUowing day —
November 13 — there was a continuance of the
same weather, and the scud overhead was
travelling at a great rate.
An English cargo steamer came in this day
from the southward, so I went on shore to find
her captain and inquire from him what it was
like outside the bay. He told me that he had
been overtaken by the gale in the latitude of
Cape Frio, and that a heavy sea was running
in the Atlantic, whUe on the bar the breakers
would be dangerous for a smaU vessel. Hearing
this, impatient as we were to get away, I de
cided that it would be better to remain where
we were untU the gale had blown itself out.

Bahia. 155
This was, no doubt, the fag-end of a pampero
or River Plate hurricane. The pampero — so
caUed because, after rising in the Andes, it
sweeps over the vast plains of the pampas,
increasing in force as it travels — blows with
great fury at the mouth of the River Plate and
sometimes extends far north. I had had some
experience of pamperos, and was not fond of
them. I rode out one on the ' Falcon ' at
anchor off Montevideo, and on that occasion
fifteen solid stone houses were blown down in a
row on the sea front, the exhibition building at
Buenos Ayres was destroyed, and a barque lying
at anchor near us was capsized by the first gust.
We ran before another of these storms for three
days and were nearly lost.
The pampero was our bugbear whUe we lay
off Trinidad ; for this islet is within the range
of the more formidable of these gales, and, even
when they do not extend so far, the great sweU
raised by them roUs up hundreds of mUes to the
northward of the wind's influence and breaks
furiously all around the exposed shores of
Trinidad. Towards evening the wind moderated and
the glass began to rise, but the rain continued to

156 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
fall heavUy. On the foUowing morning, Novem
ber 14, the weather had stiU further improved ;
so anchor was weighed at 8 a.m. and we sailed
out of the harbour, my companions in very
cheerful spirits, and eager to get to the desert
island and be at work with pick and shovel as
soon as possible.
We had now done with civUisation for some
time to come, and we had no idea when and
where, and under what conditions, we should
next see any men save those forming our own
little band.
Trinidad is roughly 680 nautical miles from
Bahia ; we sighted it in exactly six days from the
time we weighed anchor.
The experiences of our first day out did not
promise well for a smart voyage. We tumbled
about a good deal on the bar at the mouth of
the bay, and found that the sea outside had not
yet gone down. The wind was moderate and
variable, but generaUy south-east — that is, right
in our teeth. We tacked ship three times in the
course of the day, and made little progress
against the head sea.
On the foUowing day, November 15, things
looked better ; the wind veered to the eastward,

Bahia. 157
so that the yacht could lay her course with her
sheets slacked off a bit.
The next day the wind was fairer stUl — from
the east-north-east — blowing fresh, and raising
a steep, confused sea, for the south-west sweU of
the pampero had not yet entirely subsided. We
close-reefed the foresail so as to prevent the
vessel driving her nose into the seas, and during
this day and the next, November 17, we were
constantly tricing up the tack of the mainsail
in the squalls.
On the 18th and 19th the wind was moderate,
so we had aU canvas on the old vessel again,
including topsaU and balloon foresaU ; and on
the morning of November 20 all hands were in
eager expectance of catching the first glimpse of
Treasure Island.
At about 8 a.m. it suddenly appeared right
ahead, a faint blue peak on the horizon, fully
forty miles away.

CHAPTER IX.
TREASURE ISLAND AT LAST.
WE sailed on towards the desert island
under all canvas, but did not reach it
for eight hours from the time we first sighted it.
As we neared it, the features of this extraor
dinary place could graduaUy be distinguished.
The north side, that which faced us, is the most
barren and desolate portion of the island, and
appears to be utterly inaccessible. Here the
mountains rise sheer from the boiling surf —
fantastically shaped of volcanic rock ; cloven
by frightful ravines ; lowering in perpendicular
precipices ; in places overhanging threaten
ingly, and, where the mountains have been
shaken to pieces by the fires and earthquakes
of volcanic action, huge landslips slope steeply
into the yawning ravines — landslips of black
and red volcanic debris, and loose rocks large as
houses, ready on the slightest disturbance to
roll down, crashing, into the abysses below.
On the summit of the island there floats almost

Treasure Island at Last. 159
constantly, even on the clearest day* a wreath
of dense vapour, never stUl, but roUing and
twisting into strange shapes as the wind eddies
among the crags. And above this cloud-wreath
rise mighty pinnacles of coal-black rock, like
the spires of some gigantic Gothic cathedral
piercing the blue southern sky.
The loftiest peak is about three thousand feet
above the sea, but on account of the extreme
precipitousness of the island it appears much
higher. As a consequence of the recoU of the roUers
from the shore we found that, as we got nearer
in, the ocean sweU under us increased in height,
and rose and feU in an uneasy confused fashion.
The breakers were dashing up the cliffs with an
ominous roar, showing us that, in all proba
bUity, landing would be out of the question for
the present.
We passed North Point and opened out
North-west Bay. At the farther end of the bay
we saw before us the Monument, or Ninepin,
as it is caUed on the charts — a stupendous
pinnacle of basaltic rock 850 feet in height, which
rises from the edge of the surf, and is detached
from the main cliffs.

160 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
The scenery was indescribably savage and
grand, and its effect was heightened by the
roaring of the surf on the beach and the echoes
of it in the ravines, as weU as by the shriU and
melancholy cries of thousands of sea-birds so
unaccustomed to the presence of man that they
came off the crags and flew round us in evident
wonder as we saUed by, often approaching so close
to us that we could strike them with our hands.
My companions had expected, from what I
had told them, to find this islet a strange,
uncanny place, barren, torn by volcanic action
and generaUy forbidding, and now they gazed
at the shore with amazement, and confessed
that my description of its scenery was anything
but exaggerated. It would be impossible to con
vey in words a just idea of the mystery of
Trinidad. The very colouring seems unearthly
¦ — in places dismal black, and in others the fire-
consumed crags are of strange metallic hues, ver
mUion red and copper yeUow. When one lands
on its shores this uncanny impression is en
hanced. It bears aU the appearance of being
an accursed spot, whereupon no creatures can
live, save the hideous land-crabs and foul and
cruel sea-birds.

Treasure Island at Last. 161
: We were now coasting under the lee of the
island and our progress was but slow, for the
high mountains intercepted the wind from us,
and we were often becalmed on the oily swell
under the hottest sun we had yet experienced.
Occasionally a violent squall, but of short
duration, would sweep down on us from some
ravine and help us along. What wind there was
between the squaUs came from every point of
the compass in turns, and we were constantly
taken aback.
But at last we passed the rocky islet which
I named Bird Island at the time of my former
visit, and, doubling the West Point, we entered a
bay which I recognised well, for there was the
cascade stUl falling over the cliff, and, near it,
the landing-place off which I had anchored in
the ' Falcon.' As the swell was not high here,
I decided to anchor at once ; so, bringing the
vessel as near in as was prudent — about six
cables from the shore — I let go in eighteen
fathoms. The scene before us was a fine one. A very
steep and rugged ravine clove the mountain
frg m summit to base. At the bottom of this
ra,yine a stream fell in a cascade over a ledge
6

1 62 The Uruise ot the ' Alerte.'
of black rock on to the beach, about thirty feet
below. One could trace the silver line of the
falling water in many other parts of the ravine,
especiaUy in one place far up, where it feU over
a gigantic black precipice.
The mountain-sides were barren, save in
spots where a coarse grass grew sparsely. At
the very head of the ravine were downs beauti-
fuUy green, with a dense grove of trees, the nature
of which it was not easy to distinguish from so
far below ; but, as I had ascended this ravine
during my last visit to Trinidad, I knew that
these were tree-ferns, which only grow on this
portion of the island high up among the damp
clouds, and are in charming contrast to the
desolation that prevails around them.
Between the foot of the mountains and the
surf extends a narrow beach of rugged stones
of aU sizes faUen from above, and the black
heads of rocks appear here and there in the
middle of the surf, so that any attempt at
landing seems a risky venture.
But I knew where the safe landing-place was,
and soon recognised it again, though it was not
to be easUy distinguished from the vessel. I
pointed it out to my companions. Some forty

Treasure Island at Last.- 163
yards to the left of the cascade an irregularly
shaped rocky ledge extends from the beach some
way out into the deep water beyond the beach,
and thus forms a natural pier. I had often found
it quite an easy matter to land here when to do
so anywhere else would be impossible ; for, as
a rule, the seas do not break until they have
roUed some way inside the end of this point ;
so that, by approaching it carefully, and waiting
till the boat is on the summit of a wave and near
the level of the top of the rock, one can leap or
scramble on to it with the exercise of a little
agility. There are occasions, however, when the
seas wash right over this ledge.
Looking from our anchorage we could see the
coast as far as West Point on one side of us, with
the head of the Ninepin just visible above the
cape ; and on the other side as far as the prom
ontory of basaltic columns which forms the
western extremity of West Bay, and which I
named the Ness.
As soon as the saUs were stowed I went
below with the doctor to talk over our immediate
plans. It was now five in the evening, so it was
too late to attempt a landing, even if the condi
tions were favourable, which they were not ; for

164 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
every now and again a sea would break over the
pier, sending showers of spray high into the air.
While we were discussing things, there sud
denly came a violent thumping on the deck above
us, and from the shouts and laughter of the men
we knew that something exciting was going on ;
so we went up the companion-ladder to see what
the fun might be. We found that a fair-sized
shark was tumbling about the deck in very active
fashion, while Ted was dodging him, knife in hand,
ready to give him his coup de grS.ce. Our sports
man had got his lines out as soon as aU had been
made snug on deck, but his sport for the first hour
consisted of nothing but sharks, of which he
caught several. After this he had better luck
and was able to supply the cook with fish enough
for dinner and breakfast for aU hands.
The sea round Trinidad swarms with fish ;
but, for some reason, though we got as many
as we required, they were not to be so readUy
caught now as at the time of my first visit ;
for then we hauled them in as fast as we could
drop our hooks in the water.
There are various species of edible fish here
— among others, dolphins, rock-cod, hind-fish,
black-fish, and pig-fish. None of these h^t-

Treasure Island at Last. 165
water-fish are to be compared in flavour to those
of Europe, and we found that the sharks were the
least insipid of the lot ; stewed shark and onions
is not a dish to be despised.
According to the chart of the South Atlantic
which I made use of on this voyage, the island
of Trinidad is rather more than five mUes long.
Another chart which I possess gives its length
as only three mUes, which I am sure is wrong ;
but, on the other hand, this latter chart is the
more correct in some other respects, and marks
outlying shoals which are not indicated on the
other. There are, indeed, no absolutely reliable
charts of this island ; for the different surveys
have been somewhat cursory, and each has
repeated the faults of its predecessors. The
longitude has, I believe, never been accurately
determined, and even the latitude of the land
ing-place is, if I am not much mistaken, more
than a mile out on the chart.
Before going further with the narrative, how
ever, it wUl be well to enter into some explana
tion of the task that was before us.
The treasure was supposed to be hidden in
South-west Bay, in a little ravine just to the left
of *$tir camp.

1 66 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
The yacht was anchored out of sight of this
spot, and at a distance of two and a half miles
from it as the crow flies. My companions were,
I imagine, somewhat surprised at this manoeu
vre of mine, especially when I told them that
it was highly improbable that we should, shift
our anchorage any nearer to the scene of Our
operations on shore. Later on, however, they
realised that there was a good reason for the
course I had taken.
My former experiences off Trinidad with the
' Falcon ' had convinced me that the anchorage
off the cascade was far the safest ; indeed that
here only could one remain at all for any length
of time. It must be remembered that a vessel
is never reaUy secure when /anchored off a small
oceanic island like Trinidad. One should
be always prepared to slip one's anchor and be
off to sea at once should it -come on to blow. It
is therefore necessary to He at some distance from
the land, so as to have plenty of room to get away
on either tack. If one is too near the shore one
incurs great risk, as I frequently discovered while
coasting later on ; for even though it be blowing
hard outside, one is becalmed under the cliffs or
subjected to shifting flaws and whirlwinds, §0

Treasure Island at Last. 167
that the vessel becomes unmanageable, and is
driven straight on to the fatal rocks by the send
of the sweU. I need scarcely say that to come
in contact with this shore, even in the finest
weather, would involve the certain destruction of
any craft in a very few seconds.
The anchorage off the cascade possesses many
advantages. The coast here is free from any
outlying dangers, and there is a depth of five
fathoms close to the beach. One cannot be em
bayed there, for the coast beyond West Point
trends away northward almost at right angles
to the south-west shore, so that from the an
chorage it is easy to get away on either tack, ac
cording to the direction of the wind. Here,
too, the sea is smoother than anywhere else,
except on rare occasions, for the prevailing winds
are north-east to south-east, more generally
south-east. Now, the only other possible anchorage for us
would have been in South-west Bay, in very con
venient proximity to our camp ; but this, though
it might do for a day or two, was absolutely
unfitted for a lengthy stay, more especially as
difficulties might occur with the vessel while I was
on shore myself and only inexperienced people

1 68 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
were in charge of her. In this bay one is sur
rounded by dangers. South Point is on one
side, with the current generally setting directly
on to it and across the perilous shoals that extend
a mile and a half seaward. On the other side is
the cape dividing West and South-west Bays, off
which also lie several dangerous islets and
rocks. According to the Admiralty chart South
west Bay itself is quite clean, with a uniform
depth of ten fathoms. As a matter of fact, it is
full of sunken rocks, and there is an island right in
the middle of it ; its existence is ignored by all the
charts. Surrounded as the bay is by lofty moun
tains, the winds are very uncertain within it, so
that if one should have to weigh anchor it might
be difficult to extricate the vessel from her dan
gerous position even by the exercise of the
smartest seamanship. Lastly, it affords no shelter
from the prevailing wind, south-east, which often
raises a nasty sea, and, what is more, it is entirely
exposed to the storm-wind of these seas, the
dreaded pampero, which blows right into it.
Any one in charge of a vessel brought up in this
trap would be compeUed to get under weigh
frequently under most difficult circumstances,
and would live an unenviable life of perpetaal

Treasure Island at Last. 169
anxiety. This information wUl, I trust, be of
use to any fresh adventurers who propose to hunt
for the treasure of Trinidad.
Though I would not venture into South
west Bay with the yacht, I knew that we
should have to carry our stores and tools there
by boat and land them on the beach opposite
to the treasure ravine ; for to transport them
by land from the easy landing-place near the
cascade would be an almost impossible under
taking. According to the dead pirate's statement, he
and his comrades had surveyed South-west Bay
and discovered the best channel between the
rocks. He gave the directions for finding this
channel to Captain P  , and its existence had
been verified by both the South Shields explorers;
but as they had brought back an alarming account
of its dangers, and boats had been lost in it, I
considered that it would be a wise precaution
for me to land at the pier in the first place, walk
— or rather crawl and climb, for there is not
much walking to be done on that journey —
across the island and survey South-west Bay
from the hUls above it, before attempting to beach
astooat there.

170 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
In the evening we held a council in the saloon
over our pipes, and I explained my plans for the
following day.
I had explored the island pretty thoroughly
while here before, and I knew that it mainly
consisted of inaccessible peaks and precipices,
among which there were very few passes prac
ticable for men. In many places the cliffs fall
precipitously into the sea, affording no foothold.
I had landed in both North-west Bay and the
bay beyond it, and, though there were sandy
beaches in both these, stiU, one could go no
further, for sheer promontories on either side
and mountains equally insurmountable at the
back cut off aU communication between these
coves and the rest of the island. I also knew
that it would be impossible for me to walk along
the beach from the pier to South-west Bay, for
between these were the two capes that bound
West Bay, both opposing barriers of precipices
to one's advance.
But whUe here with the ' Falcon,' after a
difficult and dangerous search which has been
fully described in the narrative of that voyage,
I at last discovered a pass, and I believe if 'is
the only one, by which the mountains at the

Treasure Island at Last. 171
centre of the island can be traversed and the
windward shore attained.
First, I ascended the steep ravine down which
the cascade flows. Having arrived at the summit
of the ravine I crossed the groves of tree-ferns,
and, after making several descents into ravines
which terminated in precipices and so compelled
me to retrace my steps, I succeeded in discovering
a guUy which led me to the beach on the north
east side of the island. From here I found it
possible to walk along the beach to South Point,
for no insurmountable capes intervened ; and
from South-east Bay there was an easy pass
under the Sugarloaf Mountain by which the
Treasure Bay could be reached. This was the
journey which I intended to make once again on
the foUowing morning. This route, together
with others taken in the course of our explora
tions, are I believe the only accessible ways on
the island.
I knew by experience that the passage over the
mountains to the windward beach was both ar
duous and perilous, and that to climb to South
west Bay, survey it, and return to the pier
would occupy the best part of three days.
j-The doctor volunteered to accompany me,

172 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
and I decided to take him with me. It was
indeed important that he should make himself
acquainted with the pass, for it had seen settled
that whenever I remained with the yacht he
should be in command of the party working on
shore, and, as the only reliable water-supply I
knew of was at the cascade, it might become
necessary for him to lead the men across the
mountains to it should a water-famine occur at
South-west Bay. Again, it was certain that
bad weather would occasionaUy make the landing
of boats at South-west Bay impossible for weeks
at a time, so that, if there were some urgent
reason for communicating with the yacht, this
could only be done by crossing to the pier landing-
place, at which I am of opinion that one can land
ten times with safety to once in South-west Bay.
It had been my intention to form a depot of stores
at the pier, but this we found to be unnecessary.
After I had made the above explanations to
my companions assembled in the saloon, our
sportsman, who had been listening attentively,
remarked : ' Skipper, you have given us plenty
of reason for taking Cloete-Smith with you to
morrow and teaching him the roads ; but you
have omitted the most important reason of all.

Treasure Island at Last. 173
Let me inform you that you won't get us to do
any work on shore on Sundays ; so on every
Sunday afternoon we wiU put on our best clothes
and the doctor will have to take us over the pass
to the pier, where we can do a sort of church-
parade, and listen to the band. I suppose there
wUl be a bar there, too, with Theodosius as bar
man presiding over the rum-barrel.'

CHAPTER X.
THE SUMMIT OF TRINIDAD.
ON the following morning — November 21 — as
soon as breakfast was over, the doctor
and myself started for the shore. In view of the
rough climbing before us we did not burden
ourselves with much baggage, but set forth in
light marching order. We dispensed with blan
kets, and, in addition to the somewhat scanty
clothing we had on, we carried merely provisions
for three days, consisting of some ship's biscuit,
a few strips of Brazilian charki or jerked beef —
rather rank — some dried figs, a flask of rum, a
tin bottle to hold water, one pannikin, tobacco,
pipes, and matches.
We could see from the deck that there was
considerable surf on the beach, and it was evident
that we should not find the landing at the pier
to be so easy a matter as it often is.
Two of the paid hands puUed us off in the
dinghy. When we were about halfway to the
shore we perceived a bright red object on an

The Summit of Trinidad. 175
eminence near the cascade. On getting nearer
we distinguished this to be a ragged red flag
flying from a pole. This was a startling discovery
for us, and might signify that some rival expedi
tion had landed on the island.
We reached the pier and found a high sweU
rolling by it, while eddies and overfalls round the
outer end of it caused the boat to become more
or less unmanageable, driving her first in one
direction, then in another, so that she could not
be brought very close to, without risk of staving
her in against the rocks.
Under these circumstances the only safe method
of getting on shore was to jump into the water.
The boat was backed in towards the pier end, the
men pulling a few strokes ahead whenever a wave
threatened to dash her on to it. I stood in the
stern and awaited a favourable opportunity,
then jumped overboard and clambered quickly
up the pier side before the next roller should wash
me off. Then the boat was backed in again, and
the doctor repeated the performance.
We had no particular objection to the wetting
we had received, but a good many of our biscuits
were converted into a pulp and our figs were
pickled with the sea-water.

176 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
So here we were at last safely on shore at
Trinidad, both in high spirits at the prospect
before us, for we were eager to commence the
exploration that might result in who could tell
what magnificent results.
Climbing over the rugged top of the pier we
descended on the beach, which at high water is
partly overflowed, the pier being then converted
into an island. We scrambled over the rocks and
scorias to the height by the cascade on which the
flag was, and then our suspicions were put at rest
by what we discovered. A good-sized barrel had
been firmly jammed between the rocks in a
prominent place and fiUed'with stones. A pole
had been planted in the barrel, and from this
floated the red flag we had seen. It was in so
ragged a condition that it was impossible to say
whether it had ever been a British flag or not
Under it was a wooden tablet, on which was
painted the following inscription : ' H.M.S.
" Ruby," February 26, 1889.' There was also a
bottle on the cask containing the cards of the
commander of the vessel, Captain Kennedy, and
his wardroom officers.
Having thus satisfied ourselves that no feneriiy
was in possession of the island, we went to the

The Summit of Trinidad. 177
cascade. This stream rises among the tree-ferns
at the summit of the mountain and rushes down
the gully with a considerable volume of water.
This issue is, I should imagine, perennial.
Then we commenced our ascent, which in
volved no Hght work. The gully was excessively
steep. We were climbing up a staircase of
great rocks, and often where there were insur
mountable precipices we had to make a detour
round the mountain-side, creeping carefully along
the steep declivities that overhung the cliffs, the
rock and earth crumbling beneath our feet as we
went : for one of the most unpleasant peculiar
ities of this island is that it is nowhere solid ;
it is rotten throughout, its substance has deen dis
integrated by volcanic fires and by the action of
water, so that it is everywhere tumbling to pieces.
As one travels over the mountains one is ever
starting miniature landslips and dislodging
great stones, which roll, thundering, down the
cliffs, gathering other companions as they go until
a very avalanche is formed. On this day the
doctor, who was a little ahead of me at the time,
sent adrift a stone weighing a hundredweight at
the least, which just cleared my head as I
stooped down to dodge it. We were on a dan-

178 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
gerous part of the mountain, and had it struck me
it must have impeUed me over a precipice
several hundred feet in height. After this we
followed parallel tracks whereverthis was feasible.
The unstableness of Trinidad causes a per
petual sense of insecurity while one is on the
mountains. One knows not when some over
hanging pinnacle may topple down. One great
source of danger is that there are many de
clivities which can be descended but not ascended,
and it would be easy to get hopelessly imprisoned
at the foot of one of these. In the ' Cruise of
the " Falcon " ' is described one really terrible
experience we went through. Our exploring
party had found no water, and the boy was
practically dying of thirst. So, driven by urgent
necessity — for we saw by the configuration of the
mountains that we should almost certainly find
water at the bottom of a certain ravine — we
proceeded to descend to it down a great slope,
not of loose debris, but of half-consolidated
volcanic matter like half-baked bricks, and very
brittle. This slope became steeper as we advanced and
very dangerous, but it was impossible to retrace
our steps. When we attempted to ascend, the

The Summit of Trinidad. 179
\ \ mountain slid away under our feet, crumbling
\ \ into ashes. It was like climbing a treadmill.
( ( So we had to abandon this hope and go still
1 further down, lying on our backs, progressing
inch by inch carefully, one of us occasionaUy
sliding down a few yards and sending an ava
lanche before him. We knew not to the edge of
what precipices this dreadful way would lead us.
Luckily we reached the bottom and found water
in safety. I determined not to get into any
difficulties of this description in the course of
our present journey.
We graduaUy ascended the ravine, sometimes
climbing on one side of it, sometimes on the
other, and occasionally wading through the water
at the bottom, according to which route was
the safest.
The nature of the scenery around us was now
grand in the extreme, and had a weird character
of its own that I have never perceived on other
mountains. The jagged and torn peaks, the pro
found chasms, the huge landslips of black rocks,
the slopes of red volcanic ash destitue of vegeta
tion, in themselves produce a sense of extreme
desolation ; but this is heightened by the pre
sence of a ghastly dead vegetation and by the

180 The Cruise of- the 'Alerte.'
numberless uncanny birds and land-crabs which
cover aU the rocks.
This lonely islet is perhaps the principal
breeding place for sea-birds in the South Atlantic.
Here multitudes of man-of-war birds, gannets,
boobies, cormorants, and petrels have their un
disturbed haunts. Not knowing how dangerous
he is, they treat their superior animal, man,
with a shocking want of due respect. The large
birds more especiaUy attack one furiously if one
approaches their nests in the breeding season,
and in places where one has to clamber with
hands as well as feet, and is therefore helpless,
they are positively dangerous.
As for the land-crabs, which are unlike any I
have seen elsewhere, they swarm all over the
island in incredible numbers. I have even seen
them two or three deep in shady places under
the rocks ; they crawl over everything, poUuting
every stream, devouring anything — a loathsome
lot of brutes, which were of use, however, round
our camp as scavengers. They have hard sheUs
of a bright saffron colour, and their faces have
a most cynical and diabolic expression. As one
approaches them they stand on their hind legs and
wave their pincers threateningly, while they roU

The Summit of Trinidad. 181
their hideous goggle eyes at one in a dreadful
manner. If a man is sleeping or sitting down
quietly, these creatures wUl come up to have a
bite at him, and would devour him if he was un
able for some reason to shake them off ; but we
murdered so many in the vicinity of our camp
during our stay on the island, that they certainly
became less bold, and it seemed almost as if the
word had been passed aU over Trinidad that we
were dangerous animals, to be shunned by every
prudent crab. Even when we were exploring
remote districts we at last found that they
fled in terror, instead of menacing us with their
claws. But the great mystery of this mysterious island
is the forest of dead trees which covers it and
which astonishes every visitor.
The following account of this wood is taken
from the ' Cruise of the " Falcon," ' and as it was
nine years ago, so is it now : —
' What struck us as remarkable was, that
though in this cove there was no live vegetation
of any kind, there were traces of an abundant
extinct vegetation. The mountain slopes were
thickly covered with dead wood — wood, too,
that had evidently long since been dead ; some of

1 82 The Cruise of the ' Alerte.'
these leafless trunks were prostrate, some still
stood up as they had grown. . . . When we
afterwards discovered that over the whole of this
extensive island — from the beach up to the
summit of the highest mountain — at the bottom
and on the slopes of every now barren ravine,
on whose loose-rolling stones no vegetation
could possibly take root — these dead trees were
strewed as closely as it is possible for trees to grow;
and when we further perceived that they aU
seemed to have died at one and the same time,
as if plague-struck, and that no single live speci
men, young or old, was to be found anywhere —
our amazement was increased.
' At one time Trinidad must have been
covered with one magnificent forest, presenting
to passing vessels a far different appearance to
that it , now does, with its inhospitable and
barren crags.
' The descriptions given in the " Directory "
allude to these forests ; therefore, whatever
catastrophe it may have been that kiUed off aU
the vegetation of the island, it must have occurred
within the memory of man.
' Looking at the rotten, broken-up condition
of the rock, and the nature of the soil, where there

The Summit of Trinidad. 183
is a soil — a loose powder, not consolidated like
earth, but having the appearance of fallen vol
canic ash — I could not help imagining that some
great eruption had brought -about aU this desola
tion.; Trinidad is the acknowledged centre of a
small volcanic patch that lies in this portion of
the South Atlantic, therefore I think this theory
a more probable one than that of a long drought,
a not very likely contingency in this rather
rainy region.'
Some time after the publication of the ' Cruise
of the " Falcon " ' I came across an exceUent
description of Trinidad in Captain Marryat's
novel, ' Frank MUdmay.' It is obvious from the
foUowing passage, which I quote from that work,
that the trees had been long dead at the date of
its publication, 1829 : —
' Here a wonderful and most melancholy phe
nomenon arrested our attention. Thousands and
thousands of trees covered the vaUey, each of them
about thirty feet high ; but every tree was dead,
and extended its leafless boughs to another — a
forest of desolation, as if nature had at some
particular moment ceased to vegetate ! There
was no underwood or grass. On the lowest of
the dead boughs, the gannets, and other sea-

184 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
birds, had built their nests, in numbers uncount
able. Their tameness, as Cowper says, " was
shocking to me." So unaccustomed did they
seem to man that the mothers brooding over
their young only opened their beaks, in a
menacing attitude, at us as we passed by them.
How to account satisfactorily for the simultaneous
destruction of this vast forest of trees was very
difficult ; there was no want of rich earth for
nourishment of the roots. The most probable
cause appeared to me a sudden and continued
eruption of sulphuric effluvia from the volcano ;
or else by some unusually heavy gale of wind or
hurricane the trees had been drenched with salt
water to the roots. One or the other of these
causes must have produced the effect. The
philosopher or the geologist must decide.'
Captain Marryat was evidently unaware that
these dead trees are to be found on the heights
3,000 feet above the sea-level as weU as in the
valleys, or he would not have suggested salt water
as the cause of their destruction.
His description proves that the trees were dead
at least sixty years ago, and in all probability
they had been dead for a long time before. The
latest record I have been able to discover which

The Summit of Trinidad. 185
describes Hve trees as existing on Trinidad is
dated as far back as 1700. The Ninepin and
the Sugarloaf, now utterly barren, were then
crowded with trees of a great size.
Though some of this timber is rotten, a large
proportion of it is not decayed in the least, but
when cut with the axe presents the appearance of
a sound, weU-seasoned wood. It is gnarled and
knotty, extremely hard and heavy, its specific
gravity being but slightly less than that of water.
It is of a dark reddish colour and of very close
grain. I brought a log of it home and sent it to a
cabinetmaker, who found that it would take an
exceUent polish. On sending this specimen to
Kew I was informed that the wood ' probably
belongs to the famUy Myrtacese, and possibly to
the species Eugenia.' I find that this species
includes the pimento or aUspice, the rose-apple,
and other aromatic and fruit-producing trees ;
so that desert Trinidad may at one time have
been a delicious spice-island.
The doctor and myself toiled on up the gully,
whose slopes, as we approached the summit,
became less rugged, and here the ferns grew up
between the trunks of the dead trees, spread-

1 86 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.5
ing wide their beautiful fronds of fresh
green. When we had come to a spot a little below the
source of the stream we left the guUy — not before
we had drunk our fill and replenished the
bottle — and ascended the down where the tree-
ferns grow thickest. The soil is here very loose
and presents the appearance of having been quite
recently ploughed up, while it is honeycombed
with the holes of the teeming land-crabs.
Soon we reached the summit of the plateau,
where a pleasant breeze stirred the ferns and we
could now command a magnificent view not only
over the mountains we had climbed but over the
weather side of the island as well. I remembered
the scene, for I had looked down from here nine
years before. On the weather side of the island
the mountains are even more precipitous than
on the lee side ; but, on the other hand, they do
not run sheer into the sea, for at their base
extend great green slopes continued by broad
sandy beaches. Along all this coast are shallow
flats and outlying rocks on which the surf
breaks perpetuaUy. Thirty miles out to
sea rise the inaccessible rocky islets of Martin
Vas.

The Summit of Trinidad. 187
The plateau we were on was covered with a
luxuriant vegetation, for in addition to the tree-
ferns there were large bushes of some species
of acacia— a taU thorny plant with flowers like
thoseof scarlet-runners, and bearing large beans —
flowering grasses, and various other plants. I
coUected specimens of these later on, which were
lost, however, with other stores shortly before
we abandoned the island, in consequence of the
capsizing of our boat while launching her in
Treasure Bay.
It seemed strange to find so beautiful a garden,
high up, almost unapproachable for the perUs
that surround it, throned as it is on a wUderness
of rock rising up to it in chaotic masses and
sheer precipices from the shore far below. The
saUors under Frank MUdmay discovered this
grove before me. In aU his descriptions of places
and scenery Captain Marryat is singularly faith
ful to the truth, even in the minutest detaUs. In
this respect indeed he is more conscientious- in his
works of fiction than are most traveUers in their
presumedly true narratives. The most minute
and accurate description of Trinidad that I have
come across is in ' Frank Mildmay,' and it is easy
to identify every spot mentioned in that book.

1 88 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
The author must himself have visited this strange
place, and his imagination was strongly stirred by
it. He gives us graphic pictures of 'the iron-
bound coastwith high and pointed rocks, frowning
defiance over the unappeasable and furious
waves which break incessantly at their feet.'
His hero also experiences the usual difficulty in
landing ; men and boat are nearly lost, and in all
his thrilling narrative there is not the least ex
aggeration. All the events described might well
have happened, and probably did happen.
Of the grove he says : — ' The men reported
that they had gained the summit of the moun
tain, where they had discovered a large plain,
skirted by a species of fern-tree from twelve to
eighteen feet high — that on this plain they had
seen a herd of goats ; and among them could
distinguish one of enormous size which appeared
to be their leader. They also found many wild
hogs.' We saw no goats or hogs, and I am confident
that none are now left alive. We did, however,
in the course of our digging discover what ap
peared to be the bones of a goat. It is well
known that these animals once abounded here.
Captain Halley, of the 'Paramore Pink,' after-

The Summit of Trinidad. 189
wards Dr. HaUey, Astronomer-Royal, landed on
this island AprU 17, 1700, and put on it some
goats and hogs for breeding, as also a pair of
guinea-fowl which he carried from St. Helena.
' I took,' says his journal, ' possession of the island
in his Majesty's name, as knowing it to be granted
by the King's letters-patent, leaving the Union
Jack flying.'
The American commander, Amaso Delano,
visited Trinidad in 1803. He writes : — ' We
found plenty of goats and hogs. We saw some
cats, and these three sorts of quadrupeds were
the only animals we saw on the island.'
Possibly the land-crabs have gobbled all these
up, for the only quadrupeds we came across were
mice. Having attained the summit of the island,
the doctor and myself took a rest under the shade
of the tree-ferns, whUe we partook of a frugal
lunch of biscuits and rum, the indispensable
pipes, of course, foUowing.

CHAPTER XI.
ON THE ROAD TO TREASURE BAY.
HAVING smoked our pipes we continued our
, journey. At first I was a very sanguine
guide. I thought I should have no diffi
culty in recognising the ravine by which, nine
years before, I had descended to the windward
shore. But in this I was mistaken, for I found
it extremely difficult to find my way to it again.
At any rate we were not now about to undergo
the great toU, thirst, and danger that I had
experienced during my former visit, for I at least
knew some of the places to avoid, and this was a
matter of importance. As we clambered along
the edges of the mountains, looking for the pass,
I was able to condemn at once as false passages
several promising-looking routes, the vain trial
of which had exhausted myself and my com
panions on my previous expedition.
For instance, there was one long slope of
volcanic debris of a ruddy colour which appeared
from where we stood to join on to the green hiUs

On the Road to Treasure Bay. 191
below and so to lead to the sandy beaches.
The doctor was anxious to attempt this easy-
looking way, but I knew the deceitful place too
well of old. It tempts one further and further
down, ever getting steeper, untU one suddenly
finds oneself at the edge of a frightful precipice,
invisible from above, which compels one at great
risk to retrace one's painful steps to the heights.
In the course of my first exploration we made
so many false descents of these ravines and
slopes, all terminating in precipices and driving
us back again, that at last, finding no water, we
were completely worn out and nearly perished of
thirst. The heat is intense on Trinidad, es
peciaUy at this season of the year, when the sun
is vertical, and to climb these hot crags through
the suffocating air is the most completely ex
hausting work I have ever undertaken. No other
place within the tropics that I have visited has
such an oppressive climate. I, therefore, deter
mined to make no foolish experiments on this
occasion, and not to attempt the descent until I
was certain of my pass.
We crawled along the cHff-side for a long way,
looking over at every point ; but I could see
nothing like my old ravine, and soon got fairly

192 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
puzzled. At last we had foUowed the mountain
ridges almost to the north end of the island,
where the plateau of tree-ferns ceases, .and
where the mountains fall nearly perpendicularly
into the sea, and culminate in needle-like peaks,
affording no soU for vegetation of any description.
So I knew that we had come too far and had
passed the entrance to the ravine. We accord
ingly retraced our steps. We had now ex
hausted our bottle of water and were suffering
from thirst. My old experience had taught me
never, if possible, to be far from a stream while
wandering over Trinidad. To toil among these
arid rocks produces an insatiable thirst, and one's
strength faUs if one is deprived of water even for
a short time. Therefore as we saw below us a
ravine that looked like a watercourse and which
bore some resemblance to the one I was in search
of, we decided to explore it. We lowered our
selves down from rock to rock for some way, and
soon, to our delight, found a small issue of cool
water. But this was not my ravine, for, on de
scending further, we came to the edge of one of
the usual precipices, and we had to clamber up
again. We attempted yet another ravine, which I

On the Road to Treasure Bay. 193
diet not recognise as the one, but which might
prove to be it nevertheless, for I had to confess
that I was quite at sea. This in time led us
to a sloping shelf of rock1 overhanging another
precipice. This shelf was extremely slippery,
for the stream flowed over it in a thin film and it
was covered with a short moss. This, too,
exactly corresponds with a description in ' Frank
MUdmay,' that exceUent guide to Trinidad, and
what is said about the spot in that work may
serve as a warning to any — if such there ever be —
who may meditate a tour on this island. Two
of MUdmay' s saUors had been lost whUe goat-
hunting, so he sets forth in search of them.
' I was some yards in advance of my companions,'
he says, ' and the dog a little distance from me,
near the shelving part of a rock terminating in
a precipice. The shelf I had to cross was about
six or seven feet wide and ten or twelve long, with
a very little inclined plane towards the precipice,
so .that I thought it perfectly safe. A smaU rUl
of^water trickled down from the rock above it,
arid,." losing itself among the moss and grass,
feU over the precipice below, which, indeed,
was of a frightful depth. This causeway was to
aU appearance safe, compared with many which

194 The Cruise oi the "Alerte.
we had passed, and I was just going to step upon
it when my dog ran before me, jumped on the
fatal pass — his feet slipped from under him — >
he feU and disappeared over the precipice ! I
started back — I heard a heavy squelch and a
howl ; another fainter succeeded, and aU was
still. I advanced with the utmost caution to the
edge of the precipice, where I discovered that the
rfll of water had nourished a short moss, close and
smooth as velvet, and so slippery as not to admit
of the lightest footstep ; this accounted for the
sudden disappearance and, as I concluded, the
inevitable death of my dog.' Later on, far below,
he found ' the two dead bodies of our companions
and that of my dog, all mangled in a shocking
manner ; both, it would appear, had attempted
to cross the shelf in the same careless way which
I was about to do when Providence interposed
the dog in my behalf.' The adventures of Frank
Mildmay and his crew on Trinidad are recorded
with such realism and with — as I have before said
— such accuracy of local colouring, that I sus
pect Captain Marryat in this portion of his work
is recounting his personal experiences.
So, foiled once again, we reascended the
ravine and walked along the edge of the moun-

On the Road to Treasure Bay. 195
tains, tUl we came to a projecting rock that com
manded an extensive view'over the cliffs. Here
we sat down and discussed the problem before us.
I assured the doctor that my ravine was certainly
close to us somewhere, but that I altogether
faUed to identify it among the ravines before us,
though I carried in my mind's eye a very vivid
picture of its appearance.
' Perhaps it has disappeared,' suggested the
doctor. This seemed scarcely possible, but it
might, I acknowledged, have been so changed by
landslips as to be unrecognisable.'
Being people of logical mind, we reasoned
that, if the ravine stUl existed, we ought now to
discover it without any difficulty by a simple
process of elimination. There was only a limited
number of even possible-looking ways down the
precipices. Of these we had now tried two in
vain. Again, there were several others which I
remembered weU to have attempted at the
time of my previous visit and to have found
impracticable. It foUowed that we had now
to "confine our attention to any remaining
possible routes, and of these there could be
very few.
Indeed, after a careful survey along the edge of

196 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
the cliffs, we found that there was but one such
way left to us, and that looked very ugly. Every
where else were precipices that could obviously
only be descended by a means of progression
more rapid than we cared to undertake.
This way seemed as if it might afford a
passage to the beach, but it was not a ravine at
all. The mountain on which we stood had faUen
away, leaving a precipitous step some fifty or
sixty feet in height, and from this step there
sloped down to a depth, I should say, of quite
1,500 feet a great landslip of broken rocks, the
dfbris of the faUen mountain. This landslip
appeared to have taken place not long since.
It was composed of rocks of all sizes and shapes,
almost coal black, pUed one on the other at so
steep an angle that it was extraordinary how
the mass held together and did not topple over.
It was indeed in places more like an artificial wall
of rough stones on a gigantic scale than a land
slip. The pass I was searching for was utterly unlike
this. I remembered weU that I had found a
ravine extending from the mountain top to the
beach, which I described in my narrative as ' a
gloomy gorge with sides formed of black rocks

On the Road to Treasure Bay. 197
pUed on each other in chaotic masses, with a
smaU stream trickling into it.' We had experi
enced Httle difficulty in ascending or descending
it. Before us were now a sufficiency ' of black
rocks pUed on each other in chaotic masses,' but
no signs of a ravine or stream.
It did not look a tempting route, but we could
see nothing else, so decided to try it. The
descent was anything but easy and was certainly
rather trying to the nerves. To begin with, the
descent of the precipitous step I have mentioned
was a very creepy business. Having accom
plished this without accident, we clambered down
the giant staircase of black rocks the best way
we could, and also with as much speed as was
consistent with safety ; for the sun was low,
the sudden tropical night would soon be on us,
and as it would be, of course, impossible to
proceed in the dark, we should be compelled to
camp out in this very uncomfortable place if we
did not hurry on.
We at last reached the foot of the landslip,
and were on the green down we had seen from
above, and which slopes gently to the beach. AU
our difficulties were over.
"These slopes on the windward side of Trinidad

198 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
are overgrown chiefly with a sturdy species of
bean. This plant creeps along the ground,
throwing out long tough tendrils, whose mission
it evidently is to climb up something for support ;
but in this they are generally unsuccessful, for
nearly aU the dead trees have been blown down
on this wind-swept corner of the island. A few
trees are stiU standing, and these are over
grown with clinging creepers more lucky than
the rest. The scene reminded me of countries
I had visited where there are ten women to one
man and where, consequently, the male is
properly appreciated and made much of, whUe
thousands of luckless old maids vegetate hope
lessly with no one to cling to. When I im
parted this simile to the doctor he implored me
not to be sentimental.
The flowers of this bean are pink, and the
pods are as large as broad beans. These the
doctor at once pronounced to be edible, for, as he
explained to me, none of these leguminosaa are
poisonous. This was a good thing to know, for ¦
they grow so thickly on these shores that we
could have'coUected any quantity we pleased
during our stay on Trinidad ; and with these,
the fish, the turtle, the birds and their eggs, all

On the Road to Treasure Bay. 199
of which are procurable here without any
difficulty, it would be possible for men left on
this island to ward off starvation for any length
of time.
When I speak of the slopes we were now on as
downs, the reader must not conjure up a picture
of the grassy downs of the English coast, pleasant
under foot and easy to travel on. To drag one's
feet over the downs of Trinidad is a very weary
business. There are large rocks and deep pits
everywhere. One's progress is impeded by the
extreme softness of the soil, into which one's feet
sink deeply, and this is made stUl worse by the
burrows of the land-crabs, whUe the roots of the
tall grasses and the traUing tendrUs of the beans
try to trip one up at every step.
Here, to our rehef, we found water again.
At the foot of the landslip a deep guUy opened
out which clove the down to the edge of the
shore. At the bottom of this a little stream
flowed for a short distance, being absorbed by the
thirsty soU long before it could reach the sands
below. In order to avoid the entangHng vegetation
we walked down this guUy, and an exceedingly
unpleasant place we found it. For here an in-

200 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
credible number of large fluffy white birds, a sort
of gannet, were sitting on their nests with their
young. They covered the rocks and the branches
of the dead trees. They attacked us savagely
whenever we came within reach of them, and
the whole of the hot narrow gorge stank most
offensively of the rotten fish they had strewed
about. The different species of birds occupy
different portions of this island, and this ravine
is the chief haunt of this particular disagreeable
tribe. The whole scene now seemed strangely
familiar to me — the ravine, the black rocks, the
crowds of brooding white birds — and when at
last we came to what appeared to be an old road
of pUed-up stones crossing the gully I stood still
and cried in astonishment : ' Why, doctor, this
is my ravine after aU ! I remember this place
weU ! '
Then I looked behind me at the mountain we
had descended, and I began to understand how it
was that I had been unable to find out my old
route. As I have explained, the ravine , I had
traveUed down nine years before extended from
the plateau of tree-ferns to the shore. But
since then a gigantic landslip had evidently

On the Road to Treasure Bay. 201
taken place. The mountain-side had fallen away,
and mUlions and mUlions of tons of rocks had
roUed below, entirely filling up the ravine and
destroying al traces of it, until far down, where
it appeared again on the downs beyond the limit
of the landslip.
This was one among other instances I can
mention showing that enormous changes have
taken place on this island even in the course of
the last nine years. When this terrific fall of
rocks occurred, it would have been a wonderful
sight to one gazing at it in safety from the sea,
and the noise of it must have made itself heard
for many leagues around. It has certainly con
verted what was once a comparatively easy and
perfectly safe road from the mountain-tops to
the windward shore into an extremely difficult
and dangerous one. So much so that the doctor
and myself saw at once that it would be useless
to establish a depot of stores at the pier, as it
would be out of the question to lead the members
of the expedition up such a perilous place as this.
It was absolutely certain that lives would be lost
if this pass were often attempted. No skilful
ihountaineering would avaU against the treacher
ous rottenness of the precipitous step which sur-

202 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
mounts the landslip, and which did not exist of
old. There is no certain foothold anywhere upon
its face, and we looked forward with no pleasur
able anticipation to our enforced return by this
way on the morrow.
The birds' eggs lay on every stone in this
vaUey. We tasted some of them, but the flavour
bore too much resemblance to the stench of
rotten fish around us to be altogether pleas
ing. The bank of stones which I had recognised
in the ravine was of far too regular forma
tion to be otherwise than the work of men's
hands. Some hundreds of years ago, the Portuguese
had a penal settlement on this side of Trinidad,
and this, no doubt, was what remained of one of
their roads. Some weeks later, I explored the
ruins of this settlement, which is a short distance
to the north of this guUy. I wiU describe it
when I come to that portion of my narrative.
Before we came to the spot where the stream
soaks into the earth we filled our bottle, with
water ; then we walked down to the sandy beach,
reaching it just before it became too dark to see
our way. We were not long in selecting our camp.

On the Road to Treasure Bay. 203
There was a large rock on the sands above high-
water mark, whose hoUow side afforded good
shelter from wind and rain. In front of this, we
lit -a fire of the wreckwood, of which there was no
lack round us, and after a supper of roasted
charki and biscuit, we proceeded to make our
selves comfortable over our pipes and rum. We
were tired, and would have slept very soundly
with the sound of the surf on the reefs as our
lullaby, had it not been for the land-crabs, which
would not let us alone, but puUed our hair or
nipped our necks as soon as we began to doze
off. At last their conduct became unbearable, and
our patience worn out, so we got up, seized two
sticks, and slaughtered some fifty of them.
Then we had a little rest, for the others left us
alone for a whUe and devoured their dead
brethren, making a merry crackling noise
all round us, as they pulled the joints asunder
and opened the shells. It was, as the doctor
remarked, like the sound of many lobster suppers
going on together at Scott's.
At daybreak (Nov. 22) we started for South
west Bay. We had drunk aU our water, and so
were anxious to reach the bay, explore it, and

204 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
be back to our stream as quickly as possible.
While making this same journey nine years be
fore, I had found no signs of fresh water between
this and South Point. The streams that flow
from the mountain-tops are absorbed far up by
the slopes of dlbris and never reach the shore.
Mr. A  did discover a smaU, but uncertain,
supply near his camp at the head of South-west
Bay, but we felt that we could not rely on this,
and that the issue in the ravine above us, which
we had left on the previous evening, was the only
one we could faU back upon with certainty on
the whole weather shore of the island.
We walked along the sandy beach, with the
mountains towering to the right of us and the
ocean swell breaking heavily on the reefs to our
left. The beach was covered with wreckage-
planks, barrels, spars, timbers of vessels with the
corroded iron bolts still sticking in them — a
melancholy spectacle ; but I was unable to find
one particular wreck which I had seen here nine
years before — the complete framework of a vessel
partly buried in the sands, into which I had
thought it might be worth whUe for our party
now to dig, as some valuables might be lying in
her hold. Either the sea had broken up or the

On the Road to Treasure Bay. 205
sands had completely covered this wreck since
my last visit.
We found traces of turtle on the sands, and we
saw that the pools of clear water left by the tide
were fuU of fish, whUe sea-crabs scampered over
the rocks in quantities. The beans, too, grew
in profusion on the downs above the beach, so
there was plenty of food all round us, and, if there
had only been fresh water, we could have made
ourselves very comfortable here. There were,
of course, plenty of land-crabs everywhere, but
one would have to be hard driven to eat these
ugly brutes.
At last we came to a promontory of rock
jutting out into the sea. We climbed up this
without difficulty, and descended the other side
by a steep slope of soft white sand.
From here we could see before us the Sugarloaf
and Noah's Ark. The former mountain, as its
name implies, is of conical shape— a stupendous
mass, apparently of grey granite, whose summit
is about 1,500 feet above the sea, and which on
one side is very nearly perpendicular. Noah's
Ark (South Point on the Admiralty chart) was
so named by myself at the time of my former
visit, in consequence of its resemblance both in

206 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
shape and colour to the favourite toy of my child
hood. It is of oblong form, with perpendicular
sides and with a top exactly like the roof of a
house. It is formed of volcanic rock of a peculiar
reddish colour, and is about 800 feet in height.
These two strangely-shaped mountains are joined
together by an apparently inaccessible ridge com
posed chiefly of the red detritus from Noah's
Ark. Our destination, South-west Bay, is bounded
on its east side by these mountains ; it was,
therefore, necessary for us now, being south
of East Point, to cross the intervening
heights. The only pass I knew was just under the
Sugarloaf. This we used generally to speak of
as the Sugarloaf Col, so as to distinguish it
from another pass which we afterwards discov
ered. Sugarloaf Col is the gap which divides
the Sugarloaf from a jagged peak to the north
of it, and which, in its turn, is continued
by the steep downs which He to the back of
South-west Bay.
We crossed the sands, and then a smaU plain
covered with a variety of bushes, which brought
us to the foot of the Col. This gap is formed of

On the Road to Treasure Bay. 207
rocks pUed on one another, and is not difficult to
surmount. We reached the summit of it and then, looking
down on the other side, we beheld, lying at our
feet, Treasure Bay at last.

CHAPTER XII.
WE EXPLORE THE RAVINE.
AS we stood on the Col, the steep wall of the
Ix. Sugarloaf rising to the left of us, the
view over South-west Bay was exceedingly fine.
The bay is of semicircular form, with a distance
of about a mile and a half from point to point.
Broad sands, with green downs behind them,
border the central portion ; but it is bounded by
steep bare mountains on either side : on the east
side by Noah's Ark, the Sugarloaf and the peaks
beyond ; and on the west side by the rugged
promontories and islands which divide it from
South Bay. In contrast to the savage cliffs
that shut them in, the sands and downs in the
middle of the bay present a very pleasing and
fertUe appearance, especially when seen from
the sea, conveying the idea that this is a far more
agreeable spot to live on than proves to be the
case after a closer examination.
From the Col we could look right down on the
bay, and, as the water was very clear, we were

We explore the Ravine. 209
able to distinguish all the dangers below the
surface, as weU as those above. It was, no doubt,
from here that the pirate captain made his
survey. We saw that an islet, unmarked on any chart,
rose in the middle of the bay, whUe a reef of
rocks, apparently coral, extended right round the
bay, paraUel to the beach, and at a short distance
from it. Some of these rocks were above the sur
face of the water, some just below, and others —
the most dangerous — further down, so that it
was only occasionaUy that the sea broke upon
them. The pirate in his confession had spoken
of a channel he had discovered through this
reef, situated under the Sugarloaf, at the eastern
extremity of the bay. We now saw that it ex
isted there exactly as he had described it —
a broad opening in the line of rocks, through
which a boat could be pulled, and beached on the
sands. But still, it was an awkward place, and it
would be impossible to land there on such a day
as this was, for immense roUers were sweeping
up the shore which would have almost certainly
dashed any boat to pieces that ventured among
them. We were, however, very satisfied with

210 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
the success of our expedition so far. We had
discovered and taken bearings of the channel,
and we knew how to pUot a boat through it,
when the weather should be favourable. Our
next duty was to descend into the bay arid
identify the place where the treasure was sup
posed to be hidden.
It was not long before we had discovered
what we considered to be the right spot.
The pirate had described a smaU guUy in the
middle of this bay, at the foot of which he and
his men had erected three cairns, which should
serve as landmarks to those who had the clue, and
point the way to the treasure.
Mr. P  , and, after him, Mr. A  , had
found this guUy and the three cairns, just as they
had been described. Mr. A  , either for the
purpose of putting others off the scent, or in
order to discover if anything had been concealed
beneath them, blew up these cairns with gun
powder and dug into them, so that now we could
only see traces of one of them. He had, however,
communicated to me what he understood to be
their signification, and how he had been led by
them to the first bend in the ravine, at which spot
the plunder had been buried under a hollow rock.

We explore the Ravine. 211
We walked up the ravine tUl we came to a bend,
and here, as we had expected, we saw what ap
peared to be a landslip of red earth, fiUing up the
corner of it, blocking up the mouth of any cave
that might exist there, even as Mr. P  and
Mr. A  had described. And here before us
lay a smaU trench, with a broken earthenware
water jar and the remains of a wheel-barrow lying
in it — all that remained to show where Mr. A 
had carried on his not very extensive works.
This, therefore, was the spot we had crossed
the Atlantic to find. We stood and looked at
it in sUence for a whue. ' What do you think
of it ? ' asked the doctor at last.
It was not aneasy question to reply to, for I did
not quite know myself what to think of it. I
had pictured to myself a very different place.
I saw that our work would in one respect be more
difficult than I had anticipated, in another
respect far more easy. For this landslip was not
nearly so extensive as I had understood it to be,
and the slopes of the ravine were not of such a
character as to render our operations dangerous,
or to necessitate any timbering of our shafts or
trenches. But, on the other hand, there was a
want of definiteness that was disappointing.

212 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
There were no reaUy sharp bends in the ravine,
and there were several landslips. It was im
possible to be quite certain of what was meant by
' the first bend ; ' for there were bends of so in
significant a character that they might easUy be
overlooked; and we had no knowledge of the
number of paces from the cairns to the cavern.
Therefore, should we fail to find the treasure at
the spot where Mr. A  commenced to dig,
it would be necessary for us to clear the landslip
off the face of the cliff for some considerable
distance. Having inspected the scene of Mr. A  's
operations, we set out to explore the ravine
carefully, and, bearing in mind what we knew
of the pirate's original instructions, we en
deavoured to reason out whether this or some
other neighbouring bend was the most likely
spot. The treasure was lying, or had been lying,
very close to us somewhere ; of that I felt con
fident at the time, and I have had no reason for
altering my opinion since.
First, we went down the ravine again, and
when we reached the bottom of it, where it opens
Out upon the back of the beach, we observed,
what had escaped our notice at first, an ex-

We explore the Ravine. 213
tensive excavation in the hard soU — which is not
so encumbered with boulders here as it is higher
up — a cutting so regular in form and with such
perpendicular sides that it was difficult to imagine
that it had not been the work of men's hands.
This was certainlynot one of Mr. A  's trenches ;
for to have removed such a quantity of earth and
stones would have occupied such a party as he
had with him for six months at least.
Was it possible that the American, or some
Other adventurer, had been here before us and
carried away the treasure ? We could find no
marks of tools or other traces of man in or near
this trench, so it was impossible to decide
whether it was artificial or natural. Some of
us afterwards came to the conclusion that it was
most probably the latter, for we came across
other cuttings, somewhat simUar to this, in other
portions of the ravine, which had evidently
been produced by the action of water.
Next we went up the guUy beyond Mr.
A  's trench, in the hopes of finding water, of
which we were beginning to feel the want.
There was no running stream here, though it was
evident from its formation that the ravine was
swept by a mighty torrent after heavy rains.

214 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
The water that drained into it from the over
hanging mountain was soaked up by the loose
red soU that lay between the boulders.
But at last we came to a little hoUow at the foot
of a rocky step, where was a tiny pool of tepid
and muddy water. However, this was aU we
required, for we could now afford time to survey
the scene of our operations more thoroughly,
instead of hurrying back, driven by thirst, to our
distant water-course.
Between the hUls and the beach, close to the
mouth of the ravine, there is a sort of plateau
of sand and stones, and it was evidently on this
that Mr. A  had pitched his camp, for here
we came across his tent poles, the remains of
wheelbarrows, and some empty meat-tins.
We walked down to the eastern beach, where
the landing was, opposite the channel between
the coral rocks. The sands here sloped steeply
into deepish water ; it was, apparently, an ex
ceUent place for beaching a boat when the state
of the weather should aUow. Though it was a
windless day the ocean sweU was high, and it was
a grand sight to see the great green roUers sweep
majesticaUy up tUl they were close to the beach,
and then curl over and break in showers of spark-

We explore the Ravine. 215
ling spray. While we stood there admiring the
scene, we saw a curious sight. A roUer was
travelling towards us, rearing its arched neck
high up, so that the light of the sun shining
through it made it transparent, and in the middle
of the clear green mass we saw a long dark body
suspended, borne along helplessly. It was a
large shark that, venturing too near the beach,
had been carried up by the breaker ; he floated
there a moment, erect on his taU, his fins beating
impotently, when the roUer broke and he was
dashed with a loud thud on the beach ; then the
recoU of the surf swept him seawards and we
saw no more of him.
Having carried out the object of our journey,
we filled our bottle with water and set forth on
our return march. We recrossed Sugarloaf Col
and tramped along the sands. There was no
wind and the day was terribly hot. The sands
reflected the burning sun into our faces, and we
felt as if we were HteraUy roasting. Now and
then we lay down, clothes and all, in the salt
water pools, to cool ourselves, and we roUed
handkerchiefs round our heads, which we kept
constantly wet. As my hat had disappeared over
a precipice on the previous day, this was a very

2t6 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
necessary precaution against sunstroke, so far
as I was concerned.
When we were not far from our previous
night's camp, we saw what appeared to be an
easier way up the mountains than the one by
which we had come down. The precipitous step
at the top of the landslip had been difficult
enough to descend, and on account of the
rottenness of- its substance we felt that the
ascent might be impossible.
Whether this new way of ours would have led
us to the plateau of tree-ferns high above us,
I cannot tell ; but I doubt it. At any rate, we
abandoned it before we had satisfied ourselves as
to whether it was a practicable route or not, for
a most exceUent reason on Trinidad — the want
of water. We had exhausted our bottle, and
were clambering up difficult declivities on hands
and knees, with the fierce sun blazing down
upon our backs. As there was no wind, the air
that lay on the roasting rocks was so oppressive
that we had to rest frequently, and lie on our
backs panting for breath.
I was in the worse condition of the two, in
consequence of the loss of my hat, for, when the
thin handkerchief I had wrapped round my head

We explore 'the Ravine. 217
was dry, it was altogether insufficient for protec
tion, and I ran some risk of being struck down by
sunstroke or heat-apoplexy.
Accordingly, as we saw no signs of water above
us, and as it was more than Hkely that this way
would lead us to inaccessible precipices which
would drive us back again, we thought it prudent
to retrace our steps before we were quite ex
hausted, and make our way to the stream we
knew of. We could rest by it untU the sun
had dipped below the mountain-tops, and then
resume our climb in the shade.
;. We descended to the beach, and walked along
the sands untU we came to the rock under which
we had camped on the previous night, and then,
being opposite to our ravine, we struck out inland
towards it across the down of beans. We must
have turned rather to the right of the track we
had foUowed on the previous day, for we suddenly
came to a terrace of stones which we had not seen
before, and which had evidently formed part of
the Portuguese settlement. We clambered up
this, and then perceived, stiH further to the
right, the ruins of several huts and waUs, buUt
of unhewn stones and overgrown with the creep
ing beans. Most of the huts were buUt at the

2i8 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
edge of a deep steep gully. As soon as we saw
this, the same idea struck both of us : the
Portuguese would most certainly have chosen
the vicinity of a stream for their settlement,
and in aU probabUity there was running water
at the bottom of that guUy.
As it would not take us much out of our way
to satisfy our curiosity, we climbed over the
bean-covered rocks untU we came to the edge of
the gully, and, looking over, saw, to our delight
and astonishment, not a tiny issue trickling
drop by drop, like most of the streams of these
ravines, but a regular little river of sparkling
water, rushing down with a merry noise over
the stones.
We drank our fiU, and found the water cool and
delicious, but slightly fishy in flavour, for the
large white gannets thronged the hUls above.
This is the most considerable stream on the
island, and the only one that reaches the weather
shore, aU the others, as I have explained, being
sucked up high above by the slopes of debris.
This drains an extensive area, and several ravines
meet at the head of the gully, each contributing
its share of water. Among others was one of the
ravines we had attempted to descend on the

We explore the Ravine. 219
previous day, and which had led us to the brink
of the precipice. From below we could now see
the whole face of that precipice — a fearful wall of
black rock, with a thin thread of water falling
over it.
We walked down the guUy, and found that the
stream not only crossed the down, but flowed
right across the sands into the sea, the volume
of water being too great to allow of its being all
swaUowed up by the thirsty soU on the way.
We should have been more comfortable in our
camp on the night before had we known there was
a stream so near to us, and would have drunk our
fiU, instead of doling out to each other thimble-
fuls of water with a grudging hand. It was
strange, too, that I had not discovered this river
when I was here before. I had then, on descend
ing from the mountains, turned to the right, even
as we had done on the previous day, and suf
fered much from want of water ; whereas, had I
turned to the left, I should have come upon
this generous supply after a few minutes'
walk. This was, indeed, a most valuable discovery for
us, for now, should the supply of water fail in
South-west Bay, our working party would merely

220 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
have to cross the Sugarloaf Col, and foUow the
sands to this river — no very arduous journey.
The heat had been so intense this day that our
recent vain climb upon the mountain-side had
somewhat exhausted us, and we did not feel
prepared to accomplish the whole of the long
journey to the pier before dark ; moreover, the
position of the sun showed us that it was long
past noon, and we should have had to hurry
along without pause, in order to save our
daylight. So we decided to take it easily, and select a
camp for the night close to water, on the weather
slopes of the mountains. We should have liked
to remain where we were, by the river, in the
midst of the old Portuguese settlement, but,
knowing the difficulties of the homeward journey,
we felt that it would be advisable to proceed some
way further on our road before camping, and so
leave a shorter distance to travel on the morrow.
We accordingly left the river-side and struck
across the downs to the foot of the ravine by
which we had descended on the previous day.
On our way we gathered a quantity of beans
for our supper.
We soon found the ravine, and began to ascend

We explore the Ravine. 221
it. The foul white birds again attacked us as
we climbed from rock to rock, and the ugly crabs
waved their pincers at us with menacing gestures.
Then we came to the lowest point on the hill-side
where . water is found. This was at a much
greater distance from the beach than it had
seemed to be whUe we were descending on the
day before ; for the stream disappears in the
soU at a spot at least 600 feet above the level
of the sea, and to attain it from below involves
a pretty stiff climb.
. We went stUl higher up the ravine, untU we
were close to the place where the stream issues
from the ground, a short distance below the foot
of the great landslip of black rocks. Here we
found an admirable site for our camp. This gully,
as I have explained, faUs towards the shore at a
very steep angle, the rocks, as it were, forming
a gigantic flight of steps. We were now on one
of these steps, a flat surface, about ten feet across,
covered with red sand. The stream feU on to
this from the step above, forming a Httle cascade
some twelve feet in height, and, after crossing
one side of the flat, fell over another waU of
rock on to the step below.
The scene around us was strangely picturesque.

222 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
Our step was simply a small ledge in this
wUdemess of broken black rocks ; above us and
below us were precipices and landslips. It was
an exceUent situation for an eagle's nest, but not
an over-secure spot for a camp of men. Our
narrow bed would not do for a restless sleeper :
to slip off the edge of it would insure a broken
neck. A coarse grass grew here and there
between the rocks by the water-side, but there
was no other vegetation on the bleak crags,
though of course the mysterious dead trees, as
everywhere else on this island, were lying thickly
all around. The foul birds and the land-crabs
were the sole inhabitants of this solitude.
We now proceeded to make ourselves at home
for the night. I coUected the branches and
trunks of the dead trees and buUt up a goodly
pUe of firewood, whUe the doctor prepared our
supper. We had no saucepan with us, so the
pannikin had to do duty for one. In this the
doctor concocted a stew, the ingredients of which
were charki, biscuit, figs, and Trinidad beans.
It turned out to be a far more tasty dish than
one would have supposed.
After dinner the saucepan was cleaned out
and grog was served out in it — the last of our

We explore the Ravine. 223
suPPty °f rum. We had just lit our pipes and
were settling ourselves down to a comfortable
half-hour's smoke and chat before turning in
(to whom is a pipe so sweet as to one camping
out under the stars after the day's work ?)
when suddenly the doctor cried out, ' Hullo,
Ipok at our beds ! ' I looked, and lo ! to my
dismay, those luxurious couches were under
water. I must explain that we had pulled up a
quantity of grass and strewed it over the sand,
so as to make- a snug soft sleeping-place for
the night. WhUe we were enjoying our dinner,
the river, unobserved by us, had risen con
siderably, and was now flowing over that portion
of the step whereon we had made up our beds.
There had been no rain to account for this, so
I suppose that the sun, blazing down on the
rocks, causes a great evaporation of water during
the day, and that, consequently, the volume of
the stream is greater after sunset.
So we had now to put aside our pipes and
grog for a few moments and undertake some
necessary engineering operations : we cleared
away a channel through the natural dam of grass,
stones, and sand at the lower edge of the step,

224 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
and so gave a free passage to the swoUen stream.
The flood subsided at once, and our beds were
above water again. The doctor, then, acting
in his medical capacity, suggested that damp
mattresses were unhealthy; so we threw a few
handfuls of grass on the top of the sodden
mass, and our beds were what we were pleased
to caU dry again.
We Ht a fire of the dead wood and kept it
alight all night, so that we could occasionaUy
warm ourselves by it ; for a wind had sprung
up at sunset, which swept up the ravine from
the sea, making us feel uncomfortably chilly^
thinly clad as we were and having no blankets
to cover us.
We soon found that it would be impossible
for us both to sleep at the same time, for the
land-crabs had smelt us out and swarmed down
upon us from aU sides. We kept watch and
watch ; whUe one slept the other tended the fire
and kUled the land-crabs, as they approached,
with sticks and stones. The other crabs, as
usual, fed on the dead. I have, in the ' Cruise
of the " Falcon," described the peculiarly
uncanny way in which a land-crab eats his
food. I saw this night, as I kept watch, at least

We explore the Ravine. 225
twenty of them at a time devouring the car
casses of their slain friends. Each stood quite
stUl, looking me straight in the face with his
fixed outstarting eyes, and with an expression
absolutely diabolical. He puUed the food to
pieces with his two front claws, and then, with
deliberate motion, brought the fragments of
flesh to his mouth with one claw, and chewed
them up with a slow automatic action, but stUl
those horrible eyes never moved, but stared
steadUy into mine.
As we had no means of judging the time, it
was difficult to divide the night into watches
of even length, so we had to portion it out be
tween us the best way we could.

CHAPTER XIII.
A NARROW ESCAPE.
T li 7"E started early on the foUowing morning,
V V November 23, and reached the summit
of the landslip before the sun had heated the
black rocks, and the layer of close air imme
diately over them, to that high temperature
which we had found so insupportable on tri.2
previous day.
We managed to ascend the cliff which hangs
over the landslip without accident, but it was
anxious work, and we experienced a sense of
relief when we found ourselves safe once more
on the upper plateau.
From here we took a short cut across the
groves of tree-ferns towards the head of the
cascade ravine, and came unexpectedly upon a
green vaUey in the middle of the plateau which
we had not seen before, and which is, without
doubt, the most beautiful place on the island.
At the bottom of it a cool stream flowed through
thickly-growing ferns and grass. The scenery all

A Narrow Escape. 227
round us was of a soft and pleasing character,
very strange to us after the dreary barrenness
of the mountain slopes beneath this elevated
and almost inaccessible garden.
We might have been in some fair vale of
Paraguay, instead of on the summit of rugged
Trinidad. Here were gently sloping green hills
that shut out aU view of the jagged peaks. The
vegetation was of a more luxuriant nature than
in any other portion of the island ; taU grasses,
bushes, and plants of various kinds, most of them
covered with flowers, carpeted the soft red soil,
whUe the tall and beautiful tree-ferns stood in
scattered clumps, casting a pleasant shade with
their fronds of darker green. Even the dead
trees were not so melancholy in appearance as
elsewhere on the island ; for from their branches
— as weU as from those of the older bushes and
tree-ferns — there hung swaying festoons of a
parasitic plant something Hke the Spanish moss
that covers the pines and live-oaks of Florida,
but more beautiful, for this was of a silvery
white colour.
Besides those tyrants of Trinidad, the birds
and land-crabs, mice, flies, ants, earwigs, and
big spiders dwelt in this happy valley.

228 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
From here we walked to the head of our
ravine, where the principal grove of tree-ferns
crowns the cliffs, and now we looked down upon
the ' Alerte,' seeming very smaU from this
dizzy height, ' and yon tall anchoring . bark,
diminished to her cock ; her cock, a buoy almost too
small for sight.' We observed that the wind
was blowing rather freshly from an unusual
quarter — north-west — making this a lee shore
to our vessel, but there were no signs of bad
weather in the sky.
While descending the ravine we were shut in
by the walls of rock, so that we were unable to
see the yacht ; but on reaching a point just above
the cascade we again commanded a view over
the whole roadstead, and lo ! we found, to our
dismay, that the ' Alerte ' was no longer lying
at her anchorage, nor was she anywhere in
sight. We stood and stared round the horizon,
scarcely believing the evidence of our eyes. Not
an hour before we had looked down upon her
from the mountain, riding snugly to. her anchor,
with saUs stowed. What possible mischance
could have occurred since then ?
We proceeded to the pier, on to which we

A Narrow Escape. 229
perceived that the sea was breaking much more
heavUy than when we had landed on it, and
from here we were enabled to see further
round the coast to the north-west. Then we
caught a glimpse of our vessel just before she
rounded, and was hidden by, the first prom
ontory. She was about two mUes away,
with aU plain saU set, beating against the
wind towards the northern end of the island.
We surmised that those on board had be
come anxious about our safety, and were sailing
round the island in order, if possible, to discover
where we were — a course which they had no
right to undertake, seeing that the doctor and
myself had not yet been two and a half days
away, and were not likely to have lost our
selves. Besides which, I knew that there was
no one on board competent to take charge of
the vessel on a cruise of this sort. Under these
circumstances I was in anything but an amiable
temper, more especiaUy as the doctor and
myself were now fagged out by our exertions,
and had been looking forward to a square meal,
and some good red wine with it, on our return
on board.
As it appeared that they were bent on saU-

230 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
ing round the island, and might not be off the
pier again until the following day — for the
yacht was evidently progressing very slowly,
plunging her nose constantly into the steep head
seas — I determined to recaU them, if possible.
So we hurried back to a slope near the cascade
where the grass was growing thickly, and
applied a match to it. As I expected, there
was soon a great blaze, and a dense volume of
smoke arose which must have made itself
visible for many mUes around. The wind fanned
the flames, and the fire crept slowly up the
mountain-side wherever the dry grass afforded
a track for it ; the dead trees, too, began to
burn fiercely, and we discovered that we had
started a somewhat larger conflagration than
we had intended, and had set the whole of this
side of the island on fire.
However, it produced the desired effect :
we saw the yacht sail clear of the point again,
on the starboard tack, bear away, and run
down the coast towards us. And now, at the
suggestion, as I afterwards learnt, of Arthur
Cotton, who ought to have known better, but
who, as having been here before with me,
professed to be well acquainted with the pUotage

A Narrow Escape. 231
of Trinidad, the anchor was let go, to my horror,
quite close to the edge of the breakers. Our
vessel was now in very convenient proximity
to the end of the pier, it is true, but in a most
perUous position : for no sea-room had been
allowed her — a very necessary precaution under
hese cliffs, where the wind is never steady — and
I saw that, when the anchor was weighed again,
we should run great risk of being carried on to
the rocks by the roUers before we could get the
yacht under command.
It may be imagined what was my condition
of mind when I realised all this, and the doctor
was naturally as savage as myself. We stood on
the pier and watched the men as they lowered
the saUs and then launched the whale-boat in
order to fetch us off. PoweU, PurseU, and two
of the paid hands manned the boat. The sea
was now so high that they could not approach
very near to the shore. The waves were dashing
high up the sides of the pier, and, in recoiling,
rushed across the end of it in the form of a
cascade. Seeing that we must swim for it, we took off
our coats and placed them in a hole at the
top of the rocks. I shouted to those in the boat

232 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
to keep some distance off, and throw a life
buoy with a line attached to it towards the
pier, so that we could jump in and be hauled
off by it. This was done. Choosing my time
I leapt in, held on to the line, the boat was
pulled seaward out of reach of the breakers
and I clambered on board. Then we returned
for the doctor. He stood on the pier, waiting
for his opportunity, but one much higher
roUer than the rest came up and swept him off
into the sea. Luckily, he was not dashed against
any of the rocks, but managed to swim out clear
of the recoU, while we backed towards him and
took him on board.
Once safe on the deck of the ' Alerte ' I
listened to an explanation of the extraordinary
manoeuvres which had been taking place.
It seemed that either the yacht had dragged
her anchor, or it was supposed that she had
dragged her anchor — for the opinions on the
matter were at variance — so the anchor was
weighed, and, of course, as the chain got short,
the yacht, even if she had not done so before,
began to drag at a merry pace. Then sail was
hoisted. By this time she had drifted very close
to the rocks, but, as far as I understand, she

A Narrow Escape. 233
was filling and would soon have been in safety
again, when, for some reason or other, down went
the anchor, and she lay roUing about close under
the rocky Ness and the dangerous islets that
He off it. Up came the anchor once more, and
this time the yacht drove so very near to the
rocks that every one on board gave her up as
lost, and some were looking out for the safest
spot on shore to swim to. A high sea was
breaking over the cliffs — one touch and she
would have broken up. And now, as by a
miracle — for I don't know how it happened,
and no one on board seems to have known —
the vessel got way on her and forged ahead,
so that she became manageable, and was
steered out to sea, clear of danger.
That she had been very nearly wrecked
there can be no doubt, and that this had been
due to very awkward handling was also certain.
I was myself much to blame for the serious risk
the poor old vessel had incurred. Had I left
the doctor in charge on board, in his capacity
of mate, whUe I was exploring the island, he
would, no doubt, have extricated the yacht from
her difficulty as soon as she began to drag—
an easy task. . I did not consider that there

234 The Cruise of the * Alerte.'
was any one else among the volunteers capable
of undertaking the responsibility of command,
but I was under the impression — wrongly it
seems— that the five paid hands on board would
have had the common sense to give her more
chain when they perceived that the wind was
freshening. Ted, for instance, was bos'n, and
might have taken it upon himself to do this,
as was indeed his understood duty when no
officers were on board.
For the first and only time during the cruise
these men lost their heads, and, having no
recognised leader to direct them, each volun
teered his own opinion as to what should be
done, or as to whether the vessel was dragging
at aU ; but, as far as I can make out, with one
man giving one order at one end of the vessel,
and another man giving a contradictory order
at the other end, nothing at all was done until it
was almost too late.
I made up my mind never from this time to
leave the vessel, even for a short time, without
putting some one definitely in charge, even if
he were an incompetent person.
But the danger was not all over yet. The
vessel was now tumbling about in the high sweU

A Narrow Escape. 235
at the edge of the breakers, the wind had
dropped, and to have weighed the anchor would
have been to have run great risk of being
carried on to the rocks by the roUers. So,
as she was safe where she was for the time,
I saw it was advisable to wait until the condi
tions should be more favourable, before shifting
our anchorage. The doctor and myself enjoyed
our square meal to which we had been looking
forward, and then I turned in to sleep, giving
orders that I should be called at four in the
afternoon. At four the sea had gone down a good deal
and there was a moderate breeze, so I decided
to move to a safer berth. We hoisted the sails
and, whUe we were getting the anchor up, I
took the precaution, seeing what little sea-
room we had, of putting the whale-boat in the
water, with a long line fastened to the yacht's
bows, ready to pull her head round and tow
her seawards should she not cant in the right
direction. We got away safely, and the anchor was let
go in nineteen fathoms close to where we had
brought up on our arrival.
The night was fine, but the surf was still

236 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
roaring on the beach. The mountains now pre
sented a curious appearance, for our fire had
spread up the various arms of the ravine almost
to the summit, and there were clusters of lights,
as of villages, in aU directions, whUe here and
there what appeared to be bonfires were blazing,
possibly at spots where several dead trees had
faUen together. We began to fear lest the
illumination, which must have been visible for
leagues out to sea, might attract the attention
of passing vessels. A captain would naturally
conclude that these fires were the signals of a
shipwrecked crew, and therefore go out of his
course to render assistance. Luckily this did
not happen.

CHAPTER XIV.
WE LAND THE STORES IN THE BAY.
THE patience of my men was now to be
severely tried. Here before them was
the mysterious isle, with aU its golden possibili
ties ; but for five days the sea was in far too
disturbed a condition to permit of a landing ;
so they were confined to their floating prison,
which roUed and pitched at her anchorage all
the whUe, and gazed with vain desire at the
forbidden land.
It was now that Ted came up to me, as
spokesman for the rest of his shipmates in the
forecastle, and said that they were aU anxious
to go on shore in turn, and do their share of
digging with the rest of us. It had been part
of the original scheme to keep the paid hands
— with the exception, perhaps, of the cook — on
board the vessel ; but as by this time we knew
the ways of the ' Alerte,' and could handle her
with fewer men than when we had started, I
decided that an officer and two paid hands would

238 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
be a sufficient crew while she was lying off the
island, and that aU the other men could be spared
for the work on shore. I therefore acceded to
Ted's request.
The men were led to understand that they
would be entitled to no share of the proceeds
if the treasure were found, though they, of
course, knew that, should fortune favour us, a
handsome present would be given to them.
The agreement as to the division of the
spoU among the gentlemen-adventurers had also
to be revised in one respect. It was settled that
the shares of those who had abandoned the
expedition were to be portioned out among those
who remained. By this arrangement each of
my companions became nearly twice as rich
— in expectations — as when he sailed from
England. Trinidad is supposed to be outside the limit
of the south-east trade-winds, but I think this
is doubtful ; for, so far as my experience goes,
the prevailing winds are from the easterly quarter,
and more commonly from the south-east.
When the winds are in the west quadrant, and
more especially when from the south-west, a
heavy sea rises, and landing is rendered alto-

We land the Stores in the Bay. 239
gether impossible. This was our experience for
the next few days.
On November 24, there was a high wind
from the north-west and a great sweU. We
were now on a lee shore, and a very dangerous
one too ; so all was got ready for slipping the
anchor and running to the open sea in a moment,
should it become necessary to do so. We gave
the yacht aU her starboard chain — sixty fathoms.
We got up the end of the chain, and made it
fast to the mainmast in such a way that we
could let it go at once. One end of a stout thirty-
fathom hawser was attached to the chain, just
below the hawse-pipe, and to the other end of it
we fastened an improvised buoy, made of a
breaker and a sttiaU bamboo raft. In order to
get under way we should now merely have to
throw the buoy overboard and cast off the end
of the chain from the mast. We could then
sail away and leave our moorings behind us.
Then we set to work to bend the storm-trysaU,
a very handy saU, which could be hoisted much
more readUy than our heavy mainsaU. We
reefed the foresaU, had a storm-jib ready, and
housed our topmast. We were now prepared
for anything that might turn up.

240 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
We were not idle this day, for after making
aU snug, we got the spades, hydraulic jack,
and other tools out of the hold, so as to have
them in readiness to put in the boat the moment
there was a chance of landing.
Our fire on the mountain blazed away aU
this night and was not entirely extinguished
for six days afterwards.
The next day was overcast, and the wind
was from the south-west ; then it veered to
the southward. The sea was higher than on the
previous day. The vessel tumbled about a
great deal, roUing her scuppers under water,
flooding her decks, and running her bowsprit
under, all the whUe. StiU, she rode very easily,
the great length of heavy chain we had given
her acting as a spring. We watched carefuUy
for the first signs of dragging, but the anchor
had evidently got a good hold now and she did
not budge a foot. In the afternoon the glass
feU rapidly and the sky looked very stormy,
whUe the temperature in our saloon feU to 75°,
which made us feel quite chUly.
It is probable that this disturbed weather
and high sea were the results of a pampero
raging thousands of mUes to the southward of us.

We land the Stores in the Bay. 241
On this day we took our dinghy on deck — a
dUapidated Httle boat — and proceeded to stop
her leaks, in a novel, but for the time effectual,
manner, with plaster of Paris and tar.
The fish would not be . caught while this
heavy sea was running, but we secured some
sharks and ate their flesh for dinner, to the
horror of our black cook, whom I overheard tell
ing his shipmates that he considered it ' degrad
ing to eat de meat of de dam shark.'
November 26. — Same weather, blowing,
raining, roUing, and impatient grumbling of
men. Even the two amiable blacks, eager to
be at work on shore, fretted a bit at the en
forced imprisonment on board. They had
always been fond of argument, but now the
arguments became stormy, and we could hear
them laying down the law to each other in
the forecastle, whUe the English sailors sat
round them, smoking in sUence and listening
with amused wonder. One black was a Roman
Catholic, the other a Methodist ; their discus
sions were generaUy theological, and they
exchanged vituperations with a fine theological
fury. It was grand to hear Theodosius raU at
the Pope and call his comrade a heathen idolater,

242 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
whUe George would pour the vials of his wrath
on the Methodist heretic. These two poor
feUows were the greatest friends, but, of course,
each was confident that the other was doomed
to perdition. When, in the course of one of
these controversies, a theologian found himself
caught in a dUemma, he would wax impatient
and cry, ' Oh, chew it ! ' — an expression I have
never heard before — indicating that one has
been worsted in argument, but wUl not allow
it, and insists, having had enough of it, on
winding up the debate at once.
On the 27th the glass rose, the wind veered
to north-east, and the sea moderated ; but the
surf was still dangerous, and we could see it
breaking over a rock sixty feet in height. On
this day we sighted two homeward-bound
saUing-vessels. During our stay on Trinidad we
saw a good many craft, sometimes four or
five in a week, all homeward-bounders, for, as
I have already explained, it is usual for vessels
coming round Cape Horn to make for and sight
this island, so as to correct the rate of their
chronometers. Few outward-bounders pass it,
and it is altogether out of the track of steamers.
On November 28 things look d better, the

We land the Stores in the Bay. 243
sea had aU gone down. In the morning a few
hands puUed off to the pier, where they found
the landing perfectly easy, and brought off the
coat which the doctor had left on the rock when
we had jumped into the sea. My coat could not
be found, as it had been washed off by a wave.
They also brought off a specimen of a land-crab,
which did not seem at all at home on our deck.
He was introduced to Master Jacko, our
monkey, whose horror at the uncouth appari
tion was intense. The wise monkey would not
get within reach of the crab's nippers, but,
having cleverly driven him into a corner, tried
to push his ugly visitor through a scupper into
the sea with a bit of firewood.
I must now apologise to Jacko for not having
before this introduced him to my readers. He
was a delightful little creature that we had
purchased on the Praya at Bahia. He was very
affectionate, and was free from malice, though,
of course, f uU of mischief. He had a red blanket
of his own, which he would carry about with
him wherever he went, and, should a few drops
of rain faU or spray come on board, he would
deftly roU it about him in the fashion of a
cloak, with his funny little head just peeping

244 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
out of the hood. He was very fond of tea, and
whUe we were at sea he took his 4 a.m. cup
with the others. As soon as the cook began to
lift the boiler of tea from the stove Jacko
would give a whistle of delight, clamber up the
pantry waU, unhook a pannikin, and walk up
with it to be filled, ' all de same as a Httle
ole man,' as the cook used to say. It was
amusing to see him test the temperature of
the tea with his fingers before drinking it. He
was a marveUously intelligent and joUy little
creature, and is now dweUing happUy in a Httle
house on a coeoanut tree in a plantation near
Port-of-Spain. He prefers a West Indian life of
warmth and unlimited bananas to an existence
in a damp ship on salt junk and biscuit.
At noon, as the sea was stUl smooth, we made
our first attempt at landing in Treasure Bay.
We put the whale-boat in the water, and
loaded her with about a ton of stores, con
sisting of tinned provisions of various sorts,
biscuit, salt beef, the picks, spades, crowbars,
wheelbarrows, hydraulic jack, and other tools. We
also took in tow a raft constructed of the long
bamboos we had brought from Bahia. These
we knew would be useful for several purposes.

We land the Stores in the Bay. 245
I steered the boat, while the doctor, Powell,
PurseU, and two paid hands, took the oars.
Having the wind behind us we were not long
in crossing the two mUes of smoothly heaving
sea that lay between us and South-west Bay.
We rounded the point into the bay, and, leaving
on our port hand the islet in the middle, we
made for the channel which the doctor and
myself had surveyed from the mountains.
When we came near we found that there were
three paraUel lines of breakers to be traversed,
and, consequently, there was a treble chance of
swamping. The surf was much more formidable
than we had expected to find it, considering
how smooth the sea was outside the bay. The
wind was blowing in strong gusts right off shore,
over the depression in the mountains at the
back of the bay. It drove off the tops of the
oncoming waves into great veils of spray, curling
over in a contrary direction to the curl of the
sweU, and bright with shifting rainbows as the
sun's rays feU upon it. The bay presented a most
beautiful appearance from the boat, and those
who had not seen the pirates' haunt before
uttered exclamations of admiration and wonder.
Between the gloomy black mountains on the

246 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
left and the unearthly-looking dark red waUs
of Noah's Ark on the right was a scene in
which, flooded with tropical sunlight, earth and
ocean vied with each other in vividness of
colouring. Directly in front were the great
rollers of transparent green, their snowy crests
flashing with rainbows ; beyond, dazzling
golden sands ; above, domes of brUHant emerald
cleaving the cloudless sky.
But this was no time to dweU on the beautiful ;
we had other matters to consider. The grand
rollers with their breaking tops had no charms
for us, for we had to get through them — a risky
undertaking with a deeply-laden boat.
We discovered afterwards that it is almost
impossible to judge from the height of the
sweU near our anchorage, or from the surf on the
pier, whether landing in South-west Bay is
likely to be easy or the reverse. The surf on
this sandy beach is governed by a different
system of laws to that which prevaUs on other
portions of the coast of Trinidad. Here, curi
ously enough, there is more surf when the
wind is blowing off shore than when it is blow
ing on. The north-east wind, sweeping in
violent gusts down the slopes that back the

We land the Stores in the Bay. 247
bay, offers a resistance to the sweU roUing in,
and pUes it into steep walls of water, breaking
dangerously. The south-east wind raises a higher
sweU outside, but, blowing right into this bay,
drives the sea down, and the landing becomes
comparatively easy. At the anchorage opposite
the cascade the contrary is the rule : with a north
east wind blowing off shore the sea is smooth,
with a south-east wind the surf increases ; but,
as I have already stated, it is always smoother
there than in South-west Bay.
The men rested on their oars, and we watched
the surf from a safe distance, to discover if there
were any chance of picking a favourable oppor
tunity for landing. It would be a disappointing
mat.er if we had to puU our boatload of stores
back to the yacht against the wind ; so, after
a Httle hesitation, I decided to risk the landing.
One must run some risks on such a place as Trini
dad, and we might as weU commence at once.
AU in the boat were deHghted at the decision.
Every one knows how the ocean sweU pro
ceeds in regular rhythm, and how one sees at
intervals three greater waves than usual come up,
one after the other, to be succeeded by a com
parative calm. We took the boat just outside

248 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
the outer breakers and awaited one of these
smoothes. Soon three great waves passed under
us, and broke beyond us with terrific force. Now
was our time, and we made a dash for it. The
long ash oars bent as the men, putting their
backs into their work, drove the boat through the
sea. Pull away ! PuU away ! The first row of
breakers is passed ; then we are safely borne on
the top of the second, looking down upon the
beach as from a hill. It passes us and breaks.
All safe so far. We are close to the beach. Then,
behind us, we see a wall of water suddenly rise,
curling over. We should simply be rolled over
if we tried to back the boat against it, so the
men strain at their oars to reach the shore
before it. The boat is just touching the sand,
the order is given : ' All hands overboard and
haul her up,' when the sea pours over our heads,
fiUing the boat. The men leap or are washed
overboard. One catches hold of the long
painter we had provided in view of such an
emergency and contrives to reach the shore ;
then, planting his heels in the sand, he holds
on with aU his strength, to prevent the boat
being swept off into deep water by the recedirig
wave. At first the other hands are out of

We land the Stores in the Bay. 249
their depth, but, as the roUer recoils, they feel
bottom ; then, two of us holding on to one
side of the boat and two on the other, while the
remaining man scrambles on shore to assist the
man with the painter, we haul the boat up till
she grounds ; then we aU stand by tUl the next
roUer comes on to help us up a bit further.
Here it comes ! right over our heads, and we
are afloat once more. But the two men on shore
haul away with aU their might, as do the others
when they touch bottom, and when the wave
recoUs it has left us fifty feet higher up the bank,
and out of reach of any heavy body of water.
It was lucky for us that ours was a lifeboat
with a watertight compartment at either end
or we should not have got out of this scrape so
weU. The boat did not capsize when she filled,
neither did she broach to, her head was always
direct for the shore. The tide was coming in
fast, so we lost no time in getting her safely
drawn up. WhUe some hands took out the stores
and tools, others baled her out, and, by placing
bamboo roUers under her, we dragged her up the
steep incline of sand untU she was quite out of
reach of the sea. We found that we had not
lost or damaged any of our stores, so had

250 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
good reason to congratulate ourselves on our
success. A tot of rum was served to aU hands after
their exertions, and then we carried aU our
property up to the spot we had selected for our
camp — a plateau of sand and earth opposite
the mouth of the ravine.
Then, as all were, of course, anxious to see
the supposed hiding-place of the treasure, the
doctor and myself took them to it. On ascend
ing the guUy somewhat higher than we had
gone on our previous visit we discovered two
or three smaU pools of inferior water. But
the supply was insufficient, even after the
recent heavy rains ; so it was evident that,
unless we found some other source, our con
densing apparatus would not have been brought
in vain. There was, fortunately, an abundance
of fuel in the neighbourhood, for the dead trees
were strewed over aU the hUl-side.
We had not brought off any of the tents,
but, with a good fire and plenty to eat, drink,
and smoke, there would be little hardship in
sleeping out ; and the doctor and PoweU volun
teered to stay on shore, while I went back to
the yacht. It was my intention to return, if

We land the Stores in the Bay. 251
possible, on the foUowing day, with the tents
and other stores, and to then leave a working-
party on the island. We might, of course, on
the other hand, be prevented by a heavy sea
from landing again for a week or more ; so we
bade our comrades an affectionate fareweU, and
enjoined them not to be lazy, but to dig away
uritU they saw us again — a quite unnecessary
suggestion, for they were very keen to begin
work. Taking with me Pursell and the paid hands,
we hauled the boat down to the beach ; we
dragged her into the water quickly, just as one
big roUer was recoUing, jumped in and pulled
hard out to sea. We shipped a little water at
the second line of breakers, and were then in
safety. We soon found, as we pulled back to the
yacht, that our boat had sprung a leak, for the
water was pouring in fast through her bottom,
so hat we had to stop and bale occasionally.
She was an exceUent sea-boat, but lightly
buUt, and her bump on the sands had done her
no good.

CHAPTER XV.
OUR CAMP.
WE hoisted our leaky lifeboat into the
davits when we got on board, intend
ing to repair her on the foUowing morning.
During the night fierce gusts blew down
the ravine from the north-east, and black
masses of cloud were constantly sweeping
across the mountains. The wind howled as
it does in a wintry gale on the North Sea, and,
to aU appearance, a heavy storm was raging.
StiU, it was quite smooth at our anchorage under
the lee of the island, and we noticed that sea
wards the sky looked fine enough, and the clouds
were travelling at no great pace. The storm, in
fact, was entirely local, and was limited to the
islet and its immediate neighbourhood. We
afterwards became quite accustomed to these
harmless gales, which had a habit of springing
up at sunset.
Trinidad, in consequence of the loftiness of
its mountains, can boast of a climate of its

Our Camp. 253
own. It is subject to miniature cyclones, whose
influence does not extend a mUe from the '
shore, and which, therefore, cannot raise a heavy
sea. We were sometimes . riding with straining
chain to a wind of hurricane force, when we
could see a vessel a league or so from the land
making no progress, her canvas shaking in the
calm ; and, however fine it might be outside,
the clouds would coUect upon the peaks in
ominous torn masses, that whirled along as if
impeUed by a terrific blast, and which looked
very alarming until we came to understand
the innocence of the phenomenon. We also
found that the landing was often the most peril
ous on clear, windless days, when no clouds
crowned the mountains.
These storms were, however, a nuisance to
us ; for the squaUs would strike the yacht
with great force, so that she strained at her
chain and was Hkely to drag ; consequently
the officer in charge was unable to enjoy an
undisturbed night's rest, but was in a state of
ponstant anxiety for the vessel, and was often
brought on deck by the turmoU to satisfy him
self that all was going weU.
The next day, November 29, was fine, the wind

254 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
being stiU from the north-east. There was even
less sweU than on the previous day, so we saw
that no time must be lost in landing more
stores. A neglected opportunity on Trinidad
might mean a month's delay.
We examined the boat, and found that she
had started a plank, but that the damage was
slight and could be easUy repaired. A few
copper naUs, some cotton thrust between the
seams with a knife, and a little marine glue,
made her right again ; and, after breakfast,
she put off to Treasure Bay with a miscellaneous
cargo — the tents, a barrel of flour, wire-fencing,
the blankets and baggage for the shore-party,
etc. ; but we did not venture to put nearly so
heavy a weight into her as on the previous day.
The surf in the bay was no longer dangerous,
and, though water was shipped, aU was landed
without accident. At midday the boat returned
to the yacht, was reloaded, and another success
ful disembarkation was effected. This put us
in very good spirits. We had succeeded in
overcoming the difficulties that had caused
previous expeditions to faU, and had now got
on shore aU that was absolutely necessary for
carrying on the digging for some time to come.

Our Camp. 255
The doctor, PurseU, PoweU, and Ted MUner
were left on shore for the night, and the boat
returned to the yacht.
The next day, November 30, was the first on
which we divided ourselves definitely into two
parties, the working-gang on shore and a crew
of three to take charge of the yacht. I had
talked our plans over on the previous day with
my sole officer, our medico-mate, and we came
to the conclusion that it would be advisable for
me to stay on board for the first fortnight, at
least ; for we did not know as yet whether it
would be safe to remain at anchor for any
length of time, or what steps might become
necessary in order to ensure the safety of the
vessel ; and, untU such knowledge had been
gained by experience of the conditions of the
place, it was right that I should undertake the
responsibUity of looking after the yacht.
So, on this morning, I went on shore for the
last time, before settling down to my fort
night's watch. We took another cargo of stores
in the boat, and landed without difficulty. This
long speU of smooth sea was a most fortunate
occurrence for us.
On landing I found that the shore-party had

256 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
been hard at work. They had arranged ¦ the
camp — and very snug it looked. Two ridge
tents had been placed side by side, to be occupied
by the gentlemen-volunteers, two in each ; while
a short way off was a larger tent, constructed of
our racing spinnaker and the quarter-deck awning
supported by bamboos. This was our dining-
room and kitchen, and also served as sleeping
quarters for the paid hands. At one end of it
was an elegant dining-table — planks from the
deck of some old wreck, supported by one of Mr.
A  's wheelbarrows which had been found in
the ravine. A few campstools and barrels served
as chairs, and the arrangements generaUy were
almost luxurious.
Many improvements were made to the camp
during our stay in Trinidad, and at last it
became a comfortable little viUage. A con
spicuous object near the tents was the con
densing apparatus. Later on, the cooking was
all done out of doors, a neat oven having
been constructed of stones and plaster of Paris.
The plaster of Paris had formed part of the
taxidermist's stores, but, little used for its
origmal purpose, it was found to be of much
service in the way of cement.

Our Camp. 257
A list of aU that we landed on the shore of
South-west Bay would be a long one. There
was, at the very least, eight tons weight in
aU. I need not say that the cook was well
provided with culinary apparatus, and that
such articles as paraffin lamps for the tents, a
Hbrary of books, fishing lines and hooks, and
carpenter's tools had not been forgotten — our
camp, in short, was fully furnished with every
thing that could be required.
The doctor and myself discussed, the scheme
of work on shore, and, when aU was settled we
launched the boat again and puUed off to the
yacht. It was decided that the shore-party
should keep the whale-boat — in the first place,
because the crew on board would be insufficient
to man her, and, secondly, because it was only
right and prudent to leave a boat on the island
in case of any accident happening to the yacht.
It would be easy for the working-party to puU
off, if necessary, and intercept a passing vessel.
The dUapidated dinghy was left on board for
our use.
The hands who had come off in the boat dined
on board, and then the doctor, taking with him
those who were going to stay on shore, pulled

258 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
back to the bay, to commence his duties as
Governor of Trinidad, leaving me with my two
hands, Wright, and the coloured man Spanner.
And a very good governor the doctor proved too,
as I discovered when I next went on shore and
saw the work that had been got through. He
kept up a discipline quite strict enough for aU
practical purposes. He did more work than any
one else himself, being physically the strongest
man of us aU, and he superintended aU the opera
tions with great skUl and j udgment. The control
could not have been left in better hands, and
he was weU backed up by his comrades. There
was hard work done on that island, considerable
hardships were undergone, there was often dan
gerous landing and beaching of boats, and aU
was carried on under a vertical sun on one of
the hottest and most depressing spots on earth.
Great credit is due to the doctor and the others
who worked so hard and with such pluck and
cheerful zeal, and the ungenerous remarks of the
one discontented volunteer we had left — a man
who did not do his share of work either at sea
or on shore, but who did far more than his share
of criticism and fault-finding — can only reflect
upon himself. As he has favoured the world

Our Camp. 259
with his sneers through the medium of the papers,
I feel bound to say this much.
The doctor remained and worked hard on
the island during the whole time that our
operations were being carried on, as did PoweU
and PurseU, and they, with* the paid hands,
who relieved each other at intervals, practically
did all the digging. I was on shore for one
fortnight only, as wiU appear in the course of this
narrative. I had, consequently, but a very smaU
share of the hard work and of roughing it, for the
life on board ship was incomparably more com
fortable and easy than the life on shore. Our
critical volunteer also only passed about two
weeks, of not arduous work, on the island; for
the rest of the time he was on the yacht.
This night we had another local storm, but
by now we were getting accustomed to
this. Shortly after dawn on the foUowing morning,
Sunday, December 1, I saw, to my surprise, the
whale-boat rounding the point. She came
alongside, and the doctor, who was in charge
of her boarded us. Seeing that there was very
little surf in South-west Bay, he had rightly
taken the opportunity of putting off for another

260 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
cargo of stores. Among other articles, . he
carried away some large coeoanut mats we had
purchased at Bahia, and which, when laid on
the sandy floor of the tents, would make things
more comfortable. He also took off the heavy
boiler and receiving tank of the condensing
apparatus, which could only be landed on a
favourable day such as this was. Having loaded
the boat, he left us again.
We had now taken so much weight out of
the yacht that she was high out of the water,
and might possibly prove somewhat cranky
under canvas. So, after dinner, I took the
two men off with me in the dinghy, for the
purpose of fetching some heavy stones from
the beach, to put in our hold in the place of aU
the tools we had taken out. First we puUed to
the pier, where we landed without the slightest
difficulty. Wright, while wandering about the
beach, came across the last object one would
expect to find on a desert island — a rather smart
lady's straw-hat, so far as my judgment goes,
of modern fashion. It had, probably, been
blown off some fair head on a passenger steamer.
The gaUant gentlemen-adventurers, when they
heard of this discovery, proposed that it should

Our Camp. 261
be stuck on a pole in the middle of the camp, to
remind them of home and beauty.
Finding that there were no suitable stones near
this beach, we got in the boat again and rowed
to West Bay, to see if we should have better luck
there. Three islets lie off the east side of the Ness.
We found that the narrow deep-water channel
between these and the cape could be taken
with safety on a fine day like this. As a rule,
this channel is impracticable, for the ocean
swell penetrating it produces a great commotion,
the sea being dashed with violence from the
chffs on one side to those on the other, so that
the entire channel presents the appearance of a
boiling cauldron ; . and, even on this quiet day,
we had to keep the boat carefully in the middle,
for the waves leapt high up the rocky walls with
a loud noise, which was repeated in manifold
echoes by the crags above. When we were in
the passage between the third islet- and the
shore the scene before us was most impressive.
The black cliffs rose perpendicularly on either
side of us, about thirty feet apart, casting a
profound shade on the heaving water, so that
it looked like ink beneath us ; and between
these cliffs, as through a dark tunnel, we saw the

262 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
sunlit waters and shores of West Bay. The
mountains that lay to the back of it were barren
and of bold outline, great pinnacles of rock
dominating huge landsHps that slope to the
shingle-beach. We could distinguish the famil
iar forms of the Sugarloaf and Noah's Ark
towering over the depressions of the hills.
At the farther end of the bay we found a
suitable place for getting stones. Here a rocky
shelf formed a sort of jetty. George leapt on
shore and brought down the stones, while
Wright, sitting in the stern, took them from him,
and placed them at the bottom of the boat,
while I backed in towards the jetty and pulled
out again between the waves ; for there was
sufficient sea to do damage if proper caution was
not observed. Having taken on board about
half a ton of large heavy stones, we returned to
the yacht and stowed them under the cabin-
floor. On the foUowing morning, December 2, the
doctor came off again in the life-boat, and
carried off another moderate load of stores.
He reported that on the previous day, being
Sunday, he had given all hands a holiday on his
return to the shore, and that they had passed the

Our Camp. 263
day in exploring the neighbourhood of Treasure
Bay. They came across some more tent poles
and picks left by Mr. A  's party. They also
made one very curious discovery — a quan
tity of broken pottery, lying in a little rocky
ravine at a considerable height above the shore.
All this was of Oriental manufacture. Some
was of unglazed earthenware, some of glazed
china — the remains of what appeared to have
been water-jars and punch-bowls. There were
also some broken case-bottles of glass, oxidised
and brittle from long exposure. The bowls
proved to be of Blue Dragon china, about a hun
dred years old, and, therefore, of some value
to the connoisseur.
Pottery of this description had certainly not
formed part of the equipment of Mr. A  's,
or of any other of the treasure-hunting expedi
tions. Could these be relics of the pirates' booty
— articles they had thrown away as being of
no value to them when they buried the rest
of the treasure ? It was, certainly, difficult to
account for the presence of old blue china on a
barren hill-side of Trinidad. It has been sug
gested by an old sea-captain that an East
Indiaman may have been wrecked here many

264 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
years ago, and that her crew had contrived to
reach the shore with provisions and other
property, for bowls of the same description as
those of which these fragments had formed
part were commonly used by the Malay saUors to
eat their curry in.
The doctor soon left me, and hurried back
with his boat's crew to the camp, for the sea
was rising, the glass had been faUing for twenty-
four hours, and the sky had a stormy appearance,
not only over the mountains, but on the sea-
horizon as weU.
These signs of foul weather did not deceive
us, for it now blew hard from the south-east
for several days, and the sea was so rough that
we were unable to launch the dinghy, while,
on the other hand, it was impossible to put out
from the bay in the whale-boat. AU com
munication was, therefore, cut off between the
yacht and the shore for six days, and we could
not even see each other during this time, as
two capes stretched out between us.
It was fortunate that we had landed such an
ample supply of stores while the weather was
fine. We had rather an uncomfortable time of it

Our Camp. 265
on board for the next few days. For a good
part of the time the wind was blowing with
the force of a gale, and it howled and whistled
among the crags in a dreadful fashion, while
the surf thundered at the base of the cliffs. The
wind being south-east was paraUel to this portion
of the coast ; so we were scarcely, if at aU, pro
tected by the island. A great sweU roUed up,
traveUing in the same direction as the wind.
But as violent squaUs occasionally rushed down
the ravines at right angles to the true wind, we
were blown refund by them, so that we were
riding broadside on to the sea, roUing scuppers
under in the trough of it, pitching the whole
bowsprit in at one moment and thumping our
counter on to the water the next.
Things looked so bad on December 4 that I
was thinking of slipping the anchor and putting
to sea, but, as the vessel did not appear to be
straining herself, I held on. Our dinghy was
dipping into the sea as we roUed, so we took it
from the davits and secured it on deck.
We had now ample leisure to study the
meteorology of Trinidad. The rains were heavy
during this stormy period and the cascade
swelled visibly. I do not think this island is

266 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
subject to drought; for, notwithstanding that
this — the summer — was the dry season here,
scarcely a day passed without a shower during
our long stay. In the winter season this is,
to judge from the logs of passing vessels, a
very rainy spot. The glass never fell below
thirty inches while we were here, and generaUy
stood at about thirty and two-tenths. The
temperature in the shade on board averaged
about eighty. In the tents on shore it was far
hotter. The sunsets are often very fine on
Trinidad, of wUd and stormy appearance and
full of vivid colouring ; these indicate fine
weather. The boisterous south-west winds,
extensions of River Plate pamperos, are her
alded by clear blue skies.
We three now imprisoned on the yacht
occupied our time in tidying her up, and making
all necessary repairs in the sails and gear
generaUy. We occasionaUy knocked down
some birds as they flew over us. Some would
cooUy perch on our davits and stare at us very
rudely, to the great indignation of Jacko, who
swore at them in his own language. It was
curious to watch the birds fly far out to sea each
morning for their day's fishing, the air full of their

Our Camp. 267
shriU and melancholy cries, and return again in
the evening. It was invariably whUe starting at
daybreak that they called on the yacht. While
going home in the evening they had their busi
ness to attend to. It was then that they carried
food to their young — fluffy balls of insatiable
appetite, which, I am afraid, had sometimes
to go to bed supperless ; for the anxious
mothers are. often robbed of their hard-earned
fish by the cruel pirates who are perpetually
hovering round this island.
These pirates are the frigate or man-of-war
birds. They do not fish themselves, but attack
the honest fishers in mid-air, and compel them
to surrender what they have caught. The
frigate-bird is of the orthodox piratical colour —
black — but has a vermilion beak and a few
white patches on its throat. It has a forked
taU, and wings of extraordinary length in
proportion to its body, their spread sometimes
attaining, it is said, as much as fifteen feet.
There are other pirates here as weU, of a
meaner description, who, being able to fish for
themselves, have no excuse for their crimes ;
whereas the frigate-bird is unable to skim the
sea after fish. Should he touch the water he

268 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
cannot make use of his unwieldy wings and
flounders helplessly about until he becomes the
prey of sharks.
But these other robbers have taken to dis
honest ways from sheer laziness and lack of
principle. Their favourite method is to seize a
smaller fisher by the throat, and hold him under
water until he is half drowned and has to
disgorge his fish. Sometimes two or three plucky
little birds will assist a neighbour in resisting
the big bully, and often drive him off discomfited.
We witnessed several most excitmg combats of
this description.
We skinned the birds we killed, and I have
brought these specimens home with me. Of
fish we now caught plenty. We salted and
sun-dried some, but these were not a great
success, and had a rank flavour in consequence
of their oily nature.

CHAPTER XVI.
DISCOVERIES IN SOUTH-WEST BAY.
AT last, on December 7, communication
ii between the yacht and the shore was
resumed ; for the wind and sea had greatly
moderated, and the doctor was enabled to come
off to us at midday, with four volunteers and
paid hands. They had been labouring hard
with pick and shovel, and looked like it too.
Digging into the volcanic soU of Trinidad soon
takes aU superfluous flesh off. Indeed, led on
by the energetic doctor, they had worked harder,
perhaps, than white men should in such a climate,
and had a stale overstrained appearance, while
they admitted that they felt somewhat slack.
They brought us off a quantity of turtle-
eggs. The female turtle frequent South-west
Bay in large numbers, for the purpose of de
positing their eggs in the sand. But up till
now, they had failed to catch any of the turtle.
The eggs are excellent, and can be used for every
purpose for which fowl's eggs are employed.

270 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
Here is a receipt for making egg-nog which
I have tried myself and can recommend : —
Two turtle-eggs, a tea-spoonful of tinned milk,
some water, sugar, and a small glass of rum.
The shore-party had obtained an abundance
of fish ; they used to catch them not only with
hook and line, but with an extemporized seine
net, which they dragged with great success
through the pools left by the receding tide.
This seine was simply a long piece of the wire-
netting which we had brought with us to serve
as land-crab-proof fencing round the camp. It
seems that this netting did not fulfil its original
purpose very satisfactorily, as the crabs could
burrow under it.
The land-crabs however, did not molest the
shore-party to any extent, and it was only now
and then that a man found one of these un
pleasant creatures in his bed. It was the custom
for the men to sally forth every evening, just
before dark, and kUl, with sticks, every land-
crab they could find in the immediate neigh
bourhood of the camp, each man slaying his
sixty or seventy. This afforded an abundance
of food for the others during the night, so that
they had no need to stray into the tents.

Discoveries in South-west Bay. 271
The crabs, I was informed, were excellent scaven
gers, and consumed all the cook's refuse.
The doctor and his companions had no lack
of news to impart. I was anxious, of course,
in the first place, to learn how the work had
progressed. I was told that some hundreds of
tons of earth had been already removed, and
that a broad trench was being dug, along the
face of the cliff, through the landslip in the first
bend of the ravine, but that, so far, no indica
tions of the treasure had been come across.
The chief difficulty consisted in the presence
of a great many stones of all sizes that were
mixed up with the fallen soil, some of them
being of several tons weight. In digging the
trench an inclined plane was left at either end,
up which the barrows of earth could be wheeled ;
and when one of the big stones was found, the
earth was, in the first place, cleared from
round it, and then it was dragged from the
bottom of the trench up one of these inclined
planes by means of powerful tackle, assisted by
the hydraulic jack. When they had got it
by these means to the top of the trench, they
could easily roU it down the ravine.
The doctor explained to me all the routine that

272 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
he had laid down for observance on shore, and
the different detaUs of the work. Sunday was
always a holiday, and was occupied, as a rule,
in wandering about and exploring ; but it was
sometimes too terribly hot for this.
I was informed that a crowbar and several
other fresh relics of Mr. A  's expedition had
been discovered, and that a wooden box had
been found, carefully hidden away at the farther
end of the bay, which contained a chess-board,
a quantity of shot cartridges, and several
London and Newcastle newspapers, dated
October 1875. Mr. A  's expedition took place
in 1885, Mr. P  's — the first expedition — in
1880 ; so the papers gave us no clue as to who
had brought them here. The shore-party had
amused themselves by reading these ancient
journals. In them they found accounts of the
Wainwright trial and of the coUision between the
' Mistletoe ' and the ' Alberta.' It was strange
to read, on Trinidad, the old theatrical adver
tisements in the Standard, with Charles Mat
thews acting at the Gaiety and Miss Marie
WUton at some other house. There was an
exceUent notice of the latter charming actress
in one of these papers.

Discoveries in South-west Bay. 273
I was told that there had not been so much
surf in South-west Bay as might have been ex
pected with so strong a wind; but, as I have
explained, the south-east is the wind that raises
the least surf on this sandy beach, though it blows
right on to it.
The doctor told me that they had experi
enced, on every occasion they had landed, a
strong current sweeping along the shore of the
bay in an easterly direction, so that, no sooner
did the bow of the boat touch the sand, than
her stern was driven round by the current to
the left, and, unless proper precautions were
taken, she would get broadside on to the next
sea and be roUed over.
On being asked whether they had had much
rain in the bay, they replied that the showers
had been as heavy as those tropical downpours
we had experienced in the doldrums. They said
that the Sugarloaf presented a magnificent ap
pearance after one of these showers, for then
a cascade 700 feet in height would pour down
its almost perpendicular sides. They had been
enabled to fiU their tanks and breakers with
rain-water, and had only used the condensing
apparatus on one or two occasions, and then

274 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
more by way of experiment, to see how it
worked, than from necessity. It acted perfectly,
and with it five gallons of fresh water were dis
tilled from sea-water in a very short time.
The fortunate discovery had also been made
of two small issues of water among the cliffs at
the east end of the bay. The supply was
sufficient, and though the carrying of the water
in breakers from here to the camp over the
rough ground entailed heavy labour, it was
easier to fetch it in this way than to collect the
large quantity of firewood necessary for con
densing an equal amount of water.
The doctor reported Arthur Cotton as being
UI, and unfit for further digging for the present ;
so he was left on board with me, while George
went on shore to take his place. The doctor
promised to come off for me on the following
morning, so that I could pay a short visit to the
shore and inspect the works — provided, of course,
the surf permitted. Then we bade each other
fareweU, and the working-party returned to
the bay.
The boat did not come off for me on the fol
lowing day, as the surf was dangerous in South
west Bay ; and I held no communication with

Discoveries in South-west Bay. 275
the shore-party for another week. During this
time the wind was from the south-east ; but
though it rushed down the ravine with the usual
violent squalls, it was moderate outside, and
we had no more of the heavy sea which had
been running throughout the previous week. It
would have been possible for me to have landed
at the pier on nearly any day, but there was
stiU a sufficient surf to prevent our carrying off
any more stones from the shore.
We were anchored on a sandy bottom, but we
could feel, by the grumbling of our chain as the
yacht swung, that there were many rocks under us
as weU. These caused us a good deal of annoy
ance ; for on several occasions, when the vessel
was lying right over her anchor, the slack of the
chain would take a turn round a rock and give
us a short nip ; so that when a sweU passed under
us, the vessel could not rise to it, but was held
down by the tautened chain, which dragged
her bows under, producing a great strain. The
rocks must have been of brittle coral formation,
for, after giving two or three violent jerks as the
sea lifted her, the vessel would suddenly shake
herself free with a wrench, evidently by the
breaking away of the obstruction. At last all

276 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
the projecting portions of the coral rock in our
immediate neighbourhood must have been torn
off, the chain having swept a clear space for itself
aU round, for after a time we were no longer
caught in this way. These great strains loosened
our starboard hawse-pipe badly, so that we had
to slip our chain and pass it through the other
hawse-pipe. On December 9, it being a very fine day, I
made an expedition in the dinghy toward the
north end of the island. We found no good
landing-place in that direction, for a coral ledge
extends along the whole coast, causing broken
water, and there are dangerous rocks in the midst
of the breakers. We pulled into several little
bays, each hemmed in by inaccessible barren
mountains, so crowded with birds that, from the
sea, the black crags looked quite white with them.
We puUed inside Bird Island and inspected the
Ninepin from close to. This huge cylinder of
rock, 900 feet in height, is described by old
navigators as having been crowned with large
trees. It is now completely bare of vegetation,
as it also was when I first saw it in 1881. I ob
served that, since my last visit, a huge mass
had faUen off the top of it, which now lay by its

Discoveries in South-west Bay. 277
side in shattered fragments. We caught a
quantity of fish in these bays, one a fine fellow
weighing thirty pounds ; and we saw several
large turtle floating on the water, but they sank
as soon, as we got near them.
The uneventful days passed by, and I grew
stout on laziness, salt beef, and duff. At last, on
December 14, we pulled off in the dinghy to Southr
west Bay, to see how the shore-party was getting
on. We took with us a signal code book and the
flags, so as to converse with our diggers in case
we could not effect a landing — a feat not to be
attempted with our rotten little dinghy except
under the most exceptional circumstances. The
shore-party was, of course, also provided with a
code book and set of flags.
As I required some more specimens of birds, I
took with me, not a gun with which to shoot
them, but simply a ramrod, the end of which I
had loaded with a piece of lead. With this, as I
sat in the boat, I found no difficulty in knocking
down the inquisitive birds as they flew just over
our heads, and I thus procured several good
specimens. When we had puUed round the point and were
in South-west Bay we saw the white tents of the

278 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
camp in front of us, and we could plainly dis
tinguish, in a ravine behind, the great trench
which the men had dug at the side of the cliff.
We found little surf in the bay, but I would not
risk a landing ; for it would not require much
bumping to knock our dinghy's ancient bottom
off ; so we remained outside the breakers and
signaUed : ' Any news ? '
There was no reply with the flags, but some of
the men walked down to the rocks under the
Sugarloaf, so that we could come near enough to
them to hail. A very disreputable lot our friends
looked, too : as unkempt and rough as the ori
ginal pirates might have been. The costume
of each consisted merely of shirt, trousers, and
belt, some sort of an apology for a hat crowning
all. They were aU more or less ragged, and were
stained from head to foot with the soil in which
they had been digging, so that they presented
a uniform dirty, brownish yeUow appearance,
and, from a passing vessel, might easily have
been taken for Brazilian convicts.
They shouted what news they had to tell.
They reported that they were progressing well with
the digging, and that they had caught a number
of turtle. They promised to come off to the

Discoveries in South-west Bay. 279
yacht the next morning, surf permitting. I
made some sketches of Treasure Bay and West
Bay as seen from the sea, and then returned
to the vessel, to skin my birds.
The whale-boat was alongside on the following
morning, December 15, and the doctor, Powell,
PoUock, and two paid hands, boarded us. They
had brought off some fresh and salted turtle* and
a quantity of turtle-eggs.
The yacht had now been lying off Trinidad for
twenty-five days, and the shore-party had been
hard at work for seventeen days ; so I thought
it was quite time for me' to join the camp, and
do my share of the work. I could see that the
energetic doctor was anything but anxious to
change the hard labour on shore for the lazy life
on board ship, and though, as mate, he would
have been the proper person to take charge of
the vessel during my absence on land, stiU we
considered it advisable to arrange matters
differently. The -doctor, as I have said, was a most useful
man on shore, and, as we were anxious to com
plete our operations as quickly as possible and
leave the island before the stormy season should set
in, it seemed a pity to waste so much energy and

280 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
muscle as his in an idle life on board the yacht.
Having remained at anchor for so long, and know
ing that our anchor had now got such a firm hold
that there was but Httle chance of its dragging,
and having, moreover, discovered by experience
that it was possible to ride where we were even in
bad weather, I had acquired a considerable con
fidence in the safety of the vessel, and I beheve
that she could have remained off the cascade
for six months without suffering damage. , I,
therefore, now came to the conclusion that it
would not be very imprudent to leave a somewhat
incompetent person in charge, as the chances
were that he would have nothing to do. Pol
lock, who had complained of slackness for
some time, was the one from whom the least
amount of work could be extracted on shore,
and was, therefore, the one who could be the
most easUy spared. I, consequently, decided to
leave him on board the yacht, instead of the
doctor. The weather now looked very settled and there
was little chance of bad weather for a time. I
gave PoUock his instructions, and left with
him, as a crew, Ted MUner and George Spanner.
I packed up rhy traps and pulled off with the

Discoveries in South-west Bay. 281
others to the bay, not at all sorry to do a little
work, for a change.
We took Jacko on shore with us. He did not
admire the island, and particularly objected to
the land-crabs. His favourite amusement was
to turn on the tap of our tank, when no one was
lookmg, and let aU our hard-got supply of water
run out.
He behaved very weU on the whole, however,
except on Christmas Day, when he drank some
rum which he found at the bottom of a pannikin,
and, I am grieved to say, became disgracefully
intoxicated. He had a dreadful headache the
next day.

CHAPTER XVII.
PICK AND SHOVEL.
AS it was a Sunday there was no work done
A on the first day of my stay in camp ; all
hands had the usual holiday, which they
chiefly employed in fishing, and in mending
their clothes. I walked up the ravine and was
surprised to find that so much of the landslip had
been already removed. The trench was about
twenty feet broad, and ultimately attained a
depth of upwards of twenty feet in places. It
extended for some distance along the face of 'the
cliff — if that term can be properly applied to a
steep slope of a sort of natural concrete, a com
pact but somewhat brittle mass of stones and
earth. It was at the foot of this cliff that we
expected to find the cave described by the pirate,
but how far we should have to dig down through-
the accumulation of earth and rocks that had
fallen from above and now fiUed up the bottom
of the ravine it was not easy even to conjecture.
Our object, it wiU be seen, was to clear the face

Pick and Shovel. 283
of the cliff untU we came to the Original bottom
of the ravine. Though the cliff was, as I have
explained, composed of brittle matter, as if in
an intermediate state between earth and rock,
and of comparatively modern formation, it was
easy to distinguish it from the much looser soil
of the landshp that lay along its sides ; this last,
too, was of a very different colour, being reddish
brown, whereas the cliff was slate-blue
The men had constructed several little paths
leading from the trench, down the ravine, to the
edges of the chasms and precipitous steps which
are frequent in this guUy, and the earth and stones
that were dug out of the trench were carried
down these paths in the wheelbarrows and tUted
over the precipices. As we graduaUy fiUed up
these chasms the roads had to be extended further
down the ravine, and at last we had formed a
great dyke which stretched right across it. I
was satisfied that aU the operations had been con
ducted with judgment, and, if the treasure were
in the ravine at all, there was but little doubt
that we should find it.
The same rules that had been laid down by
the doctor for the discipline of the camp were
observed during my stay on shore. AU hands

284 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
turned out at dawn, and cocoa and biscuit were
served out. Then we worked hard from half-
past five tUl nine, at which hour the temperature
in that closed-in ravine became so high that it
was quite impossible even for a black man to work
with pick and shovel. A bath in the sea, to
refresh ourselves and wash off the clinging red
dust, was our next proceeding. Then we put
off our working clothes for others, and partook
of a good breakfast, consisting chiefly of oatmeal,
which we found by experience was the best food
to work on. During the heat of the day we lay
in our tents, almost panting for breath at times,
so intolerably hot and close it was. At half-past
three we returned to the ravine and did another
three hours' work. After this was another
bath, then supper. There was a whole holiday
on Sunday and a half holiday on Wednesday.
Even during the early hours of the morning,
when. the sides of the ravine shaded us from the
sun, digging was hot and trying work for white
men. We were, of course, bathed in perspiration
aU the whUe, and were, consequently very thirsty,
so that the cook was kept busUy employed in
going backwards and forwards between camp
and trench to refiU our water-bottles.

Pick and Shovel. 285
In the middle of the day the sun, blazing on
the sands, made them terribly hot. No one could
step on them with bare feet, even for a moment ;
one could not even lay one's hand on the ground.
The sand here is mixed with a finely granulated
black mineral substance, and I think it is the
presence of this that causes so great an absorption
of heat. I have never found sands elsewhere,
even in the Sahara, attain so high a temperature.
We were not altogether lazy out of digging
hours. One's clothes had to be washed, water
had to be brought down in breakers and demi
johns from the distant issue in the cliffs, and
firewood had to be gathered. We sometimes
went out in a body to perform this last duty.
We would climb high up the mountain sides,
where the dead trees lay thickest, and throw
down the timber before us as we descended, until
we had accumulated a large quantity at the
bottom. I shared one of the tents with PurseU, while
the doctor and PoweU occupied the other. On
my first night on shore we caught three turtle.
Our black cook, who was always looking out for
them, came to my tent and reported that, while
prowling about the beach, he had observed several

286 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
large females crawling up the sands. It was a
very dark night, so, taking a lantern, four of us
set out. We soon came across one of the crea
tures, and foUowed her quietly untU she had
reached a spot far above high-water mark, and
then we turned her over on her back. This
is by no means an easy undertaking when one
has to deal with a seven-hundred-pound turtle,
and requires at least four men to carry it out.
The turtle does not permit this liberty to be taken
with her without offering considerable resistance :
with her powerful flippers she drives the sand
violently into the faces of her aggressors, attempt
ing to blind them, so that caution has to be ob
served in approaching her. We turned over three
turtle, and, on the following day, salted down the
meat that we could not eat in a fresh state.
Turtle are kept alive for weeks on board ship,
even in the tropics, and all the care that is taken
of them consists in placing piUows under their
heads, as they lie on their backs on deck —
so as to prevent apoplexy, I suppose — and in
throwing an occasional bucket of water over them.
These creatures seem to be able to do without
food for a very long period. We found that we
could not employ this method of keeping alive

Pick and Shovel. 287
the turtle we caught, for, though we constantly
poured buckets of water over them, and shaded
them with matting, they could not exist on these
blazing sands ; and the practice, cruel enough at
sea, would have been much more so here.
The paid hands enjoyed turtle-hunting, and
were inclined, thoughtlessly, to turn over more
turtle than were required for purposes of food ;
so that I had to give an order that no turtle
should be turned over without leave, and the
destruction of the creatures was strictly limited
to the requirements of the larder. A simUar
law was made for the protection of the sUly sea-
birds, and the only animals that could be slaugh
tered with impunity were the unfortunate land-
crabs, for they had no friends among us to take
their part and legislate on their behalf. They
were now not nearly so plentiful in the vicinity of
the camp as they had been. They had begun to
give up their ignorant contempt for man, and
on only one occasion during my stay on shore
was it considered necessary for' four of us to
sally forth with sticks, before supper, and slay
about a hundred each.
The turtle were now so plentiful that we could
have caught in a fortnight sufficient to last us

288 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
for six months, had we even lived on nothing
else. The Trinidad turtle are of large size — 500
to 700 pounds — and their flavour is exceUent.
We had turtle-soup and turtle-steak every day
for breakfast and dinner, so that we became
utterly weary of the rich food, and I do not
think any of us wish to see calipash or calipee
for a long time to come.
We did not neglect the other useful products
of the island. We gathered the wild beans, and
found them a very welcome addition to our
diet. Of fish we always had plenty. Powell
was our great fisherman, and was the inventor
of the seine constructed of wire-fencing which I
have already described. In addition to the edible
fish I have mentioned as swarming in these waters
there are several other species that we looked
upon with some doubt, and refrained from
eating. Some of these were of quaint forms
and dazzling colours, so that their appearance
seemed to warn us of their poisonous nature.
There were fish of briUiant blue, others with
stripes of white and purple, others with ver
milion fins and yellow bands like those of a wasp.
Sea-snakes abounded in the pools. These,
according to an Italian cook we had on the ' Fal-

Pick and Shovel. 289
con,' are edible ; but we did not venture to try
them. They attain the length of five feet and are
of a grey colour, withyeUow stripes. They appear
to be of savage disposition, for, when harpooned,
they twist about and bite with fury anything
within their reach.
I stayed on shore altogether for a fortnight,
and kept a journal of our proceedings, which,
together with several sketches, specimens of the
flora, and other articles, were washed out of the
Hfeboat and lost when we abandoned the island.
The loss of the journal, however, matters little,
for our life on shore was almost devoid of incident,
and was chiefly made up of monotonous work
with pick, shovel, and wheelbarrow.
We dug away, stUl through loose soU that had
evidently formed part of the landslip, and re
moved some thousands of tons ; but we did not
come to the foot of the cliff, or the cave which is
described to be there. Some of the stones that we
had to remove in the course of our digging were
very large. We had a quantity of strong ropes
and blocks on shore, and when we came across
an exceptionally big rock, we clapped a number
of watch-tackles one on the other, and, by
putting aU hands on the faU of the last tackle,

10

290 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
we obtained a very powerful purchase, equivalent,
I calculated on one occasion, to the power of five
hundred men. We found bones and bits of de
cayed wood among the earth, but the former
always proved to be the remains of a goat and not
of a pirate, and the latter were the fragments
of dead trees and not of chests of loot.
But shortly before Christmas there were some
encouraging signs. We had now got down to
a considerable depth, and we noticed that, when
a pick was driven into the bottom of the trench,
a hoUow sound was given out, as if we were on the
roof of a cavern, and, occasionally, little holes
would open out and the earth would slip down
into some chasm underneath. We dug still deeper,
and we came to a collection of very large rocks,
which we were unable to move. They were
jammed together, and evidently formed the roof
of a cavern, for, wherever we could clear away the
earth that lay between any two of these rocks,
we looked down through the opening into a black,
empty space, the bottom of which we could not
touch by thrusting through our longest crowbar.
This looked promising, for it was just such a
cavern as this that we were seeking.
We found that the rocks were too close together

Pick and Shovel. 291
to allow of our effecting an entrance from above,
so we dug down along the side of the last and
largest of these untU we came to its foot ; and
there indeed was a sort of cavern, partly fiUed
up with loose earth, which we cleared out.
There was no treasure in it, and nothing to
show that any human being, before us, had ever
visited the spot. I think it was at this stage of
our operations that each man began very
seriously to doubt whether we were searching in
the right place at aU, and whether there might
not be some further clue that was missing, and,
without which, search would almost certainly
be futUe. But, whatever may have been thought,
there was, so far as I can remember, no expression
given to these doubts, and each worked on with
the same cheery wiU as at the beginning, even
as if he were confident of success. These men
were determined; in an almost literal sense, to
leave no stone unturned, and not to abandon that
ravine untU they had satisfied themselves as to
whether the treasure was or was not there.
On the Sunday after my arrival on shore,
December 22, we went off in the whale-boat to
see how PoUock was getting on. The weather
had been exceedingly fine throughout the week

292 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
in South-west Bay, and we might have launched
the boat on almost any day ; but, though there had
been no heavy wind in the neighbourhood of the
island, there had been a considerable sweU at the
anchorage for part of the time, and PoUock re
ported that the yacht had tumbled about a good
deal. He had found opportunities for landing
at the pier with the dinghy, and had brought off
some breakers of water from the cascade and a
quantity of firewood. He had been very lucky
with his fishing, having caught several germanic,
weighing from twenty to forty pounds apiece,
and an abundance of other fish. Ted MUner was
now taken on shore with us, whUe Arthur Cotton
was left on board.
We worked away steadUy in the ravine until
Christmas Day, when there was, of course, a
holiday. We had a most luxurious dinner on
shore, as also had the three men on board the
vessel. The menu of our shore-dinner was as
follows : — Turtle soup, boUed hind fish, curried
turtle steak, boiled salt junk, tinned plum-
pudding. For vegetables we had preserved
potatoes and carrots, and Trinidad beans. Good
old rum was the only beverage. There were some
other luxuries, chief of which was a box of cigars,

Pick and Shovel. 293
which had been put away for this occasion.
Christmas Day was intensely hot, so that we
remained in our tents, having no energy for
exploring mountains. With the exception of
Jacko's disgraceful intoxication, no incidents
of note occurred.
On the Sunday after Christmas Day, PurseU
and myself set out to explore the weather side of
the island, taking our lunch in our pockets — bis
cuits, figs, rum, and tobacco. We crossed the
Sugarloaf Col and descended upon the coast of
South-east Bay, then we turned to the right and
foUowed the shore to the extreme south end of
the island, where Noah's Ark falls a sheer wall
into the surf.
There was a quantity of wreckage in this bay,
and in one place we found a topmast and some
ribs of a vessel which might have been the remains
of the hull I had seen here nine years before.
The broken bits of planks, timbers, barrels, hen
coops and other relics of ships, were pUed quite
thickly on the rocks above high-water mark,
and we came across a square-faced gin bottle,
fuU of fresh water, which, from its position,
could not have been washed ashore, but must
have been left here by some human being. We

294 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
saw the footprints of turtle, showing that
every sandy beach on this island is frequented
by numbers of these creatures. In view of the
threatened turtle-famine we read of, it might be
worth some one's whUe to come here for a cargo
of them ; but the difficulty of getting any
quantity off alive would be great.
The scenery of East Bay is very extraordinary,
for here the signs of volcanic action are more
evident than on any other portion of the island.
At the south end of the bay there is no sandy
beach ; masses of shattered rocks, faUen from
above, strew the shore, and between these are
solidified streams of black lava, which appear
to have foUowed each other in successive waves,
one having cooled before the next has poured
down upon it, so that a series of rounded steps
is formed. The ledges of lava extend far out to
sea,* producing a dangerous reef, on which the
sea always breaks heavily.
As we advanced over the boulders there
towered above us on our right hand the perpen
dicular side of Noah's Ark, of a strange red colour,
looking Hke molten iron where the sun's rays feU
upon it. A quantity of red dSbris from the roof of
this mountain was also lying on the shore, and at

Pick and Shovel. 295
the north end of it we observed that a gigantic
couloir— as it would be caUed in the Alps — of vol
canic ashes and lava sloped down from its summit
to the gap which connects it with the Sugarloaf.
It was obvious, from the vast amount of these
fire-consumed debris and waves of lava surround
ing its base, that Noah's Ark had once been a
very active volcano, and I think it highly prob
able that there is a crater at the top of it. Though
it is perpendicular on three sides, it might be
possible to ascend it from the fourth side, by the
couloir connecting it with the gap under the Sugar-
loaf ; but the attempt would be risky, and a slip
on its steep, sloping roof would mean a drop over
a waU 800 feet in height.
We clambered over the rocks until we came to
the end of Noah's Ark, and we stood on a ledge
of lava and gazed at one of the strangest sights
of this strange island. .The base of the great red
mountain is pierced by a magnificent tunnel,
known as the Archway, which connects South
west Bay with East Bay. What seem to be
gigantic stalactites depend from its roof; and the
different gradations of colour and shade on its
rugged sides — from glowing red in the blaze of the
sun to terra-cotta, delicate pink, and rich purple,

296 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
and then to deepest black in the inmost recesses-
produce a very beautiful effect. The heaving
water is black within it, save where the white
spray flashes ; but, looking through it, one per
ceives, beyond, the bright green waves of South
west Bay, and the blue sky above them.
The sea does not flow freely through the
tunnel, except at high water ; for, on the side we
were standing, its mouth is crossed by a ledge of
lava, which is left dry by the receding tide. But
inside the tunnel there is deep water, and the
ocean swell always penetrates it from South-west
Bay, dashing up its sides with a great roar, which
is repeated in hoarse echoes by the mountain.
According to an ancient description of Trinidad
quoted in the ' South-Atlantic Directory,' the
Archway is 40 feet in breadth, 50 in height, and
420 in length. I think it far higher and
broader than this — at any.rate, at its mouth. No
doubt the action of the surf is continuaUy en
larging it.
PurseU and myself, having admired this
beautiful scene for some time, turned back,
crossed the rocky promontory of East Point, and
proceeded along the sands till we came to the
Portuguese settlement, which I wished to examine

Pick and Shovel. 297
more carefuUy than I had been able to do when
here with the doctor a month before.
We had lunch by the side of the river which
flows under the Portuguese ruins, and then
commenced to explore. The Portuguese had
certainly selected the only spot on the island at
aU suitable for a permanent settlement ; for
not only is there here the best supply of water,
but there is also a considerable area of fairly
fertUe land, though it is greatly encumbered
with rocks. The downs by the river are densely
covered with beans, which also grow aU over the
ruined huts. It is possible that these beans
were originaUy planted here by the settlers, and
have since spread over aU the downs between this
and South-west Bay ; for they are not to be found
on the other side of the island.
The huts, of which the rough waUs of unhewn
stone alone remain, are buUt in terraces one
above the other on the hUl-side. A great deal of
labour was evidently expended in the construc
tion of these terraces, and of the roads leading to
them, and quantities of stones had been pUed up
in order to obtain a level surface. This must
have been a picturesque little viUage in its day —
whenever that day was, for, though I have searched

298 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
dUigently, I can find no record to show at what
period Trinidad was used as a penal settlement by
the Portuguese. Amaso Delano, writing of his
visit to the island in 1803, speaks of a 'beachabove
which the Portuguese once had a settlement ; '
and a stiU older narrative alludes to a Portuguese
penal establishment here as a thing of the long
past. Malley, who was here in 1700, took Trini
dad in the name of the King of England — as I
have already mentioned — and he says nothing
of such a settlement.
Near the huts we found places where the soU
had been cleared of stones, for purposes of
cultivation, and there were several waUed-in
enclosures. We saw a good deal of broken pottery and tiles
lying about, not such as we had discovered in
South-west Bay, of Oriental manufacture, but of
a very rough description, probably home-made.
For, on the top of a hUl overlooking our ravine,
we came across a hole that had evidently been
dug for the purpose of extracting a sort of clay
that is there, and there were signs of fire near it,
and many fragments of earthenware, so we con
jectured that we were lookmg at aU that re
mained of the ancient Trinidad pottery-works.

Pick and Shovel. 299
We did not return to South-west Bay by the
Sugarloaf Col, but by another route, which the
shore-party had discovered in the course of a
previous Sunday's tour of exploration. This lay
over the gap in the downs at the back of our bay,
and presented no difficulties ; but the soft soU
and tangled vegetation made the climb a rather
laborious one.

CHAPTER XVIII.
A VOYAGE TO MARKET.
I REMAINED on shore for a fortnight, during
which the weather was fine, though a slight
shower generaUy feU in the morning.
We had stiU a large supply of stores, both on
shore and on board ; but there was one article
of food which we were consuming in much
larger quantities than had been anticipated —
the necessary oatmeal — and it was now found
that but very little of it was left. It was, there
fore, decided that I should saU to Bahia — our
nearest market-town — with the yacht, and
procure some more.
A voyage of 1,400 mUes in order to purchase
a little oatmeal sounds Hke a rather large order ;
but, as a matter of fact, it was more comfortable
to be under weigh than to lie at anchor where
we were, exposed to the pcean sweU. So we did
not look upon the journey as a troublesome
duty.

A Voyage to' Market. 301
My crew was to consist of Pollock and the three
white sailors.
I put Ted MUner, the boatswain, on PoUock's
watch, and took Arthur Cotton on mine. John
Wright did the cooking and kept no watch, though
he was always ready to lend a hand if neces
sary. On Sunday, December 29th, the whale-boat
went off to the yacht for another load of stores,
so that there might be an ample supply on the
island during the absence of the vessel ; for it
was not possible to foresee how long we should be
away. On Monday, 30th, I returned on board, and,
after the two parties had bade each other
good-bye and good luck, the whale-boat went off
to the shore with a last cargo of provisions.
We now got the vessel ready for sea. We unbent
the storm-trysail and storm-foresaU, and bent
the large foresail ; being rather short-handed,
we left our topmast housed during this voyage.
We did not weigh the anchor untU 5 p.m. ;
we set the whole mainsaU, the mizzen, foresail,
and second jib. The wind, at first, was ex
ceedingly Hght, so that we drifted helplessly
about for a time, and we did not get clear

302 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
of the island until after dark. I was thus unable
to sail round to the mouth of South-west Bay
and satisfy myself that the boat had been safely
beached. However, seeing that so many success
ful landings had been accomplished, I considered
it unnecessary to hang about the island until the
foUbwing daylight, so we shaped our course for
Bahia. A moderate wind sprang up in the night
and we soon left the island far behind us.
This was a most successful voyage. The wind
was from the north-east aU the time, right abeam,
and therefore as favourable as it could be. There
was not quite enough of it, however, and our best
day's work was only 154 mUes. On one day it was
rather squaUy, and we had to trice up the main
tack now and then. The voyage only occupied
five days, for we sighted the white sands and the
coeoanut groves of the BrazUian coast at 5 p.m.
on January 4, and at 7.30 we rounded St. An
tonio Point, and entered the bay of Bahia. Here
we found that a strong tide was running against
us, and, as is usuaUy the case in the gulf at this
hour, there was scarcely <any wind ; so we were
compeUed to let go our anchor near the light
house. A Newfoundland barque that had fol
lowed us in had to do likewise.

, A Voyage to Market. 303
The next day, January 5, we rose early and
saw before us again the beautiful white city
which we had left nearly two months before.
We got up the anchor as soon as the morning
breeze had sprung up, and saUed slowly to our
anchorage under Fort la Mar, where we let go in
three fathoms of water.
We noticed that a strange flag was flying on all
the forts and government buUdings, as weU as on
the guard-ship and a Httle gunboat that was lying
near us. It bore no resemblance to the flag of
BrazU, or to that of any other nationality, and
puzzled us somewhat.
Though it was Sunday, our old friend, the
harbour doctor, came off to us in his launch.
I was uncertain as to how he would receive us ;
for the regulations of BrazUian ports are strict,
and our entry here was most informal. We had
saUed out of Bahia, as the doctor himself must
have known, two months before, presumedly
for Sydney, Australia ; and now, here we were
again at Bahia, with no bill of health, and only
half of our crew on board.
He came alongside, and we greeted each other.
' What port do you come from ? ' he then
asked.

304 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
' We have been in no port since we left here,'
I replied. ' How — in no port ! ' he exclaimed, raising his
eyebrows in slight astonishment. He was too
thorough a Brazilian to express much surprise at
anything, or to rouse himself from the almost
Oriental apathy of manner that distinguishes
this somewhat indolent race.
Then I explained to him that we had been
passing our Christmas holidays on the desert
island of Trinidad, that I had left most of my
companions there while I had sailed to Bahia
for more stores, and that, having been in no
inhabited port, I had, consequently, been
unable to provide myself with a bUl of health.
' And what were you doing on Trinidad all
this time ? '
' Among other things, we were making collec
tions of the fauna and flora. There are some
rare birds.'
' Have you any specimens of the birds on
board ? '
Luckily I had a few, and exhibited them. He
was somewhat of a naturalist himself, and
recognised one species which he had seen on
Fernando Noronha.

A' Voyage to Market. 305
He seemed satisfied, and gave us pratique
without any demur.
Mr. WUson had, of course, seen us, and had
sent his boat to fetch me on shore. Leaving
the others on board, I got into the boat, and, as
the black boatman pulled me under the fort,.
it occurred to me to ask him, in the best Portu
guese I could muster, what was the significa
tion of the new flag that floated above the
battlements. In my anxiety concerning pra
tique I had forgotten to make any inquiries
on the subj ect from the doctor. The black looked
up at the flag, smUed faintly, and replied with an
indifferent air — ' Ah ! la Republica.'
And so indeed it was — the Republic ! When
I reached the store, Mr. WUson told me aU about
the revolution, which had occurred quite sud
denly and quietly on the day after we had last
saUed from Bahia. I learned that the much es
teemed Emperor had been deposed, and that a
Republican form of government had been pro
claimed. And a very shabby sort of a revolution
it had been, too, for there had been no slaughter,
to give an air of dignity and respectability to it.
The people themselves appeared to be heartUy
ashamed of such a feeble thing, and spoke little

306 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
of it. The most insignificant Republic of Central
America could have got up a far more exciting and
sanguinary affair at a few hours' notice. The
harbour doctor had not even thought it worth
while to mention the change of government
when he gave me pratique.
No national flag had yet been selected for this
latest addition to the list of American Re
publics, and the flag we saw was that of the State
of Bahia. There had been no disturbance in the
city when the news of the pronunciamento was
telegraphed from Rio. The negroes did not
raise a hand to support the Emperor, to whom
they owed their freedom. The only incident
of note that occurred at Bahia was the salute
that was fired at Fort la. Mar in honour of the
new Government. This salute did cause seme
little excitement ; for, by some mistake, round
shot were fired instead of blank cartridges, and
one shot went through a longboat swinging
on the davits of a Norwegian barque, and did
other damage.
The United States gunboat ' Richmond ' was
at anchor in the bay, awaiting instructions
from Washington, it was said, before officiaUy
recognising the new sister Republic.

A Voyage to Market. 307
The next day was the feast of the Epiphany,
a great holiday, and no BrazUian could be got
to work under any circumstances whatever.
Crackers, rockets, and beUs were the order of the
day. Even for the two days succeeding the festi
val these pious people were disinclined to work,
and I heard the skippers of vessels raving in Wil
son's store because they could not get the water-
boats alongside, or ship their ballast, as the
Hghtermen were stUl busy letting off crackers in
the streets. However, we managed to get aU
our stores off — oatmeal, plenty of fresh vegetables,
fruit, molasses, and a smaU barrel of cana or
white rum.
On Thursday, January 9, I renewed my ac
quaintance with some old friends. The tele
graph steamer ' Norseman ' came into the port.
She was stUl under the command of Captain
Lacy, who had taken the ' Falcon ' in tow with
her from Rio to Maldonado nearly ten years
before. We had intended to saU on this day, but the
glass had been falling and it was blowing hard
from the south-east, so that it seemed advisable
to wait for some improvement in the weather.
The next day, January 10, the glass began to rise

308 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
and the sky looked less threatening, the scud no
longer rushing across the heavens at a wUd pace ;
so we got under weigh after breakfast, and once
more set saU for the desert island.
For a vessel saUing from Trinidad to Bahia
the wind is always fair, being from north-east
to south-east ; but for one saUing the reverse
way the wind is, as often as not, right ahead.
This bad luck we now experienced. Trinidad
lay to the south-east of us, and south-east was
also the direction of the wind. When we were
outside the bay we put the vessel on the port
tack and at five in the evening we were off the
Moro San Paulo lighthouse. Then we went
about and steered away from the land.
This was, I think, our most disagreeable voyage.
It blew hard aU the time, and there were violent
squaUs of wind and rain that frequently com-
peUed us to scandalise our mainsail and lower
the foresaU. The sea ran high, and was very
confused, so that, saiHng full and by, the yacht
made little progress, labouring a good deal, and
constantly driving her bowsprit into the short,
steep waves. On the third day out we took two
reefs down in the mainsaU and two in the foresaU.
The wind was constantly shifting between east

A Voyage to Market. 309
and south, so that we often went about so as to
saU on the tack which enabled the vessel to point
nearest to her destination.
When we had been six days out we were only
half way to Trinidad, having accomphshed the
distance of 350 mUes from Bahia.
On this day I had some trouble with Arthur.
He had, I think, brought a bottle of rum on board
surreptitiously at Bahia, or, possibly, he had
helped himself from the barrel, which was always
kept, for security, in my cabin. As I used to sleep
on deck during PoUock's watch, he could then
find his opportunity, as no one was below to catch
him. At midnight, when I relieved the other
watch, he refused to obey an order. He had done
this on two previous occasions, also when under
the influence of smuggled spirits, and had quickly
been brought to his senses and to his work by
having his head punched. It was his wont to
become repentant and make amends for his bad
conduct by extra good behaviour ; and I must
aUow that he did his work wUlingly enough, as
a rule, but drink converted him into a foolish
sea-lawyer. The offence was flagrant on this occasion, and
as a head-punching only resulted in making him

310 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
sulky, I determined to discharge him. Seeing
that months .might elapse before we left Trinidad
for the West Indies, and not wishing to have
him on my hands aU that time, I made up my
mind to run back to Bahia with him at once ;
so the mainsheet was promptly slacked off, and
we bore away, to the young man's great surprise.
I would not let him go below, in case he should
get at the rum again ; so ordered him to stay
on the deck forward. Before the end of niy
watch he disobeyed this order and sneaked
below in the dark. When I discovered this I
went down and ordered him to come on deck
at once. He obeyed, promptly this time, as he
was, no doubt, reaching the sober and repentant
stage ; but I would not trust him, and tied him
up by his foot to the bulwarks forward, and
kept him a prisoner untU we came into port.
He was the only paid hand we had who was
subject to these fits of insubordination. The
doctor and myself never had any difficulties
with the others; they did their work cheer
fully. Now that we were running before the wind
and sea we made good progress, and we sighted
the Moro San Paulo light at 2 a.m. on Sunday

A Voyage to Market. 311
January 19. The distance, therefore, that we
had made after six days of tacking was now
accomplished before the wind in 50 hours.
We were becalmed off the entrance of the bay
for several hours. It was an excessively hot day,
and the morning breeze did not spring up tUl
later than usual, so that we did not let go our
anchor under Fort la Mar until midday. And
now, lo ! the flags of the State of Bahia no
longer decorated the city and forts, but a flag
something like the old Brazilian flag, but yet not
the same, floated everywhere. Had there, then,
been yet another revolution whUe we were away,
and was some new form of government — com-
munistical or oligarchical or what not — being
experimented upon ? We learnt, on landing,
that this was the National flag of the Brazilian
Republic, but only a tentative one, which was
being flown so that the citizens could see how
it looked. I believe several other patterns
were tried, and thus exhibited in the cities
for public approval, before one was definitely
selected. The harbour doctor came off to us, was amused
at our story, and again gave us pratique.
WUson had, of course, been much puzzled at the

312 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
re-appearance of the ' Alerte,' and was anxious
to hear what had happened.
I took Arthur before the Consul on Monday
morning, and formally discharged him.
New brooms sweep clean, they say, and the
new Republican Municipality had decided to
clean dirty Bahia as economicaUy as possible, and
had hit upon the foUowing ingenious plan. The
police were instructed to consider any one, what
ever his rank, who was found walking in the
streets after bed-time, as a dangerous con
spirator, and to promptly arrest him. AU men
locked up on any night for this crime were sent
out the next morning in a gang to sweep the
streets. It was interesting, I was told, to
observe some gay young BrazUian masher, in
silk hat, lofty coUar, and pointed patent boots,
cleaning a gutter out, with an armed policeman
standing over him to see that he did not shirk his
work. I was instructed by the Consul to warn
any of my men who should come on shore as
to the danger of strolling about the city at
night. I did not wish to remain at Bahia one moment
longer than was necessary ; but I thought it
would be weU, as we were here, to fill up our water-

A Voyage to Market. 313
tanks. But it happened to be another fiesta
this day — beUs and crackers again ! — and the
water-boat could not come off. So we had to
wait tUl the foUowing day, January 21, when the
water was put on board of us, and in the afternoon
we got under weigh.

CHAPTER XIX.
HOVE TO.
IT was blowing hard on the day of our depar
ture from Bahia, and we sailed down the
bay under mizzen and head sails, so as to see
what it was like outside before hoisting our
mainsaU. A high sea was running on the bar, and
while the yacht was tumbling about in the broken
water, an accident happened to Wright. He was
preparing our tea, when a lurch of the vessel
capsized a kettle of boiling water, the whole
contents of which poured over his hands and
wrists, scalding them severely, and causing
intense pain ; so that we had to administer a
strong sleeping draught to the poor fellow, after
the usual remedies had been applied to the
scalded parts. He was on the sick list for a long
time, and was, of course, incapable of doing
work of any description during this voyage ;
though, as soon as he got a bit better, it worried
him to think that he was of no use, and he insisted,

Hove to. 315
though his hands were bandaged up, in trying
to steer with his arms.
This accident made us still more short-
handed. There were but three of us left to work
the vessel. LuckUy, I had one good man with
me, in the person of Ted MUner, who not only
•did the cooking, but worked hard on deck during
my watch as weU as on the other, and was very
cheery over it aU the whUe, too.
When we were outside, we took two reefs down
in the mainsaU before hoisting it, and close-reefed
the foresaU, for it was evident that we were in
for a speU of squaUy weather.
We had better luck now than during our
previous attempt at reaching Trinidad, for the
wind, instead of being right ahead from the south
east, kept shifting backwards and forwards be
tween north and east, so that we could always
lay our course on the port tack, and could often
do so with our sheets weU off. But the wind was
squally and uncertain, and for much of the time
the sea was rough, so that we were eight days
in reaching the island.
At dawn on January 29, we sighted Trinidad,
right ahead, and in the afternoon we were about
two miles off, opposite to the Ninepin rock. It

316 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
was blowing hard from the eastward, and the
sea was, I think, running higher than on any
occasion since we left Southampton. The surf
on the island was far heavier than we had ever
seen it before, and was breaking on every portion
of the coast with great fury.
We now ran before the wind towards South
west Bay, and the squalls that occasionaUy
swept down the ravines were so fierce that we
saUed with foresail down and the tack of our
reefed mainsaU triced weU up. We saw that the
seas were dashing completely over the pier, and
sending great fountains of spray high into the air.
When we opened out South-west Bay the scene
before us was terribly grand. Huge green roUers,
with plumes of snowy spray, were breaking on
the sandy beach ; and the waves were dashing
up the sides of Noah's Ark, and the Sugarloaf
to an immense height, the cliffs being wet with
spray quite 200 feet up. The loud roaring of the
seas was echoed by the mountains, and the fre
quent squaUs whistled and howled frightfuUy
among the crags, so that even the wUd sea-
birds were alarmed at the commotion of the
elements : for they had risen in multitudes from
all the rocks around the bay, and were flying

Hove to. 317
hither and thither in a scared fashion, whUe their
melancholy cries added to the weirdness of the
general effect.
And once more we saw before us, high above
the sea-foam, our little camp,, with its three tents,
and the whale-boat hauled up on the sands not
far off, with its white canvas cover stretched
over it ; but we were surprised to see no men
about : the camp appeared to be deserted.
It was, obviously, impossible for the shore-
party to launch the boat with so high a sea
running, neither could we approach within sig-
naUing distance of the beach ; so that there
was no chance of our being able to communicate
with our friends for the present. I also saw that
it would be highly imprudent, if not impossible,
to come to an anchor off the cascade with the
yacht. There was to be no harbour for us just
yet, and the only thing to be done was to put to
sea and heave to untU the weather improved.
We did not anticipate that we should have to
wait long for this improvement ; but, as it turned
out, we had to remain hove to for eight days,
before the state of the sea permitted the boat
to come off to us, during which time the bananas,
pumpkins, and other luxuries of the sort, which

318 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
we had brought from Bahia for the working-
party, began to spoU, and we had to eat them
ourselves to save them ; so that, when at last
the men boarded us, we had but little left for
them of the fresh fruit and vegetables which were
so grateful to them, though of oatmeal and
other provisions there was an ample store.
We soon discovered that it was much better
in every way for the yacht to be hove to than to
be lying at anchor off Trinidad. To strain
at her chain in an ocean swell must be injurious
even to such a strong vessel as the ' Alerte ' is ;
and, as I have said, we did puU one hawse-pipe
nearly out of her on the occasion that the chain
got. foul of the rocks at the bottom, thus giving
her a short nip. Even in fine weather we ex
perienced a lot of wear and tear ; for the yacht
used to swing first in one direction, then in
another, as the various flaws of wind struck her,
so that the chain was constantly getting round her
stem, and we found that a large piece of her
copper had been worn away in this manner, just
below the water-line.
Had I fuUy reahsed before the great advan
tages of heaving to, I do not think I should have
ever let go my anchor at all here ; but, in that

Move to. 319
case, I should have been compeUed to remain on
board all the whUe, and would not have had my
fortnight's stay in camp. To remain hove to off
this lee side of the island is a very easy matter.
Our method was to saU out to sea from South-west
Bay untU we had got out of the baffling local
squaUs into the steady breeze, and then we hove
to under reefed mainsaU, smaU jib with sheet
to windward, and helm lashed. The yacht then
looked after herself ; and, as the wind was always
more or less off shore and the current was setting
to the south, she would drift away about twelve
mUes in the night towards the open sea, always
remaining right opposite our bay, so that those
on shore could see us at daybreak. We divided
ourselves into three watches at night, one man
being sufficient for a watch, for he never had any
thing to do but look out for the passing vessftls.
Hove to as we were under such short canvas
the fiercest squall we ever encountered had no
effect on the vessel, and she was in every way
very comfortable.
In the morning we would hoist the foresaU and
tack towards South-west Bay, so as to attempt
communication with the shore ; if that were
impossible, we hove to once more, to drift slowly

320 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
seawards ; and we repeated this process several
times in the course of a day, before we finally
saUed out for our night's rest on the bosom of the
ocean. We could saU into South-west Bay untU we
were abreast of the Sugarloaf, but no further ;
we were then at least a mUe and a quarter
from the camp, and it was difficult to read the
signals of the shore-party at that distance, as
the flags they had with them were of a smaU
size. To have approached nearer than this would
have been a very risky proceeding ; for, though
we might have succeeded in getting some way
further in, and out again, with safety, time after
time, the day would most assuredly have come
when a serious accident would have happened.
For, as soon as the yacht had saUed across the
line connecting the two extreme points of the
bay, the high cliffs diverted the wind so that it
was only felt occasionaUy, and then in short
squaUs, from various directions ; and between
those baffling squalls were long speUs of calm,
during which the vessel would drift helplessly
before the sweU towards the surf under the
cliffs, or would be carried by the southerly current

Hove to. 321
towards the lava reefs off South Point, in both
cases at imminent risk of destruction. And even
when the squalls did come down to render assist
ance, 'they shifted so suddenly that the sails
were taken aback two or three times in as many
minutes, so that aU way was lost, or even stern
way was got on the vessel, and one lost control
over her at a critical moment.
The ' Alerte ' saUed into that bay a great many
times without mishap ; but there were anxious
moments now and then, and I was always glad
to escape out of this treacherous trap to the
open sea, clear of the rocks and squaUs, with
deep water round, and a comparatively steady
wind to help me.
We remained thus, standing off and on, and
hove to, during the rest of our stay at Trinidad.
Our anchor was never let go here again. We
had been lucky with our weather when we first
arrived at the island, and had successively
landed our working-party and stores, and our
whale-boat had been beached in South-west Bay
a good many times, without serious accident,
though very seldom without risk. But now
aU this was changed. High seas and squally
weather were the rule during the eighteen days
11

322 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
we remained hove to : for the first eight days,
as I have said, we were unable to hold com
munication with the Shore ; and, after that,
there were but few occasions on which we could
beach the boat, and then this feat was generaUy
attended with a capsize, loss of property, and
risk of life. But, fortunately, as wiU be seen,
the two days preceding our final departure from
the islet were fine, and we were thus enabled to
carry off our tents and other stores. Had it not
been for this short speU of calm, we should have
probably been compeUed to leave behind every
thing we possessed.
The fine season here is in the southern
summer — our winter. In winter — especiaUy in
the months of June, July, and August — landing
on Trinidad is almost always impossible. Strong
winds and heavy rains then prevaU, while the seas
run high. It is possible that the fine weather
was now beginning to break up, and that when we
saUed from the island — February 15 — the stormy
autumn season was setting in.
The ship's log for this period presents a monot
onous repetition of vain attempts at boating, as
the foUowing short record of our proceedings for
the first eight days wiU show. It wfll be remem-

Jtiove to. 323
bered that we arrived off the island and hove to
on the evening of January 29.
January 30. — SaUed into South-west Bay after
breakfast. Though we saw the camp standing
as we had left it, could not perceive any men,
neither had we done so on the previous day.
Wonder if, for some reason or other, the shore-
party have left the island, and been carried away
by a passing vessel ? Drift out of bay and heave
to. In afternoon saU into bay again. This time
are glad to see aU the men walking down to the
beach. We signal for news. They reply, 'All
weU,' and ' Too rough for boating.' We signal,
that we have brought them some letters from
Bahia. When outside bay heave to for night.
January 31. — At dawn ten mUes off island.
Tack towards island. Sea high ; squaUy. Sail
into bay. No signals from shore. We conclude
it is too rough for boating, and that the men are
at work in the ravine. In afternoon saU again
into bay. No signals. Heave to for night, as
before. February 1. — SaU into bay in morning. See
the men on shore taking the cover off the whale-
boat, as if with the intention of coming off. They
drag her down to the edge of the sea. We cannot

324 The Cruise ot tne Alerte.
now distinguish them, so cannot teU whether they
have launched the boat or not, or whether they
have capsized, or what may have happened.
AU is hidden from us for some time ; then we
see them hauling the boat up the beach again.
They have evidently abandoned the attempt
as too dangerous. Very squally. WhUe hove to,
drive a long way from island. In evening, saU
towards the bay again and heave to for night.
February 2. — Heavy showers of rain obscuring
island from our view. Enter bay in morning.
It being Sunday no work is done in the ravine,
but the shore-party make many fruitless attempts
at launching the boat during the day. We
stand in and out of the bay aU day, watching
the proceedings of those on shore through our
glasses. On several occasions the men draw the
boat down to the edge of the sea, disappear from
our sight for a time, and at last reappear hauling
the boat up again. They persevere despite re
peated failures. Think they have capsized once
at least, as they are baling the boat out on the
beach. At last, at 4 p.m., they give up the
attempt as hopeless, and hoist the signal : ' Im
possible to launch lifeboat.' We exchange
several signals, but find it difficult to distinguish

Hove to. 325
their smaU flags from the yacht. At sunset we
saU out to sea and heave to. Choppy sea. Tum
ble about a good deal. Stormy-looking sky.
February 3. — This morning very clear ; so see
distinctly for first time the three rocky islets of
Martin Vas, distant about twenty-five mUes from
Trinidad, bearing east. Sail into bay. Again
several vain attempts to launch boat. Heave
to. Drift this night upwards of fifteen miles
from island.
February 4. — SaU into bay. StUl high surf.
A signal flying on shore which we cannot
distinguish, so saU somewhat nearer in. Are
becalmed under Sugarloaf. Then a squaU — theri
taken aback by another squaU — then calm again.
We drift towards Noah's Ark, up whose face the
sea is breaking fifty or sixty feet high. Another
squaU ; wear vessel and clear out of bay. A very
squaUy day, with baffling winds making it more
than usuaUy dangerous to enter the bay.
At last, on February 5, after having made
three vain attempts to cross the barrier of tum-
bhng surf, the whale-boat was ,. successfully
launched, and we saw her come out safely from
the line of breakers at the end of the bay ; then

326 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
the men pulled away towards us, visible one
moment as the boat rose to the top of the swell,
and hidden the next moment from our sight by
the roUers as she sank into the vaUeys between
them. We sailed into the bay to meet her, and hove
to abreast of the Sugarloaf. The boat came
nearer, and we saw that the doctor, PoweU,
Pursell, and the two black men, were in her.
It was now thirty-eight days since we had last
seen our companions. They all looked gaunt
and haggard, and were clad in flannel shirts and
trousers, ragged and earth-stained from the work
in the ravine.
But they were the same cheery boys as ever,
as I discovered by the jovial manner of their
greeting as soon as they were within hail.
' HuUo ! ' sang out the doctor, ' what vessel's
that, and where do you come from ? I am the
doctor of the port here. Hand over your biH
of health, that I may see whether you can have
pratique.' ' And I am the governor of this island of
Trinidad,' cried PoweU, with affable pompousness
from under an extraordinary hat that had been
manufactured by himself, apparently out of the

nove to. 327
remains of old hampers and bird's-nests ;
' wiU you do me the honour of dining with me at
Government House to-night ? I shaU be glad to
learn from you how the revolution is progressing
in our neighbouring State of BrazU. I was just
on the point of sending out my squadron here '
— patting the whale-boat on the side — ' to Bahia,
to look after the interests of any of our subjects
who may be there.'
It was startling for us to find that these
dweUers on a desert island had already heard of
the BrazUian revolution, and we were stUl more
amazed when they proved to us that they were
well informed as to all that had been going on in
the outer world. We had been looking forward
to imparting the latest news to them, but lo !
aU that we had to teU was stale to them. They
kept us in a state of mystification for some time
before they revealed the source of this marveUous
knowledge, and the only information that
PoweU would vouchsafe us on the subject was to
the effect that : — ' We found it slow here without
the newspapers at breakfast, and have estab
lished telegraphic communication with England.
AU the latest racing inteUigence comes through
the tape in the doctor's tent.' But, before asking

328 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
any questions, we greeted our long-absent friends.
They came on board and had a good square meal,
such as they had not enjoyed for a long time,
with red wine, cigars, and other luxuries, and
after this we sat down to a long yarn and an
exchange of news.

CHAPTER XX.
THE ADVENTURES OF THE SHORE-PARTY.
THE doctor and his companions had plenty
to teU. They had dug a great deal and
had cleared away the landslip, tiU they had
arrived at what appeared to be the original
rocky bottom of the ravine. They had found
no signs of the treasure, and they had evidently
come to the conclusion that there was but little
chance of finding it ; but they had not lost heart,
and were of opinion that it would be advisable
to dig for a few weeks more, in the likely parts
of the ravine, before abandoning the search for
good. The doctor told me that the surf had been ex
ceedingly heavy recently, and that a storm had
completely changed the character of the beach, a
sandbank having been formed at some distance
from the shore, deep water intervening. He
explained to me that this bank was only just
awash at low water, and that the sea always
broke upon it, ploughing it up, so that sand and

330 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
water were roUed up together, forming a boiling
surf dangerous for the boat to cross.
The adventures of the shore-party during our
absence, the visit of the man-of-war, and the
maryeUous escape from drowning of several of
our men, were very interesting to hear. Mr.
PurseU, as being one of those on shore, can feU
the story better than I can, and he has kindly
written for me the following account of all
that occurred whUst the yacht was away. His
narrative commences with our separation on
December 30.
After parting with our comrades on the
' Alerte,' we made haste to get ashore again, as
the weather looked threatening, and there was
every prospect of a rough landing. As soon as
we had turned the. corner of Treasure Bay we
found that the wind was blowing hard right on
shore, and that the sea had begun to break heavUy
on the beach, throwing dense masses of spray
into the air, which glistened like sUver in the
sunshine— a magnificent sight, but one which
portended a good ducking for us. However,
there was no help for it ; we had to make the best
of it and get ashore sornehow.

The Shore-Party. 331
We waited for a comparative calm. We
aUowed three big waves to pass and spend their
fury on the beach ; the word was given, and we
dashed on towards the land with aU the force
we could put into our oars. On we flew, crossing
one sandbank on the summit of a curling wave
that broke with a sound of thunder on the next
bank. On we pulled with set teeth and strain
ing muscles. ' Hurrah ! ' cried the doctor, ' one
more stroke and we have done it ! ' — when,
suddenly, we were in the back-wash — the water
seemed to shrink from under us into the wave
that foUowed — the stem of the boat ploughed
into a sandbank, whUe a huge waU of water
rose up behind us, lifting the stern high in the air
tUl the boat stood end on, and the next moment
oars, tins, boat, and men were roUed over and
over each other in the boUing foam.
Our first thought, on struggling to our feet,
was naturaUy for the boat. We found her turned
right over and thrown almost on dry land. We
hastened to right her, bale her out, and drag her
up out of harm's way ; then, having coUected
the oars, stretchers, rudder, etc., which were
floating about, we set to work to rescue our
provisions. For two hours we dived about in

332 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
the surf, picking up tins of meat, Swiss milk,
and oatmeal, a bag of biscuit utterly spoUed,
another of flour reduced to paste, a couple of
rifles, and one or two boxes of cartridges. Our
two happy-dispositioned coloured men had great
fun with the ruined flour, pelting each other with
it untU their shining black bodies were almost
covered with the white paste, and roaring with
laughter at each successful hit.
Though we did not abandon the search until
nothing else could be found, an inspection showed
us that we had lost a good half of the stores
we had brought off in the boat. Having rescued
aU we could, the doctor ordered all hands up to
the camp for a tot of rum, which, I need hardly
say, we were very glad to get. The most impor
tant loss, of course, was that of the biscuit and
flour : for it was quite possible that the yacht
might be away for several weeks, on her voyage
to and from Bahia, and we had only a smaU
supply of these articles on shore ; so we had to go
on short rations, so far as they were concerned.
Cloete-Smith, PoweU, and myself had now been
on shore for about five weeks, working steadily
aU the time, and we were beginning to feel the
effects of it — in trainers' language, we were

The Shore-Farty. 333
getting horribly stale. The doctor, therefore,
decided that we should take holidays on the fol-
I lowing two days — Saturday and Sunday — and
recommence work on the Monday.
Now that the yacht had saUed we were quite cut
off from the outer world, and began to feel very
much Hke shipwrecked saUors, with the exception
that we had many more comforts than usuaUy
fall to their lot. I suppose it is only in novels
that those convenient hulks drift ashore con
taining just the very things the belated mariners
are in want of, for, though we kept a careful
look-out, nothing of the kind came our way.
PoweU, I beheve, though naturally a most kind-
hearted feUow, would have cheerfully sacrificed
a vessel for a few hundred Turkish cigarettes,
and we should aU have been glad of a change of
Hterature. The library we had brought with us
was weU thumbed and weU read, even to the adver
tisements. We had a motley assortment. We aU
became Shakespearean scholars ; Bret Harte's
poems and the ' Bab BaUads ' we almost knew
by heart ; and we came to look upon, as very
old friends, characters of all sorts and conditions ;
among others, Othmar, Quilp, Adam Bede, Lord
Fauntleroy, the Modern Circe, and Mrs. Gamp.

334 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
On Monday we resumed our digging, with re
newed vigour after our two days' rest, and
worked steadUy at the landslip. After we had
thoroughly excavated under the big rock which
had been discovered when the skipper was on
shore, without result, PoweU and myself were
sent to examine two or three likely-looking places
higher up the ravine, so as not to leave any
chance untried ; while the others stiU worked
away at the old trench.
On the Wednesday morning our work was
stopped for a time by the heaviest storm of rain
I have ever witnessed. After the first few min
utes the tents were no protection from the
water, which quickly swamped them, so we armed
ourselves with soap, and, going out into the
open, enjoyed a glorious fresh-water bath.
At the same time we had a view of a splendid
waterfaU. The rain beating on to the windward
side of the Sugarloaf gathered in a deep guUy on
its summit, and, rushing down, struck a pro
jecting rock, and leaped headlong into the sea,
seven hundred feet below. The effect was very
fine, and, later on, when the clouds lightened
a little and the morning sun shone through
the rain, the whole island appeared to be

4. ne onore-rany. 335
\covered with a transparent veU of prismatic
colour. : On the foUowing Sunday the doctor and I set
off for an expedition into the mountains. On a
previous occasion we had noticed a steep land
slip of red earth, mixed- with cinders that looked
very much as if they had been thrown up from a
volcano ; so we made up our minds to go to the
top and see if we could find a crater. Slowly and
carefuUy we crawled on hands and knees up the
steep sHde, clinging like cats to the side of the
mountain, whose loose, charred soU crumbled
away beneath us. We reached the summit of
the red landslip, and found ourselves on a pro
jecting spur of the mountain where the rocks had
faUen away, leaving a great obelisk, seventy feet
in height, standing on a narrow ridge, its base
crumbHng away with every storm, so that it
looked as though a push would send the whole
mass crashing down on to our camp far below.
We could see no signs of a crater. Leaving this
ridge, we ascended the mountain behind, and
when we reached the top we sat down to rest
and get cool under the shadow of a big rock.
From here the view was a grand one. To our
right, nearly a thousand feet above us, rose the

336 The Cruise ot trie 'Alerte.'
highest peak on the island. At our feet was
Treasure Bay, our camp looking like a tiny white
speck, even the great obelisk of rock we had just
left appeared insignificant from this elevation,
whUe the sea seemed smooth and innocent as the
Serpentine, and the roar of the breakers sounded
Hke a gentle murmur.
Away at sea two vessels were in sight — one a
fuU-rigged ship, not far from the island ; the
other a barque, just breaking the horizon, with
her white saUs gleaming in the sunshine. Sud
denly, as I watched the nearer vessel, I saw
her royals taken in, and, looking to windward,
perceived a large black cloud hurrying towards
her, the water being churned up under it as it
came along. The next moment the vessel was
hidden from our sight by the squaU of wind and
rain, though aU the whUe the sun was shining
brightly on our island and not a drop of rain feU
near us. The cloud passed by, the brave ship
seemed to shake herself after the struggle, the sun
shone once more on her dripping canvas, and by
the time she had set her royals again and resumed
her course, the squaU had passed away below
the horizon.
About this time we caught plenty of turtle.

Trie Sriore-rarty. 337
\ which formed a very welcome addition to our
larder, and they also enabled us to husband our
pther stores, which were beginning to get low.
Biscuit was entirely exhausted, and of flour we
had but little, and, though Joe managed to make
a very eatable cake out of preserved potatoes,
the absence of bread-food was a serious incon
venience. The wUd beans that grow on the
island were now of great use.
For another fortnight we dug steadUy on,
gradually getting worn out with the hard work,
and seeing our hopes of fortune diminish as, one
by one, the likely places up the ravine were tried
and found wanting, and the big trench grew
deeper and wider without giving any promise of
yielding up the golden hoard. The life was dread
fully monotonous, not an incident occurring
worth the mention to vary the daUy drudgery
with pick and shovel. We no longer set out on
Sundays and half-hohdays for those glorious
but exhausting climbs over the mountains, as we
had to cherish aU our strength for our work ;
and, after each speU of digging, were glad to rest
in our tents, sheltered from the burning sun.
However, we kept up our spirits, were cheery
enough, and always got on splendidly together.

338 The Cruise 01 me /\ienc.
The yacht had now been away three weeks,
and we began to look forward to her return.
We kept a good look-out, expecting to see her
at any moment turn the corner of Treasure
Bay, Just at this time we found considerable
difficulty in obtaining fish. The weather had
been bad for many days, the wind strong and
squaUy from the north-east, arid a heavy surf
running on the shore. The effect of this on
our sandy beach was to completely change its
shape and appearance, and the Httle pool,
in which we used to catch smaU fish with our
wire-netting, entirely disappeared. Moreover,
although PoweU was energetic, and indeed very
often rash, in venturing out on to the rocks with
his bamboo rod, the seas now constantly broke
right over them, so that another of our food-
supplies was cut off.
On Sunday, January 19, we had an unex
pected and most welcome visit. As we turned
out of our banqueting haU after breakfast, we
saw, to our amazement, a large man-of-war
standing right into the bay from the south
east. Our camp was instantly a scene of excite
ment. We got out our glasses and strained our
eyes to make out her nationality.

The Shore-Party. 339
Was it possible that the BrazUian Govern
ment had heard of our expedition and had
sent a gunboat to wrest our treasure from us and
bear us away in chains ? As a relief to the
monotony of this long expedition we were always
chaffing and talking nonsense — a very good plan,
too ; so we began to discuss the approaching
vessel in our usual mock-grave fashion. If
she should prove to be an enemy, we said that
we would defend our island to the last gasp.
Cloete-Smith began to reckon up what forces
he had at his disposal. There were the two
EngHshmen, more or less white : these he caUed
his Light Brigade. He called the two coloured
men the Black Watch. There was the monkey
too, who could serve as an irregular force to
harass the enemy generaUy — a sort of ' goriUa
warfare ' as I put it — a remark which caUed
forth a severe reprimand from the commander-
in-chief. In the armoury department we had
three repeating rifles, two revolvers, and a
case of surgical instruments. Fortunately we
were not caUed upon to fight, for, when the
vessel had approached close to Noah's Ark,
we were able to make out the glorious old
white ensign of England floating over her stern.

340 The Cruise of the 'Alerte/
We greeted it with a wUd cheer.
Presently we saw that two boats were lowered
and manned. Then the doctor gave the order :
' AU hands shave and prepare for visitors.' We
turned to with a wUl to make ourselves com
paratively respectable, aU the whUe eagerly
watching the proceedings in the bay. We
saw the two boats pull close into the shore, and
then retire, evidently not liking the look of the
tremendous surf. They were then taken in
tow by the vessel, which steamed slowly across
the bay and disappeared round the west corner,
evidently to see if they could effect a landing
in the other bay.
In about twenty minutes, just as we had
completed our toUet, she came back again, the
boats were hoisted on board, and, to our dismay,
she steamed away and vanished from our sight
round South Point. We were deeply disappointed
and returned to our tents in no amiable frame of
mind. But we had not been deserted, after aU ;
for, three hours later, just as we had finished
our midday meal, we perceived four white-
helmeted figures making their way down the
green slopes at the back of our ravine. We

The Shore-Party. 341
hastened to meet them, greeted them Hke long-
lost brothers, and brought them in triumph to
the camp, for glad we were to see fresh friendly
faces. As soon as they had refreshed themselves
after their long walk, we sat down to hear aU
the news. Our visitors proved to be the captain,
the surgeon, and two of the wardroom officers of
H.M.S. ' Bramble,' which vessel was on her way
from Ascension Island to her station at Monte
video. They had sighted Trinidad at daybreak,
and, standing in close to examine it, had dis
covered our tents on the shore. Having found
the surf too heavy both in South-west Bay and
at the pier, they had steamed round to the other
side of the island. Here, after having attempted
a landing at various places, they had at last
succeeded in getting on shore, and after an
hour's walk over the mountains had reached
our camp.
Then we, in our turn, explained to them who
we were and what we were doing here ; and
took them up to see our diggings, in which
they seemed highly interested, though somewhat
amused at our method of searching for fortune.
The officers asked us to go off and mess with
them on the ' Bramble ' — an invitation we gladly

342 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
accepted. We accordingly set out with them
across the mountains, leaving our two black
men in charge of the island during our absence.
We found that their joUyboat was in South
west Bay, with five men in her. They had
dropped their anchor near a coral reef running
out at right angles to the shore, and now they
allowed the boat to back near enough to it for
one of us to scramble on board at a time,
seizing, of course, the most favourable oppor
tunity when the sea was comparatively steady,
and hauling the boat off after each attempt,
for had she touched the rock, not much of her
would have been left in a couple of minutes.
We pulled off to the vessel, which was lying
at about half a mile from the shore. As soon
as we were on board the captain gave the order
to get under weigh, and we steamed at half
speed into Treasure Bay, and the vessel was
anchored for the night near the Noah's Ark
mountain, in twenty fathoms of water. Then
some one suggested cocktails — a most unwonted
luxury for us — and we adjourned below for a
chat. We found the officers of the ' Bramble '
most pleasant feUows, and they treated us
with the greatest hospitality. They ransacked

The Shore-Party. 343
their private stores for our delectation, and
promised to give us a supply of biscuit, some
flour, books, and tobacco to take ashore with
us on the following morning. They even
said, jokingly, that they were sure the ' Alerte '
had gone to the bottom, and that, if we were
tired of digging on the island, they would give
us a passage to Montevideo as distressed British
subjects. They appeared greatly interested in
the story we told of the origin of the treasure
and the account of our voyage and subsequent
adventures. In return, they gave us all the latest
news. We learnt that there had been a revolu
tion in Brazil, which had broken out on the day
after we had saUed from Bahia, and we specu
lated as to whether it would cause any delay
to our shipmates who had gone to BrazU mar^
keting. We also heard that Lord Salisbury had
despatched a fleet to demonstrate on the west
coast of Africa. We were told that the ' Bramble
was to form part of the expedition sent to observe
the eclipse of the sun. They had, in short,
plenty of news to impart, and it was so long
since we had had any opportunity of hearing
what was going pn in the world that we talked
Hke a vestry meeting tUl dinner-time.

344 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
AU our shore-going clothes were on board
the yacht, and we were clad in our rough
working clothes, with only one coat between
us ; so I fancy our appearance at mess was a
source of great amusement to the wardroom
servants. Indeed, aU the time we were on
board we were evidently objects of considerable
interest to the crew ; the men seemed hardly
to know what to make of us, and to wonder
what manner of people we could be who chose
for a residence this desolate spot.
After dinner we went on deck, and Captain
Langdon produced some exceUent cigars, which
we thoroughly enjoyed, while listening to a
selection of music performed for our benefit by
the ship's volunteer fife-and-drum band — a
capital one.
We slept on board the vessel, and the next
morning our first thought was about landing ;
we went on deck to have a look at the shore.
We saw that the surf was breaking very heavUy,
and that it would be impossible to beach a boat
without running considerable risk of smashing
her up. However, get on shore we must, as the
' Bramble ' could not delay any longer, and had
to be off.

me snore-Farty. 345
So, after breakfast, the books, flour, and
other things were handed up in a cask and
lowered into a boat, together with a tin of
biscuit, and, having bidden good-bye to our
generous hosts, we started off under the com
mand of Captain Langdon. As soon as we were
near the breakers it was seen that to beach the
boat was impossible, so, after a little consulta
tion PoweU determined to try and swim ashore
with the end of a rope. We puUed in as close
as we could with safety, and then he jumped
overboard, with the end of a grass line fastened
to his arm, and made for the shore. He got
on all right at first, though the strong current
had a tendency to set him on the dangerous
rocks on the left of the open channel. As soon
as he got into the breaking roUers it was evident
that he could not take the rope on shore. He
struggled bravely on, being dashed on the
beach by each wave, and then sucked back into
the next wave by the irresistible backwash.
By this time the two black men on shore had
seen him, and they rushed into the water to
render assistance. Then PoweU, almost ex
hausted, handed them the rope and just man
aged to struggle ashore, and he lay down on

346 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
the sand for a whUe, dead beat. But we were
by no means Out of the Wood yet. The two
men to whom PoweU had given the rope were
themselves Carried off their feet by the big
breakers and were washed out to sea. They
both let go the rope and tried in vain to get
on shore again, for they were much impeded by
their clothes. At last Theodosius managed to
cling to a rock and hold on to it tUl a recoUing
wave had passed him ; then he made a rush
for it and succeeded in reaching the land.
But Joe could make no way and was carried
further out. He was for some time in great
danger of drowning, and his cries for help were
piteous. But we could not with safety take
the boat any nearer to him than we were, for
she Would have been stove in by the sunken
rocks ; and, as we could not make him under
stand that his proper course was, instead of at
tempting to land through the breakers in his
exhausted condition, to turn and swim out to
us, the doctor and myself went out to him, and
towed him to the boat on a barrel.
We were now no better off than when we
had started, for we stUl had three of our party
in the boat and two on shore. It was clear that

The Shore-Party. 347
it was more than a man could do to swim to land
with a rope ; so we decided to go to the western
end of the bay, where a large rock, on which
PoweU sometimes fished, stood out some way
into the sea, and endeavour to throw a line
on to it. So we puUed off there, the two men
on the shore foUowing us over the rocks. PoweU
and the coloured man clambered on to this
natural pier, and, after several attempts, I
managed to throw to them the end of a light
line to which a bolt had been attached ; we
then bent the end of the grass rope on to this
and they hauled it on shore.
But now we found that the sea was breaking
with such great violence that it would be ex
tremely perilous for a man to attempt to get
on shore by hauling himself along the rope :
he would most probably be beaten to death
on the coral rocks. We therefore attempted
to work the line to the eastward for a distance
of about half a mUe, to where the sandy beach
afforded a safer landing-place. Powell and
Theodosius carried their end of the rope along
the shore, while we puUed in a direction paraUel
to theirs with our end. We progressed but
graduaUy, having to stop frequently to jerk the

348 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
bight of the rope over the rocks in which it
caught. After about three-quarters of an hour of this
work we had nearly got to our journey's end and
were beginning to think that our troubles were
over, when the rope got foul of a sharp piece of
coral and parted in the middle like a bit of pack
thread. Captain Langdon used no bad language
when this happened, but he looked aU sorts of
imprecations at this inaccessible home of ours.
It was now one o'clock, and we had been trying
in vain to land for four hours, and, moreover,
had lost a kedge anchor and the greater portion
of the grass rope ; so Captain Langdon decided
to return to the ' Bramble ' to change the
boat's crew and get a fresh supply of rope.
We had some lunch and then set off again
with two boats, another kedge and grass rope,
a light cod-line and a large rocket. We puUed
in tUl we were near the breakers, then one boat
let go her anchor, and, the other boat having
her painter fast to her, the first was backed in
towards the shore untU she was right on the
top of the roUers, just before they broke. Then
the cod-line was fixed on to the rocket, and, as
there was no proper rocket apparatus on board,

The Shore-Party. 349
the rocket was held in the hand, whUe the
gunner, who had come with us, applied a match
to it. In consequence of some accident the
rocket, instead of flying on shore and taking
the cod-line with it, fizzed away in the boat,
burning off the gunner's moustache and beard
before he had time to move his head aside, and
then dropped overboard arid expended its force
in the water. So we had failed again.
The wind, however, had changed by this time,
and for a couple of hours had been blowing off
shore, instead of on shore, from the south, so
that the violence of the sea had abated consider
ably, and Cloete-Smith decided to have one
more try at swimming on shore. He very
nearly succeeded in doing so ; but the current
caught him, and swept him down on the rocks,
so he had to return. Then I made another
attempt, but with no better success, and we
were at our wits' end and were getting worn
out with our efforts, when we saw Powell pre
paring to swim off to us with the end of that
portion of the broken grass rope which had re
mained on shore.
He waited for his opportunity, then dashed
into the surf, dived through the breakers, and

350 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
managed to get out into the deep water safely.
We swam off to meet him with the end of
another rope, bent them together and swam
back to the boat. The rest was easy. We had
now got a connection with the shore ; for the
farther end of the rope was safely secured to a
rock. One by one we made our way along the
rope to dry land, then hauled the stores off with
another light line, and, making the shore end
of the grass rope fast to a turtle we had caught
two days before, we sent it off as a present to
the ' Bramble.'
It was a relief to find ourselves all safe on
shore at last. We went up to the tents in a
fairly exhausted condition for a much needed
tot of rum. The boats pulled back to the ship
and were hoisted up. ' Wish you good luck '
was run up to the peak ; we gave her a parting
voUey from our rifles, and then the gaUant
vessel steamed away — as it turned out, to take
part in another revolution in Buenos Ayres —
and we were alone once more.
On the foUowing day we settled down to
work again, cheered and refreshed. We had
now got a supply of biscuit and flour which we
hoped would last us untU the return of the

The Shore-Party. 351
yacht, so we were much more comfortable in
our minds than before the arrival of the ' Bram
ble . ' We resumed our life of monotonous digging,
and the only event of importance about this
time was an accident which nearly proved fatal
to PoweU. He was fishing one afternoon on
the big rock mentioned above, when one of the
large waves which sometimes roll in unexpectedly
here washed him off his'perch into the sea. He
was dashed violently on the rocks, and it was
only by a piece of wonderful luck that he
managed to clamber up again before he was
stunned. He was much bruised, and lost his
rod, his pipe, and hat — everything, in fact,
except his Hfe.
Day by day the work went on, and, as each
morning broke, we hoped it would bring our
missing vessel ; but when another week went
by and stUl she had not appeared, things began
to look serious. She had now been away nearly
five weeks, and we feared that some mischance
had befaUen her. Our stores were getting
exhausted, and the weather seemed to have
broken up, for there was now always so much-
surf that the turtle could not come up the
sands, and fishing was generaUy impossible.

352 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
Our stores would not last much longer, so the
doctor had two days' provisions and a breaker
of water put aside, and decided that, if the
yacht did not return within a few days, we would
put to sea in the whale-boat and stand out into
the track of passing vessels, in the hope of
being picked up. Friday and Saturday passed
and no yacht arrived. We spent Sunday in
getting the boat ready *for sea. Monday morn
ing broke with half a gale of wind blowing and
a terrific surf on the beach, so that it would have
been impossible to launch the whale-boat, and
about midday, just as we had given up aU hope
of seeing her again, the good old ' Alerte ' came
round the corner, roUing and pitching in the
heavy sea under a close-reefed mainsaU, smaU
jib, and reefed foresaU.
Next morning we ran the boat down to the
water's edge and tried to launch her. Two of
us got into her and made ready to pull, while
the others shoved her off. Then the others
jumped in and we pulled five or six strokes, when
a huge breaker caught her, Hfted her up and
•turned her right over, roUing us aU in a heap on
to the beach. We tried again, with the same
result, and then gave the attempt up, and went

The Shore-Party. 353
back to our morning's dig, hoping for better luck
in the afternoon.
Day after day we tried and always failed. It
seemed as if the sea would never go down. Our
stores were now all but exhausted, and we lived
chiefly on the wild sea-birds. Every morning
we would climb to a ravine where the birds are
in great quantities, and pluck the young,
unfledged ones from their nests, their mothers
circling round us, striking at us with beaks and
wings, uttermg hoarse cries, and even spitting
morsels of fish at us in their fury. We then
took our victims down to the camp, cooked
and ate them. The old birds are inedible, and
even the flesh of the young ones is, without
exception, the most horrible kind of food I
have ever tasted.
At last, on February 5, after a week of this
sort of thing, we could stand it no longer, and
determined to get off somehow. Three times
we tried, and each time were swamped and
driven back ; the fourth time we waited for a
luU, ran the boat out, jumped in, and pulled
away with aU our strength. A huge breaker
roUed up. The boat stood up on end, hesitated
for an instant ; one mighty tug at the oars,

12

354 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
she righted, and before another wave could
catch us we were out of danger, soon reached
the ' Alerte,' and our imprisonment was at an
end. I cannot close this account of our life on the
island without saying a word in praise of the
two coloured seamen who were left with us.
Always willing to work hard, and always cheerful
and obliging, they tried to make our life as
comfortable for us as possible. When the
provisions ran short, they would have lived,
had we allowed them, on nothing but a few
handfuls of rice or cassava, saying : — ' You
gentlemen eat the meat ; me and George, we
used to anything, even starving — you gentlemen
not. We don't want meat — you do.' In saying
this, I do not wish it to be thought that I am
making any invidious comparison between these
two men and the two white saUors whom
Knight had with him on board at this time.
They also were good men and capable saUors,
and had they been ashore with us would, I
know, have done their duty weU and willingly.
They deserved thoroughly the good discharge
which Knight gave them on parting.

CHAPTER XXI.
WE ABANDON THE SEARCH.
THE five men I had left on the island had
certainly done their work weU. The
doctor had made an exceUent leader, and had
organised all the operations capitally. They
had toUed hard, and had kept up their spirits
aU the whUe, and, what is reaUy wonderful
under circumstances so calculated to try the
temper and wear out patience, they had got on
exceedingly weU with each other, and there had
been no quarreUing or Ul-feeling of any sort.
The ravine had been very thoroughly ex
plored, and we felt that there was but little
chance of our finding the treasure. It was
highly improbable that the massive golden
candlesticks of the Cathedral of Lima would
ornament our homes in England. It was de
cided, however, that, if the weather permitted,
we should stay here another three weeks or
so, and — as we were satisfied that the treasure
could not be at the first bend of the ravine —

356 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
that we should dig in such other spots as
appeared suitable hiding-places, and would
be naturally selected for the purpose by a party
of men landing in this bay.
The shore-party were glad of a holiday on
the yacht after all their labours and privations,
and no attempt was made to take the whale-boat
through the surf again that day. AU hands
stayed on board for the night, and on the
foUowing morning, as the sea was stiU breaking
too heavily on the beach of South-west Bay to
permit of a landing, I proposed to my com
panions that we should take another holiday
and go for a picnic on the water. The cook,
was, therefore, instructed to prepare an espe
ciaUy good dinner, and, after shaking the reefs
out of our mainsail, we proceeded to circum
navigate the island, keeping as close to the
shore as we were able, so that we could have a
good view of the scenery.
We saUed by the different points which we
now knew so well — the Ness, the Pier, the
Ninepin — and at last doubled North Point.
This extremity of the island is extremely wild
and desolate, and is utterly inaccessible. Many
of the sharp pinnacles which cap the mountains

we abandon the Search. 357
are out of the perpendicular, and lean threaten
ingly over the sea. I have already explained that
the different species of birds occupy different
portions of the island ; the crags by North
Point are inhabited by the frigate-birds and
sea-hawks. We coasted along the weather side of the
island, and when we were nearly opposite to
the Portuguese settlement the wind dropped
and we had to man the whale-boat and tow
the yacht seaward ; for we found that she was
gradually sagging before the swell towards the
reefs, on which the sea was breaking heavUy.
We could not get round the island, so sailed
back, before a very light wind, to South-west
Bay, and hove to as usual for the night.
Work was resumed the next day, and a
boat-load of stores was sent on shore. The newly-
formed sandbank which I have mentioned ap
peared to increase and become a more serious
obstacle to landing every day. On this occasion
the boat again drove her stem into the sand as
she crossed this shoal, and the next wave
swamped and capsized her, so that boat, men,
and stores were tumbling about in the deep water
between the sandbank and the shore.

358 The Cruise of the 'Aierte.'
They managed to haul the boat safely up,
and, by diving in the surf, recovered a good many
of the tins of food. Then the boat returned
to the yacht, Joe being left alone in the camp.
He did not relish this at all, for, like most
black men, he was very afraid of ghosts, and
had come to the conclusion that Trinidad
was a place more than usually haunted by
unsettled spirits. He told us that if he were
left alone on shore for the night his only course
would be to light a ring of fires and sit in the
middle, with a tight bandage round his head,
keeping awake tUl dawn. If he faUed to take
these precautions he would most certainly be
torn to pieces, or otherwise seriously damaged,
by the spirits. We took compassion on him
and did not leave him to face the terrors of the
darkness alone. In the afternoon the whale-boat
returned to the bay, and PoUock swam on shore
to remain with him.
A description of what happened for the next
few days would be merely a repetition of what
has gone before. The yacht was hove to at
night, and saUed about the mouth of the bay
all day. The surf was always breaking dan
gerously on the sands, so that it was impossible

We abandon the Search. 359
to beach the boat, and the men had to swim
to and fro from whale-boat to shore, or haul
themselves along a line which we had rigged
up for the purpose, and which was carried
from a rock on shore to a buoy moored with
the ship's kedge outside the breakers. We used
also to haul the provisions on shore with a line,
having lashed them to the bamboo rafts which
we had constructed for this purpose.
The weather became so unsettled and the
surf was so invariably high that, after a few
days, we came to the conclusion that the
sooner we left the island the better, and we
decided to take the first favourable opportunity
for bringing off our property from the shore.
The bad season was approaching — if it had not
already commenced — and if we waited much
longer we might find it impossible, for months
at a time, to carry off stores or men. The
yacht only remained hove to for eleven days
after the shore-party had first boarded us, and
during that time the men with me on the
vessel were employed in setting up the rigging,
rattling down the shrouds, and effecting aU
necessary repairs.
There was nearly always a high swell running

360 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
now, which was especially uncomfortable when
there was no wind, for then we would often roU
scuppers under. For nearly a week it was quite
impossible to beach the boat, and all com
munication with the shore had to be effected
in the way I have described above. At last,
on February 13, luckUy for us, it was excep-
tionaUy calm in South-west Bay, so that it would
be very easy to carry off our stores.
Such a chance was not to be lost. In the
morning all hands went off in the boats, with
the exception of myself and Wright, who
stayed on board to work the vessel. A landing
was effected without any difficulty, and the
boats returned with heavy loads, bringing off
the hydraulic jack, the guns, the bedding, and
other articles.
I, of course, wished to see what work had
been done, before giving my final decision as
to the continuance or abandonment of our
exploration — not that there was any doubt as
to what that decision would be, after I had
heard the doctor's report. In the afternoon
I went off in the whale-boat, and landed on the
island for the first time for forty-eight days,
leaving the doctor in charge of the yacht whUe

We abandon the Search. 361
she lay hove to outside the bay. I had not put
foot on shore here for so long that I was as
tonished at the aspect of the ravine, which
had been completely changed in my absence by
the labours of my comrades.
I stood and contemplated the melancholy
scene — the great trenches, the piled-up mounds
of earth, the uprooted rocks, with broken
wheelbarrows and blocks, worn-out tools, and
other relics of our three months' work strewed
over the ground ; and it was sad to think
that all the energy of these men had been
spent in vain. They weU deserved to succeed,
and all the more so because they bore their
disappointment with such philosophic cheeri
ness. It was, obviously, quite useless to persevere
any further in this vain search, especiaUy as the
difficulties of landing had so increased of late
that our operations could only be conducted at
a great risk to life. So the fiat went forth —
the expedition was to be abandoned ; we were
to clear out of Trinidad, bag and baggage, as
quickly as we could.
We returned to the yacht with a good load
of stores, the condensing apparatus, and the

362 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
faithful Jacko. After dinner we saUed round to
the cascade and hove to off it. I remained on
board with Wright whUe all the other hands
went off in the boats and obtained six casks of
water to replenish the ship's now nearly empty
tanks. This was altogether a most satisfactory
day's work, and we were very well pleased with
ourselves when we hove to at sunset and drifted
out to the ocean for our weU-deserved night's
rest. On the following morning — Friday, 14th —
we tacked to the north of South-west Bay, and
found that, though there was more surf than
on the previous day, landing was feasible. The
.boat went off under the doctor's charge, and the
tents and all the remaining stores were brought
safely on board. Nothing of any value was left ;
we not only carried off our own tools, but also
the picks that had been used by Mr. A  's
expedition. Only broken wheelbarrows and
such like useless articles remained in the ravine.
From the vessel the only sign of our late camp
that could be seen was Powell's disabled arm
chair, which he had left standing, a melancholy
object, on the top of the beach.
We stowed the heavier tools and stores under

We abandon the Search. 363
the saloon floor, and then saUed again to the
cascade. The whale-boat went off to the pier
and a quantity of water was brought on board,
so that we had a sufficient supply — but not
much to spare— for the voyage we now contem
plated. When the watering-party returned we had
done with Trinidad ; so both boats were
hoisted on deck, and a melancholy ceremony
was performed : our very ancient dinghy, which
was too rotten to bear any further patching,
and was not worth the room she used to take
up on deck, was broken up and handed over to
the cook as firewood.
A tot of rum was served out to each hand,
we bade farewell to Trinidad, the foresaU was
allowed to draw, and we sailed away.
It had long since been decided that, whether
the treasure was discovered or not, we should
sail from our desert island to its wealthy name
sake, Trinidad in the West Indies — a very differ
ent sort of a place. The distance between the
two Trinidads is, roughly, 2,900 miles ; but we
knew that the Voyage before us was not likely
to be a lengthy one, for everything is in favour
of a vessel bound the way we were going. In

364 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
the first place, it was very unlikely that we
should encounter head winds between our islet
and Cape St. Roque, and from that point we
should most probably have the wind right aft
for the rest of the way, as the trade-winds
blow regularly along the coasts of north Brazil
and the Guianas. In the next place, by saUing
at a certain distance from the land, we could
keep our vessel in the fuU strength of the south
equatorial current, which runs at the rate of
two or three miles an hour in the direction of
our course. We had, it is true, to cross the line
once more, with its belt of doldrums ; but we
knew that we should not be much delayed by
these tedious equatorial calms, as they do not
prevail on the coast of BrazU to anything Hke
the extent they do in mid- Atlantic ; besides
which, the favourable current would be carry
ing us along with it across the belt, and enable
us to travel fifty mUes or so a day, even in a
flat calm.
This kindly current would, indeed, carry us
straight to our port, for it sweeps through the
Gulf of Paria as weU as by the east side of
Trinidad, and, as every schoolboy knows in
these enlightened days, thence flows round the

We Abandon the Search. 365
Caribbean Sea and ultimately emerges from it
under another and better-known title — the Gulf
Stream. With the old ' Falcon ' I had sailed over a
portion of this route, accomplishing the voyage
from Pernambuco to Georgetown, Demerara —
a distance of about 2,000 miles — in ten days,
thus keeping up an average of 200 mUes a day.
At this rate the ' Alerte ' ought to get to Trinidad
in fifteen days ; but we were not fated to have
such luck as that.

CHAPTER XXII.
HOMEWARD BOUND.
WE had bidden farewell to the wild spot
that had been our home for three
months, but we did not lose sight of Trinidad
for upwards of thirty hours.
We had got under weigh at sunset on February
14. A slight draught from the hUls carried us a
mile or so outside North Point, when we were
becalmed and made no progress at aU for many
hours ; and when at last the north-east breeze
sprang up, it was so very light that at eight on
the following morning the island was not more
than twelve mUes astern of us.
Throughout the day calms and light airs
succeeded to each other, and at sunset the high
peaks were stUl visible. The same weather con
tinued during our second night at sea, and at
daybreak on February 16, we could just dis
tinguish one faint blue mountain summit behind
us, the rest of the islet being below the horizon.

Homeward Bound. 367
But the wind now freshened and aU signs of
the land soon disappeared, and once again
there was nothing to be seen round us but
ocean.
It was evident that we were not to be favoured
with the smart voyage I had anticipated. We
had fair winds, it is true, and a fair current, but
it was rare that we had fresh breezes, while long
speUs of calm were frequent, so that we did not
double Cape St. Roque tUl February 22.
Our best day's run up to this point was
on the 19th, when we made 182 mUes in the
twenty-four hours — nothing much to boast of,
seeing that the difference between our distance,
according to our dead reckoning and that
calculated by observation of the sun, showed
that we had a two-knot current under us all
the whUe.
At 9 a.m. on February 22, having passed
between Cape St. Roque and the Rocas islets
— not sighting either — we altered our course
from north-by-east to north-west, so as to
saU paraUel to the mainland, at a distance of
about 120 mUes from it, and thus benefit by the
fuU strength of the current. Having doubled
the cape, we encountered, as we had expected,

368 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
south-east wind, and were thus able to set our
spinnaker. As we approached the Equator we experienced
the usual unpleasant weather of this region :
the sky was almost always overcast, the calms
were only broken by heavy squaUs, and no
night passed without vivid lightning ; but, so
far, there was little rain. It was very close in
our cabins, and even on deck the men were
languid with the oppressive, muggy heat.
We crossed the line on February 26. We
now had a few days of drifting over a calm sea,
under a soft drizzling rain, and we were unable
to take any sights of the sun. On March 1, the
wind veered round to the north for a change, so
that we were close-hauled on the starboard
tack. This wind, being in the opposite direction
to the regular trades, was caused by some local
¦ disturbance, and only lasted for twelve • hours.
This was our sixteenth day out, and we were
stUl nearly 1,200 miles from our destination,
which we might have made by this time had our
luck been good.
If we only progressed at this rate, our water
could not hold out to Trinidad ; and though
thiswas.no cause for anxiety, as we could easily

Homeward Bound. 369
saU for one of the ports on the mainland —
Cayenne or Surinam, for instance — I was par
ticularly anxious not to call anywhere on the
way ; so the order was given that all hands
should be put on rations of water. Our usual
rule was to aUow the men to use as much water
as they pleased, without waste ; though aU wash
ing had, of course to be done with salt water.
This order brought us luck, for not an hour
after it had been given the whole sky was
covered over with one vast cloud, so dense that,
though it was midday, it became as dark on
the ocean as when dusk is deepening into night.
Then it began to rain. Hitherto there had only
been drizzle or short showers, which did not
afford an opportunity for coUecting water ;
but now it was very different — it poured
steadUy down as it only can in the tropics, so
that, by merely collecting the water in the
hoUow of the whale-boat cover, we soon filled
up every tank and breaker on board, and had a
sufficient supply to have lasted us to Southamp
ton, had we been bound there. The order as to
rations was at once countermanded, and even
washing with fresh water was permitted on this
extravagant day.

370 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
Delighted as we had been to get aU this water,
we soon wearied of such excessively unpleasant
weather, for not only did it rain in torrents,
but every now and again a violent squaU
would sweep over the sea, so that ' Scandalise
the mainsail, and down foresaU ' was a frequent
order. ' It looks Hke breakers ahead, sir,' sang out
Ted in the afternoon, and we quite suddenly
entered into a tract of very disturbed water.
The sweU was unaccountably high, and the seas
were curling over each other and breaking all
round us just as if we were in a tide-race or
overfall. The water, too, which had up tUl now
been of the usual dark deep-ocean tint, became
yeUowish brown, and, when a bucket Of it was
brought up on deck, it was found to be fuU of
a fine powder, like the seed of some grass. As
we had not been able to take any sights for some
days, I thought we might be somewhat nearer
the shoals on the coast than I supposed ; so
hove to and took soundings, but found no
bottom. On tasting the water, it was quite
salt, so that these phenomena could scarcely
have been caused by the violent stream of the
Amazon, which often makes itself felt and

Homeward Bound. 371
sweetens the water far out to sea. It is possible
that aU this commotion was .produced by some
volcanic eruption at the bottom of the ocean
far beneath us — not an uncommon event in
this portion of the South Atlantic. As we sailed
through this confused water we found that the
vessel steered wUdly, as if eddies and contrary
currents were driving her first in one direction
then in another, whUe the tops of the steep waves
kept tumbling down upon our decks, compeUing
us to keep aU skylights closed; this made stiU
more objectionable the atmosphere of our
already unpleasantly reeking cabins, where the
wet clothes which we had no means of drying
had been accumulating for days. The oppressive
closeness of this equatorial climate is spoken of
with horror even by those who go to sea on big
ships ; but it is far worse on a little fore-and-
after. Another peculiarity of this tract of broken
water — out of which we soon emerged as quickly
as we had got into it — was that it swarmed with
fish and other forms of life. Shoals of smaU fish
were dashing about merrily in the spray, while
fleets of large pink Portuguese men-of-war — as
the sailors caU the Nautilus — were floating on

372 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
the surface. UntU we had got into this curious
portion of the ocean we had seen very few fish.
After some days of similar uncomfortable
weather, we drifted or sailed — when the squaUs
allowed — into a respectable climate again, and
ran before the trade-wind at a fair pace. Our
best day's run was on March 6, when we made
192 mUes. On this day we got into soundings,
the colour of the deep ocean changing to the
dark green of comparatively shallow water ;
for we were nearing the coast, so as to make the
entrance of the Gulf of Paria. We sighted the
mountains of Trinidad right ahead of us at
daybreak of March 8, about two leagues distant.
We ran, before a light wind, between Galeota
Point and Baja Point. The sun now blazed
down out of a cloudless sky, the morning mists
lifted and disclosed the scenery around us, which
was of a very different nature from that we had
left on the desert Trinidad.
We were no longer tumbling about on the
great transparent green rollers that perpetually
break upon the coasts of our Treasure Island,
but sailing on the smooth, muddy water of a
shallow inland sea. On our left were the low
shores of Venezuela — a long line of dreary

Homeward Bound. 373
mangrove swamps that form the delta of the
Orinoco ; the peculiar, and, I should say,
somewhat malarious, odour of the steaming
mud being plainly perceptible for leagues out
to sea.
On our right were the shores of Trinidad-
one of the fairest islands of the Caribbean Sea.
The sandy beaches were fringed with coeoanut
palms, and behind rose gently swelling moun
tains, covered with fine forests, the lordly
palmistes towering above all the lesser foliage
— forests in which the trees were of various forms
and tints, presenting a beautiful appearance,
the feathery bamboos and the scarlet and
purple blossoms of bougainviUea and other
flowering trees relieving the dark green slopes
of dense vegetation. On the plains that lay
under the mountains, and in the broad valleys
that clove them, could be seen the pale green
spreads of the sugar-cane plantations, with the
taU chimneys of the boUing-houses rising above
them, and the darker clumps of the cacao groves.
When we were near Point Icacos we saw a
school of whales, but, not having the whale-boat
or gun ready, we did not go in chase.
We passed through the narrow Serpent's

374 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
Mouth, and were inside the Gulf of Paria ;
from here we coasted along the shores of Trinidad
by many a landmark famUiar to myself, and
still more so to our two coloured men, who became
quite excited when they once more beheld their
native islands after an absence of two years and
more. We saUed by Cedros Point ; by the curious
row of rocks that are known as the Serpent's
Teeth ; by the village of Brea, off which several
vessels were lying at anchor, loading with the
bitumen that is dug out of the famous Pitch
Lake about a mUe in shore.
We did not reach Port of Spain this day, for
the wind feU away, and we had to come to an
anchor off St. Fernando for the night ; but on
the following day, March 9, we completed our
voyage, and let go our anchor off Port of Spain
early in the afternoon, having been twenty-two
days out from our desert island.
We were anchored at about two-thirds of a
mile from the jetty, and there was only eight
feet of water under us at low tide. As the
draught of the ' Alerte ' is ten feet, she then
sank two feet into the mud. This is quite the
proper way to do things at Port of Spain. Sail
ing-vessels bound here with timber are in the

Homeward Bound. 375
habit of running as high up as they can into the
mud, knowing that when they have discharged
their cargo they wiU easUy float off again. The
mud deposited in the Gulf of Paria by the out
flow of the Orinoco and its tributaries is the
softest possible, and is very deep, so that a vessel
can suffer no injury by lying in it, even when the
sea is rough. So shallow is the water in this
roadstead that at a mUe and a half from the
shore the depth is only three fathoms, while a
ship's boat cannot approach the end of the jetty
at low water.
I had visited Trinidad before, and had many
friends here, so was at once at home on shore,
as, too, were, very soon, my companions. We
were made honorary members of the pleasant
Port of Spain Club, and were treated everywhere
with that hearty hospitality for which the West
Indies have always been noted.
Our voyage was now over, and though most
of my companions were anxious to saU away
with me in search of any other treasure we
might hear of on West Indian cays — or to turn
our vessel's head southward again, and make for
Demerara, to travel inland to the gold districts
of Upper Guiana on the Venezuelan frontier — or,

376 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
in short, set saU for any part of the world that
promised adventure and possible profit (I be
lieve they would have turned filibusters if the
chance had presented itself) — and though I had
four paid hands on board also willing to have
gone anywhere we should choose to lead them
— stUl, I could not see my way to extending the
voyage any further for the present, and decided
to lay up the ' Alerte ' at Port of Spain.
It was with reluctance that I made up my
mind to do this ; for the men we did not want
had been weeded out, and I had round me a
compact crew of seven, tested and trained by
their seven months' travels and hardships, and
I also had the right vessel for any adventure.
I had several reasons for laying up the yacht
in the West Indies, instead of saUing her home.
I had no use for her in England, and should I
undertake another voyage simUar to the last,
Port of Spain would be a most convenient place
to start from ; besides, stores are cheap there,
and an excellent coloured crew, weU adapted for
work in the unhealthy tropics, can be readUy
procured. Moreover, if I decided to seU the
yacht, I was certain to get a better price for her
in the West Indies, or on the Spanish Main, where

Homeward Bound. 377
there is a demand for this sort of craft, than at
hOme, where the market is glutted with second
hand yachts.
Before leaving Trinidad — that cosmopolitan
island of Britons, Frenchmen, Spaniards, East
Indiamen, Chinamen, and negroes — we under
took several pleasant Httle voyages with the
yacht in the neighbourhood of Port of Spain,
taking with us several friends from the shore.
One of these voyages took place in the Easter
holidays, which are properly observed on this
island. We had a merry party on board, and
visited several of the beautifiU bays on the
islands that divide the Bocas, or northern en
trances to the Gulf of Paria. Our crew had by
that time been reduced to myself, Mr. PurseU,
and John Wright : for my companions took
opportunities of returning home as they occurred.
When the old vessel was dismantled and laid
up, we last remaining three took passage on the
Royal Mail Steamer ' Dee,' which, being an extra-
cargo boat, was bound on a sort of roving com
mission round the West Indies, in search of
bags of cacao to complete her cargo. This was
a most enjoyable voyage, thanks to the officers
of the ' Dee.' PurseU and myself were the only

378 The Cruise of the 'Alerte.'
passengers. We visited several of the Wind
ward Islands — old friends of mine, most of them
— before sailing across the Atlantic to Havre,
and thence to London Docks.
Thus ended our treasure-hunting expedition
— a vain search ; but, as I have already said,
my companions bore their disappointment well.
It was amusing to hear them argue, like the
grape-loving fox in the fable, but in a more
good-natured way, that we were far better off
without the treasure. I remember one favourite
argument to this effect. It had been decided
that, if the treasure was found, we should not
return to England in the yacht, but insure our
wealth and go home in the biggest mail steamer
we could find. That was our great difficulty —
how to find a suitable vessel. As we were now,
we cared not much what sort of a craft we sailed
in ; but, once wealthy, how terribly valuable
would our lives become ! In anticipation even
of it we became nervous. Would any vessel be
large and safe enough for us then that we were
millionaires ? Well, indeed, was it for us that we
had not found the pirates' gold ; for we seemed
happy enough as we were, and if possessed of
this hoard our lives would of a certainty have

Homeward Bound. 379
become a burden to us. We should be too
precious to be comfortable. We should degen
erate into miserable, fearsome hypochondriacs,
careful of our means of transit, dreadfully anxious
about what we ate or drank, miserably cautious
about everything. ' Better far, no doubt,' ex
claimed these cheerful philosophers, ' to remain
the careless, happy paupers that we are.'
' Do you stUl believe in the existence of the
treasure ? ' is a question that has been often put
to me since my return. Knowing aU I do, I have
very little doubt that the story of the Russian
Finn is substantiaUy true — that the treasures of
Lima were hidden on Trinidad ; but whether
they have been taken away, or whether they
are stiU there and we faUed to find them be
cause we were not in possession of one link in
the directions, I am unable to say.

THE END.

Established 1798

T. NELSON
AND SONS
PRINTERS AND
PUBLISHERS

FAMOUS MODERN BATTLES. Captain Atteridge.
This book may be taken as an appendix to Creasy's
"Decisive Battles of the World." Captain Atteridge
describes those battles which have most materially
shaped the destiny of the nations of to-day, such as
the Alma, Solferino, Gettysburg, Gravelotte, Omdurman,
and the recent fights in the Balkan war. The book is
fully provided with excellent maps.
POPULAR ASTRONOMY. Camille Flammarion.
This is an authorized translation of the most popular
book on astronomy ever written. The name of Camille
Flammarion stands high among modern scientists, and
in addition to wide knowledge he has the power of
attractive exposition. The book is a delightful intro
duction to a fascinating study.
BY DESERT WAYS TO BAGHDAD. Mrs. Wilkins.
This is the record of the adventurous journey of two
ladies from Constantinople through Asia Minor and
Kurdistan to Baghdad. The tale is full of incidents
and colour, and the style is as vivacious as the ad
ventures.
FROM PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND.
Harry de Windt.
In this book Mr. de Windt recounts an adventurous
journey through Europe, across Siberia, and then via
Alaska to New York. He covered a good deal of un
explored country, and travelled at a pace which few
explorers have ever approached. It is a fascinating
narrative of adventure in little-known countries.

NELSON LIBRARY OF NOTABLE BOOKS

CONDENSED LIST.

Scrambles Amongst the Alps.
Collections and Recollections.
> The Great Boer War.
Life of John Nicholson.
Dean Hole's " Memories."
Life of Gladstone.
Psalms in Human Life.
Wild Life in a Southern County.
The Forest. | The Golden Age.
Sir Henry Hawkins's Reminis-
Selected Essays. [cences.
Life of Lord Russell of Killowen.
' Making of Modern Egypt.
From the Cape to Cairo. —
Life of Alexander Hamilton.
A Book about the Garden.
Culture and Anarch}*.
Collections and Recollections. 2nd
Life of Frank Buckland. [Series.
A Modern Utopia.
With Kitchener to Khartum.
"Unveiling of Lhasa.
Life of Lord Dufferin.
Life of Dean Stanley.
Popular Astronomy.
Round the World on a Wheel. «r
Dream Days. | Path to Rome.
The Life of Canon Ainger.
* Reminiscences of Lady
A Social Departure. [Nevill,
Letters and Recollections of
Walter Scott.
Literature and Dogma.
Sermons by the Rev. C H,
My Confidences.
Sir Frank Lockwood.
The Making of a Frontier.
Life of General Gordon.
Collected Poems of Henry Newbolt.
Pot-Pourri from a Surrey Garden.
The Ring and the Book.
The Alps from End to End.
The English Constitution.
The Life of Cobden. | In India.
Life of Parnell. | Havelock's March.
Up from Slavery.
Where Black Rules White.
Historical Mysteries.

Sir

Recollections of the Rt. Hon.
Algernon West.
Great Englishmen of the Sixteenth
The Strenuous Life. [Century.
Memories Grave and Gay.
Life of Tolstoy. | Life of Danton.
A Pocketful of Sixpences.
The Romance of a Proconsul.
A Book about Roses.
Random Reminiscences.
The London Police Courts.
The Amateur Poacher.
The Bancrofts. [Atthe Works.
Mexico as I Saw It.
Eighteenth Century Vignettes.
The Great Andes of the Equator.
The Early History of C. J. Fox.
Through the Heart of Patagonia.
Browning as a Religious Teacher.
Paris to New York.
Life of Lewis Carroll.
A Naturalist in the Guianas.
The Mantle of the East.
Letters of Dr. John Brown.
Jubilee Book of Cricket.
By Desert Ways to Baghdad.
Some Old Love Stories.
Fields, Factories, and Workshops.
Dorothy?('Life of Lord Lawrence.
Problems of Poverty.
SijJThe Burden of the Balkans.
Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay
—I. and II.
Spur-JWhat I Saw in Russia.
Wild England of To-day
Leaves from an Inspector's Logbook.
Through Finland in Carts.
Voyage of the "Discovery." — 1.& II.
Felicity in France.
My Climbs in the Alps and Caucasus.
John Bright. | Poverty.
Sea Wolves of the Mediterranean.
Famous Modern Battles.
The Cruise of the " Falcon."
A.K.H.B. (A Volume of Selections.)
The People of the Abyss.
Grain or Chaff ? | Life at the Zoo.
The Four Men.

[geon.

THOMAS NELSON AND SONS.

1

¦
mmwBBm

SSSt