Irv C Rogers [Motoo Eetee] Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World (pdf)

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show the houses they dwelt in. At that time they might paddle out in
dozens of canoes, wanting to trade crawfish and potatoes for arms and
iron. Tobit would surely send them away. He had little to trade and
swore he would not traffic with savages and allow them things that
might permit them any increase in might.
Will rang eight bells and went below to rouse two men of the star-
board watch. Thomas handed a musket to each when he came to the
top of the steps. For a few minutes he took a last look around, lis-
tening for any alteration in the wind or in the sound of the waves
breaking on the shore. If anything had changed, he imagined the wind
had increased a little. He turned away and started down to his bunk,
closing the scuttle behind him.
The fo c s le was lighted by the single lamp turned low, but in con-
trast to the spar deck above it, seemed well illuminated. Shadows
created by the one source of light moved up and down on the white
interior of the hull. Though it was in the quieter water of the bay, the
barque rolled markedly. Little Ned was in his bunk just to the right
of the steps. He had not pulled his curtain, and Thomas could see
him lying at full length with his hands flat on his chest and his head
bedded in its dark curls. The persistent smile, one that always seemed
incapable of any deception, was gone from Ned s smooth face. He slept
silently with his eyelashes forming thin crescents. Thomas stood on
the bottom step and looked about the cramped quarters. Each man
was in his box-like bed. All were asleep. Even Will who had come
down only two or three minutes before was immobile behind his short
drape and probably had already dozed off. There was no snoring or
even a sound of breathing, though he was only a few feet from any
28 MOTOO EETEE
of them. He pulled off his hat, boots, jacket, and scarf and crawled
into his bunk. Then he took one last look around before he drew the
cloth along the cord. In the months he had spent aboard the barque
both in heavy seas and in calm, Thomas had rarely awakened during
his watch below. When he rolled into his bunk, he was always tired
and his sound sleep had yielded only to the ringing of eight bells and
the call from the scuttle. This night, however, he did not drop off in
the first few minutes after he put his head on his folded jacket. The
slap of the water against the bows just a foot or two away was now
disturbing, when before it had always lulled him to sleep.
Before eight bells sounded, the captain had opened his charts across
his bunk and across the cabin table. He turned from the one on the
bunk and looked again at the chart on the table, smoothing it out with
his hands. It was weighted at the edges with a brass inkstand and his
hat to hold against the insistent curl of the paper. The mate stood
behind the captain, yet being taller still had a full view of the chart.
Well, I can t see one thing that could be this landfall, Mr. Mor-
gen said, shaking his head.
No, you don t, simply because there is not a rock or an island that
could possibly be it. We have made 134 miles from noon yesterday
till noon today. Add to that about 60 miles since then. That makes
194 miles. That puts us here, Captain Tobit tapped the chart with a
curved forefinger. Even with leeway we could be no closer than 170
miles to the coast, but we are more likely the 185 miles away I show
here. He picked up the dividers and measured the distance traveled
for the second time and then marked it off from the previous day s
position. There, 167 degrees, 24 minutes east and 42 degrees, 12
minutes south. No doubt but it is a new island. It is not laid down
here or on the Italian map, and there is nought of it in the Oriental
Navigator, but that is old. It would surely be known had a ship of the
John Company raised it. He stepped around to look at the chart on
the bunk again. No, he assured the mate, it is not here, and I heard
no report of any new discoveries while we were in Van Diemen s Land.
MOTOO EETEE 29
That is not to say another sealer from there or Port Jackson has not
touched here.
The mate leaned forward for a closer look at the chart and asked,
So if it is a new island, what are we to do here?
The captain s head suddenly jerked up, and he leaned back into
the rigid stance he assumed when he was displeased or offended.
Damnation! he sputtered in disbelief. What have we been doing
for these months? Skinning, Mr. Morgen! Skinning and boiling sea
elephants!
You mean we are here to take more seals?
Aye, to skin. That is our business in the event you haven t noticed.
The captain tinged the last words with sarcasm, then placed his right
forefinger on the chart. We are here. The island is here, but not laid
down. There is a fair chance no one has touched before us. That would
mean a great plenty of seals, and we will have first choice among the
herds. Now, what do you make of that?
But there are no fur seals so far north on this coast, the mate
protested.
Do you know that to be a fact, Mr. Morgen?
No one has reported them much above Doubtful Sound.
If you had found them this far up, would you be so much of a
fool as to tell all? Would any sealer? Look, you will notice here that we
are near to the same line as Bass Strait. How many fortunes were taken
from there a few years ago? Well, we are going to look. We are surely
going to look and take them if there be any! Captain Tobit slammed
his open hand down on the chart to show his determination. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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