Chapter XX: Captain Seaworth’s Journal

The dry details of the log-book did not interest Philip save as they showed him that the Reynard arrived at the island after a reasonably prosperous voyage, with the colonists and crew in the best of health.

He read of the exploration of the island, where mention was made of the extinct volcano which he had already seen, and learned that the village was on the southernmost of the Toukang-Basi group.

Then, in rapid succession, he noted the author’s remarks relative to certain portions of the land which it was proposed to cultivate, ran his eye carelessly over the meteorological observations, and passed quickly on to those pages where mention was made of the settlement, referring to which Captain Sea worth wrote:

The portable houses prove to be a most admirable invention.
In fifteen days we have unloaded and set up every building,
and not one joist has been wrongly measured or marked. In that
short space of time we built an entire village resembling those
to be found in Sumatra, and are as comfortably situated as the
most captious colonist could desire.

The Reynard has been brought around to the eastern shore,
where we have found a small bay with water enough to float a
line-of-battle ship, and the banks of which are so densely
wooded that it is impossible to see a hundred yards in either
direction. But for the fact that we are in the very center of
a nest of Malay pirates, I should have no hesitation whatever
about leaving her at moorings in charge of the boatswain. As it
is, however, I am obliged to keep half the crew quartered on
board, which reduces my working force very materially.

If this colony does not succeed it will unquestionably be
because of the ever-increasing audacity of the pirates who
infest the seas in this part of the world. Their power
increases year by year, and their flotillas have become fleets.
The proas and junks are armed like frigates, and as sailors
and fighting-men their crews are the most energetic of any
nation; therefore it is that to guard against these marauders
is the most important of all our duties, and better the work
of planting should progress slowly than that we run the risk
of having the fruits of our labor destroyed through neglect of
precaution.

The soil of the island is evidently very fertile. Flowers
and fruits are abundant, and the thickest positively swarm
with game. Save for the apes, which are as thick here as
grasshoppers in a country field, this would be a garden spot
indeed. But the apes destroy the charm of the place, since one
must be constantly on watch against them, and they increase
like flies. Unless some means can be devised to exterminate
them we shall be forced to guard our plantations by night as
well as by day, and therefore I have many serious misgivings
as to whether the venture which has been so admirably planned
will prove successful. To defend ourselves against the pirates
from the ocean, and to save our crops from apes, we need at
least two hundred more men; and whether I shall be justified
in making the additional outlay, after it was decided that
there were to be no further expenditures, is the question which
disturbs me greatly.

To guard against these monkey-robbers, who pull up our plants
from sheer love of mischief, a high, barbed-wire fence would
answer every purpose; but, unfortunately, it would cost more
for such material than the additional force required, because
it must be sent out in a ship from New York. My first officer
counsels that we visit Lombok, Batavia, or Samarang, for the
purpose of procuring natives, and his opinion I should incline
to were it not for the fact that I am afraid to withdraw the
entire ship’s crew from the island lest the colonists be
overcome either by pirates or apes, the latter being quite as
formidable as the former.

Here followed many notes regarding the labor already performed or projected; and continuing after the banana plantation had been started, Captain Seaworth wrote:

Our house life is charming. The colonists are enjoying the best
of health, in houses surrounded with palm-trees; and as for our
own quarters, I never had anything to compare with these, not
even in Madras, in point of comfort and elegance. We want for
nothing, and our amusements are numerous. Once each week we
give a ball in the drawing-room of the main building, and on
Saturday mornings we hold an informal court on the open lawn to
decide as to the business and government of our charming island.

Again I am constrained to speak of our pests, the apes. So
numerous are they, in fact, that one is almost certain, in
discharging a gun at hazard, to bring down an animal; and their
ferocity exceeds anything of which I have ever read. Those we
brought from the establishment of Garland & Co. are civilized
beings compared with the tribe we find here. It is a source of
many jokes that we should have taken the trouble to bring so
far pets which could be captured in such numbers. Instead of
buying apes, we could ship a full cargo and never know they had
left the island.

Again, the journal was continued with notes which would interest the stockholders of the enterprise more than they did Philip, and he passed hastily over them until he found the following:

I have been trying to teach the gigantic baboon, Goliah, to
follow me in the semi-weekly hunts we make for apes. Although
hundreds are killed on each occasion the numbers do not seem
to diminish, and we have decided to make hunters, if possible,
of the apes we brought with us. Goliah, especially, would be
invaluable could he be trained to prey upon those of his kind
who so disturb us. Thus far, however, we have met with only
partial success.

During our excursion yesterday, while in the center of a large
wood of mimosas, where I had wandered with the baboon, I
suddenly saw advancing toward me with a club, which he carried
like a drum-major’s cane, a gigantic mandrill, black as a
negro, and followed by a regiment of apes.

Goliah, generally so fierce and courageous, trembled with
terror as he beheld this enormous animal. He recognized in him
a conqueror, and consequently one to be feared. For the first
time since owning him he crouched by my side like a frightened
dog imploring protection, at the same time gnashing his teeth
and beating his breast as he glanced furtively toward the
gigantic beast who confronted him. This was the opportunity for
which I had sought. If my baboon would fight the mandrill and
come off victorious it might be possible the lesson had been
learned, and I raised my rifle with the intention of wounding
the brute, in order to make it more certain Goliah would
vanquish him.

Before I could discharge the weapon, however, the gigantic
stranger leaped upon Goliah regardless of my presence, and the
struggle between the two animals was terrific. Unquestionably
my baboon would speedily have been killed, for in a few seconds
he received most terrible punishment, and I was forced to fire
at the risk of hitting the wrong one. Fortunately my aim was
perfect, and the colossal mandrill fell dead.

Never have I seen any animal display so much joy as did
Goliah when his enemy expired. He would first shower blows
upon the body, and then fawn on me with the most extravagant
demonstrations of pleasure and thankfulness. With each buffet
of the carcass his courage seemed to return, and I flatter
myself that after a few more lessons he will understand his
mission is the slaughter of these long-tailed pests.

The apes who accompanied the mandrill dispersed immediately
after his fall without offering any violence, but from the
threatening demonstrations made to Goliah it seemed as if they
were vowing vengeance; and he must have understood something of
the kind, for despite his returning courage he hugged closer
to my side, trembling violently all the while. Could they have
gotten hold of him at that moment, the largest baboon ever
owned by Garland & Co. would soon have been food for the ants.

I shall have this enormous mandrill skinned, and dry his hide
and bones, in order to present them to the Museum at Central
Park on my return home.

“Then this is the story of the skeleton I found hanging on the mimosas when I was first cast ashore here,” Philip said to himself. “He must have hung it there that the ants might devour the flesh. But how much different would have been my position had the captain or the mandrill killed Goliah! I think I should most heartily enjoy seeing the bones of that vicious baboon hanging side by side with those among the mimosas.”

This portion of the journal was concluded with two paragraphs, both of which were particularly interesting to Philip, and he read as follows:

From what I have heard of the habits of these peculiar animals,
coupled with my own observations, I am of the opinion that the
mandrill which I killed was the chief or leader of all the apes
on the island, and am greatly in hopes the death of this beast
may prevent many of their predatory excursions.

On returning from this hunt I placed my rifle in the concealed
armory, because I do not wish the baboons to get the idea that
I use anything but the weapons provided by nature, for it might
make them timid in the hunt which I am determined they shall
indulge in before many weeks more.